JPH03240549A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure that power consumption is at a low level, the breakdown of a carriage-moving motor is minimized and accurate positioning is achieved by allowing a carriage with a mounted reaccording head to run using a stepping motor, then permitting the engagement part of a cap drive device to fit into the engagement part of the carriage in a non-recorded area, and stopping an output from the excitation phase of the stepping motor in such an engagement state. CONSTITUTION:A carriage 11 is driven to move to the left(a non-recorded area side) using a carriage motor 31, then a cap device is driven to move to a recording head side using a recovery system motor 61 to allow a movement of a cap 51 to the discharge aperture-formed area side of a recording head. Thus the cap 51 comes in contact with the discharge aperture and the cap is closed. Further, at the same time as the movement of the cap, a protruded engagement part provided on the cap device side is moved to the carriage side, and becomes engaged with a recessed engagement part on the carriage side after travelling downward from the top. The drive of the carriage motor 31 is stopped to clear the excitation phase.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that can form a desired recorded image by ejecting ink onto a recording material.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, recording apparatuses that perform recording on a recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper or simply paper) such as a sheet for paper (OHI) have been proposed in the form of mounting recording heads using various recording methods. These recording heads include those based on a wire driver type, a thermal type, a ship transfer type, and an inkjet type.

In particular, the ink sheet recording method has low running costs because it jets ink directly onto the recording paper.
It is attracting attention as a quiet recording method.

In such an inksheet type recording device,
Generally, a recording head with an array of fine ejection orifices is used, so if air bubbles or dust get into the ejection inner surface, or due to image viscosity due to evaporation of the ink solvent, the ink may not be ejected or recorded. When the ink becomes unsuitable, a process (ejection recovery process) is performed to remove the causes of the ejection failure by refreshing the ink.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] As a form of means for performing such discharge recovery processing,
Ejection II+ of the print head mounted on a carriage that can scan between the print area where the print head prints and the print area where the print head is evacuated from the print area.
Some types include a cap disposed in a non-recording area that can cover the formation surface, and a pump that communicates with the cap and applies suction force. Then, when the recording spatula I is moved to the recording target 6ri, 1, ink is ejected from all the ejection ports by driving the ink ejection energy generating element inside the ejection ports toward the cap (hereinafter referred to as preliminary ejection). ), or by applying suction from the ejection port to which a suction force is applied while the ejection port forming surface is covered with a cap, the ejection port is forcibly discharged, and the cause of the ejection failure is removed along with the ink. It is. In addition, an ink absorber is generally provided at the opposing portion of the cap inside the cap to prevent leakage or splashing of the ink coming out of the ejection port during ink ejection or forced ink ejection. Further, means is provided for sucking ink remaining in the cap due to preliminary ejection toward the pump (hereinafter referred to as idle suction).

In this type of apparatus, after the carriage is moved to a non-recording area, the output of the excitation phase of the movement motor, for example, a stepping motor, is stopped.

In this state where the output of the excitation phase of the stepping motor is stopped, the carriage is in a state where it can be freely moved by external force. Therefore, when capping a recording head mounted on a carriage, the carriage may move slightly, making it impossible to cap the recording head at a desired capping position.

Furthermore, in order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to have the carriage abut against a positioning member provided outside the non-recording area, and to fix the carriage by constantly generating a pressing force in this direction by a motor. However, in this case, the load on the motor is large and may cause damage to the motor.
If the power consumption is too high, it will become a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve these problems and to provide an ink sheet recording device that consumes less power, does not cause damage to the carriage moving motor, can perform proper positioning, and can perform a good recovery operation.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and includes an inkjet recording head that forms a recorded image by inscribing ink on a recording medium and ejecting ink, and an inkjet recording head that supports the recording head and is capable of scanning. a support member drive means for scanning the support member; and a cap member provided to cover a surface of the recording head in which ejection ports for ejecting the ink are formed. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a cap portion moving means for moving the cap portion between a contact position and a separated position with respect to the ejection orifice forming surface of the recording head,
The cap member moving means has an engaging member that is engageable with an engaged portion provided on a part of the support member, and the cap member is aligned with the ejection port forming surface of the recording head. The engaging member and the engaged portion are in an engaged state when the members are brought into contact and covered, and in this state, the output of the excitation phase of the supporting member driving means is stopped.

[For production]

The capping position can be reliably determined by scanning the carriage on which the recording head is partially mounted by a stepping motor and engaging the engaging portion of the cap driving means with the engaged portion of the carriage in the non-recording area.

In addition, since the output of the excitation phase of the stepping motor is stopped in the engaged state, the carriage does not move even in the carriage-free state, and there is no load on the stepping motor, which eliminates damage to the motor and consumption. Power consumption can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the external configuration of a document creation device (hereinafter referred to as a word processor) as a device to which the present invention can be applied.

