JP4927219B2 - Image recording apparatus, control method therefor, and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, a control method thereof, and a storage medium, and more particularly, to a thermal transfer or sublimation type image recording apparatus that performs image recording at high speed, a control method thereof, and a storage medium.

  For example, as an information output device in a word processor, personal computer, facsimile, etc., in an image recording device for recording information such as desired characters and images on a sheet-like recording medium such as paper or film, a recording medium such as paper A serial recording system that performs recording while reciprocating scanning in a direction perpendicular to the feed direction is generally widely used because it is inexpensive and easy to downsize.

  Here, one problem in performing image recording at high speed using a thermal transfer or sublimation type image recording apparatus will be described.

  When an image recording apparatus using a thermal transfer or sublimation type is used to record an image on the same recording medium (media), that is, a recording medium composed of image receiving paper and ink, generally requires more electric power. .

  This is because, in a thermal transfer or sublimation type image recording apparatus, the energy supplied per unit area per unit time does not change, so when image recording is performed at a high speed over a large area, more power is proportional to the amount of image recording. This is because it must be supplied.

  However, since the power supply unit that can supply a large amount of power per unit time is expensive, it naturally causes an increase in the cost of the image recording apparatus. For this reason, conventionally, high-speed image recording devices equipped with such a large-capacity power supply power supply unit have been used for business image recording such as certificates and sticker printing, which prioritized performance even if there was a slight increase in cost. It was used limited to the device.

  On the other hand, recently, with the widespread use of digital cameras, there is an increasing need to record digital camera images easily and at high speed at home. Thermal transfer or sublimation type image recording apparatuses are suitable for such applications.

  However, as described above, in order to manufacture a thermal transfer or sublimation type image recording apparatus suitable for image recording that requires high speed, it is necessary to solve the problem of reduction in manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is an image recording apparatus capable of recording an image at high speed without requiring an expensive large-capacity power supply unit and a control method thereof. And providing a storage medium .

In order to achieve the above object, an image recording apparatus of the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An image recording apparatus having recording means for recording an image on a transported recording medium based on surface data ,
Power supply means;
A density acquisition means for analyzing the surface data and acquiring the maximum density of the image and the average density of the image;
Before starting image recording based on the surface data, obtain the fastest conveyance speed at which the reached density corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyance speeds of the recording medium is greater than the maximum density, and calculate the average The plurality of transport speeds equal to or less than the fastest transport speed so that the average power consumption corresponding to the transport speed of the recording medium when recording at a density is lower than the average power of the power supply means. Determining means for determining the conveyance speed of the recording medium ;
It is characterized by having.
In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an image recording apparatus of the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A control method for an image recording apparatus that has a thermal head and power supply means and records an image on a transported recording medium based on surface data ,
A density acquisition step of analyzing the surface data and acquiring the maximum density and the average density of the image;
A speed acquisition step of acquiring the fastest transport speed at which the reached density corresponding to each of the plurality of transport speeds of the recording medium is greater than the maximum density;
The recording medium that is equal to or lower than the fastest transport speed among the plurality of transport speeds so that the average power consumption corresponding to the transport speed when recording at the average density is lower than the average power of the power supply means. A determination step for determining the conveyance speed of
And a driving step of driving the thermal head in accordance with the conveyance speed of the recording medium determined in the determination step .

By the present invention lever, without using a power supply unit of large capacity, it is possible to provide an image recording apparatus and an image recording method in which the image recording can be realized at high speed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sublimation image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control unit of a sublimation image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the whole operation | movement of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the strobe pulse number and density | concentration in each conveyance speed. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the conveyance speed determination method of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the determination method of the conveyance speed of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention, and is a figure which calculates area A1 and A2 of the same ink density | concentration, respectively. It is explanatory drawing of the determination method of the conveyance speed of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention, and is a figure which calculates area A1 and A2 of the same ink density | concentration, respectively. It is a figure explaining the number of strobe pulses required in order to record the part of area A2, and average power consumption. It is a figure explaining the number of strobe pulses required in order to record the part of area A2, and average power consumption.

  An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, the sublimation image recording apparatus 100 is described as an image recording apparatus. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the description example.

[General description of the main unit]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a configuration viewed from the side of the sublimation type image recording apparatus 100.

  An ink sheet 12 and an image receiving paper 15 arranged in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan are positioned between the thermal head 11 and a platen 13 in which a large number of recording electrodes are arranged corresponding to the recording density.

  The thermal head 11 is configured so that it can be operated to be brought into pressure contact with or separated from the platen 13 by a driving unit (not shown). The platen 13 has a highly smooth surface, and the image receiving paper and the ink sheet are sandwiched on the surface so as to be movable by a thermal head.

  The ink sheet 12 is initially wound around the supply roller 19 and is sequentially wound toward the take-up roller 18 side. Usually, the ink sheet 12 is wound around a supply roller 19 in advance, and is supplied in the form of a cassette in which the supply roller 19 and the take-up roller 18 are integrated.

  The image receiving paper 15 is conveyed by a capstan roller 17 via a pinch roller 16. The capstan roller 17 is configured to be driven via a transmission gear 20 and a belt 22 that are directly connected to the step motor 21.

  The take-up roller 18 is driven via another DC motor (not shown) and a torque limiter. As a result, the moving amount of the image receiving paper 15 is equal to the moving amount of the ink sheet.

  As described above, the moving speed of the image receiving paper 15 and the ink sheet 12 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the rotation speed of the step motor 21, that is, the cycle of the drive pulse. Further, a sensor 14 for detecting the leading position of the image receiving paper and a sensor 10 for detecting the head marker of the ink sheet are provided.

[Control system configuration]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the sublimation type image recording apparatus 100.

  The PCI / F 31 receives image data and control commands transmitted from a personal computer PC (not shown), and transmits them to the arithmetic control unit 32.

  The arithmetic control unit 32 performs necessary image processing and control of the thermal head and the step motor by executing a program of a sequence described later stored in the ROM 33. In addition, the arithmetic control unit 32 generates a drive pulse signal having a cycle corresponding to a conveyance speed determined by a method described later, and supplies the drive pulse signal to the motor control unit 37.

  The motor control unit 37 generates a drive pulse synchronized with the drive pulse signal and actually drives the step motor 38.

  For example, in the case of one line drive with sub-scan direction feed density of 300 DPI, transport speed of 7 msec / line, 4 steps, the drive pulse cycle is 1.75 msec, and the image receiving paper and ink sheet move by 21 microns per pulse. It corresponds to that. If driving at double speed, the drive pulse cycle may be 0.875 msec.

  The head controller 36 converts density data stored in the buffer memory 35 into the number of strobe pulses, and drives the thermal head 11 with a drive voltage (for example, 24 V) to record an image. More details will be described later.

[Flow of image recording]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an image recording operation by the sublimation type image recording apparatus 100.

  In step S51, image data to be recorded is received from a personal computer PC (not shown) via the PCI / F 31. In the present embodiment, an example in which RGB 8-bit image data is received will be described. However, other types of image data, for example, image data such as YCrCb can also be used.

  In the case of image data in the YCrCb format, this data may be converted to RGB by matrix calculation or the like.

  In step S52, the received RGB 8-bit image data is converted into density data of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) by appropriate conversion. The conversion result is once written and held in the RAM 34.

  In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, a conversion method in the case where the number of input pixels is equal to the number of output pixels of the image recording apparatus will be described. Even if they are different, they can be converted.

  If they are different from each other, an appropriate resizing process may be performed to convert them into YMC data corresponding to the number of pixels of the image recording apparatus. The conversion result is once written in the RAM 34 and held.

