An image from Pelikan’s granted patent
The company was granted a European patent for an inkjet cartridge.
The patent, EP 2 483 080 B1, was awarded to Pelikan Hardcopy in Europe, and refers to an inkjet cartridge featuring “filled-level detection” on the front or “forward-facing side” of the cartridge itself. The patent discusses in detail the flow of information between the cartridge and the printer through the “light-beam deflecting surfaces” dotted around the cartridge itself.
The document goes on to give more information about the “light-transmitting component[s]” of the cartridge, with the inference that the cartridge would feature technology that would allow users to know when it is filled, or alternatively to understand when the cartridge is nearly empty. The patent’s supporting image in turn presents the outer construction of the inkjet cartridge along with the different outer components.