JP4298243B2 - Recording apparatus and recording method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method for performing recording by driving a recording head having a plurality of recording elements in a time-sharing manner.
[Prior art]
The current recording apparatus that requires high-speed and high-definition printing is mainly an ink jet system, and the recording head generally has a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink. Ink ejection methods include those that utilize foaming energy generated by driving a heater provided in a nozzle, and those that utilize contraction of a piezo element provided in a nozzle. However, in either method, driving all the nozzles at the same time has disadvantages such as a reduction in recording quality due to crosstalk between the nozzles and a large power supply due to the temporary need for a large current. Therefore, all the nozzles are divided into blocks of several nozzles and driven while being sequentially shifted in time.
[0002]
On the other hand, there is a difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles of the recording head due to variations in nozzle formation and the like, and if recording is performed as it is, there may be some uneven density in the image. Therefore, when high-definition recording is performed, a recorded image is not formed by a single scan, but is recorded so that an image area is overlapped by a plurality of scans as in the past. Thus, density unevenness is eliminated by randomly forming an image (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
However, the recent demand for higher recording speed, that is, improvement in throughput, has been dealt with by shortening the block time of divided drive. However, there is also a minimum time required to drive the discharge heater to obtain a sufficient foaming power, and it is impossible to cut the block time further. Furthermore, in multi-pass recording, the time required for the number of scans is further required, so that the recording speed is further reduced.
[0004]
Therefore, as in the past, the multi-pass mask is determined depending on the block, the nozzle block thinned out by the multi-pass mask is not driven, the block to be driven is changed for each column, and the multi-pass mask is circulated sequentially. A method for improving the recording speed by realizing the high-definition recording by setting the speed and increasing the speed of the carriage by the number of passes up to the speed of one pass compared to the speed of one pass, ie, multi-pass A method for achieving both image quality and recording speed in recording has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
[Patent Document 1]
JP 61-120578 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2001-088288 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, as shown in FIG. 5B, depending on the combination of drive blocks, the actually recorded dots may deviate from the original dot positions in the main scanning direction as indicated by S1 to S3 in FIG. The amount of deviation is determined by the block division number B of the recording head and the number of passes P of multi-pass printing, and the amount of deviation is P / B [dot pitch] at the maximum. For this reason, when the number of block divisions is 16 or 32 and the number of passes is 4 as in the prior art, the shift is 1/4 pitch or 1/8, respectively. However, recently, as the recording speed is further increased, the number of block divisions of about 8 becomes common, and the amount of deviation is ½ dot at the maximum, so it is no longer in an allowable range.
[0005]
Such a problem occurs not only in the above-described multi-pass recording but also in the case of recording by changing the combination of drive blocks for each column in so-called high speed recording in which drive blocks are thinned to shorten the recording time. .
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the recording dot shift that occurs in the multipass recording method and the high-speed recording method that improve the recording speed, and to improve the image quality. .
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the object of the present invention, for example, a recording apparatus of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
[0008]
That is, the recording head in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged to be inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium is scanned, Depending on the detected recording head position A recording apparatus that performs recording by driving a plurality of recording elements of the recording head by time-sharing for each block,
was detected Recording head position In response to the Start time-division drive in the scan of the print head An acquisition means for acquiring a column position;
When the column position is acquired by the acquisition unit, M (M is 1) used for recording on each column from B blocks (B is an integer of 1 or more) obtained by dividing a plurality of recording elements of the recording head. A selection means for selecting a block of integers less than B),
Drive control means for driving a plurality of recording elements included in the block selected by the selection means for each block in a time-sharing manner,
The time required to drive one block is Tb, and the first driven block among the M blocks selected by the selection means is Nth from the direction in which the recording head scans (N is 0 or more, In the case of a block of an integer less than B), the drive control means delays the drive timing by a drive delay time N × (M / B) × Tb and starts time-division driving.
