JP2010194992A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of providing a user with satisfaction by allowing the user to select whether printing based on print data is completed even if print quality is degraded by suppressing the use amount of a recording agent, or the printing based on the print data is not completed but printing without degrading the print quality is executed by spending the remaining amount of the recording agent when the remaining amount of the recording agent is insufficient. <P>SOLUTION: When it is determined to be impossible to complete printing of the print data during printing with the detected remaining amount of ink (step S2), the user is required to select printing by the predicted use amount or printing to spend the remaining amount of ink (step S3 or S4), and the printing selected by the user is executed by a print mechanism (step S5). Accordingly, since printing is executed with the use amount of ink that the user selects by oneself, the user can obtain satisfaction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium based on print data using a recording agent by a printing means.

  Conventionally, when the recording agent such as ink or toner runs short during printing based on the print data, the consumption of the recording agent is suppressed by appropriately thinning out the dots formed on the recording medium such as printing paper. A printing apparatus configured to perform printing to the end is known (for example, Patent Document 1). In the printing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, when printing is performed on a recording medium based on print data, the amount of recording agent used is derived by calculating the number of dots formed on the recording medium based on the print data. On the other hand, the remaining amount of the recording agent is detected by a sensor or the like. Then, the derived amount of the recording agent used is compared with the detected remaining amount of the recording agent, and if the detected remaining amount of the recording agent is insufficient, the number of dots formed on the recording medium is reduced. It is comprised so that consumption may be suppressed.

JP-A-11-99670 (paragraphs 0038 to 0048, FIG. 5, etc.)

  By the way, in the above-described conventional printing apparatus, when the remaining amount of the recording agent is insufficient, printing in which consumption of the recording agent is automatically suppressed is performed. Therefore, if the remaining amount of recording agent is insufficient, printing with reduced consumption of the recording agent is performed regardless of the user's intention, so printing based on print data can be completed, but the print quality is required by the user. There is a risk of deterioration to the extent that is not satisfied, and improvement has been demanded.

  The present invention completes printing based on print data or does not complete printing based on print data even if print quality deteriorates by suppressing the amount of recording material used when the remaining amount of recording material is insufficient. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that can give a user a sense of satisfaction by allowing the user to select whether to perform printing without deteriorating print quality by using up the remaining amount of recording agent.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium based on print data using a printing agent by a printing means. And deriving means for deriving the usage amount of the recording agent per predetermined size of the printed data that has been printed, and based on the remaining amount and the usage amount by the deriving means, A determination unit that determines whether printing of print data can be completed; and the remaining unprinted print data that is within the remaining amount when the determination unit determines that printing cannot be completed. A printing unit that calculates a predicted usage amount of the recording agent per the predetermined size, and printing with the predicted usage amount when the determination unit determines that printing cannot be completed. And request means for requesting the user to select whether to use the remaining amount of printing, and control means for causing the printing means to execute printing selected by the user in response to a request from the request means. .

  In the invention configured as described above, if the printing data being printed cannot be printed with the remaining amount of the recording agent detected by the remaining amount detecting unit, the usage amount of the recording agent derived by the deriving unit is increased. When the determination means determines based on this, the estimated usage amount of the recording agent per predetermined size is within the range of the remaining amount of the recording agent and enables printing of the remaining unprinted print data. Is calculated by Then, the user is requested by the requesting unit to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses the remaining amount of the recording agent, and the printing selected by the user is executed by the printing unit. In other words, when the remaining amount of the recording agent is insufficient, even if the print quality is deteriorated by suppressing the usage amount of the recording agent as the predicted usage amount, printing based on the print data is completed or printing based on the print data is performed. The user can select whether to perform printing without deteriorating the print quality by using up the remaining amount of recording material, but the user can select the recording material usage amount that he / she has selected. Can get satisfaction.

  Further, the derivation means has a counting unit that counts the usage amount of the recording agent required for the previous printing based on the printing data per the predetermined size, and the counting unit counts in the previous printing. A value may be derived as the usage amount.

  According to this configuration, by using the counting unit to count the usage amount of the recording agent required for the previous printing based on the printing data per predetermined size, it is possible to easily calculate per printing data of the predetermined size based on the counted value. The amount of recording agent used can be derived.

  In addition, the request unit may include a notifying unit that notifies a user of a ratio at which printing cannot be performed with respect to all printings when printing is performed using the remaining amount.

