JPH07256895A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a running cost by rationally suppressing non-ejection or defective ejection of ink and by eliminating the waste ink consumption and to provide an ink jet recorder capable of executing the stable recording. CONSTITUTION:An ink jet recorder comprises a capping means, an ejection- recovery means, detection means for an ambient temperature and/or a moisture of the recorder, a time-counting means 605 in terms of the temperature and/or moisture, a memory means 603 that stores a time history from the previous ejection-recovery operation in terms of the temperature and/or moisture and plural recovery operations corresponding to each time history and control means 601, 607 each controls the recorder to perform the recovery operation by selecting the ejection-recovery operation corresponding to the time history stored in the memory.

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, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reducing ejection failure or ejection failure of ink droplets and performing ejection recovery processing for stable recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording device for recording on a recording material (hereinafter referred to as a recording sheet) such as a sheet of paper or an OHP sheet, there has been proposed a recording device having a recording head of various recording systems. Such recording heads include a wire dot type, a heat sensitive type, a thermal transfer type, and an ink jet type.

Of these, the ink jet system is particularly
Injects ink directly toward the recording sheet,
It is attracting attention as a recording method which has advantages such as low running cost and quiet recording operation.

Further, in recent years, the ink jet recording apparatus, especially the recording head, is manufactured by the film forming technique and the micro processing technique applied to the semiconductor device, so that the recording is smaller and less expensive. The head is being realized. Along with this, it has become possible to obtain a compact and simple structure of the entire apparatus.

On the other hand, the ink jet recording apparatus having various advantages as described above is widely used as a recording apparatus for various apparatuses such as a personal computer printer, a printer-integrated personal computer, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a facsimile, and a copying machine. It is being used. In this case, the ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a function corresponding to each of these apparatuses, a configuration corresponding to a usage mode, and the like.

[0006] In addition, in such a printer for a personal computer, a personal computer with a built-in printer, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, etc., one of the tendencies is that it is small and lightweight, portable and more inexpensive from the viewpoint of its popularity. From this point of view, it is desired that the ink jet recording apparatus used in these apparatuses be small and simple and have a low cost.

Generally, in an ink jet type recording apparatus, a recording head in which fine ejection openings are arranged is used. Therefore, when bubbles or dust are mixed in the ejection openings, or when the ink solvent evaporates, the viscosity increases. When the ink is not ejected normally or is in a state not suitable for recording by the process, a process for removing the cause of the ejection failure (ejection recovery process) is performed. As one form of means for performing such an ejection recovery process, it is possible to cover the ejection port forming surface of the recording head (hereinafter referred to as the ink ejection port surface), and a cap that functions as an ink receiver There is a device provided with a pump for communicating and generating a suction force.

In such ejection recovery processing, ink is ejected by driving the ink ejection energy generating element in the ejection port with the cap facing the ink ejection port surface, or the ink ejection port surface is covered with the cap. In this state, the suction force of the pump is applied to suck the ink to remove the cause of the ejection failure. In addition, in the ink ejection port surface covering operation by such a cap, the carriage equipped with the recording head moves to the recovery system position at the end of recording, and the cap provided for advance / retreat at the recovery system position is advanced to perform recording. This is performed by bringing the head into contact with the head and covering the surface of the ink ejection port.

[0009]

However, when the recording apparatus is left for a long period of time and then reused, the ink ejection port is clogged due to an increase in the ink viscosity in the ejection port of the recording head, and the like. There has been a problem that the recording quality is deteriorated by causing ink ejection failure or ejection failure. Further, in order to avoid this problem, ink is sucked every time the power is turned on, and when the power is repeatedly turned on and off frequently, the amount of ink consumption becomes extremely large, which causes waste and raises the running cost. Will result.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to rationally reduce ink ejection failure or ejection failure, reduce waste of ink consumption, and reduce running cost. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that is capable of achieving stable and stable recording.

[0011]

In order to achieve such an object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head for ejecting ink from an ink ejection port for recording. Cap means that can cover and open the surface of the ink ejection port, ejection recovery means that performs a predetermined ejection recovery processing operation on the recording head, and ambient temperature and / or ambient humidity in the recording apparatus are detected. A detection unit, a time measurement unit for measuring the time related to the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detection unit, and a time history related to the temperature and / or humidity from the previous discharge recovery processing operation and the time history. Storage means for storing a plurality of types of discharge recovery processing operations set correspondingly, and a plurality of types of discharge recovery processing operations based on time history. Select a corresponding one from among,
And a control unit for controlling the discharge recovery unit to perform the one discharge recovery processing operation.

As an example of the ejection recovery process operation performed by the ejection recovery means, there is a process of recovering the ink ejection by sucking the ink in the ejection port of the recording head.

Further, as an example of the control means, the contents of the historical data of the atmospheric temperature and / or the atmospheric humidity stored in the storage means at the time of turning on the power of the recording apparatus or at the start of recording are counted together with the clock time. An example is one in which the discharge recovery processing table stored in the storage means is selected according to the counted content and the discharge recovery means is controlled so as to perform the discharge recovery content.

Further, the recording head is a recording head for ejecting ink by utilizing heat energy, and is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating heat energy given to the ink, and is generated by the electrothermal converter. It is preferable that the ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing the pressure change caused by the growth and contraction of the bubbles caused by the film boiling caused by the generated thermal energy.

Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a copying machine having at least a control unit.

Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a facsimile apparatus having at least a control section and a facsimile transmission / reception section.

The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a word processor having at least an input section, a control section and a display section.

The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention can be widely applied to computer equipment.

[0019]

According to the present invention, even if the recording apparatus is left for a long period of time and then reused, one ejection recovery process is selectively performed by the control means based on the time history from the previous ejection recovery process operation. Since the operation is required and the ejection recovery processing for the print head is automatically performed in accordance with this processing operation, non-ejection and ejection failure of ink droplets due to thickening of ink and clogging of the ejection port are avoided, and a good image is obtained. Recording becomes possible, and at the time of turning on the power of the recording apparatus or at the start of recording, an ejection recovery means based on history data of the atmospheric temperature and / or the atmospheric humidity of the recording apparatus from the previous suction recovery operation is provided. Since it is performed, waste of ink consumption can be saved, running cost can be reduced, and stable recording can be performed.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a carriage 1 is equipped with a head cartridge 4 in which a recording head 2 and an ink tank 3 which constitute recording means are integrally connected. An end portion of the carriage 1 on the recording head 2 side is slidably fitted along a lead screw 6 which is rotatably supported by a chassis 5 forming a frame of the apparatus, and the other end of the carriage 1 is provided. The end is the chassis 5
The guide portion is slidably fitted to a guide rail 7 formed in parallel with the lead screw 6. The carriage 1 reciprocates in the axial direction with the rotation of the lead screw 6 while keeping its posture constant.

A lead screw gear 8 is provided at the left end of the lead screw 6, and the gear 8 and the pinion gear 10 attached to the output shaft of the carriage motor 9 mesh with each other. In addition, a guide strip formed on the lead screw 6 in a thread shape at a predetermined pitch (FIG. 6A).
A lead pin (not shown) provided on the carriage 1 is fitted in the. Therefore, the carriage 1 can be reciprocated by rotating the lead screw 6 forward and backward in accordance with the forward rotation and reverse rotation of the carriage motor 9. Reference numeral 11 is a flexible cable for sending a recording signal from the electric circuit described later to the recording head 2, and a part of the middle thereof is a flexible cable holder 12
It is positioned and held by the pinch roller frame 13 via.

By ejecting ink from the recording head 2 in synchronization with the reciprocating movement (reciprocating scanning) of the carriage 1, it is possible to record one line on the recording sheet 14. That is, the recording head 2 is provided with a fine ink ejection port, a liquid passage, and an energy acting portion provided in a part of this liquid passage, and an energy generating means for generating energy acting on ink in this acting portion. . Then, by using the energy generated by this means, ink droplets are ejected from the ink ejection ports to perform recording.

As the energy generating means for generating such energy, an electromechanical converter such as a piezo element is used, electromagnetic waves such as a laser are radiated to generate heat, and droplets are generated by the action of this heat generation. Something to generate,
Alternatively, there is one that heats the liquid by an electrothermal conversion element having a heating resistor.

Among them, the recording head of the type in which the liquid is ejected by utilizing the thermal energy is capable of high-resolution recording because the liquid ejection ports can be arranged at a high density. Among them, the recording head using the electrothermal converting element as the energy generating means is easy to be made compact, and has the advantages of the IC technology and the microfabrication technology, which have been remarkably improved in technology and reliability in the recent semiconductor field. This is advantageous because it can be used in two parts, high-density mounting is easy, and the manufacturing cost is low.

In the ink jet recording head 2, when one carriage is recorded by scanning the carriage 1,
The recording sheet 14 is fed by one sheet by the conveying means to record the next row.
Is conveyed by a pair of rotating bodies of the conveying roller 15 and a pinch roller 16 that is in pressure contact with the conveying roller 15, and a pair of rotating bodies of a discharge roller 19 and a spur 18 that contacts the discharge roller 19.

To specifically explain such a conveying operation, the recording sheet 14 facing the ink ejection port surface of the recording head 2 is kept pressed against the conveying roller 15 by the pinch roller 16, while the conveying roller 15 is kept. Is rotated by the sheet feed motor 17 to carry the sheet by a necessary amount for the next recording. After the recording is performed on the sheet in this way, the recording sheet 14 is kept in pressure contact with the discharge roller 19 by the spur 18 and the discharge roller 19 is rotated to remove the recorded sheet 14 from the apparatus. Discharge and transport to the outside. The conveyance roller 15 and the discharge roller 19 are driven by the sheet feeding motor 17, but the driving force is transmitted via the reduction gear train 20.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a paper sensor, which detects the presence or absence of the recording sheet 14. Further, reference numeral 22 is a home position sensor composed of a photo interrupter, and the carriage 1
It is detected that the carriage 1 is at the home position (HP) by the interruption / release of the interruption plate 230 attached to the carriage 1. Further, 25 is a temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature near the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows a head cartridge type recording head 2 integrated with the ink tank 3. Reference numeral 2A denotes an ink ejection port surface and 2B denotes an ink ejection port. At the time of non-recording, the ink ejection port 2B can be completely covered by keeping the cap 410 described later on the ink ejection port surface 2A. Here, the recording head 2 is
Although not shown, a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements that generate thermal energy used for ink ejection and a substrate on which a drive circuit for driving the electrothermal conversion elements are formed, and each of the plurality of electrothermal conversion elements on the substrate Corresponding discharge port and liquid path,
Further, it is configured by laminating a top plate for forming a common liquid chamber communicating with each liquid passage, and further provided with an electrical contact 2C for giving a signal from the recording apparatus main body to the drive circuit. ing.

