JP4258693B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that records characters or the like on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets corresponding to print data, and particularly includes a storage unit that stores information on driving errors of the recording apparatus. The present invention also relates to an ink jet recording apparatus configured such that the recording apparatus can be appropriately controlled based on a drive error occurrence history.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a serial printing type ink jet recording apparatus, an ink jet recording apparatus is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the main scanning direction, and a paper feeding unit that transports the recording paper in a sub scanning direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the recording head. Is provided. Then, characters and the like are recorded on the recording paper by ejecting ink from the recording head based on the print data.
[0003]
The ink jet recording apparatus forcibly removes ink from the recording head in order to prevent clogging of the nozzle opening due to ink filling into the recording head and volatilization of the ink solvent because of handling the liquid called ink. A recovery process of the ink discharge capability to be sucked and discharged is executed. The forcible discharge of ink that is performed to eliminate such clogging of the recording head or when bubbles remain in the recording head is called a cleaning operation and is performed after a long pause of the recording apparatus. It is executed when printing is resumed or when the user recognizes a print quality defect such as fading and operates a cleaning switch.
[0004]
In this cleaning operation, the recording head is sealed with a capping unit and a negative pressure is applied by a suction pump so that ink is discharged from the nozzle opening of the recording head and the ink discharged into the capping unit is discharged under a negative pressure. Then, a sequence of wiping the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is executed by a cleaning member made of an elastic plate formed of a rubber material or the like after being sucked by the liquid and sent to the waste liquid tank.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration, the waste ink discharged every time the cleaning operation is performed is accumulated in the waste liquid tank. Accordingly, when a predetermined amount of ink waste liquid is accumulated in the waste liquid tank, a waste ink maintenance error for notifying the user that the waste ink needs to be maintained is displayed. Further, even when there is no recording paper, a paper out error is displayed. Furthermore, a carriage drive error is displayed even when a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the carriage due to some trouble during the printing operation.
[0006]
In particular, with regard to the carriage drive error described above, occurrence of an abnormal state during driving of the suction pump, for example, is treated as a carriage drive error in addition to the case where a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the carriage during printing. In some cases, it was difficult to select a method.
[0007]
In addition, since the recording device does not include the means for storing the error information, when the operating power is turned on again after the operating power is turned off, a similar error is generated and recovered. The situation that it is difficult to find out occurs. Therefore, for example, even when the recording apparatus is repaired, there are problems in maintenance such that it takes time to identify the cause of the failure.
[0008]
On the other hand, the carriage drive error that occurs during printing or the cleaning operation as described above, and the pump drive error that occurs when the suction pump is driven will cause overwork on the mechanism if this is repeated many times. It includes the problem of falling into a more serious failure. Therefore, it is desirable to be configured so that the cause of failure can be identified early.
[0009]
The present invention has been made paying attention to the problems as described above, and by storing the actual situation of the carriage drive error and the pump drive error in the storage means, an appropriate return means can be selected. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus that can identify the cause of an error at an early stage by using this as maintenance information.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention made to achieve the above-described object is equipped with an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets corresponding to print data and configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction. An ink jet type comprising a carriage, a suction pump capable of applying a negative pressure in the capping means in a state where the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is sealed, and a drive source for transmitting a driving force to the suction pump A recording device,
  Error identification means for identifying a drive error state during drive transmission to the suction pumpStorage means for storing the drive error information, and display means.EquippedShiWhen the error identification means identifies that a drive error condition has occurred, a drive errorofinformationAboveIn the case where the storage error information stored in the storage means is stored in the storage means,Inkjet typeWhen the next operation power of the recording apparatus is turned on, the same drive transmission as the suction pump drive operation when a suction pump drive error occurs is executed again to identify the drive error state, and the drive error Occurrences of2 or more timesIf you reachIn,A maintenance error display indicating that maintenance is required is performed by the display means.It is characterized by that.
