Carriage Unit
SM 6-9 J007/J010/J011
J007/J010/
J011
port.
This device is unique. Other printers on the market use small heaters that form bubbles to
eject ink from the ports.
6.3.5 INK NEAR END
The printer detects ink near-end in two ways:
The printer software maintains a count of how much ink is consumed from each
cartridge and signals near-end when a cartridge is nearly empty.
As a backup method, the ink level sensor monitors the positions of the ink level levers
on the sides of the ink tanks. This is described below.
Each print head in the ink tank unit [1] has a ink level lever This lever presses against a
spring loaded bellows in the center of the print head tank. The right side of each tank is
constructed of flexible plastic:
As ink enters the tank, the pressure of the ink pushes against the side of the tank and
moves the lever away from the side of the print head tank.
As ink is consumed during printing, the vacuum created by the ink leaving the tank
pulls the lever toward the side of the print head tank.
The ink level sensor [2], mounted above the front guide rail, checks the left and right
positions of the ink level levers [3] and [4] every time the carriage passes.
When the ink level sensor detects that a lever is completely flat against the side of the
tank, the printer sends a prescribed amount of ink to the tank from the ink cartridge.
The sensor signals the ‘ink near-end’ if the ink level lever does not return to the full
position (away from the side of the tank) within the prescribed time after the printer
requests a refill from the ink cartridge.
After the near-end alert, the printer will continue to print with the ink that remains in the
partially filled tank until the printer issues the ink end alert.
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