JP2006168181A - Ink remaining amount detection method and inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect the amount of ink contained in an ink absorber accommodated in a second storage chamber for supplying ink to a recording head.
An ink tank includes a first storage chamber that stores ink, and a second storage chamber that includes an ink absorber that absorbs ink supplied from the first storage chamber. The ink in the two storage chambers is supplied to the recording head. It is determined whether or not the amount of ink discharged from the recording head within a predetermined time exceeds the amount of ink that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber within the predetermined time ( Step 2) When the ink discharge amount exceeds the ink supply amount, the difference value obtained by subtracting the ink supply amount from the ink discharge amount is calculated in the second storage chamber immediately before the ink discharge is performed. By subtracting from the ink amount α, the ink remaining amount in the second storage chamber after the ink ejection is performed is determined (step 3).
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink supplied from an ink tank from a recording head, and an ink remaining amount detection method that detects an ink remaining amount in an ink tank.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of information processing devices such as personal computers, recording devices as image forming terminals have also been rapidly developed and spread. There are various recording devices as this recording device. In particular, an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium such as paper, cloth, a plastic sheet, and an OHP sheet by ejecting ink from an ejection port is a non-impact recording method in which the recording medium and the recording head do not contact each other. Therefore, it has excellent features such as excellent quietness during recording operation, high density and high speed recording operation, easy compatibility with color recording, and low cost. It is now the mainstream of personal use recording devices.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, basically, yellow, magenta and cyan inks, which are the three primary colors for printing, are used to perform color reproduction by subtractive color mixing. For example, it is possible to form an orange or red region by mixing yellow and magenta, a green region by mixing yellow and cyan, and a blue or violet region by mixing magenta and cyan.

  Advances in inkjet recording technology have promoted higher resolution, higher image quality, colorization, and lower cost of recording. Personal computers and digital cameras (single imaging functions as well as mobile phones, etc.) (Including those integrated with those having the above functions)), and contributed to the widespread use of inkjet recording apparatuses for personal users. However, with such widespread use, various users have been required to further improve image quality, and various improvements have been made to meet this demand.

  For example, while using a black ink in addition to the above three primary color inks, a component K that forms a black image is extracted from the data Y, M, and C of each color of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and is extracted with the black ink. One of the methods is to improve contrast and to stably reproduce neutral colors by performing UCR (under color removal) processing that removes data of each color C, M, and Y that is replaced with data to be recorded. One. In addition to yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks, by using ink such as light cyan (light cyan) and light magenta (light magenta), the graininess of dots formed on the recording medium is reduced. There is also a method for improving gradation.

  A dye or pigment is used as the color material used in the ink. Among these, dyes can be suitably used because they are excellent in reproducing colors with high brightness.

  In addition, in a recording head used in the ink jet recording apparatus, fine ink discharge ports for discharging ink droplets are arranged. For this reason, if foreign matter such as paper dust or dust adheres to the ink discharge port of the recording head, or if the ink near the discharge port dries and thickens or adheres, the ink discharge port becomes clogged and discharged. Defects (including non-ejection) may occur. In addition, when an ink cartridge is mounted for the first time on an unused recording head, or when a recording head cartridge composed of an ink cartridge and a recording head is used for the first time, the ink discharge port to the ink cartridge from the recording head The state of the ink flow path is not necessarily normalized. Therefore, in order to prevent clogging and to normalize the ink flow path, a cleaning means for removing foreign matter adhering to the ink discharge port forming surface of the print head, and normality of the ink discharge port and the ink flow path of the print head Generally, a recovery means is provided for achieving the above.

  As the cleaning means, a mechanism for wiping and cleaning the ink discharge port forming surface of the recording head mainly with a flexible wiper (wiping member) is employed. Further, as one form of the recovery means, there is known one provided with a cap capable of covering the ink discharge port forming surface of the recording head and a pump that communicates with the cap and applies a pulling force. As this recovery means, means for discharging ink from all ink discharge ports toward the cap by driving the ink discharge energy generating element in the ink discharge port (hereinafter also referred to as preliminary discharge), or forming the ink discharge port by the cap In some cases, the surface is covered and a suction force by a pump is applied to forcibly eject ink from an ink ejection port to remove ink ejection failure factors such as thickened ink or dust.