[0011]
In this case, in a preferred embodiment, the driving operation of the recording medium transporting means capable of transporting the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage and the driving operation of the suction pump are performed in a single manner. A driving force transmission mechanism to be executed by the driving source is provided. The recording medium conveying means is driven by connecting the driving force from the driving source as necessary in the driving force transmission mechanism. In this case, the driving force from the driving source is preferably transmitted to the recording medium conveying means by the meshing of the gear that is moved along with the movement of the carriage.
[0012]
  On the other hand, it is desirable that the carriage drive error state or the suction pump drive error state be obtained from position control means attached to each drive source.
[0013]
  Also,In another preferred embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets corresponding to print data is mounted, and a carriage configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction; An ink jet recording apparatus including a suction pump capable of applying a negative pressure in a capping unit in a state where a nozzle forming surface of the recording head is sealed, wherein the error identification identifies a drive error state of the suction pump And an error counter that accumulates and holds the number of occurrences of the error every time it is identified that a drive error state has occurred by the error identification means, and when the next operating power of the recording apparatus is turned on, When the integrated value of error counter error occurrence is small, the suction pump Drawing speed is controlled to be increased.
[0014]
  Furthermore, in another preferred embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, a carriage having an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets corresponding to print data and configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction. And an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a suction pump capable of applying a negative pressure in the capping means in a state where the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is sealed, and an error for identifying a drive error state of the carriage Each time the identification means and the error identification means identify that a drive error state has occurred, an error counter that accumulates and holds the number of occurrences of the error is provided, and when the next operating power supply of the recording apparatus is turned on, When the accumulated value of error occurrence in the error counter is large, cleaning is performed compared to the case where the accumulated value is small. Driving speed of the carriage is controlled to be slow in Sakuchu.
[0015]
On the other hand, preferably, there is provided a transmission means for transmitting a maintenance error to the user in accordance with the error counter or an accumulated value of error occurrence stored in the storage means. In this case, it is desirable that a display means for displaying an error message is provided as the transmission means.
[0016]
Further, the error information stored in the storage means is preferably configured to be transmitted to the host computer side that transfers the print data to the recording device. It is desirable that the information stored in the storage means is configured to be rewritable by an instruction from the host computer side.
[0017]
On the other hand, preferably, there is provided writing means capable of storing the information stored in the storage means in the storage means mounted on the ink cartridge loaded in the recording apparatus. In this case, a non-volatile storage means is used as the storage means mounted on the recording apparatus and the ink cartridge, and preferably an EEPROM (Electrical Erasable Programmable RAM) is used as the non-volatile storage means.
[0018]
According to the recording apparatus configured as described above, the error identification unit identifies the carriage drive error state or the suction pump drive error state, and each drive error information is stored in the storage unit mounted on the recording apparatus. The In this case, non-volatile storage means, preferably EEPROM, is used as the storage means. Therefore, even if the operating power of the recording apparatus is shut off due to the occurrence of an error, this error information can be held by the EEPROM. As the storage means described above, it is desirable to use a nonvolatile storage means, but a nonvolatile function may be provided by a combination of a backup battery and a RAM.
[0019]
  When a drive error occurs in the suction pump, the drive mode of the pump when the suction pump drive error occurs is executed again when the next operation power source of the recording apparatus is turned on.In other words, when the suction pump drive error occurs, the suction pump drive operation is executed again.That is, in this type of recording apparatus, when the cleaning operation accompanied by the driving of the suction pump is executed again when it does not reach the predetermined printing amount, programming that executes a stronger cleaning operation is performed. Has been made.
[0020]
  Therefore,Using the technologyAfter a drive error has occurred in the suction pump, causing the suction pump to perform a more powerful drive operation may cause serious damage to the pump drive mechanism.is there.
  Therefore, in the present invention,By switching the drive mode of the pump when a drive error has occurred as described above so as to be executed again, the problem of serious damage as described above can be avoided.
