JP2004074632A - Ink jet recorder and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce deterioration of image quality of images resulting from a production process of nozzles for jetting ink in an ink jet recorder which records by jetting ink. <P>SOLUTION: A driving block sequence showing an optimum driving block sequence of a manufactured recording head IJH is stored in a nonvolatile memory 107 in the recording head when the recording head is shipped from a factory. When the recording head IJH is set into an ink jet printer, a CPU 105 reads out the optimum driving block sequence of the set recording head from the nonvolatile memory 107, stores the sequence in a block driving sequence memory 101, and drives each block of the recording head IJH in the optimum driving sequence to record one column. An optimum image quality to the set recording head can be obtained accordingly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet printing apparatus that performs printing by dividing print data for one column into blocks and sequentially driving the blocks, and a control method thereof.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, as an information output device in a word processor, a personal computer, a facsimile, or the like, there is a printer that records desired information such as characters and images on a sheet-shaped recording medium such as paper or film.
[0003]
Various methods are known as recording methods for printers. Ink jet methods have recently been used because non-contact recording is possible on recording media such as paper, colorization is easy, and quietness is high. It has attracted special attention, and its configuration includes a serial head that mounts a recording head that ejects ink in accordance with desired recording information and performs recording while scanning back and forth in the direction perpendicular to the feed direction of a recording medium such as paper. It is widely used in general because of its low cost and easy downsizing.
[0004]
In recent years, ink jet printers have increased the speed by increasing the number of ink ejection nozzles in the recording head and shortening the driving cycle. At this time, it is difficult to always provide a capacity for simultaneously discharging all the nozzles to a power supply used in a normal printer, because this leads to an increase in the cost of the power supply and an increase in the size of the power supply. Therefore, the discharge nozzle is divided into a plurality of parts and driven so that power is applied to the discharge nozzles on average.
[0005]
In this case, all the ejection nozzles are driven by sequentially driving the divided blocks and making a round. By repeating this in the main scanning direction, recording of one scan is performed.
[0006]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional divided block selection circuit used for sequentially driving divided blocks. The block driving order 201 is constituted by a counter, and is incremented at each ejection timing.
[0007]
In FIG. 2, for example, in the case of sequentially driving blocks divided into 16, when the recording direction is forward recording, the block driving order is counted up from 0 to 15, while in reverse recording, the block driving order is Counts down from 15 to 0. The print data transfer circuit 204 increments the block drive order 201 by using a print timing signal generated based on, for example, an optical linear encoder as a trigger, and outputs print data corresponding to the value of the block drive order 201 from the printer data memory 202. This print data is serially transferred to the print head 205 in synchronization with the read and data transfer CLK signal (HD_CLK) generated by the data transfer CLK generator 203.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the recording head 205 of the ink jet printer, it is general that not all the nozzles fly in the same direction but the inks fly in various directions due to variations in the manufacturing process of the nozzles. As a result, the positions where the ink droplets land on the paper also vary among the nozzles. For this reason, these variations in the landing positions have a great effect on the image quality deterioration of the image due to the small drop of the ink droplet in the high resolution printing.
[0009]
The dispersion of the landing positions is different for each recording head because it is caused by the dispersion of the nozzle discharge ports generated in the manufacturing process of the nozzle. Therefore, in order to further improve the image quality in the future, it is necessary to reduce the image quality deterioration due to the nozzle manufacturing process.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a method of manufacturing a nozzle for discharging ink in an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus and a control method thereof, which can reduce the deterioration of the image quality due to the image quality.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from an ink jet recording head having a plurality of recording elements to a recording medium, wherein the plurality of recording elements are divided into a plurality of blocks, and the plurality of recordings are performed in block units. A time-division driving unit that drives the elements in a time-division manner, a memory that is provided in the recording head, and that stores information on the drive order of the blocks when the plurality of recording elements are time-divisionally driven; And control means for controlling the driving order of the blocks by the time-division driving means using information on the driving order of the blocks.
[0012]
Here, for example, it is preferable that a first storage unit is further provided outside the recording head, and the control unit stores information on a drive order of the blocks read from the memory in the first storage unit.
