JPH04129776A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable suitable control according to a case to be performed by switching closed loop drive to stepping motor drive by a method wherein a transfer position detecting means for detection of a transferred position of a recording head and a switching means which switches closed loop control to stepping motor drive according to a detected value, are provided. CONSTITUTION:When a stepping motor is driven, 1-2 phases exciting drive is performed, and PWM are set to different values between one phase excitation and two phases excitation. The stepping motor of which the PWM value is thus varied is driven every time the phase is changed. Further, a carriage speed i.e., excitation switching time of a motor phase is switched at each position. In wiping, the motor is driven at a specific speed switch timing slower than that in ordinary operation, and sure wiping is made to be performed. Further, in order to shorten whole operation time, the drive speed is made 8ms only for the least necessary limited part and is raised to 3ms before and after that.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording device, and particularly to a serial type recording device that performs recording while moving a recording head relative to a recording material using a step motor as a drive source. Regarding.

[Prior Art] In a conventionally known serial type printing apparatus, a step motor is used as a carriage drive motor that drives a gear notch that transports a print head for printing scanning, and the motor is controlled in a closed-loop drive and closed-loop control. There are many things to do. The reason for this is that closed-loop step motor drive causes problems such as generation of harsh noises and step-out, which may cause misalignment of printed dots.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] For example, some inkjet recording apparatuses perform a wiping operation that engages with the ink ejection orifice forming surface of the recording head to clean it as the carriage moves. This operation requires the carriage to travel at a predetermined speed. In other words, a considerably slower speed than that during recording is normally required. Furthermore, in order to downsize the device and improve the total printing speed, it is required that the travel distance be as short as possible.

It is extremely difficult to achieve a predetermined speed at a predetermined position over such a short distance with certainty using closed loop control using a step motor.

Furthermore, in order to reduce costs, there is a recording apparatus that has a driving force transmission switching mechanism that switches one driving source and uses it as driving force for multiple operations. In Japanese Patent Application No. 1-139307 disclosed by the present applicant, for example, a mechanism for switching the driving force of a paper feed motor to paper feed, auto sheet feeder drive, recovery means drive in an ink jet recording apparatus, etc. A configuration in which transmission is switched depending on the stop position is disclosed and shown. In the case of a recording device with such a mechanism, the control system is complicated when driven by closed-loop control because it stops at a predetermined position for a long time or moves back and forth over a short distance at a predetermined speed. This may cause problems such as the item turning into something else.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by enabling switching between closed-loop drive and step motor drive, and by appropriately switching drive conditions such as speed and current value in step motor drive. With the goal.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To this end, the present invention provides a recording apparatus that records on a recording material, which includes a step motor and a driving force of the step motor that can reciprocate along the recording material. ,
a recording head for recording on a recording material; an angular position detection means for detecting a rotational angular position of a rotor of the step motor;
A control means for controlling the drive of the step motor in a closed loop according to a detection result of the detection means, a control means for driving the step motor, and a movement position detection means for detecting a pressure at a movement position of the recording head. , further comprising a switching means for switching between the closed loop control and the step motor drive in accordance with the detected value.

Further, in addition to switching to step motor drive, means is further provided for switching drive conditions depending on a predetermined movement position.

[For Use] According to the present invention, it is possible to perform appropriate control depending on the situation by switching between closed loop drive and step motor drive. In addition, in the process of driving the step motor, it is possible to drive the print head or carriage in various optimal ways according to the needs of the printing apparatus. For example, in an inkjet recording device, a drive method suitable for a wiping operation in which the ink ejection orifice surface of a recording head is cleaned by running the carriage, or an operation in which driving force transmission is switched depending on the stop position of the carriage is used to maintain the optimum state. drive, and can provide highly reliable recording measures.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

(Configuration of the entire apparatus) FIG. 1 shows an example of an inkjet recording apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 1 is a recording head mounted on a carriage 2, and the carriage 2 is connected to a recording head 7 by a timing belt stretched between it and an idler boot (not shown).
The carriage drive motor (described later in Figures A and 7B)
(not shown in FIG. 1), and is reciprocated along the guide shaft 3 by forward and reverse rotation. Incidentally, ink is supplied to the recording head 1 from an ink cartridge 4 via an ink tube (not shown), and while the carriage 2 is moving from left to right, the recording head 1 is supplied with ink from an ink ejection port (not shown) to a recording material such as a recording material. Ink is ejected toward the recording sheet 5, and recording is performed.

As ejection means for the recording head, US Pat. No. 4,72
3.129 and 4,459,600, the thermal energy causes a change of state in the liquid, including the rapid formation of bubbles, contraction, and in response to the formation of the bubbles. A method of ejecting liquid as droplets (preferably having an electrothermal converter as a component) can be adopted.

6 is a plate-shaped fixed platen that holds the recording sheet 5 at a position facing the ejection surface of the recording head 1 while maintaining a predetermined interval; 7 is a feed roller that feeds the recording sheet 5; 8 is in pressure contact with the feed roller 7; A pinch roller 9 is driven to sandwich the recording sheet 5 between them, and 9 is a pinch roller holder for applying pressure to the pinch roller 8. The holder 9 is made of a stainless steel plate or the like, and the spring force of the holder 9 causes the pinch roller to 8 toward the feed roller 7. 10 and 11 hold the recording sheet 5 fed manually, etc., and the feed roller 7 and the pinch roller 8
There is a guide between the upper guide and the lower guide.

A guide rail IOA is provided on the upper part of the upper guide 10, and a leaf spring portion 2A provided on the lower surface side of the carriage 2 is slidably held along the guide rail IOA. Thus, the spring force of the leaf spring 2A urges the carriage 2 itself toward the fixed platen 6, and the carriage 2
A part of the platen 6 is attached to the sheet holding plate 1 provided in front of the platen 6.
The head 1 is slidably brought into contact with the head 3.
A predetermined distance is maintained between the ink ejection surface IA and the recording sheet 5.

Note that the sheet presser plate 13 that a part of the carriage 2 comes into contact with
This area is near the back side of the part of the sheet presser plate 13 that is in contact with the feed roller 7, and when the sheet presser plate 13 retreats by that amount due to the passage of the recording sheet 5, the carriage 2
will also retreat as well.

Therefore, it is possible to maintain the above-mentioned interval at a predetermined interval regardless of paper thickness and form a high-quality recorded image.

The recording sheet 5 fed by the feed roller 7 and the pinch roller 8 is held by a fixed platen 6 tilted rearward at an angle of approximately 30 degrees, making it easy to see the recording results. As shown in FIG. 2, the recorded recording sheet 5 is transferred to a discharge roller 12 and a spur 12B that is pressed against the discharge roller 12.
It is sandwiched between the two and discharged to the stacker section 14.

