JP2004009539A - Image recording apparatus and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate image recording and charging of a rechargeable battery without increasing the size and the manufacturing cost of an image recording apparatus which has the rechargeable battery. <P>SOLUTION: The charging for which a charging circuit 7 for the rechargeable battery 5 is used is conducted in the case when a sleep control signal for a carriage motor driver 18 or a paper carrying motor driver 19 is detected and when at least either one of a carriage motor 24 and a paper carrying motor 25 is in a sleep state for saving power. When an instruction to conduct image recording is given in the course of the charging, the charging is suspended and the image recording is executed after the sleep state of the carriage motor 24 and the paper carrying motor 25 is removed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, a control method therefor, a control program therefor, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the control program, and in particular, an image recording apparatus which can be driven by a rechargeable battery, a control method therefor, and a control program therefor And its control program.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A recording device such as a printer or a facsimile forms an image including a dot pattern on a recording medium such as paper or plastic by driving a recording element of a recording head based on recording information transferred from a host device. It is configured as follows.
[0003]
This recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal transfer type and the like according to a recording method. Among them, the ink jet type (ink jet recording apparatus) forms an image by discharging a recording liquid (ink) droplet from a discharge port of a recording head and attaching the droplet to a recording medium such as paper.
[0004]
A thermal ink jet recording head that uses heat as ink droplet ejection energy is suitable for high-density arrangement of ejection ports, and has an advantage that miniaturization is easy. Therefore, it is most suitable for a small-sized portable recording device.
[0005]
In general, a recording apparatus uses a commercial (AC) power supply as a main drive power supply. However, a portable small recording apparatus adopts a dual power supply system of an AC adapter connected to a commercial (AC) power supply and a rechargeable battery. In some cases, a charging function is provided for charging a rechargeable battery with electric power from a commercial (AC) power supply supplied from an AC adapter.
[0006]
As described above, in a recording apparatus equipped with a charging function using a rechargeable battery and a commercial (AC) power supply, conventionally, the operation mode of the recording apparatus includes a print mode for recording an image, and a charging mode for charging the rechargeable battery. And these two modes are manually switched.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the configuration in which the print mode and the charging mode are manually switched as described above, the switching operation is required each time charging is performed, so that the operation is complicated and troublesome, and there is a problem that the usability of the recording apparatus is not good. .
[0008]
In order to solve this problem, a method of performing the recording process and the charging process in parallel is conceivable. However, in this parallel processing method, switching between the print mode and the charging mode is not required, and the usability is improved. On the other hand, since the power is consumed simultaneously in the print mode and the charging mode, the power consumption increases and the capacity is reduced. Since a large power supply is required, there is a problem that the size of the recording apparatus becomes larger than that of the conventional recording apparatus, and the manufacturing cost also increases.
[0009]
Therefore, instead of manually switching between the print mode and the charging mode, a method of detecting the current consumption of the recording apparatus and automatically charging only during a period in which the current consumption is less than a predetermined value is considered. However, in order to detect the current consumption of the printing apparatus, it is necessary to detect the current consumption of the printing apparatus with high accuracy. To increase.
[0010]
In addition, when the current consumption detecting means is mounted, a voltage drop occurs due to the current consumption detecting resistor. Therefore, when the recording apparatus is driven by using the rechargeable battery, the current consumption increases as compared with the case where the current consumption detecting means is not mounted. However, there is also a problem that the driving time of a rechargeable battery that can be used in one charge is shortened.
[0011]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the related art as a starting point, and an object thereof is to use electric power supplied from a commercial (AC) power supply via an AC adapter as driving power. Alternatively, in an image recording apparatus that uses a rechargeable battery charged using a commercial (AC) power supply as driving power, image recording processing and charging of the rechargeable battery can be performed without increasing the size and manufacturing cost of the image recording apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use image recording apparatus capable of easily performing processing and a control method thereof.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data using an externally supplied power or a rechargeable battery as a driving source, and a carriage driving unit that drives a carriage on which a recording head is mounted. A conveying unit for conveying a recording medium; a charging unit for charging the battery using electric power supplied from the outside; and a power saving unit for at least one of the driving unit and the conveying unit. A setting canceling unit for setting and canceling a sleep state of, and a control unit for controlling the charging unit to charge the battery when at least one of the driving unit and the transporting unit is in the sleep state. , Is characterized by having.
