JP2001180017A - Ink jet recording method and ink jet recorder for recording through reciprocal scanning - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance recording speed while reducing conspicuous recording irregularity due to reciprocal scanning. SOLUTION: Among image data to be recorded corresponding to scanning, the recording duty is calculated for a plurality of different regions under scanning, a scanning direction is determined depending on the recording duties of the plurality of regions and then recording is performed according to the determined scanning direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for forming an image by discharging a recording liquid such as ink onto a recording medium while scanning a recording means.

[0002] In particular, the present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for preventing deterioration of image quality by reciprocal scanning.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet recording method for recording on various types of recording media is capable of high-density and high-speed recording operations. It has been applied and commercialized.

[0004] In this case, each recording device has a configuration corresponding to a function, a usage form, and the like unique to these devices.

In general, an ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage on which recording means (recording head) and an ink tank are mounted, transport means for transporting a recording medium, and control means for controlling these. Then, the recording head for ejecting ink droplets from the plurality of ejection ports is serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) that intersects with, for example, the orthogonal direction (sub-scanning direction) of the recording medium, and
On the other hand, during non-recording, the recording medium is intermittently transported by an amount equal to the recording width.

In this recording method, recording is performed by discharging ink onto recording paper in accordance with a recording signal, and is widely used as a quiet recording method with a low running cost.

In addition, by using a recording head in which a number of nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged linearly in the sub-scanning direction, the recording head scans over the recording paper, so that recording with a width corresponding to the number of nozzles can be performed. Done. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a high-speed recording operation.

[0008] Further, in recent years, a device capable of forming a full-color image by mounting such recording heads for three to four colors has been put to practical use. This apparatus is equipped with four types of recording heads and ink tanks corresponding to three primary colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) or four colors including black (B) in these three primary colors. Can be.

As one of recording methods for recording at a higher speed by using the full-color ink jet recording apparatus, reciprocal recording using a horizontal head of C, M, Y, K as shown in FIG. 2 is exemplified. Can be (K is ejected from A in FIG. 2, C is ejected from B, M is ejected from C, and Y is ejected from D.)

When such a recording method is used, the recording order when the head performs recording on the recording medium in the forward direction is as follows.
The recording order when recording in the backward direction is K, C, M, Y.
The recording order differs between round trips, such as M, C, and K. The problem in the case where the recording order is different will be described below with reference to a specific example.

In order to carry out full-color recording in an ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image using four color inks, these four color ink droplets are landed on a recording medium in an appropriate balance and mixed with each other while mixing colors. Create colors other than. Here, when recording a green (G) image, C and Y are mixed and recorded. That is, C and Y dots are placed on the same pixel.

FIG. 3 shows the state of landed ink droplets when ink droplets are ejected onto plain paper using the head of FIG.
FIG. 3A shows the time of forward recording (in the order of C → Y), and FIG.
7 is a cross-sectional view of plain paper during backward recording (in the order of Y → C). In FIG. 3A, the previously recorded C covers the surface,
Later recorded Y penetrates deeper than C.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3B, the previously recorded Y
Covers the surface, and C recorded later penetrates deeper than Y. When these recordings are viewed from the surface, (a) looks more cyanish green and (b)
Looks more yellowish green. For this reason, even in the case of reciprocating printing, the same CY color mixture has completely different colors, and color unevenness occurs alternately at each line feed as shown in FIG.

In order to prevent color unevenness in the reciprocation as described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-278232 discloses a plurality of complementary areas which are used to complete printing of a predetermined area in a plurality of main scans. The thinned images are sequentially recorded while sequentially selecting the thinned arrays. The decimation arrangement selected in the same scan then discloses a different method for each color. However, this method has a problem to be solved in that the printing completion time is delayed by so-called multi-pass printing that is completed by a plurality of main scans.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-106736, when recording is performed while reciprocatingly moving each color recording head having a recording density higher than that of input image data in the arrangement direction, a recording image is formed for one pixel of input image data. A method is disclosed in which a plurality of pixels (2 × 2) are used to record a mixed color image so that two or more colors of ink do not overlap each other in 2 × 2 pixels. However, this method has a problem to be solved in that the recording resolution is lower than the resolution originally possessed by the recording head.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-quality recording time while preventing quality deterioration due to color unevenness due to reciprocation. By shortening as much as possible, it is shorter than any multi-pass printing and one-pass one-way printing,
The goal is to get as close as possible to one-pass reciprocal printing.

