Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
1994-05-27
2001-05-01
Fuller, Benjamin R. (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224182
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method for attaining stable recording by use of head characteristics. More particularly this invention relates to a recording apparatus adapted to exalt image quality and ejection reliability by stabilizing the ejection behavior of a recording head and a recording method for use with the recording apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Recording apparatuses such as printers, copying machines, or facsimiles are constructed so as to record an image of dot pattern on a recording material such as of paper or plastic film sheet in accordance with image data.
The recording apparatuses can be divided in terms of the manner of recording into the ink jet type, wire dot type, thermal type, laser beam type, etc. The recording apparatus of the ink jet type (ink jet recording apparatus), among other types mentioned above, is constructed to effect required recording by causing a recording head to eject ink (recording liquid) drops via nozzles thereof and allowing the ejected ink drops to land on and adhere to the recording material.
In recent years, a large number of recording apparatuses have been finding customers. These recording apparatuses are expected to satisfy the demand for high operational speed, high resolution, high image quality, or low noise. An example of the recording apparatus which answers the demand, the ink jet recording apparatus mentioned above may be adduced. One version of the ink jet recording apparatus attains recording by exerting thermal energy on the ink in the nozzles thereby inducing the ink to effervesce (or bubble) and utilizing the force of effervescence to eject the ink from the recording head. For the stabilization of the operation of ink ejection and the stabilization of the amount of ink to be ejected which are necessary for the accomplishment of the demand mentioned above, it is very important to control the temperature of the recording head and adjust the drive means used for the ink ejection.
For the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, therefore, it has been customary to adopt the so-called closed loop system which effects the detection of the head temperature by means of a temperature sensor incorporated in the recording head part or the method which, by means of a temperature calculating system capable of arithmetically estimating a change in the head temperature from the magnitude of the energy imparted to the head, detects the head temperature and controls the temperature of the recording head within a desired range on the basis of the detected recording head temperature or both of them.
As a means to allow compensation in the operation of the temperature detecting system mentioned above, JP-A-05-31,906 discloses a method which effects correction of the numerical data (stored as in a table) for use in the arithmetic operation on the basis of the difference to be found between the arithmetically estimated temperature and the temperature to be detected by the temperature sensor on the recording head while the recording head is in a thermally stable state. JP-A-05-31,918 teaches to effect the correction of the temperature of the temperature sensor on the recording head on the basis of the temperature which the environmental temperature sensing means built in the recording apparatus proper detects while the recording apparatus is not operating or not causing any change of temperature. Further, JP-A-05-64,890 teaches to use for the correction of the temperature of arithmetic estimation the difference between the arithmetically estimated temperature mentioned above and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor on the recording head. The methods of the inventions cited hereinabove by way of example aim to correct the head characteristics associated with such faulty factors attendant on the recording head of the exchangeable type as inconsistency among temperature sensors, error of heat time constant inherent in the recording head, and error of thermal efficiency of the recording head during the ink ejection, for example.
Generally, the aforementioned means for the arithmetic temperature estimation operate to estimate the temperature behavior (temperature increase) of a given object by measuring in advance the graduation of descent of the temperature of the object from the level to which the object has been heated by clocked supply of energy and calculating the sum of temperature required actually by the object in descending from the level elevated in the past per unit time to the existent level.
As a means to supply heat for the temperature control mentioned above, a heater member which is joined to the recording head is used. An ejection heater is used in the ink jet type recording apparatus which records an image with ink droplets ejected by means of thermal energy, specifically the apparatus adapted to obtain the ejection of ink droplets by means of growing bubbles by ink film boiling. When the ejection heater is adopted, it is kept energized to such an extent as to avoid spontaneously foaming.
The recording head which serves the purpose of generating ejection of ink particularly by virtue of the effervescence of the ink may be driven by a method of feeding electric current in the form of a single pulse or a double pulse or other similar multiple pulse to the ejection heater. Particularly in the drive using the double pulse waveform, the practice of controlling the waveform in accordance with the magnitude of the temperature of the recording head described above proves favorable because it permits easy control of the conditions of ejection such as the amount of ink to be ejected.
In order to set the drive conditions of the recording head, the drive conditions measured in advance are registered in the form of an incision on the head or storing them in a memory. An operator reads the data and sets the drive conditions.
To drive aptly the exchangeable recording head, recognition of the recording head operatively mounted in the recording apparatus is indispensable. For the sake of this recognition, a technique capable of causing the recording head to memorize identification data (ID) is available. This technique, however, demands time and labor for the work of memorization and, because of the necessity for providing each head with memory means (such as, for example, ROM), proves highly expensive. Then, for the purpose of enabling the ink jet recording apparatus to effect stable ejection of ink, the method for controlling the temperature of the recording head and the method for driving the recording head to eject ink constitute themselves important factors. Various methods have been developed and proposed. The method for driving the recording head in particular requires the driving conditions thereof to be optimized to counter various forms of inconstancy attendant on the head.
When the optimum driving conditions of the recording head are measured in advance and the data consequently obtained are stored in the memory, the operation of measurement and the work of incorporating the memory in the head result in exalting the overall cost of the head.
The fact that the aforementioned inconstancy found among individual heads depends particularly on the characteristics of the recording head has come to demand recognition. In the case of the ink jet recording head so adapted as to effect ejection of ink droplets by energizing the ejection heater and, by virtue of the heat consequently generated, inducing the ink to effervesce, for example, possible inconstancy of the magnitude of resistance of the ejection heater affects the energy to be imparted to the head and the manner of effervescence caused in the ink.
Further, the characteristics of the recording head which are manifested in the storage or release of heat possibly vary the characteristics of the effervescence and affect the driving conditions of the recording head, depending on the manner of conduction of the heat to be used for the effervescence of ink.
The recording head of
Hirabayashi Hiromitsu
Koitabashi Noribumi
Matsubara Miyuki
Nagoshi Shigeyasu
Nishikori Hitoshi
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick, Cellla, Harper & Scinto
Fuller Benjamin R.
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