JP2000246922A - Recorder, facsimile employing it and ejection recovery method for recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent missing of an image being recorded next surely by storing the estimated residual quantity of ink in an ink tank, subtracting the estimated quantity of ink being used for recording and ejecting ink from a recording head at a position different from a recording position thereby recovering the recording head. SOLUTION: A decision is made whether ink is present in an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head 5 by locating a photosensor 8 at a position facing a nozzle array 5C when the recording head 5 moves between a cap 20 and the end of a recording sheet P and optically checking presence of an ink drop being ejected from the nozzle of the recording head 5. The nozzle array in the recording head 5 and the optical axis of the photosensor 8 can be positioned accurately while facing each other by shifting a carriage by a specified amount after a home position is detected. Missing of an image can be prevented surely by performing the processing for recovering the recording head automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a facsimile apparatus using the recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium according to an ink jet system, a facsimile apparatus using the recording apparatus, and a recording apparatus. The present invention relates to an ejection recovery method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet printer that uses a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and discharges ink droplets from the nozzles to a recording medium to record an image. In recent years, a facsimile apparatus using such an ink jet printer as a recording unit has appeared.

As a recording head of such an apparatus, in addition to a monochrome recording head for recording a black and white image using only black ink, four color inks of yellow, magenta, cyan and black are supplied. There is also provided a color recording head that performs color recording by discharging ink from nozzles assigned to each color.

[0004] In a facsimile apparatus using such an ink jet printer as a recording unit, there is a possibility that ink is lost during recording of an image corresponding to received data, and the recording of the image is lost. To solve this,
Conventionally, after printing of one page of image data is completed, the presence or absence of ink in an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head is determined, and if it is determined that ink is present, the ink corresponding to the printed image is determined. The data is controlled to be erased from the image memory.

[0005] To determine the presence or absence of the ink, the recording unit is provided with a photointerrupter (photosensor) having a light emitting unit such as an LED and a light receiving unit such as a phototransistor. The ink is ejected so as to block the light (preliminary ejection), and the change in the amount of light received by the light receiving unit is monitored to determine the presence or absence of the ink in the ink tank based on whether or not the ink droplet is optically detected. I have.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus,
When no ink droplet is detected in the preliminary ejection, it is determined that there is no ink. In this case, the reason why the ink droplet is not ejected is not only that there is no ink remaining in the ink tank, but also that the head is not ejected. It is also conceivable that the ink was not ejected temporarily due to a defect.

However, in the conventional apparatus, it is not possible to specify which of the reasons why the ink droplet was not ejected. In both cases, it is simply determined that there is no ink, and the user is required to replace the ink tank. Prompted by

However, when ink cannot be ejected temporarily due to a head failure, it is determined that there is no ink, and if the user replaces the ink tank in accordance with an instruction, the ink remaining in the ink tank is wasted. .

Further, in order to prevent the ink from running out during printing and to prevent a part of the image from being lost, the amount of ink required for printing one page of image data is calculated. A printing apparatus has been proposed in which the remaining ink amount is calculated by subtracting the ink amount required for printing from the ink amount, and the presence or absence of the ink is determined from the calculation result.

However, in such a recording apparatus,
When a recording image is lost due to a temporary failure of the recording head, it is necessary for the user to manually perform a recovery process. Also, in order to prevent missing images,
Normally, the system is configured to give a warning of no ink before the calculated value becomes 0. Therefore, the ink in the ink tank cannot be used up to the end and the ink is wasted.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem. In spite of the remaining ink, a failure in the recording head caused ejection failure and image recording was performed normally. Detecting the state of the ink tank not being used, effectively using the ink in the ink tank to prevent the replacement of the ink tank with the ink remaining inside, and at this time, performing the print head recovery processing to perform the next printing It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of reliably preventing loss of an image, a facsimile apparatus using the printing apparatus, and an ejection recovery method of the printing apparatus.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises a recording head for discharging ink to record on a recording medium, and an ink containing ink to be supplied to the recording head. A tank, storage means for storing an estimated remaining amount of the ink estimated to remain in the ink tank, and a storage means for storing the estimated remaining amount of the ink stored in the storage means to be used in recording on the recording medium. Calculating means for updating the estimated remaining amount by subtracting the estimated used amount of ink, and preliminary ejection control means for performing a preliminary ejection operation for ejecting ink from the recording head at a position different from the recording position Detecting means for detecting ink droplets ejected from the recording head in the preliminary ejection operation,
Discharge recovery means for performing recovery processing for recovering the discharge operation of the print head; and controlling the calculation means and the preliminary discharge control means in response to the print operation on the print medium to control the estimated remaining amount. And performing the preliminary ejection operation, and controlling the ejection recovery unit to perform the recovery process when no ink droplet is detected by the detection unit and the estimated remaining amount is greater than 0. Control means.

