JP2007144882A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer in which ejection state of ink of a print head can be recovered periodically without spoiling user's usability. <P>SOLUTION: When the time clocked by a timekeeping circuit 28 exceeds a time interval stored in a purge interval memory 14b and falls within a time band stored in a silent mode time memory 13b, a purge motor 80 is driven at 1,000 rpm to suppress drive sound thereof. When purge processing is performed periodically, drive sound of the purge motor 80 can be suppressed during the time band stored in the silent mode time memory 13b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly to an inkjet printer that does not impair the user's comfort.

  Conventionally, a purge process (a type of maintenance means) that ejects ink from a print head in which a plurality of ink ejection ports are formed and prints on recording paper (printing medium) and sucks ink from the ink ejection ports is regularly performed. Inkjet printers that perform automatically are known. Such an ink jet printer periodically performs a purge process, thereby sucking ink adhering to the ink discharge ports and bubbles generated in the ink discharge ports of the print head, and recovering the ink discharge state.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-237502 (Patent Document 1) includes a print head that has a plurality of ink discharge ports that discharge ink and discharges ink from the ink discharge ports to perform printing on a print medium. , A pump for sucking ink from the ink discharge port of the print head to recover the ink discharge state, an operation interval storage means for storing a time interval for operating the pump, a time measurement means for measuring time, and a time measurement thereof And a control means for operating the pump to recover the ink discharge state when the time measured by the means exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means, and periodically performing a purge process A printer is disclosed.

If the purge process is not performed periodically, bubbles are generated in the ink discharge ports, or the dried ink is clogged in the ink discharge ports, causing a discharge failure in which ink is not normally discharged from the ink discharge ports.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-237502

  However, when periodically performing the purge process, there is a problem that if the purge process is performed at midnight, it becomes annoying to the user and the user's comfort is reduced accordingly.

  On the other hand, a similar problem has occurred when an inkjet printer is used as a facsimile. That is, when the ink jet printer is used as a facsimile, the ink jet printer itself is in a state where it can be received at all times. There was a problem that the user's comfort was impaired.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an inkjet printer that does not impair the user's comfort.

  In order to achieve this object, an ink jet printer according to claim 1 has a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink, and a print head that ejects ink from the ink ejection openings and performs printing on a print medium; Maintenance means for sucking ink from the ink discharge port of the print head to recover the ink discharge state, operation interval storage means for storing a time interval for operating the maintenance means, and timing means for measuring time; In an ink jet printer provided with a control unit that operates the maintenance unit and restores the ink ejection state when the time measured by the timing unit exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage unit, Silent time zone memory for memorizing a time zone in which the maintenance means is operated while suppressing the operation noise more than usual. And a silent time zone determining means for determining whether the time zone stored by the silent time zone storage means is based on the time counted by the timing means, and the control means counts the time by the timing means. When the determined time exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means and the silent time zone determination means determines that the time period is stored in the silent time zone storage means, The maintenance means is operated while suppressing the operation noise more than usual to restore the ink ejection state.

  The ink jet printer according to claim 2 is the ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the time zone stored by the prohibition time zone storage means for storing the time zone for prohibiting the operation of the maintenance means and the prohibition time zone storage means. Forbidden time zone determining means for determining whether the time measured by the time counting means is based on the time counted by the time counting means, and the control means is configured to determine whether the time counted by the time counting means is the prohibited time zone judgment means. When it is determined that the time zone is stored in the time zone storage means, the operation of the maintenance means is prohibited.

  The ink jet printer according to claim 3 is the ink jet printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the maintenance means includes a suction means for sucking ink from an ink discharge port of the print head, and a motor for operating the suction means. And a purge process for recovering the ink discharge state by driving the motor at a predetermined speed to operate the suction unit to suck ink from the ink discharge port of the print head, and The control means is a time zone in which the time measured by the time measuring means exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means and the time period stored in the silent time zone storage means by the silent time zone determination means. When it is determined that there is, the motor of the maintenance means is driven at a speed slower than a predetermined speed.

