JPH1034898A - Recording head and recording apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the drivability of an nMOS transistor in a recording head employing, for example, a power transistor due to the nMOS transister. SOLUTION: The input digital image signal temporarily stored in a shift resistor 404 is latched by a latch circuit 403 and, on the basis of the latched image signal, the power transistor 502 of an nMOSFET is used to supply a current to a heater 401 by using a power transistor 502 to perform driving. When recording operation is performed, the voltage (e.g. 5V) expressing the ON of the latched digital signal is boosted by a voltage conversion part 11 to be applied to a power transistor 502.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head and a recording apparatus using the recording head, and more particularly, to a recording head for ejecting ink in accordance with an ink jet system to perform recording on a recording medium, and a recording apparatus using the recording head. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording head mounted on a conventional recording apparatus according to an ink jet system has a circuit configuration as shown in FIG. The electrothermal transducer (heater) of such a recording head and its driving circuit are described in, for example,
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 5594, they are formed on the same substrate by using a semiconductor process technique.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 401 denotes an electrothermal transducer (heater) for generating thermal energy, 402 a power transistor for supplying a desired current to the heater 401, and 404 a current to each heater 401. A shift register 406 for temporarily storing image data indicating whether or not to eject ink from the nozzles of the print head;
407 is an input terminal for inputting a transfer clock (CLK) provided in the shift register 404, and 403 is image data (DATA) for each heater 401. ) Is a latch signal input terminal for inputting a latch timing signal (LT) to the latch circuit 403.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a switch for determining the timing of supplying a current to the heater 401, reference numeral 405 denotes a power supply line for applying a predetermined voltage to the heater and supplying current, and reference numeral 410 denotes a GND line into which the current flowing through the heater 401 and the power transistor 402 flows. is there.

The number of image data bits stored in the shift register 404, the number of power transistors 402, and the number of heaters 401 are the same. FIG. 6 is a timing chart of various signals for driving the driving circuit of the recording head shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the drive circuit of the recording head shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The transfer clock (CLK) for the number of bits of the image data stored in the shift register 404 is input to the transfer clock input terminal 407. Here, it is assumed that data transfer to the shift register 404 is performed in synchronization with the rising timing of the transfer clock (CLK), and each heater 401 is turned on.
/ OFF image data (DATA) is input from the image data input terminal 406.

Here, the number of bits of image data stored in the shift register 404 is the same as the number of heaters 401 and power transistors 402 for current driving.
After transferring the image data (DATA) to the shift register 404 by inputting the pulses of the transfer clock (CLK) by the number of the heaters 401, the latch signal (LT) is given to the latch signal input terminal 408 to give each heater 401. The corresponding image data is held in the latch circuit 403.

After that, the switch 409 is set to "O" for an appropriate time.
If N "is set, the current flows through the power line 405 to the power transistor 402 and the heater 401 in accordance with the length of time that the switch 409 is in the ON state, and the current flows into the GND line 410 again. The heater 401 generates heat necessary for discharging ink, and ink corresponding to the image data (DATA) is discharged from the nozzles of the recording head.

The above-described configuration is conventionally known, but a recording head having a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed as an improved type.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 502 denotes an nMOS field effect transistor (FET) which operates as a power transistor for supplying a desired current to the heater.

When this circuit configuration is compared with that of FIG.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, an NPN transistor connected in Darlington is used as a power transistor. Under such a configuration, a CMOS gate is usually used for a logic circuit such as a shift register or a latch. At the same time, a Bi-CMOS process has been used to form an NPN transistor. . However, the Bi-CMOS process has the disadvantage that the number of masks required for the process is large and expensive.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, by using an nMOS transistor instead of an NPN transistor, a process similar to a logic circuit (CMOS process) is performed.
Since a power transistor can also be formed by using GaN, it is possible to manufacture a recording head at a relatively low cost.

[0012]

However, in a CMOS logic circuit such as the above-mentioned conventional example, the signal which is usually used is 0 V / 5 V of Low (Low) / Hi.
(High), and the output of the latch circuit 410 in FIG. 7 does not rise to 5 V or more when the signal level is "Hi". Therefore, the gate voltage of the power transistor 502 cannot be as high as 5 V or more. On the other hand, the current-voltage characteristics of an nMOS transistor generally have a gate voltage (VG) as shown in FIG.
The maximum value of the current (drain-source current: IDS) that can be applied increases by that amount, and the operating point of the drain voltage (drain-source voltage: VDS) at that time decreases. That is, when the gate voltage (VG) is increased, nM
It can be said that the drivability of the OS transistor is improved.