Further, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention is a facsimile apparatus for recording image information received via a communication line on a recording medium by the recording device, wherein the recovery control means stores the image information in one. Each time you record a page,
The control is performed so that the estimated remaining amount is updated and the preliminary ejection operation is performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ejection recovery method for recovering an ejection operation of a recording head of a recording apparatus having a recording head which ejects ink to perform recording on a recording medium. Storing an estimated remaining amount of ink estimated to remain in the ink tank, and calculating an estimated used amount of ink estimated to be used in recording on the recording medium from the stored estimated remaining amount of ink. Subtracting, updating the estimated remaining amount, performing a printing operation on the printing medium, discharging ink from the printing head at a position different from a printing position, performing a preliminary discharging operation, and performing the preliminary discharging operation. In the ink droplet ejected from the recording head is detected, no ink droplet is detected by the detection,
When the estimated remaining amount is larger than 0, a recovery process for recovering the ejection operation of the print head is performed.

That is, conventionally, when the presence or absence of ink in the ink tank is determined, the presence or absence of the ink is determined according to whether or not the ink droplet ejected in the preliminary ejection can be detected. Then, in addition to the detection of the ink droplets in the preliminary ejection, the estimated value of the remaining amount in the ink tank was obtained by calculation, and the ink droplet was not detected in the preliminary ejection, and the estimated value of the remaining ink amount was 0 or less. Only when there is no ink is determined. When no ink droplet is detected in the preliminary ejection and the estimated value of the remaining ink amount is larger than 0, the ejection recovery process of the recording head is performed so that recording can be performed again without replacing the ink tank.

In this way, it is possible to detect a state in which image recording was not performed normally due to non-ejection due to a failure in the recording head despite the ink remaining. The recovery process is performed to effectively use the ink remaining in the ink tank.

Accordingly, it is possible to effectively use the ink in the ink tank to prevent the replacement of the ink tank in which the ink remains, and to automatically perform the recording head recovery processing to perform the next recording. Missing images can be reliably prevented.

In particular, in a facsimile apparatus which automatically records received data, if an ink droplet cannot be ejected temporarily due to a failure of a recording head during recording even though ink remains, the automatic This is very effective because it is possible to perform the recovery process and record again.

[0019]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, with reference to FIG. 5, a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus having a recording unit for performing recording by a recording head according to an ink jet system, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention, will be described.

This facsimile apparatus has a function as a facsimile for receiving data transmitted via a public telephone line and recording a corresponding image, and a copy for recording an image corresponding to an optically read original image. It also has a function and a printer function of receiving a print command or print data from an external computer and performing printing.

In FIG. 5, A is a reading section for optically reading an original, B is a recording section for performing recording in accordance with an ink-jet method, and C is a recording medium such as recording paper P loaded on a paper feed cassette. This is a paper feeding unit that supplies the recording paper to the recording 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. 5, the paper feed cassette 1 for stacking and storing a plurality of recording sheets P is provided with an intermediate plate 4 for stacking the 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 middle plate 4 is structured so that it can be easily replenished and replenished when the recording paper P is reduced or exhausted by a cam or the like during the paper feed standby state.

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 feeding 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 performing the sheet feeding operation, the recording sheet P urged by the middle plate 4 and picked up by the sheet feeding roller 2 is fed to the sheet feeding roller 2 by the J section.
And only the uppermost sheet is separated and fed. The separated and fed recording paper P is conveyed to the recording unit B while being nipped so as to be sufficiently wound around the feeding roller 2.

Further, 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 output stacker 7
A paper discharge auxiliary tray 9 having a hinge K as a center of rotation is provided, and when the recording paper P to be used is long, it can be rotated to lengthen the paper discharge stacker in the recording paper discharge direction. . 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.

Further, an image original S for reading
Will be described.

The document transport path is as shown by arrow F in FIG. In FIG. 5, a document image S is stacked on a document 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 loaded on the document stacking tray 41, the document is pressed from above by the preliminary transport pressing piece 43 and the preliminary transport spring 44, and is preliminary transported by the cooperation of the separation roller 46.