  When the number of ejections in the recording head is large, it is desirable to perform a recovery operation such as a suction operation or a wiping operation. However, if the suction operation is performed more than necessary, ink is excessively consumed. Further, in order to perform both the suction operation and the wiping operation, the recording operation must be interrupted, which may cause a decrease in recording throughput.

  Therefore, if the number of dots ejected from the print head is counted and the value exceeds the predetermined threshold, the number of suction and wiping operations can be minimized. Can be suppressed. Similarly, if the number of dots is counted and calculated backward, the remaining ink amount in the ink supply source such as an ink tank can be detected. Dot counting can be performed by counting an electric signal sent to an ejection energy generating element (for example, an electrothermal conversion element or an electromechanical conversion element).

  In recording using such an ink jet recording apparatus, ink ejected from the recording head is supplied from an ink tank mounted on the ink. Various types of ink tanks have been proposed so far, and the most commonly used one is the first storage chamber for storing ink in a casing that forms the outer shell of the ink tank. And an ink tank having a second storage chamber for storing an ink absorber that has absorbed ink. The second storage chamber is formed with an ink supply port for supplying ink to the recording head and an air communication hole for introducing the air into the tank. When the ink contained in the ink absorber in the room is consumed to some extent, the ink in the first storage chamber is supplied to the second ink supply chamber.

  In such an ink tank, when the ink in the ink tank is consumed as the recording operation proceeds and the remaining ink amount decreases, it is necessary to replace the ink tank.

  Therefore, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, in order to notify the user of the replacement timing of the ink tank, there is provided an ink remaining amount detecting means that operates when the amount of ink in the ink tank decreases.

  As one of the remaining ink amount detecting means, there is one in which some kind of sensor is provided in the ink tank to directly measure the remaining ink amount. As a sensor, for example, there are sensors that estimate the remaining ink amount by arranging two electrodes in an ink tank and measuring a resistance value between the electrodes. In addition, light is incident on the transparent wall of the ink tank, and the reflected light that changes according to the remaining amount of ink and the presence or absence of ink is detected by a light receiver to detect the remaining amount of ink and the presence or absence of ink. There is also (refer patent document 1). Such an ink remaining amount detecting means is called a “sensor system”.

  As another ink remaining amount detection method, there is a method of indirectly estimating the ink consumption by counting the number of ink droplet ejections and multiplying by the estimated ink amount per ejection (patent) Reference 2). This method is called a “dot count method”.

JP 09-029989 A JP-A-57-005147

However, the above prior art has the following problems.
The remaining amount of ink detected using the conventional sensor method and the dot count method detects only the remaining amount of ink stored in the first storage chamber. The amount of ink existing in the second storage chamber is not individually detected. For this reason, even if ink still exists in the first space, when ink is recorded with an extremely large discharge amount per unit area, the ink is transferred from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber. The ink supply operation may not catch up, and the ink contained in the ink absorber in the second storage chamber may decrease.

