JP6704793B2 - Recording apparatus and recording method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording how performs recording by ejecting ink on the basis of the disposed in the recording head nozzles in the recording information.

In a recording apparatus using an inkjet method, ink or foreign matter adheres to a surface (ejection opening forming surface) of a recording head on which an ejection opening of an ink ejection nozzle is formed, so that the nozzle cannot eject ink (improper Discharge). Therefore, a complementary process is performed in which a nozzle in which ejection failure has occurred in the print head (non-ejection nozzle) is detected, and a dot to be formed with the ejection failure nozzle is formed with a normal nozzle in which ejection failure has not occurred. ing. However, if the number of non-ejection nozzles increases and the supplementary processing becomes impossible, the life of the recording head will end. Therefore, in order to use the same recording head for a long period of time, a maintenance process is performed to recover a nozzle that has once failed to discharge to a normal discharge nozzle.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-242242 discloses a technique of performing maintenance processing for recovering the ejection performance of nozzles and detection of non-ejection nozzles in an inkjet recording apparatus. According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the first detection process for highly accurately detecting the non-ejection nozzle is executed when continuous recording is not being performed. In the first detection process, the maintenance process is first performed, and the non-ejection nozzle information stored until then is reset, and then the non-ejection nozzle is detected. The information of the non-ejection nozzles obtained here is maintained until the next first detection process is performed. Further, during the continuous recording, the second detection process with a small processing load is executed at a predetermined timing without the maintenance process. Then, when the number of non-ejection nozzles detected by the second detection process becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the maintenance process is executed, and only the information of the non-ejection nozzles detected by the second detection process is reset.

Further, in Patent Document 2, an inkjet that detects a temperature change of an electrothermal conversion element that generates thermal energy for ejecting ink from a nozzle and determines whether or not the nozzle is a non-ejection nozzle based on the temperature change. A recording device is disclosed.

JP, 2014-12358, A JP, 2007-331193, A

In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the non-ejection information obtained by the first and second detection processes is maintained until the next maintenance process is performed, and the recording including the complementary process is performed based on the non-ejection information. Take action. However, the ejection state of the nozzles of the print head may change after the non-ejection detection even without performing the maintenance process. For example, the nozzle determined to be non-ejection by the detection processing recovers to the ejection-enabled state during the recording operation, or the nozzle determined to be ejectable by the non-ejection detection changes to non-ejection during the recording operation. There is. For this reason, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-163, the nozzle that naturally recovers from the non-ejection state to the ejectable state during the recording operation is not used, and the recovery process and the recording operation are performed based on the restricted ejection nozzle. Therefore, there is a problem that the complementary processing and the recording control become difficult.

Further, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured to stop the recording operation and perform head cleaning or standby when a non-ejection nozzle is detected. Therefore, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a problem that the throughput is lowered due to the stop of the recording operation. In addition, when so-called wet non-ejection occurs due to ink adhering to the ejection port surface of the recording head, the recording operation is restarted after waiting for a predetermined time. Therefore, there is a possibility that the recording operation may be restarted without eliminating the non-ejection state.

The present invention, by updating the non-discharge nozzle information while performing the printing operation, aims to provide a recording apparatus and a recording how capable of effectively using natural recovered nozzles to the discharge nozzle from the faulty nozzle And

The present invention is a recording apparatus having a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged, and recording is performed by ejecting ink from the nozzles of the recording head, the nozzle being capable of ejecting ink. ink and row intends inspection means nozzle inspection for inspecting whether the ejection failure nozzles which do not eject or a do discharge nozzle, a storage means for storing the test result as a nozzle information, the previous Kino nozzle information and the recording data Recording control means for performing recording by using the ejection nozzles based on the above, and the inspection means is configured to detect the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle information at a predetermined timing during an ink ejection operation for recording an image. It said storage means to perform the nozzle inspection of the nozzle which is stored, and updates the nozzle information stored in the storage means based on the result of the nozzle inspection as.

