JP2001277658A - Printer in which a plurality of print heads are mountable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance flexibility of a print head actually used in a printer. SOLUTION: The printer comprises a carriage comprising a plurality of parts for removably mounting print head units having a print head for ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles, a head side bi-directional interface, and a head side control section connected with the print head and the head side bi- directional interface, and a body side circuit comprising a body side bi- directional interface provided in the printer body and performing bi-directional communication with the print head units mounted at the head unit mounting section, and a body side control section connected with the body side bi- directional interface. The body side control section executes printing while performing bi-directional communication individually with one or more print head unit mounted on the carriage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus to which a plurality of print head units can be mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an output device of a computer,
2. Description of the Related Art A color printer that discharges several colors of ink from a print head has become widespread. Recently, a printing apparatus that prints at high speed using a plurality of print heads has also been proposed.

[0003]

Conventionally, however, a fixed number of print heads are fixed at fixed positions on a printing apparatus, and the number and positions of the print heads actually used can be selected as required. There is no printing apparatus having such flexibility.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to increase the flexibility of a print head actually used in a printing apparatus.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve at least a part of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a print head that discharges ink from a plurality of nozzles,
A carriage having a plurality of head unit mounting portions for detachably mounting a print head unit having a head-side bidirectional interface and a print head and a head-side control unit connected to the head-side bidirectional interface; A main body side bidirectional interface provided in the main body of the apparatus and capable of performing bidirectional communication with a print head unit mounted on the head unit mounting section, and a main body side connected to the main body side bidirectional interface And a main body side circuit having a control unit. Then, the main body side control unit includes a control unit 1 mounted on the carriage.
Printing is performed while performing bidirectional communication with one or more print head units.

[0006] This makes it possible to increase the flexibility of the print head actually used in the printing apparatus.
In other words, even if the print head unit is not mounted in all of the plurality of head unit mounting sections, printing is performed while the actually mounted print head unit and the main body of the printing apparatus perform two-way communication. Can be performed.

[0007] An arbitrary number of print head units may be mounted at an arbitrary position among the plurality of head unit mounting portions. In this way, it is possible to arrange the required number of print head units in a preferable place.

Alternatively, an arbitrary number of print head units may be mounted on a plurality of head unit mounting sections in a predetermined order.

In the above printing apparatus, each print head unit has a plurality of nozzle rows arranged in the sub-scanning direction, and can discharge a plurality of different inks using the plurality of nozzle rows. It may be.

In this case, color printing can be executed while the print head unit actually mounted and the main body of the printing apparatus perform bidirectional communication.

The plurality of head unit mounting sections are preferably arranged such that the nozzle positions in the main scanning direction of the nozzle rows capable of discharging the same color ink do not overlap with each other with respect to the plurality of mounted print head units.

With this arrangement, the effective number of nozzles can be increased in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, the printing speed can be improved.

A plurality of head unit mounting sections are provided with a mounting location identification information section for providing mounting location identification information to a print head unit having no mounting location identification information indicating a mounting location. The main body side control unit and the head side control unit may perform bidirectional communication using the mounting location identification information acquired from the mounting location identification information unit.

With this configuration, the location of the head unit mounting section where the print head unit is mounted is automatically identified,
Bidirectional communication can be performed between the main body of the printing apparatus and the print head unit.

Further, each print head unit is provided with a mounting place identification information setting section for manually setting a place where the print head unit is mounted on the head unit mounting section, so that the main body side control section and the head side control section are provided. The control unit may perform bidirectional communication using the set mounting location identification information.

[0016] With this arrangement, the operator or the user of the printing apparatus manually sets in advance where the print head unit is to be mounted in the head unit mounting section, and then mounts the print head unit. Two-way communication can be performed with the unit.

In the above-described printing apparatus, each print head unit is provided with a memory for storing information on the print head unit, and the control unit on the main body side controls the print head acquired from the memory of the print head unit. A function of supplying specific information that affects the generation of print data from information on units to a print control device that generates print data may be provided.

The information on the print head unit includes, for example, the ink discharge characteristics of the print head and the ID of the print head. Therefore, according to such a printing apparatus, print data can be generated by the print control apparatus using the information on the print head unit, and optimal printing can be executed.

Each printing head unit further includes a plurality of driving elements for ejecting ink droplets from the plurality of nozzles, a driving waveform generating circuit for generating a driving waveform for driving the driving elements, A drive element driving unit that drives the drive element by selectively supplying a drive waveform.

