JPH1086376A - Ink jet print head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cause no visual step portions even in the case where an interlace system drive is performed in a plural-color-integrated ink jet print head, by a method wherein nozzles capable of recording an image with each coloring material are driven as one block, respectively, by a drive controlling means. SOLUTION: Forty nozzles from the 5th to the 44th, which are recording nozzles for printing an image in cyan, are driven as one block. Then, nozzles from the 1st to the 4th and nozzles from the 45th to 52nd, which are dummy nozzles for cyan, and nozzles from the 53rd to the 60th, which are dummy nozzles for magenta, are driven as one block. Then, nozzles from the 61st to the 100th, which are recording nozzles for printing the image in magenta, are driven. Subsequently, nozzles from the 101st to the 108th, which are dummy nozzles for magenta, and nozzles from the 109th to the 116th and nozzles from the 157th to the 160th, which are dummy nozzles for yellow, are driven as one block. Finally, nozzles from the 117th to the 156th, which are recording nozzles for printing the image in yellow, are driven.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet print head which performs recording by discharging ink from nozzles and attaching ink dots to a recording material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet print head having a large number of nozzles, a large current is required to drive all the nozzles at the same time. , And block driving is performed for each block. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional driving method.
In the example shown in FIG. 11, four nozzles are regarded as one block, and the nozzles in each block are simultaneously driven to sequentially drive each block. As a result, since only four nozzles are driven at the same time, the power supply capacity of the power supply device can be significantly reduced.

[0003] By such driving, a dot row slightly shifted by four dots is formed on the recording material as shown in the right side of the figure. In this state, the straight line is inclined. Therefore, the ink jet print head is normally arranged with a slight inclination to correct the inclination. Alternatively, JP-A-5-2209
As described in JP-A-88-88, there is also a configuration in which adjacent nozzles are configured so as not to be in the same block, and dot rows are dispersed to improve linearity. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-96607, the linearity is improved by partially overlapping and driving the ejection regions. However, such a driving method has a drawback that a drive control circuit is complicated and a time until injection is completed is long.

Further, in an ink jet print head having a large number of nozzles, when ink is ejected from a certain nozzle, pressure fluctuation and ink flow occur in the nozzle at the time of ink ejection. This pressure fluctuation and ink flow may propagate to other nozzles, causing fluid and acoustic crosstalk. That is, each nozzle is affected by the fluid and acoustic crosstalk from the nozzle that previously ejected the ink, causing disturbance at the time of the ejection, and as a result, image quality defects such as satellite abnormalities may be caused. For this reason, a method has been adopted in which a nozzle that ejects at the next timing, which is most susceptible to influence, is physically separated from the nozzle that ejected the ink as physically as possible to avoid disturbance. However, if the distance is too large, not only does the electrical driving method become difficult, but also there is a problem that linearity on an image is impaired due to a shift in printing timing, and high quality image quality cannot be maintained. .

[0005] For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-81066, adjacent nozzles are continuously driven. Therefore, there is a problem in that crosstalk occurs between adjacent nozzles and the image is deteriorated. In addition, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Also in JP 20988 and JP-A-7-96607,
Adjacent nozzles are driven at successive timings, and crosstalk also occurs to cause deterioration of image quality.

As a driving method for avoiding such crosstalk, an interlace method has been proposed. FIG.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional interlaced driving method. FIG. 12 shows an example in which eight nozzles are driven eight times. In the interlace method, when a certain nozzle is driven, a nozzle as far away as possible is driven at the next timing. In this example, after driving the first nozzle, the fifth nozzle is driven, and then the third, seventh, second, sixth, fourth, and eighth are driven in that order. By performing such driving, adjacent nozzles are not driven at successive timings, so that crosstalk is unlikely to occur and good image quality can be maintained.
The recorded dots spread over a certain width, but the linearity is improved.

When such an interlacing method is applied to an ink jet print head having a large number of nozzles, normally, all the nozzles are not sequentially driven one by one, but are divided into groups by a certain number. The drive is performed in an interlaced manner. And
The groups of the number of nozzles that can be driven at the same time are set as blocks from the relationship of the power supply capacity and the like, and one nozzle of each group is driven simultaneously. Each block may be driven sequentially.

On the other hand, an ink jet print head capable of recording a plurality of colors by dividing a plurality of nozzles arranged in one head into the number of colors has been developed. Such an ink jet print head is disclosed in, for example,
No. 2,675, JP-A-2-204053, and the like. However, the ink jet print heads described in these documents have problems such as color mixing because nozzles for ejecting different color materials are adjacent to each other. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-263949, the interval between nozzles that eject different color materials is widened to prevent color mixing and the like. Similarly, in Japanese Patent Application No. 7-103662, the interval between nozzles that eject different color materials is widened, and dummy nozzles are provided between the nozzles that eject different color materials. The dummy nozzle is a nozzle which is not used during an actual printing operation, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-138888, and realizes stable ejection.

