KR102552427B1 - Apparatus for cartridge information reset on the printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a reset device for resetting cartridge information of a printing device including an inkjet printer, comprising: a jig unit installed and fixed to a substrate of the printing device; a pin block unit installed on the jig unit and electrically connected to the memory chip by contacting pins of the memory chip installed on the substrate; and being installed in the jig unit to be electrically connected to the pin block unit, to identify the printing device when a reset command signal is generated, and to reset cartridge information, which is information about a cartridge mounted in the printing device of the memory chip. includes a control unit.
According to the present invention, since the cartridge information stored in the memory chip of the printing device can be initialized, there is an effect that the printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply can be continuously used.

Description

Cartridge information reset device of printing device {APPARATUS FOR CARTRIDGE INFORMATION RESET ON THE PRINTING DEVICE}

The present invention relates to an apparatus for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus, and more particularly, to a cartridge of a printing apparatus capable of continuously using the printing apparatus by resetting cartridge information stored in a memory chip of the printing apparatus equipped with an infinite ink supply. It relates to an information reset device.

In general, a printing device such as a printer, a copier, etc. is equipped with a cartridge containing ink therein. When the ink contained in the cartridge is exhausted, the cartridge needs to be replaced. At this time, the usage status of the cartridge, replacement time, etc. can be checked according to cartridge information stored in the memory chip of the printing device.

Here, the cartridge information includes not only basic information about the cartridge, but also whether or not the cartridge is properly installed in the printing device, whether or not the installed cartridge is compatible with the printing device, information whose value changes according to the use of the cartridge, e.g. For example, it includes information about the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of remaining pages that can be output according to the remaining amount of ink, and usage history information of the cartridge.

Recently, an infinite ink supply configured to enable continuous supply of ink to a cartridge from the outside has been developed and is widely used. In the case of this infinite method, there is an advantage that the user can easily perform ink supply directly, but even by this method, when a predetermined amount of ink (ie, the amount of ink accommodated in the cartridge once) is printed, printing A cartridge replacement alarm is generated in the device, and accordingly, the printing device cannot be used continuously, so the authentication chip of the cartridge must be reset using a resetter. However, the method of resetting using the resetter has the inconvenience of having to withdraw and initialize the cartridge whenever a cartridge replacement alarm occurs.

In addition, in order to continuously use the printing device, it is necessary to reset usage information of the cartridge stored in the memory chip. However, as shown in FIG. 1, the prior art ink cartridge initialization device, that is, the resetter resets the authentication chip by contacting the terminal 5 exposed to the authentication chip of the cartridge, but the memory chip of the printing device does not Since the terminal 5 of is not exposed, there is a problem in that the prior art resetter cannot be applied.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0769738 Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0478410

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and cartridge information of a printing device enabling continuous use of the printing device by resetting cartridge information stored in a memory chip of a printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply. It is to provide a reset device.

According to the present invention, a reset device for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus including an inkjet printer includes: a jig unit installed and fixed to a substrate of the printing apparatus; a pin block unit installed on the jig unit and electrically connected to the memory chip by contacting pins of the memory chip installed on the substrate; and being installed in the jig unit to be electrically connected to the pin block unit, to identify the printing device when a reset command signal is generated, and to reset cartridge information, which is information about a cartridge mounted in the printing device of the memory chip. This is achieved by a cartridge information reset device of a printing device including a control unit.

In addition, the jig part includes an upper jig, a lower jig coupled to the upper jig and fixed to the substrate, an installation part formed on the upper jig, and installing the pin block part and the control unit, and the upper jig and It may include a fastening part fastening the lower jig.

In addition, the pin block part is installed in a housing part in which an installation space is formed therein, a floating part installed in the installation space to be movable up and down and having a plurality of first through holes formed in the installation space, A base portion in which a plurality of second through holes are formed, an elastic portion installed between the floating portion and the base portion to elastically support the floating portion, and a plurality of pin portions provided and inserted into the second through holes, respectively; and a board part electrically connected to the pin part by contacting one end of the pin part, and when the floating part is pressed, the other end of the pin part is exposed to the outside through the first through hole and contacts a pin of the memory chip. can

In addition, the pin unit may be provided as a POGO pin.

