JP2925309B2 - Recording method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording method and apparatus for forming an image by urging a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, such as an ink jet recording apparatus and a thermal transfer recording apparatus. Things.

More specifically, the present invention preferably provides a recording method and apparatus using a heating element having a heating resistor and an electrode connected to the heating resistor as a recording element, for example, a method in which the heating element is disposed in a liquid path. The present invention relates to a recording method and apparatus applicable to an ink jet recording apparatus having a plurality of discharge ports communicating with the liquid path.

[Conventional technology]

As is conventionally known, the ink jet recording method has many advantages such as extremely low noise at the time of recording, easy colorization, and recording on so-called plain paper. Is increasingly increasing.

Above all, heat is generated by energizing a heating element provided in a liquid path communicating with a fine discharge port for discharging ink, and a sudden occurrence occurs at the time of bubbling generated by heating of ink around the heating element. A bubble jet recording device that performs recording by discharging ink as droplets from a discharge port using a volume change (that is, an ink jet recording device using thermal energy) is easy to reduce the size of the device, Attention has been paid particularly to the reason that high-density arrangement of discharge ports is possible.

In an ink jet recording apparatus using such thermal energy, when a recording head is configured by arranging a large number of ejection ports in a predetermined direction, for example, paper, OHP sheets, cloth, and other recording media (recording materials) In the case of a so-called full-line type recording head in which the discharge ports are arranged over the entire width in the width direction of the heating element, a voltage having a predetermined pulse width is normally applied to all the heating elements or sequentially for each group of a predetermined number of heating elements. Driven.

Such a driving method is similarly employed for a recording head such as a thermal transfer recording apparatus.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the resistance values of the heating elements stacked on the substrate are not uniform for all elements. Therefore, the amount of heat generated by each heating element varies with the resistance value variation of the heating element.
Thereby, for example, in an ink jet recording apparatus, the amount of change in volume of the ink at the time of foaming differs for each heating element, and therefore the amount of ejected ink differs, so that the diameter of the recorded dots varies, and a good recorded image can be obtained. May not be.

Such a problem also applies to a thermal transfer recording device and the like.

Further, in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus or thermal transfer recording apparatus, a pulse having the same pulse width and the same drive voltage is applied to each heating element in one head, so that a plurality of heating elements are driven more optimally. It was not driven to meet the conditions. Therefore, when a certain heating element is applied with more energy than necessary, the life of the heating element is shortened, and conversely, a stable ejection cannot be obtained from a heating element to which the necessary and sufficient energy is not applied. There was a problem to be solved.

When a plurality of heating elements are driven by a plurality of drive ICs, it is difficult to correct the drive.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that obtains a good recorded image and enables more optimal heat generation drive control in view of the above points.

[Means for solving the problem]

Therefore, the present invention is a recording method for performing recording on a recording material using a recording head using a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of IC circuits for driving the plurality of recording elements connected continuously, The flip-flop circuit of the IC circuit temporarily holds the enable signal supplied from the outside and transfers the enable signal to the next-stage IC circuit connected in series, thereby sequentially driving the recording elements in units of each IC circuit. A strobe signal having a pulse width based on a condition corresponding to the drivable IC circuit among conditions pre-stored in a pulse width designation memory for each unit of the IC circuit, is shared by the plurality of IC circuits. The recording is performed on the recording material for each of the recording elements in units of the drivable IC circuit.

Further, the recording apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of recording elements, a plurality of IC circuits continuously connected to drive the plurality of recording elements, and a temporary enable signal provided in the IC circuit and supplied from the outside. A print head having a flip-flop circuit that holds and transfers the successively connected IC circuits to the next-stage IC circuit so that the print elements can be sequentially driven in units of the respective IC circuits; and a unit of the IC circuit. A pulse width designation memory storing conditions preset for each, and a strobe signal having a pulse width based on a condition corresponding to the drivable IC circuit among the conditions previously stored in the pulse width designation memory, Means for performing recording on a recording material for each of the recording elements in units of the drivable IC circuit by supplying the same to the plurality of IC circuits in common.

[Action]

According to the present invention, the flip-flop circuit of the IC circuit continuously connected to drive the plurality of recording elements temporarily holds the enable signal supplied from the outside and transfers the enable signal to the successively connected next-stage IC circuit. By transferring, each IC
Since the recording elements can be sequentially driven in units of circuits, it is possible to easily drive a head having a large number of recording elements only by increasing the number of IC circuits and continuously connecting them.

Then, conditions for correcting the characteristic variation of the recording element for each unit of the IC circuit are stored in advance in the pulse width storage unit for each unit of the IC circuit, and the drive signal can be driven by the enable signal among the stored conditions. By supplying a strobe signal having a pulse width based on the condition corresponding to the set IC circuit to the plurality of IC circuits in common, the driving of each of the recording elements is performed in units of the drivable IC circuits. Te In this way, by enabling a plurality of IC circuits to be sequentially selected and supplying a pulse width-corrected enable signal to the plurality of IC circuits in common, the characteristic variation of the recording element corresponding to each of the plurality of IC circuits can be reduced. The correction can be performed by one pulse width correction circuit, and even for a long head, correction can be performed for each recording element in units of IC circuits with a simple configuration.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention has been applied. Here, reference numeral 101 denotes a discharge element, which is a liquid path in which heating elements and the like, which are heat energy generating means for generating heat energy used for discharging ink, are arranged in parallel, and a discharge port opened in front of each liquid path. It has an outlet 110 and a common liquid chamber for storing ink supplied to each liquid path, and has a discharge port 11
Ink is ejected from 0 to form recording droplets. 101A and 101B are a substrate (heater board) on which a heating element, wiring, etc. are formed, and a top plate provided with a liquid path and a groove for forming a common liquid chamber, respectively. Is done.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a base plate for fixing the ejection element 101 by bonding or the like, and reference numeral 102 denotes a front plate fixed to end faces of the ejection element 101 and the base plate 103 by a tightening member such as a bolt, and an opening that directly faces the ejection port 110 to the recording medium. 102a. Each of the parts 115, 116 and 117 is a member forming a part of an ink supply system, 115 is an elbow-shaped connecting member for introducing ink into a common liquid chamber in the ejection element 101, and 117 is an ink supply source from an ink tank or the like. A filter unit 116 disposed in the middle of the ink supply path is a supply pipe connecting the connection member 115 and the filter unit 117.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a partial vertical cross section of an ink ejection section of the above-mentioned recording head.

In FIG. 2, a surface of the ejection element 101 facing the recording medium 31 has a plurality of ink ejection ports 110 at a predetermined pitch.
Is formed. The electric heat exchanger 41 provided in the ink liquid passage communicating with each ink ejection port 110 is driven (electrically heated) based on the dot information to generate bubbles 41A in the ink,
At this time, a flying ink droplet 42 is formed by the pressure fluctuation accompanying the change of the bubble, and the recording is performed while the ink dots are adhered to the recording medium 31 in a predetermined pattern.

Note that a drive circuit (driver) for performing the above-described drive may be provided integrally with the heater board 101A.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Here, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording head described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in which a plurality of ejection ports are arranged in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG. It is configured.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a heating element disposed in a liquid passage communicating with each ejection port of the recording head 1, and the heating element 3 is formed as a drive block having a predetermined number as a unit. 7-1 to 7-
N is a head drive unit of an IC circuit for simultaneously driving the heating elements 3 belonging to each block in block units, and the IC circuits are connected continuously.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the head drive units 7-1 to 7-N has a bit capable of storing one line of the data signal SI corresponding to each of the k heating elements 3 belonging to the block. It includes a shift register 30, a latch circuit 32 for latching the above-described bit data according to a latch signal LAT, and the like. Further, in order to sequentially drive each heating element 3 for each of the above-described blocks based on the bit data according to the strobe signal STB, the enable input signal EI, the enable clock signal ECK, and the like, the enable signal is temporarily held and the next step is performed.
It has a flip-flop circuit FF for transferring to an IC circuit, a gate circuit as a switch means, and the like. Further, in FIG. 4, D ₁ to D _K are the respective heating elements constituting the block 3
SCK is a clock signal for recording data transfer, CLR
Is a clear signal of the flip-flop circuit FF. In addition,
Signals shown on the right side of the figure with “0” at the end (SDO to ECK
O) is a signal output to the next-stage driver (IC circuit).

Referring to FIG. 3 again, the driving voltage V _H is supplied from the power supply 5 to each heating element 3 of the recording head 1, while the driving timing signal from the central processing unit CPU 20 is supplied from the recording signal generator 11. In accordance with T, various signals are generated as described later, and the signals are sent to the head driving units 7-1 to 7-N. Reference numeral 9 denotes an image memory for storing image data IDATA supplied directly or indirectly via the CPU 7 from the host device H which is a supply source of image data, and 21 denotes a ROM for storing various programs executed by the CPU 7 and the like. Or a storage device consisting of a working RAM. Further, reference numeral 12 denotes a ROM-type pulse width designation memory in which a pulse width preset for each of the head driving units 7-1 to 7-N so as to obtain optimum driving according to the characteristics thereof is stored. .