For the reasons described above, in a recording head composed of a CMOS logic circuit and a power transistor composed of an nMOS transistor, the gate voltage of the power transistor composed of the nMOS transistor is defined by the signal amplitude of 5 V in the CMOS logic circuit. In addition, there is a problem that sufficient drivability utilizing characteristics of the nMOS transistor cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example. For example, in a recording head employing a power transistor of an nMOS transistor, a recording head having improved drivability of the nMOS transistor and a recording using the recording head are provided. It is intended to provide a device.

[0015]

To achieve the above object, a recording head according to the present invention has the following arrangement.

That is, a heater corresponding to a recording element, a power transistor for energizing and driving the heater, a shift register for inputting and temporarily storing a digital image signal, and a digital image stored in the shift register And a latch circuit for latching a signal, and a voltage conversion circuit for boosting a voltage representing ON of the digital signal latched by the latch circuit and applying the boosted voltage to the power transistor.

With the above configuration, a latch output corresponding to a digital signal expressing off and on with, for example, 0 V and 5 V is input to a power transistor such as an FET, for example. Can be boosted and applied to the power transistor.

Such a power supply conversion circuit is provided between the output of the latch circuit and the gate of a power transistor such as an FET, and supplies a voltage higher than the digital signal amplitude of 0 V / 5 V to the gate of the power transistor. .

It should be noted that a recording head that performs recording in accordance with an ink jet system can be used as the above recording head.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus using the recording head having the above configuration.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Schematic Description of Apparatus Main Body> FIG. 1 shows an ink jet printer IJ which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.
It is an external appearance perspective view showing the outline of composition of RA. In FIG. 1, a carriage HC that engages with a spiral groove 5004 of a lead screw 5005 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 5009 to 5011 in conjunction with forward and reverse rotation of a drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Guide rail 50
03 reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. The carriage HC includes a recording head IJH and an ink tank IT.
Integrated inkjet cartridge IJC
Is installed. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which feeds the recording paper P to the platen 50 over the moving direction of the carriage HC.
Press against 00. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detectors for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a cap member 50 for capping the front surface of the recording head IJH.
Reference numeral 5015 denotes a suction device that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member which allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for recovery of suction. The lever 5021 moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission mechanism such as clutch switching. Is done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. If a desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

<Description of Control Structure> Next, a control structure for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the ink jet printer IJRA. In the figure showing a control circuit, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is an MPU 170
ROM for storing a control program to be executed by PC 1, 170
Reference numeral 3 denotes a DRAM for storing various data (such as the print signal and print data supplied to the print head IJH). Reference numeral 1704 denotes a gate array (GA) for controlling supply of print data to the print head IJH, and includes an interface 1700, an MPU 1701, and a RAM 1703.
It also controls data transfer between them. 1710 is a recording head IJ
A carrier motor for transporting H, and 1709 a transport motor for transporting the recording paper. 1705, a head driver for driving the recording head IJH, 1706, 1707
Are the transport motor 1709 and the carrier motor 171 respectively.
0 is a motor driver for driving 0.

The operation of the above control configuration will be described. When a recording signal enters the interface 1700, the gate array 17
04 and the MPU 1701 converts the recording signal into recording data for printing. Then, the motor driver 17
06 and 1707 are driven, and the head driver 1
Print head IJH according to the print data sent to
Is driven, and recording is performed.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a logic circuit of the printhead IJH. In FIG. 3, the same components as those of the recording head shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Only the elements will be described.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 111 denotes a voltage converter for converting the voltage amplitude of the digital signal from the switch 409 to a higher voltage amplitude and supplying the voltage to the gate of the power transistor 502. Reference numeral 116 denotes a power supply line of the voltage converter 111. . The voltage conversion unit 111 includes a resistor 112 and a resistor 1
NMOS transistor 11 having a drain connected to 12
3. It is composed of a PMOS transistor 114 and an nMOS transistor 115 constituting a CMOS inverter. The number of image data bits stored in the shift register 404, the number of power transistors 502, and the number of heaters 401 are the same.

The recording head IJH having the above-described structure performs the same operation as that of the conventional recording head shown in FIG. 5 in accordance with the timing chart shown in FIG.

That is, image data (DATA) for turning on / off each heater 401 is supplied to the image data input terminal 106 in synchronization with the rising timing of the transfer clock.
Is entered from Here, since the number of bits of the image data stored in the shift register 404 is the same as the number of the heaters 401 and the power transistors 502 for current driving, the transfer clock (CLK) is equal to the number of the heaters 401.
Is input to transfer the image data (DATA) to the shift register 404, and then the latch signal input terminal 408
, And the latch circuit 403 holds image data corresponding to each heater.

Thereafter, when the switch 409 is turned on, a Low / Hi signal corresponding to the image data is output to the latch circuit 40.
3, and the output voltage is applied to the gate of the nMOS transistor 113 of the voltage conversion unit 111 via the switch 409.

