JP2012035446A - Image recording apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily correct displacement of a recorded dot position of a clear ink used to suppress uneven gloss or bronze.SOLUTION: An image recording apparatus includes: a recording means that records patch on which a first pattern recorded by using the clear ink and where a recording region and a non-recording region are alternatively repeated in a registration adjustment direction, and a second pattern that is recorded by using an ink other than the clear ink and two regions having different gloss characteristics are alternatively repeated in the registration adjustment direction are overlapped; and a setting means that sets the registration adjustment amount by using a measurement result of the patch.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus and an image recording method, and more particularly to a technique for aligning clear ink recording positions.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image recording apparatus that uses clear ink that is colorless and transparent with respect to visible light, a registration adjustment (hereinafter referred to as registration adjustment) method for aligning the recording position of the clear ink with the recording position of other ink includes the following technique Is disclosed. First, the first prior art is a technology that detects the clear ink recording position based on the blur between different inks and performs registration adjustment by utilizing the property that the clear ink suppresses the blur between different inks. Yes (Patent Document 1). The second conventional technique is a technique for measuring the surface unevenness, detecting the recording position of the clear ink recorded on the recording medium, and adjusting the registration (Patent Document 2). The third prior art illuminates the area including the position where the clear ink is recorded in order to specify the position where the clear ink droplet is fired, and measures the amount of specular reflection in the area, thereby clearing the clear ink. This is a technique for detecting the ink recording position and performing registration adjustment (Patent Document 3). The fourth prior art is a technique for performing registration adjustment by detecting the clear ink recording position by using the fact that the color is different from the color ink printed when the clear ink is superimposed on the color ink. (Patent Document 4).

JP 2001-138494 A JP 2008-143044 A JP 2003-159783 A JP 2000-141624 A

  However, the first prior art cannot be applied to clear ink that has no effect of suppressing bleeding. Clear inks used to suppress gloss unevenness and bronze suppression of pigment ink printers generally do not have the effect of suppressing bleeding, and therefore the first conventional technique cannot perform registration adjustment. The second prior art requires a highly accurate surface shape measuring device. The thickness of clear ink recorded on a recording medium by a pigment ink printer is often 1 micron or less, and in this case, a device capable of measuring irregularities on the order of nanometers is required. The third prior art requires a device that measures the amount of specular reflection in a minute region of several tens of microns square in order to identify a droplet. In the measurement of a very small area, a device using a microscope lens having a large NA is generally used. In this case, the light collected by the lens includes reflected light in a direction greatly deviating from the regular reflection direction. . It is also possible to use laser light with a small spot diameter. In this case, speckles (interference fringes) are generated due to unevenness on the print surface, and the amount of light received is greatly increased by a slight change in the position of the light receiving sensor. It is difficult to measure accurately. Further, in the fourth prior art, the registration adjustment by visual observation is difficult when there is a small difference in color between when the clear ink is superimposed on the color ink and when only the color ink is recorded. In addition, when using a measuring instrument instead of visual inspection, it is not a simple measuring device that measures the color of a color patch of several millimeters square used for creating a color profile. Special equipment for measuring is required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus that simply corrects the recording position deviation of clear ink dots used for suppressing gloss unevenness and bronzing.

  The image recording apparatus of the present invention is recorded using a clear ink, and is recorded using a first pattern in which a recording area and a non-recording area are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction, and an ink other than the clear ink. Recording means for recording a patch in which a second pattern in which two areas having different gloss characteristics are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction is recorded, and setting means for setting a registration adjustment amount using the measurement result of the patch; It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily correct the recording position shift amount of clear ink dots used for suppressing gloss unevenness and bronzing.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image recording apparatus. It is a schematic diagram explaining the structure of a head cartridge. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a discharge port surface of a recording head. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a registration adjustment patch. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a registration adjustment patch. It is a schematic diagram explaining the optical system of a reflected light detection part. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image recording system. It is a block diagram explaining the control structure of an image recording device. It is a dot formation example for demonstrating a registration adjustment method. It is a block diagram for demonstrating a registration adjustment method. It is a timing chart for explaining a registration adjustment method. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a registration adjustment patch with a typical positional deviation amount. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the specular gloss measurement result of a registration adjustment patch. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a registration adjustment patch. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a registration adjustment value setting procedure. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a registration adjustment procedure. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a registration adjustment patch with a typical positional deviation amount. It is a schematic diagram which shows two patterns which comprise a registration adjustment patch. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a registration adjustment patch with a typical positional deviation amount.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
(Schematic configuration of image recording system)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image recording system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, a host 700 as an information processing apparatus is realized as a personal computer, for example. The host 700 includes a CPU 701, a memory 702, an input unit 703 such as a keyboard, an external storage device 704, and an interface 705 for communication with an image recording device (printer) 800. The CPU 701 executes various processes in accordance with programs stored in the memory 702. In particular, image processing such as color processing and quantization processing, and further, image recording position correction processing according to the present embodiment ( Execute cash register adjustment). These programs are stored in the external storage device 704 or supplied from an external connection device (not shown). The host 700 is connected to the image recording apparatus 800 via an interface (I / F) 705, and print data subjected to image processing can be transmitted to the image recording apparatus 800 for recording.

