JP4532646B2 - Print head and printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print head and a printing apparatus using the head, and more particularly to a print head having a plurality of print elements and a printing apparatus using the head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Printing apparatuses widely used in printers, copiers, facsimiles, and recording apparatuses form images composed of dot patterns on printing media such as paper, resin thin plates, and cloth based on input image information. It is configured as follows. Such image forming apparatuses can be classified into a wire dot method, a thermal transfer method, a thermal printing method, an ink jet method, an electrophotographic method, and the like depending on the printing method. In recent years, among these methods, the inkjet method has a high recording speed, low noise accompanying the recording operation, recording can be performed without performing special processing such as fixing on so-called plain paper, and colorization has also been achieved. It is an effective method because it has the advantage of being able to realize high resolution at a low cost. In this method, various types have recently been proposed depending on the discharge method, and these have been improved and put into practical use.
[0003]
In this ink jet method, a liquid such as an ink used as a printing agent is ejected by various ejection methods, and is attached to a print medium to perform printing such as recording. There are various ink ejection methods.
[0004]
Among them, for example, the liquid jet recording method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-51837 and German Publication (DOLS) 2843064 is obtained in that thermal energy is applied to a liquid to obtain a driving force for ejection. It has different characteristics from other discharge methods.
[0005]
That is, in this method, the liquid subjected to the action of thermal energy undergoes a state change accompanied by a rapid increase in volume, and the liquid is discharged from a predetermined discharge port by an action force based on the state change. Then, the discharged liquid (ink) adheres to the print medium, and printing (recording) is performed.
[0006]
In particular, the method described in DOLS 2843064 is not only very effectively applied to the so-called drop-on-demand recording method, but also allows easy implementation of a print head having a large number of discharge ports arranged at high density. Also, it has a feature that a high-resolution and high-quality image can be formed at high speed.
[0007]
Thus, a print head applied to such a recording method includes a discharge port provided for discharging the liquid, and a portion that communicates with the discharge port and that uses thermal energy used to discharge the liquid to act on the liquid. And a thermal energy generating element as a means for generating thermal energy.
[0008]
In addition to forming a plurality of thermal energy generating elements on a substrate applied to such a print head, a driver for driving each thermal energy generating element and image data input in series are developed and parallel to each driver. A configuration in which a shift logic having a number of bits equal to the number of thermal energy generating elements and a control logic circuit such as a latch circuit for temporarily storing data output from the shift register is also employed.
[0009]
FIG. 1 shows a conventional example of the electrical configuration of a thermal energy generating element and its drive circuit, and FIG. 2 shows a timing chart of signals of each part. The drive circuit generates a predetermined number (64 in the figure) of thermal energy. Together with the element group 21 (discharge heaters R1 to R64), they are integrally provided on a substrate (heater board).
[0010]
In the figure, reference numeral 22 denotes a power supply control transistor array connected to the discharge heater drive power supply (VH) line together with the discharge heaters R1 to R64, and turns on / off the conduction of the discharge heaters R1 to R64.
[0011]
The 64 discharge heaters are divided into an 8 × 8 logic matrix and wired so that blocks for every 8 discharge heaters are selected simultaneously. In each block, the eight discharge heaters are further divided and driven into odd-numbered and even-numbered heaters. That is, the block is selected by being divided into eight timings, and the number of discharge heaters selected at the same time is eight, and the eight discharge heaters are divided and driven at two timings.
[0012]
The decoder 24 generates a signal that defines the block selection timing, and sequentially outputs eight timing signals in accordance with the three input signals BLK0 to BLK2 (3-bit parallel signal), and its output is power controlled. Is appropriately supplied to one input terminal of each AND gate 23 connected to the transistor for use. ODD and EVEN are signals for selecting odd-numbered bits and even-numbered bits of each block, and are supplied to one input terminal of the AND gate 23 corresponding to each.
[0013]
On the other hand, 64 print data DATA corresponding to 64 discharge heaters is input to the shift register 26 in synchronization with the clock signal DCLK, and is latched by the latch circuit 25 in response to the latch signal LAT. The latched data is sent to one input terminal of the AND gate 23. HEAT is a signal for defining the time during which the discharge heater is energized, and is also supplied to one input terminal of the AND gate 23.