In this case, since a drive waveform can be generated in the print head unit, the controllability of the print head can be improved.

Each print head unit is further provided with a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of each print head, and the head-side control unit controls the temperature supplied from the main body-side control unit via the bidirectional interface. The temperature detected by the temperature sensor in response to the request signal may be transmitted to the main body side control unit.

With this configuration, the print head mounted with the temperature-corrected drive waveform data used to generate the drive waveform based on the temperature of the mounted print head in the main body side control unit of the printing apparatus. It can be supplied to the unit.

Each print head unit is further provided with an ink cartridge mounting section for mounting an ink cartridge having a memory for storing information on the ink cartridge, and the head-side control section has a bidirectional interface. The information on the ink cartridge may be transmitted to the main body side control unit in response to a cartridge information request signal provided from the main body side control unit via the main unit.

This makes it possible for the main body control unit of the printing apparatus to perform a desired process using various types of information regarding the ink cartridge mounted on the mounted print head unit.

Further, each print head unit is further provided with an ink remaining amount detecting section for detecting the ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge. The remaining ink amount detected by the remaining ink amount detection unit in response to the given remaining ink amount request signal may be transmitted to the main body side control unit.

This makes it possible for the main body control unit of the printing apparatus to perform desired processing based on the remaining amount of ink.

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and method, a computer program for realizing the functions of the apparatus or method, a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded, and data embodied in a carrier wave including the computer program. It can be realized in various modes such as signals.

[0028]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in the following order based on examples. A. Configuration of printing device: First Embodiment: C. First Embodiment Second embodiment D. Third embodiment: Modification:

A. Configuration of Printing Apparatus: FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a main configuration of the inkjet printer 20. The printer 20 includes a paper stacker 22, a paper feed roller 24 driven by a step motor (not shown),
Platen plate 26, carriage 30, step motor 23, traction belt 32 driven by step motor 23, and guide rail 34 for carriage 30
And The carriage 30 is equipped with six print head units 60a to 60f having a number of nozzles. In addition, the six print head units 60a-
Each of 60f has a black ink cartridge,
Ink cartridges 70a to 70f including color ink cartridges containing five color inks of cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow are mounted.

The printing paper P is taken up by the paper feed roller 24 from the paper stacker 22 and is fed on the surface of the platen plate 26 in the sub-scanning direction. The carriage 30 is pulled by a pulling belt 32 driven by a step motor 23 and moves in a main scanning direction along a guide rail 34. The main scanning direction is perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction. Images are recorded on the printing paper P by the six print head units 60a to 60f on the platen 26.

FIG. 2 shows the nozzles N of the six print head units 60a to 60f mounted on the carriage 30.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement of z. The nozzles Nz in each print head unit are composed of six nozzle arrays that eject ink for each color. From the nozzles Nz of the six nozzle arrays, black (K), cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) inks are respectively discharged. In each nozzle array, a plurality of nozzles Nz are arranged in a staggered manner at a constant nozzle pitch k. In this example,
A plurality of print head units are arranged along the sub-scanning direction so that the positions of the nozzle arrays in the sub-scanning direction match each other.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the carriage 30. The carriage 30 includes a horizontal plate 30a facing substantially parallel to the platen 26, and a horizontal plate 30.
and a vertical plate 30b provided substantially perpendicularly to a. The carriage 30 has six head unit mounting portions 300a to 300f for detachably mounting the six print head units 60a to 60f.
have. The horizontal plate 30a has six windows 30
1a to 301f are provided. These windows 301a
Reference numerals 301f to 301f allow a print head provided on the bottom surface to pass through when the print head unit is mounted. The vertical plate 30b is provided with six carriage-side contacts 101a to 101f. These contacts 101a to 101f function as a mounting location identification information section that provides mounting location identification information to the mounted print head unit when the print head unit is mounted.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the print head unit 60. As shown in FIG. 4B, the print head unit 60 has a substantially box shape. The print head unit 60 is provided with a screw hole 61, and the print head unit 60 is screwed to the carriage 30 using the screw hole 61. On the side of the print head unit 60 facing the carriage 30, a circuit board 65 provided with a control circuit and the like described later (FIG. 4A)
Is provided. The circuit board 65 is provided with a print head unit side contact 102. When the print head unit 60 is mounted on the carriage 30, the print head unit-side contact 102
Touch 1 Inside the print head unit 60, a support spring 601 for fixing the ink cartridge 70 when the ink cartridge 70 is mounted is provided.

