JP2000158682A - Color ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a correct color image constantly even when the order of loading ink tanks to a plurality of loading positions is changed. SOLUTION: When the work for replacing or loading an ink tank is performed, a CPU recognizes the hue of ink contained in each ink tank (s2) and makes a decision whether the ink tanks 2 are loaded correctly to firth through sixth loading positions (s3). When execution of print processing is designated (s4), ink is ejected in the order of hue or the loading position from six ink tanks 2 (s5-s7). When ink ejection is controlled in the order of hue, the ink head is driven according to a preset order of hue. When ink ejection is controlled in the order of the loading position, the ink head is driven according to the order of loading position formed in the carriage. According to the arrangement, a correct color image can be formed even when the order for loading ink tanks is changed in the carriage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of mounting ink tanks containing inks of different hues at a plurality of mounting positions and selectively discharging the ink stored in each ink tank based on image data. And a color ink jet printer for forming a color image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a color ink jet printer which forms a color image by selectively discharging inks of different hues on the surface of a recording paper, a plurality of ink tanks containing inks of a single hue different from each other are generally used. It is detachable at each mounting position in the carriage. For example, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), light magenta (LM), and light cyan (L
In an ink jet printer that selectively ejects a total of six colors of ink (C) to form a color image, as shown in FIG. 12, a carriage 91 that moves in a sub-scanning direction that is a direction orthogonal to the recording paper conveyance direction. 6 mounting positions 9 in
1a to 91f are formed, and these mounting positions 91
The six ink tanks 92a to 92f containing the six color inks are removably mounted on each of a to 91f.

In this case, six ink tanks 92a-92
The mounting positions 91a to 91f in the carriage 91 to which each of the ink tanks 92f is to be mounted are determined by the respective ink tanks 92a to 92f.
92f is uniquely determined in advance in accordance with the hue of the ink stored therein, and for each of the six print heads facing each of the ink tanks 92a to 92f,
Density data of a predetermined hue is supplied.

Therefore, when the ink tank is mounted at a position different from the predetermined mounting position, ink of a hue not corresponding to the density data supplied to the print head is printed on the recording paper via the print head. Discharged on the surface,
A color image having an inappropriate color tone is formed. Also,
In the print head, ink of an appropriate hue and ink of an improper hue are mixed, and the print head cannot be used.

Therefore, as a conventional color ink jet printer, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-90788 discloses a color display label provided with holes at different positions for each hue to an ink tank and a color display label mounted at each mounting position of a carriage. A configuration is disclosed in which a projection is formed at a position facing a hole of a label attached to an ink tank to be formed. According to this configuration, erroneous attachment of the ink tank to the carriage can be reliably prevented by using one type of ink tank without changing the shape of the ink tank itself according to the hue of the ink to be stored.

[0006]

However, in the conventional ink jet printer including the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-90788, each of a plurality of ink tanks is accurately mounted at a plurality of corresponding mounting positions of a carriage. To do this, it is necessary for the worker involved in the installation work of the ink tanks to check the proper installation position according to the hue of the ink stored in each ink tank, and the installation work of the ink tank becomes complicated. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to determine a hue of ink stored in an ink tank mounted at each mounting position,
By discharging ink from each ink tank in a state corresponding to the hue of the ink stored in each ink tank, even if the mounting order at a plurality of mounting positions of the ink tanks storing inks of different hues changes, An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer that can always form an appropriate color image.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the hue of the ink stored in each of the ink tanks mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions is determined, and the hue of the ink stored in each of the ink tanks is determined. , A control unit for controlling the ejection timing of the ink of each hue is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, ink is discharged from each ink tank at a discharge timing determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position. Therefore, even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, the ink of each hue is discharged at an appropriate discharge timing, and the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions is determined in advance. An appropriate color image is always formed without setting it uniquely.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the control unit changes the ejection amount of the ink of each hue based on the hue of the ink stored in each ink tank.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, ink is ejected from each ink tank at an ejection timing and an ejection amount determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position. Therefore, even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, the ink of each hue is discharged at an appropriate discharge timing and discharge amount, and the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions. An appropriate color image is always formed without setting the hue uniquely in advance.