  In this state, if the ink ejection operation is further continued, the ink is not sufficiently supplied to the recording head, the ink droplets are reduced in volume or non-ejection occurs, and the image is recorded in a blurred state. In other words, so-called “blurred recording” may occur.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems of the prior art, and can detect the amount of ink contained in an ink absorber housed in a second storage chamber that supplies ink to a recording head. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for detecting a remaining amount of ink and an ink jet recording apparatus using the method, thereby preventing blurring of a recorded image.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, the first aspect of the present invention includes a first storage chamber that stores ink, and a second storage chamber that includes an ink absorber that absorbs ink supplied from the first storage chamber. An ink remaining amount detection method for detecting an ink remaining amount in the second storage chamber of an ink tank that supplies ink in the second storage chamber to a recording head that discharges ink droplets. A determination step of determining whether or not an ink discharge amount discharged from the recording head exceeds an ink supply amount that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber within the predetermined time; When the ink discharge amount exceeds the ink supply amount, a difference value obtained by subtracting the ink supply amount from the ink discharge amount is calculated from the ink amount in the second storage chamber immediately before the ink discharge is performed. By subtracting And having a remaining amount determining step of determining a remaining amount of ink in the second accommodating chamber after the ink ejection is performed Te.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink tank having a first storage chamber that stores ink and a second storage chamber that stores an ink absorber that absorbs ink supplied from the first storage chamber. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink droplets from the recording head according to input recording data using a recording head to which ink in the second storage chamber is supplied, Ink remaining amount detecting means for detecting the amount of ink stored in the second storage chamber of the ink tank, and the ink remaining amount detecting means detects the amount of ink discharged from the recording head within a predetermined time. Determining means for determining whether or not an ink supply amount that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber is exceeded within the predetermined time; and the ink discharge amount exceeds the ink supply amount When, before The second value after the ink ejection is performed by subtracting the difference value obtained by subtracting the ink supply amount from the ink ejection amount from the ink amount in the second storage chamber immediately before the ink ejection is performed. And a remaining amount determining means for determining the remaining amount of ink in the storage chamber.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to detect the amount of ink contained in the ink absorber accommodated in the second storage chamber that supplies ink to the recording head. It becomes possible to prevent the occurrence of fading and the like, and the reliability of the apparatus is greatly improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
First, a schematic configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 1, a carriage 53 is supported along guide shafts 51 and 52 so as to be reciprocally movable along a main scanning direction indicated by an arrow X. The carriage 53 reciprocates in the main scanning direction by a driving force transmission mechanism (not shown) such as a carriage motor and a belt for transmitting the driving force. A head cartridge 54 is detachably mounted on the carriage 53, and a plurality of ink tanks 100 having the above-described configuration are mounted on the head cartridge 54. As the plurality of ink tanks (liquid storage containers) 100 mounted on the head cartridge 54, ink tanks containing different colorants, for example, ink tanks each storing black ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and the like are stored. In addition, an ink tank (liquid storage container) that stores a substantially transparent liquid that is discharged in order to improve the color developability and weather resistance of the ink discharged onto the recording medium is also included. Further, a plurality of recording heads or nozzle arrays for ejecting a plurality of colors of inks and processing liquids are disposed on the bottom surface of the head cartridge 54 in FIG.

  In FIG. 1, a sheet feeding port 55 for supplying the recording medium P is formed at the bottom, and the recording medium P inserted from the sheet feeding port 55 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow Y. To the platen 57 facing the head cartridge 54. Further, at the end of the carriage 53 in the moving region (the left end in FIG. 1), the recovery system is located at a position facing the formation surface of the ejection port 15 provided in the recording head of the head cartridge 54 mounted on the carriage 53. A unit 58 is provided.

  The recovery unit 58 is for preventing clogging of each ejection port of the recording head in the ink jet recording apparatus and normalizing the ink flow path communicating with each ejection port. An ink receiving portion that receives ink that does not contribute to recording, a cap portion that can open and close the ink discharge port of the recording head, a pump that generates negative pressure in the cap, and an ink discharge portion (ink discharge port formation) A cleaning unit for removing foreign matter adhering to the surface).

  In the inkjet recording apparatus 50 having the above-described configuration, the recording scan in which ink is ejected from the recording head toward the recording medium P sent onto the platen 308 while moving the recording head 10 in the main scanning direction; An image is recorded on the recording medium P by repeatedly performing a predetermined amount of conveyance of the recording medium P along the sub-scanning direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the main scanning direction (X direction). Yes.

Next, a schematic configuration of a control system provided in the inkjet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 2, a controller 500 stores a CPU (counting means, discriminating means, control means) 501 for performing various calculations, counting, discrimination, and control, a program for performing various control operations, a predetermined table, and other data. The ROM 503 has a recording data development area, a RAM 505 provided with a work area used in various processing operations by the CPU 500, and the like, and has a function as a control unit of the entire inkjet recording apparatus. In addition, a host computer, which is a recording data supply source, is connected to the controller 500 via an interface (I / F) 512, and the recording data is between the controller 5200, the host computer 510, and the controller 500. In addition, exchange of commands, status signals, etc. is performed via the interface 512.

