Ink-jet printer driver

Abstract: A driver for an ink-jet printer in which a plurality of electrostriction elements (13) are selectively actuated to press ink so that the ink is jetted out of nozzles corresponding to the selected electrostriction elements (13) to form characters/graphics in dot matrices of the ink, comprises: a scanning voltage generating circuit (10) for generating a scanning voltage having a predetermined waveform; a plurality of gate circuits (12) for respectively giving the scanning voltage to the electrostriction elements (13) corresponding to the gate circuits (12); and a driving signal generating circuit (15) for giving driving signals to the gating circuits (12), respectively.

Description: The present invention relates to an ink-jet printer driver in which electrostriction elements are caused to press ink to jet ink out of nozzles so as to form characters/graphics with ink dot matrices. Referring to Figs. 11(a) through 11(e), construction of part of a head of an ink-jet printer according to the present invention will be described. In these figures, reference numeral 1 designates a nozzle plate having a nozzle 1a, 2 designates an elastic plate, 3 designates liquid ink, and 4 designates an electrostriction element which is distorted by an electric field. The electrostriction element is closely attached on the elastic plate 2. Fig. 11(a) shows a standby condition in which the elastic plate 2 is projected toward ink by the distortion of the electrostriction element 4. Figs. 11(b) through 11(d) show the steps in which the elastic plate 2 is recovered to its neutral point by gradually removing the electric field from the electrostriction element 4, respectively. Fig. 11(e) shows a condition in which an electric field is suddenly applied to the electrostriction element 4 to make the elastic plate 2 project toward the ink 3 to thereby jet the ink 3 outward. If the application of the electric field is continued as it is, the head returns to its standby condition, as shown in Fig. 11(a). In an alternative ink jetting method, the electrostriction element 4 is provided within ink. The present invention is applied to both the methods. A printer head is constituted by combining a plurality of aforementioned constructions. In the case of a serial printer, the number of the constructions is from 8 to 64. In the case of a page printer, the number of the constructions is from 1400 to 4000. A conventional art for driving the aforementioned printer head is shown in Figs. 12 and 13. In Fig. 12, reference numeral 5 designates a high-voltage electric source which, in general, has an output voltage V₀ within a range of from 50 to 200V. The output voltage may vary in accordance with the characteristics of constituent parts due to the response frequency. Symbol TR S represents a P-type transistor for switching a voltage V₀ so as to feed a signal V X to the printer head. Reference numeral 6 i designates one driving circuit. In the driving circuit 6 i , an electrostriction element 7 i is charged to a voltage V₀ through a resistor R 3i having a value of several MΩ, so that the situation is returned to the aforementioned standby state. A diode D i for isolating the driving circuit from other driving circuits and a resistor R 1i serve to charge the electrostriction element 7 i rapdily. When an N-type transistor TR Di is turned on, the charge of the electrostriction element 7 i is absorbed through a resistor R 2i , having a larger resistance value than that of the resistor R 1i , so that the voltage drops as shown in the point A in Fig. 13(b). The symbol i attached to the driving circuit 6 i , the electrostriction element 7 i , and other parts in the driving circuit 6 i is used to show those parts or components representatively because a plurality of such driving circuits are provided respectively for a plurality of printer heads as described above. Reference numeral 8 designates a driving signal generating means which serves to give a switching signal to the transistor TR S periodically. A driving signal is given to the transistor TR Di in accordance with existence of a dot forming instruction. Fig. 13(a) shows a state of the transistor TR S for performing a switching operation periodically. In the case where the charge of the electrostriction element 7 i has been absorbed, the electrostriction element 7 i is charged rapidly through the diode D i and the resistor R 1i during in the ON-state of the transistor TR S so that ink is jetted as shown in Fig. 11(e). On the contrary, in the case where the electrostriction element 7 i has been charged to a value of V₀, the charged voltage of the electrostriction element 7 i does not change so that ink is not jetted. The resistance value of the resistor R 1i is selected to be several kΩ and the charging time constant is selected to be a value in a range of from 5 to 10µs so as to prevent occurrence of wasteful ink jetting caused by overshooting of the elastic plate 2. The resistance value of the