Image forming device with token printing capabilities
Contents
1. 52 step US 6 233 408 B1 7 What is claimed is 1 A method of notifying a user that a particular replace able consumable may need to be purchased for use with an electronic imaging device comprising the steps of a sensing when said replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition b automatically contacting a remote site when replace able consumable has reached a predetermined condi tion and communicating this condition to said site said site controlling printing a token at said electronic imaging device for the purchase of a new replaceable consumable 2 Amethod according to claim 1 wherein said remote site is the manufacture of said imaging device 3 Amethod according to claim 1 wherein said remote site is a seller of authorized said new replacement consumable for said imaging device 10 15 8 4 Amethod according to claim 1 wherein said remote site advises the user of said imaging device of additional pro motions relating to said imaging device and or said replace ment consumable 5 A computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer of an image forming device causes the computer to perform the following steps a sensing when said replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition b automatically contacting a remote site when replace able consumable has reached a predetermined condi tion an2. 55 60 65 4 FIG 3 is a sample of a printed token and FIG 4 is sample of yet another token made in accordance with the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the figures an image forming electronic device 10 is shown in schematic representation in FIG 1 While this representation is indicative of a inkjet type printer it should be understood that the invention is not so limited and is applicable to other image forming electronic devices such as facsimile machines thermal printers laser printers LED printers LCD printers and virtually any other kind of image forming electronic device which uses con sumable components to create the images The term image forming electronic device for the purposes herein shall be used to describe any image forming electronic device Consumable components can be defined as such items that are consumed in use during the printing operation or general operation of the device Often the consumables are typically pre measured and housed in their own container or cartridge The type of printer designates the type of con sumables that are required by the printer In many cases the printer requires at least two separate consumable compo nents to make an image some sort of donor material and some sort of receiver material Several examples of donor material can be ink thermal ribbon or electrostatically charged particles etc and receiver material
3. a light indicator or a screen display providing details of the low consumable condition and the options presented to the user At step 50 the user decides to print the 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 token If no the printing operation runs in its normal routine If the decision is to print a token then at step 52 the token can be printed The printing operation can of course also continue its normal operation While in the preferred embodiment the instructions for the production of the token is provided in the software the present invention is not so limited Quite often the printer is connected to a host computer as illustrated in FIG 1 that has communication capabilities For example most personal computers can be connected to the Internet which in turn allows the personal computer to be connected to any other computer that is also connected to the Internet Today most corporations and businesses which manufacture and or sell printers and consumables for these devices have a home web page which can be accessed through the Internet Therefore instead of the printer 10 printing the token directly it is possible that the software in printer 10 is designed to automatically connect to a web page of the original manu facturer or designated seller of authorized replacement parts In this way the manufacturer or authorized seller may be able to offer the latest offering and or upgrades of consum a
4. forming device causes the computer to perform the following steps a sensing when the replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition in the image forming device and b printing a token for the purchase of the replaceable consumable whenever the predetermined condition is reached In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer pro gram which when loaded into a computer of an image forming device causes the computer to perform the follow ing steps a sensing when the replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition b automatically contacting a remote site when replace able consumable has reached a predetermined condi tion and communicating this condition to the site c the site controlling printing a token at the electronic imaging device for the purchase of a new replaceable consumable BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention presented below reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic representation of an image forming electronic device comprising the consumable end of life messaging feature and token printing capabilities FIG 2 is a flow chart showing one possible software program implementation of the invention 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
