JP4974664B2 - RECORDING HEAD SUBSTRATE, RECORDING HEAD OR HEAD CARTRIDGE USING THE SUBSTRATE, AND RECORDING DEVICE USING THE RECORDING HEAD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head substrate, a recording head or head cartridge using the substrate, and a recording apparatus using the recording head. In particular, the present invention relates to a recording head substrate used in, for example, an ink jet system, a recording head or a head cartridge using the substrate, and a recording apparatus using the recording head.

  Among inkjet recording methods, for example, as in the recording methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a configuration in which ink is ejected from the orifice at the tip of the recording head by bubbles generated by applying thermal energy to the liquid. Are known. In particular, the recording method disclosed in Patent Document 2 is not only very effectively applied to so-called drop-on-demand recording, but also has a large number of orifices at high density for high-speed recording of high-resolution, high-quality images. The full line type recording head provided can be easily realized.

  Such a recording head has a liquid discharge section having an orifice for discharging a liquid such as ink, and a liquid flow path that is in communication with the orifice and that includes a heat flow section that heats the liquid. And. Furthermore, the ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as recording head) includes a recording head substrate including an electrothermal transducer (heater) that generates thermal energy.

  In recent years, in such a recording head substrate, a plurality of heaters, a driver for driving each heater, a shift register for sending image data to each driver in parallel, and a latch circuit for temporarily storing data are provided on the same substrate. It is configured.

  FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration example of a conventional recording head substrate.

  In FIG. 14, 900 is a print head substrate (hereinafter referred to as a substrate), 901 is a heater, 902 is a power transistor that controls energization to the heater 901, and 903 is a latch that latches print data in synchronization with a latch clock (L). Circuit. Reference numeral 904 denotes a shift register that inputs serial data (DATA) in synchronization with the serial clock (CK), and reference numeral 914 denotes a heater resistance value monitor element that is a sensor that monitors the resistance value of the heater 901 of the substrate 900.

  Reference numerals 905 to 913 denote input / output terminals. In particular, reference numeral 908 denotes a terminal for inputting a heat pulse signal (driving pulse signal) for controlling the ON time of the power transistor 902, that is, the driving time by supplying current to the heater 901 from the outside of the recording head. Reference numeral 909 denotes a driving power supply terminal of the logic circuit, 910 denotes a ground (GND) terminal, and 911 denotes an input terminal of the driving power supply for the heater 902.

  In the above configuration, serially input recording data is stored in the shift register 904 and latched in the latch circuit 903 by a latch signal. In this state, when a heat pulse is input from the terminal 908, the power transistor 902 is turned on according to the recording data. As a result, a current flows through the corresponding heater 901, and the ink in the liquid flow path is heated and discharged as droplets from the nozzle tip.

  Here, when the energy required for foaming the liquid in the heater 901 is considered, if the heat dissipation condition is constant, the energy is represented by the product of the input energy per unit area required for the heater and the area of the heater. The Thereby, the voltage applied to both ends of the heater 901, the current flowing through the heater 901, and the time (pulse width) may be set to values at which the necessary energy can be obtained. Here, the heater applied voltage can be kept substantially constant by supplying a voltage from the power supply of the printing apparatus main body.

  On the other hand, the current flowing through the heater 901 varies because the heater resistance value varies depending on the lot or the substrate due to variations in the film thickness of the heating element in the substrate manufacturing process. Therefore, even if the applied heat pulse width is constant, if the resistance value of the heater is larger than the set value, the flowing current value becomes small. In this case, the amount of energy input to the heater is insufficient, and the ink cannot be properly foamed. On the contrary, when the resistance value of the heater becomes small, the current value becomes larger than the set value even when the same voltage and the same width heat pulse are applied. In this case, excessive energy is generated by the heater, which may lead to a short life of the heater.

