JP3114802B2 - 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 having a recording head which moves in the width direction of a recording sheet, and which prints an image by ejecting ink droplets on the recording sheet based on print data. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for managing ink in an ink cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of personal computers, graphic processing has become relatively easy to execute. Therefore, there is a demand for a recording apparatus capable of outputting a hard copy of, for example, a color image displayed on a display with high quality.

[0003] In order to meet such a demand, a recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording head has been provided.
This ink jet recording device has low noise during printing and can form small dots with high density.
It is used for many printings, mainly for color printing.

[0004] Such an ink jet recording apparatus is
An ink jet recording head that receives supply of ink from the ink storage unit, and a paper feeding unit that relatively moves the recording paper with respect to the recording head, wherein the ink is applied to the recording paper while moving the recording head according to a print signal. Recording is performed by ejecting droplets to form dots.

[0005] As described above, in relation to handling a liquid called ink, there is a process of forcibly sucking and discharging ink from the recording head in order to prevent the recording head from being filled with ink, and to prevent clogging due to evaporation of the ink solvent. Further, an operation is performed in which a drive signal irrelevant to print data is supplied to eject ink droplets from nozzle openings of a head in a non-print area.

[0006] Forcible ejection of ink to eliminate clogging of the recording head is usually called a cleaning operation, and is performed when printing is resumed after a long pause or when the user performs printing such as blurred printing. When the cleaning switch is pressed to eliminate the defect, the recording head is sealed by capping means and a negative pressure is applied to discharge ink, and then the wipe pink operation is performed by a blade material made of an elastic plate such as rubber. This is an accompanying process.

On the other hand, an operation of applying a drive signal to a recording head to eject ink droplets is usually called a flushing operation, and an irregular meniscus near the nozzle opening of the head is recovered by wiping or the like during a cleaning operation. This is an operation to be executed at regular intervals for the purpose of preventing clogging of a nozzle opening that discharges a small amount of ink droplets during printing.

FIG. 12 shows a conventional general operation sequence when a cleaning operation is performed. That is, when a cleaning process command is received, the wiping operation is performed in step S101 by moving the recording head to the non-printing area side and passing the recording head over the blade material arranged in the non-printing area. The wiping operation in step S101 is performed to improve the adhesion of the recording head to the capping device in the process of forcibly sucking ink from the recording head by the subsequent capping device.

Subsequently, in step S102, the recording head moves onto the capping device, is sealed by the capping device, and a relatively large amount of ink is sucked from the recording head.

Then, in step S103, the air release valve arranged in a part of the capping device is opened, and the suction pump connected to the capping device is operated, whereby the ink sucked into the capping device is discarded. It is discharged to the ink tank.

Subsequently, in step S104, the recording head again performs a small amount of ink suction operation by the capping device. This is performed so that bubbles entering from the nozzles of the head are not foamed by a small suction operation. Then, in step S105, the air release valve arranged in the capping device is opened, and the suction pump communicating with the capping device is operated, whereby the ink sucked into the capping device is discharged to the waste ink tank. .

Further, in step S106, the recording head performs a wiping operation passing over the blade material, whereby bubbles adhering to the surface of the recording head are removed by this wiping.

Subsequently, in step S107, the recording head again performs a small amount of ink suction operation by the capping device. This is a finishing cleaning operation for recovering an irregular meniscus in the recording head.

Then, similarly, in step S108,
When the air release valve arranged in the capping device is opened and the suction pump connected to the capping device is operated, the ink sucked into the capping device is discharged to the waste ink tank.

Subsequently, in step S109, the recording head performs a finishing wiping operation passing over the blade material, and shifts to a wait operation in S110.
This wait operation waits for the spontaneous disappearance of extremely small bubbles that have entered from the nozzle. After a predetermined wait time has elapsed in step S110, the recording head is sealed by the capping device in step S111.
The cleaning process ends.

