JP2000025251A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute exchanging between multi-value recording using inks with high and low concentrations and binary recording using ink with low concentration without replacing a recording head and to reduce burden on a user in terms of adequate keeping of a replaced head. SOLUTION: A tank containing inks with high and low concentrations and a tank 450 containing ink with high concentration are detachably attached to a common ink jet cartridge 300. Each tank comprises a part 451 for indicating information about the ink contained therein. This ink jet recorder is equipped with a switch 10 for detecting the indicated information so that it is possible to adequately execute processing of image data and main scanning corresponding to the tank loaded thereto or the ink contained therein.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a color ink jet recording apparatus. Here, the term “recording” includes the application of ink (printing, image formation, printing, dyeing, etc.) to all ink supports to which ink is applied, such as cloth, thread, paper, and sheet material. Is applicable not only in the information processing field, but also in a wide range of industrial fields such as the apparel industry using an ink support to which ink is applied such as cloth, thread, paper, and sheet material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage on which recording means (recording head) and an ink tank are mounted, conveying means for conveying recording paper, and control means for controlling these. Then, the recording head for ejecting ink droplets from the plurality of ejection ports is serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the recording paper conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction), while the recording paper is set to the recording width when not recording. The intermittent conveyance is performed by an equal amount. This recording method is to perform recording by discharging ink on recording paper in accordance with a recording signal, and is widely used as a quiet recording method with low running cost. Also, by using a recording head in which a large number of ejection ports for ejecting ink are arranged linearly in the sub-scanning direction, for example, the recording head scans the recording paper once to correspond to the arrangement range of the ejection ports. The recorded width is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a high-speed recording operation.

Further, in the case of a color-compatible ink jet recording apparatus, a color image is formed by overlapping ink droplets ejected by recording heads of a plurality of colors. Generally, when performing color recording, yellow (Y),
Four types of recording heads and ink cartridges corresponding to three primary colors of magenta (M) and cyan (C) or four colors including black (B) among these three primary colors are required. In recent years, apparatuses equipped with such recording heads of three or four colors and capable of forming images in full color have been put to practical use.

In the recording head, as a means for generating energy for ejecting ink, liquid using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element or an electrothermal transducer having a heating resistor is used. There are things to be heated.

[0005] Above all, a recording head of a system (such as a so-called bubble jet system proposed by Canon Inc.) for discharging a liquid by utilizing thermal energy (for example, utilizing a film boiling phenomenon caused by the action of thermal energy) is the above-mentioned liquid head. Since the ejection ports can be arranged at a high density, high-resolution recording can be performed.

Here, in order to facilitate understanding of the prior art and the present invention, an example of a conventional ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the recording head will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic exploded perspective view for explaining a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording head mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus.

Reference numeral 71 denotes a plurality of grooves 73 serving as ejection ports for passing ink, a groove 74 serving as a common liquid chamber communicating with these grooves, and an ink supply port for supplying ink to the common liquid chamber. 75 is a ceiling plate formed. Reference numeral 72 denotes a substrate on which electrothermal transducers 76 corresponding to the respective discharge ports are provided.
And an electrode 77 for supplying power to each electrothermal transducer is a substrate integrally formed by a film forming technique. The top plate 71 and the substrate 72 are combined to form a plurality of ejection ports (orifices) 78 for ejecting ink.

The recording head 70 having such a configuration
Constitutes an ink jet cartridge integrally with an ink tank that supplies ink to the recording head via the supply port 75.

FIG. 10 is an external perspective view for explaining a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the ink jet recording head shown in FIG.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 85 denotes an ink-jet head (recording head) of an ink-jet head cartridge 86 provided with a discharge port group for discharging ink so as to face a recording surface of a recording sheet sent on a platen 89.
It is. Reference numeral 81 denotes a carriage for holding a recording head 85, and a driving belt 8 for transmitting a driving force of a driving motor 82.
3, the recording head 85 can reciprocate over the entire width of the recording paper by being slidable with the two guide shafts 84A and 84B disposed in parallel with each other. During this reciprocation, the recording head 85 records an image corresponding to the received data on recording paper. Each time one main scan is completed, the recording paper is conveyed by a predetermined amount and a sub-scan is performed.

