JP5017202B2 - Recording head and recording apparatus using the recording head - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head and a recording apparatus using the recording head.

  In recent years, the practical use of digital copying machines and printers is rapidly progressing. In particular, digital color printers and color copying machines are becoming mainstream in the field of color printers and color copying machines because they take advantage of digital features such as easy color adjustment and image processing.

  As recording methods employed in these recording apparatuses, there are an electrophotographic method, an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method, and the like.

  Among the ink jet recording methods, when a method of ejecting ink droplets by heat generated by an electrothermal converter (heater) is used, the temperature of the recording head rises when continuous recording is performed. Accordingly, the temperature of the ink in the recording head also rises. For this reason, inks that are used in ink jet recording apparatuses are widely used that have a characteristic in which the amount of ink discharged from the recording head slightly increases due to a decrease in viscosity when the temperature increases. Yes.

  This change in the discharge amount greatly affects the recording quality. Therefore, in order to correct the changed discharge amount, a method of changing the heating time of the heater has been widely used. In other words, by utilizing the characteristic that the ink discharge amount increases in proportion to the heating time, and shortening the heating time by the time corresponding to the increase in the discharge amount due to the temperature rise, the discharge amount is made constant regardless of the temperature change. It is controlled like this.

  In recent years, the size of recording heads has increased in order to cope with an increase in the number of nozzles and color recording. In particular, in a long and narrow recording head having a recording width of 4 inches or more, temperature variation in the recording head is large, and it has become necessary to vary the heating time of the heater for each nozzle. In order to satisfy this need, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of applying a mechanism for selecting an appropriate pulse from a plurality of pulse signals having different heating times for each nozzle. As methods for selecting an input pulse, methods disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 are known.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional recording head control circuit.

  In the conventional configuration, one of the plurality of heat pulse signals is selected, and the selected pulse waveform is used as it is to drive the recording element.

  Here, the configuration and operation of the control circuit shown in FIG. 9 will be described.

  First, a serial data signal 10 composed of a pulse selection signal for each nozzle and recording data is serially input to the shift register 1 in accordance with a data clock signal 11. Next, when the data latch signal 13 is input to the recording data latch circuit 2, the recording data is latched as the parallel data signal 12 among the serial data signals stored in the shift register 1. Similarly, the data latch signal 13 is also input to the selection information latch circuit 31 to latch the pulse selection signal among the serial data signals stored in the shift register 1.

  Now, a plurality of pulse signals 19 are input to the heat pulse selection circuit 6 through a plurality of signal lines, and only one of the plurality of pulse signals 19 is in accordance with the pulse selection signal 32 output from the selection information latch circuit 31. Selected. The selected signal is input to the NAND gate 7 as the heat pulse signal 20. On the other hand, the recording data 14 is input to the NAND gate 7 from the recording data latch circuit 2.

  The NAND gate 7 performs a NAND operation, and outputs a “Low” level signal when both the recording data 14 and the heat pulse signal 20 are valid. This output signal is input to a power transistor (driving element) 8. The power transistor 8 is turned on when the output of the NAND gate 7 is at the “low” level. When the power transistor 8 is turned on, the electrothermal converter (heater) 9 is driven, and a current flows through this to generate heat. Due to this heat generation, thermal energy is supplied to the ink and foamed, and the ink is ejected from a nozzle (not shown).

  In FIG. 9, 21 is a drive power supply for the electrothermal transducer 9, 22 is a logic power supply for a logic circuit, and 23 is a ground signal.

  FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of the control circuit shown in FIG. In particular, FIG. 10 shows a circuit diagram for one heater when there are four pulse signals 19. The four pulse signals are shown as input pulse signals (0), (1), (2), (3). Note that a nozzle for ejecting ink corresponds to one heater.

  FIG. 11 is a time chart showing the timing when the serial data signal 10 is latched by the recording data latch circuit 2 and the selection information latch circuit 31 in the circuit shown in FIG.

  In the circuit shown in FIG. 10, the serial data signal 10 is input in order from nozzle 0 to nozzle 1, nozzle 2,... Nozzle m,. The input data is recording data (A0) and 2-bit pulse selection signals (B0, C0) for nozzle 0, and recording data (Am) and 2-bit pulse selection signals (Bm, Cm) for nozzle m. Nozzle n becomes recording data (An) and a 2-bit pulse selection signal (Bn, Cn).