Figure 2 shows the exterior cover 15 and automatic paper feeder (auto feeder).
This shows the state where the sheet feeder (ASF) 16 is installed, and recording sheets can be fed not only manually from the front but also from the rear ASF.
It can be supplied via the F16, and furthermore, if the pin feed tractor 17 is used, it can also be recorded on continuous paper. Further, it is also possible to provide a heater on the back side of the fixed platen 5, thereby making it possible to deal with ink that is difficult to dry.

Next, the ink supply device, recovery bag aS, sheet feeding device, etc. according to this example will be described. These devices are the first
They are concentrated on the left side of the recording area in the figure, and are designed to simplify the drive transmission mechanism and make the space more compact.
The drive source is shared, and 20 is a feed motor provided as the drive source. As will be described later, the feed motor 20 connects the feed roller 7 and the discharge roller J.
2, the ASF 16 can also be driven, and further a series of recovery operations can be performed by the recovery device.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a cartridge insertion opening, and 22 denotes a hollow needle that pierces the ink cartridge 4 when inserted from the insertion opening 21 to supply ink to the recording head 1 via a tube (not shown) or an ink remaining amount detector. be. The recovery device also operates the cap member 23, the cap guide shaft 24 that movably holds the cap carrier 23A on which the cap member 23 is mounted, and the cap member 23 and the ink ejection surface IA of the recording head 1 as the cap member 23 moves. It includes a rail 25 for guiding the cap member 23, a spring 26 for biasing the cap member 23 toward the initial position on the right side, a pump 27 for sucking ink, and the like.

Further, the cap carrier 23A includes an arm portion 23B that projects toward the travel path of the carriage 2, and when the carriage 2 moves leftward from the position shown in FIG. 1 and returns to the initial position, the cap carrier 23A A portion abuts and engages with the upper arm portion 23B, and moves further leftward together with the cap member 23. Reference numeral 28 denotes a fixed shutter for detecting the reference position, and when the carriage 2 is guided to the initial position, the fixed shutter 28 is detected by a transmission type sensor (home position sensor) 29 provided on the carriage 2.
An initial position is determined. Note that during the subsequent movement, the ink ejection surface IA is capped by the cap member 23.

In addition, in a recovery operation after capping, a negative pressure is generated in the cap member 23 by driving a pump 27 connected to the cap member 23 through a tube (not shown), and ink is removed from the nozzles of the recording head 1. However, such a recovery operation is performed by the feed motor 20 by switching by a driving force switching means, which will be described later. 3
1 is a pump cam for driving the pump 27, 32 is a pump output gear, 33 and 34 are an ASF lock gear and a sheet feeding output gear provided coaxially with the pump output gear 32, and 35 is a gear train 36. This is an idler gear that meshes with the feed roller 7 and can rotationally drive the feed roller 7 via the feed gear 37.

A wiper (blade) 48 is provided perpendicularly to the traveling direction of the carriage 2 and is fixed so as to engage and clean the ejection port forming surface of the recording head 1 as the carriage travels. .

(Switching mechanism) Next, the feed motor 20 is
The operation switching mechanism will be explained below. Note that although an embodiment using a gear as the transmission member will be described below, the transmission member may be of other forms.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 41 denotes an idler gear for transmitting the drive of the foot drive shaft 20 to the drive gear 43 of the slide gear shaft 42, and the slide gear shaft 42 has a D-shaped cross section. A slide gear 44 that rotates together with 42 is held by a slide holder 45. That is, the slide holder 45 has two pronged legs 45A extending downward as shown in FIG.
Since the leg portion 45A is fitted into the groove member 47 supported by the frame 46 in parallel with the gear shaft 42, the slide gear 44 moves together with the slide holder 45 as the leg portion 45A moves along the groove member 47. Moving.

23G is a second arm protruding from the cap carrier 23A toward the groove member 47, and 23D is a second arm 23C.
The leaf spring 23D is held between the forked legs 45A of the slide holder 45 described above.

Therefore, when the cap member 23 is engaged with the carriage 2 and moved to the left as described later, the slide holder 45 is moved in the same direction via the plate spring 23D, so that the slide gear 44 always maintains a position corresponding to the cap member 23. However, this slide gear 44
As shown in FIG. 4 above, a module gear train 36 is also supported by the frame 46 and can be engaged with the slide gear 44.

In the gear train 36, the gear located farthest to the right is the large gear 3.
Output gear 3 for sheet feeding consisting of 4A and small gear 34B
4, of which the large gear 34A is a slide gear 44.
The small gear 34B meshes with the discharge roller gear 12A via the idler gear 35. In addition, with the slide gear 44 meshing with the sheet feeding output gear 34, the feed roller 7 and the discharge roller 12 can be rotated forward or reverse by the feed motor 20 via the feed gear 37 and the discharge roller gear 12A.

Furthermore, in FIG. 4, the ASF output gear 33 has the same number of teeth and module as the coaxial large gear 34A, and meshes with the slide gear 44 depending on the position of the slide gear 44, and also meshes with the input gear 16A of the ASF 16. Therefore, when the slide gear 44 is engaged with the ASF output gear 33, the input gear 16A can be rotated forward or reverse.For example, the forward rotation allows the ASF 16 to feed the sheet, and the reverse rotation allows the selection of 1 bin, 2 bin, etc. It is possible to perform functional movements of equal height.

The pump output gear 32 provided at the left end of the gear train 36 in FIG. 4 is also connected to the slide gear 4 as shown in FIG. 5A.
4), one gear 32A of the pump output gear 32 is engaged with the pump cam 31 at the leftmost movement position (indicated by a two-dot chain line).
It meshes with drive gear 3LA.

Therefore, when the slide gear 44 is moved to such a position, the pump cam 31 can be driven by the feed motor 20, and the cam 31 can cause the pump 27 to perform a pumping operation. In other words, as mentioned above, the stop position of the carriage 2! Depending on the situation, the driving force of the feed motor 20 can be transmitted to any one of the sheet feeding output gear 34, the ASF output gear 33, and the pump output gear 32 via the slide gear 44, and the corresponding operation is performed. be able to.

Next, as the carriage 2 moves to the left outside the recording area, the cap carrier 23A is moved depending on the movement position, and the slide gear 44 meshes with each of the above-mentioned output gears in accordance with the movement of the cap carrier 23A. explain. In addition, in such a switching operation of the output gear, the leaf spring 23D interposed in the connecting portion between the cap carrier 23A and the slide holder 45 serves as a buffer during the switching.

