JP2021006397A - Control device and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To execute the proper printing in accordance with the temperature in a printing execution unit that can perform the bidirectional printing.SOLUTION: A control device acquires image data corresponding to a print image, acquires temperature information indicating the temperature of the inside of a printing execution unit, and causes the printing execution unit to print the print image by causing the printing execution unit to execute the plural times of partial printing for forming dots by a printing head while performing main scanning in the printing direction being any of the first direction and the second direction along the main-scanning direction and sub-scanning. The control device prints the first partial image of the print image in the partial printing in the first direction and prints the second partial image to be printed after the first partial image in the partial printing in the second direction when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within a specific range, prints the first partial image in the partial printing in the first direction and prints the second partial image in the partial printing in the first direction when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present specification relates to the control of a print execution unit that prints by executing partial printing and sub-scanning that form dots while performing main scanning a plurality of times.

Patent Document 1 discloses a printer that prints a band image by ejecting ink from the print head while moving the print head in the forward or reverse direction of the main scanning direction. In this printer, the evaluation value regarding the difference between the color of the image printed in the forward direction and the color of the image printed in the reverse direction is calculated for each band image. The printer prints the band image in the forward direction when the evaluation value satisfies a predetermined condition indicating that the color difference is large, and prints the band image immediately before when the evaluation value does not satisfy the predetermined condition. Print in the direction opposite to the printing direction of the band image. As a result, it is said that the difference between the color of the image printed in the forward direction and the color of the image printed in the reverse direction can be suppressed from being noticeable, and the printing speed can be improved.

JP-A-2017-39205 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-179596

However, printing-related properties such as ink viscosity vary with temperature, but the above techniques do not consider temperature at all. Therefore, there is a possibility that color unevenness cannot be eliminated depending on the temperature at the time of printing.

The present specification discloses a technique capable of performing appropriate printing according to temperature in a print execution unit capable of bidirectional printing.

The techniques disclosed herein can be realized as the following application examples.

[Application Example 1] A first-class nozzle that ejects first-color ink and a second-class nozzle that ejects second-color ink and has a different position in the main scanning direction from the first-class nozzle. The print head having the A control device for a print execution unit including a sub-scan unit that executes a sub-scan that relatively moves the print medium along the line, and an image acquisition unit that acquires image data corresponding to a print image, and the print execution. The printing direction is one of a temperature acquisition unit that acquires temperature information indicating the temperature inside the unit, a first direction along the main scanning direction, and a second direction opposite to the first direction. A print control unit that causes the print execution unit to print the print image by causing the print execution unit to execute partial printing in which dots are formed by the print head while performing main scanning and the sub-scanning. When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within a specific range, the print control unit causes the first partial image of the printed image to be printed by the partial printing in the first direction. The first print control for printing the second partial image to be printed next to the first partial image by the partial printing in the second direction is executed, and the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range. In some cases, a second print control is executed in which the first partial image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction, and the second partial image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction. Control device.

According to the above configuration, when the temperature inside the print execution unit is within a specific range, the first partial image is printed by partial printing in the first direction, and the second partial image is partially printed in the second direction. Printed by. As a result, when the temperature inside the print execution unit is within a specific range, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the printing speed of a specific printed image. When the temperature inside the print execution unit is outside the specific range, the first partial image is printed by partial printing in the first direction, and the second partial image is printed by partial printing in the first direction. To print. As a result, when the temperature inside the print execution unit is out of the specific range, color unevenness may occur between the first partial image and the second partial image when printing a specific print image. It can be suppressed. Therefore, in the print execution unit capable of printing (bidirectional printing) using partial printing in the first direction and the second direction, it is possible to execute appropriate printing according to the temperature.

The techniques disclosed in the present specification can be realized in various forms, for example, a printing device, a control method of a print execution unit, a printing method, and a computer program for realizing the functions of these devices and methods. , A recording medium on which the computer program is recorded, and the like can be realized.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system 1000 of 1st Example. It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the printing mechanism 100. It is explanatory drawing of the operation of the printing mechanism 100. It is explanatory drawing of the color evaluation table CP. It is a flowchart of the print control process of 1st Example. It is a flowchart of a print direction determination process. It is explanatory drawing of a partial image and a plurality of blocks. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system 1000B of 2nd Example. It is a flowchart of the printing direction determination process of 2nd Example. It is a flowchart of the print direction determination process of a modification.

A. First Example A-1. Configuration of Printing System 1000 Next, an embodiment will be described based on an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printing system 1000 of the first embodiment.

The printing system 1000 includes a printer 200 and a terminal device 300 as a control device of this embodiment. The printer 200 and the terminal device 300 are communicably connected to each other via a wired or wireless network NW.

The terminal device 300 is a computer used by the user of the printer 200, and is, for example, a personal computer or a smartphone. The terminal device 300 includes a CPU 310 as a controller of the terminal device 300, a non-volatile storage device 320 such as a hard disk drive, a volatile storage device 330 such as a RAM, an operation unit 360 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and a liquid crystal display. It includes a display unit 370 and a communication unit 380. The communication unit 380 includes a wired or wireless interface for connecting to the network NW.

The volatile storage device 330 provides a buffer area 331 that temporarily stores various intermediate data generated when the CPU 310 performs processing. The non-volatile storage device 320 stores a computer program PG1, a color conversion profile PF, and a color evaluation table CP. The computer program PG1, the color conversion profile PF, and the color evaluation table CP are provided by the manufacturer of the printer 200, for example, in a form downloaded from a server or stored in a DVD-ROM or the like. The CPU 310 functions as a printer driver that controls the printer 200 by executing the computer program PG1. The CPU 310 as a printer driver executes, for example, a print control process described later.

The color conversion profile PF is a profile that defines the correspondence between the color value (RGB value) of the RGB color system and the color value (CMYK value) of the CMYK color system. The color conversion profile PF is used for a color conversion process for converting an RGB value into a CMYK value in a print control process described later. The RGB value is a color value including three component values of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The CMYK values include a plurality of component values corresponding to a plurality of types of inks used for printing, and in this embodiment, component values of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). It is a color value. The RGB value and the CMYK value are, for example, 256 gradation values. The color conversion profile PF is, for example, a look-up table. The color evaluation table CP will be described later.

The printer 200 includes, for example, a printing mechanism 100, a CPU 210 as a controller of the printer 200, a non-volatile storage device 220 such as a hard disk drive, a volatile storage device 230 such as a RAM, and a button for acquiring an operation by a user. It is provided with an operation unit 260 such as a touch panel, a display unit 270 such as a liquid crystal display, and a communication unit 280. The communication unit 280 includes a wired or wireless interface for connecting to the network NW. The printer 200 is communicably connected to an external device, for example, a terminal device 300, via the communication unit 280.

The volatile storage device 230 provides a buffer area 231 that temporarily stores various intermediate data generated when the CPU 210 performs processing. The computer program PG2 is stored in the non-volatile storage device 220. The computer program PG2 is a control program for controlling the printer 200 in this embodiment. The computer program PG2 is stored and provided in the non-volatile storage device 220 at the time of shipment of the printer 200. Instead of this, the computer program PG2 may be provided in a form downloaded from a server, or may be provided in a form stored in a DVD-ROM or the like. By executing the computer program PG2, the CPU 210 controls, for example, the printing mechanism 100 to print an image on a printing medium (for example, paper).

