JP2013129065A - Ink jet recording device and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device and method capable of striking a balance between elimination of beading and good recording speed.SOLUTION: A recording device records images by making a recording head for ejecting ink scan the same image region of a recording medium carried by a carrying means a plurality of times. The recording device includes: a temperature detection means for detecting a temperature around a recording range of the recording medium; an acquisition means for acquiring a recording duty with respect to each region formed by dividing the recording range into any sizes; and a setting means for setting waiting time from completion of one predetermined scanning operation to start of next one subsequent scanning operation, on the basis of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the recording duty acquired by the acquisition means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink droplets from a recording head, and a method for controlling the inkjet recording apparatus.

  In recording by an ink jet recording apparatus, when a large amount of ink droplets are ejected to a recording medium in a relatively short time, ink droplets recorded on the recording medium (hereinafter also simply referred to as “recording ink droplets”) are recorded. It takes time to penetrate or fix on the medium. During this time, the recording ink droplets may move on the recording medium and attract other recording ink droplets, resulting in larger and uneven ink droplets. In this case, a phenomenon generally called beading occurs, in which the ink dots to be formed are not recorded in a predetermined position in the original shape and become a rough image. Further, there is a problem that the recording ink overflowing without being able to penetrate into the recording medium disturbs the formed image or stains the inside of the recording apparatus.

  In general, in multi-pass bidirectional recording in which the same image area is recorded by a plurality of scans, it is recorded at the second scan after being recorded at the first scan in any two consecutive scans. The time interval until the time varies depending on the distance from the carriage reversal position. Therefore, when recording by the second scanning is performed earlier than the recording ink droplets recorded by the first scanning sufficiently penetrate and fix, the recording medium feeding due to the difference in the penetration and fixing states of the recording ink droplets is performed. Band-shaped image quality degradation corresponding to the amount may occur.

  To solve this problem, Patent Document 1 attempts to solve the problem by providing means for waiting the carriage for a predetermined time after the forward or backward scanning is completed and before the next scanning is started. Specifically, in order to fix the recording ink droplets in the previous scan, the waiting time between scans is set within a range in which the recording speed is superior to unidirectional recording, so that both image quality and recording speed are compatible. I am trying.

JP 7-47695 A

  By the way, in the recording by the ink jet recording apparatus, there are several factors that change the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed on the recording medium.

  First, the larger the amount of recording ink droplets landed per unit area of the recording medium in one scan (hereinafter also referred to as recording duty), the greater the amount of moisture per unit area. The time until fixing on the recording medium becomes longer. Even when the same image is recorded, when the number of recording passes is small, the amount of recording ink droplets recorded in one scan increases, so the time until fixing becomes long. That is, depending on an arbitrary image selected by the user, the number of recording passes, and the like, the recording duty recorded in one scan varies, and the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed is affected.

  In general, paper, vinyl chloride, an OHP sheet, a compact disk, a substrate made of a material suitable for other uses, or the like is used as the recording medium. Each of these recording media has a specific ink absorbability. The lower the ink absorbency of the recording medium, the longer the time that the recording ink droplets stay on the surface of the recording medium in a fluid state. That is, the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed is affected by the type of recording medium used for recording.

  Furthermore, the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed is easily affected by temperature. In general, the higher the temperature of the recording medium, the easier the water and solvent contained in the recording ink droplets evaporate, so the recording ink droplets are fixed on the recording medium, and the color material in the recording ink droplets is fixed to the recording medium. The time until is shortened. In order to fix the recording ink droplets on the recording medium in a short time, the ink jet apparatus may be provided with fixing means for heating and drying. In this case, the temperature of the recording medium varies depending on the time and location depending on the fixing conditions such as the set temperature of the fixing means selected by the user and the temperature responsiveness of the recording medium, and the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed has an effect. Receive.