[0016]

The ink cartridge for supplying ink to the above-mentioned recording head generally has an outer case formed of a material such as polypropylene, and has a porous body loaded therein, and an ink cartridge. Is held.

At the time of shipment of this ink cartridge, the inside is evacuated, and the interior is evacuated, so that the ink cartridge has an initial filling property (when the ink cartridge is first loaded into the recording apparatus and the head is filled with ink). (Reliability of operation of the recording apparatus) and exchangeability (reliability of operation of the recording apparatus when the ink cartridge is exchanged and loaded) can be ensured.

After the degassed ink cartridge is loaded into the recording apparatus, the ink in the cartridge is
Since the air communicates with the atmosphere through the opening provided on the upper surface, the air gradually dissolves, and the ink in the cartridge eventually becomes saturated.

Here, when the ink cartridge is replaced and while the degree of deaeration of the ink cartridge is secured, bubbles generated in the gap when the ink is sucked by the capping means are smaller than the nozzles in the gap. Although the bubbles flow back into the head channel due to the negative pressure, these bubbles disappear because they are smaller than the critical radius. In the case of degassed ink, the time during which bubbles actually disappear can be further accelerated because the ink can be dissolved in the ink.

Then, a small amount of suction for the purpose of suppressing the influence of bubbles generated in the cap after the large amount of suction executed in step S102, that is, steps S104, S107 and S11 described above.
0 is not always necessary because the degassed ink cartridge generates less microbubbles.

However, when the inside of the ink cartridge is saturated, the ability to dissolve the microbubbles is small. Therefore, in order to suppress the generation of the bubbles or to suppress the influence of the generated bubbles, it is necessary to reduce the amount of the bubbles until the bubbles disappear. Takes time.

As described above, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, it is assumed that the inside of the cartridge is saturated, though the degree of generation of microbubbles varies depending on the degree of deaeration of the ink cartridge. A series of cleaning sequences as described above are uniformly executed.

Therefore, there is a technical problem that a considerable amount of time is required before the start of printing, and the throughput cannot be improved.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned technical problem by changing the cleaning operation sequence of the cleaning control means according to the degree of deaeration of the ink cartridge. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet type recording apparatus.

[0025]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve such a problem
Therefore, in the present invention, an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets corresponding to print data, and selectively seals the recording head by communicating with the atmosphere, and receives a negative pressure from a suction pump. A capping unit, a cleaning member for wiping a nozzle opening surface of the recording head, a cleaning control unit for sucking ink from the recording head by the suction pump, and wiping the recording head by the cleaning member, and an ink cartridge. After loading the recording head
A time-measuring means for measuring a later time, and a time of said time-measuring means
A sequence changing means for changing a cleaning operation sequence of the cleaning control means before and after the time-up is provided .

In this case, preferably, the sequence changing means includes a time measuring means for measuring a time required for the dissolved gas amount of the ink in the ink cartridge after the ink cartridge is loaded to reach the saturated state or the vicinity of the saturated state. The cleaning control unit is further controlled so as to change a cleaning operation sequence of the cleaning control unit before and after time-out of the clock unit.

In a preferred embodiment,
The cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the timing unit includes a first mode in which the capping unit suctions a relatively large amount of ink from the recording head, and a second mode in which the capping unit suctions a relatively small amount of ink from the recording head. And a third mode in which a relatively small amount of ink is sucked from the recording head by the capping means. The cleaning operation sequence before the time-out of the timing means is such that the second mode or the third mode is bypassed. Is controlled.

Further, in another preferred embodiment, the cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the time counting means includes a first mode in which a relatively large amount of ink is sucked from the recording head by the capping means, and the capping means. And a third mode in which a relatively small amount of ink is sucked from the recording head by the capping unit, and a cleaning operation sequence before the time-out of the time counting unit. Is controlled to bypass the second mode and the third mode.

