JPH03208667A - Printing method and printing head of ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To expand a realizable color range by using a color printer by continuously ejecting primary color dots to a single place and ejecting a darker color before ejecting a brighter color and to simplify a circuit plan for sending a control signal to each nozzle. CONSTITUTION: Ink dots from black ink nozzles 10 are placed within the strip like range of a sheet covered when the nozzles 10 are moved in a lateral row direction. Subsequently, by advancing the sheet, the strip like range is positioned by the scanning in a next lateral row direction so as to receive ink dots of cyan ink nozzles 4. By advancing the sheet further, the strip like range is positioned by the scanning in a further next lateral row direction so as to receive ink dots of magenta ink nozzles 6. When the respective nozzles are alloted to the respective rows of a printing area, the timing of the transmission of a nozzle start signal to each nozzle is regulated by the size of the interval B between neighboring nozzles. The angle of inclination in a printing head scanning direction of each nozzle row is determined in relation to A/B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a printing method and a printer head for an ink jet printer.

"Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention" Various nozzle structures have been proposed in the development of ink jet printers. Early printers used only a single color (usually black) and had a single nozzle or a rectangular array of nozzle members. In recent years, color ink jet printers capable of printing three colors in addition to black have been developed and are becoming popular. Accordingly, various nozzle structures have been developed for this type of printer.

One nozzle structure proposed for color printers includes two rows of nozzles. Each row is oriented at a small angle with respect to the printing direction, ie, the direction in which the printer head moves relative to the sheet being printed. One nozzle row is used to spray black ink onto the sheet. The other nozzle rows are divided into three groups, each group supplying three primary colors respectively.

One color printer system that is already in widespread use is
Use subtractive primary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow. By overlapping dots of combinations of these colors, it is possible to form a range of colors on a sheet.

However, with the above color printer system, there is a certain limit to the colors that can be realized.

When printing is done by creating a pattern of dots on a sheet, the sort can be conceptualized as a rectangular matrix of intersections of rows and columns. The printer head is then positioned to eject one or more dots of ink at each intersection point. In the above description, columns are assumed to extend in the direction in which the sort passes past the printer head, and rows are assumed to extend in the direction in which the printer head passes across the sheet. Typically, the sheet is held stationary while the printer head moves in the row direction and gradually advances in the column direction.

If the printer head has rows of nozzles arranged at an angle to the row direction in which the printer head moves, printing is performed in one row-wise pass scanned by the printer head, with each row Within the band-shaped range that forms,
It is done. Then, within this band-shaped range, specific nozzles in each row work to perform printing. Therefore, there is some delay between the time a nozzle firing in a row reaches a column and the time the nozzle reaches the same column in the next column. However, data for controlling activation of each nozzle is input in accordance with the vertical rows. Therefore,
Logic circuitry is required to send signals at the appropriate timing to effectively activate the nozzles in a given column. To date, this has required relatively complex logic circuits.

Furthermore, an interlaced scan system in which rows of dots are printed alternately for each scan is also known as an effective method for printing.

This invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances,
The goal is to expand the range of colors that can be achieved using color printers that use subtractive primary colors. That is, the object is to provide a printing method and printer head that can realize a wider variety of colors.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer head having a nozzle arrangement structure that can simplify the circuit design for sending control signals to each nozzle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a printer head having a nozzle arrangement structure suitable for interlaced scanning.

"Means and Effects for Solving the Problems" In order to solve the above problems, the printing method of the present invention is applied to a color ink jet printer having means for jetting inks of a plurality of different primary colors in a subtractive color mixture system in the form of dots. This is a printing method in which color dots are formed on a matrix, in which dots of at least two primary colors are successively jetted at a single location, and after jetting a darker color, a brighter color is jetted. It is characterized by being sprayed.

Furthermore, three primary colors may be used, and in the jetting process, inks of a plurality of primary colors may be jetted onto a single location on the base material, with the brightest primary color being jetted last.

Furthermore, the printer further includes means for jetting black ink at predetermined locations on the base material, and the jetting process includes first jetting black ink dots at each location, and further jetting ink dots of at least one primary color at each location. It may also be sprayed at certain locations.

Furthermore, when the primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and yellow ink dots and ink dots of at least one other primary color are jetted to a single location, the yellow ink dots are jetted last.

Preferably, the ink is a phase change ink.

