JP3903073B2 - Bleeding determination method and image recording method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bleeding determination method and an image recording method and apparatus, and in particular, in an image recording apparatus that records an image by discharging ink from a large number of nozzles toward a recording medium, the bleeding of the ink is determined and the bleeding is prevented. The present invention relates to a technique for recording high-quality images.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image recording apparatus has an inkjet head (ink ejection head) in which a large number of nozzles are arranged, and recording is performed by ejecting ink from the nozzles while relatively moving the inkjet head and the recording medium. 2. Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus (ink jet printer) that records an image on a medium is known.

  Conventionally, various methods are known as ink ejection methods in such an ink jet recording apparatus. For example, the diaphragm constituting a part of the pressure chamber (ink chamber) is deformed by deformation of the piezoelectric element (piezoelectric ceramic) to change the volume of the pressure chamber, and when the volume of the pressure chamber is increased, Ink is introduced into the pressure chamber, and when the volume of the pressure chamber is reduced, the ink is ejected as droplets from the nozzle, or the ink is heated to generate bubbles and the expansion energy when the bubbles grow. A thermal ink jet method for discharging is known.

  In an image recording apparatus having an ink discharge head such as an ink jet recording apparatus, ink is supplied from an ink tank for storing ink to an ink discharge head via an ink supply path, and ink is discharged by the above various discharge methods. However, depending on the type of ink and the type of recording medium, ink dots (ink droplets) bleed after landing on the recording medium, the dot shape is lost, and the image is blurred, or a color image using a plurality of different color inks In the case of recording the ink, if the previously recorded ink is not yet dried and the inks of different colors are overlapped and recorded, there is a problem that blurring or mixing of colors occurs and the image quality is deteriorated.

  In view of this, various methods have been proposed to improve image quality by preventing blurring between images and color mixing that occur when an image blurs due to ink bleeding or when inks of different colors are superimposed and recorded.

  For example, during one rotation of the rotating body holding the recording medium, each color ink dot sprayed from the recording head for each color is thinned out at least one dot away in the same sub-scanning direction as the rotation direction on the recording medium. It is known that recording is performed so that high-quality recording is performed while preventing mixing and flow of adjacent ink dots (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, for example, the inkjet recording apparatus has a means for estimating the dry state of the recorded ink, and the previous recording can be performed by changing the conveyance speed of the recording medium or changing the interval between the recording heads according to the estimation result. In order to improve the image quality, the recording interval between one recording and the next recording is changed to prevent the recording disturbance in the portion where different inks are superimposed while maintaining the throughput of the recording apparatus. (For example, see Patent Document 2).

Further, for example, in the color ink jet recording method, for the same print region, the time for printing by at least one of the plurality of heads is sufficiently longer than the print delay time of the adjacent heads than the time of printing by the other heads. It is known to obtain a color print with no blur between colors after printing (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
JP 2000-71481 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-247450 JP 04-173250 A

  However, for example, in the one described in Patent Document 1, when the rotating body holding the recording medium rotates once, recording is performed with one dot thinned out, and multiple rotations are required to record the entire image. There is a problem that productivity is low.

  Moreover, although the thing of the said patent document 2 has a means to estimate drying, and a means to adjust a dot recording interval, it adjusts the space | interval which records the next dot according to a dry state. However, there is no means for drying or curing the ink that has landed on the recording medium, it is simply left to natural drying, and there is a problem that it is not always possible to reliably prevent color mixing blur and image blurring. .

  Further, the device described in Patent Document 3 has a problem similar to that of Patent Document 2 because it merely takes a time longer than the adjacent dot printing delay and does not have means for adjusting drying and curing.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a bleeding determination method that determines ink bleeding on the surface of a recording medium and prevents high-quality image recording at high speed by preventing ink bleeding. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image recording method and apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a blur determination method for determining blur of ink ejected onto a recording medium into the recording medium, wherein the recording data is stored in the recording medium. A line segment of a predetermined length of each ink color is obtained by changing at least one of a plurality of steps using as parameters the recording speed for recording, the ejection amount of the ejected ink, and the fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink to the recording medium. A blur determination print composed of a plurality of blur determination patches recorded with a predetermined width is output, the density of each blur determination patch of the output blur determination print is measured, and based on the density measurement result of the blur determination patch. And determining a blur of the ink on the recording medium.

  According to this, since the density of the output print is determined in order to determine the ink bleeding, the bleeding is determined, so that it is possible to automatically determine the bleeding.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the density of the line segment of each ink color constituting the bleeding determination patch is measured in a direction substantially perpendicular to the line segment, and the maximum density and the edge of the line segment are not smooth. It is characterized in that blur is determined by evaluation using the roughness value indicating the degree to which the image is present and the line width values. Further, as shown in claim 3, in the blur determination method according to claim 2, the line segment further includes a difference between a preset density target value and the calculated density, and the line segment. The blur is numerically evaluated using a difference between the target value of the preset width and the calculated width of the line segment and a predetermined weighting factor preset for each value of the jaggedness. The blur is determined from the evaluation value. Accordingly, it is possible to numerically determine ink bleeding, and it is easier to determine bleeding. As weighting factors used here, any one of the first weighting factors a ₁ , a ₂ , and a ₃ specific to the apparatus, which will be described later, and the second weighting factors f ₁ , f ₂ , and f ₃ related to the quality during printing are used. May be used.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the predetermined weighting factor is set in accordance with an image quality mode indicating whether the recording is text, image, or both. In this way, by changing the blur determination element according to the image quality mode, it is possible to perform blur determination in accordance with the purpose of image recording.

  Similarly, in order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 5 is an image recording method for recording an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium based on recording data. 5. The recording speed at which the recording data is recorded on the recording medium, the ejection amount of the ejected ink, and the ejected ink are recorded on the basis of the blur determination result obtained by the blur determination method according to claim 4. There is provided an image recording method characterized in that image recording is performed by setting a control parameter for controlling at least one of fixing energy to be fixed on a medium. This enables high-quality image recording that avoids bleeding.

  Further, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording method according to the fifth aspect, the control parameter is set in accordance with an image quality mode indicating whether the recording is text or image or both. It was made to do. Thereby, it is possible to record an image according to the recording purpose.

  Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 7 is a blur determination device for determining blur of ink ejected onto a recording medium to the recording medium, wherein the recording data is stored in the recording data. A predetermined length of each ink color is obtained by changing at least one of a plurality of steps using the recording speed for recording on the recording medium, the ejection amount of the ejected ink, and the fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink on the recording medium as parameters. A blur determination print output unit that outputs a blur determination print composed of a plurality of blur determination patches in which a line segment is recorded with a predetermined width, and a density measurement that measures the density of each blur determination patch of the output blur determination print And a blur determination unit that determines blur of the ink onto the recording medium based on a density measurement result of the blot determination patch. Providing determination device.

