MXPA99010905A - Ink cartridge and printer using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An ink cartridge (107K, 107F) of the present invention has a storage element (80K, 80F), in which plural pieces of specific information relating to the ink cartridge (107K, 107F) are stored at specific addresses that respectively occupy minimum bits required for storage. Namely the storage capacities required for storing the respective pieces of specific information are different from one another. For example, a piece of information on the year of manufacture is registered in a data length of 7 bits, a piece of information on the month of manufacture is registered in adata length of 4 bits, and a piece of information on the date of manufacture is registered in a data length of 5 bits. A piece of information on the time (hour) of manufacture is registered in a data length of 5 bits, and a piece of information on the time (minute) of manufacture is registered in a data length of 6 bits. A piece of information on the validity term of ink is registered in a data length of 6 bits, and a piece of information on the after-unsealed validity term is registered in a data length of 5 bits. This arrangement enables the specific information relating to the ink cartridge (107K, 107F), for example, pieces of information on the manufacture of the ink cartridge (107K, 107F), and those on remaining quantities of the respective inks, to be stored efficiently into the storage element (80K, 80F), while reducing the manufacturing cost of the ink cartridge (107K, 107F).

Description

INK CARTRIDGE AND PRINTER USING THE SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink cartridge, detachably attached to a printing apparatus, such as an ink jet printer or an ink jet projector. More specifically, the invention pertains to a process information technique relating to the ink cartridge.

Description of RelaArt 'The ink jet type printing apparatus is arranged to cause the main body of the printer to calculate the remaining amount of each ink in the ink cartridge, based on the amount of ink ejecfrom the print head and to inform the user of the state of the ejection of the ink, in order to prevent the printing process from being interrupby the lack of ink. A proposed ink cartridge has a storage element, in which several pieces of information are stored, relating to the maintenance of the ink in the cartridge, for example, the type of ink and the amount of ink. This ink cartridge has these pieces of information regarding the ink, and the printer, to which the ink cartridge is attached, reads the stored information regarding the ink and performs the printing procedure suitable for the ink. The ink cartridge is spent and thus requires that it has a manufacturing cost as low as possible. A storage unit, which has a large storage capacity, can thus not be applied to the storage element of the ink cartridge. However, there is a contradictory requirement in the storage of larger pieces of information relating to the ink cartridge in the storage element, in order to enable the user to obtain the detailed information relating to the ink cartridge.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is thus to provide an ink cartridge which makes it possible for pieces of information relating to this ink cartridge, for example, the information in the remaining quantity of each ink, to be efficiently stored in an element. storage, while reducing the manufacturing cost of the ink cartridge, which includes the storage element. The object of the invention is also to provide a printer using such an ink cartridge, a method of writing the information relating to the ink cartridge and a storage unit, included in the ink cartridge. At least part of the above and other relaobjects are updaby an ink cartridge detachably attached to a printer. The ink cartridge includes a storage unit that stores multiple pieces of specific information relative to the ink cartridge. The storage unit has a storage area that includes a plurality of memory divisions, which respectively have minimum bit storage capacities, required to store the multiple pieces of specific information. In the ink cartridge of the present invention, the storage unit has a storage area that includes a plurality of memory divisions, which respectively have minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store the multiple pieces of specific information. This arrangement makes it possible for the specific information relating to the ink cartridge, for example, pieces of information on the remaining quantities of inks and pieces of information in the year, month and date of manufacture of the ink cartridge, to be stored efficiently in the storage unit, while reducing the cost of manufacturing the ink cartridge. According to a preferred application of the present invention, the multiple pieces of specific information include a piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge. In a preferred embodiment, the storage area includes a memory division of the year of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 7 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the year of manufacture of the ink cartridge, a memory division of the month of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 4 bits, and stores a piece of information regarding the month of manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the manufacturing date, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge. In this configuration, the memory division of the year of manufacture, the division of memory of the month of manufacture and the division of memory of the date of manufacture can be arranged in this sequence in the storage area. It is preferable that the storage area also include a memory view of the manufacturing time, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the time of manufacture of the ink cartridge and a memory division. of the minute of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the minute of manufacture of the ink cartridge. It is preferred that the storage area also has a memory division of the validity period, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held in the cartridge, and a division memory of the period of validity, after the seal has been removed, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held inside the cartridge, after removing the stamp from the ink cartridge. In this configuration, the memory division of the year of manufacture, the memory division of the month of manufacture, the memory division of the manufacturing date, the memory division of the manufacturing time, the memory division of the minute of manufacture , the division of memory of the period of validity and the division of memory of the period of validity after removing the seal, can be arranged in this sequence in the storage area. According to another preferred application of the present invention, the storage area has a division of memory of the information of the quantity of ink, in which a piece of information, relative to the quantity of ink held in the cartridge, is stored , this memory division of the ink quantity information is located at a specific address that is accessed before the memory division in which the piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge is stored. According to yet another preferred application of the present invention, the storage unit includes: an address counter, which produces an account in response to a clock signal from the printer; and a storage element, which has the storage area and is accessed in sequence based on the quantity produced from the address counter. The present invention also addresses a method for writing multiple pieces of specific information in a storage unit, which is included in the ink carge, which has any of the above configurations and which is removably attached to a printer. The method includes the steps of: generating the multiple pieces of specific information, which include a piece of information relating to the ink carge; and writing the multiple pieces of specific information generated in a plurality of memory divisions, which are allocated in the storage unit and which respectively have minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store multiple pieces of specific information. The method of the present invention writes the multiple pieces of specific information in a plurality of memory divisions, which are allocated in the storage unit to have minimum bit storage capacities, respectively, required to store the multiple pieces of specific information. This arrangement makes it possible for the specific information relating to the ink carge, for example, pieces of information on the remaining quantities of inks and the pieces of information of the year, month and date of manufacture of the ink carge, which is to be stored efficiently in the storage unit, while reducing the cost of manufacturing the ink carge. The present invention also is directed to a printer, to which the ink carge, having any of the arrangements discussed above, is detachably joined.