According to the present invention, by updating the non-ejection nozzle information while continuously performing the recording operation, it is possible to effectively use the nozzle that naturally recovers from the non-ejection nozzle to the ejection nozzle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a recording head and a recording medium in the embodiment. It is a block diagram showing the whole system composition in an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a non-ejection determination process executed by a non-ejection detecting unit in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the temperature profile of the nozzle in embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording control unit in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a non-ejection nozzle recovery process executed by the recording control unit in the embodiment. It is a figure for explaining the 1st example of nozzle inspection timing setting processing in an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a first example of a nozzle inspection timing setting process in the embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the 2nd example of the nozzle inspection timing setting process in embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a second example of nozzle inspection timing setting processing in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a non-ejection nozzle selection process in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a non-ejection nozzle selection processing procedure in the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Inkjet recording device)
Hereinafter, a schematic configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus (hereinafter, also referred to as a recording apparatus) using an inkjet method will be described. The recording apparatus according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which the images recorded on the transfer body by the ink ejected from the recording head are transferred to the recording sheet that is continuously supplied. This recording apparatus is a high-speed line printer that supports both single-sided recording and double-sided recording for image formation, and is suitable for a field such as a printing factory that continuously prints a large number of sheets at high speed.

1A and 1B are schematic diagrams showing a relationship between a plurality of recording heads 102 in a recording unit 101 and a transfer body that is a recording medium, and a positional relationship between the transfer body 103 and a recording sheet that is a recorded material. Is. The recording unit 101 is a unit that forms an image on the recording sheet 104 conveyed by the conveyance rollers 105. In the recording unit in this embodiment, ink ejected from the recording head 102 is landed on the surface of a rotating cylindrical transfer body (recording medium) to form an image, and the image is conveyed by a conveyance roller 105. A transfer method is adopted in which the printed matter is transferred to the recording sheet 104 to obtain a recorded matter.

The recording head 102 that forms an image on the recording medium (transfer body) 103 is a nozzle row in which inkjet-type nozzles are arranged over a range that is equal to or larger than the maximum width of the recording medium (transfer body) 103 that is supposed to be used. Is a line type recording head 102 having In the following description, the nozzle refers to a flow path in which an opening (ejection port) for discharging droplet ink is formed, and a portion including an ejection energy generating element provided in the flow path. Point to. In the present embodiment, an electrothermal conversion element is used as the ejection energy generation element, the ink in the flow path is heated by the thermal energy generated here to generate bubbles, and the ink is ejected from the ejection port by the pressure when the bubbles are generated. Discharge.

A plurality of recording heads 102 are arranged in parallel in the transport direction. In this embodiment, seven recording heads corresponding to seven colors of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), K (black), Lc (light cyan), Lm (light magenta), and Gy (gray). Have. The number of recording heads arranged in the recording unit and the number of colors of ink used are not limited to seven and seven colors. It is possible to arrange one or other number of recording heads in the recording section, and it is also possible to use ink of one color or another number of colors.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the system in this embodiment. The main body of the recording apparatus is provided with a recording control unit (recording control means) 213 that controls the overall recording control. The recording control unit 213 is composed of an ASIC, and includes a reception interface 202, a buffer unit 203, an image processing unit 205, a recording control unit 209, a recording timing generation unit 208, a CPU 212, and the like.

The buffer unit 203 includes a reception buffer 204 and a recording buffer 206. The reception buffer 204 receives and stores data (input image data) indicating an image to be recorded from the host device 201 such as a personal computer via the reception interface 202. This input image data is multi-valued data represented by 256 gradations or the like. The image processing unit 205 reads the input image data from the reception buffer 204, and performs a quantization process that reduces the number of gradations to a gradation value such as a predetermined gradation value (for example, 9 values). The quantized image data is stored in the recording buffer 206.

The recording timing signal generated by the recording timing generation unit 208 based on the position information is input from the encoder 207 to the recording control unit 209. Based on the print timing signal, the print control unit 209 generates print data that is binary data indicating ejection or non-ejection of ink, and transmits the print data to each print head 102. A drive circuit (not shown) provided inside the print head drives an electrothermal conversion element (heater) based on print data to eject ink from nozzles. An image is formed on the transfer body 103 by the ejected ink, and the formed image is transferred to a recording medium. As a result, a recorded matter on which an image is formed can be obtained.

The recording head discharges ink from the nozzles to record an image, and determines whether or not the nozzles are in a non-ejection state by a non-ejection detection section (inspection means) 211 provided in the recording head 102. The determination result is transmitted to the recording control unit 209 of the recording control unit 213. Upon receiving the determination result that the nozzle is in the ejection failure state, the recording control unit 209 transmits the determination result to the CPU 212 and the host device 201 to prompt the user to perform the maintenance process. The print control unit 209 also uses the received determination result for processing in the non-ejection complementing unit 302 (see FIG. 5) provided inside the print control unit 209.