Next, the preliminarily conveyed image document S is separated and conveyed one by one from below by the cooperation of the separating piece 45 and the separation roller 46 pressed by the ASF 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. By the way, CS roller 49
Is urged from above by the CS pressing spring 50 along the reading line of the photoelectric conversion sensor 48, and is moved in the sub-scanning direction of the separated and conveyed image document S (image document conveying direction).
And also serves to discharge the image document S that has been read. Finally, the discharged image document S is discharged and stacked on the document discharge tray 51.
The document discharge tray 51 has a structure detachable from the apparatus main body. Next, a control configuration of the facsimile machine will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. In this figure, 24
Is a control unit for controlling the entire apparatus.
A ROM 26 storing a CPU 25, a control program and various data executed by the CPU 25, and some thresholds used for determining the presence or absence of ink described later;
5 is a RAM 2 used as a work area for executing various processes and for temporarily storing various data.
7 etc.

The recording head 5 is a flexible cable 1
The flexible cable 19 is connected to a control signal line and an image signal line for the recording head 5 from the control unit 24, and the attached recording head 5 is a recording head dedicated to monochrome recording. And a signal line for outputting a signal for identifying whether the recording head is a recording head for color recording.

The output of the photo sensor 8 for optically detecting the presence or absence of ink droplets ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 5 is digitized by an A / D conversion circuit 28,
The configuration is such that analysis is possible at 25. The carriage motor 30 is a motor whose rotation angle can be controlled by the number of pulses (the number of steps) output from the motor drive circuit 32. Further, the control unit 24 controls the carriage motor 30 via the motor drive circuit 33, the transport motor 31 via the motor drive circuit 32, the read motor 52 via the motor drive circuit 53, and receives an output from the carriage home sensor 21. are doing.

Further, the control unit 24 includes a reading sensor 48, a printer interface 54 for receiving recording commands and recording data from an external computer 56, and a line control circuit 5 for receiving data received from a public telephone line 57.
5 is connected, and the control unit 24 is configured to be able to control each unit when operating as a printer of facsimile transmission / reception, copying, and an external computer. Further, an operation panel 58 on which the apparatus user performs various operations and instructions is connected to the control unit 24, and the operation panel 58 is provided with an LCD 59 for displaying a message.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the configuration of the recording section B of FIG. 5 will be described in detail.

The recording head 5 which performs recording by discharging ink is a cartridge type recording head which has a built-in ink tank and can be replaced with a new recording head together with the recording head when the ink runs out. This cartridge includes a recording head 5
There are two types of cartridges, namely, a cartridge exclusively for monochrome recording provided with a recording head exclusively for monochrome recording and a cartridge for color recording provided with a recording head for color recording, and both can be appropriately replaced.

As described above, the ink tank and the recording head 5 may be integrally formed to constitute a replaceable ink cartridge. However, the ink tank and the recording head 5 can be separated. It may be configured so that only the ink tank can be replaced when the ink runs out.

In FIG. 2, while the carriage 15 holds the recording head 5 with high accuracy, a direction (main scanning direction, main scanning direction,
(In the direction of arrow H). Also, the carriage 15
Is slidably held by the guide rod 16 and the abutting portion 15a. The reciprocation of the carriage 15 is controlled by the pulley 1 driven by a carriage motor 30 (not shown).
The recording signal and the electric power supplied to the recording head 5 at this time are supplied from an electric circuit of the apparatus main body by a flexible cable 19.

Recording head 5 and flexible cable 19
Are connected by pressure contact with each other, and by detecting opening / connection between specific contacts of the recording head 5, a cartridge exclusively for monochrome recording is mounted or a cartridge for color recording is mounted. The configuration is such that a CPU 25 to be described later can recognize whether the operation is performed.

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 is moved up and down as necessary, and when ascending, it comes into close contact with the recording head 5 and covers its nozzle portion, thereby preventing evaporation of ink and adhesion of dust.

In this apparatus, the recording head 5 and the cap 2
A carriage home sensor 21 provided on the apparatus main body and a light-shielding plate 15b provided on the carriage 15 are used for positioning such that 0 is relatively opposed to each other. A transmission type photo interrupter is used for the carriage home sensor 21. By utilizing that light emitted from a part of the carriage home sensor 21 is blocked by the light shielding plate 15b when the carriage 15 moves to the standby position, It is detected that the recording head 5 and the cap 20 are at positions relatively opposed to each other.

The recording paper P is fed upward from the lower side in FIG.
The paper is bent in the horizontal direction by the paper 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 paper discharge roller 6 are each driven by a recording motor (not shown).
The recording paper P is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction with high precision in conjunction with the reciprocation of the recording paper P.

Further, a spur 23 which is made of a material having high water repellency in the sub-scanning direction and comes into contact with the recording paper P only at its 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.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of nozzles for ejecting ink of the recording head 5 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 (a)
FIG. 4 shows an arrangement of nozzles of a color recording head having 64 nozzles for discharging black ink and 24 nozzles for discharging yellow, magenta, and cyan color inks and capable of recording at a resolution of 360 dpi. 3 (b)
It has 128 nozzles arranged in one row and has 360 dpi
2 shows an arrangement of nozzles of a monochrome recording head dedicated to black ink capable of recording at a resolution of.

