EP1048471A2 - Method and apparatus for minimizing color hue shifts in bi-directional inkjet printing - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for minimizing color hue shifts in bi-directional inkjet printing Download PDFInfo
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- EP1048471A2 EP1048471A2 EP00303081A EP00303081A EP1048471A2 EP 1048471 A2 EP1048471 A2 EP 1048471A2 EP 00303081 A EP00303081 A EP 00303081A EP 00303081 A EP00303081 A EP 00303081A EP 1048471 A2 EP1048471 A2 EP 1048471A2
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- ink
- color
- nozzles
- printhead
- expulsion nozzles
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
- B41J19/14—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction
- B41J19/142—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction with a reciprocating print head printing in both directions across the paper width
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
- B41J2/2132—Print quality control characterised by dot disposition, e.g. for reducing white stripes or banding
Definitions
- the present disclosure may contain subject matter related to U.S. Patent Application Serial Number (unknown), Attorney Docket Number 10990240, titled “Method of Minimizing Color Hue Shifts in a Single-pass, Bi-directional Inkjet Printer using Direction Dependent Color Maps” filed on even date herewith.
- This invention relates to color printing, and more particularly to minimizing color hue shift in bi-directional color inkjet printing.
- inkjet printing technology is relatively well developed.
- Commercial products such as computer printers, graphics plotters, copiers, and facsimile machines employ inkjet technology for producing hard copy printed output.
- the basics of this technology are disclosed, for example, in various articles in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, Vol. 36, No. 5 (May 1985), Vol. 39, No. 4 (August 1988) Vol. 39, No. 5 (October 1988), Vol. 43, No. 4 (March 1992), Vol. 43, No. 6 (December 1992) and Vol. 45 No. 1 (February 1994) editions.
- Inkjet devices are also described by W.J. Lloyd and H.T. Taub in Output Hardcopy Devices, chapter 13 (Ed. R.C. Durbeck and S. Sherr, Academic Press, San Diego, 1988).
- the fastest way to print a contiguous area of color with a scanning inkjet printhead is to sweep the printhead across the media in a first direction while firing ink droplets as needed from an array of nozzles, advance the media the height of the array of nozzles then sweep the printhead in a second, opposite direction firing ink droplets as before.
- This is known as single-pass, bi-directional printing. Single-pass because the printhead passes over each area of the page only one time. There is minimal or no overlap between adjacent printed rows.
- Bi-directional because drops are fired while the printhead is travelling in both the left to right direction and the returning right to left direction.
- the ordering of the dot placement of two superimposed droplets has a significant influence on the resulting perceived color. For example, laying down magenta on top of cyan may produce a blue which is biased toward the cyan; whereas printing cyan on top of magenta may yield a blue which emphasizes magenta.
- sub-swaths are printed while the printhead is thus traveling in each of two directions, respectively, the successive swaths or sub-swaths. Banding that results is often very conspicuous.
- Both methods are effective at reducing or eliminating color hue shifts, thereby improving the print quality, but they also slow the printing process significantly. The consumer will have to compromise print speed to get the desired color print quality.
- the desired inkjet printer must be able to print bi-directionally, so there is no time wasted on a carriage return; print in a single-pass mode, so there is no time wasted on overlapping printing; and the deposition of ink droplets to form composite colors must be performed in the same sequence whether traversing in a right to left direction or a left to right direction, thereby eliminating the directional related color hue shifts.
- An inkjet printer has a printing width and utilizes a plurality of printheads.
- the plurality of printheads has an axis of symmetry, and a first row of ink expulsion nozzles and a second row of ink expulsion nozzles.
- the first and second rows are disposed essentially parallel to each other and symmetrically disposed about the axis of symmetry.
- the third and fourth rows are also disposed essentially parallel to each other and symmetrically disposed about the axis of symmetry.
- the inkjet printer also has a printhead carriage which holds the plurality of printheads and is arranged to traverse in a first direction parallel to the printing width of the inkjet printer.
- the printhead carriage positions the plurality of printheads to expulse color ink droplets onto a media in a particular sequence. This arrangement also allows the printhead carriage to traverse in a second direction, opposite the first direction, which positions the plurality of printheads to expulse color ink droplets onto the media in the same particular sequence.
- the preferred embodiment of the inkjet printer prints bi-directionally, so there is no time wasted on a carriage return; prints in a single-pass mode, so there is no time wasted on overlapping printing; and the deposition of ink droplets to form composite colors is performed in the same sequence whether traversing in a right to left direction or a left to right direction, thereby minimizing the directional related color hue shifts.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an inkjet printer 100 incorporating the present invention.
- a media tray 110 holds a supply of input paper or other print media.
- a printing operation is initiated, a sheet of paper or media in media tray 110 is fed into inkjet printer 100 and is then brought around in a U-direction towards an output tray 114.
- the sheet is stopped in a print zone 118 and a printhead carriage 102, containing multiple dual color inkjet printheads 108 and a single color printhead 106, is scanned along carriage traverse rail 104 across a printing width 120 of the inkjet printer 100 for printing a swath of ink onto the paper or media below.
- the sheet is advanced and the process repeats now in an opposite movement of the printhead carriage 102 until the entire sheet has been printed, at which point the printed media is ejected onto output tray 114.
- Dual color inkjet printheads 108 and single color printhead 106 are fluidically coupled to removable secondary ink supplies 112 by ink conduits 116. Typically, these secondary ink supplies 112 hold Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks.
- An example of a commercially available three color inkjet print cartridge is a Model HP5659A available from Hewlett-Packard Co.
- there is one single multi-colored cartridge that replaces the dual color inkjet printheads 108 and the single color printhead 106 containing varying combinations of colors.
- each single color inkjet printhead 106, dual color inkjet printhead 108, and secondary ink supply 112 is provided with an integral memory device which stores data that is used by inkjet printer 100 to control its printing operations.
- FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a dual color inkjet printhead 108 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- the inkjet printhead 108 includes a primary ink supply 212 and a flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202.
- the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 is formed on a flexible polymer tape using Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) techniques.
- TAB Tape Automated Bonding
- One conventional technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,286 (Pollacek).
- the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 includes an ink expulsion region 201 comprising a first nozzle row 206 and a second nozzle row 208. Each nozzle row contains a plurality of ink expulsion nozzles 210.