The CPU 212 is a CPU for controlling each constituent element of the recording control unit 213, and is generally connected to each control unit and a memory (in FIG. 2, the CPU 212 and each constituent element are illustrated for the sake of simplicity). The connection with the element is omitted). The buffer unit 203 including the reception buffer 204 and the recording buffer 206 is a part of the main memory of the present system, and is composed of a DRAM or the like. However, the buffer unit 203 does not necessarily have to be configured by DRAM, and may be configured by a memory other than DRAM, such as SRAM, as long as the memory belongs to the definition category of RAM.

Next, the non-ejection detecting portion 211 provided in the recording head 102 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a non-ejection determination process executed by the non-ejection detecting section 211 provided in the recording head 102. First, in step S301, the timing of the inflection point during normal ejection stored in the determination target nozzle is read. This data is a negative value whose minimum value is 0 or less in a profile obtained by second-order differentiating the temperature waveform measured by the temperature sensor immediately after the maintenance processing of the print head, that is, when normal ejection is performed. It is the data for which the peak timing is obtained. The read data is stored in the memory. The temperature sensor is formed on the heater board on which the heater for each nozzle is formed in the manufacturing process of the recording head, and is separately and independently arranged immediately below each heater.

Next, in step S302, a temperature sensor measures a temperature change when a drive pulse capable of normally ejecting ink, for example, a drive pulse having a drive voltage of 20 V and a pulse application time of 0.8 μS is applied to the determination target nozzle. To do. FIG. 4A shows an example of the measured temperature change. In step S303, the temperature change measured in step S302 is second-order differentiated in time within a time range of 1 μS before and 2 μS after the inflection point timing at the time of normal ejection read in step S301. FIG. 4B shows a profile obtained by first-order differentiating the measured temperature change, and FIG. 4C shows a profile obtained by second-order differentiating.

In step S304, it is determined whether or not there is a negative peak of 0 or less in the profile of the second-order portion of the temperature change calculated in step S303. If it is determined in step S304 that there is no negative peak of 0 or less, the process proceeds to step S308, and it is determined that the nozzle to be determined has no bubbles or no dust. The bubble non-ejection is a non-ejection that occurs because the heat generated by the heater is not transferred to the ink due to the bubbles remaining in the recording head 102. Further, the non-ejection of dust is the non-ejection caused by clogging of the nozzle with dust.

When it is determined in step S304 that there is a negative peak of 0 or less, the process proceeds to step S305, and the inflection point timing at the time of normal ejection and the inflection point timing of the determination target waveform, that is, the minimum value is 0 or less. The difference Δt between the timing of the negative peak is obtained.

Next, in step S306, it is determined whether the absolute value of Δt |Δt| is less than 1 μS. When the absolute value |Δt| of Δt is less than 1 μS (less than 1 μS) in step S306, it is determined in step S307 that the determination target nozzle is in the normal ejection state. The case where the absolute value |Δt| of Δt is less than 1 μS is a case where there is a negative peak within a time range of 1 μS before and after the inflection point timing during normal ejection.

If the absolute value |Δt| of Δt is 1 μS or more in step S305, it is determined in step S309 that the target nozzle is non-wetting and non-ejection. The wet non-ejection is a non-ejection which occurs due to the ejection port of the nozzle being blocked by the ink adhering to the ejection port formation surface of the recording head. In this case, it is determined that there is a negative peak in the time range from 1 μS to 2 μS after the inflection point timing during normal ejection.

Next, the non-ejection nozzle recovery process executed by the recording control unit 209, which is a characteristic configuration of this embodiment, will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 5 and the flowchart of FIG.

In step S601, the quantized image data is read from the recording buffer 206 and transmitted to the recorded image generation unit 301. The print image generation unit 301 performs data processing (index expansion) based on the read image data, and generates binary print data for instructing ejection or non-ejection for each nozzle (step S602). .. The print data is transmitted to the non-ejection complementing unit (complementing unit) 302. In step S603, the non-ejection detection control unit 304 reads the non-ejection nozzle information stored in the non-ejection information storage unit (storage unit) 305, and transmits it to the non-ejection complementing unit 302.