Here, ■ is a keyboard section which is an input device. 2 is a display section that displays input documents, etc.
It is rotatably held, and when not in use, it can be folded to overlap the keyboard section 1, making it portable.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a transparent or semi-transparent protective cover provided over the viewing opening for checking the operating state of the recording head. 4 is a spur cover for holding the spur.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a paper supporter for supporting the recording paper when feeding and discharging the recording paper, and reference numeral 6 indicates a knob for manually feeding and discharging the recording paper.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a printer section in the form of an inkjet recording apparatus according to this example.

Here, 9 is a head cartridge having an inkjet recording head explained with reference to FIG. 3, and 11 is a carriage for mounting this and scanning in the S direction in the figure. 13
15 is a hook for attaching the head cartridge 9 to the carriage 11, and 15 is a lever for operating the hook 13. Reference numeral 19 denotes a support plate that supports the electrical connection to the head car I ridge 9. 21 is an FPC for connecting the electrical connection section and the main body control section.

23 is a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 11 in the S direction, and is inserted into a bearing 25 of the carriage 11. A timing belt 27 is fixed to the carriage 11 and transmits power for moving the carriage 11 in the S direction, and is stretched around pulleys 29A and 29B arranged on both sides of the apparatus. Driving force is transmitted to one pulley 29B from the carriage motor 3L via a transmission mechanism such as a gear.

A conveyance roller 33 is driven by a conveyance motor 35 for regulating the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper) and for conveying it during recording or the like. 37 is a paper pan for guiding the recording medium from the paper supporter 5 side to the recording position; 39 is disposed in the middle of the recording medium feeding path to press the recording medium toward the conveyance roller 33 and convey it. This is the feed roller. A platen 34 faces the ejection port of the head cartridge 9 and regulates the recording surface of the recording medium. Reference numeral 41 denotes a paper discharge roller that is disposed downstream of the recording position in the recording medium conveyance direction and discharges the recording medium toward a paper discharge port (not shown). 42 is a spur provided corresponding to the paper ejection roller 41, which presses the roller 41 through the recording medium,
A force for conveying the recording medium is generated by the paper ejection roller 41.

43 is a feed roller 39 when setting a recording medium, etc.
, a release lever for releasing the biasing of each of the spurs 42.

The platen 34 is rotatably supported at both ends by the shaft of a paper ejection roller 41, and is urged toward the front surface 45 of the paper pan 37 from the stop positions of the left and right plates 75 and 76. When there is no recording paper, the platen roller 3 4 are provided at multiple locations on the portion 33A where 33 is smaller than the outermost circumference.
A is in contact with the inside of the front part 45 of the paper pan.

A cap 51 is made of an elastic material such as a comb and faces the ink ejection 1-I forming surface of the recording head at the home position, and is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the recording head. This cap 51 is used to protect the print head during non-printing time and during ejection recovery processing of the print head. The ejection recovery process is a process in which ink is ejected from all ejections by placing the cap 51 facing the ejection port forming surface and driving an energy generating element provided inside the ink ejection port and used for ink ejection. This process is used to perform preliminary ejection for removing ejection failure factors such as air bubbles, dust, and ink that has thickened and become unsuitable for recording. This process removes the cause of ejection failure by forcibly discharging the ink.

A pump 53 is used to apply a suction force for forced discharge of ink and to suck ink received in the cap 51 during discharge recovery processing by such forced discharge or discharge recovery processing by preliminary discharge. 55 is a first waste ink tank for storing the waste ink sucked by this pump 53, and 57 is a tube that communicates the pump 53 and the waste ink tank 55. Also, 7
0 is a second waste ink tank, which is connected to the first waste ink tank 55 via a tube 71.

Reference numeral 59 denotes a blade for cleaning the recording head's ejection surface, and has a position protruding toward the recording head to perform cleaning during the head movement process;
It is supported so as to be movable to a retracted position where it does not engage with the discharge port forming surface. 61 is a motor, and 63 is a cam device that receives power from the motor 61 to drive the pump 53 and move the cap 51 and blade 59, respectively.

Next, details of the above-mentioned head cartridge 9 will be explained.

FIG. 3 shows an external perspective view of a disposable head cartridge 9 which is detachably attached to the above-mentioned carriage and which integrates an ejection unit 9a and an ink tank 9b forming the main body of an inkjet recording head.

In the same figure, this inkjet recording head cartridge IJHC is a heater board in which an electrothermal transducer element (ejector) and wiring such as A1 for supplying electric power to the element are formed on a S1 substrate by film-forming technology. (not shown), and is joined to a top plate provided with a partition for defining an ink flow path, a common liquid chamber, etc. to form an ink discharge section.

