JPH06255096A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an ink jet recording apparatus enabling high-grade ink jet recording without being limited by the kind of a recording medium to be used. CONSTITUTION:In an ink jet recording apparatus, a coating means 10 coating a recording medium with a coating material corresponding to a recording signal 51 before recording is applied to the recording medium using recording ink, a delay means 11 delaying the recording signal 51 and a recording means 12 performing recording corresponding to the delay signal 52 outputted from the delay means 11 are provided. By this constitution, high-grade ink jet recording is enabled without being limited by the kind of the recording medium to be used. Since a coating area is determined corresponding to the recording signal, a coating material can be conserved. When the receiving medium is paper, the undulation generated by the coating with a large quantity of the coating material is prevented and quality can be enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus using an ink jet recording system in which ink droplets are ejected and adhered to a recording medium for recording, and it is stable without being affected by the type of recording medium. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of obtaining high quality printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet recording methods include various recording ink ejection methods such as an electrostatic suction method, a method of applying a mechanical vibration or displacement to a recording ink by using a piezoelectric element,
Recording is performed by generating and flying small droplets of the ink by a method of heating and foaming the recording ink and utilizing the pressure, and attaching some or all of them to a recording medium such as paper. The ink jet recording apparatus using this ink jet recording system is attracting attention as a recording apparatus that generates less noise and can perform high-speed printing, high-quality printing, and multicolor printing.

In such an ink jet recording apparatus, in order to prevent bleeding or flow of the recording ink adhering to the recording medium due to the ink jet recording and impairing the printing quality, it is necessary to use an inorganic pigment on the base paper. Inkjet paper coated with a layer made of a special material that is porous and has a large water absorption capacity and that adsorbs coloring components in the recording ink, and an inkjet special film whose surface is specially treated to prevent the recording ink from flowing. A dedicated recording medium such as the one described above was used.

[0004]

However, there is a problem that high-quality print recording cannot be performed in the ink jet recording system unless such a limited recording medium is used. Furthermore, if a user who handles the inkjet recording apparatus mistakenly uses a different type of recording medium, not only high quality print recording cannot be performed due to bleeding of the recording ink, but also the recording apparatus flows due to the flow of the recording ink. There was a problem of causing fatal pollution inside.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, enables high-quality ink jet recording without being limited to the type of recording medium used, and the inside of the recording apparatus by the flow of recording ink. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that does not cause contamination of the ink.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting recording ink according to a recording signal to record an image on a recording medium, According to the above, before the recording with the recording ink on the recording medium, coating means for coating the recording medium with the coating material, delay means for delaying the recording signal, and an output signal of the delay means. A recording means for recording according to the above is provided.

[0007]

By the coating means, delay means and recording means as described above, a recording material containing a resin material having a characteristic of appropriately absorbing or appropriately compatibilizing the recording ink can be recorded with the recording ink. It is possible to coat a predetermined area on the recording medium before the coating. As a result, since the portion on the recording medium on which the image recording with the recording ink is formed is performed on the coating film made of the resin material having the characteristics as described above regardless of the type of the recording medium used, It is possible to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that enables high-quality inkjet recording regardless of the type of recording medium used.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below, but these examples further specifically describe the present invention, and the embodiments are not limited thereto. (Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the coating area and the recording area according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the temporal relationship between the coating operation and the recording operation according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the delay means. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a coating means,
A recording material containing polyvinyl alcohol or the like is coated on the recording medium according to the recording signal 51. The coating means 10 can be used for various ink jet recording heads such as an ink jet recording head using the vibration force of a piezoelectric element and a bubble jet head using film boiling. In this embodiment, an on-demand type ink jet recording head is particularly used. Was used. 11 is a delay means,
It is composed of FO (first-in first-out memory), RAM (random access memory), or a latch. The delay means 11 temporarily stores the input data and outputs it as needed. Reference numeral 12 denotes a recording unit, which is a known inkjet recording head.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 14 is a recording medium,
It is a coated paper, a small amount of coated special paper, PPC paper, OHP film, or the like. A platen roller 15 is rotated by a motor or the like. Reference numeral 16 is a carrier, on which the coating means 10 and the recording means 12 are fixed. Reference numeral 17 is a lead screw, which scans the carrier 16 by rotating. Reference numeral 18 is a guide rail that slides the carrier 16. Reference numeral 19 denotes a housing in which the platen roller 15, the lead screw 17 and the like are arranged.

In FIG. 4, the position 57 is the coating means 10.
Shows the position where coating is possible, and the number in the figure shows which column the pixel corresponds to. Similarly, a position 58 indicates a position where the recording unit 12 can record, and a number indicates which column of pixels the pixel corresponds to. In the case of this embodiment,
The coating unit 10 precedes the recording unit 12 in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 by a distance corresponding to two pixels. In this case, the delay means 11 can be easily realized by the configuration shown in FIG. However, the configuration of the delay unit 11 differs depending on the number of nozzles included in the recording unit 12, the bit length per pixel, and the delay amount (corresponding to 2 pixels in this case).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The platen roller 15 has an arrow 101.
By rotating in the direction of, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is transported in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position with the position of the coating means 10, and suspends the conveyance. Further, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 1
6 is moved to the home position 105 to prepare for the start of recording.

