JPH0911451A - Ink jet recording equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make the maximum and effective use of a head or a cartridge through the lifetime thereof and to minimize wasteful use of ink by a method wherein the judgement as to whether recording can be executed or not is made in accordance with the conditions of discharge of ink discharge ports. CONSTITUTION: Recording data are once stored in a recording output memory 5 and then supplied to an image processing part 6 simultaneously with the start of a recording operation. The form of the data inputted through an interface 4 is transformed so that it be fit for a recording system of equipment and is transferred to a recording control part 7. The recording control part 1 drives discharge elements of a recording head 10 selectively in conformity with the recording data so as to make them discharge ink and also moves a carriage through the intermediary of a carriage drive part 11 so that recording for one scan be executed in the direction of movement thereof. After the recording for one scan is ended, the recording control part makes a sheet feeding means 12 feed a recording sheet by a prescribed amount in the longitudinal sheet feeding direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus used in a printer, a facsimile or the like for performing recording by selectively ejecting ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus having a plurality of ink ejection ports, if one or a few of the plurality of ink ejection ports have a defective ejection, whether or not recording is to be continued for the time being. , Or the recording head or the cartridge integrated with the recording head was replaced. Therefore, if printing is continued with a print head that is still defectively ejected or is not ejected as in the former case, the image in that portion will be incomplete or missing. Replacing the body type recording head is wasteful because it replaces the entire body even though there are still ink ejection openings that can be used. In particular, in an ink cartridge in which the head is integrated with the ink tank portion, even if ink remains, the entire cartridge must be replaced, which wastes ink.

Further, considering the case of a facsimile machine using such an ink jet recording apparatus, there may be a case where the received information is lost in the above-mentioned state. In the case described later, the recording operation is performed even if reception is made. Therefore, the communication itself must be abandoned or a memory for storing the received data is required.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, if even one of the plurality of ink ejection ports has ejection failure, the quality of the recorded image is impaired. Although the recovery operation is performed as much as possible, the recording head has to be replaced when there is an ejection failure ink ejection port regardless of the recovery operation.

An object of the present invention is to solve various problems of the related art. A first object of the present invention is to set a range in which a recording defect can be tolerated in advance so that the recording defect can be tolerated. Until the range is exceeded, the life of the recording head or the cartridge of the recording head and the ink tank integrated type is effectively utilized to the maximum extent. A second object of the present invention is to continue recording with a simple structure while suppressing a decrease in recording speed to a minimum without causing image loss even when a non-ejection ink ejection port occurs. And
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of effectively utilizing the life of the recording head or the cartridge to the maximum extent.

Still further, a third object of the present invention is to enable recording according to the state of image data as long as there is no missing image data, thereby minimizing the case where the recording operation is stopped. Another object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording apparatus.

[0007]

In order to achieve the first object, a first aspect of the present invention is a recording head which selectively ejects ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports for recording. An ejection detection unit that individually detects ejection of ink from the ink ejection port, and a detection result by the ejection detection unit, whether or not the non-ejection ink ejection port count value exceeds a first predetermined limit value, or Secondly, control means for controlling whether or not recording is performed depending on whether or not the continuous non-ejection ink ejection opening count value in the ejection opening array exceeds a predetermined limit value, and a detection result by the ejection detection means. Based on the above-mentioned control means, a means for warning or displaying whether or not recording is possible is provided.

In order to achieve the second object, a second aspect of the present invention is a recording head for selectively ejecting ink during moving scanning from a plurality of ink ejection ports for ejecting ink for recording. And a sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ink ejection ports for each moving scan.
Ejection detection means for individually detecting ink ejection from the ink ejection openings, and even if non-ejection ink ejection openings are detected as a result of detection by the ejection detection means, non-ejection ink ejection is performed in the ink ejection opening arrangement. It is characterized in that it is provided with a control means for performing recording by the largest continuous ink ejection opening portion not including the outlet and controlling the sheet feeding means to feed the sheet by the recorded amount. is there.

