JP2002160414A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of outputting a good image even when a recording head mounted on a carriage has a different mounting position. SOLUTION: A ROM 53 is set according to a mounting position of a recording head 21 mounted on the carriage, and suppresses vibration of the carriage when the carriage mounting the recording head 21 moves in a print area. Motor (stepping motor) 18 that can perform
Is stored. The head mounting position detecting means 30 detects a mounting position of the recording head 21 mounted on the carriage. The control unit (CPU) 54 reads a time table corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head 21 detected by the head mounting position detecting means 30 from the ROM 53, and drives the stepping motor 18 based on the read time table. Control the operation of the carriage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from a recording head, and more particularly to drive control of a carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a recording device such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like, or a recording device used as an output device such as a computer, a word processor, a work station, etc. An image (including characters and symbols; the same applies hereinafter) is recorded on the recording material (recording medium). As such a recording apparatus, there are various types such as an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a thermal transfer type, a laser beam type, etc., depending on the recording method of the recording means.

[0003] Among them, a serial type ink jet recording apparatus has a recording head (recording means) for discharging ink, and a recording head mounted thereon in a predetermined direction (main scanning direction).
And a transport device for transporting the recording medium in a direction (sub-scanning direction) crossing the main scanning direction. To form an image on a recording medium, first, in a state where the conveyance of the recording medium is stopped, ink is ejected from the recording head while moving the carriage in the main scanning direction, so that the recording located in the image forming area is performed. An image for one band is recorded on the medium. Next, the recording medium is transported by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction by the transport device. Thereafter, the image recording operation is performed in a predetermined range of the recording medium by alternately repeating the operation of recording the image for one band and the operation of transporting the recording medium.

[0004] As the recording head, there are an integrated type in which an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the recording head is integrated, and a separation type in which the ink tank is separable. There is. In the case of using the integral type recording head, when the ink in the ink tank is not consumed, the recording head must be replaced. On the other hand, when the separation type recording head is used, even after the ink in the ink tank is consumed, if the recording head itself is still usable, it is possible to replace only the ink tank. Good. In particular,
Such separate type ink tanks are of different sizes, such as those having a large or small ink storage capacity, depending on the purpose of use by the user.

[0005] In an ink jet recording apparatus compatible with color printing, generally, four recording heads for discharging inks of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow can be mounted on a carriage. In this case, depending on the usage of the user, not all four recording heads may be mounted on the carriage, but only some of them. For example, in the case of monochrome printing, there is a case where the usage is such that only the recording head of black ink is mounted and the recording heads of inks of other colors are not mounted. Further, in the case of color printing, there is a case in which only the recording heads of the inks of cyan, magenta, and yellow are mounted, and the recording head of the black ink is not mounted. Such a method of mounting the recording head is performed regardless of whether an integral type recording head or a separation type recording head is used.

[0006]

When an image is formed on a recording medium, the carriage is accelerated before entering the image forming area to increase the carriage speed to a constant speed. The carriage needs to be moved at a constant speed. However, the carriage vibrates greatly when the carriage is accelerated, depending on the mounting position of the print head mounted on the carriage, and particularly when the separation type print head is used, further depending on the size of the ink tank used. Sometimes. Then, the vibration of the carriage occurs until after the carriage enters the image forming area, and as a result, there is a problem that the quality of the image formed on the recording medium is reduced.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of outputting a good image even when a recording head mounted on a carriage is mounted at a different position. It is assumed that.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of outputting a good image even when a recording head mounted on a carriage is mounted at a different position or an ink tank having a different size is mounted. It is assumed that.

[0009]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of recording heads for discharging ink; and a carriage for mounting at least one of the recording heads at a predetermined position. An ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the recording head mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage, in a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. A control means for controlling the operation of the carriage by changing the speed control of the carriage accordingly.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printhead comprising: a plurality of recording heads for discharging ink; a plurality of ink tanks for supplying ink to each of the recording heads; A carriage mounted on a predetermined location and mounting the ink tank of a predetermined size selected from the ink tanks of different sizes, mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the recording head, the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage and the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage Control means for controlling the operation of the carriage by changing the speed control of the carriage accordingly It is characterized in further comprising.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a plurality of recording heads for discharging ink, and a carriage for mounting at least one of the recording heads at a predetermined position, and reciprocates the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from the recording head mounted on the carriage, the setting is performed in accordance with a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. Storage means for storing data relating to speed control of the carriage so that vibration of the carriage can be suppressed when the carriage on which the recording head is mounted moves in an image forming area; and the recording mounted on the carriage. Mounting location detecting means for detecting the mounting location of the head, and detection by the mounting location detecting means Control means for reading, from the storage means, data relating to the speed control of the carriage corresponding to the mounted position of the print head, and controlling the operation of the carriage based on the read data. Is what you do.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printhead comprising: a plurality of printheads for discharging ink; a plurality of ink tanks for supplying ink to each of the printheads; and at least one printhead. A carriage mounted on a predetermined location and mounting the ink tank of a predetermined size selected from the ink tanks of different sizes, mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from the recording head, according to a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and a size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage. The carriage on which the recording head and the ink tank are mounted is set in the image forming area. Storage means for storing data relating to the speed control of the carriage such that vibration of the carriage can be suppressed when the carriage is moved, and mounting position detecting means for detecting a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. A size detecting means for detecting a size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage; a mounting position of the recording head detected by the mounting position detecting means; and a size of the ink tank detected by the size detecting means. Control means for reading out data relating to the speed control of the carriage from the storage means, and controlling the operation of the carriage based on the read data.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a schematic control block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus,
FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a first flexible cable of a head mounting location detecting means in the ink jet recording apparatus, FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a second flexible cable of the head mounting location detecting means, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pattern exposed portion.

The ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment is
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a platen 11, a paper transport roller 12, a pinch roller 13, a paper transport motor 14
, Guide rail 15, carriage 16, belt 17
, A carriage motor 18, an operation panel 19, four recording heads 21, 21, 21, head mounting location detecting means 30, and a controller unit 50. Here, a case where, for example, an ink jet type plotter is used as the ink jet recording apparatus will be described. In FIG. 1, recording paper 2 as a recording medium is used.
Is partially cut away.

The platen 11 places the recording paper 2 on its upper surface. The recording paper 2 is nipped by a transport roller 12 that exposes a part of the outer peripheral surface from an opening 11 a formed in a platen 11 and a pinch roller 13 that presses both ends in the width direction of the recording paper 2 from above. . The recording paper 2 is recorded by the recording heads 21 on the platen 11, and is conveyed in the direction of arrow A (medium feeding direction) by the rotation of the conveyance roller 12 by the paper conveyance motor 14. , On the platen 11.

A guide rail 15 is provided above the platen 11.
Are installed in parallel with the platen 11. A carriage 16 is attached to the guide rail 15 via a slide bearing (not shown). Also, the carriage 16
, A belt 17 is attached in parallel with the guide rail 15, and the belt 17 is moved left and right by a carriage motor 18. Thus, the carriage 16 can reciprocate through the belt 17 in a direction (carriage moving direction) indicated by an arrow B perpendicular to the medium feeding direction A. In the present embodiment, a stepping motor using a 1-2 phase excitation method is used as the carriage motor 18.

The carriage 16 is provided with four head mounting portions 16a for mounting the recording head 21. Thereby, four recording heads 21 (K), 21 (C), and 21 that eject ink of each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y).
(M) and 21 (Y) can be mounted on the carriage 16. These recording heads 21 (K), 21 (C),
21 (M) and 21 (Y) are normally arranged in this order from the left head mounting portion 16a along the carriage moving direction B. Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus of the first embodiment can support color printing.

Each recording head 21 can move along the guide rail 15 integrally with the carriage 16. Each recording head 21 has a large number of nozzles on its lower surface, and discharges minute ink droplets from the discharge ports of each nozzle. These nozzles are arranged substantially linearly along the medium feeding direction A.

In the first embodiment, it is assumed that each recording head 21 is of an integrated type in which an ink tank for accommodating ink is integrally formed. Therefore, when the ink in the ink tank runs out, the recording head itself must be replaced. Also, according to the purpose of use of the user, the four recording heads 21 and
Only some of the recording heads out of 1, 21 and 21 can be mounted on the carriage 16. For example, when performing monochrome printing, only one recording head 21 (K) may be mounted on the carriage 16. When performing color printing, three recording heads 21 (C), 21 (M), and 21 (Y) may be mounted on the carriage 16 except for the recording head 21 (K). FIG. 1 shows a state in which only the three recording heads 21 (C), 21 (M), and 21 (Y) are mounted on the carriage 16.

The operation panel 19 is used to make settings for predetermined setting items and to give predetermined instructions. Specifically, the operation panel 19 includes
Various keys such as a key, an ONLINE key, a print mode key, a roll paper / cut paper selection key, and a display unit are provided. On this display unit, setting items and parameters thereof are displayed, and predetermined messages and the like are displayed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the controller unit 50 includes an interface 51, a RAM 52, and a ROM.
53, a control unit (CPU) 54, an I / O port 55
, A paper conveyance motor driving unit 56, a carriage motor driving unit 57, and recording head driving units 58, 58, 58, 58. Image data is transmitted from the host computer 4 to the controller unit 50 via the interface 51. The RAM 52 is a working memory. The image data sent from the host computer 4 is R
The image data is developed on the AM 52, and image data for each band is created. The ROM 53 stores various programs executed by the control unit 54, data related to speed control of the carriage 16, and the like. This carriage 1
The data relating to the speed control 6 will be described later.

The control section 54 controls the control of each section of the ink jet recording apparatus. For example, the control unit 54
Sends a signal for controlling the conveyance of the recording paper 2 to the paper conveyance motor driving unit 56 via the I / O port 55. As a result, the paper transport motor driving unit 56 drives the paper transport motor 14. When the control unit 54 sends a signal for controlling the movement of the carriage 16 to the carriage motor drive unit 57 via the I / O port 55, the carriage motor drive unit 57
Drives the carriage motor 18. Here, when the printing operation is not performed, the carriage 16 is stopped at a predetermined retracted position in a non-printing area (non-image forming area). Then, the control unit 54 controls the speed of the carriage 16 so as to accelerate the carriage 16 from its retracted position until the carriage 16 reaches a printing area (image forming area) and move at a constant speed in the printing area.

The control unit 54 creates a control signal for controlling ink ejection of each recording head 21 based on the image data, and sends the created control signal to the I / O port 5.
5 to each recording head drive unit 58. Each recording head driving unit 58 sends a driving signal to the recording head 21 and the recording head 2 selected by the driving signal.
Ink droplets are ejected from one nozzle.

The control unit 54 controls the driving units 56 and 5
The printing operation is executed by controlling the control of the switches 7 and 58 at a predetermined timing. Specifically, the control unit 54 first
The operation of the carriage 16 is controlled to move each recording head 21 along the guide rail 15. At this time, when the control unit 54 sends a control signal to each recording head driving unit 58, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles of each recording head 21. Thus, an image for one band is formed on the recording paper 2. Next, the control unit 54 controls the operation of the carriage 16 to return each recording head 21 to a predetermined retracted position, and at the same time, conveys the recording paper 2 by one band. The entire image is formed on the recording paper 2 by alternately repeating the operation of discharging the ink and the operation of transporting the recording paper 2.

