JP2000318216A - Recording apparatus and printer driver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain the balance among the image quality, the printing speed, and the machine width by providing a plurality of different printing modes in the entrance length of a carriage. SOLUTION: A table 50 to be used for selection setting of the entrance length of a carriage is stored in a ROM 41. That is, information for selecting any of a plurality of preset printing modes with different entrance lengths according to the paper size, the kind of the paper, the kind of the image, the resolution, the speed priority/image quality priority, or the like, is provided as a table. In order to set the entrance length of the carriage according to the paper size, in the case of using a paper other than the maximum paper passage width, different entrance lengths of the carriage are provided according to the kind of the paper, or the like. In the case of using a paper of the maximum paper passage width, the entrance length of the carriage is constantly the shortest entrance length. Moreover, in consideration of the balance among the kind of the paper to be used, the image quality, and the printing speed, the carriage entrance length is set. In relation to the resolution, the entrance length is set to be shorter with a lower resolution, and longer with a higher resolution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printer driver for controlling printing by the printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as an ink jet recording apparatus used as an image recording apparatus (the same meaning as an image forming apparatus) such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, etc., a recording head including an ink jet head is mounted on a carriage, and the carriage is mainly used. A serial printer that scans in the scanning direction and discharges ink droplets from a recording head to record an image on a sheet while transporting a sheet (meaning that an image is recorded, not limited to paper) in the sub-scanning direction. Type recording devices are known.

In a serial type recording apparatus having a recording head mounted on a carriage as described above, the carriage speed is moved at a predetermined speed. In this case, the carriage starts moving from a stopped state to keep the carriage speed constant. A running distance (acceleration period) of the carriage for accelerating until reaching the speed (printing speed) is required.

Conventionally, as a serial type recording apparatus, as described in JP-A-6-191040, a recording material (paper) is recorded by a plurality of recording means (recording heads).
A reciprocating record is recorded by a different adjacent recording means group, using an image recording mode in which the reciprocating approach distance is the same, and a recording means having the same approach distance as the image recording mode. 2. Description of the Related Art A recording apparatus having a character recording mode for performing recording in a recording mode is known. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication
JP-A-16383, JP-A-7-214859, JP-A-8-258282 and the like also disclose an ink jet recording apparatus in which the running distance of the carriage is constant.

[0005]

However, in the recording apparatus in which the running distance of the carriage is constant as described above, in order to minimize the machine width (the width of the apparatus in the main scanning direction), the recording apparatus is required to have a small width. The approach distance becomes shorter, but when the approach distance becomes shorter, the acceleration of the carriage must be increased in order to accelerate the carriage to the printing speed in a shorter distance, and if the approach distance is the same as the printing speed increases, The acceleration also increases.

However, when the acceleration of the carriage is increased, printing is started without sufficiently attenuating the vibration of the carriage at the start of printing, and fluctuations in the speed of the carriage during printing cause disturbances in the image in the main scanning direction. Decrease.

[0007] A recording apparatus according to the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that balances quality required for image quality, printing speed (printing speed), and machine width. With the goal. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer driver suitable for obtaining a recording apparatus in which image quality required quality, printing speed, and machine width are balanced.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a recording apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of printing modes having different carriage running distances are provided. here,
The carriage approach distance is determined by the paper size, paper type,
Resolution, color image or black and white image (image type),
It is preferable that the setting can be made based on at least one of a mode in which printing speed is prioritized and a mode in which image quality is prioritized (speed priority / image quality priority). Further, the present invention is more effective when applied to an ink jet recording apparatus.

[0009] The printer driver according to the present invention includes:
This is for controlling a recording apparatus having a plurality of printing modes having different carriage running distances, based on at least one of paper size, paper type, resolution, image type, speed priority / image quality priority. The printing mode of the recording apparatus can be selectively set.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism section of an ink jet recording apparatus which is a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

The mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus is as follows.
The main support guide rod 3 and the sub support guide rod 4 are laid horizontally between the side plates 1 and 2 in a substantially horizontal positional relationship, and the carriage 5 is moved by the main support guide rod 3 and the sub support guide rod 4 in the main scanning direction. Slidably supported.

