JP2007001186A - Recorder and method for recovering the recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder and its recovering method which enable waste ink to be prevented from overflowing and scattering without making a print-out time and throughput worsened and silence spoiled exceeding the allowable degree. <P>SOLUTION: The operation for recovering an inkjet recording head is performed. The recording is performed with the inkjet recording head discharging ink to a recording medium. The recorder is controlled so that both the operations of recording and discharging ink may be performed in parallel in the operation of discharging the ink consumed in the recovering operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recovery method of the recording apparatus, and more particularly to a recording apparatus that performs recording using an inkjet recording head and a recovery method of the recording apparatus that recovers an inkjet recording head.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet recording apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as recording apparatuses) have been widely researched and developed because of their advantages such as compactness, high speed, and quietness, and are widely used as printers.

  In such a recording apparatus, the viscosity of the ink near the nozzle port increases due to evaporation of the solvent in the ink from the ink discharge port (nozzle port) of the ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as the recording head), and foreign matter such as dust is present in the nozzle port. If it adheres, there may be a problem that ink droplets do not eject, so-called non-ejection, or ink droplet ejection direction deflects, so-called twist.

  Therefore, the recording device has a cap for preventing evaporation of the solvent in the ink from the nozzle port and preventing foreign matter from adhering to the nozzle port, and a suction unit for sucking and discharging high viscosity ink from the nozzle port. Many are provided with a recovery mechanism comprising discharging means and the like.

  In such a recording apparatus, generally, when a recording (printing) command is input, recovery processing using the recovery mechanism as described above is performed, and then recording is performed on a recording medium (for example, recording paper). Done. Therefore, the time required for the recovery process affects the printout time of the recording apparatus (the time from when the print command is input until the recording medium is ejected).

  Therefore, the time required for the recovery process is required to be short, but since there is a limit to shortening the time required for the recovery process, for example, the recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 supplies, for example, a recording medium. By operating the above-described recovery mechanism simultaneously with the operation of the transporting means for transporting the paper, the time required for the recovery process is eliminated from affecting the printout time.

  On the other hand, a recording apparatus having the above-described recovery mechanism is generally provided with waste ink holding means for holding sucked and discharged ink.

  Nowadays, a fairly compact recording apparatus is commercialized mainly for printing images taken with a digital camera or the like on a relatively small recording paper such as an L size. It has become to. In such a recording apparatus, it is required to reduce the waste ink holding means in order to reduce the size of the product.

  However, since there is a limit to downsizing, various recording apparatuses have been proposed in which the waste ink holding means is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus and can be replaced.

  An example of such a recording apparatus is disclosed in Patent Document 2.

When the waste ink holding means is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus, the waste ink may overflow or scatter at the junction between the waste ink holding means and the recording apparatus. In the recording apparatus, the end of the waste ink tube is attached to a portion of the waste ink container that is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus, and the waste ink can be absorbed by holding the end of the waste ink tube. A member is provided to prevent the waste ink from scattering at the junction between the waste ink container and the recording apparatus.
JP-A-8-224865 JP-A-3-5159

  However, even in the recording apparatus configured as in Patent Document 2, when the amount of discharged ink is large, the recording paper feeding / conveying operation is generally performed as in the recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1. If the ink is discharged within a short time, the ink discharge speed to the waste ink holding means exceeds the permeation speed of the waste ink in the member capable of absorbing the waste ink, and the waste ink holding means and the recording device There arises a problem that waste ink overflows and scatters at the joint portion.

  In addition, as in the recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a large amount of ink is to be discharged within a short period of time during the recording paper feeding / conveying operation, the suction discharge means must be driven at high speed. Therefore, there is a problem that the driving sound of the suction / discharge means is increased and the quietness of the apparatus is impaired.

  On the other hand, in order to prevent the waste ink from overflowing and scattering at the joint between the detachable waste ink holding means and the recording apparatus, and to prevent the quietness from being impaired, the ink is always If the discharge time is lengthened, the ink discharge time will affect the printout time and throughput of the recording device in many recording devices, and the printout time and throughput of the recording device will deteriorate more than necessary. To do.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and further, for example, a recording apparatus capable of preventing overflow and scattering of waste ink without deteriorating printout time and throughput more than necessary, and recording thereof. The object is to provide a method for recovering the device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.

  That is, a recovery method for a recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an inkjet recording head to a recording medium, and a recovery step of recovering the inkjet recording head; and the inkjet recording head discharges ink to the recording medium A recording step for performing recording, a discharging step for discharging the ink consumed in the recovery step, and a control step for controlling the recording operation in the recording step and the discharging operation in the discharging step in parallel. It is characterized by having.

  Further, it is desirable to measure an elapsed time from when the recovery operation is performed until the next recording operation instruction is input, and to change the recovery operation procedure according to the measured elapsed time.