Now, when the carriage 2 moves leftward from the recording area on the right in FIG. 1 and further moves from the position shown in FIG. 6A to the position shown in FIG. 6B, the recording head 1 is attached to the arm portion 23B of the cap carrier 23A. After the engagement, the cap carrier 23A becomes movable along the guide shaft 24. In addition, in FIGS. 6A to 6C, (A)
- (D), the cap carrier 23A is the cap member 23
While holding the slide holder 45 and slide gear 4.
4. Among these, in positions (A) to (C), the cap member 23 is moved by the operating arm 23H of the cap member 23 guided by the rail 25, as shown in FIG. 6c. It is extruded toward the recording head 1 and maintained in a capped state. Further, position (D) is a standby position for performing sheet feeding etc. during recording, and when the carriage 2 is currently in position (D) as shown in FIG. 6B, it is not shown here. However, the slide gear 44 meshes with the sheet feeding output gear 34, and in this state, the motor 20 can feed the sheet.

In this position (D), the print head faces the cap, and in this position, preliminary ejection, which is not related to printing,
This can be done by using an electrical signal to the electrothermal transducer of the recording head. In this example, the preliminary ejection is performed at the start of printing and when the continuous time during recording continues for one minute.

Next, when the carriage 2 is further moved to the left from the position (D), the slide gear 44 is disengaged from the sheet feeding output gear 34 and meshes with the ASF output gear 33 at the position (B). However, in this case, if there is a shift in the phase of the teeth, they will not mesh well with the ASF output gear 33, but regardless of this, once the cap carrier 23A is moved to a position corresponding to position CB), the difference in the amount of movement due to the lack of meshing will be is absorbed by the bending of the leaf spring 23D. (Thereafter, when the feed motor 20 is driven, the slide gear 4 is driven through the drive gear 43 as shown in FIG.
4 is driven, the teeth mesh with each other when their phases match, and the ASF output gear 33 can be driven.

Also, for example, immediately after the slide gear 44 is engaged with the sheet feeding output gear 34 and the sheet is fed, the teeth are mutually engaged (they are engaged with each other, and friction occurs between them, so they cannot be easily removed). In this case as well, this state can be temporarily maintained by bending the leaf spring 23D, and the friction between the teeth can be eliminated by reverse rotation of the feed motor 20.

Next, position (A) is a position where a recovery operation such as bombing is performed, and FIG. 6C shows this state. In this state, the slide gear 44 can be meshed with the pump output gear 32, and the pump 27 can be driven via the pump cam 31 by one of the gears 32A, as shown in FIG. 5A. Note that (C) is a standby position with the recording head 1 capped, and of course sheet feeding can be carried out even in this state.

(Carriage Drive Motor) FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B) show the internal cross-sectional structure of the carriage drive motor according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is driven under the above-mentioned driving conditions. In this figure, 110 is a casing;
113 is a rotor shaft, 114 is a rotor, 115a and 1
15b is a coil, 116a and 116b are stators,
117 is a disk provided with a slit, IHI is a photointerrupter for detecting the slit, and disk 1
17 and the photointerrupter 118 constitute an encoder that detects the rotational angular position of the rotor 114 of the motor 100. A boot is provided on the rotor shaft 113, and the carriage 2 is moved via a timing belt stretched between the boot and another boot.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a method of driving the stepping motor 100 for driving the carriage according to this embodiment. In this example, since a carriage drive motor 100 in which an encoder section and a motor section are integrated is used, the step motor section 100A and encoder section 100A are shown in the figure.
It is shown separately from B.

101 is a position counter for counting signals generated from the encoder section 100B. In this example, the MPU 102 uses the counted value of the position counter 101 to recognize the current carriage position, etc., and performs management of the set position, switching control of the motor drive method, etc.

A speed counter 103 uses a signal generated from the encoder section 100B to allow the MPU 102 to recognize the rotational speed of the step motor section 100A, that is, the carriage speed, and this speed counter 103 measures the pulse width of the encoder signal.

Then, the MPU 102 uses the value of the speed counter 103 and processes it to generate a necessary PWM value for the PWM counter 104 (this is the duty value of pulse width modulation, and if the output value is large, the duty is large and the current flows). is given, and the carriage motor 100 is controlled in a closed loop.

105 is a current switching circuit for controlling the signal from the encoder section 100B to be passed through the encoder circuit 106 to switch the excitation phase of the step motor at a certain fixed value.

107 is the PWM given by the PWM counter 104
This is a motor drive circuit for driving the step motor unit 100A according to the current switching timing given by the current switching circuit 105.

Here, a method for driving the carriage motor 100 using closed loop control will be described.

The switching timing for the phase of the step motor section 100A is automatically set by the current switching circuit 105 by a pulse signal generated by the encoder section 100B which rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the step motor section 100A.

On the other hand, by counting the pulse width using the pulse signal, the step motor section 100A is controlled by the speed counter.
The rotation speed of is detected.

Using this value, the MPU 102 performs processing according to a procedure predetermined on the internal ROM, and the necessary PWM value is calculated and set in the PWM counter 104. This P
For example, if the rotational speed of the step motor section 100A is larger than the target (instruction) rotational speed, the WM value is set to a value such that the speed becomes smaller, that is, the duty of the PWM signal is reduced. Become.

The step motor section 100A is driven via the motor drive circuit 107 according to the PWM value calculated by the MPU 102 and the phase switching timing given by the current switching circuit 105, and the speed is again changed to the encoder section 100B.
Detected by The step motor section 100A is driven in a closed loop by the closed loop control as described above.

Next, a method of driving the carriage motor 100 as a step motor will be explained.

Switching of the excitation phase is performed by the MPU 102 at an excitation timing (time) predetermined in the ROM, as in normal step motor driving, without depending on the current switching circuit 105. Further, the current value at this time is managed by the PWM value. That is, a PWM value predetermined by the MPU 102 is given to the motor drive circuit through the PWM counter 104. In this way, the step motor unit 100A is driven by a predetermined current value (PWM value) at a predetermined phase switching timing. becomes possible.

An encoder signal is also generated at this time, and is used by the MPU 102 to determine the carriage position through the position counter 101. In the case of normal step motor drive, the carriage position is determined by counting the switching of the excitation phase determined by the MPU 102, but in this example, the conventional method of counting the switching of the excitation phase and counting the encoder signal are used. Both methods can determine carriage position.

The above is the method of driving the carriage motor 100 as a step motor.

(Aspects of carriage position and motor drive) FIG. 9 is a diagram showing what is done when the carriage 2 is in which position and how the carriage motor 100 is driven. This is the end of the recording position.

