JP2008238588A - Recording system and endurance test system for recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a plurality of recording apparatuses easily perform continuous recording, and to make the plurality of recording apparatuses perform cooperative operations. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of slave inkjet printers 3 are cascade-connected together via a USB in such a manner as to start from a host inkjet printer 2, so as to be capable of communicating with one another. An image data file associated with an image to be printed in the host inkjet printer 2 and each of the slave inkjet printers 3, and operation data on the host inkjet printer 2 and each of the slave inkjet printers 3 are stored in the image data storage section of the host inkjet printer 2. The host inkjet printer 2 transmits commands as the corresponding image data file and the corresponding operation data to each of the slave inkjet printers 3. The host inkjet printer 2 and each of the slave inkjet printers 3 perform the continuous printing on the basis of the corresponding operation data and the corresponding image data file. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording system for recording on a recording medium and a durability test system for a recording head.

  2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet printer including an ink jet head that prints an image on a recording paper by ejecting ink droplets onto the recording paper that is a recording medium is known. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). The ink jet printer performs printing based on an instruction from a connected PC (Personal Computer).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-36568 (FIG. 1)

  When using a plurality of such ink jet printers and making each ink jet printer perform a large amount of continuous printing, the contents of continuous printing must be registered for each ink jet printer, and the registration work is complicated. Become.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a recording system and a recording head durability test system that allow a plurality of recording apparatuses to easily perform continuous recording.

  In the recording system of the present invention, a master recording device and a slave recording device are connected so as to communicate with each other. The parent recording device includes a recording head for recording an image, operation data storage means for storing operation data indicating operation contents of the parent recording device and the child recording device, the parent recording device, and the child recording. Image data storage means for storing one or more image data relating to an image to be recorded by the apparatus; and image data transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the image data storage means to the slave recording apparatus. The status data receiving means for receiving status data indicating the state of the slave recording apparatus transmitted from the slave recording apparatus, the operation data stored in the action data storage means, and the status data receiving means Command generation means for generating a command for controlling the operation of the slave recording device based on the status data; Based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage means, the command transmission means for transmitting the command generated by the command generation means to the slave recording device, the image stored in the image data storage means And a parent head control means for controlling the recording head so that the image recording based on the data is repeatedly performed. The slave recording device includes the recording head, status data transmitting means for transmitting the status data to the parent recording device, image data receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted from the parent recording device, Based on the command received by the command receiving means, the command receiving means for receiving the command transmitted from the parent recording device, and the image recording based on the image data received by the image data receiving means is repeatedly performed. As shown in the figure, it has child head control means for controlling the pre-recording head.

  According to the present invention, since the parent recording device controls the operation of the child recording device, the parent recording device and the parent recording device can be registered by the simple operation of registering the continuous recording contents related to the parent recording device and the child recording device together in the parent recording device. The slave recording apparatus can perform desired continuous recording. In addition, since the parent recording device can control the operation of the child recording device by transmitting a command, a cooperative operation can be performed between the parent recording device and the child recording device, or between a plurality of child recording devices. Can be done.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that one or a plurality of the slave recording devices are cascade-connected by USB (Universal Serial Bus) starting from the parent recording device. According to this, a slave recording device can be easily added without relaying a hub. Also, the cables are not concentrated in one place, and the cable handling is simplified.

  In the present invention, the recording head is an inkjet head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles, and the master head control means and the slave head control means record an image based on the image data. Prior to this, the recording head may be controlled such that a flushing operation for ejecting ink droplets from all the nozzles is performed.

  Alternatively, the recording head is an ink jet head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles, and the master head control unit and the slave head control unit perform all the operations before the image recording based on the image data is performed. The recording head may be controlled such that a flushing operation for stirring the ink in the nozzle is performed. According to these, since it is possible to prevent the ink in the nozzle from becoming highly viscous, it is possible to suppress a decrease in ink discharge characteristics.

