JP2006056273A - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately manage the service term of usage in an ink cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: An EEPROM is loaded in an ink cartridge. In the EEPROM, the date of manufacturing the ink cartridge in year, month and day, a term of validity from the date of its manufacture and information to determine the term of validity from the usage-starting date in year, month and day, regarding an ink cartridge 11, are registered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print system and an improved technique for an ink jet printer, and more particularly to a maintenance technique for guaranteeing the ink quality of an ink cartridge used in an ink jet printer.

  When an ink cartridge for an inkjet printer is opened, for example, after a period of about 6 months, the quality of the ink may be deteriorated and high image quality may not be exhibited, or the head may be adversely affected. As a countermeasure technique, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-278963 discloses an ink cartridge capable of displaying an elapsed time after opening. The ink cartridge has a timer and a display unit, and displays an elapsed time after opening the cartridge.

  However, if a timer or a display unit is provided in the ink cartridge, the cartridge itself becomes expensive, and the running cost of the user increases. Regarding the ink quality, not only the elapsed period after opening but also the elapsed period after manufacture is important. For example, in general, after about two years after manufacture, the quality of ink cannot be guaranteed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge capable of accurately managing the expiration date of the ink cartridge at a low cost. This is to improve the reliability of the printer used in the printer.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing system includes a printer having a replaceable ink cartridge and a host device capable of communicating with the printer. The ink cartridge has a storage medium for recording information for determining an expiration date of the ink, which can be accessed by the printer. Then, one or both of the host device and the printer cooperate to read the information from the storage medium of the cartridge and determine the expiration date of the ink cartridge based on the read information.

  In a preferred embodiment, the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge, the validity period from the production date, the validity period from the opening date, and the like are recorded on the storage medium of the ink cartridge at the time of shipment from the factory. Further, when a new cartridge is mounted on the printer, the printer writes the mounting date (that is, the opening date) on the storage medium of the ink cartridge. Then, at least one of the host device and the printer manufactures the ink cartridge based on the manufacturing date, the effective period from the manufacturing date, the opening date, and the effective period from the opening date. Calculate the expiry date from the date and the expiry date from the opening date, and select the expiry date that arrives earlier and compare it with the current date Judge whether it has passed.

  In this way, the printer and the host device determine the expiration date based on the information and manage this by simply writing information for determining the expiration date on the ink cartridge, thereby reducing the cost of the ink cartridge. The expiration date of the ink cartridge can be accurately managed while keeping it low.

  In a preferred embodiment, the system determines whether the expiration date has passed or the rice and notifies the user.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage medium of the ink cartridge includes manufacturing base information (for example, manufacturing date) for determining an expiration date of the manufacturing base of the ink cartridge, and an opening base. The opening-time base information (for example, the opening date) for determining the expiration date is recorded. Then, one or both of the host device and the printer cooperate to read the manufacturing base information and the opening base information from the storage medium, and determine the expiration date of the manufacturing base based on the read manufacturing base information. The expiration date of the opening time base is determined based on the read opening time base information, and the earlier expiration date of these expiration dates is selected.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, at least the above-described manufacturing base information (for example, manufacturing date) is recorded on the storage medium of the ink cartridge at the time of factory shipment. Then, one or both of the host device and the printer cooperate to perform the following expiration date management process.

  (1) When the ink cartridge is installed in the printer, it is checked whether or not the above-mentioned opening base information (for example, the opening date) is already recorded on the storage medium.

  (2-1) If the base information at the time of opening is already recorded on the storage medium, the base information at the time of opening and the base information at the time of manufacture are read from the storage medium, and the base at the time of opening is validated based on the read base information at the time of opening. The expiration date is determined, and the expiration date of the manufacturing time base is determined based on the read manufacturing time base information.

  (2-2) If the opening base information is not yet recorded on the storage medium, the manufacturing base information is read from the storage medium, and the opening base information is based on the date when the ink cartridge was installed in the printer. Is generated and written to the storage medium, the expiration date based on the opening time is determined based on the generated opening time base information, and the expiration date based on the manufacturing time is determined based on the read manufacturing time base information.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, one or both of the host device and the printer cooperate to perform the following expiration date management process.

  (1) When the ink cartridge is installed in the printer, it is checked whether or not the above-described base information at opening is already recorded on the storage medium.

  (2-1) If the opening base information is already recorded on the storage medium, the expiration date of the opening base is determined based on the opening base information recorded on the storage medium.

  (2-2) If the base information at the time of opening is not yet recorded on the storage medium, the base information at the time of opening is generated and written to the storage medium based on the date when the ink cartridge is mounted on the printer. The expiration date of the opening time base is determined based on the generated opening time base information.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the printer performs the following operation.

  (1) When the ink cartridge is mounted on the printer, it is checked whether or not the opening base information for determining the expiration date of the opening base of the cartridge is already recorded on the storage medium.

