JP2000246912A - Facsimile device and method for detecting residual quantity of ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce unnecessary ink consumption by measuring the weight of an ink tank when a facsimile image is recorded and further detecting ink optically when a decision is made that residual ink is not present. SOLUTION: When a residual quantity of ink detection processing is performed, the weight of a recording head is measured by means of a weight sensor and the measurements are outputted (S5). The weight of the recording head (PHW) converted based on the output is then compared with a specified threshold (TH1) (S6). If PHW<=TH1, a decision is made that an ink tank is possibly empty and the processing advances to next step (S7) where more accurate detection of the residual quantity of ink is performed by optical residual quantity detection system using a photosensor (S7). A decision is further made whether residual ink is present or not based on the outputs from the photosensor (S8). The processing advances to step (S10) if residual ink is present otherwise processing at step (S9) is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus and a method for detecting the remaining amount of ink, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus and a method for detecting the remaining amount of ink using a printer in accordance with an ink jet system as its recording section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recording paper used in facsimile machines in recent years is becoming plain paper, and for example, a serial printer adopting an ink jet recording system is increasingly incorporated therein as a recording unit. In such a facsimile apparatus, an operator is not always present at the side when a printing operation occurs in the apparatus, so the facsimile apparatus automatically detects whether there is a remaining amount of ink necessary for printing, and If not, it is necessary to take a corresponding measure.

Conventionally, the following method has been generally used as the remaining ink amount detection method.

(1) Footer method Aside from the received image, a black square of about 5 mm × 5 mm or the like is recorded on a recording paper and read by a sensor.
In this method, the presence or absence of ink is determined according to the reading result.

(2) Optical residual quantity detection system An LED used as a light emitting element and an optical transistor serving as a light receiving element for receiving the light and converting the light into an electric signal are arranged so as to face each other, and light is emitted between these elements. In this method, ink is ejected so as to block the optical path from the element to the light receiving element, and the presence or absence of the ink is determined based on the output of the light receiving element at that time.

(3) Weighing type remaining amount detection method The weight of a container (ink tank) containing ink is weighed by a weighing sensor, and the result is set to a value when a predetermined container becomes empty. It is a method of judging the presence or absence of ink by comparing

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following drawbacks.

That is, in the footer system, an image other than the image formed by the received data must be recorded on the recording paper, so that extra ink is consumed.

Next, even in the optical remaining amount detection method, since an image other than the image formed by the received data must be recorded on the recording paper, extra ink is consumed. In addition, the recording head must be moved to the position where the sensor (light emitting element and light receiving element) is located for detecting the remaining amount, and extra time is required to perform the remaining amount detecting operation. .

Further, in the weight-type remaining amount detection method, it is not necessary to consume extra ink. However, since there is an individual difference in the weight of a container (ink cartridge or ink tank) containing the ink, the presence or absence of the remaining amount of ink is determined. The judgments vary. In order to avoid this, if a threshold value that reduces the variation in the determination is adopted, it may be determined that the ink tank is empty even though the ink tank still has enough ink. Waste ink. Thus, the detection accuracy is not very good in this method.

In summary, the conventional ink remaining amount detecting method has advantages and disadvantages.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and by combining the advantages of the conventional method, unnecessary ink consumption can be reduced and the remaining ink amount can be detected in a short time. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus having a recording unit for performing recording in accordance with an ink-jet method capable of performing recording by sufficiently using ink contained in an ink tank, and a method for detecting the remaining amount of ink.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement.

That is, a facsimile apparatus using a recording head for performing recording in accordance with an ink-jet system in a recording section, comprising: receiving means for receiving facsimile image data via a communication line; and an ink tank for supplying ink to the recording head. Measuring means for measuring the weight of the ink tank; first determining means for determining whether there is residual ink in the ink tank according to the measurement result by the measuring means; Optical detecting means for detecting the presence of remaining ink in the ink tank in accordance with the detection result of the optical detecting means, and facsimile image data received by the receiving means; When recording an image based on the facsimile image data from the measurement means and the second A first control means for controlling to operate the determining means, when the ink is determined to not remain in the ink tank by said first determination means,
A facsimile apparatus comprising: a second control unit that controls the optical detection unit and the second determination unit to operate.

