JPH08265470A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an economical, compact, high speed, and highly efficient facsimile equipment and to prevent a communication chance from being lost by storing received picture data in a memory means when the ambient temperature is lower than a 1st set temperature. CONSTITUTION: The facsimile equipment is provided with a receiver 2 for receiving picture data, a recorder 4 for recording the data received by the receiver 2 on recording paper, a memory device 5 for storing the data received by the receiver 2, and a temperature detecting circuit 7 for detecting an ambient temperature. The recorder 4 is an inject recording type. When the ambient temperature detected by the circuit 7 is lower than the 1st set temperature, the picture data received by the receiver 2 are stored in the memory device 5 by a control circuit 3. When the detected ambient temperature becomes less than the 1st set temperature, the received picture data are stored in the device 5, so that defective reception due to the undischarging phenomenon of the inject recorder 4 at a low temperature can be evaded and the storage of the received picture data is displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine which uses an ink jet recording system as recording means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus having a recording means of a thermal recording system has been widely used. However, in a facsimile apparatus having a recording unit of a thermal recording system, there is a problem in that the storability of recorded results is poor. Therefore, there are provided a facsimile apparatus having an electrophotographic recording means capable of using plain paper, a facsimile apparatus having a thermal transfer recording type recording means capable of similarly using plain paper, and the like. However, the electrophotographic recording means has problems that the recording method is complicated, the apparatus is large, and power consumption is large. Further, the recording means of the thermal transfer recording system consumes a large amount of power, and the transfer ribbon is not used efficiently,
There are problems such as poor economic efficiency. Therefore, in recent years, a facsimile apparatus using a recording means of an inkjet recording system, which is capable of recording on plain paper, small in size, low in power consumption, and excellent in economical efficiency, has been provided in recent years.

Facsimile devices normally receive automatically,
Since the records are made and they are also operating at night, the receiving side often confirms the records after the fact. For this reason,
The reliability of the recording means is important. However, the ink jet recording method is a means capable of providing a facsimile apparatus which is small in size, low in power consumption, and excellent in economical efficiency. In addition, the viscosity of the ink increases at a low temperature, and a non-ejection phenomenon such as unstable ejection is likely to occur. To solve this problem, cover the nozzles that eject ink with a cap, etc., to prevent clogging except when recording, or install a device to clear the clogging with a pump, etc. I am responding. On the other hand, the facsimile machine
As described above, since it is generally operating even at night, it is often exposed to low temperatures. As a measure against low temperature, increased viscosity of ink, unstable ejection, and eventually defective ejection, increase the temperature with a heater or the like.
It has been proposed to detect the non-ejection of ink by using the non-ejection detecting means disclosed in JP-A-56-24868 and JP-A-3-244546, and to perform communication line interruption and proxy reception.

[0004]

However, the conventional facsimile machine has the following problems.

In the case of the method of raising the temperature with a heater,
Electricity-heat conversion is required, and much electric power is required. In particular, in the case of a facsimile machine, there are many problems that it is inferior in economic efficiency because it is always in operation.

Further, when the non-ejection detecting means is provided, a device for performing non-ejection detection is required, which makes the device expensive. A region for performing non-ejection detection is required, and the device becomes large. The time for performing non-ejection detection at the time of recording becomes necessary, and the total operation speed becomes slow. Have problems such as.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable facsimile apparatus which is economical, small-sized, high-speed, highly reliable and does not miss a communication opportunity.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a receiving means for receiving image data, a recording means for recording the data received by the receiving means on a recording paper, and the receiving means. In a facsimile apparatus of the ink jet recording system, wherein the recording unit has a memory unit for storing the data received by the temperature detecting unit, and a temperature detecting unit for detecting the environmental temperature. When the temperature is lower than the set temperature of 1, the image data received by the receiving means is stored in the memory means.

Further, when the environmental temperature detected by the temperature detecting means becomes equal to or higher than the second preset temperature higher than the first preset temperature, the image data stored in the memory means is recorded in the ink jet recording system. It has a control means for recording on the recording sheet by the recording means.

