JP3413018B2 - Ink ejection method, ink jet recording apparatus, and ink jet recording head mounted on the apparatus - 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 ejecting method using an ink jet head for ejecting ink toward an ejected medium (paper, cap, etc.) by inputting an electric signal, and an ink jet for carrying out the ink ejecting method. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and an inkjet recording head mounted on the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most ink jet recording apparatuses are known as printing apparatuses in printers, facsimiles, word processors, copiers, etc. Among them, a method using heat energy as energy used for ejecting ink, that is, heat Ink jet recording apparatuses of the type in which bubbles are generated in ink by energy and the ink is ejected by using the pressure at the time of bubble generation are becoming popular.

As another application of the ink jet recording apparatus of this system, an ink jet printing apparatus for printing a fixed pattern, a picture or a composite image on a cloth has been recently known.

The ink jet recording head used in the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus uses an electrothermal conversion element (hereinafter also referred to as a heater) for generating the above heat energy, and this heater is normally communicated with the ejection port. Is disposed in the ink flow path (hereinafter also referred to as a nozzle). In addition, such an inkjet recording head often employs a configuration including one heater corresponding to one nozzle.

In such an ink jet recording head, the distance from the center of gravity of the heater to the ejection port (orifice) (hereinafter referred to as OH) influences ejection characteristics such as ink droplet ejection speed and refill frequency in the ink jet recording head. This is a major factor. Specifically, the ejection speed of the ink droplets increases as the OH becomes shorter, and the refill frequency becomes OH.
It has been found that the frequency tends to be lower as is shorter. As is clear from this, in the structure of the conventional ink jet recording head, there is a trade-off relationship between the ink drop ejection speed and the refill frequency in the OH.
OH within the level range where both refill frequency can be used
Was decided.

[0006]

By the way, in the ink jet field, further improvement in image quality has been recently demanded. As one means for printing a high-resolution image, for example, a configuration in which an image is formed by small ink droplets of 25 pl or less can be cited. Further, when ejecting a small ink droplet in the above-mentioned ink jet recording head, it is usually performed by reducing the heat energy generated by the heater, so that the ejection speed of the small ink droplet tends to decrease. The drop in the ejection speed leads to a drop in the landing accuracy of small ink droplets, and particularly in a high-resolution image, the image quality is more likely to deteriorate than before. Therefore, in such a case, it is desirable that the OH is set to be short in the ink jet recording head in order to prevent the ejection speed from decreasing. However, in the above-mentioned method, the area of one dot displayed by a small ink droplet is smaller than that of the conventional method, so that it is necessary to increase the number of printing dots, and it is required to improve the printing speed more than ever, especially the refill frequency. Further, as described above, the refill frequency becomes lower as OH becomes shorter. Therefore, when the above method is used, the printing speed becomes slower than in the conventional case.

Further, there may be a problem in preliminary ejection performed as part of the ejection recovery process. That is, the preliminary ejection generally refers to ejecting ink that does not participate in recording from the inkjet recording head at a predetermined location of the apparatus, thereby removing the thickened ink and the like in the inkjet recording head to change the ink ejection state. It keeps good. Such preliminary ejection is usually performed immediately after the power of the apparatus is turned on or at regular intervals during printing. As described above, it is necessary to shorten the interval between preliminary ejections when printing with small ink droplets or in a low temperature / low humidity environment. That is, since the ejection power of the small ink droplets is small, there is a possibility that the thickened ink may not be stably ejected depending on the degree of thickening of the ink due to the evaporation of water in the ejection port.

Preliminary ejection takes time because it is performed in a predetermined non-printing portion. Therefore, even if the ejection frequency is increased, the substantial printing time may be lengthened. Moreover, if it is performed frequently, the ink consumption due to the preliminary ejection is not negligible.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the distance OH and the interval of the preliminary ejection, along with the ejection characteristics described above. As shown in the figure, when the OH distance is short, it becomes possible to remarkably increase the interval of preliminary ejection. In this way, the preliminary ejection interval and the ink refill frequency fr have a contradictory relationship.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make the refill frequency significantly higher than the conventional one without lowering the ejection speed of ink droplets in an ink jet recording head. To improve.

