Memory storing information relating to the condition of a cartridge, and image forming apparatus and cartridge having such memory
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorHiroshi Chihara
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus in which a memory has a first storage area for storing information related to image formation as predetermined unit data and a second storage area for storing the information as bit-unit data. A printer control unit, which controls writing/reading of the information related to image formation to/from the memory, stores the information related to image formation, stored in the first storage area as the predetermined unit data as the bit-unit data, into said second storage area.
Claims17
An image forming apparatus for forming an image by using a cartridge having at least some of the elements needed for image formation, comprising:
- a memory having:
- a first storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a predetermined plurality of bits, and
- a second storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a single bit;
- and
- a controller configured to control the writing of the information relating to the condition of the cartridge to said memory, and controlling the reading of the information relating to the condition of the cartridge from said memory.
A cartridge having at least one of the elements needed for image formation, which is removably attached to an image forming apparatus main body, comprising:
- a memory having:
- a first storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a predetermined plurality of bits;
- and
- a second storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a single bit.
A memory mounted on a cartridge which has at least some of the elements needed for image formation and which is removably attached to an image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a first storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a predetermined plurality of bits;
- and
- a second storage area for storing information relating to the condition of the cartridge as data of a single bit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.