JPH0510228B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording device such as an inkjet printer, and in particular, to a liquid jet recording device including means for adjusting a driving voltage for driving each liquid jet recording head for each liquid jet recording head. This invention relates to a liquid jet recording device.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, non-impact recording methods have recently attracted particular attention because the noise generated during recording is extremely small to the extent that it can be ignored. Among these, the inkjet recording method (liquid jet recording method), which is capable of high-speed recording and full-color recording without the need for special processing of fixing on plain paper, is an extremely powerful recording method. Various methods have been proposed to date, some have already been commercialized, and others are still being studied.

In this liquid jet recording method, recording is performed by causing droplets of a recording liquid called ink to fly and adhere to a recording material, and the formation of droplets of the recording liquid is There are several types of methods depending on the method and the method of controlling the flying direction of the formed droplets.

Among them, for example, USP No. 3683212, USP No. 3747120
The liquid jet recording method disclosed in No. 3,946,398, etc. is a method in which droplets are ejected from an ejection orifice in response to a recording signal, and the droplets are attached to the surface of a recording material to perform recording. This is a drop-on-demand recording method. In this recording method, only the droplets necessary for recording are ejected, so it is necessary to install special means for collecting and disposing of ejected liquid that is not needed for recording. The device itself can be simplified and miniaturized, and there is no need to control the flying direction of the droplets discharged from the discharge orifice.
Recently, it has been attracting particular attention because of its ability to easily perform multicolor recording.

In addition, a liquid jet recording method that uses a completely different principle of formation of flying droplets from the above-mentioned liquid jet recording method was published in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54
51837, this liquid jet recording method is not only very effectively applicable to the drop-on-demand recording method mentioned above, but also easily realizes a high-density multi-orifice recording head. Therefore, it has the characteristic of being able to obtain high-resolution, high-quality recorded images at high speed.

Liquid jet recording devices used in these drop-on-demand recording methods usually have a liquid flow path that has an ejection port (orifice) that ejects droplets and an energy generating element that communicates with each orifice and forms flying droplets. A typical structure includes a recording head composed of a liquid chamber communicating with each liquid flow path and storing liquid to be supplied to these flow paths.

However, in a liquid jet recording apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, since the optimum driving voltage peculiar to each liquid jet recording head is different and varies, liquid jet recording is performed according to the optimum driving voltage peculiar to the liquid jet recording head. It is necessary to adjust the drive voltage generation circuit within the device.

If this adjustment is neglected, the following problem will occur. In other words, if a liquid jet recording head is equipped with a head whose own voltage is higher than the drive voltage supplied from the drive voltage generation circuit of the liquid jet recording device, stable flying droplets may not be obtained, or in the worst case, may become unable to eject droplets. Conversely, if a liquid jet recording head is equipped with a head whose own voltage is lower than the drive voltage supplied from the drive voltage generation circuit of the liquid jet recording device, unnecessary droplets called satellites may be ejected secondary to the head. Otherwise, an excessive load is placed on the energy generating element, significantly shortening its lifespan, and in the worst case, the energy generating element may be destroyed.

Therefore, if a liquid jet recording head is to be replaced due to a malfunction, advanced maintenance work such as changing part of the drive voltage generation circuit is required. There was a problem in that an injection recording head had to be made.

〔the purpose〕

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned points, an object of the present invention is to display an energy generator that generates energy used to form flying droplets, and a voltage value of a driving voltage supplied to the energy generator. a liquid jet recording head having a display section; voltage generating means for generating the driving voltage to be supplied to the energy generating body; reading means for reading the display contents of the display section; and the display contents read by the reading means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid jet recording apparatus, which comprises a control means for controlling the voltage of the voltage generating means according to the voltage, and which facilitates adjustment work when installing and replacing a recording head.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of the liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention. Here, 1 is a recording paper, and this recording paper 1 is moved on a platen 4 in the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow A) at a predetermined speed by a paper feed roller 2 and a pinch roller 3. Reference numerals 5 and 6 denote pulleys that are each supported by a shaft and rotated by a drive source (not shown), and a carriage drive belt 7 is passed around the pulleys 5 and 6.

A carriage 8 is integrally fixed to the carriage drive belt 7. This carriage 8 is guided by guide shafts 9 and 10 by the rotation of pulleys 5 and 6, and is capable of reciprocating in the main scanning direction (direction of arrow B). Furthermore, a roller 11 that rolls on a guide shaft 10 is arranged on the lower surface of the carriage 8.

