JPH07314786A - Device and method for recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform bidirectional recording by comparing a first recording of a record head with a second recording of a succeeding record head and recording with the record heads only a scanning in one direction out of reciprocating scanning of the record heads when there is no gap between the first and second recordings on a recording medium. CONSTITUTION:When a recording operation is completed, a line feed processing is performed based on a line feed quantity of a current print buffer control table 806. When it is determined that a carriage is located in an opposite side of a home position, a reference to a bottom end margin width storage area 804 of a preceding line print buffer control table 801 is made. When a bottom end margin width LW=0, a reference to a top end margin width storage area 807 of the current print buffer control table 806 is further made. When a top end margin width UW=0, a comparison of a line feed quantity LF of a line feed quantity storage area 805 of the preceding line print buffer control table 801 with a recording width RW of a recording width storage area 803 is further made. When LFnot equal to RW, it is determined that a recording in the returning direction is impossible, and the carriage is returned to the home position without letting the carriage perform any recording operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method, and more particularly to a recording apparatus and a recording method capable of bidirectional recording operation by reciprocating a recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a serial printer which performs a recording operation while moving (scanning) a recording head mounted on a carriage in the movement direction (main scanning direction) of the carriage, in order to improve the recording speed per page. , The print head is moved to the carriage movement end position, one scan by the print head is completed, and the print paper is transported by a predetermined amount in the transport direction (sub-scanning direction) (this is called line feed operation).
After that, when the recording head is returned to the recording start position (home position), the recording operation may be controlled (this is called bidirectional recording).

By such control, the recording operation is performed both when the recording head moves from the home position to the carriage movement end position (forward direction) and when it returns from the carriage movement end position to the home position (return direction). Therefore, compared with the control method in which the recording operation is performed only when the recording head moves from the home position to the carriage movement end position, there is no need to return the recording head to the home position for the next recording operation. Can be improved.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the recording position accuracy in the forward direction and the recording position accuracy in the backward direction are different, when recording data is recorded without a space between a certain line and the next line. In addition, a deviation occurs between the print result in the forward direction and the print result in the backward direction. Therefore, as a process associated with the bidirectional recording, it is determined whether or not the record data is text data having an interval in which a dot pattern is not developed between lines, and the contents of the record buffer in which the record data for one line is developed before the recording operation. It is necessary to perform processing such as inspection. As a result, bidirectional recording is limited to text data only, and the recording buffer is inspected to reduce the recording speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus and a recording method capable of efficiently performing bidirectional recording regardless of the type of recording data.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention has the following constitution.

That is, there is provided a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium by reciprocating a recording head in a predetermined direction, wherein an input means for inputting recording data and a recording data input by the input means are stored. 1 storage means, scanning means for reciprocally scanning the print head in the predetermined direction, and print control information for each scan by the print head based on print data input by the input means First recording of the recording head by one scan of the scanning means and first recording of the recording head by the next scan following the one scan based on the recording means and the recording control information stored in the second storage means. There is no gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording according to the comparison means for comparing the second recording and the comparison result by the comparing means. In this case, there is provided control means for controlling the first and second recording to be performed by the recording head only in one of the reciprocal scanning directions of the recording head by the scanning means. A recording device for

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording method for recording on a recording medium by reciprocating a recording head in a predetermined direction, which comprises an input step of inputting recording data and storing the input recording data. A first storing step, a second storing step of storing print control information for each scan by the print head based on the input print data, and a scanning step of reciprocally scanning the print head in the predetermined direction, The first of the recording heads by one scan of the scanning step based on the recording control information stored in the second storing step.
Of the first print and the second print of the print head by the next scan following the first scan, and the first print and the second print according to the comparison result of the comparison process.
When there is no gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording, the first and second recordings are performed by the recording head only in one of the reciprocal scans of the recording head in the scanning step. The recording method is characterized by having a control step of controlling to perform.

