JP2023066119A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an ink jet recording apparatus which can shorten the printing standby time by selection of an ink storage container to be used when the plurality of ink storage containers are mounted for the same color.SOLUTION: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises: a conveyance unit which conveys a sheet; a recording unit which has a recording head that performs image recording by discharging ink to the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit; a plurality of ink storage containers which store ink in the same color to be supplied to the recording head; a temperature detection unit; a temperature adjusting device; and a control unit. The temperature detection unit individually detects the temperatures of the ink storage containers. The temperature adjusting device individually adjusts the temperatures of the ink storage containers. The control unit controls supply of ink from the ink storage containers to the recording head. The control unit selects any of the ink storage containers within a range of the printable temperature as a supply source of ink to the recording head when the temperatures of one or more ink storage containers of the plurality of ink storage containers are within the range of the printable temperature.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Inkjet recording apparatuses that record images by ejecting ink from nozzles provided in a recording head are widely used as recording apparatuses such as facsimiles, copiers, and printers because they can form high-definition images.

In such an inkjet recording apparatus, since the viscosity of the ink changes depending on the temperature of the ink, image quality is affected when printing is performed using ink at a temperature outside the proper range. Therefore, if an ink container with a temperature lower than the printable temperature (printable temperature) is installed, the ink container with a temperature higher than the printable temperature is installed. In this case, it is necessary to cool the ink container, and a waiting time is generated until the printable state (Ready state) is reached.

In Patent Document 1, a plurality of ink tanks or ink cartridges are attached to one head, and a state in which the amount of ink in the ink tank or ink cartridge in use is reduced and ink cannot be ejected is prepared in advance. There is disclosed an ink jet recording apparatus that reduces the stop time of printing by detecting and switching the supply source ink tank or ink cartridge.

In Patent Document 2, the amount of ink consumed after switching the ink supply source is determined by the ink flow from the upstream end in the flow direction of the ink supplied from the ink supply source to the nozzles of the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus is disclosed that outputs a judgment image before and after ink switching timing exceeding the ink capacity of a path, and reads the judgment image to judge whether or not there is a change in image quality due to ink switching.

JP-A-4-10945 JP-A-2020-1236

The method of Patent Document 1 detects in advance that the amount of ink in the container being used has decreased, and switches the supply source ink tank or ink cartridge. It determines whether or not there is a change in image quality after the image has been processed. Therefore, there is no description of a method of selecting an ink container to be preferentially used based on the temperature at the start of printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording apparatus capable of shortening the waiting time for printing by selecting an ink container to be used when a plurality of ink containers for the same color are mounted. and

In order to achieve the above object, a first configuration of the present invention is an inkjet recording apparatus comprising a conveying section, a recording section, an ink container, a temperature detection section, a temperature control device, and a control section. be. The transport unit transports the sheet. The recording unit has a recording head that ejects ink onto a sheet conveyed by the conveying unit to record an image. A plurality of ink containers are provided, and contain ink of the same color to be supplied to the printhead. The temperature detector individually detects the temperatures of the ink containers. The temperature adjustment device individually adjusts the temperature of the ink container. The controller controls the supply of ink from the ink container to the print head. When the temperature of one or more ink containers out of the plurality of ink containers is within the printable temperature range, the controller directs any one of the ink containers within the printable temperature range to the recording head. Select as the ink source.

According to the first configuration of the present invention, when one or more of the plurality of ink containers containing ink of the same color is within the printable temperature range, the ink container within the printable temperature range is selected as a supply source of ink to the print head. As a result, it is possible to shorten the waiting time until the inkjet recording apparatus becomes ready for printing without impairing the image quality.

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of a printer 100 according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view showing the structure around the first belt conveying section 5, the recording section 9, and the second belt conveying section 12 of the printer 100 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the first belt conveying section 5 and the recording section 9 of the printer 100 of the present embodiment as viewed from above; 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a control path of the printer 100 of this embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an ink supply path from an ink container 21C to a line head 11C in the printer 100 of this embodiment; Flowchart showing an example of a procedure for selecting the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 that configure the ink container 21C, executed in the printer 100 of the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet recording printer 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure around the first belt conveying section 5, the recording section 9, and the second belt conveying section 12 of the printer 100 of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the first belt conveying section 5 and the recording section 9 of the printer 100 of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 has a paper feed cassette 2a, which is a paper storage section, arranged in the lower part of the printer main body 1, and a manual paper feed tray 2b outside the right side of the printer main body 1. ing. A sheet feeding device 3a is arranged downstream of the sheet feeding cassette 2a in the sheet conveying direction (upper right of the sheet feeding cassette 2a in FIG. 1). Further, a paper feeding device 3b is arranged downstream of the manual paper feed tray 2b in the paper transport direction (on the left side of the manual paper feed tray 2b in FIG. 1). Paper sheets (sheets) P are separated one by one and sent out by the paper feeders 3a and 3b.