The print head unit 60 is connected to the partition wall 6.
The two ink mounting portions are divided by three, and a contact 69 is provided inside each ink mounting portion. The contact 69 is for acquiring ink cartridge information from an ink cartridge 70 having a memory 77 storing data indicating information on the ink cartridge. The memory 77 can store data indicating various information about the ink cartridge, such as the ink color in the ink tank of the cartridge, the amount of ink used, the ink viscosity, the serial number of the cartridge, and the opening timing. Note that a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM can be used as the memory 77.

The entire configuration including the print head 28, the circuit board 65, and the mounting portion of the ink cartridge is called a "print head unit 60" because the print head unit 60 is attached to and detached from the printer 20 as one component. This is because that. That is, when the print head 28 is to be replaced, the print head unit 60 is replaced.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the carriage side contact 101 and the print head unit side contact 102. The print head unit side contact 102 is provided with a GND electrode and seven electrodes 1 to 6. FIG.
The black-painted electrodes of the print head unit side contacts 102 shown in FIG. 5A indicate the electrodes that are short-circuited when they come into contact with the carriage side contacts 101 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, the carriage-side contact 10
In 1a to 101f, conductive portions are provided so that the GND electrode and the electrodes 1 to 6 are short-circuited when the print head unit 60 is mounted on the carriage 30, respectively. Further, they are provided on the carriage 30 in order. Note that squares represented by broken lines indicate places where the electrodes of the print head unit side contacts 102 come into contact.

The print head unit 60 includes the carriage 3
When it is mounted on the carriage 30, it is possible to identify where it is mounted on the carriage 30 by contacting the carriage side contact 101 and short-circuiting the GND electrode and any of the electrodes 1 to 6. it can. That is, for example,
The print head unit 60 is connected to the contact 10 on the carriage 30.
1c, the GND electrode and the electrode 3 are short-circuited, and the print head unit 60 is identified as the print head unit mounted at the third location on the carriage 30. can do.

The above-described print head unit side contact 102
The relationship between and the carriage-side contact 101 can be realized by a modification as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 6, the print head unit-side contact 102 'is provided with a GND electrode and five electrodes 1, 2, 4, and 8, and a so-called binary system is applied. Therefore, for example, the print head unit 6 having the contact point 102 'of FIG.
0 ′ is mounted on the fifth head mounting portion having the contact 101e ′, the carriage-side contact 101 ′ causes G
The ND electrode and the electrodes 1 and 4 are short-circuited to identify that the ND electrode is mounted at the fifth position on the carriage 30.

B. First Embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an ink jet printer 20 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The circuit of the inkjet printer 20 is divided into a circuit of the printer main body 44 and a circuit in the print head units 60a to 60f. The printer main body 44 includes a main control circuit 40 and a bidirectional interface 42. Print head units 60a to 60
0f indicates a bidirectional interface 62, a control circuit 64, a drive waveform generation circuit 46, a piezo element driving driver IC 50, a plurality of piezo elements 55, a temperature sensor 66, and the remaining ink amount of the ink cartridge. An ink remaining amount detecting unit 68 to be detected and a contact 69 for acquiring mounting location identification information are provided. The print head units 60a to 60f are connected to the signal line 4 for bidirectional communication.
3 are connected in parallel.

The print head units 60a to 60f include:
Ink cartridges 70 are respectively mounted. The ink cartridge 70 includes a memory 77 that stores data relating to the ink cartridge 70. As described above, the memory 77 stores the ink color, the amount of ink used, and the ink viscosity in each ink tank of the cartridge.
Data indicating various information on the ink cartridge, such as the serial number of the cartridge and the opening time, can be stored.

The control circuits 64 of the print head units 60a to 60f each include a RAM, a ROM, an oscillating circuit (not shown), and transmit various signals necessary for the driving waveform generating circuit 46 and the piezo element driving driver IC 50. Generate. The ROM stores the ID of the print head unit and data including ejection characteristic data such as the ejection amount and ejection speed of ink ejected from each nozzle of the print head 28 (hereinafter, referred to as the print head ID, etc.). ing. A part of the function of the control circuit 64 may be performed by the main control circuit 40 of the printer main body 44. Alternatively, a part of the functions of the main control circuit 40 of the printer main body 44 may be performed by the control circuit 64.