Further, in order to achieve the third object, a third aspect of the present invention is a recording in which ink is selectively ejected from a plurality of ink ejection ports ejecting ink during moving scanning for recording. A head, a sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ink ejection ports for each moving scan, an ejection detection unit that individually detects ejection of ink from the ink ejection port, and the ejection detection unit. When the non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of the detection by, the ink on the downstream side of the sheet feeding following the non-ejection ink ejection port in the array of the ink ejection ports does not depend on the non-ejection ink ejection port. Control means for controlling to perform recording including recording by the non-ejection ink ejection port using the ejection port, or from a plurality of ink ejection ports ejecting ink A recording head that selectively ejects ink during dynamic scanning to perform recording, a sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet in the arrangement direction of the plurality of ink ejection ports for each moving scanning, and an ink from the ink ejection port An ejection detection unit that individually detects ejection, a resolution conversion unit that converts the resolution of image data input from the outside in the ink ejection port arrangement direction, and a result of detection by the ejection detection unit, a non-ejection ink ejection port When it is detected, the image data inputted from the outside is provided with a control means for controlling the recording only when the resolution conversion means can convert the image data into more than double. is there.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the ink is ejected from the recording head to perform the recording, is the ejection detection means the ink ejection port count value of non-ejection is equal to or more than the first predetermined limit value? Alternatively, when it is found that the continuous ejection failure ink discharge port count value is equal to or greater than the second predetermined limit value, the control unit controls not to perform recording, and
This is notified to the user by means of a warning or display, so that it is possible to appropriately deal with the subsequent recording.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, even if a non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of detection by the ejection detection means, the largest ink ejection port continuous does not include the non-ejection ink ejection port. Since printing can be performed while scanning in a portion and the sheet can be fed by the amount by which printing is performed, printing can be continued, so even if there is a non-ejection ink ejection port, there is no missing image recording. Therefore, it is not necessary to immediately replace the recording head.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the non-ejection ink ejection port is detected by the ejection detection means, recording by the non-ejection ink ejection port and the recording on the downstream side of the ink ejection port is performed. When the control is performed so that the ink is discharged from the ink discharge port located at, or when the image data is input from the outside, only when the conversion of the image data by the resolution conversion unit can be performed twice or more. By controlling the recording by ejecting ink from all the ink ejection ports, it is possible to continue the recording for a while.

[0013]

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

FIG. 2 shows a structural example of a serial type ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. Where 500
Reference numeral 0 denotes a platen capable of feeding the recording material sheet P, 5002 a sheet retainer for holding the sheet P between the sheet and the platen 5000, 5003 a guide shaft for guiding the carriage HC along the sheet P, and 5004 a carriage. H
The driving motor 501 has a spiral groove 5005 screwed into the C
A lead screw rotatably driven by 3, 5009,
Reference numeral 5011 denotes a gear for transmitting the driving force generated by the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 to the lead screw 5004. The carriage HC moves in the directions of arrows a and b. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means composed of photocouplers, and pins provided on the carriage HC when the carriage HC moves to this position. 5006 is photocouplers 5007 and 50
08, the rotation direction of the drive motor 5013 is switched.

Reference numeral 5015 supports a cap member 5016, and a cap suction means capable of moving together with the cleaning blade 5017 at this position in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage HC, 5018 a support thereof, and 5020 a movement of the carriage HC. The cam is engaged with this and is involved in the start of suction by the recovery means. It should be noted that the series of moving operations during the recovery operation are performed by utilizing the driving force of the drive motor 5013 by the switching operation by the clutch mechanism. Reference numeral 5023 denotes an opening of the cap member 5016, and a peripheral portion thereof comes into close contact with the recording head ink ejection surface of the ink head cartridge IJC at the time of suction of the recovery operation. Reference numeral 5012 is a lever for starting the suction recovery operation, and a cam 5020 that engages with the carriage HC.
And the drive force of the drive motor 5013 is transmitted. Ink ejection detection, which will be described later, as well as capping, cleaning, and suction recovery is performed by the carriage HC.
Will be held in the home position.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration for control according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the entire apparatus according to various programs stored in the ROM 2, and 3 is a storage device RAM having a work area. The print data to be printed is transferred from another device via the interface unit 4, and the print data is once stored in the print data memory 5 and then sent to the image processing unit 6 when the print operation is started. , Here interface 4
The form of the data input via the is converted so as to be compatible with the recording method of the present apparatus and sequentially transferred to the recording control unit 7.