[0013]
Here, for example, the memory is preferably a nonvolatile memory.
[0014]
Here, for example, the information on the drive order of the blocks is preferably a table indicating the drive order of the blocks.
[0015]
Here, for example, a second storage unit is further provided outside the recording head, and the information on the drive order of the blocks accesses the second storage unit in which a table indicating the drive order of the blocks is stored. It is preferable to use an ID number for this.
[0016]
Here, for example, the control unit reads out the table indicating the drive order of the block stored in correspondence with the ID number from the second storage unit based on the ID number and uses the table to execute the time division. Preferably, the drive means is controlled.
[0017]
Here, for example, it is preferable that the recording head is a recording head that discharges ink using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink.
[0018]
A control method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a method of controlling an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from an ink jet recording head having a plurality of recording elements to a recording medium, wherein the recording head divides the plurality of recording elements into a plurality of blocks. A time-division driving step of storing information on a driving order of blocks when the plurality of recording elements are time-divisionally driven in the block unit, and a time-division driving of the plurality of recording elements in the block unit; And a control step of controlling the driving order of the blocks in the time-division driving step using the information on the driving order of the blocks read from the memory.
[0019]
A control program according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a control program for an inkjet printing apparatus that performs printing by discharging ink from an inkjet printing head having a plurality of printing elements to a printing medium, wherein the printing head divides the plurality of printing elements into a plurality of blocks. A memory storing information on a driving order of the blocks when the plurality of printing elements are time-divisionally driven in the block unit, wherein the control program drives the plurality of printing elements in the block unit in a time-division manner A time-division driving step and a control step of controlling the driving order of the blocks in the time-division driving step using information on the driving order of the blocks read from the memory are executed.
[0020]
A computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a computer-readable storage medium storing a control program of an inkjet printing apparatus that performs printing by discharging ink from an inkjet printing head having a plurality of printing elements to a printing medium, wherein the printing head includes the plurality of printing elements. Is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a memory storing information on a drive order of blocks when the plurality of recording elements are time-divisionally driven in units of the blocks is provided. A time-division driving step of driving a recording element in a time-division manner, and a control step of controlling the driving order of the blocks in the time-division driving step using information on the driving order of the blocks read from the memory. It is characterized by.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0022]
However, in the present embodiment, an ink jet printer using an ink jet recording method will be described as an example of the image recording apparatus, but this is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the described examples.
[0023]
In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing” or “printing”) refers not only to the formation of significant information such as characters and figures, but also to human perception, whether significant or insignificant. Regardless of whether or not the image has been exposed, the case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or the medium is processed is also shown.
[0024]
In addition, the term “recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording devices but also to a wide range of materials that can accept ink, such as cloth, plastic films, metal plates, glass, ceramics, wood, and leather. Shall be.
[0025]
Further, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) is to be interpreted broadly as in the definition of “recording (printing)”, and when applied on a recording medium, an image or pattern A liquid that can be used for forming a pattern, processing a recording medium, or processing ink (for example, coagulation or insolubilization of a colorant in ink applied to a recording medium).
[0026]
[Schematic description of inkjet printer main body: FIG. 8]
FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of an ink jet printer IJRA which is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5009 to 5011 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Then, it is supported by the guide rail 5003 and reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. On the carriage HC, an integrated type ink jet cartridge IJC containing a recording head IJH and an ink tank IT is mounted.
[0027]
Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detectors for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.
[0028]
Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the print head IJH. Reference numeral 5015 denotes a suction device that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the print head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member that 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 the present embodiment.
[0029]
Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery. The lever 5021 moves with the movement of the cam 5020 engaging with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission mechanism such as clutch switching. Is done.
[0030]
These capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. If the above operation is performed, any of the embodiments can be applied.
[0031]
[Recording head: Fig. 9]
As described above, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH may be integrally formed to constitute a replaceable ink cartridge IJC. However, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH may be configured to be separable. Then, when the ink runs out, only the ink tank IT may be replaced.
