JP2004291645A - Printer and cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer and an ink cartridge employed for the printer which can reliably process data such as a remaining ink amount even when a memory element mounted on the ink cartridge has a small capacity. <P>SOLUTION: In a printer 1, a sequential-access-type EEPROM having a small memory capacity is employed as memory elements 80 mounted on ink cartridges 107K and 107F. The memory element 80 stores data such as a remaining ink amount as 8-bit data. A print controller 40 of the printer 1 also has an EEPROM 90 for storing data relating the ink cartridges, and stores data such as a remaining ink amount as 32-bit data. When the cartridge is not changed, 32-bit data are used, and when the cartridge is changed, the following control is performed based on the data in the ink cartridge 107K. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing device used as an ink jet printer or an ink jet plotter, and a cartridge which is attached to and detached from a main body of the printing device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a processing technique for storing information in a cartridge.

  2. Description of the Related Art A printing apparatus used as an inkjet printer, an inkjet plotter, or the like generally includes an ink cartridge containing ink and a printing apparatus main body including a print head for executing printing on a medium. The print head realizes printing on a medium by attaching ink supplied from an ink cartridge to a medium such as printing paper. The ink cartridge is formed detachably with respect to the printing apparatus main body. The ink cartridge initially stores a predetermined amount of ink, and when the stored ink becomes empty, the ink cartridge is replaced with a new one. In order to avoid interruption of printing during the printing process, this type of printing apparatus calculates the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge based on the amount of ink ejected from the print head on the printing apparatus main body side, and calculates the remaining amount of ink. Is configured to notify the user when the number has decreased.

  Normally, such data on the amount of remaining ink is stored only in the printing apparatus or in a so-called printer driver that uses the printing apparatus. Therefore, if the ink cartridge is replaced during use, information about the ink cartridge, such as the remaining amount of ink, is lost or becomes erroneous.

  Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, a non-volatile memory is provided in the ink cartridge, and data such as the remaining amount of ink is written from the main body side to the memory so that the remaining amount of ink can be grasped even when the cartridge is replaced. A technique that attempts to do so has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

JP-A-62-184856

  However, there is a problem that the data of the remaining amount of ink requires a considerable degree of accuracy in order to accurately notify the time of replacement of the cartridge, and if this is to be stored in the cartridge, the storage capacity becomes large. Was. If the accuracy is low, the determination of the ink end, which notifies that the ink cartridge has run out of ink, is significantly different from the actual ink remaining. If this data is updated when the power is turned off, the next time the power is turned on, the printer body that has read the ink remaining amount of the cartridge must treat the stored value as the lower limit value within the accuracy. Because there is no. For example, it is assumed that the data on the cartridge side is 1 byte (8 bits), the remaining amount of ink is stored as a percentage, such as 0-100%, and the precision of the data is 1%. In this case, if the value read from the cartridge side is “50”, it is impossible for the main body to determine whether this is a value obtained by rounding 50.9 and written as 50 or a value obtained by rounding 50.1. Therefore, the lower limit must be treated as 50.0.

  In this case, even if a small amount is used each time, the data must be gradually reduced by 1%. Therefore, if the used amount is 100 times, the ink remaining amount of the cartridge becomes zero. Conversely, if the data is not reduced by 1% with a slight use, an ink end warning will not be output even if the remaining ink amount becomes 0 when the data is used little by little. Therefore, in a cartridge having a memory or a printing apparatus using the same, a storage capacity of several bytes per ink has to be prepared in order to accurately determine the remaining amount of ink and the like. In the case of a color cartridge in which a plurality of inks are housed in one housing, a storage area is required for each color. For example, in a five-color ink cartridge, a 4-byte capacity is required for each color. For example, a capacity of 5 × 4 = 20 bytes (20 × 8 = 160 bits) is required.

  Also, it has been considered that when the capacity to be written increases, it becomes difficult to write back all data when the power is turned off. In the case where the power switch provided on the panel of the printing apparatus is operated, a sequence in which the printing apparatus confirms writing to the memory of the cartridge and then shuts off the power can be realized. If you suddenly unplug the power outlet or forcibly turn off the power at the power line using a computer-linked power tap, etc. Must be completed. If the power supply voltage for writing is lost during writing, the reliability of data on the cartridge side is lost, and the cartridge can no longer be used properly. In addition, the use of a large-capacity memory causes an increase in the cost of an ink cartridge, which is a consumable item, and also poses a problem from the viewpoint of resource saving.

  In addition, such a problem is caused not only by using an ink-jet type printing apparatus and an ink cartridge for performing printing by mixing or dissolving a pigment or dye in a solvent and discharging a liquid ink droplet, but also using a toner cartridge containing toner. Even in a printing apparatus and a thermal transfer type printing apparatus, the same can occur in a printing apparatus and a cartridge of a type in which the remaining amount or consumption amount in the cartridge is not directly measured, but is calculated on the printing apparatus side.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus and a cartridge capable of solving the above-described problems and appropriately processing information on the cartridge such as the remaining amount of ink while suppressing an increase in the cost of the cartridge.

In order to achieve at least a part of the object, a printing apparatus and a cartridge were invented. The printing apparatus of the present invention
A printing apparatus that can be mounted with a cartridge that contains ink and has a rewritable nonvolatile memory, and that performs printing by transferring the ink of the cartridge to a print medium,
Rewritable main unit memory,
Information writing means for storing information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed along with execution of printing on the print medium as data of a predetermined number of bits in the main body side memory;
A memory writing unit that converts the information regarding the ink amount into data having a smaller number of bits than the number of bits and writes the converted data into a non-volatile memory provided in the cartridge.

  In such a printing apparatus, information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed in executing printing on a print medium is written as data of a predetermined number of bits in the main unit side memory, and the cartridge side nonvolatile memory is written in the nonvolatile memory. The data is converted into data of a bit number smaller than this bit number and then written. Therefore, there is an effect that the data regarding the ink amount is stored in the cartridge in a nonvolatile manner and the storage capacity is not unnecessarily increased.

  Here, in order to reduce the number of bits, a conversion for deleting lower bits of data written to the main body side memory, a conversion for converting this data into data indicating a ratio, and the like can be adopted.

  Further, in such a printing apparatus, when the power is turned on, the correspondence between the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data stored in the non-volatile memory is determined. When it is determined that the data corresponds to the number of bits, the subsequent processing relating to the amount of ink can be performed using the data of the number of bits stored in the main body side memory. In this case, as long as the cartridge is not replaced, the processing relating to the amount of ink can be performed using data having a large number of bits, that is, high-precision data.

  On the other hand, when the power is turned on, the correspondence between the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data stored in the nonvolatile memory is determined, and the two do not correspond. When it is determined, the data of the number of bits stored in the non-volatile memory is converted, and information on the amount of ink corresponding to the data is written as the data of the predetermined number of bits in the main body side memory. The subsequent processing relating to the ink amount may be performed using the data. In this case, the subsequent processing can be continued using the data on the ink amount stored in the cartridge, which is preferable.

  Naturally, identification information for identifying the cartridge is stored in the nonvolatile memory of the cartridge, and the printing apparatus main body stores the information stored in the nonvolatile memory when the power is turned on and / or when the cartridge is replaced. The identification information is read out and stored, and the read out identification information is compared with the identification information read out and stored earlier to determine the coincidence of the two. At this time, a process related to the ink amount may be performed using the data of the bit number stored in the main body side memory. In this case, since the identification information of the cartridge is used, it is reliably determined that the same cartridge is mounted, and the processing relating to the amount of ink is performed in a large bit number data stored in the main body side memory. Can be used to continue.

  On the other hand, in this configuration, the read identification information is compared with the identification information read and stored last time, and when it is determined that the two do not match, the number of bits stored in the nonvolatile memory is determined. And writes the information on the ink amount corresponding to the data as the data of the predetermined number of bits into the main body side memory, and performs the subsequent process on the ink amount using the data. You can also. In this case, the subsequent processing can be continued using the data on the ink amount on the cartridge side.

  By the way, it is assumed that not only information on the ink amount of the currently mounted cartridge is stored in the main body side memory but also information on the ink amount of some mounted cartridges. You can also. In this case, identification information for identifying the cartridge is stored in the non-volatile memory of the cartridge, and when the power is turned on and / or the cartridge is replaced, the identification information stored in the non-volatile memory is read out. Using this identification information, information on the amount of ink is stored in the main unit side memory for each cartridge having different identification information. Then, if the cartridge can be replaced, the content of the main unit side memory is searched using the identification information read from the non-volatile memory, and it is determined whether or not there is information on the matching cartridge. I do. If it is determined that there is information on the matching cartridge, the information may be used to perform the subsequent processing on the ink amount. In this way, even if some of the cartridges are replaced, it is possible to accurately perform the processing related to the ink amount.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is information on the matching cartridge, the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data corresponding to the cartridge stored in the nonvolatile memory are further stored. The relationship is determined, and when it is determined that the two correspond, the subsequent processing related to the ink amount can be performed using the data of the number of bits for the matching cartridge stored in the main body side memory. . Since the correspondence is determined not only with the identification information but also with the information regarding the ink amount, it is possible to reliably use the correct information regarding the ink amount for the mounted cartridge.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory does not correspond to the converted data corresponding to the cartridge stored in the nonvolatile memory, the information is stored in the nonvolatile memory. The information on the ink amount corresponding to the data is obtained by converting the data of the number of bits thus obtained, and this information is written as data of a predetermined number of bits in association with the matching cartridge in the main body side memory. be able to. In this case, the processing can be continued using the data on the cartridge side, which is preferable.

  In the case of performing a process relating to the amount of ink using the information of these two memories, it is practical to set the main body side memory to a memory having a larger capacity than a nonvolatile memory. This is because it is not desirable to provide a large-capacity memory for a consumable such as a cartridge from the viewpoint of cost and resource saving.

  Further, the main body side memory may be a memory that can be accessed at a higher speed than a nonvolatile memory. This is because, since data with a large number of bits is written, a scale that can be accessed at high speed is more desirable.