[0009]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the first recording of the recording head by one scanning of the scanning means and the recording head by the next scanning following the one scanning based on the recording control information obtained from the input recording data. Of the second recording, and according to the comparison result, when there is no gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording, the first and second recording are performed by the recording head by the scanning unit. The control is performed so that the recording head performs recording only in one of the reciprocal scanning directions.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an ink jet printer IJRA capable of bidirectional recording, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a spiral groove 500 of a lead screw 5005 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in association with forward and reverse rotations of a drive motor 110.
The carriage HC engaging with 4 has a pin (not shown) and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. Carriage H
Ink C is equipped with an inkjet cartridge IJC. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 113 to 114 denote photocouplers (home position sensors), which are levers 5006 of the carriage HC.
Of the carriage motor 110 after confirming its existence in this area.
Detects the home position for switching the rotation direction. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head 109.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a suction means for suctioning the inside of the cap, which performs suction recovery of the recording head 109 via the opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Also, 5012 is
A lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the carriage motor 110 is movement-controlled by known transmission means such as clutch switching.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. As long as the desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the above can be applied to this example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit of the ink jet printer IJRA. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes a host computer (hereinafter referred to as a host) which is an external device, and outputs print data including a character code for printing and various function codes (line feed, page break, vertical tab, etc.) to an inkjet printer IJRA. is doing. Reference numeral 101 denotes an input / output interface unit, which is the host 100.
Receive and input the record data transferred from. A CPU 102 controls the entire printer, and controls the entire apparatus according to various control programs stored in the ROM 103. The ROM 103 stores a control program executed by the CPU 102, various character patterns, and the like.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a RAM, which temporarily holds a print position 201 indicating which position on the recording medium the current printer position corresponds to, and print data for a plurality of lines transferred from the host 100. CPU 10 including a print buffer 202, a sub-scanning control information and print buffer management table 203, a vertical tab table area 204 including a vertical tab table and a vertical tab table save area, a print flag 206 for print control, and the like.
It is also used as the second work area. An input / output controller 105 drives the carriage motor driver 107, the paper feed motor driver 108, and the head driver 106 in accordance with control signals from the CPU 102. further,
Paper sensor 112, home position sensors 113-1
The signal from 14 is also input to the CPU 102 via the input / output controller 105.

A recording head 109 discharges an ink jet onto a recording sheet for recording and is mounted on the carriage HC and conveyed in the a and b directions (main scanning direction) shown in FIG. 110 is a carriage motor, which is a recording head 109
It is used as a drive source for transporting the carriage HC on which is mounted in the main scanning direction. A conveyance motor 111 conveys the recording paper in the c direction (sub scanning direction) shown in FIG.
It is driven to rotate at line break, page break, vertical tab, etc. The paper sensor 112 detects the presence or absence of recording paper, detects the size of the recording paper that is set, and transmits it to the CPU 102 via the input / output controller 105. In this way, the CPU 102 can detect the size of the currently loaded recording paper.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the ink jet printer of this embodiment performs a recording operation only in the forward direction.

In FIG. 3, 301 and 305 are arrows indicating the forward direction of movement of the carriage HC, and 304 and 308 are arrows indicating the backward direction of movement of the carriage HC. When printing is performed only in the forward direction, the print head 10 is moved by the movement of the carriage HC according to the arrow 301 as shown in FIG.
9 performs the recording operation and the recording result (character string "ABCDEF
"" 302 is obtained. When printing for one line is completed by such scanning in the main scanning direction, the conveyance motor 11
By 1 the recording paper is conveyed by one line in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow 303, and this time the carriage HC is moved to the home position in the direction indicated by the arrow 304. This completes the line feed operation and carriage HC return operation,
The recording head 109 is located at the recording start position of the next row.

Next, the carriage HC according to the arrow 305
The recording head 109 carries out a recording operation by the movement of, and a recording result (character string “ABCDEF ...”) 306 is obtained. When printing for one line is completed by such scanning in the main scanning direction, the recording paper is carried by the carrying motor 111 by one line in the sub-scanning direction indicated by arrow 307, and this time the carriage HC is indicated by arrow 308. In the direction to the recording start position 309 of the next line.

