JP2014024184A - Method for driving inkjet recording head, and inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for driving an inkjet recording head and an inkjet recording device which enable stable ejection to be performed in a high speed and continuous recording.SOLUTION: There is provided a method for driving a recording head including: an energy generating element; a chamber to store a liquid to which energy from the energy generating element is imparted; and a member which has a hydrophilic outer surface and in which an ejecting port to eject the liquid from the chamber to outside is formed at a position corresponding to the energy generating element, the recording head imparts energy from the energy generating element to the liquid in the chamber to eject the liquid from the ejecting port. In the method, the energy generating element is driven so as to eject the liquid at a time interval equal to or less than the predetermined time interval when a total amount of ejected liquid from the ejecting port reaches a predetermined threshold or higher.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head driving method and an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording on a recording medium by discharging droplets such as ink.

  2. Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an ink jet recording apparatus) that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording head onto a recording medium is known. An ink jet recording head (hereinafter also simply referred to as a recording head) used in such an ink jet recording apparatus has a surface (hereinafter referred to as an ejection port surface) provided with an ejection port that is an opening for ejecting ink. . If the ink is unevenly attached around the discharge port, the ink discharged to the attached ink may be pulled and the discharge direction may be shifted during ink discharge, which is preferable for the recorded image quality. Can have no impact. Therefore, in order to prevent non-uniform ink adhesion, the discharge port surface is often surface-treated.

  As the surface treatment, water repellent treatment has been conventionally performed, but in recent years, hydrophilic treatment has also been actively performed. This is because pigment ink and high-performance ink have come to be used, creating an environment where the water-repellent treatment function is not fully exerted, and in order to achieve high-definition image quality, small droplets can be ejected. This is due to the fact that an environment in which the ink in the ejection port tends to thicken is generated.

  In the case of the discharge port surface having hydrophilicity, the wettability of the adhered ink to the discharge port surface is large, and the ink adhered in a sufficient amount can exist in a film shape on the entire surface of the discharge port surface. The ink film uniformly formed on the ejection port surface by the adhered ink can prevent the ejection direction of the ejected ink from deviating, and even in a small-diameter ejection port that ejects small droplets, The ink is difficult to dry and can prevent thickening. As an example of the ink jet recording head subjected to the hydrophilic treatment, for example, the recording head of Patent Document 1 can be cited.

JP-A-8-118656

  In the field of ink jet recording, a trend toward higher image quality and higher speed recording has become prominent. In order to achieve high image quality, a recording head equipped with small-diameter ejection openings with a small size of ejected ink droplets and a high arrangement density is used. In order to achieve high-speed recording, this recording head has a high ejection driving frequency. Driven.

  Under such circumstances, in some ink jet recording heads having a hydrophilic discharge port surface, a non-discharge phenomenon in which ink is not discharged from the discharge port suddenly during a recording operation has been observed. According to this phenomenon, when the ink to be used is a single color, the image is missing, and when it is a plurality of colors, the density of the image is uneven. It has been found that such a non-ejection phenomenon can be seen at the start of ink ejection when the recording head is subjected to recording scanning after performing a predetermined continuous recording scanning. On the other hand, such a non-ejection phenomenon does not occur on either the water-repellent ejection port surface or the hydrophilic ejection port surface under the conventional environment.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head driving method and ink jet recording that enable stable discharge even during continuous high speed recording in an ink jet recording head having a hydrophilic discharge port surface that enables high image quality and high speed recording. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  The recording head driving method of the present invention that solves the above-described problems includes an energy generating element, a chamber for storing a liquid to which energy is applied from the energy generating element, and a discharge port for discharging the liquid from the chamber to the outside. And a member having a hydrophilic outer surface formed at a position corresponding to the generating element, and a recording head driving method for discharging liquid from the discharge port by applying energy to the liquid in the room from the energy generating element. The energy generating element is driven so that the liquid is discharged at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. And

  According to the configuration of the present invention, in an ink jet recording head having a hydrophilic discharge port surface, a method for driving an ink jet recording head and ink jet recording capable of preventing stable discharge even during high-speed continuous recording and enabling stable discharge. An apparatus can be provided.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) And (b) is a schematic diagram explaining the inkjet recording head which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the preliminary discharge when the total discharge amount is less than N1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the preliminary discharge when the total discharge amount is N1 or more according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is an image figure explaining the change of the preliminary discharge drive conditions based on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining preliminary discharge when the total discharge amount is N1 or more according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating recording operation | movement of the inkjet recording device which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating recording operation | movement of the inkjet recording device which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining preliminary discharge when the total discharge amount is less than N1, according to Example 4 of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the preliminary discharge when the total discharge amount is N1 or more according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a recording head showing a state of an ejection port at the time of ejection failure in a conventional example. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the recording head showing the state of the ejection port during good ejection according to the present invention. It is a side surface schematic diagram of the inkjet recording head which concerns on Example 4 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Inkjet recording apparatus>
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage 100 on which the recording head 1 is detachably mounted. The carriage 100 scans the recording medium along the guide rail 6 while holding the recording head 1. The recording head 1 is supplied with a plurality of inks by a tube or the like from a separately provided ink tank 2. Details of the recording head 1 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The conveyance roller 4 conveys the recording medium 3 at any time in the y direction (sub-scanning direction) by rotating while holding the recording medium 3. Similarly, the paper feed roller 5 feeds the recording medium 3 to the recording unit of the ink jet recording apparatus by rotating while holding the recording medium 3. By making the rotational speed of the paper feed roller 5 smaller than the rotational speed of the transport roller 4, tension can be applied to the recording medium 3 between the paper feed roller 5 and the transport roller 4.

  When the carriage 100 scans in the width direction of the recording medium 3 from one end to the other end, recording is performed by ejecting ink from the recording head 1 to the recording medium 3. When the carriage 100 reaches the other end of the recording medium 3, the transport roller 4 and the like rotate to transport the recording medium 3 by a certain amount. By alternately repeating the recording operation and the conveying operation, an image is formed in the recording area on the recording medium 3.