resistor R 2i is selected to be of the order of several tens of kΩ and the charging time constant is selected to be a value within a range of from 20 to 100µs so as to prevent occurrence of both wasteful ink jetting caused by an undercoat and air suction from nozzles. If air is sucked into ink, it becomes impossible to perform ink jetting only by contraction of air. The equivalent capacitance of the electrostriction element 7 i is within a range of from 100 to 1000 PF. The foregoing is that related to a conventional ink-jet printer driver. In the aforementioned prior art, however, there arises a problem in that elements having accurate values are required because a driving circuit 6 i is constituted by resistors R 1i , R 2i , R 3i and a diode D i to obtain a driving wave form as shown in Fig. 13(b). Further, there arises another problem in that the degree of freedom cannot be obtained because the rising and falling characteristics are fixed. Furthermore, there arises a further problem in that an exact time constant is required to make it difficult to prepare the circuits in the form of ICs, and, accordingly, assembling cost becomes high though the constituent parts or elements per se are inexpensive in cost. In particular, as the number of nozzles is increased to 24, 64,... 3000, or in other words, the capacity of the printer is increased, the aforementioned problems become serious. On occasion, there may arise a defect in that assembly becomes impossible. The present invention is directed to solve the above problems in the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an ink-jet printer driver in which charge absorbing/injecting characteristics of electrostriction elements used as main constituent parts of a printer can be set freely. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink-jet printer driver in which constituent parts required for attaining the first object can be simplified to facilitate in making the circuit in the form of ICs and to facilitate in manufacturing large scale ink jet printers inexpensively. The foregoing objects and other objects of the invention have been achieved in an ink-jet printer driver in which electrostriction elements are selectively actuated to press ink so that the ink is jetted out of nozzles corresponding to the selected electrostriction elements to thereby form characters/graphics in dot matrices of the ink by the combination of features described in independent claim 1. Further advantageous features of the ink-jet printer in accordance with the invention are evident from the dependent claims. The present invention has the following features: The ink-jet printer driver comprises: a scanning voltage generating means for generating a scanning voltage having a predetermined waveform; a plurality of gating means for respectively giving the scanning voltage to the electrostriction elements corresponding to the gating means; and a driving signal generating means for giving driving signals to the plurality of gating means respectively. Thus, the number of constituent parts is reduced. The scanning voltage generating means is composed of first and second switching means for defining the rising and falling of the scanning voltage, and a feedback circuit including coil means. Thus, the efficiency in energy exchange between a supply electric source and a load including the electrostriction elements is improved. The scanning voltage generating means is composed of a time constant circuit constituted by a resistor and a capacitor, a switching means for actuating the time constant circuit to operate in a predetermined cycle, and an amplifier for putting out the voltage change caused in the time constant circuit as a low- impedance output signal. Thus, the voltage change is not affected by the load containing the electrostriction elements. In the case where the ink-jet printer is a serial printer having a carriage of the type designed to move a printer head constituted by the nozzles and the electrostriction elements, the gating means and the driving signal generating means are mounted on the carriage to simplify a connection cable between the carriage and a fixed control portion of the printer. Thus, the number of electric source lines and the number of signal lines can be reduced and, accordingly, a connection cable between the carriage and a fixed control portion of the printer can be simplified to reduce cost. As described above, in the prior art, time constants are set respectively in the individual drive elements. According to the present invention, however, the scanning voltage having a predetermined waveform is selected so that the driving elements can be simplified to facilitate integration of the circuits. When the driving elements are prepared in the form of ICs, the driving elements can be mounted on the printer head easily, so that cost on the whole of the printer can be saved. Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ink- jet printer driver according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a time chart showing the operation of the ink-jet printer depicted in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a time chart showing the operation of the scanning voltage generating means and the scanning control means depicted in Fig. 4; Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a specific embodiment of the scanning voltage generating means and the scanning control means in the ink-jet printer driver according to the invention; Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the scanning voltage generating means according to the invention; Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a further embodiment of the scanning voltage generating means according to the present invention, in which the scanning voltage generating means is constituted by a time constant circuit composed of a capacitor and a resistor; Fig. 7 is a time chart showing the operation of the scanning voltage generating means depicted in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a further embodiment of the scanning voltage generating means according to the present invention; Fig. 9 is a time chart showing the operation of the scanning voltage generating means depicted in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of a specific example of the level changer and the gating means suitably employed in the invention; Fig. 11 shows various states of one nozzle portion in an ink-jet printer for the purpose of explaining the principle of the operation of the ink-jet printer driver according to the invention; Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an example of a conventional printer driver; and Fig. 13 is a time chart showing the operation of the conventional printer driver depicted in Fig. 12. Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 1, the symbol C₀ represents a smoothing capacitor included in a high-voltage electric source 5, and the symbol C₁ represents a capacitor inclusive of capacitance of electrostriction elements and additive capacitance. The reference numeral 10 designated a scanning voltage generating means in which the output voltage changes within a range between V₀ and GND as shown in the waveform Fig. 2(a). The refrence numeral 11 designates a driver portion composed of a plurality of gating means 12 and a plurality of electrostriction elements 13. Each gating means 12 selects a scanning voltage V S of the scanning voltage generating means 10 based on a driving signal to feed the scanning voltage to a corresponding electrostriction element 13. The reference numeral 15 designates a driving signal generating means for feeding a driving signal to a control terminal of each gating means 12. The driving signal generating means 15 has a shift register 19 for storing data while successively shifting the data based on a shift clock signal, a latch circuit 20 for simultaneously latching the data stored by the shift register 19 based on a latch pulse signal, an enable circuit 21 for releasing the data latched by the latch circuit 20 based on an enable signal, two- input OR gates 17 for receiving both the data put out from the enable circuit 21 and the latch pulse signal, and a level changer 16 for changing the levels of the output signals of the OR gates 17 to feed control signals to the gating means 12. The level changer 16 serves to change the respective levels of the output signals of the OR gates 17 into V₀ to make the corresponding gating means operate. This is because the parts other than the driving signal generating means are operated at 5V and therefore it is impossible to make the gating means operate if the level of the output signal of each OR gate 17 is not converted into V₀. The latch pulse signal is fed to the OR gate 17 so that the gating means 12 is opened to compensate leakage of the electrostriction element 13 while the scanning voltage V S takes the value of V₀. In short, this serves for the resistor R 3i in Fig. 12. Fig. 2(b) shows the latch pulse signal. Fig. 2(c) shows an example of the selection signal issued by the enable circuit 21 to jet ink. Fig. 2(d) shows an example of the waveform of the driving signal applied to the electrostriction element 13. In this example, ink is jetted out of nozzles corresponding to the electrostriction elements with their charged voltages lowered in the same manner an in Fig. 13(b). The reference numeral 14 designates a scanning control means for feeding an operation timing signal to the scanning voltage generating means 10 after changing the level thereof by a level changer 14a based on both the shift clock signal and the latch pulse signal. Referring to Fig. 4, the scanning voltage generating means 10 and the scanning control means 14 according to the present invention are described in detail. In Fig. 4, symbols TR₁ represents a P-type transistor which is supplied with an ON-OFF switching signal as shown in Fig. 3(a) by the scanning control means 14. When the transistor TR₁ is turned on, the voltage V₀ is switched by the transistor TR₁ to charge the capacitor C₁ through a coil L₁. The scanning voltage V S is fed back to the scanning control means 14 through a line 25 to thereby control the ON-OFF switching signal in a manner as shown in Fig. 3(a). When the transistor TR₁ is in the OFF state, a current flowing in the coil L₁ is passed through a diode PD to charge the capacitor C₁ further. When the charged voltage of the capacitor C₁ approaches V₀ according to the predetermined rising characteristic thereof, the transistor TR₁ is kept as it is in the OFF state. The coil L₁ serves to charge the capacitor C₁ through the diode PD in the form of electromagnetic energy after the turn off of the transistor TR₁ to thereby prevent energy of the high- voltage electric source from being consumed by 50 % or more by the resistors in the system. At the time of the falling of the scanning voltage V S , the scanning control means 14 feeds an ON-OFF switching signal as shown in Fig. 3(b) to an N-type transistor TR₂. The energy for charging the capacitor C₁ is converted into electromagnetic energy of a coil L₂ and then the electromagnetic energy is transferred to a capacitor C₀ through a diode RD after turning off of the transistor TR₂. The capacitance value of the capacitor C₁ changes because it includes capacitance of selected electrostriction elements 13. Accordingly, the scanning control means 14 adjusts energy transfer speed by controlling the number of times of switching of the transistor TR₂ while detecting the charged voltage of the capacitor C₁ to thereby attain the predetermined rising characteristic of the scanning voltage V S . The scanning voltage generating means 10 in Fig. 4 serves to generate a predetermined scanning voltage V S and perform energy exchange between the high-voltage electric source 5 and the capacitor C₁. Accordingly, wasteful power consumption can be saved. In the following, the configuration of a specific embodiment of the scanning control means 14 for operating the scanning voltage generating means as described above will be described. The reference numerals 26 and 27 designate first and second counters for counting the number of shift clock pulses. Each of the first and second counters 26 and 27 has a preset terminal for presetting both a start point of time and an operation time width in accordance with the latch pulse signal. The reference numerals 28 and 29 designate digital-to-analog converters (hereinafter referred to as "D/A converters") for converting the contents of the first and second counters in the form of digital signals into analog signals, respectively. The reference numerals 30 and 31 designate comparators with their one inputs supplied with the shift scanning voltage V S commonly to each other and their other inputs supplied with the output output signals of the D/A converters 28 and 29 respectively. The comparators 30 and 31 output their output signals when the level of the scanning voltage V S is low and when it is high, respectively. The reference numerals 32 and 33 designate AND gates with their one inputs supplied with the shift clock commonly to each other and their other inputs supplied with the output signals of the comparators 30 and 31 respectively. The frequency of the shift clock signal is set to a value in a range of from 100 kHz to several MHz. The output signals of the AND gates 32 and 33 are respectively connected to the control electrodes of the transistors TR₁ and TR₂ after level-converted through a level changer 34 and directly, respectively. The target scanning voltage and the result scanning voltage V S in the thus configured voltage generating means 10 and the scanning control means 14 have waveforms shown in the solid line and the broken line in Fig. 3(c), respectively. The configuration of another embodiment of the scanning voltage generating means 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The coils L₁ and L₂ of Fig. 4 are replaced by a single coil L₃ in Fig. 5. In Fig. 4, the two coils L₁ and L₂ are used to facilitate control because the rising of the scanning voltage V S and the falling thereof are different from each other. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, therefore, the cost is saved though the controlling method shown is more or less complex. In the following, the configuration of a further embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to Fig. 6. In this embodiment, the scanning voltage V S is generated by a time constant circuit composed of a capacitor and a resistor, without feedback control. In Fig. 6, a different reference numeral 40 is therefore given to the scanning control means. Resistors R₃ and R₄ and an N-type transistor TR₃ serve as a level changer to generate a signal as shown in Fig. 7(a) to turn-on P-type transistors TR₄ and TR₆ simultaneously with each other. The turning-on of the transistor TR₆ gives the rising characteristic of a scanning voltage V S as shown in Fig. 7(d). The turning-on of the transistor TR₄ serves to charge a time-constant capacitor C T into the voltage V₀ rapidly. When the transistors TR₄ and TR₆ are turned off, an N-type transistor TR₈ is turned on to activate a P-type transistor TR₇ as a source follower to thereby change the charged voltage of the time-constant capacitor C T into low impedance, so that the scanning voltage V S having a falling characteristic as shown in Fig. 7(d) is put out. The time constant in the falling of the scanning voltage V S determined by the time-constant capacitor C T and the time-constant resistors R 1T and R 2T . When the N-type transistor TR₅ is turned on in the timing as shown in Fig. 7(c), the resistor R 2T operates to shorten the time constant. The falling characteristic is shown in the solid line in Fig. 7(d). The broken line in Fig. 7(d) shows the case where the value of the resistor R 1T is reduced to a small resistance value. Further, a desired rising characteristic can be attained by addition of the same combination as the combination of the transistor TR₅ and the resistor R 2T . The N-type transistor TR₉ is turned on as shown in Fig. 7(b) to change the level of the scanning voltage V S forcedly into the GND level. The transistor TR₉ is provided for the purpose of facilitating the operation of the transistor TR₇, because the transistor TR₇ as a source follower cannot operate when the gate voltage reaches a cut-off voltage, and because a considerably large time is required for changing the charged voltage of the capacitor C T into the GND level. In the following, a further embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 shows the case where not only the scanning voltage is generated based on a time constant formed by a capacitor and a resistor but the rising characteristic is determined based on the time constant. In Fig. 8, the scanning control means is not shown. When the transistors TR₄ and TR₅ are turned on in the timing as shown in Fig. 9(a), the capacitor C T is charged through the resistor R 3T . The charged voltage of the capacitor C T is put out as the scanning voltage V S through low impedance of the N-type transistor TR₁₁ in a source follower connection. This is the rising portion of the scanning voltage shown in Fig. 9(d). The P-type transistor TR₁₂ serves to change the scanning voltage into a final voltage V₀. When the transistors TR₄ and TR₅ are turned off, the transistor TR₈ is turned on to activate the transistor TR₇ to thereby output the scanning voltage V S having rising characteristic formed in the same manner as in Fig. 6. On the other hand, the falling of the scanning voltage is carried out by discharging the capacitor C T through the resistor R 4T disposed between the capacitor C T and the transistor TR₁₃. Figs. 9(b) and 9(c) show the timing of the turning-on of the transistor TR₁₂ and the timing of the turning-on of the transistor TR₉, respectively. The scanning voltage V S formed as described above is shown in Fig. 9(d). Also in the case of Fig. 8, a desired program can be attained by changing the time constant of the time-constant circuit or by addition of resistors and switching circuits. In the following, the configuration of an embodiment of the level changer and the gating means which are also the constituent parts of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 10. In Fig. 10, the reference numeral 50 designates a level changer constituted by a bistable or flip-flop circuit composed of P-type transistors TR₁₄ and TR₁₅ and N-type transistors TR₁₆ and TR₁₇. The flip-flop circuit has an advantage in that power is consumed only when the state thereof is changed. The reference numeral 53 designates a signal of a level of about 5V. The level of this signal is changed into the level of V₀ by the level changer 50. An N-type transistor TR₁₈ is turned on in the presence of the signal. On the other hand, an N-type transistor TR₁₉ is turned off because the signal is inverted by an inverter 52. At this time, the transistors TR₁₄ and TR₁₇ are turned on, while the transistors TR₁₅ and TR₁₆ are turned off, so that Q= V o and Q =0, respectively. When the signal 53 is absent, Q=0 and Q = V ₀, respectively. In the level change through the transistor TR₃, electric power is consumed by the resistors R₃ and R₄ when the transistor TR₃ is in the ON state. It is to be understood that the transistor TR₆ and the transistor TR₈ in Fig. 6 and the transistors TR₅ and TR₈ in Fig. 8 have a purpose of preventing damage of transistors caused by short-circuit of the electric source. On the contrary, as described above, the level changer in Fig. 10 is constituted by a bistable or flip-flop circuit composed of four transistors. Accordingly, at least one of the transistors is in the OFF state against the electric source. Accordingly, current flowing occurs only in a transition period, so that power consumption is extremely small. When the outputs Q= V ₀ and Q = 0 of the level changer 50, an N-type transistors TR₂₀ and a P-type transistor TR₂₁ in the gating means 51 are made