In order to cope with this, conventionally, the resistance value of the heater 901 is always monitored by a rank heater 914 which is a heater for determining the rank of the heater, and the result is fed back to the recording apparatus main body to perform recording control.
In addition, a method has been proposed in which the temperature of the substrate 900 is monitored by a temperature sensor, the power supply voltage and the heat pulse width are changed according to the values, and control is performed so that substantially constant energy is applied to the heater 901.
JP 54-51837 A German Patent Application Publication No. 2843064

  In recent inkjet recording apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as recording apparatuses), the size of ink droplets is rapidly decreasing in order to obtain high-resolution and high-quality images. On the other hand, since the recording speed is also increasing, a large number of small heaters corresponding to the small droplets are arranged in high density on the recording head substrate in order to simultaneously reduce the size of the ink droplets and increase the recording speed. It is supposed to be. For example, if the ink droplet size is halved, the recording speed is halved to obtain the same image. In that case, it is necessary to double the number of heaters in order to maintain the same recording speed. Furthermore, in order to double the recording speed while halving the size of the ink droplet, the number of heaters must be quadrupled in the same way.

  As described above, it is indispensable to increase the number of heaters in order to maintain the recording speed and achieve higher recording speed while achieving high image quality.

  However, if the heater pitch is the same on the substrate, it is inevitable that the size of the substrate will be increased in order to increase the number of heaters. When the substrate size increases, process variations such as heater film thickness variations in the substrate manufacturing process and in-plane variations in the Si substrate occur. As a result, a variation in the heater resistance value within the same substrate that may occur is increased. For this reason, when ink is ejected with the same pulse width, the size of the foamed ink droplet may be reduced due to insufficient energy in one heater, and the size of the foamed ink droplet may be increased in another heater. Therefore, there is a concern that density unevenness on the image may occur at the end of the heater array.

  Therefore, the present inventors have provided a plurality of heat pulse signal input terminals and suppressed density unevenness by driving with a more suitable heat pulse width for each predetermined region such as the longitudinal direction of the substrate (the heater arrangement direction). I examined it. These non-known background techniques will be described below.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a layout configuration of a recording head substrate 900 having two heat pulse signal input terminals.

  In FIG. 15, 101 and 102 are pulse signal input terminals. Reference numerals 103 and 104 denote signal lines for supplying heat pulse signals (HE1 and HE2) for driving the heaters to the heater segment regions in which the heat pulse signals input from the pulse signal input terminals 101 and 102 are used. It is. Further, 105 is a heater array (heater array), and 106 is an ink supply port.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the heater segment region corresponding to FIG.

The example shown in FIG. 16 represents a heater segment with 40 heaters, but it goes without saying that the number of heaters may be larger. Heater segment (recording element)
Is a circuit unit corresponding to the number of heaters for driving the heater, such as a heater (resistance), a driver for driving the heater, and a logic circuit immediately before switching the driver. Further, the HE1 and HE2 signals shown in FIG. 16 are input from the pulse signal input terminals 101 and 102 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a state in which ink is ejected from the heater in the area of segment numbers (SegNO) 18 to 21 illustrated in FIG. 16 to the recording medium.

  In such heater drive control, what is controlled by one heat pulse signal (one kind of pulse width) is controlled by two heat pulse signals (two kinds of pulse width). Therefore, it becomes possible to input a heat pulse width signal suitable for each group of individual heater segments from the pulse signal input terminals 101 and 102, and density unevenness can be individually reduced in each heater segment region. .

  Now, since the heaters (for example, heaters of seg18 and seg20) in the region where the width of the heat pulse changes (in the vicinity of SegNO18 to 21 in FIG. 16) are adjacent to each other, the difference in the actual heater resistance value. There is almost no. However, when the heater is driven with a heat pulse signal having a width adapted to each predetermined area of the substrate, a pulse shorter than the desired width is applied to one heater and a pulse longer than the desired width is applied to the other heater. May be injected. As a result, density unevenness may occur in the pulse signal switching region.

  For example, the upper half of the recording dots shown in FIG. 17 is recorded by the HE1 signal, and the lower half is recorded by the HE2 signal. Accordingly, the recording dots in this figure correspond to the boundary portions to which different heat pulse signals are given. In FIG. 17, in the lower half, the ink ejection amount is increased by the HE2 signal, and in the upper half, the ink ejection amount is decreased by the HE1 signal. For this reason, density unevenness becomes conspicuous as compared with other portions. This is a phenomenon that appears prominently when the substrate length becomes long (when the heater array becomes long).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned non-known background art, and provides a recording head substrate, a recording head, and a recording apparatus that can perform good recording by driving a heater with an appropriate heat pulse signal. It is an object.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording head substrate of the present invention has the following characteristics.

