JP3138380B2 - Ink jet recording apparatus and print control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a printing control method for fixing an ink useful in a color ink jet recording apparatus using plain paper. Here, the recording includes ink application (printing) to all ink supports to which ink is applied, such as cloth, thread, paper, and sheet material. The present invention includes a printer as the output device, and the present invention can be used for them.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a color ink jet recording apparatus, particularly in a color ink jet recording apparatus, when forming a color image, a plurality of color inks are sequentially overprinted. (Bleeding) and wrinkling (cockling) of the recording material due to the ejection of a large amount of ink.

In order to solve such a problem, a conventional color printer has been proposed to improve the fixing of ink.
Specifying the use of special coated paper with improved ink absorption characteristics by coating the paper surface, or forcibly promoting the fixing of ink by using a fixing device that uses a heating wire And other methods have been adopted.

[0004]

However, the former method, that is, the use of dedicated coated paper is expensive in terms of the cost of the coated paper, or the number of users is limited because the paper is special paper such as coated paper. Has disadvantages. Further, the use of the latter fuser consumes considerable power (usually about several hundred watts) by using a heating wire, and since the recording material passes over the heating wire heater, it is necessary to guarantee safety against a flame. Disadvantages such as difficulty are pointed out.

In order to eliminate the need for a special coated paper or a fixing device, a method of adding a nonionic surfactant such as acetylenol to the ink to promote the permeability of the ink to the paper has been adopted. ing. However, in general, when a surfactant is added to ink, the permeability to paper is promoted, and bleeding due to overprinting of a multicolor ink such as a color image is avoided, but the OD value is reduced, and particularly with respect to black ink. Has the disadvantage that the quality of black characters deteriorates. Therefore, conventionally, it is difficult to provide high-quality black characters while performing color printing.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention can improve the fixation of a color image between black ink and color ink, and can obtain a clear high-quality color image by solving bleeding during image formation. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus and a printing control method which can be performed.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first ink jet recording apparatus comprising a plurality of nozzle sets each having a plurality of nozzles corresponding to different color inks, arranged in parallel with each other. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by sequentially scanning a recording head, wherein at least one of the plurality of nozzle sets is a nozzle set corresponding to black ink, and the remainder of the plurality of nozzle sets is yellow, magenta. And a nozzle set corresponding to the cyan ink, wherein the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink has twice the number of nozzles as the nozzle set corresponding to the yellow, magenta and cyan, and the same printing of the recording material. The printing of a part of the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink is divided into the area, Remaining nozzle set corresponding to the ink, and the yellow, at least 1 than the printing nozzle set corresponding to the magenta and cyan ink
It is characterized by being printed before scanning.

According to a second ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, in the first ink jet recording apparatus, the black ink has inferior fixability as compared with the yellow, magenta and cyan inks.

In a third ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, when the printing of the yellow, magenta and cyan inks is not performed in the first ink jet recording apparatus, all of the nozzle sets corresponding to the black ink are used. It is characterized by printing using nozzles.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the recording head generates heat energy which causes film boiling of the ink as an energy generating element. Characterized in that it has an electrothermal converter that performs

According to a first printing control method of the present invention, ink jet recording is performed by sequentially scanning a recording head constituted by arranging a plurality of nozzle sets each having a plurality of nozzles corresponding to different color inks in parallel with each other. The method
At least one of the plurality of nozzle sets is a nozzle set corresponding to black ink, and the remainder of the plurality of nozzle sets includes nozzle sets corresponding to yellow, magenta and cyan inks, and the black ink Has a nozzle number twice that of the nozzle set corresponding to yellow, magenta and cyan, and a part of the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink for the same print area of the recording material. Is divided and printed at least one scan before the remaining nozzle set corresponding to the black ink and the nozzle set corresponding to the yellow, magenta and cyan inks.

In a second printing control method according to the present invention, in the first printing control method, when printing of the yellow, magenta and cyan inks is not performed, the black printing method is used.
It is characterized in that printing is performed using all nozzles of a nozzle set corresponding to ink.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, a half of the black image is formed by the recording head corresponding to black in the first scanning of the recording head, and the other half of the black image and the color image are formed in the next scanning. The recording head is configured to provide a time difference between the timing when a part of the black ink is recorded and the timing when the remaining black ink and the color ink are recorded.

