Ink jet recording apparatus and maintenance method
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKoji Imai, Hirotake Nakamura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ink jet recording apparatus in which after each purging operation, a wiping operation is performed, and then a preliminary ejection is performed. In the preliminary ejection operation, a preliminary ejection by a small dot waveform is performed, and then a preliminary ejection by a larger dot waveform than the small dot waveform is performed.
Claims30
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising:
- a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium;
- a wiper mechanism that wipes the ink adhered to a nozzle surface of the recording head;
- and
- a preliminary ejection device that applies a drive voltage waveform for preliminary ejection to the recording head, the preliminary ejection device comprising:
- a first preliminary ejection drive device that generates a stable waveform which causes small fluctuations of ink pressure in the recording head, and applies the stable waveform to the recording head to cause a first preliminary ejection;
- a second preliminary ejection drive device that generates an unstable waveform which causes larger fluctuations of ink pressure per one cycle of a print clock in the recording head than the first preliminary ejection, and applies the unstable waveform to the recording head to cause a second preliminary ejection;
- and
- a control device that actuates the first preliminary ejection drive device after a wiping operation by the wiper mechanism so that the recording head performs the first preliminary ejection, and then actuates the second preliminary ejection drive device so that the recording head performs the second preliminary ejection.
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising:
- a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium;
- a wiper mechanism that wipes the ink adhered to a nozzle surface of the recording head;
- and
- a preliminary ejection device that applies a drive voltage waveform for a preliminary ejection to the recording head, the preliminary ejection device comprising:
- a first preliminary ejection drive device that generates a first drive voltage waveform, which causes a small amount of ink to be ejected, and applies the first drive voltage waveform to the recording head to perform a first preliminary ejection by small droplets;
- a second preliminary ejection drive device that generates a second drive voltage waveform, which causes a larger amount of ink to be ejected than the amount of ink at the first preliminary ejection by the small droplets, and applies the second drive voltage waveform to the recording head to perform a second preliminary ejection by larger droplets than the first preliminary ejection;
- and
- a control device that actuates the first preliminary ejection drive device after a wiping operation by the wiper mechanism so that the recording head performs the first preliminary ejection, and then actuates the second preliminary ejection drive device so that the recording head performs the second preliminary ejection.
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising:
- a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium;
- a purge mechanism that forces the recording head to purge the ink therefrom by sucking the ink from an ink ejection side of the recording head or by applying a pressure to an ink supply side of the recording head, to improve an ink ejection condition;
- and
- a preliminary ejection device that generates a drive voltage waveform, including at least one stable waveform and at least one unstable waveform, which causes larger fluctuations of ink pressure per one cycle of a print clock in the recording head than the stable waveform, and applies the drive voltage waveform for a preliminary ejection of ink drops from the recording head to a receiver, wherein the preliminary ejection device comprises a control device that causes the recording head that undergoes a purging operation to perform the preliminary ejection caused by applying the unstable waveform continuously, which causes residual fluctuations of ink pressure in the recording head to be amplified gradually through the preliminary ejection, before the purging operation by the purge mechanism.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus including a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- wiping ink adhered to a nozzle surface of the recording head by a wiper mechanism;
- performing a first preliminary ejection after the step of wiping by the wiper mechanism through the generation of a stable waveform as a first drive voltage waveform which causes small fluctuations of ink pressure in the recording head and the application of the stable waveform to the recording head;
- and
- performing a second preliminary ejection after the step of performing the first preliminary ejection through the generation of an unstable waveform as a second drive voltage waveform, which causes larger fluctuations of ink pressure per one cycle of a print clock in the recording head than the first preliminary ejection, and the application of the unstable waveform to the recording head.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus including a head unit having a plurality of groups of nozzles that perform recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- purging selectively the groups of nozzles;
- wiping the ink adhered to a nozzle surface by a wiper mechanism alter the purging step;
- performing a first preliminary ejection after the step of wiping by the wiper mechanism through the generation of a stable waveform as a first drive voltage waveform which causes small fluctuations of ink pressure in the nozzle and the application of the stable waveform to the selected at least one group of nozzles which the purging step has been done;
- and
- performing a second preliminary ejection alter the step of performing the first preliminary ejection through the generation of an unstable waveform as a second drive voltage waveform, which causes larger fluctuations of ink pressure per one cycle of a print clock in the nozzle than the first preliminary ejection, and the application of the unstable waveform to all groups of nozzles.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus including a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- wiping the ink adhered to a nozzle surface of the recording head by a wiper mechanism;
- performing a first preliminary ejection after the step of wiping by the wiper mechanism by small droplets through the generation of a first drive voltage waveform which causes a small amount of ink to be ejected and the application of the first drive voltage waveform to the recording head;
- and
- performing a second preliminary ejection after the step of performing the first preliminary ejection by larger droplets than the first preliminary ejection through the generation of a second drive voltage waveform which causes a larger amount of ink to be ejected than the amount of ink at the first preliminary ejection by the small droplets, and the application of the second drive voltage waveform to the recording head.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus including a head unit having a plurality of groups of nozzles that perform recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- purging selectively the groups of nozzles;
- wiping the ink adhered to a nozzle surface by a wiper mechanism after the purging step;
- performing a first preliminary ejection after the step of wiping by the wiper mechanism by small droplets through the generation of a first drive voltage waveform which causes a small amount of ink to be ejected and the application of the first drive voltage waveform only to the selected at least one group of nozzles which the purging step has been done;
- and
- performing a second preliminary ejection after the step of performing the first preliminary ejection by larger droplets than the first preliminary ejection through the generation of a second drive voltage waveform which causes a larger amount of ink to be ejected than the amount of ink at the first preliminary ejection by the small droplets, and the application of the second drive voltage waveform to all groups of nozzles.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- performing a preliminary ejection of ink drops from the recording head to a receiver, through the generation of an unstable waveform as a drive voltage waveform and a continuous application of the unstable waveforms to the recording head, which causes residual fluctuations of ink pressure in the recording head to be amplified gradually through the preliminary ejection;
- and
- purging the recording head of the head unit after the step of performing the preliminary ejection.
A maintenance method for returning the ink ejection to a proper status in an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a head unit having a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- purging the recording head of the head unit;
- wiping the ink adhered to a nozzle surface of the recording head after the purging step;
- performing a first preliminary ejection after the wiping step through the generation of a stable waveform as a first drive voltage waveform which causes small fluctuations of ink pressure in the recording head and the application of the stable waveform to the recording head;
- performing a second preliminary ejection after the step of performing the first preliminary ejection through the generation of an unstable waveform as a second drive voltage waveform which causes larger fluctuations of ink pressure per one cycle of a print clock in the recording head than the first preliminary ejection, and the application of the unstable waveform to the recording head;
- and
- purging the recording head again.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.