JP2016129966A - Recording apparatus and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress occurrence of a stripe-like image quality defect in a recorded medium.SOLUTION: A recording apparatus 1 includes: a recording head 9 which has a first nozzle array 10a and a second nozzle array 10b where nozzles N for discharging ink are arranged in a first direction A, and in which partial regions of the first nozzle array 10a and the second nozzle array 10b overlap with each other when seen from a second direction B intersecting with the first direction A; a transportation part 2 for intermittently transporting a recorded medium P in the first direction A; a carriage 5 on which the recording head 9 is installed and which moves in the second direction B when the relative movement during the intermittent transportation stops; and a nozzle number change part 13 for changing the number of discharge quantity controlling nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle array 10a and the second nozzle array 10b in a peripheral part of certain regions O on the basis of the movement speed of the carriage 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method.

Conventionally, a recording apparatus including a recording head having a plurality of nozzle rows has been used. Among these, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a plurality of nozzle arrays are arranged so as to be shifted as viewed from the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and bidirectional recording is performed by reciprocating in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction. 2. Description of the Related Art A recording apparatus including a recording head that performs recording is used.
On the other hand, in recent years, recording apparatuses capable of recording on various types of recording media have been used.

JP 2007-98866 A

As described above, in recent years, recording apparatuses capable of recording on various types of recording media have been used, but in such recording apparatuses, in order to support various types of recording media, There is a need to increase the distance between the opposing recording head and the recording medium (called paper gap: PG or working gap: WG).
However, if the interval is increased, the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head on the recording medium tends to be shifted. In particular, it is easy to eject ink spreading radially in the direction of the nozzle row. For this reason, when the interval is wide, in a conventional recording apparatus having a recording head in which a plurality of nozzle rows are arranged shifted in the relative movement direction with respect to the recording medium, the boundary between the nozzle rows of the recording head In some cases, streaky image quality defects (for example, the portion recorded by the boundary portion is recorded darker than the other portions) occur in the portion recorded by the portion.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to suppress the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first recording apparatus of the present invention includes a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row in which nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in a first direction, and intersect the first direction. A recording head in which a part of the first nozzle array and the second nozzle array overlap each other when viewed from the second direction, a transport unit that intermittently transports a recording medium in the first direction, and the recording head are attached. And a carriage that moves in the second direction when the relative movement is stopped in the intermittent conveyance, wherein the first portion in the peripheral portion of the partial area is based on the moving speed of the carriage. A nozzle number changing unit is provided that changes the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the nozzle row and the second nozzle row.

  A recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a calculation unit that calculates an adhesion amount of the ink per unit volume of the recording medium from the recording data, a moving speed of the carriage, A nozzle number changing unit that changes the number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row in the peripheral part of the partial region based on the calculation result of the calculation unit. It is characterized by.

  A recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the recording apparatus includes a storage unit that stores the number of discharge amount control nozzles changed by the nozzle number changing unit.

  The recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third aspects, the nozzle forming portion of the recording head protrudes from the carriage.

  The recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the transport unit determines the movement amount of the relative movement per one time in the intermittent transport. It changes based on speed, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the nozzle number changing portion is a boundary portion of an image formed before and after the relative movement in the intermittent conveyance. The number of discharge amount control nozzles of the nozzles corresponding to is changed based on the moving speed of the carriage.

  The recording apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the calculation unit calculates an average amount of the ink attached to the entire recording head from the recording data.

  In a recording apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the recording head can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes, and the recording apparatus includes the ink Printing can be performed in a plurality of recording modes for each droplet, and the nozzle number changing unit can change the number of ejection amount control nozzles for each recording mode.

  A recording method according to a ninth aspect of the present invention includes a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row in which nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in a first direction, and are viewed from a second direction that intersects the first direction. A recording head in which partial regions of the first nozzle array and the second nozzle array overlap, a transport section that intermittently transports a recording medium in the first direction, and the recording head is attached to the intermittent transport. And a carriage that moves in the second direction when the relative movement is stopped, and a recording method that uses the carriage in the peripheral portion of the partial area based on the moving speed of the carriage. It has a nozzle number change part process which changes the number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the 1st nozzle row and the 2nd nozzle row.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on a recording medium.

1 is a schematic side view illustrating a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view illustrating a carriage of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure for demonstrating the mechanism in which a linear image quality defect generate | occur | produces. The figure for demonstrating the mechanism in which a linear image quality defect generate | occur | produces. The graph showing the deviation | shift amount of the ink landing position with respect to recording duty. 6 is a graph showing a deviation amount of an ink landing position with respect to a carriage speed. The conceptual diagram of a streak-like image quality defect. The figure for demonstrating the control for suppressing a streak-like image quality defect. The figure for demonstrating the control for suppressing a streak-like image quality defect. 6 is a flowchart of a recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of a recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a recording apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes an adhesive belt 2 that is stretched between a conveyance roller 3 and a driven roller 4 that rotate in the rotation direction C, supports the recording medium P, and conveys the recording medium P in the conveyance direction A.
Here, the “adhesive belt” means a belt in which a pressure-sensitive adhesive that holds the recording medium in a peelable manner is applied to the surface that supports the recording medium.

