JPH08174865A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To suitably conduct the recording operation even if the recording is restarted after the power supply is stopped by storing the recording history information and the time information of a timer in nonvolatile memory means, and providing control means for estimating the state of a recording head based on the calculation of the storage information. CONSTITUTION: The cap position and the moving position of a carriage 102 can be known based on the detections of a recovery system home sensor 235 and a carriage home sensor 236, and a CPU executes the control sequence of a preset program, etc., and stores it in a ROM. An EPROM detects the change of the on/off state of the power supply of a memory and the off time from its time, and rewritably stores the history and the time of the energy applied to the head. The temperature varying based on the energy applied to the heat per unit time is obtained with the temperature change as each lapse of a unit time as a discrete value, they are superposed and the temperature of the head is estimated from the temperature change.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, in a recording apparatus having a recording head, estimates various states of the recording head based on recording history information and time information, and controls recording based on the estimation result. Recording device

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium such as paper or OHP sheet has been put to practical use in a form in which recording heads of various recording systems are mounted. The recording head may be of a wire dot type, a thermal type, a thermal transfer type, an inkjet type, or the like. Among them, the ink jet method has attracted attention as a quiet recording method because the ink is ejected directly onto the recording medium and thus the running cost is low.

In some ink jet recording apparatuses, heat energy is applied to the ink in the nozzles of the recording head to cause foaming, and the ink is ejected from the recording head by the foaming force for recording. In this case, the stabilization of the ink ejection state and the stabilization of the ink ejection amount are greatly affected by the temperature of the recording head. Even in a recording apparatus that has a recording head such as a wire dot method, a heat-sensitive method, and a thermal transfer method, and recording is performed by inputting energy to the recording head, the stabilization of the recording result also has a great influence on the temperature of the recording head. To be done.

Therefore, as an example, in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, as described in JP-A-5-208505, every unit elapsed time of the recording head based on energy input per unit time of the recording head. There is proposed an oven loop control method or the like in which the temperature fluctuation of the print head is calculated as a discrete value, the temperature fluctuation of the print head is calculated by stacking the discrete values, and the print head is controlled based on the temperature fluctuation.

Further, in the recording head of the ink jet recording apparatus, management of ink refilling characteristics (hereinafter referred to as refilling characteristics) as well as temperature is important for stabilizing the printing result. The refill characteristics change with changes in the viscosity of ink, the remaining amount of ink, and the amount of ink consumed per unit time in addition to temperature. Various structures have been proposed for reducing the resistance of the ink flow path of the recording head, holding the ink, and the like so that the print result can be stabilized even if these factors change.

[0006]

In the above temperature control method, power is supplied to the temperature estimating means such as the CPU for estimating the temperature and the RAM for holding the data for estimating the temperature by the power SW of the recording apparatus. If the power was cut off due to being turned off or the power outlet was unexpectedly removed, the data for temperature estimation and the temperature estimation result may be erased. For this reason, the temperature estimation result for the temperature control may be greatly different from the actual temperature of the recording head.

When the recording head is controlled based on the temperature detection results which are greatly different from each other, the temperature of the recording head may deviate from a desired control range, resulting in an unstable recording state.

As a countermeasure against this, there is an example in which deviation from the control range is prevented by performing insufficient temperature control as compared with the originally desired temperature control. In such a case, there is also a problem that a sufficient temperature control effect cannot be obtained. or,
In some cases, even if the power SW of the recording apparatus is turned off, power is supplied to the temperature estimating means. However, in this case, since power is always supplied, power consumption is reduced and safety is limited. There was also the problem that there was. Further, in this case, since power is always supplied, the data held may be lost or changed if noise or the like occurs.

Regarding the refill characteristics of the recording head, it is possible to use the recording head with a fixed driving frequency in correspondence with the refill characteristics in a range where the recording result can be substantially stabilized even if the above-mentioned various factors change. It is common. In this case, even if the refill characteristics are improved due to changes in various factors, there is a drawback that the recording speed cannot be improved because the drive frequency of the recording head is constant. Therefore, it has been proposed to detect the state of various factors and control the recording operation based on the detection result, but in this case as well, it is necessary to store the data for detection, so There was a similar problem as in the case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of performing an appropriate recording operation even when recording is restarted after power supply is stopped.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording using a recording head, a timer means for generating time information, and a simultaneous generation of a predetermined condition. Non-volatile storage means capable of storing recording history information including time information generated by the timer means, and recording history information of the non-volatile storage means before starting a recording operation following storage in the non-volatile storage means. It is characterized in that it has an arithmetic means for performing a predetermined arithmetic operation based on time information generated by the timer, and a recording control means for controlling recording based on the arithmetic operation by this arithmetic means.

