JP2003285519A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer in which quality management of record format can be facilitated. <P>SOLUTION: The printer comprises a means for recording on a recording material by a test pattern recording means having density variation by more than one times in the subscanning direction at the same position in the main scanning direction (vice versa), a means for measuring a test pattern in at least one of the main scanning direction and subscanning direction, and a processing means for analyzing the measurements of the measuring means and informing the fact that the interval of density variation is appropriate or adjusting the recording control parameters and informing the fact that the interval is inappropriate if the interval of density variation is inappropriate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the technical field of various printers such as thermal recording devices and photothermography, and more particularly to a printer capable of easily performing quality control of recording format (recording dimension accuracy). .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various printers such as thermal recording printers using thermal heads, photothermographic (photosensitive and thermal development image recording) printers, electrophotographic printers, etc. are used in various applications such as medical printers, copying machines and DTPs. ing.

A recording format (recording dimensional accuracy) is one of the quality control (QC) items of such a printer. For example, in a medical printer, there are cases where images of a plurality of frames are arranged and output on a recording medium having a large size such as a half-cut size (354 mm × 430 mm).
At this time, if the recording format has an error, an image size error, an image position deviation, or the like occurs,
It makes the observer feel uncomfortable. Even if one image is printed on one print, the observer feels uncomfortable if, for example, one end is wider than the other.

Further, many printers perform image recording in the main scanning direction by a recording head or a laser beam,
Image recording is performed by so-called two-dimensional scanning in which the recording unit and the recording medium are relatively moved in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Here, if the recording format causes an error only in one direction of the main scanning direction or the sub scanning direction, the image will be distorted. In a medical printer, if such image distortion is serious, it may lead to misdiagnosis and may cause a serious problem.

[0005]

Conventionally, in the quality control of the recording format in a printer, for example, a print on which an image (marker) of a predetermined shape is recorded is output, and the size of this marker is measured by an operator or a service person, This is performed by adjusting recording control parameters such as the sub-scanning speed according to the measurement result. That is, in the conventional printer, quality control of the recording format is a complicated, time-consuming and time-consuming operation.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art. In various printers such as thermal recording printers and photothermography, quality control of recording format (recording dimension accuracy) is performed by an operator or a service. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer which can be easily performed without any human intervention, and which can stably output an image having a proper recording format.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the printer of the present invention records an image in the main scanning direction by means of the recording means, and at the same time, makes the recording means and the recording material orthogonal to the main scanning direction. A printer that two-dimensionally records an image on the recording material by moving relatively in the sub-scanning direction, and has a density change of two or more times in the sub-scanning direction at the same position in the main scanning direction. A means for recording at least one of the test pattern and a test pattern having a density change of two or more times in the main scanning direction at the same position in the sub scanning direction on the recording material by the recording means; The measuring means for measuring the test pattern in at least one of the scanning directions and the measurement result by the measuring means are analyzed, and if the interval of density fluctuation is appropriate, the fact is notified. Provided is a printer having a processing means for adjusting the recording control parameter and / or notifying that the interval is inappropriate when the density variation interval is inappropriate. To do.

In the printer of the present invention, the measuring means in the sub-scanning direction is a density measuring instrument for printer calibration, and the measuring means in the main scanning direction is a density measuring instrument for setting shading correction data. Is preferred.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The printer of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of an example in which the printer of the present invention is used as a printer for thermal recording by a thermal head. The printer 10 of the illustrated example has a light-transmitting heat-sensitive recording film F of a predetermined size such as a half-cut size.
Thermal image recording is performed on a thermal recording material such as a film F (hereinafter referred to as a film F), and a loading unit 12, a transport unit 16, a recording unit 20 performing thermal image recording on the film F by a thermal head 18, and a tray 22. And a recording format adjusting means 24.

The film F has a heat-sensitive recording layer formed on one surface of a transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) support, for example, 10
A stack (bundle) of a predetermined unit of about 0 sheets is housed in a dedicated magazine 26. This magazine 26 has a lid 2
8 and is inserted into the inside of the thermal recording apparatus 10 through an insertion opening formed in the apparatus, and is loaded in a predetermined position of the loading section 14 by a known means such as a guide or a stopper.

