WO2014131325A1

WO2014131325A1 - Ink cartridge chip, light emitting display method thereof, and ink cartridge

Info

Publication number: WO2014131325A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/071117
Authority: WO
Inventors: 袁珍平
Original assignee: 珠海天威技术开发有限公司
Priority date: 2013-02-26
Filing date: 2014-01-22
Publication date: 2014-09-04
Also published as: CN103085495A; CN103085495B

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of printing supplies, and provides an ink cartridge chip, a light emitting display method thereof, and an ink cartridge. The ink cartridge chip comprises a substrate provided with a communications unit and an electronic module, and further provided with a light emitting diode controlled by the electronic module to emit light. The electronic module comprises a master control module receiving a signal output by the communications unit. The electronic module is further provided with a light emitting control module; the light emitting control module receives a light emitting control signal output by the communications unit, and when receiving a signal instructing a light emitting diode of any ink cartridge chip to emit light in a long lighting mode, controls the light emitting diode to emit light in the long lighting mode. The display method is a method in which the foregoing ink cartridge chip controls a light emitting diode after the ink cartridge chip receives a light emitting control signal. The ink cartridge has a casing, and a foregoing ink cartridge chip is disposed on an outer wall of the casing.

Description

Ink cartridge chip and its light emitting display method, ink cartridge

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of printing consumables, and more particularly to an ink cartridge chip applied to an ink cartridge and a light emitting display method of the ink cartridge and the ink cartridge chip having the ink cartridge chip. The present application is based on a Chinese patent application filed on Feb. 26, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Background technique

Inkjet printers are common printers that offer great convenience for modern office use. An inkjet printer uses an ink cartridge containing ink as a consumable container to eject ink onto a sheet of paper to form a letter or pattern on the sheet to be printed.

Referring to Fig. 1, a conventional color ink jet printer has a casing 11, and the ink jet printer shown in Fig. 1 omits the pallet of the casing 11. The casing 11 is provided with a movement 12 of the inkjet printer, and a slide bar 10 is provided. The carriage 14 is reciprocated along the slide bar 10 by the motor (not visible in Fig. 1). An adapter plate (not visible in FIG. 1) is provided in the print carriage 14, and the adapter plate communicates with the movement 12 via the cable 13.

A plurality of ink cartridges 15 are detachably mounted on the print carriage 14, and different ink cartridges 15 contain inks of different colors. The structure of the ink cartridge 15 is as shown in FIG. The ink cartridge 15 has a casing 16 enclosing a cavity for accommodating ink, and a lower end of the cavity is provided with an ink outlet port 17, and ink in the cavity flows out through the ink outlet port 17 and supplies ink to the printing carriage 14 Ink supply.

A chip 18 is mounted on the outer wall of the housing 16 of the ink cartridge 15. The chip 18 has a substrate, and one side of the substrate is provided with a plurality of electrical contacts 19 for electrical connection with the adapter plate. The other side of the substrate is provided with an electronic module (not visible in Figure 2) that is electrically connected to the electrical contacts 19.

Existing electronic modules are typically provided with a memory for storing data associated with the ink cartridge 15, such as the type of ink cartridge, the type of inkjet printer that is suitable, the color of the ink, the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge, and the like. After the ink cartridge is mounted to the inkjet printing, the inkjet printer will read the data stored in the memory through the electrical contact, determine whether the ink cartridge model is suitable, and determine whether the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge is sufficient, if the ink remaining in the ink cartridge is insufficient. , an alarm signal is issued, and the user can replace the ink cartridge before printing.

In order to better send an alarm signal to the user, an existing partial ink cartridge chip is provided with a light-emitting diode, which flashes when the ink in the cavity of the ink cartridge is low, to prompt the user to replace the ink cartridge. As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional inkjet printer 20 can simultaneously communicate with a plurality of ink cartridge chips 21, 23, 25, each of which is provided with a main control module and a light emitting diode.

The ink cartridge chip 21 is provided with a main control module 22 and a light emitting diode LED1. The inkjet printer 20 communicates with the main control module 22 via a bus. The bus includes four wires, which are a power line VCC, a data signal line DATA, a clock signal line CLK, and Ground line GND. The anode of the light emitting diode LED1 receives the power signal of the power line VCC through the electrical contact of the communication module, and the cathode is connected to one pin of the main control module 21.

The main control module 24 and the light emitting diode LED2 are disposed in the ink cartridge chip 23, and the main control module 26 and the light emitting diode LED3 are disposed in the ink cartridge chip 24. The three ink cartridge chips 21, 23, 25 are connected in parallel with each other, and each receives a signal output from the inkjet printer 20.

