JPH08183173A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To avoid an erroneous operation by varying the content of operation automatically based on an information of either a recording head or a reading sensor mounted in a recording device with a carriage mounting selectively the recording head or the reading sensor. CONSTITUTION: A device is provided with a black ink carriage 12 connectable with a scanner 78 and a color ink carriage 38, and either of a black ink cartridge 13 or a scanner unit can be mounted selectively on the carriage 12. Either of a color ink cartridge 44 or a scanner unit can be mounted selectively on the carriage 38, and when scanner units are mounted on the carriages 12 and 38, the carriages 12 and 38 are retained on the positions deviated from the working positions of caps of cartridges 13 and 44 in the waiting state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus capable of scanning with an ink jet recording head, a reading sensor or the like as a functional element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording apparatus for performing recording by scanning an ink jet recording head, for example, a recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-222151 has different heads (image scanners) for a plurality of carriages. Heads, different color print heads, and color print heads) are mounted, and each carriage is individually driven and controlled for scanning.

Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1327, a recording head is mounted on each of a main driving carriage and a sub-driving carriage, and those carriages are connected or unconnected as needed. In addition, by controlling the drive of the main drive carriage, scanning of only the main drive carriage or simultaneous scanning of both carriages can be selected.

Further, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-136450 has one holder for fixedly holding a recording head which is replaceably mounted on a carrier so as to maintain a predetermined posture, By the movement of the holder or the carrier and the operation of the attachment / detachment mechanism such as a chuck, the recording head is attached / detached to / from the carrier in the posture in which the recording head is fixedly held by the holder.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
As described in JP-A-212251 and JP-A-2-1327, in a configuration including a plurality of carriages each having a head mounted thereon, the carriages are mounted on the carriages by selectively scanning the plurality of carriages. Although various operating modes can be obtained according to the type of heads, etc., the plurality of carriages are included, which causes a problem that the recording apparatus becomes large and the driving mechanism and the control mechanism become complicated. Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-136450, the holder fixedly holds the recording head in the posture to be mounted on the carrier, and therefore in order to securely and smoothly replace the recording head, The posture of the recording head held by the holder and the positional relationship between the carrier and the holder must be determined with high accuracy, and the recording head cannot be easily held and kept on standby, which complicates the overall configuration of the device. Also, there is a problem that the size becomes large.

Therefore, the present applicant has already proposed a device provided with a scanning type carrier that solves such a problem (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 164430/1994).

In such an apparatus, as a functional element, for example, an ink jet recording head, a reading sensor or the like can be selectively scanned with a simple structure to obtain various operating modes according to the type of the functional element. Further, it is possible to easily hold the functional elements and make them stand by, thereby simplifying the configuration and reducing the size.

The present invention has been made in relation to the above invention, and an object thereof is to provide a recording head and a reading sensor in a recording apparatus provided with a carriage capable of selectively mounting the recording head and the reading sensor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device capable of automatically changing operation contents according to which one of them is mounted on a carriage to avoid erroneous operation.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus having a carriage on which a recording head and a reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and the carriage is mounted with the recording head and scans. In a recording apparatus that performs a recording operation by performing the recording operation and also performs a reading operation by the carriage mounting the reading sensor and scanning the recording head, the recording head is mounted on the recording head when the carriage is positioned at a standby position. And a means for positioning the reading sensor outside the cap operation range of the cap when the carriage equipped with the reading sensor is on standby.

A recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention has a carriage on which a recording head and a reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and the recording operation is performed by mounting and scanning the recording head on the carriage. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by performing the scanning operation with the carriage mounted with the reading sensor, a cap capable of capping the recording head when the carriage equipped with the recording head is located at a standby position. A means for inhibiting the cap operation of the cap when the carriage equipped with the reading sensor is on standby.

A recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention has a carriage on which a recording head and a reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and the recording operation is performed by the carriage carrying the recording head and scanning. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by performing the scanning by the carriage mounting the reading sensor, a recovery process for the recording head can be performed when the carriage mounting the recording head is located at the standby position. A recovery unit and a unit that positions the read sensor outside the operation range of the recovery process of the recovery unit when the carriage equipped with the read sensor is on standby.

A recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention has a carriage on which a recording head and a reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and the carriage is mounted on the recording head to scan the recording operation. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by performing the scanning by the carriage mounting the reading sensor, a recovery process for the recording head can be performed when the carriage mounting the recording head is located at the standby position. A recovery means and a means for inhibiting the recovery processing operation of the recovery processing means when the carriage equipped with the reading sensor is on standby.

A recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising means for recognizing whether the recording head or the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage. Is characterized by.

In a recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a recording head is mountable, and at least one of the first and second carriages is mounted so that the recording head and the reading sensor are interchangeably mounted, and a driving device. In a recording apparatus having a scanning type carrier that receives a force to perform scanning and is connected to at least one of the first and second carriages and integrally movable, a first carriage having the recording head mounted thereon is provided. When the recording head is located at the first standby position, the recording head can be capped, and when the second carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at the second standby position, the recording head is moved to the second standby position. When the second cap that can be capped and the first or second carriage on which the reading sensor is mounted are on standby, the reading sensor is set to the first or second carriage. Characterized by comprising a means for positioning the outside of the cap operation of the cap.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first and a second carriage, on which a recording head can be mounted, and at least one of the recording head and the reading sensor is exchangeably mounted. In a recording apparatus having a scanning type carrier that receives a force to perform scanning and is connected to at least one of the first and second carriages and integrally movable, a first carriage having the recording head mounted thereon is provided. When the recording head is located at the first standby position, the recording head can be capped, and when the second carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at the second standby position, the recording head is moved to the second standby position. When the second cap that can be capped and the first or second carriage on which the reading sensor is mounted are on standby, the reading sensor is set to the first or second carriage. Characterized by comprising a means for inhibiting the capping operation of the cap. According to a eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording head, at least one of which has a first and second carriage on which the recording head and the reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and a driving force. In a recording apparatus having a scanning type carrier that performs scanning by scanning and is movable integrally with at least one of the first and second carriages, the first carriage on which the recording head is mounted is the first carriage. A first recovery unit capable of performing a recovery process on the recording head when the recording head is in the standby position, and a second carriage that mounts the recording head when the second carriage is in the second standby position. When the second recovery means capable of a recovery process and the first or second carriage having the reading sensor are placed on standby, the reading sensor is set to the first or the second carriage.
And a means for locating the recovery means outside the operating range of the recovery processing.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in a recording apparatus, a recording head can be mounted, and at least one of the first and second carriages has the recording head and a reading sensor which are exchangeably mounted, and a driving device. In a recording apparatus having a scanning type carrier that receives a force to perform scanning and is connected to at least one of the first and second carriages and integrally movable, a first carriage having the recording head mounted thereon is provided. When the first carriage is located at the first standby position, the recovery means can recover the recording head, and the second carriage having the recording head is located at the second standby position. A second recovery unit capable of performing recovery processing on the recording head and the first or second recovery when the first or second carriage equipped with the reading sensor is on standby. Characterized by comprising a means for inhibiting the stages of recovery processing operations.

A recording apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is
In any one of Claims 6 to 9, recognizing which of the recording head and the reading sensor is mounted on at least one of the first and second carriages on which the recording head and the reading sensor are interchangeably mounted. It is characterized in that it is provided with a means for doing.