  The carriage 100 moves to the cap area 7 which is the home position when recording is not performed or when the recovery process of the recording head 1 (ink suction operation from the ejection port or wiping process of the ejection port surface) is performed. Then stop. Also, in the case of bidirectional recording in which recording is performed in both the forward scan and backward scan of the carriage in order to realize high-speed recording, preliminary ejection, which is ejection aimed at normalizing the recording head without aiming at recording, In addition to the cap area 7 of FIG. The waste ink receiving area 8 is positioned on both sides of the recording medium 3 with the recording medium 3 interposed therebetween, so that preliminary ejection can be performed up to the area immediately before reaching the end of the recording medium. Hereinafter, in this specification, the cap area 7 and the waste ink receiving area 8 are collectively referred to as a preliminary ejection area.

<Recording head, ink, and ink ejection mechanism>
With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the recording head and the ink ejection mechanism of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating the ejection port surface of the recording head 1. The recording head 1 includes a chip 9 provided for each ink type (color), and the surface of the chip 9 constitutes an ejection port surface that is an outer surface of the recording head 1. Therefore, hereinafter, the discharge port surface may refer to the surface of the chip. In the present embodiment, the ink used is composed of four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Therefore, the recording head 1 includes four chips 9.

  On the surface of each chip 9, a plurality of discharge ports (hereinafter also referred to as nozzles) 10 are arranged in a line as a first discharge port row 11 and a second discharge port row 11 '. Two rows of the first discharge port row 11 and the second discharge port row 11 ′ are arranged in parallel in the scanning direction of the carriage 100 when the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage 100.

  In the present embodiment, the discharge port diameter of each discharge port is 14.3 μm, and the discharge amount is 4.5 ng. In each discharge port array, the discharge ports are arranged so that the interval between adjacent discharge ports is a pitch of 600 dpi. That is, the pitch of the ejection ports of each ejection port array is about 42.3 μm. Further, the first discharge port array 11 and the second discharge port array 11 ′ are arranged such that the pitch of the adjacent discharge ports is shifted from each other by a half pitch (1/2 pitch) in the discharge port array direction. Yes. The number of discharge ports including the first discharge port row 11 and the second discharge port row 11 ′ is 1280.

  In the present embodiment, the discharge port surface of the recording head 1 has high hydrophilicity so that the adhered ink spreads in a film shape on the discharge port surface without taking the form of droplets. This is a setting for preventing the ink-derived stain from solidifying and forming particles, making the ejection port less likely to be blocked, and maintaining the performance of the recording head in a good state for a long period of time.

  In this specification, when the discharge port surface is “having hydrophilicity” or a similar expression is used, it means that when liquid ink adheres to the discharge port surface, the ink spreads out. The discharge port surface applicable to the present invention preferably has a dynamic evaporation contact angle (environmental temperature 25 ° C., humidity 65%) with pure water of 70 ° or less, and more preferably 40 ° or less.

  In order to realize high hydrophilicity of the discharge port surface, the surface of the nozzle forming member may be coated with a material having high hydrophilicity, or the surface of the nozzle forming member is subjected to physical treatment to increase the hydrophilicity. A technique may be taken. Furthermore, the nozzle forming member itself may be made of a highly hydrophilic material. This includes a case where the nozzle forming member has hydrophilicity as a result even if a hydrophilic treatment or a hydrophilic material is not actively employed.

  Next, FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating a partial cross section of the recording head 1. As the recording head 1, an ink jet recording head using an electrothermal conversion element as an energy generating element can be used. The recording head 1 includes a substrate 32 on which an ink supply port 37 is formed and an energy generating element 31 is provided, and a nozzle forming member 33 provided on the substrate 32. The nozzle forming member 33 includes a plurality of energy working chambers 34 including the energy generating elements 31 and arranged at substantially equal intervals between the nozzle 32 and the substrate 32, a common liquid chamber 36 communicating with the ink supply port 37, A flow path 35 that connects the energy working chamber 34 and the common liquid chamber 36 is formed. In the nozzle forming member 33, a discharge port 10 that connects each energy working chamber 34 and the external space is formed at a position facing each energy generating element 31 of each energy working chamber 34. The energy generating element 31 is driven, for example, by an electric circuit or the like provided on the ink jet recording head using a semiconductor manufacturing technique.

  Next, the ink ejection mechanism will be described.

  In the ink jet recording head having the above-described configuration, when the ink supplied from the ink tank 2 via the tube is filled into the common liquid chamber 36 from the ink supply port 37, each energy working chamber 34 passes through the flow path 35. Sent to. In a state where ink is stored in the energy working chamber, an electric signal is given to the electrothermal transducer 31 arranged in the energy working chamber 34 to generate heat. Thereby, the ink around the electrothermal conversion element 31 in the energy working chamber 34 is instantaneously heated, reaches the boiling point and boils, and bubbles are generated on the electrothermal conversion element 31. Kinetic energy is given to the ink inside the energy working chamber 34 by the foaming pressure of the bubbles generated at this time, whereby the ink is ejected from the ejection port 10 to the outside.

<Control configuration>
Next, the control configuration will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a control system in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. An image input unit 13, an image signal processing unit 14, a CPU 15 as a central control unit, and a head drive control circuit 16 are connected to the main bus line 12 so as to be accessible. An ejection pattern for preliminary ejection, which is a feature of the present invention described in detail below, is generated by the image signal processing unit 14. The image input from the image input unit 13 is subjected to software processing by the CPU 15 and the image signal processing unit 14, and the head drive control circuit 16 performs hardware processing according to the ink jet recording head. The CPU 15 has a normal ROM 17 and a random access memory (RAM) 18 and performs recording by driving the recording head 1 with appropriate recording conditions given to input information. The ROM 17 stores in advance a program for executing the preliminary ejection sequence of the present invention described in detail below. The head drive control circuit 16 performs drive control of a heater that is an electrothermal conversion element for ejecting ink from the recording head 1. The types of ejection include ejection for normal recording and preliminary ejection for recording head recovery processing.

