Lexmark International, Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

Darell Dean Cronch

Patricia A Graham

Michael Anthony Marra, Iii

Frank Edward Anderson

Christopher Alan Adkins

Barry Baxter Stout

Mark Joseph Edwards

Edmund Hulin James, Iii

John Philip Bolash

Thomas Jon Eade

James P Wang

Mark Walter Fagan

John K Brown, Iii

David Michael Cseledy

Alexander Lloyd Chapman

John E Passafiume

Paul Harrington, Iii

Robert F McDaniel

Hugh Edwin Gilbert

Daniel Aaron Leverett

Freddie M Lawson

Dariush Aboonasry

Richard T Fisher

Kevin N Tucker

A switching power supply, with or without a secondary side controller, is connectable to a power-supply-using device (such as a printer without a power supply) receiving a voltage from the power-supply's secondary side. The device has a device controller (such as a printer controller) which controls the device, wherein the power supply is adapted to receive a power-supply control signal or power-supply control data from the device controller. A method for operating the switching power supply includes using the power-supply control signal or the power-supply control data to generate an input control signal for the power supply's primary side controller. A device-and-power-supply assembly (such as a printer) includes a switching power supply lacking a secondary side controller and includes a power-supply-using device having a device controller (such as a printer controller) wherein the power supply is adapted to receive a power-supply control signal from the device controller.

Switching power supply, method of operation and device-and-power-supply assembly

The manner in which power is supplied to the firing elements of an ink jet printhead is improved by moving a power supply capacitor from the printer to the print head cartridge to improve the regulation of the supply of power to the firing elements of the print head cartridge. The capacitor can be attached to the tab circuit with solder or other wire bonding techniques. Placing the capacitor on the print head cartridge reduces the impedance between the capacitor and the print head, allows the capacitor to be matched to the print head cartridge firing requirements, allows remote voltage sensing at the print head, provides better voltage regulation at the print head and reduces the likelihood the printhead electronics will be damaged due to voltage spiking.

Print head energy storage

A method of printing on a print medium with a printer which is in communication with a host computer includes the steps of providing the host computer with a print job to be printed by the printer, identifying a data format associated with the print job, determining an operating system stored in the printer, comparing the data format with the printer operating system, downloading an operating system which corresponds to the data format from the host computer to the printer if the printer operating system does not correspond to the data format, transmitting print data associated with the print job from the host computer to the printer, and printing on the print medium with the printer using the print data.

Dynamic printer operating system

An encoder including a light source for emitting light, a photodetector for detecting at least part of the light emitted by the light source, and an encoder film including a plurality of alternating bars and windows and being located between the light source and the photodetector. The encoder includes a mask including a plurality of alternating bars and windows, the mask being located between the light source and the photodetector. The encoder further includes a spacer located between the mask and the encoder film, the encoder film contacting the spacer to maintain a predetermined spacing between the mask and the encoder film.

Encoder with mask spacer contacting the encoder film

The invention described in the specification relates to an ink jet printer with multiple print heads that allows for the less restrictive installation of print head cartridges. The print head carriers are designed so that any of a variety of different types of print head cartridges can be inserted into any of the print head carriers. When image data is received, the ink jet printer's processor determines the appropriate type of print head cartridge that should be used to print the image data. Information electronically stored on the print head cartridges in the form of a read-only memory (ROM), bar code, or optical LED's, identifies the type of each print head cartridge. The printer processor examines this identification information on the installed print head cartridges to determine if one of the print head carriers contains the desired type of print head cartridge. If the desired type of print head cartridge is located, the printer processor configures the printer itself to print with the desired cartridge in the particular print head carrier location in which the desired cartridge was found. If the printer cannot locate the desired type of print head cartridge in any of the multiple print head carriers, a error message is displayed informing the user that the proper print head cartridge is not installed.

Less restrictive print head cartridge installation in an ink jet printer

Word processor system unit

A function for an electronic typewriter is described which allows the operator of the typewriter to realign the print element of the typewriter to the prior adjacent, or the following adjacent line which contains textual material, even when the present position of the print element is other than a uniform line feed increment or multiple thereof, from the designated destination line. The electronic controls of the typewriter determine the present position of the print element and the vertical location of the line to which the print element is to move, and determines the distance and moves the record sheet to position the print element precisely over the designated line of text.

Line find feature for an electronic typewriter

For step motors positioned in response to an external reference location, correction for potential one step misalignment is provided. The method and the apparatus of the invention provide a read/write memory, for storing therein a phase state of the step motor at a particular location, e.g. a home position. The home position may coincide with the external reference location or may be offset therefrom by some predetermined move of the step motor. During cold starts, where memory is not retained, the step motor is moved to its home position and then the phase state of the machine is saved. On subsequent warm starts, after the step motor is moved to the assumed home position, the step motor is controlled to assume the phase state that has been previously stored.

Self-adjusting homing for a stepping motor

Growing community of inventors

Georgetown, KY, United States of America

Darell Dean Cronch