  5. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein the suction means is a hollow tube that is flexible and allows ink to pass inside, and a container that accommodates an intermediate portion of the tube. And while crushing the middle part of the tube toward the inner wall of the container, the motor of the maintenance means sequentially drives from the upstream side of the middle part of the tube to the downstream side of the middle part of the tube. Transporting means for transporting ink in the tube.

  6. The ink jet printer according to claim 5, comprising a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink, a print head for ejecting ink from the ink ejection openings to perform printing on the print medium, and a main scanning direction of the print medium. A carriage motor that reciprocally moves the print head, a conveyance unit that conveys a print medium in a sub-scanning direction that intersects the main scanning direction, and a carriage motor that is applied to the print medium conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveyance unit. In the ink jet printer including the printing unit that prints while reciprocating the print head in the main scanning direction and the time measuring unit that measures the time, a time period during which the carriage motor is driven while suppressing the driving sound than usual is set. The driving time zone storage means for storing and the time zone means whether the time zone is stored by the driving time zone storage means. Low-speed time zone determining means for determining based on the time measured, and the printing means is a time stored in the driving time zone storage means by the low-speed time zone determination means When it is determined that the belt is a belt, the carriage motor is driven at a slower speed than usual.

  According to the ink jet printer of claim 1, the control means has the time measured by the time measuring means exceeding the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means, and the silent time zone storage means by the silent time zone determination means. When it is determined that it is the stored time zone, the maintenance means is operated with the operation sound suppressed more than usual to restore the ink ejection state. Therefore, even when the ink is periodically sucked from the ink discharge port of the print head by the maintenance means to recover the ink discharge state, the maintenance means operates more than usual during the time period stored in the silent time zone storage means. Since the sound can be operated while being suppressed, the operation sound of the maintenance means felt by the user can be reduced accordingly. Therefore, there is an effect that the ink ejection state can be periodically recovered without impairing the user's comfort.

  According to the ink jet printer of the second aspect, in addition to the effect produced by the ink jet printer of the first aspect, the control means stores the time measured by the time measuring means in the prohibited time zone storage means by the prohibited time zone determining means. The operation of the maintenance means is prohibited when it is determined that it is in the designated time zone. Therefore, in the time zone stored in the prohibited time zone storage means, the maintenance means is not operated and the user is not disturbed, so that the user's comfort can be improved accordingly.

  According to the ink jet printer according to claim 3, in addition to the effect produced by the ink jet printer according to claim 1 or 2, the control means is configured such that the time measured by the time measuring means is a time interval stored by the operation interval storage means. And the silent time zone determining means drives the motor of the maintenance means at a speed slower than a predetermined speed when it is determined that the time zone is stored in the silent time zone storage means. Therefore, even when the purge process is periodically executed to recover the discharge state of the ink discharge port, the time period stored in the silent time period storage unit can suppress the driving sound of the motor. The driving sound of the motor felt by the user can be reduced. Accordingly, there is an effect that the purge process can be periodically executed to restore the ink ejection state without impairing the user's comfort.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the third aspect of the present invention, the transfer means of the suction means driven by the motor of the maintenance means is flexible toward the inner wall of the container. While crushing the middle part of the tube, the ink in the tube is transferred by rolling from the upstream side of the middle part of the tube to the downstream side of the middle part of the tube.

  Here, when the motor of the maintenance unit is driven at a predetermined speed, the transfer unit causes the ink in the tube to be removed from the tube while the middle part of the tube crushed by the previous transfer unit does not return to the original shape. It is transferred from the upstream side of the middle part to the downstream side of the middle part of the tube. Therefore, since the ink is transferred while the volume in the tube is small, the amount of the transferred ink is reduced, and the ink cannot be transferred efficiently.

  On the other hand, when the motor of the maintenance unit is driven at a speed slower than a predetermined speed, the ink in the tube is transferred by the transfer unit after the middle part of the tube crushed by the previous transfer unit returns to its original shape. Is transferred from the upstream side of the middle part of the tube to the downstream side of the middle part of the tube. Therefore, ink can be efficiently transferred using the maximum volume in the tube. That is, when the motor of the maintenance unit is driven at a speed slower than a predetermined speed, the amount of ink transferred per one rotation of the motor is increased, and the motor rotation is reduced while reducing the driving noise of the motor. There is an effect that the ink discharge state can be recovered by executing the purge process with a smaller amount of ink.

