Printer and ink cartridge attached thereto

Abstract

A printer that enables required data, such as a remaining quantity of each ink, to be written securely even when a storage device having a relatively low allowable frequency of rewriting is applied for a storage element mounted on an ink cartridge. An ink cartridge that is detachably attached to the printer. In the printer, a sequential access-type EEPROM having a relatively low allowable frequency of rewriting is applied for storage elements incorporated in both a black ink cartridge and a color ink cartridge. A print controller in the printer has a memory, for which an EEPROM (or a DRAM) is applicable. Data relating to each ink cartridge, such as a remaining quantity of each ink in the ink cartridge, are stored into both the EEPROM of the print controller and a memory cell included in the storage element of the ink cartridge. The writing operation of data into the EEPROM of the print controller is carried out at every time the remaining quantity of each ink is calculated, whereas the writing operation into the memory cell in the storage element of the ink cartridge is carried out restrictedly in response to a power down instruction. This arrangement causes the frequency of writing into the storage element of the ink cartridge to be lower than the frequency of writing into the EEPROM of the print controller. This accordingly fulfills the requirements, that is, the sufficient reliability of data and the restriction of the allowable frequency of rewriting.

1. A printer, to which a cartridge is detachably attached, said cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non-volatile memory, wherein the ink kept in said cartridge is transferred to a printing medium, so as to implement printing, said printer comprising:
 a memory writing unit that writes plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge into said rewritable non-volatile memory of said cartridge at a preset timing and thereby at a certain frequency;    a rewritable storage device incorporated in said printer main body of said printer; and    an information writing unit that writes specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a specified frequency that is higher than the certain frequency, at which the plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge are written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, the specific information being identical with at least part of the plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge.    
     
     
       2. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at the preset timing as well as at another timing. 
     
     
       3. A printer in accordance with either one of claims  1  and  2 , said printer further comprising:
 a print head that is mounted on a printer main body of said printer,    wherein said cartridge is detachably attached to a carriage, on which said print head is mounted and which moves forward and backward relative to said printing medium, and    said storage device of said printer main body is disposed on said carriage.    
     
     
       4. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into said rewritable non-volatile memory of said cartridge at a power-off time of said printer and/or at a time of replacement of said cartridge. 
     
     
       5. A printer in accordance with any one of claims  1  through  3 , wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device on completion of printing with regard to one page. 
     
     
       6. A printer in accordance with any one of claims  1  through  5 , wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device on completion of printing with regard to at least one raster line. 
     
     
       7. A printer in accordance with any one of claims  1  through  6 , said printer further comprising:
 a print head that is mounted on a printer main body of said printer; and    a cleaning unit that is activated in response to a predetermined operation, so as to carry out a head cleaning process, which causes said print head to eject a predetermined quantity of ink,    wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device at a timing when said cleaning unit is activated.    
     
     
       8. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said non-volatile memory transmits data by serial access, and
 said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge in synchronism with a clock for specifying an address.    
     
     
       9. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is a non-volatile memory that holds contents of storage even after a power-off operation of said printer. 
     
     
       10. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein a writing rate of said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is higher than a writing rate of said rewritable non-volatile memory of said cartridge. 
     
     
       11. A printer in accordance with  claim 10 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is either a DRAM or an SRAM. 
     
     
       12. A printer in accordance with either one of claims  9  and  11 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is disposed in a control IC, which directly controls the writing operation of the plural pieces of information into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge. 
     
     
       13. A printer in accordance with  claim 12 , said printer further comprising:
 a print head that is mounted on a printer main body of said printer,    wherein said cartridge is detachably attached to a carriage, on which said print head is mounted and which moves forward and backward relative to said printing medium,    said control IC is disposed on said carriage, and    said control IC on said carriage transfers data to be written into said non-volatile memory from said printer main body to said cartridge via a cable connecting with said carriage.    
     
     
       14. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein
 both a black ink cartridge that keeps black ink and a color ink cartridge that keeps a plurality of different color inks are detachably attached to said printer as said cartridge, and    said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into non-volatile memories, which are respectively provided in said black ink cartridge and said color ink cartridge.    
     
     
       15. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, before said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body. 
     
     
       16. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, after the writing operation of said information writing unit into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is completed. 
     
     
       17. A printer in accordance with  claim 1 , said printer further comprising:
 an identification unit that determines whether or not contents of storage in said non-volatile memory of said cartridge are coincident with contents of storage in said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a time of power supply to said printer and/or at a time of initiating a replacement of said cartridge; and    a reconciliation unit that reconciles the contents of storage in one of said non-volatile memory and said rewritable storage device with the contents of storage in the other of said non-volatile memory and said rewritable storage device, in the case where said identification unit determines that the contents of storage in said non-volatile memory are not coincident with the contents of storage in said rewritable storage device.    
     