conductive simultaneously with each other. The gating means 51 carries out a two-way gating operation, so that the gating means 51 is used in common to two input/output devices IO₁ and IO₂ as shown by the two-head arrows. Though not shown, in the case where the present invention applies to a serial printer, the gating means and the driving signal generating means can be constituted by transistors without using any other parts. Accordingly, the means can be prepared easily in the form of ICs. If the gating means and the driving signal generating means prepared in the form of ICs are mounted on a carriage carrying an ink-jet printer head, the printer can be simplified in construction so that cost can be saved. In the prior art, drive lines equal in number to the nozzles and two or four connection cables to the fixed portion are required. However, in this invention, only one connection cable is required and the number of connection lines can be reduced. As shown in Fig. 1, the total number of lines is eight, namely, two lines for the scanning voltage V S , two electric source lines for the driving signal generating means, and four lines for the shift clock signal, the data signal, the latch pulse signal and the enable signal. Accordingly, cost can be saved. Accordingly, the space factor in the fixed portion of the printer is improved to attain reduction both in size as well as in cost. In the various embodiments of the present invention described above, it is a matter of course that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. As described above, according to the invention, a large effect arises in that both assembly cost and assembly space can be saved. Because the scanning voltage is fed back to predetermined means and parts after conversion thereof into electromagnetic energy, heat generation and cost can be reduced when the scanning voltage is generated. Furthermore, the portion including the driving signal generating means and the grating means can be constituted by pairs of P-type and N-type transistors. In this case, not only power consumption can be saved but these means can be prepared in the form of ICs. Accordingly, the present invention can make a large contribution to reliability and cost saving.

Claims: A driver for an ink-jet printer in which a plurality of electrostriction elements (4, 13) are selectively actuated to press ink (3) so that the ink is jetted out of nozzles (1a) corresponding to the selected electrostriction elements (4, 13) to form characters/graphics in dot matrices of the ink, said driver comprising: scanning voltage generating means (10, 40) for generating a scanning voltage (V S ) having a predetermined waveform; gating means (12) for respectively giving said scanning voltage (V S ) to said electrostriction elements (13) corresponding to said gating means (12); and driving signal generating means (15) for giving driving signals to said gating means (12), respectively. A driver as claimed in Claim 1, in which said scanning voltage generating means (10, 40) comprises first and second switching means for defining the rising and falling of said scanning voltage (V S ), and a feedback circuit including coil means. A driver as claimed in Claim 1, in which said scanning voltage generating means (10, 40) comprises a time constant circuit constituted by a resistor and a capacitor, a switching means for actuating said time constant circuit to operate in a predetermined cycle, and an amplifier for outputting the voltage change caused in said time constant circuit as a low-impedance output signal. A driver as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, whose gating means (12) and driving signal generating means (15) are mounted on a carriage of a serial ink-jet printer in which said carriage moves a printer head constituted by said nozzles (1a) and said electrostriction elements (4,13). A driver according to claim 1, wherein the scanning voltage generating means (10,40) comprise a time constant circuit connected in series to an electric source through at least one switching means, and amplifier means including a pair of transistors at least one of which is controlled based on an electric potientioal in said time constant circuit and connected in series to said electric source; the gating means (12) apply the scanning voltage of said scanning voltage generating means (10,40) to corresponding ones of said electrostriction elements (4,13) in predetermined timing; and said driver further comprising scanning voltage control means for controlling said scanning voltage generating means (10,40) in synchronism with the driving signal generating means (15). A driver as claimed in Claim 5, further comprising time constant changing means for changing the time constant of said time constant circuit.

Inventors: FUTAGAWA YOSHIKIYO C O SEIKO E, FUTAGAWA, YOSHIKIYO, C/O SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
Applicants: SEIKO EPSON CORP, SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: B41J2