JP6547346B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and image forming program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-247489) discloses a droplet discharge apparatus which accelerates the drying of droplets by irradiating the droplets discharged to a medium with laser light. Further, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent No. 4337761) discloses a droplet discharge apparatus which controls the spreading direction of droplets by changing the laser irradiation position to the droplets.

  However, in the case of the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when printing is performed in which ink droplets are continuously arranged without gaps and applied to a predetermined printing area of the medium, the printing surface is uneven. There is a problem that the printing quality is deteriorated due to the mat-like (matte-like) formation. This problem is particularly noticeable when solid printing is performed in which droplets of ink of the same color are continuously arranged and applied without gaps in a predetermined printing range.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of improving print quality.

In order to solve the problems described above and achieve the object, the present invention heats a droplet of the coated ink by controlling a coating control unit that controls the coating unit to coat the droplet of the ink on the recording medium. The heating control unit has a heating control unit that changes and controls the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit according to the positional relationship between the application position of the applied ink and the planned application position of the ink , and the heating control unit When the ink is applied to a position adjacent to the application position of the ink, heating of the area including both the position where the application of the ink is planned and the application position of the applied ink is performed before applying the ink to the adjacent position. The heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit are controlled as performed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve print quality.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the main part of the inkjet printer device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the ink jet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the ink jet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the inkjet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a view showing a configuration of a light projecting unit provided in the ink jet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the printing operation of the inkjet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the irradiation position of the laser in the case where the ink droplet is applied to the position adjacent to the existing pattern in the ink jet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the irradiation position of the laser in the case of applying the ink droplet to the position away from the existing pattern in the ink jet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of the main part of the ink jet printer apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a hardware configuration diagram of the ink jet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment.

  Hereinafter, as an example, an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an ink jet printer according to an embodiment to which an image forming program according to the present invention is applied will be described.

First Embodiment
FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of the main part of the ink jet printer device of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the ink jet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment applies a carriage 2 for discharging ink droplets to a sheet 1 as an example of a recording medium, and an application to the sheet 1. It has the light projection part 3 which accelerates | stimulates drying by irradiating a laser beam to the droplet of the said ink. The carriage 2 is an example of an application unit. Moreover, the light projection part 3 is an example of a heating part.

  The paper 1 may be a normal copy paper having ink permeability, or a paper having ink impermeability coated with vinyl chloride or plastic on the printing surface. The material may also be a material other than paper, such as metal, wood or glass. In the following embodiment, as an example, the paper 1 will be described as an ink impermeable vinyl-coated paper in which a soft vinyl chloride is coated on the printing surface.

In addition, as the ink used for printing, a quick-drying ink mixed with a volatile solvent, or
An aqueous ink etc. can be used. In the following embodiments, as an example, the ink will be described as an aqueous ink. That is, the ink jet printer of the first embodiment is an ink jet printer which prints on vinyl-coated paper with an aqueous ink.

  FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet printer includes a transport mechanism 11, a temperature detection unit 12, a type detection unit 13, a CPU 14, a ROM 15 and a RAM 16 in addition to the above-described carriage 2 and light projection unit 3. The carriage 2, the light projecting unit 3, and the transport mechanism 11 to the RAM 16 are mutually connected via a bus line 17.

  The transport mechanism 11 transports the sheet 1 in the transport direction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the transport roller 4 shown in FIG. The carriage 2 discharges the ink onto the sheet 1 to be conveyed, and the light projector 3 irradiates the ink applied to the sheet 1 with a laser beam. The temperature detection unit 12 detects the temperature of the sheet 1 and the temperature of the ink. Further, the type detection unit 13 detects the type of the above-described copy sheet or vinyl-coated sheet 1. Further, the type detection unit 13 detects the type of ink, such as quick-drying ink or aqueous ink.

  The ROM 15 stores an OS (Operating System) program and an image forming program for performing printing control described later. The CPU 14 develops each function corresponding to the image forming program read from the ROM 15 in the RAM 16 and performs image formation control.

  FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of each function realized by the CPU 14 executing the image forming program. As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 14 executes the image forming program, whereby the conveyance control unit 21, the spread calculation unit 22, the laser control unit 23, the type detection control unit 24, the contour detection unit 25, and the overlap calculation unit 26. Functions as a discharge control unit 27 and a temperature detection control unit 28. The laser control unit 23 is an example of a heating control unit. The discharge control unit 27 is an example of a coating control unit.

  The transport control unit 21 performs transport control of the transport mechanism 11. The ink jet printer apparatus according to the embodiment stores the type of ink, the temperature of the ink, the type of the sheet, the amount of ink corresponding to the temperature of the sheet (the amount of ink for one dot) and the laser intensity in the storage unit such as the ROM 15 or the RAM 16 Have a control database. The control database is an example of a storage unit. The spread calculation unit 22 detects the type of ink, the temperature of the ink, the type of sheet, and the amount of ink corresponding to the temperature of the sheet from the control database, and predicts and calculates the contour of the ink applied to the sheet 1. The laser control unit 23 changes the irradiation position and the irradiation timing according to the type of ink, the temperature of the ink, the type of the sheet, the temperature of the sheet, and the position (dot position) on the sheet on which the ink is applied. Irradiate the

  In this example, the control database stores the ink type, the ink temperature, the sheet type, and the ink amount and laser intensity corresponding to the sheet temperature, but one or more of them are stored. The corresponding ink amount and laser intensity may be stored. For example, the control database may store, for example, an ink amount and a laser intensity corresponding to the type of paper, or may store an ink amount and a laser intensity corresponding to the type of paper and the type of ink.

  The type detection control unit 24 controls the type detection unit 13 so as to detect the type of paper and the type of ink. The contour detection unit 25 detects the contour of the ink dot applied immediately before (the contour of the existing pattern). That is, the contour detection unit 25 detects the contour of the existing pattern from the position of the ink dot applied immediately before and the spread amount of the ink described above. The overlap calculating unit 26 calculates the amount of overlap between the existing pattern and the dot of the ink to be applied from now. The ejection control unit 27 controls the carriage 2 so as to eject the ink of the ink amount detected from the control database. The temperature detection control unit 28 controls the temperature detection unit 12 so as to detect the surface temperature of the sheet 1 and the temperature of the ink.

  In this example, the conveyance control unit 21 to the temperature detection control unit 28 will be described as being realized as software by an image forming program. However, some or all of the conveyance control unit 21 to the temperature detection control unit 28 may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit).

  The image forming program may be provided as a file in an installable format or an executable format, recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a flexible disk (FD). Also, it may be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as CD-R, DVD, Blu-ray Disc (registered trademark), semiconductor memory and the like. DVD is an abbreviation of "Digital Versatile Disk". The image forming program may also be provided in the form of installation via a network such as the Internet. The image forming program may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like in the device.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the light emitting unit 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the light projector 3 has a laser light source 35, a polygon mirror 36, a first reflection mirror 37, a collimator lens 38 and a second reflection mirror 39. The laser control unit 23 controls the rotation of the polygon mirror 36 to change and control the irradiation position of the laser. Further, the laser control unit 23 controls the rotation of the second reflection mirror to change and control the irradiation position of the laser in the scanning direction or the like.

  The light projection unit 3 illustrated in FIG. 5 is an example, and in addition to this, a plurality of laser light sources with fixed irradiation directions are provided, and a laser light source according to the irradiation position determined as described later is appropriately selected. It may be a projector of the configuration used.

  Next, the printing operation of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. When the main power of the ink jet printer apparatus of the embodiment is turned on and the desired sheet 1 is set, the type detection control unit 24 detects the type of the set sheet 1 and the type of ink used for printing. , And control the type detection unit 13. Further, the temperature detection control unit 28 controls the temperature detection control unit 28 so as to detect the surface temperature of the set paper 1 and the temperature of the ink. The user selects desired image data and operates to designate printing. When the CPU 14 detects this print designation operation, the process of the flowchart of FIG. 6 is started from step S1.