Here, the ink tank and the recording head may be integrally formed, or the ink tank and the recording head may be configured to be separable.

The optical detecting means includes a light emitting element for emitting light, a light receiving element for receiving light emitted from the light emitting element, and an ink so that the recording head blocks an optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. The recording head may be configured to have a first driving unit that drives the recording head so as to discharge the ink, or the recording head discharges ink to record a predetermined pattern at a predetermined position on a recording medium. It may be configured to have a second driving means for driving as described above, and an optical sensor for reading a predetermined pattern recorded on a recording medium by the second driving means.

Further, a notifying means may be provided for notifying the user of the apparatus that no ink remains according to the result of the discrimination by the first and second discriminating means. When it is determined that no ink remains, and when the second determining unit determines that the ink remains, it is preferable that the notifying unit notifies that the remaining ink is scarce.

Preferably, the notifying means includes a displaying means for displaying a message, a sounding means for emitting a warning sound, and a lighting means for lighting a warning light.

Preferably, the recording head is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink in order to discharge the ink using thermal energy.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink remaining amount detecting method applied to a facsimile apparatus using a recording head according to an ink jet system as a recording unit, which performs recording by discharging ink supplied from an ink tank. A receiving step of receiving facsimile image data via a communication line; receiving the facsimile image data in the receiving step; and recording the image based on the facsimile image data from the recording unit, the ink tank. A measuring step of measuring the weight of the ink tank, a first determining step of determining the presence or absence of remaining ink in the ink tank according to the measurement result in the measuring step, and determining that no ink remains in the ink tank in the first determining step. An optical detection mechanism for optically detecting the ink ejected from the recording head when the discrimination is made; When, in accordance with the detection result of the optical detection step includes an ink level detecting method characterized by a second determination step of determining whether the remaining ink in the ink tank.

According to the present invention, when recording an image based on facsimile image data received via a communication line, the present invention measures the weight of an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head, and according to the measurement result. It is determined whether there is ink remaining in the ink tank. If it is determined that no ink remains in the ink tank, the ink ejected from the recording head is further optically detected, and the ink is discharged according to the detection result. An operation is performed to determine the presence or absence of remaining ink in the tank.

[0021]

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

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus provided with a recording section for performing recording by a recording head according to an ink jet system, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic configuration of the facsimile machine will be described. In FIG. 1, A is a reading unit that optically reads a document, B is a recording unit that performs recording in accordance with an ink jet system, and C is a recording unit that separates recording media such as recording paper P loaded in a paper feed cassette one by one. This is a paper feeding unit to be supplied to the unit B.

First, the flow of the recording paper P will be described.
The transport path of the recording paper P is as shown by the arrow G. That is,
The recording paper P stacked in the paper feeding cassette 1 of the paper feeding unit C is picked up by the paper feeding roller 2 and the retard roller 3 and sent to the recording unit B by the paper feeding roller 2.
The recording unit B conveys the recording paper P in accordance with the recording while performing recording by discharging ink onto the recording paper P by the recording head 5. When the recording is completed, the recording paper P is discharged and stacked on the discharge stacker 7 by the discharge roller 6.

Next, a specific configuration of the sheet feeding section C will be described.

In FIG. 1, a sheet cassette 1 for stacking and storing a plurality of recording sheets P is provided with an intermediate plate 4 for stacking recording sheets P. The middle plate 4 is urged upward from the back surface by a middle plate spring 10 arranged to face the feed roller 2. Further, the intermediate plate 4 has a structure that can be easily replenished when the recording paper P decreases or runs out by being pressed downward by a cam or the like at the time of paper feed standby.

