JP4803345B2 - Recording device, recording control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus including a recording execution unit that performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head onto a recording surface of a recording material, and a head cleaning unit that can clean the recording head.

  A recording apparatus such as a so-called ink jet printer is generally provided with a head cleaning unit capable of cleaning the recording head. By regularly cleaning the head surface of the recording head with the head cleaning means, clogging of a large number of ink ejection nozzles arranged on the head surface of the recording head can be prevented, and the optimum recording head can always be used. Recording can be executed while maintaining the ink ejection state. Therefore, a general recording apparatus is provided with a time measuring means such as a so-called RTC (real time clock) capable of measuring the elapsed time from the latest head cleaning process in order to perform this head cleaning periodically. .

  By the way, every time the head cleaning process is executed, a small amount of ink is ejected onto the waste ink absorbing material or the like, so that the ink discarded in the waste ink absorbing material or the like (hereinafter referred to as “waste ink”). The ink is accumulated inside the recording apparatus while being held in a waste ink absorber or the like. Since the amount of waste ink that can be stored inside the recording apparatus is finite, the amount of waste ink storage will eventually exceed the limit and leak out of the recording apparatus. In order to prevent such a situation in advance, a general recording apparatus is controlled to manage the amount of accumulated waste ink in the recording apparatus.

  Specifically, the accumulated amount of ink ejection control amount when ink is ejected to the waste ink absorber or the like is added to the amount of waste ink evaporated over time to calculate the amount of waste ink stored and stored. The waste ink accumulation amount is updated by accumulating the waste ink generated every time the waste ink is generated. In general, an error (fatal error) that cannot be restored occurs when it is determined that the amount of waste ink accumulated in the waste ink absorber has reached the limit amount. In this case, unless the recording device manufacturer or the like performs maintenance such as replacement of the waste ink absorbing material, recording on the recording material thereafter is not possible at all.

  The amount of evaporation of the waste ink with the passage of time is based on the above-mentioned timekeeping such as the RTC. While the recording device is turned off, a small battery or a large-capacity capacitor built in the recording device is used. Timekeeping means such as an RTC operates with a small amount of limited power charged in the (capacitor). However, if the recording apparatus is turned off for a long time, the power charged in a small battery or a large-capacity capacitor is used up, and the timing by the timing means such as RTC is stopped. Therefore, the elapsed time from the latest head cleaning process, the elapsed time from the occurrence of waste ink, and the like cannot be specified. For this reason, conventionally, when the timing of the timing means such as the RTC has stopped, such as when the recording apparatus has been turned off for a long time, the evaporation amount of the waste ink is not calculated. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). This prevents the amount of waste ink evaporation from being calculated incorrectly and the amount of waste ink accumulated from exceeding the limit.

JP-A-9-104121

  However, when the power of the printing apparatus is turned off for a long time, the amount of waste ink evaporated during that time is calculated as 0, so the amount of waste ink accumulated is calculated more than the actual amount. For this reason, although the waste ink absorbing material or the like is still in a state where waste ink can be accumulated, it is determined that the amount of accumulated waste ink has reached the limit, resulting in a fatal error. As a result, although the waste ink accumulation amount is surely prevented from exceeding the limit, there has been a problem that the waste ink absorbing material and the like cannot be used to the maximum extent possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a recording apparatus capable of making maximum use of a waste ink absorbing material and the like.

  To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording execution unit that performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head to a recording surface of a recording material, and a head cleaning capable of cleaning the recording head. A recording apparatus comprising: means, timing means, backup power storage means for the timing means, and recording control device for executing recording execution control by the recording execution means and head cleaning control by the head cleaning means The recording control device specifies an elapsed time from the time of the previous head cleaning control at the predetermined timing of the head cleaning control by the time measuring unit, and the recording control device has a time exceeding the backup possible time of the power storage unit. The timing stop of the timing means by turning off the power has been changed from the previous execution of head cleaning control. It is determined whether or not it has occurred before the head cleaning control is executed, and if it is determined that the timing stop has not occurred, the evaporation amount of the waste ink in the elapsed time is used as the evaporation amount between head cleaning controls. When it is calculated and it is determined that the timed stop has occurred, the backup possible time of the power storage means is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time to the power ON of the recording apparatus. After calculating the evaporation amount and subtracting the calculated evaporation amount between head cleaning controls from the stored waste ink storage amount, the waste ink amount generated during the head cleaning control is added to the waste ink storage amount. The recording apparatus is characterized in that the waste ink accumulation amount is updated.

  The head cleaning control of the recording head is periodically performed every time a certain elapsed time has passed at a predetermined timing such as at the time of recording based on the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control specified by the timing means. To be executed. Therefore, the calculation of the waste ink evaporation amount is synchronized with the timing of the predetermined head cleaning control, and the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time specified by the time measuring means is not only the head cleaning control but also the waste ink evaporation amount. The amount of waste ink evaporation during the elapsed time is calculated as the amount of evaporation between head cleaning controls. Then, after subtracting the calculated evaporation amount between head cleaning controls from the stored waste ink storage amount, the waste ink storage amount generated during the head cleaning control is added to the waste ink storage amount to update the waste ink storage amount. To do.

