JP2004237600A - Controlling device and controlling method of image recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a controlling device and a controlling method of an image recording head which can enhance a resolution to match analog silver salt photographic images without decreasing the cost performance of the controlling device. <P>SOLUTION: There are set a pulse signal output means 12 for outputting n-phase pulse signals (n is a natural number of n≥2) of an equal phase difference along with scanning of the image recording head, and a drive timing signal generating means for generating drive timing signals for image recording elements by multiplying the pulse signals. The drive timing signal generating means is configured to generate the drive timing signal by the multiplication by a predetermined multiplication number while a 1/(2n) period of one phase among the n-phase (n≥2) pulse signals by the pulse signal output means is made a unit controlling period. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by controlling the driving of the image recording element at a predetermined driving timing while scanning an image recording head having an image recording element at a predetermined speed. A pulse signal output unit for outputting a pulse signal in accordance with the scanning of the recording head; and a drive timing signal generation unit for multiplying the pulse signal by the pulse signal output unit to generate a drive timing signal for the image recording element. And a control method of the image recording head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As an example of this type of image forming apparatus, while moving a carriage equipped with an ink jet type image recording head that ejects ink droplets from nozzles toward a recording medium in a main scanning direction orthogonal to the recording medium conveyance direction, There is a type that forms an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from nozzles. In the image forming apparatus described above, the detection accuracy of the scanning position of the image recording head greatly affects the accuracy of the ejection position of the ink droplet. Scan position detection control is required.
[0003]
Conventionally, in order to detect the scanning position of the image recording head, a plurality of slits are formed at regular intervals, a long encoder film extending in the scanning direction of the image recording head, and scanned together with the image recording head. There is provided a pulse signal output unit using a linear encoder device including an encoder sensor that detects a slit of the encoder film and generates a pulse signal. However, since the resolution is physically limited, Sampling the time of one cycle of the pulse signal by the pulse signal output means and counting up the value corresponding to the scanning position of the image recording head as one cycle by dividing the time by a predetermined multiple. Providing a drive timing signal generating means for generating a drive timing signal for the image recording element; Image recording head of the control device for driving the image recording device with higher accuracy than the detection accuracy of the scanning position of the head has been proposed.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-58408 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the above-described conventional image recording head control device, the drive timing signal generated by the drive timing signal generation unit is configured such that the pulse signal from the linear encoder device as the pulse signal output unit is converted to a predetermined sampling clock ( Or a value obtained by dividing the time T of one cycle obtained by sampling by the timer circuit) by a predetermined multiplier a, as one cycle, so that a rounding error generated when the multiplication cycle Td is calculated and derived. As a result of ΔTd causing a cumulative error of ΔTd · a within one cycle, a result that meets the demand for high resolution is not always obtained. In particular, if the multiplication factor a is increased in order to increase the resolution, the effect of the cumulative error will increase. There was the inconvenience of notably appearing.
[0006]
On the other hand, if the period of the sampling clock (or timer circuit) of the pulse signal by the linear encoder device is shortened, the accumulated error is reduced, but for that purpose, expensive components must be used, and the cost There was a problem that the performance decreased.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has an image recording head capable of increasing the resolution to be comparable to an analog silver halide photographic image without lowering the cost performance of the control device. The present invention is to provide a control device and a control method.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the characteristic structure of the control device of the image recording head according to the present invention is as described in claim 1 of the claims, in which the image recording head provided with the image recording element is driven at a predetermined speed. In an image forming apparatus that controls driving of the image recording element at a predetermined driving timing while scanning, and records an image on a recording medium, a pulse signal output unit that outputs a pulse signal in accordance with scanning of the image recording head; A drive timing signal generating means for generating a drive timing signal for the image recording element by multiplying a pulse signal by the pulse signal output means, wherein the pulse signal output means is And an encoder device that generates n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) pulse signals having the same phase difference in accordance with the scanning of the image recording head. The drive timing signal generation means multiplies the 1 / (2n) cycle of one phase of the n-phase (n ≧ 2) pulse signal by the pulse signal output means by a predetermined number of times as a unit control cycle and performs the drive. It is configured to generate a timing signal.
