JPH09277559A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sure recovery motion corresponding to a residual amount of ink inside an ink feed container in an ink jet recorder. SOLUTION: A recording head 1 is connected to an ink feed container 3 via a coupling component 2 being an ink feed means, sucks out the ink absorbed in a foam 11 in the ink feed container 3 with a hollow needle 9, and discharges an ink drop in coincidence with a recording signal while receiving feed via an ink feed channel 13 of the coupling component 2. A couple of electrodes for detection of an ink residual amount 101 is provided in the foam 11. Further, a cap component 4 connected to a pump 5 is made to abut against a nozzle plate 26 of the recording head 1 to receive information from a processor 104, and recovery motion is executed by selection with a controller 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer having an ink jet recording head and ejecting ink onto a recording medium in accordance with recording data to record an image, and an ink jet recording head mounted with high density. The present invention relates to an ink jet type recording device capable of recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus, ink is contained in an ink supply container, and ink droplets are ejected from ejection ports provided in a recording head to form an image.

When the amount of ink in the ink supply container becomes extremely small, it becomes impossible to eject the ink normally.
In such a case, it is necessary to stop the recording operation of the inkjet recording apparatus and notify the operator that the amount of ink in the ink supply container is extremely small. These can be easily solved by detecting the remaining amount of ink in the ink supply container.

Various proposals have been made for the detection of the remaining amount of ink.

For example, JP-A-3-53943 and JP-A-4-182141 are examples thereof.

The ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-53943 includes an ink supply container and an electrode pair for detecting the amount of ink remaining in the ink supply container. Further, it has a circuit for detecting a value that changes according to the remaining ink amount between the electrode pair, and has a remaining amount detection control means for making a predetermined notification of the value detected by the circuit based on a plurality of predetermined values. .

According to these configurations, it is possible to detect the ink remaining amount and notify the operator of the information regarding the ink remaining amount.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-182141, an ink supply container is provided with a porous body portion in which a porous body having continuous pores is arranged and a cavity portion in which the porous body portion is not arranged. A plurality of electrodes for detecting the remaining amount of ink are arranged in the cavity.

This makes it possible to detect the remaining amount of ink with reliability and with a simple structure.

In an ink jet recording apparatus, it is impossible to normally eject ink droplets from the ejection port due to the inclusion of bubbles in the flow path provided in the recording head or the inclusion of bubbles in the ejection port during printing. It may cause obstacles.

When the recording trouble occurs, it is necessary to perform a recovery operation which is performed for the purpose of sucking the ink from the ejection port and ejecting the ink normally by using the recovery means.

The recovery operation means of the ink jet recording apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-1115637, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-72852, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-250067.

The ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-115637 has operation switches for designating various operation modes for ink filling and the recovery operation. Further, it is provided with control means for selecting and instructing a specific operation in various operation modes in response to a combination input of a plurality of operation switches or a combination input of a main power switch and an operation switch. The ink recovery means is provided to execute the operation in the operation mode instructed by the control means.

It is stated that this ink jet recording apparatus can efficiently consume only the ink required for recording troubles and operations such as filling the recording head with ink.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-72852, the pump used for the recovery means is always operated for a fixed time when the power is turned on. At this time, the valve provided in the middle of the flow path is turned on and off. As a result, the negative pressure in the flow path is intermittently increased, and the flow velocity of ink can be increased. Then, it is said that it is possible to promote the discharge of air bubbles stagnating inside the flow path.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 250067/1992, a recovery switch for performing the recovery operation and a record of an ink jet recording apparatus when the recovery switch switch is turned on, or a history of the recovery operation is used. And a control means for performing an optimum recovery operation. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary recovery operation and waste of ink.

Further, there is a cartridge type ink supply container in which a porous body is arranged inside and the porous body is impregnated with ink. As another type, there is a pack type in which a pack is used as an ink supply container and ink is stored inside.

Since the porous body in the cartridge type ink supply container like the former has continuous pores, a meniscus is formed with respect to the impregnated ink. Since the meniscus has a surface tension, a negative pressure is generated when ink is supplied to the recording head.

