JP3064440B2 - 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 and, more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus having means for recovering from a defective ejection of droplets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink-jet recording apparatuses have attracted attention in that they can perform recording without applying special processing such as so-called fixing to plain paper, and that they can perform high-speed recording with low noise. ing. However, the ink jet recording device discharges the recording liquid from a fine orifice to form droplets.If foreign matter such as paper powder adheres to the orifice or bubbles enter the ink flow path, a discharge failure occurs. I was In the conventional example in which the suction means is used as the ejection failure recovery means, as shown in FIG. 8, the cap 3 covers the orifice portion 4 of the head 5 by a cap opening / closing means (not shown), and thereafter the suction means 2 is operated. A method of performing a recovery operation by absorbing ink from the ink cartridge 9 has been adopted. The ink sucked at this time is sent to the waste ink reservoir 1. In normal recording, the head 5 is moved by a head driving source (not shown) along the guide shaft 7,
This is performed by discharging droplets onto the recording paper 6.

[0005] In a normal use condition, the majority of ejection failures due to the attachment of foreign matter such as paper dust, however, in this case, the foreign matter may be removed, and most of them are sucked by sucking a relatively small amount of ink. Recover. However, when air bubbles enter the head from the ink cartridge 9 side, it was necessary to suck a large amount of ink in order to remove the air bubbles from the ink flow path.

[0004]

However, in the conventional method, a relatively large amount of ink is consumed in order to reliably recover by several recovery operations regardless of the type of trouble.
A type of recovery action was set. For this reason, there is a problem that a large amount of ink is consumed even in a discharge failure due to frequent foreign matter adhesion, and the ink is wasted.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having an ejection failure recovery means capable of preventing wasteful consumption of ink in the above-described recovery operation and consuming ink more effectively for printing purposes. is there.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer.
The recording apparatus includes: a recording head for discharging ink from an orifice to form droplets to record on recording paper; a carriage mounted with the recording head and moving in a recording scanning direction of the recording paper; A driving device for moving, a cap device having a cap body for capping the orifice, and the orifice in response to a recovery operation command.
Ejection failure recovery means for discharging ink from the fist into the cap body, when the recovery operation command is input, the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation is By comparing the operation amount F with a predetermined constant operation amount f of the paper feeding means, the orientation is determined.
A means for determining the amount of ink discharged from the
And, based on the ink amount determined by the determination means,
It is characterized in that the ejection failure recovery means is operated. Ma
Also, the operation amount F of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation and the
The constant operation amount f of the paper feeding means set in advance and the recovery operation
The relationship between the amount of ink ejected when a print command is input.
Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention satisfies F> = f
F <f compared to the ink amount Q1 discharged at a certain time.
Is set to increase the amount of ink Q2 ejected when
It is characterized by having been done. In addition, the previous recovery
Operation amount F of paper feeding means from the work and paper feeding set in advance
The relationship of the constant operation amount f of the means is F <f, and
When a return operation command is input, the
The recording device outputs the ink discharged by the nth recovery operation command.
Is discharged by the (n + 1) th recovery operation command
So that the ink amount Qn + 1 to be obtained satisfies Qn <Qn + 1.
It is characterized by being set. Move the carriage
Moving the cap from the orifice
Use ejection failure recovery means to discharge ink into the body
When the movement amount of the carriage increases,
Increase the amount of ink discharged from the orifice.
Just do it. In this case, the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation
And the predetermined amount of movement of the paper feeding means set in advance
f and the carriage position when the recovery operation command is input.
Regarding the relationship with the movement amount, carry when F> = f
Carriage L when F <f compared to the carriage movement L1.
What is necessary is just to set so that the movement amount L2 of the edge becomes large. Ma
In addition, the operation amount F of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation is
The relation of the set constant amount f of the paper feeding means becomes F <f.
Yes, when the recovery operation command is input continuously, the nth
Movement amount Ln of carriage moved by eye recovery operation command
To be moved by the (n + 1) th recovery operation command.
The movement amount Ln + 1 of the ridge is set so that Ln <Ln + 1.
Should be set to.