According to the configuration of the present invention, the recording history information and the time information are stored in the non-volatile storage means, and the state of the print head is estimated based on the information in the storage means. Even if the power supply is stopped, the state of the recording head can be estimated and the recording can be controlled accurately. Furthermore, since the power supply can be cut off after the storage in the non-volatile storage means, the power consumption can be saved and the safety can be improved.

[0013]

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

(Embodiment 1) First, in an ink jet recording apparatus, information for estimating the state of the recording head and time information when the power switch is turned off when the power supply switch of the recording apparatus is turned off and the power supply is cut off. A case will be described in which the temperature is estimated as the state of the print head based on the contents held when the power switch of the printing apparatus is turned on and the ink ejection amount of the print head is controlled.

FIG. 1 shows a recording head 1 and an ink tank 2.
FIG. 3 is two perspective views of a head cartridge in which and are integrated. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the head cartridge 3. Reference numeral 110 denotes a heater board, which has a plurality of discharge heaters arranged in a line on the Si substrate and a sub-heater for temperature control, and has electric wiring and the like for supplying electric power to the sub-heater. A grooved top plate 140 is integrally formed with a plurality of nozzles, an orifice plate 141 having ejection ports corresponding to the nozzles, a common liquid chamber for storing ink to be supplied to the nozzles, and the like. Reference numeral 120 denotes a wiring board. One of the wirings is connected to the heater board 110 by wire bonding or the like, and the other end has a pad 121 for receiving an electric signal from the recording apparatus main body. Thirteen
Reference numeral 0 is a metal base plate,
0 or the heater board 110 is attached with an adhesive or the like. Further, by sandwiching the heater board 110 and the grooved top plate 140 with the presser spring 150 and engaging the foot portion of the presser spring with the hole 131 of the base plate 130, the heater board 110 and the grooved top plate 140 are connected to each other. 1
It is crimped and fixed to 30. Reference numeral 160 denotes an ink supply member, which is an ink supply pipe 161 and an ink conduit 1 connected to the ink supply pipe 161.
It has 62. The ink supply pipe 161 is connected to the ink supply hole 101 of the ink tank 100, and
62 is connected to the ink receiving port 142 of the grooved top plate 140. As a result, an ink flow path is formed from the ink tank 100 to the ejection port of the orifice plate 141.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the construction of the printer section of the ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment. Where 20
Reference numeral 1 is a head cartridge having an ink jet recording head. Reference numeral 202 denotes a carriage for mounting this and scanning in the S direction in the figure. Reference numeral 203 is a hook for attaching the head cartridge 201 to the carriage 202, and reference numeral 204 is a lever for operating the hook 203. Reference numeral 205 denotes a support plate that supports an electrical connection portion for the head cartridge 201. Reference numeral 206 denotes an FPC (flexible printed circuit) for connecting the electrical connection unit and the main body control unit. Reference numeral 207 denotes a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 202 in the S direction, which is inserted into a bearing 208 of the carriage 202. 209 is the carriage 2
No. 02 is a timing belt for transmitting power for moving it in the S direction, and is stretched around pulleys 210A and 210B arranged on both sides of the attachment. Driving force is transmitted to the pool 210B from the carriage motor 211 via a transmission mechanism such as a gear.
Reference numeral 212 denotes a conveyance roller that regulates the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper and conveys the recording medium during recording or the like, and is driven by a conveyance motor 213. 214
Is a paper pan for guiding the recording medium to the recording position, 21
A pinch roller 5 is provided in the middle of the feeding path of the recording medium to press the recording medium toward the conveying roller 212 and convey the same. Reference numeral 216 is a platen that faces the ejection port of the head cartridge 201 and regulates the recording surface of the recording medium. Reference numeral 217 denotes a paper discharge roller which is arranged on the downstream side of the recording position in the recording medium conveyance direction and discharges the recording medium toward a conveyance port (not shown). Reference numeral 218 denotes a spur provided corresponding to the paper discharge roller 217, which presses the paper discharge roller 217 via the recording medium and causes the paper discharge roller 217 to convey the recording medium. Reference numeral 219 is a release lever for releasing the bias of the pinch roller 215 and the spur 218 when setting the recording medium.

The platen 216 has a paper ejection roller 2 at both ends.
It is rotatably supported by 17 shafts, is urged from the stop position of the left and right plates 220 toward the front surface portion 221 of the paper pan 214, and is provided at a plurality of positions in a portion 212A where the transport roller 212 is smaller than the outermost periphery. 212A
Touches the inside of the entire surface portion 221 of the paper pan.

Reference numeral 222 denotes a cap formed of an elastic material such as rubber which faces the ink ejection port forming surface of the recording head at the home position, and is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the recording head. The cap 222 is used for protection of the recording head during non-recording, and for ejection recovery processing of the recording head. The cap 222, the suction pump 223, and the blade 225, which will be described later, are configured as one recovery system unit.