5. UR DEVICE YOU CAN USE THIS FORM TO AUTOMATICALLY ORDER THE COMPONENTS YOU NEED AT A SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS OVER REGULAR RETAIL PRICES SIMPLY FILL OUT THE INFORMATION BELOW AND YOUR PARTS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SENT TO YOU COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING O O ADDRESS 77777 ZIPCODE L__ 7777771 DAYTIME 771 E MAIL 5 71 CREDIT CARD NUMBER 1 MAIL TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS TOKEN REQUESTS MUST BE RECEIVED Send Email BEFORE 12 31 02 AND CLAIMS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OFFER VOID WHERE PROHIBITED TAXED OR RESTRICTED FIG 4 US 6 233 408 B1 1 IMAGE FORMING DEVICE WITH TOKEN PRINTING CAPABILITIES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to image forming electronic devices and more particularly to an apparatus and method for informing the operator that an image forming device that one or more consumables components of the apparatus is approaching the end of its life and providing the user with the proper information and also an incentive to replace said consumables with the recommended original equipment manufacture OEM replacement parts BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Most image forming electronic devices such as facsimile machines printers copiers and most recently home photo printers utilize any number of consumables e g toner ink ribbon receiver media etc which need to be replaced at the end of their lives Today more and more of t
6. US006233408B1 a United States Patent ao Patent No 05 6 233 408 Allen 45 Date of Patent May 15 2001 54 IMAGE FORMING DEVICE WITH TOKEN 5 305 199 4 1994 LoBiondo et al PRINTING CAPABILITIES 5 488 423 1 1996 Walkingshaw et al 5 500 681 3 1996 Jones 75 Inventor Loretta E Allen Hilton NY US 5 682 140 10 1997 Christensen et al 5 691 750 11 1997 Edwards 5 717 974 2 1998 73 Assignee Eastman Kodak Company Rochester 5812 156 9 1998 Bullock et al NY US 5 937 225 8 1999 Samuels 5 6 102 508 8 2000 Cow ger 347 7 Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this f a patent is extended or adjusted under 35 cited by examiner U S C 154 b by 0 days Primary Examiner Joan Pendegrass 21 Appl 09 501 748 74 Attorney Agent Firm Frank Pincelli 22 Filed Feb 10 2000 57 ABSTRACT 51 G03G 15 00 A method and an electronic image forming device having at 52 399 8 399 15 399 24 least one replaceable consumable At least means is pro 705 14 vided for automatically sensing when the replaceable con 58 Field of Search 397 1 9 24 25 s mable 1n the mage forming device Teaches 397 27 81 347 7 19 705 14 30 399 15 mined condition A software program automatically initiates ful 8 an offer to the user of the electronic image forming dev
7. become more apparent from the accompanying detailed description thereof when considered in conjunction with the following drawings In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic image forming device com prising a at least one replaceable consumable b at least one sensor for automatically sensing when the replaceable consumable reaches a predetermined condition and c a software program for initiating printing of a token by the image forming device when the predetermined condition is reached In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic image forming device com prising a at least one replaceable consumable b at least one sensor for automatically sensing when the replaceable consumable reaches a predetermined condition c a Status indicating device responsive to the one sensor for indicating when the replaceable consumable has reached the predetermined condition and d an activating device for a user to activate the image forming device to print a token In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of notifying a user that a particular replaceable consumable may need to be pur chased for use with an electronic imaging device compris ing the steps of US 6 233 408 B1 3 a sensing when the replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition and b printing a token for the
8. ble ink cartridge 28 is of the type that includes an ink supply and a number of heater resistors In order to track ink usage of the ink cartridge 28 the formatter 14 counts print head dots to be fired and updates a cumulative count from a counter 30 into memory 22 which is a non volatile RAM NVRAM at the end of each page printed by the printer 10 The method of counting dots and managing ink level data is described in detail in U S Pat No 5 691 750 This information is used to determine when the ink supply in the cartridge is near exhaustion Thus prior to actually running out of ink the operator is advised of the need to replace the ink cartridge US 6 233 408 B1 5 prior to actually exhausting the ink therefrom It is to be under any appropriate monitoring and or sensing method or device may be employed for monitoring of the item to be exhausted This may include the counting of the number of pages that have been printed thereon by the image forming device 10 A low level status indicator 25 such as light emitting diodes LED s or a LCD is provided on the printer 10 or on the display panel of printer 10 for low level ink indications When a low ink level is sensed by a low level sensor 27 in the formatter 14 the low level status indicator 25 is energized communicating to the operator that the ink level in the disposable ink cartridge 28 is at or below a pre determined set point and nearing exhaustion The sensor 27 may b
9. bles and printer that the user may not have been aware of The user can also be aware of special promotions being offered such as trading in the printer for an update version In addition this method can avoid the need to print any token or promotional discount at the image forming device 10 The user can simply order a new consumable directly from the manufacturer or seller for direct shipment to the user or pick up by the user FIG 4 illustrates an example of token that is send to the user upon receiving a message from the image forming device 10 that a particular consumable is low FIG 4 merely illustrates the type of consumable that may be offered by identifying it as Component A The actual com ponent would be provided as the actual date also referred to in FIG 4 The token is merely an example and may take any appropriate form and offer any desired promotion It is to be understood that various other modifications made be made without departing from the scope of the present invention the present invention being defined by the claims that follow PARTS LIST 10 printer image forming device 12 digital print engine 14 formatter 16 printer controller 18 input 20 software 22 memory 24 microprocessor 25 low level status indicator 26 strip output buffer 27 low level sensor 28 disposable ink cartridge 30 counter 32 token 34 monitor 36 host computer 38 media 40 step 42 step 44 step 46 step 48 step 50 step
