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US7441880B2 - Common inkjet printer cradle for pagewidth printhead printer cartridge - Google PatentsCommon inkjet printer cradle for pagewidth printhead printer cartridge Download PDF
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- cartridge
- ink
- printhead
- cradle
- printer
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- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, e.g. INK-JET PRINTERS, THERMAL PRINTERS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/145—Arrangement thereof
- B41J2/155—Arrangement thereof for line printing
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, e.g. INK-JET PRINTERS, THERMAL PRINTERS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
- B41J29/02—Framework
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, e.g. INK-JET PRINTERS, THERMAL PRINTERS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
- B41J2/14427—Structure of ink jet print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
- B41J2002/14435—Moving nozzle made of thermal bend detached actuator
The present invention relates to a printer system and in particular to a cradle unit for receiving a removable printer cartridge for an inkjet printer system.
The following applications have been filed by the Applicant simultaneously with the present application:
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Traditionally, most commercially available inkjet printers employ a printhead that traverse back and forth across the width of the print media as it prints. Such a print head is supplied with ink for printing and typically has a finite life, after which replacement of the printhead is necessary. Due to the size and configuration of the traversing printhead, removal and replacement of this element is relatively easy, and the printer unit is designed to enable easy access to this element. Whilst printer systems employing such traditional traversing printheads have proven capable of performing printing tasks to a sufficient quality, as the printhead must continually traverse the stationary print media, such systems are typically slow, particularly when used to perform print jobs of photo quality.
Recently, it has been possible to provide printheads that extend the entire width of the print media so that the printhead remains stationary as the print media progresses past. Such printheads are typically referred to as pagewidth printheads, and as the printhead does not move back and forth across the print media, much higher printing speeds are possible with this printhead than with traditionally traversing printheads. However as the printhead is the length of the print media, it must be supported within the structure of the printer unit and requires multiple electrical contacts to deliver power and data to drive the printhead, and as such removal and replacement of the printhead is not as easy as with traditional traversing printheads.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a printer system that is capable of providing high quality print jobs at high speeds and which facilitates relatively easy replacement of the printhead when necessary.
Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention there is provided an inkjet printer cradle including:
- a body complementary to each of a number of removable inkjet cartridges each of a type having a pagewidth printhead and an ink supply and each having different performance characteristics; and
- a controller arranged to determine the performance characteristics of each of said number of cartridges once coupled to said cradle and to operate each said cartridge in response to the determined performance characteristics.
Preferably, the controller is arranged to operate each of a number of removable inkjet cartridges having performance characteristics which differ by one or more of optimum printing speed; ink capacity.
Preferably, the body includes a recess to receive any one of the number of removable inkjet cartridges.
It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a printer system having a cradle unit that is adapted to receive a pagewidth printhead and associated printing fluid storage means in a cartridge form which can be readily removed and replaced from the printer cradle. The provision of a cradle unit that can operate a number of removable inkjet cartridges having different performance characteristics makes it possible to provide an inkjet printer that can readily be upgraded or downgraded depending upon the type of cartridge being used. In this regard, the present invention provides a printer system that is capable of providing high quality print jobs at variable speeds and which facilitates easy removal and replacement of the printhead as well as the ability to vary the operating characteristics of the printer system where necessary.
Print Cartridge
Referring now to
With reference to
Cover molding 36 includes a recess 38 that receives an ink inlet molding 24 having a number of passageways. A number of apertures 42A-42E are formed through recess 38 and are arranged to communicate with corresponding passageways of ink inlet molding 24. The passages of the ink inlet member convey ink from an externally fitted ink refill cartridge to each of the ink storage reservoirs via a series of ink delivery paths formed into ink membrane 26. The ink delivery paths connect each aperture 42A-42E of the ink inlet member 24 to its dedicated ink storage reservoir 28-34. The ink is typically delivered under pressure thereby causing it to flow into and expand the reservoirs of membrane 26. An ink inlet seal 40 is located over the outside of recess 38 in order to seal apertures 42A-42E prior to use.
Pagewidth printhead chip 52 is disposed along the outside of cartridge base molding 20 in the region below the ink storage reservoirs. As shown in
Referring again to
Formed in cartridge base molding 20 adjacent the elongate ink distribution conduits, is an air distribution channel 50 that acts to distribute pressurized air from air inlet port 76 over the nozzles of printhead 52. The air distribution channel runs along the length of printhead 52 and communicates with air inlet port 76. A porous air filter 51 extends along the length of air distribution channel 50 and serves to remove dust and particulate matter that may be present in the air and which might otherwise contaminate printhead 52. Porous air filter 51 has a selected porosity so that only air at a desired threshold pressure is able to pass through it, thereby ensuring that the air is evenly delivered at a constant pressure along the length of the printhead. In use, channel 50 firstly fills with compressed air until it reaches the threshold pressure within the channel. Once the threshold pressure is reached the air is able to pass through porous air filter 51 evenly along the length of the filter. The filtered air is then directed over the printhead.
The purpose of the pressurized air is to prevent degradation of the printhead by keeping its nozzles free of dust and debris. The pressurized air is provided by an air compressor (item 122 of
Power and data signals are provided to printhead 52 by means of busbar 56 which is in turn coupled to external data and power connectors 58A and 58B. An authentication device in the form of a quality assurance (QA) chip 57 is mounted to connector 58A. Upon inserting print cartridge 6 into cradle 4 the data and power connectors 58A and 58B, and QA chip 57, mate with corresponding connectors (items 84A, 84B of
Rotor element 60 is rotatably mounted adjacent and parallel to printhead 52. The rotor element has three faces, as briefly explained previously, as follows: a platen face, which during printing acts as a support for print media and assists in bringing the print media close to printhead 52; a capping face for capping the printhead when not in use in order to reduce evaporation of printing fluids from the nozzles; and a blotter face, for blotting the printhead subsequent to a printing operation. The three faces of the rotor element are each separated by 120 degrees.
At opposite ends of rotor element 60 there extend axial pins 64A and 64B about which are fixed cogs 62A and 62B respectively. The free ends of axial pins 64A and 64B are received into slider blocks 66A and 66B. Slider blocks 66A and 66B include flanges 68A and 68B which are located within slots 70A and 70B of end plates 22A and 22B. The end plates are fixed at either end of cartridge base molding 20.
Slider blocks 66A and 66B are biased towards the printhead end of slots 70A and 70B by springs 72A and 72B held at either end by their insertion into blind holes in slider block 66A and 66B and by their seating over protrusions into slots 70A and 70B as best seen in
During transport, and whilst printer cartridge 6 is being inserted into cradle 4, rotor element 60 is arranged so that its capping face caps printhead 52 in order to prevent the surrounding air from drying out the printhead's nozzles.
A preferred design for pagewidth printhead 52 will now be explained. A printhead of the following type may be fabricated with a width of greater than eight inches if desired and will typically include at least 20,000 nozzles and in some variations more than 30,000. The preferred printhead nozzle arrangement, comprising a nozzle and corresponding actuator, will now be described with reference to
Each nozzle arrangement 801 is the product of an integrated circuit fabrication technique. In particular, the nozzle arrangement 801 defines a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS).
For clarity and ease of description, the construction and operation of a single nozzle arrangement 801 will be described with reference to
The ink jet printhead chip 52 (see
A silicon dioxide (or alternatively glass) layer 8017 is positioned on the wafer substrate 8015. The silicon dioxide layer 8017 defines CMOS dielectric layers. CMOS top-level metal defines a pair of aligned aluminium electrode contact layers 8030 positioned on the silicon dioxide layer 8017. Both the silicon wafer substrate 8015 and the silicon dioxide layer 8017 are etched to define an ink inlet channel 8014 having a generally circular cross section (in plan). An aluminium diffusion barrier 8028 of CMOS metal 1, CMOS metal 2/3 and CMOS top level metal is positioned in the silicon dioxide layer 8017 about the ink inlet channel 8014. The diffusion barrier 8028 serves to inhibit the diffusion of hydroxyl ions through CMOS oxide layers of the drive circuitry layer 8017.
A passivation layer in the form of a layer of silicon nitride 8031 is positioned over the aluminium contact layers 8030 and the silicon dioxide layer 8017. Each portion of the passivation layer 8031 positioned over the contact layers 8030 has an opening 8032 defined therein to provide access to the contacts 8030.