The recording apparatus according to claim 11 of the present invention is
In any one of claims 6 to 10, when the recording device is in the recording operation mode, among the first and second carriages,
When the recording device is in the reading operation mode, the one in which the recording head is mounted is scanned and the one in which the reading sensor is mounted is selected from among the first and second carriages. It is characterized in that it comprises means for scanning by connecting to the carrier.

The recording apparatus according to claim 12 of the present invention is
A carriage having a recording head and a reading sensor that can be exchangeably mounted, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the reading sensor to perform scanning. In a recording device that performs a reading operation by, if the reading head is mounted on the carriage,
If the read head is operated for the carriage, and if the recording head is mounted on the carriage, the operation for the print head is performed for the carriage, and the read head and the recording are performed for the carriage. If the head is not mounted, it is characterized by including means for performing abnormality processing.

The recording apparatus according to claim 13 of the present invention is
A first and second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which is mounted so that the recording head and the reading sensor can be exchanged; and the first and second carriages which receive a driving force to perform scanning. In a recording device having a scanning type carrier that is integrally movable in connection with at least one of the above, if the reading head is mounted on the carriage, the operation for the reading head is performed on the carriage, If the recording head is mounted on the carriage, the operation for the recording head is performed on the carriage, and if the reading head or the recording head is not mounted on the carriage,
It is characterized in that it is provided with means for performing abnormality processing.

The recording apparatus according to claim 14 of the present invention is
14. The operation according to claim 13, wherein the operation for the read head with respect to the carriage is a mode in which the recovery means for the recording head is not operated, and the abnormality processing is to notify the user by the display means of the recording apparatus. Characterize.

The recording apparatus according to claim 15 of the present invention is
A carriage having a recording head and a reading sensor that can be exchangeably mounted, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the reading sensor to perform scanning. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by means of a mode in which a recovery unit for the recording head operates on the carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and for the recording head on the carriage on which the reading head is mounted, And a means for switching the mode of canceling the action of the recovery means of 1.

The recording apparatus according to claim 16 of the present invention is
A first and second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which is mounted so that the recording head and the reading sensor can be exchanged; and the first and second carriages which receive a driving force to perform scanning. And a mode in which a recovery unit for the recording head is acted on the carriage on which the recording head is mounted, It is characterized in that a means for switching the mode in which the operation of the recovery means for the recording head is stopped is provided for the carriage on which the head is mounted.

[0024]

In the recording apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage on which the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted, the recording head cap is By preventing the reading sensor from standing by outside the cap operation range or by prohibiting the cap operation of the cap, the reading sensor is protected by avoiding the cap of the recording head from capping the reading sensor.

In the recording apparatus according to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, when the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage on which the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted, the recording head recovery means. By making the read sensor stand by outside the operating range of 1) or prohibiting the operation of the recovery means, contact between the recovery means of the recording head and the read sensor is avoided, and the read head is protected.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first to fourth aspects, it is recognized which of the recording head and the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage, and based on the recognition. It is possible to automatically protect the reading sensor without depending on the operation of the user.

In the recording apparatus according to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention, the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted in the first and second carriages which are connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned. When the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage, the reading sensor is set by the recording head cap by making the reading sensor stand by outside the cap operation range of the recording head cap or by prohibiting the cap operation of the cap. Protects the read sensor by avoiding being capped.

In the recording apparatus according to the eighth and ninth aspects of the present invention, the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted in the first and second carriages which are connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned. When the read sensor is mounted on the carriage, the read sensor is put on standby outside the operating range of the recovering means of the recording head, or the operation of the recovering means is prohibited, whereby the recovering means of the recording head is recovered. Avoid contact with the reading sensor and protect the reading sensor.

The recording apparatus according to claim 10 of the present invention is
The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, which recognizes whether the recording head or the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage, and based on the recognition, automatically protects the reading sensor without depending on a user operation. To be able to do.

The recording apparatus according to claim 11 of the present invention is
The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the recording apparatus is in a recording operation mode, one of the first and second carriages on which a recording head is mounted is connected to a carrier for scanning, and recording is performed. When the device is in read mode,
Of the first and second carriages, the one on which the reading sensor is mounted is connected to the carrier for scanning.

A recording apparatus according to claim 12 of the present invention is
The mounted object on the carriage on which the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted is examined, and the operation according to the presence or absence and the type of the mounted object is automatically selected.

In the recording apparatus according to the thirteenth and fourteenth aspects of the present invention, the mounted objects on the first and second carriages which are connected to the scanning type carrier and are scanned are examined, and the presence or absence of the mounted object and the type thereof are checked. Automatically select the appropriate action.

The recording apparatus according to claim 15 of the present invention is
The mount on the carriage on which the print head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted is checked, and the mode for activating the recovery means of the print head is switched depending on whether or not the mount is the print head.

The recording apparatus according to claim 16 of the present invention is
The mounts on the first and second carriages that are connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned are examined, and the mode for determining whether or not the recovery means of the print heads is operated depends on whether the mounts are the print heads. Switch.

[0035]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples.

In the present invention, terms are defined as follows. The "transported medium" is paper, OHP sheet, processed paper,
A recording medium such as cloth and an original sheet are included,
The "functional element" shall include the recording head and the reading sensor, the "carriage" shall be equipped with the functional element, and the "carrier" shall be the one that receives the driving force and is scanned. It is assumed that the information processing area does not have any information, and the “information processing area” includes a recording area and a reading area.

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13.

Reference numeral 1 is a right side plate, and 2 is a left side plate. Three
Is a platen roller and is made of an elastic material such as rubber. A platen roller shaft 4 is formed at the center of the platen roller, and its left and right ends are supported by the left side plate 2 and the right side plate 3. A paper feed motor 5 is supported by the right side plate 1 and rotates the platen roller shaft 4 via a gear train (not shown). A paper guide 6 is provided along the circumference of the platen roller 3. Pinch rollers 7 and 8 are pressed against the surface of the platen roller 3 with a predetermined pressure by a spring (not shown). A recording paper 9 as a medium to be conveyed is fed from a direction of an arrow 10 and is inserted between a platen roller shaft 4 and a paper guide 6 and is nipped by the pinch rollers 7 and 8 and the platen roller shaft 4.
The paper is bent and bent. Reference numeral 11 is a guide shaft having a diameter of 10 mm as a guide mechanism, and its end is supported by the left side plate 1 and the right side plate 2.