930 is a metal support, for example, and the heater port 9
11 and the top plate 940 are joined together, the heater board 910 and the top plate 94 are pressed together by the biasing force of a pressing spring (not shown).
0 and fixed by crimping. Note that the support body 930 may also have a wiring board attached thereto by adhesion or the like, and may also have a positioning reference for the carriage 11 that scans the head. Further, the support body 930 also functions as a member that radiates and cools the heat of the heater board generated during driving.

The ink tank 91 contains an absorber for impregnating it with ink. 1200 is each part 9]1~
This is a supply 1 for inscribing and supplying ink to the recording element 9a consisting of 980, and by injecting ink from the supply port 1200 in a step before placing the unit in the ink tank body 9b. Absorber 90
0 ink impregnation can be performed.

Reference numeral 1400 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. 1300 is a liquid repellent material disposed inside the atmosphere communication port I400, which prevents ink from leaking from the atmosphere communication port 1400.

In the inkjet head cartridge configured in this way, ink is supplied from inside the cartridge into the supply tank (not shown) through the supply port of the ink tank, the hole provided in the support 930, and the introduction port of the supply tank (not shown). After passing through the interior thereof, the ink flows from the outlet into the common liquid chamber through an appropriate supply pipe and an ink inlet in the top plate. A backing made of, for example, silicone rubber or butyl rubber is disposed on the above-mentioned connecting portion for ink communication, and this seals the ink supply path to ensure an ink supply path.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing details of the carriage 11.

In the figure, 606 is a support plate erected at the bottom of the carriage 11, which supports a flexible substrate 604 and a rubber pad 605 having a protrusion 605A provided corresponding to a terminal pad formed on the substrate 604. To support.

Reference numeral 607 denotes an abutting member that is also erected at the bottom in front of the carriage 11. The abutting portion 607 is formed to have a thin wall thickness in order to secure as much space for the ink tank as possible within the limited installation space of the head cartridge 9 and carriage 11. Therefore, three ribs 608 are formed on the member 607 to ensure strength. The direction in which the ribs 608 extend corresponds to the moving direction of the carriage 11 so that the ribs 608 have strength corresponding to the movement in the turning direction when the head cartridge is attached or detached. Further, the rib 608 is formed so as to protrude approximately 0.1 mm forward from the ejection surface of the head cartridge 9 when it is installed. Thereby, even if the recording paper protrudes into the movement path of the recording head due to some action, it is possible to prevent the recording paper from rubbing against the ejection surface and causing damage.

The operating lever 15 for attaching and detaching the head cartridge is rotatably supported by a shaft 601d provided on the main body of the carriage 11. The hook 13 is used to attach and detach the head cartridge 9, which is partially engaged, by the movement of the hook 13 when the hook 13 is engaged with a portion of the operating lever 15. The hook 13 performs the above-mentioned attachment/detachment operation by having an elongated hole 603c formed therein guided by a guide shaft 601c provided in the main body of the carriage 11.

The attachment/detachment operation mechanism consisting of the operation lever 15, the hook 13, etc. is located on the side of the carriage 11, that is, on the side of the carriage 1.
Since the attachment/detachment operation mechanism is provided on the moving direction side of the carriage 1, the attachment/detachment operation mechanism does not form a large dead space due to movement of the carriage.

Reference numeral 610 denotes a concave engaging portion provided on the carriage for engaging with a protruding engaging portion formed on a member constituting a cap means to be described later. This concave engaging portion 610 is connected to the recording head cartridge IJHC mounted on the carriage.
is formed in the front surface area of the carriage corresponding to the area where the recording head section of is located.

This portion is a portion where the discharge port portion of the head and the cap can maintain a stable contact state when engaged with the protruding engagement portion 611 on the cap means side.

By engaging the concave engaging portion 610 with the protruding engaging portion of the capping means, the carriage carrying the recording head in the capped state is prevented from inadvertently moving (fixed and held).

FIG. 5 shows the cap 51 in FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of the recovery device, which includes a pump 53, a blade 59, a motor 61, a cam device 63, and the like.

Here, 501 is an ink absorber disposed inside the cap 51, 503 is a holding member that holds the cap 51, and 503 is a holding member that holds the cap 51;
A cap lever 05 is rotatably attached around a pin 507, and is used to bring the cap 51 into contact with/disengage from the discharge port forming surface of the discharge unit 9a by the force applied to the pin 507. 511 is a pin that engages with the end 509 of the cap lever 505 to restrict the rotation range of the cap lever 505.

