JPH0321456A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the energy consumption by a method wherein temperature distribution adjusting means changing a temperature distribution on a fixing surface are provided, and the temperature distribution of an ink fixing heater is changed in accordance with the width of the recording medium so that unnecessary heating in the area in which a recording medium does not exist can be reduced. CONSTITUTION:Temperature distribution adjusting means HA, HB, HC, HD, HE changing a temperature distribution on a fixing surface are provided. The temperature distribution of an ink fixing heater 11 is changed in accordance with a supplied signal of assigning the sheet width of the recording medium 9 so that unnecessary heating in the area in which a recording medium 9 does not exist can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, a maximum recording width is analyzed on the basis of information in recording data. Under the control of heating heater wires within the recording area, the temperature distribution of the ink fixing heater 11 is changed regardless of the size of the recording medium 9 so that unnecessary heating out of the recording area can be reduced or eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink fixing heater. (Prior art) Recording devices such as printers and facsimiles print sheets (
It is a device that forms an image on a recording medium such as paper or a thin plastic plate, and there are various recording methods such as a thermal type and a wire-dont type, and an inkjet type is one of them.

An inkjet printing device forms an image by ejecting ink based on image data from ink ejection ports provided on the front of the print head, causing ink droplets to adhere to a recording medium (sheet) and fixing them. It is designed to be intimidating. In this case, ink fixation on the sheet,
That is, in order to promote the evaporation of moisture and the dry state, a fixing device is used in which the sheet is heated from the back side using, for example, a planar heater. On the other hand, recording apparatuses including inkjet types are generally configured so that one apparatus can handle various medium-sized sheets (recording media) (for example, from postcard size to A3 size), and furthermore, Even if the recording media are of the same size, the area on which the image is formed can be freely selected. [Technical Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, the above-mentioned planar fixing device in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus was heated to #I so as to uniformly heat the entire fixing surface.

However, in such a conventional fixing device, the recording device is designed to be compatible with recording media of various sheet widths as described above, so, for example, a recording device that can record A3 size in portrait mode When recording on a postcard-sized sheet using this method, the entire surface of the fixing surface is heated, even though it is unnecessary, resulting in a technical problem in that energy is wasted. In addition, since the recording device is designed to allow the user to appropriately select the image shape range within the sheet, even when using a recording medium of a predetermined width, even the portions where the image is not shaped will not be affected. Technically, it may need to be heated, but that wastes energy! ! There was also a problem. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional technical problems, and reduces wasted energy consumption by changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface according to the width of the recording medium or the information of the recorded data. An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording device equipped with a fixing device that obtains the desired results.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along a conveyance path of a recording medium, which is provided with a temperature distribution #Allff means for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface, and Depending on the width of
By changing the temperature distribution of the ink fixing heater to reduce unnecessary heating in the area where there is no recording medium, the fixing surface outside the area of the recording medium is wasted when using small to medium sized recording media. This eliminates the need to heat the product.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along a conveyance path of a recording medium, a temperature distribution adjusting means for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface is provided. , when using a recording medium of a predetermined width, by changing the temperature distribution of the ink fixing heater based on the information of the recording data so as to reduce unnecessary heating in the non-recording range, To provide a fixing device that can eliminate unnecessary heating of a fixing surface outside a recording range.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, ■ is a recording head (inkjet head) that flies ink droplets from ink ejection ports based on image data, and its front surface is the surface where the ink ejection ports are shaped (ink ejection port surface). It's now 20. This recording head 1 has a thermal energy generating element that generates thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, and rapidly generates bubbles caused by the thermal energy generated by the thermal energy generating element. It is designed to eject ink using pressure changes.

Regarding each ink ejection port, in addition to cases in which one thermal energy generating element is provided for each ink ejection port and a one-to-one correspondence is adopted, there are also cases in which multiple thermal energy generating elements are provided for each ink ejection port. There is also.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a carriage that moves in the digit direction on which the recording head l is mounted, and the carriage 2 is slidably directed by guide shafts 3 and 4, and is supported by a tie belt stretched between pulleys 6 and 7. It is connected to 8. The carriage 2 is reciprocated in the direction of the girder via the bobbin 7 and the timing belt 8 by operating the carriage motor 5. A sheet (a recording medium such as paper or a thin plastic plate) 9 is guided by a barber pan 10 and conveyed by a feed roller (not shown) and a vinch roller (not shown). The conveyance (including line feeding) of the recording medium 9 is performed using a sheet feed motor 16 as a driving source. The fed recording medium 9 is given tension by the ejecting roller 13 and the spur l4, and is pressed against the heater 11 disposed opposite the recording head 1 by the sheet pressing plate 12 made of an elastic material. It is transported in close contact with 1l. Therefore, the recording medium 9 on which the ink droplets ejected from the recording head 1 have adhered is warmed by the heater 11, and the water in the adhered ink evaporates and is fixed on the recording medium 9.

