Hewlett-packard Company

Eastman-kodak Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Arthur King Wilson

Patricia S Brown

James J Haflinger

Dwight John Petruchik

W Wistar Rhoads

Jason R Arbeiter

Brian D Gragg

Mindy A Hamlin

Gary M Nobel

W Bruce Reid

Corrina A Hall

Gary Alan Kneezel

William Scott Osborne

Todd R Medin

Joseph S Wong

Jon J Fong

Majid Azmoon

Donald G Harris

George Craig Lysy

Mark Alan McCluskey

Richard A Becker

Vivian Wei Chow

Ronald F Burke

Damon Howard Lou

An ink tank having a tank housing; an electrical contact on the housing; an ink outlet port disposed on the housing; and at least one projection disposed adjacent the electrical contact on the housing, wherein the projection is configured for engaging a leaf spring of an inkjet printer. The leaf spring exerts an out and away pivoting force on the projection so that an electrical connection destination for the electrical contact is prevented until the ink tank is completely installed.

Ink tank feature for improved mounting reliability

An inkjet printhead that receives one or more detachably mountable ink tanks, the inkjet printhead includes an ink tank holding receptacle that receives the one or more detachably mountable ink tanks between a first and second wall; a spring disposed on the first wall of the printhead to provide a biasing force in a direction that pushes the detachably mountable ink tank away from the first wall of the printhead and which biasing force must be manually overcome in order to properly install the one or more detachably mountable ink tanks in the ink tank holding receptacle of the printhead.

Printhead with improved ink tank mounting reliability

An inkjet carriage that receives a print cartridge, the inkjet carriage includes a holding receptacle having a wall, wherein the holding receptacle is configured to receive the print cartridge; and a spring disposed on the wall of the holding receptacle to provide a biasing force in a direction that pushes the print cartridge away from the wall of the inkjet carriage and which biasing force must be manually overcome in order to properly install the print cartridge in the holding receptacle of the inkjet carriage.

Carriage with improved print cartridge mounting reliability

A method for measuring dimensions of a stack of medium in a media input location of an imaging system, includes emitting light along a direction that is at a predetermined angle with respect to the normal of the planar surface of the media input location. An array of photosensors are disposed along an array direction that lies in a plane defined by the direction of the light and the normal of the planar surface. The photosensors receive a spatially-varying pattern of light reflected from a surface that is substantially parallel to the planar surface of the media input location to provide corresponding electronic signal data from the photosensor array for subsequent transmission to a printing system controller. The varying electronic signal data is used to provide a measurement of the one or more dimensions corresponding to the stack of medium.

Media measurement with sensor array

A cleaning system and method for an optical apparatus of a printer. A heating apparatus and a cleaning apparatus are provided in the printer to dry deposits on an optical surface of the optical apparatus and to remove them through mechanical engagement. In an inkjet printer, these deposits are typically stray aerosol ink droplets. In some embodiments the optical apparatus is movable, while the cleaning apparatus is fixed; in other embodiments the cleaning apparatus is movable, while the optical apparatus is fixed; in still other embodiments both apparatuses are movable. The cleaning apparatus typically includes a wiper, brush, scraper, or pad. The optical apparatus typically includes one or more optical elements such as a light source, a light sensor, and a lens. The heating apparatus, which may be operated intermittantly or continuously, may be an heat or light source external to the optical apparatus and positionable in thermal proximity to it for drying the deposits; alternatively, the heating apparatus may be on or within the optical apparatus, or internal to one of the optical elements.

Automated removal of deposits on optical components in printers

Methods and apparatus for preventing damage to memory cards, memory card connectors, host electronics, and other electronic devices by only allowing intended electronic devices to mate with the connector for which it is intended and/or determining when an electronic device has been inserted into a connector upside down.

Methods and apparatus for preventing damage to memory cards, memory card connectors and other electronic devices

The contact pads of a print cartridge are formed on a flexible tape. Each of the uniformly spaced contact pads is preferably a square separated from an adjacent square by a minimum distance to provide each contact pad with a maximum area. Conductive traces run along the flexible tape and between the contact pads to allow for a minimum separation between contact pads, thus allowing the contact pads to be made relatively large. This improves the reliability of the interconnection between the pads and the printer electrodes.

Reliable contact pad arrangement on plastic print cartridge

Integrated localization panel

An inkjet printer including a first inkjet pen having a first electrical contact and a second inkjet pen having a second electrical contact the improvement which includes: a substrate; a third electrical contact on the substrate coupled to the first electrical contact on the first inkjet pen; a fourth electrical contact on the substrate coupled to the second electrical contact on the second inkjet pen; and a conductive layer deposited on the substrate electrically interconnecting the third electrical contact to the fourth electrical contact. The improved unitary interconnect system provides an interconnect system that reduces cost, is easier to assemble and align, and provides ground plane sharing for all of the inkjet pens.