  Inside the shift register 1, the serial data signal 10 is shifted according to the data clock signal as shown in the time chart of FIG. By this operation, all data from nozzle 0 to nozzle n are shifted inside the shift register 1, and data corresponding to nozzle 0 to nozzle n is set in the shift register 1. As a result, the output data Q (3m + 2) of the shift register 1 is the recording data Am of the nozzle m shown in FIG. 11, and the outputs Q (3m + 1) and Q (3m) are the pulse selection signals of the nozzle m shown in FIG. Bm and Cm are output respectively.

  In this state, the data latch signal 13 is input. As a result, at the rising timing of the signal pulse, the recording data (A0 to Am to An) is sent to the recording data latch circuit 2, and the pulse selection signals (B0, C0 to Bm, Cm to Bn, Cn) are sent to the selection information latch circuit 31. Are latched simultaneously.

  Next, the latched pulse selection signal is output from the selection information latch circuit 31 to the heat pulse selection circuit 6 as a 2-bit pulse selection signal 32 for each nozzle. The heat pulse selection circuit 6 selects one of the four input pulse signals 19 according to the pulse selection signal 32 and outputs the selected signal as the heat pulse signal 20. When both the heat pulse signal 20 and the recording data 14 are valid, the power transistor 8 is turned on and the electrothermal transducer (heater) 9 is energized to discharge ink.

  FIG. 12 is a time chart of the input pulse signal and the heat pulse signal.

  12A is a time chart when the heat pulse selection circuit 6 selects the input pulse (2). In this case, the value of the 2-bit pulse selection signal 32 is “10” (for example, Bm is “1” and Cm is “0”) in binary notation, and the input pulse signal (2) is selected, which is the heat pulse. The signal 20 is output.

  FIG. 12B shows all selectable heat pulse signals when four pulse signals (input pulse signals (0) to (3)) are input. As can be seen from FIG. 12B, here, four heat pulse signals can be output for four input pulse signals.

By performing the control as described above, an optimum heat pulse signal is selected for each nozzle from a plurality of pulse signals, and ink is ejected.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-241992 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-101077 US Pat. No. 5,969,730

  Now, in order to apply the ink jet recording apparatus to a field where the recording quality is severely demanded in the printing industry or the like, it is necessary to reduce the fluctuation of the ink discharge amount more than before. Therefore, it is necessary to control the heating time of the heater to be changed more finely.

  In order to prevent the heater from being eroded by ink, the heater is provided with a protective film. The protective film is shaved and thinned by repeating the discharge. As a result, the heat transfer to the ink is improved, and the ink discharge amount is increased. As described above, the ink discharge amount also changes depending on the usage time of the recording head.

  In particular, in a recording apparatus using a full-line recording head that performs recording while fixing the recording head and transporting the recording medium, the difference in the number of ejections is significant due to the nozzles. For this reason, there is a problem that the discharge amount gradually varies from nozzle to nozzle depending on the usage time of the recording head, and the recording quality deteriorates.

  From such a background, it is necessary to change the heating time for each nozzle so that the discharge amount with other nozzles becomes constant according to the deterioration of the heater protective film that progresses with time.

  For the above reasons, it is necessary to increase the number of selectable input pulses in order to make the heater heating time control fine and wide.

  In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of selectable input pulse signals are selected, and the pulse waveform is directly used as a heat pulse. Therefore, in order to adjust the ink ejection amount, the same number of input pulse signals as the necessary heat pulses are required. For example, when 16 types of heat pulses are required, there are 16 types of input pulse signals. It was necessary. Patent Document 1 described above also discloses a method of selecting two input pulse signals and generating a new heat pulse by combining these two pulse waveforms.

  FIG. 8 is a time chart for explaining the generation of the heat pulse signal by such a method.

  If an attempt is made to increase the number of combinations of heat pulse signals, complicated design work is involved in waveform shaping and combinations of input pulses. For this reason, if even one heat pulse signal is changed, there arises a problem that it is necessary to redesign the input pulse waveform and its combination from the beginning. In these conventional examples, the pulse waveforms of a plurality of input pulse signals are combined as they are, and the heater heating time control has not been made fine and wide.

