JP2941903B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium (hereinafter, also referred to as recording paper or simply paper) such as paper or an OHP sheet has been proposed in a form in which recording heads of various recording methods are mounted. The recording head includes a recording head system, a thermal system, a thermal transfer system, and an ink jet system.

In particular, the ink jet recording method is a method in which ink is directly ejected onto recording paper, and thus has attracted attention as a quiet recording method with low running cost.

In such a recording apparatus using the ink jet method, drying of ink adhered to the recording medium by a recording operation, that is, fixability of the recording data, differs depending on the type of recording medium and the type of recording data.

When it takes time to dry the ink, that is, when the fixing property is poor, a fixing heater has been conventionally used to improve the fixing property. For example, it is provided integrally with a platen that regulates the recording surface of the recording medium at the recording position by the recording head, or provided integrally with the conveyance guide member at a position downstream of the recording position on the recording medium conveyance path. I was

Further, the fixing property is improved by providing a fixing time every time one line is recorded on the recording medium.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

A conventional fixing heater having improved fixing performance has disadvantages such as an increase in power consumption and an increase in cost due to having the mechanism. Further, those which improve the fixing property by providing the fixing time have a disadvantage that the recording time is increased by providing the fixing time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having a fixing ability without providing a fixing heater and a fixing time.

[Means for solving the problem]

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is a recording apparatus for recording one line by ejecting ink from a recording head based on one line of recording data composed of a control command and recording data. An ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording on a first recording medium or a second recording medium having a lower ink fixing property than the first recording medium by repeating an operation, wherein the recording data supplied to the recording head is Thinning means for reducing the recording density by thinning, thinning control means for controlling execution of thinning by the thinning means in accordance with the result of discrimination of the control command,
A memory for storing the record data for the rows,
The control command includes a first command indicating whether the recording medium is the first recording medium or the second recording medium, and a second command indicating whether the type of the recording data is character data or image data.
The thinning control means includes: (a) when the first command indicates the first recording medium, the second command converts character data to the one line of recording data; The recording data is stored in the memory without performing the thinning-out by the thinning-out means, regardless of whether the first command indicates the second command.
And if the second command indicates character data, the recording data is stored in the memory without thinning-out by the thinning-out means, and (c) the first command is If the second command indicates image data, and the second command indicates image data, the recording data after the thinning-out by the thinning-out means is stored in the memory, and (d) the first command is When the second recording medium is indicated and the second command is both a command indicating character data and a command indicating image data, the character data is not thinned by the thinning means. Storing, in the memory, the recording data after the thinning-out by the thinning-out means, and recording based on one line of the recording data stored in the memory. A.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, the recording density is reduced by thinning out the recording data according to the type of the recording medium and the type of the recording data which affect the fixing property, so that the amount of ink adhering to the recording surface of the recording medium is reduced. As a result, the fixing property can be improved without providing a fixing heater or a fixing time. Further, when characters and images are mixed in one line, it is possible to record an image having excellent fixability while recording the characters so that the characters can be easily recognized.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

 FIG. 1 shows an example of the external configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, reference numeral 1 denotes a head cartridge having an ink, an ink discharge port, and an electric connection portion therein, and reference numeral 2 denotes a carrier for mounting the edge cartridge and scanning in the directions of arrows A and B in the figure. Reference numeral 3 denotes a hook for attaching the head cartridge 1 to the carrier 2, and reference numeral 4 denotes a lever for operating the hook 3.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a concave portion into which a convex portion 24 described later enters, and is formed on the carrier 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes a support plate for supporting an electrical connection to the head cartridge 1.
Reference numeral 7 denotes a flexible cable for connecting the electric connection section and the main body control section. Reference numeral 8 denotes a guide shaft for guiding the carrier 2 in the A and B directions, and is inserted through the carrier 2. Reference numeral 9 denotes a timing belt to which the carrier 2 is fixed and which transmits power for moving the carrier 2 in the A and B directions, and is stretched over pulleys 10A and 10B arranged on both sides of the apparatus. A driving force is transmitted to the one pulley 10B from the carrier motor 11 via a transmission mechanism such as a gear. Reference numeral 12 denotes a platen roller for regulating the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter, also referred to as recording paper) and transporting the recording medium during recording or the like. Reference numeral 14 denotes a paper pan for guiding the recording medium to the recording apparatus. Reference numeral 15 denotes a feed roller which is disposed in the recording medium supply path, presses the recording medium toward the transport roller 12, and transports the same.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a discharge roller which is disposed downstream of the recording position in the recording medium transport direction and discharges the recording medium toward a discharge port (not shown). Reference numeral 17 denotes a spur provided corresponding to the paper discharge roller 16, which presses the paper discharge roller 16 via the recording medium to generate a conveyance force of the recording medium by the paper discharge roller 16. Reference numeral 18 denotes a platen provided at a position facing the ink discharge port of the head cartridge 1, and presses the recording medium against the paper pan front portion 19 by an elastic member (not shown).

