JP2003246052A - Ink jet recorder and ink jet recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recorder in which no difference appears in the density or color tone of an image before and after ejection recovery processing even if ejection recovery operation of a recording head is performed during image formation. <P>SOLUTION: The ink jet recorder for forming an image on a recording material by scanning it with a recording head comprises means for performing ejection recovery processing of the recording head, and means for detecting and controlling the temperature of ink in the recording head. When the ejection recovery means performed ejection recovery processing of the recording head in the way of recording operation on the recording material by means of the recording head, the temperature control means performs temperature control of ink in the recording head based on a factor having an effect on the temperature variation of ink in the recording head before recording operation by the recording head is restarted after ejection recovery processing is performed by the ejection recovery means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a recording device having a function of a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like, or a recording device (printing device) used as an output device of a composite electronic device including a computer, a word processor or the like, a workstation, etc. Based on the information (recorded information),
2. Description of the Related Art Inkjet recording apparatuses that perform recording by ejecting ink toward a recording medium (recording material) such as paper, cloth, a plastic sheet, and an OHP sheet have become widespread.

Further, there are various demands on the materials of these recording media, and in recent years, developments for these demands have progressed, and papers (including thin papers and processed papers) and resin thin plates (OHP) which are ordinary recording media have been developed. Sheet, etc.), cloth,
Recording devices using leather, non-woven fabric, or metal as a recording medium have also been used.

The ink jet recording apparatus is mainly based on a system in which an image is recorded while a recording head is scanned a plurality of times in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to a recording material conveying direction (sub scanning direction), and reproducibility is improved. It has advantages such as excellent image quality such as uniformity.

In the recording head, ink adheres to the ejection port surface of the recording head due to ink mist generated at the time of ink ejection or splash generated by impact when ejected ink reaches a recording material. There is. Therefore, the adhered ink may block the ejection port, resulting in defective ejection of the ink.
Therefore, a blade made of rubber-like elasticity such as rubber is provided,
A configuration is adopted in which the ink adhering to the periphery of the ejection port is wiped off by moving the recording head relatively while the blade is in contact with the ejection port surface of the recording head. Such a discharge recovery operation is called a wiping operation.

In addition, at the time of recording, ink is selectively ejected from a plurality of ejection ports of the recording head to form an image. Therefore, regarding the individual nozzles, the ejection port at the tip touches the outside air without ink ejection. The state of being left alone also occurs. In such nozzles, the drying of the ink progresses and the viscosity of the ink increases, which may cause ejection failure such as deflection of the ejection direction due to reduction of the ejection ink amount and ejection speed. Therefore, in order to remove the dried and thickened ink, ink ejection unrelated to recording is ejected from all nozzles at a predetermined location other than the recording medium to prevent ejection failure. . Such a discharge recovery operation is called a preliminary discharge operation.

When thermal energy is continuously supplied to the ink for ejecting the ink, gas is mixed as bubbles in the ink pool (common liquid chamber) located near the nozzle, and the bubbles have a certain size. If this happens, the ink supply to the nozzles may be hindered and the ink may not be ejected. Therefore, a process is performed in which a cap made of a material such as rubber is brought into contact with the surface of the recording head on which the ejection port is provided, and ink near the nozzle is forcibly sucked through the cap. Such a discharge recovery operation is called a suction operation.

By performing such a discharge recovery operation of the recording head before the image formation, after the image formation is completed, or during the waiting time until the start of the next scan in the middle of the image formation, the ink from the recording head is made normal. It is possible to discharge and prevent the deterioration of image quality, and always form an image of good quality.

In particular, when performing continuous image formation with a large area such as banner printing, in order to always perform image formation of good quality, during the waiting time until the start of the next scan during image formation. It is essential to perform the discharge recovery operation.

On the other hand, the ink temperature during image formation is higher than immediately after the start of image formation because the thermal energy for ejecting ink is continuously supplied to the ink.

Therefore, if the wiping operation is performed as the ejection recovery operation during the waiting time until the start of the next scan during the image formation, the thermal energy is not continuously supplied to the ink during the wiping operation. Since the ink temperature during formation is higher than the environmental temperature where the inkjet recording device is installed, the ink temperature when image formation is restarted due to heat dissipation during the ejection recovery operation is
It is lower than that before the discharge recovery operation.

Similarly, when the preliminary ejection operation is performed as the ejection recovery operation during the waiting time until the start of the next scan during the image formation, thermal energy is supplied to the ink during the preliminary ejection operation, but during the image formation. Compared with, the thermal energy supplied to the ink continuously is small, so the effect of heat dissipation during the ejection recovery operation is large, and the ink temperature when image formation is restarted is lower than before the ejection recovery operation. There is.