That is, a plurality of recording elements are arranged in a row , and the plurality of recording elements includes a first recording element group including a plurality of adjacent recording elements and a plurality of recording elements belonging to the first recording element group. The first recording element group is divided into a second recording element group composed of a plurality of adjacent recording elements different from the recording element, and at least one recording element at an end of the first recording element group, and the first recording element group A recording head substrate in which at least one recording element at the end of the second recording element group adjacent to the end of the second recording element group is alternately arranged in the arrangement direction arranged in the row . A first driving pulse signal is supplied to each of the plurality of recording elements belonging to the recording element group, and the first driving pulse signal has a pulse width different from each of the plurality of recording elements belonging to the second recording element group. test is different second drive pulse signal Is the fact characterized.

  Further, a recording head and a recording apparatus for achieving the above object have the configuration of the recording head substrate.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, in an area where any two of the recording element groups are adjacent, a part of each area where the recording element group is arranged has a drive pulse signal changing area which overlaps with each other. There is an effect that unevenness of recording density in the area to be reduced can be reduced. As a result, high-quality recording can be achieved.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) does not represent only the case of forming significant information such as characters and graphics. In addition to this, an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium regardless of whether it is significant involuntary, or whether it is manifested so that a human can perceive it visually, or It also represents the case where the medium is processed.

  “Recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses but also widely to cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and the like that can accept ink. Shall.

  Further, “ink” (sometimes referred to as “liquid”) should be interpreted widely as in the definition of “recording (printing)”. That is, by being applied on the recording medium, it is used for forming an image, pattern, pattern, etc., processing the recording medium, or processing the ink (for example, solidification or insolubilization of the colorant in the ink applied to the recording medium). It shall represent a liquid that can be made.

  Further, the “nozzle” collectively refers to an ejection port or a liquid path communicating with the ejection port and an element that generates energy used for ink ejection unless otherwise specified.

<Outline of the main unit>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a recording apparatus) IJRA which is a representative embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5009 to 5011 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). is doing. The carriage HC is supported by the guide rail 5003 and reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. On the carriage HC, an integrated ink jet cartridge IJC incorporating a recording head IJH and an ink tank IT is mounted. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head IJH. Reference numeral 5015 denotes a suction unit that sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the cap opening 5023.

<Description of control configuration>
Next, a control configuration for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit of the recording apparatus IJRA.

  In FIG. 2, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is a ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is for storing various data (such as recording signals and recording data supplied to the recording head). DRAM. Reference numeral 1704 denotes a gate array (GA) that controls supply of print data to the print head IJH, and also controls data transfer among the interface 1700, MPU 1701, and RAM 1703. Reference numeral 1710 denotes a carriage motor for conveying the recording head IJH, and 1709 denotes a conveyance motor for conveying the recording paper. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a head driver for driving the recording head IJH, and reference numerals 1706 and 1707 denote motor drivers for driving the transport motor 1709 and the carrier motor 1710, respectively. Further, a heat pulse signal described later is supplied from the apparatus main body to the head via the head driver 1705.

  The operation of the above control configuration will be described. When a recording signal enters the interface 1700, the recording signal is converted into recording data between the gate array 1704 and the MPU 1701. The motor drivers 1706 and 1707 are driven, and the recording head IJH is driven according to the recording data sent to the head driver 1705 to perform recording.

  FIG. 3 is a partially broken perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the recording head.

  In FIG. 3, only the heater (heater resistance) 901 on one side of the ink supply port 106 and the discharge port 40 corresponding thereto are shown.