[0011]

In the present invention, the above-mentioned problems are solved as follows. That is, a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements for generating heat energy are provided in the ink flow path of the inkjet recording head, and the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements have different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port. Ink containing two electrothermal conversion elements and driving the two electrothermal conversion elements alternately to produce ink of substantially the same ejection amount.
Droplets are continuously ejected each time each electrothermal conversion element is driven .

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first ink discharge method according to the present invention is a discharge port that discharges ink, an ink channel communicating with the discharge port, and a heat disposed in the ink channel. A plurality of electrothermal conversion elements for generating energy,
An ink jet method using an ink jet recording head for driving the electrothermal conversion element to apply the thermal energy to the ink in the ink flow path to eject the ink. The element includes two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements are alternately driven to continuously generate ink droplets having substantially the same ejection amount. , Each electric heat change
It is characterized in that the replacement element is ejected every time it is driven .

According to a second ink ejection method of the present invention, an ejection port, which is a portion for ejecting ink, an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port, and thermal energy used for ink ejection, are transferred to the ink flow path. Ink jet recording having a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for applying to ink, and having a first mode for ejecting a large ink droplet and a second mode for ejecting a small ink droplet An ink ejection method using a head, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements include two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements are provided in the second mode. Emitting almost the same discharge by alternately using two electrothermal conversion elements
Drives each electrothermal conversion element continuously with the ejected ink droplets.
It is characterized in that it discharges every time .

In the second ink ejection method, the two electrothermal conversion elements are simultaneously used to eject ink in the first mode. Further, immediately after the transition from the first mode to the second mode, the electrothermal conversion element of the two electrothermal conversion elements whose center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element is away from the discharge port is driven first. Is characterized by.

In the first and second ink ejection methods, the ejection amount of ink when the two electrothermal conversion elements are independently driven is approximately the same. Further, among the two electrothermal conversion elements, driving is started from the electrothermal conversion element whose center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element is closer to the discharge port. Further, the distance between the center of gravity of one of the two electrothermal conversion elements and the discharge port.
Place the electrothermal conversion element at a position where the distance is changed.
Then, when the ink is ejected, the distance is increased.
As a result, the ejection volume of the ejected ink drops decreases, and
In the area A where the ratio of the discharge amount is kept almost constant , the other
The distance between the center of gravity and the discharge port increases as the distance increases.
The ejection amount of the ejected ink droplets is almost proportional to the distance.
It is characterized by being in an increasing B region.

The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
An ejection port which is a part for ejecting ink; an ink flow channel communicating with the ejection port; and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow channel for generating thermal energy, An inkjet recording apparatus using an inkjet recording head that ejects ink by driving the electrothermal conversion element to apply the thermal energy to the ink in the ink flow path, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are electrothermal conversion elements. The electrothermal conversion element includes two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the conversion element and the ejection port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements are alternately driven so that ink droplets having substantially the same ejection amount are continuously and electrically discharged.
It is characterized by having drive control means for discharging each time the heat conversion element is driven .

In another ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, an ejection port, which is a part for ejecting ink, an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port, and thermal energy used for ejecting the ink, are stored in the ink flow path. A plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for applying the ink to the ink jet recording head, and having a first mode for ejecting a large ink droplet and a second mode for ejecting a small ink droplet. In the inkjet recording apparatus using, the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements include two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements are used in the second mode. Alternating drive of electrothermal conversion elements
Ink droplets of almost the same discharge volume continuously,
It is characterized in that it has drive control means for ejecting each time the replacement element is driven .

In the ink jet recording head according to the present invention, there are a plurality of ejection ports, which are portions for ejecting ink, an ink flow path communicating with the ejection ports, and a plurality of thermal energy arranged in the ink flow paths. And an electrothermal conversion element for driving the electrothermal conversion element to apply the thermal energy to the ink in the ink flow path to eject the ink. The conversion element includes two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the discharge port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements are alternately driven , thereby substantially the same.
Each electrothermal conversion element drives a single discharge amount of ink droplets continuously.
The Rukoto to discharge each time it is moving, it characterized.

