JPH09156125A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply confirm the residual amt. of ink on the side of a host computer by providing a means detecting the residual amt. of the ink in an ink cartridge to store the same and displaying the stored residual amt. of the ink to the host computer. SOLUTION: In the ink residual amt. control routine executed by the control unit C1 of a host computer 10, at first, the residual amt. of ink is calculated by subtracting the amt. of ink consumed for initial filling at a time of replacement from the ink amt. data of a new ink cartridge in relation to the ink color of a replaced ink cartridge to be stored in the ink residual memory 22b within an RAM 22. When the residual amt. of ink is larger than a predetermined value, the residual amt. of ink is displayed on a CRT display by a graph on the basis of the stored residual amt. of ink and, when the residual amt. of ink becomes a predetermined value or less accompanied by use, a warning message is displayed on the CRT display.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system in which an ink jet printer is connected to a host computer, or a printer for transferring and recording toner is connected to the host computer. Alternatively, the present invention relates to one in which the data of the toner remaining amount in the toner cartridge is detected and displayed on the host computer side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, an ink jet printer is connected to a host computer such as a personal computer via a connecting cable, and ink is ejected based on image data transmitted from the host computer to record an image on a recording sheet. It is designed to be recorded in. By the way, in the inkjet printer, an image is recorded by ejecting ink supplied from an ink cartridge from a plurality of ejection nozzles provided in a recording head.
Recently, as this kind of inkjet printer,
Not only "black ink" but also "cyan ink", "magenta ink" and "yellow ink" are provided with multiple recording heads that eject different color inks, based on the color image data received from the host computer. Inkjet printers capable of recording full-color images are in practical use. By the way, when the ink in the plurality of ink cartridges is used up, the image recorded on the paper may be blurred or cannot be recorded. Therefore, some models detect the ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge. Some of the inkjet printers thus made are in practical use.

For example, if a pair of electrodes is provided inside the ink cartridge and a predetermined voltage is applied between these electrodes to detect the value of the current flowing between the electrodes, the remaining amount of ink is large. At times, the resistance value between the electrodes decreases and the current value increases. On the other hand, when the remaining amount of ink is small, the resistance value between the electrodes increases and the current value decreases. The remaining amount of ink can be easily detected, and when the remaining amount of ink falls below a predetermined amount, a warning lamp on the operation panel is turned on or a warning message is displayed on the display.

Further, each time the recording head prints, the number of recording dots is added and counted, and the ink consumption amount corresponding to the number of recording dots is calculated to obtain the remaining ink amount by calculation. Similarly, when the quantity becomes less than a certain amount, a warning lamp of the operation panel may be turned on or a warning message may be displayed on the display.

[0005]

As described above, in an ink jet printer which is not designed to detect the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge, the recording image cannot be recorded because the recording image is blurred due to ink shortage. There is a problem that the recording processing time is wasted. Therefore, when an ink remaining amount detecting mechanism is provided to detect the ink remaining amount, there is a problem that the cost of the inkjet printer becomes high.

On the other hand, the ink jet printer connected to the host computer is often installed in a place different from the place where the host computer is installed, and the ink remaining amount of one or a plurality of installed ink cartridges can be detected. Inkjet printers are designed to turn on the warning lamp on the operation panel or to display a warning message on the display when the remaining ink amount falls below a predetermined amount. By operating the keyboard while watching, there are many cases where image data creation and editing work is performed, and data transmission work for recording is performed.
Since you only move to the inkjet printer when you are going to pick up the recorded paper, you often do not notice the warning message about the remaining ink level displayed on the inkjet printer side. There is a problem that the recording processing time is wasted.

An object of the present invention is to determine the amount of ink remaining in an ink cartridge or the amount of toner remaining in a toner cartridge on the host computer side without making any improvements to an ink jet printer or a printer that transfers and records toner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system that can be easily confirmed by a display as needed.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including an ink jet printer having a recording head for ejecting ink supplied from an ink cartridge to record the ink, and a host computer connected to the ink jet printer. In a printing system provided with, a host computer, a remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge, and a remaining amount storing means for storing the remaining amount of ink detected by the remaining amount detecting means,
A display control unit for displaying the remaining ink amount data stored in the remaining amount storage unit on a display is provided.