  As described above, since the time until the recording ink droplets are fixed on the recording medium varies depending on various factors, the method of uniformly setting the waiting time after the end of each scan as in Patent Document 1 performs beading in all cases. It is difficult to eliminate. If a standby time is set so that beading does not occur in all cases, the recording speed is greatly reduced. In other words, the method of Patent Document 1 is not sufficient to achieve both the elimination of beading and a good recording speed.

  Also, when the fixing means for heating and drying heats the recording medium and applies the same amount of heat to the recording medium, the surface temperature of the recording medium varies depending on the material and thickness of the recording medium. This is because the temperature changes depending on the heat capacity of the recording medium, and is another factor that changes the fixing time of the recording ink droplets. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-260260 discloses detecting an environmental temperature that is the temperature of the atmosphere around the recording apparatus. However, the surface temperature of the recording medium cannot be predicted only by detecting the environmental temperature, and therefore, the accurate fixing time of the recording ink droplet cannot be predicted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and can eliminate beading between recording ink droplets recorded in different scans without reducing the recording speed as much as possible in multi-pass recording. An object is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, a recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus that records an image by scanning a recording head that ejects ink a plurality of times with respect to the same image area of a recording medium conveyed by a conveying unit. The temperature detection means for detecting the temperature around the recording range of the recording medium, the acquisition means for acquiring the recording duty for each area obtained by dividing the recording range into an arbitrary size, and the temperature detected by the temperature detection means Setting means for setting a waiting time from the end of one predetermined scan to the start of the next subsequent scan based on the recording duty acquired by the means. And

  According to the present invention, beading between recording ink droplets recorded by different scans can be suppressed without reducing the recording speed in multi-pass recording in the ink jet recording apparatus.

(A) is a schematic diagram showing the whole inkjet recording device, (b) is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the fixing means which heat-drys an inkjet recording device. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording head. It is a block diagram showing the control structure for performing recording control. 7 is a flowchart for predicting a fixing completion time of a recording ink droplet for each scan and setting a standby time after the end of scanning based on the prediction. 4 is a correlation table for determining a fixing time T1 for fixing a recording ink droplet from a recording medium temperature and a recording duty in each region. Schematic diagram of an image recorded in one scan (forward direction) FIG. 5 is a flowchart for predicting a fixing completion time of a recording ink droplet for each scan and setting a standby time after the end of scanning in consideration of the time required for each area to be recorded in the next scan. It is a correlation table for determining time T2 required until the recording position with respect to the scanning width is recorded in the next scanning. It is a schematic diagram of the image recorded by one scan (forward direction).

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the best embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Outline of Apparatus First, the overall configuration and operation of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram showing the entire inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1A, a paper feed roller 101 is in the form of a pair of rollers, and sandwiches the recording medium 102 and rotates to rotate the recording medium in the transport direction (hereinafter also referred to as “sub-scanning direction”). Move. The recording head 105 is detachably attached to the carriage 104 so as to have an ejection port on the surface facing the platen 106. When the carriage 104 moves along the main scanning guide 103 by a carriage driving unit (not shown), the recording head 105 performs recording from the ejection port while scanning the recording medium (hereinafter referred to as “main scanning”). Ink droplets can be ejected. The recording head 105 is coupled to an ink supply device (not shown) and is supplied with ink used for recording. At the time of recording, the recording medium 102 is positioned between the recording head 105 and the platen 106 provided therebelow, and is held flat by the platen 106 so that the distance from the recording head 105 is appropriate. Although not shown, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording medium supply unit that supplies the recording medium 102 to the paper feed roller 101, a recovery unit that appropriately maintains the state around the ejection port of the recording head 105, and recording is finished. Recording medium discharging means for taking out the recorded recording medium.

