EP1568504B1 - Method of preparing ink containers filled with ink - Google Patents
Method of preparing ink containers filled with ink Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1568504B1 EP1568504B1 EP05104759A EP05104759A EP1568504B1 EP 1568504 B1 EP1568504 B1 EP 1568504B1 EP 05104759 A EP05104759 A EP 05104759A EP 05104759 A EP05104759 A EP 05104759A EP 1568504 B1 EP1568504 B1 EP 1568504B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- ink
- temperature
- container
- viscosity
- containers
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17506—Refilling of the cartridge
- B41J2/17509—Whilst mounted in the printer
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17543—Cartridge presence detection or type identification
- B41J2/17546—Cartridge presence detection or type identification electronically
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17559—Cartridge manufacturing
Description
- The invention relates to a method of preparing ink containers that are adapted to be inserted in an ink jet printing system comprising a print head, an ink supply system for connecting the ink container to the nozzles of the print head, and a temperature control system.
- It is well known in the art of ink jet printing that the viscosity of the ink being used has a critical impact on the performance of the print head and on the quality of the printed image, mainly because the viscosity of the ink influences the size of the ink droplets that are generated by the print head and are then deposited on the recording medium. Since the viscosity depends on the temperature of the ink, printing systems of the type indicated above are equipped with a temperature control system which controls the operating temperature of the ink and thereby indirectly controls the ink viscosity.
- In an ink jet printing system intended for operation at a temperature close to room temperature, the ink may be heated beyond admissible limits by the heat energy dissipated in the print head in the course of droplet generation. In view of this problem,
US-A-5 168 284 discloses a temperature control system in which the print head is caused to generate non-printing pulses the energy of which is not sufficient for generating an ink droplet and the only purpose of which is to dissipate to the ink an amount of heat which is comparable to the amount of heat created in a drop generating process. Thus, the equilibrium between heat generation in the print head and heat dissipation to a heat sink can be stabilised regardless of the number of droplets being generated per time unit. By controlling the number and/or energy of the non-printing pulses, it is then possible to control the temperature of the ink either in an open loop or in a closed loop. - In a hot melt ink jet printer, where the operating temperature of the ink is in the order of 100°C or more, a temperature control system is generally needed for keeping the ink at the operating temperature.
EP-A-0 416 557 discloses a temperature control system which is used for adapting the operating temperature and hence the viscosity of the ink to the type of recording medium being used. The optimal viscosity of the ink is determined beforehand for a number of different types of recording paper. Then, the target temperature of a temperature control system is set to a value at which the viscosity of the ink corresponds to the optimal viscosity for the recording paper that is currently being used. Of course, since the viscosity of the ink depends not only on the temperature but also on the chemical composition of the ink, it is prerequisite in such a system that the chemical composition of the ink is known. - It is a general principle in the art of ink jet printing that a specific print head should only be used with a specific type of ink. If a different type of ink is used, which is not adapted to the specific print head, then the deviation of the ink viscosity from the value for which the print head is designed may result in a poor quality of the printed image or even in damage to the print head. It has therefore always been a concern of manufacturers of ink jet printers to make sure that the printers are used only with the specified type of ink. To this end, it has been proposed for example in
US-A-5 049 898 andDE-A-34 05 164 that the ink container is provided with a memory element, e.g. a magnetic strip, a bar code or an electronic memory chip, the contents of which can be read when the container is mounted to the print head. The memory element may include among others information on the type of ink contained in the container, and when the type of ink read from the memory element does not match with the type of ink prescribed for the print head, then the printing operation will be blocked. In this case, the memory element may also include information on the amount of ink that is initially or currently contained in the ink container, and by monitoring the consumption of ink in the printer, it is possible to alert the user when the supply of ink in the container is going to be exhausted. This system may also be used to prevent unauthorised refilling of the ink container, thereby assuring that the container will always contain the type of ink that is specified on the memory element. -