In such an ink jet print head integrated with a plurality of colors, a case where the above-described interlace driving is performed will be considered. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a step when an interlaced drive is performed in an ink jet print head integrated with a plurality of colors. FIG. 13A shows a three-color integrated type ink jet print head of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). The illustration of each nozzle is omitted. Consider that such an ink jet print head is divided into, for example, four blocks and sequentially driven. Since each block is driven by the interlace method, dots are dispersed and recorded within a certain width d as shown in FIG. When driving of one block is completed and driving of the next block is performed, FIG.
As shown in (1), dots are recorded in an area of width d shifted by the width d recorded by the previous block.

When adjacent nozzles are simultaneously driven as blocks as shown in FIG. 11 and each block is sequentially driven, the deviation of each dot is very small and only a deviation occurs as a whole. In the interlace method, the amount of deviation between blocks increases as shown in FIG. The deviation between the blocks causes a visual step to lower the image quality. This visual step is not much of a problem in black, where text is often recorded,
This has been a problem mainly with other colors that often record graphic patterns such as charts. FIG.
When the block is divided as shown in FIG.
All three colors have block boundaries, and there is a possibility that a visual step may occur at the boundary between the blocks.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not cause a visual step even when interlaced driving is performed in a multi-color integrated ink jet print head. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet print head capable of obtaining good image quality.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head unit having a plurality of nozzles, and a drive control means for driving the nozzles, wherein the plurality of nozzles are divided to form a plurality of colors. An ink-jet printhead capable of recording a material, wherein the drive control means uses an interlace method in which the adjacent nozzles are not simultaneously ejected in the ejection of the nozzles, and the number of nozzles that can be simultaneously driven and each block according to the interlace method. In the ink jet print head which performs a recording operation by sequentially driving the color materials, the drive control means drives the nozzles capable of recording the respective color materials as one block.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet print head according to the first aspect, further comprising a second head portion having a plurality of nozzles and capable of recording only one color, and the second head portion. A second drive control means for controlling the driving of the nozzles, and the second drive control means also drives simultaneously by using an interlace method in which adjacent nozzles are not simultaneously jetted in jetting of each nozzle of the second head unit. The printing operation is performed by sequentially driving the color head of the second head unit from the end of the nozzle for ejecting the color material for each block in accordance with the possible number of nozzles and the block in accordance with the interlace method. The means and the second drive control means are different only in the selection of nozzles belonging to each block.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet print head according to the second aspect, the drive control means and the second drive control means select a nozzle belonging to each block and select a block. This is performed by electrical connection between a block selection signal line for performing the operation and a part of a signal line for instructing on / off of each nozzle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet print head according to the first or second aspect, a dummy nozzle which is not used for recording but is drivable is provided between the nozzles which eject different color materials. The drive control means drives the dummy nozzle in a block different from a block including a nozzle for ejecting a color material.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet print head according to the fourth aspect, the block including the dummy nozzle is not driven by an interlace method.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet print head according to the fourth aspect, the block including the dummy nozzle is driven during the driving of the block including the nozzle that ejects a color material. It is a feature.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet print head according to the fourth aspect, an interlace system for driving a block including a nozzle for ejecting a color material and an interlace system for a block including the dummy nozzle are used. The driving method is realized by an electrical connection between an in-block selection signal line for selecting a nozzle in a block in the drive control unit and a part of a signal line for instructing on / off of each nozzle. Is what you do.

[0019]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet print head according to the present invention. FIG. 1A shows an example of a single color ink jet print head, and FIG. B) shows an example of a three-color integrated type ink jet print head. FIG. 2 is also a cross-sectional view in the flow channel direction. In the figure, 1 is a channel substrate, 2
Is a heater substrate, 3 is a thick resin layer, 4 is an ink reservoir,
Reference numeral 5 denotes a reservoir partition, 6 denotes a print recording nozzle, 7 denotes a dummy nozzle, 8 denotes an interval, and 9 denotes a heating element.

A plurality of ink flow paths and ink reservoirs 4 are formed in the channel substrate 1. Increase reservoir 4
Are formed for each color ink. 3 shown in FIG.
In the color integrated type ink jet print head, three ink reservoirs 4 are provided. In this case, for example, three colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) can be used as the ink. Each ink reservoir 4 is separated by a reservoir partition 5. In the ink jet print head shown in FIG.
One ink reservoir 4 is provided. For example, black (K) ink can be used. In addition, the ink reservoir 4 is formed penetrating the channel substrate 1,
Inks of each color are supplied from the through holes.

A plurality of ink flow paths are provided in the channel substrate 1 and communicate with the ink reservoir 4. FIG.
In the three-color integrated ink jet print head shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of ink flow paths are formed for each color and communicate with the corresponding ink reservoirs 4. The ink flow path is, for example, 63.5 at a recording density of 400 DPI.
It is provided every μm. A heating element 9 is provided in the ink flow path as shown in FIG. 2, and is driven by a drive control unit, which will be described later, generates heat, grows bubbles in the ink, and ejects ink from the nozzles by the pressure of the bubbles. Let it. Of the plurality of ink flow paths connected to each ink reservoir 4, one or more ink flow paths at both ends are dummy nozzles 7.
The other is used as the print recording nozzle 6. That is, print recording is performed using only the print recording nozzles 6.

As described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-138888, the ejection of the ink tends to be unstable at the nozzle near the side surface of the ink reservoir 4. Therefore, the dummy nozzle 7 is not used at the time of printing. However, the dummy nozzle 7 can eject ink. For example, ink can be ejected at the time of maintenance, or ink can be sucked from the dummy nozzle 7 by a priming operation. As a result, bubbles, dust, and the like staying in the vicinity of the side surface of the ink reservoir 4 are discharged to the outside together with the ink from the dummy nozzles 7, and it is possible to reduce ejection failure during print recording.

In the three color integrated type ink jet print head shown in FIG. 1B, an interval 8 between adjacent dummy nozzles 7 of different colors at the same pitch as the pitch of the print recording nozzle 6 and the dummy nozzle 7. Is provided.
The interval 8 can be, for example, an interval in which several nozzles can be arranged. At the time of print recording, the interval 8 and the dummy nozzle 7 are spaced between the print recording nozzles 6 that eject inks of different colors. As a result, it is possible to reduce the color mixture of inks of different colors, and to obtain good image quality. Also, the dummy nozzle 7
Has a function of suppressing the adhesive from flowing around when the channel substrate 1 and the heater substrate 2 are bonded to each other.

On the other hand, the heater substrate 2 is provided with a heating element 9 corresponding to the print recording nozzle 6 and the dummy nozzle 7, and an electrode and a protective film are formed thereon.
Is provided. In the thick resin layer 3, a concave portion for connecting the ink flow path and the ink reservoir 4 and a concave portion on the heating element are formed. Then, the channel substrate 1 and the heater substrate 2
Are joined and cut at a predetermined position in the ink flow path to form a head chip.

FIG. 1B shows an ink jet print head of a three-color integrated type. However, the present invention is not limited to the three-color ink jet print head. . Also, here, the three-color integrated inkjet printhead shown in FIG. 1B and the single-color inkjet printhead shown in FIG. 1A are used side by side, but one four-color integrated inkjet printhead is used. Various modifications, such as using only, are possible.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a specific example of one embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention. Here, as a specific example, it is assumed that the inkjet print head has a drive control unit capable of controlling the driving of 160 heating elements, and the arrangement of the 160 drivable nozzles is shown. It is preferable to increase the number of drivable nozzles in order to secure the recording speed. For convenience,
A serial number is assigned from the left nozzle, and each nozzle is indicated by a number. In the monochrome ink jet print head shown in FIG. 3A, black (K) is to be recorded.
Black (K) ink is ejected from all the 160 nozzles from No. 160 to No. 160.

The three-color integrated ink-jet printhead shown in FIG. 3B ejects cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) inks from the left and records them. , 56 and 52 nozzles are assigned. Of the nozzles No. 1 to No. 52 ejecting cyan (C) ink, four nozzles Nos. 1 to 4 and 45
The eight nozzles of No. 52 are designated as dummy nozzles 7 and
The number 40 nozzle is used as the print recording nozzle 6. Further, 53-1 which ejects magenta (M) ink
Of the 08 nozzle, 8 nozzles 53 to 60 and 101 to
The 108 nozzles are designated as dummy nozzles 7 and 61 to 61.
Forty nozzles up to 100 are used as print recording nozzles 6. 109 for ejecting yellow (Y) ink
Of the nozzles # 160 to # 160, eight nozzles # 109 to # 116 and four nozzles # 157 to # 160 are used as dummy nozzles 7, and 40 nozzles # 117 to # 156 are used as print recording nozzles 6.

As the interval 8, an interval at which eight nozzles can be arranged is provided. The head is assembled by bonding the channel substrate 1 and the heater substrate 2 as described above.
In manufacturing, it is necessary to secure a certain size as the interval 8. For this reason, a region corresponding to eight nozzles was secured as a region having an interval 8 in which there was no dummy nozzle between colors.

The first nozzle of the black (K) ink jet print head shown in FIG. 3A corresponds to the fifth nozzle of the three-color integrated ink jet print head shown in FIG. 3B. And both ink jet print heads are arranged. The nozzle No. 160 of the black (K) inkjet print head shown in FIG.
This corresponds to nozzle 148 of the three-color integrated ink jet print head shown in FIG.