By repeating the above operation one after another, recording is performed only in the forward direction. As described above, in the printing operation in the forward direction, it is always necessary to move one carriage in the backward direction to return the carriage HC to the printing start position of the next row after the printing operation of each row is completed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the ink jet printer of this embodiment carries out bidirectional recording operations.

In FIG. 4, 401 is an arrow indicating the forward direction of movement of the carriage HC, and 404 is an arrow indicating the backward direction of movement of the carriage HC. When this bidirectional recording is executed, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording head 109 performs a recording operation by the movement of the carriage HC according to the arrow 401, and a recording result (character string "ABCDEF ...") 402 is obtained. When the recording for one line is completed by such scanning in the main scanning direction (outward direction), the conveyance motor 111 conveys the recording paper for one line in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow 403. Next, when moving the carriage HC to the home position in the direction indicated by arrow 404 (return direction),
The recording head 109 performs a recording operation and a recording result (character string “ABCDEF ...”) 405 is obtained. When the recording for one line is completed by such scanning in the main scanning direction (backward direction), the conveyance motor 111 conveys the recording paper for one line in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow 403. As a result, the recording head moves to the recording start position 407 of the next line.
Will be located in.

As described above, during bidirectional printing, the carriage HC is always positioned at the printing start position of the next line after printing for one run of the printing head, so that the printing operation is performed only in the forward direction. Since the carriage return operation, which is not accompanied by the actual recording operation, is not necessary, the recording processing can be performed at that speed.

Next, using the ink jet printer of this embodiment, bidirectional printing was performed without considering the relationship between the print data recorded on the print medium and the print area printed by one run of the print head. In this case, the recording result when one line of recording can be performed by one run of the recording head (character "A") and the recording result when one line of recording spans multiple runs (character string "A") Compare with.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a case where recording for one line extends over a plurality of runs of the recording head. In FIG. 5, 50
1 is a recording start position of the recording head during the first traveling (outward direction), 502 is a moving direction of the recording head during the first traveling (outward direction), and 503 is recording during the first traveling of the recording head (outward direction). An end position, 504 is a recording area in which recording is performed by the first traveling of the recording head, 505 is a recording start position during the second traveling of the recording head (return direction), and 506 is during the second traveling of the recording head (return direction). , 507 indicates a recording area in which recording is performed by the second traveling of the recording head.

As shown in FIG. 5, after completion of recording by the first run (outward direction) of the recording head without performing any control,
When the recording medium is conveyed by one line in the sub-scanning direction to the recording start position of the next line and recording is performed in the second run (return direction), the recording end position 503 of the preceding line and the recording start position 505 of the next line are performed. However, due to an error in the carriage movement accuracy, they do not coincide with each other in the main scanning direction, and as a result, a deviation occurs in the print data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a case where recording for one line is completed by one run of the recording head. In FIG. 6, 601
Is the recording start position of the recording head during the first traveling (outward direction),
Reference numeral 602 is the moving direction of the recording head during the first traveling (outward direction), 603 is the recording end position during the first traveling of the recording head (outward direction), and 604 is the recording area where recording is performed by the first traveling of the recording head. Reference numeral 605 denotes a recording start position of the recording head during the second traveling (backward direction), 606 is a moving direction of the recording head during the second traveling (returning direction), and 507 is recording performed by the second traveling of the recording head. Indicates the area.

As shown in FIG. 6, after recording by the first run (outward direction) of the recording head without performing any control,
Even if the recording medium is conveyed by one line in the sub-scanning direction to the recording start position of the next line and recording is performed in the second run (return direction), the recording end position 603 of the preceding line and the recording start of the next line are started. Position 60
Even if 5 does not match in the main scanning direction due to an error in the movement accuracy of the carriage, the deviation is not noticeable because there is a blank between the print data.

Therefore, when bidirectional recording is performed, it is determined whether or not the recording data per line spans a plurality of runs of the recording head, and control is performed so that bidirectional recording is executed only when it does not span. There is a need to.