[0013]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the control unit controls the charging unit so as to stop the charging when receiving the image data.
[0014]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the control unit controls the setting canceling unit so as to cancel the sleep state when receiving the image data.
[0015]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the control unit controls the sleep setting canceling unit so as to put the driving unit and the transporting unit into a sleep state when a time during which the image data is not received continues for a predetermined time or more.
[0016]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the charging unit further includes a changing unit that changes a charging current set value during the charging.
[0017]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the control unit controls the changing unit such that the charging current set value becomes a predetermined value or more when both the driving unit and the transporting unit are in the sleep state.
[0018]
Here, for example, when the driving unit is in the sleep state and the transport unit is not in the sleep state, the control unit preferably controls the changing unit such that the charging current set value is less than a predetermined value. .
[0019]
An image recording apparatus control method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, it has a carriage driving unit that drives a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium, and a charging unit that charges a battery using electric power supplied from the outside. A method for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data using electric power or the battery as a drive source, wherein at least one of the drive unit and the transport unit saves power. And a setting canceling step of setting and canceling a sleep state for controlling the charging unit to charge the battery when at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state. And a step.
[0020]
A control program for controlling an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, it has a carriage driving unit that drives a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium, and a charging unit that charges a battery using externally supplied power, and is supplied from the outside. A control program for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data using electric power or the battery as a drive source, wherein the control program saves at least one of the drive unit and the transport unit. A program code for a setting canceling step for setting and canceling a sleep state for electric power, and the charging unit for charging the battery when at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state. And a program code for a control step of controlling A computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, it has a carriage driving unit that drives a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium, and a charging unit that charges a battery using electric power supplied from the outside. A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data, using the power or the battery as a drive source, wherein the control program includes the drive unit and the drive unit. A program code of a setting canceling step for setting and canceling a sleep state for power saving with respect to at least one of the transport units, and when at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state A program code for a control step of controlling the charging unit to charge the battery. That.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0022]
However, in the present embodiment, an ink-jet printer using an ink-jet recording method is taken as an example of an image recording device, and a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) is taken as a host device for transmitting data for image recording to the image recording device. Although described, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the described examples.
[0023]
In this specification, “recording” (also referred to as “printing” or “printing”) means not only the case where significant information such as characters and graphics is formed, but also whether a person is visually perceived as significant or insignificant. Regardless of whether or not the image has been exposed, the case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or the medium is processed is also shown.
[0024]
In addition, the term “recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording devices but also to a wide range of materials that can accept ink, such as cloth, plastic films, metal plates, glass, ceramics, wood, and leather. Shall be.
[0025]
Further, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) is to be interpreted broadly as in the definition of “recording (printing)”, and when applied on a recording medium, an image or pattern A liquid that can be used for forming a pattern, processing a recording medium, or processing ink (for example, coagulation or insolubilization of a colorant in ink applied to a recording medium).
[0026]
[First Embodiment]
[Schematic description of inkjet printer main body: Fig. 4]
FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of the inkjet printer 2 which is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5009 to 5011 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Then, it is supported by the guide rail 5003 and reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. On the carriage HC, an integrated type ink jet cartridge IJC containing a recording head IJH and an ink tank IT is mounted.
[0027]
Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detectors for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.
[0028]
Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the print head IJH. Reference numeral 5015 denotes a suction device that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the print head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member that allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to the present embodiment.
[0029]
Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery. The lever 5021 moves with the movement of the cam 5020 engaging with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission mechanism such as clutch switching. Is done.
[0030]
These capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. If the above operation is performed, any of the embodiments can be applied.