Further, if the suction operation is performed as the discharge recovery operation during the waiting time until the start of the next scan in the middle of image formation, thermal energy is not continuously supplied to the ink during the suction operation. In addition to heat dissipation during recovery operation,
Further, since the ink in the ink supply path for supplying the ink to the recording head flows into the recording head by the suction operation, the ink temperature when the image formation is restarted is lower than that before the ejection recovery operation. . Since the ink in the ink supply path is not applied with thermal energy even during image formation, it is close to the ambient temperature.Therefore, the decrease in ink temperature when image formation is restarted after the suction operation is caused by the ink after the wiping operation or the preliminary ejection operation. It occurs remarkably as compared with the decrease in temperature.

[0014]

However, there is room for improvement in such a conventional ejection recovery process. That is, in the ink jet recording head, the ink temperature is a very important parameter in order to keep the ink ejection amount constant. That is, the viscosity and surface tension of the ink change depending on the temperature, which changes the ejection amount of the ejected ink.

Therefore, in order to normally eject the ink from the recording head, prevent the deterioration of the image quality, and always form an image of good quality, the ejection recovery operation of the recording head is performed by the next scan during the image formation. If it is performed during the waiting time before starting, the ink temperature of the print head immediately after the image formation is restarted is lower than the ink temperature of the print head before the ejection recovery operation, so the ink ejection amount becomes small. And the concentration will decrease.

Since the density decrease occurs in the adjacent regions, even a minute density decrease becomes a very noticeable and serious problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even when the ejection recovery process of the recording head is performed during image formation, a difference in image density and tint occurs before and after the ejection recovery process. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus and an ink jet recording method that do not occur.

[0018]

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention has a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports and a moving means for relatively moving the recording head and a recording material. In an ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image on the recording material by scanning the recording head with respect to a recording area, an ejection recovery means for performing an ejection recovery process of the recording head, and a temperature of ink in the recording head are detected. And temperature control means for performing temperature control, wherein the temperature control means performs the ejection recovery processing of the recording head during the recording operation of the recording head on the recording material by the ejection recovery means, Factors affecting the temperature change of ink in the recording head after the ejection recovery process by the ejection recovery unit and before the recording operation is restarted by the recording head And performing temperature control of the ink in the recording head based.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the temperature control means changes a target control temperature in accordance with a factor affecting a temperature change of ink in the recording head. .

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the temperature control means sets the target control temperature in accordance with the ambient temperature as a factor affecting the temperature change and the feed length per recording material. Based on the above, the temperature control is performed.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the temperature control means applies to the recording head a pulse of energy small enough not to eject ink from the plurality of ink ejection ports of the recording head. It is characterized in that it includes a heating means for applying by applying.

The ink jet recording method of the present invention is provided with a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports and a means for relatively moving the recording head and a recording material, and the recording head with respect to a recording area of the recording material. In an ink jet recording method of scanning an image on the recording material by scanning, an ejection recovery step of performing an ejection recovery process of the recording head, and a temperature control for detecting the temperature of the ink in the recording head to perform temperature control. The temperature control step is after the ejection recovery process of the recording head in the middle of the recording operation on the recording material by the recording head, and the recording operation on the recording material by the recording head. Controlling the temperature of the ink in the print head based on factors that affect the temperature change of the ink in the print head before restarting And it features.

Further, the ink jet recording method of the present invention is characterized in that the temperature control means changes a target control temperature in accordance with a factor affecting a temperature change of ink in the recording head. .

Furthermore, in the ink jet recording method of the present invention, the temperature control means sets the target control temperature according to the ambient temperature as a factor affecting the temperature change and the feed length per recording material. Based on the above, the temperature control is performed.

Furthermore, in the ink jet recording method of the present invention, the temperature control step applies to the recording head a pulse of energy small enough not to eject ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports of the recording head. It is characterized by applying by applying.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 1 is a carriage, 2 is an apparatus main body including a paper transport system unit, 30A, 30B, 30C, and 30D are suction mechanisms for performing suction recovery operation of a recording head as a recording unit, and when the recording head is not used. A mechanism for protecting the recording head, 31 is a preliminary ejection ink receiving box for performing a preliminary ejection operation, 32 is a wiping mechanism for performing a wiping operation, and 5 is a recording head as a recording unit. The carriage 1 is guided and supported so as to be movable along a guide shaft 11, and drives a belt 13 to reciprocate (reciprocate).
To be done.

