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. 29, 2015
Filed:
Dec. 04, 2014
Keyence Corporation, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka-shi, JP;
Hideki Yamakawa, Osaka, JP;
Keyence Corporation, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An object is to directly detect the emptiness of a solvent cartridge being mounted. An emptiness detection unit body includes a light transmissive tube which constitutes part of internal piping of a printer body, a light emitter, and a light receiver. The light transmissive tube is composed of a transparent tube, typically, a glass tube or a fluororesin (PFA) tube. The light emitter and the light receiver are arranged to face the light transmissive tube. The light transmissive tube is filled with a solvent supplied from the solvent cartridge. On the other hand, the light transmissive tube is filled with gas when the solvent cartridge is empty. The emptiness of the solvent cartridge is detected by a change in the amount of light received by the light receiver associated with the change in the light transmissive tube.