  According to the ink jet printer of claim 5, the printing unit is configured such that when the time measured by the time measuring unit is determined to be the time zone stored in the driving time zone storage unit by the low speed time zone determining unit, the carriage Printing is performed on the print medium conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying unit while the motor is driven at a slower speed than usual to move the print head back and forth in the main scanning direction. Therefore, since it is possible to perform printing while suppressing the driving sound of the carriage motor in the time period stored in the driving time period storage means, the driving sound of the carriage motor felt by the user can be reduced. Therefore, there is an effect that printing can be performed without impairing the user's comfort.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunction peripheral device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The multi-function peripheral device 1 has various functions such as a facsimile function, a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, and a video printer function. For printing performed when these functions are executed, full-color printing is performed. A possible ink jet printer 26 (see FIG. 2) is installed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the device main body 2 of the multi-function peripheral device 1 is formed in a box-like body, and an operation panel 3 is disposed on the upper front part thereof. The operation panel 3 is provided with various buttons such as numeric buttons 3a of “0” to “9” and a start button 3b, and various operations are performed by pressing these buttons. Various settings such as initial setting of time to be measured by a timing circuit 28 (see FIG. 4) described later, time zone setting of prohibition mode time memory 13a and silent mode time memory 13b, acceptance of print number input, and acceptance of image quality mode input The operation is performed by operating each button on the operation panel 3.

  A rectangular liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as “LCD”) 6 is provided at the rear of the operation panel 3, and the setting state of the multi-function peripheral device 1 and various operation messages are displayed as necessary. When the multifunction peripheral device 1 is in a standby state, the time set via the operation panel 3 is displayed on the LCD 6.

  Behind the LCD 6 (left side in FIG. 1) is a document placement section 4 on which a facsimile document transmitted to the counterpart facsimile machine 51 (see FIG. 4) during the facsimile function and a copy document copied during the copy function are stacked. Is provided. Various documents placed on the document placing unit 4 are conveyed into the apparatus main body 2 and an image drawn on the surface of the document is read by the scanner 19 (see FIG. 4). The document whose image has been read is further conveyed and discharged to a document discharge portion 9 provided below the operation panel 3.

  A cassette insertion portion 5 is provided at the rear portion of the document placing portion 4. A paper cassette (not shown) for stacking and storing a plurality of recording papers E (see FIG. 2) is detachably attached to the cassette insertion portion 5. The recording paper E is supplied from a paper cassette mounted in the cassette insertion portion 5, printed by an ink jet printer 26 described later, and then discharged from a recording paper discharge portion 10 provided below the document discharge portion 9. .

  A video signal input terminal 7 is provided at the lower right portion of the recording paper discharge unit 10. A video signal output from a video camera or the like connected to the video signal input terminal 7 is taken into the multi-function peripheral device 1 and printed in full color by the inkjet printer 26.

  Next, the ink jet printer 26 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink jet printer 26 housed in the apparatus main body 2 of the multifunction peripheral device 1 of the present embodiment. The ink jet printer 26 is a serial printer that performs printing by moving the print head 65 in the directions of arrow A and counter arrow A in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a cylindrical platen roller 61 is attached to a substantially U-shaped frame 63 of the inkjet printer 26 so as to be rotatable about the axis of the platen roller 61. 61 is rotated by the conveyance motor 79 connected to the platen roller 61 to convey the recording paper E. A cylindrical guide rod 62 is fixed to the frame 63 in parallel with the platen roller 61. A carriage 66 on which the print head 65 is mounted is provided on the guide rod 62. The carriage 66 is moved along the guide rod 62 along the arrow A in FIG. 2 via a belt 70 that is stretched between a moving pulley 68 and a driven pulley 69 that are rotated by a carriage motor 67 provided on one side of the frame 63. In the direction and counter arrow A.

  The print head 65 mounted on the carriage 66 includes four color ink cartridges 65a to 65d. Each of the ink cartridges 65a to 65d has four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow in order from the left in FIG. Is filled with ink. These four colors of ink are ejected from a plurality of ink ejection ports 83 (see FIG. 3) provided in the print head 65, and full-color printing is performed on the recording paper E. Each of the ink cartridges 65a to 65d can be individually attached and detached, and only the ink cartridges 65a to 65d lacking ink can be individually replaced.