In operation, in the host computer, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge provided in the ink jet printer is detected by the remaining amount detecting means, the remaining amount storing means is detected by the remaining amount detecting means. Stored ink level. Then, the display control means causes the display to display the remaining ink amount data stored in the remaining amount storage means. That is, since the host computer detects and stores the ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge and displays it on the display, the host computer side displays the ink remaining amount as necessary without making any improvement to the inkjet printer. It is possible to easily confirm through the, and it is possible to reliably prevent waste of recording paper and recording processing time.

The printing system according to claim 2 is the printing system according to claim 1.
According to another aspect of the invention, the inkjet printer has a plurality of recording heads for respectively ejecting and recording inks of a plurality of colors supplied from a plurality of ink cartridges, and the remaining amount detecting means is configured to detect the remaining amount of ink for each color of ink. Is to detect. When the operation is described, the same operation as in claim 1 is achieved, but the remaining amount detecting means sets the remaining ink amount for each color of the ink for each of the plurality of ink cartridges that respectively supplies the plurality of color inks to the plurality of recording heads. Can be detected.

The printing system according to claim 3 is the printing system according to claim 1.
Alternatively, in the invention of claim 2, the remaining amount detecting means detects the remaining amount of ink on the basis of print data for printing the image to be printed. To explain the effect,
The same operation as in claim 1 or claim 2 is achieved, but the remaining amount detection means obtains the ink consumption amount based on the print data every time the recording target image is transmitted and output to the inkjet printer, and determines the remaining ink amount. Since the detection is performed, the remaining amount of ink after the recording process can be accurately detected.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including a printer having recording means for transferring and recording toner supplied from one or a plurality of toner cartridges, and a host computer connected to the printer. In a printing system, a host computer has a remaining amount detecting unit for detecting the remaining amount of toner in a toner cartridge for each toner cartridge, a remaining amount storing unit for storing the remaining amount of toner detected by the remaining amount detecting unit, and this remaining amount. A display control unit for displaying the data of the remaining amount of toner stored in the amount storage unit on the display is provided.

To explain the operation, the same operation as in claim 1 is performed, and the host computer detects and stores the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge and displays it on the display. It is possible to easily confirm the remaining amount of toner via the display on the host computer side without making any improvement to the above, and it is possible to reliably prevent waste of recording paper and recording processing time.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, four ink cartridges (C (cyan: blue-green), M (magenta: magenta), Y (yellow: yellow), and K (black: black) are housed in four ink cartridges that are detachably mounted. The present invention provides a printing system including an inkjet printer capable of recording a color image on a recording sheet by ejecting color inks from recording heads, respectively, and a host computer connected to the color inkjet printer for bidirectional data communication. Is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 has a C
A host computer 10 including an RT display 11, a keyboard 12, a coordinate input device (so-called mouse) 13, a main body control unit 14, and the like, and a color inkjet printer 30 are connected to each other with a connection cable L. The control system of the host computer 10 will be described based on the block diagram of FIG.

A CRT controller (CRTC) having a keyboard (K / B) 12 and a display RAM for outputting display data to a CRT display (CRTD) 11.
15, a floppy disk controller (FDC) 17 for driving and controlling a floppy disk drive (FDD) 16 provided in the control body 14, and a hard disk controller (HDC) for driving and controlling a hard disk drive (HDD) 18. The coordinate input device (mouse) 13 and the input / output interface (input / output I / F) 2 of the control device C1 provided in the control main body 14
3 are connected to each.

The control device C1 includes a CPU 20 for executing various control programs, and a ROM 21 and a RAM connected to the CPU 20 via a bus 25 such as a data bus.
22, an input / output interface 23, and a communication interface (communication I / F) 24. Here, the communication interface 24 is composed of, for example, a Centronics interface, and is configured to be capable of bidirectional data communication.

Here, the ROM 21 stores a boot program for booting the host computer 10 when the power is turned on, as in a general host computer.