[0009]
In other words, the pulse signal output means generates n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) pulse signals having the same phase difference in accordance with the scanning of the image recording head. When the drive timing signal is generated by multiplying (2n) by a predetermined multiplier a / 2n using the unit control cycle as a unit control cycle, the accumulated error in the unit control cycle becomes ΔTd · (a / 2n), and one cycle T is multiplied. The accumulated error can be reduced to 1 / 2n within the unit control cycle as compared with the case where the frequency is multiplied by the number a. Therefore, the image output by the image recording element driven at a more accurate drive timing has higher definition. Conversely, if the same accumulated error as in the prior art is allowed, up to 2na multiplication is possible. For example, when a two-phase pulse signal is output, the accumulated error within a unit control cycle is １ ／.
[0010]
The second feature configuration is, as described in claim 2 of the same column, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, the encoder device further includes a plurality of slits formed at equal intervals, and the scanning of the image recording head. A long encoder film extending in the direction, and an encoder sensor that scans with the image recording head, detects a slit in the encoder film, and generates an n-phase (n ≧ 2) pulse signal. In that it is a linear encoder device.
[0011]
According to such an encoder device, since the output pulse signal from the encoder sensor corresponds to the scanning position of the image recording head, a more accurate drive timing signal can be generated.
[0012]
The third characteristic configuration is, as described in claim 3 of the same column, in addition to the above-described first or second characteristic configuration, the drive timing signal generation unit is configured to output at least one cycle of the immediately preceding pulse signal. The point is that the unit control cycle is calculated and derived as an average value, and the drive timing signal is generated with a cycle obtained by dividing the unit control cycle by a predetermined multiple.
[0013]
By obtaining the unit control cycle as an average value, it is possible to absorb a slight variation in the scanning speed of the image recording head. When obtaining at least the average value of one cycle of the immediately preceding pulse signal, the n-phase Variations in the unit control cycle due to slight shifts in the phase of the pulse signal can be absorbed.
[0014]
The characteristic structure of the control method of the image recording head according to the present invention is as described in claim 4, wherein the image recording head provided with the image recording element is scanned at a predetermined speed while the image recording element is scanned. Drive control at a predetermined drive timing, in an image forming apparatus that records an image on a recording medium, generates a pulse signal in accordance with scanning of the image recording head, multiplies the pulse signal, and multiplies the pulse signal. A method for controlling an image recording head that generates a drive timing signal, wherein the pulse signal is an n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) equal in phase difference generated according to scanning of the image recording head. A pulse signal, wherein the drive timing signal is generated by multiplying a 1 / (2n) cycle of one phase of the n-phase pulse signal by a predetermined multiple as a unit control cycle. Located in.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an image data transmission control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet printer 3 which is an example of an image forming apparatus as an image output processing apparatus that executes a predetermined image output process based on received image data, and transmits image data to the image output processing apparatus. An image output processing system is configured by connecting a host computer 1 as an image data supply device via an interface unit 2.
[0016]
The host computer 1 includes various types of image recording media such as document file data and image file data generated by various application programs executed under the control of an operating system, CDs, DVDs, and memory cards such as compact flash and memory sticks. Color separation processing to convert RGB data to CMY data, black extraction processing to extract black from CMY data and convert it to CMYK data, correction of color and gradation A printer driver 1a that converts print data of seven colors (K, LK, C, LC, M, LM, Y) suitable for the ink jet printer 3 and generates printer control data for the ink jet printer 3; , Printer driver The print data and printer control data as conversion processing image data 1a is output to the ink-jet printer 3, are provided with a host interface unit 200 for receiving a control state data from the ink-jet printer 3.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 4, the host-side interface unit 200 and the printer-side interface unit 7 transmit an image data transmission control device that unidirectionally communicates print data, and transmit printer control data to the inkjet printer 3 and And a control data transmission control device that receives the control state data described above, thereby realizing high-speed and low-cost transmission of print data.
