JP2004322659A - Inkjet recording device and ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure reliability and print quality, and to enhance performance by improving ink characteristics and a recording head even for an existing recording device. <P>SOLUTION: The recording head 7 is provided with a storing means 29 for storing data to define the type of the recording head 7; and an ink cartridge 8 is provided with a storing means 15 for storing data to define the type of ink contained in an ink cartridge 8 and the type of the recording head 7 compatible with the ink. Also provided is a controlling means 40 for determining compatibility between the ink cartridge 8 and the recording head 7, based on these data, and for controlling a printing operation based on the respective data when the means determines the compatibility. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing on a printing medium while receiving ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge and ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings, and an ink cartridge suitable for the printing apparatus.

For example, an ink jet recording apparatus supplies a driving signal corresponding to print data to a piezoelectric vibrator or a heat generating means, etc., pressurizes the ink with energy generated by the piezoelectric vibrator, the heat generating means, or the like, and ejects an ink droplet from a nozzle opening. The apparatus includes a recording head for discharging ink and an ink cartridge containing ink for supplying ink to the recording head.
The print quality is determined by the resolution of the print head and greatly depends on the viscosity of the ink, the degree of bleeding on the print medium, and the like. Even with ink, changes in the nozzle diameter of the recording head suitable for the ink characteristics, changes in the amount of ink constituting the ink droplets, improvements in the driving method, and the like are performed, and further, to prevent clogging of the nozzle openings. Improvements have been made to the flushing cycle and maintenance work conditions such as forcibly discharging ink by suction in the capping state.

The print head can ensure the print quality and reliability of the printing device only when it matches the ink cartridge, that is, the type of ink.Therefore, the print head only needs to recognize and identify the type of ink cartridge and the properties of the ink. Instead, it is necessary to determine the suitability between the two by grasping the type of recording head.
In addition, printing applications, such as outdoor use for a short period of time, such as posters, which require water resistance, and storage applications, which require light resistance, such as hard copies of digital cameras, are used for printed materials. If they are different, it is necessary to change the type of ink, and the ink cartridge is replaced accordingly.
On the other hand, an ink jet recording apparatus is generally roughly divided into an ink cartridge containing black ink and a cartridge containing color ink. Therefore, when changing the printing purpose, these two ink cartridges are used for the purpose. It needs to be replaced with a compatible one.
As described above, in a recording apparatus using a recording head which has a long life but is replaced according to a printing purpose, or a recording apparatus which uses a disposable type recording head whose life is extremely short as compared with the life of the apparatus body, ink Since the combination with the cartridge changes rapidly, it is necessary to accurately judge the compatibility between the two.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a purpose thereof is to determine compatibility between a mounted ink cartridge and a recording head, and to prevent a printing error due to improper mounting of an ink cartridge. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing a recording head from being damaged.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge suitable for the recording apparatus.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention includes an ink jet recording head, an ink cartridge for supplying ink to the ink jet recording head, and control means for controlling the recording head in accordance with print data. In the ink jet recording apparatus, a storage unit storing data defining the type of the recording head is stored in the recording head, and a storage unit storing data defining the type of a recording head compatible with the contained ink is stored in the recording head. A control unit that is provided in the ink cartridge and that determines compatibility between the ink cartridge and the recording head based on data in the storage units, and executes a printing operation based on the data when the compatibility is determined. I did it.

When the installed ink cartridge is compatible with the recording head, printing is enabled, and the data stored in the recording means of the recording head and the data stored in the recording means of the ink cartridge are used to make the recording head and the ink compatible. The print head is driven so as to match the type, printing is performed, and an ejection recovery operation and ink filling are also performed.
This not only prevents printing defects and damage to the print head due to an incompatible combination of the print head and the ink, but also changes the ink characteristics due to data stored in the storage means of the ink cartridge and the print head. Since the printing, the ejection recovery operation, and the ink filling can be executed in accordance with the change of the model of the recording head, the performance of the existing recording apparatus can be improved by improving the ink and the recording head.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. A carriage 1 is connected to a motor 3 by a timing belt 2, and is configured to move parallel to a platen 5 while being guided by a guide member 4. A recording head 7 is mounted on a surface of the carriage 1 facing the recording paper 6, and an ink cartridge 8 for supplying ink to the recording head 7 is detachably mounted on the upper surface.

