Nozzle testing before and after nozzle cleaning
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorHironori Endo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
It is an object of the invention to provide a technique for reducing the likelihood that cleaning will cause nozzle clogging. In periodic automatic cleaning of a printer that is not being used, the ejecting of ink droplets from each nozzle is tested prior to the cleaning to determine whether each nozzle is an operating nozzle capable of ejecting ink droplets or a non-operating nozzle incapable of ejecting ink droplets. The nozzles are only cleaned if non-operating nozzles are detected. The testing of the nozzles is also automatically carried out after cleaning.
Claims19
In a printer comprising a printing head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the plurality of nozzles, and a test unit for testing whether each of the plurality of nozzles can eject ink droplets, a method of controlling the printer, comprising the steps of:
- when the cleaning mechanism performs cleaning for a specific inducement other than the detection by the test unit of at least a specific number of non-operating nozzles unable to eject ink droplets, automatically carrying out the testing of the nozzles by the test unit before this cleaning;
- and
- canceling the execution of the cleaning if the number of non-operating nozzles detected by the testing of the nozzles before the cleaning is less than a first threshold.
A printer that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles, comprising:
- a printing head having a plurality of nozzles;
- a cleaning mechanism that cleans the plurality of nozzles;
- a test unit that determines whether each nozzle is an operating nozzle capable of ejecting ink droplets or a non-operating nozzle incapable of ejecting ink droplets, by testing whether ink droplets are ejected from the plurality of nozzles;
- a main scanning drive section that performs main scanning by driving the printing head and/or a recording medium;
- a head drive section that records dots by driving the nozzles in the middle of the main scanning;
- a sub-scanning drive section that performs sub-scanning by driving the printing head and/or the recording medium every time the main scanning is finished;
- and
- a controller that controls the various components,
- wherein the controller automatically carries out a nozzle test by the test unit before the cleaning when the cleaning mechanism performs cleaning for a specific inducement other than the detection by the test unit of at least a specific number of non-operating nozzles, and
- wherein the controller cancels the execution of the cleaning if the number of non-operating nozzles detected by the testing of the nozzles before the cleaning is less than a first threshold.
A computer program product for use in a computer including a printer, the printer having a printing head having a plurality of nozzles, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the plurality of nozzles, and a test unit for testing whether each of the plurality of nozzles can eject ink droplets, the computer program product comprising:
- a computer readable medium;
- and
- a computer program stored on the computer readable medium, the computer program comprising:
- a program for causing the computer, when the cleaning mechanism performs the cleaning for a specific inducement other than the detection by the test unit of at least a specific number of non-operating nozzles unable to eject ink droplets, to automatically carry out the testing of the nozzles by the test unit before this cleaning and to cancel the execution of the cleaning if the number of non-operating nozzles detected by the testing of the nozzles before the cleaning is less than a first threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.