Image recording apparatus

• US 10,137,684 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2017
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Horade, Kenta, Ouchi, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Legesse, Henok
• Application Number:
  US15/708,838
• Publication Number:
  US 20180147842A1
• Time in Patent Office: 434 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04548 Details of power line section of control circuit
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/0457 Power supply level being detected or varied
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04573 Timing; Delays
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/16517 Cleaning of print head nozzles B41J2/16505, B41J2/1707 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17509 Whilst mounted in the printer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/16573 Cleaning process logic, e.g. for determining type or order of cleaning processes
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/38 Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism

Abstract

A controller of an inkjet recording apparatus is configured to calculate an energized time length during which a timer is in an energized state after a particular calculation start point for calculating a lapse time length based on a time measured by the timer and store the energized time length, determine whether there exists a non-energized state after the calculation start point, estimate the non-energized time length, referring to the energized time length and a time length parameter stored in a memory when it is determined that there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point, and calculate the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point based on the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process and the energized time length stored in the memory.

Claims

1. An image recording apparatus, comprising:

a timer;

a power generator configured to receive electrical power from a power supply, and supply the electrical power to the timer as driving electrical power;

a memory; and

a controller,

wherein the memory storing a time length parameter representing a ratio of an energized time length when the timer is in an energized state where the timer is receiving the driving electrical power from the power generator to a fundamental cycle time length which is a time length parameter used for estimation of a non-energized time length when the timer is in an non-energized state where the timer is not receiving the driving electrical power from the power generator and is based on a cyclic nature of a calendar,

the controller being configured to execute;

a storing process of calculating the energized time length during which the timer is in the energized state after a particular calculation start point based on a time measured by the timer and storing the energized time length as calculated;

a determining process of determining whether there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point;

an estimation process of estimating the non-energized time length, referring to the energized time length and the time length parameter stored in the memory when it is determined in the determining process that there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point; and

a lapse time length calculation process of calculating a lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point based on the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process and the energized time length stored in the memory.

2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the memory is configured to store lapse time length count value representing the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point,

wherein the controller is configured to:

execute the estimation process at each time point when the state of the timer is changed from the non-energized state to the energized state;

add, in the storing process, the energized time length calculated based on the time measured by the timer to the lapse time length count value; and

compensate the lapse time length count value by adding the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process, and use the compensated lapse time length as the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point in the lapse time length calculation process.

3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the memory is configured to store an energized time length count value representing the energized time length,

wherein the controller is configured to:

store, in the storing process, the energized time length calculated based on the time measured by the timer after a later one of the calculation start point and the time point at which the estimation of the non-energized time length was previously estimated as the energized time length count value; and

estimate, in the estimation process, the non-energized time length elapsed from the time point where the previous estimation of the non-energized time length was executed in the estimation process referring to the energized time length count value and the time length parameter stored in the memory.

4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the fundamental cycle time length is 24 hours,

wherein the memory includes a first time value, which is less than 24 hours, as the time length parameter, and

wherein the controller is configured to:

estimate, in the estimation process, the time length calculated by subtracting the energized time length count value from 24 hours when the energized time length count value stored in the memory is greater than or equal to the first time value; and

not estimate the non-energized time length when the energized time length count value stored in the memory is less than the first time value.

5. The image recording apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the first time value is six hours.

6. The image recording apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the controller is configured to execute an addition process of adding 48 hours to the lapse time length count value at every five executions of estimation of the non-energized time length in the estimation process.

7. The image recording apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the controller is configured to execute an addition process of adding 24 hours to the lapse time length count value at every six executions of estimation of the non-energized time length in the estimation process.

8. The image recording apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the controller is configured to compensate the lapse time length count value by adding a particular time length to the lapse time length count value when the energized time length stored in the memory is greater than or equal to a second time value which is 24 hours.

9. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the controller is configured to:

store, in the storing process, the number of times of transition, which is a change of the state of the timer from the non-energized state to the energized state, after the calculation start point; and

estimate, in the estimation process, the non-energized time length based on the energized time length, the number of times of transition, and the time length parameter stored in the memory.

10. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the controller is configured to execute a controlling process of controlling the image recording process to execute a particular operation based on the lapse time length from the calculation start point calculated in the lapse time length calculation process.

11. The image recording apparatus according to claim 10,

further comprising:

an image recording device configured to record an image on a recording medium; and

a maintenance device configured to execute maintenance of the image recording device,

wherein the calculation start point is a time point where previous maintenance was executed by the maintenance device, and

wherein the controller is configured to control, in the controlling process, the maintenance device based on the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point calculated in the lapse time length calculation process.

12. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the calculation start point is a time point where the state of the timer was changed from the non-energized state to the energized state previously.

