EP0432024A1 - Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Kontrastregelung für einen Thermodruckkopf - Google Patents

Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Kontrastregelung für einen Thermodruckkopf Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0432024A1
EP0432024A1 EP90403412A EP90403412A EP0432024A1 EP 0432024 A1 EP0432024 A1 EP 0432024A1 EP 90403412 A EP90403412 A EP 90403412A EP 90403412 A EP90403412 A EP 90403412A EP 0432024 A1 EP0432024 A1 EP 0432024A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
printing
resistive elements
temperature
head
activation times
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP90403412A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0432024B1 (de
Inventor
Christian Lavergne
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Sagem SA
Original Assignee
Sagem SA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sagem SA filed Critical Sagem SA
Publication of EP0432024A1 publication Critical patent/EP0432024A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0432024B1 publication Critical patent/EP0432024B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/315—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material
    • B41J2/32—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads
    • B41J2/35—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material using thermal heads providing current or voltage to the thermal head
    • B41J2/355—Control circuits for heating-element selection
    • B41J2/36—Print density control

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a writing or printing head, thermal, for printer of data transmission systems, in particular of fax machines.
  • a thermal writing head comprises a plurality of resistive elements arranged to be traversed by a current, and therefore to heat, and to cooperate either directly with a printing medium, heat-sensitive paper, or indirectly with an ordinary printing medium, by means of a ribbon coated with an ink melting with the heat of the elements.
  • it is a direct thermal printing
  • the second case a thermal transfer printing.
  • the movable head comprises at least one bar, generally vertical, of elements, aligned in a direction orthogonal to the direction of rectilinear displacement, during printing d '' a line of characters, corresponding to the height of the bar, of a carriage supporting the head.
  • the head stationary, comprises a generally horizontal row of numerous elements, of width compatible with the width of the support intended to be printed during its scroll orthogonally to the row of elements.
  • the printing heating elements are supplied with current during determined time intervals, or activation times T ON .
  • the contrast of a print medium is defined by the optical density, that is to say of surface area, of black.
  • optical density that is to say of surface area, of black.
  • this optical density which is a function of the energy supplied to the heating elements, becomes saturated with a determined saturation energy.
  • the heating energy of the resistive printing elements is preset for a given paper and to reach the saturation zone of the optical density of this paper.
  • an operator can therefore, from a desk, adjust the contrast of a document to be printed, not only according to the nature or quality of this document but also , in the case of a fax machine, depending on the rendering he wants to obtain compared to an original document, by operating the machine locally.
  • the energy applied to a heating element being equal to the product of the power supplied, fixed by the activation time T ON , we can vary this energy from one document to another, whose transition thresholds are respectively different , to, in both cases, reach the saturation zone of the optical density.
  • the running speed of the print medium may vary. In steady state, this running speed is constant and, in the case of a line type thermal writing head, the printing cycles of the heating elements have a constant duration and it can be assumed that the temperatures of the elements at the start and at the end of the cycles are almost equal. In steady state, and for a given printing medium, the printing energy is therefore the same from one cycle to another. If the movement speed varies, the duration of the print cycles varies.
  • the present invention aims to solve the problem of overcoming the variation of the duration of the printing cycles and of keeping the temperatures of the elements equal at the start and at the end of printing cycles, that is to say to keep the energy constant printing.
  • the present invention aims to prevent the printing energy supplied by a heating element, during a printing cycle, and the contrast with it, from being all the more weak as the cycle precedent is long.
  • the present invention relates to a process of the type defined above, characterized in that the activation times of the resistive elements are set at the start of printing for a printing cycle of minimum duration and, for printing cycles of duration greater than this minimum duration, the resistive elements are reactivated as soon as their temperature by lowering reaches their initial temperature at the start of the cycle.
  • the resistive elements are reactivated until the start of the next printing cycle during a series of holding microcycles with very short activation times.
  • the temperatures of the resistive elements at the start and at the end of the printing cycle are maintained equal, or almost, whatever the duration of the printing cycle.
  • the variation in the duration of the printing cycles therefore does not cause the printing energy to vary.
  • the contrast value is kept constant from one line to another.
  • the duration of the holding microcycles and the duration of activation during each of these microcycles are chosen so that the temperature of the elements at the end of the last holding microcycle is as close as possible to the initial temperature at the start of the cycle. printing.
  • the activation times of the resistive elements can be varied step by step and increased or decreased from a nominal time interval.
  • the activation time is increased and to decrease the contrast, the activation time is decreased.
  • the transmission system can be implemented so that these activation times are in fact controlled by the temperature of the writing head determined by a thermistor which controls these activation times and therefore the energy applied to the heating elements.
  • the temperature around the head increases and tends to raise the temperature limits of the heating elements at the end of their heating phase and at the end of their cooling phase, i.e. the upper limit temperature, or high point, at the end of the activation times and the lower limit temperature, or low point, at the end of the printing cycles. In other words, a drift tends to be created. In order to maintain a satisfactory impression and also to avoid overheating the resistive elements, this temperature drift is controlled, using the thermistor, to limit it to the minimum. As soon as the variation of these high and low points, relative to nominal levels, exceeds a maximum value predetermined in the factory, the activation times are reduced so that these upper and lower limits are lowered to their nominal values.
  • the transmission system comprising a head temperature control loop, set on nominal limit temperatures, to automatically control the activation times of the resistive elements as a function of the heating of the head, when the activation times are varied, the nominal limit temperatures can be varied.