In another ink jet recording head according to the present invention, an ejection port which is a portion for ejecting ink, an ink channel communicating with the ejection port, and thermal energy used for ejecting the ink are transferred to the ink channel in the ink channel. A plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for applying the ink to the ink jet recording head, and having a first mode for ejecting a large ink droplet and a second mode for ejecting a small ink droplet. The plurality of electrothermal conversion elements include two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the discharge port, and the two electrothermal conversion elements alternate in the second mode. is driven, whereby substantially the same ejection
Each electrothermal conversion element is driven by continuously ejecting a large amount of ink droplets.
It characterized Rukoto to discharge each time it is.

[0020]

The present invention has been made from a novel viewpoint as a result of studying practical application as a recording apparatus in a head form described below.

First, the structure of the ink jet recording head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording head. This recording head is called an edge shooter type, and the nozzle arrangement density is 360 DPI.
Has become.

As shown in the figure, an element substrate 23 provided with a plurality of heaters, which are electrothermal conversion elements, is arranged on a support 41 made of metal such as aluminum.

The top plate 101 is provided with an orifice 40 which is an ejection port for ejecting ink and a nozzle wall 5.
The nozzle 104 and the ink chamber 105 are formed by joining the element substrate 23 and the top plate 101 as illustrated.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of heaters on the element substrate of the ink jet recording head. Two heaters, the front heater 3 and the rear heater 4, are arranged side by side in one nozzle 104 between the nozzle walls 5, and the distance OH from the center of gravity of the heater to the discharge port (orifice) is different. I am doing it.

Each heater 3 and 4 has a through hole 2
Is connected to the common wiring 1 under the interlayer insulating film below the heaters 3 and 4, and a voltage is applied from the common wiring 1. The wires 6 and 7 are connected to the front heater 3,
It is connected to the rear heater 4.

That is, from the ink chamber 105 to the nozzle 10
The ink is supplied to the nozzle 4, and the heaters 3 and 4 provided in the nozzle 104 generate heat by the signal current to heat and foam the ink in the nozzle 104. By this foaming, the ink in the nozzle 104 is directed from the orifice 40 to the recording medium. It is configured to be discharged.

Here, when two heaters 3 and 4 having substantially the same size and the same length are arranged in the nozzle 104 and the two heaters are independently driven, the small liquid The ejection amounts of the droplets are set to be substantially the same.

Next, the ejection characteristics of the small droplets of the above-mentioned ink jet recording head will be described with reference to FIGS.

The distance OH between the center of gravity of the heater and the discharge port (orifice) is a major factor influencing the discharge characteristics. When this distance OH is used as a parameter, the droplet discharge amount Vd,
It has been clarified by examination that the ejection speed v and the refill frequency fr have the characteristics described below.

That is, when the front and rear heater sizes are the same, it is better to drive the rear heater 4 that is farther from the discharge port (the one with longer OH), as shown in FIG. It will be much better. That is, since the meniscus return time is short, the refill frequency fr is high. Therefore, when the rear heater 4 is driven independently,
High-speed printing is possible. However, the ejection speed v becomes low as shown in FIG. Conversely, when the front heater 3 closer to the discharge port (shorter OH) is driven alone, the discharge speed v is significantly improved, but on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 5, the refill frequency fr becomes low. As described above, it has been found that the ejection speed v and the refill frequency fr have a contradictory relationship. At this time, if the distance OH is in the range as shown in FIG. 3, the ejection amount Vd is the distance OH.
However, it is almost constant and any OH may be selected.

Depending on the setting method, for example, FIG.
OH distances such as B2 and A2 shown in FIG. 2 are set to make the heater size of the rear heater 4 slightly larger than the heater size of the front heater 3 (the lengths are preferably the same and the width is slightly wider). By doing so, it is possible to make the discharge amount almost the same when each heater is driven independently, and conversely, the distance OH such as B1 and A1 shown in FIG.
May be set so that the heater size of the front heater 3 is larger than that of the rear heater 4. Even in such a case, it is basically known that the above-mentioned ejection characteristics do not change much.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the discharge amount Vd of the droplets and the discharge speed v, the product of the discharge port area So and the distance OH from the discharge port to the tip of the heater, and the distance OH. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance OH and the result of dividing the discharge speed v by the discharge amount Vd. 6 and 7, the singular points a and b are defined, and the distance OH is set to a region A of a or more, a region B of b or less, and a region C between a and b.
It is divided into three areas.