[0032]
FIG. 9 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of an ink cartridge IJC in which an ink tank and a head can be separated. In the ink cartridge IJC, as shown in FIG. 9, the ink tank IT and the recording head IJH can be separated at the position of the boundary line K. When the ink cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC, the ink cartridge IJC is provided with an electrode (not shown) for receiving an electric signal supplied from the carriage HC side. Is driven to eject ink. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 500 denotes an ink ejection port array. Further, the ink tank IT is provided with a fibrous or porous ink absorber for holding ink.
[0033]
[Ink ejection: Fig. 7]
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a part of the ink ejection portion of the recording head IJH. In the print head IJH, 256 discharge ports 500 are arranged facing the print medium 1. The ink to be ejected is always supplied from the common liquid chamber 10b via the ink path 10a. The ink is usually filled from the common liquid chamber 10b to the discharge port 500. The ink path 10a is provided with an electrothermal transducer (hereinafter, also referred to as a "heater") 11 for each discharge port. During a printing operation, the heater 11 generates heat, and a film boiling phenomenon occurs in the ink. In this case, a bubble 12 is generated, and recording is performed by ejecting an ink droplet 13 in the ink path 10a by the pressure generated by the bubble. Hereinafter, a portion between the discharge port 500 and the common liquid chamber 10b is referred to as a “nozzle”.
[0034]
[Division block selection circuit: Fig. 1]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a divided block selection circuit according to the present embodiment. When the print head IJH is mounted on the ink jet printer, the CPU 105 reads out block drive order data stored in the nonvolatile memory 107 in the print head IJH and indicating the optimum drive order of the blocks of the print head. Writing is performed on the driving order data memory 202.
[0035]
FIG. 6 shows an example of the block drive order data read from the nonvolatile memory 107 by the CPU 105 and written at addresses 0 to 15 of the block drive order data memory 202. In the example of FIG. 6, the address 0 and the address 1 of the block drive order data memory 202 store numerical values indicating the blocks 1 and 3, respectively. Similarly, the addresses 3 to 15 store the blocks 5 and 5, respectively. Numerical values indicating 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 are sequentially stored. That is, in the example of FIG. 6, when the recording head IJH is driven in block units, the optimal drive sequence of the blocks is block 1 → 3 → 5 → 7 → 9 → 11 → 13 → 15 → 0 → 2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → 10 → 12 → 14.
[0036]
The recording data transfer circuit 104 uses, for example, a recording timing signal generated based on an optical linear encoder as a trigger to generate block data from address 0 of the block drive order data memory 101 as a block enable signal 310 (here, 0001: block 1), print data corresponding to the block data 0001 is read from the printer data memory 102, and the print data is transferred to the print head IJH.
[0037]
Similarly, the recording data transfer circuit 104 reads block data (here, 0011: a numerical value indicating block 3) from the address 1 of the block drive order data memory 101 as a block enable signal 310, triggered by the next recording timing signal. The print data corresponding to the block data 0011 is read from the printer data memory 102 and transferred to the print head IJH.
[0038]
Similarly, the print data transfer circuit 104 reads out the block data in order from address 2 to address 15 of the block drive order data memory 101 by using the next print timing signal as a trigger, and stores the print data corresponding to each block data in the printer data. The data is read from the memory 102 and transferred to the recording head IJH.
[0039]
In this way, the print data transfer circuit 104 reads out the block data set from the addresses 0 to 15 of the block drive order data memory 101, reads out the print data corresponding to each block data from the printer data memory 102, and prints out the print data. By transferring the data to the head IJH, recording for one column can be performed.
[0040]
[Drive circuit of recording head: FIG. 3]
FIG. 3 shows a drive circuit for driving the recording head, and FIG. 5 shows the drive timing.
[0041]
In FIG. 3, the printhead IJH drives the 256 heaters (printing elements) 306 by dividing them into 16 blocks (one block is composed of 16 heaters), and each block drives 16 heaters. . The print data 313 is transmitted by a HD_CLK signal 314 to the print head IJH by serial transfer. After the recording data 313 is received by the 16-bit shift register 301, it is latched by the 16-bit latch 302 at the rising edge of the latch signal 312. The block designation is indicated by four block enable signals 310, and the heater 306 of the designated block developed by the decoder 303 is selected.