Next, the bidirectional recording control as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the print buffer corresponding to one run of the print head of the ink jet printer of this embodiment and the print data (character string "ABC") stored in the print buffer. . In FIG.
701 is a print buffer for one run, 702 is the length of the margin at the upper end of the area in the print buffer 701 where there is no print data in the sub-scanning direction (upper margin width), and 703 is the print buffer 7.
01 is a range (recording width) in which sub-scanning direction print data exists, 704 is the length of the margin at the lower end of the area in the print buffer 701 where there is no sub-scanning direction print data (lower end margin width), and 705 is printing. The amount of conveyance (line feed amount) of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction when recording for one run using the buffer 701 is shown.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a print buffer control table used by the ink jet printer of this embodiment. The print buffer control is performed using the information stored in this table. In FIG. 8, FIG. 8A shows a print buffer control table (previous line print buffer control table) 801 corresponding to the print buffer used for recording one run of the previous line, and FIG. Used for recording 1
A print buffer control table (current line print buffer control table) 806 corresponding to the print buffers for running is shown.

In these figures, 802 and 806 are the preceding line, the upper margin width storage area for storing the upper margin width 702 of each print buffer used for recording one run of the current line, and 803 and 808 are the preceding lines. A recording width storage area for storing the recording width 703 of each print buffer used for recording one run of the current row, 804 and 809 are the previous row and 1 of the current row.
Width of the bottom margin of each print buffer used to record the running amount 7
Bottom margin width storage area for storing 04, 805, 810
Is a line feed amount storage area for storing the line feed amount at the time of recording one run of the previous line and the current line, respectively.

Each area of the current line print buffer control table 806 is updated each time the print data is written in the print buffer for the current one run based on the content of the print data received from the host 100 in the actual print operation. Alternatively, the current print data for one run is updated when the print data is printed by the print head. By this update process, the current upper limit blank width storage area 807 is set to 1
For example, the minimum value of the upper-end margin width for each character calculated from the recording data of the running amount is the recording width storage area 80.
In 8, the maximum value of the height (length in the sub-scanning direction) of each character calculated from the currently recorded data for one run, for example,
The lower-end margin width storage area 809 is calculated from the current print data for one run, for example, the minimum value of the lower-end margin width for each character, and the line feed amount storage area 810 is in the sub-scanning direction of the next line. The length to the beginning of is stored. After the current recording operation for one run is completed, the contents of the current line print buffer control table 806 are copied to the previous line print buffer control table 801.

In the above description, the case where the recording data is character data as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the print data may be dot data such as a pattern showing a specific design or feature, or image data showing a picture or a figure. If the print data is a simple dot pattern or image data, the upper margin width, lower margin width, recording width, etc. refer to the entire data expanded in the print buffer used for one run of the print head. It is possible to know how much blank space is generated at the upper and lower parts of the expanded data and how much maximum width the expanded data has in the sub-scanning direction by examining how the expanded data is expanded. Therefore, no matter what kind of data is stored in the print buffer, it does not affect the print buffer control or the structure of the print buffer control table of this embodiment.

The print buffer control process using the print buffer having the structure shown in FIG. 7 and the print buffer control table shown in FIG. 8 will be described in detail with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. Here, the operation from the time when the recording operation for a certain line ends and the line feed operation starts until the recording operation for the next line is completed will be described. It goes without saying that the actual operation is a repetition of these one series of operations.

First, in step S901, when the recording operation for a certain line by the recording head is completed, the recording paper is conveyed by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction and line feed processing is performed. The predetermined amount is the line feed amount stored in the current print buffer control table 806. Next, in step S902, it is determined whether the carriage HC is at the home position. Here, if it is determined that the carriage HC is at the home position, the printing operation of the next row corresponds to the order in which the carriage HC is moved in the forward direction to perform the printing operation, and thus the process proceeds to step S903 and the forward processing is performed. Performs a direction recording operation. In this case, no special control is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the carriage HC is not at the home position, that is, the carriage HC is on the side opposite to the home position, the carriage operation is performed by moving the carriage HC in the backward direction in the recording operation of the next line. Since the recording operations are performed in the order in which they are performed, the process proceeds to step S904.