  The recording operation is performed as follows. When a recording start command signal is input to the ink jet recording apparatus, the recording medium 102 comes to the position of the paper feed roller 101 from the upper right direction in FIG. 1A by a recording medium supply means (not shown). Supplied up to. Thereafter, the recording medium 102 is conveyed by the paper feed roller 101 in accordance with the recording signal so that the recording start position of the recording medium 102 is located directly below the main scanning area of the recording head 105. Subsequently, recording is performed by spraying ink droplets onto the recording medium 102 while the recording head 105 mounted on the carriage 104 performs main scanning. Thereafter, the recording medium 102 is conveyed by a predetermined amount by the paper feed roller 101 (hereinafter, the recording medium conveyance operation is referred to as “sub-scanning”), and the recording head 105 mounted on the carriage 104 performs main scanning again. Ink droplets are sprayed onto the recording medium 102. After recording is performed on the recording medium 102 by repeating this sub-scanning and main scanning, the recording medium 102 is discharged in the lower left direction in FIG. Note that paper is often used as the recording medium 102, but other materials may be used. Further, in the case of a vinyl chloride or OHP sheet, a compact disk, or a DNA chip manufacturing apparatus or a display manufacturing apparatus using an inkjet, a substrate made of a material suitable for each may be used.

  FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a fixing unit that is heated and dried in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. 1B is a fixing unit for heating and drying shown in FIG. 1B. The heater 110 is a unit of the carriage 104 so that the ink on the recording medium 102 can be heated and fixed immediately after the ink is discharged from the recording head 105. Directly above, it is arranged with a length equivalent to the maximum recording width. The heater 110 is appropriately controlled so as to maintain the heating temperature set according to the type of the recording medium 102 and the recording mode. In addition, although the structure arrange | positioned directly above the unit of the carriage 104 was demonstrated as the heater 110 which is a fixing means to heat and dry, the heater 110 is provided in another place, such as arrange | positioning under the platen 106. May be. The heater 110 may be one that radiates heat or one that irradiates energy rays such as infrared rays or ultraviolet rays. Further, in order to continuously detect the temperature distribution of the recording medium 102 in the main scanning direction, a recording medium temperature detection sensor 111 that is an infrared thermometer capable of detecting the temperature of the recording medium in a non-contact manner is disposed on the carriage 104. The The position of the recording medium temperature detection sensor is not limited to the position on the carriage 104 as long as it can detect at least one recording medium temperature. Further, the type of the recording medium temperature detection sensor and the measurement principle of the temperature detection are not limited, and it is only necessary to detect the absolute value or relative value of the temperature of the recording medium.

(2) Description of Recording Head Next, the recording head 201 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the recording head 201 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording head 201 has a plurality of ejection openings 300 formed at a predetermined pitch, and ink is provided along the wall surface of each liquid passage 302 connecting the common liquid chamber 301 and each ejection opening 300. A recording element 303 for generating energy for ejection is disposed. The recording element 303 and its circuit are made on silicon using semiconductor manufacturing technology. A temperature sensor (not shown) and a sub-heater (not shown) are also collectively formed on the same silicon by the same process as the semiconductor manufacturing process. The silicon plate 308 on which these electrical wirings are made is bonded to a heat radiating aluminum base plate 307. In addition, the circuit connection portion 311 on the silicon plate 308 and the printed board 309 are connected by an extra fine wire 310, and a signal from the recording apparatus main body is received through the signal circuit 312. The liquid path 302 and the common liquid chamber 301 are formed of a plastic cover 306 made by injection molding. The common liquid chamber 301 is connected to an ink supply device (not shown) (for example, an ink tank) via a joint pipe 304 and an ink filter 305, and ink is supplied to the common liquid chamber 301 from the ink supply device. It is the composition which becomes. The ink supplied from the ink supply device to the common liquid chamber 301 and temporarily stored enters the liquid path 302 by capillary action and forms a meniscus at the discharge port 300 to keep the liquid path 302 filled. At this time, when the recording element 303 is energized through the electrodes (not shown) and generates heat, the ink on the recording element 303 is rapidly heated to generate bubbles in the liquid path 302, and the bubbles expand to discharge ports. Ink droplets 313 are ejected from 300. In addition, although the structure which generate | occur | produces the bubble in the liquid path 302 with heat and discharges an ink drop was demonstrated, the system which discharges a recording ink drop is not restricted to this. For example, a method of ejecting ink droplets using a piezoelectric element may be used.

