JPH04147864A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the difference of the vibration of a carriage and the shift of a recording position by preventing the change of the moving route of a carriage by always setting the starting point of the carriage in the case of performing recording to the position of an ink receiving member. CONSTITUTION:A printer control part 80 receives the printing command of one line from a control part 100. It is judged whether a carriage 2 is present at a cap position on the basis of a carriage home sensor 30. When the carriage 2 is not present at the cap position, a carrier motor 11 is driven to move the carriage 2 to the cap position to execute the printing of one line. When preparatory emission is necessary after the completion of printing, the carriage 2 is moved to the cap position to perform presparatory emission. Since the starting point of the carriage 2 is always set to the cap position at the time of the recording of each line, the moving route of the carriage is not always changed not only in such a case that preparatory emission is performed during recording to carry out recording but also in such a case that recording is carried out without performing preparatory emission and the vibration state of the carriage 2 becomes same and the shift of a recording position is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device.

[Conventional technology]

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

In particular, the inkjet recording method jets ink directly onto the recording paper, so running costs are low.
It is attracting attention as a quiet recording method.

In such an inkjet recording device,
Generally, a recording head with an array of fine ejection ports is used. Therefore, it is necessary to refresh the ink when air bubbles or dust enter the inside of the ejection port, or when the ink becomes unsuitable for ejection or recording due to thickening due to evaporation of the ink solvent, etc. Accordingly, a process (ejection recovery process) is performed to remove these causes of ejection failure.

One form of means for performing such an ejection recovery process is one that is provided with a cap that can cover the ejection orifice forming surface of the recording head. Then, there is a means for ejecting ink from all the ejection ports by driving an ink ejection energy generating element inside the ejection ports toward the cap, and removing the cause of the ejection failure together with the ink (hereinafter referred to as preliminary ejection). Generally, the position where the cap is provided is usually provided in a non-printing area that is out of the movement range of the carriage for printing.

Note that even during recording operation, the frequency of ink ejection from each ejection port is not uniform, so some ejection ports may not be used even once, and there is a high risk that the ejection ports that eject less ink may become clogged. . This clogging causes deterioration in image quality (therefore, it is necessary not to perform the preliminary ejection described above at regular intervals even during recording operation).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

When printing is performed using the above-described inkjet printing apparatus, a slight deviation occurs in the printing position. This is particularly noticeable when an accurate vertical recording positional relationship is required for two or more lines, such as vertical ruled lines.

Furthermore, although the above-mentioned deviation of the recording position is noticeable when performing shortest distance printing, it also occurs during full span printing in which the entire width of the recording medium is scanned.

The cause of the above-mentioned recording position shift is considered as the result of the analysis by the present inventor.

That is, when shortest distance printing is performed, the movement path of the carriage is different for each line, resulting in subtle differences in the vibration of the carriage. This difference similarly occurs even when full-span printing is performed because the movement path of the carriage is different if the above-described preliminary ejection is performed during recording.

The above phenomenon will be explained in detail with reference to FIG.

This figure shows the change in speed when the carriage moves from a stopped state at a speed V, with the horizontal axis representing the position and the vertical axis representing the speed.

The reason why the speed of the carriage in the figure is wavy near ■ is that the driving force of the carrier motor is transmitted via a transmission mechanism such as a timing belt or a booster, so minute vibrations of the conduction mechanism are also transmitted to the carriage. This is because it can be conveyed to

If you try to record at the 0 point with such a drive system, the 5th
As shown in figure (a), the carriage is at point A (the left edge of the recording medium)
When the carriage passes the 0 point, the speed of 2/'' becomes 'Ilh and lB, and there is a slight difference between starting to drive from point B and starting from point B. This subtle change in speed It is thought that this causes a slight shift in the recording position.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides an inkjet recording apparatus that eliminates subtle differences in carriage vibration caused by different carriage movement paths and eliminates recording position deviation. The purpose is to provide.