[0031]
[Ink cartridge: Fig. 5]
As described above, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH may be integrally formed to constitute a replaceable ink cartridge IJC. However, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH may be configured to be separable. Then, when the ink runs out, only the ink tank IT may be replaced.
[0032]
FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of an ink cartridge IJC in which an ink tank and a head can be separated. In the ink cartridge IJC, as shown in FIG. 5, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH can be separated at the position of the boundary line K. When the ink cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC, the ink cartridge IJC is provided with an electrode (not shown) for receiving an electric signal supplied from the carriage HC side. Is driven to eject ink.
[0033]
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 500 denotes an ink ejection port array. Further, the ink tank IT is provided with a fibrous or porous ink absorber for holding ink.
[0034]
[Control Configuration of Inkjet Printer: FIG. 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the inkjet printer 2.
[0035]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a commercial power supply (for example, AC 100 V), reference numeral 2 denotes an inkjet printer 2, reference numeral 3 denotes a power supply unit of the inkjet printer 2, and reference numeral 4 denotes a commercial power supply (first power supply of the inkjet printer 2). For example, an AC adapter that performs AC-DC conversion of an output of 100 V AC) into an internal DC voltage, 5 is a rechargeable battery that is a second power supply of the inkjet printer 2, 6 is a connector such as a DC jack, When the AC adapter 4 is removed, the movable contact 6a is automatically switched to the rechargeable battery 5 side.
[0036]
Reference numeral 7 denotes a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery 5, and 8 denotes a voltage suitable for driving each of the recording head, motor, logic circuit, and the like, that is, a recording head voltage VH, This is a DC-DC converter circuit that adjusts the voltage to the motor voltage VM and the logic circuit voltage VL.
[0037]
Next, reference numeral 10 denotes a control circuit unit of the ink jet printer 2, and reference numeral 11 denotes an ASIC for controlling a printer which controls each unit of the ink jet printer. Reference numeral 13 denotes a ROM in which control procedures of the ink jet printer 2 and font data are stored. Reference numeral 14 denotes a RAM, which is a reception buffer for storing data received from a personal computer, a print buffer for storing data to be transferred to a recording head, and an ASIC 11. It is used as a work memory. Reference numeral 15 denotes an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) in which data can be rewritten or erased in byte units later by an electrical operation.
[0038]
Reference numeral 16 denotes an operation panel including key switches, LED lamps, and the like, reference numeral 17 denotes a host interface unit for communicating with a personal computer, reference numeral 24 denotes a carriage motor for scanning a carriage on which the recording head 27 is mounted, Reference numeral 25 denotes a paper transport motor for transporting the recording medium in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage. Reference numeral 26 drives a cap member to abut the ink ejection port of the recording head 27, and causes the ink ejection port to be exposed from outside air. It is a capping motor for shutting off.
[0039]
Reference numerals 18 to 20 denote motor drivers, which are paired with the carriage motor 24, the sheet transport motor 25, and the capping motor 26. Reference numeral 30 denotes a sleep control signal for shifting the motor driver 18 to the low power consumption state, reference numeral 31 denotes a sleep control signal of the motor driver 19, and reference numeral 32 denotes a sleep control signal of the motor driver 20.
[0040]
27 is a recording head, 21 is a driver of the recording head 27, 22 is a home position sensor, which is provided near the home position of the carriage and detects that the carriage on which the recording head 27 is mounted has reached the home position. Sensor. A sheet sensor 23 detects the presence or absence of a recording medium. Reference numeral 40 denotes a charge on / off control signal for the charging circuit 7, and reference numeral 41 denotes a charging current switching control signal for the charging circuit 7.
[0041]
In the above configuration, the ASIC 11 communicates with a personal computer (not shown) via the host interface unit 17, and controls the driving of each unit of the ink jet printer based on the received recording information and the control procedure stored in the ROM 13 to perform the recording operation. Do. The ASIC 11 detects whether the AC adapter 4 is connected, whether the rechargeable battery 5 needs to be charged, and the like, controls the charging circuit 7 based on the detection result, and charges the rechargeable battery 5. .
[0042]
[Charging process: Fig. 3]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a charging procedure.