- the parallel nozzle rows, reference numerals 206 and 208, of ink expulsion nozzles 210 are formed in the flexible polymer tape by, for example, laser ablation.
- the tape may be purchased commercially as KAPTON tape, available from 3M Corporation.
- Other suitable tape may be formed of UPILEX or its equivalent.
- the ink expulsion nozzles 210 can be formed In a nickel or gold plate and attached to the flexible polymer tape.
- a back surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 includes conductive traces formed, for example, by a conventional photolithographic etching and/or plating process. These conductive traces are terminated at one end by large electrical interconnect pads 214 designed to interconnect with an inkjet printer, and on the opposite end with the circuitry on a semiconductor substrate (not shown) attached to the back surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 behind an ink expulsion region 201.
- the inkjet printheads, 106 and 108 are designed to be installed in a printer so that the electrical interconnect pads 214, which extend through to the front surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202, contact printer electrodes thereby providing externally generated energization signals to the inkjet printhead.
- each dual color inkjet printhead 108 has a divided primary ink supply 212, which contains two colors of ink.
- FIG. 2 shows a flexible circuit centerline 204 where one color is stored and dispensed from one half of a primary ink supply 212 located approximately behind a first side of the flexible circuit centerline 204 using a first nozzle row 206 on that side.
- the second color of ink is stored and dispensed from the remaining half of the primary ink supply 212 located approximately behind the second side of the flexible circuit centerline 204 using a second nozzle row 208 on that side.
- ink is replenished through ink conduits 116 from a secondary ink supply 112 (FIG. 1) containing the appropriate color of ink.
- FIG. 3 is a planar view of the front surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 removed from the dual color inkjet print cartridge 108.
- Affixed to the back of the flexible printhead circuit 202 in the ink expulsion region 201 is the silicon substrate (not shown) containing a plurality of individually energizable thin film resistors.
- Each resistor is located generally behind a single ink expulsion nozzle 210 and acts as an ohmic heater when selectively energized by one or more pulses applied sequentially or simultaneously to one or more of the electrical interconnect pads 214.
- FIG. 4 depicts a typical configuration of multiple single color inkjet printheads 106 each having a primary ink supply 212 and secondary ink supply 112 in a configuration of the current inkjet technology.
- Each printhead is a single color inkjet printhead 106 (both first nozzle row 206 and second nozzle row 208 dispense the same ink color) and are in fluid communication with a secondary ink supply 112 by an ink conduit 116.
- the color of ink contained within each secondary ink supply 112 and primary ink supply 212 is shown in the shaded cutout windows on the fronts of each device. From left to right, the shading corresponds to Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. This shading scheme will remain consistent throughout this specification.
- the single color inkjet printhead 106 On one surface of the single color inkjet printhead 106 is the attached flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 which has two rows of ink expulsion nozzles (FIG. 1) where ink droplets 401 are ejected onto some form of media beyond.
- the single color inkjet printheads 106 are ordered Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (CMY) with the Black (B) printhead on either side of the three-color printheads.
- the physical placement of the secondary ink supplies 112, the fluid conduits 116, and the inkjet print cartridges in an inkjet printer 110 are similar as that shown in FIG. 1.
- other inkjet printing systems have the secondary ink supplies 112 attached to the inkjet print cartridges wherein both are stationed in the print cartridge carriage 102 and travel together along carriage traverse rail 104.
- FIG. 5A depicts a section of four adjacent ink expulsion nozzles 210 from each inkjet printhead 108, across a width of the four inkjet printheads 108 of FIG. 4
- FIG. 5A illustrates the arrangement and colors of ink droplets 401 emerging from the rows of ink expulsion nozzles 210 of each inkjet printhead 108 with the colors ordered, as indicated by the shading, in nozzles rows from left to right as BBCCMMYY (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow).
- each color has two rows of nozzles.
- FIG. 5B is representative of the deposition of ink droplets 401 from the four-high section of ink expulsion nozzles 210 of FIG. 5A in both a left to right pass 530 of the inkjet print cartridges 106 and a right to left pass 540 of inkjet print cartridges 106.
- a shade of green is created by the combining of a droplet of Yellow ink from one of the two rows of a first ink color nozzles 501 and a droplet of Cyan ink from one of the two rows of a second ink color nozzles 503.
- the inkjet printer 100 is printing in a single-pass, bi-directional mode
- the inkjet printer 100 after the inkjet printer 100 prints across the media from left to right, then indexes the print media, it will print the next swath of printing while the print cartridge carriage 102 is traversing right to left.
- Reversing the movement of the print cartridge carriage 102 reverses the order of the inkjet print cartridges 106 and, as a result, the second ink color nozzles 503 (Cyan) will be dispensed before the first ink color nozzles 501 (Yellow).
- This banding varies depending on the combinations of primary colors required, but can be very noticeable as a typical swath of inkjet printing is approximately .30 to 1.00 inches ,or 7.62 to 25.40 mm, high.
- Another inkjet printer has all three colors (Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta) contained in the same print cartridge, with the rows of nozzles in parallel, and located together in one six-row ink expulsion region 201 disposed on one single flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202.
- An example of a commercially available three color inkjet print cartridge is a Hewlett-Packard Model C1823A.
- the black print cartridge is a separate print cartridge, typically placed to the left of the three-color cartridge.
- the ink in the three-color cartridge is channeled to the particular nozzle row from the corresponding primary ink container thereby maintaining the CCMMYY color ordering. Therefore, deposition of ink droplets is similar to the described method of FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B above.
- FIG. 6 depicts a combination of the single color inkjet print cartridge 106 (FIG. 4), the multiple dual color inkjet printheads 108 (FIG. 2), their respective secondary ink supplies 112, and the fluidic conduit interconnects 116 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- each dual color inkjet printhead 108 is of a similar size and shape as the single color inkjet printhead 106, but the primary ink supply 212 of each dual color inkjet printhead 108 is divided into two chambers which may each contain a different color of ink.
- there are four secondary ink supplies 112 Black, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta).
- the Black secondary ink supply 112 supplies the single color inkjet printhead 106 with ink.
- the secondary ink supplies 112 distribute ink to the dual color inkjet printheads 108 in an order such that there is symmetry in the ordering of the colors of ink within the nozzle rows of six primary ink supplies 212.