Using such an ink jet print head, recording is performed by driving and controlling the nozzles according to the image signal. At this time, driving is performed using an interlace method. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an interlaced driving method in the embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention. Here, an interlace in which 8 dots are discrete is used. In interlaced driving, 2 n is appropriate, 4 cannot drive the nozzle because adjacent nozzles are driven, and may cause image quality defects. It is.

In this case, five nozzles are simultaneously driven. When four nozzles are driven at the same time, it takes 40 times to drive 160 nozzles. Therefore, it takes time to drive all nozzles, and the printing speed is reduced. Therefore, simultaneous driving of five or more nozzles is required. However, an increase in the number of nozzles driven at the same time causes an increase in the power supply capacity and an increase in the temperature of the ink jet print head due to heat generation, and induces image quality defects due to air bubbles. From such a viewpoint, the number of nozzles that are simultaneously driven is set to five.

Further, by combining the interlaced driving in which 8 dots are discretely driven and the simultaneous driving of five nozzles, the unit of one block is 8 × 5 = 40. The 160 nozzles provided in the specific example of each of the above-described inkjet print heads is a multiple of 40, which is a preferable number.

FIG. 4 shows a driving method of the interlace method in one block determined in this way. The numbers in the figure indicate the numbers of the nozzles in one block, and a group is formed every eight from the top. Interlaced driving is performed in each group, and the driving order is indicated by a circled number. Further, the nozzles at the same position in each group, that is, the same nozzles with a circled number indicating the driving order are simultaneously driven. For example, in a group consisting of nozzles 1 to 8, 1, 4, 7, 2, 5,
Each nozzle is driven in the order of 8, 3, and 6. Also, 1,
The five nozzles 9, 17, 25, and 33 are simultaneously driven. The dots recorded by such a driving method are enlarged and schematically shown on the left side. As described above, the linearity is not impaired in the block, and the adjacent nozzles are not driven continuously, so that the occurrence of satellites due to crosstalk or the like is reduced, and the image quality can be improved.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of an example of a specific driving order of each block in the embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention. FIG. 5A is FIG.
FIG. 5B shows a case of an ink jet print head which ejects black (K) ink shown in FIG.
3B illustrates the three-color integrated ink jet print head illustrated in FIG. Here, since each block is sequentially driven, each block is shifted in the order in which it is driven. As described above, one block is configured by 40 nozzles.

In the case of the ink jet print head for ejecting black (K) ink shown in FIG. 5A, the first nozzle is divided into blocks every 40 nozzles, and each block is sequentially driven. That is, as shown as a black head in FIG. 6, the blocks are driven in the order of a, b, c, and d. The interlaced driving shown in FIG. 4 is performed in the block. At this time, as described above, the recording timing is shifted by 8 ejections between the blocks, and a level difference visually appears as shown in FIG. 13B. And so on, which do not lead to deterioration of visual image quality.

In the case of the ink jet print head of the three-color integrated type shown in FIG. 5B, first, the 40th nozzles (b) of the 5th to 44th print recording nozzles for cyan (C) are set to one. Drive as one block. Next, the first to fourth nozzles (a) which are dummy nozzles for cyan (C), the 45th to 52nd nozzles (c), and the 53rd to 60th nozzles which are magenta (M) dummy nozzles (d ) Is driven as one block. Then, the 40th nozzles (e) of the 61st to 100th magenta (M) print recording nozzles are driven as one block. Next, 101 which is a magenta (M) dummy nozzle
To the 108th nozzle (f) and the 109th to 116th nozzles (g), which are yellow (Y) dummy nozzles,
The 57th to 160th nozzles (i) are driven as one block. Finally, the 117th to 156th nozzles (h), which are yellow (Y) print recording nozzles, are driven as one block. That is, as shown in FIG. 6 as a color head, first block (b), then blocks (a), (c), (d), third block (e), and fourth block (f). , (G), (i), 5
Finally, block (h) is driven.

The blocks of the second and fourth driven dummy nozzles are driven by using image data for which printing is not performed, so that ink is not actually ejected. In addition, the inkjet print head is normally mounted at an angle in order to ensure linearity. However, since there are dummy nozzles 7 and intervals 8 between the colors, for example, magenta (M) is located at the position where cyan (C) is recorded. ) Takes some time until the nozzle arrives and the yellow (Y) nozzle arrives at the position where magenta (M) is recorded. Driving of the block of dummy nozzles is also used for this time adjustment.

Further, the block of the dummy nozzle does not perform the interlaced driving. As a result, the degree of freedom in circuit design can be increased without being limited by the number of nozzles or the arrangement order of the dummy nozzles. Here, the dummy nozzles are driven by adjacent simultaneous driving as shown in FIG. 11, for example. Ink is not ejected during normal printing, but for example, during maintenance, the block of dummy nozzles is driven to eject ink. At this time, adjacent simultaneous driving is effective to blow off the ink accumulated around the nozzles. Further, by performing adjacent simultaneous driving for every five nozzles, the driving operation of this block can be completed by four driving operations, and the driving by the interlaced system in which one block driving operation is performed by eight driving operations. Shorter time is required and higher speed is possible. In addition, the drive time for one block of print recording nozzles is the drive time for two blocks of dummy nozzles, and the drive time for four blocks as a whole is the same. Can be.

As described with reference to FIG. 13, in this three-color integrated type ink jet print head, similarly to the single color ink jet print head, when the block is divided into blocks for every 40 nozzles including dummy nozzles, for example, cyan In (C), among the printable recordable nozzles, 36 nozzles 5 to 40 and four nozzles 41 to 44 are recorded in different blocks. In this case, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3B, a step occurs between the blocks. Since color inks other than black are mainly used for printing graphic patterns such as charts, such steps are likely to appear visually, and image quality deteriorates. However, according to the present invention, since the printable nozzles of each color are recorded as one block, no step occurs between the blocks of each color, and a recorded image of good image quality can be obtained.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive control circuit for a single-color ink jet print head according to an embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a common electrode, 12 is a heating element, 13
Is a driver, 14 is a pre-driver, 15 is a NAND circuit, 16 is a data holding circuit, 17 is a 4-bit ring counter, 18 is an 8-bit ring counter, 19 is a clock generation circuit, 20 is a regulator, 21 is a D latch, 22
Is a pre-driver power supply voltage monitor terminal, and 23 and 24 are test signal output terminals. The heating element 12 is the same as the heating element 9 shown in FIG. When each heating element 2 is driven, a multi-pulse drive is performed by using a pre-pulse and a main pulse by using a pre-pulse function in which a current is applied to the heating element 2 for a short time to generate heat.

One end of each of the 160 heating elements 12 is connected to a power supply via the common electrode 11. The other ends are connected to the driver 13 respectively. Driver 13
Can be configured by, for example, a MOS-FET or a transistor, and drives the heating element 12. Pre-driver 1
4 is a NAND switch for turning on the driver 13 sufficiently.
The output of the circuit 15 is combined with the power supply for the pre-driver and boosted to drive the driver 13. The power for the pre-driver is supplied from the regulator 20. The regulator 20 connects two resistors in series between the power supply and the ground, connects the divided voltage to the gate of the FET, and uses the output of the FET as a power supply for the pre-driver. An FET is connected in parallel to the resistor connected to the ground, and a signal obtained by inverting the NFCLR signal is input to the gate of the FET. Thus, the power supply for the pre-driver can be controlled based on the NFCLR signal, and a standby mode in which no power is supplied to the pre-driver 14 can be realized. When a bipolar transistor is used as the driver 13, there is no need to perform boost driving, so that the driver 13 can be configured without the pre-driver 14 and the regulator 20.

The data holding circuit 16 outputs print data for five simultaneously driven nozzles in accordance with the signal generated by the clock generation circuit 19. The 4-bit ring counter 17 and the 8-bit ring counter 18 output an intra-block selection signal and a block selection signal according to the signal generated by the clock generation circuit 19. Here, 4bi
Two signal lines of the t-ring counter 17 and two signal lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18 serve as intra-block selection signals, and two sets of the 8-bit ring counter 18 serve as block selection signals. The NAND circuit 15 outputs the respective print data, the output of the 4-bit ring counter 17, 8b
It takes out one by one from the output of the it ring counter 18,
The logical product signal is output to the pre-driver 14 as a drive signal.

The data holding circuit 16 holds two sets of print data with one set of print data for five nozzles driven simultaneously, and outputs the print data by switching between the pre-pulse and the main pulse. Recorded data is DATA /
It is supplied as a DIR signal and takes in a BIT SHIFT signal as a clock. Switching of the recording data is performed by an ENABLE signal composed of a pre-pulse and a main pulse. Further, transfer for using the recording data used at the time of the pre-pulse at the time of the main pulse is performed by a signal from the clock generation circuit 19.

The 4-bit ring counter 17 basically performs a shift operation using the ENABLE signal as a clock and selects one of the four signal lines. Also, 8bi
The t-ring counter 18 is a 4-bit ring counter 17
Shift operation is performed using the carry-out signal as a clock, and any one of the eight signal lines is selected. The 8-bit link counter 18 selects any one of the four blocks and the first half or the second half of each block. In the first half or the second half of the block selected by the 4-bit ring counter, in the interlace driving, Selection is performed according to the driving order.

For example, when a pulse for a nozzle that performs another simultaneous drive is inserted between a pre-pulse for a nozzle that performs a simultaneous drive and a main pulse, a simultaneous drive nozzle that is driven by a pre-pulse and a main pulse that follows the pre-pulse are used. Since the driving nozzles are different, a signal for switching between the pre-pulse and the main pulse is received from the clock generation circuit 19 together with the counting clock. The block selection order is given by the DATA / DIR signal, and the selection order is obtained based on the NFCLR signal which is a reset signal. The NFCLR signal is also used to reset the 4-bit ring counter 17 and the 8-bit ring counter.

The clock generation circuit 19 generates a switching signal for a pre-pulse and a main pulse, a pre-pulse, a clock signal for one set of a main pulse, and the like based on the ENABLE signal, and outputs the signal together with the ENABLE signal. Also, NF
Whether a single pulse drive or a double pulse drive is determined from the CLR signal and the DATA / DIR signal, and a signal to be generated is made to correspond to the determined drive method. D latch 21 is NFCLR
The DATA / DIR signal is latched based on the signal, and a DIR signal which is a switching signal of a block driving order is output.

Each signal will be described. The input signal line is
NFCLR signal, ENABLE signal, DATA / DIR
Signal and BIT SHIFT signal. NF
The CLR signal is a clear signal for resetting,
“L” clears the 4-bit ring counter 17 and the 8-bit ring counter 18. In addition, when it is “L”, the regulator 20 enters a low power consumption mode in which the pre-driver 14 does not supply the pre-driver power. Further, it is also used to set the block selection order at the rising edge and select and set single pulse driving or double pulse driving at the falling edge.

The ENABLE signal is "H" and the driver 1
Turn 3 ON. When the double pulse drive is performed, the waveform has a pre-pulse and a main pulse alternately appearing.
At the rise of the pre-pulse, the data holding circuit 16 latches the recording data. Also, the 4-bit ring counter is shifted at the fall of the main pulse.

The DATA / DIR signal is sent together with the serial recording data, as well as a selection signal for the block driving order and a signal for selecting between single pulse driving and double pulse driving. DATA when the NFCLR signal falls
The single pulse drive or double pulse drive is set by the / DIR signal. This setting is performed in the clock generation circuit 19. In addition, the driving order of the blocks is set by the DATA / DIR signal at the time of rising of the NFCLR signal. This setting is performed by the D latch 21. That is, the D latch 21 latches the DATA / DIR signal at the falling edge of the inverted signal of the NFCLR signal. This is input to the 4-bit ring counter 17 and the 8-bit ring counter 18 as a DIR signal indicating the drive order of the blocks.

The BIT SHIFT signal is a clock signal for serial recording data. At the fall of this signal, the data holding circuit 16 takes in the recording data.

The pre-driver power supply voltage monitor terminal 22 outputs an MVDD signal. This MVDD signal is an output for monitoring the voltage of the pre-driver power supply for the pre-driver 14. Also, test signal output terminal 2
DOUT1 and DOUT2 signals are output from 3,24. The DOUT1 and DOUT2 signals are output of internal logic test signals. In the example shown in FIG.
The signal is one of the output lines of the 4-bit ring counter 17 and
The logical sum of one output line of the 8-bit ring counter 18 is output. As the DOUT2 signal, a logical sum of one output line of the 8-bit ring counter 18 and one output line of the data holding circuit 16 is output.

FIG. 8 is a signal sequence diagram showing an example of one cycle in an example of a drive control circuit for a monochromatic ink jet print head in an embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention. The driving method and the driving direction are set by latching the DATA / DIR signal at the rising and falling edges of the NFCLR signal. Before the rising edge of the first ENABLE signal, print data corresponding to the five nozzles for printing at the beginning of the first block is read. The print data is read in correspondence with five nozzles that are driven simultaneously. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer order of recording data in one block. FIG.
The print data corresponding to the nozzle of the number shown in the first row is read at each drive. Thereafter, at the Nth drive, print data corresponding to the simultaneously driven nozzles to be prepulse-driven at the (N + 1) th time is read, and at the 32nd and 33rd drive, the DATA / DIR signal is set to 'L' to reset the print data.

On the other hand, during the first drive, ENABLE
Only the pre-pulse of the signal is used, and the heating element 12 corresponding to the five nozzles to be driven first in the first block is pre-heated. No recording is performed in the first main pulse. Thereafter, for the five simultaneously driven nozzles that have been preheated at the time of the Nth drive, recording is performed by the main pulse at the time of the (N + 1) th drive. At the time of the last 33rd drive, the drive by the pre-pulse is not performed, and the five nozzles driven at the end of the fourth block are driven by the main pulse.

When driving with a single pulse without the pre-pulse function, the driving is performed simultaneously at the beginning of the first block before the rising of the first ENABLE signal.
The print data corresponding to the number of nozzles is read. Hereafter, N
At the time of the second drive, print data corresponding to the simultaneously driven nozzles driven at the (N + 1) th time may be read and driven sequentially.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the single-color ink jet print head is divided into blocks each having 40 nozzles from the end.
Interlaced driving is performed while simultaneously driving the nozzles, and each block is sequentially driven. Such a driving method includes a 4-bit ring counter 17 and an 8-bit ring counter.
This is realized only by selecting the output line of the ring counter 18. For example, the first, ninth, seventeenth, twenty-fifth, and thirty-third nozzles in FIG.
Circuit 15 has the same 4-bit ring counters 17 and 8 bi
The output line of the t-ring counter 18 is selected and connected. These nozzles are connected to signal lines of different data holding circuits 16, respectively.

The nozzles driven by the first to fourth driving are connected to the output line of the same 8-bit ring counter 18 and 4bi different for each simultaneously driven nozzle.
Connected to the output line of t ring counter 17. Also, 5
The nozzles driven by the 8th to 8th driving are 1
It is connected to the output line of an 8-bit ring counter 18 different from the nozzle driven by the fourth to fourth drive. In this way, one block is selected by the two output lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18. 8bi
Since there are eight output lines of the t-ring counter 18, there are four sets of two for each block, and these are the block selection signals. In this manner, a driving method of performing interlaced driving for simultaneously driving five nozzles for each block and sequentially driving each block can be realized only by connection of wiring.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive control circuit of a three-color integrated ink jet print head according to an embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 3
The drive control circuit of the color integrated type ink jet print head has the same configuration as the single color ink jet print head, and includes a data holding circuit 16, an output line of a 4-bit ring counter 17, and an output line of an 8-bit ring counter 18, and each NAND circuit. The only difference is that the connection with F.15 is different.
With this connection, block driving in the order as shown in FIG. 5B, interlaced driving in which five nozzles as shown in FIG. 4 in a block having print recording nozzles are simultaneously driven, and Adjacent simultaneous driving in a block having a dummy nozzle is realized.

That is, the blocks constituted by the print recording nozzles for ejecting the 5th to 44th cyan (C) inks are constituted by the 1st to 40th nozzles in the monochromatic ink jet print head shown in FIG. The same connection as the block to be performed is made. In this block, 8
Of the eight output lines of the bit ring counter 18, FIG.
The first line and the second line from the top at 0 are selected.

The blocks to be driven next are 1-4, 45
It is a block having the 60th to 60th dummy nozzles. In this block, of the eight output lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18, the third line from the top in FIG. 10 is selected. This block performs adjacent simultaneous driving. Therefore, the same 4b is used for five nozzles that are driven simultaneously.
The output lines of the it ring counter 17 are selected and connected to the output lines of different data holding circuits 16 respectively. Further, different output lines of the 4-bit ring counter 17 are selected for every five nozzles. For example, in FIG. 10, since the first to fourth and 45th nozzles are driven simultaneously, they are connected to the output line of the same 4-bit ring counter 17. In addition, the 46th to 50th five nozzles are
It is connected to an output line of a 4-bit ring counter 17 different from the first to fourth and 45th nozzles. In this manner, for a block including a dummy nozzle, five simultaneous adjacent driving operations can be performed four times.

The next block of magenta (M) print recording nozzles uses the fourth and fifth lines from the top in FIG. 10 of the eight output lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18 and uses the cyan (C) described above. Are connected in the same way as in the case of. In addition, the block of the print recording nozzle of yellow (Y)
Of the eight output lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18, the seventh and eighth lines from the top in FIG. 10 are used and connected in the same manner as in the case of cyan (C) described above.

The blocks having the 101st to 116th and 157th to 160th dummy nozzles are 1 to 4, 45
This is the same as the block having the 60th to 60th dummy nozzles. Of the eight output lines of the 8-bit ring counter 18, the sixth from the top in FIG. 10 is selected, and the five adjacent nozzles select the output lines of the same 4-bit ring counter 17, and the different data holding circuits 16 Output is selected. Also, a different 4b for each of the five nozzles
The output line of the it ring counter 17 is selected and connected. The 116th nozzle and the 157th to 160th nozzles are driven simultaneously.

As described above, the data holding circuits 16, 4bi
By simply connecting the output lines of the t-ring counter 17 and the 8-bit ring counter 18 to the NAND circuit 15 corresponding to each nozzle as described above, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in each block having print recording nozzles, driving can be performed in an interlaced manner while simultaneously driving a plurality of nozzles, and adjacent simultaneous driving can be performed in each block having dummy nozzles. it can.

As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 7 and 10, such a change in the block division and a change in the driving method are performed by the data holding circuit 16 and the 4-bit ring counter 1.
The output lines of the 7, 8 bit ring counter 18 and each NAN
It only changes the connection with the D circuit 15 and does not affect the other drive control circuits. Therefore, it is possible to share a process required for manufacturing a single-color inkjet printhead and a three-color integrated inkjet printhead, Can be simplified, and a highly reliable inkjet print head can be manufactured at low cost.