[0009]
In order to achieve the object of the present invention, for example, a recording method of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
[0010]
That is, the recording head in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged to be inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium is scanned, Depending on the detected recording head position A control method for controlling a recording apparatus that performs recording by driving a plurality of recording elements of the recording head by time-sharing for each block,
was detected Recording head position In response to the Start time-division drive in the scan of the print head An acquisition step of acquiring the column position;
When the column position is acquired in the acquisition step, M blocks (M is 1) used for recording on each column from B blocks (B is an integer of 1 or more) obtained by dividing a plurality of recording elements of the recording head. And a selection step of selecting a block of an integer less than B),
A drive control step of driving a plurality of recording elements included in the block selected in the selection step for each block in a time-sharing manner,
The time required to drive one block is Tb, and the first block to be driven among the M blocks selected in the selection step is Nth from the direction in which the recording head scans (N is 0 or more, In the case of a block of an integer less than B), the drive control step is characterized in that the drive timing is delayed by a drive delay time N × (M / B) × Tb to start time-division driving.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0014]
In this specification, “print” (hereinafter also referred to as “recording”) is not only used to form significant information such as characters and figures, but is also significant regardless of significance. Regardless of whether or not the material has been made obvious so that it can be perceived by the liquid, it is also possible to form a wide range of images, patterns, patterns, etc. by processing the liquid on the recording medium or to process the medium And
[0015]
The “recording medium” refers not only to paper used in general recording apparatuses, but also to materials that can accept ink discharged by a recording head, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, and the like. To do.
[0016]
Further, the term “ink” should be broadly interpreted in the same way as the definition of “print”, and can be used for forming an image, a pattern, a pattern, etc., or processing the recording medium by being applied on the recording medium. Say liquid.
[0017]
<Outline of the main unit>
FIG. 18 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention can be applied. In the figure, the carriage HC engaged with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). And is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate that presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photo-couplers, which are home position detection means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013 or the like. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 denotes suction means that sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade, and reference numeral 5019 denotes a member that enables the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, the blade is not in this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 engaged with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Is done.
[0018]
These capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the home position side region. Any of these can be applied to this example as long as the above operation is performed.
[0019]
<Description of control configuration>
Next, a control configuration for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG. In the figure, showing a control circuit, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is a program ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is various data (the recording signal and recording supplied to the head). This is a dynamic ROM that stores data and the like. Reference numeral 1704 denotes a gate array that controls supply of print data to the print head 1708, and also controls data transfer among the interface 1700, MPU 1701, and RAM 1703. Reference numeral 1710 denotes a carrier motor for conveying the recording head 1708, and 1709 denotes a conveyance motor for conveying the recording paper. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a head driver for driving the head, and reference numerals 1706 and 1707 denote motor drivers for driving the transport motor 1709 and the carrier motor 1710, respectively.
[0020]
The operation of the control configuration will be described. When a recording signal enters the interface 1700, the recording signal is converted into recording data for printing between the gate array 1704 and the MPU 1701. The motor drivers 1706 and 1707 are driven, and the recording head is driven according to the recording data sent to the head driver 1705 to perform recording.
[0021]
It is obvious that the constituent elements of the present invention can be incorporated in the control configuration of the ink jet printer as described above, and the present invention is not limited to the ink jet printer but can be applied to the laser beam printer and the like.
[0022]
[First Embodiment]
First, the recording head used in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the recording head in this embodiment, which is mounted on the recording apparatus shown in FIG. In the recording head, four recording chips 1 of Y, M, C, and Bk are arranged at a predetermined interval in the main scanning direction to form one recording head 3. In all four chips, the number of nozzles (recording elements) is 192 nozzles, and the ejection frequency is 10 kHz in normal driving. YMC has the same discharge amount, and Bk has a discharge amount that is about twice that amount. The configuration of this recording chip will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5A.