  On the other side of the frame 63 (left side in FIG. 2), a recovery mechanism 71 that recovers the ink ejection state is provided. The recovery mechanism 71 includes a substantially rectangular suction cap 72 that seals each of the ink discharge ports 83 of the print head 65 at a time. The suction cap 72 is directed toward the print head 65 on the back surface of the suction cap 72. A projecting member 73 for projecting is attached. One end of the projecting member 73 abuts on the surface of the projecting lever 74 formed in an arc shape, and when the projecting lever 74 is moved from the state of FIG. Is projected in the direction of the print head 65. Accordingly, after the carriage 66 is moved to the position of the arrow D in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as “position D”), the protrusion lever 74 is moved in the direction of the print head 65, whereby the suction cap 72 is moved to the ink of the print head 65. The discharge port portion can be covered and sealed.

  The protrusion lever 74 is moved in the direction of the print head 65 by a cam body 76 rotated by a capping motor 75. The cam body 76 drives the capping motor 75 to rotate the cam body 76 about the axis C of the cam body 76 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2, thereby pressing the protruding lever 74 and printing the protruding lever 74. Move in the direction of the head 65.

  The suction cap 72 is connected to a flexible tube 77 on the non-suction surface of the suction cap 72. The tube 77 is connected to a tube pump 81 (see FIG. 3). The tube pump 81 performs a suction operation when the purge motor 80 is driven. When the tube pump 81 is operated in a state where the suction cap 72 is put on the print head 65, the ink discharge port 83 of the print head 65 is used. Ink is sucked from. The tube 77 is a part of a tube pump 81 described later.

  Next, the tube pump 81 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the main part of the recovery mechanism 71 of the inkjet printer 26. As shown in FIG. 3, the main part of the recovery mechanism 71 of the inkjet printer 26 receives ink from the ink discharge port 83 via a suction cap 72 that seals the print head 65 and a tube 77 connected to the suction cap 72. A tube pump 81 for suction and a purge motor 80 for operating the tube pump 81 are mainly provided. The print head 65 is connected to the ink cartridges 65a to 65d via the supply flow path 82. The tube pump 81 is made of a flexible material (for example, rubber).

  A plurality of ink ejection openings 83 are formed in the print head 65. Further, inside the print head 65, there are a buffer tank 84 to which ink is supplied from the supply channel 82, a manifold 86 communicating with the buffer tank 84 via a filter 85, and the manifold 86 and the buffer tank 84. And a piezoelectric element 87 that divides and ejects ink droplets from the ink ejection port 83. The piezoelectric element 87 discharges ink droplets from the ink discharge port 83 by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element 87 and curving the piezoelectric element 87 toward the manifold 86.

  The tube pump 81 includes a hollow tube 77 that is connected to the suction cap 72 and allows ink to pass inside, a cylindrical housing 88 that spirally accommodates an intermediate portion of the tube 77 along the inner wall, and the housing. A shaft-like pump roller 89 is provided in the interior 88 and parallel to the axis O of the housing 88 and crushes the tube 77 housed in the housing 88 toward the inner wall of the housing 88. .

  The pump roller 89 driven by the purge motor 80 rolls in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 3 while crushing the spiral portion of the flexible tube 77 toward the inner wall of the container 88, so that the suction roller 72 enters the suction cap 72. A negative pressure is generated and ink is sucked from the ink discharge port 83. The sucked ink is transferred in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 3 through the tube 77 and discharged from the downstream end of the tube 77 (in the direction of arrow H in FIG. 3).

  Next, the electrical configuration of the multifunction peripheral device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the multifunction peripheral device 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the multifunction peripheral device 1 is configured by connecting two units of a facsimile unit FU and a printer unit PU to each other through an interface 30. The facsimile unit FU includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, an EEPROM 14, a network control unit (hereinafter referred to as “NCU”) 15, a modem 16, an encoder 17, a decoder 18, a scanner 19, an operation panel 3, an LCD 6, and a video signal. An input terminal 7, a document sensor 8, and a timing circuit 28 are provided, and these are connected to each other via a facsimile control circuit 20.

