JPH0911494A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In order to carry out high-speed printing, the number of nozzles in the head is increased and ink boiling in the head that occurs when the drive frequency for printing is increased is avoided. In an ink jet recording apparatus, a temperature detection sensor 203 for detecting the temperature of an ink jet head for ejecting ink, and based on the detection result of the temperature detection sensor 203, in-line printing that should be performed A limiting circuit 1705 that limits ejection of ink that forms image data and a continuous printing circuit 1705 that completes printing by continuing the remaining print image data to be printed in the same print line again are provided.

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, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head in which ink is ejected by an electrothermal converter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus supplies ink to a recording head and drives an ink droplet ejecting means such as an electrothermal converter provided on the recording head based on image data to record on a recording medium such as paper. An image is formed by attaching a pattern of ink dots to a medium.

In wire dot printers and thermal transfer printers, various improvements and proposals have been made in the past for methods of controlling the head temperature when the head temperature rises.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-87287, “Detecting temperature during printing to change drive cycle of print head” and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-53084, “Detecting high temperature and printing”. That substantially changes the duty of
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-11041, "A required rest period is added between driving cycles of driving power by detecting the temperature of a heating element", and in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-38246 and No. 2-2030. And Japanese Patent Publication No. 3394/1994, "printing is stopped when the head temperature is high" and the like have been proposed.

However, as technological innovation progresses, it is required to increase the speed of the ink jet recording apparatus, increase the number of nozzles for printing, and increase the printing drive frequency. We found that a new problem will occur during the examination to accelerate the speed.

[0005]

At this point, there has been a problem that cannot be avoided only by applying the method as proposed above to an ink jet recording apparatus. Especially in a recording device having a wide recording head, it is considered that the conventional recording device having a narrow recording head does not cause a problem, and that a small problem can sometimes cause serious fatal injury. I've come to understand it while advancing.

Many ink jet heads used in conventional serial recording apparatuses have nozzle numbers of about 48 to 64, and the driving frequency for printing is 4 KHz to 6K.
Hz. This is determined by the configuration of the font for printing, the print memory, and the host processing.

Therefore, in the conventional recording apparatus, the amount of heat generated by the head itself per unit time is relatively small, and control is possible to some extent.

However, it has been found that when the number of nozzles is increased at a high frequency, there is a possibility that a state that rarely occurs in the conventional case may occur at any time. Especially when the environmental temperature is high or the head temperature is relatively high, the head temperature rises remarkably when printing one line of high-duty printing, and the ink itself in the head boils during the printing of one line. No nozzle ejection may occur. Further, if printing is continued in this state, the heat of the head itself causes damage to the constituent members of the head and the nozzles.

Further, the above-mentioned problems occur remarkably in a recording apparatus which corresponds to a wide recording material, for example, a head when the printing environment temperature is high or when the printing is started. When the temperature is relatively high, the head temperature rises violently when a high-duty image comes during printing one line, and the ink in the liquid chamber reaches near the boiling point, causing the ink to boil in the liquid chamber and drop ink. Occur.

By applying the conventionally proposed method to an ink jet recording apparatus, the head temperature can be controlled. However, considering a detection error and the time for cooling the head, a relatively low temperature can be controlled. It has become clear that the necessity arises and the printing cannot be speeded up, and the printer is controlled immediately after the printing is started and the printing speed is effectively reduced.

For example, when the control for giving a pause is performed by detecting that the head temperature is high, when the control is performed in consideration of the heat generation amount of the head generated in the printing of one line, the heat generation in the head is On the other hand, heat radiation takes more time, and it is necessary to stop for a long time at both ends of printing. Specifically, it was found that when printing 160 digits, it stopped for 3 to 10 seconds at both ends, and it became meaningless to drive the head at a high frequency, and it was found that the speed actually became half or less. .