(Schematic configuration of image recording apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image recording apparatus 800. Reference numeral 101 denotes a head cartridge in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrally formed. The head cartridge 101 is mounted on the carriage 102 in a replaceable manner. The head cartridge 101 has a recording head composed of a plurality of ejection openings, an ink tank that supplies ink to the recording head, and a connector for transmitting and receiving signals for driving the ejection openings of the recording head. Is provided. The head cartridge 101 is mounted on the carriage 102 so as to be replaceable. The carriage 102 is provided with a connector holder for transmitting a drive signal and the like to each head cartridge 101 via the connector. Reference numeral 103 denotes a guide shaft. The carriage 102 can reciprocate along the guide shaft 103. Specifically, the carriage 102 is driven by a main scanning motor 104 as a driving source through a driving mechanism such as a motor pulley 105, a driven pulley 106, and a timing belt 107, and its position and movement are controlled. The movement of the carriage along the guide shaft 103 is referred to as “main scanning”, and the movement direction is referred to as “main scanning direction”. A recording medium 108 such as a print sheet is mounted on an auto sheet feeder (hereinafter referred to as ASF) 110. When an image is recorded, a pickup roller 112 is rotated through a gear by driving a paper feed motor 111, and separated from the ASF 110 one by one. Paper. Further, the recording medium 108 is conveyed to the print start position facing the ejection port surface of the head cartridge 101 on the carriage 102 by the rotation of the conveyance roller 109. The conveyance by the conveyance roller 109 is performed via a gear by the rotation of a line feeder (hereinafter referred to as LF) motor 113. At this time, whether or not the paper has been fed and the cueing position at the time of feeding are determined when the recording medium 108 passes through the paper end sensor 114. The head cartridge 101 mounted on the carriage 102 is held so that the ejection port surface protrudes downward from the carriage 102 and is parallel to the recording medium 108. Reference numeral 115 denotes a reflected light detection unit that detects reflected light from the test pattern image recorded on the recording medium 108. The reflected light detection unit 115 is mounted on the carriage 102 and moves along the guide shaft 103 together with the head cartridge 101. When the reflected light is detected, the reflected light detection unit 115 is controlled to come to a position facing the measured patch image by scanning the carriage 102 and feeding the paper by the transport roller 109.

(Image recording operation)
The image recording operation is performed as follows. First, when the recording medium 108 is conveyed to a predetermined recording start position, the carriage 102 moves along the guide shaft 103 on the recording medium 108, and ink is discharged from the discharge port of the recording head during the movement. . When the carriage 102 moves to one end of the guide shaft 103, the conveyance roller 109 conveys the recording medium 108 by a predetermined amount in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 102. Hereinafter, this is referred to as “paper feeding” or “sub-scanning”, and this transport direction is referred to as “paper feeding direction” or “sub-scanning direction”. When the conveyance of the predetermined amount of the recording medium 108 is completed, the carriage 102 moves again along the guide shaft 103. In this way, an image is formed on the entire recording medium 108 by repeating the scanning by the print head carriage 102 and paper feeding.

(Recording head)
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the head cartridge 101. As shown in FIG. 2A, the head cartridge 101 includes an ink tank 201 that stores ink, and a recording head 202 that discharges ink supplied from the ink tank 201 in accordance with an ejection signal. The head cartridge 101 includes, as ink tanks, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan, black, gray, and clear ink tanks 201 independent of each other, as shown in FIG. It is removable. The ink ejection port is located below the recording head 202.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the ejection port surface of the recording head 202. In this example, six recording heads are juxtaposed in the main scanning direction for each ink color. Each recording head is provided with two ejection port arrays in the main scanning direction for each color, in which 128 ejection ports 301 are arranged at a pitch of 600 dpi (dot / inch) per column and shifted in the sub scanning direction. A resolution of 1200 dpi is realized with 256 ejection openings per color.

(Reflected light quantity detection unit)
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the reflected light detection unit 115 illustrated in FIG. 1. In the present embodiment, the reflected light detection unit 115 illuminates the recording medium 108 on which a registration adjustment patch to be described later is recorded, and detects the luminance component of the regular reflection light from the recording medium. The reflected light detection unit 115 is attached to the carriage 102 as described above, and includes a light emitting unit 602, a light projecting lens 603, a light receiving lens 604, a diaphragm 605, and a light receiving unit 606. Light emitted from the light emitting unit 602 is converted into parallel light by the light projecting lens 603 to illuminate the recording medium 108, and regular reflection light from the recording medium 108 is received by the light receiving unit 606 through the light receiving lens 604 and the diaphragm 605. . The detection signal is transmitted to a control circuit formed on the electric base of the printing apparatus via a flexible cable (not shown), and is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter on the circuit. The light emitting unit 602 is a white LED, and the light receiving unit 606 is a photodetector having spectral sensitivity characteristics corresponding to the visibility. The size of the measurement region (L in the figure) is, for example, 10 mm, and the total sum of specular reflection light from the measurement region is received by the light receiving unit 606. That is, the reflected light amount detection unit in the present embodiment is not a device that measures the amount of regular reflected light in a small area of several tens of microns square as described in Patent Document 3, but to measure a patch of several millimeters square. A simple measuring device can be applied.

(Image recording device control configuration)
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the image recording apparatus 800 described above. As shown in FIG. 8, the control system includes a CPU 801 such as a microprocessor, and a control unit 80 including a ROM 802 that stores a control program for the CPU 801 and various data. The control unit 80 includes a RAM 803 that is used as a work area for the CPU 801 and stores various data such as print data and registration adjustment values. The control system also includes an interface 81, an operation panel 82, a driver 86 for driving each motor (main scanning motor 104, paper feed motor 111, LF motor 113), and a driver 87 for driving the recording head 202. Have. In the above configuration, the control unit 80 performs processing for inputting / outputting data such as print data to / from the host 700 via the interface 81 and processing for inputting various information from the operation panel 82. The control unit 80 outputs ON / OFF signals for driving the motors via the interface 81, and outputs ejection signals and the like to the driver 87 to control driving for ink ejection in the recording head. To do.

(Registration adjustment method in the main scanning direction)
Next, a registration adjustment method in the main scanning direction (an ink dot formation position shift correction method) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 shows an example of forming black dots and clear dots. A black dot is an ink dot that is recorded on a recording medium by ink droplets of black ink ejected from a black (hereinafter also referred to as “K”) recording head. A clear dot is an ink dot recorded on a recording medium by ink droplets of clear ink ejected from a clear (hereinafter also referred to as “N”) recording head. K dots are recorded away from the reference position by a distance L1 in the main scanning direction of arrow A. On the other hand, N dots are recorded away from K dots by a distance L2 in the main scanning direction of arrow A. That is, the recording positions of K dots and N dots are shifted by a distance L2. Correcting the displacement of the recording position, that is, adjusting the ejection timing so that the recording positions of N dots and K dots overlap. Specifically, the reference signal for determining the recording start position of the recording head is delayed in consideration of such a shift amount of the dot recording position. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the K main scanning direction delay 10 and the N main scanning direction delay 11 are used to delay the K head and N head recording start signals (K recording start signal and N recording start signal). Correspond. The deviation is corrected by advancing the N recording start signal by an amount corresponding to the L2 distance from the K recording start signal. In the case of the example of FIG. 9, as shown in FIG. 11, the K recording start signal is delayed by a time T1 corresponding to the L1 distance based on the reference signal, and the nozzle of the K recording head (hereinafter referred to as “K print”). (Also referred to as “nozzle”), and K ink is ejected. Further, the N recording start signal is delayed by a time T2 corresponding to the distance (L1-L2), the nozzles of the N head (hereinafter also referred to as “N recording nozzles”) are driven, and N ink is ejected. In this way, by shifting the N recording start signal earlier than the K recording start signal by a time corresponding to the L2 distance, the recording position shift between the K dots and the N dots is corrected, and the K dots and N dots in the main scanning direction are corrected. The recording position can be adjusted. That is, the delay is an ejection timing correction amount for matching the ink dot recording positions. If the shift amount (L2) of the recording position can be detected, the N dot recording position can be matched with the K dot recording position. 9 to 11, the example of the alignment of the N ink dots and the K ink dots has been described. However, the adjustment is not limited to the K ink dots, and the other color dots are adjusted in the same manner. Can do.

