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US 7,454,146 B2Granted
Fuser assembly including memory
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsPatrick O. Bischel, Kevin Dean Schoedinger, David Randall Word, Andrew Michael Zopff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuser assembly is provided with an onboard memory that may be used to store information useful in determining the conditions under which the fuser assembly has been operated. Such information can be used to better understand the root cause of fuser assembly failures, and estimate remaining fuser life, etc.
Claims26
A fuser assembly for an image forming apparatus, the fuser assembly comprising:
- a heating member;
- a pressure member cooperating with the heating member to affix an image onto a medium passing through a nip formed therebetween;
- and
- a memory on-board the fuser assembly to store information including at least one of a number of each of a plurality of different media types processed by the fuser assembly, standby hours and total cartridges since installation of the fuser assembly in an image forming apparatus.
1 more element
An image forming system comprising:
- at least one sensor to detect paper size;
- a print engine to deposit toner on a medium to form an image;
- and
- a fuser assembly to affix the image to the medium, said assembly comprising on-board memory storing information associated with said at least one sensor, wherein said on-board memory further stores information including at least one of a number of each of a plurality of different media types processed by the fuser assembly, standby hours and total cartridges since installation of the fuser assembly in an image forming apparatus.
1 more element
A method for use in an image forming system comprising a fuser assembly, the method comprising:
- monitoring a parameter associated with the fuser assembly wherein said parameter comprises one of a number of each of a plurality of different media types processed by the fuser assembly, standby hours and total cartridges since installation of the fuser assembly in an image forming system;
- and
- storing the parameter to a memory included in the fuser assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.