Mobile telecommunications device with a capper moveable between capping and uncapping positions by the printhead

• US 7,470,019 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2005
• Issued: 12/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, King, Tobin Allen, Tow, Gregory Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Legesse; Henok
• Application Number:
  US11/124,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20060250433A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,331 Days
• Field of Search: 347/29, 347/32, 347/35, 347/16, 347/109, 347/22, 347/101, 347/104
• US Class Current: 347/104
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/38 Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/36 for portability , i.e. hand-held printers or laptop printers B41J3/4075 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/445 Printers integrated in other types of apparatus, e.g. printers integrated in cameras

Abstract

A mobile device including: (a) an inkjet printhead; (b) a print media feed path for directing print media past the printhead in a feed direction during printing; and (c) a capping mechanism including a capper moveable between: a capping position in which the capper is urged into a capping relationship with the printhead; and an uncapped position in which the printhead is able to print onto the print media, wherein in the uncapped position the capper is displaced away from the printhead; wherein the capper is moved between the capped and uncapped position by an edge of the print media as it moves through the feed path.

Claims

1. A mobile device including:

(a) an inkjet printhead;

(b) a print media feed path for directing print media past the printhead in a feed direction during printing; and

(c) a capping mechanism including a capper moveable between;

a capping position in which the capper is urged into a capping relationship with the printhead; and

an uncapped position in which the printhead is able to print onto the print media, wherein in the uncapped position the capper is displaced away from the printhead;

wherein the capper is moved between the capped and uncapped position by engagement with an edge of the print media as it moves through the feed path, the capper being configured to grip and retain said print media suspended from the mobile device once printing is complete until removal of the print media from the mobile device by a user.

2. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein in the capped position the capper is resiliently urged into the capping relationship.

3. A mobile device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive shaft for engaging the print media and driving it past the inkjet printhead.

4. A mobile device according to claim 1 further comprising a printhead having an array of ink ejection nozzles and at least one ink reservoir for supplying ink to the printhead for ejection by the nozzles, each of the at least one ink reservoirs including at least one absorbent structure for inducing a negative hydrostatic pressure in the ink at the nozzles.

5. A mobile device according to claim 1 wherein the printhead comprises:

an array of nozzles for ejecting ink;

print data circuitry for providing the nozzles with print data; and

,

a photosensor for optically receiving the print data from a beacon operated by a print engine controller in the mobile device.

6. A mobile device according to claim 1 further comprising:

a print engine controller for operatively controlling the printhead; and

,

a position sensor for providing the print engine controller with a signal indicative of the position of the media substrate relative to the printhead;

such that,

the print engine controller differentiates the signal to derive the speed of the media substrate relative to the printhead and adjusts the operation of the printhead in response to variations in the speed.

7. A mobile device according to claim 1 further comprising at least one ink reservoir for supplying ink to the printhead, the at least one ink reservoir comprising:

a housing defining an ink storage volume;

one or more baffles dividing the ink storage volume into sections, each of the sections having at least one ink outlet for sealed connection to the printhead; and

,

at least one conduit establishing fluid communication between the ink outlets of adjacent sections.

8. A mobile device according to claim 1 wherein the mobile device is a telecommunications device.

9. A mobile device according to claim 1 wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

10. A mobile device according to claim 2, wherein the capping mechanism is configured such that the capper is displaced in the feed direction as it moves from the capped position to the uncapped position.

11. A mobile device according to claim 3, further comprising a drive roller for rotating the drive shaft, the drive roller being configured to be driven by a complementary drive mechanism in the mobile device when the cartridge is installed therein.

12. A mobile device according to claim 10, wherein the capping mechanism is further configured such that the capper is simultaneously displaced in a direction away from the printhead as it is displaced in the feed direction.

13. A mobile device according to claim 11, wherein the drive roller is coaxial with the drive shaft.

14. A mobile device according to claim 12, wherein the capping mechanism is subsequently displaced in a direction opposite the feed direction in the uncapped position.

15. A mobile device according to claim 13, wherein the drive shaft is positioned in the print media path upstream of the printhead.

16. A mobile device according to claim 14, further including a locking mechanism for holding the capper in the uncapped position whilst the print media is being printed on by the printhead.

17. A mobile device according to claim 15 wherein during use,

the sheet disengages from the drive shaft before completion of its printing such that the trailing edge of the sheet projects past the printhead by momentum to complete its printing.

18. A mobile device according to claim 16, wherein the locking mechanism includes at least one cam mounted for rotation between an unlocked position and a locked position, the at least one cam being configured such that, in the unlocked position, it extends at least partially into the feed path when print media is not present, the at least one cam being positioned and configured to engage the print media edge as the print media is fed through the feed path such that the at least one cam is rotated by the print media into the locked position, such that, in the locked position, the capper is held in the uncapped position until after a trailing edge of the media is clear of the printhead, the at least one cam being configured to provide said retained engagement with said print media edge once printing is complete.

19. A mobile device according to claim 18, wherein the cam is resiliently biased to return to the unlocked position once the print media edge is removed from the mobile device, thereby causing the capper to return to the capped position.

20. A mobile device according to claim 18, wherein the at least one cam is mounted for rotation about an axis that is substantially normal to the print media as it engages the cam in the feed path.