Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-30
2002-06-18
Hallacher, Craig A. (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
C347S018000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06406113
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of producing a high-quality image on a recording medium on which the image is to be recorded, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus in which recording ink and an image quality improving agent for making insoluble or coagulating colorants mixed in the recording ink are ejected onto a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention is applicable to all types of equipment for recording an image on recording media such as made of paper, cloth, leather, OHP and metal, for example, by utilizing thermal energy. Practical equipment adapted for application of the present invention include business machines, e.g., printers, copying machines and facsimiles, as well as industrial production machines.
An ink jet recording method has been hitherto used in printers and copying machines, for example, because of such advantages as low noise, low running cost, easiness in reducing the apparatus size, and easiness in printing an image in colors.
In an ink jet recording apparatus, ink is ejected from a nozzle to deposit on a sheet of recording paper, thereby forming an image. To improve a recording speed, a recording element and an ink ejection port and passage (nozzle) necessary for ejecting the ink are integrated and arrayed in plural number on a recording head (referred to as a multi-head hereinafter). An apparatus adapted for color recording includes a plurality of multi-heads.
FIG. 15
is a schematic perspective view of such an ink jet recording apparatus. A recording medium
106
inserted in a paper feed position of a recording apparatus
100
is advanced by a feed roller
109
to a recording enable area covered by a recording head unit
103
. A platen
108
is provided to support a lower surface of the recording medium in the recording enable area. A carriage
101
is constructed to be movable in a direction determined by two guide shafts, i.e., a guide shaft
104
and a guide shaft
105
, to reciprocally scan the recording enable area. On the carriage
101
, there is mounted a recording head unit
103
comprised of recording heads for ejecting inks in plural colors and ink tanks for supplying the inks in plural colors to the recording heads, respectively. The illustrated ink jet recording apparatus employs inks in four colors, i.e., black (Bk), cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y). A restoration system unit
110
is provided in a lower portion at the left end of an area within which the carriage
101
is movable, enabling the ejection ports of the recording head to be capped while the apparatus is in a not-recording mode. That left end is called a home position of the recording head.
Reference numeral
107
denotes a switch portion and a display device portion. The switch portion is used, for example, when turning on/off a power supply of the recording apparatus and setting any of various recording modes. The display device portion indicates a state of the recording apparatus.
FIG. 16
is a perspective view of the recording head unit
103
. In the illustrated unit, ink tanks
20
A to
20
C corresponding to respective color inks in black, cyan, magenta and yellow are replaceable independently of each other.
The carriage
101
mounts thereon a recording head
102
provided with a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting the inks in Bk, C, M and Y through them and a plurality of flow passages (nozzles) connected to the ink ejection ports, respectively, and four ink tanks, i.e., a Bk ink tank 20K, a C ink tank 20C, an M ink tank 20M and a Y ink tank 20Y. The ink tanks are connected to the recording head through connecting portions for supplying the inks to the nozzles from the tanks, respectively.
In addition to the above structure, there are also known recording head units in which, by way of example, tanks for inks in four color are integral with each other, or tanks for inks in C, M and Y are integral with each other, but independent of a tank for Bk ink.
FIG. 17
is a schema tic enlarged sectional view of a he at generating member and thereabout in the recording head. A heat generating member
30
comprising an electro-thermal transducer is arranged corresponding to an ink ejection port
23
in one-to-one relation. In a recording apparatus mounting thereon an,ink jet recording head thus constructed, an image is recorded by applying a drive signal to the heat gene rating member
30
of the head in accordance with recording information and ejecting ink from a nozzle. The heat generating member
30
can be drive n in an independent manner for each of all the nozzles. When the ink in the nozzle is quickly heated by energization of the heat generating member, a bubble is created in the ink due to film boiling and an ink droplet
35
is ejected toward a recording medium
31
under pressure developed upon the creation of the bubble, as shown in
FIG. 17
, thereby forming an image comprising characters or a picture on the recording medium. At this time, the volume of the ink droplet for each color ejected in such away is on the order of 15-100 ng.
The recording head has a plurality of ejection ports
23
, a plurality of ink flow passages (nozzles) connected respectively to the ejection ports
23
, and a common liquid chamber
32
formed rearward of a portion where the ink flow passages are disposed (i.e., on the upstream side) for supplying the ink to the ink flow passages. In each of the ink flow passages corresponding to the ejection ports in one-to-one relation, there are provided the heat generating member
30
for generating thermal energy used to eject an ink droplet from the ejection port, and an electrode wiring (not shown) for supplying electric power to the heat generating member
30
. The heat generating member
30
and the electrode wiring are formed on a device board
33
made of, e.g., silicon by the semiconductor film deposition technique. A protective film
36
is formed on the heat generating member
30
to prevent the ink from coming into direct contact with the heat generating member
30
. A partition wall
34
made of resin, glass or any other suitable material is placed on the device board to define the ejection ports, the ink flow passages, the common liquid chamber, etc. therebetween.
Such a recording system using the heat generating member is called a bubble jet recording system because a bubble created upon application of thermal energy is used to eject the ink droplet.
FIG. 18
is a typical block diagram for driving the recording head in the ink jet recording apparatus stated above.
Data of an image comprising characters or a picture to be recorded (referred to image data hereinafter) is input from a host computer to a reception buffer
401
in the recording apparatus
100
. Also, data for confirming whether the data is transferred correctly or not and data for informing an operating condition of the recording apparatus are output from the recording apparatus to the host computer. The data in the reception buffer
401
is transferred to a memory unit
403
and temporarily stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) under surveillance of a CPU (control unit)
402
.
A mechanism controller
404
drives a mechanism portion
405
, including a carriage motor, a line feed motor and so forth, in accordance with a command from the CPU
402
. A sensor/SW controller
406
is a control unit for sending signals from a sensor/SW portion
407
, including various sensors and SW's (switches), to the CPU
402
. A display device controller
408
is a control unit for controlling a display device portion
409
, including LED's, a liquid crystal display device and so forth on a display panel, in accordance with a command from the CPU
402
. A recording head controller
410
controls a recording head
411
in accordance with a command from the CPU
402
. The recording head controller
410
serves also as a control unit for sensing temperature and other information indicating a condition of the recording head
411
and t
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Hallacher Craig A.
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