In the cartridge type ink supply container, the negative pressure also varies depending on the viscosity of the ink impregnated in the ink supply container. As described above, the ink is impregnated with the porous material. That is, since the ink is present in the complicated flow path of the porous body, the flow path resistance is considerably large.

The flow path resistance depends on the viscosity of the ink. This is because the ink viscosity and the flow path resistance are in a proportional relationship. By the way, when the viscosity of the ink becomes high, it becomes difficult for the ink to flow.

As described above, since the cartridge type ink supply container has a negative pressure inside, the ink does not drip from the ejection port of the recording head even when mounted on the carriage that moves on the recording medium. By thus mounting the cartridge type ink supply container on the carriage, the structure of the inkjet recording apparatus itself can be simply configured.

On the other hand, in the latter pack type, since the ink is directly contained in the pack, the negative pressure in the ink supply container itself is very small. Therefore, a path for supplying the ink from the pack containing the ink to the recording head is required, and the structure of the inkjet recording apparatus itself becomes complicated.

For these reasons, the cartridge type ink supply container enables the ink jet recording apparatus to be downsized and the cost to be reduced. Therefore, the inkjet recording apparatus can be provided to the market at low cost, and is widely used in the market.

[0024]

In the above-mentioned cartridge type ink supply container, even when the ink viscosity is the same, the initial use in which the ink in the ink supply container is sufficiently filled, and the use in a very small amount of ink are used. At the end, the negative pressure when ink is supplied from the ink supply container to the recording head differs. In general, the negative pressure is larger when the remaining amount of ink is smaller than that at the beginning of use when the ink is full. This is because it is possible to easily supply the ink to the recording head from the ink supply container by reducing the size of the hole of the porous body closer to the recording head.

By the conventional ink remaining amount detection, the ink remaining amount can be surely detected, and the operator can be notified of information regarding the ink remaining amount.

However, there is no description about the recovery operation when a recording failure occurs when the remaining ink amount is different.
As described above, the negative pressure of the ink supply container varies depending on the remaining amount of ink. Therefore, in the recovery operation, when the remaining ink amount is different and the uniform recovery operation is performed, the load of the recovery means relating to the recovery operation is different, and thus the amount of ink suctioned from the ejection port during the recovery operation is different.

As described above, since the negative pressure of the ink supply container is larger when the amount is extremely small, the amount of suction becomes smaller when the uniform recovery operation is performed. Then, recovery from the recording failure becomes more difficult than when the negative pressure is small. Therefore, it is necessary to set the suction amount so that the recovery operation can be surely performed when the ink remaining amount is extremely small.

As described above, when the remaining amount of ink is large, the negative pressure in the ink supply container is small. Therefore, if the suction amount in the recovery operation is set according to the negative pressure when the remaining ink amount is extremely small, the suction amount becomes unnecessarily large.
The wasteful consumption of ink during the recovery operation increases.

If the operator selects the recovery mode, it is not always possible to reliably recover the recording failure by the recovery operation. Unnecessary operation consumes wasteful ink instead.

By turning on / off the valve provided in the middle of the flow path, the flow velocity of the ink in the flow path can surely be increased intermittently. However, the flow path provided in the inkjet recording apparatus is not limited to the flow path having a uniform cross section. In particular, the flow path in the recording head has a complicated shape in order to stably eject ink droplets. Bubbles, which are the main cause of recording failure, tend to stay at such a complicated flow path where ink does not easily flow, that is, at a stagnation point.

The intermittent change in the flow velocity due to the valve as described above is too rapid, and it is impossible to reliably discharge the bubbles staying at the stagnation point. In addition, the ink may bubble due to a rapid change in the flow velocity, which may further promote recording failure.

Further, if the optimum recovery operation is performed based on the printing of the ink jet recording apparatus or the history of the recovery operation, the optimum recovery operation when the remaining ink amount changes cannot be performed. Can not. When the amount of remaining ink in the ink supply container is large, as in the case where the amount of suction in the recovery operation is set according to the negative pressure when the remaining amount of ink in the ink supply container is extremely small, the amount of suction becomes unnecessarily large. Will end up. The wasteful consumption of ink during the recovery operation increases.