[0014]
FIG. 3 shows another conventional example of the electrical configuration of the thermal energy generating element and its driving circuit. The thermal energy generating element (discharge heater) 401, the power transistor 402, the latch circuit 403, the shift register 404, and the following components Are integrally provided on a substrate (heater board) 400. Reference numeral 415 denotes a sensor for detecting the heating resistance value of the discharge heater 401 or the temperature of the heater board 400, or a heater for heating and maintaining the heater board 400. These sensors and the heat insulating heater are appropriate on the heater board 400. Of course, a plurality of them may be simultaneously formed at various positions.
[0015]
Reference numerals 405 to 414 denote input / output pads. 405 is a clock signal input pad for operating the shift register 404, 406 is an image data input pad for receiving image data in series, and 407 is a clock signal input for holding the image data in the latch circuit 403. It is a pad. Reference numeral 408 denotes a drive signal (heat enable) input pad for externally controlling the ON time of the power transistor 402, that is, the energization time of the discharge heater 401, and reference numerals 413 (1) to 413 (n) denote a plurality of discharge heaters 401. Is a block selection signal (block enable) input pad for performing block selection when performing time-division driving by dividing the block into blocks. Further, 412 is a reset signal input pad for resetting the latch circuit 403 and the shift register 404, 409 is a pad for connecting a logic circuit drive power supply (3 to 8V, generally 5V), and 410 is a ground (GND) connection. 411 is a pad for connecting the discharge heater drive power supply, 416 is a signal grounding pad for energizing the discharge heater, 414 (1) to 414 (n) for sensor drive signal input and sensor output, or for a heat retaining heater. This is a pad for driving signal input.
[0016]
The drive sequence of the heater board 400 will be described. First, when image data is serially transferred from the printing apparatus main body in synchronization with a clock signal, the shift register 404 captures and aligns the image data. The aligned image data is temporarily stored in the latch circuit 403, and an on or off signal corresponding to the image data is output by the latch circuit 403. When a heat pulse is input in this state, if the image data is on in the block selected by the block selection signal and active, the corresponding power transistor 402 is turned on during the heat pulse. The discharged heater 401 is energized and driven. Block drive is used to reduce the number of discharge heaters 401 driven simultaneously by dividing a plurality of discharge heaters into blocks and reducing the influence of mixed noise. It is what
[0017]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the drive timing. The waveforms here are block selection signals for time-division driving (B1 to B8 here) of the signals sent from the printing apparatus main body and the discharge heater 401. Only the heat enable signal (HEAT) for determining the energization time was displayed. In the example shown in the figure, the total number of discharge heaters 401 is 32 and the number of blocks is 8, and each block is sequentially selected while shifting the timing once in one cycle in which all the discharge heaters can be driven.
[0018]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Incidentally, in recent years, there is a high demand for downsizing of the printing apparatus, and for that purpose, reduction of the number of electrical connections between the printing apparatus main body and the print head has become an important issue. However, in the drive system of FIG. 1, there are LAT, DCLK, DATA, BLK0, BLK1, BLK2, ODD, EVEN, and HEAT as signals input to drive one head, and signal lines connected to the drive system. It just needs nine.
[0019]
Further, in the drive system of FIG. 3, since there is no decoder on the heater board and each block is directly selected from the printing apparatus main body side, more signal lines are connected.
[0020]
  As a result, there are many heater boards.NumberA pad for connecting the signal line is required, which is a restriction on the area of the heater board or the miniaturization of the head. In addition, if the number of contacts increases, the head manufacturing yield may be reduced by that amount, and the cables and flexible wiring boards leading to the head are restricted by miniaturization or cost reduction.
[0021]
In view of such problems, the present invention has an object to reduce the number of signal lines to be connected to the head and thereby solve the above-described problems.
[0022]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  For this purpose, the present invention comprises a plurality of print elements,The plurality of print elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and time-division driven for each block, and the print elements included in the block are subjected to predetermined time-division drive within the block.A print head configured as follows:
  To transfer print dataOutside the printheadClock supplied fromsignalUsing,AbovePer blockSpecify the timing of time division driveFirstControl signalAnd a second control signal defining the timing of time division driving in the block;With generating means for generatingAnd
  The generation means includes a counting means for outputting a signal based on the counting of the clock signal, and output data of the first control signal and the second control signal at addresses assigned corresponding to the output of the counting means. Storage means for storing the output signal, and output means for outputting the first control signal and the second control signal based on data stored in the storage means in response to a signal output from the counting means.It is characterized by doing.
[0035]
  The present invention also resides in a printing apparatus using the above print head.The
[0036]
In this specification, “print” refers not only to the formation of significant information such as characters and graphics, but also to the formation (printing) of images, patterns, patterns, etc. on a medium.
[0037]
In addition, “print medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also to materials that can accept ink ejected by the head, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, and the like. .
[0038]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0039]
(First example)
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ink jet printing apparatus 700 used in this example. A print head 610 to which the following examples are applied is mounted on a carriage 720, and this carriage 720 is rotationally driven via driving force transmission gears 702 and 703 in response to forward and reverse rotations of a driving motor 701. The lead screw 704 is engaged with the spiral groove 721. Accordingly, the print head 610 performs a printing operation while reciprocally scanning in the a and b directions perpendicular to the feeding direction of the print medium P in accordance with the drive of the drive motor 701. Further, the press plate 705 for the print medium P conveyed on the platen 706 by a feeding device (not shown) presses the print medium P against the platen 706 over the carriage movement range.
[0040]
Reference numerals 707 and 708 denote photocouplers as home position detection means, which generate timing signals for confirming the presence of a lever 709 provided in the carriage 720 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the drive motor 701.
[0041]
Reference numeral 710 denotes a member that supports a cap member 711 that performs capping of the front surface of the print head 610. Reference numeral 712 denotes suction means that sucks the inside of the cap member 711. It moves to an outside capping position and a predetermined operation (capping, suction, etc.) is performed. Reference numeral 714 denotes a cleaning blade, and reference numeral 715 denotes a blade moving member that supports the cleaning blade 714 so that the cleaning blade 714 can advance and retreat relative to the front surface of the print head. Needless to say, the cleaning blade is not limited to the illustrated form, and other known forms can be applied.
[0042]
Reference numeral 717 denotes a lever for starting the suction recovery process, which moves along with the movement of the cam 718 engaged with the carriage 720, and transmits the driving force of the driving motor 701 through known transmission means such as clutch switching. Thus, the movement is controlled. It should be noted that a control unit that controls the application of signals to the discharge heaters and the like provided in the print head 610 and the drive control of each of the above-described mechanisms is provided in appropriate portions of the illustrated printing apparatus main body.
[0043]
The printing apparatus 700 performs a printing operation while the print head 610 reciprocates over almost the entire width of the print medium P with respect to the print medium P conveyed on the platen 706 by the feeding device, and the print head 610. As described below, since it has a configuration having a plurality of discharge heaters or discharge ports, it is possible to perform high-precision and high-speed printing.
[0044]
FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration example of a main part of the print head 610 used in this example. As shown in FIG. 6, on a semiconductor substrate (heater board) 100 such as Si, a predetermined number of discharge heaters 606, electrode wirings 607 that send electric signals to the discharge heaters 606, and drive circuits and controls described later, respectively. And a wall member 601 is formed on the discharge heaters 606. The wall members 601 are formed on the discharge heaters 606 at a predetermined interval to form the liquid passages 605 and communicate with the liquid passages 605. Then, a print head main body is configured by joining a top plate 602 having an ink supply port 603 on the wall 601. That is, a portion surrounded by the wall member 601, the substrate 100, and the top plate 602 becomes a liquid path 605, and ink is supplied to the liquid path 605 through the supply port 603 and the common liquid chamber 604. Further, by applying a discharge signal to the discharge heater 606 through the electrode wiring 607 and generating bubbles on the discharge heater 606, the liquid is discharged from the discharge port 600 in front of the liquid path. Further, a temperature sensor (not shown) is formed on the substrate 101, and the temperature of the print head can be monitored by the output.