  In this way, the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control specified by the timing means in the head cleaning control is also used for the calculation process of the waste ink evaporation amount, and the waste ink evaporation amount calculation process is performed at the timing of the head cleaning control. By doing so, it is not necessary to separately manage the elapsed time and the calculation execution timing when calculating the waste ink evaporation amount, and the waste ink evaporation amount calculation process can be simplified.

  Also, the backup time of the power storage means between the time of the previous head cleaning control execution and the current head cleaning control execution, that is, between the previous calculation of waste ink evaporation and the calculation of the current waste ink evaporation. In the case where the timing means stops due to the power-off of the recording device exceeding the time, as long as the power storage means is functioning normally, at least the time corresponding to the backup possible time of the power storage means has elapsed. Will be. Therefore, in such a case, the amount of time during which the power storage means can be backed up is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control to the time when the recording apparatus is powered on, and the evaporation amount between head cleaning controls is calculated.

  As a result, even if the timing stop of the timing means occurs while the recording device is turned off and the accurate elapsed time cannot be specified, the portion of the time when the recording device has been turned off can be reliably specified. The time (time for which the power storage means can be backed up) can be added to the elapsed time since the previous calculation of the amount of waste ink evaporation. That is, the waste ink evaporation amount can be calculated in an elapsed time that is closer to the actual elapsed time than a conventional recording apparatus in which the elapsed time of the time when the recording apparatus is turned off is 0.

  In particular, if the power storage means backup time is sufficiently long and the evaporation of waste ink reaches the evaporation limit (a state in which no further volume reduction occurs due to evaporation) within the backup time, an extremely accurate calculation of the amount of waste ink evaporation is possible. Is possible. The power storage means in the present invention includes both a power storage device such as a capacitor and a storage battery that can be charged and used repeatedly.

  As a result, according to the recording apparatus described in the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to calculate the waste ink evaporation amount more accurately than in the past, thereby specifying the waste ink accumulation amount more accurately than in the past. As a result, it is possible to obtain the operational effect that the waste ink absorbing material and the like can be effectively used to the maximum.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect described above, when the recording control device determines that the time stop has occurred, the recording control device specifies the time of the recording device specified by the time measuring means. A recording apparatus characterized in that a time obtained by adding a backup possible time of the power storage means to an elapsed time from power ON is regarded as an elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control, and the evaporation amount between the head cleaning controls is calculated. It is.

  As described above, the time obtained by adding the backup time of the power storage means to the elapsed time from the power-on of the recording apparatus specified by the timing of the time measuring means is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time. Calculate the amount of evaporation. As a result, even if the timing stop of the timing means occurs while the recording device is turned off and the accurate elapsed time cannot be specified, the portion of the time when the recording device has been turned off can be reliably specified. The time (time for which the power storage means can be backed up) can be added to the elapsed time since the previous calculation of the amount of waste ink evaporation. That is, the waste ink evaporation amount can be calculated in an elapsed time that is closer to the actual elapsed time than a conventional recording apparatus in which the elapsed time of the time when the recording apparatus is turned off is 0.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect or the second aspect described above, when the waste ink accumulation amount exceeds a certain amount, the recording control device performs subsequent recording on a recording material. The recording apparatus is characterized by stopping the recording.
The fixed amount of waste ink accumulated here is set to a limit amount of the waste ink accumulation amount such as a waste ink absorber or an accumulation amount very close to the limit amount. When the amount of accumulated waste ink exceeds a certain amount, the subsequent recording on the recording material is stopped, so that no more waste ink is generated thereafter. It is possible to reliably prevent the material from overflowing and leaking out of the recording apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects described above, when the recording control apparatus receives a time stamp from the outside, it receives the time of the time measuring means. The recording apparatus is characterized in that it is updated at the time of the time stamp.
As described above, when the time stamp is received from the outside in an environment where the time stamp can be received from the outside, the time of the time measuring means is updated to the time of the received time stamp. Thereby, it is possible to more accurately specify the elapsed time from the previous calculation of the waste ink evaporation amount.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects described above, the recording control device is configured to accumulate the waste ink amount without subtracting the evaporation amount during the head cleaning control. The accumulated total amount of ink is also stored and stored, and when the calculated evaporation amount during head cleaning control is subtracted from the accumulated amount of waste ink, the accumulated amount of waste ink is obtained by multiplying the accumulated amount of waste ink by the residual evaporation rate. It is determined whether or not the amount is less than or equal to the amount of ink. If the amount of accumulated waste ink is equal to or less than the amount of waste ink obtained by multiplying the total amount of waste ink by the residual evaporation rate, the total amount of waste ink is multiplied by the amount of residual evaporation. The recording apparatus is characterized in that the amount of waste ink accumulated is updated with the amount of waste ink.

  The total amount of waste ink accumulated without subtracting the evaporation amount of waste ink is based on the assumption that there is no volume reduction due to evaporation in the waste ink accumulated in waste ink absorbers, etc. Is the amount of accumulated waste ink. That is, the amount of waste ink obtained by multiplying the total accumulated amount of waste ink by the residual evaporation rate (hereinafter referred to as “evaporation limit amount”) has sufficient time until no further volume reduction of waste ink due to evaporation occurs. This corresponds to the accumulated amount of waste ink in the elapsed state. Accordingly, it is theoretically impossible for the actual amount of waste ink to be accumulated to be less than the evaporation limit amount.

  Therefore, after calculating the waste ink accumulation amount, the calculated waste ink accumulation amount is compared with the evaporation limit amount. If the calculated waste ink accumulation amount is smaller than the evaporation limit amount, the waste ink accumulation is performed at this evaporation limit amount. Update quantity. As a result, the amount of waste ink accumulated may be misjudged for some reason by a smaller amount than the actual amount, and the actual amount of waste ink will exceed the accumulation limit of waste ink absorbers, etc., and waste ink will leak out of the recording device. Can be prevented.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect described above, the recording control apparatus is configured such that the waste ink generated other than the head cleaning control by the head cleaning unit is all the waste ink accumulation amount and the waste ink total accumulation. The recording apparatus is characterized by being added to a quantity.
As described above, when there is a factor that generates waste ink in addition to the head cleaning process, the waste ink is also added to the waste ink accumulation amount and the total waste ink accumulation amount to accurately manage the waste ink accumulation amount. Is possible.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording execution means for performing recording by ejecting ink from a recording head onto a recording surface of a recording material, a head cleaning means capable of cleaning the recording head, a time measuring means, A recording control program for causing a computer to execute recording execution control by the recording execution unit and head cleaning control by the head cleaning unit of a recording apparatus including a backup power storage unit of the time measuring unit, The procedure of specifying the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time by the time measuring means at the head cleaning control timing, and the time counting of the time counting means by turning off the power of the recording apparatus for the time exceeding the backup possible time of the power storage means Stop this time since the previous head cleaning control was executed. The procedure for determining whether or not it has occurred before the execution of the cleaning control, and if it is determined that the timing stop has not occurred, the evaporation amount of the waste ink during the elapsed time is determined as the evaporation amount between head cleaning controls. And when it is determined that the timing stop has occurred, the backup time of the power storage means is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time to the power ON of the recording apparatus. A procedure for calculating an evaporation amount between cleaning controls, and after subtracting the calculated evaporation amount between head cleaning controls from a stored waste ink storage amount, the waste ink amount generated during the head cleaning control is stored in the waste ink storage And a procedure for updating the amount of accumulated waste ink by adding to the amount. It is.

  According to the recording control program described in the seventh aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the invention described in the first aspect described above can be brought to any recording apparatus that can execute the recording control program. it can.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus as an example of a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a recording system including the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention and an “information processing apparatus”.
The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes a “main scanning drive unit” that scans the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X by ejecting ink onto the recording paper P as a “recording material”. As shown, a carriage 61 supported by a carriage guide shaft 51 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction X is provided. A recording head 62 and a PW sensor 34 described later are mounted on the carriage 61, and the rotational driving force of the CR motor 63 (FIG. 3) is transmitted by a belt transmission mechanism (not shown) to reciprocate in the main scanning direction X. Move. A platen 52 that defines a gap between the head surface of the recording head 62 and the recording paper P is provided at a position facing the head surface of the recording head 62.
A known capping device 59 is provided outside the one end side of the reciprocating region of the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction X. In a standby state in which recording is not performed, the carriage 61 moves over the capping device 59 and stops, and the head surface of the recording head 62 is sealed by the cap CP provided in the capping device 59. The stop position of the carriage 61 is defined as a home position HP.

  Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus 50, a conveyance driving roller 53 that conveys the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y is used as “sub-scanning driving means” that causes the recording head 62 to scan the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y. And a conveyance driven roller 54 are provided. The conveyance driving roller 53 rotates when the rotation driving force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) is transmitted to the gear, and the recording paper P is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the conveyance driving roller 53. A plurality of transport driven rollers 54 are provided and are individually urged by the transport driving roller 53, and the recording paper P is in contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is transported by the rotation of the transport driving roller 53. Rotates following the transport of A coating having a high frictional resistance is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53. The recording paper P pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the transport driven roller 54 comes into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the frictional resistance of the outer peripheral surface, and rotates in the sub scanning direction by the transport driving roller 53. To be transported. The “recording execution unit” of the inkjet recording apparatus 50 includes the above-described “main scanning driving unit” and “sub-scanning driving unit”, and the recording paper P is placed between the carriage 61 and the platen 52 in the sub-scanning direction Y. Recording is performed on the recording paper P by alternately repeating the operation of transporting the recording head 62 with the transport amount and the operation of ejecting ink from the recording head 62 onto the recording paper P while the recording head 62 is reciprocated once in the main scanning direction X. Is called.

  On the upstream side of the conveyance drive roller 53 in the sub-scanning direction Y, a paper feed tray 57 as a “recording material stacking unit” capable of stacking a large number of recording sheets P is disposed. The paper feed tray 57 is configured to feed (feed) recording paper P such as plain paper or photo paper. In the vicinity of the paper feed tray 57, an ASF (automatic feeding means) that automatically feeds the uppermost recording paper P stacked on the paper feeding tray 57 to the "recording execution means" Auto sheet feeder) is provided. The ASF is an automatic paper feed mechanism having a paper feed roller 57b provided on the paper feed tray 57 and a separation pad (not shown). The paper feed roller 57 b is disposed on one side of the paper feed tray 57. The recording paper guide 57a is provided on the paper feed tray 57 so as to be slidable in the width direction in accordance with the width of the recording paper P. Then, the recording paper P placed on the paper feeding tray 57 is fed by the rotational driving force of the paper feed roller 57b rotated by the transmission of the rotational driving force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) and the frictional resistance of the separation pad. At the time of paper feeding, a plurality of recording papers P are not fed at a time, but only the topmost recording paper P is accurately separated and automatically fed one by one. A paper detector 33 according to a known technique is disposed between the paper feed roller 57b and the conveyance drive roller 53.

