JP2017124578A - Droplet discharge device, control method and program of droplet discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a defect in a discharge result due to a specific use situation in a droplet discharge device including discharge means for discharging droplets from a nozzle.SOLUTION: In a hand-held printer which discharges ink being droplets from a nozzle provided to an IJ recording head, occurrence of a prescribed event with respect to the hand-held printer is monitored (S13), discharge of ink from a nozzle is stopped in a case where occurrence of an abnormality in the nozzle is predicted on the basis of detection of the event (S15), and the stop of the discharge is performed by the stop of supply of image data, the supply stop of a drive pattern signal, the stop of the drive pattern signal, turning-off of a power source and the like. Moreover, the hand-held printer includes recovery means for executing a recovery operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device, a method for controlling the droplet discharge device, and a program.

  With the recent downsizing of notebook PCs (Personal Computers) and the rapid spread of smart devices, downsizing and portability of printers have been cited as one of the great demands. A hand-held printing device that does not include a paper transport system and that applies ink while scanning the paper surface with a human hand has been developed (see Patent Document 1).

  It is also known that in such a handheld printing device, the recovery device for maintaining the recording head is a separate device from the printing device, and the maintenance is performed when the user connects the main body of the device to the recovery device. (See Patent Document 2).

  By the way, in the above-mentioned handheld printer, there is a case where an abnormality occurs in the nozzles of the recording head due to an abnormal use condition such as a drop impact, resulting in ejection failure. And if you continue printing in this state, the image that is printed only at the location of the nozzle that caused the ejection failure will be lost, and this will require you to discard the print target and start printing again There is also.

Such a problem is not limited to a hand-held printing device, but can also occur as a defective ejection result in other droplet ejection apparatuses that include ejection means for ejecting droplets from nozzles.
In relation to this point, Patent Document 2 describes that when a predetermined time elapses from the previous recovery operation, it is displayed that the recovery operation is necessary. However, even if this technique is used, if a discharge failure occurs at a timing earlier than usual due to a specific usage situation, an appropriate countermeasure cannot be taken.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to prevent a discharge result from being defective due to a specific use situation in a droplet discharge device including a discharge unit that discharges a droplet from a nozzle. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a droplet discharge device according to the present invention is a droplet discharge device including discharge means for discharging a droplet from a nozzle, and the occurrence of a predetermined event with respect to the droplet discharge device. Monitoring means for monitoring, and stop means for stopping the discharge of droplets by the discharge means when an abnormality occurs in the discharge means based on the detection of the event by the monitoring means are provided.

  According to the above configuration, in a droplet discharge device including a discharge unit that discharges droplets from a nozzle, it is possible to prevent a discharge result from being defective due to an abnormal use situation.

It is a figure which shows the example of the use condition of the handheld printer which is 1st Embodiment of the droplet discharge apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the handheld printer which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the control part of the handheld printer of FIG. 1 in detail. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the recovery apparatus used in combination with the handheld printer of FIG. It is a figure which shows in more detail the hardware constitutions of the control part of the recovery apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an IJ recording head and an IJ recording head driving unit in the handheld printer of FIG. 2. It is a figure for demonstrating the production | generation of the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom in an IJ recording head control part. 6 is a timing chart illustrating an example of driving timing of an IJ recording head in an IJ recording head driving unit. It is a flowchart of the process which CPU of the handheld printer of FIG. 2 performs. 10 is a flowchart of first recovery determination processing in the flowchart of FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recovery operation in the flowchart of FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the recovery operation in the flowchart of FIG. 9. It is a flowchart of the process corresponding to FIG. 9 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the 2nd recovery determination process in the flowchart of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the recovery operation | movement in the modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the process corresponding to FIG. 9 in 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 17 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 16.

[First Embodiment: FIGS. 1 to 12]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, FIG. 1 shows an example of a usage state of a handheld printer 10 which is a first embodiment of the droplet discharge device of the present invention.

The handheld printer 10 shown in FIG. 1 receives image data from an external image data output device (here, it is a tablet computer 30 but may be any information processing device such as a smartphone or a PC (personal computer)). The apparatus forms an image according to the received image data on the recording medium by ejecting ink, which is a droplet, from the nozzle according to the image data according to the user's manual scanning on the recording medium 40. .
The direction and speed of manual scanning by the user are arbitrary. The handheld printer 10 includes sensors that detect movement amount, acceleration, rotation amount, and the like, specifies the current position based on the detection results of these sensors, and forms an image corresponding to the current position on a recording medium. Ink is ejected according to the data.

The recording medium 40 may be a flat one such as a notebook or a standard paper. However, if the recording medium 40 can be manually scanned by the handheld printer 10 and the current position can be specified, the recording medium 40 is not disturbed. The material is arbitrary.
The handheld printer 10 is used as a set together with a recovery device 20 for performing recovery processing for removing ink clogging of nozzles and maintaining discharge position accuracy. When the user scans the recording medium for image formation, the handheld printer 10 is gripped and moved alone, but when the handheld printer 10 is not used or when the recovery process of the handheld printer 10 is performed. This is set in the recovery device 20.
When the handheld printer 10 is set in the recovery device 20, the two cooperate to execute a recovery process as necessary. Details thereof will be described later.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the handheld printer 10.
The handheld printer 10 includes a power supply 101, a power supply circuit 102, a communication I / F (Interface) 103, a serial I / F 104, a ROM 105, a DRAM (Dynamic RAM) 106, a navigation sensor 107, a shock sensor 108, and an IJ (Ink Jet) recording head. An environmental sensor 109, an OPU (Operation Panel Unit) 110, an RTC (Real Time Clock) 111, an IJ recording head driving unit 112, an IJ recording head 113, and a control unit 114 are provided.

The power source 101 is a battery, a battery, or the like, and has a function of supplying power to the handheld printer 10. The power supply circuit 102 has a function of converting the power supplied from the power supply 101 into a power usable by the control unit 114 and the IJ recording head driving unit 112 of the handheld printer 10. It also has a function of switching between a battery charging circuit and an AC power source.
The communication I / F 103 is an interface that receives data from a host such as a tablet computer 30 or a PC. The communication I / F 103 may be a wireless LAN, NFC (Near Field Communication), or the like, but is not limited thereto.