In the recording control section 7, the ejection elements of the recording head 10 are selectively driven according to the recording data to eject ink, and the carriage HC is moved via the carriage driving section 11 for one scanning in the moving direction. Make a record. Then, after the recording for one scanning is completed, the recording sheet P is fed by a predetermined amount in the longitudinal sheet feeding direction via the sheet feeding means 12, and the above operation is repeated to print on the sheet P. Done.

The sensor unit 13 detects the ejection of ink from each ink ejection port and sends the non-ejection information to the CPU 1, and the ink ejection detection method is not particularly limited. The display unit 14 receives a command from the CPU 1
The operation unit 15 is used to display the state of the device and the like as necessary, and the operation unit 15 is used by the user to operate each unit of the device using switches and the like, and the data input to the switches and the like is input to the CPU 1. To be done.

Next, the recording operation according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3A, 21 is a recording head 1.
0 is an ink ejection port forming surface, and 22 is an ink ejection port vertically formed in the ejection port forming surface 21, and the number of ejection ports is shown as 8 or 16 in order to make the description easy to understand. . The ejection openings 22 are normally arranged in a line in the vertical direction at equal intervals, and the arrangement density of the ejection openings 22 is the recording resolution of the recording apparatus. Such recording resolution is dpi (do
t per inch), and in the currently popular printers, 200 dpi, 360 dpi, 400
dpi or the like is common.

The carriage HC (see FIGS. 1 and 2) is moved in the direction of arrow a (referred to as "scanning direction") in the figure by a carriage driving unit 11 including a motor 5013 and the like, and a constant moving distance during movement (usually). The ejection element (not shown) is selectively driven for each (corresponding to the recording resolution) to eject the ink from the ejection port 22, and thus recording for one scan is performed. The arrow S indicates the sheet feeding direction, and the sheet is normally fed by the length of the ejection port array.

Details of the above operation will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, A to A are the eight ink ejection ports 22 provided on the ink ejection port surface 21. It is assumed that the recording head 10 having such a row of the ink ejection ports 22 records on the recording sheet P in a "he" shape indicated by black dots. Now, when the recording operation is started, the image data input via the interface unit 4 and stored in the recording data memory 5 is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 6 and then input to the recording control unit 7. Therefore, the recording control unit 7 processes the data so that eight pieces of data arranged in the vertical direction are sequentially transferred, and the data is sequentially transferred to the recording head 10 according to a recording operation described later.

Further, the recording control unit 7 causes the carriage to move the recording head 10 from the standby position A to the first recording position B.
If there is data to be printed, the ejection element at a position corresponding to the data is driven to eject ink. In this example, the ink is ejected from the “e” ink ejection port. Next, the carriage is moved in the scanning direction (S direction) by a distance corresponding to the resolution, and printing is performed at that position.
That is, ink is ejected from the ink ejection port "D" at the position "C" by moving and scanning seven times to the position "C". Further, after printing is performed at the final printing position by repeating such scanning and ink ejection, scanning by the carriage is performed up to another standby position "D", and one scanning is completed. After the end of one scan,
The recording control unit 7 outputs a signal to the sheet feeding unit 12 to feed the sheet P in the direction of arrow S by 8 ejection ports (distance d in the figure). Then set the carriage to the first standby position A
Return to As a result, as the relative position of the carriage with respect to the sheet P, the position E in the drawing (the position in the scanning direction is shifted for convenience sake is the same as the position A) and the position F is changed to the position G by repeating the same scanning as described above. Shaped recording is obtained, and recording is performed on the sheet P by repeating such scanning operation and sheet feeding operation.

