Patent ID: 7384123
Filing Date: 2008-06-10
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A recording apparatus capable of performing full-surface recording that involves recording on an entire surface of a recording medium by ejecting ink to an area extending off the recording medium, the apparatus including a recording head configured to scan the recording medium along a scanning direction and to eject ink, and the recording apparatus comprising: a print buffer configured to store recording data in relationship to the scanning direction, the recording data being inputted from an external device; a counting unit dividing the print buffer into a plurality of segments and counting, on a segment-by-segment basis, an amount of recording data used by the recording head to perform a recording operation; a selecting unit comparing the recording medium to the print buffer with respect to the scanning direction and, from the plurality of segments, selecting segments not corresponding to an inside of the recording medium; a calculating unit counting the amount of recording data included in the segments selected by the selecting unit and causing a recording operation to occur, and calculating a cumulative amount of the recording data; and an estimating unit estimating, based on the cumulative amount calculated by the calculating unit, an amount of waste ink ejected from the recording head to an outside of the recording medium in the full-surface recording.