JPH03234649A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve improvement of throughout of recording by enabling good recording to be always performed by a method wherein a head recovery device is driven during a period for replacement of a recording medium. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 82 of a printing control part 81 receives a data to be sent from a body 6, and executes a program such as a series of recording operation preliminarily stored in a ROM/RAM 83 according to said data, a head recovery operation, etc. Then, the recovery operation of a head 10 is so established as to be executed by driving a head recovery device 16 during a period wherein recorded recording paper is substituted by recording paper to be recorded. In the case where the data from the body is a paper feed command of recording paper, the CPU 82 turns on a paper feed flag indicating start of feed of recording paper, and makes the ink jet recording head 10 transfer to a recovery position. Thereafter, the CPU 82 drives a medium feeder 86 by starting a medium feed drive part 84 and besides, drives the head recovery device 16 by starting a head recovery device drive part 85.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having a head recovery device.

[Prior Art 1 A recording device such as a printer or a facsimile machine is configured to form a dot pattern on a recording medium corresponding to the recorded information by driving a dot forming means of a recording head based on the recorded information. Depending on the type of dot forming means, there are inkjet methods, thermal methods, laser beam methods, etc.

Among these, inkjet type devices (hereinafter referred to as inkjet recording devices) supply ink to a recording head and eject the ink from the ejection openings of the recording head to form flying ink droplets. It is configured to record by attaching it to a recording medium. In addition, inkjet recording devices have a problem in that foreign matter, such as ink scum and dust, that adheres to the ejection ports or the vicinity of the print head when the shell is left unused for a long time without performing a printing operation can cause ink to fail to eject. , the ink can be sucked out together with the ink by sucking it out from the ejection port, the area around the ejection port can be wiped off with a thin plate-like member made of silicone, or the ink can be removed with an ink absorbing member such as urethane. Infertility recovery operations are performed using an infertility recovery device, such as sucking out foreign objects near the exit.

In conventional inkjet recording devices, the above-mentioned infertility recovery operation is performed when the recording device is turned on, when a printing failure occurs during recording operation, and when a user performs a manual operation.
This is done before or after feeding the recording medium from the medium supply device to the recording device.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, especially in the control that performs the infertility recovery operation before and after feeding the recording medium, when recording many sheets in succession, the infertility recovery operation is not performed. The drawback was that the amount of time spent on recording increased and the throughput of records decreased.

The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that is capable of consistently good recording and has a high recording throughput.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with a head recovery device that recovers from ejection failure of an inkjet recording head, in which a replacement period between a recording medium on which recording has been completed and a recording medium on which recording is to be performed is provided. The inkjet recording head has a control unit therein for driving the head recovery device, and the inkjet recording head ejects the inkjet recording head using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal converter that generates the thermal energy. There is something.

[Function] The inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention drives the head recovery device to perform the head recovery operation during the recording medium replacement period, thereby eliminating the need to provide time during the recording operation solely for the head recovery operation. The throughput of the recording operation improves.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a document processing apparatus equipped with an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

This document processing device includes a keyboard 1 that is a manual section for data such as document information and control commands, a main body 6 that is provided with a display section 2 on which document information is displayed, and a drive unit 3 that drives a floppy disk. The main body 6 is connected to an inkjet recording device 8 via an interface cable 7. Further, this document processing apparatus is connected to a power source (not shown) through a power plug 5 of the main body 6, and is activated by turning on the power switch 4 of the main body 6.

Here, the inkjet recording device 8 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.

In the inkjet recording apparatus 8 of this embodiment, a carriage 11 on which an inkjet head cartridge 9 that integrates an inkjet recording head 10 and an ink tank (not shown) is installed is a part of a drive belt 12 that transmits the driving force of a drive motor 13. The drive motor 13 drives the inkjet recording head 10 or the inkjet recording head. To face the ejection surface of the recording head 10,
The configuration is such that recording is performed on the recording paper by reciprocating across the entire width of the recording paper, which is a recording medium fed from a medium feeding device (not shown) onto the platen 15.

The inkjet recording head 10 described above is equipped with a nozzle group that ejects ink using thermal energy on the ejection surface facing the recording surface of the recording paper, and ejects ink from an ink tank integrated in the inkjet head cartridge 9. is supplied.