  A cap member 9 for sealing the recording head 7 and a cleaning wiper 10 are arranged in the non-printing area. The cap member 9 is connected to a suction pump 12 which receives power from a paper feed motor 11 in the embodiment, and seals the nozzle opening surface of the recording head 7 during a rest period to prevent drying of ink in the nozzle openings. When clogging occurs in the nozzle opening, the nozzle opening surface of the recording head 7 is sealed, and a negative pressure from the suction pump 12 is applied to forcibly discharge ink from the recording head 7. ing.

  The recording head 7 is connected to a control unit 14 via a flexible cable 13, and a communication unit 16 that communicates with a data storage unit 15 provided in the ink cartridge 8 is arranged near the movement path of the ink cartridge 8. Have been.

The storage means 15
(1) The type or properties of the contained ink, the type of print head that can be adapted,
(2) The effective amount of ink contained, that is, the printable amount, the amount of one drop of ink depending on the type of head,
(3) Maintenance such as the flushing cycle corresponding to the type of recording head, the number or duration of ink droplets to be ejected, and the voltage of the drive signal for flushing, the application time, the rate of change in voltage and current, etc. conditions,
(4) A suction pressure, a suction speed, an operation time, a suction amount, and the like of a suction pump that forcibly discharges ink by applying a negative pressure to a nozzle opening when an ink cartridge corresponding to a type of a recording head is replaced or the like. And data such as maintenance conditions at the time of ink filling, or a character string having a unique relationship with these data. When various data are stored in the form of character strings, it is only necessary to store the decrypted data on the recording device side, and the storage capacity of the storage means 15 can be greatly reduced.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an embodiment of the ink cartridge holder 20 and the ink cartridge 8 mounted on the carriage 1.
The holder 20 is configured as a frame for accommodating the ink cartridge 8, the recording head 7 is fixed on a surface facing the recording paper 6, and the ink supply port 18 of the ink cartridge 8 is provided on the bottom surface 21 of the frame. An ink supply needle 22 is implanted at a position facing the ink supply needle 22. The ink supply needle 22 is connected to an ink flow path of the recording head main body 24 by an ink supply path 23 formed in the holder 20 so that ink can be supplied to the recording head 7.

  In addition, an ink cartridge attachment detecting means 25 comprising a switch or the like which is activated by the attachment of the ink cartridge 8 is provided on a surface in contact with the ink cartridge, in this embodiment, on the bottom surface 21.

A circuit board 26 connected to the above-described cable 13 is housed on a side surface of the holder 20, and is connected to the recording head main body 24 by a cable 27. The circuit board 26 includes a drive signal generation semiconductor device 28 that generates a printhead drive signal based on a print signal transmitted by the cable 13, and a storage unit that stores data of the type, specification, and drive conditions of the printhead 7. The semiconductor memory device and the like constituting the semiconductor device 29 are mounted.
Even in the case of recording heads manufactured in the same process, since the dot size and the flying speed of ink droplets are slightly different between the heads, data for correcting such an instrumental error is also stored. .

  On the other hand, the ink cartridge 8 is formed by forming an ink chamber 30 containing a porous material impregnated with ink, and an ink supply port 18 communicating with the ink chamber 30 and engaging the ink supply needle 22 in a liquid-tight manner. Further, the storage means 15 is provided at a position where the mounting to the holder 20 is not hindered, in this embodiment, at the upper surface.

  In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 16 is configured to wirelessly communicate with the storage unit 15. However, a contact is provided on the surface where the ink cartridge 8 and the holder 20 are in contact with each other. The same operation can be achieved by connecting the and the contacts with a cable to communicate with the control means 14.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. The control means 40 controls the carriage drive motor 3 based on print data input from the host, and generates a drive signal for the printhead 7. It controls the head drive means 41 of the device 28 to output a drive signal corresponding to print data and a flushing drive signal for eliminating clogging.

  When the ink cartridge 8 is replaced or when the recording head 7 is clogged, the pump driving unit 42 is used to seal the recording head 7 with the cap member 9 and apply a negative pressure. , And controls the number of rotations and suction time of the suction pump 12.