  • an activation time is therefore the sum of a time determined automatically by the control loop and a differential time entered manually by the operator.
  • the nominal limit temperatures can only be varied within ranges predetermined at the factory.
  • the present invention also relates to a data transmission system comprising a printer with a line type thermal writing head for printing a printing medium, the contrast of which is controlled according to the method of the invention, the head comprising a series of resistive elements activated from a printer card connected to a power source, system characterized in that it comprises a console provided with keys for varying the activation times of the resistive elements, means for adjusting the times at the start of printing activating the resistive elements for a printing cycle of minimum duration and means for reactivating the resistive elements during printing cycles of duration greater than this minimum duration.
  • the thermal writing head 1 is that of a printer of a facsimile machine using, as printing medium, thermosensitive paper whose contrast produced by the head is controlled.
  • the head is of line type and comprises a row of resistive elements arranged in line orthogonally to the direction of travel of the paper on a drum 2.
  • the elements of head 1 are activated by passing a supplied current by a printer card 3 from a power source 4.
  • the card 3 essentially comprises a battery of switching transistors turned on during activation times T ON by an activation circuit 5.
  • the facsimile machine is naturally provided with 'A microprocessor 6 and a console 7 for controlling activation times.
  • the activation times T ON are set at the very start of printing and the console 7 allows, using an increase and a decrease key, to vary the value of these values step by step.
  • activation time by controlling an up-down counter 8 connected, at input, to a clock generator 9 and, at output, to microprocessor 6 which controls the activation circuit 5 to generate a differential variation of times d 'activation.
  • the writing head 1 is inserted into a temperature control loop 10.
  • a thermistor 11 captures the temperature of the head 1.
  • a memory 12 contains nominal upper and lower limit temperature values and the actual upper and lower temperatures are compared with the nominal values in a comparator 15 which regulates the activation times provided by the circuit 5.
  • the control loop 10 is set to the nominal limit values and automatically controls the activation times T ON as a function of the heating of the head.
  • Desk 7 allows an operator to manually control these activation times by adding differential times, positive or negative, depending on the desired contrast. As explained below, the manual modification of the activation times modifies the nominal limit values of memory 12.
  • the duration of the printing cycles is measured by a measuring chain 13, downstream of the drum 2, in order to be able, in the event of printing cycles of duration greater than a minimum duration, reactivating the resistive elements of the head 1 via a secondary activation circuit 14 also controlling the printer card 3.
  • T ON activation time
  • the temperature of the element increases in time until time T ON where it reaches the value ⁇ s , following a portion C a of the curve representative of the variation of the temperature of the element as a function of time. Beyond the point (T ON , ⁇ s ), the temperature decreases following a portion of curve C d .
  • a heat-sensitive paper with a transition threshold ⁇ t a heat-sensitive paper with a transition threshold ⁇ t .
  • the surface portion, in Figure 2, hatched at an angle of 45 degrees, between the curve portions C a , C d and the ordinate line ⁇ t is representative of the writing energy on the paper with transition threshold ⁇ t .
  • ⁇ t ′ greater than ⁇ t .
  • the operator presses the "increase" key on the desk 7 to increase the activation time by one or more steps and raise it to T ′ ON , greater than T ON .
  • the temperature of the heating element reaches at the instant T ′ ON the value ⁇ ′ s , greater than ⁇ s then descends along a portion of curve C ′ d .
  • the surface portion, between the portions of curve C a , C ′ d and the straight line of ordinate ordinate ⁇ ′ t , hatched at an angle of 135 degrees, is substantially equal to the first and represents a writing energy producing the desired contrast.
  • the action of the operator on the keys of the desk 7 makes it possible to vary, by step ⁇ T ON , the activation times, from a preset value T ON , to increase or decrease the contrast on a determined paper , according to relationships x representing the number of key operations.
  • FIG. 3 represents, still as a function of time, the variation of the temperature of a heating element of the head 1 during several printing cycles, corresponding to several writing lines, but regulated, after the first cycle d impression represented by the control loop 10.
  • the loop 10 makes it possible to interrupt the drift of the upper and lower temperatures of the heating elements when these limit temperatures exceed by a predetermined value the nominal limit temperatures ⁇ ls and ⁇ li .
  • the element activation time during the first cycle shown is T ON . At the end of the activation time T ON , the upper temperature ⁇ s exceeds ⁇ ls by the maximum permitted value, after having drifted along curve D.
  • Loop 10 in the next cycle, reduces the activation time to T O NOT ⁇ to lower, at the end of this new activation time, ⁇ s to ⁇ ls before ⁇ s drifts again in time along the curve D ′ and so on.
  • the lower temperature ⁇ i is naturally subject to the same regulation.
  • control loop 10 and the manual control performed by the operator combine.
  • the implementation of one or other of the relationships I above causes a displacement of the nominal limit temperatures within ranges, high and low, predetermined in the factory.
  • the combination of these two controls is illustrated by the flowchart in FIG. 4.
  • the temperature O of the head 1 is entered by the thermistor 11 which regulates the value of the activation time T ON . If the operator is satisfied with the contrast, T ON is maintained and printing is carried out with T ON . If the operator wants to increase the contrast, for example by ⁇ T ON , printing takes place with the activation time T ON + ⁇ T ON before the thermistor re-enters the temperature of head 1.
  • the curve C extends over a relatively long first cycle at the end of which the lower temperature ⁇ ′ i of the element is lower than its starting temperature ⁇ i , so that, during the following cycle, the higher temperature ⁇ s ′ , at the end of the activation time, is lower than the temperature ⁇ s of the previous cycle and n ' is not sufficient for the writing energy, for a paper with a transition threshold ⁇ t , to produce the desired contrast.
  • the secondary activation circuit 14 reactivates the heating element as soon as its temperature, falling, reaches the temperature ⁇ i , at time T r in FIG.
  • the ambient temperature of the medium in which the writing head 1 is located was controlled by the thermistor 11 and that, as a function of this temperature, a greater or lesser heating energy was applied to the resistive elements by adjusting the activation time.
  • E n the nominal energy at 25 degrees C
  • the heating energy to be applied can, for example, vary from 1.3 E n , at 0 degrees C, to 0.8 E n at 60 degrees C for a given head.
  • the duration of the cycles is lengthened, here by doubling it to 10 ms, up to the ambient temperature around the head exceeds said threshold, beyond which the cycles are shortened and resume their nominal duration, here by 5 ms.

