JP2000280472A - Ink jet recording head, ink jet recorder and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the resistance of a sealing liquid when ink is ejected. SOLUTION: The ink jet recording head 10 comprises an ink ejection opening 10 made in the ink ejection face, an ejection chamber 16 provided with an ejection means 12, an ink reservoir 18 for supplying ink to the ejection chamber 16, and a sealing liquid drawing means 24 for drawing a sealing liquid 22A located at the ink ejection opening or a sealing liquid 22B located around the ink ejection opening separately. When the ink is ejected under that state, the effect of impeding ejection of ink from the sealing liquid 22B can be eliminated and the resistance of sealing liquid can be decreased when ink is ejected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head, an ink jet recording apparatus, and an ink jet recording method, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus for sealing an ink discharge port for discharging ink with a sealing liquid. And an ink jet recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, it is a major problem to prevent nozzle clogging due to drying and thickening of ink during non-operation. Various ink materials have been developed to solve this problem, but it is still difficult to reduce evaporation of the ink solvent. In a commercially available ink jet recording apparatus, at the time of non-printing or during a long period of non-operation, the nozzle and the outside air are shielded by a capping means made of resin or the like to delay the drying of the ink. However, this capping means
In order to more effectively increase the airtightness of the nozzle, complicated procedures and devices are required. Also, with this capping means, the nozzle cannot be completely shielded from the air, and during storage, the drying and thickening of the ink inside the nozzle gradually progress, which may cause nozzle clogging. is there.

[0003] In a commercially available ink jet recording apparatus, various maintenance operations are required in order to recover clogging of nozzles due to long-term suspension. For example, in the recovery by a vacuum operation in which a clog in the nozzle is pulled out from the outside of the nozzle by a negative pressure, a pump and an absorber of waste ink are required in the device, which complicates and enlarges the device, and increases the cost of the device. I have. Further, since the nozzle surfaces are collectively made to have a negative pressure, a large amount of ink is also sucked out from nozzles where no clogging occurs and discarded, thereby increasing running costs. In addition, in the case where the recovery is performed by repeating the dummy jet operation and the wiping operation, the device becomes complicated, for example, a mechanism for moving the head to the maintenance position or pressing a member such as a blade against the head surface to perform a sliding motion is required. Cost increases. After a long-term suspension of the inkjet recording apparatus, a maintenance operation is performed by combining these operations before printing, and a waiting time before printing and noise due to the maintenance operation are generated, which is disadvantageous to the user.

As means for avoiding the problem caused by clogging after a long period of suspension, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-104130, a film of a seal liquid insoluble in ink and a film of the seal liquid are provided. There is known a method in which the ink discharge port is sealed by means to shield the ink from the air and prevent the ink from drying.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 49-115548 discloses that a seal liquid and a wetting mechanism seal an ink discharge port when the printing apparatus is not operating, and a seal liquid supply path is provided by a switch provided in a seal liquid supply path during operation. A method for stopping the supply of the water is described.

However, these methods have a disadvantage that the resistance of ink discharge is high at the start of discharge because the seal liquid is separated on the surface but is substantially continuous with the surrounding seal liquid inside. are doing. When the temperature of the environment in which the printing apparatus is used becomes low, the viscosity of the seal liquid may increase, and in the worst case, there is a problem that ink cannot be ejected.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-69436 discloses a method of forming and releasing a seal liquid film in order to improve the ejection stability of ink droplets in a sealing method using a seal liquid.

JP-A-5-177841 describes a method of sealing a nozzle with a seal liquid as necessary, and a method of opening and closing a seal with a seal liquid in conjunction with carriage scanning.

However, in either method, switching between the state of being sealed by the sealing liquid and the state of being unsealed requires an external force such as opening and closing by a pump, an electromagnet, and a support, and the structure of the head is complicated. This leads to an increase in the size of the printing apparatus.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventional method of sealing a nozzle with a sealing liquid, the worst case is when the sealing liquid has a high resistance at the time of discharge and the viscosity of the sealing liquid increases due to an environment change. The case (1) has a disadvantage that ink cannot be ejected. In general, many non-volatile liquids having a low vapor pressure have a high kinematic viscosity due to a large molecular weight. Therefore, it is desirable to select a seal liquid having a high kinematic viscosity in order to make the seal liquid non-volatile for a longer period of time and maintain the sealing performance against clogging. Therefore, in order to adopt a specification that prevents clogging for a longer period of time, a sealing liquid having a high kinematic viscosity must be used, or the thickness of the sealing liquid must be increased, and the discharge resistance further increases. As a result, it becomes difficult to achieve both clogging prevention performance and discharge performance. If means for opening and closing the seal of the seal liquid is provided to avoid these problems, the apparatus becomes complicated and large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and has as its object to provide an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording capable of reducing the resistance of a seal liquid at the time of ink ejection. An apparatus and an inkjet recording method are provided.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink discharge port for discharging ink, a seal liquid for sealing the ink discharge port, An ink ejection unit that ejects ink from an ink ejection port, and a seal liquid that is located at the ink ejection port of the seal liquid and a seal liquid that is located around the ink ejection port of the seal liquid, And a sealing liquid drawing means for drawing the sealing liquid into the ink discharge port.

That is, the seal liquid is supplied to the ink discharge port automatically or manually. When the ink discharge unit attempts to discharge ink from the ink discharge port while the ink discharge port is sealed with the seal liquid, the seal liquid positioned at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid due to the viscosity of the seal liquid. Not only that, the seal liquid positioned around the ink outlet of the seal liquid also tries to prevent ink discharge.

Therefore, in the present invention, the sealing liquid drawing means separates the sealing liquid so as to separate the sealing liquid located at the ink discharging port of the sealing liquid from the sealing liquid located around the ink discharging port of the sealing liquid. Pull into the ink ejection port.

As described above, the seal liquid is drawn into the ink discharge port so that the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid and the seal liquid located around the ink discharge port of the seal liquid are separated. In the case where ink is to be ejected from the ejection port, it is possible to eliminate the effect of preventing the seal liquid positioned around the ink ejection port from ejecting ink, and to stably eject ink. Further, according to the present invention, the ink discharged from the seal liquid around the ink discharge port is formed by separating (separating) the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port from the seal liquid around the ink discharge port. The obstructive effect can be eliminated, so that the resistance during ejection can be reduced. For this reason, even in a low temperature environment in which the viscosity of the sealing liquid increases, a clear image can be printed without causing ejection failure. Also, since the ejection resistance is low,
Even if the seal liquid to be placed is thick or a high-viscosity seal liquid material is selected, it is possible to achieve both clogging performance and ejection performance, and it is also possible to design a head that prevents clogging for a longer period of time. Become. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the ink discharge ports are sealed by the seal liquid, clogging due to drying of the ink does not occur even after a long period of suspension, so that the discharge operation can be performed immediately when necessary, It is possible to reduce or eliminate a maintenance process after a long-term suspension. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the recording apparatus, reduce the waiting time before printing and the noise due to maintenance, which have been caused by maintenance after a long pause, and reduce the running cost due to the disposal of a large amount of ink. It is also possible to suppress the rise.

Here, the sealing liquid drawing means draws in the sealing liquid by drawing in at least the ink in the ink discharge port.

Further, the sealing liquid drawing means may draw the sealing liquid by utilizing a negative pressure. This makes it possible to easily control the pull-in state such as the pull-in amount and the pull-in speed.

In this case, the sealing liquid drawing means may increase the volume of the area in which the ink is stored in the head to generate a negative pressure.
Accordingly, when the volume is reversibly increased or decreased, the switching control can be performed with good responsiveness, and the negative pressure can be accurately set to a desired value. Here, in order to increase the volume of the area in which the ink is stored in the head, at least a part (or the whole) of the inner wall of the area in which the ink is stored in the head may be deformed or a part of the inner wall may be deformed. May be displaced, or an elastic member may be housed inside the area, and the member may be contracted. In addition, an electrostriction member whose control is simple may be used for the portion of the inner wall deformed as described above.

By the way, the seal liquid drawing means may be arranged at a position other than the head, but at least a part of the seal liquid drawing means is arranged in the ink accommodating region in the head. You may make it. Thereby, the response of the drawing by the sealing liquid drawing means can be improved. In order to improve the response, it is desirable to dispose the sealing liquid drawing means in a position close to the ink ejection port, and more desirably to dispose it in the ink ejection chamber.

Further, a holding means for holding a state in which the sealing liquid is drawn by the sealing liquid drawing means may be provided. And Claim 7
As described above, a plurality of ink discharges can be performed in the pulled-in state, that is, the pull-in operation can be prevented from being performed every time the ink is discharged, and the discharge interval can be shortened. The holding means may be hermetically sealed so as to hold the pressure in the ink ejection port. In this case, the sealing may be performed before ink ejection. The sealing is not limited to being performed before ink ejection. If the sealing is performed before the ink is ejected, the energy of the retraction by the retraction means can be directly used for the retraction, so that the retraction operation amount can be reduced and the retraction time can be shortened.

Further, as in claim 8, an output means for outputting a release signal for releasing the state in which the sealing liquid has been drawn into the original state to the sealing liquid drawing means may be provided. Thereby, the state in which the discharge ports are uniformly sealed by the seal liquid, that is, the state before each retraction can be made the same state to prepare for the next discharge cycle, and the discharge basic frequency can be increased,
The time required for printing can be reduced.