(Registration adjustment patch)
Next, a registration adjustment patch (test image) that characterizes the present embodiment will be described. The image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment records a registration adjustment patch whose gloss characteristics change in accordance with a shift amount of a recording position between a clear ink dot and another ink dot on a recording medium. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a registration adjustment patch according to the present embodiment. The registration adjustment patch of this embodiment uses the following characteristics typically seen when recording on glossy paper with a pigment ink printer. That is, the non-recording portion where the recording medium (for example, glossy paper) is exposed has a low specular gloss, and the recording portion covered with N dots and the recording portion covered with K dots have a high specular gloss. . The registration adjustment patch of the present embodiment is obtained by superimposing two patterns. Specifically, the first pattern is a pattern (FIG. 4A) in which clear ink is used and slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction. The second pattern is a pattern (FIG. 4B) in which K ink is used and slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction. The slit width is set to the same size (L3 / 2) for the pattern using N ink and the pattern using K ink. The value of L3 is, for example, 200 microns, and the size of the entire registration adjustment patch is, for example, 15 mm square. The registration adjustment direction is a direction in which the recording positions are aligned. For example, when the K dot and N dot recording positions in the main scanning direction are aligned, the registration adjustment direction is the main scanning direction.

  When such a registration adjustment patch is used, the specular glossiness of the entire patch changes depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and K dots. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining how the state of the registration adjustment patch changes depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and K dots. FIG. 12 shows the state of the registration adjustment patch in three types of deviation amounts. FIG. 12A shows, for example, a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of N dots and K dots coincide, that is, a patch pattern that is recorded when no positional deviation occurs, and a recording unit using N dots. And the recording area by K dots completely overlap. In this case, half of the patch is an area with a small specular glossiness where the recording medium is exposed. Accordingly, the specular gloss of the entire patch is reduced. On the other hand, FIG. 12C is a registration adjustment patch recorded when the recording positions of N dots and K dots are shifted by a distance L3 / 2 (slit width). The recording section is staggered. In this case, the entire surface of the patch is covered with N dots or K dots, resulting in a region having a high specular glossiness, and the specular glossiness of the entire patch is larger than that in the case of FIG. FIG. 12B shows a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of the N dots and the K dots are shifted by a distance L3 / 4 in the intermediate state. In this case, a quarter of the patch is a region having a small specular glossiness where the recording medium is exposed, and the specular glossiness of the entire patch is intermediate between the two. In other words, according to the registration adjustment patch of the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and K dots from the specular gloss of the entire patch adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium.

  Incidentally, in FIGS. 4 and 12, an example of a registration adjustment patch made up of a pattern using N ink and a pattern using K ink has been described. However, among these patterns, the pattern using K ink is not limited to K ink, and can use other inks having different specular glossiness in the recording portion and the non-recording portion. For example, if cyan (hereinafter also referred to as “C”) ink is used in place of K ink, the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and C dots can be obtained. Further, in an image recording apparatus using two types of clear inks having different specular glossiness, one clear ink (N1 ink) is used for the N ink, and the other clear ink (N2 ink) is used instead of the K ink. ) May be used. In this way, it is also possible to obtain the amount of shift in the recording position between the N1 ink dots and the N2 ink dots. Further, the ink to be used is not limited to one type, and a plurality of types of ink may be used. For example, in addition to K ink, C ink may be used to record the above-described recording portion using K dots. In this case, the dot recording positions of K dots and C dots are adjusted in advance by known misregistration correction or the like.

  In FIGS. 4 and 12, an example of a pattern including a recording portion covered with K dots and a non-recording portion where the recording medium is exposed is described as a pattern using K ink. However, this non-recording portion may be covered with ink dots as long as the glossiness is different from that of the recording portion. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the registration adjustment patch. When the specular glossiness of K dots and C dots is different, as shown in FIG. 5B, instead of the pattern using K ink in FIG. A pattern in which covered regions are alternately arranged in a slit shape may be used. Also in this case, the K dot and C dot dot recording positions are set in advance.

  That is, the registration adjustment patch may be configured by the first pattern and the second pattern. Specifically, the first pattern is recorded using one type of clear ink, and the recording area and the non-recording area are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction. The second pattern is recorded using ink other than the clear ink, and two regions having different specular glossiness are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction. One of the two areas constituting the second pattern may be a non-recording portion or both may be recording portions. Further, the recording portion of the second pattern may be recorded with a plurality of types of ink. The recording unit of the second pattern may be recorded with a clear ink other than the clear ink used in the first pattern.

  By the way, the specular gloss is strongly influenced by the material of the outermost surface of the sample. Therefore, preferably, the first pattern is recorded after the second pattern, and the dots of the clear ink used in the first pattern are arranged on the outermost surface of the registration adjustment patch. When recording is performed in this way, even if both of the two areas of the second pattern are recording units, the specular gloss of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium changes. Specifically, the specular gloss of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the shift amount of the recording position between the clear ink dot used in the first pattern and the ink dot used in the second pattern. The degree changes.