Reference numeral 12 is a black ink carriage as a functional element mounting carriage. Details of the black ink carriage 12 will be described with reference to FIG. On the black ink carriage 12, a black ink cartridge 13 and a scanner unit 115 as a reading sensor described later are mounted in a replaceable manner. Two
A cartridge hook 4 serves to press the cartridge 13 against the contact portion 26 located in the carriage 12. When the button 27 is pressed, the locking portion 30 is disengaged from the square hole 29 provided in the carriage 12, and the fulcrum 28 is used as an axis to move the 31
The hook 24 rotates in the direction and opens. With the hook 24 open, the black ink cartridge 13 is inserted into the carriage 12 from above, and when the hook 24 is closed, the cartridge 13 is pressed against the contact portion 26 and fixed. Pins 99 and 100 project from the carriage 12, and these pins 99 and 100 are attached to the cartridge 13
It fits into the positioning hole of the aluminum plate described later attached to the. The cartridge 13 is positioned by hitting the roots of the pins 99 and 100. Reference numeral 32 denotes a flexible cable, which curves and follows the movement of the carriage 12.
The flexible cable 32 has the contact portion 26 formed at an end thereof and is arranged inside the carriage 12 to apply an ink ejection signal as a functional element drive signal from a substrate (not shown) to the cartridge 13. The carriage 12 has fitting holes 33, 34, 35 and a grip portion 36 for integrating with a scanning element 78 as a carrier which will be described later. The hole 35 is a long hole in the vertical direction, and the grip portion 36 projects outward from the wall portion of the carriage 12. In addition, 37
Is a hole provided in the carriage 12 through which the guide shaft 11 penetrates, and its inner diameter is set to 10.2 mm so that a frictional load does not occur when it is integrated with the scanning element 78.
By fitting the hole 37 and the guide shaft 11, the carriage 1
2 is swingably engaged with a guide shaft 11 as a guide mechanism, and a cap 77 described later as a first standby portion.
(See FIG. 1) At the upper portion, downward swing is restricted and held. Reference numeral 79 is a black carriage sensor shield plate that shields a light transmission type home position sensor 74 described later.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 38 denotes a color ink carriage, which is a color ink cartridge 44 and a scanner unit 115 as a reading sensor which will be described later.
Will be installed interchangeably. The carriage 38 will be described with reference to FIG. Since the carriage 38 has a shape similar to that of the black ink carriage 12 of FIG. 2, only differences will be described. 39, 40 and 41 are scanners 58 described later.
The positions of the fitting holes 39 and 40 are left and right opposite to the positions of the fitting holes 33 and 34 of the black ink carriage 12. The hole 41 is a long hole that is vertically long. Reference numeral 43 denotes a grip portion, which projects outward from the wall portion of the carriage 38. Reference numeral 80 is a sensor shield plate for the color carriage. Further, the carriage 38 is provided with a hole similar to the hole 37 of the carriage 12, and by fitting the hole with the guide shaft 11, the carriage 12 is swingably engaged with the guide shaft 11 as a guide mechanism. Has been done. Further, a cap similar to the cap 77 provided at a position facing the carriage 38 in FIG. 1 has a portion on the upper surface thereof as a first standby portion, and the downward swing of the carriage 38 is restricted at that portion. Holding

FIG. 3A is a front view of the black ink cartridge 13, and FIG. 3B is a view of the black ink cartridge 13 viewed from the ink ejection port side. The black ink cartridge 13 has an ink tank 14 for containing the black ink and an inkjet recording head 16 as a functional element for ejecting the black ink.
The ink tank 14 has a sponge (not shown) inside and contains ink. The ink capacity is, for example, A
This is an amount equivalent to seven hundred sheets of recording paper 9 of 4 sizes. Further, the heat dissipation aluminum plate 25 provided in the cartridge 13 is provided with a positioning hole for the carriage 12.
Further, a substrate having contacts (not shown) corresponding to the contact portions 26 is fixed in parallel with the aluminum plate 25. 1
A distributor 5 is provided as a path for supplying ink from the ink tank 14 to the recording head 16.

FIG. 6A shows the color ink cartridge 4
4 is a front view of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6B is a view of the color ink cartridge 44 as viewed from the ink ejection port side.

The color ink cartridge 44 has a black ink tank 45, a color ink tank 46 and a color ink jet recording head 47 as a functional element. These ink tanks 45 and 46 are the same as those of the black ink cartridge described above. Unlike the tank 13, it can be removed from the recording head 47 and replaced. Reference numeral 48 is a distributor in which a black ink supply port 49, a yellow ink supply port 50, a magenta ink supply port 51, and a cyan ink supply port 52 are present. Like the black ink cartridge 13, a filter (not shown) is provided in each of the supply ports 49 to 52. 53 is an ink tank 45, 4
6 is a frame body into which 6 is inserted. 54 is a groove provided in the frame 53, and the groove 54 of the black ink tank is provided in the groove 54.
The rib stripe projection 55 of is inserted. The protrusions 55 prevent the black ink tank 45 from being erroneously inserted into the frame 53. The color ink tank 46 has a sponge structure similar to that of the black ink cartridge 13. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the structure of the color ink tank 46. Inside the three areas 56, 5 are shown.
It is divided into 7, 58. Reference numeral 56 is an area in which a yellow sponge is inserted, 57 is an area in which a magenta sponge is inserted, and 58 is an area in which a cyan sponge is inserted. Then, from these sponges, respective inks are supplied to the inkjet recording head 47 through the ink supply ports 50, 51, 52.

FIG. 4 shows a recording head 1 for black ink.
6 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the main part of FIG. Reference numeral 17 is a heater board made of silicon, on which a nozzle wall 18, a liquid chamber wall 19, a discharge heater 20 are formed by a semiconductor process.
A glass top plate 21 is adhered and fixed on the board 17 in which a nozzle 22 and a common liquid chamber 23 are formed. The black ink is supplied from the common liquid chamber 23 to the nozzle 22 by a capillary force. 128 nozzles 22 of the black cartridge 13 are provided. On the other hand, the color head 47 has 24 nozzles for each of yellow, magenta, and cyan, and 64 nozzles for black, and the nozzles for the colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan have an interval of 8 nozzles. The cyan and black nozzles have a spacing of 16 nozzles. Further, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 6, the discharge heater 20
The nozzle row is inclined 3.5 ° from the paper feed direction due to the data transfer relationship with When an ejection pulse is applied to the ejection heater 20, the ink on the heater 20 foams and the ink is ejected.

Next, referring again to FIG. 1, the scanner 78 as a scanning carrier will be described. In FIG.
Left and right bearings 68 and 69 of the scanner 78 are fitted to the guide shaft 11. Further, the upper guide 67 slides along the rail 70. Reference numeral 65 denotes a belt, which is fixed to a belt stopper 64 which is located in the middle of the scanner 78 in the left-right direction and serves as a drive force receiving portion. One side of the belt 65 is hung on the motor pulley 72, and the other side is hung on a tension pulley 73 urged in a direction of stretching the belt by a spring (not shown). By driving the carrier motor 71, the scanning element 78 is moved in the main scanning direction. 6
Reference numeral 6 denotes a sensor shield plate which interrupts the optical path of the light transmissive home position sensor 74 to generate an output signal for position control of the scanning element 78.

Reference numeral 62 is a resin gripper fixed on the scanning element 78, and is used for the black ink carriage 1 described above.
2 and the grip portions 36 and 43 on the color ink carriage 38 are gripped by the bifurcated claws. Figure 9
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the scanner 78 and the black ink carriage 12 are combined. The grip portion 36 of the carriage 12 abuts against the stopper portion 98 of the scanning element 78 and is held. That is, the cartridge 13 is the carriage 1
2, the carriage 12 is positioned by abutting the bases of the positioning pins 99 and 100, and the carriage 12 is positioned by abutting the stopper portion 98 with respect to the scanning element 78. As a result, when scanning the scanning element 78, it is possible to record on the accurate position of the paper 9. When the scanner 78 grips the grip portion 36 of the black ink carriage 12, the fitting shafts 59, 61 and 63 of the scanner 78 are fitted into the fitting holes 34, 33 and 35 of the carriage 12, respectively,
The scanning element 78 and the carriage 12 can be integrally scanned. On the other hand, the carriage 38 for color ink and the scanner 7
When 8 are integrated, the gripper 62 grips the grip portion 36, and the fitting shafts 60, 61, 63 of the scanning element 78 are fitted in the fitting holes 40, 39, 41 of the color ink carriage 38.
And can be similarly scanned. Gripper 6
2 and the fitting shafts 59, 61, 63 are the carriages 12, 38 located on the cap as the first and second standby parts.
When it is mounted by being coupled to the scanning element 78, an engaging mechanism for restricting the swing of the carriages 12, 38 is formed.

