Pump control mechanism, printer incorporating the same, and pump control method

A pump control mechanism comprising;

• a pump unit, comprising;
• a bellows pump, adapted to be cyclically moved to apply an air pressure to a liquid supply source to thereby supply liquid stored therein to a reservoir member;
• and
• a driving source, configured to be driven in accordance with control information to move the bellows pump;
• a position sensor, sensing a position of the bellows pump;
• a first storage, storing target information indicative of a target driving speed of the driving source;
• a first calculator, operable to obtain drive information indicative of an actual driving speed of the driving source based on the sensed position of the bellows pump;
• a second calculator, operable to obtain a difference between the target driving speed and the actual driving speed, and obtain first correction information for reducing the difference;
• a corrector, operable to correct the control information with the first correction information;
• a pressure sensor, sensing the air pressure;
• and
• a controller, operable to activate or deactivate the driving source in accordance with the air pressure sensed by the pressure sensor, wherein the controller deactivates the driving source so that the bellows pump is stopped at a position that the bellows pump is fully expanded.

A pump control mechanism comprising:

• a pump unit, comprising:
• a pump member, adapted to be cyclically moved to apply an air pressure to a liquid supply source to thereby supply liquid stored therein to a reservoir member;
• and
• a driving source, configured to be driven in accordance with control information to move the pump member;
• a position sensor, sensing a position of the pump member;
• a first storage, storing target information indicative of a target driving speed of the driving source;
• a first calculator, operable to obtain drive information indicative of an actual driving speed of the driving source based on the sensed position of the pump member;
• a second calculator, operable to obtain a difference between the target driving speed and the actual driving speed, and obtain first correction information for reducing the difference;
• a corrector, operable to correct the control information with the first correction information;
• and
• a second storage storing the corrected control information, wherein:
• the driving source is driven based on the corrected control information stored in the second storage when the driving source is reactivated;
• the driving source is driven by a voltage signal having a pulse waveform;
• and
• the control information includes a duty ratio of the voltage signal in connection with a pulse width modulation technique, and the first correction information includes data for varying the duty ratio.

A pump control mechanism comprising:

• a pump unit, comprising:
• a pump member, adapted to be cyclically moved to apply an air pressure to a liquid supply source to thereby supply liquid stored therein to a reservoir member;
• and
• a driving source, configured to be driven in accordance with control information to move the pump member;
• a position sensor, sensing a position of the pump member;
• a first storage, storing target information indicative of a target driving speed of the driving source;
• a first calculator, operable to obtain drive information indicative of an actual driving speed of the driving source based on the senses position of the pump member;
• a second calculator, operable to obtain a difference between the target driving speed and the actual driving speed, and obtain first correction information for reducing the difference;
• and
• a corrector, operable to correct the control information with the first correction information, wherein:
• the control information includes a control table in which data for increasing or decreasing a driving force of the driving source from a reference value in accordance with load acting on the driving source is set for each of a plurality of unit time periods;
• the driving source is driven by a voltage signal having a pulse waveform;
• the control table includes data for increasing or decreasing a duty ratio of the voltage signal, in connection with a pulse width modulation technique, from a reference value for each of the unit time periods;
• and
• the first correction information includes data for varying the duty ratio.

A pump control mechanism, comprising:

• a pump unit, comprising:
• a pump member, adapted to be cyclically moved to apply an air pressure to a liquid supply source to thereby supply liquid stored therein to a reservoir member;
• and
• a driving source, configured to be driven in accordance with control information to move the pump member;
• a position sensor, sensing a position of the pump member;
• a first storage, storing target information indicative of a target driving speed of the driving source;
• a first calculator, operable to obtain drive information indicative of an actual driving speed of the driving source based on the sensed position of the pump member;
• a second calculator, operable to obtain a difference between the target driving speed and the actual driving speed, and obtain first correction information for reducing the difference;
• and
• a corrector, operable to correct the control information with the first correction information, wherein:
• the control information includes a control table in which data for increasing or decreasing a driving force of the driving source from a reference value in accordance with load acting on the driving source is set for each of a plurality of unit time periods;
• a total length of the unit time periods is shorter than one cycle of the movement of the pump member;
• and
• the driving source is driven with the data of a final one of the unit time periods until the control information is corrected with the first correction information in a next cycle of the movement of the pump member.

A pump control mechanism, comprising;

• a pump unit, comprising;
• a pump member, adapted to be cyclically moved to apply an air pressure to a liquid supply source to thereby supply liquid stored therein to a reservoir member;
• and
• a driving source, configured to be driven in accordance with control information to move the pump member;
• a position sensor, sensing a position of the pump member;
• a first storage, storing target information indicative of a target driving speed of the driving source;
• a first calculator, operable to obtain drive information indicative of an actual driving speed of the driving source based on the sensed position of the pump member;
• a second calculator, operable to obtain a difference between the target driving speed and the actual driving speed, and obtain first correction information for reducing the difference;
• and
• a corrector, operable to correct the control information with the first correction information, wherein:
• the control information includes a control table in which data for increasing or decreasing a driving force of the driving source from a reference value in accordance with load acting on the driving source is set for each of a plurality of unit time periods;
• a total length of the unit time periods is longer than one cycle of the movement of the pump member;
• and
• the application of the control information to the driving source in one cycle of the movement of the pump member is interrupted when the position sensor detects a prescribed position of the pump member for a next cycle.