The switch group 520 includes a switch group that receives an instruction input from an operator, and includes a power switch 522, a switch 524 for supporting the start and stop of the recording operation, and the like.
The sensor group 530 includes various sensors for detecting the state of each part of the apparatus. For example, a linear encoder 531 for detecting the movement position of the carriage 54 and a home position sensor 532 for detecting that the carriage is at the home position.

  The head driver 540 is a driver for driving each recording head 503 in the head cartridge 401 mounted on the carriage 302 according to the recording data and the like, the motor driver 550 is a driver for driving the main scanning motor 552, and the motor driver 560 is , A driver that drives a sub-scanning motor 562 that is a drive source for transporting the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction, a pump driver 570 is a driver that drives a pump 572 that generates negative pressure on the cap in the recovery unit 58, and a driver 580 Is a driver for driving a display 572 for displaying various states including a state in which the remaining amount of ink in each ink tank is a certain amount or less.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a longitudinal side surface of the ink tank used in the first embodiment of the present invention and ink remaining amount detecting means for detecting ink existing in the ink tank.
In FIG. 1, an ink tank 100 is constituted by a casing 101 whose outer shell is formed of a light transmissive material such as transparent plastic. The inside of the housing 101 is defined by a partition plate 101a into a first storage chamber 104 and a second storage chamber 105. In the second storage chamber 105, an ink absorber 106 that generates an appropriate negative pressure in the ink tank is stored in order to stably perform the recording operation with the recording head. The ink absorber 106 is made of a material having an appropriate capillary force such as polyurethane. In the first storage chamber 104, ink that is not absorbed by the ink absorber 106 or the like (hereinafter referred to as raw ink In) is stored. As the ink In, for example, inks of colors such as black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, which are usually used for forming a color image, are stored.

  The first storage chamber 104 and the second storage chamber 105 communicate with each other through a communication hole 101b formed at the lower end of the partition plate 101a, and the ink stored in the ink chamber 204 passes through the communication hole 101b. It is possible to supply to the absorber chamber 105 via this. In the lower part (bottom part) of the second storage chamber 105, an ink supply port 103 for leading ink out of the ink tank 100 to the outside is formed. The absorber chamber 105 is formed with an air communication port 102 for introducing air from the outside.

  In the ink tank 100 configured as described above, when the ink in the second storage chamber is consumed by the ink ejection operation by the recording head, the air guided from the atmosphere communication hole 102 passes through the communication hole 101b and the first. Air is introduced into the storage chamber, and ink in the first storage chamber 104 is supplied into the second storage chamber 105 instead of the introduced air.

  Thus, when the ink in the ink absorber 106 is consumed, the raw ink In is gradually supplied from the first storage chamber 104 to the ink absorber 106 accordingly. As a result, the negative pressure in the second storage chamber 105 is kept constant while the raw ink In is present in the first storage chamber 104.

Next, the ink remaining amount detection method executed for each ink tank in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In the ink tank 100 according to the present embodiment, the ink and air are exchanged between the first storage chamber 104 and the second storage chamber 105 as the ink in the second storage chamber 105 is consumed. This air-ink exchange amount is defined as a gas-liquid exchange amount in the following description. This gas-liquid exchange amount is determined by the cross-sectional area of the communication path 101b that connects the first storage chamber 104 and the second storage chamber 105, the viscosity of the ink, and the time.

In FIG. 5, when the recording operation is started and the ink discharge operation is started from the recording head 503 of the ink jet recording apparatus 301 (step 1), the ink discharge amount per unit time due to the discharge operation is increased. It is detected whether or not the liquid exchange amount has been exceeded (step 2).
The ink discharge amount per unit time is obtained in advance before the start of the recording operation based on the driving frequency of the recording operation, the recording data, and the ink droplet amount.