  In step S53, the image receiving paper 15 is inserted between the pinch roller 16 and the capstan roller 17. The insertion method may be a manual feed method or an automatic paper feeding method using a pickup roller or the like. Once the image receiving paper 15 is inserted, the image receiving paper 15 is sent in the direction A in FIG. When the leading edge of the image receiving paper 15 is detected by the paper sensor 14, the conveyance is stopped.

  In step S54, N = 1 is set and an initial value of the color ink ribbon to be used is set. In the description of this embodiment, a case where a color image is recorded using color paper will be described. However, a monochrome image may be recorded using monochrome paper such as black or gray.

  When recording a color image, for example, image recording is performed in the order of yellow, magenta, and cyan. Therefore, the processing in steps S55 to S58 is repeatedly executed three times for each color.

  In the case of recording using one color ink ribbon, the processing in steps S55 to S58 may be performed once. In addition, when the types of color ink ribbons to be used are increased, the processing in steps S55 to S58 may be increased and executed by the number of types.

  Next, in step S55, the capstan roller 17 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction rotated in step S53, and the image receiving paper 15 is moved by a predetermined distance in the direction B in FIG. The leading position of the ink ribbon with respect to the image receiving paper 15 is positioned.

  Next, the take-up roller 18 is driven, the leading marker of the yellow ink sheet is detected by the ink sensor 10, and the head of the ink sheet is set. In this state, the head 11 is separated from the pinch roller 13.

  Next, in step S56, among the YMC data determined in step S52, yellow data is analyzed by a method described later to determine at which conveyance speed an image is to be recorded.

  In step S57, data for one yellow color is written in the buffer memory 35.

  In step S58, the arithmetic control unit 32 presses the head 11 against the platen 13, generates a drive pulse signal having a period corresponding to the determined pudding and speed, and the step motor 38 via the motor control unit 37. And the image receiving paper 15 is conveyed. At the same time, the DC motor is driven, and the ink sheet is wound around the take-up roller 18 at the same speed. On the other hand, the density signal for one line of the buffer memory 35 is converted into the number of pulses corresponding to the density.

  The relationship between the number of strobe pulses and the color density is obtained in advance by experiment, and data such as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. This is stored in the ROM 33, and the arithmetic control unit 32 performs conversion from density to the number of pulses while referring to this table. As will be described later, since this data varies depending on the conveyance speed, this processing and the table to be used naturally vary depending on the conveyance speed.

  The data is transferred to a shift register provided for each element of the head. When the head application voltage is applied to each heating element of the thermal head 11 in synchronization with the strobe pulse determined in this way, the temperature of the heating element rises, and the ink of a desired density is transferred to the image receiving paper 15. Then, one line of image recording is completed.

  By repeating the above operation for the number of lines in the sub-scanning direction, the yellow density image recording is completed.

  Next, in step S59, it is checked whether or not cyan image recording has been completed. If cyan image recording has not ended, the process proceeds to step S60, where N = N + 1 and the type of ink ribbon is changed, and then step S55. Returning to the above, the above-described processing is repeated for magenta and cyan.

On the other hand, in step S59, the the end of the image recording by the cyan is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S61, the image receiving paper 15 is step S62 after being automatically discharged using discharge roller (not shown) or the like to the B direction Proceed to to end the series of operations. Note that the image receiving paper 15 discharging process in step S61 may be performed manually.

  In the above description, the processing shown in steps S55 to S58 has been described for the method performed for each color, but is not limited to this embodiment, and is generated by, for example, mixing colors of yellow, cyan, and magenta. You may implement using gray.

  In this case, a diagram similar to that created with the yellow density in FIG. 4, that is, a diagram (not shown) showing the relationship between the gray density and the number of strobe pulses is created in advance, and this diagram (not shown) is prepared. ) Is used to select the fastest transport speed suitable for image recording in steps S55 to S58 for the common transport speeds for yellow, cyan, and magenta, and each of yellow, cyan, and magenta is selected at the selected transport speed. A loop for controlling to record an image may be added to the flowchart of FIG. 3, or may be provided separately instead of FIG.

[Select transport speed]
Next, a description will be given of a method for selecting a conveyance speed when recording an image at a high speed.

  FIG. 4 shows the output of the density recorded on the image receiving paper when the number of strobe pulses with a pulse duty of 80% is changed from 1 to 256 while changing the conveying speed S in the sublimation type recording apparatus 100 described in FIG. FIG.

  FIG. 4 shows the number of strobe pulses and the yellow density when the transport speed S is changed as an example. Although not shown, when other colors such as magenta and cyan are used, the number of strobe pulses when the conveyance speed S is changed and the density of each color recorded on the image receiving paper are the same as in FIG. The output may be measured in advance.

  In FIG. 4, the applied voltage V is 24 V, the resistance value R of the head heating element is 7 KΩ, and the number N of elements is 1200. Therefore, the peak power Pmax of the power supply unit necessary for operating 256 strobe pulses with a pulse duty of 80% is Pmax = V × V × N / R = 98 W.

  In addition, since the energy supplied per unit area becomes small, so that a conveyance speed becomes high, a density | concentration falls.

  For example, when the same power (P) is used and 256 strobe pulses are operated and the conveyance speed S is changed to 10 msec / line, 7 msec / line, and 4 msec / line, the density recorded on the image receiving paper is measured. As shown in C1, C2 and C3 in FIG. 4, the energy supplied per unit area of the image receiving paper decreases as the conveying speed S increases (10 <7 <4 msec / line), so the density recorded on the image receiving paper. Decreases (C1> C2> C3).

  Here, for example, a case where an image can be recorded at three types of conveyance speeds of 10 msec / line, 7 msec / line, and 4 msec / line as the conveyance speed S will be described.

  In FIG. 4, the power that can be used for image recording is limited to the maximum peak power Pmax due to the limitation of the capacity of the power supply unit. For example, in FIG. 4, the maximum number of strobe pulses that can be used is 256. Therefore, the maximum density ODM that can be recorded when an image is recorded at each conveyance speed is determined for each conveyance speed.

  For example, in the case of FIG. 4, the maximum density ODM at the conveyance speed of 4 msec / line is 1.2 shown in C3, and the maximum density ODM at the conveyance speed of 7 msec / line is 2.0 shown in C2. The maximum density ODM at the conveyance speed of 10 msec / line is 2.2 shown in C3.

Under such conditions, in order to record an image (Img) with a yellow density lower than 1.2 shown in C3, the conveyance speed is 4, 7, or 10 msec / line. You can also. Therefore, in order to record the image in the maximum conveyance speed may be used to transport speed 4 msec / line of fastest.

  However, the conveyance speed of 4 msec / line cannot be used to record an image (Img) having a yellow density greater than 1.2, for example, C4 density. This is because the maximum density ODM that can record an image (Img) at a conveyance speed of 4 msec / line is C3, and the density of C4 is higher than the density of C3 (C4> C3).

In this case, the conveying speed can be used to change the 7 msec / line of next fastest transport speed from the conveying speed of 4 msec / line of fastest.

  Similarly, in order to record an image (Img) having a yellow density greater than 2.0 indicated by C5, a conveyance speed of 10 msec / line may be used.

  In this way, it is possible to record an image using the fastest conveyance speed according to the density of the image to be always recorded.

  According to the method described above, high-speed image recording is possible for an image having at least a certain maximum density below a certain value while keeping the peak power Pmax constant. Further, since the peak power Pmax does not change, it is not necessary to use a power source having a large peak power Pmax. Therefore, high-speed image recording is possible while keeping the manufacturing cost of the power supply unit low.

  In the above description, the types of conveyance speeds that can be set by the image recording apparatus 100 are not limited to the above three types. If the same relationship as in FIG. 4 is examined and registered in advance for an arbitrary conveyance speed, a larger number of conveyance speeds can be used.

[Average power consumption]
Next, average power consumption will be described.

  The power supply unit has an average power consumption as a rating to be protected other than the peak power Pmax.

  The peak power Pmax value is a standard that cannot be instantaneously exceeded. However, the average power consumption within a certain time (for example, within the time for recording an image of one screen with one color) is less than a certain value (rated) within a range where the temperature rise of the power supply unit does not become significant. A power supply unit may be configured.

For example, it is assumed that the rated average power consumption of the power supply unit is 50 W. It is assumed that the image shown in FIG. 6 is recorded with a yellow density of 1.0 and a yellow density of 2.0. In addition, recording is performed at a conveyance speed of 7 msec / line .

  Further, in FIG. 6, when the area A1 of the yellow density 1.0 portion and the areas B1, B2, and B3 of the yellow density 2.0 portion (hatched portion) are yellow density 1.0 area: yellow density 2. Assume that 0 area = A1: (B1 + B2 + B3) = 3: 1.

  Here, there are 256 heating elements corresponding to the yellow density of 2.0, each line, that is, every 7 msec, with 256 pulse duty D = Tp / (Ts / 256) of 80% as shown in FIG. A strobe pulse is applied. Accordingly, the average power consumption P in the yellow density 2.0 portion is P = 98 × 0.8 = 78 W because the peak power Pmax is 98 W.

  On the other hand, since 128 strobe pulses are applied to each heating element corresponding to the yellow density 1.0 portion as shown in FIG. 9, the average power consumption P in the yellow density 1.0 portion is , P = 39W.

  Accordingly, the average power consumption P over the entire image when the image is recorded at the conveyance speed of 7 msec / line is yellow density 1.0 area: yellow density 2.0 area = 3: 1, and yellow density 1 The average power consumption in the portion of 0.0 and yellow density 2.0 is 78 W and 39 W, respectively, so that P = 78 × 1/4 + 39 × 1/4 = 49 W.

That is, when the image shown in FIG. 6 is recorded at a conveyance speed of 7 msec / line , the average power consumption P is 49 W, which is within the rated average power consumption of the power source, and therefore, the image can be recorded at this conveyance speed. it can.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the image shown in FIG. 7 is recorded at a yellow density of 1.0 and a yellow density of 2.0, and at a conveyance speed of 7 msec / line.

  In FIG. 7, when the areas A1 and A2 of the yellow density 1.0 portion and the areas B1 and B2 of the yellow density 2.0 portion (hatched portion) are yellow density 1.0 area: yellow density 2.0 area. = (A1 + A2) :( B1 + B2) = 1: 1.

  Therefore, the average power consumption P over the entire image when the image is recorded at a conveyance speed of 7 msec / line is 78 W and 39 W at a yellow density of 1.0 and a yellow density of 2.0, respectively. Therefore, P = 78 * 1/2 + 39 * 1/2 = 58W.

  That is, when the image shown in FIG. 6 is recorded at a conveyance speed of 7 msec / line, the average power consumption P is 58 W, and this average power consumption P does not exceed the above-described peak power Pmax 78 W, but the rated average of the power supply Power consumption exceeds 50W. In this case, an image cannot be recorded at the conveyance speed as it is.

Thus, if exceeds the rated average power consumption 50W of the power supply unit and that records at a conveying speed 7 msec / line, it is sufficient to 10 msec / line conveying speed as paragraph.

  In FIG. 4, when the conveyance speed is 10 msec / line, the number of stroke pulses P1 and P2 giving yellow density 1.0 and yellow density 2.0 are 101 and 192, respectively, from FIG.

  Therefore, the average power consumption corresponding to the yellow density 1.0 part is P = 78 × 101/256 = 30.7 W, and the average power consumption corresponding to the yellow density 2.0 part is P = 78 × 192/256 = 58.5W. Therefore, the average power consumption P for the image of FIG. 9 is P = (30.7 + 58.5) = 44.6 W.

  That is, the average power consumption when the conveyance speed of 10 msec / line is used for the image shown in FIG. 6 is 44.6 W, and this value is equal to or less than the rated average power consumption of the power source. Images can be recorded.

  As described above, if the image to be recorded is analyzed in advance before the image is recorded and the transport speed S is determined based on the result, various transport speeds can be used even with a power supply having a small rated average power consumption. Images can be recorded.

[Transfer speed selection method]
The method for selecting the conveyance speed shown in step S56 in FIG. 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the processing from step S71 to step S85 is performed for each color of yellow, magenta, and cyan. However, in the following description, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, description will be made using yellow.

  In step S71, the image to be recorded is scanned, and the maximum density ODM (Img) of each color necessary for image recording is determined. The image here is a single color image of yellow, magenta, or cyan. Now, it is assumed that the image recording apparatus 100 can set image recording at the conveyance speeds S1, S2,..., Sn. n is an integer of 2 or more, and S1 is the fastest speed and Sn is the slowest speed.

  In step S72, it is first checked whether or not the ultimate density ODM (Sn) for recording an image at the slowest conveyance speed is smaller than the maximum density ODM (Img). If this condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S83. Since the recording apparatus 100 cannot form a desired image, an error 1 is displayed by blinking an appropriate display device. In step S72, if the ultimate density ODM (Sn) for recording an image at the slowest speed is larger than the maximum density ODM (Img), the process proceeds to step S73.

  In step S73, if the ultimate density ODM (S1) for recording an image at the fastest conveyance speed is larger than the maximum density ODM (Img), the process proceeds to step S73, and the process is performed without performing the processes of steps S74 to S76. After setting the speed to S = S1, the process jumps to step S79.

  On the other hand, in step S73, if the ultimate density ODM (S1) for recording an image at the fastest conveyance speed is smaller than the maximum density ODM (Img), the process proceeds to step S74, i is initialized to 1, and then step S75. In step S76, the transport speed S is set to Si, and the process proceeds to step S76, where the ultimate concentration ODM (Si) and the maximum concentration ODM (Img) at the transport speed Si are compared.

  In step S76, when the reached concentration ODM (Si) at the conveyance speed Si is smaller than the maximum concentration ODM (Img), the process proceeds to step S77, i = i + 1 is set, and the process returns to step S75 to decrease the conveyance speed by one step. By repeating the process of step S75 to step S77 again, the process is repeated until the transport speed at which the ultimate density ODM (Si) becomes larger than the maximum density ODM (Img) for the first time is found.

  On the other hand, in step S76, when the conveyance speed at which the reached concentration ODM (Si) becomes larger than the maximum concentration ODM (Img) for the first time is found, the process proceeds to step S79.

  In step S76, it is assumed that the maximum density value that can be reached for each conveyance speed, for example, data indicating the relationship between each density and the strobe pulse shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the ROM 33 in advance for each ink ribbon.

  Next, it is checked in steps S79 to S82 whether or not the average power during image recording is equal to or lower than the rated average power consumption Wth of the power supply unit.

  That is, in step S79, whether or not i is n is checked. If i = n, the process proceeds to step S80, and as described above, the average power consumption W (Si, Img) is calculated using data stored in the ROM 33.

  That is, in order to obtain the average power consumption W (Si, Img), the number of pulses corresponding to the density of each pixel is obtained, the power corresponding thereto is obtained, and this is added for each line. This may be averaged over all lines.

  Further, in order to simplify the calculation, an average density value is first obtained, and the number of pulses for realizing this is obtained from data corresponding to FIG. 4 stored in the ROM 33, and the power consumption in this case is calculated as the total average power consumption. May be used as an approximate value.

  Next, in step S81, it is confirmed whether or not the calculated average power consumption W (Si, Img) is smaller than the rated average power consumption Wth of the power supply unit. If the average power consumption W (Si, Img) is larger than the rated average power consumption Wth, i = i + 1 is set in step S82, the conveyance speed is further lowered, and the processing in steps S79 to S81 is repeated. If the average power consumption W (Si, Img) calculated in step S81 is smaller than the rated average power consumption Wth of the power supply unit, the process proceeds to step S85, and a series of operations are performed with the transport speed at this time as the transport speed of image recording. finish.

