JPH10329333A - Ink jet recorder and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an ink jet recorder performing the recording operation by jetting ink from a recording head and sticking the ink onto a recording medium and a control method therefor in which the ink is prevented from running out in the way of printing. SOLUTION: A CPU 3 makes a decision whether the length of a print sheet to be recorded is longer that a set length or not. When it is longer than the set length and the residual quantity of ink detected at a detecting section 10 (detecting means) is lower than a set level, the CPU 3 interrupts the recording operation and resumes the recording operation after an ink cartridge is replaced.

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 which performs a predetermined control by detecting a remaining amount of ink, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device such as a printer or a facsimile is configured to form a dot pattern corresponding to recording information on a recording medium by driving a dot forming means of a recording head based on the recording information. According to the type of the dot forming means, it can be classified into an ink jet method, a wire dot method, a thermal method, a laser beam method, and the like.

[0003] Among these systems, an ink-jet system (ink-jet recording apparatus) supplies ink to a recording head and discharges ink from a discharge port of the recording head to form flying ink droplets. Is attached to a recording medium and recorded. In general, an ink jet recording apparatus uses a replaceable ink cartridge (ink tank) as an ink supply source.

By the way, in the ink jet recording apparatus having such a configuration, when it is detected that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than a set value, recording is performed to the end of the page,
Thereafter, a control method has been implemented or proposed in which recording cannot be performed unless the ink cartridge is replaced.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional ink jet recording apparatus and its control method, when it is detected that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than the set value, it is determined that the ink has reached the end of the page. Since recording is performed, there is a problem in that when recording on printing paper having a long paper length (roll paper or the like), ink runs out during printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus and a control method therefor, in which no ink is lost during printing and printing becomes impossible. Aim.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) A detecting device for detecting the remaining amount of ink and a determining device for determining whether or not the paper length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than a predetermined paper length, and the remaining amount of ink becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined amount. When the detection is made, if the paper length of the printing paper is equal to or greater than a predetermined paper length, the control unit controls the recording operation to stop and restart the recording operation after the ink cartridge is replaced. .

(2) In the ink jet recording apparatus of the above (1), when the detecting means detects that the remaining amount of ink has become a predetermined amount or less, a warning means for warning that the ink cartridge should be replaced is provided. Equipped.

(3) The ink jet recording apparatus according to the above (1) or (2), further comprising a discriminating means for discriminating the end of the printing operation in page units and the end of all the printing operations.

(4) When it is detected that the remaining amount of the ink has become equal to or less than the predetermined amount, if the length of the printing paper is equal to or more than the predetermined length, the recording operation is stopped and the ink cartridge is replaced. After that, the recording operation was controlled to resume.

[0011]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer control circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a host unit (host unit) for transmitting and receiving various commands to and from a printer control circuit unit to be described later, and 2 denotes a printer control circuit unit for controlling a printer unit to be described later. This printer control circuit unit 2
A CPU 3 for controlling the overall printing operation, a ROM 4 for storing a printer control program, a RAM 5 for a memory capable of reading and writing data, an interface unit 6 for inputting and outputting various data between the host unit 1 and the ink jet recording apparatus, The motor control unit 7 controls the operation of moving the head to the left and right, the paper feeding operation, the ink suction operation, the head control unit 8 that transfers print data and the like to the head 9, the ink remaining amount that notifies the remaining ink amount of the printer head. It comprises an amount detection unit 10. Reference numeral 9 denotes a head, and 11 denotes a motor.

Here, in the printer control circuit section, the CPU 3 determines whether or not the length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than the set paper length, and terminates the recording operation in page units and performs all the recording operations. Warning means for determining whether the ink cartridge has been replaced, and for warning that the ink cartridge should be replaced when the remaining ink amount is detected by the remaining ink amount detection unit 10 to be equal to or smaller than the set value during the recording operation. Further, at this time, if the length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than the set paper length, the control unit stops the recording operation and restarts the recording operation after the ink cartridge is replaced.

A control process when the remaining ink amount detecting unit 10 detects that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than a set value during printing by the printer control circuit having the above-described configuration will be described below. . In addition, for the following long paper,
B4, A
4, B5 and the like.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control process when it is detected that the remaining amount of ink has fallen below a set value during printing (recording operation) in the first embodiment.

First, in step S200, the host sets the paper length of the printing paper. At the same time,
Make various mode settings required for printing. Next, in step S201, a paper feeding operation for feeding the printing paper set in the printer to the position of the printer head is performed. Then, after the start of printing, it is determined in step S202 whether the sheet length is longer than or shorter than a predetermined value, for example, B4, from the sheet information obtained in step S200. As a result, if the sheet length is longer than B4, the process proceeds to step S203. If the sheet length is shorter than B4, the process proceeds to step S210.

Here, the flow that has proceeded to step S203 will be described first. In step S203, the printing process is performed in step S204.
If it is detected that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than the set value, the process proceeds to step S205, and the printing process is stopped. At this point, the host prompts the user to replace the ink (replace the ink cartridge) in step S206, the user replaces the ink, and transmits an ink replacement processing command from the host to the printer control circuit unit 2. Then, the warning of ink replacement is released. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S207, and the printing process is restarted.

If it is not detected in step S204 that the remaining amount of ink has fallen below the set value, the flow advances to step S208 to determine whether printing has been completed. If the printing has not been completed, the process returns to step S203 to perform the printing process. If the printing has been completed, the process proceeds to step S209, where the sheet is discharged, and all the processes are completed.