In addition, the control unit includes a generator for generating the reset command signal, a storage unit for storing identification information, which is information for identifying the printing device, and for resetting reset information, which is information for resetting the cartridge information; When a reset command signal is generated, the printer is identified according to the identification information, and the reset information corresponding to the identified printer is overwritten in a corresponding partition of the memory chip, thereby resetting the cartridge information of the memory chip. It may include an arithmetic unit for resetting.

According to the present invention, since the cartridge information stored in the memory chip of the printing device can be initialized, there is an effect that the printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply can be continuously used.

On the other hand, the effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and various effects may be included within a range apparent to those skilled in the art from the contents to be described below.

1 shows a prior art ink cartridge initialization device;
Figure 2 shows a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole,
Figure 3 shows that the cartridge information reset device of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is fixed to the substrate of the printing apparatus,
4 illustrates a process in which a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is fixed to a substrate;
5 shows a jig part of various shapes of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a general view of a pin block unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
7 is a plan view of a pin block unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
8 is an exploded perspective view of a pin block unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 9 shows the operation process of the pin block unit of the cartridge information reset device of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
10 illustrates electrical connections of a memory chip, a pin block unit, and a control unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
11 is a general view of a control unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
12 illustrates a detailed configuration of an operation unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
13 shows a method for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole,
14 illustrates detailed steps of an operation step of a method for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail through exemplary drawings. In adding reference numerals to components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings.

And, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function hinders understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Also, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe components of an embodiment of the present invention. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, order, or order of the corresponding component is not limited by the term.

The present invention relates to a cartridge information reset device and method for enabling continuous use of a printing device by resetting cartridge information stored in a memory chip (c) of a printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply unit for continuously supplying ink to the cartridge. will be.

Here, the printing device may be provided by, for example, an inkjet printer, an inkjet copier, an inkjet multifunction device, etc., and the memory chip (c) of the printing device is a non-volatile memory chip such as a NAND flash memory chip (c). (c) can be provided. It is known that the NAND-type flash memory chip (c) is capable of preserving data even when power is not supplied and has a relatively high degree of integration.

Now, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the cartridge information reset device 100 of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

1 shows an ink cartridge initialization device of the prior art, FIG. 2 shows a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole, and FIG. 3 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It shows that the cartridge information reset device of the printing device is fixed to the substrate of the printing device, and FIG. 4 shows a process in which the cartridge information reset device of the printing device is fixed to the substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 shows a jig part of various shapes of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a pin block part of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole. 7 is a plan view of a pin block unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a pin block of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a unit, and FIG. 9 illustrates an operation process of a pin block unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a cartridge information of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It shows the electrical connection of the memory chip, the pin block unit and the control unit of the reset device, and FIG. 11 shows the control unit of the cartridge information reset device of the printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole, and FIG. 12 is the present invention. 13 shows a detailed configuration of a calculation unit of a cartridge information reset device of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 shows a method of resetting cartridge information of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole, and FIG. Detailed steps of the calculation step of the cartridge information reset method of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention are shown.

The present invention relates to a cartridge information reset device that enables continuous use of a printing device by resetting cartridge information stored in a memory chip (c) of a printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply unit for continuously supplying ink to a cartridge.

Here, the printing device may be provided by, for example, an inkjet printer, an inkjet copier, an inkjet multifunction device, etc., and the memory chip (c) of the printing device is a non-volatile memory chip such as a NAND flash memory chip (c). (c) can be provided. It is known that the NAND-type flash memory chip (c) is capable of preserving data even when power is not supplied and has a relatively high degree of integration.

2 to 12, the cartridge information reset device 100 of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a jig unit 110, a pin block unit 120, and a control unit 130. do.

The jig part 110 is installed and fixed to the substrate (b) of the printing device, and is disposed on the memory chip (c) portion of the substrate (b), so that the pin block portion 120 to be described below is provided with the pins of the memory chip (c). to be contacted so that they can be electrically connected.

