JP2872467B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of exchanging recording heads.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known an ink jet recording apparatus in which a recording head (cartridge) can be replaced. In the ink jet recording method, an appropriate cleaning process is required to prevent clogging caused by thickening of the ink. Further, since the amount of ejected ink depends on the ink temperature, it is necessary to control the temperature of the head.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there are many cases in which, immediately after replacement of the cartridge, good printing cannot be performed due to clogging. At this time, in order to avoid wasting paper and avoid this, a troublesome operation of consciously operating the cleaning mechanism by the user was required.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of automatically performing cleaning immediately after replacing a cartridge.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a detachable recording head cartridge having a heater for controlling ink temperature, and a cleaning means for cleaning the recording head cartridge. In the ink jet recording apparatus having the above, based on a signal difference between a state in which the heater is connected by mounting the print head cartridge and a state in which the heater is not connected by not mounting, the print head It is characterized by comprising a detecting means for detecting the attachment / detachment of the cartridge, and a drive control means for driving the cleaning means when the mounting of the recording head cartridge is detected by the detecting means.

[0006]

In the present invention, when the mounting of the recording head cartridge is detected by the detecting means, the cleaning means is driven by the drive control means.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. This is an inkjet printer using thermal energy (hereinafter,
IJ).

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a microprocessor-type CPU for performing control necessary for character processing in accordance with a processing procedure stored in a ROM 6. Reference numeral 2 denotes a keyboard, which includes a print key for instructing execution of printing and other keys for executing character processing. Reference numeral 3 denotes a display, which displays a set screen of a clock, displays other messages, and displays necessary for character processing. Reference numeral 4 denotes a user-replaceable IJ cartridge which discharges ink based on data transferred from the print control device. Reference numeral 5 denotes a print control device which performs control for outputting data created by character processing or the like, control for detecting replacement of an IJ cartridge, and the like. The print control device 5 has a cleaning mechanism 51 that performs a cleaning process for eliminating clogging of the head portion of the IJ cartridge 4. The cleaning mechanism 51 performs recovery processing by preliminary discharge (idle discharge) and suction recovery processing. 6 is a read-only storage device R
OM, a program for controlling character processing,
Character image data and the like are stored. Reference numeral 7 denotes a writable and readable storage device RAM, which stores character data and other data necessary for character processing. Reference numeral 8 denotes an RTC (real time clock), which has a timer 81 for counting the current time, and a last print date register 82 for storing the year, month, and date of last printing on the currently used IJ cartridge. . RT
C is backed up by the battery 9 even when the power of the main body is turned off. The battery 9 enables the CPU 1 to detect the presence or absence of a battery through the bus 10. 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus necessary for controlling each unit.

FIG. 2 shows the presence / absence detection circuit 52 for detecting the presence / absence of an IJ cartridge in the print control device 5 shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the IJ cartridge is an IJ cartridge.
A sub-heater 41 is provided to control the temperature of the head. The sub-heater 41 is heat-controlled by turning on and off a switch SW in response to a VHON signal from a control circuit, and controls the ink to a predetermined temperature. The resistor 21 is inserted into the sub-heater 41 in series, and the detection circuit 22 checks the voltage CDET of the resistor 21.

When there is no IJ cartridge, the resistance 2
No current flows in 1 and no voltage CDET is generated. When the IJ cartridge is present, the sub-heater 41, the resistor 21
Thus, a current path is formed, and a voltage CDET is generated in the resistor 21 by the current flowing therethrough. That is, the presence or absence of the IJ cartridge can be detected from the voltage CDET. Further, in the present embodiment, when the IJ cartridge is removed, it is determined that the IJ has been replaced, and an interrupt is generated from the print control device 5 to the CPU 1, and an interrupt process described later is performed.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure stored in the ROM 6 shown in FIG.

When the power is turned on, this flow starts, and it is checked in step S1 whether or not there is a battery backup. If there is a battery, the process skips to step S4. If not, the backed-up clock data and the last print date are meaningless, so the process skips to step S2, sets the clock in step S2, and changes the last print date in step S3. Do. Set the year, month, and day so that the cleaning operation is always performed when printing in this process. Then, a key input wait state is set in step S4, and if the pressed key is a print key, a printing process is performed in step S5 and the process returns to step S4. If it is another key, other character processing corresponding to the key input is performed in step S6, and step S6 is performed.
Return to 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of step S5 in FIG.

In step S51, the last printing date backed up in the RTC 8 is checked, and if printing for a predetermined number of days has not been performed, a cleaning operation is performed in step S53, and thereafter, the process proceeds to step S54. If the predetermined number of days has not elapsed, the cleaning operation is not required, and the process proceeds directly to step S54. Step S
At 54, the printing operation is performed, and the printing process ends. In step S55, the last print date is updated to the current date and time.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an interrupt processing procedure when replacing a cartridge.

This interrupt processing is executed when the user replaces the cartridge while the processing of FIGS. 3 and 4 is being executed, and the processing being executed is interrupted. In this process, the final printing date is changed in step S11, and in FIG. 4, the year, month, and day are set so that the cleaning process is always performed before the next printing.
Therefore, when the cartridge is replaced, the user can automatically perform the cleaning without giving any cleaning instruction.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning process is performed immediately before the first printing after the replacement of the cartridge is detected. However, the cleaning process may be performed immediately after the replacement of the cartridge is detected.

(Others) The present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter, a laser beam, or the like) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, a recording head fixed to the apparatus main body, or an electric connection with the apparatus main body or ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

The types and the number of recording heads to be mounted are, for example, ones corresponding to single color inks and a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may take a form.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With the configuration described above, there is an effect that a good printing result can be obtained even immediately after the user replaces the recording head cartridge.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a circuit for detecting the presence or absence of an IJ cartridge in the print control device 5 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure stored in a ROM 6 illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of step S5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing procedure at the time of cartridge replacement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Keyboard 3 Display 4 IJ cartridge 5 Print control device 6 ROM 7 RAM 8 RTC 9 Battery

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a detachable recording head cartridge having a heater for controlling ink temperature; and cleaning means for cleaning the recording head cartridge, wherein the recording head cartridge is mounted. Detecting means for detecting attachment / detachment of the recording head cartridge based on a signal difference between a state in which the heater is connected and a state in which the heater is not connected because the heater is not mounted; and An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a drive control unit that drives the cleaning unit when the attachment is detected.