- the two outside primary ink supplies of the dual color inkjet printheads 108 contain the second ink color (Cyan in the preferred embodiment).
- the first ink color (Yellow in the preferred embodiment) is in both of the primary ink supplies 212 of the second dual color inkjet print cartridge 108.
- the third ink color (Magenta in the preferred embodiment) is in the remaining two primary ink supplies 212. This symmetry allows the dispensing of the ink in the same order whether the print cartridge carriage 102 (FIG. 1) is traversing right to left or left to right.
- the middle dual color inkjet print cartridge 108 could have only one nozzle row, therefore only one primary ink supply 212 as the symmetry of the color of inks would be maintained. This results in an ink color ordering of BBCMYMC. Another order is contemplated where Black is the center color resulting in an ordering of CMYBBYMC. This would require four dual color inkjet print cartridges 108 and eliminate the need for the single color inkjet print cartridge 106. Any of the aforementioned orderings would produce the symmetrical ink dispensing desired in the present invention. Additionally, the symmetrical ordering of inks can be extended for any number of inks, for example ABCD...
- FIG. 7A is a section of the single color inkjet print cartridges 106 and the three dual color inkjet print cartridges 108 of FIG. 6 depicting the arrangement and colors of ink droplets 401 emerging from the rows of nozzles of each flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202.
- FIG. 7A is illustrative of a four-high section of ink expulsion nozzles 210 from the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 with the colors ordered in the nozzles rows from left to right as BBCMYYMC.
- Each color has two rows of ink expulsion nozzles 210 and these two rows of ink expulsion nozzles 210 are symmetrical about an axis of symmetry 720.
- the axis of symmetry 720 is perpendicular to the printing width 120 of inkjet printer 100 (FIG. 1).
- Each dual color print cartridge 108 has its rows of ink expulsion nozzles 210 divided by flexible circuit centerline 204 (FIG.2).
- the reason for the symmetrical ordering of the colors of inks is to minimize the color hue shift associated with the inability of an asymmetrical ordering to dispense ink in a like order when operating in a single-pass, bi-directional print mode as previously shown and discussed in FIG. 4, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.
- FIG. 7B depicts a left to right pass 730 and a right to left pass 740 of overlaid ink droplets created with the nozzle row and ink distribution configuration of FIG. 7A using all ink expulsion nozzles 210 to print in the single-pass, bi-directional mode of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- These matrices of ink droplets are an example of alternating the ordering of the layering of the colors to get visibly one single color.
- first combined ink droplet 541 is created from an ink droplet from nozzle row 703 and an inkjet droplet from nozzle row 701 or nozzle row 702.
- the second combined ink droplet 531 is created from an ink droplet 401 from nozzle row 701 or nozzle 702 and an ink droplet from nozzle row 704. These two combined droplets, 541 and 531, represent the same color. However, as discussed previously and shown in FIG. 5B, with an area of first combined ink droplets 541 and an adjacent area of second combined ink droplets 531 a color hue shift is apparent between the two areas as demonstrated by left to right pass 530 and right to left pass 540. With the alternating ink droplet pattern of the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 7B, the left to right pass 730 and the right to left pass 740 will appear to be the same color or hue. There will be a minimal color hue shift detectable between adjacent rows.
- a first nozzle row 206 of each dual color inkjet printhead 108 is used for left to right printing only, while the second nozzle row 208 of each dual color inkjet printhead 108 is used for right to left printing only.
- This allows every combined droplet to be disposed in the same order, thereby creating an even more contiguous area of color in a single-pass, bi-directional printing mode. Although this compromises the printing speed, as only half of the nozzles are available for dispensing in each direction, the user can decide to forego speed for the higher print quality, for example for photos or precision illustrations.
- FIG. 8A A fifth alternate implementation is shown in FIG. 8A.
- Each color primary grouping contains enough ink expulsion nozzles 210 to represent half of the vertical resolution of the pen.
- Dimensional reference number 810 depicts the standard vertical spacing in an inkjet print cartridge where dimensional reference number 820 depicts twice the standard vertical spacing. Every other ink droplet 401 row is dispensed in an opposite order offset by one droplet 401 row.
- first combined ink droplet 541 is created by layering second color ink droplet 801 then first color ink droplet 802, while in the adjacent row of ink droplets, second combined ink droplet 531 is created by first color ink droplet 803 then second color ink droplet 804.
- the color hue shift for this alternate example, will still occur, but on an ink droplet row basis rather than on a print swath basis as shown and described in FIG. 5B.
- the color hue shift becomes much more difficult for the human eye to detect so the overall result is a reduction in observable color hue shift.
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Abstract
Description
- The present disclosure may contain subject matter related to U.S. Patent Application Serial Number (unknown), Attorney Docket Number 10990240, titled "Method of Minimizing Color Hue Shifts in a Single-pass, Bi-directional Inkjet Printer using Direction Dependent Color Maps" filed on even date herewith.
- This invention relates to color printing, and more particularly to minimizing color hue shift in bi-directional color inkjet printing.
- The art of inkjet printing technology is relatively well developed. Commercial products such as computer printers, graphics plotters, copiers, and facsimile machines employ inkjet technology for producing hard copy printed output. The basics of this technology are disclosed, for example, in various articles in the Hewlett-Packard Journal, Vol. 36, No. 5 (May 1985), Vol. 39, No. 4 (August 1988) Vol. 39, No. 5 (October 1988), Vol. 43, No. 4 (August 1992), Vol. 43, No. 6 (December 1992) and Vol. 45 No. 1 (February 1994) editions. Inkjet devices are also described by W.J. Lloyd and H.T. Taub in Output Hardcopy Devices, chapter 13 (Ed. R.C. Durbeck and S. Sherr, Academic Press, San Diego, 1988).
- With the increased popularity of inkjet printing comes the increased competition between manufacturers of inkjet printers. Currently, the most common distinguishing features between competitive inkjet printers are price, speed, and print quality. Today, most inkjet printer manufacturers sell a model of printer in each price range of inkjet printers ranging from low cost home and office printers to high-speed commercial printers. To be competitive within each price range, the printer manufacturer must supply a printer with a faster print speed and a better resultant print quality than his competitors'. With price at a consistent low among the competitive inkjet printer manufacturers, a fast print speed directly coupled to a superior resultant print quality is key to the consumer's selection.