The ejection recovery process is performed by causing the cap 222 to face the ejection port forming surface and driving an energy generating element provided inside the ink ejection and used for ejecting the ink to eject the ink from all the ejection ports. A process (preliminary ejection) of ejecting and removing ejection failure factors such as air bubbles and dust, or ink that has increased in viscosity and becomes unsuitable for recording, or a state in which the ejection port forming surface is covered with a cap 222 separately. In this process, the cause of ejection failure is removed by forcibly sucking and discharging the ink from the ejection port.

The ejection recovery process is performed by an operator of the recording apparatus by an input unit such as the input unit 1005 or 106 described later, or is automatically executed at predetermined time intervals to maintain a good ink ejection state. ing. The automatic recovery process is
The main purpose is to prevent an unrecordable state that may occur over time. The unrecordable state is such that when outside air enters the ink flow path in the recording head and bubbles are generated, or when residual bubbles are generated and grow in the recording head that causes foaming in the ink for ejecting ink. Occurs when the ink supply is interrupted. In this embodiment, the automatic ejection recovery process is performed immediately before the start of printing 72 hours after the previous automatic ejection recovery process was performed.

The cap 223 acts as a suction force for forcibly discharging the ink, and at the time of the discharge recovery process by the forced discharge or the discharge recovery process by the preliminary discharge.
22 is a pump used for sucking the ink received in 22. Reference numeral 224 is an exhaust ink tank which is an ink storage member (exhaust ink tank) for storing the ink sucked by the pump 223. The waste ink tank 224 is connected to the pump 223 by a tube 228.

Reference numeral 225 denotes a blade for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the recording head. The blade 225 has a position which projects toward the recording head side and performs wiping in the course of carriage movement, and a retracting position which does not engage with the ejection port forming surface. It is movably supported by. 226 is a motor, 227 is a motor 2
26 is a cam device for driving the pump 223 and moving the cap 222 and the blade 225, respectively, by receiving the power transmission from 26.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system of the recording apparatus having the configuration described so far.

The cap position and the moving position of the carriage 202 can be known based on the detection by the recovery system home sensor 235 and the carriage home sensor 236. In the figure, 1000 is a CPU that executes a control procedure such as a preset program to control each unit, 1001 is a ROM that stores a program or the like corresponding to the control means, and 1002 is a work for executing the control procedure. A RAM used as an area.
Reference numeral 1003 denotes an off time detecting means for detecting the time when the power supply to the recording apparatus is stopped. For example, it detects the change of the on / off state of the power switch of the recording apparatus and the time when the state of the switch changes. To detect the off time. Reference numeral 1005 denotes a temperature estimating means for estimating the temperature of the recording head, and 1004 rewritably stores history information of energy applied to the recording head for estimating the temperature of the recording head and time information at which the information is stored. The storage means is composed of, for example, an EEPROM so that information can be retained even when power supply to the recording device is stopped. 1006 is a keyboard. Temperature sensor 2
Reference numeral 37 is a temperature measuring means for estimating the temperature of the recording head, for example, estimating the ambient temperature in the recording apparatus.

Next, as an example of the temperature estimation of the recording head,
The temperature of the recording head that changes based on the energy applied to the recording head per unit time, and the temperature change of the recording head per unit time based on the energy applied to the recording head per unit time An example of applying the present invention to a method of estimating the temperature of the recording head by calculating the temperature change of the recording head by accumulating the discrete values and stacking the discrete values will be described.

First, a method of estimating the temperature change of the recording head by stacking the discrete values will be described. The temperature estimation method described here basically complies with the following heat transfer equation.

During heating Δtemp = a {1-exp (-m · T)} (1) Cooling during heating Δtemp = a [exp {-m (T-T1)}-exp
(−m · T)] (2) where temp: temperature rise of the object m: thermal time constant of the object a: equilibrium parallel temperature of the object by the heat source T: elapsed time T1: time when the heat source is removed here When the above equation (1) is expanded with T = nt,

[0028]

[Outside 1] Becomes That is, the expression (1) matches (3) + (4).

Here, the equation (3) = a {1-exp (-m
t)} = a {1-exp (-m (n- (n-1)))
t)}, the temperature of the object at time nt when heated from time nt to time (n-1) t is shown.

When k = 2 in (4), equation (4) = a [exp {-m (2 · t-t)}-exp
{−m · 2 · t}] = a [exp {−m (n− (n−
2)) t-((n-1)-(n-2)) t} -exp
It can be transformed into {-m (n- (n-2)) t}]. Therefore, the equation (4) heats from time (n-2) t to (n-1) t, and from time (n-1) t to nt
It is equal to the temperature of the object at time nt when heating is turned off.

Similarly, when k = 3 in (4),
It is equal to the temperature of the target object at time nt when heating is performed from time (n-3) t to (n-2) t and heating is turned off from time (n-1) to nt.