  The fastest conveyance speed suitable for image recording is determined by the method described above.

  In step S79, if I = N + 1, the process proceeds to step S84, and no matter how slowly the image is recorded, an overload is applied to the power supply unit, so error 2 is displayed.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, before recording an image, the image to be recorded is divided into areas by gradation, and the cumulative number of recording elements necessary for recording each area by gradation is counted and required. Power can be predicted. Therefore, it is possible to select the fastest transport speed from among the transport speeds for which the upper limit use power and the rated average power consumption are determined based on the predicted power, so that the image can be recorded at a high speed. An image recording apparatus and an image recording method can be provided.

  In this embodiment, the sublimation type image recording apparatus is described as an example of the image recording apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to an image recording apparatus such as a thermal transfer type. Further, although it is assumed that an image is transferred from a PC (personal computer), a PC card may be provided with a slot or the like, and image data may be read therefrom.

Other embodiments

  Note that the present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, an image recording device, etc.), and an apparatus (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine) including a single device. Etc.).

  Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or recording medium) in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or CPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by the MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is determined based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts described above (shown in FIGS. 3 and 5).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sensor 11 Thermal head 12 Ink sheet 13 Platen 14 Sensor 15 Image receiving paper 16 Pinch roller 17 Capstan roller 18 Take-up roller 19 Supply roller 20 Transmission gear 21 Step motor 22 Belt 31 PCI / F
32 Operation control unit 33 ROM
34 RAM
35 Buffer memory 36 Head controller 37 Motor controller 38 Step motor 39 Head drive power supply

Claims (7)

An image recording apparatus having recording means for recording an image on a transported recording medium based on surface data ,
Power supply means;
A density acquisition means for analyzing the surface data and acquiring the maximum density of the image and the average density of the image;
Before starting image recording based on the surface data, obtain the fastest conveyance speed at which the reached density corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyance speeds of the recording medium is greater than the maximum density, and calculate the average The plurality of transport speeds equal to or less than the fastest transport speed so that the average power consumption corresponding to the transport speed of the recording medium when recording at a density is lower than the average power of the power supply means. Determining means for determining the conveyance speed of the recording medium ;
An image recording apparatus comprising: The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit includes a thermal head, an ink sheet, and a platen to which the thermal head is pressed through the recording medium. 3. The image according to claim 2 , wherein the image is a color image recorded using a plurality of types of ink, and the density acquisition unit acquires the maximum density and the average density for each type of ink. Image recording device. According to claim 3, characterized by further comprising a storing means for a table showing the relationship between the concentration and the number of drive pulses of the thermal head of the color image, stored in association with each of the plurality of transport speed Image recording device. A control method for an image recording apparatus that has a thermal head and power supply means and records an image on a transported recording medium based on surface data ,
A density acquisition step of analyzing the surface data and acquiring the maximum density and the average density of the image;
A speed acquisition step of acquiring the fastest transport speed at which the reached density corresponding to each of the plurality of transport speeds of the recording medium is greater than the maximum density;
The recording medium that is equal to or lower than the fastest transport speed among the plurality of transport speeds so that the average power consumption corresponding to the transport speed when recording at the average density is lower than the average power of the power supply means. A determination step for determining the conveyance speed of
A driving step of driving the thermal head corresponding to the conveyance speed of the recording medium determined in the determination step;
A method for controlling an image recording apparatus, comprising: 6. The determining step according to claim 5, wherein when the average power consumption is not lower than the average power of the power supply means, the transport speed is determined to be slower than the transport speed corresponding to the average power consumption. Control method of image recording apparatus. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the method for controlling an image recording apparatus according to claim 5 or 6 .

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