Further, when it is detected that the head temperature is high and the driving frequency is lowered during printing, it becomes necessary to control at a relatively low temperature in consideration of a detection error for detecting the head temperature. . At this time, it was found that the overall printing was slowed down, the printing speed was lowered, and the throughput was significantly lowered. That is, the effect of increasing the number of nozzles of the head or increasing the drive frequency is lost.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and in order to perform high-speed printing, the ink in the head generated when the number of nozzles of the head is increased and the driving frequency for printing is increased. The purpose is to avoid boiling.

That is, when the temperature of the liquid chamber for supplying ink to the nozzles becomes high, the boiling of the ink in the liquid chamber causes the ink droplets not to be ejected to prevent the print data from being lost and the head itself to be overheated. It is intended to prevent destruction due to temperature rise. Further, it is intended to stabilize the ink ejection when approaching the boiling of the ink.

[0015]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved,
In order to achieve the object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus, prints on the basis of a temperature detecting unit that detects the temperature of an ink jet head that ejects ink and a detection result of the temperature detecting unit. Limiting means for limiting the ejection of ink forming the image data during the printing in one line to be performed,
It is characterized by further comprising a continuous printing means for continuing printing of the remaining print image data to be printed in the same print line again.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the ejection of ink in one line to be printed is limited by stopping the ejection of ink droplets forming a printed image.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ink ejection restriction is carried out when the temperature of the ink jet head exceeds a predetermined temperature.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ink ejection restriction is carried out when the temperature of the ink jet head becomes close to the boiling temperature of the ink.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the restriction of the ink ejection is carried out when the temperature of the ink jet head or the ink temperature reaches 70 to 95 ° C.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ink ejection restriction is carried out when the print duty exceeds 50% of the total dots in one line.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the ejection of the ink within one line to be printed is restricted when the printing duty exceeds a predetermined value.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the limitation of the ejection of the ink within one line to be printed is performed by thinning out the ejection of the ink forming the print image from the middle.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ink ejection restriction is carried out when the print duty exceeds 50% of the total dots in one line.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the thinning amount in the thinning operation is
It is characterized by being 50% or less of the image data.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus, temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the ink jet head for ejecting ink, duty detecting means for detecting the duty of printing, and the temperature detecting means. Based on the detection signal of the duty detection means, a limiting means for limiting the ejection of ink forming a print image in the middle of printing in one line to be printed, and the printing in the same line to be printed is continued again. It is characterized in that it is provided with a continuous printing means which is completed by doing so.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ejection of the ink within one line to be printed is limited when the ink jet head reaches a predetermined temperature and the duty during printing is high. I am trying.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ejection limitation of the ink is carried out when the ink jet head reaches a predetermined temperature and the duty during printing is 50% or more. .

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ejection of the ink is restricted by the temperature of the ink jet head or the ink temperature of 70 to 90 ° C.
It is characterized in that it is carried out when the temperature reaches the temperature of, and the total duty during printing within a predetermined management time is 50% or more.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the control time of the ink jet head temperature or the ink temperature is a printing time of 50 msec or less during printing.

[0030]

Since the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above, the print data to be printed in one line when the temperature detecting means detects that the head temperature is near the boiling point of the ink. Discharge is restricted during printing and "joint printing" is performed to print the rest of the print data in the second scan, thereby preventing print disturbance due to non-discharge during printing or unstable discharge at high temperature. can do.

[0031]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention can be applied. In the figure, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5005 of the lead screw 5004 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Then, it is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. 5007,5008
Is a home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.
Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 denotes suction means that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member which allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, and a cam 5020 that engages with the carriage.
And the driving force from the drive motor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. As long as the desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the above can be applied to this example.

Next, a control configuration for executing the recording control of the above-mentioned apparatus will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. In the figure showing the control circuit, 1700
Is an interface for inputting a recording signal, and 1701 is M
A PU 1702 is a program ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is various data (the above-described recording signal and recording data supplied to the head).
Is a dynamic RAM for storing the data. 170
A gate array 4 controls supply of print data to the print head 1708.
0, data transfer control between the MPU 1701 and the RAM 1703. Reference numeral 1710 denotes a carrier motor for transporting the recording head 1708, and reference numeral 1709 denotes a transport motor for transporting the recording paper. Reference numeral 1705 is a head driver for driving the head, and 1706 and 1707 are conveyance motors 17, respectively.
09, a motor driver for driving the carrier motor 1710. Reference numeral 203 is a temperature detection sensor for detecting the temperature of the inkjet head described later.