[0012] The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the control section determines the ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink of each hue according to a preset mounting position order.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, each ink tank is ejected in a predetermined mounting position order. The ejection timing or ejection timing and ejection amount of the ink are determined, and the ink is ejected according to the decided ejection timing or ejection timing and ejection amount. Therefore, even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, the discharge timing or the discharge timing and the discharge amount for discharging the ink from each ink tank are determined in the predetermined mounting position, and the plurality of mounting positions are determined. Therefore, an appropriate color image is always formed without uniquely setting the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted in each of them.

The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that the control unit determines the ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink of each hue according to a preset hue order.

In the invention described in claim 4, the ink is discharged from each ink tank in a predetermined hue order based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position. The ink ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount are determined, and the ink is ejected based on the determined ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount. Therefore, even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, a discharge timing or a discharge timing and a discharge amount for discharging ink from each ink tank are determined in a predetermined hue order, and a plurality of mounting positions are determined. An appropriate color image is always formed without setting the hue of the ink stored in each of the ink tanks to be uniquely mounted in advance.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the control unit changes the ejection amount of the ink of each hue based on the ejection timing of the ink of the hue.

In the invention described in claim 5, the ink ejection timing from each ink tank is determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, and then the determined ink is determined. The ejection amount of the ink is further determined based on the ejection timing. Therefore, even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, an appropriate discharge amount of each ink that changes according to the discharge timing is determined based on the discharge timing according to the mounting position of each ink tank, An appropriate color image is always formed without previously setting the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions uniquely.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the control unit changes the ejection amount of ink of each hue for two types of shades of hue.

According to the invention described in claim 6, after the ejection timing of the ink from each ink tank is determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted in each mounting position, the determined ink , The ink ejection amount is further determined to be one of the ejection amounts set for the two types of shades of hue. Therefore, the appropriate ejection amount of each ink that changes according to the ejection timing can be determined very easily.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the control unit executes a process for preventing color mixture due to a change in the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank mounted in each mounting position. .

In the invention described in claim 7, color mixing of inks having different hues is prevented at each mounting position. Therefore, before and after the replacement of the ink tank, even when the hue of the ink ejected from any of the mounting positions changes, the ink cannot be ejected due to the mixture of the inks having different hues.

[0022]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of a color ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 40 of the color inkjet printer 1 includes a CPU 25 having a ROM 28 and a RAM 26.
And an input / output device such as an information detection unit 21, an image memory 22, an image data input unit 23, an operation unit 24, a motor control unit 29, and a head control unit 30. RO
M28 stores a program that defines the operation of the CPU 25 together with the timing change data used in the ejection timing determination process and the filter table data used in the ejection amount determination process. The processing for determining the ejection timing and the ejection amount will be described later. CP
The U 25 controls and controls each input / output device based on a program stored in the ROM 28, and temporarily stores data input / output during this time in the RAM 26.

The information detecting section 21 detects the mounting state of the ink tank based on an output signal of an ink tank sensor 20 disposed at a mounting position of the ink tank described later. The image memory 22 stores image data input from an external personal computer or scanner via the image data input unit 23. The image processing unit 27 performs predetermined image processing on the image data stored in the image memory 22 and outputs the image data to the head control unit 30. The motor control unit 29 drives the paper feed motor 31 and the carriage motor 32 based on the drive data output from the CPU 25. The head control unit 30 drives the print head 33 based on control data output from the CPU 25 and image data output from the image processing unit 27.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where the ink tank is mounted on the carriage of the color ink jet printer. The carriage 1 reciprocates in the directions of arrows X and X ', which are the main scanning directions. This carriage 1 has 6
The mounting positions 1a to 1f are formed in one line in the main scanning direction, and six ink tanks 2a to 2f storing inks of different hues in the mounting positions 1a to 1f, respectively.
Is attached. In this example, each of the ink tanks 2a to 2f stores ink of each hue of cyan (C), black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), light cyan (LC), and light magenta (LM). I do. At each of the six mounting positions 1a to 1f of the carriage 1, six ink tanks 2a to 2f storing the above-mentioned six different colors of ink are mounted at arbitrary positions.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of an ink tank sensor provided in the color ink jet printer. As described above, the carriage that moves in the main scanning direction with respect to the recording paper has a plurality of mounting positions 1a to 1f where the plurality of ink tanks 2a to 2f storing the plurality of hue inks are mounted. Is formed.
An ink tank sensor 20 is arranged at each of the mounting positions 1a to 1f. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the ink tank sensor 20 faces the color index 3 attached to the side surface of the ink tank 2 at each mounting position. The hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 is given to the surface of the color index 3. Ink tank sensor 2
0 receives the reflected light of the light irradiated on the surface of the color index 3 and outputs a signal corresponding to the hue given to the surface of the color index 3.

