JPH0353943A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To previously notify the small residual amount of an ink or the like by providing a residual amount detection control means discriminating a value detected by a circuit on the basis of a predetermined value and notifying the result in accordance with the discrimination. CONSTITUTION:An ink tank is provided with an absorbing body for holding an ink inside and a pair of electrodes 110 for detecting an ink residual amount. In the construction for detecting an ink residual amount independently provided per cartridge, an exhausted color ink can be known. Where a level of resistance value at which a resistance value is rapidly increased with the reduction of an ink amount is A, the exhaustion of the ink can be judged with a resistance value more than the level A. A load resistance 12 is attached for detecting a resistance value between electrodes 110, a voltage conversion is conducted, and a CPU 10 converts a voltage to a digital signal by an A/D converter 11. The CPU 10 judges the resistance value based on this digital signal. The CPU 10 conducts a processing based on the judgement, displays the information on an operation part 201, and conducts a predetermined control in a recording part 200 in accordance with the detection of an ink residual amount.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, the present invention includes a configuration that detects the amount of ink remaining in an ink storage member such as an ink tank and makes a notification based on this detection. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device.

[Prior Art] Various configurations for detecting the remaining amount of ink in an inkjet recording apparatus have been proposed in the past. For example, an eye body is installed in a liquid chamber that communicates with an ink tank, a circuit is closed by a membrane that moves according to the amount of ink remaining, and the circuit is closed to detect when there is no ink. There is a configuration in which a pair is provided and the remaining amount of ink is detected based on the resistance value between the electrodes.

In particular, the configuration in which the electrodes are provided inside the ink tank has the advantage of being able to relatively accurately detect the remaining amount, and has been commonly used in the past, and various modifications have also been proposed. .

Additionally, conventionally, only a single level of remaining capacity was detected;
When it is detected that the remaining amount has reached this level, a display or other notification indicating that there is no remaining amount is made.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above conventional example, since the level of the remaining amount of ink is detected at a single level, it is not until the remaining amount of ink reaches this level that it is detected that there is no ink or that there is only a small amount of ink remaining. You will know that it is.

That is, depending on the conventional configuration for detecting the remaining amount of ink, it is not possible to predict when the ink will run out, which may result in the ink running out, resulting in an unfinished recorded image or a degraded image. To prevent this from happening, a separate ink tank containing spare ink may be installed in case the ink runs out.
The scale of the equipment was uneconomical.

Furthermore, when using an inkjet recording device as the recording section of a copying machine, it is difficult to respond to an out-of-ink notification in the middle of a copy operation when making a large number of continuous copies. Even in such a case, the image quality deteriorates due to ink shortage.

In order to prevent this, operators may sometimes replace ink with new ink when making a large number of continuous copies even though there is still ink left, which leads to uneconomical ink consumption. there were.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the present invention sets a plurality of resistance values related to the amount of ink remaining between electrodes arranged in an ink storage member such as an ink tank, and It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can give advance notice that the remaining amount of ink is low by detecting the remaining amount of ink based on each level.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve this, the present invention includes an ink storage member for storing ink, an electrode pair for detecting the amount of ink stored in the ink storage member, and an electrode pair for detecting the amount of ink between the electrode pair. In an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with a circuit for detecting a value that changes depending on the amount of the remaining amount, the value detected by the circuit is determined based on a plurality of predetermined values, and a predetermined notification is made in accordance with each of the determinations. It is characterized by having a detection control means.

[Function] According to the above configuration, values such as resistance values related to the remaining amount of ink detected between the electrodes arranged in the ink storage member are set at multiple levels, and the ink is adjusted based on each of the multiple levels. By detecting the amount of ink in the storage member, it is possible to give advance notice that the amount of ink remaining is low.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an ink tank integrated recording head cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this apparatus is configured as a recording section of a copying machine.

In the figure, 106 is a recording head chip which is the main body part of the inkjet recording head, and head chip 1
06 has a plurality of ejection ports arranged in the sub-scanning direction (recording medium conveyance direction), and an ejection energy generating element is disposed in a portion communicating with these ejection ports, and moves while facing the print medium 111 to generate a print signal. Recording medium 111 according to
Ink is ejected to. Reference numeral 102 denotes an ink tank for storing a predetermined amount of ink.
The ink supplied from 02 passes through an ink flow path 112 and is supplied to the head 106. Further, the ink tank 102 and the ink flow path 112 are connected via a filter 113 made of a porous material having a pore size that does not easily allow air bubbles to pass through.