The temperature sensor 66 is connected to the print head 28 (FIG. 4).
) Or at or near it,
This is for measuring the temperature of the print head 28. The temperature of the print head 28 is available for various purposes. For example, by correcting the drive waveform COM according to the temperature of the print head 28, the ejection amount of ink droplets can be appropriately maintained. The reason is that the viscosity of the ink varies depending on the temperature. That is, when the temperature of the ink is high, the viscosity is low, while when the temperature of the ink is low, the viscosity is high. Therefore, in order to properly maintain the ejection amount of the ink droplet ejected from the print head 28,
It is effective to correct the drive waveform COM according to the temperature.

The remaining ink amount detector 68 physically detects the remaining ink amount of the ink cartridge 70 mounted on the print head unit 60. As this means, it is possible to use various known techniques such as a means for electrically detecting and a means for optically detecting. For example, an electrode is provided in the ink tank of the ink cartridge 70, and a method of detecting the remaining amount of the ink by measuring the resistance of the ink, or a method of measuring the light reflectance of the ink absorber in the ink tank is used. It is possible to use a method of detecting the remaining amount.

The printer body 44 and the print head unit 6
0a to 60f, two-way interface 42,
Reference numeral 62 denotes an interface for performing bidirectional communication between the main control circuit 40 of the printer main body 44 and the print head units 60a to 60f. From the printer body 44, print data, drive waveform data, a data request signal, and the like corresponding to each print head unit are sent to the print head units 60a to 60f. The data request signal includes an ID of the print head unit 60,
This is a signal requesting temperature data detected by each temperature sensor 66, remaining ink data detected by the remaining ink detector 68, and data stored in the memory 77 provided in the ink cartridge 70. On the other hand, the print head units 60a-
From 60f to the printer body 44, the R
The ID of the print head unit stored in the OM, the temperature data detected by the temperature sensor 66, the remaining ink data detected by the remaining ink detecting unit 68, the data stored in the memory 77, the driving waveform data Is sent. The drive waveform data is sent from the print head units 60a to 60f to the printer body 44 because the drive waveform data actually sent to the drive waveform generation circuit 46 is correct.
That is, it is to check whether the correct drive waveform COM has been generated.

When power is supplied to the printer main body 44,
The main control circuit 40 recognizes the attached print head unit 60 and ink cartridge 70, and checks whether these are replaced with the previous one. These checks are performed by comparing data stored in a ROM (not shown) in the main control circuit 40 with data newly read from the ROM in the control circuit 64 or the memory 77 of the ink cartridge 70 after the power is turned on. Do. If they are different, they have been exchanged. If the print head unit 60 or the ink cartridge 70 has been replaced with a previous one, maintenance operations such as checking for nozzle clogging, cleaning, and idle discharge of ink are performed.

Further, the control circuit 64 supplies data which influences when a printer driver in a host computer (not shown) as a print control device generates print data to the host computer. Such data includes data representing the ink discharge characteristics of the print head 28 among the data read from the ROM in the control circuit 64, data read from the memory 77 of the ink cartridge 70, and the like. The printer driver generates print data in consideration of these data. Note that the function of the print control apparatus that generates print data can also be realized by the main control circuit 40.

When the main control circuit 40 of the printer main body 44 requires the temperature of the print head 28, a data request signal for requesting temperature data is transmitted to the control circuits of the print heads 60a to 60f via the bidirectional interfaces 42 and 62. Send to 64. Each of the control circuits 64 responds to a data request signal for requesting temperature data provided from the main control circuit 40, and the print head 28 detected by the temperature sensor 66.
And sends the temperature data to the main control circuit 40 via the bidirectional interfaces 42 and 62. Main control circuit 4
“0” sends the drive waveform data whose temperature has been corrected based on the detected temperature data to the respective drive waveform generation circuits 46. The temperature-corrected drive waveform data used to generate the drive waveform COM is stored in advance in a ROM (not shown).
Can be stored. Alternatively, the reference drive waveform data may be corrected according to the detected temperature. In addition, when the temperature sensor 66 detects an abnormal temperature, the main control circuit 40 can perform a process of stopping printing and issuing a warning. At this time, it is possible to warn which of the print head units has an abnormality.