As a peculiar tendency of each area, in area A, there is a proportional relationship between the ejection speed v and the ejection amount Vd as the distance OH increases, and v / Vd becomes almost constant. In the region B, the ejection amount Vd is equal to the ejection area So.
And the distance OH, the discharge amount Vd is substantially constant in the region C.

Further, the above-mentioned respective areas A to C have discharge amounts Vd,
Considering each of the ejection speeds v, the following definition can be made.

<Viewed from Ejection Volume Vd> Area A: Ejection Volume Vd Decreases with Increase in Distance OH Area B: Ejection Volume Vd Increases in Proportion to Distance OH Area C: Ejection Section where the amount Vd is almost constant with respect to the distance OH <When viewed from the discharge amount v> The distance O over all sections
Although the ejection speed v decreases with an increase in H, the amount of change is gentle in the region C, in particular.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink ejection amount Vd
Has a maximum value at a certain predetermined distance OH, and decreases with increasing distance from the predetermined distance OH. Therefore, by arranging the rear heater 4 in the area A and the front heater 3 in the area B so that the respective distances OH of the respective heaters are symmetrical with respect to the distance OH which is the bending point, the rear heaters are arranged. Four
It is possible to make the discharge amount Vd by driving the front heater 3 almost the same.

Next, a method of driving the above-mentioned ink jet recording head will be described.

(Embodiment 1) In this embodiment, basically, the front heater 3 is driven to eject ink droplets, and then,
The rear heater 4 is driven to eject ink droplets, and then the front heater 3 is driven, so that the front heater 3 and the rear heater 4 are alternately driven.

By driving each heater in this way, the refill frequency can be improved without lowering the ejection speed.

The behavior and ejection characteristics of the meniscus near the ejection port when driven in this manner will be described below.

First, the front heater 3 is driven, and ink droplets are ejected by the pressure of bubbling of ink on the heater surface.
In this case, since the distance of the front heater 3 is close to the ejection port, the flow resistance in the front part of the foamed portion (in this case, the inertance in front of the center of gravity of the heater) is small, so that the ejection speed v of the ink droplet is high. After ejection, the bubbles that have foamed on the heater surface contract, so that the meniscus at the ejection port is drawn. Also in this case, since the distance of the front heater 3 is close to the ejection port, it takes a long time for the meniscus to return to before ejection. In other words, the refill frequency fr becomes low.

Here, if the driving frequency of the nozzle is 12K
When the frequency is set to Hz, if the ink is continuously ejected from this nozzle, the refill frequency fr is 9 KH.
Since it is only about z, the meniscus cannot return completely. When the same front heater 3 is driven without switching the heaters to be driven in this state, the ink amount in front of the heaters becomes small and droplets having a small ejection amount Vd are ejected. Further, as the meniscus recedes, the ejection power of the heater also increases, and when solid printing is performed, faint printing may occur and the image quality deteriorates.

However, in the present invention, the rear heater 4 is driven even when the above meniscus cannot be completely returned. Therefore, the discharge amount and the discharge speed are substantially the same as those when the front heater is driven by the operation described below. Will be things.

Rear heater 4 with meniscus stable
When the ink is driven to discharge, the discharge amount Vd does not change much as compared with the case where the front heater 3 is driven as described above, but the discharge speed v decreases at a large rate. But,
When the rear heater 4 is driven and ejected while the meniscus is retracted, the ejection speed v is increased due to the effect that the distance between the meniscus and the heater is further shortened. Since the flat portion of the meniscus where the foaming impact acts is narrowed, it can be considered to have the same effect as the discharge port diameter being reduced, but this also increases the discharge speed v. It is presumed that it has contributed. Further, since the distance to the discharge port in front of the heater is long, the discharge amount Vd does not decrease and stable discharge is achieved.