Positions (A) to (D) are the positions explained in the character pink and drive switching section in Figures 3 to 6, and as mentioned above, (A) is the position where drive is transmitted to the pump 27. , (B) is the position where the drive is transmitted to the ASF 16, (C) is the position where the drive is transmitted for sheet feeding and is in the capped state, (D) is the position where the drive is transmitted for sheet feeding and the recording head is in the preliminary state facing the cap. This is the discharge position.

Furthermore, (El is the position of the wiping operation by the aforementioned wiper 48, (F) is the position on the right side of this position as a closed loop drive for printing, the left side is the position where step motor drive with each drive condition is performed, (G) indicates the position of the first dot in the printing range.Also, (H) indicates that the slide gear 44 comes off at one end from the sheet feeding output gear 34 and goes to the pump position, and even if it returns again, the sheet feeding position will be shifted. This is the position to make adjustments to prevent this from happening.

The time shown in parentheses indicates the excitation switching time of the motor phase explained when driving the step motor mentioned above. Also, the percentage display in the mouth similarly indicates the duty of the PWM value described above, and the larger the duty, the more current flows. The upper row is the PWM duty value during 1-phase excitation in 1-2 phase excitation drive, and the lower row is the PWM duty value during 2-phase excitation.
This is the duty value. That is, in this embodiment, 1-2 phase excitation drive is performed when the step motor is driven.
PWM is set to different values during 1-phase excitation and 2-phase excitation. In the case of 1-2 phase excitation, if the current is the same during 1-phase excitation and 2-phase excitation, the 1-phase is weaker, so the PWM value during 1-phase excitation is set to be large. In addition, in this example, in order to produce the same torque, the PWM value during two-phase excitation is approximately 1/JT of the PWM value during one-phase excitation.
It is said that In this way, in this embodiment, the step motor is driven to change the PWM value every time the phase is switched.

In addition, the carriage speed, that is, the excitation switching time of the motor phase is changed at each position. For example, during wiping, the drive is performed at a predetermined speed (8 m5 in this example) that is slower than normal, and reliable wiping is performed. That's what I do. In addition, in order to shorten the overall operation time, only the minimum necessary part is set to 8ms.
Before and after that, the drive speed is increased to 3ms.

Further, in the range (A) to (D) of the drive switching mechanism, the movement in the direction is against the spring 26, and since driving torque is required, the speed is slowed down and driven at 5 ms.
Conversely, since the movement to the right is the direction in which the spring 26 returns, high-speed driving is performed with a time of 3 ms.

Further, in the movement from (D) to (C), the PWM value is set to a large value of 50% and 35% because a larger driving torque is required to ride on the cam-shaped portion of the rail 25.

Note that various values necessary for control can be stored in a table in a ROM built into the MPU.

(The following is a blank space) (Control procedure) Drive switching unit (A) ~ using Figures 10 and 11
(The control mode of the paper feed motor and carriage motor in the DJ will be explained.

In this example, (A), (H), (B)
, (C1, (D)) The carriage movement between adjacent positions is made into a subroutine. For example, (A)
The carriage movement from ~(D) is (A) → (H),
(H)→(B), (B) −(C), (C)→
The configuration is a combination of the routines in (D), and the basic flow is similar for each routine, so one of them will be exemplified below.

The procedure shown in FIG. 10 shows the subroutine for moving the carriage from the cap position (C) to the ASF position (B) among the subroutines.

First, we will explain the judgment in step S16. For example, if the movement from the preliminary ejection position (D) to the cap position (C) has been made immediately before this subroutine is called, the movement from (D) to (C) will be explained. At the end of the movement routine, the slide gear is released from pressure, and this procedure overlaps with the release of pressure from the slide gear at steps s2 and S3. Therefore, for the purpose of shortening the time etc., step S2. S3 is skipped (bypassed). The bypass setting can also be determined by referring to a flag (for example, provided in the RAM built into the MPU) that is set when continuous movement occurs.

Step S2. S3 is for releasing the pressure contact between the slide gear 44 and the sheet feeding output gear 34, thereby making the slide gear 44 movable and making the carriage movable.

That is, by rotating the slide gear 44 in step S2, the backlash of each gear is eliminated and the slide gear 44 is brought into sufficient pressure contact with the sheet feed output gear 34. From this state, in step S3, for a predetermined pulse (3 pulses in this embodiment), the rotation direction is reversed to that in step S2.
That is, by rotating in the normal rotation direction, the pressure contact between the slide gear and the sheet feeding output gear is completely released.

Here, the paper feed motor 20 is set so that the current value can be switched to three levels: small, medium, and small.
4, the required rotational torque is large, so
It is set to high current. Note that in this embodiment, the phase switching timing is set to 3 ms.

Step S4 is a routine for moving the carriage shown in FIG. 11 to the target position, and here the carriage is moved to about 2 mm before the ASF position B.

This subroutine will now be explained using FIG. 11.

First, the error counter set in step S8 is
This is used to control the recovery operation when the carry/remove unit cannot reach the target position during normal operation. In this example, as will be described later, the first glue recovery sequence iron only increases the driving force of the carriage, and the paper feed motor 20 is also driven in the second and subsequent glue recovery sequences. It is set to do so. If the destination is not reached even after carrying out the recovery sequence a predetermined number of times (EC), the error counter is set to "EC" in step S8 in order to perform control so that an error occurs.

By using this recovery sequence, the step drive condition of the carriage motor set in step S9 can be set to a drive force with a certain margin, and excess drive force can be suppressed, making it possible to reduce drive noise. Become.

In step S9, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the step motor drive during movement from (C) to CB) has a PWM duty of
This is done with 1-2 phase excitation of 40% during phase drive and 30% during 2-phase drive. At this time, the number of steps of the carriage motor calculated by the moving distance, which is the difference between the current carriage position counted by the MPU 102 and the distance to the destination using the position counter 101 shown in FIG. The maximum number of steps is set as the maximum step.

Step Sll is a procedure for determining whether the target position has been reached by the position counter 101 managed using the aforementioned encoder signal, and at the time of arrival, the drive of the carriage motor is stopped in step S12.

On the other hand, as determined in step SIO, if the carriage does not reach the target position even after exceeding the maximum step set in step S9, a recovery sequence is entered. In step S13, the paper feed motor is not driven in step S17 in the case of the first-stage glue recovery sequence. Also, step S14. S1
5, this recovery sequence is set to a predetermined value (EC
) times and if the destination is not reached, an error will occur. In step S16, since the destination cannot be reached for some reason under the driving conditions set in step S9, the driving force is set to be increased.

For example, in step S9 (5ms, 40%, 30%)
(5ms, 60%, 40
%) etc. so that driving is performed.