[0021]
On the other hand, every time it is identified that a drive error state has occurred by the error identification means, an error counter that accumulates and holds the number of occurrences of errors is incremented, and the number of occurrences of this error is stored in the storage means, When the next operation power is turned on, it becomes possible to control the pump driving operation or the carriage moving speed according to the number of occurrences of errors. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of the same error, and it is possible to display that maintenance is required when an error occurs a predetermined number of times or more.
[0022]
Further, the error information stored in the storage means mounted on the recording apparatus can be stored in the same storage means mounted on the ink cartridge, so that the manufacturer who collected the cartridge In addition, it is possible to grasp error occurrence history, reliability data, and the like, and it is also possible to obtain useful information in product design.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage. The carriage 1 is guided by a guide member 4 via a timing belt 3 driven by a carriage motor 2 and is reciprocated in the axial direction of the platen 5. .
[0024]
Although not shown in the drawing, an ink jet recording head is mounted on the surface of the carriage 1 facing the recording paper 6 (the lower surface of the carriage in FIG. 1), and ink is supplied to the recording head on the top thereof. A black ink cartridge 7 and a color ink cartridge 8 are detachably loaded.
[0025]
Reference numeral 9 in the figure denotes a capping unit arranged in a non-printing area (home position), which rises when the recording head mounted on the carriage 1 moves directly above and can seal the nozzle formation surface of the recording head. It is configured as follows. A suction pump 10 for applying a negative pressure to the internal space of the capping unit 9 is disposed below the capping unit 9.
[0026]
The capping means 9 functions as a lid for preventing the nozzle opening of the recording head from drying during the rest period of the recording apparatus, and applies a drive signal unrelated to printing to the recording head to eject ink droplets idly. It functions as an ink receiver during the flushing operation, and also has a function as a cleaning unit that causes the negative pressure from the tube pump 10 to act on the recording head to suck and discharge ink.
[0027]
A wiping mechanism 11 including a wiping member formed of an elastic plate such as rubber is disposed on the print area side adjacent to the capping unit 9 so that the wiping member can be advanced and retracted in the horizontal direction. Thus, when the carriage 1 reciprocates toward the capping unit 9, the nozzle forming surface of the recording head can be wiped and cleaned by the wiping member.
[0028]
FIG. 2 shows an example of a recording paper supply / discharge mechanism and a driving force transmission mechanism for the suction pump installed in the recording apparatus. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a paper feed roller. A gear 22 is attached to one end of the paper feed roller 21 and is driven from a pinion 24 arranged on the shaft of the paper feed motor 23 via an idler 25. It is configured to be. A gear 27 is disposed at one end of the paper feed roller drive shaft 26 and engages with the gear 22 via a moving gear 28 constituting a clutch mechanism to transmit power to a cut sheet feeder (not shown), thereby recording paper. It is configured to be able to perform sheet feeding (loading).
[0029]
The moving gear 28 constituting the clutch mechanism is normally held at a position distant from both gears 22 and 27 by a spring (not shown) as shown in FIG. 2, and is moved to the carriage 1 that moves to the end facing the home position. It is configured to be pressed to move in the axial direction and to be connected between the gears 22 and 27 so that the meshing of both can be connected.
[0030]
On the other hand, the suction pump 10 is driven by a gear 32 attached to the other end of the paper discharge roller 31 from the pinion 24 disposed in the paper feed motor 23 through an idler 29 and a paper discharge roller gear 30. The drive shaft 33 of the suction pump 10 is equipped with a gear 35 that meshes with an idler 34 from a gear 32 attached to the other end of the paper discharge roller 31.
[0031]
The shaft 33 on which the gear 35 is mounted is provided with the wiping mechanism 11 described above. The wiping mechanism 11 is provided with a cleaner cam 38 having an arm 37 that is frictionally rotated by being pressed by a spring 36 disposed on the back surface thereof, and a wiping member 39 formed of an elastic material such as rubber by the rotation of the arm 37. It is configured to move in the horizontal direction.
[0032]
As a result, the wiping member 39 advances to the movement trajectory of the recording head by the rotation of the motor 23 in one direction so that the nozzle forming surface can be wiped, and the wiping by the rotation of the motor 23 in the other direction. The member 39 acts so as to be retracted from the movement trajectory of the recording head.