The transport unit 16 takes out the film F from the magazine 24 loaded in the loading unit 14 and transports it to the recording unit 20. The suction unit 30 sucks the film F.
Sheet-fed mechanism using, conveying roller pair 32, conveying guide 3
4, a cleaning roller pair 36, and an opening / closing mechanism (not shown).

In the printer 10, when an instruction to start recording is issued, the opening / closing mechanism opens the lid 28 of the magazine 24, and one film F and one suction cup 30 are taken out from the magazine 26 and conveyed. Supply to the roller pair 32. The film F supplied to the conveying roller pair 32 is conveyed to the cleaning roller pair 36 while being guided by the conveying guide 34, and dust and the like adhering to the recording surface is removed by the upper cleaning roller in the drawing, and the recording unit It is transported to 20.

The recording unit 20 includes a thermal head 18, a platen roller 38, conveyance guides 40 and 42 (42a,
42b), a pair of discharge rollers 44, a drive controller 46, a cooling fan (not shown) for the thermal head 18, and the like.

The thermal head 18 includes a heat storage layer (glaze layer), a heating element arranged in one direction composed of a heating resistor and an electrode (main scanning direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1), and a glaze composed of a protective layer and the like. It is a known thermal head having a thermal head main body having the same and a heat sink fixed to the thermal head main body. Thermal head 1
Each heating element 8 (thermal head main body) is driven (heated) by the drive controller 46, for example, by pulse width modulation in accordance with the recorded image. The platen roller 38 is
The film F is rotated at a predetermined speed while being held at a predetermined position, the film F is sandwiched together with the thermal head 18 (its glaze), and a predetermined recording speed is set in the sub-scanning direction (arrow y direction) orthogonal to the main scanning direction. To transport.

The film F conveyed from the cleaning roller pair 36 is transferred to the platen roller 38 and the thermal head 1.
8 (glaze), it is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and the entire surface is scanned by the thermal head 18 (heating element array). In parallel with this conveyance, the drive control unit 46 heats the heating resistor by driving each heating element of the thermal head 18 according to image data (recorded image),
The film F is heated correspondingly to develop color, and an image is recorded. The film F on which the image is recorded is guided by the conveyance guide 42 and is conveyed by the pair of ejection rollers 44, and is ejected to the tray 22 as a hard copy.

The recording format adjusting means 24 (hereinafter referred to as the adjusting means 24) controls the quality of the recording format (recording dimension accuracy) of the recording image in the sub-scanning direction in the printer 10, and the format control section 48.
And a format measuring means 50.

The format control unit 48 (hereinafter, the control unit 4
8), when performing quality control of the recording format in the sub-scanning direction (recording / measurement of a test pattern for recording format quality control, and processing according to the measurement result),
The drive controller 46 is instructed to cause the thermal head 18 to record a test pattern corresponding to the same quality control on the film F, and to receive the measurement (detection) result of the test pattern from the measuring means 48, and to respond to it. This is the part to be processed.

The format measuring means 50 (hereinafter referred to as measuring means 50) is provided between the conveyance guides 42a and 42b when performing quality control of the recording format in the sub-scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as sub-direction quality control). In the above, the test pattern recorded on the conveyed film F is measured, and is an optical sensor including a laser light source 50a and a light receiving element 50b. The measuring unit 50 may have a dedicated unit for quality control in the sub-direction, and may also serve as a measuring unit for performing recording format quality control in the main scanning direction, which will be described later. When a densitometer (for a chart) is built in, this may be used as the measuring means 50 for the secondary direction quality control. Since the measurement of the test chart in the sub-direction quality control can be performed while the film F is being conveyed, the position of the measuring unit 50 may be basically fixed. Further, in order to prevent a decrease in accuracy due to noise, it is preferable that the measuring light (beam spot shape) in the measuring means 50 has a flat shape that is long in the main scanning direction.

The adjusting means 24 will be described later in detail.

FIG. 2 shows a conceptual diagram of an example in which the printer of the present invention is used as a Fort thermography printer.

The printer 60 shown in FIG. 2 is a printer of Fort Thermography, which records an image on a light-transmissive film-like photosensitive heat development recording material A (hereinafter referred to as recording material A), and is basically a printer. , Supply unit 62 and exposure unit 6
4, a heat developing unit 66, a tray 68, and a recording format adjusting unit 70. The photosensitive heat-development recording material is a recording material on which a latent image is recorded by exposure and is colored by heat development to make the latent image visible.

In the illustrated example, the recording material A is usually stored in the magazine 72 as it is as a laminated body of 100 sheets or the like and loaded into the recording apparatus 10 as in the previous example. The supply unit 12 is
The magazine 7 is provided at a portion for supplying the recording material A to the exposure unit 64.
The second loading unit 74, the sheet feeding means using the suction cup 76 and the supply roller pair 78, and the transport roller pairs 80 and 82 are configured. In the supply unit 62, the suction cup 76 is 1
A sheet of recording material A is adsorbed, taken out of the magazine 72 and supplied to the supply roller pair 78, and the supply roller pair 78 supplies the recording material A to the transport roller pairs 80 and 82. The pair of transport rollers 80 and 82 transport the recording material A to the exposure section 64.

The exposure section 64 is an area for exposing the recording material A imagewise by light beam scanning exposure, and is an exposure unit 84.
And a sub-scanning conveyance means 86. As shown in FIG. 3, the exposure unit 84 is a known light beam scanning device, and includes a light source 88 for the light beam L, a polygon mirror 90 that is a light deflector, an fθ lens 92, and a falling mirror 94. The drive control unit 91 and the like are included. In the exposure unit 84, the drive controller 91 controls the light source 88.
Is driven by, for example, pulse width modulation according to the recorded image.
The light beam L thus modulated according to the recorded image emitted from the light source 88 is polarized by the polygon mirror 90 in the main scanning direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIGS. 1 and 2), and the fθ lens 92 and The falling mirror 94 makes the light incident / imaged on a predetermined recording position.

On the other hand, the sub-scanning transporting means 86 includes a pair of transporting rollers 96 arranged so as to sandwich the recording position (scanning line).
And 98 hold the recording material A at the recording position and convey it in the sub-scanning direction (arrow y direction) orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Here, as described above, the light beam L
Is deflected in the main scanning direction, the recording material A is two-dimensionally scanned and exposed by the light beam modulated according to the recording image, and a latent image is recorded.

Recording material A on which a latent image is recorded by the exposure section 64
Is then transported by the transport roller pair 99, etc.,
It is conveyed to the heat developing section 66. The heat developing section 18 is a section for developing the recording material A by heating to develop the latent image into a visible image, the heating drum 100, the endless belt 102, and the peeling claw 10.
4 and.

The heating drum 100 is a drum having a built-in heating source, the surface of which is heated to a temperature corresponding to the heat development temperature of the recording material A. Further, the heating drum 100 rotates about the shaft 100a and together with the endless belt 102. The recording material A is nipped and conveyed. The endless belt 102 includes rollers 106a-1
The heating drum 100 is stretched around four rollers of 06d.
It is pressed so that it can be wrapped around. Peeling nail 1
Reference numeral 04 denotes a material for peeling the recording material A from the heating drum 100, and is configured to be brought into and out of contact with the heating drum 100 lightly.

The recording material A carried into the heat developing section 18 by the pair of carrying rollers 99 is carried between the endless belt 100 and the endless belt 102, and the heating drum 1
The latent image recorded by exposure becomes a visible image by being thermally developed while being conveyed according to the rotation of 00. When the leading edge of the recording material A is conveyed to the vicinity of the peeling claw 104, the peeling claw 104
Touches the heating drum 100 lightly,
And the recording material A, and the recording material A is peeled off from the heating drum 100. After the thermal development is finished, the peeling claw 104
Material A separated from the heating drum 100 by the
Are discharged onto the tray 68 by the discharge roller pair 112.

