JP2014076612A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of sometimes erroneously detecting the width of a recording medium when performing an operation for detecting the paper width of a recording medium with an ink deposit existing on a platen, and of making a scanning distance of a recording head longer than necessary to have the possibility of deteriorating throughput when performing a preliminary discharge operation at a position corresponding to the erroneously detected width of the recording medium.SOLUTION: An operation for detecting a deposit on the platen is performed while a recording medium is not subjected to paper feeding, if an area in which an output value outputted from a light-emitting element is equal to or greater than a threshold exits, an elimination operation of an ink deposit is performed. Consequently, the width of the recording medium can be prevented from being erroneously detected, and the deterioration in throughput can be prevented.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that detects an end position of a recording medium using an optical detection sensor.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, if printing is not performed for a predetermined period, there is a possibility that the ink in the nozzles of the recording head thickens and cannot be ejected normally. For this reason, even during the recording operation, the nozzle state is kept good by performing a preliminary discharge operation for periodically discharging the ink in the nozzles.

  If the position for performing the preliminary ejection operation is too close to the end of the recording medium, there is a possibility that the preliminary ejected ink may adhere to the recording medium and stain the recording medium. On the other hand, if the position for performing the preliminary ejection operation from the recording medium is too far, the scanning distance of the recording head becomes long and the throughput is lowered. Therefore, it is necessary to set the position for performing the preliminary ejection operation to an appropriate position corresponding to the width of the recording medium. As a method for determining such an appropriate preliminary discharge position, a method disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be cited. In Patent Document 1, an optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided on a carriage, the presence or absence of a recording medium is detected based on the amount of reflected light reflected by the recording medium, and the end position is specified. It is disclosed that the preliminary discharge operation is performed at a position based on the end position.

  By the way, the ink preliminarily ejected by the ink jet recording apparatus can be received by the absorber on the platen. However, depending on the type of the ink preliminarily ejected, the ink adheres on the absorber and accumulates in a residue-like state. May end up. When the operation of detecting the presence or absence of a recording medium on such an absorber is performed, the presence of the recording medium is erroneously detected despite the absence of the recording medium due to the influence of reflected light reflected from the surface of the ink deposit. There is a possibility of misrecognizing that the width is larger than the actual width. If the preliminary ejection position is controlled to be performed at the outer preliminary ejection position or the cap position in a state of being erroneously recognized, it becomes necessary to scan the carriage more than necessary, resulting in a decrease in throughput.

  For this reason, it is necessary to remove such ink deposits, and there is a technique for detecting the height of the ink deposits and removing the accumulated ink when it is detected that the height exceeds a predetermined level. It is disclosed in Patent Document 2.

JP 2002-205390 A JP 2004-167945 A

  However, even if the deposit of ink is not higher than the predetermined height, if the reflectivity of the deposit surface is equal to or higher than the reflectivity of the surface of the recording medium, the detection operation is performed on the platen. There is concern that a recording medium may be erroneously detected.

  Therefore, the present invention prevents the occurrence of erroneous detection of the width of the recording medium due to the deposit of ink when detecting the presence or absence of the recording medium using an optical sensor, and is capable of preventing a decrease in throughput. The object is to provide a high ink jet recording apparatus.

  In order to achieve such an object, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head that discharges a plurality of types of ink to perform recording on a recording medium, and an optical detection unit that includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The recording head and the detection means are mounted, the scanning means for reciprocating scanning in the first direction, the support member disposed in the area scanned by the recording head and supporting the recording medium, and the detection means Predischarge control means for controlling to perform a predischarge operation from the recording head on the support member at a position outside the end position of the recorded recording medium, and feeding the recording medium If there is an area where the output value from the light receiving element of the detecting means is acquired while the scanning means is scanned in the first direction in a state where the output value is not greater than the threshold value, of It is characterized by comprising a control means for controlling to perform the work.