  When configured in this way, when performing printing that uses up the remaining amount of the recording agent, the notification unit notifies the user of the rate at which printing is not possible, so the user is notified of the rate at which printing is disabled. Therefore, it is practical because it is possible to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses up the remaining amount.

  The request unit may include a display unit that displays a predicted print image when printing with the predicted usage amount and an expected print image when printing with the remaining amount used.

  With this configuration, the predicted print image when printing with the predicted usage amount and the predicted print image when printing with the remaining amount used are displayed on the display unit, so the user can With reference to the displayed image, it is possible to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses up the remaining amount, so that the user can obtain more satisfaction.

  In addition, when the determination unit determines that printing is not complete, it may further include a notification unit that notifies the user of the purchase of the recording agent after completion of printing.

  According to this configuration, when the determination unit determines that the printing cannot be completed, the notification unit prompts the user to purchase the recording agent after the printing is completed. It is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to purchase the recording agent when printing is completed and printing of the print data is completed even though the remaining amount of the recording agent is insufficient.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet printer that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. The figure which shows the outline of the internal structure of an inkjet printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating printing processing. The figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display part.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet printer 1 which is an embodiment of a printing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the internal configuration of the ink jet printer 1. In the inkjet printer 1 shown in FIG. 1, a printing mechanism 50 is built in the printer body 2. The print mechanism 50 includes a carriage 53 that reciprocates in the width direction (main scanning direction) substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction (sub-scanning direction) of the paper P conveyed from the tray 4. A head 55 is provided. Then, in response to an operation command from a controller 20 (see FIG. 2) that controls the entire inkjet printer 1, a loading (LD) roller (not shown) and a paper feed roller (not shown) are moved from the paper tray 4 to a printing position. Based on the print data on the paper P by ejecting ink (corresponding to the “recording agent” of the present invention) from the print head 55 that reciprocates integrally with the carriage 53 onto the conveyed paper P to form an image. Execute printing. The paper P printed in this way is discharged from the discharge port 2 a opened at the lower front side of the printer body 2 by the transport roller 56. Next, the ink jet printer 1 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be communicably connected to the host computer PC via an interface 24 configured by a USB interface, a parallel interface, or the like. In the host computer PC, a process of converting image data and document data into print data is executed by a printer driver configured by a program and a CPU. These print data and print commands are sent from the host computer PC to the inkjet printer 1. Sent. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a display unit 9 constituted by, for example, an LCD for displaying characters, figures, symbols, and the like is provided on the upper surface of the printer main body 2 so that various messages for the user can be displayed. Has been.

  In addition, a button group 10 is provided on the side of the display unit 9 on the upper surface of the printer main body 2, and a power button for turning on / off the power, a menu button for calling a main menu screen, and an operation in the middle. Cancel button for canceling or interrupting printing on the paper P, and operated when selecting a desired option from among a plurality of options displayed on the display unit 9 or moving the cursor. The up / down / left / right arrow buttons, the OK button for instructing that the option selected by the arrow buttons is arranged at the center of the up / down / left / right arrow buttons, and the screen display on the display unit 9 are switched. For example, a display switching button.

  Next, the configuration of the controller 20 of the inkjet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A CPU 25, a ROM 26, a RAM 27, a print controller 28, a non-volatile memory 29, an LCD controller 30, an ink remaining amount detection unit 31, and the like are connected to the system bus 21 of the controller 20 connected to the interface 24.

  The CPU 25 performs arithmetic processing for executing operation control of the print mechanism 50. In addition, the CPU 25 is configured to output commands necessary for print control, commands for feeding and discharging paper P, and the like to the print controller 28 by executing a program stored in the ROM 26. Further, the CPU 25 performs polling to check whether or not each operation button constituting the button group 10 has been pressed by the user at a constant cycle, for example, at an interval of 200 msec, whereby the user has operated any of the operation buttons. When is detected, a reception process corresponding to the operated button is executed. For example, when the power button is pressed by the user while the apparatus is turned on, the power supply to each part of the apparatus is stopped. Other functions of the CPU 25 will be described in detail later.

  The ROM 26 stores a program (firmware) necessary for the control of the CPU 25. The RAM 27 temporarily stores data such as print data input from the outside, and the nonvolatile memory 29 stores various data and tables necessary for the control of the CPU 25.