In the embodiments of the present invention described below, the detection of ejection from the ink ejection port is not specified, but such detection means may be a known one, for example, one of the standby positions A and D described above. In order to eject ink according to a predetermined procedure, the light source and the light receiving sensor are arranged so that the ink drop crosses the optical path when the ink is ejected, and each ink ejection port corresponds to each light receiving sensor. In this case, the ejection failure can be detected by the output of the sensor.

The procedure of the control operation during recording in each embodiment according to the present invention will be described below.

In the first embodiment, first, the maximum value N of the defective ink ejection openings that can be allowed in recording is set in advance. Note that such a setting may be uniquely determined by the device, or a value of N can be input from the operation unit 15 so that the user can individually set the value according to the usage environment of the device. Is also good.

In FIG. 4, when the recording operation is started,
In step S1, the ejection detection operation is performed for all ink ejection ports. This detection operation may be performed at any timing during the recording operation. For example, in the case where the recording is performed at the beginning of each page, if it becomes clear that the recording cannot be performed at that time, it is not necessary to perform further wasteful recording on the recording sheet. Also, if it is performed after each page is recorded, it is possible to confirm whether or not the page has been surely recorded. Therefore, the user of the apparatus, such as a facsimile machine using this apparatus, does not record at the time of recording operation. It is especially effective when it cannot be confirmed.

The sensor unit 13 detects the ejection of each of all the ink ejection ports, and sequentially outputs the detection results to the CPU.
The CPU 1 counts non-ejection ink ejection openings, and if the number n of defective ink ejection openings exceeds a preset number N, it is determined that recording is impossible. Also, at this time CP
U1 issues a command to the display unit 15 to display that recording is not possible, and prevents the subsequent recording operation. This warning is canceled when the head 10 is replaced or ink is replenished.

Thus, in step S1, the sensor unit 13 detects the ejection of all the ink ejection ports 22 and sends the result to the CPU 1. Then, in step S2, it is determined whether or not there is a non-ejection ink ejection port. If it is determined that there is a non-ejection ink ejection step, the process proceeds to step S3 to determine whether the defective ejection port count value n exceeds a preset numerical value N. To judge. If the result in step S3 is affirmative, that is, if the non-ejection ink ejection openings exceed the set value, it is determined that the continuation of recording is not preferable, and the process proceeds to step S7. Alternatively, a warning is issued to prompt the user to replace the recording head 10 or the ink cartridge. If the replacement is executed, the above warning is canceled.

When no non-ejection ink ejection port is detected in step S2, the process may proceed to step S6 to perform recording. In step S3, the result is negative, that is, the count value n of non-ejection ink ejection ports is equal to the set value N. If it does not exceed, the process proceeds to the next step S4, and it is determined whether or not there is a non-ejection ink ejection port that is continuous in the ejection port array. Then, if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined in step S5 whether or not the continuous number m of the ink ejection ports exceeds a preset value M in the ejection port array. When the result in step S5 is negative, it is determined that the ink ejection function is still in a recording-permitted state, and the flow advances to step S6 to continue recording. If a negative determination is made in step S4, the process proceeds to step S6. If a negative determination is made in step S5, the process proceeds to step S7 according to the determination that recording cannot be continued, and a warning is issued.

FIGS. 5A to 5C show an ink ejection port array consisting of 16 ink ejection ports. For example, in the above setting value, M
= 3, it is determined that recording is possible if there is no continuous defective ejection port as shown in FIG. 5A or the number of consecutive defective ejection ports is less than 3 as shown in FIG. )
When there are three or more consecutive defective ejection openings as shown in (4), it is determined that recording is impossible. The setting value M may also be set by user input.