The printing mechanism 100 can form dots on the paper M using the respective inks (droplets) of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), thereby performing color printing. I do. The printing mechanism 100 includes a printing head 110, a head driving unit 120, a main scanning unit 130, a transport unit 140, an ink supply unit 150, and a temperature sensor 170.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printing mechanism 100. As shown in FIG. 2A, the main scanning unit 130 includes a carriage 133, a sliding shaft 134, a belt 135, and a plurality of pulleys 136 and 137. The carriage 133 mounts the print head 110. The sliding shaft 134 holds the carriage 133 so as to be reciprocating along the main scanning direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 2A). The belt 135 is wound around pulleys 136 and 137, and a part of the belt 135 is fixed to the carriage 133. The pulley 136 is rotated by the power of a main scanning motor (not shown). When the main scanning motor rotates the pulley 136, the carriage 133 moves along the sliding shaft 134. As a result, the main scanning in which the print head 110 is reciprocated along the main scanning direction with respect to the paper M is realized.

The transport unit 140 transports the paper M in the transport direction (-Y direction in FIG. 2A) while holding the paper M. Hereinafter, the upstream side (+ Y side) in the transport direction is also simply referred to as an upstream side, and the downstream side (−Y side) in the transport direction is also simply referred to as a downstream side. Although detailed illustration is omitted, the transport unit 140 includes an upstream roller pair that holds the paper M on the upstream side of the print head 110, a downstream roller pair that holds the paper M on the downstream side of the print head 110, and a motor. And. The transport unit 140 transports the paper M by driving these rollers with the power of a motor.

The ink supply unit 150 supplies ink to the print head 110. The ink supply unit 150 includes a cartridge mounting unit 151 and a tube 152. A plurality of ink cartridges MC, CC, YC, and KC, which are containers containing ink inside, are detachably mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 151, and ink is supplied from these ink cartridges. The ink in each ink cartridge is supplied to the print head 110 via the cartridge mounting portion 151 and the tube 152.

The temperature sensor 170 is a known temperature sensor including a temperature measuring resistor and the like, and is installed in the vicinity of the print head 110 of the carriage 133 of the printer 200. The temperature sensor 170 outputs a signal indicating the temperature of the print head 110 of the printer 200.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing the configuration of the print head 110 as viewed from the −Z side. As shown in FIG. 2B, the nozzle forming surface 111 of the print head 110 is a surface facing the paper M conveyed by the conveying unit 140. A plurality of nozzle rows composed of a plurality of nozzles NZ, that is, nozzle rows NK, NY, NC, and NM for ejecting each of the above-mentioned C, M, Y, and K inks are formed on the nozzle forming surface 111. Each nozzle row contains a plurality of nozzles NZ. The plurality of nozzles NZ are located at different positions in the transport direction (−Y direction), and are lined up at a predetermined nozzle interval NT along the transport direction. The nozzle spacing NT is the length in the transport direction between two nozzles NZ adjacent to each other in the transport direction among the plurality of nozzles NZ. Among the nozzles constituting these nozzle rows, the nozzle NZ located on the most upstream side (+ Y side) is also referred to as the most upstream nozzle NZu. Further, among these nozzles, the nozzle NZ located on the most downstream side (−Y side) is referred to as the most downstream nozzle NZd. The length obtained by adding the nozzle interval NT to the length in the transport direction from the most upstream nozzle NZu to the most downstream nozzle NZd is also referred to as a nozzle length D.

The positions of the nozzle rows NK, NY, NC, and NM in the main scanning direction (positions in the X direction) are different from each other, and the positions in the sub scanning direction overlap each other. For example, in the example of FIG. 2B, the nozzle rows NK, NY, NC, and NM are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the X direction.

Each nozzle NZ is connected to an ink flow path (not shown) formed inside the print head 110. An actuator (not shown, piezoelectric element in this embodiment) for ejecting ink along each ink flow path inside the print head 110 is provided.

The head drive unit 120 (FIG. 1) drives each actuator in the print head 110 according to the print data supplied from the CPU 210 during the main scan by the main scan unit 130. As a result, ink is ejected from the nozzle NZ of the print head 110 onto the paper M conveyed by the conveying unit 140, and dots are formed. The head drive unit 120 can form dots of a plurality of sizes on the paper M by changing the drive voltage supplied to the actuator.

A-2. Outline of Printing The printing mechanism 100 alternately performs partial printing in which dots are formed on the paper M by the print head 110 while performing main scanning by the main scanning unit 130, and sub-scanning (conveying the paper M) by the transport unit 140. By executing this a plurality of times, the print image OI is printed on the paper M.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the printing mechanism 100. 3 (A) to 3 (C) show the printed image OI printed on the paper M. The printed image OI includes a plurality of partial image PIs. In the example of FIG. 3, the printed image OI includes partial images PI1 to PI5. Each partial image PI is an image printed by one partial printing. The printing direction of partial printing is either the outward direction or the return direction. That is, in the partial printing, the outbound printing that forms dots while performing the main scan in the outward direction (-X direction in FIG. 3) and the return route that forms dots while performing the main scan in the inbound direction (+ X direction in FIG. 3). Either printing or. In FIG. 3, a solid arrow in the + X direction or the −X direction is attached in the partial image. The partial image (for example, PI1, PI3, PI5 in FIG. 3A) with a solid arrow in the −X direction is an outward partial image printed by outbound printing. The partial image (for example, PI2 and PI4 in FIG. 3A) with a solid line arrow in the + X direction is a return route partial image printed by return route printing.

In FIG. 3, the arrow in the + Y direction from one partial image PI (for example, partial image PI1) toward another partial image PI (for example, partial image PI2) adjacent in the + Y direction indicates the transport (secondary) of the paper M. Scanning) is supported. That is, the arrow in the + Y direction in FIG. 3 indicates that the print head 110 moves in the + Y direction with respect to the paper M shown in FIG. 3 as the paper M is conveyed. As shown in FIG. 3, the printing of this embodiment is so-called one-pass printing, and the length of each partial image in the transport direction and the transport amount of the paper M at one time are the nozzle length D.

The printed image OI is printed using either bidirectional printing or unidirectional printing. Bidirectional printing is printing performed by combining outbound printing and inbound printing. There are two types of bidirectional printing: full bidirectional printing in FIG. 3 (A) and partial bidirectional printing in FIG. 3 (B). Full bidirectional printing is printing in which outbound printing and inbound printing are executed alternately, and outbound printing is not executed continuously or inbound printing is not executed continuously. Partial bidirectional printing is printing in which both outbound printing and inbound printing are executed, but outbound printing may be executed continuously or inbound printing may be executed continuously. For example, in the example of FIG. 3B, the partial images PI3 and PI4 are printed by two consecutive outbound prints. One-way printing is printing performed only by outbound printing. Alternatively, the one-way printing may be printing performed only by the return printing.

In each embodiment of the present specification, the print resolution and the number of passes for bidirectional printing are equal to the print resolution and the number of passes for unidirectional printing. The number of passes is the number of partial prints performed when printing each area of the printed image OI. In this embodiment, both bidirectional printing and one-way printing are one-pass printing in which one partial image PI is printed by only one partial printing (number of passes = 1). Further, the print resolutions in the X and Y directions of bidirectional printing are equal to the print resolutions in the X and Y directions of one-way printing.