[0014]

The present invention focuses particularly on fixing black ink. The reason is that the quality of black characters is absolute in product specifications in the printer, and it is necessary to select ink that does not cause problems such as low density and bleeding. The components of the ink include urea, dye, water, and organic solvents such as glycerin, thiodiethylene glycol, and isopropyl alcohol.
In the color ink of C, a nonionic surfactant such as acetylenol is added in order to promote permeability to paper. However, as described above, when a surfactant is added, the permeability to paper is promoted, and bleeding due to overprinting of a multicolor ink such as a color image is avoided, but a drawback such as a decrease in the OD value occurs. Therefore,
In order to be a color printer and maintain the quality of black characters as high as a monochrome printer, a surfactant can be added to the YMC color ink, but it must be added to the black ink. Can not. When a color image is printed using the recording head according to the present invention by using such a combination of inks, pixels corresponding to black are first printed, and then, for example, in the order of C → M → Y with paper feeding. Pixels are struck. Where black
There is no problem if the black ink is completely fixed during the time period between the time when the ink is applied and the time when the next cyan ink is applied to this area. Considering the case where a black character title or the like is present in an area with a background of, bleeding naturally occurs at the boundary between the black and cyan inks. In fact, it took at least several tens of seconds for the surfactant-free black ink used in this example to dry. Therefore, by taking a sufficient time from the ejection of black ink to the ejection of the next color ink by the printing control method in the arrangement configuration of the recording head of the present invention as described later, the black ink is fixed. This is effective because you can save time before doing it.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Reference Example) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet apparatus according to a reference example, FIG. 2 is a view showing a nozzle configuration of the ink jet recording head, and FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. FIG. 4 shows the positional correlation between the number of passes and the recording material when printing is performed by scanning the head of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the color
The printer device comprises a color ink cartridge 10 and a black ink cartridge 11, and these cartridges 10 and 11
Is mounted on the carriage 1 and moved and scanned along the guide shafts 4 and 5. The carriage 1 is powered by a carriage motor (hereinafter referred to as a CR motor) (not shown). The recording paper 6 is fed by a paper feed roller 8 and a paper pressing roller 9 at the beginning of the printing operation, and then the carriage 1
The sheet is intermittently conveyed by a fixed distance in the direction of arrow B in conjunction with the operation of (1). Further, a paper discharge roller 7 is provided on the paper discharge side,
Maintain the paper transport path safely. Such an operation is achieved by a line feed motor (hereinafter, referred to as an LF motor) (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the recording head 2 includes yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) recording heads. Each recording head includes 64 nozzles. The pitch of the nozzles provided in each recording head of this embodiment is 360 d for all four colors.
pi (dot per inch), and therefore, in the case of color printing, the recording paper is conveyed by 64 nozzles, that is, 0.178 inches (4.52 mm).

The same reference numerals in FIG. 3 showing the configuration of FIG. 1 as viewed from the side show the same objects as in the above description. As is apparent from the figure, the recording paper 6 is first printed by the black nozzle, and then conveyed by the paper feed roller 8 for a distance equivalent to 64 nozzles. In this manner, cyan is printed in the area where black was printed last time, and thereafter ink is similarly overprinted in the order of magenta and yellow.

According to this embodiment, in the above-described sequence, the drying of the black ink is promoted from the time when the black ink having poor fixability is applied to the time when the color ink is applied. In this way, when the cyan ink is applied, the black ink is already dry, and the occurrence of bleeding between the two inks is prevented. Also, cyan,
Regarding the concern of bleeding between magenta and yellow, these inks are unnecessary because they have a good permeability to recording paper due to the addition of the surfactant as described above.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of printing a color image by the recording head shown in FIG. 2 of the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, the printing sequence of the present embodiment will be described in detail.
This will be described more specifically. In the figure, 1 scan, 2 scans,... Are numbered scanning in the width direction of the recording material by the head in FIG. 1 (this is referred to as main scanning in the present invention). Is fed by 64 nozzles, that is, by 0.178 inches in this embodiment.