  The CPU 11 controls each unit connected to the facsimile control circuit 20 based on various signals transmitted / received via the NCU 15 and executes a facsimile operation. The ROM 12 is a non-rewritable memory for storing various control programs executed by the multi-function peripheral device 1, and the RAM 13 is a rewritable memory for storing various data. The RAM 13 is provided with a prohibit mode time memory 13a and a silent mode time memory 13b. The prohibit mode time memory 13a is a memory for storing a time zone in which purge processing described later is prohibited. The time zone is set by the user via the operation panel 3 when the multifunction peripheral device 1 is powered on. In the present embodiment, “1:00 am to 5:00 am” is stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13a, and during the time period from “1 am to 5:00 am”, the purge process is executed by the CPU 21 described later. It is forbidden. The time zone stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13a and the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b can be freely set by the user through the operation panel 3 when the multifunction peripheral device 1 is turned on. can do.

  The silent mode time memory 13b is a memory that stores a time zone in which the purge motor 80 or the carriage motor 67 is driven at a speed slower than a predetermined speed in a purge process and a print process, which will be described later. Similar to 13a, when the multifunction peripheral device 1 is powered on, it is set by the user via the operation panel 3. In the present embodiment, “0:00 am to 6:00 am” is stored in the silent mode time memory 13 b, and the time zone from “0:00 am to 6:00 am” is stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13 a. Except for the time period, the CPU 21 drives the purge motor 80 at 1000 rpm in the purge process, and drives the carriage motor 67 at the speed R in the print process, thereby suppressing the drive sound of the purge motor 80 and the carriage motor 67 and purging. Processing or printing processing is executed.

  The EEPROM 14 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory, and the data stored in the EEPROM 14 is retained even after the multifunction peripheral device 1 is turned off. The EEPROM 14 is provided with a purge time memory 14a and a purge interval memory 14b. The purge time memory 14a is a memory for storing the time (including date) of the purge process performed last time in the purge process, and the time counted in the time counting circuit 28 is written after the purge motor 80 is driven. . The purge interval memory 14b is a memory that stores a time interval for executing the purge process. In the present embodiment, “20 days” is stored as the time interval for executing the purge process, and the time counted by the timing circuit 28 is determined from the time of the previous purge process stored in the purge time memory 14a. When “20 days” has elapsed, the purge process is executed. Whether or not “20 days” has elapsed is determined by subtracting the time stored in the purge interval memory 14b from the time measured by the clock circuit 28 by the CPU 21, and whether the difference is greater than “20 days”. It is done by judging.

  The NCU 15 performs operations such as sending a dial signal to the telephone line 52 and responding to a calling signal from the telephone line 52. The modem 16 modulates and demodulates image data via the NCU 15 and transmits it to the counterpart facsimile machine 51, and transmits and receives various procedure signals for transmission control. The encoder 17 encodes the original image data read by the scanner 19 for compression, and the decoder 18 decodes the encoded data such as received facsimile data. It is. The scanner 19 is for reading an image of a document inserted from the document placement unit 4 into the apparatus. The facsimile control circuit 20 is provided with the above-described operation panel 3, LCD 6, and video signal input terminal 7. The document sensor 8 is a sensor that detects whether a document is placed on the document placement unit 4.

  The clock circuit 28 is a circuit that clocks time (including the date), and includes a battery 28 a for continuing the clocking of time even after the multifunction peripheral device 1 is powered off. The initial setting of the time of the time measuring circuit 28 is performed via the operation panel 3. The time counted by the clock circuit 28 is output to the LCD 6 when the multifunction peripheral device 1 is on standby, that is, when each operation function is stopped, and a clock is displayed. The facsimile unit FU is connected to the counterpart facsimile machine 51 via the NCU 15 and the telephone line 52.

