JPH11138818A - Head, recording device loading this head, individual head distinction method and distinction information application method to head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distinguish more heads with a small count of terminals by setting a driving signal line having a driving terminal for reception of signal to drive a head from an apparatus and connecting the driving signal line electrically to a distinction terminal. SOLUTION: 128 heaters (segments) are arranged in two rows in a bubble-jet type printing head, and nozzles are set corresponding to the heaters. All nozzles are divided to 16 blocks which are selected by four terminals 10-13 of BE0-BE3. Driving signal lines of the four terminals is connected to an ID terminal (distinction terminal) 14. When heads are to be distinguished, the ID terminal 14 of the head is read first. Then a driving signal is sent sequentially to the terminals 10-13 of the BE0-BE3 of the head connected to the ID terminal 14, and the ID terminal 14 is read every time. Heads are distinguished simply by monitoring an output signal from the ID terminal 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a recording head having a function for identifying each recording head and a recording apparatus equipped with the recording head.

In the present invention, "recording" means not only giving an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure to a recording medium but also giving an image having no meaning such as a pattern. Also means.

[0003] The present invention also provides a printer, a copier, a facsimile having a communication system, and a printer for recording on a recording medium such as paper, thread, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, and the like. The present invention is applicable to an apparatus such as a word processor having a section, and an industrial recording apparatus combined with various processing apparatuses.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus has been constructed so that various recording heads and scanners can be exchangeably mounted in order to meet various requirements. As an example of this, for example, a scanner unit for optically reading a document is prepared in a substantially similar shape to a recording head, and is used in exchange for a print head. Or by replacing a head with a different type of ink and mounting the same, recording with different image quality can be performed.

[0005] As another example, in order to correct manufacturing variations of the recording head, optimal driving conditions and the like of the recording head are stored in the recording head at the time of manufacturing the recording head, and these conditions are stored in the recording apparatus. Is automatically read and identified, and driving conditions and the like are automatically set.

Further, as another example, there is a case in which the heads corresponding to a plurality of recording apparatuses are manufactured to have similar shapes in order to share components between the heads. In this case, it is necessary to identify each head individually so as not to cause erroneous mounting of the head to each recording apparatus.

[0007] In order to meet the various requirements as described above,
It is desired that the recording head be provided with means capable of identifying more types.

Various methods have been used to satisfy such requirements. The first method is to provide a plurality of solid-state identification terminals as terminals for electrically connecting the recording head and the recording apparatus, and connect these terminals to ground or a power source for each type of recording head, thereby achieving a low level. Alternatively, it is a method of identifying as a high level. In this method, by providing n terminals, it is possible to identify 2 n powers.

However, in this method, many contacts are required to perform a large number of identifications. This not only increases the cost of both the recording head and printing device, but also
There is a problem that the reliability is reduced with an increase in the number of contacts.

As a second method, there is a method in which one contact is electrically set to a multi-stage state in order to identify a plurality of states. The simplest method is to provide a resistor in a recording head or the like and identify the resistance value by reading the resistance value with a recording device.

In this method, it is necessary to provide a resistor or the like for identification in the recording head, and it cannot be realized only by the wiring pattern of the contact portion, so that the cost is increased. Further, in consideration of the variation in the contact resistance of the contact portion, etc., the number of identification types cannot be increased significantly. Further, the recording device includes not only a simple logic circuit but also an AD
Expensive circuits such as converters are required.

As a third method, there is a method of performing serial data transfer. This method is performed by providing a circuit for realizing serial transfer in the head. A memory for identification data is secured in the head, and is transferred to the recording device.

According to this method, any large amount of identification information can be transferred using only three terminals of a serial transfer start pulse terminal, a clock terminal, and a data terminal. However, these three terminals are surely required, and a serial transfer circuit for identification information is provided inside, so that the cost increases.