US-A-5 502 467 discloses an ink jet print head which includes a viscosity detector with which the viscosity of the ink can be measured directly, and the result of this measurement is then fed back to the temperature control system, so that the temperature of the ink is varied in order to feedback-control the viscosity of the ink to a given target value. However, this system has the drawback that an expensive viscosity detector is needed for measuring the viscosity with sufficient accuracy. In practice, the viscosity detector is formed by a fluidic bridge circuit which only detects the offset of the viscosity from a preset target value. As a result, it would be difficult to vary the ink viscosity in accordance with the properties of the recording medium. In addition, the optimal viscosity of the ink may be different for different types of ink, e.g., for different ink colours in a multi-colour printer. Thus, even when the viscosity is measured directly in the print head, it is difficult to keep the viscosity of inks of different type at the optimal value for obtaining high quality printed images. -
US-A-6 019 461 discloses an ink jet printing system comprising an ink cartridge which has a memory device in which information on the ink cartridge is stored. This information includes among others the viscosity and the temperature coefficient of the ink. When the cartridge is inserted into the ink jet printer, a control unit of the printer can automatically read the contents of the memory of the cartridge and can decide whether the specifications stored in the memory match which the ink specifications for the printer. If the specification is not matched, the cartridge is rejected as being not useable for this printer. The control unit further determines the drive voltage for the print elements of the printer in accordance with the ambient temperature and the values of the viscosity and temperature coefficient of the ink read from the memory. -
US-A-5 689 297 andEP-A-816 085 -
European patent application EP-A-1 208 988 , from which the present application has been separated, discloses an ink jet printing system in which a reliable operation of the print head and a high quality of the printed image can be assured in spite of variations in the composition of the ink that is being used. - It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of preparing ink containers that are suitable for use in such a printing system.
- The method according to the invention comprises the steps of preparing a batch of ink to be filled into a plurality of said ink containers, measuring the viscosity of the ink prepared in that batch, determining an optimal operating temperature for the ink on the basis of the measured viscosity, and programming the ink containers in accordance with the temperature thus determined, by physically encoding an information, which permits to determine said optimal operating temperature, on the ink containers so as to be read by the temperature control system.
- The information permitting to determine an optimal operating temperature may in the simplest case consist of a target value to which the temperature of the ink in the ink supply system shall be controlled. More generally, this information may include a plurality of target values among which a specific target value may be selected in response to other printing parameters, e.g. the type of print head and/or the type of recording medium. In yet another embodiment, this information may include one or more target values for the viscosity of the ink, along with a table or a function establishing a relation between temperature and viscosity for the specific ink contained in the container. The information may further include the time dependency of the optimal target value, e.g. in view of ageing if the ink. In any case, when the ink container is inserted in the printer, the temperature control system can derive the target value for the temperature from the information encoded on the container, so that the operating temperature of the ink is optimally adapted to the composition of the ink and, as the case may be, to other printing parameters. This assures a very high print quality even in cases where the composition of the ink being used is not always exactly the same.
- It is accordingly a remarkable advantage of the invention that one and the same printer may accept different types of ink, because the viscosity of the ink can automatically be adapted to the demands of the print head by appropriate temperature control. This reduces significantly the expenses for manufacturing, storing, administrating and distributing suitable types of ink containers to a large number of customers using different types of printers.
- On the other hand, even when only a specific type of ink is to be used for a given printer, the invention has the advantage that a higher quality of the printed images can be achieved. The reason is that, due to slight variations in the manufacturing conditions, the chemical and physical properties of the ink may vary even when the type of ink is not changed. This is especially the case if ink containers of the same type have been produced in different batches. Then, since the manufacturer of the ink containers may measure the properties of the ink for each individual batch, and the optimal operating temperature or viscosity of the ink is derived from this measurement and is encoded on the ink containers which are filled with the ink of the pertinent batch, slight changes in the properties of the ink from batch to batch may be reflected by corresponding changes in the information given on the ink containers.
- Useful details of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.