On the other hand, when the recording signal is detected and the paper feeding operation is started, the downward pressing of the middle plate 4 by the cam or the like is released, and
The recording paper P is picked up by the paper feed roller 2.
The retard roller 3 is located at a position facing the paper feed roller 2 and changes the position of the recording paper P in conjunction with the middle plate 4. When the paper feeding operation is performed, the recording sheet P urged by the middle plate 4 and picked up by the paper feeding roller 2 is separated and fed only at the uppermost sheet by the cooperation of the paper feeding roller 2 in the J section. Send. The separated and fed recording paper P is conveyed to the recording section B while being nipped so as to be sufficiently wound around the feeding roller 2.

Next, a mechanism for discharging the recording paper P recorded by the recording section B will be described.

The recording paper P discharged by the discharge roller 6 is discharged and stacked on a discharge stacker 7. The discharge stacker 7 is provided with a discharge auxiliary tray 9 having a hinge K as a rotation center. When the recording paper P to be used is long, the discharge stacker 7 is rotated to move the discharge stacker in the recording paper discharge direction. Can be lengthened. Further, the paper discharge stacker 7 has a structure also serving as a cover of the paper feed cassette 1. The discharge stacker 7 and the discharge auxiliary tray 9 are provided with a plurality of ribs (not shown), and the recording paper P on which recording has been performed slides on the plurality of ribs and is sequentially stacked.

Next, the flow of the image document S will be described.

The original transport path is as shown by arrow F in FIG. In FIG. 1, an image original S is stacked on an original stacking tray 41 with its image surface facing down. Document loading tray 4
The image document S stacked on the sheet 1 is positioned by a slider 42 movable in the width direction. When the image document S is stacked on the document stacking tray 41, the document is pressed from above by a pre-conveyance pressing piece 43 by a pre-conveyance spring 44, and separated and preliminarily conveyed by cooperative action with a separation roller 46.

Next, the preliminarily conveyed image documents S are separated and conveyed one by one from below by the cooperative action of the separation piece 45 and the separation roller 46 pressed by the ADF spring 47 from above. Further, the separation roller 46 also has a role of conveying the separated image document S to the reading position.
The image drawn on the image document S separated and conveyed to the reading position by the separation roller 46 in this manner is read by the photoelectric conversion sensor 48. The CS roller 49 is urged from above by the CS pressing spring 50 along the reading line of the photoelectric conversion sensor 48, and the separated and conveyed image document S is brought into close contact with the reading line. Further, the CS roller 49 determines the reading speed of the image document S in the sub-scanning direction (the direction in which the image document is transported), and also serves to discharge the image document S that has been read. Finally, the discharged image document S is placed on the document discharge tray 5.
1 is stacked. The document discharge tray 51 has a structure detachable from the apparatus main body.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional perspective view showing a detailed configuration of the recording section B. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording head 5 is a cartridge-type recording head that has a built-in ink tank and can be replaced with a new one when the ink runs out.

In FIG. 2, while the carriage 15 holds the recording head 5 with high precision, the carriage 15 moves in a direction (main scanning direction, arrow H direction) perpendicular to the recording paper P transport direction (sub-scanning direction, arrow G direction). Move back and forth. The carriage 15 is slidably held by a guide rod 16 and an abutting portion 15a. The reciprocating movement of the carriage 15 is performed by a pulley 17 and a timing belt 18 driven by a carriage motor 30 (not shown). Supplied from the circuit. The recording head 5 and the flexible cable 19 are connected by press-contacting their respective contacts.

The carriage 15 on which the recording head 5 is mounted is provided with a weight sensor (not shown) for measuring the weight of the recording head 5, and can measure the recording head 5 in accordance with an instruction from a CPU described later. it can. The measurement result is sent to the CPU via the flexible cable 19.
Sent to As described above, since the recording head 5 has a built-in ink tank, the weight of the recording head 5 decreases as the ink is consumed as the recording operation proceeds.