2 to 4, the jig part 110 includes an upper jig 111, a lower jig 112, an installation part 113, and a fastening part 114 in more detail. .

The upper jig 111 guides the pin block part 120 to be described later to be disposed on the top of the memory chip c, and is coupled to the lower jig 112 to be described later and fixed to the substrate b, and is fixed to the upper surface of the memory chip c. An installation portion 113 is formed, and a space in which the substrate (b) of the printing device can be accommodated may be formed on the lower surface.

The lower jig 112 is coupled to the upper jig 111 and fixed to the substrate (b), and a space in which the substrate (b) can be accommodated may be formed on the upper surface.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5 , the upper jig 111 and the lower jig 112 may be provided in various shapes according to the shape of the substrate b of the printing apparatus.

The installation unit 113 provides a space in which the pin block unit 120 and the control unit 130, which will be described later, are installed, and may be formed on the upper surface of the upper jig 111. That is, after the pin block unit 120 is installed in the space formed in the installation unit 113 and the control unit 130 is installed on the upper surface of the pin block unit 120, the pin block unit 120 and the control unit 130 are electrically can be connected to

The fastening part 114 is provided in plurality to fasten the upper jig 111 and the lower jig 112, and can fasten the upper jig 111 and the lower jig 112 by screwing, but is not limited thereto, Anything may be used as long as the upper jig 111 and the lower jig 112 are fastened so that the upper jig 111 and the lower jig 112 can be fixed to the substrate (b).

More specifically, first, the upper jig 111 in which the pin block unit 120 is installed is positioned on top of the portion of the substrate (b) where the memory chip (c) is disposed, and then the lower jig 112 is placed on the substrate (b). In a way in which the upper jig 111 and the fastening part 114 are fastened and coupled at the bottom of the, the pin block part 120 is disposed and fixed on the upper part of the memory chip (c), and is attached to the pin of the memory chip (c). can be contacted.

The pin block unit 120 is electrically connected to the memory chip (c) by contacting pins of the memory chip (c) installed on the substrate (b), and is installed on the installation unit 113 of the jig unit 110. That is, the pin block unit 120 of the present invention is used as a connector for resetting the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) by electrically and mechanically contacting pins exposed at both corners of the memory chip (c). means

As shown in Figures 6 to 9, the pin block portion 120 is more specifically, the housing portion 121, the floating portion 122, the base portion 123, the elastic portion 124, It includes a pin part 125 and a board part 126 .

The housing part 121 is installed on the installation part 113 of the upper jig 111 and is disposed above the memory chip c, and includes a floating part 122, a base part 123, and an elastic part, which will be described later. An installation space (s) for installing the 124, the pin unit 125, and the board unit 126 may be formed therein.

The floating part 122 has a plurality of first through holes h1 formed therein, and may be installed in the installation space s formed in the housing part 121 so as to move up and down.

The memory chip (c) of the substrate (b) of the printing device may be provided with a DIP (Dual Inline Package) type NAND flash memory chip (c) among integrated circuit (IC) types, , Here, the DIP type means an integrated circuit type in which pins protrude from both sides of the square-shaped housing, that is, at the corners of the two sides.

At this time, the first through hole h1 formed in the floating part 122 is a part of the floating part 122 so that the pin part 125, which will be described later, can contact the pin of the above-described DIP type memory chip (c). It may be formed in plurality along the longitudinal direction, respectively, at both corners.

In addition, the first through hole h1 may be provided as needed according to the number of pins of the memory chip c to which the pin unit 125 to be described later must be contacted, and if necessary, after forming a certain number of pairs (for example For each three, two, four), each group may be formed spaced apart from each other.

Meanwhile, the memory chip c may be provided in a small outline package (SOP) type or a quad flat package (QFP) type, and at this time, the first through hole h1 may be formed to suit each type. .

For example, the QFP type means an integrated circuit type in which the pins of the memory chip c protrude from the corners of the four sides of the housing. When the memory chip c is provided in the QFP type, the first through hole h1 ) may be formed in plurality along the longitudinal direction at the corners of the four surfaces of the floating part 122 so that the pins 125 described below may contact the pins of the QFP type memory chip c.