Further, when the image data is stored, it is characterized by having display means for displaying the state.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a top view of a recording apparatus. Reference numeral 1 is a telephone line for transmitting and receiving processed signals, image data and the like. Processing sent from the other side facsimile machine (not shown),
The image data is demodulated and decoded by the receiving circuit 2 and sent to the control circuit 3. The transmission / reception procedure is performed according to the procedure recommended by ITU-T. Control circuit 3
Is composed of a microcomputer or the like, and controls the operation of the entire facsimile apparatus. A recording device 4 outputs a hard copy of the received image data, a report of communication results, and the like, and is an inkjet recording system recording device. The received image data is converted into data to be printed by the recording device 4 by the control circuit 3. The recording device 4 performs hard copy or the like based on the data and the recording device control signal. Reference numeral 41 denotes an inkjet head for ejecting ink, which is supplied with ink from an ink tank 42. The inkjet head 41 and the ink tank 42 are mounted on a carriage (not shown), and are driven left and right by a drive motor 46 via a drive belt 45. 43 is a cap device and 44 is a pump device. Inkjet head 41 except when recording
Is capped by the cap device 43 to prevent ink evaporation and nozzle drying. Further, when the ink tank 42 is replaced, the ink is sucked by the pump device 44, and bubbles or the like are removed from the inkjet head 41. Reference numeral 47 denotes a recording paper, which is a recording device of an inkjet recording system, and thus plain paper such as PPC paper can be used. In addition, a plurality of sheets are held in order not to miss a communication opportunity. During recording, the paper feeding device 48
Thus, the leaves are separated and fed to the recording unit. After the recording paper is fed to the recording unit, the inkjet head 41 records the image data.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a memory device, which is controlled by the control device 3 and stores the received image data as necessary,
It can be erased. As a memory device, FD
A rotary recording device such as D, HDD, ODD, or a semiconductor memory can be used.

A display device 6 is controlled by the control circuit 3. It is possible to display various information such as the status of the facsimile device, the communication result, the destination number, and the like. An LCD having low power consumption is generally used as a display device.

Reference numeral 7 is a temperature detection circuit for detecting the ambient temperature, which is composed of a thermistor and an AD conversion circuit. The ambient temperature is analog-detected by a thermistor, and the analog value is converted to a digital value by an AD conversion circuit.
Send to the control circuit 3. In the present invention, it is desirable to install at least a thermistor near the inkjet head 41 and the ink tank 42.

Although not shown in this embodiment, an image reading device for converting an image to be transmitted into an electric signal, an ITU-type electric signal, and a transmission signal are also used as a facsimile device. Convert to U recommended procedure, code,
It is provided with a transmission circuit for performing transmission, an input device for inputting a destination number, a transmission start, etc., and is controlled by the control circuit 3.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature and the viscosity of the ink used in the ink jet recording type recording apparatus used in the embodiment of the present invention. The horizontal axis represents the temperature of the ink and the unit is Celsius. The vertical axis is viscosity,
The unit is mPa second. This ink uses water as a solvent. Although some inks use an organic solvent as a solvent, an aqueous ink is generally used in terms of safety and economy. Dye is added as a solute to produce black or other colors. In addition to this, the inkjet head 41, a moisturizer for preventing the ink from drying in the ink tank 42, and the ink on the recording paper are quickly added to the ink. Surfactants for permeating and drying are added. The respective component ratios are about 78% by weight of water, about 4% by weight of dye, about 15% by weight of humectant, and the balance is surfactant and the like.

Looking at the relationship between the viscosity and the temperature of the ink, since water is used as the solvent, the viscosity of the ink increases significantly near 5 ° C. When the viscosity of the ink increases, the resistance at the time of ejecting the ink increases, the ejection becomes unstable, and ejection failure may occur. The temperature varies depending on the ejection capacity of the inkjet head, but generally 5
Ejection failure is likely to occur at ℃ or below.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. When the ambient temperature T is detected by the temperature detection circuit 7 and the ambient temperature T becomes equal to or lower than the first set temperature T1, the hard copy output to the recording device 4 is stopped and the received image data is stored in the memory device 5. Remember. At this time, the display device 6 displays that the image data is stored in the memory device 5. The operator can know that the image data received by the display device 6 is being received by the memory device 5 instead of being output to the recording device 4, and in that case, a means such as raising the room temperature is taken. Things are possible. Further, since the facsimile device stores the received image data in the memory device 5 and performs a normal receiving process, the transmitting operator does not need to perform a troublesome operation such as retransmission. Since no hard copy is output to the recording device 4, waste of recording paper due to misprinting due to ejection failure at low temperature is eliminated. The first set temperature T1 is set by the relationship between the temperature and viscosity of the ink composition and the capability of the inkjet head. In this embodiment, 3 ° C. is the first set temperature T1.