[0033]
The suction pump 10 is also driven by the rotational drive of the drive shaft 33. That is, a ratchet wheel 40, an intermediate transmission wheel 41, and a pump wheel 42 are stacked on the drive shaft 33. A protrusion 40a is formed on the surface of the ratchet wheel 40 facing the intermediate transmission foil 41, and the intermediate transmission foil 41 has protrusions 41a and 41b on both sides, respectively. Further, the pump foil 42 has an intermediate transmission. A protrusion 42 a is formed on the surface facing the foil 41.
[0034]
As a result, the ratchet wheel 40 rotates and the projection 40a abuts on the projection 41a of the intermediate transmission foil 41, whereby the rotational force is transmitted to the intermediate transmission foil 41, and the projection 41b of the intermediate transmission foil 41 further By contacting the protrusion 42 a of the wheel 42, the rotational force is transmitted to the pump wheel 42. Therefore, when the rotation direction of the paper feed motor 23 is switched, a rotation delay mechanism is configured between the ratchet wheel 41 and the pump wheel 42 to generate a delay in the transmission of rotation of nearly two rotations at maximum.
[0035]
Although not shown in the drawing, the pump wheel 42 is provided with a pair of roller support grooves formed with a gradient in the radial direction between the axial center direction and the outer peripheral direction of the pump wheel. By rotating the wheel 42 in one direction, the rollers 43a and 43b pivotally supported in these shaft holes are biased in the outer peripheral direction to pressurize a tube (not shown) between the tube support surfaces formed on the pump frame 44. The pump action that causes the suction action and the release action in which the rollers 43a and 43b are biased in the axial direction of the foil 42 and do not pressurize the tube by the rotation in the other direction of the pump wheel 42 are switched. Yes.
[0036]
The rotation delay mechanism formed between the ratchet wheel 40, the intermediate transmission wheel 41, and the pump wheel 42 described above positions the front end of the sheet and removes the backlash when loading the recording sheet from the cut sheet feeder. In order to execute, it is necessary to drive the paper feed motor 23 forward and backward to some extent. In this case, the suction pump 10 acts so as not to transmit power.
[0037]
With the above configuration, a driving force transmission mechanism is configured to execute the recording paper conveyance driving operation and the suction pump driving operation by a single driving source, that is, the paper feed motor 23. By the meshing movement of the moving gear 28, the driving force from the paper feed motor 23 is transmitted to the conveying means, and the recording paper 6 is loaded.
[0038]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit mounted on the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration. In FIG. 3, parts corresponding to the parts already described are denoted by the same reference numerals, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, each ink is supplied from the black ink cartridge 7 and the color ink cartridge 8 that are detachably mounted on the carriage 1 to the recording head 12 that is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 1. It is configured as follows. The capping means 9 is connected to the suction pump (tube pump) 10 as described above, and the discharge side of the suction pump 10 is connected to the waste liquid tank 15.
[0039]
Reference numeral 50 shown in FIG. 3 is a host computer, and a printer driver 51 is mounted on the host computer 50. The utility of the printer driver 51 is configured so that a known paper size, monochrome / color printing selection, recording mode selection, font data, print command, and the like can be input using the input device 52 and the display 53. Has been. Furthermore, in this embodiment, as will be described later, error information stored in the EEPROM 66 mounted on the recording apparatus side can be transmitted to the host computer 50 side, and the information stored in the EEPROM 66 is configured. However, it can be rewritten by a command input using the input device 52 and the display 43.
[0040]
In response to the input of a print command in the input device 52, print data is sent from the printer driver 51 to the print control means 54 mounted on the recording device. The print control unit 54 generates bitmap data based on the print data from the host computer 50, and generates a drive signal by the head drive unit 55 based on this data, so that the recording head mounted on the carriage 1. 12 has a function of discharging ink droplets. The head driving unit 55 is configured to receive a flushing command signal from the flushing control unit 56 and output a driving signal for the flushing operation to the recording head 12 in addition to the driving signal based on the print data.