(3) Description of Control Configuration Next, a control configuration for executing recording control of each part of the inkjet apparatus configuration will be described with reference to a block diagram of a control circuit shown in FIG.

  The interface 400 inputs image data to the recording control unit 500 of the ink jet recording apparatus. The gate array 404 controls data transfer among the interface 400, the MPU 401, and the DRAM 403, and controls recording data supply to the recording head 201. The MPU 401 executes a control program stored in the ROM 402. A dynamic RAM (DRAM) 403 can store various data such as the above-described recording signal and recording data supplied to the recording head 201, and can store the number of recording dots, the number of replacements of the recording head 201, and the like.

  A carriage motor (CR motor) 406 is a motor for scanning the recording head 201 together with a carriage on which the recording head 201 is mounted, and is driven by a motor driver 407. A conveyance motor (LF motor) 405 is a motor for conveying a recording medium, and is driven by a motor driver 408. The heater 412 is a fixing unit that heats and drys the ink on the recording medium, and is driven by a heater driver 411.

  In the head unit 501, the head type signal generation circuit 401 generates a signal corresponding to the type of the recording head 201 and transfers the signal to the MPU 401. The head driver 409 receives recording data supplied from the gate array 404 and is controlled by the MPU 401 to drive the recording head 201.

<Example 1>
Based on the above configuration, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, a recording ink droplet fixing completion time for each scan is predicted, and a waiting time from the end of the scan to the start of the next scan is set based on the prediction, so that the recording ink droplets recorded by different scans are set. Eliminate beading in between.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for predicting the fixing completion time of the recording ink droplet for each scan according to the present embodiment and setting the standby time after the end of scanning based on the prediction.

  First, in step S101, the temperature of the recording medium temperature sensor for detecting the temperature around the recording range of the recording medium to be recorded is acquired. That is, since the time until the recording ink droplet is fixed to the recording medium varies depending on the temperature of the recording medium, the temperature of the recording medium at the time of recording is measured. In this embodiment, in order to detect the temperature for each scan of the print head, the temperature of the print medium immediately before each scan of the print head is detected. The position of the recording medium detected by the recording medium temperature sensor may be at least one point. In the case of detecting a plurality of points, the recording medium temperature at a position where the recording medium temperature sensor is not provided can be calculated by linearly complementing the detection points. In order to accurately detect the temperature distribution of the recording medium in the main scanning direction, it is desirable to continuously acquire the temperature with a recording medium temperature sensor mounted on a carriage or the like. In order to cope with the change in the temperature of the recording medium in real time, it is desirable to acquire the temperature of the recording medium at a time interval as narrow as possible. Moreover, it is good also as an optimal time interval according to a system.

  Next, in step S102, on the basis of the image data to be recorded on the recording medium, the recording range that can be recorded by one scanning of the recording head is divided into arbitrary sizes, and each region is divided by the next scanning. The number of recording ink droplets to be ejected is counted to obtain a recording duty. This counting method may be obtained from multi-value data of an image to be recorded, or may be obtained from binary data indicating the presence or absence of ink ejection. It is desirable that the size of this area is small. In addition, if the size of the area is small, the processing time becomes long, so that the optimum size may be set according to the system.

  In step S103, a recording ink droplet fixing completion time T1 for each region is predicted. The fixing completion time T1 referred to here is a state in which, after the recording ink droplets are ejected onto the recording medium, the fluidity of the recording ink droplets that have landed on the surface of the recording medium is lost, and the recording ink droplets that have landed on adjacent positions do not interfere It is time to become. As the temperature of the recording medium is higher and the recording duty is lower, the fixing completion time T1 becomes shorter. Therefore, the fixing completion time T1 can be predicted from the acquired temperature of the recording medium and the recording duty.