Further, a sensor for detecting the state of the recording head 2 from the recording apparatus main body can be arranged in the recording head 2, and specifically, the temperature near the electrothermal conversion element can be detected. A temperature detection sensor for changing the ink amount, an ink remaining amount detection sensor for detecting the ink when the common liquid chamber runs out, or a different type of ink in the ink tank 3 or the type of the recording head 2. However, a head type determination sensor or the like for specifying the type of the head cartridge 4 when used can be provided as necessary. Then, by determining the signals from these sensors in the recording apparatus main body and controlling the signals applied to the electrothermal converting elements, it is possible to maintain the optimum recording state. The recording head 2 having such a configuration has the ejection port surface 2A on which the ejection ports 2B are arranged.
The carriage 1 with the recording sheet 14 facing the recording sheet 14.
To be installed in.

The ink tank 3 is for appropriately supplying ink to the recording head 2 in order to make up for the ink consumed by recording while holding the ink, and when the ink tank 3 alone exists, an ink supply hole ( It is sealed by a sealing means (not shown) so that the ink does not leak from (not shown). The sealing means is opened automatically or manually when integrated with the recording head 2 to form an ink flow path. Such a sealing means can be realized, for example, by a mechanism in which a metal ball is pressed against a rubber stopper by a spring. In addition, a mechanism may be provided to introduce atmospheric air from the outside according to the ink volume that decreases due to ink consumption. Furthermore, by having an internal mechanism for keeping the pressure of the ink supplied to the recording head 2 slightly negative, it is possible to improve the recording quality and prevent ink leakage.

Reference numeral 40 denotes an ejection recovery device for preventing non-ejection of ink from the recording head 2, and this ejection recovery device 4
Details of 0 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ejection recovery device 40 has a cap 410 for capping the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 and a negative pressure inside the cap 410 to suck ink from the ejection port surface 2A through the cap 410. Then, the pump unit 420 that sends the ink to the waste ink absorber (not shown), and further the cap 410 is moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the ejection port surface 2A, and at the same time, the driving force is transmitted to the pump unit 420 and the ejection is further performed. A controller gear 44 of a transmission mechanism section including a cam and a gear mechanism for operating a wiping mechanism 430 that wipes ink adhering to the outlet surface 2A.
It is composed of 0 and. The control gear 440
Is driven by the carriage motor 9 shown in FIG. 2 via a clutch gear (not shown), and the transmission from the carriage motor 9 is switched between carriage scanning and recovery system driving by the clutch gear.

Next, the structure of the mechanism for driving the discharge recovery device by the rotation of the control gear 440 will be described.

A cap opening / closing cam 441 and a wiping operation cam (not shown) are formed on the control gear 440. Also, this control gear 440
Is a plunger 421 of the pump unit 420, which will be described later.
Is engaged with a stroke gear 422 arranged coaxially with the plunger 421 to reciprocate, and the control gear 440 rotates, whereby the stroke gear 422 can be rotated and the plunger 421 can be reciprocated. .

Further, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 431 is a blade provided in the wiping mechanism 430, which wipes the ink ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 for cleaning. The blade 431 is made of resin rubber such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber or urethane, and is formed to have a dogleg shape by molding, and is attached to the blade slider 432.
The blade slider 432 is provided with a through hole 432A so as to be movable along a slide shaft 434 which is supported by the frame 433 in parallel with the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head, and along the slide shaft 434. By the blade slider 432 that reciprocates, the amount of the blade 431 entering the ejection opening surface 2A of the recording head can be kept constant at any position on the ejection opening surface 2A, and the ejection opening surface 2A can be uniformly wiped.

The reciprocating motion of the blade slider 432 is performed by a blade link 435 which will be described later.
The protrusion 435A of the blade link 435 engages with the engaging groove 432B of the wall portion of the blade slider 432 to reciprocate the blade slider 432. The operation of the blade link 435 is controlled by a wiping operation cam (not shown) formed in the control gear 440.

Thus, the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 is wiped by the reciprocating motion of the blade slider 432.
The ink attached to the blade 431 is removed by the blade cleaner 4
The blade 431 can be always maintained in a clean state by being transferred to the nozzle 36. That is, by the wiping operation, after the blade 431 that has moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4 has completely wiped off the ejection port surface 2A, it comes into contact with this blade cleaner 436, and at that time, the ink on the blade 421, It is absorbed by the blade cleaner 436.

If the blade 431 is in constant contact with the blade cleaner 436, the blade 431 is deformed due to the creep phenomenon of rubber, and the original performance cannot be exhibited. Therefore, the control gear 440
After the blade 431 comes into contact with the blade cleaner 436 by the wiping operation cam of, the blade 431 is moved in the A ′ direction opposite to the arrow A direction in the drawing to be separated from the blade cleaner 436, and the blade 431 is removed. I try not to apply external force.