  For example, when the elapsed time is less than the first time, the recovery process performs preliminary ejection by operating the ink jet recording head, while the elapsed time is longer than the first time. In the recovery step, the ink is preferably sucked from the ink discharge port of the ink jet recording head.

  In this way, the ink consumed in the recovery step is temporarily stored in the ink reservoir, and in the discharge step, the ink temporarily stored in the ink reservoir is discharged as waste ink to the waste ink tank. Good.

  It is preferable that the control step further controls the discharge of the waste ink to the waste ink tank before the recording operation ends, and the time required for the discharge of the waste ink is the size of the recording medium. Further, it is preferable to change the discharge mode according to the recording mode of recording on the recording medium, for example, to control the discharge speed when discharging the waste ink as the size of the recording medium increases.

  According to another invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium using an ink jet recording head, the recovery means for recovering the ink jet recording head, and driving the ink jet recording head to the recording medium. A recording unit that performs recording by discharging ink, a discharging unit that discharges ink consumed in the recovery unit, and a control that controls the recording operation by the recording unit and the discharging operation by the discharging unit in parallel. And a recording device.

  Further, a measuring means for measuring an elapsed time from the execution of the recovery operation by the recovery means until a next recording operation instruction is input, and the recovery operation procedure according to the elapsed time measured by the measuring means. It is desirable to provide a procedure changing means for changing.

  With this configuration, when the elapsed time is less than the first time, the recovery unit operates the ink jet recording head to perform preliminary ejection, or the elapsed time is less than the first time. In the case where the second time is exceeded, ink can be sucked from the ink discharge port of the ink jet recording head.

  Furthermore, a cap that covers the ink ejection surface of the ink jet recording head, a wiper that wipes the ink ejection surface, an ink reservoir that temporarily stores the ink consumed by the recovery means, and a temporary storage in the ink reservoir. It is desirable to have a waste ink tank that is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus, for example, to discharge the discharged ink as waste ink. The ink reservoir is a cylinder constituting a pump for discharging the ink stored therein to a waste ink tank, and the discharge means has a pump motor for driving the pump. Is desirable.

  In addition, the preliminary ejection is controlled so that preliminary ejection is performed on the ink absorber in the cap, and the ink sucked from the ink ejection port of the inkjet recording head is absorbed by the ink absorber. The discharge means introduces ink contained in the ink absorber into the cylinder by moving the piston in the cylinder from top dead center to bottom dead center, and moves the piston from bottom dead center to top dead center. It is preferable to control so that the ink introduced into the cylinder is discharged to the waste ink tank by being moved.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the printout time and the throughput are not deteriorated more than necessary by discharging the ink consumed by the recovery operation to the recording operation.

  In addition, for example, there is an effect that waste ink can be prevented from overflowing and scattering by controlling the time required for discharging the waste ink. Furthermore, the quietness of the apparatus can be maintained by controlling the drive of a motor that is a drive source for discharging waste ink.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) is not only for forming significant information such as characters and figures, but also for human beings visually perceived regardless of significance. Regardless of whether or not it has been manifested, it also represents a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or the medium is processed.

  “Recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also widely to cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and the like that can accept ink. Shall.

  Furthermore, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) is to be interpreted broadly in the same way as the definition of “recording (printing)” above. It represents a liquid that can be used for forming a pattern or the like, processing a recording medium, or processing an ink (for example, solidification or insolubilization of a colorant in ink applied to the recording medium).

  Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the “nozzle” collectively refers to an ejection port or a liquid channel communicating with the ejection port and an element that generates energy used for ink ejection.

<Description of Inkjet Recording Apparatus (FIG. 1)>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a recording apparatus) that is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a paper feed mechanism for feeding a recording medium (for example, recording paper), and 2 is a transport mechanism for transporting the recording paper in a direction perpendicular to the arrow A direction (hereinafter referred to as sub-scanning direction). Reference numeral 3 denotes a transport motor (hereinafter referred to as LF motor) that generates a driving force for operating the paper feed mechanism 1 and the transport mechanism 2. 4 is a carriage, 5 is a carriage motor (hereinafter referred to as a CR motor) that generates a driving force for reciprocating the carriage 4 in the direction of arrow A (hereinafter referred to as main scanning direction), and 6 is a carriage 5 that is reciprocated in the main scanning direction. In this case, a guide shaft 7 for guiding and supporting the carriage 5 is a recovery mechanism including a cap, a suction / discharge means, a known wiping means, and the like.

  Reference numeral 100 denotes an ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) mounted on the carriage 6.

  In the recording apparatus configured as described above, the recording medium is intermittently conveyed using the driving force generated from the LF motor 3, but when the recording medium is stopped, the CR motor 5 causes the recording medium to move in the main scanning direction. A recording head 100 mounted on the carriage 4 that is reciprocally scanned ejects ink onto a recording medium to perform recording.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the main part of the recovery mechanism.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a nozzle port surface on which 600 ink discharge ports (nozzle ports) are formed at intervals of 1200 dpi (dots / inch) in the sub-scanning direction, and 110 denotes ink configured to be detachable from the recording head 100. The tank 210 is generally a cap made of an elastic material such as rubber in order to ensure adhesion with the nozzle mouth surface 101.