75 is a carriage 12 for black ink
, A resin black gripper for restraining the
Is a color gripper for restraining the color ink carriage 38 at the position shown in FIG. Black gripper 75
Since the shapes of the color gripper 76 and the color gripper 76 are in a mirror image relationship and the operation is the same, only the black gripper 75 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the relationship between the grip portion 36 of the black ink carriage 12, the gripper 62, and the black gripper 75, and illustration of the carriage 12 is omitted. FIG. 8A shows a state where the black gripper 75 restrains the carriage 38. Since the bifurcated claw I of the black gripper 75 holds the grip portion 36, it is displaced so as to open outward. FIG.
(B) shows a state where the scanning element 78 approaches the carriage 12, and the bifurcated claw of the gripper 62 is about to enter the inside of the claw I of the opened black gripper 75. FIG. 8C shows a state in which the scanning element 78 is further approached, the gripper 62 grips the grip portion 36, and the claw I of the black gripper 75 is further spread. After that, when the scanning element 78 moves in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 8D, the carriage 12 becomes in a state of scanning together with the scanning element 78. After that, when the scanner 78 further moves to the right again, the carriage 12 moves from the scanner 78 toward the black gripper 75, contrary to the above process. In this way, the scanner 78 is the black gripper 7
The carriage 12 is handed over each time it approaches 5.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 77 is a cap for capping the recording head of the black ink cartridge 13 to protect it from drying. Similarly, a cap (not shown) is provided for the color ink cartridge 44. The cap 77 is provided by means such as a cam (not shown).
The black ink carriage 12 is the black gripper 7.
When the carriage 12 is restrained by 5 and is in the cap position, the cap action is performed to cap the head surface of the recording head of the black ink cartridge 13, and when the restraint is released and the carriage 12 separates from the black gripper 75, the cap 77 is retracted. The cap for the color ink cartridge 44 also operates similarly.

Next, the black ink cartridge 13
The recording operation using the color ink cartridge 44 will be described with reference to FIGS.

Before the power is turned on, the scanner 78 is stationary 50 mm on the left side in FIG. 1 from the position where the shield plate 66 blocks the optical path of the home position sensor 74, and the carriage 12 for black ink and the carriage for color ink. 38
Are in their respective cap positions and their cartridges 13, 44 are capped.

When the power is turned on, the scanning element 78 moves 100 mm to the right toward the black ink carriage 12 side (Bk side) (steps S1 and S2). At this time, the number of times the optical path of the home position sensor (HP) 74 is blocked is determined, and if it is once, the scanning element 78 is reversed and moved to the left (step S5), and the optical path of the sensor 74 is again determined. After being blocked, the vehicle stops at a position of 50 mm (hereinafter, initial position) (step S6). On the other hand, if the optical path of the sensor 74 is interrupted twice, it is determined that the black ink carriage 12 or the color ink carriage 38 is coupled to the scanning element 78, and the detection signal of the sensor 74 is turned on and off. To judge. The shield plate 66 and the shield plate 79 have a distance of 20 mm when the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 are connected, and the shield plate 66 and the shield plate 8 when the scanner 78 and the carriage 38 are connected.
0 has a spacing of 6 mm. Therefore, depending on the timing of blocking the optical path of the sensor 74, the carriages 12, 3
It is possible to determine which one of 8 is connected to the scanner 78.

When the black ink carriage 12 (also referred to as Bk carriage or black carriage) is connected, after the shield plate 66 has passed the sensor 74,
The black ink carriage 12 is moved to the cap position (steps S4 and S11), and the carriage 12
After the black gripper 75 restrains the
8 is reversed and moved to the left (step S5), and the optical path of the sensor 74 is blocked again and then stopped at the initial position (step S6). On the other hand, when the color ink carriage 38 is connected, the shielding plate 66 is reversed and moved to the left at the position moved 50 mm to the right after passing the sensor 74 (step S9). The carriage (also referred to as a color carriage) 38 is moved to the cap position (step S10), the color carriage 38 is restrained by the color gripper 73, and then the scanner 78 is re-inverted (step S5). It is stopped (step S6).

Thus, when neither of the carriages 12 and 38 is connected to the scanning element 78, only the scanning element 78 moves and stops at the initial position.
Due to an unforeseen situation, the carriage 1 is in the power off state.
Carrier 2, when 2 and 38 were coupled to the scanner
After bringing 2 and 38 to the corresponding cap positions and restraining them, only the scanning element 78 moves to the initial position and stops.

When a recording signal is input, it is determined whether the recording signal is for black-based recording such as text or ruled lines or a color image signal (steps S7, S).
8) In the former case, the scanner 78 is the black carriage 1.
The cap 2 is scanned and integrated with the black carriage 12 (step S16). In the latter case, the scanner 78
Scans to the cap position of the color carriage 38 and is integrated with the color carriage 38 (step S13). At the same time, the cap is retracted from the cartridge 13 or 44 used for recording (steps S17 and S14). In recording by the black carriage 12, recording is performed using 128 nozzles, and recording for one scan is performed (step S1).
8) Feed the paper 9 for 128 nozzles (step S
19, S23), and the next scan is performed (step S1).
8). When recording of one page is completed, the paper is ejected (step S
19, S20), and if recording is to be continued, new paper is fed (steps S24, S25). If the recording is completed, the scanner 7
8 moves until the black carriage 12 reaches the cap position (step S26), the black carriage 12 is restrained by the black gripper 75, and the cap 77.
Is capped (step S27), the scanner 78 scans to the position when the power is turned off and stops (step S28). After that, the power is turned off (step S2).
9). On the other hand, in the recording by the color carriage 38, an area having a large proportion of the color image is superposed on the black image by feeding 24 nozzles in the order of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, and the black image area is Paper is fed by 64 black nozzles by 64 (step S22).