Reference numeral 90 denotes a head recovery device, which is disposed at one end of the moving path of the recording head 85, for example, at a position facing the home position. The head recovery device 90 is operated by the driving force of the motor 87 via the transmission mechanism 88, and the recording head 85 is capped. In connection with the capping portion of the head recovery device 90 to the recording head 85 by the cap portion 90A, ink absorption (suction recovery) is performed by an appropriate suction means (for example, a suction pump) provided in the head recovery device 90, As a result, an ejection recovery process such as removing the thickened ink in the ejection port by forcibly discharging the ink from the ejection port is performed.
Also, by performing capping at the end of recording or the like, the recording head is protected. Such a discharge recovery process is appropriately performed when the power is turned on, when the print head is replaced, or when the printing operation is not performed for a certain period of time or the like.

Reference numeral 91 denotes a blade as a wiping member formed of an elastic member such as silicon rubber, and is disposed on a side surface of the head recovery device 90. The blade 91 is held in a cantilever form by a blade holding member 91 </ b> A, is operated by a motor 87 and a transmission mechanism 88 similarly to the head recovery device 90, and engages with the ejection surface of the recording head 85 (that is, the surface on which ejection openings are formed). Is possible.
Thereby, at an appropriate timing in the recording operation of the recording head 85 or after the ejection recovery processing using the head recovery device 90, the blade 91 is made to protrude into the moving path of the recording head 85, and the movement of the head 85 is caused. To remove dew, wet or dust on the ejection surface of the head 85 ink.

A brief description will be given of a process of forming ink droplets of the bubble jet system performed by the recording head having the above-described configuration.

First, for example, in response to the supply of a pulse-like drive signal, when the heating resistor (heater) generates heat and reaches a predetermined temperature, a film bubble covering the heater surface is generated. The internal pressure of the bubble is very high, and pushes out the ink in the discharge port. The ink moves toward the common liquid chamber outside the discharge port and in the opposite direction by the inertial force of the extrusion. As the movement of the ink proceeds, the internal pressure of the bubble becomes negative, and the velocity of the ink in the liquid path inside the discharge port becomes slow due to the addition of the flow path resistance. Since the ink ejected from the ejection port has a higher speed than when it is in the liquid path,
Narrowing occurs due to the balance between inertia force, flow path resistance, shrinkage of air bubbles, and ink surface tension, resulting in separation and droplet formation. At the same time as the bubble is contracted, ink is supplied from the common liquid chamber into the ejection port by capillary force to prepare for the input of the next drive signal.

As described above, the recording head using the electrothermal conversion element as the energy generating means can generate bubbles in the ink in the liquid path in one-to-one correspondence by the driving electric pulse signal, and can also perform the operation immediately and appropriately. Can cause the growth and contraction of air bubbles, so that ink droplet ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved. In addition, it is easy to make the recording head more compact, and to fully utilize the advantages of IC technology and micro-machining technology, which have recently achieved remarkable advances in technology in the semiconductor field and improved reliability, and facilitate high-density mounting. so,
This is advantageous because the manufacturing cost is low.

As a method of producing a gradation in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus having the above-described configuration, one pixel of an image signal corresponds to one pixel of binary recording, and this is binarized by a predetermined threshold value. A method of expressing gradation (dither method), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-207265, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
-160654, JP-A-63-53052, a method of changing a dot size by forming a united droplet of a plurality of droplets and landing the droplet on a recording material (droplet modulation method); Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 63-53052 discloses a method in which a plurality of droplets are landed on the same location on a recording material to form one dot, and a gradation is obtained based on the number of landed droplets (multi-droplet system). ). Among these methods, the dither method involves a reduction in image resolution, and the droplet modulation method makes it difficult to obtain a wide gradation width in a practical range such as the distance between sheets of a recording apparatus. In contrast, the multi-droplet method uses
It is excellent as a method that can perform high-resolution and high-gradation printing by selecting an inkjet head with small droplets.

In general, even if a droplet lands on a recording material,
Depending on the type of recording material, it may take several hundred milliseconds or more to penetrate the ink. For this reason, when the preceding droplet lands on the recording material, a hemispherical droplet is formed on the recording material. Therefore, a droplet on a larger hemisphere can be formed on the recording paper by superimposing and landing a succeeding droplet on the preceding droplet on the recording material. Can be controlled.

It is conceivable that the recording speed may be reduced by increasing the number of droplets to be superimposed in order to obtain a wider gradation width. However, the droplet modulation method described above and JP-B-63-502261 have been proposed. A method in which droplets having different volumes ejected from different ejection ports using the inkjet head described above are landed on recording paper in a very short time,
By adopting such a combination, it is possible to prevent a decrease in recording density.