  The cap 210 is provided at a position where the recording head 100 is capped as shown in FIG. That is, when the cap 210 is at the capping position where the cap 210 is relatively in contact with the nozzle port surface 101 shown in FIG. 2, all the nozzle ports (not shown) of the recording head 100 are arranged to be capped. .

  Further, the cap 210 is configured to be reciprocally movable in the direction of arrow C by a known attaching / detaching means (not shown) including a cam, a motor, and the like. The capping position and the cap 210 are separated from the nozzle mouth surface 101. It can reciprocate between the separated positions (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, a suction tube 220 is connected to the cap 210, and a cylinder pump 230 serving as a suction / discharge unit is connected to the suction tube 220. The suction tube 220 is provided with a check valve 221 that can move fluid only in the arrow Q direction. Further, a drain (discharge) tube 240 is connected to the cylinder pump 230, and a drain needle 242 is connected to an end portion on the opposite side to the side where the drain tube 240 is connected to the cylinder pump 230. The drain tube 240 is also provided with a check valve 241 that can move the fluid only in the arrow H direction.

  Further, a waste ink tank 300 as a waste ink holding means having a waste ink absorption holding member 310 made of a porous material or the like inside is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus. Therefore, the waste ink tank 300 is provided with a drain opening 301 so that the drain needle 242 is inserted into the waste ink absorption holding member 310 when the waste ink tank 300 is attached to the recording apparatus. Furthermore, the waste ink tank 300 is provided with an opening 302 so that volatile components in the waste ink absorbed and held in the waste ink absorption holding member 310 are easily evaporated.

  Further, an atmospheric communication tube 250 is connected to the cap 210, and the atmospheric communication tube 250 has an inside of the cap formed by the cap 210 and the nozzle face 101 when the cap 210 is located at the capping position. An atmosphere communication valve 251 that controls whether the space 150 communicates with the atmosphere is provided.

  Further, the cap inner space 150 is provided with an ink absorber 215 made of a porous material or the like, as shown in FIG. The reciprocating movement of the piston 231 in the cylinder pump 230 is performed via a gear train, a lead screw, etc. (not shown) and a piston shaft 232 by forward and reverse rotation of a pump motor (not shown) provided in the recording apparatus. Is called.

  Note that, as described above, the ink cartridge 6 and the recording head 3 may be configured to be separable, but a replaceable head cartridge IJC may be configured by integrally forming them.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a head cartridge IJC in which an ink tank and a recording head are integrally formed. In FIG. 3, a dotted line K is a boundary line between the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH. The head cartridge IJC is provided with an electrode (not shown) for receiving an electrical signal supplied from the carriage 2 when it is mounted on the carriage 4, and the recording head IJH is driven by the electrical signal. Ink is ejected.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 500 denotes an ink discharge port array. The ink tank IT is provided with a fibrous or porous ink absorber to hold ink.

<Control Configuration of Inkjet Recording Apparatus (FIG. 4)>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 600 includes an MPU 601, a program corresponding to a control sequence to be described later, a required table, a ROM 602 storing other fixed data, control of the carriage motor 5, control of the transport motor 3, and the following. A special purpose integrated circuit (ASIC) 603 for generating image data processing and control signals for recording control of the recording head 3 described in detail below, a RAM 604 provided with a development area for image data, a work area for program execution, and the like. , MPU 601, ASIC 603, and RAM 604 are connected to each other, a system bus 605 that exchanges data, inputs analog signals from sensor groups described below, performs A / D conversion, and supplies digital signals to MPU 601. It is composed of a D converter 606 and the like.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 610 denotes a computer (or a reader for image reading, a digital camera, etc.) serving as a supply source of image data, and is collectively referred to as a host device. Image data, commands, status signals, and the like are transmitted and received between the host apparatus 610 and the recording apparatus 1 via an interface (I / F) 611.

  Further, reference numeral 620 denotes a switch group, which instructs activation of a power switch 621, a print switch 622 for instructing printing start, and a process (recovery process) for maintaining the ink ejection performance of the recording head 3 in a good state. For example, a recovery switch 623 for receiving a command input from the operator. Reference numeral 630 denotes a position sensor 631 such as a photocoupler for detecting the home position h, a temperature sensor 632 provided at an appropriate location of the recording apparatus for detecting the environmental temperature, and the like. It is a sensor group.

  Further, 640 is a carriage motor driver for driving the carriage motor 5 for reciprocating scanning of the carriage 4 in the direction of arrow A, and 642 is a transport motor driver for driving the transport motor 3 for transporting the recording medium.

  The ASIC 603 transfers drive data (DATA) of the printing element (ejection heater) to the printing head while directly accessing the storage area of the RAM 602 during printing scanning by the printing head 3.