When the inkjet printer 20 is in operation, the ink remaining amount data of the ink cartridge corresponding to the stored ink cartridge chip 21 stored in the memory in the main control module 22 is read, and it is judged whether the ink remaining amount in the ink cartridge is sufficient, and if the ink remaining is judged If the amount is insufficient, the main control module 22 is given an illumination control signal for instructing the LED 1 to emit light, and the signal is a blinking illumination signal.

Since the inkjet printer 20 simultaneously communicates with the three ink cartridge chips 21, 23, 25, the light emission control signal sent by the inkjet printer 20 includes information indicating that the LED flashes and emits light, and also includes identification code data of the ink cartridge, usually an ink cartridge. The data of the ink color that is contained. After receiving the illumination control signal, the ink cartridge chip 21 extracts the identification code data therein, and determines whether the identification code data is consistent with the stored ink cartridge identification code data in the main control module 22. If they match, the inkjet printer 20 sends out The LED of the LED is flashed and the main control module 22 controls the LED 1 to flash.

In addition, in order to detect whether the ink cartridge is correctly installed, the inkjet printer 20 usually sends a light-emitting control signal indicating that the light-emitting diode is long to the ink cartridge chip after the ink cartridge is mounted to the printing carriage, and the light-emitting diode on the ink cartridge chip will be bright and sprayed. The ink printer detects the light emitted by the LED through a photosensor to determine if the cartridge is properly installed.

Since the inkjet printer 20 detects whether the ink cartridges are correctly installed one by one, the light-emitting control signal for transmitting the commanded light-emitting diodes is also the identification code data of the ink cartridges. After the ink cartridge chip 21 receives the signals, the identification code needs to be extracted. The data is judged whether the identification code data is consistent with the identification code data stored in the main controller 22, and only when the two identification code data are the same, the main controller 22 controls the light-emitting diode LED1 to emit light.

Therefore, in the existing ink cartridge chip, after receiving the illumination control signal, the main controller needs to extract the ink cartridge identification code data in the signal whether it is controlling the blinking of the LED or controlling the long-illumination of the LED. After the identification code data is judged, the LED is controlled to emit light.

technical problem

However, the long-bright illumination of the LEDs is only for the inkjet printer 20 to detect whether the cartridges are properly installed, and the inkjet printers 20 are typically detected one by one. For example, the inkjet printer 20 moves the printing carriage to make the position of the light-emitting diode of the ink cartridge facing the photosensitive sensor, and then issues a signal corresponding to the long-lighting of the LED on the ink cartridge. After the detection is completed, the printing word car is moved again, the light-emitting diodes of the adjacent ink cartridges will face the photosensitive sensor, and the inkjet printer 20 performs the next detection.

In this way, the ink cartridge chip must be mounted on the correct ink cartridge. For example, the inkjet printer 20 sequentially detects the red ink cartridge, the blue ink cartridge, and the yellow ink cartridge, and the chip storing the red ink cartridge identification code must follow the red ink cartridge. Once the cartridge chip is incorrectly installed, the inkjet printer 20 cannot detect the light emitted by the LED on the cartridge chip, and the inkjet printer 20 will judge that the red cartridge is not properly installed and cannot perform the printing operation.

Therefore, when the ink cartridge chip is mounted to the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge suitable for the ink cartridge chip needs to be carefully checked, resulting in a large installation workload of the ink cartridge chip, low production efficiency, and easy error, which affects the use of the ink cartridge.

Technical solution

A first object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge chip which has a small installation workload and does not affect the use of the ink cartridge.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting display method for preventing an ink cartridge chip from being mounted as an ink cartridge chip which affects the operation of the ink jet printer.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge which is highly productive.

In order to achieve the above first object, the ink cartridge chip provided by the present invention comprises a substrate, a communication unit and an electronic module are disposed on the substrate, and a light emitting diode controlled by the electronic module is provided, and the electronic module includes a main signal for receiving the signal output by the communication unit. The control module, wherein the electronic module further comprises an illumination control module, receiving the illumination control signal output by the communication unit, and controlling the LED to emit light when receiving the long-illumination signal of the LED of the ink cartridge chip.

In order to achieve the second object, the ink cartridge chip display method of the present invention provides an electronic module and a light emitting diode on the substrate of the ink cartridge chip, and an illumination control module is disposed in the electronic module, and the method includes receiving the illumination control module. When the LED of any one of the ink cartridge chips is instructed to emit a long light, the light emitting diode is controlled to emit light.