[0045]
5 uses a print head 610 in the form of a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the main body by integrating the print head main body shown in FIG. 6 and an ink tank portion that stores ink to be supplied to the print head main body. The configurations of various examples described below can be applied to the main part of the print head, but the two may be separate or may not be in the form of a cartridge.
[0046]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the heater board of FIG. The drive circuit is integrally provided on a substrate (heater board) together with a predetermined number (64 in the figure) of thermal energy generating elements 606 (discharge heaters R1 to R64).
[0047]
In the figure, reference numeral 113 denotes a power supply control transistor array as driving means connected to the discharge heater drive power supply (VH) line together with the discharge heaters R1 to R64, and turns on / off the conduction of the discharge heaters R1 to R64.
[0048]
The 64 discharge heaters are divided into an 8 × 8 logic matrix and wired so that blocks for every 8 discharge heaters are selected simultaneously. In each block, the eight discharge heaters are further divided and driven into odd-numbered and even-numbered heaters. That is, the block is selected by being divided into eight timings, and the number of discharge heaters selected at the same time is eight, and the eight discharge heaters are divided and driven at two timings.
[0049]
The decoder 119 generates a signal that defines the block selection timing, and sequentially outputs eight timing signals in accordance with the three input signals BLK0 to BLK2 (3-bit parallel signal), and its output is power controlled. Is appropriately supplied to one input terminal of each AND gate 114 connected to the transistor for use. ODD and EVEN are signals for selecting odd-numbered bits and even-numbered bits of each block, and are supplied to one input terminal of the AND gate 23 corresponding to each.
[0050]
On the other hand, 64 print data DATA corresponding to 64 discharge heaters are input to the shift register 116 as data alignment means in synchronization with the clock signal DCLK, and are latched by the latch circuit 115 according to the latch signal LAT. . The latched data is sent to one input terminal of the AND gate 23. HEAT is an enable signal for defining the drive (energization) time of the discharge heater, and is also supplied to one input terminal of the AND gate 114.
[0051]
Reference numeral 111 denotes a block signal generator serving as a control signal generator that characterizes the present embodiment. The block signal generator 111 fetches only two signals of the latch signal LAT and the clock signal DCLK supplied from the outside, and decodes the block selection signals BLK0 to BLK2. 119. That is, in this example, the block selection signal is not supplied from the outside, but is generated internally by the block signal generator 111 integrally formed on the heater board.
[0052]
FIG. 8 shows an example of the circuit configuration inside the block signal generator. Here, reference numeral 41 denotes an n-bit counter as counting means. When the clock signal DCLK is input n times, the count-up signal COUNT UP is output by one pulse. 42 and 43 are D-type flip-flops, and 44 is a 3-bit counter. These counters and the like can use small chips, and even when mounted on a heater board, the size thereof does not increase significantly.
[0053]
FIG. 9 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the block signal generator 111. First, since the clock signal DCLK is used not only for image transfer but also for block signal generation, a large number of clock signals are generated. However, the image signal is sent in synchronization with the last 64 clocks of the generated clock signal DCLK (see FIG. Then, only D64 to D1) are effective.
[0054]
Each time n bits of the clock signal DCLK are sent, a pulse of the count-up signal is generated, which is input as a clock of the D-type flip-flops 42 and 43. Used as an even bit selection signal EVEN. Next, by counting up the 3-bit counter 44 with the falling clock of the even-bit selection signal EVEN, the 3-bit output of this counter can be used as the three outputs of the block selection signals BLK0, BLK1, and BLK2, respectively.
[0055]
FIG. 10 shows another example of the circuit configuration inside the block signal generator. Here, 61 is an n-bit counter similar to the counter 41. When the clock signal DCLK is input n times, the count-up signal COUNT UP is output by one pulse. A counter 62 receives the count-up pulse signal and performs m-bit parallel output, and the output is connected to addresses A1 to Am of the memory 63 serving as storage means. The memory 63 may be any memory in which five types of data are assigned to addresses designated in parallel. That is, it is only necessary to assign addresses and data so that the odd address selection signal ODD, the even number selection signal EVEN, and the block selection signals BLK0, BLK1, and BLK2 are output when the input address is increased. . In this example as well, a small chip can be used as the counter and an extremely small capacity is sufficient for the memory. Therefore, even if the counter is mounted on the heater board, its size does not increase significantly.