[0014]

In any of the above methods, when a large amount of identification information is provided in the head, a large number of terminals are required, the cost is increased, and the reliability is questioned. Includes issues to be solved.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a large number of ID (identification) terminals and to indicate many states per ID terminal. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost and highly reliable head and device having an identification method. further,
An object of the present invention is to provide a head capable of easily mass-producing recording heads having many kinds of identification information.

[0016]

The main requirement of the head of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that the head is detachably mounted on a recording apparatus and driven, and A drive signal line having a drive terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the side, and the drive drive signal line is electrically connected to an identification terminal.

The main requirements of a recording apparatus for solving the above-mentioned problems are to have the above-mentioned head and a drive signal supply means for supplying a drive signal to a drive signal terminal.

The main requirement of the head individual identification method of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that a driving signal line having a driving terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the apparatus side is provided. A drive drive signal line for supplying a signal to a drive terminal of the head electrically connected to a terminal for identification, and identifying an individual of the head by a signal read from the terminal for identification. It is to do.

The main requirement of the method for assigning identification information to a head according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that a driving terminal having a driving terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the apparatus side is used. For a head in which a signal line and the driving signal line and the terminal for identification are connected by a plurality of wiring patterns, a part of the plurality of wiring patterns is cut to thereby control the head. This is to provide identification information.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the number of drive signal lines originally provided in the head is utilized without providing a special circuit such as a memory or a serial transfer circuit for identification information on the head side. By doing so, it is possible to provide a head or device capable of performing more types of identification.

In the head identification method, many heads can be easily identified simply by supplying a drive signal to a drive signal line and monitoring an output signal from an identification terminal.

In the method of providing identification information to a head, a part of a plurality of wiring patterns is connected to a head in which a driving signal line and an identification terminal are connected by a plurality of wiring patterns. Since identification information can be assigned by electrically disconnecting, identification information can be assigned individually easily and at low cost.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the "element substrate" used hereinafter does not indicate a simple substrate made of a silicon semiconductor, but includes elements, wirings, etc. 3 shows a substrate.

Further, "on the element substrate" indicates not only the element substrate but also the surface of the element substrate and the inside of the element substrate near the surface.

The term "built-in" as used in the present invention is not a term indicating that each of the separate elements is simply placed on the substrate, but rather the element is formed on the element substrate by a semiconductor circuit manufacturing process or the like. It is shown that it is integrally formed and manufactured.

In describing the present invention, first, the schematic configuration of the ink jet recording head of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

On the element base 20, heat is generated by receiving an electric signal, and a plurality of electrothermal conversion elements 4 (heaters) for discharging ink from the discharge port 40 by bubbles generated by the heat are formed. It is arranged in. Each of the electrothermal transducers is provided with a wiring electrode 3 for supplying an electric signal for driving each electrothermal transducer.
A drive signal line having a drive terminal to be described later, a terminal for identification, and the like are provided on the element substrate 20 (omitted in FIG. 1).

Flow paths 41 for supplying ink to the discharge ports 40 provided at positions facing the electrothermal converter are provided corresponding to the respective discharge ports. Walls forming these discharge ports and flow paths are provided in the grooved member 101, and these grooved members 101 are attached to the element base 2.
A common liquid chamber 21 for supplying ink to the flow path 41 and a plurality of flow paths by connecting to zero is provided.

Hereinafter, the element base 20 in which the identification circuit is formed together with the electrothermal conversion element and the wiring electrode will be described in each embodiment.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a connection relationship between an ID identification circuit and an apparatus main body according to an embodiment of the head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of a drive terminal for connecting the head shown in FIG. 2 with the apparatus main body and a crimping pad which is a terminal for identification. Since this element has three element substrates, Data1, Da1
ta2, HE, SHE, Di1A, Di2A. There are three types of pads for A chip, B chip and C chip.

FIG. 4 is a logic diagram of the element base of the head incorporating the circuit shown in FIG.