In step S604, the non-ejection detection control unit 304 determines whether or not there is a non-ejection nozzle in the print head 102 based on the non-ejection nozzle information. If it is determined that the non-ejection nozzle does not exist, it is not necessary to perform the non-ejection complementing process and the nozzle detection for the non-ejection nozzle, and thus the process proceeds to step S608. If it is determined in step S604 that the print head 102 has a non-ejection nozzle, the process proceeds to step 605. In step S605, the non-ejection complementing unit 302 generates print data in which an image (dot) to be printed by the non-ejection nozzle is complemented by an ink ejection operation of another ejection nozzle.

In step S606, the non-ejection nozzle recovery control unit 306 acquires non-ejection nozzle information from the non-ejection information storage unit 305, and based on the non-ejection nozzle information, a timing (non It is determined whether it is the ejection nozzle inspection timing). Here, when it is determined that it is not the nozzle inspection timing, the nozzle inspection is performed on the ejection nozzles, and thus the process proceeds to step S609. When it is determined that it is the nozzle inspection timing, the process proceeds to step S608.

In step S608, the non-ejection nozzle recovery control unit (selection unit) 306 selects a non-ejection nozzle for which nozzle inspection is to be performed, and the selected non-ejection nozzle information and information indicating the timing of performing the nozzle inspection (nozzle inspection timing). Information) and the non-ejection complementing unit 302. Generation of the nozzle inspection timing information and selection of non-ejection nozzles will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12.

Next, in step S608, the non-ejection complementing unit 302 selects a non-ejection nozzle for which a nozzle inspection is to be performed, based on the received non-ejection nozzle information. Further, the non-ejection complementing unit 302 enables the nozzle test for the selected non-ejection nozzles, and thus the non-ejection nozzle information and the print data after the non-ejection complementing process are combined (combined print data). Then, the nozzle inspection information is transmitted to the head drive controller 303. Here, the non-ejection nozzle information is information for inspecting the non-ejection nozzle, and is print data for driving the electrothermal conversion element provided in the non-ejection nozzle.

Thereafter, in step S608, the head drive control unit 303 transmits the print data and the nozzle inspection information to the print head 102. In step S609, the print head 102 ejects ink from the nozzle based on the print data. At this time, the non-ejection detecting unit 211 provided in the recording head 102 performs the nozzle inspection on the nozzle to be inspected based on the nozzle inspection information. When the nozzle inspection is completed, in step S610, the non-ejection detection unit 211 sends the nozzle inspection result, that is, the result indicating whether the nozzle to be inspected is the non-ejection nozzle or the ejection nozzle to the non-ejection detection control unit 304. Send. In step S611, the ejection failure detection control unit 304 records the received nozzle inspection result in the ejection failure information recording unit 305, and updates the ejection failure nozzle information. In this update of the non-ejection nozzle information, based on the inspection result of the nozzle, when the nozzle stored as the non-ejection nozzle in the non-ejection information storage unit 305 is stored as the ejection nozzle, and when the nozzle stored as the ejection nozzle is stored. May be stored as a non-ejection nozzle.

Here, the process of setting the detection timing of the non-ejection nozzle (hereinafter, referred to as the detection timing setting process), which is performed in the non-ejection nozzle restoration control unit 306, will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that the actual print head is provided with a plurality of nozzle rows in which hundreds of nozzles are arranged. However, in FIGS. 7 to 10, for convenience of description, eight nozzles from the 0th nozzle to the 7th nozzle are provided. A recording head having three arrayed nozzle rows (row A, row B, and row C) will be described as an example. 7 and 8, the Y direction indicates the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and the X direction orthogonal to the Y direction indicates the nozzle array direction (extending direction of the nozzle arrays) in each nozzle array. ..

(First example)
7 and 8 will be described using a first example of the detection timing setting process executed by the non-ejection nozzle restoration control unit 306.

FIG. 7A shows a state in which the third nozzle in the C row of the recording head 102 is a non-ejection nozzle. In this case, the non-ejection nozzle restoration control unit 306 receives the non-ejection nozzle information from the non-ejection information storage unit 305 in step S801, and confirms whether or not the non-ejection nozzle exists in the recording head 102 in step S802. .. If it is determined that there are no non-ejection nozzles in the print head 102, there is no need to detect non-ejection nozzles, and the inspection timing setting process ends.