Meanwhile, a plurality of protrusions 122a may be formed at corners of the floating part 122 so as to stably come into contact with the housing of the memory chip c. At this time, the corner portion of the protrusion 122a may be formed to be inclined inwardly and outwardly. According to this, since the contact area of the floating part 122 to the memory chip (c) can be minimized, even when the floating part 122 is in contact with the memory chip (c), heat generated in the memory chip (c) This can be effectively dissipated, and the floating part 122 can be prevented from being deformed by heat.

The base part 123 is formed with a plurality of second through holes h2, and is installed in the installation space s formed in the housing part 121, the floating part 122 is disposed on the upper surface, and the board part ( 126) may be placed.

A support portion 123a is protruded from the upper surface of the base portion 123. The support portion 123a supports the pin portion 125 inserted into the second through hole h2, and the support portion 123a has a plurality of second through holes. Two through-holes (h2) are formed, provided in pairs, and protruded on the upper surface of the body part at a spaced interval so that the pin part 125, which will be described later, can contact the pin of the DIP-type memory chip (c) described above. It can be.

The elastic part 124 elastically supports the floating part 122, and is provided in plurality and installed between the floating part 122 and the base part 123. The elastic part 124 may be provided as a spring, but is not limited thereto, and may be provided with any material as long as it elastically supports the floating part 122 .

The pin unit 125 has one end in contact with a board unit 126 to be described later and the other end in contact with a pin of the memory chip (c) to be electrically connected. ) are inserted and installed, respectively. That is, the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) and the reset information stored in the controller 130 may be transferred through the pin unit 125 .

In addition, the pin unit 125 may be provided as a cylindrical POGO pin having a spring accommodated therein. The pin unit 125 in the form of a pogo pin includes a plunger, a spring, and a barrel.

The plunger is in contact with the pin of the memory chip (c), and the head of the plunger may have various shapes depending on the shape of the pin of the memory chip (c) in contact.

The spring provides an elastic force to the plunger and moves the plunger up and down through a process of being compressed and returned. That is, when the head of the plunger is pressed, the spring inside the barrel is compressed, and the plunger can be moved up and down as much as the spring is compressed.

The barrel provides a space in which the above-described plunger and spring are installed, and also serves to conduct current. That is, when the head of the plunger contacts the pin of the memory chip c, current flows from the plunger to the barrel and then to the board portion 126 to be described later.

On the other hand, the pin unit 125 may be provided as a probe pin tapered so that the metal wire is cut to a certain length and the end portion is gradually tapered by etching or machining.

When the floating part 122 is pressed, the other end of the pin part 125 is exposed to the outside through the first through hole h1 of the floating part 122 and can come into contact with the pin of the memory chip c.

As shown in FIG. 9 , before the pin block portion 120 contacts the memory chip c, the pin portion 125 is not exposed inside the floating portion 122 . After that, after the upper jig 111 in which the pin block part 120 is installed is located on the upper part of the substrate (b) where the memory chip (c) is disposed, the lower jig 112 is placed on the lower part of the substrate (b). When combined with the upper jig 111, the floating part 122 in contact with the memory chip c is pressed by the jig part 110, and the other end of the pin part 125 is exposed to the outside through the first through hole h1. The pin portion 125 may contact a pin of the memory chip c to be electrically connected to a board portion 126 to be described later.

The board part 126 is electrically connected to the pin part 125 by contacting one end of the pin part 125 and electrically connected to the controller 130 to be described later, and is installed in the installation space s of the housing part 121. can be installed

According to the pin block unit 120 as described above, there is an effect of resetting cartridge information by being electrically connected to a pin of the memory chip (c) to which a conventional resetter cannot be applied.

The control unit 130 identifies the printing device when a reset command signal is generated and resets the cartridge information of the memory chip (c). can be electrically connected with

Here, the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) may include cartridge usage information, cartridge initialization information items, and initial value information of cartridge initialization information items.

Cartridge usage information refers to information on a cartridge to be used when the printing apparatus is operated. For example, the cartridge usage information may include whether the cartridge is authenticated, whether the cartridge is installed, whether the cartridge has an error, the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of remaining pages that can be printed according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of cartridge resets, and the like. .