[0033]

An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a print recovery means for sucking ink from an ejection port and an ink supply means serving as a flow path for supplying ink to the recording head, and detects the remaining ink amount. Ink remaining amount detecting means, recovery control means for controlling an operation signal to the print recovery means, and a recovery operation is selected by the recovery control means,
Timing results of a timing means for detecting an elapsed time from the time when the ink supply container is attached, cumulative results of a recording ink amount accumulating means for accumulating the amount of ink used for recording, and detection of the remaining ink amount detecting means. A recovery operation is selected according to the result, a drive signal is input to the pressure generating means of the recording head during the recovery operation, and the recovery operation is continuously operated in the first suction mode which operates intermittently. A second suction mode, in which the ink remaining amount is larger than the ink remaining amount is smaller than the first suction mode operating intermittently. When the time required for the suction mode is shortened and the amount of remaining ink in the ink supply container is small, the amount of ink in the continuously operating second suction mode is smaller than that in the case where the remaining amount of ink is large. Flow velocity When the viscosity of the ink is low, the time required for the first suction mode that operates intermittently and the second suction mode that operates continuously is shorter when the viscosity of the ink is low than when the viscosity of the ink is high. And a temperature detection unit for increasing the flow velocity of the ink in the second suction mode and detecting an environmental temperature, and recovering the temperature detection result by the temperature detection unit and the detection result by the ink remaining amount detection unit. An operation is selected, and the recovery operation is selected based on the temperature detection result of the temperature detection unit, the time counting result, the cumulative result, and the ink remaining amount detection result.

[0034]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 is an ink jet recording head,
The hollow needle 9 is connected to the ink supply container 3 via the connecting member 2 which is an ink supply means, and absorbs the ink absorbed in the foam 11 formed of a porous body having continuous pores in the ink supply container 3. The ink droplets are ejected in accordance with the recording signal while being sucked by the ink and supplied through the ink supply flow path 14 of the connecting member 2.

Reference numeral 62 in the figure denotes a thermistor which is a temperature detecting means. The output of the thermistor 62 is the processing device 10.
4 has been entered. The processing device 104 is connected to a time measuring device 61 that measures the elapsed time after the ink supply container 3 to be described later is attached, and a recording data accumulating device 63 that is a recording ink accumulating unit.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the recording head 1 described above. In the figure, reference numeral 20 is a reservoir for receiving ink supply from the rising pipe 15 connected to the ink supply passage 13, and the ink supply port. The ink consumed in each pressure generating chamber 22 is supplied via 21. Pressure generation chamber 2
The pressure generating chambers 22, 22,
22 ... Corresponding to piezoelectric vibrators 24, 24, 24 ...
・ It is provided by abutting the tip of. The piezoelectric vibrators 24, 24, 24 ... Extend and contract in response to a recording signal to reduce or expand the volume of the pressure generating chamber 22 and expand the reservoir 20.
The ink is absorbed from the pressure generating chamber 22 and the ink droplets are ejected from the ejection port 27 of the nozzle plate 26.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, reference numeral 4 in the drawing denotes a cap member arranged in the non-recording area, which is brought into contact with the nozzle plate 26 of the recording head 1 by a driving mechanism (not shown) to eject the discharge ports 27, 27, 27. This is to prevent the drying of ... The cap member 4 is connected to the pump 5 via a tube 12, and is configured to receive information from the processing device 104 and select a recovery operation by the control device 6 which is recovery control means to perform an ink suction operation. There is.

As the pump 5, for example, a plurality of rollers arranged at intervals on the support so as to be on the same circumference are elastically contacted with elastic tubes arranged in a circle, and the support is a DC motor. A so-called tube pump that rotates in one direction can be used.

Further, in the ink supply container 3, the foam 1
Pin-shaped ink remaining amount detection electrode pair 10 inserted in
1 is provided. In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a tube 1.
3 shows a waste ink container connected to a pump 5 by 3.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the structure of a carriage on which the recording head 1 and the ink supply container 3 described above are mounted. Reference numeral 30 in the drawing is a platen (not shown) guided by a guide lock 31. An ink supply container holder 32 for holding the ink supply container 3 is provided on the upper surface of the carriage that reciprocates along the carriage, and the holder 32 is engaged with the engaged portion of the ink supply container 3 to A lever 33 for supporting and fixing is rotatably supported.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the resistance value detected by the electrode pair 101 and the remaining ink amount.

