Ink cartridge manufacturer’s optical sensing technology awarded patent after three-year approval process.
MMC has announced that it has been awarded patent 200910040671.X for the optical sensing technology it has developed for use on its replacement Brother 61 series ink cartridges, with the company claiming that the patent “will break through technological patent barriers set up by those international brands”.
MMC states that the technology will increase accuracy in ink level detection, which can often be affected by instability of a cartridge’s mechanical movement decreasing the sensitivity of a printer’s light sensor.
The company also claims that the technology will help to reduce the amount of ink residue to below 10 percent, compared to an average residue amount of between 20 and 30 percent in most other cartridges, and that the amount of materials used in producing the ink cartridge will decrease by 10 percent.