  However, in order to realize such an increase in input pulse signals with an actual recording head or recording apparatus, a large increase in the number of circuits and terminals is required. This means an increase in the size and cost of the recording head and the recording apparatus, and detracts from the advantages of inkjet recording, which are inexpensive and low in running cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and provides a recording head capable of performing high-quality recording by enabling fine heater control while being inexpensive, and a recording apparatus using the recording head. It is an object.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording head of the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, a plurality of electrothermal transducers and a plurality of drive elements for driving the electrothermal transducers, and based on a plurality of input pulse signals input in common to the plurality of electrothermal transducers, A recording head which drives an electrothermal transducer and performs recording, and selects one pulse selection signal among a plurality of pulse selection signals for selecting any one of the plurality of input pulse signals. selected based on the switching signal, said plurality of input by combining part of the state of the pulse of the high or low of the pulse signal, the heat pulse of the same shape as one of the input pulse signal of the plurality of input pulse signals signal, or characterized by having a heat pulse selection circuit for generating a heat pulse signals with any different shape of the plurality of input pulse signals.

  Further, the recording head may have the following configuration.

That is, a plurality of electrothermal transducers and a plurality of drive elements that drive the electrothermal transducers are generated based on a plurality of input pulse signals that are commonly input to the plurality of electrothermal transducers. And a plurality of pulse selection signals for selecting one of the recording data and the plurality of input pulse signals. , A data latch circuit that latches the recording data output from the shift register, and a first selection signal latch circuit that latches a first pulse selection signal output from the shift register When the second selection signal latch circuit for latching the second pulse selection signal output from the shift register, based on the selection information switching signal inputted, before And selection information switching circuit for outputting either one of the first selection signal latch circuit pulse selection signal output from said second selection signal pulse selection signal outputted from the latch circuit, the selection information A heat pulse selection circuit that applies an input pulse signal corresponding to the pulse selection signal output by the switching circuit to the electrothermal converter, and the heat pulse selection circuit is output from the selection information switching circuit A heat pulse signal having the same shape as any one of the plurality of input pulse signals by combining a part of the corresponding plurality of input pulse signals based on the pulse selection signal , or the plurality of input pulses A heat pulse signal having a shape different from any of the signals is generated.

  According to another invention, a recording apparatus using the recording head having the above-described configuration is provided.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, a large number of heat pulse signals can be generated from a small number of input pulse signals with a simple configuration, and fine heat control is possible, thereby realizing high-quality recording. There is an effect.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the already demonstrated part and duplication description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In this specification, “recording” is not limited to the case where significant information such as characters and figures is formed, and it does not matter whether it is significant or not. It also represents the case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, etc. are widely formed on a recording medium, or the medium is processed, regardless of whether it is manifested so that humans can perceive it visually. .

  “Recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also widely to cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and the like that can accept ink. Shall.

  Further, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) should be interpreted widely as in the definition of “recording (printing)”. Therefore, by being applied on the recording medium, it is used for formation of images, patterns, patterns, etc., processing of the recording medium, or ink processing (for example, solidification or insolubilization of the colorant in the ink applied to the recording medium). It shall represent a liquid that can be made.

  Further, the “recording element” (sometimes referred to as “nozzle”) collectively refers to an ejection port or a liquid path communicating with this and an element that generates energy used for ink ejection unless otherwise specified. Shall.

<Description of Inkjet Recording Apparatus (FIG. 1)>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a recording apparatus) 100 which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording apparatus has an ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) 103 that performs recording by ejecting ink according to an ink jet system mounted on a carriage 102 and reciprocates the carriage 102 in the direction of arrow A. Make a record. At the time of recording, for example, a recording medium P such as recording paper is fed through the paper feeding mechanism 105, conveyed to a recording position, and recording is performed by ejecting ink from the recording head 103 to the recording medium P at the recording position. Do.

  In addition to mounting the recording head 103 on the carriage 102 of the recording apparatus 100, an ink cartridge 106 for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head 103 is mounted. The ink cartridge 106 is detachable from the carriage 102.

  The recording apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is capable of color recording. For this reason, the carriage 102 contains four inks containing magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) inks, respectively. An ink cartridge is installed. These four ink cartridges are detachable independently.

  The recording head 103 of this embodiment employs an ink jet system that ejects ink using thermal energy. For this reason, the recording head 103 is provided with an electrothermal transducer as a recording element in order to generate thermal energy. The electrothermal transducer is provided corresponding to each of the ejection ports, and ink is ejected from the corresponding ejection port by applying a pulse voltage to the corresponding electrothermal transducer in accordance with the recording signal.