The serial I / F 104 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data between the handheld printer 10 and the recovery device 20. A general-purpose serial interface can be used. Further, it is sufficient that communication is possible with the handheld printer 10 placed on the recovery device 20. As the data to be transmitted / received, for example, a recovery command for instructing the handheld printer 10 to execute recovery processing from the recovery device 20 can be considered.
The ROM 105 is a non-volatile storage medium (storage means), and various programs such as firmware for performing hardware control of the handheld printer 10 executed by the control unit 114, IJ recording head drive waveform data of the IJ recording head 113, and a handheld printer Various data such as 10 initial setting data and status data of the IJ recording head 113 are stored.

The DRAM 106 is a volatile storage medium (storage means), and is used for temporary storage of image data received from the communication I / F 103, work memory during firmware operation, development of firmware stored in the ROM 105, and the like.
The navigation sensor 107 has a function of detecting the movement amount, rotation amount, acceleration, and the like of the position of the handheld printer 10 and the IJ recording head 113, and can be configured by combining known posture sensors and acceleration sensors. Information detected by the navigation sensor 107 is used to calculate position information.

The shock sensor 108 has a function of detecting an impact received by the handheld printer 10 due to a drop or the like and its strength, and a known acceleration sensor can be used as the shock sensor 108. The navigation sensor 107 may also function as the shock sensor 108.
The IJ recording head environment sensor 109 has a function of measuring the ambient temperature and ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113, and can be configured by a known temperature sensor and humidity sensor.
The OPU 110 is a display operation unit that receives user operations and displays the operation state and setting state of the handheld printer 10. Specifically, it can be configured by an LED (Light Emitting Diode), a switch, or the like. Further, a liquid crystal panel or a touch panel may be used.
The state of the handheld printer 10 displayed by the OPU 110 may be power on / off, whether or not the handheld printer 10 needs to be set in the recovery device 20 and a recovery operation needs to be performed.

The RTC 111 is a time measuring unit that measures the passage of time in real time regardless of whether the power of the handheld printer 10 is turned on or off. The RTC 111 is used, for example, for measuring a time during which ink for printing has not been ejected from the nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113.
The IJ recording head driving unit 112 is a driving circuit for driving the IJ recording head 113, and an IJ recording head driving waveform for causing the IJ recording head 113 to eject ink onto the recording medium 40 based on the print image data. Generate Vcom.

The IJ recording head 113 is a discharge unit that includes a plurality of ink discharge nozzles 113a and discharges ink that is droplets from the nozzles 113a. Printing on the recording medium 40 can be performed by driving the IJ recording head 113 according to the image data and ejecting ink toward the recording medium 40.
The IJ recording head 113 may be a piezo type using a piezoelectric element (piezo element) or a thermal type that extrudes ink using bubbles generated by heating the ink. In this embodiment, the thermal type is used.
The control unit 114 includes a control circuit including a CPU 121, which will be described later, and has a function of performing overall control of the operation of the handheld printer 10 as a whole.

Next, a more detailed hardware configuration and control function of the control unit 114 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the control unit 114 of the handheld printer 10 in more detail.
As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 114 includes an SoC (System-on-a chip) 120 and an ASIC / FPGA (Application Specific Integrated Circuit / Field-Programmable Gate Array) 130 that communicate with each other via buses 150 and 151. Is provided.
The ASIC / FPGA 130 means that it may be designed by any mounting technology of ASIC and FPGA, but may be configured by other mounting technologies. Further, the SoC 120 and the ASIC / FPGA 130 may be collectively configured with one chip or substrate, or may be mounted with two or more chips or substrates.

The SoC 120 includes a CPU 121, a position calculation circuit 122, a memory controller 123, a ROM controller 124, a serial controller 125, and an RTC controller 126. These are connected via a bus 150.
The CPU 121 executes firmware (program) or the like developed from the ROM 105 to the DRAM 106 and controls operations of each unit in the SoC 120 and each unit in the ASIC / FPGA 130. Through this control, various functions described later of the handheld printer 10 are realized.

  The position calculation circuit 122 has a function of calculating the position (coordinate information) of the handheld printer 10 based on the movement amount, rotation amount, acceleration, and the like for each sampling period detected by the navigation sensor 107. Although the position of the handheld printer 10 is strictly the position of the nozzle 113a, it is simply described as the position of the handheld printer 10 here. The position calculation circuit 122 also has a function of calculating a target discharge position when the handheld printer 10 discharges printing.

The memory controller 123 is an interface that controls reading and writing of data with respect to the DRAM 106.
The ROM controller 124 is an interface that controls reading of data from the ROM 105.

The serial controller 125 is an interface that controls communication with an external device connected to the serial I / F 104. Here, the recovery device 20 is assumed as an external device, but is not limited thereto.
The RTC controller 126 is an interface for controlling the RTC 111 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 121 and acquiring time information measured by the RTC 111.

  Next, the ASIC / FPGA 130 includes a navigation sensor I / F 131, a print / sensor timing generation unit 132, a direct memory access controller (DMAC) 133, a rotator 134, an image RAM 135, an IJ recording head control unit 136, and a shock sensor I / F 137. , An IJ recording head environment sensor I / F 138, an interrupt control unit 139, and a discharge allowable error adjustment unit 140. These are connected to each other via a bus 151 and can be controlled from the CPU 121 via buses 150 and 151.

  The navigation sensor I / F 131 is an interface for controlling the navigation sensor 107. More specifically, the navigation sensor I / F 131 acquires information such as the movement amount, the rotation amount, and the acceleration detected by the navigation sensor 107 from the navigation sensor 107 at the timing notified from the print / sensor timing generation unit 132. And stored in the internal memory for reference by the CPU 121 or the like.

The print / sensor timing generation unit 132 has a function of notifying the navigation sensor I / F 131 of the timing for reading the information of the navigation sensor 107 and also notifying the IJ recording head control unit 136 of the driving timing for driving the IJ recording head 113. Prepare.
The DMAC 133 has a function of acquiring image data used for driving the IJ recording head 113 and supplying the image data to the IJ recording head control unit 136. More specifically, the DMAC 133 stores image data around each nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113 in the DRAM 106 outside the control unit 114 via the memory controller 123 based on the position information calculated by the position calculation circuit 122. From the image memory and temporarily stored in the image RAM 135. Thereafter, the image data is supplied to the IJ recording head controller 136 after the image data is rotated by the rotator 134 as necessary.

The rotator 134 has a function of performing rotation processing for rotating the image data acquired by the DMAC 133 according to the positions of the IJ recording head 113 and the nozzle 113a that eject ink.
The image RAM 135 has a function of temporarily storing image data acquired by the DMAC 133.
The IJ recording head control unit 136 has a function of supplying a control signal and image data used for driving the IJ recording head 113 to the IJ recording head driving unit 112. When the recovery operation of the IJ recording head 113 is performed, the IJ recording head control unit 136 supplies a control signal for causing the IJ recording head driving unit 112 to execute the recovery operation.