On the carriage 5, four piezo-type ink jet heads, electrostatic ink-jet heads or four piezo-type ink jet heads for respectively discharging yellow (Y) ink, magenta (M) ink, cyan (C) ink and black (Bk) ink are provided. A head 6y, 6m, 6c, 6k such as a bubble type ink jet head is ejected from its ejection surface (nozzle surface).
The carriage 6 is mounted downward, and the carriage 5 has four heads 6 above the heads 6 (the symbol “6” is one of “6y, 6m, 6c, 6k” or a generic name). 4 for each color ink supply for supplying ink
Ink cartridges 7 (reference numeral “7” indicates “7y, 7
m, 7c, 7k ”or generically).

The carriage 5 is connected to a timing belt 11 stretched between a driving pulley (drive timing pulley) 9 rotated by a main scanning motor 8 and a driven pulley (idler pulley) 10 so that the main scanning motor 8 to control the carriage 5, that is, the four heads 6
Are moved in the main scanning direction.

Further, sub-frames 13 and 14 are erected on a bottom plate 12 connecting the side plates 1 and 2 to each other.
A transport roller 15 for feeding a sheet 16 in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction is rotatably held between the rollers 3 and 14. The sub-scanning motor 17 is located on the side of the sub-frame 14.
And the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 17 is
5, a gear 18 fixed to the rotation shaft of the sub-scanning motor 17 and a gear 19 fixed to the shaft of the transport roller 15.
And

Further, a reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism (hereinafter, referred to as a “subsystem”) 21 for the head 6 is disposed between the side plate 1 and the subframe 12. The subsystem 21 holds four cap means 22 for capping the ejection surface of each head 6 with a holder 23.
3 is held by a link member 24 so as to be swingable, and the engaging portion 25 provided on the holder 23 by the movement of the carriage 5 in the main scanning direction.
When the carriage 5 abuts, the holder 23 is lifted up in accordance with the movement of the carriage 5 and the cap means 2 is lifted.
By capping the ejection surface 6a of the head 6 with 2, and moving the carriage 5 to the printing area side, the holder 23 is lifted down according to the movement of the carriage 5, and the cap means 22 is separated from the ejection surface 6a of the head 6. I have to.

The cap means 22 is connected to a suction pump 27 via a suction tube 26, forms an atmosphere opening port, and communicates with the atmosphere via an atmosphere opening tube and an atmosphere opening valve. The suction pump 27 discharges the sucked waste liquid (waste ink) to a waste liquid storage tank 29 via a drain tube 28 or the like.

Further, beside the holder 23, the head 6
A wiper blade 30, which is a wiping means made of a fibrous member, a foam member, or an elastic member such as rubber, for wiping the discharge surface 6a, is attached to a blade arm 31. The cam is rotated by the rotation of the cam rotated by the means.

In the recording apparatus thus configured, the paper 16 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction while the head 6 (carriage 5) is moved and scanned in the main scanning direction. By discharging droplets, a required color image or monochrome image (black and white image) is recorded on the paper 16.

Next, an outline of a control unit of the ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit includes a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a “CPU”) 40 that controls the entire recording apparatus, a ROM 41 that stores necessary fixed information, a RAM 42 that is used as a working memory, and the like. An image memory 43 for storing processed data, and a parallel input / output (PI
O) port 44, input buffer 45, gate array (GA) or parallel input / output (PIO) port 46
And a head drive circuit 47, a driver 48, and the like.

Here, the ROM 41 stores a table 50 used for selecting and setting the approach distance of the carriage 5. The table 50 includes, for example, paper size, paper type (plain paper, glossy paper, special paper, etc.), image type (color image or monochrome image), resolution, speed priority / image quality priority, and the like.
It is a table in which information for selecting any one of a plurality of printing modes having different approach distances set in advance.

The PIO port 44 includes, in addition to image information to be printed from the host side, a paper size, a paper type,
Various data indicating resolution, speed priority / image quality priority, etc., various instruction information from an operation panel (not shown), a detection signal from a paper presence / absence sensor for detecting the start and end of the paper, a home position (reference position) of the carriage 5 A detection signal or the like from various sensor groups 51 such as a home position sensor for detecting the input is input, and required information is transmitted to the host side and the operation panel side via the PIO port 44.

Further, a head drive circuit 47 is an energy-generating element (an electromechanical device such as a piezoelectric element) corresponding to each nozzle of the recording head (inkjet head) 6 based on various data and signals provided through the PIO port 46. A drive waveform is generated for an energy generating element of a driving nozzle (a nozzle for ejecting ink droplets) corresponding to image information in a conversion element, an electrothermal converting element such as a heating resistor, and an electrostatic force generating means such as an electrode. Apply. The driving waveform includes a rectangular pulse, a triangular waveform, and other sin (sine).
Shapes such as waveforms can be used. Further, a detection signal of a temperature detecting element 52 such as a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the recording head 6 (including the ambient temperature) is input via the PIO port 46.