The control unit 54 includes an I / O port 55
A signal is sent from the head mounting location detecting means 30 via the. The head mounting location detecting means 30 is
The position of the recording head 21 mounted on the carriage 16, that is, the presence or absence of the recording head 21 in each head mounting portion 16a of the carriage 16 is detected. In the first embodiment, a circuit for sending a drive signal from the recording head driving unit 58 to the recording head 21 is used as the head mounting position detecting unit 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the head mounting position detecting means 30 is provided at the first flexible cable 31 provided at each recording head 21 and at each head mounting portion 16a of the carriage 16. And a second flexible cable 32. The first and second flexible cables 31 and 32 have a three-layer structure in which a polyimide resin film 36 is formed on both sides of a circuit pattern. These first and second flexible cables 31,
32 has a thickness of about 0.1 mm. Further, by cutting the resin film 36 on one side corresponding to a portion to be a contact in the circuit pattern, the portion to be a contact is exposed. This exposed part is the pattern exposed part 3
7 In particular, for the second flexible cable 32, as shown in FIG. 5, the pattern exposed portion 37 was formed into a substantially hemispherical shape having a diameter of 0.5 mm and a height of 0.2 mm by forming, and the resin film 36 was cut. It protrudes to the side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first flexible cable 31 is heat-welded to the back of the recording head 21 with the exposed surface of the pattern exposed portion 37 facing up. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the second flexible cable 32 is disposed on the head mounting portion 16a of the carriage 16 with the exposed surface of the pattern exposed portion 37 facing up via an elastic member.
By attaching the recording head 21 to the predetermined head attaching portion 16a, the pattern exposed portion 37 of the first flexible cable 31 and the pattern exposed portion 37 of the second flexible cable are electrically connected.

Next, a detecting operation using the head mounted portion detecting means 30 will be described. First, when a signal is sent to the second flexible cable 32 provided in a certain head mounting section 16a, the control section 54 checks whether or not the signal is conductive. In the conductive state, the pattern exposed portion 37 of the second flexible cable 32 and the pattern exposed portion 37 of the first flexible cable 31 are electrically connected, whereby the control unit 54 21 can be detected as being mounted on the head mounting portion 16a. On the other hand, when the recording head 21 is not in the conductive state, the control unit 54
It is judged that it is not installed in the. Thereafter, the above-described detection operation is performed on the second flexible cable 32 provided on the other head mounting portion 16a, so that the control unit 54
Is the recording head 2 in any of the four head mounting portions 16a.
1 can be recognized. A method of detecting the presence or absence of a recording head by using such two flexible cables and checking the conduction state thereof is a known technique.

Next, speed control of the carriage 16 in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first embodiment will be described.

As described above, the ROM 53 stores data relating to the speed control of the carriage 16.
The data relating to the speed control of the carriage 16 is a time table of the stepping motor 18 when the carriage 16 is accelerated. By driving the stepping motor 18 in accordance with this time table, the carriage 16 is moved from the stationary state to a constant speed from the retreat position of the non-print area to the print area (acceleration area). It is for accelerating up to. In the printing area, the carriage 16 is moved at the constant speed. Then, during the period from when the print area is removed to the retracted position of the non-print area (deceleration area), the carriage 16 is normally fixed by driving the stepping motor 18 in the reverse step in the time table during acceleration. Decelerates from speed to stationary.

In the first embodiment, the time table of the stepping motor 18 at the time of acceleration of the carriage 16 is set according to the mounting position of the recording head 21 mounted on the carriage 16. As shown in FIG. 1, when the carriage 16 is provided with four head mounting portions 16 a, there are 15 mounting methods of the recording head 21, so that a total of 15 time tables are stored in the ROM 53. However, the case where no recording head 21 is mounted is excluded. The control unit 54 recognizes the mounting position of the recording head 21 actually mounted on the carriage 16 based on the result detected by the head mounting position detecting unit 30. Then, a time table of the stepping motor 18 corresponding to the recognized mounting position of the recording head 21 is read from the ROM 53, and the operation of the carriage 16 is controlled by driving the stepping motor 18 based on the read time table.

FIG. 6 shows a recording head 21 for black ink.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time table when only (K) is mounted on a carriage 16. FIG. 7A shows the case where only the recording head 21 (K) is mounted on the carriage 16 and the stepping motor 1 is used by using the time table of FIG.
8 is a graph showing the relationship between the carriage scanning time and the carriage speed when driving No. 8; The graph of FIG. 7A is obtained by the present inventors through actual experiments.

Generally, a stepping motor rotates by one step each time one electric pulse is given.
Stepping motor 1 during acceleration of carriage 16
As shown in FIG. 6, the pulse width of the voltage for exciting the stepping motor 18 is described for each step in the time table 8. The shorter the pulse width, the higher the rotation speed of the stepping motor 18. Since the time table is used when the carriage 16 is accelerated, the pulse width is reduced or does not change as the number of steps increases. Here, a stepping motor 18 is used in which the pulse width is constant at 0.4 μs.