A first paper transport path 4 a is provided inside the printer 100 . The first paper transport path 4a is located on the upper right side of the paper feed cassette 2a and on the left side of the manual paper feed tray 2b. The paper P sent out from the paper feed cassette 2a passes through the first paper transport path 4a and moves vertically upward along the side surface of the printer main body 1. The paper P sent out from the manual paper feed tray 2b passes through the first paper transport path 4a. is conveyed substantially horizontally to the left through the

A registration roller pair 13 is provided at the downstream end of the first paper transport path 4a in the paper transport direction. Furthermore, a first belt conveying section (conveying section) 5 and a recording section 9 are arranged in the vicinity of the registration roller pair 13 on the downstream side. The pair of registration rollers 13 corrects the oblique feeding of the paper P, measures the timing with the ink ejection operation executed by the recording unit 9 , and sends the paper P toward the first belt conveying unit 5 .

Between the registration roller pair 13 and the first belt conveying unit 5, a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) for detecting the position of the edge of the sheet P in the width direction (perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction) is provided. 20 are placed.

The first belt conveying section 5 includes an endless first conveying belt 8 wound around a first driving roller 6 and a first driven roller 7 . The paper P sent out from the registration roller pair 13 passes under the recording section 9 while being adsorbed and held by the conveying surface 8a (upper surface in FIG. 1) of the first conveying belt 8 .

A first paper suction unit 30 is provided inside the first transport belt 8 and facing the back side of the transport surface 8 a of the first transport belt 8 . The first paper suction unit 30 has a large number of air suction holes 30a on its upper surface, and has a fan 30b inside so that air can be sucked downward from the upper surface. The first conveying belt 8 is also provided with a large number of ventilation holes (not shown) for sucking air. With the above configuration, the first belt conveying section 5 conveys the sheet P while sucking and holding the sheet P on the conveying surface 8 a of the first conveying belt 8 .

The recording unit 9 records an image on the paper P that is conveyed while being sucked and held by the conveying surface 8 a of the first conveying belt 8 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the recording section 9 includes a head housing 10 and four line heads 11C, 11M, 11Y, and 11K held by the head housing 10. As shown in FIGS. These line heads 11C to 11K have a recording area wider than the width of the paper P to be conveyed, and are spaced apart from the conveying surface 8a of the first conveying belt 8 by a predetermined distance (for example, 1 mm). Three recording heads 17 are arranged in a zigzag pattern along the paper width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) perpendicular to the paper conveying direction. A large number of ink ejection nozzles 18 are arranged on the ink ejection surface of the recording head 17 .

The recording head 17 constituting each of the line heads 11C to 11K receives ink of four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) stored in ink containers 21C to 21K (see FIG. 4), respectively. supplied for each color.

From the ink ejection nozzles 18 of the recording head 17 corresponding to the printing positions of the line heads 11C to 11K toward the paper P attracted to the first conveying belt 8, corresponding to the information of the image data received from an external computer or the like. Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are sequentially ejected, respectively. As a result, a full-color image is recorded on the paper P in which four colors of ink, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, are superimposed.

A second belt conveying section 12 is arranged downstream of the first belt conveying section 5 (on the left side in FIG. 1) with respect to the sheet conveying direction. The paper P on which the image is recorded in the recording unit 9 is sent to the second belt conveying unit 12, and the ink ejected onto the surface of the paper P is dried while passing through the second belt conveying unit 12. FIG.

The second belt conveying section 12 includes an endless second conveying belt 40 wound around a second driving roller 41 and a second driven roller 42 . The second transport belt 40 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by the second drive roller 41 . The image is recorded by the recording unit 9, and the sheet P conveyed in the direction of the arrow X by the first belt conveying unit 5 is transferred to the second conveying belt 40 and conveyed in the direction of the arrow Z in FIG.

A second paper suction unit 43 is provided inside the second transport belt 40 and facing the back side of the transport surface 40 a of the second transport belt 40 . The second paper suction unit 43 has a large number of air suction holes 43a on its upper surface, and has a fan 43b inside so that air can be sucked downward from the upper surface. The second conveying belt 40 is also provided with a large number of ventilation holes (not shown) for sucking air. With the above configuration, the second belt conveying section 12 conveys the sheet P while adsorbing and holding the sheet P on the conveying surface 40 a of the second conveying belt 40 .

