1. A liquid ejecting head comprising:
a basic wiring board which includes a first connection region and a second connection region which extend in a first direction with an interval therebetween;
a plurality of head units which face the basic wiring board, and eject liquid on a side opposite to the basic wiring board; and
a plurality of flexible individual wiring boards each of which includes a first connection portion, a second connection portion, and a relay portion which is located between the first connection portion and the second connection portion, and electrically connects the basic wiring board and each of the head units,
wherein, in a first individual wiring board among the plurality of individual wiring boards, the first connection portion is connected to a first head unit among the plurality of head units, the second connection portion which is bent to the second connection region side with respect to the relay portion is connected to the first connection region of the basic wiring board,
wherein, in a second individual wiring board among the plurality of individual wiring boards, the first connection portion is connected to a second head unit among the plurality of head units, and the second connection portion which is bent to the first connection region side with respect to the relay portion is fixed to the second connection region of the basic wiring board, and
wherein an interval between a boundary between the second connection portion and the relay portion in the first individual wiring board, and a boundary between the second connection portion and the relay portion in the second individual wiring board exceeds an interval between a boundary between the first connection portion and the relay portion in the first individual wiring board, and a boundary between the first connection portion and the relay portion in the second individual wiring board.
2. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1,
wherein, in the first individual wiring board, the second connection portion which is bent to the basic wiring board side along an outer peripheral edge of the basic wiring board is connected to the first connection region of the basic wiring board, and
wherein, in the second individual wiring board, the second connection portion which is inserted into an insertion port which is formed on the basic wiring board, and is bent along an inner peripheral edge of the insertion port is connected to the second connection region of the basic wiring board.
3. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 2,
wherein, in a third individual wiring board which is located on a side opposite to the first individual wiring board by interposing the second individual wiring board among the plurality of individual wiring boards therebetween, the first connection portion is connected to a third head unit among the plurality of head units, and the second connection portion which is inserted into another insertion port which is formed on the basic wiring board separately from the insertion port, and is bent to a side opposite to the second individual wiring board along an inner peripheral edge of another insertion port is connected to the basic wiring board.
4. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 3.
5. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 2,
wherein, in a third individual wiring board which is located on a side opposite to the first individual wiring board by interposing the second individual wiring board among the plurality of individual wiring boards therebetween, the first connection portion is connected to a third head unit among the plurality of head units, and the second connection portion which is inserted into the insertion port which is common to that of the second individual wiring board, and is bent to the side opposite to the second individual wiring board along an inner peripheral edge of the insertion port on the side opposite to the second individual wiring board is connected to the basic wiring board.
6. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 5.
7. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 2.
8. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1,
wherein, in the first individual wiring board which is located on one end portion side in a direction in which the plurality of individual wiring boards are aligned, the second connection portion which is bent along a first outer peripheral edge of the basic wiring board is connected to the first connection region of the basic wiring board, and in a fourth individual wiring board which is located on the other end portion side in the direction in which the plurality of individual wiring boards are aligned, the second connection portion which is bent to the first outer peripheral edge side along a second outer peripheral edge on a side opposite to the first outer peripheral edge of the basic wiring board is connected to a connection region of the basic wiring board.
9. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 8,
wherein a concave portion for accommodating the first individual wiring board is formed in the first outer peripheral edge.
10. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 9.
11. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 8.
12. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 1.
13. A liquid ejecting head comprising:
a basic wiring board which includes a plurality of connection regions which extend in a first direction with intervals therebetween;
a plurality of head units which face the basic wiring board, and eject liquid on a side opposite to the basic wiring board; and
a plurality of flexible individual wiring boards each of which includes a first connection portion, a second connection portion, and a relay portion which is located between the first connection portion and the second connection portion, and electrically connects the basic wiring board and each of the head units,
wherein, in a first individual wiring board which is located on one end portion side in a direction in which the plurality of individual wiring boards are aligned, the second connection portion which is bent along a first outer peripheral edge of the basic wiring board is connected to a first connection region of the basic wiring board, and in a fourth individual wiring board which is located on the other end portion side in the direction in which the plurality of individual wiring boards are aligned, the second connection portion which is bent to the first outer peripheral edge side along a second outer peripheral edge on a side opposite to the first outer peripheral edge of the basic wiring board is connected to a connection region of the basic wiring board.
14. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
the liquid ejecting head according to claim 13.
15. A manufacturing method of a liquid ejecting head, comprising:
holding a second connection portion of a first individual wiring board using a first holding tool from a side opposite to a plurality of head units by interposing a basic wiring board therebetween;
relatively moving the basic wiring board by a first movement amount to a first side in a direction in which the plurality of head units are aligned in a state in which the second connection portion of the first individual wiring board is held using the first holding tool;
holding a second connection portion of a second individual wiring board using a second holding tool from a side opposite to the plurality of head units by interposing the basic wiring board therebetween after the basic wiring board is relatively moved;
relatively moving the basic wiring board by a second movement amount which is smaller than the first movement amount to a second side which is opposite to the first side in a direction in which the plurality of head units are aligned, in a state in which the second connection portion of the first individual wiring board is held using the first holding tool, and the second connection portion of the second individual wiring board is held using the second holding tool;
causing the basic wiring board and the plurality of head units to be close to each other; and
connecting each of the second connection portions of the first individual wiring board and the second individual wiring board to the basic wiring board by releasing holding using the first and second holding tools, after causing the basic wiring board and the plurality of head units to be close to each other.
