JP6379514B2 - Liquid consuming apparatus and method for controlling liquid consuming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid consuming apparatus, a method for controlling the liquid consuming apparatus, and the like.

  An ink jet printer that is an example of a liquid consuming device is equipped with an ink cartridge that is a removable liquid container. Some ink cartridges include an optical path member (prism) for more accurately detecting that the amount of ink in the ink cartridge has fallen below a predetermined amount.

  For example, in the prior art of Patent Document 1, an optical path member having a refractive index close to the refractive index of ink is provided in the ink cartridge. When the inside of the optical path member is filled with ink, the light from the light emitting portion is transmitted from the optical path member into the ink. On the other hand, when the ink inside the optical path member is empty, the light from the light emitting part is totally reflected by the inner surface of the optical path member, and the totally reflected light is detected by the light receiving part. Thereby, the remaining state of the ink can be detected.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, in an apparatus for determining the remaining state of ink or the like using an optical sensor, a process for detecting a sensor failure is performed, and the remaining state is determined depending on whether the sensor failure is detected or not. A method of changing the determination process is disclosed.

JP-A-5-332812 JP2013-188879A

  As in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when the remaining state of a liquid such as ink is determined using light, it is conceivable to use an optical sensor having a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. At this time, if not only the reflected light from the optical path member in the ink cartridge but also ambient light (environmental light) is incident on the light receiving portion of the optical sensor, the remaining state of the ink is erroneously determined. Sometimes. In this case, the determination result of the remaining state of the liquid becomes low in reliability.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, a sensor failure is detected based on light received by the light receiving unit in a state where the light emitting unit emits light at the position of the failure detection plate. Specifically, the failure determination is realized by a simple process of comparing the signal value in this state with a given reference signal value. Thereby, even when the optical sensor is adversely affected by disturbance light, it can be detected together. If it is determined that the optical sensor is adversely affected by ambient light, the remaining state is determined based on the estimated remaining liquid amount without determining the remaining state based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor. To do. Therefore, even when the liquid in the liquid storage container is actually in the remaining state, it may be erroneously determined that it is in the non-remaining state, and the ink cartridge replacement display may be performed. In this case, since printing is stopped even during printing, it takes a long time to complete printing.

  According to some aspects of the present invention, it is possible to provide a liquid consuming apparatus, a control method for the liquid consuming apparatus, and the like that can suppress the frequency with which printing is stopped during printing.

  One aspect of the present invention includes a liquid remaining amount estimating unit that estimates the remaining amount of liquid in a liquid storage container, a light emitting unit, and a light receiving unit, and an optical sensor that can face a prism provided in the liquid storage container. A control unit that performs a liquid remaining state determination process in the liquid container based on a detection signal obtained from the optical sensor and controls printing, and the control unit is based on the detection signal. When it is determined that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state, but the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is determined to be equal to or greater than a given remaining amount , Relating to the liquid consuming device to continue printing.

  In one aspect of the present invention, even when the control unit determines that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state based on a detection signal obtained from the optical sensor, the control unit estimates the remaining amount of liquid. If it can be determined that the liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to the given remaining amount, printing is continued. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the frequency of stopping printing during printing.

  In the aspect of the invention, the control unit determines that the liquid is in the non-remaining state based on the detection signal, and the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit When it is determined that the remaining amount is less than the given remaining amount, disturbance light determination processing for determining whether or not there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing may be performed.

  Thereby, it is possible to suppress the frequency of performing the disturbance light determination process.

  In the aspect of the invention, the control unit may turn off the light sensor and perform the disturbance light determination process.

  Thereby, the light receiving unit of the optical sensor can detect only the disturbance light without receiving the light irradiated by the light emitting unit, and determine whether or not the influence of the disturbance light has an influence on the remaining liquid state determination process. It becomes possible.

  In the aspect of the invention, the controller may perform the disturbance light determination process when the optical sensor and the liquid container are in a positional relationship facing each other.

  As a result, it is possible to detect disturbance light received by the optical sensor when performing a liquid remaining state determination process using the optical sensor for the liquid container in a positional relationship facing the optical sensor. Become.

  In one aspect of the present invention, when the controller determines that the disturbance light has no influence on the remaining state determination process in the disturbance light determination process, the liquid is in the non-remaining state. May be confirmed.

  Thereby, it is possible to determine that there is no adverse effect of disturbance light in the liquid remaining state determination process by the optical sensor, and to notify the user of an instruction to replace the liquid container when it is determined that the liquid is in a non-remaining state. Etc. becomes possible.

  In one aspect of the present invention, when the non-remaining state of the liquid is detected, the control unit includes a storage unit that stores detection information of the non-remaining state, and the control unit includes the liquid in the non-remaining state However, if the remaining amount of liquid is equal to or greater than the given remaining amount, the detection information stored in the storage unit may be discarded.

  Thus, even when there is an adverse effect due to disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, printing can be continued if it can be determined that the liquid is in the remaining state.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the remaining liquid amount estimating unit estimates the remaining liquid amount for each liquid storage container among a plurality of liquid storage containers, and the control unit is obtained from the optical sensor. Based on the detection signal for each liquid container, the remaining state determination process, and based on the remaining liquid amount estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit and the result of the remaining state determination process, Whether or not to continue printing may be determined for each liquid container.

  As a result, it is possible to determine the remaining state of the liquid for each liquid storage container of the plurality of liquid storage containers, and to notify the liquid storage container replacement instruction for each liquid storage container.

  In the aspect of the invention, the control unit determines that the liquid in the first liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers is in the non-remaining state, and the liquid remaining amount estimation unit When it is determined that the estimated liquid remaining amount in the first liquid storage container is equal to or greater than a given remaining amount, the determination that the liquid in the first liquid storage container is in the non-remaining state is cancelled. Printing may be continued.

  Accordingly, even when there is an adverse effect due to ambient light on the remaining state determination process, it is possible to continue printing when it can be determined that the liquid is in the remaining state.

  In the aspect of the invention, the control unit determines that the liquid in the second liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers is in the non-remaining state, and the liquid remaining amount estimation unit When it is determined that the estimated liquid remaining amount of the second liquid container is smaller than a given remaining amount, a disturbance light determination process is performed to determine whether or not there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process. And determining that the liquid in the second liquid container is in the non-remaining state when it is determined in the disturbance light determination process that there is no influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process. When it is determined that the disturbance light has an influence on the remaining state determination process, the determination that the liquid in the second liquid container is in the non-remaining state is canceled and printing is continued. Also good.

  Accordingly, it is possible to determine whether or not the result of the liquid remaining state determination process based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor is correct.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid remaining amount estimating unit that estimates the liquid remaining amount of the liquid storage container, a light emitting unit, and a light receiving unit, and for detecting the remaining state of the liquid in the liquid storage container An optical sensor that outputs a detection signal of the liquid, a control unit that performs a residual state determination process of the liquid in the liquid container and controls printing based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor, and the optical sensor And a housing provided with a cover, and when the control unit determines that the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is equal to or greater than a given remaining amount, This relates to a liquid consuming device that continues printing regardless of opening and closing of the cover.

  As a result, even when the cover is open, printing can be continued if it is determined that there is no possibility of idle driving.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the control unit determines that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state based on the detection signal in a state where the cover is opened. If it is determined that the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount, printing may be continued.

  As a result, even if the cover is open and the non-remaining state of the ink in the ink cartridge is detected by the light sensor due to the influence of ambient light, printing is continued when it is determined that there is no possibility of idle driving. Etc. becomes possible.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a prism provided in the liquid storage container, which controls printing, estimates a remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage container, and has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. Based on a detection signal obtained from an optical sensor that can be opposed to the liquid, a liquid remaining state determination process in the liquid storage container is performed, and the liquid in the liquid storage container is non-remaining based on the detection signal If it is determined that the estimated liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount, printing is continued.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration example of a printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the detection method of an ink near end. Another explanatory view of the detection method of the ink near end. Example of detection voltage characteristics. FIG. 7A to FIG. 7D are explanatory diagrams of the relationship between the remaining state of ink and ambient light. The flowchart explaining the flow of a process of this embodiment. The other flowchart explaining the flow of the process of this embodiment. 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams of the remaining state and the remaining amount of ink. 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams of control of the light emitting unit of the photosensor. Explanatory drawing of the method of moving the carriage in which a head and an optical sensor are mounted. The flowchart explaining the flow of a process of a comparative example. FIG. Configuration example of a light sensor.

  Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described. In addition, this embodiment demonstrated below does not unduly limit the content of this invention described in the claim. In addition, all the configurations described in the present embodiment are not necessarily essential configuration requirements of the invention.

  For example, in the following, an ink cartridge that stores ink and a printing apparatus that discharges ink will be described as an example. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and a liquid storage container that stores various liquids and discharge (eject) the liquid. It is applicable to a liquid consuming apparatus. The liquid is not limited as long as it can be discharged by the liquid consuming device, and includes, for example, a solution, a solvent, a sol, a gel, and various substances or fine particles dissolved therein.

1. First, the method of this embodiment will be described. As disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, a method for determining the remaining state of liquid using an optical sensor (a method for determining ink near end) is known. In such a method, it is necessary for the optical sensor to detect light with high accuracy, and when a failure occurs in the optical sensor, the determination result of the remaining state using the optical sensor becomes low accuracy. End up.

  For example, when determining the remaining state of the liquid, if the light receiving unit of the optical sensor receives disturbance light, the liquid in the liquid container is actually in a non-remaining state even when the liquid is in the remaining state. It may be judged erroneously. Light such as ambient light is light that should not be detected in the determination of the remaining state, and is desirably detected in the same way as a sensor failure in the sense of adverse effects on the determination of the remaining state. The disturbance light here is, for example, light that enters the inside of the apparatus from the outside of the liquid consuming apparatus. As a specific example of the disturbance light, it is detected in a state where the cover of the liquid consuming apparatus is opened. For example, light.

  On the other hand, as disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above, various techniques for detecting a failure of an optical sensor are also known. In Patent Document 2, the detection signal of the light receiving unit in a state where the light emitting unit emits light at a position where the failure detection plate configured by a mirror that totally reflects light is directly above the optical sensor, A failure is detected. Specifically, a predetermined voltage value range is set, and if it is within the range, it is determined to be normal, and if it is outside the range, it is determined to be a failure.

  In the invention of Patent Document 2, even when the optical sensor is adversely affected by disturbance light, it can be detected as a failure of the optical sensor. However, it is impossible to determine whether a failure has occurred in the optical sensor itself or whether the optical sensor has been adversely affected by ambient light.

  And when it is determined that the optical sensor is damaged or affected by ambient light, the remaining state is not determined based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor, but based on the estimated remaining liquid amount. Determine. Therefore, even when the liquid in the liquid storage container is actually in the remaining state, it may be erroneously determined that it is in the non-remaining state, and the ink cartridge replacement display may be performed. At this time, since printing is stopped even during printing, it takes a long time to complete printing.

  In the first place, it is necessary to notify the user to stop printing and eliminate the influence of ambient light, or to display the replacement of the ink cartridge, because the liquid in the ink cartridge is not remaining (near end) This is the case. In other words, when the liquid in the ink cartridge shifts from the remaining state to the non-remaining state, it is necessary to determine the remaining state by the optical sensor. When it can be determined that the state is present, the necessity of performing the remaining state determination process by the optical sensor is not high. Therefore, in this case, it is not always necessary to stop printing. In this way, when the optical sensor is adversely affected by ambient light, the liquid consuming device erroneously detects the non-remaining state and stops printing even though it is not necessary to stop printing. As a result, it may take time until printing is completed.

  Therefore, in the liquid consuming device of the present embodiment, the light receiving unit of the optical sensor receives disturbance light, and erroneously determines that the liquid in the ink cartridge is in a non-remaining state based on the detection signal of the optical sensor. Even in this case, if it is possible to determine that the liquid is in a remaining state (not near-end) by another method such as dot count, printing is continued and printing is not stopped immediately.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 to be described later, the liquid consuming apparatus 200 of this embodiment includes a liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 that estimates the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage containers (corresponding to IC1 to IC4), and light emission. A liquid sensor in the liquid storage container based on a detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 having a section 82 and a light receiving section 84 and capable of facing the prism 320 provided in the liquid storage container. And a control unit 100 that performs determination processing and controls printing. Then, the control unit 100 determines that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state based on the detection signal, but the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount. If it is determined that printing is continued, printing is continued.

  For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 7B, which will be described later, the control unit 100 determines that the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is not based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 that receives the disturbance light NL. Suppose that it is erroneously determined that it is a remaining state. Furthermore, it is assumed that the control unit 100 determines that the remaining amount of ink IK estimated by the dot count by the remaining liquid amount estimating unit 150 is equal to or greater than a given remaining amount. In the present embodiment, in this case, the control unit 100 continues printing without stopping printing.

  As described above, when it is determined that the liquid in the liquid container is remaining and it is not necessary to stop the printing, the printing can be continued. Therefore, the liquid consuming apparatus of the present embodiment can suppress the frequency of stopping printing during printing. As a result, it is possible to shorten the time until printing is completed. Furthermore, in order not to give an instruction to replace the liquid container as much as possible within the range where printing does not fail, the amount of liquid that can be used for printing in the liquid container is substantially increased. Etc. becomes possible.

  Further, the control unit 100 determines that the liquid is in a non-remaining state based on the detection signal, and determines that the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 is less than the given remaining amount. Performs disturbance light determination processing for determining the presence or absence of the influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing.

  For example, as in the example shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D described later, the control unit 100 is based on a detection signal obtained from an optical sensor 80 that may receive disturbance light NL. Assume that it is determined that the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is not remaining. Further, it is assumed that the control unit 100 determines that the remaining amount of the ink IK estimated by the dot count by the remaining liquid amount estimating unit 150 is smaller than the given remaining amount. In this case, the control unit 100 performs disturbance light determination processing for determining whether or not there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing. This disturbance light determination process is performed to determine whether or not the result of the remaining state determination process performed based on the detection signal from the optical sensor 80 is reliable.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, when it is determined that the liquid is in a non-remaining state and it is determined that the estimated remaining liquid amount is less than the given remaining amount, the ambient light determination process is performed. It is possible to suppress the frequency of the disturbance light determination process. That is, when it can be determined that the liquid is in the remaining state by the dot count, unnecessary disturbance light determination processing is not required.

  Then, in the disturbance light determination process, as in the example of FIG. 7C, when it is determined that the light is not affected by the disturbance light, the remaining state determination process performed based on the detection signal from the optical sensor 80. Is determined to be reliable. That is, the control unit 100 determines that the liquid is in the non-remaining state when it is determined in the disturbance light determination process that there is no influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process.

  Thereby, it is possible to determine that there is no adverse effect of disturbance light in the liquid remaining state determination process by the optical sensor, and to notify the user of an instruction to replace the liquid container when it is determined that the liquid is in a non-remaining state. Is possible.

  On the other hand, for example, as in the example of FIG. 7D, when it is determined that the light is affected by disturbance light, the remaining state determination processing performed based on the detection signal from the optical sensor 80 is not reliable. Is determined, printing is stopped, and the user is informed that the light is adversely affected by ambient light.

  As a result, it is necessary to perform the liquid remaining state determination process by the optical sensor, but only when the remaining state cannot be accurately determined due to the influence of ambient light, the user is instructed to exclude the influence of the ambient light. Etc. becomes possible.

  Actually, the liquid consuming apparatus 200 has a plurality of liquid containers (IC1 to IC4) as shown in FIG. Then, the remaining liquid amount estimating unit 150 estimates the remaining liquid amount for each liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers. Further, the control unit 100 performs a remaining state determination process based on the detection signal for each liquid container obtained from the optical sensor 80, and determines the remaining liquid amount and remaining state estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimating unit 150. Whether or not to continue printing is determined for each liquid container based on the processing result.

  Thereby, it is possible to determine the remaining state of the liquid for each liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers and to notify the replacement instruction for each liquid storage container.

  Hereinafter, the liquid consuming apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail. First, a basic configuration of the liquid consuming device and a configuration example of the ink cartridge will be described, then a detailed configuration example of the liquid consuming device will be described, and a method for determining the remaining state of the liquid (ink near end detection method) will be described. Then, details of the processing of the present embodiment will be described using a flowchart.

