Patent ID: 6223131
Filing Date: 2001-04-24
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A system for detecting and displaying an ink consumption state of an ink cartridge comprising:an ink-jet recording apparatus having an ink cartridge;a host computer connected to said ink-jet recording apparatus for receiving therefrom ink consumption information of said ink cartridge;means for detecting an ink consumption state of said ink cartridge corresponding to a quantity of ink remaining therein; anda display connected to said host computer displaying the ink consumption state of said ink cartridge detected by said detecting means, said display simultaneously displaying a plurality of sheet sizes and a number of printable sheets for each of said plurality of sheet sizes corresponding to the quantity of ink remaining in said ink cartridge, said display also displaying, in response to a print command input to said host computer and related to said ink-jet recording apparatus, whether said ink-jet recording apparatus is available for printing based on the detected ink consumption state of said ink cartridge and based on the print command.