JPH0465250A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly judge whether or not a jet head properly performs spouting action without use of a recording material during head recovery action by a method wherein ink drops are spouted from nozzles after the jet head is moved outside the recording range of the recording material, and detected by a detector. CONSTITUTION:When blank spouting, during which ink drops are spouted from nozzles 201-209 of a jet head 101 in turn at regular intervals, is performed, the jet head 101 is moved either to blank spouting positions 112 or 113 as head recovery positions which are located outside the printing range of a sheet of recording paper 105 and either at terminals of traveling range by a motor 103. When the head 101 reaches the recovery position 112, for instance, a preservation cap 106 is pushed on the spouting face of the head 101 by the action of a cam 114. At this position, a controller operates a suction pump 111 to develop a negative pressure in the preservation cap 106 and brings an infrared ray emitting element 210 into action. Thereby, ink drops are spouted and spouting conditions of the nozzles are judged according to the light receiving amount of an infrared ray receiving element 211.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink droplets from an ejection head onto a recording material.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in an image recording apparatus that records an image on a recording material by ejecting ink droplets from an ejection head, it is difficult to determine the presence or absence of ejected droplets from the ejection head, that is, the quality of the ejection operation of the ejection head. The determination was made by actually recording on the recording material and visually checking it by the operator.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional technology has the following problems.

■Since trial ejection is performed on the recording material, the recording material is wasted.

- Since the operator visually checks the information, he or she may overlook it and print with poor ejection, resulting in poor image quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording device in which it is possible to easily determine whether the ejection operation of the ejection head is good or not, and the accuracy of image printing is high. do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an ejection head including a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink droplets onto a recording material, and a method for recovering ink from each of the ejection ports to recover from non-ejection of the ejection head. In an image recording apparatus having a control means for performing a head recovery operation for ejecting droplets, when performing the head recovery operation, the ejection head is moved to a predetermined head recovery position outside the recording area of the recording material. The apparatus includes a driving means, and further includes an ejected droplet detecting means for detecting the ink droplets facing the ejecting surface of the ejecting head at the head recovery position.

Further, the control means includes a timer for measuring time,
The device performs a head recovery operation at regular time intervals, and the ejected droplet detection means includes an infrared light emitting element that emits infrared light on the flight path of the ink droplets ejected from each ejection port of the ejection head, and an infrared light receiving element that receives the infrared light. The control means determines whether ink droplets have been ejected from each ejection port of the ejection head based on the amount of infrared light received by the infrared receiving element, and the ejection head uses thermal energy. A device that ejects ink droplets using an electrothermal transducer that provides the thermal energy to the ink, or a full-line ejection head in which ejection ports are arranged in parallel over the entire width of the recording area of the recording material. There is something that is.

[Function] When the image recording apparatus of the present invention performs a head recovery operation of the ejection head, the ejection head is moved outside the recording area of the recording material to eject ink droplets from each ejection port, and the ink droplets are ejected from each ejection port. The droplet is detected by an ejected droplet detecting means arranged opposite to the ejection surface of the ejection head, and it is possible to judge whether the ejection operation of the ejection head is good or bad without using a recording material during the head recovery operation. can. Furthermore, in the case of the second aspect of the present invention, the head recovery operation is performed at regular time intervals, thereby eliminating the need for operator intervention in the head recovery operation. Furthermore, since the ink droplets have an infrared absorbing effect, as in the third aspect of the invention, infrared rays are emitted on the flight path of the ink droplets, the infrared rays are received, and changes in the amount of received light are monitored. This makes it possible to determine the presence or absence of ink droplets, that is, the quality of the ejection operation of the ejection head.

[Embodiments] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention will be described.

In the image recording apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The motor 10
3, the ejection head 101 moves back and forth facing the recording paper 105, which is a recording material, and ejects ink droplets to form an image on the recording paper 105.