When partial printing in the same printing direction is continuously performed, the main scan is performed between two consecutive partial printings without forming dots. The main scan performed without forming dots (that is, without printing a partial image) in this way is also referred to as a non-print main scan. The dashed arrows in FIGS. 3 (B) and 3 (C) indicate the non-printing main scan. For example, in FIG. 3B, a non-printing main scan is performed between the outbound printing for printing the partial image PI3 and the outbound printing for printing the partial image PI4. In the one-way printing of FIG. 3C, the non-printing main scan is performed every time the outbound printing is performed. Since the printing time required for printing is longer due to the non-printing main scanning than when the non-printing main scanning is not performed, the printing speed is full bidirectional printing, partial bidirectional printing, or one-way printing. Faster in order of printing.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, as shown in the print head 110, the positions of the CMYK nozzle rows NC, NM, NY, and NK are different from each other in the main scanning direction. Therefore, when the CMYK dots are formed at the same position on the paper M, the dot formation order is different between the outbound printing and the inbound printing. For example, in the example of FIG. 2B, dots are formed in the order of K, Y, C, and M in the outbound printing, and conversely, dots are formed in the order of M, C, Y, and K in the inbound printing. Will be printed. As a result, in the region where dots of a plurality of colors overlap, the order in which the dots overlap differs between the outward path partial image and the return path partial image. Therefore, even if the outbound partial image and the inbound partial image are printed using the same dot data, the printed colors may be different from each other. The phenomenon in which the color to be printed differs between the outward partial image and the return partial image is hereinafter referred to as a round-trip color difference.

The color evaluation table CP is a look-up table that defines weights indicating the degree of color difference between round trips for each of the RGB values. The color evaluation table CP is used in the print control process described later.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the color evaluation table CP. FIG. 4A shows an RGB color space CC, which is an RGB color space. Each of the eight vertices of the RGB color space CC has a code indicating a color (specifically, black vertices Vk (0,0,0), red vertices Vr (255,0,0), and green vertices Vg (0,0,0). 255,0), blue apex Vb (0,0,255), cyan apex Vc (0,255,255), magenta apex Vm (255,0,255), yellow apex Vy (255,255,0), white The apex Vw (255, 255, 255)) is attached. The numbers in parentheses indicate the values of each color component (R, G, B). The value of R of each grid GD is one of Q + 1 values obtained by dividing the range of R (here, from zero to 255) into Q equal parts. The same applies to the respective values of green G and blue B of each grid GD. In this embodiment, since Q = 9, 9 cubes (729) of grid GDs are set in the RGB color space CC.

FIG. 4B shows an example of the color evaluation table CP. In the color evaluation table CP, a weight Wt is associated with each of the RGB values corresponding to the 729 grid GDs. For example, the evaluator uses a color patch printed based on the CMYK values obtained by converting the RGB values of a specific grid GD using the outward profile FP, and the RGB values of the grid GD for the return profile RP. A color patch that is printed based on the CMYK values obtained by conversion using the above is printed. The evaluator measures the color of the two color patches and acquires the color measurement value. The color measurement value is, for example, a color value in a color space that does not depend on a device such as the printing mechanism 100, and in this embodiment, a color value in the CIELAB color space (hereinafter, also referred to as a Lab value). The evaluator calculates the color difference between the two acquired colorimetric values as the round-trip color difference corresponding to the specific grid GD. The evaluator determines a weight Wt that is larger as the color difference between round trips is larger as a weight Wt that corresponds to a specific grid GD. In this way, the weight Wt associated with the 729 grid GDs is determined, and the color evaluation table CP is created.

As described above, the color difference between the round trips is due to the difference in the order in which the dots overlap between the outward route partial image and the return route partial image. For this reason, among the C, M, Y, and K inks used for printing, the color difference between reciprocations becomes large with a specific color (also referred to as a color difference generating color) expressed by using two types of inks. The color difference-generating color includes, for example, green expressed using both C ink and Y ink, and particularly dark green expressed using both C ink and Y ink in a relatively large amount. Further, the color difference generation color is expressed by using red expressed by using both M ink and Y ink, blue expressed by using both C ink and M ink, and C, M, and Y ink. May include gray. In the color evaluation table CP, the grid GD corresponding to these color difference occurrence colors is associated with a weight Wt larger than that of the grid GD corresponding to other colors. Further, the primary color expressed by using only one type of ink among the C, M, Y, and K inks is expressed without overlapping of a plurality of types of inks on the paper. Therefore, for the primary color, there is no color difference between the round trips. Therefore, "0" is associated with the grid GD corresponding to the primary color as the weight Wt.

A-3. Operation of printing system 1000 A-3-1. Print control processing The CPU 310 (FIG. 1) of the terminal device 300 executes print control processing based on a print instruction from the user. The print instruction includes designation of target image data to be used for printing, that is, target image data corresponding to the printed image OI. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the print control process of the first embodiment.

In S5, the CPU 310 acquires the target image data. The target image data is selected, for example, from a plurality of image data (not shown) stored in the non-volatile storage device 320 based on a user's specification. The target image data acquired in this embodiment includes the values of a plurality of pixels, and each of the values of the plurality of pixels represents the color of the pixel as an RGB value. That is, the target image data is RGB image data. When the target image data to be acquired is not RGB image data, for example, conversion processing such as rasterization processing is executed on the target image data to convert it into RGB image data.

In S10, the CPU 310 selects the partial image data for one partial print among the target image data as the attention partial image data. The partial image PI corresponding to the attention partial image data is also referred to as a attention partial image. Further, partial printing for printing a attention partial image is also referred to as attention partial printing.

In S20, the CPU 310 executes a print direction determination process for determining the print direction (also referred to as the attention print direction) of the attention partial print. The print direction determination process is a process of determining the print direction of interest as either the outward direction or the return direction. The printing direction determination process will be described later.

In S30, the CPU 310 executes the color conversion process on the partial image data of interest by using the color conversion profile PF. The color conversion process is a process of converting RGB values included in the image data to be converted into CMYK values. As a result, the partial image data of interest is converted from the RGB image data to the CMYK image data. The CMYK image data is image data representing the color of each pixel by the above-mentioned CMYK value.

In S40, the CPU 310 causes the CPU 310 to execute halftone processing on the color-converted attention portion image data to generate partial print data for attention portion printing. The halftone process is performed using a known method, for example, an error collection method. The generated partial print data is data (also referred to as dot data) indicating a dot formation state for each color component and each pixel. The dot formation state is, for example, one of "with dots" and "without dots". Instead of this, the dot formation state may be any one of "large dot", "medium dot", "small dot", and "no dot".

In S50, the CPU 310 transmits the generated partial print data and the direction information indicating the print direction of the partial print of interest to the printer 200. When the printer 200 receives the partial print data and the direction information, the CPU 210 of the printer 200 executes the partial print according to the partial print data and the direction information. For example, the CPU 210 executes outbound printing when the direction information indicates the outward direction and prints the attention portion image, and executes return printing when the direction information indicates the return direction to the attention portion. Print the image.

In S60, the CPU 310 determines whether or not all the partial image data of the printed image OI has been processed. If there is unprocessed partial image data (S60: NO), the CPU 310 returns the processing to S10. When all the partial image data has been processed (S60: YES), the CPU 310 ends the print control process.