A preferred solution is that when the illumination control module receives the command LED flashing signal, it is determined whether the ink cartridge identification code data included in the signal is consistent with the ink cartridge identification code data stored in the ink cartridge chip, and if so, the LED is controlled to blink. .

In order to achieve the above third object, the ink cartridge provided by the present invention comprises a casing, the casing encloses a cavity for accommodating the ink, the ink outlet is provided under the cavity, and the outer wall of the casing is provided with an ink cartridge chip, and the ink cartridge chip has a substrate, a communication unit and an electronic module are disposed on the substrate, and a light emitting diode controlled by the electronic module is provided, and the electronic module includes a main control module for receiving a signal output by the communication unit, wherein the electronic module further comprises a lighting control module for receiving The illumination control signal output by the communication unit controls the LED to emit light when receiving the long-illumination signal of the LED of any of the ink cartridge chips.

Beneficial effect

In the ink cartridge chip provided by the invention, after receiving the light-emitting control signal for instructing the light-emitting diode to be bright, the light-emitting control module controls the light-emitting diode of the ink-splitting diode to emit light, regardless of whether the signal is a long-term light-emitting diode of the ink cartridge. Therefore, the inkjet printer only emits a long-luminous light emitting diode that controls any of the ink cartridge chips, and all of the light-emitting diodes on the ink cartridge chip are brightly illuminated, even if the ink cartridge chip is erroneously mounted on the ink cartridge that does not correspond to the color, the spray will not be affected. Ink printer photo sensor detection. Therefore, when the ink cartridge chip is mounted, the ink cartridge chip can be arbitrarily mounted to the ink cartridge of any color, the installation workload of the ink cartridge chip is greatly reduced, and the production efficiency is also improved.

According to the illuminating display method of the ink cartridge chip provided by the present invention, after receiving the illuminating control command, the illuminating control module only determines that the control command is to command the LED to emit light, regardless of whether the ink cartridge identification code data and the identification code stored by the ink cartridge chip Whether the data is consistent or not, both control the long-light reflection of the LED. In this way, the ink cartridge chip can be arbitrarily mounted to the ink cartridge of any color, which reduces the production cost of the ink cartridge, and also avoids the installation error of the ink cartridge chip and affects the operation of the inkjet printer.

In addition, after receiving the flashing light emission control signal, the ink cartridge chip still judges and compares the identification code data in the chip, thereby avoiding an indication error with a low ink remaining amount, and is beneficial for prompting the user to replace the ink cartridge that has been consumed by the ink.

According to the ink cartridge provided by the present invention, after receiving the illumination control signal, the ink cartridge chip instructs the light-emitting diode on any of the ink cartridge chips to emit light when the signal is judged, that is, controls the light-emitting diode on the ink cartridge chip to emit light, so that only the inkjet The printer issues a command to light up the LEDs of any of the cartridge chips, and all of the LEDs on the cartridge chip are illuminated. Therefore, the ink cartridge chip can be arbitrarily mounted to an ink cartridge of any color, and the production efficiency of the ink cartridge chip is high.

DRAWINGS

1 is a structural view of a conventional ink jet printer.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing the structure of a conventional ink cartridge.

3 is an electrical block diagram of an electronic module and a light emitting diode of a conventional inkjet printer and a plurality of ink cartridge chips.

4 is an electrical block diagram showing the connection of an embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention to an ink jet printer.

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the ink cartridge chip display method of the present invention.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Embodiments of the invention

The ink cartridge chip of the present invention is mounted on an ink cartridge used in an ink jet printer, receives a signal output from the ink jet printer, and returns a corresponding signal to the ink jet printer based on a signal output from the ink jet printer.

Ink cartridge chip and its light emitting display method embodiment:

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of ink cartridges are mounted on the inkjet printer 30, and each of the ink cartridges is mounted with an ink cartridge chip, such as the ink cartridge chips 31, 34, 37, etc., each of the ink cartridge chips has a substrate, one side of the substrate A plurality of electrical contacts are provided as communication units for connection to electrical contacts of the inkjet printer 30, and the other side of the substrate is provided with an electronic module.

Of course, if the ink cartridge chip is a wireless chip, the communication module is an antenna that receives a wireless signal from the inkjet printer.

The electronic module of the ink cartridge chip 31 is a microprocessor. The main control module 32 and the illumination control module 33 are provided in the microprocessor. The main control module 32 and the illumination control module 33 are all in communication with the inkjet printer 30. The bus of the inkjet printer 30 includes four wires, which are a power line VCC, a data signal line DATA, a clock signal line CLK, and a ground line GND. The main control module 32 and the illumination control module 33 are all received through electrical contacts on the communication unit. The signals of the power line VCC, the data signal line DATA, the clock signal line CLK, and the ground line GND.