A jig 513 has a hole into which the pin 507 of the cap lever 505 is inserted, and is used to attach the cap lever 505 to a support portion 515 provided on the pump 53. Reference numeral 516 is a fastening member for securing the mounting condition. Reference numeral 517 is an acting portion that applies a force to the cap 51 to bring it into contact with the discharge port forming surface, and is engaged with approximately the center of the rear side portion of the cap 51.

This action part has an inlet 517A for sucked ink, and has an inlet 517A inside the cap lever 505, inside the pin 507, and inside the jig 5.
Ink flow paths are formed inside each of the support portion 13 and the support portion 515. When the pump 53 applies a suction force, the ink is introduced into the pump 53 through these channels as shown by arrows in the figure.

519 is a shaft protruding from the center of the end surface of the pump 53, and 521 is a joint portion for connecting ink flowing from the shaft 519 supported by a sheet metal 560 to the discharge ink channel 523, and the pump 53 is rotatable. Its rotational force is applied to the cap lever 505 via the support portion 515,
Along with this, the cap 51 moves forward and backward. Reference numeral 523 designates a flow path member for attaching a tube that further guides the ink that has flowed through the joint portion 521 to the drain ink reservoir. Ink flow paths are formed inside these shafts 519, joint portions 521, and support portion shrines 523, and the ink sucked into the pump 53 passes through these flow paths and waste ink via tubes 57, as shown by arrows in the figure. It is introduced into tank 55.

525 is the piston of the pump 53, 527 is its shaft, 52
9 is a packing, and 531 is a cap of the pump 53.

533 is attached to the piston shaft 527, and the piston 52
This is a pin that receives the transmission of force for operating 5.

Reference numeral 535 denotes a blade lever from which the blade 59 can be removed, and is rotatably supported around a shaft protruding from the end face of the pump 53, and as the blade lever 535 is rotated, the blade 59 is projected toward the recording head side. make it retreat. 537 is a spring that applies a rotational force to the blade lever 535 in a direction that causes the blade 59 to protrude. Further, 539 is a spring that gives the pump 53 itself the ability to rotate the cap 53 in the direction toward the recording head.

54.1 is a gear train that transmits the rotation of the motor 61 to the cam device 63. The cam device 63 includes a cam 54 that engages with and rotates an engaging portion 545 provided on the pump 53.
7 and a pin 53 provided on the piston shaft 527 of the pump 53
a cam 549 for engaging with 3 to operate the pump;
It has a cam 553 that engages with an engaging portion 551 provided on the blade lever 535 to rotate it, and a cam 557 that engages with a switch 555 that detects the home position of the cam device 63. There is. The operations of these cams will be described later.

It should be noted that the outer circumference of the pump 53 and the cap member 51
A projecting engagement portion 611 that engages with the concave engagement 610 of the carriage 11 described above is provided on the l side. When the cap is in contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording head, the concave engaging portion 61 of the carriage 11 moves forward.
0 to prevent the carriage from moving inadvertently. In particular, in this example, the protruding engaging portion 611 is formed in such a positional relationship that its center portion is on the vertical center line of the cap 51. As a result, when the cap is in contact with the recording head side, a good holding state is achieved with no effect even if some external force is applied.

FIGS. 26 and 27 are explanatory diagrams showing the outline curves of each cam of the cam device 63 and the operational positions of each part corresponding to each cam position, respectively. Note that the numerical values in FIG. 26 are the rotation angles of the cam.

In these figures, ■ indicates the cam position and the state of each part when performing a recording operation, the cap 51 and blade 59 are separated from the discharge port forming surface of the recording head, and the pump 5
3 is at top dead center. ■ is home position switch 55
This position indicates a capping state in which the cam device 63 is turned off, and this position is the home position of the cam device 63. This is a position set during recording standby, etc. At this time, the cap 51 covers the discharge port forming surface, the blade 59 is retracted, and the pump 53 is also at the top dead center.

When the cam is rotated from position ■, the cap 51 remains connected to the discharge port forming surface (cap on) and the piston 5
25 moves toward the bottom dead center, and the negative pressure in the suction system leading to the cap increases. Eventually, the piston 525 reaches 1 when the ink is introduced into the pump, and after a period in which it is blocked (period in which the valve is closed), the valve begins to open (point 109,5 degrees) and then fully opens (point 130,5 degrees). point), and then the piston 525 reaches a position ◎ near the bottom dead center. Taking into consideration the fluid resistance of the ink suction system, the rotation of the cam is stopped for a predetermined time at this position to ensure sufficient suction, and then the cam is rotated again (and the piston 525 reaches the bottom dead center,
The cap 51 begins to separate from the discharge port forming surface. This position O is held for a predetermined time.