The seal liquid drawing means may draw the seal liquid every time before the ink is discharged by the ink discharging means. That is, the sealing liquid may be drawn in every time ink is ejected.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, from the output of the pull-in signal, the ink discharge means and the seal are so arranged that the pull-in of the seal liquid and the discharge of the ink are completed within a predetermined basic discharge period. Control means for controlling the liquid drawing means may be provided. As described above, when the drawing of the sealing liquid and the discharging of the ink are executed within the predetermined basic discharging period from the output of the drawing signal, the drawing and the ink discharging can be performed regularly, and the ink can be stably discharged. be able to.

Here, when the drawing of the seal liquid and the discharge of the ink are completed within a predetermined basic discharge cycle, after the ink discharge, the original state (the ink is re-supplied) within the basic discharge cycle. State). Therefore, the state in which the sealing liquid is drawn can be made the same in each basic cycle. Therefore, the state of the ejected ink (for example, the amount and speed) can be made the same for each basic cycle, and the size of the ink dot to be printed and the variation in the impact position of the ink dot can be reduced. Can be improved.

The control means may control the ink discharge means so as to discharge the ink after a predetermined delay time from the output of the pull-in signal.

Further, the control means includes:
The sealing liquid drawing means may be controlled so as to execute the drawing of the sealing liquid every discharge basic cycle. This facilitates control of drawing in the sealing liquid. That is, as described above, when the drawing of the seal liquid is performed for each basic discharge cycle, it is effective when a plurality of ink discharge ports are provided and the seal liquid drawing means is provided in common for the plurality of ink discharge ports. is there. In other words, the sealing liquid can be collectively drawn into each ink ejection port, and the control of the sealing liquid drawing means becomes easy.

[0027] Further, the control means includes:
The sealing liquid drawing means may be controlled so as to execute the drawing of the sealing liquid every time an image signal is input. Thereby, the control of drawing in the sealing liquid can be performed as needed, and unnecessary control can be eliminated. That is, when the sealing liquid is drawn in every time an image signal is input, it is effective when a plurality of ink discharge ports are provided and a seal liquid drawing means is provided for each of the ink discharge ports. It is. That is, the seal liquid can be individually drawn into each ink ejection port, and unnecessary control can be eliminated.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the control means outputs a release signal for releasing the drawn-in state of the sealing liquid to the original state within the basic discharge period from the output of the drawing-in signal. It may output to the liquid drawing means. Thereby, the state in which the discharge ports are uniformly sealed by the seal liquid, that is, the state before each retraction can be made the same state to prepare for the next discharge cycle, and the discharge basic frequency can be increased, The time required for printing can be reduced.

It is to be noted that the control means includes:
The ink discharge means and the seal liquid drawing means may be controlled so as to execute the drawing of the sealing liquid, the discharge of the ink, and the output of the release signal in this order.

[0030] Further, the control means includes:
First delay means for delaying an ink ejection instruction signal for instructing ink ejection to be output to the ink ejection means after a first predetermined delay time from the input of the image signal;
Second delay means for delaying the release signal so as to be output to the sealing liquid drawing means after a second predetermined delay time from the output of the drawing signal may be included.

[0031] Further, the control means may be as follows.
At least one of the first predetermined delay time and the second predetermined delay time may be variably controlled. That is, at least one of the first predetermined delay time and the second predetermined delay time can be variably controlled according to a change in environment or a state of the head. Therefore, even if the environment changes, the control can be performed in an optimum time, and the ink can be stably ejected. An ink ejection port for ejecting ink, and the ink jet recording apparatus may further include a sealing liquid that seals the ink ejection port, and an ink ejected from the ink ejection port in response to an input image signal. An ink discharge means for discharging the seal liquid and the seal liquid so as to separate the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid from the seal liquid located around the ink discharge port of the seal liquid. And a sealing liquid drawing means for drawing into the discharge port. In this case, the ink discharge means and the seal liquid pull-in are performed such that the pull-in of the seal liquid and the discharge of the ink are completed within a predetermined basic discharge period from the output of the pull-in signal. Control means for controlling the means may be provided.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, an inkjet recording apparatus includes the inkjet recording head according to any one of the first to seventeenth aspects.

By the way, as in claim 21, claim 1
In an ink jet recording method for an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the ink jet recording head according to any one of claims 17 to 17, the seal liquid is drawn at least before ink is ejected.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording method for an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the ink jet recording head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the sealing liquid is drawn. The ink discharging means discharges the ink a plurality of times when the sealing liquid is held in a state where the sealing liquid is drawn by the holding means.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink-jet recording method for an ink-jet recording apparatus provided with the ink-jet recording head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the sealing is performed before the ink is ejected. The liquid is drawn in each time, and the state in which the sealing liquid is drawn in is released to the original state within the basic discharge period from the time of output of the drawing-in signal.

[0036]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration example of the ink jet recording head 10 of the present embodiment. The ink jet recording head 10 of the present embodiment (hereinafter simply referred to as “head 1
0) may be the ink discharge port 12 provided on the ink discharge surface and the discharge chamber 1 provided with the discharge means 14.
6, an ink reservoir 18 for supplying the ink 21 to the ejection chamber 16,
And a sealing liquid drawing means 24. In addition,
The arrangement position of the sealing liquid drawing means 24 is not limited to the inside of the inkjet recording head 10, and may be outside the inkjet recording head 10. The ink 21 is supplied to the head 10 through an ink tank and an ink supply path (not shown) outside the head 10 by an action caused by, for example, a capillary force or a pressure difference.

FIG. 1 shows only one ink ejection port 12, but a plurality of ink ejection ports 12 may be provided on the ink ejection surface. Although the drawing shows the ink discharge ports 12 arranged in the horizontal direction for the sake of convenience, the ink discharge direction, that is, the arrangement direction of the recording head 10 can be appropriately selected as desired, and a general Is ejected in the direction of gravity (downward).

In the present embodiment, for example, the ink discharging means 14 used in the ink jet recording head 10 according to the prior art, such as a pressure type, a continuous flow type, and an electrostatic suction type, can be widely used. A method of concentrating acoustic waves, pressure waves, and the like can also be used. As the discharge means 14 of the pressurizing method, a thermal ink jet method or a piezoelectric method can be used.

Next, basic properties of a material that can be used as a sealing liquid will be described. That is, the seal liquid usable in the present embodiment seals the ink ejection port 12,
It has a function of shielding the ink of the ink ejection port 12 from the air. The seal liquid that maintains such a function contains at least a component insoluble in the ink 21, is incompatible with the ink 21, and does not spontaneously emulsify with the ink 21.

In order for the sealing liquid and the ink 21 to be incompatible, specifically, the solubility of the sealing liquid in the ink 21 is 0.1% by weight or less under the environment where the head 10 or the recording apparatus is used. It is preferred that

Further, if the sealing liquid is non-volatile,
This is preferable because the liquid does not evaporate while the head 10 is at rest and the sealing liquid does not change the sealing state of the discharge port 12. Non-volatile refers specifically to a vapor pressure of 0.1 mmHg or less under an environment in which the head 10 or the recording device is used.

Here, the preferable range of the kinematic viscosity of the sealing liquid is as follows.
The surroundings will be described. That is, the seal that can be used in the present embodiment
The kinematic viscosity of the liquid is determined by setting the clogging prevention period,
4, the diameter of the ejection port 12, the ejection frequency of the recording head 10,
Settings such as the thickness of the seal liquid and the method
The kinematic viscosity can be selected as appropriate for the
It can be widely used from those with high viscosity. However, one
Generally, non-volatile liquids with a low vapor pressure have a large molecular weight.
Many of them have high kinematic viscosity. Because of this, longer
Sealing property against clogging with non-volatile sealing liquid
Select a seal liquid with high kinematic viscosity to maintain performance
In order to discharge with lower energy,
Considering that lower viscosity is more desirable,
10 or seal liquid in the environment where the recording device is used
The kinematic viscosity is 1 to 200 mm ^Two/ S range is desirable
No.

Next, a preferable range of the surface tension of the sealing liquid will be described. The surface tension of the seal liquid that can be suitably used in the present embodiment is in the range of 15 to 70 mN / m under the environment where the head 10 or the recording device is used.
In order for the sealing liquid to proceed to the surface of the ink 21 at the ink discharge port 12, it is desirable that the pressure be 50 mN / m or less, and it is desirable that the surface tension of the ink 21 used be smaller than 50 mN / m.

A liquid originally suitable for these properties may be used alone, or a plurality of materials may be mixed to adjust the viscosity and the surface tension to a preferred range.

Here, an example of a material that can be used as the sealing liquid (in the case of water-based ink) will be described. That is,
An organic solvent or oil that is liquid at room temperature can be used as the sealing liquid when using aqueous ink. For example, hydrocarbons such as octane, nonane, tetradecane and dodecane, higher fatty acids such as oleic acid and linoleic acid, water-insoluble alcohols such as n-decanol and dimethylbutanol, plasticizers such as dibutyl phthalate and dibutyl maleate Can be used. Alternatively, vegetable oil, mineral oil, silicone oil, fluorine oil and the like can be used. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more as long as they can be mixed uniformly.