The RAM 22 has a print data memory 22a for storing print data which is image data composed of dot data, an ink remaining amount memory (corresponding to remaining amount storing means) 22b for storing the ink remaining amount for each ink color, and the like. Is provided. Here, at least the ink remaining amount memory 2
2b is always backed up with a secondary battery,
Even if the power switch is turned off, the memory contents are retained. Furthermore, the RAM 22 has a HDD 1
In addition to various OSs (operating systems) such as MS-DOS and window system which are stored in advance in 8, etc., various application programs such as word processing software and image creation software that can be executed on the system are also provided. Each memory (RA
The application program can be operated by appropriately using M22, HDD 18, FD, etc.

The HDD 18 stores an OS (operating system) and various driver software for enabling the use of arbitrary fonts, CRT display 11, keyboard 12, mouse 13 and the like on the system. And a so-called printer driver for the color inkjet printer 30.
Software is also incorporated. As a result, when a color image or the like is recorded by the color inkjet printer 30 during execution of various application programs, recording data suitable for the printing function of the color inkjet printer 30 is created by the printer driver. In the case of a printer driver for a color printer, after dot pattern data (corresponding to recording data) of four colors of C, M, Y, and K is created, a color inkjet is performed via the communication interface 24 and the connection cable L. It is transmitted and output to the printer 30.

Further, the printer driver has ink amount data Aw of a new ink cartridge, ink consumption amount data Pw consumed by one purge suction process (ink suction process in the nozzle), and one flush process ( Ink consumption amount data Fw consumed in ink ejection processing for preventing ink from drying in the nozzles), and ink consumption amount data Cw consumed for initial filling when the ink cartridge is replaced
Are stored respectively, and as will be described later, a control program (corresponding to the remaining amount storing means) of the remaining ink amount management control for managing the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridges consumed by the color inkjet printer 30 is stored. .

Further, the printer driver is pre-programmed to be activated at any time by selecting a menu relating to "setting of printer driver", either by itself or while executing an application, and a so-called "dialog box" is displayed. By displaying it on the CRT display 11, for example, it is possible to freely set the printing style, color correction, resolution and the like.

Next, the color ink jet printer 30
3, a rubber platen 32, a carriage drive mechanism 40 for driving the carriage 41, and a four-body structure are provided on a main body frame (not shown) provided in the main body cover 31, as shown in FIG. Ink cartridge 60
Recording heads 52 to 5
Ink ejection mechanism 50 for individually ejecting onto the recording paper P from five ejection nozzles (not shown), and these recording heads 52 to 5
The maintenance mechanism 70 for maintaining or recovering the function of ejecting ink from the ejection nozzle 5 is provided.

The platen 32 is disposed in the left-right direction, the platen shaft is rotatably supported by the side wall plates 34 and 35 at both left and right ends, and the platen gear 33 is provided at the left end of the platen shaft. The platen gear 33 is attached and is connected to the feed motor 36 via a platen drive mechanism (not shown). That is, the rotation of the feed motor 36 in the predetermined rotation direction is transmitted to the platen gear 33 via the platen drive mechanism, and the platen 32 is driven in the predetermined paper feed direction.

Next, regarding the carriage drive mechanism 40,
This will be described with reference to FIG. A carriage 41 is horizontally arranged on the front side of the platen 32, and the carriage 41 is supported at its rear end by a guide rod 42 arranged in parallel with the platen 32 so as to be movable in the left-right direction. At its front end, the guide rod 42
It is supported by a guide rail 43 arranged in parallel with and movable in the left-right direction.

On the other hand, a driven pulley 44 is rotatably supported by a frame (not shown) at the left end of the moving range of the carriage 41, and a carriage drive motor 45 composed of a DC motor at the right end thereof. Is provided and an endless timing belt 47 is stretched over a drive pulley 46 and a driven pulley 44 attached to the drive shaft of the carriage drive motor 45, and the timing belt 47 is attached to the timing belt 47 at the lower end of the carriage 41. It is connected.
When the carriage drive motor 45 is rotationally driven, the carriage 41 is supported by the guide rod 42 and the guide rail 43 and is reciprocatingly driven via the pulleys 44 and 46 and the timing belt 47. .

Next, the ink ejecting mechanism 50 for ejecting ink onto the recording paper P for printing will be described with reference to FIGS. On the carriage 41, a box-shaped head holder 51 having an open upper part and a front part is mounted. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, four recording heads each formed with a plurality of ejection nozzles, that is, a recording head 52 that ejects black ink, a recording head 53 that ejects cyan ink, a recording head 54 that ejects magenta ink, and a yellow ink. The recording heads 55 for ejecting ink are provided respectively, and the recording heads 52 to 55 are provided with connecting cylinder portions 56 to 59 which are integrally formed by inserting the standing wall portion 51a.

