Ink jet type printers typically employ print heads consisting of a reservoir of ink in fluid communication with a series of nozzles on a semiconductor substrate that are used to expel the ink onto a printing surface. The ink is drawn to the substrate through channels and then expelled through the nozzles. Some types of ink jet printers expel the ink by superheating a small portion of the ink with an electric resistor located in a chamber beneath the nozzle. The boiling ink forms an expanding bubble which propels a drop of ink through the nozzle and onto the printing surface. In other types of ink jet printers, piezoelectric transducers that change their dimensions in response to an electric field are used to essentially squeeze a drop of ink through the nozzle. The number, spacing, size and condition of the nozzle holes greatly influences the print quality. By carefully controlling the expulsion of the ink through the nozzles and onto a printing surface, a high quality image can be created. As used herein, the term "image" is meant to include anything that is to be printed, including both text and graphics. For color printing applications, the three primary colors of cyan, magenta and yellow are provided by ejecting ink through the nozzles associated with each of the primary colors.
Many ink jet printers having multiple print heads are designed to use different types of ink jet print head cartridges. For example, an ink jet printer may have a color ink print head cartridge having an ink container filled with color inks and a black ink print head cartridge having an ink container filled with black ink. An ink jet printer also may be designed to print with either a high resolution print head cartridge or a low resolution print head cartridge. A high resolution print head cartridge will typically have more nozzles than a low resolution print head cartridge. These printers operate on the assumption that a certain type of print head cartridge has been inserted into a particular print head carrier location. The drawback to these kinds of ink jet printers is that if the wrong type of print head cartridge has been inserted in a particular print head carrier location, the cartridge must be manually removed and replaced by the desired cartridge.
As the availability of different types of print heads increases, so does the complexity of determining which type print head is to be installed in which print head carrier position. Because the print head carrier location in which a print head cartridge is inserted is so important, ink jet printers having multiple print head cartridges use of variety of methods to insure that the right print head cartridge is placed is the right carrier location. Some ink jet printers have different shaped print head carriers so that only a print head cartridge with a particular shape will fit into a particular print head carrier location. Because only print head cartridges of a certain type will fit in a particular print head carrier location, the ink jet printer assumes that the correct print head cartridge is inserted in the correct print head carrier. When new types of ink jet print head cartridges are developed they usually require updated printer software and often require a new and different print head carrier.
Alternatively, some ink jet printers having multiple print head carriers place print head identification information on the print head cartridge. The printer electronics read this information to determine if the correct type of print head cartridge is installed in a particular print head carrier location. If the printer electronics determine that the wrong type of print head cartridge has been inserted into the print head carrier, the printer displays an error message to inform the user that the wrong type print head cartridge has been inserted. This approach suffers from the same shortcomings as the shaped print head carrier approach discussed above. If a new and unrecognized, or wrong type of ink jet print head cartridge is installed in a carrier location, the printer electronics will simply display an error message. The user must then manually remove the improper cartridge and replace it with the correct type of cartridge for the particular print head carrier location. Installing an ink jet print head cartridge in a print head carrier location, receiving an error message, and removing and reinstalling the print head cartridge involves some effort and may result in some confusion for an individual unfamiliar with the printer.
Additional problems arise when it is desired to print a particular set of data with a certain type of ink jet print head cartridge. If either of the approaches discussed above are used, the data must be printed with the print head cartridge installed in the appropriate print head carrier. If the print head carrier is damaged, the printer will not be able to print using the desired type of print head cartridge until the print head carrier associated with the desired type of cartridge is replaced or repaired.