JP2005212152A - Inkjet recording apparatus, and method for updating information on ink tank thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently read out information on an ink tank in an inkjet recording apparatus which is constituted so that the ink tank can be detached/attached in arbitrarily timing. <P>SOLUTION: The replacement of the ink tank is detected (S106 and S107) in accordance with a change (S101) in the opened and closed state of an ink tank cover and at least partial information (S105) read out from a storage medium of the ink tank by a readout means; information on a history of the detected replacement of the ink tank is stored; and the information is read out from the storage medium and updated, in the case where the history is replaced when the information on the history is read out, and updated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and an information updating method for an ink tank of the recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a non-volatile storage medium that stores information about the ink tank in an ink tank that contains ink to be supplied to a recording head. The present invention relates to a technology for efficiently reading out information of an ink tank while allowing the ink tank to be removed and attached at an arbitrary timing.

  For example, as information output devices in word processors, personal computers, facsimiles, and the like, printers that record information such as desired characters and images on a sheet-like recording medium (paper) such as paper or film are widely used.

  Various types of recording methods are known for printers, but inkjet methods have recently been used for reasons such as non-contact recording on recording media such as paper, easy colorization, and high quietness. In particular, the configuration has been fixed as a serial type that performs recording while reciprocally scanning a recording head that ejects ink according to desired recording information in a direction that intersects the paper conveyance direction. A full-line type is known in which recording is performed while a sheet is conveyed in a predetermined direction with respect to a recording head.

  In an ink jet printer, ink used as a recording agent is usually supplied from an ink tank to a recording head. The ink tank is installed on a carriage for personal use printers and serial type printers with a small recordable paper size, and is generally used for a business printer or a full printer that can record large format paper such as A0. Since a line-type printer uses a large-capacity ink tank, it is generally installed in a predetermined location (inside the ink tank box) other than on the carriage. In this case, the ink tank box and the recording head are connected by a tube, and ink is supplied through the tube.

  In recent years, a nonvolatile storage medium (memory) such as an EEPROM is mounted on the ink tank, and information such as the type and remaining amount of ink is stored in the memory so that the ink jet printer can know the information on the ink tank. The number of printers configured as described above (for example, Patent Document 1) is increasing. When an ink tank equipped with such a memory is stored in the ink tank box as described above, information in the memory cannot be read correctly if the ink tank is removed or installed at an arbitrary timing. Or information in the memory may be rewritten.

In order to prevent such problems, a printer with a mechanism that prevents the ink tank from being removed from the ink tank box except when necessary, or a structure in which the ink tank cover can be opened at any time. A printer that must be turned off (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1) has been proposed.
JP 2002-127564 A "Fuji Xerox WorkCentre B900 / B900N Instruction Manual", Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., 2002, P211

  However, if a mechanism that prevents the ink tank from being taken out carelessly is provided, the user cannot freely replace the ink tank when the power is turned off, for example, and convenience is reduced.

  In addition, if the ink tank cover can be opened at any time, but the power must be turned off when replacing the ink tank, the user inadvertently removes the ink tank while reading information from the memory installed in the ink tank. May be removed. In particular, since the number of ink colors (types) has recently increased, it takes a long time to read information from a memory mounted in the ink tank, and the probability that the ink tank is taken out during that time is also high.

  On the other hand, before reading the memory information and immediately after reading the memory information, check whether the ink tank cover is open, and if it is open, it is determined that the read information is not reliable. Although it is possible to read out information from the memory again, this is not possible even when the ink tank cover is opened and the ink tank cover is closed immediately after reading the memory. . In addition, when there are multiple ink tanks, reading information from the memory of all ink tanks every time the ink tank cover is opened increases the time for accessing the memory and waits until recording is executed. The time will be longer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and in an ink jet recording apparatus configured to allow a user to remove / install an ink tank at an arbitrary timing, information on the ink tank is efficiently used. The purpose is to read and update automatically.

An inkjet recording apparatus as an aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by an inkjet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink,
An ink tank that is detachably attached to a non-movable part spaced from the recording head and contains ink to be supplied to the recording head;
A non-volatile storage medium attached to the ink tank and storing information of the ink tank;
An ink tank cover that is opened when the ink tank is removed and installed;
Detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the ink tank cover;
A reading unit configured to be able to read information of the storage medium in a state where the ink tank is mounted;
An exchange detecting means for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
History storage means for storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected by the replacement detection means;
And an information updating unit that reads information from the storage medium when the history information is read and there is a replacement history when the detection unit detects that the ink tank cover is closed.