  Various timings can be considered for writing data to the non-volatile memory of the cartridge. However, information can be written when the power of the printing apparatus is turned off and / or when the cartridge is replaced. By writing the data at least at these timings, the data in the cartridge can be kept up to date when the mounting of the cartridge is released.

  On the other hand, writing of data to the main unit side memory is performed when printing of one page is completed, when printing of one or more rasters is completed, or performed at both timings. be able to. It is also preferable that the data in the main body side memory be finely updated, and the non-volatile memory on the cartridge side be updated less frequently.

  Further, in a case where the printing apparatus is provided with a cleaning means for performing a head cleaning for discharging a predetermined amount of ink in response to a predetermined operation, the information is written into the main body side memory even when the cleaning means operates. It is good. Some inkjet printers and the like have a cleaning function in order to prevent clogging of nozzles of a print head. However, when a cleaning operation is performed, a predetermined amount of ink is consumed. Therefore, after such an operation, it is desirable to update the information regarding the ink amount.

  Various known memories can be used as the non-volatile memory mounted on the cartridge. For example, a memory of a type that transmits and receives data by serial access can be used. Although these types of memories generally have a small storage capacity, they are inexpensive and have few terminals as chips, which can contribute to resource saving. In this case, the side that writes to the memory writes information to the nonvolatile memory in synchronization with the addressing clock.

  Of course, such an addressing clock may be output using a control IC that directly controls writing of data to the nonvolatile memory. In such a case, the main body side memory may be provided inside the control IC, or may be provided outside the control IC.

  In such a configuration, if the cartridge can be mounted on a carriage provided with a print head and reciprocated with respect to a print medium, the main body side memory may be provided on the carriage. If the control IC receives data from the control unit of the printing apparatus by, for example, communication, it is preferable to provide the main unit side memory near the control IC. Note that the present invention is naturally applicable even when the cartridge is not on the carriage but is fixed to the main body.

  The configuration in which the non-volatile memory is provided in the cartridge can be applied regardless of the type of the cartridge. For example, if the printing apparatus hand can install a black ink cartridge containing black ink and a color ink cartridge containing a plurality of color inks, the black ink cartridge and the color ink cartridge can be installed. Are provided with a non-volatile memory, and information is written into each of them. According to such a configuration, since the nonvolatile memory is provided for each cartridge, it is possible to process the data of the ink amount for each cartridge. Of course, the present invention is also applicable to a printing apparatus in which only a black or color ink cartridge can be mounted.

Although the printing apparatus of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can also be configured as an information management method in a memory. That is, the method of managing the information of the printing apparatus is as follows.
A method for accommodating a cartridge having ink and having a rewritable non-volatile memory, wherein the cartridge is capable of being mounted, and the ink in the cartridge is transferred to a printing medium and printing is performed, the method relating to information of a printing apparatus,
Information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed in executing printing on the print medium is stored as data of a predetermined number of bits in a rewritable main body memory provided on the main body of the printing apparatus. ,
The gist of the present invention is to convert the information on the ink amount into data having a smaller number of bits than the number of bits and write the converted data into a nonvolatile memory provided in the cartridge.

  By managing the information on the ink amount by such a method, generally, unnecessary load is not applied to the non-volatile memory of the cartridge having a small capacity, and data having a large number of bits, that is, highly accurate data is stored in the main body side memory. Thus, information on the amount of ink in the cartridge can be appropriately managed.

Such a method can be implemented in a printing apparatus, but can also be implemented in a computer or the like connected to the printing apparatus. In this case, the invention can be grasped as a recording medium that records a program to be executed by a computer. That is, the recording medium of the present invention can be mounted with a cartridge containing ink and having a rewritable nonvolatile memory, and is a program that handles information of a printing apparatus that performs printing by transferring ink from the cartridge to a printing medium. A computer-readable recording medium,
Information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed in executing printing on the print medium is stored as data of a predetermined number of bits in a rewritable main body memory provided in the main body of the printing apparatus. Features and
The gist is that a program for converting the information on the ink amount into data having a bit number smaller than the bit number and writing the data into a nonvolatile memory provided in the cartridge by a computer is recorded.
When the recording medium is read by a computer, each of the above functions is realized by the computer, and the above-described information management method can be realized.

Further, the present invention can be configured as a cartridge. That is, the cartridge of the present invention is a cartridge that contains ink and has a rewritable nonvolatile memory and is used by being mounted on a printing apparatus.
The non-volatile memory is designed so that information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed when printing is performed is written in a smaller number of bits than the number of bits handled by the printing apparatus.

  According to such a cartridge, since the information on the amount of ink to be written is smaller in the number of bits than the number of bits handled in the printing apparatus, there is an advantage that the required storage capacity can be reduced.

  In such an ink cartridge, writing of information to the nonvolatile memory can be performed when the power of the printing apparatus is turned off and / or when the cartridge is replaced. If the information on the ink amount is updated at these timings, the information on the recent ink amount can be stored in the non-volatile memory of the cartridge in case of accidental cartridge replacement.

  As such a nonvolatile memory on the cartridge side, an EEPROM, a flash memory, or the like can be used. Of course, a non-volatile memory may be used by backing up with a battery or the like. A bubble memory, an ultra-small hard disk, and the like can also be used as the nonvolatile memory.

  Further, the nonvolatile memory may be a type of a memory for transmitting and receiving data by serial access, in which the information is written in synchronization with a clock for addressing. The serial access type memory can be reduced in size and the number of terminals can be reduced, which contributes to resource saving.

  The data written to such a non-volatile memory may be data obtained by removing lower-order bits of data handled on the printing device side, or may be converted from data handled on the printing device side to data indicating a ratio. It may be data. It suffices if the number of bits is small and the correspondence with the data handled by the printing apparatus can be obtained.

  Note that the cartridge may have an ink storage chamber that stores a plurality of types of ink, and data may be written in the nonvolatile memory according to the type of the ink. In this case, information on the ink amounts of a plurality of inks can be stored in one nonvolatile memory.

Examples of cartridges containing a plurality of inks include, for example,
The ink containing chamber is divided into three or more containing at least three different types of ink,
The nonvolatile memory has a plurality of information storage areas for independently storing information related to the amount of each ink,
A form in which a capacity of 2 bytes or less is allocated to each of the plurality of information storage areas can be considered.

  In such a configuration, a capacity of 2 bytes or less is assigned to one ink, so that information on the amount of ink can be stored with a total storage capacity of 6 bytes or less even with three types of ink. Similarly, when the ink storage chamber is partitioned according to five types of ink, information on the amount of ink can be stored with a total storage capacity of 10 bytes or less.

  In each of the inventions described above, the information relating to the amount of ink may include the remaining amount of ink, the cumulative amount of ink consumed for the cartridge, and the like. In addition, information such as the amount of ink consumed while being attached to the printing apparatus main body may be used. For a cartridge that can be refilled with ink, for example, it is conceivable to operate the panel switch to give an instruction of "refilling", take out the cartridge, refill the ink, and return. Assuming such a mode of use, it is necessary to manage the amount of ink consumed while being attached to the printing apparatus while giving the “refill” instruction.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The description will be made in the following order.
[First embodiment]
(Overall configuration of printer)
(Configuration of ink cartridge and cartridge mounting section)
(Configuration of Storage Element 80)
(Operation of Printer 1)
(Effect of the first embodiment)
[Second embodiment and its operation and effect]

[First embodiment]
(Overall configuration of printer)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printer (printing apparatus) to which the present invention is applied, which is used in each of the following embodiments. In FIG. 1, the printer 1 of the present embodiment is used in a state of being connected to a computer PC together with a scanner SC and the like. When an operating system and a predetermined program are loaded and executed on the computer PC, these devices as a whole function as a printing device. In the computer PC, an application program runs on a predetermined operating system, and displays an image on the CRT display MT while performing predetermined processing on an image or the like read from the scanner SC. When the user instructs printing after performing processing such as retouching an image on the display MT, a printer driver incorporated in the operating system starts up and transfers image data to the printer 1. The computer PC is equipped with a CD drive (not shown) capable of reading a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  The printer driver converts original color image data input and processed by the scanner SC into data of each color used by the printer 1, and outputs the data to the printer 1. More specifically, the original color image data includes three color components of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and converts the color components into black (black) which is color data to be output to the printer 1. K), cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and a process of converting each color into yellow (Y), and so-called binarization in which these are replaced with the presence or absence of ink dots. Perform processing and the like. Since these image processes are well known, detailed description will be omitted. Note that such processing can also be performed on the printer 1 side, as described later.

  Next, a basic configuration of the printer 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the printer 1 houses a print controller 40 for controlling the control, a print engine 5 for executing ink ejection and the like in a printer main body 100. The printer body 100 includes a print head 10, a paper feed mechanism 11, and a carriage mechanism 12 that constitute the print engine 5. The print head 10 is provided integrally with the cartridge mounting section 18 to form a so-called carriage 101. The print head 10 is an ink-jet type head, and is attached to a surface facing the print paper 105, in the example shown in FIG. The transfer of print data to the print head 10 is performed via a flexible flat cable (FFC) 300. The carriage mechanism 12 includes a carriage motor 103 and a timing belt 102. The carriage motor 103 drives the carriage 101 via the timing belt 102. The carriage 101 is guided by a guide member 104, and reciprocates in the paper width direction of the printing paper 105 by forward and reverse rotation of the carriage motor 103. The paper feed mechanism 11 that conveys the printing paper 105 includes a paper feed roller 106 and a paper feed motor 116.

  Ink cartridges 107K and 107F, which will be described later, are mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 18 of the carriage 101. The print head 10 receives replenishment of ink from the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. Drops are ejected to form dots, and images and characters are printed on the printing paper 105.