When only the recording head 21 (K) is mounted on the carriage 16, the control unit 54 drives the stepping motor 18 using the time table shown in FIG. In this time table, the pulse width of the voltage is 4.25 μs at step “1”, and thereafter, the pulse width decreases by 0.13 μs or 0.14 μs each time the step increases by one. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7A, the carriage 16 is gradually accelerated from the stationary state. Then, in step “30”, the pulse width is 0.4 μm.
At s, the carriage 16 reaches the boundary between the acceleration area and the print area. Next, the control unit 54 drives the stepping motor 18 with a constant pulse width of 0.4 μs, so that the carriage 16 moves in the printing area at a constant speed. At this time, the control unit 54
By controlling the ink ejection operation by (K), an image is formed on the recording paper 2. Then, the carriage 16
Reaches the boundary between the print area and the deceleration area, the control unit 54
By driving the stepping motor 18 in the reverse step in the time table shown in FIG. 6, the carriage 16 moves while decelerating, and finally stops.

As can be seen from the graph of the experimental results shown in FIG. 7A, when moving in the acceleration region, the speed of the carriage 16 increases almost linearly while exhibiting a slight oscillatory behavior. When the print area is moved, the influence of the vibrational behavior hardly appears, and the carriage 16 always moves at a substantially constant speed. In fact, by controlling the speed of the carriage 16 in this way, a good printed image could be obtained.

On the other hand, the four recording heads 21, 21, 21
If the stepping motor 18 is driven using the time table shown in FIG. 6 when the carriages 1 and 21 are mounted on the carriage 16, the ink ejection from the recording head 21 will be adversely affected. This will be described in detail. The present inventors,
When the four recording heads 21, 21, 21 and 21 were mounted on the carriage 16, the relationship between the carriage scanning time and the carriage speed when the stepping motor 18 was driven was examined using the time table shown in FIG. . FIG. 7B shows the result obtained by performing the experiment.

As can be seen from the graph of the experimental results in FIG. 7B, when moving in the acceleration region, the speed of the carriage 16 shows a larger oscillatory behavior as compared with the graph in FIG. Will increase. The influence of the vibration also affects the speed of the carriage 16 when the print area moves. That is, the speed of the carriage 16 shows a very large oscillatory behavior immediately after the carriage 16 enters the print area. Thereafter, the vibrational behavior attenuates, and the speed of the carriage 16 eventually becomes constant. Therefore, immediately after entering the print area, the carriage 16 itself moves while vibrating greatly, and the direction of the ejection port of the recording head 21 is not stabilized. For this reason, when the printing operation is performed at the time of such vibration, a densely packed portion and a sparsely spread portion appear alternately in the printed image, and a stripe-like distortion occurs, and as a result, the image quality is large. descend.

The carriage 1 depends on which of the four head mounting portions 16a has the recording head 21 mounted thereon.
6 The center of gravity of the whole changes. In FIG. 7B, the reason why the carriage speed exhibits a large oscillatory behavior is considered to be due to the change in the center of gravity of the entire carriage 16. In other words, the time table shown in FIG. 6 is suitable for use in controlling the carriage 16 on which only the printhead 21 (K) is mounted, but the four printheads 2
It is considered that it is not suitable for use in controlling the carriage 16 on which 1, 2, 21 and 21 are mounted. Therefore, in order to suppress the vibration of the carriage 16 during the movement of the print area and prevent the image quality from deteriorating, an optimal time table is set according to the mounting position of the recording head 21 actually mounted on the carriage 16. It is necessary to select and control the carriage 16 using the selected time table.

FIG. 7B shows the optimal time table when the carriage 16 moves in the printing area.
Any method can be used as long as it can suppress the oscillatory behavior of the carriage speed as shown in FIG. For this purpose, for example, the following two methods can be considered. The first method is a method of increasing the carriage speed to a constant speed while preventing the carriage speed from generating a large oscillatory behavior when moving in the acceleration region. The second method is a method in which the carriage 16 is accelerated to a constant speed when moving in the acceleration region, and then is moved at the constant speed until the oscillatory behavior of the carriage speed is no longer attenuated. Actually, it is necessary to confirm by experiment an optimal time table for each combination of the recording heads 16 that can be mounted on the four head mounting portions 16a of the carriage 16. The optimal timetable is not always one.

In general, controlling the carriage 16 with an optimum time table corresponding to each combination of the recording heads 16 that can be mounted on the four head mounting portions 16a of the carriage 16 means changing the carriage speed. Not only does this change the distance in the acceleration region.

Next, FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG.
(A) and FIG. 9 (b) show four recording heads 21, 21,
A specific example of a time table when the carriage 21 and 21 are mounted on the carriage 16 is shown. FIG. 8A shows four recording heads 2 set by applying the concept of the first method.
FIGS. 8B and 9A are examples of a time table when 1, 2, 21 and 21 are mounted on the carriage 16.
FIG. 9B shows four recording heads 21, 21, 21, 21 set by applying the concept of the second method.
5 is an example of a time table in a case where is mounted on the carriage 16.

In the time table shown in FIG. 8A, in step "1", the pulse width of the voltage is 4.25 μs,
Thereafter, each time the number of steps increases by one, the pulse width becomes .0.
The pulse width for each step is set so as to decrease by 1 μs or 0.09 μs. Then, in step “40”, the pulse width is 0.4 μs. here,
When such a time table is used, the distance of the acceleration area, that is, the retreat position of the carriage 16 is determined so that the carriage 16 shifts from the acceleration area to the printing area at step "40". FIG.
When the stepping motor 18 is driven using the time table shown in (a), the carriage 16 is accelerated more slowly than in the case where the time table shown in FIG. 6 is used. As a result, it is possible to suppress a change in the speed of the carriage 16 due to the influence of the vibration during the movement of the acceleration area. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the carriage 16 from vibrating during the movement of the print area.