Before the start of printing, the sealing liquid is applied to a brush, cloth,
The ink is supplied to the ink ejection surface by a method such as coating with a blade. In this case, the supply of the sealing liquid may be manual or automatic. In addition, a tube or a porous member is arranged near the ink ejection surface, and a mechanism for supplying a sealing liquid to the ink ejection surface by a capillary force, surface tension, a pressure difference, or the like is provided. Is also good. The seal liquid supplied to the ink ejection surface by these methods forms a seal liquid film on the ink surface of the ink ejection port 12 (FIG. 23).
(B)).

Next, a preferred range of the film thickness of the sealing liquid will be described. That is, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the seal liquid on the ink ejection surface is determined during the period for maintaining the sealing performance.
It can be set as appropriate for design specifications such as the ejection means 14, the diameter of the ejection port 12, the ejection frequency of the recording head 10, the kinematic viscosity of the seal liquid, and the method of disposing the seal liquid. However, considering the sealing performance against clogging and the fact that ejection is performed with lower energy, 1 μm or more and 200 μm
The following is preferred. The film thickness of the sealing liquid can be controlled, for example, by adjusting the supply amount of the sealing liquid or by forming the peripheral portion of the discharge port 12 or the like into a shape that regulates the holding amount of the sealing liquid.

The seal liquid may be provided in advance to the ink jet recording head 10 or may be appropriately supplied to the ink jet recording head 10 at the time of use.

The sealing liquid drawing means 24 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "drawing means 24") is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the seal liquid is drawn into the ink discharge port 12 so that the seal liquid 22A located at the ink discharge port 12 and the seal liquid 22B located around the ink discharge port 12 are separated. And thus,
As long as the seal liquid 22A located at the ink ejection port 12 and the seal liquid 22B located around the ink ejection port 12 are separated, any means may be used.
The amount of the sealing liquid to be drawn is appropriately selected depending on the kinematic viscosity of the sealing liquid, the surface tension, the diameter of the discharge port, the shape of the discharge port, and the like. As an example, in the case of a configuration in which the shape of the discharge port does not change the cross-sectional area in the discharge direction, it is possible to satisfactorily separate the shape by drawing in the seal liquid film thickness or more.

As described above, the position where the seal liquid drawing means 24 is disposed may be disposed on the head 10 such as the discharge chamber 16 or the ink reservoir 18.
The ink 21 may be provided in the recording apparatus other than the head 10, such as an ink tank 30 for supplying the ink 21 or a supply flow path.

The sealing liquid drawing means 24 is roughly classified into a method using a negative pressure and a method using a capillary force. Since it is easy to control the operation state and the amount of retraction of the retraction unit 24, it is preferable to use a negative pressure generating unit that reduces the pressure inside the head 10 to a negative pressure.

The sealing liquid drawing means 24 is connected to the head 10
, The sealing liquid drawing means 24 draws in using negative pressure. In this case, the negative pressure generating means as the sealing liquid drawing means 24 is replaced with the ink reservoir 1.
8 (see FIG. 2) or the discharge chamber 16, or the negative pressure generating means is disposed in the ink reservoir 18 or another chamber 26 (see FIG. 3) connected to the discharge chamber 16 so that the inside of the head 10 is pulled in with a negative pressure.

The sealing liquid drawing means 24 is connected to the head 10
In other cases, the seal liquid drawing means 24
As a method, both a method using negative pressure and a method using capillary force can be used. As a method to use negative pressure,
As shown in FIG. 4, the negative pressure generating means disposed outside the head 10 is connected to the head 10 (ink reservoir 18, ink discharge port 1).
2, the above separate chamber 26, etc.), and a method of pulling the inside of the head with a negative pressure, as shown in FIG.
The negative pressure generating means disposed outside is provided with ink 2
A method of connecting to the ink supply path 28 and the ink tank 30 for supplying the ink, and drawing the inside of the head 10 under a negative pressure;
As shown in FIG. 6, a negative pressure generating means is connected to an ink supply path 28 for supplying ink 21 to the head 10 or an ink tank 30.
And the head 10 can be pulled in with a negative pressure inside the head 10. As a method of utilizing the capillary force, the ink supply path 28 for supplying the ink 21 to the head 10 and the pore diameter of a porous member such as a sponge for preventing ink leakage arranged inside the ink tank 30 are controlled. 2
1, a method of drawing in by increasing the capillary force with respect to 1, changing the surface tension of the ink 21 by controlling the temperature and the like of the ink 21, and changing the surface tension of the ink 21 to a porous member such as a sponge disposed inside the ink supply path 28 or the ink tank 30. It is also possible to use a method of increasing the capillary force and pulling in. The methods described above may be used alone, in combination, or in any combination.

If there is a distance between the drawing means 24 and the discharge port 12, the response of the drawing of the sealing liquid may be deteriorated due to deformation of the connecting member in the middle. It is desirable that the reference numeral 24 be disposed in a portion close to the head 10 or the head 10, and it is desirable that the reference numeral 24 be provided in a portion close to the ejection port 12. Further, a drawing means 24 such as a negative pressure generating means.
Is preferably provided in the discharge chamber 16.

When providing the drawing means 24 in the discharge chamber 16, as shown in FIG. 19, the drawing means 24 can be provided for each discharge port 12. In this case, as will be described later, if the drawing-in is controlled for each ejection port 12, the sealing liquid can be drawn in without any loss, and there is an advantage that the image quality can be improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 20, a common pull-in means 24 corresponding to a plurality of discharge ports 12 may be provided to perform the pull-in operation collectively. In this case, it is possible to reduce the number of the pull-in means 24 to be smaller than the number of the discharge ports 12, so that the structure of the pull-in means 24 is simplified and the apparatus is inexpensive.

As the negative pressure generating means, a member 32 (see FIG. 7) for deforming at least a part of the inner wall of the ink reservoir 18 or the like inside the head 10 or at least a part of the inner wall of the ink tank 30 or the like outside the head 10 can be used. A method of generating a negative pressure by increasing the internal volume of the displacing member 34 (see FIG. 8), FIG.
As shown in (1), there is a method of generating a negative pressure by various pumps P. Among these, the method of increasing the volume in that the pressure is easily controlled to a predetermined set value and the time required for reversible operation is short is preferable, and considering the responsiveness, the volume inside the head 10 is increased. The method of making it more suitable.

When the pump P is used as the negative pressure generating means, a rotary pump such as an axial flow pump or a centrifugal pump,
Various types of pumps, such as diaphragm pumps, gear pumps, and positive displacement pumps such as tube pumps, can be used.However, since the pressure can be finely controlled and the pressure can be maintained even when the pump is not operating, the diaphragm pump Is preferred.

In the method of generating a negative pressure by increasing the volume, a deformable member or a displaceable member is used. In particular, in order to increase the volume inside the head 10, for example, a deformable member 32 made of an electrostrictive material or a displaceable member 34 such as a piston is arranged on the wall surface of the ink reservoir 18 or the ejection chamber 16 (see FIG. 9). Or ink reservoir 1
A method of disposing the deformable member 32 and the displaceable member 34 in the separate chamber 26 (see FIG. 10) connected to the discharge chamber 8 and the discharge chamber 16 can be used. Alternatively, a part of the head 10 or the whole head 10 (see FIG. 11) may be deformed to increase the volume inside the head 10, and as shown in FIG. Thus, the volume inside the head 10 may be substantially increased.

As a method of causing the above-described deformation,
In addition to the electrostrictive material, a magnetostrictive material, a material that causes volume expansion or bending due to heat, or the like can be used. However, since control by an electric signal is easy, a method using an electrostrictive material such as the piezoelectric member 38 is preferable. is there. In addition, the deformation may be caused by combining these deformable members with an elastic member such as a spring material or a rubber material, or the elastic member may be deformed by applying a magnetic force or an electrostatic force to the elastic member. . The deformable member, the elastic member, and the like may be made of a plurality of materials.

As a method of causing the above-described displacement,
A method can be used in which a movable member such as a piston or a valve is combined with the above-described electrostrictive material, magnetostrictive material, or a material that causes volume expansion or deflection due to heat. In addition, a displacement may be generated by applying a magnetic force or an electrostatic force to a movable member such as a piston or a valve.

When the method of increasing the volume inside the head 10 is used, in particular, the ink reservoir 18, the ejection chamber 16,
Alternatively, a piezoelectric member 38 or
A simple method is to arrange a member that is deformed by the piezoelectric member 38 to increase the volume inside the head 10. That is, as shown in FIG.
0A and 40B, which are fixed to an elastic member (elastic layer) 42, a voltage is applied to the pair of electrodes 40A and 40B, an electric field is applied to the piezoelectric member 38, and the Deforms to increase the volume. Especially the piezoelectric member 3
No. 8 has also been put to practical use in devices such as the ink jet head 10 and the vibrator, and since advanced manufacturing technology has been established, various shapes and materials can be appropriately selected according to the specifications of the apparatus. 10 is preferable for use in a method of increasing the internal volume.