  The LCD controller 30 is provided with an image processing module 30 a for performing processing necessary for displaying the print data given through the interface 24 on the display unit 9. In addition, the image processing module 30a generates image data to be displayed on the display unit 9 such as image data corresponding to a printer-specific image such as a menu screen to be displayed on the display unit 9, icons, a message to the user, and the like. It has a function. Then, the image data generated by the image processing module 30 a is displayed on the display unit 9 by the LCD controller 30.

  The ink remaining amount detecting unit 31 detects and manages the ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge 54 for each color. The ink remaining amount detection unit 31 includes an initial value acquisition function (not shown) for acquiring an initial value (initial filling amount), an ink consumption calculation function (not shown) for calculating ink consumption, an initial value, and ink consumption. And a remaining ink amount calculating function (not shown) for calculating the remaining ink amount from the amount. Each of these functions is realized by a hardware circuit or software, or by a combination of the hardware circuit and software.

  Various methods can be adopted as a method for managing the remaining amount of ink. In this embodiment, for example, the ink consumption calculation function calculates the ink consumption based on the number of ejections and the ejection amount of ink droplets. calculate. The ink remaining amount calculation function calculates the ink remaining amount by subtracting the ink consumption from the previous ink remaining amount (initial filling amount in the case of a new cartridge), and updates and stores the ink remaining amount in the cartridge memory. . The ink remaining amount calculation method is not limited to this, and a configuration in which the ink remaining amount is directly measured using a sensor such as an optical sensor or a capacitive sensor may be employed. Further, the remaining ink amount calculating function is configured to calculate the ink consumed in cleaning the print head 55 as the ink consumption amount.

  The detailed configuration and operation of the CPU 25 and the print controller 28 and the ink information 29a stored in the nonvolatile memory 29 will be described in detail later.

  Next, the automatic paper feeder 3 disposed on the back side of the printer main body 2 will be described. An automatic sheet feeder (Auto Sheet Feeder) 3 is provided with a sheet tray 4 for storing a plurality of sheets P, and a sheet guide 7 having a placement plate 5 and an edge guide 6. The edge guide 6 has a fixed edge guide and a movable edge guide that is slidable in the width direction of the paper P substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction of the paper P by the automatic paper feeding device 3, and guides according to the width of the paper P. The width, that is, the edge guide position of the movable edge guide can be adjusted, and the automatic paper feeder 3 is configured to guide the paper P conveyed from the paper tray 4. Then, by adjusting the position of the movable edge guide of the edge guide 6 included in the paper guide 7 and adjusting the guide width, the paper tray 4 is configured to be able to store a plurality of sizes of paper P from L size to A3 size. Has been.

  The automatic paper feeder 3 also feeds the printing paper P stored in the paper tray 4 one by one along the paper guide 7 to the position of the print head 55 in the printer body 2, that is, the printing position (illustrated). Omitted). The transport mechanism includes a loading roller (not shown) disposed near the lower end of the mounting plate 5 on the back surface of the printer main body 2 so as to face the mounting plate 5, a downstream side of the loading roller, and a print carriage 53. A paper feed roller (not shown) disposed on the upstream side, and a transport roller 56 disposed on the downstream side of the carriage 53. Further, a guide is disposed on the downstream side of the loading roller in the sheet feeding direction. Then, the loading roller rotates while contacting the uppermost sheet P among the sheets P on the sheet tray 4 and the placing plate 5 with its arc surface, so that the sheet P is fed to the sheet feeding roller.

  The transport mechanism is controlled by a control command from the print controller 28, and is configured to transport the paper P by a predetermined feed amount set in advance for each paper feed control step output from the print controller 28. . That is, the loading roller, the paper feed roller, and the transport roller 56 are configured to be rotated by a paper feed motor (not shown) driven by a roller drive circuit (not shown) based on a control step from the print controller 28. ing. Further, the loading roller and the paper feed motor are connected via a clutch that switches power transmission and disconnection. Therefore, when the paper P is fed from the paper tray 4 to the paper feed roller, the clutch is switched to the connected state, thereby driving the loading roller.

  Next, a print mechanism 50 that performs printing on the paper P sent from the paper tray 4 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the print mechanism 50 is driven by a timing belt 51 that is looped in the left-right direction and reciprocates left and right (in the main scanning direction) along the guide 52. The carriage 53 is provided with a paper edge detection sensor 57 that detects the left and right edges and the upper and lower edges of the paper P. That is, the paper edge detection sensor 57 can recognize the paper width by detecting the left and right edges of the paper P when the carriage 53 scans the paper P sent from the paper tray 4 in the horizontal direction before printing. Or the passage of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet P conveyed from the upstream to the downstream by the conveying mechanism is detected, and the length of the sheet P can be recognized.