Unitary interconnect system for an inkjet printer

An inkjet printer has a printhead mounted in a carriage which periodically moves along a printhead path in a carriage scan direction to a stop position in a service station where an actuation device imparts translational motion to a wiper blade. The wiper blade moves along a linear wiping path orthogonal to the printhead path and across ink orifices on a nozzle surface of the printhead during a wiping operation. The wiper blade is removably mounted on a base and is split to form a first blade for wiping one column of ink orifices and a second blade for simultaneously wiping another column of ink orifices on a nozzle surface of the printhead. In a preferred form of the invention, the service station provides different sequential wiping steps with successive wiper blades by first drawing ink onto the nozzle surface from the ink orifices with a rounded blade edge of a leading wiper blade, and then wiping the ink from the nozzle surface with a sharp blade edge of a following wiper blade. The sequential wiping steps are repeated twice during a normal wiping cycle--once when the wiper blades leave a parking location to wipe across the stationary printhead, and again when the wiper blades change direction to wipe back across the same stationary printhead to return to the parking location located away from the printhead path.

Translational wiping technique for a stationary inkjet printhead

The contact pads of a print cartridge are formed on a flexible tape. Each of the uniformly spaced contact pads is preferably a square separated from an adjacent square by a minimum distance to provide each contact pad with a maximum area. The contact pads are arranged on the flexible tape only along the side portions of the plastic print cartridge body, where body is generally flat, to avoid the pads being located in the sunken middle portion of the body, where the sinking occurs during the injection molding process used to form the body. This improves the reliability of the interconnection between the pads and the printer electrodes.

A versatile flexible interconnect circuit for use with an inkjet printer. The inventive flexible interconnect circuit comprises a unitary flexible substrate having a first end and a second end. A first plurality of contacts is arranged on the first end of the substrate in a first configuration. A first plurality of conductive traces connects the first plurality of contacts to a second plurality of contacts disposed on the second end of the substrate. A third plurality of contacts is arranged on the first end of the substrate in a second configuration. A second plurality of conductive traces connects the third plurality of contacts to a fourth plurality of contacts disposed on the second end of the substrate. In a specific embodiment, the first plurality of contacts includes plural electrical ground contacts and the first plurality of conductive traces includes a conductive trace which connects the electrical ground contacts. The inventive flex circuit allows for the use of pens with different contact configurations in a single inkjet printer.

Flex circuit with multiple trace configurations and method of manufacture

An improved electrical interconnect system for a flexible circuit which includes: a flexible first layer; at least one protrusion on the flexible first layer that has an electrical contact; a second layer having at least one electrical contact; and a spring apparatus coupled to the flexible first layer and to the second layer for pressing the electrical contact on a protrusion on the flexible first layer to the electrical contact on the second layer to electrically connect the electrical contact on the protrusion to the electrical contact on the second layer. In a specific embodiment the spring apparatus for pressing the electrical contact on the protrusion of the flexible first layer to the electrical contact on the second layer includes relief for allowing the flexible first layer to deform during assembly of the improved electrical interconnect system for a flexible circuit. In an alternate specific embodiment the electrical contacts on the protrusions on the flexible first layer and the corresponding electrical contacts on the second layer are coated with gold. In another alternate specific embodiment the improved electrical interconnect system includes an alignment apparatus coupled to the flexible first layer and the second layer and the spring apparatus for aligning the flexible first layer with the second layer and the spring apparatus. The improved electrical interconnect system for a flexible circuit provides higher interconnect density, reduced cost and increased reliability compared to conventional interconnect systems.

Electrical interconnect system for a flexible circuit

An apparatus and method for providing proper electrical contact between corresponding interconnect pads of a print cartridge and a print carriage are disclosed. One end of a flex circuit having interconnect pads of the print carriage is attached to one side of the print carriage while the other end of the flex circuit may be substantially free or attached to an opposing side of the print carriage. When the print cartridge is initially inserted into the print carriage, a gimbal spring causes the flex circuit interconnect pads to preliminarily come in contact with the print cartridge interconnect pads before the print cartridge is completely inserted. As the print cartridge is further inserted, the print cartridge pushes out any excess slack in the flex circuit while providing a wiping action between the interconnect pads of the print cartridge and the flex circuit. This wiping action between the interconnect pads scrapes away any contaminants and corrosion, thus ensuring reliable electrical contact.

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Arthur King Wilson