JPH0970990A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute a multi-scanning system by small memory capacity in the multi-scanning system recording one pixel or line by inks emitted from a plurality of different emitting orifices. SOLUTION: Eight-bit recording data corresponding to respective recording heads of eight color inks are inputted to the data distribution circuits corresponding to the respective colors. In each of these circuits, for example, the output of an AND circuit 307 having recording data '1' as one input becomes '1' and the-output of an AND circuit 308 becomes '0' corresponding to the Dinput of a flip-flop 302 and the recording data is distributed to a first head at first. At this time, the flip-flop 302 is set to a clear state by the Q* output of a flip- flop 303 and, therefore, the next recording data '1' is distributed to a second head. By this constitution, recording data are automatically and alternately distributed to the first and second heads by a data resolving circuit.

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 more particularly to reduction of density unevenness and the like due to variations in recording characteristics among a plurality of recording elements in a recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of an apparatus using a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, an ink jet recording apparatus using a recording head having a plurality of sealed ink ejection ports is known. In such an apparatus, the size and formation position of the dots formed by the ink may vary due to variations in the ejection port diameters of the ejection ports, variations in the ejection direction, and the like, and density unevenness may occur in the printed image. In particular, in a serial-type recording apparatus that performs recording by scanning the recording head in the direction orthogonal to the array direction of the plurality of ejection ports, the density unevenness caused by the above-described variation in the ejection port diameter becomes streaky unevenness and is printed. Since it appears in the printed image, the quality of the printed image may be further degraded.

In order to correct the density unevenness as described above, 1
In the case of forming a pixel or one line formed by arranging these pixels in the main scanning direction with a plurality of ink droplets, by forming the one pixel or one line with ink ejected from a plurality of different ejection ports, an ink jet The present applicant has proposed a so-called multi-scan method in which the density unevenness caused by the characteristic peculiar to the ejection port of the head is dispersed on the recording medium to relatively reduce the density unevenness.

Further, in this multi-scan method, a so-called sequential multi-scan method is also proposed, in which the respective ejection openings are used in a fixed order mainly for the purpose of making the usage frequencies of the respective ejection openings uniform.

However, in order to execute such a multi-scan system or a sequential multi-scan system, for example, ejection data, that is, "1" or "0" is made to correspond to a plurality of ejection openings that can be used for each pixel to be recorded. It is necessary to obtain "" in advance and store it in a predetermined memory.

As described above, in the multi-scan method, not only recording data to be printed but also data (ejection data) indicating whether or not ink is to be ejected for each of a plurality of ejection ports for each pixel, generated based on the recording data. Must also be stored, and for this reason a relatively large amount of memory must be provided. For this reason, particularly in an inkjet printing apparatus or the like in which the scanning range of the recording head extends to several meters, the recording amount becomes large, so that the memory capacity becomes enormous, which is one of the factors that increase the cost of the apparatus. .

Therefore, a recording apparatus capable of executing a sequential multi-scan method with a small memory capacity by separately controlling a plurality of ejection ports of each of a plurality of recording heads has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-318772. .

[0008]

However, the inventor of the present application has found that the memory capacity in the case of executing the multi-scan method in a large color ink jet printing apparatus having a scanning range of several meters like the above-mentioned textile printing apparatus. In addition to the increase, we have found new challenges.
That is, when printing is performed in both directions of the print head scan for the purpose of shortening the printing time, the order in which the inks of the respective colors overlap in the forward and backward passes is different, and the difference in tint and density Differences can be significant.
Therefore, it is an object to disperse the color tone and the density difference when the printing is performed in the bidirectional bidirectional manner by the multi-scan method. Further, as a result, the memory capacity for realizing this decentralization is increased as described above, and the cost of the device is increased.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and executes the multi-scan method with a small memory capacity, and also disperses the color tone difference and the density difference of color inks to relatively reduce the color ink. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording with a reduced difference in color tone.

[0010]

Therefore, according to the present invention,
In a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium using a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, a moving means for relatively moving the recording head and the recording medium and one pixel or a plurality of pixels are arranged. 1 line of recorded data
A plurality of ejection port groups formed by dividing the plurality of recording elements,
Distributing means for distributing with a predetermined delay for each of the plurality of ejection port groups, the recording head and the recording medium are relatively moved by the moving means, and the recording data is distributed by the distributing means. Based on the recording element of each of the plurality of ejection port groups,
And a control means for recording the line.