In this apparatus, an ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging ink as a recording head is employed. Accordingly, the distance between the ink ejection port of the recording head and the recording surface of the recording medium is relatively small, and the sense must be strictly controlled to avoid contact between the recording medium and the ejection port. It is effective that the position of the recording medium is regulated by the unit 19. Reference numeral 20 denotes a release lever for releasing the urging of the feed roller 15, spur 17, and platen 18 when the recording medium is detached. Reference numeral 21 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of the carrier 2, which detects the position of the carrier 2 when the carrier 2 passes through a not-shown convex portion.

22 is head cartridge 1 in home blog
And a cap formed of an elastic material such as rubber, and is supported so as to be able to contact / remove the head cartridge 1.
The cap 22 is used for protection of the ink ejection port of the head cartridge 1 during non-recording or the like, and for ejection recovery processing. The ejection recovery process is to eject ink from all ejection openings by driving an energy generating element provided inside the ejection openings and used for ejection of ink (preliminary ejection), or to form ejection openings by capping. The ink is forcibly ejected (recovery of suction) by applying a suction force while applying a suction force while the surface is covered, and ink, such as air bubbles, dust, or thickened ink that is not suitable for recording is ejected. This is a process for removing the cause of the defect.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a pump used to apply a suction force for forcibly discharging ink and to attract the ink received by the cap 22 during the discharge recovery process by the forced discharge and the discharge recovery process by the preliminary discharge. On the outside of the pump 23, a convex portion 24 that enters the concave portion 5 of the carrier 2 is provided.
Are formed.

25 is a waste ink tank for storing the waste ink sucked by the pump 23, and 26 is a pump and a waste ink tank.
It is a tube that communicates with 25. Reference numeral 27 denotes a blade for wiping the discharge port forming surface of the head cartridge 1, a position protruding toward the head cartridge 1 and performing wiping during the movement of the head cartridge 1, and a discharge port forming surface. And is movably supported to a retracted position that does not engage with. Numeral 28 denotes a recovery system motor, and 29 denotes a cam device for receiving the power from the recovery system motor 28 and moving the drive system of the pump 23 and the cap 22 and the blade 27, respectively.

Next, details of the above-described head cartridge 1 will be described.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a head cartridge 1 in which a discharge unit 1a and an ink tank 1b forming an ink jet recording head main body are integrated. In the figure, reference numeral 1e denotes a hook which is hooked by a hook 3 provided on a carrier 2 when the head cartridge 1 is mounted. As is clear from the figure, the pawl 1e is disposed inside the full extension of the recording head. Further, in front of the head cartridge 1 and in the vicinity of the discharge unit 1a, a positioning abutting portion (not shown) is provided. Reference numeral 1f denotes a head opening which stands on the carrier 2 and into which a support plate 6 for supporting a flexible substrate (electric connection portion) and a rubber pad is inserted.

Next, a control configuration when the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above is applied to a document processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a printer which processes characters and the like input from a keyboard (not shown) and displays the processed characters on a display (not shown), and a printer unit based on a recording instruction from the keyboard.
It is a control unit that operates 200 and constitutes a document processing unit. The control unit 100 is an MPU that executes various control procedures.
1000, a ROM 1001 for storing the above control procedures and data, and a RAM 100 used as a work area in the above control execution
2. Store character patterns such as characters input from the keyboard. It comprises a CG 1003 and an interface unit 1004 for connecting to an external device such as a keyboard. The control unit 100 and the printer unit 200 are electrically connected by a signal line 1005.

The printer unit 200 is a head cartridge (recording head)
It has a printer control unit 80 that performs control such as 1. The printer control unit 80 has substantially the same configuration as the control unit 100, and includes an MPU 800, a ROM 801, a RAM 802, and an interface unit 80.
Consists of three.