2. Basic Configuration of Printing Apparatus, Ink Cartridge FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a printing apparatus (an example of a liquid consuming apparatus) in the present embodiment. FIG. 1 shows X, Y, and Z directions orthogonal to each other. In the normal use posture of the printing apparatus, the front direction of the printing apparatus is the X direction, and the vertical direction is the Z direction. For example, taking the X direction as an example, the direction of the arrow is called the + X direction (or simply the X direction), and the opposite direction is called the -X direction.

  The printing apparatus of FIG. 1 includes ink cartridges IC1 to IC4 (liquid storage containers and liquid storage units), a carriage 20 including a holder 21 that detachably stores the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4, a cable 30, and a paper feed motor 40. A carriage motor 50, a carriage drive belt 55, and an optical sensor 80 (detection unit). The holder 21 and the carriage 20 may be formed as an integral member, or may be formed as a separate member and the holder 21 may be assembled to the carriage 20.

  Each of the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4 contains one color of ink (liquid, printing material). Ink cartridges IC <b> 1 to IC <b> 4 are detachably attached to the holder 21. A head is provided on the surface of the carriage 20 in the −Z direction. The ink supplied from the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4 is ejected from the head toward the recording medium. The recording medium is, for example, printing paper. The carriage 20 is connected to a control unit (a control unit 100 in FIG. 3 described later) by a cable 30, and discharge control is performed by the control unit via the cable 30. The paper feed motor 40 rotationally drives a paper feed roller 45 (described in FIG. 3) to feed printing paper in the X direction shown in FIG. The carriage motor 50 drives the carriage drive belt 55 to move the carriage 20 in the ± Y direction. A printing operation is performed by the control unit controlling the discharge, paper feed, and movement of the carriage 20. Hereinafter, the ± Y direction in which the carriage 20 is moved is referred to as “main scanning direction”, and the X direction in which printing paper is fed is referred to as “sub-scanning direction”.

  The optical sensor 80 outputs a signal for detecting the ink remaining state of the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4. Specifically, the optical sensor 80 receives a light emitting unit 82 (light emitting element) that irradiates light to a prism (prism 320 in FIG. 2 described later) provided in the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4, and reflected light from the prism. And a light receiving portion 84 (light receiving element) that converts the light into an electric signal. For example, the light emitting unit 82 is configured by an LED (Light Emission Diode), and the light receiving unit 84 is configured by a phototransistor.

  Next, FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the ink cartridge IC. The ink cartridge IC shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to each of the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4 in FIG.

  The ink cartridge IC includes a rectangular parallelepiped (including a substantially rectangular parallelepiped) ink containing portion 300, a circuit board 350 (substrate), a lever 340 for attaching and detaching the ink cartridge IC to the holder 21, and ink to the head. It includes an ink supply port 330 for supplying, and a prism 320 provided on the bottom surface 310 of the ink cartridge IC. A storage device 352 that stores information about the ink cartridge IC is mounted on the back surface of the circuit board 350. A plurality of terminals 354 that are electrically connected to the storage device 352 are arranged on the surface of the circuit board 350. The plurality of terminals 354 are electrically connected to the control unit 100 on the main body side via the plurality of main body side terminals provided on the holder 21 when the ink cartridge IC is mounted on the holder 21. As the storage device 352, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM can be used.

  The prism 320 is made of a member that is transparent to the light from the light emitting unit 82, and is made of, for example, polypropylene. The prism 320 is provided such that the incident surface on which light from the light emitting unit 82 is incident is exposed on the bottom surface 310 of the ink cartridge IC. The bottom surface 310 is a surface facing the −Z direction side when the ink cartridge IC is mounted on the holder 21 in FIG. 1. The holder 21 is provided with an opening for allowing the light from the light emitting unit 82 to enter the incident surface of the prism 320. That is, when the carriage 20 having the holder 21 moves in the main scanning direction (± Y direction) in FIG. 1, the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4 sequentially pass over the optical sensor 80 (+ Z direction), and each ink cartridge. The reflected light from the prism 320 is received by the light receiving unit 84. The optical sensor 80 outputs the light reception result of the light receiving unit 84 as a sensor output signal (light reception result signal) corresponding to the position of the carriage 20. In the present embodiment, the ink near end of each ink cartridge is detected based on the sensor output signal corresponding to the position of the carriage 20.

  Here, the ink near end is a state where the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink storage unit 300 and the liquid level are below a predetermined value and the ink amount of the ink cartridge IC is small. For example, when the ink near end is detected by the optical sensor, printing is continued, and after the ink near end is detected, the head ejects ink when the ink consumption estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 exceeds a predetermined amount. This is a state where there is a possibility that the ink will not be discharged. The ink near end is also referred to as a non-remaining state. Alternatively, it may be in a state where there is a possibility that the idle state will be caused when the optical sensor detects the ink near end. When the printer enters a state where there is a possibility of being idle, the printing apparatus stops printing.

3. Detailed Configuration of Printing Apparatus FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration example of the printing apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the first direction D1 is the main scanning direction, and the second direction D2 orthogonal to the first direction D1 is the sub-scanning direction. Hereinafter, a case where the light reception result signal output from the optical sensor 80 is a voltage signal (detection signal) will be described as an example.

  3 includes an ink cartridge IC1 to IC4, a carriage 20 including a holder 21 (not shown) that detachably holds the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4, a paper feed motor 40, a paper feed roller 45, and the like. The carriage motor 50, the carriage drive belt 55, the A / D conversion unit 70, the optical sensor 80, the control unit 100, the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150, the storage unit 190, the display unit 210, and the interface unit. (I / F part) 220. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component same as the component demonstrated in FIG. 1, and description is abbreviate | omitted suitably. In addition, the printing apparatus 200 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, and various modifications such as omitting some of these components or adding other components are possible.

  The A / D converter 70 A / D converts the detection signal from the optical sensor 80 and outputs the digital signal after the A / D conversion to the controller 100. Specifically, the A / D conversion unit 70 samples the detection signal at a predetermined position interval according to, for example, the count value of the rotary encoder, the interrupt cycle of the CPU constituting the control unit 100, and the like. Get the voltage. For example, when one cartridge passes over the optical sensor 80, several tens of sampling voltages are acquired.

  The control unit 100 includes a drive control unit 110, a detection control unit 120, a position specifying unit 140, a remaining state determination unit 160, and a disturbance light determination unit 180. The control unit 100 is realized by a processor such as a CPU or a program operating on the processor. For example, a program stored in the ROM is expanded in the storage unit 190, and the processing of each unit of the control unit 100 is executed by the processor executing this program. The control unit 100 can also be realized by a dedicated ASIC. Details of the processing of the disturbance light determination unit 180 will be described later.

  The drive control unit 110 controls the drive unit of the printing apparatus 200. Specifically, the carriage motor 50 that is a drive unit is controlled. The carriage motor 50 is controlled to move the carriage 20. As a result, the carriage motor 50 performs driving for moving the holder 21 and the head 22 provided in the carriage 20.

  The detection control unit 120 performs various controls of the optical sensor 80. For example, the light emitting unit 82 of the optical sensor 80 is controlled. For example, the detection control unit 120 performs a process of determining the light emission amount of the light emitting unit 82 based on a detection signal from the optical sensor 80 or the like. Then, a PWM signal is generated based on the determined light emission amount, and the light emission amount of the light emitting unit 82 is controlled. Alternatively, the detection control unit 120 also performs an ink near-end threshold value determination process performed based on the light reception result of the light receiving unit 84.

  The position specifying unit 140 performs a process of specifying the position of the carriage 20 (holder 21) in the main scanning direction D1. When the position of the carriage is specified, a position where the prism of each ink cartridge IC in the main scanning direction D1 is directly above the photosensor (also referred to as a position facing the photosensor) is specified. More specifically, the carriage motor 50 is provided with a rotary encoder, and the position specifying unit 140 specifies the amount of movement of the carriage 20 based on the count value of the rotary encoder, and the carriage 20 in each pass of printing. Specify the position of. The count value of the rotary encoder is associated with the position where the prism of each ink cartridge IC faces the optical sensor.