  The shock sensor I / F 137 is an interface for controlling the operation of the shock sensor 108. The shock sensor I / F 137 stores a threshold value of impact strength in advance, periodically acquires a detected value of impact strength from the shock sensor 108, and monitors whether the detected value exceeds the threshold value. It has a function to do. If the detected value exceeds the threshold value, the shock sensor I / F 137 notifies the interrupt control unit 139 that the threshold value is exceeded and the strength thereof. Note that the threshold value used by the shock sensor I / F 137 does not necessarily match the predetermined value used in step S22 in FIG. 10, and is set to a value equal to or lower than the minimum value that can be set as the predetermined value.

  The IJ recording head environment sensor I / F 138 is an interface for controlling the operation of the IJ recording head environment sensor 109. The IJ recording head environment sensor I / F 138 previously stores threshold values for the ambient temperature and ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113, and periodically detects the ambient temperature and ambient humidity from the IJ recording head environment sensor 109. It has the function of acquiring values and monitoring whether they exceed their respective thresholds. If at least one of the detected values of the ambient temperature and ambient humidity exceeds the threshold value, the shock sensor I / F 137 controls that the detected value exceeds the threshold value, and interrupts the temperature and humidity at that time. A function of notifying the unit 139. Note that the threshold used by the IJ recording head environment sensor I / F 138 does not necessarily match the predetermined value used in step S62 or S63 in FIG. 14, and is a value equal to or lower than the minimum value that can be set as the predetermined value. .

  The interrupt control unit 139 has a function of generating an interrupt signal and outputting it to the SoC 120. For example, when the navigation sensor I / F 131 acquires a new detection value from the navigation sensor 107, the generation and output of the interrupt signal indicates that the shock sensor 108 has detected an impact greater than the threshold value from the shock sensor I / F 137. This is performed when notified, and when it is notified from the IJ recording head environment sensor I / F 138 that the IJ recording head environment sensor 109 has detected a temperature or humidity equal to or higher than a threshold value.

  The interrupt signal includes information indicating the cause (acquisition of a detection value greater than or equal to the threshold value) causing the cause and information on the detection value of the sensor related to the matter. From the interrupt signal output to the SoC 120, the CPU 121 detects that the new detected value of the navigation sensor 107, an impact exceeding the predetermined value to the handheld printer 10 and its intensity, the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113, the ambient Information on the humidity exceeding a predetermined value and the temperature and / or humidity is acquired.

The interrupt control unit 139 also has a function of notifying the CPU 121 on the SoC 120 of status information (such as an error) of the handheld printer 10 using the interrupt signal.
Based on the position information calculated by the position calculation circuit 122, the discharge allowable error adjustment unit 140 obtains a fluctuation amount of a fluctuation factor that fluctuates by freehand scanning, and the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction of the nozzle according to the fluctuation amount. A function of dynamically adjusting the discharge allowable error is provided.

Next, the recovery device 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
The recovery device 20 has a function as a mounting table that is mounted when the handheld printer 10 is not used, and a recovery operation such as cleaning for maintaining and recovering the IJ recording head 113 of the handheld printer 10. It is an apparatus provided with the function to perform. Note that the handheld printer 10 may be regarded as a printer body, the recovery device 20 as a recovery unit, and the handheld printer 10 and the recovery device 20 may constitute one printing device.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the recovery device 20 includes a power supply 201, a power supply circuit 202, a memory 203, a state detection sensor 204, a recovery processing unit 205, a serial I / F 206, and a control unit 207.
First, the power source 201 is a battery, a battery, or the like, and has a function of supplying power to the recovery device 20.
The power supply circuit 202 has a function of converting the power supplied from the power supply 201 into a power supply used for driving each unit of the recovery device 20. It also has a function of switching between a battery charging circuit and an AC power source.

The memory 203 is a storage means, a non-volatile storage means for storing firmware for performing hardware control of the recovery device 20, and a volatile storage for storing firmware developed from the work memory and the non-volatile storage means at the time of firmware operation Means.
The state detection sensor 204 is a sensor for detecting the state of the handheld printer 10. More specifically, a sensor for detecting whether or not the handheld printer 10 is connected to the recovery device 20 and a function for detecting an abnormality of the IJ recording head 113 (including the ink tank) in the connected handheld printer 10. Prepare. The handheld printer 10 and the recovery device 20 are connected to each other through a predetermined connector by placing the handheld printer 10 at a predetermined position on the recovery device 20.

  The recovery processing unit 205 has a function of performing a recovery operation such as cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 for the handheld printer 10 connected to the recovery device 20. The recovery processing unit 205 includes driving means such as a motor for driving the cleaning unit. Note that the recovery operation of the IJ recording head 113 is not limited to that performed by the recovery processing unit 205, but an instruction to execute the recovery operation is transmitted from the recovery device 20 to the handheld printer 10, and is executed on the handheld printer 10 side according to the instruction. There is also. For example, recovery ink discharge or the like.

The serial I / F 206 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data between the recovery device 20 and the handheld printer 10. Since it corresponds to the serial I / F 104 on the handheld printer 10 side, a detailed description is omitted.
The control unit 207 includes a control circuit including a CPU 209 described later, and has a function of controlling the overall operation of the handheld printer 10.

Next, a more detailed hardware configuration and control function of the control unit 207 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the control unit 207 of the recovery device 20 in more detail.
As shown in FIG. 5, the main part of the control unit 207 is configured as an MCU (Micro Controller Unit) 208 here. The MCU 208 includes a CPU 209, a memory controller 210, a serial controller 211, a sensor I / O (input / output unit) 212, a PWM (pulse width modulation) control unit 213, and an interrupt control unit 214.

The CPU 209 executes firmware (program) and the like expanded in the memory 203 and controls the operation of each unit in the MCU 208. And through this control, various functions to be described later of the recovery device 20 are realized.
The memory controller 210 is an interface that controls reading and writing of data with respect to the memory 203.
The serial controller 211 is an interface that controls communication with an external device connected to the serial I / F 206. Although the handheld printer 10 is assumed as an external device here, the present invention is not limited to this.