In step S904, the lower end margin width storage area 804 in the preceding line print buffer control table 801 is referred to, and the value of the lower end margin width (LW) stored in that area is "0". Find out if Here, if LW> 0, there is a gap between the previous row and the current row, and it is possible to perform backward recording without causing a deviation in recording of recording data without performing special control. The determination is made, the process proceeds to step S907, and the backward recording operation is executed. On the other hand, if LW = 0, it is determined that there is a high possibility that there is no gap between the previous line and the current position, and the process proceeds to step S905, and the upper end margin width storage area 807 of the current print buffer control table 806 is further referred to. , Top margin width (UW) stored in the area
Check whether the value of is "0". Where UW>
If it is 0, there is a gap between the previous row and the current row, and it is determined that the backward recording can be performed without causing a gap in the recording of the recording data without performing special control, and the processing is performed. In step S907, the backward recording operation is performed. On the other hand, if UW = 0, it is determined that there is a high possibility that there is no gap between the previous line and the current line, and the process proceeds to step S.
Proceed to 906.

Further processing is performed in step S906.
The line feed amount (LF) of the previous line stored in the line feed amount storage area 805 in the preceding line print information buffer control table 801 is compared with the recording width (RW) stored in the recording width storage area 803. Here, if LF> RW, it is determined that there is a gap between the previous row and the current row, and it is possible to perform backward recording without causing a deviation in recording of the recording data, and the processing is performed in step S907. Proceed to. On the other hand, LF ≠ R
If it is W, it is determined that printing in the backward direction is impossible without causing a deviation in the printing of the printing data, and the process proceeds to step S908, where the carriage HC is left at the home position without performing any printing operation. Return to.

Then, in the process, the recording head returned to the home position in step S909 is moved in the forward direction to perform the recording operation. Finally, in step S910, the contents of the current print buffer control table 806 are copied to the preceding line print buffer control table 801 and the preceding line print buffer control table 801 is updated.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the bidirectional printing process of the serial printer can be efficiently performed, and the printing data can be controlled regardless of whether it is text data or image data.

Further, in the present embodiment, the presence / absence of the upper and lower margin widths of a certain line is checked by checking whether the width is "0". However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, a certain predetermined value. The determination can also be made by the threshold value of.

The present invention is particularly equipped with means for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) even in the ink jet recording system, and by the thermal energy. The printing apparatus of the type that causes a change in the state of ink has been described. According to such a method, the recording density is increased,
High definition can be achieved.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740 are applicable.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which the liquid crystal is held, which corresponds to the recorded information and gives a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling. Since heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter to cause film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording head, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal in a one-to-one correspondence can be formed. It is valid. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal in a pulse shape, because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose configurations in which the heat-acting surface is arranged in a bending region. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670, which discloses a structure in which a common slot is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-63, which discloses a structure in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is associated with the discharge portion A configuration based on Japanese Patent No. 138461 may be used.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum recording medium width that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification provides the length. Either of the structure satisfying the requirement or the structure as one recording head integrally formed may be used.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effect of the present invention can be further stabilized. . Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording. It is also effective to perform a stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which another discharge is performed.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode only for the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. Alternatively, the device may be provided with at least one of full-color mixed colors.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, or one that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used, or In the inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C to 70 ° C to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. It is sufficient that the ink is liquid.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy from being used as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state,
Alternatively, in order to prevent the ink from evaporating, an ink that solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, by applying heat energy, such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink is retained as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. It may be configured to face the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and further transmission / reception It may take the form of a facsimile machine having a function.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, based on the recording control information obtained from the input recording data, the first recording of the recording head by one scanning of the scanning means and the first recording
The second print of the print head by the next scan following the scan is compared, and according to the comparison result, if there is no gap on the print medium between the first print and the second print, the first print is made.
The second recording is controlled so that the recording head performs recording only in one of the reciprocating scanning directions of the recording head by the scanning means, regardless of the type of recording data such as text data and image data. There is an effect that the print control is performed and the print deviation related to the bidirectional print of the print head can be suppressed so as not to be conspicuous.