  In this way, by acquiring the output value from the light receiving element of the detection means in a state where the recording medium is not fed, the presence or absence of ink deposits is determined, and control is performed to perform the ink deposit removing operation. In addition, erroneous detection of the width of the recording medium due to ink deposits can be prevented. As a result, a highly reliable ink jet recording apparatus that can prevent a decrease in throughput can be provided.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining an internal mechanism of the recording apparatus main body according to the present invention. It is the schematic of the platen and platen absorber which concern on this invention. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. It is a figure explaining detection operation by a paper width detection sensor. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an ink tank is attached to the head cartridge. It is a figure which shows the case where there is no deposit of ink. It is a figure which shows the output value from the paper width detection sensor when there is no ink deposit. It is a figure which shows the case where there exists a deposit of ink. It is a figure which shows the output value from the paper width detection sensor in case there exists a deposit of ink. It is a flowchart for demonstrating deposit detection operation | movement and removal operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the output value from the paper width detection sensor in the state which does not feed, and when there exists a deposit of ink.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. In the following, as an application example of the present invention, an inkjet printing apparatus (inkjet recording apparatus) and a printing system (recording system) using the inkjet printing apparatus will be described.

(1) Basic Configuration First, the basic configuration of the inkjet printing apparatus of the present invention will be described. Here, a so-called serial scan type printer (inkjet printer) will be described as an example.

(1-1) Print Operation Mechanism FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a configuration example of a main part of an inkjet printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

  In FIG. 1, a conveyance roller 101 that conveys a recording medium is rotatably attached. A platen 102 is disposed at the entrance where the recording medium is conveyed. The platen 102 is attached to the chassis 103 and positioned. A detailed configuration of the platen 102 will be described later. A recording head 402 (FIG. 5) is provided on the downstream side of the conveying roller 101 in the recording medium conveying direction.

  The carriage unit includes a carriage 104 for mounting a recording head, and the carriage 104 is supported by a guide shaft 105 and a guide rail 106. The guide shaft 105 is attached to the chassis 103 and guides and supports the carriage 104 so as to reciprocate in the direction perpendicular to the recording medium conveyance direction (first direction). The guide rail 106 is formed integrally with the chassis 103, and holds the rear end of the carriage 104 and serves to maintain a gap between the recording head 402 and the recording medium.

  A carriage encoder scale (not shown) for detecting the position of the carriage 104 is provided. On the carriage encoder scale, markings are formed at a pitch of 150 lpi to 300 lpi. An encoder sensor for reading the marking is provided on a carriage substrate (not shown) mounted on the carriage 104. The carriage substrate is also provided with a head contact (not shown) for electrical connection with the recording head 402. In addition, a flexible cable (not shown) for transmitting a drive signal from the electric board to the recording head 402 is connected to the carriage 104.

  Further, a paper width detection sensor 107 including an optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element is attached to the carriage 104 for detecting a paper width of a recording result or a paper edge. The paper width detection sensor 107 can detect the current position of the carriage 104 by emitting light from the light emitting element and receiving the reflected light. A detailed configuration of the paper width detection sensor 107 will be described later.

  When an image is formed on a recording medium in the above configuration, the conveyance roller 101 conveys and positions the recording medium with respect to the position in the row direction. Further, with respect to the position in the row direction, the carriage 104 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction by a carriage motor (not shown), and the recording head 402 is arranged at a target image forming position. The positioned recording head 402 ejects ink to the recording medium in accordance with a signal from an electric substrate (not shown). A detailed configuration of the recording head 402 will be described later. In the recording apparatus of the present embodiment, recording main scanning in which the carriage 104 scans in the column direction while recording is performed by the recording head 402 and sub-scanning in which the recording medium is conveyed in the row direction by the conveyance roller 101 are alternately repeated. . Thus, an image is formed on the recording medium.

  The recovery unit 108 performs a recovery process on the head cartridge 401, and is configured by a recovery system unit. The recovery system unit includes a cleaning unit that removes foreign matters attached to the nozzle surface of the recording head 402, a capping unit that prevents drying of the ink supplied to the nozzles, and the like. Further, by providing a suction means for sucking in a state of being capped by the capping means, a recovery process for normalizing the ink flow path from the ink tank 403 to the recording element substrate of the recording head 402 can be performed.