When the cam is then rotated further, the piston 525 begins to move toward the top dead center again. During this process, the valve begins to close (20
9,5° point), then a completely occluded point (230,
On the other hand, at position (3), the cap 51 is completely separated from the discharge port forming surface. By driving the piston 525 several times in this vicinity, the ink remaining in the ink suction system is suctioned (empty suction) to the pump side.

The left and right spaces of the piston 525 in the pump are communicated by a flow path (not shown), and the flow path is closed when the piston moves from the top dead center to the bottom dead center, and when the piston moves from the bottom dead center to the top dead center. It is said to be open when you are heading towards the city. Further, the space on the right side of the piston communicates with a flow path provided in the pump shaft 519. Therefore, in the process of empty suction, when the piston 525 moves from the bottom dead center to the second dead center, the ink introduced into the space on the left side of the piston is transferred to the space on the right side, and when the piston 525 moves from the second dead center to the bottom dead center, the ink is transferred to the space on the right side of the piston. Ink is introduced into the left-hand space from the suction system, and ink is discharged from the right-hand space into the waste ink tank.

After that, when the cam is further rotated in the forward direction, the plate 59 protrudes and becomes ready for wiping (position [F
]). When the carriage 11 is moved toward the recording area in this state, the blade 59 engages with the ejection orifice forming surface of the head and wipes the surface, thereby wiping away ink and the like adhering to the ejection orifice forming surface. Then, the cam is further rotated to move the blade 55 back and set the cam to the position. In this state, the carriage 11 is moved toward the cap so that the discharge port forming surface of the head faces the cap 51, and then the cam is moved to position (3), the cap is turned on, and the cam is stopped.

In addition, when shifting to recording, the cam may be rotated in the positive or negative direction from position (3) to protrude the blade 59, wiping may be performed, and then recording may be performed.

Next, a control configuration for controlling each part of the document processing apparatus as an inkjet recording apparatus configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the same figure, 10 processes characters etc. input from the keyboard part l and displays them on the display 6,
This is a control unit that operates the printer unit 8 based on recording instructions from the printer unit 8. This control unit 1O includes an MPU 100O that executes various control procedures, a ROM 100I that stores the above-mentioned control procedures and data, a RAM LOO2 that is used as a work area for executing the above-mentioned control, and a character pattern such as characters input from the keyboard unit 1. CG1003 to store
, and an interface section 1004 that connects to external devices such as the keyboard section 1. The control section 10 and the printer section 8 are electrically connected by a signal line 1005.

The printer section 8 includes a printer control section 80 that controls the head 9 and the like in order to reduce the load on the control section 10 . The printer control unit 80 has almost the same configuration as the control unit 10, and includes an MPU 800. ROM801, RAI
It consists of a VI 802, a timer 803 that measures time, and an interface section 804.

Of the printer unit 8, the printer control unit 80 controls the head 9, carriage motor 31, transport motor 35, and recovery motor 61, and the head driver 9A, motor drivers 31A, 135A, and 61A, respectively.
driven by. These motors 31.35.61
has a DC motor configuration, and the rotation direction is controlled by the polarity of the drive pulse. Furthermore, based on the detection of the recovery system home sensor 65 and the carriage home sensor 67,
The printer control unit 80 can recognize the cap position and movement position of the carriage 11. Furthermore, it can be recognized that a recording medium is set in the paper feed tray 4 based on detection by a transmissive or reflective paper sensor 69 composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

In the above control configuration, when a document creation process is performed and a printing start command is issued by pressing the print key (not shown) on the keyboard unit 1, the MPU 100O of the control unit 10 converts the input characters and other documents to the CG 1003. and convert it to print data. The MPU 100O adds a control command to the converted print data and sends it to the interface unit 1004,
It is transferred to the printer control unit 80 via the signal line 1005. MP of the printer control unit 80 that received the transfer data
The U800 sends the control command added to the print data to R.
Printing is executed by controlling the head 9 and the like while interpreting the command table stored in the OM 801.

FIG. 9 shows a table of the above-described control commands stored in the ROM 801 of the printer control unit 80. In the figure, CI is a print start command indicating the start of printing, C2 is a print end command indicating the end of printing, and in the case of data spanning multiple pages, it means the end of printing of the last page. C3
is a data transfer command indicating that the number of print data indicated by the next data to be transferred is to be transferred. Further, C4 is a line feed command indicating the end of one line, C5 is a page start command indicating the start (resume) of one page, and C6 is a page end command indicating the end of one page.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data format transferred from the control section 10 to the printer control section 80. In the case of a document created over multiple pages, first use the print start command DJ.
is transferred, data transfer command D2, number of transferred data (
N) D3, N pieces of data D4, and line feed command D5 are transferred.

Next, FIGS. 11 to 15 and 1 will explain the control procedure in which the printer control unit 80, which has received the transfer data from the control unit 10 as described above, recognizes the position of the carriage.
This will be explained with reference to the flowchart and timing chart shown in FIG. 6, respectively.