[0043]
In FIG. 2, when the inkjet printer 2 is started up, in step S101, the printer waits for a print command from a personal computer (not shown) as a host device. If there is no print command from the personal computer, the process proceeds to step S102. If there is a print command from the personal computer, the process proceeds to step S113.
[0044]
In step S102, whether the carriage motor driver 18 is in the active state is determined by a flag (CR sleep flag) managed on the work memory 14. Here, the CR sleep flag (CF) = 0 indicates that the carriage motor driver 18 is in an active state, and the CR sleep flag (CF) = 1 indicates that the carriage motor driver 18 is in a sleep (pause) state. Is shown.
[0045]
In step S102, if the carriage motor driver 18 is in the active state (CF = 0), the process proceeds to step S103. If the carriage motor driver 18 is in the sleep state (CF = 1), the process proceeds to step S104.
[0046]
In step S103, it is checked whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, nothing is performed, and the process returns to step S101. After the capping process, in step S111, sleep is set to the carriage motor 24 to reduce the power consumption of the carriage motor 24 (CF = 1). Then, in step S112, the power consumption of the sheet transport motor 25 is reduced. After the sleep is set to the paper transport motor 25 (CF sleep flag (LF) = 1), the process returns to step S101.
[0047]
On the other hand, in step S104, in step S104, it is determined whether or not the power from the AC adapter 4 (first power supply) that is the supply source of the charging power is being supplied to the rechargeable battery 5 (second power supply). If the power has been supplied, the process proceeds to step S105. If the power has not been supplied, the process proceeds to step S109 to stop or stop charging the second power supply, and then return to step S101.
[0048]
In step S105, it is determined whether or not the rechargeable battery 5 (second power supply) needs to be charged (for example, whether or not the battery is fully charged). After stopping or stopping the charging to the two power sources, the process returns to step S101. If the charging is necessary, the process proceeds to step S106.
[0049]
In step S106, it is determined whether or not the paper feed motor driver 19 is in the sleep state. If the paper feed motor driver 19 is in the active state (LF = 0), the process proceeds to step S127, and the charging current is set to “low” by the charging current switching signal 41. To the step S108. If the paper feed motor driver 19 is in the sleep state (LF = 1), the process proceeds to a step S107, in which the charging current is switched to the "large" side by the charging current switching signal 41, and then the step S108 is performed. Proceed to.
[0050]
In step S108, charging is automatically started or continued, and then the process returns to step S101.
[0051]
On the other hand, if there is a print command from the personal computer in step S101, the flow branches to step S113. In step S113, it is determined whether or not the carriage motor driver 18 is set to the sleep state by using the CR sleep flag.
[0052]
In step S113, if the carriage motor driver 18 is in the active state (F = 0), the process proceeds to step S118 without doing anything. If the carriage motor driver 18 is in the sleep state (F = 1), the process proceeds to step S114.
[0053]
In step S114, it is determined whether or not the rechargeable battery 5 (second battery) is being charged using the first power supply. If the battery is not being charged, the process proceeds to step S116 without doing anything. If the charging is in progress, the charging is temporarily stopped in step S115, and then the process proceeds to step S116.
[0054]
Next, in step S116, the sleep state of the carriage motor driver 18 is released, and the sleep flag on the work is cleared (CF = 0). Then, the process proceeds to step S117 to release the sleep state of the paper feed motor driver 19 and After clearing the sleep flag on the work (LF = 0), the process proceeds to step S118.
[0055]
In step S118, print processing is performed in accordance with the print command from the personal computer. When the print processing is completed, the process returns to step S101, and waits for a print instruction from the personal computer again. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the above-described steps S110 to S112 are performed, the carriage motor driver 18, the paper feed motor driver 19 are set to the sleep state, and the process returns to step S101. The charging process is restarted according to the procedure described above.
[0056]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the rechargeable battery 5 (second power supply) is charged only when the carriage motor driver 18 is in the sleep state. Therefore, the carriage motor 24 and the recording head 27 are driven in the printing process. It is possible to automatically charge while skipping the period.