[0023]
FIG. 3 is an arrangement diagram of dots recorded using the recording head, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the recording chip, and FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a timing chart of each signal during recording. In FIG. 3, for the sake of simplification, 48 nozzles and subsequent nozzles are omitted, but as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 4, the recording chip 1 is composed of 16 groups, each consisting of 12 consecutive nozzles. There are 192 nozzles. From 12 nozzles in one group, one nozzle is selected by signals output from BE0 to 11 obtained by decoding the signals input from BENB0 to 3 shown in FIG. Therefore, they are not driven at the same time but are driven in a time division manner.
[0024]
On the other hand, the image data is serially transferred by IDATA at the timing of BENB 0 to 3 in synchronization with DCLK, temporarily stored at 16 bit S / R 5, and then transferred to the 16 bit latch 6 at the rising edge of the LTCLK pulse. The output of the 16-bit latch 6 is logically ANDed with the drive pulse signal HEAT and the AND gate 7 to drive the heaters 8 (8-1 to 8-192) of the nozzles selected with BE0-11.
[0025]
The nozzle row 2 is divided into blocks every 12 nozzles from the upper side of FIG. 3, and is time-division driven in the order of blocks BE0 to 11 as shown in FIG. 5A. Note that BE0 to 11 indicate drive block numbers, respectively, and are assigned from 0 to 11 in the order of time division drive. Therefore, the block to be driven is selected by BE0-11.
[0026]
However, in such time-division driving, if the recording chip 1 is recorded in a state perpendicular to the main scanning direction, the vertical ruled lines are inclined. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Are attached at a predetermined angle. As a result, when all the nozzles of the recording chip 1 complete the ejection, separate columns are recorded for each group.
[0027]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a recording dot arrangement in a certain pass when four-pass multi-pass printing is performed by the recording head 1 by the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-088288. FIG. 5B shows a timing chart showing the drive timing when performing multi-pass printing to obtain a dot array.
[0028]
In FIG. 5A showing the drive timing at the time of normal one-pass printing, all 12 blocks are driven in one column (one recording area), whereas in FIG. 5B, only 3 blocks are driven. And the combination of the three blocks is changed to 0, 4, 8, 2, 6, 10, 3, 7, 11, 11, 5, 9 to drive all 12 blocks in four times. Yes.
[0029]
That is, in FIG. 6, while the recording head 1 moves in the section (recording area) indicated by 601, the recording elements of the drive block numbers 0, 4 and 8 record dots (dots indicated by black circles in the section 601). To do. Next, while the recording head 1 moves in the section (recording area) indicated by 602, the recording elements of the drive block numbers 2, 6, and 10 record dots (dots indicated by black circles in the section 602). Next, while the recording head 1 moves in the section (recording area) indicated by 603, the recording elements of the drive block numbers 3, 7, and 11 record dots (dots indicated by black circles in the section 603, respectively). Next, while the recording head 1 moves in the section indicated by 604 (recording area), the recording elements of drive block numbers 1, 5, and 9 record dots (dots indicated by black circles in the section 604).
[0030]
In this way, FIG. 6 shows the recording dot position when the first pass of the 4-pass multi-pass printing is performed, so 25% random thinning is performed, and the remaining three passes. The image recording is completed by sequentially filling the thinned recording dots. In the figure, the portions indicated by S1, S2, and S3 indicate the recording dot shift amount. This deviation amount S is represented by B as the number of block divisions and N as the drive block number.
S = N / B
It is expressed. Therefore, in this recording chip, since the number of block divisions is 12, S1 = 1/6 dot (N = 2), S2 = 1/4 dot (N = 3), and S3 = 1/12 dot (N = 1).
[0031]
The purpose of correcting this recording dot shift will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording chip driver when a recording dot shift correction function is added, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional recording chip driver without a correction function. As can be seen from a comparison of the two figures, FIG. 1 has the same configuration except that a column synchronization delay circuit 11 is added to FIG.
