Image communication apparatus

Abstract: An image communication apparatus includes a communication unit (3) for communicating a procedure signal associated with communication, and image data, a recording unit (6-a) for injecting a liquid droplet to a recording member (10) in accordance with image data received by the communication unit (3), a recovery unit for performing a predetermined recovery operation of the recording unit, and a control unit for causing the recovery unit to perform the recovery operation in accordance with a predetermined procedure signal communicated before reception of the image data.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION : The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus for ejecting a liquid droplet onto a recording member to perform image recording. In general, a so-called ink-jet recording system for ejecting a droplet of a liquid such as an ink onto a record sheet according to recording information to perform image recording is known. The ink-jet recording system has the following drawbacks. (1) The ink-jet recording system often causes a printing error due to evaporation or drying of an ink or clogging of nozzles with dust, and in a non-recording state, a preservation operation of a head such as capping is necessary. (2) In order to suppress such a printing error, head recovery operations such as idle election of all the nozzles, an ink supply operation, and the like must be performed before printing, and a considerable time is required until recording is ready. (3) When a head has a large number of nozzles, in particular, in a line head, a probability of omission of printing dots is increased. Such drawbacks pose serious problems particularly when the ink-jet recording system is applied to an apparatus which has a relatively long standby time without recording, e.g., an image communication apparatus such as a facsimile. Therefore, an ink-jet image communication apparatus comprising a recording head having a plurality of nozzles has not been realized yet. Reference is made to U.S. Patent No. 4 333 088 which discloses control means for causing said recovery means to perform the recovery operation in accordance with a predetermined procedure signal communicated before reception of the image data. Reference is also made to U.S. Patent No. 4 558 332 which discloses a multi-nozzle ink jet printer having a printer controller which causes the ink jet nozzle to be scavenged prior to printing of the printer has been in a non-print mode for a time in excess of a predetermined period. JP-U-56-26254 discloses a facsimile reception apparatus using an ink-jet recording apparatus, and provided with means to prevent clogging of the ink nozzles by expelling ink from the nozzles. The operation to clear the nozzles is initiated in response to a signal from the transmitting station acknowledging reception of a signal from the receiving station signifying that the receiving station is ready to receive. An object of the present invention is to improve an image communication apparatus for ejecting a liquid droplet onto a recording member to record an image. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image communication apparatus which can efficiently perform a reception operation. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image communication apparatus which can prevent a printing error. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image communication apparatus which can shorten a time required until recording is started. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image communication apparatus which can quickly perform recovery processing of a recording head. According to the invention there is provided an image communication apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical arrangement of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2-1 is a sectional view of an ink-jet recording apparatus of this embodiment; Fig. 2-2 is a sectional view showing a preservation position of a recording head; Fig. 3 is a view showing an ink-jet recording head used in this embodiment; Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a main controller of this embodiment; and Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a head or recording controller of this embodiment. An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter. A facsimile apparatus exemplified as an embodiment of the present invention has an ink-jet full-line type line head having a length corresponding to a width of a maximum record sheet which can be used in recording, a head preservation means which can prevent evaporation and clogging of an ink by, e.g., capping, a head recovery means for performing idle ejection of all the nozzles of the line head or ink supply to prevent a printing error, and means for shifting a head to one of a preservation position, a recovery position, and a print position for performing recording, so that the recording head is moved from the preservation position to the print position via a predetermined standby operation simultaneously with transmission of a DIS (digital identification signal) after call incoming. This facsimile apparatus does not send back a CFR (check for reception ready) signal until the standby operation is completed. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In Fig. 1, a main controller 1 of the facsimile apparatus controls facsimile operations such as reading, recording, communication, and the like. A modem controller 2 is connected to a line through an NCU 3. A console/display unit 4 comprises LCDs or LEDs and key switches. A read controller 5 has CCDs or a contact sensor. A head or record controller 6 performs recording of an image read by the read controller 5 or an image received by the modem controller 2. The head controller 6 performs printing of data transferred to a head 6-a by energizing a head driver 6-b. A head shift motor 6-c shifts the head to one of the preservation, recovery, and print positions, and a head position sensor 6-d detects the position of the head. An ink supply circuit 6-e supplies an ink to the line head. The ink supply circuit 6-e performs an ink supply operation after an ink cartridge is exchanged or during a head recovery operation. A record sheet feed motor 6-f feeds a record sheet for each one-line printing operation. Fig. 2-1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink-jet recording apparatus mounted on the facsimile apparatus shown in Fig. 1. The recording apparatus shown in Fig. 2-1 includes a record sheet 10, a platen roller 20 for feeding the record sheet, an ink-jet head preservation cap 30, and an exhaust ink tray 40. The apparatus also includes a head print position sensor 6d-1, a recovery position sensor 6d-2, and a preservation position sensor 6d-3. Fig. 2-2 is a view showing a state wherein the head is located at the preservation position. In this state, the nozzle surface is capped by the preservation cap 30. Fig. 3 shows the full-multi ink-let head used in this embodiment. In this head, nozzles of one line corresponding to the width of a maximum record size are aligned. In this case, head piping paths behind the nozzle array are not shown. The head shown in Fig. 3 has an ink supply pipe 6a-1. An ink is supplied from an ink tank by driving a gear pump. The ink-jet head of this embodiment is of a bubble-jet type. In this head, an electro-thermo conversion element such as a heater is driven according to recording information to generate bubbles, thereby ejecting an ink. Stop positions and operations of the head will be described below. When the sensor 6d-1 shown in Fig. 2-1 is turned on, the head is located at the print position, and the head driver 6-b is turned on to perform recording. When the sensor 6d-2 is turned on, the head is located at the recovery position, and causes the ink supply circuit 6-e to perform an ink supply operation to recover a printing error caused by clogging of nozzles or evaporation of an ink or causes the head driver 6-b to perform an idle ejection operation with all black image information. Thus, an ink is forcibly ejected from ejectian ports to remove an ink having increased viscosity in the nozzles. The removed ink is received by the exhaust ink tray 40. Furthermore, when the sensor 6d-3 is turned on, the head is located at the preservation position, and capping for preventing evaporation and clogging of an ink in a head non-use state is performed. A gear pump 6a-2 shown in Fig. 3 supplies an ink from an ink cartridge 6a-3 to the head. The ink supply circuit 6-e shown in Fig. 1 is operated to drive this pump, thereby supplying an ink. The recovery operation includes two kinds of operations, i.e., (1) a method of driving the pump to supply ink, and (2) an idle ejection method of transferring all black data corresponding to one line of the head to the head, and turning on the head driver 6-b (Fig. 1) to perform a normal all black printing operation at the recovery position. Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing an operation of the main controller 1, and Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing an operation of the head controller 6. The overall operation of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flow charts of Figs. 4 and 5. Fig. 4 is a flow chart of the main controller after call incoming. In step S1, a DIS (digital identification signal) is sent to a calling station. Note that the DIS is a signal for informing the calling or transmitting station of the functions of the receiving station. In step S2, a head standby command is given to the own record controller 6, and training for reception is performed in step S3. In step S4, head standby end information from the record controller 6 is waited. In step S5, a CFR (check for reception ready signal) is sent, and an image data reception operation is then started. Note that the CFR is a signal for informing that the receiving station is ready to receive the image data. Fig. 5 is a flow chart of the controller 6 which has received the head standby command output from the main controller 1 in step S2. In step S10, the head is shifted from the preservation position to the recovery position. After the position of the head is checked by the sensor, an ink supply or ink idle ejection operation is performed in step S20. In step S30, the head is shifted from the recovery position to the print position. In some cases, a wiping operation for removing an ink attached to nozzle ports is required. When the print position sensor of the head is turned on, completion of a standby operation is informed to the main controller 1. In the above embodiment, the print standby operation is performed upon transmission of the DIS. As described above, when a print operation is performed by an ink-jet recording device, the head standby operation is started in response to a digital identification signal (DIS) after an incoming call signal, thereby shortening a time required until a recording operation is started. In this embodiment, the head recovery processing is executed in synchronism with transmission of the DIS. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the recovery processing may be executed in synchronism with another procedure signal (e.g., reception of a reception mode indication signal DCS, reception of a signal TCF for checking if there is a transmission error before transmission of image data, or the like) before transmission of the CFR or in response to transmission of the CFR. In this embodiment, a recording operation is performed by a bubble-jet system. Any other systems may be employed, as a matter of course. The recording head is not limited to a full-multi type recording head. For example, a head which serially scans a recording member to perform image recording may be employed.