In the color recording head shown in FIG. 3A, these nozzles are arranged in one row. Further, the color of the ink to be ejected from each nozzle is fixed, and the color of the ink to be ejected can be selected by selecting the nozzle that applies the heat pulse. By selectively using these two types of recording heads, two types of recording, high-speed monochrome recording and high-definition full-color recording, can be performed.

The facsimile apparatus of this embodiment can perform color recording when performing copying or when used as a printer, but always performs monochrome image recording when used as a facsimile. Therefore, when a facsimile image is received when the color recording head is mounted, a recording operation is performed using the 64 nozzles used for discharging black ink to record the received image.

The principle of ink ejection will be described below, but the same applies to a recording head dedicated to monochrome recording and a recording head for color recording. The recording head for color recording has two ink tanks for black ink and color ink, and has a configuration in which the ink tanks can be replaced independently.

Here, the principle of ejecting ink from the recording head will be described.

The recording head section generally has an energy generating section for generating droplet forming energy to act on a liquid in a fine liquid ejection port (orifice), a liquid path and an energy action section provided in a part of the liquid path. It has.

As the energy generating unit, one using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, irradiating an electromagnetic wave such as a laser, absorbing the liquid there to generate heat,
Droplets are ejected and fly by the action of the heat generation, and liquids are ejected by heating the liquid with an electrothermal converter. Among them, a recording head using a method of discharging liquid by thermal energy can arrange liquid discharge ports (orifices) for discharging recording liquid droplets to form flying liquid droplets at high density. Therefore, it is possible to perform recording at a high resolution.

Further, a recording head using an electrothermal transducer as an energy generating section can be easily miniaturized as a whole, and has recently achieved remarkable advances in technology and reliability in the field of semiconductors, such as IC technology and microtechnology. The advantages of the processing technology can be fully applied, and it is easy to increase the length and the surface (two-dimensionalization). Therefore, multi-nozzle, high-density mounting is easy, and mass production is possible. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

As described above, a recording head manufactured through a semiconductor manufacturing process using an electrothermal converter for an energy generating section generally has a liquid path corresponding to each ink ejection port, and a liquid path is provided for each liquid path. An electrothermal converter is provided as means for applying thermal energy to the liquid filling the path to discharge the liquid from the corresponding ink discharge port to form a flying droplet, and each liquid path is provided with each liquid path. The liquid is supplied from a common liquid chamber that communicates with the liquid.

The configuration for determining the presence or absence of ink in the ink tank will be described below with reference to FIG.

The presence or absence of ink in the ink tank containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head 5 is determined by placing the recording head 5 between the cap 20 and the end of the recording paper P as schematically shown in FIG. When is moved, the photo sensor 8 is arranged at a position facing the nozzle row 5c, and optical detection is made of the presence or absence of ink droplets ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 5.

The photo sensor 8 is a transmission type photo interrupter for directly detecting an ink droplet passing between the light emitting element and the light receiving element. Photo sensor 8 used here
Can use an infrared LED as a light emitting element, integrally form a lens on the LED light emitting surface, and project light approximately parallel to the light receiving element. A phototransistor is used for the light receiving element, and the light receiving surface of the light receiving element is formed by a mold member.
A hole of 7 mm × 0.7 mm is formed on the optical axis, and the detection range is narrowed down to 0.7 mm in the height direction and 0.7 mm in the width direction in the entire region between the light receiving element and the light emitting element.

The light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged such that the optical axis connecting them is parallel to the nozzle row 5c of the recording head 5, and the distance between the light emitting element and the light receiving element is
And the ink droplets ejected from each nozzle of the recording head 5 can all 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 light from the light emitting element is blocked by the ink droplet, and the amount of light received by the light receiving element decreases,
The output of the phototransistor as a light receiving element changes.

In order to position the nozzle array 5c of the recording head 5 and the photo sensor 8 so as to be relatively opposed to each other, similarly to the positioning with the cap 20, the carriage home sensor 21 provided on the apparatus main body is used. Is used.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle row 5 of the recording head 5 at the home position (HP)
c is the distance (L) by which the ejected ink moves to a detection position at which the ejected ink passes through the optical axis of the photosensor 8.
The number is converted into the number of steps of a motor for driving the motor 5 and is set in advance as a constant in a control program for executing a recording operation. After detecting the home position in this way, by moving the carriage by a fixed amount, the position of the nozzle row of the recording head 5 and the optical axis of the photo sensor 8 are
It can be accurately positioned at a relatively opposed position.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the photosensor 8. As shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 81 denotes an infrared LED which is a light emitting element; 82, a phototransistor which is a light receiving element for receiving the infrared light; and 83, which compares the output of the phototransistor 82 with a predetermined reference voltage (Vref). The comparator 84 is a pulse width counting unit that counts the duration (pulse width) of the pulse output from the comparator 83.