In addition, a carriage 5 on which a recording head 9 that discharges ink from an ink discharge surface (nozzle forming portion) F to the recording medium P is provided in the conveyance path of the recording medium P by the adhesive belt 2. The carriage 5 can reciprocate in the scanning direction B that intersects the transport direction A.
Here, in the recording apparatus having such a configuration, as the carriage 5 reciprocates in the scanning direction B, the air current as represented by the direction E (the ink ejected from the recording head 9 radiates in the transport direction A). (Expanded) that tends to be discharged).

  The recording head 9 includes a first recording head 9a (see FIG. 2) and a second recording head 9b (see FIG. 2). The first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b are arranged in the transport direction A. They are offset. The recording head 9 moves as the carriage 5 reciprocates in the scanning direction B, and ejects ink from the ink ejection surface F onto the recording medium P to form a desired image.

The recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the recording head 9 that performs recording while reciprocating. However, the recording apparatus includes a so-called line head in which a plurality of nozzles that eject ink are provided in a direction intersecting the transport direction A. But you can.
Here, the “line head” means that the nozzle area formed in the direction intersecting the transport direction A of the recording medium P can cover the entire direction intersecting the transport direction A of the recording medium P. The recording head is used in a recording apparatus that is provided and forms an image by relatively moving the recording head or the recording medium P. It should be noted that the nozzle area in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction A of the line head may not be able to cover the entire direction intersecting the conveyance direction A of all the recording media P supported by the recording apparatus.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, in the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the ink ejection surface F that is the nozzle forming portion of the recording head 9 protrudes from the carriage 5.
For this reason, although a strong air flow is likely to occur as the recording head 9 reciprocates in the scanning direction B, the amount of ink deposited per unit volume (recording duty) of the recording medium can be changed by the control described later. it can. That is, the image density at the periphery of the overlap portion O (see FIG. 2) between the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b can be adjusted to an appropriate value.
Further, the air flow moves the ink mist from the recording head 9 so that the recording stability during continuous recording can be improved.

In the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the recording medium P is peeled off from the adhesive belt 2 within a predetermined range, and taken up by the winding unit 8 via the driven roller 7 fixed at a predetermined position. . The winding unit 8 rotates the recording medium P in the rotation direction C when winding the recording medium P.
However, the present invention is not limited to the recording apparatus having the transport mechanism having such a configuration. For example, the recording apparatus may be configured to sandwich and transport the recording medium P with a pair of transport rollers.

  The recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a configuration capable of recording on a roll-shaped recording medium P. However, the recording apparatus 1 is not limited to such a configuration, and recording is performed on a single-sheet recording medium P. The structure which can perform is also sufficient.

With such a configuration, the recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment intermittently conveys the recording medium P in the conveyance direction A by the adhesive belt 2 as a conveyance unit, and stops the conveyance of the recording medium P in the intermittent conveyance. The carriage 5 is moved back and forth in the scanning direction B for recording.
In such a configuration, since the recording head 9 moves in the scanning direction B, a strong air flow is likely to occur as the recording head 9 moves, and the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P It is easy to shift. However, the image density at the periphery of the overlap portion O between the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b can be adjusted to an appropriate value by the control described later, and a streak-like image quality defect occurs on the recording medium P. It is the structure which can suppress doing.

Next, the carriage 5 in the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view showing the carriage 5 of the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.
In the carriage 5 of this embodiment, a first recording head 9a having a first nozzle row 10a in which nozzles N (see FIG. 9) for discharging ink are arranged in the conveyance direction A of the recording medium P, and the recording medium A second recording head 9b having a second nozzle row 10B in which nozzles N for ejecting ink are arranged in the P transport direction A is attached. The first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b are overlapped when the first nozzle row 10a of the first recording head 9a and the second nozzle row 10b of the second recording head 9b are viewed from the scanning direction B. It arrange | positions so that the overlap part O may be comprised. The carriage 5 having such a configuration reciprocates in the scanning direction B intersecting the transport direction A, and ink is ejected from the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b, thereby performing bidirectional recording. It is possible.