Next, a case will be described in which the environmental temperature T, which once becomes equal to or lower than the first set temperature T1, rises. The second set temperature T2 is set to a temperature higher than the first set temperature T1. In the present embodiment, the second set temperature T2 is set to 5
It is set to ℃. When the environmental temperature T is detected by the temperature detection circuit 7 and the environmental temperature T becomes equal to or higher than the second set temperature T2, the control circuit 3 checks whether the image data is stored in the memory device 5. When the image data is stored in the memory device 5, the control circuit 3 calls the image data stored in the memory device 5 and outputs it to the recording device 4. After outputting the image data to the recording device 4, the image data stored in the memory device 5 is erased and the display of the display device 6 is erased. Since the output to the recording device 4 is automatically performed when the environmental temperature rises, the operator can obtain a hard copy of the transmitted image data without bothering the operator. If the image data is not stored in the memory device 5, the image data is transmitted to the recording device 4 as an ordinary facsimile device when the image data is transmitted.

The second set temperature T2 is replaced by the first set temperature T
Since it is set to be slightly higher than 1 and has a hysteresis, it is possible to prevent confusion of switching between the recording device 4 and the memory device 5 in a transient state. Further, the ink is a liquid, and particularly in the case of water-based ink, a difference between the environmental temperature and the ink temperature occurs due to the specific heat. In general, water is hard to warm, so by setting the second set temperature T2 higher than the first set temperature T1, it is possible to obtain the time for the ink to warm, and it is possible to avoid an unstable ejection temperature.

In this embodiment, the recording means and the memory means are switched depending on the environmental temperature before reception.
Once stored in the memory means, depending on the environmental temperature conditions,
The output to the recording means and the storage continuation to the memory means may be switched. Further, in the present embodiment, the serial type inkjet recording type recording apparatus is used, but the same effect can be obtained even with the line type inkjet recording type recording apparatus.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the ambient temperature is detected and the temperature becomes lower than the first preset temperature, the received image data is stored in the memory means. It is possible to avoid reception failure due to the non-ejection phenomenon. Further, since the stored information is displayed, the operator can take a recovery action. Further, when the temperature becomes equal to or higher than the second set temperature, the output is automatically made to the recording means, so that the operator's hand is not bothered. As described above, the present invention can provide a facsimile apparatus that can avoid the non-ejection phenomenon at low temperature, which is a drawback of the inkjet recording apparatus, and that does not miss the communication opportunity with a simple circuit for temperature detection. It is possible to provide a highly reliable facsimile apparatus which is economical, small-sized, high-speed, highly reliable, and does not miss a communication opportunity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an inkjet recording type recording apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a relationship diagram of temperature and viscosity of ink used in an example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Telephone line 2 ... Receiving device 3 ... Control circuit 4 ... Recording device 41 ... Inkjet head 42 ... Ink tank 43 ... Cap device 44 ... Pump device 5. ..Memory device 6 ... Display device 7 ... Temperature detection circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 2/125 B41J 3/04 104K H04N 1/23 101

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving image data, a recording means for recording the data received by the receiving means on a recording sheet, a memory means for storing the data received by the receiving means, and an environmental temperature. In a facsimile apparatus having a temperature detecting unit and the recording unit being an ink jet recording system, when the environmental temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit is lower than a first set temperature, the receiving unit receives the temperature. A facsimile apparatus having control means for storing image data in the memory means. 2. The image stored in the memory means according to claim 1, wherein when the environmental temperature detected by the temperature detecting means becomes equal to or higher than a second set temperature higher than the first set temperature. A facsimile apparatus having control means for recording data on the recording paper by the recording means of the inkjet recording system. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the status of image data stored.