|
Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A modular mobile phone includes a printhead and ink supply module
that is received and retained into a support chassis. A battery
module cradles the printhead and ink supply module from a rear side
of the mobile phone. An external casing locates on a front side
of the mobile phone and is configured to mate with the support chassis.
In an assembled configuration print media entry and exit slots are
provided between a portion of the external casing and a portion
of the support chassis. The print media entry and exit slots communicate
with an internal transport assembly of the printhead and ink supply
module.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
We claim:
1. A modular mobile phone with integrated printer includes: a printhead
and ink supply module; a support chassis molding configured to receive
and retain the printhead and ink supply module; a battery module
arranged to cradle the printhead and ink supply module from a rear
side of the mobile phone and an external casing arranged for placement
on a front side of the mobile phone and configured to mate with
the support chassis; wherein the external casing and the support
chassis are shaped to provide print media entry and exit slots therebetween.
2. A modular mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the printhead
and ink supply module includes a print media transport assembly
arranged to communicate with the print media entry and exit slots.
3. A modular mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein the print
media transport assembly is arranged to transport print media across
a printhead located in the printhead and ink supply module.
4. A modular mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the printhead
comprises a stationary printhead that extends across the width of
the print media entry slot.
5. A modular mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the support
chassis is adapted to slidably receive and retain the print head
and ink supply module.
6. A modular mobile phone according to claim 5, wherein the support
chassis includes under cut channels that receive and retain corresponding
flanges provided on the printhead and ink supply module.
7. A modular mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the printhead
and ink supply module includes an ink supply and distribution unit
in communication with the printhead.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to printing systems and more particularly
to a handheld mobile communications device having a color image
sensor and a color printer.
The invention has been developed primarily for use with ultra compact
mobile phones such as Personal Handyphone System (PHS) phones or
other close network cellular devices. However, it will be appreciated
by those skilled in the art, that the invention is equally applicable
to all other types of hand held mobile phones including existing
Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) phones, the proposed
new General packet radio service (GPRS) and Wideband Code-Division
Multiple Access (WCDMA) phones, satellite phones and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided
a handheld mobile image sensing and printing device that comprises
a support structure;
a color image sensor positioned on the support structure for sensing
a color image;
a color printing mechanism that is positioned on the support structure
and operatively connected to the image sensor to print the image
sensed by the image sensor; and
a remote communications arrangement positioned on the support structure
and operatively connected to the image sensor to transmit data representing
the image and to receive data representing images to be printed
by the printing mechanism.
The image sensor may be in the form of a camera device capable
of storing images on demand.
The printing mechanism may include a pagewidth printer and processing
circuitry to control operation of the printer.
The printer may include a pagewidth printhead and an ink distribution
unit that is positioned on the printhead to supply ink to the printhead.
A print media feed mechanism may be provided for feeding print
media relative to the printhead so that a printing operation can
be carried out on the print media.
The remote communications arrangement may be configured to transmit
and receive radio signals.
The remote communications arrangement may be in the form of a mobile
telephone system.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a hand held mobile phone device with integral internal
print apparatus, said device comprising:
a mobile telephone unit for transmitting and receiving signals;
processing means for processing said received and transmitted signals
into a printable form;
a printhead and ink distribution unit assembly attached to said
processing means for printing out said processed signals onto a
print media; and
print media feed means to feed print media received from a supply
external of said phone device to said printhead for printing of
said processed signal information thereon.
Preferably, the print media comprises paper or card sheets.
The printhead can comprise a single unit of the width of the print
media and may be formed via semiconductor fabrication techniques.
Desirably, the printhead or printhead and ink distribution unit
assembly is detachable from the phone device. In the preferred form
the printhead is part of a sub-assembly also including an ink distribution
unit and ink supply, hereinafter referred to as a printhead and
ink supply module.
The printhead can comprise a full color printhead attached via
an ink distribution unit to a series of ink supply reservoirs to
supply separate colors to each of the colors of the printhead.
In a preferred form, the printhead comprises an array of ink ejection
nozzle arrangements wherein liquid can be ejected by means of corresponding
actuators attached to ejection paddles associated with each of the
nozzle arrangements. Preferably, the actuators are thermal bend
actuators.
The printhead and ink supply module preferably includes an ink
distribution unit connected with a series of attached ink supply
reservoirs, with a first reservoir being substantially larger than
the others which is preferably used to store black ink. The printhead
and the ink distribution unit assembly or printhead and ink supply
module optionally form a releasable snap fit with the mobile telephone
unit.
The printhead or printhead and ink distribution unit assembly also
preferably includes an authentication means that in the preferred
embodiment is in the form of an authentication chip. This enables
the use of only approved consumables with the phone device and also
optionally records use and consumption data and which may be used
to allow for only a predetermined amount of usage of the printhead
or printhead and ink supply module.
The print media can be fed into the printer phone manually. Alternatively,
a print media dispensing device can be used that preferably includes:
a print media storage region having a dispensing outlet;
a printer phone cradle to support said printer phone and align
a print media inlet thereon with the dispensing outlet of the print
media storage region; and
a dispensing ejector mechanism operable to eject a predetermined
quantity of print media through the dispensing outlet and into the
printer phone print media inlet for engagement with an associated
print media feed means provided in said phone.
Desirably, the print media is in the form of card or paper sheets.
Preferably, the ejector mechanism comprises a slider operable to
select and engage one of the card or paper sheets and drive it through
the dispensing outlet.
Desirably, the print media storage means includes a means to bias
a supply of print media disposed therein toward said ejector mechanism
and into alignment with said dispensing outlet.
While the preferred telephone unit of the invention is a PHS phone
device, the invention is equally applicable to any type of mobile
phone utilising any communications system, so long as the transmitted
signals can be processed into a printable form. Examples of other
suitable phone types and/or communication systems include GSM, CDMA
satellite phone systems and third generation Internet connected
mobile phone (3G) systems including GPRS & WCDMA.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment printer
phone in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the phone shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front perspective view as shown in FIG. 1 with the
front outer cover removed;
FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the battery shown in the
previous figures;
FIG. 5 is a layered sectional right hand side view of the printer
phone shown in the previous figures;
FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the printer phone sub-chassis
and printhead/ink supply module;
FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the support chassis shown
in FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a part sectioned front perspective view of the printhead
and ink supply module shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a transverse section through the phone unit and printhead/ink
supply module;
FIG. 10 is a front layered sectional view of the printer phone
of the previous figures;
FIG. 11 is a plan view of the phone of the previous figures attached
to an associated print media-dispensing device;
FIG. 12 is a plan view of the print media-dispensing device shown
in FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a left-hand side view of the print media dispenser shown
in FIGS. 11 and 12;
FIG. 14 is a sectional right hand side view of the print media
dispenser shown in FIG. 11;
FIG. 15 is a plan view of the print media dispenser shown in FIG.
11 with the upper portion of the casing removed; and
FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram showing the electrical interconnections.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the preferred embodiment illustrated, there is provided a mobile
phone having an internal printer which includes a separately detachable
printhead and ink supply module. The printer phone can be produced
at or close to a standard size phone for any system including PHS,
GSM and GPRS, thereby conferring a higher level of convenience during
operation.
Turning initially to FIG. 1, there is illustrated the preferred
embodiment 1 in the form of a PHS phone and which in many ways looks
like and includes the features of a conventional mobile phone of
this type including an ear piece 2, microphone 3, aerial 4, loud
speaker 5, a series of push buttons 6 and a preferably color LCD
screen 7 for the display of information. Also included is a battery
8 as shown in FIG. 4.
The phone 1 can optionally be equipped with a camera device 10
comprising lenses 11 and associated CCD chip or CMOS sensor 12.
The CCD or CMOS sensor enables the device to store images on demand,
so that the phone can effectively act as a camera device for the
printing out of images, or for their capture and forwarding across
a mobile phone network. The operation of the relevant part of the
internal control electronics can be substantially as set out in
the applicant's earlier PCT application WO 99/04551 entitled "A
replenishable one time use camera system" the contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference. In other embodiments, the
camera device may also be configured to enable video conferencing
by facilitating simultaneous image processing during phone transmission.
A camera function that is mounted for selective movable positioning
on the phone device may be useful for this purpose. For example,
it may be rotatable between a forward facing camera orientation
and a rearward facing video conferencing orientation.
The printer apparatus is shown generally at 15 and comprises a
printhead and ink supply module 16 including a printhead 17, an
ink supply/distribution unit 18 and a print media feed apparatus
20. The feed apparatus is of a conventional form including a motor
21 with associated gear train 22 which drive a series of feed rollers
23.
The packaging of the printer apparatus 15 is best shown in FIGS.
5, 6 and 9. In this regard the printer phone 1 is constructed around
a rigid chassis molding 25. The chassis is adapted to slidably receive
and retain the printhead and ink supply module 16 by means of retaining
flanges 26 provided on the outer casing of the printhead and ink
supply module 16 which co-operate with under cut channels 27 provided
on the chassis molding.
The full operation of the printer apparatus 15 is best illustrated
in FIG. 9. In use print media 30, preferably in the form of business
card sized paper or card sheets, is fed in through an entry slot
31 provided in the external phone casing 32. This can be done manually
or via a dispenser as described hereafter. The card 30 is then picked
up by the powered entry feed rollers 23 and delivered to the printhead
and ink supply module 16. The printhead and ink supply module 16
can be substantially the same as that disclosed in Australian Provisional
Patent No. PP6534 filed 16 Oct., 1998 (U.S. Ser. No. 09/425,419
filed 19 Oct. 1999), the contents of which are also hereby incorporated
by cross-reference. In such a device, the printhead is in the form
of an elongate printhead chip that extends the full length of the
print media pathway, so as to print the full width of the print
media in a single pass without the need for any printhead traversing
mechanisms.
In this particular preferred embodiment, the printhead and ink
module is formed as a sealed unit which is replaced in its totality
after a predetermined amount of usage. The detailed structure of
the ink supply and printhead module is shown more clearly in FIG.
8. The ink supply/distribution unit 18 is of a molded multi-part
structure including a cover 35, a macro channel molding 36 defining
four separate ink supply chambers 37 40 having therein optional
flow control baffles 41. Connected with converging outlets of the
macro channel molding 36 is a micro-molding 42 which defines similarly
converging ink flow nozzles 43 that accurately direct the ink to
minute ink supply inlets on the rear of the printhead 17. Optionally,
an ink filter 44 is provided between the two moldings. A capping
device 47 is also provided as part of the module for sealing and
protecting the nozzle outlets when the printer head is not in use.
It is estimated that the ink supply will on average be sufficient
for printing approximately 1000 pages at 15% coverage of black or
100 photos of 50% coverage of CMYK. An expanded technical description
of the printhead and ink supply module can be found in the aforementioned
provisional patent specification PP6534 and associated applications.
The mobile phone system can be operated under the control of a
series of one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICS)
which incorporate the usual mobile phone capabilities in addition
to camera and image processing capabilities. An adaptation of the
system outlined in PCT Patent Application PCT/AU98/00544 filed by
the present applicant (also incorporated herein by reference) can
be utilised in the design of the ASIC. The electrical interconnections
for the preferred embodiment are shown schematically as a block
diagram in FIG. 16. Other system designs well known to those skilled
in this field may also be used.
Referring next to FIGS. 11 to 15 there is illustrated a print media
dispenser 50 configured for use with the PHS phone of the previous
embodiments. The dispenser comprises a lower molding 51 that defines
a media storage and dispensing region 52 and a cradle 53 which supports
the printer phone 1 and aligns it with the outlet of the dispenser.
The interactive operation of the print media dispenser with the
phone 1 is best illustrated in FIG. 14. As can be seen, the dispenser
50 has a storage area 52 in which is disposed a quantity of print
media in the form of business card sized paper or card sheets 54.
These cards are supported on a metal base plate 55 which is sprung
by means of opposed spring fingers 56 as shown in FIG. 15. In this
manner, the card supply is constantly biased upwardly toward a media
ejector mechanism 58. The ejector mechanism includes an ejector
slider 59 which is operable upon manual sliding against a return
spring 60 to pick up the top card and feed this out of the dispenser
outlet 61 and into the media entry slot 31 on the phone 1. On release,
the slider automatically returns to the home position to engage
the next card ready for further loading.
Desirably, the printer phone 1 and/or printhead and ink supply
module 16 includes an authentication mechanism such as that outlined
in the applicant's earlier PCT application no. PCT/AU98/00544 entitled
"A camera with an internal printing system". This can
be used to ensure not only that an authenticated approved consumable
(such as the printhead and ink supply module) is used with the printer
phone, but can also be used to store data on the relative usages
of the consumable components such as the ink or the printhead itself
and can optionally be used to set a predetermined usage for these
items.
As noted above, the phone device of the invention may be any kind
of mobile phone that sends and receives signals in a manner which
can be processed into a printable form. Further, while the preferred
form described has a printhead and ink distribution unit which has
an integrally formed and attached ink supply, the ink supply could
be separate and optionally also separately replenishable.
While the invention has been described with reference to specific
examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
the invention may be embodied in many other forms.
|