JP3992041B2 - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge suitable for a recording apparatus that receives ink supplied from a replaceable ink cartridge and discharges ink droplets from a nozzle opening to perform printing on a recording medium.

  For example, an ink jet recording apparatus supplies a drive signal corresponding to print data to a piezoelectric vibrator, a heat generating means, etc., and pressurizes ink in a pressure generating chamber with energy generated by the piezoelectric vibrator, the heat generating means, etc. A recording head for discharging ink droplets from the opening and an ink cartridge for supplying ink to the recording head are provided.

  The print quality is determined by the resolution of the recording head, and is greatly influenced by the viscosity of the ink and the degree of bleeding on the recording medium. Therefore, the ink characteristics can be improved to improve the printing quality, and the recording head can be used. The drive signal supplied to the nozzle is improved, and further, the idle discharge cycle for preventing clogging of the nozzle opening and the maintenance conditions such as forced discharge in the capping state are also improved.

  In this way, not only the ink characteristics but also the ink characteristics and the recording head driving method are integrated to improve the printing quality as a recording apparatus. Even if the results of such technological development can be incorporated into a newly manufactured ink jet recording apparatus, the application to a recording apparatus that has left the manufacturer is a memory that brings the recording apparatus to the manufacturer and records the control data. Replacement of the means is necessary, and it is almost impossible due to cost and labor.

For this reason, as seen in Patent Document 1 and the like, the storage means is attached to the ink cartridge, and the storage means stores the ink characteristics, the ink amount, the driving conditions, and the like, while the recording apparatus corresponds to the information. It has also been proposed to adjust the driving conditions.

JP 05-193127 A

By the way, in the ink cartridge mounted on the recording apparatus, there is a problem that the recording head or the like is damaged when the ink is used exceeding the minimum ink amount to be maintained.

  In order to solve such a problem, the ink cartridge of the present invention includes a container including an ink chamber for storing ink, an ink supply port for discharging the ink in the ink chamber to the recording head, and data relating to the ink. Storage means, and data exchange means for enabling data exchange between the storage means and an external device, the storage means corresponding to ink drying speed, volatilization speed of ink solvent, etc. An area for storing data relating to the minimum ink amount to be maintained by the ink cartridge in advance and storing data relating to the remaining ink amount calculated based on the ink amount ejected from the recording head in a rewritable manner is provided.

Thereby, it is possible to prevent the recording head or the like from being damaged due to the use of ink exceeding the minimum ink amount to be maintained by the ink cartridge.

  Therefore, details of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of ink cartridges 10 and 20 suitable for the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. Ink cartridges 11 and 21 contain ink and the upper surfaces are sealed by lids 12 and 22. ing. The ink is stored in a state in which the containers 11 and 12 are filled with a porous body and impregnated therein.

  Ink supply ports 13 and 23 are formed on the bottom surfaces of the containers 11 and 21 so that the ink supply needles 44 and 45 are hermetically engaged with the ink supply needles 44 and 45 when mounted on the carriage 42. 30 is fixed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the circuit board 30 has contacts 31, 31,... For forming contacts with the recording apparatus on the surface side when attached to the ink cartridge. Further, the semiconductor memory means 32 is mounted on the back surface so as to be accessible.

In addition to fixed data such as date of manufacture, endurance years, number of reproducible times, etc.
(1) The number of times the ink cartridge has been reproduced in the past,
(2) Maintenance status such as cleaning status and ink replacement status of ink cartridges
(3) Data such as the last use time of the ink cartridge, the last ink end time, the use situation such as the use environment of the ink cartridge, or a character string having a unique relationship with these data can be rewritten to a predetermined area at any time. It can be stored in. When various data are stored using character strings, it is only necessary to store the decoded data on the recording device side, and the storage capacity of the storage means 32 can be greatly reduced.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a printing apparatus for a printing mechanism. A black ink cartridge containing black ink on the upper surface of a carriage 42 connected to a drive motor 41 via a timing belt 40 is shown. 10 and a holder 43 for storing a color ink cartridge 20 containing color ink, and a recording head 46 which receives ink supply from the ink cartridges 10 and 20 via ink supply needles 44 and 45 on the lower surface. Is provided.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional structure of the black ink cartridge 10 as an example of the state where the ink cartridge is mounted. In the state where the ink cartridge 10 is normally mounted on the ink supply needle 44, the circuit is shown. The contact 31 of the substrate 30 forms a contact with the contact 47 of the carriage 42 and is connected to the control device 49 via the flexible cable 48 so that the control device 49 can be accessed.

  FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the control device 49. The head drive means 50 receives commands from the print control means 51 and the flushing control means 52 for eliminating clogging based on a signal from the host. Based on the above, ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 46.

  Further, when the drive conditions are stored in the storage unit 32, the print control unit 51 reads out the drive conditions optimized for the ink cartridges 10 and 20 via the access unit 53 and executes the print control. To do. As a result, even if the ink cartridge is regenerated as described later, the drive signal to the recording head 46 can be changed and adjusted so that the ink droplets are optimally discharged under the default drive conditions.

  The read / write control means 54 stores data related to the use environment of the recording apparatus detected by the use environment detection means 56, the flushing operation by the flushing control means 52, and the cleaning operation by the cleaning control means 57. Data in the storage means 55 is written into the storage means 32 of the recording heads 10 and 20.

  Next, a usage pattern of the ink cartridge configured as described above will be described based on a flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the ink cartridges 10 and 20 are loaded in the carriage 42, the print control means 51 reads the cartridge data stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 (step b), and data that can specify the mounting time point. Is written in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 (step C), and it is determined from the data of the number of times of reproduction stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 whether the cartridge is a recycled product (step C). .

  In the case of a virgin product, the ink of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 is filled in the recording head 46 under the default conditions (step F), and the printing process is started (step G). On the other hand, in the case of a recycled product, ink filling is executed by adjusting and updating the data in the data storage means 55 based on the cartridge data stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 (step F). ). As a result, the ink of the regenerated product, which is somewhat less reliable than the virgin product, is filled into the recording head 5 by, for example, increasing the suction amount so that the print quality does not deteriorate (step F). ).

  When the ink in the ink cartridges 10 and 20 is consumed due to the printing operation, clogging prevention, or the like and the ink end is detected (step H), the print control means 51 stores data that can specify the time when the ink end is reached. The data is stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 (stepping). Whether or not the next reproduction is possible based on the number of reproductions from the data relating to the ink cartridge read out and stored in the data storage means 55 when the ink cartridge is mounted (step), the useful life as a cartridge container Whether the ink end of the ink cartridge has been detected is within a specified time (step W), and the use environment detecting means 56 It is determined whether the usage environment has adversely affected the ink cartridge (step S).

  When all the determinations of these items are satisfied, the fact that the reproduction is possible is displayed on the display of the recording device or the host (step yo), and the data in the data storage means 55 is stored in the semiconductor of the ink cartridges 10 and 20. Write to the storage means 32 (step data). On the other hand, if any one of these determination items is not satisfied, the cartridge cannot be reproduced, so that discarding is displayed on the display of the recording device or the host (step).

  In the above-described embodiment, the semiconductor storage means 32 has fixed data such as the date of manufacture, the endurance period, the number of reproducible times, the number of times the ink cartridge has been reproduced in the past, the ink cartridge Stores the cleaning status at the time of regeneration, maintenance status such as parts replacement status, the last use timing of the ink cartridge, the last ink end timing, the usage status of the ink cartridge usage environment, etc. The minimum ink amount to be maintained, that is, the minimum ink amount is stored in advance at the time of shipment from the factory, and when it is mounted on the recording apparatus, the remaining amount of ink is recorded, thereby preventing damage to the recording head or the like. .

  FIG. 7 illustrates an operation suitable for an ink cartridge having the above-described configuration with respect to a recording apparatus equipped with two ink cartridges, that is, a black ink cartridge and a color ink cartridge.

  When the two ink cartridges 10 and 20 are mounted on the carriage 42 (FIG. 7 Step A), the reading / writing means 54 reads the current ink remaining amount and the minimum ink from the semiconductor storage means 32 of each ink cartridge 10 and 20. Amount and readout (step 7 in Fig. 7) and compare both (Fig. 7 step C).

  As a result of the comparison, if the remaining ink amount is smaller than the minimum ink amount, the ink end is displayed on the display of the recording apparatus or the host without entering the subsequent operation (step D in FIG. 7).

