Patent ID: 6565198
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink cartridge detachably mountable on an inkjet printer, comprising:an ink reservoir for storing ink; and a non-volatile memory circuit for storing data related to the ink in the ink reservoir, the non-volatile memory circuit including: a single chip select terminal for receiving a chip select signal; a single write/read terminal for receiving a write/read signal; a single input/output terminal for receiving an input/output signal; a single clock terminal for receiving a clock signal; a power supply terminal for receiving power supply; a memory cell array for storing a plurality of words each consisting of one bit data, each word being accessible by an address given to the memory cell array; an address counter for producing the address to the memory cell array, the address counter configured to be reset in response to a predetermined level of the chip select signal and incremented in synchronism with the clock signal while the memory circuit is selected by the chip select signal; and a write/read controller for controlling the memory cell array, the write/read controller being operative in a write mode and a read mode according to the write/read signal to serially access the memory cell array bit by bit according to the address supplied to the memory cell array from the address counter in synchronism with the clock signal.