Here, a plurality of ink supply passages (not shown) corresponding to a plurality of ejection nozzles are respectively formed inside the recording heads 52 to 55, and ink is ejected in each ink supply passage. Piezoelectric elements are provided. In addition, the head holder 51 includes the respective ink cartridges 6
A detection switch group 99 (see FIG. 5) for detecting the removal of 0 to 63 is provided, and the replaced ink cartridges 60 to 63 can be detected based on the switch signal from the detection switch group 99. Is configured.

An ink cartridge 60 containing black ink, an ink cartridge 61 containing cyan ink, an ink cartridge 62 containing magenta ink, and an ink cartridge 63 containing yellow ink can be individually attached and detached. Is attached to the head holder 51, and the front end portions of the connecting tubular portions 56 to 59 are
The ink supply ports (not shown) formed in the corresponding ink cartridges 60 to 63 are inserted to contact the built-in ink absorber. As a result, each ink of the ink cartridges 60 to 63 is connected to the connecting cylinder portion 56 to.
The ink is supplied to the plurality of ink supply passages of the recording heads 52 to 55 via 59, and the piezoelectric elements are connected to the recording heads 52 to 55.
By being driven every time, four color inks are ejected from the ejection nozzles of the recording heads 52 to 55, and a full color image is recorded on the recording paper P.

Next, the maintenance mechanism 70 will be briefly described. On the left side of the platen 32, a box-shaped mounting frame 71 that is open upward is provided, and a rubber wiper blade 72 and a suction cap 73 are independently moved back and forth on the front wall of the mounting frame 71. The wiper blade 72 and the suction cap 73, which are drivable, are alternately and independently switched to an advanced operating position by rotation of a gear cam 74 connected to a maintenance motor 76 (see FIG. 5). Recording head 52-
The purge suction operation and the wiping operation can be individually performed out of the 55, in association with each other. Here, when the suction cap 73 is switched to the operating position, the vacuum pump 75 interlocked with the rotation of the gear cam 74 is vacuum-operated, and the inside of the suction cap 73 becomes negative pressure and is sucked. In addition, a flash process of moving the carriage 41 to a position that does not face the recording paper P and ejecting ink from all nozzles of each recording head is performed in a predetermined cycle.

Next, the color ink jet printer 30
The control system of is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. The print drive circuit 80 includes four recording heads 52 to 5
A plurality of piezoelectric elements provided in each of the No. 5 are separately driven for each ink color, and the so-called application specific integrated circuit (AS) is used.
(IC) hard logic circuit. The recording control unit 90 includes a bus 9 such as a data bus.
Print driving circuit 80, ROM 91 and RAM
82 are connected.

The ROM 91 controls the recording heads 52 to 55 and the carriage drive motor 45 to record a color image to control the image recording control program, and the maintenance mechanism 70 performs maintenance processing such as purge suction processing and flash processing. A control program for maintenance control that executes the above, a control program for controlling the remaining ink amount data transmission, which will be described later, and the like are stored.

The RAM 92 is provided with an image data memory 92a for storing the received image data, and various memories and buffers necessary for image recording. Next, the recording control unit 90 is a one-chip CPU having a peripheral input / output interface for performing image processing on the received image data and controlling various peripheral circuits.
The U90a and a peripheral input / output interface 90b which is a so-called programmable peripheral interface (PPI).

The peripheral input / output interface 90b has a carriage drive circuit 94 for driving the carriage drive motor 45, a drive circuit 95 for driving the feed motor 36, and a drive circuit for driving the maintenance motor 76. 96, an operation panel 97 provided with switches such as a power switch and a feed switch, an origin position detection sensor 98 for detecting the origin position of the carriage 41, and a cartridge detection switch group 99 are connected, respectively. A communication interface 100 capable of receiving image recording data transmitted from the host computer 10 via the connection cable L is connected.
Here, the recording control unit 90, the ROM 91, and the RAM 92
The recording control device C2 is configured from the above.