  Each of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is filled with ink in which a dye or pigment is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent. The space filled with ink is called an ink storage chamber. The ink storage chamber 117K of the ink cartridge 107K is filled with black (K) ink. In the ink cartridge 107F, a plurality of ink storage chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM, and 107Y are independently formed. These ink chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM, and 107Y are filled with cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) inks, respectively. . Therefore, the ink of each color is supplied to the print head 10 from the ink storage chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM, and 107Y, respectively. Each of these inks is ejected from the print head 10 as an ink droplet of each color, thereby realizing color printing.

  A capping device 108 and a wiping device 109 are arranged at an end of the main body of the printer 1. This end of the main body is a non-printing area where printing is not performed. The capping device 108 is for sealing the nozzle openings of the print head 10 during the suspension of the printing process. The capping device 108 prevents the solvent component of the ink from volatilizing during the suspension of the printing process. By preventing the volatilization of the solvent component, an increase in the viscosity of the ink and the formation of an ink film can be suppressed. By performing capping during the suspension of the printing process, nozzle clogging can be prevented. Further, the capping device 108 has a function of receiving ink droplets ejected from the print head 10 by a flushing operation. The flushing operation is an ink discharging operation performed when the carriage 101 reaches the end of the main body during the printing process, and is one of nozzle clogging preventing operations. A wiping device 109 is disposed near the capping device 108. The wiping device 109 wipes the ink residue and paper dust attached to the surface of the print head 10 by wiping the surface of the print head 10 with a blade or the like. In addition, in addition to these operations, the printer 1 of the embodiment also performs a suction operation on the nozzles when an abnormality occurs due to air bubbles. In the suction operation, the capping device 108 is pressed against the print head 10 to close the nozzle opening, and a suction pump (not shown) is operated to make the passage communicating with the capping device 108 a negative pressure. This is the operation of sucking. The flushing operation, the wiping operation, and the suction operation are referred to as head cleaning. The wiping can be performed with a blade standing upright and automatically performed every time by reciprocation of the carriage 101. In such a case, the flushing operation and the suction operation are required for the active head cleaning operation. Only actions are included.

  Next, a control circuit of the printer 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the inkjet printer 1 of the present embodiment. The print controller 40 includes an interface 43 that receives print data from a computer, a RAM 44 that stores various data such as print data, a ROM 45 that stores a program for performing various data processing, a CPU, and the like. A control unit 46, an oscillation circuit 47, a drive signal generation circuit 48 for generating a drive signal COM to the print head 10, and a function of transmitting print data and drive signals developed into dot pattern data to the print engine 5, and the like. And a parallel input / output interface 49 which performs the following.

  Further, a control line of a panel switch 92 and a power supply 91 are also connected to the print controller 40 via a parallel input / output interface 49. The panel switch 92 is provided with a power switch 92a for instructing power on / off, a cartridge switch 92b for instructing replacement of the ink cartridge, and a cleaning switch 92c for instructing forcible cleaning of the print head 10. When the power switch 92a of the panel switch 92 is operated to input a power-off instruction, a non-maskable interrupt request (NMI) is generated. When the interrupt request NMI occurs, the print controller 40 immediately shifts to a predetermined interrupt process and outputs a power down command to peripheral circuits such as the power supply 91. The power supply 91 receives the signal and enters a standby state. In the standby state, the power supply 91 supplies the standby power to the print controller 40 via a power supply line (not shown), although the supply of the main power is stopped. That is, the power supply to the print controller 40 is not completely shut off by the normal power-off operation performed via the panel switch 92.

  The non-maskable interrupt request (NMI) is also output when the user operates the cartridge switch 92b of the panel switch 92 to instruct replacement of the ink cartridge. Further, this interrupt request also occurs when the power plug is unplugged from the outlet. When these interrupt requests are generated, the print controller 40 executes an interrupt processing routine described later. In the interrupt processing routine, when the interrupt request is generated by operating the panel switch 92, It can be distinguished from the case where the power supply is forcibly cut off. Therefore, even when an interrupt request (NMI) occurs, different processing can be realized depending on factors as described later. Note that the power supply 91 is provided with a compensating power supply (for example, a capacitor) in order to realize power supply for a predetermined time (for example, 0.3 seconds) even after the plug is unplugged from the outlet.

  The print controller 40 further includes an EEPROM 90 as a main body side memory for storing information regarding the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107F mounted on the carriage mechanism 12 (see FIG. 1). ing. As will be described in detail later, the EEPROM 90 stores predetermined information such as information (ink remaining amount or ink consumption amount) related to the amount of ink in the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107F. Further, the print controller 40 is provided with an address decoder 95 for converting the address of the memory cell 81 (described later) of the storage element 80 (described later) to which the control unit 46 desires access (read / write) into the number of clocks. I have. In the address decoder 95, the control unit 46 in the print controller 40 normally handles data in 8 pits and 1 byte, whereas the memory cell 81 of the storage element 80 built in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F reads and writes. It is used to convert the address to be accessed because it is serially accessed in synchronization with the clock for use.

The printer 1 detects the ink consumption by calculation. The calculation of the ink consumption may be performed by the printer driver of the computer PC or may be performed by the printer 1. The calculation of the ink consumption considers the following two factors.
(1) Ink consumption during image printing: In order to accurately calculate the ink consumption during printing, image data is subjected to color conversion or binarization processing, and is replaced with the presence or absence of ink dots. The weight is multiplied by the number, that is, the weight of the ink droplet ejected from the nozzle opening 23 and the number of ejections of the ink droplet. Of course, it is possible to roughly estimate the ink consumption from the density of each pixel in the image data.
(2) Ink consumption due to cleaning of the print head 10: The ink consumption due to cleaning includes an ink ejection amount due to flushing and an ink suction amount due to a suction operation. The flushing operation itself is the same as the normal ink droplet ejection, and therefore may be calculated in the same manner as (1). The amount of ink consumed by the suction operation may be stored in advance in association with the number of rotations and the rotation time of the pump. Normally, the amount of ink consumed by one suction operation is measured and stored in advance.

  The current ink remaining amount can be obtained by subtracting the obtained ink consumption amount from the ink remaining amount before the start of the printing operation. The calculation of the ink remaining amount is performed by the control unit 46 based on a program stored in the ROM 45 or the like while using data or the like stored in the EEPROM 90.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the color conversion and binarization processes are performed by the printer driver on the computer PC side. Therefore, the printer 1 receives the binarized data, that is, data of dot formation / non-formation for each ink. The printer 1 calculates the ink consumption by multiplying the number of dots by the ink weight per dot (ink drop weight) based on this data.

  As described above, the printer 1 of the embodiment receives the binarized data, but the arrangement of the data does not match the actual arrangement of the nozzles of the print head 10. Therefore, the control unit 46 divides the inside of the RAM 44 into a reception buffer 44A, an intermediate buffer 44B, and an output buffer 44C, and performs a process of rearranging the arrangement of dot data. It is also possible to perform control for performing color conversion and binarization processing on the printer 1 side. In such a case, the printer 1 holds the print data including the multi-value gradation information sent from the computer PC or the like in the reception buffer 44A inside the printing apparatus via the interface 43, and performs the following processing. The print data held in the reception buffer 44A is sent to the intermediate buffer 44B after the command analysis. The intermediate buffer 44B holds print data as an intermediate format converted into an intermediate code by the control unit 46, and controls processing for adding a print position, a type of modification, a size, a font address, and the like of each character. This is performed by the unit 46. Next, the control unit 46 analyzes the print data in the intermediate buffer 44B, develops and stores the binarized dot pattern data obtained by decoding the gradation data in the output buffer 44C.

  In any case, when dot pattern data corresponding to one scan of the print head 10 is obtained, the dot pattern data is serially transferred to the print head 10 via the parallel input / output interface 49. When dot pattern data corresponding to one scan is output from the output buffer 44C, the contents of the intermediate buffer 44B are deleted, and the next conversion process is performed.

  The print head 10 ejects ink droplets from each nozzle opening 23 toward the print medium at a predetermined timing so as to form the received dot pattern data on the print medium. The drive signal COM generated by the drive signal generation circuit 48 is output to the element drive circuit 50 of the print head 10 via the parallel input / output interface 49. In the print head 10, the pressure generating chambers 32 and the piezoelectric vibrators 17 (pressure generating elements) communicating with the nozzle openings 23 are formed by the number of the nozzle openings 23. When the drive signal COM is supplied to the pressure generating chamber 17, the pressure generating chamber 32 contracts and an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle opening 23.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the layout of the nozzle openings 23 in the print head 10. As shown in the drawing, the print head 10 has nozzle openings 23 corresponding to black (K), cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y). The nozzles are formed in two rows for each color and in a staggered nozzle arrangement.

(Configuration of ink cartridge and cartridge mounting section)
In the printer 1 configured as described above, the basic structures of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F are common. 4 and 5, the structure of the ink cartridge 107K for black and the structure for mounting the cartridge in the printer body will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of an ink cartridge and a cartridge mounting portion of the printer main body. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the ink cartridge, the internal structure of the cartridge mounting portion on the carriage, and how the cartridge is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion.

  In FIG. 4A, an ink cartridge 107K includes a cartridge body 171 made of a synthetic resin that forms an ink storage portion 117K that stores ink therein, and a storage element (built in a side frame portion 172 of the cartridge body 171). A non-volatile memory) 80. The storage element 80 is a so-called EEPROM that is capable of electrically erasing and rewriting stored contents, and retains the contents when power supply is lost. However, the number of times data is rewritten in the storage element 80 is about 10,000 times, which is a fraction of the number of times the EEPROM 90 incorporated in the print controller 40 allows writing. Accordingly, the cost of the storage element 80 is extremely low. With the storage element 80, various data can be exchanged with the print controller 40 of the printer 1 in a state where the ink cartridge 107K is mounted on the cartridge mounting section 18 of the printer main body 100. In this embodiment, since the storage element 80 is mounted in the concave portion 173 whose lower side is open with respect to the side frame portion 172 of the ink cartridge 107K, only the plurality of connection terminals 174 are exposed. The whole may be exposed. Of course, the whole may be buried and the terminal portion may be provided separately.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, an ink supply needle 181 is arranged upward at the bottom 187 of the cartridge mounting section 18. The periphery of the needle 181 is formed as a concave portion 183. When the ink cartridge 107 </ b> K is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 18, an ink supply portion 175 formed in a convex shape at the bottom of the ink cartridge 107 </ b> K is formed in the concave portion 183. Be fitted. Three cartridge guides 182 are formed on the inner wall of the concave portion 183. Further, a connector 186 is arranged on the inner wall 184 of the cartridge mounting section 18. The connector 186 has a plurality of electrodes 185. When the ink cartridge 107 </ b> K is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 18, the electrode 185 comes into contact with each of the plurality of connection terminals 174 of the storage element 80 to realize electrical connection.