Step S17 assumes that the slide gear 44 cannot be removed from each gear for some reason or the gears are not engaged, and this is attempted to be resolved by rotating the paper feed motor 20 at a low speed.

Referring again to FIG. 10, the reason why the target position is not set to the ASF position in step S4 but is set slightly before the ASF position is as follows. That is, when the carriage is moved in step S4, the slide gear 44 is normally not engaged with the ASF output gear 33, and the leaf spring 23D acts as a buffer (for details, see FIGS. 3 to 6). ). If this amount is too large, the driving force of the carriage becomes too large, a large spring deflection is required, and durability problems arise. The ASF gear 33 meshes with the ASF gear 33.

Next, in step S5, in the 5 steps of rotating the paper feed motor 20, the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 3 are rotated.
3 will mesh. Furthermore, by releasing the pressure contact between the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 33 in step S6, the slide gear 44 moves to a predetermined position. That is, the gear is engaged at a position 2 mm before the final engagement position with the ASF output gear 33.

Thereafter, with the pressure contact between the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 33 released, the slide gear 4 is moved approximately 2 mm remaining to the ASF position in step S7.
4 moves to the final meshing position with the ASF output gear.

As described above, movement of the carriage to each position is achieved by a combination of the carriage movement routines between adjacent positions as described above.

(Specific Example of Skip) How the skip determination shown in step S1 in FIG. 1O is specifically used will be explained using FIGS. 12 and 13. Here, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the operation of the motor that is the drive source and the movement state of the carriage when a recording sheet is loaded with the cap open, and FIG. 13 is a diagram with the cap open. More AS
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of a motor, which is a drive source, and the movement state of a carriage when a recording sheet is loaded by F.

(A) to (D) and (H) show the stop positions of the carriage for the above-mentioned switching operation.
The position indicated as "○○" is a position approximately 2 mm before the left-right position of each operating position shown in step S4 in FIG.
is the position in front of rASFJ). Therefore, (A)puyp~(
D) LFDUMY corresponds to the positions where the carriage stops sequentially based on the pressure in the moving direction of the carriage. Further, normal arrows in the drawings indicate the order of movement of the carriage or control flow, and arrows shown in bold letters indicate the order of normal rotation and reverse rotation of the recording sheet feeding motor. The upper part of the bold arrow indicates the number of steps in the normal rotation direction of the recording sheet feed motor, and (
) shows L (large current), M (medium current), or S (small current) and excitation phase switching time, and the same is shown in the lower row for the reverse direction. For example, the first operation in Fig. 12 is shown in the upper right corner, in which the recording sheet feeding motor is rotated 10 steps in the reverse direction with a phase excitation time of 3 ms at a large current, and then rotated rapidly in the forward direction. This shows that the rotation is performed in 3 steps with a phase excitation time of 3 ms.

First, the explanation will be given with reference to FIG. 13 in which no skip operation is performed.

The carriage stops at the cap position (C), and the operation starts from the capped state. In this state, there is a possibility that the recording sheet feeding operation, etc. has been started before then, so the slide gear 44 and the recording sheet output gear 34 may be in pressure contact, and steps S2 and S in FIG.
It is necessary to perform the gear pressure release operation by 10 step reverse rotation and 3 step forward rotation shown in 3. After that, move the carriage 2 to the PRASF position 2mm before the ASF operation position in (B).
The slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 34 are moved to this position, rotated 5 steps in the normal direction to engage the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 34, and then rotated 2 steps in the reverse direction to release the gear pressure. Thereafter, the carriage is moved to the ASF operation position (B), and then the ASF paper feed roller is rotated 343 steps to feed the recording sheet 5. Thereafter, the motor is rotated 18 steps in the normal direction and 2 steps in the reverse direction to release the pressure contact between the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 34, and then the carriage 2 is moved to a position 2 mm in front of the cap position. Next, the recording sheet feeding motor is rotated in normal rotation by 10 steps to engage the slide gear 44 with the recording sheet feeding output gear 34. After the slide gear is released from pressure by three reverse steps, the carriage is further moved to the cap position (C). In this state in which the slide gear 44 is connected to the sheet feeding output gear 34, the motor 20 is rotated in the forward direction to load the recording sheet. At this time, the number of steps x is such that the leading edge position of the paper is rotated by a predetermined number of steps from the detected position.

Next, the operation shown in FIG. 12 will be explained.

With the carriage in the preliminary discharge position shown in (D), by rotating the motor 10 steps in reverse and 3 steps in forward rotation, the pressure on the slide gear 44 is released and the slide gear 44 and carriage 2 can be moved. Become. Next, move the carriage 2 to the cap position (C),
Thereafter, in FIG. 13, there are reverse and forward rotation operations of the drive motor, whereas in FIG. 12, these operations are omitted. This is because the slide gear 44 is engaged with the sheet feeding output gear in both the preliminary discharge position (D) and the cap position (C), and the pressure contact of the slide gear 44 at the preliminary discharge position (D) mentioned above is in mesh with the sheet feeding output gear. Since the released state is maintained, there is no need to perform an operation to release the pressure contact again at the cap position (C).

The subsequent operation is the same as that shown in FIG.

(Operation when the power is turned on) FIG. 14 shows the operation when the power is turned on with continuous paper inserted.

With the carriage in the cap position (C) and the cap applied, rotate the paper feed motor 20 10 steps in reverse and 3 steps in the forward direction to release the gear pressure, and then move the carriage 2 to the right. The carriage motor 100 is moved, the home position is detected, and the initial operation of the carriage motor 100 is performed. Thereafter, with the carriage in the preliminary ejection position (D), the paper feed motor 20 is rotated 10 steps in reverse and 3 steps in normal rotation to release the gear pressure contact.
Move the gear ridge to the cap position of C1. As explained in FIG. 12, the paper feed motor 20 is not driven at the cap position shown in (C), and the carriage 2 is moved to a position before the ASF position.

At this position, the slide gear 44 engages with the ASF output gear by forwardly rotating the paper feed motor by 5 steps, and by rotating the paper feed motor by 2 steps in reverse, the gear pressure contact is released. Next, the carriage is moved to the ASF position of CB). In this state, the slide gear 44 and the ASF output gear 3
3 is a state in which the pressure contact is released, so the action of releasing the gear pressure contact is unnecessary, and the carriage 2 is moved through the gear adjustment position (H) to the position before the recovery operation. During this time, a gear counter (this counter can use a predetermined area of the RAM) for counting the number of subsequent steps of the paper feed motor 20 is set to "O".

With the carriage in the position before the recovery operation, the paper feed motor 20 is rotated forward by five steps to perform the gear engagement operation. At this time, the aforementioned gear counter is incremented by 5 steps and becomes "5". Further, by reversing the gear by one step, the pressure contact of the gear is released, and at the same time, the gear counter is counted down by one step and becomes "4".