The above-described ejection head 101 has nine ejection ports 201 to 20.
9 (see FIG. 3) are arranged in a line perpendicularly to the moving direction of the ejection head 101, and each ejection port 201 to
As shown in FIG. 2, electrothermal converters 209 are arranged to provide ejection energy to the ink, and the electrothermal converters are driven by image data from a control device to be described later to generate heat. The ink droplets are ejected by applying a thermal energy key to the ink, and by ejecting the ink from the ejection ports 201 to 209, it is possible to print nine lines.

Although only the discharge ports 201 to 203 and the electrothermal converters 201a to 203a are shown in FIG. 2, electrothermal converters are similarly arranged for the discharge ports 204 to 209.

Further, in this embodiment, an idle ejection operation, which is a head recovery operation in which ink droplets are sequentially ejected from each of the ejection ports 201 to 209 of the ejection head 101, is performed at fixed time intervals. The ejection head 101 is
The recording paper 105 is moved to an idle ejection position 112 or 113 as a head recovery position, which is at both ends of the movable range by the motor 103, outside the recording range of the recording paper 105.

At these idle ejection positions 112 and 113, the ejection head 1
The ejection head 101 is at the idle ejection position 112.11, facing the ejection surface on which the ejection ports 201 to 209 of
3, storage caps 106 and 107 are placed to cap the ejection surface of the ejection head 101 by the lever action of the cams 114 and 115, respectively.

Since the storage caps 106 and 107 have the same configuration, their configuration will be explained using one storage cap 106 as an example.

As shown in FIG. 3, this storage cap 106 includes an infrared light emitting element 2 for detecting the presence or absence of ink droplets ejected from each ejection port 201 to 209 of the ejection head 101.
10 and an infrared light receiving element 211 is provided, and the infrared light emitted by the infrared light emitting element 210 travels in a direction that crosses the flight path of each ink droplet. The configuration is such that the infrared light receiving element 211 receives the light.

Furthermore, the storage cap 106 is in communication with the suction pump 110 via a pipe 116, and the storage cap 106 is in communication with the suction pump 110 via a pipe 116.
When the ejection surface of the ejection head 101 is capped by 6, the suction pump 110 causes the storage cap 106 to perform idle ejection with the inside of the storage cap 106 under negative pressure. Storage cap 107 mentioned above
Similarly, an ejected droplet detection device including an infrared light emitting element and an infrared light receiving element is provided, and it communicates with the suction pump 111 via a pipe 117. The ejection head 101 is moved to the idle ejection position 112 or 113 and the ejection surface is capped by the storage cap 106 or 107 (hereinafter referred to as the storage state) even when the ejection head 101 is on standby without performing a recording operation. Become.

The cams 114 and 115 may have the same structure except that they are oriented in opposite directions.The cam 114 on the left side will be explained.

The cam 114 consists of a contact lever 114a that extends upward in the figure (see FIG. 4) and that the ejection head 101 comes into contact with, and a pressing lever 114b that projects horizontally toward the ejection head 101 and that presses the storage cap 106. The connecting portion between the two is rotatably supported by a support shaft 114C. As a result, when the ejection head 101 reaches the empty ejection position,
The contact lever 114a is in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure (see FIG. 5).
It is configured to rotate when pressed by the press lever 114b, thereby moving the press lever 114b or the storage cap 106 toward the ejection head 101.

Further, in this embodiment, when the ejection head 101 moves to the idle ejection position 112, 113, the ejection head 101
Wipers 108 and 109 that come into contact with the discharge surface of the discharge head 10 are provided near each of the storage caps 106 and 107, respectively, and the wipers 108 and 109 contact the discharge surface of the discharge head 10.
By coming into contact with the ejection surface of No. 1, foreign substances such as dust and ink scum adhering to the ejection surface are removed.