Here, when the direction in which the nozzles N (see FIG. 9) for ejecting ink are arranged is the first direction, and the direction intersecting the first direction is the second direction, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has the conveyance direction A Corresponds to the first direction, and the scanning direction B corresponds to the second direction.
On the other hand, in a recording apparatus having a non-moving line head as a recording head, the nozzles of the line head are arranged in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the recording medium P, so the transport direction of the recording medium P is the second. Corresponds to the direction.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the recording head 9 of the present embodiment includes a first nozzle row 10 a and a second nozzle row 10 b in which nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in the first direction. Can be expressed as having an overlap portion O in which partial regions of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b overlap each other when viewed from a second direction that intersects the first direction in which the nozzles are arranged.
The carriage 5 of this embodiment has a first recording head 9a and a second recording head 9b. The first recording head 9a has black and cyan mounted on the recording apparatus 1 of this embodiment. , Four nozzle rows 10a provided corresponding to each ink in magenta and yellow are provided. The second recording head 9b is provided with four nozzle rows 10b provided corresponding to the inks.
However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and only a part of these inks may be mounted, or another color ink may be mounted.
The recording head 9 may be configured to have a larger number, and one recording head may have a plurality of nozzle rows arranged in the first direction, and a partial region of the plurality of nozzle rows may be seen from the second direction. It is good also as a structure which has overlapped.

Next, the electrical configuration of the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.
The control unit 13 is provided with a CPU 14 that controls the entire recording apparatus 1. The CPU 14 is connected via a system bus 15 to a ROM 16 that stores various control programs executed by the CPU 14, a maintenance sequence, and the like, and a RAM 17 that can temporarily store data.

The CPU 14 is connected via a system bus 15 to a head drive unit 18 for driving the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b.
The CPU 14 is a drive source of a drive roller 3 as a moving mechanism of the carriage belt 20 that moves the carriage 5 and supports the recording medium P and conveys the recording medium P via the system bus 15. It is connected to a motor drive unit 19 for driving the conveyance motor 21 and a winding motor 22 that is a drive source of the winding unit 8.
Further, the CPU 14 is connected to the input / output unit 6 via the system bus 15, and the input / output unit 6 has an interval (paper gap: PG or working gap: WG) between the recording head and the recording medium. Are connected to a sensor 12 that can detect the recording data) and a PC 11 that is an external device that inputs recording data or the like to the recording apparatus 1.

Next, a mechanism for causing streak-like image quality failure will be described.
4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining a mechanism in which a streak-like image quality defect occurs.
An air flow is generated with the movement of the carriage 5 and the conveyance of the recording medium P, and the flight direction of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle rows 10a and 10b of the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b changes. The discharge width in the direction in which N is arranged (in this embodiment, the direction along the transport direction A) may change. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing this, and FIG. 4A shows an ideal discharge state, and the discharge width L1 is almost equal to the nozzle row width. FIG. 4B shows a discharge state in which the discharge width is changed, and the discharge width L2 is longer than the nozzle row width.

  As can be seen by comparing FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the discharge width L2 in FIG. 4B is larger than the discharge width L1 in FIG. 4A. The state of the airflow changes depending on the recording duty, the moving speed of the carriage 5, the size of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle rows 10a and 10b, the interval between the recording head and the recording medium, and the like. For this reason, the discharge width changes. For this reason, even if the position adjustment of the dots of the ink ejected from the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b is performed, the positions of the dots may not be accurate.

FIG. 5 shows streaks when the recording duty in the forward movement of the carriage 5 is reduced (for example, the average duty is 20%) and the recording duty is increased in the backward movement (for example, the average duty is 80%). -Like image quality (black streak D: ink ejected from the first recording head 9a and ink ejected from the second recording head 9b in the overlap portion O overlapped, resulting in dark streak-like image quality failure) Represents the state. From another viewpoint, in the forward recording, the ejection width L1 shown in FIG. 4A is used, but in the backward recording, the ejection width L2 is shown in FIG. 4B (ejection). In this case, the black streak D is generated in the backward recording.
Further, FIG. 5 shows a recording image I recorded by the recording apparatus 1, which part of the recording image I is recorded by which recording scanning (pass) of the first recording head 9 a and the second recording head 9 b. It corresponds to the part.
The recorded image I is completed by recording and scanning the same portion four times.

The image portion I1 of the recorded image I in FIG. 5 is recorded by the second recording head 9b in the forward recording as the first pass, and recorded by the second recording head 9b in the backward recording as the second pass. This is a portion that is recorded by the first recording head 9a in the forward recording that is the third pass, and is recorded by the first recording head 9a in the backward recording that is the fourth pass.
Further, the image portion I2 of the recorded image I is recorded by the second recording head 9b in the backward recording which is the second pass, and is recorded by the second recording head 9b in the forward recording which is the third pass. This is a portion recorded by the first recording head 9a in the recording in the backward direction as the eye and recorded by the first recording head 9a in the recording in the forward direction as the 5pass.
Further, the image portion I3 of the recorded image I is recorded by the second recording head 9b in the forward recording which is the third pass, and is recorded by the second recording head 9b in the backward recording which is the fourth pass. This is a portion recorded by the first recording head 9a in the recording in the forward direction as the eye and recorded by the first recording head 9a in the recording in the backward direction as the sixth pass.
The image portions I4 to I9 are also recorded according to the correspondence shown in FIG. 5 following the above.