(1-2) Platen Part FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the platen part shown in FIG. The platen portion is provided at a position facing the nozzle surface of the recording head, and is used as a support member that supports the recording medium in order to keep a constant distance between the nozzle surface of the recording head and the recording surface of the recording medium. Such a platen portion includes a platen 102 and a platen absorber 109, and has a configuration as shown in FIG. In marginless recording in which recording is performed up to the edge of the recording medium, in order to leave no margin on the recording medium, an overflow area is provided and ink is ejected. The amount of protrusion is set to an amount that allows recording so as not to leave a margin on the recording medium, taking into account the conveyance error of the recording medium and the maximum error amount due to skew feeding and paper feeding. The ink that protrudes from the recording medium is ejected onto the platen absorber 109. That is, the platen absorber 109 is disposed over almost the entire scanning area of the recording head.

  In this configuration, the preliminary ejection operation is performed during printing. The preliminary ejection operation is an operation for ejecting ink to the outside of the recording medium for the purpose of preventing the ink in the nozzles of the recording head from drying out and causing no ejection. Such a preliminary ejection operation is performed by a cap provided in the recovery unit 108 of the recording apparatus in the case of a wide recording medium. However, in the case of a recording medium with a narrow width, if the carriage 104 is moved to the cap position for each preliminary ejection operation, the scanning distance associated with the preliminary ejection operation is extended, resulting in a decrease in throughput. Therefore, by performing the preliminary ejection operation on the platen absorber 109, it is possible to shorten the scanning distance associated with the preliminary ejection operation and prevent the throughput from being lowered. The operation of preliminarily discharging to the platen absorber 109 is referred to as a platen preliminary discharging operation.

(1-3) Configuration Example of Control Circuit FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of the control circuit in such an ink jet printing apparatus.

  The controller 200 as the main control unit includes, for example, a CPU 202 in the form of a microcomputer, and a ROM 204 that stores programs, required tables, and other fixed data. The controller 200 further includes a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM 206 for storing output values such as sensors, and a RAM 208 provided with an area for developing image data, an area for work, and the like. The CPU 202 executes processing for paper edge detection, which will be described later. The host device 211 is a supply source of image data, and may be in the form of a reader unit for image reading, in addition to a computer for creating and processing data such as images related to printing. Image data, other commands, status signals, and the like are transmitted to and received from the controller 200 via an interface (I / F) 212.

  The operation unit 220 is a switch group that receives an instruction input from the operator. Specifically, a power switch 222, a switch 224 for instructing the start of printing, a recovery switch 226 for instructing activation of a suction recovery operation for the recording head 402, and a deposition calibration switch 228 for removing deposits are provided. Have. The sensor group 230 is a sensor group for detecting the state of the apparatus, and includes a paper width detection sensor 107, a temperature sensor 134 provided in an appropriate part for detecting the environmental temperature, and the like.

  The head driver 240 is a driver that drives the recording head 402 and a recording element that generates energy for ejecting ink in accordance with print data or the like. The motor driver 250 is a driver for driving the main scanning motor 251. The sub-scanning motor 261 is a motor used for transporting the recording medium 110 (moving in the sub-scanning direction), and the motor driver 260 is a driver for driving it. The recovery processing unit 270 is a processing unit that recovers the recording head 402 according to the recovery switch 226 and the like.

(1-4) Paper Width Detection Sensor FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the paper width detection sensor 107 shown in FIG. The paper width detection sensor 107 according to the present embodiment functions effectively as a paper width detection sensor, and performs a detection operation for both a test pattern for obtaining a dot position adjustment value and a test pattern for paper width detection. is there.