The sensor I / O 212 is an interface for acquiring the detection result from the state detection sensor 204. When the state detection sensor 204 is an analog sensor, it can be configured as an AD (analog-digital) converter, and when it is a digital sensor, it can be configured as a general-purpose digital I / O.
The PWM control unit 213 has a function of performing drive control of a drive unit such as a motor in the recovery processing unit.

Next, the control of ink ejection from the IJ recording head 113 performed by the handheld printer 10 will be described in more detail.
FIG. 6 shows a detailed configuration of the IJ recording head 113 and the IJ recording head driving unit 112 of the handheld printer 10.
In the handheld printer 10, the IJ recording head driving unit 112 includes an analog switch 161, a level shifter 162, a gradation decoder 163, a latch 164, and a shift register 165.
In addition, the IJ recording head 113 includes, for each of the nozzles 113a1 to 113aN shown in FIG. 2, an actuator 113b1 to 113bN for ejecting ink from the corresponding nozzle (hereinafter referred to as an actuator 113b when there is no need to specify an individual). To be described).

The IJ recording head control unit 136 transfers the image data SD of the number of pixels of the nozzles 113a of the IJ recording head 113 to the IJ recording head driving unit 112 as serial data in the shift register 165 according to the image data transfer clock SCK. To do. When the transfer is completed, the IJ recording head control unit 136 stores the image data SD of each pixel in the latch 164 provided for each nozzle 113a at the timing of the image data latch signal SLn.
The IJ recording head control unit 136 latches the image data SD, and then applies an IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom for ejecting ink of each gradation from each nozzle to the analog switch 161. Further, the IJ recording head control unit 136 gives the gradation decoder 163 an IJ recording head driving mask pattern for each gradation value of the image data as a mask pattern signal MN.

The gradation decoder 163 performs a logical operation on the mask pattern signal MN and the gradation value of the image data corresponding to each nozzle 113 a latched by the latch 164 for each nozzle 113 a. For each nozzle 113a, a mask pattern signal MN used for driving control of the nozzle 113a is selected and output to the level shifter 162.
The level shifter 162 boosts the mask pattern signal MN for each nozzle 113a supplied from the gradation decoder 163 to a voltage level at which the analog switch 161 can be driven.

  The analog switch 161 receives the boosted mask pattern signal MN, and turns on / off the application of the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom to the actuator 113b for each nozzle 113a according to the signal. The output waveforms Vout1 to VoutN after being turned on / off are applied to the actuator 113b. Accordingly, each actuator 113b can be controlled such that ink forming dots according to the gradation value of the image data transmitted from the IJ head control unit 136 is ejected from the corresponding nozzle 113a.

  The IJ recording head driving unit 112 as a whole functions as a discharge control unit that controls the discharge of droplets by the nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113 based on the image data supplied from the IJ recording head control unit 136. The control is for controlling ink ejection from the nozzles 113a based on image data supplied for each pixel and a mask pattern signal MN which is a drive pattern signal supplied for each gradation value of the image data. A control signal is generated, and ink ejection by the IJ recording head 113 is controlled according to the control signal. The control signal is obtained by masking the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom, which is a predetermined drive signal, with a mask pattern signal MN supplied in association with the nozzle 113a.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom is generated by the IJ recording head control unit 136 on the ASIC / FPGA 130, and is output as a digital signal at a voltage of 3.3V. The digital signal is converted into an analog signal by the DA converter 171 in the process until it is supplied to the analog switch 161, and then generated to a voltage of 37V by the amplifier circuit 172 constituted by an operational amplifier or the like. The DA converter 171 and the amplifier circuit 172 may be provided on the control unit 114 side or on the IJ recording head drive unit 112 side.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example of driving timing of the IJ recording head 113 in the IJ recording head driving unit 112. FIG. 8 shows an example of drive timing corresponding to ink ejection for one dot from each nozzle 113a.
As shown in FIG. 8, when causing the IJ recording head 113 to eject ink (image formation on the recording medium), first, the IJ recording head control unit 136 first performs the time interval t1 according to the image data transfer clock SCK. The image data SD indicating the tone value of the dot formed on each nozzle 113a is transferred. During the time t2 indicated by the image data latch signal SLn after the transfer, the IJ recording head driver 112 latches the gradation value data of each pixel in the image data SD for each nozzle 113a.

  After the latch, during time t3, the IJ recording head control unit 136 converts the mask pattern signals MN [0] to [3] corresponding to possible values (four values here) of the gradation values into the gradation decoder. In 163, the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom is input to the analog switch 161. The analog switch 161 applies the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom to each actuator 113b for each nozzle 113a only while the mask pattern signal selected by the gradation decoder 163 is at a low level.

The above is the description of the schematic configuration of the handheld printer 10 and the recovery device 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
By the way, one of the characteristic functions in the first embodiment is that a phenomenon that an occurrence of an abnormality in the IJ recording head 113 or the nozzle 113a is predicted in the case of occurrence is assumed in advance, and the predetermined function assumed in advance is assumed. The presence or absence of an event is monitored, and when the event is detected, it is predicted that an abnormality has occurred in the IJ recording head 113 or the nozzle 113a, and the ejection of ink from the IJ recording head 113 is stopped. In addition, it is one of the characteristic points that the recovery operation corresponding to the type of the detected event is executed when the operation is stopped.
In addition, the predetermined event assumed in advance in the first embodiment is that the handheld printer 10 receives an impact of a predetermined strength or more.
Hereinafter, processing executed by the CPU 121 provided in the control unit 114 of the handheld printer 10 will be described focusing on processing for realizing the above characteristic functions.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 121 of the handheld printer 10 when the power of the handheld printer 10 is turned on. This process is a process according to the embodiment of the method for controlling the droplet discharge device of the present invention. Note that most of the processing shown in FIG. 9 is processing related to the above-described characteristic functions, and other processing related to, for example, normal printing and setting is indicated as “normal status processing” in step S11. ing.

When the power of the handheld printer 10 is turned on, the CPU 121 of the handheld printer 10 starts processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Then, until the timing for performing the first recovery determination process (Yes in S12), the normal state process is performed (S11). Note that the determination in step S12 is performed at an appropriate cycle, and the cycle does not have to be so strict.
Here, the first recovery determination process is a process in which the CPU 121 determines whether or not the handheld printer 10 should execute a recovery operation based on the detection result of the “predetermined event” described above. In this example, the CPU 121 performs the first recovery determination process at a predetermined cycle set in advance. Therefore, the determination in step S12 is Yes every predetermined time. For example, the predetermined period may be about 1 second, but is not limited thereto.
If Yes in step S12, the CPU 121 executes a first recovery determination process (S13).