  Further, the recording apparatus is provided with a timer 608, and counts the time since the previous recovery sequence execution. The previous recovery sequence execution time is stored in the EEPROM 607.

  Next, an example of a recovery sequence executed by the recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that all the components of the recording apparatus before the start of the recovery sequence are located at the home position. The home position of the atmosphere communication valve 251 is in the valve open state.

  The recovery sequence of this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as recovery sequence 1) is executed when 480 hours (20 days) or more have elapsed since the print command was input to the recording apparatus.

  When more than 480 hours have passed since the previous print command, the ink solvent evaporates from the nozzle port of the recording head 100 and the viscosity of the ink near the nozzle port increases. Ink with increased viscosity in the vicinity of the nozzle opening is sucked and discharged from the nozzle opening. Specifically, the ink discharge performance of the recording head 100 is recovered by sucking and discharging 1 ml (milliliter) of ink.

  Hereinafter, the recovery sequence 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recovery sequence according to this embodiment.

  First, when a print command is input in step S30, the process proceeds to step S31, and the feeding mechanism 1 is driven to start feeding the recording medium. At the same time, the air communication valve 251 is closed in step S301. That is, in order to shorten the printing time, the recording medium feeding and the recovery process are started simultaneously.

  After the air communication valve 251 is closed, in step S302, the pump motor is rotated to move the piston 231 from the home position (position shown in FIG. 2) to the rightmost position in FIG. Thereafter, the ink is moved to the bottom dead center) and ink is sucked from the nozzle openings of the recording head 100. Hereinafter, the movement of the piston 231 from the home position (hereinafter, top dead center) to the bottom dead center is referred to as a suction direction stroke. Incidentally, the movement in the opposite direction, the movement from the bottom dead center to the top dead center of the piston 231 is referred to as a drain direction stroke.

  During this period (that is, while the piston 231 performs the suction direction stroke), the atmospheric communication valve is opened at a predetermined timing (a timing at which the amount of ink sucked becomes 1 ml). After the atmosphere communication valve is opened, the ink that has been absorbed in the ink absorber 215 is sucked into the cylinder pump 230 together with the air that flows into the cap inner space 150 through the atmosphere communication tube 250. Suction will be performed. In this embodiment, the rotational speed of the pump motor at this time is a rotational speed equivalent to performing a suction direction stroke in 4 seconds. Further, the rotational speed of the pump motor during this period is constant, and the moving speed of the piston 231 is also substantially constant.

  The rotation direction of the pump motor at this time is hereinafter referred to as a CW (clockwise) direction.

  Note that the time required to execute steps S301 to S302 is 4.5 seconds.

  Accordingly, in the recovery sequence 1, the time from the input of the print command in step S30 to the end of the ink suction process for sucking ink from the nozzle ports of the recording head 100 is 4.5 seconds.

  After step S302 is completed, in step S303, the cap 210 is moved to the above-described separation position, and at the same time, the pump motor is rotated in a direction opposite to the CW direction (hereinafter, CCW (counterclockwise) direction). Then, the piston 231 is moved from the bottom dead center to the top dead center, and the drain direction stroke for discharging (draining) the ink sucked into the cylinder pump 230 to the waste ink tank 300 is started. The rotational speed of the pump motor at this time is set according to the size of the recording medium and the recording (printing) mode. The rotational speed of the pump motor at this time will be described in detail later. When the cap 210 is moved to the separation position, a known operation such as wiping is performed in step S304.

  The time required to execute steps S303 to S304 is 3 seconds. Accordingly, the time required to execute steps S301 to S304 is 7.5 seconds.

  On the other hand, after the print command is input, the recording medium that has started feeding is transported to a predetermined print start position by the transport mechanism 2 in step S32, and then waits for the processing in step S304 to end.

  Since the time required to execute steps S31 to S32 is about 7 seconds, the time waiting for the completion of step S304 is about 0.5 seconds. After the process of step S304 is complete | finished, a process progresses to step S320 and starts printing operation.

  The printing operation in step S320 is controlled according to the size of the recording medium and the print mode that are simultaneously input as header data when a print command is input. The outline of the printing operation will be briefly described below.

  The scanning length (hereinafter referred to as scanning length) of the carriage 4 on which the recording head 100 is mounted is obtained by adding a margin of 2 mm and the acceleration / deceleration length of the carriage 4 to the size of the recording medium in the main scanning direction. The CR motor 5 is driven and controlled so that Further, the time required for the carriage 4 to scan the length obtained by subtracting the acceleration / deceleration length from the scan length (hereinafter referred to as one scan time) is the length obtained by subtracting the acceleration / deceleration length from the scan length. The time is divided by 508 mm / second (= 20 inches / second), which is the fast scanning speed.

  The number of scans of the carriage 4 in the main scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as the number of scans) is controlled to be the following number according to the size of the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction and the print mode.