On the other hand, as means for discharging the recording paper P after execution of recording, a paper discharge driving roller 55 and a paper discharge driven roller 56 as “discharge driving rollers” are provided. The paper discharge driving roller 55 is rotated by transmission of the rotational driving force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3), and the recording paper P after recording is discharged in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. Is done. The paper discharge driven roller 56 has a plurality of teeth around it, and is a toothed roller sharply sharpened so that the tip of each tooth makes point contact with the recording surface of the recording paper P. The plurality of paper discharge driven rollers 56 are individually urged by the paper discharge driving roller 55, and come into contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. The paper rotates as the paper is discharged.
A PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) that rotationally drives the paper feed roller 57b, the conveyance drive roller 53, and the paper discharge drive roller 55, and a CR motor 63 (FIG. 3) that drives the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction will be described later. The recording control unit 100 controls the driving. Similarly, the recording head 62 is driven and controlled by the recording control unit 100 to eject ink onto the surface of the recording paper P. In the ink jet recording apparatus 50, the recording control unit 100 causes the carriage 61 to reciprocate in the main scanning direction X while ejecting ink from the recording head 62 to the recording paper P, and the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y. Recording on the recording paper P is executed while alternately repeating the operation of transporting with the transport amount of.

The recording system 10 including the ink jet recording apparatus 50 and the “information processing apparatus” and the recording control unit 100 as the “recording control apparatus” will be described with reference to FIGS.
The recording control unit 100 includes a ROM 101, a RAM 102, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) 103, an MPU 104, a nonvolatile memory 105 as a “nonvolatile storage medium”, a PF motor driver 106, a CR motor driver 107, and a head driver 108. ing. The MPU 104 includes a rotary encoder 31 as a “rotation amount detection unit” that detects the rotation amount of the transport driving roller 53 via the ASIC 103, and a linear encoder 32 as a “carriage movement amount detection unit” that detects the movement amount of the carriage 61. The paper detector 33 for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the conveyed recording paper P, the PW sensor 34 for detecting the edge of the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X, and the ink jet recording apparatus 50 are turned on / off. A power switch 35 for turning off, a recording operation switch 36 for performing a recording start operation on the recording paper P by the “recording execution means”, and an output signal of the operation panel 39 as “setting input means” are input.

The known rotary encoder 31 has a rotary scale 311 that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the conveyance drive roller 53, and a rotary scale sensor 312 that detects slits formed at equal intervals along the outer periphery of the rotary scale 311. (FIG. 2). An output signal of the rotary scale sensor 312 that changes with the rotation of the transport driving roller 53 is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103.
A known linear encoder 32 detects a linear scale 321 disposed in the vicinity of the carriage 61 substantially in parallel with the main scanning direction X and a linear scale that detects slits formed at equal intervals in the linear scale 321 mounted on the carriage 61. And a scale sensor 322 (FIG. 2). An output signal of the linear scale sensor 322 in which the period of the pulse corresponding to the amount of movement of the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction X changes with the moving speed is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103.

  The known paper detector 33 is given a self-returning behavior to a standing posture and protrudes into the conveyance path of the recording paper P so as to be able to rotate only in the conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction Y) of the recording paper P. This detector has a lever that is pivotally supported in the state, and the lever rotates when the tip of the lever is pushed by the recording paper P, whereby the recording paper P is detected (FIG. 2). . The paper detector 33 detects the start end position and the end position of the recording paper P fed from the paper feed roller 57 b, and the detection signal is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103. The PW sensor 34 is configured by a non-contact optical sensor, and detects the end position of the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X (side end position of the recording paper P), and the detection signal is transmitted via the ASIC 103. And output to the MPU 104. Based on the output signals of the paper detector 33 and the PW sensor 34, the MPU 104 calculates the transport position of the recording paper P, the size of the recording paper P, and the like.

A ROM 101, a RAM 102, an ASIC 103, an MPU 104, and a nonvolatile memory 105 are connected to the system bus of the recording control unit 100. The MPU 104 performs arithmetic processing for executing recording control of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 and other necessary arithmetic processing. The ROM 101 stores a recording control program (firmware) necessary for controlling the ink jet recording apparatus 50 by the MPU 104, and various data necessary for processing the recording control program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 105. . The RAM 102 is used as a work area for the MPU 104 and a storage area for recording data.
The ASIC 103 has a control circuit for performing speed control of the PF motor 58 and the CR motor 63 which are DC motors and driving control of the recording head 62. Based on the control command sent from the MPU 104, the output signal of the rotary encoder 31, and the output signal of the linear encoder 32, various calculations for controlling the speed of the PF motor 58 and the CR motor 63 are performed. The motor control signal based on this is sent to the PF motor driver 106 and the CR motor driver 107. Further, based on the recording data sent from the MPU 104, a control signal for the recording head 62 is calculated and generated and sent to the head driver 108 to drive-control the recording head 62.