A hydrophobic open cell is formed in a part of the tank wall above the ink tank 102, and atmospheric pressure acts on the ink in the ink tank through the fine air passage holes of this open cell. Thereby, in response to ink ejection from the head chip 106, the ink held in the absorber 101 is supplied to the head chip 106 without generating bubbles.

By the way, as described above, the head chip 106 is provided with an ejection energy generating element made of an electrothermal transducer that generates energy for ejecting ink in accordance with a recording signal, and the ink tank 102 includes , absorber 1
A pin-shaped electrode pair 110 for detecting the remaining amount of ink is provided to be inserted into the ink cartridge 01, and electrodes for electrically connecting these electrodes are grouped together in the form of an electrode row 114. A flexible cable 10 is connected from the electrode array 114 to the control unit.
connected by 9.

Ink tank l02. The head zip 106 is an integrated cartridge, and can be easily attached to and removed from the carriage 103. As a result, if the ink runs out, replace the cartridge with a new one.

During recording, the recording medium 111 is conveyed on the guide 116 by the paper conveyance roller 105 and the paper ejection roller 115 in the eight directions of arrows in the figure. 103
The paper is pressed onto the guide 116 by the paper presser rail 108 via the rollers 104 of the paper.

In this embodiment, color recording is possible, and the carriage 103 has one ink cartridge for each color of ink shown in FIG. 1, that is, four cartridges for four colors of ink. It is installed in.

In the configuration in which these cartridges are mounted, only desired cartridges can be replaced individually when the ink runs out.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of ink residual image detection.

The configuration for detecting the remaining amount of ink is provided independently for each cartridge, and is configured so that it can be determined which color ink has run out.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the resistance value between the remaining amount detection electrodes and the amount of ink.

When there is sufficient ink in the absorber 101, the resistance value decreases to a level B (approximately 1 (lkΩ) or less) in the figure.

In addition, in this relationship, there is a level where the resistance value suddenly increases as the ink decreases, and if this level is defined as A level (approximately 200 kΩ), if the resistance value is higher than this, the ink has run out. You can think that there is.

In FIG. 2, a load resistor l2 is attached to detect the resistance value between the electrodes 110, voltage conversion is performed, and the A/D converter l1 converts it into a digital signal, and the CPUIO calculates the resistance value based on this digital signal. to decide. In addition,
The suffixes Y, M, C, and K of the symbols shown in the figure indicate cartridge circuits corresponding to each color ink. Based on the above judgment, the CPUIO performs the processing described later in FIG.
The information is displayed in 01. In addition, the cpuio also includes the carriage l03 of the recording apparatus main body and the recording medium 11.
Predetermined control may be performed in the recording unit 200, which includes the head 106 and the head 106, based on the detection of the remaining amount of ink.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing details of the operation unit 201 shown in FIG. This is the key to instruct the start.

Further, the number of sheets to be recorded can be entered manually using the numeric keypad 205, and the set number of sheets is displayed on the numerical display 204.

Further, the density change key 206 allows the density to be changed for each ink color. Furthermore, select the color you want to change using the density change select key 210, and the selected color will appear on the display 20.
Lights up at 7. Then, the density changed by the key 206 is displayed as a bar on the display 208.

Furthermore, when a paper jam occurs, the JAM display 209 lights up. Further, if there is no ink or the amount of ink 11 is decreased, the indicator light 211 lights up or blinks.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the remaining ink amount detection process, and this process is started at a predetermined timing during the operation of the printing apparatus. The following will explain according to this flowchart.

First, in step S301, yellow ink IE&1
It is determined whether the resistance value of 10Y is less than or equal to B shown in FIG. 3. If it is less than or equal to B, the amount of ink is sufficient and step S
The process advances to step 305 and subsequent steps to check the next magenta ink.

In the case of B or more, in step 5302, A shown in FIG.
If it is less than A (and more than B), it indicates that the ink level is low, so in step S304, the Y part of indicator light 2 1 1 blinks to indicate that the ink level is low. warn you of what has happened. If the resistance value is 8 or more, the yellow ink is gone, so the Y of the indicator light 211 is turned on.

Below, for magenta ink, step S3051
2 to S308, step 5309 for cyan ink
~S312, step 531 for black ink
3 to S316, the same processing as in the case of yellow ink is performed.

When the above process is finished, in step S317, yellow,
Magenta. cyan. If it is determined that any one of the black inks is out of ink, in step 5310, processing such as stopping the operation of the recording device is performed to prohibit copying.