The main control module 32 is provided with a memory, such as an ink cartridge model, an inkjet printer model suitable for the ink cartridge, a remaining amount of ink, and the like, and an identification code data of the ink cartridge, which is usually the color of the ink contained in the ink cartridge.

The ink cartridge chip 31 is further provided with a light emitting diode LED4 whose anode is connected to the power supply contact of the communication unit and receives a power supply signal supplied from the power supply line VCC of the ink jet printer 30, and the cathode is connected to one pin K1 of the light emission control module 33. When the pin K1 outputs a low level signal, there is a large voltage drop between the anode and the cathode of the LED 4 and emits light. When the pin K1 outputs a high level signal, due to the anode and cathode of the LED 4 The pressure drop is small and it does not illuminate. Therefore, the light emission control module 33 controls the operation of the light emitting diode LED4 by controlling the pin K1 to output a high level or a low level.

The electronic module of the ink cartridge chip 34 is provided with a main control module 35 and an illumination control module 36. The main control module 35 and the illumination control module 36 each receive a power signal, a data signal and a clock signal of the inkjet printer 30 through the communication unit. The ink cartridge chip 34 is further provided with a light emitting diode LED5, the anode of which receives a power signal through the communication unit, and the cathode is connected to the pin K2 of the light emission control module 36. The illumination control module 36 controls the operation of the light emitting diode LED5 by outputting a high level signal or a low level signal to the pin K2.

Similarly, the electronic module of the ink cartridge chip 37 is provided with a main control module 38 and an illumination control module 39. The main control module 38 and the illumination control module 39 each receive a power signal, a data signal and a clock signal of the inkjet printer 30 through the communication unit. The ink cartridge chip 37 is further provided with a light-emitting diode LED6, the anode of which receives the power signal through the communication unit, and the cathode is connected to the pin K3 of the light-emitting control module 39. The light emission control module 39 controls the operation of the light emitting diode LED6 by outputting a high level signal or a low level signal to the pin K3.

When the inkjet printer 30 transmits a signal to a certain ink cartridge chip, a signal is sent through the bus, so that each of the ink cartridge chips receives a signal from the inkjet printer 30, and a plurality of ink cartridge chips are connected in parallel. After receiving the signal sent by the inkjet printer 30, the ink cartridge chip extracts the identification code data of the ink cartridge from the signal, and determines whether the identification code data is the same as the identification code data stored by the ink cartridge chip, and is only sent by the inkjet printer 30. In the case where the identification code data in the signal is the same as the identification code data stored in the ink cartridge chip, the ink cartridge chip performs the read and write operation.

The operation of the ink cartridge chip will be described below with reference to FIG. After receiving the signal transmitted by the inkjet printer, the ink cartridge chip first performs step S1 to determine whether the inkjet printer transmits the light emission control signal. If not, step S2 is performed to perform other operations according to the signal transmitted by the inkjet printer.

If it is determined that the inkjet printer sends the illumination control signal, step S3 is performed to determine whether the illumination control signal is a control signal for instructing the LED to be bright. If yes, step S4 is performed, and the illumination control module continues the cathode output of the LED. Low level signal, the LED is long bright.

In step S3, if it is determined that the lighting control signal is not a signal for instructing the LED to continuously emit light, indicating that the lighting control signal is a signal for instructing the LED to blink, and the lighting control module performs step S5 to determine the ink cartridge identification code data in the lighting control signal. Whether it is the same as the ink cartridge identification code data stored in the ink cartridge chip, if not the same, step S6 is performed to output a high level signal to the cathode of the light emitting diode, and the light emitting diode does not emit light. If the result of the determination in step S5 is the same, step S7 is performed to output a pulse signal to the cathode of the light emitting diode, and the light emitting diode flashes.

Finally, the ink cartridge chip determines whether the control signal for extinguishing the light emitting diode is received, that is, step S8 is performed. If the signal is received, step S9 is performed to output a high level signal to the cathode of the light emitting diode, and the light emitting diode is turned off.

With the above method, when the ink jet printer 30 outputs a signal for instructing the light-emitting diodes on any one of the ink cartridge chips to emit light, the light-emitting diodes on all of the ink cartridge chips mounted on the ink jet printer 30 are all brightly lit. Thus, even if the ink cartridge chip is mounted on an ink cartridge that does not match the color, when the inkjet printer 30 determines whether the ink cartridge is properly installed, it can be detected that the ink cartridge has been properly installed. Therefore, the ink cartridge chip can be mounted on the ink cartridge of any color, the installation workload of the ink cartridge chip is greatly reduced, and the work efficiency is high.

