JP3083442B2 - PRINT HEAD AND PRINTING METHOD AND APPARATUS USING THE PRINT HEAD - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, a recording method using the recording head, and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet (liquid jet) recording method is based on
Since the generation of noise at the time of recording is extremely small to a negligible level, high-speed recording is possible, and there is no need for a special process of fixing ink or the like on plain paper, which has recently attracted particular attention. It is a recording method.

[0003] Among them, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-5183.
No. 7, No. 2,843,064 discloses another liquid jet recording method in that thermal energy is applied to a liquid to obtain a driving force for discharging liquid droplets. It has different characteristics from the recording method. That is, in the recording method disclosed in the above publication,
The liquid subjected to the action of the thermal energy causes a state change accompanied by a sharp increase in volume, and the action based on the state change causes the liquid to be ejected from the orifice at the tip of the recording head to form flying droplets. The droplets adhere to the recording member and recording is performed. In particular, the liquid jet recording method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2843064 is not only very effectively applied to a so-called drop-on-demand (drop-on demand) recording method, but also employs a full-line recording head, Since a recording head section having a multi-orifice with a high density can be easily realized, a high-resolution and high-quality image can be obtained at a high speed.

A recording head of an apparatus applied to the above-described recording method has an orifice provided for discharging liquid, and heat energy for discharging liquid droplets acting on the liquid while communicating with the orifice. And a substrate of a recording head including a liquid discharge portion having a liquid flow path having a part of a heat acting portion as a component, and an electrothermal transducer (heating element) as a means for generating thermal energy. Have.

In recent years, in such a substrate for a recording head, not only a plurality of heating elements are formed on a substrate, but also image data input in series with a driver for driving each heating element and each driver. A shift register having the same number of bits as a heating element for sending in parallel and a latch circuit for temporarily storing data output from the shift register are formed in the same base.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a conventional recording head unit.

In the drawing, reference numeral 900 denotes a head base,
Reference numeral 901 denotes a heating element (resistor), and reference numeral 902 denotes a power transistor that controls energization of the heating element 901. A latch circuit 903 latches recording data in synchronization with a latch clock 907. A shift register 904 inputs serial data 906 and a serial clock 905 synchronized with the serial data 906, and latches one line of data. Reference numeral 914 denotes a resistance sensor which is a heating element 901 of the base 900.
This is a sensor for monitoring the resistance value. A temperature sensor 915 is used for monitoring the temperature of the base 900 or the like. Reference numerals 905 to 913 denote input / output terminals, and reference numeral 908 denotes an on time of the power transistor 902, that is, a heating element 901.
A drive pulse width input (heat pulse) terminal 908 for controlling the drive time by supplying a current from outside the recording head unit, a drive power supply (5V) terminal 909 of the logic circuit,
Ground terminal 910, input terminal 9 for driving power of heating element 902
There are eleven. Each of 912 and 913 is a sensor 91
4 and 915 are driving and monitoring terminals.

In the above configuration, the recording data input serially is stored in the shift register 904, and is latched by the latch circuit 903 by a latch signal. In this state, when a heat pulse is input from the terminal 908, the transistor 902 is turned on in accordance with the print data, a current flows through the corresponding heating element 901 and the ink in the liquid flow path generates heat, and the ink flows from the nozzle tip. Discharged as droplets.

Here, considering the energy required for foaming the liquid in the heating element 901, if the heat radiation condition is constant, the energy is equal to the required energy per unit area of the heating element and the energy of the heating element. Expressed as the product of the areas. Thus, the voltage applied to both ends of the heating element 901, the current flowing through the heating element 901, and the time (pulse width) may be set to values at which the required energy can be obtained. Here, the voltage applied to the heating element can be kept substantially constant by supplying the voltage from the power supply of the printer apparatus main body. On the other hand, with respect to the current flowing through the heating element 901, the resistance value of the heating element varies between lots or between bases due to variations in the thickness of the heating element during the manufacturing process of the base. Therefore, when the applied pulse width is constant and the resistance value of the heating element is larger than the set value, the value of the flowing current becomes small, and the amount of energy supplied to the heating element becomes insufficient. It cannot be foamed. Conversely, when the resistance of the heating element decreases, the current value becomes larger than the set value even when the same voltage is applied. In this case, excessive energy is generated by the heating element, which may lead to burnout and short life of the heating element. To deal with this, the sensor 91
4, the resistance value of the heating element 901 is constantly monitored, and the temperature of the base 900 is monitored by the sensor 915, and the power supply voltage and the heat pulse width are changed according to the values, so that substantially constant energy is applied to the heating element 901. There is a way to do that.