According to the printing method of the present invention, since a darker color in a subtractive color system is jetted and then a brighter color is jetted, the brighter color has a greater effect of contributing to the resulting color, and therefore the color that can be achieved It becomes possible to expand the range of

Further, the printer head of the ink jet printer of the present invention includes a first nozzle means for jetting ink dots of a first primary color onto a sheet, and a first nozzle means for jetting ink dots of a second primary color brighter than the first primary color onto the sheet. and a second nozzle means for injecting a jet onto the sheet that has passed along the sheet supply direction, and the nozzle means is configured such that as the sheet advances in the sheet supply direction, an area corresponding to the advance of the sheet is Second
characterized in that they are arranged relative to each other so as to pass through a first nozzle means before passing through a first nozzle means.

According to this, as the sheet advances in the sheet supply direction, an area corresponding to the advance of the sheet passes through the first nozzle means before passing through the second nozzle means.

It further comprises third nozzle means for ejecting ink dots of a third primary color onto the sheet, the third nozzle means being positioned between the first and second nozzle means in the sheet feeding direction. You can also do this.

According to this, the sheet sequentially passes through the eleventh third and second nozzle supply means.

Preferably, the primary colors are primary colors in a subtractive color system.

The fourth nozzle means further includes a fourth nozzle means for ejecting black ink dots onto the sheet, and the fourth nozzle means is arranged so that as the sheet advances in the sheet feeding direction, the areas corresponding to the advance of the sheet are passing through a fourth nozzle means before passing through any one of the third nozzle means;
It may be arranged as follows.

According to this, the sheet sequentially passes through the fourth, eleventh, third, and second nozzle supply means.

Preferably, said nozzle means each consist of an equal number of nozzles.

Further, the printer head of the ink jet printer of the present invention is a printer head of the ink jet printer that is movable in the scanning direction, and the printer head is a printer head of the ink jet printer that is movable in the scanning direction. The printer head is provided with a nozzle array for ejecting ink dots, the nozzle array is arranged obliquely with respect to the scanning direction, and the printer head is configured to spray the dots ejected by the nozzles in a predetermined direction in the sheet feeding direction. movable to provide a minimum distance, the nozzles being spaced apart in the scan direction by an integral multiple of the predetermined minimum distance, the integral multiple being 2 n
It is characterized by having a power value (n is an integer).

According to this, the printer head moves a predetermined minimum distance in the sheet supply direction, and the nozzles that are spaced by the predetermined minimum distance to the nth power eject ink.

Preferably, the value of n is 4.

Further, preferably, the predetermined minimum distance is 1/15
It is 0 inches.

``Example'' The drawing shows a front view of the printer head, ie, the output surface. The printer head has a nozzle plate 2. The nozzle plate 2 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 4.6, 8.10. Each nozzle consists of a small circular opening. The diameter of the opening is appropriately selected as required.

The nozzle arrangement is configured in two parallel rows. One row has nozzles 4, 6 . It is composed of 8. Nozzles 4, 6. 8 is cyan, magenta,
Each is connected to a yellow ink source. The other row is constituted by nozzles lO. Nozzle 1
All 0's are connected to the black ink source. In the example, each row is made up of 48 nozzles. That is, 16 nozzles 4 are connected to each ink source to supply cyan ink drops, 16 nozzles 6 to supply magenta ink drops, and 16 nozzles 8 to supply yellow ink drops. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of nozzles or the nozzle pattern may be changed.

The ink used in this invention is a phase change ink that changes from a liquid phase at high temperature to a solid phase at room temperature.

According to this invention, when monochrome printing is performed using, for example, black ink, only the nozzle IO is utilized. In this case, 48 nozzles lO are applied to the printing sheet along 48 rows. The vertical interval between rows is the vertical interval A between adjacent nozzles 10.

Preferably, the nozzle is used for printing by interlaced scanning. After the first pass of the printer head in the scanning direction, the sheet is advanced in the sheet feeding direction a distance corresponding to A/2, after which the printer head makes a second scan pass. In this way, printing can be performed in a certain band-like area. Before the second scanning pass, the sheet can also be advanced a distance corresponding to 48 XA-A/2 in preparation for printing the next swath. If printing is performed by scanning in only one direction, the printer head must return to its starting position before the next scanning pass.

On the other hand, when full-color printing is to be performed, according to the present invention, it is preferable to use only the 16 black ink nozzles at the right end of the column and use the same number of four color nozzles. This can simplify the logic circuit design for supplying the nozzle drive signals. More specifically, if data is transmitted to the nozzles for each ink color at the same speed,
The timing circuit for controlling this information transmission is simplified.

