Recording apparatus, method, and program

Abstract

To enable relatively simple determination of the ink discharge mode in an ink jet recording apparatus.SOLUTION: A recording apparatus according to the present invention is the recording apparatus that includes a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles that can discharge ink are arranged, and includes: a first detection unit that detects a predetermined parameter for each nozzle; a determination unit that determines the ink discharge state at the corresponding nozzle by comparing a signal based on a detection result of the first detection unit with a threshold; and a threshold generation unit that generates the threshold. The apparatus has, as operation modes, a first mode in which the threshold is a variable value, and a second mode in which the threshold is a fixed value. In the first mode, the determination unit performs a predetermined number of determinations for each nozzle, the threshold generation unit changes the threshold in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the threshold for the second mode is determined on the basis of the results of the predetermined number of determinations.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention mainly relates to an inkjet recording apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Among recording apparatuses such as inkjet printers, there are those that perform recording by ejecting ink from nozzles of a recording head. In a recording head using a heater element, since the ink receives thermal energy and is ejected from the nozzle, it is possible to determine whether the ejection is appropriately performed based on the temperature of the ink in the nozzle (see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Generally, a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a recording head. The above determination is made for each of the plurality of nozzles by comparing a signal value based on the temperature of the ink with a threshold value, thereby making it possible to identify a non-ejecting nozzle. Here, since the ejection mode of the ink may vary between nozzles, it is conceivable to set the threshold value for each nozzle.

[0005] An exemplary object of the present invention is to enable relatively simple realization of determination of the ejection mode of ink in an inkjet recording apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention relates to a recording apparatus, the recording apparatus being a recording apparatus including a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink are arranged, A first detection unit that detects predetermined parameters for each nozzle; A determination unit that compares a signal based on the detection result of the first detection unit with a threshold value to determine the ink ejection mode in the corresponding nozzle; A threshold value generation unit that generates a threshold value, and is provided with: As an operation mode, A first mode in which the threshold value is a variable value; A second mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value; It has, In the first mode, the determination unit performs the determination a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value generation unit changes the threshold value in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the threshold value for the second mode is determined based on the results of the predetermined number of determinations Characterized by this.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, the above determination can be realized relatively simply.

Brief Explanation of Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiments, not all of these plurality of features are essential for the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0010] (Regarding the configuration example of the recording device) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example for realizing the functions of a recording device 201 according to an embodiment. The recording device 201 includes, for example, a CPU 211, a ROM 212, a RAM 214, a host interface (I / F) unit 213, an image processing unit 215, a head control unit 101, and a recording head 102. These are directly / indirectly connected via a system bus, and by performing information processing or signal processing described in detail later, desired recording can be realized using the recording head 102. In the present embodiment, the recording head 102 is configured to be able to execute recording by an inkjet method. Typically, a plurality of nozzles are arranged in the recording head 102, and recording is performed by driving a corresponding heater element (electrothermal conversion element) by energization to eject ink from each nozzle. The recording here means forming an image including characters, symbols, figures, patterns, photographs, etc. on a sheet-like recording medium, and the blank spaces that can be formed between them are also included in the concept of the image.

[0011] The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 211 controls the driving of each element of the recording device 201 by reading and executing the control program stored in the ROM (Read Only Memory) 212. For example, information input from the host PC 202, which is an external device (e.g., information indicating an image or image data, information for realizing its recording, etc.), is stored in the RAM (Random Access Memory) 214 via the host I / F unit 213. The CPU 211 converts the image data into recording data by the image processing unit 215 based on the information stored in the RAM 214, and realizes a desired recording by the head control unit 101 and the recording head 102 based on the recording data.

[0012] (Regarding recording by the recording head) Figs. 3(a) to 3(b) are partial schematic diagrams of the recording device 201 showing the state of recording by the recording head 102. Fig. 3(a) shows a side view, and Fig. 3(b) shows a top view. The recording device 201 further includes a conveyance path 301, a paper feeding unit 302, and a paper discharging unit 303. Also, the recording device 201 is configured to enable color printing, and the recording head 102 includes a plurality of heads 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d capable of discharging inks of different colors. The recording medium supplied from the paper feeding unit 302 is conveyed so as to pass through the conveyance path 301, during which ink of the corresponding color is discharged onto the recording medium from the heads 102a, etc. (recording is performed), and then it is discharged from the paper discharging unit 303. In addition, the discharge of ink from the nozzles is realized by energizing and driving the corresponding heater elements. However, in the following description, for the sake of convenience, there may be cases where it is expressed as the driving of the nozzles.

