JPH04148939A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the unnecessary consumption of ink at the time of emission inferiority recovering operation and to set the size of a waste ink sump to the necessary min. degree by performing the input of the operation command from an emission inferiority recovering means only within the preset number of times in the ON-state of the same power supply. CONSTITUTION:When emission inferiority is generated in a printing head 3, a suction pump 15 is operated through a cap 13 and piping 14 to suck ink from a printing head 3 to perform emission inferiority recovering operation. The sucked ink is sent to a waste ink sump 17 through piping 16. The emission inferiority recovering operation is performed by pushing the recovering operation switch being the recovering operation command input means on an operating panel when the printing inferiority on a recording medium is visually confirmed. A recovering operation command is set so as to be capable of being inputted within four times in the ON-state of a power supply.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Application in Industry] The present invention relates to an infusiera 1-recording device that records characters, etc. on a recording medium-h by discharging ink droplets from a nozzle, and particularly relates to a recording device for recording characters, etc. on a recording medium-h, and particularly for recovery from discharge failure. Concerning means.

[Prior Art] In an inkjet recording device that records and writes characters, etc. according to recording information on a recording medium-42 by discharging ink droplets from a nozzle, ink droplets are formed by discharging ink from minute nozzles. Therefore, if foreign matter such as paper dust adheres to the nozzle or air bubbles enter the ink flow path, it may cause ejection failure.1. was. In such a case, for example, the recovery operation for the ejection failure may be performed by operating the suction means or the like in the leaf failure recovery stage to suck ink from the ink tank through the gap means. A method was taken to do so. The ink sucked at this time is sent to the waste tank/reservoir. Also, for normal recording, guide axis 1,
This is done by moving the head along the recording medium and ejecting ink droplets onto the recording medium. Second, the waste ink reservoir was constructed integrally with the ink tank, and the ink tank and waste ink reservoir were replaced at the same time.

In another conventional example, the waste ink reservoir is provided within the main body of the inkjet printer separate from the ink tank, and is not normally replaced.

The amount of ink consumed during the ejection failure recovery operation is approximately set so that the ejection failure can be sufficiently recovered in one recovery operation. Further, this recovery operation is performed by the user pressing a recovery operation switch on an operation panel or the like, which is an operation command input means, while the main body of the recording apparatus is in an off-line state.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional example described above, the ejection failure recovery operation could be performed any number of times in the same continuous power-on state. Therefore, the user may press the recovery operation switch several times in succession in anticipation of a recovery failure in the ejection failure recovery operation, before performing a printing operation and confirming that the ejection failure has been resolved.

Furthermore, depending on the recording paper used as the recording medium, the print may smear, which may be mistaken for a discharge failure and the recovery operation switch may be pressed many times unnecessarily. This causes the problem that ink is consumed unnecessarily and the capacity of the waste ink reservoir must be increased in anticipation of the amount that is unnecessarily consumed. Another problem is that it is difficult to even preliminarily estimate the capacity of the waste ink reservoir. Furthermore, the large capacity of the waste ink reservoir poses a problem in that if the waste ink reservoir and ink tank are integrated, the cost of the ink tank, which is a consumable replacement part, increases, leading to an increase in running costs. Furthermore, when the waste ink reservoir is separate from the ink tank, the waste ink reservoir becomes very large, which causes not only the problem of varnish build-up but also the problem that the main body of the recording apparatus becomes very large.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems.
The purpose of this is to prevent unnecessary consumption of ink during the ejection failure recovery operation and to minimize the size of the waste ink reservoir.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention includes an ejection failure recovery means, a waste ink reservoir containing ink sucked by the ejection failure recovery means, and a recovery operation command for the ejection failure recovery means. It is characterized in that the recovery operation command input from the recovery operation command input T-stage can be performed only within a preset number of times in the same power-on state.

[Effects] Since the operation command input for the ejection failure recovery means can only be performed within a preset number of times in the same power-on state, the user may press the recovery operation switch unnecessarily many times, Unnecessary energy consumption caused by intentionally holding down the recovery operation switch can be prevented. As a result, the size of the waste ink reservoir can be reduced by 4-
You don't have to make it bigger.

[Example 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention. A print head 3 is integrally provided in the vicinity of the platen 1 on a carriage 2 that reciprocates on a guide shaft 2a along the platen 1. Print head 3
An ink tank 7 containing a foam 6 made of a porous material such as polyurethane foam is provided above the ink tank 7 . This ink tank 7 is provided with a vent hole 9 to allow atmospheric air to be taken in, and a platform-shaped protrusion 1 is provided on the bottom surface of the ink tank 7 for secretly observing the form 6.
0 is formed. An ink chamber 11 is formed downward from the center of the protrusion 10 for taking out and holding ink within the form 6.

The end of one ink chamber has a blind plug 1 made of an elastic member such as a comb.
It is sealed by 2. By inserting the hollow side 5 communicating with the print head 3 through the filter chamber 4 into the blind plug 12, the ink impregnated in the ink tank '7 is supplied to the print head 3. Incidentally, the ink chamber 11 is in a closed chamber state due to the blind plug 12 and the foam 6.