[0041]
Reference numeral 57 denotes a cleaning control means. The cleaning control means 57 activates the pump drive means 58 to drive the paper feed motor 23 and operates the suction pump 10 and the wiping mechanism 11. Then, for example, the cleaning operation is executed by a command signal from the cleaning command detection means 60 that has received the ON operation of the cleaning command switch 59 disposed on the operation panel. Further, the cleaning control unit 57 has a function of executing a cleaning operation in the same manner even when a cleaning command is received from the host computer via the central control unit 61.
[0042]
A control signal is sent from the central control means 61 to the carriage motor control means 62 so that the carriage motor 2 can be driven and stopped, and speed control can be executed. Information on the carriage position by driving the carriage motor 2 is read from the first encoder 63 and fed back to the central control means 61. In other words, the position control of the carriage 1 is executed by the feedback loop described above, and when a predetermined load or more is generated on the carriage 1 due to some trouble, the feedback signal continues to be generated. This constitutes an error identification means capable of detecting a carriage drive error.
[0043]
The central control means 61 is also configured to be supplied with a signal from the second encoder 64. The second encoder 64 detects the rotational position of the paper feed motor 23, and is configured to add feedback to the paper feed motor 23 by the output of the second encoder 64 and to control the position of the paper feed motor 23. Has been. Therefore, when a load greater than a predetermined value is generated in the suction pump 10 due to some trouble, the feedback signal continues to be generated. Thus, an error identification unit that can detect a pump drive error is configured.
[0044]
An error counter 65 is connected to the central control means 61, and it is detected that a carriage drive error or a pump drive error has occurred based on the feedback signal from the first encoder 63 or the second encoder 64 described above. In the configuration, each count value in the error counter 65 is incremented, and at the same time, these pieces of information can be stored in the EEPROM 66. The error counter 65 increments the no-paper counter built in the error counter 65 even when there is no recording paper when printing is started, as will be described later. The history is also stored in the EEPROM 66.
[0045]
Further, a display signal is sent from the central control means 61 to the display means 67. For example, when the number of occurrences of the error reaches a predetermined value or more, a maintenance error is displayed, A message indicating that the recording apparatus needs to be maintained is displayed. Further, the printer driver 51 of the host computer 50 can also read error information stored in the EEPROM 66 via the central control means 61. As a result, for example, a service person can accurately grasp the state of occurrence of an error, and can perform appropriate maintenance.
[0046]
In this case, it is desirable that the error information stored in the EEPROM 66 can be rewritten by an instruction from the host computer 50 side. With this configuration, for example, after a serviceman performs appropriate maintenance based on error information, the error information is cleared, so that the recording apparatus can be easily replaced without replacing the ROM installed on the substrate. Can be returned to the factory state.
[0047]
The central control means 61 is connected to a read / write means 68. The read / write means 68 is connected to a storage means, preferably an EEPROM 69, mounted on an ink cartridge attached to a recording apparatus. Error information similar to that stored in the EEPROM 66 mounted on the apparatus side can be written. As described above, the EEPROM 69 mounted on the ink cartridge is also configured to write the error information described above, so that the maker collecting the cartridge can generate an error occurrence history, reliability data, or the like. Can be grasped, and useful information in product design can be obtained.
[0048]
FIGS. 4 to 8 show the detection modes of errors and the writing operation of error information performed by the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration, as well as the preferred driving modes performed according to the number of error detections. First, FIG. 4 shows a mode of error detection performed when the operation power of the recording apparatus is turned on. When the operating power is turned on, it is determined in step S11 whether or not waste ink maintenance is necessary. This is to check the cumulative amount of waste liquid ink discarded in the waste liquid tank 15 described above. When the cumulative amount has reached a predetermined value (in the case of Yes), a waste ink maintenance error is displayed. Is made.