As described above, the black streak D occurs when the recording duty is large and the ejection width is larger than the desired ejection width L1 (when recording in the backward direction).
Specifically, a black streak D is generated at the boundary between the image portion I2 and the image portion I3 recorded at the overlap portion O at the time of backward recording at the 4th pass.
Further, a black streak D is generated at the boundary between the image portion I4 and the image portion I5 recorded at the overlap portion O at the time of recording in the backward direction as the sixth pass.
Further, a black streak D is generated at the boundary between the image portion I6 and the image portion I7 recorded at the overlap portion O at the time of backward recording at the 8th pass.
Further, a black streak D is generated at the boundary between the image portion I8 and the image portion I9, which is recorded at the overlap portion O at the time of backward recording at the 10th pass.

Here, FIG. 6 is a graph showing the deviation amount of the ink landing position with respect to the recording duty. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents the recording duty (average duty: the average ink adhesion amount in the entire recording head 9 calculated from the recording data), and the vertical axis represents the amount of deviation of the ink landing position by the number of nozzles. This is expressed as a deviation (correction value (nozzle)).
As shown in FIG. 6, when the average duty is about 20%, there is almost no deviation in the ink landing position, whereas when the average duty is about 50%, there is a deviation of three nozzles, and when the average duty is about 100%, the nozzles 6 pieces off. As described above, as the recording duty increases, the deviation amount of the ink landing position tends to increase.

Because of this tendency, the control unit 13 of the present embodiment calculates the recording duty from the recording data input from the PC 11, and based on the calculation result, the first nozzle row 10a and the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O The number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the second nozzle rows 10b can be changed. That is, the control unit 13 of the present embodiment also serves as a recording duty calculation unit and a nozzle number changing unit that changes the number of ejection amount control nozzles in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O.
As shown in FIG. 6, the deviation of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the recording duty. For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment calculates the recording duty from the recording data, and based on the calculation result, at least one of the first nozzle array 10a and the second nozzle array 10b in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O. By changing the number of ejection amount control nozzles, the image density in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P such as black streaks D is suppressed. It can be configured.

On the other hand, the deviation of the ink landing position also depends on the carriage speed.
FIG. 7 is a graph showing the deviation amount of the ink landing position with respect to the carriage speed. In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents the carriage speed (expressed as a percentage of the maximum carriage speed), and the vertical axis represents the displacement amount of the ink landing position as a distance (radiation amount (μm)). is there.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the carriage speed is about 20%, there is almost no deviation in the ink landing position, whereas when the carriage speed is about 50%, the deviation is about 100 μm, and when the carriage speed is about 100%, the deviation is about 230 μm. . As described above, as the carriage speed increases, the deviation amount of the ink landing position tends to increase.

Due to this tendency, the control unit 13 of the present embodiment serves as the nozzle number changing unit based on the moving speed of the carriage 5, and the first nozzle row 10 a and the second nozzle row in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O. The number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of 10b can be changed.
As shown in FIG. 7, the deviation of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the carriage speed. In the configuration including the carriage 5 attached with the recording head 9 and reciprocatingly moved, the recording head 9 moves, so that a strong air current is easily generated with the movement of the recording head 9, and the ink to be recorded discharged from the recording head 9 is recorded. This is because the landing position on the medium P is easily shifted. For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment changes the number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. By doing so, the image density in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P such as the black streak D can be suppressed. ing.
In other words, the recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured so that at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O is based on at least one of the recording duty and the moving speed of the carriage 5. By changing the number of discharge amount control nozzles on one side, the image density in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and a streak-like image quality defect occurs on the recording medium P such as the black streak D. It is the structure which can suppress.
Further, the number of ejection amount control nozzles may be changed based on the recording duty and the carriage speed as well as the interval between the recording head and the recording medium.

Next, in the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, in order to suppress streak-like image quality defects (black streak D as an example), how the number of ejection amount control nozzles in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O is specifically determined. Explain how to make them different. However, it is not limited to the following examples.
FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of the black streak D. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the nozzles N in the periphery of the overlap portion O of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, and FIG. 10 is the first nozzle row. It is a figure showing the ink adhesion amount (discharge amount) by 10a and the 2nd nozzle row 10b.