In this bubble jet type print head, there are 128 heaters (segments) arranged in two rows (SEG0 to 255). A nozzle having a flow path and a discharge port is provided corresponding to the heater as described above. When a large number of nozzles are simultaneously driven in such a head having a large number of nozzles, a large amount of current flows, and there is a possibility that a large voltage drop may hinder ejection. Therefore, in this head, all nozzles are divided into 16 blocks, and the block is selected by four terminals of BE0 terminal 10, BE1 terminal 11, BE2 terminal 12, and BE3 terminal 13. When these four terminal driving force signal lines are connected to the ID terminal 14, the state becomes as shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the case of the identification number 2 is shown.

At the time of head identification, the BE0 terminal 10 shown in FIG.
To BE1 terminal 11, BE2 terminal 12, BE3 terminal 13
, And the type of the head is identified by the signal read from the ID terminal 14 each time.

That is, when the input terminal of the ID terminal reader of the printer body is pulled up, the ID terminal of the head is first read at the time of head identification. Next, the ID
A driving signal is sequentially transmitted to BE0 to BE3 of the head connected to the terminal, and the ID terminal is read each time. When only one drive signal line is connected to the ID terminal, the state of the read ID terminal is always High, always Low (when connected to the ground terminal), and when the signal is transmitted to the connected drive signal line. Only when there is a connected drive signal line, it becomes one of High.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the connection state between the ID identification terminal 14 of the recording head and the driving signal line and the identification number. As can be understood from this table, in the one shown in FIG. 2, all of the wiring patterns between the driving signal lines and the terminals for identification correspond to the identification number 2.

For example, when the wiring pattern between the drive signal line of the BE 1 and the terminal for identification is left uncut and the other wiring pattern is cut, it corresponds to the identification number 4.

FIG. 6 shows the BE0 terminal 10 to the BE3 terminal 13
ID terminal 14 when the High signal is sequentially transmitted four times up to
Shows the output four times. The identification numbers correspond to those in FIG.

In this embodiment, when signals are sent to all the signal lines, the outputs are all High, which indicates that the head is the identification number 2.

According to the configuration of the present invention, no special circuit is used on the head side, and the number of head drive signal lines that may be connected to the ID terminal is up to two. Can be identified.

Further, if the connection between the terminals is made by a pattern of a printed circuit board, a logic circuit is not required, and even if used, a common pattern can be used for different heads. Furthermore, by connecting the ID terminal in advance to all the terminals that may be connected with the pattern and cutting or removing the pattern, a large number of heads having various states can be easily and at low cost. Can produce.

It is desirable that the signal lines used as the driving signal lines to be connected are the following signal lines. A signal line that may send a signal before head identification in order to prevent the head from being driven by the head identification signal. Since the electrical properties of the circuit, such as the capacitance, change due to the wiring, the wiring does not reduce the reliability.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 7 described above is one in which the output of the decoder circuit in FIG. As a result, as in the first embodiment, only the BE0 terminal 10 to the BE3 terminal 13 are used as terminals for outputting signals. However, by connecting the decoding circuit to the ID terminal 10, (2 to the fourth power) + 2 = Eighteen states can be identified. The transmission method is from BE0 terminal 10 to BE3 terminal 1
Up to three terminals are simultaneously output, and the signal level is changed one terminal at a time, thereby sending 16 types of signals. That is,
In this embodiment, in order to connect n of the driving terminals to the ID terminal through a decoding circuit in the head, the terminals are simultaneously transmitted to one or more of the driving terminals, and the terminal to be sequentially transmitted is changed. By reading each time, it is possible to identify up to (2 n) +2 types of states, in addition to the case where it is grounded and the case where it is pulled up and not connected anywhere.

The ID information input terminal of the main body may be pulled down instead of being pulled up. When the pull-down is performed, the ID terminal is connected to the power supply instead of the ground line.

(Third Embodiment) In each of the above embodiments, an example has been described in which one ID terminal is provided, but it is also effective to use a plurality of ID terminals.

For example, in the first embodiment, if the number of ID terminals is two, six types can be identified for each ID terminal, so that 36 × 6 = 36 types of identification are possible.

(Other Embodiments) FIG. 8 is an external view of an example of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the ink jet recording head constructed as described above. The inkjet recording apparatus IJRA is configured to drive the driving force transmitting gears 2020 and 2030 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 2010.
And a lead screw 2040 that rotates through the.
A carriage HC on which an ink jet cartridge IJC in which an ink jet recording head and an ink tank are integrated is mounted, is supported by a carriage shaft 2050 and a lead screw 2040, and a lead screw 204 is provided.
The lead screw 2040 has a pin (not shown) that engages with the zero-shaped groove 2041, and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b with the rotation of the lead screw 2040. Reference numeral 2060 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper P against a platen roller 2070 which constitutes a transport unit that transports the recording medium in the carriage movement direction. Reference numerals 2080 and 2090 denote photocouplers, which confirm the presence of a lever 2100 provided on the carriage HC in this region, and
It operates as a home position detecting means for switching the rotation direction of the motor 10. Reference numeral 2110 denotes a member for capping the entire surface of the recording head, and is supported by a support member 2120. Reference numeral 2130 denotes an absorbing unit for absorbing the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening in the cap. A cleaning blade 2140 for cleaning the end face of the recording head is provided on a member 2150 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 2160. The blade 2140 is not limited to this form, and it goes without saying that a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment. Reference numeral 2170 denotes a lever for recovering the suction of the suction recovery, which is adapted to move with the movement of the cam 2180 engaging with the carriage HC.
Is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching.

The 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 2040 when the carriage HC comes to the home position side area. If the desired operation is performed in any of the above cases, any of the embodiments can be applied.

Further, the ink jet apparatus of the present invention has a drive signal supply means for supplying a signal for driving the heating resistor of the ink jet head of the present invention to the head.

[0050]

According to the present invention, since the drive signal lines are electrically connected to the identification terminals, more heads can be identified with a smaller number of terminals.

Further, the head identification information can be given to the head only by cutting the pattern for connecting the drive signal line and the terminal for identification, so that the head can be manufactured at a low cost with a simple manufacturing process. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a connection relationship between an apparatus main body side and an ID identification circuit on a head side.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement of tangential terminals (crimp pads).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit on an element substrate of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a pattern cutting situation in the identification circuit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an output result when a signal is sent to an identification circuit four times.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit on an element substrate of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Wiring electrode 4 Heating resistor (recording element) 20 Element base 21 Common liquid chamber 40 Discharge port 41 Liquid flow path 101 Grooved member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Michiya Mizutani 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shuichi Murakami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Takashi Inoue 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masayoshi Tachihara 3-30-2, Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus which is detachably mounted on a recording apparatus,
In the head to be driven, a driving signal line having a driving terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the device side, and the driving signal line is electrically connected to an identification terminal. A head characterized in that: 2. The head according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of printing elements for performing printing based on a signal supplied via the drive signal line. 3. The head according to claim 2, wherein the recording element generates heat based on a signal. 4. The head according to claim 1, wherein the terminal for identification and the terminal for driving are connected by a wiring pattern on a printed circuit board. 5. The head has a decode circuit, two or more head drive signal lines are connected to the decode circuit, and an output line from the decode circuit is electrically connected to the identification terminal. The head of claim 1 connected. 6. A recording apparatus comprising: the head according to claim 1; and drive signal supply means for supplying a drive signal to the drive signal terminal. 7. A head individual identification method for identifying a head, comprising: a drive signal line having a drive terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the device side; A head individual identification method that supplies a signal to a drive terminal of a head electrically connected to the identification terminal, and identifies the head by a signal read from the identification terminal. 8. A drive signal line having a drive terminal for receiving a signal for driving the head from the device side, and the drive signal line and the identification terminal are connected by a plurality of wiring patterns. A method for providing identification information to a head, wherein at least a part of the plurality of wiring patterns is cut to the obtained head to provide identification information to the head.