Digital Camera Patent Abstract
An insertable cartridge for insertion into a device such as digital
camera with such device having an ink jet printer including a housing
for receiving a plurality of receivers each of which is adapted
to receive ink from the ink jet printer; a plurality of reservoirs
mounted in the housing and each being adapted to receive a different
colored ink and sealing means adapted to be pierced to permit a
connection between the reservoirs of an inserted cartridge and the
ink jet printer of the device; the housing including identifying
contacts for identifying features of an inserted cartridge for the
ink jet printer of the device; and the housing defining a cavity
for mounting at least one battery which is adapted to provide power
for the ink jet printer of the device. Digital Camera Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An insertable cartridge for insertion into a device such as
digital camera with such device having an ink jet printer, comprising:
a) a housing for receiving a plurality of receivers each of which
is adapted to receive ink from the ink jet printer;
b) a plurality of reservoirs mounted in the housing and each being
adapted to receive a different colored ink and sealing means adapted
to be pierced to permit a connection between the reservoirs of an
inserted cartridge and the ink jet printer of the device;
c) the housing including identifying contacts for identifying features
of an inserted cartridge for the ink jet printer of the device;
and
d) the housing defining a cavity for mounting at least one battery
which is adapted to provide power for the ink jet printer of the
device.
2. The insertable cartridge of claim 1 wherein the housing further
defines a plurality of piercing ports, each corresponding to a particular
reservoir and positioned in pierceable relationship with the sealing
means.
3. The insertable cartridge of claim 2 wherein the sealing means
includes a plug of pierceable material.
4. The insertable cartridge of claim 1 further including battery
contacts for providing electrical contact to the battery and which
provide cartridge alignment features.
5. The insertable cartridge of claim 1 further including a protective
removable seal mounted over the identifying contacts.
6. The insertable cartridge of claim 1 wherein the amount of ink
provided in the reservoirs is determined in accordance with the
number of receivers to be printed.
Digital Camera Patent Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to insertable cartridges which can be useable
in digital cameras which further include ink jet printers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ink jet printers, as known in the computer printing art, have replaceable
ink cartridges. These cartridges are capable of containing large
volumes of ink necessary for covering many receivers which can be
sheets of 81/2 by 11 inch paper. These cartridges are not suitable
for inclusion in a digital camera as they are far too large. Examples
of such cartridges are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,155,502 to
Kimura et al. and 5,619,237 to Inoue et al. Additionally, commercially
available ink jet printers have a receiver supply that is independent
of the ink supply thus allowing a user to change receivers depending
on the type of output being performed at the computer to which it
is connected. Typical computer usage dictates primarily monochrome
(black) ink on a white receiver. Only infrequently does a user need
photographic quality receiver and the printer accommodates this
by the inclusion of software which permits the user to specify via
the computer the receiver type installed.
This system, however well suited to the computer desktop environment,
has many inherent and undesirable limitations when applied to a
small, portable consumer device such as a digital camera that prints
its own pictures. First and most obvious is the complexity of having
to load both an ink cartridge in one location and also a supply
of receivers. Furthermore, cameras don't typically have interface
means and software to input a user's change in receivers. Additionally,
undesirable prints can be created by the wrong combination of ink
and receivers which places an unnecessary burden on the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an insertable
cartridge which can permit an ink jet printer to more effectively
produce color images.
These objects are achieved by an insertable cartridge for insertion
into a device such as digital camera with such device having an
ink jet printer, comprising:
a) a housing for receiving a plurality of receivers each of which
is adapted to receive ink from the ink jet printer;
b) a plurality of reservoirs mounted in the housing and each being
adapted to receive a different colored ink and sealing means adapted
to be pierced to permit a connection between the reservoirs of an
inserted cartridge and the ink jet printer of the device;
c) the housing including identifying contacts for identifying features
of an inserted cartridge for the ink jet printer of the device;
and
d) the housing defining a cavity for mounting at least one battery
which is adapted to provide power for the ink jet printer of the
device.
ADVANTAGES
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a single
cartridge with all the replaceable elements necessary for a portable
ink jet printer.
It is a further advantage to insure that the apparatus accepting
the cartridge is not burdened by the power consumption of the printing
operation as this is provided by at least one battery in the cartridge
itself. The power for the capture portion of the digital camera
is powered by a separate battery contained within the digital camera.