The printer head 80 of the printer unit 200 is controlled by the recording head 1, the carriage motor 11, the transport motor 13, and the recovery motor 28, which are driven by the head driver 1A and the motor drivers 11A, 13A, 28A, respectively. .

In the above control configuration, when a document creation process is performed and a print start command is issued by pressing a print key (not shown) on the keyboard, the MPU 1000 of the control unit 100 refers to the CG 1003 Convert to recording data. MP
U1000 adds a control command to the converted recording data,
The data is transferred to the printer control unit 80 via the interface unit 1004 and the signal line 1005. Upon receiving the transfer data, the MPU 800 of the printer control unit 80 controls the recording head 1 and executes printing while interpreting the control command added to the recording data based on the command table stored in the ROM 801.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data format transferred from the control unit 100 to the printer control unit 80 of the printer unit 200.

First, a command (here, postcard size) D1 indicating the size of the recording medium (A4, B4, postcard, etc.) is transferred, and then the type of recording data (character data (character data includes Mincho,
(In this case, there is a gothic body) and a command (here, Mincho style) D2 indicating image data). Then, a print command D3 indicating that the recording data is transferred by the number indicated by the data to be transferred next and the transfer data number (M) D4 are transferred, and subsequently, M data D5 are transferred. You.

When the type of the recording data changes in the middle of the line, the recording data changed in the same format as the previous commands D2 to D5 is transferred. For example, when the image data changes in the middle of the line, a command D6 indicating that the type of the recording data is the image data is transferred. Then, the print command D7, the transfer data number (N) D8, and the N data D9 are transferred.

When one line of print data is transferred as described above, a print end command D10 indicating the end of one line is transferred. Further, one page of print data is constituted by a plurality of lines of print data, and the end is indicated by a sheet discharge command (not shown).

Next, a control procedure in which the printer control unit 80, which has received the transfer data from the control unit 100 as described above, performs the thinning process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Here, the thinning process is performed when the type of the recording medium has poor fixability and the type of the recording data is image data. This is because the image data generally has a higher density than the character data, and the amount of ink adhering to the recording surface of the recording medium increases, so that the fixability deteriorates. In addition, a postcard will be described as an example of a recording medium having poor fixability.

When a document creation process is performed and a print start command is issued by a print key on the keyboard, the control procedure is started. First, in step S1, a command indicating the type of recording medium is received from the control unit 100. Generally, when a document is input to the document processing apparatus, the document is input after the size of the recording medium is specified. Therefore, the document processing apparatus can recognize the type of recording medium such as plain paper, postcards, and manuscript paper. By this recognition, the control unit 100 sends a command (postcard command D1 in FIG. 4) indicating the type of the recording medium to the printer control unit 80.
Transfer to

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the type of the recording medium is a postcard. If the postcard is a postcard, the postcard flag is turned on in step S3, and the process proceeds to step S4. If it is determined in step S2 that the postcard is not a postcard, the process proceeds to the next step S4.

In step S4, a command indicating the type of recording data transmitted next is received. In step S5,
In step S4, it is determined whether or not the type of the recording data received is image data. If the type of the recording data is not image data, the flow advances to step S6 to store the subsequently transmitted recording data as it is in the memory (RAM 802 in FIG. 3). , Go to step S9. If it is determined in step S5 that the image data is image data, the flow advances to step S7 to determine whether the postcard flag is ON. If not ON, proceed to step S6, ON
If so, proceed to step S8. In step S8, the recording data transmitted thereafter is stored in the memory while thinning it.

As an example of the thinning method, when the recording density is reduced to 3/4, the recording data for one row (64 columns) is masked (replaced with 0) in a pattern as shown in FIG. 6A.
There is something to do. As an example of halving the recording density, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), there is an example in which odd-numbered columns mask odd-numbered dots and even-numbered columns mask even-numbered dots. Here, the recording pattern in the arrangement direction of the ejection openings of the recording head is called a column, and each of them is called a dot, and when step S8 is completed, step S9 is completed.
Proceed to.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not one line of recording data has been completed. If not, the process returns to step S4. Meanwhile, 1
If the data for one line has been completed, the process proceeds to step S10, and the print data for one line stored in the memory is printed. Then, the process goes to step S11 to determine whether or not one page is completed. This determination is made based on the sheet discharge command sent from the control unit 100. If it has not been completed in step S11, the process returns to step S4 again, and if it has been completed, this control procedure is exited.