The ASIC 103 includes a card IF 111, a host IF 112, and a device IF 113 as “information transmission means” that realizes information transmission with a personal computer 301, a digital camera 302, a mobile phone terminal 303, or the like as an “information processing apparatus”.
The card IF 111 realizes a card interface such as a nonvolatile memory card or a PC card inserted into the card slot 200 as “digital image data reading means”. When a memory card is inserted into the card slot 200, it is possible to read / write data from / to the memory card, and when an infrared communication interface card is inserted into the card slot 200, an infrared communication function such as the mobile phone terminal 303 is provided. An infrared communication interface with an electronic device is realized.
The host IF 112 implements a USB interface with a host device such as a personal computer (PC) 301 connected to the USB connector 37 for connecting the host device. The USB connector 37 is disposed on the back side of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 (FIG. 2).
The device IF 113 implements a USB interface with a USB device such as a digital camera (DSC) 302 connected to the USB connector 38 for device connection. The USB connector 38 is disposed on the front side of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 so that a USB device such as the digital camera 302 can be easily attached and detached (FIG. 2).

  Next, head cleaning control and waste ink accumulation amount management control executed in the recording control unit 100 as a “recording control device” will be described.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 50, waste ink is generated at the time of head cleaning control from the capping device 59 (FIG. 1) as “head cleaning means” capable of cleaning the recording head 62 (FIG. 1). The waste ink is accumulated in a waste ink absorber (not shown) disposed inside the ink jet recording apparatus 50. The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes an RTC (real time clock) 109 as a “timer” and a capacitor 110 as a “storage unit” for backup of the RTC 109. The RTC 109 is an electronic device dedicated to timekeeping that is mounted on an electronic circuit board constituting the recording control unit 100. The RTC 109 operates with the recording control unit 100 by external power supply or the like while the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is powered on, and the recording control unit 100 stops while the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is powered off. Only the RTC 109 operates by receiving power supply from the capacitor 110.

  As described above, during the power-off of the ink jet recording apparatus 50, the power charged in the capacitor 110 is supplied to the RTC 109 while the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is turned on, and the RTC 109 continues to operate. . In this embodiment, the “power storage means” is a large-capacity capacitor 110 mounted on the electronic circuit board constituting the recording control unit 100, but may be an alkaline battery or the like that can be repeatedly charged and discharged. In this embodiment, the time during which the RTC 109 can operate with the capacitor 110 is about 150 hours.

  The recording control unit 100 executes head cleaning control and management control of the waste ink accumulation amount of the waste ink absorbing material, which will be described below, based on the timing of the RTC 109.

  FIG. 4 is a graph schematically showing the relationship between the actual time lapse and the count (time count) value of the RTC 109, and the ink jet recording apparatus 50 between the previous head cleaning control and the current head cleaning control. This shows a case where the power is turned on / off and the time when the power is turned off is equal to or shorter than the time when the capacitor 110 can back up the RTC 109.

  The head cleaning control is executed based on the elapsed time specified from the count value of the RTC 109 at a predetermined timing such as when recording on the recording paper P is performed. The recording control unit 100 displays an elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time) from the previous head cleaning control execution time (hereinafter referred to as “last cleaning time”) based on the count value of the RTC 109 when the recording paper P is recorded. If the calculated elapsed time is equal to or longer than a certain time, the recording on the recording paper P is executed after the head cleaning control is executed. On the other hand, if the elapsed time is less than a certain time, the recording on the recording paper P is executed without executing the head cleaning control.

  During this time, even if the power of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is turned ON / OFF by the user, if the OFF time is less than the backup possible time of the capacitor 110, the RTC 109 can continue counting (timekeeping) without stopping. it can. Accordingly, the elapsed time (reference A) calculated based on the count of the RTC 109 from the last cleaning time to the current head cleaning control coincides with the actual elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time). Since the last cleaning time is stored and held in the nonvolatile memory 105 (FIG. 3), it is held even when the power of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is turned off.

  FIG. 5 is a graph schematically showing the relationship between the actual time lapse and the count value of the RTC 109, and is less than the time when the RTC 109 can be backed up by the capacitor 110 between the previous head cleaning control and the current head cleaning control. The time stamp information Ti is received from the outside after the power is turned on and off and before the current head cleaning control is executed after the power is turned on.

  The recording control unit 100 can receive the time stamp information Ti from the personal computer 301 in a state where the personal computer 301 (FIG. 3) is connected to be able to transmit information via the host IF 112. This time stamp information Ti is usually time information indicating an accurate time. Therefore, when the time stamp information Ti is received, the recording control unit 100 corrects the time based on the time measured by the RTC 109 based on the received time stamp information Ti (indicated by a broken line). Correct the count value). The last cleaning time is also corrected accordingly.

  Thus, when the time stamp Ti is received from the outside in an environment where the time stamp Ti can be received from the outside, the time count of the RTC 109 is updated based on the time of the received time stamp. Thereby, it is possible to more accurately specify the elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time) from the previous calculation of the amount of waste ink evaporation (last cleaning time).

  FIG. 6 is a graph schematically showing the relationship between the actual time lapse and the count value of the RTC 109, and shows the backup time of the RTC 109 by the capacitor 110 between the previous head cleaning control and the current head cleaning control. This shows a case where the time stamp information Ti is received from the outside after the power is turned on and off and before the current head cleaning control is executed after the power is turned on.