  The carriage 53 is mounted with an ink cartridge 54 that individually accommodates ink of each color such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Each of these ink cartridges 54 is connected to a print head 55. The print head 55 applies pressure to the ink from the ink cartridge 54 and ejects the ink from the nozzle (not shown) toward the paper P. In this embodiment, the print head 55 employs a method in which a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element and pressurize the ink. However, a voltage is applied to the heating resistor (for example, a heater) to apply the ink. You may employ | adopt the system which pressurizes ink with the bubble generated by heating. The printed paper P is sent out to the discharge port 2a by the transport roller 56.

  Next, the CPU 25 and the print controller 28 constituting the controller 20 will be described in detail with reference mainly to FIG. The CPU 25 functions as a control unit that controls the automatic paper feeder 3 and the print mechanism 50 via the print controller 28, and the print controller 28 controls the automatic paper feeder 3 and the print mechanism 50 in response to a control command from the CPU 25. To do. That is, the print controller 28 is connected to a head drive circuit (not shown), a belt drive circuit (not shown), and a roller drive circuit (not shown). Then, the print controller 28 ejects ink onto the paper P by controlling the print head 55 via the head drive circuit. Further, the print controller 28 performs a reciprocating movement of the carriage 53 by controlling a carriage motor (not shown) via a belt drive circuit. Further, the print controller 28 controls a paper feed motor (not shown) via a roller drive circuit to rotate the transport roller 56, the paper feed roller, and the loading roller at arbitrary timings. In the present embodiment, the print command for instructing printing on the paper P includes at least information regarding the paper type and paper size of the paper P, and the print controller 28 transports the paper P in accordance with the print command. In this way, the conveyance mechanism is controlled.

  The print controller 28 interprets print data commands input from the host computer PC, performs data expansion, and controls the print head 55 via a head drive circuit based on this data. . In this manner, the print controller 28 drives the print mechanism 50 to perform print control, and performs a paper P feeding process and a discharge process based on a print command via the CPU 25.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 25 is configured to implement functions as respective means described below by executing a program stored in the ROM 26.

  The remaining amount detection means 25a detects the remaining amount of ink recorded and updated in the cartridge memory by the remaining ink detection unit 31.

  The deriving unit 25b derives the amount of ink used per sheet P in this embodiment per predetermined size of printed print data. Specifically, the derivation means 25b has a counting unit 25b1. The counting unit 25b1 counts the amount of ink used for the previous printing based on the predetermined size, that is, the printing data per sheet P, and the derivation means 25b counts the counting unit 25b1 in the previous printing. Is calculated as the amount of ink used per sheet P. The amount of ink used per sheet P derived by the deriving unit 25b is stored in the nonvolatile memory 29 by the CPU 25 as ink information 29a.

Based on the remaining ink amount detected by the remaining amount detecting unit 25a and the amount of ink used per sheet P derived by the deriving unit 25b, the determining unit 25c prints the print data being printed. Determine if it can be completed. That is, the ink consumption amount required to print all the remaining unprinted print data is calculated from the ink usage amount per sheet P derived by the deriving unit 25b.
(Remaining ink) ≥ (Ink consumption)
If it is determined that the printing based on the remaining print data can be completed,
(Remaining ink amount) ≤ (Ink consumption)
If so, it is determined that printing based on the remaining print data cannot be completed.

When the determination unit 25c determines that printing cannot be completed, the calculation unit 25d can print the remaining unprinted print data that is within the ink remaining amount range. The estimated amount of ink used per sheet P is calculated. That is,
(Remaining ink amount) ≧ (Ink consumption) × α
So that
α ≦ (ink remaining amount) / (ink consumption)
By calculating α satisfying the above, the estimated ink usage per sheet P is calculated.