  The remaining state determination unit 160 performs ink remaining state determination processing of the ink cartridge. For example, the remaining state determination unit 160 determines whether ink remains in each ink cartridge based on a detection signal (detection voltage) from the optical sensor 80 when the optical sensor 80 and each ink cartridge IC are in a position facing each other. Is determined (ink near-end determination process). Specifically, the detection voltage that is a detection signal from the optical sensor 80 is A / D converted by the A / D conversion unit 70 and input to the control unit 100 as a digital signal. Then, the remaining state determination unit 160 of the control unit 100 performs the ink remaining state determination process by comparing the detected voltage with the threshold value based on the detected voltage converted into the digital signal. For the ink cartridge determined to be in a non-remaining state (ink cartridge determined to be ink near-end), the PC connected to the display unit 210 or via the I / F unit 220 (Personal computer) An alarm notifying ink replacement is displayed on the display unit of 250 to prompt the user to replace the ink cartridge.

  Next, the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 performs an ink remaining amount (ink amount information or liquid amount information) and ink consumption amount estimation process. For example, the ink consumption is estimated based on the dot count value of the number of ink ejections used for printing from the head 22. Specifically, the number of ink droplets ejected from the head 22 is counted, and the ink consumption (usage amount) is calculated by integrating the counted number of ink droplets and the mass per ink droplet. This consumption includes the amount of ink consumed for printing and the amount of ink consumed for cleaning the head. Then, the ink remaining amount is estimated by subtracting the calculated consumption amount from the initial filling amount of each ink cartridge. During printing, the remaining amount of ink is updated and stored in the storage unit 190 for each printing pass. The ink remaining amount thus estimated is written and stored in the storage device 352 for each ink cartridge IC in FIG. Then, when the printing apparatus 200 is activated, the ink remaining amount is read out and acquired from the storage device 352 of the ink cartridge IC, and is stored in the remaining amount storage unit 194 of the storage unit 190. While the power is on, the ink remaining amount in the remaining amount storage unit 194 is updated as printing is performed, the head 22 is cleaned, and the like. Furthermore, the updated estimated ink remaining amount is written back to the storage device 352 of the ink cartridge IC when the printing apparatus 200 is powered off, the ink cartridge IC is replaced, or whenever a predetermined amount of ink is consumed. .

  In the following, the case where the ink amount information is the remaining ink amount will be described. However, the ink amount information may be an ink consumption amount. Further, the ink remaining amount and the ink consumption amount may be stored as ink weight data, or may be stored as data of a ratio with respect to the filling amount of the ink cartridge IC before the start of use of ink.

  Storage unit 190 includes a remaining amount storage unit 194. The remaining amount storage unit 194 stores the remaining ink amount estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimating unit 150 that is sequentially updated. The storage unit 190 serves as a work area for the control unit 100 and the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150, and the function can be realized by a RAM, an EEPROM memory, an HDD (hard disk drive), or the like.

  FIG. 15 shows a specific configuration example of the optical sensor 80. The configuration of the optical sensor 80 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 15, and various modifications can be made.

  The optical sensor 80 includes a light emitting unit 82 and a light receiving unit 84. The light emitting unit 82 emits light, and the light receiving unit 84 receives light. The optical sensor 80 is configured by a reflective photo interrupter. The optical sensor 80 adjusts the duty ratio (ratio between on time and off time) of a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal to cause the LED to emit light. The light emitted from the LED is reflected by the prism 320 in the ink cartridge IC, enters the phototransistor, and is converted into a current value. This current value is converted into a voltage Vc by the resistor R1, this voltage Vc is A / D converted by the A / D converter 70, and the digital signal after A / D conversion is input to the remaining state determination unit 160 of the control unit 100. Is done.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the optical sensor 80 includes the light emitting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 84, and the ink cartridge reflects the light emitted from the light emitting unit 82 of the optical sensor 80 according to the remaining state of the ink. 320. The control unit 100 then retains the ink remaining in the ink cartridge based on the detection signal (detected voltage after A / D conversion) obtained by the light receiving unit 84 of the optical sensor 80 receiving the reflected light from the prism 320. State determination processing is performed.

4). Ink Near End Detection Method Next, an ink near end detection method will be described. 4 and 5 are sectional views of the YZ plane passing through the prism 320 of the ink cartridge IC. 4 and 5 show a state in which the positional relationship between the prism 320 and the optical sensor 80 is a positional relationship where the ink near end can be detected (the positional relationship in which the prism of the ink cartridge faces the optical sensor). ing.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cavity BP is provided on the incident surface EF of the prism 320 in order to suppress deformation that occurs when the prism 320 is formed. The holder 21 is provided with an opening, and is configured such that the incident surface EF and the optical sensor 80 face each other through the opening when the ink cartridge IC is mounted on the holder 21. Specifically, the opening OP1 of the holder 21 has the light EML emitted from the light emitting unit 82 through the opening OP1 and the prism 320 when the prism 320 of the ink cartridge IC is in a positional relationship facing the optical sensor 80. It is provided at a position where it can enter the slope SF1. On the other hand, the opening OP2 of the holder 21 is provided at a position where the reflected light RTL reflected by the inclined surface SF2 of the prism 320 can enter the light receiving portion 84 through the opening OP2. That is, in the holder 21, the openings (OP 1 and OP 2) are provided at the same interval as the interval between the light emitting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 84 in the optical sensor 80. In addition, the slopes SF1 and SF2 of the prism 320 face the inside of the ink container 300 shown in FIG. 2, and when the ink container 300 is filled with the ink IK, the slopes SF1 and SF2 are in contact with the ink IK. . The slope SF1 is, for example, a plane orthogonal to the slope SF2, and the slope SF1 and the slope SF2 are arranged so as to be symmetric with respect to a plane parallel to the XZ plane of FIG.

  When the ink IK is filled in the ink cartridge IC, the light EML that has entered the prism 320 from the light emitting unit 82 passes through the opening of the holder 21 and enters the ink IK from the inclined surface SF1 (light FCL). In this case, since the light RTL reflected by the slopes SF1 and SF2 is very small, the light receiving unit 84 receives almost no light. For example, assuming that the refractive index of the ink is 1.5, which is substantially the same as the refractive index of water, and the prism 320 is made of polypropylene, the critical angle of total reflection on the inclined surfaces SF1 and SF2 is about 64 degrees. Since the incident angle is 45 degrees, the incident light EML is incident on the ink IK without being totally reflected on the inclined surfaces SF1 and SF2.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, consider a case where the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is consumed for printing and the ink cartridge IC is not filled with the ink IK. Of the slopes SF1 and SF2 of the prism 320, it is assumed that at least a portion irradiated with light from the light emitting unit 82 is in contact with air. In this case, the light EML that has entered the prism 320 from the light emitting unit 82 is totally reflected by the slopes SF1 and SF2, and is emitted again from the incident surface EF to the outside of the prism 320 (light RTL). Since the light receiving unit 84 receives the totally reflected light RTL, a detection voltage different from the detection voltage when filled with ink (a difference from the reference voltage is large) is obtained. For example, when the refractive index of air is 1 and the prism 320 is made of polypropylene, the critical angle of total reflection on the inclined surfaces SF1 and SF2 is about 43 degrees. Since the incident angle is 45 degrees, the incident light EML is totally reflected by the inclined surfaces SF1 and SF2.

  Next, FIG. 6 shows a characteristic example of the detected voltage when one ink cartridge IC passes over the optical sensor 80. 6 represents the relative position of the prism 320 and the optical sensor 80, and the position when the center of the prism 320 and the center of the optical sensor 80 coincide (for example, the ink cartridge IC and the optical sensor 80 shown in FIG. 4). "0". The center of the optical sensor 80 is the center of the light emitting unit 82 and the light receiving unit 84 in the main scanning direction. The vertical axis in FIG. 6 represents the detection voltage output from the optical sensor 80 at each position on the horizontal axis.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the detection voltage becomes closer to the upper limit voltage Vmax (reference voltage) as the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 84 is closer to zero, and the detection voltage becomes the lower limit voltage Vmin as the amount of received light of the light receiving unit 84 increases. It becomes closer (the difference from the reference voltage becomes larger). When the amount of received light exceeds a predetermined value, the detection voltage is saturated and becomes the lower limit voltage Vmin. The upper limit voltage Vmax and the lower limit voltage Vmin correspond to, for example, the upper limit voltage and the lower limit voltage of the voltage range that the light receiving unit 84 illustrated in FIG. 4 outputs to the collector terminal.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the detection voltage changes according to the relative position between the optical sensor 80 and the prism 320. First, SIK is a detection voltage characteristic when the ink cartridge IC described in FIG. 4 is filled with the ink IK. In this case, since the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 84 is small, the detection voltage is close to Vmax at the position “0”. Peaks Spk1 and Spk2 are generated by reflected light from the prism incident surface EF at positions pk1 and pk2 where the relative position between the center of the prism 320 and the center of the optical sensor 80 is shifted from the position “0” in the main scanning direction.

  On the other hand, SEP is a detection voltage characteristic when the ink cartridge IC described in FIG. 5 is not filled with the ink IK. In this case, since the light receiving amount of the light receiving unit 84 is large, the detection voltage reaches (or becomes close to) Vmin at the position “0”. As described above, the characteristics of the detection voltage greatly differ depending on whether or not the ink cartridge IC is filled with the ink IK. In this embodiment, the ink in the ink cartridge is detected by detecting the difference in the characteristics of the detection voltage. Detect near end.

  Specifically, the threshold value Vth is set between the peak value Vpk1 and the lower limit voltage Vmin based on the peak value Vpk1 of the detection voltage characteristic SIK. If the detection voltage of the optical sensor 80 is smaller than the threshold value Vth when the ink cartridge IC reaches the detection range passing over the optical sensor 80, it is determined that the ink is near-end (no ink remains). If the detected voltage is equal to or higher than the threshold value Vth, it is determined that the ink is remaining.

5. Details of Processing Next, before describing the processing flow of the present embodiment, a specific example of the relationship between the remaining state of ink and ambient light will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (A) to 7 (D).

  FIG. 7A shows an example in which the ink IK is sufficiently filled in the ink cartridge IC. In this case, it can be said that the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is in a remaining state. Since the light receiving unit 84 of the optical sensor 80 does not receive disturbance light, if the remaining state determination process is performed based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 in this state, it is correctly determined that the ink is in the remaining state. It is possible.

  FIG. 7B shows a specific example in the case where the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is in a remaining state and the light receiving portion 84 of the optical sensor 80 receives the disturbance light NL, as in FIG. 7A. It is. In this state, when the remaining state determination process is performed based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80, the light receiving unit 84 hardly receives the reflected light reflected by the prism from the light emitting unit 82. The light NL is received. Therefore, it may be erroneously determined that the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is not remaining. In this case, there is a problem that printing may be stopped and the user may be instructed to replace the ink cartridge IC even though the ink remains.

  FIG. 7C shows an example in which the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is in a non-remaining state (near end). In the example of FIG. 7C, the light receiving portion 84 of the optical sensor 80 does not receive disturbance light as in the example of FIG. Therefore, if the remaining state determination process is performed based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 in this state, it is possible to correctly determine that the ink is in a non-remaining state.

  FIG. 7D shows a specific example of the case where the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is not remaining and the light receiving portion 84 of the optical sensor 80 receives the disturbance light NL, as in FIG. 7C. It is an example. In this state, when the remaining state determination process is performed based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80, the light receiving unit 84 receives both the reflected light reflected by the prism and the disturbance light NL. Is received. Therefore, in many cases, if the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is in a non-remaining state, it is determined correctly, and it is considered that there is no actual harm as a result. However, it cannot be said that the remaining state determination process is normally performed because of the influence of disturbance light. When estimating the remaining amount of liquid based on the detection signal from the optical sensor 80, the estimation of the remaining amount of liquid may be erroneous due to the influence of ambient light, which is a problem.

  Next, details of the processing of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9. In the following description, processing for one ink cartridge will be described. However, as described above, the liquid consuming apparatus 200 actually has a plurality of ink cartridges, and the control unit 100 and the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 are shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 for each ink cartridge. Each process shall be performed.

  First, when a print job is received, the control unit 100 (mainly the drive control unit 110 and the position specifying unit 140) controls the carriage motor 50 to perform printing in one pass (S100). The movement of the head 22 in the + Y direction or the −Y direction accompanying printing is defined as one pass. For example, when printing is performed during movement in both directions, two passes are required for one round trip. Then, the control unit 100 (mainly the detection control unit 120 and the remaining state determination unit 160) causes the light emitting unit to emit light during one-pass printing, and the liquid in the ink cartridge is based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80. The remaining state determination process is performed (S101). This remaining state determination process is performed according to the ink near-end detection method described above with reference to FIGS.

  When the control unit 100 (remaining state determination unit 160) determines that ink remains in the remaining state determination process, that is, as described above with reference to FIG. (S102) It is determined whether printing for one page has been completed (S103). Furthermore, when the control unit 100 determines that printing for one page has been completed, the process proceeds to printing of the next page (S104). On the other hand, if the control unit 100 determines that printing for one page has not yet been completed, the process proceeds to the next pass in order to continue printing the same page (S105). Repeat the process.

  Further, in the remaining state determination process in step S101, when the control unit 100 (remaining state determining unit 160) determines that the ink is in the non-remaining state (S102), the storage unit 190 detects the non-remaining state detection information. Remember. The non-remaining state detection information is information (flag) indicating that the ink may be in a non-remaining state, and is not information indicating that the non-remaining state has been determined. This is because at this point in time, it is not known whether or not the optical sensor 80 is adversely affected by disturbance light, so that the remaining state of the ink determined based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80 matches the actual state. This is because it cannot be said. Therefore, in this case, the ink in the ink cartridge and the optical sensor 80 are considered to be in any of the states shown in FIGS. 7B to 7D.

  Next, the control unit 100 determines whether the liquid remaining amount estimated by the dot count is equal to or greater than a given remaining amount (specified value) (S106). Note that the liquid remaining amount in this step is estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 by performing dot counting by the method described above.

  Here, details of the processing in step S106 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 (A) and 10 (B). FIGS. 10A and 10B show a state in which the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is in a remaining state but is approaching a non-remaining state. As a premise, in the examples of FIGS. 10A and 10B, when the remaining amount of the ink IK in the ink cartridge IC is equal to or more than the first remaining amount TH1, it is determined that the ink is remaining, and the ink When the remaining amount of ink IK in the cartridge IC is smaller than the first remaining amount TH1, it is determined that the ink is not remaining. That is, when the ink level is within the range FIL shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, it is determined that the ink level is remaining, and the ink level is in FIGS. 10A and 10B. ) Is within the range EMP shown in FIG.

  As described above, the precise determination process of the remaining state of the ink IK is performed by the optical sensor 80. However, the strict determination is actually required in the area AR2 near the boundary between the range FIL and the range EMP. This is when there is a face. On the other hand, when there is an ink liquid level in the range AR1 above the range AR2, the ink IK remains sufficiently, and even if printing is continued for a while, the non-remaining state does not occur. It is not necessary to perform the remaining state determination process based on the detection signal of the sensor 80.

  Therefore, in step S106, it is determined whether the ink liquid level is in the range AR1 or in the range AR2 based on whether or not it is greater than or equal to the second remaining amount TH2 (the given remaining amount described above). The second remaining amount TH2 is set to an amount that always estimates that ink remains even if there is a variation in the remaining amount due to the estimated remaining amount portion due to individual differences in the printing apparatus. Then, based on the result, it is determined whether or not the disturbance light determination process based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80 needs to be performed immediately. In this embodiment, based on the ink remaining amount estimated by the dot count, it is roughly determined whether the ink is approaching the non-remaining state (second remaining amount TH2), and the ink approaches the non-remaining state. If the ink remaining state is detected, it is determined based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80 whether the remaining state of the ink is correctly detected.