Further, the blade link 435 keeps the control gear 4 rotating at both forward and reverse rotations of the carriage motor 9.
Since the control is performed while following the wiping operation cam of 40, the rotation operation of the blade link 435 is uniquely determined by the rotation angle of the control gear 440. That is, the position of the blade 431 is controlled only by the rotation angle of the control gear 440, and when the wiping operation is performed immediately after entering the area of the ejection recovery device 40 by the reverse rotation of the carriage motor 9, the subsequent carriage motor By the forward rotation of 9, the discharge recovery device 40
The wiping operation is also performed when getting out of the area. Therefore, the discharge port surface 2A on both sides of the blade 431
Will be wiped. However, the blade 431
Since the front and back can be cut when cutting the tip, the wiping can be essentially performed on only one side, and wiping on the side opposite to the side that can be used for wiping generally causes defective recording. There is a risk. Therefore, first, as shown in FIG. 2, an inclined portion is provided at a part of the tip of the shield plate 230.
When the carriage 1 enters the area of the ejection recovery device 40, the inclined portion of the shield plate 230 causes the blade stopper 437 to rotate in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG.

Therefore, a series of such operations will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5A shows a state in which the carriage 1 has moved to the recovery device area and the blade stopper 437 provided in the device 40 and the shield plate 230 of the carriage 1 are engaged with each other. Therefore, in this state, when the control gear 440 shown in FIG. 4 starts to rotate in the clockwise direction by switching the clutch gear next, as described above, the blade link 435 shown in FIG. Starts to rotate in the direction C in the figure. Then, when the blade link 435 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. 5C, the spring hooking portion 435A of the blade link 435 engages with the first arm 437A of the blade stopper 437 to move the blade stopper 437 in the direction of arrow D. Start to rotate to.

Next, when the blade link 435 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. 5D, the first arm 437A of the blade stopper 437 disengages from the spring hooking portion 435A of the blade link 435, and the blade spring 4
It is rotated in the arrow E direction in the figure by the spring force of 38. However, at this time, since the shield plate 230 is positioned below the second arm 437B of the blade stopper 437 and its rotation is stopped, when the shield plate 230 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. The rotation is stopped.

After that, the carriage motor 9 is rotated in the normal direction, and the blade link 435 is moved to the control gear 44.
By being released from the wiping cam 0, the blade spring 438 is pulled back in the direction of the arrow F in the figure by the spring force of the blade spring 438, and as shown in FIG.
The rotation of the blade link is stopped by 7.

Finally, when the carriage 1 is completely removed from the recovery device area, as shown in FIG.
Since the restraint by the blade is eliminated, the blade stopper 437 is further rotated in the E direction by the spring force of the spring 439, the blade link 435 is rotated by the spring force of the spring 438, and the blade 431 is moved to the maximum in the direction of arrow A ′ in FIG. Move to the position and wait. In this way, the wiping locus of the blade 431 is changed depending on whether the carriage 1 moves to the area of the recovery device 40 or not, so that the wiping is not performed on the opposite surface of the blade 431.

Further, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 442 is a carriage stopper, which is provided to prevent the carriage 1 from coming out of this area to the recording position by being dropped or vibrating. The carriage stopper 442 is constantly urged in the direction of arrow G by the carrier hook spring 443, and the carrier hook 231 provided on the carriage 1 (see FIG. 2) by the hooking protrusion 444 protruding from the control gear 440 during recording. It is held in the standby position.

Here, the operation will be described. When the carriage 1 moves to the area of the recovery device 40 and the clutch gear is switched, the carriage motor 9 is reversely rotated and the control gear 440 starts rotating clockwise. The locking protrusion 444 of the control gear 440 releases the carriage stopper 442 from the restraint, and the carriage stopper 442 rotates in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 4 to engage with the carriage hook 231. In the standby state where recording is not performed, the carriage stopper 442 is kept in engagement with the carriage hook 231 to prevent the carriage 1 from slipping out to the recording position.

Next, the structure of the pump unit 420 will be described with reference to FIG.

The pump unit 420 of this example is constructed as a plunger pump, and 422 is a cylinder portion thereof, which has a cylindrical cylinder 422A and a guide portion (not shown) of the plunger 421. And is partially cut away in the axial direction to form an ink flow path. Reference numeral 423 is a cap lever receiver into which a cap lever seal is fitted. Reference numeral 424 is an ink suction port, which opens at a predetermined position of the cylinder 422A.
Reference numeral 425 denotes an ink discharge tube, which is formed integrally with the cylinder 422A and has a tip end portion thereof with an ink discharge absorber 426.
Has been inserted. Also, 427 is the control gear 44.
0 is a parallel pin slidingly contacting the cap opening / closing cam 441 (see FIG. 4), and the parallel pin 427 is guided by the cap opening / closing cam 441 as the control gear 440 rotates, thereby rotating the cylinder portion 422. The cap 410 is opened and closed so as to be in close contact with and separated from the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, the control gear 44
The relationship between the cap opening / closing cam 441 of 0 and the cap opening / closing operation will be described.

A switching sheet 442 is provided on the cap opening / closing cam 441, and the opening / closing movement of the cap can be changed by the switching sheet 442 in accordance with the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the carriage motor 9. In this embodiment, since the preliminary ejection is performed in the cap 410 as described later, the cap 41 is not discharged during recording.
The carriage 1 recovers the ink accumulated in 0
It is necessary to suck the ink in the cap 410 into the cylinder portion 422 once before moving to the area of (4) and performing capping.

Then, when the control gear 440 starts rotating due to the reverse rotation of the carriage motor 9, the parallel pin 427 of the cylinder portion 422 first moves along the cam surface 441A. Note that in FIG. 7, the closer to the center of the control gear 440 the cam surface is, the more the cap 410 is opened. Therefore, in this case, suction can be performed while the cap 410 is open, and this suction will be referred to as preliminary ejection suction hereinafter.

