Flushing controller incorporated in ink-jet recording apparatus, and flushing control method for the same

An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising:

• an ink-jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which an image is to be recorded;
• a first and a second flushing regions situated opposite ends of the printing region in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed;
• means for detecting the moving direction of the carriage;
• a timer for counting a time period elapsed from a completion of printing for each single pass;
• means for determining whether the flushing operation is performed in accordance with width direction data detected by the direction detecting means when the timer counts a predetermined time period.

A flushing control method used for an ink-jet recording apparatus which comprises:

• an ink-jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which an image is to be recorded;
• and
• a first and a second flushing regions situated opposite ends of the printing region in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed, comprising the steps of:
• recognizing the width of the recording medium;
• detecting the moving direction of the carriage;
• and
• determining whether the flushing operation is performed in accordance with width data recognized by the width recognizing step and direction data detected by the direction detecting step.

A flushing control method used for an ink-jet recording apparatus which comprises:

• an ink-jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which an image is to be recorded;
• and
• a first and a second flushing regions situated opposite ends of the printing region in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed, comprising the steps of:
• counting a time period elapsed from a completion of printing for each single pass;
• detecting the moving direction of the carriage when a predetermined time period is counted;
• and
• determining whether the flushing operation is performed in accordance with width direction data detected by the direction detecting step.

A flushing controller incorporated in an ink-jet recording apparatus which comprises:

• an ink-jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which an image is to be recorded;
• and
• a first and a second flushing regions situated opposite ends of the printing region in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed, comprising:
• means for recognizing the width of the recording medium;
• means for detecting the moving direction of the carriage;
• and
• means for determining whether the flushing operation is performed in accordance with width data recognized by the width recognizing means and direction data detected by the direction detecting means.

A flushing controller incorporated in an ink-jet recording apparatus which comprises:

• an ink-jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which an image is to be recorded;
• and
• a first and a second flushing regions situated opposite ends of the printing region in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed, comprising:
• means for detecting the moving direction of the carriage;
• a timer for counting a time period elapsed from a completion of printing for each single pass;
• means for determining whether the flushing operation is performed in accordance with width direction data detected by the direction detecting means when the timer counts a predetermined time period.

An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

• an ink jet recording head mounted on a carriage reciprocatively moving in a width direction of a loaded recording medium having a printing region on which image is recorded;
• at least one flushing region situated at least one of opposite side ends of the printing region, in which a flushing operation of the recording head is performed;
• means for setting a reference value which is determined in accordance with a first time period required for the carriage to travel a width dimension of the loaded recording medium;
• means for setting a threshold value, which is used for determining whether the flushing operation is performed, in accordance with the reference value;
• a timer which is reset when the flushing operation is performed;
• and
• means for determining whether the flushing operation is performed by comparing the threshold value and a time period counted by the timer.