Here, the output of the latch circuit 403 is "Lo"
At this time, since the nMOS transistor 113 is turned off, the voltage of the power supply 116 is directly supplied to the PMOS transistor 114 via the resistor 112.
And an nMOS transistor 115. Then, since the output of the CMOS inverter becomes “Low”, “0 V” is supplied to the gate of the power transistor 502 as a voltage. That is, when the output of the latch circuit 403 is “Low (no image data or the value of the image signal is“ 0 ”)”,
The gate voltage of the power transistor 502 becomes “0 V”, no current flows through the heater 401, and printing by ink ejection is not performed.

Next, consider the case where the output of the latch circuit 403 is "Hi". At this time, the shift register 404 and the latch circuit 403 are usually constituted by CMOS gates, and transfer clocks (CLK) and image signals (D
Since all signals such as ATA) and latch timing (LT) have a signal amplitude of 0V / 5V, the power supply voltage for the latch circuit 403 is often 5V. Therefore, when the output of the latch circuit 403 is "Hi", the signal voltage is 5V. This 5V voltage is the switch 40
9 is applied to the gate of the nMOS transistor 113. As a result, the nMOS transistor 113 is turned on, so that a current flows through the resistor 112.

If the value of the resistor 112 is set to a value sufficiently higher than the resistance value of the nMOS transistor 113 in the ON state, a voltage as close as possible to 0 V is supplied to the gate of the next-stage CMOS inverter, and CMOS The input from the gate of the inverter can be set to “Low”. As a result, the output of the CMOS inverter becomes "Hi", and the output voltage level at this time shows the voltage value of the power supply line 116 as it is, and this is supplied to the gate of the power transistor 502. That is, when the output of the latch circuit 403 is “Hi (the value of the image signal is“ 1 ”)”, the voltage of the power supply line 116 is applied to the gate of the power transistor 502 and the power transistor 5
02 is turned on, a current flows through the heater 401, and printing by ink ejection is performed.

At this time, if the voltage of the power supply line 116 is set higher than 5 V which is the power supply voltage of the shift register 404 and the latch circuit 403, the voltage is applied to the gate of the power transistor 502, Drivability can be improved.
At this time, the voltage of the power supply line 116 can be set arbitrarily. For example, it is desirable to set the voltage as high as possible within a range permitted by the breakdown voltage of the CMOS inverter. For example, it is possible to share the voltage of the power supply line 405 to the heater 401 and the power supply 116 of the voltage converter, so that desired characteristics can be obtained without having two power supplies and the device can be simplified. .

In this embodiment, a current flows from the power supply line 116 of the voltage converter when the nMOS transistor 113 is in an ON state, and does not flow when the nMOS transistor 113 is in an OFF state. Usually, in a printing apparatus according to the ink jet system, the number of heaters 401 to be simultaneously turned on is often limited to about one tenth of the total number of heaters due to the power supply capability of the apparatus.
There are many OFF numbers. Therefore, a current flows through the voltage conversion unit corresponding to the heater in the OFF state, and if the number is large, a large current flows through at least one voltage conversion unit as a whole. Further, in a state where all the heaters are OFF, that is, in a so-called idling state, when a current flows to the voltage conversion units corresponding to all the heaters, this causes an increase in the temperature of the recording head and the operation of the recording head and the life thereof. It will have an adverse effect.

For such a reason, it is desirable that no current flows in the voltage conversion section where the heater is off.
In this embodiment, the nMOS transistor 113 is
In the F state, no current flows.

Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, a power supply converter is provided between the power transistor for driving the heater of the print head and the latch circuit for outputting image data. The power transistor can be driven at a voltage higher than the output voltage of the power transistor.
In particular, when an nMOS transistor is used as the power transistor, the drivability of the power transistor can be improved. In addition, there is an advantage that there is no need to increase any process steps in manufacturing a recording head having such a circuit configuration.

Further, since the current does not flow when the nMOS transistor 113 constituting the voltage converter is in the OFF state, unnecessary power consumption does not occur.
There is also an advantage that the operation and life of the recording head are not adversely affected.

In the above description of the embodiment, it is desirable that the voltage of the power supply line 116 of the voltage converter 111 be as high as possible without exceeding the breakdown voltage of the CMOS inverter. And may be shared. However, usually, the heater voltage is often set to a high voltage of 20 V or more,
On the other hand, the breakdown voltage of the CMOS inverter is 15
In many cases, it is difficult to share a power supply. However, providing a separate power supply for the voltage converter increases the circuit scale of the entire device,
This leads to higher costs.

Therefore, in order to satisfy such demands, a configuration in which the heater power supply voltage is divided and supplied to the power supply conversion unit may be added to the circuit of the recording head shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a recording head in which a circuit for dividing a heater power supply voltage and supplying it to a power supply conversion unit is added to the configuration of the recording head shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 201 denotes a voltage supply circuit for supplying power to the power supply line 116 of the voltage converter 111 using a voltage supplied from the power supply line 405 to the heater 401; 204 is the nMO
S transistor, 205 is nMOS transistor 204
Is the resistance connected to the source. The nMOS transistor 204 and the resistor 205 constitute a source follower type buffer.

With such a configuration, an arbitrary voltage is generated from the heater power supply 405 based on the voltage division ratio of the resistor 202 and the resistor 203, and a source follower circuit including an nMOS transistor 204 as a buffer and a resistor 205 is connected to this. Then, by supplying the voltage to the voltage converter, an optimal voltage can be supplied to the voltage converter 111 without providing a separate power supply. Further, by providing such a buffer, the nM
A voltage drop caused by a current flowing when the OS transistor 113 is turned on can be absorbed, and as a result, a voltage can be supplied to the voltage converter 111 without deteriorating circuit characteristics.

The above-described embodiment is particularly provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection even in an ink jet recording system. By using a method in which a change in the state of the ink is caused by energy, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path in which Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. This may be either a configuration satisfying the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally.

In addition to the cartridge type recording head in which the ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, the recording head is electrically connected to the apparatus main body by being mounted on the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip-type recording head, which enables a simple connection and supply of ink from the apparatus main body, may be used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like to the above-described configuration of the printing apparatus because the printing operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. It is also effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection that is different from printing, in order to perform stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, and may be a single recording head or a combination of plural recording heads. Alternatively, the apparatus may be provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid. However, even if the ink solidifies at room temperature or lower, it is possible to use an ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature. Or, in the ink jet method, generally, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range.
It is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, the temperature is positively prevented.
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, an ink which solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition to the above, the recording apparatus according to the present invention may be provided not only as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer but also integrally or separately, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, etc. It may take the form of a facsimile machine having functions.

The present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), but can be applied to a single device (for example, a copier, a facsimile). Device).

In the present invention, the logic CMOS
Although the power supply voltage of the circuit system is described as 5 V, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when a further miniaturized semiconductor process is used, 3.3 V
Even if the power supply voltage is replaced with a lower voltage, a similar effect can be obtained by configuring the circuit as described above.

[0058]

As described above, the heater is driven by inputting a latch output corresponding to a digital signal representing OFF and ON with, for example, 0 V and 5 V to a power transistor such as an FET, for example. In doing so, the voltage can be boosted and applied to the power transistor.
Thus, there is an effect that the drivability of the power transistor as described above is improved, and a recording head with higher performance and a recording apparatus using the same can be provided.

[0059]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of an ink jet printer IJRA which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit of the inkjet printer IJRA.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a logic circuit of a printhead IJH.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a print head in which a circuit for dividing a heater power supply voltage and supplying the divided voltage to a power conversion unit is added to the configuration of the print head illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional recording head according to an ink jet system.

6 is a timing chart of various signals for driving the drive circuit of the recording head shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional example using an nMOSFET as a power transistor of the recording head shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing VD-ID characteristics of an nMOS transistor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 111 Voltage conversion unit 201 Voltage supply circuit 401 Heater 402 NPN transistor 403 Latch circuit 404 Shift register 502 nMOS transistor

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A heater corresponding to a recording element, a power transistor for energizing and driving the heater, a shift register for inputting and temporarily storing a digital image signal, and a digital image stored in the shift register. A printhead comprising: a latch circuit that latches a signal; and a voltage conversion circuit that boosts a voltage representing ON of a digital signal latched by the latch circuit and applies the boosted voltage to the power transistor. 2. The power transistor is an n-type MOSF.
The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is ET. 3. The n-type MOSF
3. The recording head according to claim 2, wherein the recording head is provided between an ET gate and an output terminal of the latch circuit. 4. A voltage conversion circuit comprising: a resistor; a first nMOS transistor having a drain connected to the resistor; a pMOS transistor having a gate connected between the resistor and the drain; 4. The recording head according to claim 3, further comprising a CMOS inverter circuit comprising the nMOS transistor. 5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a first terminal for applying a first power supply voltage to the heater, and a second terminal for applying a second power supply voltage to the voltage conversion circuit. 3. The recording head according to 2. 6. The second power supply voltage is divided into a second power supply voltage and a second power supply voltage.
The recording head according to claim 5, further comprising a voltage dividing circuit that generates a power supply voltage of the first and second power supplies, wherein a power supply of the first and second power supply voltages is shared. 7. The recording head according to claim 6, wherein the voltage dividing circuit includes a source follower circuit. 8. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink. 9. A recording apparatus using the recording head according to claim 1.