  More preferably, each area is recorded in the following order. First, the recording area of the first pattern is the area A, the specular glossiness of the area A is A, the two areas constituting the second pattern are the areas where the specular glossiness is large, the areas B, and the specular glossiness of the area B is B. Further, when the other area constituting the second pattern is the area C and the specular glossiness of the area C is C, each area is recorded in the following order. That is, when A is larger than B, area C is recorded first, area A is then recorded, and area B is finally recorded. If A is smaller than B and larger than C, the area C is recorded first, then the area B is recorded, and finally the area A is recorded. If A is smaller than C, the area B is recorded first, then the area A is recorded, and finally the area C is recorded. If recording is performed in this order, the amount of positional deviation is reduced even if the amount of recording positional deviation between the clear ink dots used in the first pattern and the ink dots used in the second pattern is the same. It can be obtained with higher accuracy. That is, the specular gloss of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium is greatly changed compared to when recording is performed in the other order, and the positional deviation amount can be obtained with higher accuracy.

(Specular gloss)
The specular glossiness is determined by JIS Z8741, but the specular glossiness according to the present invention is not limited to the value measured by a method conforming to JIS, and the brightness of reflected light reflected in the regular reflection direction. Values corresponding to the components can be used. For example, the incident angle of the illumination light to the sample may be an angle different from any of 85 degrees, 75 degrees, 60 degrees, 45 degrees, and 20 degrees defined by JIS. Alternatively, the reflected light amount normalized so that the maximum regular reflection light amount is 1 and the minimum regular reflection light amount is 0, or a value corresponding to the regular reflection light amount may be used.

(Registration adjustment value setting procedure)
Next, a registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment will be described. The registration adjustment value (registration adjustment amount) is a value for correcting the recording position, which is adjusted based on the calculated recording position shift amount. A specific example is a discharge timing correction amount. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for setting a registration adjustment value performed in the image recording apparatus 800. First, in step S150, the registration adjustment value setting mode is selected from the user on the operation panel of the image recording apparatus 800. When the user selects the registration adjustment value setting mode, in step S151, the image recording apparatus 800 records the aforementioned registration adjustment patch on the recording medium. That is, the image recording apparatus 800 performs a test image recording operation. In step S152, the specular gloss of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium 108 in step S151 is measured. The specular gloss is measured as follows. That is, the main scanning motor 104 and the LF motor 113 are driven to move the recording medium 108 and the carriage 102, and the reflected light detection unit 115 mounted on the carriage is arranged at the measurement position of the registration adjustment patch. Then, the mirror glossiness of the registration adjustment patch is measured in a state where the carriage is stationary in order to avoid the influence of noise due to driving of the carriage. Next, in step S153, based on the specular glossiness of the measurement result, the amount of shift in the recording position between the clear ink dots used for the first pattern recording and the ink dots used for the second pattern recording is determined. calculate. The shift amount of the recording position is calculated by a known interpolation method based on a correspondence table of the mirror glossiness and the shift amount of the recording position stored in advance. Next, in step S154, the main ink scanning direction delay of the clear ink, which is the clear ink ejection timing correction amount (the N main scanning direction delay described above), is obtained from the printing position shift amount calculated in step S153. Alternatively, in step S154, the main scanning direction delay is obtained for the ink used for the recording of the second pattern from the shift amount of the recording position calculated in step S153. Finally, in step S155, the main scanning direction delay of the clear ink head obtained in step S154 or the main scanning direction delay of the ink used for recording the second pattern is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 803 of the image recording apparatus 800. Stored.

(Registration adjustment procedure)
Next, a registration adjustment procedure in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the CPU 801 that is performed during the recording operation of the image recording apparatus 800. First, in step S160, an instruction to record image data is received from the GUI of the host 700 or an instruction to record image data from the operation panel of the image recording apparatus 800. In step S161, the ejection timing correction amount (main scanning direction delay) of each ink head stored in the RAM 803 of the image recording apparatus 800 is read. Next, in step S162, the value acquired in step S161 is set in the recording start signal of each ink, and the recording operation of the image data instructed for recording in step S163 is executed.

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the registration adjustment patch whose specular glossiness changes according to the shift amount of the clear ink dot recording position is recorded on the recording medium. Then, by measuring the specular gloss of the entire surface of the recorded patch, the shift amount of the recording position can be easily obtained. Further, the ink discharge timing correction amount is obtained from the shift amount of the recording position and stored. At the time of image recording, a recording start signal for each ink is set based on the ink ejection timing correction amount read from the storage location, and the recording operation is executed. As a result, the recording position deviation of the clear ink dots can be corrected.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, a plurality of registration adjustment patches are recorded on a recording medium, and the mirror glossiness of each patch is measured, thereby calculating a deviation amount of a clear ink dot recording position and correcting the recording position deviation. Device. Note that the configuration of the image recording apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

(Registration adjustment patch)
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording medium on which a registration adjustment image according to the second embodiment is recorded. In the present embodiment, nine registration adjustment patches in which the relative positional deviation amount between the first pattern (FIG. 4A) and the second pattern (FIG. 4B) constituting the registration adjustment patch is changed in nine steps. Is recorded on the recording medium. The positional shift amounts of the nine patches differ by L3 / 8, and the top patch in FIG. 14 is recorded with the position of the N ink dot preceding the recording position by the reference recording start signal by L3 × 4/8. In this manner, the recording start signal of N ink is set and recorded. Similarly, the next patch is recorded by setting the N ink recording start signal so that the recording is preceded by L3 × 3/8, and the fifth patch has the reference recording start signal added to the N ink recording start signal. Set and record. The lowermost patch sets and records the N ink recording open signal so that the N ink dot position is recorded with a delay of L3 × 4/8 from the recording position by the reference recording start signal. The recording start signal for K ink is set and recorded as a reference recording start signal. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the specular glossiness of the registration adjustment patch. The horizontal axis represents the positional deviation amount of N ink dots, and shows the distance from the recording position by the reference recording start signal. The vertical axis indicates the specular gloss of the patch. The amount of positional deviation on the horizontal axis is a negative value when recording is performed prior to the recording position by the reference recording start signal, and is a positive value when recording is delayed from the reference position. At this time, the value on the horizontal axis (P in FIG. 13) at which the specular glossiness is minimum is the positional deviation amount between the N ink dots and the K ink dots. That is, as described in the first embodiment, the recording portion with N dots and the recording portion with K dots are completely overlapped, and half of the patch is a region having a low specular glossiness where the recording medium is exposed. The specular gloss of the entire patch is minimized. Therefore, by setting a recording start signal corresponding to the amount of deviation, the positions of the N ink dots and the K ink dots can be matched.