[0049]
This is because the consumption amount of ink from the cartridges 7 and 8 mounted on the recording apparatus is calculated and accumulated, and when the accumulated value reaches a predetermined value, the display of the waste ink maintenance error is executed. It is configured. If it is determined in step S11 that waste ink maintenance is not required (No), the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined whether a cleaning operation is required. The necessity of this cleaning operation is determined by, for example, the elapsed time from the previous cleaning operation, and when the elapsed time has not been reached (in the case of No), the printing operation is ready to be executed.
[0050]
In step S13, it is determined whether printing has been activated. In this case, when print data is sent from the host computer 50 to the print control means 54, the printing operation is started. As a result, a control signal is sent from the central control means 54 to the carriage motor control means 62, and the carriage 1 moves to the end facing the home position. As a result, the moving gear 28 constituting the clutch mechanism as shown in FIG. 2 is interposed between the gears 22 and 27 and the recording paper feeding operation (step S14) is performed.
[0051]
Subsequently, the presence / absence of a recording sheet is determined in step S15, and if it is determined that there is a recording sheet (Yes), the process proceeds to step S16 and is based on the bitmap data developed in the print control means 54. Thus, the printing operation (step S16) is executed. At this time, in step S17, it is monitored whether or not the carriage is operating normally. Whether or not the carriage 1 is operating normally can be determined by the presence or absence of a feedback signal based on the position signal read from the first encoder 63 as described above.
[0052]
Here, when it is determined that the carriage operation is normal (in the case of Yes), it is determined in step S18 whether printing is finished. This can be determined by the presence or absence of bitmap data developed in the print control means 54. If it is determined that the printing is not finished (No), the process returns to step S15 again, and the above-described printing operation is continued. If it is determined in step S18 that printing is finished (Yes), a series of printing operations is finished.
[0053]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 that there is no recording paper (No), as shown in step S19, the paper absence counter built in the error counter 65 is incremented (K = K + 1), and at the same time, paper is used. The history of no error is stored in the EEPROM 66. Then, a paper out error is displayed on the display means 67.
[0054]
Even when it is determined in step S17 that the operation of the carriage 1 is not normal (No), as shown in step S20, the carriage drive error counter built in the error counter 65 is incremented ( C = C + 1), and at the same time, a history of carriage drive errors is stored in the EEPROM 66. Then, a carriage drive error is displayed on the display means 67.
[0055]
If it is determined in step S12 that the cleaning operation is necessary (Yes), the process proceeds to step S21 and the cleaning operation is executed. When this cleaning operation is executed, the determinations in steps S22 and S23 are repeatedly executed during the execution. When it is determined in step S24 that the cleaning operation has been completed (Yes), the operation sequence after step S13 described above is performed.
[0056]
Here, in step S22, it is determined whether or not the pump drive operation is normal. This can be determined by the presence or absence of a feedback signal based on the position signal read from the second encoder 64 as described above. In step S23, it is determined whether the driving operation of the carriage 1 is normal. This can be determined by the presence or absence of a feedback signal based on the position signal read from the first encoder 63 as described above.
[0057]
If it is determined in step S22 that the pump drive operation is not normal (No), the process proceeds to step S25, the pump error counter built in the error counter 65 is incremented (PK = PK + 1), and the pump is driven simultaneously. The history of errors is stored in the EEPROM 66. Then, a pump drive error is displayed on the display means 67.
[0058]
If it is determined in step S23 that the carriage drive operation is not normal (No), the process proceeds to step S26, where the carriage drive error counter built in the error counter 65 is incremented (PC = PC + 1), and at the same time. A history of carriage drive errors during the cleaning operation is stored in the EEPROM 66. Then, a pump drive error is displayed on the display means 67. In this case, it is managed separately from the count value of the carriage drive error during printing shown in step S20.