- The fastest way to print a contiguous area of color with a scanning inkjet printhead is to sweep the printhead across the media in a first direction while firing ink droplets as needed from an array of nozzles, advance the media the height of the array of nozzles then sweep the printhead in a second, opposite direction firing ink droplets as before. This is known as single-pass, bi-directional printing. Single-pass because the printhead passes over each area of the page only one time. There is minimal or no overlap between adjacent printed rows. Bi-directional because drops are fired while the printhead is travelling in both the left to right direction and the returning right to left direction.
- This technique is well known and successful for printing in monochrome. Workers skilled in this field have recognized, however, that for printing in color a hue shift, or more precisely a color hue shift, arises between printing left to right over right to left.
- The reason for this color hue shift is that printheads are traditionally arranged, physically, on their carriage in a specific sequence. Therefore, if two or more of the printheads fire while the carriage is moving in one particular direction, the different ink colors are laid down one on top of another in a corresponding order. While the carriage is moving in the opposite direction, in the opposite order. When printing a color that requires the combination of colors from more than one printhead, even though the combination of colors is the same in either direction of printing, the order of deposition can change the visible color hue of the combined color.
- The ordering of the dot placement of two superimposed droplets has a significant influence on the resulting perceived color. For example, laying down magenta on top of cyan may produce a blue which is biased toward the cyan; whereas printing cyan on top of magenta may yield a blue which emphasizes magenta. In successive separate swaths or separately visible color bands, sub-swaths are printed while the printhead is thus traveling in each of two directions, respectively, the successive swaths or sub-swaths. Banding that results is often very conspicuous.
- Current inkjet printers minimize color hue shifts in one or both of two ways:
- 1) Unidirectional printing. This entails firing droplets of ink when the printheads are moving in a single direction and no firing when printheads are returned in the opposite direction. With this method, the order in which the color primaries (typically Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow) are printed remains constant and no directional related color hue shifts occur; and
- 2) Multi-pass printing. With multi-pass printing, the printheads pass over the same area of the media more than once in an effort to blend the ordering of the overlaid droplets of ink to diminish the bi-directional color hue shifts by averaging the order in which the color primaries are printed.
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- Both methods are effective at reducing or eliminating color hue shifts, thereby improving the print quality, but they also slow the printing process significantly. The consumer will have to compromise print speed to get the desired color print quality.
- To solve this problem, the desired inkjet printer must be able to print bi-directionally, so there is no time wasted on a carriage return; print in a single-pass mode, so there is no time wasted on overlapping printing; and the deposition of ink droplets to form composite colors must be performed in the same sequence whether traversing in a right to left direction or a left to right direction, thereby eliminating the directional related color hue shifts.
- With the increasing use of inkjet printers for high quality color printing in the home and in the office, it is desirable for the consumer to be able to achieve the highest quality color inkjet printing within their selected price range without having to compromise printing speed.
- An inkjet printer has a printing width and utilizes a plurality of printheads. The plurality of printheads has an axis of symmetry, and a first row of ink expulsion nozzles and a second row of ink expulsion nozzles. The first and second rows are disposed essentially parallel to each other and symmetrically disposed about the axis of symmetry. There is also a third and a fourth row of ink expulsion nozzles. The third and fourth rows are also disposed essentially parallel to each other and symmetrically disposed about the axis of symmetry. The inkjet printer also has a printhead carriage which holds the plurality of printheads and is arranged to traverse in a first direction parallel to the printing width of the inkjet printer. The printhead carriage positions the plurality of printheads to expulse color ink droplets onto a media in a particular sequence. This arrangement also allows the printhead carriage to traverse in a second direction, opposite the first direction, which positions the plurality of printheads to expulse color ink droplets onto the media in the same particular sequence.
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- FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an inkjet printer of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an inkjet print cartridge for the printer of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a plan view of the front surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit of FIG. 2 removed from the print cartridge and layed flat.
- FIG. 4 depicts a inkjet printhead and ink supply configuration for the printer of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 5A depicts a four-nozzle high section across a width of the four inkjet printheads of FIG. 4 illustrating the arrangement and colors of ink droplets emerging from the rows of nozzles of each inkjet print cartridge.
- FIG. 5B depicts composite ink droplet deposition on a portion of media deposited in a left to right pass and a portion of media deposited in a right to left pass of overlaid ink droplets created with the nozzle row configuration illustrated in FIG. 5A.
- FIG. 6 depicts the inkjet print cartridges, ink supplies and the fluidic conduit interconnects of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 7A depicts a four-nozzle high section across a width of the four inkjet printheads of FIG. 6 illustrating the arrangement and colors of ink droplets emerging from the rows of nozzles of each inkjet print cartridge of the preferred embodiment.
- FIG. 7B depicts composite ink droplet deposition on a portion of media deposited in a left to right pass and a portion of media deposited in a right to left pass of overlaid ink droplets created with the nozzle row and ink distribution configuration of FIG. 7A using all nozzles to print in the single-pass, bi-directional mode of the present invention.
- FIG. 8A depicts an alternate embodiment of the nozzle layout of the present invention.
- FIG. 8B depicts a portion of a left to right pass and a portion of a right to left pass of overlaid ink droplets created with the alternative nozzle configuration illustrated in FIG. 8A.