When the inkjet printer 30 outputs a signal indicating that the LED flashes and emits light, the ink cartridge chip still needs to extract the identification code data in the signal, and compare and judge the identification code data, and only the identification code data in the signal is stored in the ink cartridge chip. When the identification code data is consistent, the light-emitting diode is controlled to blink.

Before the inkjet printer 30 controls a certain ink cartridge chip to flash and emit light, first reading the ink remaining amount data stored in the ink cartridge chip, and only if the ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge is insufficient, the ink cartridge with insufficient ink remaining is issued. The LED on the upper cartridge chip flashes a signal of illumination, so even if the cartridge chip is mounted on an ink cartridge that does not match the color, it does not affect the indication of the ink cartridge with insufficient ink remaining.

Ink cartridge embodiment:

The embodiment has a casing, and the casing encloses a cavity for accommodating the ink. An ink outlet port communicating with the cavity is disposed below the cavity, and the ink in the cavity can flow out through the ink outlet. Further, an ink cartridge chip according to the above embodiment of the present invention is detachably mounted on an outer wall of the casing.

Of course, the above embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and there may be more changes in practical applications. For example, the electronic module may not be a microprocessor, but an integrated circuit having logic functions formed by using an electronic device. Thus, the main control module and the illumination control module are both integrated circuits; or, instead of using the numerical serial number or letter instead of the ink color as the identification code data of the ink cartridge, such a change can also achieve the object of the present invention.

Finally, it should be emphasized that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and changes such as changes in the configuration of the main control circuit and the illumination control circuit, changes in the connection relationship between the LED and the electronic module, and the like are also included in the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Industrial applicability

The ink cartridge chip provided by the present invention is mounted on an ink cartridge which is mounted in an ink jet printer which can mount a plurality of ink cartridges at the same time. The technical solution of the invention can reduce the workload of the installation of the ink cartridge chip, improve the working efficiency of the installation of the ink cartridge chip, and at the same time ensure the work of the inkjet printer.

Claims

Cartridge chip, including

a substrate, the substrate is provided with a communication unit and an electronic module, and is provided with a light emitting diode controlled by the electronic module, the electronic module comprising a main control module for receiving a signal output by the communication unit;

It is characterized by:

The electronic module is further provided with an illumination control module, which receives the illumination control signal output by the communication unit, and controls the LED to emit light when receiving the LED illumination signal of any of the cartridge chips.
The ink cartridge chip according to claim 1, wherein:

The electronic module is a microprocessor, and the illumination control module is disposed within the microprocessor.
The ink cartridge chip according to claim 1, wherein:

The illumination control module is an integrated circuit.
The ink cartridge chip according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:

An anode of the light emitting diode is connected to a power terminal of the communication unit, and a cathode of the light emitting diode is electrically connected to a pin of the light emitting control circuit.
a light emitting display method of an ink cartridge chip, wherein an electronic module and a light emitting diode are disposed on a substrate of the ink cartridge chip, and an illumination control module is disposed in the electronic module.

Characterized in that the method includes

The illumination control module controls the LED to emit light when receiving a long-illumination signal of the LED of any one of the cartridge chips.
The illuminating display method of the ink cartridge chip according to claim 5, wherein:

When receiving the command LED flashing light emitting signal, the light emitting control module determines whether the ink cartridge identification code data included in the signal is consistent with the ink cartridge identification code data stored in the ink cartridge chip, and if so, controls the LED to flash.
A method of displaying a light-emitting display of an ink cartridge chip according to claim 5 or 6, wherein:

An anode of the light emitting diode is connected to a power terminal of a communication unit of the ink cartridge chip, and a cathode of the light emitting diode is electrically connected to a pin of the light emitting control circuit;

The illumination control module outputs a low level signal to the pin when the LED is illuminated.
Ink cartridges, including

a housing surrounding the cavity for accommodating ink, an ink outlet port disposed under the cavity, and an ink cartridge chip disposed on an outer wall of the housing, the ink cartridge chip having a substrate on the substrate a communication unit and an electronic module are disposed, and a light emitting diode controlled by the electronic module is provided, and the electronic module includes a main control module that receives a signal output by the communication unit;

It is characterized by:

The electronic module is further provided with an illumination control module, which receives the illumination control signal output by the communication unit, and controls the LED to emit light when receiving the LED illumination signal of any of the cartridge chips.
The ink cartridge according to claim 8, wherein:

The electronic module is a microprocessor, and the illumination control module is disposed within the microprocessor.
The ink cartridge according to claim 8, wherein:

The illumination control module is an integrated circuit.