  The density measuring unit may measure the density of each line segment of each ink color constituting the blur determination patch in a direction substantially perpendicular to the line segment, and the blur determination unit. Calculates the maximum density, the jaggedness indicating the degree of shading of the line segment, and the line segment width from the density measurement result, and calculates the target value of the preset density of the line segment and the calculated value. A difference between the density, a difference between a target value of a preset width of the line segment and the calculated width of the line segment, and a predetermined weighting factor set in advance for each value of the jaggedness It is characterized in that blur is determined from an evaluation value used to numerically evaluate blur.

  Furthermore, as shown in claim 9, the blur determination device according to claim 8, further comprising detecting an image quality mode indicating whether the recording is text or image or both based on the recording data. It is preferable that image quality mode detection means is provided, and the blur determination means sets the weighting coefficient according to the detected image quality mode.

  As described above, the blur determination method is executed by specific means and the blur is determined, so that blur can be avoided.

  Similarly, in order to achieve the object, the invention described in claim 10 is an image recording apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium based on recording data. A recording speed control unit that controls the recording speed for recording the recording data on the recording medium, and the ejection amount that controls the ejection amount of the ejected ink. Control means, fixing control means for controlling fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink on the recording medium, and based on the result of blur determination by the blur determination device, the recording speed control means, the ejection amount control means, and Parameter setting means for setting each control parameter for controlling the fixing control means, the recording speed control means and the discharge amount control means according to the set control parameters To provide an image recording apparatus comprising the prevention control means bleeding performs control to image recording at least one of finely the fixing control unit.

  The parameter setting means preferably sets the control parameter in accordance with the image quality mode.

  As described above, the image recording apparatus including the blur determination apparatus enables high-quality image recording that avoids blur.

  As described above, according to the bleeding determination method and the image recording method and apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine the ink bleeding on the recording medium, and use the determination results to control various control means. By controlling and image recording, it is possible to realize high-quality image recording that avoids bleeding.

  Hereinafter, a blur determination method, an image recording method, and an apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram including a partial block diagram showing an outline of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 mainly includes a plurality of print heads 12Y provided for each ink color (yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), black (K)). , 12C, 12M, and 12K, a head driver 13 that controls driving of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K, and conveyance for conveying the recording paper 16 that is a recording medium from the paper supply unit 14 to the print head 12Y and the like. A unit 18 and a fixing unit 20 for fixing the ink ejected onto the recording paper 16 are configured.

  In the recording paper 16 shown in FIG. 1, the roll paper (continuous paper) loaded in the magazine 22 of the paper supply unit 14 is cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 23 and used. A plurality of magazines with different etc. may be provided. Further, instead of the roll paper magazine or in combination therewith, the paper may be supplied by a cassette in which cut papers are stacked and loaded.

  In the case of an apparatus configuration using roll paper, a cutter 23 is provided as shown in FIG. 1, and the roll paper is cut into a desired size by the cutter 23. In addition, when using cut paper, the cutter 23 is unnecessary.

  In the present embodiment, an information recording body such as a bar code or a wireless tag recording paper type information is attached to the medium type detection notch 22a of the magazine 22 for reading the information of the information recording body. A medium type detection means 24 is installed. As will be described later, using the information read by the medium type detection means 24, the optimum control parameters are set for the recording medium, and image recording is performed.

  The recording paper 16 delivered from the magazine 22 retains curl due to having been loaded in the magazine 22. Although not shown, in order to remove this curl, a decurling unit is provided to heat the recording paper 16 with a heating drum or the like in a direction opposite to the curl direction of the magazine, and the curled surface slightly weakens outward. It is more preferable to control the heating temperature in such a manner.

  The transport unit 18 has a structure in which an endless belt 29 is wound between rollers 26 and 27, and is configured such that at least a portion facing the nozzle surface such as the print head 12K forms a flat surface (flat surface). ing.

  The belt 29 has a width that is greater than the width of the recording paper 16, and a plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed on the belt surface. As shown in FIG. 1, an adsorption chamber 30 is provided at a position facing the nozzle surfaces of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K inside the belt 29 that is stretched between the two rollers 26 and 27. The suction chamber 30 is sucked by the fan 32 to be a negative pressure, whereby the recording paper 16 on the belt 29 is sucked and held.

  When the power of the motor 28 is transmitted to at least one of the rollers 26 and 27 around which the belt 29 is wound, for example, the left roller 26, the belt 29 is driven counterclockwise in FIG. The held recording paper 16 is transported from the right to the left in FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows an enlarged plan view of the vicinity of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K. As shown in FIG. 2, the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K correspond to each color (YMCK), each of which has a plurality of nozzles, and each print head 12Y, A full-line head having a length corresponding to the maximum paper width is formed by arranging the longitudinal directions of 12C, 12M, and 12K in the paper width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper 16.

  The full-line type head described here includes a type in which a plurality of short recording heads are arranged in the paper width.

  Further, a fixing unit 20 having a length corresponding to the entire width of the recording paper 16 is disposed between the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K.

  A print head 12Y corresponding to each color ink in the order of Y (yellow), C (cyan), M (magenta), K (black) from the upstream side along the conveyance direction (right to left in the figure) of the recording paper 16. 12C, 12M, and 12K are arranged. A color image can be formed on the recording paper 16 by ejecting the color inks from the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K while the recording paper 16 is transported by the transport unit 18.

  Note that the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K are driven by the head driver 13, and the ejection amount and ejection timing of the ejected ink are controlled.

  As described above, according to the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K in which the full line heads covering the entire paper width are provided for each ink color, the recording paper 16 and the print heads 12Y, 12C, and 12M in the paper transport direction. , It is possible to record an image on the entire surface of the recording paper 16 at a high speed only by performing an operation of relatively moving 12K (that is, by one scanning).

  However, the present invention is not limited to a line-type head, and can also be applied to a shuttle-type head in which the print head reciprocates in a direction (paper width direction) perpendicular to the paper transport direction.

  In this example, the configuration of the standard colors of YCMK (four colors) is illustrated, but the combination of ink colors and the number of colors is not limited to this embodiment, and light ink and dark ink are added as necessary. May be. For example, it is possible to add a print head that discharges light ink such as light cyan and light magenta.

  In addition, an ink type detection means 25 for detecting the type of ink is provided in the vicinity of an ink tank (not shown) that supplies ink of each color to the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K. The ink type detection unit 25 is not particularly limited. For example, in the case of a cartridge-type ink tank, the ink type detection unit 25 may be configured to read an ID indicating the ink type from an information medium or the like attached to the cartridge.