  In step S1, the discharge control unit 27 determines the position on the paper 1 to which the ink is applied, which corresponds to the image data to be printed. The process then proceeds to step S2. In step S <b> 2, the spread calculation unit 22 acquires the surface temperature and the ink temperature of the sheet 1 detected by the temperature detection unit 12. Further, the spread calculation unit 22 acquires the type of the paper 1 and the type of ink detected by the type detection unit 13. The spread calculation unit 22 refers to the control database stored in the storage unit such as the ROM 15 or the RAM 16 based on the acquired surface temperature of the sheet 1, the type of the sheet 1, the ink temperature, and the type of ink. Then, the spread calculation unit 22 detects the acquired surface temperature of the sheet 1, the type of the sheet 1, the ink temperature, and the ejection amount of the ink corresponding to the type of the ink, and the ink dot corresponding to the ejection amount of the ink Calculate the expected spread amount. The process then proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the contour detection unit 25 detects the contour of the ink dot (formed pattern) that has already been applied. When printing is started from now on, there is no existing pattern. In this case, the process of step S3 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the overlap calculation unit 26 calculates the overlap amount between the predicted spread amount of the ink dot detected by the spread calculation unit 22 and the outline of the existing pattern detected by the outline detection unit 25. The process then proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, the laser control unit 23 determines the irradiation position of the laser light based on the overlap amount calculated by the overlap calculation unit 26. In step S6, the laser control unit 23 refers to the control database to determine the laser irradiation intensity corresponding to the surface temperature of the sheet 1, the type of the sheet 1, the ink temperature, and the type of ink. Furthermore, in step S7, the laser control unit 23 determines the laser irradiation timing based on the laser irradiation position determined in step S5. The laser irradiation timing is a timing indicating whether the laser irradiation is performed before applying the ink or the laser irradiation is performed after applying the ink.

  Next, in step S8, the discharge control unit 27 controls the carriage 2 so as to discharge the ink of the ink amount detected in step S2 to the printing position (application position) on the sheet 1 detected in step S1. Do. In step S8, the laser control unit 23 projects the laser of the irradiation intensity determined in step S6 to the irradiation position determined in step S5 at the timing determined in step S7. Control unit 3; In addition, although it is an example, irradiation of a laser is performed with respect to all the apply | coated ink dots.

  The CPU 14 repeatedly performs such printing control for each pixel (dot) while appropriately transporting the sheet 1 by the transport mechanism 11 until printing of all the pixels is completed (Step S9: No). Then, when it is determined in step S9 that printing of all the pixels is completed (step S9: Yes), the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 6 is ended.

  The carriage 2 and the light emitting unit 3 may be fixed, and printing may be performed while conveying the sheet 1 from the carriage 2 side toward the light emitting unit 3. Such a printing method is called a line method, which can enable high-speed printing.

  7 and 8 are diagrams showing the relationship between the application position of the ink and the irradiation position of the laser. Among these, FIG. 7 is a view showing the relationship between the planned application position of the ink and the irradiation position of the laser in the case where the planned application position of the ink is a position adjacent to the existing pattern. Further, FIG. 7 shows an example of solid printing in which ink dots of the same color are arranged in a predetermined printing area. Further, in FIG. 7, dotted circle marks indicate planned application positions TI of the ink. Further, in FIG. 7, the solid polygonal mark indicates the irradiation position LI of the laser.

  As can be seen from FIG. 7, when the planned application position of the ink is a position adjacent to the existing pattern, some overlap is predicted between the existing pattern and the dot pattern formed by the ink to be applied next . For this reason, the laser control unit 23 controls the light emitting unit 3 so that the laser irradiation position LI is shifted toward the existing pattern and the laser irradiation is performed with respect to the planned ink application position TI. Moreover, the laser control unit 23 controls the irradiation timing so as to irradiate the laser before applying the ink. Thereby, when the planned application position of the ink is a position adjacent to the existing pattern, the laser is irradiated to a position deviated closer to the existing pattern than the planned application position TI of the ink before the application of the ink, and this laser irradiation Later, the ink is applied to the ink application scheduled position TI.