16. The manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head according to claim 15,
wherein a guiding unit of which an interval into which the first individual wiring board is inserted becomes large toward a tip end of the first holding tool is formed on the tip end side.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising the steps of:
a) dividing a firmware upgrade into a plurality of data packets, the firmware upgrade configured to be distributed from a server associated with a utility provider via a plurality of intermediate nodes to a plurality of meters, the server, intermediate nodes, and meters being configured in a mesh network;
b) transmitting a first data packet of the firmware upgrade from the server to a first intermediate node in the mesh network;
c) storing the first data packet in memory of the first intermediate node;
d) transmitting a first acknowledgement signal from the first intermediate node back to the server;
e) repeating steps b), c), and d) for the remaining data packets of the firmware upgrade until the entire firmware upgrade is stored in the memory of the first intermediate node;
f) transmitting the first data packet from the first intermediate node to a second intermediate node;
g) storing the first data packet in memory of the second intermediate node;
h) transmitting a second acknowledgement signal from the second intermediate node back to the first intermediate node;
i) repeating steps f), g), and h) for the remaining data packets of the firmware upgrade until the entire firmware upgrade is stored in the memory of the second intermediate node;
j) repeating steps f), g), h), and i) for remaining intermediate nodes until the entire firmware upgrade is stored in the memory of a lowest-level intermediate node;
k) transmitting the first data packet from the lowest-level intermediate node to a first meter;
l) storing the first data packet in memory of the first meter;
m) transmitting a third acknowledgement signal from the first meter back to the lowest-level intermediate node;
n) repeating steps k), l), and m) until the entire firmware upgrade is stored in the memory of the first meter; and
o) repeating steps k), l), m), and n) for remaining meters configured in a child relationship with the lowest-level intermediate node in the mesh network.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of transmitting include wireless transmission of radio frequency signals.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of burning the firmware upgrade into the memory of the meters.
4. A system comprising:
a utility provider configured to provide utility services to a plurality of customers;
a plurality of meters, each meter configured to measure utility usage data of a respective customer; and
a plurality of intermediate nodes configured to transmit the utility usage data from the plurality of meters to the utility provider;
wherein, when at least one of the plurality of meters is scheduled to receive a firmware upgrade, the utility provider is configured to forward the firmware upgrade to at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes; and
wherein the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes is configured to receive and store the firmware upgrade and, after storing the firmware upgrade, is further configured to forward the firmware upgrade to at least one of the plurality of meters.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes is further configured to forward the firmware upgrade to at least one other of the plurality of intermediate nodes.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of intermediate nodes repeats the forwarding of the firmware upgrade until the firmware upgrade is forwarded to a lowest-level intermediate node in a hierarchy comprising the utility provider, intermediate nodes, and meters.
7. The system of claim 4, wherein the utility provider is further configured to divide the firmware upgrade into a plurality of data packets before forwarding the firmware upgrade to the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the utility provider is configured to forward one data packet at a time to the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein, in response to receiving a data packet, the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes transmits an acknowledgement signal back to the utility provider.
10. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes is configured to store the firmware upgrade one data packet at a time.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes is configured to forward the firmware upgrade to the at least one of the plurality of meters after storing the entire firmware upgrade comprising each of the data packets.
12. The system of claim 7, wherein each data packet comprises about 100 bytes of data and the firmware upgrade comprises about 128 kilobytes of data.
13. The system of claim 7, wherein each data packet comprises about 100 bytes of data and the firmware upgrade comprises about 256 kilobytes of data.
14. The system of claim 4, wherein each intermediate node comprises a radio frequency (RF) driver configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one of the utility provider, at least one other intermediate node, and at least one meter.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein each intermediate node further comprises a network protocol stack, a download manager, a firmware upgrade manager, and a file system.
16. The system of claim 4, wherein the utility provider comprises a server configured to communicate with a hub via a communication network, the hub configured to forward the firmware upgrade to the at least one of the plurality of intermediate nodes.
17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a user device in communication with the server via the communication network, the user device configured to initiate a firmware upgrade process.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the user device comprises a user interface enabling a user to select at least one of the meters to receive the firmware upgrade.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the user interface displays a status of the firmware upgrade process.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the user interface enables the user to select various parameters of the firmware upgrade process.
21. The system of claim 4, wherein each intermediate node comprises a voltage monitoring device configured to monitor a voltage level of a power supply providing power to the respective intermediate node, and wherein, if the voltage monitoring device determines the voltage level to be below a predetermined threshold level, the intermediate node pauses the forwarding process until the voltage level returns to above the predetermined threshold level.
22. A method for storing and forwarding data, comprising:
receiving from a first node a plurality of data packets comprising a data package;
storing each of the data packets in a memory;
sending an acknowledgement upon receiving each of the plurality of data packets; and
in response to receiving a final data packet of the data package and sending a final acknowledgement, sending to a second node the plurality of data packets stored in the memory.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving from the first node the plurality of data packets comprises receiving the data packets one at a time, and wherein sending to the second node the plurality of data packets comprises sending the data packets one at a time.
24. The method of claim 22, wherein the data package is a firmware upgrade.
25. A system for storing and forwarding data, comprising:
a processing device configured to execute logic instructions; and
a memory device in communication with the processing device, the memory device configured to store a set of logic instructions enabling the processing device to:
receive from a first node a plurality of data packets comprising a data package;
store each of the plurality of the data packets;
send an acknowledgement upon receiving each of the plurality of data packets; and
in response to receiving a final data packet of the plurality of data packets and after sending a final acknowledgement, send to a second node the plurality of data packets stored in the storing means.