  When the control unit 100 determines that the liquid remaining amount estimated by the dot count is equal to or greater than the given remaining amount TH2 (S106), that is, in the case of the example of FIG. It can be determined that it is not necessary to perform the remaining ink state determination process based on the detection signal obtained from the sensor 80. As described above, it is necessary to accurately determine the remaining state based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 immediately before (or after) the ink shifts from the remaining state to the non-remaining state. This is because it is not necessary to perform the remaining state determination process based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80 until it can be determined that there is sufficient. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 100 determines that the result of the remaining state determination process in step S101 is incorrect. That is, in this case, as in the example of FIG. 7B, although the ink IK was actually in a remaining state, it was erroneously determined to be a non-remaining state due to the influence of ambient light or the like. Conceivable. And the control part 100 performs the discard process of the detection information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 190 (S107). The detection information discarding process is a process of erasing the non-remaining state detection information stored in the storage unit 190. Even if a non-remaining state is detected in the optical sensor 80 due to ambient light, printing can be continued because it is estimated that ink remains. Therefore, after step S107, printing is continued in the same manner as in the case where it is determined in step S102 that ink remains (S103 to S105).

  That is, the control unit 100 determines that the liquid in the first ink cartridge of the plurality of ink cartridges is in a non-remaining state, and the liquid remaining in the first ink cartridge estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 is determined. If it is determined that the amount is equal to or greater than the given remaining amount, the determination that the liquid in the first ink cartridge is in a non-remaining state is canceled and printing is continued.

  This makes it possible to continue printing or the like when it can be determined that the ink is in the remaining state even if there is an adverse effect due to ambient light on the remaining state determination process.

  On the other hand, in step S106, when the control unit 100 determines that the liquid remaining amount estimated by the dot count is smaller than the given remaining amount TH2, that is, in the case of the example of FIG. There is a possibility that the ink is just before the transition from the remaining state to the non-residual state, or already after the transition to the non-residual state. At this time, the ink in the ink cartridge and the optical sensor 80 are considered to be in any of the states shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D. Therefore, in this case, disturbance light determination processing is performed to determine whether or not the remaining state determination processing performed in step S101 has an adverse effect of disturbance light.

  That is, the control unit 100 performs disturbance light determination processing when it is determined in the remaining state determination processing during printing (S101) that the liquid is in the non-remaining state (S108).

  Specifically, the control unit 100 (mainly the detection control unit 120) turns off the optical sensor 80, and the control unit 100 (mainly the disturbance light determination unit 180) performs disturbance light determination processing (S108).

  At this time, the control unit 100 performs disturbance light determination processing when the optical sensor 80 and the prism of the ink cartridge are in a positional relationship facing each other. The positional relationship between the optical sensor 80 and the prism of the ink cartridge is, for example, the positional relationship between the ink cartridge IC and the optical sensor 80 shown in FIG.

  In summary, the liquid consuming apparatus 200 includes the carriage 20 on which the optical sensor 80 or the ink cartridge is mounted and reciprocally moves. Then, the control unit 100 changes the relative positional relationship between the ink cartridge and the optical sensor 80 at the time of printing, causes the optical sensor 80 to emit light in a given printing pass, and generates a detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80. Based on the detection signal obtained from the light sensor 80, the remaining light state determination process is performed, the light sensor 80 is turned off in a print path different from the given print path.

  Here, FIG. 11A shows the state during the liquid remaining state determination process, and FIG. 11B shows the state during the disturbance light determination process. 11A and 11B, the holder 21 accommodates the ink cartridges IC1 to IC4, and the ink cartridge IC1 and the optical sensor 80 are in a positional relationship facing each other. In both cases of FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, the disturbance light NL is incident on the light receiving portion 84 of the optical sensor 80.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, in the liquid remaining state determination process, the light emitting unit 82 of the optical sensor 80 irradiates light to the prism 320 of the ink cartridge IC1, and the reflected light from the prism 320 is reflected. When the light receiving unit 84 receives light, the remaining state of the liquid is determined. However, in this case, since the light receiving unit 84 also receives the disturbance light NL at the same time, the determination processing result may be incorrect.

  On the other hand, in the disturbance light determination process, as shown in FIG. 11B, the ink cartridge IC1 and the optical sensor 80 are in the same positional relationship as in FIG. The disturbance light NL received by the light receiving unit 84 in the state of FIG. The disturbance light determination process itself is performed in the same manner as the ink near-end detection method described with reference to FIGS. For example, when the detection voltage is lower than the Vmax by a predetermined level despite the light sensor 80 being turned off, it is determined that there is ambient light, and the detection voltage remains close to the upper limit voltage Vmax (reference voltage). In this case, it is determined that there is no ambient light.

  As a result, the light receiving unit 84 of the optical sensor 80 detects only the disturbance light without receiving the light emitted by the light emitting unit 82, and determines the presence or absence of the influence of the disturbance light on the liquid remaining state determination process. It becomes possible.

  Further, by making the ink cartridge and the optical sensor 80 face each other, the ambient light that the optical sensor 80 receives when performing the ink remaining state determination process using the optical sensor 80 in the ink cartridge is prevented. , It becomes possible to detect.

  Next, in step S109, when the control unit 100 determines that the optical sensor 80 is not receiving disturbance light (S109), it is determined that the result of the remaining state determination process in step S101 is correct, and the ink is discharged. A non-remaining state is determined (S110). That is, in this case, as in the example of FIG. 7C, the ink IK is actually in a non-remaining state, and is correctly determined to be in a non-remaining state without being affected by disturbance light or the like. Conceivable. At this time, printing is stopped, and a display prompting the user to replace the ink cartridge is performed.

  On the other hand, if the control unit 100 determines that the optical sensor 80 is receiving disturbance light in step S109 (S109), there is a possibility that the result of the remaining state determination process in step S101 includes an error. As in step S107, the control unit 100 discards the detection information stored in the storage unit 190 (S111). As described above, when the process proceeds to step S111, it can be determined that the result of the remaining state determination process based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80 in step S101 is low in reliability due to disturbance light. Therefore, it cannot be immediately determined that the ink is in a non-remaining state. However, since the liquid remaining amount estimated by the dot count of the liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 is determined to be smaller than the given remaining amount, at least the example of FIG. 7D or FIG. In this way, it can be determined that the non-remaining state is approaching or is already non-remaining. That is, in the example of FIG. 10A, at least the ink liquid level is in the range AR2, but it cannot be determined that there is an ink liquid level in the range EMP where the ink is not remaining. .

  Here, to summarize the flow of processing up to step S110 or step S111, the control unit 100 determines, for example, that the liquid in the second ink cartridge among the plurality of ink cartridges is in a non-remaining state (S102). If it is determined that the liquid remaining amount of the second ink cartridge estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 is smaller than the given remaining amount (S106), the presence or absence of the influence of ambient light on the remaining state determination process A disturbance light determination process is performed (S108). Further, when the control unit 100 determines in the disturbance light determination process that there is no influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process (S109), the controller 100 determines that the liquid in the second ink cartridge is in a non-remaining state. When it is determined (S110) and it is determined that there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, the determination that the liquid in the second ink cartridge is in the non-remaining state is canceled (S111), and printing is continued. (S112 in FIG. 9 described later).

  Thereby, it is possible to determine whether or not the result of the liquid remaining state determination process based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 is correct.

  Further, in the present embodiment, even when the process proceeds to step S111, if the current printing is in the middle of the paper (or page), the printing is not stopped until the printing on the paper is finished. Continue printing. This is because when printing is stopped in the middle of a sheet of paper, the user often performs printing again, and printing on the sheet is often wasted. In addition, even when it is determined that the ink is in a non-remaining state, if printing is performed on about one sheet of paper, it is almost possible to print with the ink remaining in the ink cartridge.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the control unit 100 performs the remaining state determination process for the liquid in the ink cartridge based on the detection signal detected by the optical sensor 80 due to the reflection from the prism 320 when the optical sensor 80 emits light. (S101). Then, the control unit 100 determines the presence or absence of the influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process based on the detection signal detected by the optical sensor 80 due to the reflection from the prism 320 when the optical sensor 80 is turned off. A determination process is performed (S108), and even if it is determined by the disturbance light determination process that there is an influence of disturbance light during printing (S109), printing is continued until the end of the sheet being printed.

  As a result, it is possible to suppress printing from being stopped during printing on a single sheet.