The control procedure shown in FIG. 10 is started when the printer section 8 is powered on and a predetermined initialization operation is completed.

First, in step S1, the MPU 800 receives data from the host 1 to the control unit 10, which is a device, and determines whether there is data to be transferred. If no data has come, it is determined in step 82 whether or not T seconds have elapsed since no data has come in. If T seconds have not elapsed, the process proceeds to step S1, and if it has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S3, where the cap 5 is closed and step S
Return to l.

The operation of closing the above-mentioned cap 5 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
In the figure, the position of the cam device 63 is the recording operation position ff1 (
This is performed by driving the recovery system motor 61 from a) to the home position (b). The operation of opening the cap 51, which will be described later, is performed by driving the recovery system motor 61 so that the position of the cam device 63 changes from the home position (1) to the recording operation position (a).

Also, if data has come from step S1, step S
Data is analyzed in step 4, and if it is recording start data, the process goes to step S5, if it is recording end data, it goes to step S7, and if it is recording related data (carriage movement, paper feeding, etc.), the process goes to step S9.

In step S5, the cap 51 is opened, and in step S6, the position of the carriage 11 storing the excitation phase as reference position information, which will be described in detail later, is recognized, and the process returns to step S1.

In step S7, the position of the carriage is recognized without using the excitation phase as reference position information, which will be described in detail later. In step S8, the cap 51 is closed, and the process returns to step S1. Therefore, the movement of the carriage 11 is obstructed during recording,
Even if the stored reference excitation phase becomes meaningless, it does not affect the capping of the recording head.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the cap 51 is open. If it is open, the process proceeds to step S12 (.

If it is not open, open the cap in step SIO, and then in step SII, the position of the carriage 11 is recognized using the excitation phase as reference position information, details of which will be described later.
The process goes to step S12, executes the recording related data, and returns to step S1. Therefore, the recording position will not shift between the upper and lower rows.

FIG. 12 shows the details of step S6 in FIG. 11, and is a flowchart for storing the excitation phase when recognizing the carriage position.

First, in step 5101, the sensor output from the carriage sensor 67 is detected, and it is determined whether the carriage 11 is on the left or right of the current sensor position. Here, the sensor output from the carriage sensor 67 is as shown in FIG.
The level changes 10 steps to the right of the position where capping 51 is performed. If the sensor output is not 1, the carriage is to the right of the sensor position, so in step S]02 the carriage is moved one step to the left, in step 5103 the sensor output is detected, and when the sensor output becomes l, step 51
02, repeat step 5103. Step S1.
If the sensor output becomes l in step 03, the process goes to step 5104 and moves 5 steps to the left.

The operations in steps 8102 to 5104 are performed because if sensor detection is not performed in the same direction, backlash of the carriage drive system or the like will cause positional deviation between the right direction detection and the left direction detection. In this embodiment, since the detection is performed when the carriage 11 moves in the right direction, when the carriage 11 is to the left of the carriage sensor 67, the carriage 11 is brought to the right of the sensor. Also step 510
4.5 steps may be any step amount that eliminates backlash etc. when the moving direction of the carriage 11 changes.

Next, the process goes to step 5105, and since the sensor output is 1, it is known that the carriage 11 is to the left of the sensor position, so in step 5105, the carriage 11 is moved one step to the right, and in step 8106, the sensor output is detected.
Steps 5105 and 5106 are repeated until the sensor output becomes 0. If the sensor output becomes O in step 5106, the process goes to step 5107, and the currently output excitation phase (*th phase) is stored in the RAM 802 in FIG. 8.

Here, when the stepping motor is driven in the III phase as shown in FIG. 17, N takes a value of 1 to 8.

Then, the process goes to step 8.108, and the IO step amount main carriage 11 is moved to the left and brought to the position of the cap 51, as shown in FIG. Note that this step 5108
is not particularly necessary in the operation at the start of recording.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of step S7 in FIG. 11, in which the excitation phase is not stored during carriage recognition.

Steps 8201 to 8206 in FIG. 13 are the same operations as step 5IOI-8106 in FIG. 12, so a description thereof will be omitted. If the sensor output becomes O in step 5206 of FIG. 13, go to step 5207 without storing the excitation phase, and move the carriage 11 by 10 steps to the left and bring it to the position of the cap 51, as shown in FIG. .

FIG. 14 shows details of step Sll in FIG. 11, and is a flowchart performed when the carriage 11 is moved for recording or the like after the cap is opened. This is to recognize the position of the carriage 11 using a memorized excitation phase.