Cartridge initialization information means information that must be changed to reflect the regeneration state of the cartridge when ink is replenished from the infinite ink supply, and includes any one or more of cartridge usage information. For example, the cartridge initialization information may include the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the remaining number of printable pages according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, and the number of cartridge resets.

Cartridge initialization information means an initial value of cartridge initialization information. For example, if the cartridge initialization information is the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of pages that can be printed according to the amount of remaining ink remaining in the cartridge, and the number of cartridge resets, the cartridge initialization information is '100%', '10000page', ' 0 times'.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the control unit 130 includes a substrate unit 131, a communication unit 132, a generation unit 133, a storage unit 134, and an arithmetic unit 135, in more detail. do.

The substrate unit 131 provides a space in which the communication unit 132, the generation unit 133, the storage unit 134, and the calculation unit 135, which will be described later, are installed, and is provided as a PCB board (Printed Circuit Board) and the communication unit 132 ), the generation unit 133, the storage unit 134, and the calculation unit 135 are electrically connected to each other, and installed in the installation unit 113 of the upper jig 111 to be electrically connected to the pin block unit 120. there is.

The communication unit 132 communicates with the memory chip (c) to receive cartridge information from the memory chip (c) or to transfer reset information to the memory chip (c), and is installed on the substrate unit 131 to communicate with the arithmetic unit 135 electrically connected

The generating unit 133 generates a reset command signal, and is installed on the board unit 131 and electrically connected to the calculating unit 135 . The generator 133 is provided in the form of a button so that a reset command signal can be generated when a user presses a button, and a reset command signal can be generated by a determination unit 135f to be described later.

The storage unit 134 collects and stores identification information, which is information for identifying the printing device, and stores reset information, which is information for resetting the cartridge information of the memory chip (c), and is installed on the substrate unit 131. . The reset information may be stored in the storage unit 134 after being classified according to the model of each printing device.

Here, the identification information can be collected by comparing and analyzing source codes of a plurality of printing devices and making them into a database. For example, if the source code of the 0x6c address of both printers is checked and '0x04, 0x62' and '0x04, 0x61' are identified, respectively, the two printers can be identified as different. Furthermore, if the source code of the 0xb4 address of both printers is checked and both printers are confirmed as '0x04, 0x64', both printers can be identified by comparing whether the tes or oem string after the fwbuild string exists in the source code. can

And the reset information corresponds to the cartridge initialization information, for example, the cartridge information of the memory chip (c), that is, the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of remaining pages that can be output according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, and cartridge resetting. It refers to information overwritten in the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c) in order to reset the number of times to '100%', '10000page', and '0', respectively.

The operation unit 135 identifies the printing device when a reset command signal is generated, and overwrites the reset information corresponding to the identified printing device to the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c) to obtain the cartridge information of the memory chip (c). It resets and controls the communication unit 132, the generation unit 133 and the storage unit 134, and is installed on the board unit 131 to electrically affect the communication unit 132, the generation unit 133 and the storage unit 134. connected to

As shown in FIG. 12, the calculation unit 135 includes, in more detail, a verification unit 135b, an identification unit 135a, a load unit 135c, an ECC unit 135d, and a reset unit 135e. And, it includes a determination unit (135f).

The identification unit 135a identifies the printing device according to databased identification information when a reset command signal is generated, and transfers information on the identified printing device model to a loading unit 135c and an ECC unit 135d to be described later. can be conveyed

The verification unit 135b verifies the integrity of the reset information stored in the storage unit 134, and can detect and correct whether the reset information stored in the storage unit 134 is damaged. At this time, predetermined values for reset information corresponding to each printing device are stored in the storage unit 134. The verification unit 135b compares the predetermined value with the actual value, and if both values match, the reset information is considered not to be damaged, and data can be loaded in the load unit 135c described later.

The load unit 135c loads reset information corresponding to the printer model identified in the identification unit 135a, and may load reset information that is overwritten in a plurality of partitions of the memory chip c.