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- The preferred embodiment of the inkjet printer, as is about to be described, prints bi-directionally, so there is no time wasted on a carriage return; prints in a single-pass mode, so there is no time wasted on overlapping printing; and the deposition of ink droplets to form composite colors is performed in the same sequence whether traversing in a right to left direction or a left to right direction, thereby minimizing the directional related color hue shifts.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an
inkjet printer 100 incorporating the present invention. Amedia tray 110 holds a supply of input paper or other print media. When a printing operation is initiated, a sheet of paper or media inmedia tray 110 is fed intoinkjet printer 100 and is then brought around in a U-direction towards anoutput tray 114. The sheet is stopped in aprint zone 118 and aprinthead carriage 102, containing multiple dualcolor inkjet printheads 108 and asingle color printhead 106, is scanned alongcarriage traverse rail 104 across a printing width 120 of theinkjet printer 100 for printing a swath of ink onto the paper or media below. The sheet is advanced and the process repeats now in an opposite movement of theprinthead carriage 102 until the entire sheet has been printed, at which point the printed media is ejected ontooutput tray 114. - Dual
color inkjet printheads 108 andsingle color printhead 106 are fluidically coupled to removable secondary ink supplies 112 byink conduits 116. Typically, these secondary ink supplies 112 hold Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks. An example of a commercially available three color inkjet print cartridge is a Model HP5659A available from Hewlett-Packard Co. Optionally, there is one single multi-colored cartridge that replaces the dualcolor inkjet printheads 108 and thesingle color printhead 106 containing varying combinations of colors. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each singlecolor inkjet printhead 106, dualcolor inkjet printhead 108, andsecondary ink supply 112 is provided with an integral memory device which stores data that is used byinkjet printer 100 to control its printing operations. - FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a dual
color inkjet printhead 108 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theinkjet printhead 108 includes aprimary ink supply 212 and a flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202. The flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202 is formed on a flexible polymer tape using Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) techniques. One conventional technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,286 (Pollacek). The flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202 includes anink expulsion region 201 comprising afirst nozzle row 206 and asecond nozzle row 208. Each nozzle row contains a plurality ofink expulsion nozzles 210. The parallel nozzle rows,reference numerals ink expulsion nozzles 210, also commonly referred to as orifices, are formed in the flexible polymer tape by, for example, laser ablation. The tape may be purchased commercially as KAPTON tape, available from 3M Corporation. Other suitable tape may be formed of UPILEX or its equivalent. Alternatively, theink expulsion nozzles 210 can be formed In a nickel or gold plate and attached to the flexible polymer tape. - A back surface of the flexible inkjet printhead circuit 202 (not shown) includes conductive traces formed, for example, by a conventional photolithographic etching and/or plating process. These conductive traces are terminated at one end by large
electrical interconnect pads 214 designed to interconnect with an inkjet printer, and on the opposite end with the circuitry on a semiconductor substrate (not shown) attached to the back surface of the flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202 behind anink expulsion region 201. The inkjet printheads, 106 and 108, are designed to be installed in a printer so that theelectrical interconnect pads 214, which extend through to the front surface of the flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202, contact printer electrodes thereby providing externally generated energization signals to the inkjet printhead. - In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each dual
color inkjet printhead 108 has a dividedprimary ink supply 212, which contains two colors of ink. For clarity, FIG. 2 shows aflexible circuit centerline 204 where one color is stored and dispensed from one half of aprimary ink supply 212 located approximately behind a first side of theflexible circuit centerline 204 using afirst nozzle row 206 on that side. The second color of ink is stored and dispensed from the remaining half of theprimary ink supply 212 located approximately behind the second side of theflexible circuit centerline 204 using asecond nozzle row 208 on that side. As the ink is depleted from any of the primary ink supplies 212 of each dualcolor inkjet printheads 108 or thesingle color printhead 106, ink is replenished throughink conduits 116 from a secondary ink supply 112 (FIG. 1) containing the appropriate color of ink. - With dual
color inkjet printheads 108 each dispensing two colors of ink, there are the number ofprintheads 108 times two rows of nozzles, each of which can contain a different color. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, there are three dualcolor inkjet printheads 108, with the first three rows of nozzles in a particular order and the second three rows of nozzles in the reverse order (CMYYMC). This symmetry of colors allows theinkjet printer 100 to dispense colors of ink in the same order regardless of printing direction (right to left or left to right). A further discussion of this symmetry is forthcoming. - FIG. 3 is a planar view of the front surface of the flexible
inkjet printhead circuit 202 removed from the dual colorinkjet print cartridge 108. Affixed to the back of theflexible printhead circuit 202 in theink expulsion region 201 is the silicon substrate (not shown) containing a plurality of individually energizable thin film resistors. Each resistor is located generally behind a singleink expulsion nozzle 210 and acts as an ohmic heater when selectively energized by one or more pulses applied sequentially or simultaneously to one or more of theelectrical interconnect pads 214. - FIG. 4 depicts a typical configuration of multiple single
color inkjet printheads 106 each having aprimary ink supply 212 andsecondary ink supply 112 in a configuration of the current inkjet technology. Each printhead is a single color inkjet printhead 106 (bothfirst nozzle row 206 andsecond nozzle row 208 dispense the same ink color) and are in fluid communication with asecondary ink supply 112 by anink conduit 116. For clarity, the color of ink contained within eachsecondary ink supply 112 andprimary ink supply 212 is shown in the shaded cutout windows on the fronts of each device. From left to right, the shading corresponds to Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. This shading scheme will remain consistent throughout this specification. - On one surface of the single
color inkjet printhead 106 is the attached flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202 which has two rows of ink expulsion nozzles (FIG. 1) whereink droplets 401 are ejected onto some form of media beyond. Typically, the singlecolor inkjet printheads 106 are ordered Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (CMY) with the Black (B) printhead on either side of the three-color printheads. - Typically, the physical placement of the secondary ink supplies 112, the
fluid conduits 116, and the inkjet print cartridges in aninkjet printer 110 are similar as that shown in FIG. 1. However, other inkjet printing systems have the secondary ink supplies 112 attached to the inkjet print cartridges wherein both are stationed in theprint cartridge carriage 102 and travel together alongcarriage traverse rail 104. - FIG. 5A depicts a section of four adjacent
ink expulsion nozzles 210 from eachinkjet printhead 108, across a width of the fourinkjet printheads 108 of FIG. 4 FIG. 5A illustrates the arrangement and colors ofink droplets 401 emerging from the rows ofink expulsion nozzles 210 of eachinkjet printhead 108 with the colors ordered, as indicated by the shading, in nozzles rows from left to right as BBCCMMYY (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). In a preferred embodiment, each color has two rows of nozzles. - FIG. 5B is representative of the deposition of
ink droplets 401 from the four-high section ofink expulsion nozzles 210 of FIG. 5A in both a left toright pass 530 of theinkjet print cartridges 106 and a right to leftpass 540 ofinkjet print cartridges 106. In this example, on the left toright pass 530, a shade of green is created by the combining of a droplet of Yellow ink from one of the two rows of a firstink color nozzles 501 and a droplet of Cyan ink from one of the two rows of a secondink color nozzles 503. An overlapping of droplets of Cyan ink with droplets of Yellow ink create the four by four matrix of first composite color "greenish hue"dots 531 as shown byarea 530. Due to the left to right traverse of print cartridge carriage 102 (FIG. 1) and the physical BBCCMMYY ordering of theinkjet print cartridges 106, as shown in FIG. 5A, the first ink color nozzles 501 (Yellow) must be dispensed first with the ink droplets in the second ink color nozzles 503 (Cyan) being dispensed second. - Where the
inkjet printer 100 is printing in a single-pass, bi-directional mode, after theinkjet printer 100 prints across the media from left to right, then indexes the print media, it will print the next swath of printing while theprint cartridge carriage 102 is traversing right to left. For the example shown in FIG. 5B, this results in the four by four matrix of second composite color "greenish hue"ink dots 541 shown in FIG. 5B as right to leftpass 540. Reversing the movement of theprint cartridge carriage 102, reverses the order of theinkjet print cartridges 106 and, as a result, the second ink color nozzles 503 (Cyan) will be dispensed before the first ink color nozzles 501 (Yellow). - The difference between the first composite color greenish
hue ink dots 531 applied in the left toright pass 530 of theinkjet printer 100 and the second composite color greenishhue ink dots 541 which are attempting to create the same color hue in a right to leftpass 540, creates a visible "banding" effect or a color hue shift between adjacent swaths of printing. This banding varies depending on the combinations of primary colors required, but can be very noticeable as a typical swath of inkjet printing is approximately .30 to 1.00 inches ,or 7.62 to 25.40 mm, high. - Another inkjet printer has all three colors (Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta) contained in the same print cartridge, with the rows of nozzles in parallel, and located together in one six-row
ink expulsion region 201 disposed on one single flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202. An example of a commercially available three color inkjet print cartridge is a Hewlett-Packard Model C1823A. The black print cartridge, however, is a separate print cartridge, typically placed to the left of the three-color cartridge. In this printer, the ink in the three-color cartridge is channeled to the particular nozzle row from the corresponding primary ink container thereby maintaining the CCMMYY color ordering. Therefore, deposition of ink droplets is similar to the described method of FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B above. - FIG. 6 depicts a combination of the single color inkjet print cartridge 106 (FIG. 4), the multiple dual color inkjet printheads 108 (FIG. 2), their respective secondary ink supplies 112, and the fluidic conduit interconnects 116 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, each dual
color inkjet printhead 108 is of a similar size and shape as the singlecolor inkjet printhead 106, but theprimary ink supply 212 of each dualcolor inkjet printhead 108 is divided into two chambers which may each contain a different color of ink. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are four secondary ink supplies 112 (Black, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta). The Blacksecondary ink supply 112, through anink conduit 116, supplies the singlecolor inkjet printhead 106 with ink. Each of the remaining three secondary ink supplies 112, through a pair ofink conduits 116, supply two primary ink supplies 212 of the remaining three dualcolor inkjet printheads 108. - The secondary ink supplies 112 distribute ink to the dual
color inkjet printheads 108 in an order such that there is symmetry in the ordering of the colors of ink within the nozzle rows of six primary ink supplies 212. For example, in FIG. 6, the two outside primary ink supplies of the dualcolor inkjet printheads 108 contain the second ink color (Cyan in the preferred embodiment). The first ink color (Yellow in the preferred embodiment) is in both of the primary ink supplies 212 of the second dual colorinkjet print cartridge 108. The third ink color (Magenta in the preferred embodiment) is in the remaining two primary ink supplies 212. This symmetry allows the dispensing of the ink in the same order whether the print cartridge carriage 102 (FIG. 1) is traversing right to left or left to right. - Alternatively, the middle dual color
inkjet print cartridge 108 could have only one nozzle row, therefore only oneprimary ink supply 212 as the symmetry of the color of inks would be maintained. This results in an ink color ordering of BBCMYMC. Another order is contemplated where Black is the center color resulting in an ordering of CMYBBYMC. This would require four dual colorinkjet print cartridges 108 and eliminate the need for the single colorinkjet print cartridge 106. Any of the aforementioned orderings would produce the symmetrical ink dispensing desired in the present invention. Additionally, the symmetrical ordering of inks can be extended for any number of inks, for example ABCD...|...DCBA. - FIG. 7A is a section of the single color
inkjet print cartridges 106 and the three dual colorinkjet print cartridges 108 of FIG. 6 depicting the arrangement and colors ofink droplets 401 emerging from the rows of nozzles of each flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202. FIG. 7A is illustrative of a four-high section ofink expulsion nozzles 210 from the flexibleinkjet printhead circuit 202 with the colors ordered in the nozzles rows from left to right as BBCMYYMC. Each color has two rows ofink expulsion nozzles 210 and these two rows ofink expulsion nozzles 210 are symmetrical about an axis of symmetry 720. The axis of symmetry 720 is perpendicular to the printing width 120 of inkjet printer 100 (FIG. 1). Each dualcolor print cartridge 108 has its rows ofink expulsion nozzles 210 divided by flexible circuit centerline 204 (FIG.2). - The reason for the symmetrical ordering of the colors of inks is to minimize the color hue shift associated with the inability of an asymmetrical ordering to dispense ink in a like order when operating in a single-pass, bi-directional print mode as previously shown and discussed in FIG. 4, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.