13. An image recording apparatus, comprising:

a timer;

a power generator configured to receive electrical power from a power supply, and supply the electrical power to the timer as driving electrical power;

a memory; and

a controller,

wherein the memory storing a time length parameter representing a ratio of an energized time length when the timer is in an energized state where the timer is receiving the driving electrical power from the power generator to a fundamental cycle time length which is a time length parameter used for estimation of a non-energized time length when the timer is in an non-energized state where the timer is not receiving the driving electrical power from the power generator and is based on a cyclic nature of a receiving state, in the timer, of the driving electrical power from the power generator,

the controller being configured to execute;

a storing process of calculating the energized time length during which the timer is in the energized state after a particular calculation start point based on a time measured by the timer and store the energized time length as calculated;

a determining process of determining whether there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point;

an estimation process of estimating the non-energized time length, referring to the energized time length and the time length parameter stored in the memory when it is determined in the determining process that there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point; and

a lapse time length calculation process of calculating a lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point based on the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process and the energized time length stored in the memory.

14. The image recording apparatus according to claim 13,

wherein the memory stored lapse time length count value representing the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point,

wherein the controller is configured to execute:

the estimation process at each time point when the state of the timer is changed from the non-energized state to the energized state;

add, in the storing process, the energized time length calculated based on the time measured by the timer to the lapse time length count value; and

compensate the lapse time length count value by adding the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process, and regard the compensated lapse time length as the lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point in the lapse time length calculation process.

15. The image recording apparatus according to claim 14,

wherein the memory is configured to store an energized time length count value representing the energized time length,

wherein the controller is configured to:

store, in the storing process, the energized time length calculated based on the time measured by the timer elapsed from a later one of the calculation start point and the time point at which the estimation of the non-energized time length was previously estimated as the energized time length count value; and

estimate, in the estimation process, the non-energized time length elapsed from the time point where the previous estimation of the non-energized time length was executed in the estimation process referring to the energized time length count value and the time length parameter stored in the memory.

16. The image recording apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the fundamental cycle time length is 24 hours,

wherein the memory includes a first time value, which is less than 24 hours, as the time length parameter, and

wherein the controller is configured to:

estimate, in the estimation process, the time length calculated by subtracting the energized time length count value from 24 hours when the energized time length count value stored in the memory is equal to or greater than the first time value;

not estimate the non-energized time length when the energized time length count value stored in the memory is less than the first time value.

17. An image recording apparatus, comprising:

a timer;

a power generator configured to receive electrical power from a power supply, and supply the electrical power to the timer as driving electrical power;

a memory; and

a controller,

the controller being configured to execute;

a storing process of storing a measured time length measured by the timer from a calculation start point, which is a start point to calculate the lapse time length when the timer in an energized state where the timer is receiving a driving electrical power from the power generator;

a state determining process of determining whether there has occurred a non-energized state where the timer is not receiving the driving electrical power after the calculation start point,

when it is determined in the state determining process that there exists the non-energized state after the calculation start point, a condition determining process of determining whether a condition in which the receiving interface newly receives second time information as the time information when the receiving interface has externally received first time information as the time information, and after the state of the timer has changed from the non-energized sate to the energized state;

when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied in the condition determining process, an estimate process estimating the non-energized time length referring to internal information obtained inside the image recording process;

when it is determined that the condition is satisfied in the condition determining process, calculate a lapse time length elapsed from the calculation start point as a measured time length referring to the first time information and the second time information,

when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied in the condition determining process, a lapse time length calculation process of calculating a lapse time elapsed from the calculation start point as an estimate time length based on the non-energized time length estimated in the estimation process and the clocked time length stored in the memory.

18. The image recording apparatus according to claim 17,

wherein, in the lapse time length calculation process, the controller is configured to calculate:

a non-energized time length when the timer is in the non-energized state referring to the first time information, the second time information and the clocked time length stored in the memory when it is determined that the condition; and

the measured time length based on the non-energized time length as calculated and the clocked time length stored in the memory.

19. The image recording apparatus according to claim 18,

wherein the controller is configured to store, in the storing process, a first clocked time length which is measured, by the timer, from the calculation start point, and second clocked time length which is measured, by the timer, from a time point where the receiving interface externally receives the first time information to a time point where the receiving interface receives the second time information as the clocked time lengths, and

wherein, when it is determined in the condition determining process that the condition is satisfied, in the lapse time length calculation process:

calculate a time length obtained by subtracting the second clocked time length stored in the memory from a time length between a time represented by the first time information and a time represented by the second time information as the non-energized time length; and

calculate a time length by adding the calculated non-energized time length to the first clocked time length stored in the memory as the measured time length.

20. The image recording apparatus according to claim 17,

wherein the controller is further configured to execute a controlling process of controlling an operation of the image recording apparatus based on the lapse time length from the calculation start point calculated in the lapse time length calculation process.