Claims: An image communication apparatus for recording an image by causing a recording head to eject ink droplets from an ink outlet portion onto a recording medium in accordance with received image data, the apparatus comprising: communication means (2, 3) for communicating image data and protocol signals relating to communication with a communication partner station; first control means for causing, in response to a call signal from the partner station, said communication means to transmit a predetermined protocol signal (DIS) to the partner station, to execute a reception training operation for facilitating receipt of image data from the partner station and thereafter to transmit a confirmation-to-receive (CFR) signal to the partner station; recovery means (6-e) for performing a recovery operation for recovering an ink ejection condition of the recording head by causing the ink outlet portion to discharge ink at a recovery position; and second control means for causing said recovery means to execute such a recovery operation, characterised in that: said image communication apparatus further comprises preservation means for preserving the ink ejection portion when said recording head is not in use and is at a preservation position; and in that the second control means is arranged to move the recording head from the preservation position to the recovery position after transmission of the predetermined protocol signal (DIS), then to cause said recovery means to execute a recovery operation while the first control means is executing the reception training operation, and then to move the recording head to a recording position ready for receipt of the image data. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined protocol signal (DIS) is a signal for informing the partner station of a faculty of said apparatus. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said first control means (1) is operable to transmit to the partner station the confirmation-to-receive signal (CFR) after said recording head has been moved to the recording position. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said recovery means (6-e) is arranged to conduct the ejection condition recovery operation by supplying ink to said recording head (6-a). An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said recovery means (6-e) is arranged to perform the ejection condition recovery operation by executing idle ejection from said recording head (6-a) of ink liquid which does not contribute to recording. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a recording head equipped with a plurality of recording elements which correspond to one line corresponding to a recording section on the recording medium. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a recording head arranged to eject ink droplets by causing a state change in the ink using thermoelectric energy conversion recording elements.

Inventors: ONO TAKESHI, WATANABE FUMIHIKO, ONO, TAKESHI, WATANABE, FUMIHIKO
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: B41J2, H04N1, B41J19