Of the nozzles N in FIG. 9, the nozzle N1 represents a nozzle that has been subjected to ejection amount control, and the nozzle N2 represents a nozzle that has not undergone ejection amount control. The overlap portion O can eject ink from both the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b. That is, if the discharge amount control is not applied to the nozzles of the overlap portion O, the ink adhesion amount of the portion recorded by the overlap portion O is twice that of the portion recorded in the other region. For this reason, in the overlap portion O, the discharge amount control is applied so that the sum of the ink discharge amounts of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b becomes an appropriate ink discharge amount.
The discharge amount control in the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment was performed by discharging ink from the nozzles of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the overlap portion O. In other words, the total recording duty obtained by adding the recording duty of the first nozzle row 10a and the recording duty of the second nozzle row 10b of the nozzles in the overlap portion O is controlled to be 100%.

FIG. 9A shows the nozzle N1 subjected to the discharge amount control and the discharge amount control in the normal state (the state where the discharge width is substantially equal to the nozzle row width as shown in FIG. 4A). The arrangement of the nozzle N2 which is not applied is shown.
In such a state, as shown in FIG. 10A, the ink adhesion amount of the first nozzle row 10a and the sum ink of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the overlap portion O. The adhesion amount and the ink adhesion amount of the second nozzle row 10b are almost constant.
That is, since the recording duty of the overlap portion O is controlled to linearly change from 100% to 0% for each of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, the total recording duty is 100%. ing.

However, in the state where the discharge width is larger than the nozzle row width as shown in FIG. 4B, the nozzle arrangement shown in FIG. As a result, the ink adhesion amount in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O becomes larger than the appropriate value.
For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is changed to the nozzle arrangement shown in FIG. 9B or the nozzle arrangement shown in FIG. 9C under the control of the control unit 13. Can do. That is, a part of the nozzle N2 is changed to the nozzle N1, and the nozzle N1 is increased. By changing the nozzle arrangement of the nozzle N1 and the nozzle N2 in this way, as shown in FIG. 10C, the ink adhesion amount of the first nozzle row 10a and the first in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O are displayed. The sum of the ink adhesion amount of the nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b and the ink adhesion amount of the second nozzle row 10b can be made substantially constant.
In FIG. 9B, the nozzles N1 of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b are increased by one, and FIG. 9C shows the nozzle N1 of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b. However, a configuration in which the number of nozzles N1 can be adjusted according to the discharge width is preferable.

In other words, the recording apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment determines the number of nozzles N1 to which discharge amount control is applied in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O based on at least one of the recording duty and the moving speed of the carriage 5. Can be changed.
Here, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, when the number of nozzles N1 is increased, the number of nozzles N1 is the number of logical nozzles, and the number of nozzles N1 in the overlapping portion of FIG. Call it a number.
Specifically, FIG. 9B illustrates a state in which recording control is performed with the number of physical nozzles of the nozzle N1 being 5 in the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, with the number of logical nozzles being 6. It can be said that. FIG. 9C shows a state in which the print control is performed with the number of physical nozzles of the nozzle N1 being 5 and the number of logical nozzles being 8 in each of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b. I can say that.
9B and 9C, the number of logical nozzles is increased with respect to the number of physical nozzles of the nozzle N1 in both the first nozzle array 10a and the second nozzle array 10b. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9B, the number of logical nozzles is set to 7 only for the first nozzle row 10a, and the number of logical nozzles of the second nozzle row 10b is 5 (that is, the number of physical nozzles of the nozzle N1 remains 5). In FIG. 9C, if the number of logical nozzles is 11 for the first nozzle row 10a and the number of logical nozzles for the second nozzle row 10b is 5 (that is, the number of physical nozzles of the nozzle N1 remains 5). Good.
In other words, when the total value of the number of logical nozzles of the nozzle N1 in the first nozzle row 10a and the number of logical nozzles of the nozzle N1 in the second nozzle row 10b is 12 in FIG. 9B, it is in the case of FIG. Means that it should be 16.

In the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the number of ejection amount control nozzles changed by the control unit 13 is stored in advance in a ROM 16 serving as a storage unit. Specifically, the ROM 16 stores a database (stored data) in which the recording duty and the moving speed of the carriage 5 are associated with the number of nozzles (the number of ejection amount control nozzles in the periphery of the overlap portion O). .
Thus, for example, by storing the number of discharge control nozzles in advance before shipment, the user obtains the number of discharge control nozzles and inputs the number of discharge control nozzles from the PC 11 or the like in advance. The work to be performed can be omitted. That is, the load on the user can be reduced.

  Further, the adhesive belt 2 as the transport unit is controlled by the control unit 13 so that the amount of movement per one time in the intermittent transport of the recording medium P is calculated at the periphery of the overlap portion O calculated by the control unit 13. This can be changed based on at least one of the calculation result of the ink adhesion amount and the carriage moving speed. That is, the line feed amount (conveyance amount) at the time of a line feed accompanying intermittent recording can be changed to an appropriate value according to the assumed ejection width. For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to suppress streak-like image quality defects that occur at the time of intermittent recording line breaks.