  When the determination unit 25c determines that printing cannot be completed, the request unit 25e prints on the display unit 9 via the LCD controller 30 using the predicted usage amount calculated by the calculation unit 25d or the remaining ink. An icon is displayed to request the user to select whether to print out the amount (see FIG. 4). At this time, the requesting unit 25e displays, on the display unit 9 via the LCD controller 30, the ratio at which printing cannot be performed with respect to all printing in which all of the unprinted print data is printed when the ink remaining amount is used up. This is notified to the user (see FIG. 4). Further, the request unit 25e displays the predicted print image pIMG when performing printing with the estimated ink usage calculated by the calculation unit 25d and the expected print image IMG when performing printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink on the LCD. It displays on the display part 9 via the controller 30 (refer FIG. 4).

  When the determination unit 25c determines that printing cannot be completed, the notification unit 25f displays a message prompting the user to purchase ink on the display unit 9 via the LCD controller 30 after printing is completed. Announcement that prompts

  Further, the user selects an arbitrary icon by operating the button group 10 on the icon display that requests the user to select the icon displayed on the display unit 9 by the request unit 25e, thereby calculating the calculation unit 25d. It is possible to select whether printing is performed with the predicted usage amount calculated by the above or printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink. Then, the CPU 25 causes the print mechanism 50 to execute the printing selected by the user in response to the request from the request unit 25e via the print controller 28.

  As described above, the request unit 25e and the display unit 9 constitute the “notification unit” of the present invention. The notification means 25f and the display unit 9 constitute the “notification means” of the present invention. Next, with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a printing process executed when printing is performed on the paper P will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the printing process. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 9. The printing process shown in FIG. 3 is a process executed when printing on the paper P is performed, and a determination based on the ink information 29 a stored in the nonvolatile memory 29 is performed. As shown in FIG. 3, when a print command is given from the host computer PC, the ink information 29a stored in the non-volatile memory 29 by the derivation means 25b, that is, the ink per sheet P in the previous printing is printed. The usage amount is acquired, and the ink consumption amount required for printing the unprinted print data is derived (step S1). When the first page is printed, the deriving unit 25b calculates the number of dots formed by ink on one sheet of paper P based on the print data, and thereby the ink per sheet of paper P is calculated. Usage amount is derived.

  Next, based on the remaining amount of ink detected by the remaining amount detecting unit 25a and the amount of ink used detected by the deriving unit 25b, printing of unprinted print data that is being printed can be completed. Whether or not there is is determined by the determining means 25c (step S2). If YES is determined in step S2, printing for one page is performed (step S9). At this time, the amount of ink used for printing one page is counted by the counting unit 25b1. When printing for one page is completed, the ink information 29a stored in the nonvolatile memory 29 is updated to the ink usage counted in step S9 (step S10).

  Subsequently, in step S11, the CPU 25 determines whether there is a remaining page, that is, an unprinted print page. If NO, the process ends. If YES, the process from step S1 is performed. Is repeatedly executed.

  If NO is determined in step S2, the calculation unit 25d allows the remaining unprinted print data to be printed within the range of the remaining amount of ink, and the ink per sheet P is printed. The predicted usage amount is calculated (see “Thinning B” in FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, printing of unprinted print data cannot be completed, but the amount of ink used that has a print quality slightly degraded from the original print quality is also derived (see FIG. 4). (See “Thinning A”). Then, the request unit 25e notifies the user that the printing of the print data cannot be completed with the current ink usage amount by displaying the display unit 9 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the display unit 9 performs printing with the ratio of printing incapability with respect to the total printing and the ink usage calculated by the calculation unit 25 d when performing printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink. The predicted print image pIMG at the time of printing and the predicted print image IMG when printing that uses up the remaining ink amount are displayed.

Next, displayed on the display unit 9,
"Print without thinning",
"Thinning A printing",
"Thinning B printing",
Cancel printing,
"Ink replacement",
The icon group is selected by the user operating the button group 10 (step S4).

  If “YES” is determined in step S4, that is, if “thinning A printing” or “thinning B printing” is selected by the user, in step S5, an ink usage amount corresponding to the selection is set, and then from step S9. The process is executed. On the other hand, if “NO” is determined in the step S4, it is determined whether or not “ink replacement” is selected (step S6). If YES is determined in step S6, the process waits until the ink replacement is completed (NO in step S7). If the ink replacement is completed, the process from step S9 is executed with a normal ink usage amount (YES in step S7). In step S8, NO).

  If NO is determined in step S5, it is determined whether or not “cancel printing” is selected (step S8). If it is determined YES in step S8, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if NO is determined, the processing from step S9 is executed with a normal ink usage amount.