[0057]
Further, if the paper feed motor driver 19 is in the sleep state, the charging current is automatically increased, so that the charging time can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide an ink jet printer 2 equipped with an easy-to-use rechargeable battery charging function and a charging method thereof, which enables automatic charging with less waste time.
[0058]
In the above description, in the charging process of FIG. 2, step S101 is described as a print command from the host device, but may be replaced with a self-test print command.
[0059]
Step S101 is a process that needs to temporarily drive the motor, such as a print head cleaning process command, an ink cartridge replacement operation command, an ink jet printer 2 initialization process command, and a power off process command of the ink jet printer 2. And the step S113 can be replaced with a corresponding processing operation.
[0060]
In other words, in the charging process shown in FIG. 2, the motor driver does not perform the sleep control for power saving without individually performing the charge skip control in response to the various drive requests of the motor and the recording head described above. Since the automatic skip control of charging and the switching control of charging current can be reliably realized only by detecting whether or not the state is present, the load on software is small.
[0061]
In the above description, the synchronization between the sleep on / off of the carriage motor driver 18 and the charging on / off control and the synchronization between the sleep on / off of the paper feed motor driver 19 and the switching of the charging current have been described. The combination is not limited, and the combination can be changed according to the circumstances of the inkjet printer 2. Further, it is also possible to combine with the sleep on / off of the capping motor driver 26, and further, a motor driver such as an auto sheet feeder motor which is not included in the present embodiment may be used.
[0062]
[Second embodiment]
Next, an inkjet printer 202 according to a second embodiment will be described.
[0063]
The ink jet printer 202 according to the second embodiment differs from the ink jet printer 2 according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5 only in the control configuration shown in FIG. It is.
[0064]
Therefore, in the following description, overlapping description of FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 will be omitted, and only different points will be described.
[0065]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the inkjet printer 202 according to the second embodiment. The same components as those of the ink jet printer 2 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.
[0066]
The difference between the control configuration of the inkjet printer 202 of the second embodiment and the control configuration of the inkjet printer 2 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is performed by the inkjet printer 2 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the inkjet printer 202 of the second embodiment, the roles of the charge on / off control signal 40 and the charge current switching signal 41 are changed by the sleep control signal 130 of the carriage motor driver and the sleep control signal 131 of the paper feed motor driver, respectively. The only difference is that they are also used.
[0067]
That is, in the control configuration of the inkjet printer 202 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the firmware is controlled by the control configuration of the inkjet printer 2 of the first embodiment. The only difference is that the synchronization of the charging on / off control and the synchronization of the sleep on / off of the paper feed motor driver 19 and the switching of the charging current can be performed by hardware without using firmware, and other configurations are the same. .
[0068]
Note that a typical configuration and principle of the ink jet printer of the present embodiment is preferably performed using the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it corresponds to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the information to be recorded and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the arranged electrothermal transducer, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and the recording is performed. This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the head, and as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis are formed.
[0069]
By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is in a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.
[0070]
As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.
[0071]
As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid flow path or the right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting surface The configurations described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose the configuration in which the is bent, are also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, or an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is discharged. A configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to each unit, may be adopted.
[0072]
In addition, not only the cartridge-type recording head in which the ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, but also the electric connection with the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip-type recording head that can supply ink from the apparatus main body may be used.
[0073]
Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like to the configuration of the printing apparatus described above, since the printing operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or sucking means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. It is also effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection that is different from printing, in order to perform stable printing.
[0074]
Further, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, and may be a printing head integrally formed or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The device may be provided with at least one of the full colors.
[0075]
In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid.However, even if the ink solidifies at room temperature or below, an ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Alternatively, in the ink jet system, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. It is sufficient if the ink is sometimes in a liquid state.
[0076]
In addition, to prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy from being used as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or to prevent the ink from evaporating, the ink solidifies in a standing state. Alternatively, ink that liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used.
[0077]
In such a case, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.
[0078]
[Other embodiments]
Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus to store the storage medium. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the program. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0079]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, and the like can be used.