  The ink remaining amount managing unit 43 is configured to calculate the printable ink amount or one ink amount data stored in the storage unit 29 of the recording head 7 or the storage unit 15 of the ink cartridge 8 and the driving conditions of the head driving unit 41. The amount of consumed ink is calculated, and the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge 8 is calculated.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the power is turned on (step b), it is determined whether or not the ink cartridge 8 is mounted (step b). If the ink cartridge 8 is not mounted, an alarm is issued to urge the mounting (step c).
When the user mounts the ink cartridge 8 based on the alarm (step d), the control means 40 reads data from the storage means 15 of the ink cartridge 8 and the storage means 29 of the recording head 7 (step e), and 8 and the recording head 7 are determined to be compatible (step f).

  If the ink cartridge 8 and the recording head 7 are compatible, the control means 40 reads and sets the ink filling conditions from the storage means 15 and the storage means 29 (step).

  The pump driving unit 42 is mounted by moving the carriage 1 to the capping position, sealing the recording head 7 with the cap member 9, and controlling the set filling conditions, that is, the suction force and the suction time of the suction pump 12. The ink is forcibly ejected at a suction pressure and time suitable for the number of nozzles and the nozzle diameter of the recording head 7 and the ink properties such as the ink viscosity of the ink cartridge 8 at the time of initial mounting. Filling the recording head 7 with ink while discharging the product liquid filled in the recording head 7 and, at the time of replacement, discharging air bubbles and the like that have entered the recording head 7 by attaching and detaching the ink cartridge 8 to the outside of the system together with the ink. I do.

  For example, when a recording head having a large number of nozzles is mounted as the recording head 7 and the viscosity of the ink in the ink cartridge 8 is high, the suction pressure is increased to suck the ink to reliably fill the ink. When the number is small or when the nozzle diameter is large, the suction pressure is reduced and suction is performed to reduce the ink consumption.

  When an incompatible ink cartridge 8 is mounted or replaced with an incompatible recording head, an alarm is issued to prompt the user to replace the ink cartridge 8 or the recording head 7 (steply), and to fill the incompatible ink. This prevents print quality from deteriorating and damage to the recording head 7 due to the like. Then, when the ink cartridge 8 and the recording head 7 are replaced (Step No), the process returns to Step (E) to judge compatibility.

  On the other hand, if the ink cartridge 8 is already mounted from the beginning of the power supply (step b), the data is read from the ink cartridge 8 and the recording head 7 (step) to determine compatibility (step e). If not, an alarm is issued to urge the exchange of the ink cartridge 8 or the recording head 7 (step ヌ).

  When it is confirmed that the recording head 7 is filled with the proper ink in this manner, the data is read from the storage unit 15 of the ink cartridge 8 and the storage unit 29 of the recording head 7 to perform printing or ejection. Set the ink droplet ejection conditions for recovery (step w) and wait for print data input (step f).

  When print data is input in this state, the control means 40 forms dots corresponding to the print data based on the data stored in the storage means 15 of the ink cartridge 8 and the storage means 29 of the recording head 7 to form dots. A driving signal is output from the head driving unit 41. At this time, the drive signal is changed by adjusting, for example, the voltage, the application time, and further the rate of change of the voltage and the current in consideration of the ink droplet ejection characteristics of the head stored in the storage unit 29 of the recording head 1. Then, printing is performed by ejecting ink droplets so that the dots are the same as the dots formed by the same type of recording head and are uniform by all the nozzle openings of the recording head (step Y).

  On the other hand, when the flushing cycle specified by the ejection recovery data stored in the storage unit 15 corresponding to the type of the head arrives (step), the control unit 40 moves the carriage 1 to the non-printing area and performs recording. The head 7 is opposed to the ink receiver such as the cap member 9 and the like, and a drive signal is output to the recording head 7 to eject the number of ink droplets specified by the ejection recovery data or the specified amount of ink (step 4). ).

  For example, when printing with a recording head having a small nozzle diameter and ink having a large volatilization rate of the ink solvent and a high viscosity increase rate, a shorter flushing cycle may be set, or the amount of ink ejected by flushing may be increased. Control.

  The remaining ink amount determining means 43 counts the number of ink droplets ejected from the recording head 7 during the printing or the ejection recovery operation, and stores the recording head 7 stored in the storage means 15 of the ink cartridge 8. The amount of ink ejected as an ink droplet based on the sum of the amount of ink per droplet from the ink and the amount of ink sucked by the suction pump 12 are added to manage the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge 8, and The remaining amount is written in the storage means 15. When the control unit 40 determines that the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge 8 is near end, the control unit 40 issues an alarm to urge replacement of the ink cartridge 8.

