Ink Cartridge
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsMasashi FUJIKAWA, Tomoji SUZUKI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ink cartridge is detachably mounted on a cartridge holder. At least one first reflector is provided in the cartridge holder. A reflective-type optical sensor includes a light emitter and a light receiver. The optical sensor is operable to form an optical path originated from the light emitter to the light receiver via the first reflector. A shading member is provided in the ink cartridge operable to shade the optical path when the ink cartridge is mounted on the cartridge holder. A second reflector is provided in the ink cartridge. The second reflector reflects light emitted from the light emitter and varies an intensity thereof in accordance with an ink amount remaining in the ink cartridge.
Claims8
1-3. (canceled)
An ink cartridge, comprising:
- an ink reservoir for storing ink;
- a reflector provided on one side of the ink cartridge, the reflector adapted to reflect an external light beam impinging thereon, a reflectivity of the reflector being a function of the level of ink in the ink reservoir;
- and
- a shield part provided on one side face of a recess formed in the ink cartridge, the shield part being configured to selectively shield the recess from the external light beam based on a mounting condition of the ink cartridge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.