| 摘要 |
A method for preventing the use of non-original refills in printing apparatus, such as a printer or a copying machine, comprising labeling the refill material, which may be a toner or ink, with a material the presence of which can be detected using detection apparatus, and disallowing the use of the apparatus, and/or alerting the user of the non-genuine nature of the refill, if the required labeled material is not detected in the refill. The material is labeled using a material the presence of which can be detected using spectrophotometric techniques. The detection apparatus is a spectrophotometric detection apparatus. The toner or ink is marked with a single compound, emitting light in a known spectrum and characteristic. Two or more compounds having different spectra and/or characteristics may be mixed, so as to produce a characteristic "code" or "signature" as the result of their excitation with light. |
