Patent ID: 7434900

Claim:
An inkjet printer for printing on goods comprising: a computer for controlling an operational process of the printer; at least one exchangeable reservoir bottle filled initially with a previously known quantity of a fluid; an intermediate container that is rechargeable with fluid from the reservoir bottle; a suction pipe and a pump for recharging fluid from the reservoir bottle to the intermediate container; a sensor arrangement for detecting the quantity of fluid drawn from the reservoir bottle to sense depletion of fluid in the reservoir bottles; an externally visible label provided on the reservoir bottle which carries coded information about the fluid contained in the reservoir bottle; means for feeding the label information into the computer when the reservoir bottle is inserted into the printer; and a test program provided in the computer that checks the label information and that only allows normal operation of the inkjet printer when at least one selected test criterion is acceptable; wherein an output signal of the sensor arrangement for detecting the quantity of fluid drawn from the reservoir bottle is fed into the computer and the computer compares the quantity of fluid drawn from the reservoir bottle with the previously known quantity of fluid and emits a “reservoir bottle empty” signal when the previously known quantity of fluid has been drawn from the reservoir bottle indicating that the reservoir bottle is empty, the intermediate container being however at least partially still full such that operation of the printer can continue to run during a period of time sufficient to exchange a new reservoir bottle for the depleted reservoir bottle, and wherein the coded information is lost once the reservoir bottle is inserted into the inkjet printer, wherein at the same time as the computer emits the signal “reservoir bottle empty”, the computer suspends the tapping of fluid from the reservoir bottle and only allows the tapping of fluid from a new reservoir bottle after information from a new coded label has been input, which new reservoir bottle is installed to replace the now empty reservoir bottle, wherein the volume of the reservoir bottle is more than six times the volume of the intermediate container, wherein the computer has a time unit that produces an internal date and this internal date is compared with the date indicated on the label, wherein the label information is one of the expiration date, the kind of fluid, the quantity of fluid and the viscosity of fluid, and wherein the computer is provided with a memory in which the information from the label is stored and wherein the information stored in the memory is deleted when a new reservoir bottle is inserted into the printer.