In the example shown in FIG. 3B, the ink tank sensor 20 at each mounting position
And receives light emitted from a light source 4 facing the other side of the ink tank 2 and transmitted through the ink stored in the ink tank 2.
And outputs a signal corresponding to the hue of the ink stored in the printer. However, in this example, at least two sides of the ink tank 2 where the ink tank sensor 20 and the light source 4 face each other,
It must be made of a transparent or translucent material.

FIGS. 4 to 7 are flowcharts showing an example of the processing procedure of the CPU of the color ink jet printer. After the power is turned on, the CPU 25 detects that the ink tank has been replaced or mounted at the n-th mounting position of the carriage 1 based on the signal from the ink tank sensor 20 after the power is turned on ( s1) A hue recognition process for recognizing the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 newly mounted on the carriage 1 is performed (s2).

In this hue recognition processing, the CPU 25
First, when the hue of the ink detected by the information detecting unit 21 based on the signal of the ink tank sensor 20 installed at the n-th mounting position of the carriage 1 is yellow, magenta, cyan, black, light magenta or It is determined which of light cyan is used (s21 to s26). The hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 mounted at the n-th mounting position detected by the information detecting unit 21 is
If none of the hues is the same, the CPU 25 determines that the ink stored in the newly installed ink tank 2 is an unusable hue ink, and initially sets the hue-related data for the n-th mounting position as the hue-related data. A value is set (s27), and a message prompting replacement of the ink tank 2 mounted at the n-th mounting position is displayed on the display (s28).

When the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 arrived at the n-th mounting position detected by the information detecting unit 21 is any one of yellow, magenta, cyan, black, light magenta and light cyan. In step (s29), it is determined whether the hue is the same as the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 mounted at the n-th mounting position before the ink tank is replaced (s29). If the hue of the ink stored in the newly installed ink tank 2 is not the same as the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 installed before the replacement, the hue is moved to the n-th installation position. After cleaning the corresponding ink head (s30), the hue-related data for the n-th mounting position is changed (s31).

The cleaning of the ink head in s30 is performed by causing the ink head 9 to face the cleaning member 10 and sucking the ink remaining in the ink head 9 by the suction device 11, as shown in FIG. . When the ink tank 2 and the ink head 9 are integrated, and the ink head 9 is also replaced at the same time when the ink tank 2 is replaced, there is no need to execute the ink head cleaning process in s30.

The change processing of the hue related data in s31 is performed in the RAM 26 storing the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 mounted at each of the first to sixth mounting positions. This is done by rewriting the contents of the storage area for the mounting position of.

After the hue recognition process of s2, when the replacement or mounting work of the ink tank 2 is performed, the CPU 25 directly performs the operation when the replacement work or mounting work of the ink tank 2 is not performed. It is determined whether or not the ink tanks 2 are properly mounted in all of the first to sixth mounting positions (s3), and a print processing execution instruction is awaited (s4). When the execution of the printing process is instructed, the CPU 25 determines whether the order of hue or the mounting position is set as the order of ejecting ink from the six ink tanks 2 (s5). In this case, either the ink discharge control in the hue order or the ink discharge control in the mounting position order is selectively executed (s6, s7).

The setting of the ink ejection order in the hue order or the mounting position order can be performed, for example, by operating a dip switch or the like, or by using system data stored in the ROM 28.

