JPH1095116A - Ink jet recording head, ink jet recording device, and ink jet receding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability by precisely controlling engergy applied to an electric heat conversion body without increasing the cost of a printer main body or a head, improving the yeild due to reduction in the variability of the printing performance of the head, and eliminating an earlier breakage of the electric heat conversion body. SOLUTION: An element 31 is provided on a substrate for detecting the characteristics of a driving element, and energy applied to a conversion body can be maintained constant between heads by changing the driving condition of the head based on the information so detected. A characteristic detecting element of the driving element measures an ON resistance value. It is also possible to have a single signal wire to be taken outside by connecting the element 31 to an element 32 for detecting the variability of a sheet resistance value in a parallel fashion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head, a recording apparatus, and a recording method for recording on a recording medium, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording head for ejecting a liquid from an orifice to form a droplet. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With respect to this type of ink jet recording, there is known an ink jet recording method in which thermal energy is applied to a liquid to obtain the driving force of droplet discharge, as described in, for example, JP-A-54-51837. .

That is, in the recording method disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the liquid which has been subjected to the action of thermal energy is heated to generate bubbles, and the action force based on the generation of the bubbles causes the orifice at the tip of the recording head to generate a bubble. The recording is performed on the recording member by discharging droplets.

A recording head applied to this recording method generally comprises an orifice (discharge port) provided for discharging liquid, and an electrothermal transducer which is means for generating thermal energy for discharging droplets. A liquid comprising a heating element as a part, an upper protective layer for protecting the same from ink, and a thermal action part which is a part which communicates with the orifice and is a part where thermal energy for discharging droplets acts on the liquid. And a liquid discharge section having a flow path.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-72867 proposes that drive elements for driving these electrothermal transducers be formed in the same element base for simplifying an electric mounting portion.

[0006] Generally, the driving element formed on the element substrate is formed of a bipolar transistor and an NMOS transistor. Each transistor has an ON resistance value. In particular, it is said that the variation in the ON resistance value is large in the NMOS transistor.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-223495, the energy applied to the electrothermal converter in response to the variation in the sheet resistance of the heat generating resistor layer constituting the electrothermal converter. When performing correction, an element for detecting a variation in sheet resistance is provided on the element substrate on which the electrothermal transducer is formed, the information is taken out from the head, and a drive signal input to the head from the printer side is provided. Is corrected by changing the conditions, specifically, the pulse width, and the energy applied to the electrothermal conversion signal body is kept constant by such correction.

[0008]

The amount of energy applied to the electrothermal converter is greatly related to printing performance and durability. In terms of printing performance, the higher the energy amount, the better. In terms of durability, the energy must be reduced in order to prevent the electrothermal transducer from breaking. In particular, as high-density, high-definition recording is performed, smaller droplets must be ejected than before. For this reason, it is necessary to pay more attention to the printing performance than before.

In recent years, from the viewpoint of ecology, the head and ink tank integrated type cartridge has been changed to a head and ink tank separated type. In order to use the head for a long period of time by replacing only the ink tank. The head is required to have higher durability than before.

Therefore, the amount of energy applied to the electrothermal converter must be precisely controlled.

However, as described above, a driving element for driving the electrothermal transducer has an ON resistance, which also has variations due to the driving element manufacturing process. When the voltage applied to the head is constant, variation in the ON resistance value causes variation in the voltage applied to both ends of the electrothermal transducer, which may change the printing performance for each head, resulting in defective printing heads. There was something to do. In addition, the electrothermal transducer may be disconnected early by the head.

In particular, in the case of an NMOS transistor which can reduce the cost of the drive element manufacturing process due to the simplicity of the process, the variation in the ON resistance value is large. Therefore, when the driving element is an NMOS transistor, the above problem is expected to occur.

Naturally, the variation of the ON resistance value may be measured for each head when the head is shipped, and the driving condition may be set accordingly. However, if the head is of a type that can be replaced by a user, the user is required to replace the head every time the head is replaced. Must set the driving conditions.

[0014]

A recording head for achieving the object to solve the above-mentioned problems has a heating resistance layer and an electrode layer which constitute an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. A plurality of driving elements for driving the electrothermal transducer are formed on the same element base, and a detection element for detecting the characteristics of the driving elements is formed on the element base. The recording head is characterized by the following.

[0015] Such a recording head is provided with a heat-acting portion provided with an electrothermal conversion pair for forming a bubble in the liquid by applying energy to the liquid, and an ink flow communicating with a discharge port for ink discharge. It may have a road.

A recording apparatus for performing recording on a recording medium is an apparatus having the above-described recording head and a unit for conveying the recording medium.

A recording method for performing recording on a recording medium includes a driving element for driving an electrothermal transducer for performing recording and a driving element characteristic detecting means for detecting characteristics of the driving element. This is a method of providing a recording head having: a driving element characteristic detecting element for detecting characteristics of the driving element, and changing a driving condition of the electrothermal transducer based on the detection result.

[0018]

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

First, the “record” used in the present invention is:
This means not only providing an image having the meaning of characters and graphics to the recording medium, but also giving an image having no meaning of the pattern.

The present invention also provides a printer, a copier, a facsimile having a communication system for recording on a recording medium such as paper, thread, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics and the like. The present invention is applicable to an apparatus such as a word processor having a section, and an industrial recording apparatus combined with various processing apparatuses.

Further, the “element substrate” used below is
It does not indicate a simple substrate made of a silicon semiconductor, but a substrate provided with each element, wiring, and the like. Further, "on the element substrate" indicates not only the element substrate but also the surface of the element substrate and the inside of the element substrate near the surface. Further, the term “built-in” in the present invention is not a term indicating that each of the separate elements is simply arranged on the base, but the respective elements are integrally formed on the element base by a semiconductor circuit manufacturing process or the like. Formed into
It indicates that it is manufactured.

In the following description, an ink jet recording head for applying heat generated by an electrothermal transducer to ink in a flow path and ejecting ink from an ejection port at a pressure associated with a film boiling phenomenon is used. The present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to a head in which an electrothermal transducer for performing recording and a driving element for driving the electrothermal transducer are arranged on the same element substrate.

First, the configuration of the recording head of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the recording head of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head of the present invention.

As can be seen from the perspective view of FIG. 1, the ink jet cartridge JIC in this embodiment is one in which the ink jet head unit and the ink tank are integrated, and has a large ink storage ratio. .
The ink jet cartridge JC is of a disposable type which is fixed and supported by positioning means and electrical contacts of a carriage mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus main body IJRA, and is detachable from the carriage. Inkjet unit IJU
Is a bubble jet type unit that performs recording using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for causing film boiling in ink in response to an electric signal.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 designates an electrothermal transducer (discharge heater) arranged in a plurality of rows on an Si substrate, an electric wiring such as an AI for supplying power thereto, and an electrothermal transducer. This is a heater board (element base) in which a driving element for driving the substrate and a driving element characteristic detecting means to be described later are formed by a film forming technique. 200 is the heater board 100
Wiring board.

Reference numeral 1300 designates a partition (groove) for dividing a plurality of ink flow paths provided corresponding to the above-mentioned electrothermal transducer and an ink for supplying ink to each ink flow path (liquid flow path). An orifice plate 400 having a plurality of discharge ports corresponding to each ink flow path is integrally formed with a grooved top plate provided with a supply liquid chamber and the like for accommodating ink.
Polysulfone resin is desirable as these integrally molded materials, but other molded resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes, for example, a metallic support for supporting the rear surface of the wiring substrate 200 on a flat surface, and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a pressing spring which is a pressing member. The pressing spring 500 has an M-shape and presses the common liquid chamber at a center of the M-shape with a light pressure. The heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 are pressed and fixed by the concentrated urging force by the linear pressure.

The ink tank is a cartridge body 100
0, the ink absorber 900 and the lid member 1 for inserting the ink absorber 900 from the side of the cartridge body 1000 opposite to the unit IJU mounting surface, and then sealing the unit IJU.
100. 1200 is a unit IJU
Is a supply port for supplying ink to the printer. 140
Reference numeral 1 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of polysulfone having excellent ink resistance.
Polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide,
Using a resin such as polypropylene, it is integrally molded together with the polyplate plate 400 in a mold.

As described above, since the integrally molded parts are the ink supply member 600, the top plate and the orifice plate, and the ink body 1000, not only the assembling accuracy is at a high level, but also it is extremely effective in improving the quality of mass production. is there. In addition, since the number of parts is smaller than that of the related art, the desired characteristics can be surely exhibited.

Next, the features of the present invention will be described in more detail.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the driving element characteristic detecting element formed on the element substrate is provided on the element substrate. Then, the driving condition of the head is changed based on the information detected there. Specifically, as shown in the equivalent circuit of FIG. 3, the drive element formed in the same design and the same process as the drive element provided on the element substrate is
The element for measuring the N resistance is arranged on each of the element bases constituting the head. Then, the device for measuring the ON resistance is driven from the device side outside the head, the ON resistance value is calculated from the relationship between the applied current and the measured voltage, and the driving condition is determined by using a table preset in the device side. A certain pulse width is varied. With this configuration, the energy applied to the electrothermal transducer can be made constant among the heads. If the energy is constant between the heads, constant printing performance is obtained between the heads, and the printing yield is improved.
In addition, there is no early disconnection, and the reliability can be further improved.

The ON resistance value is generally a low value (up to 1).
0Ω) in many cases, the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio) may not be sufficient with the ON resistance value measurement element of the drive element having the same design as the drive element of the electrothermal transducer.
It is also possible to use an element for measuring the ON resistance whose design is changed so as to improve the measurement accuracy. At this time, it is necessary to keep the relative value of the variation amount unchanged.
Specifically, in the case of the S transistor, it can be dealt with by changing the gate length.

As described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-223495, an element for detecting a variation in sheet resistance is formed on an element substrate on which an electrothermal transducer is formed.
As shown in the figure, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is formed together with the above-described element for measuring ON resistance. At this time, two lines, a signal line from the element for measuring the ON resistance and a signal line from the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance, are usually required. However, it is preferable that the signal line from the element for measuring the ON resistance value and the signal line from the element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value are connected in the element base, and one signal line is used to correspond.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, it is preferable to connect the element for measuring the ON resistance value and the element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value in parallel. The ON resistance of the drive element and the electrothermal converter are controlled by turning on or turning off the ON resistance measurement element, that is, the drive element by applying a signal, for example, a block selection signal, to the ON resistance measurement element. The sheet resistance can be taken out by one external output terminal.

When ON, the information (resistance value) of the ON resistance value measuring element and the element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value can be detected, and when OFF, the variation of the sheet resistance value can be detected. Information of only the element can be detected. In this way, since only one signal line can be taken out to the outside, the cost of the printer body and the head is not increased, the print performance of the head is reduced, the yield is improved, and the electrothermal transducer is not broken early. Is improved.

As described above, the measurement result of the element for measuring the ON resistance value and the measurement result of the variation of the sheet resistance value of the heating resistor are output to the external terminal via the external output terminal. The driving conditions of the driving element and the heating element can be changed.

Further, even if the information on the variation in the ON resistance value and the variation in the sheet resistance value is taken out to the outside and the driving conditions are not changed from the outside, the information on the variation in the ON resistance value and the variation in the sheet resistance value are also stored inside the head. Since it is information, if it is subjected to arithmetic processing inside the head, it is possible to eliminate the externally taken out signal line, which is advantageous from the viewpoint of reliability and cost.
Naturally, since the driving element is manufactured in the element base, it is easy to manufacture the arithmetic element and the predetermined table, and this does not cause a cost increase. Therefore, by forming an element for measuring the ON resistance value and an element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value in the substrate, performing arithmetic processing of the information, and providing an element for changing the driving conditions, the number of signal lines is reduced, so that the printer main body is reduced. Without increasing the cost of the head, the variation in the performance of the printing of the head is reduced, thereby improving the yield and eliminating the early breakage of the electrothermal transducer, thereby improving the reliability.

Next, the circuit configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the equivalent circuit drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an ON resistance value measuring element 11 used in an embodiment of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.
3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG.

First, a drive element for driving an electrothermal transducer is formed on a silicon substrate by a MOS process. At this time, the ON resistance value measuring element 11 is formed with the same design as the driving element for driving the electrothermal transducer in a circuit as shown in FIG. Next, an electrothermal converter and an electrode for supplying electricity to the electrothermal converter are formed. The size of the electrothermal converter is 50 μ × 50 μ, and the heat generating resistance layer forming the electrothermal converter has a sheet resistance value of 40Ω /.
□ and the resistance of the electrothermal converter was 40Ω. The total resistance of the electrode was 2Ω. Next, a groove plate on which a nozzle and a discharge roller are formed is attached on the element substrate, and a head is completed.

In the detection method, measurement is performed by the external output terminal 13 while the internal terminal 14 is always on.

[0042]

[Table 1] Table 1 shows the detection values of the ON resistance value measuring elements 11 of the three heads, the pulse width as the driving condition changed according to the values, and the energy applied to the heater controlled by changing the pulse width. I have. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 1, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the pulse width according to the detection value of the ON resistance value measuring element 11. Thus, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the driving conditions of the head based on the measurement result from the ON resistance value measuring element 11 formed on the head. As a result, variations in printing performance can be reduced, yield can be improved, and reliability can be improved by preventing early breakage of the electrothermal transducer.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.

The method of manufacturing the element substrate, the size and resistance of the electrothermal transducer and the electrodes are the same as those of the first embodiment. Since the circuit diagram is the same, the illustration is omitted. The difference is that the resistance value of the ON resistance value measuring element 11 is 30 times that of the first embodiment in order to improve the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio). In order to make the relative value of the variation of the ON resistance value the same, the configuration of the ON resistance element is designed to be the same as the configuration of the driving element. The difference is that the gate length of the ON resistance element is 1/30 of the gate length of the drive element. In this case, the detected value is 30 times the ON resistance value, and the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio) is improved.

As for the detection method, the internal terminal 14 is always kept ON as in the previous example, and the measurement is performed by the external output terminal 13.

[0046]

[Table 2] Table 2 shows the detected values of the ON resistance measuring elements 11 of the three heads, the converted ON resistance values, the pulse widths as the driving conditions changed according to the values, and the heaters controlled by changing the pulse widths. The applied energy is shown. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 2, the energy applied to the heater can be kept constant by changing the pulse width according to the detected value of the ON resistance value measuring element 11. In this manner, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by forming the ON resistance value measuring element 11 on the head and thereby changing the driving conditions of the head, thereby improving the yield by reducing the variation in printing performance and improving the electrothermal conversion. Premature rupture of the body is eliminated and reliability is improved.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 used in the recording head of the third embodiment.

The method of manufacturing the element substrate and the sizes of the electrothermal transducer and the electrodes are the same as those of the first embodiment. The ON resistance value measuring element 31 is the same as in the case of the second embodiment. The sheet resistance measuring element 31 has an aspect ratio of 4: 1 and is four times the sheet resistance. In addition, the size is increased to 400 μ × 100 μ to reduce the influence of variation in pattern formation.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, an ON resistance value measuring element 31 and a sheet resistance value measuring element 32 are connected in parallel. Then, the ON resistance value measuring element 31 is turned ON.
As a signal, a signal is connected to the internal terminal 34 so that an ON signal is input when the second block of the block selection signal of the electrothermal converter is selected.

With this connection, when an ON signal is input, that is, when the block 2 is selected as the internal terminal 34, the ON resistance measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance measuring element 3
When the two parallel resistance values are OFF, that is, when a block other than the block 2 is selected, the resistance value of only the sheet resistance measurement element 32 is measured at the external output terminal 33. From these two data, the ON resistance value and the sheet resistance value can be obtained by calculation.

[0052]

[Table 3] Table 3 shows that the OF resistance measuring elements 31 of the four heads
At the time of F, that is, the detection value when the block other than the block 2 is selected as the internal terminal 34, that is, the sheet resistance value, when the ON signal is input, that is, the detection value when the block 2 is selected as the internal terminal 34, and the converted ON It shows a resistance value, a pulse width as a driving condition changed by the value, and energy applied to the heater controlled by changing the pulse width. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 3, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the pulse width based on the detected value of the ON resistance measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance measured by the sheet resistance measuring element 32. In this manner, the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 are formed on the head, connected to each other, and the driving condition of the head is changed according to the detected value to reduce the energy applied to the heater. As a result, the yield can be improved by reducing the variation in printing performance, and the early breakage of the electrothermal converter can be eliminated, and the reliability can be improved. In addition, since it can be performed without increasing the number of signal lines, the cost of the head and the printer does not increase.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 shows ON in the fourth embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a resistance value measuring element 41, a sheet resistance value measuring element 42, a connection thereof, and an arithmetic circuit 43.

The method of manufacturing the element substrate and the sizes of the electrothermal transducer and the electrodes are the same as those of the first embodiment. The ON resistance value measuring element 41 is the same as that of the second embodiment. The sheet resistance measuring element 42 is the same as in the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, an ON resistance value measuring element 41 and a sheet resistance value measuring element 42 are connected in parallel. Then, the ON resistance value measuring element 41 is turned ON.
A signal was connected to the internal terminal 34 so that an ON signal was input when the second block of the block selection signal of the electrothermal converter was selected as the signal.

Further, this signal line is connected to an arithmetic circuit. Further, an ON resistance value measuring element and a 41 sheet resistance value measuring element 42 are connected in parallel, and are connected to a circuit for detecting a resistance value. Then, the value is sent to the arithmetic circuit. Based on the value, the heat signal, that is, the pulse width is varied according to the table 45 on the ROM. Then, the drive element is turned ON / OFF by AND 46 of the heat signal and the bit selection signal. By forming these elements in the substrate of the head in this way, it is not necessary to output a signal to the outside of the head, thereby improving reliability and reducing costs. In addition, these circuits can be formed on the same substrate at the same time as the driving elements, and the cost does not increase. Therefore, the reliability and cost of the head and the printer as a whole were improved.

Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus to which the recording head of the present invention is applied will be described.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view (external view) of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention is applied.
The carriage HC that engages with the helical groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). Reciprocated in two directions. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and for determining the motor 5
It is a home position detecting means for performing the rotation direction switching of 013 and the like. A member 5016 supports a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head.
The suction means for sucking the inside of the cap performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. 501
Numeral 7 denotes a cleaning blade, and numeral 5019 denotes a member which enables the blade to move in the front-rear direction.
018 these are supported. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 which engages with the carriage, and controls the movement of the driving force from the drive monitor by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Is done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured such that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the home position side area. If a desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the embodiments can be applied. Each of the configurations described above is an excellent invention when viewed alone or in combination, and shows preferred configuration examples for the present invention.

This apparatus has a drive signal supply means for driving the ink ejection pressure generating element.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, the element for detecting the characteristics of the driving element is provided on the substrate, and the driving condition of the head is changed based on the detected information. Energy can be kept constant between heads. If the energy is constant between the heads, constant printing performance is obtained between the heads, and the printing yield is improved. In addition, early disconnection is eliminated, and reliability is improved.

Further, an element for measuring the ON resistance value as an element for detecting the characteristics of the driving element and an element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value are connected in parallel, and a signal in the element for measuring the ON resistance value, for example, a block selection signal A signal is applied to turn on or off the element for measuring the ON resistance, that is, the drive element. When ON, information on the ON resistance value measuring element and the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value can be detected, and when OFF, information on only the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value can be detected. By doing so, the number of signal lines that can be extracted to the outside can be reduced to one, so that the printing performance of the head is reduced without increasing the cost of the printer body and the head, the yield is improved, and the early breakage of the electrothermal transducer is eliminated. , Reliability is improved.

Further, by forming an element for measuring the ON resistance value and an element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value in the substrate, performing an arithmetic operation on the information and providing an element for changing the driving conditions, the number of signal lines is reduced. Without increasing the cost of the printer body and the head, the printing performance of the head is reduced, and the yield is improved, and the early breakage of the electrothermal transducer is eliminated, thereby improving the reliability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an ON resistance value measuring element used in an embodiment of the inkjet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an ON resistance value measuring element and a sheet resistance value measuring element used in a third embodiment of the recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an ON resistance value measuring element and a sheet resistance value measuring element used in a fourth embodiment of the recording head of the present invention, their connections, and an arithmetic circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 31, 41 ON resistance measuring element 13, 33 External output terminal 14, 34 Internal terminal 32, 42 Sheet resistance measuring element 43 Arithmetic circuit 44 Resistance measuring circuit 45 Table 46 AND circuit 47 Driving element 48 Electrothermal converter

Claims (12)

[Claims] An electrothermal transducer for generating thermal energy has a heating resistor layer and an electrode layer on an element substrate, and a plurality of drive elements for driving the electrothermal transducer are on the same element substrate. An ink jet recording head for performing recording on a recording medium, wherein a detecting element for detecting characteristics of the driving element is formed on the element substrate. head. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: providing a heat acting portion provided with an electrothermal conversion pair for forming bubbles in the liquid by applying thermal energy to the liquid, wherein the ink flow path communicates with a discharge port for discharging ink. The inkjet recording head according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said driving element is an NMOS transistor. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said driving element characteristic detecting element is an ON resistance value measuring element of said driving element. 5. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a sheet resistance value measuring element for measuring a sheet resistance value of the heating resistance layer is formed on the element substrate. 6. The driving element characteristic detecting element and the sheet resistance value measuring element are connected on the element base so that the detecting of the driving element characteristic and the measurement of the sheet resistance can be performed with one terminal. 5. The ink jet recording head according to 5. 7. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, further comprising means for performing arithmetic processing on information detected by the driving element characteristic detecting element to change driving conditions of the electrothermal transducer on the same element substrate. 8. An ink jet recording head according to claim 5, further comprising means for performing arithmetic processing on the information detected by said two elements in the same substrate to change the driving condition of the electrothermal transducer. 9. A recording apparatus for performing recording on a recording medium, comprising: a recording head according to claim 1; and a recording medium for transporting a recording medium on which recording is performed by the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a recording medium transport unit. 10. A recording method for performing recording on a recording medium, comprising: an electrothermal transducer for performing recording; a driving element for driving the electrothermal transducer; and characteristics of the driving element. A recording head having a driving element characteristic detecting means for detecting, detecting a characteristic of the driving element by the driving element characteristic detecting element, and changing a driving condition of the electrothermal transducer according to a result thereof;
Ink jet recording method. 11. The ink jet recording method according to claim 10, wherein the ON resistance value of the driving element is detected by the driving element characteristic detecting element. 12. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein the ink is ejected from an ejection port by driving the electrothermal transducer.