[Means to solve the problem]

To this end, the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention is designed so that the movement path of the carriage does not change during recording, even when printing is performed with a preliminary ejection operation or when printing is performed without performing a preliminary ejection operation. The starting point of the carriage is always set at the ink receiving member position (preliminary ejection position).

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, by always starting the carriage at the ink receiving member position when recording,
During printing, the movement path of the carriage does not change even when printing is performed with a preliminary ejection operation or when printing is performed without performing a preliminary ejection operation, so that the vibration state of the carriage is the same in every printing line. Therefore, the deviation of the recording position is reduced compared to the case where the moving path of the carriage changes.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the inkjet recording apparatus 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 an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, 1 is a head cartridge having ink, an ink ejection port, and an electrical connection part inside, and 2 is a carriage for mounting the head cartridge and scanning in the direction of arrow AB in the figure. 3 is a hook for attaching the head cartridge l to the carriage 2, and 4 is a lever for operating the hook 3.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a recess into which a protrusion 24 (to be described later) is inserted, and is formed on the carriage 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes a support plate for supporting the electrical connection portion to the head cartridge l. 7 is a flexible cable for connecting the electrical connection section and the main body control section. 8 moves carriage 2 from A to B.
This is a guide shaft for guiding in the direction, and is inserted through the carriage 2. Reference numeral 9 denotes a timing belt to which the carriage 2 is fixed and which transmits power for moving the carriage 2 in the A-B direction.
It is hung on the IOB. Driving force is transmitted to one pulley IOB from the carrier motor 11 via a transmission mechanism such as a gear. Reference numeral 12 denotes a platen roller that regulates the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper) and conveys it during recording, and is driven by a conveyance motor 13. 14 is a paper pan for guiding the recording medium to the recording device; 15 is a feed roller disposed in the feeding path of the recording medium to press the recording medium toward the conveyance roller 12 and convey it. .

Reference numeral 16 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). Reference numeral 17 denotes a spur provided corresponding to the paper ejection roller 16, which connects the paper ejection roller 16 via the recording medium.
is pressed to generate a force for conveying the recording medium by the paper ejection roller 16. A platen 18 is provided at a position facing the ink ejection opening of the head cartridge 1, and presses the recording medium against the paper pan front part 19 by an elastic member (not shown).

This apparatus employs an inkjet recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink. Therefore, since the distances between the ink ejection ports of the recording head and the recording surface of the recording medium are not comparable, it is effective to regulate the position of the recording medium using the paper pan front section 19. 20 is a feed roller 15 used for attaching and detaching the recording medium.
- A release lever for releasing the respective biases of the spur 17 and platen 18. Reference numeral 21 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of the carriage 2, or detects the position of the carriage 2 when the carriage 2 passes through a convex portion (not shown).

22 is the head cartridge 1 at the home position.
It is a cap formed of an elastic material such as rubber, and is provided at a position facing the ink ejection orifice forming surface, and is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and detach from the head cartridge 1. This cap 22 is used to protect the ink ejection ports of the head cartridge l during non-printing times and during ejection recovery processing. Ejection recovery processing is a process in which ink is ejected from all ejection ports by driving an energy generating element provided inside the ejection ports and used for ink ejection.
(preliminary ejection), or by applying suction force to cover the ejection port formation surface with a cap and suctioning the ink from the ejection port (suction recovery), air bubbles, dust, or thickening may occur. This process removes the causes of ejection failure of ink that is no longer suitable for printing.

A pump 23 is used to apply a suction force for forcibly discharging the ink and to attract the ink received in the cap 22 during ejection recovery processing by such forced ejection or ejection recovery processing by preliminary ejection. A convex portion 24 that fits into the concave portion of the carriage 2 is formed on the outside of the pump 23 .

25 is a waste ink tank for storing the waste ink sucked by the pump 23, and 26 is a tube that communicates the pump and the waste ink tank 25.