Here, the capping and uncapping of the ejection head 101 by the storage caps 106 and 107 at the respective idle ejection positions 112 and 113 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. However, as described above, each of the storage caps 106 and 107 has the same configuration and their respective operations are symmetrical, so only the storage cap 106 at the empty discharge position 112 will be described here. The storage cap 106 indicates that the ejection head 101 is in the empty ejection position 1.
12, it is at a position away from the ejection surface of the ejection head 101 (lower side in FIG. 4).

In FIG. 4, the ejection head 101 is at the idle ejection position 112.
When the wiper 108 moves in the direction and approaches the idle ejection position 112, the wiper 108 comes into contact with the ejection surface of the ejection head 101. Further, as the ejection head 101 moves, the wiper 108 just comes into contact with the surface of the ejection head 101 and wipes the surface. Therefore, the wiper 10B removes foreign matter such as dust and ink scum that adheres to the ejection surface of the ejection head 101 during printing, thereby performing maintenance of the ejection surface. Then, when the ejection head 101 moves further and reaches the idle ejection position 112, it stops with the contact lever 114a of the cam 114 pressed, and at this time, the cam 114
Due to the lever action, the storage cap 106 or the discharge head 10
As shown in FIG. 5, the ejection surface of the ejection head 101 is in a capped state (storage state). Furthermore, if the ejection head 101 is left in the open air for a long time without printing, the ink inside the ejection ports will dry and cause the ejection ports to become clogged. .

After that, when the printing operation starts and the ejection head 101 moves to the idle ejection position 113, the cam 114 returns to its original state and the capping of the ejection head 101 by the storage cap 106 is released, as shown in FIG. Along with
The ejection surface of the ejection head 101 comes into contact with the wiper 108, and foreign matter adhering to the ejection surface is removed.

Here, regarding the control device of the image recording apparatus of this embodiment,
This will be explained with reference to FIG.

A control device 301 shown in FIG. 7 performs overall control including a series of printing operations of the image recording apparatus and an idle ejection operation for the ejection head 101.

The ejected droplet detection device 302 is connected to the storage cap 106 described above.
An infrared light emitting element 210 and an infrared light receiving element 2 provided in
11, and the infrared receiving element 21
The control device 301 sends detection information corresponding to the amount of infrared light received at
Output to. The discharged droplet detection device 303 is composed of an infrared light emitting element and an infrared light receiving element provided in the storage cap 107, and is similar to the discharged droplet detection device 302.
Similarly, detection information corresponding to the amount of infrared light received by the infrared light receiving element is output to the control device 301. The character generator 304 has a character code/image pattern conversion function, and a character code signal 305 manually input from an external device is transferred via the control device 301 to control the image pattern corresponding to the character code signal 305. It is sent back to the device 301. The idle ejection timer 307 measures the interval at which the above-described idle ejection operation is performed on the ejection head 101.

Next, the operation of the control device 301 will be explained along the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

First, when starting a printing operation, the idle discharge timer 307 is started (step 401).

Dry ejection refers to, as described above, in order to maintain the ejection ports 201 to 209 of the ejection head 101, the electrothermal converters are sequentially driven for all the ejection ports 201 to 209 at regular time intervals to eject droplets. The empty discharge timer 30
7 measures the time interval. This empty discharge timer 3
07 operates even when the image recording apparatus is on standby. The image recording apparatus of this embodiment prints nine lines at a time by moving the ejection head 101, so nine lines are treated as one line, and image data for one line is received from an external device before being transferred to the recording paper conveying device 30.
6, the recording paper 105 is fed and printing is started. Initially, the ejection head 101 is at the idle ejection position M11 shown in FIG.
2, it is in the save state, and when one row of image data is complete, it is moved from the empty ejection position 112 to the other empty ejection position 11.
Printing is performed while moving in the direction of step 3 (step 402).
゜403). When the ejection head 101 moves from the idle ejection position 112, the storage state of the ejection head 101, that is, the capping by the storage cap 106 is released.