Further, the recording head and the distributing means are provided corresponding to each of a plurality of recording colors, and the recording device is configured to distribute another recording color to each of the plurality of recording colors by the distributing means. It is characterized by further comprising means for establishing a priority relationship with respect to recording order with respect to distribution.

According to the above configuration, the data for printing one pixel or one line is automatically distributed to each of the plurality of ejection port groups, and each pixel has a predetermined delay time. One line is recorded.

Further, in the case of recording with a plurality of recording colors, since the recording order in recording one pixel or one line can be determined, it is possible to prevent overlapping of predetermined colors.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a schematic structure of an ink jet textile printing apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a cloth (hereinafter also referred to as a recording medium) as a recording medium, which is made of cotton, silk, nylon, polyester or the like. The feeding roller 102 winds and mounts the recording medium 101 in a roll shape, and carries out the feeding operation along with the recording operation. On the other hand, the take-up roller 103 installed on the opposite side of the feeding roller 102 in the apparatus takes up the printed recording medium 101.

A print section is formed in a part of the cloth conveying path formed between the two rollers 102 and 103, and the ink jet head 10 provided in the print section.
5 to 120 are printed. The inkjet head is mounted on a carriage and is configured to be movable along two guide members 104A and 104B extending in parallel. Of these, the heads 105 to 112 are arranged on the upstream side in the conveyance path of the recording medium 101, that is, on the side closer to the feeding roller 102, and 105 is provided with a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting light magenta ink (hereinafter The same applies to the head of the) first light magenta head,
106 is a first yellow head for ejecting yellow ink, 107 is a first orange head for ejecting orange ink, 108 is a first magenta head for ejecting magenta ink, and 109 is a first for ejecting light cyan ink. Light cyan head, 110 is a first for ejecting cyan ink
Cyan head, 111 is the first for ejecting blue ink
And a reference numeral 112 is a first black head for ejecting black ink. Further, the inkjet heads 113 to 120 are provided on the downstream side in the transport path of the recording medium 101, that is, on the side where recording is performed after the heads 105 to 112, and the arrangement positions of the inkjet heads 105 to 112 on the upstream side. Means that these heads are arranged at positions displaced by a distance of half the width (hereinafter, also referred to as band width) printed by one scan by the carriage 104. Of these heads, 113 is a second light magenta head for ejecting light magenta ink, 114
Is a second yellow head for ejecting yellow ink, 1
Reference numeral 15 is a second orange head for ejecting orange ink, 116 is a second magenta head for ejecting magenta ink, 117 is a second light cyan head for ejecting light cyan ink, and 118 is a second ink ejecting cyan ink. Cyan head, 119 is a second blue head for ejecting blue ink, and 120 is a second black head for ejecting black ink.

A conveyor belt 121 for conveying the recording medium 101 facing a part of the scanning area of the carriage 104 having the first and second ink jet heads mounted thereon.
Is provided. The conveyor belt 121 is stretched by a plurality of rollers 121A and 121B provided with the scanning area sandwiched therebetween, an adhesive is applied to the outside, and these rollers are driven by a motor or the like (not shown), The recording medium 101 can be conveyed in the arrow B direction in the drawing by the frictional force and the adhesive force generated between the recording medium 101 and the medium A moving in the direction of the arrow A. As described above, the belt 121 forms a flat surface facing the scanning area of the carriage 104, and thus functions as a platen that regulates the recording surface of the recording medium 101.

A capping / cleaning device 126 for carrying out the ejection recovery process of the ink jet heads 105 to 120 is provided in a region outside the region where the belt 121 is arranged in the scanning region of the carriage 104. The capping / cleaning device 126 is provided with a sponge-like blade that wipes the ejection port surface of each head, and this blade can be washed with the washing liquid in the washing tank 125. Pressure / suction pump 1
Reference numeral 24 is for sucking ink from each head.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a printing operation by the ink jet textile printing apparatus shown in FIG. here,
The first and second heads perform bidirectional recording. Note that, here, for simplification of description, only recording by the first light cyan head 105 and the second light cyan head 113 will be described.
The same applies to the first and second inkjet heads of other colors.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first light cyan head 105 is different from the second light cyan head in the recording medium 101.
Of the recording medium 101.
The first printing is performed on the portion 201a.

