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:
Jul. 01, 2014
Filed:
Sep. 15, 2009
Paul Mark Haines, Corvallis, OR (US);
Ronald J. Ender, Corvallis, OR (US);
Craig L. Malik, Corvallis, OR (US);
Paul Mark Haines, Corvallis, OR (US);
Ronald J. Ender, Corvallis, OR (US);
Craig L. Malik, Corvallis, OR (US);
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A removable ink supply comprises an ink container including a coupler configured to removably engage a receiver of an ink supply station of an image forming apparatus. The coupler includes an end portion including an array of key holes with each key hole configured to removably receive a respective one key of an array of at least partially conductive keys of the receiver of the ink supply station. A conductive component of the coupler is positioned within the coupler and spaced apart from the end portion. The conductive component is in axial alignment with at least some of the respective key holes to be positioned for selective, removable contact with at least some of the respective keys of the receiver. An absence or a presence of removable contact between the conductive component and the key indicates an out-of-ink status of the image forming apparatus.