<Consideration of problems of the present invention>
Next, consideration will be given to a phenomenon (non-ejection phenomenon) in which ink is not ejected, which is a problem to be solved by the present invention, which is seen at the start of ink ejection when the recording head is subjected to recording scanning after predetermined continuous recording scanning. In this specification, “recording scanning” refers to scanning of the recording head while discharging ink from the recording head for the purpose of recording.

The present inventors have found that this non-ejection phenomenon has the following characteristics.
(1) A non-ejection phenomenon does not occur for a while after cleaning (for example, wiping) the ejection port surface.
(2) The non-ejection phenomenon does not occur in all inks. When the ejection port surface of the chip in which the non-ejection phenomenon occurred was observed, the amount of ink adhering to the surface was larger than in the ejection port surfaces of other chips in which the non-ejection phenomenon did not occur.
(3) The non-ejection phenomenon that occurs at the start of ink ejection when the recording head is subjected to recording scanning after a predetermined continuous recording scan is temporarily performed by continuously driving the recording head (electrothermal conversion element) thereafter. To recover.

  From these events, the present inventors inferred the mechanism of this non-ejection phenomenon as follows.

  When the ink droplets are ejected after cleaning the ejection port surface, the ink overflowing from the ejection port with the ejection of the ink droplets spreads to the hydrophilic ejection port surface. Since the inside of the nozzle is in a negative pressure environment, a part of the ink is drawn inside the nozzle and collected. The amount of ink remaining on the ejection port surface (ink pool amount) is determined by the balance between the amount of ink that overflows to the outside (ink overflow amount) and the amount of ink that is drawn inside and collected. As the ejection of ink droplets continues, the amount of ink accumulation gradually increases because the amount of ink overflow is greater than the amount of ink drawn inside.

  Here, for example, when printing a print that requires high image quality and has a large amount of ejection data, such as a photographic print, with a small droplet of ink ejected from a small-diameter ejection port, a recording duty (ink applied per unit area) (Dot density) increases. In some cases, recording with a high recording duty is performed at a high recording speed using, for example, an ejection driving frequency of 10 kHz or more. In such a case, the amount of ink overflowing to the outside as the ink droplets are ejected is much larger than the amount of ink collected by being pulled inside the nozzles, so the amount of ink pooling on the ejection port surface is rapid. Will increase.

  After a certain scan, until the start of the next print scan, the thick ink film that has been formed near the discharge port so far covers the discharge port 10 and immediately after the start of the next print scan This may cause a discharge failure during discharge (see FIG. 13). When the ejected ink droplet is large and heavy, and therefore has a large kinetic energy, the ink droplet can be normally ejected by breaking the thick ink film on the ejection port. On the other hand, when the ink droplet is a small droplet and has a small weight, and therefore has a small kinetic energy, it is difficult to break the thick ink film when ejected, and normal ejection of ink cannot be performed. There is.

  The non-ejection phenomenon, which is a problem to be solved by the present invention, is considered to occur due to the mechanism described above.

  If the ejected ink is a small droplet, it is likely to be affected when there is a failure around the ejection port, so this non-ejection phenomenon is likely to occur at a small-diameter ejection port that ejects small droplets of ink. it is conceivable that. Here, regarding recent high image quality, in order to improve the gradation of an image by filling a pixel with a plurality of small droplets, for example, a small-diameter discharge port having a discharge amount of 5 pl or less is 600 dpi in accordance with pixel formation. Recording heads formed with the above high array density have been used. A recording head having such a small-diameter discharge port is an object of the present invention.

  Next, the inventors of the present invention have reported that a non-ejection phenomenon that occurs at the start of ink ejection when the recording head is subjected to recording scanning after a predetermined continuous recording scanning is temporarily caused by subsequent continuous ejection driving of the recording head. The reason for recovery was examined. Even if a defective or non-ejection phenomenon occurs at the start of ink ejection when the recording head is subjected to recording scanning after a predetermined continuous recording scan, the ejection state of the recording head temporarily changes from the middle of the recording scan. Recover. This is because the ink that has thickly covered the ejection port and has become an ejection hindrance fluctuates when the recording head is continuously ejected, and the ink distribution state on the ejection port surface fluctuates gradually. It is considered that the failure factor is reduced and the ejection is switched normally.

  Further, it is considered that the difference in the occurrence of the non-ejection phenomenon in different chips is mainly due to the difference in the ink overflow amount. This amount of ink overflow is considered to be determined by the physical properties of the ink or the ejection driving conditions set according to the ink.

  Based on the above considerations, the present invention is based on the above considerations. In a recording head having a hydrophilic discharge port surface, when ink discharge starts in a print scan subsequent to a predetermined continuous print scan, the overflowing ink that exists on the discharge port surface is fluctuated. By trying to keep moving, we try to solve the problem.

  That is, in the present invention, the time interval during which ink is not ejected from the recording head is set to be equal to or smaller than the predetermined interval, thereby maintaining the sway of the ink on the ejection port surface. For this reason, ink is ejected to an area other than the recording area, which is an area on the recording medium on which ejection is performed for the purpose of recording. Specifically, ink is continuously ejected in the non-recording area starting from the vicinity of the end of the recording scanning area of the recording head and extending from the scanning speed deceleration area of the recording head to the scanning speed acceleration area after reversing the scanning direction. Let

  Here, the expression “sequentially discharge” or the like in the present invention indicates that the drive of each electrothermal conversion element per one discharge port array is not suspended for a time equal to or longer than a predetermined time. It is not always necessary to drive the conversion element at a constant frequency.

  According to the knowledge of the inventors, at least if the drive pause time of each electrothermal conversion element per one ejection port array is within 0.04 sec, during the solid printing for one page of the A4 size recording medium No non-ejection phenomenon is observed. In addition, even when driving at a constant frequency, if the drive frequency of each electrothermal conversion element per one ejection port array is 50 Hz or more, while performing solid printing for one page of an A4 size recording medium, There is no non-ejection phenomenon.

  From the viewpoint of reducing the amount of waste ink and the durability of the electrothermal conversion element, the continuous ejection for the preliminary ejection is not always performed, but an ejection port having an ejection port that causes a non-ejection phenomenon. It is desirable to perform the operation for the row and from the timing at which the non-ejection phenomenon starts to occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, the total number of ejections that is the total number of ejected ink droplets is measured for each ejection port array, and a predetermined total number of ejections that causes a non-ejection phenomenon due to ink overflow has been reached. The above sequence was performed only for the discharge port array. The total number of ejections in each ejection port array can be measured using a known ejection number measuring means. The measurement of the total number of ejections in each ejection port array is reset when the recording head is cleaned. This is because the ink overflowing the ejection port surface is removed and discharged to the outside by cleaning the recording head.

  The ejection driving frequency used while scanning the recording head in the area from the scanning speed deceleration area of the recording head corresponding to the non-recording area to the acceleration area after reversing the scanning direction may be equivalent to the ejection driving frequency in the recording area. Although it is not, it is preferable that it is lower than that.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples shown below. In the embodiment of the present invention, in the recording on one page of the recording medium, when the total ink discharge amount becomes a certain threshold or more before the recording is completed, the ink is discharged for a predetermined time or more. The ejection is driven without interruption.

  Note that the preliminary ejection pattern of each embodiment, the dimensions and numerical values used in each embodiment, and the like are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

  In Example 1, an inkjet recording head having a specification for performing recording in both directions in the scanning direction will be described. In the first embodiment, as will be described later, preliminary ejection before the start of recording scanning after the total ink ejection amount reaches the threshold value is performed over the entire non-recording area.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, recording is started by sending an image input signal to the ink jet recording apparatus.

  First, it progresses to step S1 and performs preliminary discharge. With reference to FIG. 5, the preliminary discharge in step S1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning state of the recording head 1 in the vicinity of the non-recording area in the first embodiment. In FIG. 5, the preliminary ejection in step S <b> 1 is performed on the waste ink receiving area 8 in the preliminary ejection area by scanning indicated by a solid arrow 19 pointing leftward. The ejection driving condition for the preliminary ejection used at this time is the condition A1 shown in Table 1.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S2 in FIG. 4 to perform one recording scan in which ink is ejected while the recording head mounted on the carriage is scanned only once in one direction. In FIG. 5, one printing scan in step S <b> 2 is performed by a scan indicated by a left-pointing arrow 21 following the preliminary ejection in step S <b> 1 described above.

  Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the next recording scan is necessary. If recording scanning is necessary, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the ink ejection amount is calculated from the number of ejected ink droplets for the immediately preceding one recording scan, the total ink ejection amount in all the recording scans performed so far is obtained, and the ink jet recording apparatus Record in RAM 18. This is performed for each ink color.

  Next, in step S5, the total discharge amount obtained in step S4 is compared with the threshold N1 of the total discharge amount relating to the change of the preliminary discharge drive condition stored in advance in the data storage means such as the RAM of the ink jet recording apparatus. To do. If the total discharge amount is less than the threshold value N1, the process returns to step S1, and steps S1 to S5 are repeated. In repeating, it is understood that the scanning direction of the recording head described with reference to FIG. 5 is reversed in the forward / reverse bidirectional scanning.

  On the other hand, if the total discharge amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value N1, the process proceeds to step S6. In Example 1, the threshold value N1 of the total discharge amount was set to 40 million shots by the number of ink droplets to be ejected.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the preliminary ejection operation in step S6 will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning state of the recording head 1 in the vicinity of the non-ejection area in the first embodiment. The recording head 1 has a deceleration area 22 for reducing the scanning speed of the recording head 1 and an acceleration area 23 for increasing the scanning speed in the non-ejection area. Immediately before step S6, it is assumed that ink for recording is ejected to the recording area of the recording medium 3 in one recording scan indicated by the right-pointing arrow 21 in FIG. Immediately after the completion of the ejection, the preliminary ejection in step S6 is performed by scanning the recording head 1 indicated by the curved arrow 24. That is, the preliminary ejection in step S6 is continuously performed in the non-ejection area including the deceleration area 22 and the acceleration area 23 while changing the scanning speed of the recording head and reversing the scanning direction. The ejection driving condition for the preliminary ejection in step S6 is the driving condition A2 shown in Table 1.

  Reference is now made to FIG. FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the nozzle portion of the recording head in a state where ejection is continuously performed, and shows a state at the moment when the ink 25 is ejected from the ejection port 10. In the conventional configuration, as shown in FIG. 13, after the discharge in one recording scan indicated by the rightward arrow 21 in FIG. 6 is completed and before the one recording scan indicated by the leftward arrow 21 is started, There is a possibility that ejection failure such as non-ejection may occur because the outlet 10 is thickly covered with the ink 25. On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the ejection of ink in one printing scan indicated by the right-pointing arrow 21 in FIG. 6 is completed, the ejection is continuously performed in the non-printing area in step S6. This prevents the ejection port 10 from being thickly covered by the ink 25 between the end of one recording scan and the start of the next recording scan, or a state where the ejection port 10 is thickly covered by the ink 25. This eliminates the occurrence of non-ejection.

  When the preliminary ejection in step S6 in FIG. 4 is completed, one recording scan is performed in step S7. Next, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the next recording scan is necessary. If the next recording scan is necessary, the process returns to step S6 to perform preliminary ejection under the driving condition A2, and then proceeds to step S7 again to perform the next recording scan.

  In step S3 or step S8 described above, if it is determined that the next print scan is unnecessary, the process proceeds to step S9, and the print head wiping operation is performed. At this time, the recording head 1 returns to the cap area 7 which is the home position for the wiping operation. In step S10, the total ink discharge amount recorded in the RAM 18 in step S4 is initialized here. Steps S9 and S10 may be performed in this order, may be performed simultaneously, or may be performed in a reversed order.

  In step S11, it is determined whether or not the next recording scan is necessary. If the next recording scan is unnecessary, the recording for one page of the recording medium is completed here. When the recording for the next page is necessary, the process returns to the beginning of the flow of FIG. 4 described above, and the preliminary ejection and recording are performed again according to the flow from the recording start step.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, in the recording on one page of the recording medium, the ink is discharged when the total ink discharge amount becomes equal to or greater than the certain threshold value N1 at the stage before the recording is completed. Preliminary ejection driving is performed so as not to be interrupted beyond a predetermined time.

  FIG. 7 is a graph showing an outline of setting of the driving conditions for preliminary ejection in the first embodiment. The abscissa indicates the number of continuous recording scans, and indicates that the number of continuous recording scans increases toward the right. The horizontal axis may be the time or distance for performing continuous recording scanning. The vertical axis represents the total amount of ink discharged up to that point in recording on one page of the recording medium. The drive condition A1 is used for the preliminary discharge before the start of the printing scan when the total discharge amount is less than the threshold value N1. In the preliminary ejection before the start of the recording scan when the total ejection amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value N1, the driving condition A2 is used. That is, when the total discharge amount of the discharged ink reaches the threshold N1 of the total discharge amount, the drive condition used for the preliminary discharge is changed, and the subsequent preliminary discharge is performed using the changed drive condition.

  The ejection failure or non-ejection phenomenon at the start of ink ejection in the recording scan is caused by a large amount of ink overflow on the ejection port surface immediately before the recording scan. The ink overflow amount is proportional to the total ejection amount of ink ejected from the recording head up to the time when the recording scanning is performed when high-speed recording is performed with a high recording duty. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the preliminary ejection drive conditions are changed based on the total ink ejection amount.

  5 and 6 show the scanning state of the recording head during preliminary ejection in the continuous recording scanning of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, when the total ejection amount is less than the threshold value N1, as a preliminary ejection before the start of the printing scan, as shown by an arrow 19 in FIG. 5, 1 for the waste ink receiving area 8 provided immediately before the printing area. Continuous discharge in the direction. Further, when the total discharge amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value N1, continuous discharge is performed while the scanning direction is reversed over the entire non-printing area as a preliminary discharge before the start of printing scan, as indicated by an arrow 24 in FIG.

  As described above, in the first exemplary embodiment, before and after the time when the total ink discharge amount reaches the threshold value N1, the discharge driving conditions used for the preliminary discharge and the scan area of the recording head that performs the preliminary discharge are changed. . As a result, the ink on the ejection port surface can be swung to such an extent that the ink overflowing the ejection port surface covers or prevents the ejection failure from occurring, and normal ejection of the ink can be achieved. It becomes.

  In the first embodiment, both the ejection driving condition and the scanning region are changed, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, in the present invention, as long as the ink overflowing the ejection port surface is swung and the ejection failure due to the ejection port being covered with the ink thick film can be prevented or eliminated, the ejection drive conditions and the scanning region can be reduced. Any one of them may be changed. Further, two or more thresholds for the total discharge amount may be provided, and each condition for the preliminary discharge may be changed stepwise.

  In the first embodiment, a threshold for the total discharge amount is provided, and each condition for the preliminary discharge is changed in the preliminary discharge after the total discharge amount reaches the threshold. In the present invention, by changing the conditions in the continuous recording scan, the amount of waste ink is reduced, energy is saved, and the heating element is durable compared with the case where preliminary discharge is performed using the changed conditions from the beginning. It becomes possible to improve the performance.

  Next, Example 2 will be described below. In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, an ink jet recording head having a specification for performing recording in both directions in the scanning direction will be described. Since the configuration of the recording head and ink in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description of the first embodiment can be applied.

  Example 2 will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating the recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the pattern of the preliminary ejection operation after the total ink ejection amount performed in step S6 in FIG. 4 reaches the threshold value N1, from step S1 to step S5, and from step S7. These are the same as in Example 1.

  With reference to FIG. 8, the preliminary ejection operation in step S6 of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning state of the recording head 1 in the vicinity of the non-recording area in the second embodiment. As in the case of the first embodiment, immediately before step S6, in one recording scan indicated by the right-pointing arrow 21 in FIG. 8, ink for the purpose of recording was ejected to the recording area of the recording medium 3. Shall. Immediately after the completion of this ejection, the preliminary ejection in step S6 is performed by scanning the recording head 1 indicated by the arrow 24. The ejection driving condition for the preliminary ejection in step S6 of the second embodiment is the driving condition A2 shown in Table 1 as in the first embodiment.

  The arrow 24 indicating the scanning area of the recording head in the preliminary ejection is drawn as one curved arrow in FIG. 6 for explaining the first embodiment, but three arrows in FIG. 8 for explaining the second embodiment. It is divided into As indicated by the arrows, in step S6 of the first embodiment, preliminary ejection is performed under a constant driving condition over the entire non-recording area. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the ejection drive is not performed at the boundary portion 26 that is an area between the cap area 7 and the waste ink receiving area 8. That is, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the preliminary ejection in step S6 performs intermittent preliminary ejection in which ejection driving is performed only in the preliminary ejection area and ejection driving is stopped in areas other than the preliminary ejection area. Different. In many cases, the boundary portion 26 does not have a structure that directly absorbs waste ink. In such a case, it is desirable to perform intermittent preliminary discharge as in this embodiment in which ink is not discharged to the boundary portion 26. .

  With reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the detail of the operation | movement of the intermittent preliminary discharge performed by step S6 of Example 2 is demonstrated.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a specific operation of intermittent preliminary ejection performed in the second embodiment, and corresponds to step S6 in the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the symbols x, x0, x1, and x2 in FIGS. 8 and 9 will be described. In step S6, after one recording scan indicated by the rightward arrow 21 in FIG. 8 is completed and before one recording scan indicated by the leftward arrow 21 is started, the recording head is halfway with respect to the non-recording area. In this step, preliminary ejection is performed while reversing the scanning direction. That is, in FIG. 8, the scanning direction of the recording head is left and right bidirectional, and this direction is the x direction. The symbol x indicates the position of the recording head in the x direction. Symbol x0 indicates the position of the boundary between the recording area and the non-recording area in the x direction. Symbol x1 indicates the position of the boundary between the waste ink receiving area 8 and the boundary portion 26 in the x direction. Symbol x2 indicates the position of the boundary between the boundary portion 26 and the cap region 7 in the x direction.

  When the ejection of ink to the recording area in step S5 in FIG. 4 is finished, in step S6, driving of preliminary ejection to the non-recording area is started while scanning the recording head. Here, in step S61, it is determined whether or not the position x of the recording head in the x direction satisfies the expression x ≧ x1. Before the recording head position x reaches the boundary position x1 between the waste ink receiving area 8 and the boundary portion 26, and while satisfying the expression x0 <x <x1, the ejection driving and scanning are continued. On the other hand, when the position x of the recording head reaches the boundary position x1 between the waste ink receiving area 8 and the boundary portion 26 and satisfies the expression x ≧ x1, the process proceeds to step S62, and the ejection driving is performed. Is interrupted and scanning is continued.

  In step S63, it is determined whether the print head position x in the x direction satisfies the expression x> x2. If the print head position x is before reaching the boundary position x2 between the boundary portion 26 and the cap region 7, and the expression x ≦ x2 is satisfied, the process returns to step S62, and the ejection drive is interrupted. Continue scanning. On the other hand, when the position x of the recording head reaches the position x2 of the boundary between the boundary portion 26 and the cap region 7 and satisfies the formula x> x2, the process proceeds to step S64 and the ejection driving is resumed. Then, the scanning is continued.

  Thereafter, the recording head 1 reverses the scanning direction.

  In step S65, it is determined whether the print head position x in the x direction still satisfies the expression x> x2. When the position x of the recording head is still within the cap region 7 and satisfies the expression x> x2, the scanning is continued while the ejection driving is continued. On the other hand, when the position x of the recording head reaches the boundary position x2 between the boundary portion 26 and the cap region 7, and the expression x ≦ x2 is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S66, and the ejection driving is performed again. Interrupt and continue scanning.

  In step S67, it is determined whether the print head position x in the x direction satisfies the expression x ≧ x1. As long as the position x of the recording head is within the boundary portion 26 and satisfies the expression x ≧ x1 (and x2 ≧ x), scanning is continued with the ejection drive being interrupted. On the other hand, when the position x of the recording head reaches the waste ink receiving area 8 and satisfies the expression x <x1, the process proceeds to step S68, the ejection drive is resumed, and the scanning is continued.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, first, similarly to the first embodiment, the ejection drive conditions used for the preliminary ejection and the preliminary ejection are performed before and after the total ink ejection amount reaches a certain threshold value. The scanning area of the recording head is changed. With this configuration, also in Example 2, it is possible to oscillate the ink on the ejection port surface to such an extent that the ink overflowing the ejection port surface covers the ejection port and prevents or eliminates the ejection failure. Normal ink ejection can be achieved.

  Here, in the second embodiment, as preliminary ejection after the time when the total ejection amount of ink reaches a certain threshold value, continuous ejection with an operation pattern in which ejection driving is intermittently interrupted at a minute time interval is performed. It is characterized by performing. The intermittent interruption of the ejection drive is performed in an area other than the preliminary ejection area in the non-recording area. From the viewpoint of preventing the non-ejection phenomenon, it is preferable that the ejection drive interruption time in the area other than the preliminary ejection area is shorter. In Example 2, the ejection drive interruption time in the boundary portion 26 which is an area other than the preliminary ejection area is 0.04 sec at the maximum, and a sufficient non-ejection phenomenon preventing effect can be obtained. According to the configuration of the second embodiment, it is possible to reliably perform preliminary ejection in the preliminary ejection area in the ink jet recording apparatus, and the possibility of ink leakage to the outside of the ink jet recording apparatus is reduced. A recording apparatus can be provided.

  Next, Example 3 will be described below. In the third embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, an inkjet recording head having a specification for performing printing in both directions in the scanning direction will be described. Since the configuration of the recording head and ink in Example 3 is the same as in Examples 1 and 2, description thereof is omitted. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the configuration of the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the first and / or second embodiment, and the description of the first and / or second embodiment is applicable.

  In the third embodiment, in the recording scan at the time when the total discharge amount of ink per color becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value N1, a recording scan region in which the image forming recording data used for discharge for recording is extremely small appears. Describe the case. If there is a recording scan area in which a large amount of ink is collected around the ejection port and there is an extremely small amount of recording data for image formation, there is an increased possibility of a non-ejection phenomenon due to a phenomenon that the ink blocks the ejection port. The third embodiment shows a configuration example that can suitably prevent the non-ejection phenomenon even in such a case.

  In the third embodiment, Steps S1 to S5 and Step S7 and subsequent steps are the same as those in the first and second embodiments in the flowchart illustrating the recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus in FIG. The pattern of the preliminary ejection operation after the total ink ejection amount reaches the threshold value N1 performed in step S6 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment. The third embodiment is configured to generate print data (hereinafter referred to as actual print data) actually used for the print scan in order to obtain a sufficient non-ejection phenomenon prevention effect until the print scan in step S7. It is characterized by having

  The formation of actual print data up to the print scan in step S7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this embodiment, the actual print data generation process up to the print scan in step S7 is performed in parallel with the preliminary discharge operation in step S6. In the flowchart of FIG. 10, during the preliminary discharge in step S6. This is expressed as steps S601 to S603.