  In addition, the control unit 13 sets the number of discharge amount control nozzles at the boundary portion associated with the line feed (before and after the movement of the recording medium P in the intermittent conveyance of the recording medium P) instead of changing the line feed amount at the overlap portion O. The change can be made based on at least one of the calculation result of the ink adhesion amount in the peripheral portion and the moving speed of the carriage 5. In other words, the number of nozzles used (recording duty) corresponding to the boundary portion of the image formed before and after one intermittent conveyance that can be performed with a line feed of intermittent recording can be changed according to the assumed ejection width. . For this reason, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to adjust the image density at the boundary portion to an appropriate value and to suppress the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium. .

Further, the control unit 13 can calculate the average ink adhesion amount in the entire recording head 9 (the first recording head 9a and the second recording head 9b) from the recording data input from the PC 11. For this reason, it is possible to easily calculate the ink adhesion amount.
Further, the control unit 13 according to the present embodiment may calculate the ink adhesion amount in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O for each movement of the carriage 5 in the forward direction and the backward direction, for each ink, or for each recording head. it can. Note that there is no particular limitation on the method of calculating the ink adhesion amount.

Further, the recording head 9 of this embodiment can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes. The recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can perform recording in a plurality of recording modes for each of a plurality of sizes of ink droplets. The control unit 13 can change the number of ejection amount control nozzles in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O for each recording mode.
The deviation of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the size of the ink droplet ejected from the recording head 9. Specifically, the smaller the ink droplet size, the easier the ejection width becomes. However, the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can change the number of ejection amount control nozzles according to the size of the ink droplet. For this reason, it has the structure which can suppress effectively that the streak-like image quality defect generate | occur | produces on the recording medium P.

[Example of Recording Method] (FIGS. 11 and 12)
Next, a recording method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Note that the recording method of the present embodiment is an embodiment of a recording method executed using the recording apparatus 1 of the above embodiment.
First, the recording method represented by the flowchart of FIG. 11 will be described.

  When the recording method of this embodiment is started, first, recording data is received (input) from the PC 11 in step S110.

  Next, in step S120, the control unit 13 determines the average duty. In other words, this step is a calculation process for calculating the ink adhesion amount per unit volume of the recording medium P from the recording data.

  Next, in step S130, the control unit 13 is based on a database (stored data) stored in the ROM 16 that associates the average duty with the number of nozzles (the number of discharge control nozzles in the periphery of the overlap portion O). Change the number of nozzles. In other words, in this step, the discharge amount control of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O is based on the calculation result in the calculation process of step S120. This is a nozzle number changing step for changing the number of nozzles.

  Next, in step S140, the line feed amount (conveyance amount) at the time of a line break accompanying intermittent recording is changed to an appropriate value based on the calculation result in the calculation process of step S120. Instead of this step (change of line feed amount), the number of discharge amount control nozzles at the boundary portion before and after one intermittent conveyance that can be accompanied by the line feed of intermittent recording based on the calculation result in the calculation process of step S120. You may perform the process of changing.

  Next, image processing is executed based on the recording data in step S150, recording processing is executed in step S160, and the recording method of this embodiment is completed.

  In the recording method of the present embodiment, the ink adhesion amount per unit volume of the recording medium P is calculated from the recording data, and the first nozzle row 10a and the first nozzle array in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O are calculated based on the calculation result. The number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the two nozzle rows 10b is changed. Therefore, the image density at the boundary between the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, which is the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O, can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and a streak-like image quality defect occurs on the recording medium P. This can be suppressed.

Next, the recording method represented by the flowchart of FIG. 12 will be described.
Steps S110 and S150 to S160 are the same as the steps in the recording method represented by the flowchart of FIG.
In the recording method of this embodiment, the carriage speed is determined by the control unit 13 in step S125 following step S110.

  Next, in step S135, based on the database (stored data) that is stored in the ROM 16 and associates the carriage speed with the number of nozzles (the number of discharge control nozzles in the periphery of the overlap portion O), the controller 13 Change the number of nozzles. In other words, this step changes the number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the periphery of the overlap portion O based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. This is a nozzle number changing process.

  Next, in step S145, based on the moving speed of the carriage 5, the line feed amount (conveyance amount) at the time of line break accompanying intermittent recording is changed to an appropriate value, and the process proceeds to step S150. Instead of this step (change of line feed amount), a step of changing the number of discharge amount control nozzles at the boundary portion before and after one intermittent conveyance that can be accompanied by a line feed of intermittent recording based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. May be executed.