A feature of the invention is that the use of conductive identifying
contacts can be sensed by the electronics in the digital camera
to provide an indication to the user of the type of cartridge being
inserted. Information such as the color of inks and the number of
receiver sheets can also be provided to the digital camera by these
conductive identifying contacts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is perspective of an insertable cartridge for use with a
digital camera having an ink jet printer with alignment features,
cover seal, ink ports, and identifying contacts;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cartridge of FIG. 1 taken along
lines A--A showing the relative position of the ink ports and receivers;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the cartridge taken along lines B--B
showing receiver bay, batteries, and identifying contacts;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cartridge taken along lines C--C
showing a side view of the receiver bay and ink reservoirs relative
to the batteries;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the electronic interconnection of
the cartridge to the ink jet printer and the capture and imaging
processing electronics;
FIG. 6 is a front view of a digital camera having an ink jet printer
for receiving the cartridge of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the digital camera of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a portion of the taken along lines
D--D of the printer of FIG. 6 showing a cross sectional view of
a cartridge inserted into an ink jet printer; and
FIG. 9 is an enlarged portion of the sectional view shown in FIG.
8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The overall structure of the present invention will briefly be
reviewed with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7. The present invention uses
an insertable cartridge 10 which is inserted into a digital camera
11. The digital camera 11 includes an ink jet printer 13. Further
features of the digital camera 11 and ink jet printer 13 will be
discussed later.
Turning now to FIG. 1, a perspective of a cartridge 10 is shown,
having a housing 9 provided with five ink reservoirs 38. The housing
9 is provided with a removable cartridge seal 16 which protects
identifying contacts 18, 19, and 20, receivers 30 and ink ports
40 prior to use of the cartridge 10. cartridge seal 16 can be of
a Mylar sheet held in position until use by a conventional, low
tack adhesive 22 as cartridge seal 16 is used only as protective
dust seal. The cartridge seal 16 is removed prior to inserting the
cartridge 10 into cartridge opening 10a provided in the digital
camera 11 (see FIG. 6). It will be understood that the cartridge
seal 16 can contain human readable data printed on the outer surface
(not shown) indicative of the date of manufacture, expiration date,
printer compatibility, etc.
Identifying contacts 18, 19 and 20 can be formed by the application
of an encoded and patterned metallized tape. Each identifying contact
18, 19 and 20 may be metallized or not forming a conductive or non-conductive
area. These identifying contacts 18, 19 and 20 provide information
of features of an inserted cartridge 10 to the ink jet printer 13
in the digital camera 11. These identifying contacts 18, 19 and
20 provide information (as will be discussed with reference to FIG.
5) in a manner similar to the DX encodement of 35 mm film cassettes.
For example see commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,209 to Pearson.
The identifying contacts 18, 19, and 20 are used by the ink jet
printer 13 of the digital camera 11 to sense the data represented
by the encoded conductive pattern. Such data can represent the manufactured
configuration of the cartridge 10 with respect to the preloaded
media types such as plain or coated paper, ink color set such as
photographic or fluorescent, and media quantity as shown in Table
1 below.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Identifying Identifying
Identifying Cartridge Details Contact 20 Contact 19 Contact 18 ______________________________________
Glossy Photomedia/Ink (24) L L L Glossy Photomedia/Ink (36) L L
H Sticker Photomedia/Ink (24) L H L Sticker Photomedia/Ink (36)
L H H Matte Photomedia/Ink (24) H L L Matte Photomedia/Ink (36)
H L H Glossy Photomedia/ H H L Fluorescent Ink (24) Glossy Photomedia/
H H H Fluorescent Ink (36) ______________________________________
L = Low Level Voltage, H = High Level Voltage
Logic levels shown in Table 1 describe the identification of the
contents of cartridge 10 with respect to the type and quantity of
receivers 30 along with the style of ink contained in ink reservoirs
38. The amount of ink provided during manufacture to the reservoirs
and is determined in accordance with the number of receivers to
be printed. The identification is accomplished by identifying probe
pairs 52, 54 and 56 (see FIG. 5) contacting identifying contacts
18, 19, and 20 respectively, for the purpose of determining the
conductivity of each identifying contact 18, 19, and 20. Identifying
probe pairs 52, 54 and 56 are electrically controlled by circuitry
(not shown) within the cartridge interface and printer actuator
electronics block 46. Typically, a small current will flow across
the discrete elements of identifying probe pairs 52, 54, and 56
causing a Low Level Voltage to be sensed by cartridge interface
and printer actuator electronics block 46 if the identifying contact
was conductive. If current does not flow across the probe pairs,
the identifying contact was not conductive and a High Level Voltage
is sensed by cartridge interface and printer actuator electronics
block 46. The identification information is used by the cartridge
interface and printer actuator electronics block 46 to produce a
superior resultant printed image.
It should be obvious to one skilled in the art that additional
identifying contacts can be used within the scope of the invention
as well as other combinations of media and ink which are likely
to be requested by users of the system.