Recording is performed as follows. The recording signal 51 is input to the coat means 10 and the delay means 11. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the recording signal 51. Along with this, the lead screw 17 rotates, and the carrier 16 moves on the lead screw 17 and the guide rail 18 in the main scanning direction of arrow 104. As a result, the coating unit 10 coats the recording medium with the coating material while moving in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104. The delay means 11 delays the recording signal 51 for a predetermined time, and inputs the delayed signal 52 delayed to the recording means 12. The delay time is at least longer than the time required for the carrier 16 to move in order to match the coating position of the coating means 10 with the recording position of the recording means 12. The recording unit 12 ejects recording ink in response to the delay signal 52 to form an image on the coating material on the recording medium 14.

The above recording operation will be described in more detail by taking the case of recording the letter T in FIG. 3 as an example.
It is assumed that one box in FIG. 3 corresponds to a pixel, which is the minimum unit of recording, and a case where the second row 23 in the drawing is recorded on the recording medium will be described as an example.

The lead screw 17 has a driving clock 63.
And the carrier table 16 is moved by one pixel in one clock. When the driving clock 63 is input for one clock, the coating means 10 moves to a position where the pixels in the first column can be coated, but the recording signal 51 is a pulse because it is a pixel that is not to be recorded (second row, first column). Does not form. The coating means 10 does not coat according to the recording signal 51. Also, as shown in FIG.
The recording signal 51 is latched by the rising edge of
The internal signal 55 becomes LOW. Next, the falling edge of the latch signal 54 latches the internal signal 55, and the output of the latch 26 also becomes LOW.

Next, when one clock is input, the coating means 10 moves to a position where the pixels in the second column can be coated. At this time, since the coating unit 10 is on the pixel for recording, the pulse of the recording signal 51 is input to the coating unit 10, and the coating material is applied to the area corresponding to the pixel on the second row, second column on the recording medium. Coating. Further, the output of the latch 26 is latched by the rising edge of the latch signal 54, and the output of the latch 27 becomes LOW. At the same time, the recording signal 51 is latched, and the internal signal 55 is HIGH.
Becomes Next, the output of the latch 27 is latched by the falling edge of the latch signal 54, and the internal signal 56 becomes LO.
W. At the same time, the internal signal 55 is latched, and the latch 2
The output of 6 also becomes HIGH.

Next, when one clock is input, the coating means 10 moves to a position where the pixels of the third column can be coated, and the recording means 12 moves to a position where the pixels of the first column can be recorded. At this time, since the coating unit 10 is on the pixel for recording, the pulse of the recording signal 51 is input to the coating unit 10, and the coating material is applied to the region corresponding to the pixel of the second row, third column on the recording medium. Coating. Further, the delay signal 52 becomes LOW due to the logical product of the internal signal 56 and the drive clock 63, and the recording unit 12 does not record on the pixels in the first column. Further, at the rising edge of the latch signal 54, the latch 27 latches the output of the latch 26, and the output of the latch 27 becomes HIGH. At the same time, the recording signal 51 is latched and the internal signal 55 becomes HIGH. Next, by the falling edge of the latch signal 54,
The latch 28 latches the output of the latch 27, and the internal signal 5
6 becomes HIGH. At the same time, the latch 26 outputs the internal signal 5
5 is latched and the output of the latch 26 also becomes HIGH.

Further, when one clock is input, the coating means 10 moves to a position where the pixels in the fourth column can be coated, and the recording means 12 moves to a position where the pixels in the second column can be recorded. At this time, since the coating unit 10 is on the pixel for recording, the pulse of the recording signal 51 is input to the coating unit 10, and the coating material is applied to the area corresponding to the pixel of the second row, fourth column on the recording medium. Coating. Also,
The delay signal 52 becomes HIGH due to the logical product of the internal signal 56 and the drive clock 63, and the recording unit 12 ejects the recording ink onto the coating material of the pixels in the second column to perform recording. Further, at the rising edge of the latch signal 54, the latch 27 latches the output of the latch 26, and the output of the latch 27 becomes HIGH. At the same time, the latch 25 latches the recording signal 51, and the internal signal 55 becomes HIGH. Next, by the falling edge of the latch signal 54,
The latch 28 latches the output of the latch 27, and the internal signal 5
6 becomes HIGH. At the same time, the latch 26 outputs the internal signal 5
5 is latched and the output of the latch 26 also becomes HIGH.

By repeating the above operation, recording can be performed in the main scanning direction. Then, when the recording in the main scanning direction is completed, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, the transport base 16 is moved to the home position 105, and the next recording is prepared. Further, the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed by one line in the direction of arrow 102, and recording is performed in the next main scanning direction.