  By irradiating the laser at a position deviated closer to the established pattern than the planned application position TI of the ink before applying the ink, drying of the established pattern can be promoted. For this reason, new dots can be formed on the dried preformed pattern, and the ink of the dots of the preformed pattern and the ink of the new dot can be mixed to prevent the occurrence of bleeding in printing.

  Further, by irradiating the laser to a position deviated closer to the established pattern than the planned application position TI of the ink, it is possible to heat the planned application position TI of the ink to an appropriate temperature. As a result, it is possible to prevent the problem that the paper 1 is damaged due to laser overheating, and to obtain appropriate spreading and drying of the ink applied to the ink application scheduled position TI. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the applied ink from being dried to have a hemispherical shape before obtaining a sufficient spread, and to cause unevenness on the printing surface to form a matte (satin) shape. And since the blur of printing and the problem that an unevenness | corrugation generate | occur | produces in a printing surface can be prevented, printing quality can be improved.

  On the other hand, FIG. 8 is a view showing the relationship between the planned ink application position and the laser irradiation position when the planned ink application position is apart from the existing pattern. The dotted circle in FIG. 8 indicates the planned application position TI of ink. Further, in FIG. 8, a solid polygonal mark indicates the irradiation position LI of the laser.

  As can be seen from FIG. 8, when the planned application position of the ink is away from the existing pattern, the laser control unit 23 directs the light projection unit 3 to irradiate the laser to the same position as the planned application position TI of the ink. Control. Further, the laser control unit 23 controls the light emitting unit 3 so as to irradiate the laser after applying the ink. By irradiating the laser after applying the ink, it is possible to prevent the problem that the paper 1 is damaged due to the excessive heating of the laser. In addition, drying of ink dots applied in a single shot can be accelerated.

  As apparent from the above description, the inkjet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment performs irradiation of a laser by controlling the irradiation position and the irradiation timing in accordance with the planned application position of the ink. The applied ink is preferably dried to quickly fix it. However, if the ink is dried quickly, it will be dried and fixed before sufficient spread of the ink can be obtained. Then, when solid printing is performed, unevenness is formed on the printing surface of the sheet 1 with the ink that has solidified in a hemispherical shape, which causes a disadvantage that the printing finish becomes matte (satin-like).

  However, in the inkjet printer apparatus of the first embodiment, when the planned application position of the ink is a position adjacent to the existing pattern, the laser is closer to the existing pattern than the planned application position of the ink before the application of the ink. Irradiate to the shifted position, and apply the ink to the planned application position of the ink after the laser irradiation.

  By irradiating the laser at a position deviated closer to the established pattern than the planned application position of the ink before applying the ink, drying of the established pattern can be promoted. For this reason, new dots can be formed on the dried preformed pattern, and the ink of the dots of the preformed pattern and the ink of the new dot can be mixed to prevent the occurrence of bleeding in printing.

  In addition, by irradiating the laser to a position deviated closer to the established pattern than the planned ink application position, it is possible to heat the planned ink application position to an appropriate temperature. As a result, it is possible to prevent the paper 1 from being damaged by laser overheating, and to obtain appropriate spreading and drying of the ink applied to the ink application planned position. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the applied ink from being dried to have a hemispherical shape before obtaining a sufficient spread, and to cause unevenness on the printing surface to form a matte (satin) shape. Then, the ink jet printer apparatus according to the embodiment can prevent printing blur and a problem that unevenness occurs on the printing surface, so that printing quality can be improved.

  Further, in the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment, when the planned ink application position is apart from the existing pattern, the laser is irradiated to the same position as the planned ink application position. Also, after applying the ink, the laser is irradiated. By irradiating the laser after applying the ink, it is possible to prevent the problem that the paper 1 is damaged due to the excessive heating of the laser. In addition, drying of ink dots applied in a single shot can be accelerated.