When the ink is sufficiently present in the foam 11, the resistance value is low, which is below the B level (about 1 kΩ) in the figure. Further, when the remaining ink amount decreases, the resistance value gradually increases, and when the remaining ink amount becomes extremely small, the resistance value rapidly increases. When it reaches the A level (about 6 kΩ), the ink is exhausted.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment showing a means for switching the resistance value corresponding to the ink remaining amount detected by the electrode pair 101 to an electric signal.

Reference numeral 102 in the figure is an A / D converter. One end of the electrode pair 101 is V through a load resistor 103.
It is connected to cc (+ 5V). The other end of the electrode 101 is S. G. FIG. It is connected to (GND). As a result, the resistance value of the electrode pair 101 is converted into a voltage and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 102. The processing device 104 determines the resistance value based on this digital signal. The processing device 104 transmits the resistance value to the control device 6, and the control device 6 selects the recovery operation to rotate the pump 5.

In the above-described embodiment, the ink supply container 3
Is set on the carriage 30 and the lever 33 is lowered, the hollow needle 9 is recessed in the ink supply container 3. In this state, when the cap member 4 is brought into contact with the recording head 1 and the pump 5 is operated, the suction force of the pump 5 acts on the ejection ports 27, 27, 27 ... Through the cap member 4. Filter member 51 provided in the ink supply passage 14, ink supply passage 14
The ink acting on the ink supply container 3 and absorbed in the foam 11 flows into these flow paths through the hollow needle 9. The filter member 51 is formed by twilling SUS thin wires to have a size of about 2000 mesh.

FIG. 6 shows the operation of the pump 5 during the recovery operation operated by the control device 6 and the flow velocity of the ink generated at that time.

When a predetermined time, for example, 0.1 to 1 second has elapsed, the pump 5 is temporarily stopped to stop the suction operation. When a predetermined time, for example, 0.1 to 1 second has elapsed, the pump 5 is operated again to suck the ink from the foam 11.

By intermittently driving the pump 5 in this manner, the velocity of the ink flowing through the ink supply path is V1, for example, 1 mm / sec or less, and the flow rate is suppressed to an extremely low value of 0.01 cc / sec or less. As a result, the ink is rectified and passes through the filter member 51, so that bubbling due to the mesh of the filter member 51 is prevented.

Even if bubbles are generated at this time, they pass through while being crushed by the mesh of the filter member 51,
From the ink supply path 47 to the recording head 1 as fine bubbles
Flow into.

By the first suction mode in which such a suction operation is intermittently executed a plurality of times, ink is filled in the flow path from the ink supply container 3 to the recording head 1 while preventing foaming as much as possible. Further, the bubbles staying at the stagnation point of the supply channel and the channel of the recording head 1 gradually flow out together with the ink.

In this way, when the ink flows from the ink supply container 3 into all the flow paths of the recording head 1, the pump 5 is continuously operated for 2 to 10 seconds, that is, the flow velocity of the ink is V2, specifically, When the second suction mode in which suction is continued at a high flow rate of about 0.2 cc / sec is executed, ink flows at a high flow rate of speed 2 from the ink supply container 3 to the recording head 1 and then to the recording head 1. The small bubbles that have flowed in and the bubbles that have adhered to the wall surface of the flow path are caused to flow toward the recording head 1 side by the high-speed flow and discharged from the ejection port 27 to the cap member 4. Even if ink is filled by this high-speed flow, bubbling does not occur because the flow path from the ink supply container 3 to the ejection port 27 is already filled with ink.

When a recording signal is output to the recording head 1 at the stage where the ink filling is completed, ink droplets are ejected onto the recording medium in accordance with the recording signal by a known operation. The ink consumed in the recording head 1 is replenished in the recording head 1 from the ink supply container 3 via the ink supply path.

As described above, since the ink flow velocity at the time of initial filling is set to be extremely small, the bubbling in the ink flow path can be suppressed even when the ink is not present in the ink flow path. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the need for the filling liquid that has conventionally been filled in the ink flow path of the recording head 1 at the time of factory shipment, and further, the ink supply container 3 filled with ink that has not been deaerated. Even when attached, air bubbles do not remain after filling.