First, in the first scan, as the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, ink is ejected from the Bk head onto the recording material, and an image of only the Bk component for 64 nozzles is printed. When image formation for one line is completed, the carriage moves in the reverse direction to prepare for the next printing. At the same time, the recording material is fed by the LF motor in the paper feed direction (this is called sub-scan in the present invention) by 64 nozzles. When the paper feeding is completed, the carriage is moved in the main scanning direction to perform the second scan printing. In the second scan printing, the Bk head performs printing for the next 64 nozzles printed in the first scan. At the same time, color components are printed from the cyan, magenta, and yellow heads in the area where the Bk component image is formed in the first scan, and the formation of the color image is completed. Here, the area where the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are ejected already has B
Although the k ink is ejected, in the present invention, by setting the position of the recording head as shown in FIG. 2, the ejection timing of the Bk ink and the color ink to the recording material is delayed. It is possible to print. Thereafter, printing similar to the second scan is performed in the third scan and thereafter. At the lower end of the image, printing is completed by discharging only the color ink without discharging the ink from the Bk head.

From the above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent bleeding at the color boundary portion between Bk ink and color ink by giving a time difference between the timings of discharging Bk ink and color ink at the time of forming a color image. It is possible to obtain a clear color image.

Further, in this embodiment, when a monochrome image or a text image and a color image are mixed, if there is no data for both Y, M and C corresponding to the 64 rasters to be printed next (that is, the data Are all 0), one main scan printing is performed using all 64 nozzles of Bk, and then paper feeding for 64 nozzles is performed. That is, the printing operation is the same as that in the case of monochrome printing, and the recording speed for color and monochrome mixed images is increased.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another nozzle configuration of an ink jet recording head used in the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 prints by scanning the head of FIG. The positional correlation between the number of passes and the recording material at that time is shown.

As shown in FIG. 5, the recording head 2 has yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) recording heads. Each recording head has 64 color nozzles and Bk128. It is composed of nozzles. The pitch of the nozzles provided in each recording head of this embodiment is 4
The color is 360 dpi (dot per inch) for both colors. Therefore, in the case of color printing, the conveyance of the recording sheet is equivalent to 64 nozzles, that is, 0.178 inch (4.5).
2 mm).

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the recording apparatus of FIG. 1 on which the head of this embodiment is mounted, as viewed from the side, and the same reference numerals denote the same objects as those described above. As is apparent from the figure, on the recording paper 6, half of the recording data to be originally printed is draft-printed (printed in a staggered pattern) using black ink # 1 to # 64, and then the recording paper 6 is printed by the paper feed roller 8. It is conveyed by the distance equivalent to the nozzle. In this manner, cyan is printed on the area where black was printed last time, and thereafter, color inks are similarly overprinted in the order of magenta and yellow. Thereafter, the remaining print data is printed by the black nozzles # 65 to # 128 to form a color image.

According to the present invention, in the above-described sequence, the amount of black ink having poor fixability to be ejected onto the recording material is divided into two times and ejected to urge the drying of the black ink. In this way, the black ink is already dry when the cyan ink is fired, and even when the color ink and the black ink are fired at the same time, the amount of the black ink applied is reduced, so that both inks are dried. The occurrence of bleeding between inks is prevented. Concerning bleeding between cyan, magenta and yellow, these inks are unnecessary because they have a good permeability to recording paper due to the addition of a surfactant as described above.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of printing a color image by the recording head shown in FIG. 5 of the present invention. The printing sequence of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically with reference to this drawing. I do. In the figure, one scan, two scans,
.. Number the scanning in the width direction of the recording material by the head in FIG. 1 (this is referred to as main scanning in the present invention), and the recording material corresponds to 64 nozzles for each pass, that is, in this embodiment, The paper is fed by 0.178 inches.