Further, since such control is executed on the basis of the print control information relating to an arbitrary scan and the scan following the scan, for example, without performing a complicated process such as reinspection of print data. Another advantage is that efficient processing can be executed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet printer IJRA capable of bidirectional recording, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the inkjet printer IJRA.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the inkjet printer performs a recording operation only in a forward direction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the ink jet printer performs a bidirectional recording operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a case in which recording for one line extends over a plurality of runs of the recording head.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a case where recording for one line is completed by one run of the recording head.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a print buffer corresponding to one run of the print head and print data stored in the print buffer.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a print buffer control table.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a print buffer control process.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 host computer 101 input / output interface 102 CPU 103 ROM 104 RAM 105 input / output controller 109 recording head 110 carriage motor 112 paper sensor 113, 114 home position sensor 301, 305, 401, 502, 602 forward direction 302 of carriage HC movement, 306, 402, 405, 504, 507, 6
04, 607 Recording result 303, 307, 403, 406 Recording paper conveyance direction 304, 308, 404, 506, 606 Return direction of carriage HC movement 309, 407, 501, 505, 601, 605 Recording start position 503, 605 Recording end position 701 Print buffer 702 Upper margin width 703 Recording width 704 Lower margin width 705 Line feed amount 801 Previous line print buffer control table 802, 807 Upper margin width storage area 803, 808 Recording width storage area 804, 809 Lower margin width storage area 805, 810 Line feed amount 806 Current print buffer control table

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording data on a recording medium by reciprocating a recording head in a predetermined direction, comprising: input means for inputting recording data; and storing recording data input by the input means. 1 storage unit, a scanning unit that reciprocally scans the recording head in the predetermined direction, and based on recording data input by the input unit,
Second storage means for storing print control information for each scan by the print head, and based on the print control information stored in the second storage means,
Comparing means for comparing the first recording of the recording head by one scan of the scanning means and the second recording of the recording head by the next scan following the one scan; When there is no gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording, either one of the first and second recordings of the reciprocal scanning of the recording head by the scanning means is performed. A recording apparatus comprising control means for controlling the recording head to perform recording only in the scanning direction. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium in a direction perpendicular to a scanning direction of the scanning unit. 3. The control means, according to the comparison result by the comparison means, if there is a gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording, the first and second recording means. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two-recording is controlled so that the recording is performed during the reciprocal scanning of the recording head by the scanning unit. 4. The scanning means detects the home position of the recording head, and according to the detection result of the detecting means, the recording head is moved at the end of each scanning when the recording head is scanned. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not the printer is at the home position. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the one of the scanning directions is scanning from the home position. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the comparison by the comparison unit is performed when the recording head is not located at the home position according to the determination unit by the determination unit. 7. If the recording head is not located at the home position and the control unit controls the scanning from the home position to perform recording, the control unit controls the recording unit. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the head is returned to the home position prior to the recording. 8. The recording control information includes a recording width of second information recorded by one scan of the recording head in the conveyance direction, and first information recorded by a scan one time before the one scan. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a gap width between the second information and the second information in the transport direction. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is an inkjet recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink. 10. The recording head is a recording head which ejects ink by utilizing thermal energy, and is provided with a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy applied to the ink. Item 2. The recording device according to item 1. 11. A recording method for recording on a recording medium by reciprocally moving a recording head in a predetermined direction, comprising: an input step of inputting recording data; and a first storing step of storing the input recording data. A second storing step of storing print control information for each scan by the print head based on the input print data; a scanning step of reciprocally scanning the print head in the predetermined direction; and a second storing step. A comparison step of comparing the first print of the print head by one scan of the scan step and the second print of the print head by the next scan subsequent to the one scan based on the stored print control information. According to the comparison result of the comparing step, if there is no gap on the recording medium between the first recording and the second recording, the first and second recording are scanned. A recording method comprising a control step of controlling the recording head to perform recording only in one of the reciprocal scanning directions of the recording head.