<Control Configuration of Inkjet Recording Apparatus (FIG. 2)>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 600 includes an MPU 601, a ROM 602, a special purpose integrated circuit (ASIC) 603, a RAM 604, a system bus 605, an A / D converter 606, and the like. Here, the ROM 602 stores a program corresponding to a control sequence to be described later, a required table, and other fixed data. The ASIC 603 generates control signals for controlling the carriage motor M1, the transport motor M2, and the recording head 103. The RAM 604 is used as a development area for image data, a work area for program execution, and the like. A system bus 605 connects the MPU 601, the ASIC 603, and the RAM 604 to each other to exchange data. The A / D converter 606 inputs analog signals from the sensor group described below, performs A / D conversion, and supplies a digital signal to the MPU 601.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 610 denotes a computer (or a reader for image reading, a digital camera, etc.) serving as a supply source of image data, and is collectively referred to as a host device. Image data, commands, status signals, and the like are transmitted and received between the host apparatus 610 and the recording apparatus 100 via an interface (I / F) 611. This image data is input in a raster format, for example.

  Reference numeral 620 denotes a switch group, which includes a power switch 621, a print switch 622, a recovery switch 623, and the like.

  Reference numeral 630 denotes a sensor group for detecting the apparatus state, and includes a position sensor 631, a temperature sensor 632, and the like.

  Further, 640 is a carriage motor driver that drives a carriage motor M1 for reciprocating scanning of the carriage 102 in the direction of arrow A, and 642 is a conveyance motor driver that drives a conveyance motor M2 for conveying the recording medium P.

  The ASIC 603 transfers recording data (DATA) and control signals of the electrothermal transducer (heater) to the recording head 103 while directly accessing the storage area of the RAM 604 during recording scanning by the recording head 103.

  The configuration shown in FIG. 1 is a configuration in which the ink cartridge 106 and the recording head 103 can be separated, but a replaceable head cartridge may be configured by integrally forming them.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a head cartridge IJC in which an ink tank and a recording head are integrally formed. In FIG. 3, a dotted line K is a boundary line between the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH. The head cartridge IJC is provided with an electrode (not shown) for receiving an electrical signal supplied from the carriage 102 when it is mounted on the carriage 102. The electrical signal drives the recording head IJH as described above to eject ink.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 500 denotes an ink discharge port array. The ink tank IT is provided with a fibrous or porous ink absorber to hold ink.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit of the recording head according to this embodiment.

  4 that are the same as those already described with reference to FIG. 9 are assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  As can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 4 and FIG. 9, instead of the conventional selection information latch circuit 31, in this embodiment, two selection information latch circuits and one of the outputs from these two selection information latch circuits are used. And a selection information switching circuit for selection.

  That is, the selection information latch circuit (first selection signal latch circuit) 3 latches the first selection signal from the parallel data signal 12 at the input timing of the data latch signal 13. On the other hand, the selection information latch circuit 4 (second selection signal latch circuit) latches the second selection signal from the parallel data signal 12 at the input timing of the data latch signal 13. Then, the selection information latch circuits 3 and 4 output a pulse selection signal 15 and a pulse selection signal 16, respectively.

  Further, the selection information switching circuit 5 switches between the pulse selection signal 15 and the pulse selection signal 16 in accordance with the input selection information switching signal 17. Specifically, when the selection information switching signal 17 is at the “Low” level, the pulse selection signal 15 is selected, and when the selection information switching signal 17 is at the “High” level, the pulse selection signal 16 is selected. The With such a selection operation, the selection information switching circuit 5 selectively outputs the pulse selection signal 18.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of the control circuit shown in FIG. In particular, FIG. 5 shows a circuit diagram for one heater when there are four pulse signals 19. The four pulse signals are shown as input pulse signals (0), (1), (2), (3). Note that a nozzle for ejecting ink corresponds to one heater.

  FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the timing when the serial data signal 10 is latched by the recording data latch circuit 2 and the two selection information latch circuits 3 and 4 in the circuit shown in FIG.

  In the circuit shown in FIG. 5, the serial data signal 10 is input in order from nozzle 0 to nozzle 1, nozzle 2,... Nozzle m,. The input data for the nozzle 0 is print data (A0), 2-bit pulse selection signals (B0, C0), and 2-bit pulse selection signals (D0, E0). Further, for the nozzle m, recording data (Am), a 2-bit pulse selection signal (Bm, Cm), and a 2-bit pulse selection signal (Dm, Em) are obtained. Further, for the nozzle n, recording data (An), a 2-bit pulse selection signal (Bn, Cn), and a 2-bit pulse selection signal (Dn, En) are provided.