A-3-2. Printing direction determination processing The printing direction determination processing of S20 of FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the printing direction determination process. In S100, the CPU 310 acquires temperature information indicating the internal temperature, specifically, the temperature of the print head 110 (also referred to as head temperature Th) from the printer 200. Specifically, the CPU 310 transmits a request for temperature information to the printer 200. Upon receiving the request, the CPU 210 of the printer 200 generates temperature information indicating the head temperature Th of the print head 110 based on the signal from the temperature sensor 170. The CPU 210 transmits the temperature information to the terminal device 300.

In S105, the CPU 310 invents whether or not the head temperature Th indicated by the temperature information is within the room temperature range. The room temperature range is a range of the reference temperature T1 (for example, 5 degrees Celsius) or higher and the reference temperature T2 (for example, 35 degrees Celsius) or less.

When the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range (S105: YES), in S110, the CPU 310 divides the attention portion image into a plurality of blocks BL. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a partial image and a plurality of blocks. In the example of FIG. 7, the partial image PI2 is divided into a plurality of blocks BL as the partial image of interest. The shape of the block BL is rectangular. The plurality of blocks BL are arranged in a grid pattern without gaps along the main scanning direction (X direction in FIG. 7) and the transport direction (Y direction in FIG. 7). The height BH in the transport direction of the block BL and the width BW in the main scanning direction are predetermined.

In S115, the CPU 310 selects one unprocessed block BL among the plurality of block BLs of the partial image of interest as the block of interest.

In S120, the CPU 310 uses the color evaluation table CP to calculate the evaluation value EV of the block of interest. The evaluation value EV indicates the degree of color difference (the above-mentioned reciprocating color difference) between the image printed when the partial printing of interest is performed in the outward direction and the image printed when the partial printing is performed in the return direction. The value. Specifically, the CPU 310 specifies the weight Wt of each of the plurality of pixels by using the pixel value (RGB value) of each of the plurality of pixels included in the block of interest and the color evaluation table CP. Among the plurality of grid GDs of the color evaluation table CP (FIG. 4A), the grid GD closest to the value of a specific pixel is specified, and the weight Wt associated with the grid GD in the color evaluation table CP is calculated. , The weight Wt of the specific pixel. Then, the CPU 310 calculates the average value of the weights Wt of the plurality of pixels as the evaluation value EV of the attention block.

In S125, the CPU 310 determines whether or not the evaluation value EV is larger than the predetermined threshold Vth. When the evaluation value EV is larger than the threshold value Vth (S125: YES), in S140, the CPU 310 determines the print direction of interest in a predetermined direction (in this embodiment, the outward direction). When the print direction of interest is determined, the print direction determination process is terminated.

When the evaluation value EV is equal to or less than the threshold value Vth (S125: NO), in S130, the CPU 310 determines whether or not the processing of all the blocks of the partial image of interest has been completed. When the unprocessed block remains (S130: NO), the CPU 310 shifts to S115 and executes the processing of the unprocessed block. When the processing of all the blocks is completed (S130: YES), in S135, the CPU 310 determines the print direction of interest in the direction opposite to the print direction of the previous partial print (previous print direction). That is, when the immediately preceding print direction is the outward path direction, the attention print direction is determined in the return path direction, and when the immediately preceding print direction is the return path direction, the attention print direction is determined in the outward path direction. When the print direction of interest is determined, the print direction determination process is terminated.

When the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range (S105: NO), in S145, the CPU 310 determines whether or not the attention portion image contains only the primary color. As described above, it is determined whether or not the primary color includes only the color expressed by using only one type of ink among the C, M, Y, and K inks. For example, the CPU 310 executes a color conversion process on the partial image data (RGB image data) of interest to generate CMYK image data. The CPU 310 determines that the partial image of interest contains only the primary color when the values of all the pixels included in the CMYK image data are CMYK values indicating the primary color or white. The CMYK value indicating the primary color is, for example, (C, M, Y, K) = (A, 0, 0, 0), (0, A, 0, 0), (0, 0, A, 0), It is one of (0, 0, 0, A) (A is an arbitrary integer from 1 to 255). The CMYK value indicating white is, for example, (C, M, Y, K) = (0, 0, 0, 0). Instead, the non-volatile storage device 320 stores a list of RGB values indicating the primary color, and the CPU 310 stores the values of all the pixels stepped on in the attention partial image data (RGB image data) in the list. When the RGB values are included, it may be determined that the partial image of interest contains only the primary color.

When the attention portion image contains only the primary color (S145: YES), in S150, the CPU 310 determines the attention print direction in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding print direction. When the attention portion image contains a color different from the primary color (S145: NO), in S155, the CPU 310 determines the attention printing direction in the outward path direction. When the print direction of interest is determined, the print direction determination process is terminated.

In the first embodiment described above, the CPU 310 that acquires the target image data in S5 of FIG. 5 is an example of the image acquisition unit. In S100 of FIG. 6, the CPU 310 that acquires the temperature information indicating the head temperature Th is an example of the temperature acquisition unit. In S50 of FIG. 5, the CPU 310 that causes the printer 200 to print a printed image by transmitting partial print data and direction information to the printer 200 is an example of a print control unit.

Here, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range (S105: YES), the processes of S115 to S140 are executed. In the processing of S115 to S140, each partial image is printed in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction, except for the partial image in which the evaluation value EV of at least one block BL is larger than the threshold value Vth.

When the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range (S105: NO), the attention printing direction is determined in the outward path direction except in the limited case where the attention portion image contains only the primary color (S155). ..

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, there is a higher possibility that printing is performed by bidirectional printing than when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range. For example, the partial images PI1 to PI5 of the printed image OI of FIG. 3 each include a color different from the primary color, but do not include a block BL whose evaluation value EV is larger than the threshold value Vth. In this case, the printed image OI is printed by the complete bidirectional printing of FIG. 3A if the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range. Then, if the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, the printed image OI is printed by the one-way printing of FIG. 3C.

That is, in this example, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, the partial image PI1 of the printed image OI is printed by outbound printing, and the partial image PI2 is printed by inbound printing (for example, FIG. A)). As a result, when the head temperature Th is in the room temperature range, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the printing speed of the printed image OI. When the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, the partial image PI1 is printed by outbound printing, and the partial image PI2 is also printed by outbound printing. As a result, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of color unevenness between the partial image PI1 and the partial image PI2 when printing the printed image OI. Therefore, in the printer 200 capable of bidirectional printing, appropriate printing can be performed according to the head temperature Th.

It will be explained in more detail. Since the ink temperature differs depending on the head temperature Th when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range and when it is outside the room temperature range, the characteristics such as the viscosity and the water content of the ink are different. Therefore, the characteristics such as ink ejection stability, color, absorbency to paper, and drying speed are different depending on whether the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range or outside the room temperature range. Therefore, the degree of the color difference between the reciprocations described above also differs depending on whether or not the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range. Therefore, when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, unexpected color unevenness is likely to occur due to the color difference between reciprocations as compared with the case where the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range.

For example, in this embodiment, a weight Wt indicating the degree of color difference between reciprocations is recorded in the color evaluation table CP, assuming that the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range. Therefore, when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range (YES in S105 of FIG. 6), an appropriate evaluation value EV can be calculated with reference to the color evaluation table CP, so that S110 of FIG. 6 can be calculated. By the processing of S140, the printing direction of interest can be appropriately determined. That is, the printing direction of the attention portion image in which the color difference between the round trips is considered to be conspicuous is appropriately determined in the outward route direction, and the printing direction of the attention portion image in which the color difference between the round trips is considered to be inconspicuous is opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction. Determined appropriately. As a result, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, bidirectional printing (FIGS. 3A and 3B) is performed with reference to the color evaluation table CP. As a result, it is possible to suppress an excessive decrease in printing speed while suppressing color unevenness caused by a color difference between reciprocations.

