Image forming apparatus and drive control method for liquid ejection head

• US 20060044337A1
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Takata, Takuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,441,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/14
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/0457 Power supply level being detected or varied
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04581 controlling heads based on piezoelectric elements
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04588 using a specific waveform
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04593 Dot-size modulation by changing the size of the drop
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04596 Non-ejecting pulses

Abstract

The image forming apparatus comprises: a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles; a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements; a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; a power source which supplies electricity to the pressure generating elements through the driving wave generating circuits; a connection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, selects at least one of the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the at least one of the driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that instantaneous current consumption of each of the driving wave generating circuits falls within a specific allowable value; and a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits so that the instantaneous current consumption at the power source falls within a specific upper limit.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements;

a power source which supplies electricity to the pressure generating elements through the driving wave generating circuits;

a connection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, selects at least one of the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the at least one of the driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that instantaneous current consumption of each of the driving wave generating circuits falls within a specific allowable value; and

a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits so that the instantaneous current consumption at the power source falls within a specific upper limit.

2. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; and

a connection control device which, in accordance with results of image processing for image data representing an image to be formed, selects at least two of the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the drive-signal waves are applied from the at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to the pressure elements at timings different from each other, in order to perform ejection of the recording liquid to achieve image formation reflecting the results of image processing.

3. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; and

a selection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed and with drive histories of the pressure generating elements, selects the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements.

4. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; and

a connection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determines positions of the nozzles to be driven, selects the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements respectively corresponding to the nozzles adjacent to each other are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.

5. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; and

a connection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determines positions of the nozzles to be driven, selects the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements having wires adjacent to each other are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.

6. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the pressure generating elements being applied with drive signals to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements;

a phase control device which controls phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

a circuit selecting device which selectively switches the driving wave generating circuits to apply the drive-signal waves to the pressure generating elements; and

a connection control device which, in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determines positions of the nozzles to be driven, selects the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controls connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements respectively corresponding to the nozzles adjacent to each other and having a liquid channel in common are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.

7. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements;

in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determining a number and positions of the nozzles to be driven, estimating loads on the driving wave generating circuits, and selecting at least one of the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, so that instantaneous current consumption of each of the driving wave generating circuits falls within a specific allowable value;

controlling connection between the at least one of the driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements; and

controlling phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits so that the instantaneous current consumption at a power source falls within a specific upper limit, the power source supplying electricity to the pressure generating elements through the driving wave generating circuits.

8. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows controlling of phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements; and

in accordance with results of image processing for image data representing an image to be formed, selecting at least two of the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controlling connection between the driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the drive-signal waves are applied from the at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to the pressure elements at timings different from each other, in order to perform ejection of the recording liquid to achieve image formation reflecting the results of image processing.

9. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements; and

in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed and with drive histories of the pressure generating elements, selecting the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controlling connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, in order to level frequencies of use of the driving wave generating circuits.

10. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows controlling of phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements; and

in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determining positions of the nozzles to be driven, selecting the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controlling connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements respectively corresponding to the nozzles adjacent to each other are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.

11. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows controlling of phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements; and

in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determining positions of the nozzles to be driven, selecting the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controlling connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements having wires adjacent to each other are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.

12. A drive control method for a liquid ejection head which includes a plurality of nozzles and a plurality of pressure generating elements provided correspondingly to the plurality of nozzles, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of driving wave generating circuits which generate drive-signal waves for driving the pressure generating elements to eject recording liquid from the corresponding nozzles;

providing a configuration which allows controlling of phases of the drive-signal waves generated by the driving wave generating circuits;

providing a configuration which allows switching of connection relationships between the pressure generating elements and the driving wave generating circuits so as to selectively apply the drive-signal waves from at least two of the driving wave generating circuits to each of the pressure generating elements; and

in accordance with image data representing an image to be formed, determining positions of the nozzles to be driven, selecting the driving wave generating circuits used to drive the pressure generating elements, and controlling connection between the selected driving wave generating circuits and the pressure generating elements, so that the pressure generating elements respectively corresponding to the nozzles adjacent to each other and having a liquid channel in common are applied with the drive-signal waves of phases different from each other from the driving wave generating circuits different from each other.