By the way, the scanning element 78 and the carriages 12 and 38 cannot be easily separated due to the elasticity of the bifurcated claws of the gripper 62. However, since the user and the user may touch each other, they may be separated from each other.
The optical path of the sensor 74 is changed to 2 at a predetermined timing during one scan of
Monitor whether it is shielded twice. If the shielding is performed only once, the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 or 3
8 is determined to be away, the scanner 74 is stopped, and the relief sequence is started. If the black carriage 12 was recording until just before the determination, the scanner 78
Is moved to the right by 350 mm. During the movement, the gripper 62 contacts the grip portion 36 and pushes the black carriage 12 as it is to move it to the right. After that, the grip portion 36 contacts the bifurcated claw I of the black gripper 75, and the grip portion 36 is gripped by the black gripper 75. Further, when the scanning element 78 moves to the right, the claw of the gripper 62 enters inside the claw I of the black gripper 75. The carrier motor 71 stops after the step out due to the excess movement. Next, the scanning element 78 reverses along with the black carriage 12 and moves to the left, and after passing through the sensor 74, stops at the initial position. Platen roller 3 at the same time
Rotates to eject the paper, and a new paper 9 is fed to prepare for recording again. On the other hand, if the color carriage 38 is recording until just before the above determination, the scanner 78 is moved to the left by 350 mm. The subsequent process is the same as the relief of the black carriage 12 described above. in this way,
Even if the scanning element 78 and the carriage 12 or 38 are separated from each other in an unexpected situation, the relief sequence is automatically executed to enable the execution of recording.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the control system of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

The interface unit 104 is a bi-directional centro, and exchanges information and data with the personal computer 121 as a host computer via the bi-directional Centro. The printing apparatus main body includes a CPU (central processing unit) 102, a ROM 1031, a RAM 1032, a print head drive control, a drawing processing, a motor control, and a custom IC (eg, G.I.
A) 105, carriage motor driver 106, paper feed driver 108, carriage motor 107, paper feed motor 109, paper detection sensor 110, flexible cable 112, and carriage terminal pad 11
3 is provided, and its terminal pad 113 forms a contact point at a joint between the recording head 114 and the scanner unit 115. The recording head 114 is the recording head 16 for black ink when the carriage 13 is scanned, and is the recording head 47 for color ink when the carriage 38 is scanned.

The main body of the recording apparatus scans the recording head 114 by the carriage motor 107 when realizing the printer function, and scans the scanner unit 115 when realizing the function as the document reading apparatus.

The recording head 114 includes a driving section 1142 and a heating element 1141. In addition, the scanner unit 115 as a reading sensor includes a condenser lens 14
0, a sensor 116 such as a CCD, a light source 117, and a scanner control circuit 120. The scanner control circuit 120 includes an amplifier for data read by the sensor 116, a clock generator, an A / D converter, a shading correction device, and the like. Here, detailed description of the control circuit 120 is omitted.

Next, the scanner unit 115 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the scanner unit 115. The same elements as those in FIG. 11 are represented by the same reference numerals.
In this example, a tungsten lamp is used as the light source 117, and the original document 131 read from the lamp 117 is used.
The light 130 applied to the light is collected by the sensor 116 via the lens 140. The output data of the sensor 116 is processed by the scanner control circuit 120 in the subsequent stage. In the control circuit 120, the signal from the sensor 116 passes through an amplifier, an A / D converter, a shading correction device, etc. and becomes a digital signal, which is transferred to the recording apparatus main body side. In the case of this example, serial transfer is performed. The transferred data may be multi-valued data or binary data (data binarized by a predetermined threshold) in consideration of the gradation of the read data. The data transferred to the main body of the recording apparatus is transferred to the host computer 121 by the bidirectional Centro 104. The host computer 121
Data is passed to application software such as document creation and image creation via a dedicated scanner driver. The data is processed by the application software.

The scanner unit 115 as described above is
It can be mounted on any of the carriages 12 and 38 described above. Then, by mounting the scanner unit 115, the CPU 102 can execute the processes of FIGS. 13 and 14 described later. The ROM 1031 stores fixed data such as programs corresponding to the processing procedure, and the RAM 1032 stores work data and the like.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the control operation at power-on when the scanner unit 115 is mounted. In this example, it is assumed that the scanner unit 115 can be mounted on the black ink carriage 12 instead of the black ink cartridge 13. Further, in the case of the present example, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8, the black gripper 75 can be moved in the left and right directions by the solenoid 200, and by moving the black gripper 75 to the left position, The carriage 12 can be held at a scanner home position (scanner HP) described later.

First, after the power is turned on in step S101, the scanning element 78 moves 100 mm toward the black ink carriage 12 (BK side) on which the scanner unit 115 can be mounted (step S102). Then, the number of times the optical path of the home position sensor (HP) 74 is blocked and turned on is checked (step S10).
3) If it is once, the process proceeds to step S106, and if it is twice, the process proceeds to step S104 to determine whether the scanner unit 115 is mounted. The scanner unit 115 has a dedicated ID and is used for the black ink cartridge 13 and the color ink cartridge 44.
Can be distinguished from the ID of the scanner unit 115, and whether or not the scanner unit 115 is mounted is determined by distinguishing these IDs.

The scanner unit 1 is attached to the black ink carriage 12 (also called "scanner carriage").
15 is mounted, the scanner carriage 12 is moved to the scanner home position (scanner H
P), the black gripper 75 is moved to the scanner HP, and the scanner gripper 12 is restrained and held by the scanner HP by the black gripper 75 (step S105). This scanner HP is set at a position where the scanner unit 115 is not capped by the cap 77. That is, the scanner HP is displaced from the cap operating position of the cap 77. Therefore, the scanner unit 115 is not stained with the ink attached to the cap 77. After the scanner carriage 12 is held by the scanner HP, the scanning element 78 is reversed (step S106) and stopped at the desired position (step S107).

On the other hand, when the black ink carriage 12 (BK carriage) is coupled to the scanning element 78 and the black ink cartridge 13 is mounted on the BK carriage 12, steps S108 to S1.
In step 09, the BK carriage 12 is moved to the cap position by the cap 77, and the black gripper 75 holds and holds the BK carriage 12 at the cap position. At this time, the black gripper 75 is in the cap position. When the color ink carriage 38 (color carriage) is connected to the scanner 78 and the color ink cartridge 44 is mounted on the color carriage 38, the process proceeds from step S108 to step S110, and the scanner 78 is inverted. After that, the color carriage 38 is moved to the cap position by the corresponding cap, and the color gripper 73 holds and holds the color carriage 38 at the cap position (step S111).

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for explaining the control operation according to the operation mode of the recording apparatus.

First, in step S201, it is determined whether the operation mode of the recording apparatus is the recording mode using black ink or color ink, or the reading operation mode.

In the recording mode, it is determined whether black recording with black ink or color recording with color ink is performed (step S202). In the case of black recording, the scanning element 78 is integrated with the BK carriage 12. (Step S203), the BK carriage 12 is separated from the cap 77 (step S204). Then, in step S205, recording for one scan is performed, and step S
At 206, it is determined whether recording for one page is completed. If the recording of one page is in progress, step S207
After feeding paper for 128 nozzles at step S2
When the process returns to 05 and the recording for one page is completed, the paper is discharged in step S208. Also, step S202
If it is determined that the color recording is performed in step S218,
The scanner 78 is integrated with the color carriage 38 at, and the color carriage 38 is separated from the corresponding cap at step S219. Then, in step S220, printing for one scan is performed, and in step S221, it is determined whether printing for one page is completed. If one page of recording is in progress, 24 nozzles or 1
After feeding paper for 28 nozzles, the process returns to step S220, and when recording for one page is completed, step S220 is performed.
The paper is discharged at 208.