As the piezoelectric member 38, a material widely used for a vibrator or the like that generates distortion or deformation when an electric field is applied can be widely used. For example, thin films of polycrystals and single crystals, such as quartz, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), barium titanate, lead niobate, lithium niobate, bismuth germanate, and lithium tantalate, zinc oxide, and aluminum nitride Inorganic piezoelectric material consisting of polyurea, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), PVD
A piezoelectric polymer material such as a copolymer of F or a composite piezoelectric material of an inorganic piezoelectric material and a piezoelectric polymer material can also be used.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, the sealing liquid 22A drawn into the discharge port 12 by the above-described drawing means 24 before the ink is discharged may be separated from the seal liquid 22B around the discharge port 12.

Specifically, at the time of discharge, the drawing-in means 24 is first operated, and all the sealing liquid 22A located at the ink discharge port 12 is drawn into the discharge port 12, and the drawn-in seal liquid 22A and the surrounding seal liquid 22B And are separated. The amount of the sealing liquid to be drawn is appropriately selected depending on the kinematic viscosity of the sealing liquid, the surface tension, the diameter of the discharge port, the shape of the discharge port, and the like. As an example, in the case of a configuration in which the shape of the discharge port does not change the cross-sectional area in the discharge direction, it is possible to satisfactorily separate the shape by drawing in the seal liquid film thickness or more.

Next, in a state where the seal liquid is partitioned as described above (see FIG. 23A), the ink 21 of the ink discharge port 12 is discharged together with the seal liquid 22 by the discharge means 14. At the time of discharge, the seal liquid in the discharge port 12 may not be completely discharged together with the ink 21. 1
When scanning is completed, printing of one sheet is completed, or printing of all sheets is completed, the drawing-in means 24 is deactivated, and the drawn ink 21 (or ink 2) is drawn.
By returning the seal liquid (1 and the seal liquid) to the state before drawing (see FIG. 23B), the seal liquid around the discharge port 12 seals the ink 21 of the ink discharge port 12 again to prevent clogging.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the seal liquid 22A positioned at the discharge port 12 and the seal liquid 22B positioned around the discharge port 12 are separated (separated). By drawing the ink 22 into the ink ejection port 12, the sealing liquid 22B around the ejection port 12 does not obstruct the ejection of the ink from the ejection port 12, so that the ejection resistance is reduced. Hereinafter, preferred means for improving this effect will be described.
The drawing-in means 24 is preferably provided in a portion close to the discharge port 12 because the response of the drawing-in of the sealing liquid is improved. In addition, it is preferable to use a negative pressure generating means as the retracting means 24 because the operating state and the amount of the retracting means 24 can be easily controlled. When a negative pressure generating means is used as the retracting means 24, a method of changing the volume is preferable since the time required for the negative pressure generating means to be operated reversibly is short. As a method of changing the volume, a method of increasing the volume using the piezoelectric member 38 is preferable because control by an electric signal is easy. Further, since the wall surface of the head 10 is deformed by the piezoelectric member 38 to increase the volume and retracted, it is easy to control the retracted state and the retracted amount, the operation time is short, the responsiveness is good, and it is simple. It is suitable.

In this embodiment, a state in which the sealing liquid is drawn is maintained, and a plurality of ejections are performed in this state. As described above, since a plurality of ejections are performed in a state in which the seal liquid is drawn in, there is no need to perform a drawing-in operation for each discharge, and there is an advantage that a discharge interval can be shortened and a discharge frequency can be increased. This holding is performed by the retraction means 24.
Can be used in a state in which is kept in an operating state, and a method in which a closed state is created and held. The retracted state may be maintained by both keeping the retracting means 24 in the operating state and creating a closed state. In the case where the closed state is created and held, if the draw-in means 24 continues to consume power in the operating state, the drawn-in state can be maintained even when the draw-in means 24 is deactivated, so that there is an effect that power can be saved. are doing. Further, after the printing is completed, the holding is released and the sealing state is surely returned, so that the clogging can be prevented without unnecessarily exposing the ink 21 of the ejection port to the air. The release of the holding is performed by releasing the operating state of the retracting means, releasing the sealing means, or the like. Also,
As will be described later, it is possible to prevent clogging by reliably returning to the sealed state by using a release signal, and to prepare for the next pull-in and discharge cycle.

In the ink jet head 10, the ejection port 1
In addition to the above, there may be a case where an air communication port provided for balancing the pressure inside the head 10 and the pressure outside the head 10 or a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pressure inside the head 10 and the ink tank 30 is provided. is there. For example, FIG.
As shown in (2), when the air communication port 50 is provided in the ink tank 30, the sealing means 55A seals the air communication port 50. Also, as shown in FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 16, the connection portion 42 between the ink supply path 28 and the ink tank 30 is hermetically closed. Alternatively, when there is a pressure adjusting mechanism, a portion where the pressure adjusting mechanism and the atmosphere are in communication with each other is sealed, or a portion on the way to the pressure adjusting mechanism is sealed. If you have more than one of these air communication ports and pressure adjustment mechanisms, seal each part individually or
Alternatively, the portion from the head 10 to the air communication port and the pressure adjusting mechanism may be collectively sealed.

For the sealing means (55A, 55B), a method of shutting off with a valve or a partition, a method of covering with a rubber cap or the like, a method of narrowing the flow path or a method of closing the flow path using a member for filling the flow path are used. Etc. are available. The sealing means may be configured to operate in conjunction with the retraction means 24, or to serve as the retraction means 24 by utilizing the displacement generated by the retraction means 24. With these methods, the sealing may be performed before the retraction, or during the retraction or after the retraction operation is completed.
When the retracted state is maintained by sealing, the sealing means is released to return to the state before the retracting.

Further, since the discharge frequency can be increased, it is also preferable to perform a plurality of discharges while maintaining the retracted state. In this case, it is preferable to maintain the retracted state in a closed state because power can be saved. Retraction means 24
In the case where a negative pressure generating means is used, it is preferable to use a sealing means.In this case, the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating means is sealed before or at substantially the same time as the retraction. It is possible to act only on the drawing of the liquid. For this reason, there is an effect that the operation amount of the retraction unit 24 for obtaining the required retraction amount can be small, and the time until the retraction is completed can be short.

The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an ink ejection port 12, a sealing liquid for sealing the ink ejection port 12, and the ink ejection port 1 according to an image signal.
2 is an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink discharge means 14 for discharging ink 21 from 2 and a seal liquid drawing means 24 for drawing the seal liquid. With this inkjet recording apparatus, an image is recorded by discharging ink 21 corresponding to an image signal onto an image recording medium. In the inkjet recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the above-described retracting unit 24 may be incorporated in the inkjet recording head 10, or the retracting unit 24 may be provided outside the head 10 in the recording apparatus. As described above, the drawing-in means 24 is preferably provided in a portion near the discharge port 12 because the response of drawing in the sealing liquid is improved. In addition, the retraction means 24 is a retraction means 24.
It is preferable to use negative pressure generating means because it is easy to control the operating state and the amount of pull-in. In addition, since the ejection frequency can be increased, it is also preferable to provide a holding unit that holds the retracted state and perform a plurality of ejections. In this case, the holding unit includes:
It may be a means for keeping the retraction means 24 in the operating state, or a means for making and holding a closed state.

According to the present embodiment, the seal liquid 22A located at the discharge port 12 and the seal liquid 22B around the discharge port 12 are separated (separated state), whereby the area around the discharge port 12 is separated. Therefore, the effect of hindering the ink discharge from the seal liquid 22B can be eliminated, and the resistance at the time of discharge can be reduced. For this reason, even in a low temperature environment in which the viscosity of the sealing liquid increases, a clear image can be printed without causing ejection failure. In addition, since the discharge resistance is low, even if the seal liquid to be arranged is thick or a high-viscosity seal liquid material is selected, both performance against clogging and discharge performance can be achieved, preventing clogging for a longer period of time. Such a design of the head 10 is also possible. Further, in the present embodiment, since the discharge port 12 is sealed with the sealing liquid, clogging due to drying of the ink 21 does not occur even after a long-term rest,
The discharge operation can be performed immediately when needed, and the maintenance process after a long-term suspension can be reduced or omitted. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the recording apparatus, reduce the waiting time before printing and the noise due to maintenance, which have been caused by maintenance after a long pause, and reduce the running cost due to the disposal of a large amount of ink. It is also possible to suppress the rise.

In this embodiment, in order to separate the seal liquid 22A located at the ink ejection port 12 from the surrounding seal liquid 22B, the required amount of the seal liquid located at the ink ejection port 12 is drawn. That is, the drawing-in means 24 is driven by a predetermined operation amount within a predetermined time so as to draw a required amount of the sealing liquid located at the ink discharge port 12. By the way, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-132356, there is a method in which a sealing liquid is drawn by solidification shrinkage of hot melt ink. However, in the shrinkage during cooling and solidification, the sealing liquid is drawn at a slower speed than the drawing in the present embodiment, so that the surrounding sealing liquid gradually flows into the discharge port according to the drawing and cannot be separated. Further, in the retracted state, the ink 21 cannot be discharged because the ink 21 is solidified. In addition, in the case of shrinkage during cooling and solidification, if it is several minutes to longer, it takes several hours to cool down,
In the present embodiment, the time required for retraction is appropriately selected depending on the kinematic viscosity, surface tension, thickness, discharge port diameter, and discharge port shape of the sealing liquid.
It is preferable to perform the operation by pulling in within seconds.
It is preferred to operate the retraction means in steps (within one second). That is, the contents described in JP-A-3-132356 are essentially different from the contents of the present application.