When reset information is overwritten in the corresponding partition of the memory chip c by the reset unit 135e described below, the ECC unit 135d detects that an error occurs due to damage to the data of the memory chip c and corrects the error. In order to do this, ECC (Error Correcting Code) is added to the reset information loaded by the load unit 135c. According to the ECC unit 135d as described above, since each ECC is calculated according to the model of the printing device, the memory An effect of drastically reducing errors when resetting the chip (c) is expected.

On the other hand, methods that can be applied to the ECC unit 135d include a Single Error Correction-Double Error Detection (SEC-DEC) method, a single-chip chipkill method, and a double-chip method. A double-chip chipkill method may be included.

The reset unit 135e resets the cartridge information of the memory chip (c) by overwriting the loaded reset information in the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c), where the partition of the memory chip (c) stores the bootloader. It includes a first partition, a second partition storing an operating system (OS), and a third partition storing a file system. The cartridge information of the memory chip c may be reset by overwriting the reset information corresponding to each partition to the corresponding partition. At this time, if a plurality of OSs exist and a plurality of second partitions exist, reset information may be overwritten on each of the plurality of second partitions.

The determination unit 135f determines whether the reset cycle has arrived so that the generation unit 133 generates a reset command signal. More specifically, the determination unit 135f determines whether the printing apparatus continuously supplies ink from the infinite ink supply. However, the amount of ink remaining in the cartridge among the cartridge usage information of the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) is less than 5%, or the number of remaining pages that can be printed according to the amount of ink remaining in the cartridge among the cartridge usage information If it is determined that the value of the initial value is less than 5%, the generation unit 133 can be controlled to generate a reset command signal.

Meanwhile, the determination unit 135f may control the generation unit 133 to generate a reset command signal according to a reset cycle preset by the user. For example, if the user sets the cartridge information of the memory chip c to be reset every two weeks, the determination unit 135f can control the generation unit 133 to generate a reset command signal every two weeks.

According to the determination unit 135f as described above, the cartridge information of the memory chip c is automatically reset without the user needing to reset the printing device or the cartridge separately, so that the printing device can be continuously used. It has the effect of greatly reducing the hassle.

According to the method 100 for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention including the jig unit 110, the pin block unit 120, and the control unit 130 as described above, the printing apparatus Since the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) can be initialized, there is an effect that the printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply can be continuously used.

Now, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a cartridge information reset method (S100) of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 13 shows a method for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus as a whole according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 shows detailed steps of calculation steps of a method for resetting cartridge information of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. it did

As shown in FIG. 13, the cartridge information reset method (S100) of the printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an installation step (S110), a collection step (S120), a storage step (S130), and a generation step. (S140) and a calculation step (S150).

The installation step (S110) is a step in which the above-described cartridge information reset device 100 of the printing device is installed on the substrate (b) of the printing device so as to contact the pins of the memory chip (c). In the installation step (S110), the pin block unit 120 of the cartridge information reset device 100 of the printing device contacts the pins of the memory chip (c) of the substrate (b) to be electrically connected, the jig unit 110 is disposed and fixed on the memory chip (c) portion of the substrate (b) of the printing device.

Here, the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) may include cartridge usage information, cartridge initialization information items, and initial value information of cartridge initialization information items.

Cartridge usage information refers to information on a cartridge to be used when the printing apparatus is operated. For example, the cartridge usage information may include whether the cartridge is authenticated, whether the cartridge is installed, whether the cartridge has an error, the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of remaining pages that can be printed according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of cartridge resets, and the like. .

Cartridge initialization information means information that must be changed to reflect the regeneration state of the cartridge when ink is replenished from the infinite ink supply, and includes any one or more of cartridge usage information. For example, the cartridge initialization information may include the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the remaining number of printable pages according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, and the number of cartridge resets.

Cartridge initialization information means an initial value of cartridge initialization information. For example, if the cartridge initialization information is the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of pages that can be printed according to the amount of remaining ink remaining in the cartridge, and the number of cartridge resets, the cartridge initialization information is '100%', '10000page', ' 0 times'.