The nozzle arrangement 801 includes a nozzle chamber 8029 defined by an annular nozzle wall 8033, which terminates at an upper end in a nozzle roof 805 and a radially inner nozzle rim 804 that is circular in plan. The ink inlet channel 8014 is in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber 8029. At a lower end of the nozzle wall, there is disposed a moving rim 8010, that includes a moving seal lip 8040. An encircling wall 8038 surrounds the movable nozzle, and includes a stationary seal lip 8039 that, when the nozzle is at rest as shown in
As best shown in
The nozzle wall 8033 forms part of a lever arrangement that is mounted to a carrier 8036 having a generally U-shaped profile with a base 8037 attached to the layer 8031 of silicon nitride.
The lever arrangement also includes a lever arm 8018 that extends from the nozzle walls and incorporates a lateral stiffening beam 8022. The lever arm 8018 is attached to a pair of passive beams 806, formed from titanium nitride (TiN) and positioned on either side of the nozzle arrangement, as best shown in
The lever arm 8018 is also attached to an actuator beam 807, which is formed from TiN. It will be noted that this attachment to the actuator beam is made at a point a small but critical distance higher than the attachments to the passive beam 806.
As best shown in
The TiN in the actuator beam 807 is conductive, but has a high enough electrical resistance that it undergoes self-heating when a current is passed between the electrodes 809 and 8041. No current flows through the passive beams 806, so they do not expand.
In use, the device at rest is filled with ink 8013 that defines a meniscus 803 under the influence of surface tension. The ink is retained in the chamber 8029 by the meniscus, and will not generally leak out in the absence of some other physical influence.
As shown in
The relative horizontal inflexibility of the passive beams 806 prevents them from allowing much horizontal movement the lever arm 8018. However, the relative displacement of the attachment points of the passive beams and actuator beam respectively to the lever arm causes a twisting movement that causes the lever arm 8018 to move generally downwards. The movement is effectively a pivoting or hinging motion. However, the absence of a true pivot point means that the rotation is about a pivot region defined by bending of the passive beams 806.
The downward movement (and slight rotation) of the lever arm 8018 is amplified by the distance of the nozzle wall 8033 from the passive beams 806. The downward movement of the nozzle walls and roof causes a pressure increase within the chamber 8029, causing the meniscus to bulge as shown in
As shown in
Immediately after the drop 802 detaches, meniscus 803 forms the concave shape shown in
As best shown in
a paper sensor 192, which detects the presence of print media;
a printer cartridge chip interface 84, which in use couples to printer cartridge QA chip 57 (see
an ink refill cartridge QA chip contact 132, which in use couples to an ink refill cartridge QA chip (visible as item 176 in
rotor element angle sensor 149 which detects the orientation of rotor element 60 (see
In use the controller board processes the data received from USB port 130 and from the various sensors described above and in response drives a motor 110, tricolor indicator LED 135 and, via interface 84, printhead chip 52 (see
a rotor element drive assembly 145, for operating rotor element 60 (see
a print media transport assembly 93, which passes print media across printhead chip 52 during printing; and
an air compressor 122 which provides compressed air to keep printhead chip 52 (see
As will be explained in more detail shortly, motor 110 is coupled to each of the above mechanisms by a transmission assembly which includes a direct drive coupling from the motor spindle to an impeller of the air compressor and a worm-gear and cog transmission to the rotor element and print media transport assembly.
The structure of cradle 4 will now be explained with reference to
With reference to
Referring now to
With reference to
In order to ensure that rotor element 60 is rotated through the correct angle, cradle 4 includes a rotor element sensor unit 156 (
Apart from driving drive roller 96, motor 110 also drives an air compressor 122 that includes a fan housing 112, air filter 116 and impeller 114. Fan housing 112 includes an air outlet 124 that is adapted to mate with air inlet port 76 (
A metal backplane 92 is secured to the rear of cradle molding 80 as may be best seen in side view in
Controller board 82 is connected by various cable looms and flexible PCB 106 to QA chip contact 132. The QA chip contact is located in a recess 134 formed in cradle molding 80 and is situated so that during ink refilling it makes contact with a QA chip 176 located in an ink refill cartridge that will be described shortly.
Controller board 82 also drives a tricolor indicator LED (item 135 of
Controller Board
Printer units according to a preferred embodiment of the invention have a fundamental structure, namely a cradle assembly which contains all of the necessary electronics, power and paper handling requirements, and a cartridge unit that includes the highly specialised printhead and ink handling requirements of the system, such that it may be possible for a cradle unit to support a cartridge unit which enables different capabilities without the need to purchase a new cradle unit.
In this regard, a range of cartridge units, each having a number of different features may be provided. For example, in a simple form it may be possible to provide a cartridge unit of three distinct types:
- Starter Unit—15 ppm cartridge with 150 ml of ink capacity
- Intermediate Unit—30 ppm cartridge with 300 ml of ink capacity
- Professional Unit—60 ppm cartridge with +300 ml of ink storage capacity.
Such a system may be supported on one cradle unit with the user able to purchase different cartridge units depending upon their requirements and cost considerations.
In the case of the professional unit, it may be required that a special cradle unit be provided that supports the more developed and refined functionality of such a cartridge unit. Cartridge units of different functionality may bear indicia such as color coded markings so that their compatibility with the cradle units can be easily identified.
In this regard,
The printer preferably also includes one or more system on a chip (SoC) components, as well as the print engine pipeline control application specific logic, configured to perform some or all of the functions described above in relation to the printing pipeline.
Referring now to
The CPU subsystem 301 includes a CPU 30 that controls and configures all aspects of the other subsystems. It provides general support for interfacing and synchronizing the external printer with the internal print engine. It also controls the low-speed communication to QA chips (which are described elsewhere in this specification). The CPU subsystem 301 also contains various peripherals to aid the CPU, such as General Purpose Input Output (GPIO, which includes motor control), an Interrupt Controller Unit (ICU), LSS Master and general timers. The Serial Communications Block (SCB) on the CPU subsystem provides a full speed USB1.1 interface to the host as well as an Inter SoPEC Interface (ISI) to other SoPEC devices (not shown).
The DRAM subsystem 302 accepts requests from the CPU, Serial Communications Block (SCB) and blocks within the PEP subsystem. The DRAM subsystem 302, and in particular the DRAM Interface Unit (DIU), arbitrates the various requests and determines which request should win access to the DRAM. The DIU arbitrates based on configured parameters, to allow sufficient access to DRAM for all requestors. The DIU also hides the implementation specifics of the DRAM such as page size, number of banks and refresh rates.
The Print Engine Pipeline (PEP) subsystem 303 accepts compressed pages from DRAM and renders them to bi-level dots for a given print line destined for a printhead interface that communicates directly with up to 2 segments of a bi-lithic printhead. The first stage of the page expansion pipeline is the Contone Decoder Unit (CDU), Lossless Bi-level Decoder (LBD) and Tag Encoder (TE). The CDU expands the JPEG-compressed contone (typically CMYK) layers, the LBD expands the compressed bi-level layer (typically K), and the TE encodes Netpage tags for later rendering (typically in IR or K ink). The output from the first stage is a set of buffers: the Contone FIFO unit (CFU), the Spot FIFO Unit (SFU), and the Tag FIFO Unit (TFU). The CFU and SFU buffers are implemented in DRAM.
The second stage is the Halftone Compositor Unit (HCU), which dithers the contone layer and composites position tags and the bi-level spot layer over the resulting bi-level dithered layer.
A number of compositing options can be implemented, depending upon the printhead with which the SoPEC device is used. Up to 6 channels of bi-level data are produced from this stage, although not all channels may be present on the printhead. For example, the printhead may be CMY only, with K pushed into the CMY channels and IR ignored. Alternatively, the encoded tags may be printed in K if IR ink is not available (or for testing purposes).
In the third stage, a Dead Nozzle Compensator (DNC) compensates for dead nozzles in the printhead by color redundancy and error diffusing of dead nozzle data into surrounding dots.
The resultant bi-level 6 channel dot-data (typically CMYK, Infrared, Fixative) is buffered and written to a set of line buffers stored in DRAM via a Dotline Writer Unit (DWU).
Finally, the dot-data is loaded back from DRAM, and passed to the printhead interface via a dot FIFO. The dot FIFO accepts data from a Line Loader Unit (LLU) at the system clock rate (pclk), while the PrintHead Interface (PHI) removes data from the FIFO and sends it to the printhead at a rate of 2/3 times the system clock rate.
