Ink cartridge and printer using the same
First Claim
1. An ink cartridge configured to be detachably attached to a printer, said ink cartridge comprising:
- an ink reservoir in which an ink used for printing is kept;
a storage unit having a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas, and the storage unit storing specific information in a readable, writable, and non-volatile manner,a plurality of ink reservoirs, in which a plurality of inks are kept respectively; and
a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas provided for each of said plurality of ink reservoirs,wherein the specific information comprises information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink reservoir, wherein the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions store the ink quantity-relating information, and wherein the plurality of write complete information storage areas respectively correspond to the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and in each of which write complete information is registered when a writing operation into the corresponding ink quantity information memory division is completed, andwherein said storage unit has two ink quantity information memory divisions, and each write complete information storage area is located following an end-of-writing position in each, of the ink quantity information memory divisions.
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Abstract
Cost of an ink jet printer is reduced using an EEPROM enabling sequential accesses for storage elements in black and color ink cartridges. The data array of a memory cell of the storage elements is determined so that a second storage area, where rewritable data like data on remaining inks are stored, is accessed before a first storage area where read only data are stored. This way rewritable data can be securely written into the second storage area even after power-off. The second storage area has two memory divisions for each ink. Current data on the remaining ink is alternately written into these memory divisions. Alternatively, the current data on the ink is written into these memory divisions in duplicate. Each memory division has a write complete flag to determine if writing has been completed normally. This enables the remaining quantities of the inks to be monitored accurately and continuously.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An ink cartridge configured to be detachably attached to a printer, said ink cartridge comprising:
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an ink reservoir in which an ink used for printing is kept; a storage unit having a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas, and the storage unit storing specific information in a readable, writable, and non-volatile manner, a plurality of ink reservoirs, in which a plurality of inks are kept respectively; and a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas provided for each of said plurality of ink reservoirs, wherein the specific information comprises information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink reservoir, wherein the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions store the ink quantity-relating information, and wherein the plurality of write complete information storage areas respectively correspond to the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and in each of which write complete information is registered when a writing operation into the corresponding ink quantity information memory division is completed, and wherein said storage unit has two ink quantity information memory divisions, and each write complete information storage area is located following an end-of-writing position in each, of the ink quantity information memory divisions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of writing specific information into an ink cartridge, said ink cartridge being configured to be detachably attached to a printer and having a storage element, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing the specific information that is to be written into said storage element by said printer, the specific information comprising information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink cartridge; (b) writing first ink quantity-relating information into a first ink quantity information memory division, which is included in said storage element; (c) writing first write complete information into a first write complete information storage area when the writing operation of the first ink quantity-relating information into the first ink quantity information memory division has been completed, wherein the first write complete information storage area is provided corresponding to the first ink quantity information memory division in said storage element; (d) writing second ink quantity-relating information into a second ink quantity information memory division after the writing operation of the first write complete information into the first write complete information storage area has been completed, wherein the second ink quantity information memory division is included in said storage element; and (e) writing second write complete information into a second write complete information storage area when the writing operation of the second ink quantity-relating information into the second ink quantity information memory division has been completed, wherein the second write complete information storage area is provided corresponding to the second ink quantity information memory division in said storage element. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A printer, having an ink cartridge detachably attached thereto,
the ink cartridge comprising: -
an ink reservoir in which an ink used for printing is kept; a storage unit having a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas, and the storage unit storing specific information in a readable, writable, and non-volatile manner, a plurality of ink reservoirs, in which a plurality of inks are kept respectively; and a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas provided for each of said plurality of ink reservoirs, wherein the specific information comprises information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink reservoir, wherein the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions store the ink quantity-relating information, and wherein the plurality of write complete information storage areas respectively correspond to the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and in each of which write complete information is registered when a writing operation into the corresponding ink quantity information memory division is completed, said printer comprising; a storage device that stores specific information that is to be written into said ink cartridge, wherein the specific information comprises information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink cartridge; a first ink quantity information writing unit that writes first ink quantity-relating information into a first ink quantity information memory division, which is included in said storage device; a first write complete information writing unit that writes first write complete information into a. first write complete information storage area when the writing operation of the first ink quantity-relating information into the first ink quantity information memory division has been completed, wherein the first write complete information storage area is provided corresponding to the first ink quantity information memory division in said storage device; a second ink quantity information writing unit that writes second ink quantity-relating information into a second ink quantity information memory division following the writing operation of the first write complete information into the first write complete information storage area has been completed, wherein second ink quantity information memory division is included in said storage device; and a second write complete information writing unit that writes second write complete information into a second write complete information storage area when the writing operation of the second ink quantity-relating information into the second ink quantity information memory division has been completed, wherein the second write complete information storage area is provided corresponding to the second ink quantity information memory division in said storage device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A storage device mounted on an ink cartridge having a plurality of ink reservoirs in which a plurality of inks are kept respectively, which is configured to be detachably attached to a printer, said storage device comprising:
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a storage element having a plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and a plurality of write complete information storage areas, and storing specific information in a readable, writable, and non-volatile manner, wherein the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and the plurality of write complete information storage areas provided for each of said plurality of ink reservoirs, wherein the specific information comprises information relating to a quantity of ink kept in said ink cartridge, wherein the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions stores the ink quantity-relating information, and wherein the plurality of write complete information storage areas respectively correspond to the plurality of ink quantity information memory divisions and in each of which write complete information is registered when a writing operation into the corresponding ink quantity information memory division is completed, wherein said storage element has two ink quantity information memory divisions, and each write complete information storage area is located after an end-of-writing position in each of the ink quantity information memory divisions. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification