JP2004098298A - Inkjet recorder and inkjet recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recorder and inkjet recording method in which useless movement of a recording head and useless treatment of ink are reduced in preliminary ejection. <P>SOLUTION: A preset preliminary ejection pattern is divided by a preliminary ejection period determined depending on the temperature and recording speed of a recording head, and a nozzle to be used for recording data is calculated. Preliminary ejection pattern mask information for masking dots formed by that nozzle is then created. Subsequently, the preliminary ejection pattern is masked by the preliminary ejection pattern mask information and the results are synthesized with the recording data to create actual print date. Recording is performed based on the actual print date. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method, and more particularly, to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method for performing preliminary ejection control.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The ink jet recording apparatus discharges ink as droplets from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a recording head, and records an image by dots formed on a recording medium. In recent years, it has rapidly spread due to advantages such as easy color recording.
[0003]
If the nozzles arranged in the recording head of the inkjet recording apparatus are left in a state where the ink is not ejected for a long time, the ink accumulated near the ejection port may solidify. If the ink is solidified, the next ejection operation will result in a non-ejection state in which the ink is not ejected, and the image will be missing. In addition, even if the ink does not reach a state where the ink is fixed, dust is formed in the vicinity of the discharge port, and the ink in the nozzle is thickened, so that an appropriate amount of ink is not discharged in a correct direction, and an image to be formed is formed. May be disturbed. Conventionally, various recovery processes have been performed to make a print head in a state unsuitable for such an ejection operation suitable. For example, there is a process in which preliminary ejection is performed at a predetermined position before or during printing to discharge the thickened ink in the nozzle, or a process in which the nozzle surface is covered with a cap and sucked. Among them, the preliminary ejection process is performed at regular intervals even during the printing operation.
[0004]
In a serial type recording apparatus in which a recording head scans over a recording medium to perform recording, a preliminary ejection port is provided in advance in a place other than a recording area, and the recording head moves here and performs ejection operation several times. .
[0005]
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a scan pattern in a conventional serial type recording apparatus.
[0006]
The print head H moves in the forward direction from the print start position S1 and starts an ejection operation to print the print portion D1 in one scan. Then, when it moves to the end S2 of the recording area, it moves to the preliminary ejection port PJ2 as it is, and performs preliminary ejection. At this time, the paper is fed by the width of the recording head H. When the preliminary ejection is completed, the print head H moves in the backward direction and prints on the print section D2. Then, it further moves to the preliminary ejection port PJ1 to perform the preliminary ejection. When a predetermined amount of paper has been fed, the paper moves again in the forward direction and records on the recording unit D3.
[0007]
As described above, in the conventional recording method, for example, every time one scan recording is performed, the recording head moves to a predetermined preliminary ejection port to perform preliminary ejection. It is possible to control the number of preliminary ejections by detecting the amount of printing in one scan, the nozzles used for printing, or the like. However, this control requires a load such as storing the printing status. Therefore, it is difficult to implement an apparatus suitable for this processing. Therefore, generally, as described above, regardless of the use / non-use of nozzles and the amount of printing, after printing for a certain time or a certain scan, the print head moves to the pre-ejection port to perform pre-ejection. It has become.
[0008]
By the way, in recent years, there has been provided a recording apparatus which improves image quality by minimizing dots formed on a recording medium. The dots formed by such a printing apparatus have become so small that they cannot be discerned by the naked eye anymore, and further reduction in diameter is expected in the future. In order to form such small-diameter dots, the diameter of the ejection port itself is reduced, and the amount of one ejection is also small. As described above, this affects ink ejection. Therefore, more frequent preliminary ejection processing is required.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the conventional preliminary ejection is performed by moving the recording head to a predetermined preliminary ejection port other than the recording area at regular intervals. Therefore, the movement from the recording area to the preliminary ejection port and the movement from the preliminary ejection to the recording area after the preliminary ejection are movements unrelated to the actual recording. Further, since such a movement occurs, the total recording time becomes longer as compared with a case where the preliminary ejection is not performed.
[0010]
Further, in the conventional preliminary ejection control, the preliminary ejection is performed at regular intervals irrespective of the recording amount and the use / non-use of the nozzles, so that the ink is wastefully consumed.
[0011]
On the other hand, as the diameter of the dots has been reduced, even if only one dot is printed on a sheet of paper on which nothing is recorded, the one dot that has been printed is extremely small and cannot be determined by the naked eye. It never changes. Therefore, even if several dots are ejected in addition to the dots for forming an image in the recordable area of the paper surface, the image quality of the formed image does not deteriorate.
[0012]
Further, if the preliminary ejection that needs to be frequently performed is moved to the preliminary ejection port every time as the dot diameter is reduced, the total recording time is further increased.
[0013]
The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and provides an ink jet recording apparatus and an ink jet recording method in which unnecessary recording head moving processing and unnecessary ink processing are reduced in preliminary ejection processing. The purpose is to do.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a recording head onto a recording medium, and a preliminary ejection pattern for performing preliminary ejection on the recording medium. A print data creating unit that creates print data for driving each of the nozzles based on image data created by a user; and a nozzle drive that combines the print data with the preliminary ejection pattern to form a drive command for each of the nozzles. Data generating means, wherein a printing operation based on the nozzle drive data forms a printing result in which an image based on the printing data and a preliminary ejection result based on the preliminary ejection pattern are mixed on a recording medium. Features.
[0015]
The ink jet recording method of the present invention is a method for performing preliminary discharge onto a recording medium in an ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a recording head onto a recording medium. A print data creating step of creating print data for driving each of the nozzles based on a preliminary ejection pattern for use and image data created by a user; and synthesizing the print data and the preliminary ejection pattern to drive each of the nozzles. And a printing operation based on the nozzle driving data, wherein a printing result based on the printing data and a preliminary ejection result based on the preliminary ejection pattern are mixed on a recording medium by a printing operation based on the nozzle driving data. Is formed.
[0016]
According to the above configuration, since the preliminary ejection using the preliminary ejection pattern and the recording using the print data can be simultaneously performed on the recording medium, during the recording, the preliminary ejection is performed by moving to the preliminary ejection port every scanning. This eliminates the need, and can improve the recording throughput. Further, since the nozzle drive data creating means combines the print data and the preliminary ejection pattern to create nozzle drive data for driving each nozzle, the preliminary ejection is not performed for the nozzle performing the recording, and The preliminary ejection can be performed only for the appropriate nozzle. Therefore, compared to the preliminary ejection which has been performed regardless of whether the ink is used or not, the ink is not wasted and the amount of ink consumption can be reduced.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019]
Reference numeral 101 denotes an ink tank which is connected to the recording head 102 and supplies ink to the recording head 102. The ink has four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K).
[0020]
The recording head 102 has a plurality of ejection ports arranged on a surface facing the recording medium P. The ejection openings are arranged in the arrow Y direction, and the ejection opening rows are arranged in parallel in the arrow X direction for each ink color.
[0021]
A paper feed roller 105 feeds the recording medium P to a recording start position.
[0022]
Reference numeral 106 denotes a carriage on which the ink tank 101 and the recording head 102 are mounted, and performs reciprocating scanning in the direction of arrow X along the guide rail 107. When the carriage 106 scans, ink is ejected from the recording head 102 onto the recording medium P. When the carriage 106 moves to the other end of the recording medium P, the transport rollers 103 and 104 rotate, and transport the recording medium P by a predetermined amount in the arrow Y direction. In this manner, the recording is performed on the entire recording medium P by alternately repeating the recording by the recording head 102 and the paper feeding by the transport rollers 103 and 104.
[0023]
h is a home position, where the carriage 106 waits after the printing operation is completed.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a recording system including an ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0025]
The inkjet recording apparatus 1 is connected to a host computer 2 such as a personal computer by wire or wirelessly, and can transmit and receive data to and from each other. When image data created by the user on the host computer 2 is sent to the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 creates print data based on the image data and performs printing.