When the main control circuit 40 issues a data request signal for requesting the remaining ink data, each control circuit 64 returns the remaining ink amount of the ink cartridge 70 in response to the data request signal. Then, the main control circuit 40 performs a desired process based on the detected remaining ink amount. For example, when ink runs out or is about to run out, it is possible to perform a process of warning which ink cartridge the remaining amount of ink is low and issuing a message urging the user to replace the ink cartridge.

When the main control circuit 40 issues a data request signal requesting information on the ink cartridge, each control circuit 64 sends a data request signal from the memory 77 provided in each ink cartridge 70 in response to the data request signal. The above-mentioned various data are acquired and returned.
Then, the main control circuit 40 performs a process of changing the color conversion process of the printer driver according to the ink density, or a process of changing the drive waveform data according to the ink viscosity, according to the data. Execute In addition, it is possible to rewrite the ink usage data.

As described above, the print head units 60a to 60f mounted on the carriage 30 individually identify the locations on the mounted carriage 30 by contacting the contacts 101a to 101f of the carriage 30. ing. Therefore, the above-described two-way communication is performed using the mounting location identification information.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of mounting the print head unit. In the example of FIG. 8A, four print head units 60a to 60d are continuously mounted on the first to fourth head unit mounting portions 300a to 300d of the carriage 30, and the other two head units are mounted. No print head unit is mounted on the mounting units 300e and 300f. In the example of FIG. 8B, the four print head units 60 a to 60 d
And fourth to sixth head unit mounting portions 300
b, 300d to 300f, and no print head unit is mounted on the other two head unit mounting sections 300a, 300c. As can be understood from these examples, in the first embodiment, the print head unit can be mounted at an arbitrary place among the plurality of head unit mounting sections 300a to 300f. Further, the number of print head units to be mounted can be one or more. Even in this case, each of the print head units 60a to 60d can individually perform two-way communication with the printer main body 40 using the respective mounting location identification information.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the drive waveform generation circuit 46. The drive waveform generation circuit 46 includes a memory 80 for storing drive waveform data supplied from the control unit circuit 64, a first latch 81 for temporarily holding drive waveform data read from the memory 80, and a first latch 81 , And an output of a second latch 83 described later, a second latch 83, and a digital / analog converter 85 for converting the output of the second latch 83 into an analog signal. . A voltage amplifying unit 8 for amplifying the converted analog signal to a voltage at which the piezo element operates;
6 and a current amplifying section 87 for supplying a current corresponding to the amplified voltage signal. The adder 82 and the second latch 83 constitute an accumulator 84 for accumulating the drive waveform data. Various signals are supplied from the control circuit 64 to the drive waveform generation circuit 46. That is, the memory 80 is supplied with a first clock signal CLK1, a data signal representing drive waveform data, address signals A0 to A4, and an enable signal. The first latch 81 has
Second clock signal CLK2 and reset signal RESE
T is supplied. The second latch 83 is supplied with a third clock signal CLK3 and a reset signal RESET. The reset signal RESET supplied to the first and second latches 81 and 83 is the same.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the timing of writing drive waveform data in the memory 80. Prior to generation of the drive waveform COM, the data signal indicating the drive waveform data and the address of the data signal are:
The control circuit 64 is synchronized with the first clock signal CLK1.
To the memory 80. Although the data signal is one bit, as shown in FIG.
The drive waveform data is transferred bit by bit by serial transfer using LK1 as a synchronization signal. That is, the control circuit 6
When the drive waveform data is transferred from 4 to the memory 80, first, a data signal for a plurality of bits is supplied in synchronization with the first clock signal CLK1. Thereafter, an address signal A representing a write address for storing this data is used.
0 to A4 and an enable signal. Memory 80
Reads the address signal at the timing when the enable signal is supplied, and writes the received driving waveform data to the address. Since the address signals A0 to A4 are 5 bits, a maximum of 32 types of drive waveform data are stored in the memory 80.
Can be stored.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of generating a drive waveform in the drive waveform generation circuit 46. After the drive waveform data has been written into the memory 80,
When the read address B is output as the address signals A0 to A4, the first drive waveform data ΔV1
Is output. Thereafter, when a pulse of the second clock signal CLK2 is generated, the drive waveform data ΔV1
It is held by the latch 81. In this state, when the next pulse of the third clock signal CLK3 is generated, the second latch 8
3 and the 16-bit output of the first latch 81 are added by the adder 82, and the addition result is held in the second latch 83. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, once the drive waveform data corresponding to the address signal is selected, every time a pulse of the third clock signal CLK3 is received thereafter, the output of the second latch 83 becomes: The values of the driving waveform data are accumulated. Note that the generation cycle of the pulse of the third clock signal CLK3 does not need to be constant, and may be changed so as to obtain a desired accumulation timing.