The position and movement status of the ejection head 101 during movement are monitored by a rotary encoder 104.
If the ejection head 101 becomes unable to move due to contamination of foreign matter, paper jam, etc. before the ejection head 1 reaches the idle ejection position 113, the moving direction of the ejection head 101 is reversed and returns to the idle ejection position 112, The operation is ended with the ejection head 101 in the save state (steps 404, 412, 41
3). When one line of printing is completed and the ejection head 101 reaches the idle ejection position 113, the ejection head 101 is capped with the storage cap 107, and the control device 301 refers to the idle ejection timer 307 to determine the idle ejection time. Steps 404 and 405) to determine whether the
When the idle discharge time is reached, perform the idle discharge operation (
Step 414).

This idle ejection operation will be explained along the flowchart of FIG. 9.

Here, as described above, since the ejection head 101 is stopped at the idle ejection position 113, the control device 301 operates the suction pump 111 to create a negative pressure in the storage cap 107 (step 501). Next, the storage cap 107
The infrared light emitting element of the ejected droplet detection device 303 provided in the infrared light emitting device is operated (step 502). The infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element is transmitted through each of the discharge ports 201 to 201, similarly to the infrared light of the storage cap 106 shown in FIG.
The ink droplet ejected from 209 crosses the path of the ink droplet and enters the infrared light receiving element. When an ink droplet is ejected from the ejection port 201 (step 503), it crosses the infrared rays. At this time, since the water contained in the ink droplets absorbs infrared rays, the amount of infrared rays incident on the infrared receiving element is reduced. Unless ink droplets are ejected due to causes such as ink clogging, the amount of infrared light received will not change. Therefore, if the control device 301 monitors the amount of light received by the infrared light receiving element during ink ejection, it can determine whether or not the ejection from each of the ejection ports 201 to 209 is performed normally. An ink droplet is detected based on a change in the amount of light received by the infrared receiving element, and when an ink droplet cannot be detected, the ejection port 201 is regenerated by reversing the ejection from the ejection port 201 until an ink droplet can be detected. (Steps 503 and 504). Since the inside of the storage cap 107 is kept under negative pressure by the suction pump 111, it is easy to regenerate a clogged discharge port. When an ink droplet is detected for the ejection port 201, the above operation is repeated sequentially for the ejection ports 202 to 209 (steps 505 to 519).

Note that the ink discharged into the storage cap 107 is discharged to the outside through the vibrator 117 by the suction pump 111.

In this way, the above operation is repeated for the discharge ports 201 to 209, and when all the discharge ports 201 to 209 become normal, the infrared light emitting element stops emitting light (step 520), and the operation of the suction pump 11 is stopped. (Step 521), the idle ejection operation is ended and a standby state is entered.

If it is not the time for the idle ejection operation in step 405 in the above-described printing operation, and if the above-mentioned idle ejection operation has ended,
The control device 301 determines whether or not a data end signal is received from the external device (step 406), and if the data end signal is received, the main image output operation is ended. On the other hand, if the cheater end signal has not been received, wait until the data for the next row is complete (step 40).
7) When the image data for one line is completed, the ejection head 10
1 is printed while moving from the idle discharge position 113 toward the other idle discharge position 112 (step 408). Here as well, the position of the ejection head 101 is monitored by the rotary encoder 104 (step 4).
09), furthermore, if the ejection head 101 becomes unable to move before reaching the idle ejection position 112 due to foreign matter or paper jam during movement (step 415), the ejection head 101 is returned to the idle ejection position 113 and operated. (step 416). On the other hand, when one line of printing is completed and the ejection head 101 reaches the idle ejection position 112, the control device 301 refers to the idle ejection timer 307 and determines whether the idle ejection time has reached (step 410). Then, when it is time to perform the idle ejection operation, the idle ejection operation is performed in the same manner as described above (step 417).