Next, when the control gear 440 finishes rotating, the suction operation ends, and the carriage motor 9 starts forward rotation, the parallel pin moves along the cam surface 441 this time, and the control gear 440 rotates. The cap 410 will be closed for the first time from the start. The normal recording head 2
Is waiting with this cap closed. Then, when recording is subsequently started, the control gear 440 rotates in the direction of arrow H in FIG. 7 by the forward rotation of the carriage motor 9. However, when suction is started, the control gear 440 rotates in the direction of the arrow H ′ due to the reverse rotation of the carriage motor 9. In this case, the parallel pin 427 causes the cam surface 441 to move.
Since it moves along B, suction can be performed with the original cap 410 closed. In this way, the switching sheet 442
By providing the control gear 440, it is possible to perform two suction operations of the original recovery suction and the preliminary discharge suction with the control gear 440.

During recording, the parallel pin 427 is inserted into the notch 441C provided on the cam surface, and the control gear 440 does not rotate due to the pressing frictional force generated by the spring force of the cap spring 428 (see FIG. 4). I am trying. This is because if the control gear 440 rotates during recording, the recovery operation will be started in an inappropriate case, and normal recording cannot be performed. This is to prevent this.

Returning to FIG. 6 again, the plunger 421 is
An operation shaft 421A, a piston receiver 421B, a piston retainer 421C, and a pump seal retainer 421D are formed in the shaft 421A, and a groove (hereinafter referred to as a flow passage groove) 421E serving as an ink flow passage is formed on a shaft portion connected to the operation shaft 421A. Has been formed. A part of the flow channel 421E is fitted into the guide portion (not shown) of the cylinder portion 422 described above, and prohibits the rotation operation of the plunger 421. On the other hand, a lead groove 421F that controls the reciprocating motion of the plunger 420 is formed on the operation shaft 421A, and a protrusion (not shown) formed on the inner surface of the stroke gear 422 is slidably fitted in the lead groove 421F. ing. Therefore, by rotating the stroke gear 422 in one direction by the reverse drive of the carriage motor 9, the plunger 421 is stroked in the direction of arrow I in FIG.
Further, by rotating the stroke gear 422 in the other direction by the normal rotation drive of the carriage motor 9,
21 can be stroked in the direction of arrow J in FIG.

A piston 428 made of a rubber material such as silicon is attached to the plunger 421. The outer diameter of the piston 428 is configured to be larger than the inner diameter of the cylinder 422A by a predetermined amount so that the piston 428 can be appropriately compressed while being inserted into the cylinder 422A. As a result, the plunger 421 strokes in the direction of arrow I in FIG. 6 to generate a negative pressure, and the cap 410 sucks the ink in the recording head 2 while keeping the ink ejection surface 2A covered. Next, by making a stroke in the direction of arrow J, the sucked ink can be discharged from the waste ink pipe 425 to the waste ink absorber 426, and the discharge recovery process by forced discharge can be performed. The “ejection recovery process by forced ejection” is a process of sucking and removing causes of ejection failure such as bubbles and dust, ink that has thickened and is no longer suitable for recording.

A pump seal 429 is attached to the plunger 421, and the pump seal 429 is made of a rubber material such as silicon and has an inner diameter so that a predetermined pressure contact force can be obtained with the plunger 421. Is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the plunger 421. Then, the inside of the cylinder 422A is provided on the plunger 421 and the pump seal holder 421D and the piston receiver 4 are provided.
It is possible to reciprocate by being pushed by 21B. The surface may be lubricated to reduce the sliding force between the cylinder 422A and the plunger 421. Further, rubber having self-lubricating property may be used for the purpose of eliminating the grease in the cylinder 422A.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 411 denotes a cap lever integrally formed with the cap 410, one rotary shaft 411A of which is the cap lever seal 422B of the cylinder 422A, and the other rotary shaft 411B of which is the cylinder 42.
It is rotatably fitted into each of the support holes 422C of 2A by a snap fit. Further, here, a cap member 412 for covering the ink ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 is provided.
Is formed of an elastic material such as chlorinated butyl rubber and is attached to the cap attachment portion 411C of the cap lever 411. The cap member 412 is used for protection of the recording head 2 at the time of non-recording or the like and for ejection recovery processing thereof.

Further, 413 is a preliminary discharge pad, which is made of a polymer absorbent like the blade cleaner 436 (see FIG. 4) and is mounted in the cap lever 411. The preliminary ejection pad 413 is for absorbing the preliminary ejection ink for ejecting ink separately from the normal recording operation during recording. The term “preliminary ejection” refers to guiding the cap 410 to a position facing the ink ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 and driving the ejection energy generating element of the ink ejection port 2B in order to prevent the ink in the ejection port from drying. By doing so, the ink is ejected from all ejection ports 2B. The waste ink absorber 42 described above
Reference numeral 6 serves to reliably transfer the waste ink in the cylinder 422A, which is also formed of a polymer absorber.