[0042]
Only the segment of the heater (printing element) 306 specified by both the block enable signal 310 and the heater print data signal 313 is driven by the actual heater drive pulse signal (HE signal) 311 (AND gate 305) to eject ink. Recording.
[0043]
[Timing chart of drive circuit: FIG. 5]
This is shown in the block enable signal 310 of the drive timing of this embodiment shown in FIG. In the divided block selection circuit of the present embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the block enable signal 310 can be generated based on the block driving order data read from the nonvolatile memory 107 and stored in the block driving order data memory 101. . Therefore, as shown by the block enable signal 310 in FIG. 5, in the case of the present embodiment, the block enable signal 310 is changed from 1 → 3 → 5 → 7 → 9 → 11 based on the block drive order data (FIG. 6). By generating in the order of → 13 → 15 → 0 → 2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → 10 → 12 → 14, the recording head IJH can be driven in the optimal block driving order.
[0044]
The above-described block driving order is determined in advance based on a test print result at the time of factory shipment in order to minimize variations in ink landing positions caused by variations in the nozzle manufacturing process. , Are stored in the nonvolatile memory 107. For this reason, it is possible to eliminate the deterioration of the image quality due to the variation in the landing position of the ink, which occurs due to the variation in the manufacturing of the nozzles that occurs when manufacturing each recording head.
[0045]
Further, since the block driving order data indicating the optimum block driving order of each recording head is stored in the nonvolatile memory 107 of each recording head in advance, even if the recording head is improved, the ink jet printer is improved. Since the optimal block drive order data can be read from the nonvolatile memory 107 of the recording head and used, there is no need to change the configuration of the ink jet printer every time the recording head is improved.
[0046]
In addition, as a method of storing the drive block order indicating the optimum drive block order in a storage unit such as a nonvolatile memory of each print head, for example, at the time of factory shipment, a test print using the manufactured print head is performed, The drive block order indicating the optimum drive block order determined based on the result may be written in the nonvolatile memory of the recording head.
[0047]
[Recording process using optimal block drive order: FIG. 10]
FIG. 10 shows a recording process of one column by the divided block selection circuit of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 described above.
[0048]
In step S401, the CPU 105 reads the block drive order data from the nonvolatile memory 107 of the print head IJH, and writes the block drive order data in the block drive order data memory 101.
[0049]
Next, in step S402, block data (block enable signal) is read from the block drive order data memory 101 using the print timing signal as a trigger, and print data corresponding to the block data (block enable signal) is read from the print data memory 102. The data is transferred to the recording head IJH.
[0050]
Next, in step S403, if there is the next block data (block enable signal), the process returns to step S402 to continue the above-described processing, and if there is no next block data (block enable signal) in step S403. In step S404, the process proceeds to step S404 to record one column, and then proceeds to step S505 to end a series of operations.
[0051]
[Reference: Conventional block drive order: Fig. 4]
For reference, FIG. 4 shows drive timings in the block drive order when the conventional divided block selection circuit shown in FIG. 2 is used.
[0052]
In the conventional divided block selection circuit shown in FIG. 2, the driving order of the blocks generated from the block driving order 201 is set so that 16 blocks from block 0 to block 15 are always specified in order. Accordingly, the block data (block enable signal) indicating the drive timing in the block drive order in FIG. 4 is always block 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → for all print heads IJH. The blocks of the print head IJH are driven in the drive order of 8 → 9 → 10 → 11 → 12 → 13 → 14 → 15.
[0053]
For this reason, it is not possible to reduce the variation in the landing position of the recording head due to the variation in the nozzle discharge ports generated in the manufacturing process of the nozzles, and it is not possible to eliminate the deterioration in image quality due to the variation in the manufacturing of the nozzle discharge ports. .
[0054]
[When ID Number is Recorded in Non-Volatile Memory: FIG. 12]
Note that reading the block drive order data stored in the nonvolatile memory 107 described with reference to FIG. 1 and performing one column recording processing by the divided block selection circuit is an example, and another example may be used.