A cap 20 is provided at the home position of the carriage 15 of the recording section B, and functions as ink receiving means. The cap 20 moves up and down as needed,
When ascending, it is in close contact with the recording head 5 and covers its nozzle to prevent evaporation of ink and adhesion of dust.

In this apparatus, in order to position the recording head 5 and the cap 20 so as to be relatively opposed to each other, a carriage home sensor 21 provided on the apparatus main body and a light shielding provided on the carriage 15 are provided. Board 15b
Is used. As the carriage home sensor 21, a transmission type photo interrupter is used. When the carriage 15 moves to the standby position, light emitted from a part of the carriage home sensor 21 is blocked by the light shielding plate 15b. Using the recording head 5
And that the cap 20 is at a relatively opposed position.

The recording paper P is fed upward from the lower side in FIG.
It is bent in the horizontal direction by the feed roller 2 and the paper guide 22 and is conveyed in the direction of arrow G (sub-scanning direction). The feed roller 2 and the discharge roller 6 are each driven by a transport motor (not shown), and a carriage 15
The recording paper P is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction with high precision in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the recording paper P. Further, a spur 23 that is made of a material having high water repellency in the sub-scanning direction and that comes into contact with the recording paper P only at the blade-shaped circumferential portion is provided. The spurs 23 are arranged at a plurality of locations facing the paper discharge roller 6 at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction by a bearing member 23a. The recording paper P is guided and conveyed without affecting the recording paper P.

As shown in FIG. 3, the photo sensor 8 is disposed between the cap 20 and the end of the recording paper P so as to face the nozzle row 5c of the recording head 5, and discharges from the nozzles of the recording head 5. This is a transmission type photo interrupter that directly and optically detects the ink droplet to be discharged, and can determine the state of the recording head 5 with no ink from its output. The photo sensor 8 used here uses an infrared LED as a light emitting element,
A lens is integrally formed on the LED light emitting surface, and light can be projected substantially parallel to the light receiving element. A phototransistor is used as the light receiving element, and a 0.7 mm × 0.7 mm hole is formed on the light axis of the light receiving element by a mold member on the light receiving surface, and a detection range is provided in an entire region between the light receiving element and the light emitting element. It is narrowed down to 0.7 mm in the height direction and 0.7 mm in the width direction. The optical axis connecting the light emitting element and the light receiving element is arranged in parallel with the nozzle row 5c of the recording head 5, the interval between the light receiving element and the light receiving element is wider than the nozzle row 5c of the recording head 5, and the optical axis and the recording head When the positions of the five nozzle rows 5c match, all the ink droplets ejected from each nozzle of the recording head 5 can pass through the detection range between the light emitting element and the light receiving element. When the ink droplet passes through the detection range, the ink droplet blocks light from the light emitting side,
By reducing the amount of light to the light receiving side, a change in the output of the phototransistor as the light receiving element can be obtained.

The nozzle array of the recording head 5 and the photo sensor 8
The carriage home sensor 21 provided on the apparatus main body is used in the same manner as the positioning with the cap 20 in order to position them so as to be relatively opposed to each other.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle row 5 of the recording head 5 at the home position (HP)
The distance (L) from the position c to the optical axis of the photosensor 8 is converted into the number of steps of the motor for driving the carriage 15 and is set in advance as a constant in a control program for executing the recording operation. In this manner, by moving the carriage by a certain amount after detecting the home position, the position of the ink row of the recording head 5 and the optical axis of the photo sensor 8 can be accurately positioned at a position relatively opposed to each other.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the facsimile apparatus described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus comprises a reading section A, a recording section B, and a sheet feeding section C in terms of its structure. However, as shown in FIG. Unit 100 and a printer unit 200.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile unit 100 controls the entire facsimile unit 100 by using a CP.
U101, ROM 102 for storing a control program executed by the CPU 101, SRAM 103 for storing image management data and registration data, etc., DRAM 104 for storing image information to be transmitted and received by facsimile, keys for operation of the apparatus, and display of the state of the apparatus. Operation panel 105, a printer interface (PRT I / F) unit 106 for communicating with the printer unit 200, and a read image document. An image processing unit 107 that performs image processing of image data to be received, a contact-type reading sensor (CS) 108 that reads an image document, and a modem 10 that modulates and demodulates digital and analog signals.
9. NCU (network controller) 11 for controlling the public line network
0, a telephone 111 for making a telephone call, and a CPU bus 112 for connecting these components to each other.