[0032]
Therefore, first, the operation of the conventional recording chip driver will be described, and the operation of the recording chip driver according to the present embodiment will be described using the description of this operation.
[0033]
The operation of the conventional recording chip driver will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a timing chart when one-pass printing is performed by the printing chip driver shown in FIG. The recording chip driver can be broadly divided into three functions of image data transfer, driving pulse generation, and driving block generation, and each function is realized by using a recording data memory 15, a driving pulse memory 16, and a driving block memory 17. Since the recording data and the driving block change depending on the column position and the order of the output blocks, the upper bits of the address input of the recording data memory 15 and the driving block memory 17 are output from the column counter 13 and the intermediate bits are the block counter output. (BCOUNT) is connected. Therefore, as data output from the recording data memory 15 and the drive block memory 17, data corresponding to the column position and block order at that time is always output.
[0034]
On the other hand, since the drive pulse is always fixed, only one pulse waveform needs to be stored in the drive pulse memory 16, and only the address selection from the drive pulse generation circuit 19 is connected to the address input. The data in these three memories is rewritten as needed by the MPU 1701 of the printer body whenever the driving method changes. The PRINT signal is a signal that generates a pulse when the recording chip 1 passes through the column position to be recorded, and is usually generated based on a position signal from an encoder provided on the main scanning direction axis. Since the PRINT signal is input to the clock input of the column counter 13 and the scan recording start signal output from the MPU 1701 of the printer main body is input to the clear input immediately before each scan recording, the count output always indicates the column position. It will be.
[0035]
The PRINT signal is also a trigger signal for the drive synchronization circuit 12 as shown in FIG. The signal names of the respective parts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 correspond to each other, and it is shown that the signals below BSYNC are generated by the drive synchronization circuit 12 using the PRINT pulse as a trigger. BSYNC is a block drive trigger signal, and the number of generated pulses (number of generated blocks) and the interval Tb (drive block time) between pulses are set from the MPU 1701 of the printer main body. When the BSYNC pulse is generated, the image data transfer circuit 18 generates LTCLK, DCLK, and IDATA, and the drive pulse generation circuit 19 generates HEAT signals.
[0036]
On the other hand, BLKCLK and BLKCLR generated based on BSYNC are connected to the block counter 14 as clock input and clear input, so that the block order is always output to BCOUNT. In this way, data (BLKNO) corresponding to the column position and the block order at that time is output to the output of the drive block memory 17. BLKNO is latched by the block generation circuit 20 at the timing of BSYNC and sent to the recording chip 1 as BENB0-3. As described above, the recording chip driver changes the setting of the content of the drive block memory 17 and the number of generated blocks from the MPU 1701 of the printer body as described above, so that not only the drive timing of one pass as shown in FIG. 4 pass multipass recording drive timing can be generated.
[0037]
FIG. 10 shows an example of a table showing the setting contents. Data according to the table shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the drive block memory 17, and drive timing according to the data set by the MPU 1701 can be realized. In the recording chip 1, one pass, two passes, three passes, and four passes can be selected. Here, timing charts for two cases of one pass and four passes are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, respectively.
[0038]
The above is the description of the operation of the conventional recording chip driver. Next, correction of recording dot deviation by the column synchronization delay circuit 11 will be described. FIG. 11 is a dot arrangement diagram in which the recording dot shift described with reference to FIG. 6 is corrected. In order to correct the recording dot deviation from FIGS. 11 and 6, the recording is started after a predetermined time delay from the conventional recording timing in accordance with the drive block number of the first dot (first driving). I understand good things. The delay time (delay time) T is Tb as the drive block time, P as the number of passes, and N as the drive block number of the first hit dot.
T = Tb · N / P
It becomes. Since T1 to T3 in the figure are N = 2, N = 3, and N = 1, respectively.