- The physical encoding on the ink container is preferably in the form of a digital electronic memory, e.g. an integrated circuit chip (an EPROM for example) that has been suitably programmed on behalf of the ink manufacturer. As is generally known in the art, this chip may also include other useful information, such as a serial number of the ink container, the date of production, the amount of ink contained in the container, and the like. If desired, this chip may also be used for refill protection, for example by programming the chip to send a disabling signal to the printer once the contents of the container have become exhausted.
- The power supply for the chip and the exchange of signals between the chip and the printer may be provided for by a plurality of mating electrical contacts on the ink container and on a socket of the print head to which the container is fitted. As an alternative, the electronic chip may form part of a transponder which is adapted for wireless power supply and data exchange, as is generally known in the art.
- A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
- Fig. 1
- is a schematic view of a printing system to swhich the invention is applicable;
- Fig. 2
- is a diagram illustrating a time dependency of an ink operating temperature;
- Fig. 3
- is a table of contents of a memory chip of an ink container; and
- Fig. 4
- is a diagram illustrating the method of preparing the ink containers.
- The ink jet printing system shown in
figure 1 comprises a four-colour print head 10 having four nozzles blocks 12, one for each colour, and each nozzle block has a linear array ofnozzles 14 through which ink droplets are jetted-out as theprint head 10 scans the surface of a recording medium (not shown). Eachnozzle block 12 has a socket (not shown) to which anink container 18 may be fitted or to which it is connected by a duct. Theink containers 18 shown infigure 1 have relatively small dimensions in comparison to thenozzle blocks 12. It will be understood however that, in practice, the size of theink containers 18 may be considerably larger, so that the amount of ink originally filled therein may be as large as 350 ml or even 500 ml. - Each of the nozzles blocks 12 has an ink supply system which connects the
corresponding ink container 18 to each of thenozzles 14. The ink supply system is represented here as anink reservoir 20 formed in eachnozzle block 12. Eachnozzle 14 is connected to theink reservoir 20 through an ink channel which has not been shown in the drawing for simplicity. An actuating mechanism for drop generation is associated with each of the ink channels, so that eachnozzle 14 may be energised individually. The actuating mechanisms may be of any known type, e.g. a bubble-jet mechanism, a piezoelectric mechanism and the like. - Each of the
ink reservoirs 20 has a heating element 22 and atemperature sensor 24 which are each electrically connected to acontrol unit 26 which controls the temperature of the liquid ink contained in theink reservoir 20. Thetemperature sensor 24 is located in proximity to the nozzle side of theink reservoir 20 so as to detect the temperature at which the ink is supplied to the nozzles. - By way of example, it may be assumed that the
print head 10 is a hot melt ink jet print head. Then, theink containers 18 may contain solid ink pellets which are dropped one-by-one into theink reservoirs 20 upon demand, and the ink is heated and melted in theink reservoirs 20 by means of the heating element 22. - It will be understood however that the invention is also applicable to ink systems operating at room temperature. In this case, the
ink containers 18 will contain liquid ink which is sealed in the container by a seal (not shown) which is automatically broken when the container is plugged into the socket, as is well known in the art. If the ink is liquid at room temperature, the the heating element 22 is used only to heat the ink to an operating temperature which may be slightly above room temperature. Optionally, the heating element 22 may be replaced by a cooling element or a heating/cooling element such as a Peltier element, so that the operating temperature of the ink may be controlled to a value which is at or even slightly below the ambient temperature. - Each ink container has a
memory chip 28, e.g. an integrated circuit semiconductor chip, which, in the example shown, is embedded in the plastic wall of theink container 18 and has contacts (not shown) exposed to the outside, so that they may be contacted by a readinghead 30. Each readinghead 30 is connected to thecontrol unit 26. - Each
memory chip 28 stores information which is processed in thecontrol unit 26 to determine a target value to which the temperature of the ink in theink reservoirs 20 is controlled when theprint head 10 is operating. In the simplest case, this information may consist just of the target value itself, and this target value is specifically adapted to the type of ink contained in theink reservoir 18, so that the operating temperature and viscosity of the ink in theink reservoir 20 is kept at a value which is optimal for the specific type of ink. Since the fourink containers 18 shown infigure 1 accommodate ink of different colour, it will be understood that the target values stored in each of thememory chips 28 may be different from one another and may be individually adapted to the type and colour of the ink. - A more elaborated embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with
figures 2 and 3 . - Depending on the ink system employed, the ink may be subject to ageing, and, as a result, the optimal operating temperature of the ink may be time-dependent. The
graph 31 shown infigure 2 illustrates a linear relationship between the optimal operating temperature T of the ink and the time t. When theink container 18 is filled with fresh ink on the side of the manufacturer at the time t = 0, the corresponding optimal operating temperature is T(0). With the lapse of a certain time interval Dt (which may be in the order to several months or years), the optimal operating temperature T increases by an amount DT. Thus, the optimal operating temperature (T(t)) at any given time t will be given by the formula: -
Figure 3 illustrates an example of the contents that may be stored in thememory chip 28. These contents comprise a 64 bit serial number and 256 bit of additional information. This additional information includes the colour of the ink, the ink type (specifying the chemical composition of the ink), the initial quantity of ink filled into the ink container on the side of the manufacturer, the filling date and the parameters T(0) and DT/Dt the meaning of which has been expained above. These parameters are given, in the form of a table, for two different types of printers A and B. Thus, provided that the printer A or B has an internal clock or has access to the current date through a network, thecontrol unit 26 is capable of calculating the time-dependent optimal ink temperature T on the basis of the formula given above, wherein t is the time difference between the current date and the filling date stored on the memory chip, and the parameters T(0) and DT/Dt are looked-up in the pertinent column of the table. -
Figure 4 illustrates a method for preparing theink containers 18, i.e., for filling the ink containers with ink and programming thememory chip 18. - In a first step, a batch of
ink 32 sufficient for filling a large number ofink containers 18 is prepared in atank 34. Then, in a fillingstation 36, theink 32 is filled into thevarious containers 18, and the containers are sealed. A small portion of theink 32 is taken from thetank 34 as asample 38 and is supplied to aviscosity meter 40. The temperature of thesample 38 in theviscosity meter 40 is varied, so that the viscosity of the ink is measured for a temperature range covering the range of possible operating temperatures of the print heads 10. The measurement results are supplied to aprogramming unit 42. On the basis of the known optimal viscosity of theink 32 for theprint head 10, theprogramming unit 42 determines the target temperature T at which theink 32 has this optimal viscosity. The temperature value T thus obtained is stored in thememory chips 28 of each of theink containers 18 either before or after they have been filled in the fillingstation 36. - When another batch is prepared in the
tank 34, the same procedure is repeated for the new batch, and the optimal temperature value T obtained for the new batch may be different from that obtained for the former one. - This process assures that the target temperatures stored in the
memory chips 28 of theink containers 18 are precisely adapted to the physical properties of the ink produced in one batch. As a result, a uniformly high print quality can be obtained regardless of slight batch-to-batch-fluctuations in the physical properties of the ink.
Claims (6)
- Method of preparing ink containers that are adapted to be inserted in an ink jet printing system comprising a print head (10), an ink supply system for connecting the ink container (18) to the nozzles (14) of the print head (10), and a temperature control system controlling the temperature of the ink (26), characterized by the steps of preparing a batch of ink (32), measuring the viscosity of the ink prepared in that batch, determining an optimal operating temperature (T) for the ink on the basis of the measured viscosity, filling the ink into a plurality of said ink containers (18), and programming the ink containers (18) in accordance with the temperature thus determined, by physically encoding on the ink containers (18) an information (T(0); DT/Dt) which permits to determine said optimal operating temperature, said encoded information being adapted to be read by the temperature control system (26).
- Method according to claim 1, wherein the physical encoding on the ink container (18) is performed by programming an electronic memory chip (28) adapted to communicate with a reading head (30) incorporated in a socket (16) into which the ink container (18) is inserted to connect it with the ink supply system (20).
- Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ink is a hot-melt ink.
- Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said programming step includes a step of encoding on the ink container (18) at least one target value (T(0)) for the temperature of the ink.
- Method according to claim 4, wherein said programming step includes a step of encoding on the ink container (18) a filling date of the ink container and information (DT/Dt) indicating the time dependence of the optimal operating temperature of the ink.
- Method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said information is in the form of a table indicating different operating temperatures for different types of print head.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP05104759A EP1568504B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Method of preparing ink containers filled with ink |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP00204200A EP1208986A1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2000-11-27 | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
EP00204200 | 2000-11-27 | ||
EP20010204367 EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
EP05104759A EP1568504B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Method of preparing ink containers filled with ink |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP20010204367 Division EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1568504A2 EP1568504A2 (en) | 2005-08-31 |
EP1568504A3 EP1568504A3 (en) | 2007-01-31 |
EP1568504B1 true EP1568504B1 (en) | 2008-10-22 |
Family
ID=26072871
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP20010204367 Expired - Lifetime EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
EP05104759A Expired - Lifetime EP1568504B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Method of preparing ink containers filled with ink |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP20010204367 Expired - Lifetime EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2001-11-12 | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
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EP (2) | EP1208988B1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2005-11-23 | Océ-Technologies B.V. | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
JP3815308B2 (en) * | 2001-11-26 | 2006-08-30 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Ink jet recording apparatus and ink cartridge |
GB0720289D0 (en) | 2007-10-12 | 2007-11-28 | Videojet Technologies Inc | Ink jet printer |
GB201019680D0 (en) * | 2010-11-19 | 2011-01-05 | Domino Printing Sciences Plc | Improvements in or relating to inkjet printers |
Family Cites Families (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE3405164A1 (en) | 1984-02-14 | 1985-08-22 | Olympia Werke Ag, 2940 Wilhelmshaven | Ink supply container for ink jet printers |
US5049898A (en) | 1989-03-20 | 1991-09-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printhead having memory element |
JP2810142B2 (en) | 1989-09-05 | 1998-10-15 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording method |
JPH0473157A (en) * | 1990-07-13 | 1992-03-09 | Brother Ind Ltd | Ink jet printer head |
US5168284A (en) | 1991-05-01 | 1992-12-01 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printhead temperature controller that uses nonprinting pulses |
US5689297A (en) | 1993-05-11 | 1997-11-18 | Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Thermosensitive stencil printer capable of controlling image density |
US5502467A (en) | 1994-03-07 | 1996-03-26 | Spectra, Inc. | Ink jet printhead with ink viscosity control |
JPH07323645A (en) * | 1994-05-31 | 1995-12-12 | Canon Inc | Recording apparatus |
JPH08310007A (en) * | 1995-05-19 | 1996-11-26 | Oki Data:Kk | Serial printer |
JPH09277503A (en) * | 1996-04-10 | 1997-10-28 | Canon Inc | Apparatus and method for recording |
JP3337912B2 (en) * | 1996-06-28 | 2002-10-28 | キヤノン株式会社 | Driving method of inkjet head and inkjet apparatus for executing the same |
DE19812480A1 (en) * | 1998-03-21 | 1999-09-23 | E B S Gmbh | Ink-jet printer for labeling goods |
US6278468B1 (en) * | 1998-03-30 | 2001-08-21 | Xerox Corporation | Liquid ink printhead including a programmable temperature sensing device |
EP1208988B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2005-11-23 | Océ-Technologies B.V. | Ink jet printing system, ink container and method of preparing the same |
-
2001
- 2001-11-12 EP EP20010204367 patent/EP1208988B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2001-11-12 EP EP05104759A patent/EP1568504B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1568504A2 (en) | 2005-08-31 |
EP1568504A3 (en) | 2007-01-31 |
EP1208988B1 (en) | 2005-11-23 |
EP1208988A1 (en) | 2002-05-29 |
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