JPH06278277A - 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 medium to be recorded. CONSTITUTION:An ink jet recording apparatus consists of a delay means 11 delaying a recording signal 51, a recording means 12 performing recording corresponding to the output signal of the delay means 11, a coating means 10 applying a coating material to a medium to be recorded before recording due to recordig ink is applied to a medium to be recorded corresponding to the recording signal 51 and a control means 9 controlling the number of times of coating or coarting order of the coating means 10. By this constitution, a coating area or the coating amt. of the coating material is determined corresponding to the recording signal and the undulation generated by the coating with the coating material is prevented to enhance quality.

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, On the recording medium before the recording by the recording ink on the recording medium according to the recording signal, and the recording means for recording according to the output signal of the delaying means. A coating means for coating the coating material and a control means for controlling the number of times of coating performed by the coating means or the order of coating are provided.

[0007]

By providing the above-mentioned means, a coating material containing a resin material having a characteristic of appropriately absorbing or appropriately compatibilizing the recording ink is provided before recording with the recording ink. Further, it is possible to coat a predetermined area on the recording medium. As a result, the image recording with the recording ink is performed on the coating film made of the resin material having the above-described characteristics regardless of the type of the recording medium used, and thus is limited to the type of the recording medium used. It is possible to provide an inkjet recording device that enables high-quality inkjet recording without using the recording medium.

[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) 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 block diagram showing the structure of the control means. 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, reference numeral 9 is a control means for controlling the recording signal inputted to the coating means 10.
The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the recording signal 51. 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. I was there. Reference numeral 11 denotes a delay unit, which is composed of a FIFO (First In First Out Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a latch and 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. 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.

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 easily realized by the configuration shown in FIG. 5, 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,
Any capacity may be used as long as it 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.

The operation of the control means 9 will be described with reference to FIG. The recording signal 51 is input to the control means 9 in synchronization with the drive signal 63. The recording signal 51 is branched inside the control means 9, and one of them is used as the coating signal 50.
0 is output, and one is stored in the line memory 25.
The storage in the line memory 25 is performed according to the address 56 which is the output signal of the counter 26 which counts the drive signal 63. The counter 26 is an up / down counter that counts up or down according to the U / D signal. For example, when the recording signal 51 is stored in the line memory 25, the counter 26 counts the driving signal 51,
The address 56 is incremented. Also, the recording signal 5
When reading 1 from the line memory 25, the counter 26 counts the drive signal 63 and decrements the address 56.

The operation of the delay means 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The delay means 11 delays the recording signal 51 by one line, and toggles two line buffers 30 and 31 having a capacity of at least one line, one of which is used for storing the recording signal 51 and the other of which is a delayed signal. Used for the output of 52. The toggle is performed for each line, and the toggle is controlled by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 used for writing and reading is initialized once per line in this embodiment every time the mode changes from writing to reading or from reading to writing, and is synchronized with the drive clock 63 in each mode. It is counted up. By the above operation, the recording signal 51 is delayed by one line and input to the recording means 12 as the delay signal 52.

Further, the recording means 12 ejects recording ink in response to the delay signal 52 to form an image on the coating material on the recording medium 14 to be recorded. 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 carriage 16 to the home position 105 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. The recording signal 51 is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the control means 9 internally branches the input recording signal 51, outputs one to the coat means 10, and stores one in the line memory 25. 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 by one line,
Input to the recording means 12. The recording means 12 outputs the delayed signal 52
The recording ink is discharged in accordance with the above, and an image is formed 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 line can be coated, and the recording signal 51 is recorded by the control means 9 and the delay means 11.
Entered in. The control means 9 internally branches the inputted recording signal 51, outputs one to the coating means 10, and stores one in the line memory 25. The line memory 25 is stored according to an address 56 generated by a counter that counts the drive signal 63, and the address 56 is incremented by the U / D signal.