When the apparatus main body receives print data, the carriage 1 is arranged in a direction along the guide shaft 11 (main scanning direction) so as to print on a print medium (print paper or the like) sent by a paper transport unit (not shown). When the image for one band is recorded by controlling the scanning of the recording medium, the recording medium is conveyed by the paper conveying unit for one band in the direction orthogonal to the carriage 1 (sub-scanning direction). An encoder film 12 for detecting the absolute position of the carriage is provided in the vicinity of the carriage 1, and the encoder mounted on the carriage 1 detects the absolute position of the carriage. Further, the home position of the carriage 1 (a position facing the recovery mechanism in this embodiment) is set based on the position detection of the encoder.

The recording head 5 has 600d in the sub-scanning direction.
256 ejection ports are arranged at pi (dot / inch) intervals, and in the ink flow path communicating with each ejection port,
Electrothermal converters for locally heating the ink to cause film boiling and ejecting the ink by the pressure are provided.

Further, the ink jet recording head 5 includes
On the same substrate on which the electrothermal converter is provided,
A sensor 50 (see FIG. 2) for temperature detection is provided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a control system in an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

Here, reference numeral 800 denotes a controller which constitutes a main control unit, for example, a CPU 801 which executes a sequence or the like described later, a program or table corresponding to the procedure, a voltage value of a heat pulse, a pulse width, etc. ROM 80 storing fixed data of
2 and a RAM 803 provided with an area for developing image data, an area for work, and the like. The environmental temperature detected by the environmental temperature sensor 811 that detects the ambient temperature of the recording head is input to the controller 800. Reference numeral 805 denotes a host device serving as a supply source of image data, and an interface (I / F) 8 for image data and other commands and status signals.
It is transmitted and received to and from the controller via 04. Reference numeral 806 is a head driver for driving an electrothermal converter (ejection heater) of the print head according to print data and the like. In addition, the temperature detection value detected by the temperature sensor 50 is input to the controller 800. Reference numeral 809 is a main scanning motor for moving the carriage 2 in the main scanning direction, and 807 is its driver. Reference numeral 810 is a sub-scanning motor for conveying (sub-scanning) the recording medium, and 808 is its driver.

In the ink jet recording apparatus described above, the temperature control of the ink when the ejection recovery process is performed during the image formation will be described below.

Before explaining the embodiments of the present invention, as a comparative example, FIG. 3 shows a transition of the ink temperature when the temperature control of the ink is not performed after performing the suction operation as the ejection recovery process during the image formation. Point A in FIG. 3 is a point where the suction operation is performed, and the ink temperature during image formation before point A is because thermal energy for ejecting ink is continuously supplied to the ink, so that image formation is started. It is higher than immediately after. On the other hand, since the ink temperature of the recording head immediately after the restart of image formation after point A does not continuously supply thermal energy to the ink during the suction operation, in addition to the heat dissipation during the ejection recovery operation, Since the ink in the ink supply path for supplying the ink to the recording head flows into the recording head by the suction operation, it is lower than that before the ejection recovery operation.

As shown in FIG. 4, since the ink temperature and the ink ejection amount are proportional to each other, the image density transition when the ink temperature control is not performed after the suction operation is performed as the ejection recovery process during the image formation is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. A point A in FIG. 5 is a point where the suction operation is performed, and a density change occurs before and after the point A. Since this density change occurs in the adjacent regions, even a minute (for example, OD difference of about 0.02) density decrease is a very noticeable and serious problem.

As the ejection recovery operation, the wiping operation and the preliminary ejection operation other than the suction operation are also performed during the image formation, so that the density change occurs before and after the ejection recovery operation as in FIG.

Next, as an embodiment of the present invention, the temperature control of the ink which is performed after the suction operation is performed as the ejection recovery process will be described.

In FIG. 6, the conveyance length per sub-scan and the environmental temperature (ambient temperature of the recording head) are used as parameters.
9 is a table of ink control temperatures (hereinafter referred to as Th) after the ejection recovery process is performed during image formation. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, when the ejection recovery process is performed during the image formation after the image formation is started (S101), after the ejection recovery process is completed, the conveyance length per sub-scan stored in the controller 800 and Environmental temperature (ambient temperature of recording head)
And the ink temperature are compared (S10
2) If the ink temperature is lower than Th, ink temperature control is performed by performing short pulse heating that does not result in ink ejection from the recording head as shown in FIG. 8 until it reaches Th (S103). After the ink temperature reaches Th, image formation is restarted (S104).