10. can be film paper or plastic coated paper etc Generally printers today run on AC but there is a growing demand for portable electronic components To satisfy this demand portable printers that run on DC are now available and accordingly a portable power supply can be added to the list of consum ables Inkjet printers typically require a cartridge containing ink If the printer is of the portable type it may also require batteries or a power pack Thermal printers typically require a cartridge containing a donor ribbon and a cartridge con taining receiver media In the case of a thermal facsimile machine only a cartridge containing media is required since the media itself contains the donor chemistry The printer image forming device 10 includes a digital print engine 12 to print on media 38 such as paper using a disposable ink cartridge 28 The printer further includes a formatter 14 a printer controller 16 and an input 18 for receiving data to be printed The formatter 14 provides the supporting electronic control for the print engine 12 Additionally the formatter 14 interprets signals received from the print engine 12 such as a low ink level signal which is used in this embodiment to trigger a visual message to the user that the level of ink is nearing exhaustion The formatter 14 comprises software 20 containing memory 22 a micro processor 24 a strip output buffer 26 and a counter In the embodiment illustrated the disposa
11. d communicating this condition to said site c said site controlling printing a token at said electronic imaging device for the purchase of a new replaceable consumable
12. e of any suitable type capable of monitoring the supply of ink in the cartridge In addition to the level status indicator 25 the low level sensor 27 sets a flag within software program 20 of the printer 10 When the printer 10 determines that the level of ink is exhausted or nearing exhaustion the printer 10 automatically prints data in the form of a token 32 see FIG 3 The token 32 is an incentive to purchase a particular product to replace the exhausted item In the embodiment illustrated the token is in the form of coupon which provides cash savings on the purchase of a designated replacement item FIG 3 shows an example of the printed token 32 Alternately a message can be displayed on the display panel prompting the user to make a decision about their desire to print the token 32 An activating device such as selection buttons adjacent the display panel enables the user to input their preference The user is asked to select yes to print the token 32 or no for no action A yes selection causes the printer 10 to automatically print a redeemable token 32 on the media within the printer 10 Data regarding tokens 32 are stored in memory 22 of the software program 20 of print engine 12 so that the appro priate token can be printed Since the device may have more than one consumable which may be depleted at a different rate the software is pre programmed to print the appropriate token In addition to or in lieu of a trad
13. hese electronic devices are designed to be portable requiring a DC power supply In this situation the power supply is also a consumable and needs to be replaced at the end of its service life The service life for a consumable is generally designed by the manufacturer and is monitored by the print device in which it operates Optimally near the end of the consum able s life the print device displays a message to the user on a display of the device or on a host device such as a personal computer concerning the status of the consumable The message is generally limited to nothing more than a toner low or paper out indication Typically image forming electronic devices are packaged for sale so that all the components required to form an image are included in the package And because equipment manu facturers design equipment for optimal performance using particular consumables having specific designated requirements these particular consumables are also included in the packaging Also included in the package of the image forming electronic device is a User s Manual which instructs the user how to assemble the components of the device and how to successfully form images using the device Usually included at the end of the User s Manual or as a separate document is a Statement of Limited Warranty This statement includes but is not limited to information regarding covered repair services on the device if the de
14. ice when the predetermined condition is reached The offer may 56 References Cited include a discount for the purchase of a new consumable or related item The software program may also initiate com U S PATENT DOCUMENTS munication with a remote site for ordering of a replaceable 4 922 294 5 1990 Nakagami et al consumable 5 068 806 11 1991 Gatten 5 128 752 7 1992 Von Kohm 5 Claims 4 Drawing Sheets This Certificate Eutitles the bearer to a savings OY the parchase of a Srauduame replacement cartridge Mode XXX XX ISBN 0 316 17791 1 90000 9178031611177917 US 6 233 408 B1 Sheet 1 of 4 May 15 2001 U S Patent b Sid YOLINOW YALNAGNOD LSOH YATIOYULNOD YALNidd yJ43Ng INdLNO 1 15 FIdIYLYVI MNI ATEVSOdSIC 8 U S Patent May 15 2001 Sheet 2 of 4 US 6 233 408 SET FLAG ACTIVATE STATUS INDICATOR DECISION TO PRINT TOKEN U S Patent May 15 2001 Sheet 3 of 4 US 6 233 408 5 0 316 17791 1 177917 780316 9 3 l 740 Certificate Mode 22 22 U S Patent May 15 2001 Sheet 4 of 4 US 6 233 408 Money Saving Token Offer ATTENTION YOU ARE RUNNING LOW ON COMPONENT A BASED ON YOUR CURRENT CONSUMPTION RATE YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY OUT OF COMPONENT A ON OR ABOUT DATE IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE ORIGINAL MANUFACTURE REPLACEMENT COMPONENTS IN YO
