The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 09, 1999
Filed:
Jul. 17, 1996
Takeo Fujii, Tokyo, JP;
Oki Data Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A recording apparatus has a print head with an ink tank for supplying ink to the print head. The ink tank is carried together with a print head on a carriage, which is moved over a print medium so that the print head prints data on the print medium. The ink tank has an ink-empty sensor which outputs a first signal upon detecting that the ink in the ink tank has decreased to a lower limit. A controller causes the carriage to move to an ink-refilling position in response to the first signal. Then, the controller causes an ink-refilling mechanism to refill the ink tank with ink from an ink reservoir located above the ink tank. The ink tank also has an ink-full sensor which outputs a second signal upon detecting that the ink in the ink tank has increased to an upper limit. The ink-refilling mechanism stops an ink-refilling operation in response to the second signal. A timer may be used in place of the ink-full sensor. The timer outputs an output a predetermined time length after initiation of the ink-refilling operation, and the ink-refilling mechanism completes ink-refilling operation in response to the output of the timer.