Recording head that detects temperature information corresponding to a plurality of electro-thermal transducers on the recording head and recording apparatus using the recording head

A recording apparatus comprising:

• a recording head for discharging a liquid from discharge orifices by applying thermal energy from electro-thermal transducers to the liquid, the recording head comprising;
• a driving unit configured to drive by dividing a plurality of electro-thermal transducers into a plurality of blocks and supplying electric current on a block-by-block basis based on recording data;
• each of a plurality of temperature sensors disposed in correspondence to each one of the plurality of electro-thermal transducers, such that the plurality of electro-thermal transducers and the plurality of temperature sensors are segmented into a plurality of groups;
• a constant current source provided in each group, configured to apply a bias current to a plurality of temperature sensors in common for each group;
• and
• a voltage output circuit having a first switching element for turning electric current supply from the constant current source to each temperature sensor ON and OFF on the block-by-block basis, and a second switching element for obtaining a voltage generated at both terminals of the temperature sensor by the electric current supply to the temperature sensor regulated by the first switching element;
• and
• a transfer unit configured to transfer serial data to the recording head, the serial data including image data used for heating of each transducer of the plurality of electro-thermal transducers, block selection data used for selecting a group of the temperature sensors and a block of the plurality of electro-thermal transducers, and sensor selection data used for selecting the temperature sensor whose voltage is obtained by the voltage output circuit;
• a driving control unit configured to output signals used for heating the electro-thermal transducers of the recording head;
• and
• a temperature detection unit configured to detect a temperature by accepting an output of an amplifier circuit as input in synchronization with the heating carried out by the driving control unit.