  Also at this time, the storage means 15 stores the amount of ink per drop and the amount of ink suctioned by the suction pump 12 as data according to the type of the mounted recording head 7, so that the recording head 7 and the ink cartridge Regardless of the combination with the ink cartridge 8, the ink in the ink cartridge 8 can be used to the maximum extent without interrupting the printing due to running out of ink.

Further, even with the same recording head, the amount of ink droplets and the flying speed can be adjusted by changing the driving conditions of the recording head.
For this reason, the storage means 29 of the recording head 7 stores data defining the type of the head and the driving conditions, while the storage means 15 of the ink cartridge 8 stores the driving conditions for each type of the recording head 7 suitable for the storage means 15. By storing the amount of ink stored, the amount of ink used for each recording head and for each driving condition can be calculated by the ink cartridge. This operation is continued until print data is exhausted (step S).

  By the way, in the ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing color printing, as shown in FIG. 5, the carriage 1 has two storage chambers 1a and 1b, one of which contains an ink cartridge 50 filled with black ink, and the other stores therein. It is configured to mount an ink cartridge 51 whose area is filled with color ink.

  For this reason, when the ink in one of the ink cartridges is consumed and the ink cartridge needs to be replaced, or when the ink cartridge is replaced to change the ink type due to a change in the specification of a printed material, etc. In addition, there is a possibility that an ink cartridge having different specifications between the black ink and the color ink may be mounted.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a recording apparatus for coping with such a problem. The ink cartridges 50 and 51 are provided with storage means 52 and 53, respectively. Reference numeral 53 denotes an access from the control means 40 via communication means, in this embodiment, contact members 54 and 55 provided on the carriage 1.
In this embodiment, a storage unit 44 accessible from the control unit 40 is provided, and when two ink cartridges are mounted on the carriage 1, compatibility between these ink cartridges is determined. The data to be determined is stored.

  FIG. 7 shows the structure of an ink cartridge for accessing the storage means of the cartridge by such a contact type and the structure of the carriage, taking a black ink cartridge as an example. Is fixed to a circuit board 57 on which a semiconductor memory means 52 is mounted and an electrode 56 connected to the semiconductor memory means 52 is formed on a side opposed to the side face in this embodiment. Is formed by forming a contact point 58 for contact which resiliently contacts the electrode 56.

The storage units 52 and 53 of the black ink cartridge 50 and the color ink cartridge 51 respectively include:
The data described in the above embodiment, that is, (1) the type or property of the contained ink, the type of the applicable recording head,
(2) The effective amount of ink contained, that is, the printable amount, the amount of one drop of ink depending on the type of head,
(3) Maintenance of the flushing cycle corresponding to the type of recording head, the number or duration of the ink droplets to be ejected, and the voltage of the drive signal for flushing, the application time, the rate of change of the voltage and current, etc. conditions,
(4) Suction pressure, suction speed, operation time, suction amount, etc. of a suction pump that forcibly discharges ink by applying a negative pressure to the nozzle opening upon replacement of an ink cartridge corresponding to the type of recording head. Maintenance conditions when filling ink,
In addition to,
(5) When a plurality of ink cartridges are used as a set, data such as data specifying the type and specification of the other compatible ink, the type of the ink cartridge, or a character string having a unique relationship with these data Is stored. In the case where various data are stored in the form of character strings, the decrypted data may be stored in the recording device, and the storage capacity of the storage means 52 and 53 can be significantly reduced.

That is, for example, in order to print a high lightfast printed matter with high print quality for outdoor exhibition, for black ink and color ink, each is also formulated with a chemical for improving lightfastness, For example, since the viscosity of ink for printing business documents and the degree of coloring are different, optimal printing quality cannot be obtained unless both the black ink cartridge 50 and the color ink cartridge 51 are for outdoor display. .
For this reason, especially in color printing, it is necessary to determine whether the two ink cartridges 50 and 51 mounted on the carriage 1 are suitable for the printing purpose.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the check of the ink cartridge is executed by the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG.
That is, when, for example, the black ink cartridge 50 is mounted on the carriage 1 (step b), the control means 40 reads data from the storage means 52 of the cartridge 50 (step b), and (Step c).

  If the compatibility with the recording head 7 cannot be confirmed, or if it is not compatible, the subsequent operation is stopped without performing the operation of filling the recording head with ink, and the display means of the recording device or the host device Displays a warning that the black ink cartridge is incompatible (step d) and waits for re-installation (step e).