T1 = (1/2) Tb, T2 = (3/4) Tb, T3 = (1/4) Tb
It becomes. In other words, this indicates the time required to drive a block with a block number smaller than the drive block number to be driven first. In other words, this indicates the time required to drive the blocks driven in the previous order rather than the blocks to be driven first.
[0039]
Therefore, the column synchronization delay circuit 11 may output the PRDLY signal after delaying T1, T2, and T3 from the PRINT signal as shown in the timing chart of FIG. As a result, when the drive delay time between the recording areas is set to the time required to drive one block (drive block time) and the order of driving all the blocks, The time is set to be obtained by adding the time required for driving the block that is time-division driven in the previous order to the block that is driven first.
[0040]
Thereby, it is possible to eliminate a recording dot shift that occurs in high-speed recording while maintaining high-speed recording by multipass recording.
[0041]
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the column synchronization delay circuit 11 for realizing this, and FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing the operation timing. When the delay clock generation circuit 32 detects the pulse of the PRINT signal, the delay clock generation circuit 32 starts oscillating at a cycle = Tb / P (Tb / 4 because P = 4 in the present embodiment). The output clock is supplied to the clocks of the 5-bit shift registers 33-1 to 33-5. Since the input of the shift register 33-1 is a PRINT signal, PRDLY0 to 3 are signals delayed by Tb / P from the PRINT signal pulse, respectively. That is, PRDLY0 is a signal not delayed from the PRINT signal pulse, PRDLY1 is a signal delayed by Tb / P from the PRINT signal pulse, PRDLY2 is a signal delayed by 2Tb / P from the PRINT signal pulse, and PRDLY3 is 3Tb / P from the PRINT signal pulse. The signal is delayed by P.
[0042]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, during the period from the PRINT pulse to the PRDLY pulse, the BLKNO signal outputs the drive block number of the first dot. This BLKNO signal is converted by the decoder 31 and only the output corresponding to the drive block number (that is, the output to any one of the AND circuits 1301 to 1303 that outputs the PRDLY signal corresponding to the drive block number of the first hit dot). Becomes HIGH. Since each output of the decoder 31 is ANDed with the corresponding PRDLY 0 to 3 by the AND circuit (1301 to 1303), the PRPLY is delayed by T from the PRINT signal corresponding to the drive block number of the first dot. A signal will be obtained.
[0043]
In this embodiment, a signal delayed by T from the PRINT signal is a trigger signal for the drive synchronization circuit 12 instead of the conventional PRINT signal.
[0044]
In this embodiment, four-pass printing has been described as an example. However, if the two-pass and three-pass settings are also made according to the table shown in FIG. If one path is set according to the table shown in FIG. 10, it operates without any problem. In this way, the timing shown in FIG. 12 can be created simply by adding the column synchronization delay circuit 11 to the conventional recording chip driver, and correction of recording dot deviation can be realized in all pass recordings.
[0045]
[Second Embodiment]
In the above embodiment, the thinning recording in the multipass printing has been described as an example. However, it is not necessary to limit to the multipass printing. For example, when the same thinning printing is performed in order to shorten the printing time, the recording dot shift is not limited. This correction method is effective, and can be applied to all thinning records.
[0046]
In the above embodiment, the PRINT signal for giving the column recording timing is generated based on the position signal from the encoder provided on the axis in the main scanning direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this and is constant from the recording start point. The above correction method is also effective in the case where pulses are generated at time intervals of ## EQU3 ## to produce a PRINT signal.
[0047]
In addition to recording chips, as shown in FIGS. 15, 16A, and 16B, BLKNO is driven by the recording data memory 15 as shown in FIG. If the bit corresponding to the block number is taken out and used, it can be applied without changing the configuration of the column synchronization delay circuit 11.
[0048]
In the above embodiment, the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head have been described as ink, and the liquid stored in the ink tank has been described as ink. However, the storage is limited to ink. It is not a thing. For example, a treatment liquid discharged to the recording medium may be accommodated in the ink tank in order to improve the fixability and water resistance of the recorded image or to improve the image quality.