The pulse width counting section 84 uses the pulse width of the input clock (reference clock) as a reference pulse width and counts how many cycles of the reference clock the duration of the pulse output from the comparator 83 is. , And outputs the count value to an internal register of the pulse width counting unit 33.

When ink is not ejected from each nozzle of the recording head, the infrared LED 81
Since there is nothing to block the infrared light from the
, A high (H) level signal is input from a phototransistor 82 which is a light receiving element. On the other hand, when ink is ejected from the nozzles of the recording head, when the ejected ink droplet reaches a position where the infrared light from the infrared LED 81 is blocked, the output level from the phototransistor 82 gradually decreases. I do.

FIG. 8 shows that the ejected ink droplet has an infrared ray LE.
It is a figure showing signs that infrared light from D81 is intercepted. As shown in the figure, when the ink droplets ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 5 pass across the optical axis connecting the light emitting element 81 and the phototransistor 82 as the light receiving element, the amount of light received by the phototransistor decreases and the output decreases. The level drops.

The output level of the comparator 8
When the voltage falls below the reference voltage (Vref) input to the counter 3, the output from the comparator 83 to the pulse width counting unit 33 is inverted. Thereafter, when the ejection of the ink from the nozzles of the recording head is completed, the output from the phototransistor 8 goes to the high (H) level again. When the output exceeds the reference voltage (Vref) input to the comparator 83, the output from the comparator 83 The output to the pulse width counting unit 33 is inverted again.

As described above, the pulse having a pulse width corresponding to the time during which the photo sensor 8 detects the ejected ink droplet is input to the pulse width counting unit 33. As described above, this pulse width is converted into a count value indicating a quotient divided by the pulse width of the reference clock, and stored in the internal register of the pulse width counting unit 33. This count value is stored in the CPU 25 of the controller 24 after the end of the preliminary ejection.
The presence or absence of ink is determined by whether or not the count value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value stored in the ROM 26.

Here, in the case of performing the preliminary ejection before or after the end of the one-page printing operation in the present embodiment, the printing head 5 is moved to a position relatively opposed to the photo sensor 8 and the printing head 5 is moved to a predetermined position. The ink is ejected while moving several mm from the preliminary ejection start position to the preliminary ejection end position. The start position and the end position of the preliminary ejection are set so that the ink droplet ejected from the recording head 5 is located near the end position of the latter half of the preliminary ejection and crosses the optical axis of the light emitting element 81 and the light receiving element 82. Have been.

As described above, in the preliminary ejection of this embodiment,
The ejection operation is performed for a continuous time while moving the recording head, and the presence / absence of ink of the recording head is determined by determining whether the ink droplet ejected from the recording head at a position close to the end position of the second half of the preliminary ejection is detected by the photo sensor 8. Judgment is made based on whether or not the axis has passed.

In this way, even if the ink ejection is temporarily restored in the first half of the preliminary ejection, if the remaining amount of ink is very small, the ink is exhausted in the middle of the preliminary ejection and the second half of the preliminary ejection. Then, the ink droplet is not detected by the photo sensor 8.

Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the determination that the ink is present in the preliminary ejection even though the image recording has not been correctly performed. In other words, the remaining amount of ink becomes very small and the ejection becomes unstable during image recording.However, even in the case where ink droplets are temporarily ejected in the preliminary ejection, it is necessary to determine the presence or absence of ink more accurately. Can be.

Further, by continuously ejecting ink while moving the recording head 5 by a very small distance, it is possible to prevent the detection accuracy from being lowered due to a deviation in the relative position between the photo sensor 8 and the nozzle array of the recording head 5. .

As can be seen from the nozzle arrangement of each recording head shown in FIG. 3, the number of nozzles (64) for ejecting black ink of the color recording head is half of the number of nozzles (128) of the monochrome recording head. is there. Therefore, when black ink is ejected using a color recording head, compared to when ejecting ink using a monochrome recording head,
The output level from the phototransistor 82 does not drop much. Therefore, the pulse width counted by the pulse width counting unit 84 also becomes short when the black ink ejected by the color recording head is detected.

Therefore, in the ROM 26, a value corresponding to the color recording head and a value corresponding to the monochrome recording head are stored as threshold values used for determining the presence or absence of ink. The presence or absence of ink is determined using any of the corresponding threshold values.