In the time table shown in FIG. 8B, first, the pulse width for each step is set in the same manner as in the time table shown in FIG. 6, and thereafter, the pulse width from step "31" to step "40" is set. Are all set to 0.4 μs. When the stepping motor 18 is driven using the time table shown in FIG.
6, first, similarly to the case shown in FIG. 7B, the carriage 16 is accelerated, and a large change occurs in the carriage speed due to the influence of the vibration.
Since it is attenuated in a period corresponding to “0” to step “40”, when the carriage 16 enters the print area thereafter, vibration of the carriage 16 can be suppressed.

In the time table shown in FIG. 9A, the pulse width of the voltage is 4.25 μs in step “1”,
Thereafter, each time the number of steps increases by one, the pulse width becomes .0.
The pulse width for each step is set so as to decrease by 17 μs or 0.16 μs. Then, in step “24”, the pulse width is 0.4 μs, and thereafter, the pulse width remains 0.4 μs until step “30”.
Is set to That is, when the stepping motor 18 is driven using the time table shown in FIG. 9A, the carriage 16 is accelerated to a constant speed more rapidly than when the time table shown in FIG. 8B is used. become. At this time, as in the case where the time table shown in FIG. 8B is used, the vibration of the carriage 16 can be attenuated during the period corresponding to step “24” to step “30”. The vibration of the carriage 16 at the time of the movement can be suppressed.

The time table shown in FIG.
The time table is almost the same as the time table shown in FIG.
The period is set to 4 μs, and the period for driving the stepping motor 16 at a constant speed is long. This figure 9
When the stepping motor 18 is driven by using the time table shown in FIG. 9B, the vibration of the carriage 16 can be reliably attenuated during the movement of the acceleration region, as compared with the case of using the time table shown in FIG. There is an advantage that can be. However, it goes without saying that the distance of the acceleration region becomes longer.

Note that the present inventors actually used the carriage 1
8A, 8B, 9A, and 9 when four recording heads 21, 21, 21, 21 are mounted on the recording head 6.
When the stepping motor 18 is driven by using each of the time tables shown in (b), the carriage 16 is prevented from vibrating greatly when the print area is moved, and a good printed image is obtained, regardless of which time table is used. I was able to. Also, in practice, the four recording heads 21, 21, 21
8 (a) and 8 (a) and 8 (b) described here as time tables when the carriage 21 and 21 are mounted on the carriage 16.
It is not necessary to store all the time tables in FIGS. 9B, 9A, and 9B in the ROM 53, and it is sufficient to store one of the time tables.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the first embodiment, an optimal stepping motor time table set in accordance with the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage is stored in the ROM, and the control unit controls the head. A time table corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage is read from the ROM based on the detection result of the mounting position detecting means, and the operation of the carriage is controlled based on the read time table. Accordingly, even when the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage is different, it is possible to suppress a large vibration when the carriage is moving in the printing area, and thus it is possible to obtain a good printed image.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic control block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus.
2 is a schematic left side view of the carriage of the ink jet recording apparatus. In FIG. 10, a part of the recording paper is cut out, and in FIG. 12, a part of the recording head is cut out. In the second embodiment, components having the same functions as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the second embodiment comprises a platen 11, a paper transport roller 12, a pinch roller 13, a paper transport motor 14, a guide rail 15 as shown in FIGS. And the carriage 16
, A belt 17, a carriage motor 18, an operation panel 19, and four recording heads 210, 210, 210,
210 and four ink tanks 22, 22, 22, 22
, A first optical sensor (size detecting means) 41, a second optical sensor (mounting location detecting means) 42, and a controller unit 500.

The carriage 16 is provided with four head mounting portions 16a for mounting the recording head 210. Thereby, black (K), cyan (C),
Four recording heads 210 (K), 210 (C), and 2 that eject ink of each color of magenta (M) and yellow (Y)
10 (M) and 210 (Y) can be mounted on the carriage 16. These recording heads 210 (K), 21
0 (C), 210 (M), 210 (Y) are normally arranged in this order from the left head mounting portion 16a along the carriage moving direction B. Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus of the second embodiment can support color printing.

Each recording head 210 can move along the guide rail 15 integrally with the carriage 16. Each recording head 210 has a large number of nozzles on its lower surface, and discharges minute ink droplets from the discharge ports of each nozzle. These nozzles are arranged substantially linearly along the medium feeding direction A.

Further, only some of the four recording heads 210, 210, 210, 210 can be mounted on the carriage 16 according to the purpose of use by the user. For example, when performing monochrome printing, only one recording head 210 (K) may be mounted on the carriage 16. When performing color printing, the three recording heads 210 (K) are excluded except for the recording head 210 (K).
(C), 210 (M), 210 (Y)
May be mounted on FIG. 10 shows a state in which only the three recording heads 210 (C), 210 (M), and 210 (Y) are mounted on the carriage 16.

In the second embodiment, as each recording head 210, a separation type in which an ink tank 22 for storing ink is detachably attached to the recording head is used.
Therefore, when the ink runs out, only the ink tank 22 needs to be replaced with a new one. The ink tanks 22 having different sizes are prepared, and the user can select a predetermined size according to the purpose of use. In particular, in the second embodiment, a case is considered where two types of ink tanks 22 can be used: a small ink tank 22S having a small ink storage capacity and a large ink tank 22L having a large ink storage capacity.

