Method and apparatus for prediction of inkjet printhead lifetime

摘要

It has been discovered that inkjet printhead lifetime is related to an amount of accumulated air within the inkjet printhead (50). The invention, therefore, comprises a method of: determining an amount of ink that is output by an inkjet printhead (50) during a determined period; using the amount of ink so determined to derive an update air accumulation value that is indicative of an amount of air which has accumulated during the determined period within the inkjet printhead (50); and updating a stored air accumulation parameter in accord with the air accumulation update value. The stored air accumulation parameter is thus related to a projected remaining lifetime of the inkjet printhead (50). A preferred embodiment stores the air accumulation parameter directly on a memory (54) that is integral with the inkjet printhead (50) . The parameter can further be stored on a memory (49) that is resident on an ink container (44) employed in the inkjet printer.