[0077]

First Embodiment Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to a first embodiment, but the present embodiment is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 17, the head 10 has an ink reservoir 18 inside, and an ink discharge means 14 is disposed in a discharge chamber 16 communicating with a discharge port 12 having a diameter of 40 μm.
Further, on the wall surface of the ink reservoir 18, as the sealing liquid drawing means 24, a drawing means 24 composed of a piezoelectric member 38 is arranged.

The sealing liquid used was a liquid prepared by mixing a plurality of types of silicone oils (kinematic viscosity 30 m).
m ² / s, surface tension 20.8 mN / m, specific gravity 1.0). The vapor pressure of this sealing liquid at 25 ° C. is 0.1 m
mHg or less, and there was no compatibility with the ink 21 used.

The ink 21 used was composed of 60% by weight of water, 38% by weight of diethylene glycol, and 2% by weight of a dye, and had a kinematic viscosity of 2.0 mm ² / s and a surface tension of 40 mN / s.
m, specific gravity 1.06.

The discharge means 14 is of a thermal ink jet type, and is constituted by providing a heater on the wall of the discharge chamber 16. The heater is configured by laminating a protective layer made of tantalum on a heating element layer made of polycrystalline silicon.
The heater is wired so that a predetermined signal is applied to the heater at a timing corresponding to the image signal by signal applying means (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 18, the drawing-in means 24 is constituted by using a PZT (lead zirconate titanate) piezoelectric member 38, and a pair of electrodes 40 provided on both sides of the PZT layer.
A, deforms by applying voltage to 40B,
The volume inside the head 10 is increased. Retraction means 24
Has a thickness of 1. formed by thermally oxidizing a silicon single crystal substrate.
A protective layer 44 of 0 μm silicon oxide, an elastic film 42 of zirconium oxide having a thickness of 0.8 μm formed by sputtering, and a thickness of 0.2 μm formed by sputtering.
A first electrode 40A made of platinum of m, a PZT38 layer having a thickness of 1.0 μm formed by repeating the sol-gel method a plurality of times, and a second electrode 40B made of platinum of a thickness of 0.1 μm formed by sputtering. It is configured. The pull-in means 24 sequentially forms a protective layer 44, an elastic film 42, a first electrode 40A, a PZT layer 38 on a silicon single crystal substrate.
After the second electrode 40B was formed by lamination, the silicon single crystal portion was removed by etching. Also, the PZT layer 3
8 and the second electrode 40B can be patterned into a predetermined shape by photoresist and etching. In this embodiment, they are formed in a rectangular shape having a width of 600 μm and a length of 800 μm. The wall of the ink reservoir 18 is formed by bonding the drawing unit 24 thus manufactured. When a voltage of 20 V is applied between the first electrode 40A and the second electrode 40B, the ink reservoir 18 formed by the drawing unit 24 is formed. A concave deformation of a maximum of 2 μm occurs at the center of the wall, and the ink reservoir 18
Increased in volume. When the inside of the head 10 was filled with the ink 21 and the ink 21 was drawn in under these conditions, the ink 21 was drawn from the ejection port 12 toward the inside of the head 10 to a position of 25 μm.

Using the head 10 of this embodiment, the state of ejection was observed under magnification. The seal liquid was disposed in a film shape on the surface of the head 10 where the ejection ports 12 were arranged so as to have a thickness of 20 μm. First, the piezoelectric member 38 serving as the retracting means 24 is
0V voltage stepwise (rise time 10μs)
To displace the piezoelectric member 38 in a short time,
When the inner portion was deformed so as to increase the volume, the sealing liquid in contact with the discharge port 12 was drawn into the discharge port 12 and was separated from the surrounding seal liquid. In this state, a voltage of 15 V is applied to the heater as the ejection means 14 for 6 μm.
When the ink 21 was ejected by applying a pulse for a time of s, it was observed that ink droplets were ejected stably.
When the voltage of the drawing means 24 was released after the ejection, the ink 21 in the ejection port 12 returned to the initial state, and the sealing liquid around the ejection port 12 sealed the ink 21 in the ejection port 12.

A print test was conducted in a normal temperature environment. The head 10 of this embodiment was attached to a recording apparatus having a mechanism for feeding recording paper under normal temperature conditions.
The image was printed in a room with a relative humidity of 50%), and the printed image was observed with the naked eye. As a result, a clear image was recorded without any printing defects such as blurring.

A printing test was performed in a low-temperature environment.
That is, this recording apparatus is used in a low temperature environment (air temperature 5 ° C., relative humidity 3
(0%) for 24 hours, and a printing test was performed in this low-temperature environment. As a result, clear printing was possible as in the previous test. Observation of the printed image with the naked eye revealed no difference from the printing test at room temperature, and a clear image was recorded.

Further, the ink jet recording head 1
0 was left for 30 days in an environment at a temperature of 25 ° C. and a relative humidity of 30% RH, and then a print test was performed without performing any ordinary maintenance operation of the ink jet recording apparatus to observe an output image. No ejection failure due to clogging occurred in the ink ejection port 12, and the printed image had no disturbance of dots, and a clear image was recorded as before leaving. A print test was performed after leaving the recording head 10 similar to the recording head 10 of the present embodiment under the same conditions for 30 days except that the seal liquid was not disposed, and clogging occurred in more than half of the discharge ports 12. And could only be partially printed.

For comparison, a head 10 similar to the head 10 of this embodiment was used except that the drawing means 24 was not provided.
It was arranged in the form of a film such that The ejection of the head 10 was observed and adjusted so that a voltage of 16 V was applied to the ejection means 14 for a time of 7 μs so as to obtain the same ejection as the head 10 of the embodiment. As described above, the reason why the ejection resistance is large even at normal temperature is that the seal liquid located at the ink ejection port 12 and the seal liquid located around the ink ejection port 12 are not separated from each other. It is considered that the ejection of ink is hindered by the sealing liquid located. Further, when this head 10 was attached to a recording apparatus, and a print test of an image was performed in a room at room temperature (air temperature 25 ° C., relative humidity 50%), no significant difference was observed with the naked eye from the print result of the example. . However, when the printing test was performed in a low-temperature environment (temperature 5 ° C., relative humidity 30%) for 24 hours and then performed in this low-temperature environment, defective portions that were not printed were conspicuous and only unclear images were obtained. Was. (Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment has the same configuration as the above-described first embodiment (the various configuration patterns of the first embodiment can be similarly applied to this embodiment). The reference numerals are attached and the description is omitted.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21, a pull-in signal for driving the pull-in means 24 based on a discharge basic signal and an image signal to be described later, and the discharge means 14 are driven in accordance with the image signal. Signal control means 60 for controlling a discharge signal for performing the discharge. The signal control unit 60 outputs a pull-in signal and drives the pull-in unit 24 so as to draw the seal liquid every time before ink discharge, and then outputs a discharge signal to drive the discharge unit 14. The process from the driving of the pull-in means 24 to the end of the ejection is performed within an ejection cycle (hereinafter, referred to as a “basic ejection cycle”) in the case where ink droplets are continuously ejected from the same ejection port 12. The signal control means 60 of the present invention outputs a discharge signal with a predetermined time delay from the pull-in signal so that the ink 21 is discharged after the drawn-in seal liquid is separated from the surrounding seal liquid.

The signal control means 60 controls the ejection frequency (= 1) when ink droplets are continuously ejected from the same ejection port 12.
/ Discharge basic cycle) (hereinafter referred to as “discharge basic signal”) and the ink 2 from the discharge means 14 in accordance with image information.
A pull-in signal is output based on an image signal for selecting discharge / non-discharge at the time of the discharge of No. 1 and a discharge signal delayed by a predetermined delay time a (details will be described later) from the pull-in signal is output. In order to output a delayed ejection signal, the signal control means 60 delays the image signal to make an ejection signal, or generates an image signal based on a signal delayed with respect to the ejection basic signal, and sets this as an ejection signal. I do. The delay time a is determined by taking into account design specifications such as the diameter of the discharge means 14, the discharge port 12, the basic discharge frequency, the thickness of the seal liquid, the kinematic viscosity of the seal liquid, and the surface tension of the seal liquid. Sets the optimal time after is separated from the surrounding sealing liquid. Further, the delay time a is set so that the ejection is completed by the next pull-in.

The signal control means 60 may be arranged in the head 10 as shown in FIG. 22, or may be arranged in a recording device other than the head 10 as shown in FIG.
It may be arranged together with the head 10 or an electric circuit for controlling the apparatus.

The signal control means 60 controls a signal applied to, for example, a piezoelectric member constituting the drawing-in means 24 and a signal applied to, for example, a heater constituting the ejection means 14 in order to output a delayed ejection signal. It may control a signal on the way to the pull-in means 24 or the discharge means 14, control the basic discharge signal and the image signal, and generate a signal delayed when the basic discharge signal and the image signal are generated. It may be generated and controlled.

To delay the image signal and the basic clock signal by the signal control means 60, various known delay circuits are used. For example, a delay circuit including a capacitor and a resistor, a delay circuit in which a plurality of buffer circuits are connected in cascade,
The signal control means 60 can be configured using a delay circuit including a transmission circuit, a counter circuit, and a comparator circuit, but the signal control means 60 can be configured by various electric circuits or IC circuits. Alternatively, a dedicated IC circuit or the like can be manufactured. Further, it is also possible to configure the signal control means 60 for performing a delay by converting an input signal into data and comparing the data with data on a memory by microcomputer control or the like.