Further, when k = n in (4), time 0
Heating from time t to t, turning off heating from time t to nt
In the case of, the temperature is equal to the temperature of the object at time nt.

As described above, the fact that the equation (1) is equal to the sum of the equations (3) and (4) means that the current temperature of the object is obtained by dividing a predetermined period from the present to the past by unit time. The number of times the temperature of the object heated by the energy input in each unit time is lowered is calculated for each of the divided unit times and summed up.

Next, the case of estimating the temperature of the recording head by the above-described temperature estimation method will be briefly described.

In the present embodiment, the temperature estimation of the recording head is the discharge heater and the sub heater as the heat sources, the heater board and the base plate as the objects, and the current temperature of each object by each of the heat sources. It asks, and it asks by summing these up.

5 and 7 show the drive duty of the discharge heater,
FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 are calculation tables for estimating the amount of temperature rise due to energy input to the heater board and the base plate, respectively, from the drive duty of the sub heater. In this example, the calculation unit times of the heater board and the base plate are set as t _HB and t _BP , respectively.
In the horizontal direction of the table shown in FIG. 8, the print duty per unit time, that is, the applied energy duty, is taken, and the maximum print duty per unit operation time that can be achieved by the recording apparatus is 100%.

The vertical direction of the table shows the temporal change of the temperature rise amount due to the energy applied within the operation unit time. Is set every time the arithmetic unit time elapses. The n line indicates the amount of temperature increase after a predetermined energy is applied for a calculation unit time from a certain time 0 and thereafter (n-1) times the unit calculation time has elapsed. Further, the storage No. Line 1 is at time 0
Shows the amount of temperature rise immediately after the application of the duty energy within the calculation unit time. Storage No. 2 and later. No. of storage No. after the energy is applied within the operation unit time to the line of No. After the lapse of time corresponding to, the temperature rise amount from time 0 is shown as a discrete value.

Next, a method of obtaining such temperature estimation by calculation will be described in the case of applying energy to the discharge heater. The estimation calculation is always performed from power-on to power-off, and the calculation unit time t _HB or t _BP corresponds to the recording duty per unit time. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8 respectively, and among the four storage boxes for calculation shown in FIG. 9, the storage board No. of the storage board for calculation of the heater board by the discharge heater and the base plate. Store in cell No. 1. On the other hand, store BO until then
The column number stored in X. For the storage No. of the next lower storage order. Shift cells to. Here, the storage No. of the storage box for calculation is set. Is the storage number of the operation table. The same is set for each unit calculation time. The calculation BO
Column No. to X. Is stored every time an operation is performed, and a predetermined number of pieces are stored and held.
For the base plate, data that has been stored for 512 times the operation unit time after being stored in the storage box for operation is to be ejected, and for the heater board, data that has been passed 16 times the operation unit time has been ejected. FIG. 9 shows, as an example, a BOX used when the heat source is the discharge heater among the storage BOX for the base plate. The calculation for obtaining the temperature rise between the heater board and the base plate due to the application of energy to the sub-heater for temperature control is also performed by the same process.

When recording is performed, the stored column number.
And storage No. From FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, after converting into the temperature rise amount, the converted value 5 × 4 is added to calculate the head temperature rise amount due to the energy application to the recording head. ing.

When the maximum recording frequency in the scanning direction of the head is 11 KHz and the maximum number of recording dots in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction is 17 dots, the applied energy duty, that is, the recording energy duty is calculated as 34.
This is performed by dividing the number of dots detected by the recording dot number detection means (not shown) within the arithmetic unit time with 000 dots as the denominator.

FIG. 10 is a conversion table for estimating the head temperature in the non-recording state from the temperature inside the recording apparatus detected by the temperature inside recording apparatus 237, ignoring the temperature rise due to recording. This table shows the difference in time-temperature characteristics caused by the difference between the thermal time constant of the temperature measuring means and the thermal time constant of the head, and the difference in temperature between the arrangement position of the temperature measuring means and the head mounting position. 9 is a head temperature correction table showing a value to be subtracted from the measured temperature in order to accurately estimate the head temperature by correcting an estimation error caused by a certain value. To estimate the head temperature including the temperature rise due to recording, subtract the head temperature correction value from the measured internal temperature of the recording apparatus and add the head temperature increase calculated using FIGS. 5 to 10. Can be estimated by

FIG. 11 shows the temperature difference between the estimated head temperature and the target temperature obtained from FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 10.
6 is a target temperature setting table for obtaining a printhead temperature to be set in order to optimize the ejection amount.