  In the recording method of this embodiment, the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O is changed based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. That is, based on the moving speed of the carriage 5, the recording duty at the boundary between the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, which is the peripheral portion of the overlap portion O, can be changed. For this reason, the image density at the boundary can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P can be suppressed.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the range of the invention described in the claim, and it cannot be overemphasized that they are also contained in the scope of the present invention.
For example, the discharge amount control in the above embodiment controls the recording duty of the overlap portion O so as to linearly change from 100% to 0% in each of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ejection weight itself of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzles may be changed by a single ejection operation.
The present invention has been described in detail based on the specific embodiments. Here, the present invention will be described once more collectively.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a first nozzle row 10 a and a second nozzle row 10 b in which nozzles N that eject ink are arranged in a first direction A, and intersect the first direction A. A recording head 9 in which the partial regions O of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b overlap with each other when viewed from the second direction B, a conveyance unit 2 that intermittently conveys the recording medium P in the first direction A, and And a carriage 5 that is attached to the recording head 9 and moves in the second direction B when the relative movement is stopped in the intermittent conveyance. The recording apparatus 1 includes a partial area O based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. A nozzle number changing unit 13 that changes the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the nozzle.

The deviation of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the moving speed of the carriage 5 to which the recording head 9 is attached. In the configuration including the carriage 5 attached with the recording head 9 and reciprocatingly moved, the recording head 9 moves, so that a strong air current is easily generated with the movement of the recording head 9, and the ink to be recorded discharged from the recording head 9 is recorded. This is because the landing position on the medium P is easily shifted.
However, according to this aspect, the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the partial region O is changed based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. That is, based on the moving speed of the carriage 5, the recording duty at the boundary between the first nozzle row 10 a and the second nozzle row 10 b that is the peripheral portion of the partial region O can be changed. For this reason, the image density at the boundary can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P can be suppressed.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to the second aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus 1 according to the first aspect, wherein the calculation unit 13 calculates the ink adhesion amount per unit volume of the recording medium P from the recording data, and the moving speed of the carriage 5. And a nozzle number changing unit 13 that changes the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral part of the partial region O based on the calculation result of the calculation unit 13; It is characterized by providing.

The deviation of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the amount of ink adhering per unit volume (recording duty) of the recording medium P.
According to this aspect, the ink adhesion amount per unit volume of the recording medium P is calculated from the recording data, and the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle in the peripheral portion of the partial region O are calculated based on the calculation result. The number of discharge amount control nozzles of at least one of the rows 10b is changed. That is, it is possible to change the recording duty of the boundary portion between the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b, which is the peripheral portion of the partial region O. For this reason, the image density at the boundary can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P can be suppressed.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the recording apparatus 1 includes a storage unit 16 that stores the number of ejection amount control nozzles changed by the nozzle number changing unit 13. To do.

  According to this aspect, the storage unit 16 that stores the number of ejection amount control nozzles changed by the nozzle number changing unit 13 is provided. For this reason, for example, by storing the number of discharge amount control nozzles in advance before shipment, the user obtains the number of discharge amount control nozzles and inputs the number of discharge amount control nozzles in advance. Therefore, the user's load can be reduced.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third aspects, the nozzle forming portion F of the recording head 9 protrudes from the carriage 5.

  According to this aspect, the nozzle forming portion F of the recording head 9 protrudes from the carriage 5. For this reason, a strong air flow is likely to be generated with the movement of the recording head 9, but the recording duty in the peripheral part of the partial area O can be changed, so that the image density in the peripheral part of the partial area O is an appropriate value. Can be adjusted. Further, since the air current moves the ink mist from the recording head 9, it is possible to improve the recording stability when performing continuous recording.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus 1 according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the transport unit 2 determines the amount of movement of the relative movement per time in the intermittent transport. It changes based on a moving speed, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to this aspect, the transport unit 2 changes the movement amount of the relative movement per time in the intermittent transport based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. That is, the line feed amount (conveyance amount) at the time of line feed accompanying intermittent recording can be set to an appropriate value. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the streak-like image quality defect that occurs at the time of a line feed in intermittent recording.

  In the recording apparatus 1 according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the nozzle number changing unit 13 includes a boundary between images formed before and after the relative movement in the intermittent conveyance. The number of discharge amount control nozzles of the nozzle corresponding to the section is changed based on the moving speed of the carriage 5.

  According to this aspect, the nozzle number changing unit 13 determines the ejection amount control nozzle number of the nozzle corresponding to the boundary portion of the image formed before and after the relative movement in the intermittent conveyance based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. change. That is, it is possible to change the recording duty at the boundary portion before and after one intermittent conveyance that is performed in accordance with the line feed of intermittent recording. For this reason, the image density at the boundary can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P can be suppressed.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the calculation unit 13 calculates an average amount of the ink attached to the entire recording head 9 from the recording data.