27 is a blade for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the head cartridge 1;
It is supported so as to be movable between a position where it protrudes to the side and performs wiping during the movement of the head cartridge 1, and a retreated position where it does not engage with the ejection port forming surface. 28 is a recovery system motor; 29 is a drive system for the pump 23, the cap 22, and the blade 2, which receives power from the recovery system motor 28;
This is a cam device for making each of the movements of 7.

Next, details of the above-mentioned head cartridge 1 will be explained.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a head cartridge 1 that integrates an ejection unit 1a and an ink tank lb, which constitute an inkjet recording head main body. 1.1e in the figure
is the carriage 2 when installing the head cartridge 1.
This is a pawl that is hung by a hook 3 provided on the holder.

As is clear from the figure, the pawl 1e is disposed inside the entire extension of the recording head. In addition, in front of the head cartridge 1 and near the ejection unit 1a, a positioning abutment part is provided, although not shown in this figure. If is a head opening into which a support plate 6 is inserted, which is erected on the carriage 2 and supports a flexible substrate (electrical connection part) and a rubber pad.

Next, a control configuration when the inkjet recording device configured as described above is applied to a document processing device will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 is a control unit that processes characters, etc. input from a keyboard (not shown) and displays them on a display (not shown), and operates the printer unit 200 based on recording instructions from the keyboard. (host device) and constitutes a document processing section. This control unit ioo includes an MPU 100O that executes various control procedures, a ROM 100I that stores the above-mentioned control procedures and data, a RAM 1002 that is used as a work area for executing the above-mentioned control, and a character pattern such as characters input from the keyboard. CG
1003, and an interface unit 1004 for connecting with external devices such as a keyboard. Control part 1
00 and the printer unit 200 are electrically connected by a signal line 1005.

The printer unit 200 is a head cartridge (recording head)
It has a printer control section 80 that performs first control. The printer control unit 80 has almost the same configuration as the control unit 100, and includes an MPU 800, a ROM 801 and a RAM 802.
and an interface section 803.

Of the printer unit 200, the printer control unit 80 controls the recording head 11, the carrier motor 11, the transport motor 13, and the recovery motor 28, which are a head driver IA and a motor driver IIA, respectively.

Driven by 13A and 28A. Further, based on the detection of the carriage home sensor 30, the printer control unit 8
0 can recognize the moving position of the carriage 2.

In the above control configuration, when a document creation process is performed and a print start command is issued by pressing a print key (not shown) on the keyboard, the MPU 1000 of the control unit 100 converts the input text into the document by referring to the CG 1003. Convert to recorded data. The MPU 100O adds a control command to the converted print data and transfers it to the printer control unit 80 via the interface unit 1004 and signal line 1005. MPU of the printer control unit 80 that received the transfer data
800 ROs the control command added to the recording data.
Printing is executed by controlling the recording head 1 and the like while interpreting the command table stored in M801.

Next, the carriage control procedure in this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step 5IOI, the printer control section 80 receives a one-line print command from the control section 100. and,
In step 5102, it is determined based on the carriage home sensor 30 whether the carriage 2 is in the cap position. Here, if the cap position is reached, step 5104
, but if it is not in the cap position, step 5103
Then, the carrier motor 11 is driven to move the carriage 2 to the cap position.

Next, in step 5104, printing for one line is executed.

Then, in step 5105, it is determined whether ejection recovery processing, that is, preliminary ejection is necessary, after one line of printing is completed, and if necessary, in step 5106, the carriage 2 is moved to the cap position and preliminary ejection is performed, and then step Proceed to 5107.

In step 5107, it is determined whether printing of all lines has been completed. If not, the process returns to step 5101, and if it has been completed, the process ends.

As explained above, in this embodiment, when printing each line, the start point of the carriage 2 is always set to the cap position, so even if preliminary ejection is performed during printing,
Even when recording is performed without this, the moving path of the carriage is always as shown in FIG. 5(b). Therefore, the vibration state of the carriage 2 is the same for all recording lines, and the recording position deviation is reduced. The 0 point in FIG. 4B indicates the cap position (preliminary ejection position).

