| 摘要 |
A system (40) for displaying status of a consumable resource. In the illustrative application, the invention provides a system for determining a resource characteristic, e.g. a level of toner, in a cartridge without requiring use of a host machine. In a first embodiment, an alpha-numeric visual display (56) or an audio device (58) is provided on the cartridge (20). In alternative embodiments, data relating the characteristic is transmitted from the cartridge (20) by a wireless transmitter (60). In one implementation, the transmitter is an infrared transmitter. In a second implementation, the transmitter is a Bluetooth enable transmitter. The wireless transmission is received by a compatible receiving device, preferably a hand held device, remotely located relative to the cartridge. An alpha-numeric and/or audio device is provided at the receiver for outputting information relating to the resource. An indicator (64) is also provided on the cartridge to signal which cartridge is transmitting data at any given time. |