In FIG. 1, l5 indicates a unit called a recovery system located at a position outside the recording area (usually the home position of the carriage 2). This recovery system
The ink ejection port surface 20 is designed to prevent ink from being sucked from the ink ejection port, and to prevent the vicinity of the ink ejection port from drying out during non-recording.
The discharge characteristics are maintained in a normal state by capping the carriage 2, and it is movable in the front-rear direction (direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage 2). When camping, the ink ejection port surface 20 is used as a recovery system l.
5, the recovery system 15 is moved forward to seal the ink ejection port surface 20. 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of the fixing screener shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the fixing surface heater 11 divides the fixing surface into a plurality of regions (five in the illustrated example), and heater wires HA, HB, HC, HD, and HE in each region are connected to respective switching elements (relays). It is wired to be individually controlled on/off by RA, RB, RC, RD, and RE. In the control system shown in FIG. 3, recording commands and image data from the host computer 100 are transmitted to the CPU of the recording apparatus.
01, the CPUI O1 analyzes the data and controls the paper advance data, carriage motor, and recording head with their drivers DI, D2, and D3.
It is configured to drive through.

In addition, CPUI 0 1 is the host computer l00
Receives the sheet width designation signal or recording data information of the recording medium 9 from the recording medium 9, and transmits the relay RA according to the sheet width designation signal or based on the result of analyzing maximum recording based on the recording data information. -RE is controlled to turn on and off, and thereby the heat generation from each heater wire HA to HE of the fixing heater 11 is individually controlled, and as a result, the fixing of the fixing heater 1l The temperature distribution on the surface is controlled by ITJ. In an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater 11 having a planar fixing surface along the conveyance path of the recording medium 9, temperature distribution adjusting means HA, HB, for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface are provided. In addition to providing HC, HD, and HE, in the present invention of claim 1, in accordance with the sheet width designation signal of the recording medium (sheet) 9 to be supplied, unnecessary The temperature distribution of the ink fixing heater 11 is changed so as to reduce or eliminate heating, and on the other hand, in the present invention according to claim 2, the maximum recording width is analyzed based on the information of the recording data, and the recording range is determined by analyzing the maximum recording width based on the information of the recording data. By controlling the heater wire inside to generate heat, the recording medium 9
The ink fixing heater 11 is designed to reduce or eliminate unnecessary heating in the area that is not recorded regardless of the size of the ink fixing heater 11.
temperature distribution is changed.

According to the embodiment described above, compared to conventional fixing heaters that uniformly heat the entire fixing surface, it is possible to heat only the necessary or effective range within the sheet or depending on the recording width, so energy consumption is achieved. An inkjet recording device with less ink was obtained. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the in-sheet designation signal of the recording medium 9 is received from the host computer, but the present invention (claim 1) is not limited to this, and the detection signal or operation (input) on the recording apparatus side is received from the host computer. It is also possible to control the temperature distribution of the fixing heater l1 using a signal or the like.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention (claim 1).
A detection sensor 21 is provided, and after the recording medium 9 is set, the width of the recording medium 9 is detected by moving the carriage 2 left and right, and the data is analyzed by the CPUIOI to turn on/off the heater wires HA-HE. The fixing heater 11 is turned off, thereby controlling the temperature distribution on the fixing surface of the fixing heater 11. This embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in the points explained above, but the other parts have substantially the same structure as those in FIGS. 1 to 3, and corresponding parts are designated by the same numbers. will be displayed, and their detailed explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a control system of an inkjet recording apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention (claim 1),
In the figure, a control switch 102 for the fixing heater 11 is provided on an operation section such as an operation panel of the recording apparatus, and the heater wires HA-HE are turned on and off according to switch data input from the switch 102. It is being overruled. The control switch 102 can be configured, for example, by a combination of a plurality of changeover switches, and the user manually operates the control switch 102 according to the size (particularly the width) of the recording medium. It turns out.

This embodiment is different from the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in the points explained above, and has substantially the same structure in other parts, and corresponding parts are indicated by the same numbers.
Detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, as in each of the above embodiments, the temperature distribution of the fixing heater for fixing is controlled to be high only within a necessary or desired range depending on the sheet of recording medium 9. As a result, an inkjet recording device that consumes less energy has been provided.