At the time of this printing, recording (printing) is performed based on the first recording data distributed according to the multi-scan method. Thus, the first light cyan head 105
The portion 201a of the recording medium 101 printed by the forward scan using all of the ejection ports of
A predetermined amount corresponding to the ejection opening arrangement width of 3 is conveyed to become a portion 201b corresponding to the recording area of the second light cyan head 113. Printing is performed on this portion by the second light cyan head 113 based on the remaining second print data distributed according to the multi-scan method. As described above, the first light cyan head 105 and the second light cyan are used. Head 1
The recording positions of 13 and 13 are displaced from each other by a half of the ejection port array width. Therefore, the second light cyan head 113 uses the ejection ports of the inner lower half of the ejection ports of the head to generate the first light cyan head. Portion 201 already recorded by 105
The area 202a corresponding to the upper half of b is printed by scanning in the backward direction.

Next, when the recording medium 101 is conveyed by an amount corresponding to the ejection opening arrangement width and the portion 201b of the recording medium 101 becomes a portion 201c in the drawing, the second light cyan head 113 moves in the forward direction. The area 2 printed by the first light cyan head 105 is formed by using the upper half of the ejection ports during scanning.
The data is recorded in the lower half area 202b of 01c. An area recorded by the first light cyan head 105 and the second light cyan head 113 as described above is indicated by reference numeral 202 in the drawing.

As described above, each line of the area 202 is formed by the ink ejected from the different ejection ports of the first light cyan head 105 and the second light cyan head 113 by the multi-scan method. . That is, the recording data is divided into two and recorded on the first and second heads.
05 and the second light cyan head 113,
Since the upper half and the lower half of the ejection port arrays are different from each other, it is possible to disperse density unevenness and stripes due to variations in the ejection port diameter and ejection direction of the inkjet head.

FIG. 3 shows the first ink jet head (105 to 112) for the multi-scan recording shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data distribution circuit for distributing and supplying print data to the second inkjet heads (113 to 120). FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the block diagram shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, a register 301 is a set of ink colors of the first and second heads, that is, light magenta, yellow, orange, magenta, light cyan, cyan, blue,
An 8-bit flag corresponding to the eight black groups is stored. The flag of the register 301 indicates whether the print data at the beginning of each scan is printed by the first head (105 to 112) or the second head (113 to 120). 1 head (105-1112)
When it is "0", it means that recording is performed by the second head (113 to 120).

The operation of the distribution circuit will be described below by taking as an example the case where "1" which means recording from the first head is set in all 8 bits of the register 301.

The contents of the flags in the register 301 are as shown at 401 at the start of each scan (the rise of the horizontal synchronizing signal Sync, FIG.
(Refer to FIG. 3) and stored in the first / second head switching flip-flop 302. In other words, the input recording data n ₁ = "1" in which the Q output is "1" and the Q ^* output is "0" and the Q output and the Q ^* output of the flip-flop 302 are AND circuits 307 and 308. The logical products are obtained and latched by the first head output flip-flop 303 and the second head output flip-flop 304, respectively. At this time, at the timing of 402, “1” indicating ejection is output to the first head, and “0” indicating not ejecting to the second head is output.

At the same time, Q ^{* of the} flip-flop 303 is enabled (“0”), and the flip-flop 302 is turned on.
Is cleared, that is, Q = “0” and Q ^* = “1” are set, and as a result, the flip-flop 30
The Q output of 2 is inverted. Here, the recording data n ₂
Since the Q output of the flip-flop 302 is inverted when = “1” is input, the data “0” indicating that the flip-flop 303 does not eject the ink to the first head is output from the flip-flop 304, as indicated by the time point 404. From the first head to the second head, data "1" indicating ejection is output, and the Q ^* output causes the flip-flop 302 to be preset, that is, Q = "1", resulting in time 4
As indicated by 05, the output of the first / second head switching flip-flop 302 is inverted again and returned to the original state.