Carriage 11 is in the first position since the cap is open.
It is in the cap position shown in Figure 6. Therefore, in step 5301, the carriage 11 is moved one step to the right, and in step 53
The sensor output is detected in step 02, and steps 5301 and 5302 are repeated until the sensor output becomes 0. If the sensor output becomes O in step 5302, step 53
Go to 03. In step 5303, the currently output excitation phase (referred to as the nth phase) and step 5107 in FIG.
Compare with the excitation phase (*phase) stored in . Then, if the *th phase and the nth phase are the same, no correction is made, and if the *th phase and the nth phase are adjacent phases, one step correction is made, and so on. The correction value K is obtained from the correction value conversion table according to the method 1, and the current position of the carriage 11 is recognized to be a step (10+') to the right from the cap position.

FIG. 15 shows details when the cap is closed in steps S3 and S8 in FIG. 11.

In particular, step S8 will be described below.

During the explanation of step S7 shown in FIG.
At step 207, the carriage motor 31 is driven to move the 10-step carriage 11 to the left (toward the non-recording area), and the motor 31, which drives the carriage 11 in a predetermined excitation phase, is held.

In this state, in step 5401, the recovery system motor 61 is driven to move the cap means toward the recording head.

and the cap 5 as shown in step 5402.
1 to the ejection port forming surface side of the recording head 9a (in the state shown by squares in FIG. 7), the two are brought into contact with each other, and the cap is closed. Further, at the same time as the cap moves, the protruding engaging portion 610 provided on the cap means side moves toward the carriage side, and the concave engaging portion 611 on the carriage side moves.
2, and moves downward from the upper side, and the two are in an engaged state.

When the protruding engaging portion 610 on the cap means side and the concave engaging portion 611 on the carriage side are engaged in step 5402, the drive of the carriage drive motor 31 is stopped in step 5403 (power consumption is 0) Clear the excitation phase.

By doing so, the carriage 11 is reliably held in the region facing the capping means, and the ejection port forming surface is reliably capped.

Furthermore, since the excitation phase of the carriage drive motor 31 is cleared, power consumption can be reduced and damage to the carriage drive motor 31 is extremely minimized.

In particular, in the case of a portable device, the capping state of the ejection forming surface of the recording head is reliably maintained even when the device is carried around, thereby improving the reliability of capping.

Further, the ejection recovery operation of the recording head, which is performed continuously after capping, can be performed reliably.

By the way, this protruding engagement member 611 is configured so that it does not move easily unless power is applied by a motor drive due to the cap structure on the cap means side, so that the engaged state is reliably maintained.

Alternatively, in order to further ensure the reliability of the engaged state, the gear configuration on the cap means side may be changed or a locking member for maintaining the engaged state of the projecting engagement portion 611 may be added as a separate structure.

As described above, in this embodiment, the carriage 11 is moved based on the excitation phase as the reference position information stored during recording.
Since the position is recognized (step 5ll), there will be no misalignment of records between the upper and lower rows. In addition, the movement of the carriage 11 is obstructed by external factors (paper jam, etc.) that occur during recording, causing tooth skipping in the gears of the motor drive system, rendering the excitation phase as memorized reference position information meaningless. Even if this occurs, the position recognition is performed without using the reference excitation phase when outputting the detection signal (step S7) regarding capping at the end of recording or suction recovery, so the capping of the recording head is not affected.

Therefore, problems such as ejection failure due to poor capping and failure to suction ink through the gap during suction recovery are eliminated, and the performance of the recording head can be maintained for a long time.

In addition, even if the reference excitation phase becomes meaningless due to the external factors mentioned above, such as tooth skipping, the excitation phase of the stepping motor when the detection signal is output at the start of recording can be used as the reference position information. (Step S)
6) Therefore, the excitation phase as the reference position information becomes effective after the start of the next page or the next recording.

In this embodiment, the excitation phase is re-memorized as the reference position information at the start of recording, but it is also memorized when the power is turned on, at the end of recording, at the time of capping during suction recovery, and when the detection signal is output. When the above detection signal is output at the same time as position recognition is performed without using the reference excitation phase.
Using the excitation phase of the stepping motor as reference position information,
You can remember it again.

Furthermore, even when the recording head is character-pinned during recording (step S3), if the position of the carriage is recognized without using the reference excitation phase when outputting the detection signal, the positions of the recording head and the cap 51 can be prevented from being misaligned. It disappears. however,
In this case, since the position recognition control of the carriage 11 (for example, step S7) is performed before the cap is put on, it takes time.

In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 10 transfers the recording data to the printer control unit 80 of the printer unit 8, and the printer control unit 80 controls the head 9, etc., to perform recording, but the control unit 10 directly transfers the recording data to the printer control unit 80. 8 may be controlled.