Next, the printing operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment and the operation of the preliminary ejection and the remaining ink determination processing associated therewith will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the facsimile apparatus receives the facsimile image data through the public telephone line 57,
An operation for recording an image for one page of recording paper based on the received data will be described.

As described above, the ink used for recording the facsimile image data is only black ink, and it is assumed here that a recording head for monochrome recording is mounted.

First, in step S1, an estimated value of the amount of ink used in printing one page of an image to be printed is converted into a dot number and counted. Here, it is assumed that the recording paper is A4 size. The effective recording range of the A4 size is 203.2 mm × 287 mm. Therefore, as described above, the recording resolution of the printer is 360 dpi.
Therefore, the number of dots in the effective recording range is 2880d
ot × 4068 dots. Therefore, the total number of ejection dots when printing on the entire A4 recording paper is 1.17 × 10 ⁷ d.
ot.

Next, in step S2, the estimated value of the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank is calculated by converting it into the number of ejection dots. Here, it is assumed that the amount of ink injected into the ink tank is 38 g on average in an unused state. When this 38 g of ink is converted into the number of ejection dots, the weight of one dot of ink droplet is 85 ng on average, so that 38 g /
Since 85 ng = 4.5 × 10 ⁸ dots, it is assumed that there is no ink consumed in the recovery processing of the print head and the like, so that one ink tank averages 4.5 × 10 ⁸ dots.
Can be supplied.

The ROM 26 of the control unit 24 shown in FIG.
3. As the number of dischargeable dots of the unused ink tank,
5 × 10 ⁸ dots are stored, and the estimated value of the number of ink dots remaining in the ink tank and the estimated value of the number of ink dots used in recording image formation counted in step S1 are stored in the RAM 27. ing. Then, the estimated value of the number of ink dots remaining in the current ink tank is subtracted from the estimated value of the number of ink dots used in image recording, and the value is updated as a new estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots in the RAM 27. . The updated estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots is used as the number of remaining ink dots in the ink tank after the end of image recording.

Further, even when a recovery process is performed in response to an instruction from a user or the like, each time the amount of ink consumed in the recovery process is subtracted from the current estimated number of remaining ink dots, the remaining amount remains. Update the number of ink dots. Here, the amount of ink consumed in one recovery process is 0.18 g.
Assume that When this value is converted to the number of ink dots,
0.18 g / 85 ng = 2.1 × 10 ⁶ dots
This value is also stored in the ROM 26.

Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not there is a remaining ink dot number after printing of one page is completed, that is, whether or not it is larger than zero. Here, if the ink dots remain after the image recording of this page is completed, the process proceeds to step S5 and the RAM
The ink remaining flag stored in 27 is set.
If it is determined that no ink remains after printing of this page, the process proceeds to step S4, and the ink remaining flag in the RAM 27 is reset.

Then, the process proceeds to a step S6 to start an actual recording operation. After the image recording of one page is completed, preliminary ejection of ink is performed in step S7, and it is determined in step S8 whether ink ejected from the recording head has been detected. The preliminary ejection operation here turns on the infrared LED 81 of the photo sensor 8 and moves the recording head 5 to the vicinity of the optical axis of the photo sensor 8 as described with reference to FIG. Then, the ink is continuously ejected while moving the recording head 5 by a very small amount, and the ink droplets ejected in the latter half of the continuous ejection are set so as to block the optical axis of the photosensor 8.

As described above, a pulse whose pulse width is the time during which the photosensor 8 detects the ejected ink droplet is input to the pulse width counting unit 33. This pulse width is counted by the pulse width counter 33, and the count value is stored in an internal register of the pulse width counter 33. The stored count value is read by the CPU 25 of the control unit 24 after the end of the preliminary ejection, and the CPU 25
It is determined whether an ink droplet has been detected by comparing the count value with the threshold value stored in the OM 26.

As described above, the threshold value used for this comparison differs depending on the type of recording head. That is, when the mounted recording head is a color recording head, as shown in FIG. 3, the number of nozzles for discharging black ink used for recording a facsimile reception image is changed to a recording head dedicated to monochrome recording. Since the output is half of that, the output of the photo sensor 8 at the time of preliminary ejection is also small. Therefore, the count value counted by the pulse width counting unit 33 is also a small value, so that the threshold value used for determining the presence or absence of ink is smaller than the threshold value of a print head dedicated to monochrome printing.