If an ejection failure occurs in the print head 3, the ejection failure recovery operation is performed by operating the suction pump 15 via the gap 13 and the plumber 4 to suck ink from the print head 3.

The sucked ink passes through the pipe 16 to the waste ink reservoir 17.
sent to. In the present invention, the waste ink reservoir 17 and the ink tank 7 are separate bodies, and the waste ink reservoir 17 is disposed within the main body of the recording apparatus, so that it is not normally replaced.

The ejection failure recovery operation is performed by pressing a recovery operation switch, which is recovery operation command input means, on an operation panel (not shown) when a printing failure on the recording medium 1 is visually confirmed. At this time, when the recording device is in the printing operation state and is in the online state, it is not possible to input a recovery operation command even if the recovery operation switch is pressed. Therefore, when the user confirms that there is a printing defect, he or she first presses the on-offline changeover switch on the operation panel 1 to bring the recording apparatus into an offline state even if the printing operation is in progress. Then, by pressing the recovery operation switch and inputting a recovery operation command, the ejection failure recovery operation is performed.

FIG. 2 (2) does not show the flowchart 1 illustrating the operation procedure of the ejection failure recovery operation in the embodiment of the present invention. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the recording apparatus is offline, and if it is offline, step S Proceed to /l. If it is not offline, proceed to step S2 and press the on-offline switch to set it offline. In step S3, it is again determined whether or not it is offline, and if it is not offline, it returns to step S2 and steps north 82. Repeat S3. Next, if offline, proceed to step S4, press the recovery operation switch, and input a recovery operation command. When the recovery operation command is input, proceed to step S5 and determine the number of recovery operations. If the number of recovery operations is 4 or less, proceed to step S6.In step S6, it is determined whether the print head is in the cap position.If the print head is not in the cap position, the print head is capped in step S], 1. If the print head is in the cap position, the process proceeds to steps S7 and S8, and with the cap closed, the suction pump is operated to suck ink.Next, in step S9, the recovery operation counter counts one time. The recovery operation is terminated. If the number of recovery operations exceeds 4 in step S5, the process advances to step S10. In step SIO, recovery operation is not possible is displayed on the display panel and the recovery operation is terminated. In this embodiment, The recovery operation command can be input up to four times in the same power-on state.

In this embodiment, if the recovery operation switch is pressed more than four times while the power is turned on at the same time, a message indicating that the recovery operation is not possible is displayed on the panel, but ink is not sucked. A recovery operation sequence may also be performed. In this case, since the user does not notice that the stand is not sucking ink, the usability can be the same as in the past. As another method, a service call may be actively displayed.

According to the inventor's experiments, most of the ejection failures are caused by paper powder, dust, etc. landing on the nozzle. Other causes of failure include the intrusion of air bubbles from the hollow needle 5 into the ink flow path. In the case of the former defect, in the configuration of this embodiment, it is necessary to suck ink of about 0.5c:c or less, and in the latter case, it is necessary to suck ink of about 0.5~, cc. It turns out that there is. Furthermore, it was found that ejection failure due to the former accounted for more than 90% of the total. If the amount of ink suction per time is 0.2~0.5cc
Even if the cause of the ejection failure is the same, it is sufficient to perform the recovery operation three times or less to recover almost 100%.
But I also learned that it never goes beyond 4 times. If the user needs to press the recovery operation switch more than four times, this is a cause other than the one that is normally considered to be the cause of the ejection failure. In other words, it is a failure of the recording apparatus main body, and it is a failure that cannot be dealt with using the ejection failure [[λ1 recovery means] built into the recording apparatus described above. Further, in this embodiment, the frequency of occurrence of ejection failure is predicted through experiments based on actual usage conditions of the recording apparatus, and is set to be approximately once every two weeks on average. The same power-on state is then expected to be repeated every day or every -week.

It should be noted that the number of recovery operations performed four times may be changed to 6 to 8 times if the same power-on state continues for a long period of time (it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by changing the number of times 4 times to 6 to 8 times).

Therefore, there is no problem in practice even if the number of ejection failure recovery operations is limited in the same power-on state as in the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, wasted ink consumed by unnecessary ejection failure recovery operations can be reduced, and ink can be used more effectively for printing purposes. Furthermore, since the amount of waste ink can be minimized, there is also the effect that the size of the waste ink reservoir can be minimized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart 1 of the ejection recovery operation.・Platen・Gear i-notch・Print head hollow needle・Ink tank・Cap piping・Suction pump・Piping・Waste ink reservoir

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet recording device that records on a recording medium by discharging ink droplets from a nozzle, an ejection failure recovery means;
A waste ink reservoir for accommodating the ink sucked by the ejection failure recovery means, and a recovery operation command input means for the ejection failure recovery means, and the recovery operation command input from the recovery operation command input means is performed at the same time when the power is turned on. An inkjet recording device characterized in that it can perform printing only within a preset number of times in a certain state.