When non-ejection data "0" is input, it becomes "0" together with the output to the first head and the second head as shown at time 406, and the flip-flop 30
In both 3 and 304, Q ^* is not enabled, and the output of the flip-flop 302 is not inverted.

As described above, the print data output to the first head is once stored in the buffer 305 having a data capacity equal to that of the print area for one band provided for bidirectional printing. After that, the data is read in synchronization with the movement of the head and recording is performed on the recording medium 101. The recording data output to the second head is the recording of 2.5 bands provided to correspond to the relative position (1.5 bands) from the first head and bidirectional recording shown in FIG. The data is stored in the buffer 306 having the same data capacity as the area, is read in synchronization with the movement of the head at appropriate times, and is recorded on the recording medium 101.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the print data continuous in the main scanning direction is automatically distributed to the first and second heads alternately for each of the eight heads. It is also possible to reduce the occurrence of density unevenness peculiar to the nozzles of the inkjet head for each line in the main scanning direction, without requiring a memory for storing each print head in association with print data in advance. Further, according to the present embodiment, the number of ejections from each ejection port of the first / second heads of the same color can be made almost equal regardless of the content of the print data, and the first / second of the same color can be ejected. The expected lifespans of the heads can be considered to be approximately equal.

In the present embodiment, description has been made of the case where recording is performed using an eight-color head of light magenta, yellow, orange, magenta, light cyan, cyan, blue, and black, but the application of the present invention is not limited to this. Not limited, for example, when a special coloring ink is added (for example, 12 colors)
Can also be realized by providing a circuit similar to the above-mentioned circuit (FIG. 3) according to the number of colors.

Further, in the present embodiment, recording is performed by arranging the two-stage heads so as to be displaced by half the recording width of the heads. Even when the (stage) groups are arranged side by side in the fabric conveying direction, it can be similarly realized by replacing the flip-flop 302 with an n-bit ring counter.

In the above embodiment, 2 for each color.
Although the case of using one head has been described, the application of the present invention is not limited to such a structure. For example, when one head has a plurality of ejection ports, these are divided into, for example, two blocks. It is obvious that the present invention can be applied to

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a data distribution circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
The first inkjet head (105 to 112) described above
The recording data is distributed and supplied to the second inkjet heads (113 to 120). FIG.
6 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the block diagram shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, a toggle type flip-flop 50 is used instead of the first / second head switching flip-flop 301 described in the first embodiment with reference to FIG.
1, data distribution is performed at the timing shown in FIG. That is, similar to the first embodiment, the first head and the second head are alternately designated as recording heads in units of pixels in the main scanning direction, and the input φ1 to the flip-flop 501 is designated.
By reversing the phase of each of the ejection ports, the first head and the second head are alternately designated as the recording heads in the ejection port unit also in the conveyance direction of the cloth. This eliminates simultaneous ejection from adjacent ejection ports and continuous ejection from the same ejection port in the main scanning direction.

Further, in this embodiment, particularly in the ink jet system, the local temperature rise that occurs in a relatively long ink jet head for recording by forming and ejecting flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy is performed. , 1st / 2nd
The droplets are dispersed in the head and stable droplet ejection can be ensured, which enables high-quality recording with less variation in the ejection amount.

In the present embodiment, the case of recording with eight color heads of light magenta, yellow, orange, magenta, light cyan, cyan, blue and black has been described, but the application of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even when a special color-forming ink is added (for example, 12 colors), the above-described circuit (FIG. 5) corresponding to the number of colors can be provided together.

In the present embodiment, recording is performed by arranging the first and second two-stage heads so that the recording widths thereof are shifted by half, but this is performed with more heads per color. Even when (for example, n) heads are sequentially arranged in the cloth transport direction, the same embodiment can be realized by replacing the flip-flop 501 with an n-bit ring counter.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 7 shows a data distribution circuit according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the above-mentioned first ink jet head (105 to 112) and second ink jet head (113 to 120) are used for recording. It distributes and supplies data.

In FIG. 7, a register 701 is a group of eight colors of the first / second heads, that is, light magenta, yellow, orange, magenta, light cyan, cyan and blue, as in the case described in FIG. , And stores 8-bit flags corresponding to a total of eight colors of black. The flag of the register 701 records the first print data of each scan by the first head (105 to 112) or the second head (1
13-120), the first head (105-112) when "1", the second head (113-120) when "0". .