Again with reference to FIG. 1, alignment features are formed in
the housing 9 and shown as insertion slots 24 which are used in
the positioning of cartridge 10 into ink jet printer 13. Battery
contacts 26 are formed in such a manner as to protrude into insertion
slots 24 with a shape and spring force so as to provide a further
alignment feature of the cartridge 10. The battery contacts 26 are
formed on either side of a cavity 36 provided in the housing 9 which
receives the batteries 34. The battery contacts 26 mount the batteries
and provide electrical connection to them while also providing alignment
features for the insertable cartridge 10.
Continuing with FIG. 1, the housing 9 with a receiver bay 28 is
shown containing a partial view of receivers 30 resting on a spring
loaded platen 32 which urges the receivers 30 to the top of the
cartridge 10 for access to the ink jet printer 13.
Turning now to FIG. 2 which is a cross-section of the cartridge
10, there are a plurality of ink reservoirs 38 formed in the housing
9 for receiving different colored inks. Providing access to each
of the ink reservoirs 38 are ink ports 40. A pierceable reservoir
seal 12 in the form of a plug is provided covering each of the ink
ports 40. An O-ring 14 is also provided so that when a cartridge
10 is inserted into the ink jet printer 13 and piercing probes 42
pierce the reservoir seals 12 the O-rings 14 seal the communication
between the ink reservoirs 38 and the ink jet printer 13 to prevent
ink leakage.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show four batteries 34 provided in cavity 36. As
is also shown, there are four springs 31 which urges a platen 32
that carries the receivers 30 so that the top receiver 30 can be
used by the ink jet printer 13.
Turning now to FIG. 5, an image capture and processing electronics
block 44 is shown which is included in the digital camera 11. The
image capture and processing electronics block 44 will be understood
to include all the necessary elements to acquire and store images
electronically via an image sensor (not shown) as is found in well
known digital camera apparatus such as the DC-260 digital camera
manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company. As shown in FIG. 6, the
digital camera 11 includes a lens 48 and an image sensor (not shown)
both of which are controlled by the image capture and processing
electronics block 44 and furthermore capture a digital image. The
image capture and processing electronics block 44 stores the captured
image in a digital format and processes such image for use by the
ink jet printer 13 which is shown generally in FIG. 6. Continuing
with FIG. 5, cartridge 10 is shown inserted into digital camera
11 in the direction of the arrow 10b. Battery contact 26 on each
side of cartridge 10 makes an electrical connection between the
cartridge 10 and the power supply voltages denoted as +Vpb and -Vpb
which are used to supply electrical power to the ink jet printer
13 of the digital camera 11 and the cartridge interface and printer
actuator electronics block 46. In such a manner, the user is always
assured that the necessary power to print an image is available
each time a cartridge 10 is loaded. Image data, addressing data,
and control data necessary for the printing operation travel between
the image capture and processing electronics block 44 and the cartridge
interface and printer actuator electronics block 46 along data bus
64.
In FIGS. 6 and 7, piercing probes 42, which pierce the reservoir
seals 12 are shown in schematic form. The batteries 34 (see FIG.
3) provide power to the cartridge interface and printer actuator
electronics block 46. A digital camera battery 50 is shown in FIG.
5 which provides power to the digital camera 11 and the image capture
and processing electronics block 44 irrespective of whether or not
a cartridge 10 has been inserted into the cartridge opening 10a
(see FIG. 7) in the ink jet printer 13 of the digital camera 11.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a portion of the taken along lines
D--D of the printer of FIG. 6 showing a cross sectional view of
a cartridge inserted into an ink jet printer. FIG. 9 is an enlarged
portion of the sectional view shown in FIG. 8 and shows the reservoir
seals 12 and the piercing probes 42 in more detail. A feeding roller
58 feeds the top receiver 30 along the path shown by an arrow past
the ink jet printer 13. A back-up roller 60 presses the receiver
sheet against the ink jet print head 13 which prints a line at a
time. As shown, the batteries 34 are provided in cavity 36. In FIG.
9, a tube 62 connects the ink reservoir 38 to the ink jet printer
13 after the reservoir seal 12 has been pierced by a piercing probe
42 which includes a sharp pointed tip.
In operation, the cartridge seal 16 is removed from the cartridge
10. The cartridge 10 is inserted into the cartridge opening 10a
which has features corresponding to the insertion slot 24 for mounting
the cartridge 10. Piercing probes 42 pierce the reservoir seals
12 providing communication between the ink reservoirs 38 and the
ink jet printer 13. Identifying contacts 18, 19 and 20 provide feature
information to the cartridge interface and printer actuator electronics
block 46 for controlling the operation of the ink jet printer 13
as shown in FIG. 5. |