Further, even if there is a recording failure caused by the inflow of bubbles into the recording head 1 during recording, the bubbles can be reliably discharged from the ejection port 27 by the same operation.

The effect based on the intermittent driving of the pump 5 is maximized by setting the suction stop period to about 0.2 to 0.5 seconds.

When the amount of remaining ink is large, as is well known, the negative pressure of the ink supply container 3 is smaller than when the amount of remaining ink is extremely small. Therefore, the operating time and the stopping time of the pump 5 in the intermittent operation in the first suction mode are set to be short. Further, the operating time of the pump 5 for continuous suction is set to be short. On the contrary, when the remaining amount of ink is extremely small, the operating time of the pump 5 is set to be longer, on the contrary.

In this way, the control device 6 rotates the pump 5 in accordance with the detection result detected by the ink remaining amount detecting electrode 101 for the recovery operation which requires a minimum time according to the ink remaining amount. Then, the optimum recovery operation can be activated depending on the remaining amount of ink, and the recovery operation can be performed in a minimum time.

The above-mentioned suction operation has been described as an intermittent or continuous suction operation performed once, but it is clear that the same effect can be obtained by repeating these operations a plurality of times.

When the remaining amount of ink is extremely small, the speed of V2 is set to be slower than when the remaining amount of ink is large, and the flow rate is set to 0.1 to 0.15 cc / sec. Lengthen the time. Then, the ink can be slowly sucked from the ink supply container 3 having a large negative pressure,
Bubbling can be suppressed more.

Further, by gradually delaying V2 as the remaining amount of ink decreases from the initial level, it is possible to perform a more reliable recovery operation in which bubbling is suppressed during all use of the ink supply container 3.

By driving the recording head 1 during the recovery operation, the ink in the recording head 1 having a complicated shape can be swung. Then, the bubbles accumulated in the flow path can be discharged more quickly from the discharge port 27, and the time required for the recovery operation can be shortened.

The ink supply container 3 is generally formed by molding a resin or the like. Although the degree depends on the type of resin, the water content of the ink gradually evaporates into the atmosphere over time. The viscosity of the ink in the ink supply container increases as the water content evaporates.

In FIG. 7, the ink supply container 3 is attached to the carriage 33.
It shows the increase in the viscosity of the ink inside after mounting. Curve C represents the ink viscosity in the state where no recording is performed. Curve D represents the ink viscosity when recording is performed, that is, when ink is consumed.

The ink used in this embodiment will be described as an example.

In this example, the initial viscosity E of the ink at about 25 ° C. was 3.0 mPa · s. On the other hand, after about 12 months, the viscosity F is about 4.0 mPa · s when no recording is performed, and the viscosity G when recording is 5.
It becomes 0 mPa · s.

Even if recording is not performed, the viscosity of the ink inside the ink supply container 3 increases due to water evaporation,
Further, it can be seen that when the recording is performed, the increase in viscosity is larger when the same period has elapsed.

When the ink viscosity increases, the negative pressure in the ink supply container 3 and the flow path resistance of the flow path related to the ink jet recording apparatus increase accordingly.

Therefore, the operating time and the stopping time of the pump 5 in the intermittent operation in the first suction mode are set to increase as the ink viscosity increases. Further, the operation time of the pump 5 for continuous suction is set to be long.
Further, it is set so that V2 becomes slower as the ink viscosity increases.

By doing so, even when the viscosity of the ink is increased, the bubbles in the flow path can be surely discharged from the ejection port 27, and the recovery operation in which the bubbling does not occur can be performed.

When the ink supply container 3 is not attached, there is no input from the ink remaining amount detecting electrode 101,
The resistance value is infinite. Only when the ink supply container 3 is attached, the input regarding the resistance value from the ink remaining amount detection electrode 101 is input. From this timing, the time elapsed after the ink supply container 3 is attached is measured by the time measuring device 61 having a timer inside. Timekeeping result is processing unit 1
Enter in 04. By doing so, it is possible to easily measure the elapsed time from mounting the ink supply container 3.