[0013] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the arrangement pattern of the nozzles in the recording head 102. In the present embodiment, a plurality of nozzles are arranged so as to form a plurality (here, eight) of nozzle rows in the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and in each nozzle row, a number of nozzles corresponding to the recording width are arranged in the nozzle arrangement direction. Note that the X direction in the figure corresponds to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and the Y direction in the figure corresponds to the nozzle arrangement direction.

[0014] (Regarding the recording operation and the determination of normal ejection / non-ejection) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example for realizing the functions of the head control unit 101 and the recording head 102, respectively. The head control unit 101 includes a discharge data generation unit 103 and a non-ejection detection unit 104. The discharge data generation unit 103 includes a discharge data storage unit 121, a threshold value storage unit 122, a threshold value generation unit 123, and a discharge data transfer unit 124. The non-ejection detection unit 104 includes a non-ejection determination result receiving unit 131, a non-ejection count measurement unit 132, and a non-ejection count storage unit 133. The recording head 102 includes a discharge data receiving unit 111, a nozzle driving unit 112, a temperature detection unit 113, a non-ejection determination unit 114, and a non-ejection determination result transfer unit 115.

[0015] After the recording data is transferred to the head control unit 101, in the discharge data generation unit 103, the discharge data generated based on the recording data is read from the discharge data storage unit 121. The discharge data is used to eject ink from each nozzle and includes a signal group for driving each of the plurality of nozzles. Also, although details will be described later, threshold data is generated by the threshold value generation unit 123 based on the information read from the threshold value storage unit 122. The threshold data is used to determine whether the ink ejection by each nozzle is appropriately realized and includes a plurality of thresholds corresponding to each of the plurality of nozzles. The discharge data and the threshold data are transferred to the recording head 102 by the discharge data transfer unit 124.

[0016] In the recording head 102, the ejection data receiving unit 111 receives the transferred ejection data and threshold data, and outputs them to the nozzle driving unit 112 and the non - ejection determination unit 114 respectively. The nozzle driving unit 112 drives individual nozzles based on the ejection data to eject ink. The temperature detection unit 113 detects the temperature of the ink in the driven nozzle (or the temperature of the nozzle) as the detected temperature, and transfers a signal indicating the result to the non - ejection determination unit 114. The non - ejection determination unit 114 compares the signal value based on the signal (the signal indicating the detected temperature) received from the temperature detection unit 113 with the corresponding threshold indicated by the threshold data, and determines whether the ink ejection by the nozzle is appropriately realized.

[0017] In the head control unit 101, the non - ejection determination result receiving unit 131 receives the determination result from the non - ejection determination unit 114. In response, the non - ejection count measurement unit 132 measures the non - ejection count (the number of times determined as non - ejection, that is, the number of times the above ejection is not appropriately realized. The non - ejection count may also be expressed as the non - ejection determination count), and stores the result in the non - ejection count storage unit 133.

[0018] FIG. 5(a) shows the state of the change in the temperature of the ink in the nozzle when the nozzle is driven. FIG. 5(b) shows the signal waveform of the detection result Vdif of the temperature detection unit 113. In the figure, the waveform in the case where the ink ejection is appropriately realized (normal ejection) is shown by a solid line, and the waveform in the case where it is not (non - ejection) is shown by a broken line. After the nozzle is driven, as can be seen from FIGS. 5(a) to 5(b), the temperature of the ink drops relatively steeply in the case of normal ejection, while it drops relatively gently in the case of non - ejection. Based on such a change in the signal waveform, the non - ejection determination unit 114 calculates the amount of change over time of the detected temperature acquired by the temperature detection unit 113, and makes a normal ejection / non - ejection determination by comparing it with the threshold data. The result of the determination by the non - ejection determination unit 114 is transferred to the head control unit 101 by the non - ejection determination result transfer unit 115.

[0019] FIG. 5(c) shows the signal waveform of the amount of change over time Vinv of the detected temperature of the temperature detection unit 113 calculated by the non-ejection determination unit 114, that is, the waveform obtained by performing differential processing on the signal in FIG. 5(b). In order to determine normal ejection / non-ejection, a value between the maximum value Dth1 of the amount of change Vinv in the case of normal ejection and the maximum value Dth2 of the amount of change Vinv in the case of non-ejection needs to be set as a threshold value. The mode of change in the ink temperature can vary from nozzle to nozzle (variation in change can occur between nozzles). Therefore, it is preferable to set the threshold value for each nozzle. Although details will be described later, in the present embodiment, a value obtained by subtracting a predetermined value Dthm from Dth1 specified for each nozzle is used as the threshold value Dth0 for determining normal ejection / non-ejection. That is, when the amount of change over time Vinv of the detected temperature reaches the threshold value Dth0, it is determined as normal ejection, and otherwise it is determined as non-ejection. The threshold value Dth0 may be expressed as a threshold voltage, a reference value, a reference voltage, etc.

[0020] Although details will be described later, the threshold value storage unit 122 stores a reference value of threshold value data for performing the above determination for each nozzle, and the threshold value generation unit 123 generates threshold value data based on this reference value and outputs it to the ejection data transfer unit 124. In the present embodiment, the threshold value generation unit 123 generates threshold value data by adding an offset value Dthofs to the reference value.

[0021] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the memory area of the non-ejection count storage unit 133. As described above, the non-ejection count storage unit 133 stores the non-ejection count measured by the non-ejection count measurement unit 132. In this example, the non-ejection count can be measured up to 15 times for each nozzle in 8 nozzle columns (8192 nozzles per column). In this way, by storing the non-ejection count in the non-ejection count storage unit 133 instead of the result of the above determination itself, it is possible to reduce the memory size.

[0022] (Regarding the method for determining normal ejection / non-ejection) For ease of explanation, the nozzles determined to be non-ejecting are referred to as non-ejecting nozzles in the following explanation. The non-ejecting nozzles can be excluded from the driving targets in subsequent recording operations. The recording apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment has, as operation modes, a threshold specifying mode (first mode) and a non-ejecting nozzle detection mode (second mode). In the threshold specifying mode, a threshold Dth0 for detecting non-ejecting nozzles can be searched for, calculated, or specified for each nozzle. In the non-ejecting nozzle detection mode, non-ejecting nozzles can be detected or specified from a plurality of nozzles using the threshold Dth0 specified in the threshold specifying mode.

[0023] FIG. 6(a) shows a flowchart showing the calculation content of the CPU 211 in the threshold specifying mode, and FIG. 6(b) shows a flowchart in the non-ejecting nozzle detection mode. Further, FIG. 6(c) shows a flowchart showing the calculation content executed by the head control unit 101 during the execution of the flowcharts of the threshold specifying mode and the non-ejecting nozzle detection mode.

[0024] - Threshold specifying mode Referring to FIG. 6(a), in the threshold specifying mode, In step S01 (hereinafter simply referred to as "S01"; the same applies to other steps described later), the CPU 211 determines whether the result of the previous threshold specifying mode (i.e., the threshold Dth0 specified for detecting non-ejecting nozzles in the previous time) is stored in the RAM 214. If the result of the previous threshold specifying mode is stored in the RAM 214, the process proceeds to S02; otherwise, the process proceeds to S04.

[0025] In S02, the CPU 211 determines whether to use the result of the previous threshold specifying mode stored in the RAM 214. This determination may be made, for example, based on a previous user setting. If the result of the previous threshold specifying mode is to be used, the process proceeds to S03; otherwise, the process proceeds to S04.

[0026] In S03, the CPU 211 stores the result of the previous threshold specifying mode in the threshold storage unit 122.

[0027] In S04, the CPU 211 stores the initial value of the threshold in the threshold storage unit 122. This initial value is a fixed value preset in common for all nozzles.

[0028] In S05, the CPU 211 sets the reference value of the threshold data in the threshold storage unit 122 and sets the offset value Dthofs to be added in the threshold generation unit 123 to 0. Although details will be described later, in the threshold identification mode, a threshold that satisfies the condition is searched for while adding the offset value Dthofs to this reference value.

[0029] In S20, the CPU 211 sets various parameters for the head control unit 101 to drive the recording head 102, and performs a process of determining the ejection mode (normal ejection / non-ejection). As shown in FIG. 6(c), S20 includes S21 to S23.

[0030] In S21, the head control unit 101 outputs ejection data to the recording head 102 to drive the nozzles in a predetermined order, and acquires the determination result regarding the ejection mode of each individual nozzle.

[0031] In S22, the head control unit 101 determines the ejection mode a predetermined number of times. Note that the number of determinations can be determined by, for example, a prior user setting, or may be a fixed value (for example, 15 times).

[0032] In S22b, the head control unit 101 determines whether or not the determination of the ejection mode has ended. If the determination has ended, this flowchart ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S23.

[0033] In S23, the head control unit 101 adds the addition value Dthadd to the offset value Dthofs. Note that typically a positive value can be used for the addition value Dthadd, but a negative value may also be used (a subtraction value may also be used). In this way, the determination of the ejection mode for each individual nozzle is performed using the threshold data updated for each determination.

[0034] In S09, the CPU 211 reads the number of non-ejection times for each nozzle stored in the non-ejection count storage unit 133, and determines whether the read number of non-ejection times is within the valid range. If the read number of non-ejection times is within the valid range, the process proceeds to S10; otherwise (if it is outside the valid range), the process proceeds to S11. Note that the valid range only needs to be preset together with the upper limit value and the lower limit value that can appropriately determine normal ejection / non-ejection. Also, the valid range may be expressed as an allowable range, a reference range, etc.

[0035] In S11 (when the number of non-ejection times is outside the valid range), the CPU 211 updates the reference value of the threshold data. When the number of non-ejection times is greater than the upper limit of the valid range, the reference value is updated to a smaller value; when the number of non-ejection times is less than the lower limit of the valid range, the reference value is updated to a larger value. The updated reference value is stored in the threshold storage unit 122, and then the process returns to S05 to perform the above determination again.

[0036] In S10 (when the number of non-ejection times is within the valid range), the CPU 211 calculates the aforementioned values Dth1 and Dth0 (see Fig. 5(c)). In this embodiment, the value Dth1 is obtained by adding a value obtained by multiplying the reference value of the set threshold data by the addition value Dthadd according to the number of times determined as normal ejection. That is, Dth1 = Dx + Dthadd × (N - 1) Dx: Reference value of the set threshold data N: Number of normal ejections (value obtained by subtracting the number of non-ejections from the number of determinations) It can be expressed as (Equation 1). Also, the threshold Dth0 is Dth0 = Dth1 - Dthm Dthm: Predetermined value It can be expressed as (Equation 2). The threshold Dth0 specified in this way is stored in the RAM 214 as the result of the threshold specification mode.

[0037] As described above, the threshold value Dth0 is set to a value between the maximum value Dth1 of the change amount Vinv in the case of normal ejection and the maximum value Dth2 of the change amount Vinv in the case of non-ejection. Therefore, the value Dthm may be any value smaller than the difference between the values Dth1 and Dth2. For example, it is preferable that an arithmetic value (e.g., average value, median value, etc.) based on the values Dth1 and Dth2 is specified in advance as a typical value of the value Dthm. Similarly, the addition value Dthadd is required to be a value smaller than the difference between the values Dth1 and Dth2. In particular, since the value Dth1 is sequentially changed in S20, a value smaller than the value Dthm can be set as a typical value of the addition value Dthadd.

[0038] Figs. 7(a) to 7(b) show an example of the determination result of the ejection mode in the threshold value specification mode for four nozzles of seg0 to seg3, with the number of determinations being 15, the reference value Dx of the threshold value data being 80, and the addition value Dthadd being 2. Fig. 7(a) shows an example of the determination result when not affected by noise. Fig. 7(b) shows an example of the determination result when affected by noise.

[0039] In the example of Fig. 7(a), the number of non-ejection times for each nozzle is 10 times for the nozzle of seg0, 14 times for the nozzle of seg1, 0 times for the nozzle of seg2, 15 times for the nozzle of seg3, respectively. In this case, referring to the above (Equation 1) with the effective range of the non-ejection times being 1 or more and 14 or less, the calculated threshold value Dth1 for each nozzle is 88 for the nozzle of seg0, 80 for the nozzle of seg1, invalid for the nozzle of seg2 (the calculation or specification of the threshold value Dth1 is impossible), invalid for the nozzle of seg3, respectively. In this way, for the nozzles of seg0 and seg1, the threshold value Dth0 is specified based on the above (Equation 2).

[0040] In the example of Fig. 7(b), the number of non-ejection times for each nozzle is 10 times for the nozzles of seg0, 13 times for the nozzles of seg1, 1 time for the nozzles of seg2, 14 times for the nozzles of seg3, respectively. In this case, referring to the above (Equation 1) with the effective range of the number of non-ejection times being 2 or more and 13 or less, the calculated threshold value Dth1 for each nozzle is 88 for the nozzles of seg0, 82 for the nozzles of seg1, invalid for the nozzles of seg2, invalid for the nozzles of seg3, respectively. In this way, for the nozzles of seg0 and seg1, the threshold value Dth0 is specified based on the above (Equation 2).

[0041] For the nozzles of seg2 and seg3 determined to be invalid above, the reference value Dx is updated at S11, and again, appropriate threshold value Dth1 is searched for by S05, S20, and S09. The effective range may be set based on the degree of noise.

[0042] - Non-ejection nozzle detection mode Referring to Fig. 6(b), in the non-ejection nozzle detection mode, the results of the above-described threshold value specification mode are used. That is, first, At S03’, the CPU 211 stores the results of the threshold value specification mode stored in the RAM 214 in the threshold value storage unit 122.

[0043] At S05’, the CPU 211 sets the offset value Dthofs added in the threshold value generation unit 123 to 0. Here, in the non-ejection nozzle detection mode, since the above-specified threshold value is fixedly used (because the search for the threshold value is not performed), the offset value Dthofs remains 0, that is, the addition value Dthadd is also set to 0.

[0044] In S20’, similar to FIG. 6(a) (similar to S20 in the threshold identification mode), the CPU 211 performs a process of driving the head control unit 101 to determine the ejection mode. In this step, the number of determinations in S22 and S22b may be the same as or different from that in the threshold identification mode.

[0045] In S09’, the CPU 211 determines whether the number of non-ejection times for each nozzle is less than a predetermined value. If the number of non-ejection times is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S12; otherwise, it proceeds to S13.

[0046] In S12, the CPU 211 identifies the target nozzle as capable of normal ejection.

[0047] In S13, the CPU 211 identifies the target nozzle as a non-ejecting one.

[0048] Note that in the above, “’” is added for distinction, but S03’, S05’, S20’ and S09’ in the non-ejecting nozzle detection mode can be realized by the same programs as S03, S05, S20 and S09 in the threshold identification mode respectively. For example, S05’ is realized by the same process as S05 except that the set value of the addition value Dthadd is different.

[0049] As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the threshold identification mode, in order to identify the threshold Dth0 to be set, the normal ejection / non-ejection determination is performed multiple times while changing the threshold Dth1. Thus, when the threshold Dth1 that satisfies the conditions is calculated, the threshold Dth0 is identified based on the above (Equation 2) and determined as the threshold for the non-ejecting nozzle detection mode. In the threshold identification mode, the threshold Dth1 is sequentially changed in order to identify the threshold Dth0, and the changed threshold Dth1 is temporarily set. Therefore, the threshold identification mode can be said to be an operation mode in which the threshold is a variable value. On the other hand, in the non-ejection nozzle detection mode, the determination of normal ejection / non-ejection is performed using the threshold value Dth0 specified by the threshold value specification mode. As a result, it becomes possible to appropriately detect non-ejection nozzles from a plurality of nozzles. In the non-ejection nozzle detection mode, the threshold value Dth0 specified in the threshold value specification mode is fixedly used. Therefore, the non-ejection nozzle detection mode can be said to be an operation mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value.

[0050] By such an operation, it becomes possible to relatively easily realize the determination of the ink ejection mode in the inkjet recording apparatus 201. From the above viewpoint, the threshold value Dth1 may be expressed and distinguished as a variable threshold value, a provisional threshold value, etc., and the threshold value Dth0 may be expressed and distinguished as a fixed threshold value, a determined threshold value, etc.

[0051] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, since the non-ejection count measurement unit 132 measures the non-ejection count and the non-ejection count storage unit 133 stores the measured non-ejection count, it is also possible to reduce the memory size of the non-ejection count storage unit 133. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it can be said that the determination can be realized more simply.

[0052] In the present embodiment, the determination of normal ejection / non-ejection is made based on the detected temperature of the temperature detection unit 113. However, as another example, it may be made based on the current amount of the heater element when driving the nozzle. Also, in the present embodiment, the nozzle is driven by driving the heater element. However, as another embodiment, when the nozzle is driven by driving a piezoelectric element, the above determination may be made based on residual vibration.