  As described above, the recording head substrate 900 generates heat by receiving an electrical signal, and a plurality of heaters 901 for discharging ink from the discharge ports 40 by bubbles generated by the heat are arranged in a row. Has been. A flow path 41 for supplying ink to the ejection port 40 provided at a position facing the heater 901 is provided corresponding to each ejection port 40. These discharge ports 40 are formed in the orifice plate 20. By connecting the orifice plate 20 to the recording head substrate 900, a common liquid chamber that communicates with the ink supply port 106 and supplies ink to each flow path 41 is provided.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing the appearance of the ink jet cartridge IJC.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an electrical connection 1201 with the recording head substrate 900 is provided on the TAB tape 1200, and a contact pad 1204 used for connection with a recording device is formed on one end of the TAB tape 1200. Yes. The recording head substrate 900 of this embodiment is on the lower side of the orifice plate 20. After the flow path 41 is formed on the recording head substrate 900 with a dry film or the like, the orifice plate 20 is attached, and this is attached to the ink tank IT on which the TAB tape 1200 is attached. Thereafter, bonding is performed, and the electrical connection portion 1201 of the TAB tape 1200 is sealed with a sealing material, thereby completing the ink jet cartridge IJC. The ink jet cartridge IJC may be a separation type in which the recording head IJH and the ink tank IT are separated.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a layout configuration example of each element of the recording head substrate 900.

  In FIG. 5, the heater array 201 is an area where a plurality of heaters (not shown), which are heating resistance elements that supply thermal energy for ejecting ink, are arranged. The power MOS array 202 is a driver region in which transistors (not shown) for selectively supplying current to the heater are arranged. Each of these recording elements, such as a heater and a driver transistor, is one element constituting a recording element.

  The logic circuit 203 is an area where a logic circuit (not shown) for controlling the switching operation of the driver transistor is arranged. The pad unit 204 is an area where pads for electrical connection with the recording apparatus main body are arranged. The ink supply port 106 is provided to supply ink from an ink tank (not shown) provided on the back side of the recording head substrate 900 to the position of each heater on the substrate surface.

  The detailed configuration of each of the components shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 14 in the conventional example, so the detailed description thereof will be omitted and, if necessary, will be described in FIG. References are made to those components with reference numbers. Each of the configurations (reference numerals 901 to 912) shown in FIG. 14 includes the heater array 201 and the upper half (or lower side) of the power MOS array 202 in FIG. 5, the right side of the logic circuit 203 and the pad 204 (or It is the figure which showed the left side half in detail.

  Further, sensors such as the rank heater (not shown) described above are formed on the printhead substrate. In the rank heater, the variable elements such as film formation and etching of the recording head substrate are formed in the same process as the heater 901, and the resistance value (rank resistance) is measured. The measured rank resistance is used to adjust and control the driving voltage and the driving pulse width with respect to the variation of the resistance value of the heater generated in the manufacturing process of the recording head substrate for each substrate and the in-plane variation of the Si substrate. In this embodiment, since the drive voltage is supplied from the recording apparatus main body, the drive voltage is a constant voltage, and the pulse width of the heat pulse signal (drive pulse signal) is controlled.

  Moreover, in order to minimize the influence of pattern variations such as heater size and process variations as much as possible, rank heaters are preferably arranged by arranging a plurality of the same configurations and sizes, for example, averaging. Furthermore, by providing multiple rank heaters in the substrate corresponding to the number of heat pulse signals that determine the pulse width and the heater segment area, it is possible to monitor variations in the substrate, variations in the Si substrate surface, etc. Become. This makes it possible to monitor the measured value with higher accuracy, particularly when the substrate size is large.

  Next, the wiring configuration of the main part of the recording head substrate according to this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of a printhead substrate wiring configuration example.

  In FIG. 6, the same components as those already described with reference to FIG. 15 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  As can be seen by comparing FIG. 6 and FIG. 15, in the example of FIG. 15, the heat pulse signals (HE 1, HE 2) input from the pulse signal input terminals 101, 102 are the heaters of the upper half and the lower half of the substrate 900. It was supplied to the group (recording element group). That is, segments 18 and 19 are the upper half group in the drawing, and segments 20 and 21 and later are the lower half group in the drawing, forming a boundary between them. On the other hand, in this embodiment, in the region 107 adjacent to the heater to which two heat pulse signals are supplied, the segment arrangement regions corresponding to the respective heat pulse signals are overlapped. The signal lines 103 and 104 are connected so that different heat pulse signals are alternately supplied for each segment.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship of the drive segments when the heat pulse signals shown in FIG. 6 are connected. In this example as well, as in the example shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the upper half heater segment group is basically connected to the input terminal 101 for supplying the HE1 signal, while the lower half heater segment group is basically the input terminal for supplying the HE2 signal. 102. However, the connection of the HE1 signal and the HE2 signal is switched for the segment connection switching portion (SegNO18 to 21: drive pulse signal change region described later) corresponding to the region 107 of FIG. 6 indicated by the arrow in FIG. .

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing recording dots recorded by exchanging signals shown in FIG.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, the HE1 signal set in accordance with one area obtained by dividing the heater arrangement direction of the board corresponding to the variation in the heater resistance value in the board, and set in accordance with the other divided area. HE2 signal is used.

  The dots in FIG. 8 show the case where the ink droplets are slightly smaller for the heater at the center of the substrate in the recording using the HE1 signal, with the pulse width of the heat pulse signal being slightly shorter. On the contrary, in the recording using the HE2 signal, the case where the pulse width of the heat pulse signal is slightly longer than that of the heater at the center of the substrate and the ink droplet is slightly increased is shown. Needless to say, the reverse is also possible.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the connection of the two heat pulse signals, the HE1 signal and the HE2 signal, is alternately switched in the region 107. The region 107 is called a drive pulse signal change region. With such a configuration, density unevenness as shown in FIG. 17 that appears in a switching portion (boundary region) between a signal having a slightly shorter pulse width and a signal having a longer pulse width can be reduced.

  In addition, the example which uses the connection area | region of two heat pulse signals in piles is not limited to the example which replaces the connection of the heater for 1 segment as mentioned above, Another Example can also be considered.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another configuration in which the connection regions of two heat pulse signals are used in an overlapping manner.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, heaters may be bundled every two segments, and two heat pulse signals may be alternately supplied for every two segments to overlap. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9B, the two heat pulse signals may be alternately supplied for each segment to be overlapped by repeating over a plurality of segments. Alternatively, different heat pulses may be supplied every predetermined number.
Further, as shown in FIG. 9 (c), the number of heat pulse signal input terminals is further increased (for example, 4), and the heater segment region corresponding to these input terminals is further finely cut to switch the heat pulse signal. Alternatively, the pulse signal selection may be alternated.

  In these cases (for example, FIGS. 9A and 9B), the number of segments in the heater arrangement area (the above-described heat signal change area) to which different heat pulses are supplied is different for each heat signal. When the number of heater segments included in the divided area exceeds 1/2, the following event occurs. That is, the overlapping heater resistance values are separated from the center resistance values of the respective divided regions. This can also cause density unevenness. Accordingly, the heater segments to be overlapped must be a portion within 1/2 of the heater segments included in each divided region (for example, between segments 502 to 504 in FIG. 12 described later).

  Here, a process of feeding back the monitor value of the rank heater to the pulse width of the heat pulse signal input from each heat pulse signal input terminal will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the feedback processing. Here, two processes are shown. First, the process shown in FIG. This process is performed only by the recording apparatus.

  First, in step S100, the recording head IJH is mounted on the recording apparatus main body, and in step S150, the rank resistance value is monitored under predetermined measurement conditions. In step S200, the monitored values are ranked by rank number based on the rank table stored in the recording apparatus main body.

  FIG. 11 shows a ranking table. According to this figure, the rank resistance value (R) is divided into N equal parts within a preset standard range (R1 ≦ R ≦ R2), and a rank number (No) is assigned to each divided stage. ing.

  In step S250, the drive pulse width is determined using a conversion table for determining the drive condition (here, the pulse width) based on the rank number obtained by the ranking. In step S300, recording is performed by driving the recording head IJH under the determined driving conditions.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10B, the rank resistance value may be measured under predetermined measurement conditions in the manufacturing process of the recording head, and the result may be reflected. In addition, the same step reference number is attached | subjected to the common process step in Fig.10 (a) and (b).

  That is, in step S10, the rank resistance value is measured under predetermined measurement conditions in the recording head manufacturing process. In step S20, the measured rank resistance value is ranked using a table as shown in FIG. In step S30, the optimum applied energy value at this time is stored as recording characteristic information in a memory built in the recording head together with the rank number.

  Thereafter, the recording head is shipped, and is attached to the recording apparatus main body in step S100 as described above.

  In step S120, the information (rank number) of each head stored in the memory of the recording head is read. Thereafter, as described with reference to FIG. 10B, the processes of step S250 and step S300 are executed.

  As described above, the monitor value of the rank heater is fed back to the pulse width of the heat pulse signal.

  Note that the feedback processing to the pulse width of the heat pulse signal may be based on actual ink ejection stability instead of the rank heater resistance value.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing for determining the pulse width of the heat pulse signal from the ink ejection stability. In FIG. 12, the same processing steps as those already described in the flowchart of FIG. 10B are denoted by the same step reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  According to FIG. 12, in step S10a, the ink ejection stability is measured (the ink ejection threshold is measured) instead of the monitored rank resistance value. Then, the rank number is acquired based on the information, and the same processing as described with reference to FIG.

  As the number of heater segments increases, the size of the print head substrate increases, and the variation in heater resistance value also becomes larger than that of the conventional one. The heater resistance value may show various distributions as the heater resistance value even within one substrate due to variations in the Si substrate surface, manufacturing process variations, and the like.

  Therefore, in order to drive with a pulse width more suitable for each divided area in the substrate, a plurality of rank heaters are provided so that the rank heater resistance value can be measured according to the number of heat pulse signal input terminals, that is, for each heater segment area. It is desirable to have. Furthermore, it is desirable to place a rank heater at the center of each region so that the resistance value of the rank heater more accurately represents the heater resistance value, and to feed back the rank heater resistance value at the center of the region.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of variation in heater resistance value. Here, three examples are shown. 13A to 13C, the vertical axis represents the heater resistance value, and the horizontal axis represents the heater segment number.

For example, in the case of FIG. 13A, two heat pulse signal input terminals are provided and divided on the left and right sides of the heater segment 501, and a rank heater is disposed in the vicinity of the heater segments 501, 502, or 503. To consider.
Here, the left side is a side with a smaller segment number in the figure, and is one end side in the longitudinal direction of the substrate on the substrate. The right side is the side with the larger segment number in the drawing, and the other side in the longitudinal direction of the substrate on the substrate.
When a rank heater is disposed in the vicinity of the heater segment 501 or 503, the resistance variation of the heater farthest from the disposed portion is Δ503. On the other hand, when a rank heater is disposed in the vicinity of the heater segment 502, the variation in resistance value is Δ502 with respect to the heater farthest from the disposed portion. Since Δ502 is half of Δ503, if the rank heater is disposed in the vicinity of the heater segments 502 and 504, the variation in the heater resistance value can be estimated in half.

  The same applies to the case where there is a linear resistance variation as shown in FIGS. That is, the maximum variation in resistance value when the rank heater is disposed near the heater segment 501 or 503 is Δ503, whereas the resistance value when the rank heater is disposed near the heater segment 502 is The maximum variation is Δ502. Thus, the variation in heater resistance value is halved depending on the location of the rank heater.

  Therefore, by providing the same number of rank heaters as the number of heat pulse signal input terminals in the recording head substrate and disposing them near the center of each divided area, the heat pulse width that minimizes the variation in the heater resistance value is achieved. Feedback is possible.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, a plurality of input terminals are provided on the recording head substrate for inputting a plurality of heat pulse signals, and divided into a plurality of heater segment regions according to the number of heat pulse signals for inputting a plurality of heaters. To do. Then, the heater is driven with a separate heat pulse signal for each divided region. Further, at the boundary portion of the heater segment region where the heat pulse signal is different, the signal lines are connected so that two heat pulse signals are alternately supplied to the heater at the boundary portion.

  As a result, the characteristics of the heat pulse signal do not change suddenly at the boundary between the heater areas to which different heat pulse signals are supplied, and density unevenness due to a sudden change in recording dots is reduced, resulting in high-quality recording. It can be performed.