Since the first line is an area in which no recording is performed, the recording signal 51 is always LOW and the coating means 10 does not perform coating. The recording signal 51 input to the delay means 11 is written in the line buffer 30 selected by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 generated during writing is initialized each time the carriage 16 returns to the home position 105, and the carriage 10 is moved in the main scanning direction.
It is incremented every time 6 moves by one pixel. Along with this operation, the recording signal 51 for one line is stored in the line buffer 30, and the first scanning is completed. Rotate the lead screw 17 in the opposite direction to that during recording,
To the home position 105.

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 unit 12 is at a position where the coating unit 10 can record the second line and the recording unit 12 is where the first line can be recorded. The recording signal 51 is for recording the pixels in the second to seventh columns, and is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11. The control means 9 internally branches the inputted recording signal 51, outputs one to the coating means 10, and stores one in the line memory 25. The line memory 25 is stored according to the address 56 generated by the counter 26 which counts the drive signal 63, and the address 5
6 is incremented by the U / D signal. The coating unit 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 the delayed signal 52 according to the address 60.
Is output. 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 LOW is all written in the line buffer 30 during scanning in the previous line, and no pulse is output. Therefore, the recording unit 12 does not eject ink.

Next, the counter is caused to count down by the U / D signal, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, and the carriage 16 is moved to the home position 105.
Move to. At the same time, the counter drives 6
3 is input and the address 56 is decremented. The lines are read from the line memory 25 in the reverse order of the written order and input to the coat means 10. The coating unit 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the seventh column to the second column according to the recording signal 51 output from the line memory. By this reciprocating coating operation, the same pixel is coated twice.

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 unit 12 is at a position where the coating unit 10 can coat the third line and the recording unit 12 is where the second line can be recorded. The recording signal 51 is for recording the pixels in the second to seventh columns, and is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11. The control means 9 internally branches the inputted recording signal 51, outputs one to the coating means 10, and stores one in the line memory 25. The line memory 25 is stored according to the address 56 generated by the counter 25 which counts the drive signal, and the address 56 is incremented by the U / D signal. Coat means 1
In No. 0, the coating material is coated on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns according to the recording signal 51. The line buffer 30 selected for writing by the read / write signal 61 outputs the recording signal 51 to the address 60.
Memorize according to. On the other hand, the line buffer 31 selected for reading outputs the delay 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, but the data is stored in the line buffer 30 so that recording is performed at the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns in the scanning in the previous line. Therefore, 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.

Next, the counter is operated to count down by the U / D signal, the lead screw 17 is rotated in the opposite direction to that at the time of recording, and the carriage 16 is moved to the home position 105.
Move to. At the same time, the drive signal is input to the counter and the address 56 is decremented. The lines are read from the line memory 25 in the reverse order of the written order and input to the coat means 10. Coat means 10
Applies the coating material to the positions corresponding to the pixels in the seventh column to the second column according to the recording signal 51 output from the line memory 25. By this reciprocating coating operation, the same pixel is coated twice.

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. By repeating the above operation, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording material is coated with the coating material, and recording with the recording ink can be performed thereon.

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. (Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.

1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 are as described in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the control means in the second embodiment. The control means 9 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. The recording signal 51 is input to the control means 9 in synchronization with the drive signal 63. The recording signal 51 is separated by the separating means 27 into an odd signal 54 corresponding to an odd pixel and an even signal 55 corresponding to an even pixel. The odd number signal 54 is input to the A input of the selector 28, and the even number signal 55 is temporarily stored in the line memory 25 and then input to the B input of the selector 28. The odd number signal 54 and the even number signal 55 are selected by the selector 28 and input to the coat means 10 as the coat signal 50. The storage in the line memory 25 is performed according to the address 56 which is the output signal of the counter 26 which counts the drive signal 63. The counter 26 is an up / down counter that counts up or down according to the U / D signal 53. For example,
When the even signal 55 is stored in the line memory 25,
The counter counts the drive signal 63 every two clocks,
Increment address. When reading the even signal 55 from the line memory 25, the counter 26
Decrements the address 56 every time the drive signal 63 is counted for two clocks.

The operation of the delay means 11 shown in FIG. 5 is as described in the first embodiment. Also, the recording means 12
The operation is also similar to that of the first embodiment, and the recording ink is ejected in accordance with the delay signal 52 to form an image on the coating material on the recording medium 14 to be recorded.

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 control means 9 and the delay means 11. The control means 9 internally separates the input recording signal 51 into an odd signal 54 and an even signal 55. The selector 28 selects the odd number signal 54 and outputs it as the coat signal 50. Also, the even signal 5
5 is stored in the line memory 25. Line memory 25
In the writing mode to the drive signal 53, the counter 26 counts up by the U / D signal 53.
The address 56 is incremented each time 2 clocks are counted. As a result, the even number signals 55 corresponding to the even number of the recording signal 51 are sequentially stored in the line memory 25.

The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the coating signal 50 corresponding to the odd number signal 54. 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 means 10 coats the recording medium with every other pixel while moving in the main scanning direction of the arrow 104.

Next, the counter 26 is activated by the U / D signal 53.
Is a countdown operation, 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. At the same time, the drive signal 63 is input to the counter 26 and the address 56 is decremented. The lines are read from the line memory 25 in the reverse order of the written order and input to the B input of the selector 28. The selector 28 changes the input terminal selected from the A input to the B input when the counter 26 is changed from the count up operation to the count down operation. The output signal of the line memory 25 is input to the coating means 10 as the coating signal 50.

The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the even-numbered pixels in the opposite direction to the coating of the odd-numbered pixels according to the coating signal 50. By this reciprocating coating operation, odd-numbered pixels and even-numbered pixels are separately coated.

The delay means 11 delays the recording signal 51 by one line and inputs it to the recording means 12. Recording means 12
Discharges recording ink in accordance with 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 line can be coated, and the recording signal 51 is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11. The control means 9 separates the input recording signal 51 into the odd number signal 54 and the even number signal 5 by the separating means 27.
Separate into 5. The odd number signal 54 is selected by the selector 28 and output as the coat signal 50. Also, the even signal 5
5 is stored in the line memory 25. Line memory 25
Is stored in accordance with the address 56 generated by the counter 26 that counts the drive signal 63. The address 56 is incremented every two clocks of the drive signal 63 according to the U / D signal 53.

Since the first line is an area where no recording is performed, the recording signal 51 is always LOW and the coating means 10 does not perform coating. The recording signal 51 input to the delay means 11 is written in the line buffer 30 selected by the read / write signal 61. The address 60 generated during writing is initialized each time the carriage 16 returns to the home position 105, and the carriage 10 is moved in the main scanning direction.
It is incremented every time 6 moves by one pixel. Along with this operation, the recording signal 51 for one line is stored in the line buffer 30, and the first scanning is completed. Rotate the lead screw 17 in the opposite direction to that during recording,
To the home position 105.

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 unit 12 is at a position where the coating unit 10 can record the second line and the recording unit 12 is where the first line can be recorded. The recording signal 51 is for recording the pixels in the second to seventh columns, and is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11.

The control means 9 separates the input recording signal 51 into the odd number signal 54 and the even number signal 55 by the separating means 27.
The odd number signal 54 is selected by the selector 28 and output as the coat signal 50. The odd number signal 54 is selected by the selector 28 and output as the coat signal 50. Further, the even number signal 55 is stored in the line memory 25. The line memory 25 is stored according to the address 56 generated by the counter 26 that counts the drive signal 63. The address 56 is incremented every 2 clocks of the drive signal 63 according to the U / D signal 53.

The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the third, fifth and seventh columns in response to the coating signal 50. 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 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 response to the delay signal 52, but LOW is all written in the line buffer 30 during scanning in the previous line, and no pulse is output. Therefore, the recording unit 12 does not eject ink.

Next, the counter is operated to count down by the U / D signal, 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.
Move to. At the same time, the drive signal 63 is input to the counter 26, and the address 56 is decremented every time the drive signal 63 is counted for two clocks. The lines are read from the line memory 25 in the reverse order of the written order and input to the B input of the selector 28.