A decurler section 14 is provided in the vicinity of the left side surface of the printer main body 1 on the downstream side of the second belt conveying section 12 with respect to the sheet conveying direction. The paper P, the ink of which has been dried by the second belt conveying section 12, is sent to the decurler section 14, and the curl of the paper P is corrected.

A second paper transport path 4b is provided downstream of the decurler section 14 (upper in FIG. 1) with respect to the paper transport direction. The paper P that has passed through the decurler section 14 is discharged from the second paper transport path 4b to a paper discharge tray 15 provided outside the left side of the printer 100 via a pair of discharge rollers when double-sided recording is not performed. When printing on both sides of the paper P, the paper P that has finished printing on one side and passed through the second belt conveying section 12 and the decurler section 14 passes through the second paper conveying path 4b and onto the reversing conveying path 16. be transported. The paper P sent to the reversing conveying path 16 has its conveying direction switched in order to reverse its front and back sides, and is conveyed to the registration roller pair 13 through the upper part of the printer 100 . After that, the sheet is conveyed again to the first belt conveying section 5 with the surface on which no image is recorded facing upward.

A maintenance unit 19 is arranged below the second belt conveying section 12 . The maintenance unit 19 moves below the recording section 9 when maintenance of the recording head 17 is performed, and wipes off ink ejected (purged) from the ink ejection nozzles 18 of the recording head 17 .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of control paths of the printer 100 of this embodiment. In addition to the above configuration, the printer 100 further includes ink containers 21C to 21K, a thermistor 23, a heater 24, an ink supply motor 25, an operation panel 27, a storage section 28, and a communication section 29. I have.

The thermistor 23 detects the temperature of the ink containers 21C-21K. In the printer 100 of the present embodiment, eight ink containers 21C to 21K, two for each color of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, are mounted as shown in FIG. 5, which will be described later. Therefore, a total of eight thermistors 23 for detecting the temperature of each of the ink containers 21C to 21K are mounted.

The heater 24 heats the ink containers 21C-21K when the temperature of the ink containers 21C-21K is lower than the printable temperature. A total of eight heaters 24 are mounted, one for each of the eight ink containers 21C to 21K.

The ink supply motor 25 supplies the ink stored in the ink containers 21C to 21K to the recording heads 17 of the line heads 11C to 11K via the sub-tanks 51 (see FIG. 5). A total of eight ink supply motors 25 are mounted, one for each of the eight ink containers 21C to 21K.

The operation panel 27 is an operation unit for receiving various setting inputs. For example, the operator operates the operation panel 27 to input information about the size of the paper P to be set in the paper feed cassette 2a or the manual paper feed tray 2b, that is, the size of the paper P to be conveyed by the first conveyor belt 8. can do. The operator can also operate the operation panel 27 to input the number of sheets P to be printed and to instruct the start of a print job.

The storage unit 28 is a memory that stores an operation program of the control device 110 and various information, and includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a non-volatile memory, and the like. there is Information set by the operation panel 27 is stored in the storage unit 28 .

The communication unit 29 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving information to and from an external device (for example, a personal computer (PC)). For example, when an operator operates a PC and transmits a print command together with image data to the printer 100 , the image data and print command are input to the printer 100 via the communication unit 29 . In the printer 100, an image can be recorded on the paper P by controlling the recording heads 17 of the line heads 11C to 11K to eject ink based on the image data.

The printer 100 of this embodiment also includes a control device 110 . The control device 110 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory. Specifically, the control device 110 includes a main control section 110a, an ink supply control section 110b, a paper supply control section 110c, and a maintenance control section 110d.

The main control unit 110 a controls operations of each unit of the printer 100 . For example, the driving of each roller inside the printer 100, the ejection of ink from the recording head 17 during image recording, and the like are controlled by the main controller 110a. Based on the temperatures of the ink containers 21C to 21K detected by the thermistor 23, the ink supply control unit 110b selects the ink containers 21C to 21K to be used from among the two ink containers 21C to 21K mounted for each color. .

The paper supply control unit 110c is a recording medium supply control unit that controls the registration roller pair 13 as a recording medium supply unit. For example, the paper supply control unit 110c controls the transport timing of the succeeding paper P by controlling the registration roller pair 13 based on the detection timing of the trailing edge of the paper P by the CIS 20 .

The maintenance control unit 110 d controls the print head 17 to perform the above-described purge forcibly pushing out the ink from each ink ejection nozzle 18 . The maintenance control unit 110d also controls driving of the maintenance unit 19 described above (for example, downward movement and retraction of the recording unit 9) when causing the recording head 17 to purge.