Further, in another preferred embodiment, the cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the timer means includes a mode in which a relatively small amount of ink is intermittently sucked a plurality of times from the recording head by the capping means. The cleaning operation sequence before the time-out of the time counting means is controlled so that the number of times of suction is smaller than that in the mode in which a relatively small amount of ink is intermittently suctioned a plurality of times from the recording head by the capping means.

Further, in another preferred embodiment, the cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the clocking means includes the step of removing bubbles generated near the nozzle opening after sucking ink from the recording head by the capping means. A wait operation mode for setting the wait time required for disappearance or reduction has been added,
The cleaning operation sequence before the time-out of the time counting means is controlled so as to bypass the wait operation mode.

In this case, the wait time in the wait operation mode may be set as a function of the elapsed time obtained by the timer.

Further, in any of the preferred embodiments described above, the timing means may be configured so that the time-up time can be varied according to the type of ink cartridge to be replaced.

Further, the time counting means may be configured so that a time-up time can be varied according to the size of the cap of the capping means.

Further, the time counting means may be configured such that a time-up time can be varied according to the number of nozzles of a recording head for sucking ink by the capping means.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above, the sequence changing means changes the cleaning operation sequence according to the degree of deaeration in the ink cartridge for replenishing the recording head with ink.

The information on the degree of deaeration can be obtained by a timer means that counts up after the ink cartridge is loaded. The information can be obtained before and after a predetermined time has elapsed and after a predetermined time has elapsed. Different control modes are taken for the cleaning control means.

In response to the time-up signal obtained from the clocking means, the cleaning control means employs means for executing a series of cleaning operation sequences or for bypassing a part of the sequence. Alternatively, the cleaning control unit increases or decreases the number of repetitions of intermittently sucking a small amount of ink in response to a time-up signal obtained from the time counting unit.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned change of the cleaning sequence, a wait operation mode is set, and the wait time in the wait operation mode is determined as a function of the elapsed time obtained by the time counting means.

The time-up time by the timing means for changing the sequence of the cleaning operation is varied according to the type of the ink cartridge, the size of the capping in the capping means, and the number of nozzles of the recording head. Is achieved.

[0040]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control device for controlling the operation thereof. First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage. The carriage 1 is connected to a part of a timing belt 2 and driven by reciprocating rotation of a motor 3 so that the carriage 1 is guided by a guide member 4 and moves in parallel with a platen 5. It is configured. On the surface of the carriage 1 facing the recording paper 6, a recording head 7 for discharging black ink is mounted on the printing area side (left side in FIG. 1), and a recording head 8 for color printing is mounted on the non-printing area side. The recording heads 7 and 8 are configured to receive ink supplied from the black ink cartridge 9 and the color ink cartridge 10 and to discharge ink droplets onto the recording paper 6 for printing.

A capping device 11 disposed in the non-printing area includes a cap member 12 for sealing the recording head 7 for black ink and a cap member 13 for sealing the recording head 8 for color ink. As shown in FIG. 2, it is mounted on a holder and connected via a tube to a pump unit 16 composed of two pumps 14 and 15 each of which can be driven independently. And the cap member 1
Reference numerals 2 and 13 each have a size that can seal the nozzle opening surfaces of the recording heads 7 and 8 in one space, seal the nozzle openings when non-printing is performed, and supply a negative pressure from the pump unit 16 during ejection capacity recovery operation. Recording heads 7 and 8
Is configured to be able to forcibly discharge ink from the printer.

Then, the cap members 12 and 13 are discharged into the cap member, and in order to effectively discharge the ink retained here, the movement of the carriage 1 and the atmosphere whose opening and closing are controlled by driving means and the like are controlled. Open valve V1, V
It is in communication with the atmosphere via 2. A cleaning member 17 made of an elastic plate such as rubber is disposed near the capping device 11.

In the control device shown in FIG.
Is a print control unit, which generates bitmap data based on print data from the host, generates a drive signal by the head drive unit 21 based on the data, and causes the recording heads 7 and 8 to eject ink droplets. Things.
The head driving unit 21 is configured to output a driving signal for a flushing operation to the recording heads 7 and 8 in addition to a driving signal based on print data.