The recording format adjusting means 70 (hereinafter referred to as the adjusting means 70) performs sub-direction quality control (quality control of the recording format in the sub-scanning direction) in the printer 60, and like the printer 10 described above. A format control unit 114 (hereinafter, referred to as control unit 114) and a format measurement unit 116 (hereinafter, referred to as measurement unit 116) are configured. Both of them are basically the same as the adjusting means 24 of the printer 10 described above, and the control unit 1
When performing the quality control in the sub-direction, 14 issues an instruction to the exposure unit 64 (exposure unit 84) to record a test pattern on the recording material A, and performs processing according to the measurement result. Further, the measuring unit 116 (laser light source 116a and light receiving element 116b) measures the test pattern recorded on the recording material A that is conveyed to the pair of discharge rollers 112 and discharged to the tray 68, downstream of the pair of discharge rollers 112.

The quality control in the sub-direction of the printer 10 and the printer 60, that is, the operation of the adjusting means 24 and the adjusting means 70 will be described below. In addition, both
Since the printer 10 has basically the same operation, the printer 10 will be described as a typical example in the following description, and only the different points of the printer 60 will be described.

When an instruction for quality control in the sub-direction is issued to the printer 10, the film F is processed in the same manner as in normal image recording.
Is supplied to the recording unit 20, and under the instruction of the control unit 48,
The drive controller 46 drives the thermal head 18 in accordance with the test pattern for quality control in the sub direction, records the test pattern on the film F, and conveys it to the tray 22. On the other hand, also in the printer 60, the recording material A is supplied to the exposure unit 64 similarly to the normal image recording, and the drive control unit 91 modulates the light source 88 according to the test pattern under the instruction of the control unit 114. Then, the latent image of the test pattern is recorded on the recording material A, is thermally developed by the thermal developing section 66, and is conveyed to the tray 68 by the conveying roller pair 112.

The test pattern is not particularly limited, and various patterns having density changes more than twice in the sub-scanning direction at the same position in the main scanning direction, preferably rising / falling density changes can be used. There is, for example, a black-painted rectangle having a side parallel to the main / sub-scanning direction or a frame formed by a black line. Alternatively, a white test pattern may be recorded on a black background. In this example, FIG.
As shown in (A), 1 that extends in the main scanning direction (arrow x direction) and is separated in the sub scanning direction (arrow y direction) 1
The pair of black line markers m are recorded as a test pattern. The interval between the markers m in the test pattern for quality control in the sub-direction (density variation interval) is not particularly limited.
It is about m to 420 mm.

Platen roller 38 and discharge roller pair 4
4 (discharging roller pair 112) discharges the film F (recording material A) on which the test pattern for quality control in the sub-direction is recorded onto the tray 22 (68), as described above, by an optical sensor. A measuring means 50 (116) is arranged. The measuring means 50 (116) is the platen roller 38.
The film F on which the test pattern is recorded is optically measured, and the signal (output signal) is output to the control unit 48 (114). In the illustrated example, since the black marker m is recorded on the light-transmitting film F, the output signal thereof is, for example, the signal also shown on the right side of FIG. 4 (A).

As a matter of course, in the printer 10, the transport speed of the film F by the platen roller 38 and the like is known, and the sampling frequency by the measuring means 50 is also known. In addition, I know the test pattern myself. Therefore, the control unit 48 determines the interval d between the markers m of the test pattern recorded on the film F from the number of samplings (the number of signal outputs) by the measuring unit 50 between the signals corresponding to the marker m whose output signal intensity changes greatly. Can be detected.

After detecting the distance d between the markers m, the control unit 48 determines whether this distance d is within the proper range,
When the distance d is within the proper range, notification that the recording format quality in the sub-scanning direction is proper is given by, for example, a signal sound or a display by the display means of the printer 10.