On the other hand, the printer unit 200 is
CPU 201 and facsimile unit 100 for controlling
Facsimile interface (FAX
An I / F) unit 202, a ROM 203 for storing a control program executed by the CPU 201, and an S used as a work area when the CPU 201 executes the control program.
RAM 204, conveyance motor 205 for conveying recording paper,
A weight attached to the carriage 15 for measuring the weight of the backup NVRAM 206 storing various setting data and the like necessary for the operation of the printer unit 200, the recording head 5, the photo sensor 8, and the recording head 5 including the ink tank. It comprises a sensor 207 and a CPU bus 208 connecting these components to each other.

The photo sensor 8 and the weight sensor 207
Is attached to the printer unit 200 as shown in FIG. 4, but its output is directly output to the facsimile unit 200 side, so that the CPU 101 of the facsimile unit 200 can receive the value. .

The printer interface (PRT)
I / F) unit 106 and facsimile interface (FA)
X I / F) unit 202, in order to perform two-way communication,
An image data path 301 for transmitting and receiving image data and a control path 302 for transmitting and receiving commands and control data are connected to each other.

Next, a description will be given, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 and the table shown in FIG. 6, of a process for detecting the remaining amount of ink when facsimile image data is received, which is executed in the facsimile apparatus having the above-described configuration.

First, in step S1, facsimile image data is received in response to a call from a communication partner device. Next, in step S2, it is determined whether the current state of the apparatus can be recorded. Here, if it is determined that recording is not possible, the process proceeds to step S9,
Stores received image data in DRAM 104 (alternate reception)
Then, a warning LED provided on the operation panel 105 is turned on to generate an alarm sound from a buzzer to warn the apparatus user. In addition, factors that make recording impossible at this time include running out of ink, running out of printing paper, jamming of printing paper, failure of the printer unit, and the like. Therefore, the apparatus diagnoses the cause of such a failure, and displays a message according to the diagnosis result on the LCD of the operation panel 105. Then, the device user takes necessary measures according to the message or the warning.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that recording is possible, the process proceeds to step S3
The program proceeds to step S4 to perform image recording. In step S4, it is determined whether the recording of the image for one page of the recording paper is completed. In this manner, in steps S3 and S4, the recording is continued while monitoring the completion of recording for one page of the recording paper. If it is determined that the image recording for one page of the recording paper is completed, the process proceeds to step S5.

Next, in step S5, the weight sensor 207 measures the weight of the recording head 5 according to the instruction from the CPU 201, and outputs the result to the CPU 101. In step S6, the printhead weight (PHW) converted based on the output obtained from the weight sensor 207 is compared with a predetermined threshold (TH1). Here, if PHW> TH1, it is determined that a sufficient amount of ink still remains in the ink tank, and the process proceeds to step S10. On the other hand, if PHW ≦ TH1, it is determined that the ink tank may be empty, and the process proceeds to step S7.

FIG. 6 is a table showing how to set a threshold value used in the remaining ink amount detection executed using the weight sensor. According to the table shown in FIG. 6, for example, when the empty weight at the time of designing the ink tank is 200 g, the error including the variation at the time of manufacturing the ink tank and the accuracy of the weight sensor 207 is 5%. , Threshold (T
“210 g” is set as H1). If the error is 10%, the threshold (TH1) is “220”.
g ″ is set. Similarly, if the empty weight at the time of designing the ink tank is 300 g, and the error including the variation in manufacturing the ink tank and the accuracy of the weight sensor 207 is 10%, the threshold (TH1) is set. ) Is set to “330 g”.