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the first recovery determination process.
In the first recovery determination process, the CPU 121 first determines whether or not it is detected that the handheld printer 10 has received an impact (S21). This determination is made based on the detection result of the impact strength by the shock sensor I / F 137 notified from the interrupt control unit 139. The detection result is notified when the impact strength is greater than or equal to the threshold value, but when this notification is made after the previous determination, the determination in step S21 may be Yes.

  If YES in step 21, the CPU 121 next determines whether or not the impact strength is equal to or greater than a predetermined value set in advance (S22). As the predetermined value, a value indicating an impact that is expected to cause an abnormality such as ink clogging or malfunction in the IJ recording head 113 when received by the handheld printer 10 is set in advance by experiments or the like. Keep it. The user may be able to change it. Further, the impact strength used for the determination in step S22 may be the maximum value among the impact strengths detected after the previous execution of the process of FIG.

If Yes in step S22, the CPU 121 determines that there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the IJ recording head 113 due to an impact, and therefore it is necessary to perform a recovery operation to eliminate it (S23).
In the case of No in step S21 or S22, the CPU 121 determines that there is no particular abnormality in the operation of the handheld printer 10 and the recovery operation is unnecessary (S24).
In any case, after the determination in step S23 or S24, the process in FIG. 10 ends.

Returning to the description of FIG. 9, after executing the process of FIG. 10 in step S <b> 13, the CPU 121 determines whether or not it is determined that the recovery operation is required in the process of FIG. 10. If “No” here, there is no need to perform a special process, so the process returns to step S11 to perform a normal process.
On the other hand, if Yes in step S14, there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the IJ recording head 113, and therefore ink ejection is first stopped (S15).

It is conceivable that the stop is performed by any of the following methods (a) to (d). A plurality may be combined.
(A) The supply of image data is stopped by stopping the image data transfer clock SCK (fixed at a high level). In this case, since there is no image to be formed, the analog switch 161 stops application of the drive waveform Vout to the IJ recording head 113, and ink ejection is stopped.
(B) The image data transfer clock SCK is disabled (fixed at a low level), and the image data latch signal SLn is stopped (fixed at a high level). As a result, the same result as that obtained when the supply of image data is stopped can be obtained.

(C) The drive mask pattern signal MN is stopped (fixed at a high level). As a result, the analog switch 161 turns off the entire IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom and applies it to the IJ recording head 113 regardless of the gradation value of the image data, and the ink ejection is stopped.
(D) The supply of the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom is stopped (the analog waveform voltage is immediately shifted to 0V). As a result, the drive waveform Vout applied to the IJ recording head 113 becomes zero level regardless of the gradation value of the image data, and ink ejection is stopped.

After step S15, the CPU 121 turns on the LED, notifies the user that the recovery operation should be executed (S16), and executes the recovery operation (S17).
Here, as the recovery operation executed after the ejection of ink is stopped, for example, the one shown in FIG. 11 or 12 can be considered. Although two types of examples are shown here, only one of them may be adopted, or the user may be able to set. An example in which the CPU 121 automatically selects a recovery operation to be executed according to conditions will be described in a later embodiment.

First, FIG. 11 shows processing relating to a recovery operation for performing recovery ink ejection.
In the process of FIG. 11, the CPU 121 first determines whether or not the handheld printer 10 is connected to the recovery device 20 (S31), and if not, waits until it is set.
If it is connected, the CPU 121 then waits until a recovery operation command is received from the recovery device 20 (S32). Note that the recovery device 20 transmits a recovery operation command to the CPU 121 of the handheld printer 10 when the handheld printer 10 in the power-on state is connected and the recovery device 20 does not receive a cleaning instruction.

Upon receiving the recovery operation command, the CPU 121 drives the IJ recording head 113 via the IJ recording head control unit 136 according to the command, and causes the recovery ink to be ejected (S33). This discharge is an ink discharge for eliminating the light clogging generated in the nozzle 113a.
Thereafter, the CPU 121 waits until the ejection of the recovery ink is completed (S34), and returns to the original process.

Next, FIG. 12 shows processing related to a recovery operation for cleaning the IJ recording head 113 on the recovery device 20 side.
Also in FIG. 12, the point of waiting until the handheld printer 10 is connected to the recovery device 20 is the same as in FIG. 11 (S41).
When the connection is made, the CPU 121 instructs the recovery device 20 to execute cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 (S42). In response to this, the recovery device 20 performs cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 by the recovery processing unit 205, and thus the CPU 121 waits until receiving the completion notification from the recovery device 20 (S43). When received, the process of FIG. 12 is terminated and the process returns to the original process.

  Both FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are processes for solving problems that may occur in the ink (droplet) ejection function of the IJ recording head 113. The CPU 121 and each part of the handheld printer 10 controlled by the CPU 121 In processing, it functions as a recovery means. In the process of FIG. 12, the recovery device 20 performs the cleaning operation. However, the handheld printer 10 also requires a process for instructing the recovery apparatus 20 to perform cleaning. Therefore, it can be considered that the process should be performed on the handheld printer 10 side.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the recovery operation in step S17 is completed, the CPU 121 turns off the LED and notifies the user that the recovery operation has been completed (S18). Not off
The lighting and lighting color of the LED in step S16 may be changed, or the lighting pattern may be changed. Of course, it is good also as notification using means other than LED, such as a sound, with the notification of step S16.
When the process of step S18 ends, the CPU 121 returns to step S11 and repeats the process.

Among the above processes, the processes in steps S12 and S13 are processes of a monitoring procedure for monitoring whether or not the handheld printer 10 has received an impact of a predetermined strength or more. In this process, the CPU 121 is a monitoring unit. Function as.
Further, the process in step S15 is a stop procedure, and in this process, the CPU 121 functions as a stop unit.
The handheld printer 10 according to this embodiment stops the ejection of ink from the nozzle 113a in the IJ recording head 113 when an impact of a predetermined strength or more on the handheld printer 10 is detected by the processing of FIG. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the printing from being continued in a state where the ejection of the ink is abnormal due to the impact.

Since it is not known when an impact such as a drop is applied, it is necessary to monitor at any time during the normal operation as in the process of FIG. In addition, it is desirable to stop ink ejection immediately after the impact is detected.
In addition, when an impact of a predetermined strength or more is detected, a recovery operation is performed, and then ink ejection is resumed. Therefore, in this respect as well, printing may be continued in a state where abnormality has occurred in ink ejection. Can be prevented.