  In addition, a rank heater is provided at the center of each of the heater segment areas (groups) divided on the recording head substrate, and the pulse width of the heat pulse signal is determined based on these rank heater resistance values. As a result, the heater can be driven by supplying more appropriate energy to the heater in each region, and the ink discharge characteristics are made more uniform, contributing to high-quality recording.

  In the above embodiments, the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head have been described as ink, and the liquid stored in the ink tank has been described as ink. However, the storage is limited to ink. It is not a thing. For example, a treatment liquid discharged to the recording medium may be accommodated in the ink tank in order to improve the fixability and water resistance of the recorded image or to improve the image quality.

1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration example of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applicable. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit of the recording apparatus IJRA. FIG. 2 is a partially broken perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a recording head. FIG. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the inkjet cartridge IJC. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a recording head substrate. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a layout configuration example of a recording head substrate. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of the drive segment at the time of connecting the heat pulse signal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the recording dot recorded by replacement of the signal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other structural example which uses the area | region where two heat pulse signals are supplied overlapping. It is a flowchart which shows the feedback process to the pulse width of a heat pulse signal. It is a figure which shows a ranking table. It is a flowchart which shows the process which determines the pulse width of a heat pulse signal from ink discharge stability. It is a figure which shows the example of the dispersion | variation in a heater resistance value. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration example of a conventional recording head substrate. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a layout configuration of a recording head substrate having two heat pulse signal input terminals. It is a figure which shows the example of a relationship between the heater segment corresponding to FIG. 15, and a heat pulse signal. It is a figure which shows a mode that the ink was discharged to the recording medium from the heater of the boundary area of the segment numbers 18-21 shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

20 Orifice plate 40 Ink discharge port 41 Ink flow path 101, 102 Heat pulse signal input terminal 105 Heater array (heater array)
106 Ink supply port 107 Overlap area 201 Heater array (heater array)
202 Power MOS array 203 Logic circuit (logic circuit)
204 Pad portions 501 to 504 Heater segment 900 Recording head substrate 901 Heater 902 Power transistor (driver)
903 Latch circuit 904 Shift register 905-912 Input terminal

Claims (8)

A plurality of recording elements are arranged in a row , and the plurality of recording elements includes a first recording element group including a plurality of adjacent recording elements and a plurality of recording elements belonging to the first recording element group. Is divided into a second recording element group consisting of a plurality of adjacent recording elements, at least one recording element at the end of the first recording element group, and an end of the first recording element group A recording head substrate in which at least one recording element at an end of the second recording element group adjacent to a portion is arranged alternately with respect to the arrangement direction arranged in the row ,
A first drive pulse signal is supplied to each of the plurality of recording elements belonging to the first recording element group,
A recording head substrate, wherein each of the plurality of recording elements belonging to the second recording element group is supplied with a second driving pulse signal having a pulse width different from that of the first driving pulse signal. A first terminal for supplying the first drive pulse signal;
The recording head substrate according to claim 1, further comprising a second terminal that supplies the second drive pulse signal . 3. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the number of the alternately arranged recording elements is equal to or less than half of the number of recording elements included in each of the first and second recording element groups. Substrate. A first monitor element for measuring recording characteristics of a plurality of recording elements of the first recording element group ;
A printhead substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and a second monitor device for measuring the recording characteristics, further comprising a plurality of printing elements of the second recording element group. And a memory for storing information indicating recording characteristics of the plurality of recording elements of the first recording element group and information indicating recording characteristics of the plurality of recording elements of the second recording element group. a printhead substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A substrate for a recording head according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
And a member that forms a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink corresponding to each of the plurality of recording elements. A recording head according to claim 6 ;
A head cartridge comprising an ink tank for storing ink to be supplied to the supply port. A recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium using the recording head according to claim 6 ,
The pulse width between the first drive pulse signal and the second drive pulse signal is determined according to information representing the recording characteristic stored in the memory of the recording head or the recording characteristic measured by the monitor element of the recording head. A decision means to decide;
A recording apparatus comprising: driving means for driving the recording head with the first driving pulse signal and the second driving pulse signal having the pulse width determined by the determining means.

Images