Further, the amount of ink consumed for recording can be easily known by accumulating the amount of ink required for recording by the data used for recording by the recording data accumulating device 63 equipped with a data counter.

In the processing device 104, information on the ink viscosity with respect to the decrease amount of the ink due to the evaporation of the ink and the decrease amount of the ink used for recording is stored in advance. Processing device 1
Reference numeral 04 calculates the current viscosity of the ink based on the detection result of the remaining ink amount, the timing result of the timing device 61, and the cumulative result of the recording data cumulative device 63.

By transmitting the calculation result to the control device 6, the control device selects the recovery operation according to the change in the viscosity of the ink in consideration of the decrease amount of the ink due to the evaporation of the ink and the consumption amount of the ink used for recording. 6 to carry out. As a result, a more reliable recovery operation can be executed.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the ink viscosity and the environmental temperature. The ink viscosity varies greatly depending on the ambient temperature. The lower the temperature, the higher the ink viscosity.

Taking the ink used in this example as an example, the viscosity H at about 40 ° C. is about 2.0 mPa · s, but about 25
The viscosity I in the environment of ° C is 3.0 mPa · s, and the viscosity J of about 10 ° C is 4.2 mPa · s.

The resistance value of the thermistor 62 is changed to the thermistor 62.
By configuring the output stage of the same as that of the embodiment of FIG. 5, the processing device 104 receives the change of the environmental temperature as a digital signal.

Information on the ink viscosity with respect to the environmental temperature change is stored in the processing device 104 in advance. Processing device 1
Reference numeral 04 calculates the current viscosity of the ink due to a change in environmental temperature.

By transmitting the calculation result to the control device 6, the control device 6 selects the recovery operation according to the change in the ambient temperature.

A digital signal due to a change in environmental temperature,
The recovery operation can be selected according to the ink remaining amount and the environmental change based on the detection result of the ink remaining amount described above.

Further, the processing unit 104 carries out an arithmetic operation based on the digital signal due to the change of the environmental temperature, the above-mentioned detection result of the remaining ink amount, the timing result of the timing unit 61 and the accumulated result of the recording data accumulating unit 63. By transmitting the calculation result to the control device 6, the amount of decrease in ink due to evaporation of ink, the amount of ink used for recording, and the selection of the recovery operation according to the change in ink viscosity in consideration of the environmental temperature are controlled. The device 6 can be implemented.

With these, a more reliable recovery operation can be executed.

When the ink jet recording apparatus has a plurality of recording heads and an ink supply container, it is clear that the recovery operation of each recording head has the same effect by providing the above-mentioned embodiment for each ink supply container. Is.

[0084]

As described above, in the present invention, the ink recovery means for sucking the ink from the ejection port and the ink supply means serving as the flow path for supplying the ink to the recording head are provided, and the remaining ink amount is detected. An ink remaining amount detection means, and a recovery control means for controlling an operation signal to the print recovery means,
A recovery operation is selected by the recovery control means.

As a result, the recovery operation can be executed according to the remaining amount of ink in the ink supply container. In addition, the ink can be effectively used without wasting the ink during the recovery operation. Further, since the recording failure can be surely recovered and unnecessary recording is not performed, the recording medium is not wastefully consumed.

Further, there are provided time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time from the time when the ink supply container is mounted, the remaining ink amount detecting means, and recording ink amount accumulating means for accumulating the ink amount used for recording.

As a result, even if the ink viscosity increases due to ink evaporation and ink consumption due to recording, a reliable recovery operation can be executed.

Further, by driving the recording head during the recovery operation, it is possible to promptly discharge the bubbles in the recovery operation and execute a more reliable recovery operation. Further, the time required for the recovery operation can be further shortened, and the wasteful time required for recording failure can be minimized.

Further, by configuring the first suction mode which operates intermittently in the recovery operation and the second suction mode which operates continuously, a more optimal recovery operation in which foaming is suppressed as much as possible is executed. it can. Further, conventionally, it is possible to eliminate the need for a filling liquid at the time of factory shipment, and even when ink that has not been degassed is filled, bubbles do not remain after filling.