The collecting step ( S120 ) is a step in which identification information, which is information for identifying a plurality of printing devices, is collected from the memory chip (c) and stored in the storage unit 134 .

Here, the identification information can be collected by comparing and analyzing source codes of a plurality of printing devices and making them into a database. For example, if the source code of the 0x6c address of both printing devices is checked in the collection step (S120) and it is confirmed as '0x04, 0x62' and '0x04, 0x61', respectively, the two printing devices can be identified as different. Furthermore, if the source code of the 0xb4 address of both printers is checked and both printers are confirmed as '0x04, 0x64', both printers can be identified by comparing whether the tes or oem string after the fwbuild string exists in the source code. can

The storage step (S130) is a step of storing reset information, which is information for resetting the cartridge information of the memory chip, in the storage unit 134. Such reset information may be classified and stored for each model of each printing device.

Here, the reset information corresponds to the cartridge initialization information, for example, the cartridge information of the memory chip (c), that is, the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, the number of remaining pages that can be output according to the remaining amount of ink remaining in the cartridge, and cartridge resetting. It refers to information overwritten in the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c) in order to reset the number of times to '100%', '10000page', and '0', respectively.

The generating step (S140) is a step of generating a reset command signal from the generating unit 133. At this time, the generation unit 133 is provided in the form of a button so that the reset command signal can be generated when the user presses the button, and the reset command signal can be generated by a determination step (S156) to be described later.

In the calculation step (S150), when the reset command signal is generated in the generation step (S140), the printing device is identified according to the identification information, and the reset information is overwritten in the memory chip (c), so that the cartridge information of the memory chip (c) This is a reset step.

As shown in FIG. 14, the calculation step (S150) is, in more detail, an identification step (S151), a load step (S153), an ECC addition step (S154), a reset step (S155), and a judgment step ( S156).

The identification step (S151) is a step in which the printer is identified according to the identification information when the reset command signal is generated in the generation step (S140). ) can be transmitted.

In the verification step ( S152 ), the integrity of the reset information stored in the storage unit 134 is verified, and whether or not the reset information stored in the storage unit 134 is damaged can be detected and corrected. At this time, in the storage step (S130), predetermined values for the reset information corresponding to each printing device are stored. In the verification step (S152), the predetermined value and the actual value are compared, and if both values match, the reset information It is considered that is not damaged, and data can be loaded in a load step (S153) to be described later.

In the loading step (S153), reset information corresponding to the printer identified in the identification step (S151) is loaded, and the reset information to be overwritten is loaded into a plurality of partitions of the memory chip (c).

In the ECC addition step (S154), when the reset information is overwritten in the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c) in the reset step (S155), the data of the memory chip (c) is damaged to detect and correct an error. This is a step in which ECC (Error Correcting Code) is added to the reset information loaded in the loading step (S153). According to the above-described ECC adding step (S154), since each ECC is calculated according to the model of the printing device, an effect of significantly reducing errors when resetting the memory chip c is expected.

The reset step (S155) is a step in which the cartridge information of the memory chip (c) is reset by overwriting the reset information loaded in the load step (S153) in the corresponding partition of the memory chip (c). Here, the partition of the memory chip (c) includes a first partition where a bootloader is stored, a second partition where an OS (Operation System) is stored, and a third partition where a file system is stored. In the reset step (S155), the load step (S153) The cartridge information of the memory chip (c) can be reset by overwriting the reset information corresponding to the first partition, the second partition, and the third partition loaded in the corresponding partition, respectively. At this time, if a plurality of OSs exist and a plurality of second partitions exist, reset information may be overwritten in each of the plurality of second partitions.

The determination step (S156) is a step of determining whether the reset cycle has arrived so that the generating unit 133 generates a reset command signal. Despite being supplied, the amount of remaining ink remaining in the cartridge among the cartridge usage information of the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) is less than 5%, or the number of remaining pages that can be printed according to the amount of remaining ink remaining in the cartridge among the cartridge usage information If it is determined that the value of the cartridge initial value is less than 5%, the generating unit 133 controls to generate a reset command signal.