  If the OFF time of power ON / OFF of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 made by the user exceeds the backup possible time of the capacitor 110 (time corresponding to the count number of the code B), the RTC 109 stops at that time. Accordingly, since the RTC 109 starts counting from 0 after the power is turned on, the elapsed time from the last cleaning time cannot be accurately specified as it is. However, if the time stamp information Ti is received from the personal computer 301 before the current head cleaning control timing is reached, the time based on the time measured by the RTC 109 is based on the received time stamp information Ti. Can be corrected to an accurate time. Thereby, the elapsed time (reference A) calculated based on the count of the RTC 109 from the last cleaning time to the current head cleaning control coincides with the actual elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time).

  FIG. 7 is a graph schematically showing the relationship between the actual elapsed time and the count value of the RTC 109, and shows the backup time of the RTC 109 by the capacitor 110 between the previous head cleaning control and the current head cleaning control. This shows a case where the time stamp information Ti cannot be received from the outside after the power is turned on and off and before the current head cleaning control is executed after the power is turned on.

  If the power ON / OFF OFF time of the inkjet recording apparatus 50 made by the user exceeds the backup possible time of the capacitor 110, the RTC 109 will start counting from 0 after the power is turned ON. The elapsed time from the last cleaning time (cleaning elapsed time) cannot be accurately specified. Therefore, if the time stamp information Ti cannot be received from the personal computer 301 before the predetermined timing of the head cleaning control of this time, the count value (symbol C) of the RTC 109 started from 0 after the power is turned on is encoded. The time based on the count value (B + C) obtained by adding the B count number (count number corresponding to the backup possible time) is regarded as the elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time) from the last cleaning time.

  In addition to the head cleaning control described above, the recording control unit 100 also executes management control of the waste ink accumulation amount described below.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an error processing procedure based on the amount of waste ink stored in the waste ink absorber. This procedure is a procedure executed when the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is turned on and when head cleaning control is performed.
First, it is determined whether the waste ink storage amount EWL of the waste ink absorbent calculated by the procedure for calculating the waste ink storage amount EWL (described later) is greater than or equal to the overflow threshold Z0 of the waste ink absorbent (step S1). The overflow threshold Z0 is a limit value for the amount of accumulated waste ink absorbing material. If the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is less than the waste ink absorber overflow threshold Z0 (No in step S1), then whether or not the calculated waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or greater than the waste ink absorber near-end threshold Z1. Is determined (step S2).

  The near-end threshold value Z1 is an accumulation amount one step before the limit value (overflow threshold value Z0) of the waste ink absorbing material. If the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is less than the near-end threshold value Z1 of the waste ink absorber (No in step S2), the procedure is terminated as it is. If the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or greater than the waste ink absorbing material near-end threshold value Z1 (Yes in step S2), the waste ink near-end is displayed on the operation unit 39 (FIG. 3) or the like (step S3). End the procedure. In this case, since the waste ink accumulation amount EWL has not reached the limit value (overflow threshold value Z0), a warning for the user is displayed on the operation unit 39 or the like, but subsequent recording on the recording paper P is allowed.

  On the other hand, if the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is greater than or equal to the overflow threshold Z0 (Yes in step S1), it is then determined whether or not the carriage 61 (FIG. 1) is in a locked state (step S4). The lock of the carriage 61 is a state in which the carriage 61 is hooked by a lock mechanism (not shown) in a state where the carriage 61 is stopped at the home position HP (FIG. 1). If the carriage 61 is already in the locked state (Yes in step S4), waste ink overflow is displayed on the operation unit 39 (FIG. 3) or the like (step S7), and the procedure ends.

  In this case, since the waste ink accumulation amount EWL has reached the limit value (overflow threshold value Z0), a warning to the user is displayed on the operation unit 39 and the like, and subsequent execution of recording on the recording paper P is prohibited, and a fatal error occurs. It becomes. If the carriage 61 is not in the locked state (No in step S4), the carriage 61 is moved to the home position HP (home return) (step S5), the carriage 61 is locked (step S6), and the operation unit 39 (FIG. 3). ) And the like are displayed (step S7), and the procedure is terminated.

  As a result, the user indicates that the waste ink storage amount EWL of the waste ink absorbing material has reached one step before the limit value (near-end display), and reached the limit value, resulting in a fatal error. (Overflow indication) can be recognized. Then, when the waste ink accumulation amount EWL exceeds a certain amount, the subsequent recording on the recording paper P is stopped (prohibited), so that no waste ink is generated thereafter. Can be reliably prevented from overflowing from the waste ink absorbing material or the like and leaking out of the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for cumulatively adding the generated waste ink amount to the waste ink accumulation amount EWL and the waste ink total cumulative amount WL. Note that this procedure is a procedure executed when the head cleaning process, the flushing process, and the borderless recording control are executed.
Here, the flushing process is a process of periodically discarding the recording paper P outside the recording paper P during recording on the recording paper P in order to maintain the nozzle state of the recording head 62 in an optimum state. “None recording” is control for executing recording without margins on four sides of the recording paper P while discarding ink outside the recording paper P. In either case, waste ink is generated, and the generated waste ink is absorbed and accumulated in the waste ink absorber.

  First, it is determined whether or not it is a flushing process (step S11). In the case of the flushing process (Yes in step S11), the amount of waste ink generated by the flushing process is added to the stored waste ink accumulation amount EWL and the total waste ink accumulation amount WL (described later) to be updated ( Step S12). On the other hand, if it is not the flushing process (No in step S11), it is subsequently determined whether or not there is borderless recording (step S13). If it is borderless recording (Yes in step S13), the amount of waste ink generated in borderless recording is added to the stored waste ink accumulation amount EWL and waste ink total amount WL and updated (step S13). S14). On the other hand, if it is not borderless recording (No in step S13), it is subsequently determined whether or not the head cleaning process is performed (step S15).