  In step S2, if it is determined by the determination unit 25c that printing of all pages is not possible, a notification urging the purchase of ink is displayed on the display unit 9 by the notification unit 25f after the printing process is completed.

  As described above, based on the amount of ink used derived by the deriving unit 25b, the determining unit determines that printing of the print data being printed cannot be completed with the remaining amount of ink detected by the remaining amount detecting unit 25a. When it is determined to be 25c, the calculation unit 25d calculates the estimated ink usage amount per sheet P that allows printing of the remaining unprinted print data that is within the range of the remaining amount of ink. Calculated. Then, the user is requested by the request unit 25e to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink, and the printing mechanism 50 executes the printing selected by the user. In other words, when the remaining amount of ink is insufficient, printing based on the print data is completed or printing based on the print data is not completed even if the print quality deteriorates by suppressing the amount of ink used as the predicted usage. The user can select whether to print without degrading the print quality by using up the remaining amount of ink, and the user will be satisfied with the printing because the printing is done with the amount of ink selected by the user. Obtainable.

  In addition, by using the count unit 25b1 to count the amount of ink used for the previous printing based on the print data per sheet P, the print data per sheet P can be easily obtained based on the counted value. The amount of ink used when printing can be derived.

  In addition, since the display unit 9 notifies the user of the ratio at which printing cannot be performed with respect to the entire printing when performing printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink, the user refers to the reported ratio at which printing cannot be performed. This is practical because it is possible to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses up the remaining amount.

  In addition, since the predicted print image pIMG when performing printing with the predicted usage amount and the expected print image IMG when performing printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink are displayed on the display unit 9, the user displays on the display unit 9. With reference to the displayed image, it is possible to select printing with the predicted usage amount or printing that uses up the remaining amount of ink, so that the user can obtain further satisfaction.

  In addition, when the determination unit 25c determines that printing cannot be completed, a notification that prompts the user to purchase ink is displayed on the display unit 9 after the printing is completed. Thus, it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to purchase ink when printing of the print data is completed even though the remaining amount of ink is insufficient.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, ink is used as the recording agent of the present invention, but toner or an ink ribbon may be used as the recording agent of the present invention. Further, the recording medium of the present invention is not limited to the paper P described above, and various recording media such as a CD can be employed. The host computer PC and the inkjet printer 1 constitute the printing apparatus of the present invention, and the monitor of the host computer PC functions as the “notification unit”, “display unit”, and “notification unit” of the present invention by the printer driver. It may be configured.

  In the above embodiment, the ink cartridge type ink jet printer 1 has been described as an example. However, the present invention may be applied to other ink jet printers and the like. Further, the present invention can be widely applied to printing apparatuses such as laser printers that print on a recording medium based on print data using a recording agent.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (printing apparatus), 9 ... Display part (notification means), 25 ... CPU (control means), 25a ... Remaining amount detection means, 25b ... Derivation means, 25b1 ... Count part, 25c ... Determination means, 25d ... Calculation means, 25e ... request means, 25f ... notification means, 50 ... printing mechanism (printing means), P ... paper (recording medium), IMG ... expected print image, pIMG ... expected print image

Claims (5)

In a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium based on print data using a recording agent by a printing means,
A remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the recording agent;
Deriving means for deriving the usage amount of the recording agent per predetermined size of the print data that has been printed;
Determination means for determining whether printing of the print data being printed can be completed based on the remaining amount and the usage amount by the deriving means;
When it is determined by the determination means that printing cannot be completed, the remaining amount of unprinted print data that is within the remaining amount range can be printed. A calculation means for calculating the predicted usage,
Requesting means for requesting the user to select whether to print at the predicted usage amount or to use up the remaining amount when it is determined by the determination means that printing cannot be completed;
And a control unit that causes the printing unit to execute printing selected by a user in response to a request from the requesting unit. The derivation means includes
A counting unit that counts the usage amount of the recording agent required for the previous printing based on the print data per the predetermined size;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a count value of the count unit in the previous printing is derived as the usage amount. The request means includes
3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a notification unit that notifies a user of a ratio that printing is impossible with respect to all printings when performing printing that uses the remaining amount. The request means includes
4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit that displays a predicted print image when printing is performed with the predicted usage amount and an expected print image when printing is performed using the remaining amount. 5. .   5. The printing according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for making a notification to the user prompting the purchase of the recording agent after completion of printing when the determination means determines that printing cannot be completed. apparatus.