(Registration adjustment value setting procedure)
The registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment is the same as that of the image recording apparatus in the first embodiment except for steps S152 and S153, and the description is omitted except for the above steps. In the registration adjustment value setting procedure in this embodiment, in step S152, the specular glossiness of the plurality of registration adjustment patches recorded on the recording medium 108 in step S151 is measured. In step S153, the positional deviation amount at which the specular glossiness is minimized is calculated. The positional deviation amount that minimizes the specular glossiness may be calculated by approximating the above-described graph of FIG. 13 with a function. Further, an average value of the nine specular gloss values may be obtained, two positional deviation amounts corresponding to the average value may be obtained by a known interpolation method, and an average of the two positional deviation amounts may be obtained. .

  According to the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to previously store a correspondence table between the specular gloss and the recording position shift amount. In addition, the correspondence between the amount of misalignment and specular gloss may change depending on the characteristics of the recording media and the variation of the measuring instrument, but even in such a case, the misalignment amount that minimizes the specular gloss will change. do not do. Therefore, according to the image recording apparatus of this embodiment for obtaining the positional deviation amount of the point having the minimum specular gloss, the recording position deviation of the clear ink dots can be stably corrected regardless of the disturbance.

<Embodiment 3>
In the third embodiment, a plurality of registration adjustment patches are recorded on a recording medium, and a selection reception process for receiving a selection of a patch having the smallest specular glossiness from the user is performed, thereby shifting the clear ink dot recording position. This is an image recording apparatus that acquires the amount and corrects the recording position deviation. Since the registration adjustment patch is the same as that of the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

(Outline configuration of image recording device)
The image recording apparatus of this embodiment does not have the reflected light detection unit 115. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

(Registration adjustment value setting procedure)
The registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment is the same as that of the image recording apparatus in the first embodiment except for steps S152 and S153, and the description is omitted except for the above steps. In the registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment, in step S152, selection of a patch having the smallest specular glossiness is received from the user from among the plurality of registration adjustment patches recorded on the recording medium 108 in step S151. In step S153, the positional deviation amount corresponding to the patch received in step S152 is set as the recording positional deviation amount between the N ink dots and the K ink dots. Note that the registration adjustment patch received in step S152 may be a patch having the highest specular gloss. In that case, the positional deviation amount may be corrected by L3 / 2. Alternatively, a reference patch may be prepared in advance, and selection of a patch having a specular glossiness closest to this patch may be accepted.

  According to the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to measure the specular gloss, the recording position shift of the clear ink dots can be corrected with a simpler configuration.

<Embodiment 4>
In the fourth embodiment, a registration adjustment patch whose amount of bronze changes according to the amount of deviation of the clear ink dot recording position is recorded on the recording medium, and the amount of deviation of the recording position is easily obtained by measuring the amount of bronze. An image recording apparatus. Note that the configuration of the image recording apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

(bronze)
Bronze is a phenomenon in which an image of the reflected illumination is observed in a color different from the original color when the illumination is reflected on the recorded matter. When white illumination is reflected, the image appears reddish. The bronze amount is an index related to the coloration of specular reflection light. When the tristimulus value when the illumination is directly measured is XsYsZs and the tristimulus value of the illumination reflected on the sample is XxYxZx, the following equation (1): This is the amount Br obtained from (2).

Br = (Ba ^ 2 + Bb ^ 2) ^ (1/2) (2)
The bronze amount according to the present embodiment is not limited to the value calculated by the above formulas (1) and (2), and a value corresponding to the chromaticity component of the reflected light reflected in the regular reflection direction can be used. For example, the difference between the maximum transmitted light amount and the minimum transmitted light amount obtained from the red, green, and blue filter transmitted light amounts, the value obtained by dividing the transmitted light amount of the red filter by the transmitted light amount of the green filter, and the inverse of the transmitted light amount of the blue filter A value corresponding to such as may be used.

(Reflected light quantity detection unit)
The reflected light detection unit 115 of the present embodiment illuminates a recording medium 108 on which a registration adjustment patch described later is recorded, and detects the chromaticity component of the regular reflection light from the recording medium. The light receiving unit 606 is a sensor that measures tristimulus values XYZ. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  The light receiving unit 606 may be an RGB color sensor that measures the luminance of three colors, R, G, B, or a single color sensor (for example, a red sensor) instead of the sensor that measures the tristimulus values. . The light receiving unit 606 may be a photodetector having a spectral sensitivity corresponding to the visibility, and conversely, the light emitting unit 602 may be an R, G, B, or three color light source.

(Registration adjustment patch)
Next, the registration adjustment patch of this embodiment will be described. The registration adjustment patch of this embodiment uses the following characteristics typically seen when recording on glossy paper with a pigment ink printer. That is, the bronze amount of the recording portion where the C dots constitute the outermost surface is large, and the bronze amount of the non-recording portion where the recording medium is exposed and the recording portion where the N dots constitute the outermost surface are small. The registration adjustment patch of the present embodiment is obtained by superimposing two patterns. Specifically, the first pattern is a pattern (FIG. 4A) in which clear ink is used and slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction. The second pattern uses C ink, and is a pattern in which slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction (the black recording portion in FIG. 4B is replaced with a cyan recording portion). Pattern). When superimposing, considering the amount of bronze, preferably N dots are recorded after C dots, and N dots are arranged on the outermost surface of the registration adjustment patch. The slit width is set to the same size (L3 / 2) for the pattern using N ink and the pattern using C ink. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  When such a registration adjustment patch is used, the bronze amount of the entire patch changes depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and C dots. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram for explaining how the state of the registration adjustment patch changes depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and C dots. FIG. 17 shows the state of the registration adjustment patch in three types of deviation amounts. FIG. 17A shows a registration adjustment patch when, for example, the recording positions of N dots and C dots coincide with each other, and the recording portion with N dots completely overlaps the recording portion with C dots. In this case, since the registration adjustment patch is composed of two regions each having a small bronze amount, that is, a region where the recording medium is exposed and a region where N dots form the outermost surface, the bronze amount is small. On the other hand, FIG. 17C is a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of N dots and C dots are shifted by a distance L3 / 2 (slit width). Are staggered. In this case, half of the registration adjustment patch is a region having a large bronze amount in which C dots constitute the outermost surface, so that the bronze amount of the entire patch is larger than in the case of FIG. FIG. 17B shows a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of the N dot and the C dot are shifted by a distance L3 / 4 in the intermediate state. In this case, one-fourth of the patch is a region with a small bronze amount where the recording medium is exposed, and the other two-quarter is a region with a small bronze amount where N dots constitute the outermost surface, and the other one-fourth. Is a region with a large amount of bronze in which C dots constitute the outermost surface. As a result, the bronze amount of the entire patch is intermediate between the two states. That is, according to the registration adjustment patch of the present embodiment, the shift amount of the recording position of N dots and C dots can be obtained from the bronze amount of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium.