[0056]
According to the above example, the block signal generator is provided on the heater board as means for creating the five types of signals ODD, EVEN, BLK0, BLK1 and BLK2 which are selection signals for the discharge heater driven based on the clock signal DCLK. As a result, the number of connection signal lines to the printer main body, which required nine in the conventional example of FIG. 1, can be reduced to four. As a result, the number of connection pads can be reduced, and not only can the print head be miniaturized, the cable thinned, and the cost reduced by these, but also the probability of poor contact due to the reduced number of contacts is reduced. , Improve reliability. Furthermore, since the number of signals generated by the printer main body is reduced, it is possible to reduce the cost of the main body side.
[0057]
(Second example)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a heater board according to another embodiment of the present invention, and such a heater board can also be applied to the print head body shown in FIG.
[0058]
Here, reference numeral 101 denotes a block enable signal that is supplied from the outside (control unit of the printer main body) via a contact pad in the conventional example of FIG. 3. In this example, this block does not have the contact pad and is a feature of this example. It is generated by a certain enable signal generator 103. Similarly, the heat enable signal 102 does not have a contact pad for receiving a signal from the outside, and is generated by an enable signal generation unit 103 that constitutes a control signal generation means that is a feature of this example.
[0059]
Reference numeral 104 denotes a memory that stores rising data, falling data, data for determining a time division time point, that is, a change point of the block enable signal 101, and the like as various data necessary for generating the heat enable signal 102. Yes. For this memory, data masked by aluminum wiring or the like when the substrate 100 is manufactured may be used, or a nonvolatile memory such as a fuse ROM or EEPROM may be used as the memory. Furthermore, if it is desired to be able to change the data during the printing operation, for example, depending on the printing operation, printing conditions, head state, etc., a RAM may be used, or a latch for easily storing the data A circuit may be used. In this case, if the shift register 404 is also used for writing data, it is not necessary to add a signal line for writing the data separately.
[0060]
Further, this example is different from the conventional example of FIG. 3 in that the pads 107, 106 and 105 of the clock signal CLK, the latch clock signal LTCLK and the reset signal RESET are also connected to the enable signal generation unit 103. Other parts are the same as in the conventional example of FIG. 3, but in this example, the heat enable input pad 408 and the block enable input pads 413 (1) to 413 (n) are omitted in this example. It can be seen that the number of electrical connections can be reduced.
[0061]
FIG. 12 shows a circuit configuration example of the enable signal generator 103, and FIG. 13 shows its operation timing. That is, FIG. 12 shows a detailed example of a configuration for generating a block enable signal and a heat enable signal on the heater board of the print head while reducing the number of electrical connections by mainly utilizing a clock for transferring image data. In this figure, at least two counters, ie, a first counter 131 for generating a heat enable signal and a second counter 132 for generating a block enable signal are used.
[0062]
The first counter 131 takes in the image data transfer clock CLK as it is as a counter clock. Here, when the image transfer clock CLK does not have sufficient resolution to be used for generating the enable signal, a multiplier (133) may be inserted in the previous stage, or conversely, the resolution is sufficient and the cycle is to be lengthened. In some cases, a frequency divider (131) may be inserted.
[0063]
The counter 131 resets the count value when the count value reaches the time division time point data stored in the memory 104 of FIG. 11 or when the latch clock LTCLK or the reset signal RESET is input, and starts counting again. . That is, the counter 131 operates in one time division unit, and a heat enable signal is generated via the T-type flip-flop 137 by comparing the count value with the rising / falling data stored in the memory 104 described above. In FIG. 12, 134 and 135 are comparators for comparing rising data and falling data with the count value of the counter 131, respectively, 136 is time division time point data (data between time division blocks), and the count value of the counter 131. It is a comparator that compares.
[0064]
Next, the second counter 132 takes in a signal generated by the comparator 136 when the time division time point data matches the count value of the counter 131 as a counter clock, and until the latch clock LTCLK or the reset signal RESET is input. Count operation is performed. Then, by decoding the output of the second counter 132 by the decoder 138, a block enable signal that has been conventionally supplied from the outside can be generated on the heater board.
[0065]
FIG. 13 shows the drive timing of this example when the total number of heating elements (discharge heaters) is 32 elements and the number of blocks is 8, as in the conventional example of FIG. The control signals supplied are not only image data but also the transfer clock CLK and the latch clock LTCLK (the reset signal is omitted). In the same figure, the first counter 131 generated inside the substrate of the print head main body is shown. The output, heat enable signal, second counter 132 output and block enable signal are also shown.
[0066]
As described above, according to the present example, the block enable signal and the heat enable signal can be generated on the heater board of the print head by mainly utilizing the clock for transferring the image data. The individual signal lines for the heat enable signal and the block enable signal input between the printing device main body and the print head, and the connection pads on the heater board can be omitted, and the number of electrical connections can be reduced for printing. The apparatus main body can be further downsized.
[0067]
In addition, the above-described configuration can be simultaneously formed in the process of manufacturing the heater board, and can be implemented with little increase in chip size due to the progress of miniaturization technology in recent semiconductor manufacturing processes. That is, the number of electrical connections can be reduced with little increase in heater board size and cost increase.
[0068]
The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the first example and the second example of the embodiment, but the number of heating elements (discharge heaters), the number of divided blocks, the number of heating elements included in one block, block driving or heating elements are described. Of course, the drive mode, the circuit configuration on the heater board including the block signal generation unit or the enable signal generation unit are not limited to those shown in each example, and heat is generated using the transfer clock of the image data. Any configuration having means for generating a control signal for dividing the body group into several blocks on the print head side instead of the control unit of the printing apparatus main body is included in the scope of the present invention. is there.
[0069]
In addition, it is preferable to provide such means on the heater board of the print head from the viewpoint of cost and size, but the number of electrical connections with the printing apparatus main body control unit can be reduced even if the print head is constituted by a separate IC or the like. . Even if the print head is separated from the print head and attached to the carriage or the like so that the connection can be established when the print head is mounted, the printing apparatus can be used even if the number of connection pads on the print head side cannot be reduced. The burden on the main body control unit can be reduced and the connection signal line can be thinned.
[0070]
(Other)
The present invention can be applied not only to the above-described ink jet system but also to various systems (thermal transfer system, etc.) as long as a plurality of print elements can be divided into several groups and can be divided and driven. .
[0071]
In addition, there are various types of inkjet recording (printing) apparatuses such as an electromechanical conversion system, and means for generating thermal energy as energy used for ink ejection (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam). Etc.), and provides an excellent effect in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which a change in the state of ink is caused by the thermal energy. This is because such a system can achieve high recording density and high definition.
[0072]
As for the typical configuration and principle, for example, those performed using the basic principle disclosed in US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796 are preferable. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, the thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the recording head This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the liquid and, as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. By the growth and contraction of the bubbles, liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable that the drive signal has a pulse shape, since the bubble growth and contraction is performed immediately and appropriately, and thus it is possible to achieve discharge of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness. As this pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further excellent recording can be performed by employing the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface.
[0073]
As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (straight liquid channel or right angle liquid channel) of the discharge port, the liquid channel, and the electrothermal transducer as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, the heat acting part The configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose the configuration in which the lens is disposed in the bending region, are also included in the present invention. In addition, for a plurality of electrothermal transducers, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-123670 that discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal transducer or an aperture that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to the discharge unit. That is, whatever the form of the recording head is, according to the present invention, recording can be performed reliably and efficiently.
[0074]
Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus. As such a recording head, either a configuration satisfying the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally may be used.
[0075]
In addition, the serial type as shown in the above example can be connected to the main body of the recording head or attached to the main body of the device so that electrical connection with the main body of the device and ink supply from the main body are possible. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type recording head or a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.
[0076]
In addition, it is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery means, a preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, heating is performed using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or suction unit, an electrothermal transducer, a heating element different from this, or a combination thereof. Examples thereof include a preliminary heating unit for performing the discharge and a preliminary discharge unit for performing discharge different from the recording.
[0077]
Also, regarding the number of colors of the ink to be mounted, for example, the density corresponding to at least a part of the plurality of inks having different recording colors is provided in addition to those having different densities corresponding to the single color ink. Different types may be provided (a number of types may be changed depending on colors).
