Patent ID: 6062669
Filing Date: 2000-05-16
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A method for monitoring a status of an ink cartridge, comprising the steps of:providing the printer with a memory;prompting a user to identify the ink cartridge with identification data corresponding to the ink cartridge;providing the printer with a controller which is electrically connected to the memory, and which is responsive to the identification data;retrieving, by means of the controller and from the memory, status data associated with the identification data;providing the printer with a display which is electrically connected to the controller;displaying the status data on the display by means of the controller;ejecting ink from the ink cartridge in response to a print command; andproviding the printer with a sensor which is electrically connected to the controller, and which is responsive to an amount of ink ejected from the ink cartridge for generating an ink signal;wherein the controller is responsive to the ink signal;said method further comprising the steps of:generating ink data corresponding to the ink signal with the controller;summing the ink data with the status data and generating updated status data with the controller; andstoring the updated status data as status data in the memory with the controller, to provide ink status information specifically representative of the status of the ink cartridge currently in use rather than ink status information representative of an ink cartridge previously in use.