Further, the inkjet recording apparatus 8 of this embodiment is located outside the range of the reciprocating movement of the inkjet recording head 10 during the recording operation, to a position where the inkjet recording head 10 is moved during the head recovery operation (guide shaft 14A in the figure).
The left end of is hereinafter referred to as the recovery position. ), the head recovery device includes a cap portion 16A that faces the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 10 and is driven by the driving force of a motor 18 via a transmission mechanism 19, and caps the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 1o. 1
There are 6.

During the head recovery operation, this head recovery device 16 performs ink suction using an appropriate suction means or inkjet recording head' 10 in connection with capping of the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 10 by the cap portion 16A.
The ink is force-fed by an appropriate pressurizing means provided in the ink supply path to the nozzle, and the ink is forcibly discharged from the ejection port, thereby performing an ejection recovery operation such as removing thickened ink within the nozzle.

Roughly speaking, on the side surface of the head recovery device 16, a blade 17 as a wiping member made of silicone rubber is held in the form of a cantilever by a plate holding member 17A. This operation enables engagement with the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 1o. As a result, after the head recovery operation using the head recovery device 16, the plate 17 is projected into the movement path of the inkjet recording head 10, and as the inkjet recording head moves 1°, the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 10 is moved. Wipe off any condensation, moisture, dust, etc.

The above-mentioned inkjet recording device 8 receives data such as document information and control commands input manually from the keyboard 1 via the main body 6 and the interface cable 7 at a print control unit (described later), and converts the document information into the received data. A series of recording operations, the aforementioned head recovery operation, etc. are performed.

Next, the print control section of the inkjet recording device 8 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, the print control unit 81 receives data sent from the CPU 82 or the main body 6, and shows a series of recording operations, head recovery operations, etc. that are stored in advance in the RUM/RAM 83 according to the received data. Run the program. In this embodiment, the head recovery operation is performed by suctioning the ink by the suction means or pumping the ink by the pressure means, as described above, and can be completed in a short time. The head recovery device 16 is set to be driven and executed while the recording paper to be recorded is being fed during the replacement period. If the data from the main body 6 is a recording paper feeding command, the CPU 82 turns on a feeding flag indicating to start feeding the recording paper and moves the inkjet recording head 10 to the recovery position. Thereafter, the medium feeding drive section 84 is started to drive the medium feeding device 86, and the head recovery device drive section 85 is started to drive the above-described head recovery device 16.

The operation of this print control section 81 will be explained along the flowchart of FIG. 4.

First, the CPU 82 of the print control section 81 is in a standby state for data from the main body 6 (step 41), and when data is sent, it judges whether the data is a feeding command or not (step 42). ). Based on this judgment, if the received data is not a feeding command, the process indicated by the data is executed (step 48), and then the data waiting state is resumed. On the other hand, in the judgment at step 42,
If the received data is a feeding command, the feeding flag is turned on (step 43), and the medium feeding drive unit 84 is activated to feed the recording paper (step 44).
). Further, in step 44, the medium feeding drive unit 84
When activated, the head recovery device drive section 85
is activated, the head recovery device 16 operates, and a head recovery operation begins (step 45).Furthermore, along with the head recovery operation, the recording paper is fed by the medium feeding device 86 in a time-sharing manner by interrupt processing. (Step 4)
9).

As described above, this head recovery operation is performed by capping the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head 10 with the cap portion 16A of the head recovery device 16, and then operating the suction means or pressure means to remove the inside of the nozzle. Remove thickened ink.

As described above, since the feeding of the recording paper and the head recovery operation are executed simultaneously, and the head recovery operation is completed in a short time, when the head recovery operation is completed (step 46).
, it is checked whether the feeding flag is turned off (step 47). As described above, this feeding flag indicates whether or not recording paper is being fed, and is turned off when feeding is completed. Therefore, the feeding of the recording paper cannot be completed at step 50.
), when the feeding flag is turned off (step 51), it means that the head recovery operation and recording paper feeding have been completed.
The inkjet recording head 10 returns from the recovery position to a predetermined position for starting recording, and then records predetermined document information in response to a recording start command. Note that when the inkjet recording head 10 returns to the predetermined position for starting recording, the blade 17 attached to the side surface of the head recovery device 16 protrudes into the moving path of the inkjet recording head 10, causing the inkjet recording head 10 to move. Also removes foreign matter adhering to the discharge surface. Then, when the recording of the first page is finished and the recording paper is ejected, the recording paper of the second page is continuously fed, so as described above,
A head recovery operation is performed during the feeding period.