Further, there is a method of expressing a gradation width or a gradation value by a difference in density of a color tone of ink. This method
The graininess of the highlight portion can be suppressed, and this is an effective means for photo-grade printing in which demand is expected to increase sharply in the future. This type of ink jet recording apparatus generally has a total of seven types of heads of black, dark yellow, dark magenta, dark cyan, light yellow, light magenta, and light cyan.
Alternatively, as a supply source for supplying ink of each color having seven kinds of ejection port groups, a tank separated for each color can be used, or a tank containing black ink can be used. And a tank containing several inks of each color of magenta / cyan / dark yellow, and a tank containing each color of light magenta / cyan / light yellow. Can be.

In an ink jet recording apparatus using a head corresponding to dark and light, a frequently used binary color head (dark yellow, dark magenta and dark cyan), a required tank, and a multi-valued color head (light and dark ink) are used. In many cases, the tanks are used interchangeably with dark yellow, dark magenta, dark cyan, light yellow, light magenta, light cyan) and tanks. In many cases, the multi-value color head and the tank are separately provided as options, and in this case, the user purchases the multi-value color head and the tank as desired.

[0022]

However, in the above conventional example, when a multi-valued color head is used, the binary color head, including the tank, is removed from the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus and stored in a predetermined container. Is strongly desirable. The same applies to the reverse case, and it is desirable that a person who has used the above-described multi-valued color using dark and light inks. Here, there are the following problems.

When a 1.2-valued color head is used, the multi-valued color head is stored in the same manner. Since the stored head has already been subjected to the ink discharge operation from the fine discharge ports, the storage of the head is long. In this case, the ink sticks, adheres to dust, wets around the discharge port, and the like. Therefore, it is a technical problem to take measures to secure the reliability in maintaining the recording quality at the time of reuse. In particular, the diameter of a discharge port of a head for performing high-density recording such as a recording density of 600 DPI (dots / inch) or 1200 DPI is 20 mm.
Such a problem is conspicuous because it is not more than μm.

2. Binary color printing is possible even with the multi-valued color head as described above. However, the recording speed performance is low. That is, as compared with the dedicated binary color head, the printing speed is で は with the same number of ejection openings.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing multi-value and binary color printing using highly reliable and high-performance dark and light inks. .

[0026]

For this purpose, the present invention provides:
An ink tank which is detachably attachable to an ink jet head and includes a storage unit for storing ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and an information presenting unit for presenting information on the stored ink, is detachable. An ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording using an ink jet head attached to a printer, comprising: means for relatively scanning the ink jet head and a recording medium; processing supplied image data and sending the processed image data to the ink jet head Image processing means, a detecting means for detecting the presented information, and a means for changing the control content of the scanning means and the image processing means based on the detected information. I do.

Here, the ink tank has a plurality of sections for storing ink, and the plurality of sections store a plurality of inks having the same color but different densities or inks having the same color tone. can do.

The presenting portion of the ink tank may be in the form of a protrusion or a label, and the detecting means may be closed in accordance with the form of the presenting portion on the ink tank side or in contact with the protrusion. Switch means, or a photoelectric sensor for reading information displayed on the label.

The ink jet head may be provided with a plurality of ejection sections to which the ink tank having the plurality of sections is attached and which receives supply of ink from the plurality of sections. Each of the plurality of discharge units has a plurality of discharge ports, a plurality of liquid paths communicating with the plurality of discharge ports, a liquid chamber commonly communicating with the plurality of liquid paths, and And a supply unit for introducing ink from a section of the ink tank.

Here, the means for changing the control content may change the speed of scanning by the scanning means in accordance with the detected information, and the inkjet head is mounted on a carriage. The recording medium is scanned in a predetermined direction, and the plurality of ejection ports are
Arranged in a direction different from the scanning direction, the plurality of ejection sections are arranged along the scanning direction, and it is detected that an ink tank containing ink of the same color tone is attached. In this case, the means for changing the control content can cause the plurality of ejection units to form complementary dots in the course of the scanning and increase the speed of the scanning.

Further, the ink-jet head may have an electrothermal conversion element for causing film boiling of the ink as energy used for discharging the ink.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration example of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, two heads of a BK (black) head cartridge 480 and a color head cartridge 300 are
0 is a type that performs recording. A color ink tank 400 is exchangeably attached to the color head cartridge.