  In addition, the ink jet printer apparatus according to the first embodiment detects and applies, from the control database, the type of ink, the temperature of the ink, the type of the sheet, and the ink amount corresponding to the temperature of the sheet. There is. Therefore, regardless of the type of paper and the type of ink, the above-described high-quality printing can be performed. Therefore, the dependence on ink and paper can be reduced. For example, even if printing is performed using a water-based ink on a non-permeable paper coated with vinyl chloride, the above-mentioned high quality printing can be performed. When an aqueous ink is used, printing can be performed safely because the solvent is not mixed or the mixing amount is small.

Second Embodiment
Next, an ink jet printer according to a second embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the inkjet printer apparatus according to the second embodiment includes a preheater 41 for heating the sheet 1 before printing and a print heater 42 for heating the sheet 1 during printing. It is an example provided. Note that only this point is different between the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above. Hereinafter, only the difference between the two will be described, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a hardware configuration diagram of the ink jet printer according to the second embodiment. In the case of the ink jet printer according to the second embodiment, in addition to the hardware described in the first embodiment, a preheater 41 and a print heater 42 are provided.

  FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of the ink jet printer of the second embodiment. The CPU 14 realizes the heater control unit 50 together with each function described in the first embodiment by executing an image forming program stored in a storage unit such as the ROM 15 or the RAM 16.

  In the inkjet printer device of the second embodiment having such a configuration, the heater control unit 50 heats the sheet 1 to a temperature corresponding to the type of ink, the temperature of the ink, the type of sheet, and the temperature of the sheet. The preheater 41 and the print heater 42 are controlled. In addition, the laser control unit 23 emits light so as to emit a laser having an intensity corresponding to “type of ink, temperature of ink, type of sheet, temperature of sheet” and “heating temperature of preheater 41 and print heater 42”. Control unit 3;

  Thus, the drying of the ink can be promoted by irradiating the laser light to the sheet 1 which is heated in advance by the preheater 41 and is also heated by the print heater 42 during printing. Therefore, the light emitting unit 3 can be driven with a low laser intensity.

  Further, by preheating the paper 1 by the preheater 41, it is possible to lower the viscosity of the applied ink and to obtain a sufficient spread of the ink. For this reason, the solvent to be mixed into the ink can be significantly reduced, and since it is possible to use an aqueous or near-aqueous ink, it can contribute to the safety of printing and, in addition, the first embodiment described above. The same effect as the form can be obtained.

  Although in the description of the second embodiment, both the preheater 41 and the print heater 42 are provided, only one of them may be provided. Alternatively, together with the preheater 41 and the print heater 42, a post heater may also be provided which heats the sheet 1 at a stage prior to sheet discharge. In any case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  The embodiments described above are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The novel embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Each embodiment and modification of each embodiment are included in the scope and the gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper 2 Carriage 3 Light-emitting part 4 Conveying roller 11 Conveying mechanism 12 Temperature detection part 13 Type detection part 14 CPU
15 ROM
16 RAM
Reference Signs List 21 transport control unit 22 spread calculation unit 23 laser control unit 24 type detection control unit 25 contour detection unit 26 overlap calculation unit 27 ejection control unit 28 temperature detection control unit 35 laser light source 36 polygon mirror 37 first reflection mirror 38 collimator lens 39 Second reflection mirror 41 Preheater 42 Print heater 50 Heater control unit

JP, 2006-247489, A Patent No. 4337761

Claims (10)