[0018]
The control data transmission control device bidirectionally communicates with the control data transmission / reception unit 204 installed in the host-side interface unit 200 and the control data transmission / reception unit 701 installed in the printer-side interface unit 7 via an optical cable connecting them. The control data transmission / reception unit 204 is connected to the host computer 1 via a PCI bus, and the control data transmission / reception unit 701 is connected to the inside of the printer control unit 350 by ARCNET (Attached Resource Computer NETwork: an improved token passing LAN protocol). Connected to the bus. The inkjet printer 3 executes a print operation in response to a print command including print size data and print number data from the printer driver 1a of the host computer 1 via the control data transmission control device, while the inkjet printer 3 runs out of paper. The printer driver 1a informs the printer driver 1a of various states, such as the state of ink and ink out.
[0019]
The image data transmission control device performs one-way communication by LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) in order to transmit print data to the ink jet printer 3, and a printer driver obtained through a PCI bus. An image data transmitting LVDS control unit 201 that generates and outputs 21-bit parallel transmission data obtained by adding 5-bit communication control data to 16-bit print data from 1a, and 21 bits from the image data transmitting LVDS control unit 201 The first data transmission units 201 and 202, which are configured by an LVDS driver 202 that converts the transmission data of the above into 7-bit × 3 serial data and outputs the data to the inkjet printer 3 in synchronization with a clock of a predetermined frequency, and the LVDS driver 202 An LVDS receiver 702 that receives serial data and converts it into 21-bit parallel data, and an image data receiving-side LVDS control unit 704 that sequentially transfers 16-bit print data to a DMA write control unit 705 described below based on communication control data. First data receiving units 702 and 704 are provided.
[0020]
Further, the transmission data of 21 bits is converted into serial data of 7 bits × 3 and output to the host computer 1 in synchronization with a clock of a predetermined frequency. The second data transmitting units 703 and 704, which are composed of an image data receiving side LVDS control unit 704 that outputs a transmission preparation signal described later, and serial data from the LVDS driver 703, and convert the serial data into 21-bit parallel data. And a second data receiving unit 201, 203 comprising an LVDS control unit 201 for receiving the transmission preparation signal and stopping the input of new image data to the LVDS driver 202 in response to the transmission preparation signal. It is.
[0021]
The printer-side interface unit 7 further stores a 512-word × 64-bit FIFO buffer memory 706 for temporarily storing print data received by the image data receiving-side LVDS control unit 704, and transfers the data to the buffer memory 706. DMA write control unit 705 for writing control, DMA read control unit 707 for reading and controlling data from buffer memory 706, and print data read by DMA read control unit 707 are written to or stored in SDRAM 8 of 256 megabytes. An SDRAM control unit 708 for reading the written print data is provided.
[0022]
The FIFO type buffer memory 706 is composed of a programmable gate array FPGA that can be developed using VHDL, which is a kind of hardware description language, together with the above-described peripheral circuits 704, 705, 707, and 708. When the remaining writable data capacity reaches a capacity smaller by a predetermined capacity than the full capacity that makes writing impossible, a near full FF (Nearly FF) is set as the transmission preparation signal READY, and the DMA write control unit 705 is set. A transmission preparation signal generating means for outputting is provided. After setting the near full flag, the buffer memory 706 resets the near full flag when the data read processing by the DMA read control unit 707 proceeds and the remaining capacity becomes equal to or more than the predetermined capacity. .
[0023]
The image data transmitting side LVDS control unit 201 recognizes that the receiving side is in a data receivable state when the READY signal is asserted (set), and that the receiving side is in a data receivable state when the READY signal is negated. As soon as it recognizes that it has been negated, it stops transmitting and waits until the READY signal is asserted.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet printer 3 accommodates a roll-shaped recording paper 311 as a recording medium and feeds a set amount of recording paper 310, and a recording paper fed from the recording paper storage 310. An image recording unit 320 that ejects ink on paper 311 based on image data to visualize an image, and a paper discharge unit 330 that cuts and outputs a predetermined length of recording paper 311 recorded by the image recording unit 320 And a functional block including a recording paper transport unit 340 that transports the recording paper 311 fed from the recording paper storage unit 310 to the image recording unit 320 and the paper discharge unit 330, and a printer control that controls the operation of each functional block. The unit 350 is provided in a housing 360 covered with a case.