[0049]
The above embodiment includes means (for example, an electrothermal converter, a laser beam, etc.) that generates thermal energy as energy used for performing ink discharge, particularly in the ink jet recording system, and the ink is generated by the thermal energy. By using a system that causes a change in the state of recording, it is possible to achieve higher recording density and higher definition.
[0050]
As its typical configuration and principle, for example, those performed using the basic principle disclosed in US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796 are preferable. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and applying a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, the thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the recording head This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the liquid, and as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. By the growth and contraction of the bubbles, liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is pulse-shaped, the bubble growth and contraction is performed immediately and appropriately, and thus it is possible to achieve the discharge of liquid (ink) with particularly excellent responsiveness.
[0051]
As this pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further excellent recording can be performed by employing the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface.
[0052]
As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (straight liquid flow path or right-angle liquid flow path) of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal transducer as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, the heat acting surface The configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which is disposed in a bending region, are also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-123670, which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal transducer, or an opening that absorbs a pressure wave of thermal energy is discharged to a plurality of electrothermal transducers. A configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461 disclosing a configuration corresponding to each part may be adopted.
[0053]
Furthermore, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is satisfied by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. Either a configuration or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally may be used.
[0054]
In addition to the cartridge-type recording head in which the ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself described in the above embodiment, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus body by being attached to the apparatus body. A replaceable chip type recording head that can supply ink from the apparatus main body may be used.
[0055]
In addition, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary means, and the like for the recording head to the configuration of the recording apparatus described above because the recording operation can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include a capping unit for the recording head, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or sucking unit, an electrothermal converter, a heating element different from this, or a preheating unit using a combination thereof. In addition, it is effective to provide a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection different from recording in order to perform stable recording.
[0056]
Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrated or may be a combination of a plurality of colors. An apparatus having at least one of full colors can also be provided.
[0057]
In the embodiment described above, the description is made on the assumption that the ink is a liquid, but it may be an ink that is solidified at room temperature or lower, or an ink that is softened or liquefied at room temperature, Alternatively, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable discharge range by adjusting the temperature within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower. It is sufficient if the ink sometimes forms a liquid.
[0058]
In addition, it is solidified in a stand-by state in order to actively prevent temperature rise by heat energy as energy for changing the state of ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or to prevent ink evaporation. Ink that is liquefied by heating may be used. In any case, by applying heat energy according to the application of thermal energy according to the recording signal, the ink is liquefied and liquid ink is ejected, or when it reaches the recording medium, it already starts to solidify. The present invention can also be applied to the case of using ink having the property of being liquefied for the first time. In such a case, the ink is held as a liquid or solid in a porous sheet recess or through-hole as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, It is good also as a form which opposes with respect to an electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-described inks is to execute the above-described film boiling method.
[0059]
In addition, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a transmission / reception function are provided as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer or the like. It may take the form of a facsimile machine.
[0060]
Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to only the apparatus and method for realizing the above-described embodiment, and the software program code for realizing the above-described embodiment is supplied to the recording apparatus (CPU or MPU). The case where the recording apparatus realizes the embodiment by operating the various devices according to the program code is also included in the scope of the present invention.
[0061]
In this case, the program code of the software itself realizes the function of the above embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the recording apparatus, specifically, the program code Is included in the scope of the present invention.
[0062]
As a storage medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.
[0063]
In addition, the recording apparatus controls various devices according to only the supplied program code, so that not only the functions of the above embodiments are realized, but also the OS in which the program code is running on the recording apparatus ( Such a program code is also included in the scope of the present invention when the above embodiment is realized in cooperation with an operating system) or other application software.
[0064]
Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the recording apparatus or the function expansion unit connected to the recording apparatus, the function expansion board or function is stored based on the instruction of the program code. A case where the CPU or the like provided in the unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included in the scope of the present invention.