In the example shown in FIG.
Drive waveform data indicating that the voltage per cycle t of the third clock signal CLK3 is increased by ΔV1 is stored. Therefore, when the address B is made valid by the second clock signal CLK2, the voltage increases by ΔV1. Further, the address A stores ΔV2 = 0 as the drive waveform data, that is, a value indicating that the voltage is held. Therefore, the second clock signal C
When the address A becomes valid by LK2, the waveform of the drive signal is maintained in a flat state with no increase or decrease. The address C includes one cycle t of the third clock signal CLK3.
Drive waveform data indicating that the hit voltage is reduced by ΔV3 is stored. Therefore, after the address C becomes valid by the second clock signal CLK2, ΔV
The voltage will decrease by three. The increase or decrease is determined by the sign of the data stored at each address.

In this way, the 1 added by the adder 82
Of the 8-bit addition result, the upper 10 bits of the voltage level data D ₀ are input to the digital / analog converter 85. The entire 18-bit addition result is added to the adder 8
2 is input again. As a result, the voltage level data D ₀ output from the second latch 83 changes stepwise as shown in FIG. This voltage level data D
₀ is converted by the digital / analog converter 85,
The drive waveform shown in FIG. 11B is formed.

FIG. 12 shows an I / O for a piezo element driving driver.
It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of C50. The piezo element driving driver IC 50 includes a plurality of shift registers 51A to 51N corresponding to the number of nozzles, a plurality of latch circuits 52A to 52N, and a plurality of level shifters 53A to 53N.
53N, a plurality of switch circuits 54A to 54N, and a plurality of piezo elements 55A to 55N. The print signal SI is input to the shift registers 51A to 51N in synchronization with the clock signal CLK from the oscillation circuit in the control circuit 64. Then, the signals are latched by the latch circuits 52A to 52N in synchronization with the latch signal LAT. The latched print signal SI is amplified by the level shifters 53A to 53N to a voltage that can drive the switch circuits 54A to 54N,
The signals are supplied to the switch circuits 54A to 54N. A drive waveform generation circuit 46 is provided on the input side of the switch circuits 54A to 54N.
The drive signal COM is input to the piezo elements 55A to 55N on the output side.

The switch circuits 54A to 54N include, for example,
When the print signal SI is “1”, the drive signal COM is supplied to the piezo elements 55A to 55N to be operated, and when the print signal SI is “0”, it is shut off and not operated. As is well known, a piezo element is an element that distorts the crystal structure due to application of a voltage and converts electric-mechanical energy at an extremely high speed. Although not shown, when the drive signal COM is supplied to the piezo elements 55A to 55N, the piezo elements 55A to 55N deform accordingly, and the walls of the ink chambers also deform. This controls the ejection of ink droplets from the nozzles. Printing is performed by the ejected ink droplets adhering to the print medium.

According to the above embodiment, each of one or more print head units mounted on the carriage 30 communicates various data via the bidirectional interface.
For this reason, in the printing apparatus, the flexibility regarding the print head actually used can be increased. That is, even if the print head unit is not mounted in all of the plurality of head unit mounting sections, the print head unit actually mounted and the main body side control unit of the printing apparatus perform printing while performing bidirectional communication. Can be performed.

Further, each print head unit automatically identifies the location of the mounted head unit mounting portion on the carriage 30, and individually performs bidirectional communication between the main body side control unit and the print head unit. It can be carried out. As can be understood from the above embodiment, the print head unit does not have the mounting location identification information. In other words, the print head unit can be mounted at an arbitrary position, since the mounting position on the carriage 30 is not predetermined. Therefore, the print head unit that can be mounted can be made a common component.

Further, the number of signal lines for communication between the print head unit 60 and the printer main body 44 can be reduced as compared with the conventional case. As a result, the routing of the signal lines is facilitated, and the production and maintenance of the printer 20 are facilitated.

Further, since the drive waveform generating circuit 46 is provided in the print head unit 60, it is not necessary to send the drive waveform signal COM having a large amplitude of the signal voltage from the printer body 44 to the print head unit 60. As a result, noise of the signal line can be suppressed.

