JPH07178895A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute recording of high definition images even at high speed. CONSTITUTION:A power source 2 for supplying electric power to each of component parts, a power source switch 3 for controlling supply of electric power from the power source 2 to each of component parts, an I/F 4 for sending and receiving signals to and from an external unit such as a document processing unit or an image processing unit, and a recording unit 5 serving as a recording means for executing the recording in accordance with signals inputted through the I/F 4 and a CPU 1 are connected to the CPU 1. A dryer part 6 serving as a forced drying means that forcibly dries, as occasion demands on commands from the CPU 1, images formed with ink ejected over a medium such as paper on which the recording is made, and a switchover part 7 that makes selection between starting and stopping of operations of the dryer part 6, depending on whether or not the blackness of the ink ejected by the recording unit 5 is within a specified range, are also connected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of high quality image recording at high speed. In addition,
Here, recording includes ink application (printing) to all ink supports that receive ink such as cloth, thread, paper, sheet material, etc. The invention includes a printer as a container, and the present invention can be applied to these.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among ink jet recording apparatuses, a method in which a recording head thereof has a heating element and ink is ejected onto a recording medium by utilizing heat energy generated by the heating element Since it is possible to form the elements, the discharge ports, and the like minutely, it is possible to record a high-definition image. Further, according to the ejection method, it is possible to perform recording at a relatively high speed and low noise.

By the way, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the ink ejected onto the recording medium is usually left to dry naturally to be solidified.

However, with the recent increase in recording speed by ink jet recording, it has become necessary to provide the recording head with a recordable area of the recording medium at a higher speed. For this reason, there is a problem that the ink ejected onto the recording medium comes into contact with the conveying roller or the like of the recording medium in an undried state before solidification and disturbs the image.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above technical problems and to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing high quality image recording even at high speed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an ink jet recording apparatus, which is a recording means for ejecting ink onto a recording medium to record an image, It is characterized by including forced drying means for forcibly drying the ink ejected by the recording means and switching means for selectively switching between starting and stopping the operation of the forced drying means.

Here, the invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1.
In the inkjet recording apparatus described above, the switching unit may select either start or stop of the operation of the forced drying unit according to the black ratio of the image formed by the ejected ink.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the recording means includes an ejection energy generating element that generates energy used for ejecting ink. It may be one.

Further, the invention of claim 4 is the same as that of claim 3.
In the inkjet recording apparatus described in the above, the ejection energy generating element may include an electrothermal converter that generates heat energy that causes film boiling in the ink.

[0010]

In the present invention, the ink ejected onto the recording medium by the recording means can be forcibly dried in a short time by the drying means, if necessary, so that the image to be recorded can be fixed early. Therefore, even if the recording medium comes into contact with the conveying means, for example, the recorded image at the contact portion is not disturbed. Therefore, high-definition high-quality images can be recorded even when high-speed recording is performed by, for example, transporting the recording medium to the recording unit side at high speed.

Further, in the present invention, since the switching means can select either the start or the stop of the operation of the drying means according to the black ratio of the image formed by the ejected ink, the forced drying by the drying means is performed. Since the operation of the drying means can be stopped when it is not necessary and the operation of the drying means can be started only when necessary, wasteful operation can be eliminated and the efficiency of forced drying can be improved.

[0012]

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic construction of a first embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a forced drying means in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a CPU unit which issues an instruction to each component described later. The CPU unit 1 includes a power supply unit 2 that supplies power to each component, a power switch 3 that controls power supply from the power supply unit 2 to each component,
An interface (I / F) 4 for exchanging signals with an external device such as a document creation device or an image creation device, and this I / F
/ F4 and a recording section 5 as recording means for recording based on a signal input through the CPU section 1, and ink ejected onto a recording medium (not shown) such as paper by the recording section 5. The dryer unit 6 as a forced drying unit for forcibly blowing hot air or cold air on the image to be dried by a command from the CPU unit 1 as necessary, and the black ratio of the ink ejected by the recording unit 5 are A switching unit 7 that selects whether to start or stop the operation of the dryer unit 6 depending on whether or not it is within a predetermined range is connected.

