Smart print carriage incorporating circuitry for processing data
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A printer including a carriage which traverses a print medium, said carriage comprising:
- a carriage circuit board mounted on said print carriage;
a carriage circuit on said carriage circuit board, said carriage circuit designed to transfer data to and from a host computer; and
a microprocessor mounted on said carriage circuit board, said microprocessor programmed to decompress data from said host computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present patent discloses a method and apparatus for improving communication between print drivers and a host computer. The disclosed method simplifies and standardizes the output data format of the host computer. The disclosed printer processing electronics are placed on a moving "smart" printer carriage in close proximity with the print drivers. The simplification of the host computer output, and the positioning of processing electronics speeds up printing of documents and eliminates the need for substantial intermediate processing electronics between the host computer and the printer carriage.
51 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A printer including a carriage which traverses a print medium, said carriage comprising:
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a carriage circuit board mounted on said print carriage; a carriage circuit on said carriage circuit board, said carriage circuit designed to transfer data to and from a host computer; and a microprocessor mounted on said carriage circuit board, said microprocessor programmed to decompress data from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A printer carriage for use in a printer, said printer carriage comprising:
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a carriage circuit board mounted on said printer carriage; a microprocessor mounted on said carriage circuit board, said microprocessor programmed to process and to decompress data from a host computer; and a printhead driver mounted on said printer carriage. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for processing and transferring information from a computer to a printer having a moving carriage and a print driver, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a carriage circuit on said printer carriage;
sending information in a first format from a host computer to said carriage circuit;decompressing said information in said first format, said decompressing occurring in said carriage circuit; shuffling said information in said carriage circuit; and sending said decompressed, shuffled information to said print driver. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for printing on a sheet of paper data from a host computer, said system comprising:
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a carriage axis motor connected to an interconnect circuit board; a paper axis motor connected to said interconnect circuit board; a carriage circuit board mounted on a carriage, said carriage circuit board connected to said interconnect circuit board; a host computer connected to said carriage circuit board, said host computer programmed to send raster data to said carriage circuit board; a microprocessor mounted on said carriage circuit board, said microprocessor programmed to decompress and shuffle data; a memory chip connected to said microprocessor, said memory chip mounted on said carriage circuit board; an ASIC chip connected to said microprocessor, said ASIC chip mounted on said carriage circuit board; a printhead driver connected to said ASIC chip; a printhead connected to said printhead driver; and a cover sensor connected to said ASIC chip. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A printer for printing data on a sheet of paper, said printer comprising:
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a host computer transmitting data in a raster format, a moving carriage connected to said host computer, a carriage circuit mounted on said moving carriage, said carriage circuit configured to receive said data in said raster format from said host computer, a microprocessor mounted on said moving carriage, said microprocessor programmed to process said data in said raster format from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for processing and transferring information from a host computer to a print driver, said method comprising the steps of:
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sending information in a raster format from a host computer; providing a carriage circuit board on a moving printer carriage; receiving said raster format information from said host computer on a microprocessor provided on said carriage circuit board; shuffling said information on said carriage circuit board; expelling ink onto paper from an inkjet mounted on said carriage, said expulsion of ink designed to form a predetermined patterned on a page. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification