JP2000343687A - Printer, printing method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase a printing rate by entering information relative to the fixing properties of ink to a printing medium and controlling standby time for the drive of an ink head between main scans based on the entered information relative to the fixing properties. SOLUTION: A control processing module 49 for ink head standby time in PROM has entered sets of information relative to the penetrating properties of ink to a printing medium and the environmental condition at a printing site and decides ink fixing time Tf which is appropriate to a plurality of printing media and the ink fixing time in the environmental condition at a printing site, referring to an ink fixing time table storing such printing media and ink fixing time. Next, the module 49 decides the width Wx of an image based on entered image data. As a result of these decisions, the ink head standby time Tw is represented by Tf-2.Wx/Vs (in this formula, Vs is the scan rate of the ink head) and the standby time for the drive of a main scan by the ink head 28 is set based on information relative to the value obtained by the formula.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to an ink head that ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in a main scanning direction with respect to the printing medium. The ink head repeats sub-scanning in a direction intersecting with the main scanning direction for each main scanning, and forms an ink dot on the print medium by ink droplets ejected during the main scanning to record an image. The present invention relates to a printing device, a printing method, and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an output device of a computer,
2. Description of the Related Art A color printer that discharges several colors of ink from an ink head has become widespread, and is widely used for printing an image processed by a computer or the like in multiple colors and multiple gradations. Along with this, printing media have become diversified, such as paper dedicated to ink jet printers, glossy paper, plain paper, postcards, and film sheets for OHP (overhead projector), and the demand for printing on all printing media has increased. Supplies have also emerged that allow users to spray coat print media to reduce ink bleed. Also, recently, in response to a request for an improvement in printing speed, the main scanning of the ink head is performed not in the entire printable area but only in an area where an image is formed, and the printing speed is improved by reducing the time required for main scanning. That is being done.

[0003]

However, since the ink permeability differs depending on the printing medium, if the printing speed is increased unnecessarily, the quality of the printed image becomes unstable. Further, in a print medium having low ink permeability, there is a problem in that the fixability of the ink is poor, and bleeding and unevenness occur.
Here, the “ink fixing property” means that the ink adhered to the print medium permeates or dries to such an extent that ink formed later does not bleed and affect the image quality.

In order to solve these problems, the scanning speed of the ink head is changed according to the printing medium, and the scanning speed of the ink head is reduced for a printing medium having poor permeability to fix the ink. It has been proposed to record an image while waiting, but the configuration becomes complicated and introduces a new problem. If the scanning speed of the ink head is changed according to the print medium, the landing position of the ink droplet ejected while moving changes, and the ejection timing of the ink droplet must be corrected according to the main scanning speed of the ink head. The problem is not to be.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve at least the above problems, and focuses on the fixability of ink to a print medium to improve printing speed and obtain a stable high-quality printed image. It was made for the purpose.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Their Functions / Effects To solve at least a part of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides:
The following configuration was adopted. The printing apparatus of the present invention includes an ink head that ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in a main scanning direction with respect to a print medium, and intersects the ink head with the main scanning direction for each main scan. A sub-scanning direction is repeated, and an ink dot is formed on the printing medium by ink droplets ejected during the main scanning to record an image. A fixing time information input means for inputting,
An ink head standby time control unit that controls a standby time for driving the ink head between the main scans based on the input information regarding the fixing property is provided.

[0007] A printing method corresponding to the printing apparatus of the present invention comprises:
By ink droplets ejected from an ink head that ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in the main scanning direction with respect to the print medium, the ink head is repeatedly sub-scanned in a direction crossing the main scanning, A printing method of forming an ink dot on a print medium and recording an image, based on information on the fixability of the ink to the print medium, controlling a standby time of driving the ink head between the main scans, The point is to record an image.

According to the printing apparatus and the printing method of the present invention, the main scanning is performed by controlling the ink head standby time on various types of printing media having different ink fixing properties based on information on the ink fixing properties. And ink dots are formed while waiting for the ink to be fixed, so that ink bleeding and unevenness can be suppressed. In addition, since the main scanning of the ink head is performed at a constant speed, the formation position of the ink dots on the print medium can be constant regardless of the print medium. As a result, a print image of stable quality can be obtained. Further, if the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus capable of performing main scanning of an ink head only in an area where an image is formed, higher-speed printing can be performed on a printing medium having a fast ink fixing time. Become.