[0078]
In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, ink that is solidified at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In the ink jet method, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that it is in the stable discharge range. A liquid material may be used. In addition, it is solidified and heated in an untreated state in order to actively prevent the temperature rise caused by thermal energy from being used as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or to prevent the ink from evaporating. You may use the ink which liquefies by. In any case, by applying thermal energy according to the application of thermal energy according to the recording signal, the ink is liquefied and liquid ink is ejected, or when it reaches the recording medium, it already starts to solidify. The present invention can also be applied to the case of using ink having the property of being liquefied for the first time. The ink in such a case is in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in a porous sheet recess or through-hole as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. Alternatively, the electrothermal converter may be opposed to the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-described inks is to execute the above-described film boiling method.
[0079]
In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention may be used as an image output terminal of an information processing device such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. The thing etc. may be sufficient.
[0080]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the connection signal line between the printing apparatus main body control unit and the print head side can be reduced, and in particular, a means for generating a control signal for dividing and driving the heating element group can be used as a print head. When mounted on a heater board, the number of connection pads can also be reduced. Therefore, not only can the print head be miniaturized, the cable thinned, and thus the cost can be reduced, but the probability of contact failure and the like is reduced as the number of contacts is reduced, and the reliability is improved. Furthermore, since the number of signals generated by the printer main body is reduced, it is possible to reduce the cost of the main body side.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional example of the electrical configuration of a print element applied to a print head and its drive circuit.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart of each signal in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another conventional example of the electrical configuration of a print element applied to a print head and its drive circuit.
4 is a timing chart of signals of main parts in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration example of an inkjet printing apparatus as a printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.
6 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration example of a main part of a print head applied to the printing apparatus of FIG. 5;
7 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of a print element and its drive circuit applied to the print head of FIG. 6;
8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a block signal generation unit in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a timing chart of signals at respective parts in FIG.
10 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the block signal generation unit in FIG. 7. FIG.
11 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of a print element and its drive circuit applied to the print head of FIG. 6. FIG.
12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an enable signal generation unit in FIG. 11. FIG.
13 is a timing chart of signals at respective parts in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
21,606 Heating element (discharge heater)
22,113 transistor array
24,119 decoder
25, 115, 403 latch circuit
26, 116, 404 Shift register
41, 44, 61, 62 counter
42, 43 D-type flip-flop
63 memory
100 substrate (heater board)
101 Block enable signal
102, HEAT heat enable signal
103 Enable signal generator
104 memory
105-108, 405-414, 416 Signal connection pad
131,132 counter
137 T-type flip-flop
138 decoder
600 Discharge port
605 liquid channel
610 print head
720 Carriage
CLK, DCLK Image data transfer clock signal
LAT, LTCLK Latch signal
P Print media

Claims (7)

A plurality of printing elements are provided, and the plurality of printing elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and time-division driven for each block, and the printing elements included in the block are subjected to predetermined time-division driving in the block. A print head configured as follows:
Using a clock signal supplied from the outside of the print head to transfer the data according to the print, the first control signal defining the timings of the time-division driving of each of the blocks, the time-division driving in the block comprises a generating means for generating a second control signal for defining the timing,
The generation means includes a counting means for outputting a signal based on the counting of the clock signal, and output data of the first control signal and the second control signal at addresses assigned corresponding to the output of the counting means. storage means for storing, to have a, and output means for outputting the first control signal and second control signal based on the data stored in the storage means in accordance with a signal outputted from said counting means Print head characterized by The printhead according to claim 1, further comprising a decoder that receives and decodes a control signal that defines a timing of time-division driving output from the generation unit. The print head according to claim 1, wherein the print head further includes a shift register for inputting data related to the print. The print head according to claim 3, further comprising a latch circuit that latches data input by the shift register based on a control signal supplied from the outside of the print head. 5. The print head according to claim 4, further comprising a gate circuit for inputting the second control signal, an output signal from the decoder, and an output signal from the latch circuit. The printhead print head according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it has the form of a Louis inkjet head discharges Lee ink. 請 Motomeko 1 to characterized and to pulp lint apparatus using a print head according to any one of 6.

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