     
       18. A method of managing information in a printer, to which a cartridge is detachably attached, said cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non-volatile memory, wherein the ink kept in said cartridge is transferred to a printing medium, so as to implement printing, said method comprising the steps of:
 writing plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge into said rewritable non-volatile memory of said cartridge at a preset timing and thereby at a certain frequency; and    writing specific information into a rewritable storage device incorporated in said printer main body of said printer at a specified frequency that is higher than the certain frequency, at which the plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge are written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, the specific information being identical with at least part of the plural pieces of information relating to said cartridge.    
     
     
       19. A cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non-volatile memory, said cartridge being detachably attached to a printer,
 wherein information relating to said cartridge is written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge at a certain frequency that is lower than a specified frequency, at which the information relating to said cartridge is written into a storage device incorporated in a printer main body of said printer.    
     
     
       20. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge at a power-off time of said printer and/or at a time of replacement of said cartridge. 
     
     
       21. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein said non-volatile memory transmits data by serial access, and the writing operation of the information relating to said cartridge into said non-volatile memory is carried out synchronously with a clock for specifying an address. 
     
     
       22. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, before the information is written into said storage device of said printer main body. 
     
     
       23. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge, after the writing operation of the information into said storage device of said printer main body is completed. 
     
     
       24. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , said cartridge comprising:
 an ink reservoir, in which a plurality of different inks are kept,    wherein plural pieces of information with regard to the plurality of different inks are written into said non-volatile memory of said cartridge.    
     
     
       25. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 24 , wherein said ink reservoir is parted into at least three ink chambers, in which at least three different inks are kept,
 wherein said non-volatile memory comprises a plurality of information storage areas, in which plural pieces of information regarding quantities of the at least three different inks are stored respectively and independently, and    a storage capacity of at least one byte is allocated to each of the plurality of information storage areas.    
     
     
       26. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 24 , wherein said ink reservoir is parted into at least five ink chambers, in which at least five different inks are kept,
 wherein said non-volatile memory comprises a plurality of information storage areas, in which plural pieces of information regarding quantities of the at least five different inks are stored respectively and independently, and    a storage capacity of at least one byte is allocated to each of the plurality of information storage areas.    
     
     
       27. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 26 , wherein the at least five different inks comprise three deep color inks and two light color inks, which correspond to two deep colors among the three deep color inks,
 the information storage areas for storing pieces of information regarding the three deep color inks being located in a first area that Is written first by said printer, and the information storage areas for storing pieces of information regarding the two light color inks being located in a second area that is written next by said printer.    
     
     
       28. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 27 , wherein the three deep color inks are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and the two light color inks are light cyan and light magenta. 
     
     
       29. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 24 , wherein said non-volatile memory has a specific writing area, in which the plural pieces of information are written, on one end of a memory space thereof. 
     
     
       30. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 19 , wherein said non-volatile memory is an EEPROM. 
     
     
       31. A printer, to which a cartridge can be detachably mounted, the cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non- volatile memory, wherein the ink kept in the cartridge is transferred to a printing medium, so as to implement printing, said printer comprising:      a print head that is mounted on a printer main body of said printer for ejecting ink while moving;        a memory writing unit that writes plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge into the rewritable non - volatile memory of the cartridge;        a rewritable storage device incorporated in said printer main body of said printer; and        an information writing unit that writes specific information relating to consumption of ink from the cartridge into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a first timing, and writes specific information relating to consumption of ink from the cartridge into the non - volatile memory of the cartridge at a second timing, the first timing corresponding to a completion of movement by the print head for printing of at least one of a line and a page, the first timing being different from the second timing, wherein the writing of the specific information to the non - volatile memory of the cartridge is not triggered based on a movement of the print head, and at least some of the specific information and the plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge are the same.     
     
     
       32. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a preset timing as well as at a timing that differs from the preset timing. 
     
     
       33. A printer in accordance with either one of claims  31  or  32 , further comprising:
   a carriage to which the cartridge is detachably attached, and on which said print head is mounted and which moves forward and backward relative to the printing medium, and        said storage device of said printer main body is disposed on said carriage.     
     
     
       34. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into said rewritable non- volatile memory of the cartridge at at least one of a power - off time of said printer and a time of replacement of the cartridge.   
     
     
       35. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said non- volatile memory transmits data by serial access, and      said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into the non - volatile memory of the cartridge in synchronism with a clock for specifying an address.     
     
     
       36. A printer in accordance with  claim 35 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is either a DRAM or an SRAM. 
     
     
       37. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is a non- volatile memory that retains information even after a power - off operation of said printer.   
     
     
       38. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein a writing rate of said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is higher than a writing rate of the rewritable non- volatile memory of the cartridge.   
     
     
       39. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein
   the cartridge includes both a black ink cartridge that keeps black ink and a color ink cartridge that keeps a plurality of different color inks and which are both detachably attached to said printer, and        said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into non - volatile memories, which are respectively provided in the black ink cartridge and the color ink cartridge.     
     
     
       40. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into the non- volatile memory of the cartridge, before said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body.   
     