On the other hand, when there are non-ejection nozzles in the print head 102, the number of ejection nozzles is calculated based on the non-ejection nozzle information in step S803. The number of ejection nozzles can be obtained by calculating (total number of nozzles of recording head-number of non-ejection nozzles). After that, in step S804, a nozzle test for determining whether the nozzle in the ejectable state (ejection nozzle) is in the ejectable state or the non-ejection state is started for the ejection nozzle, and The number of times the nozzle inspection is performed is counted. After that, in step S805, it is determined whether or not the nozzle inspection for the ejection nozzles has been completed. This is performed by determining whether or not the count value has reached a predetermined value (the total number of nozzles of the print head 102-the number of non-ejection nozzles). Here, if the count value has reached the predetermined value, the non-ejection nozzle inspection trigger is output in step S806 (step S806), and the nozzle inspection execution timing setting process ends. By the above inspection timing setting process, as shown in FIG. 7B, the stage where all the nozzle inspections to the ejection nozzles other than the non-ejection nozzles of the third nozzle of the C-row are completed and the non-ejection detection nozzle inspection trigger is output. Then, the nozzle inspection for the non-ejection nozzle is executed.

(Second example)
Next, a second example of the inspection timing setting process executed by the non-ejection nozzle restoration control unit 306 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
FIG. 9A shows a state in which the fifth nozzle of the A row, the first nozzle of the B row, and the sixth nozzle of the C row of the recording head 102 are non-ejection nozzles. In step S1001, the non-ejection nozzle recovery control unit 306 acquires and sets the interval at which the nozzle inspection is performed on the non-ejection nozzle from a predetermined storage unit. In this example, a case will be described in which the nozzle inspection of the ejection nozzles is performed once every five nozzle inspections. The nozzle inspection intervals for the non-ejection nozzles may be set under the following conditions and are not particularly limited to this example.

In step S1002, ejection failure nozzle information is received from the ejection failure information recording unit 305. Next, in step S1003, it is determined whether or not the print head 102 has a non-ejection nozzle. If there is no non-ejection nozzle in the print head 102, it is not necessary to perform a nozzle inspection on the non-ejection nozzle, and thus the inspection timing setting process ends. If the print head 102 has a non-ejection nozzle, in step 1004, counting of the number of nozzle inspections performed on the ejection nozzle is started. Then, in step S1005, it is determined whether or not the count value of the number of times the nozzle inspection has been performed on the ejection nozzles has reached the value set in step S1001. In the case of this example, when the number of nozzle inspection times for the ejection nozzle reaches 5, the process proceeds to step S1006, and the non-ejection nozzle inspection trigger is output to the non-ejection complementing unit 302. Then, in response to the non-ejection detection nozzle inspection trigger, the nozzle inspection is performed on the non-ejection nozzle. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the nozzle inspection is performed on the five ejection nozzles, and then the nozzle inspection is performed on the non-ejection nozzles. Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D, the nozzle inspection is performed on the non-ejection nozzles every time the nozzle inspection is performed on the five ejection nozzles. In this way, it is possible to perform the nozzle inspection for the non-ejection nozzles at the timing according to the preset interval.

Next, a method of selecting a non-ejection nozzle for performing a nozzle inspection in a recording head having a plurality of non-ejection nozzles will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 11A shows a state in which the fifth nozzle of row A, the fifth nozzle of row B, and the first nozzle of row C in the print head 102 are non-ejection nozzles. In this case, the non-ejection nozzle recovery control unit 306 selects the non-ejection nozzles to carry out the nozzle inspection as follows each time the non-ejection nozzle inspection trigger indicating the nozzle inspection timing for the non-ejection nozzles is output. To do.

First, in step S1201, ejection failure nozzle information is received from the ejection failure information recording unit 305. Next, in step S1202, it is determined based on the received non-ejection nozzle information whether or not there are non-ejection nozzles in the print head 102. If there is no non-ejection nozzle in the print head 102, it is not necessary to perform a nozzle inspection for the non-ejection nozzle, and thus the non-ejection nozzle selection process ends.

On the other hand, when there are non-ejection nozzles in the print head 102, the process advances to step S1203, and a nozzle row with a large number of non-ejection nozzles is determined based on the non-ejection nozzle information of the print head 102 acquired in step S1001. In the case of the present example shown in FIG. 9A, since the fifth nozzles in the rows A and B are both in the ejection failure state, this fifth nozzle row is determined as the nozzle row having a large number of ejection failure nozzles. It The nozzles that can complement the non-ejection nozzles of the fifth nozzle row are only the fifth nozzles of the C column. On the other hand, as for the non-ejection nozzles generated in the first nozzle of the column C, the nozzles of the columns A and B in the same nozzle row are the ejection nozzles. That is, in complementing the non-ejection nozzles, the first nozzle row has more nozzles that can be used to complement the non-ejection nozzles than the fifth nozzle row, and there is a margin.