[0007]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the recovery operation instruction is
When it entered dividing poor discharge recovery operation rows, by comparing the predetermined operation amount of the preset paper feeding means and the operation amount of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation, the discharge from the orifice
Amount of ink to be discharged, that is, the ink consumed at the time of ejection failure recovery
The consumption is determined. In this way, when the ejection failure is recovered,
As a means for determining the amount of ink consumed,
Because it is a configuration that compares the amount of production, it can be used as a simple timer, etc.
Unlike the time management by
Kind (adhesion of foreign matter such as paper powder, penetration of bubbles into the ink flow path)
On), and excessive recovery operations can
Can be prevented from being wasted.

[0008]

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

[0009] In a normal use state, most of the discharge failures are due to adhesion of paper dust and dust to the orifice portion. Other possible causes include the intrusion of air bubbles into the ink flow path. According to an experiment, in the case of the former failure, it is possible to recover with a probability of 90% or more by consuming about 0.5 cc of ink. On the other hand, in the case of the latter failure due to the intrusion of bubbles, it was found that it was necessary to consume about 2 cc of ink. Assuming that the amount of ink consumed at one time is 0.5 cc, it is necessary to perform recovery operation four times in succession in the case of ejection failure due to air bubbles simply. Further, assuming that the amount of ink consumed at one time is 2 cc, in the case of ejection failure due to paper dust, 2-0.5 = 1.5 cc of ink is wasted.

Now, consider a case in which ejection failure occurs due to bubbles and the ink consumption is set to 0.5 cc. The user of the printing apparatus notices the ejection failure, and first performs the first recovery operation. In this case, since the ink consumption is insufficient and normal printing cannot be obtained even once printing is performed, it is necessary to perform the recovery operation again. Generally, however, the first recovery operation and the second recovery operation are performed. The time interval is several minutes to several ten minutes at most.

[0011] On the other hand, according to experiments by the present inventors, the adhesion of paper powder or the like, which accounts for the majority of ejection failures, to the orifice portion,
It has been found that when the recording apparatus is operated continuously, it occurs on average about once every 5 to 10 hours under a general office environment. This time depends on the environment in which the recording apparatus is installed, but generally takes several hours or more.

In this embodiment, when the amount of ink consumed at one time is set to an amount sufficient to recover the discharge failure due to the attachment of foreign matter such as paper dust, the first recovery is performed due to the cause of the discharge failure as described above. The fact that the time interval between the operation and the second recovery operation is significantly different is used.

The operation of an embodiment using a pressurizing means as a recovery means will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention. The head 10, the ink cartridge 11, and the ejection failure recovery unit (not shown) mounted on the carriage 12 are driven by a driving unit (not shown) through two belts 1 via a belt 18.
Guided by 4a and 14b, the recording paper 16 moves in the recording scanning direction guided by the platen 15 and performs recording.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a pressurizing means as an ejection failure recovery means. It comprises a pump body 19, a piston 20, and the like. At the time of the ejection failure recovery operation, the amount of movement of the piston 20 is determined by the amount of movement of the carriage 12, and the piston 20 is operated by bringing the end 20a of the piston 20 into contact with the frame 17 (shown in FIG. 1). At this time, the amount of movement of the piston and the amount of ink consumed in the recovery operation are set to be in a direct proportional relationship.

When a discharge failure occurs, the printing apparatus operation commander inputs a recovery operation command from a recovery operation command input section 21 such as a switch as shown in FIG. 3 in order to interrupt the printing operation and perform a recovery operation. . The control unit 22 reads the operation amount F1 of the paper feeding unit from the counter 23 and records the operation amount F1 in the memory 24 when the recovery operation command is input.
Then, the control unit 22 calls, from the memory 24, the operation amount F0 of the paper feeding means up to the previous recovery operation command input,
The calculation of F1−F0 = F is performed, and the operation amount F of the paper feeding unit is compared with a predetermined constant operation amount f of the paper feeding unit.