  Next, a procedure for mounting the ink cartridge 107K to the cartridge mounting section 18 will be described. When the panel switch 92 is operated to instruct replacement of the ink cartridge 107K, the carriage 101 is moved to a position where the ink cartridge 107K can be replaced. At the time of replacement, the used ink cartridge 107K is first removed. A fixed lever 192 is attached to the rear wall portion 188 of the cartridge mounting portion 18 via a support shaft 191. When the fixed lever 192 is pulled up, the used ink cartridge 107K can be removed. Next, a new ink cartridge 107K is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion 18. Then, when the fixing lever 192 is tilted down so as to cover the ink cartridge 107K, the ink cartridge 107K is pushed downward, the ink supply portion 175 is fitted into the concave portion 183, and the needle 181 pierces the ink supply portion 175. Supply of ink becomes possible. Further, when the fixing lever 192 is tilted, the locking portion 193 formed at the tip of the fixing lever 192 engages with the engaging tool 189 formed on the cartridge mounting portion 18, and the ink cartridge 107 </ b> K Securely fixed. In this state, the plurality of connection terminals 174 of the storage element 80 of the ink cartridge 107K and the plurality of electrodes 185 of the cartridge mounting portion 18 are electrically connected, and data transmission and reception between the printer main body 100 and the storage element 80 are performed. Becomes possible. When the replacement is completed and the user operates the panel switch 92 again, the carriage 101 returns to the initial position and is in a printable state.

  The structure of the ink cartridge 107K is basically the same as that of the color ink cartridge 107F, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, in the color ink cartridge 107F, the inks for the five colors are filled in the respective ink storage chambers, and these inks are supplied to the print head 10 along different paths. Therefore, in the color ink cartridge 107F, the ink supply units 175 are formed by the number of ink colors. Note that the ink cartridge 107F contains ink for five colors, but only one storage element 80 is contained therein, and this one storage element 80 stores information of the ink cartridge 107F and each color. Are collectively stored.

(Configuration of Storage Element 80)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the storage element 80 built in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F used in the printer of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing how data is written to the memory cell 81.

  In this embodiment, the storage element 80 of each of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F includes a memory cell 81, a read / write control unit 82, and an address counter 83, as shown in FIG. The read / write control unit 82 is a circuit that controls reading and writing of data in the memory cell 81. On the other hand, the address counter 83 is a counter that counts up based on the clock signal CLK, and its output is an address for the memory cell 81.

  The actual write operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts showing processing when writing the remaining ink amount from the print controller 40 to the storage element 80 built in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F in the printer 1 of this embodiment. It is a timing chart when performing.

  As shown in the figure, first, the control unit 46 of the print controller 40 sets the chip select signal CS for enabling the storage element 80 to the high level (step ST21). When the chip select signal CS goes low, the count value of the address counter 83 is reset to zero. Next, a required number of clock signals CLK for designating an address to which data is written are generated (step ST22). At this time, the address decoder 95 built in the print controller 40 is used to determine the required number of clock signals. When a predetermined number of clock signals CLK are output, address counter 83 in storage element 80 is counted up. During this time, since the read / write signal W / R is held at the low level, data reading is instructed for the memory cell 81, and dummy data is read in synchronization with the clock. ing.

  After counting up to the predetermined write address in this way, write processing is performed (step ST23). This writing process is performed by switching the read / write signal W / R to high level, outputting 1-bit data as data (I / O), and switching the clock signal CLK to high active when the data is established. Done. When the write / read signal W / R is at a high level, the storage element 80 writes the data DATA at the data terminal I / O into the memory cell 81 in synchronization with the rise of the clock signal CLK. In FIG. 7B, the writing is performed in synchronization with the fifth clock signal CLK from the fifth clock signal CLK. However, this is for explaining general writing, and if necessary, Even from the first clock signal CLK, necessary data such as the remaining ink amount is written in synchronization with the clock signal CLK.

  A data array in the storage element 80 to which writing is performed in this manner will be described. FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams showing the data arrays of the storage elements built in the black and color ink cartridges 107K and 107F used in the printer 1 of the present embodiment, respectively. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a data array in an EEPROM 90 built in the printer main body. As shown in FIG. 8, the memory cell 81 of the storage element 80 provided in the black ink cartridge 107K has a first storage area 750 for storing read-only data and a second storage area 750 for storing rewritable data. Storage area 760. The printer body 100 can only read data stored in the first storage area 750, and can perform both reading and writing for data stored in the second storage area 760. You can do it. The second storage area 760 is arranged at an address accessed earlier than the first storage area 750 when accessing without performing any special processing, that is, when accessing with the default. In other words, the second storage area 760 is located at a lower address than the first storage area 750. In the present embodiment, “low address” means “top address”.

  Here, in the second storage area 760, data indicating the number of times the ink cartridge has been attached is stored in the head area 700, and in the subsequent storage areas 701 and 702, the first black ink remaining amount is respectively stored. The data and the second black ink remaining amount data are stored. The reason why the black ink remaining amount data is assigned to the two storage areas 701 and 702 is that data is rewritten alternately in these areas. Therefore, if the last rewritten black ink remaining amount data is data stored in the storage area 701, the black ink remaining amount data stored in the storage area 702 is the data immediately before that, and the next time. Is rewritten to the storage area 702. Each of the storage areas 701 and 702 of the black ink remaining amount data has a storage capacity of 1 byte (8 bits). It should be noted that the remaining amount data of the black ink may be allocated to an area before the area in which the data indicating the number of times the ink cartridge has been attached is stored, and may be accessed first when the power is turned off, which will be described later. It is suitable.

  On the other hand, the read-only data stored in the first storage area 750 includes the opening timing data of the ink cartridge 107 </ b> K assigned to each of the storage areas 711 to 720 in the order of first access. Year), opening time data (month) of ink cartridge 107K, version data of ink cartridge 107K, ink type data such as pigment or dye, manufacturing year data of ink cartridge 107K, manufacturing month data of ink cartridge 107K, ink These are the production date data of the cartridge 107K, the production line data of the ink cartridge 107K, the serial number data of the ink cartridge 107K, and the recycle data indicating whether the ink cartridge 107K is new or recycled. Among them, the serial number of the ink cartridge 107K is given a unique value for each ink cartridge 107K, and is data that can be used as so-called identification information. It should be noted that if the data of the manufacturing date and the manufacturing time is stored in the same order as or more finely than the time when one ink cartridge 107K is manufactured (for example, the data is stored in units of seconds or 1/10 seconds). ), The date of manufacture and time can be used as identification information.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the memory cell 81 of the storage element 80 provided in the color ink cartridge 107F also has a first storage area 650 storing read-only data and a second storage area 650 storing rewritable data. Storage area 660. The printer main body 100 can only read data stored in the first storage area 650, and can perform both reading and writing for data stored in the second storage area 660. You can do it. The second storage area 660 is located at an address accessed earlier than the first storage area 650 at the time of access. That is, the second storage area 660 is located at a lower address than the first storage area 650.

  Here, in the second storage area 660, data indicating the number of times of attachment is stored in the head area 600, and in the subsequent storage areas 601 to 610, the first cyan ink remaining amount data and the second cyan ink Ink remaining amount data, first magenta ink remaining amount data, second magenta ink remaining amount data, first yellow ink remaining amount data, second yellow ink remaining amount data, first light cyan ink remaining amount data, Second light cyan ink remaining amount data, first light magenta ink remaining amount data, and second light magenta ink remaining amount data are stored. The reason why the ink remaining amount data of each color is allocated to the two storage areas is that, similarly to the black ink cartridge 107K, data is alternately rewritten to these areas. The storage capacity allocated to the data of each ink color is 1 byte (8 bits), similarly to the black ink cartridge 107K. In the storage element 80 of the color ink cartridge 107F, similarly to the storage element 80 of the black ink cartridge 107K, the remaining amount data of each color ink is allocated to an area before the area in which the data indicating the number of times the ink cartridge has been attached is stored. It is also preferable that the access is made first when the power is turned off.

  On the other hand, the read-only data stored in the first storage area 650 is allocated to each of the storage areas 611 to 620 in the order of first access, similarly to the black ink cartridge 107K. Opening data of ink cartridge 107F (year), opening time data of ink cartridge 107F (month), version data of ink cartridge 107F, ink type data, manufacturing year data, manufacturing month data, manufacturing date data, manufacturing line data , Serial number data, and recycling data. Since these data are common regardless of the color, only one type is stored as common data between the colors. This is similar to the black ink cartridge 107K in that the serial number data can also be used as identification information.

  All of these data are accessed and used by the print controller 40 when the power of the printer main body 100 is turned on after the ink cartridges 107K and 107F are mounted on the printer main body 100. In some cases, the data is stored in an EEPROM 90 built in the main body 100. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the storage areas 801 to 835 of the EEPROM 90 store all data stored in each storage element 80, such as the remaining ink amount of the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107F. Can be stored.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the EEPROM 90 is provided with an area for storing black ink remaining amount data and other data and remaining amount data and other data of each color ink. These data correspond to the data stored in the storage element 80 in the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107F, but differ in that the remaining ink data is 32 bits (4 bytes) for each color. .

(Operation of Printer 1)
Next, basic operations performed by the inkjet printer 1 according to the present embodiment from power-on to power-off and differences in the frequency of writing to the storage element 80 and the EEPROM 90 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process executed to calculate the remaining amount of ink, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process executed when the power is turned off in the printer 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing executed when the ink cartridges 107K and 107F are mounted on the printer 1.