Further, the present invention is directed to a method for controlling the color unevenness due to the difference in the discharge color order and the unidirectional printing caused by performing the reciprocal printing using the printing head in which the nozzles of each color tone are arranged in the scanning direction as described above. An ink jet recording method and a recording apparatus capable of improving the recording speed while reducing color unevenness even in a color recording apparatus in which the recording speed is reduced by not performing the operation and the ink ejection order is different in a reciprocating manner. And so on.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a recording means having a plurality of recording element groups corresponding to inks of different colors is arranged in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of a recording medium. In an ink jet printing method of performing printing by relatively scanning, it is preferable that the scanning direction is determined according to the duty of image data in the scanning to be performed, and printing is performed by performing scanning in the determined scanning direction. Features.

Alternatively, in an ink jet printing apparatus which performs printing by relatively scanning a printing means having a plurality of printing element groups corresponding to inks of different colors in a direction intersecting the transport direction of a printing medium, printing is to be started. It is characterized by having means for determining the scanning direction according to the duty of image data in the scanning to be performed, and means for performing recording in the determined scanning direction by performing scanning.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The term "recording" used in the present invention means not only that an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure is applied to a recording medium, but also that an image having no meaning such as a pattern is applied. Also means.

The "recording medium" used in the present invention
As well as paper, yarn, fiber, fabric, leather, metal,
OHP sheets, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics and the like can be used.

Further, the recording apparatus of the present invention comprises a printer,
A printer unit used for a printer, a typewriter, a copier, a facsimile having a communication system, a recording system combining a communication system and a printer unit, a word processor having a printer unit, and a combination of various processing devices. Industrial recording devices including workstations and the like.

The present invention also includes a handy or portable printer provided in a personal computer, a host computer, an optical disk device, a video device and the like.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the ink jet recording apparatus used in this embodiment.

A carriage 11 on which an ink jet cartridge is mounted, and a carriage motor 12 for moving the carriage relatively to the recording medium in the main scanning direction.
A flexible cable 13 for sending an electric signal from a control unit (not shown) of the inkjet apparatus to the inkjet cartridge; a recovery unit 14 for performing a recovery process of the inkjet head unit; and a paper feed tray for storing recording media in a stacked state 15 and an optical position sensor 16 for optically reading the position of the carriage. The ink jet apparatus having such a configuration performs serial scanning of the carriage 11 and performs recording with a width corresponding to the ejection ports (the number of nozzles) of the ink jet head.
During non-recording, the recording medium is intermittently conveyed by a predetermined amount in a direction intersecting (here, orthogonal to) the main scanning direction.

FIG. 2 shows a recording head used in the present invention. K is discharged from the A chip, C is discharged from the B chip, M is discharged from the C chip, and Y is discharged from the D chip. The ejection amount of the ink droplet from each nozzle is 17 ng.

Each of the nozzles is arranged with 256 nozzles at a pitch of 600 dpi, and it is possible to record dots at pixel positions of 600 dpi while scanning in the main scanning direction (the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing).

According to the present invention, the recording means has a recording element group for ejecting inks of four different tones of K, C, M, and Y as described above. Only the nozzle (discharge port) among the constituent parts is shown. Although not shown here, a heating element such as an ink flow path for carrying ink to the ejection port position or an electrothermal transducer for generating energy for ejecting the ink corresponding to these ejection ports. And a piezo element are arranged as a part constituting the recording means.

Further, the driving frequency of the head is 10 kHz.
The moving speed of the carriage is 16.7 inch / sec during recording,
At the time of non-recording, it is 29.7 inch / sec.

FIG. 6 shows a pattern used to determine a dot threshold value for designating a recording direction in this embodiment.
The first row is red (hereinafter abbreviated as R), the second row is blue (hereinafter abbreviated as B), and the third row is green (hereinafter abbreviated as G). %, The print duty of the third row is 50%, and the print duty of the fourth row is 25%. The black portion in the enlarged circle is a recording pixel, the R region is recorded with M and Y, the B region is recorded with C and M, and the G region is recorded with C and Y.

Each size is 1024 pixels vertically × 512 pixels horizontally (600 dpi).