In each of the above embodiments, a case has been described in which the heater section of the fixing heater 1l is divided into five parts, but the number of divisions can be freely selected.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a serial type inkjet recording device has been described, but the present invention can be similarly applied to an inkjet recording device of other recording methods such as a line type or a page print type. Can be applied.

The present invention brings about excellent effects particularly in recording heads and recording apparatuses of the Bubblejet 7 method among inkjet recording methods.

This is because such a method can achieve high recording density and high definition, and it may be necessary to provide a fixing device to promote fixing depending on the recorded pattern. As for the typical precepts and principles, it is preferable to use the basic principles disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740,796. This method is applicable to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is compatible with the sheet holding the liquid (ink) and the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal that corresponds to recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged at A thermal energy generating element that generates thermal energy generates thermal energy, and a rapid pressure change caused by bubbles generated by the thermal energy is used to eject ink to form flying ink droplets.

That is, film boiling is caused on the heat-active surface of the recording head, resulting in the formation of bubbles in the liquid (ink) that correspond one-to-one to the drive signal, and the length and contraction of these bubbles result in the formation of ejecting A liquid (ink) is ejected through an opening and forms at least one drop. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because bubble growth and contraction are performed immediately and appropriately, and liquid (ink) ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

As this pulse-shaped drive signal, US Pat. No. 446
Those described in the specification of No. 3359 and the specification of No. 4345262 are suitable. Furthermore, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 concerning the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, even more excellent recording can be performed.

In addition to the combination structure of ejection ports, liquid paths, and electrothermal converters (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, the horizontal structure of the recording head includes The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the action portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge part for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a hole that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy is disclosed. The effects of the present invention are also effective even if the structure is based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461/1987, which discloses a structure in which the discharge portion corresponds to the discharge portion. That is, no matter what the form of the recording head is, the role of the fixing device is effective in ensuring efficient fixing.

Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by a recording apparatus.

Such a recording head may be either a recording head whose length is satisfied by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a recording head that is physically shaped as a single recording head.

In addition, even serial type recording heads such as the one above can be installed in the main body of the device, making it possible to electrically connect to the main body and supply ink from the main body.Replaceable chip-type recording heads Alternatively, the present invention is also effective when using a cartridge type recording head that is provided integrally with the recording head itself.

In addition, regarding the type and number of recording heads installed, for example, in addition to a single head that corresponds to a single color ink, a plurality of heads that correspond to a plurality of inks of different recording colors and densities may be installed. It may be something that is given. In addition, the inkjet recording device of the present invention can be used as an image output terminal for information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying device combined with a reader, etc., and a facsimile device having a sending/receiving function. It may take a form.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along the conveyance path of a recording medium,
A temperature distribution adjusting means for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface is provided, and the temperature distribution of the ink fixing sheeter is adjusted according to the width of the recording medium so as to reduce unnecessary heating in the area where there is no recording medium. Since the fixing surface is controlled to be heated only within a necessary or effective range according to changes in the width of the recording medium, an inkjet recording apparatus that consumes less energy can be provided.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, in the inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along the feeding path of the recording medium, the temperature distribution changes the temperature distribution of the fixing surface. An adjustment means is provided, and the temperature distribution of the ink fixing heater is changed based on the information of the recorded data to reduce unnecessary heating in the non-recorded area, so the fixation is adjusted according to the recorded area. By controlling the heat distribution on the fixing surface of the heater, an inkjet recording device that consumes less energy can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a wiring diagram of the heater wire of the fixing heater in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of an inkjet recording apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention. . 1---- Recording head, 2 Carriage, 9
・・・−・・・−・・−・゛Recording medium (sheet), 11
------1... Fixing heater, 20 Ink ejection opening surface, 21 Sheet width detection sensor, 101 CPU, 102 --------... Control switch (Fusing heater ).

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along the conveyance path of the recording medium, a temperature distribution adjusting means for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface is provided, and the width of the recording medium is An inkjet recording apparatus characterized in that the temperature distribution of an ink fixing heater is changed in response to the ink fixing heater so as to reduce unnecessary heating in an area where there is no recording medium. (2) In an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink fixing heater having a planar fixing surface along the conveyance path of the recording medium, a temperature distribution adjusting means for changing the temperature distribution of the fixing surface is provided, and information on recorded data is provided. An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by changing the temperature distribution of an ink fixing heater based on the above so as to reduce unnecessary heating in a non-recording range. (3) The recording head has a thermal energy generating element that generates thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, and the recording head has a thermal energy generating element that generates thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, and a sudden drop occurs due to bubbles generated by the thermal energy generated by the thermal energy generating element. 3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein ink is ejected using pressure changes.