Patent ID: 7192110

Claim:
An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a first ink cartridge which is exchangeable; a second ink cartridge which is exchangeable; a recording head which jets ink to a recording medium; an intermediate tank which receives the ink selectively from the first ink cartridge or the second ink cartridge, the intermediate tank supplying the received ink to the recording head; a detecting sensor which detects whether ink residual quantity of an ink cartridge supplying the ink is not more than first predetermined quantity, based on quantity of the ink in the intermediate tank; a switching section which, if the detecting sensor detects that the ink residual quantity of the ink cartridge supplying the ink is not more than the first predetermined quantity, switches the ink cartridge to another ink cartridge for supplying the ink to the intermediate tank; a first detector which detects whether the first ink cartridge is reset to the inkjet recording apparatus; a second detector which detects whether the second ink cartridge is reset to the inkjet et recording apparatus; and at least one controller which, if the first detector detects that the first ink cartridge is reset, controls the switching section to switch from the second ink cartridge to the first ink cartridge, for supplying the ink to the intermediate tank, and which controls the switching section to switch the ink cartridge for supplying the ink to the intermediate tank from the first ink cartridge to the second ink cartridge, when the ink residual quantity of the first ink cartridge is detected by the detecting sensor and is more than the first predetermined quantity after the ink cartridge for supplying the ink to the intermediate tank is switched to the first ink cartridge by the first controller.