The operation of the above control structure will be described. When a recording signal is input to the interface 1700, the gate array 1
The recording signal is converted into recording data for printing between the 704 and the MPU 1701. And the motor driver 1
The printheads 706 and 1707 are driven, and the printhead is driven according to the print data sent to the head driver 1705 to perform printing.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ink jet head used in this embodiment.

In FIG. 3, IJC is an ink jet cartridge having a plurality of ejection ports 101 for ejecting ink. Specifically, 128 ejection ports 101 are provided, and the printing drive frequency is designed to be driven at 10 KHz.

The discharge port 101 is made by punching a hole in the orifice plate made of resin such as polysulfone with a laser or the like. The discharge amount from the discharge port 101 is about 9
It is designed so that an ink droplet of about 0 ng can fly. It is desirable to design the ejection amount of the ink in consideration of the physical properties of the ink, and the ink in this embodiment has high-quality characters and images on so-called “plain paper” that is easily available to general users. To meet the physical properties of the ink developed to provide the.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining the vicinity of the nozzle portion for ejecting ink droplets.

Reference numeral 101 denotes an ejection port for ejecting ink,
A heater 201, not shown, is a head driver 170.
In response to the signal from 5, heat is generated, the ink is foamed, and the ink droplets are ejected. Reference numeral 202 denotes an ink liquid chamber for supplying ink to each ejection port. Reference numeral 102 denotes a supply path, which is a supply path for supplying ink from the ink tank 103 to the ink liquid chamber 202 which is the ink distribution chamber of the nozzle. An ink tank 103 shown in FIG. 1 is formed integrally with the head. As the ink tank 103, one having an ink absorption holder such as a sponge held therein is used, but it is not specified but a raw ink bag or an ink absorption holder having a structure having a predetermined negative pressure. A configuration in which the body and the raw ink state are mixed may be used.

Reference numeral 203 denotes a temperature detection sensor for detecting the head temperature, which is a diode sensor or a thermistor. In this head, they are simultaneously formed on the heater substrate by a semiconductor process or the like. The temperature detection sensor 203 is connected to an electric board (not shown) so that the output signal of the temperature detection sensor 203 can be converted into temperature.

FIG. 5 shows another form of the ink jet head. Inkjet cartridge 110
Is designed so that the ink tank 104 can be separated, and 106 is a holder for joining the ink jet head having a plurality of ejection ports 101 and the ink tank 104. Reference numeral 104 is an ink tank, and 105 is an ink tank 104 that can be easily taken out when replacing the tank.
Handle. A filter is installed at a portion where the holder 106 and the ink tank 104 are joined so that dust and the like does not enter from the outside (not shown).

Specifically, the ink used has the following ink composition, but is not specified. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the present embodiment in more detail, and shows an example of an actual print pattern. The printing paper is
A3 or A2 size print sample in a horizontally placed state is printed by changing the print duty.

As described above, the head drives the 128 nozzles for ejection at 10 KHz. The head temperature control is performed by detecting the head temperature with a temperature detection sensor 203 provided in the head as shown in FIG. In addition, the ejection drive pulse during printing detects the temperature of the head as needed at every predetermined time during printing, specifically every 50 ms unit during printing, and ejects so that the ink ejection amount becomes constant. The drive pulse is controlled by increasing or decreasing.

Further, the environmental temperature or the like is detected by a thermistor (not shown) installed on the substrate in the main body, and the printing is continued while the applied pulse width for driving the head is corrected according to the head temperature and the environmental temperature. It is a thing.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a value obtained by converting the output of the temperature detecting sensor 203 in the head into temperature when the printing pattern shown in FIG. 6 is printed. This shows how the head temperature rises as printing is performed. Assuming that the user has performed printing at an environmental temperature of 20 ° C., the temperature rise until the ink in the head is boiled is 60 to 65 ° C., and the head temperature is about 80 to 85 ° C. (of the temperature detection sensor 203). It is known that there is a temperature error of about 10 to 15 ° C. between the output and the actual ink temperature in the nozzle).