  Specifically, after step S111 in FIG. 8, printing is continued as shown in step S112 in FIG. Then, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the printing on the paper that is currently the printing target is completed (S113).

  Then, the control unit 100 continues the printing (S112) even after determining that there is an influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process (S109) in the disturbance light determination process (S108), and gives a predetermined rule. Each time an amount of liquid is consumed (S114 to be described later), a second disturbance light determination process is performed to determine whether or not the influence of disturbance light has an influence on the remaining state determination process (S115 to be described later), and the second disturbance light determination process is performed. When it is determined that there is no influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process (S116 described later), the remaining state determination process is performed (S101).

  As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not the influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process is eliminated while printing is continued. In addition, since the second disturbance light determination process is performed every time the ink is consumed by a predetermined amount, a state where it is determined that there is an adverse effect due to the disturbance light when the adverse effect due to the disturbance light disappears during printing. Therefore, it is possible to quickly confirm that the state has been restored to the state where the adverse effect due to the disturbance light is eliminated.

  Specifically, if it is determined in step S113 that printing on the current sheet has not been completed, has the control unit 100 consumed ink of a specified amount or more in printing in step S112? It is determined whether or not (S114). At this time, the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 performs dot count to calculate the ink consumption. Then, the control unit 100 determines whether the ink consumption estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 is equal to or greater than a specified value. Further, the ink consumption estimated at this time is the amount of ink consumed during the loop processing from step S112 to step S114. As will be described later, when the loop processing from step S112 to step S114 is exited, the ink consumption estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 consumed in step S112 is reset.

  If the control unit 100 determines that the amount of ink equal to or greater than the specified value is not consumed in the printing in step S112 (S114), the process returns to the printing process in step S112.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 100 determines that the ink amount equal to or larger than the specified value has been consumed in the printing in step S112, the control unit 100 turns off the light sensor 80 in the same manner as in step S108. A second disturbance light determination process is performed (S108).

  In the second disturbance light determination process, whether or not the environment in which disturbance light adversely affects the remaining state determination process has been improved by the user or the like while printing is continued in step S112 (disturbance light is blocked). It is a process performed to determine whether or not. In the second disturbance light determination process, if it can be determined that the adverse influence due to the disturbance light has been removed while the printing is continued (S116), the liquid remains accurately based on the detection signal of the optical sensor 80. State determination processing can be performed. Therefore, in this case, the process returns to step S100.

  On the other hand, in the second disturbance light determination process, when it is determined that there is an adverse effect due to the disturbance light and the environment is not improved while printing is continued in step S112 (S116), the control unit 100 determines whether or not there is a possibility of an empty shot (S117). Specifically, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the cumulative ink consumption estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 is equal to or greater than a given threshold value. The cumulative consumption is the amount of ink consumed after step S111, and is estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 by dot count. The accumulated consumption amount is different from the consumption amount used in step S114, and is accumulated without being reset even if the loop of step S112 to step S114 is repeated.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, printing is basically not stopped until printing on a sheet that is currently a printing target is completed. However, in exceptional cases where a large amount of ink is used for printing on the paper, it may be necessary to stop printing halfway even if the printing on the current paper is not complete. is there. This is because if the printing is continued in a state where there is no ink, the ink is emptied.

  Specifically, in the disturbance light determination process, the control unit 100 determines that there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, and then determines that the liquid remaining amount estimation unit has consumed a predetermined amount or more of liquid. If 150 is estimated (that is, if the control unit 100 determines that the cumulative consumption is equal to or greater than the given amount) (S117), it is determined that there is a possibility of empty shot, and the paper Even during printing, printing is stopped (S118). The control unit 100 stops driving the carriage when stopping printing. Then, the control unit 100 displays, for example, an ink cartridge replacement instruction message on the display unit 210 (S119).

  As a result, it is possible to suppress idle ink ejection.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 100 determines that the cumulative consumption of ink is less than the given amount (S117), the process returns to step S112 and the process is repeated.

  In step S113 described above, if it is determined that printing on the current sheet has been completed, the separation is good, and the disturbance light determination process and the ink remaining state determination process are performed again at this opportunity. As described above, the environment in which ambient light adversely affects the remaining state determination process may be improved while printing is continued. If the environment is improved, the adverse effect of ambient light This is because it is possible to accurately determine the remaining state of ink in the absence of ink. Further, at this timing, even if printing is temporarily interrupted during each process, the influence on the print waiting time is relatively small.

  Therefore, first, when the printing of one sheet is completed, the control unit 100 performs a third disturbance light determination process for determining whether or not there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process (S120). The third disturbance light determination process is performed by the control unit 100 with the light sensor 80 turned off, similarly to the second disturbance light determination process.

  Accordingly, it is possible to determine whether or not the influence of ambient light on the remaining state determination process has changed at the timing when printing for one sheet is completed.

  Next, in the third disturbance light determination process, when the control unit 100 determines that there is an influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process (S121), the control unit 100 notifies the user that there is disturbance light. (S122).

  As a result, at the timing when printing for one sheet is completed, the control unit 100 can display, for example, a message for instructing confirmation of opening / closing of the cover of the printing apparatus on the display unit 210 (S122).

  On the other hand, when it is determined in the third disturbance light determination process that there is no influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, the control unit 100 performs the second remaining state determination process for the liquid in the ink cartridge. Perform (S123). Then, when it is determined in the second remaining state determination process that the liquid is in the non-remaining state (S124), the control unit 100 determines the determination result that it is in the non-remaining state (S125).

  This makes it possible to confirm that the ink is in a non-remaining state when there is no adverse effect of ambient light at the timing when printing for one sheet is completed.

  If the controller 100 determines in the second remaining state determination process that the liquid is in the remaining state (S124), the controller 100 prints the next sheet (S126).

  As a result, when there is no adverse effect of disturbance light at the timing when printing for one sheet is completed, it is possible to make a correct determination that the ink remains and continue printing. The above is the processing flow of this embodiment.

  If the non-remaining state is determined in step S110 or step S125, printing may be continued until the cumulative ink consumption after step S101 reaches a given amount.

  In the above description, the case where the method of the present embodiment is applied to the case where the holder 21 and the head 22 on which the ink cartridge is mounted is on-carriage mounted on the carriage 20 has been described as an example. It is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to an off-carriage printing apparatus in which the holder 21 on which the ink cartridge is mounted is not on the carriage 20 and is in a fixed position in the printing apparatus.

  FIG. 12 shows a case where the present invention is applied to an off-carriage printing apparatus. The optical sensor 80 is mounted on the carriage 20 including the head 22, and the carriage motor 50 moves the carriage 20 mounted with the head 22 and the optical sensor 80 so as to face the prism 320 of the ink cartridge. In this case, in the control unit 100, the optical sensor 80 mounted on the carriage 20 and the ink cartridge have a given positional relationship (a positional relationship in which the remaining state of the ink in the ink cartridge can be detected by the optical sensor 80). Thus, the carriage motor 50 is controlled to move the carriage 20 including the optical sensor 80.

  That is, in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, the position (detection position) of the optical sensor 80 is fixed, and the ink cartridge mounted on the holder 21 of the carriage 20 moves, and the remaining state determination process And disturbance light determination processing is performed. On the other hand, in FIG. 12, the ink cartridge is fixed to the printing apparatus, and the carriage 20 on which the head 22 and the optical sensor 80 are mounted is moved by driving the carriage motor 50, so that the remaining state determination process and disturbance light are performed. Judgment processing is performed. In this way, the method of the present embodiment can be applied to a so-called off-carriage printing apparatus.

6). Comparative Example Next, a comparative example of the present embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 13, and the point that the method of the present embodiment is superior to the comparative example will be described.

  FIG. 14 is an external view of a printing apparatus 200 of this embodiment and a comparative example. The printing apparatus 200 includes a housing 65 and a cover 66 attached to the housing 65. The housing accommodates the holder 21 and the optical sensor 80. Since the optical sensor 80 is disposed below the holder 21 (in the −Z-axis direction), the illustration is omitted in FIG.

  With reference to FIG. 13, processing performed by the control unit of the comparative example will be described. The printing apparatus of the comparative example determines whether or not the cover 66 of the printing apparatus is open before actually performing printing in order to eliminate the influence of ambient light on the ink remaining state determination process (S201). The printing apparatus of the comparative example includes a sensor that can detect opening and closing of the cover 66.

  When it is determined that the cover 66 is open, the printing apparatus according to the comparative example determines that there is an adverse effect of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, stops printing (S202), and the cover 66. Is displayed on the display unit (S203).

  On the other hand, if the printing apparatus determines that the cover 66 is properly closed, the printing apparatus determines that there is no adverse effect of disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, and performs printing in one pass (S204). . Thereafter, the printing apparatus performs ink remaining state determination processing based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor (S205). If the printing apparatus determines that the ink is in the remaining state in the remaining state determination process (S206), the printing apparatus proceeds to printing of the next pass (S207) and returns to the step before step S201.

  On the other hand, in the remaining state determination process, when it is determined that the ink is in a non-remaining state (S206), the printing apparatus determines whether or not the estimated remaining liquid amount is equal to or greater than a given amount (S206). S208). If the printing apparatus determines that the estimated remaining liquid amount is equal to or greater than the given amount, the ink remains in a non-remaining state as in step S107 of the process of the present embodiment described above with reference to FIG. The determination result that there is is discarded (S209), the process proceeds to printing of the next pass (S207), and the process returns to step S201.

  Further, when the printing apparatus determines that the estimated remaining liquid amount is less than a given amount, the printing apparatus determines a determination result that the ink is not remaining. (S210). The above is the process flow of the comparative example.

  As described above, in the case of the comparative example, the carriage is stopped when the cover 66 is opened regardless of the remaining amount in the cartridge, so that the frequency of stopping the carriage during printing is increased. On the other hand, in this embodiment, if the remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is equal to or greater than a given remaining amount, printing is continued regardless of whether the cover 66 is opened or closed. That is, even if the cover is open and the non-remaining state of the ink in the ink cartridge is detected by the light sensor 80 due to the influence of disturbance light, printing can be continued if it can be determined that there is no possibility of idling.

  That is, the liquid consuming apparatus 200 of the present embodiment includes the liquid remaining amount estimating unit 150 that estimates the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage container, the light emitting unit 82, and the light receiving unit 84, and the liquid remaining state in the liquid storage container An optical sensor 80 that outputs a detection signal for detecting the detection, and a control unit 100 that performs a residual state determination process of the liquid in the liquid container based on the detection signal obtained from the optical sensor 80 and controls printing. A housing 65 that houses the optical sensor 80 and includes a cover 66. When the control unit 100 determines that the remaining liquid amount estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit 150 is equal to or greater than the given remaining amount, the control unit 100 continues printing regardless of whether the cover 66 is opened or closed.

  In addition, the control unit 100 determines that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state based on the detection signal in a state where the cover 66 is opened, but the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimation unit 150 is determined. If it is determined that the amount is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount, printing may continue.

  Note that the determination of whether or not printing on the current sheet in step S113 in FIG. 9 has been completed is a determination of whether or not one page has been completed if the print job is single-sided printing. If the print job is double-sided printing, it is determined whether or not printing for two pages, that is, printing for one sheet has been completed.

  Although the present embodiment has been described in detail as described above, it will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications can be made without departing from the novel matters and effects of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included in the scope of the present invention. For example, a term described at least once together with a different term having a broader meaning or the same meaning in the specification or the drawings can be replaced with the different term in any part of the specification or the drawings. Further, the configuration and operation of the liquid consuming device are not limited to those described in this embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

20 Carriage, 21 Holder, 22 Head, 30 Cable, 40 Motor,
45 roller, 50 carriage motor, 55 carriage drive belt,
65 housing, 66 cover, 70 A / D conversion unit, 80 optical sensor, 82 light emitting unit,
84 light receiving unit, 100 control unit, 110 drive control unit, 120 detection control unit,
140 position specifying unit, 150 liquid remaining amount estimating unit, 160 remaining state determining unit,
180 disturbance light determination unit, 190 storage unit, 192 table data storage unit,
194 Remaining amount storage unit, 200 Liquid consumption device (printing device), 210 Display unit,
220 I / F section, 300 ink storage section, 310 bottom surface of cartridge,
320 prism, 330 ink supply port, 340 lever, 350 circuit board,
352 storage device, 354 terminals

Claims (9)

A liquid remaining amount estimating unit for estimating the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid container;
A light sensor having a light emitting part and a light receiving part, and capable of facing a prism provided in the liquid container;
Based on a detection signal obtained from the optical sensor, a control unit that performs a liquid remaining state determination process in the liquid container and controls printing;
Including
The controller is
Based on the detection signal, it is determined that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state, but the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount. If so, continue printing ,
When it is determined that the liquid is in the non-remaining state based on the detection signal, and the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is determined to be less than the given remaining amount, Perform disturbance light determination processing to determine the presence or absence of the influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing,
In the disturbance light determination process, when it is determined that there is an influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, the printing is continued, and the remaining state determination process is performed every time a predetermined amount of liquid is consumed. A liquid consuming apparatus that performs second disturbance light determination processing for determining whether or not there is an influence of disturbance light . In claim 1 ,
The controller is
A liquid consuming apparatus, wherein the light sensor is turned off and the disturbance light determination process is performed. In claim 1 or 2 ,
The controller is
The liquid consuming device, wherein the disturbance light determination process is performed when the optical sensor and the liquid container are in a positional relationship facing each other. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3 ,
The controller is
In the disturbance light determination process, when it is determined that there is no influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, it is determined that the liquid is in the non-remaining state. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4 ,
A storage unit that stores detection information of the non-remaining state when the non-remaining state of the liquid is detected;
The controller is
When it is determined that the liquid is in the non-remaining state, but the remaining amount of the liquid is greater than or equal to the given remaining amount, the detection information stored in the storage unit is discarded. Liquid consumption device. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5 ,
The liquid remaining amount estimation unit includes:
For each liquid storage container among a plurality of liquid storage containers, estimate the remaining liquid amount,
The controller is
Based on the detection signal for each liquid container obtained from the optical sensor, the remaining state determination process is performed,
Whether to continue printing is determined for each liquid container based on the remaining liquid amount estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit and the result of the remaining state determination process. Liquid consuming device. In claim 6 ,
The controller is
It is determined that the liquid in the first liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers is in the non-remaining state, and the remaining liquid amount of the first liquid storage container estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit Is determined to be equal to or more than a given remaining amount, the liquid consumption apparatus is characterized by canceling the determination that the liquid in the first liquid container is in the non-remaining state and continuing printing. . In claim 6 or 7 ,
The controller is
It is determined that the liquid in the second liquid storage container among the plurality of liquid storage containers is in the non-remaining state, and the remaining liquid amount of the second liquid storage container estimated by the remaining liquid amount estimation unit Is determined to be less than a given remaining amount,
Perform disturbance light determination processing to determine the presence or absence of the influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing,
In the disturbance light determination process, when it is determined that there is no influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, it is determined that the liquid in the second liquid container is in the non-remaining state,
Canceling the determination that the liquid in the second liquid container is in the non-remaining state when it is determined that the disturbance light has an influence on the remaining state determination process, and continuing printing. Liquid consumption device characterized. Controlling printing,
Estimating the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid container;
Performing a liquid remaining state determination process in the liquid container based on a detection signal obtained from an optical sensor having a light emitting part and a light receiving part and capable of facing a prism provided in the liquid container. ,
Based on the detection signal, it is determined that the liquid in the liquid container is in a non-remaining state, but if it is determined that the estimated remaining liquid amount is greater than or equal to a given remaining amount, printing is performed. To continue with
When it is determined that the liquid is in the non-remaining state based on the detection signal, and the liquid remaining amount estimated by the liquid remaining amount estimating unit is determined to be less than the given remaining amount, Performing disturbance light determination processing for determining the presence or absence of the influence of disturbance light on the remaining state determination processing;
In the disturbance light determination process, when it is determined that there is an influence of the disturbance light on the remaining state determination process, the printing is continued, and the remaining state determination process is performed every time a predetermined amount of liquid is consumed. Performing a second disturbance light determination process for determining the presence or absence of the influence of disturbance light;
A control method for a liquid consuming apparatus including