[0026]
The recording head has a plurality of ejection ports arranged as described above. Each of the ejection ports communicates with the ink tank through an ink path, and the ejection ports are always filled with ink. Heating heaters, which are electrothermal converters, are provided corresponding to the respective ejection ports. When the ink is ejected, the heating heaters generate heat to cause film boiling in the ink. A predetermined amount of ink is ejected by the generation pressure of bubbles generated by the film boiling. Although the ink ejection method of this embodiment is a so-called bubble-through method, the present invention is not limited to this, and another ink ejection method such as a piezo method may be used.
[0027]
The amount of ink ejected from each ejection port of the recording head at one time is assumed to be 1 to 2 pl. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may take any value.
[0028]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus.
Reference numeral 300 denotes a CPU that controls the entire inkjet recording apparatus. The CPU 300 has a ROM 301 and a random memory (RAM) 302. Then, a drive command is sent to each drive unit via the main bus line 305. Further, the main bus line 305 includes software processing means such as an image input unit 303 and an image signal processing unit 304 for inputting image data from a host computer, an operation unit 306, a recovery system control circuit 307, a head drive control circuit 315, Each of hardware processing units such as a carriage drive control circuit 316 in the main scanning direction and a paper feed control circuit 317 in the sub-scanning direction is accessible. A drive control program for head recovery processing is stored in the RAM 302 in advance, and recovery conditions such as preliminary ejection conditions are given to the recovery system control circuit 307, the recording head, the heat retention heater, and the like as necessary. The recovery motor 308 drives the recording head 313, the cleaning blade 309, the cap 310, and the suction pump 311 which are opposed to and separate from the recording head 313 as described above. The head drive control circuit 315 executes the drive condition of the ink discharge electrothermal transducer of the print head 313, and normally causes the print head 313 to perform preliminary discharge and print ink discharge.
[0029]
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording operation for each scan in the present embodiment.
[0030]
The recording head 102 moves in the forward direction from the recording start position, and records the area D1. When the recording medium moves to the end in the area D1, it stops at that position and waits for the recording medium to be fed. When the paper is fed, the recording medium moves in the backward direction to the start position of the area D2, which is the next recording portion, and performs recording of the area D2. When printing is performed to the end of the area D2, the printing is stopped at that position, and the apparatus waits for the printing medium to be fed. Then, the area D3 is recorded. In the related art, every time one scan recording is performed, the preliminary ejection is performed by moving to the preliminary ejection port provided outside the recording area. In the present embodiment, instead of providing the preliminary ejection port outside the recording area, the preliminary ejection port is provided. Preliminary ejection is also performed in the printing area, thereby improving printing throughput.
[0031]
Hereinafter, a preliminary ejection control method according to the present embodiment will be described.
[0032]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing from image data sent from the host computer to recording.
[0033]
When the image data is sent from the host computer to the ink jet printing apparatus, it is temporarily converted into raster format print data and stored in the receiving buffer (step 501). Next, data is developed in the work buffer in raster units (step 502). When all the data has been developed on the work buffer side, the receiving buffer is released and the newly transmitted image data is stored. On the other hand, the raster-format print data expanded in the work buffer is then converted to column-format print data and expanded in the print buffer (step 503). At this time, the detection of the ejection nozzles used in the next scan is performed in parallel with the development, and is stored as preliminary ejection pattern mask information (step 504). At the same time, preliminary ejection pattern information of a scan width to be printed is created (step 506). The preliminary ejection pattern is formed from the preliminary ejection pattern information, the preliminary ejection pattern mask information, and the preliminary ejection pattern offset information (details will be described later). It is created in a buffer (step 505). The print buffer and the preliminary ejection pattern buffer are overlapped to create actual print data, which is developed in the actual print data buffer (step 507). Then, an actual printing process is performed according to the actual print data. At this time, the start position of the preliminary ejection pattern is updated and stored as preliminary ejection pattern offset information (step 508).
[0034]
Next, a detailed description will be given of a method of developing the preliminary ejection pattern information that is simultaneously developed when the print data is developed in the print buffer in step 503 in the above processing routine.
[0035]
FIG. 6 shows an image stored in the print buffer in a raster format for one scan.
[0036]
It is assumed that the print head has a total of n nozzles, and FIG. 2 shows that the image data prints with the fourth to x-th nozzles.
[0037]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing preliminary ejection pattern mask information.
[0038]
Apart from the print data raster-developed from the work buffer to the print buffer, the print data is data-developed in a column format, and preliminary ejection pattern mask information is created from nozzles used for recording. In the present example, since the fourth to x-th are, the preliminary ejection pattern mask information is a dot row that is continuous from the fourth to the x-th.
[0039]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing preliminary ejection pattern information.
[0040]
Preliminary ejection pattern information is created from the current preliminary ejection offset value (information indicating where to start a preliminary ejection pattern for one cycle, which will be described in detail later).
[0041]
The preliminary ejection pattern is determined by masking the preliminary ejection pattern information and the previously obtained preliminary ejection pattern mask information (see FIG. 7). In the case of this example, in the preliminary ejection pattern information, the dots are evenly scattered from the nozzle 2 to the nozzle n-1. However, in recording an image, the nozzles 4 to x are used, and thus correspond to that portion. It is not necessary to perform a preliminary ejection. Therefore, this part of the data is deleted.
[0042]
FIG. 9 shows preliminary ejection pattern information after performing masking with preliminary ejection pattern mask information. Thus, the ejection pattern from nozzle 4 to nozzle x is deleted. Next, the raster-format recording data already stored in the print buffer and the masked preliminary ejection pattern data are overlapped to obtain actual print data to be actually recorded.
[0043]
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing actual print data obtained by synthesizing the recording data of FIG. 6 and the preliminary ejection pattern data of FIG. By storing this in the actual print buffer and executing the printing process, preliminary ejection can be realized on the paper. That is, the nozzles for printing need not be pre-discharged, so they are omitted, and only the nozzles not used for recording are subjected to pre-discharge. Then, at the time of printing of one scan, only nozzles not used for printing of the scan perform preliminary ejection together. Therefore, in the printing result to be formed, preliminary ejection dots are printed at several places in addition to the original image. However, since the dot diameter is very small, even if one dot is scattered independently, the image quality is hardly affected.
[0044]
Next, a method for determining preliminary ejection pattern information will be described. According to this, the preliminary ejection interval is changed from the basic pattern in accordance with the temperature of the recording head to obtain preliminary ejection pattern information suitable for the current state of the recording head.
[0045]
FIG. 11A shows preliminary ejection reference pattern information stored in a nonvolatile memory in advance.
[0046]
This preliminarily stored preliminary ejection reference pattern information table indicates the absolute position from the recording start position in column units for all nozzles when the preliminary ejection pattern period is f (n). As shown in FIG. 12A, the preliminary ejection pattern information according to this table is such that the nozzle of nozzle number 1 performs preliminary ejection at n1 columns from the print start position K, and the nozzle number at n2 columns from the print start position K. The pattern of the second nozzle performs the preliminary ejection.
[0047]
However, when the temperature of the recording head is high, the ink in the nozzles does not increase in viscosity, so that the frequency of the preliminary ejection may be lower than when the temperature is low. Therefore, unnecessary preliminary ejection can be reduced by adjusting the preliminary ejection pattern cycle according to the temperature of the recording head.
[0048]
FIG. 13 is a table that defines the preliminary ejection interval time for each head temperature. According to this table, the preliminary ejection interval time T is determined according to the head temperature. Here, from the current recording speed V (dot / sec), the period f of the preliminary ejection pattern is determined by the following equation.
f (m) = V × T (m)
Then, the absolute position information of each nozzle is calculated from the ratio of the obtained cycle of the preliminary ejection pattern table to the reference preliminary ejection pattern cycle f (n) to generate the preliminary ejection pattern table of the preliminary ejection pattern cycle f (m). (See FIG. 11B).
[0049]
Next, in the process of performing printing, the start position of the preliminary ejection pattern data needs to be shifted for each scan in order to perform the preliminary ejection at a predetermined time interval. This is performed as follows.
[0050]
First, the recording start position of the first scan after receiving the print data is set to 0. In the preliminary ejection pattern buffer, a preliminary ejection pattern of the maximum width that can be printed in one scan is created in accordance with the resolution at that time. Since the absolute position is indicated in column units from the preliminary ejection pattern information, if the absolute position is included in the maximum print width from the recording start position, data is set at the corresponding address, that is, data that one dot is ejected. To
[0051]
Next, when the print data is developed in the actual print buffer by superimposing the preliminary ejection pattern data and the print data, the print width at that time, that is, a value in a column unit obtained by subtracting the print left end position from the print right end position is obtained, and the preliminary ejection offset information is obtained. Is added to. Note that the initial value of the preliminary ejection offset information is set to 0.
[0052]
At the time of the next print scan, an absolute position serving as a reference is obtained from the preliminary ejection offset information, and preliminary ejection pattern data is generated from that position. When updating the preliminary ejection offset information from the left and right end positions of the printing, if the preliminary ejection pattern period is exceeded, the reference value is returned to 0 and the table is rotated. This makes it possible to periodically perform a preliminary ejection of each nozzle onto the paper surface.
[0053]
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing how the preliminary ejection pattern offset changes from one scan to four scans.
[0054]
In this manner, by generating the preliminary ejection pattern data, it is possible to perform an appropriate nozzle preliminary ejection in each scan.
[0055]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, by using the present invention, the preliminary ejection can be performed on the recording medium at the same time as the recording operation. Therefore, during recording, it is not necessary to move to the preliminary ejection port for each scan and perform the preliminary ejection. Throughput can be improved. Furthermore, since the preliminary ejection is not performed for the nozzles that are performing the recording, and the preliminary ejection is performed only for the necessary nozzles, the preliminary ejection is performed irrespective of use / non-use until now. Ink is not wasted, and ink consumption can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a recording system including the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a recording operation for each scan in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing from image data sent from a host computer to recording.
FIG. 6 is an image diagram stored in a print buffer in a raster format for one scan.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing preliminary ejection pattern mask information.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing preliminary ejection pattern information.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing preliminary ejection pattern data after performing masking with preliminary ejection pattern mask information.
10 is a diagram showing actual print data obtained by synthesizing the print data of FIG. 6 and the preliminary ejection pattern data of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11A shows preliminary ejection reference pattern information stored in a non-volatile memory in advance, and FIG. 11B shows preliminary ejection pattern information obtained by changing a preliminary ejection pattern cycle from the reference pattern.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an actual dot arrangement based on preliminary ejection pattern information.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a recording head temperature and a preliminary ejection interval time.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a preliminary ejection pattern offset position for each scan.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional preliminary ejection method.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Ink tank 102 Recording head 103 Transport roller 104 Transport roller 105 Feed roller 106 Carriage 107 Guide rail 300 CPU
301 ROM
302 RAM
303 Image input unit 304 Image signal processing unit 306 Operation unit 307 Recovery system control circuit 308 Recovery system motor 309 Blade 310 Cap 311 Pump 313 Recording head 315 Head drive control circuit 316 Carriage drive control circuit 317 Paper feed control circuit

Claims (13)

In an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a recording head onto a recording medium,
A preliminary ejection pattern for performing preliminary ejection on a recording medium,
Recording data creating means for creating print data for driving each of the nozzles based on image data created by a user;
A nozzle drive data creating unit that combines the print data and the preliminary ejection pattern and forms a drive command for each of the nozzles;
An ink jet printing apparatus, wherein a printing operation based on the nozzle drive data forms a printing result on a printing medium in which an image based on the printing data and a preliminary ejection result based on the preliminary ejection pattern are mixed. The preliminary ejection pattern is such that dots ejected from each of the nozzles are evenly distributed at regular intervals,
2. The nozzle drive data creating unit according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle drive data creating unit creates nozzle drive data by deleting nozzles used in the print data from the preliminary ejection pattern and combining the print data with the print data. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. The inkjet recording apparatus scans the recording head in a direction different from the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and performs a recording operation of ejecting ink to a recording medium during the scanning, and relatively performs the recording head and the recording medium. By repeating the paper feeding operation of moving the recording medium by a predetermined amount in a direction different from the scanning direction of the recording head by moving the recording medium, a recording image is completed,
A preliminary ejection pattern offset information creating means for storing the extent of the preliminary ejection pattern executed in one scan of the recording head and creating preliminary ejection pattern offset information excluding a previously executed portion at the next scanning. Further,
The nozzle drive data creating unit creates nozzle drive data in one scanning unit, and creates the nozzle drive data based on data from the start position of the preliminary ejection pattern indicated by the preliminary ejection pattern offset information. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The print data creation unit creates print data in one scan unit, and the nozzle drive data creation unit creates preliminary ejection pattern mask data obtained by extracting only nozzles used in the print data for one scan. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a result of masking the preliminary ejection pattern with the preliminary ejection pattern mask data is combined with print data. The preliminary ejection pattern is to eject ink from each nozzle in a predetermined order at regular intervals,
5. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a preliminary ejection interval determination unit that determines an ejection interval of a nozzle in the preliminary ejection pattern according to a temperature and a recording speed of the recording head. Recording device. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the preliminary ejection interval determination unit increases the preliminary ejection interval as the temperature of the recording head increases. The ink jet recording according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the dots formed on the recording medium by the ink ejected from the nozzles have such a size that the dots cannot be distinguished by the naked eye. apparatus. 2. The nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle includes an electrothermal converter, generates bubbles in the ink by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal converter, and discharges a predetermined amount of the ink according to a pressure at which the bubbles are generated. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 7. In an inkjet recording method using an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a recording head onto a recording medium,
A preliminary ejection pattern for performing preliminary ejection on a recording medium,
A print data creation step of creating print data for driving each of the nozzles based on image data created by a user;
A nozzle drive data creating step of combining the print data and the preliminary ejection pattern to form a drive command for each of the nozzles,
An ink jet recording method, characterized in that a recording operation based on the nozzle drive data forms a recording result on the recording medium in which an image based on the recording data and a preliminary ejection result based on the preliminary ejection pattern are mixed. The preliminary ejection pattern is such that dots ejected from each of the nozzles are evenly distributed at regular intervals,
10. The nozzle drive data creating step, wherein nozzles used in the print data are deleted from the preliminary ejection pattern, and the nozzle drive data is created by combining with the print data. 3. The ink jet recording method according to item 1. In the inkjet recording method, the recording head is scanned in a direction different from the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and a recording operation of ejecting ink to a recording medium at the time of the scanning is performed. By repeating the paper feeding operation of moving the recording medium by a predetermined amount in a direction different from the scanning direction of the recording head by moving the recording medium, a recording image is completed,
A preliminary ejection pattern offset information creating step of storing the extent of the preliminary ejection pattern executed in one scan of the recording head and creating preliminary ejection pattern offset information excluding the previously executed portion at the next scan. Further,
The nozzle drive data creating step creates nozzle drive data in one scanning unit, and creates the nozzle drive data based on data from the start position of the preliminary ejection pattern indicated by the preliminary ejection pattern offset information. The inkjet recording method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: In the print data creating step, print data is created in units of one scan, and in the nozzle drive data creating step, preliminary ejection pattern mask data obtained by extracting only nozzles used in the print data for one scan. 12. The ink jet recording method according to claim 11, wherein a result of masking the preliminary ejection pattern with the preliminary ejection pattern mask data is combined with recording data. The preliminary ejection pattern is to eject ink from each nozzle in a predetermined order at regular intervals,
13. The inkjet according to claim 9, further comprising a preliminary ejection interval determining step of determining an ejection interval of a nozzle in the preliminary ejection pattern according to a temperature and a recording speed of the recording head. Recording method.

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