[0025]
In the recording paper storage unit 310, a long recording paper 311 wound around a roll cassette 314 detachable from the case is mounted on a pair of forward and reverse rotatable driving rollers 312 and driven rollers 313. The recording paper 311 is fed from the recording paper storage unit 310 toward the image recording unit by rotating the drive roller 312 in the normal direction, and is wound around the roll cassette 314 by the reverse rotation.
[0026]
The recording paper transport unit 340 includes a driving roller and a driven roller having a one-way clutch that transports the recording paper 311 fed from the recording paper storage unit 310 toward the image recording unit 320 and the paper discharge unit 330. A first pressure roller unit 341 disposed upstream of the image recording unit 320 in the recording paper transport direction and a second pressure roller unit 342 disposed downstream of the image recording unit 320 in the recording paper transport direction; And a suction conveyance unit 343 that suctions the recording paper 311 during image recording from the back surface and keeps the distance between the image recording unit 320 and the recording paper 311 constant. The suction conveyance unit 343 is disposed along a substantially horizontal recording paper conveyance surface, and has a suction plate 344 having a large number of circular suction holes formed therein, and a suction plate formed in the suction plate 344 to suction air to perform recording. A suction fan 345 for bringing the paper 311 into close contact with the suction plate 344 and an exhaust duct 346 for exhausting the air sucked by the suction fan 345 are provided below the suction plate 344.
[0027]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the image recording unit 320 includes an ink cartridge 321 containing two black inks of black (K) and light black (LK), and cyan (C), light cyan (LC), A color ink cartridge 322 containing five color inks of magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) is mounted, and an image recording element that discharges ink supplied from each ink cartridge below. And a drive mechanism for main-scanning the carriage 323 in a recording paper width direction orthogonal to the recording paper 311 conveyance direction. The driving mechanism includes a sliding shaft 329 that holds the carriage 323 slidably in the paper width direction of the recording paper 311, a carriage motor 325 installed at one end of the recording paper 311 in the paper width direction, A drive pulley 326 fixed to the shaft, a driven pulley 327 installed on the other end side, and an endless belt 328 stretched between the pair of pulleys, and by fixing the carriage 323 to the endless belt 328, The carriage 323 is configured to be freely reciprocally driven in the main scanning direction.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge unit 330 discharges the recording paper 311 conveyed by the first and second pressure roller units 341 and 342 to a predetermined size, and discharges the cut recording paper 311. And a discharge roller unit 334 on which a pair of drive rollers 335 and driven rollers 336 are pressed. The cutting unit 331 has a movable blade 332 and a fixed blade 333 arranged vertically with the recording paper 311 interposed therebetween. By operating the movable blade 332 from above to below, the recording paper 311 is cut along the width direction. I do.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer control unit 350 includes a CPU 4 serving as a controller that controls all the functional blocks of the printer described above, a ROM 5 storing an execution program of the CPU 4, and various control data and setting data. RAM 6, an input / output control unit 9 for individually controlling each function block in detail, a printer-side interface unit 7 for transmitting and receiving the print data and control data to and from the host computer 1, and an image recording element. A timing generator 19 for outputting a timing signal, a print buffer 10 storing one line of image data by one main scan of the image recording head, and the like are connected by an internal bus.
[0030]
The input / output control unit 9 includes an input / output control CPU 900 having a built-in or external ROM or RAM, a carriage driver circuit 14 for driving a carriage motor 325 to perform a main scan of the image recording head 323, and an image recording head 323. , A timer circuit 13 for measuring the period of the encoder device 12, a driving roller 312 for paper feed, pressure roller units 341 and 342 for conveyance, and a discharge roller A motor driver circuit 15 for controlling drive motors that individually operate the respective drive rollers of the unit 334; a motor driver circuit 16 for driving the suction fan 345; a motor driver circuit 17 for driving the cutting unit 331; Detection values of various sensors such as paper sensors that detect the presence of recording paper It is constructed provided with a sensor input circuit 18 for inputting.
[0031]
Hereinafter, an image output processing process by the inkjet printer 3 will be described. As described above, the ink jet printer 3 receiving the print command from the host computer 1 by the control data transmission control device employing the ARCNET and receiving the print data from the image data transmission control device employing the LVDS method is shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, under the control of the CPU 4 executing the control program stored in the ROM 5, the following predetermined image output process is executed.
