Recording apparatus having thermal head and recording method
First Claim
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1. A recording apparatus having a recording head mounted thereon for recording by using thermal energy, the recording head having a thermal characteristic, said apparatus comprising:
- heat means for driving and heating said mounted recording head under predetermined conditions;
detection means for detecting a temperature change of said recording head caused by the heating by said heat means;
determination means for determining the thermal characteristic of said recording head based on the temperature change detected by said detection means;
set means for setting a driving condition of said mounted recording head in accordance with the thermal characteristic of said recording head determined by said determination means; and
drive means for driving said recording head in accordance with the driving condition set by said set means.
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Abstract
A mounted thermal head is energized to determine a thermal change state of the thermal head and a driving condition of the mounted thermal head is set in accordance with the determined thermal change state. The drive condition of the recording head can be self-set at a high precision with a simple construction and stabilization of the recording characteristics and a long lifetime are attained.
83 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A recording apparatus having a recording head mounted thereon for recording by using thermal energy, the recording head having a thermal characteristic, said apparatus comprising:
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heat means for driving and heating said mounted recording head under predetermined conditions; detection means for detecting a temperature change of said recording head caused by the heating by said heat means; determination means for determining the thermal characteristic of said recording head based on the temperature change detected by said detection means; set means for setting a driving condition of said mounted recording head in accordance with the thermal characteristic of said recording head determined by said determination means; and drive means for driving said recording head in accordance with the driving condition set by said set means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A recording apparatus having a recording head mounted thereon for discharging ink by energizing a heat generating element, said recording head having a thermal characteristic, said apparatus comprising:
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heat generation means for energizing the heat generating element of said mounted recording head under predetermined conditions; detection means for detecting a temperature change of said recording head caused by the energization by said heat generation mean; determination means for determining the thermal characteristic of said recording head based on the temperature chance detected by said detection means; set means for setting a driving condition for energization for recording of the heat generating element of said mounted recording head in accordance with the thermal characteristic of said recording head determined by said determination means; and drive means for driving the heat generating element of said recording head for recording in accordance with the driving condition set by said set means. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A recording apparatus having a recording head mounted thereon for recording by using thermal energy, said recording head having a predetermined thermal characteristic and being driven by a drive duty, said apparatus comprising:
- p1 estimation means for estimating an estimated temperature of said recording head in accordance with the drive duty of said mounted recording head based on the predetermined thermal characteristic;
detection means for detecting an actual temperature of said recording head; determination means for determining the predetermined thermal characteristic of said recording head based on a difference between the estimated temperature of said recording head estimated by said estimation means and the actual temperature of said recording head detected by said detection means set means for setting a drive condition of said mounted recording head in accordance with the predetermined thermal characteristic determined by said determination means; and drive means for driving said recording head in accordance with the driving condition set by said set means. - View Dependent Claims (50)
- p1 estimation means for estimating an estimated temperature of said recording head in accordance with the drive duty of said mounted recording head based on the predetermined thermal characteristic;
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51. A method for recording with a recording head by using thermal energy, said method comprising the steps of:
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measuring a first temperature of said recording head; heating said recording head by energizing said recording head; measuring a second temperature of said recording head after the start of heating; detecting a thermal characteristic of said recording head based on the measured first and second temperatures of said recording head; setting a driving condition of said recording head in accordance with the detected thermal characteristic; and energizing said recording head for recording in accordance with the set driving condition. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. An ink jet recording apparatus having a replaceable thermal head mounted thereon, the replaceable thermal head having a thermal characteristic. said apparatus comprising:
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thermal characteristic determination means for determining the thermal characteristic of said thermal head by energizing said thermal head; and set means for setting a driving condition of said thermal head in accordance with the thermal characteristic determined by said determination means. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58)
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Specification