  In this embodiment, three types of print modes “fast”, “standard”, and “beautiful” are used. Then, the conveyance amount per recording medium (hereinafter referred to as LF amount) of the intermittently conveyed recording medium is controlled so as to become the following values according to the three types of print modes.

(1) When the print mode is “fast” The LF amount is the same as the length in the sub-scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as 1-pass print width) that can be recorded on the recording medium during one scan of the recording head 100. The rotation amount of the LF motor 3 is controlled so as to be 12.7 mm (= 0.5 inch).

(2) When the print mode is “standard” The rotation amount of the LF motor 3 is controlled so that the LF amount is 3.175 mm (= 0.125 inch), which is ¼ of the one-pass print width. The

(3) When the print mode is “clean” The rotation amount of the LF motor 3 is controlled so that the LF amount is 1.5875 mm (= 0.0625 inch), which is 1/8 of the one-pass print width. The

  Note that, as described above, 600 nozzle ports are formed in the nozzle port surface 101 of the recording head 100 with a resolution of 1200 dpi in the sub-scanning direction, so that the one-pass print width is 600/1200 = 0. 5 inches (= 12.7 mm). Further, when the print mode is “standard” or “clean”, the LF amount is made smaller than the one-pass print width, and the recording is performed by dividing the ink discharge into a plurality of scans of the recording head 100. High image quality is achieved by performing so-called multi-pass printing.

  The number of scans in this embodiment is controlled to be a value obtained by dividing a size obtained by adding a margin of 2 mm to the size of the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction by an LF amount corresponding to the print mode (a value rounded up to an integer). .

  As described above, the printing operation is controlled.

  Accordingly, the time required for the printing operation in step S320 (hereinafter referred to as printing time) is one scanning time determined in accordance with the size of the recording medium in the main scanning direction, the acceleration / deceleration time of the carriage 4 and the time during which the LF motor is rotated. The time obtained by adding the loss time between the scans of the carriage 4 (0.1 second in this embodiment) to the number of scans determined according to the sub-scanning direction size of the recording medium and the print mode. That is, the printing time is determined according to the size of the recording medium (main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction) and the print mode.

  Accordingly, the time from the input of the print command in the recovery sequence 1 to the end of the recording process in which the recording head 100 discharges ink onto the recording medium and performs recording (printing) is also determined according to the size of the recording medium and the print mode. .

  After the process of step S320 is completed, the recording medium is discharged out of the recording apparatus in step S330, and then the process returns to step S30 and waits for the input of the next print command.

  The time required for discharging the recording medium is about 4 seconds.

  Therefore, in the recovery sequence 1, the time from the input of the print command to the end of the recording medium discharging process for discharging the recording medium to the outside of the recording apparatus is also set as the time required for discharging the recording medium (4 seconds) to the printing time. The time is determined according to the size of the medium and the print mode.

  On the other hand, the rotation of the pump motor in the drain direction stroke in step S310 started after the end of step S302 is a rotation speed corresponding to performing the drain direction stroke in a time set according to the size of the recording medium and the print mode. Done in During this time, the rotational speed of the pump motor is constant, and the moving speed of the piston 231 is substantially constant.

  Now, after the end of the drain direction stroke in step S310, the process returns to step S30 and waits for the input of another print command. However, before the process of step S310 is completed, the process of step S330 is completed, and further printing is performed again. If the command is also input, the operation associated with the input of the print command cannot be started again until the process of step S310 is completed.

  The reason for this is that when a print command is input again, the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is short, but even before that, before the start of recording, the recording head 100 is driven and the ink absorber in the cap 210 is driven. It is necessary to restore the ink ejection performance of the recording head 100 by ejecting ink to 215 (hereinafter referred to as preliminary ejection), and the piston 231 in the cylinder pump 230 is moved to the home position in order to suck the preliminarily ejected ink. This is because it is necessary to return to (top dead center).

  For this reason, when the end of the drain direction stroke is delayed as compared with the end of the recording medium ejection operation, the throughput of the recording apparatus deteriorates.

  Here, the deterioration of the throughput will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a list of time (drain time) required for the stroke in the drain direction set according to the size of the recording medium and the print mode.

  Of the six cases shown in FIG. 6, when the size of the recording medium is “business card” size and the print mode is other than “fast”, the process of step S310 ends immediately before the process of step S330 ends. The rotation of the pump motor is controlled so that the stroke in the drain direction is performed. In other words, the pump motor is calculated at such a rotational speed that the time required for the processing in step S320 and the processing in step S330 is calculated from the size of the recording medium and the printing mode, and the drain direction stroke ends immediately before the recording medium is discharged. Is rotated.