The register 702 switches the selector 703 according to its contents, whereby each color data of bit 0 to bit 7 representing the recording data of each ink color is provided with eight priority units 706 to.
Allocate to any of 713. As a result, the above-mentioned 8
The priority of # 1 to # 8 is determined for each ink color, and the processing described later is performed in accordance with the priority. In addition,
The data whose correspondence with the head has been changed by the priority allocation is returned to the original bit string by the selectors 704 and 705.

The operation of the priority order # 1 unit 706 when all the 8 bits of the register 701 are set to "1" which means ejection from the first head will be described below.

The flag in the register 701 is a flip-flop 714 for switching the first / second head at the start of each scanning.
And the output Q of the flip-flop 714 is “1” and the input recording data “1” is stored in the same manner as the operation shown in FIG.
And Q ^* = “0” are respectively latched by the first head output flip-flop 715 and the second head output flip-flop 716. At this time, “1” indicating ejection is output to the first head, and “0” indicating that ejection is not performed is output to the second head. The above operation is similarly performed in the priority order # 2 to # 8 units (707 to 713).

At this time, Q ^{* of the} flip-flop 715
Is enabled, and the first / second head switching flip-flop 714 is cleared (Q = “0”), resulting in the first / second head switching flip-flop 714.
The output of is inverted. At the same time, the first / second head switching register 718 of the next highest priority # 2 unit 707 is preset (Q = “1”) via the gate 717.
I do.

Here, the priority order # 1 unit 70 is further added.
When the recording data “1” is input to 6, the output of the first / second head switching flip-flop 714 is inverted, so “0” indicating that the ejection is not performed on the first head is
The ejection data “1” is output to the second head. Then, the first / second head switching flip-flop 714 is preset. At this time, the first / second head switching register 718 of the next highest priority # 2 unit 707 is cleared (Q = “0”) via the gate 719.
The circuit shown in FIG. 7 is configured so that the unit relationship having a relationship between a certain rank and the next rank in the priority order described above is established between any units having such a rank relationship.

From the above results, the priority order #n (n = 1 to 1)
7) When the unit and the priority order # n + 1 unit perform ejection (recording) at a certain same pixel, if recording is performed by the first / second head, for example, the first head corresponding to the higher priority order #n unit, Lower priority # n + 1
In the first / second head corresponding to the unit, the other second head is used for recording.

Incidentally, when the data "0" which is not recorded in the priority order # 1 unit is inputted, the flip-flop 71
The outputs of 5, 716 are both "0", and the output of the first / second head switching flip-flop 714 is not inverted. Also, the outputs of the gates 717 and 719 are not enabled. Therefore, the output of the second priority unit # 2 determines the print head to be used in the next pixel in the same manner as in the priority # 1 unit according to its own output data. The print data output to the first head is temporarily stored in a buffer 720 having a data capacity equal to that of a recording area for one band, which is provided to support bidirectional printing, and then the head moves. Are read in synchronization with the recording medium 101 and recorded on the recording medium 101. The recording data output to the second head is the recording for 2.5 bands provided to correspond to the relative distance (1.5 bands) from the first head shown in FIG. 2 and bidirectional recording. The data is stored in the buffer 721 having the same data capacity as the area, is read in synchronization with the movement of the head at appropriate times, and is recorded on the recording medium 101.

In the example of Embodiments 1 and 2 in which bidirectional recording is performed using only the eight-color configuration and the first / second head group without using the above-described data distribution configuration, in FIG. The degree of overlap on one pixel at the time of recording with the head shown in dark color is the same as the positional relationship between the first and second head groups shown in FIG.
From the printing operation shown in FIG. 10, there are four types shown in FIG. In this example, low-saturation Y (yellow) is always printed immediately before / right after high-saturation M (magenta), and the reproducibility of Y may be significantly impaired as a result of being smeared with each other.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the register 702 is used.
Setting, for example, M (magenta) is set as the priority order # 3.
11 and the Y (yellow) is assigned to the unit of priority # 4, Y (yellow) is printed by the other head group in the pixel where M (magenta) exists as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the above-mentioned bleeding and prevent the above-mentioned deterioration of the Y reproducibility. As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain good effects in the bidirectional recording apparatus using the inkjet head having a more multicolored structure.

