Lexmark International, Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

John Dennis Zbrozek

Timothy Lowell Strunk

Frank Edward Anderson

James Harold Powers

Bruce David Gibson

George Keith Parish

Christopher Alan Adkins

William Henry Reed

Curtis Ray Droege

Fred Young Brandon

Kenneth James Harshbarger

William Michael Toon

Adam Jude Ahne

Ashok Murthy

Carl Edmond Sullivan

James Lee Combs

Gary Raymond Williams

Kent Lee Ubellacker

Lawrence Russell Steward

David R Thomas

Barry Richard Cavill

David Vincent Iorio

Charles Spencer Whitman

Francis Foldes, Jr

Aaron Wendell Billings

David L Sandbach, Jr

Elbert A Cheek

A licensing method includes the steps of establishing a licensing vendor; providing an imaging device that uses an imaging media in forming printed images on print media, the imaging media including an initial supply amount of an imaging substance; associating a usage license with at least one of the imaging device and the imaging media, the usage license defining a first usage threshold at which a consumer is prompted to acquire a new license; and providing a license monitoring mechanism communicatively coupled with the imaging device, the license monitoring mechanism performing the steps of tracking an amount of usage of the imaging media by the imaging device; determining whether the amount of usage of the imaging media by the imaging device has reached a usage threshold; and upon reaching the usage threshold, then prompting the consumer to acquire the new license from the licensing vendor.

Licensing method for use with an imaging device

A method informs a user of an ink jet printer of the end of life of a consumable. The consumable supplies ink to a printhead having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and an associated plurality of ink jetting actuators, each of the plurality of ink jetting actuators being addressable. The printhead includes a plurality of address lines for facilitating selection of one or more of the plurality of ink jetting actuators. The method includes the steps of defining a notice threshold that is associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in the consumable; providing control logic for selectively controlling the plurality of address lines; determining whether the amount of ink remaining in the consumable has reached the notice threshold; and upon reaching the notice threshold, reducing an image density of images formed by the printhead by selectively disabling at least one of the plurality of address lines.

Method of informing a user of end of life of a consumable for an ink jet printer

An apparatus for connecting a printer to a cellular radio system. The adapter allows the printer to conduct facsimile operations. The adapter has a facsimile module which includes executable instructions for decoding fax data and processing the fax data to generate print data for printing; a cell radio; one or more communication ports having at least one of the communication ports in communication with the printer; and a data encoder in communication with the facsimile module and the cell radio. The data encoder is configured to convert data transmitted between the facsimile module and the cell radio.

Wireless facsimile adapter and system for printer and all-in-one devices and methods using the same

Method of warning a user of end of life of a consumable for an ink jet printer

An improved multi-fluid jetting device. The jetting device includes a nozzle plate having a substantially planar surface for ejecting a fluid therefrom. The nozzle plate has at least 10 or more nozzles wherein groups of three adjacent nozzles are arranged in a triad orientation and wherein at least two adjacent nozzles in said triad orientation are coupled to two different fluid sources for fluid ejection from said adjacent nozzles substantially perpendicular to said nozzle plate surface.

Multi-fluid jetting device

A removable cassette for a photoprinter includes a reservoir containing a consumable source of ink adapted to be used by the photoprinter for printing, and a consumable supply of printable media sheets adapted to be printed upon by the photoprinter using the source of ink. The consumable source of ink for use with the photoprinter, and the printable media sheets for use with the photoprinter in conjunction with the consumable source of ink, wherein the consumable source of ink and the printable media sheets are integrated into the cassette removable from the photoprinter.

Removable cassette having integrated supply of consumables

A printer having a media path through which a media sheet having a first surface and a second surface is transported. The printer includes a printhead, and a media frame having a base and an extension portion angularly extending upwardly away from the base. The base has a first edge spaced apart from a second edge. The first and second edges are located for contacting the media sheet on the first surface. The extension portion has a support surface for providing support for the media sheet at the first surface. The printer further includes a roller assembly having a roller positioned opposed to the extension portion, the roller engaging the second surface of the media sheet to define a line of contact with the media sheet. The line of contact defined by the roller and the first edge of the base determine a first curvature of the media sheet having a first radius, and the first edge and the second edge determine a second curvature of the media sheet having a second radius.