  If it is not the head cleaning process (No in step S15), no waste ink is generated, and the procedure is terminated as it is. On the other hand, in the case of the head cleaning process (Yes in step S15), after the evaporation amount calculation described later is executed (step S16), the amount of waste ink accumulated that stores and holds the amount of waste ink generated in the head cleaning process. It is updated by adding to the EWL and the waste ink total accumulated amount WL (step S17). The amount of generated waste ink is estimated based on the ink ejection control amount when the waste ink is generated.

  As described above, when there is a factor that generates waste ink in addition to the head cleaning process, the waste ink is also added to the waste ink accumulation amount EWL and the waste ink total accumulation amount WL to obtain an accurate waste ink accumulation amount. Management of EWL becomes possible.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for calculating the evaporation amount of waste ink accumulated in the waste ink absorber. This procedure is a procedure executed at the time of controlling the head cleaning process (step S16 in FIG. 9).
First, it is determined whether or not the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or greater than the near-end threshold value Z1 (step S21). If the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or greater than the near-end threshold value Z1 (Yes in step S21), the evaporation amount calculation is not performed to secure a margin, and the procedure is terminated as it is. If the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is less than the near-end threshold value Z1 (No in step S21), then whether or not the elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time) from the last cleaning time to the current head cleaning control time is indefinite. Is determined (step S22). That is, the power is turned ON / OFF exceeding the backup possible time of the capacitor 110 (FIG. 3), and the time stamp information Ti is not received from the outside after the power is turned ON before the current head cleaning control is executed. , It is determined whether or not the RTC 109 (FIG. 3) is measuring an incorrect time.

If the cleaning elapsed time is not indefinite (No in step S22), that is, if the RTC 109 is measuring an accurate time, the elapsed time from the last cleaning time (LastCL time) to the current time based on the time measured by the RTC 109 The time (cleaning elapsed time) is set as the evaporation time ET (step S23). On the other hand, if the cleaning elapsed time is indefinite (Yes in step S22), that is, if the RTC 109 has not timed the exact time, the capacitor 110 is set to the elapsed time from the power-on of the ink jet recording apparatus 50. The time obtained by adding the backup possible time is regarded as the elapsed time (cleaning elapsed time) from the last cleaning time to the current time and is set as the evaporation time ET (step S24).
If the backup possible time of the capacitor 110 is sufficiently long, the evaporation limit (a state in which no further volume reduction occurs due to evaporation) is reached only by that time. Therefore, in step S24, the backup possible time is used as the evaporation time ET as it is. In particular, the evaporation amount of the waste ink does not change.

Subsequently, the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is calculated and updated by the following formula (step S25).

EWL = EWL-ET · EC (1)

EC is an evaporation coefficient, and by multiplying the evaporation time ET by the evaporation coefficient EC, an evaporation amount of waste ink (evaporation amount between head cleaning controls) during the elapse of the evaporation time ET can be obtained. Then, the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is updated with a value obtained by subtracting the evaporation amount from the waste ink accumulation amount EWL. Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the updated waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or less than a value obtained by multiplying the total waste ink accumulation amount WL by the evaporation rate ERR (step S26).

  Here, the waste ink total accumulated amount WL is obtained by accumulating the waste ink amount without subtracting the waste ink evaporation amount (evaporation amount during head cleaning control) during the evaporating time ET. That is, this corresponds to an accumulation amount when it is assumed that there is no volume reduction due to evaporation in the waste ink accumulated in the waste ink absorber or the like. Accordingly, the waste ink amount (evaporation limit amount) obtained by multiplying the total waste ink cumulative amount WL by the evaporation residual rate ERR is a state in which sufficient time has passed until the volume of waste ink does not decrease further due to evaporation. It is theoretically impossible that the amount of accumulated waste ink corresponds to the amount of accumulated waste ink, and the actual amount of accumulated waste ink is less than the evaporation limit amount. Similar to the waste ink accumulation amount EWL, the waste ink total accumulation amount WL is stored and held in the nonvolatile memory 105 (FIG. 3), and is cumulatively added and updated every time waste ink is generated.

If the updated waste ink accumulation amount EWL exceeds the value obtained by multiplying the total waste ink accumulation amount WL by the evaporation rate ERR (No in step S26), the procedure is terminated as it is. On the other hand, if the updated waste ink accumulation amount EWL is equal to or less than the value obtained by multiplying the total waste ink cumulative amount WL by the evaporation rate ERR (Yes in step S26), the evaporation rate ERR is set to the total waste ink amount WL. The waste ink accumulation amount EWL is updated with the multiplied value (step S27).
As described above, it is theoretically impossible for the actual waste ink accumulation amount to be smaller than the evaporation limit amount (WL · ERR). Therefore, the calculated waste ink accumulation amount EWL is less than the evaporation limit value. By limiting, the waste ink accumulation amount EWL is erroneously determined to be less than the actual amount for some reason, and the actual waste ink accumulation amount exceeds the accumulation limit of the waste ink absorber or the like, and the waste ink is stored in the ink jet recording apparatus 50. It is possible to prevent leakage from the outside.