FIG. 8 shows a timing chart of each member in the recovery device 40 by the rotational driving force of the carriage motor 9. In this figure, the time point when the control gear 440 starts to rotate by the clutch gear (not shown) after the carriage 1 is guided to the area of the recovery device 40 is set to 0 pulse of the carriage motor 9. In this embodiment, the carriage motor 9 is rotated forward and backward in 240 steps (5 rotations) to perform all the recovery operations, and the rotation of the carriage motor 9 is described above. Thus, it is transmitted to the control gear 440 and the stroke gear 422 via the clutch gear. Further, since the reciprocating motion of the plunger 421 is controlled by the rotation of the stroke gear 422, the plunger 421 starts moving simultaneously with the rotation of the carriage motor 9, and the reciprocating motion and the rotation of the carriage motor 9 are paired as shown in (D). It is one of the correspondence. On the other hand, the movement of the blade 431 is the forward rotation of the carriage motor 9 as shown in (E).
A part of the route is changed by the reverse rotation. In addition, when the recovery operation is started by the reverse rotation from the 0 pulse of the carriage motor 9 for the cap 410, the switching sheet 442 enables the preliminary ejection suction,
As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in (F), the plunger 421 operates with the cap 410 left open.

Next, the structure of an information processing apparatus incorporating the above-described ink jet recording apparatus and its electric circuit will be described.

FIG. 9 shows an example of an information processing apparatus 50 incorporating the recording apparatus according to this embodiment. The information processing apparatus 50 of this example is a so-called personal computer, and is a handy type that integrally includes the inkjet recording apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 500 denotes a printer unit including the above-mentioned inkjet recording device, and 5
Reference numeral 10 is a key 511 for inputting characters, numbers and other characters, and a key 512 for giving various commands.
A keyboard unit 520 including, for example, is a display unit for displaying processing information and includes a display screen 521.

The window 501 provided in the printer section 500 is made of, for example, transparent plastic, and the operation of the head cartridge 4 and the like can be visually confirmed through the window 501. The window 501 is constructed so that it can be opened and closed when the ink tank 3 is replaced. Also, keys 502,
Reference numeral 503 and the like are for independently instructing operations in the printer such as recovery processing in the printer unit 500 and conveyance of recording sheets. Numeral 513 is a paper feed opening opened on the front surface of the keyboard portion 510, and 514 is a floppy disk attachment / detachment opening opened on its side surface. The display unit 520 displays
The keyboard unit 510 is rotatably connected in the direction of arrow b so that it can be folded together.
Further, the keyboard portion 510 is used when the recording sheet 14 is set in the printer portion 500, as indicated by an arrow a in the figure.
Can be rotated in any direction.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electric circuit of the information processing apparatus 50 described above. In the figure, 60
Reference numeral 1 is a controller that performs main control, and 602 is a CP that executes a certain procedure, for example, in the form of a microcomputer.
U, 603 is a RAM having an area for expanding text data and image data, a work area, etc., 604 is a ROM for storing fixed data such as a program corresponding to the above procedure and other font data, and 605 is a CPU 6
A timer 602 creates an execution cycle of 02 or a timing necessary for a printing operation by the printer unit 500, and an interface unit 606 connects a signal from the CPU 602 and a peripheral device. Further, 607 is a controller of the printer unit 500, and 608 is an output value of a sensor that detects the presence or absence of the recording head 2, a type, a temperature of the recording head 2, a sensor output that detects the presence or absence of ink in the ink tank 3, and the like. A head detection unit for detecting information of the recording head 2, a line buffer 609 for storing recording data of the recording head 2, a head driver 610 for transmitting a recording signal and electric power to the recording head 2, 611A to 611C
Are carriage motor 9 and sheet feed motor 1, respectively
7. A motor driver that sends out signals and electric power necessary for driving the automatic feeding motor 300, and 612 detects outputs of sensors such as the home position sensor 22, the paper sensor 21, the temperature sensor 25, and the humidity sensor 26. It is a sensor detection unit that does. Further, 70 is, for example, FDD, HD
An external storage device such as a D or a RAM card, and 80 is an external interface for communicating with other information processing devices or directly connecting to an internal bus to control peripheral devices. Although not included in the block diagram of FIG. 1, there is another power supply unit for supplying electric power to the above electric circuit, which includes, for example, a rechargeable battery, a disposable dry battery, or an information processing unit. There is a converter for AC power supply when the apparatus main body is fixedly used, and in this embodiment, even if the recording apparatus is powered off, the RAM 60 stores history data of atmospheric temperature and atmospheric humidity in the recording apparatus.
3, a sub-battery such as a dry battery (not shown) is provided to store the data in the memory 3.

Printing is performed by the printer unit with the above-described circuit configuration. Below, an outline of the control sequence of the printing operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the recovery process S2 performed when the power is turned on, that is, when the power is turned on. First, in step S11, home position initialization, that is, the initial position of the carriage 1 is determined. Specifically, after the carriage motor 9 is driven to set the position where the output of the home position sensor 25 is switched to the initial position of the carriage 1, the carriage motor 9 is driven to cover the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2 with the cap 410. The capping state. Next, in step S12, sheet feeding and automatic feeding are initialized. Specifically, in order to eliminate play in the sheet feeding drive mechanism, the sheet feeding motor 17
Is driven in the reverse direction and the forward direction by a predetermined amount. Next, in step S13, the detection history data of the atmospheric temperature and the atmospheric humidity in the recording device from the time when the recording head 2 is finally sucked by the timer 605 of the controller 601, the temperature sensor 25, and the humidity sensor 26 ( As described later), the temperature / humidity count number: N is stored in the RAM 603.
Read, and if N ≧ 2000, the process proceeds to step S14. Then, here, the large suction (3
Suction is performed twice, and the process proceeds to step S15. If N ≧ 2000 in step S13, the flow advances to step S17 to perform a small suction (single suction) of the print head recovery process,
It proceeds to step S15. In this embodiment, the large suction and the small suction of the recording head recovery process are performed by changing the number of times of suction with a constant suction amount and a constant suction pressure. May be changed. In steps S14 and S17, the cap 4 of the recording head 2 is used as recovery processing for the recording head 2.
10 is performed, the blade 431 is used to clean the ejection port surface 2A of the recording head 2, and the pump unit 420 is used to perform large suction / small suction of ink from the recording head 2.
By such a recovery process, even if the recording head 2 is left unused for a long time, it is possible to prevent ink ejection failure or the like.