  First, a process for calculating the remaining ink amount will be described. This process is also performed when the printer 1 performs a printing operation in response to a printing instruction from the computer PC. At this time, the control unit 46 transfers the print data to the print head 10 and executes a process for calculating the remaining ink amount. Such processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the print processing routine shown in FIG. 11 is started, first, a process of reading the remaining ink data In from the EEPROM 90 built in the print controller 40 is performed (step S40). This data is 32-bit data written at the time when the previous printing is completed, and is the latest ink remaining amount data. Next, a process of inputting print data from the computer PC is performed (step S41). In this embodiment, since the color conversion and the binarization are all performed by the computer PC, the printer 1 receives binarized data of a predetermined raster, that is, on / off data of ink dots. . Therefore, the control unit 46 performs a process of calculating the ink consumption amount ΔI based on the print data (step S42). The ink consumption amount ΔI calculated here is not only the consumption amount corresponding to the print data for the predetermined raster received from the computer but also the ink amount used for flushing or the like. For example, by multiplying the ink droplet weight and the number of times of ink droplet ejection, an ink ejection amount for each color is calculated, and the calculated ink ejection amount and the ink suction amount consumed by the flushing or suction operation are calculated. By the addition, the ink consumption amount ΔI can be obtained.

  Next, a process for calculating the accumulated amount Ii of the ink consumption amount ΔI thus obtained is performed (step S43). The successive ink consumption is obtained in accordance with the print data. However, since these data are not written back to the EEPROM 90 every time the calculation is performed, the input print data is calculated to obtain the ink consumption up to that point. That is, the accumulated ink consumption amount Ii is calculated by integrating the minute ink consumption amount ΔI. All of these operations are performed with the data being 32 bits. After that, the control unit 46 converts the input print data into data corresponding to the nozzle arrangement and the ejection timing of the print head 10, and outputs the data to the print head 10 (Step S44).

  Since the processing of the input print data for several rasters is completed, it is determined whether the printing of one page is completed (step S45). If printing for one page has not been completed, the process returns to step S41, and the above-described processing of inputting print data (step S41) and thereafter are repeated. On the other hand, when printing of one page is completed, the remaining amount of ink is calculated as a 32-bit value (step S46), and a process of writing this back to the EEPROM 90 is performed (step S47). The calculation of the remaining ink amount can be obtained by subtracting the accumulated ink consumption amount Ii obtained in step S43 from the previous ink remaining amount In-1 read in step S40. The new ink remaining amount In thus obtained is written back to the EEPROM 90.

Next, a process of converting the remaining ink amount In calculated by 32 bits and written in the EEPROM 90 into an 8-bit value Ie is performed (step S48). In this embodiment, this conversion is performed by obtaining the upper 8 bits of the 32-bit data as shown in FIG. Therefore, the accuracy of the data will be dropped to 1/2 ^24. Such conversion may be performed by dropping the lower bits. For example, the conversion may be performed by converting the original 32-bit data into data indicating a ratio of 0 to 100%. For example, the remaining amount can be represented by 8 bits by calculating the following formula (1) and setting the remaining amount to a value of a percentage (however, an integer obtained by truncating the decimal part or rounding off the first decimal place).
Ie = 100 × calculated remaining amount of ink (32 bits) / ink capacity (32 bits)
… (1)

  Thereafter, the control unit 46 performs a process of writing the converted 8-bit conversion value Ie into a predetermined area of the RAM 44 (Step S49). In this step, the 8-bit conversion value Ie may be directly written to the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. However, in consideration of the fact that the allowable number of times of writing of the storage element 80 is not high, in this embodiment, Writing is performed only in a routine described later.

  In the above embodiment, the update of the ink remaining amount is performed in page units. This is because printing is usually performed in page units. Of course, the write-back of the ink remaining amount data to the EEPROM 90 may be performed for each of a plurality of pages, or it may be determined that the printing is completed every raster unit or every time the print head 10 reciprocates a predetermined number of times. A process of writing back the amount of data to the EEPROM 90 may be performed.

At the time of calculation, the newly calculated remaining ink amount In is written into the EEPROM 90 provided in the print controller 40 of the printer 1 in 32 bits, and the value Ie converted into 8 bits is written in the RAM 44. The writing of the remaining amount of ink Ie stored in the RAM 44 to each storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is performed when the described power down command is output. The power down command is output at the following three timings, as described above.
(1) When the power switch 92a of the panel switch 92 of the printer 1 is operated to turn off the power,
(2) When the cartridge switch 92b of the panel switch 92 is operated to instruct replacement of the ink cartridge,
(3) When the power supply is forcibly shut down by unplugging the outlet.

  Therefore, the process of saving the data of the remaining ink amount Ie converted into 8 bits into the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F will be described below with reference to FIG. As described above, the save routine shown in FIG. 12 is started as an interrupt process when a power down instruction is output. When this routine is started, it is first determined whether or not the cause of the first interrupt is a forced power-off ((3) above) (step S50). In the case of forcible power-off, since the allowable time is short, steps S51 to S55 described below are skipped, and the process of writing the remaining ink amount to the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is performed ( Step S56). The remaining ink amount written here is an 8-bit value Ie calculated in the routine shown in FIG. The method of writing data to the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F has been described with reference to FIGS. In storing (writing) the remaining amount of ink in each of the second storage areas 660 and 760, writing is alternately performed on two storage areas allocated to each ink. Which storage area of the two storage areas has been stored can be identified by, for example, arranging a flag at the head position of the two storage areas and setting a flag of the storage area where the writing has been performed. .

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the cause of the interruption is not the forced power-off, the power switch 92a is turned off in the panel switch 92 of the printer 1 or the replacement of the ink cartridge is instructed by the cartridge switch 92b. Therefore, a sequence such as printing in progress is executed to a predetermined unit, for example, the end of the raster, and the calculation of the remaining ink amount is also performed (step S51). This process is the process shown in FIG. By executing the processing shown in FIG. 11, the calculated remaining ink amount is stored as 32-bit data in the EEPROM 90 and as 8-bit data in the RAM 44, as described above. It is. Then, after the capping device 108 is driven to cap the print head 10 (step S52), the driving conditions of the print head 10 are stored in the EEPROM 90 (step S53). The driving condition is, for example, a voltage value of a driving signal for correcting an individual difference of a head, a correction condition for correcting between colors, and the like. Subsequently, the timer value is stored in the EEPROM 90 (step S54), and the contents of the control panel are stored in the EEPROM 90 (step S55). The content of the control panel is, for example, an adjustment value for correcting a deviation of a landing point in both-side printing. After the above processing, the processing in step S56 described above, that is, the 8-bit remaining ink data Ie stored in the RAM 44 is stored in the second storage areas 660 and 760 of the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. Is performed (step S56).

  Although not shown in FIG. 12, when this interrupt routine is started by operating the panel switch 92, after writing the remaining ink amount, it is determined which switch of the panel switch 92 has been operated, and If it is instructed to turn off, a signal is sent to the power supply 91 to turn off the main power supply, and if it is instructed to replace the ink cartridge, the process of moving the carriage 101 to the replacement position is, of course, performed. .

(Effects of the embodiment)
With the above-described processing, the printer 1 and the ink cartridges 107K and 107F of the present embodiment calculate the remaining ink amount each time the ink in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is consumed by performing printing, and In the EEPROM 90, the remaining amount of ink is stored as 32-bit data, and the remaining amount of ink is converted into 8-bit data and stored in the RAM 44. On the other hand, when the power is turned off, the ink cartridge is replaced, or the power is forcibly shut off by operating the panel switch 92, the 8-bit data Ie of the remaining ink amount stored in the RAM 44 is stored in the RAM 44. Then, the data is written to the storage element 80 built in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. As a result, the data of the remaining amount of ink is stored in the EEPROM 90 having a sufficient storage capacity with high accuracy, that is, in 32 bits, and the data of the remaining amount of ink is stored in the consumable ink cartridges 107K and 107F. Can be stored with a small capacity (8 bits in the embodiment) in accordance with the storage element 80 having a small size. Therefore, there is an advantage that writing to the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F does not require time. This effect is particularly effective when the storage element 80 that is serially accessed one bit at a time is used as in the present embodiment. In addition, when the access time has no margin, such as when the power is shut off, the capacity of the write data is small, and there is a great advantage that no time is required for writing.

  Further, in the present embodiment, by performing the processing shown in FIG. 13, the remaining ink amount In stored in the EEPROM 90 in the print controller 40 in 32 bits and the storage element 80 in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F are stored in 8 bits in the print controller 40. Using the remaining ink amount Ie, processing of the remaining ink amount in the ink cartridge is made easier and more reliable. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed when the ink cartridge is replaced and the ink cartridge is mounted. More specifically, this process is executed immediately after the cartridge switch 92b of the panel switch 92 is operated, the carriage 101 moves to the ink cartridge exchangeable position, and the ink cartridge is exchanged.

  When this routine is started, first, a process of reading data Ie of the remaining ink amount from the storage element 80 of the installed ink cartridges 107K and 107F is performed (step S70). Thereafter, a process of incrementing the number of mountings of the ink cartridges stored in the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F by the value 1 is performed (step S71). This process is a process of once reading the number of attachments shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, incrementing the number, and writing it back to the same area of the storage element 80. The initial value of the number of attachments in each ink cartridge is 0.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the number of attachments is the value 1 (step S72). The fact that the number of attachments after the increment is a value of 1 indicates that the ink cartridge has been attached to the printer 1 for the first time. In this case, the ink remaining amount is stored in the EEPROM 90 of the print controller 40 as the remaining ink amount. Then, a process of writing the entire amount of data is performed (step S73). The total amount data is a value corresponding to the amount of ink contained in the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is new. On the other hand, if the number of attachments is not one, it can be determined that the ink cartridge has already been attached to the printer 1 at least once, so whether the ink cartridge once removed is returned to the printer 1 or not. Alternatively, the process from step S74 is performed to determine whether a different ink cartridge is mounted. That is, first, the data In of the ink remaining amount stored in the EEPROM 90 is read (step S74), and it is determined whether the read data In of the ink cartridge side already read out matches the 8-bit conversion data Ie. Is determined (step S75). The printer 1 determines whether or not they match in 8-bit conversion by using only the upper 8 bits of the 32-bit data in the 8-bit conversion of the remaining ink in the 8-bit conversion of the remaining ink (step S48 in FIG. 11). In the case of the data Ie, the upper 8 bits of the 32-bit data read from the EEPROM 90 may be similarly compared with the remaining ink data Ie. When the 8-bit conversion is performed by conversion into percentage, similarly, in the comparison of step S75, the conversion may be performed after conversion into percentage.

