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US 11,235,577 B2Granted
Inkjet printer
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTatsuya Shindo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inkjet printer includes a head including a nozzle configured to eject pigment ink supplied from a tank during a print operation and during a purge operation and a purge mechanism. A controller configured to determine whether to control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation for discharging the pigment ink from the nozzle and, when determining to control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation, determine a remaining amount of the pigment ink remaining in the tank. The controller is configured to determine a discharge amount to be discharged from the nozzle when performing the purge operation based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink remaining in the tank and control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the discharge amount.
Claims16
An inkjet printer comprising:
- a head including a nozzle configured to eject pigment ink supplied from a tank during a print operation and during a purge operation, wherein the tank is selected from two or more tanks with different ink capacities;
- a purge mechanism, wherein the purge mechanism is configured to perform the purge operation for discharging the pigment ink from the nozzle;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine an elapsed time since a previous print operation has been performed;
- determine, based on the capacity of the selected tank, whether a remaining amount of the pigment ink in the tank exceeds a predetermined remaining ink amount;
- determine whether a total ejected amount of pigmented ink is less than a reference amount;
- determine, based on the elapsed time since the previous print operation exceeding a time threshold, based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink being greater than the predetermined remaining ink amount, and based on the total ejected amount of pigmented ink being less than a reference amount, that the purge operation is to be performed;
- determine a discharge amount to be discharged from the nozzle when performing the purge operation based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink remaining in the tank;
- and
- control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the discharge amount.
8 more elements
An inkjet printer comprising:
- a head including a nozzle configured to eject pigment ink supplied from a tank during a print operation and during a purge operation;
- a purge mechanism, wherein the purge mechanism is configured to perform the purge operation for discharging the pigment ink from the nozzle;
- a tank receiving portion configured to removably receive the tank;
- a tank detecting sensor;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine an elapsed time since a previous print-related operation has been performed, wherein the previous prim-related operation con rises a previous print operation or a previous purge operation;
- determine whether a remaining amount of the pigment ink in the tank exceeds a predetermined remaining ink amount;
- determine whether a total ejected amount of pigmented ink is less than a reference amount;
- determine, based on the elapsed time since the previous print-related operation exceeding a time threshold, based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink being greater than the predetermined remaining ink amount, and based on the total ejected amount of pigmented ink being less than a reference amount, that the purge operation is to be performed;
- determine a discharge amount to be discharged from the nozzle when performing the purge operation based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink remaining in the tank;
- and
- control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the discharge amount,
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- measure time elapsed from when the tank detecting sensor detects the tank mounted on the tank receiving portion;
- and
- determine whether to control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the elapsed time and the remaining amount, and
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- determine whether the remaining amount is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount;
- when the remaining amount is greater than or equal to the predetermined amount, determine whether the total ejected amount is less than a first reference amount, and then, when the total ejected amount is less than the first reference amount, control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation;
- and
- when the remaining amount is less than the predetermined amount, determine whether the total ejected amount is less than a second reference amount that is less than the first reference amount, and then, when the total ejected amount is less than the second reference amount, control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation.
19 more elements
An inkjet printer comprising:
- a head including a nozzle configured to eject pigment ink supplied from a tank during a print operation and during a purge operation;
- a purge mechanism, wherein the purge mechanism is configured to perform the purge operation for discharging the pigment ink from the nozzle:
- a tank receiving portion configured to removably receive the tank;
- a tank detecting sensor;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine an elapsed time since a previous print-related operation has been performed, wherein the previous print-related operation comprises a previous print operation or a previous purge operation;
- determine whether a remaining amount of the pigment ink in the tank exceeds a predetermined remaining ink amount;
- determine whether a total ejected amount of pigmented ink is less than a reference amount;
- determine, based on the elapsed time since the previous print-related operation exceeding a time threshold, based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink being greater than the predetermined remaining ink amount, and based on the total ejected amount of pigmented ink being less than a reference amount, that the purge operation is to be performed;
- determine a discharge amount to be discharged from the nozzle when performing the purge operation based on the remaining amount of the pigment ink remaining in the tank;
- control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the discharge amount,
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- measure time elapsed from when the tank detecting sensor detects the tank mounted on the tank receiving portion;
- and
- determine whether to control the purge mechanism to perform the purge operation based on the elapsed time and the remaining amount,
- wherein the tank includes a first tank being capable of storing a first quantity of the pigment ink and a second tank being capable of storing a second quantity of the pigment ink, the second quantity being less than the first quantity,
- wherein the inkjet printer further comprising a tank receiving portion configured to removably receive the first tank and the second tank,
- wherein the controller is further configured to:
- generate quantity information related to quantity of the pigment ink in the first tank mounted and quantity of the pigment ink in the second tank;
- and
- determine the discharge amount discharged from the nozzle by the purge mechanism based on the quantity information, and
- wherein the discharge amount for the pigment ink to be discharged from the first tank is greater than the discharge amount for the pigment ink to be discharged from the second tank.
20 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.