  FIG. 5 is a correlation table for determining the fixing completion time T1 of the recording ink droplet from the temperature of the recording medium in each region and the recording duty. For the ink used for recording, the fixing characteristics based on the temperature of the recording medium and the recording duty are measured in advance, and the ROM 402 is provided with a correlation table of fixing completion times determined from the temperature of the recording medium and the recording duty. Since the fixing characteristics differ for each recording medium type, the above correlation table is provided for each recording medium type. When the fixing characteristics differ for each ink type, it is desirable to provide the correlation table for each ink type. Instead of the correlation table, the correlation between the fixing completion time T1, the temperature of the recording medium, and the recording duty may be held as a correlation expression.

  Next, in step S104, the longest fixing completion time T1 among the fixing completion times T1 corresponding to the respective areas calculated in step S103 is set as a waiting time after the end of scanning. As a result, the fixing of the recording ink droplets can be completed in all the regions of each scan, and the occurrence of beading due to bleeding with the recording ink droplets recorded in different scans can be suppressed.

  By performing the processes from step S101 to step S104 before each scan of the recording head, the waiting time after the scan can be determined using the temperature immediately before each scan. Hereinafter, the control described above will be described with a specific example.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an image recorded in one scan (forward direction), and shows the recording duty of regions 1 to 4. The recording condition is two-pass bidirectional recording in which the same image area is recorded by two scannings in total. The recording head performs recording on a recording medium whose width in the scanning direction of the recording head is 60 inches by performing main scanning at a scanning speed of 40 inches / second. Here, after the end of recording in a certain scan, the direction of scanning of the recording head is reversed, and the time taken to start recording in the next scan is 0.2 seconds.

  In this embodiment, the recording duty is calculated by dividing the recording range of 1 inch vertically and 60 inches horizontally on the recording medium scanned by the recording head into areas of 1 inch vertically and 1 inch horizontally. Description will be made by paying attention to four typical areas indicated by dotted squares in FIG.

  In order to predict the fixing completion period T1 of the recording ink in each region, the temperature of the recording medium and the recording duty for each region are acquired for each scan. The temperature of the recording medium in this example is 70 ° C. The recording duty of each area is assumed to be the following value.

Area 1: 20%, Area 2: 30%, Area 3: 40%, Area 4: 10%
The recording ink fixing completion time T1 in each region at this time is as follows by referring to the correlation table for predicting the recording ink droplet fixing completion time T1 from the temperature and recording duty of the recording medium shown in FIG. It is predicted as follows.

Area 1: 0.5 seconds, area 2: 1.0 seconds, area 3: 1.5 seconds, area 4: 0 seconds The fixing completion time T1 of the recording ink droplet is maximum in 1.5 seconds of area 3. . At least a maximum value of 1.5 seconds in T1 of each region is set as a waiting time from the end of scanning to the start of subsequent scanning. As described above, it takes 0.2 seconds to reverse the scanning direction of the recording head, and the waiting time until the next scanning is started is set including this inversion time.

  As described above, since the next scanning is started after the recording ink droplets of all regions are fixed on the recording medium, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of beading between the recording ink droplets recorded by different scanning.

<Example 2>
In the present embodiment, a method for predicting the fixing completion time of a recording ink droplet for each scan and considering the time required for each area to be recorded in the next scan and setting a standby time after the scan ends To do. This method can eliminate beading between recording ink droplets recorded by different scans without reducing the recording speed as much as possible.

  FIG. 7 predicts the recording ink droplet fixing completion time for each scan according to the present embodiment, and further sets the standby time after the scan is finished in consideration of the time required for each area to be recorded in the next scan. It is a flowchart until.

  In the second embodiment, first, in steps S201 to S203, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, for each scan, the fixing completion time for each region is obtained from the acquired temperature of the recording medium before scanning and the recording duty for each region. Predict T1 (first time).

  Next, in step S204, a time T2 (second time) required until each area is recorded in the next scan is acquired. A method for obtaining the time T2 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a correlation table for determining the time T2 required until the recording position with respect to the scanning width that is the width for main scanning of the recording head is recorded in the next scanning. The recording conditions are a scanning speed of 40 inches / second, a reversal scanning reversal time of 0.2 seconds, and the width of the recording medium in the scanning direction is 60 inches. The recording position is indicated as the main scanning distance of the recording head from the upstream side in the forward direction when recording is performed at that position.