On the other hand, when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range (NO in S105 of FIG. 6), refer to the color evaluation table CP created on the assumption that the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range. Even so, it may not be possible to calculate an appropriate evaluation value EV. Therefore, in this embodiment, one-way printing (FIG. 3 (C)) is performed only in the outward direction unless it is clear that the color difference between the round trips is not noticeable because the partial image contains only the primary color. (S155 in FIG. 6). Therefore, in the printer 200 capable of bidirectional printing, appropriate printing can be performed according to the head temperature Th.

Further, in this embodiment, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range (NO in S105 of FIG. 6), the printed image OI is printed a plurality of times in S145 to S155 using the target image data. The CPU 310 that determines the printing direction of partial printing is an example of the first printing direction determining unit. In this case, if the partial image of interest contains a color different from the primary color, that is, if it contains two colors of CMYK (for example, C and M) (NO in S145 of FIG. 6), attention is paid. The printing direction is determined in the outward direction, which is one predetermined direction among the outward direction and the return direction (S155 in FIG. 6). When the partial image of interest contains only the primary color, that is, when it contains one color (for example, C) of CMYK and does not contain the other color (for example, M, Y, K) (S145 in FIG. 6). YES), the attention printing direction is determined in the outward printing direction and the returning direction, which are opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction (S150 in FIG. 6). As described above, since the reciprocating color difference occurs when the inks of a plurality of colors overlap each other, the reciprocating color difference does not occur in the image containing only the primary color, that is, the image printed with one color ink. In this embodiment, the partial image containing only the primary color and no color difference between reciprocations is printed by bidirectional printing. Therefore, even if the head temperature Th is outside the specific range, the color difference between reciprocations is printed on the printed image OI. The printing speed can be improved when color unevenness due to the above is unlikely to occur.

Further, in this embodiment, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range (YES in S105 of FIG. 6), the print image OI is printed a plurality of times in S110 to S140 using the target image data. The CPU 310 that determines the print direction for partial printing is an example of a second print direction determination unit. In this case, using the target image data, an evaluation value EV is calculated for each block BL for each of the plurality of partial images PI1 to PI5 corresponding to a plurality of partial prints (S120 in FIG. 6). It is determined whether or not the evaluation value EV is larger than the threshold value Vth (S125 in FIG. 6). In this embodiment, it can be said that the fact that the evaluation value EV of at least one block BL is larger than the threshold value Vth is a specific condition indicating that the color difference between round trips is equal to or more than the reference. Then, when the attention partial image satisfies the specific condition (YES in S125 of FIG. 6), the attention printing direction is determined to be one of the outward direction and the return direction, which is a predetermined direction. (S140 in FIG. 6). When the attention portion image does not satisfy the specific condition (YES in S130 of FIG. 6), the attention print direction is determined in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding print direction (S135 of FIG. 6). In other words, the partial image in which the color difference between the round trips is considered to be conspicuous is always printed in the outward direction. For example, it is assumed that the evaluation value EV of the hatched partial image PI4 in FIG. 3B is larger than the threshold value Vth. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, the partial image PI4 is printed by the partial printing in the outward direction even though the printing direction of the partial printing for printing the partial image PI3 is the outward direction. To. Further, the partial image in which the color difference between the round trips is considered to be inconspicuous, that is, the partial image in which the evaluation value EV of all the block BLs is equal to or less than the threshold value Vth is printed in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction. As a result, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, an appropriate printing direction can be determined according to the degree of the reciprocating color difference, so that color unevenness caused by the reciprocating color difference can be suppressed in the printed image. It is possible to suppress a decrease in printing speed.

Here, when the head temperature Th is excessively low, the viscosity of the ink becomes high, so that the amount of ink ejected is not stable, and there is a possibility that the intended color cannot be expressed. In such a case, even if the evaluation value EV using the color evaluation table CP is equal to or less than the threshold value Vth, the color difference between reciprocations may be conspicuous, so that the color unevenness due to the color difference between reciprocations is conspicuous in the printed image. .. In this embodiment, the room temperature range is a range that does not include a temperature below the reference temperature T1 (for example, 5 degrees Celsius). As a result, when the head temperature Th is excessively low, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of color unevenness due to the color difference between reciprocations in the printed image OI.

Further, in this embodiment, the printer 200 includes a temperature sensor 170 arranged in the vicinity of the print head 110, and the temperature information acquired in S110 of FIG. 6 is generated by using the temperature sensor 170. Information. Since the temperature of the ink that affects printing has a high correlation with the temperature of the print head 110, appropriate temperature information can be obtained by arranging the temperature sensor 170 in the vicinity of the print head 110.

As can be seen from the above description, the outward route direction of this embodiment is an example of the first direction, and the return route direction is an example of the second direction. The processes of S110 to S140 of FIG. 6 and S30 to S50 of FIG. 5 of this embodiment are examples of the first print control, and the processes of S145 to S155 of FIG. 6 and S30 to S50 of FIG. 5 are the second prints. This is an example of control.

B. Second Example B-1. System Configuration FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing system 1000B of the second embodiment. In the non-volatile storage device 320B of the terminal device 300B of the second embodiment, the outward path profile FP and the return path profile RP are stored instead of the color conversion profile PF. The non-volatile storage device 320B further stores a first color evaluation table CP1 and a second color evaluation table CP2 in place of the color evaluation table CP. The profiles FP, RP, and color evaluation tables CP1 and CP2 are provided, for example, by the manufacturer of the printer 200, similar to the computer program PG1. Other configurations in the printing system 1000B of the second embodiment are the same as those of the printing system 1000 of the first embodiment.

The profiles FP and RP are profiles that define the correspondence between the RGB values and the CMYK values, respectively, like the color conversion profile PF. The profiles FP and RP are used for color conversion processing for converting RGB values into CMYK values in the printing control processing described later. For example, the outbound profile FP is used to convert RGB values into CMYK values when generating partial print data for outbound printing. The return profile RP is used to convert RGB values into CMYK values when generating partial print data for return printing. The outbound profile FP and the inbound profile RP are color-matched with each other so as to suppress the color difference between the round trips described above. Specifically, these profile FPs and RPs are based on the CMYK value obtained by converting at least a part of the specific RGB values in the RGB color system by converting the specific RGB values using the outbound profile FP. The color of the outbound partial image to be printed and the color of the inbound partial image printed based on the CMYK value obtained by converting the specific RGB value using the inbound profile RP are adjusted so as to be close to each other. ing.

In the color evaluation tables CP1 and CP2, as in the color evaluation table CP (FIG. 4B), the weight Wt is associated with each of the RGB values corresponding to the 729 grid GDs. The first color evaluation table CP1 is a table used when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, and is the same as, for example, the color evaluation table CP of the first embodiment. The second color evaluation table CP2 is a table used when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, but the weight Wt associated with each of the RGB values is different from the color evaluation table CP1. Specifically, considering that an unintended reciprocating color difference is likely to occur when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, the second color evaluation table CP2 is generally more than the color evaluation table CP1. Also has a large weight Wt recorded. For example, for a specific RGB value, the weight associated with the second color evaluation table CP2 is larger than the weight associated with the color evaluation table CP1.