  The printer unit PU includes a CPU 21 that is an arithmetic unit, a ROM 22 that stores a control program executed by the CPU 21, such as a purge process and a print process shown in flowcharts of FIGS. A personal computer interface (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) to which a RAM 23 having various work memories to be updated and a print memory for storing printing data and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 53 as a main device are connected. Interface 24), a character generator (hereinafter referred to as "CG") 25 for storing vector fonts such as printing characters, and the ink jet printer 26 described above. These are connected to each other via a printer control circuit 27. The PC interface 24 is, for example, a parallel interface conforming to the Centronics standard, and the multi-function peripheral device 1 can transmit and receive data to and from the PC 53 via the cable 54 connected to the personal computer interface 24. Has been. The inkjet printer 26 includes the carriage motor 67, the capping motor 75, the transport motor 79, the purge motor 80, and the print head 65 described above.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the purge process executed by the printer unit PU of the multi-function peripheral device 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the purge process executed by the printer unit PU of the multifunction peripheral device 1.

  In the purge process of FIG. 5, first, the time of the purge process performed last time is read from the purge time memory 14a (S11). Next, the time counted by the timing circuit 28 is read (S12). Then, the time of the previous purge process is subtracted from that time (S13), and if the difference is smaller than “20 days” stored in the purge interval memory 14b (S14: No), the purge process is terminated. . Further, even if the difference is larger than “20 days” stored in the purge interval memory 14b (S14: Yes), the time is stored in the prohibited mode time memory 13a in the range of “1 am to 5 am”. If it is within (S15: Yes), the purge process is terminated. On the other hand, the difference is larger than “20 days” stored in the purge interval memory 14b (S14: Yes), and the time counted by the time counting circuit 28 is stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13a “1 AM to AM If it is not within the range of “5 o'clock” (S15: No), the carriage motor 67 is driven to move the carriage 66 to the position D (S16).

  Next, the capping motor 75 is driven to put the suction cap 72 on the print head 65 (S17), and the time counted by the time counting circuit 28 is stored in the silent mode time memory 13b "0am to 6:00 am". If it is not within the range (S18: No), the purge motor 80 is driven at 4000 rpm, and the purge process is executed in the normal mode in which the pump roller 89 is rotated eight times within the container 88 (S19). On the other hand, if the time counted by the timing circuit 28 is within the range of “0:00 am to 6:00 am” stored in the silent mode time memory 13b (S18: Yes), the purge motor 80 is driven at 1000 rpm to pump The purge process is executed in a silent mode in which the roller 89 rotates four times within the container 88 (S20). Then, the time of the time measuring circuit 28 is written in the purge time memory 14a (S21), the capping motor 75 is driven and the suction cap 72 is separated from the print head 65 (S22), and this process is finished.

  Therefore, according to the ink jet printer of the present embodiment, the time counted by the timing circuit 28 exceeds the time interval stored in the purge interval memory 14b and is in the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b. In some cases, the purge motor 80 is driven at 1000 rpm. Therefore, even when the purge process is periodically executed, the drive sound of the purge motor 80 can be suppressed during the time period stored in the silent mode time memory 13b, and accordingly the drive of the purge motor 80 felt by the user. Sound can be reduced. Therefore, the ink ejection state can be recovered by periodically performing a purge process without impairing the user's comfort.

  Further, when the time counted by the time measuring circuit 28 is the time zone stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13a, the driving of the purge motor 80 is prohibited. Therefore, the purge motor 80 is not driven during the time period stored in the prohibit mode time memory 13a and the user's ears are not disturbed. Therefore, the user's comfort can be improved accordingly.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the relationship between the time in the normal mode and the silent mode, the suction pressure, and the discharge amount will be described. FIG. 6A is a graph showing the relationship between the time in the normal mode and the suction pressure and the discharge amount, and FIG. 6B shows the relationship between the time in the silent mode and the suction pressure and the discharge amount. It is a graph. 6A and 6B shows time, and the vertical axis in FIGS. 6A and 6B (up and down direction in FIG. 6). Indicates the suction pressure (vertical axis on the left side of FIG. 6) and the discharge amount (vertical axis on the right side of FIG. 6). Further, the solid line in FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between time and suction pressure, and the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between time and discharge amount. Moreover, about the time shown in FIG. 6, it has shown from the time when the purge motor 80 started to drive.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, when the purge process is executed in the normal mode, the suction pressure of the tube pump reaches the maximum in about 0.8 s after the purge motor 80 is driven, and the purge motor 80 is driven. In 1.3 seconds, the ink discharge amount reaches 0.27 ml. The 0.27 ml is a discharge amount necessary for exerting the effect of the purge process.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the purge process is executed in the silent mode, the suction pressure of the tube pump reaches the maximum in about 1.5 s after the purge motor 80 is driven, and the purge motor 80 is driven. In 2.5 seconds, the ink discharge amount reaches 0.27 ml. Therefore, when the purge process is executed in the silent mode, it takes about 1.2 seconds longer than in the normal mode, but the purge process can be executed quietly. In addition, since the time zone in which the purge process is executed in the silent mode is generally late at night, it may take a long time.

  Further, the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment operates the tube pump to execute the purge process. Here, when the purge motor 80 is driven at 4000 rpm, the ink in the tube 77 is moved by the pump roller 89 to the arrow G in FIG. 3 while the tube 77 crushed by the pump roller 89 does not return to its original shape. Transported in the direction. Accordingly, since the ink is transferred while the volume in the tube 77 is small, the amount of the transferred ink is reduced, and the ink cannot be transferred efficiently.

  On the other hand, when the purge motor 80 is driven at 1000 rpm, the ink in the tube 77 is moved by the pump roller 89 in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 3 after the tube 77 crushed by the pump roller 89 returns to its original shape. It is transferred to. Therefore, ink can be efficiently transferred using the volume in the tube 77 to the maximum. That is, when the purge motor 80 is driven during the time period stored in the silent mode time memory 13b, the amount of ink transferred per rotation of the purge motor 80 increases, and the drive sound of the purge motor 80 is reduced accordingly. In addition, the purge process can be executed by reducing the rotation of the purge motor 80 to restore the discharge state of the ink discharge port 83.

  Next, a printing process executed by the printer unit PU of the multifunction peripheral device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the printing process executed by the printer unit PU of the multi-function peripheral device 1.

  In the printing process of FIG. 7, first, a print number input acceptance process in which the user inputs the number of prints via the operation panel 3 is performed (S31), and the image quality mode (for example, high image quality mode, normal image quality mode, and Image quality mode input acceptance processing for inputting (print accuracy such as draft image quality mode) is performed (S32). Then, the CPU 21 reads the time measured by the time measuring circuit 28 (S33), and if the time is not within the range of “0:00 am to 6:00 am” stored in the silent mode time memory 13b (S34: No) ), The carriage motor 67 is driven at the speed T, and printing is performed on the recording paper E by the print head 65 (S35), and then this process ends. On the other hand, if the time counted by the timing circuit 28 is within the range of “0:00 am to 6:00 am” stored in the silent mode time memory 13b (S34: Yes), the carriage motor 67 is driven at the speed R. After printing on the recording paper E by the print head 65 (S36), this process is terminated. The speed R is a speed slower than the speed T.

  Therefore, when the time counted by the time measuring circuit 28 is the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b, the carriage motor 67 is driven at a speed R higher than the speed T, and the drive sound of the carriage motor 67 is generated. Printing is performed on the recording paper E transported to the transport motor 79 while the print head 65 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction while being suppressed. Therefore, since it is possible to print while suppressing the driving sound of the carriage motor 67 in the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b, the driving sound of the carriage motor 67 felt by the user can be reduced. Accordingly, printing can be performed without impairing the user's comfort.

  As the control means of the ink jet printer described in the claims, the determination process of S14 by the CPU 21 and the processes of S19 and S20 can be exemplified. The silent time zone determination means corresponds to the determination process of S18 by the CPU 21. The prohibition time zone determination means corresponds to the determination processing of S15 by the CPU 21. The printing means corresponds to the processes of S35 and S36 by the CPU 21. The determination process of S34 by the CPU 21 corresponds to the low speed time zone determination means.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be easily guessed.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the silent time zone storage means and the driving time zone storage means described in the claims are used together by the silent mode time memory 13b. However, the silent time zone storage means and the driving time zone storage means are separate memories. Anyway.

  In the above-described embodiment, the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b is “0:00 am to 6:00 am”, but the time zone stored in the silent mode time memory 13b is “3:00 am to 3 am”. It may be 8:00 am. Even in such a case, the discharge state of the ink discharge ports 83 of the print head 65 can be periodically recovered without impairing the user's comfort.

