JPH09104106A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform recording under recording conditions corresponding to a case using inks different in characteristics to apply recording, for example, to a fabric by one apparatus. SOLUTION: An ink jet recording apparatus is equipped with a means recognizing the kind of the ink emitted from a recording head, the recording mode preset to the kind of ink and a control means 15 selecting the recording mode preset to the ink of the ink recognized by a recognition means to perform control so as to execute recording according to this mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an inkjet recording apparatus suitable for a textile recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a typical method of recording on a cloth or wallpaper, there is known a screen printing method in which a silk screen plate is used to directly print on a cloth or the like. In this printing method, first, for the original image to be printed, a silk screen plate is created for each color used in the original image, these silk screen plates are mounted on a screen printing device, and the mesh of the silk screen plate is printed. Recording is performed by directly transferring the ink to a cloth or the like through.

By the way, in such a screen printing apparatus, a lot of man-hours and days are required to prepare the silk screen plate in advance, and the work such as the preparation of the ink of each color and the alignment of the silk screen plate for each color are performed. Also takes. In addition, the device is large and requires a large installation space in proportion to the number of colors to be used, and a storage space for the silk screen plate is required.

Therefore, an ink jet recording system has been proposed in which an image is directly recorded on a recording material such as cloth or wallpaper. Such an ink jet recording apparatus is one in which minute ink droplets are ejected toward a recording material such as cloth from an ejection port provided in the inkjet recording means and landed on the recording material to record an image. According to the new ink jet recording method, the screen plate required in the conventional screen printing device is not required, and the process and the number of days until the image is formed on the cloth can be significantly reduced, and the device can be downsized. Benefits are obtained.

Further, the image information for printing can be stored in a small storage medium such as a tape, a flexible disk, an optical disk, etc. Therefore, the storability and the storability of the image information are excellent, and the color arrangement of the original image can be changed. There is also an advantage that processing such as layout change, enlargement and reduction can be easily performed.

[0006]

However, when ink-jet printing is performed on a cloth or the like by such a conventional method, the cloth to be dyed is a natural fiber such as cotton, silk or wool, nylon, rayon, polyester or the like. There are a wide variety of synthetic fibers, and blended products of these fibers.

Therefore, there are various dyes for dyeing these fibers, for example, reactive dyes for cotton and silk, acid dyes for nylon, disperse dyes for polyester fibers, metal complex dyes for wool, and cotton. Requires the use of various colorants such as vat dyes or pigments.

On the other hand, even in these dyes, the reactive or acidic dyes are water-soluble, whereas the dispersion, metal complex salt, vat dye or pigment is hardly soluble or insoluble in water. The characteristics are different, and the physical properties and characteristics of the ink itself are also different.

Therefore, when a plurality of kinds of inks are used to record on a cloth, for example, by a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, a dedicated device for each ink is used, and usage conditions suitable for each ink are individually set. Then, I had no choice but to operate it.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus suitable for textile printing, which can properly use various kinds of various inks in one apparatus.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink type recognizing means capable of inputting and / or recognizing a recording ink type ejected from a recording head, and the ink type A preset recording mode,
It is characterized by further comprising: control means for selecting a preset recording mode according to the ink type recognized by the ink type recognizing means, and controlling to execute recording in accordance with the recording mode. .

According to the present invention, when the ink type is recognized by the ink recognizing means, the recording mode preset by the control means is selected by the control means in accordance with the recognized type of ink. Printing is performed in accordance with the printing mode, and when printing is performed using inks having different characteristics, it is not necessary to separately use the inkjet printing apparatuses, and one inkjet printing apparatus can be used by a user. It can be used freely according to the purpose of.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the construction of a serial type ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. Where 1
Is a carriage, and 2 is an ink jet recording head mounted on the carriage 1. In this example, four color inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (Bk) are individually Ejectable color inkjet recording heads 2C, 2M, 2Y and 2B
k are mounted in parallel on the carriage 1. Reference numeral 3 is a guide shaft for guiding the movement scanning of the carriage 1, 4 is a timing belt for connecting the carriage 1 to move the carriage 1, and 5 is a pulse motor for driving a belt which is driven via a motor driver 5A. . 6 is cloth or O
A recording material (hereinafter referred to as a recording sheet) on which color recording is performed, including an HP film, 7 is a conveying roller for conveying the recording sheet 6 and feeding the sheet 8,
A and 8B are guide rollers for holding the recording sheet 6 at the recording position, and 9 is a conveying motor.