In the preferred form, the DRAM is 2.5 Mbytes in size, of which about 2 Mbytes are available for compressed page store data. A compressed page is received in two or more bands, with a number of bands stored in memory. As a band of the page is consumed by the PEP subsystem 303 for printing, a new band can be downloaded. The new band may be for the current page or the next page.
Using banding it is possible to begin printing a page before the complete compressed page is downloaded, but care must be taken to ensure that data is always available for printing or a buffer under-run may occur.
The embedded USB 1.1 device accepts compressed page data and control commands from the host PC, and facilitates the data transfer to either the DRAM (or to another SoPEC device in multi-SoPEC systems, as described below).
Multiple SoPEC devices can be used in alternative embodiments, and can perform different functions depending upon the particular implementation. For example, in some cases a SoPEC device can be used simply for its onboard DRAM, while another SoPEC device attends to the various decompression and formatting functions described above. This can reduce the chance of buffer under-run, which can happen in the event that the printer commences printing a page prior to all the data for that page being received and the rest of the data is not received in time. Adding an extra SoPEC device for its memory buffering capabilities doubles the amount of data that can be buffered, even if none of the other capabilities of the additional chip are utilized.
Each SoPEC system can have several quality assurance (QA) devices designed to cooperate with each other to ensure the quality of the printer mechanics, the quality of the ink supply so the printhead nozzles will not be damaged during prints, and the quality of the software to ensure printheads and mechanics are not damaged.
Normally, each printing SoPEC will have an associated printer QA, which stores information printer attributes such as maximum print speed. An ink cartridge for use with the system will also contain an ink QA chip, which stores cartridge information such as the amount of ink remaining. The printhead also has a QA chip, configured to act as a ROM (effectively as an EEPROM) that stores printhead-specific information such as dead nozzle mapping and printhead characteristics. The CPU in the SoPEC device can optionally load and run program code from a QA Chip that effectively acts as a serial EEPROM. Finally, the CPU in the SoPEC device runs a logical QA chip (ie, a software QA chip).
Usually, all QA chips in the system are physically identical, with only the contents of flash memory differentiating one from the other.
Each SoPEC device has two LSS system buses that can communicate with QA devices for system authentication and ink usage accounting. A large number of QA devices can be used per bus and their position in the system is unrestricted with the exception that printer QA and ink QA devices should be on separate LSS busses.
In use, the logical QA communicates with the ink QA to determine remaining ink. The reply from the ink QA is authenticated with reference to the printer QA. The verification from the printer QA is itself authenticated by the logical QA, thereby indirectly adding an additional authentication level to the reply from the ink QA.
Data passed between the QA chips, other than the printhead QA, is authenticated by way of digital signatures. In the preferred embodiment, HMAC-SHA1 authentication is used for data, and RSA is used for program code, although other schemes could be used instead.
A single SoPEC device can control two bi-lithic printheads and up to six color channels. Six channels of colored ink are the expected maximum in a consumer SOHO, or office bi-lithic printing environment, and include:
- CMY (cyan, magenta, yellow), for regular color printing.
- K (black), for black text, line graphics and gray-scale printing.
- IR (infrared), for Netpage-enabled applications.
- F (fixative), to prevent smudging of prints thereby enabling printing at high speed.
Because the bi-lithic printer is capable of printing so fast, a fixative may be required to enable the ink to dry before the page touches the page already printed. Otherwise ink may bleed between pages. In relatively low-speed printing environments the fixative may not be required.
In the preferred form, the SoPEC device is color space agnostic. Although it can accept contone data as CMYX or RGBX, where X is an optional 4th channel, it also can accept contone data in any print color space. Additionally, SoPEC provides a mechanism for arbitrary mapping of input channels to output channels, including combining dots for ink optimization and generation of channels based on any number of other channels. However, inputs are typically CMYK for contone input, K for the bi-level input, and the optional Netpage tag dots are typically rendered to an infrared layer. A fixative channel is typically generated for fast printing applications.
In the preferred form, the SoPEC device is also resolution agnostic. It merely provides a mapping between input resolutions and output resolutions by means of scale factors. The expected output resolution for the preferred embodiment is 1600 dpi, but SoPEC actually has no knowledge of the physical resolution of the Bi-lithic printhead.
In the preferred form, the SoPEC device is page-length agnostic. Successive pages are typically split into bands and downloaded into the page store as each band of information is consumed.
Unit Name
DRAM interface unit
Provides interface for DRAM read and
write access for the various SoPEC
units, CPU and the SCB block. The
DIU provides arbitration between
competing units and controls DRAM
Embedded DRAM
20 Mbits of embedded DRAM.
Central Processing Unit
CPU for system configuration and
Memory Management Unit
Limits access to certain memory
address areas in CPU user mode.
Real-time Debug Unit
Facilitates the observation of the
contents of most of the CPU
addressable registers in SoPEC, in
addition to some pseudo-registers in
real time.
General Timer
Contains watchdog and general system
Low Speed Serial Interfaces
Low level controller for interfacing
with the QA chips
General Purpose IOs
General IO controller, with built-in
Motor control unit, LED pulse units
and de-glitch circuitry
Boot ROM
16 KBytes of System Boot ROM code
Interrupt Controller Unit
General Purpose interrupt controller
with configurable priority, and
Clock, Power and Reset block
Central Unit for controlling and
generating the system clocks and resets
and powerdown mechanisms
Power Save Storage
Storage retained while system is
powered down
Universal Serial Bus Device
USB device controller for interfacing
with the host USB.
Inter-SoPEC Interface
ISI controller for data and control
communication with other SoPECs in a
multi-SoPEC system
Serial Communication Block
Contains both the USB and ISI blocks.
Print Engine
PEP controller
Provides external CPU with the means
to read and write PEP Unit registers,
and read and write DRAM in single 32-
bit chunks.
Contone Decoder Unit
Expands JPEG compressed contone
layer and writes decompressed contone
to DRAM
Contone FIFO Unit
Provides line buffering between CDU
and HCU
Lossless Bi-level Decoder
Expands compressed bi-level layer.
Spot FIFO Unit
Provides line buffering between LBD
and HCU
Tag Encoder
Encodes tag data into line of tag dots.
Tag FIFO Unit
Provides tag data storage between TE
and HCU
Halftoner Compositor Unit
Dithers contone layer and composites
the bi-level spot and position tag dots.
Dead Nozzle Compensator
Compensates for dead nozzles by color
redundancy and error diffusing dead
nozzle data into surrounding dots.
Dotline Writer Unit
Writes out the 6 channels of dot data
for a given printline to the line store
Line Loader Unit
Reads the expanded page image from
line store, formatting the data
appropriately for the bi-lithic printhead.
PrintHead Interface
Responsible for sending dot data to the
bi-lithic printheads and for providing
line synchronization between multiple
SoPECs. Also provides test interface to
printhead such as temperature
monitoring and Dead Nozzle
Ink Refill Cartridge
As previously explained, printhead cartridge 6 includes an ink storage membrane 26 that contains internal ink reservoirs 28-34 that are connected to an ink refill port 8 formed in the top of cover molding 36. In order to refill reservoirs 28-34 an ink dispenser in the form of an ink refill cartridge is provided as shown in
Ink cartridge 160 has an outer molding 162 which acts as an operation handle or "plunger" and which contains an internal spring assembly 164. Spring assembly 164 includes a platform 178 from which spring members 180 extend to abut the inside of cover molding 162. The spring members bias platform 178 against a deformable ink membrane 166 that is typically made of polyethylene and contains a printing fluid, for example a colored ink or fixative. Ink membrane 166 is housed within a polyethylene base molding 170 that slides within outer molding 162, as can be most readily seen in
At the bottom of base molding 170 there extends a lug 190, which acts as a locating feature, shaped to mate with refill port of an inkjet printer component such as the ink refill port 8 of printer cartridge 6. The position of outlet pipe 182 and collar 172 relative to lug 190 is varied depending on the type of printing fluid which the ink refill cartridge is intended to contain. Accordingly, a printing fluid system is provided comprising a number of printing fluid dispensers each having an outlet positioned relative to lug 190 depending upon the type of printing fluid contained within the dispenser. As a result, upon mating the refill cartridge to port 8, outlet 182 mates with the appropriate inlet 42A-42E and hence refills the particular storage reservoir 28, 30, 32, 34 dedicated to storing the same type of printing fluid.