[0032]
The driving roller 312 of the recording paper storage unit 310 is driven to rotate forward to feed the recording paper 311, and is conveyed to the image recording unit 320 by the first pressure roller unit 341 of the recording paper conveyance unit 340. When the leading edge of the recording paper reaches the print start position of the image recording unit 320, the carriage 323 serving as the image recording head ejects ink from a predetermined inkjet nozzle based on data from the recording head driver circuit 11 while performing main scanning to perform recording. An image is formed on the surface of the paper 311. The recording paper 311 is intermittently driven by a predetermined amount in synchronization with the main scanning of the carriage 323 by the first pressure roller 341 and is sub-scanned in the transport direction.
[0033]
The main scanning of the carriage 323 as the image recording head will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, an inkjet printer 3 as an image forming apparatus includes an encoder device 12 as a pulse signal output unit that outputs a pulse signal in accordance with scanning of an image recording head, and a pulse signal by the pulse signal output unit 12. And a drive timing signal generating means for generating a drive timing signal for a piezoelectric ink jet nozzle as an image recording element by multiplying the multiplied image signal.
[0034]
The encoder device 12 includes a long encoder film 401 in which slits are formed at an equal interval of 180 lines per inch at equal intervals, and extends in the main scanning direction of the image recording head 323, and scans with the image recording head 323. The linear encoder device includes an encoder sensor 402 that detects a slit of the encoder film 401 and generates a two-phase pulse signal whose phase is shifted by 90 degrees. The encoder sensor 402 is provided in the image recording head 323. A light emitting unit having a light emitting diode and a lens for shaping output light from the light emitting diode into a parallel light beam, and a light receiving unit having a plurality of phyto diodes and a signal processing circuit for processing the output signal thereof, The encoder film 401 is arranged so as to be interposed between the light receiving units. The signal processing circuit includes an A-phase and a B-phase whose phases are shifted by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 5 based on a light-dark pattern detected by a light-emitting diode arranged at a predetermined position in the arrangement direction of the slits. A two-phase pulse signal is generated.
[0035]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the timing generation unit 19 generates a time Tq1 from the rising edge of the A phase to the rising edge of the B phase of the encoder pulse signal input via the input / output control CPU 900, and the rising of the B phase. Time Tq2 from the edge to the falling edge of phase A, time Tq3 from the falling edge of phase A to the falling edge of phase B, and time Tq4 from the falling edge of phase B to the rising edge of phase A Is counted by the timer circuit 13 to calculate and derive an average value of a cycle Tq which is の of one cycle T of the encoder pulse. Note that the encoder device 12 and the timer circuit 13 may be configured to be directly connected to the timing generation unit 19 without going through the input / output control CPU 900.
[0036]
Next, the calculated period Tq is used as a unit control period, multiplied by a predetermined multiplication number stored in the timing generation unit 19, here multiplied by 8 to calculate and derive a multiplication period of the drive timing signal, and the calculated multiplication period is calculated. The periodic data is output to a print head driver circuit 11 that controls ink ejection via a print buffer 10 to generate a drive timing signal. Hereinafter, the above-described procedure is repeatedly executed for each cycle Tq, and the image output processing for one line in the main scanning is completed. That is, the timing generation unit, the timer circuit 13, the print buffer 10, and the print head driver circuit 11 constitute a drive timing signal generation unit. The drive timing signal generating means may be constituted by a hardware circuit without software. The timing generator 19 generates a drive timing signal based on the multiplication cycle data, outputs the drive timing signal to the printhead driver circuit 11 via the print buffer 10, and the printhead driver circuit 11 outputs a drive pulse corresponding to the pixel at that timing. May be.
[0037]
The pulse voltage applied to the piezoelectric element for driving the inkjet nozzle based on the print data of one main scan transferred from the SDRAM 8 to the print buffer 10 is applied to the recording paper by the paper edge detection sensor 355 disposed in the image recording head 323. From the time point 311 at which the paper edge is detected, the image is output in synchronization with the rising edge of the drive timing signal, and an image having a desired resolution is formed. In this embodiment, an image having a resolution of 180 DPI × 8 × 4 = 5760 DPI can be obtained with high accuracy.