Each of the recording heads 2C, 2M, 2Y and 2Bk ejects ink toward the recording sheet 6, a liquid passage communicating with the ejection port, and ejection energy arranged in each liquid passage. It has a generating element such as an electrothermal converter (all of which are not shown). 11C, 11
M, 11Y and 11Bk are recording heads 2C, 2M and 2
Ink tanks for supplying respective color inks to Y and 2Bk, 12C, 12M, 12Y and 12Bk are ink supply tubes, 13C, 13M, 13Y and 1
3Bk is a flexible cable for sending ink ejection signals to the recording heads 2C, 2M, 2Y and 2Bk via the respective head drivers 14C, 14M, 14Y and 14Bk, and 15 has a CPU function and various memories, and recording It is a control circuit that controls the entire apparatus.

Each of the recording heads 2C to 2Bk is provided with a temperature detecting means 16 and a head heater 17, and by inputting each detection signal from the temperature detecting means 16 to the control circuit 15, these are detected. Each head heater 17 is heated by the power supply 19 via the driver 18 based on the detection signal, and the temperatures of the recording heads 2C to 2Bk are controlled. Reference numeral 20 is a capping means, 21 is a cap member thereof, and each recording head 2C when not recording.
The capping means 20 is driven forward via the cap driver 22 in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 15 so that the cap member 21 is brought into close contact with the ink discharge port surface (not shown here) of 2 to Bk. This means that each recording head 2C-
If the 2Bk ink ejection port surface is left in the air for a long time, the ink in the liquid path evaporates and the viscosity increases, and ejection becomes unstable. Therefore, capping is performed by performing the above-described capping during non-recording. The high humidity is maintained by the liquid absorbing material (not shown) provided in the member 21.

Reference numeral 30 will be described in detail later.
Cleaning means having a porous elastic body wiping member 31 for wiping the 2 Bk ink ejection port surface, 32 is a driver for driving a suction pump or the like (not shown here), 50 is a clogging preventing means, 52 Is a solenoid valve for cleaning the clogging prevention means 50. Further, 60 is a drive source (stirring motor) of a stirring member that stirs the main tank of each ink as described later, and drives the stirring member at a predetermined timing according to a signal from the control circuit 15. Reference numeral 70 denotes an input / display unit capable of inputting and displaying a command relating to recording and the like, and reference numeral 80 denotes an image transfer means capable of externally transferring recorded image data and receiving image data from the outside.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3, an ink stirring member is provided,
Further, an ink supply system capable of forcibly supplying and circulating ink to the recording head 2 during the recovery operation will be described. The ink supply system stores each color ink in each tank and supplies the corresponding ink from the main tank to the recording heads 2C, 2M, 2Y and 2Bk via the sub tanks, and is provided for each color ink. In FIG. 3, 101 is a main tank capable of storing a large amount of each color ink, 61 is a large amount of ink stored in the main tank 101, and, for example, a hardly soluble or insoluble ink dye is aggregated or settled in water. It is an ink agitating unit for preventing the ink from being driven and is driven by the drive source 60 at a predetermined timing described later. Thus, each ink is supplied to each ink tank (sub-tank) 11 by the pump 103 through the supply tube 102 while preventing the ink dye from precipitating.

Further, 104 is provided in the sub tank 11, and is a pressure pump for forcibly circulating or discharging the ink in the recording head 2 during the recovery operation of the recording head 2.
Reference numeral 5 is the circulation tube. For example, if the recording head 2 is left in the capping state for a long time, there is a risk of thickening due to evaporation of water or solvent in the head 2. In addition, bubbles may remain in the liquid path leading to the ink ejection port. Therefore, the pressure pump 104 is driven to pressurize the ink immediately after turning on the power to the recording apparatus, at the start of recording, or during recording, and the thickened ink and residual bubbles are discharged to the outside of the head, and the ejection port surface is further discharged. It is possible to wash dust and the like adhering to. 106 and 107 are main tanks 1
01 and the sub tank 11 are water level detection sensors for detecting the remaining amount of ink.
Ink is replenished based on the detection signals from 6, 107. In each sub-tank 11, it is necessary to stabilize the ejection by keeping the head difference with the recording head 2 always constant. Reference numeral 108 denotes an ink return pipe for keeping the water level in the sub-tank 11 constant, and Reference numeral 109 is an ink supply container having a supply inlet 110.