Such a threshold value is determined in advance in the ROM according to the specifications of the recording head, ie, the ink tank that can be used by the apparatus.
102.

Now, in step S7, the photo sensor 8
, The remaining amount of ink is detected in accordance with a more accurate optical remaining amount detection method. In this case, the carriage 15 on which the recording head 5 is mounted returns to the home position, and thereafter, the carriage 15 is moved as described above to eject ink on a trial basis to detect the remaining amount of ink. further,
In step S8, it is checked whether or not ink remains in the ink tank based on the output of the light receiving element of the photo sensor 8 obtained as a result. Here, if it is determined that the ink remains, the process proceeds to step S10, and if it is determined that the ink does not remain, the process proceeds to step S9 to execute the above-described process.

Finally, in step S10, it is checked whether or not the print output of all the received image data has been completed based on the presence or absence of the remaining image data. Here, if it is determined that the print output has been completed, the process ends. If it is determined that the print output has not been completed, the process returns to step S2.

Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, the remaining ink amount is detected by using the output from the weight sensor, which has relatively low detection accuracy, but does not waste ink and is quick to process. Only when there is a possibility that there is no possibility, the detection accuracy is high, but the processing takes time and ink consumption occurs. Accordingly, the optimum remaining ink amount can be detected at that point in time in terms of detection accuracy, ink consumption, and total throughput of the printing operation.

Thus, when there is a large amount of ink remaining in the ink tank, it is possible to detect the remaining amount of ink such that the ink consumption and the total throughput of the recording operation are more important than the accuracy of detecting the remaining amount of ink. When the amount of ink is low, it is possible to detect the remaining amount of ink such that the accuracy of remaining amount detection is emphasized from the viewpoint of preventing a recording failure.

In the above embodiment, instead of detecting the remaining amount of ink using a photo sensor, a predetermined pattern is recorded at a predetermined position on a recording sheet, and the recorded image is read using another optical sensor. A footer method of detecting the remaining amount of ink may be used.

Further, when it is determined that no ink remains in the remaining ink amount detection using the weight sensor, but it is determined that the ink remains in the remaining ink amount detection using the photo sensor, the operation is performed. A warning message that “the remaining amount of ink is low” may be displayed from the panel 105, a warning sound may be emitted, or a warning lamp may be turned on.

Further, in the above embodiment, the example in which the ink tank and the recording head are integrated has been described. However, a configuration in which the ink tank and the recording head can be separated may be used. May be measured.

In the above embodiment, the description has been made assuming that the droplets ejected from the recording head are ink, and that the liquid stored in the ink tank is ink. It is not limited. For example, an ink tank may contain a processing liquid discharged to a recording medium in order to improve the fixability and water resistance of the recorded image or to improve the image quality.

The above-described embodiment is particularly provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection even in an ink jet recording system. By using a method in which a change in the state of the ink is caused by energy, 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 can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path holding the Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. 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 the 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, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. This may be either a configuration satisfying the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally.

In addition to the cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, the recording head is electrically connected to the apparatus main body by being mounted on the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip-type recording head, which enables a simple connection and supply of ink from the apparatus main body, may be used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like to the configuration of the printing apparatus described above, since the printing operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. It is also effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection that is different from printing, in order to perform stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be a single recording head or a combination of plural recording heads. Alternatively, the apparatus may be provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the embodiments described above, the description is made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid. However, even if the ink solidifies at room temperature or lower, it is possible to use an ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature. Or, in the ink jet method, generally, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled 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.
It is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, the temperature is positively prevented.
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, an ink which solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start to solidify when reaching 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, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. 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, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to those provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, It may take the form of a facsimile machine having functions.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), a device including one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine) Etc.).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or the apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0079]

As described above, according to the present invention, when recording an image based on facsimile image data received via a communication line, the weight of an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head is measured. According to the measurement result, the presence or absence of the remaining ink in the ink tank is determined. If it is determined that no ink remains in the ink tank, the ink ejected from the recording head is further optically detected, and Since the presence or absence of the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank is determined according to the detection result, there is an effect that ink consumption and time for detecting the remaining amount of ink can be minimized, and the remaining amount can be detected with high accuracy.

