Liquid discharging apparatus, method for controlling the liquid discharging apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11697286-B2
Application number	US-202217591807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2022
Priority date	Feb 8, 2021
Publication date	Jul 11, 2023
Grant date	Jul 11, 2023

Abstract

A liquid discharging apparatus, having a head with nozzles, a scanning assembly, a conveyer, and a controller, is provided. The controller is configured to determine whether the nozzles are to be flushed in a moving action which accompanies a discharging action, if the controller determines the nozzles are not to be flushed in the moving action, conduct the moving action to move the head at a first acceleration rate; if the controller determines the nozzles are to be flushed in the moving action, determine whether a distance between a flushing range and a discharging range is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance; and if the controller determines the distance is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, conduct the moving action to move the head at a second acceleration rate and control the head to discharge liquid for flushing the nozzles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid discharging apparatus, comprising:
a head having a plurality of nozzles;
a scanning assembly configured to move the head in a scanning direction;
a conveyer configured to covey a recording medium with respect to the head in a conveying direction, the conveying direction intersecting with the scanning direction; and
a controller configured to:
for recording an image on the recording medium, conduct actions to control the head to discharge liquid through the plurality of nozzles at the recording medium based on image data, the actions including:
a conveying action, in which the controller controls the conveyer to convey the recording medium by a predetermined amount in the conveying direction;
a moving action, in which the controller controls the scanning assembly to move the head in the scanning direction; and
a discharging action, in which the controller controls the head to discharge the liquid through the plurality of nozzles while the head is moved by the scanning assembly in the moving action, and

for flushing the plurality of nozzles with the liquid, control the head to discharge the liquid through the plurality of nozzles at a flushing range based on flushing data, the flushing data being different from the image data, while the head being moved in the moving action is accelerating,

wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine whether the plurality of nozzles are to be flushed in the moving action which accompanies the discharging action,
in a case where the controller determines that the plurality of nozzles are not to be flushed in the moving action, conduct the moving action to move the head at a first acceleration rate,
in a case where the controller determines that the plurality of nozzles are to be flushed in the moving action, determine whether a distance between the flushing range and a discharging range, in which the liquid is to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles in the discharging action, is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, and
in a case where the controller determines that the distance is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, conduct the moving action to move the head at a second acceleration rate being lower than the first acceleration rate and control the head to discharge the liquid for flushing the plurality of nozzles.

2. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the distance is not greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, the controller is configured to conduct:
a first step, in which the controller conducts the moving action to move the head in one way in the scanning direction at a third acceleration rate being lower than the first acceleration rate and control the head to discharge the liquid for flushing, and
a second step, in which, after the first step, the controller conducts the moving action to move the head in the same way as the one way in the first step in the scanning direction at a fourth acceleration rate being higher than the third acceleration rate.

3. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the distance is not greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, the controller is configured to conduct:
a first step, in which the controller conducts the moving action to move the head in one way in the scanning direction at a third acceleration rate being lower than the first acceleration rate and control the head to discharge the liquid for flushing,
a second step, in which, after the first step, the controller conducts the moving action to move the head in the other way opposite to the one way in the first step in the scanning direction, and
a third step, in which, after the second step, the controller conducts the moving action to move the head in the same way as the one way in the first step in the scanning direction at a fourth acceleration rate being higher than the third acceleration rate.

4. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the flushing range is located on a first side of the discharging range in the scanning direction,
wherein the moving action includes a forward moving action, in which the head is moved from the first side toward a second side in the scanning direction, and a backward moving action, in which the head is moved from the second side toward the first side in the scanning direction,
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the plurality of nozzles are to be flushed in the forward moving action which does not accompany the discharging action,
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the plurality of nozzles are not to be flushed in the forward moving action, conduct the forward moving action to move the head at a third acceleration rate, and
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the plurality of nozzles are to be flushed in the forward moving action, conduct the forward moving action to move the head at a fourth acceleration rate being lower than the third acceleration rate and control the head to discharge the liquid for flushing the plurality of nozzles.

5. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a recording mode for recording the image is a first mode, in which recording of the image is conducted at a first velocity, or a second mode, in which recording of the image is conducted at a second velocity, the second velocity being higher than the first velocity,
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the recording mode is the first mode, the controller is configured to determine whether the distance between the flushing range and the discharging range is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, and
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the recording mode is the second mode, the controller is configured to conduct the moving action without causing the plurality of nozzles to be flushed and without determining whether the distance between the flushing range and the discharging range is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance.

6. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a viscosity of the liquid to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles in the discharging action is higher than a predetermined viscosity,
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the viscosity is higher than the predetermined viscosity, the controller is configured to determine whether the distance between the flushing range and the discharging range is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, and
wherein, in a case where the controller determines that the viscosity is not higher than the predetermined viscosity, the controller is configured to conduct the moving action without causing the plurality of nozzles to be flushed and without determining whether the distance between the flushing range and the discharging range is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance.

7. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising
an attachment section, to which a tank configured to store the liquid is attachable, the tank being connected to the head and configured to supply the liquid to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles to the head,
wherein, for determining whether the viscosity of the liquid to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles in the discharging action is higher than the predetermined viscosity, the controller is configured to:
in a case where the tank is not a predetermined type of tank, determine that the v

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Arakane Satoru
• Nakano Yasuhiro
• Hasegawa Shin
• Iida Shotaro

Classifications

• B41J2002/16573

  Cleaning process logic, e.g. for determining type or order of cleaning processes · CPC title

• B41J2/16526 Primary

  by applying pressure only · CPC title

• B41J2/1652

  by driving a fluid through the nozzles to the outside thereof, e.g. by applying pressure to the inside or vacuum at the outside of the print head · CPC title

• B41J19/205

  Position or speed detectors therefor · CPC title