Next, the flow that has proceeded to step S210 will be described. In step S210, the printing process is started. If it is detected in step S211 that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or smaller than the set value, the process proceeds to step S2.
In step 12, the printing process is continued. Then, the printing on the printed paper is completed (step S213), and after the paper discharging process (step S214) is completed, if the next print data exists in step S217, the process proceeds to step S218. The ink replacement process is performed by the same process as in step S206. With this process, the printing operation can be performed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S219, and the printing process is restarted.
On the other hand, when there is no print data, all the processing ends.

If it is not detected in step S211 that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than the set value, the flow advances to step S215 to determine whether printing has been completed. If the printing has not been completed, the process returns to step S210 to perform the printing process. If the printing has been completed, the process proceeds to step S216, where the sheet is discharged, and all the processes are completed.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the paper length is set from the host side, and when the remaining amount of ink becomes equal to or less than the set value, whether the paper length of the printing paper is longer than the set paper length. An ink replacement process is performed according to whether the condition is short.

Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the paper length is not set by the host, when it is detected that the remaining amount of ink is less than the set value, the maximum printing of the paper as shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the recording range has been exceeded, and further, whether or not a page break command or a print end command has been transmitted from the host side to the printer control circuit unit 2 to determine whether printing of a long sheet has been performed. It is determined whether printing is performed on a sheet having a short sheet length. Then, when the remaining amount of the ink becomes equal to or less than the set value according to the determination result, the ink replacement process is performed.

Here, a method of determining whether or not the maximum print recording range has been exceeded will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of determining whether or not the maximum recording range has been exceeded. FIG.
As shown in (1), a value representing the maximum print recording range in units of dots is stored in the A1 space (area) of the ROM 4. For example, when up to B4 paper is used as a short paper, the value of the maximum print recording range on B4 paper is stored in the A1 space. Each time the paper feed advances by one step, R shown in FIG.
The value stored in the A2 space of the AM5 is incremented by 1, and the value of the A2 space is compared with the value of the A1 space of the ROM 4 to determine whether or not the maximum print recording range has been exceeded.

The only difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the method of determining the length of the printing paper. The printing method is the same as that of the first embodiment and will not be described. Are omitted, and only the differences will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. First, in step S300, a paper feeding operation for feeding the printing paper set in the printer to the position of the printer head is performed. next,
Printing is started, and a printing process is performed in step S301. If it is detected during the printing process that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than the set value, it is stored in step S303 in the A1 space shown in FIG. 3 as to whether the printing position at that time exceeds the maximum print recording range. The determination is made based on the stored value and the value stored in the A2 space. If the maximum print recording range is exceeded, it is determined that the printing paper has a long paper length, and the process proceeds to step S305. Here, the printing process for a long sheet is performed in steps S203 to S2 of the first embodiment.
Since the operation is the same as in step 09, the description is omitted.

If the print recording range is not exceeded, the flow advances to step S304 to check whether a host computer has sent a page break command or a print end command to the printer control circuit unit 12 in step S308 while performing printing processing. Is determined (sensed). When the above command is received by the printer control circuit unit 2, it is determined that the printing paper has a short paper length, and the paper is discharged in steps S309 and S310. The printing process (step S311 and subsequent steps) after it is determined that the printing paper is short in length is the same as that in steps S210 to S219 of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will not be repeated.

On the other hand, if the printer control circuit unit 2 has not sent a page break command or a print end command,
Proceeding to step S303, the processing of steps S303, 304, and 308 as described above is repeated, and it is determined whether the printing paper has a long paper length or a short printing paper length. Printing processing is performed for each sheet length as described above.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of ink, and determining means for determining whether or not the length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than a predetermined paper length, and detecting that the remaining amount of ink has become equal to or less than the predetermined amount. If the printing paper length is equal to or longer than the predetermined paper length, the control unit stops the printing operation and restarts the printing operation after the ink cartridge is replaced. This has the effect that printing becomes impossible due to lack of ink.

Further, when it is detected that the remaining amount of the ink has become equal to or less than the predetermined amount, if the length of the printing paper is equal to or more than the predetermined length, the recording operation is stopped and the ink cartridge is replaced. Since the recording operation is controlled to resume after the printing, there is an effect that the ink is not exhausted during the printing and the printing becomes impossible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer control circuit unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating control processing according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a maximum print recording range.

FIG. 4 is a method for determining whether or not the maximum print recording range has been exceeded.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating control processing according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 CPU (determination means), (control means), (warning means) 10 Ink remaining amount detection section (detection means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] A detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of ink; a determining means for determining whether or not the length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than a predetermined paper length; When it is detected that the printing operation has been completed, if the printing paper length is equal to or longer than a predetermined paper length, a control unit that controls the printing operation to stop and restart the printing operation after the ink cartridge is replaced is provided. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit that warns the user to replace the ink cartridge when the detection unit detects that the remaining amount of the ink is less than a predetermined amount. Inkjet recording device. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discriminating means for discriminating the end of the printing operation in page units and the end of all the printing operations. 4. When the length of the printing paper is equal to or longer than a predetermined length when it is detected that the remaining amount of ink is equal to or shorter than a predetermined amount, the recording operation is stopped and the ink cartridge is replaced. And controlling the printing operation to resume after the printing operation.