- FIG. 7B depicts a left to
right pass 730 and a right to leftpass 740 of overlaid ink droplets created with the nozzle row and ink distribution configuration of FIG. 7A using allink expulsion nozzles 210 to print in the single-pass, bi-directional mode of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. These matrices of ink droplets are an example of alternating the ordering of the layering of the colors to get visibly one single color. In the left toright pass 730, first combinedink droplet 541 is created from an ink droplet fromnozzle row 703 and an inkjet droplet fromnozzle row 701 ornozzle row 702. The second combinedink droplet 531 is created from anink droplet 401 fromnozzle row 701 ornozzle 702 and an ink droplet fromnozzle row 704. These two combined droplets, 541 and 531, represent the same color. However, as discussed previously and shown in FIG. 5B, with an area of first combinedink droplets 541 and an adjacent area of second combined ink droplets 531 a color hue shift is apparent between the two areas as demonstrated by left toright pass 530 and right to leftpass 540. With the alternating ink droplet pattern of the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 7B, the left toright pass 730 and the right to leftpass 740 will appear to be the same color or hue. There will be a minimal color hue shift detectable between adjacent rows. - With all
ink expulsion nozzles 210 being utilized in the alternating pattern shown in FIG. 7B, there will be no compromise in print speed to achieve this desirable high print quality. - In a fourth alternate embodiment, to achieve an even higher print quality, a
first nozzle row 206 of each dualcolor inkjet printhead 108 is used for left to right printing only, while thesecond nozzle row 208 of each dualcolor inkjet printhead 108 is used for right to left printing only. This allows every combined droplet to be disposed in the same order, thereby creating an even more contiguous area of color in a single-pass, bi-directional printing mode. Although this compromises the printing speed, as only half of the nozzles are available for dispensing in each direction, the user can decide to forego speed for the higher print quality, for example for photos or precision illustrations. - A fifth alternate implementation is shown in FIG. 8A. Each color primary grouping contains enough
ink expulsion nozzles 210 to represent half of the vertical resolution of the pen. Dimensional reference number 810 depicts the standard vertical spacing in an inkjet print cartridge wheredimensional reference number 820 depicts twice the standard vertical spacing. Everyother ink droplet 401 row is dispensed in an opposite order offset by onedroplet 401 row. - In FIG. 8B, first combined
ink droplet 541 is created by layering secondcolor ink droplet 801 then firstcolor ink droplet 802, while in the adjacent row of ink droplets, second combinedink droplet 531 is created by firstcolor ink droplet 803 then secondcolor ink droplet 804. The color hue shift, for this alternate example, will still occur, but on an ink droplet row basis rather than on a print swath basis as shown and described in FIG. 5B. However, at ink droplet row resolution, the color hue shift becomes much more difficult for the human eye to detect so the overall result is a reduction in observable color hue shift. - The aforementioned discussion and illustration of the present invention disclose the ability to achieve the highest quality color inkjet printing by implementing minimal, low cost solutions to the current inkjet technology in order to minimize the color hue shifts experienced in the previous inkjet printing systems while avoiding printing speed or printing cost compromises.
Claims (12)
- A printer (100) having a printing width (120), comprising:a plurality of printheads (108) having an axis of symmetry (720), having a first row (206) of ink expulsion nozzles (210) and a second row (208) of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said first row (206) of ink expulsion nozzles (210) and said second row (208) of ink expulsion nozzles (210) disposed essentially parallel to each other, expulsing ink droplets (401) of a first ink, and symmetrically disposed about said axis of symmetry (720), and having a third row of ink expulsion nozzles (210) and a fourth row of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said third row of ink expulsion nozzles (210) and said fourth row of ink expulsion nozzles (210) disposed essentially parallel to each other, expulsing ink droplets (401) of a second ink, and symmetrically disposed about said axis of symmetry (720); and,a printhead carriage (102) holding said plurality of printheads (108) and arranged to traverse in a first direction parallel to the printing width (120) and to position said plurality of printheads (108) to expulse ink droplets (401) of said first ink and said second ink onto a media in a particular sequence, and arranged to traverse in a second direction, opposite said first direction, and to position said plurality of printheads (108) to expulse ink droplets (401) of said first ink and said second ink onto said media in said particular sequence.
- The printer (100) of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of printheads (108) having said first nozzle row (206) for dispensing said first ink color, further comprising a second nozzle row (208), apart from said first nozzle row (206), for dispensing said second ink color.
- The printer (100) of claim 2, having three said printheads (108), a first three rows of said plurality of nozzle rows (206) print when printing in said first direction and a second three of said plurality of nozzle rows (206) print when printing in said second direction.
- An inkjet printhead (108), comprising:a first and a second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a first ink, said first plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced apart from said second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said first and said second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) disposed on the inkjet printhead (108) and arranged symmetrically about an axis of symmetry (720); anda third and a fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a second ink, said third plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced apart from said fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said third and said fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) disposed on the inkjet printhead (108) and arranged symmetrically about said axis of symmetry (720).
- The inkjet printhead (108) of claim 4, wherein said first plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said third plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), and said fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) are each arranged into a row of nozzles that is parallel with said axis of symmetry (720).
- The inkjet printhead (108) of claim 4, further comprising, a fifth and a sixth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a third ink color, said fifth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced from said sixth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), and disposed on the inkjet printhead (108) and symmetrically about said axis of symmetry (720).
- An inkjet printer (100) having a printing width (120), comprising:an inkjet printhead (108), comprising:a first and a second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a first ink color, said first plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced apart from said second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), disposed on the inkjet printhead (108), and arranged symmetrically about an axis of symmetry (720), anda third and a fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a second ink color, said third plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced apart from said fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), disposed on the inkjet printhead (108), and arranged symmetrically about said axis of symmetry (720); anda printhead carriage (102) for holding said inkjet printhead (108), said printhead carriage (102) traversing in a first direction parallel to said printing width (120) of said inkjet printer (100) and perpendicular to said axis of symmetry (720) while expulsing a plurality of ink droplets (401) from said first, said second, said third, and said fourth ink expulsion nozzles (210) onto a print media, then said printhead carriage (102) traversing in a second direction opposite said first direction while expulsing said plurality of ink droplets (401) onto said print media.
- The inkjet printhead (108) of claim 7, wherein said first plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said second plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), said third plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), and said fourth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) are each arranged into a row of nozzles that is parallel with said axis of symmetry (720).
- The inkjet printhead (108) of claim 8, further comprising, a fifth and a sixth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) associated with a third ink color, said fifth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210) spaced apart from said sixth plurality of ink expulsion nozzles (210), and disposed on the inkjet printhead (108) and arranged symmetrically about said axis of symmetry (720).