  In the above example, the registration adjustment patch including the pattern using N ink and the pattern using C ink has been described. However, the pattern using C ink among these is not limited to C ink, and other inks having different bronze amounts in the recording portion and the non-recording portion can be used. For example, if a gray (hereinafter also referred to as “Gy”) ink is used instead of the C ink, it is possible to obtain a recording position shift amount between N dots and Gy dots. Further, the ink to be used is not limited to one type, and a plurality of types of ink may be used.

  In the above example, as an example of a pattern using C ink, an example of a pattern including a recording portion covered with C dots and a non-recording portion where the recording medium is exposed has been described. May be covered with ink dots as long as the recording portion and the bronze amount are different.

  That is, the registration adjustment patch may be configured by the first pattern and the second pattern. Specifically, the first pattern is recorded using one type of clear ink, and the recording area and the non-recording area are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction. The second pattern is recorded using an ink other than the clear ink, and two regions having different bronze amounts are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction. One of the two areas constituting the second pattern may be a non-recording portion or both may be recording portions. Further, the recording portion of the second pattern may be recorded with a plurality of types of ink. The recording unit of the second pattern may be recorded with a clear ink other than the clear ink used in the first pattern.

  By the way, the bronze amount is strongly influenced by the material on the outermost surface of the sample. Therefore, preferably, the first pattern is recorded after the second pattern, and the dots of the clear ink used in the first pattern are arranged on the outermost surface of the registration adjustment patch. When recording is performed in this way, even if the bronze amount of the recording medium and the bronze amount of N dots are substantially the same, the bronze amount of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium changes. That is, the amount of bronzing of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium changes according to the amount of deviation of the recording position between the clear ink dots used in the first pattern and the ink dots used in the second pattern. .

  More preferably, each area is recorded in the following order. First, a recording area of the first pattern is an area A, a bronze amount of the area A is A, an area having a large bronze amount among the two areas constituting the second pattern is an area B, and a bronze amount of the area B is B. . When the other area constituting the second pattern is area C and the bronze amount of area C is C, each area is recorded in the following order. That is, when A is larger than B, area C is recorded first, area A is then recorded, and area B is finally recorded. If A is smaller than B and larger than C, the area C is recorded first, then the area B is recorded, and finally the area A is recorded. If A is smaller than C, the area B is recorded first, then the area A is recorded, and finally the area C is recorded. If recording is performed in this order, the amount of positional deviation is reduced even if the amount of recording positional deviation between the clear ink dots used in the first pattern and the ink dots used in the second pattern is the same. It can be obtained with higher accuracy. That is, the amount of bronze of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium changes more greatly than when recording is performed in another order, and the amount of positional deviation can be obtained with higher accuracy.

(Registration adjustment value setting procedure)
The registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment is the same as that of the image recording apparatus in the first embodiment except for steps S152 and S153, and the description is omitted except for the above steps. In the registration adjustment value setting procedure in this embodiment, in step S152, the bronze amount of the registration adjustment patch recorded on the recording medium 108 in step S151 is measured. In measuring the amount of bronze, the main scanning motor 104 and the LF motor 113 are driven to move the recording medium 108 and the carriage 102, and the reflected light detection unit 115 mounted on the carriage is arranged at the measurement position of the registration adjustment patch. Then, the amount of bronzing of the registration adjustment patch is measured while the carriage is stationary in order to avoid the influence of noise due to the carriage driving. Next, in step S153, based on the bronze amount measured in step 152, the amount of deviation of the recording position between the clear ink dots used for the first pattern recording and the ink dots used for the second pattern recording. Is calculated. The deviation amount of the recording position is calculated by a known interpolation method based on a correspondence table of the bronze amount and the deviation amount of the recording position stored in advance.

  In this embodiment, the amount of misregistration of the recording position is obtained using one type of registration adjustment patch. However, as with the image recording apparatus of the second embodiment, recording is performed from the bronze amounts of a plurality of registration adjustment patches. Needless to say, a configuration for obtaining the positional deviation amount may be used. In this case, in step S152, the amount of each bronze of the plurality of registration adjustment patches is measured. In step S153, a positional deviation amount that minimizes the bronze amount is calculated. The positional shift amount that minimizes the bronze amount may be calculated by function approximation from the relationship between the positional shift amount corresponding to each registration adjustment patch and the bronze amount, or two positional shifts corresponding to the average bronze amount. You may obtain | require by calculating | requiring the quantity by the well-known interpolation method and calculating the average.

  Further, as in the image recording apparatus of the third embodiment, it is needless to say that the configuration may be such that the selection of the patch having the smallest bronze amount from the plurality of registration adjustment patches is received from the user and the shift amount of the recording position is obtained. In that case, in step S152, selection of a patch having the smallest bronze amount is accepted from among a plurality of registration adjustment patches. In step S153, the positional deviation amount corresponding to the patch received in step S152 is set as the recording positional deviation amount between the N ink dots and the C ink dots. Note that the registration adjustment patch received in step S152 may be a patch having the largest bronze amount. In that case, the positional deviation amount may be corrected by L3 / 2. Alternatively, a reference patch may be prepared in advance, and selection of a bronze patch closest to this patch may be accepted.