The printer of the present invention uses the ink cartridge with the storage unit, which has a storage area that includes a plurality of memory divisions, with minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store the multiple pieces of information specific. This arrangement makes it possible for the specific information relating to the ink cartridge, for example, pieces of information on the remaining quantities of inks and pieces of information on the year, month and date of manufacture of the ink cartridge, to be stored efficiently in the unit storage, while reducing the cost of manufacturing the ink cartridge. The present invention is also directed to a storage unit that is included in the ink cartridge. This ink cartridge is detachably attached to a printer and read and written by the printer. The storage unit has a storage area that includes a plurality of memory divisions, which respectively have minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store multiple pieces of specific information. The storage unit of the present invention, included in the ink cartridge, has a storage area, which includes a plurality of memory divisions, which respectively have minimum storage capacities of the bits required for storage of multiple pieces. of specific information. This arrangement makes it possible for the specific information relating to the dye cartridge, for example, the pieces of information in the remaining quantities of inks and the pieces of information in the year, month and date of manufacture of the ink cartridge, to be stored efficiently in the storage unit, while reducing the manufacturing cost of the ink cartridge. According to a preferred application of the present invention, the multiple pieces of specific information include a piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge. In a preferred embodiment, the storage area includes a memory division of the year of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 7 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the year of manufacture of the ink cartridge, a memory division of the month of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 4 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the month of manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the manufacturing date, which has a storage capacity of 5. bits and stores a piece of information regarding the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge. In this configuration, the division of memory of the year of manufacture, the division of memory of the month of manufacture and the division of memory of the date of manufacture, can be arranged in this sequence in the storage area. It is preferable that the storage area also include a memory division of the manufacturing time, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the time of manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a division of manufacturing minute memory, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the minute of manufacture of the ink cartridge. It is preferable that the storage area also has a memory division of the validity period, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits, and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held inside the cartridge, and a memory division of the period of validity, after removing the stamp, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held in the ink cartridge, after removing the stamp of this cartridge. In this configuration, the memory division of the year of manufacture, the memory division of the month of manufacture, the memory division of the manufacturing date, the memory division of the manufacturing time, the memory division of the minute of manufacture , the memory division of the validity period and the memory division of the validity period, after removing the stamp, can be arranged in this sequence in the storage area.

According to another preferred application of the present invention, the storage area has a memory division of the amount of ink, in which a piece of information relating to the amount of the ink held in the ink cartridge is stored, the The information memory division of the ink quantity is located at a specific address to which it is accessed before the memory division in which the piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge is stored. According to yet another preferred application of the present invention, the storage unit includes: an address counter, which produces an account in response to a clock signal produced from the printer; and a storage element, which has the storage area and is accessed in sequence, based on the account produced from the address counter. These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of a main part of an ink jet printer in one embodiment, according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the ink jet printer shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, illustrating the structure of a car used in the mode ink jet printer; Figure 4 illustrates schematically a connection between the main body of the printer, an IC control and storage elements; Figure 5 shows an arrangement of the nozzle openings, formed on the printer head, shown in Figure 1; Figures 6A and 6B are perspective views schematically illustrating the structure of an ink cartridge and a cartridge attachment unit of the main body of the printer, respectively; Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating a state of attachment in which the ink cartridge, shown in Figure 6A, is attached to the cartridge attachment unit, shown in Figure 6B; Figure 8 is a flow diagram showing a process routine executed at the time of power supply to the ink jet printer; Figure 9 is a flow chart showing a process routine executed at the time of disconnecting power from the ink jet printer; Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating the internal structure of the storage elements shown in Figure 3; Figure 11 shows directions of the IC control, views from the main body of the printer and the internal data structure (memory map) of the storage element, with respect to the information lines in the black ink cartridge; Figure 12 shows directions of the IC control, views from the main body of the printer and the internal data structure (memory map) of the storage element with respect to the information lines in the color ink cartridge; Figure 13 shows the correlation between the addresses in the memory cells of the storage elements and the addresses in the IC control (print controller); Figure 14 is a flow diagram showing a process routine executed by the IC control in the course of the reading process from the storage elements; Figure 15 is a graph of the time at the time of the reading process shown in the flow diagram of Figure 14; and Figure 16 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of another ink cartridge, as a modification of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES First Modality Gene structure of the Apparatus of. Type of printing Ink Injection Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of a main part of an inkjet printer 1, in a modality according to the present invention. The inkjet printer 1 d of the mode is used in conjunction with a PC computer, to which an SC scanner is also connected. The computer PC reads and executes an operating system predetermined programs to operate, in combination with the inkjet printer 1, such as the ink jet type printing apparatus. The computer P executes an application program in a specific operating system, carries out the processing of an input image, for example, read from the SC scanner, and displays an image processed in a CRT display MT. When the user gives a print instruction, after completing the process of the required image, for example, by touching the image on the CRT display MT, the printer's instruction circuit, incorporated in the operating system, is activated to transfer the data of the processed image to the inkjet printer.

The instruction circuit of the printer converts the original data of the color image, which enters from the SC scanner, and submits them to the required image processing, to the color image data printable by the inkjet printer 1, in response to the printing instruction and produces the converted color image data to the inkjet printer 1. The original color image data consist of three color components, namely red (R), green (G) and blue (B). The converted color image data, which can be printed by and produced in the inkjet printer 1, consists of six color components, i.e., black (K), cyano (C) (blue), cyan light (LC), magenta (M) (solferino), light magenta (LA), and yellow (Y). The printable color image data is also subjected to a binary process, which specifies the on-off status of the ink points. These image processes and data conversion processes are known in the art and thus are not specifically described here. These processes can be carried out in the inkjet printer 1, instead of the printer instruction circuit, included in the PC computer.

In the inkjet printer 1, a carr 101 is connected to a carriage motor 103 in a carriage mechanism 1 by means of a synchronous band 102, and is guided by a guide member 104 to move back and forth along the length of the carriage. of the width of a sheet of printing paper (printing medium) 105. The tint injection printer 1 also has a sheet feeding mechanism 11, with a sheet feeding roller 106. A print head 10, of the ink jet type, is attached to a specific carriage of the carriage 101, which faces the printing paper 105 d, that is, the underside in this mode. The printing head 10 covers ink supply supplies from the cartridges 107K and 107F mounted on the carriage 101, and ejects ink droplets onto the printing paper 105, with the movement of the carriage 101, so as to create points and print a image or letters on paper 105 d printing.

The ink cartridge 107K has an ink chamber 117K, in which the black ink (K) is held. The ink cartridge 197F has a plurality of ink chambers 107Cm, 107LC, 107M, 107LM and 107Y, which are formed independently of each other. . The cyano ink (C), light cyan ink (LC), magenta ink (M), light magenta ink (LM) and yellow ink (Y), are respectively stored in the ink chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM and 107Y . The printing head 10 receives the respective supplies of color inks fed from these ink chambers, 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM and 107Y. The printing head 10 ejects these color inks in the form of droplets of the respective colors, so as to carry out color printing.