The clogging prevention means 50 is a recording head 2C-2.
Each of the inks is ejected when the preliminary ejection operation is performed on Bk. As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning unit 30 and the recording start point P _{0 at} which the recording heads 2C to 2Bk start recording. It is arranged in between. Reference numeral 51 denotes a liquid receiving portion that receives the waste ink discharged by preliminary ejection, and the liquid receiving portion 51 stores an ink absorbing member that absorbs the waste ink, although not shown.

In FIG. 4, the recording heads 2C and 2C
The carriage 1 having M, 2Y, and 2Bk mounted therein has ink ejection ports (columns) 23C, 23M, 23Y, and 2 of the respective print heads between the print areas P from the start point P ₀ to the print end point P _1.
Ink of each color is ejected from 3Bk for recording, and these ink ejection ports (columns) 23C to 23Bk are ejected.
The capping operation is performed at the time point when is guided to the opposite position of the cap member 21. Reference numeral 24 denotes a capping position detection sensor that detects that the carriage 1 has been guided to the capping position while reciprocatingly scanning the carriage 1 in the directions indicated by arrows E and D.
2Bk is a preliminary ejection position detection sensor that detects when 2Bk is guided to a position opposite to the clogging prevention means 50 to prevent clogging, and 26 is a recording start that detects that it is also guided to the recording start position. It is a position detection sensor.

Next, the structure of the cleaning means 30 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The cleaning member 31 of the cleaning means 30 is
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the recording head 2 is provided so as to protrude from the ink ejection port surface 23A toward the head 2 by the amount L, and is formed of a flexible porous body of elastic body. There is. As a material thereof, a volume change is not remarkable due to absorption of ink mist, such as a polymer foam, and the volume is not changed by absorption. For example, a foam-formol resin-based material can be mentioned as a preferable example. . 33 is a holder that supports the wiping member 31 between it and the fixed plate 34, and 35 is a mounting screw for the fixed plate 34. The holder 33 guides the cleaning liquid containing the ink wiped by the wiping member 31 to the holder 33. A guide opening 33 </ b> A formed in a vertical direction along the holder 33 and a conducting path 33 </ b> B for guiding the ink to the suction tube 36 through the guide opening 33 </ b> A are provided.

In the cleaning operation by the cleaning means 30 having such a structure, the carriage 1 for fixing and holding each recording head 2 (2C to 2Bk) in the holder moves from the capping position (see FIG. 4) in the direction indicated by the arrow D. As shown in FIG. 7, the tip portion 31A of the wiping member 31 is bent and brought into contact with the head holder surface 23A and the ejection port surfaces 23Bk to 23C, and the surfaces are cleaned with a cleaning liquid to suck the suction pump 3
2 can be sucked and discharged. However, instead of the suction pump, a porous member or a fibrous member may be connected to the wiping member 31 so as to be discharged. Thus, by appropriately reducing the amount of the cleaning liquid remaining on the wiping member 31, its suction ability can be restored.

As shown in FIG. 6, above the cleaning member 31, a cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 37, a cleaning liquid tank 38, and a cleaning liquid supply tube 40 for guiding the cleaning liquid 39 from the cleaning liquid tank 38 to the cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 37 in the direction of arrow B, Further, there is provided an electromagnetic valve 41 which is opened at the time of wiping by a signal from the control circuit 15 shown in FIG. Further, 42 is wiped by the cleaning liquid 39 and the wiping member 31 which are not completely absorbed by the wiping member 31 when the cleaning liquid 39 is supplied to the wiping member 31 and when the wiping member 31 wipes the head ink ejection port surface 23. Of the adhered ink and the cleaning liquid mixed with dust, a receiving tray for receiving a liquid that is not completely recovered by the suction pump 32 (referred to as waste liquid), and 43 is for guiding the above-mentioned waste liquid from the receiving tray 42 to a waste liquid tank (not shown). It is a discharge tube.