After being discharged by the rear heater 4, the bubbles foamed on the rear heater surface contract and the meniscus of the discharge port is drawn in. In this case, the distance of the center of gravity of the rear heater 4 is the discharge port. Since the distance is farther away, the retreat amount of the meniscus becomes smaller, and as a result, the refill time, that is, the time until the meniscus returns to the state before ejection is shortened. In other words, the refill frequency fr becomes high.

When the front heater 3 discharges at the next timing, the meniscus is already returned to the vicinity of the desired position, so that stable discharge can be performed even if the discharge is continuously repeated thereafter. Since the ejection speed v becomes faster, it is possible to lengthen the interval of preliminary ejection.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, the case of continuous ejection of small ink droplets is shown. However, in the ink jet recording head of Embodiment 1, large ink droplets can be ejected if the front and rear heaters can be used at the same time. It becomes possible and gradation expression can be performed.

This embodiment shows the case where gradation expression is performed by the ink jet recording head according to the present invention.

The ink jet recording head according to this embodiment has two modes, a large ink droplet ejection mode for ejecting a large ink droplet and a small ink droplet ejection mode for ejecting a small ink droplet.

The following is a driving method in the case where the large dot mode printing for ejecting large ink droplets and the small dot mode printing for ejecting small ink droplets are mixed and printed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing data processing in the case of printing with a mixture of large dots and small dots, and FIG.
Shows discharge data, and FIG. 9 (b) shows a heater driven by the image data of FIG. 9 (a).

In the figure, F is the case where only the front heater is driven, B is the case where only the rear heater is driven, and F + B is the case where the front and rear heaters are driven. In addition, small dots are indicated by small circles 51 and large dots are indicated by large circles 52. 9 (a) and 9 (b) show the state of ejection from left to right in the figure.

Which heater (F, B or F + B) is driven for each nozzle is determined by the data processing. The basic matters of the determining method will be described below.

For the small dot data next to the pixel for which there is no data for a certain nozzle with respect to the discharge data for one line (not necessarily image data), a small ink droplet is discharged by the front heater as in the first embodiment. . By doing so, an excellent ejection speed can be obtained.

When printing a small dot after a small dot, B is printed after F, and F is printed after B. With this, as described in the first embodiment, in the former case, both the refill frequency fr and the ejection speed v are good.

When printing a small dot immediately after a large dot, it is B (F + B → B). This way,
The refill frequency fr becomes high and the ejection speed v becomes fast.

That is, since the meniscus returns for a long time immediately after the ejection of the large dot (F + B) or the small dot (F), the refill frequency can be increased by ejecting with the B when the small dot is printed. it can.

As described above, according to the present invention, even when gradation expression is performed, excellent ejection speed and refill frequency can be secured, and gradation expression with excellent image quality can be performed.

In the present invention, the heaters to be driven may be driven by the drive control means of the ink jet recording apparatus, or the drive switching means may be provided in the ink jet recording head in the present invention. It is also possible.

[0061]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, even when ejecting a small ink droplet, the refill frequency can be significantly improved without lowering the ejection speed of the ink droplet, and the preliminary ejection interval can be lengthened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording head.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement of heaters on an element substrate of an inkjet recording head.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a droplet discharge amount Vd and a distance OH.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a droplet discharge speed v and a distance OH.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a refill frequency fr and a distance OH.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a droplet discharge amount Vd, a discharge velocity v, and a distance OH.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a result obtained by dividing a discharge speed v by a discharge amount Vd and a distance OH.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a preliminary ejection interval and a distance OH.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing data processing when printing is performed by mixing large dots and small dots.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 common wiring 2 through holes 3 Front heater 4 Rear heater 5 nozzle wall 6, 7 wiring 23 element substrate 40 orifice 41 Support 101 top plate 104 nozzles 105 ink chamber

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-261453 (JP, A) JP-A-1-237152 (JP, A) JP-A-8-118641 (JP, A) JP-A-62- 261452 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/05 B41J 2/205