Landscapes

  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
  • Facsimile Heads (AREA)
  • Fax Reproducing Arrangements (AREA)
  • Heat Sensitive Colour Forming Recording (AREA)
EP90403412A 1989-12-07 1990-11-30 Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Kontrastregelung für einen Thermodruckkopf Expired - Lifetime EP0432024B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR8916181 1989-12-07
FR8916181A FR2655592B1 (fr) 1989-12-07 1989-12-07 Procede de controle du contraste d'un support d'impression produit par une tete thermique d'ecriture et systeme d'impression mettant en óoeuvre le procede.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0432024A1 true EP0432024A1 (de) 1991-06-12
EP0432024B1 EP0432024B1 (de) 1994-07-20

Family

ID=9388251

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP90403412A Expired - Lifetime EP0432024B1 (de) 1989-12-07 1990-11-30 Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Kontrastregelung für einen Thermodruckkopf

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0432024B1 (de)
AT (1) ATE108728T1 (de)
DE (1) DE69010859T2 (de)
DK (1) DK0432024T3 (de)
ES (1) ES2060113T3 (de)
FR (1) FR2655592B1 (de)

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3975707A (en) * 1970-04-13 1976-08-17 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Device for controlling the density of printing characters
EP0254454A2 (de) * 1986-07-18 1988-01-27 Shinko Electric Co. Ltd. Nach dem Übertragungsprinzip arbeitender Thermo-Drucker
US4843409A (en) * 1986-07-22 1989-06-27 Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd. Thermal transfer printer

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH0632943B2 (ja) * 1986-10-20 1994-05-02 株式会社日立製作所 熱転写プリンタ

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3975707A (en) * 1970-04-13 1976-08-17 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Device for controlling the density of printing characters
EP0254454A2 (de) * 1986-07-18 1988-01-27 Shinko Electric Co. Ltd. Nach dem Übertragungsprinzip arbeitender Thermo-Drucker
US4843409A (en) * 1986-07-22 1989-06-27 Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd. Thermal transfer printer

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN. vol. 18, no. 4, septembre 1975, NEW YORK US pages 1068 - 1070; Matsubara S. et Meguro S.: "Temperature Compensation in Thermal Print Element" *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 12, no. 343 (M-741)(3190) 14 septembre 1988, & JP-A-63 102958 (MAKOTO SHIRAKI) 07 mai 1988, *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69010859T2 (de) 1995-03-09
ATE108728T1 (de) 1994-08-15
FR2655592A1 (fr) 1991-06-14
ES2060113T3 (es) 1994-11-16
FR2655592B1 (fr) 1995-04-07
DK0432024T3 (da) 1994-11-21
EP0432024B1 (de) 1994-07-20
DE69010859D1 (de) 1994-08-25

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5524993A (en) Automatic print speed control for a barcode printer
EP0603017B1 (de) Druckverfahren durch Wärmeübertragung
EP0432024B1 (de) Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Kontrastregelung für einen Thermodruckkopf
US5220350A (en) Method and apparatus for preventing overheating of a thermal head
US7510276B2 (en) Temperature control system for a sheet support plate of a printer
KR100378388B1 (ko) 라인서멀프린터 및 그의 통전제어방법
EP0899113A1 (de) Druckschwärzungskontrolle für thermisches Aufzeichnungsgerät
JPH08286549A (ja) 画像形成装置
JP6631803B2 (ja) 印刷装置
JP3842689B2 (ja) 画像形成装置
EP0626630A1 (de) Heizungsvorrichtung und Verfahren zur thermischen Regelung für einen Widerstand mit positivem Temperaturkoeffizienten(PTC)
JPH08300713A (ja) サーマルヘッド印字制御装置
JP2005037539A (ja) 画像形成装置
JP2004245895A (ja) 画像形成装置の印刷方法およびレーザープリンタ
CN106985554A (zh) 打印机
JPH0211347A (ja) サーマルヘッドの駆動制御方式
JP2023183544A (ja) 記録装置
JP2000326539A (ja) 印刷装置および印刷方法
EP0027546A2 (de) Vorrichtung zum Zuführen von Einzelbelegen
JPH0273388A (ja) 電子写真式印刷装置のオイル供給制御方法
JP2006163183A (ja) 定着器および定着方法
JPH08290603A (ja) 印字装置
JPH0911523A (ja) 印字濃度補正可能なサーマルプリンタ装置
JPH09197889A (ja) 定着装置
JPH03132364A (ja) 記録ヘッドおよび前記記録ヘッドを用いた記録装置

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IT LI LU NL SE

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19911205

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 19931022

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IT LI LU NL SE

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 108728

Country of ref document: AT

Date of ref document: 19940815

Kind code of ref document: T

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 69010859

Country of ref document: DE

Date of ref document: 19940825

GBT Gb: translation of ep patent filed (gb section 77(6)(a)/1977)

Effective date: 19940816

ITF It: translation for a ep patent filed
REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: ES

Ref legal event code: FG2A

Ref document number: 2060113

Country of ref document: ES

Kind code of ref document: T3

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DK

Ref legal event code: T3

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GR

Ref legal event code: FG4A

Free format text: 3013438

EAL Se: european patent in force in sweden

Ref document number: 90403412.1

PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

26N No opposition filed
PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: NL

Payment date: 20011016

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: AT

Payment date: 20011017

Year of fee payment: 12

Ref country code: DK

Payment date: 20011017

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Payment date: 20011018

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GR

Payment date: 20011025

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: LU

Payment date: 20011115

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: CH

Payment date: 20011128

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: BE

Payment date: 20011129

Year of fee payment: 12

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: IF02

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: LU

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021130

Ref country code: LI

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021130

Ref country code: CH

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021130

Ref country code: BE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021130

Ref country code: AT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021130

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021201

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DK

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20021231

BERE Be: lapsed

Owner name: SOC. D'APPLICATIONS GENERALES D'ELECTRICITE ET DE

Effective date: 20021130

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: NL

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20030601

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20030609

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DK

Ref legal event code: EBP

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: CH

Ref legal event code: PL

EUG Se: european patent has lapsed
NLV4 Nl: lapsed or anulled due to non-payment of the annual fee

Effective date: 20030601

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CD

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: TP

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CA

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Payment date: 20081126

Year of fee payment: 19

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Payment date: 20081107

Year of fee payment: 19

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Payment date: 20081117

Year of fee payment: 19

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: 732E

Free format text: REGISTERED BETWEEN 20090319 AND 20090325

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: 732E

Free format text: REGISTERED BETWEEN 20090326 AND 20090401

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Payment date: 20081126

Year of fee payment: 19

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Payment date: 20081029

Year of fee payment: 19

GBPC Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 20091130

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: TP

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: ST

Effective date: 20100730

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20091130

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20100601

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20091130

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20091130

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: ES

Ref legal event code: FD2A

Effective date: 20110408

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20110328

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20091201