After moving the carriage 2 to the recovery operation position (A), the paper feed motor 20 is rotated forward, reverse, etc. to perform the recovery operation. The gear counter counts up each time the interleaving paper feed motor 20 is rotated in the normal direction, and counts down each time it is rotated in the reverse direction. After the recovery operation is completed, the paper feed motor 20 is further reversed by one step to release the gear pressure contact. Here again, the value of the gear counter is counted down by one step. Thereafter, the carriage is located between the recovery operation position (A) and the ASF position (B), and the slide gear 44 does not mesh with the pump output gear 32 and the ASF output gear 33 (the carriage is moved to the old gear engagement position). Here, the value of the gear counter is divided by the number of steps for one tooth of the slide gear (for example, 6 steps), and the remainder is rotated in the direction opposite to its sign.For example, if the value of the gear counter is "+26" is 26 ÷ 6 = 4 with a remainder of 2, so rotate it 2 steps in the reverse direction.For example, if the value of the gear counter is "-26", then 21-6 = 4 with a remainder of 2, so rotate it 2 steps in the forward direction. By this process, the phase of the teeth of the slide gear can be made to match when going to the recovery operation at the gear setting position (H) and when returning.

Furthermore, after moving the carriage 2 to a position in front of the ASF, the paper feed motor 20 is rotated 5 steps in the opposite direction to
The gear is engaged with the F output gear, and the gear pressure contact is released in the second step of normal rotation. After that, move the hexolidge 2 to the ASF position (B), and then move the cap to the front position. If the paper feed motor 20 is rotated in the forward direction by 17 steps, the slide gear 44 will be transferred to the recording sheet feed output gear 3.
Bite into 4.

Now, as described above, at the gear adjustment position (H), the phase of the teeth of the slide gear 44 is the same when the gear carriage 2 moves to the left and when the gear carriage 2 moves to the right. Furthermore, when the carriage 2 moves to the left, the slide gear 44 rotates five steps in the normal direction until it moves away from the sheet feeding output gear 34 and moves to the gear alignment position (H).

There are two steps of reverse rotation, ie, three steps of rotation in the forward direction. On the other hand, when the carriage 2 moves to the right, the paper feed motor 20 rotates in 5 steps in the reverse direction and 2 steps in the forward direction while moving from the gear alignment position (H) to the front of the sheet feed output gear 34. The configuration is such that rotation is performed by three steps in the direction. Therefore, when the phase of the slide gear 44 is matched at the gear alignment position (H), the phase when the slide gear 44 comes out of the sheet feeding output gear 34 while the carriage moves to the left and the carriage moves to the right. slide gear 4 to the sheet feed output gear while moving to
4 can be automatically matched with the phase at the time when it enters. Then, while the carriage 2 is moving to the right,
When moving to the front position of the cap, the slide gear 44 does not collide with the sheet feeding output gear 34 (allows for smooth engagement. All of the driving force is used to rotate the sheet feeding output gear 34, and the sheet feeding output gear 34 rotates by 17 steps.

Recording sheet feed output gear 3 from the start to before printing (PRINT), including forward and reverse rotation of the paper feed motor 20 during subsequent paper width detection (pw 5ENSE), etc.
Picking up the rotation of 4, (reverse 10. forward 3)
, (Reverse 10. Forward 3), (Forward 17. Reverse 3), (Reverse 10, Forward 3), (Forward 14), (Reverse 10. Forward 3), (Reverse 10, Forward 3
), (forward 14), (reverse 10.forward 3), resulting in forward and reverse "0" rotation.

As a result, the recording position of the continuous paper set at a predetermined position at the start and end of the initial operation does not change.

For example, if you do not want to process the gear adjustment, please refer to step 1 above.
During the normal rotation of the 7 steps, the slide gear 44 and the output gear 34 for feeding the recording sheet may be in a state where they do not mesh with each other (the teeth collide with each other). This means that the sheet feed output gear 34 cannot be rotated. Therefore, the rotation of the sheet feed output gear 34 in the normal rotation direction becomes small, and the recording sheet ends up in a backward position after the initial operation. Therefore, the above-mentioned processing is extremely effective.

(Operation during recovery) FIG. 15 shows the operation during recovery operation. Here, the same operation as explained in Fig. 14 above is performed, but after the carriage moves one end to the left and reaches the recovery operation position, the operation that returns to the right is performed in (D) for preliminary ejection. This is because a wiping operation (FUKI) for wiping the ejection ports of the recording head is performed at a position on the right side of the position. Thereafter, return to the recovery operation position (A) again and perform the remaining recovery operations.

Now, in this series of operations, the slide gear 44 smoothly meshes with the sheet feeding output gear 34 as the carriage 2 moves to the right and moves toward the cap. The entire driving force of the paper feed motor 20 at this position is used to rotate the sheet feed output gear 34.

As a result, the front position of the cap shown in Fig. 15 (
All the paper feed motor operations performed in the right direction from PRLFC: ) are all used for sheet feeding, thereby canceling out the forward and reverse directions and making the feed amount "0". Note that before and after this processing, an offline operation (OFF LINE) and an online operation (ON LINE) with the image data supply source are performed.

(Initial Operation) Next, the initial operation of the recording apparatus according to this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 16 to 19. Note that the description of parts that overlap with the switching operation described above will be omitted.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show an example of the procedure of the initial operation, and first, in step S18, it is set that this operation is the initial operation. This is step 319-3
Since the subroutine No. 26 is used together with the routine for moving from the pump position to the ASF position, it is used when determining whether or not it is an initial operation during the routine.

If it is determined in step S19 that the initial operation is not performed, that is, if the movement process is from the pump position to the ASF position, the paper feed motor 20 is simply reversed by one step to release the gear pressure prior to the following process. The time is step 328. At S29, the gear pressure release operation is performed in 10 reverse rotation steps and 3 forward rotation steps. In this release action, the pump position.

Cancellation is possible at any position, such as the ASF position or the cap position.

Next, in step S21, the carriage is moved 9 mm to the right. This position is "Case 1" ~ in Figure 19.
This is the position indicated by ■ to the right with respect to each carriage position (* mark) at the time of initialization of "Case 5". For example, as shown in "Case 3", when the carriage 2 is at the pump position, it is at a position 2 mm before the ASF position. Incidentally, in this routine, the above-described recovery procedure as shown in FIG. 11 is also performed.