[0080]
When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0081]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.
[0082]
When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowchart (shown in FIG. 2).
[0083]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the charging is performed when the carriage motor driver is in the sleep state. Therefore, the period in which the carriage motor or the recording head is being driven in the printing process is automatically excluded (skipped). It is possible to charge.
[0084]
Further, when the paper feed motor driver is in the sleep state, the charging current during charging can be automatically increased, so that the charging time can be shortened.
[0085]
Therefore, the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment has the same size as the conventional ink jet printer, and is capable of automatically switching between the recording process and the charging process without increasing the manufacturing cost. Inkjet printer equipped with a good rechargeable battery charging function.
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, power supplied from a commercial (AC) power supply via an AC adapter is used as drive power, or a rechargeable battery charged using a commercial (AC) power supply is used as drive power. In an image recording apparatus, a user-friendly image recording apparatus capable of easily performing an image recording process and a charging process for a rechargeable battery without increasing the size and manufacturing cost of the image recording device, and a control method therefor. Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a charging procedure of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an inkjet printer according to a second embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an ink cartridge of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
4 AC Adapter 5 Rechargeable Battery 7 Charging Circuit 11 Printer Controller 13 Control ROM
14 RAM
17 Host interface 18 Carriage motor driver 19 Paper feed motor driver 24 Carriage motor 25 Paper feed motor 28 Recording head 30 Carriage motor driver sleep control signal 31 Paper feed motor driver sleep control signal 40 Charging on / off control signal 41 Charging current switching control signal

Claims (10)

An externally supplied power, or a rechargeable battery as a driving source, an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data,
Carriage driving means for driving a carriage on which a recording head is mounted;
Conveying means for conveying the recording medium,
Charging means for charging the battery using power supplied from the outside,
Setting canceling means for setting and canceling a power saving sleep state for at least one of the driving means and the transporting means;
Control means for controlling the charging means to charge the battery when at least one of the drive means and the transport means is in the sleep state;
An image recording apparatus comprising: 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the charging unit to stop the charging when receiving the image data. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the setting cancel unit to cancel the sleep state when receiving the image data. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the sleep setting canceling unit so that the driving unit and the transporting unit are set to a sleep state when a time during which the image data is not received continues for a predetermined time or more. An image recording apparatus as described in the above. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charging unit further includes a changing unit configured to change a charging current set value during the charging. 6. The control unit according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls the change unit such that the charging current set value becomes a predetermined value or more when both the driving unit and the transport unit are in the sleep state. Image recording device. 6. The control unit according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls the change unit so that the charging current set value is less than a predetermined value when the driving unit is in the sleep state and the transport unit is not in the sleep state. An image recording apparatus according to claim 1. A carriage driving unit for driving a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a conveying unit for conveying a recording medium, and a charging unit for charging a battery using electric power supplied from the outside; Alternatively, a method for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data using the battery as a driving source,
For at least one of the drive unit and the transport unit, a setting canceling step of setting and canceling a sleep state for power saving;
A control step of controlling the charging unit to charge the battery when at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state;
An image recording apparatus comprising: A carriage driving unit that drives a carriage equipped with a recording head, a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium, and a charging unit that charges a battery using externally supplied power. A control program for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data using the battery as a driving source,
For at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit, a program code of a setting canceling step of setting and canceling a sleep state for power saving;
When at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state, a program code of a control step of controlling the charging unit to charge the battery;
A control program for controlling an image recording apparatus, comprising: A carriage driving unit for driving a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a conveying unit for conveying a recording medium, and a charging unit for charging a battery using electric power supplied from the outside; Alternatively, using the battery as a drive source, a computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for controlling an image recording apparatus that records an image based on received image data,
The control program includes:
For at least one of the drive unit and the transport unit, a program code of a setting release step of setting and releasing a sleep state for power saving;
When at least one of the driving unit and the transport unit is in the sleep state, a program code of a control step of controlling the charging unit to charge the battery;
A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for controlling an image recording apparatus, comprising:

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