  (2-1) If the opening-time base information is already recorded on the storage medium, the opening-time base information recorded on the storage medium is read and connected to the host device to enable communication. The base information is transmitted to the host device.

  (2-2) If the base information at the time of opening is not yet recorded on the storage medium, the elapsed time from when the ink cartridge was installed in the printer is counted, and the count is performed when it is connected to the host device for communication. The elapsed time is transmitted to the host device.

  Further, the host device performs the following operation.

  (3-1) When the opening base information is received from the printer, the expiration date of the opening base is determined based on the opening base information.

  (3-2) When the above elapsed period is received from the printer, the opening base information is generated based on the elapsed period and transmitted to the printer, and the opening base expiration date based on the generated opening base information To decide.

  Further, the printer performs the following operation.

  (4) When the opening base information is received from the host device, the opening base information is written in the storage medium.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the storage medium of the ink cartridge includes at least date information related to the date of manufacture or the date of opening of the ink cartridge and type information indicating the type of the ink cartridge. It is recorded. Then, the printer reads the date information and type information from the storage medium of the cartridge and transmits it to the host device. The host device stores the valid period for each type in advance, selects the valid period corresponding to the type received from the printer, and determines the validity of the ink cartridge from the selected valid period and the date information received from the printer. Determine the deadline.

  The host device of the present invention can be implemented using a computer program called a printer driver or a printer monitor, for example. This program can be implemented in various forms such as a disk type storage, a semiconductor memory, and a communication line signal. It can be installed or loaded on a computer through a medium.

  The printer may perform the functions of the host device described above.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printing system to which an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In the figure, an ink cartridge 5 is mounted on an ink jet printer 3 connected to a host device 1 such as a personal computer. The host device 1 includes a printer driver 7 that issues a print command to the printer 3. The printer 3 receives a print command from the printer driver, interprets the print command, creates a print image, receives the print image created by the controller 9, and prints the ink using ink supplied from the ink cartridge 5. There is a printing mechanism 11 that prints an image on a predetermined sheet.

  2A is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge 5, and FIG. 2B is an external perspective view of the cartridge holder 17 included in the printer 3.

  The ink cartridge 5 contains a porous material that has absorbed ink, and a non-volatile storage medium such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) 13 is mounted on the outer surface of the ink cartridge 5. The access terminal 15 is exposed to the outside. Further, when the ink cartridge 5 is mounted on the inner side of the cartridge holder 17, the cartridge holder 17 comes into contact with the needle 19 that pierces the ink supply port of the cartridge 5 and sucks ink, and the access terminal 15 of the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5. And a contact terminal 21 that enables transmission and reception of electrical signals between the EEPROM 13 and the controller 9 of the printer 1.

  Please refer to FIG. 1 again. In addition to the functions described above, the controller 9 of the printer 3 has a function of accessing the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5 and performing processing for managing the expiration date of the ink cartridge 5 as described below. The printer driver 7 of the host apparatus 1 also has a function of performing processing for managing the expiration date of the ink cartridge 5 as described below. The outline of the process for managing the expiration date of the ink cartridge 5 is as follows.

  When the ink cartridge 5 is mounted on the printer 3, the controller 9 of the printer 3 reads, writes, and updates predetermined information for determining the expiration date from the EEPROM 13 mounted on the ink cartridge 5. As will be described in detail later, this information includes the expiration date from manufacture and opening, the date of opening, and the current date. From this information, the printer driver 7 of the host device 1 or the controller 9 of the printer 3 determines whether or not the installed ink cartridge 5 is currently within the expiration date, and notifies the user of the result. The ink cartridge 5 need not be provided with a timer or a battery.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of information for determining the expiration date recorded in the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5.
As shown in the figure, the information items recorded in the EEPROM 13 include the manufacturing date 31 of the ink cartridge 5 and three types of items 33, 35, and 37 indicating the expiration date. The date of manufacture is already written in the EEPROM 13 at the time of factory shipment. The first item 33 indicating the expiration date is an effective period from the date of manufacture, or an expiration date based on the manufacturing date obtained by adding the effective period to the date of manufacture. For example, “2 years from the date of manufacture” or “until 0 days of 0 years”. This is already written at the factory. Both the validity period and the expiration date based on the manufacturing time may be written. The second item 35 is an effective period after opening, for example, “6 months from opening”. This is also written in advance at the time of factory shipment. The third item 37 is the opening date of the ink cartridge 5 or the opening expiration date obtained by adding the above-described opening effective date to the opening date. This is determined by the host device 1 or the printer 3 and written in the EEPROM 13. Both the validity period and the validity period on the basis of opening may be written.

  As a modification, the type of ink cartridge 5 (or the type of ink) may be recorded in the EEPROM 13 instead of the above-described effective periods 22 and 25 (for example, 2 years and 6 months). In this case, the valid period for each ink cartridge type (or ink type) is programmed in the printer driver 7 of the host device 1. Then, when the ink cartridge is mounted, the printer driver 7 reads the type from the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5, determines the valid period or the valid period according to the type, and writes it in the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5.