[0053] (Program) The present invention may be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above embodiment to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and by a process in which one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. For example, the present invention may be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0054] (Others) In the above description, a recording apparatus using an inkjet recording method has been described as an example, but the recording method is not limited to the above-described aspects. Further, the recording apparatus may be a single-function printer having only a recording function, or may be a multifunction printer having a plurality of functions such as a recording function, a FAX function, and a scanner function. Further, for example, it may be a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter, an electronic device, an optical device, a micro-structure, etc. by a predetermined recording method.

[0055] Also, "recording" as used in this specification should be interpreted broadly. Therefore, the mode of "recording" does not matter whether the object formed on the recording medium is significant information such as characters and figures, and also does not matter whether it is manifested so that it can be perceived visually by humans.

[0056] Also, the "recording medium" should be interpreted as broadly as the above "recording". Therefore, the concept of "recording medium" can include any member capable of receiving ink, such as paper, cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, resin, wood, leather, etc., in addition to the generally used paper.

[0057] Furthermore, "ink" should be interpreted as broadly as the above "recording". Therefore, the concept of "ink" can include, in addition to a liquid that forms an image, pattern, pattern, etc. by being applied on a recording medium, an accompanying liquid that can be used for processing the recording medium, ink treatment (for example, solidification or insolubilization of a colorant in the ink applied to the recording medium), etc. From this viewpoint, the recording apparatus may be expressed as a liquid ejection apparatus, and in the same sense, the recording head may be expressed as a liquid ejection head.

[0058] In addition, in the embodiments, although individual elements are named in expressions based on their main functions, the functions described in the embodiments may be secondary functions and are not strictly limited to those expressions. Also, the expressions can be replaced with similar expressions. With the same intention, the expression "unit, portion" can be replaced with "tool", "component", "member", "structure", "assembly", etc. Alternatively, they may be omitted or added.

[0059] In addition, two or more elements optionally exemplified in the embodiments are not strictly limited to those exemplifications and may be arbitrarily combined. For example, each of the two or more exemplified elements may be additionally selected or alternatively selected. As an example, when arbitrarily combining two elements A and B, it may be expressed as "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" to indicate that it can be either only A, only B, or both A and B.

[0060] (Summary of the Embodiments) Some of the features exemplified in the embodiments are as follows: [1] A recording apparatus including a recording head having a plurality of nozzles capable of discharging ink, a first detection unit that detects predetermined parameters for each nozzle, a determination unit that compares a signal based on the detection result of the first detection unit with a threshold value to determine the ink discharge mode in the corresponding nozzle, and a threshold value generation unit that generates a threshold value, As an operation mode, a first mode in which the threshold value is a variable value, a second mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value, and has, In the first mode, the determination unit performs the determination a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value generation unit changes the threshold value in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the threshold value for the second mode is determined based on the results of the predetermined number of determinations. A recording apparatus characterized by the above. [2] The recording apparatus further includes a non-ejection detection unit that detects non-ejecting nozzles from the plurality of nozzles. In the second mode, the determination unit performs the determination a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value generation unit generates the determined threshold value in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the non-ejection detection unit detects non-ejecting nozzles from the plurality of nozzles based on the results of the predetermined number of determinations. The recording apparatus according to [1], characterized by the above. [3] The determination unit determines non-ejection of the corresponding nozzle based on the result of the comparison. The non-ejection detection unit includes a measurement unit that measures the number of non-ejections obtained by the determination of the determination unit, and detects non-ejecting nozzles based on the result of the measurement. The recording apparatus according to [2], characterized by the above. [4] The recording head includes a heater element for driving each nozzle. The first detection unit is a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the ink in each nozzle. The recording apparatus according to any one of [1] to [3], characterized by the above. [5] The signal based on the detection result of the temperature detection unit is obtained by performing differential processing on the signal corresponding to the temperature of the ink detected by the temperature detection unit. The recording apparatus according to [4], characterized by the above. [6] In the first mode, the threshold value generation unit changes the threshold value while adding or subtracting from a reference value in each of the predetermined number of determinations. The recording apparatus according to any one of [1] to [5], characterized by the above. [7] In the first mode, when the number of non-ink-jetting times obtained by the determination for a certain nozzle is outside the effective range, for that nozzle, the threshold value generation unit updates the reference value to change the threshold value, and the determination unit further performs the determination for the predetermined number of times. The recording apparatus according to [6], characterized in that. [8] The threshold value generation unit When the number of non-ink-jetting times obtained by the determination for the predetermined number of times is greater than the upper limit of the effective range, updates the reference value to a smaller value, When the number of non-ink-jetting times obtained by the determination for the predetermined number of times is greater than the lower limit of the effective range, updates the reference value to a larger value. The recording apparatus according to [7], characterized in that. [9] A method for controlling a recording apparatus including a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink are arranged, the method comprising: detecting a predetermined parameter for each nozzle; comparing a signal based on the detected parameter with a threshold value to determine an ink ejection mode in a corresponding nozzle; generating a threshold value, The recording apparatus has, as an operation mode, a first mode in which the threshold value is a variable value; a second mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value; and in the first mode, performing the determination for a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, changing the threshold value in each of the determinations for the predetermined number of times, and determining a threshold value for the second mode based on the results of the determinations for the predetermined number of times. The method is characterized in that.

