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:
Jan. 11, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 07, 1997
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An ink detecting device capable of detecting the amount of ink in an ink tank uses a light emitting device to shine light toward a transparent member in a wall of the ink tank. The ink tank is used in a recording apparatus and is moved relative to a recording medium as a recording head ejects ink onto the recording medium A light receiving member receives light reflected on an inner surface of the transparent member when ink is not in contact with that surface. However, if ink is in contact with the inner surface, no light is reflected to the light receiving member. Thus, a reliable indication of the presence of ink in a movable ink tank, or plural movable ink tanks, can be obtained in the absence of physical contact therewith.