Method for associating a customer accessible supply item with an imaging apparatus
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsCyrus Bradford Clarke, William Paul Cook, Steven Wayne Parish, William Shannon Spencer, Peter Eric Wallin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for associating a customer accessible supply item of a first type with an imaging apparatus includes communicating identification information between the customer accessible supply item of the first type and the imaging apparatus; and operationally locking the customer accessible supply item of the first type with only the imaging apparatus based on the identification information, to the exclusion of other imaging apparatuses and other customer accessible supply items of the first type.
Claims18
A method for associating a customer accessible supply item of a first type with an imaging apparatus, comprising:
- communicating identification information between said customer accessible supply item of said first type and said imaging apparatus;
- and
- operationally locking said customer accessible supply item of said first type with only said imaging apparatus based on said identification information, to the exclusion of other imaging apparatuses and other customer accessible supply items of said first type, wherein said customer accessible supply item of said first type is a supply item type that is shipped with said imaging apparatus for distribution to a customer, and wherein the act of operationally locking said customer accessible supply item of said first type with said imaging apparatus occurs when a usage of said customer accessible supply item of said first type has reached a predefined threshold.
A method for associating a customer accessible supply item of a first type with an imaging apparatus, comprising:
- communicating identification information between said customer accessible supply item of said first type and said imaging apparatus;
- and
- determining whether said customer accessible supply item of said first type is operationally locked with said imaging apparatus based on an interrogation of said identification information, wherein the state of being operationally locked is a non-mechanical exclusive union of said customer accessible supply item of said first type with said imaging apparatus, wherein said customer accessible supply item of said first type is a supply item type that is shipped with said imaging apparatus for distribution to a customer, and wherein said customer accessible supply item of said first type is operationally locked with said imaging apparatus when a usage of said customer accessible supply item of said first type has reached a predefined threshold.
A method for associating a customer accessible supply item of a first type with an imaging apparatus, wherein said imaging apparatus has a first memory having stored therein imaging apparatus identification information and said customer accessible supply item of said first type has a second memory having stored therein supply item identification information, comprising operationally locking said customer accessible supply item of said first type with only said imaging apparatus based on said imaging apparatus identification information and said supply item identification information, wherein a state of being operationally locked is a non-mechanical exclusive union of said customer accessible supply item of said first type with said imaging apparatus, wherein said customer accessible supply item of said first type is a supply item type that is shipped with said imaging apparatus for distribution to a customer, and wherein the act of operationally locking said customer accessible supply item of said first type with said imaging apparatus occurs when a usage of said customer accessible supply item of said first type has reached a predefined threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.