Further, since the print head unit 60 integrally includes the drive waveform generation circuit 46, the control circuit 64, and the IC 50 for the piezo element drive driver, it is easy to match the characteristics of each circuit. There is also.

Further, if the standard of data for performing bidirectional communication between the printer main body 44 and the print head unit 60 is standardized, it is possible to upgrade only the print head unit 60.

C. FIG. 13 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an inkjet printer as an embodiment. The circuit configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the bidirectional interfaces 62 of the print head units 60a to 60f are sequentially connected in series.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a method of mounting the print head unit in the second embodiment. FIG. 14 (a)
In the example, four print head units 60a to 60d are successively mounted on the first to fourth head unit mounting portions 300a to 300d of the carriage 30, and the other two head unit mounting portions 300e and 300 are mounted.
No print head unit is mounted on f. FIG.
In the example of (b), five print head units 60 a to 60
0e are continuously mounted on the first to fifth head unit mounting portions 300a to 300e of the carriage 30. As can be understood from this example, in the second embodiment, the print head unit includes the first head unit mounting portion 3 of the plurality of head unit mounting portions 300a to 300f.
They can be mounted in series sequentially from 00a. Further, the number of print head units to be mounted can be one or more. However, the mounting method of the first embodiment (FIG. 8)
(See (b)), it is not possible to attach them at intervals as shown in (2). Even in this case, each print head unit automatically identifies the location of the mounted head unit mounting section on the carriage 30, and individually performs bidirectional communication between the main body side control section and the print head unit. Can be executed while performing the printing.

D. Third Embodiment: FIG. 15 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an inkjet printer as an embodiment. In the third embodiment, the contact points 101a to 101f of the carriage 30 shown in FIG. 3 are not provided.
A switch 69 ′ for manually setting the mounting location identification information is provided at a ′ to 60 f ′. As the switch 69 ', a jumper switch, a dip switch, or the like can be used. When mounting the print head unit on the carriage 30, a printer assembler or user sets the switch 69 'to a value indicating the mounting location. Therefore, the control circuit 64 operates the switch 6
It is possible to recognize the mounting location from the setting of 9 '.
Also, printing can be executed while performing bidirectional communication between the printer main body 44 and the print head units 60a 'to 60f' using the information of the mounting location.

E. Modifications: Several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and may be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention. Implementation is possible. For example, the following modifications are possible.

E1. Modification Example 1 In the above embodiment, an inkjet printer using a piezo element is used.
A printer that ejects ink droplets by another method may be used. For example, there is a printer of a type that energizes a heater disposed in an ink passage and discharges ink droplets by bubbles generated in the ink passage.

E2. Modification 2 In the above embodiment, the main control circuit 40 in the printer main body 44 supplies the drive waveform data whose temperature has been corrected. Instead, a CPU is provided in the control circuit 64 of the print head unit 60. The control circuit 64 may be configured to provide the information.

E3. Modification 3 In the above embodiment, a carriage on which six print head units can be mounted is used. However, the present invention is generally applicable to a printing apparatus using a carriage on which a plurality of print head units can be mounted. .

E4. Modification 4: In the above embodiment, the print head units are arranged along the sub-scanning direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. Therefore, they may be arranged along the main scanning direction or may be arranged in a staggered manner. In addition, it is preferable that the plurality of head unit mounting sections are arranged such that the nozzle positions in the main scanning direction of the nozzle rows capable of discharging the same color ink of the print head do not overlap with each other with respect to the plurality of mounted print head units.

Since the printing apparatus of the present embodiment described above includes processing by a computer, the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment may be implemented as a recording medium on which a program for realizing the processing is recorded. Examples of such a recording medium include a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, a ROM cartridge, a punched card, a printed matter on which a code such as a barcode is printed, and an internal storage device of a computer (such as a RAM or a ROM). Various computer-readable media, such as memory and external storage, can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a main configuration of an inkjet printer 20.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement of nozzles in six print head units 60a to 60f mounted on a carriage 30.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration of a carriage 30.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a print head unit 60.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a carriage-side contact 101 and a print head unit-side contact 102.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a carriage side contact 101 ′ and a print head unit side contact 102 ′.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the ink jet printer 20 as the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a mounting method of the print head unit.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a drive waveform generation circuit 46.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the timing of writing drive waveform data in a memory 80.