When the head temperature approaches the boiling point of the ink during printing, the ink ejection reaches the unstable region F. It was also found that if the temperature rise during printing continues, the ink liquid chamber for supplying ink to the nozzles also reaches the boiling point of the ink.

When the head temperature reaches the boiling point of the ink, surface boiling in the ink chamber suddenly occurs in the ink chamber for supplying the ink, causing ink drop and disabling the ink ejection from the ejection port. Regarding head control, when the environmental temperature is high (for example, 30 ° C. or higher), the temperature becomes an unstable region F ′ from around 70 ° C., so early temperature control is desirable.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to avoid ink drop due to high temperature, a print signal is issued once during the printing of one line before reaching the temperature, that is, when the head temperature reaches about 80 ° C. It restricts, suspends, or thins out data.

A detailed description will be given with reference to FIG. Print one line 3
When 85 ° C. is detected during the execution of 00a, the data to be printed next is subjected to the non-printing mask process in the print buffer as a process for temporarily stopping the ejection signal, and the print data is set to a blank state to be 300b. It processes like. Next, after the carriage makes a turn or a pause, the second printing is continuously performed and the predetermined printed image 300d is completed without the line for printing except the printed portion (the portion of 300a). Is.

In the second print 300d, the print buffer of the data printed in the first scan is subjected to the non-print mask processing, and the non-print mask processing of the print data not printed in the first scan is released. The original data is continuously printed, so-called "in-line connection printing". Actually, printing is stopped and paused in the middle of the second printing.
The head temperature is effectively lowered by carrying out the next printing in the scan.

It was found that the stoppage during printing is likely to occur when the duty of the image is high, but at the same time, even if the "in-line joint printing" in this embodiment is performed, it is hardly noticeable on the image. It is considered that the reason is that when the print duty is high, the dots of the image are close to each other, so that the ink and the dots of the ink are likely to be bleeding with each other.

However, "in-line splicing printing" after printing is stopped is caused by a slight difference in head temperature, a difference in penetrability on the printing surface, a deviation in the landing of ink drops due to cockling of recording paper, etc. It was found that there are cases where the print density difference between the parts appears. Therefore, in the second embodiment, an image processing method in which a difference in print density or unevenness is less likely to occur even when performing joint printing will be described.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the method of processing the joint portion when joint printing is performed. When it is detected that the head temperature is close to the predetermined temperature, that is, the surface boiling temperature of the liquid chamber, the print signal is not simply stopped, but the "joint part" with the print printed in the second scan is not easily noticeable. The image processing is carried out on the mask, and the mask processing is actually carried out.

In this embodiment, when the temperature rise is detected,
The joint portion A is set to a duty of 50% for about 10 to 20 mm. The printing time of about 10 to 20 mm is 0.014 seconds to 0.028 seconds. Regarding the processing range, it is desirable to carry out the treatment within a range that has little effect on the head temperature rise, and it is desirable to set it within a range that is not conspicuous. As the mask processing, a fixed mask or a random mask is used. Ln in the drawing indicates the print width (for example, 128 nozzles).

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment. In this example, the joint portion is divided into a plurality of stages for processing. Specifically, processing is performed with a mask having a three-step printing duty. The range of A is shown in FIG.
Similarly to the above, it was carried out in the range of about 10 to 20 mm.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment. The first printing portion and the second printing portion are formed in an uneven shape so that the linear connection is less noticeable.
Since the connecting part is not linear, it looks continuous.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 12 shows the fifth embodiment in which gradation processing is applied to the type shown in FIG. In addition to gradation, dots may be randomly arranged and processed.