  If it is determined that the two data match each other in 8 bits, the mounted ink cartridge can be determined to be the ink cartridge that was mounted on the printer 1 until immediately before. In this case, Then, it can be determined that the data of the remaining ink amount is used as the 32-bit data stored in the EEPROM 90 (step S76). On the other hand, if it is determined that the two do not match, the data on the remaining amount of ink in the EEPROM 90 can no longer be used, and the remaining amount of ink stored in the storage element 80 in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is no longer available. The subsequent ink amount is managed using the amount data Ie. Therefore, first, a process of converting the 8-bit remaining ink data Ie into 32-bit remaining ink data In is performed (step S77). This process may be the reverse of the process of converting 32-bit data to 8-bit data. For example, as shown in FIG. 14B, 8-bit data Ie is set as the highest-order data, and the remaining 24 bits are used. May be data with all values being 0. Of course, if the 8-bit data of the remaining ink amount represents a percentage, 32-bit data can be obtained by performing an inverse calculation using the described equation (1). After performing the conversion, it is determined that the converted 32-bit remaining ink data In is to be used for subsequent calculation of the remaining ink amount (step S78), and is stored in a predetermined area of the EEPROM 90.

  In this embodiment that performs the above processing, when an ink cartridge is newly installed, the remaining ink amount In stored in the EEPROM 90 of the printer 1 and the remaining ink amount stored in the storage element 80 of the ink cartridge 107 are determined. The correspondence with the quantity Ie is determined, and if it is determined that they match, the subsequent processing is performed using the 32-bit data stored in the EEPROM 90. Therefore, when the removed ink cartridge is returned to the printer 1 again, the management of the remaining ink amount can be continued with extremely high accuracy. As a result, for example, a process of notifying that the ink is almost exhausted and that the replacement time is near or that replacement is necessary can be performed with extremely high accuracy.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the two cartridges do not correspond to each other, for example, when the cartridges are replaced with different ones, the data Ie stored in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is used to determine the remaining ink remaining amount. Can manage. Therefore, although the accuracy is not as high as that of the data stored in the EEPROM 90, even if the cartridge is replaced, it is possible to continue to manage the remaining amount of ink. Alternatively, a process of notifying that replacement is necessary can be performed accurately.

  In the above embodiment, the timing of calculating the remaining ink amount In and writing it to the EEPROM 90 or writing it to the RAM 44 after performing 8-bit conversion is determined when the printing of one page is completed (step S45 in FIG. 11). However, conversion and writing may be performed every one raster or every time several rasters are printed. Alternatively, calculation of the remaining amount of ink (step S46), conversion into 8-bit data (step S48), storage in the RAM 44 (step S49) are performed for every one or several rasters, and writing to the EEPROM 90 (step S47). These processes may be performed at different timings, such as when the printing of one page is completed.

  In the present embodiment described above, the number of bits of the remaining ink data Ie stored in the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is smaller than the number of bits of the remaining ink data In stored in the EEPROM 90 of the printer 1. In addition, the following effects can be obtained by making the writing timings of the two different. That is, data is written to the EEPROM 90 every time printing of one page is completed. On the other hand, for the storage element 80, (1) when the power switch 92b is operated to turn off the power, 2) Only when the cartridge switch 92b is operated to instruct the replacement of the ink cartridge, and (3) when the power supply is forcibly shut off, the rewriting process is performed. As a result, the data on the remaining amount of ink is updated at a high frequency for the EEPROM 90, but is updated at a lower frequency for the storage element 80. Therefore, the number of times of writing the remaining amount of ink to the storage element 80 can be limited. As a result, the data to be written into the storage element 80 is 8-bit data with a small number of bits, and an element with a small allowable number of writes and a small storage capacity is adopted as the storage element used for the ink cartridge as a consumable. This makes it possible to further reduce the unit price of the ink cartridge.

  As described above, even if the frequency of writing back data to the storage element 80 is limited, the latest ink remaining amount data is always stored in 32 bits in the EEPROM 90 of the printer 1. It has no effect on the volume monitoring process or the accuracy of the process. As the monitoring process of the remaining ink amount, when the remaining ink amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, an LED provided on the panel switch 92 of the printer 1 is blinked or the printer driver of the computer PC is notified of the blinking. A warning may be displayed on the display MT of the PC. Since the printer 1 always holds the latest ink remaining amount data in the EEPROM 90 of the print controller 40, the printer 1 can always refer to this and output a warning such as ink end at a necessary timing. Naturally, these data may be used when starting up utility software or the like and visually displaying the current ink remaining amount in a bar graph or the like.

  In the above description, when the power-down command is issued, the remaining amount of ink is always written to the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. If there is no change in the remaining ink amount, the remaining ink amount may not be written back. For such a determination, a dedicated flag is provided and a flag is set when the remaining amount of ink is changed, and reading this flag immediately after receiving the power down command can be easily realized. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the remaining amount of ink is taken as an example of data to be written to the storage element 80. However, data other than the remaining amount of ink may be considered as data for making the writing frequency different between the EEPROM 90 and the storage element 80. be able to. For example, data on the cumulative use time of the ink cartridge, data on the use mode of the ink cartridge, and the like can be handled similarly.

  Further, the timing of writing to the EEPROM 90 and the storage element 80 is not limited to the above timing. For example, a mode in which writing to the storage element 80 is performed once every M times of writing to the EEPROM 90 is possible. In addition, when the suction operation is performed by operating the cleaning switch 92c, the remaining amount of ink is significantly reduced. Therefore, when the head cleaning by the suction operation is completed, data is written to the storage element 80. It is good. Further, it is also preferable to write the number of times of writing to the storage element 80 in a predetermined area of the storage element 80, and to reduce the timing of writing and reduce the frequency of writing as the number of times of writing increases.

  In this embodiment, since the remaining ink amount data for each ink type of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is stored, it is possible to know the remaining amount for each color ink. Further, it is possible to output a warning such as ink end for each color ink. In an ink cartridge containing five colors of ink, such as the color ink cartridge 107F, five types of data on the amount of remaining ink are also stored. Since the data stored in the ink cartridge is 8 bits, the storage capacity is also 8 bits × the number of ink types (5 in this embodiment), and the storage capacity of the storage element 80 does not increase unnecessarily. This effect is particularly significant when the data of the remaining amount of ink is stored in duplicate as in this embodiment.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment has substantially the same configuration of the printer and the ink cartridge as the first embodiment described above, but differs from the first embodiment in the following points. That is, in this embodiment, a dedicated control IC 200 is provided between the parallel input / output interface 49 of the print controller 40 of the printer 1 and the storage element 80 of the ink cartridge 107. The control IC 200 is mounted on a control board 205 together with a RAM 210 as shown in FIG. The control board 205 is mounted on the cartridge mounting section 18 of the carriage 101 as shown in FIG. Signal exchange between the storage element 80 and the control board 205 is performed using the connector 286. As shown, the connector 286 has contact pins for contact not only on the storage element 80 side but also on the control board 205 side, and the control board 205 is attached to the mounting portion 250 outside the cartridge mounting portion 18. Just by attaching it, the electrical connection is completed.

  The control board 205 and the parallel input / output interface 49 are connected by four signal lines, and data exchange between the control IC 200 and the print controller 40 is performed by serial communication. Specifically, a signal line RxD for receiving data as viewed from the control IC 200 side, a signal line TxD for outputting data, and a power down signal for outputting a write request at the time of a power failure from the print controller 40 to the control IC 200 The four signals of the selection signal SEL for permitting the transmission and reception of data using the NMI and the signal lines RxD and TxD are exchanged between the parallel input / output interface 49 and the control IC 200 via the flexible flat cable (FFC) 300. I have. The control unit 46 exchanges necessary data with the control IC 200 using these signals. However, the communication speed between the control unit 46 and the control IC 200 is different between the control IC 200 and the storage element 80. It is sufficiently fast compared to the speed of data exchange. As in the first embodiment, the power down signal NMI is forcibly turned off when the power switch 92a or the cartridge switch 92b of the panel switch 92 is operated or the power plug is pulled out. It is a signal output in the case.

  The control IC 200 has a function of individually exchanging data with the two storage elements 80. Therefore, one control IC 200 can exchange data between the storage elements 80 of the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridges 107F. In FIG. 15, in order to distinguish the signal lines for the respective storage elements 80, the black ink cartridge 107K is provided after the power supply and the signals CS, R / W, I / O, and CLK shown in FIG. Are distinguished by adding a suffix “1” and the color ink cartridge 107F by a suffix “2”.

  In this embodiment, the control unit 46 of the print controller 40 of the printer 1 writes the data relating to the ink amount not only to the EEPROM 90 but also to the RAM 210 provided on the control board 205. At the time of writing to the control IC 200, the control unit 46 activates the selection signal SEL to select the control IC 200, puts data on the signal RxD, and writes the remaining ink data In to the control IC 200 by asynchronous serial communication.