Note that the control device 110 may further include a calculation unit that performs necessary calculations and a timer that measures time. Further, the main control section 110a may also serve as the calculation section and the timer section described above.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an ink supply path from the ink container 21C to the line head 11C in the printer 100 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, an ink container 21C is connected to the line head 11C via ink supply paths 50a and 50b and a sub-tank 51. As shown in FIG. The ink container 21C is filled with cyan ink, and supplies the ink to the recording head 17 in the line head 11C through ink supply paths 50a and 50b.

In this embodiment, the ink container 21C is composed of two ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 having the same shape and the same configuration. The ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are each detachable from the printer main body 1, and when the ink in each of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 becomes empty, they are replaced with new ink containers 21C1 and 21C2. The ink supply path 50a is branched into two and connected to the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2, and the ink supply motors 25 are separately provided for the respective ink containers 21C1 and 21C2.

The printer body 1 is provided with a thermistor 23 and a heater 24 adjacent to the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2. The thermistor 23 detects the temperature of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2. The detection result is sent to the ink supply control section 110b (see FIG. 4). The heater 24 heats the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 when the temperature of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 detected by the thermistor 23 is lower than the printable temperature.

The sub-tank 51 temporarily stores the ink 53 supplied from the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 through the ink supply path 50a. Ink 53 in the sub-tank 51 is supplied to the recording head 17 in the line head 11C through the ink supply path 50b.

The ink supply paths from the ink containers 21M to 21K to the line heads 11M to 11K are the same as those shown in FIG. Specifically, each of the ink containers 21M to 21K also includes two ink containers 21M1 and 21M2, ink containers 21Y1 and 21Y2, and ink containers 21K1 and 21K2. A thermistor 23, a heater 24, and an ink supply motor 25 are attached one by one corresponding to each of the ink containers 21M1, 21M2, 21Y1, 21Y2, 21K1, and 21K2.

As described above, printing with ink outside the appropriate temperature range (printable temperature) affects image quality, so it is necessary to use ink within the printable temperature range. Therefore, in this embodiment, the temperature of each of the two ink containers 21C1, 21C2, . 21K1 and 21K2, the ink container closest to the printable temperature is selected as the ink supply source for the recording head 17. In the example shown in FIG.

For example, in the cyan ink container 21C shown in FIG. 5, if either of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range, the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 within the printable temperature range is selected. . If neither of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range (lower than the printable temperature), the time to reach the printable temperature when the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are heated by the heater 24 is calculated. . Then, the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 with the shorter arrival time is selected.

The selection of the two ink containers 21C1, 21C2, . It may be executed at a predetermined timing, such as when returning from a power saving (sleep) mode, or when replacing the ink containers 21C to 21K.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure for selecting the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 that make up the ink container 21C, executed in the printer 100 of this embodiment. A procedure for selecting the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 to be preferentially used in the printer 100 will be described along the steps in FIG. 6 while referring to FIGS. 1 to 5 as necessary. The procedure for selecting the ink containers 21M1, 21M2, .

When selecting the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2, the main controller 110a detects the temperature of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 by the thermistor 23 (step S1). Next, the ink supply control unit 110b determines whether or not there are ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 within the printable temperature range (step S2).

If both the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are lower than the printable temperature (No in step S2), the main control unit 110a determines the difference between the current temperature of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 detected by the thermistor 23 and the printable temperature. Based on the temperature difference and the temperature rise rate per unit time [°C/t] of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 when heated by the heater 24, the time to reach the printable temperature is calculated (step S3). The ink supply control unit 110b selects the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 that takes the shortest time to reach the printable temperature from the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 (step S4). Then, heating of the selected ink container 21C1 or 21C2 by the heater 24 is started (step S5).

Next, the main controller 110a determines whether or not the arrival time calculated in step S3 has elapsed (step S6). If the arrival time has not elapsed (Yes in step S6), the heater 24 continues to heat the ink container 21C1 or 21C2. If the arrival time has elapsed (Yes in step S6), heating of the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 by the heater 24 is ended (step S7), and the printable state is set (step S8).

If the print request is received while the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 is being heated by the heater 24, the arrival time elapses and the printing is started after the heating by the heater 24 is completed.

On the other hand, if at least one of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range in step S2 (Yes in step S2), is there only one ink container 21C1 and 21C2 within the printable temperature range? It is determined whether or not (step S9). If either one of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range (Yes in step S9), the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 within the printable temperature range is selected (step S10) and printable. state (step S8).