If it is not the time for empty discharge or if the idle discharge operation has ended, the control device 301 determines whether or not it has received the data end signal from the external device (step 411), and if it has received the data end signal No. 48. The main image output operation ends. If the data end signal is not received, printing is performed by repeating the operations from step 401 described above.

In the case of this embodiment, since the ink droplets during the idle ejection operation are ejected into the storage cap, the main body of the image recording apparatus is not contaminated, and if an ink droplet is not detected, the ejection port is Since empty ejection is performed repeatedly, abnormal ejection of the ejection head can be reliably prevented.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

This embodiment is applicable to line printers having ejection heads arranged in a straight line with ejection ports over the entire width of the recording area of the recording paper, and as shown in FIG. An image is printed by ejecting ink droplets from an ejection head 901 onto a recording paper 903 that is being conveyed.

Further, in this embodiment as well, as described above, the ejection head 901 performs an idle ejection operation at regular time intervals, and during the idle ejection operation, the ejection head 901 moves toward the rotating shaft 906. It is rotationally moved to the idle discharge position 905 by a driving means such as a motor (not shown) using the fulcrum as a fulcrum.

In the direction in which ink droplets are ejected from the ejection head 901 at the idle ejection position 905, an infrared light emitting element 902 and an infrared light receiving element 907 are provided for detecting the presence or absence of ink droplets from each ejection port of the ejection head 901. The infrared light emitted by the infrared light emitting element 902 travels in a direction that crosses the flight path of each ink droplet, as shown in FIG. The element 907 is configured to receive light.

As shown in FIG. 11 above, the ink droplet ejected from any ejection port of the ejection head 901 crosses the infrared beam, or at this time, the moisture contained in the ink drop absorbs the infrared rays, so the ink droplets ejected from the infrared receiving element 907 The amount of infrared light received changes.

Therefore, if ink droplets are sequentially ejected from all ejection ports while monitoring the amount of light received by the infrared light receiving element 907,
It can be determined whether or not the ejection operation of each ejection port is normal.

In each of the embodiments described above, an infrared light emitting element and a light receiving element were used as the ink droplet detecting element of the ejected droplet detecting device, or an ultrasonic oscillator and a receiver may be used. In this case as well, the moisture contained in the ink droplets absorbs the ultrasonic waves, and the presence or absence of the ink droplets can be detected from changes in the amount of the received sound waves in the same direction as infrared rays.

The present invention particularly applies to a bubble jet recording head and recording apparatus proposed by Canon among recording methods that eject ink droplets (inkjet recording method).
It brings about excellent effects.

As for the typical structure and principle thereof, it is preferable to use the basic principle 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 the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to arrange the sheets corresponding to the liquid (ink) and the liquid path. The electrothermal transducer is capable of recording information at a rapid temperature that exceeds nucleate boiling.
generating thermal energy in the electrothermal transducer by applying at least one drive signal that provides an increase in temperature;
This is effective because film boiling is caused on the heat-active surface of the recording head, 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 a pulsed drive signal for this drive signal, because the growth and contraction of bubbles can be carried out immediately and appropriately, so that liquid (ink) ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As this pulse-shaped driving means, those described in US Pat. No. 4,463,359 and US Pat. No. 4,345,262 are suitable. still,
U.S. Patent No. 4 for the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface.
If the conditions described in No. 313124 are adopted, even more excellent recording can be achieved.

The configuration of the recording head includes, in addition to the combined configuration of ejection ports, flow 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 structure described in the specification may be used. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part of a plurality of electrothermal converters.
The present invention is also effective in configurations based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 13846/1984, which discloses a configuration in which apertures for absorbing pressure waves of thermal energy correspond to the discharge portion.

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

In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that is attached to the device body allows for 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 a preliminary auxiliary means to the recording head, which is provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized.

Specifically, these include cleaning means for the recording head, pressurizing means, preheating means using a heating element different from the electrothermal transducer or a combination thereof, and ejection other than recording. Performing the preliminary ejection mode is also effective for performing stable recording.

