JPH04275156A - Inkjet printer and ink cartridge used in this printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To know certainly and easily, before deterioration of printing quality occurs, the time for replacement of an ink cartridge that is made up of an ink head and a printing head by uniting the two in one piece. CONSTITUTION:The number of times of electric current application to a printing head is counted by an electrification counter 32a, and the counted values are stored in accumulation in an EEPROM 41. When the accumulated values reach a value that decides to be a near-end, an LED 22 for indication of the near-end is lighted, and when the accumulated values reach a value that decides to be an ink-ending, an LED 23 for indication of the ink-ending is lighted, and thereby an operator is informed of the ink-ending.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer and an improvement in an ink cartridge used in the printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art There are two types of ink supply systems for conventional inkjet printers: One method is to separate the ink tank and print head, and supply the ink in the ink tank to the print head through a tube.The other method is to integrate the ink tank and print head so that they can be disposable. This is the method that was used. Incidentally, the integrated one is called an ink cartridge.

In the case of the former method, since the ink tank can be installed outside the printer body, a window is provided in the case of the ink tank so that the remaining amount of ink can be checked through the window.

However, in the case of the latter method, the ink tank is installed inside the printer body, so as shown in FIG. I was trying to keep the ink from leaking. For this reason, even if a window is provided in the case of ink tank 1, it is difficult to accurately check the remaining amount of ink, and conventionally, when printing is blurred or missing, the operator can confirm that the ink level is low. Judging that it is
I was replacing the ink cartridge.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in conventional inkjet printers that use ink cartridges as an ink supply system, it is difficult to accurately check the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank, so printing Ink cartridges were replaced at the operator's discretion based on quality deterioration, and it was not always possible to obtain stable print quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides an inkjet printer that can accurately and easily know when to replace an ink cartridge before deterioration of print quality occurs, and that can always obtain stable print quality, and an inkjet printer that can be used in this printer. The aim is to provide an ink cartridge that can

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a counting means for counting the number of times the print head is energized, and a counting means for counting the number of times the print head is energized, in an inkjet printer that is removably equipped with an ink cartridge that integrates an ink tank and a print head. The apparatus includes a storage means for accumulatively storing the count value by the storage means, and a notification means for notifying the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank based on the stored value by the storage means.

[0008] The ink cartridge used in the inkjet printer of the present invention includes a storage means for storing the cumulative value of the number of times of energization of the print head, and a notification of the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank based on the stored value by the storage means. A device equipped with a notification means is conceivable.

The present invention also includes an ink cartridge body that integrates an ink tank and a print head, a storage means that is removably attached to the ink cartridge body and stores the accumulated value of the number of times the print head is energized, and a memory formed by this storage means. It is also conceivable to include an adapter including a notification means for notifying the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank based on the value.

0010

[Operation] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, each time the print head is energized, the number of energizations is counted by the counting means, and the count value is cumulatively stored by the storage means. Based on the cumulative value, the notification means notifies the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank. Since the ink in the tank is ejected little by little each time the print head is energized, the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank can be estimated almost accurately from the cumulative value. Therefore, by checking the notification content by the notification means, it is possible to know when to replace the ink cartridge before the print quality deteriorates.

[0011] In this case, by providing the ink cartridge with a storage means and a notification means, it is convenient because even if the ink cartridge is once removed and then reinstalled, the accumulated value of the number of times of energization in the cartridge can be maintained.

Furthermore, by configuring the ink cartridge main body, which integrates the print head and ink tank, and the adapter, which is equipped with storage means and notification means, to be detachable, it is possible to discard only the main body and replace the adapter when replacing the ink cartridge. By clearing the stored contents of the storage means, it can be used again, so costs can be reduced.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the external appearance of the inkjet printer in this embodiment, and shows a housing 11.
An operation switch 12 is provided on the front side of the machine, and a paper tray 13 is attached on the back side. Furthermore, a platen 14 and a carriage shaft 15 are arranged in parallel in the center of the housing 11. A carriage 16 is slidably attached to the carriage shaft 15. A PC board connector 17 is fixed to the carriage 16, and one end of a flexible cable 18 is connected to this connector 17.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an ink cartridge, which is an integral structure of an ink tank 20 and a print head 21. Although not shown, the ink tank 20 is filled with a sponge impregnated with ink. Additionally, on the top surface of the ink tank 20, there is an LED for indicating ink end.
22 and an LED 23 for near-end display are attached. Furthermore, a PC board 24 is attached to the side of the ink tank 20.
is installed. This PC board 24 is equipped with a control circuit for the print head 21, a display circuit for each of the LEDs 22 and 23, and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) 41, which will be described later. Also, ink tank 2
The part that protrudes from 0 is the contact pattern,
By inserting this portion into the PC board connector 17, the ink cartridge 19 is removably attached to the carriage 16.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electric circuit configuration.
31 is a microprocessor constituting the main body of the control unit; 32
33 is a communication interface that controls data transmission and reception with a host computer connected via a communication cable.
34 is a RAM for storing information such as print data received from the host computer, and 34 is an I/O port for controlling the input/output of information, and these are connected to each other via a data bus 35. .