As shown in FIG. 9, the smaller the transport length N per sub-scan is, the smaller the amount of ink ejected from the recording head in one main scan is. Therefore, the heat supplied to the ink continuously. Energy is also reduced. Therefore, the smaller the transport length N per sub-scan is, the smaller the ink temperature rise during image formation becomes. If the temperature rise is small, the ink control temperature Th after the ink temperature has dropped due to the ejection recovery operation during image formation may be small.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, even if the conveyance length per sub-scan is equal and the thermal energy given to the ink during image formation is the same amount, the lower the environmental temperature, the higher the environmental temperature. Ink temperature rise during image formation is smaller than that in the case. If the temperature rise is small, the ink control temperature Th after the ink temperature has dropped due to the ejection recovery operation during image formation may be small.

FIG. 11 shows the temperature transition when the ink temperature control is performed after the ejection recovery process is performed during the image formation by using the above-described ink temperature control. The point A in FIG. 11 is the point where the suction operation is performed, and the ink temperature during the image formation before the point A supplies thermal energy for ejecting the ink to the ink continuously, so that the image formation is started. It is higher than immediately after. On the other hand, the ink temperature of the recording head immediately after the suction operation at point A is
Since heat energy is not continuously supplied to the ink during the suction operation, in addition to heat dissipation during the ejection recovery operation,
Since the ink in the ink supply path for supplying the ink to the recording head flows into the recording head by the suction operation, the amount is lower than that before the ejection recovery operation. However, immediately after the suction operation is completed and before the image formation is restarted, the temperature of the ink is controlled by the short pulse heating, so that the ink temperature immediately before the restart of the image formation is increased to Th in FIG.

Here, since the point A is a predetermined point such as the suction recovery operation, a parameter table corresponding to the temperature of the point may be prepared in advance, and the point can be arbitrarily set. . This makes it possible to control the ink temperature in the head appropriately with a simple configuration.

In the present embodiment, the table using the transport length per sub-scanning and the environmental temperature as parameters is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is based on factors that affect the ink temperature. Certain tables can be used. For example, only the conveyance length per sub-scan may be used as a parameter, or only the environmental temperature may be used as a parameter.

As shown in FIG. 4, since the ink temperature and the ink ejection amount are proportional to each other, the image when the temperature control of the ink by the short pulse heating is performed after the suction operation is performed as the ejection recovery process during the image formation. The transition of concentration is as shown in FIG. The point A in FIG. 12 is the point where the suction operation is performed, and the density change does not occur before and after the point A.

As the ejection recovery operation, the wiping operation and the preliminary ejection operation other than the suction operation are also performed during the image formation, and then the similar ink temperature control is performed, and then the image formation is restarted. Similarly, the density change does not occur before and after the ejection recovery operation.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, after the ejection recovery process is performed during the image formation, the ink temperature is controlled and then the image formation is restarted, so that the ejection of the recording head is performed during the image formation. Even when the recovery operation is performed, it is possible to prevent a difference in image density or tint before and after the ejection recovery operation.

The present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports, a so-called serial type head or a full line head, a color recording apparatus for recording using ink of the same or different colors. Alternatively, a gradation recording apparatus that records with the same color at different densities, and further, a recording apparatus that combines these can be similarly applied, and the same effect can be achieved. Further, according to the present invention, a recording means such as a configuration using a replaceable ink jet cartridge in which the recording means and the ink tank are integrated, a configuration in which the recording means and the ink tank are provided separately, and the space between them is connected by an ink supply tube or the like. It can be similarly applied to any arrangement of the ink tank and the ink tank, and similar effects can be obtained.

Further, the present invention brings excellent effects particularly in an ink jet recording apparatus using a recording means of a method of ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording methods. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

[0049]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even when the ejection recovery process of the recording head is performed during image formation, the recording by the recording head is performed after the ejection recovery process by the ejection recovery means. Until the operation is restarted, the temperature control of the ink in the print head is performed based on the factor that affects the temperature change of the ink in the print head, so that there is a difference in the image density and tint before and after the ejection recovery process. An inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method that do not occur can be provided.

According to another embodiment, in addition to the above-mentioned operation, temperature control is performed based on the ambient temperature (ambient temperature of the recording head) and the feed length of the recording material per time. Since the temperature control is performed by applying a pulse of energy small enough not to eject ink from the ink ejection port of the above, the temperature is controlled by simple temperature control, and the image is reproduced before and after the ejection recovery process. It is possible to provide an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method in which there is no difference in the density and color tone of the ink.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change in ink temperature when ink temperature control is not performed after performing a suction operation as an ejection recovery process during image formation.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between ink temperature and ink ejection amount.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing changes in density when ink temperature control is not performed after performing suction operation as ejection recovery processing during image formation.