15. itional low level status indicator 25 on the display panel of printer 10 a signal can be sent to a monitor 34 of a host computer 36 The above description is based on but not limited to a disposable ink cartridge in an inkjet printer It is well known that there are other types of sensing systems in an inkjet printer as in other types of printers as well For example a media sensor for sensing when the media being printed on is approaching exhaustion and a battery sensor for battery operated units to sense when the energy level remaining in the battery or batteries is nearing exhaustion In all cases when the sensor reaches a predetermined set point a mes sage is given to the user to indicate the status of the consumable A token is either printed automatically for the user or the user is given an option whether or not to print a token Referring to FIG 2 there is illustrated a flow chart as to an example of the operation of a software program that has been preprogrammed in to the software 20 of image forming device 10 in accordance with the present invention At step 40 a print job is request At step 42 the printer request is received and analyzed by the software in the computer At step 44 it is determined if the one of the consumables is low If not the printing operation continues normally If the answer is Yes a flag at step 46 is set The step 48 causes an indicator to advise the user of the low consumable condition This may be
16. purchase of the replaceable consumable whenever the predetermined condition is reached In still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of notifying a user that a particular replaceable consumable may need to be purchased for use with an electronic imaging device comprising the steps of a sensing when the replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition b automatically contacting a remote site when replace able consumable has reached a predetermined condi tion and communicating this condition to the site c the site controlling printing a token at the electronic imaging device for the purchase of a new replaceable consumable In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of notifying a user that a particular replaceable consumable may need to be pur chased for use with an electronic imaging device compris ing the steps of a sensing when the replaceable consumable has reached a predetermined condition b indicating when the replaceable consumable reaches the predetermined condition and c enabling the user to print a token for purchase of the replaceable consumable when the predetermined con dition is reached In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer of an image
17. sing a software program implementation within the image forming elec tronic device In addition to or in lieu of a traditional low level status light indicator the low level sensor sets a flag within the software program of the device which prompts the user to make a decision about printing a token The prompt can be in the form of a dialog box that is displayed on a screen of a computer that is connected to the electronic printing device A yes response causes one or more pages to be printed by the device a no response calls for no action If the user selects the yes option token information is printed on these pages Alternately the token can be printed automatically without requiring any action from the user The token information contained in these pages can be completely pre stored within a memory device such as a ROM read only memory or NVRAM non volatile random access memory The pages can be hand carried by the user and redeemed at a place of purchase for the consumables The present invention provides a printing apparatus which senses the level of its consumables indicates when the level is low and offers the user an opportunity to purchase OEM replacement consumables at a reduced cost The present invention also provides an incentive for the user to purchase OEM replacement consumables SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above and other objects advantages and novel features of the present invention will
18. vice fails to operate within a certain period of time from date of purchase The warranty may not include services for failure caused by use of other than the properly designed consumables in the device Replacement OEM consumables for image forming elec tronic devices are available for purchase from a wide selec tion of retail centers as well as mail order from the Internet In addition there may be a family of similar devices each having the same or different requirements Also available for purchase are numerous non OEM replacement consumables which are typically available to the consumer at a lower cost This invention provides a method and apparatus for communicating with the user of an image forming electronic device and providing the user with an incentive to purchase and replace exhausted consumable with OEM parts or authorized parts The invention advantageously utilizes sen sors currently present in the image forming electronic device which are typically built into the printing device 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 55 2 When the status indicator senses that a particular consum able is exhausted or nearing exhaustion the device auto matically prints a hard copy of a token which is redeemable on the purchase of that particular OEM consumable The token will give the user an incentive to purchase an OEM product in the form of cash savings vs an after market product In one embodiment this is accomplished u
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