The operation of the ink jet recording apparatus having such a structure will be described below.

First, when the power switch 3 is turned on, electricity is supplied from the power supply unit 2 to each component. Image signal information from the outside such as a document creation device or an image creation device is transmitted to the CPU unit 1 via the I / F 4. The image signal information is sent from the CPU section 1 to the recording section 5 together with the recording start command. Further, the recording unit 5 starts recording in accordance with a recording start command from the CPU unit 1 and records an image according to the image signal information. The recording image immediately after recording by the recording unit 5 is dried by blowing hot air or cold air by the dryer unit 6 when the black ratio of the image is equal to or more than a predetermined value. The black ratio of the image can be grasped before recording by the image signal information.

Next, the operation of the dryer section and the switching section in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

After the start of printing, it is selected in S1 whether or not the dryer unit 6 is to be operated.
In, select whether to dry with hot air only. When drying is performed only with hot air, hot air drying is continued regardless of the black ratio of the image. When drying is performed only with cold air, in S3, it is selected whether to change the function of the dryer unit 6 according to the black ratio of the image. Here, the change includes changing from cold air drying to hot air drying or stopping the drying at all depending on the black ratio of the image. Therefore, if the change is not made, the cold air drying is continued. If the black ratio of the image is within the range of 0 to 30% in S4, the operation of the dryer unit 6 is stopped, and the black ratio is not within the range and the black ratio is 3 in S5.
If it is outside the range of 1-60%, change to hot air drying. As described above, when printing of one page is completed, S
If there is a next page in 6, return after printing starts through A and repeat the above procedure for the next page. If there is no next page,
The printing ends as it is.

The selection in each of the above steps can be performed by the switching section 7. However, regarding the steps from S1 to S3, the user of the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment or the service mode at the time of shipping or maintenance. The setting can be changed, and the steps S4 and S5 can be changed depending on the service mode.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the basic construction of a second embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a forced drying means in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 is a CPU unit which issues an instruction to each component described later. The CPU unit 10 includes a power supply unit 11 for supplying power to each component, and a power supply unit 1.
Power switch 1 for controlling power supply from 1 to each component
2 and an interface (I / F) 13 for exchanging signals with the outside such as a document creation device or an image creation device.
And a recording unit 1 as a recording unit that performs recording based on a signal input via the I / F 13 and the CPU unit 10.
4 and an image composed of ink ejected onto a recording medium (not shown) such as paper by the recording unit 14 by a command from the CPU unit 10 as necessary to force hot air (this embodiment). Convection of heat generated from another heat generating part of the recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the exhaust fan part 15 as a forced drying means for drying by drying, and the black ratio of the ink ejected by the recording part 5 is within a predetermined range. Depending on the exhaust fan unit 1
5 is connected to the switching unit 16 for selecting the start or stop of the operation.

The operation of the ink jet recording apparatus having such a structure will be described below.

First, when the power switch 12 is turned on,
Electricity is supplied from the power supply unit 11 to each component. Image signal information from the outside such as a document creation device or an image creation device is transmitted to the CPU unit 10 via the I / F 13. CP
The image signal information is sent from the U unit 10 to the recording unit 14 together with the recording start command. In addition, the recording unit 14 is a CP
Recording is started in accordance with a recording start command from the U unit 10, and an image according to the image signal information is recorded. The recorded image immediately after recording by the recording unit 14 is dried by hot air or heat convection by the exhaust fan unit 15 when the black ratio of the image is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

Next, the operation of the exhaust fan section and the switching section in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

After the start of printing, in S7, it is selected whether or not to operate the exhaust fan unit 15 regardless of the black ratio of the image.
When operating, the black ratio of the image is 0-5 in S8.
When it is out of the range of 0%, the black ratio is high, so the exhaust fan unit 15 is operated. Further, the black ratio of the image is 0 in S8.
When it is within the range of -50%, the black ratio is low and the drying is unnecessary, so that the exhaust fan unit 15 is not operated. As described above, when the printing for one page is completed, if there is a next page in S9, the process returns after the start of printing and the above procedure is repeated for the next page. If there is no next page, the printing is finished as it is.