In the present embodiment, an example in which control is performed based on detection of both temperature and humidity has been described, but it is also possible to simply perform detection count of only one of temperature and humidity. is there. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the ejection recovery processing operation when left for a long time is executed when the power of the printer unit is turned on, but this may be executed immediately before the start of printing.

If the above-described recovery processing operation is performed, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not the paper sensor 21 detects the presence of a sheet. If the sheet is present, the process proceeds to step S16. S2 ends. In step S16, the detected sheet is discharged. That is, in step S15, the paper sensor 2
After 1 detects that there is no sheet, the sheet feed motor 17 is driven in the forward direction up to a predetermined amount, thus ending the power-on process S2.

Here, during recording, ink is guided from the ink tank 3 to the ink ejection port 2B through the liquid chamber (not shown) in the recording head 2, but if the recording apparatus is left for a long time, the liquid chamber Bubbles are generated in the ink, and the ink supply is interrupted by the bubbles to cause non-ejection of ink. It is known that the bubbles are more likely to be generated at higher temperatures. In addition, when left for a long period of time, the ink evaporates in the ink ejection port 2B of the recording head 2 and sticks to cause ejection failure. Such ink evaporation has a greater tendency as the temperature and humidity are higher.

The temperature / humidity count number N in the discharge recovery process according to the present invention derived from the above viewpoint will be described below.

In the recording apparatus, the temperature / humidity count number N is calculated by the timer 605 and the temperature sensor 25 and the humidity sensor 26 from the time of the previous suction recovery operation regardless of whether the power supply is on or off. Has been done. That is, the temperature / humidity count number: N is obtained as the sum of the coefficients determined by the atmospheric temperature and humidity shown in FIG. 11 multiplied by the time interval. For example, the total time for each ambient temperature and ambient humidity between the time of the previous suction recovery operation and this time the power is turned on: Temperature: less than 20 ° C / Humidity: 80% or more 37 hours in total Temperature: 20 ° C or more but less than 30 ° C / Humidity: 20% or more and less than 80% for a total of 53 hours Temperature: 30 ° C or more / Humidity: 20% or more but less than 80% for a total of 46 hours, the temperature / humidity count number: N shows the coefficient shown in Fig. 11. Because it is the sum multiplied by each time,

[0072]

## EQU1 ## N = (37 × 11) + (53 × 18) + (46 × 25) = 2511, and N = 2511 is stored in the RAM 603.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the recovery process S4 when the power is cut off, that is, when the power is turned off.

First, in step S21, the recording head 2
Is in the capping state. If it is not in the capping state, the process proceeds to step S22, and if it is in the capping state, the process proceeds to step S23. Then, in step S22, the carriage motor 9 is driven to bring the recording head 2 into the capping state. Next, in step S23, the power of the recording apparatus is turned off to stop the function. According to this process S4, even if the recording head 2 is not in the capping state, that is, even if the power switch is turned off during the execution of recording, etc., the recording head 2 is surely turned off after the capping state. It is possible to prevent the ejection failure from occurring due to the ejection port surface 2A of the head 2 being exposed to the atmosphere and the viscosity increasing due to the evaporation of ink.

FIG. 13 shows a process S when the apparatus is temporarily stopped.
6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of No. 5.

First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not there is a process currently being executed.
If not, go to step S33. And
In step S32, the process currently being executed is executed by a predetermined amount. Specifically, if recording is being executed, the operation is executed until the recording of the line being executed is completed, and if the sheet feeding or automatic feeding operation is being executed, the operation is executed until the operation is completed.
It should be noted that if the sheet is being discharged, it also includes immediately stopping the discharging operation. Next, in step S33, the current state is stored. That is, if there is any interrupted processing, the interrupted status, the status of the display unit 351 or the operation panel (not shown), the online status, the offline status, or the power saving mode for battery power supply, if any, is stored in the memory. . Then, in step S34, the recording head 2 is put into the capping state. If it is already in the capping state, it may be left as it is.

Then, the process proceeds to step S35, power of unnecessary parts is turned off in the temporary stop state, and the temporary stop process S5 is ended. According to this process S5, the recording head 2 can be reliably capped even if the temporary stop signal is detected during recording, and it is possible to prevent ejection failure due to the recording head 2 being capped and left standing. it can.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure of the process S6 during the recording operation.

First, in step S61, it is determined whether or not a command for printing, for example, a sheet feed command or data to be printed has been received. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S62, and if the determination is negative, the process S6 ends. In step S62, it is determined whether or not it is in the online state, and if it is in the online state, the process proceeds to step S63.
6 is completed. In step S63, a process for starting recording is performed. Specifically, the heater in the recording head 2 adjusts the temperature of the recording head 2 or the ejection adjustment by ejection outside the recording area of the recording head 2. Or the home position sensor 22 measures the amount of deviation of the carriage motor 9 during forward and reverse scanning, and corrects the deviation during bidirectional recording.