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A discharge port, which is a part for discharging ink,
An ink flow path including an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements for generating heat energy disposed in the ink flow path, and driving the electrothermal conversion element An ink ejection method using an inkjet recording head that ejects ink by applying the thermal energy to the ink therein, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are the distance between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port. Including two electrothermal conversion elements different from each other, and driving the two electrothermal conversion elements alternately to obtain substantially the same
Each electrothermal conversion element is driven by continuously ejecting ink drops.
An ink ejecting method, characterized in that the ink is ejected each time . 2. An ejection port, which is a portion for ejecting ink,
An ink flow path communicating with the discharge port, and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for applying thermal energy used for ink discharge to the ink in the ink flow path,
And an ink jet method using an ink jet recording head having a first mode for ejecting large ink droplets and a second mode for ejecting small ink droplets, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are electrothermal converters. It includes two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the element and the ejection port, and in the second mode, the two electrothermal conversion elements are alternately used to continuously generate ink droplets having substantially the same ejection amount. Each electric
An ink ejection method characterized in that ejection is performed each time the gas-heat conversion element is driven . 3. The ink ejecting method according to claim 2, wherein ink is ejected by using the two electrothermal converting elements at the same time in the first mode. 4. Immediately after the transition from the first mode to the second mode, one of the two electrothermal conversion elements whose centroid of the electrothermal conversion element is farther from the discharge port is preceded by the electrothermal conversion element. The ink discharge method according to claim 3, which is driven. 5. The ink ejection method according to claim 1, wherein the ejection amounts of the ink when the two electrothermal conversion elements are independently driven are substantially the same. 6. The ink ejection method according to claim 1, wherein the driving is started from the electrothermal conversion element of the two electrothermal conversion elements whose center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element is closer to the ejection port. 7. One of the two electrothermal converting element
The distance between the center of gravity of the
When the electrothermal conversion element is placed on a table and ink is ejected
In addition, as the distance increases,
The discharge rate decreases and the ratio of the discharge rate and the discharge rate is kept almost constant.
Located sag A region, the distance between the other center of gravity and the discharge port
However, as the distance increases,
The ink ejection method according to claim 5, wherein the ink ejection method is in a region B where the ejection amount of ejected ink drops increases . 8. A discharge port, which is a part for discharging ink,
An ink flow path including an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements for generating heat energy disposed in the ink flow path, and driving the electrothermal conversion element An ink jet recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head that ejects the ink by applying the thermal energy to the ink therein, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are the distance between the center of gravity of the electrothermal conversion element and the ejection port. Including two electrothermal conversion elements different from each other, and driving the two electrothermal conversion elements alternately to obtain substantially the same
Each electrothermal conversion element is driven by continuously ejecting ink drops.
An ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that it has an ejection drive control means for ejecting each time . 9. An ejection port, which is a part for ejecting ink,
An ink flow path communicating with the discharge port, and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for applying thermal energy used for ink discharge to the ink in the ink flow path,
And an inkjet recording head using an inkjet recording head having a first mode for ejecting large ink droplets and a second mode for ejecting small ink droplets, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are electrothermal converters. It includes two electrothermal conversion elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the element and the ejection port, and in the second mode, the two electrothermal conversion elements are alternately driven to continuously generate ink droplets having substantially the same ejection amount. ,each
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising drive control means for ejecting an electrothermal conversion element each time it is driven. 10. An ejection port which is a part for ejecting ink, an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port, and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements arranged in the ink flow path for generating thermal energy. And an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink by driving the electrothermal conversion element to apply the thermal energy to the ink in the ink flow path, wherein the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements are electrothermal conversion elements. includes two electro-thermal conversion elements different distances between the center of gravity and the discharge port of the element, said two electrothermal converting elements are driven alternately, it
Therefore, ink droplets with almost the same discharge amount can be successively
Ink jet recording head transducer is characterized Rukoto for discharging each driven. 11. A discharge port that is a part for discharging ink, an ink flow path communicating with the discharge port, and the ink flow path for applying thermal energy used for ink discharge to the ink in the ink flow path. An ink jet recording head, comprising: a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements disposed inside; and a first mode for ejecting large ink droplets and a second mode for ejecting small ink droplets. The heat converting element includes two electrothermal converting elements having different distances between the center of gravity of the electrothermal converting element and the discharge port, and the two electrothermal converting elements are alternately driven in the second mode , thereby substantially the same. Discharge amount of ink drop
The inkjet recording head is characterized in that the ink is continuously discharged every time each electrothermal conversion element is driven .