If both the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are within the printable temperature range (No in step S9), the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 with the least amount of remaining ink is selected from the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 (step S11). , the printable state (step S8). The amount of ink remaining in the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 can be calculated based on the cumulative drive time (or cumulative number of revolutions) of the ink supply motor 25 from the start of use of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2.

According to the control example shown in FIG. 6, if either of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range, the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 within the printable temperature range is selected. If neither of the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 is within the printable temperature range (lower than the printable temperature), the time to reach the printable temperature when heated by the heater 24 is calculated. The shortest ink container 21C1 or 21C2 is selected. As a result, the waiting time until the printer 100 becomes ready for printing (Ready state) can be shortened without impairing the image quality.

Also, when both the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are within the printable temperature range, the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 with a smaller amount of ink is selected. As a result, for example, when the previously selected ink container 21C1 is empty of ink, the next selected ink container 21C2 contains a larger amount of ink than the ink container 21C1. Therefore, the printable time until the ink in the ink container 21C2 becomes empty becomes longer, and the preparation time for the new ink container 21C can be secured. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which both the ink containers 21C1 and 21C2 are empty and printing becomes impossible.

In this embodiment, the heaters 24 for individually heating the ink containers 21C to 21K are provided. A mechanism may be provided. As the cooling mechanism, there is a liquid circulation type cooling mechanism that cools the ink containers 21C to 21K by circulating a cooling liquid (for example, water). When the cooling mechanism is used, similarly to the case of using the heater 24, the arrival time to the printable temperature when cooled by the cooling mechanism is calculated, and the ink container 21C1 or 21C2 with the shortest arrival time is selected.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the ink containers 21C to 21K each consist of two 21C1, 21C2, . . . 21K1, 21K2. The present invention can also be applied to

Also, the number of recording heads 17 in each of the line heads 11C to 11K is not particularly limited. For example, one, two, or four or more recording heads 17 can be arranged for each of the line heads 11C to 11K. Alternatively, a monochrome printer having only a black line head 11K may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the line head type printer 100 that performs recording by the line heads 11C to 11K having the recording head 17 in which a large number of ink ejection nozzles 18 are arranged along the width direction of the sheet is described as an inkjet recording apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to a serial type ink jet printing apparatus in which printing is performed while the printing head 17 scans the sheet.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from ink discharge nozzles provided in a recording head. By using the present invention, it is possible to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can effectively utilize unused recording heads and waste ink collection containers.

5 First belt conveying section (conveying section)
8 first conveying belt 9 recording unit 11C to 11K line head 12 second belt conveying unit 17 recording head 18 ink discharge nozzle 21C to 21K ink container (ink container)
23 Thermistor (temperature detector)
24 heater (temperature control device)
25 Ink supply motor 110 Control device 110a Main control unit (control unit)
110b Ink supply control unit (control unit)
100 printer (inkjet recording device)
P paper (sheet)

Claims (6)

a conveying unit that conveys the sheet;
a recording unit having a recording head for recording an image by ejecting ink onto the sheet conveyed by the conveying unit;
a plurality of ink containers containing the same color ink to be supplied to the recording head;
a temperature detection unit that individually detects the temperature of the ink container;
a temperature control device for individually controlling the temperature of the ink container;
a control unit that controls supply of the ink from the ink container to the recording head;
In an inkjet recording device comprising
When the temperature of one or more of the plurality of ink containers is within the printable temperature range, the controller controls any one of the ink containers within the printable temperature range. is selected as a supply source of the ink to the recording head. When the temperatures of all of the ink containers are not within the printable temperature range, the control unit calculates the arrival time of the ink containers to the printable temperature, and calculates the ink container with the shortest arrival time. 2. An inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a container is selected as a supply source of said ink to said recording head. The control unit controls the temperature difference between the temperature of the ink container detected by the temperature detection unit and the printable temperature, and the temperature change rate of the ink container per unit time by the temperature control device. 3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the arrival time is calculated based on When the temperatures of the plurality of ink containers are within the printable temperature range, the controller controls the ink container having the least remaining amount of ink among the ink containers within the printable temperature range. 4. An inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a container is selected as a supply source of said ink to said recording head. an ink supply motor for individually supplying the ink from the ink storage container to the recording head;
3. The control unit calculates the amount of ink remaining in the ink container based on a cumulative drive time or a cumulative number of revolutions of the ink supply motor from the start of use of the ink container. 5. The inkjet recording apparatus according to 4 above. 6. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said temperature control device is a heater for heating said ink container.

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