FIG. 12 is a diagram and table for determining the driving heat pulse of the discharge heater. Here, preheat is an interval, and the ejection amount can also be controlled by modulating the length of the interval. Or the main heat. The pulse width set values of the respective values other than the common cycle C are determined by this table, and are obtained from the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means and the target temperature. Alternatively, it is a correction value to be multiplied by the recording duty in order to convert the recording duty into energy, and is a value proportional to the energy amount, where the maximum drive energy amount is 1. Therefore, when the drive voltage is constant, it is proportional to the value obtained by adding the lengths of and.

FIG. 13 is a table showing the drive pulse widths of the sub-heaters performed at the beginning of each printing line, similar to the main heat.
It is obtained from the difference between the temperature measured by the temperature measuring means and the target temperature.

Next, FIG. 14 shows a flow of calculation for estimating the temperature of the recording head described above.

At the same time when the recording device receives the recording command, the timers t _H and t _B are reset and the counting is started (S1). Next, recording is started (S3), and the storage box for calculation of FIG. 9 is calculated for each calculation unit time t _HB of the heater board.
The heater board temperature increase amounts ΔT _MH and ΔT _SH are calculated from the past print history data stored in (5) and FIG. 7 (S5 to 13), and t _H is reset (S15). Similarly, the temperature rise amount ΔT _MB of the base plate at each time t _BP ,
ΔT _SB is also calculated (S17 to 25), and t _B is reset (S27).

The calculated value is the time t _HB or the time t
All the values are added for each _BP, and the head temperature increase amount ΔT is set according to the addition result (S29). Further, the head temperature is calculated by adding the measured temperature T _K in the recording apparatus to the head temperature increase amount ΔT and reducing the thermistor correction amount ΔT _H ′ shown in FIG. 10 (S31). In order to obtain the target temperature from the subsequently calculated estimated temperature of the recording head, FIG.
12 is referred to (S33), and from the temperature difference between the obtained target temperature and the calculated estimated head temperature, FIG.
The heater drive pulse is selected from the ejection heat pulse setting table shown in FIG. 14 and the sub-heater drive pulse selection table shown in FIG. 14 and recording is executed (S35 to 39). The above operation is repeated until printing is completed (S41 to 43).

Next, a case where the present invention is applied to the above-described recording head temperature estimation method will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In order to detect the off time during which the power supply to the recording apparatus is stopped, the present embodiment is configured to monitor the state of the power switch of the recording apparatus.

When the power switch of the recording apparatus is turned off and the power supply is stopped (S49), the CPU 1000 gives an instruction to start detection of the power supply off time (S50). o
In the ff time detection means 1003, the power switch is off
detected time t1 by an internal clock (not shown),
The data is stored in the recording means 1004 (S51).

Next, based on the support for starting the detection of the off time of the power supply, the history information of the energy applied to the recording head used for estimating the temperature of the recording head is saved and stored in the storage means 1004 (S52). . In the case of this example, the data stored in the storage unit 1004 is the content immediately before the storage operation stored in the storage box for calculation shown in FIG. 8 for calculating the temperature of the print head. Further, in the case of this embodiment, the power switch is arranged on the secondary side of the power supply unit and
The state of the switch is monitored by U1000. C
The PU 1000 is configured to have a power-off sequence for stopping the power supply to the recording device when the power switch is turned off and the storage of the various information is completed.

Next, when the power switch of the recording apparatus is turned on (S53), the power supply off time detection is instructed again, and the time t2 instructed by the off time detection means 1003 and the storage means 1004 are held. The off time Toff is detected from the time t1 (S54, 5).
5). At this time, the contents in the BOX immediately before the storage operation stored in the temperature estimation information storage means are restored to the storage BOX for calculation of FIG. 9 (S56).

Next, when the supply of electric energy to the recording apparatus is stopped, the energy du applied to the recording head is du.
Since ty is “0”, the column No. of duty “0” is calculated from the calculation tables shown in FIGS. Are respectively stored in the calculation boxes. Here, the column No. of duty “0”. Storage and BO
The "shift" of the X content is performed according to the power supply off time detection result Toff, and the temperature estimation of the print head thereafter is performed by the estimation unit 1005 (S57).
The recording head is controlled based on the estimated temperature.

As described above, the present embodiment can be suitably applied to a recording apparatus which estimates the temperature of the recording head and controls the recording head based on the estimated temperature, and the power switch is turned off to control each control unit of the recording apparatus. Even if is stopped, the temperature of the recording head can be accurately estimated. Further, information for temperature estimation is stored in a non-volatile storage means, and when the power switch of the recording device is turned off, the CPU 1000 and the RAM 1 are stored.
Since it is not necessary to supply power to 002 and the like, power supply to the recording apparatus can be cut off, and power saving and safety can be ensured.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory using an EEPROM or a hard disk may be used as a data storage means.

In this example, an ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head has been described as an example. However, the temperature of the recording head having a heating element of a thermal transfer system or a heat sensitive system is estimated, and the recording head is estimated based on the estimated temperature. The present invention can be applied to any recording device that controls the temperature, without being limited to the temperature estimation method and the recording method. Further, the history information of the record stored in the storage means can be applied without being limited to the type.