The procedure of each operation in the ink jet recording apparatus will be described below. As described above, in FIG. 4, the recording start position detection sensor 26 and the capping position detection sensor 24 are respectively the recording head 2
It is detected that C, 2M, 2Y and 2Bk are at the predetermined recording start position and capping position. Further, the preliminary ejection position detection sensor 25 includes heads 2C, 2M, 2Y, 2B.
The reference position of the preliminary ejection operation performed while k is moving in the scanning direction is detected.

FIG. 8 shows a sequence of the function maintenance operation of the recording and recording head 2 according to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration. First, during standby before recording, the recording head 2C,
2M, 2Y, 2Bk discharge port surfaces 23C, 23M, 23
Y and 23Bk are capped by the capping means 20. When a recording start signal is input to the control circuit 15 in such a standby state, the ink pressurization circulation is started by the pump 104 shown in FIG. 3 in step S1 and after that, the cap member 21 is capped in the next step S2. It is driven in the opening direction by the driver 22.

In parallel with the above-described ink pressurizing and circulating operation, in step S3, the cleaning member 31 is simultaneously cleaned with the cleaning liquid 39. As a result of this cleaning, the thickened ink, foreign matter, etc. adhering to the cleaning member 31 are cleaned with the cleaning liquid. Rinse with 39 (see Figure 6).

Next, in step S4, the cleaning liquid 39 is sucked by the pump 32, so that the amount of the cleaning liquid 39 remaining on the cleaning member 31 is appropriately reduced, and the ability to repair ink, foreign matters, etc. is improved, and cleaning is performed. The effect can be enhanced. Further, by sucking the cleaning liquid 39, a negative pressure due to a capillary phenomenon can be generated inside the porous body that is the cleaning member 31, and this negative pressure is made larger than the negative pressure applied to the ejection port of the head 2. By doing so, the state where the ink is easily sucked from the ink discharge port and the liquid passage at the time of cleaning is prevented, so that the cleaning liquid 39 is prevented from entering the liquid chamber. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain the effect that the ink suction capability inside the liquid passage is generated, and at the same time, it contributes to the removal of the thickened ink inside the liquid passage.

Next, when a drive signal is supplied via the motor driver 5A, the drive of the drive motor 5 is transmitted to the carriage 1 via the belt 4, the carriage 1 is driven, and the head 2 starts reciprocating movement. To do. Thus, in step S5, the ejection port surface 23 is sequentially wiped by the cleaning member 31 when the carriage 1 passes the position of the cleaning means 30 as shown in FIG. 7, and cleaning is performed. Note that the above-mentioned wiping refers to wiping and cleaning the cleaning liquid 39, ink, foreign matter, and the like on the ejection port surface 23.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the ejection port surface 23 is wiped by the cleaning member 31, since the cleaning member 31 has flexibility, the cleaning member 31 falls in the same direction as the carriage 1 moves in the D direction and is weak. Due to the repulsive force, the cleaning surface 31A causes the discharge port surface 23
Is wiped and cleaning is performed. Therefore, even if there is a step between the surface 23A of the head holder and the ejection port surface 23, the cleaning effect is not affected.

Particularly, since the edge portion 31B of the cleaning member 31 enters the concave portion of the holder surface 23A at this time, the holder surface 23A
It is possible to clean even the stepped portion between the discharge port surface 23 and the discharge port surface 23.

After that, the process proceeds to step S6 and the recording start detection position P ₀ detected by the recording start position detection sensor 26 is detected.
From, the ink droplets are ejected while traveling in the direction of the arrow D, and image recording is performed on the recording area P of the recording sheet 6.

At the same time, the cleaning member 31 is cleaned in step S7, and the cleaning liquid 39 is sucked in subsequent step S8 to restore the cleaning function of the cleaning member 31. Thereafter, the carriage 1 is reversed, driven in the direction of arrow E, and the preliminary discharge operation is performed while passing the preliminary discharge position (the position of the clogging prevention means 50) in step S9.
The preliminary ejection here is performed on the liquid receiving portion 51, and then the recording sheet 6 is conveyed by the width of the recording area P in the arrow F direction.

