JP6455078B2 - Liquid ejection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that records an image by ejecting liquid onto a recording medium.

  Conventionally, an upper limit for starting a capping operation for a predetermined time after printing processing based on one page or one first print job (first recording data) is completed (in order to prevent defective printing due to ink drying or the like) It is determined whether print data (ejection data) created based on the next page or the next second print job (second print data) is present in the buffer of the printing apparatus before the time) When there is no print data, a capping operation of the recording head is executed in order to prevent defective printing, and when there is print data, an ink jet recording apparatus in which the printing process is continued without performing the capping operation is known. (For example, Patent Document 1).

JP 11-320912 A

  In the ink jet recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the size of the next page or the next second print job is received even though the second print job is received before the predetermined time elapses. If the creation time for creating the print data is large, the print data may not be stored in the buffer of the recording device until the predetermined time has elapsed. In this case, the ink jet recording apparatus determines that the print data based on the next page or the next second print job is not in the buffer, and starts a capping operation as maintenance when the predetermined time has elapsed.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, the reception completion timing Ta3 when the reception of the second print job is completed is a predetermined time elapsed from the first printing (recording) completion timing Ta1 related to the first print job. However, the creation completion timing Ta4 for completing the creation of the print data based on the second print job exists after the elapsed timing Ta2. In this case, the capping operation is started at the same capping start timing Ta5 as the elapsed timing Ta2. Then, the uncapping operation is started at the same uncapping start timing Ta6 as the creation completion timing Ta4 at which the print data is present in the buffer, and the second printing is performed at the maintenance end timing Ta7 at which the uncapping operation ends. Second printing based on the job is started. Thus, the start of the second printing is not performed at the creation completion timing Ta4, and it is necessary to wait until the executed maintenance operation is finished, that is, until the uncapping operation is finished. As a result, there is a problem that the time from when the next print job is received until the print processing based on the print job is started becomes longer.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus that can suppress an increase in the time from when the next recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

In a first aspect , the liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention has a liquid ejection head having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting liquid is formed, a maintenance mechanism that performs maintenance on the ejection surface, and the liquid ejection head And a control unit for controlling the maintenance mechanism. The control unit receives the recording data, discharge data creation processing for generating discharge data based on the received recording data, and discharges liquid from the discharge port to the recording medium based on the discharge data. Recording processing to be performed, and second recording received next to the first recording data before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing at which recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. A first maintenance process for performing a first maintenance operation when no data is received, and when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing, Completing the calculation process for calculating the creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process and the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time If the imming is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the second maintenance operation is started before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. The second maintenance process can be executed. The maintenance mechanism includes a facing portion that can face the discharge surface, an annular portion that is disposed so as to surround the discharge surface, and a discharge that faces the discharge surface when the annular portion contacts the facing portion. A sealed state in which the space is enclosed with the opposed portion and the ejection surface and sealed from the external space, and the annular portion is separated from the opposed portion to open the ejected space to the external space. A cap mechanism having a moving mechanism for moving the annular portion and a wiping mechanism for wiping a facing surface of the facing portion facing the discharge port so that the open state can be selectively taken; The first maintenance operation is a capping operation for setting the sealed state, and the second maintenance operation is a discharge mem- ber including a series of operations for performing a liquid discharge operation for preliminarily discharging liquid from the discharge port. A capping maintenance operation including a tenance operation, a series of operations for performing the capping operation, the uncapping operation for opening the liquid, and the liquid discharging operation, a wiping operation for wiping the facing surface, and the liquid discharging operation are performed. A wiping maintenance operation including a series of operations for the above, and an overall maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing the liquid discharging operation, the capping operation, the uncapping operation, and the wiping operation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid discharge apparatus including a liquid discharge head having a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging a liquid is formed, a maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface, and the liquid A control unit that controls the discharge head and the maintenance mechanism. The control unit receives the recording data, discharge data creation processing for generating discharge data based on the received recording data, and discharges liquid from the discharge port to the recording medium based on the discharge data. Recording processing to be performed, and second recording received next to the first recording data before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing at which recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. A first maintenance process for performing a first maintenance operation when no data is received, and when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing, Completing the calculation process for calculating the creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process and the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time If the imming is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the second maintenance operation is started before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. The second maintenance process can be executed. The maintenance mechanism can selectively take a sealed state in which the discharge space facing the discharge surface is sealed from the external space and an open state in which the discharge space is open to the external space. The first maintenance operation is a capping operation for setting the sealed state, and the second maintenance operation includes a series of operations for performing a liquid discharge operation for preliminarily discharging liquid from the discharge port. Any one of a discharge maintenance operation and a capping maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing the capping operation, the uncapping operation for opening the liquid, and the liquid discharging operation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid discharge apparatus including a liquid discharge head having a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging a liquid is formed, a maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface, and the liquid A control unit that controls the discharge head and the maintenance mechanism. The control unit receives the recording data, discharge data creation processing for generating discharge data based on the received recording data, and discharges liquid from the discharge port to the recording medium based on the discharge data. Recording processing to be performed, and second recording received next to the first recording data before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing at which recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. A first maintenance process for performing a first maintenance operation when no data is received, and when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing, Completing the calculation process for calculating the creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process and the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time If the imming is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the second maintenance operation is started before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. If the timing at which the creation of the ejection data is completed is before the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the timing at which the first recording is completed, the standby processing for waiting as it is can be executed.

  According to the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention, when the timing at which the creation of ejection data is completed is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the second maintenance operation is performed more than the predetermined time has elapsed. Begun before. For this reason, the end timing of the second maintenance operation can be advanced. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

1 is a schematic side view showing the inside of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a situation diagram in which the platen is located at the opposing position and the ink receiver is located at the first position, and (b) is a situation diagram in which the platen is located at the non-opposing position and the ink receptacle is located at the third position. (C) is a situation diagram in which the ink receiver is disposed at the third position and the cap 41 is disposed at the contact position. (A) is a situation diagram in which the ink receiver is disposed at the third position, and (b) is a situation diagram in which the ink receiver is disposed at the second position and the ink receiver is wiped away. It is a top view which shows the flow path unit and actuator unit of the head shown in FIG. FIG. 5A is an enlarged view showing a region surrounded by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 4, FIG. 5B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line Vb-Vb in FIG. 5A, and FIG. (B) It is an enlarged view which shows the area | region enclosed with the dashed-dotted line. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the printer illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the control content which the control part of the printer shown in FIG. 1 performs. It is a flowchart which shows S17 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement timing of the discharge | emission maintenance operation | movement performed when creation time is below 1st time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement timing of the wiping maintenance operation | movement performed when creation time is below 2nd time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation timing of the capping maintenance operation | movement performed when creation time is below 2nd time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement timing of the wiping maintenance operation | movement performed when creation time is below 3rd time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation timing of the wiping maintenance operation | movement performed when creation time is longer than 3rd time. It is a flowchart which shows the modification in a maintenance process. It is a schematic block diagram of the inkjet printer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the printer illustrated in FIG. 15. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing control contents executed by a control unit of the printer shown in FIG. 15. It is a flowchart which shows R17 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement timing of the maintenance operation | movement in the conventional inkjet recording device. In the control which the control part of the inkjet printer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention performs, it is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the creation time of case 1-case 4, and the 1st-4th time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the creation time of case 5-case 7, and the 2nd-4th time in control which the control part which is a modification is performed. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the creation time of cases 8 and 9 and the 5th and 6th time in the control which the control part of the inkjet printer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention performs.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, the overall configuration of the inkjet printer 101 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The printer 101 has a rectangular parallelepiped housing 101a. A paper discharge unit 31 is provided on the top plate of the housing 101a. In the internal space of the housing 101a, a black ink discharge head (liquid discharge head) 1, a transport mechanism 8, a paper feed tray 33, a cap mechanism 40, a paper sensor 32, a platen 10, a liquid receiver 15, and a wiping mechanism 55 ( 3), the ink receiving and raising mechanism 49 (see FIG. 6), the control unit 100, and the like are accommodated. The head 1 is connected via a cartridge and a tube (both not shown). Further, a pump (not shown) for forcibly sending ink from the cartridge to the head 1 is provided in the middle of the tube.

  Further, in the internal space of the housing 101a, a transport path for transporting the paper P is formed from the paper feed tray 33 toward the paper discharge unit 31 along the thick black arrow shown in FIG. The printer 101 is of a line type that performs recording with the head 1 fixed.

  The head 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the main scanning direction. The lower surface of the head 1 is a discharge surface 1a in which a large number of discharge ports 108 (see FIG. 5) are opened. During image recording, black ink is ejected from the ejection port 108. Further, the head 1 is supported by the housing 101 a via the head holder 3. The head holder 3 holds the head 1 so that a predetermined gap suitable for recording is formed between the ejection surface 1 a and the upper surface of the platen 10. Around the head 1, an annular cap (annular portion) 41 constituting a cap mechanism 40 is disposed. The cap 41 is attached to the head holder 3 and surrounds the outer periphery of the head 1 in plan view. The configurations of the head 1 and the cap mechanism 40 will also be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the platen 10 includes a pair of door members 11 and 12. The platen 10 sandwiches the ejection surface 1 a in the sub-scanning direction in a plan view and extends in parallel with each other along the main scanning direction. The shaft 10a is supported to be openable and closable. The platen 10 is rotated by the platen motor 10M (see FIG. 6) about the rotation shaft 10a, and is opposed to the discharge surface 1a (a position shown in FIG. 2A) parallel to the horizontal plane and discharged. A non-opposing position (position shown in FIG. 2B) that hangs down without facing the surface 1a can be taken selectively. The platen 10 takes a non-facing position during maintenance, and takes a facing position during image recording. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the platen 10 is disposed at the facing position, the spacing between the ejection surface 1a and the platen 10 is smaller than the spacing between the ejection surface 1a and the liquid receiver 15 (opposing portion). It becomes. The upper surface of the platen 10 that opposes the ejection surface 1 a when disposed at the facing position is a support surface that supports the paper P.

  The paper sensor 32 is disposed upstream of the head 1 in the transport direction. The paper sensor 32 detects the leading edge of the paper P and outputs a detection signal to the control unit 100.

  The paper feed tray 33 is a box having an open top surface and is detachable from the housing 101a. The sheet feed tray 33 can accommodate a plurality of sheets P.

  The transport mechanism 8 includes a paper feed roller 34, five feed roller pairs 35 to 39, and four guides 61 to 64. The paper feed roller 34 is rotated by the drive of a paper feed motor 34M (see FIG. 6) under the control of the control unit 100, and feeds the uppermost paper P in the paper feed tray 33. The five feed roller pairs 35 to 39 are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the transport direction along the transport path. One roller of each of the feed roller pairs 35 to 39 is a drive roller that is rotated by the drive of feed motors 35M to 39M (see FIG. 6) under the control of the control unit 100. The other roller is a driven roller that rotates as the drive roller rotates. The four guides 61 to 64 are alternately arranged with the feed roller pairs 35 to 39 in this order from the upstream side in the transport direction along the transport path. Each guide 61-64 consists of a pair of board arrange | positioned facing each other. Here, the main scanning direction is a direction parallel to the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the conveyance direction D in which the paper P is conveyed by the two feed roller pairs 36 and 37, and the sub-scanning direction is parallel to the conveyance direction D. The direction is parallel to the horizontal plane and orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

  The liquid receiver 15 is a rectangular flat plate member whose longitudinal direction is the main scanning direction and whose short direction is the sub-scanning direction. The liquid receiver 15 is made of a hard material such as glass. The liquid receiver 15 has a size slightly larger than the ejection surface 1a in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and is configured to receive ink discharged from the ejection port 108 during a flushing operation described later. Yes. The liquid receiver 15 is disposed along the vertical direction so as to be able to face the discharge surface 1a (including a state in which the platen 10 is sandwiched between the discharge surface 1a and the liquid receiver 15).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the wiping mechanism 55 includes a wiper 56 a, a base portion 56 b that supports the wiper 56 a, and a wiper moving mechanism 57. The wiper 56a is a plate-like elastic member (for example, rubber) and is slightly longer than the width of the liquid receiver 15 in the sub-scanning direction. The wiper moving mechanism 57 includes a guide 58 extending along the main scanning direction and a wiper drive motor 57M (see FIG. 6). The base 56b is connected to the wiper drive motor 57M, and reciprocates along the guide 58 by the drive of the wiper drive motor 57M. In the wiping operation described later, the base 56b is moved along the main scanning direction after waiting for the liquid receiver 15 to move to a second position (described later). As a result, the wiper 56a moves relative to the liquid receiver 15 while being in contact therewith. As a result, the ink remaining on the upper surface 15a (opposing surface) of the liquid receiver 15 is wiped away.

  The ink receiver lifting mechanism 49 moves the liquid receiver 15 up and down under the control of the control unit 100. Specifically, the ink receiver lifting mechanism 49 selectively moves the liquid receiver 15 to the first position, the second position, and the third position. Here, as shown in FIG. 2A, the first position is a position where the liquid receiver 15 is disposed during an image recording operation described later. As shown in FIG. 2B, the second position is a position above the first position, and is a position where the distance from the ejection surface 1a is narrower than the first position. The wiping operation is performed when the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the second position, as shown in FIG. When the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the first and second positions, the wiper 56a and the base portion 56b can move in the space between the head 1 and the liquid receiver 15. As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, the third position is a position above the second position. When the later-described movable body 43 of the cap mechanism 40 is lowered while the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the third position, the tip 41a of the cap 41 and the liquid receiver 15 come into contact with each other, and the discharge surface 1a. The discharge space H <b> 1 opposite to is sealed (sealed state: see FIG. 2C). Further, the flushing operation described later is performed when the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the third position and when the discharge space H1 is opened to the external space H2.

  The control unit 100 controls the operation of each unit of the printer 101 and controls the operation of the entire printer 101. The control unit 100 receives print data transmitted from an external device (such as a PC connected to the printer 101) via the interface 95. Then, an image recording operation is performed based on the received recording data. The control unit 100 controls the transport operation of the paper P, the ink discharge operation synchronized with the transport of the paper P, and the like in the image recording operation. That is, the control unit 100 drives the paper feed motor 34M for the paper feed roller 34 and the feed motors 35M to 39M for the feed roller pairs 35 to 39. The paper P delivered from the paper feed tray 33 is transported in the transport direction through the guides 61 to 64 while being sandwiched between the feed roller pairs 35 to 39. At this time, when the paper P is transported to a facing area (between the head 1 and the platen 10) facing the ejection surface 1a, the control unit 100 controls the paper P from the ejection port 108 (see FIG. 2) toward the paper P. Ink is discharged. The ink ejection operation from the ejection port 108 is performed based on the detection signal output from the paper sensor 32. The paper P on which the image is formed is discharged to the paper discharge unit 31 through an opening formed in the upper portion of the housing 101a.

  The control unit 100 also performs maintenance for maintaining / recovering the ink ejection characteristics of the head 1. The maintenance operation includes a flushing operation, a wiping operation, a capping operation, an uncapping operation, and the like. The flushing operation (liquid discharging operation) is a flushing that forcibly ejects ink from a part or all of the ejection ports 108 by driving a part or all of the actuators of the head 1.

  The wiping operation is an operation for removing the ink remaining on the liquid receiver 15 by controlling the wiping mechanism 55. The capping operation is an operation in which the ejection port 108 of the head 1 is sealed by the cap 41 and the liquid receiver 15 as shown in FIG. Thereby, drying of the ink in the ejection port 108 of the head 1 is suppressed. The uncapping operation is an operation for separating the cap 41 from the liquid receiver 15 and opening the sealed state. The wiping mechanism 55 and the cap mechanism 40 constitute a maintenance mechanism that performs maintenance of the discharge surface 1a.

  Next, the head 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 5A, for convenience of explanation, the pressure chamber 110 and the discharge port 108 that are to be drawn with a broken line below the actuator unit 19 are drawn with a solid line.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the head 1 is a laminated body in which four actuator units 19 are fixed to the upper surface 9 a of the flow path unit 9. A pressure chamber 110 is opened on the upper surface 9a. As shown in FIG. 5B, the actuator unit 19 seals this opening and constitutes the side wall of the pressure chamber 110. As shown in FIG. 5B, the flow path unit 9 is a laminate in which nine stainless steel plates 122 to 130 are laminated. An ink flow path is formed inside the flow path unit 9. The ink flow path has an ink supply port 105b on the upper surface as one end, the manifold flow channel 105 branched to the sub manifold flow channel 105a, and the outlet of the sub manifold flow channel 105a from the outlet of the sub manifold channel 105a to the discharge port 108 on the lower surface. Includes individual ink channels.

  Next, the actuator unit 19 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the four actuator units 19 has a trapezoidal planar shape, and is arranged in a staggered pattern along the main scanning direction so as to avoid the ink supply port 105b. The actuator unit 19 is a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic having ferroelectricity, and is composed of three piezoelectric layers 136 to 138 as shown in FIG. The uppermost piezoelectric layer 136 has a plurality of individual electrodes 135 formed on the upper surface and is polarized in the thickness direction. A portion sandwiched between the individual electrode 135 and the pressure chamber 110 functions as an individual unimorph actuator. When an electric field in the polarization direction is generated between the individual electrode 135 and the common electrode 134, the actuator portion protrudes toward the pressure chamber 110 (unimorph deformation). At this time, pressure is applied to the ink in the pressure chamber, and ink is ejected from the ejection port 108. Here, the common electrode 134 is always at the ground potential. The drive signal is selectively supplied from the control unit 100 to the individual electrode 135 via the driver IC 19a (see FIG. 6).

  In the present embodiment, a striking method is employed when ink is ejected. The individual electrode 135 is at a predetermined potential in advance, and the actuator is unimorph deformed. When the drive signal is supplied, the individual electrode 135 once has the same potential as the common electrode 134 and returns to the predetermined potential after a predetermined time. At the same potential, the actuator eliminates unimorph deformation and ink is sucked into the pressure chamber 110. At the return timing of the potential, the actuator is deformed again by unimorph, and an ink droplet is ejected from the ejection port 108.

  Next, the configuration of the head holder 3 and the cap mechanism 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. The head holder 3 is a frame-shaped frame made of metal or the like, and supports the side surface of the head 1 over the entire circumference.

  The cap mechanism 40 includes a liquid receiver 15 and an ink receiver elevating mechanism 49 in addition to the cap 41 and the cap elevating mechanism 48 that elevates and lowers the cap 41. The cap 41 has an elastic body 42 and a movable body 43. The elastic body 42 is made of an annular elastic material such as rubber and surrounds the head 1 in a plan view. As shown in FIG. 2C, the elastic body 42 includes a cylindrical main body portion 42a extending in the vertical direction, a fixing portion 42b fixed to the head holder 3, and the main body portion 42a and the fixing portion 42b. The connection part 42c to connect is included. The fixing portion 42b is fixed to the head holder 3 at its upper end portion and to the side surface of the head 1 at its inner side surface portion by an adhesive or the like. The connecting portion 42c is curved from the lower end of the fixed portion 42b and extends outward (in a direction away from the ejection surface 1a in plan view), and is connected to the upper side surface of the main body portion 42a. The connecting portion 42 c is deformed as the movable body 43 is raised and lowered. The upper surface of the main body 42a is fixed to the lower end of the movable body 43 with an adhesive or the like. The movable body 43 is made of an annular rigid material (for example, stainless steel) and surrounds the outer periphery of the head 1 in plan view. The movable body 43 is movable relative to the head holder 3 in the vertical direction.

  The cap lifting mechanism 48 has a plurality of gears 48a and a cap lifting motor 48M (see FIG. 6). The plurality of gears 48 a are connected to the movable body 43. When the cap lifting / lowering motor 48M is driven under the control of the control unit 100, the gear 48a rotates and the movable body 43 moves up and down. At this time, the elastic body 42 also moves up and down. Thereby, the relative position of the tip 41a of the cap 41 and the ejection surface 1a changes in the vertical direction.

  When the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the third position (see FIG. 2B), the elastic body 42 contacts the tip 41a of the liquid receiver 15 as the movable body 43 moves up and down. A position (see FIG. 2C) and a separation position (see FIG. 2B) where the tip 41a is separated from the liquid receiver 15 are selectively taken. At the contact position, the cap 41 includes the discharge port 108 together with the discharge surface 1a and the liquid receiver 15 in the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a, and is sealed from the external space H2. At the separation position, the tip 41a of the cap 41 is positioned above the discharge surface 1a, and the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a is open to the external space H2.

  Next, the control unit 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 92, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 93, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 94, and the like. The ROM 92 stores a program executed by the CPU 91, various fixed data (first to fourth time, first and second flushing data, allowable flushing execution count), and the like. The RAM 93 temporarily stores data (recording data, ejection data, creation time, flushing cumulative number of executions, etc.) necessary for executing the program. The ASIC 94 rewrites and rearranges image data (for example, signal processing and image processing). I / O inputs / outputs detection signals of various sensors.

  Next, the control content executed by the control unit 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In the present embodiment, a control flow for receiving recording data at any time and recording an image on paper P when the printer 101 is turned on and the printer 101 is in a sealed state will be described. . In this sealed state, the cap 41 is disposed at the contact position, the liquid receiver 15 is disposed at the third position, and the platen 10 is disposed at the non-opposing position.

  First, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the first recording data transmitted from the external device has been received (S1). When the first recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 100 repeats the process of S1. When the first print data is received (YES: reception process), the control unit 100 starts a discharge data creation process for creating discharge data (S2). In the ejection data creation process, the control unit 100 creates ejection data by converting the received recording data. The ejection data here is image data for forming an image on the paper P, and is a serial ejection data signal for output from the control unit 100 to the driver IC 19a. By outputting the ejection data signal to the driver IC 19a, the driver IC 19a selectively supplies a drive signal to the individual electrode 135 based on the ejection data signal.

  In S2, the control unit 100 also executes a calculation process. In the calculation process, the control unit 100 calculates a creation time required to convert the recording data into ejection data based on the size information of the recording data.

  After S2, the control unit 100 sequentially executes an uncapping process and a flushing process (S3). That is, the control unit 100 controls the cap lifting / lowering motor 48M to move the cap 41 from the contact position to the separation position (uncapping operation). In this way, the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a is opened from the external space H2. Thereafter, the control unit 100 controls the head 1 to eject ink from the ejection port 108 onto the liquid receiver 15 based on the first flushing data (flushing operation). The first flushing data is ejection data for ejecting five ink droplets from each ejection port 108. The number of ink droplet ejections (number of ejections) based on the first flushing data may be any number. Thereafter, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving / elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to move the liquid receiver 15 from the third position to the first position, and then moves the platen 10 from the non-facing position to the facing position. Turn to. At this time, the control unit 100 finishes the uncapping operation and the flushing operation by the timing at which the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time is completed (ie, the platen 10 faces the platen 10). And a state in which the conveyance of the paper P from the paper feed tray 33 can be started). That is, the controller 100 performs an uncapping operation, a flushing operation, and the like by calculating backward from the timing at which the creation of ejection data is completed. For this reason, it is possible to delay the timing of the uncapping operation as compared with the case where it is performed when the first recording data is received. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a useless open state, and it is possible to suppress drying of ink near the ejection port 108. In addition, the timing of the uncapping operation can be made faster than when the ejection data creation based on the first print data is completed. For this reason, it is possible to speed up the recording start timing based on the first recording data.

  After S3, the control unit 100 executes image recording processing (S4). That is, the control unit 100 controls the paper feed motor 34M and the feed motors 35M to 39M, conveys the uppermost paper P in the paper feed tray 33, and further, based on the signal and discharge data from the paper sensor 32. The head 1 is controlled to eject ink onto the paper P (image recording operation). In this way, a desired image is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged to the paper discharge unit 31.

  After S4, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the second recording data (next recording data) has been received (S5). When the second recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 100 determines whether or not the first predetermined time has elapsed (S6). In S6, when the first predetermined time has not elapsed (NO), the process returns to S5. On the other hand, when the first predetermined time has elapsed in S6 (YES), the process proceeds to S7. The first predetermined time here is the timing at which the first image recording operation is completed based on the first recording data (the timing at which the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged to the paper discharge unit 31: the first recording is completed. This is an elapsed time from the timing Tb1 (see FIG. 9), and when a series of operations for executing the capping operation is started when the first predetermined time has elapsed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective ink ejection from the head 1. This is the upper limit time. In other words, when the first predetermined time elapses from the timing when the current image recording operation is completed and the capping operation is started after the first predetermined time is exceeded, the drying of the ink near the ejection port 108 is promoted, and the head 1 Ink ejection failure from the ink tends to occur.

  In S7, the control unit 100 executes a capping process (first maintenance process). That is, the control unit 100 controls the platen motor 10M, the ink receiving / lifting mechanism 49, and the cap lifting / lowering motor 48M, and after rotating the platen 10 from the facing position to the non-facing position, the liquid receiver 15 is moved to the first position. The cap 41 is moved from the separation position to the contact position (capping operation: first maintenance operation). Thus, the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a is sealed from the external space H2.

  After S7, it is determined whether or not the second recording data has been received (S8). When the second recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 100 determines whether or not a second predetermined time, which is a time for waiting for the second recording data to be sent, has elapsed. (S9).

  In S9, when the second predetermined time has not elapsed (S9: NO), the process returns to S8. On the other hand, when the second predetermined time has elapsed in S9 (S9: YES), the control unit 100 determines that the second recording data has not been sent, and proceeds to S10. In S <b> 10, the control unit 100 turns off the printer 101. Thus, the control flow ends.

  In S8, when the second recording data is received (YES: reception process), the control unit 100 executes S11 to S13 similar to S2 to S4 described above. Thus, the image based on the second recording data is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged to the paper discharge unit 31. After S13, the process returns to S5.

  When the second recording data (next recording data) is received in S5 (YES: reception processing), the process proceeds to S14. In S <b> 14, the control unit 100 executes the same process as S <b> 2, that is, the ejection data creation process and the calculation process.

  After S14, the control unit 100 performs a pre-determination process (S15). In the pre-determination process, it is determined whether or not the timing at which the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time calculated in S14 is completed is after the timing at which the first predetermined time has elapsed, and the creation of the ejection data is completed. When the timing to perform is before the timing when the first predetermined time has elapsed (NO), the standby process is executed (S16), and when the timing after the first predetermined time has elapsed (YES), A maintenance process (second maintenance process) is executed (S17).

  In the standby process of S16, the control unit 100 waits as it is without performing a maintenance operation such as a flushing operation, and proceeds to S13. It is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Thus, the recording operation process is executed, an image based on the second recording data is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged to the paper discharge unit 31.

  In S17, as shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 100 first determines whether or not the creation time is longer than the first time (SF1: first determination process). The first time (capping maintenance time) is a time required for the capping maintenance operation mainly for executing the capping operation. The first time is also the shortest shortest time for performing the capping maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the capping maintenance operation. The capping maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) does not include a wiping operation and includes a series of operations for performing a capping operation, an uncapping operation, and a flushing operation. More specifically, in the capping maintenance operation, the capping operation, the uncapping operation, and the flushing operation are sequentially performed from the state in which the cap 41 is in the open position, the platen 10 is in the facing position, and the liquid receiver 15 is in the first position. The image recording operation includes a series of operations for returning to a state where the image recording operation can be performed (a state where the cap 41 is in the open position, the platen 10 is in the facing position, and the liquid receiver 15 is in the first position).

  In SF1, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the first time (NO), the control unit 100 starts the discharge maintenance operation before the first predetermined time elapses (SF2). That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the reception completion timing Tb3 at which the reception of the second recording data is completed exists before the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing Tb1. When the creation completion timing Tb4 for completing creation of the ejection data exists after the elapsed timing Tb2 and the creation time is equal to or shorter than the first time, the discharge maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. Note that the start timing Te1 of the discharge maintenance operation is substantially immediately after the reception completion timing Tb3. This is because an extremely short time elapses for calculating the creation time after the reception of the second recording data is completed and comparing the length of the creation time with the first time. The discharge maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) is a maintenance operation mainly for executing a flushing operation, and does not include a capping operation, an uncapping operation, and a wiping operation, and includes a series of operations for performing a flushing operation. . More specifically, in the discharge maintenance operation, the flushing operation is performed and the image recording operation is performed from the state where the cap 41 is in the open position, the platen 10 is in the facing position, and the liquid receiver 15 is in the first position. It includes a series of operations for returning to a state where it is possible. In SF2, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to rotate the platen 10 from the facing position to the non-facing position, and to move the liquid receiver 15 from the first position to the third position. Move to position.

  After SF2, the control unit 100 determines whether the creation time is longer than the fourth time (SF3). The fourth time (discharge maintenance time) is shorter than the first time and is a time required for the discharge maintenance operation. The fourth time is also the shortest shortest time for executing the discharge maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the discharge maintenance operation. In SF3, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the fourth time (NO), the control unit 100 proceeds to SF5.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the fourth time (YES), the control unit 100 does not execute the discharge maintenance operation from the remaining time until the creation completion timing Tb4 when the creation of the ejection data is completed. It is determined whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the operation time required for the operation is zero (SF4). When it determines with it not being zero (NO), the control part 100 repeats the process of SF4. When it determines with it being zero (YES), the control part 100 progresses to SF5, and performs unexecuted operation | movement in discharge | emission maintenance operation | movement.

  In SF5, the control unit 100 executes a flushing process. That is, the control unit 100 controls the head 1 to eject ink from the ejection port 108 onto the liquid receiver 15 based on the second flushing data (flushing operation). The second flushing data is ejection data for ejecting 10 ink droplets from each ejection port 108. Thus, the number of ink droplet ejections based on the second flushing data is greater than that based on the first flushing data. The number of ink droplet ejections based on the second flushing data may be any number as long as it is greater than that based on the first flushing data. Thereafter, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving / elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to move the liquid receiver 15 from the third position to the first position, and then moves the platen 10 from the non-facing position to the facing position. Turn to. Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to S13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  When the processes are executed in the order of SF2, SF3, SF4, and SF5, as shown in FIG. 9, the end timing Te3 of the discharge maintenance maintenance operation and the creation completion timing Tb4 coincide with each other. The timing of starting the second image recording operation can be set. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. The flushing operation start timing Te2 is immediately before the creation completion timing Tb4 so that the discharge maintenance operation end timing Te3 coincides with the creation completion timing Tb4. Thus, it is possible to perform a flushing operation that is an unexecuted operation immediately before starting the second image recording operation. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink in the vicinity of the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  When the processes are executed in the order of SF2, SF3, and SF5, the creation time is equal to or shorter than the fourth time, so the creation completion timing Tb4 cannot be set as the start timing of the second image recording operation. The end timing of the operation is the start timing of the second image recording operation. However, the discharge maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. For this reason, the end timing of the discharge maintenance operation is earlier than that in which the discharge maintenance operation is started after the elapsed timing Tb2. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording related to the recording data is started.

  In SF1, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the first time (YES), the control unit 100 determines whether or not the creation time is longer than the second time (SF6: second determination process). The second time (wiping maintenance time) is a time longer than the first time, and is a time required for the wiping maintenance operation mainly for executing the wiping operation. The second time is also the shortest shortest time for performing the wiping maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the wiping maintenance operation. The wiping maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) does not include a capping operation and an uncapping operation and includes a series of operations for performing a wiping operation and a flushing operation. More specifically, in the wiping maintenance operation, the wiping operation and the flushing operation are sequentially performed from the state where the cap 41 is in the open position, the platen 10 is in the facing position, and the liquid receiver 15 is in the first position, and image recording is performed. It includes a series of operations for returning to a state in which the operations can be executed.

  In SF6, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time (NO), the control unit 100 determines whether or not the flushing cumulative execution count is larger than the flushing allowable execution count (SF7: wiping determination process). ). The cumulative number of times flushing has been performed is the cumulative number of times flushing has been performed since the ink receiver 15 has been flushed for the first time and since the wiping operation has been performed. The allowable number of executions of flushing is the allowable number of executions indicating the amount of ink that can be left on the upper surface 15a of the ink receiver 15 by the flushing operation to the ink receiver 15.

  In SF7, when it is determined that the cumulative number of executions of flushing is greater than the allowable number of executions of flushing (YES), the control unit 100 starts the wiping maintenance operation before the first predetermined time elapses (SF8). . That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the reception completion timing Tb3 is present before the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing Tb1, and the creation completion is completed. When the timing Tb4 exists after the elapsed timing Tb2, and the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, the wiping maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. Note that the discharge maintenance operation start timing Tf1 is substantially immediately after the reception completion timing Tb3. This is because the creation time is calculated after reception of the second recording data is completed, and the length of the creation time and the first time and the length of the creation time and the second time are compared. This is because of elapse of time. In SF8, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to rotate the platen 10 from the facing position to the non-facing position, and to move the liquid receiver 15 from the first position to the second position. Move to position.

  After SF8, the control unit 100 executes a wiping process. That is, the control unit 100 controls the wiper drive motor 57M to pass the wiper 56a through the upper surface 15a of the ink receiver 15 as shown in FIG. 3B (wiping operation: SF9). Thereby, the upper surface 15a is wiped off and the ink is removed. Then, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiver lifting mechanism 49 to move the ink receiver 15 from the second position to the third position. Thereafter, the process proceeds to SF5 and the same flushing process as described above is executed.

  When the processes are executed in the order of SF6, SF7, SF8, SF9, and SF5, since the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, the creation completion timing Tb4 is set to the second image recording operation as shown in FIG. The start timing cannot be set, and the end timing Tf2 of the wiping maintenance operation is the start timing of the second image recording operation. However, the wiping maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. For this reason, the end timing Tf2 of the wiping maintenance operation is earlier than that when the wiping maintenance operation is started after the elapsed timing Tb2. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording related to the recording data is started.

  In SF7, when it is determined that the cumulative number of executions of flushing is equal to or less than the allowable number of executions of flushing (NO), the control unit 100 starts the capping maintenance operation before the first predetermined time elapses (SF10). . That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the reception completion timing Tb3 is present before the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing Tb1, and the creation completion is completed. When the timing Tb4 exists after the elapsed timing Tb2, and the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, the capping maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. The start timing Tg1 of the capping maintenance operation is substantially immediately after the reception completion timing Tb3. This is because the creation time is calculated after reception of the second recording data is completed, and the length of the creation time and the first time and the length of the creation time and the second time are compared. This is because of elapse of time. In SF10, the control unit 100 controls the platen motor 10M and the ink receiving elevating mechanism 49, and after rotating the platen 10 from the facing position to the non-facing position, the liquid receiver 15 is moved from the first position to the third position. Move to the position.

  After the SF 10, the control unit 100 executes a capping process. That is, the control unit 100 controls the cap lifting motor 48M to move the cap 41 from the separation position to the contact position (SF11: capping operation). Thus, the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a is sealed from the external space H2.

  After SF11, the control unit 100 determines whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the operation time required for the unexecuted operation in the maintenance operation to be executed from the remaining time until the creation completion timing Tb4 when the creation of the ejection data is completed is zero. (SF12: remaining time determination process). When it determines with it not being zero (NO), the control part 100 repeats the process of SF12. When it determines with it being zero (YES), the control part 100 performs an uncapping process (SF13). That is, the controller 100 controls the cap lifting motor 48M to move the cap 41 from the contact position to the separation position. In this way, an uncapping operation that is an unexecuted operation in the maintenance operation to be executed is executed.

  After SF13, the control unit 100 executes a flushing process (SF14). That is, the control unit 100 controls the head 1 to eject ink from the ejection port 108 onto the liquid receiver 15 based on the first flushing data (flushing operation). Thereafter, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving / elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to move the liquid receiver 15 from the third position to the first position, and then moves the platen 10 from the non-facing position to the facing position. Turn to. Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to S13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  When processing is performed in the order of SF6, SF7, SF10, SF11, SF12, SF13, and SF14, as shown in FIG. 11, the end timing Tg3 of the capping maintenance maintenance operation matches the creation completion timing Tb4. The creation completion timing Tb4 can be set as the timing for starting the second image recording operation. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Further, the start timing Tg2 of the uncapping operation comes before the creation completion timing Tb4 so that the end timing Tg3 of the capping maintenance operation coincides with the creation completion timing Tb4. As a result, the sealed state can be taken the longest under the condition that the end timing Tg3 of the capping maintenance operation does not exceed the creation completion timing Tb4. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink at the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  In SF6, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the second time (YES), the control unit 100 determines whether or not the creation time is longer than the third time (SF15). The third time (overall maintenance time) is longer than the second time and is the time required for the overall maintenance operation. Further, the third time is also the shortest shortest time for performing the overall maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the overall maintenance operation. The overall maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) includes a series of operations for performing a capping operation, an uncapping operation, a wiping operation, and a flushing operation. More specifically, the overall maintenance operation is performed from the state in which the cap 41 is in the open position, the platen 10 is in the opposing position, and the liquid receiver 15 is in the first position, and the wiping operation, the capping operation, the uncapping operation, and the flushing operation. And a series of operations for returning to a state in which the image recording operation can be executed.

  In SF15, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the third time (NO), the control unit 100 proceeds to SF8 and starts the wiping maintenance operation. Then, the processes of SF9 and SF5 described above are executed in order. When the processes are executed in the order of SF15, SF8, SF9, and SF5 in this way, the creation time is longer than the second time and not longer than the third time, so the wiping maintenance operation ends as shown in FIG. The timing Tf2 is before the creation completion timing Tb4, and the creation completion timing Tb4 can be set as the timing for starting the second image recording operation. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in SF15 that the creation time is longer than the third time (YES), the control unit 100 starts an overall maintenance operation before the first predetermined time has elapsed (SF16). That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the reception completion timing Tb3 exists before the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing Tb1, and the creation completion timing Tb4 is before the elapsed timing Tb2. If the creation time is longer than the third time, the entire maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2. Note that the start timing Th1 of the overall maintenance operation is substantially immediately after the reception completion timing Tb3. This is because the creation time is calculated after the reception of the second recording data is completed, the length of the creation time and the first time, the length of the creation time and the second time, and the creation time and the third time. This is because an extremely short time for comparing the length with time elapses. In SF16, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving elevating mechanism 49 and the platen motor 10M to rotate the platen 10 from the facing position to the non-facing position, and to move the liquid receiver 15 from the first position to the second position. Move to position.

  After SF16, the control unit 100 executes a wiping process. That is, the control unit 100 controls the wiper drive motor 57M, and passes the wiper 56a through the upper surface 15a of the ink receiver 15 as shown in FIG. 3B (wiping operation: SF17). Thereby, the upper surface 15a is wiped off and the ink is removed. Then, the control unit 100 executes a capping process. That is, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiving / lifting mechanism 49 and the cap lifting / lowering motor 48M to move the ink receiving 15 from the second position to the third position, and then moves the cap 41 from the separation position to the contact position. Move (SF18: capping operation). Thus, the discharge space H1 facing the discharge surface 1a is sealed from the external space H2. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S13 through SF12 to SF14, and the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  When the processes are executed in the order of SF16, SF17, SF18, SF12, SF13, and SF14, as shown in FIG. 13, the completion timing Th3 of the overall maintenance maintenance operation matches the creation completion timing Tb4, so that the creation is completed. The timing Tb4 can be set as the timing for starting the second image recording operation. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Further, the start timing Th2 of the uncapping operation comes before the creation completion timing Tb4 so that the end timing Th3 of the capping maintenance operation coincides with the creation completion timing Tb4. This makes it possible to take the sealed state for the longest under the condition that the end timing Th3 of the overall maintenance operation does not exceed the creation completion timing Tb4. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink at the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  Thereafter, when new recording data is not transmitted from the external device, the power is turned off in S10, and a series of control flow is completed.

  As described above, according to the printer 101 according to the present embodiment, in the pre-determination process of S15, the creation completion timing Tb4 for completing the creation of ejection data is later than the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed. In some cases, one of the discharge maintenance operation, the capping maintenance operation, the wiping maintenance operation, and the overall maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) is started before the elapsed timing Tb2. For this reason, it is possible to advance the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data (next recording data) is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

  In the present embodiment, the maximum maintenance operation with the least time loss is selected according to the creation time. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20, when the creation time is equal to or shorter than the first time as in case 1, the discharge maintenance operation is executed. When the creation time is longer than the first time and shorter than or equal to the second time as in case 2, either the capping maintenance operation or the wiping maintenance operation is executed. In SF7, when the cumulative number of executions of flushing is greater than the allowable number of executions of flushing, a wiping maintenance operation is executed, and when the cumulative number of executions of flushing is less than or equal to the allowable number of executions of flushing, a capping maintenance operation is executed. When the creation time is longer than the second time and shorter than or equal to the third time as in case 3, the wiping maintenance operation is executed. When the creation time is longer than the third time as in case 4, the entire maintenance operation is executed.

  If it is determined in SF1 that the creation time is longer than the first time (capping maintenance time), any of the capping maintenance operation, the wiping maintenance operation, and the overall maintenance operation is performed before the elapsed timing Tb2. To begin. For this reason, it is possible to advance the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed. When it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the first time, the discharge maintenance operation is started before the elapsed timing Tb2. The fourth time is shorter than any of the first time, the second time, and the third time. For this reason, it is possible to speed up the end timing Te3 of the discharge maintenance operation. In this way, the maintenance operation is selected according to the creation time, and the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed can be advanced.

  In SF6, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, either the capping maintenance operation or the wiping maintenance operation is performed, and when the creation time is determined to be longer than the second time, Either the wiping maintenance operation or the overall maintenance operation can be executed.

  Further, by performing the determination process of SF7, it is possible to select and execute either the wiping maintenance operation or the capping maintenance operation according to the cumulative number of times of flushing execution. When the capping operation is performed in a state where the cumulative number of flushing executions is greater than the allowable number of flushing executions, the ink of the ejection port 108 is accelerated to be dried by the thickened ink exceeding the allowable amount discharged to the ink receiver 15. In the present embodiment, when the cumulative number of flushing executions is greater than the allowable number of flushing executions, the wiping operation is executed. Can be prevented.

  Moreover, in SF15, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the third time, the entire maintenance operation is performed, and when it is determined that the creation time is the third time or less, the wiping maintenance operation is performed. It becomes possible.

  Further, in SF12, it is determined whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the operation time required for the unexecuted operation in the maintenance operation to be executed from the remaining creation time until the creation completion timing Tb4 is zero, and the subtracted value is zero. In some cases, an uncapping operation is started. Thereby, the timing at which all the non-executed operations in the maintenance operation to be executed are completed does not exceed the timing at which the creation of the ejection data is completed. That is, the end timing of the maintenance operation to be executed is before the creation completion timing Tb4. For this reason, it becomes possible to further suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data (next recording data) is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Furthermore, the sealed state can be taken for the longest time under the condition that the end timing of the maintenance operation to be executed does not exceed the creation completion timing Tb4. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink at the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  As a modification, in SF12, the value obtained by subtracting the operation time required for the unexecuted operation in the maintenance operation to be executed from the remaining time of the creation time until the creation completion timing Tb4 may be larger than zero, for example. In this case, the maintenance operation to be executed is completed by the creation completion timing Tb4. In this case as well, it is possible to further suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data (next recording data) is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

  Further, in the pre-determination process of S15, when the timing at which the creation of the ejection data is completed is before the timing at which the first predetermined time has elapsed, the standby process is executed. Thereby, as soon as the creation of the ejection data is completed, the recording operation related to the ejection data can be executed. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the next recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

  In addition, the number of ejections (number of ejections) of ink droplets in the flushing process is larger in SF5 than in SF14. In the maintenance operation (discharge maintenance operation, wiping maintenance operation) in which the capping operation is not performed, the ink in the vicinity of the ejection port 108 is more easily dried than the maintenance operation (capping maintenance operation, overall maintenance operation) in which the capping operation is performed. In the flushing process included in the maintenance operation that is easy to dry in this manner, the number of ejections of the ink droplets is increased, so that it is possible to effectively recover ejection failures due to drying of ink near the ejection ports 108.

  As another modification, the wiping maintenance operation is prioritized over the capping maintenance operation, and the second time (wiping maintenance time) is shorter than the first time (capping maintenance time) and the fourth time (discharge). If it is longer than (maintenance time), the capping maintenance operation may be omitted in the control flow when an image is recorded on the paper P. In addition, since it is the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment except a maintenance process, description is abbreviate | omitted. The maintenance process (second maintenance process) at this time will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When executing the maintenance process, as shown in FIG. 14, first, in SG1, it is determined whether or not the creation time is longer than the second time (first determination process). In SG1, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time (NO), control unit 100 executes SG2 similar to SF2 described above. Also in this case, the discharge maintenance operation is started by the elapsed timing Tb2 when the first predetermined time has elapsed. After SG2, control unit 100 executes SG3 to SG5 similar to SF3 to SF5. Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to S13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  In addition, when processing is performed in the order of SG2, SG3, SG4, and SG5, the same effect as when processing is performed in the order of the above-described SF2, SF3, SF4, and SF5 can be obtained. When the processes are executed in the order of SG2, SG3, and SG5, the same effect as when the processes are executed in the order of the above-described SF2, SF3, and SF5 can be obtained.

  In SG1, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the second time (YES), the control unit 100 determines whether or not the creation time is longer than the third time (overall maintenance time) (SG6: No. 2 determination processing).

  In SG6, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the third time (NO), the control unit 100 executes SG7 similar to SF8 described above. After SG8, control unit 100 executes SG8 similar to SF9 described above. Thereby, the upper surface 15a of the ink receiver 15 is wiped off, and the ink is removed. Then, the control unit 100 controls the ink receiver lifting mechanism 49 to move the ink receiver 15 from the second position to the third position. Thereafter, the process proceeds to SG5, and the same flushing process as described above is executed.

  Thus, when processing is performed in the order of SG6, SG7, SG8, and SG5, the creation time is longer than the second time and equal to or less than the third time, so the order of SF15, SF8, SF9, and SF5 described above is used. The same effect as when processing has been executed can be obtained.

  In SG6, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the third time (YES), control unit 100 executes SG9 similar to SF16 described above. After SG9, the control unit 100 executes SG10 to SG14 similar to the above-described SF17, SF18, and SF12 to SF14. Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to S13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above. Thereafter, when new recording data is not transmitted from the external device, the power is turned off in S10, and a series of control flow is completed.

  When the processes have been executed in the order of SG9 to SG14, the same effect as when the processes have been executed in the order of SF16, SF17, SF18, SF12, SF13, and SF14 described above can be obtained.

  Also in this modification, the same effect can be obtained in the same configuration as the above-described embodiment. Also in this modification, the maximum maintenance operation with the least time loss is selected according to the creation time. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 21, when the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time as in Case 5, the discharge maintenance operation is executed. When the creation time is longer than the second time and not longer than the third time as in the case 6, the wiping maintenance operation is performed. When the creation time is longer than the third time as in case 7, the entire maintenance operation is executed.

  If it is determined in SG1 that the creation time is longer than the second time, either the wiping maintenance operation or the overall maintenance operation is started before the first predetermined time has elapsed. For this reason, it is possible to advance the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed. When it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, the discharge maintenance operation is started. The fourth time is shorter than both the second time and the third time. For this reason, it is possible to speed up the end timing Te3 of the discharge maintenance operation. In this way, the maintenance operation is selected according to the creation time, and the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed can be advanced.

  Moreover, in SG6, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the third time, a wiping maintenance operation is performed, and when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the third time, the overall maintenance operation is performed. It becomes possible.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the overall configuration of the inkjet printer 201 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The printer 201 in this embodiment is a serial type that performs recording while the head 204 reciprocates in the scanning direction.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the printer 201 includes a head 204, a platen 202, a carriage 203, a transport mechanism 205, a cap mechanism 206, an ink receiver 207, a control unit 200, and the like. The front side of FIG. 10 is defined as the upper side, and the other side of the page is defined as the lower side, and description will be made using direction words “up” and “down” as appropriate.

  A sheet P is placed on the upper surface of the platen 202. The carriage 203 can reciprocate in the scanning direction along the two guide rails 210 and 211 in a region facing the platen 202. An endless belt 214 is connected to the carriage 203. Accordingly, the carriage drive motor 215M is driven under the control of the control unit 200, whereby the endless belt 214 travels and the carriage 203 moves in the scanning direction.

  The head 204 is attached to the carriage 203 and moves in the scanning direction together with the carriage 203. A plurality of discharge ports 244 are formed on the lower surface (discharge surface) of the head 204 that is the surface on the other side of the paper surface of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a holder 209 is provided in the printer main body 201 a of the printer 201. In the holder 209, four ink cartridges 217 storing four colors of ink (black, yellow, cyan, magenta) are mounted. The head 204 mounted on the carriage 203 and the holder 209 are connected by a tube (not shown). The four colors of ink stored in the four ink cartridges 217 are supplied to the head 204 through the tubes.

  The head 204 also has a plurality of actuators as in the first embodiment described above, and a drive signal is supplied from the control unit 200 to the individual electrodes via the driver IC 204a. Drops are ejected. The head 204 ejects four colors of ink onto the paper P placed on the platen 202 from the plurality of ejection ports 244 while moving in the scanning direction together with the carriage 203.

  The transport mechanism 205 includes two transport rollers 218 and 219 disposed so as to sandwich the platen 202 in the transport direction, and a transport motor 205M (see FIG. 16) that drives the two transport rollers 218 and 219. The two transport rollers 218 and 219 transport the paper P placed on the platen 202 in the transport direction by driving the transport motor 205M under the control of the control unit 200.

  Then, while the head 204 moves in the scanning direction, the operation of ejecting ink from the plurality of ejection ports 244 and the operation of the two transport rollers 18 and 19 transporting the paper P by a predetermined amount in the transport direction are alternately repeated. As a result, an image is recorded on the paper P.

  The cap mechanism 206 is a maintenance mechanism that performs maintenance of the lower surface (discharge surface) of the head 204, and includes a cap 220, a lifting mechanism (not shown) that lifts and lowers the cap 220, and the like. The cap 220 is disposed at a position on the right side of the platen 202 in the moving range of the carriage 203 in the scanning direction. The cap 220 has an annular portion 221 and a closing portion 222 that closes the lower end portion of the annular portion 221 and opens upward (toward the front side in FIG. 10).

  The cap 220 is movable in the vertical direction. The elevating mechanism raises the cap 220 so that the cap 220 comes into contact with the lower surface of the head 204 when the carriage 203 is disposed at a position facing the cap 220. At this time, the upper end of the annular portion 221 of the cap 220 and the lower surface of the head 204 come into contact with each other, and a sealing state is taken in which the discharge space facing the lower surface is sealed from the external space.

  The lifting mechanism lowers the cap 220 so that the cap 220 is separated from the lower surface of the head 204 when the carriage 203 moves from a position facing the cap 220 to a position not facing the cap 220. At this time, the annular portion 220 of the cap 220 and the lower surface of the head 204 are separated from each other, so that the discharge space is opened to the external space.

  The ink receiver 207 is disposed at a position on the left side of the platen 202 in the movement range of the carriage 203 in the scanning direction. The ink receiver 207 has a box shape substantially similar to that of the cap 220 and receives ink ejected from the head 204.

  Next, the control unit 200 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 16, the control unit 200 includes a CPU 291, a ROM 292, a RAM 293, an ASIC 294, and the like, like the control unit 100 of the first embodiment. The ROM 292 stores programs executed by the CPU 291, various fixed data (first and fourth times, first and second flushing data), and the like. The RAM 293 temporarily stores data (recording data, ejection data, creation time, etc.) necessary for executing the program. The ASIC 294 performs rewriting and rearrangement (for example, signal processing and image processing) of image data. I / O inputs / outputs detection signals of various sensors.

  Next, the control content executed by the control unit 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. In the present embodiment, a control flow for receiving recording data at any time and recording an image on paper P when the printer 201 is turned on and the printer 201 is in a sealed state will be described. . In this sealed state, the head 204 is disposed at the facing position.

  First, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the first recording data transmitted from the external device has been received (R1). When the first recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 200 repeats the process of R1. When the first print data is received (YES: reception process), the control unit 200 starts a discharge data creation process for creating discharge data (R2). Also in this embodiment, the same ejection data creation process as that in the first embodiment is executed.

  In R2, the control unit 200 also executes a calculation process. In the calculation process, the control unit 200 calculates a creation time required for converting the print data into ejection data based on the size information of the print data.

  After R2, the control unit 200 sequentially executes an uncapping process and a flushing process (R3). That is, the control unit 200 controls the carriage drive motor 215M to move the head 204 to the flushing position facing the ink receiver 207. By the movement of the head 204, the head 204 is opened (uncapping operation). Thereafter, the control unit 200 controls the head 204 to eject ink from the ejection ports 244 onto the liquid receiver 207 based on the first flushing data (flushing operation). At this time, the control unit 200 finishes the uncapping operation and the flushing operation by the time when the creation of the ejection data based on the creation time is completed, so that the image recording operation can be performed. That is, the control unit 200 performs an uncapping operation, a flushing operation, and the like by calculating backward from the timing at which the creation of ejection data is completed. For this reason, the timing of the uncapping operation can be delayed as compared with the case where the recording data is received. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a useless open state, and it is possible to suppress drying of ink near the ejection port 244. In addition, the timing of the uncapping operation can be made faster than when the ejection data creation based on the first print data is completed. For this reason, it is possible to speed up the recording start timing based on the first recording data.

  After R3, the control unit 200 executes an image recording process (R4). That is, the control unit 200 controls the transport motor 205M, the carriage drive motor 215M, and the head 204 to transport the paper P by a predetermined amount in the transport direction, and from the plurality of ejection ports 244 while the head 204 moves in the scan direction. The operation of ejecting ink is alternately repeated (image recording operation). Thus, a desired image is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged.

  After R4, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the second recording data (next recording data) has been received (R5). When the second recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 200 determines whether or not a first predetermined time similar to that in the first embodiment has elapsed (R6). In R6, when the first predetermined time has not elapsed (NO), the process returns to R5. On the other hand, when the first predetermined time has elapsed in R6 (YES), the process proceeds to R7.

  In R7, the control unit 200 executes a capping process (first maintenance process). That is, the control unit 200 controls the carriage drive motor 215M to move the head 204 to the facing position (capping operation: first maintenance operation). In this way, the cap 220 and the lower surface of the head 204 come into contact with each other, and the discharge space facing the lower surface is sealed from the external space.

  After R7, it is determined whether or not the second recording data has been received (R8). When recording data is not received (NO), the control unit 200 executes R9 and R10 similar to S9 and S10 described above. Thus, the control flow ends.

  In R8, when recording data is received (YES: reception processing), the control unit 200 executes R11 to R13 similar to R2 to R4 described above. Thus, an image based on the second recording data is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged. After R13, the process returns to R5.

  In R5, when the second recording data (next recording data) is received (YES: reception processing), the process proceeds to R14. In R14, the control unit 200 executes the same process as R2, that is, the ejection data creation process and the calculation process.

  After R14, the control unit 200 executes pre-determination processing (R15). In the pre-determination process, it is determined whether or not the timing at which the ejection data creation based on the creation time calculated in R14 is completed is after the timing at which the first predetermined time has elapsed, and the ejection data creation is completed. When the timing to perform is before the timing at which the first predetermined time has elapsed (NO), the standby process is executed (R16), and when the timing is after the timing at which the first predetermined time has elapsed (YES), A maintenance process (second maintenance process) is executed (R17).

  In the standby process of R16, the control unit 200 waits as it is without performing a maintenance operation such as a flushing operation, and proceeds to R13. It is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Thus, the recording operation process is executed, an image based on the second recording data is recorded on the paper P, and the paper P on which the image is recorded is discharged.

  In R17, as shown in FIG. 18, the control unit 200 first determines whether or not the creation time is longer than the fifth time (RF1: first determination process). The fifth time is a time required for the capping maintenance operation mainly for executing the capping operation. The fifth time is also the shortest shortest time for performing the capping maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the capping maintenance operation. The capping maintenance operation includes a series of operations for performing a capping operation, an uncapping operation, and a flushing operation. More specifically, in the capping maintenance operation, the capping operation, the uncapping operation, and the flushing operation are sequentially performed from the state where the head 204 is located at a position other than the facing position to return to a state in which the image recording operation can be performed. It includes a series of operations for.

  When it is determined in RF1 that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the fifth time (NO), the control unit 200 starts the discharge maintenance operation before the first predetermined time elapses (RF2). The discharge maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) is a maintenance operation mainly for executing the flushing operation, and includes a series of operations for performing the flushing operation without including the capping operation and the uncapping operation. More specifically, the discharge maintenance operation is a series of operations for performing the flushing operation from the state where the head 204 is in the flushing position or a position other than this position and returning to the state in which the image recording operation can be performed. Is included. In RF2, the control unit 200 controls the carriage drive motor 215M to move the head 204 to the flushing position.

  After RF2, the control unit 200 determines whether the creation time is longer than the sixth time (RF3). The sixth time is a time shorter than the fifth time and required for the discharge maintenance operation. The sixth time is also the shortest shortest time for executing the discharge maintenance operation. That is, it is the time excluding the waiting time between each operation in the discharge maintenance operation. When it is determined in RF3 that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the sixth time (NO), the control unit 200 proceeds to RF5.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the sixth time (YES), the control unit 200 requires an unexecuted operation in the discharge maintenance operation from the remaining time of the creation time up to the timing when the creation of the ejection data is completed. It is determined whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the operation time is zero (RF4). When it determines with it not being zero (NO), the control part 200 repeats the process of RF4. When it determines with it being zero (YES), the control part 200 progresses to RF5, and performs the non-execution operation | movement in discharge | emission maintenance operation | movement.

  In RF5, the control unit 200 performs a flushing process. That is, the control unit 200 controls the head 1 to eject ink from the ejection ports 244 onto the liquid receiver 207 based on the second flushing data (flushing operation). Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to R13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  When the processing has been executed in the order of RF2, RF3, RF4, and RF5, as in the first embodiment, the end timing of the discharge maintenance maintenance operation matches the creation completion timing at which the creation of the ejection data is completed. The creation completion timing can be set as the timing at which the second image recording operation is started. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. Further, the start timing of the flushing operation is immediately before the creation completion timing so that the end timing of the discharge maintenance operation coincides with the creation completion timing. Thus, it is possible to perform a flushing operation that is an unexecuted operation immediately before starting the second image recording operation. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink in the vicinity of the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  When the processing has been executed in the order of RF2, RF3, and RF5, since the creation time is the sixth time or less, the creation completion timing when the creation of the ejection data is completed is set as the start timing of the second image recording operation. The end timing of the discharge maintenance operation becomes the start timing of the second image recording operation. However, the discharge maintenance operation is started before the first predetermined time elapses. For this reason, the end timing of the discharge maintenance operation is earlier than when the discharge maintenance operation is started at the first predetermined time. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording related to the recording data is started.

  When it is determined in RF1 that the creation time is longer than the fifth time (YES), the control unit 200 starts the capping maintenance operation (second maintenance operation) before the first predetermined time elapses. (RF6). In RF6, the control unit 200 controls the carriage drive motor 215M to move the head 204 to the facing position (capping operation). In this way, the cap 220 and the lower surface of the head 204 come into contact with each other, and the discharge space facing the lower surface is sealed from the external space.

  After RF6, the control unit 200 has a value obtained by subtracting an operation time required for an unexecuted operation (an uncapping operation and a flushing operation) in the capping maintenance operation from the remaining time of the generation time until the discharge data generation is completed. (RF7: Remaining time determination process). When it determines with it not being zero (NO), the control part 200 repeats the process of RF7. When it determines with it being zero (YES), the control part 200 performs an uncapping process (RF8). That is, the control unit 200 controls the carriage drive motor 215M to move the head 204 to the flushing position. In this way, the uncapping operation that is an unexecuted operation in the capping maintenance operation is executed.

  After RF8, the control unit 200 executes a flushing process (RF9). That is, the control unit 200 controls the head 1 and discharges ink from the discharge ports 244 onto the liquid receiver 207 based on the first flushing data (flushing operation). Thus, the image recording operation can be executed, and the process proceeds to R13, where the recording operation process is executed as described above.

  When processing is performed in the order of RF6 to RF9, the end timing of the capping maintenance maintenance operation and the creation completion timing at which the creation of the ejection data is completed coincide with each other, so the second image recording operation is started at the creation completion timing. The timing can be. For this reason, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data is received until the recording of the recording data is started. In addition, the start timing of the uncapping operation is before the creation completion timing so that the end timing of the capping maintenance operation and the creation completion timing coincide with each other. This makes it possible to take the sealed state for the longest under the condition that the end timing of the capping maintenance operation does not exceed the creation completion timing. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink at the ejection port 108 from being dried.

  Thereafter, when new recording data is not transmitted from the external device, the power is turned off at R10, and a series of control flows is completed.

  As described above, according to the printer 201 according to the present embodiment, in the pre-determination process of R15, when the creation completion timing for completing the ejection data is after the first predetermined time has elapsed, the discharge maintenance operation, and Any of the capping maintenance operations (second maintenance operation) is started before the first predetermined time elapses. For this reason, it is possible to advance the end timing of each maintenance operation to be executed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the time from when the second recording data (next recording data) is received until the recording of the recording data is started.

  Also in this embodiment, the maximum maintenance operation with the least time loss is selected according to the creation time. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 22, when the creation time is equal to or shorter than the fifth time as in case 8, the discharge maintenance operation is executed. When the creation time is longer than the fifth time as in case 9, the capping maintenance operation is executed.

  Further, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the fifth time, the capping maintenance operation is started before the first predetermined time elapses. For this reason, it is possible to accelerate the end timing of the maintenance operation to be performed. When it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the fifth time, the discharge maintenance operation is started before the first predetermined time has elapsed. The sixth time required for this discharge maintenance operation is shorter than the fifth time. For this reason, the end timing of the discharge maintenance operation can be advanced. Thus, the maintenance operation is selected according to the creation time, and the end timing of the maintenance operation to be executed can be advanced.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments and modifications, in the maintenance process, any maintenance operation may be performed without executing the determination process (SF1, SF6, SF15, SG1, SG6, RF1). Also in this case, the maintenance operation to be executed may be started before the first predetermined time has elapsed. In this way, the same effect as described above can be obtained. In the first embodiment described above, the determination process of SF7 may not be performed. In this case, if it is determined in SF6 that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the second time, the process may proceed to SF8.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments and modifications, when the capping maintenance operation and the overall maintenance operation are executed, the maintenance operation ends before the timing at which the creation of the discharge data is completed. The maintenance operation may be terminated after the timing for completing is over. Further, the processing of SF12, SG12, and RF7 may not be performed. In any maintenance operation, the number of ejections (number of ejections) of ink droplets from each ejection port in the flushing process may be the same.

