Riso Kagaku Corporation

Tomoki Matsumura

Satoshi Ohtaka

Naoto Tajima

An expendable supply includes a memory that stores a timing of a last warning after a recommended limit. A warning generator of a printer determines whether to generate a warning upon occurrence of certain operations. The warning generator generates a warning when the last warning generation time is not stored in the memory of the expendable supply upon detection by a printer detector, or upon the last warning generation included in a first time period is stored in the expendable supply memory at the detection by the detector and the first time period has elapsed at the detection by the detector. A warning is not generated upon the timing of the last warning generation included in the first time period is already stored in the expendable supply memory upon detection by the detector and the first time period having not elapsed at the detection by the detector.

Expendable supply for printer

A printer includes an expendable supply, a detector that detects at least one of a power-on operation, a resume from an energy-saving mode and a new installation of an expendable supply, a determiner that determines whether or not a recommended limit of the expendable supply has passed, a warning generator that generates a warning for notifying that a usable limit of the expendable supply will come soon if the recommended limit has already passed, and a memory storage that stores a warning cycle and a last warning generation. When the recommended limit has passed and the power-on operation, the resume or the new installation is detected, the warning generator generates a warning [1] when the last warning generation is not stored in the memory storage, or [2] when the last warning generation is stored in the memory storage and the warning cycle has elapsed from the last warning generation.

Printer

A print job management apparatus includes a print job storage unit that stores print jobs with respect to each user, a stored time counter that counts each stored duration time of the print jobs, a threshold value setting unit that sets a warning judgment threshold value, a stored time comparator that judges whether or not the each stored duration time exceeds the warning judgment threshold value by comparing the each stored duration time of the print jobs with the warning judgment threshold value, and a warning unit that provides a warning to a user of a print job when it is judged by the stored time comparator that a stored duration time of the print job exceeds the warning judgment threshold value. According to the print job management apparatus, it can be prevented to erroneously print out a print job(s) stored in a printer for a long time.

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Ibaraki, Japan

Tomoki Matsumura