Next, the color ink jet printer 30
The ink remaining amount data transmission control routine executed by the control device C2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, reference numeral Si (i = 10, 11, 12, ...
・ ・) Is each step. When the color inkjet printer 30 is powered on and the main routine is executed, the ink remaining amount data transmission control included in the main routine is repeatedly executed.

When this control is started, it is sequentially determined whether or not the ink cartridge has been replaced (S10) and whether or not the purging process or the flush process has been executed by the maintenance control (S11, S12). Then, based on the switch signal from the cartridge detection switch group 99, when any of the ink cartridges 60 to 63 is replaced (S10: Yes), the ink color data of the replaced ink cartridges 60 to 63 and the cartridge replacement are performed. A transmission process for transmitting and outputting the data and the data to the host computer 10 is executed (S13), the control is terminated, and the process returns to the main routine.

When the purging process is executed (S10: No, S11: Yes), a transmission process for transmitting and outputting the ink color data and the purge execution data to the host computer 10 is executed (S14), and the main routine. Return to. On the other hand, when the flash process is executed (S10 to S11: No, S12: Yes), the transmission process of transmitting and outputting the ink color data and the flash execution data to the host computer 10 is executed (S15), and the main routine is executed. To return.

Next, the ink remaining amount management control routine executed by the controller C1 of the host computer 10 will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.
The remaining ink amount management control is executed by interrupt processing when data regarding ink consumption is received from the color inkjet printer 30 during execution of the main routine, or during transmission of print data. When this control is started and the cartridge exchange data is received (S20: Yes), the ink cartridge 6
The ink remaining amount obtained by subtracting the ink consumption amount initially filled from the ink cartridge to the recording head by the purge suction process executed when the ink cartridges 0 to 63 are attached is calculated by the ink colors of the replaced ink cartridges 60 to 63. (S24).

That is, the replaced ink cartridge 60
.About.63 ink colors, the ink consumption data Aw of the new ink cartridges 60 to 63 is used to carry out the purge process for two to three times, and the ink consumption amount Cw consumed for initial filling at the time of replacement (for example, 0.7 to 0.9). The remaining ink amount is obtained by subtracting cc). Next, the remaining ink amount data is stored in the remaining ink amount memory 22b in association with the ink color (S29). Here, the ink level is 0.1c
It is stored in units of c.

Next, based on the ink remaining amount data for each ink color stored in the ink remaining amount memory 22b, the ink remaining amount of each ink color is set to a first predetermined value (for example, 30).
%) Or more (S30: Yes), the remaining ink amount for four colors is displayed on the CRT display 11 as a bar graph (S30).
32) and terminates this control and returns to the main routine. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, four colors (Y, M, C,
The current remaining ink amount for each ink color of K) is displayed on the CRT display 11 as a bar graph.

However, based on the ink remaining amount data for each ink color, even if the remaining amount of ink is at least the second predetermined value (for example, 5%) but less than the first predetermined value (S30・ S31: No), a warning message of the ink color with little remaining is displayed on the CRT display 11 (S3
3), return as well. For example, when the ink remaining amount of black ink is less than 30% and 5% or more, a warning message "Black ink remaining amount is low" is displayed on the CRT display 11 as shown in FIG. .

On the other hand, based on the ink remaining amount data for each ink color, when even one ink remaining amount is less than the second predetermined value (S30: No, S31: Yes), a warning prompting replacement of the ink cartridge is issued. A message is displayed on the CRT display 11 (S34), and similarly the process returns. For example, when the ink level of black ink is less than 5% and the ink cartridge 60 is replaced, a warning message "Please replace the ink cartridge" is displayed on the CRT display 11 as shown in FIG. It

Next, when the image data to be printed is expanded into the recording data which is the image data for each color and stored in the recording data memory 22a, and the recording data to be transmitted is prepared (S20: No). , S21: Yes
), The number of dots of the print data stored in the print data memory 22a is calculated for each ink color for which the print data is created (S25), and the ink remaining amount consumed by the ink ejection of the print dot number is It is calculated for each recorded ink color (S26).

That is, the number of recording dots for each ink color is
Amount of ink consumed by printing one recording dot (for example,
20 to 30 picoliters) to obtain the total ink consumption amount due to the recording process, and the latest ink amount obtained by subtracting the total ink consumption amount due to this recording from the current ink remaining amount read from the ink remaining amount memory 22b. The remaining amount is required. Then, S29 to S34 are executed, the latest ink remaining amount is updated and stored in the ink remaining amount memory 22b,
Based on the remaining ink amount data, a bar graph is displayed or a warning message is displayed.

Next, when the purge execution data is received (S20 to S21: No, S22: Yes), the remaining ink amount after the purging process is calculated is calculated for the purged ink color ( S27). That is, from the current remaining ink amount read from the remaining ink amount memory 22b,
The ink consumption amount Pw (for example, 0.2
The latest ink remaining amount after subtracting ~ 0.3 cc) is required. Then, S29 to S34 are executed, the latest ink remaining amount is updated and stored in the ink remaining amount memory 22b,
Based on the remaining ink amount data, a bar graph is displayed or a warning message is displayed.

Next, when the flash execution data is received (S20 to S22: No, S23: Yes), the ink remaining amount after consumed by the flash processing is calculated for the flash-processed ink color ( S28). That is, from the current remaining ink amount read from the remaining ink amount memory 22b, the ink consumption amount F by this flash process
The latest ink remaining amount after subtracting w (for example, the ink consumption amount of about 1000 dots) is obtained. And S29 ~ S
34 is executed, the latest remaining ink amount is updated and stored in the remaining ink amount memory 22b, and based on the remaining ink amount data, a bar graph is displayed or a warning message is displayed.

Next, the color ink jet printer 30
The remaining amount of ink in the four-color ink cartridges 60 to 63 provided in the
The operation of the remaining ink amount display displayed on the display 11 will be described. In the color inkjet printer 30, the cartridge replacement data is stored each time the ink cartridge is replaced, the purge execution data is stored each time the purge process is executed, and the flash execution data is stored each time the flush process is executed. Computer 1
It is output to 0 each time.

When the cartridge replacement data is received, the host computer 10 obtains the ink remaining amount by subtracting the ink consumption amount Cw consumed for the initial filling at the time of replacement from the new ink amount Aw. When transmitting the print data for the recording process, which is stored in the ink remaining amount memory 22b, the latest ink remaining amount obtained by subtracting the ink amount consumed in the image recording is obtained for each ink color, and the purge process and the flash process are performed. Is executed, the latest ink remaining amount obtained by subtracting the ink consumption amounts Pw and Fw from each other is obtained for each ink color, and is updated and stored in the ink remaining amount memory 22b each time.

Then, based on the remaining ink amount data in the remaining ink amount memory 22b, when the remaining ink amounts for the four colors are respectively larger than the first predetermined value, the remaining ink amount for each ink color is displayed in a bar graph on the CRT display. On the other hand, on the other hand, when the remaining amount of ink is less than the first predetermined value or the second predetermined value, a warning message regarding the ink color is displayed on the CRT display 11,
It is possible to easily check the ink remaining amount on the host computer 10 side through the display, if necessary, without adding any improvement to the color inkjet printer 30.
It is possible to reliably prevent waste of the recording paper P and recording processing time.

As described above, in the printing system 1 including the color ink jet printer 30 and the host computer 10 connected to the printer 30 so as to be capable of bidirectional data communication, every time the print data to be printed is transmitted, Every time the execution data for which the purge suction process or the flush process is executed is received, the latest ink remaining amount obtained by sequentially subtracting the ink consumption amount consumed by these processes is managed by the control device C1 of the host computer 10. A bar graph or a warning message is displayed on the display 11 of the host computer 10 based on the ink remaining amount data for each ink color, so that the host computer 10 side displays the remaining ink amount as necessary. Can be easily checked, ensuring no waste of recording paper or recording processing time It is possible to stop. Further, in the host computer 10 connected to the color inkjet printer 30 so as to be capable of one-way data communication, the control device C1 of the host computer 10 instructs the color inkjet printer 30 to perform a purging process or a flushing process. The same operation and effect as described above can be obtained without transmitting and outputting those processes to the host computer as in the embodiment.