If either condition is met, it may be judged that recording is impossible. For example, if N is set to 6 and M is set to 3 among the set values, (A) of FIG. Since it corresponds to N ≧ 6, (B) is M ≧.
Since it corresponds to 3, it is judged that each recording is impossible. In addition, in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, x indicates a defective ejection port.

Next, an embodiment according to the second mode of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The main structure is the same as that of the embodiment described above. However,
In this embodiment, based on the detection result sent from the sensor unit 13, the maximum continuous portion including no defective ejection port is detected. That is, FIG. 7A shows a portion A, and FIG. 7B shows a portion D that continuously maintains the ejection function (hereinafter referred to as ejection function portion). So C
The PU 1 determines the ejection function unit based on the sensor output during the ejection inspection operation and sends the information to the recording control unit 7.

In this case, the CPU 1 simultaneously designates the range of the ink ejection ports used in the recording control section 7,
The recording control unit 7 changes the control of data transfer to the head 10 and the drive of the head from the normal recording time according to the designation. That is, at this time, the CPU 1 newly calculates the feed amount of the recording sheet according to this change and instructs the recording control unit 7. Therefore, the recording control unit 7 controls the feeding signal to be sent to the sheet feeding unit 12 according to the change, and changes the sheet feeding amount of the recording sheet.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the actual operation. When a vertical line L consisting of 16 dots is recorded as shown in this figure,
When it is determined by the detection operation of the sensor unit 13 that the ink ejection openings of “U” and “S” are defective ejection, the recording control unit 7
Limits the transfer of the data sent from the CPU 1 to the head to the portion from "d" to "d" and prints for one scan in the a direction (shown by the broken line in the figure). Then, after the print dots 1D to 9D for one scan are completed, the print control unit 7 feeds the print sheet P by Y2. Normally, the sheet feed amount when all the ejection openings are recordable is Y1, that is, the distance from the beginning to the end of the ink ejection opening row, but Y2 is the distance from “d” to “si”.

Next, the recording control unit 7 transfers the recording data subsequent to "Si" of the dot recording at the time of the previous scan from "d", and again using the ejection ports from "d" to "d". Printing for one scan is performed (shown by a chain line in the figure), and the printing operation is performed in the same manner.

The above operation procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 9, the operation in steps S11 and S12 is the same as the operation in steps S1 and S2 in FIG.
If the non-ejection ink ejection portion is not detected in FIG.
Similar to the case, the process proceeds to step S16 and recording is continued. However, when the non-ejection ink ejection portion is detected in step S12, the ejection function portion (shown as Y2 in FIG. 8) described above is detected in step S13, and the process proceeds to step S14 to specify this ejection function portion. In addition, in step S15, the next sheet feed amount is determined based on the length of the ejection function portion, and the ejection function portion in the previously designated range continues recording in step S16.

Next, an embodiment according to the third mode of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10A shows a recorded image when all the ink discharge ports are normal. In addition, FIG. 10B is a recording image in the case where ejection failure (non-ejection) of “e” and “o” among the 16 ink ejection ports “a” to “ta” is continuously generated.
In this case, the image of the line to be recorded by "D" and "O" is not recorded, and the data of this portion is lost.

In this example, when the defective ink ejection port is detected by the detection operation, the CPU 1 sends the information to the recording control unit 7, and the recording control unit 7 does not send data to the ejection element of the defective ejection port. Then, the data to be recorded is transferred to the ejection element of the normal ejection port of the array, and the recording is performed by shifting the data line by line. FIG.
(C) represents an image recorded by such a procedure. That is, since the image to be recorded with "D" and "E" is recorded with "F" and "K" and is sequentially shifted, there is no loss of information.

However, when the image is recorded by adopting such a procedure, the person who receives the image determines whether there is originally no data in the unrecorded portion or the image data is not recorded because the image data is shifted as described above. There may be times when you do not understand. Therefore, when recording is performed by adopting such a procedure, the fact is displayed on the display unit 14, for example. The display is "5
It may be displayed as a message such as "Bammen Nozzle Gafryoudes", or may be expressed by a diagram as shown in FIG.