  In step S601, image forming recording data for one recording scan is read into the CPU 15. Next, in step S602, a data area (hereinafter referred to as a blank portion) of each ejection port that does not eject ink over a predetermined time or longer is calculated in the read image formation recording data for one recording scan. Next, in step S603, the recording data is added to the blank portion in the recording data for image formation for one recording scan so that the time during which ink is not ejected from each ejection port is equal to or shorter than the predetermined time. The actual recording data for the recording scan is completed. In this embodiment, the time during which ink is not ejected from each ejection port is set to be 0.04 sec or less.

  In the subsequent step S7, one recording scan is performed based on the actual recording data created in this way.

  As described above, the third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first and / or second embodiment, so that the same effect as that of the first and / or second embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition to this, in the third embodiment, when an area with extremely small amount of print data for image formation appears in the print scan in a state where the total discharge amount becomes the constant threshold value N1, the time is longer than a predetermined time. Recording data is added to the data area of each ejection port that does not eject ink. With this configuration, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to set a time interval at which each ejection port ejects ink in the recording scan to be equal to or less than a predetermined time, and the ejection port is covered with ink, thereby causing no ejection. Can be effectively prevented, and normal ejection can be achieved.

  Next, Example 4 will be described below. In the fourth embodiment, unlike in the first to third embodiments, specifications for recording in one direction in the scanning direction will be described. Since the configuration of the recording head and ink in Example 4 is the same as that in Examples 1 to 3, description thereof will be omitted. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the configuration of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first to third embodiments, and the description of the first to third embodiments can be applied.

  11 and 12 show the scanning state of the recording head during preliminary ejection in the continuous recording scan of the fourth embodiment.

  First, with reference to FIG. 11, the scanning state of the print head when the total discharge amount is less than the threshold value N1 will be described. The flow of scanning of the recording head will be described using arrows 21, dotted lines 20 and arrows 19 shown in the figure. The recording head performs one recording scan indicated by a right-pointing arrow 21 in the drawing, and discharges ink for the purpose of recording to the recording area. Next, the scanning is continued according to the dotted line 20 drawn following the arrow 21 until the start point of the scanning indicated by the arrow 19 is reached while changing the scanning direction. In the scanning area of the recording head indicated by the dotted line 20, ejection driving is not performed. When the recording head reaches the scanning start point indicated by the arrow 19, preliminary ejection driving is performed on the waste ink receiving portion 8, which is a preliminary ejection area, while scanning the recording head according to the arrow 19. When the recording scan is further continued, the same scanning and ejection drive control are repeated thereafter.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the scanning state of the print head when the total discharge amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value N1 will be described. The recording head performs one recording scan indicated by a right-pointing arrow 21 in the drawing, and discharges ink for the purpose of recording to the recording area. Then, according to the arrow 24 drawn following the arrow 21 as it is, the scanning is continued until the start point of the recording scanning indicated by the arrow 21 is reached again, including the change of the scanning direction. In the scanning area of the recording head indicated by the arrow 24, continuous preliminary ejection is performed. The scanning area of the recording head indicated by the arrow 24 is a non-recording area, and there is no recording data for image formation. For the purpose of preventing the non-ejection phenomenon, preliminary ejection is performed in this scanning region so that the time interval during which the ink of each nozzle is not ejected is 0.04 sec or less. In this preliminary ejection, ejection onto the recording medium is also performed. However, since the number of ejected ink droplets is very small, there is substantially no influence on the quality of the recorded matter.

  As described above, in Example 4, in the one-way recording, when the total discharge amount per color of ink becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value N1, each nozzle does not discharge ink for a predetermined time or more. The ejection is driven so as not to make it. With this configuration, according to the fourth embodiment, it is possible to effectively prevent the discharge port from being covered with ink and causing a non-discharge phenomenon, and normal discharge can be achieved.

  Next, Example 5 will be described below. In the fifth embodiment, an example in which a preliminary ejection drive pattern that differs depending on the ink type (color) will be described. Since the configuration of the recording head in Example 5 is the same as that in Examples 1 to 4, description thereof will be omitted. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the configuration of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first to third embodiments, and the description of the first to fourth embodiments can be applied.

  The ink used in Example 5 is composed of four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, as in Examples 1 to 4. According to the study by the inventors, it has been found that black and yellow among these inks do not cause ink overflow that affects recording even in an environment where recording is performed at a high recording duty. FIG. 15 is a partial schematic view of the recording head having the respective chips 9 corresponding to the four color inks on the ejection port surface as observed from the side. The recording head is in a state after recording with 40 million ink ejections at a recording duty of 100% for each color. Compared with black (K) and yellow (Y) inks, cyan (C) and magenta (M) inks have a larger amount of ink 25 accumulated on the chip 9.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, the total discharge amount threshold N1 related to the change in the preliminary discharge drive condition is uniformly set to 40 million regardless of the ink type (color). However, as shown in FIG. 15, the amount of ink pool on the ejection port surface after ejecting 40 million ink droplets, which is a threshold value, differs depending on the ink type. Depending on the amount of ink accumulated, there are some inks that need to be driven to switch the pre-ejection drive condition from A1 to A2 in order to obtain the effect of preventing the non-ejection phenomenon. There is also. In the fifth embodiment, cyan and magenta are inks that require the former preliminary ejection driving condition to be switched from A1 to A2, and black and yellow are the latter preliminary ejection driving conditions that remain at A1 until the end of recording. The ink does not need to be switched.

  Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, for black and yellow inks, after the total discharge amount reaches the threshold value N1, the print head scanning indicated by the dotted line 20 in FIGS. 5 and 11 is the same as before the threshold value N1 is reached. Preliminary ejection driving is not performed in the region. The recording head (electrothermal conversion element) is driven only in the scanning area indicated by the arrow 19 which is a preliminary ejection area immediately before the start of recording scanning on the recording medium.

  As described above, the fifth embodiment is characterized in that when there is an ink with a small ink overflow amount, a pre-ejection driving condition that does not increase the driving energy or the number of times of driving per unit time is employed. With this configuration, according to the fifth embodiment, it is possible to further advance energy saving and durability improvement of the heating element. Note that the ink used in this embodiment is one example, and this configuration can be applied even when other ink is used.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to save energy and improve the durability of the generating element while reducing the occurrence of non-ejection phenomenon or ejection failure by using different driving conditions depending on the nature of ink overflow of the ink used. Become.