  That is, in the present invention, an ink tank that performs recording with an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink, and is detachably attached to a non-movable part that is separated from the recording head, and stores ink to be supplied to the recording head; A non-volatile storage medium that is attached to the ink tank and stores information about the ink tank, an ink tank cover that is opened when the ink tank is removed and attached, and a detection unit that detects an open / closed state of the ink tank cover; In an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a reading unit configured to be able to read information on a storage medium in a state where the ink tank is mounted; and a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting unit, and reading by the reading unit Based on at least some of the information in the storage medium When it is detected that the ink tank has been replaced, the detected ink tank replacement history information is stored, and when the detecting means detects that the ink tank cover is closed, the history information is read and there is a replacement history. If so, information is read from the storage medium.

  In this case, since information is read from the storage means of the ink tank when it is actually replaced, for example, as compared with the case where the information is read every time it is detected that the ink tank cover is opened. The time for reading ink tank information is shortened.

  Therefore, in the ink jet recording apparatus configured so that the user can remove / install the ink tank at an arbitrary timing, the information of the ink tank can be efficiently read and updated.

  In addition, in order to perform recording using a plurality of types of ink, when a plurality of ink tanks are provided according to the type of ink to be used, the ink tank cover is shared by the plurality of ink tanks, and replacement detection is performed. The means detects that each ink tank has been replaced, the history storage means stores the history information of replacement of each ink tank, and the information update means only includes information on the ink tank having history of replacement in the history information. Is preferably read out.

  The replacement detection unit clears the history information when the detection unit detects that the ink tank cover is opened, reads at least a part of the information on the storage medium by the reading unit, and reads at least a part of the read information. When the ink has changed, it may be detected that the ink tank has been replaced.

  Here, at least a part may be a minimum unit for reading information.

  An EEPROM can be used as the storage medium.

An ink jet recording apparatus as another aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is an ink jet recording apparatus capable of mounting an ink tank that supplies ink to an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink,
The ink tank has non-volatile storage means for holding information on the ink tank,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink tank cover that is opened and closed when the ink tank is mounted;
Detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the ink tank cover;
An exchange detecting means for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
History storage means for storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected by the replacement detection means;
And an information updating means for reading the history information and reading the information from the storage means when there is a replacement history when the detection means detects that the ink tank cover is closed.

In addition, an ink tank information reading method for an ink jet recording apparatus according to still another aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is characterized in that recording is performed by an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink, and is separated from the recording head. An ink tank that is detachably attached to the non-movable part and contains ink to be supplied to the recording head, a non-volatile storage medium that is attached to the ink tank and stores information on the ink tank, An ink tank cover that is opened when the ink tank cover is removed and attached; a detection unit that detects an open / closed state of the ink tank cover; and a read configured to be able to read information on the storage medium in a state where the ink tank is attached. And an information update method for an ink tank of an ink jet recording apparatus. ,
An exchange detecting step for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
A history storage step of storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected in the replacement detection step;
An information updating step of reading information from the storage medium when the history information is read and there is a replacement history when the detecting means detects that the ink tank cover is closed.

  Furthermore, the above object is also achieved by a computer program for realizing the ink tank information reading method of the ink jet recording apparatus by a computer device and a storage medium storing the computer program.

  According to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus configured such that a user can remove / install an ink tank at an arbitrary timing, information on the ink tank can be efficiently read and updated.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the components described in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

  In the embodiment described below, a recording apparatus using a recording head according to an ink jet method will be described as an example.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) is not only for forming significant information such as characters and figures, but also for human beings visually perceived regardless of significance. Regardless of whether or not it has been manifested, it also represents a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or the medium is processed.

  “Recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also widely to cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and the like that can accept ink. Shall.

  Furthermore, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) is to be interpreted broadly in the same way as the definition of “recording (printing)” above. It represents a liquid that can be used for forming a pattern or the like, processing a recording medium, or processing an ink (for example, solidification or insolubilization of a colorant in ink applied to the recording medium).

<Overall configuration of inkjet recording apparatus>
FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of the color ink jet recording apparatus, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention, with the cover removed showing the outline of the configuration.