As described above, in this embodiment, when it is determined that the type of the recording medium is a postcard having poor fixability and that the recording data is image data, the recording density is reduced by performing the thinning process, that is, the recording is performed. Since the amount of ink adhering to the recording surface of the medium is reduced, fixability can be improved. Further, since no fixing heater is mounted, there is no increase in cost, and since no fixing time is required during recording, there is no delay in recording time.

In this embodiment, the postcard is described as a recording medium having poor fixability. However, a medium having heat repellency (thermal transfer paper) or the like may be used.

Further, the present invention brings about an excellent effect particularly in a bubble jet type recording apparatus among ink jet recording apparatuses. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

Regarding the typical configuration and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to any of a so-called on-demand type and a continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, the electrothermal converter disposed corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path holding the liquid (ink) has a rapid response exceeding the nucleate boiling corresponding to the recorded information. By applying at least one drive signal that gives rise to a temperature rise, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed, which is effective. 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 a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. U.S. Pat. No. 44
Those described in 63359 and 43435262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are employed, more excellent recording can be performed.

As a configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (the direct liquid path or the right-angle liquid flow path) as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting section A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the is bent, is also included in the present invention. In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a slit common to a plurality of electrothermal transducers is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal transducer, and an aperture for absorbing pressure waves of thermal energy is disclosed. The effect of the present invention is effective even with a recording head configuration based on JP-A-59-138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, whatever the form of the recording head is, the recording can be performed reliably and efficiently.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by combining a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as a single recording head that is integrally formed. In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above-described embodiment, a convertible chip-type recording unit that can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided integrally with the head or the recording head itself is used.

Regarding the type or number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one recording head is provided corresponding to a single color ink, and a plurality of recording heads are provided corresponding to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. May be used.

In addition, the form of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention may be a form used for an image output terminal of an information processing device such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may be something.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the recording data is thinned out according to the type of the recording medium and the type of the recording data, the fixing property can be improved without providing a fixing heater or a fixing time.

Also, when characters and images are mixed in one line, the characters are recorded without thinning and the images are recorded with thinning. Therefore, it is necessary to record images with excellent fixability while recording characters so that they can be easily recognized. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the head cartridge shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a control configuration of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram, FIG. 4 is a data format transferred in the above-described control configuration, FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing an operation in the above-described control configuration, and FIG. 1 Head cartridge (recording head) 80 Printer control unit 100 Control unit 200 Printer unit 800, 1000 MPU 801, 1001 ROM 802, 1002 RAM.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A first recording medium that repeats a recording operation of recording one line by ejecting ink from a recording head based on one line of recording data composed of a control command and recording data; Or an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording on a second recording medium having a lower ink fixing property than the first recording medium, wherein the recording data supplied to the recording head is reduced to reduce recording density; A thinning-out control unit that controls execution of the thinning-out by the thinning-out unit in accordance with a result of the determination of the control command; and a memory for storing one row of recording data. A first command indicating whether the recording medium is the first recording medium or the second recording medium, and a second command indicating whether the type of the recording data is character data or image data.
Wherein the thinning-out control means includes: (a) when the first command indicates the first recording medium, the second command indicates character data; Irrespective of whether the image data indicates image data or not, the recording data is stored in the memory without thinning-out by the thinning-out means, (b) the first command indicates the second recording medium, and When the second command indicates character data,
Storing the recording data in the memory without performing the thinning-out by the thinning-out means; (c) when the first command indicates the second recording medium and the second command indicates image data ,
Storing the recording data after the thinning-out by the thinning-out means in the memory; and (d) the first command indicates the second recording medium, and the second command indicates character data. When both a command and a command indicating image data, character data is not thinned by the thinning means,
An ink jet printing apparatus, comprising: storing, in the memory, print data after image data is thinned out by the thinning means, and performing printing based on one row of print data stored in the memory. 2. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is provided for each of a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink and a corresponding ejection port, and causes a state change of the ink due to heat, and discharges the ink based on the state change. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: thermal energy generating means for ejecting liquid droplets to form flying droplets.