  Further, in the present invention, the parent head control means and the child head control means include a reference clock generation circuit that generates a reference clock for determining a period for recording an image, a drive circuit that drives the recording head, A flushing control circuit that controls the driving circuit so that the flushing operation is started in synchronization with a pulse of a reference clock, and an image recording control that controls the driving circuit so that an image based on the image data is recorded. A delay circuit that delays activation of the image recording control circuit so that recording of an image based on the image data is started after a predetermined time has elapsed since the completion of the flushing operation. Good. According to this, the parent head control means and the child head control means can be configured with a simple circuit.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is preferable that the master recording device and the slave recording device are devices having the same structure. According to this, since the parent recording device and the child recording device can be shared, the cost of the recording system can be reduced.

  In the recording head durability test system of the present invention, a parent test apparatus and a child test apparatus are connected to be communicable with each other. The parent test device includes a recording head for recording an image, operation data storage means for storing operation data indicating operation contents of the parent test device and the child test device, the parent test device and the child test. Image data storage means for storing one or more image data relating to an image to be recorded by the apparatus, and image data transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the image data storage means to the child test apparatus; Status data receiving means for receiving status data indicating the state of the child test apparatus transmitted from the child test apparatus, the operation data stored in the operation data storage means, and the status data receiving means Command generating means for generating a command for controlling the operation of the child test apparatus based on the status data; The command generated by the command generating unit is transmitted to the child test apparatus, and the image data stored in the image data storage unit is based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage unit. And a parent head control means for controlling the recording head so that the image recording based on the data is repeatedly performed. The child test apparatus includes: the recording head; status data transmission means for transmitting the status data to the parent test apparatus; image data reception means for receiving the image data transmitted from the parent test apparatus; Based on the command receiving means for receiving the command transmitted from the test apparatus and the command received by the command receiving means, the image recording based on the image data received by the image data receiving means is repeatedly performed. And a head control means for controlling the pre-recording head.

  According to the present invention, since the parent test device controls the operation of the child test device, the parent test device and the child test device can be registered by simply registering the endurance test contents related to the parent test device and the child test device in the parent test device. The test apparatus can be made to perform continuous recording related to a desired durability test. In addition, since the parent recording device can control the operation of the child recording device by transmitting a command, a cooperative operation can be performed between the parent recording device and the child recording device, or between a plurality of child recording devices. Can be done.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet head durability test system which is a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet head durability test system (recording system, recording head durability test system) 1 includes a parent inkjet printer (parent recording device, parent test device) 2 and a plurality of child inkjet printers (child recording devices, The child head testing apparatus 3 (3a, 3b...) Performs an endurance test of the ink jet head 12 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). A plurality of child ink jet printers 3 are cascade-connected by USB (Universal Serial Bus) starting from the parent ink jet printer 2. Thereby, the parent inkjet printer 2 and the plurality of child inkjet printers 3 can communicate with each other. Further, the parent ink jet printer 2 and the child ink jet printer 3 have the same structure, and any child ink jet printer 3 can be used as the parent ink jet printer 2 by an internal function switching setting.

  The parent inkjet printer 2 will be described in detail with further reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the parent inkjet printer 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the parent inkjet printer 2 includes a control device 11, an inkjet head (recording head) 12 that is a subject of an endurance test, a touch panel 13, a memory card reader 14, and a paper transport mechanism (not shown). Is included. In the durability test of the inkjet head 12, the conveyance mechanism is not operated, and the inkjet head 12 is continuously driven at an operation timing when the conveyance mechanism is virtually operated, as will be described later. Thereby, the durability test of the inkjet head 12 can be performed efficiently.

  The ink-jet head 12 forms an image on a sheet by ejecting ink droplets onto the sheet. A large number of individual ink flow paths from the pressure chambers to the nozzles, and ink droplets from the nozzles to the ink in each pressure chamber. And an actuator for applying discharge energy to be discharged. The memory card reader 14 reads image data stored in the memory card 70 and stores the read image data in the image data storage unit 31. The touch panel 13 is for the user to register the operation content of the durability test in the inkjet head durability test system 1. Specifically, the user selects an image data file to be printed by the parent inkjet printer 2 and each child inkjet printer 3 from a plurality of image data files stored in the image data storage unit 31 via the touch panel 13. At the same time, the number of printing times of each selected image data file, the type of flushing (for example, ejection or non-ejection), and the timing thereof are registered.

  The control device 11 includes an image data storage unit (image data storage unit) 31, an operation data storage unit (operation data storage unit) 32, a head control unit (parent head control unit) 33, and a status reception unit (status data reception). Means) 35, a command generation unit (command generation unit) 36, a data transmission unit (image data transmission unit, command transmission unit) 37, and a USB host controller 38.

  The image data storage unit 31 stores one or a plurality of image data files relating to an image to be printed by the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 in the durability test. This image data file is stored in the image data storage unit 31 from the memory card 70 via the memory card reader 14. The operation data storage unit 32 stores operation data registered by the user and indicating the operation contents of the durability test in the parent inkjet printer 2 and each child inkjet printer 3. The operation data includes data indicating an image data file to be printed by the parent inkjet printer 2 and each child inkjet printer 3, data indicating the number of times the image data file is printed, and the like.

  The head control unit 33 prints, based on the image data file to be printed by the parent inkjet printer 2 among the plurality of image data files stored in the image data storage unit 31, the parent inkjet stored in the operation data storage unit 32. The inkjet head 12 is controlled so as to be repeatedly performed based on operation data related to the printer 2. The head controller 33 has a durable printing control circuit 34. The durable print control circuit 34 continuously drives the inkjet head 12 according to the operation timing of the virtually operated paper transport mechanism in the durability test of the inkjet head 12. The durable printing control circuit 34 will be described in detail later.

  The status receiving unit 35 receives status data transmitted from the child ink jet printer 3 and indicating the status of each child ink jet printer 3 via the USB host controller 38 (see FIG. 2). Based on the operation data related to the child inkjet printer 3 stored in the operation data storage unit 32 and the date data from each child inkjet printer 3 received by the status reception unit 35, the command generation unit 36 A command for controlling the operation of No. 3 is generated. The data transmission unit 37 receives an image data file to be printed by the child inkjet printer 3 stored in the image data storage unit 31 and a command for controlling the operation of the child inkjet printer 3 generated by the command generation unit 36. The data is transmitted to the child inkjet printer 3 via the USB host controller 38.

  The USB host controller 38 is a communication device paired with the USB device controller 48 (see FIG. 4), and enables USB communication between the USB host controller 38 and the USB device controller 48. Although the USB device controller 48 is not shown in FIG. 2, since the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 have the same configuration, both have a USB host controller 38 and a USB device controller 48. Yes.

  The durable printing control circuit 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the durable printing control circuit 34. The durable print control circuit 34 continuously drives the inkjet head 12 according to the operation timing of the transport mechanism virtually operated in the durability test of the inkjet head 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the durable print control circuit 34 includes a print cycle clock generation circuit (reference clock generation circuit) 51, a delay circuit 52, a print control circuit (image recording control circuit) 53, and a flushing control circuit 54. And a head driving circuit (driving circuit) 55. The print cycle clock generation circuit 51 generates a reference clock for determining a print cycle (image recording cycle). The delay circuit 52 delays the start of the operation of the print control circuit 53. The print control circuit 53 controls the drive of the actuator of the inkjet head 12 so that an image based on the image data file is printed via the head drive circuit 55. The flushing control circuit 54 controls driving of the actuator of the inkjet head 12 through the head drive circuit 55 so that the inkjet head 12 performs a flushing operation. Here, the flushing operation refers to an operation of ejecting ink in all the nozzles in the inkjet head 12 or agitating without ejecting ink by driving an actuator. By performing the flushing operation, it is possible to prevent the ink in the nozzle from becoming highly viscous and the ink ejection performance from being deteriorated. The head drive circuit 55 controls the drive of the actuator of the inkjet head 12 based on an instruction from the print control circuit 53 or the flushing control circuit 54.

  Next, the child inkjet printer 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the child inkjet printer 3. Note that components that are substantially the same as the functional units of the parent inkjet printer 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In addition, explanations (including illustrations) of functional units and devices that function only when operating as a parent inkjet printer due to internal switching settings are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the child inkjet printer 3 includes a control device 21, an inkjet head 12 that is a subject of an endurance test, and a paper transport mechanism (not shown). As in the case of the parent inkjet printer 2, during the durability test of the inkjet head 12, the conveyance mechanism is not operated, and the inkjet head 12 is continuously driven according to the operation timing of the virtually operated conveyance mechanism, as will be described later. To do.

  The control device 21 includes a data receiving unit (image data receiving unit, command receiving unit) 41, an image data storage unit 42, an operation data storage unit 43, a head control unit (child head control unit) 44, and a status generation unit. 46, a data transmission unit (status data transmission unit) 47, a USB host controller 38, and a USB device controller 48.

  The data receiving unit 41 receives the image data file and commands transmitted from the parent inkjet printer 2 via the USB device controller 48. The image data storage unit 42 stores one or a plurality of image data files relating to an image to be printed by the main inkjet printer 3 in the durability test among the image data files received by the data receiving unit 41. The operation data storage unit 43 stores, as operation data, commands for operating the main inkjet printer 3 among the commands received by the data receiving unit 41.

  The head control unit 44 controls the inkjet head 12 so that printing based on the image data file stored in the image data storage unit 42 is repeatedly performed based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage unit 43. And has a durable printing control circuit 34. The status generation unit 46 generates status data indicating the status of the main inkjet printer 3. The data transmission unit 47 transmits the status data generated by the status generation unit 46 to the parent inkjet printer 2 via the USB device controller 48.

  When another child inkjet printer 3 (for example, the child inkjet printer 3b in FIG. 1) is cascade-connected via USB via the USB host controller 38, the data reception unit 41 is transmitted from the parent inkjet printer 2. When the image data file and the command relating to the other child ink jet printer 3 are received via the USB device controller 48, the data transmission unit 47 receives the image data file and the command via the USB host controller 38 to the other child data. Transmit to the inkjet printer 3. Further, when the data receiving unit 41 receives status data regarding the other child inkjet printer 3 transmitted from the other child inkjet printer 3 via the USB host controller, the data transmitting unit 47 receives the status data. Then, the data is transmitted to the parent inkjet printer 2 via the USB device controller 48.

  Next, the contents of the durability test of the inkjet head 12 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation content of the inkjet head 12 in the durability test of the inkjet head 12. In this durability test, the master inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 perform printing based on the two image data files (image 1 and image 2) stored in the image data storage units 31 and 42, and store the operation data. Based on the operation data stored in the units 32 and 43, the operation is alternately repeated a predetermined number of times. As shown in FIG. 5, in the durability test, the printing related to the image 1 and the image 2 is alternately started in synchronization with the printing cycle clock pulse generated by the printing cycle clock generation circuit 51 of the durability printing control circuit 34. The

  First, when printing related to the image 1 is started, the flushing control circuit 54 performs the flushing operation of the inkjet head 12 (1000 shots for each nozzle). The delay circuit 52 prints an image based on the image data file of image 1 (3000 dots in the paper conveyance direction) by the print control circuit 53 after the total time of the flushing operation time and the delay time 1 has elapsed. The start of the operation of the print control circuit 53 is delayed. Then, when the delay time 2 elapses after the printing control circuit 53 completes the printing related to the image 1, the printing related to the image 2 is started in synchronization with the pulse of the printing cycle clock. When the printing related to the image 2 is started, the flushing operation (for 1000 shots) is performed as in the case of the image 1. In addition, after the total time of the flushing operation time and the delay time 1 has elapsed, the print control circuit 53 prints an image based on the image data file of image 2 (3000 dots in the paper conveyance direction). Further, during the endurance test, each child inkjet printer 3 transmits its own status data to the parent inkjet printer 2 when it receives a status data transmission request (command) from the parent inkjet printer 2. The durability test is completed by repeating the above operation a predetermined number of times.

  Next, the operation of the entire inkjet head durability test system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the inkjet head durability test system 1. In the following description, an inkjet head durability test system 1 in which two child inkjet printers 3a and 3b (child inkjet printers # 1 and # 2) are cascade-connected in order by USB to the parent inkjet printer 2 will be described. As described above, the user causes the image data storage unit 31 to store one or more image data files used for the durability test stored in the memory card 70 via the memory card reader 14. Further, the user operates the parent inkjet printer 2 to select an image data file to be printed in the durability test, and registers conditions such as the number of printing times of each selected image data file using the touch panel 13.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, the parent inkjet printer 2 transmits a transmission request for status data to the child inkjet printers 3a and 3b (S101). The child inkjet printer 3a that has received the status transmission request from the parent inkjet printer 2 further transmits the received status transmission request to the child inkjet printer 3b (S201). Then, the status data generated by its own status generation unit 46 is transmitted to the parent inkjet printer 2 (S202). The child inkjet printer 3b that has received the status data transmission request from the child inkjet printer 3a transmits the status data generated by its own status generation unit 46 to the parent inkjet printer 2 via the child inkjet printer 3a (S301, S203). ).

  Based on the status received from the child inkjet printers 3a and 3b, the parent inkjet printer 2 checks whether both the child inkjet printers 3a and 3b are in a standby state. If neither of the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b is in a standby state, after the lapse of a predetermined time, the above-described processing is repeated to receive status data of the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b again. If both the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b are in a standby state, the image data file and command used for the durability test are transmitted to the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b (S102). The child inkjet printer 3a that has received data from the parent inkjet printer 2 transmits data related to the child inkjet printer 3b to the child inkjet printer 3b among the received data (S204). Then, among the data relating to itself, an image data file is stored in the image data storage unit 42, and a command is stored in the operation data storage unit 43 as operation data. The child inkjet printer 3b that has received data from the child inkjet printer 3a stores the image data file included in the received data in the image data storage unit 42, and stores the command in the operation data storage unit 43 as operation data.

  In this way, when the parent ink jet printer 2 transmits data and each child ink jet printer 3a, 3b receives and stores this data, the parent ink jet printer 2 and each child ink jet printer 3a, 3b receive the respective operation data. Accordingly, a durability test that is continuous printing is started (S103, S205, S302). The start of the durability test is performed almost simultaneously in cooperation with each other. At this time, the durable print control circuit 34 continuously drives the inkjet head 12 at the operation timing when the conveyance mechanism of the parent inkjet printer 2 is virtually operated without driving the conveyance mechanism that conveys the paper. Then, the parent inkjet printer 2 periodically checks the status of the child inkjet printers 3a and 3b. That is, the parent inkjet printer 2 transmits a status data transmission request to the child inkjet printers 3a and 3b (S104). The child inkjet printer 3a that has received the status data transmission request from the parent inkjet printer 2 transmits the received status data transmission request to the child inkjet printer 3b (S206). Then, the status data generated by its own status generation unit 46 is transmitted to the parent inkjet printer 2 (S207). The child inkjet printer 3b that has received the status data transmission request from the child inkjet printer 3a transmits the status data generated by its own status generation unit 46 to the parent inkjet printer 2 via the child inkjet printer 3a (S303, S208). ).

  The parent ink jet printer 2 stores the status received from the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b (S105) and accumulates it as a durability test result. This test result can be taken out by the memory card 70. Then, in the parent ink jet printer 2 and the child ink jet printers 3a and 3b, the endurance test is completed when a predetermined number of times of continuous printing is completed.

  The status data described above includes, for example, information such as head temperature, head drive voltage and current, ink remaining amount, and print processing amount. If an abnormality is found in the head temperature, the head may be overheated. If an abnormality is found in the driving voltage / current, an electrical breakage or damage of the head is suspected. Therefore, in this embodiment, an operator call operation indicating an abnormality is performed, and this state is displayed and a warning is issued by a display device (not shown). At this time, the ink jet printer that has transmitted the abnormal state is stopped while leaving the function of transmitting and receiving with the outside. If a difference of a predetermined value or more is recognized in the print processing amount, data for temporarily correcting the operation data is transmitted to the ink jet printer that caused the difference. Here, the duration of the flushing or delay time 1 that is started by the immediately following printing cycle clock is changed. As a result, the durability test is resumed almost simultaneously and completed almost simultaneously.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment described above, since the parent ink jet printer 2 controls the operation of the child ink jet printer 3 by the command, the continuous print contents regarding the parent ink jet printer 2 and the child ink jet printer 3 are sent to the parent ink jet printer 2. With a simple operation of registering all at once, the parent ink jet printer 2 and the child ink jet printer 3 can perform continuous printing. In addition, by adjusting the content and transmission timing of a command transmitted from the parent inkjet printer 2 to the child inkjet printer 3, between the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 or between the plurality of child inkjet printers 3. A cooperative operation can be performed.

  Further, since the plurality of child ink jet printers 3 are cascade-connected via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) starting from the parent ink jet printer 2, the child ink jet printers 3 can be easily added without relaying the USB hub. Also, the USB cable is not concentrated in one place, and the handling of the USB cable is simplified.

  Further, in the durability test, when printing is started, the flushing control circuit 54 first performs the flushing operation of the inkjet head 12. Then, after the flushing operation is completed by the delay circuit 52 and the delay time 1 elapses, the print control circuit 53 performs printing based on the image data file. As described above, since the delay circuit 52 delays the start of the operation of the print control circuit 53, the durability test of the inkjet head 12 by continuous printing can be performed without driving the transport device that transports the paper.

  Further, since the flushing control circuit 54 and the delay circuit 52 start the operation in synchronization with the pulse of the printing cycle clock generated by the printing cycle clock generation circuit 51 of the durable printing control circuit 34, the operation is started. The durable printing control circuit 34 can be configured with a simple circuit.

  Further, the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 have the same structure, and any child inkjet printer 3 can be used as the parent inkjet printer 2 by the internal function switching setting. The inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 can be shared. Thereby, cost reduction of the inkjet head durability test system 1 can be achieved.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of child inkjet printers 3 are cascade-connected with the parent inkjet printer 2 as a starting point, but the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 are connected via a hub. It may be connected by USB, or may be connected to be communicable with each other by other communication methods regardless of wired or wireless.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the durable print control circuit 34 is configured to continuously drive the inkjet head 12 according to the operation timing of the virtually operated paper transport mechanism during the durability test of the inkjet head 12. A configuration may be employed in which printing is actually performed by driving a paper transport mechanism.

  In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the durable printing control circuit 34 synchronizes with the printing cycle clock pulse generated by the printing cycle clock generation circuit 51 of the durable printing control circuit 34, and the flushing control circuit 54 and the delay circuit 52. However, the durable printing control circuit may have an arbitrary circuit configuration.

  In the above-described embodiment, the flushing operation is performed before printing in the durability test. However, a configuration in which the flushing operation is not performed may be used.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the parent ink jet printer 2 and the child ink jet printer 3 are configured to use the ink jet head 12 as a recording head, but may be configured to use other recording heads such as a thermal head. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 have the same structure, but the parent inkjet printer 2 and the child inkjet printer 3 have different structures. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an ink-jet head durability test system has been described. However, in the present invention, the parent ink-jet printer 2 and the child ink-jet printer 3 continuously print images related to a predetermined image data file. It can also be applied to a printing system.

