Print substance end-of-life predictions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11327694-B2
Application number	US-202117327327-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2021
Priority date	Jan 31, 2018
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

An example device capable of predicting print substance end-of-life (EOL) comprises a container to hold a print substance, the container comprising a refill port through which print substance is to be introduced into the container. The example device also comprises a processor to receive signals indicative of an amount of print substance introduced via the refill port. The processor is also to predict a print substance end-of-life (EOL) based on the amount of print substance introduced.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a processor;
a print substance applicator;
a container to contain print substance, the container including a refill port; and
a refill interface connected to the refill port, the refill interface to:
connect to a refill container to receive print substance from the refill container;
interact with an identification feature of the refill container, the identification feature indicating an amount of print substance received; and
provide a signal indicating the amount of print substance received from the refill container to the processor,

wherein the processor is to predict a print substance end-of-life (EOL) based on the provided signal.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the refill interface includes a trigger to interact with the identification feature of the refill container.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the refill interface includes a plurality of triggers to interact with the identification feature of the refill container, each of the plurality of triggers corresponding to an authentication of the print substance received from the refill container or the amount of the print substance received from the refill container.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the refill interface is to interact with the identification feature using pressure, light, or electrical connectivity.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further to determine whether the print substance received from the refill container comprises authenticated print substance.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further to disable prediction of the print substance EOL based on a determination that the print substance received from the refill container comprises unauthenticated print sub stance.

7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further to determine whether the print substance received from the refill container comprises authenticated print substance based on a physical feature of the refill container or an identification marking of the refill container.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the identification marking includes an identification number, a serial number, a barcode, or a quick response code.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to predict the print substance EOL by determining a number of pages printable and wherein the processor is further to transmit the determined number of pages printable.

10. The device of claim 9 , further comprising a display to indicate the determined number of pages printable.

11. The device of claim 9 , further comprising a human-readable gauge to indicate the determined number of pages printable.

12. The device of claim 1 ,
wherein the identification feature indicating the amount of print substance received is representative of an amount of print substance measured in grams, and
wherein the processor is to predict the print substance EOL by determining a relationship between grams of print substance and numbers of pages printable.

13. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a memory arranged on the container,
wherein the processor is further to store a signal indicative of the predicted print substance EOL in the memory.

14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further to predict the print substance EOL based on the amount of print substance received and based on an amount of print substance remaining in the container prior to the receiving of the print substance from the refill container.

15. A print device comprising:
a refill interface to interact with an identification feature of a refill container and to receive a print substance from the refill container;
a container to hold the print substance, wherein the container comprises an input port connected to the refill interface; and
a processor to:
receive a first signal from the refill interface to enable authentication of the print substance introduced to the container via the refill interface;
receive a second signal from the refill interface indicative of an amount of the authenticated print substance introduced via the refill interface; and
determine, based on the received second signal, a number of pages printable by the print substance in the container,
wherein the first signal and the second signal are provided by the refill interface based on the interaction with the identification feature of the refill container.

16. The print device of claim 15 further comprising a network controller to transmit the determined number of pages printable by the print substance to an external device.

17. The print device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further to determine the number of pages printable by the print substance in the container based on a relationship between print substance amounts and numbers of pages printable by print substance.

18. A non-volatile computer readable memory having stored thereon instructions to predict a print substance end-of-life (EOL) based on an amount of print substance received by a print device from a refill container, the non-volatile computer readable memory comprising:
instructions to determine whether a first signal received from a refill interface of the print device indicates that the received print substance comprises an authenticated print substance, the first signal based on an interaction of the refill interface with an identification feature of the refill container:
instructions to, in response to a determination that the received print substance comprises the authenticated print substance, determine the amount of the print substance received based a second signal received from the refill interface, the second signal based on the interaction of the refill interface with the identification feature of the refill container; and
instructions to determine a number of pages printable based on the determined amount of the print substance received.

19. The non-volatile computer readable memory of claim 18 , further comprising instructions to transmit a signal indicative of the number of pages printable to an external device.

20. The non-volatile computer readable memory of claim 18 , further comprising instructions to store a signal indicative of the number of pages printable to a memory of the print device.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Lavigne Mathew
• Luke Jeffrey
• Fitzgerald Sean Daniel
• Richtsmeier Dean
• Smith Kenneth

Classifications

• G06F3/1235 Primary

  caused by end of consumables, e.g. paper, ink, toner · CPC title

• B41J2/17506

  Refilling of the cartridge · CPC title

• B41J2/195

  for monitoring ink quality · CPC title

• G03G15/0865

  Arrangements for supplying new developer · CPC title

• H04N1/0035

  User-machine interface; Control console (input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00) · CPC title