When re-attachment or the compatibility between the ink cartridge and the recording head 7 which have been initially attached are confirmed, it is determined whether or not a specified number of cartridges have been attached to the carriage 1 (step F).
When the next ink cartridge, in this embodiment, a color ink cartridge, is mounted before the predetermined time has elapsed, the control means 40 reads data from the storage means 53 of the cartridge 51 (step b), and Judge the suitability of (step c). When the specified time has elapsed, the process moves to the next step.

  If the compatibility with the recording head 7 cannot be confirmed, or if it is not compatible, the subsequent operation is stopped without performing the operation of filling the recording head 7 with ink, and the display means of the recording apparatus or the host A warning to the effect that the black ink cartridge is incompatible is displayed on the device (step d), and waiting for re-installation (step e).

  If the compatibility between the color ink cartridge and the recording head 7 can be confirmed, the control unit 40 determines whether the printing specifications of the black ink cartridge 50 and the color ink cartridge 51 are the same. (Stepch). If the specifications do not match, that is, if one is for outdoor exhibition and the other is for business documents, the operation of the subsequent device is stopped and the two ink cartridges are displayed on the display means of the recording device or the host device. Warning that the specifications do not match.

  When the user replaces one of the cartridges based on the warning (step n), the steps (b) to (e) are repeated to confirm compatibility with the recording head 7 and conformity of the specifications of the cartridges. In this case, the control unit 40 reads out the specifications of the previous ink cartridges 50 and 51 stored in the storage unit 44 (step), and the currently installed ink cartridges 50 and 51 read the specifications of the previous ink. It is determined whether they match or not (step e). If the specifications match, ink is sucked in such an amount that bubbles entering the recording head 7 when the cartridge is replaced, for example, 0.2 cc (step w).

  On the other hand, if the specifications of the ink are changed after the replacement, a relatively large amount of ink, for example, about 0.4 cc is sucked to discharge the ink of the previous cartridge remaining in the recording head 7 and the flow path ( Step f).

  When the recording head 7 has been filled with ink, the control means 40 stores data relating to the specifications of the ink in the ink cartridges 50 and 51 in the storage means 44 of the main body (step y), and the subsequent printing operation is possible. Let's do it (Stepta).

  As a result, even in a recording apparatus capable of printing using various inks, it is possible to prevent print quality from being degraded due to an ink cartridge selection error.

  In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which a semiconductor storage unit is used as a data storage medium. However, the same operation can be performed by using another storage unit such as a magnetic storage unit or an optical storage unit. It is clear to play.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recording apparatus of the type in which the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage has been described. Obviously, it has a similar effect.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the compatibility between the ink cartridge and the recording head is also determined. However, if a highly versatile recording head is used, the compatibility between the ink cartridge and the recording head is determined. Even if the compatibility between cartridges is determined without making a determination, it is possible to obtain a printed matter with desired quality.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an embodiment of an ink cartridge holder mounted on a carriage and an ink cartridge mounted on the holder, respectively. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an energy saving device. FIG. 7 is a view showing another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing the structures of the ink cartridge and the carriage, respectively. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the above device when an ink cartridge is replaced.

Explanation of reference numerals

    DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 7 Recording head 8 Ink cartridge 15 Storage means 26 Circuit board 29 Storage means

Claims (7)

  In an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet recording head, an ink cartridge for supplying ink to the ink jet recording head, and control means for controlling the recording head in accordance with print data, data defining the type of the recording head Is provided in the ink cartridge, and storage means is provided in the ink cartridge for storing data defining the type of print head compatible with the ink accommodated therein, based on the data in each of the storage means. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a controller configured to determine compatibility between the ink cartridge and the recording head, and to execute a printing operation based on the data when the compatibility is determined.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is provided with storage means for storing data defining the type of the recording head.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage means provided in the ink cartridge stores data of the amount of one drop of ink for each type of the recording head.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein maintenance data for each type of said recording head is stored in a storage means provided in said ink cartridge.   The storage means provided in the recording head stores the driving conditions of the recording head, and the storage means provided in the ink cartridge stores data of the ink consumption for each applicable driving condition of the recording head. The inkjet recording device according to claim 1.   An ink cartridge provided with a storage unit for storing data defining the type of ink and the type of a suitable recording head.   An ink cartridge comprising storage means for storing data defining the type of ink, the type of print head to be adapted, and data on the amount of ink per drop for each type of print head.

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