An application control unit that controls an application unit to apply ink droplets to a recording medium;
Have a heating position and heating the timing of a heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink, and a heating control unit that changes control in accordance with the positional relationship between the coating intended location of application position and the ink-coated ink And
When the ink is applied to a position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, the heating control unit heats a region including both the position where the application of the ink is expected and the application position of the applied ink. Controlling the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit so as to perform the application before applying the ink to the adjacent position
An image forming apparatus characterized by The heating unit is a laser light source and heats the ink droplet by irradiating the area.
  The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein A detection unit that detects at least the type of recording medium;
A storage unit storing at least a liquid amount of the ink corresponding to a type of the recording medium and a heating amount of the heating unit;
The application control unit detects, from the storage unit, an ink of a liquid volume corresponding to the type of the recording medium detected from the storage unit, and controls the application unit to apply the ink onto the recording medium.
Said heating control unit according to claim 1 or claim, wherein the controller controls the heating part to heat the droplets of the ink by the heating amount corresponding to the type of said detected recording medium from said storage unit An image forming apparatus according to Item 2 . An application control step in which the application control unit controls the application unit to apply ink droplets to the recording medium;
The heating control unit changes and controls the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink according to the positional relationship between the application position of the already applied ink and the planned application position of the ink Having a step ,
In the heating control step, when the ink is applied to a position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, heating of a region including both the position where the application of the ink is planned and the application position of the applied ink is performed. Controlling the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit so as to perform the application before applying the ink to the adjacent position
An image forming method characterized by Computer,
An application control unit that controls an application unit to apply ink droplets to a recording medium;
The heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink are functioned as a heating control unit for changing and controlling according to the positional relationship between the application position of the applied ink and the planned application position of the ink
When the ink is applied to a position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, the heating control unit heats a region including both the position where the application of the ink is expected and the application position of the applied ink. Controlling the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit so as to perform the application before applying the ink to the adjacent position
An image forming program characterized by An application control unit that controls an application unit to apply ink droplets to a recording medium;
Have a heating position and heating the timing of a heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink, and a heating control unit that changes control in accordance with the positional relationship between the coating intended location of application position and the ink-coated ink And
The heating control unit
When applying the ink to the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, before applying the ink to the adjacent position, the position deviated to the applied ink from the position where the application of the ink is scheduled Heat up,
When the ink is applied to a position other than the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, the position of the applied ink is heated after the application of the ink.
An image forming apparatus characterized by The heating unit includes two or more laser light sources whose irradiation direction is fixed,
  The heating control unit is configured to irradiate the laser light from one of the laser light sources with respect to a position where application of ink is scheduled, and the other with respect to a position deviated closer to the applied ink than the planned position. Controlling the heating unit so that the laser light from the laser light source of
  The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein A detection unit that detects at least the type of recording medium;
A storage unit storing at least a liquid amount of the ink corresponding to a type of the recording medium and a heating amount of the heating unit;
The application control unit detects, from the storage unit, an ink of a liquid volume corresponding to the type of the recording medium detected from the storage unit, and controls the application unit to apply the ink onto the recording medium.
Said heating control unit according to claim 6 or claim, wherein the controller controls the heating part to heat the droplets of the ink by the heating amount corresponding to the type of said detected recording medium from said storage unit Item 8. An image forming apparatus according to item 7 . An application control step in which the application control unit controls the application unit to apply ink droplets to the recording medium;
The heating control unit changes and controls the heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink according to the positional relationship between the application position of the already applied ink and the planned application position of the ink Having a step ,
In the heating control step,
When applying the ink to the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, before applying the ink to the adjacent position, the position deviated to the applied ink from the position where the application of the ink is scheduled Heat up,
When the ink is applied to a position other than the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, the position of the applied ink is heated after the application of the ink.
An image forming method characterized by Computer,
An application control unit that controls an application unit to apply ink droplets to a recording medium;
The heating position and the heating timing of the heating unit for heating the droplets of the applied ink are functioned as a heating control unit for changing and controlling according to the positional relationship between the application position of the applied ink and the planned application position of the ink
When functioning as the heating control unit,
When applying the ink to the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, before applying the ink to the adjacent position, the position deviated to the applied ink from the position where the application of the ink is scheduled Heat up,
When the ink is applied to a position other than the position adjacent to the application position of the applied ink, the computer functions to heat the position of the applied ink after the application of the ink.
An image forming program characterized by

Images