FIG. 6 is a table of ink control temperatures Th after the ejection recovery process is performed during image formation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation until image formation is restarted when a discharge recovery process is performed during image formation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing short pulses used for ink temperature control.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a change in ink temperature for each conveyance length per sub-scan.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a change in ink temperature for each environmental temperature.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing a change in ink temperature when ink temperature control is performed after performing a suction operation as an ejection recovery process during image formation.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing a density transition when ink temperature control is performed after performing a suction operation as ejection recovery processing during image formation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 carriage 2 Device body (including transport system unit) 5 recording head 11 Guide shaft 12 encoder film 13 belt 30 Suction mechanism and recording head protection mechanism 31 Preliminary ejection ink receiving box 32 Wiping mechanism 50 temperature sensor 800 controller 801 CPU 802 ROM 803 RAM 804 interface 805 host device 806 head driver 807 motor driver 808 motor driver 809 Main scanning motor 810 Sub-scanning motor 811 Environmental temperature sensor

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports, and a moving means for relatively moving the recording head and a recording material, wherein the recording head scans a recording area of the recording material. An inkjet recording apparatus for forming an image on the recording material comprises: an ejection recovery unit that performs an ejection recovery process of the recording head; and a temperature control unit that detects the temperature of the ink in the recording head and performs temperature control. When the ejection recovery unit performs the ejection recovery process of the recording head during the recording operation on the recording material by the recording head, the temperature control unit performs the recording after the ejection recovery process by the ejection recovery unit. The temperature of the ink in the recording head is controlled based on factors that affect the temperature change of the ink in the recording head until the recording operation by the head is restarted. An inkjet recording device characterized by the following features. 2. The temperature control means changes the target control temperature in accordance with a factor affecting a temperature change of ink in the recording head.
The inkjet recording device according to item 1. 3. The inkjet according to claim 2, wherein the temperature control unit controls the temperature based on a target control temperature corresponding to an ambient temperature as a factor affecting the temperature change. Recording device. 4. The temperature control means performs the temperature control based on a target control temperature according to a feed length per time of the recording material as a factor affecting the temperature change. The inkjet recording device according to claim 2. 5. The temperature control means performs the temperature control based on an ambient temperature as a factor that affects the temperature change and a target control temperature according to a feed length per recording material. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head scans a plurality of times in a direction orthogonal to a feeding direction of the recording material to form an image. . 7. The temperature control means includes a heating means for applying to the recording head a pulse of energy small enough not to eject ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports of the recording head. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is an ink jet recording apparatus. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection recovery process ejects ink that is not involved in recording from a recording head. 9. The ejection recovery process is a process of wiping at least a surface of the recording head on which the ejection ports are provided with a blade.
The inkjet recording device according to any one of 1. 10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection recovery processing is a step of causing the ink in the plurality of recording heads to flow and ejecting the ink from an ejection port. . 11. A recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports and a means for relatively moving the recording head and a recording material are provided, and the recording head is scanned with respect to a recording area of the recording material. An ink jet recording method for forming an image on a recording material, comprising: an ejection recovery step of performing an ejection recovery process of the recording head; and a temperature control step of detecting a temperature of ink in the recording head and performing temperature control, The temperature control step is after the ejection recovery process of the recording head in the middle of the recording operation on the recording material by the recording head, and before the recording operation on the recording material is restarted by the recording head, Inkjet recording, characterized in that the temperature of the ink in the recording head is controlled based on a factor that affects the temperature change of the ink in the recording head. Method. 12. The ink jet recording according to claim 11, wherein the temperature control step changes a target control temperature in accordance with a factor affecting a temperature change of ink in the recording head. Method. 13. The inkjet according to claim 12, wherein in the temperature control step, the temperature control is performed based on a target control temperature corresponding to an ambient temperature as a factor that affects the temperature change. Recording method. 14. The temperature control step performs the temperature control based on a target control temperature according to a feed length per time of the recording material as a factor affecting the temperature change. The inkjet recording method according to claim 12. 15. The temperature control means, based on a target control temperature according to an ambient temperature as a factor affecting the temperature change and a feed length per recording material,
The inkjet recording method according to claim 12, wherein the temperature control is performed. 16. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein the recording head scans a plurality of times in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the recording material to form an image. . 17. The temperature control step is characterized in that a pulse of energy small enough not to eject ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports of the recording head is applied to the recording head. The inkjet recording method according to claim 11. 18. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein the ejection recovery processing ejects ink that is not involved in recording from a recording head. 19. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein the ejection recovery process is a process of wiping at least a surface of the recording head on which the ejection ports are provided with a blade. . 20. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein in the ejection recovery process, ink in the plurality of recording heads is made to flow and discharged from an ejection port. .