Next, in step S10, it is judged whether or not the image recording is completed. If the result is negative, step S1
It proceeds to step 1 and determines whether 100-line recording has been completed. Then, in the case of negative determination here, step S
Returning to step 5, the operation of step S6 and subsequent steps is repeated. At this time, since the wiping surface 31A of the cleaning member 31 is wiped by the forward movement, only the one wiping surface 31A that has once become dirty only wipes the ejection port surface 23 and does not adversely affect the cleaning effect. Not only that, but the cleaning effect is doubled.

On the other hand, step S10 or step S1
If the answer is 1 in the affirmative, the process proceeds to step S12 where the ejection port surface 23 of the head 2 is capped by the capping means 20 and sealed.

[0036]

EXAMPLES The compositional contents of the reactive dye ink and the disperse dye ink applied to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention will be described below.

1. Reactive dye ink: Reactive dye (below) 4 to 20 parts Thiodiglycol 24 parts Diethylene glycol 11 parts Potassium chloride 0.004 parts Sodium sulfate 0.002 parts Sodium metasilicate 0.001 parts Iron chloride 0.0005 parts Water 45 to 61 parts The dyes used are as follows.

Yellow ink C.I. I. Reactive Yellow 95. Red ink C.I. I. Reactive Red 218 Blue ink C.I. I. Reactive Blue 49 / Green ink C.I. I. Reactive Green 8 Black ink C.I. I. Reactive Black 39 Each of the above components was mixed (so that the total amount of the reactive dye and water was 65 parts), the pH of the mixed solution was adjusted to 8.4 with sodium hydroxide, and the mixture was stirred for 2 hours. A reactive dye ink was obtained by filtering with a Pore Filter FP-100 (trade name, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.).

[0039] 2. Disperse dye ink: (a) Disperse dye liquid: β-naphthalenesulfonic acid formaldehyde condensate 20 parts Ion-exchanged water 55 parts Diethylene glycol 10 parts The above components are mixed, and 15 parts of the following disperse dyes are newly added to the solution. (That is, three types of solutions were prepared), premixing was performed for 30 minutes, and then dispersion treatment was performed under the following conditions. All parts and% shown below are based on weight unless otherwise specified.

(B) Disperse dyes: C.I. I. Disperse Yellow 198 C.I. I. Disperse Red 88 C.I. I. Disperse Blue 60 Disperser: Sand grinder (Igarashi Kikai) Grinding media: Zirconium beads 1 mm diameter Grinding media filling rate: 50% (volume basis) Grinding time: 3 hours Further, Fluoropore Filter FP-250 (trade name,
By filtering with Sumitomo Electric Co., Ltd., coarse particles were removed to obtain a disperse dye solution.

(C) Preparation of ink: 40 parts of the above disperse dye solution, 24 parts of thiodiglycol, 11 parts of diethylene glycol, 0.0005 parts of sodium metasilicate, 0.001 parts of iron sulfate, 0.0003 parts of nickel chloride, and sulfuric acid. Zinc 0.0003 parts ・ Calcium chloride 0.002 parts ・ Ion-exchanged water 25 parts Mix all the above components and pour the mixture with sodium hydroxide.
The mixture was adjusted to H7-9, stirred for 2 hours, and then filtered through Fluoropore Filter FP-100 (trade name, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.) to obtain a disperse dye ink.

Next, with respect to the ink types 1 and 2, the recording head drive conditions set under conditions suitable for the characteristics of the ink used and various operation parameters relating to recovery will be described.

3. Recording head drive conditions: head drive pulse; voltage 24 V, pulse width 3 to 2
0 μs head temperature control temperature; 20 to 60 ° C. drive frequency; 0.5 to 8 kHz (recording density; 200 to 1200 dpi) 4. Conditions for large rotation (recovery including ink circulation operation performed in capping state) operation: large recovery operation insertion count; once every n lines ink pressurization time: 0 to 60 seconds Wiping speed during large recovery: 20 to 400 mm / s 5. 5. Conditions during middle recovery operation: Number of times of middle recovery operation insertion; once every m lines; preliminary ejection; 0 to 50000 shots; wiping speed during middle recovery; 20 to 400 mm / s 6. Wiping operation conditions: Wiping operation insertion count; once per line Wiping speed: 20 to 400 mm / s 7. Preliminary ejection operation conditions Preliminary ejection operation insertion count: Once per Y line Preliminary ejection count: 0 to 2000 shots 8. Bubble removing operation conditions: Ink pressurizing time: 0 to 60 seconds Ink pressurizing motor rotation speed; 0 to 400 pps Bubble removing operation insertion number; 1 time for each X line 9. Ink stirring operation condition: Main tank stirring motor rotation speed: 0 to 400p
ps Main tank agitating motor operating time: 0 to 600 seconds Main tank agitating motor operating timing; T Once every ₁ hour 10. Output γ table The various operating parameters related to the print head driving conditions and recovery are preset for each ink type according to the characteristics of the ink type, and can be input manually by the ink type recognition means described below or by the operator. It is automatically selected according to the recognized ink type.