Furthermore, the present invention brings about excellent effects particularly in inkjet recording apparatuses, particularly in bubble sheet type recording apparatuses. According to this method, recording density can be increased,
This is because high definition can be achieved.

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. This method can be applied to either a so-called on-demand type or a continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, the electrothermal transducers arranged in rows in the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or in the liquid path correspond to the recorded information and generate a nucleus θ1: rise. Application of at least one drive signal that causes a rapid temperature rise above the temperature causes the electrothermal transducer to generate thermal energy and cause film boiling on the thermally active surface of the recording head. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal, which is effective. The growth and contraction of the bubble causes liquid to be ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one drop.

It is more preferable to use this drive signal in a pulse form, since the growth and contraction of bubbles can be carried out immediately and appropriately, making it possible to eject liquid (ink) with particularly excellent responsiveness. As this pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. No. 4,463,359 and US Pat. No. 434-5262 are suitable.

Further, even better recording can be achieved by adopting the conditions described in US Pat. No. 5'I No. 4,313,124 of the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the L heat recording surface.

In addition to the combination configuration of ejection ports, liquid paths, and electrothermal converters (straight liquid path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, the +fV configuration of the recording head can be achieved by thermal effect. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,60 disclose a configuration in which the portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of No. 0 is also included in the present invention. In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit for a plurality of electrothermal transducers is used as a discharge part of the electrothermal transducer, and there is also a publication in which apertures for absorbing pressure waves of thermal energy are disclosed. The effects of the present invention are also effective with a recording head configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to the ejection portion. In other words, no matter what form the recording head has, recording can be performed reliably and efficiently.

Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by a recording apparatus.

Such a recording head may have either a configuration in which the length is satisfied by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration in which a single recording head is formed as a body. In addition, even if it is a serial type like the above example,
A convertible chip-type recording head that can be attached to the device body to enable electrical connection with the device body and supply of ink from the device body, or a cartridge that is integrated into the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when using a type of recording head.

In addition, regarding the type and number of recording heads installed, for example, in addition to one type that corresponds to single-color ink, there are also multiple types installed to correspond to multiple inks with a red recording color or density. It's okay if you can do it.

In addition, the inkjet recording device of the present invention can be used as an image output terminal for information processing equipment such as a computer, or as a copying device combined with a reader etc. It may also take the form of a facsimile machine.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is scanned by the stepping motor, and the engaging portion of the cap driving means and the engaged portion of the carriage are connected in the non-recording area. By engaging the two, it is possible to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can reliably determine the gearing position.

In addition, since the output of the excitation phase of the stepping motor is stopped in the engaged state, the carriage does not move even in the carriage-free state, and there is no load on the stepping motor, which prevents damage to the motor. An inkjet recording device capable of reducing power consumption can be provided. Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a document processing device, and Fig. 2 is a configuration of a printer applicable to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a head cartridge; FIG. 4 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of a carriage for mounting the head cartridge; FIG. 5 is a diagram shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a series of recovery operations in the above mechanism; FIG. 7 is a diagram chronologically showing the operation of each part in the discharge recovery operation of the above mechanism; FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the control configuration in the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2 etc., FIG. 9 is a command table showing commands used in the above control configuration, and FIG. Pig format to be transferred, Figures 11 to 15 are flowcharts showing the control procedure in the above control configuration, Figure 16 is a timing chart showing the operation in the above configuration, and Figure 17 is used in the 411 process described above. FIG. 18, a diagram showing the excitation phase, is a correction table used in the above configuration.

1...Keyboard section 2...Key group 6...Indicator 8...Printer section 9...Head cartridge ]0...control unit II...Gear ridge 31... Carriage motor 35... Conveyance motor 51...cap 53... pump 61...Recovery motor B3... cam device 67... Carriage sensor 80...Printer control unit 501...Absorber child Figure 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An inkjet recording head that ejects ink onto a recording material to form a recorded image; a support member that supports the recording head and is provided to be able to scan; and a support member that supports the recording head and is provided to scan the support member; a support member driving means; a cap member provided so as to be able to cover a surface of the recording head in which an ejection port for ejecting the ink is formed; and a cap member that is arranged to cover a surface of the recording head in which an ejection port is formed. In the inkjet recording apparatus, the cap member moving means is configured to engage with an engaged portion provided on a part of the support member. the engaging member and the engaged portion are in an engaged state when the cap member is in contact with and covers the ejection port forming surface of the recording head; An inkjet recording apparatus characterized in that the output of the excitation phase of the support member driving means is stopped in this state. (2) The recording head discharges ink using thermal energy, and has an electrothermal converter as the thermal energy generation source.
The inkjet recording device described in . (3) The inkjet recording device according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording device is a portable word processor equipped with a data input keyboard and a display screen.