Reference numeral 22 denotes cleaning control means.
When the power is turned on, or based on signals from the suction command detecting means 23 and the suction timer 24, the pump driving means 25 is controlled based on the specified suction strength, suction time, and suction interval.
Is controlled to control the suction pumps 14 and 15.

Numeral 26 denotes a flushing control means, which performs printing when a printing operation is continued for a predetermined time and a flushing command is output from the print control means 20 and when a suction end signal is output from the cleaning control means 22. The control means 20 moves the recording heads 7 and 8 to a flushing position, usually a capping position, to prevent clogging and to eliminate clogging, a predetermined number of nozzles from all the nozzle openings of each recording head 7 or 8. This is to discharge ink droplets.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a sequence changing unit which activates the saturation timer 28 based on a signal such as ink cartridge replacement obtained from the host, and sends a cleaning sequence to the cleaning controller 22 based on the time count value of the saturation timer 28. A control signal is supplied. In the drawing, reference numeral 29 denotes a cleaning command switch provided on a control panel of a case (not shown).

Next, FIG. 3 shows the structure of an ink cartridge to be loaded in the recording apparatus shown in FIGS. The ink cartridge shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a color ink cartridge 10 filled with inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan. In a black ink cartridge 9 filled with black ink, a dimension in a width direction is reduced, and an ink pool is reduced. 1
The other configuration is substantially the same as that of the color ink cartridge 10 described later.

The color ink cartridge 10 is basically made of a box-shaped ink tank 31 made of, for example, polypropylene, and a foam 32Y, which is housed in the ink tank 31 and made of a porous member impregnated with ink.
32M and 32C, and a lid 33 that covers the upper surface of the ink tank 31.

The ink tanks 31 include 31Y, 31
Each of the chambers is divided into three chambers M and 31C, and each of the chambers accommodates a foam 32Y, 32M, and 32C formed of a porous member such as a polyurethane foam molded into a rectangular parallelepiped. Each chamber is filled with yellow, magenta, and cyan color inks, respectively.

The lid 33 covering the upper portion of the ink tank 31 is provided with three communication holes 34 for communicating with the outside of each chamber. An openable band-shaped sealing member 35 is attached to at least one communication hole 34a for each chamber of the communication holes 34, and is sealed by the member 35 immediately before use, and is opened immediately before use. Vent 3
4a.

In particular, the band-shaped sealing member 3 as shown in FIG.
By adopting No. 5, the communication hole 34a of each chamber can be opened at a time by pulling and peeling off the end. In this case, it is desirable that one end of the band-shaped sealing member 35 is connected to a packaging bag (not shown) of the cartridge 10 so that the cartridge 10 is always opened when the cartridge 10 is removed from the packaging bag.

By opening the sealing member 35 in this manner, when the cartridge 10 is loaded in the recording apparatus, the air corresponding to the consumption of the ink is replenished from the opened air hole 34a into the cartridge.

The other ventilation holes 34 are also sealed by a single sealing member 36, respectively. These sealing members 3
5, 36 have a water vapor permeability of not more than a predetermined value, and at least one sealing member has a gas permeability of not less than a predetermined value. This prevents the ink from leaking out when transporting the cartridge,
Also, it acts so that the ink is degassed again after decompression packaging.

At the lower bottom of each of the chambers 31Y, 31M, 31C, a cylindrical ink chamber (not shown) is formed, and a blind plug 37 made of an elastic member such as rubber is formed at an end of the ink chamber. Is fitted and sealed.

In the ink cartridge 10 thus configured, the blind plug 37 is pierced by a hollow needle (not shown) communicating with the recording head 8 in a state where the ink cartridge 10 is loaded in the printing apparatus.
It is configured so that ink can be introduced from the cartridge 10 to the recording head 8.

Further, on the side surface of the ink tank 31, the front end is formed with the foam 32 in each of the chambers 31Y, 31M, 31C.
Electrodes 38 for ink end detection are embedded so as to be in contact with Y, 32M, and 32C, respectively, and are respectively sealed by O-rings 39 for preventing leakage of ink. The configuration is such that the state of the ink end can be detected by measuring the electric resistance between these electrodes 38 and the hollow needles described above.

The cleaning operation of the recording head in the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to the operation flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and the operation modes of the capping means.

FIG. 4 shows a first control sequence for the cleaning operation of the recording head, and FIGS. 5 to 8 show the operations of the capping means controlled at this time. . 5 to 8 show only one of the cap members 12, 13, but the operation of the other cap member 13 is the same as described below.

In FIG. 4, when a signal is output from the cleaning detecting means 23 by operation of the cleaning command switch 29 or the like, in step S11, the recording heads 7, 8 are moved to the non-printing area side so that the rubber disposed in the non-printing area is moved. The wiping operation for removing dust, paper dust, and the like adhering to the nozzle plates of the recording heads 7 and 8 is performed by passing the cleaning member 17 formed of an elastic plate such as the above.

The wiping operation in step S11 is executed to improve the adhesion of the recording head to the capping device in the process of forcibly sucking ink from the recording head by the subsequent capping device.

Next, in step S12, the carriage 1 is moved to the capping position and the recording heads 7, 8 are moved.
, A large amount of ink suction operation is started. That is, FIG.
As shown in (a), the recording heads 7 and 8 are
2 and 13, and open to the atmosphere V1 and V2 which communicate with the cap members 12 and 13 as shown in FIG.
With the valve closed, the suction pumps 14, 15 are driven at a high speed for a predetermined time to accumulate a strong negative pressure in the cap members 12, 13.

When the apparatus is left in a state where a strong negative pressure is accumulated, a large amount of ink is discharged from the recording heads 7 and 8 to the cap members 12 and 13 as shown in FIG. When the negative pressure of the cap members 12 and 13 is reduced to about the atmospheric pressure by the ink discharged from the recording heads 7 and 8 after a predetermined time has elapsed, as shown in FIG.
The discharge of the ink from 8 stops.

After the end of the mass suction, the cap members 12 and 13
Moves to step S13 when the pressure has returned to the atmospheric pressure,
As shown in FIG. 6A, the air release valves V1 and V2 communicating with the cap members 12 and 13 are opened, and the suction pump 1 is opened.
4 and 15 are driven at high speed again.

After the end of the mass suction, the cap members 12 and 1
3, the ink in the cap members 12, 13 is released by opening the atmosphere release valves V 1, V 2, causing the suction pumps 14, 15 to generate bubbles as shown in FIG. And is discharged to the waste ink tank. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the recording heads 7, 8 are released from the sealing of the cap members 12, 13, and
The atmosphere release valves V1 and V2 are closed again, and the suction pump 1
The ink remaining in the cap members 12 and 13 is discharged to the waste ink tank by driving the ink cartridges 4 and 15.

Next, in step S14, the cleaning control means 22 moves the recording heads 7, 8 to the capping position again and repairs the meniscus and the like caused by the large amount of suction described above to repair the recording heads 7, 8. The first small suction operation is performed. That is, FIG.
As shown in (a), the recording heads 7 and 8 are
2 and 13, and open to the atmosphere V1 and V2 communicating with the cap members 12 and 13 as shown in FIG.
While the valve is closed, the suction pumps 14 and 15 are driven at a low speed for a predetermined time to accumulate a weak negative pressure in the cap members 12 and 13.

If the weak negative pressure accumulated in the cap members 12 and 13 is applied to the recording heads 7 and 8 and the recording heads 7 and 8 are left as it is, ink from the recording heads 7 and 8 is removed from the cap members as shown in FIG. It is discharged to 12 and 13. Then, when the negative pressure of the cap members 12 and 13 weakens to a low atmospheric pressure,
As shown in FIG. 7D, the discharge of the ink from the recording heads 7 and 8 stops.

