JPS63224960A - Actuation of ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable various kinds of recovery action to be instructed with one switch and to enable recovery operation to be easily carried out, by a method wherein a number of times for pushing a switch for ink recovery operation is detected, and recovery action time or recovery action frequency is varied by this number of times. CONSTITUTION:In the case where after opening a package, and refilling ink, etc., ink is not extended in an ink supply system and special intensive recovery action is required, an ink recovery operation switch 33A is pushed down a number of times as descriped in a manual by perceiving said state by users. Then, this number of times of operation is detected with a sensor such as a counter or the like. A command is instructed to a drive system 35 from a control part 30 in order to carry out intensive recovery action corresponding to this detected function, that is, sufficient long recovery action time (time for keeping an ink suction pump under a suction state) or sufficient repetitive frequency recovery action (suction frequency of a pump is increased by reciprocating rotation of, for instance, a pump drive gear). A recovery device 36 is driven and intensive ink recovery action is carried out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an operating method for an inkjet recording apparatus, and particularly to an operating method during an ink recovery operation.

[Prior art]

(Ink Chef) A printing apparatus supplies ink into a printhead, drives drive elements corresponding to a plurality of ink ejection ports formed on the front surface of the printhead based on a data signal,
In this method, flying ink droplets are formed from an ink ejection port toward a recording medium, and recording is performed while the ink droplets are attached.

In this type of inkjet recording device, when unpacking,
To maintain good ink ejection by filling the ink supply system seamlessly when replacing ink or recording heads, or when ink ejection ports are clogged due to dust, thickened ink adhesion, or air bubbles. For the purpose of eliminating this problem and maintaining image quality, the camping operation, which seals the ink ejection port with a camp and generates a negative pressure suction force in the camp using a negative pressure source, seals the ink ejection port through the ink ejection port during recording. An ink recovery operation is being performed to suck out the ink.

This ink recovery operation is normally performed by suctioning ink from the ink ejection port through a cap, but when performing this recovery operation, it can range from normal recovery to strong recovery depending on the condition of the print head or usage conditions. Wasteful ink consumption is avoided by selecting various recovery operations and performing recovery to a necessary degree.

For example, in general, a strong recovery action is required when unpacking or initially filling the ink supply system, a moderate (slightly more intense than normal) recovery action is required when resuming recording, and normal recovery is required when other actions are taken as necessary. An action is taken.

By the way, in conventional inkjet recording apparatuses, various operation switches are provided according to various recovery operations, and a user obtains a predetermined recovery operation command by selecting one of the plurality of switches.

However, in such a conventional ink recovery operation, it is necessary to select an appropriate switch from a plurality of switches, making the operation complicated for the user and increasing the possibility of erroneous operation.

Furthermore, since a plurality of switches are required for recovery operations, the structure is complicated and a corresponding amount of space is required.

Furthermore, in the case of a single action recovery, it is inconvenient for strong recovery because the switch must be pressed every time one recovery action is completed.

〔the purpose〕

An object of the present invention is to provide an operation of an inkjet recording device that can solve the problems of the prior art, can command various recovery operations with a single switch, and can realize easy operation and a simple structure. The purpose is to provide a method.

[Means to achieve the purpose]

The present invention achieves the above object by detecting the number of times the ink recovery operation switch is pressed and changing the recovery operation time or the number of recovery operations based on the detected number of times.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an ink jet recording apparatus suitable for carrying out the method of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a sheet (recording medium) 3 is moved along a guide shaft 4.4 to the front surface of a sheet (recording medium) 3 that is fed in the direction of arrow A through sheet feeding rollers 1.2 installed vertically at a predetermined interval. A carriage 5 is provided, and a recording head (inkjet head) 6 is mounted on the carriage.

This recording head faces the sheet 3 with an interval of, for example, about 0.8 fl.

A plurality of ink ejection ports for forming dots are formed on the front surface of the recording head 6.

The carriage 5 is reciprocated in the direction of the arrow by a carriage drive motor 8 via a belt transmission mechanism 9.

During recording, in synchronization with the swinging of the carriage 5 in the width direction of the sheet 3, driving elements of each ink ejection port of the recording head 6 are driven to form flying ink droplets directed from the ink ejection ports toward the sheet 3. I will record it while doing so.

After recording ends, the recording head 6 returns to the home position H outside the recording range.
A pump suction type ink recovery device 10 is provided at the home position.

FIG. 2 illustrates the ink recovery device 10. As shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, a motor 12 as a drive source and a suction pump 13 for ink recovery are mounted on a frame 11, and the front part (recording head 6 l11) presses the recording head 6 in an airtight state ( The camp 14 that is in close contact with the camp 14 is guided and supported so that it can move forward and backward (in the direction of arrow F).

A porous ink absorber 15 is provided on the front surface (close contact surface) of the camp 14.

The inside of the cap 14 and the suction pump 13 are connected by a suction tube 16, and a waste ink tube 17 for discharging the sucked ink is connected to the discharge side of the suction pump.

Therefore, a cap drive gear 19 having an inner cam 18 that drives the cap 14 back and forth, and a pump drive gear 21 having an end cam 20 that drives the suction pump 13 are pivotally supported on the frame 11. , these gears 19, 21 are driven by the motor 12 through a gear train.

A lever 22 is pivotally supported between the pump drive gear 21 and the suction pump 13, and when the pump drive gear rotates, its end cam 20 swings the lever, causing the lever 2 to rotate.
The suction pump 13 is driven by the movement of the pump 2.

Furthermore, the entire ink recovery device 1O described above can also be driven in the direction toward and away from the recording head 6.

In the ink suction recovery operation, the cap 14 is brought into close contact with the recording head 6 at the home position HP, and the pump 13 is
This is done by driving the ink and using its suction force to suck out ink through the ink ejection port.

However, in the method of operating an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, when the user presses the ink recovery operation switch when performing an ink recovery operation, a counter detects the number of times this switch is pressed, and the recovery operation is performed based on the detected number of times. It is controlled to operate for a preset time or to repeat the recovery operation a preset number of times.

For example, after unpacking or refilling ink, if the ink supply system is not filled with ink and a special recovery operation is required, the user can detect this and switch the ink recovery operation switch. When pressed the number of times explained in the manual, a sensor such as a counter detects the number of operations and performs a strong recovery operation commensurate with the number of times, that is, a sufficiently long recovery operation time (time to hold the ink suction pump 12 in the suction state) or The recovery operation is controlled to be repeated a sufficient number of times (for example, the pump drive gear 21 is rotated in forward and reverse directions to increase the number of suctions of the pump 13).

On the other hand, when the ink recovery operation button is pressed once, control is performed to perform a normal ink recovery operation in which the suction time is short or the number of suctions is small. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system suitable for executing the above recovery operation.

In FIG. 3, a counter 31 is attached to a control unit (MPU) 30 of the recording apparatus, and various operation switches 33A, 33B, 33C, 33D, 33 provided on an operation panel 32.
By pressing E, command signals are given to the control section 30, and the control section 30 controls each operating section of the recording apparatus, such as the sheet supply system and carriage drive system, based on these command signals.

Among the operating switches 33A to 33B, an ink recovery operating switch 33A is provided along with an LF switch, an FF switch, and the like.

Further, next to the ink recovery operation switch 33A, there is provided a display 34 for information regarding the recovery operation mode or the strength of the recovery operation, such as the number of times the switch is pressed. Also, a buzzer 40 emits the number of times the ink recovery operation switch 33A is pressed.
is provided.

A control signal is transmitted from the control section 30 to the drive source 35 of the ink recovery system, and by operating the drive source, the ink recovery device 36 is driven.

6 in FIG. 3 indicates a recording head, and 38 indicates an ink supply system.

The ink recovery device 36 has a recording head 6 located at the home position HP.
(Fig. 1), the motor 12 (second
When the recording head 14 (FIG. 2) is driven, the camp 14 (FIG. 2) moves forward and comes into pressure contact with the recording head 6, capping the ink ejection openings. Further, when the motor is driven, the suction pump 13 (Fig. 2) is driven via the lever 22 (Fig. 2), and the negative suction pressure generated in the suction tube 16 (Fig. 2) and the cap 14 causes ink to be pumped through the ink discharge port. Suction.

This ink recovery operation is activated by pressing the recovery operation switch 33A.

Further, the recovery operation is performed in several stages with different strengths depending on the number of times the switch 33A is pressed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operational procedure when performing an ink recovery operation according to the present invention.

In FIG. 4, when the ink recovery operation is started in step 100, first, in step 101, the recovery operation switch (
It is detected whether or not the barge 5W) 33A is on, and if it is on, the process proceeds to step 102, where it is determined whether the number of times the switch 33A has been pressed is smaller than Nl. For example, one time is set as this N1.

If the number of times the switch is pressed is N1 or less, the process advances to step 103 and the normal recovery operation, for example, the suction operation during the normal time, is performed once.
A recovery operation is performed twice.

If the number of times the switch is pressed is N1 or less, step 104
Then, it is determined whether the number of presses is equal to or less than N2 (N2>Nl). For example, N2 can be set to three times.

If it is less than N2, proceed to step 105 and the strength is sufficient to recover from ink empty.
That is, a recovery operation stronger than the normal recovery operation is performed. As for this ink empty recovery operation, for example, the recovery operation time is set to 3 to 5 times the normal time, or the number of recovery operations is set to be performed 3 to 5 times.

If the number of times the switch is pressed is N2 or more in step 104, the process proceeds to step 106 and the number of times the switch is pressed is N3 (N3>N
2) It is determined whether or not the above is satisfied.

For example, N3 can be set to 5 times.

If it is less than or equal to N3, the process proceeds to step 107, where a recovery operation strong enough to be required during initial ink filling or multiple color ink fillings is performed.

In this case, the strong recovery action may be, for example, setting the operation time to 5 to 10 times the normal recovery action, or setting the number of recovery actions to 5 to 10 times the normal recovery action (5 to 10 times).
set to do so.

If the number of times the switch has been pressed is N3 or more in step 106, the process advances to step 108, where the strongest recovery operation is performed, such as when the printer is delivered (unpacked). In this case, the recovery operation includes, for example, an operation in which the operating time is 10 times or more than normal, or the number of operations is 10 times or more than normal <10.
(times or more).

In the above steps, one of the recovery operations set according to the number of times the switch is pressed is performed to complete the operation.

In addition, during the ink recovery operation described above, the number N of times the operation switch 33A has been pressed is displayed on the display 34 (FIG. 3) of the operation panel 32 so that the user can check which type of recovery operation is being performed. It is preferable to display it in segment display or the like.

In addition to displaying the number of presses, or in place of this, the type of recovery operation, such as the normal recovery operation described above, the initial ink supply, or the strong recovery operation at the time of ink filling, and the camp 14 (Figure 2) are also displayed. Various operations or modes related to the ink recovery system, such as sealing operations, can be displayed or indicated by lamps. Further, a buzzer can notify the user of the recovery mode with various oscillating sounds as shown in FIG.

According to the operating method of the inkjet recording device explained above, a single recovery operation replaces the conventional method of providing multiple switches corresponding to various recovery operations and selecting them or operating them in combination with other switches. It is now possible to use various recovery actions with just a few presses of the operation switch.

Therefore, there is provided a method for operating an ink side recording apparatus in which the structure of the operation switch can be simplified and made smaller, and the operation for ink recovery is extremely easy.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the type of recovery operation is automatically selected by detecting the number of presses of the operation switch, so various recovery operations can be commanded with one switch, and the recovery operation can be performed easily. A method for operating an inkjet recording device is provided that is easy and can reduce the number of switches.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink storage apparatus suitable for implementing the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink recovery device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an ink recovery device suitable for implementing the method of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operating procedure for carrying out the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a graph showing various oscillation sounds of the buzzer. 3.--...---Record sheet, 5-.-1--
・-Carriage, 6-- Recording head, 10-
・・・・−・Ink recovery device, 12・−・−・−Motor (recovery system), 13−・・−・−・−Suction pump, 14−
・・−・−・・Cap, HP・−−−−−−−・・
・Home position. Figure 1 @ Figure 3

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An operating method for an inkjet recording apparatus characterized by detecting the number of times an ink recovery operation switch is pressed and changing the number of recovery operations or the recovery operation time depending on the number of times the ink recovery operation switch is pressed. (2) The method for operating an inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of presses of the recovery switch or the recovery mode is indicated on a display. (3) The method of operating an inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of presses of the recovery switch or the recovery mode is emitted by a buzzer.