  Inside the shift register 1, the serial data signal 10 is shifted according to the data clock signal as shown in the time chart of FIG. By this operation, all data from nozzle 0 to nozzle n are shifted inside the shift register 1, and data corresponding to nozzle 0 to nozzle n is set in the shift register 1. As a result, the recording data Am of the nozzle m shown in FIG. 6 is output Q (5m + 4) of the shift register 1, and the pulse selection signal of the nozzle m shown in FIG. 6 is output Q (5m + 3) and Q (5m + 2). Bm and Cm are output respectively. Furthermore, the pulse selection signals Dm and Em of the nozzle m shown in FIG. 6 are output to the outputs Q (5m + 1) and Q (5m), respectively.

  In this state, the data latch signal 13 is input. As a result, the recording data (A0 to Am to An) is latched by the recording data latch circuit 2 at the rising timing of the signal pulse. At the same time, the pulse selection signals (B0, C0 to Bm, Cm to Bn, Cn) are sent to the selection information latch circuit 3, and the pulse selection signals (D0, E0 to Dm, Em to Dn, En) are sent to the selection information latch circuit 4. Is latched on.

  Next, the latched pulse selection signal is finally output from the selection information latch circuit 3 to the heat pulse selection circuit 6 as 2-bit pulse selection signals 15 and 16 for each nozzle. The heat pulse selection circuit 6 selects one of the four input pulse signals 19 according to the pulse selection signals 15 and 16 and outputs the selected signal as the heat pulse signal 20. The signal selected by the pulse selection signals 15 and 16 further becomes a pulse selection signal 18 in the selection information switching circuit 5. When both the heat pulse signal 20 and the recording data 14 are valid, the power transistor (driving element) 8 is turned on, and the electrothermal transducer (heater) 9 is driven to eject ink.

  Further, the details of the operation of the part that generates the heat pulse after the latch, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described with reference to the time chart shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 7A, the input pulse signal (1) is selected by the pulse selection signal 15 for the first half (left arrow) of the heat pulse signal. Further, an example in which the input pulse signal (3) is selected by the pulse selection signal 16 in the latter half part (right arrow part) of the heat pulse signal is shown. This selection is executed based on the first selection information and the second selection information shown in FIG. The first selection information is based on the 2-bit pulse selection signal 15, and one of the four input pulse signals is designated by these 2 bits. Similarly, the second selection information is based on the 2-bit pulse selection signal 16, and one of the four input pulse signals is designated by these 2 bits.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, since the selection information switching signal 17 is initially at the “Low” level, the output signal from the selection information latch circuit 3 is selected. Accordingly, the pulse selection signal 15 is selected by the selection information switching circuit 5. In the example shown in FIG. 7A, the first selection information based on the pulse selection signal 15 specifies the input pulse signal (1). As a result, the input pulse signal (1) is selected and the heat pulse signal is selected. 20 is output.

  Thereafter, the selection information switching signal 17 changes to “High” level during heating with the heat pulse signal 20. Therefore, the selection information switching circuit 5 selects the pulse selection signal 16 that is an output from the selection information latch circuit 4. In the example shown in FIG. 7A, the second selection information based on the pulse selection signal 16 designates the input pulse signal (3), and as a result, the input pulse signal (3) is selected. As a result, a heat pulse signal in which the first half is the input pulse signal (1) and the second half is the input pulse signal (3) is output as the heat pulse signal 20.

  Thereafter, when both the heat pulse signal 20 and the recording data 14 are valid, the power transistor 8 is turned on and the electrothermal transducer 9 is energized to discharge ink.

  In this embodiment, the level of the selection information switching signal 17 is switched by a control signal transmitted from the recording apparatus main body on which this recording head is mounted.

In this way, by switching the selection of the four input pulse signals 19 common to the plurality of heaters during the heating period by the heat pulse signals, 16 kinds of heat pulse signals as shown in FIG. 7B can be generated. To generalize this, it is possible to generate an n ² heat pulse signal by switching the selection of the input n pulse signals in the middle of the heating period of the heat pulse signal and combining them.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, it is possible to switch the input pulse signal to another input pulse signal in the middle and generate a heat pulse signal having a new waveform shape by combining the two input pulse signals. The new waveform heat pulse means that the waveform is different from the waveform of the original input pulse signal. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, control is performed to select the input pulse signal (3) from the timing when the selection information switching signal becomes “high”.