Subsequently, the flow shifts to step S15, where the atmosphere release valves V1 and V2 are opened. After a small amount of suction, only a small amount of ink remains in the cap members 12 and 13. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
No air bubbles are generated even if 2 is opened. And FIG.
In this state, as shown in (b), the suction pumps 14, 15
Is driven at a low speed to seal the recording heads 7 and 8 to suck the ink remaining in the cap members 12 and 13 without bubbling and discharge the ink to the waste tank.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the recording heads 7, 8 are released from the sealing of the cap members 12, 13, and the suction pumps 14, 15 are driven to drive the cap members 1, 8.
The ink remaining in 2 and 13 is discharged to a waste ink tank.

Next, in step S16, the cleaning control means 22 moves the recording heads 7, 8 to the operating position of the cleaning member 17, and wipes the nozzle plates of the recording heads 7, 8 in the low speed mode. As a result, the ink layer adhered to the nozzle plate is wiped off by ink droplets generated at the time of ink suction.

Subsequently, in step S17, the sequence changing means 27 determines whether or not the elapsed time by the saturation timer means 28, that is, the accumulated time since the ink cartridge was replaced, has exceeded a predetermined time.

Generally, in the ink cartridge as shown in FIG. 3, when the ink cartridge is loaded in this type of recording apparatus, it takes about three days at room temperature to completely fill the ink inside. 75% of saturation is reached in about 2 days. Therefore, in step S17, it is determined whether two days have elapsed since the ink cartridge was loaded, and if it is determined that two days have elapsed, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the cleaning control unit 22 moves the recording heads 7, 8 again to the capping position, and executes the second small suction operation from the recording heads 7, 8.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, the recording heads 7 and 8 are sealed with cap members 12 and 13, and as shown in FIG. While the valves V1 and V2 are closed, the suction pumps 14 and 15 are driven at a low speed for a predetermined time to accumulate a weak negative pressure in the cap members 12 and 13.

As a result, due to the weak negative pressure accumulated in the cap members 12 and 13,
(C) As shown in FIG.
13 is discharged. Then, when the negative pressure of the cap members 12 and 13 decreases to a low atmospheric pressure, the discharge of the ink from the recording heads 7 and 8 is stopped as shown in FIG.

After suctioning a small amount as shown in FIG. 8A, the air release valves V1 and V2 are opened, and the suction pumps 14 and 15 are driven at a low speed as shown in FIG.
The ink stagnated in the ink tanks 2 and 13 is sucked without foaming and discharged to the waste tank.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the recording heads 7, 8 are released from the sealing of the cap members 12, 13, and
By driving the suction pumps 14, 15, the cap members 12, 1
3 is discharged to a waste ink tank.

Subsequently, in step S20, finish wiping is performed on the nozzle plates of the recording heads 7 and 8 by wiping in the low speed mode. Then, in step S21, the recording heads 7, 8 are sealed by the cap members 12, 13, and the cleaning process ends.

The above is the sequence when it is determined that two days have passed since the ink cartridge was loaded in step S17, and that two days have passed since the ink cartridge was loaded in step S17. If it is determined, the cleaning control unit 22
Performs control to bypass steps S18 to S20, and shifts to a state in which the recording heads 7, 8 are sealed by the cap members 12, 13 in step S21.

That is, in this state, the microbubbles flowing backward in the recording head disappear early because the ink degassing degree in the ink cartridge is relatively high, so that there is no inconvenience of deteriorating the print quality. By bypassing a part of the cleaning sequence in a state where the degree of deaeration in the ink cartridge is high, it is possible to reduce the time required until the start of printing.

Next, FIG. 9 shows an example of a second control sequence for the cleaning operation of the recording head. The series of cleaning control sequences of steps S31 to S41 in the example shown in FIG. 9 are the same as the series of cleaning control sequences of steps S11 to S21 shown in FIG. Therefore, the detailed description is omitted. The difference between FIG. 9 and FIG. 4 is that step S34 is provided with a determination step for determining whether or not the accumulated time from the ink cartridge replacement has passed a predetermined time (for example, two days).

According to the example shown in FIG. 9, when the accumulated time does not reach the predetermined time, the cleaning sequence is changed so as to bypass from step S33 to step S40. That is, a small amount of suction (a small amount of ink suction 1 and a small amount of ink suction 2) for the purpose of suppressing the influence of bubbles generated in the cap after the large amount of suction is omitted because the degassed ink has a small amount of microbubbles. Can be.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a third control sequence for the cleaning operation of the recording head. In the example shown in FIG. 10, in step S51, it is first determined whether or not the accumulated time from the ink cartridge replacement has passed a predetermined time (for example, two days), and the accumulated time exceeds the predetermined time. If so, the process proceeds to step S52, where the atmosphere release valves V1, V
2 is closed, and step S53 and step S53 are performed.
54 is repeated a plurality of times (for example, about 20 times).

That is, in step S53, the suction pumps 14, 15 are operated to set the capping means 12, 1,
3, a relatively small amount of ink is sucked from the recording head, and stopping the suction pumps 14 and 15 in step S53 is repeated a plurality of times. And
If it is determined in step S55 that a plurality of suction operations have been performed intermittently, the air release valves V1 and V2 are opened in step S56, and then the suction pumps 14 and 15 are operated in step S57 to open the cap member 1.
The ink staying in the nozzles 2 and 13 is discharged, and the process proceeds to step S58 to stop the suction pumps 14 and 15.

If it is determined in step S51 that the cumulative time has not exceeded the predetermined time,
1 according to the routine of steps S59 to S61
The suction operation is performed only once.

Next, FIG. 11 shows a fourth control sequence for the cleaning operation of the recording head. The control sequence shown in FIG.
Except for 0 and step S81, the control sequence is the same as the control sequence shown in FIG. Therefore, the detailed description is omitted. That is, the difference between the sequence in FIG. 11 and the sequence in FIG. 4 is that a determination step is provided in step S80 to determine whether or not the accumulated time from the ink cartridge replacement has passed a predetermined time (for example, two days). If the time has elapsed, step S81 of the wait operation is performed.
Is added.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the outer case is made of a material such as polypropylene, it takes about 3 days at room temperature to completely reach saturation of the ink in the cartridge, and bubbles having the same size as the nozzle diameter disappear. It takes about 60 seconds to do this, and the wait time is set at the same time. If the degree of deaeration is 75% or less of the saturation as the amount of dissolved air, it can be quickly dissolved without a wait time, and there is no occurrence of defects after cleaning. Since 75% of the saturation is reached in about two days at room temperature, the determination is made at a predetermined time after the ink cartridge is loaded, that is, when two days have elapsed, and control is performed so as to change the contents of the sequence. After the lapse of two days, the control is uniformly performed to provide a wait time as shown in step S81.

In this case, 3 hours after the cartridge is loaded.
The weight time may be set based on the elapsed time during the day by the ratio, that is, a function of the elapsed time.

In each of the examples described above, the accumulated time from the time of ink cartridge replacement is a predetermined time (for example, 2 hours).
The cleaning control sequence is changed depending on whether or not the day has passed, but it is desirable that the setting of the predetermined time is varied by other factors.

For example, foaming differs depending on the type of ink depending on components such as a dye and a surfactant in the ink. If you have two heads, one for black ink and the other for yellow, magenta, and cyan colors, and each with a dedicated cap, black has less bubbling and backflow of bubbles from the nozzles Tend to be less. Therefore, even in the same cleaning sequence, black has less occurrence of cleaning failure. Black can make the sequence simpler. Therefore, for example, the predetermined elapsed time (time-up) in the above-described determination step of the elapsed time is defined as:
The cleaning sequence can be optimized by being configured to be variable according to the type of ink cartridge to be replaced.

When the caps are different in size, the bubbles in the larger cap are often backflowed from the nozzles due to the large amount of bubbles generated during a large amount of suction. In contrast, the smaller cap has relatively less foaming. Therefore, by configuring the time-up time to be variable according to the size of the cap of the capping unit, for example,
The cleaning sequence can be optimized.

Further, in the case of an ink jet recording apparatus having two heads and a cap corresponding thereto, in a recording head having a large number of nozzles, the frequency of bubbles generated in the cap flowing back to the nozzles is high. Conversely, in a recording head having a small number of nozzles, the backflow of bubbles is small. Therefore, the cleaning sequence can be similarly optimized by, for example, changing the time-up time according to the number of nozzles of the recording head that sucks ink by the capping unit.

[0092]

As described above, the present invention provides a cartridge
Time after the cartridge is attached to the recording head.
Cleaning sequence corresponding to ink degassing degree
Can be executed, saving ink suction volume.
And the waiting time until printing starts can be shortened.
You .

Thus, the throughput can be improved, and the mental trouble caused by waiting the user can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly illustrating a cleaning control portion of a recording head in the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of an ink cartridge loaded in the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first cleaning sequence in which a cleaning control unit illustrated in FIG. 2 operates.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state inside a cap member in a first half of a mass suction step.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state inside the cap member in the latter half of the large-volume suction step.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state inside the cap member in the first half of the small amount suction step.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state inside the cap member in the latter half of the small amount suction step.

9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second cleaning sequence in which the cleaning control unit illustrated in FIG. 2 operates.

10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a third cleaning sequence in which the cleaning control unit illustrated in FIG. 2 operates.

11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a fourth cleaning sequence in which the cleaning control unit illustrated in FIG. 2 operates.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a conventional cleaning sequence.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 7,8 Recording head 9,10 Ink cartridge 12,13 Cap member 14,15 Pump 17 Cleaning member 20 Printing control unit 21 Head driving unit 22 Cleaning control unit 25 Pump driving unit 27 Sequence changing unit 28 Saturation timer unit 29 Cleaning Command switch 31 Ink tank 32 Form 33 Lid 34 Communication hole 35, 36 Sealing member 37 Blind plug V1, V2 Atmospheric release valve

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/18 B41J 2/185 B41J 2/165

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording head for discharging ink droplets corresponding to print data, and capping means for selectively communicating with the atmosphere to seal the recording head and receive a negative pressure from a suction pump. A cleaning member for wiping a nozzle opening surface of the recording head, cleaning control means for sucking ink from the recording head by the suction pump, and wiping the recording head by the cleaning member; and 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a time measuring means for measuring a time after the charging of the cleaning means; and a sequence changing means for changing a cleaning operation sequence of the cleaning control means before and after the time of the time measuring means. 2. The cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the timer means includes a first mode in which a relatively large amount of ink is sucked from the recording head by the capping means, and a relatively small amount of ink from the recording head by the capping means. And a third mode in which a relatively small amount of ink is sucked from the recording head by the capping means. At least the second mode or the third mode is performed before the time-out of the timing means. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein skipping is performed. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the time counting means, the number of times the ink is intermittently sucked from the recording head by the capping means is controlled. 4. A cleaning operation sequence after the time-out of the time counting means includes a wait time required for bubbles generated near nozzle openings to disappear or to be reduced after suction of ink from a recording head by the capping means. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a set weight operation mode. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said wait time is set based on a time measured by said time measuring means. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said time counting means changes a time-up time in accordance with a type of an ink cartridge to be replaced. 7. The time-up time of the clocking means is changed according to the volume of the capping means.
An ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 8. The ink jet type recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said time counting means changes said time-up time in accordance with the number of nozzles of a recording head for sucking ink by said capping means. apparatus.