A cover unit 108 is disposed in the unprintable area (non-stock area) of the inkjet printer 1, until wax of the nozzle openings of the print head 10, while the operation of the printing head 10 is not carried out. Print. The cover unit 108 effectively prevents an increase in the viscosity of the ink and the formation of an ink film due to the vaporization of a solvent component from the ink, while the printing operation is not performed. This cover unit 108 also collects the ink droplets from the print head 10, which occur by the injection process during the execution of the printing operation. A cleaning unit 109 is arranged near the cover unit 108, for cleaning by rubbing the surface of the print head 10, for example with a sheet, so as to separate the residue of ink or powder from the paper adhering to the surface of the print head 10.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the mode inkjet printer 1. The inkjet printer 1 includes a main body 100 of the printer (main body of the printing apparatus), which includes a printing controller 40 and a printing engine 5. The print controller 40 has an interface 43 which receives print data including multi-tone information, transmitted from the PC computer, a RAM 44 in which a variety of data, for example, print data including the information of multiple tones, are stored, and a ROM memory 45, in which the routines for the processing of various data are stored. The printing controller 40 further has a controller 46, which includes a CPU, an oscillator circuit 47, a pulse signal generating circuit 48, which generates a pulse signal COM given to the print head 10, and a parallel interface 49. input-output, which transmits the developed print data to the dot pattern data and the pulse signal COM to the print engine 5.

The control lines of a panel switch 92 and a power source 91 are also connected to the print controller 40, by means of the parallel input-output interface 49. When there is a power disconnect from the panel switch 92, the print controller 40 produces an operation stop instruction (NMI) to the power source 91, which then goes into an alert state. The power source 91 in the alert state supplies an electrical power to support the print controller 40 by means of a power line (not shown). That is, the standard process of power disconnection, carried out by means of the panel switch 92, does not completely cut off the supply of electrical power to the print controller 40.

This print controller 40 monitors whether a current electrical power is supplied from the power source 91. The print controller 40 also produces the energy stop instruction (NMI), when an energy pin is pulled from the bushing. The fountain 91 power has an auxiliary power unit (eg, a capacitor), in order to ensure a supply of electrical power for a predetermined period of time (eg 0.3 sec) after the power plug has been removed from the socket.

The print controller 40 further includes an EEPROM memory 90 which stores information regarding the cartridge 107K of the black ink and the color ink cartridge 107F, mounted on the carriage 101 (see Figure 1). Specific pieces of information, which include the pieces of information regarding the quantities of the inks in the black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107F (remaining quantities of the ink or ink consumption quantities) are stored in the EEPROM 90. The details of such information will be discussed later. The print controller 40 also has a address decoder 95, which converts an address in the memory cells 81K and 81F (described below) of the storage elements 80K and 80F (described below), which requires an access ( read / write) the controller 46, in a number of synchronization generators.

Control Layout IC 200 The print controller 40 is connected to a control IC 200, which controls the read and write operations from and to the respective ink cartridges 107K and 107F (storage elements 80K and 80F): The details of the control IC 200 are described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 is a fragmented perspective view illustrating the structure of the carriage 101 in the mode ink jet printer. Figure 4 illustrates schematically a connection between the main body 100 of the printer, the control IC 200, and the storage elements 80K and 80F. Referring to Figure 3, the control IC 200 is provided on and integrated with the print head 10. The control IC 200 comes into contact with the respective store elements 80K and 80F, mounted on the ink cartridges 107K and 107F, by means of the contact mechanism 130, arranged in the cartridge 101, and control the writing operations of the cartridge. specific information, according to the requirements. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the IC 200 control has a RAM 210, in which the data is temporarily preserved, and connects to the printer controller 40 via the parallel 49 input-output interface and in addition to the warehouse elements 80K and 80F. The control IC 200 is interposed between the printing controller 40 and the respective storage elements, 80K and 80F, mounted on the ink cartridges 107K and 107F and controls the data transmission between the printing controller 40 and the store elements 80K and 80F. For convenience of illustration, the printing head 10, the carriage mechanism 12, and the control IC 200 are shown separately in Figure 2. The print controller 40 produces an input signal RxD and a SEL command selection signal carries out the write operation of the specific information in the IC 200 control at set time intervals previously. The specific information is kept temporarily in the RAM 210. The time interval previously set here represents each time the printing operation is completed with respect to one page each time the printing operation is completed with respect to several scan lines. or each time the manual cleaning process is carried out. The specific information includes, for example, pieces of information with respect to the remaining quantities of inks, the frequency of cleaning, the frequency of attachment of the ink cartridge and the total time of this connection. The control IC 200 receives the input signal RxD and the command selection signal SEL and produces a desired piece of information required by the print controller 40 between the pieces of information, which are read in advance from the respective store elements, 80K and 80F, and stored in control IC 200, as a signal produced TxD to the print controller 40. In the mode ink jet printer 1, the amount of ink ejection is calculated by multiplying the weight of the ink droplets ejected from a plurality of nozzle openings 23 by the frequency of ejection of the ink droplets. The current remaining amount of ink is determined by subtracting an amount of the ink consumption from the previous remaining amount of ink, before starting the current printing operation. The amount of the ink consumption is the sum of the calculated amount of ink ejection and the amount of ink suction. The ink suction is carried out, for example, when some abnormality occurs due to bubbles invading the print head 10. The ink suction procedure causes the cover unit 108 to be pressed against the print head 10 and thus closes the nozzle openings 23, and sucks the ink by means of a pump mechanism (not shown), linked to the deck unit 108, for restoration purposes. The controller 46 executes the calculation of the remaining amount of ink from the data stored in the EEPROM memory 90, according to a program stored in advance in the ROM memory 45. The mode inkjet printer 1 receives the binary data , as previously described. The arrangement of the binary data, however, is not coincident with the arrangement of the nozzle on the print head 10. The control unit 46 correspondingly divides the RAM 44 into three portions, i.e., a temporary input memory 44A, a temporary buffer 44B intermediate and a temporary buffer 44C output, in order to execute the rearrangement of the arrangement of the data of points. The inkjet printer 1 can, alternatively, carry out the required process for color conversion and binarization. In this case, the inkjet printer 1 records the print data, which includes the information of multiple tones and is transmitted from the PC computer, to the temporary input memory 44A, via the interface 43. The data of printed in the temporary input memory 44A are subjected to the command analysis and then transmitted to the intermediate buffer 44B. The controller 46 converts the input printing data into intermediate codes by the provision of information with respect to the print positions of the printer. the respective letters or characters, the type of modification, the size of the letters or characters, and the address of the source. The intermediate codes are kept in the temporary buffer 44B intermediate. The controller 46 then analyzes the intermediate codes maintained in the intermediate buffer 44B and decodes the intermediate codes of the binary point pattern data. This binary point pattern data is expanded and stored in the temporary output memory 44C. In any case, when the dot pattern data corresponding to a sweep of the print head 10 is obtained, the dot pattern data is transferred in series from the temporary output memory 44C to the printing head 10 via of the parallel input-output interface 49. After the dot pattern data corresponding to a sweep of the print head 10 is produced from the output temporary memory 44C, the process erases the contents of the intermediate buffer 44B to wait for the conversion of a next set of print data. The printing engine 5 has the printing head 10, the blade feeding mechanism 11 and the carriage mechanism 12. The sheet feeding mechanism 11 successively feeds the printing medium, such as the recording paper, to carry out a sub-scanning, while the carriage mechanism 12 carries out the main scanning of the printing head 10. The print head 10 causes the respective nozzle openings 23 to eject droplets of ink against the printing medium at a predetermined time, so as to create an image corresponding to the data generated from the pattern of dots on the printing medium. The pulse signal COM generated in the generator circuit 48 of the pulse signal is produced to an element pulse circuit 50 in the print head 10 by means of the parallel input-output interface 49. The print head 10 has a plurality of pressure chambers 32 and a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 17 (pressure generating elements), which respectively connect with the openings 23 of the nozzle. The number of both the pressure chambers 32 and the piezoelectric vibrators 17 is thus coincident with the number of nozzle openings 23. When the pulse signal COM is sent from the element pulse circuit 50 to a certain piezoelectric vibrator 17, the corresponding pressure chamber 32 contracts to cause the corresponding nozzle opening 23 to eject a droplet of ink. Figure 5 shows an arrangement of the nozzle openings 23 formed in the print head 10. These nozzle openings 23 in the print head 10 are divided into six nozzle arrays of the colors black (K), light (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM) and yellow ( Y) .

Structure of the Ink Cartridge 107 and the Cartridge Union Unit 18 The cartridge 107K of black ink and the cartridge 107F of color ink, which are attached to the inkjet printer 1, having the above configuration, have a basic structure. The following description relates to the ink cartridges 107K and 107F, the black ink cartridge 107K, as an example, and the structure of a cartridge attachment unit 18 of the printer main body 100, which receives and holds the cartridge ink, with reference to Figures 6A ', 6B and 7.

Figures 6A and 6B are perspective views schematically illustrating the structure of the ink cartridge 197K and the cartridge attachment unit 18 of the main body 100 of the printer, respectively. Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating a state of union in which the ink cartridge 107K is attached to the cartridge joining unit 18. Referring to Figure 6A, the ink cartridge 107K has a cartridge main body 171, which is composed of a synthetic resin and defines an ink chamber 117, in which the black ink is retained, and its built-in storage element 80K in a side frame 172 of the main body 171 of the cartridge. The storage element 80K carries out the transmission of various data to and from the main body 100 of the printer, when the ink cartridge 107K is attached to the cartridge assembly unit 18 of the main body 100 of the printer, shown in FIG. Figure 6B. The storage element 80K is received in a recess 173 open in the bottom, formed in the side frame 172 of the ink cartridge 107K. The storage element 80K has a plurality of connection terminals 174 exposed to the outside. Alternatively, the total storage element 80K can be exposed to the outside. Referring to Figure 6B, the cartridge joining unit 18 has a supply needle 181, which is disposed upwardly on a bottom 187 of a cavity, in which the ink cartridge 107 is accommodated. A recess 183 is formed around the ink supply needle 181 to receive an ink supply unit 175 (see Figure 7) formed in the ink cartridge 197K. Three guides 182 of the cartridge are placed on the inner wall of the recess 183. A connector 186 is placed on an inner wall 184 of the joint unit 18 of the cartridge. The connector 186 has a plurality of electrodes 185, which are electrically connected to a plurality of connection terminals 174 of the storage element 80K, when the ink cartridge 107K is attached to the cartridge joining unit 18. The ink cartridge 107K is attached to the cartridge joining unit 18, according to the following procedure. The process first places the ink cartridge 107K on the joint unit 18 of the cartridge. The method then presses down a lever 182, which is fixed to a back wall 188 of the cartridge joining unit 18 by means of a support shaft 191, as shown in Figure 7, to terminate in the ink cartridge 107K . The downward pressure movement of the lever 182 presses down the ink cartridge 107K, so as to cause the ink supply unit 175 to fit into the recess 183 and cause the ink supply needle 181 to puncture the ink unit 175. supply of ink, making this ink supply possible. As the lever 192 is further depressed downward, a clutch 193, disposed on a free end of the lever 192, engages a corresponding element 189, disposed in the cartridge joining unit 18. This fixes the ink cartridge 107K to the cartridge joining unit 18. In this state, the plurality of connection terminals 174 in the storage element 80K in the ink cartridge 107K are electrically connected to the plurality of electrodes 185 in the cartridge joining unit 18. This enables the transmission of data between the main body 100 of the printer and the storage element 80K via the IC 200 control. The color ink cartridge 107F basically has a structure similar to that of the ink cartridge 107K and the only difference it is described here. The color ink cartridge 107F has five ink chambers, in which five different color inks are saved. It is required to feed the supplies of the respective color inks to the printing head 10, via separate paths. The color ink cartridge 107F correspondingly has five ink supply units 175, which respectively correspond to the five different color inks. The color ink cartridge 107F, in which five different color inks are stored, however, has only one built-in storage element 80F. The pieces of information regarding the ink cartridge 107F and the five different color inks are collectively stored in this storage SOF element.

Operation of the Ink Jet Printer 1 With reference to Figures 8 and 9, the following describes a series of basic processes carried out by the ink jet printer 1 of the mode shown between the time of operation and the moment of operation. power disconnection from the printer 1. Figure 8 is a flow chart showing a process routine executed at the time of power supply to the inkjet printer 1. Figure 9 is a flowchart showing a process routine executed at the time of power off of the inkjet printer 1. The controlled 46 executes the routine of the process of Figure 8 immediately after the start of the power supply. When the power source 91 of the ink jet printer 1 is driven, the controller 46 first determines whether or not the ink cartridge 107K or 107F has just been replaced in step S30. The decision of step S30 is carried out, for example, by referring to a replacement flag of the ink cartridge in the case where the EEPROM memory 90 stores the replacement flag of the ink cartridge, or in another example, based on the data regarding the time (hour and minutes) of manufacture or the data of the serial number of production with respect to the cartridge 107K or 107F of ink. In the case where the energy is activated without the replacement of any ink cartridge 107K or 107F, ie, in the case of a negative response in step S30, the controller 46 reads the data from the respective storage elements 80K and 80F of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F in step S31. When it is determined that the ink cartridge 107K or 107F has just been replaced, that is, in the case of an affirmative response in step S30, on the other hand, the controller 46 increases the frequency of the binding by one and writes the frequency increment of the junction in the storage element 80K or 80F of the ink cartridge 107K or 107F in step S32. The controller 46 then reads the data of the respective storage elements 80K and 80F of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F in step S31. The data read here are those required by the printer controller 40 and include, for example, the data regarding the year of manufacture, the data regarding the month of manufacture, the data regarding the period of validity and the data regarding the period of Validate after removing the seal. The IC control 200 actually executes the read operation from the storage elements 80K and 80F, which will be described later in detail. The controller 46 subsequently writes the report data to the predetermined addresses in the EEPROM memory 90 or in the RAM memory 44 in step S33. In the subsequent step S34, the controller 46 determines whether or not the ink cartridges 107K and 107F attached to the inkjet printer 1 are suitable for this inkjet printer 1, based on the data stored in the memory. EEPROM 90. When they are suitable, that is, in the case of an affirmative answer in step S34, a printing operation is allowed in step S35. This completes the preparation for printing, and the program leaves the routine of the process of Figure 8. When they are not suitable, that is, in the case of a negative response in step S34, on the contrary, the printing operation it is not allowed, and the information representing the printing prohibition is displayed on either switch 92 of the panel or display MT, in step S36. The inkjet printer 1 carries out a predetermined printing process in the case where s allows the printing operation. The controller 46 calculates the remaining quantities of the respective inks, color black, in the course of the predetermined printing process. The current remaining amount of each tint is determined by subtracting a quantity of ink consumption, which is due to the current printing operation, from the previous remaining amount of ink, before starting the current printing operation. The amount of ink consumption with respect to each ink is the sum of the amount of ejection of ink and the amount of suction of tint consumed by the suction action previously described. The amount of ejection of ink is calculated, for example, by multiplying the weight of an ink droplet by the ejection frequency of the ink droplets. The controller 46 writes the last calculated residual quantities of the respective inks as the data in the remaining quantities of inks in the EEPROM memory 90.

The updated retentive amounts of inks are written to the respective storage elements 80K and 80F of the ink cartridges 107K and 107F, after the power switch is turned off in the panel switch 92 in the inkjet printer 1. Referring to the flow chart of Figure 9, in response to the operation shutdown of the power switch on the panel switch 92 in the ink jet printer 1, the program first determines whether or not the ink jet printer 1 Ink is in a state of alert in the STll stage. In the case where the inkjet printer 1 is not in the alert state in step STll, the program stops the sequence in progress in step ST12 and returns to step STll. In the case where the ink jet printer 1 is in the alert state in step STll, on the other hand, the program drives the cover unit 108 to cover the print head 10 in step ST13, and stores the conditions of driving the print head 10 into the EEPROM memory 90 in step ST14. The pulse conditions here include a voltage of the torque pulse signal to compensate for the individual difference of the print head and a correction condition to compensate for the difference between the respective colors. The program subsequently stores in a variety of timers in the EEPROM memory 90 in step ST15, and stores the contents of a control panel, for example, an adjustment value to correct the misalignment of the shock positions in the case of bidirectional printing on the EEPROM 90 memory in the ST16 stage. The program then stores the remaining quantities of the respective black and red ink inks, which are written to the EEPROM memory 90 in the respective storage elements, 80K and 80F, of the black and color ink cartridges 107K and 107F in the STP stage. . After that, the program cuts the energy supply in the ST18 stage.

Structure of the Storage Elements 80K and 80F The internal structure of the storage elements 80K and 80F is described in detail with reference to Figures 10 to 13. Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating the internal structure of the storage elements. storage elements 80K and 80F shown in Figur 3. Figure 11 shows the directions of the IC control 20 seen from the main body 100 of the printer and the internal data structure (memory map) of the storage element 80K with respect to the Information lines on the black ink cartridge 107K. Figure 12 shows the directions of the IC control 200 seen from the main body 100 of the printer and the internal data structure (memory map) of the storage element 80F with respect to the information lines of the color ink cartridge 107F. Figure 13 shows the correlation between the addresses in the storage elements, 80K and 80F, and the addresses in the IC control 200 (the print controller 40). - The black ink cartridge 107K and the color ink cartridge 107, have cavities formed to function as the ink chambers and store the black and color inks, and include the storage elements, 80K 80F, respectively. In this mode, the EEPRO memories are applied to the storage elements, 80K and 80F. The EEPROM memories used for the storage elements 80K and 80F, respectively, include the 81K and 81F memory cards, the read / write 82K and 82F controllers, which control the read and write operations of data from and within the cells 81K and 81F of memory, the address counters 83K and 83F that count the occasions of the read and write operations of the data between the main body 100 of the printer and the 81K and 81F memory registers by means of the 82K controllers and 82F read / write in response to the clock signal CLK, as shown in the block diagram of Figure 10. The addresses in the storage elements 80K and 80F are specified by the d bit unit. In the present specification, the addresses in the storage elements, 80K and 80F, represent the addresses of the head or the bits of the head in which the corresponding pieces of information are stored. The data structure of the storage cell 81K of the storage element 80K, included in the black ink cartridge 107K, are described in detail with reference to Figure 11. The memory cell 81K (store element 80K) has the addresses 00 through 18, which are assigned to a readable storage area 650, addresses 28 to 66, which are assigned to a 660 d storage area, read only. In this embodiment, a piece of information in the remaining amount of black ink s registers at address 00 in memory cell 81K which has a data length of 8 bits. A piece of information on the frequency of cleaning of the print head 1 and a piece of information on the frequency of attachment of the cartridge 107K of the black ink is recorded respectively in the directions 08 and 10, both with a data length of 8 bits. A piece of information in a total binding time period of the tint cartridge 107K is recorded at address 18, which has a data length of 16 bits. The data regarding the remanent quantity of black ink are assigned to the address 00 between the read and write addresses, 00 to 18. This arrangement enables the data regarding the remaining amount of black ink that is written preferably .

The data in the remaining amount of black ink has an initial value of 100 (expressed as a percentage) gradually decreases to 0 with a progress of execution of the printing process. The remaining amount of black ink must be replaced by the amount of ink consumption. In the latter case, the amount of ink consumption has an initial value of 0 (expressed as a percentage) and gradually increases to 100 with the progress of execution of the printing process. The main body 100 of the printer has data regarding the maximum ink capacities in the 107K and 107F cartridges of black and color ink. The percentage calculation is based on the maximum tint capacity data and the actual ink consumption quantities. Alternatively, the maximum ink capacities can be stored in the storage elements 80K and 80F of the respective ink cartridges 107K and 107F. In the case where the ink consumption quantities are used instead of the remaining quantities of inks, the data in the amount of ink consumption can take an initial value in the range of 0 to 90%. The data without written initial values are generally undefined. Writing the initial value in the range of 0 to 90% of the data ensures accurate inspection of ink consumption. This arrangement also enables the safe determination of whether or not the amount of ink held in the cartridge is measured on the assumption that the proper correction will be made while using the ink cartridge. The maximum value setting of the data in the ink consumption amount equal to 90%, effectively prevents the ink from running out of the course of the printing process. In the case of a medium-sized ink cartridge, which has half the ink capacity of a standard size ink cartridge, data on the remaining amount of ink or the data on the amount of ink consumption can take an initial value of 50 (expressed as a percentage). An alternative technique sets 100 to the initial value of the data in the remaining amount of ink or from 0 to the initial value of the data in the amount of ink consumption, and doubles the rate of decrease or the rate of increase. The latest technique enables the remaining quantities of inks to be monitored on the identical scale when both the standard-sized ink cartridge and the half-size ink cartridge are attached to the printer. Pieces of information relating to the manufacture of the 107K black ink cartridge are stored in specific directions that occupy respectively the minimum bits required for storage (storage capacities). That is, the storage capacities required to store the respective pieces of information are different from each other. For example, a piece of information of the year of manufacture is recorded at address 28 which has a data length of 7 bits, a piece of information of the month of manufacture is recorded at address 2F having a data length of 4 bits , a piece of information on the manufacturing date is recorded at address 33, which has a data length of 5 bits. A piece of information in the manufacturing time (time) is recorded at address 38 which has a data length of 5 bits, a piece of information in time (minutes) of manufacture is recorded in the 3D address, which has a 6-bit data length, and a piece of information in the production serial number is recorded in the .direction 43 having a data length of 8 bits. A piece of information in the recycled frequency, a piece of information in the period of validity of the ink and a piece of information in the period of validity, after removing the stamp, are registered respectively in the address 4B that has a data length of 3 bits, in the address 60, having a data length of 6 bits and of the address 66 having a data length of 5 bits.- The data structure of the memory cell 81F of the element 80F storage, included in the color ink cartridge 107F, is described in detail with reference to Figure 12. The memory cell 81F (storage element 80F) has the addresses 00 to 38, which are assigned to a storage area 750 which can be read and written, and addresses 48 to 86, which are assigned to the storage area 760 read only. The pieces of information in the remaining quantities of the cyan (blue) ink magenta (solferino) ink, yellow ink, light cyan ink and light magenta ink, are recorded in the 00, 08, 10, 18 and 20 directions in the 81F memory cell, each with a data length of 8 bits. A piece of information on the cleaning frequency of the print head 10 and a piece of information of the binding frequency of the color ink cartridge 107F are recorded, respectively, in the directions 28 and 30, both with a length of 8-bit data. A piece of information in a total time period of attachment of the ink cartridge 107F is recorded in the address 38 having a data length of 16 bits. The data regarding the remaining quantities of the respective color inks are assigned to the addresses 00 through 20 between addresses 00 to 38, which can be read and written. This arrangement makes it possible for the data regarding the remaining quantities of the respective color inks to be preferably written. Pieces of information regarding the remaining quantities of the cyan, magenta and yellow inks are assigned to the first 3 bytes (24 bits), and the pieces of information regarding the remaining quantities of light cyan and light magenta inks are assigned to the next 2 bytes (16 bits).

This data structure is thus applicable to a color ink cartridge having only three colors, cyan, magenta and yellow. The data in the remaining amount of each color ink,, has an initial value of 100 (expressed as a percentage) and gradually decreases to 0 with the progress of the execution of the printing process. The remaining amount of each color ink can be replaced by the amount of ink consumption. In the latter case, the amount of ink consumption has an initial value of 0 (expressed as a percentage) and gradually increases to 100 with the progress of the execution of the printing process. The arrangement of the data in the remaining quantities of the respective color inks are similar to the arrangement of the data in the remaining quantity of the black ink and roast is not specifically described here. Pieces of information relating to the manufacture of the color ink cartridge 107D are stored in specific directions that respectively occupy the minimum bits required for storage (storage capacities). That is, the storage capacities required to store the respective pieces of information are different from each other. For example, a piece of information in the year of manufacture is recorded at address 48 which has a data length of 7 bits, a piece of information in the month of manufacture is recorded in address 4F, which has a data length 4 bits, and a piece of information on the manufacturing date is recorded at address 53, which has a data length of 5 bits. A piece of information in the manufacturing time (time) is recorded at address 58, which has a data length of 5 bits, a 'piece of information in time (minutes) of manufacture is recorded in the 5D address that has a data length of 6 bits, and a piece of information in the production serial number is recorded at address 63, which has a data length of 8 bits. A piece of information on the frequency of recycling, a piece of information on the period of validity of the inks and a piece of information in the period of validity after removing the stamp, are recorded respectively at address 6B, which has a length 3-bit data, at address 80 having a data length of 6 bits and at address 86, having a data length of 5 bits. Referring to Figures 11 and 12, between the 8-bit lower addresses of the IC control 200, as seen from the main body 100 of the printer, the addresses 00 to 10 are assigned to the information relating to the 80K storage element of the cartridge 107K of black ink, and the addresses 20 to 34 are assigned to the information relating to the storage element 80F of the color ink cartridge 107F. The data length of 1 or 2 bytes is assigned to each address. The correlation between the addresses in the storage elements, 80K and 80F, and the addresses in the IC 200 control (the print controller 40) are briefly described with reference to Figure 13. The data is stored by the 1-byte unit in the IC 200 control, while the data is stored by the 1 bit unit in the storage elements, 80K and 80F. In the IC 200 control, the 1-byte area is correspondingly assigned even with data having a length of less than 1 byte. In the storage elements, 80K and 80F, on the other hand, only the minimum bits required are assigned to respective data, so there are no vacancies in the data area.

Reading Operation from the Storage Elements 80K and 80F The following describes a decoding process carried out in the course of the reading operation from the 80K and 80F storage elements, which is performed by the IC 200 control, in response to an instruction from the main body 100 of the printer (the print controller 40), with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing a process routine executed by the IC control 200 in FIG. the course of the reading process from the storage elements, 80K and 80F, and Figure 15 is a time diagram on the occasion of the reading process shown in the flow chart of Figure 14. When the program enters the process routine of Figure 14, the IC 200 control first it produces a CS signal at the low level and readjusts the direction counters 83K and 83F on the storage elements 80K and 80F in the step S200. The IC 200 control then produces the CS signal at the high level and adjusts the storage elements 80K and 80F in the active state in step S210. The control IC 200 subsequently makes an R / W signal at a low level and thus specifies a read operation from the storage elements 80K and 80F in step S220. The IC 200 control then produces a specific number of clock pulses to the storage elements 80K and 80F in step S230. The specific number of clock pulses corresponds to the desired address, which is produced from the print controller 40 and where the print controller 40 requires access to the read data. In this address conversion process, the IC 200 control converts a first address * Adf and an end address * Ade to a desired range of addresses (bit data) in the memory cells 81K and 81F, in which the controller 46 it requires having access to the reading operation, in the corresponding members of clock pulses. The IC 200 control successively produces clock pulses (* Adf-l) and clock pulses (* Ad- * Adf) to storage elements 80K and 80F.

The address counters, 83K and 83F, in the storage elements, 80K and 80F, increase the address by the bit unit at the time of entering the clock signal CLK. The IC 200 control thus specifies the desired address in step S240. The data stored in the storage elements, 80K and 80F, goes to a data collector at the time of entering the clock pulse. The IC 200 control controls the desired count in the address counter required for the read operation in the previous way, and temporarily stores the produced data corresponding to the desired address, for example, the data of the year of manufacture, the data in the month of manufacture, the data in the period of validity and the data in the period of validity, after separating the stamp, in step S250. The report data is serial data expressed by the bit unit, so the IC 200 control converts the bit data to the byte data, as do the serial data to the parallel data in step S260. The IC 200 control then produces the parallel byte data converted to the print controller 40 in step S270. This completes the decoding process and the program exits the process routine of Figure 14. As previously described, the address is specified and incremented by the bit unit in this mode.

Effects of the First Mode In the embodiment discussed above, the pieces of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge are stored in succession in specific directions occupying respectively minimum bits required for storage. This arrangement enables the limited storage capacities of the 80K and 80F storage elements to be used effectively. The arrangement of the modality enables a vacant memory division, which is assigned to data in the case of a fixed data length, but remains unused, to be assigned to another storage area and used effectively for the storage of another piece of information. This arrangement ensures the efficient storage of more pieces of information in a fixed storage capacity. In the mode discussed above, the inexpensive EEPROM memory, which performs only the access in sequence, is applied to the storage elements, 80K and 80F of the ink cartridges, 107K and 107F, black and colored, where Data in the remaining quantities of inks are stored. Such an application conveniently reduces the cost of expendable ink cartridges, 107K and 107F. In the arrangement of the modality discussed above, the storage areas, which can be read and written, 65 and 750, are located in addresses that are accessed in sequence before the storage areas 660 and 760 only read in the elements of storage. respective 80K and 80F storage. Still in the structure that carries out the data writing operation in the storage areas o650 and 750 that can be read and written, after the operation of disconnecting the power switch in the panel switch 92, this arrangement ensures the termination of the data writing operation before removing the power plug from the bushing. The configuration of the mode that applies data storage elements 80K and 80F makes it possible to access only in sequence to reduce the cost of the ink cartridges, 107K and 107F, advantageously reducing the possible failure in the data rewriting process.

Modifications of the First Mode In the modality discussed above, the used 83K and 83F address counters are of the ascending account type. The type of downcount can be used alternatively for address counters 83K and 83F. In this case, the data array must be changed in such a way as to have access to the storage areas, 650 and 750, which can be read and written, rather than to the storage areas 660 and 760 only for reading. That is to say, the storage areas 650 and 750, which can be read and written, are located in the higher addresses than those of the storage areas, 660 and 760, only for reading. More specifically, the pieces of information regarding the remaining quantities of the inks assigned to the head addresses must be registered in the end directions. The principle of the present invention is applicable to an out-of-cart type printer, in which the ink cartridges are mounted on the carriage, as well as in cart type printers, in which the ink cartridges are mounted on the cartridges. the car, as described in the previous modality. In the previous mode, the EEPROM s memory applies to storage elements 80K and 80F. A dielectric memory of FEOM of access type in sequence, can be used in place of the EEPROM. This EEPROM included volatile memories. In the previous mode, the amount of ink remnants is used as the relative information for the ink quantities. The cumulative quantities of ink consumption can, however, be used instead of the remaining quantities of inks. The ink cartridges 107K and 107F used in the above embodiment, can be replaced with other ink cartridges 500, shown in Figure 16. Figure 16 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of the ink cartridge 500 as a modification of the ink cartridge 500. the present invention. The ink cartridge 500 includes a container 51, formed substantially in a rectangular parallelepiped configuration, a porous body (not shown) that is impregnated with ink and accommodated in the container 51, and a cover member 53 covering the upper opening of the container 51. This container 51 is divided into zinc ink chambers (such as the ink chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM and 107Y in the ink cartridge 107F, discussed in the above embodiment), which separately retain zinc inks of different color. The ink supply inlets 54 for the respective color inks are formed at specific positions on the bottom face of the recipient 51. The ink supply inlets 54 at the specific positions are faced with the needles (not shown here) for supply of ink, when the ink cartridge 500 connects to a cartridge attachment unit of a main body (not shown here) of the printer. The pair of extensions 56 is formed integrally with the upper end of the vertical wall 55, which is located on the side of the ink supply inlets 54. The extensions 56 receives projections of a lever (not shown here) fixed to the main body of the printer. The extensions 56 are located at both lateral ends of the vertical wall 55 respectively have the ribs 56a. A triangular rib 57 is also formed between the underside d of each extension 56 and the vertical wall 55. The container 5 also has a check recess 59, which prevents the ink cartridge 500 from attaching to a suitable cartridge unit n, wrong way The vertical wall 55 also has a recess 58 which is located in the substantial center of the width of the ink cartridge 500. A circuit board 31 is mounted on the recess 58. this circuit board 31 has a plurality of contacts, which are located to face the contacts in the main body of the printer, and a storage element (not shown) mounted on the printer. his back face. The vertical wall 55 is further provided with projections 55a and 55b and extensions 55c and 55d for positioning the circuit board 31. In the above embodiment, the five inks d color, ie, magenta, cyano, yellow, light magenta clear cyan, are applied for the plurality of different color inks. The present invention is also applicable to any combination of an arbitrary number of color inks, e.g., a combination of three different color vats of magenta, cyan and yellow, a combination of six different color inks., which include other than the five color inks in addition to the five previous color inks. The present invention is not restricted to the above embodiment or its modifications, and may have many modifications, changes and alternatives without departing from the scope and spirit of the main features of the present invention. The scope and spirit of the present invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims (20)