FIG. 13 is a schematic side view of the small ink tank 22S and the large ink tank 22L. Each ink tank 2
As shown in FIG. 13, 2S and 22L have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and include two accommodation chambers 22a and 22b and a protrusion 22.
c and an engaging portion 22d. Large ink tank 22L
The small ink tank 22S and the small ink tank 22S have the same width and depth, but differ only in their height, and have a difference in ink storage capacity. A predetermined color ink is stored in the small storage room 22a on the left side, and a sponge is stored in the large storage room 22b on the right side. A notch is formed at the lower end of the wall separating the two storage chambers 22a and 22b. For this reason, the ink in the storage chamber 22a enters the storage chamber 22b through the notch, and is absorbed by the sponge. The protruding portion 22c is formed on the lower surface of the large accommodating chamber 22b, and a hole is provided in the protruding portion 22c. This hole serves as an ink supply port to the recording head 210. Such ink tanks 22S, 22L
Is attached to the recording head 210 by pressing the recording head 210 from above, the engaging portion 22d engages with the recording head 210 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the ink tanks 22S and 22L can be easily removed from the recording head 210 by pressing the engaging portion 22d to release the engagement between the engaging portion 22d and the recording head 210.

As shown in FIG. 11, the controller unit 500 includes an interface 51, a RAM 52,
OM 53, control unit (CPU) 540, I / O port 55, paper transport motor drive unit 56, carriage motor drive unit 57, printhead drive units 58, 58, 58, 5
8 is provided. The ROM 53 stores various programs executed by the control unit 540, data related to speed control of the carriage 16, and the like. Here, the data relating to the speed control of the carriage 16 is the carriage 1
6 is a time table of the stepping motor 18 at the time of acceleration.

The control section 540 supervises the control of each section of the ink jet recording apparatus. This control unit 540
To the first optical sensor 4 via the I / O port 55
Signals from the first and second optical sensors 42 are sent. The first optical sensor 41 detects the size (large or small) of the ink tank 22 mounted on each recording head 210. As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 12, the first optical sensor 41
It is installed at a position in front of it. The installation height of the first optical sensor 41 is higher than the small ink tank 22S mounted on the carriage 16, but lower than the large ink tank 22L mounted on the carriage 16. Here, FIG. 12 shows a state where the small ink tank 22S is mounted on the carriage 16.

The first optical sensor 41 has a light emitting portion for emitting light toward the rear side of the apparatus main body, and a light receiving portion for receiving the reflected light when the light emitted from the light emitting portion is reflected. A detection operation using the first optical sensor 41 will be described. First, the control unit 540 moves the carriage 16 so that the ink tank 2 to be detected is
2 is stopped at the same position as the first optical sensor 41 along the carriage feed direction B (see FIG. 10). Then, the first optical sensor 41 emits light from the light emitting unit toward the ink tank 22. When the small ink tank 22S is used as the ink tank 22, the light from the light emitting unit goes straight without hitting the small ink tank 22S, and the light receiving unit does not receive the light. On the other hand, when the large ink tank 22L is used as the ink tank 22, the light from the light emitting unit is reflected by the large ink tank 22L, and the light receiving unit receives the reflected light. Thus, the first optical sensor 41 can detect the size of the ink tank 22 depending on whether or not the light receiving unit has received the reflected light. The first optical sensor 41 sends the detection result to the control unit 540. After that, the control unit 540 performs the above-described detection operation on the other three ink tanks, so that the control unit 540 outputs the four ink tanks 22, 22, 22,.
22 can be recognized. The detection operation by the first optical sensor 41 is performed, for example, when the ink tank 22 is replaced by the user.

In the second embodiment, a case is considered in which two types of ink tanks are used, and the size of the ink tank is detected using one first optical sensor. Generally, when N types of ink tanks having different sizes (heights) are used as ink tanks, for example, N-1 optical sensors are provided at different height positions, and each optical sensor receives reflected light. The size of the ink tank can be detected by checking whether or not the printing has been performed.
Alternatively, the size of the ink tank can be detected by moving one optical sensor in the vertical direction and checking the position of the optical sensor that has detected the ink tank.

Further, the second optical sensor 42 detects a mounting position of the recording head 210 mounted on the carriage 16. The second optical sensor 42 is installed at the same position as the first optical sensor 41 along the carriage feed direction B and below the first optical sensor 41, as shown in FIGS. You. The installation height of the second optical sensor 42 is substantially the same as the lower part of the front surface of the recording head 21 mounted on the carriage 16.

The configuration of the second optical sensor 42 is exactly the same as that of the first optical sensor 41. That is, the second optical sensor 42 includes a light emitting unit that emits light toward the back side of the apparatus main body, and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected. A detection operation using the second optical sensor 42 will be described. First, the control unit 54
0, the carriage 16 is moved to stop the predetermined head mounting portion 16a at the same position as the second optical sensor 42 along the carriage feed direction B. And
The second optical sensor 42 transmits light from the light emitting unit to the carriage 1.
Fires towards 6. When the recording head 210 is not mounted on the head mounting portion 16a, the light from the light emitting portion does not hit the recording head 210 and travels straight, so that the light receiving portion does not receive the light. On the other hand, when the recording head 210 is mounted on the head mounting portion 16a, since the light from the light emitting unit is reflected by the recording head 210, the light receiving unit receives the reflected light. Thus, the second optical sensor 4
2 can detect whether or not the recording head 210 is mounted on the head mounting portion 16a according to whether or not reflected light has been received by the light receiving portion. The second optical sensor 42 sends the detection result to the control unit 540. After that, the control unit 540 can recognize the mounting position of the recording head 210 mounted on the carriage 16 by performing the above-described detection operation on the other head mounting units 16a.