According to the invention, the range of colors that can be achieved by jetting ink dots of different colors at the same point on a printing sheet is considerably expanded by jetting the ink dots in the following order. More specifically, the order is black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. That is, use ink from darker colors to lighter colors.

This same order is followed if only two or three colors of ink are used at a given point on the sheet.

That is, in a subtractive color system, the brightest color, in this case yellow, has the most noticeable effect on the color of the resulting dot when placed on top of other dots. If, on the other hand, yellow were to be overlaid by other colors, the other colors would largely obscure yellow and its contribution to the resulting color would be minimal or almost eliminated.

The black ink has a similar obscuring effect on the other three color inks, so for every position it needs to be placed first and contributes to the resulting color.

In order to most easily place dots of different colors at the same point on the sheet, the nozzles 4.6, 8.10 are arranged as follows. That is, when performing color printing, first, ink dots from the black ink nozzle 10 are placed in a band-shaped range of the sheet that is covered when the nozzle IO moves in the row direction. Then, by advancing the sheet, the band-shaped area is positioned to receive the ink dots of the cyan ink nozzles 4 in the next row scan. Further, by advancing the sheet, the band-shaped area is positioned to receive ink dots from the magenta ink nozzles 6 in the next scan in the row direction. Furthermore, the above band-shaped range is further scanned in the next row direction by the yellow ink nozzle 8.
is positioned to receive the ink dots. sea 1
・Even if only two or three color ink dots are placed at the same point on the top, printing will still be performed if black ink is placed first, and if yellow ink is placed, yellow ink is placed last. .

Although the illustrated nozzle arrangement provides the best results, similar results can also be obtained by swapping the positions of the cyan and magenta ink nozzles. This is because cyan and magenta are similar to each other in terms of brightness.

In each nozzle row shown, adjacent nozzles are spaced a distance B apart in the scanning direction of the printer head, ie, the printing direction of the row. The print data, which is converted into a signal for activating the nozzles, is prepared according to the column of areas to be printed. Therefore, when each nozzle is assigned to each column of the print area, the timing of transmission of the nozzle activation signal to each nozzle is adjusted by the size of the interval B between adjacent nozzles.

To date, the values used for dimension B have required relatively complex timing circuit designs.

According to this invention, the interval B is given a value of 2 to the n power (where n is a positive integer). The value of B is also made equal to the column spacing of the print matrix, ie, the horizontal resolution of the printer. This reduces the complexity of timing circuit design.

Under the above conditions, the values given to interval B are integers 2, 4,
8.16, etc. In this example, the value 16 is preferably selected.

The horizontal resolution of a printer head is determined by the minimum distance between consecutive dots along a printed row. This minimum distance is determined by the printer design and the speed of the activation signal applied to the nozzle. Typically, high-quality printers are manufactured with a resolution of 300 dots/inch, but the resolution can be set lower, for example, 150 dots/inch.

Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the value of B is
16/300=0,0533 inches and dimension A is I
/150=0.00666 inches.

As can be seen from this, the inclination angle of each nozzle row in the printer head scanning direction is determined in relation to A/B.

The horizontal spacing B of successive nozzles in each row has the value of the minimum allowable spacing between dots multiplied by an amount expressed as a binary integer. Therefore, delays in the time of applying signals to adjacent nozzles when printing in the same column are easily controlled by the binary signal without the need for other complementary actions.

Further, in the illustrated nozzle arrangement, the nozzle 1O located at the uppermost position is spaced apart from the nozzle 4 located at the lowermost position by a distance C in the sheet feeding direction. This interval may be set to an appropriate value, and may be twice the vertical resolution of the printer or the width of each nozzle row in the vertical direction.

The circuit design for supplying the nozzle activation signal to the printer head is designed according to principles known in the art. However, instead of the complex timing circuit designs used heretofore, timing circuit designs that provide binary integer shifting signals can be used.

For the present invention, the pattern of nozzles is not as shown in the drawings, insofar as at least one group of nozzles is provided at an angle to the printer head scan direction, and each nozzle is assigned to one of a plurality of adjacent rows of print area. may be different from that of

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this and that various modifications are possible.

"Effects of the Invention" According to the printing method of the present invention, since a darker color in a subtractive color mixture system is jetted and then a brighter color is jetted, the brighter color has a large effect of contributing to the resulting color. Therefore, it is possible to widen the range of colors that can be realized.

Further, according to the printer head of the present invention, as the sheet advances in the sheet feeding direction, an area corresponding to the advance of the sheet passes through the first nozzle means before passing through the second nozzle means. This makes it possible to simplify the circuit design for sending control signals to the computer, and to easily perform interlaced scanning.

Furthermore, the nozzle rows are arranged at an angle, the printer head moves in the sheet feeding direction to provide a predetermined minimum distance, and the nozzles are spaced at intervals equal to the predetermined minimum distance to the nth power of 2. This makes it possible to simplify the timing circuit design, making it extremely easy to control printing operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a front view of a printer head having a nozzle structure according to the present invention. 2... Nozzle plate, 4... Cyan ink nozzle (first nozzle means), 6
...Magenta ink nozzle, (third nozzle means),
8...Yellow ink nozzle (second nozzle means),
IO...Black ink nozzle (fourth nozzle means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A printing method in which color dots are formed on a base material by a color ink jet printer having means for jetting inks of a plurality of different primary colors in a subtractive color system in the form of dots, the method comprising: A printing method in which dots of two primary colors are jetted in succession at a single location, characterized in that a darker color is jetted, followed by a brighter color. (2) Three primary colors are used, and in the jetting process, ink of a plurality of primary colors is jetted onto a single location on the base material, and the brightest primary color is jetted last. Printing method. (3) The printer further includes means for jetting black ink at predetermined locations on the base material, and the jetting process includes first jetting black ink dots at each location, and further jetting at least one primary color ink dot at each location. 3. The printing method according to claim 2, wherein the printing method comprises spraying at a location. (4) The primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and when a yellow ink dot and at least one other primary color ink dot is jetted to a single location, the yellow ink dot is jetted last. The printing method according to claim 3, characterized in that: (5) The printing method according to claim 4, wherein the ink is a phase change ink. (6) The primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and when a yellow ink dot and ink dots of at least one other primary color are jetted to a single location, the yellow ink dot is jetted last. The printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: (7) The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the ink is a phase change ink. (8) The printer further includes means for jetting black ink at predetermined locations on the base material, and the jetting process includes first jetting black ink dots at each location, and further jetting at least one primary color ink dot at each location. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the printing method is sprayed onto a location. (9) The printing method according to claim 8, wherein the ink is a phase change ink. (10) A first nozzle means for ejecting ink dots of a first primary color onto the sheet, and an ink dot of a second primary color brighter than the first primary color, the first nozzle means ejecting ink dots of a first primary color onto the sheet. a second nozzle means for injecting onto the sheet that has passed, and the nozzle means is configured such that as the sheet advances in the sheet feeding direction, an area corresponding to the advance of the sheet becomes a second nozzle means.
Printer heads for an ink jet printer, characterized in that they are arranged relative to each other so as to pass through a first nozzle means before passing through a first nozzle means. (11) Further, a third nozzle means for ejecting ink dots of a third primary color onto the sheet, the third nozzle means being between the first and second nozzle means in the sheet feeding direction. 11. The printer head according to claim 10, characterized in that: (12) The printer head according to claim 11, wherein the primary colors are primary colors in a subtractive color mixture system. (13) The fourth nozzle means further includes a fourth nozzle means for ejecting black ink dots onto the sheet, and the fourth nozzle means is configured such that as the sheet advances in the sheet feeding direction, an area corresponding to the advance of the sheet is , the fourth nozzle means before passing through any one of the second and third nozzle means.
13. The printer head according to claim 12, wherein the printer head is arranged to pass through the nozzle means. (14) The printer head according to claim 13, wherein each of the nozzle means includes an equal number of nozzles. (15) A printer head of an ink jet printer that is movable in the scanning direction, and includes a nozzle array that jets ink dots onto a sheet that is advanced so as to pass through the printer head in a sheet feeding direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. the nozzle row is arranged obliquely with respect to the scanning direction, the printer head is movable so as to provide a predetermined minimum distance in the sheet feeding direction of the dots ejected by the nozzles, The nozzles are spaced apart in the scan direction by an integer multiple of the predetermined minimum distance, where the integer multiple is 2 n
1. A printer head for an ink jet printer, characterized in that the printer head has a value of a power of (n is an integer). (16) The printer head according to claim 15, wherein the value of n is 4. (17) The printer head according to claim 16, wherein the predetermined minimum distance is 1/150 inch. (18) The printer head according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined minimum distance is 1/150 inch.