The selection in each of the above steps is made by the switching unit 16
However, the setting of step S7 can be changed by the user of the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment or the service mode at the time of shipment or maintenance.
The setting can be changed depending on the service mode.

The switching section 7 or 16 as the switching means in each of the above-described embodiments is provided in the vicinity of the recording head if the recording head as the recording means is a serial type recording apparatus capable of reciprocating in the main scanning direction. It may be equipped with a mechanism for instantaneously reading the black ratio of the image which is mounted and recorded by the recording head, and the black ratio of the image to be recorded is calculated in advance from the image signal information. It may include a mechanism for controlling the start or stop of the operation of the dryer unit 6 or the exhaust fan unit 15 as the forced drying unit based on the data.

Further, each component of the recording apparatus other than the forced drying means and the switching means can be illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, for example.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ink jet cartridge IJC to which the ink jet head having the above structure is applied, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view thereof. In these figures, 100 is a heater in which electrothermal converters arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate and electric wiring such as Al for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converters are formed by a film forming technique. The board 200 is a wiring board for the heater board 100, and the wiring board 200 has wirings corresponding to the wirings of the heater board 100 and pads 210 located at the ends of the wirings for receiving an electric signal from the main unit. Reference numeral 300 denotes a top plate provided with a plurality of ink channels and partition walls for partitioning a common liquid chamber that communicates with them, 400 an ink receiving port communicating with the common liquid chamber, and 500 an orifice plate having a plurality of ejection ports. Yes, these are integrally molded by polysulfone, for example. 600 is the wiring board 20
For example, it is a metal supporter that supports the back surface of 0 with a plane, and serves as a bottom plate of the inkjet unit. Reference numeral 700 denotes a pressing spring that press-fixes the top plate 300 and the heater board 100 to the support 600, and the foot of the pressing spring 700 is engaged with the hole 610 of the support 600. 80
Reference numeral 0 denotes an ink supply member, and this ink supply member 800
Includes an ink supply pipe 810 whose one end is in pressure contact with an ink absorber 1100 via a supply port 1020 of an ink tank IT described later, and one end of which is continuous with the other end of the ink supply pipe 810 and the other end of which is the ink receiving port. An ink conduit 820 is formed in pressure contact with 400. Reference numeral 900 denotes a filter provided at the end of the ink supply pipe 810 on the tank side. A hole 620 through which the ink supply pipe 810 penetrates is formed at a position corresponding to the supply port 1020 of the support body 600.