  The paper width detection sensor 107 is attached to the carriage 104 as described above, and is an optical detection sensor having a light emitting element 301 and a light receiving element 302. Light (incident light Iin) 303 emitted from the light emitting element 301 is reflected by the surface of the recording medium 110 or the like, and the reflected light (Iref) 304 can be detected by the light receiving element 302. A detection signal (analog signal) of the reflected light 304 is transmitted to a control circuit on the electric board of the printing apparatus via a flexible cable (not shown), and converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter in the control circuit. . Here, the presence or absence of the recording medium can be detected by comparing the output value of the signal with the determination level. Since the position where such a detection operation is performed is a position corresponding to the platen absorber of the platen portion, the position is performed on the platen absorber when there is no recording medium.

  The position of the carriage 104 to which the paper width detection sensor 107 is attached is set to a position deviated from the locus on which the nozzles of the recording head move during print scanning in order to prevent adhesion of ink droplets. As the paper width detection sensor 107, a sensor having a relatively low resolution can be used, thereby reducing the cost.

(1-5) Recording head configuration.
The configuration of the head cartridge 401 applied in the present embodiment will be described below. The head cartridge 401 in this embodiment has a recording head 402, a means for mounting the ink tank 403, and a means for supplying ink from the ink tank 403 to the recording head. A nozzle array consisting of a plurality of nozzles is provided for each color on the nozzle surface of the recording head, and printing operation is performed by ejecting ink by the energy generated by the recording elements provided for each nozzle. Is called.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the ink tank 403 is attached to the head cartridge 401 applied in the present embodiment. The recording apparatus of the present embodiment forms an image with 10 color pigment inks.

  The ten colors are cyan (C), light cyan (Lc), magenta (M), light magenta (Lm), yellow (Y), first black (K1), second black (K2), red (R), and green. (G) and Gray. Therefore, ink tanks 403 for these 10 colors are prepared independently. As shown in the figure, each ink tank 403 is detachable from the head cartridge 401. The ink tank 403 can be attached and detached while the head cartridge 401 is mounted on the carriage 104.

(1-6) Ink Configuration The 10 color inks used in the present invention will be described below.

  The ten colors used in the present invention are cyan (C), light cyan (Lc), magenta (M), light magenta (Lm), yellow (Y), first black (K1), second black (K2), Gray (Gray), Red (R) and Green (G). All of the colorants used for each color are preferably pigments. Here, in order to disperse the pigment, a known general dispersant may be used, or the pigment surface may be modified by a known general method to impart self-dispersibility. In the gist of the present invention, the colorant used for at least some of the colors may be a dye. Further, the colorant used for at least some of the colors may be in the form of toning pigments and dyes, and a plurality of types of pigments may be included. Further, the 10-color ink used in the present invention may contain at least one selected from water-soluble organic solvents, additives, surfactants, binders, and preservatives within the scope of the present invention. .

  When the ink described above is ejected toward the platen absorber, ink deposits may be generated on the platen absorber. This occurs when the ink is discharged onto the platen absorber and does not penetrate and remains on the surface of the platen absorber. The ink contains a coloring material with low solubility, and the viscosity rises greatly during evaporation. This is likely to occur with ink that has reduced fluidity.

(1-7) Paper Width Detection Operation The paper width detection operation is performed by checking whether the width information of the recording medium acquired from the image data input via the interface or the like matches the width of the recording medium actually fed. This is done to determine In this configuration, the preliminary discharge operation for performing the platen preliminary discharge operation at a position corresponding to the width of the recording medium detected by the paper width detection operation, that is, a position outside the end position of the recording medium detected by the paper width detection operation. Control is taking place.

  The paper width detection operation using the optical means used in the present invention will be described for the case where there is no ink deposit on the platen absorber 109 and the case where there is an ink deposit.

  The paper width detection operation when there is no ink deposit will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a paper width detection operation performed in a paper feeding state when there is no ink deposit. In FIG. 6, 104 is a carriage, 107 is a paper width detection sensor, 109 is a platen absorber, and 110 is a recording medium. Whether the platen absorber is detected by the difference in the output value (output level) of the output signal based on the reflected light received by the light receiving element when the carriage 104 is moved in the scanning direction with the paper width detection sensor 107 enabled. A paper width detection operation is performed by detecting the recording medium.