The image is recorded on plain paper in one pass reciprocation using the head of FIG. Then, measure the color of the part recorded in the forward direction and the part recorded in the backward direction, and
L ^* a ^* b ^* is taken and the color difference (ΔE ^* = √ (ΔL ^* ×
ΔL ^* + Δa ^* × Δa ^* + Δb ^* × Δb ^* )) was calculated. FIG. 7 shows the result.

It can be said that all of R, B, and G tend to increase the recording duty and increase the color difference.

In general, the level at which a color difference is perceived in adjacent images is said to be approximately 1.0. Therefore, if the recording duty is about 50% or less, color unevenness due to reciprocal recording for all RGB colors. It seems that the image deterioration can be almost prevented. Therefore, the following embodiment will be described on the assumption that the dot threshold value is 50%. However, the threshold value may be set according to the required image quality and recording speed, and is not limited to this value.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an ink jet recording method used in the present invention. 51 is recording data of each color (K, C, M, Y), 52 is a recording buffer of each color, and 53 is data for counting the number of C, M, and Y data of 52 while shifting a window of n pixels × n pixels. The counting section, 54 is a recording direction determining section for comparing the data value counted by the data counting means with a predetermined value to specify the next recording direction, and 55 performs recording based on information from the 54 recording direction determining section. Control section for
A recording head 56 is controlled by the control unit.

The actual recording operation will now be described.

In this embodiment, the size of the window for dot counting the duty at 53 in FIG. 5 is 64 dots × 64 dots. However, the size of this window may be appropriately changed in consideration of the calculation load at the time of counting, and the like. The threshold value was set to 2048, which is 50% of the number of pixels.

FIG. 8 shows the recording pattern used. Here, G was used for all recording colors. FIG.
8B is a 75% duty patch of 800 × 2560 pixels, FIG. 8B is a 50% duty patch of 4800 × 2560 pixels, and FIG. 8C is 4800 × 2560 pixels.
Characters are described in the range of pixels. (Note that
The black part of the enlarged view is a recording pixel, and C and Y are recorded for this pixel. )

Next, the details of the operation at the time of pattern recording in FIG. 8A will be described with reference to FIG.

After the data input shown in FIG. 8A, one scan data (256.times.4
800) (A region portion). Next, the number of data in the illustrated 64 dot × 64 dot area of 52 C data and Y data is counted by the 53 data counting section (B area section). The data count value is set to a threshold value (here, 20
48).

Here, since the duty is 75% and exceeds the threshold value of 50%, the scanning direction is changed to the forward direction (the arrow direction / K, C, M, Y in FIG. 8A). (Recorded in order). Recording is performed by the recording head 56 based on the designation. Subsequently, the paper is fed in the sub-scanning direction by 256 pixels, and the second scan is recorded through the same process as described above. In the scans after the second scan, the duty is 75% and exceeds the threshold value of 50%. As a result, all one-way unidirectional printing in the forward direction (1 in FIG. 8A) is performed. No color unevenness occurred.

Next, in the case of the recording shown in FIG.
In the case of FIG. 8B, since the dot count value is smaller than the threshold value, the color unevenness between the scans is inconspicuous. For this reason, in order to improve the recording speed, recording is performed from the side where the head is located after the end of the previously performed scanning. Therefore, the first scan is in the forward direction (1
Direction / recorded in the order of K, C, M, and Y).
The scanning is performed in the backward direction (2 directions / recording in the order of Y, M, C, and K).

As a result, one-pass reciprocal printing was performed, and the printing time could be reduced as compared with the one-way printing. In addition, high-quality and high-speed images could be output without color unevenness.

Further, in the case of the recording shown in FIG.
(B) Similarly, since the dot count value is smaller than the threshold value, the recording is always performed from the side closer to the head after scanning, so that the first scanning is performed in the forward direction, but the second scanning is performed in the backward direction. As a result, one-pass reciprocal printing was performed, and the printing time could be reduced as compared with the one-way printing. In addition, high-quality, high-speed images could be output without noticeable color unevenness.

Similar results were obtained for red and blue.

In the above embodiment, the recording direction is changed according to the number of dots of each color. However, the recording direction may be changed based on the number of dots of only yellow. Since only yellow is used, there is an advantage that it can be realized relatively easily as compared with the above embodiment. The reason is described below.

The level at which the color difference is felt is approximately 1.0
However, even with the same color difference, R and G are easy to see color unevenness, and B is relatively hard to see. Therefore, when the color difference at the time of maximum ejection is the same for all of R, G, and B, image quality is improved by reducing color unevenness in R and G. Therefore, there is a certain effect by controlling the recording direction by paying attention to yellow common to R and G.

