JPH0776079A - Recording head and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contract a circuit scale and to achieve miniaturization, compactness and cost reduction by connecting a plurality of recording heads to a recording apparatus main body by signal wires and making the signal wires unnecessary to control at every recording heads common. CONSTITUTION:Recording heads (1K, 1C, 1M, 1Y) of BK, C, M and Y are integrated and respective color recording data and various signals are supplied to the integrated recording head unit from a recording apparatus main body. Signal wires unnecessary to control at every recording heads such as power supply wires (+5V, +19V, HGND, etc.), data signal setting wires (DCLK, RE SET, etc.), drive block indicating signal wires (BENB1, BENB2, etc.) or the like are made common and the number of the signal wires between the recording head unit 1 and the main body is reduced. A plurality of temp. detection elements arranged at every recording head are electrically connected in series to detect average temp.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head and a recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, an ink jet type recording apparatus is known which records an image on a recording material according to input data. In such a recording apparatus, particularly in a case of performing color recording (printing), color recording (printing) is usually realized by recording (printing) operation of four colors of black, cyan, magenta and yellow. . At this time, in order to realize high-speed and high-definition recording (printing), the heads of the individual colors need to operate at the same time, so the number of control signal lines in the head section is almost equal to that of a monochrome printer. It is four times as many.

Further, an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink jet type recording head requires temperature control because the ink ejection amount changes depending on the temperature of the ink in the recording head.

Therefore, one or more temperature sensors (for example, thermistors) are arranged in the head portion.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the recording head 11
Is the discharge heater 113 and the thermistor 114 at both ends
a and 114b are arranged, one end of each thermistor is connected in the recording head, and three temperature sensor signal lines are output. Temperature characteristic correction resistors 115, 116 and 117, 118 are connected to each thermistor,
The voltage value is output to the THouta and THoutb terminals as a voltage value with respect to the temperature. Then, this output value is read by a microcomputer to determine the temperature.

When the temperature is measured more accurately, the circuit shown in FIG. 9 is used. It is the recording head 121
A discharge heater 123 and diodes 124a and 124b are arranged at both ends inside the discharge heater 123, the cathode side of each diode is connected in the recording head, and three temperature sensor signal lines are output. The common cathode terminal of each diode is connected to GND externally,
The reference potential fixed by 5, 126 is applied to the operational amplifier 12
Limiting resistors 129 and 13 that determine the control current are connected to the + input terminals of 7 and 130, the operational amplifier output is connected to the bases of the transistors 128 and 131, and the operational amplifier-input terminal is connected to the emitter terminal of the transistor.
A constant current flows from the cathode side of the diode through 2 and the transistor. When the forward current of the diode is constant, the voltage across the diode is proportional to the temperature change. Therefore, a voltage value corresponding to the temperature is output to the THouta and THoutb terminals. Then, this output value is read by a microcomputer to determine the temperature.

The temperature obtained by the two temperature sensors is calculated by a microcomputer and the discharge heater pulse width is controlled by the average value thereof.

[0008]

As described above, the recording apparatus having a plurality of head portions has a drawback that the scale of the control circuit increases in proportion to the number of head portions.

Further, in a serial printer device, generally, a carriage having a head portion as a recording means performs a recording (printing) operation while scanning a recording medium in a lateral direction. It is connected using a member such as a flexible printed circuit board. Therefore, in the case of having a plurality of heads, the number of lines is higher (and thus wider).
It was necessary to use a flexible printed circuit board.

Further, in the case of using an ink jet type recording head, if a plurality of temperature sensors are provided for controlling the ink ejection amount, the number of lead lines from the recording head is further increased. Further, when a control circuit for highly accurate control as shown in FIG. 9 is used, the number of control circuits is required for the number of sensors, resulting in an increase in scale.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object of the invention is to provide a recording head and a recording device which are compact in structure and inexpensive.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads, wherein the plurality of recording heads and the recording apparatus main body are connected to a plurality of signal lines. Of the plurality of signal lines, and the signal lines for signals that do not need to be controlled for each recording head are shared.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in a recording head having a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of state detecting elements provided at mutually different positions, the plurality of state detecting elements are electrically connected in series. Is characterized by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a recording head having a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of state detecting elements provided at different positions, a mounting means for mounting the recording head, and a mounting means mounted on the mounting means. A plurality of state detection elements are electrically connected in series.

