Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Erfassung des Zustands eines Verbrauchsprodukts

摘要

An apparatus is provided for detecting the state of a consumable for a printer. The apparatus includes a consumable cartridge, a drive motor, a current measuring device, memory and processing circuitry. The consumable cartridge has a rotatable member that is carried by the cartridge. The motor is configured to rotate the rotatable member. The current measuring device is associated with the motor, and is operative to measure current flow through the motor. The memory is configured to store a predetermined value corresponding to current flow through the motor, and indicative of a change in state of the rotatable member. The processing circuitry is coupled with the current measuring device and the memory and is operative to determine when the measured current flow corresponds to the predetermined value of current flow. Furthermore, the processing circuitry identifies a state of the consumable cartridge. A method is also provided.