The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the sixth, fourth and second columns according to the recording signal 51 output from the line memory 25. By this reciprocating coating operation, the odd-numbered pixels and the even-numbered pixels are coated.

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 unit 12 is at a position where the coating unit 10 can coat the third line and the recording unit 12 is where the second line can be recorded. The recording signal 51 is for recording the pixels in the second to seventh columns, and is input to the control means 9 and the delay means 11.

The control means 9 separates the input recording signal 51 into the odd number signal 54 and the even number signal 55 by the separating means 27.
The odd number signal 54 is selected by the selector 28 and output as the coat signal 50. The odd number signal 54 is selected by the selector 28 and output as the coat signal 50. Further, the even number signal 55 is stored in the line memory 25. The line memory 25 is stored according to the address 56 generated by the counter 26 that counts the drive signal 63. The address 56 is incremented every 2 clocks of the drive signal 63 according to the U / D signal 53.

The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the third, fifth and seventh columns in response to the coating signal 50. The line buffer 30 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 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 response to the delay signal, but the data is stored in the line buffer 30 so that recording is performed at the positions corresponding to the pixels in the second to seventh columns in the scanning in the previous line. Therefore, 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.

Next, the counter is operated to count down by the U / D signal, 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.
Move to. At the same time, the drive signal 63 is input to the counter 26, and the address 56 is decremented every time the drive signal 63 is counted for two clocks. The lines are read from the line memory 25 in the reverse order of the written order and input to the B input of the selector 28.

The coating means 10 coats the coating material on the positions corresponding to the pixels in the sixth, fourth and second columns in response to the recording signal 51 output from the line memory 25. By this reciprocating coating operation, the odd-numbered pixels and the even-numbered pixels are coated.

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 start of the next recording. By repeating the above operation, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording material is coated with the coating material, and recording with the recording ink can be performed thereon.

By coating every other pixel, it is possible to accelerate the drying of the coating material and prevent waviness and wrinkles when the recording medium is paper. In the present embodiment, the coating is performed separately for the odd-numbered pixels and the even-numbered pixels, but the present invention is not limited to this.

(Embodiment 3) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention. Figure 8
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an inkjet recording device 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. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the gradation expression method. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the gradation detecting means. FIG. 11 is a timing chart for explaining the temporal relationship between the coating operation and the recording operation according to the present invention.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 8 is a gradation detecting means,
The gradation value is detected from the recording signal 51, the gradation value is converted into the number of times of coating, and the result is output. Reference numeral 9 is a control means, which controls the coating means 10 according to the output signal of the gradation detection means 8.
The coating means 10 coats the coating material with a coating signal 50.
The recording medium is coated accordingly. 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, and the like. The delay means 11 temporarily stores the input data and outputs it as needed. 12
Is a recording means, which is a known inkjet recording head for recording one pixel with a plurality of ink droplets.

Operation of gradation detecting means: FIG. 9 and FIG.
Will be explained. FIG. 9 illustrates gradation expression in inkjet recording. As a gradation expression in inkjet recording, a dot density control method for controlling the number of recording dots per unit area with a uniform dot diameter and a dot diameter control method for controlling the size of recording dots are known. However, although the method is different, gradation is expressed by controlling the recording area per unit area as shown in FIGS. 9A to 9D. For example, in FIG. 9A, the recording area per unit area is smaller than that in FIG. 9B, and the gradation value is low. Similarly, FIG. 9B is different from FIG.
9C, the recording area per unit area is smaller than that in FIG. 9D, and the gradation value is low. As described above, gradation can be expressed by changing the recording area per unit area. Along with this, the amount of ink per unit area used for recording differs depending on the gradation value.

As shown in FIG. 10, the gradation detecting means detects the gradation value from the recording signal and determines the number of coats from the gradation value. As shown in FIG. 10, the number of coats is divided from 1 to 10 according to the gradation value. Thereby, the number of coats corresponding to the amount of ink required for recording can be determined.