[10] A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the method according to [9]. The program can be stored in a computer-readable non-volatile storage medium.

[0061] The invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention.

Explanation of Signs

[0062] 201: Recording device, 102: Recording head, 113: Temperature detection unit, 114: Non-ejection determination unit, 123: Threshold value generation unit.

Claims

1. A recording apparatus comprising a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink are arranged, a first detection unit that detects predetermined parameters for each nozzle, a determination unit that compares a signal based on the detection result of the first detection unit with a threshold value to determine the ink ejection mode in the corresponding nozzle, and a threshold value generation unit that generates a threshold value, As an operation mode, a first mode in which the threshold value is a variable value, a second mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value, and has, In the first mode, the determination unit performs the determination a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value generation unit changes the threshold value in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the threshold value for the second mode is determined based on the results of the predetermined number of determinations A recording apparatus characterized by this.

2. Further comprising a non-ejection detection unit that detects non-ejecting nozzles from the plurality of nozzles, In the second mode, the determination unit performs the determination a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value generation unit generates the determined threshold value in each of the predetermined number of determinations, and the non-ejection detection unit detects non-ejecting nozzles from the plurality of nozzles based on the results of the predetermined number of determinations The recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by this.

3. The determination unit determines non-ejection of the corresponding nozzle based on the result of the comparison, The non-ejection detection unit includes a measurement unit that measures the number of non-ejections obtained by the determination of the determination unit, and detects non-ejecting nozzles based on the result of the measurement The recording apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by this.

4. The recording head includes a heater element for driving each nozzle, The first detection unit is a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the ink in each nozzle The recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by this.

5. The signal based on the detection result of the temperature detection unit is obtained by performing differential processing on the signal corresponding to the temperature of the ink detected by the temperature detection unit The recording apparatus according to claim 4, characterized by this.

6. In the first mode, the threshold value generation unit changes the threshold value while adding or subtracting from a reference value in each of the predetermined number of determinations The recording apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by this.

7. In the first mode, when the number of non-ejections obtained by the predetermined number of determinations for a certain nozzle is outside the effective range, for that nozzle, the threshold value generation unit updates the reference value and changes the threshold value, and the determination unit further performs the predetermined number of determinations The recording apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that...

8. The threshold value generation unit: When the number of non-ejection times obtained by the determination of the predetermined number of times is greater than the upper limit of the effective range, update the reference value to a smaller value; When the number of non-ejection times obtained by the determination of the predetermined number of times is greater than the lower limit of the effective range, update the reference value to a larger value. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that...

9. A method for controlling a recording apparatus including a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink are arranged, the method comprising: detecting a predetermined parameter for each nozzle; comparing a signal based on the detected parameter with a threshold value to determine an ink ejection mode in a corresponding nozzle; generating a threshold value, wherein the recording apparatus has, as operation modes: a first mode in which the threshold value is a variable value; a second mode in which the threshold value is a fixed value; and in the first mode, the determination is performed a predetermined number of times for each nozzle, the threshold value is changed in each of the determinations of the predetermined number of times, and the threshold value for the second mode is determined based on the results of the determinations of the predetermined number of times. A method characterized by the above.

10. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the method according to claim 9.

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