  By doing so, it is possible to appropriately control the rotational speed of the pump motor without deteriorating the throughput of the recording apparatus, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in silence due to the driving sound of the pump motor.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the CR motor and the LF motor are driven while the stroke in the drain direction is being executed, that is, while the pump motor is being driven, suppressing the drive noise of the pump motor maintains the quietness of the recording apparatus. Greatly contribute to

  On the other hand, when the size of the recording medium is “business card” and the print mode is “fast”, the drain time is 8.0 seconds, that is, the rotation speed is equivalent to performing the drain direction stroke in 8.0 seconds. The pump motor is controlled to rotate.

  The reason for this is that when 1 ml of ink sucked into the cylinder pump 230 in step S302 is drained to the waste ink tank 300, if the stroke in the drain direction is performed in a time shorter than 8.0 seconds, the recording device and the waste ink tank This is because the waste ink may overflow or scatter at the junction with 300, that is, in the vicinity of the drain opening 301.

  When the size of the recording medium is “business card” and the print mode is “fast”, the time required for printing and discharging of the recording medium is 5.7 seconds, so that the stroke in the drain direction is less than the end of the stroke. Seven seconds ago, the discharge of the recording medium is completed.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, the moving speed of the piston 231 during the drain direction stroke is controlled according to the print medium calculated from the size of the print medium and the print mode and the time required for discharging the print medium. Also, by performing a stroke in the drain direction, the junction between the recording apparatus and the waste ink tank 300 is not caused without unnecessarily degrading the throughput of the recording apparatus and without unnecessarily degrading the quietness of the recording apparatus. It is also possible to prevent overflow and scattering of waste ink.

  In the first embodiment, an example of the recovery sequence executed when the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is long (when it is 480 hours or more) when a print command is input to the recording apparatus has been described. In the second embodiment, when the print command is input and the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is relatively short, specifically, the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is 168 hours (7 days). An example of a recovery sequence (hereinafter referred to as recovery sequence 2) executed in the case of less than () will be described.

  In the printing apparatus according to this embodiment, when the print command is input and the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is relatively short, less than 168 hours, the amount of evaporation of the solvent in the ink from the nozzle opening of the print head 100 Therefore, the ink ejection performance of the recording head 100 is recovered by discharging a small amount of high-viscosity ink near the nozzle opening by preliminary ejection.

  Hereinafter, the recovery sequence 2 will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recovery sequence according to this embodiment. In FIG. 7, the same processing steps as those already described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same step reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  When a print command is input, the process of step S31 is started, and at the same time, in step S501, the cap 210 is moved to the above-described separation position. Thereby, also in this embodiment, the recovery process is started simultaneously in order to shorten the printing time.

  Thereafter, in step S502, the recording head 100 is driven, and ink droplets are ejected from each of the 600 nozzle ports to the ink absorber 215 in the cap 210, and preliminary ejection is performed. Note that the time required to execute the processes in steps S501 to S502 is 1 second.

  Thereafter, in step S503, a well-known operation such as wiping is executed. At the same time, in step S510, the pump motor is rotated in the CW direction to move the piston 231 from the home position (top dead center) to the bottom dead center. Make a stroke. By this suction direction stroke, the ink discharged to the ink absorber 215 in the cap 210 in step S502 is sucked into the cylinder pump 230. The rotational speed of the pump motor at this time is a rotational speed corresponding to performing a suction direction stroke in 4 seconds. During this time, the rotational speed of the pump motor is constant and the moving speed of the piston 231 is also substantially constant. Therefore, the time required to execute steps S501 to 502 and step S510 is 5 seconds.

  That is, in the recovery sequence 2, the time from the input of the print command to the end of the preliminary ejection ink suction process in which the recording head 100 sucks the ejected ink in the preliminary ejection process of ejecting ink to the ink absorber 215 in the cap 210 is 5 Second. The amount of ink sucked into the cylinder pump 230 by the suction direction stroke is 0.015 ml.

  After execution of step S510, in step S520, the pump motor is rotated in the CCW direction, the piston 231 is moved from the bottom dead center to the top dead center, and the ink sucked into the cylinder pump 230 is discharged to the waste ink tank 300. Start the drain direction stroke. The rotational speed of the pump motor at this time will be described in detail later.

  On the other hand, after the operation such as wiping in step S503, the process waits for the recording medium to be conveyed to a predetermined print start position by the process in step S32.

  Since the time required to execute step S503 is 2 seconds and the time required to execute steps S31 to S32 is 7 seconds, the time to wait for the completion of step S52 is 4 seconds.

  If the print paper has been transported to a predetermined print start position, the process proceeds to step S3200 to start printing. The printing operation is the same as that described in the first embodiment. Accordingly, the print time is determined according to the image recording size (main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction) and the print mode, as in the first embodiment. Accordingly, in the recovery sequence 2, the time from the input of the print command to the end of the recording process in which the recording head 100 discharges ink onto the recording medium and performs recording (printing) is also determined according to the recording size of the image and the print mode. Become.

  After the process of step S320 is completed, the recording medium is ejected outside the recording apparatus in step S330, and then the process returns to step S30 to wait for the input of the print command again.