In the embodiments described above, an example is shown in which the feeding period of the recording medium is used, but it is also possible to use the period of the ejecting operation in which the recording medium on which recording has been completed is ejected from the recording end position.

The present invention brings about excellent effects particularly in bubble-shed recording heads and recording apparatuses among inkjet recording systems.

As for typical configurations and principles thereof, it is preferable to use the basic principles disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740,796. Is this method applicable to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type? In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to check the arrangement according to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) and the liquid path. The electrothermal converter that is
The electrothermal transducer generates thermal energy by applying at least one drive signal that corresponds to recorded information and provides a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to cause film boiling on the thermally active surface of the recording head. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed in one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal, which is effective. The growth and contraction of this bubble causes the liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one drop.If this drive signal is in the form of a pulse, the growth and contraction of the bubble will occur immediately and appropriately. This is particularly preferable since it is possible to eject liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness.This pulse-shaped drive signal is described in US Pat. No. 4,463:159 and US Pat. No. 4,345,262. I am passing something like this.
U.S. Patent No. 4 for the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface.
If the conditions described in the specification of No. 113124 are adopted, even more excellent recording can be achieved.

The configuration of the recording head includes, in addition to the combined configuration of ejection ports, liquid paths, and electrothermal converters (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting section. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333, U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600 discloses a structure arranged in a bending region.
The present invention also includes a configuration using the specification of the above specification.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 123670 of 1982 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a hole that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy is disclosed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461 of 1981, which discloses a configuration in which a discharge portion corresponds to a discharge portion.

Furthermore, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording device, the length can be increased by combining multiple recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either a configuration that satisfies the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally may be used, but the present invention can more effectively exhibit the above-mentioned effects.

In addition, there are also replaceable chip-type recording heads that can be attached to the device body to enable electrical connection to the device body and supply of ink from the device body, or they can be installed integrally with the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type recording head is used.

Further, it is preferable to add preliminary auxiliary means or the like to the recording head, which is provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, a preheating means using an electrothermal converter, a heating element separate from this, or a combination thereof, and a predischarge mode that performs discharging other than recording can also be used to ensure stable recording. It is effective for carrying out.

Furthermore, the recording mode of the recording device is not limited to a recording mode for only the mainstream color such as black, but it is also possible to configure the recording head integrally or by combining multiple colors, but it is also possible to use multiple colors of different colors or mixed colors. The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color image.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.

(1) Since the head recovery device is driven to perform the head recovery operation during the period of replacing the recording medium, there is no need for time only for the head recovery operation, and the recording throughput is improved.

(2) Since the head recovery operation is performed reliably before recording begins on the recording medium, the inkjet recording head can perform good ejection even when recording on a large number of recording media in succession. , you can always get clear images.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the processing device; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of main parts of the inkjet recording device of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the print control section of the inkjet recording device of the present invention. , FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control section of FIG. 3. 1...Keyboard, 2...Display section,
3...Drive unit, 4...Power switch, 5...Power plug, 6...
...Main body, 7.Interface cable, 8.Inkjet recording device, 9.Inkjet head cartridge, 10..
・Inkjet recording head, 11... carriage,
12... Drive belt, 13... Drive motor, 14A, 14B... Guide shaft, 15... Platen, 16... Head recovery device, 16A...
Cap part, 17... Plate, 17A... Plate holding member, 18... Motor, 19... Transmission mechanism, 41
~51...Step, 81...Print control unit, 82...CPU, 83...ROM/RAM
, 84... Medium feeding drive section, 85... Head recovery device drive section, 86... Medium feeding device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with a head recovery device for recovering ejection failure of an inkjet recording head, the head recovery is performed during a period of replacing a recording medium on which printing has been completed with a recording medium on which printing is to be performed. An inkjet recording device characterized by having a control section for driving the device. 2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording head ejects ink using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal converter that generates the thermal energy.