For this reason, the non-ejection nozzles of the fifth nozzle row (the rows A and B) that have fewer complementary nozzles than the non-ejection nozzles of the first nozzle row that have many nozzles that can be used to complement the non-ejection nozzle Nozzle inspection for non-ejection nozzles is performed with priority. Further, when there are a plurality of non-ejection nozzles in the same nozzle row, the nozzle inspection of the non-ejection nozzles is performed according to the priority set for the plurality of nozzle columns. Here, the priority of each column is set in advance in the order of A column>B column>C column. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 9A, first, the non-ejection nozzle existing in the fifth nozzle of the row A is selected and the nozzle inspection is performed on the same nozzle (FIG. 9B). Then, the fifth nozzle in the row B is selected and the nozzle inspection is performed (FIG. 9C). Then, finally, the nozzle inspection of the non-ejection nozzles in the C row of the first nozzles is performed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the nozzle inspection for the non-ejection nozzle is performed while the image recording is performed on the recording medium, and when the ejection nozzle is determined to be the non-ejection nozzle information stored in the information storage unit, It is supposed to be updated. Therefore, it is possible to perform the complementary process and the recording operation based on the non-ejection nozzle information updated during the printing operation, and it is possible to effectively use the nozzle that naturally recovers from the non-ejection nozzle to the ejection nozzle. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the state cannot be complemented and reduce the frequency of performing the maintenance process. In addition, by effectively using the nozzles that have recovered naturally, it is possible to mitigate the deviation of the nozzles used due to complementary processing, etc., which also improves the life of the recording head, reduces the number of head replacements, and reduces head replacement time. It also contributes to the reduction of running costs and running costs. Further, in this embodiment, since the nozzle inspection can be performed during the image forming operation for forming the recorded matter, it is not necessary to record a dedicated inspection pattern for the nozzle inspection unlike the conventional case. Therefore, it is possible to realize an excellent throughput without setting a space for recording the inspection pattern in the recording medium or preparing a recording medium different from the recorded matter.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, every time the nozzle inspection for the ejection nozzles in the recording head is completed, the inspection of a certain number of ejection nozzles is completed, or the nozzle inspection for the non-ejection nozzles is performed every certain time, every page, every certain column. It has been described that it can be carried out. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and it is also possible to perform nozzle inspection for non-ejection nozzles in other forms. For example, the nozzle inspection may be performed so that the ink ejected from the non-ejection nozzle lands on a portion of the recorded image where the ink ejection amount or the ejection number is large and the color density is high. According to this, at the time of the nozzle inspection, it is possible to suppress the influence on the recorded image by the ink ejected from the nozzle that is naturally recovered from the non-ejection nozzle.

It is also possible to perform a nozzle test for the non-ejection nozzle so that the ink ejected from the non-ejection nozzle will land on the landing position of the ink ejected from the ejection nozzle that complements the non-ejection nozzle. is there. According to this, it is possible to eliminate the influence on the recorded image regardless of whether ink is ejected from the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle inspection.

Further, in the above embodiment, the transfer type recording apparatus using the transfer body has been described, but the present invention can be applied to an inkjet recording apparatus other than the transfer type recording apparatus. That is, the ink ejected from the recording head is also applicable to an inkjet recording apparatus that forms an image by ejecting the ink directly onto a recording sheet (recording medium) for forming a recorded matter.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the full-line type recording apparatus, but can be applied to a so-called serial type recording apparatus that performs recording while scanning the recording head in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the recording medium. For example, it is detected whether or not ejection failure has occurred for each nozzle of the print head during print scanning, and based on the result, the nozzle information stored in the storage unit is updated and updated. Complementary processing and recording operation are performed based on the nozzle information. According to this, even in the serial type recording apparatus, it is possible to perform the complementary processing and the recording operation while effectively using the nozzles that have naturally recovered from the non-ejection nozzles to the ejection nozzles during the recording operation.