On the other hand, if the interval d is not appropriate, the control unit 48 similarly notifies that fact, and the interval d becomes the center value d0 (optimality value) of the appropriate interval range. As described above, the recording control parameter is adjusted. The adjustment method is not particularly limited, but for example, “interval d = k × center value d0”
If it is, a method of increasing the line clock period of 1-line recording in the main scanning direction by 1 / k, and the sub-scanning speed (conveying speed of the platen roller 38 and the sub-scanning conveying means 86) is 1 / k.
A method of multiplying by k is exemplified. In the printer 60, a method of multiplying the number of rotations of the polygon mirror 90 by k can also be used. Furthermore, you may use these methods together.
Note that when the interval d is inappropriate, only one of the notification and the recording control parameter adjustment may be performed, but at least the recording control parameter is preferably adjusted.

As described above, the quality control of the recording format is exemplified as one of the quality control items of the printer.
In particular, it is important for medical purposes to prevent misdiagnosis and the like. In the conventional printer, quality control of the recording format was a complicated and time-consuming task in which an operator or a service person measured the dimensions of the pattern and adjusted it after outputting the test pattern. Is. On the other hand, according to the printer of the present invention, the quality control of such a recording format can be substantially automated, that is, the burden on the operator or service person can be greatly reduced, and the printing with the appropriate recording format can be performed. Can be output stably.

The above example is the printer of the present invention.
The sub-direction quality control (the quality control of the recording format in the sub-scanning direction) is performed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the quality control of the recording format in the main-scanning direction (hereinafter, similarly, main direction Quality control).

When performing quality control in the main direction, a test pattern corresponding to the quality control in the main direction is recorded as in the previous case. As the test pattern, various patterns having density changes at least twice in the main scanning direction at the same position in the sub scanning direction can be used as the test pattern, for example, parallel to the main / sub scanning direction. Examples include black rectangles and frames having different sides. In addition, similarly, a test pattern in which black characters are blank may be used. In the present example, as shown in FIG. 4B, a pair of black line markers m extending in the sub-scanning direction (arrow y direction) and separated in the main scanning direction (arrow x direction). Is recorded as a test pattern. Further, the interval of the markers m in this test pattern (the interval of the density fluctuation) is not particularly limited, but for a half-cut film, it is usually about 280 mm to 340 mm.

Then, similarly, the print on which the test pattern is recorded is measured by the measuring means. here,
An ordinary printer does not convey a recording medium (film F, recording material A, etc.) in the main scanning direction. Therefore, in the case of performing quality control in the main direction, the conveyance of the recording medium is stopped (may be during conveyance if measurement is in time), the measuring means is moved in the main scanning direction (direction of arrow x), and the test pattern (marker is moved). m) is measured. The measuring means may be dedicated to the quality control in the main direction or may be used in combination with the quality control in the sub direction. Further, when a density measuring unit (profile measuring unit) for shading correction is provided, this may be used as a measuring unit for main-direction quality control. Further, in the measuring means that performs quality control in the main direction, it is preferable that the shape of the measurement light (beam spot shape) is a flat shape that is long in the sub-scanning direction in order to eliminate the adverse effect of noise.

In the illustrated example, the light transmissive film F
Since the black marker m is recorded in the, the output signal when the marker m is measured is, for example, a signal shown below in FIG. 4 (B). The moving speed and sampling frequency of the measuring means and the test pattern are, of course, known. Therefore, as before, the interval d between the markers m of the recorded test pattern is calculated from the number of samplings (the number of signal outputs) by the measuring means between the signals corresponding to the markers m.
Can be detected.

It is determined whether or not the interval d is within the proper range. If the interval d is within the proper range, similarly, a notification that the recording format quality in the main scanning direction is proper is given. For example, the display is performed by a signal sound or display means. On the other hand, if the interval d is not appropriate, similarly, a notification to that effect is given, and further, the interval d is the center value d0 of the appropriate interval range.
The recording control parameter is adjusted so as to be (optimal value). The adjusting method is not particularly limited, but as an example,
When “interval d = k × center value d0”, the pixel clock cycle in the main scanning direction (recording cycle of one pixel) is 1 /
Examples thereof include a method of multiplying k times, a method of multiplying the rotation speed of the polygon mirror by 1 / k, and a combination of these. Similarly, in the case of improperness, only one of the notification and the recording control parameter adjustment may be performed, but at least the recording control parameter adjustment is preferably performed.