In the above embodiment, light M (light magenta), Y (yellow), Or (orange), M (magenta), light C (light cyan), C (cyan), Bl (blue), Each of the Bk (black) inkjet head arrays has been described with respect to a head having two upper and lower stages, but inkjet heads of colors other than these light M, Y, Or, M, light C, C, Bl, and Bk are used. It is apparent from the above description that the present embodiment can be applied to the case and the head configuration having more stages.

(Others) It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
It is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection 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 configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 44,558 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The structure using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in JP-A-59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection with the apparatus main body and the ink from the apparatus main body can be provided by being mounted on the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery unit, a preliminary auxiliary unit, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, in addition to the recording head having only one corresponding to a single color ink, it corresponds to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but it may be either the recording head is integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color recording modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and 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 the range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change from the solid state of the ink to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. 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 this case, the ink is
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent No. 1260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. 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, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may take a form.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, 1
Data for recording pixels or one line is automatically distributed to each of the plurality of ejection port groups, and each pixel or one line is recorded with a predetermined delay time.

Further, when recording with a plurality of recording colors, it is possible to determine the recording order when recording one pixel or one line, so that it is possible to prevent overlapping of predetermined colors.

As a result, multi-scan recording can be performed with a small memory capacity, and it is also possible to prevent differences in color and density.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an inkjet textile printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a multi-scan recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording data distribution circuit used in the inkjet printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the operation of the data distribution circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording data distribution circuit used in the inkjet printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a timing chart showing the operation of the data distribution circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print data distribution circuit used in an inkjet printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a print head and print data in the inkjet textile printing apparatus of the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the print head according to the first, second and third embodiments and the overlap of the print areas due to the operation.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the overlap of the respective color inks as a recording result according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the overlap of the respective color inks as a recording result according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Recording Medium 102 Feeding Roller 103 Winding Roller 104 Carriage 105-112 First Recording Head 113-120 Second Recording Head 121 Conveyor Belt 122 Printer Unit 123 Ink Supply Device 124 Pressurization / Suction Pump Unit 125 Cleaning Liquid Tank 126 Capping / Cleaning device 127 Drying unit 201 First light cyan head recording area 202 Second light cyan head recording area 301 Print start fluff storage register 302 First / second head switching D flip-flop 303 First head output D flip-flop 304 second head output D flip-flop 305 first head buffer 306 second head buffer 501 first / second head switching T flip-flop 502 first head buffer 503 Two-head buffer 701 Print start flag storage register 702 Priority flag assignment register 703 Priority setting selector 704 Priority release selector (first head) 705 Priority release selector (second head) 706 to 713 Priority # 1 to # 8 units 714 First / second head switching D flip-flops (priority # 1 unit) 715 First head output D flip-flops (priority # 1 unit) 716 Second head output D flip-flops (priority # 1) 1 unit) 717, 719 gate 718 1st / 2nd head switching D flip-flop (priority order # 2 to 6 units) 720 1st head buffer (priority order # 1 unit) 721 2nd head buffer (priority order) # 1 unit)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium using a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, comprising: moving means for relatively moving the recording head and the recording medium; one pixel or a plurality of pixels. A distribution unit that distributes one line of print data formed by arranging the pixels to a plurality of discharge port groups formed by dividing the plurality of print elements with a predetermined delay for each of the plurality of discharge port groups. The recording unit and the recording medium are moved relative to each other by the moving unit, and the one pixel or one pixel is recorded by the recording element of each of the plurality of ejection port groups based on the recording data distributed by the distributing unit. A recording device comprising: a control unit for recording a line; 2. The recording head and the distributing means,
The recording device is provided corresponding to each of a plurality of recording colors, and the recording device determines a priority relationship regarding a recording order with respect to distribution of other recording colors in distribution by the distribution unit for each of the plurality of recording colors. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of ejection port groups each have a separate head structure. 4. The recording element of the recording head has an ink ejection port for ejecting ink.
The recording apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3. 5. The recording head is a recording head which ejects ink by utilizing thermal energy, and is provided with a thermal energy conversion element for generating thermal energy applied to the ink. The recording device according to any one of to 4.