After the paper is discharged in step S208,
It is determined whether or not to end the recording operation. When continuing the recording operation, the paper is fed in step S210 and then the process returns to step S201. When ending the recording operation, the operation mode to be ended is determined in step S211. Since the recording mode is currently set, the BK carriage 12 or the color carriage 38 is moved to the corresponding cap position to cap the black ink cartridge 13 or the color ink cartridge 44 (step S).
213). After that, the scanning element 78 moves to the initial position (step S214), and the power is turned off (step S).
215).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S201 that the reading mode is set, in step S223, the scanner 7
8 is integrated with the scanner carriage, that is, the black ink carriage 12 on which the scanner unit 115 is mounted. Then, in step S224, reading for one scan is performed, and in step S225, it is determined whether reading for one page is completed. When one page is being read, the paper for the read is fed in step S226, and then the process returns to step S224. When recording for one page is completed, the paper is discharged in step S208. Thereafter, in step S209, it is determined whether or not the reading operation is ended. When the reading operation is continued, the sheet is fed in step S210, and then the step S210 is performed.
Return to 201. Also, when continuing the reading operation,
In step S211, the operation mode is determined. Since the reading mode is set here, in step S216, the scanner carriage 12 is moved to and held by the scanner HP. Then, the scanner carriage 12 is attached to the scanner 7.
8, the scanner 78 is moved to the initial position (step S214), and the power is turned off (step S215).

By the way, in this embodiment, since the head in which the nozzles of different colors are arranged vertically is used as the recording head of the color ink cartridge 44, the width becomes smaller than that of the method of horizontally arranging, and the entire apparatus is made compact. There is an effect that can be done.

Further, in this embodiment, the carriages 12, 38 are
Since the first and second standby parts for holding the scanner are provided on both end sides in the scanning direction of the scanning element 78, the scanning element 78 can be moved in one direction or the other by simply scanning the scanning element 78. On the other hand, the carriages 12 and 38 can be easily attached and detached, and the configuration and size of the entire apparatus can be simplified.

As is clear from FIG. 9, the scanner 7
In the combined state of the carriage 8 and the carriage 12, the scanner 78
In the projection space of the carriage 12 in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, that is, in the projection space of the carriage 12 in the front-back direction of the paper surface of FIG. 9, the left and right intermediate portions of the scanning element 78 are included. As described above, since the belt stopper 64 (see FIG. 1) as the receiving portion of the driving force of the scanning element 78 is positioned at the middle of the scanning element 78 in the left-right direction, the belt stopping 64 is naturally the same as the carriage. It will intervene in 12 projection spaces. This shortens the distance between the belt stopper 64 receiving the driving force and the center of gravity of the carriage 12, and occurs between the belt stopper 64 and the bearings 68, 69 when the scanner 78 scans together with the carriage 16. The moment is suppressed to a small extent, which is advantageous in smoothing those scans. Further, since the grip position between the gripper 62 and the grip portion 36 is also located within the projection space of the carriage 12, the occurrence of the shake of the carriage 16 can be suppressed when the carriage 16 scans together with the scanning element 78. . This is the same when the scanner 78 and the carriage 38 are in the combined state. In addition, since the intermediate position of the scanner 78 in the left-right direction is selectively used as the space occupied by each of the carriages 12 and 38, the size of the scanner 78 in the left-right direction can be reduced accordingly.

Further, when the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 are coupled, the gripper 62 on the scanner 78 side and the fitting shaft 5 are attached.
9, 61, 63 and the grip portion 3 on the carriage 12 side
6. It is preferable to preset the positional relationship between the fitting holes 34, 33, and 35 so that the order of fitting the fitting holes 34, 33, and 35 is as follows. First, the fitting hole 35, which is an elongated hole, and the fitting shaft 63 are fitted to each other to position the carriage 12 in the front-back direction of the paper surface in FIG.
9 and 61 are fitted to each other to position the carriage 12 in the vertical direction in FIG. 9, and thereafter or at the same time, the grip portion 36 is gripped by the gripper 62.
In this way, as the pulling / releasing engagement of the scanner 78 with respect to the carriage 12, the carriage 12 is positioned and the carriage 12 and the scanner 78 are moved relative to each other before the gripper 36 grips the gripper 62. Restricting the positional relationship is advantageous in ensuring the engagement for pulling / disengaging. This also applies to the connection between the scanner 78 and the carriage 38. In FIG. 1, the fitting shaft 6 on the side of the scanner 78 is
0, 61, 63, the gripper 62 is provided with reference numerals A, B, C, D, and the corresponding fitting holes 40, 39, 41 on the carriage 38 side and the grip portions 43 are provided with reference numerals E, F,
G and H are attached.

In the present embodiment, the ink cartridges 13, 44 or the scanner unit 115 can be mounted on the carriages 12, 38.
Instead of 38, the cartridges 13, 44 or the recording head, or the scanner unit 115 or the sensor 116 itself may be delivered by the scanner 78 and selectively coupled to the scanner 78. Further, in this embodiment, the gripper 62 having a bifurcated claw made of resin is used as a means for connecting the carriages 12, 38 or the scanner unit 115 to the scanning element 78 and a means for restraining them in the cap position or the scanner HP. Although used, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a method of opening and closing a bifurcated claw using a solenoid, a method of utilizing an attractive force between an electromagnet and a metal, and the like may be used as a means for realizing. included.

Further, one of the carriages 12 and 38 may be provided with a carriage dedicated to an ink jet recording head, and the other may be provided with a carriage dedicated to an image reading head. The carriages 12 and 38 may be the same, and one may be provided as a spare. Further, as the functional element, the resolution is, for example, 300 dpi, 350 dpi, 600 dpi.
i, 720 dpi, different image reading heads are replaceably provided, and recording heads having different types of ejected ink, for example, for ejecting dark black ink, for ejecting yellow, magenta, and cyan ink, and for yellow, magenta, and cyan A recording head for ejecting black ink or light black ink may be replaceably provided. Of course, as the recording head, various types such as a thermal head can be adopted.

Furthermore, an autochanger for selectively moving a plurality of functional elements is provided at a portion on the end side in the scanning direction of the scanning element 78, and the functional element moved at the portion is coupled to the scanning element 78 by the autochanger. You may do it.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment described above, the standby position of the scanner carriage 12 equipped with the scanner unit 115 is displaced from the cap position, whereas in the present embodiment, the scanner unit 115 is used. The black gripper 75 is fixed at a fixed position so as to match the standby position of the scanner carriage 12 having the carriage with the cap position, and the carriage 12 is held only at the cap position, and the cap operation is controlled. did. . Further, in this embodiment, the two carriages 12, 3 are
The scanner unit 115 can be mounted on both of the eight. Further, the caps corresponding to the cartridges 13 and 44 are moved up and down by a solenoid and an interlocking mechanism, and the cap operation is performed by moving the caps upward from a lower position. Further, a wiper for wiping the cartridges 13 and 44 is provided in association with the cap operation.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining the control operation when the power is turned on in this embodiment.

First, after the power is turned on in step S301, the scanning element 78 is moved 100 mm to the black ink carriage 12 side (BK side) (step S3).
02). Then, the home position sensor (HP) 74
The number of times that the optical path of is blocked and turned on is checked (step S303). If it is once, the process proceeds to step S304, and if it is twice, the process proceeds to step S306 and the BK carriage 12 is coupled to the scanner 78. It is determined whether it has been done.

