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:
Sep. 28, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 25, 2003
Applicant:
Inventors:
Satoshi Shibata, Chita-gun, JP;
Mutsuo Fukuoka, Ama-gun, JP;
Assignee:
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B41J 3/536 ; B41J 1/736 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B41J 3/536 ; B41J 1/736 ;
Abstract
A facsimile machine includes a detachable ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon and having an EEPROM that stores the amount of the ink ribbon consumed. In the facsimile machine, printing is performed while the ink ribbon is taken up by a take-up motor and the memory contents in the EEPROM are renewed according to the progress of printing. The facsimile machine further includes a ribbon-empty detector that detects that the facsimile machine runs out of the ink ribbon, and a CPU that resets the memory contents in the EEPROM of the ribbon cassette.