  In FIG. 6, 101 corresponds to six colors (six types) of black, light cyan, light cyan, light magenta, magenta, and yellow. The carriage is equipped with an ink jet recording head that performs recording by ejecting from a nozzle row. The carriage 101 is connected to a flexible cable 117 for supplying a driving pulse signal and a recording head temperature control signal to the recording head. The other end of the flexible cable 117 controls the entire apparatus. Is connected to a printed circuit board (not shown) provided with an electric circuit.

  The six color inks are supplied from the six ink tanks 105 containing the respective inks to the ink jet recording head through the connection 102 via the ink supply tube 104 independently of each color. As will be described later, the six ink tanks 105 are received at predetermined positions in an ink tank box surrounding the periphery other than the upper part, and an ink tank cover forming a part of the cover of the apparatus main body is provided on the upper part. A sensor for detecting the open / closed state of the ink tank cover is provided.

  The recording operation will be described. A recording medium (not shown) set on the paper feed tray 107 is picked up by a paper feed roller (not shown), is reversed along a U-turn guide (not shown), and the platen 116 is rotated. It is conveyed to a predetermined position above. In this state, the carriage 101 is moved along the guide shaft 103 and the carriage stay 115 based on position information obtained by the encoder film 114, and ink droplets are ejected from the recording head during the movement, thereby recording on the recording head. A recording scan is performed on the area corresponding to the width. This recording scan and conveyance of a distance corresponding to the recording width of the recording medium by a paper feed roller (not shown) driven by a conveying motor are alternately repeated to perform recording on one recording medium. The recording medium for which recording has been completed is discharged to a discharge tray 106 by a discharge roller (not shown), and recording is completed.

  In addition, 108 is a frame that supports the mechanism of the apparatus, 109 is a power supply unit that supplies power to the electric circuit, 110 is a fan that blows air into or out of the apparatus, 111 is a gear that drives the conveyance roller, 112 is a belt for driving the gear 111, and 113 is an encoder for detecting the rotational position of the transport motor.

<Schematic configuration of ink tank box>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink tank box that receives the ink tank 105 described above.

  In the figure, 1 is an ink tank, 2 is attached below the ink tank, and is an EEPROM as a non-volatile storage medium for storing information relating to the type and remaining amount of ink, and 3 is a form exposed at the bottom of the ink tank 1. 4 is an ink tank box, 5 is provided at the bottom of the ink tank box 4, and is electrically connected to the connection terminal 3 when the ink tank 1 is mounted. Is a part of the cover of the main body, and is an ink tank cover attached so as to be openable and closable independently of the cover of the main body.

  The ink tank cover 6 can always be opened and closed regardless of the operation state of the recording apparatus, and the ink tank 1 can be always removed and mounted.

  Although only one ink tank is shown in the figure, as described above, the recording apparatus of the present embodiment is equipped with six ink tanks corresponding to six colors, and each ink tank has an EEPROM 2 and a connection terminal. 3 are provided, and terminals 5 are provided at positions corresponding to the respective ink tanks of the ink tank box 4. The ink tank box 4, the ink tank cover 6, and the sensor 7 are common to the six ink tanks.

<Overview of control configuration>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a control configuration of the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In the figure, 10 indicates the entire recording apparatus, 11 is a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, 12 is an I / O that controls an interface for the recording apparatus 10 to exchange information with an external host device (such as a PC), and 13 is ROM for storing the control program of the recording apparatus 10, 14 stores image data received via the I / O 12, and RAM used as a work area when performing image processing, 15 denotes recording data, a motor, etc. Reference numeral 16 denotes an I / O that outputs drive data, and a recording control unit that controls the recording operation of the recording apparatus. Reference numeral 17 denotes various sensors including the sensor 7 for detecting the open / closed state of the ink tank cover. Reference numeral 18 denotes a connection terminal, which includes a connection terminal 3 for the ink tank EEPROM.

  The RAM 14 has an area 14 </ b> A for storing ink tank attachment / detachment (exchange) history information.

<Program structure>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program for monitoring the attachment / detachment state of the ink tank 1 of the present embodiment.

  20 is a monitoring program for monitoring the attachment / detachment (exchange) of the ink tank, 21 is an EEPROM reading program for reading information of the EEPROM 2 attached to the ink tank, and 22 is an area for storing information on the attachment / detachment history of the ink tank in the RAM 14 (14A). ) Respectively.