Next, in step S64, it is confirmed whether or not the paper is fed. For example, in the automatic feeding state and the sheet 14 is not inserted at the recording position, the automatic feeding motor 3
00 is driven to perform feeding. Then, the process proceeds to step S65, and recording is performed for each line. Specifically, the carriage motor 9 is driven to perform recording by ejecting ink from the recording head 2, and when recording for one line is completed, the sheet is fed by a predetermined amount and the process proceeds to step S66. Step S6
In step 6, it is judged whether or not there is an error, and if there is an error, the process proceeds to another error processing S7. If there is no error, the process proceeds to step S67. The target of the error check is, for example, the detection of the trailing edge of the sheet, the detection of jam, the detection of the presence or absence of ink, the scanning error of various motors, and the like. Therefore, it is processed. In step S67, it is determined whether or not a command indicating the end of recording, for example, a sheet discharge command is received. If it is determined that the recording is completed, the process proceeds to step S68. If the recording is not completed, the process returns to step S65 and is recorded. To continue. Thus, in step S68, recording end processing is performed. Specifically, sheet ejection,
The recording head 2 is capped, and the recording process S6 is completed.

[0081]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cap means capable of covering and opening the surface of the ink ejection port, and the ejection recovery for performing a predetermined ejection recovery processing operation on the recording head. Means, detecting means for detecting an atmospheric temperature and / or atmospheric humidity in the recording apparatus, timing means for measuring a time related to the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detecting means, and a previous ejection recovery process Storage means for storing a time history related to the temperature and / or humidity from the operation and a plurality of types of discharge recovery processing operations set corresponding to the time history, and a plurality of types of discharge recovery based on the time history Corresponding one of the processing operations
And a control means for controlling the ejection recovery means to perform the one ejection recovery processing operation. Therefore, at the time of power-on of the recording apparatus or at the start of recording, at the time of the previous suction recovery operation. Ambient temperature of the recording device from
Alternatively, by performing the ejection recovery operation based on the historical data of the atmospheric humidity, even if the recording apparatus is left for a long time and then reused, the optimum head ejection recovery processing operation is automatically performed. It is possible to avoid the non-ejection of ink droplets or the ejection failure due to the clogging of the ejection port due to the accumulation of bubbles in the liquid chamber in the recording head or the thickening or sticking of ink, and always to perform good image recording. In addition to being possible, it is possible to prevent unnecessary consumption of ink, reduce running costs, and perform stable recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an ink tank and an integrated cartridge type recording head.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a recovery mechanism according to the present invention.

5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the recovery mechanism shown in FIG. 4 in the order of (A) to (F).

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing details of the configuration of the pump unit shown in FIG.

7 is an explanatory view of the cap opening / closing cam shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of a recovery mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an information processing apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of power-on processing.

FIG. 11 is a coefficient table for calculating a temperature / humidity count number: N.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of power-off processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a pause process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of recording processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 recording head 2A ink ejection port surface 2B ink ejection port 3 ink tank 9 carriage motor 14 recording sheet 17 sheet feed motor 21 paper sensor 22 home position sensor 25 temperature sensor 26 humidity sensor 40 ejection recovery device 50 emotion processing device 101 cap 104 blade 115 Plunger 116 Piston 150 Pump Unit 230 Shield 300 Motor for Automatic Feeding 410 Cap 420 Pump Unit 430 Wiping Mechanism 431 Blade 435 Blade Link 436 Blade Cleaner 440 Control Gear 500 Printer Section 601 Controller 602 CPU 603 RAM 604 ROM 605 Printer 60 7 Timer 607 Controller 612 Sensor detector

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head for ejecting ink from an ink ejection port to perform recording, comprising: a cap means capable of covering and opening a surface of the ink ejection port, and the recording head. On the other hand, the discharge recovery means for performing a predetermined discharge recovery processing operation, the detection means for detecting the atmospheric temperature and / or the atmospheric humidity in the recording apparatus, and the time related to the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detection means are set. A clocking means for timing, a storage means for storing a time history relating to the temperature and / or humidity from the previous discharge recovery processing operation, and a plurality of types of discharge recovery processing operations set corresponding to the time history, A corresponding one is selected from the plurality of types of ejection recovery processing operations based on the time history, and the selected one is selected by the ejection recovery means.
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls to perform one ejection recovery processing operation. 2. The control means controls the ejection recovery means to perform the one ejection recovery processing operation when the recording apparatus is powered on and / or when recording is started. The inkjet recording device according to item 1. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection recovery unit has a function of sucking ink from the ink ejection port to recover ejection of the ink. 4. The recording head is a recording head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy, and is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy applied to the ink. Item 4. The inkjet recording device according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5. The recording head ejects ink from the ink ejection port by utilizing a pressure change caused by growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling generated by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal converter. The inkjet recording device according to claim 4, wherein 6. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is applicable to a copying machine including at least a control unit. 7. The inkjet recording apparatus is applicable to a facsimile apparatus including at least a control unit and a facsimile transmission / reception unit.
6. The inkjet recording device according to any one of items 1 to 5. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is applicable to a word processor having at least an input unit, a control unit and a display unit. . 9. The ink jet recording apparatus is applicable to computer equipment.
6. The inkjet recording device according to any one of items 1 to 5.