(Sixth Embodiment) FIG. 13 shows a sixth embodiment. As a print limit when detecting that the temperature or print duty is high during printing and controlling the head temperature so that it does not reach the boiling point of the ink, printing is performed when the temperature exceeds the predetermined 80 ° C during printing one line. The print data is thinned out in the middle of the line.

Specifically, when a temperature rise is detected, the data in the print buffer is masked so that the duty of the image data to be printed is 50% or less, and ink ejection is limited. . Therefore, the head temperature during printing can be limited. The thinning of the image data is not limited to 50%, and can be arbitrarily set as long as it is 50% or less.

(Seventh Embodiment) FIG. 14 shows a seventh embodiment, in which the print duty is gradually reduced based on the print restriction based on FIG. When the increase in the head temperature is detected, the print restriction is changed every 50 msec to 10 msec. First, the print image to be printed is thinned to 50%, secondly it is thinned to 25%, and third
To 12.5%. The processing during each thinning may be independent, or the processing shown in FIGS. 9 to 12 may be combined.

When the printer has a means for detecting the print duty in advance, it can be predicted that the head temperature will reach a predetermined temperature during printing. Therefore, the high duty portion or the blank portion during printing is detected and " The effect on the image can be minimized by performing the "joint printing". The print duty may be detected by dividing a line to be printed for one line into a plurality of lines, or may be detected by thinning out the line for printing one line for each raster and predicting the estimated value. The accuracy can be improved by further adding temperature detection.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the embodiment using a single head using monochrome ink has been described, but it is also possible to carry out the invention using a plurality of heads or one using color ink. It is a thing.

FIG. 15 shows that the data is stopped in the middle of the character being printed when the head temperature exceeds the predetermined value during the text printing.

Even with text characters, when the character font built in the printer body is used so that printing is generally performed with emulation software, there is no such thing as in this embodiment, and there is no character separation. carry out. However, in the case where all the print data is processed as image data and is printed collectively, it cannot be handled as a part of the data because there is no concept of characters.

MS-Windows, which has become widespread in recent years
When creating text characters and images using (Microsoft Corporation trademark), there is no concept of "font" on the printed image, and all the data are treated as images as described above.

However, the text can be recognized by performing the process of detecting the print duty of the print data and distinguishing the image from the text, for example, by the following method. For example, when the print data is adjacent and continuous in the vertical and horizontal directions of each raster, it is determined that it is image data regardless of the print duty, or each raster adjacent in the horizontal direction of the print data has a predetermined value. It is possible to recognize that the text is printed by arranging at intervals and detecting the blank state between vertically adjacent rasters.

In this embodiment, even if the head temperature detects a predetermined temperature during the text printing of the image data and the "joint printing" is performed during the printing, it is practically difficult for the human to visually judge. all right.

The recording apparatus used in this embodiment is equipped with an encoder capable of discriminating the moving position of the head so that an image can be printed bidirectionally.

In the first line of FIG. 15, printing is performed up to the middle of the character "F", and in the second line, printing is restarted from the middle of "F" and "joint printing" is performed. The misalignment is minimal, and it is virtually difficult to distinguish the joints, and the image hardly deteriorates. Further, even if there is a difference in the print quality due to the individual difference due to the reciprocation of the head, the print operation is performed in the same direction for one line to be printed, so that the difference in the print quality is hard to occur.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example of printing from the left direction to the right direction is shown. However, in the present recording apparatus that performs printing in both directions, when the head temperature is detected, reciprocation is performed. When the printing is performed with, there is no problem even if the "joint printing" is performed from the right direction to the left direction.

As described above, when the head temperature during printing or the duty of the printed image is detected, or both are detected and the head temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the printing is restricted during printing within one line. By performing the above, and completing the remaining print image data in the second print scan without feeding the paper, it is possible to prevent the print disturbance due to non-ejection during printing or unstable ejection.