  On the other hand, when the ink remaining amount is larger than the minimum ink amount, the print control unit 51 starts the printing operation at the stage when the print command is input (Step E in FIG. 7). In order to count the ink droplets discharged from the recording head 46 by the printing operation and accumulate the amount of ink consumed by printing, and to prevent clogging of the nozzle opening every time a predetermined amount of printing or a predetermined time elapses, The ink consumptions of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 are sequentially integrated by counting the ink droplet ejection associated with the printing performed by the flushing control means 52, that is, the ink droplets associated with the so-called flushing operation (step F in FIG. 7). Then, when the printing operation is temporarily interrupted, for example, every time printing for one page is completed, the remaining amount of ink is calculated and stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of each cartridge 10 and 20 (step 7 in FIG. 7). ).

  In this way, when printing is performed continuously for a long time and a printing failure occurs, a cleaning command is issued by the user or a cleaning command is automatically issued from the control means 52 (step in FIG. 7). H), for example, reading the remaining amount of ink stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the first ink cartridge 10 (step 7 in FIG. 7), and the lowest ink stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the first ink cartridge The sum of the amount and the amount of ink consumed for cleaning is compared with the remaining ink amount (step 7 in FIG. 7).

  If the remaining amount of ink in the first ink cartridge 10 is sufficient, the remaining amount of ink stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the second ink cartridge 20 is subsequently read (step 8 in FIG. 8). The sum of the minimum ink amount stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the second ink cartridge and the ink consumption amount required for cleaning is compared with the remaining ink amount (step 8 in FIG. 8).

  When sufficient ink remains in both ink cartridges in this way, the cleaning control means 57 performs normal cleaning performed using a relatively large amount of ink (step S in FIG. 8), and the cleaning is completed. Later, the process returns to step (A) in FIG.

  On the other hand, the remaining amount of ink in any one of the ink cartridges 10 is less than the sum of the minimum ink amount stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of each ink cartridge 10 and 20 and the ink consumption required for cleaning. In this case, the cleaning control means 57 executes simple cleaning that requires a smaller amount of ink than normal cleaning (step S in FIG. 7 and step S in FIG. 8).

  Then, the ink cartridge 10 having the smaller remaining ink amount is displayed as being out of ink, and a display for prompting the replacement of the cartridge is performed (FIG. 7 step, FIG. 8 step). When the cartridge on the side instructed based on this display, that is, the ink cartridge 10 whose ink remaining amount is almost the minimum ink amount, is replaced with a new cartridge (FIG. 7 step, FIG. 8 step), FIG. Returning to step (i), the cleaning operation is resumed.

  In step (e) in FIG. 8, the recording head in which a new ink cartridge is mounted needs to be filled with ink. However, simple cleaning is performed immediately before the nozzle opening. Since clogging and the like are alleviated to some extent, the ink filling operation proceeds smoothly, and it is possible to reliably fill the recording head with ink as compared with the case where the ink filling operation is performed without performing simple cleaning.

  According to this embodiment, in order to determine whether or not cleaning can be performed based on the minimum amount of ink stored in the semiconductor storage unit 32 of the ink cartridges 10 and 20 in advance at the time of shipment from the factory, It is possible to prevent the ink head from being displayed while the recording head is damaged or a large amount of ink is left unnecessarily.

  In the above-described embodiment, the ink is effectively used by performing the simple cleaning when the remaining amount of ink is low. However, the simple cleaning is not performed, that is, step (Y) in FIG. The subsequent operation may be stopped, the ink end may be displayed, and the replacement of the ink cartridge may be waited without executing step (s) in FIG.

  FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the reproducing apparatus. The reproduction control means 60 reads data from the semiconductor storage means 32 of the ink cartridges 10 ′ and 20 ′ collected by the access means 61, and the data storage means Based on the evaluation data stored in 62, the ink discharge means 63, the parts replacement means 64, the cleaning means 65, and the ink filling means 66 are controlled, and on the basis of this evaluation data, the operating conditions in the recording apparatus are determined. It is stored in the semiconductor storage means 30.