Thus, according to the first aspect of the invention, the signal lines for signals which do not need to be individually controlled are made common to each of the plurality of recording heads, and the number of signal lines between the main body and the recording heads is reduced.

According to the second and third inventions,
A plurality of state detection elements provided in the recording head are electrically connected in series to achieve compactness.

[0017]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet device to which the present invention can be applied, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the carriage shown in FIG. 1 in detail. The carriage unit indicated by 3 has a built-in recording head unit 1 in which a plurality of recording heads are integrated inside a recording head fixing lever 4, and four color ink tanks 2K (black), 2C (cyan), 2
M (magenta) and 2Y (yellow) are mounted, inks of different colors are ejected from each recording head, and a color image is formed on the recording medium by the color mixture of these ink droplets. The print data is transmitted from the image processing control device of the printer body to the recording head by the flexible printed board 8. The recording head in the recording head unit is 1K (black),
1C (cyan), 1M (magenta), 1Y (yellow)
The ink is ejected in this order in the forward scan. For example, when making red (hereinafter, R), magenta (hereinafter, M) lands on the recording medium first, and then yellow (hereinafter, Y) on M dots lands and appears as R dots. Similarly, in the case of green (hereinafter G), C and Y in that order, and in the case of blue (hereinafter B) C,
Land in the order of M to form each color. In this embodiment, the recording head ejects an ink droplet from the ejection port by causing the ink to change its state using thermal energy.

The carriage 3 has a timing belt 7
Is driven by a carriage motor (not shown) via
Move on the guide shafts 5, 6. Further, the carriage 3 is provided with a position detection means (not shown), and the scanning speed and the print position of the carriage 3 are detected to control the movement in the main scanning direction. Recording is performed during the main scanning operation, recording is performed by forming band-shaped dots on the recording medium 10, and paper feeding in the sub-scanning direction is performed by feeding the recording medium 10 by a platen roller 9 driven by a paper feeding motor (not shown). It is done by being done. The above recording operation is performed when the recording medium moves in the direction of arrow a in the figure and reaches the recording position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view when the recording head fixing lever 4 of the carriage 3 is opened, and the terminal pad 13 is provided on the upper surface of the recording head unit 1 and the recording head fixing cover 4 is closed. At this time, electrical contact is made with the terminals 14 provided on the flexible printed circuit board 8 to enable control of each color recording head provided in the recording head unit 1.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the electrical construction of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. The recording head unit 1 has a plurality of nozzle rows, an electrothermal converter (heater) provided corresponding to each nozzle, a heater driving logic circuit, a temperature detection element, a temperature adjustment sub-heater, and recording head specific information. Recording head (1K, 1C, 1
This is a unit in which four M, 1Y) are arranged side by side and integrated, and the signals from the image signal processing device 11 on the main body side are connected by the connectors 13 and 14 via the flexible cable 7.

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram showing the structure of the recording head, and the recording heads 1K, 1C, 1M and 1Y all have the same structure.

There are 64 discharge heaters (101) from heater 1 to heater 64, and a driving transistor 102 and an AND gate 103 are connected to each of them.

Discharge signals D _{1 to} D are applied to the AND gate 103.
₆₄ , the recording block control signals block _{1 to} block ₈ and the ejection permission signal HENB are input.

As the ejection signal, the IDATA signal (112) which is recording data and the DCLK signal (11) which is a clock signal are used.
The signal held in the 64-bit latch register 106 according to the latch signal LTCLK (115) that is taken in by the 64-bit shift register (106) that shifts by 1 bit in synchronization with 3) and is transferred at the time of transferring 64 bits. And the RESET signal (114) after the end of ejection.
Then, it is cleared to 0.

Recording block control signals block _{1 to} bl
ock ₈ is a 3-bit signal BENB1, BENB2, BE for designating a drive block sent from the main body side.
The NB3 signal (111) is decoded by the decoder 104,
By allocating to the 8-bit signal line, it is generated as a permission signal of 8 blocks (1 block corresponds to 8 nozzles).

The ejection permission signal HENB is an ejection control signal for the entire recording head, and controls the recording pulse width that determines the driving time of the heater.

In the head, a dummy resistor 10 is provided to detect the resistance value of the heater (detect the electric power of the heater).
8 are arranged, and the ejection head power control (recording pulse width control described above) is performed by connecting the signal line connected to this resistor to a constant current circuit and measuring the voltage.