By the way, one or a plurality of toner cartridges are provided, a toner supplied from these toner cartridges is developed on a photosensitive drum, and the developed toner image is transferred to a recording sheet and recorded. In the case of a printing system including a host computer connected to this laser printer so that two-way data communication is possible, on the side of the host computer, the amount of toner contained in a new toner cartridge is transferred to the photosensitive drum. By subtracting the toner consumption amount consumed in the recording process based on the number of dots of the recording data of the electrostatic latent image to be formed, the remaining toner amount is obtained and stored each time the image is recorded. The remaining amount may be displayed on the display of the host computer. Also in this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The ink consumption P stored in the RAM 22
A plurality of sets of w, Fw, and Cw are stored in association with different temperatures, and the ink consumption amount according to the outside air temperature such as summer or winter is used, or the inkjet printer 30 is provided with a maintenance mechanism. If not, various changes may be made to the above-described embodiment based on existing technology or technology obvious to those skilled in the art, such as obtaining and displaying the remaining ink amount based on cartridge replacement and print data. possible. In addition, various host computers,
It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a printing system by a network in which a printer for monochrome printing and a plurality of printers for color printing are connected.

[0053]

According to the printing system of the first aspect,
In a printing system including an inkjet printer and a host computer connected to the inkjet printer, the host computer is provided with a remaining amount detection unit, a remaining amount storage unit, and a display control unit, and the host computer includes an ink cartridge. The remaining amount of ink is detected and stored and displayed on the display, so it is possible to easily check the remaining amount of ink on the host computer, if necessary, without making any improvements to the inkjet printer. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent waste of recording paper and recording processing time.

According to the printing system of the second aspect, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be obtained, but the ink jet printer ejects a plurality of inks of a plurality of colors supplied from a plurality of ink cartridges and records the inks. Since the remaining amount detecting unit has a recording head and detects the remaining amount of ink for each color of ink, each of the plurality of ink cartridges that supplies a plurality of recording heads with a plurality of colors of ink by the remaining amount detecting unit. For, it is possible to detect the remaining ink amount for each color of ink.

According to the printing system of the third aspect, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect can be obtained, but the remaining amount detecting means records the recording target image every time it outputs it to the ink jet printer. Since the ink consumption is determined based on the data and the remaining ink amount is detected, the remaining ink amount after the recording process can be accurately detected.

According to the printing system of the fourth aspect, the host computer detects and stores the toner remaining amount of the toner cartridge and displays it on the display. Therefore, the printer for transferring and recording the toner can be improved. It is possible to easily confirm the remaining toner amount through the display on the host computer side without any addition, and it is possible to reliably prevent the waste of recording paper and recording processing time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing system in which an inkjet printer and a host computer are connected according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of an ink ejecting mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the inkjet printer.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a routine of ink remaining amount data transmission control.

FIG. 7 is a part of a schematic flowchart of a remaining ink amount management control routine.

FIG. 8 is a part of a schematic flowchart of a remaining ink amount management control routine.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display of an ink remaining amount by a bar graph.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display when the remaining amount of ink is low.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display prompting replacement of an ink cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printing System 10 Host Computer C1 Control Device 24 Communication Interface 30 Inkjet Printer 52-55 Recording Head 60-63 Ink Cartridge 90 Recording Control Unit C2 Recording Control Device 100 Communication Interface L Connection Cable

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising an inkjet printer having a recording head for ejecting ink supplied from an ink cartridge from a nozzle to record the ink, and a host computer connected to the inkjet printer. A remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge, a remaining amount storing means for storing the remaining amount of ink detected by the remaining amount detecting means, and a remaining amount of ink stored in the remaining amount storing means. A printing system comprising: a display control means for displaying data on a display; 2. The ink jet printer has a plurality of recording heads for respectively ejecting and recording inks of a plurality of colors supplied from a plurality of ink cartridges, and the remaining amount detecting means has an ink remaining amount for each color of ink. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the amount is detected. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the remaining amount detecting means detects the remaining amount of ink on the basis of print data for printing an image to be printed. 4. A printing system comprising a printer having recording means for transferring and recording toner supplied from one or a plurality of toner cartridges, and a host computer connected to the printer, wherein the host computer A remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge for each toner cartridge; a remaining amount storing means for storing the remaining amount of toner detected by the remaining amount detecting means; A printing system, comprising: display control means for displaying the remaining toner amount data on the display.