As a result, there is also an advantage that the ink can be used up sufficiently without waste ink remaining in the ink tank.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus including a recording unit that performs recording by a recording head according to an ink jet system, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional perspective view illustrating a detailed configuration of a recording unit B.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how the photo sensor 8 detects the remaining amount of ink.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the facsimile machine described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an ink remaining amount detection process.

FIG. 6 is a table showing a setting example of a threshold value used for detecting the remaining amount of ink using a weight sensor.

[Description of Signs] 5 Recording head 8 Photosensor 15 Carriage 100 Facsimile unit 101, 201 CPU 102, 203 ROM 103, 204 SRAM 104 DRAM 105 Operation panel 106 Printer interface (PRT I / F) unit 107 Image processing unit 108 Contact type Reading Sensor (CS) 109 Modem 110 NCU (Network Controller) 111 Telephone 112 CPU Bus 200 Printer 202 Facsimile Interface (FAX I /
F) section 205 transport motor 206 NVRAM 207 weight sensor 208 CPU bus

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus using a recording head that performs recording according to an ink jet system in a recording unit, a receiving unit that receives facsimile image data via a communication line, and an ink tank that supplies ink to the recording head. Measuring means for measuring the weight of the ink tank; first determining means for determining the presence or absence of remaining ink in the ink tank according to the measurement result by the measuring means; Optical detection means for detecting the presence of remaining ink in the ink tank in accordance with the detection result by the optical detection means; and facsimile image data received by the receiving means, When recording an image based on the facsimile image data from the measurement means and the second First control means for controlling the determination means to operate; and operating the optical detection means and the second determination means when the first determination means determines that no ink remains in the ink tank. A facsimile apparatus having second control means for controlling the facsimile to perform the control. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ink tank and said recording head are integrally formed. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ink tank and said recording head are configured to be separable. 4. The optical detecting means includes: a light emitting element for irradiating light; a light receiving element for receiving light emitted from the light emitting element; and the recording head blocking an optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first driving unit that drives the recording head so as to discharge the ink. 5. The optical detection unit includes: a second driving unit that drives the recording head to discharge ink to record a predetermined pattern at a predetermined position on a recording medium; The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an optical sensor that reads a predetermined pattern recorded on a recording medium. 6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying means for notifying the user of the apparatus that no ink remains according to a result of the determination by the first and second determining means. 7. When the first determining means determines that no ink remains, and when the second determining means determines that ink remains, the notifying means:
7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein notification is made that the remaining ink is small. 8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said notifying means includes a displaying means for displaying a message, a sounding means for emitting a warning sound, and a lighting means for lighting a warning light. 9. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink in order to discharge the ink using thermal energy. A facsimile machine as described. 10. A method for detecting a remaining amount of ink applied to a facsimile apparatus using a recording head in accordance with an ink jet system as a recording unit for discharging an ink supplied from an ink tank and performing recording. Receiving the facsimile image data via the facsimile image data in the receiving step, and measuring the weight of the ink tank when recording an image based on the facsimile image data from the recording unit A first determining step of determining whether there is residual ink in the ink tank according to a measurement result in the measuring step; and determining that no ink remains in the ink tank in the first determining step. An optical detection step of optically detecting ink ejected from the recording head; Accordance detection result in step, the ink remaining amount detecting method characterized by a second determination step of determining whether the remaining ink in the ink tank.