[0059]
Next, the control sequence shown in FIG. 5 shows a mode in which error information is also written to the EEPROM 69 mounted on the ink cartridge mounted on the recording apparatus. Therefore, in each step which performs the same operation | movement as FIG. 4 already demonstrated, it has shown with the same step code | symbol. That is, in the control sequence shown in FIG. 5, when the paper out counter is incremented (K = K + 1) based on the paper out error in step S19, the incremented “K” is simultaneously shown in step S31. Is written to the EEPROM 69 mounted on the ink cartridge.
[0060]
If the carriage drive error counter is incremented (C = C + 1) based on the carriage drive error in step S20, the incremented value of “C” is simultaneously mounted on the ink cartridge as shown in step S32. The data is written to the EEPROM 69 that has been written. Similarly, when the pump error counter is incremented (PK = PK + 1) based on the pump drive error in step S25, the incremented “PK” value is simultaneously loaded in the ink cartridge as shown in step S33. The data is written to the EEPROM 69 that has been written.
[0061]
Further, when the carriage drive error counter is incremented (PC = PC + 1) based on the carriage drive error during the cleaning operation in step S26, the incremented value of “PC” is set at the same time as shown in step S34. Data is written to the EEPROM 69 mounted on the ink cartridge.
[0062]
Next, FIG. 6 shows a first preferable control mode in the case where the operation power is turned on in the recording apparatus when the pump drive error occurs as described above. The control routine shown in FIG. 6 is substantially the same as the control routine shown in FIG. Therefore, in each step which performs the same operation | movement as FIG. 4 already demonstrated, it has shown with the same step code | symbol. The difference from the control routine shown in FIG. 4 is that if it is determined in step S12 that a cleaning operation is necessary (Yes), the previously selected cleaning operation is executed in step S41. The point is to control.
[0063]
The reason for executing such control is that, as described above, in this type of recording apparatus, when the cleaning operation involving driving of the suction pump is performed again when the predetermined suction amount is not reached, Programming has been done to perform more powerful cleaning operations. Therefore, if a more powerful driving operation is performed on the suction pump after a driving error occurs in the suction pump, serious damage may be caused to the pump driving mechanism. Therefore, the problem of causing serious damage can be avoided by switching the drive mode of the pump when a drive error occurs as described above to be executed again.
[0064]
Next, FIG. 7 shows a second preferable control mode in the case where the operation power is turned on in the recording apparatus when the pump drive error occurs as described above. The control routine shown in FIG. 7 is substantially the same as the control routine shown in FIG. Therefore, in each step which performs the same operation | movement as FIG. 4 already demonstrated, it has shown with the same step code | symbol. The difference from the control routine shown in FIG. 4 is that steps S51 to S53 are executed instead of the cleaning operation shown in step S21.
[0065]
That is, in step S51, the number of occurrences “PK” of pump drive errors during the cleaning operation is read from the EEPROM 66, and control is performed so as to change the execution form of the cleaning operation according to the number of occurrences. That is, when the number PK of occurrences of pump drive errors during the cleaning operation is “1”, the cleaning operation 1 is executed in step S52.
[0066]
If the number PK of occurrences of pump drive errors during the cleaning operation is “2”, the cleaning operation 2 is executed in step S53. Further, when the number PK of occurrences of pump drive errors during the cleaning operation is “3” or more, the display means 67 displays that maintenance based on the pump drive errors is necessary.
[0067]
Although the cleaning operation 1 executed in step S52 and the cleaning operation 2 executed in step S53 may be the same operation, the cleaning operation 1 is preferably performed by the suction pump 10 as compared with the cleaning operation 2. Is controlled to be increased. Thus, when a pump drive error occurs, it can be expected that the pump drive error can be eliminated by executing a suction operation as strong as possible at an early stage. Further, when the pump drive error is not eliminated at a time, it is possible to contribute to reducing ink waste by executing a low speed suction operation.
[0068]
Finally, FIG. 8 shows a preferable driving operation of the printing apparatus when an operation power is turned on in the case where a carriage drive error occurs during the cleaning operation. The control routine shown in FIG. 8 is substantially the same as the control routine shown in FIG. Therefore, in each step which performs the same operation | movement as FIG. 4 already demonstrated, it has shown with the same step code | symbol. The difference from the control routine shown in FIG. 4 is that steps S61 to S63 are executed instead of the cleaning operation shown in step S21.