(Embodiment 2) Next, another example of applying the present invention to the temperature estimation of the recording head described in Embodiment 1 will be described.

In the first embodiment, the data storage operation for estimating the temperature of the recording head is configured to be executed when the power switch of the recording apparatus is turned off.

In this example, the history information of the energy applied to the recording head and the time information for estimating the temperature of the recording head are stored and held each time a series of recording operations is completed. .

This state is shown in FIG. When the recording operation is completed, the CPU 1000 gives an instruction to start detection of the off time of power supply to the recording head (S60, 61). At this time, the off time detection means 1003 detects the end time t1 ′ of the recording operation by an internal clock (not shown) and stores it in the storage means 1.
It is stored in 004 and stored (S62). Further, history information of applied energy for estimating the temperature of the recording head is also stored in the storage unit 1.
It is stored in 004 (S63). The storage unit 1004 stores the temperature estimation data of the recording head in the same manner as in the previous embodiment, the data can be stored even when the power supply to the recording apparatus is stopped, and the data can be rewritten. It is configured.

Next, when the start of the recording operation is instructed, of
The f time detecting means 1003 detects the recording operation start time t2 ', and the power supply to the recording head is stopped from the time t2' and the time t1 'stored in the time information storage means.
The ff time Toff is detected (S66). Similar to the first embodiment, the operation thereafter is to restore the data for temperature estimation of the print head stored in the storage unit 1004 to the storage BOX for calculation shown in FIG. 9, and print based on the off time Toff. The calculation of the head temperature estimation is restarted (S67,
S68).

In this example, the data for estimating the temperature of the print head and the end time of the print operation can be stored after the end of the series of print operations even when the electric energy supply to the printing apparatus is stopped. Since the data is stored and retained in the storage means, the temperature of the recording head can be accurately estimated even if the power supply to the recording device is stopped after the recording operation is completed.

Further, in this embodiment, since the power switch of the recording apparatus, the power outlet, etc. are not monitored, the control unit can be downsized. Further, since power is not supplied to the storage means after storage in the storage means, it is possible to save power, improve safety, and ensure reliability of stored information due to noise or the like.

In this example, the history information of the applied energy for estimating the temperature of the print head is stored and held after each series of printing operations, but if the printing operation is not performed for a predetermined period, the energy of the energy is changed. Similar effects can be obtained even if the history information is saved and stored. In this case, for example, a time counting means is further provided to detect a time during which the print data is not transmitted to the print head, and if the detected time is larger than a preset predetermined time, the history information of energy is recorded. The history information may be stored and held in the storage means.

In the above-described embodiments, the case of controlling the ink ejection amount of the recording head has been described as an example of controlling the recording, but it is also possible to control the recording speed according to the estimated temperature. In this case, the contents of the drive pulse selection table shown in FIG. 12 can be easily realized by setting the drive pulse application period. In other words, the application cycle of the drive pulse according to the temperature of the print head instead of the temperature difference, for example, when the temperature is high, the refill characteristic of the print head is improved, so that a short application cycle for improving the printing speed is made to correspond. And correspond.

Example 3 In Examples 1 and 2,
In order to estimate the temperature of the recording head when the power switch of the recording device is turned off or when the power supply to the recording head is stopped, the storage of the heater board and the base plate of the recording head shown in FIG. 9 is performed. The contents of the BOX are held in the holding means 1004.

In this example, the number of pieces of information saved and stored in the storage means 1004 is simplified. That is, among the objects involved in the temperature estimation of the recording head, the temperature decrease time until the temperature increase amount after the application of the predetermined energy reaches “0” is the energy applied when the storage operation to the storage unit 1004 is performed. If it is shorter than the rest time of
The information for estimating the temperature of the object whose temperature drop time is short is not stored.

As the temperature estimation method, the method shown in the first embodiment is used.

FIG. 17 shows a calculation table for estimating the temperature of the heater board by the discharge heater in this example. FIG. 17
In the case of this example, the storage No. Is the unit operation time 50
It is set for each ms. 16 is obtained for each applied energy duty as the amount of temperature increase after 0.8 seconds from a certain time 0. Here, the storage No. Since the content of 16 is 0, it can be seen that the amount of temperature rise is 0 when 0.8 seconds or more has elapsed after applying energy to the heater board. Therefore, in this example, as shown in FIG. 18, when the energy application to the recording head is stopped after the recording operation is completed or the recording apparatus is stopped, the temperature of the recording head is estimated as shown in FIG. In storing the calculated storage BOX contents in the storage unit 1004, the contents related to the heater board among the calculated BOX contents are not stored (S70 to 72).