  The operation of the reproducing apparatus configured as described above will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the ink cartridge 10 'is set on the work pallet 67 (step i), the reproduction control means 60 reads the data in the semiconductor storage means 32 via the access means 61 (step b), and the number of times the ink cartridge has been reproduced is determined. Whether it is within a specified number of times, for example, 10 times (step C), a specified period from manufacture, for example, within 10 years (step D), whether it is within a specified time, for example, 200 days from the most recent ink end (step H) ) It is determined whether the ink cartridge is in the specified environment or not (step F). If all the items are satisfied, a message indicating that the ink cartridge can be regenerated is displayed (step TO). Enter the regeneration process (Step 1). On the other hand, if even one recyclable requirement is missing, a message indicating that the reusable use is impossible is displayed, and the discard of the ink cartridge is instructed.

  The cartridge satisfying the reproducible requirement in this way is transferred to the ink discharging means 63 by the pallet 67, and the ink remaining in the cartridge is discharged by suction or the like (Step A in FIG. 11). Based on the data read from the ink cartridge, the reproduction control means 60 considers the service life of the parts, for example, the packings fitted in the ink supply ports (step 11 in FIG. 11), and is necessary for the parts replacement means 64. Replace the parts (Step 11 in Fig. 11).

  Next, it is determined whether or not cleaning is necessary in consideration of the elapsed time from the most recent ink end (step D in FIG. 11). The degree is determined (step 11 in FIG. 11).

  When the pre-processing necessary for ink regeneration is completed, the regeneration control means 60 determines whether the ink composition change slightly affects the print quality, such as a color ink cartridge. Since it is necessary to wash the ink cartridge together (FIG. 11 Step H), a large amount of ink is supplied to the ink filling means 66, a predetermined amount is discharged from the cartridge, and the cartridge is washed with ink of the same quality as the ink to be filled. Then, a specified amount of ink is filled (step 11 in FIG. 11), and if no co-washing is required, a specified amount of ink is supplied and filled (step n).

At the stage where ink filling is completed, the regeneration control means 60 provides necessary information, that is,
(1) Date and time of playback
(2) Cumulative playback count
(3) Existence of parts replacement and their names
(4) Further, if necessary, cartridge data such as ink filling method for the recording head by increasing the number of times of reproduction and data relating to the ink suction amount are stored in the semiconductor storage means 32 of the reproduced ink cartridge (step in FIG. 10). Li).

  As described above, even in an ink cartridge that has been refilled with ink and regenerated, the history of the ink cartridge is clear, and the operation of the recording apparatus can be ensured by the data on the operation method according to the difference from the virgin product. It becomes possible.

(A), (b) is a figure which shows one Example of the ink cartridge of this invention, respectively. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the structure of the front and back of the circuit board respectively provided in the ink cartridge same as the above. It is a figure which shows one Example of a recording device using an ink cartridge same as the above about a printing mechanism part. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which mounted | wore the carriage with the ink cartridge same as the above. It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the control apparatus which controls operation | movement of an apparatus same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an apparatus same as the above. 6 is a flowchart showing a main operation and a process for one ink cartridge among the cleaning operations in the recording apparatus of the invention. 6 is a flowchart showing processing for the other ink cartridge in the cleaning operation of the recording apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of an ink reproduction | regeneration apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the whole operation | movement of an ink reproduction apparatus same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows the filling process process of an ink reproduction apparatus same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 20 Ink cartridge 13, 23 Ink supply port 30 Circuit board 31 Contact 32 Semiconductor storage means 42 Carriage 44, 45 Ink supply needle 46 Recording head

Claims (2)

In an ink cartridge for supplying ink to a recording apparatus having a recording head,
A container having an ink chamber for containing ink, an ink supply port for discharging the ink in the ink chamber to the recording head, a storage means for storing data relating to the ink, and a space between the storage means and the external device And data exchange means that make it possible to exchange data with
The storage means stores in advance data relating to the minimum amount of ink that should be maintained by the ink cartridge corresponding to the ink drying speed and the volatilization speed of the ink solvent,
An ink cartridge comprising an area in which data relating to the remaining amount of ink calculated based on the amount of ink discharged from the recording head is rewritable.   The data relating to the minimum ink amount stored in the storage means and the ink remaining amount are discharged from the recording head in the recording apparatus more than the sum of the ink amount consumed by the cleaning operation and the minimum ink amount. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is used for determining that the cleaning operation is executed when the remaining amount of ink calculated by the control unit is large based on the amount of ink that has been determined.

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