  Note that the time required for the processing in step S330 differs depending on the size of the recording medium and the recording size of the image (sub-scanning direction).

  On the other hand, the rotation of the pump motor during the drain direction stroke started after the end of step S510 corresponds to performing the drain direction stroke at a time set according to the print time calculated from the image recording size and the print mode. This is done according to the rotational speed. During this time, the rotational speed of the pump motor is constant, and the moving speed of the piston 231 is substantially constant. The time during which the drain direction stroke is performed is called the drain time. After the process of step S520 is completed, the process returns to step S30 and waits for the input of a print command again.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the drain time and the print time.

  In FIG. 8, the horizontal axis represents the print time, and the vertical axis represents the drain time.

  As described above, the time required from the input of the print command to the start of printing to the recording apparatus in this embodiment is 7 seconds. On the other hand, the time required from the input of the print command to the start of the drain direction stroke is 5 seconds as described above.

  Therefore, the relationship between the print time and the drain time shown in FIG. 8 is basically such that the drain time is a time obtained by adding 2 seconds to the print time.

  In other words, the print time is calculated from the image recording size and the print mode, and the pump motor is rotated at such a rotational speed that the process of step S520 ends immediately before the process of step S320 ends.

  By doing so, the rotational speed of the pump motor can be reduced without deteriorating the throughput of the recording apparatus, and the reduction in silence due to the drive sound of the pump motor can be suppressed.

  However, according to FIG. 8, when the printing time is 2 seconds or less, the pump motor is controlled to rotate at a rotational speed corresponding to the drain direction stroke in 4 seconds. This is because the pump motor cannot be rotated faster than the speed at this time.

  Note that since the amount of ink sucked into the cylinder pump 230 in step S510 is as small as 0.015 ml as described above, even if the drain direction stroke is executed for 4 seconds, the recording apparatus and the waste ink tank 300 are not connected. There is no overflow or scattering of waste ink at the joint. At this time, the printing is finished before the drain direction stroke is finished.

  Further, according to FIG. 8, when the printing time is 38 seconds or more, the pump motor is controlled to rotate at a rotational speed corresponding to the drain direction stroke in 40 seconds. This is because the pump motor cannot be rotated slower than the speed at this time. At this time, the drain direction stroke is completed before the printing is completed.

  Therefore, as described above, according to this embodiment, even in the recovery sequence executed when the elapsed time from the previous recovery sequence execution is relatively short, less than 168 hours, it is calculated from the image recording size and the print mode. According to the printing time to be performed, the movement speed of the piston 231 during the drain direction stroke is controlled, and the drain direction stroke is also executed during the printing, so that the throughput of the recording apparatus is not deteriorated more than necessary. Further, it is possible to prevent overflow and scattering of waste ink at the junction between the recording apparatus and the waste ink tank 300 without impairing the quietness of the recording apparatus more than necessary.

  In the embodiment described above, the example in which the suction direction stroke is started after completion of the preliminary discharge has been described. However, the preliminary discharge and the suction direction stroke may be started simultaneously, or the suction direction stroke may be started simultaneously. If the end of the suction is not later than the end of the preliminary discharge, the suction direction stroke may be started before the preliminary discharge.

  In the first and second embodiments, the time required for discharging the print and the recording medium, or the example of controlling the discharge speed when discharging the sucked ink according to the print time has been described. Even if control is performed so that discharging is performed during printing, the printout time and throughput of the recording apparatus are not deteriorated more than necessary.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments, the ink suction speed and the suction ink discharge speed have been described as being substantially constant. However, the present invention is not limited thereto and may not be substantially constant. . In addition, when the amount of suction ink is much larger than the amount exemplified in Examples 1 and 2, for example, the suction ink is discharged intermittently to prevent overflow and scattering of waste ink. can do.

  Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the example in which the cylinder pump is used as the suction / discharge means has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a pump other than the cylinder pump is used as the suction / discharge means. May be.

  Furthermore, although one type of ink is used in the recording apparatus described in the first and second embodiments, the present invention is also effective for a recording apparatus that performs color printing using a plurality of types of ink. .

  Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head have been described as ink, and the liquid stored in the ink tank has been described as ink. However, the storage is limited to ink. It is not a thing. For example, a treatment liquid discharged to the recording medium may be accommodated in the ink tank in order to improve the fixability and water resistance of the recorded image or to improve the image quality.

  The above embodiment includes means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) that generates thermal energy as energy used to perform ink ejection, particularly in the ink jet recording system, and the ink is generated by the thermal energy. By using a system that causes a change in the state of recording, it is possible to achieve higher recording density and higher definition.

  In addition, even the serial scan type as in the above-described embodiments is mounted on the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the apparatus main body so that the electrical connection with the apparatus main body and the ink from the apparatus main body The present invention is also effective when an exchangeable cartridge type recording head that can be supplied is used. Furthermore, the present invention is also effective for a recording apparatus using a so-called full line type recording head having a recording width corresponding to the width of the recording medium.