In the case of F> = f, after the cap means 26 is operated, the driving means 27 in which the time or the number of steps necessary to consume the ink by the amount of Q1 is operated to move the carriage 12 by L1. The pressing means, which is the recovery means 25 mounted on the carriage 12, is moved. If F <f, the driving unit 27 in which the time or the number of steps required to consume the ink by the amount of Q2 is operated to move the carriage 12 by L2. The F1 of the memory 24 is operated either before or after operating the recovery unit 25, that is, before or after operating the driving unit 27.
Is rewritten to F0. When the next recovery operation command is input, the same operation as described above is performed using the new F1. When the value of F in the memory is reset and rewritten to 0 before or after operating the recovery means 25, the operation amount F of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation command input is directly sent from the counter 23. You may read it.

This series of operations is shown in the flowchart of FIG. POWERON in step S1, step S2
Proceed to and perform normal printing. At this time, the paper feed operation amount is simultaneously counted. Then, the process proceeds to step S3, where it is determined whether the printing is good. If the printing is good, step S11
Then, the printing operation is continued. If printing is not good in step S3, that is, if ejection failure is confirmed, step S3 is executed.
The process proceeds to the ejection failure recovery operation after 4. When the start of the recovery operation is input in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5,
The count of the current paper feed operation amount is recorded in F1. Then, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the difference between F1 and F0 is compared with f to determine. If the difference between F1 and F0 is equal to or more than f, the process proceeds to step S12, where the ink pressurizing operation for the ink amount Q1, that is, the driving unit in which the operation amount for the ink amount Q1 is set is operated to move the carriage by L1. If the difference between F1 and F0 is smaller than f, the process proceeds to step S7, in which the ink pressurizing operation for the ink amount Q2, that is, the operation of the driving unit in which the operation amount for the ink amount Q2 is set is performed. After the ink is discharged in step S7 or step S12, the process proceeds to step S8, and F1 is recorded in F0. Then, the process proceeds to step S9, and the counting of the paper feeding operation amount is started while the normal printing operation is performed again. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the printing is good. If the printing is good, the process proceeds to step 11 and the printing operation is continued. Then, after printing is completed in steps S13 and S14, POWER is turned off and a series of operations is completed. If the printing is not good in step S10, the process returns to step S4, and the recovery operation is performed again. Where Q1 <
Q2, that is, L1 <L2, where L1 is the operation amount of the carriage required to obtain the ink consumption necessary to recover the discharge failure due to the adhesion of foreign matter such as paper dust, and L2 recovers the discharge failure due to the intrusion of bubbles. This is the amount of movement of the carriage necessary to obtain the amount of ink consumption required for the operation.

FIG. 5 shows an example of ink consumption in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment and a conventional printing apparatus. For the sake of simplicity, the factors are limited to two types, paper dust and air bubbles, and if a discharge failure as shown in FIG. 5 is considered, the difference in total ink consumption is 6.5 cc. According to the present embodiment, this amount is used for printing without being wasted. Actually, the frequency of ejection failure due to bubbles is lower than in the example of FIG. 5, so that a further effect can be expected.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the recovery operation command is continuously input under the condition of F <f, for example, a large amount of bubbles enter the flow path for some reason, and a plurality of recovery operations are continuously performed for recovery. May be done. In the present embodiment, when the ink consumption amount of the n-th recovery operation performed continuously under the condition of F <f is Qn, that is, the carriage movement amount Ln corresponding to the ink consumption amount The ink consumption amount, that is, the carriage movement amount, is set so that the (n + 1) th carriage movement amount Ln + 1 satisfies the relationship of Ln + 1> = Ln. In the example of FIG. 6, Q1 = 1 cc and Q2 = 2 cc.
n + 1 = Qn + 1cc. In this example, ink consumption of 10 cc or more is required before recovery, which is different from the conventional equal suction amount sequence. As is apparent from FIG. 6, the conventional method requires five recovery operations, but in the present embodiment only four recovery operations are required, and it is possible to reduce the troublesome operation command input operation for the user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of another embodiment. The control unit 29, the counter 33, and the memory 34 constitute a detection unit 30 for detecting the operation amount G of the paper feeding unit, and the control unit 29 includes an operation amount G of the paper feeding unit and a predetermined paper feeding unit. And a determining means 32 for determining the amount of movement of the carriage in the ejection failure recovery operation based on the comparison result by the comparing means 31. The driving unit 36 is operated by the amount determined by the determining unit 32 to operate the pressurizing unit 37 which is the ejection failure recovery unit on the carriage.

As described above, in this embodiment, the case where the head 10 and the ink cartridge 11 are integrally mounted has been described. However, the supply of ink to the head 10 is performed from the ink cartridge 11 through the ink tube. It goes without saying that the same applies to the case of a configuration. Further, in this embodiment, the pressurizing means mounted on the carriage 12 is used as a means for recovering from the ink ejection failure of the head 10, but the suction means is used from the orifice side of the head 10, and the suction means is used to drive the carriage 12. It is needless to say that the same effect can be obtained even when the ink suction amount is set by operating by means.

Further, in the present invention, since the operation amount of the paper feeding means is compared as a means for determining the ink consumption, unlike the time management using a simple timer or the like, the quality of the recovery of the ejection failure can be reliably determined by the printing operation. Can be determined.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, wasteful ink consumed for recovering from ejection failure is reduced,
It is possible to use ink more effectively for printing purposes. Further, even if the user of the printing apparatus does not know the cause of the ejection failure, the ejection failure can be automatically recovered with a minimum amount of ink consumption and a small number of recovery operations. Further, since the amount of ink consumption is determined by using the paper feed operation amount instead of using a timer or the like, a device that can more reliably perform the recovery operation can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an ejection failure recovery unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an effect when the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an effect when another embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of main components of the related art of the ink jet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Waste ink reservoir 2 Suction means 3 Cap 4, 10a Orifice part 5, 10 Head 6 Recording paper 7 Guide shaft 8 Ink tube 9, 11 Ink cartridge 12 Carriage 13 Cap means 16 Recording paper 17 Frame 19 Pump body 20 Piston

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording head for ejecting ink from an orifice to form droplets for recording on recording paper, a carriage mounted with the recording head and moving in a recording scanning direction of the recording paper, and the carriage. and drive means for moving a cap device having a cap body for capping the orifice, the O according to the recovery operation instruction
An ejection failure recovery unit that discharges ink from the orifice into the cap body. In the inkjet recording apparatus, when a recovery operation command is input, the operation of the paper feeding unit from the previous recovery operation is performed. By comparing the amount F with a predetermined constant operation amount f of the paper feeding means, the above-mentioned value is obtained.
There is a determining means for determining the amount of ink to be discharged from the orifice.
And, based on the ink amount determined by the determination means,
An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by operating an ejection failure recovery means. 2. The operation of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation.
An amount F, a predetermined constant operation amount f of the paper feeding means,
Amount of ink discharged when the recovery operation command is input
, The relationship between F and f
Compared to the ink amount Q1, the discharged ink when F <f
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of ink is set to be large . 3. The operation of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation.
Relationship between the amount F and the predetermined amount f of the paper feeding means set in advance
Is F <f and a recovery operation command is input continuously
The ink amount Qn discharged by the nth recovery operation command
In response to the input discharged by the (n + 1) th recovery operation command
Qn + 1 is set such that Qn <Qn + 1.
And that it inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the carriage is moved.
Ink from the orifice into the cap body.
An ejection failure recovery unit for discharging the ink,
Discharged from the orifice as the amount of movement increases
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the amount of ink increases.
Item 4. An ink jet recording apparatus according to item 3. 5. The operation of the paper feeding means from the previous recovery operation
An amount F, a predetermined constant operation amount f of the paper feeding means,
The amount of movement of a carriage when the recovery operation command is input
With respect to the carriage when F> = f
Compared to the movement amount L1, the movement of the carriage when F <f
It is characterized in that the moving amount L2 is set to be large.
The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 6. The operation of the paper feeding means from a previous recovery operation.
Relationship between the amount F and the predetermined amount f of the paper feeding means set in advance
Is F <f and a recovery operation command is input continuously
Of the carriage moved by the nth recovery operation command
Move by the (n + 1) th recovery operation command with respect to the movement amount Ln
The moving amount Ln + 1 of the carriage to be moved is Ln <Ln + 1.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:
Alternatively, the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5.