Next, when the application of energy to the recording head is instructed to restart and the temperature estimation of the recording head is restarted, the contents of the storage BOX for calculation relating to the base plate stored in the storage means 1004 are read out, and FIG. It is stored in the calculation box for the base plate of S7 to S7.
6). At this time, "0" is stored in the calculation BOX for the heater board, and the contents of each calculation BOX for the base plate and the heater board are "shifted" by the number of times corresponding to the time when the energy application is stopped. Preparations for estimating the temperature of the recording head are completed (S77 to 79).

In this way, the temperature of the recording head is estimated, and the recording head is controlled in the same manner as in Example 1 according to the estimated temperature.

In the present example, among the objects involved in the temperature estimation of the recording head, the objects for the temperature estimation are stored for the objects having a short temperature drop time until the temperature increase amount due to the application of energy reaches 0. Since it is not performed, the number of information to be stored can be saved, and the storage means can be simplified, downsized, and priced. Further, since the number of information to be stored is small, there is an effect that the time for writing and reading the data can be shortened.

Further, in this example, the temperature estimation object for estimating the temperature of the recording head is the heater board and the base plate, but the temperature estimation may be performed by adding another temperature estimation object.

(Fourth Embodiment) Further, in the temperature estimation of the recording head described in the first embodiment, another case will be described in which the present invention is applied to simply estimate the temperature of the recording head.

In this example, the heater board and the base plate of the recording head are used for estimating the temperature of the recording head when the power supply to the recording head is stopped as described in the first and second embodiments. In the storage of the contents of the storage BOX shown in FIG. 9 regarding the above, the contents of the storage BOX are stored in the post-conversion storage means 1004, and the number of stored information is compressed.

The conversion of stored data in this example will be described.

The contents of the storage BOX for calculation shown in FIG.
By referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the energy is converted into the applied energy duty for each unit time in the past. Next, the storage No. of the storage BOX for calculation shown in FIG. No. 1 to 10 are divided into 512 storage numbers. Cell of 5
Divide into one. However, in this case, store N in the last division.
o. Twelve 501 to 512 are assigned. For each of the divided 51 cells, the average energy duty is calculated from the converted energy duty by the conversion means (not shown), and the average temperature rise amount is calculated from each average energy duty again with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. Ask. The average temperature rise obtained in this way is
It is stored in another storage box for storage shown in FIG. When the power supply to the recording head is stopped and the evacuation storage is instructed to the storage unit 1004, the contents of the storage BOX for storage are stored.

Next, when the power supply to the recording head is instructed to restart and the temperature estimation of the recording head is restarted, the contents stored in the storage means 1004 by the conversion means (not shown) are first stored in FIG. 19 is stored in the storage box for storage. The content of No. 1 is the storage No. of the storage box for calculation of FIG. Storage Nos. 1 to 10 Stored in the cell.

By the above operation, the storage BO for calculation of FIG.
When the content of X replaces the average value but extremely precise temperature estimation is not required, the temperature estimation according to the present invention can sufficiently stabilize the recording head.

In this way, the temperature of the recording head is estimated, and the recording head is controlled in the same manner as in Example 1 according to the estimated temperature.

In this example, since the history information of the applied energy for temperature estimation is converted and the number of the information is compressed as described above, the number of the information to be saved and stored can be saved and the storage means can be simplified. It can be miniaturized, downsized, and priced. Further, since the number of information to be stored is small, there is an effect that the time for writing and reading the data can be shortened.

In the present example, the conversion of the information is performed by averaging, but various conversion methods can be applied. For example, the storage No. shown in FIG. 1 to 5
Content, No. 1 to a predetermined number of storage No. Is to directly use the contents of. Furthermore, the number of divisions and the division method of the arithmetic storage BOX of FIG. 9 described in this example are not limited.

(Embodiment 5) Next, a case will be described in which an ink jet recording apparatus estimates the ink refill characteristic to the ink ejection portion of the recording head after ink ejection and controls the recording speed. In this example, the method of estimating the ink refill characteristic is performed by the number of dots ejected within a predetermined time and the elapsed time after the ink ejection is completed. When ink ejection is continuously performed, the ink refill often lowers. Therefore, if the number of ink ejection dots is large within a predetermined time and the elapsed time from the end of ink ejection is short, printing is performed. When the speed is reduced and the number of ink ejection dots within a predetermined time is small and the elapsed time is long, the recording speed is set to the maximum possible recording speed of the recording head. Further, in this example, the predetermined time is the time for recording one recording sheet, and is the number of ejection dots per one sheet. The elapsed time is the time from the end of recording one recording sheet to the start of recording of the next recording sheet. FIG. 20 shows a selection table of the recording speed corresponding to the number of ejected dots and the elapsed time, that is, the cycle of the drive pulse applied to the recording head. The number of ejected dots and time information as recording history information are stored at the storage time in the storage means similar to those described in Embodiments 1 and 2, and each processing after storage is also performed.