Extending from one side of the bottom of base molding 170 is a flange 184 to which an authentication means in the form of quality assurance (QA) chip 176 is mounted. Upon inserting ink cartridge 160 into ink refill port 8, QA chip 176 is brought into contact with QA chip contact 132 located on cradle 4.
From the outside wall of base molding 170 there extends a retaining protrusion 168 that is received into an indentation being either pre-plunge recess 165 or post-plunge recess 169, both of which are formed around the inner wall of top cover molding 162 as shown in
In use printer cartridge 6 is correctly aligned above cradle 4 as shown in
As can be seen in
Any attempt to insert the cartridge the wrong way around will fail due to the presence of orientating slots 86 and ribs 78 of cradle 4 and cartridge 6. Similarly, a cartridge that is not intended for use with the cradle will not have ribs corresponding to orientating slots 86 and so will not be received irrespective of orientation. In particular, a cartridge that requires driving by a cradle having a twin SoPEC chip controller board will not have the correct rib configuration to be received by a cradle having a single SoPEC chip controller board.
When the cartridge unit is first inserted into cradle unit 4, and during transportation, rotor element 60 is orientated so that its capping face engages printhead 52 thereby sealing the nozzle apertures of the printhead. Similarly, when the printer unit is not in use the capping surface is also brought into contact with the bottom of printhead 52 in order to seal it. Sealing the printhead reduces evaporation of the ink solvent, which is usually water, and so reduces drying of the ink on the print nozzles while the printer is not in use.
A remote computational device, such as a digital camera or personal computer, is connected to USB port 130 in order to provide power and print data signals to cradle 4. In response to the provision of power, the processing circuitry of controller board 82 performs various initialization routines including: verifying the manufacturer codes stored in QA chip 57; checking the state of ink reservoirs 28-34 by means of the ink reservoir sensor (not shown); checking the state of rotor element 60 by means of sensor 156; checking by means of paper sensor 192 whether or not paper or other print media has been inserted into the cradle; and tricolor indicator LED 135 to externally indicate, via lightpipe 136, the status of the unit.
Prior to carrying out a printing operation a piece of paper, or other print media, must be introduced into cradle 4. Upon receiving a signal to commence printing from the external computational device, controller board 82 checks for the presence of the paper by means of paper sensor 192. If the paper is missing then tricolor LED 135 is set to indicate that attention is required and the controller does not attempt to commence printing. Alternatively, if paper sensor 192 indicates the presence of a print media then controller board 82 responds by rotating rotor element 60 to a predetermined position for printing.
In this regard, upon detection of a printing mode of operation at start-up or during a maintenance routine, rotor element 60 is rotated so that its blotting face is located in the ink ejection path of printhead 52. The blotting surface can then act as a type of spittoon to receive ink from the print nozzles, with the ink received ink being drawn into the body of rotor element 60 due to the absorbent nature of the material provided on the blotting surface. Since rotor element 60 is part of the printer cartridge 6, the rotor element is replaced at the time of replacing the cartridge thereby ensuring that the blotting surface does not fill with ink and become messy.
Subsequent to detecting a print command at USB port 130 and confirming the presence of print media, controller board 82 drives motor 110 so that drive roller 96 begins to rotate and, in cooperation with pinch roller 98, draws the print media past printhead 52. Simultaneously, controller board 82 processes print data from the external computational device in order to generate control signals for printhead 52. The control signals are applied to the printhead via cradle interfaces 84A, 84B, carriage interfaces 58A, 58B and flex PCB contacts at either end of printhead chip 52. Printhead chip 52 is bilithic, i.e. has two elongate chips that extend the length of the printhead, data is provided at either end of the printhead where it is transferred along the length of each chip to each individual nozzle. Power is provided to the individual nozzles of the printhead chips via the busbars that extend along the length of the chips. In response to received data and power, the individual nozzles of the printhead selectively eject ink onto the print media as it is drawn over the platen face of rotor element 60 thereby printing the image encoded in the data signal transmitted to USB port 130.
Operation of motor 110 causes air compressor 122 to direct air into the cartridge base molding. The air is channeled via fluid delivery paths in cartridge base molding 20 into the space behind air filter 51. Upon the air pressure building up to a sufficient level to overcome the resistance of the air filter 51, air is directed out through pores in air filter 51 along the length of the bottom of the cartridge base molding. The directed air is received between printhead chip 52 and air coverplate 54 whilst the printer is operating and is directed past the printhead chip surface, thereby serving to prevent degradation of the printhead by keeping it free of dust and debris.
Referring now to
Alternatively, the detection of whether there is a deficiency of printing ink might instead be calculated by the electronics of the controller board. As the volume of ink per nozzle injection is known and is consistent throughout the operation of the printhead (approximately 1 picoliter) the amount of ink delivered by the printhead can be calculated as well as the consumption of each color or type of ink. In this regard controller board 82 is able to monitor the consumption of each printing fluid and once this level has reached a predetermined level, the tricolor indicator LED can be asserted to indicate to a user that there is a need to replenish the printing fluids.
Light from the indicator LED is transmitted by lightpipe 136 in order for an external indication to be presented to an operator of the printer at indicator port 138 of cradle 4. This indication can convey to the user the color or type of ink that requires replenishing. The controller board can also send a signal via USB port 130 to the remote computational device to display to the user via the computational device the type of ink that requires replenishment.
In order for the refilling procedure to proceed, printer cartridge 6 must be in place in printer cradle 4. An ink refill cartridge 160 of the required type of ink is then brought into position over the ink refill port 8 that is situated on the upper surface of printer cartridge 6. As previously described, ink refill port 8 includes a series of inlets 42A-42E protected by a sealing film 40. Beneath sealing film 40 there are located a number of printing fluid conduits 42A-42E which provide direct access to ink storage reservoirs 28, 30, 32, 34. An ink inlet is provided for each of the printing fluids, namely C, M, Y, K and Infrared and fixative where required. The position of the inlet for each of the different fluids is strategically placed laterally along inlet port 8 so that the ink outlet pin 182 of refill cartridge 160 automatically aligns and communicates with the particular one of inlets 42A-42E for the specific printing fluid that cartridge 160 contains and which is to be is to be replenished.
The second step of the ink refilling stage is shown in
It will be realized that in order for a QA assured refill to occur, communication between all parts of the printer unit is required. That is, printer cartridge 6 must be positioned in printer cradle 4 and ink refill cartridge 160 must be docked with cartridge 6 so that ink refill QA chip 176 is in contact with ink QA chip contact 132. This ensures that each refilling action is controlled and reduces the potential for incorrect refilling which may damage the working of the printer.
As shown in
As shown in
The force with which ink is expelled from ink refill cartridge 160 is determined by the degree of plunging force applied to the top cover molding 162 by an operator. Accordingly top cover molding 162 acts as an operation handle or plunger for the ink refill cartridge. Consequently it is possible that if the refilling step is not done carefully or done in baste, that the ink may be delivered to printer cartridge 6 at an unduly high pressure. Such a pressure could cause the ink stored within printer cartridge 6 to burst the ink storage membrane 26 and hence cause an ink spill within the cartridge unit that might irreparably damage the printer cartridge. The internal spring molding 164 prevents inadvertent bursting of the membrane by providing a safety mechanism against over pressurizing the ink being expelled from the refill unit. In This regard spring molding 164 is designed to limit the maximum force transmitted from the plunging of top cover molding 162 to deformable ink membrane 26. Any force applied to top cover molding 162 which would cause ink to be expelled at a pressure above a maximum allowable level is taken up by spring molding 164 and stored within the spring members 180. Spring molding 164 is suitably designed to prevent undue force being instantaneously applied to refill ink membrane 166. That is, its deformation and/or elastic characteristics are selected so that it limits pressure in the membrane to a predetermined level.
As shown most clearly in
It will, of course, be realized that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined by the following claims.
While the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, various modifications will be apparent to and might readily be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended hereto be limited to the description as set forth herein, but, rather, that the claims be broadly construed.
Claims (2)
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|Common inkjet printer cradle for pagewidth printhead printer cartridge
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|US10/760,204 US7441880B2 (en)
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|US12/205,890 US7815270B2 (en)
|Printer cradle for various print speed printheads
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|Printer cradle for various print speed printheads
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|Printer cradle for various print speed printheads
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|Zamtec Ltd
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|The information processing apparatus, the information recording medium, information processing method, and computer program
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|The information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program
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The Patriots ran more plays from scrimmage than any other NFL offense last season, with only the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys throwing the ball more than New England.