  In multi-pass bidirectional recording in which the same image area is recorded by a plurality of scans, the time from recording at the first scan to recording at the second scan in any two consecutive scans T2 varies depending on the distance from the scanning inversion position. Therefore, the correlation table provided in the ROM 402 is referred to for each area, and the time T2 required for each area to be recorded in the next scan is determined. Since T2 with respect to the recording position differs depending on whether the recording is reversed from forward recording to backward recording or from backward recording to forward recording, T2 is set for each case. Since the time T2 required for each area to be recorded in the next scan changes according to the width of the recording medium, the scanning speed, the inversion time, etc., it is necessary to provide a plurality of correlation tables corresponding to each. Further, T2 may hold a correlation determined from the width of the recording medium, the scanning speed, the inversion time, and the like as a correlation equation instead of the above correlation table.

  Next, in step S205, the difference between the fixing completion time T1 and the time T2 required for printing in the next scan is calculated for each area in which the recording range is divided into arbitrary sizes. In step S206, the area is calculated. The maximum value of each difference is set as a standby time after the end of scanning. Specifically, for all the areas, when the fixing completion time T1 is shorter than the time T2 required for recording in the next scan, the fixing of the recording ink droplets in the previous scan is completed, and therefore, after the end of the previous scan. The waiting time is not set because it does not need to be set separately. On the other hand, if there is an area where the fixing completion time T1 is longer than the time T2 required for printing in the next scanning, the recording ink droplets ejected in the next scanning before the fixing is completed in that area. As a result, bleeding may occur and the dot shape may be disturbed. For this reason, the longest time among the differences between T1 and T2 in each region is set as a standby time after the end of scanning.

  As a result, the fixing of the recording ink droplets can be completed in all areas of each scan without reducing the recording speed as much as possible, and the occurrence of beading between the recording ink droplets recorded by different scans is eliminated. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, the control described above will be described with a specific example.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an image recorded in one scan (forward direction), and shows the recording duty of regions 1 to 4 and the recording position with respect to the scanning width. The recording conditions and the like are the same as in the specific example given in Example 1. The steps until the fixing completion time T1 of each area is predicted are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the fixing completion time T1 is predicted as follows.

Area 1: 0.5 sec, Area 2: 1.0 sec, Area 3: 1.5 sec, Area 4: 0 sec Next, in this example, the recording position of each area is the recording head as described above. Is defined as the distance of main scanning from the upstream side in the forward direction, and takes the following values.

Region 1: 0 inch, region 2: 20 inch, region 3: 40 inch, region 4: 60 inch
At this time, the time T2 required until each area is recorded in the next scan is as follows, referring to the correlation table shown in FIG.

Area 1: 3.2 seconds, area 2: 2.2 seconds, area 3: 1.2 seconds, area 4: 0.2 seconds Next, the recording ink droplet fixing completion time T1 of each area and the next scan The difference from the time T2 required for recording is calculated. The difference between T1 and T2 in each region is as follows.

Region 1: -2.7 seconds, Region 2: -1.2 seconds, Region 3: 0.3 seconds, Region 4: -0.2 seconds The maximum difference between T1 and T2 in each region is the region 3 Will be 0.3 seconds. After the end of scanning, 0.3 seconds, which is the maximum value of the difference between T1 and T2 in each region, is set as a waiting time until the next subsequent scanning starts. As a result, the fixing of the recording ink droplets can be completed in all areas of each scan without reducing the recording speed as much as possible, and the occurrence of beading of the recording ink droplets ejected in different scans can be suppressed. It becomes possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, the method of acquiring the temperature immediately before each scan and setting the waiting time after the end of the scan is used. However, the temperature during the scan may be acquired. When detecting the temperature during scanning at a plurality of locations, the temperature detected at the position closest to the position of each area and the time closest to the time when the recording ink droplet was ejected to that area may be used. . Further, a method may be used in which the standby time of each scan is set using the temperature acquired before recording for one recording medium.

