Patent ID: 8118380
Filing Date: 2012-02-21
Classification: B41J,G03G,G06F,G06K,H04N

Abstract:
1. A printer controller for a pagewidth printer having a printhead configured to print according to print quality information, the printer having a paper transport mechanism for transporting a sheet of paper along a media path through the printer, the controller comprising: a processor having an address, data and control bus, an expander unit and a decoder unit each coupled to the address, data and control bus and configured to decompress a bi-level black layer and a continuous tone (contone) layer of a page to be printed; a replaceable ink cartridge arranged in the media path and having a first integrated circuit (IC) interfaced with the processor, the first IC containing the print quality information; and a second IC interfaced to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to count a number of drops of ink printed by the printhead, to update a remaining drop count of the ink cartridge using the counted drops printed and to write an updated remaining drop count to the second IC each time a page has been printed, and the processor is configured to perform respective ink counts for a plurality of different ink types stored in the ink cartridge.