[0069]
  That is, in step S61, the number of occurrences “PC” of the carriage drive error during the cleaning operation is read from the EEPROM 66, and the execution mode of the cleaning operation is controlled in accordance with the number of occurrences. In other words, the number of occurrences of carriage drive errors during the cleaning operationPCIn the case of “1” to “3”, the cleaning operation 1 is executed in step S62.
[0070]
  When the number of occurrences of carriage drive errors PC during the cleaning operation is “4” to “6”, the cleaning operation 3 is executed in step S63. In addition, the number of occurrences of carriage drive errors during the cleaning operationPCWhen the value is “7” or more, the display means 67 displays that maintenance based on the carriage drive error is necessary.
[0071]
  Cleaning operation 1 executed in step S62 described above and cleaning executed in step S63Action 3The difference is that the moving speed of the carriage 1 during the cleaning operation is controlled so that the cleaning operation 3 is slower than the cleaning operation 1. In this case, when a carriage drive error occurs during the cleaning operation, consideration is given to eliminating the carriage drive error by controlling the movement of the carriage at the highest possible speed in the initial stage.
[0072]
Further, when a carriage drive error occurs four times or more, control is performed so that the carriage is moved and controlled at a low speed, so that an excessive current is not applied to the carriage motor 2. This prevents the development of more serious troubles.
[0073]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the error identification means for identifying the carriage drive error state or the suction pump drive error state is provided, and any one of the drives is performed by the error identification means. Since the drive error information can be stored in the storage means when it is identified that an error state has occurred, the occurrence history of each error described above can be managed. Therefore, when the operation power is next turned on to the recording apparatus, an appropriate driving operation can be given to the recording apparatus according to the error occurrence state.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a basic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an example of a driving force transmission mechanism provided in the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG.
3 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit mounted on the recording apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a mode of error detection performed when the operation power of the recording apparatus is turned on.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a mode in which error information is stored in a storage device mounted on a cartridge in addition to the control flow shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first preferred control mode when an operation power supply is turned on in the case where a pump drive error has occurred.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second preferable control mode when an operation power supply is turned on when a pump drive error occurs.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a preferred control mode when an operation power is turned on in the printing apparatus when a carriage drive error occurs during cleaning drive.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Carriage
2 Carriage motor
6 Recording paper
7,8 Ink cartridge
9 Capping means
10 Suction pump (tube pump)
11 Wiping mechanism
21 Paper feed roller
23 Paper feed motor
26 Feed roller drive shaft
31 Paper discharge roller
39 Wiping members
50 Host computer
51 Printer Driver
52 Input device
53 display
54 Print control means
55 Head drive means
57 Cleaning control means
58 Pump drive means
61 Central control means
62 Carriage motor control means
63 First encoder
64 Second encoder
65 Error counter
66 Memory means (EEPROM)
67 Display means
68 Read / write means
69 Cartridge side storage means (EEPROM)

Claims (1)

An ink jet recording head that discharges ink droplets corresponding to print data is mounted, and a carriage configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction, and a capping unit in a state where the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is sealed An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a suction pump capable of applying a negative pressure to the suction pump; and a drive source for transmitting a driving force to the suction pump,
Comprising an error identification means for identifying a driving error condition in the drive transmission to the suction pump, a storage means for storing information of the drive error, and a display unit, a
When the driving error condition has identified that generated by the error identification means, and storing the information of the drive error in the storage means,
When the information on the drive error in the suction pump is stored in the storage means, the suction pump is driven when a drive error occurs in the suction pump when the next operation power source of the ink jet recording apparatus is turned on. Re-run the same drive transmission as the operation to identify the drive error condition;
If the number of occurrences of said drive error has reached a predetermined number of two or more times, the ink jet recording apparatus characterized by the maintenance error indication requiring maintenance by said display means.

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