  Further, in the above-described embodiments, description has been made using an example of performing so-called bidirectional recording in which recording is performed in both forward scanning and backward scanning. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to the case of performing so-called unidirectional recording in which ink is ejected only in the forward scan and ink is not ejected in the backward scan. When unidirectional recording is performed, the time to reverse the scanning direction of the carriage and return is considered. In other words, after the end of a certain recording scan, the recording head scan direction is reversed, the recording medium is scanned blank by scanning that does not eject ink, and then the recording head scan direction is reversed again to perform the next scan. The time until recording starts is calculated. In this way, an image is recorded by scanning the recording head a plurality of times over the same image area of the recording medium. Compared with the fixing completion time calculated based on the recording medium temperature and the recording duty, if the time is shorter than the fixing completion time, the difference time is made to wait, and if it is longer than the fixing completion time, it is not made to wait. To start the next recording.

Claims (8)

A recording apparatus that records an image by scanning a recording head that ejects ink a plurality of times with respect to the same image area of a recording medium conveyed by a conveying unit,
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature around the recording range of the recording medium;
An acquisition means for acquiring a recording duty for each area obtained by dividing the recording range into an arbitrary size;
Based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the recording duty acquired by the acquisition means, the waiting time from the end of one predetermined scan to the start of the next subsequent scan A setting means for setting
A recording apparatus comprising: Based on the temperature and the recording duty, further comprising prediction means for predicting the time from the ink droplet being ejected to the recording medium for each region in the predetermined scan until the fixing.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the waiting time to a maximum value of the time until the fixing for each region predicted by the prediction unit.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature detection unit detects the temperature before starting the predetermined scanning. A recording apparatus that records an image by scanning a recording head that ejects ink a plurality of times with respect to the same image area of a recording medium conveyed by a conveying unit,
Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature around the recording range of the recording medium;
An acquisition means for acquiring a recording duty for each area obtained by dividing the recording range into an arbitrary size;
From the relationship between the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the recording duty acquired by the acquisition means, the ink droplets predicted for each area in one scan are discharged from the recording medium until fixing. If the time of 1 is larger than the second time required for each area to be recorded in the next scan, the maximum value of the difference between the first time and the second time is Setting means for setting a waiting time from the end of one scan to the start of the next subsequent scan;
A recording apparatus comprising:   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing unit that radiates heat to the recording medium and fixes ink droplets ejected onto the recording medium. A control method for a recording apparatus for reciprocally scanning a recording head for ejecting ink and recording an image by scanning the recording head a plurality of times with respect to the same image area of a recording medium conveyed by a conveying unit,
A temperature detecting step for detecting a temperature around a recording range of the recording medium;
An acquisition step of acquiring a recording duty for each area obtained by dividing the recording range into an arbitrary size;
Based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection step and the recording duty acquired by the acquisition step, a standby time from the end of one scan to the start of the next subsequent scan is set. A setting process to
The control method characterized by including. A control method for a recording apparatus for recording an image by scanning a recording head for ejecting ink a plurality of times for the same image area of a recording medium conveyed by a conveying means,
A temperature detecting step for detecting a temperature around a recording range of the recording medium;
An acquisition step of acquiring a recording duty for each area obtained by dividing the recording range into an arbitrary size;
From the relationship between the temperature detected by the temperature detecting step and the recording duty acquired by the acquiring step, the ink droplets predicted for each region in one scan are ejected onto the recording medium and then fixed. If the time of 1 is larger than the second time required for each area to be recorded in the next scan, the maximum value of the difference between the first time and the second time is A setting step for setting a waiting time from the end of one scan to the start of the next subsequent scan;
The control method characterized by including.   The control method according to claim 6, further comprising a fixing step of fixing the ink droplets ejected onto the recording medium by radiating heat to the recording medium.

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