Further, in the above-described printing apparatus, information relating to the permeability of the ink to the print medium can be used as the information relating to the fixability.

[0010] A printing medium having a high ink permeability (for example, paper dedicated to an ink jet printer) has excellent ink fixing properties, and a stable quality print image can be obtained even when conventional high-speed printing is performed. On the other hand, a print medium having low ink permeability (for example, a film sheet for OHP) has poor ink fixability, and bleeding and unevenness occur when high-speed printing is performed. For this reason, sub-scanning is performed on print media having different ink permeability by controlling the ink head standby time according to the permeability, and ink dots are formed while waiting for ink to be fixed. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the bleeding and unevenness of the ink and obtain a print image of stable quality. In addition, since the main scanning of the ink head is performed at a constant speed, the formation positions of the ink dots on the print medium can be constant regardless of the print medium.

Here, the ink head standby time will be described. This is the time during which the ink is fixed on the print medium after the formation of ink dots in an arbitrary main scan of the ink head, and the drive of the ink head is on standby until the formation of ink dots in the next main scan is started. For example, it is assumed that the print medium is determined and the time required for the ink to be fixed on the print medium (referred to as an ink fixing time) is Tf. The ink head standby time is Tw, the reciprocal scanning speed of the ink head is Vs, the width of the image to be printed is Wx, and the ink head performs main scanning of the shortest distance only in the area where the image is formed. Assuming that the ink dots are formed only by the movement, the ink head reciprocates with respect to the print medium, so that the ink head standby time Tw can be expressed as Tw = Tf−2 · Wx / Vs. If Tw ≦ 0, the next main scan is performed without the ink head standby time. If Tw> 0, after one main scan, the next main scan is performed after a waiting time of Tw. In the case where the ink head performs main scanning on an image of an arbitrary width in the maximum printable area, ink dots may be formed in a standby time Tw in consideration of a scanning time in an area other than the image area. The ink head standby time Tw is
The present invention is not limited to this, and may be set to such an extent that a stable quality print image is obtained. In addition, the standby of the ink head does not necessarily need to be performed after stopping the main scanning. For example, the ink head may move at a constant speed during the forward movement of the main scanning, and may move at a modulated speed during the backward movement to move the ink head on standby.

In the above-mentioned printing apparatus, the fixing time input means includes a printing environment information detecting means for detecting information on a printing environment, and the information on the fixing property includes an ink permeability to the printing medium. And information on the detected printing environment can be used.

The ink fixing time depends not only on the permeability of the ink to the print medium but also on the printing environment, that is, the temperature and humidity. Therefore, in addition to the information on the permeability of the ink to the print medium, the ink head standby time is controlled based on the information on the printing environment, and a more appropriate ink fixing time is set, thereby suppressing ink bleeding and unevenness. Thus, a stable quality print image can be obtained.

The recording medium of the present invention uses ink droplets ejected from an ink head which ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in the main scanning direction with respect to the print medium.
A recording medium in which a program for recording an image by forming ink dots on the print medium by repeatedly sub-scanning the ink head in a direction intersecting with the main scan is readable by a computer. The gist of the invention is that a program for causing a computer to perform a function of controlling a standby time for driving the ink head between the main scans is recorded based on information on the fixability of the ink to the main scan.

In the above-mentioned print medium, information on the permeability of the ink to the print medium can be used as the information on the fixability.

Further, as the information on the fixability, information on the permeability of ink to the print medium and information on the printing environment can be used.

By executing the program recorded on the recording medium by the computer, the printing apparatus of the present invention described above can be realized.

As storage media, flexible disks, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disks, IC cards,
Various media readable by a computer, such as a ROM cartridge, a punched card, a printed matter on which a code such as a barcode is printed, an internal storage device (memory such as RAM and ROM) and an external storage device of the computer can be used. The present invention also includes a mode as a program supply device that supplies a computer program for realizing the above functions to a computer through communication.

[0019]

Other Embodiments of the Invention The printing apparatus of the present invention can also adopt the following other embodiments. In the above printing apparatus and printing method, it is an aspect that the ink head standby time is controlled also according to the distribution of image data. For example, when a single color area uniformly and continuously exists in the image area in the main scanning direction, ink dots are formed without controlling the ink head standby time. In this case, even if ink bleeding or unevenness actually occurs, it does not significantly affect the image quality of the printed image to human eyes. Therefore, printing is performed without controlling the ink head standby time. As a result, the main scanning can be performed without an excessive ink head standby time, so that the printing speed can be increased.

The ink fixing time varies depending on the frequency of forming ink dots, and also varies depending on the size of ink dots in a printer capable of forming ink dots having different diameters. In this case, the control of the ink head standby time may be performed depending on the size and the forming frequency of the ink dots. By controlling the ink head standby time according to the size and frequency of formation of the ink dots, an appropriate ink fixing time can be set, and a stable quality print image can be obtained.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on examples. (1) Configuration of Apparatus: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus and a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
And the printer 22 are connected. The computer 90 functions as an image processing device by loading and executing a predetermined program, and also functions as a printing device together with the printer 22. This computer 90
Is centered on a CPU 81 that executes various arithmetic processes for controlling operations related to image processing according to a program,
The following components are connected to each other by a bus 80. R
The OM 82 previously stores various programs and data necessary for the CPU 81 to execute various arithmetic processes.
The AM 83 is a memory for temporarily reading and writing various programs and data necessary for the CPU 81 to execute various arithmetic processes. The input interface 84 manages input of signals from the scanner 12 and the keyboard 14, and
The output interface 85 manages output of data to the printer 22. CRTC86 is a CRT capable of displaying color
21 to control the signal output. A disk controller (DDC) 87 controls data transfer between the hard disk 16, the flexible drive 15, and a CD-ROM drive (not shown). Hard disk 16
Stores various programs loaded into the RAM 83 and executed, various programs provided in the form of device drivers, and the like.

In addition, a serial input / output interface (SIO) 88 is connected to the bus 80. This S
The IO 88 is connected to the modem 18 and the modem 18
Through a public telephone line PNT. The computer 90 is connected to an external network via the SIO 88 and the modem 18, and by connecting to a specific server SV, it is also possible to download a program required for image processing to the hard disk 16. In addition, it is also possible to load a necessary program from a flexible disk FD or a CD-ROM, and cause the computer 90 to execute the program.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the printing apparatus. In the computer 90, an application program 95 operates under a predetermined operating system. The operating system includes a video driver 91 and a printer driver 96.
Is installed, and the application program 95
After that, image data FNL to be transferred to the printer 22 is output via these drivers. An application program 95 for retouching an image reads an image from the scanner 12 and displays the image on the CRT 21 via the video driver 91 while performing predetermined processing on the image. The data ORG supplied from the scanner 12 is read from a color original, and includes three data of red (R), green (G), and blue (B).
This is original color image data ORG composed of color components of colors.

This application program 95
When a print command is issued, the printer driver 96 of the computer 90 receives the image data from the application program 95, and receives the image data from the application program 95 as a signal that can be processed by the printer 22 (here, multi-valued data for each of cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Signal). FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, a resolution conversion module 97, a color correction module 98,
A halftone module 99 and a rasterizer 100 are provided. Further, a color correction table LUT, a recording rate table DT, and an ink fixing time table FT are also stored. These tables may be read from a CD-ROM or the like, or defaults may be stored in the ROM in advance.

The resolution conversion module 97 serves to convert the resolution of the color image data handled by the application program 95, that is, the number of pixels per unit length into a resolution that can be handled by the printer driver 96. The image data whose resolution has been converted in this way is still RG
Since the image information is composed of the three colors B, the color correction module 98 refers to the color correction table LUT and uses the cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), yellow (Y), The data is converted into data of each color of black (K).

The color-corrected data has a gradation value with a width of, for example, 256 gradations. The halftone module 99 disperses and forms the ink dots,
The printer 22 executes a halftone process for expressing this gradation value. The halftone module 99 executes the halftone process after setting the recording rate and the level data LVL of each ink dot according to the gradation value of the image data by referring to the recording rate table DT. The image data thus processed is rearranged by the rasterizer 100 in the order of data to be transferred to the printer 22, and output as final image data FNL. In the present embodiment, the printer 22 has the image data F
Although it only plays a role of forming ink dots in accordance with the NL and does not perform image processing, it goes without saying that these processes may be performed by the printer 22.

Next, a schematic configuration of the printer 22 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the drawing, the printer 22 includes a mechanism for transporting a sheet P by a paper feed motor 23 and a
6, a mechanism for reciprocating in the axial direction, a mechanism for driving an ink head 28 mounted on a carriage 31 to discharge ink and form ink dots, a paper feed motor 23, a carriage motor 24, and an ink head. 28 and a control circuit 40 that controls the exchange of signals with the operation panel 32. Further, a temperature sensor 29 and a humidity sensor 30 for detecting a printing environment are provided.

A mechanism for reciprocating the carriage 31 in the axial direction of the platen 26 is provided in parallel with the axis of the platen 26, and is provided between a carriage shaft 24 and the carriage shaft 24 for slidably holding the carriage 31. And a position detecting sensor 39 for detecting the origin position of the carriage 31.

The carriage 31 has a cartridge 71 for black ink and cyan, light cyan,
A color ink cartridge 72 containing five color inks of magenta, light magenta, and yellow can be mounted. The light cyan ink and the light magenta ink are inks in which the content of the dye is reduced to 1/4 of the cyan ink and the magenta ink, and are for forming light dots. A total of six ink ejection heads 61 to 66 corresponding to these inks are formed on the ink head 28 below the carriage 31. At the bottom of the carriage 31, the heads for each color are provided from the ink tank. An inlet pipe for leading the ink is provided. When the black ink cartridge 71 and the color ink cartridge 72 are mounted on the carriage 31 from above, an introduction tube is inserted into a connection hole provided in each cartridge,
Ink can be supplied from each ink cartridge to the ink discharge heads 61 to 66.

A mechanism for discharging ink and forming ink dots will be described. Ink cartridge 71,
When the cartridge 72 is mounted on the carriage 31, the ink in the ink cartridge is sucked out through the introduction pipe by utilizing the capillary phenomenon, and the ink ejection heads 61 to 66 of the ink head 28 provided below the carriage 31. It is led to. When the ink cartridge is mounted for the first time, an operation of sucking ink into the ink discharge heads 61 to 66 by a dedicated pump is performed.

The ink discharge heads 61 to 66 include:
Forty-eight (24 × 2) nozzles are provided for each color, and a piezo element which is one of the electrostrictive elements and has excellent responsiveness is arranged for each nozzle. The piezo element is installed at a position in contact with an ink passage for guiding ink to the nozzle. As is well known, a piezo element is an element that distorts the crystal structure by applying a voltage and converts electro-mechanical energy extremely quickly. In this embodiment, by applying a voltage having a predetermined time width between the electrodes provided at both ends of the piezo element, the piezo element expands by the voltage application time and deforms one side wall of the ink passage. As a result, the volume of the ink passage contracts in accordance with the expansion of the piezo element, and the ink corresponding to the contraction becomes particles and is ejected at a high speed from the tip of the nozzle. Printing is performed by the ink particles penetrating into the paper P mounted on the platen 26. The positions of the 48 nozzles in the sub-scanning direction (the transport direction of the sheet P orthogonal to the main scanning) are provided so as to coincide with each other. They may be arranged in a staggered manner or may be arranged on a straight line. However, if it is staggered,
There is an advantage that the nozzle pitch can be easily set small.

Next, an internal configuration of the control circuit 40 of the printer 22 will be described, and a method of driving the ink head 28 including a plurality of nozzles will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal configuration of the control circuit 40. Control circuit 4
0, CPU 41, PROM 42, RAM 43
In addition, P which exchanges data with the computer 90
A C interface 44, a peripheral input / output unit (PIO) 45 for exchanging signals with the paper feed motor 23, the carriage motor 24, the operation panel 32, etc., a timer 46 for measuring time, and ink ejection heads 61 to 66 A driving buffer 47 for outputting ON / OFF signals for the ink dots is provided, and these elements and circuits are interconnected by a bus 48. The PROM 42 includes an ink head standby time control module 49 described later.
(See FIG. 3). The control circuit 40 also includes an oscillator 51 that outputs a drive waveform as a voltage signal for driving the piezo element at a predetermined frequency, and distributes an output from the oscillator 51 to the ink ejection heads 61 to 66 at a predetermined timing. A distribution output device 55 is also provided. The control circuit 40 receives the dot data processed by the computer 90 and temporarily stores it in the RAM 43.
And outputs it to the driving buffer 47 at a predetermined timing.

When the CPU 41 determines ON / OFF for each nozzle and outputs a signal to each terminal of the driving buffer 47, according to a signal supplied to the common side of the piezo element,
Only the piezo element that has received the ON signal from the driving buffer side is driven. As a result, the ink droplets are simultaneously discharged from the nozzles of the piezo element that have received the ON signal from the driving buffer. In other words, the signal for driving the piezo element itself is applied to the piezo elements of all nozzles regardless of whether or not to form an ink dot. However, it is necessary to control the voltage output from the driving buffer 47 for each nozzle. Thus, the validity and invalidity of the drive signal are controlled for each nozzle.

In the printer 22 having the hardware configuration described above, the carriage 31 is reciprocated by the carriage motor 24 while the paper P is conveyed by the paper feed motor 23, and at the same time, the ink discharge heads 61 to 66 of the ink head 28 are moved. Are driven to discharge ink droplets of each color to form ink dots and form multi-color and multi-tone images on the paper P.

(2) Dot formation control: Next, the dot formation control processing in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 shows the flow of the dot formation control processing routine. This is a process executed by the CPU 81 of the computer 90, and is executed as one of the processes of the printer driver 96.

When this process is started, the CPU 81
Image data is input (step S100). This image data is stored in the application program 9 shown in FIG.
5, which is a value of 0 to 2 for each of R, G, and B colors for each pixel constituting the image.
This is data having 55 256 gradation values. The resolution of the image data changes according to the resolution of the original image data ORG and the like.

The CPU 81 converts the resolution of the input image data into a resolution for printing by the printer 22 (step S105). If the image data is lower than the printing resolution, resolution conversion is performed by generating new data between adjacent original image data by linear interpolation.
Conversely, if the image data is higher than the print resolution, resolution conversion is performed by thinning out the data at a fixed rate.
Note that the resolution conversion processing is not essential in the present embodiment, and printing may be executed without performing this processing.

Next, the CPU 81 performs a color correction process (step S110). The color correction process is a process of converting image data consisting of R, G, and B color tone values into C, M, Y, and K color tone value data used by the printer 22. This process is performed using the color correction table LUT (see FIG. 2). The color correction table LUT has R,
The color composed of each combination of G and B is
2 stores a combination of C, M, Y, and K to be represented by the numeral 2.

The CPU 81 performs a halftone process on the color-corrected image data (step S).
200). The halftone process is a process for converting the gradation value (256 gradations in the present embodiment) of the original image data into the number of gradations that can be expressed by the printer 22 for each pixel, and data for expressing the halftone of the image. Means to create In this embodiment,
Although ternary conversion of "no dot formation", "dark dot formation", and "light dot formation" is performed, multi-valued conversion to more gradations may be performed.

The contents of the halftone process in this embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The halftone processing can be performed using various methods such as a dither method and error diffusion. Here, first, the CPU 81 sets the pixel data D
x is input (step S210). The pixel data Dx input here is subjected to color correction processing (step S11 in FIG. 5).
0), and has 256 gradation values for each of C, M, Y, and K colors.

Next, the recording rates of the dark dot and the light dot are determined with reference to the recording rate table DT, and the corresponding dark dot level data LVL1 and light dot level data LVL2 are created (step 220). The recording rate table DT includes, as shown in FIG.
The recording rates of the ink dots of each density corresponding to x are determined in advance and are shown in a table. The level data LVL1 and LVL2 of the density dots indicate the recording rates (0 to 100%) of the ink dots from 0 to 255. This is the data converted to the value of 256 levels.

Next, the threshold value Dth is read (step S
230), the on / off of each ink dot is determined by comparing the dark dot level data LVL1 and the light dot level data LVL2 with the threshold value Dth (step S240). The dark dot level data LVL1 is equal to the threshold value Dt.
If it is larger than h, an ink dot is formed, and if smaller than h, it is not formed. The same applies to light dots. This is performed for all pixels.

Next, the CPU 81 performs rasterization (step S300). This means that the data for one raster is rearranged in the order in which the data is transferred to the ink head 28 of the printer 22. There are various modes in a recording method in which the printer 22 forms a raster. The simplest mode is a mode in which all the ink dots of each raster are formed by one forward movement of the ink head 28. In this case, the data for one raster may be output to the ink head 28 in the processing order. A well-known technique such as interlace may be used.

Image data FN printable by the printer 22
When L is generated, the CPU 81 outputs the data and transfers it to the printer 22 (step S310). The printer 22 receives the data, performs an ink head standby time control process (see FIG. 8), forms an ink dot on each pixel, and prints an image. In the above description, only one color ink is described, but these processes are performed for each of C, M, Y, and K colors.

(3) Ink head standby time control processing: The contents of the ink head standby time control processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This processing is performed by the ink head standby time control processing module 49 in the PROM 42. Here, the ink head standby time control process is a process of determining the ink fixing time Tf on the print medium and setting a time for waiting for driving of the ink head 28 between main scans. The printing apparatus of the present embodiment forms the ink dots only during the forward movement of the ink head 28, and performs the shortest distance main scanning only in the area where the image to be printed is formed.

Here, first, information on the permeability of the ink to the print medium and information on the print environment (the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 29 and the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 30) are input, and a plurality of print media and the print environment in the print environment are input. Ink fixing time table F storing ink fixing time Tf
With reference to T (see FIG. 2), the corresponding ink fixing time Tf is determined (step S410). Next, image data is input, and the image width Wx is determined (Step S)
420).

Since the ink head standby time Tw is the difference between the ink fixing time Tf and the time required for the ink head 28 to perform reciprocating main scanning in the area of the image width Wx, Tw = Tf−2 · Wx / Vs (step S430). Where V
s represents the reciprocating scanning speed of the ink head 28.

If Tw in the above equation is a positive value, the ink head standby time Tw is Tf−2 · Wx / Vs (step S450), and if it is 0 or a negative value, the ink head standby time Tw is 0. (Step S460). The ink head standby time Tw is not limited to this, and may be set to such an extent that a stable quality print image is obtained. Further, the standby of the ink head 28 does not necessarily need to be performed after stopping the main scanning. For example, the ink head 28 may move at a constant speed during the forward movement of the main scanning, and may move at a modulated speed during the backward movement to move the ink head on standby.

Next, the operation of the ink head of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. For example, images of image widths 1 and 2 are printed on print media A, B, and C, and the print environment (temperature and humidity) is constant. As shown in the drawing, first, main scanning is performed to form ink dots. The time for performing the main scanning (thick line) is determined by the image width and the main scanning speed regardless of the print medium, and is T1 and T2 for the image widths 1 and 2, respectively. Next, the fixing of the ink is waited (standby). The ink fixing time is determined by the printing medium regardless of the image width because the printing environment is constant, and Tfa, Tfb, and Tfc respectively set in advance for the printing media A, B, and C in the ink fixing time table FT.
The ink head standby time Tw (dotted line) differs depending on the print medium and image width as described above, and (print medium, image width) = (A, 1), (A, 2), (B, 1) (B,
2), (C, 1), and (C, 2), respectively, Tw
a1, Twa2, Twb1, Twb2, Twc1, Tw
c2. Twa1 indicates a case where there is no standby time, and is not shown. Next, sub-scanning is performed. The time for performing the sub-scanning (solid line) is constant regardless of the printing medium and the image width. In FIG. 9, the operation of the ink head is shown in the order of “main scanning” → “standby” → “sub-scan” →. However, the present invention is applicable if the ink head standby time between each main scan of the ink head is controlled. Therefore, the order may be “main scanning” → “sub scanning” → “standby” →.

According to the printing apparatus and the printing method of the present invention, an appropriate ink fixing time Tf for various types of printing media having different ink fixing properties according to the information on the ink permeability and the information on the printing environment. In addition, since ink dots are formed on a print target having a different image width after waiting for the ink head standby time Tw in accordance with the image width, ink bleeding and unevenness can be suppressed. Further, since the main scanning of the ink head is performed at a constant speed, the formation position of the ink dots on the print medium can be constant regardless of the print medium. As a result, a print image of stable quality can be obtained. The printer driver 9 stores the ink fixing time table FT.
6, it is possible to easily add ink fixing time data to a print medium that can be handled even when the type of print medium increases.

In the printing apparatus of this embodiment, a printer having an ink head for discharging ink droplets using the piezo element is used as described above. However, a printer for discharging ink droplets by another method is used. It may be used.
For example, the present invention can be applied to various types of printers and other printing apparatuses, such as a printer of a type in which a heater disposed in an ink passage is energized and ink droplets are ejected by bubbles generated in the ink passage.

The printing apparatus of the present embodiment described above includes processing by a computer, such as the processing shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 8, so that a program for realizing this processing is recorded. The embodiment as a recording medium can also be adopted. Such recording media include flexible disks, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disks,
Various computer-readable media such as an IC card, a ROM cartridge, a punched card, a printed matter on which a code such as a barcode is printed, a computer internal storage device (memory such as RAM and ROM), and an external storage device can be used. . Further, an embodiment as a program supply device for supplying a computer program for performing the above-described image processing to a computer via a communication path is also possible.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments at all, and various embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Implementation is possible. For example, various control processes described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized by hardware. Also,
When the ink head is on standby, maintenance such as nozzle clogging detection and nozzle cleaning may be performed as necessary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a software configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal configuration of a control device of the printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a dot formation control processing routine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a halftone processing routine.

FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a relationship between a gradation value of an image, a recording rate of dark and light ink dots, and level data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an ink head standby time control processing routine.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the ink head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Scanner 14 ... Keyboard 15 ... Flexible drive 16 ... Hard disk 18 ... Modem 21 ... CRT 22 ... Printer 23 ... Paper feed motor 24 ... Carriage motor 26 ... Platen 28 ... Ink head 29 ... Temperature sensor 30 ... Humidity sensor 31 ... Carriage 32 ... Operation panel 34 ... Sliding shaft 36 ... Drive belt 38 ... Pulley 39 ... Position detection sensor 40 ... Control circuit 41 ... CPU 42 ... Programmable ROM (PROM) 43 ... RAM 44 ... PC interface 45 ... Peripheral input unit (PIO) 46 ... Timer 47 ... Driving buffer 48 ... Bus 49 ... Ink head standby time control module 51 ... Oscillator 55 ... Distributor 61-66 ... Ink ejection head 71 ... Black ink cartridge 72 ... Color ink cartridge 80 ... Bus 81: CPU 82: ROM 83: RAM 84: Input interface 85: Output interface 86: CRTC 87: Disk controller (DDC) 88: Serial input / output interface 90: Computer 91: Video driver 95: Application program 96: Printer driver 97 ... Resolution conversion module 98 ... Color correction module 99 ... Halftone module 100 ... Rasterizer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink head for ejecting ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in a main scanning direction with respect to a print medium, wherein the ink head is moved in a direction intersecting the main scanning direction for each main scanning. A printing apparatus that forms an ink dot on the print medium with ink droplets ejected during the main scan and records an image, and inputs information on the fixability of the ink to the print medium. A printing apparatus comprising: a fixing time information input unit; and an ink head standby time control unit that controls a standby time for driving the ink head between the main scans based on the input information on the fixing time. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information on the fixability is information on the permeability of the ink to the print medium. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing time input unit includes a printing environment information detecting unit that detects information regarding a printing environment, and the information regarding the fixing property includes an ink for the printing medium. A printing apparatus which is information on the permeability of the printing medium and information on the detected printing environment. 4. An ink droplet ejected from an ink head which ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in a main scanning direction with respect to a print medium. A sub-scan in a direction intersecting with the print medium, forming an ink dot on the print medium and recording an image, based on information on the fixability of the ink to the print medium, A printing method for recording an image by controlling a standby time for driving the ink head. 5. An ink head, which ejects ink droplets while repeatedly moving at a constant speed in a main scanning direction with respect to a printing medium, causes the ink head to move in the main scanning direction for each main scanning. A recording medium in which a computer-readable program for recording an image by forming ink dots on the print medium by repeating sub-scanning in a direction intersecting with the print medium is provided. A recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to implement a function of controlling a standby time for driving the ink head between the main scans based on information. 6. The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the information on the fixability is information on the permeability of the ink to the print medium. 7. The print medium according to claim 5, wherein the information on the fixability is information on the permeability of ink to the print medium and information on the printing environment.