Mobile telecommunication device with a printhead and single media feed roller

• US 7,607,774 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2005
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Zamtec Limited (Memjet Limited)
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, Walmsley, Simon Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Legesse; Henok
• Application Number:
  US11/124,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20060250489A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,632 Days
• Field of Search: 347/101, 347/104, 347/109, 347/16, 347/19
• US Class Current: 347/104
• 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 telecommunications device comprising: an inkjet printhead for printing to a media substrate; a drive shaft for feeding the media past the printhead; and, a print engine controller for operatively controlling the printhead; wherein during use, the print engine controller senses the number of complete and partial rotations of the media feed roller and adjusts the operation of the printhead in response to variations in the angular velocity of the drive shaft.

Claims

1. A mobile telecommunications device comprising:

a media feed path;

an inkjet printhead for printing to a media substrate;

a drive shaft for feeding the media substrate past the printhead;

a media guide surface for biasing the media substrate against the drive shaft such that the media substrate slides over the media guide surface as the drive shaft feeds the media substrate past the printhead by contact friction; and

,

a print engine controller for operatively controlling the printhead, such that the print engine controller senses the number of complete and partial rotations of the drive shaft and adjusts the operation of the printhead in response to variations in the angular velocity of the drive shaft;

wherein,

the printhead, the drive shaft and the media guide surface are incorporated into a replaceable cartridge for insertion into the print media feed path within the mobile telecommunications device;

the printhead has a capper assembly movable between a capped position covering nozzles of the printhead and an uncapped position spaced from the nozzles, the capper assembly being adapted for engagement a leading edge of the media substrate to move the capper from the capped position and towards the uncapped position; and

the drive shaft disengages a trailing edge of the media substrate before the trailing edge is printed, the trailing edge being projected past the printhead by momentum and the capper assembly grips the media substrate after the media substrate has been printed so that the media substrate partially extends from the mobile telecommunications device in readiness for manual collection.

2. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the drive shaft has optical encoding and the print engine controller uses an optical sensor to sense the number of complete and partial rotations of the drive shaft.

3. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the capper assembly returns to the capped position after the media substrate has been manually collected from the mobile telecommunications device.

4. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the printhead has an array of ink ejection nozzles and is incorporated into a cartridge that further comprises 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 telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the print engine controller has a light emitting beacon for transmitting print data as an optical data signal, and the printhead comprises:

an array of nozzles for ejecting ink;

a photosensor for optically receiving the optical data signal from the beacon and converting the optical data signal into an electrical data signal; and

print data circuitry for receiving the electrical data signal and for providing the nozzles with print data.

6. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the drive shaft is driven by a piezo-electric resonant linear drive system.

7. A mobile telecommunications 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.

8. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising at least one ink reservoir, the at least one 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.

9. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising a sensor for reading coded data on at least part of the media substrate and generating a signal indicative of at least one dimension of the sheet, and transmitting the signal to the print engine controller;

such that,

the print engine controller uses the signal to initiate the printing when the sheet is at a predetermined position relative to the printhead.

10. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising a dual sensing facility for reading coded data on at least part of the media substrate before, as well as after, it has past the printhead.