  The fixing unit 20 applies fixing energy to the ink ejected from the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K onto the recording paper 16 to fix the ink to the recording paper 16. Suitable means are used accordingly.

  Here, the term “fixing” means that ink droplets no longer exist on the surface of the recording paper due to penetration of the ink landed on the recording paper 16 into the fiber of the paper and drying of the ink from the surface or curing of the ink. Says that ink stops moving and is fixed. As the drying, for example, in the case of water-based ink, there is a case where heat energy is applied as drying energy to evaporate water which is a solvent of the ink and dry it. When a drying unit is used as the fixing unit 20, for example, a heater or the like, an infrared irradiation unit, or a fan (hot air fan) that blows wind (hot air) is exemplified. These units may be used alone, A plurality may be used in combination.

  In addition, as a method of curing the ink on the recording paper 16 and fixing it, a method of using a curable ink and causing it to undergo a polymerization reaction to be cured can be considered. For example, UV curable ink or generally electromagnetic radiation curable ink is used, and this is irradiated with electromagnetic radiation or electron beam, and further, heat energy is applied to cure the ink and fix it on the recording paper 16. May be. In this case, for example, a matrix curable ink such as a UV curable ink or a solid ink can be used as the curable ink. In the case of the UV curable ink, for example, a UV light irradiation means, a halogen lamp, an LED laser, etc. are exemplified. In the case of solid ink, a cooling means such as Peltier or water cooling or a fan is exemplified.

  For a wax ink (wax) that undergoes a phase transition due to heat, for example, thermal energy is applied in the head to make the ink liquid, and when discharged onto a recording medium, it can be solidified by cooling. . Alternatively, in the case of sol-gel ink, ejection and fixing can be similarly controlled by thermal energy.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fixing unit 20 is installed at the subsequent stage of each of the four print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K, and fixes the ink ejected from each print head so that the ink is spread or the next printing is performed. Even if ink is ejected from the head to the vicinity thereof, each ink is prevented from being mixed.

  In the present embodiment, at least one of the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 16 with respect to the ink jet head (print head 12Y, etc.), the ink discharge amount, and the fixing energy for fixing the ink landed on the recording paper 16 is variably controlled. Thus, bleeding of ink landed on the recording paper 16 is prevented and high-quality image recording is performed.

  In order to execute such blur prevention control, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment performs recording in addition to the head driver 13 as a discharge amount control unit that controls the discharge amount of ink in addition to the above description. A conveyance control means 36 for controlling the relative conveyance speed of the paper 16, a fixing control means 38 for controlling the fixing energy of the fixing means 20 for fixing ink, an ejection amount control means (head driver 13), a conveyance control means 36, and There is a blur prevention control means 40 for preventing ink bleeding by variably controlling at least one of these three control means, the fixing control means 38.

  An encoder 41 that detects the relative conveyance speed is installed on the roller 26 in order to control the relative conveyance speed. Further, when the inkjet recording apparatus 10 controls the relative conveyance speed, the frequency control means for controlling the ejection frequency of each print head (12Y, etc.) so that the recorded image becomes an image having a predetermined dot pitch. 42.

  The ink jet recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as will be described in detail later, is a blur determination print used for detecting and determining ink bleeding in order to prevent ink bleeding and perform high-quality image recording. A blur determination print output means 44 for output, a densitometer 45 for measuring the density of the output blur determination print, a blur determination means 48 for determining ink blur from the measurement result, and a control amount based on the result of the blur determination. Parameter setting means 46 for setting an optimum value as a control parameter is provided.

  The head driver 13 serving as a discharge amount control unit controls the discharge amount of ink discharged from the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K to the recording paper 16. For example, although not shown, the ink chamber The ink discharge amount is controlled by controlling the ink internal pressure and the drive amount of an actuator (piezoelectric element) that deforms the ink chamber. By controlling the ink ejection amount, it is possible to control the size of the ejected ink droplets, that is, the ink particle size that lands on the surface of the recording paper 16.

  The conveyance control unit 36 controls the number of rotations of the motor 28 based on the detection signal of the rotary encoder 41. At this time, when the optimum relative conveyance speed is set by the parameter, the rotation of the motor 28 is controlled so that the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 16 becomes the speed.

  The fixing control unit 38 controls the energy according to the ink type and the medium type (the type of the recording paper 16) as described above, and the fixing energy such as thermal energy for each ink landed on the recording paper 16. Is applied to fix the ink to prevent bleeding.

  The blur prevention control unit 40 prevents ink bleeding by controlling at least one of the head driver 13, the conveyance control unit 36, and the fixing control unit 38 as the ejection amount control unit. A specific control method is performed by controlling each control unit in accordance with a parameter set as an optimum control amount by the parameter setting unit 46 as described later.

  In addition, when the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 16 is changed, the frequency control unit 42 controls the ink ejection timing from each of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K, so that the recorded image is predetermined. This is an image with a dot pitch of.

  FIG. 3 is a principal block diagram showing the system configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus 10. The inkjet recording apparatus 10 includes a communication interface 50, a system controller 52, an image memory 54, a motor driver 56, a heater driver 58, a print control unit 60, an image buffer memory 62, a head driver 13, and the like.

  The communication interface 50 is an interface unit that receives image data (recording data) sent from the host computer 64. As the communication interface 50, a serial interface such as USB, IEEE1394, Ethernet, and wireless network, or a parallel interface such as Centronics can be applied. In this part, a buffer memory (not shown) for speeding up communication may be mounted. Image data sent from the host computer 64 is taken into the inkjet recording apparatus 10 via the communication interface 50 and temporarily stored in the image memory 54. The image memory 54 is not limited to a memory made of a semiconductor element, and a magnetic medium such as a hard disk may be used.

  The system controller 52 is a control unit that controls each unit such as the communication interface 50, the image memory 54, the motor driver 56, the heater driver 58, and the like. The system controller 52 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and its peripheral circuits, and performs communication control with the host computer 64, read / write control of the image memory 54, etc. A control signal for controlling is generated.

  The motor driver 56 is a driver (drive circuit) that drives the motor 28 in accordance with an instruction from the system controller 52. The heater driver 58 is a driver that drives a heater 59 such as a post-drying unit (not shown) that dries the recording paper 16 after printing in accordance with an instruction from the system controller 52.

  The print control unit 60 has a signal processing function for performing various processes and corrections for generating a print control signal from the image data in the image memory 54 in accordance with the control of the system controller 52. A control unit that supplies a control signal (print data) to the head driver 13. Necessary signal processing is performed in the print control unit 60, and the ejection amount and ejection timing of the ink droplets of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K via the head driver 13 (ejection amount control means) based on the image data. Is controlled. Thereby, a desired dot size and dot arrangement are realized.