[0055]
For example, instead of the nonvolatile memory 107 in FIG. 1, a drive block order table indicating the optimum drive block order (for example, 16 patterns) of each recording head as shown in FIG. Only the ID number (eg, address number) of the ROM 108 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 107 of the recording head IJH of FIG. 1 so that the table indicating the drive block order stored in the ROM 108 or the like can be accessed. You may make it.
[0056]
In this case, based on the ID number read from the nonvolatile memory 107, the CPU 105 determines the optimal recording drive block order (for example, 16 patterns) of each recording head stored from the ROM 108 or the like corresponding to the ID number. The driving block order table shown may be read and used.
[0057]
Further, as an ID number stored in the nonvolatile memory 107, a test print of a recording head manufactured at the time of factory shipment is performed, and an optimum drive block order obtained by the test print is selected from the patterns stored in the ROM 108. Next, an electric load is applied to the nonvolatile memory of the manufactured print head IJH so that the 4-bit ID corresponding to the optimal drive block order is stored in the nonvolatile memory 107. Further, the print head IJH is connected to the inkjet printer. At the time of mounting, the drive block order corresponding to the 4-bit ID read from the nonvolatile memory by the CPU 105 may be read from the ROM 108 and set in the printer data memory 102. Even in this manner, the object of the present patent can be achieved.
[0058]
[Another Recording Process Using ID Number: FIG. 11]
FIG. 12 shows a recording process by the divided block selection circuit of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 using the ID numbers of FIG. 11 described above.
[0059]
In this case, the non-volatile memory 107 in FIG. 1 stores the optimum drive block order for the print head manufactured at the time of shipment from the factory, and the ROM 108 and the like in the ink jet printer main body store each print head shown in FIG. It is assumed that a drive block order table indicating an optimum drive block order (for example, 16 patterns) is stored in advance together with an ID number.
[0060]
In step S501, the CPU 105 reads an ID number from the nonvolatile memory 107 of the print head IJH, reads block drive order data corresponding to the ID number from the ROM 105, and writes the data in the print data memory 102.
[0061]
Next, in step S502, block data (block enable signal) is read from the print data memory 102 using the print timing signal as a trigger, and print data corresponding to the block data (block enable signal) is read from the print data memory 102 and printed. Transfer to head IJH.
[0062]
Next, in step S503, if there is the next block data (block enable signal), the process returns to step S502 to continue the above-described processing. If there is no next block data in step S503, the process returns to step S504. After the recording of one column is performed, the process proceeds to step S505 to end a series of operations.
[0063]
Note that a typical configuration and principle of the ink jet printer of the present embodiment is preferably performed using the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it corresponds to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the information to be recorded and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the arranged electrothermal transducer, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and the recording is performed. This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the head, and as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis are formed.
[0064]
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 in a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.
[0065]
As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.
[0066]
As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid flow path or the right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting surface The configurations described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose the configuration in which the is bent, are also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, or an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is discharged. A configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to each unit, may be adopted.
[0067]
In addition, not only the cartridge-type recording head in which the ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, but also the electric connection with the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip-type recording head that can supply ink from the apparatus main body may be used.
[0068]
Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like to the configuration of the printing apparatus described above, since the printing operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or sucking means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. It is also effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection that is different from printing, in order to perform stable printing.
[0069]
Further, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, and may be a printing head integrally formed or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The device may be provided with at least one of the full colors.
[0070]
In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid.However, even if the ink solidifies at room temperature or below, an ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Alternatively, in the ink jet system, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. It is sufficient if the ink is sometimes in a liquid state.
[0071]
In addition, to prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy from being used as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or to prevent the ink from evaporating, the ink solidifies in a standing state. Alternatively, ink that liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used.
[0072]
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.
[0073]
[Other embodiments]
Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus to store the storage medium. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the program. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0074]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, and the like can be used.
[0075]
When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0076]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.
[0077]
When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowchart (shown in FIG. 15).