  In this way, according to the ink jet recording apparatus 50 according to the present invention, the waste ink absorbing material and the like can be effectively used to the maximum extent in the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic side view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a recording system according to the present invention. It is the graph which showed typically the relation between time passage and the count value of RTC. It is the graph which showed typically the relation between time passage and the count value of RTC. It is the graph which showed typically the relation between time passage and the count value of RTC. It is the graph which showed typically the relation between time passage and the count value of RTC. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an error processing procedure based on a waste ink accumulation amount. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for accumulating the amount of generated waste ink. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of evaporation amount calculation of waste ink.

Explanation of symbols

50 Inkjet recording apparatus, 51 Carriage guide shaft, 52 Platen, 53 Conveyance drive roller, 54 Conveyance driven roller, 55 Discharge drive roller, 56 Discharge driven roller, 57 Feed tray, 57b Feed roller, 58 PF motor, 59 Capping device, 61 Carriage, 62 Recording head, 63 CR motor, 100 Recording control unit, 101 ROM, 102 RAM, 103 ASIC, 104 MPU, 105 Non-volatile memory, 106 PF motor driver, 107 CR motor driver, 108 Head driver 109 RTC, 110 capacitor, 200 card slot, 301 personal computer, 302 digital camera, 303 mobile phone terminal, P recording paper, X main scanning direction, Y sub-scanning direction

Claims (7)

Recording execution means for performing recording by ejecting ink from the recording head onto the recording surface of the recording material, head cleaning means capable of cleaning the recording head, time measuring means, and power storage means for backup of the time measuring means And a recording control device that executes recording execution control by the recording execution unit and head cleaning control by the head cleaning unit,
The recording control device specifies an elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control at the predetermined head cleaning control timing by the time measuring means,
Whether or not the timing stop of the timing unit due to the power-off of the recording device for a time exceeding the backup possible time of the power storage unit has occurred between the previous head cleaning control execution and the current head cleaning control execution. Judgment,
When it is determined that the timing stop has not occurred, the evaporation amount of the waste ink at the elapsed time is calculated as the evaporation amount between head cleaning controls,
If it is determined that the timing stop has occurred, the backup possible time of the power storage means is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time to the power ON of the recording apparatus, and the evaporation amount during the head cleaning control is calculated. Calculate
After subtracting the calculated amount of evaporation between the head cleaning controls from the amount of accumulated waste ink stored, the amount of waste ink generated during the head cleaning control is added to the amount of waste ink accumulated to obtain the amount of waste ink accumulated. A recording apparatus characterized by updating. 2. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein when the recording control device determines that the time stop has occurred, the recording control device backs up the power storage device at an elapsed time from the power ON of the recording device specified by the time measuring device. The recording apparatus characterized in that the evaporation amount between the head cleaning controls is calculated by regarding the time added with the possible time as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording control device stops recording on a recording material thereafter when the amount of accumulated waste ink exceeds a certain amount. 4. The recording control device according to claim 1, wherein when the time stamp is received from the outside, the recording control device updates the time of the time measuring means to the time of the received time stamp. Recording device. 5. The recording control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording control apparatus also stores and holds a total waste ink amount obtained by accumulating the waste ink amount without subtracting the evaporation amount between the head cleaning controls.
When the calculated evaporation amount between head cleaning controls is subtracted from the waste ink accumulation amount, it is determined whether the waste ink accumulation amount is equal to or less than a waste ink amount obtained by multiplying the waste ink total accumulation amount by an evaporation remaining rate. ,
When the waste ink accumulation amount is equal to or less than the waste ink amount obtained by multiplying the waste ink total accumulation amount by the evaporation residual rate, the waste ink accumulation amount is equal to the waste ink amount obtained by multiplying the waste ink total accumulation amount by the evaporation residual rate. A recording apparatus characterized by renewing. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording control apparatus adds all waste ink generated other than head cleaning control by the head cleaning unit to the waste ink accumulation amount and the total waste ink accumulation amount. . Recording execution means for performing recording by ejecting ink from the recording head onto the recording surface of the recording material, head cleaning means capable of cleaning the recording head, time measuring means, and power storage means for backup of the time measuring means A recording control program for causing a computer to execute recording execution control by the recording execution unit and head cleaning control by the head cleaning unit of a recording apparatus comprising:
A procedure for specifying an elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control at the predetermined timing of the head cleaning control by the time measuring means;
Whether or not the timing stop of the timing unit due to the power-off of the recording device for a time exceeding the backup possible time of the power storage unit has occurred between the previous head cleaning control execution and the current head cleaning control execution. A procedure for judging;
A procedure for calculating the evaporation amount of the waste ink at the elapsed time as the evaporation amount during head cleaning control when it is determined that the timing stop has not occurred;
If it is determined that the timing stop has occurred, the backup possible time of the power storage means is regarded as the elapsed time from the previous head cleaning control time to the power ON of the recording apparatus, and the evaporation amount during the head cleaning control is calculated. The procedure to calculate,
After subtracting the calculated amount of evaporation between the head cleaning controls from the amount of accumulated waste ink stored, the amount of waste ink generated during the head cleaning control is added to the amount of waste ink accumulated to obtain the amount of waste ink accumulated. A recording control program characterized by comprising: a procedure for updating.

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