The medium recovery operation of 5 is a recovery operation mainly performed when the ink type is a disperse dye ink, and the purpose is to discharge a dispersion disruption product generated when the disperse dye is heated from the ink discharge port. However, it is a more effective means for discharging the dispersion destruction product than discharging the ink by pressurizing the ink.

The operation is a preliminary ejection operation having a larger number of shots than the normal preliminary ejection operation, but the normal preliminary ejection operation whose main purpose is to prevent thickening of the ink by periodically ejecting the ink. The purpose is different from the operation.

For the purpose, the normal preliminary discharge operation is required once every several lines, but in the middle recovery,
It is suitable to carry out once every several tens to several hundreds of lines within a range in which the dispersed debris can be removed from the ink ejection port.

The wiping operation in the middle recovery operation is intended to prevent a part of a large amount of ink ejected during the middle recovery operation from remaining on the ink ejection port surface of the head and adversely affecting printing. The wiping operation is performed similarly to the large recovery operation to bring the ink ejection port surface into a normal state.

Next, when the ink type is a disperse dye ink,
The procedure of the ink agitation operation, which is performed at the same time as the power supply to the apparatus main body is turned on, and thereafter at every predetermined set time T ₁ during recording, will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

In FIG. 9, in this flow which is started by turning on the power source of the apparatus, first, in step S21, all functional members involved in recording such as temperature control of the electric system and recording head are initialized, and in step S22, recording standby is performed. Next, recording is started in step S23. At the same time as the above-mentioned initialization, step S2
Under the conditions shown in item 8 above, the main tank (Fig.
(See reference numeral 101), the stirring operation of 101 is performed, and at the time point when the stirring is finished, the clocking for the next stirring operation is started in step S25, and the process proceeds to step S26. Then, here, it is judged whether or not the measured time T exceeds a preset predetermined limit time T _1, and if the result is affirmative, the main tank 1 is restarted in step S27.
After stirring 01, the process returns to step S25. On the other hand, when the result in step S26 is negative, that is, when the measured time T is less than the predetermined limit time T ₁ , it is further determined in step S28 whether or not the recording is finished. If it is determined that the recording is finished, this flow is finished. To do. If not completed, step S2
Returning to step 6, the following steps are repeated.

FIG. 1 shows the procedure for setting the respective operating conditions 3 to 9 according to the ink types 1 and 2 according to the present invention, and such setting also starts the recording operation. Will be preceded by. The operating condition corresponding to the ink type is appropriately set within the range shown in 3 to 9 depending on the type of ink, and the set condition is, for example, that of the control circuit 15 so as to be writable and readable. The procedure of each control operation according to the present invention is also stored in the storage means included therein, and is also stored in the storage means ROM included in the control circuit 15. Furthermore, the designation or discrimination of the ink type is
It may be performed by a user's input from the input unit 70 shown in FIG. 2 or reading from an ink tank or the like.

In FIG. 1, when the apparatus main body is powered on, the ink type is discriminated in step S100 as described above. In this embodiment, two types of inks, reactive dye ink and disperse dye ink, are used, and the following flow is also performed accordingly. It should be noted that each step within the range outlined in FIG. 1 is related to the present invention.

In step S200, the type of ink is determined, that is, whether the ink used is a reactive dye ink or a disperse dye ink. If it is determined to be reactive dye ink, the process proceeds to step S300, and if it is determined to be disperse dye ink, the process proceeds to step S400, and the conditions described in each frame are set. It should be noted that the respective operating conditions described above are set within the ranges shown in the above 3 to 9, respectively, and among these operations, the ink stirring operation is performed in the case of disperse dye ink in which the ink dye is apt to aggregate or settle. It will be done only for a limited time. Thus, step S30
0 or step S400 after the conditions are set in step S400
Parameter selection processing for each operation is performed at 500, and the process proceeds to step S600 to start a recording operation.