In the ink discharge control in hue order in s6, the ink heads are driven in a preset hue order to discharge ink regardless of the mounting order of the ink tanks 2 in the mounting positions 1a to 1f. That is, the CPU 25 drives the ink head 9 of the corresponding hue based on the image data for each hue read out from the image memory 22 in a certain order. For this reason, when the mounting position of the ink tank 2 on the carriage 1 is changed, the CPU 25 does not need to determine again the reading order of the image data for each hue stored in the image memory 22. It is necessary to determine the driving order of the six ink heads 9.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 25 sets the count value of the counter for specifying the mounting position to "1" (s41), and sets the ink mounted on the mounting position specified by the count value of the counter C. After determining the drive timing and the ejection amount of the ink head 9 for each hue of the ink stored in the tank 2 (S42, s43), the count value of the counter C is incremented (s44), and the count value of the counter C becomes "7". The processing of s42 to s44 is repeated until (s45). Thus, the drive timing and the ejection amount of each ink head 9 are sequentially determined for each of the first to sixth mounting positions.

The determination of the drive timing of each ink head 9 in s42 is based on the determination that the ink containing six color hues is stored in each of the mounting positions 1a to 1f formed in a line in the moving direction of the carriage 1 in the carriage 1. This is necessary because the tank 2 is arbitrarily mounted, and the time required for the ink head to reach the print area after the carriage 1 starts moving from the initial position is different at each of the mounting positions 1a to 1f.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when the ink tanks 2 are mounted in the order of C, K, Y, M, LC, and LM at the mounting positions 1a to 1f of the carriage 1, the carriage 1 moves. The time from the start to the drive start of the ink head based on the image data for each hue needs to be sequentially delayed for each of K, Y, M, LC, and LM with respect to the C ink. If the order of K, M, LM, C, LC, and Y is set as the ink ejection order, the ink head 9b, the ink head 9d, the ink head 9f, the ink head 9a, the ink head 9
e, the ink head 9c must be driven in that order, and the carriage 1 needs to be moved six times in the main scanning direction over the same range in the sub-scanning direction.

From these facts, in the processing of s42, the order of ejection for each hue set in advance and the mounting state of the ink tank storing the inks of each hue at the mounting positions 1a to 1f are determined. The drive start timing of each of the ink heads 9 is determined.

The determination of the ink ejection amount of each ink head 9 in s43 is because ink of each color is sequentially ejected in the same range in the sub-scanning direction. If the amount of ink ejected per dot is constant, the dot area becomes larger as the ink is ejected earlier, and it becomes necessary to reproduce a desired hue.

That is, when ink is ejected in the order of M, C, and Y, as shown in FIG. 10A, if the ejection amount of each ink is constant, the ink ejected earlier after drying is dried. The dot area of the ink becomes larger than the dot area of the C ink ejected last. Then, FIG.
As shown in (1), by giving a difference to the ejection amount of the ink of each hue according to the correction value according to the order of ink ejection, the dot area of the ink of each hue after drying is made substantially equal.

However, in this example, since the ejection order of the ink of each hue is fixed to a preset order, the correction value for the ink of each hue is also constant. This correction of the ejection amount is adjusted by the driving time of the ink head 9, and when increasing the ejection amount of the ink, the ink head 9 is used.
When the drive time of the ink head 9 is increased and the amount of ink discharged is reduced, the drive time of the ink head 9 is reduced.

In the ink discharge control in hue order, each of the six ink heads 9 is driven by the image data for each hue read from the image memory 22 based on the drive timing of the ink head 9 determined by the above processing. Then, the carriage 1 is moved up to six times in the same range in the sub-scanning direction to form an image.

In the ink discharge control in the order of the mounting positions in s7, of the six ink tanks 2 mounted in the mounting positions 1a to 1f formed on the carriage 1, the ink tank 2 mounted in the mounting position 1a is selected. From the mounting position 1f
The ink is ejected in the order up to the ink tank 2 installed in the printer. Therefore, when the mounting order of the ink tanks 2 at the mounting positions 1a to 1f of the carriage 1 is changed, the CPU 25 does not need to determine the driving order of the six ink heads 9 again. It is necessary to determine the reading order of the image data for each hue from.

Therefore, the CPU 25, as shown in FIG.
First, the count value of the counter C for specifying the mounting position is set to “1”.
(S51), the read timing of the image data from the image memory 22 is determined for each hue of the ink stored in the ink tank 2 at the mounting position specified by the count value of the counter C, and the ejection amount correction table The ejection amount is determined based on the selection and the selected correction table (s52).
To s54), the count value of the counter C is incremented (s55), and s until the count value of the counter C becomes "7".
The processing of 52 to s55 is repeated (s56). Thus, the reading order of the image data for each hue and the ejection amount are sequentially determined for each of the first to sixth mounting positions.

The selection of the correction table in s53 and the determination of the ejection amount for each hue in s54 are performed for each of the mounting positions 1a to 1f formed in a row in the carriage 1 in the moving direction of the carriage 1. The ink tanks 2 containing the hue inks are mounted in an arbitrary arrangement order, and the ink tank 2 mounted in the mounting position 1a while the carriage 1 moves once in a predetermined range in the sub-scanning direction. This is necessary because ink is sequentially discharged to the ink tank 2 mounted at the mounting position 1f.

That is, in the control of always ejecting ink in the order of the fixed mounting position regardless of the mounting order of the six ink tanks 2 on the carriage 1, each pixel of the recording paper is set according to the mounting order of the ink tank 2 on the carriage 1. The ejection order of the ink for each hue with respect to the position changes, and the density changes even if the combination of the hues of the ejected ink is the same. For example, considering a case in which light Y ink and dark M ink are ejected to one pixel, a case in which M ink is ejected earlier than ejection of Y ink first is considered. The pixel has a higher density.

Therefore, the ejection amount for each hue is corrected using a filter table stored in the ROM 28 in advance, so that the density of each pixel is kept constant even when the ejection order of the ink for each hue changes. I have. The change in pixel density due to the change in the ink ejection order for each hue is represented by Y, L
There is no problem with the light inks of M and LC and the dark inks of C, M and K, and it is particularly noticeable between the light ink and the dark ink.

For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the filter table 51 corresponding to each of the first to sixth ejection orders for the light-colored ink is used.
To 56 and the filter tables 61 corresponding to the first to sixth ejection orders for dark ink, respectively.
To 66 are stored in the ROM 28 in advance, and the ink tanks 2 mounted in the mounting positions 1a to 1f are respectively stored.
Selects the filter table corresponding to each hue of the ink stored therein, and determines the ink ejection amount. FIG.
In each of the filter tables 51 to 56 and 61 to 66 shown in FIG. 1, “1” or “1” indicates whether or not to eject ink for the nozzles of the 3 × 3 ink heads 9 facing the image area having a predetermined area. This is represented by “0”.

In the ink ejection control in hue order, six inks are read out from the image memory 22 for each hue with the ejection amount determined by the above-described processing based on the drive timing of the ink head 9 in the mounting position order. Head 9
Are driven, and the carriage 1 is moved once in the same range in the sub-scanning direction to form an image. Therefore, the image forming time can be reduced as compared with the ink discharge control in the hue order of the ink.

In the ink ejection control in the order of the mounting positions,
The driving start timing of each ink head 9 is determined based on the distance from each mounting position of the carriage 1 located at the initial position to the image area, based on the driving start timing of the ink head 9 corresponding to the mounting position 1a.
By uniquely delaying the drive start timing of the ink head 9 corresponding to each of b to 1f, it is uniquely determined.