In the second embodiment, the separation type is used as the recording head 210, so that even if the recording head 210 is mounted at the same position, the recording head 2
The center of gravity of the entire carriage 16 changes depending on whether the small ink tank 22S or the large ink tank 22L is mounted on the cartridge 10. Therefore, as described with reference to FIG. 7B in the first embodiment, the carriage speed may exhibit a large oscillatory behavior when moving in the acceleration region due to the difference in the center of gravity of the entire carriage 16. The influence of the vibration extends to the speed of the carriage 16 during the movement of the printing area, and causes a deterioration in image quality. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the time table of the stepping motor 18 when the carriage 16 is accelerated is set according to the mounting position of the recording head 210 mounted on the carriage 16 and the size of the ink tank 22 mounted on the carriage 16. You have set. As shown in FIG. 10, when the carriage 16 is provided with four head mounting portions 16a, "recording head is not mounted" and "recording head having a large ink tank is mounted" on each head mounting portion 16a. , And "the print head having a small ink tank is mounted".
Zero time tables are stored in the ROM 53.
However, this excludes the case where no recording head 210 is mounted.

Each time table stored in the ROM 53 is such that the vibration of the carriage 16 when the carriage 16 on which the recording head and the ink tank are mounted moves in the print area can be suppressed. . Such a time table can be set by applying the concept of the first or second method described in the first embodiment.

For example, when the first method is applied, the recording head 210 mounted on the carriage 16
Is large and the size of the ink tank 22 mounted on the carriage 16 is large.
In the non-printing area, the carriage 16 is accelerated with a smaller acceleration than the carriage acceleration when the number of the recording heads 210 mounted on the carriage 16 is small and the size of the ink tank 22 mounted on the carriage 16 is small. Is set to reach a predetermined speed. When the second method is applied, the recording head 210 mounted on the carriage 16
Is large and the size of the ink tank 22 mounted on the carriage 16 is large.
In the non-printing area, the number of the recording heads 210 mounted on the carriage 16 is small, and the ink tank 22 mounted on the carriage 16 is accelerated at the same acceleration or large acceleration as the carriage acceleration when the size is small. After the speed of the carriage 16 reaches a predetermined speed, the speed is set to be maintained for a certain period of time.

The control unit 54 recognizes the mounting position of the recording head 210 actually mounted on the carriage 16 based on the result detected by the second optical sensor 42, and controls the first optical sensor 41 Based on the detected result, the size of each ink tank 22 actually mounted on the carriage 16 is recognized. Then, the time table of the stepping motor 18 corresponding to the recognized mounting position of the recording head 210 and the size of the ink tank 22 is read from the ROM 53, and the stepping motor 18 is driven based on the read time table. 16 are controlled.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the second embodiment, the optimal time table of the stepping motor set according to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is stored in the ROM. The control unit controls the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage based on the detection results of the first optical sensor and the second optical sensor. Is read from the ROM, and the operation of the carriage is controlled based on the read time table. Accordingly, even when the recording head mounted on the carriage is mounted at a different position or when an ink tank having a different size is mounted, it is possible to suppress a large vibration when the carriage is moving in the printing area. So you can
A good printed image can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-described first embodiment, the second optical sensor described in the second embodiment may be used instead of the head mounting position detecting means using a flexible cable. Conversely, in the above-described second embodiment, the head mounting position detecting means described in the first embodiment may be used instead of the second optical sensor.

In the first or second embodiment, the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage is detected by the head mounting position detecting means or the second optical sensor, and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is determined. Although the description has been given of the case where the first optical sensor detects the position, for example, when the user attaches the recording head or replaces the ink tank, the operation panel (setting means) uses the operation panel (setting means) to install the recording head or the ink tank. You may make it input a magnitude | size. In this case, in the inkjet recording apparatus of the first embodiment, the control unit reads the time table of the stepping motor corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head input from the operation panel from the ROM, and stores the time table in the read time table. The operation of the carriage is controlled by driving the stepping motor based on this. In the ink jet recording apparatus of the second embodiment, the control unit reads from the ROM a time table of the stepping motor corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head and the size of the ink tank input from the operation panel. The operation of the carriage is controlled by driving the stepping motor based on the read time table.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, black,
A case has been described in which four recording heads that eject inks of cyan, magenta, and yellow can be mounted on the carriage.For example, a total of two recording heads that eject inks of light cyan and light magenta, respectively, is added. Even if six recording heads can be mounted on the carriage,
By applying the present invention, a good printed image can be obtained.

[0070]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is set according to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. Data relating to the speed control of the carriage that can suppress vibration of the carriage when moving is stored in the storage unit, and the control unit is mounted on the carriage based on the detection result by the mounting location detection unit. Data related to the carriage speed control corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head is read from the storage unit, and the operation of the carriage is controlled based on the read data. Thereby, even when the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage is different,
Since a large vibration can be suppressed when the carriage is moving in the image forming area, a good printed image can be obtained.

Further, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the recording head and the ink tank are set according to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage. Is stored in a storage unit so that the vibration of the carriage can be suppressed when the carriage on which is mounted moves in the image forming area, is stored in a storage unit, and the control unit detects the mounting position detection unit and the size. Based on the detection result by the detecting means, data on the carriage speed control corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is read out from the storage means, and the read data is The operation of the carriage is controlled based on this. Accordingly, even when the recording head mounted on the carriage is mounted at a different position or when an ink tank having a different size is mounted, it is possible to suppress a large vibration when the carriage is moving in the image forming area. As a result, a good printed image can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic control block diagram of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a first flexible cable of a head mounting location detecting unit in the ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a second flexible cable of the head mounting location detecting means.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a pattern exposed portion of the second flexible cable.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time table when only a recording head of black ink is mounted on a carriage.

