Patent ID: 7146114

Claim:
A method for determining an end-of-life prediction of a replaceable cartridge, comprising: reading an event count from a memory in the replaceable cartridge, the event count denoting a consumption event of the replaceable cartridge; determining a current consumption status of the replaceable cartridge, the current consumption status being based on an initial load and the event count of the replaceable cartridge; receiving an input parameter from an input device regarding a next pending process that involves a pending consumption increment of the replaceable cartridge; and determining a subsequent consumption status of the replaceable cartridge, the subsequent consumption status corresponding to the current consumption status and the pending consumption inecrement; comparing the subsequent consumption status to a replacement condition to determine whether a replacement condition is satisfied; and signaling an alert indicator upon the replacement condition being satisfied, wherein comparing the subsequent consumption status to a replacement condition to determine whether a replacement condition is satisfied comprises determining a consumption rate of the replaceable cartridge based on a change in the event count and a change interval between successive event counts.