The carriage 600 includes guides 670 and 68
0, and is moved via the belt 660 by driving the carriage motor 650.

Image data is sent to the ink jet head by a flexible cable 690. A signal from the ink tank type detecting means is also sent to the main body through the flexible cable 690.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

The type of the ink tank mounted on the ink jet head is recognized by the tank type detecting means 10 and sent to the main control section 11 as an electric signal. The main controller 11 also outputs image data to be printed from the host computer 14 (which serves as a supply source of image data and may be in the form of a reader as image reading means in addition to a computer as an information processing device). Sent to Next, the information is sent to the image data processing unit 12, which converts the image data according to the type of the ink tank, and outputs it to the head control unit 13.

The main control section 11 has a central control section for the entire recording apparatus, and includes a microcomputer in the form of a microcomputer, a program corresponding to a required control procedure executed by the CPU including processing means to be described later, and other fixed programs. R storing data
It has an OM, a RAM having a work area, and the like. The main body control means 20 is a control group for controlling the driving of each section of the apparatus under the control of the main control section 11, and the control section 2 of the carriage motor serving as a source for performing the main scanning of the head.
1, a head control unit 13 for controlling the ejection operation of the inkjet head, and a control unit for controlling the feeding (sub-scanning) of the recording paper.

The ink jet head unit 100 shown in FIG.
The ink-jet head cartridge 300 and the ink tank 400 having the above-described configuration can perform printing using light and dark inks. The interior of the ink tank 400 is divided into six chambers, and each ink is impregnated in, for example, a sponge-shaped absorber 430, 440, etc., which holds the ink, and includes dark cyan, dark magenta, dark yellow, light cyan, and light cyan. Magenta and pale yellow inks are supplied to the respective ink supply ports 410C, 410M, 410Y, 420C, 420
The ink is supplied to the inkjet head unit 100 of the inkjet head cartridge 300 through M and 420Y. Here, the lever 402 is for attaching and detaching from the ink jet head cartridge.
And the latch claw 403 to fix the ink jet head cartridge. A guide 404 is provided on the side surface of the tank for mounting at a predetermined position in a predetermined posture.

The first ejection port group row 110 of the ink jet head section is on the dark ink side, and the first ejection port group row 110C
(Corresponding to dark cyan), a second discharge port group 110M (corresponding to dark magenta), and a third discharge port group 110Y (corresponding to dark yellow). The second ejection port group row 120 is on the light ink side, and the fourth ejection port group 120C (light cyan),
The fifth ejection port group 120M (light magenta) and the sixth ejection port group 120Y (light yellow) are provided. Each of these discharge port groups has a liquid path group that communicates with each of them, a liquid chamber that commonly communicates with them, and a supply unit that supplies ink to the liquid chamber by being fluidly connected to a supply port on the ink tank side. (These constitute one unit of supply unit), and each color ink is supplied from an ink tank.

FIG. 4 shows an ink tank used for binary color recording together with an ink jet head. The illustrated ink tank 450 has the same configuration as the ink tank 400 of FIG. 3, but two chambers are assigned for dark cyan, dark magenta, and dark yellow.

Therefore, when the ink tank 450 containing the three color inks of dark cyan, dark magenta, and dark yellow shown in FIG. Dark ink is also supplied to the ejection port group. That is, the ink is changed as shown in Table 1.

[0043]

[Table 1]

In this embodiment, the dark ink tank 450
The projection 451 on the bottom surface of the bottom surface forms a portion for presenting information relating to the type of ink tank or the stored ink. On the other hand, the inkjet head cartridge 300
An opening 330 is provided on the back surface of the ink jet head cartridge. When the ink tank 450 is mounted on the ink jet head cartridge, the projection 451 of the ink tank projects downward through the opening 330. In contrast,
The ink tank 400 does not have such protrusions, and therefore, the ink jet head cartridge 300
There is no protrusion at the time of attachment to the device.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a processing procedure for performing recording according to the type of tank according to the above configuration. In this procedure, the type of the installed ink tank is determined at the time of ink tank replacement or the like (step S1).