Further, if the color difference at the time of maximum printing is about 2, the effect is more remarkable.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 10 shows a recording pattern used in this embodiment, which is a pattern of only G as in Embodiment 1. FIG. 10A shows 4800 pixels horizontally × 15 pixels vertically.
This shows a case where recording of 36 pixels is performed. Gradation is applied in the vertical direction of the image, so that the color is changed from white at the top to G100% at the bottom.

FIG. 10 (b) shows 4800 horizontal pixels × 28 vertical pixels.
This shows a case where recording of 16 pixels is performed. G1 in the middle of the image from the top white once with gradation in the vertical direction
00%, G25% from the bottom G100%
It is supposed to be. The concept of the recording duty is the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, the details of the pattern recording operation shown in FIG. 10A will be described with reference to FIG.

After inputting the data, the C of the 52 recording buffer
And data for one scan (Y = 256 dots × H = 48)
00 dots) (area A). Next, the 53 C data and Y data are counted by the 53 data counting section in the illustrated 64 dot × 64 dot area (B area section).

Therefore, it is determined whether or not the previous scan (scan) has exceeded the threshold value based on the data stored in the recording direction determination unit 54. If not, the scan is close to the head position after the previous scan. (C area part). However, if the previous scan exceeds the threshold, the number of dots in the scan is compared with the threshold, and if the threshold is exceeded, recording is performed in the same direction as the previous scan. If not exceeded, the data count area is shifted and the number of dots is compared with the threshold value again (D area part). If it does not exceed the end, recording is performed from the side closer to the head position.

As a result of performing the recording as described above, FIG.
Recording was performed in the scanning direction shown in FIG. The direction 1 is the forward direction (in the order of K, C, M, Y), and the direction 2 is the backward direction (in the order of Y, M, C, K).

As a result, the number of reciprocal recordings can be increased and the recording speed can be increased by further restricting the conditions as compared with the first embodiment. However, when an image as shown in FIG. 10B is recorded, the color is different between the portion A and the portion B although the region is not conspicuous because the regions are not adjacent to each other. Slightly lower.

Here, the case of G has been described, but R
Similar results were obtained for the samples B and B.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus used in the present invention. 121 is recording data of each color (K, C, M, Y), 122 is a recording buffer of each color, and 123 is C in the recording buffer of 122.
And M, C and Y, AND means for ANDing data of two colors each of M and Y, and 124 is A
Data buffer means for storing ND data (C and M are B, C and Y are G, M and Y are R);
Data counting means 126 for counting the number of data while shifting the window of n pixels × n pixels. The data value counted by the data counting means is compared with a predetermined value to determine the next recording direction. Part, 127
Is a control unit for performing recording based on information from the recording direction determination unit 126, and 128 is a recording head controlled by the control unit.

In this embodiment, in order to further enhance the effect of suppressing color unevenness as compared with Embodiments 1 and 2, the recording direction is controlled based on a secondary color in which color unevenness is a problem.

In this embodiment, the threshold value of the dot is common to RGB as in the above embodiment. However, if the threshold value is set more strictly, the duty at which the color difference is not felt differs for each of the RGB colors as shown in FIG. From that
RGB may have different thresholds. FIG. 7, R = 75%,
It can be said that G = 35% and B = 55% are optimal.

The actual recording operation will now be described. In this embodiment, the size of the window for counting dots at 125 in FIG. 12 is 64 dots × 64 dots. As described above, the threshold value is set to 2048 which is 50% of the number of pixels. The pattern used is the same as in Example 1 and is shown in FIG.

Next, the details of the operation at the time of pattern recording in FIG. 13A will be described with reference to FIG.

After the data input (a), one scan data (256 × 4800) is fetched into C and Y of the recording buffer 122 (area A). Next, AND of the C and Y data is obtained by the AND means 123, and the data is stored in the G data storage unit 124 (area B). Then, the data count of 125 counts the number of data in the 64 × 64 area shown in FIG. 24 (G area of C).