The operation procedure according to this embodiment is further shown in FIG.
It will be described according to.

The operation in steps S21 and S22 in FIG. 11 is the same as that of each embodiment described above, and if no non-ejection ink ejection port is detected in step S22, step S22 is performed.
The recording is continued at 28, and the recording operation is ended at step S29. If a non-ejection ink ejection portion is detected in step S22, the next step S
In 23, the non-ejection portion is specified, and in step S24, the information is sent to the recording control section 7 as described above, and recording is performed in step S25 according to the instruction of the recording control section 7, and in step S26. Step S2 after recording is completed
In step 7, the defective ejection port is displayed on the display unit 14 so that, for example, a person who receives this recording is informed that recording has been continued in a manner that compensates for defective ejection (non-ejection).

However, in the embodiment described above, the resolution of the image input via the interface unit 4 and the resolution of the ejection port may differ. For example, when this apparatus is used as a recording unit of a facsimile, the vertical resolution of the image received by the facsimile is 3.8.
5 line / mm (standard), 7.7 line / mm (fine), and 15.4 line / mm (super fine) are considered. At this time, for example, if the resolution on the recording unit side is 400 dpi, the input image data is converted to 400 dpi by the image processing unit 6.
Therefore, for example, assuming that the resolution on the recording unit side is 400 dpi, if the resolution of an image input from the outside is 200 dpi, simply doubling the image yields 400 dpi.
It is possible to print with the nozzle i. That is, FIG.
As shown in (A), the resolution can be converted by recording the same data twice on the recording unit side. Similarly, when the input is 100 dpi, the same data may be recorded four times. Further, if the resolution of the input image is 300 dpi, it is possible to consider a method of once doubling it and then thinning out appropriate pixels. That is, as shown in FIG. 12B, one of two pixels after being doubled
If pixels (recorded in the figure) are thinned out, as a result, the original image x is multiplied by 4/3 by x * 2 * 2/3, and an image that can be recorded by an ink ejection port of 400 dpi is obtained. can get.

FIG. 12C shows a state in which the actual 200 dpi data (a to d) is recorded by the recording unit having the 400 dpi ink ejection port 22 (a to c) according to the above-described method. 12 (D) is actually 300 dp
The data (a to f) of i is recorded by an ink ejection port of 400 dpi.

Here, consider a case where the third ejection port "C" of each of the ejection ports (A to C) in FIGS. 12A and 12B is defective. Now, in (A), even if the third discharge port "C" is defective, if the fourth discharge port "D" is not defective, it is recorded by the data "D" of "b". )), If the third ejection port "c" is defective, this part is not recorded and the data "b" is lost. That is, if the resolution conversion is less than or equal to twice, and there is a defective ejection port, data may be missing.

Therefore, when one ejection port is defective, the image having a resolution conversion magnification of 2 times or more is recorded as it is without image data loss, and when it is less than 2 times, image data loss is possible. Therefore, an embodiment of a procedure for stopping recording will be described with reference to FIG.

When the recording operation is started, first, step S3
At 1, the non-ejection detection operation is performed. Then, in step S32, it is determined whether or not there is a non-ejection ejection port, and if not, step S35.
Then, the normal recording operation is performed and the recording operation is completed normally.

Further, if the ejection failure is detected in step S32, it is further determined in step S34 whether or not the recording is performed according to the resolution conversion magnification. That is,
If the resolution conversion magnification is 2 or more, the normal recording operation is moved to and the recording operation is ended in step S35. If the resolution is less than double, recording is not performed, a warning of recording failure is displayed in step S36, and the recording operation is ended.