The driver 48 controls the driving of the main scanning motor 8 and the sub-scanning motor 17 in accordance with the driving data supplied via the PIO port 46, thereby moving and scanning the carriage 5 in the main scanning direction. By rotating the paper 15, the paper 16 is transported by a predetermined amount.

The scanning of the carriage in the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as the table 50 stored in the ROM 41, the maximum paper passing width (the maximum width of usable paper)
A printing mode related to the approach distance of the carriage used when using paper other than the paper set as shown in FIG.
Each table has a table in which a printing mode relating to a running distance of a carriage used when a sheet having a maximum sheet passing width is used is set as shown in FIG.

The figures of "1, 2, 3" in each figure correspond to the relative length of the carriage approach distance, the printing mode "1" has a short approach distance, and the printing mode "3". Indicates that the approach distance is long, and in the printing mode “2”, the approach distance is an intermediate length between them. Here, the approach distance of the carriage is divided into three stages and three types of printing modes are set.
It can be divided into two or four or more stages.

The setting of the approach distance is based on the following examination results. That is, first, the width of the device itself (machine width) is
Since it is determined by the width of the carriage, the running distance of the carriage, and the maximum paper passing width, if the machine width is reduced to save space, the running distance of the carriage is also restricted.

Therefore, in this ink jet recording apparatus, in order to set the approach distance of the carriage according to the sheet size, there are two types depending on whether a sheet other than the maximum sheet width or a sheet having the maximum sheet width is used. Broadly speaking, when using papers other than the maximum paper passing width, the running distance of the carriage is varied according to the paper type, etc., and when using paper with the maximum paper passing width, the carriage running distance is fixed at the shortest running distance. .

Here, a parameter for setting the carriage approach distance when using a sheet other than the maximum sheet passing width will be described. The longer the running distance of the carriage 5, the more the vibration of the carriage 5 is attenuated, the smaller the speed fluctuation of the carriage 5 during printing, and the less the image is disturbed in the main scanning direction, but the printing speed is slowed. On the other hand, the carriage 5
When the approach distance is short, the vibration of the carriage 5 is not sufficiently attenuated, the speed fluctuation of the carriage 5 during printing becomes large, and the image is disturbed in the main scanning direction, but the printing speed (printing speed per sheet) is increased. Is faster.

At this time, the type of paper to be printed (plain paper,
Examining the relationship between image quality and special coated paper, OHP film, glossy paper, glossy film, etc., it can be seen that, in the case of paper, such as plain paper, in which ink bleeding is relatively large, the image in the main scanning direction due to ink bleeding Although the disturbance of the image is not so noticeable, the disturbance of the image becomes noticeable when using a glossy paper or a glossy film. In general, the image from the upper paper type shown in the column of the paper type (paper type) in FIG. The required quality for the image quality increases in the order of the paper type.

As for the relationship between the image type and the image quality, the required image quality is higher in a color image printed by superimposing dots of a plurality of colors than in a monochrome image. Further, the ink jet recording apparatus has a speed priority mode in which the printing speed is increased even if the image quality is somewhat poor, and an image quality priority mode in which the image quality is increased even if the speed is somewhat slow.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the approach distance of the carriage (printing mode) is set in consideration of the balance between the type of paper used, the image quality, and the printing speed. In relation to the resolution, the lower the resolution, the shorter the approach distance,
The higher the resolution, the longer the approach distance.

Next, the selection and setting of the carriage running distance will be described with reference to FIG. First, the approach distance of the carriage 5 is set to a default value. In this case, the default value is set to the printing mode “1” where the approach distance is short, since the color image is most often printed in the speed priority mode on plain paper other than the maximum paper width (the maximum paper passing width). I have.

Therefore, it is determined whether or not the paper to be used by taking in the paper size information is the paper having the maximum paper passing width. If the paper is the paper having the maximum paper passing width, the default value is directly used as the printing mode (the carriage travel distance). If it is set and the paper is not the maximum paper width, the paper type (paper type) information, the priority mode (speed priority / image quality priority) information, and the image type (color image / monochrome image) information are sequentially taken in. Here, these various types of information may be either information provided from the operation panel of the recording apparatus or information provided from the host. Usually, it can be given by the setting on the host side application or the printer driver.

In the case of paper having a width other than the maximum paper passing width, the paper type (paper type) information, priority mode (speed priority / image quality priority) information, and image type (color image / monochrome image) information are used. Referring to the table 50, when it is necessary to change the default value of the approach distance, the default value is changed, and if not necessary, the printing mode is selected and set as the default as the approach distance of the carriage.

By performing the main scanning of the carriage in accordance with the approach distance thus selected and set, an image can be recorded in a state where the required image quality and the printing speed are balanced, and the machine width is minimized. Can be

In this case, the running distance of the carriage is determined based on all information of the paper size information, paper type (paper type) information, priority mode (speed priority / image quality priority) information, and image type (color image / monochrome image) information. Although the (printing mode) is selectively set, the approach distance of the carriage may be set (selected) based on any information or a combination of two or more information.

In the above-described embodiment, information such as paper size information, paper type (paper type) information, priority mode (speed priority / image quality priority) information, and image type (color image / monochrome image) information is stored in the ink jet recording apparatus. Is provided from the host side or the operation panel. However, the ink jet recording apparatus side can set a plurality of printing modes with different carriage running distances, and the printer driver on the host side uses the printing mode for the ink jet recording apparatus. It is also possible to provide information for selecting and specifying the printing mode (the carriage running distance).

That is, as described in the above embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus has a printing mode "1" in which the carriage travels short, a printing mode "3" in which the carriage travels long, and a printing mode "3" in which the carriage travels in the middle. 2 "can be selected.

The printer driver on the host side
As shown in FIG. 6, when performing the printing operation, a default value (the printing mode is “1” as in the above embodiment) is set in order to set the approach distance of the carriage of the printing apparatus. , Paper size information, paper type (paper type) information, priority mode (speed priority / image quality priority) information, image type (color image / monochrome image) information, resolution information, etc. Based on the relationship between the approaching distance and various types of information as shown in FIG. 4, the approaching distance (printing mode) of the carriage is set according to the acquired information, and information for performing the main scanning of the carriage in the set printing mode. To an ink jet recording apparatus.

By providing the host-side printer driver with the function of selecting the run-up distance of the carriage of the ink jet recording apparatus, the structure of the ink jet recording apparatus can be simplified. The printer driver can be stored in a storage medium or downloaded to a host using a communication line such as the Internet.

[0041]

As described above, the recording apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration having a plurality of printing modes having different running distances of the carriage.
It is possible to obtain an ink jet recording apparatus having a well-balanced machine width.

Here, the approach distance of the carriage is selectively set based on at least one of the paper size, paper type, resolution, color image or monochrome image, speed priority mode or image quality priority mode. By doing so, the balance between required image quality, printing speed, and machine width is further improved. Further, the present invention is more effective when applied to an ink jet recording apparatus which can use various types of paper and in which ink bleeding is likely to occur.

Further, the printer driver according to the present invention comprises:
This is for controlling a recording apparatus having a plurality of printing modes having different carriage running distances, and includes paper size, paper type, resolution, color image or black and white image, speed priority mode or image quality priority. Since the printing mode of the printing apparatus can be selected based on at least one of the other modes, the burden on the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus has a plurality of printing modes with different carriage running distances is reduced. Can be lighter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a control unit of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining setting of a carriage running distance when a sheet having a width other than the maximum sheet passing width is used;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining setting of a carriage running distance when a sheet having a maximum sheet passing width is used;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the setting of the approach distance of the carriage of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a printer driver according to the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

5 carriage, 6 print head, 8 main scanning motor,
48 ... Driver.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masumi Sato 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Ricoh Co., Ltd. (reference) 2C056 EA04 EA11 EC28 FA03 FA04 FA10 2C062 KA00

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for printing an image on a sheet by a printing head mounted on a carriage, wherein the printing apparatus has a plurality of printing modes having different running distances of the carriage. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the printing modes is set based on a size of the sheet. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the printing modes is set based on a type of the sheet. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the printing modes is set based on a resolution of an image to be printed. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the printing modes is set based on whether an image to be printed is a color image or a monochrome image. Recording device. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the printing modes is set according to a mode in which a printing speed is prioritized or a mode in which image quality is prioritized. Recording device. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is a recording head that ejects ink droplets from nozzles. 8. A printer driver for printing an image on a sheet by a recording head mounted on a carriage and controlling a recording apparatus having a plurality of printing modes in which the running distance of the carriage differs. , Paper type,
A printer driver capable of selectively setting the printing mode based on at least one of a resolution, a color image or a monochrome image, a speed priority mode, and an image quality priority mode.