11 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of generating a drive waveform in a drive waveform generation circuit 46. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an IC 50 for a piezo element driving driver.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an ink jet printer 20 as a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of mounting a print head unit in the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an inkjet printer 20 according to a third embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 inkjet printer 22 paper stacker 23 carriage motor 24 paper feed roller 26 platen plate 28 print head 30 carriage 31 partition plate 32 traction belt 34 guide rail 40 main control circuit 42 bidirectional interface 43 ... Signal line 44 ... Printer body 46 ... Drive waveform generation circuit 50 ... Piezo element drive driver IC 51A-51N ... Shift register 52A-52N ... Latch circuit 53A-53N ... Level shifter 54A-54N ... Switch circuit 55, 55A- 55N: Piezo element 60, 60a to 60f: Print head unit 61: Screw hole 62: Bidirectional interface 63: Partition wall 64: Control circuit 65: Circuit board 66: Temperature sensor 68: Ink remaining amount detector 69: Contact point 70, 70a-70f ... a Cartridge 78 memory 80 memory 81 first latch 82 adder 83 second latch 84 accumulator 85 D / A converter 86 voltage amplifier 87 current amplifier 101, 101a to 101f Carriage-side contact 102 Printhead unit-side contact 300a to 300f Head unit mounting part 301, 301a to 301f Window 601 Support spring

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for recording an image on a print medium based on print data of an image to be printed, comprising: a print head for discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles; a head-side bidirectional interface; A carriage having a plurality of head unit mounting sections for detachably mounting a print head unit having a print head and a head-side control section connected to the head-side bidirectional interface; and A main body side bidirectional interface that is provided and is capable of performing bidirectional communication with a print head unit mounted on the head unit mounting section; and a main body side control unit connected to the main body side bidirectional interface. And a main body side circuit having: a main body side control unit, wherein the main body side control unit includes one or more print head units mounted on the carriage. Printing device and executes printing while performing preparative bidirectional communication. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an arbitrary number of said print head units can be installed in an arbitrary place of said plurality of head unit installation sections. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an arbitrary number of the print head units can be mounted on the plurality of head unit mounting sections in a predetermined order. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the print head units has a plurality of nozzle rows arranged along a sub-scanning direction. A printing apparatus capable of discharging a plurality of different inks using a plurality of nozzle rows. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of head unit mounting units are configured such that, with respect to the plurality of mounted printing head units, a nozzle position in a main scanning direction of a nozzle row capable of discharging ink of the same color. A printing device, wherein are arranged so that they do not overlap each other. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of head unit mounting units are provided for a print head unit having no mounting location identification information indicating a mounting location. A mounting location identification information section for providing the mounting location identification information, wherein the main body side control section and the head side control section use the mounting location identification information obtained from the mounting location identification information section. A printing device that performs two-way communication. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the print head units manually sets a place where the print head unit is mounted on the head unit mounting unit. A printing device, comprising: a mounting location identification information setting unit, wherein the main body side control unit and the head side control unit perform bidirectional communication using the set mounting location identification information. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each print head unit includes a memory for storing information on the print head unit, and the main body side. The control unit, from among information on the print head unit obtained from the memory of the print head unit, specific information affecting the generation of the print data,
A printing device having a function of supplying the print data to a print control device. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the printing head units further includes: a plurality of driving elements for discharging ink droplets from the plurality of nozzles; A printing apparatus, comprising: a driving waveform generation circuit that generates a driving waveform for driving an element; and a driving element driving unit that drives the driving element by selectively supplying the driving waveform to the driving element. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the print head units further includes a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the print head, The printing device, wherein the control unit transmits the temperature detected by the temperature sensor to the main body side control unit in response to a temperature request signal provided from the main body side control unit via the bidirectional interface. 11. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each print head unit further includes an ink cartridge having a memory for storing information on the ink cartridge. The head-side control unit transmits information on the ink cartridge to the main-body-side control unit via the bidirectional interface according to a cartridge information request signal given from the main-body-side control unit. , Printing equipment. 12. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the print head units further includes an ink remaining amount detecting unit for detecting an ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge. The head-side control unit transmits the remaining ink amount detected by the remaining ink amount detection unit to the main body-side control unit via the bidirectional interface according to the remaining ink amount request signal given from the main unit-side control unit You, the printing device. 13. A recording medium storing a computer program for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 1 in a computer-readable manner, wherein said one or more printing head units and said main body are provided. A computer-readable recording medium in which a computer program for causing the computer to realize a function of performing bidirectional communication with a side control unit is recorded.