The present invention can be applied to modifications and variations of the above embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink, particularly in an ink jet recording system. The printing apparatus of the type that causes a change in the state of the ink has been described.
High definition can be achieved.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path in which Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

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

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effect of the present invention can be further stabilized. . If these are specifically mentioned, capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and printing Performing a preliminary ejection mode for performing another ejection is also effective for performing stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrally configured or a plurality of combinations may be used. Alternatively, the device may be provided with at least one of full-color mixed colors.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, or one that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used, or In the inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C to 70 ° C to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. It is sufficient that the ink is liquid.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, the temperature is positively prevented.
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, an ink which solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In such a case, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

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

[0083]

As described above, when the temperature detecting means detects that the head temperature is near the boiling point of the ink, the ejection of the print data to be printed in one line is restricted during the printing. By performing the "joint printing" in which the remaining print data is printed in the second scan, it is possible to prevent the printing from being disturbed by non-ejection during printing or unstable ejection at high temperature.

[0084]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an inkjet recording apparatus I to which the present invention can be applied.
It is a general view of JRA.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of an inkjet head.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view illustrating the inside of the head.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another form of the head.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a printing example.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a head temperature curve when a printing process is performed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the restricted print states of the first scan and the second scan when a print process is performed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second example of the method of processing the connecting portion.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a third example of how to process a connecting portion.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a fourth example of how to process a connecting portion.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the processing of the connecting portion.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sixth example of a method of processing a connecting portion.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a seventh embodiment of the method of processing the connecting portion.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an image process when a text character printing process is performed.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an image after a text character printing process is performed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Ejection Port 102 Ink Supply Channel 103 Ink Tank 104 Separable Ink Tank 105 Tank Handle 106 Head Holder 201 Heater 202 Ink Liquid Chamber 203 Temperature Detection Sensor 300a Image Part Printed in First Scan 300b Not Printed in First Scan Image part 300c Image part not printed in the second scan 300d Image part printed in the second scan Ln Print width A part Joining process part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hidehiko Kanda 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. In an ink jet recording apparatus, temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of an ink jet head for ejecting ink, and on the basis of the detection result of the temperature detection means, during printing in one line to be printed. Inkjet, comprising: a limiting unit that limits the ejection of ink that forms the image data, and a continuous printing unit that continues printing the remaining print image data in the same print line again. Recording device. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection of ink in one line to be printed is limited by stopping the ejection of ink droplets forming a printed image. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ejection of the ink is restricted when the temperature of the ink jet head exceeds a predetermined temperature. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ejection of the ink is limited when the temperature of the ink jet head becomes close to the boiling temperature of the ink. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the discharge limitation of the ink is performed when the temperature of the ink jet head or the ink temperature reaches 70 to 95 ° C. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink ejection restriction is performed when the print duty exceeds 50% with respect to the total dots in one line. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection limitation of the ink in one line to be printed is carried out when the printing duty exceeds a predetermined value. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection limitation of the ink within one line to be printed is executed by thinning out the ejection of the ink forming the printing image from the middle. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the ejection limitation of the ink is carried out when the print duty exceeds 50% of the total dots in one line. 10. The thinning amount in the thinning operation is
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image data is 50% or less of the image data. 11. In an ink jet recording apparatus, a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of an ink jet head for ejecting ink, a duty detecting means for detecting a duty of printing, and a detection signal of the temperature detecting means and the duty detecting means. Based on this, a limiting means for limiting the ejection of ink forming a print image in the middle of printing in one line to be printed, and a continuous printing means for continuing and completing printing in the same line to be printed are completed. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: 12. The inkjet according to claim 11, wherein the ejection of the ink within one line to be printed is limited when the inkjet head reaches a predetermined temperature and the duty during printing is high. Recording device. 13. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the ejection of the ink is limited when the ink jet head reaches a predetermined temperature and the duty during printing is 50% or more. . 14. The ink ejection restriction is carried out when the temperature of the ink jet head or the ink temperature is 70 to 90 ° C.
13. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is carried out when the temperature reaches the temperature and the total duty during printing within a predetermined management time is 50% or more. 15. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the management time of the ink jet head temperature or the ink temperature is a printing time of 50 msec or less during printing.