First, in the first scan, the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, whereby the Bk heads # 1 to # 1 are moved.
Half the data of Bk data to be printed originally is discharged from the 64 nozzles to the recording material, and a half image of only the Bk component for 64 nozzles is printed. When image formation for one line is completed, the carriage moves in the reverse direction to prepare for the next printing. At the same time, the recording material is fed by 64 nozzles in the paper feed direction by the LF motor (this is called sub-scan in the present invention). When the paper feeding is completed, the carriage is moved in the main scanning direction to perform the second scan printing. As in the first scan, printing is performed by ejecting ink from the Bk head to the next 64 nozzles after the first scan. At the same time, printing of color ink from the cyan, magenta, and yellow heads on the area where the half image of the Bk component is formed in the first scan is continued, and the remaining nozzles from nozzles # 65 to # 128 of the Bk head. The printing of the Bk data completes the formation of the color image. Here, the Bk ink has already been ejected to the areas where the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are ejected. In the present invention, however, the recording head is configured as shown in FIG. By setting a time difference between the ejection timings of the ink and the color ink onto the recording material, it is possible to perform printing by dividing the print data of the Bk component into two times. After that, 2 after the third scan
The same printing as the scan is performed. At the lower end of the image, ink is not ejected from the nozzles of the Bk heads # 1 to # 64, and color ink is ejected from the cyan, magenta and yellow heads, and Bk ink is ejected from the nozzles # 65 to # 128 of the Bk head. This completes the printing.

From the above, according to the present invention, the timing of ejecting the Bk ink and the color ink at the time of forming a color image has a time difference, and the Bk data to be printed is divided into two times and printing is performed. Bleeding at the color boundary between ink and color ink can be prevented, and a clear color image can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, when a monochrome image or a text image and a color image are mixed, if there is no data in both Y, M and C corresponding to the 64 rasters to be printed next (that is, the data Are all 0), one main scan printing is performed using all 128 nozzles of Bk, and then paper feeding for 128 nozzles is performed. That is, the printing operation is the same as that in the case of monochrome printing, and the recording speed for color and monochrome mixed images is increased.

(Others) It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angle liquid flow path) of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, a recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or an electric connection with the apparatus main body or ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add ejection recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

Further, as for the type and number of the recording heads to be mounted, a plurality of recording heads may be provided corresponding to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By improving the fixation of the color image between black ink and color ink by the arrangement of the recording head that forms the black image by dividing the black data into multiple parts, the bleeding during image formation is solved, The present invention provides a printing control method capable of obtaining a clear and high-quality color image in the above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to a reference example.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an ink jet recording head used in a reference example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between recording paper and an ink jet recording head used in a reference example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a color printing method using the recording head of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an ink jet recording head used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a recording sheet and an ink jet recording head used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a color printing method using the recording head of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 2 Print head 3 Cartridge guide 4,5 Guide shaft 6 Recording paper 7 Paper distribution roller 8 Paper feed roller 9 Paper press plate 10 Color cartridge 11 Black cartridge

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/21

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet printing apparatus for sequentially printing a plurality of nozzle sets each having a plurality of nozzles corresponding to different color inks, the plurality of nozzle sets being arranged in parallel with each other, and performing printing. At least one of the sets is a nozzle set corresponding to black ink, and the remainder of the plurality of nozzle sets includes nozzle sets corresponding to yellow, magenta and cyan inks, and nozzles corresponding to the black ink The set has twice the number of nozzles as the nozzle set corresponding to the yellow, magenta, and cyan. A part of the print of the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink is divided into the same print area of the recording material. And the remainder of the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink, and the yellow, magenta and It is printed on at least one scan before printing nozzle set corresponding to the fine cyan ink jet recording apparatus characterized. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the black ink has lower fixability than the yellow, magenta and cyan inks. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said yellow, magenta and cyan
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when not printing ink, printing is performed using all nozzles of a nozzle set corresponding to the black ink. 4. The recording head according to claim 1, further comprising an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling of the ink, as an energy generating element.
4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 5. An ink jet print control method for sequentially scanning and recording a recording head constituted by arranging a plurality of nozzle sets each having a plurality of nozzles corresponding to different color inks in parallel with each other, comprising: At least one of the nozzle sets is a nozzle set corresponding to black ink, and the remainder of the plurality of nozzle sets includes nozzle sets corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, and corresponds to the black ink. The nozzle set has twice the number of nozzles as the nozzle set corresponding to the yellow, magenta, and cyan, and a part of the nozzle set corresponding to the black ink is printed on the same print area of the recording material. The remaining nozzle set corresponding to the black ink, and the yellow and magenta inks. Inkjet printing control method characterized by and to be printed on at least one scan before printing nozzle set corresponding to cyan ink. 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said yellow, magenta and cyan
6. The ink jet print control method according to claim 5, wherein when no ink is printed, printing is performed using all nozzles of a nozzle set corresponding to the black ink.