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the ink tank 450 is mounted on the ink jet head cartridge 300 mounted on the carriage 600. That is, when the mounting is performed as shown in the drawing, the electric switch 10 provided at the corresponding portion of the carriage of the ink jet recording apparatus
Is brought into contact with the projection 451, and the switch is closed accordingly. The electric switch 10 forms an ink tank type detecting unit. A signal is sent to the main control unit 11 in accordance with the closing, and the ink tank attached to the inkjet head cartridge 300 is changed to the binary color ink tank 45.
0 can be recognized. In response to this, the image data processing means 12 converts the cyan image data to the first nozzle (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, a discharge port or a liquid path communicating therewith and a means for generating energy used for ink discharge). The magenta image data is similarly distributed to the nozzle groups 110M and 120M, and the yellow image data is distributed to the nozzle groups 110Y and 120Y. The conversion is performed, and the converted image data is sent to the head controller 13 (step 3).

FIG. 7 shows a recording state performed based on the data thus distributed. As shown in the drawing, the nozzle array 110 and the nozzle array 120 are appropriately driven to form complementary dots every other dot in the main / sub scanning direction (for example, the staggered portion is recorded by the nozzle array 110, and the nozzle array is printed). In the case of binary color printing, if the carriage speed is set to double by changing the command data to the carriage motor control unit 21 in FIG. 2 (step S5), per nozzle is performed. A double recording speed can be achieved without changing the ejection frequency. In addition, since one dot row in the main scanning direction is formed by two nozzles included in the first nozzle group row 110 and the second nozzle group row 120, so-called multi-pass printing (one in one main scanning direction) is performed. Forming a dot row by scanning multiple times with different nozzles)
Similarly to the above, there is an effect that the influence of the variation in the characteristics of the nozzles can be reduced and the image quality can be improved.

When the multi-valued color ink tank 400 is mounted on the ink jet head cartridge 300, the electric switch 10
Is not closed, the installation of the multi-valued color ink tank is recognized, and processing (step S9) is performed so that the multi-valued color data is distributed to the nozzle group row 110 and the nozzle group row 120 (step S9). Multi-valued color printing is performed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the ink tank is not detachable from the ink tank jet head, and when switching between binary color printing and multi-valued color printing, only the ink tank is removed and replaced. I can do it. Therefore, the ink jet head itself remains attached to the apparatus, and it is not necessary to consider its proper storage as in the related art. That is, there is no need to add or handle means for avoiding problems such as sticking of ink to the ink tank head, adhesion of dust, and wetting around the nozzles during storage as in the related art.

That is, in the above configuration, a binary color ink tank (only a number of ink supply ports corresponding to the multi-valued color ink tanks) of only the dark ink is attached to the multi-valued color head using the dark and light inks. Then, the tank type detecting means sends a signal to the main control unit 11, and the image data processing means converts the yellow, magenta, and cyan data into
The data is converted into two-divided data so that the ink is ejected from the ejection unit or nozzle group on the dark ink side and the ejection unit or nozzle group on the light ink side, and is output to the head control unit 13.

On the other hand, a signal of the ink tank type is also sent to the carriage motor control section 21 in the ink jet recording apparatus main body control means 20, and the carriage speed is set to 2
Make a change, such as doubling.

In this way, when performing binary color printing with the combination of the dark and light head and the dark ink tank as compared with the combination of the dark and light head and the dark and light ink tank, the recording speed is increased by 2 times. It is twice as high and an ink jet recording apparatus with high performance is obtained.

The image quality is also improved because the multi-pass printing is performed as compared with the normal one-pass printing.

In particular, since the performance in binary color printing is good, a head dedicated to binary color is not required, so that it is not necessary to replace the head dedicated to multi-level printing with the head dedicated to binary printing, and the head can be used for a long time. It has become easier to ensure reliability without storage.

In addition, since the same color and the same density of ink or the same color and different density of ink are supplied to the corresponding nozzle groups in the nozzle group rows 110 and 120, it is necessary to replace the ink tanks when replacing the ink tanks. The problem of color mixing and the problem of deterioration of image quality at the time of subsequent recording hardly occur.

However, it is also possible to adopt a configuration that eliminates the occurrence of these problems or the occurrence of problems such as color mixing that can occur even when inks of the same color and different densities are used.
As such a configuration, for example, a recovery device 90 as shown in FIG. 10 is added to the device of FIG. (The total capacity of the chamber), and a process of replacing the ink remaining in the inkjet head with the ink supplied from the replaced ink tank may be provided.