A connector 1 electrically connected to the flexible wiring 12 is located approximately in the center of the carriage 8.
3, and a head liner 15 is placed on the carriage 8 so that when a liquid jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) 14 is connected and fixed to this connector 13, the recording head 14 is attached thereto. Install vertically. Therefore, the recording head 14 is detachable from the carriage 8 via the connector 13. Further, a sensor 16 for detecting the home position of the carriage 8 is arranged.

The recording head 14 has a substrate 17, an ejection port 18 for ejecting ink droplets as flying droplets onto the substrate 17, and a heating element or the like that communicates with the ejection port 18 and forms the flying ink droplets. It has a liquid flow path 19 having an energy generator, and an ink liquid chamber 20 communicating with this liquid flow path 19 and storing ink liquid to be supplied to this liquid flow path 19. Further, a driving voltage is supplied to the energy generating body of the recording head 14 from a driving voltage generating circuit 27 shown in FIG. A dispensing control signal is provided that also controls dispensing.

Furthermore, the recording head 14 includes a
A drive voltage display section 21 is provided which displays in advance a unique optimum drive voltage, that is, a drive voltage supplied to the energy generator that generates the energy used to form the above-mentioned flying droplets, in binary notation. The optimum drive voltage displayed on the drive voltage display section 21 is measured when the recording head 14 is inspected before shipment, and is expressed in the form of 4 bits depending on the presence or absence of protrusions on the substrate 17 according to the measured value. establish.

A reading device 22 is provided on the carriage 8 at a position facing the drive voltage display section 21 provided on the substrate 17 of the recording head 14, and reads the display contents of the drive voltage display section 21, that is, the voltage value.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical system of the apparatus of the present invention.

Here, reference numeral 25 denotes a head replacement detection sensor arranged at a predetermined location in FIG. 1 to detect replacement of the recording head 14. Reference numeral 26 denotes a control circuit which is activated by the head exchange detection sensor 25, controls the activation of the reading device 22, and controls the drive voltage generation circuit 27 to generate the voltage indicated on the drive voltage display section 21 of the recording head 14. be. This control circuit 26 is electrically connected to the head exchange detection sensor 25 and the reading device 22 via the flexible wiring 12. Reference numeral 28 denotes a drive circuit for driving the energy generator of the recording head 14, and a drive voltage is supplied from the drive voltage generation circuit 27.

Next, the process of control processing by the control circuit 26 shown in FIG. 2 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3.

When the head replacement detection sensor 25 detects that the recording head 14 has been newly replaced (step
S1), its detection output is supplied to the control circuit 26. Next, the control circuit 26 instructs the reading device 22 to read the drive voltage displayed on the drive voltage display section 21 of the recording head 14. (Step S2).

Next, the control circuit 26 causes the drive voltage generation circuit 27 to generate the same voltage as the drive voltage displayed on the voltage display section 21 of the recording head 14 based on the voltage read from the voltage display section 21 by the reading device 22. Send control signals. (Step S3).
The drive voltage generation circuit 27 generates a drive voltage displayed on the drive voltage display section 21 of the recording head 14 in response to this control signal (step S4), and this voltage is supplied to the drive circuit 28 to display the drive voltage of the recording head 14. The energy generator can now be driven.

In the above embodiment, it was explained that the driving voltage specific to the recording head is set when replacing the recording head, but instead of this, the driving voltage of the same recording head may be reset at regular intervals. It is possible. Further, in the liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the recording head may have only one ejection port or may be a multi-nozzle having a large number of ejection ports. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the recording head may be of a type in which a plurality of recording heads are mounted on a carriage.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the drive voltage of the recording head is displayed by the presence or absence of four protrusions, but instead of this, the drive voltage may be displayed in any other display format. Furthermore, the reading device for reading the drive voltage display of the recording head may be of any type as long as it can read the display format of the drive voltage display of the recording head.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to set a unique drive voltage for each liquid jet recording head mounted on a carriage by a simple means, so that the drive voltage can be set each time a recording head is installed or replaced. The conventional problem of having to adjust the voltage has been greatly improved, and operability can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of the configuration of the liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the electrical system of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control processing process of the control circuit shown in FIG. 8...Carriage, 14...Recording head, 21
... Drive voltage display section, 22 ... Reading device, 25
...Head replacement detection sensor, 26...Control circuit,
27... Drive voltage generation circuit, 28... Drive circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid jet comprising an energy generator that generates energy used to form flying droplets, and a display section that displays the voltage value of the driving voltage supplied to the energy generator. a recording head; a voltage generating means for generating the driving voltage to be supplied to the energy generating body; a reading means for reading the display contents of the display section; and a voltage generating means for generating the voltage according to the display contents read by the reading means. 1. A liquid jet recording device comprising: a control means for controlling a voltage of the liquid jet recording device.