Next, in step S22, it is determined whether or not the destination has been reached. If the destination cannot be reached even after performing the above-mentioned or cover sequence, in this initial process, the position similar to "Case 5", that is, the carriage 2 is near the right end and cannot proceed any further, and the process proceeds to step S35 via step S34. On the other hand, when the carriage 2 is able to reach the destination, it is determined whether or not a sensor that detects that the carriage is at the home position sensor is on in the initial operation (step 530). If the home position sensor is off, it is determined that the carriage 2 is in "case 2", "case 3" or "J case 4", and step S24. Gear jammed at S25,
After the pressure contact is released, the carriage is moved two more times in step 326. This position is the position indicated by ■ in "Case 2" to "Case 4". Further, in the determination procedure of step S27, if the series of operations (loop) has not been repeated three times, the process returns to step S19.

As shown in FIG. 19, the optical path of a transmissive home position sensor 29 mounted on the carriage 2, for example, is blocked so that the home position (HP), which is the reference position of the carriage, is blocked.
The fixed shutter 28, which serves as a shielding plate for detecting the setting to CD), is provided long in the direction of carriage movement, and the sensor 29 is provided even when the carriage 2 is near the preliminary ejection position CD).
It is set to turn on. In this way, the home position sensor 29 is turned on in step S30 in a case like "Case 1", and in this case, the carriage 2 is moved to the right until the home position sensor 29 is turned off in steps S31 and S32. Then, the motor is further moved to the right by a predetermined number of steps (8 steps in step S33) to provide some margin.

Now, "Case 2" is when the sensor is turned on at step S30 in the second loop, and "Case 3" is when the sensor is turned on at step S30 for the first time in the third loop.
] is a case in which the switch is not turned on even after three loops. If the sensor does not turn on even after repeating the loop three times, it is determined that the carriage 2 has moved to the right side of the home position sensor shielding plate (fixed shutter) 28, as in "Case 4". Incidentally, "Case 5" is a case where it is determined in step S22 that the destination could not be reached during the second loop.

As described above, in each case, after it is confirmed that the carriage 2 has moved to the right side of the home position sensor shielding plate 28, in steps 335 to S37, the carriage 2 is moved to the left and when the carriage passes the HP position. Set the position counter. Further step 33
g. After the carriage 2 has been moved several steps in S39, the initial operation of the carriage morph circuit is performed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 18, a recovery operation is performed while performing the gear switching operation described above, and the initial operation is completed.

Incidentally, when the power is turned off, the carriage 2 is normally in the gear position (the "case 1" position), and in this case, the above-mentioned loop is performed once, thereby reducing the time. Furthermore, as described above, for example, as shown in "Case 1" to "Case 5", the initial operation is not completed and the position counter on the recording device RAM is not set regardless of the position of the carriage 2. The initial operation can be performed without causing any inconvenience, such as the gear pressure not being released and the carriage not being able to move, even before the carriage is moved.

(Other Examples) In the example shown in FIG. 14 described above, the remainder after division at the gear alignment position is rotated in the opposite direction, but the integer number of steps corresponding to the pitch of the slide gear teeth is rotated in the opposite direction. It is also possible to perform a process of rotating the rotation in the same direction by the amount that is not doubled.

Also, when performing division in FIG. 14, the slide gear 44
However, in such a process, the last excitation phase of the paper feed motor when the initial operation is completed after the power is turned on is not constant.

For example, in the case of a 4-phase motor, if the initial starts from the 1st phase, for example, if the power is turned off and the 2nd phase is turned on, the gears will be rotated in the same direction or in the opposite direction the next time the power is turned on. It turns out. Therefore, if we divide by 12, which is a common multiple of 6 steps corresponding to the pitch of one tooth and the number of motor phases of 4, we can also match the phase of motor excitation at the time of meshing with the sheet and feed gear. becomes possible. As a result, excitation starts from the first phase when the power is turned on, and ends with fourth phase excitation when the initial operation ends. If the power is turned off, the next time the power is turned on, excitation will start from the first phase again in order, and the amount of gear rotation will be too much or too little (predetermined movement can be performed. No matter how many times the power is turned off after the initial operation is turned on, the sheet feeding output gear 34 does not change its position. In other words, when recording paper is set, the position of the recording paper changes. There will be no.

Another method is to rotate the gear by two steps in the opposite direction in accordance with the calculated rotation described above when adjusting the gears in FIG. 14, and then move it to the right.
A similar effect can be obtained by changing the normal rotation from 17 steps to 1742 (.multidot.19) steps to engage the slide gear 44 with the sheet feeding output gear 34 at the position in front of the cap. In this case, the two steps are used for gear engagement, and since the phases match at that point, engagement is performed, and the subsequent rotational force is transmitted to the sheet feeding output gear 34, resulting in the same effect as described above. is obtained. However, in this case, if the number of reverse rotation steps is, for example, 6 or more, the gears will engage at the position one gear before, so a large number (5 steps in total) is required.

Furthermore, in the above, an example in which closed loop drive and step motor drive are switched depending on a counter value indicating a carriage position on a predetermined MPtl, an example in which step motor drive is performed in particular at the wiper position, or an example in which step drive is performed in particular in the gear switching mechanism position, Further, the present invention has been described with reference to an example in which the phase switching timing and PWM value of the step motor drive are switched at a predetermined carriage position on the MPU.

However, instead of using a counter based on an encoder output signal as a method of counting the position of the carriage 2, for example, it is also possible to manage the carriage position using a counter based on the phase switching timing of the motor itself. Also,
Although an example has been described in which the PWM value is switched in the step motor drive, it is also possible to use other drive methods based on current limitation.

In addition, although the case where the combination of step motor drive is applied to the drive motor of the recording head scanning carriage has been described above, it is also possible to use a paper feed drive motor that requires high resolution or a paper feed drive that requires noise reduction. The same applies to electric motors.

In addition, on the upper side, the drive torque is adjusted by changing the PWM value every time the phase is switched, but the power value can also be changed by normal current value control, voltage value switching using constant voltage drive, etc. .

Furthermore, regarding the phase excitation method, other methods may be used in addition to the 1-2 phase excitation shown above.

For example, an appropriate excitation method such as a 3-4 phase excitation method or a 2-3 phase excitation method can be adopted.

In addition, the methods of beam recovery control described above include: first, increasing the moving force of the carriage; second, slowing down the moving speed of the carriage; third, slowing down the rotational speed of the gear; Although an embodiment is shown in which the gears are rotated in forward and reverse directions, the same operation may be repeated, for example.

In addition, on the upper side, to determine whether the gear (slide gear) has been set to a predetermined position, a position counter based on the encoder signal is used to determine whether the setting has been completed using the encoder signal while the carriage motor is step-driving for a preset maximum step. However, this judgment method may be performed using other judgment methods.