Therefore, in the drive circuit configured as described above, as described above, the recording signal generation unit 11 reads out the image data expanded in the image memory 9 according to the drive timing signal T from the CPU 20, and outputs the data signal SI. Together with various clock signals and latch signals LAT. At this time, the head drive units 7-1 to 7
-Read the optimal drive pulse width stored for each N
The strobe signal STB of the pulse having the optimum width is sequentially transmitted for each head driving unit.

FIG. 5 shows a recording signal generator 6 and a pulse width designation memory.
11 shows the configuration of a circuit related to the generation of the above-mentioned strobe signal STB, and FIG.

In FIG. 5, 403 is reset by a recording start signal for each line, and is reset to 1 according to a block clock.
This is a block counter that counts up for each drive block. Thus, every time the block counter 403 counts up, its output is supplied to the corresponding address of the pulse width designation memory 12, and the data of the pulse width stored at that address is read, and the counter 403 of the strobe pulse width reads out the data. Connected to preset data. This preset data is the strobe start signal STB
The strobe flip-flop (FF) 401 is reset by a ripple carry signal (RC) output from the strobe pulse width counter 403 after a predetermined value is counted by the basic clock. You. The strobe flip-flop 401 is set by a strobe start signal.

Thus, the strobe signal ST output one after another in common to each IC circuit via the strobe flip-flop 401
B, the head driving units 7-1 to 7-N (block 1
To n) can be driven with appropriate pulse widths as shown in FIG.

Using the above recording head and its driving system,
For example, a line printer capable of full-color recording as shown in FIG. 7 can be constructed.

In FIG. 7, 201A and 201 are a pair of rollers provided for nipping and transporting the recording medium R shown as fan-fold paper in the sub-scanning direction Vs. 202BK, 202
Y, 202M and 202C are full multi-type recording heads for recording black, yellow, magenta and cyan, respectively, in which nozzles are arranged over the entire width of the recording medium R, and arranged in this order from the upstream side in the recording medium transport direction. I have.

Reference numeral 200 denotes a recovery system, which faces the recording heads 202BK to 202C instead of the recording medium R in the ejection recovery processing.

(Others) The present invention can be applied not only to the recording method and the recording apparatus of the ink jet method described above, but also to a recording method and a recording apparatus of a thermal method and other appropriate forms.

In the above example, the pulse width was used as the driving condition.
Instead, a voltage value may be used, or both may be combined. Further, the pulse waveform may be changed, and if the driving is performed by combining a plurality of pulses, the number of combinations may be changed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus using the electrothermal transducer for generating the heat energy for causing the ink to boil the ink in the ink discharge energy generating element has been described. The element to be generated is not limited to this. For example, a recording method and apparatus in which recording is performed by a recording head having an element that generates ejection energy when a driving electric signal is supplied, such as a piezoelectric element, etc. It goes without saying that it can be widely applied.

However, the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for causing ink to be ejected, particularly in an ink jet recording method. The present invention brings about an excellent effect in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type that causes a state change. According to such a method, it is possible to achieve a higher density and a higher definition of the recording, so that the driving as in the present invention becomes more effective as the number of electrothermal transducers as recording elements increases.

As for the representative configuration and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to any of the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). Applying at least one drive signal corresponding to recording information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, thereby causing the electrothermal transducer to generate heat energy, and This is effective because a film in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the driving signal can be formed one by one by causing film boiling on the heat acting surface. 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. U.S. Pat. No. 44
Those described in JP-A-63359 and JP-A-4345262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are employed, more excellent recording can be performed.

As a configuration of the recording head, in addition to a combination configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which is disposed in a bending region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent 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 opening 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, as shown in FIG. 7, 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 that can be recorded by a recording apparatus. The head may have either a configuration in which the length is satisfied by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as a single recording head integrally formed as described above.

In addition, the present invention can be effectively applied to a serial type. However, when the recording head is fixed to the apparatus main body or is attached to the apparatus main body, electrical connection with the apparatus main body and ink from the apparatus main body can be performed. 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.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the print head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as a configuration of the printing apparatus in the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, Performing a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing is also effective for performing stable printing.