In the above embodiment, when the ink level becomes low, the out-of-ink indicator blinks, but the indicator light 211
may be displayed in two colors, with yellow displayed when the ink level is low and red displayed when the ink runs out. Furthermore, the notification regarding the amount of remaining ink is not limited to display, but may also use sound, and display and sound may be combined depending on whether the amount of ink remaining is low or not.

Further, in the above embodiment, the level of the resistance value to be detected is set to two levels, but the level is not limited to this, and appropriate control may be performed at multiple levels depending on various levels of the remaining amount of ink.

Furthermore, the resistance level can be set arbitrarily depending on the type of ink, the image to be printed, and the amount of printing, thereby allowing more detailed detection of the remaining amount.

The present invention provides excellent effects particularly in bubble jet recording heads and recording apparatuses among ink jet recording systems.

As for typical configurations and principles thereof, it is preferable to use the basic principles disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to arrange the liquid (ink) in accordance with the sheet and liquid path that hold it. The electrothermal converter that is
Generating thermal energy in the electrothermal transducer to produce film boiling on the thermally active surface of the recording head by applying at least one drive signal that corresponds to recorded information and provides a rapid temperature rise above nucleate boiling. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed in one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal, which is effective. The growth and contraction of the bubble causes liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. If this drive signal is in the form of a pulse, bubble growth and contraction will occur immediately and appropriately.
Particularly responsive liquid (ink) ejection can be achieved,
More preferred. This pulse-shaped drive signal is described in US Pat. No. 4,463,359 and US Pat.
Those described in the specification are suitable. Furthermore, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 concerning the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, even more excellent recording can be performed.

The configuration of the recording head includes ejection ports as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 discloses a structure in which a heat acting part is arranged in a bending region in addition to a combination structure of a liquid path and an electrothermal converter (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path). Patent No. 4459600
A structure using the specification of No. 15 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 123670 of 1982 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a hole that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy is disclosed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 138461 of 1982 discloses a configuration compatible with a discharge section of
The effects of the present invention are also effective even with a configuration based on the publication.

Furthermore, a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus can also be used, and by combining multiple recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification, Either a configuration that satisfies the length or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally may be used, but the present invention can effectively exhibit the above-mentioned effects. In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that is attached to the device body enables electrical connection with the device body and ink supply from the device body, or as mentioned above, a print head that is attached to the recording head itself. The present invention 16 is also effective when a temporary cartridge type recording head is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. for the recording head provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus to the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, these include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressure or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element, or a combination thereof;
It is also effective to perform a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing in order to perform stable printing.

Furthermore, the recording mode of the recording device is not limited to a recording mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is used, but it is also possible to configure the recording head temporarily or in combination with a plurality of recording heads, but it is also possible to use multiple colors of different colors or mixed colors. The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color image.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, values such as resistance values related to the remaining amount of ink detected between the electrodes arranged in the ink storage member are set at multiple levels, and this value is set at multiple levels. By detecting the amount of ink in the ink storage member based on each of a plurality of levels, it is possible to give advance notice that the amount of ink remaining is low.

As a result, effects such as being able to prepare new ink based on advance notice and knowing to some extent the number of sheets of recording paper that can be recorded thereafter can be obtained.

Further, the present invention is particularly effective for devices such as copying machines that continuously record the amount of data.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of an inkjet recording device used in a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration for detecting the remaining amount of ink in the device shown in FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the inter-electrode resistance used to determine the amount of ink remaining and the amount of ink. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing details of the operating section of the device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the remaining amount detection process in the apparatus shown in FIG. 10... cpu, lIY, lIM, llc, lk... 8/D converter, 101... absorber, 102... ink tank, 106... head chip, 110Y, 110M, 110 (:, IIOK...Electrode (pair), 112...Ink channel, 113...Filter, 201...Operation unit, 211...Indicator light.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An ink storage member for storing ink, an electrode pair for detecting the amount of ink stored in the ink storage member, and an electrode that changes depending on the amount of ink between the electrode pair. an inkjet recording device comprising a circuit for detecting a value, the circuit determining the value detected based on a plurality of predetermined values;
An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by having a remaining amount detection control means that makes a predetermined notification depending on each of the determinations. 2) The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of ink storage members corresponding to each of a plurality of colors of ink, and performing the determination and notification for each of the plurality of ink storage members. . 3) The ink storage member and a recording head for performing recording using the ink stored by the member are integrally configured,
3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the integrated structure is detachably attached to the inkjet recording apparatus. 4) Claim 1, wherein the predetermined notification has different notification modes depending on the plurality of predetermined values.
4. The inkjet recording device according to any one of 3 to 3.