  By this control, the pulse waveform used as the heat pulse signal in the input pulse signal (3) in FIG. 7A is only the waveform surrounded by the dotted line. (Corresponds to the right arrow). The input pulse signal (3) is “high” from the timing before the selection information switching signal becomes high, but this portion is not used as a heat pulse. In the waveform of the input pulse signal (1), only the portion surrounded by a dotted line is used as a heat pulse (corresponding to the left arrow in FIG. 7A). The waveform surrounded by the dotted line corresponds to a pulse during a period when the selection information switching signal is “low”.

  Thereby, many types of heat pulse signals can be generated with respect to the number of input pulse signals, and more heat pulse signals can be generated from a small number of input pulses. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, 16 types of heat pulses can be generated using four types of input pulse signals. It becomes possible to generate a desired heat pulse waveform at the timing when the selection switching signal is input, and fine discharge control is possible.

  Next, a second embodiment to which the present invention can be applied will be described.

  By individually controlling the generation of the first half of the heat pulse signal and the generation of the second half of the heat pulse signal by controlling the ejection control due to the rise in ink temperature and the change over time of the heater protective film, these two elements can be individually Control can be performed. This leads to complicated control without complicating the device configuration.

  For example, a temperature sensor is provided on the circuit board of the recording head, and the selection information switching signal 17 is input when the substrate temperature or the ink temperature reaches a certain temperature, and the selected pulse is changed. Also good. Further, the temperature, the change state of the heater protective film, and the discharge amount change state are stored in advance in a storage means such as a memory provided in the head, and the selection information switching signal 17 is input when the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature. It doesn't matter.

  In the first embodiment, the selection information switching signal 17 is a signal input from the recording apparatus main body side. However, the selection information switching signal 17 may be a signal input by a mechanism provided inside the recording head as described above.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the Example demonstrated above, A various modified example can be considered. In this embodiment, the circuit configuration as shown in FIG. 5 has been described for each nozzle, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in response to an increase in the number of nozzles in recent years, nozzles are divided into blocks, and discharge is performed while switching generated heat pulses in each block, so that a circuit for one block is shared. good.

  As an example of this, as shown in FIG. 13, the heat pulse signal 20 may be input to each block 300 for dividing the NAND gate 7 corresponding to each heater into blocks.

  In addition to generating a heat pulse by combining waveforms that are “high” as pulse waveforms, a configuration that generates a heat pulse by combining waveforms that are “low” pulses may be used. The present invention switches a plurality of pulses in the middle by a selection information switching signal, uses a part of the plurality of pulse waveforms, and generates a heat pulse having a new waveform different from a simple combination of original waveforms. . It goes without saying that any combination of input pulse signals having any waveform may be used as long as it is within the range of this gist.

  Further, the selection information latch circuit 3 may be used in units of a plurality of nozzles to reduce the scale of the storage circuit. Similarly, the selection information latch circuit 4 may also be used in units of a plurality of nozzles to reduce the number of storage circuits. In such a case, the storage circuit scales of the selection information latch circuit 3 and the selection information latch circuit 4 may be different.

  Further, the recording data latch circuit 2 may be eliminated by controlling one of the input pulse signals to have no pulse so that ejection is not possible when there is no recording data 14. .

  Furthermore, by adopting that one of the input heat pulses is not selected as one of the selection conditions in the heat pulse selection circuit, the circuit scale can be further reduced by controlling the ejection without the recording data 14. You may make it the structure reduced.

  Furthermore, the input serial data signal 10 may be divided into two or more according to the content of the signal.

  Further, the data latch signal 13 may be different for each of the recording data latch circuit 2, the selection information latch circuit 3, and the selection information latch circuit 4.

  In the above embodiments, the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head have been described as ink, and the liquid stored in the ink tank has been described as ink. However, the storage is limited to ink. It is not a thing. For example, a treatment liquid discharged to the recording medium may be accommodated in the ink tank in order to improve the fixability and water resistance of the recorded image or to improve the image quality.

  The above embodiment uses a method that includes means (for example, an electrothermal converter) for generating thermal energy for ink ejection, and causes a change in the state of the ink by the thermal energy, among ink jet recording methods. High density and high definition of recording can be achieved.

  In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention may be used as an image output apparatus for information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may be one taken. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to an industrial recording apparatus combined with various processing apparatuses.