  The platen absorber is provided with a sponge-like member made of a black resin material, and has a lower reflectance than the recording medium. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the platen absorber is detected or the recording medium is detected based on the difference in the electrical output level based on the reflected light received by the light receiving element. If the surface of the platen 102 is provided so that the reflectance is smaller than that of the recording medium, the presence or absence of the recording medium can be detected on the platen 102.

  Then, the output value by the detection operation is compared with a predetermined threshold, and if the output value is larger than the threshold, it is detected that there is a recording medium, and if the output value is smaller than the threshold, it is determined that there is no recording medium. Can do. Alternatively, it is determined that the recording medium is detected if the output value is equal to the comparison value obtained by measuring in advance with the recording medium present, and the platen is detected if the output value is smaller than the comparison value. It can be determined that the absorber has been detected. Alternatively, the output value of the platen absorber can be measured and stored in advance at the time of shipment from the factory, and this value can be compared with the output value for determination.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the output value of the paper width detection sensor in the paper feeding state when there is no ink deposit. In order to determine that the width of the fed recording medium is the same as the width of the recording medium obtained from the image data, the position a at the center of the recording medium, the position b inside the recording medium edge determined from the image data, What is necessary is just to compare the output value of the position c outside the recording medium obtained from image data. A recording medium in which the width of the fed recording medium is obtained from the image data if it is detected that the recording medium is larger than the determination level at the position a and the position b and is smaller than the determination level at the position c and no recording medium is detected. It can be determined that the paper width is normal. If it is detected that the recording medium is present at position a but no recording medium is detected at position b, it is determined that the width of the recording medium is smaller than the width of the recording medium obtained from the image data, and the recording operation is performed. It can be controlled to stop.

  If it is detected that the recording medium is present at position a, position b, and position c, it is determined that the width of the recording medium 110 is larger than the width of the image data. In such a case, even if it is on the recording medium, it is out of the frame when viewed from the image data, so there is a possibility that the platen preliminary ejection operation is performed on the recording medium. For this reason, when it is determined that the detected recording width is larger than the width of the image data, control is performed so that the preliminary ejection operation is further performed at the outer position or cap, and the platen preliminary ejection operation is performed on the recording medium. The platen preliminary discharge erroneous printing prevention control is performed to prevent this.

  Next, how to determine when there is an ink deposit will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of paper width detection in a paper feeding state when there is an ink deposit. In FIG. 8, 104 is a carriage, 107 is a paper width detection sensor, 109 is a platen absorber, 110 is a recording medium, and 111 is an ink deposit. With the paper width detection sensor 107 enabled, the carriage 104 moves in the scanning direction and the output of the signal based on the reflected light received by the light receiving element detects whether the platen absorber is detected or the recording medium is detected. Performs paper width detection.

  FIG. 9 is an output explanatory diagram of the paper width detection sensor in the paper feeding state when there is an ink deposit. When there is an ink deposit 111 at a position c outside the recording medium obtained from the image data, the light reflected by the surface of the ink deposit and the light receiving element are detected, and this output level is equal to or higher than the determination level. May be judged as having a recording medium.

  That is, the presence of the recording medium is erroneously detected at the positions a, b, and c, and the recording medium 110 is erroneously recognized as being wider than the width of the image data. If the platen preliminary discharge erroneous printing prevention control is performed based on such a detection result, the preliminary discharge operation is performed at a further outer position or cap, so that the scanning distance becomes longer than necessary and the throughput decreases. It will be.

  The present invention performs a paper width detection operation of a recording medium without feeding the recording medium, determines whether ink has accumulated, and removes the ink deposit when it is determined that there is an ink deposit. By performing the operation, erroneous recognition of the width of the recording medium is prevented. Control during such ink deposit confirmation operation and removal operation will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Such an operation for confirming and removing the ink deposit is performed in a state where the recording medium is not fed, such as before feeding the recording medium or after the recording medium is discharged.