However, if there is a continuous non-ejection ejection port following step S32, data may be lost even if the resolution conversion is more than twice. Therefore, when a continuous non-ejection ejection port is detected. In order to prevent recording from being unconditionally stopped and to prevent data loss, it is determined in step S33 as to whether or not there are consecutive non-ejection ejection ports as shown by the broken line, and only in the case of the determination of none, step S34. To proceed to. Of course, in this case as well, if it is determined in step S33 that there is a continuous non-ejection ejection port, a recording failure warning is issued in step S36.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By determining whether recording is possible or not according to the ejection conditions of the ink ejection port, the life of the head or the cartridge can be effectively utilized to the maximum, and the wasted ink can be minimized. it can. Further, even if a defective ejection port occurs, recording can be continued without loss of recording data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control circuit configuration according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a recording operation according to the present invention by (A) and (B).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a control operation during recording according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of detection of non-ejection of ink according to the present invention (A).
It is explanatory drawing shown by- (C).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing further detection examples of ink non-ejection according to the present invention by (A) and (B).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of non-ejection of ink according to a second embodiment of the present invention, by (A) and (B).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a recording operation according to a second mode of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of control operation at the time of recording according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing operations at the time of recording according to the third embodiment of the present invention by (A) to (C).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of control operation at the time of recording according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing an operation example at the time of recording according to the third embodiment of the present invention, by (A) to (D).

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure example of another control operation at the time of recording according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 Interface Section 5 Recording Data Memory 6 Image Processing Section 7 Recording Control Section 10 Recording Head 12 Sheet Feed Section 13 Sensor Section 14 Display Section 15 Operation Section 21 Ink Ejection Port Formation Surface (Ink Ejection Surface) 22 Ink ejection port HC Carriage S Sheet feeding direction P Recording sheet

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording head that selectively ejects ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports for recording, ejection detection means that individually detects ink ejection from the ink ejection ports, and detection by the ejection detection means. As a result, whether or not the non-ejection ink ejection port count value exceeds the first predetermined limit value, or the non-ejection ink ejection port count values that continue in the ejection port array exceed the second predetermined limit value. Inkjet, comprising: a control unit that controls whether or not to perform printing depending on whether or not the recording is performed, and a unit that warns or displays whether or not recording is possible by the control unit based on the detection result of the ejection detection unit. Recording device. 2. A recording head for selectively ejecting ink to perform recording during moving scanning from a plurality of ink ejecting openings for ejecting ink, and an array direction of the plurality of ink ejecting openings for each moving movement. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet, an ejection detecting unit that individually detects ink ejection from the ink ejection port, and the ink ejection port even if a non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of detection by the ejection detection unit. In the above arrangement, recording is performed by the largest continuous ink ejection port portion that does not include non-ejection ink ejection ports, and control is performed so that the sheet is fed by the sheet feeding unit for each recording amount. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by: 3. A recording head for selectively recording and ejecting ink during a moving scan from a plurality of ink ejecting ports for ejecting ink, and an array direction of the plurality of ink ejecting ports for each moving scan. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet, an ejection detecting unit that individually detects ink ejection from the ink ejection port, and if a non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of detection by the ejection detection unit, the ejection failure is detected. Recording is performed by using the non-ejection ink ejection port by using the ink ejection port on the downstream side of the sheet feeding subsequent to the non-ejection ink ejection port in the array of the ink ejection ports An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: 4. A recording head which selectively ejects ink from a plurality of ink ejection ports ejecting ink to perform recording during a moving scan, and an array direction of the plurality of ink ejection ports for each moving scan. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet, an ejection detection unit that individually detects ink ejection from the ink ejection port, a resolution conversion unit that converts the resolution of image data input from the outside in the ink ejection port arrangement direction, When a non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of the detection by the ejection detection unit, recording is performed only when the image data input from the outside can be doubled or more converted by the resolution conversion unit. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the inkjet recording apparatus. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein recording is not performed when a continuous non-ejection ink ejection port is detected as a result of the detection by the ejection detection unit. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising means for displaying a warning or displaying that recording is not performed when the continuous non-ejection ink ejection openings are detected. .