Regarding the type or number of print heads to be mounted, for example, in addition to one provided for single color ink, a plurality of print heads are provided corresponding to a plurality of inks having different print colors and densities. May be used. 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, and may be either a integrally formed 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 full-color or mixed-color.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink that solidifies at or below room temperature and softens or liquefies at room temperature, or the ink itself in an inkjet method. In general, the temperature is controlled 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. I just need. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy can be positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink can be used. In any case, the ink is liquefied by the application of the thermal energy according to the recording signal, and the liquid ink is ejected, and when the ink reaches the recording medium, it starts to solidify. The present invention is also applicable to the case where ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy is used. The ink in such a case is disclosed in
As described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, in a state of being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet, it is opposed to the electrothermal converter. It is good also as a form. 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 may be used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. Or the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the driving condition of the printing element (for example, the heating element) can be controlled to an appropriate value for each block. Is corrected with a relatively simple circuit configuration, and energy used for recording (for example, thermal energy used for ink ejection) can be generated stably.
As a result, for example, uniform ink droplet ejection can be obtained, high-quality image recording can be performed, and the life of the recording head can be extended.

In particular, according to the present invention, a flip-flop circuit of an IC circuit continuously connected to drive a plurality of recording elements is provided.
By temporarily holding the enable signal supplied from the outside and transferring the enable signal to the IC circuit of the next stage connected in series, the recording elements can be sequentially driven in units of each IC circuit. A head having a large number of recording elements can be easily driven simply by increasing the number of circuits and connecting them continuously.

The conditions for correcting the characteristic variation of the recording element for each unit of the IC circuit are stored in advance in the pulse width storage unit for each unit of the IC circuit, and the IC circuit which can be driven by the enable signal among the conditions is stored. By supplying a strobe signal having a pulse width based on a condition corresponding to the above to the plurality of IC circuits in common, driving of each of the recording elements is performed in units of the drivable IC circuits. Thus multiple ICs
A configuration in which the enable signal whose pulse width has been corrected is supplied to multiple IC circuits in common while allowing the circuits to be sequentially selected enables the correction of the characteristic variation of the recording element corresponding to each of the multiple IC circuits with one pulse width It can be done with a correction circuit, and even with a long head
Correction can be performed for each recording element in units of IC circuits.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the principle of ejection, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a head driving unit in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a recording signal generating unit and pulse width shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a detailed circuit block diagram of the designated memory unit, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the recording signal generation unit and the timing of the head drive signal in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a mechanical configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording head, 3 ... Heating element, 7-1 to 7-n ... Head drive part, 9 ... Image memory, 11 ... Recording signal generation part, 12 ... Pulse width designation memory, 20 ... CPU, 110 ... discharge port, 116 ... supply pipe, 117 ... filter unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (56) References JP-A-2-30538 (JP, A) JP-B 64-7591 (JP, B2) JP-B 62-25314 (JP, B2) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/05 B41J 2/355

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording method for performing recording on a recording material using a recording head in which a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of IC circuits for driving the plurality of recording elements are connected in series. The flip-flop circuit of the circuit temporarily holds the externally supplied enable signal and transfers it to the successively connected IC circuit of the next stage, thereby enabling the recording elements to be sequentially driven in units of each IC circuit. A strobe signal having a pulse width based on a condition corresponding to the drivable IC circuit among conditions pre-stored in a pulse width designation memory for each unit of the IC circuit;
By being commonly supplied to the IC circuit, the drive was enabled.
A recording method comprising: performing recording on a recording material for each recording element in units of an IC circuit. 2. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is an ink jet head that performs recording by discharging ink, and has an element that generates energy used for discharging ink as the recording element. 2. The recording method according to 1. 3. The recording method according to claim 2, wherein the recording element is an element that generates heat energy used for causing ink to eject the ink by causing film boiling of the ink. 4. A printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of printing elements; a plurality of IC circuits connected in series for driving the plurality of printing elements; and an enable signal provided in the IC circuit and supplied from the outside. A recording head having a flip-flop circuit that can sequentially drive the recording elements in units of each IC circuit by transferring the IC circuit to the next-stage IC circuit that is continuously connected; and A pulse width designation memory storing the set conditions; and a strobe signal having a pulse width based on a condition corresponding to the drivable IC circuit among the conditions stored in advance in the pulse width designation memory, Means for performing recording on a recording material for each of the recording elements in units of the drivable IC circuit by supplying the same to the IC circuit in common, and a recording apparatus. 5. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is an inkjet head that performs recording by discharging ink, and has an element for generating energy used for discharging ink as the recording element. 5. The recording device according to 4. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said recording element is an element for generating heat energy used for causing ink to eject the ink by causing film boiling of the ink.