  First, in step S101, light emission from the light receiving element of the paper width detection sensor is started at the end position (home side position) of the platen absorber 109, and the paper width detection sensor is validated. Specifically, it is preferable that the carriage 104 is scanned away from the cap side (home side) position, and the paper width detection sensor is enabled at the timing when the detection sensor is applied to the end of the platen absorber. At this time, the position of the carriage 104 can be grasped based on the encoder scale position.

  In step S102, the output signal of the paper width detection sensor is acquired while scanning the carriage 104 from the end position on the home side of the platen absorber 109 to the end position on the way side of the platen absorber. The output value of such an output signal can be stored in the EEPROM 206.

  In step S103, it is determined whether there is a region whose output value is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Such a threshold value may be the same value as the determination level when determining the presence or absence of the recording medium, but by setting the threshold value to be equal to or less than the determination level, deposits can be detected before erroneous detection occurs. If there is an area that is equal to or greater than the threshold, there is a high possibility of erroneous detection when performing the paper width detection operation of the recording medium. FIG. 11 shows the output value from the detection sensor when there is no ink deposit and the sheet is not fed. It can be seen that an output is generated at a position corresponding to the position where the ink deposit 111 is present. If there is no area equal to or greater than the threshold, there is no possibility of erroneous detection, and the flowchart is terminated.

  Hereinafter, the deposit removing operation in step S104 will be described.

  The ten colors of ink used in this embodiment can be divided into ink that is likely to deposit on the platen and ink that is difficult to deposit. The inks that are easily deposited are four colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and first black (K1), and these are the first ink group as the ink group that easily deposits. However, in the present embodiment, the first black (K1) is not used for borderless recording, and is an ink dedicated to a special recording medium such as art paper. Therefore, there is no opportunity to discharge onto the platen absorber. The deposition of 1 black (K1) is not considered.

  On the other hand, light cyan (Lc), light magenta (Lm), first black (K1), red (R), green (G), and gray (Gray) inks other than the ink that easily accumulates have platen absorption. Phenomena that accumulate on the body are unlikely to occur. Furthermore, these six colors of ink have an effect of dissolving the deposit when mixed with the ink which is easily deposited or when applied on the ink deposit. An ink group that easily dissolves deposits of these first ink groups is referred to as a second ink group.

  In this embodiment, the ink deposit is removed by dissolving the ink deposit by discharging the ink of the second ink group to the ink deposit. That is, the ink deposit is removed by performing the ejection operation (deposit removal operation) of the second ink group in the scanning region that is equal to or higher than the threshold value by the deposit detection operation.

  By removing the ink deposits on the platen absorber in this way, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of the paper width accompanying ink accumulation and to prevent a decrease in throughput during the preliminary ejection operation.

  In S102, the detection region is detected as the entire region of the platen absorber 109 while scanning the carriage 104 from the end position on the home side of the platen absorber 109 to the end position on the way side of the platen absorber. Went. However, the region where the deposit detection operation is performed can be limited to a region where deposits determined based on the image data are likely to occur. Thus, by narrowing the region where the deposit detection operation is performed, the amount of output data of the paper width detection sensor can be reduced and the analysis time can be shortened.

  Such an operation is preferably performed every time the amount of marginless recording on the platen absorber and the integrated amount of the platen preliminary discharge amount, that is, the amount of waste ink discharged onto the platen exceeds a certain amount.

  The timing for performing the deposit detection operation and the deposit removal operation is preferably performed every time the integrated amount of the borderless recording amount to the platen absorber in the recording region and the platen preliminary discharge amount exceeds a certain amount. As another example, the platen absorber is divided into predetermined areas, and the marginless recording amount and the platen preliminary discharge amount are integrated for each area. Also good.

  Further, the total amount of the marginless recording amount to the platen absorber and the platen preliminary ejection amount may be the sum of all the inks that are easily deposited or may be determined for each kind of ink that is easily deposited.