7A is a graph showing a relationship between a carriage scanning time and a carriage speed when a stepping motor is driven using the time table of FIG. 6 when only a black ink recording head is mounted on the carriage, FIG. 6B is a graph showing the relationship between the carriage scanning time and the carriage speed when the stepping motor is driven using the time table of FIG. 6 when four print heads are mounted on the carriage.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time table when four recording heads are mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time table when four recording heads are mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic control block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a schematic left side view of a carriage of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a schematic side view of two types of ink tanks used in the inkjet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Recording paper, 4 ... Host computer, 11 ...
Platen, 11a Opening, 12 Paper transport roller,
13 ... pinch roller, 14 ... paper transport motor, 15 ...
-Guide rail, 16 ... Carriage, 16a ... Head mounting part, 17 ... Belt, 18 ... Carriage motor,
19 ... operation panel, 21, 210 ... recording head, 2
2 ... Ink tank, 22a, 22b ... Storage chamber, 22
c ... Projecting part, 22d ... Engaging part, 30 ... Head mounting location detecting means, 31 ... First flexible cable, 3
2 ... second flexible cable, 36 ... resin film, 37 ... pattern exposed part, 41 ... first optical sensor, 42 ... second optical sensor, 50, 500 ... Controller unit, 51 ... Interface, 52 ...
RAM, 53 ... ROM, 54, 540 ... control unit, 5
5 ··· I / O port, 56 ··· Paper transport motor drive unit, 5
7 Carriage motor drive unit 58 Print head drive unit

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of printheads for discharging ink; and a carriage for mounting at least one printhead at a predetermined location, wherein the printhead mounted on the carriage reciprocates the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from a head, an operation of the carriage is changed by changing a speed control of the carriage according to a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a control unit for controlling the ink jet recording. A plurality of recording heads for discharging ink, a plurality of ink tanks for supplying ink to each of the recording heads, and at least one of the recording heads mounted at a predetermined location and having different sizes. A recording medium having a carriage on which the ink tank having a predetermined size selected from the ink tanks is mounted, and ejecting ink from the recording head mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image, the speed control of the carriage is changed according to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage, An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling an operation of the carriage. Apparatus. 3. A printing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of printheads for discharging ink; and a carriage for mounting at least one printhead at a predetermined location, wherein the printhead mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from a head, the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is set according to a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage. Storage means for storing data relating to speed control of the carriage such that vibration of the carriage can be suppressed when moving the formation area; and mounting location detection for detecting a mounting location of the recording head mounted on the carriage. Means, and a mounting position of the recording head detected by the mounting position detecting means. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a control unit that reads out data relating to speed control of the carriage from the storage unit, and controls the operation of the carriage based on the read data. 4. The data relating to speed control of the carriage when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is large is stored on the carriage in a non-image forming area before entering the image forming area. 4. The ink jet printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the speed of the carriage is set to reach a predetermined speed by accelerating at a smaller acceleration than the carriage acceleration when the number of the print heads is small. . 5. The data relating to speed control of the carriage when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is large is stored in the non-image forming area before entering the image forming area. When the number of the recording heads is small, the carriage is accelerated at the same acceleration or a large acceleration as the carriage acceleration, and after the speed of the carriage reaches a predetermined speed, the speed is maintained for a predetermined time. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: 6. A setting means for setting a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage,
When the user sets the mounting position of the recording head using the setting unit, the control unit stores the data relating to the speed control of the carriage corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head set by the setting unit. 5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: reading out from said means, and controlling the operation of said carriage based on the read out data.
Or the inkjet recording apparatus according to 5. 7. A plurality of recording heads for discharging ink, a plurality of ink tanks for supplying ink to each of the recording heads, and at least one of the recording heads mounted at a predetermined location and having different sizes. A recording medium having a carriage on which the ink tank having a predetermined size selected from the ink tanks is mounted, and ejecting ink from the recording head mounted on the carriage while reciprocating the carriage. In the ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image, the recording head and the ink tank, which are set according to the mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage, When the mounted carriage moves in the image forming area, vibration of the carriage is reduced. Storage means for storing data related to the speed control of the carriage, mounting position detecting means for detecting a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage, and the ink tank mounted on the carriage Size detection means for detecting the size of the print head, and speed control of the carriage corresponding to the mounting location of the recording head detected by the mounting location detection means and the size of the ink tank detected by the size detection means. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a control unit that reads data from the storage unit and controls an operation of the carriage based on the read data. 8. The data related to speed control of the carriage when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is large and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is large, is the image forming area. In the non-image forming area before entering, the acceleration is smaller than the carriage acceleration when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is small and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is small. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the speed of the carriage is set so as to reach a predetermined speed. 9. The data relating to speed control of the carriage when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is large and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is large, is the image forming area. In the non-image forming area before entering, the same acceleration or large acceleration as the carriage acceleration when the number of the recording heads mounted on the carriage is small and the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage is small. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the carriage is set to maintain the speed for a predetermined time after the speed of the carriage reaches a predetermined speed by acceleration. And a setting unit for setting a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage and a size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage. When the mounting position of the recording head and the size of the ink tank are set using setting means, the speed of the carriage corresponding to the mounting position of the recording head and the size of the ink tank set by the setting means 10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein data relating to control is read from said storage means, and operation of said carriage is controlled based on the read data. 11. The mounting location detecting means includes: a first flexible cable provided at each mounting location of the recording head on the carriage; and a first flexible cable provided when the recording head is mounted on the carriage. A second flexible cable provided to the recording head so as to contact the first flexible cable in a conductive state with the second flexible cable. 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a position where the recording head is mounted is detected. 12. The method according to claim 12, wherein the mounting position detecting means detects a mounting position of the recording head mounted on the carriage based on presence / absence of reflected light from the recording head when light is emitted. Claims 3 to 10
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 13. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the size detecting means detects the size of the ink tank mounted on the carriage based on the presence or absence of reflected light from the ink tank when light is emitted. Claims 3 to 12
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.