In addition, in order to control the ink temperature at the head to be constant, diodes 109a, 1 are used as temperature sensors.
09b are arranged at both ends of the discharge heater 101.
In addition, a temperature adjustment sub-heater 107 is arranged as a heating means, and the image signal processing device 11 includes diodes 109a and 10a.
The temperature control is performed according to the output of 9b. That is, the diodes 109a and 109b are electrically connected in series to the constant current circuit, and the voltage across both ends is measured to detect as a result of adding a value proportional to the temperature across the print head. This value is used as the average temperature of the recording head for temperature control.

Among the respective signal lines, the recording data signal line (ID
ATA), discharge control signal line (HENB), temperature control signal line (SUBH) and sensor signal line (HRANK, Di
Since A) is directly related to the recording state of each recording head, it is necessary to control each recording head, but the power supply line (+5
V, + 19V, LGND (lodge ground),
HGND (ground for head), AGND (ground for analog) and data setting signal line (DCLK, RE)
SET, LTCLK) and the drive block designating signal lines (BENB1, BENB2, BENB3) need not be controlled for each print head. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
LK, RESET, LTCLK, BENB1, BENB
2, BENB3 signal and +5, +19, RGND, HGN
A recording head unit signal in which D and AGND are shared by the four recording heads passes on the flexible substrate.

As a result, the number of signal lines between the main body and the recording head can be reduced, and space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the recording head unit. According to the present embodiment, the head unit 5 in which a plurality of recording heads are integrated
1, the recording data to be transferred to each recording head is placed on one signal line IDATAK, and the black head 51
The output of the K shift register is input to the shift register of the cyan head 51C, the output of the cyan head shift register is input to the shift register of the magenta head 51M, and the output of the magenta head shift register is input to the yellow head. The serial data lines to each head are reduced by connecting shift registers one after another.

As a result, it is possible to further reduce the number of signal lines as compared with the configuration of the first embodiment.

In this way, even if a plurality of recording heads are integrated, the signal lines that are not directly related to the recording state are made common so that the signal lines between the control device and the recording unit are added at least. As a result, the device can be downsized, the reliability can be improved, and the cost can be reduced.

(Embodiment 3) Next, under the condition that the plurality of temperature sensors of the recording head are diodes and the current flowing through the diodes is constant, the characteristics that the forward voltage of the diode is proportional to the temperature are used to An example of a recording head and a control circuit for detecting the average temperature of the head portion by connecting the two in series will be described.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the recording head in this embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the recording head and the constant current control circuit. A recording head 201 includes a plurality of ejection openings 202 arranged in a row, and an ejection heater 20 for each ejection opening.
3 is provided, heat energy is generated by supplying electric power to the discharge heater, and a bubble is formed in the ink due to a rapid temperature rise, and the growth of the bubble causes the ink droplet to be discharged through the discharge port.

Diode sensors 204a and 204b for measuring the temperature of the ink are formed on the heater board 205, and the diode sensors 204a and 204b are arranged on both outer sides of the discharge heater to form the heater board 205.
It is configured to measure the heat distribution of.

Then, in the recording head, the diode 204
constant current control circuit by electrically connecting a and 204b in series (the common cathode terminal of each diode is externally connected to GND, and the reference potential fixed by the dividing resistors 206 and 207 is applied to the 8+ input terminal of the operational amplifier 208). The output of the operational amplifier 208 is connected to the base of the transistor 209. The negative input terminal of the operational amplifier 208 is connected to the emitter terminal of the transistor 209. The limiting resistor 210 for determining the control current and the transistor 209 are passed through the cathode side of the diode. The constant current flows in from 1), and the average value can be obtained by detecting the voltage that is the sum of the voltages across the two diodes.

If a platinum resistor is used as the temperature sensor and constant current control is performed in the same manner, the resistance value is proportional to the temperature change at a limited temperature of 0 ° C. to 100 ° C. Therefore, a plurality of platinum resistors are used. The average temperature of the recording head can be detected in series.

As described above, when a plurality of temperature sensors are mounted on the heater board to detect the average temperature, a diode is used as the temperature sensor and connected in series, so that one constant current can be obtained regardless of the number of sensors. This is possible with a circuit and voltage detection means. Therefore, reduction in circuit scale, miniaturization, and cost reduction can be expected.

