Patent ID: 6164753
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A method of locating a scanning printer carriage of an inkjet printer relative to a service station positioned at one end of the scanning axis of the printer carriage comprising the steps of:activating an optical sensor mounted on the printer carriage;moving the printer carriage along in its scanning direction while optically sensing for a reference mark located on the service station and while monitoring the current position of the printer carriage along its scanning axis by an optical encoder;locating the reference mark;storing the current position of the printer carriage at which the reference mark has been located; andcalculating from a known distance of the reference mark to servicing components of the service station and from a known distance of the optical sensor to cartridges held within the printer carriage, to determine the relative location of the cartridges to the servicing components.