By repeating the above operation, the recording is performed in one direction, and the coating material can be coated only on the recording area before the recording ink is recorded on the recording medium without fail. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium. (Embodiment 2) A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
And it demonstrates based on FIG.

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the coating area and the recording area according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of the delay means. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing. Hereinafter, the description of the drawings already described will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 14 is a recording medium,
It is a coated paper, a small amount of coated special paper, PPC paper, OHP film, or the like. A platen roller 15 is rotated by a motor or the like. Reference numeral 16 is a carrier, on which the coating means 10 and the recording means 12 are fixed. Reference numeral 17 is a lead screw, which scans the carrier 16 by rotating. Reference numeral 18 is a guide rail that slides the carrier 16. Reference numeral 19 denotes a housing in which the platen roller 15, the lead screw 17 and the like are arranged.

It is also assumed that the coating means 10 precedes the recording means 12 by a distance of one line in the sub-scanning direction of the arrow 107. In this case, the delay means 11 can be realized by the configuration shown in FIG. 7, and the recording signal 51 is recorded at a predetermined address of the line buffer selected by the address 60 and the read / write signal 61. The memory capacity of the line buffer varies depending on the number of nozzles included in the recording unit 12, the bit length per pixel, and the delay amount. Here, a capacity that can store the maximum amount of data that can be recorded by the recording unit 12 by at least one scan in the main scanning direction may be used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the platen roller 15 rotates in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position with the position of the coating means 10, and suspends the conveyance. In addition, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 16 to the home position 1
Move to 05 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. The recording signal 51 is input to the coat means 10 and the delay means 11. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the recording signal 51. Along with this, the lead screw 17 rotates, and the carrier 16 moves on the lead screw 17 and the guide rail 18 in the main scanning direction of arrow 104. As a result, the coating unit 10 coats the recording medium with the coating material while moving in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104. Further, the delay means 11 uses the recording signal 5
1 is delayed by one line, and the delayed signal is the delayed signal 52. The delay means 11 has the configuration shown in FIG. 7, and one of the two line buffers is used for storing the recording signal 51 and the other is used for outputting the delay signal 52. The read / write signal 61 controls the switching between the storage mode and the read mode of the line buffer. Then, the delayed signal 52 delayed is input to the recording means 12. The recording unit 12 ejects recording ink in response to the delay signal 52 to form an image on the coating material on the recording medium 14.

The above recording operation will be described in more detail by taking the case of recording the letter T in FIG. 3 as an example.
The coating means 10 exists at a position where the first row can be coated, and the recording signal 51 is input to the coating means 10 and the recording means 12. However, the recording signal 51 is always LOW because the first row is an area where recording is not performed, and the coating means 10 does not perform coating. Also, the delay means 1
The recording signal 51 input to 1 is the read / write signal 61.
Is written in the line buffer 30 selected by.
The address 60 generated during writing is initialized each time the carrier 16 returns to the home position 105, and is incremented each time the carrier 106 moves by one pixel in the main scanning direction. Along with this operation, the recording signal 51 for one line is stored in the line buffer 30, and the first scanning is completed. The lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, and the carrier 16 is moved to the home position 105. Further, the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of arrow 101, and the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed by one line in the direction of arrow 102 to prepare for the next recording start.

The recording means 12 is at a position where the coating means 10 can coat the second row and the recording means 12 is at a position where the first row can be stored. The recording signal 51 is for recording the pixels in the second to seventh columns and is input to the coat means 10 and the delay means 11. The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns according to the recording signal 51. The line buffer 31 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61 stores the recording signal 51 according to the address 60. On the other hand, the line buffer 30 selected for reading
Outputs a delayed signal 52 according to the address 60. The delay signal 52 is input to the recording means 12. The recording unit 12 ejects the storage ink in response to the delay signal 52, but in the scanning in the previous line, the line buffer 30 is all LOW.
Is written, no pulse is output. Therefore,
The recording means 12 does not eject ink. As described above, the second scanning is completed, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, and the carrier 16 is moved to the home position 105. Further, the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of arrow 101, and the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102 by one line,
Prepare for the start of the next recording.

The recording means 12 is at a position where the coating means 10 can coat the third row and the recording means 12 is where the second row can be stored. The recording signal 51 is pulsed so as to record the pixels in the second to seventh columns by the coating means 10 and the delay means 1.
Enter 1. The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns according to the recording signal 51. Also, the line buffer 3 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61
0 stores the recording signal 51 according to the address 60. On the other hand, the line buffer 31 selected for reading outputs the delay signal 52 according to the address 60. Delayed signal 52
Is input to the recording means 12. The recording unit 12 ejects the storage ink in accordance with the delay signal, but in the scanning in the previous line, the data is recorded in the line buffer 31 at the positions corresponding to the pixels of the second column to the seventh column. Is stored, the recording unit 12 ejects ink to the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns. Therefore, it is possible to perform recording with the recording ink on the pixels coated in the scanning in the previous line. From the above,
The third scanning is completed. Rotate the lead screw 17 in the opposite direction to when recording to move the carrier 16 to the home position 1
Move to 05. In addition, the platen roller 15 is moved to the arrow 10
The recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of 1 and conveyed by one line in the direction of the arrow 102 to prepare for the next recording start.