  The print control unit 60 includes an image buffer memory 62, and image data, parameters, and other data are temporarily stored in the image buffer memory 62 when image data is processed in the print control unit 60. In FIG. 3, the image buffer memory 62 is shown in a mode associated with the print control unit 60, but it can also be used as the image memory 54. Also possible is an aspect in which the print controller 60 and the system controller 52 are integrated and configured with a single processor.

  The head driver 13 drives the actuators of the print heads 12K, 12C, 12M, and 12Y for each color based on the print data provided from the print control unit 60. The head driver 13 may include a feedback control system for keeping the head driving conditions constant.

  In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment also has a conveyance control unit 36 that controls the relative conveyance speed V of the recording paper 16 and a fixing unit that controls the fixing energy of the fixing unit 20 as means for controlling bleeding. Control means 38, frequency control means 42 for controlling the ink ejection frequency when the relative transport speed V is changed, parameter setting means 46 for setting control parameters for controlling each control means, blur determination print A blur determination print output unit 44 that outputs a blur, a densitometer 45 that measures the density of the output blur determination print, a blur determination unit 48 that receives a density measurement result and determines blur.

  The parameter setting means 46 is input with the medium type detected by the medium type detection means 24 and the ink type detected by the ink type detection means 25. As will be described in detail later, the parameter setting means 46 sets and stores control parameters for controlling each control means in order to avoid bleeding, in association with these medium types and ink types. The blur determination print output means 44 forms blur determination patch data constituting the blur determination print, sends it to the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K through the head driver 13 and outputs it as a blur determination print. is there. The blur determination print output unit 44 may call the memory from the memory and use the blur determination patch data instead of generating the blur determination patch data each time.

  Further, the frequency control means 42 and the blur determination print output means 44 are provided in the print control unit 60 and are controlled by the system controller 52.

  Further, the system controller 52 is provided with a blur prevention control unit 40 that controls each control unit according to the control parameter set by the parameter setting unit 46 to avoid bleeding.

  Next, the principle of a method for avoiding ink bleeding will be described with reference to the drawings. 4 shows a case where the recording medium (recording paper 16) is a penetrating system, and FIG. 5 shows a case where the recording medium is a non-penetrating system. The permeation type recording medium is a medium for fixing ink by permeating the ink into the image receiving layer in the recording medium, and refers to plain paper, copy paper, renewal paper, etc. The term “printing art paper, coated paper or other ink solvent that does not easily penetrate into the recording medium” means that the ink is mainly solidified (cured) and fixed on the surface of the recording medium.

  Further, here, bleeding means that when the recording medium (recording paper 16) is a penetrating system, as shown in FIG. 4 (a) or (c), it is ejected from the print head (12Y, etc.) and landed on the recording medium. This refers to the portions (d1 and d2) that permeate and spread into the recording medium so that the dot diameter d of the ink 66 is larger than the diameter d, and when the recording medium is a non-penetrating system, FIG. As shown in (a) or (c), with respect to the dot diameter d of the ink 66 ejected from the print head (12Y, etc.) and landed on the recording medium, the portion (d7 or d8).

  In particular, when the recording medium is a penetrating system, the bleeding in which the penetrating ink spreads radially along the fibers of the recording medium is sometimes referred to as feathering.

  First, when the recording medium (recording paper 16) is a permeation system, as shown in FIG. 4 (a) or (c), the ink 66 that has landed on the recording paper 16 penetrates the recording paper 16 and spreads, and the medium penetration Bleeding due to pressure (d1, d2) occurs.

  Therefore, when the ink 66 is water-based ink, oil-based ink or other solvent-based ink, drying energy (fixing energy) such as thermal energy is applied to dry the solvent, and recording is performed as shown in FIG. Bleeding (d3, d4) due to penetration into the paper 16 is reduced.

  When the ink 54 is UV cure ink, solid ink, EB cure ink or other matrix curable ink, curing energy (fixing energy) is applied to cure and thicken the ink 54, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the bleeding (d5, d6) is reduced.

  Next, when the recording medium (recording paper 16) is a non-penetrating system, the ink 66 that has landed on the recording paper 16 does not penetrate into the recording paper 16 as shown in FIG. 5 (a) or (c). Spreading on the recording paper 16 due to surface energy, bleeding (d7, d8) occurs.

  Therefore, when the ink 66 is water-based, oil-based or other solvent-based ink, drying energy (fixing energy) such as heat energy is applied to evaporate the solvent and avoid spreading of the ink 66 (d9). , D10) is reduced.

  Further, when the ink 66 is UV curing ink, solid ink, EB curing ink or other matrix curable ink, curing energy (fixing energy) is applied to cure and thicken the ink 66, and FIG. As shown in d), the spread of the ink 66 is suppressed to reduce bleeding (d11, d12).

  Further, as a method for avoiding ink bleeding, the ink 66 that has landed on the recording paper 16 is ejected in addition to the method of applying drying energy and curing energy to suppress the spread of the ink 66. A method of reducing the particle size of the ink is also conceivable. This is because, by reducing the particle size of the ejected ink, in the case of solvent-based ink, by reducing the solvent removal amount, the ink is prevented from spreading on the recording paper 16, and the matrix curable ink is used. In this case, by reducing the ink particle size, the ink landing thickness on the recording paper 16 is reduced, the curing reaction speed is increased, and the ink dot shape is prevented from spreading and bleeding is reduced. It is what you want to do.

  Next, a method for setting optimum parameters for preventing ink bleeding will be described.

  For this purpose, first, a pattern for ink blur detection determination (a blur determination print) is created. This blur determination print is for determining how the ink is blotted according to the difference in conditions. The ink discharge amount (ink particle size) is directed from the print heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K toward the recording paper 16. (Diameter φ), relative conveyance speed V, and fixing energy E are changed, and ink is ejected.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a blur detection determination pattern (a blur determination print). As shown in FIG. 6, the blur determination print 68 has two ink particle sizes, large φ _Hi and small φ _Low , and the relative transport speed V and the fixing energy E are 3 for high max, medium mid, and low low, respectively. It is configured by recording a line (line segment) 70 having a predetermined length for each color of ink by changing in stages. Further, the bleeding determination print 68 is not limited to the one shown here, and may include other parameters, for example, a printing environment temperature, humidity, or other factors related to ink bleeding.

  Each line 70 may be formed by one dot row as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 7A, or one line 70 may be formed by a plurality of dot rows. . In the example shown in FIG. 7A, 18 such lines 70 are recorded for each color, and a blur determination print 68 is formed.

  The blur determination print 68 is subjected to density measurement by the densitometer 45 N times (at least 10 times or more) in a direction substantially perpendicular to the line 70 as shown in FIG. Further, the scanning resolution at this time is several μm to several tens of μm steps.