1 is a perspective view of a multifunction peripheral device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the ink jet printer accommodated in the apparatus main body of a multifunction peripheral device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the principal part of the recovery mechanism of an inkjet printer. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the multifunction peripheral device 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a purge process executed by a printer unit of a multifunction peripheral device. (A) is the graph which showed the relationship between time in normal mode, and a suction pressure, and discharge | emission amount, (b) is the graph which showed the relationship between time in quiet mode, and suction pressure, and discharge | emission amount. 6 is a flowchart of a printing process executed by a printer unit of a multifunction peripheral device.

Explanation of symbols

1 Inkjet printer 13a Prohibition mode time memory (prohibited time zone storage means)
13b Silent mode time memory (silent time zone storage means, drive time zone storage means)
14b Purge interval memory (operation interval storage means)
28 Timekeeping circuit (timekeeping means)
65 Print head 67 Carriage motor 77 Tube 80 Purge motor (motor)
81 Tube pump 83 Ink discharge port 88 Container 89 Pump roller (part of transfer means)

Claims (5)

A plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink; a print head that ejects ink from the ink ejection openings and performs printing on a print medium; and ink that is sucked from the ink ejection openings of the print head Maintenance means for recovering the discharge state, operation interval storage means for storing a time interval for operating the maintenance means, time measuring means for measuring time, and time measured by the time measuring means are stored by the operation interval storage means In an ink jet printer comprising a control means for operating the maintenance means and recovering the ink ejection state when the time interval is exceeded,
Silent time zone storage means for storing a time zone in which the maintenance means is operated while suppressing operation noise more than usual,
A silent time zone determining means for determining whether the time zone stored by the silent time zone storage means is based on the time counted by the time measuring means,
The time of the time measured by the time measuring means exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means and the time period stored in the silent time zone storage means by the silent time zone determination means When it is determined that the ink is discharged, the maintenance unit is operated by suppressing operation noise more than usual to restore the ink discharge state. A prohibited time zone storage means for storing a time zone during which the operation of the maintenance means is prohibited;
Forbidden time zone determining means for judging whether the time zone stored by the prohibited time zone storage means is based on the time counted by the time counting means,
The control means prohibits the operation of the maintenance means when the time measured by the time measuring means is determined to be the time zone stored in the prohibited time zone storage means by the prohibited time zone determining means. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein The maintenance means includes a suction means for sucking ink from an ink discharge port of the print head, and a motor for operating the suction means, and the printing means is operated by driving the motor at a predetermined speed. A purging process is performed in which ink is sucked from the ink discharge port of the head to recover the ink discharge state.
The time of the time measured by the time measuring means exceeds the time interval stored by the operation interval storage means and the time period stored in the silent time zone storage means by the silent time zone determination means 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the motor of the maintenance unit is driven at a speed slower than a predetermined speed when it is determined as follows.   The suction means includes a hollow tube that is flexible and allows ink to pass inside, a container that accommodates the middle part of the tube, and crushes the middle part of the tube toward the inner wall of the container. However, it is provided with a transfer means for transferring the ink in the tube by rolling from the upstream side of the middle part of the tube to the downstream side of the middle part of the tube by driving the motor of the maintenance means. The inkjet printer according to claim 3. A print head having a plurality of ink discharge ports for discharging ink, discharging ink from the ink discharge ports to perform printing on the print medium, and a carriage for reciprocating the print head in the main scanning direction of the print medium The carriage motor reciprocates in the main scanning direction by the carriage motor to the motor, the conveying means for conveying the print medium in the sub-scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction, and the printing medium conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the conveying means. In an inkjet printer comprising a printing means for printing while moving, and a timing means for timing time,
Drive time zone storage means for storing a time zone in which the carriage motor is driven while suppressing drive noise more than usual;
Low speed time zone determining means for determining whether the time zone stored by the driving time zone storage means is based on the time counted by the time counting means,
When the time measured by the time measuring unit is determined to be the time zone stored in the driving time zone storage unit by the low-speed time zone determining unit, the printing unit causes the carriage motor to be slower than usual. An inkjet printer characterized by being driven at a speed.

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