  If it is determined in step 2 that the ink discharge amount per unit time in the recording operation currently being executed does not exceed the gas-liquid exchange amount per unit time, the process proceeds to step 1 to perform the ink discharge operation. continue. In this case, the remaining amount of ink in the ink absorber 106 is maintained in the same manner as in the initial state by the ink supplied from the first storage chamber 104, and the remaining ink count value is also maintained at the initial value.

  Further, when it is determined that the ink discharge amount per unit time exceeds the gas-liquid exchange amount per unit time, the initial value set corresponding to the ink remaining amount in the ink absorber 105 is set. The remaining ink count value is changed (step 3). Specifically, the gas-liquid exchange amount per unit time is subtracted from the ink discharge amount per unit time. Then, the obtained subtraction value is converted into an ink droplet count value, and the count value α ′ is obtained by subtracting the count value from the initial ink remaining amount count value α. Thereby, the remaining amount of ink in the current ink absorber 106 can be predicted.

  Next, in step 3, it is determined whether or not the count value α ′ corresponding to the ink remaining amount is equal to or less than the count value β corresponding to a predetermined predetermined ink remaining amount (step 4). The predetermined ink remaining amount can be set to various values, but it is desirable to set it as small as possible in order to use ink without waste. For example, if the predetermined amount of ink remaining is the amount of ink that is several millimeters deep from the lower end of the ink absorber 106, or if the recording operation is continued beyond that, the ink will run out during the recording operation within one page. It is conceivable to set such an ink amount. If the count value α ′ does not reach the predetermined remaining amount β or less, the process proceeds to step 1 to continue the ink ejection operation. If the count value α ′ reaches the predetermined remaining amount β or less, The recording operation (ink ejection operation) is stopped and a predetermined time is awaited (step 5).

  Note that the ink remaining amount detection process performed in steps 1 to 4 is also performed during the recovery operation of the ink jet recording apparatus. That is, when the amount of ink consumed per unit time exceeds the gas-liquid exchange amount due to the suction recovery operation or the preliminary discharge operation, α ′ is obtained, and the recording operation is performed by comparing α ′ and β. Whether to continue or wait.

  When the recording operation is in a standby state as described above, the raw ink In in the first storage chamber 104 is supplied through the communication path 101b by the negative pressure in the ink absorber 106, and the ink in the ink absorber 106 is supplied. The remaining amount returns to the initial state. In order to detect this change, in this embodiment, the operations of Step 6 to Step 8 are executed.

  That is, in step 6, a value obtained by subtracting the ink flow rate per unit time from the gas-liquid exchange amount per unit time is converted into an ink discharge count number, and the count number is added to the current ink remaining amount count value α ′. Thus, the count value α ″ is obtained. The count value α ″ is the remaining amount of ink for each unit time included in the ink absorber 106. Thereafter, in step 7, the count value α ″ is compared with the initial count value α to determine whether or not α ″ matches the initial value α. If it is determined that they do not match, the process returns to step 5 to continue the standby state. If they match, the process proceeds to step 8 to reset the remaining ink count value. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 1 to enable the ink ejection operation.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when a large amount of ink is ejected within a short time such that the supply of ink from the first storage chamber 104 to the second storage chamber 105 cannot catch up. The amount of ink in the second ink storage chamber 105 can be detected. Further, when the detected amount of ink becomes a small amount, the recording operation is stopped and the apparatus waits until ink is supplied from the first storage chamber 104 to the second storage chamber 106. . For this reason, as long as ink is present in the first storage chamber 104, it is possible to perform a recording operation in a state where sufficient ink is always supplied into the second storage chamber 105, and fading is always performed. A good quality image can be obtained, and the reliability of the ink jet recording apparatus is greatly improved.