  In the above description, an example in which the present invention is applied to a liquid ejection apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink from ejection ports has been described. The present invention can also be applied to a liquid discharge apparatus other than a printer that discharges liquid other than ink from the discharge port.

1,204 head (liquid discharge head)
1a Ejection surface 15 Ink receptacle (opposite part)
15a Top surface (opposite surface)
40,206 Cap mechanism (maintenance mechanism)
41 Cap (annular part)
48 Cap lifting mechanism (moving mechanism)
55 Wiping mechanism (maintenance mechanism)
100, 200 Control unit 101, 201 Printer (liquid ejection device)
H1 Discharge space H2 External space

Claims (13)

A liquid discharge head having a discharge surface on which discharge ports for discharging liquid are formed;
A maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface;
A controller for controlling the liquid discharge head and the maintenance mechanism,
The controller is
A reception process for receiving recorded data;
A discharge data creation process for creating discharge data based on the received recording data;
A recording process for discharging a liquid from the discharge port to a recording medium based on the discharge data;
When the second recording data received after the first recording data is not received before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing when the recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. First maintenance processing for executing the first maintenance operation;
A calculation process for calculating a creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing; ,
If the timing for completing the ejection data creation based on the creation time is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. before you, Ri executable der and a second maintenance process of starting the second maintenance operation,
The maintenance mechanism is
A facing portion capable of facing the discharge surface; and an annular portion disposed so as to surround the discharge surface;
The annular portion is in contact with the facing portion and the discharge space facing the discharge surface is enclosed in the discharge port together with the facing portion and the discharge surface and sealed from the external space, and the annular portion is A cap mechanism having a moving mechanism for moving the annular portion so as to selectively take an open state in which the discharge space is opened with respect to the external space while being separated from the facing portion;
A wiping mechanism for wiping the facing surface facing the discharge port of the facing portion;
The first maintenance operation is a capping operation for making the sealed state,
The second maintenance operation includes a discharge maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing a liquid discharge operation for preliminarily discharging liquid from the discharge port, the capping operation, an uncapping operation for opening the liquid, and the liquid discharge operation. A capping maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing wiping, a wiping maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing wiping operations for wiping the facing surface and the liquid discharge operation, and the liquid discharge operation and the capping operation. a liquid discharge apparatus characterized by either der Rukoto the entire maintenance operation, including a series of operations for performing said wiping operation and the uncapping operation with. The controller is
In the case where the capping maintenance time required for the capping maintenance operation is shorter than the wiping maintenance time required for the wiping maintenance operation and longer than the discharge maintenance time required for the discharge maintenance operation,
A first determination process for determining whether the creation time is longer than the capping maintenance time can be further executed;
In the first determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the capping maintenance time, any of the capping maintenance operation, the wiping maintenance operation, and the overall maintenance operation is performed in the second maintenance process. or the start, when said creation time is determined to the be less capping maintenance hours, in the second maintenance process, the liquid according to claim 1, characterized in that starting the discharge maintenance operation Discharge device. The controller is
In the first determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the capping maintenance time, a second determination process is further performed to determine whether the creation time is longer than the wiping maintenance time. Is feasible,
In the second determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or shorter than the wiping maintenance time, the capping maintenance operation or the wiping maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process. if the creation time is determined to longer than the wiping maintenance time, in the second maintenance process, according to claim 2, characterized in that to start either with the entire maintenance operation and the wiping maintenance operation The liquid discharge apparatus according to 1. The controller is
In the second determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or less than the wiping maintenance time, it represents the amount of liquid that can be left on the facing surface by the liquid discharge operation to the facing surface. A wiping determination process for determining whether or not the cumulative execution count of the liquid discharge operation is larger than the allowable execution count of the liquid discharge operation can be further executed.
In the wiping determination process, when it is determined that the cumulative execution count is greater than the allowable execution count, the wiping maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process, and the cumulative execution count is the allowable execution count. 4. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the capping maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process when it is determined as follows. The controller is
In the second determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the wiping maintenance time, a third determination process is further performed to determine whether the creation time is longer than the overall maintenance time. Is feasible,
In the third determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the overall maintenance time, in the second maintenance process, the overall maintenance operation is started, and it is determined that it is equal to or less than the overall maintenance time. been the case, in the second maintenance process, the liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that initiating the wiping maintenance operation. The controller is
In the case where the capping maintenance time required for the capping maintenance operation is longer than the wiping maintenance time required for the wiping maintenance operation and the discharge maintenance time required for the discharge maintenance operation,
It is possible to further execute a first determination process for determining whether the creation time is longer than the wiping maintenance time,
In the first determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the wiping maintenance time, the wiping maintenance operation or the overall maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process. wherein when the preparation time is determined to be less than or equal to the wiping maintenance hours, in the second maintenance process, the liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that starting the discharge maintenance operation. The controller is
In the first determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the wiping maintenance time, a second determination process is further performed to determine whether the creation time is longer than the overall maintenance time. Is feasible,
In the second determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is equal to or less than the overall maintenance time, the wiping maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process, and the creation time is less than the overall maintenance time. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein if it is determined that the total maintenance operation is too long, the overall maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process. A liquid discharge head having a discharge surface on which discharge ports for discharging liquid are formed;
A maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface;
A controller for controlling the liquid discharge head and the maintenance mechanism,
The controller is
A reception process for receiving recorded data;
A discharge data creation process for creating discharge data based on the received recording data;
A recording process for discharging a liquid from the discharge port to a recording medium based on the discharge data;
When the second recording data received after the first recording data is not received before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing when the recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. First maintenance processing for executing the first maintenance operation;
A calculation process for calculating a creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing; ,
If the timing for completing the ejection data creation based on the creation time is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. Before performing the second maintenance process for starting the second maintenance operation,
The maintenance mechanism is
A cap mechanism capable of selectively taking a sealed state in which a discharge space facing the discharge surface is sealed from an external space and an open state in which the discharge space is opened with respect to the external space;
The first maintenance operation is a capping operation for making the sealed state,
The second maintenance operation includes a discharge maintenance operation including a series of operations for performing a liquid discharge operation for preliminarily discharging liquid from the discharge port, and the capping operation, the uncapping operation for opening the liquid, and the liquid discharge. liquid discharge device characterized in that either capping the maintenance operation including the series of operations for performing the operation. The controller is
A first determination process for determining whether or not the creation time is longer than a capping maintenance time required for the capping maintenance operation;
In the first determination process, when it is determined that the creation time is longer than the capping maintenance time, the capping maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process, and the creation time is equal to or less than the capping maintenance time. The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein when it is determined that the discharge maintenance operation is started in the second maintenance process. The controller is
In the second maintenance process, when performing the maintenance operation including the capping operation, the completing timing earlier creation of the discharge data, according to claim 1, characterized in that finishes executing the maintenance operation for the execution The liquid ejection device according to any one of? 9 . The controller is
The value obtained by subtracting the operation time required for the unexecuted operation of the maintenance operation to be executed from the remaining time of the creation time until the completion of the creation of the ejection data in the sealed state in the maintenance operation to be executed is zero. It is possible to further execute a remaining time determination process for determining whether or not there is,
In the remaining time determination process, when the subtracted value is not zero, the process waits in the sealed state, and when the subtracted value is zero, start the uncapping operation included in the unexecuted operation. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 9 . The controller is
In the second maintenance process, the number of preliminary ejections of the liquid discharge operation when performing a maintenance operation that does not include the capping operation is made larger than when performing a maintenance operation including the capping operation. apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A liquid discharge head having a discharge surface on which discharge ports for discharging liquid are formed;
A maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface;
A controller for controlling the liquid discharge head and the maintenance mechanism,
The controller is
A reception process for receiving recorded data;
A discharge data creation process for creating discharge data based on the received recording data;
A recording process for discharging a liquid from the discharge port to a recording medium based on the discharge data;
When the second recording data received after the first recording data is not received before a predetermined time elapses from the first recording completion timing when the recording of the first recording data on the recording medium is completed. First maintenance processing for executing the first maintenance operation;
A calculation process for calculating a creation time required for creating the ejection data by the ejection data creation process when the second recording data is received before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing; ,
If the timing for completing the ejection data creation based on the creation time is later than the timing at which the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing. A second maintenance process for starting a second maintenance operation,
Wherein when the timing to complete creation of the ejection data is timing before the predetermined time has elapsed from the first recording completion timing, you characterized in that it is performed and a standby process for waiting as liquids Discharge device.