When the BK carriage 12 is connected, it is determined in step S307 whether or not the object mounted on the BK carriage 12 is the scanner unit 115. When the mounted object is the black ink cartridge 13, the process proceeds to step S310, the BK carriage 12 is moved to the corresponding cap position by the scanning element 78, and the corresponding cap 77 performs the cap operation at that position. The corresponding wiper operates wiping. After that, the scanner 78 is reversed (step S3
04), stop at the initial position (step S305).
In step S307, the mounted object is the scanner unit 1.
If it is determined to be 15, the operation of the wiper is prohibited in step S308A (wiper OFF), the cap operation of the cap 77 is prohibited in step S308B (cap OFF), and then the scanner is operated in step S310. The BK carriage 12 equipped with the unit 115 is moved to the corresponding cap position. Therefore, the cap operation and the wiping operation are not performed on the scanner unit 115 mounted on the BK carriage 12, and the scanner unit 115
The sensor part of is not contaminated with ink or the like.

On the other hand, in step S306, the scanner 78
Color ink carriage 44 (color carriage)
Is coupled, the scanner 78 is reversed in step S311 and then the mounted object of the color carriage 44 is scanned in the scanner unit 11 in step S312.
It is determined whether it is 5. If the mounted object is the color ink cartridge 38, the process proceeds to step S315, the color carriage 44 is moved to the corresponding cap position by the scanning element 78, and the corresponding cap performs the cap operation and the wiper is moved at that position. Wiping works. Then, the scanner 78 is reversed (step S304) and stopped at the initial position (step S3).
05). When it is determined in step S312 that the mounted object is the scanner unit 115, step S3
13 prohibits the operation of the corresponding wiper (wiper O
FF), the cap operation of the corresponding cap is prohibited in step S314 (cap OFF), and in step S315, the color carriage 38 carrying the scanner unit 115 is moved to the corresponding cap position. Therefore, the cap operation and the wiping operation are not performed on the scanner unit 115 mounted on the color carriage 38, and the sensor portion of the scanner unit 115 is not contaminated by ink or the like.

FIG. 16 shows the carriage 12,
38 is a flowchart for supplementing the explanation of the processing according to the type of the mounted object on the recording medium 38. If the carriage mounted object is checked and if it is a recording head, the recording means for activating the recovery means for the recording head on the carriage The head mode is executed, while if it is the read head, the read head mode is executed in which the recovery means for the recording head is not operated.

That is, first, in step S401, the mount on the carriage is checked. If the mounted object is a reading head, the process proceeds from step S402 to step S404,
Perform read head mode processing. Otherwise, it proceeds to step S403. If the mounted object is the recording head, the recording head mode processing of step S405 is performed. If it is not the recording head, the process proceeds to step S406.
In step S406, it is determined that the reading head and the recording head are not mounted on the carriage, and an abnormality is displayed on the display unit of the recording device (not shown).

The caps corresponding to the cartridges 33 and 44 are provided with recovery means for performing a recovery operation of the recording heads by sucking ink from the corresponding recording heads when the caps are operated. May be.

Further, the cap and the recovery means may be provided separately from the right end and the left end outside the recording area in the main scanning direction as in the above-mentioned embodiment, or two of them may be arranged in the paper conveying direction. In that case, they may be provided at either the right end or the left end outside the recording area. With this configuration, the shape of the recording apparatus main body can be reduced in the main scanning direction.

Further, in addition to automatically discriminating the operation mode of the recording apparatus as in the above-described embodiment, for example, the operation may be performed according to the operation mode set by the user. For example, the operation side as the recording apparatus and the operation mode as the scanner may be set from the host side of the recording apparatus.

In addition to this, the recovery means also has a suction operation for sucking ink, a preliminary discharge operation for discharging ink, and the like. Furthermore, an operation combining these may be used.
For example, the suction operation and the wiping operation are a series of operations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0099]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the read sensor is mounted on the carriage on which the print head and the read sensor can be selectively mounted, the print head The reading sensor is placed outside the cap operation range of the cap, and the cap operation of the cap is prohibited. Therefore, the reading sensor is protected from being capped by the cap of the recording head. In addition, it is possible to reliably prevent the reading sensor from being contaminated by the ink attached to the cap. Further, when the reading sensor is put on standby outside the cap operating range of the cap of the recording head, it is not necessary to retract the cap to avoid contact with the reading sensor, which simplifies the configuration and reduces the number of parts. Can be achieved.

In the recording apparatus according to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, when the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage on which the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted, the recording head recovery means. Since the reading sensor is placed in a standby state outside the operating range of the recording head and the recovery means is prohibited from operating, the reading sensor can be protected by avoiding contact between the recovery means of the recording head and the reading sensor. it can. Further, when the reading sensor is made to stand by outside the operating range of the recovering means of the recording head, it is not necessary to retract the recovering means to avoid contact with the reading sensor, which simplifies the configuration and reduces the number of parts. It is possible to reduce.

A recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, which is provided with means for recognizing whether the recording head or the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage. Therefore, based on the recognition, the reading sensor can be automatically protected without depending on the operation of the user, and the problem due to the erroneous operation of the user can be avoided.

In the recording apparatus according to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention, the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted in the first and second carriages connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned. When the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage, the reading sensor is placed outside the cap operation range of the cap of the recording head, or the cap operation of the cap is prohibited. It is possible to prevent the reading sensor from being capped by the cap, protect the reading sensor, and reliably prevent the reading sensor from being contaminated by the ink attached to the cap. Also, if the read sensor is placed outside the cap operating range of the recording head cap,
Since it is not necessary to retract the cap to avoid contact with the reading sensor, the structure can be simplified and the number of parts can be reduced accordingly.

In the recording apparatus according to the eighth and ninth aspects of the present invention, the recording head and the reading sensor can be selectively mounted in the first and second carriages which are connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned. When the read sensor is mounted on the carriage, the read sensor is placed outside the operating range of the recovery means of the recording head, or the operation of the recovery means is prohibited. The read sensor can be protected by avoiding contact between the recovery means and the read sensor. Further, when the reading sensor is made to stand by outside the operating range of the recovering means of the recording head, it is not necessary to retract the recovering means to avoid contact with the reading sensor, which simplifies the configuration and reduces the number of parts. It is possible to reduce.

The recording apparatus according to claim 10 of the present invention is
The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, comprising a means for recognizing which of the recording head and the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage, and therefore does not rely on a user operation based on the recognition. The reading sensor can be automatically protected, and problems due to a user's erroneous operation can be avoided.

The recording apparatus according to claim 11 of the present invention is
The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the recording apparatus is in a recording operation mode, one of the first and second carriages on which a recording head is mounted is connected to a carrier for scanning, and recording is performed. When the device is in read mode,
Of the first and second carriages, the one equipped with the reading sensor is connected to the carrier for scanning, so that the carriage is automatically selected and scanned according to the operation mode of the recording apparatus. You can

The recording apparatus according to claim 12 of the present invention is
The recording head and the reading sensor are configured to check the mounted object in the carriage that can be selectively mounted, and automatically select the operation according to the presence or type of the mounted object, and the type of the mounted object. It can be avoided.

In the recording apparatus according to the thirteenth and fourteenth aspects of the present invention, the mounted objects on the first and second carriages connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned are examined, and the presence or absence and the type of the mounted objects are checked. Since the operation is automatically selected according to the operation, it is possible to avoid the problem caused by the erroneous operation by the user.