Next, when considering the ejection amount of the ejected ink droplet, the ejection amount is mainly related to the foaming volume of the ink. Here, since the foaming volume of the ink changes depending on the temperature of the heating element and the surroundings, before applying a heat pulse for ink ejection, a pulse (pre-heat pulse) having a small energy that does not eject the ink is applied. By changing the pulse width of the pre-heat pulse and the output timing thereof, the temperature of the heating element and the surroundings thereof are adjusted so that a fixed amount of ink droplets are ejected to maintain print quality.

[0011]

The above-described correction of the variation in the resistance value of the heating element and the control of the temperature of the base body are performed by feeding back the signals from the respective temperature sensors so that the width of the heat pulse, the width of the pre-heat pulse, This can be performed by outputting a heat signal in which the timing of the heat pulse is changed. However, in addition to the above, variations in the area of the orifice opening in manufacturing, variations in the thickness of the protective film on the heating element, and the like also cause variations in the ejection amount of each nozzle, and this is the density at which printing is performed. It leads to unevenness, streaks, and the like, and it is necessary to control the discharge amount for each nozzle or several nozzles. Furthermore, in the case where an ink jet print head is formed by arranging a plurality of print head bases in accordance with the multi-nozzle system, since the resistance value differs depending on the base, the heat pulse for ejecting ink is changed for each base to match the applied energy. Must. That is, in the case of a recording head composed of a plurality of bases, the density difference between the bases and the base becomes noticeable in addition to the area of the orifice described above. Is even more important than when alone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and has as its object to provide a recording head capable of recording by correcting variations in recording elements without greatly increasing the size of a circuit substrate of the head. I do.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording head capable of performing various energization driving operations with a reduced number of processes on the recording apparatus side.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording head capable of adjusting recording characteristics caused by variations in the resistance value of a current-carrying member by a heat pulse.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a recording method and apparatus capable of performing recording while correcting variations in recording elements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording method and apparatus capable of performing various energization driving operations by reducing the processing on the recording apparatus side.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording method and apparatus for recording by adjusting a recording characteristic caused by a variation in the resistance value of a current-carrying member with a heat pulse.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording method and apparatus for correcting a variation in recording characteristics of a recording head with a preheat pulse for recording.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a recording method and apparatus which can easily adjust and record variations in the current-carrying bodies of all substrates, even if the recording head includes a plurality of substrates.

[0020]

To achieve the above object, a recording head according to the present invention has the following arrangement. In other words, a heating element for ejecting ink from the nozzles and a pre- heating that does not eject ink in accordance with print data
Pulse and a heat pulse to eject ink.
Double a substrate and a circuit for driving the heating element Te
A recording head comprising a plurality of recording heads;
Each inputs the heat pulse as the circuit
Input means and different pulses for energizing the heating element
Input terminal for inputting multiple preheat pulses with a width
And multiple preheat pallets input from this input terminal
Enter and store selection information to select one of
Storage means and the selection information stored in the storage means.
Applying means for selecting the pre-heat pulse and applying the pre-heat pulse to the heating element , the input means of each of the bases,
Means for inputting individual heat pulses for each substrate,
The input terminal is configured such that the plurality of preheat pulses are applied to each substrate.
The terminal is a terminal that is commonly input to the terminal .

To achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by energizing the recording head according to claim 1 and reading recording characteristics of the recording head.
A characteristic information storage means for storing Te, transfer means and said plurality of preheating prior to recording said characteristic information to determine the selection information based on the stored recording characteristics in the storage means for transferring to each of the substrates of the recording head Preliminary energizing means for outputting a pulse to the input terminal of the recording head, and recording energizing means for energizing and recording on the heating element of the recording head according to image data after preliminary energizing by the preliminary energizing means, It is characterized by having.