The control means 9 controls the coating operation of the coating means 10 in accordance with the output signal of the gradation detecting means 8. The details of the operation will be described in the explanation of the operation of the entire apparatus. Further, in the case of the present embodiment, the coating means 10 precedes the recording means 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 realized by a latch that can store data for two pixels. 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 shown in FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, a position 57 indicates a position where the coating means 10 can coat, and a number in the figure indicates which column of pixels the pixel corresponds to. Similarly, the position 58 indicates a position where the recording means 12 can record,
The numbers indicate the columns of pixels.

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. Also,
The lead screw 17 is rotated to move the carrier 16 to the home position 105 to prepare for recording.

Recording is performed as follows. The recording signal 51 is input to the gradation detection means 8 and the delay means 11. The gradation detecting means 8 detects the gradation value from the recording signal 51, replaces the gradation value with the number of coats, and inputs it to the control means 9. The control means 9 controls the coating means 10 so that the same pixel is coated according to the number of coating times indicated by the output signal of the gradation detection means. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the coating signal 50. 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. Thereby, the coating means 1
0 moves the main scanning direction of the arrow 104, and coats a recording material with a coating material. Further, the delay means 11 delays the recording signal 51 by a predetermined time,
The delayed signal 52 delayed is input 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 rotates in synchronism with the drive clock 63 of FIG. 11, and moves the carrier 16 by one pixel in one clock. When the driving clock 63 is input by 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 (second row, first column) that does not record. Does not form. The recording signal 51 is replaced by the number of coats by the gradation detecting means 8 according to FIG. In this case, it is replaced with 0 times and input to the control means 9. Therefore, the coating means 10
Does not coat according to the coat signal 50.

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 means 10 is on the pixel for recording with the gradation value 128, the recording signal 51 is replaced by the gradation detecting means 8 with the number of coating times of 4 times and input to the control means 9. The control means 9 generates the coat signal 50 so as to coat four times. The coat signal 50 is input to the coating means 10, and the coating means 10 coats the area corresponding to the pixel in the second row, second column on the recording medium with the coating material four times.

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 means 10 is on the pixel for recording with the gradation value 128, the recording signal 51 is replaced by the gradation detecting means 8 with the number of coating times of 4 times and input to the control means 9. The control means 9 generates the coat signal 50 so as to coat four times. Coat signal 5 to coat means 10
0 is input, and the coating unit 10 coats the area corresponding to the pixel on the second row, third column on the recording medium with the coating material four times.

Further, when one clock is input, the coating means 10 moves to a position where the pixels of the fourth column can be coated, and the recording means 12 moves to a position where the pixels of the second column can be recorded. At this time, the coating means 10 has a gradation value of 128.
The recording signal 51 is replaced by the gradation detecting means 8 by the number of times of coating 4 times, and is inputted to the controlling means 9. The control means 9 generates the coat signal 50 so as to coat four times. The coat signal 50 is input to the coat means 10, and the coat means 10 is the second mark on the recording medium.
The area corresponding to the pixels in the fourth column of the row is coated with the coating material four times. At the same time, the recording unit 12 records the gradation value 128 in the area corresponding to the pixels in the second column.

Recording in the main scanning direction can be performed by repeating the above operation. 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 only the recording area corresponding to the gradation value of the recording signal is always recorded before the recording ink is recorded on the recording medium. The coating material can be coated. As a result, high-quality recording can be realized regardless of the type of recording medium.

(Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
2, and will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 12 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 color detection means 7 and the delay means 11. Further, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in each drawing.

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 operations of the color detection means 7 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, input to the color detection means 7 and the delay means 11 in synchronization with the driving clock 63. To be done. 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 color detecting means 7 determines the number of coats from the combination of three signals of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71 and the C signal 72 which form the same pixel, and outputs it as the color signal 59. For example, the color detection unit 7 determines the number of coats from the three signals of the Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 which form the first pixel, in the relationship shown in Table 1.