  In addition, when performing for every kind of ink which is easy to deposit, you may weight according to the kind of ink.

  In addition, since the amount of ink deposit may vary depending on the environmental temperature, the marginless recording amount to the platen absorber and the integrated amount of the platen preliminary discharge amount may be weighted according to the environmental temperature. Good.

  In addition, since the amount of ink deposits may vary depending on the environmental humidity, the marginless recording amount on the platen absorber and the integrated amount of the platen preliminary discharge amount may be weighted according to the environmental humidity. Good.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the operation is terminated after the removal operation is performed. However, the deposit detection operation and the removal operation may be repeated until the output value becomes less than the threshold value. In addition, there is a possibility that something other than deposits is in the platen absorber, so after repeating the deposit detection operation and removal operation a certain number of times, the user is notified that there may be foreign matter other than ink on the platen. May be.

  Further, as a mechanism for the user himself to remove the ink deposits on the platen absorber, a configuration may be adopted in which the deposition is removed from the deposition calibration switch of the operation unit.

  In addition, “recording” used in the present specification is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and graphics, but may be significant or insignificant. In addition, a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium, or a medium is processed, regardless of whether or not it is manifested so that a human can perceive it visually.

  In addition, the “recording medium” used in the present specification is not only paper used in general recording apparatuses, but also widely, vinyl, cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, etc. Also included are those that can accept ink.

  In addition, the term “ink” used in this specification is to be interpreted widely, and is applied to a recording medium to form an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like, or process the recording medium, Represents a liquid that can be subjected to processing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Platen 104 Carriage 107 Detection sensor 109 Platen absorber 110 Recording medium 111 Ink deposit 301 Light emitting element 302 Light receiving element 402 Recording head

Claims (13)

A recording head for recording on a recording medium by discharging a plurality of types of ink;
An optical detection means comprising a light emitting element and a light receiving element;
A scanning unit that mounts the recording head and the detection unit and reciprocally scans in a first direction;
A support member disposed in a region where the recording head scans and supporting a recording medium;
Inkjet recording comprising: preliminary ejection control means for controlling the preliminary ejection operation from the recording head on the support member at a position outside the end position of the recording medium detected by the detection means. A device,
When there is an area where the output value from the light receiving element of the detection means is acquired while scanning the scanning means in the first direction without feeding a recording medium, and the output value is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The ink jet recording apparatus further comprises control means for controlling the ink deposit removal operation.   2. The deposit removal operation is an operation of ejecting, from the recording head, ink that easily dissolves other inks among the plurality of types of ink to the support member. Inkjet recording apparatus.   The deposit removal operation is an operation of ejecting, from the recording head, ink that easily dissolves other inks among the plurality of types of ink to the region of the support member. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to 2.   4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end position of the recording medium is detected by comparing an output value acquired by the detecting unit with a comparison value. 5.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the threshold value is smaller than the comparison value.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflectance at the position of the support member detected by the detection unit is smaller than that of the recording medium.   The reflectance of the ink deposit deposited on the supporting member is larger than the reflectance at the position of the supporting member detected by the detecting unit. The ink jet recording apparatus described. The support member has an absorber that absorbs ink;
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preliminary ejection operation is performed by ejecting ink on the absorber.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the output value from the light receiving element of the detection unit is acquired in the entire region where the absorber is provided.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the output value from the light receiving element of the detection unit is acquired in a detection region determined based on image data.   11. The control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the control unit determines a timing for acquiring an output value from the light receiving element of the detection unit based on an amount of waste ink discharged to the support member. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to item 1.   12. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit repeats the acquisition of the output value from the light receiving element and the removal operation until the output value of the light receiving element becomes less than a threshold value. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the above. If the output value of the light receiving element does not become less than the threshold value even after the acquisition of the output value from the light receiving element of the detecting means and the removal operation is repeated a predetermined number of times, the control means The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a notification that there is a possibility that there is a foreign object is provided.

Images