In order to achieve the above object, the recording method of the present invention comprises the following steps. In other words, a recording method for recording an image on a recording medium by energizing the recording head according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the selection information based on recording characteristics of the recording head; a step of storing in the storage means is transferred to the storage head, the plurality of pre-heat pulse prior to the recording is supplied to the input terminal of the recording head, follow the selected information
And a step of, after the preliminary energization of the recording head, energizing the heating element of the recording head and recording according to image data.

[0023]

In the above configuration, the recording head of the present invention is
A heating element for discharging ink from the nozzles and recording data
Preheat pallets that do not eject ink depending on the
And the heat pulse to eject ink
A plurality of substrates having a circuit for driving the heating element;
A recording head comprising:
This is an input for inputting the heat pulse as the circuit.
Means and a different pulse width for energizing the heating element.
An input terminal for inputting a plurality of preheat pulses having
Multiple preheat pulses input from this input terminal
A memory device that inputs and stores selection information for selecting one of them
And according to the selection information stored in the storage means,
Application of selecting a preheat pulse and applying it to the heating element
Means, and the input means of each of the substrates is
Means for inputting an individual heat pulse for each,
The input terminal is connected to the plurality of preheat pulses on each substrate.
This is a terminal that is input through the network.

Further, the recording apparatus of the present invention is described in claim 1.
Drive a recording head to record an image on a recording medium
A recording device for reading recording characteristics of the recording head.
Stored in the characteristic information storage means, and the stored recording characteristics
Selection information is determined based on the
To record multiple preheat pulses prior to recording.
Output to the input terminal of the
After the power is supplied, an operation is performed so that the heating element of the recording head is energized according to the image data to perform recording .

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Before explaining this embodiment,
With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a configuration example of a printer using the recording head of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention can be applied. In the figure, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). Then, it is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. 5
Reference numeral 016 denotes a member for supporting a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head IJH. Reference numeral 5015 denotes suction means for suctioning the inside of the cap.
, The suction recovery of the recording head IJH is performed. 5017
Reference numeral 5019 denotes a cleaning blade, which is a member that allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction.
These are supported by 18. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for recovery of suction, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 which engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Is done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage HC comes to the area on the home position side. If the desired operation is performed at the timing described above, any of the embodiments can be applied. <Description of Control Structure> Next, a control structure for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG. In the figure showing the control circuit, 1
700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 170
Reference numeral 1 denotes an MPU; 1702, a program ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701; 1703, a dynamic RAM for storing various data (such as the print signal and print data supplied to the head).
A gate array 1704 controls supply of print data to the print head IJH.
00, data transfer control between the MPU 1701 and the RAM 1703 is also performed. Reference numeral 5013 denotes a carrier motor for transporting the recording head IJH, and reference numeral 1709 denotes a transport motor for transporting the recording paper. Reference numerals 1706 and 1707 denote motor drivers for driving the transport motor 1709 and the carrier motor 5013, respectively. 1711 is a sensor 9 for each substrate.
Signal lines for monitoring the signals 14, 915 and 1712 are signal lines including a preheat pulse, a latch signal, a heat pulse (main heat pulse) signal, and the like. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the base 100 of the recording head IJH of this embodiment.

In FIG. 4, a flow path wall member 401 for forming a liquid path 405 communicating with a plurality of discharge ports 400,
A top plate 402 having an ink supply port 403 is attached. Here, the ink injected from the ink supply port 403 is stored in the common liquid chamber 404 inside, and
5. In that state, the heating element 901 of the base 100 is
Then, by energizing drive according to the print data, ink is ejected from the ejection port 400 to perform printing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of a substrate 100 of a recording head IJH of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA according to the present embodiment. Portions in common with the configuration of the substrate of the conventional recording head shown in FIG. The same numbers are used.

Here, reference numeral 100 denotes a base of the recording head IJH, 101 denotes a selection circuit for selecting a preheat width, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, and 102 stores selection data for selecting a preheat pulse 103. 903 is a latch circuit for latching print data. A shift register 904 serially inputs and holds the recording data 117 or the selection data of the preheat pulse 103 in synchronization with the shift clock 116. Reference numeral 110 denotes a terminal for inputting the pre-heat pulse 103 input from the control unit (MPU 1701) of the ink jet recording apparatus of the embodiment. Reference numeral 111 selects and latches the selection data latched by the latch circuit 102, and latches it. Terminal for inputting a signal to be read. Here, assuming that the latch circuit 102 has a multi-stage configuration, a plurality of latch clocks and read signals can be input from the terminal 111. Note that this latch circuit 1
02 is composed of multiple stages, the latch circuit 102
The number of signal lines output to the selection circuit 101 is equal to the number of stages. Reference numeral 107 denotes a heat pulse output from the AND circuit 106 in accordance with the recording data and the selection circuit 10
This is an OR circuit for synthesizing a pre-heat pulse signal selected and output from No. 1.