[0065]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the recording dot shift that occurs in the multi-pass recording method and the high-speed recording method that improve the recording speed, and to improve the image quality.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording chip driver when a recording dot shift correction function is added.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a recording head in an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 is an arrangement diagram of dots recorded using the recording head shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording chip.
FIG. 5A is a timing chart of signals at the time of recording.
5B is a timing chart showing drive timings when performing multipass printing to obtain the print dot arrangement shown in FIG. 6. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a recording dot arrangement in a certain pass when multi-pass printing of 4 passes is performed by the recording head 1 by the method disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-088288.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional recording chip driver having no correction function.
FIG. 8 is a timing chart when one-pass printing is performed by the recording chip driver shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a timing chart when four-pass printing is performed by the printing chip driver shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a table showing contents of a drive block memory 17 and setting contents of the number of generated blocks.
FIG. 11 is a dot arrangement diagram in which the recording dot shift described with reference to FIG. 6 is corrected.
12 is a timing chart of the operation of the column synchronization delay circuit 11. FIG.
13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a column synchronization delay circuit 11. FIG.
14 is a timing chart showing operation timing of the column synchronization delay circuit 11 having the configuration shown in FIG.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording chip of a type that serially transfers a drive block number together with image data in another embodiment.
16A is a timing chart of the operation of the recorded value woman shown in FIG.
16B is a timing chart of the operation of the recording chip shown in FIG.
17 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording chip driver that uses BLKNO extracted from a bit corresponding to a drive block number of the recording data memory 15. FIG.
FIG. 18 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention can be applied.
FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit for executing recording control of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

Claims (7)

A recording head in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged to be inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium is scanned, and the plurality of recording elements of the recording head are driven in a time-sharing manner for each block according to the detected position of the recording head. A recording device for recording by
An acquisition means for acquiring a column position for starting time-division driving in scanning of the recording head according to the detected position of the recording head ;
When the column position is acquired by the acquisition unit, M (M is 1) used for recording on each column from B blocks (B is an integer of 1 or more) obtained by dividing a plurality of recording elements of the recording head. A selection means for selecting a block of integers less than B),
Drive control means for driving a plurality of recording elements included in the block selected by the selection means for each block in a time-sharing manner,
The time required to drive one block is Tb, and the first driven block among the M blocks selected by the selection means is Nth from the direction in which the recording head scans (N is 0 or more, In the recording apparatus, the drive control unit delays the drive timing by a drive delay time N × (M / B) × Tb and starts time-division drive.   A printing apparatus that scans a recording head P (P is an integer of 2 or more) times and completes recording on the same area of a recording medium by performing time-division driving by the driving control means P times, the driving control means 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time division driving is started by delaying the driving timing by (N / P) × Tb.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head performs recording according to an inkjet method.   The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the recording head uses thermal energy to eject ink, and includes an electrothermal converter for generating the energy. A recording head in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged to be inclined with respect to the conveyance direction of the recording medium is scanned, and the plurality of recording elements of the recording head are driven in a time-sharing manner for each block according to the detected position of the recording head. A control method for controlling a recording device that performs recording,
An acquisition step of acquiring a column position for starting time-division driving in the scan of the recording head according to the detected position of the recording head ;
When the column position is acquired in the acquisition step, M blocks (M is 1) used for recording on each column from B blocks (B is an integer of 1 or more) obtained by dividing a plurality of recording elements of the recording head. And a selection step of selecting a block of an integer less than B),
A drive control step of driving a plurality of recording elements included in the block selected in the selection step for each block in a time-sharing manner,
The time required to drive one block is Tb, and the first block to be driven among the M blocks selected in the selection step is Nth from the direction in which the recording head scans (N is 0 or more, In the case of a block of an integer less than B), in the drive control step, the drive timing is delayed by a drive delay time N × (M / B) × Tb to start time-division drive. .   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 5.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 6.

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