[0038]
When the output of one sheet of image on the recording paper is completed, the first and second pressure roller units 341 and 342 and the discharge roller unit 334 are driven, and the recording paper 311 is conveyed to the cutting position by the cutting unit 331 and stopped. Then, after being cut into a predetermined size, the sheet is discharged by the sheet discharge roller unit 334. With respect to the remaining recording paper 311, the driving roller 312 of the recording paper storage unit 310 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the leading end of the recording paper is wound up to a predetermined position to prepare for the next image output processing process.
[0039]
Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described.
In the above embodiment, the linear encoder device that outputs a two-phase pulse signal composed of the A-phase and the B-phase whose phases are shifted by 90 degrees has been described as the pulse signal output unit. The pulse signal is not limited to two-phase pulse signals as long as it generates n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) pulse signals having the same phase difference according to the scanning of the recording head. Further, the encoder device is not limited to a linear encoder device, and any device that outputs a pulse signal in accordance with the scanning of the image recording head, such as a rotary encoder device, may be used by appropriately changing the mode. is there.
[0040]
The drive timing signal generating means calculates and derives a unit control cycle Tq as an average value of at least one cycle T of the immediately preceding encoder pulse signal, and divides the unit control cycle by a predetermined multiple to obtain the drive cycle signal. Although the generation of the timing signal has been described, the calculation and derivation of the unit control cycle Tq are not limited to the average value of one cycle T of the immediately preceding encoder pulse signal, and may be set as appropriate.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a control apparatus and a control method for an image recording head capable of increasing the resolution so as to be comparable to an analog silver halide photographic image without lowering the cost performance of the control apparatus. Can now be offered.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of an image output processing device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an image output processing device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part. FIG. Configuration diagram [Fig. 5] Signal explanation diagram [Fig. 6] Flow chart [Description of reference numerals]
4: CPU (drive timing signal generating means)
5: ROM (drive timing signal generating means)
6: RAM (drive timing signal generating means)
11: Printhead driver circuit (drive timing signal generation means)
12: Encoder device (pulse signal output means)
13: Timer circuit (drive timing signal generation means)

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus that drives and controls the image recording element at a predetermined drive timing while scanning an image recording head having an image recording element at a predetermined speed, and records an image on a recording medium, An image recording head comprising: a pulse signal output unit that outputs a pulse signal in accordance with the following: and a drive timing signal generation unit that generates a drive timing signal for the image recording element by multiplying the pulse signal by the pulse signal output unit. Control device,
The pulse signal output means is configured by an encoder device that generates n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) pulse signals having the same phase difference in accordance with scanning of the image recording head;
The drive timing signal generation means multiplies the 1 / (2n) cycle of one phase of the n-phase (n ≧ 2) pulse signal by the pulse signal output means by a predetermined number of times as a unit control cycle and performs the drive. An image recording head control device configured to generate a timing signal. The encoder device has a plurality of slits formed at equal intervals, a long encoder film extending in the scanning direction of the image recording head, and is scanned together with the image recording head to detect the slit of the encoder film. 2. The control device for an image recording head according to claim 1, wherein the control device is a linear encoder device including an encoder sensor that generates an n-phase (n ≧ 2) pulse signal. The drive timing signal generation means calculates and derives a unit control cycle as an average value of at least one cycle of the pulse signal immediately before, and sets the drive timing signal as a cycle obtained by dividing the unit control cycle by a predetermined multiple. 3. The control device for an image recording head according to claim 1, wherein the control unit generates the image data. In an image forming apparatus that drives and controls the image recording element at a predetermined drive timing while scanning an image recording head having an image recording element at a predetermined speed, and records an image on a recording medium, A method for controlling an image recording head that generates a pulse signal in accordance with, and multiplies the pulse signal to generate a drive timing signal for the image recording element,
The pulse signal is an n-phase (n is a natural number of n ≧ 2) pulse signals having the same phase difference generated according to the scanning of the image recording head, and the drive timing signal is the n-phase pulse. A method for controlling an image recording head, wherein the signal is generated by multiplying a 1 / (2n) cycle of a signal as a unit control cycle by a predetermined multiple.

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