By controlling the recording speed in this way,
The recording results can be stabilized, and since the recording history information including the time information for estimating the refill characteristics of the recording head is stored in the non-volatile storage means, when the power supply to the recording device is cut off, Can be controlled accurately, and power can be saved because the power supply after storage can be cut off.

(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 its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which is stored, which corresponds to the recorded information and gives a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling. , It is effective because it generates heat energy in the electrothermal converter and causes film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal can be formed one-to-one. Is. The liquid (ink) flows through the ejection opening due to the growth and contraction of this bubble.
To form at least one drop. It is more preferable to make the driving signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be ejected. 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, which is an 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, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 44, which disclose 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 structure corresponding to the discharging portion is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

In addition, as a form of the 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.

[0089]

As described above, in order to estimate the temperature of the heat generating device, the history information of the energy applied to the heat generating device and the time information are cut off from the power supply to the recording device or the heat generating device. In addition, the heat generating device is stored in the non-volatile storage unit for storing non-volatile data that can be stored even when the power supply to the recording device is cut off, and when the power supply is restarted based on the stored information. By performing the temperature estimation, the temperature can be accurately estimated even when the recording apparatus is stopped or the recording operation is stopped, and the heating device is controlled according to the estimated temperature, so that stable recording results can be obtained. Further, after saving to the recording means, it is not necessary to supply power for storage, so that power can be saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet cartridge that is an example of a recording head of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an example of an inkjet cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a heater board temperature increase amount calculation table by driving the discharge heater according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a base plate temperature rise amount calculation table when a discharge heater is driven.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a heater board temperature increase amount calculation table by driving a sub heater.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a base plate temperature rise amount calculation table by driving a sub heater.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data storage BOX for temperature rise amount estimation calculation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a table for estimating the print head temperature in the non-printing state from the temperature inside the printing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a head target temperature setting table.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a main heater drive pulse selection table.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sub heater drive pulse selection table.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating temperature estimation of the recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating temperature estimation of the recording head according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating temperature estimation of the recording head according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a heater board temperature increase amount calculation table by driving the discharge heater according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating temperature estimation of the recording head according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a data storage BOX used when converting, storing, and restoring data for estimating the temperature of the recording head according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a drive pulse selection table of the recording head according to the fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1000 CPU 1003 off time detection time 1004 non-volatile storage means 1005 temperature estimation means 237 temperature sensor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 2/12 B41J 3/04 104 K 104 F

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording using a recording head, comprising: timer means for generating time information; and recording history information including time information generated by the timer means at the same time when a predetermined condition is generated. A possible non-volatile storage means, and before starting the recording operation following the storage in the non-volatile storage means, a predetermined non-volatile storage means based on the record history information of the non-volatile storage means and the time information generated by the timer means. A recording apparatus comprising: an arithmetic means for performing an arithmetic operation; and a recording control means for controlling recording based on the arithmetic operation by the arithmetic means. 2. A detection unit for detecting interruption of power supply to the recording apparatus, wherein the non-volatile storage unit stores the recording history information according to a detection result of the detection unit. The recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nonvolatile storage means stores the recording history information when a recording operation is not performed for a predetermined time. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nonvolatile storage means stores the recording history information after each series of recording operations. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head causes a state change in the ink by thermal energy and ejects the ink based on the state change. 6. The calculating means estimates the temperature of the recording head based on recording history information of the non-volatile storage means and current time information generated by the timer means, and the recording control means, The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ink ejection amount is controlled based on the estimated temperature of the recording head. 7. The calculating means estimates the temperature of the recording head based on recording history information of the non-volatile storage means and current time information generated by the timer means, and the recording control means controls the temperature of the recording head. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording speed is controlled based on the estimated temperature of the recording head. 8. The temperature of the recording head is estimated by the calculating means based on a thermal characteristic of a constituent member of the recording head and a history of energy applied to the recording head in a reference period. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the temperature change of the member per unit elapsed time is obtained as a discrete value and the discrete value per unit elapsed time is accumulated. 9. The recalculating means, based on the recording history information of the non-volatile storage means and the current time information generated by the timer means, recalculates the ink to the ink ejecting portion after the ink is ejected from the recording head. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording characteristic is estimated, and the recording control unit controls the recording speed based on the estimated refill characteristic of the recording head. 10. The ink refilling characteristic of the recording head is estimated by the calculating means based on the number of dots ejected in a predetermined time and a predetermined elapsed time. Recording device. 11. The number of the record history information stored in the non-volatile storage means is converted into a number smaller than the number of the information before being stored and saved and retained. Recording device. 12. The recording according to claim 1, wherein the recording history information stored and held in the non-volatile storage means is selected and saved according to thermal characteristics of constituent members of the recording head. apparatus.