By repeating the above operation, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium is coated with the coating material, and recording with the recording ink can be performed thereon. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium. Note that this embodiment is also compatible with bidirectional recording in the direction of arrow 104 and the opposite direction, and enables high speed printing.

Further, the delay means 11 can cope with a delay of an arbitrary number of lines depending on a memory capacity and an address generating method. (Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the configuration of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the coating area and the recording area according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of the delay means. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of the discrimination means. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 13 is a discriminating means, which discriminates whether or not coating is performed, and outputs the result as a discriminating signal 53. A coating means 10 coats a recording medium with a coating material in accordance with the discrimination signal 53. The coating means 10 can be used for various ink jet recording heads such as an ink jet recording head using the vibration force of a piezoelectric element and a bubble jet head using film boiling. In this embodiment, an on-demand type ink jet recording head is particularly used. Was used. Reference numeral 11 is a delay means, which is composed of a FIFO, a RAM, a latch or the like. The delay means 11 temporarily stores the input data and outputs it as needed. Reference numeral 12 denotes a recording unit, which is a known inkjet recording head. FIG. 6 has already been described.

It is also assumed that the coat means 10 precedes the recording means 12 by a distance of one line in the sub-scanning direction of the arrow 107. In this case, the delay means 11 can be realized by the configuration shown in FIG. In the case of the present embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is the same as that of the second embodiment, but it is different from the second embodiment in some points such as the capacity of the line buffer and how to give the read / write signal 61 and the address 60. Are different.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the platen roller 15 rotates in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position one line before the position of the coating means 10 and temporarily stops the conveyance.
In addition, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carriage 16 to the home position 105 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. The recording signal 51 is input to the discrimination means 13 and the delay means 11. Discrimination means 13
The operation of will be described with reference to FIG. The recording signal 51 is input to the C terminal of a flip-flop (hereinafter abbreviated as FF) 32. The FF 32 is initialized by the line signal 62 in advance, and the output of the Q terminal is set to LOW. Line signal 62
1 outputs one pulse per line, and shows the effective range of the recording signal 51 for one line in a HIGH state. While the line signal 62 is HIGH, the recording signal 51 is considered valid. When the line signal 62 becomes LOW, the FF 32 is initialized. Since the D terminal of the FF 32 is fixed to HIGH, the Q of the FF 32 is changed by the rising of the clock of the recording signal 51.
The terminal becomes HIGH. The state of the Q terminal is line signal 62
Is stored until becomes LOW. The Q terminal of FF32 is F
It is connected to the D terminal of F33, and the FF33 outputs the state of the D terminal at the fall of the line signal 62 of the C terminal to the Q terminal.

The Q terminal of the FF33 is connected to the D terminal of the FF34, and the FF34 has the line signal 6 of the C terminal.
The state of the D terminal at the rising edge of 2 is output to the Q terminal.
The Q terminal of the FF34 is AND35 together with the drive clock 63.
AND 35 inputs the two logical products to the discrimination signal 53.
Output as. The drive clock 63 is composed of pulses that can be recorded in all pixels of one line. As described above, the discrimination unit 13 generates and outputs the discrimination signal 53 according to the recording signal 51. If there is even one pixel to be recorded in one line, the entire area of the line is coated. Then, the coating means 10 is controlled. Therefore, the recording signal 5
For 1, the discrimination signal 53 is delayed by one line.

The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the discrimination signal 53. Along with this, the lead screw 17 rotates, and the carrier 16 moves between the lead screw 17 and the guide rail 18 in the direction of arrow 10.
4 in the main scanning direction. The operation of the delay means 11 is shown in FIG.
Will be explained.

The delay means 11 delays the recording signal 51 by two lines, toggles a line buffer having a capacity of at least two lines, uses one for storing the recording signal 51, and uses one for outputting the delayed signal. To use. The toggle is performed once for every two lines, and the toggle is controlled by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 used for writing and reading is initialized once every two lines in this embodiment every time the mode is changed from writing to reading or from reading to writing, and is synchronized with the driving clock 63 in each mode. It is counted up. With the above operation, the recording signal 51 is delayed by two lines, and the delay signal 52
Is input to the recording means 12.

The recording means 12 ejects recording ink according to the delay signal 52 to form an image on the coating material on the recording medium 14. The above recording operation will be described in more detail by taking the case of recording the letter T in FIG. 3 as an example. It is also assumed that one box in FIG. 3 corresponds to a pixel which is the minimum unit of recording.

The recording signal 51 is the discrimination means 13 and the delay means 1.
Input to 1. On the other hand, the determination means 13 determines whether or not there is a pixel to be stored. In this case, since the first row is an area in which no recording is performed, the recording signal 51 is always LOW and no pulse is input, and the determination signal 53 is LOW. The other is stored in the line buffer 30 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61. After the processing corresponding to one line is completed, the platen roller 15 is moved to the arrow 101
, And the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed by one line in the direction of arrow 102.

Although the coating means 10 is at a position where the first row can be coated, the coating means 10 does not perform coating in response to the discrimination signal 53. The recording signal 51 corresponding to the second row inputs a pulse to the discriminating means 13 and the delaying means 11 so as to record the pixels in the second to seventh columns. The discrimination means 13 recognizes the presence of the pixel to be recorded and sets the discrimination signal 53 to HIGH. The delay means 11 stores the storage signal 51 in the line buffer 30 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 at the time of storage is continuously counted up to the address of the previous line. After the processing corresponding to one line is completed, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, the carriage 16 is moved to the home position 105, and the platen roller 15 is moved.
Is rotated in the direction of arrow 101, and the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is moved in the direction of arrow 102 by 1
Carry for the line.

The coating means 10 becomes the position where the second line can be coated, and the recording means becomes the position where the first line can perform the recording. The coating means 10 coats all the pixels in the second row in accordance with the discrimination signal 53. The recording signal 51 corresponding to the third row inputs a pulse to the discriminating means 13 and the delaying means 11 so as to record the pixels in the second to seventh columns. The discrimination means 13 recognizes the presence of the pixel to be recorded and sets the discrimination signal 53 to HIGH. Delay means 11
Stores the storage signal 51 in the line buffer 31 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 at the time of storage is initialized when the read / write signal 61 is switched, and is counted up from the initial value. Further, the line buffer 30 selected for reading by the read / write signal 61 outputs the delay signal 52 according to the address 60. The recording means 12 outputs the delayed signal 5
2 is recorded, but the delayed signal 52 does not generate a pulse, and therefore recording is not performed. After the processing corresponding to the above one line is completed, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, the carriage 16 is moved to the home position 105, the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 101, and the platen roller 15 is rotated. Recording medium 1 wound around
4 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102 for one line.

The coating means 10 becomes the position where the third line can be coated, and the recording means becomes the position where the second line can perform the recording. The coating means 10 coats all the pixels in the third row in response to the discrimination signal 53. Further, the recording signal 51 corresponding to the fourth row inputs a pulse to the discriminating means 13 and the delay means 11 so as to record the pixels in the fourth to fifth columns. The discrimination means 13 recognizes the presence of the pixel to be recorded and sets the discrimination signal 53 to HIGH. Delay means 11
Stores the storage signal 51 in the line buffer 31 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61.

Further, the line buffer 30 selected for reading by the read / write signal 61 has the address 6
The delay signal 52 is output according to 0. The recording unit 12 receives the delay signal 52 and ejects recording ink to the pixels in the second to seventh columns to perform recording. Therefore, it is possible to perform recording with the recording ink on the pixels coated in the scanning in the previous line. After the processing corresponding to the above one line is completed, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, the carriage 16 is moved to the home position 105, the platen roller 15 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 101, and the platen roller 15 is rotated. Recording medium 1 wound around
4 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102 for one line.

By repeating the above operation, it is possible to coat the recording medium with the coating material, and to record with the recording ink on the coating material. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium. Further, in this embodiment, the on-demand type ink jet recording head is used as the coating means, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a continuous type ink jet recording head, a spray method in which pressure is transmitted by air or gas, or a method in which a coating material is absorbed by a sponge or a roller and the recording surface is brought into contact with the coating surface to form a coating means Can be used as.

Further, by changing the discrimination method of the discrimination means 13, it is possible to easily realize the provision of a coating area as shown in FIG. 17 in which the peripheral pixels of a character or a pattern to be recorded are coated. (Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12.

FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing the operations of the discrimination means and the delay means. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing. In FIG. 10, 13 is a discrimination means,
Y (yellow) signal 70, M (magenta) signal 71 and C
It is determined from the (cyan) signal 72 whether or not coating is performed, and the result is output as the determination signal 53. A coating means 10 coats a recording medium with a coating material in accordance with the discrimination signal 53. Coat means 1
0 is applicable to various inkjet recording heads such as an inkjet recording head using the vibration force of a piezoelectric element and a bubble jet head using film boiling. In this embodiment, an on-demand type inkjet recording head is used. . Reference numeral 11 is a delay means, which is composed of a FIFO, a RAM, a latch, or the like. The delay means 11 temporarily stores the input data and outputs it as needed. Reference numeral 12 denotes a recording unit, which is a known inkjet recording head.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 40 is a Y head which is a known ink jet recording head which ejects yellow ink as a recording ink, and 41 is a known ink jet recording head which ejects magenta ink as a recording ink. M heads, 42 are C heads, which are known inkjet recording heads that eject cyan ink as recording ink, and 40, 41, and 42 correspond to the recording unit 12.