The ink type determining means changes the shape of the ink inlet 109 of the ink supply container 110 for supplying ink to the main tank 101 according to the ink type, as shown in FIG. It may be mechanically detected by the fitting condition of the inlet 109 and the ink receiving port of the main tank 101, or the ink type in the main tank may be determined by optics, electrical conductivity, wettability, viscosity, surface tension, pH, etc. It is also possible to provide a unit for determining

In the embodiment described above, two kinds of ink types, that is, the reactive dye ink and the disperse dye ink, were selected, but the application of the present invention is such a case.
It is needless to say that the type of ink is not limited to this, other types may be selected, and the number of types is not limited to two.

Further, the present invention is widely applied not only for printing but also for general recording.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ink type recognizing means capable of inputting and / or identifying the recording ink type ejected from the recording head, and the ink type previously set. And a control unit for selecting a preset recording mode according to the ink type recognized by the ink type recognizing unit and controlling the recording to be performed according to the recording mode. Depending on the type of ink to be used, the recording operation and the operation conditions related to the maintenance / recovery of the function of the recording head are automatically set under the conditions that match the characteristics of the ink used, and the recording and recording are performed under the set conditions. By performing the recovery operation on the head, different types of ink can be used efficiently according to the optimum usage condition, and ink jet printing suitable for printing recording is particularly effective. It has become possible to provide a Tsu door recording device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a basic control operation for parameter selection according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a configuration according to the present invention together with a perspective view of a recording unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a recording head ink supply system, forced circulation, and an ink stirring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement of a recording head function maintenance and recovery device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross section of a configuration of a cleaning procedure applied to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the overall configuration of the cleaning means shown in FIG. 5 in a cross section in a direction orthogonal to the carriage scanning direction.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state of a wiping operation by the cleaning means shown in FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a wiping operation by the cleaning means shown in FIGS.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a main tank stirring operation applied to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Carriage 2, 2C, 2M, 2Y, 2Bk Recording Head 5 (Belt Driving) Pulse Motor 6 Recording Material (Recording Sheet) 9 Conveying Motor 11C, 11M, 11Y, 11Bk Ink Tank (Sub Tank) 15 Control Circuit 16 Temperature Detection Means 17 Head heater 19 Power supply 20 Capping means 21 Cap member 22 Cap driver 23, 23C, 23M, 23Y, 23Bk Ink ejection port 24 Capping position detection sensor 25 Preliminary ejection position detection sensor 26 Recording start position detection sensor 30 Cleaning means 31 Wiping Member 32 Suction pump 33 Holder 37 Cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 38 Cleaning liquid tank 39 Cleaning liquid 41 Solenoid valve 42 Receiving tray 50 Clogging prevention means 51 Liquid receiving portion 60 Stirring member drive source (stirring motor) 61 Ink stirring means 101 Main tank Pump 103 (for supply) 104 Pressurizing pump

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Kawana 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ink type recognition unit capable of inputting and / or identifying a recording ink type ejected from a recording head, a recording mode preset for the ink type, and an ink type recognition unit. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a control unit that selects a preset recording mode according to the ink type and controls the recording to be performed in accordance with the recording mode. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the recording mode, a suitable driving condition of a recording head that ejects the recognized ink type is set for the ink type. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the recording mode, a recovery operation for the recording head is set for the ink type. 4. At least one of the recording modes includes:
The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation of driving an ink stirring unit provided in an ink supply path to the recording head is set depending on the ink type. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an output gamma table for correcting an output image signal is set for the ink type in the recording mode. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink type is based on a characteristic relating to a dye contained in the ink. 7. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head has an electrothermal converter that generates heat energy as an element that generates energy for ejecting ink. Inkjet recording device. 8. The recording head has a plurality of ejection elements capable of ejecting different color inks for each color, and color recording can be performed with the different color inks according to the ink types. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording material on which recording is performed by ejecting ink from the recording head is a cloth.