  FIG. 8 shows the principle of concentration measurement. For example, with the configuration shown in FIG. 8A, a minute spot light 91 emitted from the RGB light emitting element 90 is applied to a measurement point on the medium 92, and the reflected light is received by a light receiving element 93 such as a CCD element. By doing so, it is possible to measure the concentration in a minute portion. In this case, as the RGB light emitting element, for example, an RGB light emitting diode halogen lamp combined with a filter can be considered. Alternatively, for example, as shown in FIG. 8B, the area light 95 emitted from the RGB light emitting element 94 is applied to the measurement point of the medium 92, and the reflected light is condensed on the area CCD 97 by the lens 96 and measured. You may make it do.

FIG. 9 shows the measurement results (once). In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents distance and the vertical axis represents density. This density measurement result is sent from the densitometer 45 to the blur determination means 48. Bleeding determination means 48, the concentration of the maximum density D _MAX, 60% of the difference between the maximum density D _MAX and the minimum density D _MIN, that is, the distance A such that 0.6 × (D _MAX -D _MIN) The average value E (A) of each line width A measured N times is calculated as the line width A of the measured line 70.

  Further, the blur determination unit 48 calculates the degree of roughness of each line 70 from the density measurement result of each line 70 as follows. Raggedness means that a line or character edge that should be smooth and straight is rattling, and the degree of raggedness is a numerical evaluation of the degree of rattling.

As shown in FIG. 7B, by measuring the width of each line 70, density measurement data as shown in FIG. 11 is obtained. As a result, the width B indicating the actual edge position is calculated, and fitting lines F1 and F2 indicating the average edge positions as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 10 are obtained, and the distance E (between the fitting lines F1 and F2 is obtained. B) is calculated. The standard deviation σ of the difference B−E (B) between the width B indicating the actual edge position and the average width E (B) indicating the fitting straight line position obtained by measuring N times at different measurement locations _{BE (B)} is called jaggedness.

In this way, the maximum density D _MAX obtained by measuring each line 70, the average value E (A) of the line width calculated from the measured value, and the roughness σ _{BE (B)} are preset. For the density target value D ₀ and the line width target value A _B , as shown in FIG. 12, two kinds of weighting factors, that is, first weighting factors a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ unique to the apparatus, and printing Second weight coefficients f ₁ , f ₂ , and f ₃ related to the quality of time are set.

For example, in the case of a line 70 composed of one dot row as shown in FIG. 7A, the measurement result and the calculated value are the maximum density D _MAX 1 to 2, the line width average value E (A) is 30 to 60 μm, When the degree σ _{BE (B)} is 9 to 18 μm, the first weighting coefficient a ₁ is approximately 1, a ₂ is approximately 20, and a ₃ is approximately 50. As described above, the first weighting coefficient is used to adjust the balance of the three physical quantities determined by the device-specific characteristics of the maximum density D _MAX , the line width average value E (A), and the roughness σ _{BE (B).} .

The second weighting factors f ₁ , f ₂ , and f ₃ are, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, a text mode that records only character data, an image mode that records only an image, and a combination mode of text and image. It is determined according to the image quality mode. For example, in the text mode, in order to sharpen the edges so that characters can be clearly read, the line width and the roughness are emphasized rather than the density, and the line width and the roughness are more important than the density weight f ₁ = 1. The weights f ₂ = 3 and f ₃ = 3 are set to large values.

As described above, the second weighting coefficient adjusts the balance of the three physical quantities of the maximum density D _MAX , the average line width E (A), and the roughness σ _{BE (B)} in response to the quality requirement of the image to be recorded. To do.

  Then, the ink bleeding is determined by the determination function given by the following equation (1) using these values.

Bleeding determination function = | D ₀ −D _MAX | × a ₁ f ₁ + | A _B −E (A) | × a ₂ f ₂
+ Σ _{BE (B)} × a ₃ f ₃ (1)
The blur determination means 48 detects the ink blur on the recording paper 16 by using the blur determination function using the measurement result of the densitometer 45. Further, the parameter setting means 46 suppresses bleeding for each control amount such as relative conveyance speed, ink discharge amount (ink particle size), and fixing energy for each type of recording paper 16 and ink type based on the result of the bleeding determination. The optimum parameters are set and stored in a predetermined memory.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 14, as a limiting option, parameters that can be controlled in accordance with the characteristics of the image quality mode may be limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, in the text mode, the conveyance speed is set to the maximum V _Max , the ink particle size is set to the maximum φ _Hi , the fixing energy is made variable, and the optimum fixing energy is selected. Also good.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S100 of FIG. 15, a magazine 22 for supplying the recording paper 16 to the inkjet recording apparatus 10 is loaded. As described above, an information recording body on which information such as the type of the loaded recording paper 16 is recorded is attached to the magazine 22 in the medium type detection notch 22a. read. The information read by the medium type detection unit 24 is sent to the parameter setting unit 46. On the other hand, the ink type detection unit 25 detects the ink type, and the detected ink type information is similarly sent to the parameter setting unit 46.

  In the next step S110, the parameter setting means 46 determines whether the optimum parameter corresponding to the sent medium type information or the like has already been set and stored in a predetermined memory. If there is an optimum parameter corresponding to the medium type or the like, the process proceeds to step S120, and the blur prevention control means 40 calls the optimum parameters such as the relative conveyance speed and the fixing energy stored in a predetermined memory. Are set in the head driver 13 (discharge amount control means), the conveyance control means 36, and the fixing control means 38, respectively.

  On the other hand, if there is no optimum parameter corresponding to the detected medium type or the like, the process proceeds to step S130 to create an ink bleeding determination print for setting the optimum parameter. If the information recording medium is not attached to the magazine 22 or if it is attached but cannot be read by the medium type detecting means 24, for example, a dummy medium type is sent to the parameter setting means 46 to cope with it. Similarly, it is assumed that the optimum parameter does not exist, and the process proceeds to step S130.

  In step S130, a blur determination print 68 as shown in FIG. 6 is created by the method described above. That is, by changing the ink particle diameter φ (ink discharge amount), the relative conveyance speed V, and the fixing energy E (curing energy, drying energy), the ink of each color is applied to the recording paper 16 from the print heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K. By discharging, a line 70 having a predetermined length and a predetermined width is recorded, and a blur determination print 68 as shown in FIG. 6 is created.

  Next, in step S140, the density measurement is performed on the lines 70 of the bleeding determination print 68 by the densitometer 45 a plurality of times in a direction substantially perpendicular to the respective lines 70 as shown in FIG. Obtain a concentration profile as shown. This measurement is performed a predetermined number of times (at least 10 times or more) with a scanning resolution of an interval of several μm to several tens of μm. The measured density profile is sent to the blur determination means 48.