  The monitoring program 20 is a task (routine) activated every 100 ms, and the EEPROM read program 21 is activated when the sensor 7 detects that the ink tank cover 6 is closed. Further, when the ink tank 1 is attached / detached, the monitoring program 20 writes the information of the attached / detached ink tank 1 into the ink tank attachment / detachment history 22, and the EEPROM reading program 21 refers to the ink tank attachment / detachment history 22 to refer to the ink tank. It is determined whether or not information is read from one EEPROM 2.

  When the recording apparatus 10 is turned on, the CPU 11 starts up the control program for the printer 10 including the monitoring program 20 and the EEPROM read program 21 on the ROM 13 or the RAM 14, and starts up. Area (14A) is secured.

<Ink tank attachment / detachment monitoring process>
Next, the monitoring process of the attached / detached state of the ink tank by the monitoring program 20 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S101, the sensor 7 that detects the open / closed state of the ink tank cover 6 monitors the change in the state of the ink tank cover 6, and whether the ink tank cover 6 has changed from closed to open (the cover has been opened). Determine whether or not. If the cover is opened, the process proceeds to step S102, and if not, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S102, since the ink tank cover 6 has been opened, the ink tank attachment / detachment history information is cleared. The number of ink tank attachment / detachment histories corresponding to the number of ink tanks 1 is provided. In step S103, it is determined whether the ink tank cover 6 is open. If it is open, the process proceeds to step S104, and if it is closed, the process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S104, the variable i representing the number of ink tanks is cleared. In step S105, information for the minimum unit is read from the start address of the EEPROM of the i-th ink tank. Here, the minimum unit of the EEPROM is 1 byte for the 1-byte access EEPROM and 2 bytes for the 2-byte access EEPROM. In step S106, it is determined whether or not the read information is an original correct value. Here, if an error is detected when reading from the EEPROM, it is determined that the value is different from the original value. If it is determined that the value is an original value, the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, if it is determined that it is different from the original value, it is determined that the ink tank 1 is not installed, and 1 is set as a flag in the i-th ink tank attachment / detachment history information in step S107.

  In step S108, the variable i representing the number of ink tanks is incremented by adding 1. In step S109, the value of i is compared with the number of ink tanks. If i is smaller than the number of ink tanks, all the ink tanks are inspected. When it is determined that the confirmation of the attachment / detachment state has not been completed, the process returns to step S105 to repeat the subsequent processing. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S110. In step S110, after resting for 100 ms, the process returns to step S101 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

<Reading process of ink tank information>
Next, the reading process of ink tank information from the EEPROM by the EEPROM reading program 21 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in step S201, the sensor 7 detects that the tank cover 6 is closed (waits until it is closed), and then in step S202, a variable i indicating the number of ink tanks is cleared.

  In step S203, in order to check the ink tank attachment / detachment history using the information (1) set as a flag in the attachment / detachment history of the i-th ink tank removed in step S107 by the monitoring program of FIG. It is determined whether 1 is standing with reference to the ink tank attachment / detachment history. If 1 is not standing, it progresses to step S205, and if 1 is standing, it progresses to step S204.

  In step S204, since 1 is set in the i-th ink tank attachment / detachment history, it is determined that the i-th ink tank has been removed and replaced with the previous ink tank, and the ink tank 1 is read from the EEPROM 2 of the ink tank 1. Read the information. In step S205, i is incremented by adding 1. In step S206, the value of i is compared with the number of ink tanks. If i is smaller than the number of ink tanks, information is read from the EEPROM 2 of all ink tanks 1. If not, the process returns to step S203, and the subsequent processing is repeated. Otherwise, it is determined that information has been read from the EEPROMs 2 of all the ink tanks 1, and the processing ends.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, when the ink tank cover is opened, the ink tank is replaced by reading the information of the installed ink tank in the minimum unit and comparing it with the original information. An ink tank attachment / detachment history indicating whether or not the ink tank has been attached is created. With reference to the ink tank attachment / detachment history, information is read out only from the EEPROM of the replaced ink tank.

