US 2013/0074594 A1 · FLUID TILT SENSOR WITHIN INK TANK SUPPLY ITEM FOR MICRO-FLUID APPLICATIONS

Abstract

A container for holding a volume of fluid and having a housing defining an interior for retaining the volume of fluid; at least one in-tank tilt sensor connected to a controller and disposed inside the housing for generating a signal corresponding to a level of fluid inside the housing; and a support material attached to the housing and connected to the at least one in-tank tilt sensor to mechanically support the at least one in-tank tilt sensor such that the at least one in-tank tilt sensor is not in direct contact with the fluid inside the housing. The in-tank tilt sensor detects a change in fluid level which may only be caused by tilting of the imaging device. When tilting is registered, protective action is taken to prevent fluid from leaking.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A container to hold a volume of fluid, comprising:

a housing defining an interior to retain the volume of fluid;
and
at least one pair of opposed electrodes disposed in the interior forming a capacitor having a capacitance that varies in response to an amount of fluid existing between the opposed electrodes, a higher said capacitance corresponds to a higher said amount of fluid existing between the opposed electrodes, wherein the at least one pair of opposed electrodes is configured to provide a first and a second capacitance measurement value to a controller configured to compare the first to the second capacitance to ascertain tilt of the housing by determining whether the second capacitance is higher than the first capacitance.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Fluid tilt sensor within ink tank supply item for micro-fluid applications

Life of this patent

Fluid tilt sensor within ink tank supply item for micro-fluid applications

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12