[0078]
As described above, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment, for example, the optimal drive block order set for each recording head at the time of shipment from the factory is stored in the nonvolatile memory in the recording head. Developing the read drive block order into a rewritable memory and driving each block of the print head in the drive order stored in the rewritable memory to obtain an optimum image quality for each print head Can be.
[0079]
【The invention's effect】
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, according to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink, an ink jet recording apparatus that can reduce deterioration in image quality due to a manufacturing process of a nozzle that discharges ink, and a control method thereof Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a divided block selection circuit according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional divided block selection circuit.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a recording head of an inkjet recording method.
FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating drive timing of a recording head when a conventional divided block selection circuit is used.
FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating drive timing of a print head when the divided block selection circuit according to the embodiment is used.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of block drive order data stored in a block drive order data memory.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a recording head of an ink jet recording system, and explains a pattern in which ink droplets are discharged from the recording head to a recording medium.
FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an external perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink cartridge IJC.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a recording process for one column using the divided block selection circuit according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of another example illustrating a recording process for one column using the divided block selection circuit of the embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the order of driving blocks stored in a ROM according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
Recording medium recording head 500 Discharge port 10a Ink path 10b Common liquid chamber 11 Electrothermal converter 12 Bubbles 13 Ink droplet 101 Block drive order memory 102 Print data memory 103 Data transfer CLK generator 104 Print data transfer circuit 105 CPU
106 recording head 107 non-volatile memory 108 ROM
201 Block drive order data 202 Print data memory 203 Data transfer CLK generator 204 Print data transfer circuit 205 Print head

Claims (10)

An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an inkjet recording head having a plurality of recording elements to a recording medium,
A time-division driving unit that divides the plurality of recording elements into a plurality of blocks and time-divisionally drives the plurality of recording elements in the block unit;
A memory that is provided in the recording head and stores information about a driving order of blocks when the plurality of recording elements are driven in a time-division manner;
Control means for controlling the drive order of the blocks by the time-division drive means using information on the drive order of the blocks read from the memory;
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first storage unit outside the recording head, wherein the control unit stores information on a drive order of the blocks read from the memory in the first storage unit. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile memory. 4. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information on the drive order of the blocks is a table indicating the drive order of the blocks. 5. A second storage unit outside the recording head, wherein the information on the drive order of the blocks is an ID number for accessing the second storage unit in which a table indicating the drive order of the blocks is stored. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The control unit controls the time-division driving unit by reading and using a table indicating a drive order of the blocks stored in correspondence with the ID number from the second storage unit based on the ID number. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: 4. The printing head according to claim 1, wherein the printing head is a printing head that ejects ink by using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. 5. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of 4. A method for controlling an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an inkjet recording head having a plurality of recording elements onto a recording medium,
The print head includes a memory that stores information on a drive order of blocks when the plurality of print elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and the plurality of print elements are time-divisionally driven in block units.
A time-division driving step of time-divisionally driving the plurality of printing elements in the block unit,
A control step of controlling the drive order of the blocks by the time-division drive step using information on the drive order of the blocks read from the memory;
A method for controlling an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: A control program for an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an inkjet recording head having a plurality of recording elements to a recording medium,
The recording head includes a memory that stores information on a drive order of blocks when the plurality of recording elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and the plurality of recording elements are time-divisionally driven in block units.
The control program includes:
A time-division driving step of time-divisionally driving the plurality of printing elements in the block unit,
A control step of controlling the drive order of the blocks by the time-division drive step using information on the drive order of the blocks read from the memory;
A control program characterized by executing A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program of an inkjet printing apparatus that performs printing by discharging ink from an inkjet print head having a plurality of printing elements to a printing medium,
The print head includes a memory that stores information on a drive order of blocks when the plurality of print elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and the plurality of print elements are time-divisionally driven in block units.
The control program includes:
A time-division driving step of time-divisionally driving the plurality of printing elements in the block unit,
A control step of controlling the drive order of the blocks by the time-division drive step using information on the drive order of the blocks read from the memory;
And a computer-readable storage medium storing a control program.

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