It is a schematic block diagram of the durability test system of the inkjet head which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the parent inkjet printer shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a durable printing control circuit shown in FIG. 2. It is a functional block diagram of the child inkjet printer shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the durable printing control circuit shown in FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the durability test system for an inkjet head shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet head durability test system 2 Parent inkjet printer 3 Child inkjet printer 11 Control device 12 Inkjet head 13 Touch panel 14 Memory card reader 21 Control device 31, 42 Image data storage unit 32, 43 Operation data storage unit 33, 44 Head control unit 34 Endurance printing control circuit 35 Status reception unit 36 Command generation unit 37 Data transmission unit 38 USB host controller 41 Data reception unit 46 Status generation unit 47 Data transmission unit 48 USB device controller 51 Print cycle clock generation circuit 52 Delay circuit 53 Print control circuit 54 Flushing control circuit 55 Head drive circuit 70 Memory card

Claims (7)

The parent recording device and the child recording device are connected so as to communicate with each other,
The parent recording device is
A recording head for recording images;
Operation data storage means for storing operation data indicating operation contents of the parent recording device and the child recording device;
Image data storage means for storing one or more image data relating to an image to be recorded by the master recording device and the slave recording device;
Image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data stored in the image data storage means to the slave recording device;
Status data receiving means for receiving status data indicating the state of the slave recording device transmitted from the slave recording device;
Command generation means for generating a command for controlling the operation of the slave recording device based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage means and the status data received by the status data receiving means;
Command transmitting means for transmitting the command generated by the command generating means to the slave recording device;
Based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage means, a parent head control means for controlling the recording head so that an image based on the image data stored in the image data storage means is repeatedly recorded. And
The child recording device is
The recording head;
Status data transmitting means for transmitting the status data to the parent recording device;
Image data receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted from the parent recording device;
Command receiving means for receiving the command transmitted from the parent recording device;
Child head control means for controlling the pre-recording head so that the image recording based on the image data received by the image data receiving means is repeatedly performed based on the command received by the command receiving means. Recording system characterized by that.   2. The recording system according to claim 1, wherein one or a plurality of the child recording devices are cascade-connected by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) starting from the parent recording device. The recording head is an inkjet head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles;
The master head control unit and the child head control unit control the recording head so that a flushing operation for ejecting ink droplets from all the nozzles is performed before an image is recorded based on the image data. The recording system according to claim 1, wherein the recording system is a recording system. The recording head is an inkjet head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles;
The master head control unit and the child head control unit control the recording head so that a flushing operation of stirring ink in all the nozzles is performed before an image is recorded based on the image data. The recording system according to claim 1, wherein the recording system is a recording system. The parent head control means and the child head control means are:
A reference clock generation circuit for generating a reference clock for determining a cycle for recording an image;
A drive circuit for driving the recording head;
A flushing control circuit for controlling the drive circuit so that the flushing operation is started in synchronization with a pulse of the reference clock;
An image recording control circuit for controlling the drive circuit so that an image based on the image data is recorded;
A delay circuit that delays activation of the image recording control circuit so that image recording based on the image data is started after a lapse of a predetermined time from completion of the flushing operation. The recording system according to claim 4 or 5.   The recording system according to claim 1, wherein the parent recording device and the child recording device are devices having the same structure. The parent test device and the child test device are connected so as to communicate with each other.
The parent test device is
A recording head for recording images;
Operation data storage means for storing operation data indicating operation contents of the parent test device and the child test device;
Image data storage means for storing one or more image data relating to images to be recorded by the parent test device and the child test device;
Image data transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the image data storage means to the child test device;
Status data receiving means for receiving status data indicating the state of the child test device transmitted from the child test device;
Command generation means for generating a command for controlling the operation of the child test apparatus based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage means and the status data received by the status data receiving means;
Command transmitting means for transmitting the command generated by the command generating means to the child test apparatus;
Based on the operation data stored in the operation data storage means, a parent head control means for controlling the recording head so that an image based on the image data stored in the image data storage means is repeatedly recorded. And
The child test device is
The recording head;
Status data transmitting means for transmitting the status data to the parent test apparatus;
Image data receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted from the parent test device;
Command receiving means for receiving the command transmitted from the parent test device;
Child head control means for controlling the pre-recording head so that the image recording based on the image data received by the image data receiving means is repeatedly performed based on the command received by the command receiving means. An endurance test system for recording heads.

Images