  According to this aspect, the calculation unit 13 calculates the average amount of the ink attached to the entire recording head 9 from the recording data. For this reason, the calculation of the ink adhesion amount is facilitated.

  The recording apparatus 1 according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus 1 according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the recording head 9 can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes. Recording can be performed in a plurality of recording modes for each ink droplet, and the nozzle number changing unit 13 can change the number of ejection amount control nozzles for each recording mode.

  According to this aspect, the recording head 9 can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes, the recording apparatus 1 can record in a plurality of recording modes for each ink droplet, and the nozzle number changing unit 13 is provided for each recording mode. The number of discharge amount control nozzles can be changed. The displacement of the landing position of the ink ejected from the recording head 9 on the recording medium P corresponds to the size of the ink droplet ejected from the recording head 9, but the number of ejection amount control nozzles is changed corresponding to the size. Is possible. For this reason, in the recording apparatus 1 that can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes, it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P.

  The recording method according to the ninth aspect of the present invention includes a first nozzle row 10a and a second nozzle row 10b in which nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in the first direction A, and the second crossing the first direction A. The recording head 9 in which the partial regions O of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b overlap with each other when viewed from the direction B, the conveyance unit 2 that intermittently conveys the recording medium P in the first direction A, and the recording head And a carriage 5 that moves in the second direction B when the relative movement in the intermittent conveyance is stopped, and is based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. And a nozzle number changing unit step for changing the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the partial region O.

  According to this aspect, the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row 10a and the second nozzle row 10b in the peripheral portion of the partial region O is changed based on the moving speed of the carriage 5. That is, based on the moving speed of the carriage 5, the recording duty at the boundary between the first nozzle row 10 a and the second nozzle row 10 b that is the peripheral portion of the partial region O can be changed. For this reason, the image density at the boundary can be adjusted to an appropriate value, and the occurrence of streak-like image quality defects on the recording medium P can be suppressed.

1 recording device, 2 adhesive belt (conveyance unit), 3 conveyance roller, 4 driven roller,
5 Carriage, 6 Input / output unit, 7 Driven roller, 8 Winding unit, 9 Recording head,
9a 1st recording head, 9b 2nd recording head, 10a nozzle row,
10b nozzle row, 11 PC, 12 sensors,
13 control unit (calculation unit, nozzle number changing unit), 14 CPU, 15 system bus,
16 ROM (storage unit), 17 RAM, 18 head drive unit, 19 motor drive unit,
20 Carriage motor, 21 Carriage motor, 22 Winding motor, D Black stripe,
F ink ejection surface (nozzle forming part), N nozzle,
O Overlap part (partial area), P Recording medium

Claims (9)

The nozzles for ejecting ink have a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row arranged in a first direction, and the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row as viewed from a second direction intersecting the first direction. A recording head with a partial area of
A transport unit that intermittently transports the recording medium in the first direction;
A recording apparatus including the recording head and a carriage that moves in the second direction when the relative movement is stopped in the intermittent conveyance;
A nozzle number changing unit that changes the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row in a peripheral portion of the partial region based on a moving speed of the carriage; Recording device. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A calculation unit for calculating the amount of ink adhering per unit volume of the recording medium from recording data;
Number of nozzles for changing the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row in the peripheral portion of the partial region based on the moving speed of the carriage and the calculation result of the calculation unit Change part,
A recording apparatus comprising: The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A recording apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores the number of ejection amount control nozzles changed by the nozzle number changing unit. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The recording apparatus, wherein the nozzle forming portion of the recording head protrudes from the carriage. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance unit changes a movement amount of the relative movement per one time in the intermittent conveyance based on a movement speed of the carriage. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The nozzle number changing unit is configured to change the discharge amount control nozzle number of nozzles corresponding to a boundary portion of an image formed before and after the relative movement in the intermittent conveyance based on a moving speed of the carriage. Recording device. The recording apparatus according to claim 2,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates an average amount of the ink attached to the entire recording head from the recording data. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The recording head can eject ink droplets of a plurality of sizes,
The recording apparatus is capable of recording in a plurality of recording modes for each ink droplet,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle number changing unit can change the number of ejection amount control nozzles for each of the recording modes. The nozzles for ejecting ink have a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row arranged in a first direction, and the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row as viewed from a second direction intersecting the first direction. A recording head with a partial area of
A transport unit that intermittently transports the recording medium in the first direction;
A recording method comprising: a recording apparatus provided with the recording head, and a carriage that moves in the second direction when the relative movement is stopped in the intermittent conveyance;
A nozzle number changing unit step of changing the number of ejection amount control nozzles of at least one of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row in a peripheral portion of the partial region based on a moving speed of the carriage. Recording method.

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