The data count value is compared with a threshold value (here, 2048) of the recording direction determination unit 126. Therefore, since the threshold value is exceeded, the scanning direction is designated as the forward direction (the direction of the arrow 1 in FIG. 8A) (D area portion). Recording is performed by the recording head 58 based on the designation. Subsequently, paper is fed by 256 pixels in the sub-scanning direction, and the second pass is printed in the same manner as described above. As a result, one-pass unidirectional printing was performed from the forward direction (1 in FIG. 8A), and no color unevenness occurred.

Next, the recording in (b) is performed in the same manner as in (a). However, in (b), since the dot count value is smaller than the threshold value, the one closer to the head position after scanning is always completed. , The first scan is recorded in the forward direction, but the second scan is recorded in the backward direction. As a result, one-pass reciprocal printing was performed, and the printing time could be shortened as compared with the one-pass one-way printing. In addition, high-quality and high-speed images could be output without color unevenness.

Further, in the case of the recording of (c), similarly to (b), since the dot count value is smaller than the threshold value, the recording is always performed from the side closer to the head after the scanning is completed. The second scan is recording in the backward direction. As a result, one-pass reciprocal printing was performed, and the recording time was also one.
The time was shortened as compared with the one-way recording in the pass. In addition, high-quality and high-speed images could be output without color unevenness.

In this embodiment, similar results were obtained for R and B.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 10 shows a pattern used in this embodiment. (This is the same as the pattern used in Example 2.)

Next, details of the operation at the time of pattern recording of FIG. 10A will be described with reference to FIG. After data input, 122
1 scan (scanning) data (256 × 4800) is taken into C and Y of the recording buffer (A area). Next, the AND means 123 performs an AND operation on the C and Y data.
D is taken and the data is stored in the G data storage 124 (B area). Then, the number of data in the area of 64 dots × 64 dots shown in the illustrated 54 G data is counted by the 125 data count section (C area section).

Therefore, it is determined whether or not the previous scan exceeds the threshold value based on the data stored in the recording direction determination unit 126. If not, the scan is recorded from the data closer to the head position. However, if the previous scan exceeds the threshold, the number of dots in the scan is compared with the threshold, and if the threshold is exceeded, recording is performed in the same direction as the previous scan. If not, the data count area is shifted and the number of dots is compared with the threshold value again. If it does not exceed the end, recording is performed from the side closer to the head position (D area portion).

FIG. 10 shows the result of recording as described above.
Recording was performed in the scanning direction shown in FIG. The direction 1 is the forward direction (in the order of K, C, M, Y), and the direction 2 is the backward direction (in the order of Y, M, C, K).

As a result, the number of reciprocal recordings is increased by further restricting the conditions as compared with the third embodiment, and recording can be performed at a higher speed. However, when an image as shown in FIG. 10B is recorded, although the areas are not adjacent to each other, the color is different between the portion A and the portion B, but the quality is lower than when the image is recorded by the method of the third embodiment. Slightly lower.

Similar results were obtained for R and B.

Yellow ink • Glycerin 5.0% by weight • Thiodiglycol 5.0% by weight • Urea 5.0% by weight • Acetinol EH 1.0% by weight (Kawaken Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) • Dye C.I. I. Direct Yellow 142 2.0% by weight ・ Water 82.0% by weight Magenta Ink ・ Glycerin 5.0% by weight ・ Thiodiglycol 5.0% by weight ・ Urea 5.0% by weight ・ Acetinol EH 1.0% by weight (River Ken Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) ・ Dye C.I. I. Acid Red 289 2.5% by weight ・ Water 81.5% by weight Cyan Ink ・ Glycerin 5.0% by weight ・ Thiodiglycol 5.0% by weight ・ Urea 5.0% by weight ・ Acetinol EH 1.0% by weight (Kawaken Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) ・ Dye C.I. I. Direct Blue 199 2.5% by weight-Water 81.5% by weight Black ink-Glycerin 5.0% by weight-Thiodiglycol 5.0% by weight-Urea 5.0% by weight-Acetinol EH 0.1% by weight (River Ken Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) ・ Dye C.I. I. Food Black 2 3.0% by weight ・ Water 81.9% by weight

(Other Embodiments) In each of the embodiments described above, an example in which the calculation of the print duty using the window is controlled based on the data held in the buffers 52 and 122 in the printing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be performed by the host computer as a device for controlling the recording device, that is, by a pudding and a driver.

In this case, the host computer calculates print duty of a band to be printed in each scan using a window as in the above-described embodiments, and determines the scan direction of each band. . Then, the recording may be executed by transmitting the recording data from the host side to the recording apparatus side together with the recording data or individually by the transmission means of the host computer.