The I/O port 34 has the operation switch 12 and the carriage 16 connected to the carriage shaft 1.
a motor driver 38 that outputs drive signals to a carriage motor 36 for sliding the platen 14 in the axial direction of the platen 5, and a feed motor 37 for rotating the platen 14 one step at a time to feed the paper; Print head 2 mounted on a PC board 24 connected via
a head driver 39 that outputs a drive signal to the control circuit 21a of No. 1; a display driver that outputs drive signals to the display circuit 22a of the ink end display LED 22 and the display circuit 22b of the near end display LED 23, which are also provided on the PC board 24; 40 are connected.

The RAM 32 includes the print head 21.
An energization counter 32a is provided as a counting means for counting the number of energizations. Also, PC
The EEPROM 41 installed on the board 24 functions as a storage means for cumulatively storing the count value of the energization counter 32a, and when the PC board 24 is inserted into the connector 17, it is connected to the microprocessor via the bus lines 42 and 35. 31 to control reading and writing of data.

The microprocessor 31 is connected to the communication interface 33 with the end of the PC board 24 inserted into the PC board connector 17, that is, with the ink cartridge 19 mounted on the carriage 16 of the inkjet printer. The printer is programmed to execute the printing process shown in FIG. 3 upon receiving a printing command from the host computer. That is, first, the energization counter 32
The count value n of a is initialized to "0". Next, each time the print head 21 is energized via the head driver 39 based on the print data, the energization counter 32a is set to +1.
” counts up. When the printing operation for one line is completed, the E of the ink cartridge 19 side is
The cumulative number of times N of energization (unused ink cartridges are initially set to "0") stored in the EPROM 41 is read out. Then, the count value n of the energization counter 32a is added to this cumulative value N, and the value after the addition is set as the current energization number cumulative value N. This cumulative value N is
Write to PROM41.

[0020] Here, it is determined whether the cumulative value N written in the EEPROM 41 has exceeded a preset near-end reference value A. If the near-end determination value A is still not reached, the count value n of the energization counter 32a is initialized to "0" and the above process is repeated. If the cumulative value N has reached the near-end determination value A, it is then determined whether the cumulative value N has exceeded a preset ink-end determination value B (B>A). If the ink end judgment value B is still not reached, the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 20 is low and the time for replacement is approaching, so a lighting signal for the near end display LED 23 is sent via the display driver 40. Output. After that, the count value n of the energization counter 32a is set to "0".
, and repeat the above process. On the other hand, the cumulative value N
has reached the ink end judgment value B, the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 20 is so small that good print quality cannot be ensured and it is necessary to replace the display driver 4.
0, outputs a lighting signal for the ink end indicating LED 23, and stops outputting a lighting signal for the near end indicating LED 23. Then, this printing process is interrupted and the process waits for the ink cartridge 19 to be replaced. Here, the above-mentioned ink end display LED 22 and near end display L
The ED 23 functions as a notification means for notifying the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 20. Note that this process ends when the host computer issues a command to end printing.

In this embodiment configured as described above, the number of energizations to the print head 19 is counted by the energization counter 32a every time a printing operation is performed, and the count value n is calculated by the ink cartridge 19 every time one line is printed. The data is accumulated in the EEPROM 41 mounted on the PC board 24. When this cumulative value N reaches a preset near-end determination value A, the near-end display LED provided in the ink tank 20 of the ink cartridge 19
23 lights up. Further, when the cumulative value N is further accumulated and reaches the ink end judgment value B, the near-end display LED 23 turns off, the ink end display LED 22 provided at the same position lights up, and the printing operation is interrupted. .