The signal control means 60 has two methods of outputting a pull-in signal so as to draw in the sealing liquid for each basic discharge signal, and outputting a pull-in signal so as to pull in the sealing liquid for each image signal.

As shown in FIG. 24, the control system for drawing in the sealing liquid for each ejection basic signal, according to the input timing of the clock signal from the basic clock generation circuit 62, receives the device setting information from the device setting information generation circuit 64. And an image for outputting an image signal based on the image information from the image information generation circuit 68 in accordance with the input timing of the clock signal from the basic clock generation circuit 62 and the basic ejection signal generation circuit 66 for outputting the basic ejection signal based on Based on the signal generation circuit 70, the discharge basic signal and the image signal, the power of the pull-in drive power supply 72 controls the sealing liquid pull-in means 24, and the power of the discharge means drive power supply 74 controls the discharge means 14. Signal control means 60 is provided.

The signal control means 60 includes a delay circuit 76 connected to the discharge basic signal generation circuit 66 and the image signal generation circuit 70, and a pull-in drive circuit connected to the pull-in drive power supply 72 and the discharge basic signal generation circuit 66. 78,
A discharge circuit 80 connected to the delay circuit 76 and the discharge means driving power supply 74.

Then, the signal control means 60 outputs a pull-in signal in accordance with the basic ejection signal as shown in FIG. In this method, the seal liquid at the ejection port 12 is drawn in at the ejection basic cycle regardless of ejection / non-ejection (image signal) of the ink 21. In order to always perform the retraction, the retraction is performed even when the ejection is not performed.
When the head 10 having two nozzles is used, since all the ejection ports 12 are equally drawn, there is a feature that the drawing conditions are the same each time.

Therefore, in this method, it is preferable that the head 10 has a configuration in which the common retraction means 24 corresponding to the plurality of ejection ports 12 is provided as described above (see FIG. 20). Therefore, there is an advantage that the configuration of the signal control means 60 is simplified and the apparatus is cheaper.

As shown in FIG. 25, the control system for drawing in the seal liquid for each image signal has substantially the same configuration as the control system for drawing in the seal liquid for each discharge basic signal. The difference is that the circuit 78 is configured to receive an image signal.

Then, the signal control means 60 outputs a pull-in signal according to the image signal as shown in FIG.
In this method, the sealing liquid of the discharge port 12 is drawn on demand only immediately before the ink 21 is discharged.
Since the retraction is performed only immediately before the ejection, there is no waste in the retraction. When the head 10 having a plurality of ejection ports 12 is used, the retraction can be controlled corresponding to each of the ejection ports 12. Therefore, in this method, the head 10
To the individual retracting means 2 corresponding to the plurality of discharge ports 12.
4 (see FIG. 19) is preferable, and it is possible to perform the most suitable pull-in control for ejection for each individual ejection port 12, which has the advantage that high image quality can be achieved.

In both the arrangements of FIGS. 24 and 25, if the arrangement is such that the withdrawal signal is applied to the withdrawing means 24, the withdrawn state can be reliably returned to the original state every time within each basic discharge period. The release cancellation signal is shown in FIG.
6. As shown in FIG. 27, the pull-in signal is output with a predetermined delay time b delayed so that the pull-in is released within the basic discharge period from the pull-in and returned to the original sealing state. When performing ejection, the pull-in release signal is output simultaneously with or after the output of the ejection signal. In order to output the delayed pull-in release signal, the signal control means 60 delays and outputs the pull-in release signal with respect to the pull-in signal or the ejection basic signal or the basic clock signal referred to when generating the pull-in signal. The delay time b is determined by the design of the discharge means 14, the diameter of the discharge port 12, the basic discharge frequency, the thickness of the seal liquid, the kinematic viscosity of the seal liquid, and the surface tension of the seal liquid. Choose the time to seal uniformly and set the optimal time.

If the retracted state is quickly returned each time by the retracted release signal, each of the discharge ports 12 can be uniformly sealed with the sealing liquid (see FIG. 23B). This has the effect of shortening the exposure time and more effectively preventing the increase in ink viscosity due to drying and the occurrence of nozzle clogging. Furthermore, it is possible to make the state before each pull-in the same state and prepare for the next ejection cycle, so that there is an advantage that ejection is more stable and higher image quality can be achieved.

Release of the pull-in by the pull-in release signal is performed by releasing the operation of the pull-in means 24. For example,
Immediately after ejection by the pull-in release signal, the pull-in means 2
(4) a method of canceling the drawing by stopping the operation of the pump or a method of switching the potential applied to the piezoelectric member as the drawing means 24 from the drawing potential to the original reference potential (for example, by switching from +10 V to 0 V). 24, there is a method of canceling the operation.

There is also a method of operating the retracting means 24 so as to switch the signal and return the retracting. For example, immediately after ejection by a pull-in release signal, the pull-in means 24
Is temporarily applied to the piezoelectric member having a polarity opposite to the pull-in potential (release potential) to give an electric field for restoring the deformation of the piezoelectric member, and then to the original reference potential (for example, +10 V is temporarily reduced to- By changing the voltage to 10 V and then to 0 V), it is possible to promptly return the drawn state to the sealed state. In this case, since the time required for canceling the pull-in becomes shorter, the basic discharge frequency can be further increased, and the time required for printing can be further reduced.

The signal control means 60 may variably control the delay times a and b of the ejection signal and the pull-in release signal. If the variable control is performed based on the information of the environment and the device, it is possible to control so as to obtain the optimum delay time depending on the condition of the environment and the device. In addition, when the delay time until the discharge becomes short, it is possible to return to the sealed state more quickly and prepare for the next discharge cycle. Signals used as information include signals based on the operating environment such as ink temperature, head surface temperature, temperature inside the printing device, humidity inside the printing device, and atmospheric pressure inside the printing device, the basic ejection frequency, and the setting of the head moving speed during printing. There are a signal based on the setting of the printing apparatus such as a value, a setting value of an image resolution to be printed, and a signal based on a state of the printing apparatus such as a remaining ink amount and a head position during printing.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

When the seal liquid is drawn in for each basic discharge signal, as shown in FIG. 26, the signal control means 60 outputs a pull-in signal to draw in the seal liquid for each basic discharge signal. On the other hand, when the sealing liquid is drawn in for each image signal, as shown in FIG. 27, for each image signal, the signal control unit 60 outputs a drawing signal to draw in the sealing liquid.

In both cases, an ejection signal delayed by a delay time a with respect to the image signal is output, and as shown in FIG. 23A, the ejection signal is pulled in as in the first embodiment. After the sealing liquid 22A is separated from the surrounding sealing liquid 22B, the ink 21 is ejected. That is, before each ink discharge, the seal liquid is drawn into the discharge port 12 to perform discharge. When performing the ejection, the divided state (FIG. 23)
(See (A))), the ejection means 14 is operated and the ink ejection port 1 is operated.
The second ink 21 is discharged together with the sealing liquid. At the time of ejection, the sealing liquid in the ejection port 12 completely disappears from the ink 21.
It does not matter if it is not ejected together with. Further, a pull-in release signal delayed by a delay time b with respect to the image signal is output, the pull-in means 24 is released, and the drawn ink 21 (or the ink 21 and the seal liquid) is drawn before drawing (FIG. 23 (B)) to prepare for the next ejection.

As described above, in the present embodiment, as described above, the sealing liquid is drawn into the discharge port 12 to separate the sealing liquid from the surrounding sealing liquid to reduce the discharging resistance. Hereinafter, preferable means for improving this effect will be described. Retraction means 2
4 is preferably provided in a portion close to the discharge port 12 because the response of drawing in the sealing liquid is improved. In addition, it is preferable to use a negative pressure generating means as the retracting means 24 because the operating state and the amount of the retracting means 24 can be easily controlled. When a negative pressure generating means is used as the retracting means 24, a method of changing the volume is preferable since the time required for the negative pressure generating means to be operated reversibly is short. As a method of changing the volume, a method of increasing the volume using a piezoelectric member is preferable because control by an electric signal is easy. Further, it is preferable to deform the wall surface of the head 10 with a piezoelectric member to increase the volume and retract the head 10 because the state of retraction and the amount of retraction are easy to control, the time required for operation is short, the responsiveness is good, and it is simple. It is.

