Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/635,526 filed Dec. 8, 2006, which is a Continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/919,382 filed on Aug. 17, 2004, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,158,258, which is a Continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/659,022 filed Sep. 11, 2003, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,092,130, which is a Continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/436,589, filed on Nov. 9, 1999, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,430 all of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to printing systems and more particularly to a handheld mobile communications device having a detachable printing mechanism. 
     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 
     According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a mobile telephone comprises a support structure around which the mobile telephone is constructed; a camera device positioned on the support structure for electronically capturing and processing an image; a detachable printing mechanism; and a receptacle, defined in the support structure, for receiving therein the detachable printing mechanism. The detachable printing mechanism defines therethrough a print media feed path along which print media is fed for printing. The print media feed path extends from a first longitudinal side of the support structure through to a second longitudinal side of the support structure opposite the first longitudinal side. 
    
    
     
       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&#39;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&#39;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.

Technology Category: 5