In the above embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording methods has been described as an example. Regarding the configuration and the 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 both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal that gives a rapid temperature rise over each boiling corresponding to the recorded information to the electrothermal converter being formed, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and This is effective because film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface, and as a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) that correspond one-to-one to this drive signal. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

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

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. A configuration using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 or US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in the bending region, may be used.

In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. A configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion, may be adopted.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length can be increased by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either of the structure satisfying the requirement or the structure as one recording head integrally formed may be used.

In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be electrically connected to the apparatus body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus body by being attached to the apparatus body,
Alternatively, the present invention is effective when a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. to the recording head because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, capping means for the recording head,
Stable recording can also be performed by performing cleaning means, pressurizing or sucking means, electrothermal converters, a heating element or a preheating means using a combination thereof, and a preliminary discharge mode for discharging other than recording. Is effective for.

In the present embodiment described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or below and that softens at room temperature or is a liquid, or the above-mentioned ink jet. In the method, the temperature of the ink itself is adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. Any material that is in liquid form may be used.

In addition, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. In some cases, such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and ejected as liquid ink, or that that already begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. It is also possible to use an ink that has the property of being liquefied only by heat energy. In such a case, the ink is retained as a liquid or a solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. In this state, the electrothermal converter may be opposed to the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, the recording apparatus according to the present invention may be provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor or a computer, or may be combined with a reader or the like. It may be a copying machine or a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

The present invention is not limited to the ink jet method using heat energy, but can be applied to the ink jet method using a piezo element or the like.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the signal lines for the signals which do not need to be individually controlled are made common to the plurality of recording heads, so that the signals between the main body and the plurality of recording heads are shared. The number of lines can be reduced, and the device can be downsized, the cost can be reduced, and the reliability can be improved.

According to the second and third aspects of the invention, the circuit scale can be reduced, the size can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced by electrically connecting a plurality of state detecting elements in the recording head in series. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carriage of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing an electrical configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording head.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of the electrical configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a recording head.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a recording head and a constant current control circuit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a conventional recording head using a thermistor as a temperature sensor.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a conventional recording head using a diode as a temperature sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 recording head unit 1K, 1C, 1M, 1Y recording head 2K, 2C, 2M, 2Y ink tank 3 carriage unit 4 recording head fixing lever 8 flexible substrate 101 discharge heater 104 3to8Bit decoder 105 64-bit shift register 107 temperature control sub-heater 108 Head rank detection dummy resistors 109a, 109b Temperature detection diode 201 Recording head 202 Ink ejection port 203 Ejection heater 204a, 204b Temperature sensor diode 205 Heater board 206, 207 Reference voltage resistor 208 Opamp 209 Transistor 210 Control resistor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication location B41J 29/00 C (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Kanaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Kyano (72) Inventor Hiroshi Uemura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads, wherein the plurality of recording heads and the recording apparatus main body are connected by a plurality of signal lines, and it is necessary to control each recording head among the plurality of signal lines. A recording device in which a signal line for a signal having no signal is shared. 2. The plurality of recording heads each include an element that outputs a signal indicating the state of the recording head, and one ends of the elements of the plurality of recording heads are connected by a common signal line. The recording device according to claim 1. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the element is an element that outputs a signal indicating a temperature state of the recording head. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the element is a resistance indicating the characteristics of the recording head. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording colors of the plurality of recording heads are different from each other. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head records an image by ejecting ink droplets. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the recording head ejects an ink droplet by causing a state change in the ink by using thermal energy. 8. A recording head comprising a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of state detecting elements provided at mutually different positions, wherein the plurality of state detecting elements are electrically connected in series. head. 9. The recording head according to claim 8, wherein the state detection element detects a temperature state of the recording head. 10. The recording head according to claim 8, wherein the recording head ejects an ink droplet by causing a state change in ink using energy generated from the recording element. . 11. The recording head according to claim 10, wherein the recording element generates thermal energy, and the thermal energy causes a state change in the ink to eject an ink droplet. 12. A recording head comprising a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of state detecting elements provided at different positions, a mounting means for mounting the recording head, and a recording scan by a recording head mounted on the mounting means. And a scanning unit configured to perform the above, wherein the plurality of state detection elements are electrically connected in series. 13. The recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the state detection element detects a temperature state of the recording head. 14. The recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording head ejects an ink droplet by causing a state change in ink using energy generated from the recording element. . 15. The recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the recording element generates thermal energy, and the thermal energy causes a state change in the ink to eject an ink droplet.