Next, in step S150, the blur determination means 48 calculates the line width E (A), the jaggedness σ _{BE (B),} etc. from the density profile of each line 70 received from the densitometer 45, and these and the density target. value D _0, the target value a _B and the first weighting coefficients a ₁ line width, a _2, a _3, a combination of the second weighting coefficients _{f 1, f 2, f 3} , is represented by the formula (1) The blur is determined by substituting into the blur determination function.

  Next, in step S160, the parameter setting means 46 sets the optimum parameters for preventing bleeding so that the value of the blur determination function for numerically evaluating blur is the smallest, and stores it in a predetermined memory. .

  Specifically, a blur determination pattern that reduces the value of the blur determination function is identified (a patch is identified from FIG. 6), and the ejection amount, transport speed, and fixing energy are set as optimum parameters.

  In step S170, using these optimum parameters, the bleeding prevention control means 40 controls at least one of the head driver 13 (discharge amount control means), the conveyance control means 36, the fixing control means 38, and the like. Then, image recording (printing) is performed. Also, in step S110, if the optimum parameter exists and this optimum parameter is set in step S120, printing is performed in step S170.

  When the relative transport speed is controlled, the frequency control means 42 controls the ink ejection timing from each of the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K in accordance with the change in the relative transport speed of the recording paper 16. The recorded image is set to an image having a predetermined dot pitch. This also makes it possible to perform high-density recording with the recording speed being variable depending on the ink fixing conditions.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the optimum control parameters for avoiding ink bleeding are set in advance according to the recording medium and the type of ink, so that the recording loaded in the ink jet recording apparatus is performed. By detecting only the type of media and printing using the control parameters, ink bleeding can be easily prevented, and ink drying and curing are optimally controlled for each medium, and printing is performed under optimal conditions. be able to. Further, by making the fixing energy amount of ink and the relative transport speed variable, it is possible to create a print with reduced bleeding corresponding to various media.

  Even if the type of the recording medium cannot be detected or the optimum control parameter corresponding to the recording medium is not set, a blur determination print is created and the density is measured to determine the blur. By setting optimal control parameters, it is possible to record a high-quality image avoiding ink bleeding at high speed. In addition, by outputting the blur determination print and determining the blur by the blur determination unit in this way, it is possible to set optimum parameters for preventing blur even for a new medium.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram including a partial block diagram showing an outline of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the inkjet recording apparatus 110 mainly includes a plurality of print heads 112Y provided for each ink color (yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), black (K)). , 112C, 112M, 112K, a head driver 113 that controls the drive of these print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, 112K, and transport for transporting the recording paper 116 as a recording medium from the paper feed unit 114 to the print head 112Y, etc. And a fixing unit 120 for fixing the ink ejected onto the recording paper 116.

  In the recording paper 116 shown in FIG. 16, the roll paper (continuous paper) loaded in the magazine 122 of the paper supply unit 114 is cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 123 and used. A plurality of magazines with different etc. may be provided. Further, instead of the roll paper magazine or in combination therewith, the paper may be supplied by a cassette in which cut papers are stacked and loaded.

  In the case of an apparatus configuration using roll paper, a cutter 123 is provided as shown in FIG. 16, and the roll paper is cut into a desired size by the cutter 123. Note that the cutter 123 is not necessary when cut paper is used.

  In the present embodiment, an information recording body such as a bar code or a wireless tag recording paper type information is attached to the medium type detection notch 122a of the magazine 122, and the information recording body for reading the information is read. Medium type detection means 124 is installed. As will be described later, using the information read by the medium type detection unit 124, an optimum control parameter is set for the recording medium, and image recording is performed.

  The recording paper 116 delivered from the magazine 122 retains curl due to having been loaded in the magazine 122. Although not shown, in order to remove this curl, a decurling unit is provided to heat the recording paper 116 with a heating drum or the like in the direction opposite to the curl direction of the magazine, and the curled surface slightly weakens outward. It is more preferable to control the heating temperature in such a manner.

  The transport unit 118 has a structure in which an endless belt 129 is wound between rollers 126 and 127, and is configured such that at least a portion facing the nozzle surface such as the print head 112Y forms a flat surface (flat surface). ing.

  The belt 129 has a width that is greater than the width of the recording paper 116, and a plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed on the belt surface. As shown in FIG. 16, an adsorption chamber 130 is provided at a position facing the nozzle surfaces of the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K on the inner side of the belt 129 spanned between the two rollers 126 and 127. The suction chamber 130 is sucked by the fan 132 to be a negative pressure, whereby the recording paper 116 on the belt 129 is sucked and held.

  When the power of the motor 128 is transmitted to at least one of the rollers 126 and 127 around which the belt 129 is wound (for example, the left roller 126 as shown in FIG. 16), the belt 129 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. , And the recording paper 116 held on the belt 129 is transported from the right to the left in FIG.

  The print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K correspond to the respective colors (YCMK), and each of the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K has a plurality of nozzles and takes up the entire width of the recording paper 116. A full-line head having a length corresponding to the maximum paper width is formed by arranging the directions in the paper width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper 116.

  Further, a fixing unit 120 having a length corresponding to the entire width of the recording paper 116 is arranged between the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K.

  A print head 112Y corresponding to each color ink in the order of Y (yellow), C (cyan), M (magenta), and K (black) from the upstream side along the conveyance direction (right to left in the drawing) of the recording paper 116, 112C, 112M, and 112K are arranged. A color image can be formed on the recording paper 116 by ejecting the color ink from each of the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K while the recording paper 116 is conveyed by the conveyance unit 118.

  In this example, the configuration of the standard colors of YCMK (four colors) is illustrated, but the combination of ink colors and the number of colors is not limited to this embodiment, and light ink and dark ink are added as necessary. May be. For example, it is possible to add a print head that discharges light ink such as light cyan and light magenta.

  In addition, an ink type detection means 25 for detecting the type of ink is provided in the vicinity of an ink tank (not shown) that supplies ink of each color to the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K. The ink type detection unit 25 is not particularly limited. For example, in the case of a cartridge-type ink tank, the ink type detection unit 25 may be configured to read an ID indicating the ink type from an information medium or the like attached to the cartridge.

  The fixing unit 20 applies fixing energy to the ink ejected from the print heads 12Y, 12C, 12M, and 12K onto the recording paper 16 to fix the ink to the recording paper 16, as in the first embodiment. A suitable means is used according to the ink used.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the fixing unit 120 is installed in the subsequent stage of each of the four print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K, and fixes the ink ejected from each print head so that the ink is spread or the next print Even if ink is ejected from the head to the vicinity thereof, each ink is prevented from being mixed.