An outline of the operation based on the above configuration will be described.

First, after the power supply of the apparatus is turned on, the characteristic of the ink discharge amount from each discharge port (heating element) corresponding to each substrate measured in advance (the ink discharge amount at a constant temperature and a predetermined pulse application) ), The preheat pulse width of each heating element is determined. The selection data for selecting the preheat pulse width corresponding to each of the determined ejection ports is transferred to the shift register 904 in synchronization with the shift clock 116. Thereafter, the latch clock 111 is output, and the selected data of the shift register 904 is latched in the latch circuit 102. In addition, the ink discharge amount characteristics of each substrate described above are as follows.
For example, it may be stored in a memory on the substrate of the base of the recording head, or may be stored in the ROM 1702 or the RAM 170
3 may be stored.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
As indicated by the dots, the output of the shift register 904 is output to the latch circuit 903 for holding the recording data and the latch circuit 102 for holding the selection data of the preheat pulse width, so that the shift register for inputting the image data is output. 90
By sharing the register 4 with the register for inputting the selection data for selecting the pre-heat pulse width, the register for inputting the selection data for the pre-heat pulse width can be omitted, whereby the latch for holding the selection data can be omitted. Even if the circuit is multi-stage, for example, an increase in circuit scale can be suppressed to a small extent.

Further, by providing the latch circuit 102 with a plurality of stages, the range in which the preheat pulse width can be selected can be increased, or the case where the selected data exceeds the number of stages of the shift register 904 can be easily handled. it can.

The selection data for determining the preheat pulse width may be stored once, for example, when the recording apparatus is started. Therefore, even with this function, the transfer sequence of print data to the print head IJH can be performed in exactly the same manner as in the related art. However, the latch circuit 1 due to noise or the like
In consideration of a change in the selection data stored in the memory 02 (corruption of data), it is desirable that this data be stored again in the latch circuit 102 during non-printing.

The input of the heat pulse 105 after the selection data for selecting the preheat pulse width is held in the latch circuit 102 will be described. The present embodiment is characterized in that a heat pulse 105 and a plurality of preheat pulses 103 for changing the ink ejection amount are separately provided.

First, the heat pulse 105 is applied to the heating element 90.
The pulse width of the heat pulse 105 is adjusted so that a signal from the resistance sensor 914 for monitoring the resistance value of No. 1 is fed back and appropriate energy for discharging ink is applied to the heating element 901 according to the resistance value. To determine.

As for the preheat pulse, each of the plurality of preheat pulses 103 is supplied to the temperature sensor 91.
In accordance with the value of 5, the pulse width and the timing are determined by the MPU 1701 to change. In this manner, the plurality of pre-heat pulses 103 are set so that the ink ejection amount is constant at each nozzle even in a predetermined temperature state.
Can be set and applied. In addition, by setting the width of the pre-heat pulse 103 in accordance with factors other than the temperature, that is, the amount of ink ejected from each ejection port, the ink ejection amount is kept constant to eliminate unevenness and streaks of a recorded image. be able to. Using the plurality of preheat pulse width selection data input in this manner and held in the latch circuit 102, zero, one, or a plurality of pulse widths can be selected for recording. Note that, in the following description, the selection is not limited to the alternative selection, but is referred to as selection without selection or selection including all selections as described above.

Here, the number of preheat pulses supplied to the heating element can be further increased by devising a method of selecting the preheat pulse width.

In this regard, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8,
Selection circuit 1 for selection data and preheat pulse width described above
01 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example in which four types of pre-heat pulses 103 are supplied in order to control the ink discharge amount in four stages. FIG. FIG. 7B is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of the selection circuit 101, and FIG. As is apparent from these figures, the latch circuit 102
When the selection signal (S1, S2) is (0, 0), the preheat pulse 1 is output. When the selection signal (S1, S2) is (0, 1), the preheat pulse 2 is output. When the selection signals (S1, S2) are (1, 1), the preheat pulse 4 is selected and output. As a result, the number of input preheat pulses 103 is equal to the number of output preheat pulses.

[0042] In Figure 8 contrary, with respect to pre-heat pulse 1,2, the number of the outputted pre-heat pulse is in the four (one without preheat pulse is applied). That is, in the circuit of FIG. 8A, the selection signal (S
When (1, S2) is (0, 0), no preheat pulse is output. When the selection signal (S1, S2) is (0, 1), the preheat pulse 1 is output, and when the selection signal (S1, S2) is ( 1,
0), the preheat pulse 2 and the selection signal (S
When (1, S2) is (1, 1), preheat pulses 1 and 2
Are output.

By employing the circuit of FIG. 8, the circuit area on the base can be reduced, and the circuit board can be reduced. Thus, for example, even when three types of preheat pulse signals are input from the input terminal 110, up to eight types of preheat signal can be generated. Generally, when the number of supplied preheat pulse signals 103 is P, the type of preheat signal generated (the type of ejection amount) P ′ can be 2 ^P at the maximum.

The recording head IJH having the configuration described above
Is mounted on the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment, and a recording signal is applied to the recording head IJH, whereby an ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing high-speed recording and high-quality recording can be obtained.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multi-nozzle recording head IJH formed by arranging a plurality of bases (substrates). In FIG.
And a heat pulse signal and the like are omitted.

Here, m substrates 200-1 to 200
The recording head IJH with the total number of nozzles n is realized by using −m. Here, the data input terminal 906 of the base 200-2 is connected to the shift output terminal 104 of the base 200-1.
Similarly, the serial output terminal 104 of each base is connected to the serial input terminal 906.

Next, the nozzles 1 and 100 of the base 200-1 and the nozzle 150 of the base 200-2 will be described.

Now, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the amount of ink discharged from the nozzle 1 is 36 pl when the constant temperature and pulse width are applied, the amount of ink discharged from the nozzle 100 is 40 pl, and the amount of ink discharged from the nozzle 150 is 40 pl. Here, the selection data for the nozzles 100 and 150 of the latch circuit 102 is, for example, (S1, S2) =
Set so as to be (1, 0). Further, the selection data for the nozzle 1 having a small ejection amount is set so that (S1, S2) = (1, 1) as shown in FIG. 8, for example. Incidentally, regarding the heat pulse, the resistance sensor 91
4, the substrate 200-1 was 200Ω and the substrate 200-2 was 2Ω.
Since it is 10Ω, the heat pulse width applied to the base 200-2 is set to be longer than that of the base 200-1 so that the energy applied to the bases 200-1 and 200-2 is substantially constant. The heating element 901 is driven.
FIG. 3 shows a drive current waveform driven under such conditions.

Here, it can be seen that the preheat pulse of the nozzle 1 having a small discharge amount is longer than the preheat pulse width of the nozzles 100 and 150 (t1 <
t2). As for the heat pulse, as described above, the heat pulse width t4 for the nozzle 150 is
It is longer than the heat pulse width (t3) for the -1 nozzle (t4> t3). In FIG. 3, t5
Indicates the minimum heat pulse width required to foam the ink and cause the droplet to fly, and (t1, t2 <t5 <t
(3, t4) holds.

As described above, according to this embodiment, during printing, (t1 <t2), (t
By changing the width of the preheat pulse under the condition that (1, t2 <t5) is satisfied, the amount of ink ejected from each nozzle can always be set to approximately 40 pl. As a result, it is possible to record an extremely high-quality image without causing density unevenness or streaks of the image. Further, with respect to the heat pulse, a reasonable energy is applied by adjusting the pulse width according to the resistance value of the heating element of each base, so that the life of the heating element can be extended.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing from power-on to completion of printing one page in the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment. A control program for executing this processing is stored in the ROM 1702, and the MPU 1
701 is executed.

The process shown in FIG. 9 is started when the power of the apparatus is turned on. First, in step S1, the recording head IJH
The resistance value of each heating element of the substrate (m substrates) and the characteristic of the amount of ink discharged from each nozzle (ejection port) of each substrate are read and stored in the RAM 1703. Note that the resistance value of the heating element is detected by the resistance sensor 914, and the ink ejection amount characteristic of each nozzle may be stored in, for example, a memory provided in each of the bases of the recording head. Next, in step S3, the above-described selection data is determined according to the resistance value of the heating element of each substrate and the ink ejection amount characteristic, and is transferred serially to the shift register 904 of each substrate of the print head. Latch circuit 102
Latch. Here, when the latch circuit 102 is composed of multiple stages, a latch signal and a select signal (these signals are collectively input from the terminal 111) are output and latched by the latch circuit 102 for each stage.

Next, the process proceeds to step S4, where it is determined whether or not print data is input from an external device (host computer) (not shown) via the interface 1700. Is stored in the RAM 1703. And step S
The program proceeds to step S4, where it is checked whether or not, for example, one-line printing can be started.
To start printing, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, first, the recording data to be recorded in the first column is serially transferred to the shift register 904. Next, proceeding to step S8, the output of the latch circuit 102 in each base is selected (when the latch circuit 102 is configured in multiple stages). Then, a preheat pulse 103 is output. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, for example, the pulse width of the preheat pulse 103 is determined according to the selection signal from the latch circuit 102, and the recording head is preheated. Next, the process proceeds to step S9, in which the heat pulse 105 is output to each substrate, and image recording is actually performed.

During the preheating or the heating process for actual recording, data is received from the host computer and the shift register 904 of each substrate is used.
Then, the recording data of the next column is transferred. When the recording head IJH is composed of a plurality of substrates as shown in FIG. 2, in step S9, the current is not supplied to all the heating elements of all the substrates at the same time, but the current is supplied to each of the substrates with a time lag. You may do it. By doing so, the power supply capacity of the device can be reduced. And step S
In step 10, it is checked whether the recording of one line is completed. If the recording of one line is not completed, the process returns to step S7 to execute the above-described processing.

When the recording process for one line is completed, the process proceeds from step S10 to step S11, in which the transport motor 1709 is rotated to transport the recording paper by one line in the sub-scanning direction. Is determined, and if not completed, step S6
To check whether the reception of the recording data of the next line is completed. When the recording of the image of one page is completed by repeating the above operation, the recording process is completed.

In the above description, an example was described in which the substrate of the recording head was employed in an ink jet recording head, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, it can be applied to a substrate for a thermal head.

The present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. The printing apparatus of the type that causes a change in the state of the ink has been described.
High definition can be achieved.

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 can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path holding the Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. 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 the liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As this 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 specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. This may be either a configuration satisfying the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally.

In addition, an exchangeable chip-type recording head, which is electrically mounted to the apparatus main body and can supply ink from the apparatus main body when attached to the apparatus main body, or integrated with the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the printing apparatus of 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, and printing Performing a preliminary ejection mode for performing another ejection is also effective for performing stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be a single recording head or a combination of plural recording heads. Alternatively, the apparatus may be provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Although the ink is described as a liquid, an ink that solidifies at or below room temperature, or a material that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the temperature is adjusted within the following range to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range. Therefore, it is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, the temperature can be positively prevented.
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, an ink which solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start to solidify when reaching 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, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. 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 to the above, the recording apparatus according to the present invention may be provided not only as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer but also integrally or separately, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a transmission / reception apparatus. It may take the form of a facsimile machine having functions.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program for implementing the present invention to a system or an apparatus.

The present invention can be applied not only to a serial type recording head for performing recording by scanning a recording head as in this embodiment, but also to a line type head.

Further, according to the present invention, not only the ink jet head of the embodiment but also a recording element (a nozzle, a heating element, etc.) by applying a current, such as a thermal head or a wire dot.
The present invention can also be applied to a recording head of another recording method for driving the recording head and a recording method and apparatus using the recording head.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a heat pulse and a plurality of pre-heat pulses are individually supplied to the substrate for the ink jet recording head, and the pre-heat pulse is supplied to the selected data storage latch provided in the substrate. Select the image ejection pulse (AN between heat pulse and image data)
By combining with D), the conventional shift register can be effectively used, so that a circuit element for inputting selection data can be omitted, and an increase in circuit space can be prevented.

Further, an arbitrary preheat pulse can be easily selected only by storing the selection data for selecting the preheat pulse in the recording head, so that the ink discharge amount from each nozzle can be easily controlled.

Further, even with a recording head composed of a plurality of substrates, recording can be performed with the applied energy being substantially constant. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality recorded image in which density unevenness and streaks of the image due to a change in the ejection amount do not occur.