1. CLAIMS 1. An ink cartridge, attached, in detachable form, to a printer, this tint cartridge comprises: a storage unit, which stores multiple pieces of specific information relative to the ink cartridge; wherein the storage unit has a storage area, comprising a plurality of memory divisions having, respectively, the bit storage capacities required to store the multiple pieces of specific information.
2. 2. An ink cartridge, according to claim 1, wherein the multiple pieces of specific information include a piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge.
3. 3. An ink cartridge, according to claim 2, in which the storage area comprises a memory division of the year of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 7 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the year of manufacture of ink cartridge, a memory division of the manufacturing month, which has a storage capacity of 4 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the month of manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the manufacturing date, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge.
4. 4. An ink cartridge, according to claim 3, in which the division of memory of the year of manufacture, the division of memory of the month of manufacture, the memory division of the date of manufacture, are arranged in this sequence in the area of storage.
5. 5. An ink cartridge, according to claim 3, wherein the storage area comprises a memory division of the manufacturing time, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the time of production. manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the manufacturing minut, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the minute of manufacture of the ink cartridge.
6. 6. An ink cartridge, according to claim 5, in which the storage area has a memory division of the period of validity, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the validity period of the ink retained in the cartridge, and a division of memory of the period of validity, after removing the stamp, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held in the cartridge, after removing the ink cartridge seal.
7. 7. An ink cartridge, according to claim 6, wherein the memory division of the year of manufacture, the memory division of the month of manufacture, the memory division of the manufacturing date, the memory division of the time of manufacture, manufacture, the division of memory of the minute of manufacture, the division of memory of the period of validity, and the division of memory of the period of validity, after removing the seal, are arranged in this sequence in the storage area.
8. 8. An ink cartridge, according to any of claims 2 to 7, wherein the storage unit comprises: an address counter, which produces a count in response to the clock signal produced from the printer; and a storage element, which has the storage area and has access in sequence, based on the account produced from the address counter.
9. 9. An ink cartridge, according to claim 8, wherein the storage area has an information memory division of the amount of ink, in which a piece of information relating to the amount of the ink held in the cartridge is storage, this division of information memory of the amount of ink is located in a specific direction, which is accessed before the division of memory where the piece of information is stored in relation to the manufacture of the ink cartridge.
10. 10. A method for writing multiple pieces of specific information in a storage unit, which is included in an ink cartridge, according to any of claims 1 to 9, this ink cartridge is detachably attached to a printer, the method comprises the steps of: generating the multiple pieces of specific information that include a piece of information relative to the ink cartridge; and writing the multiple pieces of specific information generated in a plurality of memory divisions, which are allocated in the storage unit and have, respectively, minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store the multiple pieces of specific information.
11. 11. A printer, to which an ink cartridge is detachably attached, according to any of claims 1 to 9.
12. 12. A storage unit, which is included in an ink cartridge, in which this ink cartridge is detachably attached to a printer and is written to and written by the printer, the storage unit comprises: a storage area, which it has a plurality of memory divisions, which have, respectively, minimum storage capacities of the bits required to store a multitude of pieces of specific information.
13. 13. A storage unit, according to claim 12, wherein the multiple pieces of specific information include a piece of information relating to the manufacture of the ink cartridge.
14. 14. A storage unit, according to claim 13, in which the storage area comprises a memory division of the year of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 7 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the year of manufacture of the storage. ink cartridge, a memory division of the month of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 4 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the month of manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the manufacturing date, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge.
15. 15. A storage unit, according to claim 14, in which the division of memory of the year of manufacture, the division of memory of the month of manufacture and the division of memory of the date of manufacture, are arranged in this sequence in the area storage.
16. 16. A storage unit, according to claim 14, wherein the storage area comprises a memory division of the manufacturing time, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information with respect to the time of storage. manufacture of the ink cartridge, and a memory division of the minute of manufacture, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the minute of manufacture of the ink cartridge.
17. 17. A storage unit, according to claim 16, in which the storage area has a memory division of the validity period, which has a storage capacity of 6 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the validity period of the storage period. the ink retained in the cartridge, and a division of memory of the period of validity, after removing the stamp, which has a storage capacity of 5 bits and stores a piece of information regarding the period of validity of the ink held in the cartridge, after removing the ink cartridge seal.
18. 18. A storage unit, according to claim 17, wherein the memory division of the year of manufacture, the memory division of the month of manufacture, the memory division of the manufacturing date, the memory division of the time of manufacture, manufacture, the division of memory of the minute of manufacture, the division of memory of the period of validity, and the division of memory of the period of validity, after removing the seal, are arranged in this sequence in the storage area.
19. 19. A storage unit, according to any of claims 13 to 18, wherein the storage unit comprises: an address counter, which produces an account in response to the clock signal produced from the printer; and - a storage element, which has the storage area and has access in sequence, based on the count produced from the address counter.
20. 20. A storage unit, according to claim 19, wherein the storage area has an information memory division of the amount of ink, in which a piece of information, relative to the amount of ink held in the cartridge , it is stored, this division of information memory of the quantity of ink is located in a specific direction, which is accessed before the division of memory where the piece of information is stored in relation to the manufacture of the ink cartridge. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The ink cartridge of the present invention has a storage element, in which multiple pieces of specific information, relating to this ink cartridge, are stored in specific directions, which respectively occupy the minimum bits required for storage . That is, the storage capacities required to store the respective pieces of specific information are different from each other. For example, a piece of information of the year of manufacture is recorded in a data length of 7 bits, a piece of information of the month of manufacture is recorded in a data length of 4 bits, and a piece of information of the date of manufacture. Manufacturing is recorded in a data length of 5 bits. A piece of manufacturing time information (time) is recorded in a data length of 5 bits, and a piece of manufacturing time (minute) information is recorded in a data length of 6 bits. A piece of information of the period of validity of the ink is recorded in a data length of 6 bits, and a piece of information of the period of validity after removing the stamp is recorded in a data length of 5 bits. This arrangement enables the specific information, relative to the ink cartridge, for example, pieces of information in the manufacture of the ink cartridge and those about the remaining amounts of the respective inks, to be stored efficiently in the storage element, while reducing it. The manufacturing cost of this ink cartridge.