INK CARTRIDGE, INK JET PRINTER, METHOD OF REPLACING INK CARTRIDGE

摘要

An ink cartridge (8) includes an IC memory (32) storing information on the cartridge. When the ink cartridge (8) is loaded in a printer, it is checked by a lock mechanism (35) just before it goes in place. To determine whether it is the right cartridge, the information in the IC memory (32) is then read through a first terminal (33A) arranged on the cartridge and connected with the IC memory (32). If the ink cartridge is found to be right, the lock mechanism (35) is unlocked to set the ink cartridge (8) to the right position in the printer. When the cartridge (8) is correctly loaded, data are transferred between the printer and the IC memory (32) through a second terminal (33B) connected with the IC memory (32).