Further, the means for presenting information relating to the type of ink tank or the ink stored therein and the detecting means on the side of the recording apparatus main body are not limited to the above-mentioned examples, but may be various. For example, a non-volatile memory or DI
It may be a combination of a P switch and a means for reading information from their stored contents or setting contents, or a combination of a means on which information is formed magnetically or optically and a magnetic sensor or an optical sensor.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the ink tank type information presenting section, in which a bar code label 452 is used in this example. Such a configuration is effective when the number of ink tank types increases (for example, when an ink tank containing fluorescent ink, ink suitable for a recording medium (glossy paper, glossy film, coated paper), or the like is used). In this case, a photoelectric sensor is used as the ink tank type detecting means.

(Others) It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 44,558 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection with the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied is used.

Further, it is preferable to add ejection recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

In particular, when the present invention is applied to an image forming system in which an ink jet recording apparatus is combined with a host computer, information on the installed ink tank is notified to the host computer, and the information to that effect is displayed by display or the like. It is also possible to notify the operator or, in the above example, a part of the processing performed by the recording apparatus main body (for example, processing for allocating image data) is performed on the host computer side.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention,
While it is possible to perform multi-valued color printing using dark and light inks, which is effective for forming image data such as photographs, and in the case of binary color printing that does not require such a high image quality as business colors, the printing speed is reduced. It is possible to greatly improve.

Further, since the multi-valued color head and the binary valued head can be coped with both recordings with good performance simply by exchanging the ink tanks without exchanging them for the purpose of use, there is a problem that the reliability is reduced due to the storage of the inkjet head. Can be eliminated. In other words, multi-value /
An ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing binary color recording can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram best representing the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an ink jet head cartridge and an ink tank of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an ink jet head cartridge of the present invention and another type of ink tank.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for performing recording according to a tank type.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a detached state of an ink tank on a carriage.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a recording example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an ink tank according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tank type detection means 11 Main control part 12 Image data processing means 13 Inkjet head control part 21 Carriage motor control part 100 Inkjet head part 300 Head cartridge 400 Ink tank 402 Lever 403 Light eye nail 405 Locking projection 410 (C, M, Y ) Dark color ink (C, M, Y)
Supply port 420 (C, M, Y) Light color ink (C, M, Y)
Supply port 450 Contrast ink tank 451 Ink tank type identification protrusion 452 Ink tank type identification label 600 Carriage 650 Carriage motor 690 Flexible cable

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a storage unit which is detachably attachable to an ink jet head and stores ink to be supplied to the ink jet head; and an information presenting unit for presenting information on the stored ink. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording using an ink jet head to which an ink tank is detachably attached, a unit that relatively scans the ink jet head and a recording medium, and processes the supplied image data to execute the ink jet. Image processing means for sending the information to the head; detecting means for detecting the presented information; and means for changing the control contents of the scanning means and the image processing means based on the detected information. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized in that: 2. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein the ink tank has a plurality of sections for storing ink.
3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of sections of the ink tank store a plurality of inks of different densities of the same color or inks of the same color tone. . 4. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein the ink tank has a projection as the presentation unit, and the detection unit has a switch unit that closes in accordance with contact with the projection. The inkjet recording device according to any one of the above. 5. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein the display unit includes a label as the presentation unit, and the detection unit includes a photoelectric sensor for reading information displayed on the label. An inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the above. 6. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink-jet head has a plurality of discharge units that receive supply of ink from the plurality of partitions. 7. Each of the plurality of discharge units includes: a plurality of discharge ports; a plurality of liquid paths communicating with the plurality of discharge ports; a liquid chamber commonly communicating with the plurality of liquid paths; The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a supply unit for introducing ink from a section of the ink tank into a chamber. 8. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for changing the control content changes a scanning speed of said scanning means in accordance with said detected information. 9. The inkjet head is mounted on a carriage and scans the recording medium in a predetermined direction. The plurality of ejection ports are arranged in a direction different from the scanning direction. 4. The means for changing the control contents when it is detected that the ink tank according to claim 3 in which inks of the same color are stored is installed, is arranged along the scanning direction. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein during the scanning, the plurality of ejection units perform complementary dot formation and increase the scanning speed. 10. The ink-jet head according to claim 1, wherein the ink-jet head has an electrothermal conversion element for causing film boiling of the ink as energy used for discharging the ink. Ink jet recording device.