Media feed unit for an ink jet printer

A heater chip module is provided comprising a carrier adapted to be secured to an ink-filled container, at least one heater chip having a base coupled to the carrier, and at least one nozzle plate coupled to the heater chip. The carrier includes a support section provided with two or more channels which define paths for ink to travel from the container to the heater chip. The heater chip is secured at its base to the support section. Carrier material located between the channels define ribs which provide a path for energy in the form of heat to travel from the heater chip to the carrier. A flexible circuit is coupled to the heater chip module such as by TAB bonding or wire bonding.

Heater chip module and process for making same

A nozzle plate for an inkjet printer including a first nozzle array having a plurality of nozzles, each of which is positioned to correspond to a desired print location, with the print location of each of the nozzles of the first array being different from one another; and a second nozzle array having a plurality of nozzles, each of which is positioned to correspond to a desired print location, with the print location of each of the nozzles of the second array corresponding to one of the print locations of the first array such that the first and second arrays each have one nozzle corresponding to each desired print location.

Nozzle array for printhead

A method of printing with an ink jet printer compensates for skewed printing on a print medium. An image area is defined on the print medium which has a plurality of rows of pixel locations and a plurality of columns of pixel locations. A printhead includes a plurality of vertically adjacent ink emitting orifices arranged in an array having a height. The printhead is scanned during first and second scans across the print medium in directions transverse to the advance direction. The ink is jetted onto the print medium from the ink emitting orifices during the first and second scans at selected ink dot placement locations generally corresponding to one of the columns of pixel locations. An offset is determined in a transverse direction between a bottom ink dot placement location associated with the first scan and a top ink dot placement location associated with the second scan. The array of ink emitting orifices is segmented into at least two vertically adjacent segments of ink emitting orifices. The ink dot placement locations associated with at least one of the segments is shifted in a direction transverse to the advance direction a distance which is dependent upon the determined offset. The ink dot placement locations associated with at least one other of the segments remains unchanged. Printing on the print medium is carried out using the shifted ink dot placement locations.

Method of compensating for skewed printing in an ink jet printer

An ink-jet printer cartridge having a center reservoir chamber and two side reservoir chambers for holding inks of three different colors is provided with ink flow pathways of special configuration for connecting the reservoir chambers to exit ports at the print element. The ink flow pathways are provided with ridges extending along substantially their entire lengths so that air bubbles cannot completely block ink flow through the pathways. The ink flow pathways are disposed such that they have a vertical component of direction over their entire length and the pathways connecting the side reservoir chambers to exit ports include duct portions disposed at compound angles relative to the axes of the cartridge so that air bubbles, because of their buoyancy, will naturally tend to drift upwardly through the inclined ducts toward the reservoir chambers during normal usage, or drift toward the exit openings when the cartridge is inverted for priming. The duct portions of the ink flow pathways are generally trapezoidal in cross-section, the side walls intersecting the top wall at acute angles so that air bubbles cannot completely block the duct portions. The duct portions have end surfaces for directing air bubbles toward the reservoir chambers during priming, the end surfaces being end faces of plugs.

Ink jet print head cartridge

Reliable connecting pathways for a three-color ink-jet cartridge

In a print head for ink jet printing a nozzle plate with a nozzle array is gold plated. The gold plated nozzle array is bonded to the polymer ink barrier layer on an electronic chip by a thin layer of tantalum, zirconium, titanium or silicon dioxide. The thin layer greatly increases the ability of the surface to bond chemically to the polymer.

Ink jet printing nozzle array bonded to a polymer ink barrier layer

Data from a patch memory (23) is substituted for that in a system ROM (9) by applying high order addresses to a standard PLA (19) having word lines (FIG. 3, 50a-50p). The address orders are separately applied to EXCLUSIVE OR circuits (27a-27g). The PLA (19) is personalized to activate line (21) at addresses to be substituted and to provide logical zeros to the EXCLUSIVE OR circuits (27a-27g) which change during the patch. Only one word line is required for each continuous patch, which vary in size on a patch-by-patch basis. The circuit is fast and efficient. It can be used for a wide variety of memory substitution applications.

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, KY, United States of America

John Dennis Zbrozek