  Further, when the ink ejection is stopped by stopping the IJ recording head drive waveform Vcom, the supply of 37V power can be stopped, so that there is a merit that power consumption can be greatly suppressed.

[Second Embodiment: FIGS. 13 and 14]
Next, a second embodiment of the handheld printer 10 of the present invention will be described.
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that in addition to the predetermined event in the first embodiment, the presence or absence of a predetermined event that is assumed in advance is monitored. Since other points are common to the first embodiment, this difference will be described. Further, the same reference numerals as those used in the first embodiment are used for portions that are the same as or correspond to the components described in the first embodiment. This also applies to the embodiments described below.

  In addition, the predetermined event assumed in the second embodiment is that, in addition to an impact of a predetermined intensity or more, the duration that the handheld printer 10 has not ejected ink is a predetermined time or more, and the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113 is That is, the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113 is equal to or higher than a predetermined humidity. These are all events that are considered to cause clogging of the nozzle 113a.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of processing corresponding to FIG. 9 in the second embodiment.
When the power of the handheld printer 10 is turned on, the CPU 121 of the handheld printer 10 of the second embodiment starts the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The processes in the first steps S51 to S53 are basically the same as the processes in steps S11 to S13 in FIG. However, it differs from the case of FIG. 9 in that the case of No in step S52 or the process proceeds to step S54 after step S53.

When the processing of steps S51 to S53 is completed, the CPU 121 next determines whether it is time to perform the second recovery determination processing (S54).
The second recovery determination process is a process for determining whether or not a recovery operation should be executed based on the detection result of an event other than an impact with a predetermined intensity or more considered in the first recovery determination process. Further, here, the CPU 121 performs the second recovery determination process when receiving a print start request from the user. Therefore, the determination in step S54 is Yes when a print start request is received from the user in the normal state process in step S51.
If the determination in step S54 is Yes, the CPU 121 executes the second recovery determination process (S55). If the determination is No, the CPU 121 skips step S55 and proceeds to step S56.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of the second recovery determination process.
In the second recovery determination process, the CPU 121 first determines whether or not the duration (print stop duration) that the handheld printer 10 has not ejected ink is longer than a predetermined time (S61). In the case of Yes here, it is determined that the recovery operation is necessary (S65).
Note that the print stop duration is measured assuming that the time when the power is off is also the time when there is no ink ejection. The measurement of the print stop duration is performed based on the passage of time measured by the RTC 111.

  As the predetermined time, an appropriate time is set in advance. If the ink is not ejected for a long time, the ink may dry up and cause clogging of the nozzles, etc. What is necessary is just to set beforehand. However, the setting reference for the predetermined time is not limited to this. The user may arbitrarily set it.

If No in step S61, the CPU 121 determines whether the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113 is higher than a predetermined value (S62). In the case of Yes here, it is determined that the recovery operation is necessary (S65). The determination in step S62 is made based on the latest temperature detection result by the IJ recording head environment sensor 109 notified from the interrupt control unit 139.
If No in step S62, the CPU 121 determines whether the ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113 is higher than a predetermined value (S63). Also in the case of Yes, it is determined that the recovery operation is necessary (S65). The determination in step S63 is made based on the latest detection result of humidity by the IJ recording head environment sensor 109 notified from the interrupt control unit 139.
If NO in step S63, the CPU 121 determines that the recovery operation is unnecessary (S64).

If the ambient temperature or ambient humidity is high, the ink characteristics change and the nozzle 113a is likely to be clogged. For each of the predetermined values of the ambient temperature and ambient humidity, a condition that may cause clogging due to this is obtained in advance by experiments or the like, and values indicating the conditions may be set in advance. However, the setting criteria for the predetermined ambient temperature and ambient humidity are not limited to this. The user may arbitrarily set it.
After step S64 or S65, the CPU 121 ends the process of FIG. 14 and returns to the original process.

  Returning to the description of FIG. In the case of No in step S54, or when the process of step S55 ends, the CPU 121 determines whether or not the recovery operation is determined to be necessary in at least one of the first and second recovery determination processes in the processes of steps S52 to S55. Judgment is made (S56). This determination may be made as not requiring a recovery operation when the recovery determination process itself is not performed. And in No, it returns to step S51 and repeats a process.

If Yes in step S56, the process proceeds to step S57 and subsequent steps. The processing of steps S57 to S60 in this part is the same as steps S15 to S18 of FIG.
In the second embodiment, the same recovery operation is executed regardless of the type of event. Therefore, the recovery operation executed in step S59 is the same regardless of whether the recovery is required in either the first or second recovery determination.
Which recovery operation is to be executed may be determined in advance, and either recovery operation described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12 may be executed, or a recovery operation other than this may be performed.

In the second embodiment described above, in consideration of more events than in the first embodiment, when it is determined that there is a risk of nozzle clogging (recovery processing required), the nozzle 113a in the IJ recording head 113 is used. Ink ejection from the ink is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively prevent the printing from being continued in a state where the ejection of the ink is abnormal due to the impact, as compared with the case of the first embodiment. Moreover, since the timing of the recovery determination process is divided according to the event to be considered, the determination processing load can be reduced.
In addition, it is not necessary to consider all four events picked up in the second embodiment, and any number of events may be picked up and considered in any combination.

[Modification of Second Embodiment: FIG. 15]
Next, a modification of the second embodiment will be described. In this modification, the recovery operation executed by the handheld printer 10 is different between the case where the recovery operation is determined to be necessary in the first recovery determination process and the case where the recovery operation is determined to be necessary in the second recovery determination process. That is, it differs from the second embodiment described above in that a recovery operation corresponding to the type of detected event is performed.
Accordingly, in this modification, the CPU 121 of the handheld printer 10 performs the process of FIG. 15 in step S59 of FIG.

That is, the CPU 121 determines whether or not the recovery operation is determined to be necessary in the first recovery determination process (S71). If Yes, the CPU 121 performs a recovery operation corresponding to the first recovery determination (for example, the cleaning operation in FIG. 12). Execute (S72). On the other hand, in the case of No, a recovery operation (for example, the ink ejection operation of FIG. 11) corresponding to the second recovery determination is executed (S73).
The process of step S59 is executed when it is determined that the recovery operation is required in any of the recovery determination processes. Therefore, in the case of No in step S71, it is determined that the recovery operation is required in the second recovery determination process. I understand. If it is determined that the recovery operation is necessary in both the first and second recovery determination processes, step S71 is Yes, giving priority to the first recovery determination process, and the corresponding recovery recovery process is performed. Perform the action.

