JP2010179577A - Ejection inspecting apparatus, fluid ejecting apparatus and control method for ejection inspecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrict the wasting of a fluid as much as possible when the ejection state of the fluid from a nozzle is not good, and to attain an image quality desired by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 20 sets, on the basis of input by the user, an allowable range as a range to carry out the allowed printing even when an image quality is degraded by a defective ejection nozzle. The printer carries out nozzle inspection. When an ejection defect is detected in the nozzle 23 from the result of the nozzle inspection, a point count (image quality value) in the defective ejection state of the nozzle 23 is calculated using the result of the nozzle inspection and weighting information 73a which is information associating weighting a defective ejection state and an image quality value as a printing result with each other. The allowed printing is performed without carrying out cleaning if the point count is within the allowable range. On the other hand, printing is performed after the cleaning is carried out when the point count exceeds the set allowable range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a discharge inspection apparatus, a fluid discharge apparatus, and a control method for a discharge inspection apparatus.

  Conventionally, as a discharge inspection apparatus, the number of nozzles in which discharge failure has occurred is set in advance as a threshold value for executing cleaning, and a liquid is detected by a liquid discharge detection unit for detecting whether or not liquid has been discharged from the nozzles. When a nozzle that does not eject liquid is detected, it is determined whether to clean the nozzle based on whether or not the number of defective ejection nozzles has been exceeded. In order to prevent waste of ink, there has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-7960 A

  However, since the number of ejection failure nozzles is set as the threshold value for performing cleaning in the ejection inspection apparatus of Patent Document 1, even if the number of ejection failure nozzles is the same, the ink color and position of the ejection failure nozzles are the same. There is a problem that the image quality of the printing result changes due to the above. When the image quality of the print result is not at a desired level, printing may be performed again, so the user wants to suppress wasting ink by suppressing cleaning and reprinting while ensuring a certain image quality. there were.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and in the case where the discharge state of the fluid from the nozzle is not good, the discharge inspection can suppress the waste of the fluid as much as possible and achieve the image quality desired by the user. It is a main object to provide a control method for an apparatus, a fluid discharge apparatus, and a discharge inspection apparatus.

  The present invention adopts the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The discharge inspection apparatus of the present invention is
A discharge head inspection means for inspecting a discharge state of the fluid of a discharge head including a plurality of nozzles and discharging a fluid from the nozzles to a target;
Cleaning means for cleaning the ejection head;
An allowable setting means for setting an allowable range, which is a range for executing an allowable discharge process for discharging the fluid to the target even if a discharge failure is detected in the discharge head, based on a user input;
The ejection failure state including at least one of the fluid color of the nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred and the positional relationship between two or more nozzles in which ejection failure has occurred is weighted and associated with the image quality value that is the result of ejecting fluid to the target. Storage means for storing the weighting information that is the information and the set allowable range;
When the predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, the discharge head and the discharge head inspection unit are controlled to execute the discharge inspection, execution of the allowable discharge process is set, and discharge failure is detected in the discharge head based on the inspection result. Sometimes, the image quality value in the ejection failure state of the nozzle is calculated using the result of the ejection inspection and the weighting information stored in the storage means, and when the calculated image quality value is within the allowable range, Control means for controlling the cleaning means so as to execute the cleaning when the calculated image quality value exceeds the allowable range while controlling the discharge head to execute the allowable discharge processing without executing cleaning. ,
It is equipped with.

  In this discharge inspection apparatus, an allowable range, which is a range for executing an allowable discharge process for discharging a fluid to a target even when a discharge failure is detected in the discharge head, is set based on a user input. When a predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, the discharge inspection is executed, and when the discharge discharge is detected in the discharge head based on the result of the discharge inspection, the discharge inspection result and the discharge failure state are set. The image quality value in the defective ejection state of the nozzle is calculated using weighting information that is information obtained by weighting and associating the image quality value that is a result of discharging the fluid to the target, and the calculated image quality value is set. If it is within the permissible range, the permissible ejection process is performed without executing cleaning, while the cleaning is performed when the calculated image quality value exceeds the set permissible range. As described above, weighting is performed by weighting and associating the ejection failure state including at least one of the fluid color of the ejection failure nozzle and the positional relationship of two or more nozzles with ejection failure and the image quality value as a result of ejecting the fluid onto the target. The information is used to calculate the image quality value when the nozzle is in an ejection failure state. If the calculated image quality value is within an allowable range set by the user, the fluid discharge process to the target is executed, thereby performing the discharge process that allows the deterioration of the image quality while performing the cleaning process. Reduce waste. On the other hand, when the calculated image quality value exceeds the allowable range set by the user, cleaning is performed to ensure the image quality. Therefore, when the discharge state of the fluid from the nozzle is not good, waste of the fluid can be suppressed as much as possible and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained.

  In the discharge inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the storage unit may store the weighting information determined so that the weight of the image quality value increases as the fluid color of the nozzle in which the discharge failure has occurred is darker. Good. The darker the fluid color, the greater the degradation of the image quality. Thus, a more appropriate image quality value can be calculated and the image quality desired by the user can be achieved.

  In the ejection inspection apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the storage unit may store the image quality value when the rasters to be recorded by the two or more nozzles in which the ejection failure has occurred are at the same position than when the rasters are separated from each other. The weighting information determined so as to increase the weight may be stored. Since the closer the rasters to be recorded are, the more the image quality is deteriorated. In this way, a more appropriate image quality value can be calculated and the image quality desired by the user can be achieved.

  In the ejection inspection apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the storage unit may weight the image quality value when the rasters to be recorded are adjacent to each other by two or more nozzles in which the ejection failure has occurred than when the rasters are separated. The weighting information determined to increase may be stored. When the rasters to be recorded are adjacent to each other, the image quality is further deteriorated. Therefore, a more appropriate image quality value can be calculated and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained. Here, “the tendency for the weighting to increase” means that when the raster to be recorded becomes closer, the weight is increased, and the proximity distance of the raster to be recorded exceeds a predetermined value or falls below a predetermined value. In some cases, the weighting is constant.

  In the ejection inspection apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the control unit may calculate the image quality value by performing weighting according to a usage rate of a fluid color included in an image used for ejection processing for ejecting the fluid to the target. Good. Since the fluid color of the nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred and the fluid color with high usage rate used for ejection processing have a correlation with the influence on the image quality, this makes it possible to calculate a more appropriate image quality value. It is possible to achieve the image quality desired by the user. Here, when the weighting is performed according to the usage rate of the fluid color, the fluid color having a higher usage rate may be set so that the weighting of the image quality value becomes larger.

  In the ejection inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the storage unit tends to increase the weighting of the image quality value as the positions of dots formed by two or more nozzles in which the ejection failure has occurred tend to be closer. The weighting information determined in the above may be stored. Since the closer the positions of dots formed by two or more nozzles in which ejection failure has occurred, the greater the degradation in image quality, this makes it possible to calculate a more appropriate image quality value, and more The desired image quality can be achieved. Here, “the tendency of the dot positions to be closer” means that, for example, the positions of two or more ejection failure nozzles of the same color are close, or the positions of two or more ejection failure nozzles of different colors overlap or are close to each other In the case of two or more ejection failure nozzles of the same color or different colors in which the positions of the fluids formed on the target are not close to each other but are close to each other, at least one or more of them may be included. In the discharge inspection apparatus of the present invention, the discharge head inspection unit includes a fluid receiving region that receives the fluid discharged from the discharge head, and causes the discharged fluid to land on the fluid receiving region, It is also possible to detect an electrical change caused by fluid discharge and detect the discharge state based on the detection result. By doing this, since the fluid lands on the fluid receiving area and an electrical change caused by the discharge of the fluid is detected, the discharge inspection can be performed relatively easily.

  A fluid ejection device of the present invention includes the ejection inspection device according to any one of the above, and a ejection head that includes a plurality of nozzles and ejects fluid from the nozzles to a target. Any of the above-described discharge inspection apparatuses according to the present invention is equipped with a device that suppresses waste of the fluid as much as possible and can achieve the image quality desired by the user when the discharge state of the fluid from the nozzle is not good. The fluid discharge device thus produced has the same effect.

  The fluid ejection device of the present invention includes display means for displaying an image, and the control means ejects corresponding to the set allowable range when setting the allowable range that is the range for executing the allowable discharge processing. An image of an image quality obtained in a defective state may be displayed on the display means. In this way, the image quality at the time of ejection failure can be visually recognized by the user, so that a more appropriate allowable range can be set and the image quality desired by the user can be easily obtained.

The control method of the discharge inspection apparatus of the present invention is:
A discharge head inspecting unit for inspecting a discharge state of the fluid of a discharge head that includes a plurality of nozzles and discharging a fluid from the nozzles to a target; a cleaning unit for cleaning the discharge head; and a nozzle having a discharge defect. Stores weighting information, which is information in which a discharge failure state including at least one of a fluid color and a positional relationship between two or more nozzles in which discharge failure has occurred and an image quality value that is a result of discharging a fluid to a target are weighted and associated. And a storage means for controlling a discharge inspection apparatus comprising:
(A) setting an allowable range based on a user input, which is a range for performing an allowable discharge process for discharging the fluid to the target even if a discharge failure is detected in the discharge head;
(B) The discharge head and the discharge head inspection unit are controlled to execute the discharge inspection when a predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, the execution of the allowable discharge process is set, and the discharge head has a discharge defect based on the inspection result. When detected, the image quality value in the ejection failure state of the nozzle is calculated using the result of the ejection inspection and the weighting information stored in the storage means, and the calculated image quality value is within the allowable range. In some cases, the discharge head is controlled to execute the allowable discharge process without executing the cleaning, and the cleaning unit is controlled to execute the cleaning when the calculated image quality value exceeds the allowable range. Steps,
Is included.

  In the control method of the discharge inspection apparatus, as in the case of the discharge inspection apparatus described above, when the discharge state of the fluid from the nozzle is not good, the waste of the fluid can be suppressed as much as possible and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained. . In the method for controlling the discharge inspection apparatus, various aspects of the above-described discharge inspection apparatus may be employed, and steps for realizing the functions of the above-described discharge inspection apparatus may be added. .

  The program of this invention is for making each step of the control method of the discharge inspection apparatus mentioned above implement | achieve in 1 or several computers. This program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (for example, hard disk, ROM, FD, CD, DVD, etc.) or from a computer via a transmission medium (communication network such as the Internet or LAN). It may be distributed to another computer, or may be exchanged in any other form. If this program is executed by one computer or if each computer is assigned to and executed by a plurality of computers, each step of the above-described control method of the discharge inspection apparatus is executed. An effect is obtained.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printer 20 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a nozzle inspection device 50. Explanatory drawing of the weight information 73a and the tolerance | permissible_range 73b. The block diagram showing the outline | summary of the function structure of the controller. Explanatory drawing of the setting screen 80 displayed on the display part 78a. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a deterioration-permitted print processing routine. Flow chart showing an example of a nozzle inspection routine Explanatory drawing of an example of calculation of the number of points in the case of a single defective discharge nozzle. Explanatory drawing of an example of calculation of the number of points when an ejection failure nozzle adjoins. Explanatory drawing of the setting screen 85 displayed on the display part 78a. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a nozzle inspection device 150. The block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the nozzle test | inspection apparatus 250. FIG.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the printer 20 according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of a configuration of a nozzle inspection device 50, and FIG. 73a and 73b are explanatory diagrams, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a functional configuration of the controller. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 20 according to the present embodiment includes a printing mechanism 21 including a print head 24 that ejects ink as a fluid onto a recording paper S as a target, and a paper feeding mechanism 30 that conveys the recording paper S. A capping device 40 that performs sealing and cleaning of the print head 24, a nozzle inspection device 50 that performs nozzle inspection of whether or not ink is being ejected from the print head 24, a screen display of information and a user An operation panel 78 that accepts input and a controller 70 that controls the entire printer 20 are provided.

  The printing mechanism 21 includes a carriage 22 that reciprocates left and right (main scanning direction) along a carriage shaft 28 by a carriage belt 32, and a print head 24 that applies pressure to each color ink and ejects ink droplets as fluid from nozzles 23. And an ink cartridge 26 that stores ink of each color and supplies the stored ink to the print head 24. As the carriage 22 is driven by the carriage motor 34a, the carriage belt 32 installed between the carriage motor 34a attached to the right side of the casing 39 and the driven roller 34b attached to the left side of the casing 39 is driven. Move. A linear encoder 25 that detects the position of the carriage 22 is disposed on the rear surface of the carriage 22, and the position of the carriage 22 can be managed using the linear encoder 25. The print head 24 is provided in the lower part of the carriage 22, and each color is applied from a nozzle 23 provided on the lower surface of the print head 24 by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element and pressurize the ink. Ink is ejected. The ink cartridge 26 is mounted on the carriage 22 and is used for printing of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (K), etc. containing pigment or dye as a colorant in water as a solvent. Each color ink to be used is individually accommodated.

  The paper feed mechanism 30 is driven by a drive motor 33 to feed the recording paper S on the platen 29 from the back to the front in the drawing or the recording paper S placed on a tray (not shown) to the platen 29. A paper feed roller for feeding paper, a paper discharge roller for transporting the recording paper S ejected with ink by the platen 29 to a paper discharge tray (not shown), and the like are provided.

  The capping device 40 includes a capping member 42 formed of an insulating member having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and an upper opening, and is disposed at an initial position (home position) of the carriage 22. A sealing member 41 made of an insulator such as silicon rubber is provided at the opening edge of the capping device 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the capping device 40 is supported by an elevating mechanism 47 so as to be movable up and down. The capping device 40 is used for a cleaning process for sucking out ink clogged in the nozzles 23. It is also used when sealing the nozzle 23 to prevent it from drying. A suction pump 45 is connected to the capping device 40 via a suction tube 43, and an open / close valve 46 is connected via an intake tube 44. When the open / close valve 46 is closed, the suction pump 45 is activated. A negative pressure is generated in the internal space of the capping device 40. By generating this negative pressure when the capping device 40 seals the nozzle 23, cleaning for forcibly sucking out the ink in the nozzle 23 can be executed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle inspection device 50 includes an inspection region 52 that can receive ink droplets ejected from the nozzles 23 of the print head 24, and the print head 24 by setting the inspection region 52 to a predetermined potential. A voltage application circuit 53 that generates a predetermined potential difference between the inspection region 52 and a voltage detection circuit 54 that detects a voltage change in the inspection region 52 is provided. The inspection area 52 is disposed inside the capping device 40 that seals the print head 24. The inspection area 52 is formed as a rectangular area, and an upper ink absorber 55 on which ink droplets land, and a lower ink absorption that absorbs ink droplets that have been transmitted downward after landing on the upper ink absorber 55. And a mesh-like electrode member 57 disposed between the upper ink absorber 55 and the lower ink absorber 56. The upper ink absorber 55 is formed of a conductive sponge so as to have the same potential as the electrode member 57, and the surface thereof serves as an inspection region 52. This sponge is highly permeable so that the landed ink droplets can move downward quickly, and here, an ester urethane sponge is used. The lower ink absorber 56 has higher ink retention than the upper ink absorber 55, and is made of a nonwoven fabric such as felt. The electrode member 57 is formed as a grid-like mesh made of a metal made of stainless steel (for example, SUS). Therefore, the ink once absorbed by the upper ink absorber 55 is absorbed by the lower ink absorber 56 through the gap between the grid-like electrode members 57. Here, since the electrode member 57 is in contact with the conductive upper ink absorber 55, the surface of the upper ink absorber 55, that is, the inspection region 52 has the same potential as the electrode member 57. The upper ink absorber 55 may not be provided, and the region that receives the ink droplets only needs to have the same potential as the electrode member 57.

  The voltage application circuit 53 is connected to the electrode member 57 in the inspection area 52, and the voltage of the electrical wiring of several volts drawn inside the printer 20 is increased to several tens to several hundreds volts through a booster circuit (not shown). This is a circuit that boosts the voltage and applies the boosted DC voltage Ve (for example, 400 V) to the inspection region 52 via the resistance element R1 (for example, 1 MΩ) and the switch SW. The voltage detection circuit 54 is connected to the electrode member 57 in the inspection area 52, and detects the voltage change in the inspection area 52 caused by the ink ejected from the print head 24 caused by the ink ejection. An integration circuit 54a that integrates and outputs the voltage signal of the head 24, an inverting amplification circuit 54b that inverts and outputs the signal output from the integration circuit 54a, and a signal output from the inverting amplification circuit 54b. An A / D conversion circuit 54 c that performs / D conversion and outputs the result to the controller 70. Since the integration circuit 54a has a weak voltage change due to the flight / landing of one ink droplet, the integration circuit 54a integrates the voltage change due to the flight / landing of a plurality of ink droplets ejected from the same nozzle 23 to produce a large voltage change. Output. The inverting amplifier circuit 54b inverts the sign of the voltage change and amplifies and outputs the signal output from the integrating circuit at a predetermined amplification factor determined by the circuit configuration. The A / D conversion circuit 54 c converts the analog signal output from the inverting amplification circuit 54 b into a digital signal and outputs it to the controller 70.

  The operation panel 78 is a device for a user to input various instructions to the printer 20, and includes a display unit 78a configured by a color liquid crystal panel on which characters and images corresponding to the various instructions are displayed, An operation unit 78b on which up / down / left / right keys, an enter key, a cancel key and the like are arranged is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 70 is configured as a microprocessor centered on a CPU 72, a flash ROM 73 capable of storing various processing programs and rewriting data, and temporarily storing data and storing data. And an interface (I / F) 79 for exchanging data with an external device such as a user personal computer (PC) 12. The flash ROM 73 stores processing programs such as a nozzle inspection routine, a cleaning processing routine, and a printing processing routine which will be described later. The RAM 74 is provided with a print buffer area in which a print job sent from an external device such as a user personal computer (PC) 12 via the I / F 79 is stored. In addition to the voltage signal output from the voltage detection circuit 54 of the nozzle inspection device 50 being input to the controller 70 via an input port (not shown), a print job output from an external device (such as the user personal computer 12). Etc. are input via the I / F 79. The controller 70 outputs a control signal to the print head 24, a control signal to the nozzle inspection device 50, a drive signal to the carriage motor 34a, and the like via an output port (not shown).

The flash ROM 73 stores weight information 73a, an allowable range 73b, and the like as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the weighting information 73a includes a discharge failure state including an ink color of a nozzle (also referred to as a discharge failure nozzle) in which a discharge failure has occurred and an arrangement relationship of two or more discharge failure nozzles, and the discharge failure state. This is information in which the number of points (image quality value) related to the image quality obtained when performing the printing process is weighted and associated. Here, the weighting information 73c includes the number of points for each color type corresponding to one ejection failure nozzle, the number of points when the nozzles are adjacent in the same color (same color adjacent nozzles), and the same color when printing with the same color. The number of points in the adjacent raster (same color adjacent raster and same color same raster) that is the nozzle that forms the matching dot, and the same nozzle number in the different color (form the same position dot) (different color same nozzle number) And the number of points on adjacent rasters (different color adjacent rasters and different color same rasters), which are nozzles that form adjacent dots in different colors during printing. It is determined that the higher the ink color of the ejection failure nozzle is, that is, the weighting of the number of points increases in the order of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. Further, it is determined that the weight of the number of points increases as the positions of dots formed by two or more defective ejection nozzles become closer. “The tendency that the weight of the number of points becomes larger as the positions of the dots are closer” means, for example, that the weight is increased when the positions of the dots formed by two or more ejection failure nozzles are closer, The case where the weighting is made constant when the proximity distance of dots exceeds a predetermined value or falls below a predetermined value may be included.
The permissible range 73b is a value set by the user, and is used when printing processing is executed without executing cleaning (hereinafter also referred to as permissible printing processing) even when there is a defective ejection nozzle and image quality deteriorates. It is a threshold value. The printer 20 calculates the number of points indicating the image quality corresponding to the state of the defective ejection nozzle, performs printing if the number of points is within the allowable range, and performs cleaning when the number of points exceeds the allowable range. ing. Here, it is determined that the image quality decreases as the number of points increases, and the range below the set cleaning execution point is determined as the allowable range.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 70 includes an information acquisition unit 60, a set value input unit 61, a nozzle inspection execution unit 62, a point calculation unit 63, a point determination unit 64, and a cleaning execution unit as functional configurations of the controller. 65, a display processing unit 66, a print processing unit 67, and the like. The information acquisition unit 60 can execute processing for acquiring a signal input from the operation unit 78b and a print job from the I / F 79. The information acquisition unit 60 outputs the input value to the set value input unit 61 when an allowable range value is input. Further, when the information acquisition unit 60 acquires a print job, the information acquisition unit 60 outputs an inspection execution signal to the nozzle inspection execution unit 62 and outputs data on the color usage rate included in the print job to the point calculation unit 63. This color usage rate is information created at the time of creating a print job, for example, the ratio of each color included in the print image, such as 30% cyan, 50% magenta, 10% yellow, and 20% black. The set value input unit 61 stores the input allowable range value in the flash ROM 73 as the allowable range 73b, and displays the newly input allowable range value and an image having an image quality corresponding to the allowable range. Process to output to. In response to the inspection execution signal, the nozzle inspection execution unit 62 controls the print head 24, the carriage motor 34a, the nozzle inspection device 50, and the like to perform nozzle inspection. The point calculation unit 63 receives the result of the nozzle inspection by the nozzle inspection execution unit 62, uses this result and weighting information 73a, and further calculates the number of points corresponding to the image quality using the input color usage rate. I do. The point determination unit 64 outputs a print job print command to the print processing unit 67 when the calculated point number is within the allowable range, and executes the cleaning command when the calculated point number exceeds the allowable range. To the unit 65. The cleaning execution unit 65 receives the cleaning command and controls the carriage motor 34a and the capping device 40 to execute the cleaning process. The display processing unit 66 performs a process of outputting the input allowable range and an image corresponding to the allowable range to the display unit 78a. Upon receiving a print command, the print processing unit 67 performs a process of controlling the print mechanism 21 and executing a print job.

  Next, regarding the operation of the printer 20 configured as described above, first, setting of the allowable range 73b will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a setting screen 80 displayed on the display unit 78a. The setting screen 80 is displayed on the display unit 78a when an allowable range setting is selected on a menu screen (not shown). The setting screen 80 includes an allowable image quality display unit 81 that displays an image having an image quality corresponding to the currently set allowable range, an allowable setting input unit 82 that sets whether or not to execute the allowable printing process, and an allowable range. And a slider 84 for inputting a numerical value of the allowable range at the upper and lower positions. When the slider 84 is above, the allowable cleaning point is set to a small value (for example, 1 point) so that the cleaning frequency is high, and when the slider 84 is below, the cleaning frequency is low. The cleaning execution point in the range is set to a large value (for example, 100 points). In the printer 20, an image with degraded image quality corresponding to the cleaning execution point is stored in the flash ROM 73 in advance, and the allowable range value is set according to the input position, and the display processing unit 66 sets the allowable range value. The image corresponding to is read out and displayed on the allowable image quality display unit 81 (see FIG. 5). The user sets execution of the permissible printing process by checking “Set permissible range” and moves the slider 84 up and down to check the image of the permissible image quality display unit 81 and fix the slider 84 at a predetermined position. And enter a tolerance value. The set value input unit 61 performs a process of storing the input value in the allowable range 73b of the flash ROM 73. It should be noted that the allowable range can be set with a value that allows the print result to be sufficiently visually recognized by experiments, and this value as a limit.

  Next, a description will be given of a deterioration allowable print processing routine executed when the allowable print processing is set. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a deterioration-permitting print processing routine executed by the CPU 72 of the controller 70. This routine is stored in the flash ROM 73, and is repeatedly executed after the allowable printing process is set. This routine is executed by the CPU 72 using the information acquisition unit 60, the nozzle inspection execution unit 62, the point calculation unit 63, the point determination unit 64, the cleaning execution unit 65, the print processing unit 67, and the like. When this routine is started, the CPU 72 first determines whether there is a print job waiting to be printed (step S100). Since the print job received from the user PC 12 is stored in the print buffer area formed in the RAM 74 and becomes a print job waiting to be printed, when the print job is received, it can be printed immediately as well as when it is being printed. Even so, the print job is temporarily in a print waiting state. If there is no print job waiting for printing in step S100, this routine is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when there is a print job waiting for printing in step S100, a nozzle inspection routine for inspecting whether ink is normally ejected from each nozzle 23 is executed (step S110). Here, an inspection execution signal is output from the information acquisition unit 60 to the nozzle inspection execution unit 62. In addition, the nozzle inspection execution condition is satisfied when a print job in a print waiting state is printed. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a nozzle inspection routine. When the nozzle inspection routine is started, the CPU 72 turns on the switch SW of the voltage application circuit 53 in the nozzle inspection execution unit 62 to generate a predetermined potential difference between the print head 24 and the inspection region 52 (step S200). The carriage motor 34a is driven to move the carriage 22 so that the print head 24 is at the normal inspection position (step S210). The normal inspection position is set to a position (home position) where the carriage 22 is positioned at the rightmost end of the guide 28 and the capping member 41 is in contact with the print head 24. When the carriage 22 is positioned at the home position, the print head 24 and the inspection area 52 are closest to each other.

  Subsequently, the CPU 72 executes nozzle inspection processing in steps S220 to S280. Here, the principle of nozzle inspection will be described. An experiment in which an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 23 in a state where the inspection region 52 is grounded and a voltage is applied to the ink in the nozzle 23 is actually performed. As a result, an output signal waveform in the inspection region 52 is ejected. Appeared as a sine curve. The principle that such an output signal waveform can be obtained is considered to be that an induced current flows due to electrostatic induction as the charged ink droplet approaches the inspection region 52. Further, the amplitude of the output signal waveform in the inspection area 52 depends not only on the distance from the print head 24 to the inspection area 52 but also on the presence and size of flying ink droplets. For this reason, when the nozzle 23 is clogged and the ink droplet does not fly or the ink droplet is smaller than a predetermined size, the amplitude of the output signal waveform is smaller than that at the normal time or becomes almost zero, so the output signal waveform Based on the amplitude, the presence or absence of clogging of the nozzle 23 can be determined (see the blowing in FIG. 2). In this embodiment, even if the ink droplet has a predetermined size, the amplitude of the output signal waveform due to the ink droplet for one shot is weak, so the operation of ejecting large dots is performed eight times (also referred to as inspection ejection amount). ) A larger amount of ink droplets was ejected. As a result, the output signal becomes an integrated value of eight ink droplets, so that a sufficiently large output signal waveform was obtained from the voltage detection circuit 54. The number of ink ejections can be arbitrarily set so as to be the number of ejections that can ensure inspection accuracy.

  When the nozzle inspection process is started, the CPU 72 ejects charged ink droplets from one nozzle 23 in the nozzle row that is an inspection target, that is, an ink ejection target (step S220). Subsequently, the CPU 72 inputs the amplitude of the signal waveform detected by the voltage detection circuit 54, that is, the output voltage Vop, and determines whether or not the input output voltage Vop is equal to or higher than the threshold value Vthr (step S230). This threshold value Vthr exceeds the output voltage Vop (peak value) of the output signal waveform when the inspection discharge amount of ink is normally discharged, and noise or the like when the inspection discharge amount of ink is not normally discharged. The value is determined empirically so as not to be exceeded by. When the output voltage Vop is less than the threshold value Vthr in step S230, it is considered that there is a discharge failure such as clogging in the current nozzle 23, and information for identifying the nozzle 23 (for example, what number column in which nozzle row) Information) is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 74 (step S240).

  After step S240 or when the output voltage Vop is equal to or higher than the threshold value Vthr in step S230 (that is, when the current nozzle 23 is normal), the CPU 72 inspects all the nozzles 23 included in the currently inspected nozzle row. If there is an uninspected nozzle 23 in the nozzle row currently being inspected (step S250), the nozzle 23 to be inspected is updated to an uninspected nozzle (step S260), and then again in step S220. Perform the following processing. On the other hand, when all the nozzles 23 included in the nozzle row currently being inspected have been inspected in step S250, it is determined whether or not all the nozzle rows included in the print head 24 have been inspected (step S270). When there is an uninspected nozzle row, the nozzle row to be inspected is updated to an uninspected nozzle row (step S280), and then the processes in and after step S220 are performed again. On the other hand, when all the nozzle arrays included in the print head 24 have been inspected in step S280, the switch SW of the voltage application circuit 53 is turned off (step S290), and this nozzle inspection routine ends. By executing this routine, if there is a nozzle 23 in which ejection failure has occurred among all the nozzles 23 arranged in the print head 24, information for specifying the nozzle 23 is stored in the predetermined area of the RAM 74. If there is no nozzle 23 in which ejection failure has occurred, nothing is stored.

  Now, returning to the deterioration-permissible printing processing routine of FIG. 6 and executing the above-described nozzle inspection routine (step S110), the CPU 72 is the nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred among all the nozzles 23 arranged in the print head 24. 23 is determined based on the stored contents of a predetermined area of the RAM 74 (step S120). If there is no nozzle 23 in which ejection failure has occurred, the print processing routine is executed as it is (step S170), and this routine is terminated. Here, in the print processing routine, the print processing unit 67 drives the drive motor 33 to rotate the paper feed roller 35 and the like to convey the recording paper S to the printable area on the platen 29 and drive the carriage motor 34a. A process of discharging ink as a colorant onto the recording paper S based on print image data while moving the carriage 22 in the carriage movement direction is performed.

  On the other hand, when there is a nozzle 23 in which ejection failure has occurred in step S120, the CPU 72 determines the image quality value based on the weighting information 73a in order to determine whether a desired image quality can be obtained even if there is a nozzle with ejection failure. The number of points corresponding to is calculated (step S130), and the number of points is calculated based on the calculated point and the color usage rate of the image (step S140). Subsequently, the CPU 72 determines whether or not the calculated number of points exceeds the set allowable range 73b (step S150), and if the number of points is within the allowable range 73b, there is a defective nozzle. However, it is assumed that the image quality desired by the user can be obtained, the print processing routine of the print job is executed without executing the cleaning (step S170), and this routine is terminated. On the other hand, when the calculated number of points exceeds the allowable range 73b, it is considered that the image quality desired by the user cannot be obtained, and after performing cleaning (step S160), print processing of the print job is executed (step S160). S170), this routine is finished. In the cleaning process, the cleaning execution unit 65 brings the capping device 40 and the print head 24 into contact with each other by the elevating mechanism 47, closes the open / close valve 46, and drives the suction pump 45 to apply a negative pressure to the inside of the capping device 40. Ink is sucked and discharged from the nozzle 23.

  Here, calculation of the number of points in steps S130 and S140 will be described using a specific example of a defective ejection nozzle. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the calculation of the number of points in the case of a single defective ejection nozzle, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the calculation of the number of points when the defective ejection nozzle approaches. Here, the vertical direction of the nozzle rows in FIGS. 8 and 9 is set as the paper feed direction (sub-scanning direction) of the carriage in FIG. 1, and the carriage is arranged in the main scanning direction intersecting the paper feed direction while moving the carriage in the main scanning direction. It is assumed that dots are formed by using a raster in which pixels are arranged in the main scanning direction as a recording target. Also, here, in one main scan (pass), each nozzle sets all pixels included in the corresponding raster as recording target pixels, and ink droplets ejected from the nozzles correspond to nozzle intervals in the sub-scanning direction. A size dot is formed in each pixel. Accordingly, dots are formed in the medium area printed in one main scan with almost no gap between dots. Then, it is assumed that printing is performed by a so-called band printing method in which rasters printed by one main scan are not printed by another main scan. That is, a raster adjacent in the sub-scanning direction is printed by a nozzle adjacent in the sub-scanning direction. Note that “to be recorded” means that when the print data of this pixel is data indicating the presence of dot formation, this pixel is used to form a dot by the nozzle that is to be recorded, If the pixel data is data indicating that dots are not formed, dots are not formed.

  Here, for convenience of explanation, the color usage rate of the print job is 30% cyan, 50% magenta, 10% yellow, and 20% black, and the allowable range 73b is set to a range of 80 points or less. The case will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when there are two non-adjacent cyan ejection failure nozzles and one black ejection failure nozzle not adjacent thereto, the point calculation unit 63 uses the weight information 73a as the color type. First, a value obtained by multiplying the number of points determined according to the number of nozzles is calculated for each color type. Here, 2 points × 2 lines = 4 points for cyan, and 3 points × 1 line = 3 points for black. Next, the number of points, which is the image quality value of the image to be printed this time, is calculated by multiplying the number of points by the color usage rate of the image and adding the value calculated for each color type. To do. For example, even if ejection failure occurs in a cyan nozzle when the image is a red image as a whole, the image deterioration is less affected. Calculated. Here, since the cyan color usage rate is 30% and the black color usage rate is 20%, 4 points × 3 = 12 points for cyan and 3 points × 2 for black. = 6 points, and the total number of image quality deterioration points is calculated as 18 points. Since the point number 18 is in the range of 80 points or less of the allowable range 73b, the printing process is performed without performing the cleaning and allowing the deterioration of the image quality. For this reason, waste of ink can be suppressed, and a print result with a user-desired image quality can be obtained.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, two adjacent cyan ejection failure nozzles and one non-adjacent cyan ejection failure nozzle, a magenta ejection failure nozzle of a different color but the same number as the cyan nozzle number, A case where there is one black ejection failure nozzle that is not adjacent to these will be described. First, the point calculation unit 63 multiplies the number of points determined according to the color type by the weighting information 73a and the number of the nozzles, and calculates the number of points taking into account the arrangement relationship of the ejection failure nozzles for each color type. Calculate against Here, for cyan, the value (16P) obtained by multiplying 2 points of the color type, 2 ejection failure nozzles, 2 times the nozzle adjacent (same color adjacent raster), 2 times the continuous number of times adjacent to the nozzle, 18 points, which is the sum of 2 points of non-adjacent color types and a value (2P) obtained by multiplying the number of non-adjacent ejection failure nozzles by one, are calculated. For magenta, a value obtained by multiplying 2 points of the color type, 1 number of defective ejection nozzles, 2 times of different colors and the same nozzle number (different color and same raster), and 2 consecutive times of the same nozzle number, 8 Points are calculated. For black, the color type is 3 points × the number of defective nozzles is 1 = 3 points. Next, the number of points, which is the image quality value of the image to be printed this time, is calculated by multiplying the number of points by the color usage rate of the image and adding the value calculated for each color type. To do. Here, since the cyan color usage rate is 30%, magenta is 50%, and black color usage rate is 20%, 18 points × 3 = 54 points for cyan and 8 points × 5 = 40 points for magenta. In black, 3 points × 2 = 6 points, and the total number of image quality deterioration points is calculated as 100 points. As described above, when the nozzles are close to each other, the gap due to the discharge failure becomes large or conspicuous. Therefore, when the positions of the discharge defective nozzles are close to each other, the point value of the image quality deterioration is calculated to be larger. . Since the number of points exceeds 80 points in the allowable range 73b, the printing process is performed after the cleaning is executed to ensure the image quality. For this reason, waste of ink, such as reprinting without obtaining a desired image quality, can be suppressed, and a print result with a user-desired image quality can be obtained. Although not specifically described here, even when two or more differently defective nozzles of different colors are adjacent to each other in the sub-scanning direction (different color adjacent rasters), weighting is performed in the same manner as the different color same rasters. Points can be calculated.

  In the above example, the band printing method is used, but the size of one dot is smaller than the above, and another raster between two rasters printed by two adjacent nozzles in one main scan. May be printed by another so-called interlaced printing method. In this case, the positions of the nozzles are not necessarily adjacent to each other, but the position of the raster to be recorded on the recording paper S is two or more adjacent ejection failure nozzles of the same color or different colors (same color adjacent raster and different color adjacent raster) or When the position of the raster to be recorded on the recording paper S is two or more ejection failure nozzles of the same color and different (same color and same raster), the points are weighted by the same method as when the nozzles are adjacent to each other. can do. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, all the pixels included in the raster to be recorded by one nozzle are set as the recording target in one main scan, but some of the pixels included in the raster are 1 A printing method may be used in which pixels of a certain raster are recorded in a plurality of times of main scanning. In the case of this method, there may occur a case where the position of the raster to be recorded on the recording paper S is the same or different color ejection failure nozzles of two or more, so that the same color adjacent raster or different color adjacent raster is used. What is necessary is just to calculate points by weighting. However, in this case, the points may be varied in consideration of the ratio of the number of pixels to be recorded by this nozzle to the total number of pixels in one raster. In the above-described embodiment, since the raster to be recorded by each nozzle is determined when the printing method is determined, non-ejection nozzle information can be obtained, and image quality degradation can be evaluated when the printing method is selected.

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The print head 24 of this embodiment corresponds to the discharge head of the present invention, the nozzle inspection device 50 corresponds to the discharge head inspection unit, the capping device 40 corresponds to the cleaning unit, and the set value input unit 61 serves as the allowable setting unit. The flash ROM 73 corresponds to a storage unit, and the controller 70, the nozzle inspection execution unit 62, the point calculation unit 63, the point determination unit 64, the cleaning execution unit 65, the display processing unit 66, and the print processing unit 67 correspond to a control unit. The display unit 78a corresponds to a display unit, and the inspection area 52 corresponds to a fluid receiving area. Further, the ink corresponds to a fluid, and the recording paper S corresponds to a target. In the present embodiment, an example of the method for controlling the ejection inspection apparatus of the present invention is also clarified by describing the operation of the printer 20.

  According to the printer 20 of the present embodiment described in detail above, an allowable range that is a range for executing an allowable printing process for discharging ink onto the recording paper S even when a discharge failure is detected by the print head 24 is based on a user input. To set. When a predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, a nozzle inspection is executed, and when an allowable printing process is set to execute and a discharge failure is detected in the print head 24 as a result of the nozzle inspection, the result of the nozzle inspection and the discharge failure The number of points (image quality value) in the ejection failure state of the nozzle 23 is calculated using weighting information 73a that is information obtained by weighting and associating the state and the image quality value that is the result of ejecting ink onto the recording paper S. When the number of points is within the allowable range, the allowable printing process is executed without executing cleaning. On the other hand, when the number of points exceeds the set allowable range, the printing process is executed after the cleaning is executed. In this way, a weighting relationship in which the ejection failure state including the ink color of the ejection failure nozzle and the positional relationship of the two or more nozzles 23 with ejection failure is weighted and associated with the image quality value that is the result of ejecting ink onto the recording paper S is associated. The image quality value in the ejection failure state of the nozzle is calculated using the additional information 73a. If the number of points is within an allowable range set by the user, ink is discharged onto the recording paper S, and ink waste due to cleaning is performed while executing print processing that allows image quality degradation. Suppress. On the other hand, when the number of points exceeds the allowable range set by the user, cleaning is performed to ensure image quality. Therefore, when the ink discharge state from the nozzle is not good, waste of ink can be suppressed as much as possible, and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained.

  In addition, the darker the ink color, the greater the degradation of the image quality, but the higher the ink color of the nozzle where ejection failure has occurred, the higher the weight of the points, so a more appropriate image quality value is calculated. The image quality desired by the user can be improved. Furthermore, the weighting information 73a is determined so that when the rasters to be recorded by two or more ejection failure nozzles are at the same position, the weight of the point number is larger than when the rasters are separated from each other. When the rasters to be recorded are adjacent to each other by the above defective ejection nozzles, the weight of the number of points is set to be larger than when the rasters are separated from each other. Since the closer the dot positions are, the more the image quality is deteriorated. Therefore, a more appropriate image quality value can be calculated and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained. Furthermore, it is determined that the weight of the number of points increases as the usage rate of the ink color included in the image used in the printing process increases, and the number of points is calculated by weighting according to the color usage rate of the print image. Therefore, a more appropriate image quality value can be calculated, and the image quality desired by the user can be achieved. Since the nozzle inspection device 50 landes the ink ejected on the inspection region 52 and detects an electrical change caused by the ink ejection, the nozzle inspection can be performed relatively easily. In addition, since the image of the image quality obtained in the discharge failure state corresponding to the set allowable range is arranged on the allowable image quality display unit 81 of the setting screen 80 and displayed on the display unit 78a, the image quality at the time of discharge failure is set by the user. It can be visually recognized, can set a more appropriate allowable range, and can easily obtain the image quality desired by the user.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the weighting information 73a calculates the number of points by weighting the same color adjacent nozzle, the same color adjacent raster, the different color same nozzle number, and the different color adjacent raster as the color type and arrangement position. However, any one or more of these may be adopted, and one or more of these may be omitted. Even in this case, waste of ink can be suppressed as much as possible according to the weighting of the number of points adopted, and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained. In addition, although the weighted number of points is calculated using the color usage rate, this may be omitted. In this way, it is possible to omit the process of obtaining the color usage rate when creating a print job.

  In the embodiment described above, the weighting information is set so as to become a larger point as the image quality deteriorates. However, it is sufficient if it can be determined whether it is within the allowable range or out of the allowable range. The weighting information may be set so that the point becomes smaller as the image quality deteriorates.

  In the above-described embodiment, the darker the ink color, the greater the weight of the number of points. However, the weighting according to the deterioration of the image quality is not particularly limited thereto. In the above-described embodiment, the weight of the number of points tends to increase as the positions of dots formed by two or more ejection failure nozzles are closer, but weighting according to image quality deterioration is performed. For example, it is not particularly limited to this. In the above-described embodiment, the weighting of the number of points increases as the color usage rate increases. However, the weighting according to the deterioration of the image quality is not particularly limited thereto. In the above-described embodiment, the weighting point number is set to, for example, 3 points in black. However, if weighting is performed according to deterioration in image quality, the point number of the weighting information 73a is arbitrary. Can be determined.

  In the above-described embodiment, when setting the allowable range, an image having an image quality corresponding to the set allowable range is displayed on the allowable image quality display unit 81, but this may be omitted. Even in this case, since the execution of cleaning is suppressed according to the calculated number of points, waste of ink can be suppressed as much as possible and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained.

  In the embodiment described above, the allowable range of points is set on the setting screen 80 according to the position of the slider 84. However, as shown in the setting screen 85 of FIG. It is good also as what to do. Even in this case, waste of ink can be suppressed as much as possible, and the image quality desired by the user can be obtained.

  In the embodiment described above, the nozzle inspection device 50 detects the electrical change when the ink lands on the inspection region 52 and ejects the ink droplets by the voltage detection circuit 54. However, the ink ejection from the print head 24 is automatically performed. As long as it can be detected by the above, there is no particular limitation. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a detection member 152 is provided near the position where the ink ejected from the print head 24 passes, and is generated when the ejected ink passes near the detection member 152. The nozzle inspection device 150 may detect an electrical change and detect an ink discharge state based on the detection result. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the nozzle inspection apparatus 150. In this way, since an electrical change that occurs when ink passes in the vicinity of the detection member 152 is detected, a nozzle test can be performed relatively easily. The detection member 152 may be an electrode plate or an electric wire as long as it can detect an electrical change accompanying the passage of ink.

  In the embodiment described above, the nozzle inspection device 50 detects the electrical change in the inspection region 52 that receives ink, the voltage application circuit 53 that generates a predetermined potential difference between the print head 24 and the inspection region 52, and the inspection region. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the light emitting unit 253 and the light receiving unit are disposed at a position on the inspection region 252 through which the ink droplets ejected from the nozzles 23 of the print head 24 pass. 254, and a nozzle inspection apparatus 250 that performs an ink ejection inspection by detecting whether or not the light emitted from the light emitting unit 253 is blocked by the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle 23 may be used. . FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the nozzle inspection apparatus 250. In this way, since it is detected whether or not the light beam is blocked, the nozzle inspection can be performed relatively easily. Or it is good also as a nozzle test | inspection apparatus which detects whether the ink drop was discharged from the nozzle 23 by detecting the vibration of a test | inspection area | region when an ink drop hits a test | inspection area | region.

  In the above-described embodiment, the nozzle inspection device 50 generates a potential difference between the print head 24 and the inspection region 52 by applying a voltage to the inspection region 52. However, the inspection region 52 is connected to the ground. A potential difference may be generated between the print head 24 and the inspection area 52 by applying a voltage to the print head 24. Even in this case, the waveform can be detected by the voltage detection circuit 54 when ink droplets are ejected from the print head 24. In the above-described embodiment, the voltage detection circuit 54 is connected to the inspection region 52 to detect an electrical change accompanying ink droplet ejection. However, the voltage detection circuit 54 is connected to the print head 24 to perform capping. The electrode member 57 of the device 40 may be connected to the ground to detect an electrical change accompanying ink droplet ejection. In the case of this embodiment, the potential of the electrode on the side connected to the ground is not limited to the ground, but is a potential different from the voltage of the voltage application circuit 53, and a predetermined voltage between the voltage of the voltage application circuit 53 Any potential that provides a potential difference may be used. Even in this case, the waveform can be detected by the voltage detection circuit 54 when ink droplets are ejected from the print head 24. Note that the electrode that applies a predetermined potential in the print head 24 may be any electrode that can conduct the ink in the print head 24 and apply a potential to the ink, such as a nozzle plate or an electrode in the head. As shown in FIG. 2, the voltage application circuit 53 and the voltage detection circuit 54 are both connected to the inspection region 52 or connected to the print head 24 as described above. The voltage application circuit 53 and the voltage detection circuit 54 may be separately connected to either the print head 24 or the inspection area 52. It has been confirmed that the waveform can be detected by the voltage detection circuit 54 when ink droplets are ejected from the print head 24 regardless of which of these four modes is adopted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the inspection region 52 is provided inside the capping device 40. However, the inspection region 52 is not particularly limited to this, and for example, the inspection region 52 is periodically used to prevent the ink from drying and thickening. Alternatively, it may be provided in a flushing region in which ink droplets are ejected at a predetermined timing regardless of print data, or may be newly provided in a region where the print head 24 is movable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the print head 24 applies a voltage to the piezoelectric element and deforms the piezoelectric element to pressurize the ink. However, the print head 24 heats the ink by applying a voltage to the heating resistor (for example, a heater). A method of pressurizing the ink with the generated bubbles may be employed. The ink cartridge 26 is configured as a so-called on-carriage mounted on the carriage 22 that reciprocates, but may be configured as a so-called off-carriage that is mounted on the housing 39 and supplies ink or the like to the print head 24 through a tube. The printing mechanism 21 includes the carriage 22 that moves in the carriage movement direction. However, the printing mechanism 21 may include a so-called line inkjet head in which nozzle rows of each color are provided in the width direction of the recording paper S.

  In the embodiment described above, the nozzle inspection execution condition is satisfied and the nozzle inspection is executed when there is a print job waiting to be printed. However, other conditions, for example, the number of movements of the carriage 22 is set to a predetermined number. The execution condition may be satisfied every time it reaches (for example, every 100 passes), or the execution condition may be satisfied every predetermined interval (for example, every hour, every day, every week, etc.). .

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the printer 20 that ejects ink onto the recording paper S is embodied has been described. However, the embodiment is not particularly limited as long as it is possible to detect whether or not fluid is ejected from the print head 24. The present invention can be applied to. For example, it may be a printing device that discharges a liquid (dispersion) in which particles of liquid other than ink or functional material are dispersed, a fluid such as a gel, or a solid that can be discharged as a fluid. The present invention may be embodied in a printing apparatus that discharges. For example, a liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid in which a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, and a color filter is dissolved, or a liquid material in which the material is dispersed It is good also as a liquid discharge apparatus which discharges the liquid used as a liquid material discharge apparatus which discharges, and a sample used as a precision pipette. Also, a liquid ejection device that ejects a transparent resin liquid such as an ultraviolet curable resin on a substrate to form a micro hemispherical lens (optical lens) used for an optical communication element or the like, a fluid ejection device that ejects a gel, A powder discharge type recording apparatus that discharges powder such as toner may be used.

  In the embodiment described above, the printer 20 has been described as the fluid ejection device of the present invention. However, a multifunction printer including a scanner unit capable of reading a document or a FAX device having a FAX function may be used. Furthermore, although described in the aspect of the printer 20, the aspect of the nozzle inspection apparatus 50 or the aspect of the control method of the nozzle inspection apparatus may be employed.

12 user PCs, 20 printers, 21 printing mechanisms, 22 carriages, 23 nozzles, 24 printing heads, 25 linear encoders, 26 ink cartridges, 28 carriage shafts, 29 platens, 30 paper feed mechanisms, 32 carriage belts, 33 drive motors, 34a Carriage motor, 34b Follower roller, 35 Paper feed roller, 39 Housing, 40 Capping device, 41 Sealing member, 42 Capping member, 43 Suction tube, 44 Intake tube, 45 Suction pump, 46 Open / close valve, 47 Elevating mechanism, 50 , 150, 250 Nozzle inspection device, 52, 252 Inspection area, 53 Voltage application circuit, 54 Voltage detection circuit, 54a Integration circuit, 54b Inversion amplification circuit, 54c A / D conversion circuit, 55 Upper ink absorption , 56 Lower ink absorber, 57 Electrode member, 60 Information acquisition unit, 61 Set value input unit, 62 Nozzle inspection execution unit, 63 point calculation unit, 64 point determination unit, 65 Cleaning execution unit, 66 Display processing unit, 67 Print processing unit, 70 controller, 72 CPU, 73 flash ROM, 73a weighted information, 73b allowable range, 74 RAM, 78 operation panel, 78a display unit, 78b operation unit, 79 interface (I / F), 80 setting screen, 81 allowable image quality display unit, 82 allowable setting input unit, 84 slider, 85 setting screen, 86 allowable threshold value input unit, 152 detection member, 253 light emitting unit, 254 light receiving unit, S recording paper, SW switch.

Claims (8)

A discharge head inspection means for inspecting a discharge state of the fluid of a discharge head including a plurality of nozzles and discharging a fluid from the nozzles to a target;
Cleaning means for cleaning the ejection head;
An allowable setting means for setting an allowable range, which is a range for executing an allowable discharge process for discharging the fluid to the target even if a discharge failure is detected in the discharge head, based on a user input;
The ejection failure state including at least one of the fluid color of the nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred and the positional relationship between two or more nozzles in which ejection failure has occurred is weighted and associated with the image quality value that is the result of ejecting fluid to the target. Storage means for storing the weighting information that is the information and the set allowable range;
When the predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, the discharge head and the discharge head inspection unit are controlled to execute the discharge inspection, execution of the allowable discharge process is set, and discharge failure is detected in the discharge head based on the inspection result. Sometimes, the image quality value in the ejection failure state of the nozzle is calculated using the result of the ejection inspection and the weighting information stored in the storage means, and when the calculated image quality value is within the allowable range, Control means for controlling the cleaning means so as to execute the cleaning when the calculated image quality value exceeds the allowable range while controlling the discharge head to execute the allowable discharge processing without executing cleaning. ,
A discharge inspection apparatus comprising:   2. The discharge inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the weighting information determined such that the weight of the image quality value increases as the fluid color of the nozzle in which the discharge failure occurs is darker.   The storage means is set such that when the raster to be recorded is adjacent by two or more nozzles in which the ejection failure has occurred, the weight of the image quality value tends to be larger than when the raster is separated. The discharge inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein weighting information is stored.   The storage means is defined such that when the rasters to be recorded by the two or more nozzles in which the ejection failure has occurred are at the same position, the weighting of the image quality value is larger than when the rasters are separated from each other. The ejection inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the weighting information is stored.   The said control means weights according to the usage rate of the fluid color contained in the image used for the discharge process which discharges the said fluid to the said target, and calculates the said image quality value. 2. A discharge inspection apparatus according to 1. The discharge inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A discharge head that includes a plurality of nozzles and discharges fluid from the nozzles to a target;
A fluid ejection device comprising: The fluid ejection device according to claim 6,
Display means for displaying an image,
The control unit causes the display unit to display an image of an image quality obtained in a discharge failure state corresponding to the set allowable range when setting the allowable range that is a range for executing the allowable discharge process. apparatus. A discharge head inspecting unit for inspecting a discharge state of the fluid of a discharge head that includes a plurality of nozzles and discharging a fluid from the nozzles to a target; a cleaning unit for cleaning the discharge head; and a nozzle having a discharge defect. Stores weighting information, which is information in which a discharge failure state including at least one of a fluid color and a positional relationship between two or more nozzles in which discharge failure has occurred and an image quality value that is a result of discharging a fluid to a target are weighted and associated. And a storage means for controlling a discharge inspection apparatus comprising:
(A) setting an allowable range based on a user input, which is a range for performing an allowable discharge process for discharging the fluid to the target even if a discharge failure is detected in the discharge head;
(B) The discharge head and the discharge head inspection unit are controlled to execute the discharge inspection when a predetermined inspection condition is satisfied, the execution of the allowable discharge process is set, and the discharge head has a discharge defect based on the inspection result. When detected, the image quality value in the ejection failure state of the nozzle is calculated using the result of the ejection inspection and the weighting information stored in the storage means, and the calculated image quality value is within the allowable range. In some cases, the discharge head is controlled to execute the allowable discharge process without executing the cleaning, and the cleaning unit is controlled to execute the cleaning when the calculated image quality value exceeds the allowable range. Steps,
Control method for a discharge inspection apparatus including the above.

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