Further, it is possible to provide a long-life recording head and a recording apparatus using the same.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to correct the variation of each recording element and perform recording without greatly increasing the size of the circuit substrate of the head.

Further, according to the present invention, various energization driving can be performed by reducing the processing on the recording apparatus side.

Further, according to the present invention, the recording characteristics caused by the variation in the resistance value of the current-carrying member can be adjusted by the heat pulse.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform recording while correcting the variation of each recording element.

Further, according to the present invention, various energization driving can be performed by reducing the processing on the recording apparatus side.

According to the present invention, a high-quality image can be obtained by adjusting the recording characteristics caused by the variation in the resistance value of the current-carrying member with a heat pulse and recording.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the recording head is composed of a plurality of substrates, there is an effect that recording can be performed by easily adjusting the variation of the current-carrying bodies of all the substrates.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ink jet recording head base used in an ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an ink jet recording head of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an ink ejection amount, a preheat pulse, and a heat pulse corresponding to a nozzle of a print head according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording head of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view illustrating a main part of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the recording apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a preheating selection circuit and timings according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a preheating selection circuit and its timing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a recording process in the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional inkjet recording head base.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Base of recording head 101 Selection circuit 102, 903 Latch circuit 103 Preheat pulse 105 Heat pulse 901 Heating element 914 Resistance sensor 915 Temperature sensor

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kimiyuki Hayashizaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tatsuo Furukawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shuichi Katao 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Maru 3-30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-5-31905 (JP, A) JP-A-4-332657 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/05 B41J 2/36 B41J 2 / 38

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. Heat generation for discharging ink from a nozzle
Depending on the body and print data,
Pre-heat pulse and heat pallet for discharging ink
A recording head configured by using a plurality of substrates and a circuit for driving the heating element by the scan, as the circuit each of the substrate, said Hitoparu
Input means for inputting heat, and an
Input multiple preheat pulses with different pulse widths
Input terminal, and multiple
Enter the selection information to select one of the reheat pulses.
Storage means for storing the selection and the selection stored in the storage means
Select the pre-heat pulse according to the information and generate the heat
And a means for applying to the body, said input means of said each substrate, individual heating for each of the base
Means for receiving an input pulse, wherein the input terminal is
A plurality of preheat pulses are commonly input to each substrate
A recording head, being a terminal . 2. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes a latch circuit that inputs the selection information through a shift register that serially inputs and holds recording data, and holds the selection information. A recording head according to claim 1. 3. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein each of the bases further includes a detecting unit for detecting a resistance value of the heating element . 4. The recording head according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the heating element. Wherein said applying means 1 through claim, characterized in that energizing the heating element taking their logical sum of said plurality of preheating pulses in response to the selection information
5. The recording head according to any one of 4 . 6. The method according to claim 6, wherein the applying unit includes the plurality of preheating units.
Let P be the number of pulses and output according to the selection information
When the number of preheat pulses is P ′, P ≦ P ′ ≦ 2P
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the voltage is applied to the heating element based on a pulse signal of a type satisfying the following condition .
2. The recording head according to item 1 . 7. A recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by energizing and driving the recording head according to claim 1 , wherein the characteristic information storage means reads and stores recording characteristics of the recording head; output and transfer means for transferring each substrate of the recording head to determine the selection information based on the stored recording characteristics in the information storage unit, a prior to recording said plurality of pre-heat pulse to the input terminal of said recording head A pre-energizing means for performing the pre-energization by the pre-energizing means; and a recording energizing means for energizing the heating element of the recording head for recording according to image data. 8. A recording head according to claim 8, wherein each base of said recording head has a detecting means for detecting a resistance value of said heating element.
The means determines a recording energizing time to the means for energizing the heat pulse according to the resistance value detected by the detecting means.
The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the recording is performed. 9. A recording method for recording an image on a recording medium by energizing and driving the recording head according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the selection information based on recording characteristics of the recording head; a step of storing in the storage means and transferring the selected information in the storage head, the prior to recording said plurality of pre-heat pulses supplied to the input terminal of said recording head, according to the selection information
A pre-energizing step; and, after the pre-energizing of the recording head , a step of energizing the heating element of the recording head to perform recording according to image data.