When a negative pressure generating means is used as the drawing means 24 as in the first embodiment, it is preferable to use a sealing means. In this case, prior to the drawing or almost simultaneously with the drawing. The closed state enables the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating means to act only on the suction of the sealing liquid. For this reason, the retraction means 24 for obtaining the required retraction amount
Has a small operation amount, and the time required to complete the retraction is short. The pull-in operation may be performed in a sealed state at each retraction operation, or a plurality of retraction operations or discharge operations may be performed while maintaining the sealed state. Note that, as described above, since the sealing is performed prior to or substantially simultaneously with the retraction, it is not performed during the retraction or after the completion of the retraction operation as in the first embodiment described above.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises: an ink discharge port 12, a sealing liquid for sealing the ink discharge port 12, an ink discharge means 14 for discharging the ink 21 from the ink discharge port 12 in accordance with an image signal; A sealing liquid drawing means for drawing in the sealing liquid, a discharge signal for driving the discharge means in response to an image signal, a drawing signal for driving the sealing liquid drawing means, and a drawing signal for the sealing liquid drawing means. This is an ink jet recording apparatus having a signal control means 60 for applying the ejection signal to the ejection means 14 after the application of. The process from the driving of the pull-in means 24 to the end of the ejection is performed within the ejection basic cycle. With this inkjet recording apparatus, an image is recorded by discharging ink 21 corresponding to image information onto an image recording medium. In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the above-described pull-in means 24 may be incorporated in the ink-jet recording head 10, or the pull-in means 24 may be connected to the head 1 in the recording apparatus.
However, as described above, it is preferable to provide the drawing means 24 in a portion near the discharge port 12 because the response of drawing the sealing liquid is improved. In addition, it is preferable to use a negative pressure generating means as the retracting means 24 because the operating state and the amount of the retracting means 24 can be easily controlled.

It is also preferable to provide a sealing means because the amount of operation of the retraction means 24 for obtaining the required retraction amount is small and the time required for completing the retraction is short. The signal control means 60 may be incorporated in the head 10 or may be arranged outside the head 10 in the recording apparatus. The signal control means 60
May drive the sealing liquid drawing means 24 for each discharge basic signal, and may also drive the sealing liquid drawing means 2 for each image signal.
4 may be driven. It is also preferable to output the pull-in release signal by the signal control means 60 because the pull-in state can be quickly returned, so that the basic discharge frequency can be increased and the time required for printing can be reduced. It is also preferable to control the ejection signal and the pull-in release signal variably, since ejection can be performed under more stable conditions according to the environment and the setting and state of the apparatus. Since the signal control means 60 is provided to control the time from the retraction to the ejection after each retraction, the ejection state can be set to be the same every time the retraction is performed.
As a result, the state (amount, speed, and the like) of the ejected ink 21 can be made constant every time, the ejection of the ink 21 is stabilized, and the variation in the size of the ink dot to be printed and the landing position of the ink dot is reduced. The image quality to be improved. Immediately after the retraction, the amplitude of the vibration remaining on the retraction means 24 or the meniscus liquid level may be large. In this case, if the discharge is set after the vibration is sufficiently reduced, the discharge can be performed more stably. . If the signal control means 60 is provided to pull in each time and output a pull-in release signal, the drawn-in state can be reliably returned to the sealed state each time. If the retracting means 24 is deactivated every time, the discharge port 12
Is sealed and ready for the next ejection cycle, so that the time during which the ink is exposed to air is shortened, the viscosity of the ink increases due to drying,
The occurrence of nozzle clogging can be more effectively prevented, the ejection is more stable, and the image quality can be further improved. If the delay time a from the retraction to the discharge is variably controlled based on various conditions, the retraction state is the same every time even if the time until the retraction state becomes stable due to environmental fluctuations changes. Since it is possible to set the ejection after the ejection, the ejection is further stabilized, and the printed image quality is improved. Due to environmental fluctuations, device settings and conditions, etc., the time from retraction to separation and the decay time of vibrations remaining on the seal liquid surface immediately after retraction may change. By selecting and discharging, it is possible to stabilize the operation and effect on the environment and the setting and state of the apparatus. By variably controlling the delay time b until the pull-in is released based on various conditions, it is possible to return to the sealed state more quickly and prepare for the next discharge cycle when the delay time until the discharge becomes short. Become. The basic discharge frequency can be increased, and the time required for printing can be reduced.

[0112]

Second Embodiment Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to a second embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 28, the second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the first embodiment described above, and therefore, the same portions are denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof is omitted. . That is, in the present embodiment, as the sealing liquid drawing means 24 on the wall surface of the discharge chamber 16, the drawing means 24 composed of a piezoelectric member
Has been arranged.

The sealing liquid used was a liquid prepared by mixing a plurality of types of silicone oils (kinematic viscosity 30 m).
m ² / s, surface tension 20.8 mN / m, specific gravity 1.0). The vapor pressure of this sealing liquid at 25 ° C. is 0.1 m
mHg or less, and there was no compatibility with the ink 21 used.

The ink 21 used was composed of 60% by weight of water, 38% by weight of diethylene glycol, and 2% by weight of a dye, and had a kinematic viscosity of 2.0 mm ² / s and a surface tension of 40 mN / s.
m, specific gravity 1.06.

The discharge means 14 is of a thermal ink jet type, and is constituted by providing a heater on the wall surface of the discharge chamber 16. The heater is configured by laminating a protective layer made of tantalum on a heating element layer made of polycrystalline silicon.
The heater is wired so that a predetermined signal is applied to the heater at a timing corresponding to the image signal by a signal applying unit (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 29, the drawing means 24 made of a piezoelectric member is different from the drawing means in that it is arranged on the wall of the discharge chamber 16, but the main structure is the same as that of the first embodiment. The PZT layer 38 and the second electrode 40B can be patterned into a predetermined shape by photoresist and etching. In this embodiment, the width is 400 μm and the length is 120 μm.
It is formed in a rectangular shape of 0 μm. The wall of the discharge chamber 16 is formed by bonding the drawing means 24 thus formed. When a voltage of 20 V is applied between the first electrode 40A and the second electrode 40B, the ink reservoir 18 formed by the drawing means 24 is formed. A concave deformation of a maximum of 2 μm occurred at the center of the wall, and the volume of the ink reservoir 18 increased. The inside of the head 10 is filled with the ink 21, and under this condition, the ink 21 is filled.
As a result, the ink 21 was drawn from the ejection port 12 toward the inside of the head 10 to a position of 25 μm.

The signal control means 60 (driving means) was manufactured using an IC circuit and was arranged on the outer wall of the head. Signal control means 6
In the circuit No. 0, a circuit for outputting the ejection signal is constituted by using a delay circuit, and a circuit for outputting the pull-in release signal is constituted by a delay circuit and a flip-flop circuit. The signal control unit 60 receives the image signal, outputs a pull-in signal according to the image signal, and changes the potential applied to the pull-in unit 24 from 0 V to 20 V.
V, the image signal is delayed, and the ejection signal is output after a predetermined time. The delay time from the input of the image signal to the output of the ejection signal was set to 100 μs. Also,
The signal control means 60 delays the image signal, outputs a pull-in release signal after a predetermined time, and switches the potential applied to the pull-in means 24 from 20V to 0V. The delay time from the input of the image signal to the output of the pull-in release signal was set to 120 μs.

Using the head 10 of this embodiment, the state of ejection was observed under magnification. The seal liquid was disposed in a film shape on the surface of the head 10 where the ejection ports 12 were arranged so as to have a thickness of 20 μm. First, an image signal was input to the signal control means 60 to output a pull-in signal, and a voltage of 20 V was applied to the piezoelectric member serving as the pull-in means 24 to deform the head 10 so as to increase the volume inside. A negative pressure was generated due to this increase in volume, and the sealing liquid in contact with the discharge port 12 was drawn into the discharge port 12 and separated from the surrounding seal liquid by 100 μs from the input of the image signal. 100 μs after the input of the image signal, the signal control unit 60 outputs a discharge signal, and applies a voltage of 15 V to the heater as the discharge unit 14 in a pulsed manner for 6 μs to discharge the ink 21. Was observed. The signal control unit 60 outputs a pull-in release signal 120 μs after the input of the image signal, sets the potential applied to the pull-in unit 24 to 0 V, returns the ink 21 of the ejection port 12 to the initial state, and operates the pull-in unit 24. After the elapse of 500 μs, the sealing liquid around the ejection port 12
Was returned to the sealed state. When an image signal was input as a continuous pulse and this discharge cycle was repeated at a frequency of 1 kHz, it was observed that the seal liquid was drawn in before every discharge, and that the liquid was stably discharged in that state. Further, when an image signal corresponding to the image information was input at a frequency of 1 kHz of the ejection basic signal and the ink 21 was ejected, the measurement results of the diameter and ejection speed of the ejected ink droplet were as follows.
It was observed that the image signal was almost constant irrespective of the continuity / discontinuity of the image signal (that is, the time interval of the ejection), and the ejection was stable.

Here, a printing test was performed under a normal temperature environment. The head 10 of this embodiment is attached to a recording apparatus equipped with a mechanism for feeding recording paper under conditions of normal temperature environment, and images are printed in a room at normal temperature (temperature: 25 ° C., relative humidity: 50%). Observation of the resulting image with the naked eye revealed that there was no print defect such as blurring and a clear image was recorded.

A printing test was performed in a low-temperature environment.
That is, when the recording apparatus was left for 24 hours in a low-temperature environment (temperature of 5 ° C., relative humidity of 30%) and then a printing test was performed in this low-temperature environment, clear printing was possible as in the previous test. was. Observation of the printed image with the naked eye revealed no difference from the printing test at room temperature, and a clear image was recorded.