  In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention may be used as an image output apparatus for information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may be one taken.

1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus that is a typical embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of a recovery mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view illustrating a configuration of a head cartridge in which an ink tank and a recording head are integrally formed. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the recovery sequence according to Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the table | surface which shows the drain time according to Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the recovery sequence according to Example 2 of this invention. It is a graph which shows the drain time according to Example 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Feeding mechanism 2 Conveying mechanism 3 Conveying motor 4 Carriage 5 Carriage motor 6 Guide shaft 7 Recovery mechanism 100 Inkjet recording head 101 Nozzle port surface 110 Ink tank 150 Cap inner space 210 Cap 215 Ink absorber 220 Suction tube 221 Check valve 230 Cylinder pump 231 Piston 232 Piston shaft 240 Drain tube 241 Check valve 242 Drain needle 250 Atmospheric communication tube 251 Atmospheric communication valve 300 Waste ink tank 301 Drain opening 302 Opening 310 Waste ink absorption holding member

Claims (20)

A recovery method for a recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an inkjet recording head to a recording medium,
A recovery step of recovering the inkjet recording head;
A recording step in which the inkjet recording head performs recording by discharging ink to the recording medium;
A discharge step of discharging the ink consumed in the recovery step;
A recovery method for a recording apparatus, comprising: a control step of controlling the recording operation in the recording step and the discharging operation in the discharging step in parallel. A measurement step of measuring an elapsed time from the execution of the recovery operation in the recovery step until the next recording operation instruction is input;
2. The recovery method for a recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a procedure changing step of changing the recovery operation procedure according to the elapsed time measured in the measuring step.   The method according to claim 2, wherein when the elapsed time is less than a first time, in the recovery step, the inkjet recording head is operated to perform preliminary ejection.   3. The ink according to claim 2, wherein when the elapsed time exceeds a second time longer than the first time, ink is sucked from an ink discharge port of the inkjet recording head in the recovery step. Recording device recovery method.   5. The recording apparatus recovery method according to claim 3, wherein the ink consumed in the recovery step is temporarily stored in an ink reservoir.   6. The method for recovering a recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the discharging step, the ink temporarily stored in the ink reservoir is discharged as waste ink to a waste ink tank.   7. The recovery of a recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control step further controls the discharge of the waste ink to the waste ink tank before the recording operation in the recording step ends. Method.   8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the time required for discharging the waste ink varies according to the size of the recording medium and a recording mode of recording on the recording medium.   9. The recovery method for a recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a discharge speed when discharging the waste ink is decreased as the size of the recording medium is larger. A recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium using an inkjet recording head,
Recovery means for recovering the inkjet recording head;
Recording means for recording by driving the inkjet recording head and discharging ink to the recording medium;
Discharging means for discharging ink consumed in the recovery means;
A recording apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the recording operation by the recording means and the discharging operation by the discharging means to be performed in parallel. Measuring means for measuring an elapsed time from the execution of the recovery operation by the recovery means to the input of the next recording operation instruction;
The recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a procedure changing unit that changes the operation procedure of the recovery according to the elapsed time measured by the measuring unit. The recovery means includes
Preliminary ejection control means for operating the inkjet recording head to perform preliminary ejection when the elapsed time is less than a first time;
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising suction recovery means for sucking ink from an ink discharge port of the ink jet recording head when the elapsed time exceeds a second time longer than the first time. The recording device described. A cap that covers the ink ejection surface of the inkjet recording head;
A wiper for wiping the ink ejection surface;
An ink reservoir for temporarily storing ink consumed by the recovery means;
The recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a waste ink tank that discharges ink temporarily stored in the ink reservoir as waste ink. The ink reservoir is a cylinder constituting a pump for discharging the ink stored in the ink reservoir to the waste ink tank;
The recording apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the discharging unit includes a pump motor for driving the pump.   The recording apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the waste ink tank is configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus. The preliminary ejection control means controls the ink absorber in the cap to perform preliminary ejection;
The recording apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the suction recovery unit absorbs the sucked ink with respect to the ink absorber.   The discharging means introduces ink contained in the ink absorber into the cylinder by moving a piston in the cylinder from a top dead center to a bottom dead center, and moves the piston from the bottom dead center to the top dead center. The recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the ink introduced into the cylinder is discharged to the waste ink tank by moving to a point.   18. The control unit according to claim 13, further comprising controlling the discharge of the waste ink to the waste ink tank before the recording operation in the recording unit is completed. Recording device.   19. The recording according to claim 18, wherein the time required for discharging the waste ink changes according to the size of the recording medium and a recording mode of recording on the recording medium by controlling driving of the pump motor. apparatus. The recording apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the larger the size of the recording medium, the slower the discharging speed when discharging the waste ink.

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