In step S8, if an ink droplet from the recording head 5 can be detected, the process proceeds to step S9, where it is determined that the recording operation of this page has been normally performed, the corresponding image data is cleared from the RAM 27, and the process ends normally. If an ink droplet is detected in step S8, the process proceeds to step S8.
3 is controlled so as to end normally irrespective of the result of ink remaining in this case. In this case, the initial value of the ink amount in the ink tank used at that time is stored in the ROM 2
This means that the initial ink amount in the ink tank of the recording head for monochrome recording stored in No. 6 was larger than 38 g assumed as the initial ink amount, or the number of ink dots used in actual recording was smaller than the estimated value. .

If no ink droplet is detected in the preliminary ink discharge in step S8, it is determined that image recording on this page has not been normally performed, and step S10 is performed.
To check the state of the ink remaining flag updated before the image recording of this page.

If the ink remaining flag is reset, it means that all of the ink in the ink tank has been used, and that the ejection of the ink droplet has not been confirmed in the preliminary ejection after the actual image recording. The operation proceeds to display a message for prompting the user to replace the ink tank on the operation panel. At the same time, the corresponding image data is stored in the RAM 27 so that it can be recorded again after replacing the ink tank.

If the ink remaining flag is set in step S10, it is determined that ink droplets could not be detected in preliminary ejection after image recording even though the ink contained in the ink tank has not been used up yet. It is determined that ink cannot be ejected due to a failure of the recording head, and the image data of the corresponding page is stored in the RAM 2.
7 so that it can be recorded again and stored in step S
Proceeding to step S11, a print head recovery process is performed.

In this recovery process, as described above, after the recording head is capped, a suction operation is performed to remove clogging of the nozzles of the recording head 5 and to remove dust adhering to the orifice surface. Then, after the completion of the recording head recovery processing, the process returns to step S2, and the estimated value of the number of ink dots remaining in the ink tank is updated. In this case, both the number of ink dots consumed in the recovery process and the estimated value of the number of ink dots consumed in reprinting are subtracted to estimate the number of ink dots remaining in the ink tank after image recording. Calculate the value.

Thereafter, similarly to the above processing, step 3
After performing the processes from (1) to (5), the recording operation of the image data of this page stored in the RAM 27 in step 6 is performed again.

In the flowchart of FIG. 1, the estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots is updated in advance before actual printing, and the result is reflected in the remaining flag. The order in which the state of the remaining flag is checked when no droplet is detected is as follows. The order of updating the estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots, the printing operation, and the process of detecting ink droplets in preliminary ejection is as follows. The order described here is not necessary, and the update of the estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots and the detection of ink droplets in the preliminary ejection may be performed in response to the printing operation of one page.

For example, after the recording operation is performed, the detection of the ink droplet in the preliminary ejection may be performed first, the result may be reflected in a flag or the like, and the estimated value of the number of remaining ink dots may be updated thereafter. .

In this embodiment, the estimated value of the remaining amount of ink is converted into the number of dots for calculation. However, if the presence or absence of the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank is known, the unit and calculation method used in the calculation are different from this. It is not limited. The same applies to the estimated value of the amount of ink used for printing one page.

According to the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

The amount of ink remaining in the ink tank is estimated by calculation, and replacement of the ink tank is urged only when this value becomes 0 or less and no ink droplet is actually detected in the preliminary ejection. Of ink can be used up.

When the ink droplets cannot be ejected due to a malfunction of the recording head, the recovery process and the recording of the image that could not be properly recorded are automatically performed without any special operation or instruction from the user.

In the above-described embodiment, a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink is provided, particularly in the ink jet recording system. The method using the method of causing the state change of the ink by the energy has been described.

The typical structure 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 film boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path in which 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 liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

The drive signal in the form of a pass is described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262.
Those described in the above-mentioned specification are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 5,313,124 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 (a linear liquid path or a right-angle liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, a thermal head is used. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459, which disclose a configuration in which the working surface is arranged in a bending area.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge section of an electrothermal transducer for a plurality of electrothermal transducers, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is discharged. A configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to each unit, 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 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 the 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 and preliminary means 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. Also,
Providing a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing is also effective for performing stable printing.

In the embodiment 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 system, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within the range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range. It is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state at the time of application.

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, the recording apparatus according to the present invention may take the form of a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like in addition to the one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of an information processing device such as a computer. It may be something.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is implemented by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In this case, the storage medium storing the program according to the present invention constitutes the present invention. Then, by reading the program from the storage device to a system or device, the system or device operates in a predetermined manner.

Further, an 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 a computer (or CPU) of the system or 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.

Examples of a storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, and 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 in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction 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.

[0113]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Despite the ink remaining, it is possible to detect a state in which image recording was not performed normally due to non-ejection due to a failure of the recording head. Use the remaining ink effectively.