  It is conceivable that the degree of abnormality occurring in the nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113 differs depending on the detected event, and the necessary recovery operation varies accordingly. Therefore, by performing the recovery operation according to the type of the detected event as in this modification, the state of the nozzle 113a can be kept good with a minimum amount of time and ink consumption. In addition, the priority order is determined because even if a plurality of events are detected at the same time, the recovery target is the same nozzle 113a, so that it is considered unnecessary to perform a recovery operation corresponding to each event. .

The recovery operation corresponding to the priority of each recovery determination process is prepared as data as shown in Table 1, and is given the highest priority among the recovery determination processes determined as needing recovery in step S59 of FIG. A recovery operation corresponding to a higher rank may be executed.
Further, the recovery operation corresponding to the priority order may be set not for each recovery determination process but for each type of event to be detected.

[Third Embodiment: FIGS. 16 to 17]
Next explained is the third embodiment of the invention. The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that, when the handheld printer 10 detects a predetermined event, the power is once turned off and the recovery operation is executed after the power is turned on again. . Since other points are common to the second embodiment, this difference will be described. It should be noted that this power-off is also performed in order to stop the ink ejection by the IJ recording head 113, so that it may be considered the same as the ink ejection stop processing in the first and second embodiments. it can.

FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show flowcharts of processing corresponding to FIG. 9 and FIG. 13 in the third embodiment.
In this process, the process from step S81 to S86 is the same as the process from step S51 to S56 in FIG. Further, the process of step S87 is common to the process of step S58 of FIG.
However, in the process of FIG. 16, after step S87, the process proceeds to the part shown in FIG. 17, and the CPU 121 turns off the power of the handheld printer 10 (S88). However, it is assumed that the power supply to the portions necessary for continuation of the processing of FIG. 16 such as the CPU 121 and the RTC 111 is maintained.

  Thereafter, the CPU 121 waits until the power is turned on (S89). When the power is turned on, the CPU 121 determines whether or not the handheld printer 10 is connected to the recovery device 20 (S90). When the power is turned on during the execution of step S89, the CPU 121 does not start the process of FIG. 16 from the beginning, but continues the process being executed. Further, the power-on in step S89 may be in response to a user operation or automatically performed in response to a signal from an external device such as the recovery device 20.

  In any case, if Yes in step S90, the recovery operation is performed in the same manner as in steps S59 and S60 of FIG. 13 (S91, S92). In the case of No, the process returns to step S87 in FIG. 16 to notify the necessity of the recovery operation again and turn off the power. That is, if the user connects the handheld printer 10 to the recovery device 20 while the power is turned off, the recovery operation is performed. If the power is turned on without the user operating, the handheld printer 10 is operated. Without prompting the recovery process.

  In the third embodiment, when there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113, the user is prevented from discharging ink until the recovery operation is performed. It is possible to prompt the execution of the recovery operation. The handheld printer 10 cannot perform a recovery operation unless it is connected to the recovery device 20 by a user. With such a configuration, a user who wants to perform printing must first connect the handheld printer 10 to the recovery device 20. It can be expected that the recovery operation can be performed without fail.

This is the end of the description of the first to third embodiments of the present invention. In this invention, the specific configuration of the apparatus, the type of event to be monitored, the content of the recovery operation to be performed, the specific processing The procedure and the like are not limited to those described in the above embodiment.
For example, the event to be monitored for predicting the occurrence of an abnormality is not limited to the specific events such as the occurrence of impact, high temperature, high humidity, and time elapsed as described above, and may be other events.
Further, when an event to be monitored occurs, a recovery operation corresponding to the degree of the event may be executed. For a certain event, the degree of the event is classified, the classification of the detected event level is determined, and the recovery operation corresponding to the classification is executed. Some specific examples will be described below.

.
Table 2 is an example of a table for setting a recovery operation to be executed according to the intensity of impact received by the handheld printer 10.
In this table, when the shock intensity detected by the shock sensor 108 is less than 1.8 G, recovery ink ejection is performed, and when it is 1.8 G or more and less than 4.0 G, two sets of recovery ink ejection are performed. In the case of .0G or more, the cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 is set. Although the lower limit of the impact strength is not shown in Table 2, the threshold used for determining whether or not the shock sensor I / F 137 notifies the interrupt control unit 139 of the detection result of the shock sensor 108 is a substantial lower limit. Become.

.

Table 3 is an example of a table when the recovery operation to be executed is set according to the duration of the time when the handheld printer 10 has stopped printing.
In this table, the recovery operation is not required when the duration for which the handheld printer 10 has stopped printing is less than 24 hours, and when the duration is 24 hours or more and less than 72 hours, the recovery ink is ejected, and 72 hours or more. In this case, the cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 is set.

Table 4 is an example of a table when setting a recovery operation to be executed according to the degree of the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113 of the handheld printer 10.
In this table, when the ambient temperature of the IJ recording head 113 of the handheld printer 10 is less than 20 ° C., the recovery operation is unnecessary, and when it is 20 ° C. or higher and lower than 30 ° C., the recovery ink is ejected and 30 ° C. or higher is discharged. In this case, the cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 is set.

Table 5 is an example of a table for setting a recovery operation to be executed according to the degree of ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113 of the handheld printer 10.
In this table, when the ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113 of the handheld printer 10 is less than 20%, the recovery operation is unnecessary, and when it is 20% or more and less than 55%, the ink for recovery operation is ejected, and 55% or more. In this case, the cleaning of the IJ recording head 113 is set.

In addition to these, as shown in Table 6, it is also conceivable to set the recovery operation to be executed or that the recovery operation is unnecessary according to the combination of the degree of a plurality of events.
In the example of Table 6, the recovery operation to be executed is set according to the combination of the ambient temperature and ambient humidity of the IJ recording head 113. For example, ink discharge is performed when the ambient temperature is 20 ° C. or higher and lower than 30 ° C. and the ambient humidity is 20% or higher and lower than 55%.

  Also, when setting recovery actions as shown in Tables 2 to 6 for multiple types of events, priorities are set in advance for each type of event (or table), and multiple events are detected. It is conceivable to perform the recovery action determined based on the degree of the priority type event. Alternatively, it is conceivable to execute the recovery operation having the highest recovery function among the recovery operations determined based on the degree of each type of event.