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, but it is also possible to configure the recording head integrally or by combining multiple heads, but it is also possible to use multiple colors of different colors or by mixing colors. The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color image.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it may also be an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, but softens or becomes a liquid at room temperature, or an ink that is shot in an inkjet. It may be one that becomes soft or liquid in the temperature range of 30° C. or more and 70° C. or less, which is the temperature range of the temperature adjustment being carried out. That is, any material that is in an ink or liquid state at the time of application of usage record No. 3 may be used. In addition, the temperature increase caused by thermal energy in terms of M% can be prevented by using it as energy to transform the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or an ink that solidifies when left standing for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. However, in any case, the ink may be liquefied by applying thermal energy in accordance with the recording signal and ejected as liquid ink, or the ink may already begin to solidify by the time it reaches the recording medium. The use of ink that is liquefied only by energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink may be ink as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71250.
The porous sheet may be held as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through-holes of the porous sheet, and may face 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.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) In the head recovery operation, the presence or absence of ink droplets is detected by the ejection droplet detection means to determine whether the ejection operation is good or bad, so accuracy is improved compared to conventional judgments made by visual inspection by the operator. It is also economically advantageous since there is no need to use a recording material.

(2) By performing the head recovery operation at regular time intervals as in the second aspect of the present invention, the time when the head recovery operation should be performed is not missed, and the time when the head recovery operation should be performed is not missed.
The ejection head can be maintained in a normal ejection state, and the reliability of the recording apparatus is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the image recording device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of an ejection head, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an ejected droplet detection device provided on a storage cap. 4 is a plan view showing the movement of the ejection head to the idle ejection position, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the storage state of the ejection head, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view showing the movement of the ejection head from the idle ejection position;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the image output device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing control of the control device during empty discharge operation, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are side views showing other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. FIG. 2 is a diagram and a plan view. 101.901 - Discharge head, 102... Conveyance wire, 103°°° Motor 1
04--Rotary encoder, 105.903--Recording paper, 106.107--Storage cap, 108.109--Wiper 0.111--Suction pump, 2.113,905--Empty Discharge position, 4.115...
・Cam, 4 a-" Contact lever 4b...Press lever 4c...Spindle, 6.117...Vibe, 118...Pulleys 1 to 2
09--Discharge port, 1a-203a-Electrothermal converter, 0.902--Infrared light emitting element, 1.907--Infrared light receiving element, 1--Control device, 2.303--Discharge Droplet detection device, 4...Character generator, 5...Character code signal, 6...Recording paper conveyance device, 7...Idle ejection timer. 1-417, 501-522...step, 4...
Recording paper conveyance roller, 6... Rotating shaft. Question 3: Diagram: Concave Diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ejection head having a plurality of ejection ports that ejects ink droplets onto a recording material, and a head that ejects ink droplets from each of the ejection ports to recover from a non-ejection of the ejection head. an image recording apparatus having a control means for performing a recovery operation, comprising a drive means for moving the ejection head to a predetermined head recovery position outside the recording area of the recording material when performing the head recovery operation; The image recording apparatus further comprises: an ejected droplet detecting means for detecting the ink droplets facing the ejecting surface of the ejecting head at the head recovery position. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes a timer for measuring time and performs the head recovery operation at regular time intervals. 3. The ejected droplet detection means is composed of an infrared light emitting element that emits infrared light on the flight path of the ink droplets ejected from each ejection port of the ejection head, and an infrared light receiving element that receives the infrared light, and the control means 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether ink droplets are ejected from each ejection port of an ejection head based on the amount of infrared light received by the infrared light receiving element. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the ejection head ejects ink droplets using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal converter that applies the thermal energy to the ink. . 5. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the ejection head is a full-line type in which ejection ports are arranged in parallel over the entire width of the recording area of the recording material.