B-2. Printing direction determination process FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the printing direction determination process of the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the print direction determination process of FIG. 9 is executed instead of the print direction determination process of FIG.

In FIG. 9, the same processing as in FIG. 6 is given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9, and the processing different from FIG. 6 is given a “B” at the end of the reference numerals. In the print direction determination process of FIG. 9, S145, S150, and S155 of the print direction determination process of FIG. 6 are not executed. In the print direction determination process of FIG. 9, either S106B or S107B is executed after S105.

In the print direction determination process of FIG. 9, the CPU 310 acquires temperature information in S100 and determines in S105 whether or not the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, as in the print direction determination process of FIG. ..

When the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range (S105: YES), in S106B, the CPU 310 selects the first color evaluation table CP1 as the table to be used. When the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range (S105: NO), in S107B, the CPU 310 selects the second color evaluation table CP2 as the table to be used.

When the use table is selected, the CPU 310 executes the processes of S110 to S140 of FIG. 9 to determine the print direction of interest. Since the processing of S110 to S140 in FIG. 9 is the same as that of S110 to S140 in FIG. 6, the description thereof will be omitted. However, in S120 of FIG. 9, when the evaluation value EV of the attention block was calculated, it was determined as the table to be used in S106B or S107B of the first color evaluation table CP1 and the second color evaluation table CP2. A table is used.

Other operations of the printing system 1000B of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. However, in the color conversion process of S30 of FIG. 5, a profile corresponding to the print direction determined by the print direction determination process of S20 is used among the outbound profile FP and the inbound profile RP.

In the second embodiment described above, in the printing direction determining process of FIG. 9, when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, the printing direction of a plurality of partial prints is determined using the first color evaluation table CP1. The CPU 310 is an example of a third printing direction determining unit (YES, S106B, S110 to S140 in S105 of FIG. 9). The CPU 310, which determines the printing direction of a plurality of partial prints using the second color evaluation table CP2 when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, is an example of the fourth printing direction determining unit (FIG. 9). NO, S107B, S110 to S140 in S105).

Here, as described above, a weight Wt larger than that of the first color evaluation table CP1 is recorded in the second color evaluation table CP2 as a whole. Therefore, the evaluation value EV of each block BL calculated by using the second color evaluation table CP2 is larger than the evaluation value EV of each block BL calculated by using the first color evaluation table CP1. For this reason, when the second color evaluation table CP2 is used, it is easier to determine that the evaluation value is larger than the threshold Vth in S125 as compared with the case where the first color evaluation table CP1 is used, and eventually in S140. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the printing direction is determined in the outward direction. In other words, it can be said that the fact that the evaluation value EV calculated using the first color evaluation table CP1 is larger than the threshold value Vth is the first condition indicating that the round-trip color difference is equal to or greater than the first reference. it can. Then, the evaluation value EV calculated by using the second color evaluation table CP2 is larger than the threshold value Vth, that is, the second condition satisfied by the lower standard, that is, the second standard or more in which the color difference between round trips is lower than the first standard. It can be said that this is the second condition indicating that. As described above, in the second embodiment, different conditions are used depending on whether the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range or the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, the printing direction of interest is determined to be the outward direction, which is one predetermined direction, when the partial image of interest satisfies the first condition. When the attention partial image does not satisfy the first condition, the attention print direction is determined in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding print direction. When the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, when the attention portion image satisfies the second condition, the attention print direction is determined in the outward direction, which is one predetermined direction, and the attention portion image is the second condition. If the above conditions are not satisfied, the printing direction of interest is determined in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction. As a result, when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, bidirectional printing is less likely to be performed than when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, so that color unevenness can be suppressed. Further, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, bidirectional printing is easily performed, so that the printing speed can be improved.

For example, it is assumed that each of the partial images PI1 to PI5 of the printed image OI is an image that satisfies the second condition but does not satisfy the first condition. In this case, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, the printed image OI is printed by the complete bidirectional printing of FIG. 3 (A), and when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, printing is performed. The image OI is printed by the one-way printing of FIG. 3C. That is, in this case, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, the partial image PI1 of the printed image OI is printed by outbound printing, and the partial image PI2 is printed by inbound printing (for example, FIG. A)). When the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, the partial image PI1 is printed by outbound printing, and the partial image PI2 is also printed by outbound printing. Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, in the printer 200 capable of bidirectional printing, appropriate printing can be performed according to the head temperature Th.

Further, in the second embodiment, the non-volatile storage device 320B for storing the outbound profile FP for outbound printing and the inbound profile RP for inbound printing is an example of the storage unit. Further, the CPU 310 that generates partial print data by executing a generation process including a color conversion process (S30 in FIG. 5) and a halftone process (S40 in FIG. 5) on the target image data is a print data generation unit. This is an example. In the second embodiment, when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, the data corresponding to the partial image PI1 (FIG. 3 (A)) printed in the outward direction in S30 of FIG. The color conversion process using the outbound profile FP is executed, and the color conversion process using the inbound profile RP is executed for the data corresponding to the partial image PI2 (FIG. 3A) printed in the return direction. Then, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, the data corresponding to the partial image PI1 (FIG. 3 (C)) printed in the outward direction in S30 of FIG. 5 and the partial image PI2 (FIG. 3 (FIG. 3)) A color conversion process using the outbound profile FP is executed for both the data corresponding to C)). As a result, the CPU 310 can execute an appropriate color conversion process according to the printing direction of the partial printing when generating the partial printing data.

C. Modified Example (1) The printing direction determination process (FIGS. 6 and 9) of the above embodiment is an example, and is not limited thereto. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the printing direction determination process of the modified example. In the print direction determination process of FIG. 10, S145C is executed instead of S145 of the print direction determination process of FIG. In S145C, the CPU 310 determines whether or not the printed image contains only primary colors. That is, in the print direction determination process of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not each partial image contains only the primary color (S145 of FIG. 6), but in this modification, whether or not each print image contains only the primary color. Whether or not it is judged.

When the printed image contains only the primary color (S145C: YES), in S150, the CPU 310 determines the print direction of interest in the direction opposite to the immediately preceding print direction. When the printed image contains a color different from the primary color (S145C: NO), in S155, the CPU 310 determines the attention printing direction in the outward direction. When the print direction of interest is determined, the print direction determination process is terminated.

According to the modification described above, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range, when the printed image contains a color different from the primary color, that is, two colors (for example, C and M) of CMYK are selected. If it is included (NO in S145C of FIG. 10), the printing direction of each partial image included in the printed image is determined in the outward route direction, which is one predetermined direction among the outward route direction and the return route direction. (S155 in FIG. 10). Therefore, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range and the printed image contains a color different from the primary color, the printed image is printed by the one-way printing of FIG. 3C. Therefore, when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range and the printed image contains a color different from the primary color, the printing speed is reduced, but the color unevenness due to the color difference between reciprocations is surely suppressed. Can be done.