Here, since the ink in the ink tank 20 is ejected little by little each time the print head 21 is energized, the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 20 can be estimated almost accurately from the cumulative value N. Become. Therefore, by setting the near-end judgment value A and the ink end judgment value B to appropriate values, the near-end display LED 23 lights up to indicate that the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 20 is low and the time for replacement is approaching. You can check. Similarly,
By lighting up the ink end display LED 23, it can be confirmed that there is only a small amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 20, making it impossible to ensure good print quality and requiring replacement. As a result, even if the ink cartridge 19 is an ink cartridge 19 in which the ink tank 20 and print head 21 are integrated and the ink tank 20 is filled with a sponge impregnated with ink, the operator can check the ink cartridge 19 from the display state of each LED 22 and 23. It is possible to accurately and easily know when to replace the ink cartridge 19, and to replace the ink cartridge 19 before the print quality deteriorates. Further, waste caused by a large amount of ink still remaining in the ink tank of the ink cartridge 19 that has been replaced and discarded is also prevented.

Moreover, the PC on the ink cartridge 19 side
Since the EEPROM 41 is provided on the plate 24 as a storage means for storing the cumulative value of the number of times of energization of the print head 21, even if the ink cartridge 19 is once removed from the carriage 16 and then reinstalled, the cumulative value of the number of times of energization N of the cartridge 19 will not be stored. It can be maintained and you can definitely know when it is time to replace it.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment described above, a storage means for storing the cumulative number of times of energization of the print head 21 and a notification means for notifying the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 20 based on the stored value by this storage means are both provided on the ink cartridge 19 side. However, only the storage means may be provided on the ink cartridge 19 side, and the notification means may be provided on the printer main body side. In this case, as a means of notification, it is also possible to consider a configuration in which a buzzer sounds when the ink reaches the end or near-end, or a configuration in which a scale is provided and the indicated value on the scale is changed in proportion to the cumulative value so that constant monitoring can be performed. It will be done.

[0025] It is also possible to provide the storage means on the printer main body side. However, in this case, the ink cartridge 19 once used must not be removed until it is used up, or the storage means must be capable of storing the cumulative number of times of energization of a plurality of print heads.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink cartridge 19 is composed of an ink cartridge main body 19a that integrates an ink tank 20 and a print head 21, and an EEPROM.
41, a PC board 24 equipped with an ink end display circuit 22a, a near end display circuit 23a, and a head control circuit 21a;
and each LED for ink end indication and near end indication
22 and 23, and the ink cartridge main body 19a and the adapter 19b may be detachably connected by a connector 25. By doing this, when replacing the ink cartridge 19, the main body 19
Since only adapter a can be discarded and adapter 19b can be used again by clearing the memory contents of EEPROM 41,
Cost can be reduced.

It goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as omitting the near-end indicating LED 23 and blinking the ink end indicating LED 22 to notify the near-end.

[0028]

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately and easily know when to replace an ink cartridge before the print quality deteriorates, and to always obtain stable print quality. We can provide inkjet printers that can. Further, it is possible to provide an ink cartridge that can be used in the above inkjet printer and has favorable effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of an inkjet printer that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electric circuit configuration of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing main processing related to the present invention of the microprocessor in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a modification of the ink cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional ink cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Printer housing, 16... Carriage, 19... Ink cartridge, 20... Ink tank, 21... Print head, 22... LED for ink end indication, 23... LED for near end indication, 32... Energization counter, 41... EEPRO
M.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet printer removably mounted with an ink cartridge that integrates an ink tank and a print head, comprising: a count means for counting the number of times the print head is energized; and cumulative storage of count values by the count means. An inkjet printer comprising: a storage means for storing information; and a notification means for notifying the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank based on a value stored by the storage means. 2. An ink cartridge in which an ink tank and a print head are integrated, comprising a storage means for storing a cumulative value of the number of times of energization of the print head, and a storage means for storing a cumulative value of the number of times of energization of the print head, and a storage means for storing ink remaining in the ink tank based on the stored value by the storage means. An ink cartridge characterized by comprising a notification means for notifying the amount of ink. 3. An ink cartridge main body that integrates an ink tank and a print head, a storage means that is detachably attached to the ink cartridge main body and stores a cumulative value of the number of times of energization of the print head, and this storage means. an ink cartridge comprising: an adapter having a notification means for notifying the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank based on a stored value;