  In this embodiment, at least one of the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 116 with respect to the ink jet head (printing head 112Y, etc.), the ink discharge amount, and the fixing energy for fixing the ink landed on the recording paper 116 is variably controlled. Thus, bleeding of ink landed on the recording paper 116 is prevented, and high-quality image recording is performed. Here, as described above, the ink discharge amount is controlled by the head driver 113, and the head driver 113 acts as the discharge amount control means.

  In order to execute such blur prevention control, the ink jet recording apparatus 110 according to the present embodiment sets the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 116 in addition to the head driver 113 as an ejection amount control unit that controls the ejection amount of ink. The conveyance control means 136 for controlling, the fixing control means 138 for controlling the fixing energy of the fixing means 120 for fixing ink, the discharge amount control means (head driver 113), the conveyance control means 136, and the fixing control means 138. There is a bleeding prevention control means 140 for preventing ink bleeding by variably controlling at least one of the two control means.

  An encoder 141 that detects the relative conveyance speed is installed on the roller 126 in order to control the relative conveyance speed. Furthermore, when the inkjet recording apparatus 110 controls the relative conveyance speed, the frequency control unit controls the ejection frequency of each print head (112Y, etc.) so that the recorded image becomes an image having a predetermined dot pitch. 142.

  In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus 110 according to the present embodiment outputs a blur determination print used to detect and determine ink bleeding, which will be described in detail later, in order to prevent ink bleeding and perform high-quality image recording. And a parameter setting unit 146 for setting an optimum value of each control amount as a control parameter based on a result of blur determination using the output blur determination print.

  The discharge amount control means (head driver 113) controls the discharge amount of ink discharged from the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K onto the recording paper 116. For example, although not shown, The ink discharge amount is controlled by controlling the ink internal pressure and the drive amount of an actuator (piezoelectric element) that deforms the ink chamber. By controlling the ink ejection amount, it is possible to control the size of the ejected ink droplets, that is, the ink particle size that lands on the surface of the recording paper 116.

  The conveyance control unit 136 controls the number of rotations of the motor 128 based on the detection signal of the rotary encoder 141. At this time, when the optimum relative conveyance speed is set by the parameter, the rotation of the motor 128 is controlled so that the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 116 becomes the speed.

  The fixing control unit 138 controls the energy according to the ink type and the medium type (the type of the recording paper 116) as described above, and gives thermal energy to the ink landed on the recording paper 116, respectively. The ink is fixed by sending hot air with a fan or the like to fix the ink and prevent bleeding.

  The blur prevention control unit 140 prevents ink bleeding by controlling at least one of the head driver 113 (discharge amount control unit), the conveyance control unit 136, and the fixing control unit 138. A specific control method is performed by controlling each control unit according to a parameter set as an optimum control amount by the parameter setting unit 146 as described later.

  Further, when the relative conveyance speed of the recording paper 116 is changed, the frequency control unit 142 controls the ink ejection timing from each of the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K in accordance with the change so that the recorded image is predetermined. This is an image with a dot pitch of.

  Since the system configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus 110 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a method for setting optimum parameters for preventing ink bleeding in this embodiment will be described.

  For this purpose, first, an ink bleeding determination print is created. This blur detection determination pattern (bleed determination print) is used to detect how the ink blurs depending on the condition, and is directed from the print heads 112Y, 112M, 112C, and 112K to the recording paper 116. Thus, the ink is generated by changing the ink discharge amount (ink particle diameter φ), the relative conveyance speed V, and the fixing energy E.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a blur detection determination pattern (a blur determination print) in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, the blur determination print 72 has two stages of the ink particle size of large φ _Hi and small φ _Low , and the relative conveyance speed V and the fixing energy E are respectively high high max, medium mid, and low low. The blur determination patch 74 is recorded for each color of ink in various stages. Further, the blur determination patch 74 is not limited to the one shown here, and may include other parameters such as printing environment temperature and humidity, or other factors related to ink bleeding.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 18, the patches 76 for each color of each blur determination patch 74 are each recorded with a plurality of line segments 77 having a predetermined length while gradually reducing the width and interval. As shown in FIG. 18, the interval between the line segments 77 is, for example, 0.5 [mm] at first, but gradually becomes narrower, and finally the interval becomes 0.05 [mm]. During this ink color portion, ink is not ejected and the background color (usually white) of the recording paper 116 is used. Accordingly, each patch 76 is configured by alternately arranging ink color and white (ground color of the recording paper 16).

  In this manner, the blur determination print 72 records patches formed by line segments of each color by changing the ink discharge amount (ink particle diameter φ) in two stages, the relative conveyance speed V, and the fixing energy E in three stages. Yes. Eventually, 2 * 3 * 3 = 18 kinds of such blur determination patches 74 are formed. Numbers (chart numbers) such as C01 to C18, M01 to M18,... Are assigned to the patches 76 for each color of the blur determination patch 74, and control parameters are set as described later. When to use.

  The bleeding determination print 72 is visually determined by an operator. That is, as shown in FIG. 18, the patches 76 for each color forming the blur determination patch 74 of the present embodiment form a resolution chart in which the line width and the interval are gradually narrowed. In this way, the blur is determined according to how far the line segment of the resolution chart that becomes gradually narrower can be visually determined by the operator.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described along the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S200 of FIG. 19, a magazine 122 for supplying the recording paper 116 to the ink jet recording apparatus 110 is loaded. When the magazine 122 is loaded, the medium type detection means 124 reads the medium type information from the medium type detection notch 122a attached to the magazine 122. Information read by the medium type detection unit 124 is sent to the parameter setting unit 146. On the other hand, the ink type is detected from the ink cartridge or the like by the ink type detecting means 125 and sent to the parameter setting means 146 in the same manner. Note that the information on the medium type or the ink type may be input to the parameter setting unit 146 by the operator.

  Next, in step S210, the print heads 112Y, 112C, 112M, and 112K are driven from the blur determination print output means 144 via the head driver 113, and the blur determination print 72 as shown in FIG. 17 is output. .

  Next, in step S220, the operator visually determines the output blur determination print. That is, the blur is determined based on how far a line segment whose width and interval gradually become narrower for each color as shown in FIG.

  Next, in step S230, control parameters are set in accordance with the blur determination result and the purpose at that time. For example, to record at as high a speed as possible, a combination of control parameters having a high transport speed V is selected. When the operator selects the patch 76 having the optimum combination of control parameters, the patch No. C01, M01, etc. attached thereto is selected. Is used to input a control parameter to the parameter setting means 146.

  At this time, the parameter setting means 146 stores the previously input medium type and ink type in association with these control parameters, and sets the control parameters for each control means.