Further, the ink jet recording head 1
0 was left for 30 days in an environment at a temperature of 25 ° C. and a relative humidity of 30% RH, and then a print test was performed without performing any ordinary maintenance operation of the ink jet recording apparatus to observe an output image. No ejection failure due to clogging occurred in the ink ejection port 12, and the printed image had no disturbance of dots, and a clear image was recorded as before leaving. A print test was performed after leaving the recording head 10 similar to the recording head 10 of the present embodiment under the same conditions for 30 days except that the seal liquid was not disposed, and clogging occurred in more than half of the discharge ports 12. And could only be partially printed.

For comparison, a head 10 similar to the head 10 of this embodiment was used except that the drawing means 24 was not provided.
It was arranged in the form of a film such that The ejection of the head 10 was observed, and adjustment was performed so that a voltage of 16 V was applied to the ejection means 14 for a period of 7 μs so that the same ejection as the head 10 of the example was obtained. As described above, the reason why the ejection resistance is large even at normal temperature is that the seal liquid located at the ink ejection port 12 and the seal liquid located around the ink ejection port 12 are not separated from each other. It is considered that the ejection of ink is hindered by the sealing liquid located. Further, when this head 10 was attached to a recording apparatus, and a print test of an image was performed in a room at room temperature (air temperature 25 ° C., relative humidity 50%), no significant difference was observed with the naked eye from the print result of the example. . However, when the printing test was performed in a low-temperature environment (temperature 5 ° C., relative humidity 30%) for 24 hours and then performed in this low-temperature environment, defective portions that were not printed were conspicuous and only unclear images were obtained. Was.

Here, in the first and second embodiments described above, the sealing liquid drawing means 24 and the discharging means 14 have different structures, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, a single unit having both the function of drawing in the sealing liquid and the function of discharging the sealing liquid may be provided.

[0125]

As described above, according to the present invention, the seal liquid is separated from the seal liquid at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid and the seal liquid positioned around the ink discharge port of the seal liquid by the seal liquid. Since the ink is drawn into the discharge port, when ink is to be discharged from the ink discharge port, it is possible to eliminate the effect of preventing the seal liquid positioned around the ink discharge port from discharging the ink, thereby stably discharging the ink. Has the effect of being able to

Further, according to the present invention, by separating (separating) the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port from the seal liquid around the ink discharge port, the seal liquid around the ink discharge port is separated from the seal liquid around the ink discharge port. The effect of hindering ink ejection can be eliminated, and thus the resistance during ejection can be reduced. For this reason, even in a low temperature environment in which the viscosity of the sealing liquid increases, a clear image can be printed without causing ejection failure. In addition, since the discharge resistance is low, even if the seal liquid to be arranged is thick or a high-viscosity seal liquid material is selected, both performance against clogging and discharge performance can be achieved, preventing clogging for a longer period of time. Such a head design is also possible. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the ink discharge ports are sealed by the seal liquid, clogging due to drying of the ink does not occur even after a long period of suspension, so that the discharge operation can be performed immediately when necessary, It is possible to reduce or eliminate a maintenance process after a long-term suspension. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the recording apparatus, reduce the waiting time before printing and the noise due to maintenance, which have been caused by maintenance after a long pause, and reduce the running cost due to the disposal of a large amount of ink. This has the effect that the rise can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of an ink jet recording head according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a position where a negative pressure generating unit is arranged.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of another position where a negative pressure generating means is arranged.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of still another position where a negative pressure generating means is arranged.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of still another position where a negative pressure generating means is arranged.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of still another position where the negative pressure generating means is arranged.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a negative pressure generating unit.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of another negative pressure generating unit.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a method of increasing the volume inside the head.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of another method for increasing the volume inside the head.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of another method for increasing the volume inside the head.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of another method for increasing the volume inside the head.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a negative pressure generating means using a pump.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a method of using a piezoelectric member to increase the volume inside the head.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the position of the sealing means.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of another position of the sealing means.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a method of an example using a piezoelectric member as the drawing means in the first embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram of a piezoelectric member.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a head having individual pull-in means corresponding to individual discharge ports.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a head having a common drawing-in means corresponding to a plurality of discharge ports.

FIG. 21 is a configuration diagram in which signal control means is arranged on a head.

FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram in which signal control means is arranged in the recording apparatus.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the sealing liquid is drawn into the discharge port and a sealing state.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a control system including a signal control unit.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of another control system including a signal control unit.

FIG. 26 is a timing chart in the configuration of FIG. 24;

FIG. 27 is a timing chart in the configuration of FIG. 25;

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram of a method of an example using a piezoelectric member as the drawing means in the second embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a configuration diagram of a piezoelectric member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Head 12 Ink discharge port 14 Discharge means 16 Discharge chamber 18 Ink reservoir 21 Ink 22 Seal liquid 24 Seal liquid draw-in means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Susumu Hirata 430 Nakaicho Sakai, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa Green Tech Nakai Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuji Suemitsu 430 Sakai Nakaicho, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Green Tech Nakajima Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Megumi Hasebe 430 Sakai Nakaicho Sakaigami, Kanagawa Pref. Tetsu Mohri 430 Sakai, Nakai-cho, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa Green Tech Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2C056 EA04 EA14 EA20 EC03 EC08 EC57 FA03 2C057 AF61 AF74 AG37 AM03 AM18 AM32 BA03 BA13 2H086 BA02

Claims (25)

[Claims] An ink ejection port for ejecting ink; a seal liquid for sealing the ink ejection port; an ink ejection means for ejecting ink from the ink ejection port in accordance with an input image signal; Sealing liquid drawing means for drawing the seal liquid into the ink discharge port so that the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid and the seal liquid of the seal liquid positioned around the ink discharge port are separated from each other; An ink jet recording head comprising: 2. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said seal liquid drawing means draws in the seal liquid by drawing in at least ink in an ink discharge port. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the sealing liquid drawing means draws the sealing liquid by using a negative pressure. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 3, wherein the sealing liquid drawing means increases a volume of a region of the head in which ink is stored to generate a negative pressure. 5. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the sealing liquid drawing means is disposed in a region of the head in which ink is stored.
The inkjet recording head according to any one of the above. 6. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, further comprising holding means for holding a state in which the sealing liquid is drawn by the sealing liquid drawing means. 7. The ink jet recording head according to claim 6, wherein the ink discharge unit discharges the ink a plurality of times when the seal liquid is held in a state of being drawn by the holding unit. . 8. The ink jet recording according to claim 6, further comprising an output unit for outputting a release signal for releasing the state in which the sealing liquid has been drawn into the original state to the sealing liquid drawing unit. head. 9. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the seal liquid drawing means draws the seal liquid every time before the ink is discharged by the ink discharging means. 10. A control for controlling the ink discharge means and the seal liquid drawing means from the output of the pull-in signal such that the drawing of the seal liquid and the discharge of the ink are completed within a predetermined discharge basic cycle. The inkjet recording head according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising means. 11. The ink jet recording head according to claim 10, wherein said control means controls said ink discharge means so as to discharge said ink after a predetermined delay time from the time of output of the pull-in signal. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the sealing liquid drawing means so as to execute the drawing of the sealing liquid for each basic discharge cycle.
An ink jet recording head according to claim 1 or claim 12. 13. The ink-jet apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said control means controls said sealing liquid drawing means so as to execute drawing of the sealing liquid every time said image signal is input. Recording head. 14. The control means outputs a release signal for releasing the drawn-in state of the sealing liquid to the original state to the sealing liquid drawing-in means within the basic discharge period from the output of the drawing-in signal. 14. The ink jet recording head according to claim 10, wherein 15. The control unit controls the ink discharge unit and the seal liquid drawing unit so as to execute the drawing of the seal liquid, the discharge of the ink, and the output of the release signal in this order. The ink jet recording head according to claim 14, wherein 16. A first delay for delaying an ink ejection instruction signal for instructing ink ejection to be output to the ink ejection means after a first predetermined delay time from the input of the image signal. And second delay means for delaying the release signal so as to be output to the sealing liquid drawing means after a second predetermined delay time from the output of the drawing signal. An ink jet recording head according to claim 14 or claim 15. 17. The ink jet recording head according to claim 16, wherein said control means variably controls at least one of said first predetermined delay time and said second predetermined delay time. 18. An ink ejection port for ejecting ink, a seal liquid for sealing the ink ejection port, an ink ejection unit for ejecting ink from the ink ejection port in response to an input image signal, Sealing liquid drawing means for drawing the seal liquid into the ink discharge port so that the seal liquid located at the ink discharge port of the seal liquid and the seal liquid of the seal liquid positioned around the ink discharge port are separated from each other; An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: 19. A control for controlling the ink discharge means and the seal liquid drawing means so that the drawing of the seal liquid and the discharge of the ink are completed within a predetermined basic discharge period from the output of the drawing signal. 19. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 18, comprising means. 20. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1. 21. An ink jet recording method for an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein at least a seal liquid is drawn before ink is ejected. 22. An ink jet recording method for an ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a state in which the seal liquid is drawn is maintained. An inkjet recording method characterized by the above-mentioned. 23. The ink jet recording method according to claim 22, wherein said ink discharge means discharges said ink a plurality of times when said seal liquid is held in a state of being drawn by said holding means. . 24. An ink jet recording method for an ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the sealing liquid is drawn in each time before the ink is ejected. An ink jet recording method, characterized in that: 25. The ink jet recording method according to claim 24, wherein the state in which the sealing liquid has been drawn is released to the original state within the basic ejection period from the time when the drawing signal is output.