Then, when the printed image contains only the primary color, that is, when it contains one color (for example, C) of CMYK and does not contain the other color (for example, M, Y, K) (FIG. 10). YES in S145C), the printing direction of each partial image included in the printed image is determined to be the direction opposite to the immediately preceding printing direction among the outward path direction and the return path direction (S150 in FIG. 10). As a result, when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range, only the printed image containing only the primary color, that is, the printed image in which it is certain that the color difference between the reciprocations does not occur, is completely both of FIG. 3 (A). It is printed by face-to-face printing. As a result, even if the head temperature Th is outside the specific range, the printing speed can be improved if color unevenness due to the color difference between reciprocations does not occur in the printed image OI.

In the above modified example, the process of S145C may be executed after S5 of FIG. Then, when the determination result of S145C is YES, the printing direction may be determined so as to perform complete bidirectionality regardless of the head temperature Th. Then, if the determination result of S145C is NO, it may be determined whether the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, and if it is outside the room temperature range, the printing direction may be determined so as to perform a complete one-way direction. That is, the determination of S145C may not be performed every time the partial image data of interest is selected, but may be determined once for the target print data.

(2) In the second embodiment, when the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range, the evaluation value EV is calculated using the first color evaluation table CP1 and when the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range. Calculates the evaluation value EV using the second color evaluation table CP2 (S105, S106B, S107B, etc. in FIG. 9). As a result, the conditions used when determining whether or not the color difference between reciprocations is equal to or greater than the standard between the case where the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range and the case where the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range. Is changing. Instead of this, it is used in S125 of FIG. 9 without changing the color evaluation table CP between the case where the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range and the case where the head temperature Th is outside the normal temperature range. The threshold value Vth may be changed. For example, when the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range, the CPU 310 determines whether or not the evaluation value EV is larger than the first threshold value Vth1 in S125 of FIG. 9, and the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range. In some cases, it may be determined in S125 of FIG. 9 whether or not the evaluation value EV is larger than the second threshold value Vth2. A value smaller than the first threshold value Vth1 is used for the second threshold value Vth2.

(3) Instead of the print direction determination process of each of the above embodiments, the CPU 310 determines the print direction of interest so as to perform complete bidirectional printing whenever the head temperature Th is within the room temperature range. Is also good. The CPU 310 may determine the print direction of interest so that unidirectional printing is always performed when the head temperature Th is outside the room temperature range.

(4) In each of the above embodiments, it is determined in S105 of FIGS. 6, 9, and 10 whether or not the head temperature Th is within the normal temperature range. Instead of this, it may be determined whether or not it is within another temperature range. For example, the other temperature range may be a temperature range (T1 ≦ Th) equal to or higher than the reference temperature T1. Alternatively, the other temperature range may be a temperature range (Th ≦ T2) equal to or lower than the reference temperature T2.

(5) In each of the above embodiments, the temperature sensor 170 arranged in the vicinity of the print head 110 is used to generate temperature information indicating the head temperature Th. Instead of this, for example, temperature information indicating the temperature of the ink may be generated by using each ink cartridge or a temperature sensor arranged in the cartridge mounting portion 151.

(6) In S140 and S155 of the print direction determination process of FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, the print direction of interest is always determined in the outward direction, but may always be determined in the return direction.

Further, in S140 and S155 of the printing direction determination processing of FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, the attention printing direction is determined in the outward direction regardless of whether the immediately preceding printing direction is the outward direction or the return direction. Instead, the print direction of interest may be determined in the same direction as the immediately preceding print direction.

(7) In each of the above embodiments, paper M is used as the printing medium. Instead of this, other print media, for example, a film for OHP, a CD-ROM, or a DVD-ROM may be adopted.

(8) The arrangement position of each nozzle row of the print head 110 does not have to be the order of the nozzle rows NY, NM, NC, NK from the upstream side in the X direction of FIG. 2 (B), and any other order. May be adopted. If the color difference occurs due to the different printing directions, the nozzle rows may be arranged so as to be symmetrical with respect to the printing direction.

(9) In the printing mechanism 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the transport unit 140 transports the paper M to move the paper M relative to the print head 110 in the transport direction. Instead of this, the paper M may be moved relative to the print head 110 in the transport direction by moving the print head 110 in the direction opposite to the transport direction with respect to the fixed paper M.

(10) In each of the above embodiments, the device that executes the print control process of FIG. 5 is the terminal device 300. Instead of this, the CPU 210 of the printer 200 may execute the print control process of FIG. 5 as a control device. In this case, in S50 of FIG. 5, the CPU 210 outputs the partial print data and the direction information to, for example, a predetermined memory area of the non-volatile storage device 220 or the volatile storage device 230. The printing mechanism 100 of the printer 200 executes partial printing according to the partial printing data and direction information output to the memory area.

As can be seen from the above description, in each of the above embodiments, the terminal device 300 is an example of the control device, and the printer 200 is an example of the print execution unit. In this modification, the CPU 210 of the printer 200 is an example of the control device, and the printing mechanism 100 of the printer 200 is an example of the print execution unit.

Further, the device that executes the print control process of FIG. 5 may be, for example, a server that acquires image data from a printer or a terminal device and generates a print job using the image data. In this case, for example, the printer or the terminal device transmits the empty information and the ink usage amount to the server together with the image data corresponding to the printed image. Such a server may be a plurality of computers capable of communicating with each other via a network. In this case, an entire plurality of computers capable of communicating with each other via a network is an example of a control device.

(11) In each of the above embodiments, a part of the configuration realized by the hardware may be replaced with software, and conversely, a part or all of the configuration realized by the software may be replaced with the hardware. You may do so. For example, when the print control processes of FIGS. 5 and 9 are executed in the printer 200, the color conversion process and the halftone process are performed by, for example, a dedicated hardware circuit (for example, ASIC) that operates according to the instruction of the CPU 210 of the printer 200. ) May be realized.

Although the present invention has been described above based on Examples and Modifications, the above-described embodiments of the invention are for facilitating the understanding of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from the spirit and claims, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

100 ... Printing mechanism, 110 ... Printing head, 111 ... Nozzle forming surface, 120 ... Head drive unit, 130 ... Main scanning unit, 133 ... Carriage, 134 ... Sliding shaft, 135 ... Belt, 136 ... Pulley, 140 ... Conveying unit , 150 ... Ink supply unit, 151 ... Cartridge mounting unit, 152 ... Tube, 170 ... Temperature sensor, 200 ... Printer, 210 ... CPU, 220 ... Non-volatile storage device, 230 ... Volatile storage device, 231 ... Buffer area, 260 ... Operation unit, 270 ... Display unit, 280 ... Communication unit, 300, 300B ... Terminal device, 310 ... CPU, 320, 320B ... Non-volatile storage device, 331 ... Buffer area, 360 ... Operation unit, 370 ... Display unit, 380 ... Communication unit, 1000, 1000B ... Printing system, M ... Paper, D ... Nozzle length, MC, MM, MY, MK ... Ink cartridge, NC, NM, NY, NK ... Nozzle row, PF ... Color conversion profile, FP ... Outward profile, RP ... Return profile, CP, CP1, CP2 ... Color evaluation table, NW ... Network, NZ ... Nozzle, PG1, PG2 ... Computer program

Claims (9)

A printing head having a first-class nozzle that ejects first-color ink and a second-class nozzle that ejects second-color ink and has a position different from that of the first-class nozzle in the main scanning direction. , The main scanning unit that executes the main scanning that moves the print head along the main scanning direction with respect to the printing medium, and the printing along the sub-scanning direction that intersects the main scanning direction with respect to the printing head. A control device for a print execution unit including a sub-scanning unit that executes sub-scanning that moves media relative to each other.
An image acquisition unit that acquires image data corresponding to the printed image,
A temperature acquisition unit that acquires temperature information indicating the temperature inside the print execution unit, and a temperature acquisition unit.
Partial printing in which dots are formed by the print head while performing the main scan in one of a first direction along the main scan direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction. A print control unit that causes the print execution unit to print the print image by causing the print execution unit to execute the sub-scanning a plurality of times.
With
The print control unit
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within a specific range, the first partial image of the printed image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction, and then printed after the first partial image. The first print control for printing the second partial image to be printed by the partial print in the second direction is executed.
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range, the first partial image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction, and the second partial image is printed on the portion in the first direction. A control device that executes a second print control for printing by printing. The control device according to claim 1, further
A first printing direction determining unit that determines the printing direction of the partial printing a plurality of times to print the printed image using the image data when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range. With
The first printing direction determination unit is
Using the image data, the colors included in each of the plurality of partial images corresponding to the plurality of partial prints are specified.
When the partial image corresponding to the partial printing of interest in the plurality of partial prints includes the first color and the second color, the printing direction of the partial print of interest is referred to as the first direction. Of the second direction, the direction is determined to be the same as the printing direction of the previous partial printing or a predetermined direction.
When the partial image corresponding to the attention partial printing includes one of the first color and the second color and does not include the other, the printing direction of the attention partial printing is changed to the first direction and the second. Of the directions, the direction opposite to the printing direction of the previous partial printing is determined.
The second print control is a control device that executes the plurality of partial prints in the print direction determined by the first print direction determination unit. The control device according to claim 1, further
A first printing direction determining unit that determines the printing direction of the partial printing a plurality of times to print the printed image using the image data when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range. With
The first printing direction determination unit is
Using the image data, the colors contained in the printed image are identified, and
When the printed image contains the first color and the second color, each of the printing directions of the plurality of partial prints is predetermined among the first direction and the second direction. Decide in one direction,
When the printed image contains one of the first color and the second color and does not include the other, each of the printing directions of the plurality of partial prints is one of the first direction and the second direction. , Determined in the direction opposite to the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before,
The second print control is a control device that executes the plurality of partial prints in the print direction determined by the first print direction determination unit. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and further
A second printing direction determining unit that determines the printing direction of the partial printing a plurality of times to print the printed image using the image data when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within the specific range. With
The second printing direction determination unit is
Using the image data, for each of the plurality of partial images corresponding to the plurality of partial prints, the color difference between the image printed in the first direction and the image printed in the second direction is Judge whether the specific conditions that indicate that the standard is exceeded are met,
When the partial image corresponding to the partial printing of interest in the plurality of partial prints satisfies the specific condition, the printing direction of the partial print of interest is set to the first direction and the second direction. Determined in the same direction as the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before, or in one predetermined direction.
When the partial image corresponding to the attention partial printing does not satisfy the specific condition, the printing direction of the attention partial printing is set to the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before the first direction and the second direction. Determined in the direction opposite to the printing direction,
The first print control is a control device that executes the plurality of partial prints in the print direction determined by the second print direction determination unit. The control device according to claim 1, further
A third printing direction determining unit that determines the printing direction of the partial printing a plurality of times to print the printed image using the image data when the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within the specific range. When,
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range, the image data is used to determine the printing direction of the plurality of times of partial printing, and a fourth printing direction determining unit.
With
The third printing direction determination unit is
Using the image data, for each of the plurality of partial images corresponding to the plurality of partial prints, the color difference between the image printed in the first direction and the image printed in the second direction is Judging whether or not the first condition indicating that it is equal to or higher than the first standard is satisfied,
When the partial image corresponding to the partial printing of interest in the plurality of times of partial printing satisfies the first condition, the printing direction of the partial printing of interest is set to the first direction and the second direction. , The same direction as the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before, or one predetermined direction,
When the partial image corresponding to the attention partial printing does not satisfy the first condition, the printing direction of the attention partial printing is set to the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before the first direction and the second direction. Determined in the direction opposite to the printing direction,
The fourth printing direction determination unit is
Using the image data, it is determined whether or not the second condition indicating that the color difference is equal to or higher than the second reference lower than the first reference is satisfied for each of the plurality of partial images.
When the partial image corresponding to the attention partial printing satisfies the second condition, the printing direction of the attention partial printing is set to the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before the first direction and the second direction. Determined in the same direction as the printing direction or in one predetermined direction,
When the partial image corresponding to the attention partial printing does not satisfy the second condition, the printing direction of the attention partial printing is set to the printing direction of the partial printing immediately before the first direction and the second direction. Determined in the direction opposite to the printing direction,
The first print control is a control for executing the plurality of partial prints in the print direction determined by the third print direction determination unit.
The second print control is a control device for executing the plurality of partial prints in the print direction determined by the fourth print direction determination unit. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
The specific range is a control device that does not include a temperature below the reference temperature. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The print execution unit includes a temperature sensor arranged in the vicinity of the print head.
The temperature information is information generated by using the temperature sensor, a control device. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising.
A plurality of colors defining a correspondence relationship between a first type color value and a second type color value including a plurality of component values corresponding to a plurality of color inks including the first color and the second color. The plurality of profiles are a storage unit for storing the profiles of the above, and the plurality of profiles include a first profile for the partial printing in the first direction, a second profile for the partial printing in the second direction, and the like. With the storage unit including
The image acquisition unit acquires specific image data including a plurality of the first type color values as the values of the plurality of pixels.
A print data generation unit that generates specific print data by executing a generation process on the specific image data, and the specific print data includes the first partial print data indicating the first partial image and the said. The print data generation unit includes a second partial print data showing a second partial image, and the generation process includes a conversion process for converting the color value of the first type into the color value of the second type.
With
The print control unit causes the print execution unit to print the specific print image using the specific print data.
The print data generation unit
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within the specific range, the conversion process using the first profile is executed for the data corresponding to the first partial image among the specific image data. Then, the conversion process using the second profile is executed on the data corresponding to the second partial image.
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range, the conversion using the first profile for the data corresponding to the first partial image and the data corresponding to the second partial image. A control device that performs processing, including processing. A printing head having a first-class nozzle that ejects first-color ink and a second-class nozzle that ejects second-color ink and has a position different from that of the first-class nozzle in the main scanning direction. , The main scanning unit that executes the main scanning for moving the print head along the main scanning direction with respect to the printing medium, and the printing along the sub-scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction with respect to the printing head. A computer program for a print execution unit including a sub-scanning unit that executes a sub-scanning that moves a medium relative to each other.
An image acquisition function that acquires image data corresponding to the printed image,
A temperature acquisition function that acquires temperature information indicating the temperature inside the print execution unit, and
Partial printing in which dots are formed by the print head while performing the main scan in one of a first direction along the main scan direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction. A print control function for causing the print execution unit to print the print image by causing the print execution unit to execute the sub-scanning a plurality of times.
To the computer,
The print control function is
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is within a specific range, the first partial image of the printed image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction, and then printed after the first partial image. The first print control for printing the second partial image to be printed by the partial print in the second direction is executed.
When the temperature indicated by the temperature information is outside the specific range, the first partial image is printed by the partial printing in the first direction, and the second partial image is printed on the portion in the first direction. A computer program that executes a second print control for printing.

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