  Next, in step S240, the blur prevention control unit 140 controls each control unit according to the control parameter that has just been set, and records a high-quality image in which bleeding is avoided.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the operator visually determines the bleeding with the bleeding determination print, the bleeding can be reliably determined, and any recording medium can be blurred. High-quality image recording that avoids this can be performed.

  Further, since the parameter setting unit 146 stores the set control parameters in association with the medium type and the ink type, the parameter setting unit 146 stores them when the image is recorded with the same medium type and ink type next time. The control parameter may be called and used, and the blur determination print may not be output again to set the control parameter.

  In the embodiment described above, the print head is a long line head in the recording paper width direction, but the present invention is not limited to the long line head, and is also applicable to a shuttle type head. Is possible. That is, one line in the recording paper width direction is recorded at a time in the case of a long line head, but in the case of a shuttle head, the only difference is that recording is performed while scanning in the recording paper width direction. The same applies to.

  The blur determination method and the image recording method and apparatus of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course you can go.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram including a partial block diagram illustrating an outline of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of an image recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing the vicinity of a print head in FIG. 1. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principle of the method of avoiding an ink bleed in a osmosis | permeation type recording medium, (a), (b) is a solvent-type ink, (c), (d) is a matrix hardening type ink. Is the case. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the principle of a method for avoiding ink bleeding in a non-penetrating recording medium, where (a) and (b) are solvent-based inks, and (c) and (d) are matrix-curable inks. This is the case. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the blurring determination print in 1st Embodiment. (A) is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the example of the blur determination patch of the blur determination print of FIG. 6, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the density | concentration measuring method of this patch. (A), (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the principle of a density | concentration measurement. It is a diagram which shows the measured density | concentration profile. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of a measurement of a jaggedness degree. It is a diagram which shows the density | concentration profile in the measurement of a jaggedness degree. It is explanatory drawing which shows each parameter for blur prevention control. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between image quality mode and a weighting coefficient. It is explanatory drawing which shows the control variable parameter in the case of a limitation option. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram including the partial block diagram which shows the outline of the inkjet recording device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of the image recording device of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the blurring determination print in 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the patch of the blurring determination print of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Inkjet recording device (image recording device), 12Y, 12C, 12M, 12K ... Print head, 13, 134 ... Head driver (discharge amount control means), 14 ... Paper feed unit, 16 ... Recording paper, 18 ... Conveying unit 20 ... fixing means, 22 ... magazine, 22a ... medium type detection notch, 23 ... cutter, 24 ... medium type detection means, 25 ... ink type detection means, 26, 27 ... roller, 28 ... motor, 29 ... belt, 30 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Adsorption chamber, 32 ... Fan, 36 ... Conveyance control means, 38 ... Fixing control means, 40 ... Bleeding prevention control means, 41 ... Encoder, 42 ... Frequency control means, 44 ... Bleeding judgment print output means, 45 ... Densitometer, 46 ... parameter setting means, 48 ... blur determination means, 68, 72 ... blur determination print

Claims (11)

A blur determination method for determining blur of ink ejected on a recording medium into the recording medium,
Each ink is changed in at least one step by using a recording speed at which the recording data is recorded on the recording medium, an ejection amount of the ejected ink, and fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink on the recording medium as parameters. Output a blur determination print composed of a plurality of blur determination patches in which a predetermined length line segment of color is recorded with a predetermined width,
The blur determination is characterized by measuring the density of each blur determination patch of the output blur determination print and determining the blur of the ink on the recording medium based on the density measurement result of the blur determination patch. Method.   The line density of each ink color constituting the blur determination patch is measured in a direction substantially perpendicular to the line segment, and the highest density, the degree of jaggedness indicating the degree of edge of the line segment, and the line segment are measured. The blur determination method according to claim 1, wherein blur is determined by evaluation using each value of the width.   The blur determination method according to claim 2, further comprising: a difference between a preset density target value of the line segment and the calculated density; and a preset width target value of the line segment; The blur is determined from an evaluation value that numerically evaluates blur using a difference between the calculated width of the line segment and a predetermined weighting factor set in advance for each value of the jaggedness. Bleeding determination method.   4. The blur determination method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined weighting factor is set in accordance with an image quality mode indicating whether the recording is text or image or both. An image recording method for recording an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium based on recording data,
5. A recording speed at which the recording data is recorded on the recording medium, an ejection amount of the ejected ink, and the ejected ink based on the blur determination result by the blur determination method according to claim 1. An image recording method characterized in that image recording is performed by setting a control parameter for controlling at least one of fixing energy for fixing ink onto the recording medium.   6. The image recording method according to claim 5, wherein the control parameter is set in accordance with an image quality mode indicating whether the recording is text or image or both. Recording method. A blur determination device for determining blur of ink ejected on a recording medium into the recording medium,
Each ink is changed in at least one step by using a recording speed at which the recording data is recorded on the recording medium, an ejection amount of the ejected ink, and fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink on the recording medium as parameters. A blur determination print output means for outputting a blur determination print composed of a plurality of blur determination patches in which a predetermined length line segment of color is recorded with a predetermined width; and the density of each blur determination patch of the output blur determination print. A concentration measuring means for measuring;
A blur determination apparatus comprising blur determination means for determining blur of the ink on the recording medium based on a density measurement result of the blur determination patch.   The density measuring unit measures the density of each ink color line segment constituting the blur determination patch in a direction substantially perpendicular to the line segment, and the blur determination unit determines the highest density from the density measurement result, The degree of roughness and the width of the line segment indicating the degree of shading of the line segment are calculated, the difference between the preset density target value and the calculated density, and the line segment Evaluation for numerically evaluating blur using a difference between a target value of a preset width and the calculated width of the line segment and a predetermined weighting factor preset for each value of the jaggedness The blur determination apparatus according to claim 7, wherein blur is determined from a value.   9. The blur determination device according to claim 8, further comprising an image quality mode detection unit that detects an image quality mode indicating whether the recorded object is text, an image, or both based on the recorded data, The blur determination device, wherein the blur determination unit sets the weighting coefficient according to the detected image quality mode. An image recording apparatus for recording an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium based on recording data,
While having the blur determination apparatus of any one of Claims 7-9,
A recording speed control means for controlling a recording speed for recording the recording data on the recording medium;
A discharge amount control means for controlling a discharge amount of the discharged ink;
Fixing control means for controlling fixing energy for fixing the ejected ink to the recording medium;
Parameter setting means for setting each control parameter for controlling the recording speed control means, the ejection amount control means, and the fixing control means, based on the result of the blur determination by the blur determination device;
An image recording system comprising: a blur prevention control unit that performs image recording by controlling at least one of the recording speed control unit, the ejection amount control unit, and the fixing control unit according to the set control parameter. apparatus. The image recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the parameter setting unit sets the control parameter according to the image quality mode.

Images