The coating means 10 precedes the Y head 40 by a distance of one dot in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104. Similarly, the Y head 40 corresponds to the M head 41 by one dot in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104, and the C head 4
2 is preceded by a distance of 2 dots in the main scanning direction of arrow 104.

The operations of the discriminating means 13 and the delay means 11 will be described below. Considering that the positions of the Y head 40, the M head 41, and the C head 42 are arranged at 1-dot intervals in the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72, FIG.
2, the data is transferred in synchronization with the drive clock 63. The drive clock 63 is synchronized with the movement of the carrier table, and moves one dot in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in one clock. The Y signal Y1 of the first pixel together with the driving clock 63, and the Y signal Y1 of the second pixel together with the next clock
The M signal M1 of the 2nd and 1st pixels, the Y signal Y3 of the 3rd pixel, the M signal M2 of the 2nd pixel, and the C signal C1 of the 1st pixel are sequentially supplied to the discrimination means 13 and the delay means 11 together with the next clock. Is entered. Similarly, although the subsequent signals are signals for recording the same pixel, the determination unit 13 is delayed by one clock.
Is input to the delay means 11.

The discriminating means is the Y signal 70 which constitutes the same pixel.
If at least one of the three signals, M signal 71 and C signal 72, includes a pulse for recording, the determination signal 53
Is output. For example, at least one of the three signals of the Y signal Y1, the M signal M1, and the C signal C1 forming the first pixel is
If one or more recording pulses are included, the determination signal H1
Is input to the coating means 10, and the coating means 10 coats the recording material with the coating material according to the determination signal H1.

The delay means 11 is for adjusting the operation timing of the coat means 10 and the recording means 12. Since the determination signal H1 is output with a delay of 3 pulses at the drive clock 63 from the Y signal Y1, the delay means 11 delays the Y signal H1 by 4 pulses at the drive clock 63, and a Yout signal y1.
To generate. Similarly, the M signal M1 and the C signal C1 are delayed by 4 pulses by the drive clock 63 to generate the Mout signal m1 and the Cout signal c1. Yout signal 73 to the Y head 40, Mout signal 74 to the M head 41, Co
The ut signal 75 is input to the C head 42.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the platen roller 15 rotates in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position with the position of the coating means 10, and suspends the conveyance. In addition, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 16 to the home position 1
Move to 05 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. As shown in FIG. 12, the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 are transferred in synchronization with the drive clock 63 and input to the discriminating means 13 and the delay means 11. Further, the lead screw 17 rotates in synchronization with the driving clock 63, and the carrier 16 moves in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in 1-dot steps.

The discriminating means 13 discriminates from the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 forming the same pixel whether or not the pixel is a recording pixel, and outputs the discriminating signal 53 to the coating means 10. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the determination signal 53. The delay means 11 considers the positional deviation between the coating means 10 and the recording means 12, and takes out the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 by 4 pulses by the drive clock 63, and the Yout signal 73 and Mo.
The ut signal 74 and the Cout signal 75 are generated. Yout
The signal 73 is input to the Y head 40, the Mout signal 74 is input to the M head 41, and the Cout signal 75 is input to the C head 42. Each head ejects recording ink onto the coating material coated by the coating means 10 to perform recording. I do.

By repeating the above operation, it is possible to coat the recording material with the coating material, and to record with the recording ink on the coating material. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium. (Embodiment 5) A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 13 and 14.

FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing the operations of the discrimination means and the delay means. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing. FIG. 10 is as described above. However,
The fourth embodiment is different from the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72.
However, the timings of transmission to the delay means 11 and the discrimination means 13 are different. Therefore, Yout signal 73, Mo
The output timing of the ut signal 74 and the Cout signal 75 is different from that in the fourth embodiment.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 40 is a Y head which is a known ink jet recording head which ejects yellow ink as a recording ink, and 41 is a known ink jet recording head which ejects magenta ink as a recording ink. M heads, 42 are C heads, which are known inkjet recording heads that eject cyan ink as recording ink, and 40, 41, and 42 correspond to the recording unit 12.

The coating means 10 precedes the Y head 40 by a distance of one line in the sub-scanning direction of the arrow 107. Similarly, the Y head 40 corresponds to the M head 41 by one line in the sub-scanning direction of the arrow 107, and the C head 4
2 is preceded by a distance of two lines in the sub-scanning direction of arrow 107. Regarding the main scanning direction, the Y head 4
The 0, M head 41, and C head 42 are at the same position.
For example, recording is performed by the Y head 40, the recording medium 14 is moved by one line in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow 102, and further,
When recording with the M head 41, magenta ink can be recorded on yellow ink and red recording can be performed. The operation of the discriminating means 13 and the delay means 11 will be described below.

Y signal 70, M signal 71, and C signal 72 are Y
Considering that the positions of the head 40, the M head 41, and the C head 42 are arranged at intervals of one line, as shown in FIG. 14, they are input to the discrimination means 13 and the delay means 11 in synchronization with the driving clock 63. It The drive clock 63 is synchronized with the movement of the carrier table, and moves one dot in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in one clock. The line signal indicates the effective range of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 in line units.

The discriminating means 13 outputs the discriminating signal 53 if at least one of the three signals of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 forming the same pixel includes a pulse for recording. To do. For example, the Y signal Y forming the first pixel
If at least one recording pulse is included in the three signals of 11, 11, the M signal M11, and the C signal C11, the determination signal H11 is output to the coating unit 10, and the coating unit 1
In the case of 0, the recording material is coated on the recording medium according to the discrimination signal H11. In order to execute the above operation, the discriminating means 13 has a buffer for two lines for the Y signal 70 and a buffer for one line for the M signal 71, and a Y signal delayed by two lines and one line. Delayed M
The logical sum of the signal and the C signal 72 is calculated and the discrimination signal 53 is output. These can be easily constructed by known means.

The delay means 11 is for adjusting the operation timing of the coat means 10 and the recording means 12. Since the determination signal H11 is output with a line signal delayed by 2 pulses from the Y signal Y11, the delay unit 11 generates a Yout signal Yo11 by delaying the Y signal Y11 by 3 pulses with a line signal. Similarly, the M signal M11 and the C signal C11 are delayed by three pulses by the line signal to generate the Mout signal Mo11 and the Cout signal Co11. Yout signal 73 to the Y head 40, Mout signal 74 to the M head 41,
The Cout signal 75 is input to the C head 42. In order to execute the above operation, the delay means 11 has a buffer for three lines for each of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72, and these can be easily constructed by known means.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the platen roller 15 rotates in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position with the position of the coating means 10, and suspends the conveyance. In addition, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 16 to the home position 1
Move to 05 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. As shown in FIG. 14, the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 are input to the determination unit 13 and the delay unit 11 in synchronization with the drive clock 63. Further, the lead screw 17 rotates in synchronization with the driving clock 63, and the carrier 16 moves in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in 1-dot steps.

The discriminating means 13 discriminates from the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 forming the same pixel whether or not the pixel is a recording pixel, and outputs the discriminating signal 53 to the coating means 10. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the determination signal 53. The delay means 11 considers the positional deviation between the coating means 10 and the recording means 12, and takes out the Yout signal 73, the Mout signal 74, and the Cout signal 75 by delaying the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 by 3 pulses with a line signal. To generate. Yout signal 7
3 is for the Y head 40, and the Mout signal 74 is for the M head 41.
Then, the Cout signal 75 is input to the C head 42, and each head ejects the recording ink onto the coating material coated by the coating means 10 to perform recording.

By repeating the above operation, the recording material can be coated with the coating material, and recording can be performed with the recording ink on the coating material. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium. (Embodiment 6) A sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
A description will be given based on FIGS. 15 and 16.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 15 is a timing chart showing the operations of the discrimination means and the delay means. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the coating material on the recording material and the ink.
Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing.

FIG. 10 is as already described.
However, in the present embodiment, the determination signal 5 is different from the above-mentioned fifth embodiment.
3 and Yout signal 73, Mout signal 74 and Cou
The output timing of the t signal 75 is different. FIG. 13 is also as described in the previous embodiment. However, this is different from the fifth embodiment in that the resolution of the coating means 10 is half the resolution of the Y head 40, the M head 41, and the C head 42. For example, Y head 40, M head 41, C
The resolution of the head 42 is 300 DPI (DPI: dot /
The resolution of the coating means 10 is 15
Set to 0 DPI.

The operations of the discriminating means 13 and the delay means 11 will be described below. Considering that the positions of the Y head 40, the M head 41, and the C head 42 are arranged at 1-line intervals, the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the signals are input to the determination unit 13 and the delay unit 11 in synchronization with the driving clock 63. The drive clock 63 is synchronized with the movement of the carrier table, and moves one dot in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in one clock. Also,
The line signal indicates the effective range of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 in line units.

The discriminating means 13 discriminates the discriminating signal if at least one of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 constituting two adjacent pixels includes a pulse for recording. 53 is output. For example, Y signal Y11, M signal M11, C signal C11,
If at least one recording pulse is included in the six signals of the Y signal Y12, the M signal M12, and the C signal C12 that form the pixel eye, the determination signal H112 is output to the coating unit 10 and the coating unit Reference numeral 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the determination signal H112. Similarly, the Y signal Y13 forming the third pixel, the M signal M13, the C signal C13, and the Y signal Y1 forming the fourth pixel.
If at least one recording pulse is included in the six signals of 4, 4, M signal M14, and C signal C14, the determination signal H134 is output to the coating unit 10, and the coating unit 1
In the case of 0, the recording material is coated on the recording medium according to the determination signal H134.

Discriminating means 13 for executing the above operation
Has a buffer for 3 lines for the Y signal 70, a buffer for 2 lines for the M signal 71, and a buffer for 1 line for the C signal 72, and a Y signal delayed by 3 lines, The logical sum of the M signal delayed by two lines and the C signal delayed by one line is calculated, and the determination signal 53 is output. These can be easily constructed by known means.

The delay means 11 is for adjusting the operation timing of the coat means 10 and the recording means 12. Since the determination signal H112 is output as a line signal delayed by 3 pulses from the Y signal Y11, the delay unit 11 outputs the Y signal Y11.
You signal Yo11, which is a line signal delayed by 4 pulses
To generate. Similarly, M signal M11 and C signal C11
Mout signal Mo11 which is delayed by 4 pulses with the line signal
And a Cout signal Co11 (not shown) is generated. You
The t signal 73 is input to the Y head 40, the Mout signal 74 is input to the M head 41, and the Cout signal 75 is input to the C head 42. In order to execute the above operation, the delay means 11 has a buffer for four lines for each of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72, and these can be easily constructed by known means.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the platen roller 15 rotates in the direction of arrow 101, the recording medium 14 wound around the platen roller 15 is conveyed in the direction of arrow 102. The platen roller 15 aligns the desired recording start position with the position of the coating means 10, and suspends the conveyance. In addition, the lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 16 to the home position 1
Move to 05 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. As shown in FIG. 15, the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 are input to the determination unit 13 and the delay unit 11 in synchronization with the drive clock 63. Further, the lead screw 17 rotates in synchronization with the driving clock 63, and the carrier 16 moves in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104 in 1-dot steps.

The discriminating means 13 discriminates from the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 constituting the two adjacent pixels, whether or not the pixel is a recording pixel, and outputs the discriminating signal 53 to the coating means 10. To do. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the determination signal 53. The delay means 11 takes the positional deviation between the coating means 10 and the recording means 12 into consideration, and a Yout signal 73 obtained by delaying the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 by 4 pulses by a line signal.
And Mout signal 74 and Cout signal 75 are generated. Y
The out signal 73 is input to the Y head 40, the Mout signal 74 is input to the M head 41, and the Cout signal 75 is input to the C head 42. Each head ejects recording ink onto the coating material coated by the coating means 10. Make a record.

As described above, the coating means 1 is used in this embodiment.
Since the resolution of 0 is ½ of the resolution of the inkjet recording head that is the recording unit 12, it is possible to coat two adjacent pixels with one coating. Therefore, by repeating the above operation, at least one of the pixels 82 and 83 is
If one is a pixel for recording, a coating area 81 in units of two pixels can be provided, and a dyeing area 80 with recording ink can be provided thereon. FIG. 16 is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the present invention can be easily applied even when at least one of two pixels adjacent in the sub-scanning direction performs recording. Further, the resolution of the coating means is set to one fourth of the resolution of the recording head, and when recording is performed on at least one of the four pixels adjacent in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction, the area of 4 pixels is coated. Are also possible from the present invention.

[0078]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus for recording the image on the recording medium by ejecting the recording ink according to the recording signal, the recording medium according to the recording signal. Before the recording with the recording ink, the coating means coats the recording medium with the coating material, the delay means for delaying the recording signal, and the recording according to the output signal of the delay means. By having a recording unit, high-quality ink jet recording is possible without being limited by the type of recording medium used. Since the area to be coated is determined according to the recording signal, the coating material can be saved. When the recording medium is paper, it is possible to prevent the undulation that occurs when a large amount of the coating material is applied and improve the quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between a coating area and a recording area in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating a temporal relationship between a coating area and a recording area in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention used in the first embodiment.

5 is a configuration diagram of a delay unit in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention used in Example 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a delay unit in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention used in Example 2.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another configuration in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration block diagram of a discriminating means in a third embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of another configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a fourth example of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.
It is a schematic diagram in the Example of.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing the operation of the discriminating means and delay means in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention used in Example 4.

FIG. 13 is a fifth example of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.
It is a schematic diagram in the Example of.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing the operations of the discriminating means and the delaying means in the fifth embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart showing the operations of the discriminating means and delay means in the sixth embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention used in the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a coating material on a recording material and ink in a sixth embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between the coating area and the recording area in the third embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 coat means 11 delay means 12 recording means 13 discriminating means

Continuation of the front page (72) Hiroshige Ikeno 6-31-1, Kameido, Koto-ku, Tokyo Seiko Electronics Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by ejecting recording ink according to a recording signal, wherein the recording is performed before the recording ink is recorded on the recording medium. An ink jet having a coating means for coating a recording material on a recording medium according to a signal, a delay means for delaying the recording signal, and a recording means for recording according to an output signal of the delay means. Recording device. 2. A discriminating means for receiving the recording signal, discriminating whether or not the coating material is coated on the recording medium, and outputting the discrimination result to the coating means. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the discriminating means discriminates whether or not to perform coating from at least two or more recording signals. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resolution of the coating means is an inverse multiple of the resolution of the recording head.