- A method of minimizing color hue shifts in an inkjet printer (100), said inkjet printer (100) having a plurality of printheads (108) and a printhead carriage (102) for holding the printheads (108), the method comprising the steps of:receiving a print command from a controller to print a plurality of composite ink dots (531) onto a print media, each of said plurality of composite ink dots (531) comprising a plurality of ink droplets (401);expulsing said plurality of ink droplets (401) from the printheads (108) according to said print command, while the printhead carriage (102) traverses in a first direction, wherein each of said plurality of composite color dot (531) is constructed in a prescribed order of said plurality of ink droplets (401); andexpulsing said plurality of ink droplets (401) from the printheads (108) according to said print command, while the printhead carriage (102) traverses in a second direction, said second direction opposite said first direction, wherein each of said plurality of composite color dots (531) is constructed in said prescribed order of said plurality of ink droplets (401).
- A method of depositing composite dots (531) onto a media with a printer (100) having a plurality of printheads (108) and a printing width (120), the method comprising the steps of:expulsing a first matrix of a first color ink droplet (401) from a first printhead (108) of the plurality of printheads (108) onto the media, and expulsing a second matrix of a second color ink droplet (401) from a second printhead (108) of the plurality of printheads (108) onto at least part of said first color ink droplets (401) on the media, thereby creating a composite matrix (530) of the composite dots of a perceptible third color while said printheads (108) traverse in a first direction parallel to said printing width (120) of said printer (100); andexpulsing a third matrix of said second color ink droplets (401) from said second printhead (108) onto the media, and expulsing a fourth matrix of said first color ink droplets (401) from said first printhead (108) onto at least a portion of said second color ink droplets (401) on the media, thereby creating the composite matrix (540) of the composite dots (541) of the perceptible third color while said printheads (108) traverse in a second direction.
- A method of depositing composite dots (531) onto a media with a printer (100) having at least one printhead (108) and a printing width (120), the method comprising the steps of:expulsing a first droplet (401) of a first ink onto the media, and expulsing a second droplet (401) of a second ink onto at least part of said first droplet (401), thereby creating a first hue composite dot (531) of a perceptible third color; andexpulsing a third droplet (401) of said second ink on the media, and expulsing a fourth droplet (401) of said first ink onto at least part of said first droplet (401), thereby creating a second hue composite dot (541) of said perceptible third color,
wherein a composite matrix (730) of said composite dots of said perceptible third color is created by alternating said first hue composite dots (531) of said perceptible third color and said second hue composite dots (541) of said perceptible third color.
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US30286099A | 1999-04-30 | 1999-04-30 | |
US302860 | 1999-04-30 |
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EP1048471A2 true EP1048471A2 (en) | 2000-11-02 |
EP1048471A3 EP1048471A3 (en) | 2001-04-04 |
EP1048471B1 EP1048471B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 |
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EP20000303081 Expired - Lifetime EP1048471B1 (en) | 1999-04-30 | 2000-04-12 | Method and apparatus for minimizing color hue shifts in bi-directional inkjet printing |
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EP (1) | EP1048471B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2000318189A (en) |
DE (1) | DE60041100D1 (en) |
Cited By (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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EP1088669A2 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2001-04-04 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Printing apparatus and printing method |
EP1088670A2 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2001-04-04 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Two-way print apparatus and print method |
EP1479523A2 (en) * | 2001-08-23 | 2004-11-24 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Inkjet printing device |
EP1671800A3 (en) * | 2004-12-15 | 2008-09-24 | Jetrion, L.L.C | Print head system minimizing stitch error |
CN1993227B (en) * | 2005-05-17 | 2010-12-15 | 株式会社理光 | Imaging apparatus |
US8136919B2 (en) | 2008-06-24 | 2012-03-20 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording head |
CN109203696A (en) * | 2018-08-16 | 2019-01-15 | 北京美科艺数码科技发展有限公司 | A kind of inkjet-printing device and Method of printing |
Families Citing this family (2)
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JP4383778B2 (en) | 2003-06-13 | 2009-12-16 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording apparatus and recording head |
JP4208652B2 (en) | 2003-06-13 | 2009-01-14 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method |
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US4917286A (en) | 1987-05-20 | 1990-04-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Bonding method for bumpless beam lead tape |
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US4528576A (en) * | 1982-04-15 | 1985-07-09 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording apparatus |
US4593295A (en) * | 1982-06-08 | 1986-06-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet image recording device with pitch-shifted recording elements |
JPH0345351A (en) * | 1989-07-13 | 1991-02-26 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Color printer |
JP3248704B2 (en) * | 1993-12-29 | 2002-01-21 | 桂川電機株式会社 | Color inkjet printer |
JPH08295034A (en) * | 1995-04-27 | 1996-11-12 | Canon Inc | Color recording apparatus |
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2000
- 2000-04-12 DE DE60041100T patent/DE60041100D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-04-12 EP EP20000303081 patent/EP1048471B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-04-21 JP JP2000120650A patent/JP2000318189A/en active Pending
Patent Citations (1)
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US4917286A (en) | 1987-05-20 | 1990-04-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Bonding method for bumpless beam lead tape |
Cited By (12)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1088669A2 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2001-04-04 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Printing apparatus and printing method |
EP1088670A2 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2001-04-04 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Two-way print apparatus and print method |
EP1088670B1 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2009-10-14 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Two-way print apparatus and print method |
EP1088669B1 (en) * | 1999-09-30 | 2009-11-11 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Printing apparatus and printing method |
EP1479523A2 (en) * | 2001-08-23 | 2004-11-24 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Inkjet printing device |
EP1479523A3 (en) * | 2001-08-23 | 2004-12-01 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Inkjet printing device |
US6902251B2 (en) | 2001-08-23 | 2005-06-07 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Inkjet printing device |
US7083259B2 (en) | 2001-08-23 | 2006-08-01 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Inkjet printing device |
EP1671800A3 (en) * | 2004-12-15 | 2008-09-24 | Jetrion, L.L.C | Print head system minimizing stitch error |
CN1993227B (en) * | 2005-05-17 | 2010-12-15 | 株式会社理光 | Imaging apparatus |
US8136919B2 (en) | 2008-06-24 | 2012-03-20 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording head |
CN109203696A (en) * | 2018-08-16 | 2019-01-15 | 北京美科艺数码科技发展有限公司 | A kind of inkjet-printing device and Method of printing |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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EP1048471B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 |
JP2000318189A (en) | 2000-11-21 |
DE60041100D1 (en) | 2009-01-29 |
EP1048471A3 (en) | 2001-04-04 |
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