102 recording head 103 recording medium (transfer body)
104 recording sheet 211 non-ejection detecting section (inspection means)
305 Non-ejection information storage unit (storage means)
209 Recording control unit (recording control means)
302 Non-ejection complementing section (complementing means)
306 Non-ejection nozzle recovery control unit (selection means)

Claims (12)

A recording apparatus having a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged, and performing recording by ejecting ink from the nozzles of the recording head based on recording data,
A row intends inspection means nozzle inspection for inspecting whether the nozzle is a non-ejection nozzles that do not eject ink or a discharge nozzle that can eject ink,
Storage means for storing the inspection result as nozzle information,
Based ago Keno nozzle information and the recording data, and recording control means for performing recording by using the discharge nozzle,
Equipped with
The inspection unit performs the nozzle inspection for a nozzle stored in the storage unit as the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle information at a predetermined timing during an ink ejection operation for recording an image , A recording apparatus which updates the nozzle information stored in the storage means based on a result of the nozzle inspection. It said recording control means, based on the prior Keno nozzle information, to perform recording on the basis of an image to be recorded on the recording data generated by performing the interpolation processing for recording by the discharge nozzle by the faulty nozzle The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a recording apparatus. The inspecting unit generates combined recording data in which recording data for performing nozzle inspection for nozzles stored as the non-ejection nozzles in the nozzle information is combined with recording data that has been subjected to complementary processing, and the combining is performed. according to claim 2, characterized in that the nozzle testing against the nozzle which is stored as the non-ejection nozzle while ink ejection for recording an image to be performed by the recording control means based on the recording data Recording device. The inspecting means includes a selecting means for selecting a non-ejection nozzle for which the nozzle inspection is to be performed among a plurality of nozzles stored as the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle information ,
Said selecting means, claims, characterized in that the number of ejection nozzles that can complement an image to be formed at the nozzle stored in the nozzle information as the faulty nozzle is selected little Ino nozzle preferentially The recording device according to 2. The inspection unit inputs the ejection signal for performing recording on a high density portion of the image to be formed on the recording medium to the nozzle that is stored as the ejection failure nozzle in the nozzle information, thereby causing the ejection failure. recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and performs the nozzle inspection of nozzles stored as the nozzle 4. The inspection unit stores an ejection signal for recording at a landing position of ink ejected from the ejection nozzle for complementing an image to be formed by the non-ejection nozzle, as the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle information. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the nozzle inspection is performed on the nozzles stored as the non-ejection nozzles by inputting to the existing nozzles . The inspection unit performs the nozzle inspection for the nozzle stored as the non-ejection nozzle in the nozzle information every time the nozzle inspection for the nozzle stored as the ejection nozzle in the nozzle information is completed. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Said checking means, every time nozzle testing for all Roh nozzle which in the nozzle information stored and the discharge nozzle is finished, the nozzle inspection of the nozzles in the nozzle information stored as the non-ejecting nozzle The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a recording apparatus. The inspection unit, whenever the nozzle inspection is completed for a fixed number of Roh nozzle among the nozzles that are stored and the discharge nozzle in the nozzle information, the nozzle relative to the nozzle of the stored as non-ejecting nozzle in the nozzle information The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inspection is performed. The inspection means, each a certain time, each page, in any of each fixed column, claims and performs nozzle checking for the nozzle to the nozzle the stored as non-ejecting nozzle in the nozzle information Item 10. The recording device according to any one of items 1 to 9. The nozzle provided in the recording head includes an electrothermal conversion element that generates thermal energy for ejecting ink from the nozzle,
The inspection unit determines whether the nozzle is the ejection nozzle or the non-ejection nozzle based on a temperature change of ink in the nozzle by the electrothermal conversion element driven based on the recording data. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that. A recording method for performing recording by ejecting ink based on recording data from a nozzle arranged in a recording head,
An inspection step intends row nozzle testing for testing whether the nozzle is faulty nozzle had ink ejection Shinano whether a discharge nozzle that can eject ink,
A storage step of storing the inspection result in the storage means as nozzle information,
Based ago Keno nozzle information and the recording data, a recording step for recording by using said discharge nozzle,
In the inspection step, at a predetermined timing during an ink ejection operation for recording an image, performs pre Symbol nozzle inspection to nozzle said stored in said storage means as a faulty nozzle in the nozzle information, the An update step of updating the nozzle information stored in the storage means based on the result of the nozzle inspection.

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