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment described above, when printing each line, the start point of the carriage 2 is always set at the cap position, thereby reducing the deviation of the printing position. However, since the carriage 2 moves to the fixed preliminary ejection position, that is, the cap position, the recording time per sheet becomes longer.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when vertical ruled lines are used infrequently, such as on postcards, by printing at the shortest distance,
This is intended to improve recording speed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data format transferred from the control section 100 to the printer control section 80 of the printer section 200.

First, a command DI indicating the size of the recording medium (A4, B4, postcard, etc.) (postcard size in this case) is transferred, and then the type of recording data (character data (character data includes Mincho font, Gothic font, etc.) is transferred. A command (in Mincho font here) D2 indicating the image data) is transferred. Then, print command D3 indicating that the number of recorded data indicated by the next transferred data is transferred and the number of transferred data (M
) D4 is transferred, followed by M pieces of data D5.

When the type of recording data changes in the middle of a line, the changed recording data is transferred in the same format as the previous commands D2 to D5. For example, if the data changes to image data in the middle of a line, a commad D6 indicating that the type of recording data is image data is transferred. and print command D
7. Number of transferred data (N) D8 and N pieces of data D9 are transferred.

When one line of recorded data is transferred as described above,
A print end command DIO indicating the end of one line is transferred. Further, one page of recording data is composed of multiple lines of recording data, and the end thereof is indicated by a paper ejection command (not shown).

Next, the control procedure performed by the printer control section 80 that has received the transfer data from the control section 100 as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When a document creation process is performed and a print start command is issued using the print key on the keyboard, this control procedure is activated. First, in step 5201, a command indicating the type of recording medium is received from the control unit 100.

Generally, when inputting a document into a document processing device, the document is input after specifying the size of the recording medium.

Therefore, the document processing device can recognize the type of recording medium such as plain paper, postcard, manuscript paper, etc. Based on this recognition, the control unit 100 sends a command (fourth command) indicating the type of recording medium.
In the figure, a postcard command DI) is transferred to the printer control unit 80.

In step 5202, it is determined whether the type of recording medium is a postcard, and if it is a postcard, the recording method is set to mode 2 in step 5203, and the process proceeds to step 5205. If it is recognized in step 5202 that it is not a postcard,
In step 5204, the recording method is set to mode 1.

In step 5205, a command indicating the type of recording data, a print command, etc. sent next is received. These commands include one that instructs the printing start position of one line, and this position is stored. The recording method is determined in step 5206, and if mode 2, the process advances to step 5207. In step 5207, step 5
At step 205, the carriage 2 is moved to the printing start position of one line to be printed, which is indicated in step 205, and the process proceeds to step 5210.

On the other hand, if mode l is determined in step 8206, step 8
Proceed to 208. Hereinafter, steps 5208 to 5213 are
Since it is the same as steps 8102 to 5107 in FIG. 4, the explanation will be omitted.

Note that if the carriage 2 is not at the cap position in step 5208, the carriage 2 is moved to the cap position in step 5209 regardless of the printing start position specified in step 5205.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the recording medium is a postcard with few vertical ruled lines, printing is performed at the shortest distance in steps 5207 and 5210, making it possible to realize high-speed recording. Furthermore, when the recording medium is other than a postcard, as explained in detail in the previous embodiment, the start point of the carriage 2 is always set at the cap position when recording each line.
Recording position shift can be reduced.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the recording medium is a postcard, the shortest distance printing is automatically performed to improve the recording speed, but a recording mode changeover switch is provided, and the shortest distance printing is performed based on the user's manual selection. may be executed.

Furthermore, a ruled line command indicating the presence or absence of a vertical ruled line or the like may be added to the commands created by the control unit 100, and the printer control unit 80 may automatically execute shortest distance printing based on this ruled line command.

