SPECIAL CARTRIDGE FOR ABSORBING WASTE INK, INK-JET PRINTER USING THE SAME, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING INK-JET PRINTER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a special cartridge for absorbing waste ink which can surely and simply discharge ink remaining in an ink-jet printer not equipped with a means for absorbing unnecessary ink, and an ink-jet printer using the cartridge. SOLUTION: A waste ink-absorbing special cartridge 40 has a cartridge main body 41 which can be set to an ink-jet printer and is formed to turn off a cartridge sensor 35 when fitted to the ink-jet printer. A waste ink- absorbing member 43 that can absorb unnecessary ink is set in the cartridge main body 41, and also a pseudo near end detection plate 42 which turns on a near end sensor 43 of the ink-jet printer when fitted to the ink-jet printer is set in the cartridge main body 41. When the cartridge sensor 35 is detected to be off and the near end sensor 34 is detected to be on, a pump means 38 is driven to discharge ink to the waste ink-absorbing member 43.