(Others) The present invention can be applied not only to the inkjet recording device described above but also to recording devices using other methods, but especially when adopting an inkjet recording method, Canon It brings about excellent effects in the bubble jet recording head and recording device proposed by Co., Ltd. This is because such a system can achieve higher recording density and higher definition.

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 both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to arrange the liquid (ink) in accordance with the sheet and liquid path that hold it. The electrothermal converter that is
By applying a single drive signal that corresponds to the recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, the electrothermal transducer generates thermal energy and a film is formed on the heat-active surface of the recording head. This is effective because it causes boiling, which results in the formation of bubbles in the liquid (ink) that correspond to this drive signal in pairs.The growth and contraction of these bubbles causes the liquid (ink) to flow through the ejection opening. is ejected to form at least one drop.If this drive signal is in the form of a pulse, bubble growth and contraction will occur immediately and appropriately.
Particularly responsive liquid (ink) ejection can be achieved,
More preferred. This pulse-shaped drive signal is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262.
Those described in the specification are suitable. Furthermore, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 concerning the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, even more excellent recording can be performed.

The configuration of the recording head includes, in addition to the combination 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. The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose configurations in which the wafer is placed in a bending region. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1989-5 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part of a plurality of electrothermal converters.
No. 9-123670 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59/1989 which discloses a configuration in which a discharge portion is made to correspond to an opening that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy.
The effects of the present invention are also effective even if the structure is based on the publication No.-138461. That is, regardless of the form of the recording head, according to the present invention, recording can be performed reliably and efficiently.

In addition, in the case of the serial type shown above, the recording head is fixed to the device body, or by being attached to the device body, electrical connection with the device body and ink supply from the device body are possible. The present invention is also effective when using a replaceable chip-type recording head or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus, to the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, these include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressure or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element, or a combination thereof; It is also effective to perform a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing in order to perform stable printing.

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 is also a plurality of recording heads that correspond to multiple inks with different recording colors and densities. It may be something that can be done. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to a recording mode for only a mainstream color such as black, but may also be a recording mode in which the recording head is configured integrally or in a combination of multiple colors, The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color by color mixture.

Additionally, in the embodiments of the present invention described above,
Although ink is described as a liquid, it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or below, but softens or liquefies at room temperature, or in an inkjet method, the ink itself is
Generally, the temperature is adjusted within the range of 0°C or more and 70°C or less so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range, so even if the ink is in a liquid state when the recording signal is applied. Bye. In addition, the temperature increase caused by thermal energy can be actively prevented by using the energy to change the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or ink that solidifies when left standing is used to prevent ink evaporation. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying thermal energy in accordance with the recording signal, and the liquid ink is ejected, or the ink has already begun to solidify by the time it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable when using ink that is liquefied only by energy. The ink used in this case is
Publication No. 4-56847 or JP-A-60-71260
As described in the above publication, the porous sheet may be held in a liquid or solid state in the recesses or through-holes of the porous sheet, facing the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective method for each of the above-mentioned inks is to implement the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention may take the form of an image output terminal for information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, etc., or a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting/receiving function. It may also be something.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, driving force transmission can be switched, for example, during a wiping operation to clean the ink ejection orifice surface of a recording head by running the carriage in an inkjet recording apparatus, or by changing the stop position of the carriage. When performing operations, etc., it is possible to drive the motor appropriately.
Furthermore, it becomes possible to drive the motor under optimal driving conditions at each position. On the other hand, during recording, the noise is low and closed-loop control without step-out can be performed. The reliability of the device can be improved by performing appropriate control at each position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an inkjet recording device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the recording device shown in FIG. 1 equipped with an ASF, and FIGS. A perspective view for explaining the configuration of a drive gear switching mechanism according to an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 5A is a configuration diagram of the drive gear switching mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIG. 5B is shown in FIG. 5A. FIGS. 6A to 6C are explanatory diagrams showing the engagement relationship between the carriage and the cap carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 7A and 7B are respectively , a partially cutaway perspective view and a sectional view showing a configuration example of a carriage drive motor according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 8 and 9 respectively show a drive block of a carriage motor according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 and 11 are flowcharts showing an example of the procedure for driving the paper feed motor and carriage motor in the gear switching unit. ASF
Figure 14 is a diagram to explain the recording paper loading by paper feeding, Figure 14 is a diagram to explain the initial operation when the power is turned on with continuous paper set, and Figure 15 is a diagram to explain the recovery operation. Figures 16 and 17 are flowcharts showing examples of the initial operation procedure. Figure 18 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the paper feed motor during the initial operation. Figure 19 is a diagram showing the position of the carriage before the power is turned on. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how the initial operation changes depending on whether or not there is one. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recording head, 2... Carriage, 5... Recording sheet, 7... Feed roller, 12... Ejection roller, 16... Automatic paper feeder, 20... Feed motor, 23... Cap member, 23A... Cap carrier, 23B, 23C... Arm portion, 23D... Leaf spring, 24... Cap guide shaft, 25... Rail, 26... Pump, 31... Pump cam, 32... Pump output gear, 33... ASF output gear, 34... Output gear for sheet feeding, 36... Gear train, 44... Slide gear, 45... Slide holder, 47... Groove member, 48... Wiper 100... Carriage motor, 100A... Carriage motor step motor section, 1
00B... Carriage motor encoder section, 101.
...Position counter, 102...MPU, 103...Speed counter, 104...PWM counter, 105...Current switching circuit, ...Encoder circuit, ...Motor drive circuit. 44 slide gear, input Fig. +68 (Fig. 7A, Fig. 7B, Fig. 17, Fig. 19)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A recording device that records on a recording material, comprising: a step motor; and a step motor that is movable back and forth along the recording material by the driving force of the step motor, and records on the recording material. a recording head; angular position detection means for detecting the rotational angular position of the rotor of the step motor; control means for controlling the drive of the step motor in a closed loop according to the detection result of the detection means; The apparatus is characterized by comprising: a control means for driving the recording head; a movement position detection means for detecting the movement position of the recording head; and a switching means for switching between the closed loop control and the step motor drive according to the detected value. Recording device. 2) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching drive conditions according to a predetermined movement position in the step motor drive. 3) The recording head is an inkjet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink onto the recording material, and during the movement, the recording head engages with a surface of the recording head having an ejection port for discharging ink. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a member for cleaning the recording apparatus, and a step motor is driven at the engagement position. 4) The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inkjet recording head includes an element that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the ink. 5) The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising means for performing a predetermined operation depending on the position of the recording head, and a step motor is driven in the range in which the predetermined operation is performed. Recording device described in .