Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Takahiro Aida

Yosuke Ezumi

Takuhiro Ogushi

Yukinori Nishikawa

Hideyuki Ueki

A power supply control apparatus comprises a first power supply supplying power to a controller and a second power supply supplying power to an operation unit and a power controller. The operation unit receives an operation for switching the first power supply on and off. The power controller is operable to turn on the first power supply according to the signal from a timer or the operation by the operation unit, and to turn off the first power supply according to a state of the controller. The controller, upon at least either of the operation by the operation unit or the signal from the timer, performs a setting to the timer of a time at which to turn on the power from the first power supply or a time at which to turn off the power from the first power supply.

Power supply control apparatus, method and recording apparatus

An embodiment of this invention is directed to discriminating between an ink present state and a bubble state and accurately determining the presence/absence of ink in residual ink detection. A printing apparatus measures the voltage between two electrodes in an ink tank based on an electric current supplied to one of the two electrodes, and compares the measured voltage with a first threshold voltage. When the measured voltage is lower than the first threshold voltage, the measured voltage is compared with a second threshold voltage lower than the first threshold voltage. According to results of these two comparisons, control is performed to supply the electric current, re-measure the voltage between the two electrodes, and re-inspect a residual ink amount. In a case where accurate determination is suspected, the presence/absence of ink is determined by re-inspection.

Printing apparatus and residual ink detection method

The number of head contacts, which increases along with an increase in the number of ink colors and nozzles used in a printhead and the length of the printhead, can be decreased. To accomplish this, a reception unit, which receives a serialized control parameter having an identification code indicating a normal drive pulse for discharging ink or a pulse short enough not to discharge ink, is arranged on the head substrate of a printhead. Further, a normal pulse generation unit, which generates the normal drive pulse based on a received control parameter, and a short pulse generation unit, which generates the short pulse based on a received control parameter, are arranged on the head substrate. Based on the identification code of the control parameter, it is controlled to output the normal drive pulse or short pulse.

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Tokyo, Japan

Takahiro Aida