In each of the above examples, the format measuring means is built in the printer body, but the printer of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a sensor 132 including a light source 132a and a light receiving element 132b, and a conveying unit (conveying roller pair 134a and a conveying roller pair 134a and a conveying unit) for conveying the film F (recording material A) at a position measured by the sensor 132. 134b) is connected to the printer main body on-line externally, and the measurement result by the sensor 132 (output signal of the light receiving element 132b) is sent to the format controller 48 (11).
4) may be supplied. At this time, the format measurement means 130 may detect the marker interval. When the format measuring means is externally connected online, printing may be stopped and the sensor may be moved to perform recording format quality control measurement in the sub-scanning direction, or the sensor may be fixed and printed. Alternatively, the recording format quality control measurement in the main scanning direction may be carried out.

The printer of the present invention may be compatible with only quality control of the recording format in either the sub-scanning direction or the main scanning direction, or printing in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. It may correspond to quality control of the format. In the case of supporting quality control in both directions, both the test pattern recording means and the format measuring means may be built in the printer main body. It may be an online external connection, the test pattern recording means and the sub-scanning direction format measuring means are built-in, and only the main scanning direction format measuring means is externally connected (or conversely, the sub-scanning direction measuring means). The means may be external connection).

In the above example, the printer of the present invention is
This is an example of application to a thermal recording device using a thermal head and photothermography, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to various printers. For example, a printer that two-dimensionally scans and exposes a photosensitive material with laser light that is modulated according to a recorded image to record a latent image, and performs wet development processing. Similarly, a latent image is recorded on the photosensitive material to form an image. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitably applicable to various printers such as printers, inkjet printers, electrophotographic printers, etc. that transfer / develop an image on an image receiving medium in the presence of a solvent. Among them, the present invention, which can easily control the quality of the recording format, is suitable for a printer for medical use in which the recording format is important for proper diagnosis.

Further, in the illustrated example, the marker of the test pattern was detected by the transmitted light of the medium for the light transmissive recording medium, but the present invention is not limited to this.
A marker may be detected by using reflected light for a non-light transmissive recording medium.

Although the printer of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Is.

[0048]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in various printers such as a thermal recording device and a photothermography, the quality control of the recording format (recording dimensional accuracy) is performed by an operator or a serviceman. Can be performed easily without any trouble, and thereby an image having a proper recording format can be stably output.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of another example of the printer of the present invention.

3 is a conceptual diagram of an exposure unit of the printer shown in FIG.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are conceptual diagrams for explaining recording format quality management in the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of format measuring means used in the printer of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 10,60 printer 12,74 Loading section 16,62 Supply section 18 Thermal head 20 recording section 22,68 trays 24,70 (format) adjusting means 26,72 magazine 28 Lid 30,76 sucker 32,80,82,96,98,99 Conveyor roller pair 34 Transport guide 36 Cleaning roller pair 38 Platen roller 44,112 Ejection roller pair 48,114 (format) control unit 50,116,130 (format) measuring means 64 exposure section 66 Thermal development section 78 Supply roller pair 84 exposure unit 86 Sub-scanning transporting means 88 light source 90 polygon mirror 92 fθ lens 94 Falling mirror 100 heating drum 102 endless belt 104 peeling nail 106, 108, 110 rollers 132 sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording material is recorded on the recording material by moving the recording material and the recording material relatively in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction while recording an image in the main scanning direction. A printer for two-dimensionally recording an image, comprising a test pattern having a density variation of two or more times in the sub-scanning direction at the same position in the main scanning direction, and two times in the main scanning direction at the same position in the sub-scanning direction. A means for recording at least one of the test patterns having the above-mentioned density fluctuation on the recording material by the recording means, a measuring means for measuring the test pattern in at least one of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and the measurement. If the interval of density fluctuation is appropriate, it is notified by analyzing the measurement result by means, and if the interval of density fluctuation is incorrect, the recording control parameter Integer, and,
A printer having at least one of notification that the interval is inappropriate. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the measuring means in the sub-scanning direction is a density measuring instrument for printer calibration, and the measuring means in the main scanning direction is a density measuring instrument for setting shading correction data. .