The control commands such as programs for performing the processing of each embodiment as described above may be held in the recording apparatus as in the previous embodiment, but may be stored in the host computer as in this embodiment. May be held. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be stored in various types of storage media. The above-described processing may be performed by reading a control command or the like from this storage medium before or during processing.

As a storage medium, any medium, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, an MD, or a DVD, which can store control commands and can be read out to the outside, regardless of magnetic storage or optical storage, can be used. Storage medium. Further, the storage medium is not limited to a storage medium which can be easily detached from the reading apparatus as described above, and may be a packaged ROM attached to the apparatus.

Further, the above-described control command may be held in the network device 160 as shown in FIG. 15, and this control command is transmitted to the host computer connected to the network device by using the transmission means of the network device. You may make it transfer via a network.

[0080]

By using the ink jet recording method and the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, a color image can be recorded at a high speed while suppressing deterioration of image quality due to color unevenness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of occurrence of color unevenness.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram of occurrence of color unevenness.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a recording pattern used in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the print duty dependence of color difference.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing recording patterns used in Examples 1 and 3.

FIG. 9 is an overall flow in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing recording patterns used in Examples 2 and 4.

FIG. 11 is an overall flow in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram according to Examples 3 and 4.

FIG. 13 is an overall flow in the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an overall flowchart according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a network configuration;

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 carriage 52 print data buffer 53 data count unit 54 print direction determination unit 56 print head

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiharu Inai F-term (reference) 2C056 EA01 EA06 EA11 EB29 EB49 EC03 EC11 EC28 EE10 FA03 FA04 FA11 FB01 FB02 FB03 FB04 FC02 HA22

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording method for performing recording by relatively scanning a recording means having a plurality of recording element groups corresponding to inks of different colors in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of a recording medium. An ink jet recording method, comprising: determining the scanning direction according to the duty of image data in a scan to be performed; and performing scanning in the determined scanning direction to perform recording. 2. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the scanning direction is determined in accordance with a recording duty of image data corresponding to each of the different color inks. 3. The ink jet printing method according to claim 2, wherein the print duty is a print duty in a predetermined area in the image data in the scan to be printed. 4. The ink jet recording method according to claim 2, wherein the recording duty is the number of dots to be recorded. 5. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein a scanning direction is determined according to a print duty of image data corresponding to at least one of the plurality of inks having different color tones. Recording method. 6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the scanning direction is determined according to a duty of image data of at least a secondary color or more. 7. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein when said recording duty exceeds a predetermined value, recording is performed in the same scanning direction as the recording direction of the previously performed scanning. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the print duty exceeds a predetermined value in at least two successive scans, the second and subsequent scans are in the same direction as the first scan exceeding the predetermined value. Item 7. The inkjet recording method according to any one of Items 1 to 6. 9. An ink jet printing apparatus which performs printing by relatively scanning printing means having a plurality of printing element groups corresponding to inks of different color tones in a direction intersecting the transport direction of a printing medium. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: means for determining the scanning direction in accordance with the duty of image data in scanning to be performed; and means for performing recording by scanning in the determined scanning direction. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the means for determining the scanning direction is means for determining the scanning direction in accordance with a recording duty of image data corresponding to each of the different color inks. Inkjet recording device. 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for determining a scanning direction is means for determining a scanning direction based on a print duty in a predetermined area in image data in a scan to be printed from now on. Item 11. An ink jet recording apparatus according to item 10. 12. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said means for determining a scanning direction is means for determining a scanning direction according to a recording duty based on the number of dots to be recorded. . 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the means for determining the scanning direction is means for determining the scanning direction in accordance with a recording duty of image data corresponding to at least one of the plurality of inks having different color tones. 13. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein: 14. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said means for determining a scanning direction is means for determining a scanning direction in accordance with a duty of image data of at least a secondary color.
13. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 12. 15. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the means for determining the scanning direction is means for performing printing in the same scanning direction as the printing direction of the previously performed scan when the printing duty exceeds a predetermined value. Item 15. An ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of Items 9 to 14. 16. The means for determining the scanning direction, wherein when the print duty exceeds a predetermined value in at least two consecutive scans, the second and subsequent scans are performed in the same direction as the first scan that exceeds the predetermined value. 15. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus comprises: