JP3201454B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for recording characters and images on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings, and more specifically, an initial filling of ink by a user immediately after purchase. The present invention relates to an operation control technique.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording head, a pressure generating chamber is formed in an ink flow path between a nozzle opening and an ink source, and pressure is generated in the pressure generating chamber by a piezoelectric vibrator or a heating element. It is configured to eject ink droplets from the nozzle openings. In this manner, when air bubbles or the like remain in the flow path, particularly in the recording head, due to pressure acting on the liquid during printing, pressure loss occurs and print quality is extremely reduced.

[0003] Therefore, when an ink jet printer shipped from a factory is used for the first time, ink from an ink source is sucked out through a recording head to remove air and air bubbles in the ink flow path and maintenance liquid. An operation of filling the recording head with ink, that is, so-called initial ink filling is performed.

In the initial ink filling, a large amount of ink is sucked out. Therefore, if the user erroneously performs the initial filling operation a plurality of times for the head in which the initial ink filling is completed, the ink of the ink source is unnecessarily consumed. There's a problem.

To solve such a problem, for example, as shown in JP-A-5-201027, the initial ink filling operation can be performed only by turning on the power while pressing the ejection recovery switch. The thing which became it has been put to practical use.

However, on the other hand, a user unfamiliar with the printer has a disadvantage that the operation is confused, or printing is performed without performing the initial ink filling operation, resulting in an initial failure in the recording head.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a purpose thereof is to determine whether or not initial ink filling is performed and to automatically execute initial ink filling. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink-jet printer capable of performing the above-mentioned operations.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording head which is mounted on a carriage and forms dots by ink droplets, and is connected to the recording head via a flow path. A detachable ink container for supplying ink, a cap member that comes into contact with the nozzle opening of the recording head in a detachable manner, a suction pump connected to the cap member, and suction for managing the amount of ink suction by the suction pump A mode storage means, an initial ink filling history storage means comprising a nonvolatile memory for storing flag data indicating the presence or absence of the initial ink filling, and reading the contents of the initial ink filling history storing means at power-on,
When the initial ink filling is not performed, the suction operation of the amount of ink necessary for the initial ink filling is executed by the data of the suction mode storing means, and when the initial ink filling is completed, the initial ink filling history storing means is executed. Means for changing the flag data.

[0009]

When the power is turned on, the data in the initial ink filling history storage means is read out. If the initial filling has not been performed, the suction operation suitable for the initial ink filling is automatically started in a predetermined routine. Changes the data indicating the flag, and makes it impossible to perform the initial ink filling operation on the print head thereafter.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage, which is guided by a guide 2 and is configured to be able to reciprocate in the width direction of the recording sheet 5 by the driving force of a motor 4 connected via a timing belt 3. Recording head 6
Are provided detachably.

The recording head 6 mounted on the carriage 1 is connected to an ink tank 7 mounted on a box by a tube 8, and receives the amount consumed in printing from the ink tank 7.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a cap member provided outside the printing area, which is in airtight contact with the nozzle opening surface 6a of the recording head 6 to prevent drying of the ink in the nozzle opening during non-printing and to prevent the tube 21 from drying. Through the suction pump 11
Connected to The discharge port of the suction pump 11 is connected to a discharge ink tank 23 by a tube 22 so that the ink sucked from the recording head 6 can be discharged to the discharge ink tank 23.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a control device for performing ink suction control. In the drawing, reference numeral 30 denotes read / write control means, and power-on detection means 31 detects an initial filling history described later. The contents of the storage means 33 are read.

The head replacement detecting means 32 is operated by a switch which is turned off when the recording head 6 is removed from the carriage 1, for example, a magnetic member provided on the recording head 6, and is turned off when the magnetic member moves a predetermined distance. Then, after a predetermined reset operation, for example, initial ink filling is completed,
It is composed of a reed switch or the like that keeps the off state until the flag data is changed.

Reference numeral 33 denotes the above-mentioned initial ink filling history storage means, which is constituted by a memory capable of changing the data while retaining the stored contents irrespective of whether or not power is supplied, such as an EEPROM. When the recording head 6 has been replaced, data for turning off the flag is stored.

Numeral 34 denotes a suction control means, which is a read / write control means based on control data preliminarily stored in the suction mode storage means 35 which defines various suction modes corresponding to initial ink filling, ejection recovery and the like. When data indicating that the flag is turned off is read out from the motor 30, the motor 1 drives the pump 11 so as to correspond to the initial ink filling and to correspond to the ejection recovery operation signal from the print controller 36.
0 is controlled.

The suction mode storage means 35 stores, for example, a flow rate of 0.2 cc per second for suctioning the initial ink filling,
Command data which lasts for 5 seconds at a flow rate of 0.1 cc / sec for suction for recovering the ink ejection capability of the nozzle opening, and about 0.2 cc / sec when the ink tank 7 is replaced. Command data that lasts for 10 seconds at the flow rate is stored.