(Effect of the present invention)
As a comparative example, the effect of the present invention will be described using an example in which the driving condition A1 shown in Table 1 is adopted for all preliminary ejections during continuous recording scanning, that is, an example in which the driving condition A2 is not adopted.

  First, Example 1, Example 2, and Example 4 are compared with the comparative example corresponding to each. A recording test was performed using the above-described preliminary discharge conditions. Recording for one page of an A3 size recording medium was performed at a recording duty of 100%. The occurrence of image chipping and uneven density in the recorded image was confirmed. When the preliminary ejection conditions of Examples 1, 2, and 4 were used, good recorded images were obtained. However, when the preliminary ejection conditions of the corresponding comparative examples were used, the recorded images were blurred. A non-ejection phenomenon occurred during recording.

  Next, Example 3 is compared with a comparative example. A recording test was performed using the above-described preliminary discharge conditions. A half page from the beginning to the middle of the A3 size recording medium is recorded at a recording duty of 100%, and a half page from the middle to the last is recorded at a recording duty of 1%. Recorded. The occurrence of image chipping and uneven density in the recorded image was confirmed. When the preliminary ejection conditions of Example 3 were used, a good recorded image was obtained. However, when the preliminary ejection conditions of the comparative example were used, the printed image was blurred and a non-ejection phenomenon occurred during the recording. It has occurred.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in an ink jet recording head having a hydrophilic discharge port surface, it is possible to stably discharge during continuous recording scanning.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording head 2 Ink tank 3 Recording medium 4 Conveyance roller 5 Paper feed roller 6 Guide rail 7 Cap area 8 Waste ink receiving area 9 Chip 10 Ejection port (nozzle)
11, 11 ′ Discharge port array 12 Main bus line 13 Image input unit 14 Image signal processing unit 15 CPU
16 Head drive control circuit 17 ROM
18 Random access memory (RAM)
22 Deceleration region 23 Acceleration region 25 Ink 26 Boundary portion 31 Electrothermal conversion element 32 Substrate 33 Nozzle forming member 34 Energy action chamber 35 Channel 36 Common liquid chamber 37 Ink supply port 100 Carriage

Claims (17)

Forming an energy generating element, a chamber for storing a liquid to which energy is applied from the energy generating element, and a discharge port for discharging liquid from the chamber to the outside at a position corresponding to the energy generating element; A recording head driving method for discharging liquid from the discharge port by applying energy to the liquid in the chamber from the energy generating element,
The energy generating element is driven so that the liquid is discharged at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of the liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. And a recording head driving method.   2. The recording head driving method according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is set based on the number of ejections of the liquid ejected from the ejection port.   The method of driving a recording head according to claim 2, wherein the number of ejections of the liquid is reset when the outer surface is cleaned.   The liquid is ink, and the recording head has a plurality of ejection port arrays in which a plurality of ejection ports are arranged in a row, and the plurality of ejection port arrays are configured to eject a plurality of inks. The recording head driving method according to claim 1, wherein:   When the total amount of the ink ejected from the ejection ports is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the ink that ejects a large amount of overflow to the outer surface when ejected from the ejection ports among the plurality of inks The recording head driving method according to claim 4, wherein the energy generating element is driven so that the liquid is ejected at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval only for the ejection port array.   The recording head driving method according to claim 4, wherein the threshold value is set for each of the ejection port arrays.   The recording head driving method according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes a plurality of the discharge ports, and the plurality of discharge ports are arranged on the outer surface with an arrangement density of 600 dpi or more. .   The recording head includes a plurality of the ejection openings, the plurality of ejection openings constitute two ejection opening arrays, and the ejection openings are arranged so as to be shifted from each other by a half pitch. The method for driving a recording head according to claim 1. Forming an energy generating element, a chamber for storing a liquid to which energy is applied from the energy generating element, and a discharge port for discharging liquid from the chamber to the outside at a position corresponding to the energy generating element; A hydrophilic member, and a carriage for holding a recording head for discharging liquid from the discharge port by applying energy to the liquid in the chamber from the energy generating element,
An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording on the recording medium by discharging liquid from the discharge port while scanning the recording head in the width direction of the recording medium by the carriage,
When the total amount of the liquid ejected from the ejection port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value, while driving the energy generating element to eject the liquid at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval, An inkjet recording apparatus that performs the scanning.   The scanning when driving the energy generating element so that the liquid is discharged at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of the liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising conversion in a scanning direction.   The scanning when driving the energy generating element so that the liquid is discharged at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of the liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is performed over a scanning area from after one recording scan for performing recording on the recording medium to the start of the next recording scan.   During the scanning performed over a scanning region from one recording scan for recording to the recording medium to the start of the next recording scan, the energy generating element is driven under a constant driving condition. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 11.   The energy generating element is driven intermittently during the scanning performed over the scanning region from one recording scan for recording to the recording medium to the start of the next recording scan. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 11.   During the scanning performed over a scanning area between one recording scan for recording on the recording medium and the start of the next recording scan, the energy generating element is an area on the recording medium. 12. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is intermittently driven so as to discharge the liquid only to a region different from the region having a structure for absorbing the liquid.   The liquid when the energy generating element is driven to discharge the liquid at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of the liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the ejection is performed on an area different from an area on the recording medium and having a structure for absorbing the liquid.   The scanning when driving the energy generating element so that the liquid is discharged at a time interval equal to or less than a predetermined interval when the total amount of the liquid discharged from the discharge port is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. Is performed in a scanning area immediately after the start of the next recording scan in a scanning area between one recording scan and the start of the next recording scan for recording on the recording medium. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the scanning performed in a scanning region immediately before the start of the next recording scanning does not include conversion in a scanning direction.

Images