The nozzle 113a of the IJ recording head 113 can often be recovered from the abnormality by performing recording head recovery processing such as cleaning and refreshing. However, how much recovery processing can recover from the abnormality depends on the abnormality that has occurred. Varies depending on the degree.
For this reason, if the recovery process that is automatically performed is always the same, it is necessary to perform a recovery process with a large amount of ink consumption or to repeat a plurality of recovery processes so that the possibility of recovery from an abnormality is increased. . For this reason, the amount of ink consumed increases and the processing time becomes longer, leading to a decrease in usability.
However, if a recovery process is performed according to the degree and type of the detected event, such a problem can be solved and usability can be improved.

As another modification, the above-described embodiment has described the example in which the droplet discharge device of the present invention is configured as an ink-jet handheld printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The droplet discharge device of the present invention may be a fixed printer or a device other than a printer. In this case, the liquid to be ejected need not be ink. For example, the present invention may be applied to a 3D printer that discharges resin.
It is also conceivable to configure the recovery device 20 as a unit that can be attached to and detached from the handheld printer 10.

Also, the embodiment of the program of the present invention causes a computer to control required hardware so as to realize the function of the handheld printer 10 in the above-described embodiment (particularly, the function by the process of FIG. 9 or a process corresponding thereto). It is a program.
Such a program may be stored in a ROM or other non-volatile storage medium (flash memory, EEPROM, etc.) provided in the computer from the beginning, or in any memory card, CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, etc. It can also be provided by being recorded on a nonvolatile recording medium.

Each procedure described above can be executed by installing the program recorded in the recording medium in a computer and executing the program.
Furthermore, it is also possible to download from an external device that is connected to a network and includes a recording medium that records the program, or an external device that stores the program in a storage unit, and install and execute the program on a computer.

  In addition, it goes without saying that the configurations of the embodiments, operation examples, and modifications described above can be arbitrarily combined and implemented as long as they do not contradict each other.

10: Handheld printer, 20: Recovery device, 30: Tablet computer, 40: Recording medium, 101, 201: Power supply, 102, 202: Power supply circuit, 103: Communication I / F, 104, 206: Serial I / F, 105: ROM, 106: DRAM, 107: Navigation sensor, 108: Shock sensor, 109: IJ recording head environment sensor, 110: OPU, 111: RTC, 112: IJ recording head drive unit, 113: IJ recording head, 113a: Nozzle, 113b: Actuator, 114, 207: Control unit, 120: SOC, 121, 209: CPU, 122: Position calculation circuit, 123, 210: Memory controller, 124: ROM controller, 125, 211: Serial controller, 126: RTC controller, 130 ASIC / FPGA, 131: navigation sensor I / F, 132: printing / sensor timing generation unit, 133: DMAC, 134: rotating machine, 135: image RAM, 136: IJ recording head control unit, 137: shock sensor I / F 138: IJ print head sensor I / F, 139, 214: interrupt control unit, 140: discharge allowable error adjustment unit, 150, 151: bus, 161: analog switch, 162: level shifter, 163: gradation decoder, 164 : Latch, 165: shift register, 171: DA converter, 172: amplifier circuit, 203: memory, 204: state detection sensor, 205: recovery processing unit, 208: MCU, 212: sensor I / O, 213: PWM control unit , SCK: image data transfer clock, SD: image data, SLn: image data register Ji signal, MN: mask pattern signal, Vcom: IJ recording head driving waveform, Vout: the driving waveform

Special table 2010-520087 JP-A-9-267493

Claims (10)

A droplet discharge device comprising discharge means for discharging droplets from a nozzle,
Monitoring means for monitoring the occurrence of a predetermined event for the droplet discharge device;
A droplet discharge apparatus comprising: a stop unit that stops the discharge of the droplet by the discharge unit when an abnormality is predicted in the discharge unit based on the detection of the event by the monitoring unit. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1,
A discharge control means for controlling the discharge of droplets by the discharge means based on the supplied image data;
The droplet discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stop unit stops the discharge of the droplets by the discharge unit by stopping the supply of the image data to the discharge control unit. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1,
Based on the image data supplied for each pixel and the drive pattern signal supplied for each gradation value of the image data, a control signal is generated for controlling droplet discharge from the nozzle of the discharge means, and the control Ejection control means for controlling the ejection of droplets by the ejection means according to the signal,
The droplet discharge apparatus, wherein the stop unit stops the discharge of the droplet by the discharge unit by stopping the supply of the drive pattern signal to the discharge control unit. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1,
A discharge control unit that controls the discharge of droplets by the discharge unit by masking a predetermined drive signal with a drive pattern signal supplied in association with the nozzle of the discharge unit and applying it to the drive unit of the nozzle With
The droplet discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stop unit stops the discharge of the droplet by the discharge unit by stopping the supply of the drive signal to the discharge control unit. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1,
The stop means stops the discharge of droplets by the discharge means by turning off the power supply of the droplet discharge apparatus. A droplet discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A droplet discharge apparatus comprising: a recovery unit that executes a recovery operation for eliminating a problem that may occur in the droplet discharge function of the discharge unit after the stop of the droplet discharge by the stop unit. The droplet discharge device according to claim 6,
The monitoring means includes means for detecting the degree of the event when the event occurs,
The droplet discharging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery means executes a recovery operation corresponding to the degree of the event detected by the monitoring means. The droplet discharge device according to claim 6 or 7,
The monitoring means is for any one of a plurality of events among an impact of a predetermined intensity or more on the droplet discharge device, a stop of the discharge means continued for a predetermined time, an ambient temperature of a predetermined value or more, and an ambient temperature of a predetermined value or more , Monitor the occurrence of each event,
The recovery means executes a recovery operation according to the type of event detected by the monitoring means, and when a plurality of events are detected, the priority level is set according to the priority level predetermined for each event type. A droplet discharge apparatus that performs a recovery operation according to a type of a high event. A method for controlling a droplet discharge device comprising discharge means for discharging droplets from a nozzle,
A monitoring procedure for monitoring the occurrence of a predetermined event for the droplet discharge device;
And a stop procedure for stopping the discharge of droplets by the discharge means when an abnormality is predicted in the discharge means based on the detection of the event by the monitoring procedure. Control method. A computer for controlling a droplet discharge device including discharge means for discharging droplets from a nozzle;
Monitoring means for monitoring occurrence of a predetermined event for the droplet discharge device based on a detection result of a predetermined sensor included in the droplet discharge device;
A program for functioning as a stop unit that stops the discharge of a droplet by the discharge unit when an occurrence of an abnormality in the discharge unit is predicted based on the detection of the event by the monitoring unit.

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