[0051]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by discharging ink from each ink tank at a discharge timing determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, Even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, ink of each hue can be discharged at an appropriate discharge timing, and the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions can be determined. An appropriate color image can always be formed without being unambiguously set in advance, and mounting and replacement of the ink tank can be easily performed. Also,
It is not necessary to change the shape of the ink tank for each hue to be stored, and the cost of the ink tank can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, ink is ejected from each ink tank at an ejection timing and an ejection amount determined based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position. Even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, the ink of each hue can be discharged at an appropriate discharge timing and discharge amount, and the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions is stored. An appropriate color image can always be formed without previously setting the hue of the ink uniquely, and the work of mounting and replacing the ink tank can be easily performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, each of the ink tanks discharges ink in a predetermined mounting position order based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position. The ink ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink are determined, and the ink is ejected according to the determined ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount. The discharge timing or the discharge timing and the discharge amount for discharging the ink from each ink tank in the set mounting position can be determined, and the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted in each of the plurality of mounting positions can be determined. It is possible to always form an appropriate color image without having to set it uniquely in advance,
The installation and replacement work of the ink tank can be easily performed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, each ink tank is ejected in a predetermined hue order. The ink ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink are determined, and the ink is ejected according to the decided ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount. The ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount for ejecting ink from each ink tank in the order of the set hue can be determined, and the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be attached to each of the plurality of attachment positions is unified in advance. It is possible to always form an appropriate color image without having to set the It is possible to easily perform the work.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, after determining the ejection timing of the ink from each ink tank based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, By further determining the ink ejection amount based on the ejection timing,
Even when each ink tank is mounted at an arbitrary mounting position, an appropriate discharge amount of each ink that changes according to the discharge timing can be determined based on the discharge timing according to the mounting position of each ink tank. It is possible to always form a proper color image without uniquely setting the hue of the ink stored in the ink tank to be mounted at each of the plurality of mounting positions, and to perform the mounting and replacement work of the ink tank. It can be done easily.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, after determining the ejection timing of the ink from each ink tank based on the hue of the ink determined from the ink tank mounted at each mounting position, By further determining the ejection amount of the ink based on the ejection timing to one of the ejection amounts set for the two types of shades of hue, the appropriate ejection amount of each ink that changes according to the ejection timing can be extremely easily determined. The determination can be made, and the work of mounting and replacing the ink tank can be performed more easily.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, by preventing color mixture of inks having different hues at each mounting position, the ink ejected from any one of the mounting positions before and after the ink tank replacement operation is performed. Even when the hue changes, it is possible to reliably prevent the ink from being unable to be ejected due to the mixture of inks having different hues.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a color inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a mounting state of an ink tank in a carriage of the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of an ink tank sensor provided in the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a CPU of the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the CPU recognizes the hue of ink stored in each ink tank.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of controlling ink ejection in hue order in the CPU.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of ink ejection control in the order of mounting position in the CPU.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state of a cleaning process of an ink head in the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between each mounting position of a carriage and a distance from an initial position of the carriage to a printing area in the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the ejection order of each color ink and the dot area of each color ink after drying in the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a filter table used for correcting the ejection amount when controlling the ejection of ink in the order of mounting positions in the control unit of the color inkjet printer.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an ink tank is mounted on a carriage in a conventional color inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Carriage 1a-1f-Mounting position 2-Ink tank 9-Ink head 20-Sensor 21-Information detector 22-Image memory 25-CPU 40-Controller

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Yoshioka 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Inoue 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside (72) Inventor Naohiro Ando 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Inside (72) Inventor Hiroo Matsumoto Inside 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F term (reference) 2C056 EA11 EA12 EA20 EB20 EB47 EC08 EC37 EC72 ED07 EE10

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method for determining the hue of ink stored in each ink tank mounted at each of a plurality of mounting positions, and controlling the ejection timing of ink of each hue based on the hue of ink stored in each ink tank. A color ink jet printer characterized by comprising a control unit for performing the operation. 2. The color ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the ejection amount of the ink of each hue based on the hue of the ink stored in each ink tank. 3. The color inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink of each hue according to a preset mounting position order. 4. The color ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the ejection timing or the ejection timing and the ejection amount of the ink of each hue according to a preset hue order. 5. The color ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the control unit changes the ejection amount of each hue ink based on the ejection timing of the hue ink. 6. The controller according to claim 2, wherein the controller changes the ejection amount of the ink of each hue for two types of shading of the hue.
The color inkjet printer according to any one of the above. 7. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes a process for preventing color mixing due to a change in hue of ink stored in the ink tank mounted in each mounting position.
The color inkjet printer according to any one of the above.