  In this way, since information is read out only from the EEPROM mounted on the actually replaced ink tank, the time required for reading can be shortened, and the user can remove / install the ink tank at an arbitrary timing. In the ink jet recording apparatus configured to be able to perform the above, information in the ink tank can be read efficiently.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, a serial type ink jet recording apparatus has been described as an example. However, any recording system can be used as long as the recording apparatus can remove / attach a container containing ink at an arbitrary timing. The present invention can be applied to any recording apparatus regardless of the above. For example, the recording method may be a full line type instead of a serial type.

  The installation location of the ink tank or the ink tank box is preferably a non-movable part so that the ink tank can be replaced even when the recording apparatus is performing the recording operation.

  Further, the ink ejection method is not particularly limited, and may be a method using thermal energy by an electrothermal converter or a method using mechanical displacement of a piezoelectric element.

  The present invention may be applied to a recording system including a plurality of devices including a recording device, or may be applied to a device (printer, facsimile, copier, etc.) including a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in this embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is directly or remotely supplied to a system or apparatus. This includes the case where the object is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code by the computer of the system or apparatus. In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, the form does not need to be a program.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R).

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to an Internet homepage, and the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function is downloaded from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Can also be supplied. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the scope of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a figure explaining the schematic structure of the ink tank box which receives an ink tank. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a control configuration of the recording apparatus of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software in embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of ink tank information reading processing in the embodiment. It is a flowchart of the monitoring program in an embodiment. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of a color inkjet recording apparatus that is a representative embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Ink tank 2 EEPROM
3 Connection Terminal 4 Ink Tank Box 5 Contact 6 Ink Tank Cover 7 Sensor 10 Printer 11 CPU
12 I / O
13 ROM
14 RAM
15 I / O
16 Drive unit 17 Sensor 18 Contact 20 Monitoring program 21 EEPROM read program 22 Ink tank attachment / detachment history

Claims (7)

An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by an inkjet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink,
An ink tank that is detachably attached to a non-movable part spaced from the recording head and contains ink to be supplied to the recording head;
A non-volatile storage medium attached to the ink tank and storing information of the ink tank;
An ink tank cover that is opened when the ink tank is removed and installed;
Detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the ink tank cover;
A reading unit configured to be able to read information of the storage medium in a state where the ink tank is mounted;
An exchange detecting means for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
History storage means for storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected by the replacement detection means;
An information updating means for reading the history information and reading the information from the storage medium when the history information is read when the detection means detects that the ink tank cover is closed. An ink jet recording apparatus. In order to perform recording using a plurality of types of ink, a plurality of the ink tanks are provided according to the type of ink used,
The ink tank cover is common to the plurality of ink tanks,
The replacement detection means detects that each ink tank has been replaced,
The history storage means stores history information of replacement of each ink tank,
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information update unit reads only information of an ink tank having a replacement history in the history information.   The replacement detection unit clears the history information when the detection unit detects that the ink tank cover is opened, reads out at least a part of the information in the storage medium by the reading unit, and reads out the history information. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when at least a part of information changes, it is detected that the ink tank has been replaced.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least part is a minimum unit for reading the information.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium is an EEPROM. An ink jet recording apparatus capable of mounting an ink tank that supplies ink to an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink,
The ink tank has non-volatile storage means for holding information on the ink tank,
The ink jet recording apparatus comprises:
An ink tank cover that is opened and closed when the ink tank is mounted;
Detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the ink tank cover;
An exchange detecting means for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
History storage means for storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected by the replacement detection means;
An information updating means for reading the history information and reading the information from the storage means when there is a replacement history when the detection means detects that the ink tank cover is closed. An ink jet recording apparatus. An ink tank that performs recording by ejecting ink, performs recording, and is detachably attached to a non-movable part spaced from the recording head, and stores an ink tank that supplies ink to the recording head; and the ink tank A non-volatile storage medium that is attached and stores information about the ink tank, an ink tank cover that is opened when the ink tank is removed and attached, a detection unit that detects an open / closed state of the ink tank cover, and An ink tank information updating method for an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a reading unit configured to be able to read information on the storage medium in a state where the ink tank is mounted;
An exchange detecting step for detecting that the ink tank has been exchanged based on a change in the open / closed state of the ink tank cover by the detecting means and at least a part of the information of the storage medium read by the reading means; ,
A history storage step of storing history information of replacement of the ink tank detected in the replacement detection step;
An information updating step of reading information from the storage medium when the history information is read and there is a replacement history when the detection means detects that the ink tank cover is closed. An ink tank information updating method for an ink jet recording apparatus.

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