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the registration adjustment patch in which the bronze amount changes depending on the shift amount of the clear ink dot recording position is recorded on the recording medium, and the bronze amount is measured. Thus, the shift amount of the recording position can be easily obtained. By using the bronze amount, it is possible to correct the recording position deviation of the clear ink dots even if the various ink dots and the specular gloss of the recording medium are substantially constant.

<Embodiment 5>
In the fifth embodiment, a plurality of registration adjustment patches are recorded on a recording medium, and a clear ink dot recording position is determined by receiving from the user the selection of a patch that is most easily identified by the difference in bronze amount. This is an image recording apparatus for acquiring a deviation amount.

(Outline configuration of image recording device)
The image recording apparatus of this embodiment does not have the reflected light detection unit 115. Since other configurations are the same as those of the fourth embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

(Registration adjustment patch)
Next, the registration adjustment patch of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a registration adjustment patch according to the present embodiment. The registration adjustment patch of the present embodiment is obtained by superimposing two patterns. The first pattern uses clear ink, and is a pattern (FIG. 18A) in which slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction to form a circular pattern as a whole. The second pattern is a pattern (FIG. 18B) in which C ink is used and slit-like recording portions and non-recording portions are alternately arranged in the registration adjustment direction. As described above, preferably, the N dots are recorded after the C dots, and the N dots are arranged on the outermost surface of the registration adjustment patch. The slit width is set to the same size (L3 / 2) for the pattern using N ink and the pattern using C ink. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  When such a registration adjustment patch is used, the bronze amount of the portion where the two patterns overlap varies depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of the N dots and the C dots. FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram for explaining how the state of the registration adjustment patch changes depending on the shift amount of the recording positions of N dots and C dots. FIG. 19 shows the state of the registration adjustment patch in three types of deviation amounts. FIG. 19A shows a registration adjustment patch when, for example, the recording positions of N dots and C dots coincide with each other, and the recording portion with N dots completely overlaps the recording portion with C dots. In this case, the portion where the two patterns in the registration adjustment patch overlap (hereinafter also referred to as “overlapping portion” or “second region”) occupies half of the region where the recording medium is exposed, and the other half is N dots. The area constituting the outermost surface occupies. Since both are composed of two regions having a small amount of bronze, the bronze amount of the overlapping portion is small. On the other hand, the portion (hereinafter also referred to as “single portion” or “first region”) consisting only of the pattern using the C ink of the registration adjustment patch occupies half of the region where C dots constitute the outermost surface, and the rest The area where the recording medium is exposed occupies half. That is, the ratio of the region where the amount of bronze is large and the C dot constitutes the outermost surface is 0 for the overlapping portion, whereas the single portion is half, and the single portion has a larger bronze amount than the overlapping portion. In this case, when the illumination light is reflected on the registration adjustment patch, the pattern (circle) of the pattern using the clear ink appears to appear due to the difference in the bronze amount between the overlapping portion and the single portion.

  FIG. 19C is a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of the N dots and C dots are shifted by a distance L3 / 2 (slit width), and the recording portions using N dots and the recording portions using C dots are staggered. It has become. In this case, half of the overlapping portion is occupied by the area where the C dots constitute the outermost surface, and the other half is occupied by the area where the N dots constitute the outermost surface. On the other hand, in the single part, the area where the C dots constitute the outermost surface occupies half, and the area where the recording medium is exposed occupies the other half. In other words, the ratio of the area where the amount of bronze is large and the C dots constitute the outermost surface is ½ for both the overlapping portion and the single portion, and the bronzing amount of the single portion and the overlapping portion is substantially equal. In this case, even if the illumination light is reflected on the registration adjustment patch, the pattern does not appear to be visible.

  FIG. 19B shows a registration adjustment patch when the recording positions of the N dot and the C dot are shifted by a distance L3 / 4 in the intermediate state. In this case, in the overlapping portion, the area where the recording medium is exposed occupies a quarter, and the area where the N dots constitute the outermost surface occupies the two quarters, and the C dot is the outermost surface for the remaining one quarter. Occupies the area that constitutes On the other hand, in the single part, the area where the C dots constitute the outermost surface occupies half and the other half occupies the area where the recording medium is exposed. That is, the ratio of the area where the amount of bronze is large and the C dot constitutes the outermost surface is one-fourth of the overlapping portion while the overlapping portion is one-fourth, and the difference as shown in FIG. Although there is no single part, the bronze amount is larger than the overlapping part. In this case, when the illumination light is reflected on the registration adjustment patch, a pattern (circular shape) using clear ink appears to be raised, although it is not as clear as in FIG.

  In this embodiment, a circle is used for the pattern of the clear ink. However, it is needless to say that the pattern is not limited to a circle but may be a star or a character. In the present embodiment, an example of a patch in which a pattern is generated due to a difference in bronze amount has been described. However, a patch in which a pattern is generated due to a difference in specular glossiness may be used. In this case, in the image recording apparatus of Embodiment 2, the pattern shown in FIG. 18A may be used instead of the pattern shown in FIG.

(Registration adjustment value setting procedure)
The registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment is the same as that of the image recording apparatus in the first embodiment except for steps S152 and S153, and the description is omitted except for the above steps. In step S152, the registration adjustment value setting procedure in the present embodiment is a patch in which a circular pattern is most easily identified from the plurality of registration adjustment patches recorded on the recording medium 108 in step S151 when illumination is reflected. Accept selection from user. That is, in the registration adjustment patch, a patch having the clearest boundary between a single portion composed only of a pattern using C ink and an overlapping portion where a pattern using C ink and a pattern using clear ink overlap is received. In step S153, the positional deviation amount corresponding to the patch received in step S152 is set as the recording positional deviation amount between the N ink dots and the C ink dots. Note that the registration adjustment patch received in step S152 may be a patch whose circular pattern is most difficult to identify. That is, it may be a patch with the sharpest boundary between the single part and the overlapping part. In that case, the positional deviation amount is corrected by L3 / 2. Alternatively, a reference patch may be prepared in advance, and selection of a patch whose circular pattern is closest to the reference patch may be accepted.

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment, selection of a patch with a pattern that uses clear ink is most easily identified. Thereby, even if the user of the image recording apparatus does not know the specular gloss and the bronze amount, it is possible to easily acquire the shift amount of the clear ink dot recording position.

<Other embodiments>
(Registration adjustment patch)
In the above-described embodiment, a slit-shaped pattern is used for the registration adjustment patch. However, the pattern of the registration adjustment patch may not be slit-shaped. For example, a checkered pattern may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the slits have the same width. However, the slits may not necessarily have the same size. For example, the width in the registration adjustment direction of the recording area and the non-recording area constituting the first pattern may be different sizes. Furthermore, the width in the registration adjustment direction may be different depending on the location in the pattern. Preferably, the width in the registration adjustment direction of at least one of the recording area and the non-recording area is the same regardless of the location. Furthermore, when the width of the recording area is the same size regardless of location and the width of the non-recording area is different depending on the location, the width of the non-recording area is set to be equal to or greater than the width of the recording area. Is preferred. Similarly, when the width of the non-recording area is the same size regardless of the location, and the width of the recording area is different depending on the location, the width of the recording area is set to be longer than the width of the non-recording area. It is preferable to do this. Preferably, the two patterns (the clear ink recording area and the non-recording area) constituting the first pattern are recorded in a row in the registration adjustment direction and overlapped with the first pattern. The widths in the registration adjustment direction of the two areas constituting the second pattern are the same.

(Bidirectional printing, sub-scanning)
In the above-described embodiment, the alignment of different types of ink is performed. However, the present invention can also be applied to the alignment of the recording position in the rightward movement of the carriage 102 and the recording position in the leftward movement. Of course. Further, not only the print position alignment in the carriage scanning direction but also the print alignment in the direction orthogonal to the carriage scanning direction can be performed by rotating the positional relationship of the registration adjustment patch by 90 degrees, for example.

(Register adjustment)
Also, in any of the above-described embodiments, if various conditions such as the driving frequency for recording the registration adjustment patch are different from the driving frequency used in the actual recording operation, the difference in the driving frequency or the like is required as necessary. Correction may be performed. The correction may be performed based on a predetermined mathematical formula. In the image recording apparatus that accepts the selection of the patch, ink discharge timing data relating to actual conditions is prepared in advance for each registration adjustment patch, and the data corresponding to the selected patch is set and used as it is. Also good. Alternatively, the image recording apparatus that accepts the selection of the patch may be performed by performing interpolation to obtain data used for the recording operation.

  Further, registration adjustment may be performed without using the drive frequency. For example, with respect to the print data for each color plate, registration adjustment may be performed by making the positional deviation amount obtained by the above-described method correspond to the number of pixels in the registration adjustment direction.

(Printer configuration)
Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type print head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by the image recording apparatus. As such a print head, either a configuration satisfying the length by a combination of a plurality of print heads or a configuration as a single print head formed integrally may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the heads for ejecting the colored ink and the clear ink are separately configured and used in parallel with the printing apparatus has been described. However, two or more recording heads are integrally configured. The present invention can also be applied to the case where a head having a form is used. In addition, as an embodiment of the present invention, an image recording apparatus used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a system combined with a host computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, etc. It may take the form of Further, it may be in the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (12)

A first pattern that is recorded using clear ink, and a recording area and a non-recording area are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction, and two areas that are recorded using ink other than the clear ink and have different gloss characteristics Recording means for recording a patch in which the second pattern is alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction;
An image recording apparatus comprising: setting means for setting a registration adjustment amount using the measurement result of the patch. The registration adjustment amount is an ink ejection timing correction amount,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls ink ejection timing based on the ink ejection timing correction amount. An acquisition unit for acquiring the gloss characteristics of the patch recorded by the recording unit;
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a registration adjustment amount corresponding to a gloss characteristic of the patch. The recording means records a plurality of the patches in which the recording positions of the first pattern and the second pattern are relatively shifted;
The acquisition means acquires the gloss characteristics of each patch recorded by the recording means,
4. The image according to claim 3, wherein the setting unit sets an ink ejection timing correction amount corresponding to a patch having the largest gloss characteristic among the gloss characteristics of each patch acquired by the acquisition unit. Recording device. The recording means records a plurality of the patches in which the recording positions of the first pattern and the second pattern are relatively shifted;
A selection receiving unit that receives a selection of a patch having a predetermined gloss characteristic from the plurality of patches recorded by the recording unit;
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a registration adjustment amount corresponding to the patch selected by the selection receiving unit.   The glossiness characteristic is a luminance component of reflected light reflected in a regular reflection direction, and the selection receiving unit receives selection of a patch having the largest or smallest luminance component. Image recording device.   The gloss characteristic is a chromaticity component of reflected light reflected in the regular reflection direction, and the selection receiving unit selects a patch having the largest or smallest difference between the chromaticity component and the white chromaticity component. The image recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image recording apparatus is received. The recording means records a plurality of the patches in which the recording positions of the first pattern and the second pattern are relatively shifted;
The gloss characteristic is a luminance component of reflected light that is reflected in the regular reflection direction, and the patch is configured by overlapping a first region composed of only the second pattern, and the first pattern and the second pattern. A selection receiving means for receiving a selection of a patch having the sharpest boundary between the first area and the second area, or a patch having the most unclearness.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a registration adjustment amount corresponding to the patch selected by the selection receiving unit. The recording means records a plurality of the patches in which the recording positions of the first pattern and the second pattern are relatively shifted;
The gloss characteristic is a chromaticity component of reflected light reflected in the regular reflection direction, and the patch includes a first region composed of only the second pattern, and the first pattern and the second pattern overlap. And a selection receiving means for receiving a selection of a patch having the sharpest boundary between the first area and the second area, or a patch having the least blur,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a registration adjustment amount corresponding to the patch selected by the selection receiving unit.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink used for recording the second pattern is one type of ink. A first pattern that is recorded using clear ink, and a recording area and a non-recording area are alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction, and two areas that are recorded using ink other than the clear ink and have different gloss characteristics A recording step of recording a patch in which the second pattern is alternately repeated in the registration adjustment direction;
And a setting step of setting a registration adjustment amount using the measurement result of the patch.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image recording method according to claim 11.

Images