The Patriots heavily relied on a combination of three-receiver and two-tight end sets (making up 90 percent of their snaps in 2012, per FootballOutsiders.com), but the loss of Aaron Hernandez and a slew of veteran pass-catchers has Tom Brady working with mostly newbies in training camp.
Ben Volin of The Boston Globe wrote Tuesday that veteran Danny Amendola has been "the one bright spot in the receiver room so far." NFL.com's Albert Breer reported that Brady worked with 17 different skill guys and seven different combinations in practice Saturday.
With former security blanket Wes Welker on the Denver Broncos, Brady is doing his best to get in sync with rookies Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce and the undrafted Kenbrell Thompkins. Thompkins reportedly has been "catching everything thrown his way," and Dobson has shown "flashes of excellence," but it's atypical to see first-year receivers take off.
"I don't want to be a grumpy old guy," Brady (turning 36 on Saturday) told Volin. "I understand there's a learning curve and there's a patience. I think you try to let them know though, that there's an urgency about it, so it's not like you can afford mistakes."
It's popular to question if the Patriots have hit a wall, but that ignores how Bill Belichick operates. Last year's Patriots ran a different offense on a weekly basis out of the gate until settling on their approach down the stretch. With a flexible, brainy passer like Brady, that's possible. If his young wide receivers can keep up, we aren't counting out the Patriots from anything.
The Around The League Podcast is now available on iTunes! Click here to listen and subscribe.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, June 23, 2008
My Niece Stole My Headline
I wasn't even quite sure what I wanted to write about today, then I received an email from my sister - it's always interesting what might or might not inspire me to write. Today, my sister emailed me and described how my younger niece was watching a cartoon where they were naming all of the U.S. presidents. At the end of this list she apparently said "Mom, they forgot to name the GIRL PRESIDENTS". They forgot to name the girl presidents.
I was stunned. And hopeful. And intrigued. I wonder if her assumption was because of this year's nomination process, with Hilary Clinton in the mix. Or, was her assumption merely because there would be no inherent reason for her to think there would not be girl presidents. Why not, of course? I guess for whatever reason she feels this assumed equality, I can only hope that it lasts for as long as possible. It does give me hope that some day, there will be a world where children of both sexes and all races will grow up where they can not only assume anything is possible - but also see others like them who've gone before them to prove it so.
Maybe America is finally growing up a little. Dare we hope? We watched a woman run for the Democratic ticket. We have a man of African American descent running for President. We have people of the same sex getting married in California. While it seems so late in the game for all of this to be happening, I'm no less grateful for it. They are small steps in the right direction - and I hesitate to say more without going into a mile-long tirade about all that I think is wrong with our society.
I think my niece says it best with "They forgot to name the Girl Presidents" - indeed, my dear, INDEED.
Chocolate Carmelicious Shortbread Bars
I'll admit, I was really mad about these bars when I finished them - mostly because of the poorly written recipe, which contained outright mistakes - so, I won't be naming the book from which it was adapted (not a well known book). I nearly tossed out the whole lot, I was so filled with spite! Mature, I know. But, I warmed up to them - we had a rather enjoyable photo shoot, they gave me some coy poses, they put their best flirt on - and a spell was cast. Upon tasting them again, I finally realized they were actually frickin' delicious. If you took the concept of a Twix bar and multiplied it by the homemade factor - this is the result - and it is exponential, my dears. I took about 25 of the bars to work on a Friday; only, it was a Friday when there were only about 5 people in the office - and they were almost all gone by 3 pm - little scavengers. So, I guess they don't suck. Update: work people told me to say that they rocked - well, okay then.
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour, sifted
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 c. unsalted butter, diced
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. semisweet chocolate
Preheat oven to 325F. In a food processer, pulse the flour, cornstarch, 1 cup butter and sugar until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Turn it into a 13x9x1.5-in. pan, using fingers or back of a spoon to pack down and smooth the surface; prick the bottom of dough with a fork and bake for 35-40 minutes until pale golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Place remaining 1 cup butter and brown sugar in saucepan over low hear until melted. Add condensed milk and bring slowly to a boil, stirring continuously until the mixture turns pale caramel color, about 3-4 minutes. Pour over top of cooled shortbread - taking care that this layer measures about 1/2-inch and doesn't spill over the sides; if this layer becomes overly thick, the middle proves too mushy and the bars are unwieldy. Chill in fridge for 1 hour or until set.
Once set, melt the chocolate in double boiler - allow to cool as you do not want to spread hot chocolate on cold caramel, right? So, allow the chocolate to cool enough so that it won't melt the caramel - but you want the chocolate to still be spreadable; just keep an eye on the chocolate's consistency and feel the temperature - and you'll know when the time is right. Spread over the caramel topping and chill in the fridge until set. Cutting these bars is tricky - you need to allow them to come toward room temperature - otherwise, the knife will crack the chocolate when you cut them straight out of the fridge (I tried the hot, dry knife method and it didn't work so well). So, bring toward room temp., cut to desired size, and store in fridge for serving. Enjoy!
40 comments:
Give your niece a hug from the hippy potter in mn. I'm so proud of her. When I was a girl, way back in the dark ages of the 70's, I kept looking for the women priests in our episcopal church. Just a few years after my questioning, it finally happened. If we follow that logic, it won't be long now according to your sweet, smart niece
- June 23, 2008 at 12:03 PM
I bet someday we'll be voting for you niece on the ticket. Or, maybe reading her political blog?
- June 23, 2008 at 12:28 PM
- NV said...
I love when someone so young captures something so profound in such a simple way. Looks like your niece got the irony gene, too, dear!
- June 23, 2008 at 1:08 PM
- Lisa said...
Hey Ann - you don't say how old she is - seems like girls are absolutely confidendent and powerful until they're about 12, then weird things start to happen. So, if she's older than that, great! If she's younger, then we can only hope it holds!!
BTW, homemade twix bars - they look so good!! I did a butterfinger type bar in April that might interest you :) http://chocolateand.blogspot.com/2008/04/home-made-candy-bars.html
- June 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM
- Dawn said...
Wow! Amazing: your niece and your bars. :-)
- June 23, 2008 at 2:18 PM
- kspin said...
Mmm. I love things that don't suck.
I hope my daughters will be as spunky and enlightened as your niece. Love her comment!
- June 23, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Oh yes, kids are much smarter than we are. The common sense your niece currently shows? Beats most adults as far as I'm concerned. Baby steps.
- June 23, 2008 at 3:33 PM
- My Sweet & Saucy said...
The bars look yummy! Sorry they turn out as planned though!
- June 23, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Your little niece is a wise one! I'm with you; I'm glad to see a black nominee, a woman nominee, and gay people allowed to marry. Now, if we can just see MORE of it, I'll know the world is growing wiser.
Fantastic pictures, btw.
- June 23, 2008 at 3:43 PM
- Clumbsy Cookie said...
The world needs women presidents and bars like these, hopefully together so the women presidents can eat the bars! I allready like your niece Ann!
- June 23, 2008 at 3:57 PM
- Jennywenny said...
I love these things, some people call them millionaires shortbread. Make sure to get the condensed milk to a nice brown colour then it will be all full of caramelly goodness...
- June 23, 2008 at 4:58 PM
I'm still wondering where the women presidents are? Maybe if women were in charge of all the countries in the world, all the crazy fighting and killing would stop! There'd be a bunch of men having time outs and no supper. I think Queen Latifah once said something like if there were no men in the world there would be a lot of fat, happy women and no war! (Hey, I love men; I'm married to a wonderful man and know a bunch of good ones, but I'm just sayin', do they have to be in charge of everything? I can see room for improvement!) I do so agree, though, we are moving in the right direction, and I hope it continues. In the meantime, I'll just have to make me a batch of those bars.
- June 23, 2008 at 6:12 PM
- Ann said...
Standing Still - Hug going out!
Sarah - Maybe she'll be the next Arianna Huffington?
NV - I know! Wonder where she gets that........
Lisa - yes on the 12 thing - I think we'll have to put her in a capsule when she turns 12, and not take her out until she's 25. :)
Dawn - thanks! ;)
Kspin - with you as their Momma, but of course!