Next, the operation of the apparatus constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on the flowchart shown in FIG. When the power is turned on and a signal is output from the power-on detecting means 31 (step A), the read / write means 30 accesses the initial filling history storing means 33 and detects the flag data indicating the presence or absence of the initial ink filling operation. (Step B).

When the flag data indicating that the initial ink has not been filled has been read out, that is, when the flag is off, suction is performed with the recording head 6 in contact with the cap member 9. A signal is output to the control means 34 to read the initial ink filling data stored in the suction mode storage means 35, and the motor 10 is controlled based on this data to operate the pump 11 so that the recording head 6 Aspirate the amount of ink required for ink filling (step c).

When the initial ink filling is completed in this way (step d), a suction end signal is output from the suction control unit 34, so that the read / write unit 30 stores the data in the initial ink filling history storage unit 33 in the initial ink. Change to flag-on data indicating the end of filling (step
E).

If a power failure occurs during the initial ink filling (step F), the signal from the power-on detecting means 31 causes the read / write means 30 to store the data in the initial filling history storing means 33 into the initial ink. Keep the filling unfinished, return to step (step b), and turn on the power after recovery from the power failure to enable the work of initial ink filling.

Thus, a relatively complicated initial ink filling operation can be reliably processed by a simple operation of simply turning on the power without requiring a special switch operation by the user.

On the other hand, if the recording head 6 has been replaced, a signal is output from the head replacement detecting means 32 (step), so that the contents of the initial ink filling history storing means 33 are changed to data indicating flag-off. (Step
Re).

That is, when the recording head 6 is replaced, the carriage 1 needs to be moved to a predetermined position by a control program stored in advance by a special operation of a switch on the panel. I have. Therefore, the data in the initial ink filling history storage means 33 can be changed to data indicating replacement of the recording head 6.

After the replacement of the recording head 6 is completed, when a predetermined switch on the panel is operated or the power is turned on again, the initial ink filling is automatically executed in steps (a) to (f) described above. Then, the initial ink filling of the new recording head 6 is executed, and the recording head 6 becomes usable.

When printing is possible after the initial ink filling is completed, after confirming that the initial ink filling is completed after the power is turned on (step a) (step a).
B) Wait for input of print signal (step), and execute printing when print data is input (step).
Nu).

In this printing process, automatically, if necessary,
Alternatively, the recording head 6 is moved to the cap member 9 by pressing the ejection recovery switch 36, and the recording head 6 is forcibly ejected enough ink to recover the ejection.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the ink tank 7 serving as an ink supply source is mounted on a box and supplied to the recording head 6 by a tube 8 has been described. As shown in FIG. 4, it is apparent that a similar effect can be obtained even if the present invention is applied to an on-carriage type in which the recording head 26 and the ink cartridge 27 are mounted on the carriage 25.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, an ink container for supplying ink to a recording head, a cap member for sealing a nozzle opening, a suction pump connected to the cap member, and ink provided by the suction pump are provided. Suction mode storage means for managing the suction amount, initial ink filling history storage means comprising a non-volatile memory for recording the presence / absence of initial ink filling, and contents of the initial ink filling history storage means are read out when the power is turned on. If the initial ink filling has not been performed, a suction operation of the amount of ink necessary for initial ink filling is performed, and the contents of the initial ink filling history storage means are updated when the initial ink filling is completed. Not only can the initial ink filling be performed automatically by simply turning on the power, but also when the initial ink filling is completed, the recording head is replaced. Is the up reliably prevented duplicate execution of the initial ink filling due to the initial ink filling operation is disabled and becomes in an operation error or the like of.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ink suction control device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the above device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another type of ink jet printer to which the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 6 Recording head 7 Ink tank 8 Tube 9 Cap member 11 Suction pump 23 Drain ink tank

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An ink jet recording head mounted on a carriage to form dots by ink droplets, a detachable ink container for supplying ink to the recording head via a flow path, and a nozzle opening of the recording head , A suction pump connected to the cap member, a suction mode storage means for managing the amount of ink suctioned by the suction pump, and a nonvolatile memory for storing flag data indicating the presence or absence of initial ink filling. The initial ink filling history storage means comprising an elasticity memory, and the contents of the initial ink filling history storing means are read out when the power is turned on, and when the initial ink filling is not performed, the initial ink filling is performed by the data of the suction mode storing means. A required amount of ink is suctioned, and when the initial ink filling is completed, the initial ink filling operation is started. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a means for changing the flag data storing means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a head replacement detecting means for detecting that the recording head has been replaced, wherein the flag data in the initial ink filling history storage means is changed by a signal from the head replacement detecting means. Ink jet recording device.