     
       41. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into the non- volatile memory of the cartridge, and said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body.   
     
     
       42. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , wherein said memory writing unit writes the plural pieces of information into the non- volatile memory of the cartridge, after the writing operation of said information writing unit into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is completed.   
     
     
       43. A printer in accordance with  claim 31 , said printer further comprising:
   an identification unit that determines if contents stored in the non - volatile memory of the cartridge are coincident with contents stored in said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a time of power supply to said printer and/or at a time of initiating a replacement of the cartridge; and        a reconciliation unit that reconciles the contents stored in one of the non - volatile memory and said rewritable storage device with the contents stored in the other of the non - volatile memory and said rewritable storage device, in the case where said identification unit determines that the contents stored in the non - volatile memory are not coincident with the contents stored in said rewritable storage device.     
     
     
       44. A printer, to which a cartridge can be detachably mounted, the cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non- volatile memory, wherein the ink kept in the cartridge is transferred to a printing medium, so as to implement printing, said printer comprising:      a print head that is mounted on a printer main body of said printer;        a memory writing unit that writes plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge into the rewritable non - volatile memory of the cartridge;        a rewritable storage device incorporated in said printer main body of said printer;        an information writing unit that writes specific information relating to consumption of ink from the cartridge into said rewritable storage device of said printer main body at a first timing and writes specific information relating to consumption of ink from the cartridge into the non - volatile memory of the cartridge at a second timing, the first timing corresponding to an operation of the printer, the first timing being different from the second timing, wherein the writing of the specific information to the non - volatile memory of the cartridge is not triggered based on a movement of the print head, and at least some of the specific information and the plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge are the same; and        a cleaning unit that responds to a particular action of the printer by performing a head cleaning process that causes said print head to eject a predetermined quantity of ink,        wherein said information writing unit writes the specific information into said rewritable storage device at a timing when said cleaning unit performs the head cleaning process.     
     
     
       45. A printer in accordance with either one of claims  44  or  37 , wherein said rewritable storage device of said printer main body is disposed in a control IC, which directly controls the writing operation of the plural pieces of information into the non- volatile memory of the cartridge.   
     
     
       46. A printer in accordance with  claim 45 ,
   wherein the cartridge is detachably attached to a carriage, on which said print head is mounted and which moves forward and backward relative to the printing medium,        said control IC is disposed on said carriage, and        said control IC on said carriage transfers data to be written into the non - volatile memory from said printer main body to the cartridge via a cable connecting with said carriage.     
     
     
       47. A method of managing information in a printer having a movable print head for ejecting ink while moving, to which printer a cartridge can be detachably mounted, the cartridge keeping ink therein and having a rewritable non- volatile memory, wherein the ink kept in the cartridge is transferred to a printing medium, so as to implement printing, said method comprising the steps of      writing plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge into the rewritable non - volatile memory of the cartridge; and        writing specific information relating to a consumption of ink from the cartridge into a rewritable storage device incorporated in said printer main body of said printer at a first timing corresponding to a completion of movement by the print head for printing of at least one of a line and a page, and writing a specific information relating to consumption of ink from the cartridge into the non - volatile memory of the cartridge at a second timing, the first timing being different from the second timing, wherein the writing of the specific information to the non - volatile memory of the cartridge is not triggered based on a movement of the print head, and at least some of the specific information and the plural pieces of information relating to the cartridge are the same.     
     
     
       48. A cartridge for use with a printer that can write information to the cartridge and to a storage device in a printer main body of the printer, the printer having a movable print head for ejecting ink while moving, and outputting a clock signal, comprising:
   an ink; and        a rewritable non - volatile memory that can receive and transmit data,        wherein said cartridge is configured to be detachably mounted on the printer, and        wherein information relating to consumption of ink from said cartridge is written by the printer into said non - volatile memory of said cartridge at a second timing different from a first timing with which the information relating to said cartridge is written by the printer into the storage device incorporated in a printer main body of the printer, the first timing corresponding to a completion of movement by the print head for printing of at least one of a line and a page, and wherein the writing of the specific information to said non - volatile memory of said cartridge is not triggered based on a movement of the print head.     
     
     
       49. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non- volatile memory of said cartridge at a power - off time of the printer and/or at a time of replacement of said cartridge.   
     
     
       50. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein said non- volatile memory transmits data in a serial access format, and the writing operation of the information relating to said cartridge into said non - volatile memory is carried out synchronously with the clock signal from the printer for specifying an address of said non - volatile memory where writing occurs.   
     
     
       51. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non- volatile memory of said cartridge, before the information is written into the storage device of the printer main body.   
     
     
       52. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non- volatile memory of said cartridge, after the writing operation of the information into the storage device of the printer main body is completed.   
     
     
       53. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein the information relating to said cartridge is written into said non- volatile memory of said cartridge at a power - off time of the printer and/or at a replacement time of said cartridge.   
     
     
       54. A cartridge in accordance with  claim 48 , wherein said non- volatile memory is an EEPROM.