My S&S - in the end they were de-lish, but boy what a poor recipe!
Meagan - I agree: MORE of it please, world! Thanks for the compliment!
Clumbsy Cookie - Dang, I just like the way your mind works, woman!
Jennywenny - do they remind you of Twix bars too?
Firefly - LOVE that Queen Latifah "quote"! How true is that? And I agree - not that I want a world without men or anything, but a little more balance would be nice. Maybe men DO need more timeouts...I'm liking this idea...
- June 23, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Those look amazing but they are making my thighs bulge just drooling over them! Yum
- June 23, 2008 at 7:05 PM
- Leslie said...
These are indeed carmelicious!!!
- June 23, 2008 at 7:07 PM
- Becky said...
these look sooo good, i'm drooling all over my computer screen right now. i love chocolate and caramel together. on cookies, it's even better!
- June 23, 2008 at 8:00 PM
- Amanda said...
It's my firm belief that with 2 cups of butter and 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk will make the BEST out of anything. Seriously!
- June 23, 2008 at 8:19 PM
- Gigi said...
Homemade Twix? I think I have died and gone to Twix heaven. And I with your niece ...where are the girl presidents? Damn those good old boys clubs.
- June 23, 2008 at 8:41 PM
- Laura @ Hungry and Frozen said...
what a cool, cool niece you have. And that caramel slice looks mind-blowingly good. I could - perhaps literally - eat 12 pieces RIGHT NOW :)
- June 24, 2008 at 12:45 AM
- Grace said...
yep, you've gotta watch out for those flirtatious desserts. they tempt and tease like there's no tomorrow, and then you eat them, and then they're gone. homemade twix bars? there would be no resistance here. :)
- June 24, 2008 at 2:27 AM
- Razor Family Farms said...
Well, I confess that I was decidedly not a H. Clinton fan. She told one too many lies for me. But I can't wait for our very own Margret Thatcher to take office and clean house in there.
We are stepping out of the wilderness politically, I think. Perhaps ol' G.W.B. did us some good after all -- he opened our eyes to the NEED for progress, African American leadership, female leadership -- anything other than "more of the same." The truth is that none of us care to dwell in our grandparents' politics. We've moved on and it's high time our leaders caught up.
Excellent post. So good that I almost forgot to comment on those fabulous little bars which are so sexy and scrumptious that I shall call them Orlando (Bloom, that is). Indeed, boxy buns and all. Those Orlandos look mighty fine.
- June 24, 2008 at 7:33 AM
- Sugar said...
Your niece is AWESOME! What a bright little mind! Maybe you guys can tell her about all the other parts of the world that celebrate women as leaders. That way she doesn't get some jacked up view that it's not possible. 'Cause it is, DAMMIT!
Someone just told me that we (as in, our little world in this part of the universe) have entered into the (drum roll...) Age of Aquarius. I guess that means that male and female will become more equalized with each sides characteristics and qualities being praised for working in harmony rather than jeered for being opposite the other. No emasculating our big, strong men. No tearing women down for being feminine and beautiful. Just coming together for the greater good.
Wouldn't THAT be cool?
- June 24, 2008 at 9:01 AM
- Ann said...
Anon - darlin', I know the feeling!
Leslie - thanks! We are lovin' 'em!
Becky - not to worry, we drooled all over them in real life and then ate them as well.
Amanda - omg, I know - can you say sugar and butter?
Gigi - I really wasn't expecting these to taste as great as they did. Nor my niece to be this profound at age 6, who knew?
Laura - love the new pic!!
Grace - I know, right! Problem is, as a food blogger, it seems there is food constantly flirting w/ us 'round here! :)
Lacy - I'm with you darlin' - both in politics and with the Orlando Bars (love it). It is high time we moved forward from the dark ages. Maybe Margaret Thatcher has a NIECE???
Sugar - What an awesome comment. I have long heard of the Age of Aquarius and that we are upon it. I am an Aquarius - so I'm as quirky as they come - so I guess this is my age. If this age brings harmony (and I can't imagine it being any less harmonious), then perhaps everything leading up to it has been worthwhile? I'm hopeful.
- June 24, 2008 at 9:25 AM
- Patricia Scarpin said...
Ann, what a wonderful post! Your niece is absolutely bright. I hope that in the future she can get to know some girl presidents.
Your bars look delicious and I'm glad you did not give up on the recipe.
- June 24, 2008 at 10:57 AM
- Carmen said...
- June 24, 2008 at 1:19 PM
These bars look like heaven, I'm at work right now and just salivating a little bit. Love the niece, sounds like she has some of the aunt in her.
- June 24, 2008 at 2:28 PM
- Your Pal Pinki said...
I say YUM!!!
- June 24, 2008 at 10:12 PM
- Razor Family Farms said...
Don't hate me, Ann! I have Jadite (Fire King) mixing bowls but that one is one of a set of 1950's Pyrex Primary mixing bowls. The difference? The vintage Pyrex bowls cost about $75-110 and the Jadite mixing bowls are about $50-60 on Ebay. I love my Jadite but I have to tell you: nothing tops my love for those silly Pyrex mixing bowls. Why? Because my grandmother and our housekeeper, Elizabeth, used them constantly and they are somehow still in perfect condition. When I touch them, I can picture those two wonderful ladies and the delicious meals they created.
I act like a freak when they are out and in use though. Often I scream things at my poor doting husband like I have Tourettes. It generally goes something like this:
To the bowls:
"Did Daddy hurt you? Did mean ol' Daddy try to hurt my babies?"
See? I'm hopeless.
- June 25, 2008 at 7:55 AM
- Sophie said...
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- June 25, 2008 at 11:59 AM
- The Cheap Chick said...
I am gaining weight just looking at the pictures, but still. Doesn't food photograph well? It IS all coy and "don't you want me?", isn't it? Naughty food!
And when your niece can vote, she will be voting for a woman. Bank on it.
- June 25, 2008 at 5:49 PM
- Sugar said...
This is definitely not on the cleanse. But neither is Dooce now... she was just told by her doctor to knock that crap off. YAY! I have so much less guilt about eating this yummy treat now!
- June 25, 2008 at 9:43 PM
- Jennifer H said...
Smart girl. Maybe one day the list of girl presidents will be quite long. We can hope.
Until then, we'll eat these yummy bars. Well, maybe not until then...we have to stop eventually. ;-)
- June 25, 2008 at 10:43 PM
- diva said...
firstly, i can safely say your niece is wonderfully intelligent! and bless her heart, i hope she never loses that sharp eye and america never forgets about freedom of speech.
secondly, will you stop tempting me with your food photos! i have a heart attack every time u post. ;)
- June 26, 2008 at 3:48 AM
- Angela said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- June 26, 2008 at 8:23 AM
- Angela said...
I just came across your blog today via food gawker, your caramel shortbread looks delicious. You will find it in all the bakeries here in Scotland. We tend to call it millionaire's shortbread as it has a luxurious topping on it compared to our humble shortbread.
- June 26, 2008 at 8:26 AM
- Jenn @ Juggling Life said...
Out of the mouths of babes . . .
- June 27, 2008 at 6:13 PM
- Lisa Milton said...
Those look amazing! I was going to comment on the utter lack of girl presidents, but now all I can think about is these beauties.
Both in time, I hope.
- June 28, 2008 at 8:27 PM
I'm disappointed..
I made these this afternoon (we have Twix bars in Australia, but to me these bars are called caramel slice). To me, this recipe is just too, too, too sweet! I think next time I will leave out the sugar when I'm mixing up the caramel - the condensed milk on its own was almost too sweet for me.
I shall persevere! That's a sweet story, too, by the way. Australia's deputy PM is Julia Gillard, and our newest appointed Governor-General is also a female - she's yet to take office though. We've still a ways to go, though.
- July 3, 2008 at 3:39 AM
- Christine said...
I seriously just laughed out loud when I read "They forgot to name the girl presidents."
(And I'm at the office supposedly working hard before the holiday weekend!)
Thats for the laugh. And PS- those bars look heavenly!
- July 3, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Aw, sorry the recipe gave you trouble! I have been there before... Wanting to toss things out... Not a good feeling!!
These look absolutely amazing, though!
- April 1, 2010 at 8:44 PM


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Feb. 28 to March 16
Fishing Classic - Bass Pro Shops, 1356 Bass Pro Drive in Manteca, will be holding its free Spring Fishing Classic, providing adults, children and families the chance to learn how to fish. The event features seminars, lessons from the pros and special activities for kids. Information: basspro.com/classic and click the Manteca store from the drop-down box.
Fishing tournament - San Joaquin County Parks and Recreation and the Delta Fly Fishers will hold the 11th annual Bob McMillen Memorial Fishing Tournament at Oak Grove Regional Park. Approximately 2,700 pounds of rainbow trout, including 200 bounds of trophy-size fish, will be stocked in the 10-acre lake before the event. The tournament is open to all ages and features three competitions: youth (ages 10 and under), teen (ages 11 to 17) and adult (ages 18 and over). Prizes will be awarded for the heaviest fish in each age category. Park gates open at 6:15 a.m., registration closes at 10 a.m. and final weigh-in is at 12:30 p.m. The event is free, but there is a $5 fishing permit fee and a valid California fishing license is required for anyone 16 years and older. A $6 parking fee also applies. Information: (209) 331-2050 or sjparks.com.


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It's the kind of question that keeps retirees up at night: How much can one withdraw annually from a retirement portfolio without running a big risk of going broke? Conventional wisdom has long favored the so-called 4% rule, which holds that an initial withdrawal rate of 4% of the value of your portfolio at retirement--adjusted annually for inflation--should be sustainable over 30 years.
But new research published by research giant Morningstar casts doubt on that advice--and the conclusions the report draws do not make for happy reading for retirees. The upshot, according to Morningstar, is that in today's markets, retirees who want "a 90% probability of achieving a retirement income goal with a 30-year time horizon and a 40% equity portfolio" should withdraw just 2.8%. That conclusion puts pressure on retirees to either plan to live on less, or plan to save much more before retiring, or both.
Why only 2.8%?
Here, the paper gets technical. The problem, the report says, is that yields on government bonds are "well below historical averages." But while that situation is likely to persist for some time, it is not reflected in the Monte Carlo forecasting models that most financial advisers currently use to project how much retirees can afford to spend. (Those models assume investors will earn a random sequence of annual returns that, over time, will net out to the historic average for bonds.)
More specifically, the paper says, "While the average annual arithmetic return on the Ibbotson Intermediate-Term Government Bond Index from 1930 to 2011 was 5.5%, the interest rate … today is close to 2%, which is 3.5% lower than the historic average. An analysis that assumes an average bond return of 5.5% in the first year will significantly overestimate early retirement portfolio returns."
To correct for that problem, the authors -- David Blanchett, Morningstar's head of retirement research, Michael Finke of Texas Tech University, and Wade Pfau at the American College (a MarketWatch RetireMentor)—recommend that retirees and advisers assume that yields will remain close to their current level for some time before gradually reverting to their long-term averages. "This approach can better replicate the actual bond returns a current or near retiree can expect during retirement," the paper adds.
When they crunched the numbers, the authors also assumed that retirees will lose one percentage point in annual returns to investment fees. And they reduced the long-term average annual return of stocks by two percentage points--from 11.77% to 9.77%--to reflect the fact that U.S. equities are unlikely to continue to outperform equities in other countries.
For retirees, of course, none of this is welcome news. "Low yields will have a significant impact for retirees, who tend to invest heavily in bonds," the paper says. Indeed, the authors find that a retiree who uses the 4% rule will have "approximately a 50% probability" of running out of money over 30 years. Ouch.


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This past weekend, I saw the effects of the chicken wing shortage that was reported earlier this year.
I was all set to grill wings for a last-minute July 4th/Birthday gathering, but one look at the Trader Joe's meat department derailed my plans. Brooklyn Fare didn't have wings either. Or Associated Supermarket. Forget shrimp. Chicken wings may be this season's most sought-after commodity.
What every store had, however, was plenty of chicken thighs. At ridiculously low prices. It'll set you back $1.99/lb for "natural, hormone-free" chicken, and just a bit more for the organic, free-range variety. Legs and thighs may be awkward to pass around while sipping a beer outdoors or pretending to care about the World Cup, but are perfect for a braising dish I like to make even in the summer.
I posted a recipe last year for pork adobo. But it is the chicken version that I make again and again (and again and again.) I first learned to make this Filipino chicken adobo from an ex-roommate. Certain friends have gotten sick of it after the 20th time, so now I learn to space out my cooking of it. Instead of twice a week, I'll indulge in my craving twice a season.
But with the wing shortage and chicken thigh abundance spreading across the country, chicken adobo will make a comeback as my go-to comfort food dish. First of all, who doesn't like braised chicken? (Heartless people, that's who.) Second, the 30 minutes of braising will give your kitchen this wonderful cidery, soy aroma, and make it smell like a rustic hearth somewhere in the vicinity of the Spice Islands (just imagine). Third, the dish tastes even more amazing reheated. Like tonight. When I blast the AC and rewatch the first season of Mad Men.
Chicken adobo + Don Draper & Co. circa 2007. An evening of revisiting old friends.
Chicken Adobo
Serves 4
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken legs or thighs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped or
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- With a paper towel, pat the excess moisture from the chicken on all sides (otherwise, watch out for splattering oil when you sear the meat.) In a large wok or skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken on one side until the skin is light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and sear the other side for another 5 minutes.
- Add the onions over the chicken. Pour the vinegar, soy sauce, and water over everything and bring to a simmer. Add the honey, bay leaf, paprika, and pepper. Allow everything to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Enjoy the aroma.
- Serve hot over rice and vegetable sides.


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So, in my new role, I'll be responsible for the shared administration of a rather large Gentoo deployment. So, in the spirit of eating your own dogfood, I'm loading my new company-issued laptop with Gentoo Linux.
First impression: I feel like I'm back in 1994. Really. Oh, the package management is generally pretty cooked; in fact, I'm really quite impressed with how they're handling a generally nebulous thing (from-source package generation) in a pretty consistant manner. I'm trying to imagine building Fedora from source RPMs, and the idea gives me the willies; they have the build dependancies handled pretty well. No, my problem is the same problem I have with Debian: choice is good, but too much choice is a PITA. You can infer from this that I disagree with the Perl axiom of "more than one way to do it"; all that means is that the language (or in this case, distribution) maintainer didn't have the intestinal fortitude to make a decision, and left the problem of bikeshed arguments to the users. It's actually worse than that: on their own, a lot of the little variances don't matter, but get enough of them together, and you have a maintenance nightmare.
This problem is compounded by the community belief that customization at all levels (specifically at the buildchain level) is a good thing. At the end of the day, you have a distribution where you are truly on your own from a support perspective in many cases. Not a big deal for an operating system targetting hackers and tweakers (in fact, I'll probably have a ball with it on my laptop), but when I put my management hat on, the idea of using this in production frightens me; you're essentially locking yourself into using senior-level talent to manage your infrastructure, and hiring junior talent that can grow into the position starts becoming less and less attractive. Not bad for me, but bad for the bottom line.
I expect I'm expounding on arguments that have been had over and over in the Gentoo community over the years, so this is more of a first-impression kind of vent. I'll skip on discussing the apparent lack of development and "stable" tracks for general deployment, and a few other similar things I've noticed missing from the "process" around the distribution, because they're all fundamentally part of the same issue: the Gentoo community appears to strongly appeal to the hacker/tweaker, which defines the community's behavior from a packaging and ongoing maintenance perspective.
So, Slackware for smarter people. :-)


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Language Courses, Arabic in Morocco by Rebecca Gilsdorf
Day 1: Arrival
After nearly 20 hours of travel I finally arrived in Rabat. The taxi driver suddenly pulled over, and I got out and grabbed my things. I then quickly began a race through the crowded, narrow streets of the medina. The walk took maybe 10 minutes but by the time I arrived at the front door of where I'd be staying, I felt completely lost and overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the medina. I went inside and met the family, ate a quick dinner, attempted to start unpacking and then laid down to rest. I wrote my first journal entry that night and recall thinking, albeit briefly, that I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into.
Day 7: Teaching
I've been here for a few days now and teaching for nearly a week already. Time has really flown. I teach an afternoon class full of anywhere from 4 to 24 students around the age of 10 or 12 with the help of another volunteer. The children have insane amounts of energy and thoroughly enjoy all of the word games that we make up for them to play, particularly when it involves one team against another. Following the younger student class, I pair up with another volunteer to teach a more advanced class. We teach complex grammar rules for a short while and then we're off into heated debates about Moroccan politics, immigration in the US compared to Morocco, US elections, whether women should work outside the home or not, idioms, and tons more.
Then there is a night class only two nights a week. The class is mixed by age and background in English, but we somehow make it work. I'm often surprised by how eager even the younger students are to give up two hours of their evening to learn a third language (Arabic and French tend to be the first two).
Day 15: "It's a Hyacinth"
I've been teaching for about two weeks now and am enjoying my second full weekend in Rabat. I spent the afternoon in Sweesee, near Takkadoum where I've been teaching, with a group of my students. We met near the building we hold class in and then walked to the coffee shop that my students recommended. We walked for about a half hour before "arriving." Upon arrival we realized that the building was no longer a coffee shop, but had been converted into a furniture store. So we turned around and headed for a different coffee shop, which they assured me would be equally delicious.
Along the way one of the students started trying to teach me the Arabic names of flowers that we saw growing on fences along the sidewalk. He picked a large red flower, handed it to me and taught me the name in Arabic. He then asked me what it was called in English. I, having no background in flower names, was stumped. "We call it red flower," I said. We all laughed. The student then asked one of the other students if he knew what it was. The second student, a non-native English speaker like the others, promptly responded, "It's a hyacinth."
Which lead to an even longer laughter session. I was surprised like this on more than one occasion, when my knowledge of things seemed to have a gap that could only be filled by one of my students. We spent the afternoon drinking coffee and milk with sugar and exchanging stories about life in America compared to Morocco and random other things. Tomorrow it is off to Casablanca to see Mosque Hassan II!
Day 22:
My Arabic teacher invited me to his house this afternoon for lunch and tea. After an amazing tagine shared with his parents and sisters, we retired to the living room. His mother served tea and biscuits. Two local university professors joined us as did his father. We then began a long discussion about Moroccan politics, southern Morocco, human rights and Islam, the environment, Catholicism, the Isreali-Palestinian conflict and whatever issues came up in between to bridge all of these ideas. The discussion was completely in formal Arabic! Having only studied Arabic for two semesters in the US and 3 weeks in Morocco, I was amazed at how much I'd learned and how much I actually understood of what the others were saying.
Day 28: Last day
Today is my last day teaching. I can't believe a month has already passed. I taught all three of my classes today. The beginner class was wildly rambunctious as usual as I attempted to review first person verb tenses with them. We played a few last games together, took a few photos and then called it a day. After that, I had the advanced class and night class for the final time as well. I exchanged email addresses with a few of the advanced students and said goodbye to them as well.
Day 29: Leaving
Today is Friday; I fly out tomorrow. I don't have to teach at all today so I've decided to meet a few of my students down at the beach to enjoy the sun and ocean one last time. We spent a few hours sitting on the beach and talking about all the things we'd neglected to say before. They helped me fix a few of my lingering pronunciation problems with Arabic and gave me advice on where to go in Morocco if/when I return. They then walked me home just in time for a final amazing cous cous lunch!
Mid-afternoon I caught a taxi to the train station to Casablanca where I spent the night (since my flight was ridiculously early on Saturday morning). I spent the evening in Casablanca writing the final few entries in my journal in an attempt not to forget anything, though I inevitably did. I looked out over the old medina in Casablanca and listened to the Call to Prayer one last time while thinking back on all the funny stories from class, the sewing lessons from one of my host sisters, doing laundry by hand every weekend, taking the overcrowded taxis to work, exploring old Roman ruins, and most importantly all of the amazing people I'd met who taught me more about Arabic, Islam and Morocco than I ever could have dreamed of learning.
I still can't quite believe that I spent a month of my life in Morocco, but I wouldn't exchange a single memory for anything.
Rebecca Gilsdorf
Ce témoignage est basé sur l'expérience unique d'un volontaire à un certain moment donné. Nos projets s'adaptent constamment aux besoins locaux, ils évoluent au fur et à mesure que des volontaires s'impliquent et s'adaptent aux saisons, ainsi votre expérience sur place pourra être différente de celle décrite ici. Pour en savoir plus sur cette mission, vous pouvez consulter la page de ce projet ou bien contacter l'un de nos conseillers de volontaires.


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The funding crisis that will eventually hit Social Security is coming much sooner to a state near you.
The ravages of the recession combined with chronic underfunding have created a $1 trillion shortfall, by one estimate, and threaten to undermine the pensions of state workers around the United States within the next 15 to 20 years. The probable results in many states: fewer guaranteed benefits for new state workers and either more taxes or fewer services.
"These are not politically attractive options and not necessarily economically attractive options, but for the last 30 years state governments have been more than happy to pay money for stuff they don't have, and someone has to foot that bill," says Jeff Brown, a former economic adviser in the Bush administration and a finance professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no way to get around it."
With the worst-funded pension system in the nation, according to the Pew Center on the States, Illinois is a now a testing ground for how to fix the problem.
The challenge is large. In June 2009, accrued liabilities reached $126 billion, $62 billion of which was underfunded. In December, a state commission put the underfunded amount at $77.8 billion.
In April, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a reform bill that he said would stabilize pensions and save taxpayers $200 billion over almost 35 years. The measure hikes the retirement age to 67 and caps pension benefits. Anything state workers earn above $106,800 won't be included in pension calculations.
But there's a catch: The reforms only apply to new hires starting January 2011. It's a dilemma for states around the country. How much will state governments really cut and how much of the problem will they merely push onto the shoulders of the next generation of workers?
Illinois reforms too tepid?
In Illinois, critics say the reform doesn't go far enough.
The bill offers steps in the right direction but does "nothing to address the immediate crisis for how the state is going to pay for the pension funds this year," says Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan tax policy think tank in Chicago. He says the state needs to increase the contribution requirements for existing employees to help steady a problem that, if not addressed seriously within the next decade, may lead the state into bankruptcy.
"At the end of the day, the size of the liability is so large it is only going to be major structural changes in the existing funding structures that can help stabilize Illinois's finances," Mr. Msall says.
Changing the pension rules on existing state employees is a political risk, which is why it is hardly broached by legislators who are also beneficiaries of the system. For some states, the solution is not tenable because the pensions are guaranteed by state law.
Veteran employees have the most protections, either because they live in a state where their pensions have a constitutional guarantee or because state courts have established them as a right under common law. Either way, says Professor Brown of the University of Illinois, the courts have legally bound states to keep those pensions intact. So if state money dries up, lawmakers will be forced to make draconian cuts or order big tax hikes to make up the difference. Lawmakers would likely turn to retiree healthcare next, which is not constitutionally protected.
"There are a lot of ways to do this without simply saying, 'Hey, your pension's gone.' Legally or politically, I can't see [a pension cut] happening," he says.
One way around state constitutions
State constitutions do provide one emergency option for governments to back out of their pension obligations, according to Amy Monahan, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who specializes in employee benefits. States have "police powers," she points out, which give them fundamental rights to protect the welfare of their citizens in a crisis, which in this case would allow a legal "out" in providing benefits. But when and how they could be applied is still in question because they have yet to be tested in court. "It's a big unknown," Ms. Monahan says.
The public sector workers under the most threat are new hires at the lower end of the pay scale, such as road crews or janitors, who have less mobility than higher-paid professionals.
"If you're a state worker, you don't have much recourse if your pension is reduced. They're in a worse situation," says J. Fred Giertz, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an elected member of the State Universities Retirement System board of trustees.
Past reform measures have not kept pension funds from losing value, especially when state lawmakers don't follow through on promises to make up for previous shortfalls. In 2000, over half of states fully funded their pension systems, according to a 2010 study by the Pew Center on the States. By 2008, only four states had: Florida, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin. That's why the pension shortfall now stands at an estimated $1 trillion nationwide and is growing, Pew says.
One answer: a 401(k) for state workers
A possible solution may be to make the same change in public pensions that the private sector has largely already made. Instead of traditional pensions, which guarantee a fixed payment, states could fund 401(k) type retirement plans that only guarantee the level of pension contributions. In this scenario, the investment risk shifts to the employees.
Despite resistance from public-sector unions, more states will be looking at this type of system as state economies worsen, says Peter Zaleski, a professor of economics and statistics at the Villanova School of Business, outside Philadelphia. "I'm all for [pensions] if states are responsible enough to fund them. But the problem is they haven't been."
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