The time required for the first suction mode that operates intermittently and the second suction mode that operates continuously when the remaining amount of ink is large is greater than when the remaining amount of ink is small. Shorten.

As a result, a more optimal recovery operation can be operated according to the remaining amount of ink, and the recovery operation can be performed in a minimum time.

Further, when the amount of remaining ink is small, the recovery operation in which bubbling is suppressed can be executed by slowing the flow velocity of the ink in the continuously operating second suction mode as compared with the case where the remaining amount is large.

When the viscosity of the ink is low,
The time required for the first suction mode that operates intermittently and the second suction mode that operates continuously is shorter than when the viscosity of the ink is high, and the flow velocity of ink in the second suction mode is faster. To do.

As a result, even if the ink viscosity rises, it is possible to reliably discharge the bubbles in the flow path and to perform a recovery operation in which no bubbling occurs. Further, there is no wasteful consumption of ink in the recovery operation when the ink viscosity increases.

By selecting the recovery operation according to the temperature detection result of the temperature detection means and the detection result of the ink remaining amount detection means, a reliable recovery operation according to the remaining ink amount and environmental changes can be performed. .

The recovery operation is selected based on the temperature detection result, the time measurement result, the cumulative result, and the ink remaining amount detection result.

As a result, a more reliable recovery operation can be executed in accordance with a decrease in ink due to evaporation of ink, a consumption of ink used for recording, and a change in ink viscosity in consideration of environmental temperature.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a recording head used in the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state of being mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an ink remaining amount and a resistance value.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a circuit that detects the remaining amount of ink.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the pump and the flow velocity in the recovery operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an elapsed time after the ink supply container is attached and the ink viscosity.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between environmental temperature and ink viscosity.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Head 2 Connection Member 3 Ink Supply Container 4 Cap Member 5 Pump 6 Control Device 61 Timing Device 62 Thermistor 63 Recording Data Accumulation Device 101 Electrode Pair 104 Processing Device

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A change in pressure generated by inputting a drive signal to a pressure generating means is applied to ink filled in a pressure chamber, and ink is discharged from a discharge port communicating with the pressure chamber to form a recording dot. In an inkjet recording apparatus to be formed, a recording head for ejecting ink, an ink supply container in which a porous body having continuous pores for impregnating the head with ink is arranged, and a print for sucking ink from the ejection port A recovery unit and an ink supply unit that serves as a flow path for supplying ink to the recording head are provided, and an ink remaining amount detection unit that detects the ink remaining amount of the ink supply container and an operation signal to the print recovery unit are provided. Ink jetting characterized in that the recovery control means selects a recovery operation based on the recovery control means to be controlled and the detection result of the remaining ink amount detection means. Recording device. 2. A time measurement result of the time measuring means, comprising: a time measuring means for detecting an elapsed time from the time when the ink supply container is attached; and a recording ink amount accumulating means for accumulating an ink amount used for recording. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery operation is selected based on the accumulation result of the recording ink amount accumulating unit and the detection result of the ink remaining amount detecting unit. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drive signal is input to the pressure generating means of the recording head during the recovery operation. 4. A first operation which operates intermittently in the recovery operation
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured by the suction mode of 1) and the second suction mode of continuously operating. 5. The first suction mode that operates intermittently and the second suction mode that operates continuously are required when the remaining ink amount is large, rather than when the remaining ink amount is small. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the time is short. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the remaining amount of ink is small, the flow velocity of the ink in the continuously operating second suction mode is slower than when the remaining amount of ink is large. . 7. The time required for the first suction mode that operates intermittently and the second suction mode that operates continuously when the viscosity of the ink is low than when the viscosity of the ink is high. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ink flow rate is short and the ink flow velocity in the second suction mode is high. 8. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising temperature detecting means for detecting an environmental temperature, and selecting the recovery operation according to a temperature detection result of the temperature detecting means and a detection result of the ink remaining amount detecting means. . 9. A temperature detecting means for detecting an environmental temperature, the temperature detecting result by the temperature detecting means, the accumulating result of the recording ink amount accumulating means, the time measuring result of the time measuring means, and the ink remaining amount detection. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recovery operation is selected based on the detection result of the means.