Therefore, the ink in the ink tank can be effectively used to prevent the replacement of the ink tank in which the ink remains, and the recovery processing of the recording head is automatically performed to perform the next recording. There is an effect that image loss can be reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an ink remaining amount detection process according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional perspective view showing a detailed configuration of a recording unit B of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a nozzle configuration of a color print head and a monochrome print head.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a photo sensor 8 of a recording unit B.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating 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. 6 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the photo sensor 8.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an ejected ink droplet blocks infrared light.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A reading unit B recording unit C paper feed unit 1 paper feed cassette 5 recording head 8 photosensor 15 carriage 20 cap 21 carriage home sensor 24 control unit 25 CPU 26 ROM 27 RAM 58 operation panel 59 LCD 81 light emitting element 82 light receiving element 83 comparator 84 pulse width counting unit

Claims (16)

[Claims] A recording head that discharges ink to perform recording on a recording medium; an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head; and an estimated remaining amount of ink that is estimated to remain in the ink tank. Storage means for storing the estimated remaining amount of the ink estimated to be used in recording on the recording medium from the estimated remaining amount of the ink stored in the storage means, Calculating means for updating; preliminary ejection control means for performing preliminary ejection operation for ejecting ink from the recording head at a position different from the recording position; detecting ink droplets ejected from the recording head in the preliminary ejection operation Detecting means for performing a recovery process for recovering the discharge operation of the print head; and a calculating means corresponding to the print operation on the print medium. And controlling the preliminary ejection control means to update the estimated remaining amount and perform the preliminary ejection operation. When the detecting means detects no ink droplet and the estimated remaining amount is larger than 0, A recording apparatus comprising: recovery control means for controlling recovery means to perform the recovery processing. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying that the ink tank needs to be replaced, wherein the recovery control unit detects that no ink droplet is detected by the detection unit and the estimated remaining amount is 0 or less. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed such that the display unit performs display at a certain time. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery control means controls the printing operation to be performed again after the recovery processing is performed by the ejection recovery means. apparatus. 4. The recovery control unit, after causing the ejection recovery unit to perform the recovery process, subtracts the amount of ink consumed by the recovery process to update the estimated remaining amount. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit controls the means. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculating unit calculates the estimated used amount and the estimated remaining amount by converting the estimated used amount and the estimated remaining amount into the number of ink droplets ejected from the recording head. Item 2. The recording device according to item 1. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the calculating unit obtains the estimated use amount from a printable range of the print medium and a print resolution of the print head. 7. The recovery control means causes the estimated remaining amount to be updated before the recording operation.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the value is larger is stored in the storage unit. 8. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is a recording head that discharges ink using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. Any one of 1 to 7
The recording device according to Item. 9. The image information received via a communication line,
A facsimile apparatus for recording on a recording medium by the recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the recovery control unit calculates the estimated remaining amount every time one page of the image information is recorded. A facsimile apparatus, which controls so as to perform updating and the preliminary ejection operation. 10. An image storage means for storing the received image information for each page, and an image for erasing recorded one-page image information from the image storage means when an ink droplet is detected by the detection means. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising storage control means. 11. A discharge recovery method for recovering a discharge operation of a recording head of a recording apparatus having a recording head that discharges ink to perform recording on a recording medium, wherein the method is presumed to remain in the ink tank. An estimated remaining amount of ink is stored, and the estimated remaining amount of ink is updated by subtracting the estimated used amount of ink estimated to be used in recording on the recording medium from the stored estimated remaining amount of ink. Performing a recording operation on the recording medium, causing the recording head to eject ink at a position different from the recording position, performing a preliminary ejection operation, and performing ink ejection from the recording head in the preliminary ejection operation. Detecting, when the ink droplet is not detected by the detection and the estimated remaining amount is larger than 0, performing a recovery process for recovering the ejection operation of the recording head. Discharge recovery method for the butterflies. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the ink droplet is not detected by the detection and the estimated remaining amount is 0 or less, it is displayed that the ink tank needs to be replaced. The ejection recovery method according to the above. 13. The ejection recovery method according to claim 11, wherein the printing operation on the printing medium is performed again after the recovery process is performed. 14. The ejection recovery method according to claim 13, wherein after performing the recovery processing, the estimated remaining amount is updated by subtracting an amount of ink consumed by the recovery processing. 15. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the estimated usage amount and the estimated remaining amount are calculated by being converted into the number of ink droplets ejected from the print head. Discharge recovery method. 16. The ejection recovery method according to claim 15, wherein the estimated use amount is obtained from a printable range of the print medium and a print resolution of the printhead.