The above example is an example, and various numerical values such as the total number of nozzles that can be driven, the number of nozzles that can be simultaneously driven, and the number of times of interlace driving may be set according to the ink jet print head used at the time of design. . In addition, in an ink jet print head integrating a plurality of colors, when a print recording nozzle of a certain color is set as one block, a dummy nozzle may be included depending on design conditions.

[0065]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the recording of each color is completed in one block corresponding to the driving by the interlace method, and the blocks extending between the colors are not used. Therefore, there is no seam between the blocks when recording one band, so that there is no visual step and the image quality can be improved.

Even if such a block is formed, only the selection of the nozzles belonging to each block in the drive control means is different from that of the monochromatic ink jet print head, and the connection with the signal line is changed. In addition, the single-color and multi-color ink jet print heads can be made to have basically the same circuit configuration, so that the process required for manufacturing can be shared and the drive circuit can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. It can be manufactured.

Further, the dummy nozzles of the color separation section are driven by different blocks from the nozzles used for recording, so that the recording timing is equivalent to that of a single-color ink jet print head. By driving the block of dummy nozzles at the same time, the recording position of each color can be adjusted. In addition, since the driving of the dummy nozzles does not use the interlace method, there is no need to restrict the number of nozzles and the arrangement order, so that the degree of freedom in circuit design can be increased and the effect at the time of maintenance can be enhanced. . For example, even when adjacent simultaneous driving is performed, it can be realized only by changing the connection with the signal line. According to the present invention, various effects can be obtained as described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the flow channel direction showing one embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a specific example of one embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driving method of an interlace system in an embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a specific driving order of each block in an embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a specific driving order of each block in the embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive control circuit for a single-color inkjet printhead according to an embodiment of the inkjet printhead of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a signal sequence diagram illustrating an example of one cycle in an example of a drive control circuit of a single-color inkjet printhead in an embodiment of the inkjet printhead of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer order of print data in one block by an interlace method in an embodiment of the inkjet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive control circuit of a three-color integrated ink jet print head according to an embodiment of the ink jet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional driving method.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional interlaced driving method.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a step when an interlaced drive is performed in a multi-color integrated ink jet print head.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Channel board, 2 ... Heater board, 3 ... Thick film resin layer,
4 ... ink reservoir, 5 ... reservoir partition, 6 ... print recording nozzle, 7 ... dummy nozzle, 8 ... interval, 9 ... heating element,
11: common electrode, 12: heating element, 13: driver, 14
... Pre-driver, 15 ... NAND circuit, 16 ... Data holding circuit, 17 ... 4-bit ring counter, 18 ... 8bi
t ring counter, 19 clock generator, 20 regulator, 21 D latch, 22 predriver power supply voltage monitor terminal, 23, 24 test signal output terminal.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet print head comprising: a head unit having a plurality of nozzles; and drive control means for driving the nozzles, wherein the plurality of nozzles can be divided to record a plurality of color materials. In the ink jet print head, the drive control means performs the recording operation by sequentially driving the number of nozzles that can be driven simultaneously and the block according to the interlace method using an interlace method in which the adjacent nozzles are not simultaneously ejected in the ejection of each nozzle. An ink jet print head, wherein the drive control means drives the nozzles capable of recording the color materials as one block. A second head unit having a plurality of nozzles and capable of recording only one color; and a second drive control means for controlling driving of the second head unit. The drive control means also employs an interlacing method in which the adjacent nozzles are not simultaneously ejected in the ejection of each nozzle of the second head unit, and the number of nozzles that can be simultaneously driven and the block corresponding to the interlacing method are used in the second The recording operation is performed by sequentially driving each block from the end of the nozzle for ejecting the color material of the head unit, and the drive control unit and the second drive control unit select a nozzle belonging to each block. 2. The ink-jet printhead according to claim 1, wherein only the difference is. 3. The drive control means and the second drive control means select a nozzle belonging to each block,
3. The ink jet print head according to claim 2, wherein the connection is made by electrically connecting a block selection signal line for selecting a block and a part of a signal line for instructing on / off of each nozzle. 4. A dummy nozzle which is not used for recording but is drivable between said nozzles for ejecting different color materials is provided,
The ink jet print head according to claim 1, wherein the drive control unit drives the dummy nozzle in a block different from a block including a nozzle that ejects a color material. 5. The ink-jet printhead according to claim 4, wherein the block including the dummy nozzle is not driven by an interlace method. 6. The ink-jet printhead according to claim 4, wherein the block including the dummy nozzle is driven during driving of the block including the nozzle that ejects a color material. 7. An interlace system for driving a block including a nozzle for ejecting a color material and a driving system other than the interlace system for a block including the dummy nozzle are used for selecting nozzles in the block by the drive control means. The ink jet print head according to claim 4, wherein the ink jet print head is realized by electrical connection between a selection signal line in a block and a part of a signal line for instructing on / off of each nozzle.