1 is an external perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the recording device according to this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of the head cartridge IJC. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit for a recording head according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a recording head control circuit according to the present invention. 4 is a time chart showing timing when a serial data signal is latched by a recording data latch circuit and two selection information latch circuits. It is a time chart which generates a heat pulse signal from a plurality of input pulses, and a time chart of a generated heat pulse signal. It is a time chart explaining the input pulse signal in a prior art example, and the time chart explaining the production | generation of the heat pulse signal produced | generated in the prior art example. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit for a conventional recording head. It is a circuit diagram which shows the detailed structure of the conventional control circuit. 10 is a time chart showing timing when a serial data signal is latched by a recording data latch circuit and a selection information latch circuit in a conventional control circuit. It is the time chart of the input pulse signal and heat pulse signal in a prior art example, and all the heat pulse signal time charts which can be selected in a prior art example. It is a figure explaining the principal part of the circuit which inputs a heat pulse signal for every block.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shift register 2 Recording data latch circuit 3, 4 Selection information storage circuit 5 Selection information switching circuit 6 Heat pulse selection circuit 7 NAND gate 8 Power transistor 9 Electrothermal converter (heater)
10 serial data signal 11 data clock signal 12 parallel data signal 13 data latch signal 14 recording data 15, 16 pulse selection signal 17 selection information switching signal 18 pulse selection signal 19 input pulse signal 20 heat pulse signal 21 drive power supply 22 logic power supply 23 ground signal

Claims (9)

A plurality of electrothermal transducers and a plurality of drive elements for driving the electrothermal transducers, and each electric heat based on a plurality of input pulse signals input in common to the plurality of electrothermal transducers. A recording head that drives a converter and performs recording,
One pulse selection signal among a plurality of pulse selection signals for selecting any one of the plurality of input pulse signals is selected based on a selection information switching signal, and pulses of the plurality of input pulse signals are selected . by combining some of the high or low state, the heat pulse signal having the same shape as one of the input pulse signal of the plurality of input pulse signals or heat pulse with any different shape of the plurality of input pulse signals, A recording head comprising a heat pulse selection circuit for generating a signal . The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the heat pulse selection circuit switches a pulse selection signal to be selected based on the selection information switching signal during the driving of the electrothermal transducer. A heat that includes a plurality of electrothermal transducers and a plurality of drive elements that drive the electrothermal transducers, and is generated based on a plurality of input pulse signals that are commonly input to the plurality of electrothermal transducers. A recording head for recording by driving each electrothermal transducer using a pulse signal ,
A shift register and a plurality of pulse selection signals for selecting any one of the recording data a plurality of input pulse signal is inputted,
A data latch circuit for latching the recording data output from the shift register;
A first selection signal latch circuit for latching a first pulse selection signal output from the shift register;
A second selection signal latch circuit for latching a second pulse selection signal output from the shift register;
Based on the selection information switching signal inputted, any one of said first selection signal latch circuit pulse selection signal output from said second selection signal pulse selection signal outputted from the latch circuit A selection information switching circuit for outputting
A heat pulse selection circuit that applies an input pulse signal corresponding to the pulse selection signal output by the selection information switching circuit to the electrothermal transducer;
The heat pulse selection circuit, based on a pulse selection signal outputted from the selection information switching circuit, by combining some of the corresponding plurality of input pulse signals, one of inputs of said plurality of input pulse signals A recording head , wherein a heat pulse signal having the same shape as a pulse signal or a heat pulse signal having a shape different from any of the plurality of input pulse signals is generated. A part of the input pulse signal selected by the heat pulse selection circuit is switched when the level of the selection information switching signal changes during the heating period of the electrothermal transducer by the heat pulse signal. The recording head according to claim 3 . The printhead according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that it further comprises a NAND gate for calculating the NAND of the heat pulse signal output and the recording data latched by the data latch circuit from said heat pulse selection circuit. Each of the plurality of driving elements is a power transistor,
6. The recording head according to claim 5 , wherein the power transistor is turned on by an output signal from the NAND gate, and the corresponding electrothermal transducer is driven. When the number of the plurality of input pulse signals is n,
The heat pulse selection circuit combines the two input pulse signals of said plurality of input pulse signals, any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that to produce a heat pulse signal having the n ² The recording head according to the item. The recording head is a recording head according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that an ink jet recording head for recording by discharging ink. A recording apparatus capable of mounting the recording head according to claim 1 .

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