Meanwhile, in the determining step (S156), the generating unit 133 may be controlled to generate a reset command signal according to a reset cycle preset by the user. For example, if the user sets the cartridge information of the memory chip (c) to be reset every two weeks, the determination step (S156) can control the generation unit 133 to generate a reset command signal every two weeks.

According to the above-described determination step (S156), the cartridge information of the memory chip (c) is automatically reset without the user having to separately reset the printing device or cartridge, so that the printing device can be used continuously. It has the effect of greatly reducing the hassle.

A printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention including the installation step (S110), the collection step (S120), the storage step (S130), the generation step (S140), and the calculation step (S150) as described above. According to the cartridge information reset method (S100) of the printer, since the cartridge information stored in the memory chip (c) of the printing device can be initialized, there is an effect that the printing device equipped with an infinite ink supply can be continuously used.

In the above, even though all the components constituting the embodiment of the present invention have been described as being combined or operated as one, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these embodiments. That is, within the scope of the object of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively combined with one or more to operate.

In addition, terms such as "comprise", "comprise" or "having" described above mean that the corresponding component may be present unless otherwise stated, and thus exclude other components. It should be construed as being able to further include other components. All terms, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, unless defined otherwise. Commonly used terms, such as terms defined in a dictionary, should be interpreted as consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present invention, they are not interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning.

In addition, the above description is merely an example of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications and variations can be made to those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but to explain, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be construed according to the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent range should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: Cartridge information reset device of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention
110: jig part
b: Substrate
c: memory chip
111: upper jig
112: lower jig
113: installation part
114: fastening part
120: pin block
121: housing part
s: installation space
122: floating unit
h1: first through hole
122a: protrusion
123: base part
h2: second through hole
123a: support
124: elastic part
125: pin part
126: board part
130: control unit
131: board part
132: communication department
133: generating unit
134: storage unit
135: calculation unit
135a: verification unit
135b: identification unit
135c: loading part
135d: ECC part
135e: reset unit
135f: judgment unit
S100: Method for resetting cartridge information of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention
S110: installation step
S120: Collection step
S130: storage step
S140: Generation step
S150: calculation step
S151: identification step
S152: verification step
S153: loading step
S154: ECC additional step
S155: reset step
S156: Judgment step

Claims (5)

A reset device for resetting cartridge information of a printing device including an inkjet printer,
A jig part installed and fixed to the substrate of the printing apparatus;
a pin block unit installed on the jig unit and electrically connected to the memory chip by contacting pins of the memory chip installed on the substrate; and
A control unit installed in the jig unit, electrically connected to the pin block unit, and resetting cartridge information, which is information about a cartridge mounted in the printing unit of the memory chip, by identifying the printing device when a reset command signal is generated. Cartridge information reset device of a printing device comprising a. The method of claim 1,
The jig part,
An upper jig, a lower jig coupled to the upper jig and fixed to the substrate, an installation part formed on the upper jig, in which the pin block part and the control unit are installed, and a fastening for fastening the upper jig and the lower jig. Cartridge information reset device of a printing device comprising a unit. The method of claim 1,
The pin block part,
A housing part having an installation space formed therein, a floating part installed in the installation space to be movable up and down and having a plurality of first through holes formed therein, and a plurality of second through holes installed in the installation space A formed base part, an elastic part installed between the floating part and the base part and elastically supporting the floating part, a plurality of pin parts provided and inserted into the second through hole, and one end of the pin part contacting each other And a board portion electrically connected to the pin portion,
The pin part,
When the floating part is pressed, the other end is exposed to the outside through the first through hole and comes into contact with a pin of the memory chip. The method of claim 3,
The pin part,
Cartridge information reset device of a printing device, characterized in that provided by a pogo pin (POGO Pin). The method of claim 1,
The control unit,
a generator for generating the reset command signal; a storage for storing identification information, which is information for identifying the printing device; and reset information, which is information for resetting the cartridge information, in which the reset command signal is generated. a calculation unit for resetting the cartridge information of the memory chip by identifying the printer according to the identification information and overwriting the reset information corresponding to the identified printer in a corresponding partition of the memory chip. Cartridge information reset device of printing device.

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