  On the other hand, when the power switch 92a is pressed or the power supply is forcibly cut off and the power down signal NMI is output, the print controller 40 outputs the power down signal NMI to the outside, and thus to the control IC 200. I do. As a result, in response to the power down signal NMI, the control IC 200 performs a process of writing at least data relating to the respective ink amounts among the data stored in the RAM 210 to the storage elements 80 of the respective ink cartridges 107K and 107N. . The method of writing to the storage element 80 by the control IC 200 is the same as that of the first embodiment. First, as shown in FIG. 7, the chip select signal CS is first activated, and the write / read signal W / R is immediately turned high. This is performed by selecting writing as active and sequentially outputting data DATA in synchronization with the clock signal CLK.

  Next, a description will be given of the actual processing of the ink amount in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the processing relating to the amount of ink in the ink cartridge is performed using "ink consumption amount" instead of "ink remaining amount". Of course, it is also possible to perform processing based on the remaining amount of ink as in the first embodiment. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a processing routine executed by the print controller 40. This processing routine is executed when a process that causes a change in the amount of ink consumed in the ink cartridge, such as a printing process or cleaning, is performed. This process can be performed not only when the ink amount is reduced but also when the ink amount is increased. For example, if a configuration capable of performing a treatment such as filling an ink cartridge with ink is adopted, the processing can be executed even when ink is filled.

  When the processing routine shown in FIG. 17 is started, first, a process of calculating the amount of ink consumed by the current printing and cleaning processes using 32-bit data is performed (step S110). Next, a process of calculating the current total consumption amount Iha as 32-bit data from the consumption amount by the current processing and the consumption amount stored so far in the EEPROM 90 is performed (step S120). Once the total consumption Iha is obtained, a process of writing it back to the EEPROM 90 is performed (step S130). By the above processing, the latest data Iha of the total ink consumption is always stored in the EEPROM 90 in the print controller 40.

  Next, a process of converting the data of the total ink consumption Iha into 8-bit data Ice is performed (step S140). Conversion to 8-bit data can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Subsequently, the control unit 46 outputs the total ink consumption Ice converted into 8-bit data to the control IC 200 so as to write it into the storage element 80 (step S150).

  According to the processing described above, the data of the total ink consumption to be written back to the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is controlled via the control IC 200 which directly controls the exchange of data with the storage element 80. The data is stored in the RAM 210 on the substrate 205, and the control unit 46 writes this data in the RAM 210 via the control IC 200 every time the data of the remaining ink amount is updated. Therefore, the latest data is always prepared in the RAM 210 on the control board 205. Then, when the power supply is forcibly shut off and the power down signal NMI is output, the data stored in the RAM 210 is immediately transferred to the ink cartridge regardless of the operation of the print controller 40 or the control unit 46. The data is written to the storage elements 80 of 107K and 107F. Therefore, the processing of the control unit 46 when the power is turned off is simplified, and the processing load is greatly reduced. In this embodiment, the writing of data into the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is started by using the power down signal NMI. However, a command is sent by using the writing signal line RxD. Thus, data writing by the control IC 200 may be performed.

  Next, processing when the power is turned on or the cartridge is replaced and a new ink cartridge is mounted will be described. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a power-on, cartridge mounting processing routine. As shown in the figure, when this process is started, a process is first performed to determine whether or not the installed ink cartridge is a new one based on the number of times of attachment (step S200). If it is determined that a new product that has never been mounted on the printer 1 has been mounted, a predetermined value is determined as the total consumption Iha, and it is determined that the total consumption Iha will be used for subsequent processing (step S270). Here, the specified value is usually set as the total consumption amount 0. However, for a half-bottle or the like having a half of the ink storage amount, a value corresponding to 全 of the total consumption can be used. The determination as to whether the installed ink cartridge is a half-bottle or a service item (a small amount of ink stored) packaged with the printer 1 at the time of shipment is performed directly by the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. May be determined by writing information to the cartridge, but it is also possible to use the upper two digits of the serial number to determine the type of such a cartridge.

  If it is determined that the installed ink cartridge is not a new one from the number of times of attachment, the serial number SN as identification information is read from the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F, and the EEPROM 90 is read based on the serial number SN. A process for searching the inside is performed (step S205). This search is performed by referring to a table prepared in the EEPROM 90 using the serial number SN as an index, as shown in FIG. The serial number SN of the ink cartridge that has been mounted at least once is registered in the EEPROM 90 in association with the total ink consumption as long as the storage capacity permits. When the storage capacity of the EEPROM 90 becomes full, old data is deleted sequentially.

  By referring to this table, it is determined whether the cartridge installed when the power is turned on and the newly installed cartridge when the ink cartridge is replaced are the ink cartridges installed in the printer 1 for the first time. It can be determined whether or not (step S210). If the serial number read from the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is found in the table, it can be determined that the cartridge is not the first installed cartridge. In this case, the 8-bit ink is read from the storage element 80. First, a process of reading the total consumption data Ice and converting it into 32-bit ink total consumption conversion data Ihe is performed (step S220). Thereafter, the data Iha of the total ink consumption originally stored in the EEPROM 90 in 32 bits is compared with the conversion data Ihe from the total ink consumption stored in the storage element 80 in 8 bits (step S230). It is determined whether the two correspond to each other (step S240).

  If it is determined from the comparison that the two correspond, it is possible to determine that the ink cartridge has been used continuously or that it has been removed and then returned as it is. It is determined that the stored total ink consumption Iha is to be treated as the current total ink consumption (step S250). On the other hand, when it is determined that the two do not correspond to each other, the larger of the total consumption data Iha stored in the EEPROM 90 and the converted total consumption data Iha is determined as the current total ink consumption. (Step S260). Here, the reason why the data stored in the storage elements 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F is not uniformly adopted is that the ink cartridge is specified in advance by using the serial number SN as the identification information. . For this reason, in consideration of an error due to the conversion, the larger ink consumption can be used. Of course, it is also possible to prioritize the data of the total ink consumption stored in the storage element 80 of the ink cartridge. For example, in a case where an environment is assumed in which a device is used in which ink is filled by a dedicated ink filling machine or the like and the total ink consumption is rewritten accordingly, information on the ink cartridge side is given priority.

  In addition to the above processing, if it is determined that the ink cartridges 107K and 107F are the first ones attached to the printer 1 by referring to the table illustrated in FIG. (Steps S200, S210), in this case, the data of the total consumption of 8 bits of ink is read from the storage element 80 of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F, and the data is converted into 32 bits. Then, it is determined to use it as the data Iha of the total ink consumption thereafter (step S280).

  According to the present embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 18, the capacity of data stored in the storage element 80 on the ink cartridge side can be reduced as in the first embodiment. In addition, since the ink cartridge to be mounted can be specified by the identification information, for example, even when a plurality of ink cartridges are replaced and used, it is accurately determined, and the same printer is re-used without being used elsewhere. The total ink consumption of the ink cartridge returned to 1 can be managed with much higher accuracy than the data on the ink cartridge side. In addition, even when those ink cartridges are used in another printer or the like, the total ink consumption can be managed with a certain level of accuracy or more.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments of the present invention, and may be replaced with, for example, the memory cells 81 and the EEPROM 90 of the storage element 80 without departing from the gist of the invention. Of course, it can be implemented in various modes such as a configuration using a dielectric memory (FROM).

  Further, the storage element 80 may be configured to be exposed outside the ink cartridge 107. An example of the color ink cartridge 500 provided with the storage element 80 exposed is shown in FIG. In the ink cartridge 500, a porous body (not shown) impregnated with ink is accommodated in a container 51 formed as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and the upper surface is sealed with a lid 53. Inside the container 51, five ink storage portions (for example, 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM, and 107Y in the ink cartridge 107F) that separately store five color inks are formed. An ink supply port 54 is formed on the bottom surface of the container 51 at a position facing the ink supply needle when mounted on the holder, according to each ink color. A protruding portion 56 is formed integrally with the upper end of the vertical wall 55 on the ink supply port side to engage with the protrusion of the lever on the main body side. The overhang portion 56 is separately formed on both sides of the wall 55 and has a rib 56a. Further, a triangular rib 57 is formed between the lower surface and the wall 55. The container 51 has a concave portion 59 for preventing erroneous insertion.

  On the ink supply port forming side of the vertical wall 55, a recess 58 is formed so as to be located at the center in the width direction of each cartridge 500, and the circuit board 31 is mounted here. The circuit board 31 has a plurality of contacts on a surface facing the contacts of the main body, and a storage element is mounted on the back surface. Further, the vertical wall 55 is formed with protrusions 55a and 55b for positioning the circuit board 31, and overhang portions 55c and 55d.

  Even when such an ink cartridge 500 is used, the data such as the remaining ink amount can be stored in the storage element provided on the circuit board 31 as data having a smaller number of bits than the EEPROM of the main body, as in the above embodiment. it can.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, five colors of magenta, cyan, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta were used as the color inks, but other colors are combined, or six or seven colors are added by adding other colors. The present invention can also be applied to the case where Further, not only the type in which the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage but also a configuration in which the ink cartridge is fixedly mounted on the printer main body 100 side can be adopted.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a main part of a printer 1 as one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the printer according to the embodiment, centering on a print controller; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an arrangement of nozzle openings in a print head. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating shapes of an ink cartridge and a cartridge mounting portion. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the ink cartridge 107 is mounted on the cartridge mounting unit 18. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage element built in the ink cartridges 107K and 107F. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of writing data to a storage element 80. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a data array in a storage element 80 built in a black ink cartridge 107K. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a data array in a storage element 80 built in a color ink cartridge 107F. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data array in an EEPROM provided in a print controller of the printer. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process routine including a process for calculating the remaining amount of ink. It is a flowchart which shows the evacuation process routine performed by interruption when a power down command is issued. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a mounting process routine that is executed when the ink cartridge is mounted. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of conversion of 32-bit data to 8-bit data. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a connection state of a control IC 200 used in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an arrangement of a control board 205 and the like in a second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of processing executed at the end of printing processing in the second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed when the power is turned on or when a cartridge is mounted. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a table using a serial number as identification information. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating another configuration example of the color ink cartridge.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer 5 ... Print engine 10 ... Print head 11 ... Paper feed mechanism 12 ... Carriage mechanism 17 ... Piezoelectric vibrator 18 ... Cartridge mounting part 23 ... Nozzle opening part 32 ... Pressure generation chamber 40 ... Print controller 43 ... Interface 44 ... RAM
44A: reception buffer 44B: intermediate buffer 44C: output buffer 45: ROM
46 ... Control unit 47 ... Oscillation circuit 48 ... Drive signal generation circuit 49 ... Parallel input / output interface 50 ... Element drive circuit 80 ... Storage element 81 ... Memory cell 82 ... Write / read control unit 83 ... Address counter 90 ... EEPROM
91 Power supply 92 Panel switch 92a Power switch 92b Cartridge switch 92c Cleaning switch 95 Address decoder 100 Printer body 101 Carriage 102 Timing belt 103 Carriage motor 104 Guide member 105 Printing paper 106 Paper feed Rollers 107K, 107F Ink cartridge 108 Capping device 109 Wiping device 116 Paper feed motor 117K Ink storage chamber 171 Cartridge main body 172 Side frame 173 Depression 174 Connection terminal 175 Ink supply 181 Needle 182 ... Cartridge guide 183 ... Concave part 184 ... Inner wall 185 ... Electrode 186 ... Connector 187 ... Bottom part 188 ... Rear wall part 189 ... Engagement tool 191 ... Support shaft 192 ... Fixed lever 1 93: locking part 200: control IC
205: control board 210: RAM
250 mounting part 286 connector 650 first storage area 660 second storage area 750 first storage area 760 second storage area