[0066]

[Table 1]

Regarding the Y signal, M signal, and C signal in Table 1, "0" indicates that recording is not performed, and "1" indicates that recording is performed. Therefore, when recording with one color recording ink such as yellow, magenta, and cyan, the number of coats is one, and when recording with two color recording inks such as red, green, and blue. The number of coats is set to 2 and the number of coats is set to 3 when recording is performed with three color recording inks such as black.
Is output. The color detection means 7 outputs a color signal I11 to the control means 9 from the combination of three signals of the Y signal Y11, the M signal M11 and the C signal C11 which form the first pixel, and the control means 9 indicates the color signal I11. The coating means 10 is controlled according to the number of coatings. The coating means 10 is the coating signal 5
According to 0, the coating material is coated on the recording medium several times. In order to execute the above operation, the color detecting means 7 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. The color signal 59 is output from the M signal and the C signal 72 delayed by the amount. 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 color signal I11 is output with a line signal delayed by 2 pulses from the Y signal Y11, the delay unit 11 delays the Y signal Y11 by 3 pulses with a line signal to generate a Yout signal Yo11. Similarly, M signal M11 and C signal C11 are delayed by three pulses by the line signal, and Mout signal Mo11 and C are delayed.
The out signal Co11 is generated. Yout signal 73 is Y
To the head 40, the Mout signal 74 to the M head 41, C
The out 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 color detection means 7 and the delay means 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 color detecting means 7 determines 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 a determination signal to the coating means 10. The coating means 10 coats the recording medium with a coating material according to the determination signal. The delay means 11 considers the positional deviation between the coating means 10 and the recording means 12,
The Y signal 70, the M signal 71, and the C signal 72 are 3 line signals.
The Yout signal 73, the Mout signal 74, and the Cout signal 75 that are pulse-delayed are generated. 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, and each head ejects recording ink onto the coating material coated by the coating means 10 to perform recording.

By repeating the above operation, the recording medium can be coated with the coating material according to the color to be recorded, 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.

Further, even when the Y signal, the M signal, and the C signal are multi-valued data for gradation recording, it is possible to deal with them by changing the detection method of the color detecting means.

[0074]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting the recording ink according to the recording signal to record the image on the recording medium, the delay means for delaying the recording signal is provided. Recording means for recording according to the output signal of the delay means, and coating a recording material on the recording medium before recording with recording ink on the recording medium according to the recording signal By having the coating means and the control means for controlling the number of times and the order of coating of the coating means, high-quality ink jet recording is possible without being limited by the type of recording medium used. Further, since the amount of coating material used for coating 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 a first embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram used in Example 1 of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between a coating area and a recording area according to the present invention used in Example 1.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of control means used in Example 1 in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

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

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of control means used in Example 2 in the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram used in Example 3 of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram used in Example 3 of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a gradation expression method used in Example 3;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the gradation detection unit according to the third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart for explaining the temporal relationship between the coating operation and the recording operation according to the present invention used in the third embodiment. .

FIG. 12 is a configuration block diagram used in Example 4 of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram used in Example 4 of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing the operation of the discriminating means and delay means used in the fourth embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Color Detection Means 8 Gradation Detection Means 9 Control Means 10 Coat Means 11 Delay Means 12 Recording Means

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location 9113-2C B41J 29/00 G (72) Inventor Hiroshige Ikeno 6-31-1 Kameido, Koto-ku, Tokyo Seiko Electronic Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by ejecting recording ink according to a recording signal, and a delay unit for delaying the recording signal, and an output signal from the delay unit. Recording means for recording,
Coating means for coating the recording material with a coating material before recording with the recording ink on the recording medium according to the recording signal, the number of coatings performed by the coating means, or the order of coating. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a control unit for controlling the. 2. The control means includes gradation detecting means for detecting a gradation value from the recording signal, and means for determining the number of times of coating by the coating means from an output signal of the gradation detecting means. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 3. The control means includes color detection means for detecting a color to be recorded from the recording signal, and means for determining the number of times of coating by the coating means from an output signal of the color detection means. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1.