The present invention brings about excellent effects particularly in a bubble jet type recording head and recording apparatus proposed by Canon Co., Ltd. among inkjet recording types.

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. By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer that corresponds to recorded information and that causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, the electrothermal transducer generates thermal energy, and the recording head is heated. This is effective because it causes film boiling on the heat acting surface, resulting in the formation of bubbles in the liquid (ink) in one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal. The growth and contraction of the bubble causes liquid (ink) 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, US Pat. No. 446
Those described in Japanese Patent No. 3359 and Japanese Patent No. 4345262 are suitable. Incidentally, US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the heat acting surface
If the conditions described in the specification are adopted, even better recording can be achieved.

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

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

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

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

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. for the recording head, which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, these include capping means, cleaning means, pressure or suction means, preheating means for the recording head 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.

Furthermore, the recording mode of the recording device is not limited to a recording mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is used; the recording head may be configured integrally or in combination with a plurality of recording heads; Full color (
The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with both.

Although the embodiments of the present invention described above are explained using liquid ink, the present invention can also use ink that is solid at room temperature or ink that is soft at room temperature. can. In the above-mentioned inkjet devices, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within the range of 30°C to 70°C to keep the viscosity of the ink within a stable ejection range. It is sufficient if the ink is liquid. In addition, it is possible to actively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy to transform the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to use ink that solidifies when left in order to prevent ink evaporation. In any case, the ink may be liquefied by application of thermal energy in accordance with the recording signal and ejected as liquid ink, or the ink may have already begun to solidify by the time it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to the use of ink that is liquefied for the first time. In such a case, the ink is
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
In a state where it is held as a liquid or solid in the porous sheet recesses or through holes, as described in Japanese Patent No. 1260,
It may also be in a form that faces 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 can be used as an image output terminal for information processing equipment such as computers, as well as for copying machines combined with printers and the like, and facsimile machines having transmitting and receiving functions. It may take a form.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform printing with reduced deviation of the printing position regardless of the vibration state of the carriage, so it is possible to improve the number of recorded images.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the complete construction of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a two-view perspective view of the head cartridge shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of one embodiment; FIG. 5 is a graph explaining the operation of one embodiment; FIG. 6 is a data format transferred in the above control structure; The figure is a flowchart showing the control procedure of another embodiment of the present invention. 1... Head cartridge (recording head) 2... Carriage 11... Carrier motor 30... Carriage home sensor 80... Printer control section 100... Control section 200... Printer section 800.1000 ...MPU 801.1001...ROM 802.1002...RAM Figure 5 (a) (b)

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A carriage equipped with a print head that performs printing by ejecting ink from ejection ports onto a print medium, and a carriage that scans the print medium, and a carriage that ejects ink from all ejection ports by driving the print head. a preliminary ejection means for eliminating causes of ink ejection failure; and an ink receiving means for receiving ink ejected from the ejection ports of the recording head by the preliminary ejection means and provided at a predetermined position outside the area of the recording medium. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a member; and a drive control means for starting scanning of the carriage from the position of the ink receiving member every row when recording each row. (2) Even when the host device specifies a recording position on the recording medium or a movement position of the carriage, the drive control means always causes the carriage to start scanning from the ink receiving member position, and starts from the specified position. 2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is driven. (3) The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive control means always continuously moves the carriage to the ink receiving member position when recording of each line is completed. (4) When recording each line, the drive control means has a first mode in which each line is started from the position of the ink receiving member, and a second mode in which printing is performed at the shortest distance. The inkjet recording device described above. (5) The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the drive control means executes the second mode when the recording medium is a postcard. (6) The recording head is provided with a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink, and is provided for each corresponding ejection port, causes a state change in the ink due to heat, and ejects ink from the ejection port based on the state change. Claim (1) characterized in that it has a thermal energy generating means for causing flying droplets to be formed.
The inkjet recording device described in .