Claims (32)

A printing apparatus which can be mounted with a cartridge containing ink and having a rewritable nonvolatile memory, and performs printing by transferring the ink of the cartridge to a print medium,
Rewritable main unit memory,
Information writing means for storing information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed along with execution of printing on the print medium as data of a predetermined number of bits in the main body side memory;
A memory writing unit that converts the information on the ink amount into data having a smaller number of bits than the number of bits and writes the converted data into a nonvolatile memory provided in the cartridge. The printing device according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus, wherein the memory writing unit performs the conversion by deleting lower-order bits of data written by the information writing unit. The printing device according to claim 1,
A printing apparatus, wherein the memory writing unit performs the conversion by converting data written by the information writing unit into data indicating a ratio. The printing device according to claim 1,
When power is turned on, a determination unit that determines a correspondence relationship between the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data stored in the nonvolatile memory,
An ink amount processing control unit for performing a process relating to the subsequent ink amount using the data of the number of bits stored in the main body side memory when the determination unit determines that both correspond to each other. Printing device. The printing device according to claim 1,
When power is turned on, a determination unit that determines a correspondence relationship between the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data stored in the nonvolatile memory,
When the determination unit determines that the two do not correspond to each other, the data of the number of bits stored in the non-volatile memory is converted, and information regarding the ink amount corresponding to the data is stored in the main body side memory. An ink amount processing control unit that writes the data as a predetermined number of bits of data and uses the data to perform processing relating to the subsequent amount of ink. The printing device according to claim 1,
Volatile memory of the cartridge has an area that memorize the identification information identifying the cartridge, further,
Identification information reading means for reading the identification information stored in the nonvolatile memory when power is turned on and / or when the cartridge is replaced;
Identification information storage means for storing the read identification information;
Comparing the read identification information with the stored identification information to determine a match between the two;
An ink amount processing control unit for performing a process relating to the subsequent ink amount using the data of the number of bits stored in the main body side memory when the determination unit determines that the two match. Printing device. The printing device according to claim 1,
Volatile memory of the cartridge has an area that memorize the identification information identifying the cartridge, further,
Identification information reading means for reading the identification information stored in the nonvolatile memory when power is turned on and / or when the cartridge is replaced;
Identification information storage means for storing the read identification information;
Comparing the read identification information with the stored identification information to determine a match between the two;
When the determination unit determines that the two do not match, the data of the number of bits stored in the non-volatile memory is converted, and information regarding the ink amount corresponding to the data is stored in the main body side memory. An ink amount processing control unit that writes the data as a predetermined number of bits of data and uses the data to perform processing relating to the subsequent amount of ink. The printing device according to claim 1,
Volatile memory of the cartridge has an area for storing identification information for identifying the cartridge, further,
The information writing means includes:
Identification information reading means for reading the identification information stored in the nonvolatile memory when power is turned on and / or when the cartridge is replaced;
Means for using the read identification information to store the information on the ink amount in the main unit side memory for each cartridge having the different identification information,
When the cartridge can be replaced, the content of the main body side memory is searched using the identification information read from the nonvolatile memory, and it is determined whether or not the information on the matching cartridge exists. Determining means for performing
A printing apparatus comprising: an ink amount processing control unit that, when the determination unit determines that there is information about a matching cartridge, uses the information to perform a process related to the subsequent ink amount. 9. The printing device according to claim 8, wherein
The ink amount processing control means, when it is determined that there is information on the matching cartridge,
Determining means for determining a correspondence relationship between the information regarding the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data corresponding to the cartridge stored in the nonvolatile memory;
Means for causing the subsequent ink amount processing to be performed using the bit number data for the matching cartridge stored in the main body side memory when the determination means determines that both correspond to each other. A printing device comprising: 9. The printing device according to claim 8, wherein
The ink amount processing control means, when it is determined that there is information on the matching cartridge,
Determining means for determining a correspondence relationship between the information on the ink amount stored in the main body side memory and the converted data corresponding to the cartridge stored in the nonvolatile memory;
Means for converting the data of the number of bits stored in the non-volatile memory to obtain information on an ink amount corresponding to the data, when the determination means determines that the two do not correspond to each other;
Means for writing the information as data of the predetermined number of bits in association with the matched cartridge in the main body side memory.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main body side memory has a larger capacity than the nonvolatile memory.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main body side memory is a memory that can be accessed at a higher speed than the nonvolatile memory.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory writing means is a means for writing the information when a power supply of the printing apparatus is turned off and / or when the cartridge is replaced.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said information writing means is means for writing said information when printing of one page is completed. The printing device according to claim 1,
It said information writing means, the printing apparatus 1 or more printing raster is means for writing pre-Symbol information when completed. The printing device according to claim 1,
A print head that ejects the ink contained in the cartridge onto the print medium,
Cleaning means for performing a head cleaning for discharging a predetermined amount of ink from the print head in response to a predetermined operation,
The printing apparatus, wherein the information writing unit is a unit that writes the information even when the cleaning unit operates. The printing device according to claim 1,
The non-volatile memory is a type of memory that transmits and receives data by serial access,
The printing device, wherein the memory writing unit is a unit that writes the information to the nonvolatile memory in synchronization with a clock for addressing.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main body side memory is provided in a control IC that directly controls writing of data to the nonvolatile memory. The printing device according to claim 1,
A print head that ejects the ink contained in the cartridge onto the print medium,
The cartridge can be mounted on a carriage provided with the print head and reciprocated with respect to the print medium,
The main body side memory is a printing device provided on the carriage. The printing device according to claim 1,
As the cartridge, a black ink cartridge containing black ink and a color ink cartridge containing a plurality of color inks can be mounted,
A printing apparatus comprising: a memory writing unit that writes the information into the nonvolatile memory provided in each of the black ink cartridge and the color ink cartridge. A method for managing information of a printing apparatus that can be mounted with a cartridge containing ink and having a rewritable nonvolatile memory and that performs printing by transferring the ink of the cartridge to a print medium,
Information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed in executing printing on the print medium is stored as data of a predetermined number of bits in a rewritable main body memory provided on the main body of the printing apparatus. ,
A method of managing information, comprising converting information relating to the amount of ink into data having a smaller number of bits than the number of bits and writing the converted data into a nonvolatile memory provided in the cartridge. A cartridge containing ink and having a rewritable nonvolatile memory, which is used by being mounted on a printing apparatus,
The cartridge in which the nonvolatile memory is configured to write information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed during execution of printing with a smaller number of bits than the number of bits handled by the printing apparatus. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
The non-volatile memory is a cartridge in which the information is written when the power of the printing apparatus is turned off and / or when the cartridge is replaced.   23. The cartridge according to claim 22, wherein the non-volatile memory is an EEPROM. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
The non-volatile memory is a type of memory that transmits and receives data by serial access, and is a cartridge in which the information is written in synchronization with a clock for addressing. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
The cartridge in which the data to be written is data obtained by removing lower-order bits of data handled by the printing apparatus. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
A cartridge which is data obtained by converting the data to be written into data indicating a ratio of data handled by the printing apparatus. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
It has an ink storage chamber that stores a plurality of types of ink,
The cartridge in which the data is written in the nonvolatile memory according to the type of the ink. 29. The cartridge of claim 28,
The ink containing chamber is divided into three or more containing at least three different types of ink,
The non-volatile memory has a plurality of information storage areas that independently store information related to the amount of each of the inks,
A cartridge having a capacity of 2 bytes or less assigned to each of the plurality of information storage areas. 29. The cartridge of claim 28,
The ink storage chamber is divided into five or more housing at least five different types of ink,
The non-volatile memory has a plurality of information storage areas that independently store information related to the amount of each of the inks,
A cartridge having a capacity of 2 bytes or less assigned to each of the plurality of information storage areas. A cartridge that contains ink and has a rewritable nonvolatile memory can be mounted, and a program that handles information of a printing apparatus that performs printing by transferring the ink of the cartridge to a print medium is recorded in a computer-readable manner. A recording medium,
Information on the amount of ink in the cartridge consumed in executing printing on the print medium is stored as data of a predetermined number of bits in a rewritable main body memory provided in the main body of the printing apparatus. Features and
A recording medium on which a program for realizing, by a computer, a function of converting the information on the ink amount into data having a smaller number of bits than the number of bits and writing the data into a nonvolatile memory provided in the cartridge is provided. 23. The cartridge of claim 22, wherein
The cartridge contains printing toner in place of the ink,
The information on the amount of ink written in the non-volatile memory is information on the amount of toner.

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