The recording apparatus according to claim 15 of the present invention is
The recording head and the reading sensor are configured to check a mounted object on a carriage that can be selectively mounted, and depending on whether or not the mounted object is the recording head, a mode for activating the recovery means of the recording head is switched. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a problem caused by a user's erroneous operation.

The recording apparatus according to claim 16 of the present invention is
The mounts on the first and second carriages that are connected to the scanning type carrier and scanned are examined, and the mode for determining whether or not the recovery means of the print heads is operated depends on whether or not the mounts are the print heads. Since the configuration is switched, it is possible to avoid problems due to user's erroneous operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the black ink carriage shown in FIG.

3 is an explanatory diagram of a black ink cartridge 13 shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the recording head shown in FIG.

5 is a perspective view of the color ink carriage shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is an explanatory view of the color ink cartridge shown in FIG.

7 is a perspective view of the color tank shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a main part for explaining a coupling operation between the black ink carriage and the carrier shown in FIG.

9 is a front view for explaining a combined state of the black ink carriage and the carrier shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the recording operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a schematic configuration diagram of the scanner unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for explaining the operation at the time of power-on when the reading operation is enabled in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining a recording operation and a reading operation when the reading operation is enabled in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining an operation at the time of turning on the power when the reading operation is enabled in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for supplementarily explaining the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Platen roller 9 Recording paper 11 Guide shaft 12 Carriage for black ink 13 Black ink cartridge 38 Carriage for color ink 44 Color ink cartridge 62 Gripper 75 Black gripper 76 Color gripper 77 Cap 78 Scan element 115 Scanner unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 3/54 19/18 N 25/304 B41J 3/04 102 N 25/28 W

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A recording head and a reading sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the reading sensor. In a recording apparatus which performs a reading operation by scanning the scanning head, when a carriage equipped with the recording head is located at a standby position, a cap capable of capping the recording head and a carriage equipped with the reading sensor are made to stand by. And a means for locating the reading sensor outside the cap operation range of the cap. 2. A recording head and a read sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the read sensor. In a recording apparatus which performs a reading operation by scanning the scanning head, when a carriage equipped with the recording head is located at a standby position, a cap capable of capping the recording head and a carriage equipped with the reading sensor are made to stand by. And a means for inhibiting the cap operation of the cap. 3. A recording head and a read sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, and the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the read sensor. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by scanning the recording head, a recovery unit that can perform recovery processing on the recording head when the carriage that mounts the recording head is located at a standby position, and a carriage that has the reading sensor. And a means for positioning the reading sensor outside the operation range of the recovery processing of the recovery means when the recording apparatus is on standby. 4. A recording head and a read sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the read sensor. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by scanning the recording head, a recovery unit that can perform recovery processing on the recording head when the carriage that mounts the recording head is located at a standby position, and a carriage that has the reading sensor. And a means for prohibiting the recovery processing operation of the recovery processing means when the recording apparatus is put on standby. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for recognizing whether the recording head or the reading sensor is mounted on the carriage. 6. A first carriage, a second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which the recording head and a reading sensor are exchangeably mounted, and a first carriage which receives a driving force to perform scanning. A recording device having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, when the first carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at a first standby position, A first cap capable of capping the recording head; a second cap capable of capping the recording head when a second carriage carrying the recording head is located at a second standby position; When the first or second carriage equipped with the sensor is on standby, the reading sensor is placed outside the range of the cap operation of the first or second cap. A recording device comprising means for placing the recording medium. 7. A first carriage, a second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted, and at least one of which is interchangeably mounted on the recording head and a reading sensor, and scanning by receiving a driving force and the first carriage. A recording device having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, when the first carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at a first standby position, A first cap capable of capping the recording head; a second cap capable of capping the recording head when a second carriage carrying the recording head is located at a second standby position; A hand that prohibits the reading sensor from capping the first or second cap when the first or second carriage equipped with the sensor is on standby. A recording device comprising a step. 8. A first and a second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which is interchangeably mounted on the recording head and a reading sensor, and which receives a driving force to perform scanning, and the first carriage. A recording device having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, when the first carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at a first standby position, A first recovery means capable of performing recovery processing for the recording head; and a second recovery means capable of recovery processing for the recording head when the second carriage carrying the recording head is located at a second standby position. Recovery means and recovery processing of the read sensor by the first or second recovery means when the first or second carriage equipped with the read sensor is on standby. And a means for positioning it outside the operating range of the recording apparatus. 9. A first and second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which is interchangeably mounted on the recording head and a reading sensor, and which receives a driving force to perform scanning and the first carriage. A recording device having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, when the first carriage on which the recording head is mounted is located at a first standby position, A first recovery means capable of performing recovery processing for the recording head; and a second recovery means capable of recovery processing for the recording head when the second carriage carrying the recording head is located at a second standby position. Recovery means, and means for inhibiting the recovery processing operation of the first or second recovery means when the first or second carriage equipped with the reading sensor is on standby. A recording device comprising: 10. A means for recognizing whether the recording head or the reading sensor is mounted on at least one of the first and second carriages on which the recording head and the reading sensor are interchangeably mounted. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that. 11. When the recording device is in a recording operation mode, one of the first and second carriages on which the recording head is mounted is connected to the carrier for scanning, and the recording device performs a reading operation. 11. The mode according to claim 6, further comprising means for connecting one of the first and second carriages on which the reading sensor is mounted to the carrier for scanning in the mode. The recording device according to claim 1. 12. A recording head and a read sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, the carriage carries the recording head to perform a recording operation, and the carriage has the read sensor. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by scanning the scanning head, if the reading head is mounted on the carriage, the operation for the reading head is performed on the carriage, and the recording head is mounted on the carriage. If the read head or the print head is not mounted on the carriage, the recording apparatus is provided with means for performing an abnormality process. . 13. A recording head mountable on at least one of the first and second carriages, wherein the recording head and the reading sensor are interchangeably mounted on the first and second carriages. A recording device having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, if the reading head is mounted on the carriage, If the recording head is mounted on the carriage, the operation for the recording head is performed on the carriage, and if the reading head or the recording head is not mounted on the carriage, an error occurs. A recording apparatus comprising means for performing processing. 14. The operation for the read head with respect to the carriage is a mode in which the recovery means for the recording head is not operated, and the abnormality processing is to notify the user by the display means of the recording apparatus. The recording device according to claim 12, wherein the recording device is a recording device. 15. A printhead and a read sensor are provided in a replaceable carriage, the carriage carries the printhead to perform a printing operation, and the carriage has the read sensor. In a recording apparatus that performs a reading operation by scanning by scanning, a mode in which recovery means for the recording head is applied to the carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and A recording apparatus comprising means for switching between a mode for stopping the operation of the recovery means for the recording head and a mode for stopping the operation. 16. A first and second carriage on which a recording head can be mounted and at least one of which the recording head and a reading sensor are interchangeably mounted, and a first carriage which receives a driving force to perform scanning, and the first carriage. In a recording apparatus having a scanning type carrier that is movable integrally with at least one of the second carriages, the recovery means for the recording heads acts on the carriage on which the recording heads are mounted. A recording apparatus comprising: a mode for switching between a mode and a mode for stopping the operation of the recovery unit for the recording head with respect to the carriage on which the reading head is mounted.