  In the above embodiment, a serial type ink jet recording apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to a full line type ink jet recording apparatus, and the present invention is particularly limited to the above embodiment. It is not something.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a control system of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a vertical side view of the ink tank in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional side view schematically showing the use state of the ink tank shown in FIG. 3, where (a) shows a case where a relatively small amount of ink is ejected per unit time, and (b) shows a relatively large amount of ink. A case where ink is ejected per unit time is shown. 6 is a flowchart illustrating remaining ink level detection processing performed in the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Inkjet recording device 53 Carriage 54 Head cartridge 58 Recovery part 100 Ink tank 101a Partition plate 101b Communication path 102 Atmospheric communication port 103 Ink supply port 104 First storage chamber 105 Second storage chamber 106 Ink absorber 500 Controller 501 CPU
503 ROM
505 RAM
503 recording head P recording medium In ink

Claims (12)

A recording head that has a first storage chamber that stores ink and a second storage chamber that has an ink absorber that absorbs ink supplied from the first storage chamber, and that ejects ink droplets. An ink remaining amount detecting method for detecting an ink remaining amount in the second accommodating chamber of an ink tank that supplies ink in the second accommodating chamber,
Judgment whether or not the amount of ink discharged from the recording head within a predetermined time exceeds the amount of ink that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber within the predetermined time Process,
When the ink discharge amount exceeds the ink supply amount, a difference value obtained by subtracting the ink supply amount from the ink discharge amount is calculated from the ink amount in the second storage chamber immediately before the ink discharge is performed. And a remaining amount determining step for determining the remaining amount of ink in the second storage chamber after the ink is ejected by reducing the ink amount.   In the determination step, whether or not the ink discharge amount per unit time discharged from the recording head exceeds the ink supply amount per unit time that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber. The ink remaining amount detection method according to claim 1, wherein:   3. When the ink is supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber, outside air is introduced into the first storage chamber and gas-liquid exchange is performed. The ink remaining amount detection method according to any one of the above.   2. The ink ejection amount ejected from the recording head within the predetermined time includes an ink ejection amount performed in a recovery process performed to recover the ejection performance of the recording head. 4. The ink remaining amount detection method according to any one of 3).   The method further comprises a second determination step of determining whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the second storage chamber determined in the remaining amount determination step has reached a predetermined set remaining amount or less. The ink remaining amount detection method according to claim 1.   When it is determined by the second determination step that the remaining amount of ink in the second storage chamber determined in the remaining amount determination step has reached a predetermined set remaining amount or less, the ink by the recording head 6. The ink remaining amount detection method according to claim 5, further comprising a standby step of stopping the discharge operation for a predetermined time.   7. The ink remaining amount determined by the remaining amount determining step is reset to a predetermined initial value after ink ejection by the recording head is stopped for a predetermined time by the standby step. Ink remaining amount detection method.   2. The ink discharge amount discharged from the recording head within the predetermined time is obtained by multiplying the ink amount of one ink droplet by the number of ink droplets discharged from the recording head. The ink remaining amount detection method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.   9. The ink remaining amount detection method according to claim 8, wherein the ink discharge amount is obtained based on recording data.   10. The ink remaining amount detection method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of storing each ink remaining amount determined in the remaining amount determining step in a predetermined storage unit. An ink tank having a first storage chamber that stores ink and a second storage chamber that stores an ink absorber that absorbs ink supplied from the first storage chamber; and ink in the second storage chamber And an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink droplets from the recording head according to input recording data.
Ink remaining amount detecting means for detecting the amount of ink stored in the second storage chamber of the ink tank;
The ink remaining amount detecting means includes:
Judgment whether or not the amount of ink discharged from the recording head within a predetermined time exceeds the amount of ink that can be supplied from the first storage chamber to the second storage chamber within the predetermined time Means,
When the ink discharge amount exceeds the ink supply amount, a difference value obtained by subtracting the ink supply amount from the ink discharge amount is calculated from the ink amount in the second storage chamber immediately before the ink discharge is performed. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a remaining amount determining unit configured to determine a remaining amount of ink in the second storage chamber after the ink is ejected by being reduced. A plurality of the ink tanks are provided corresponding to a plurality of recording heads for discharging different color inks,
12. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the ink remaining amount detecting means detects the ink remaining amount independently for each ink tank.

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