  Next, operations for cartridge expiration date management of the printer 3 and the host apparatus 1 will be described in detail using the flowcharts of FIGS. The operation described below is based on the premise that the manufacturing date 31 and the valid periods 33 and 35 (for example, 2 years from manufacturing and 6 months from opening) are already written in the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge at the time of factory shipment. The opening date 37 is not filled in, and the controller 9 of the printer 3 mainly reads / writes data from / to the EEPROM 13, and the printer driver 7 of the host device 1 performs main processing of expiration date management. Shall. If this assumption is different, the following operations will naturally change accordingly.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed by the controller 9 of the printer 1 when the ink cartridge 5 is attached to the printer 1 (that is, immediately after the ink cartridge is replaced). .

  First, when the ink cartridge 5 is mounted on the printer 3 (step S1), the printer 3 reads the manufacturing date, the manufacturing base effective period, the opening base effective period, and the opening from the EEPROM 13 mounted on the ink cartridge 5. The date is read (S2). Then, the read information is stored (S3), and it is determined whether or not the opening date is already written in the memory 13 (S4). If the opening date is not written in the memory (S4, NO ), It is determined that a new ink cartridge 5 has been installed, and counting of the elapsed time from the installation or opening of the ink cartridge 5 is started (S5), and the printer processing standby state is entered (S6). On the other hand, in step S4, if the opening date is written (S4, YES), it is determined that an ink cartridge 5 that has not been new and has been used in another printer 3 has been installed, The printer processing standby state is entered (S6).

  Here, in Step S5, when the ink cartridge 5 is new, the reason for starting the counting of the elapsed period from mounting or opening is that the host device 1 is not connected to the printer 3 in consideration of the host device 1 being connected to the printer 3. Until the connection is established, the time is counted. When the host device 1 is connected, the host device 1 is informed of the counted time so that the host device 1 can accurately calculate the opening date. It is.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a description will be given of processing during standby of the printer after the ink cartridge 5 has been mounted. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the printer during standby after the flowchart of FIG.

  When the controller 9 of the printer 3 is waiting (S7) and a request for information about the ink cartridge 5 is received from the host device 1 (S8, YES), the controller 9 has already read from the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5 in steps S2 and S3 of FIG. The host device 1 is notified of the manufacturing date, manufacturing base effective period, and opening base effective period stored in step S9. Further, when the opening date is also written in the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5, the opening date is also notified to the host device 1. On the other hand, when the opening date is not written, it is counted up to the present time. The elapsed time after mounting (after opening) is notified to the host device 1 (S10).

  Thereafter, when a notification of the opening date is received from the host device 1 (S11, YES), the controller 9 of the printer 3 writes the notified opening date in the EEPROM 13 of the ink cartridge 5 (S12), and the standby state (S13). On the other hand, if the host device 1 does not receive the opening date (S11, NO), the controller 9 of the printer 3 enters a standby state (S13).

  Next, processing performed by the printer driver 7 of the host device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the printer driver 7 is activated (S21), the printer driver 7 checks the status of the printer 3 such as the presence or absence of ink as necessary (S22). 5 is requested (S23). Then, the printer driver 7 receives from the printer 3 the date of manufacture, the validity period of the manufacturing base and the opening base, and the opening date or the elapsed time since opening (S24). Next, the printer driver 7 determines whether the date of opening or the elapsed time since opening is received (S25). If the elapsed time is received, the elapsed time is subtracted from the current date, The date of opening is determined, and this is notified to the printer 3 to be written in the EEPROM 13 of the cartridge 6 (S26).

  Subsequently, the printer driver 7 adds the manufacturing base effective period to the manufacturing date to calculate the manufacturing base effective period, and adds the opening base effective period to the opening date to open the opening. The base expiration date is calculated, and the expiration date which is reached earlier is selected (S27).

  Next, the printer driver 7 compares the selected expiration date with the current date (S28), and determines whether or not the expiration date has passed (S29). If the expiration date has passed, a character or voice message to that effect is displayed on the user interface screen or output from the speaker (S30). (S31).

  The embodiment described above is an example for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the printer may perform the processing shown in FIG.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printing system to which an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view (a) of the ink cartridge and an external perspective view (b) of the cartridge holder. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information for determining an expiration date written in an EEPROM of an ink cartridge. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by a printer controller when an ink cartridge is mounted. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by the printer controller during standby, following the flowchart of FIG. 4. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by a printer driver of a host device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host device 3 Printer 5 Ink cartridge 7 Printer driver 9 Controller 11 Printing mechanism 13 EEPROM (memory)
15 Access terminal 17 Cartridge holder 19 Needle 21 Contact terminal

Claims (1)

In a replaceable ink cartridge for an inkjet printer,
A storage medium for determining a date of manufacture of the ink cartridge, an effective period from the date of manufacture, and an effective period from the date of opening of the ink cartridge. An ink cartridge in which information is recorded.

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