The ink tank IT for supplying the ink to the ink jet unit IJU thus constructed has a cartridge body 1000, an ink absorber 1100 for impregnating the ink, and the ink absorber 1100 in the cartridge body 1000. The ink jet unit IJU is composed of a lid member 1200 for inserting the ink jet unit IJU from the opposite side and sealing the same. The cartridge body 1000 has an ink tank IT
An atmosphere communication port 1010 for supplying air is formed therein, and the liquid communication material 1010 for preventing ink leakage from the atmosphere communication port 1010 is formed in the atmosphere communication port 1010.
300 has been inserted. In addition, the cartridge body 10
An ink supply port 1020 is formed at 00, and a packing 1400 is provided at the ink supply port 1020. The inkjet unit I described above
JU is the ink absorber 11 of the cartridge body 1000.
It is attached by fixing the side support 600 on the side opposite to the 00 insertion side, and is covered with the lid member 1500.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example of an ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink jet cartridge IJC configured as above is mounted. This inkjet recording apparatus IJRA has a lead screw 2040 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 2020 and 2030 in association with forward and reverse rotations of a drive motor 2010. Carriage HC on which the inkjet cartridge IJC is placed
Is the carriage shaft 2050 and the lead screw 20.
40, and the lead wire 2040 has a spiral groove 2
041 has a pin (not shown) that engages,
As the lead screw 2040 rotates, arrows a and b
It is reciprocated in the direction. Reference numeral 2060 denotes a paper pressing plate that holds the paper P in the platen roller 20 in the carriage movement direction.
Press against 70. Reference numerals 2080 and 2090 denote photocouplers, which confirm the existence of the lever 2100 provided on the carriage HC in this area and determine the motor 201.
It operates as home position detection means for switching the rotation direction of 0 and the like. Reference numeral 2110 denotes a cap member that caps the front surface of the recording head, and is supported by the support member 2120. A suction unit 2130 sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening in the cap. The cleaning blade 2140 for cleaning the end surface of the recording head is provided on the member 2150 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by the main body support plate 2160. Needless to say, the blade 2140 is not limited to this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 2170 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which is moved along with the movement of the cam 2180 engaged with the carriage HC, whereby the driving force from the driving motor 2010 is switched to the clutch. Movement is controlled by known transmission means such as.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 2040 when the carriage HC comes to the home position side area. Any of the present embodiments can be applied as long as the desired operation is performed at the timing. Each of the above-described configurations is an excellent invention, either alone or in combination, and shows a preferred configuration example for the present invention.

(Others) The present invention is provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating heat energy as energy used for ejecting ink, particularly in the ink jet recording system. The present invention brings about excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the state of ink is changed by the heat energy. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal in a one-to-one correspondence
It is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. US Pat. No. 4,558,333, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The structure using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in JP-A-59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the recording head fixed to the main body of the apparatus, or the electrical connection to the main body of the apparatus or the ink from the main body of the apparatus by being attached to the main body of the apparatus. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Further, as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add the ejection recovery means of the recording head, the preliminary auxiliary means and the like because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, heating is performed by using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressure or suction unit for the recording head, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. Examples thereof include a preliminary heating unit for performing the discharge and a preliminary discharge unit for performing discharge different from the recording.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. A plurality of pieces may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but it may be either the recording head is integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color recording modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet system, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In this case, the ink is
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent No. 1260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function are provided. It may be a form or the like.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the image on the recording medium after recording can be forcibly dried early, even if the recording medium comes into contact with the conveying means, for example, the recorded image at the contact portion is not disturbed. Therefore, high-definition high-quality images can be recorded even when high-speed recording is performed by, for example, transporting the recording medium to the recording unit side at high speed.

Further, according to the present invention, by the switching means,
Since it is possible to select either start or stop of the operation of the drying means according to the black ratio of the image by the ejected ink, when the forced drying by the drying means is not required, the operation of the drying means is stopped, Since the operation of the drying means can be started only when necessary, it is possible to eliminate wasteful operation and improve the efficiency of forced drying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a first embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the forced drying means in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a second embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the forced drying means in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkjet cartridge IJC to which a recording head in a third embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is an inkjet cartridge IJ shown in FIG.
It is a disassembled perspective view of C.

7 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of a third embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention in which the inkjet cartridge IJC shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 Power Supply Section 3 Power Supply Switch Section 4 I / F 5 Recording Section 6 Dryer Section 7 Switching Section 10 CPU 11 Power Supply Section 12 Power Supply Switch Section 13 I / F 14 Recording Section 15 Exhaust Fan Section 16 Switching Section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 29/00 H

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A recording unit for ejecting ink onto a recording medium to record an image, a forced drying unit for forcibly drying the ink ejected by the recording unit, and an operation of starting or stopping the forced drying unit. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a switching unit that selects and switches one of the above. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit selects either start or stop of the operation of the forced drying unit according to a black ratio of an image formed by ejected ink. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by the above. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit includes an ejection energy generating element that generates energy used for ejecting ink. apparatus. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ejection energy generating element has an electrothermal converter that generates heat energy that causes film boiling in the ink.