JPH11138866A - Ink-jet recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a high grade image in a multi-pass recording method using a processing liquid active on an ink. SOLUTION: A random mask is used for thinning an image of each color. A mask for 1 pass having a 1,024 bit size in the main scanning direction and a 8 bit size in the sub scanning direction, comprises an A mask, a B mask, a C mask and a D mask corresponding with 1 pass to 4 pass. By having the same starting position for reading the mask for each color with the random mask, the colors can be thinned in the same manner. Moreover, by having different starting positions for reading the mask for each color, the colors cannot be thinned synchronously while using the same random mask.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for forming an image by discharging ink and a processing liquid onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of color recording methods include a thermal transfer method in which ink on an ink ribbon is transferred by thermal energy or a method in which recording droplets are made to fly and adhere to a recording medium such as paper for recording. There is known an ink jet recording system for performing the above.

[0003] Above all, the ink jet recording system has low noise, low running cost, and can be easily miniaturized.
It is used in printers and copiers because it is easy to colorize.

By the way, in such an ink jet recording method, when an image is recorded on a recording material called a so-called plain paper, if the recorded image has insufficient water resistance or a color image is obtained. Cannot achieve both high-density images free from feathering and images free from bleeding between colors, and have not obtained good image fastness and good-quality color images. Was.

As a method for improving the water resistance of an image,
In recent years, ink containing a coloring material having water resistance has been put to practical use.

However, the water resistance of the above ink is still insufficient, and since such an ink is in principle difficult to dissolve in water after drying, the ink tends to cause nozzle clogging of the recording head. In order to prevent this, there is a disadvantage that the device configuration becomes complicated.

[0007] A number of techniques for improving the robustness of a recording material have been disclosed.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-128862 discloses an ink jet recording method in which an image position to be recorded is identified in advance, and recording ink and processing ink are recorded in a superposed manner. A method of landing the processing ink prior to the ink, overlapping the processing ink on the recording ink that has landed first, overlapping the recording ink on the processing ink that has landed first, and further landing the processing ink. It has been disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-52867 discloses that
A method of recording a processing liquid at a processing rate for each pixel is disclosed.

Further, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-33950 focuses on an edge portion of an image to be printed, and discharges a processing liquid at a predetermined rate to an image other than the edge portion. Discloses an ink jet recording method in which a processing liquid is always ejected and sufficient water resistance is secured while avoiding unnecessary consumption of the processing liquid.

Also, US Pat. No. 4,538,160 and JP-A-7-195823 disclose yellow,
It is disclosed that OR data of magenta, cyan, and black color data is used as data for applying a processing liquid.

On the other hand, in a serial type printing apparatus that completes an image by performing a plurality of scans, depending on the paper feeding accuracy of the printing apparatus and the discharge performance of the print head, unevenness due to paper feed to the printed image and deflection during discharge may occur. Problems such as streaks may occur. As a recording method for solving such a problem, a recording head is formed by thinning out an image in an image area to be processed, scanning a plurality of times, feeding paper, and recording dots on the same pixel line using different nozzles. To avoid problems caused by variations in the discharge performance of the paper, and to make the streaks caused by paper feeding less noticeable.
A so-called multi-pass printing method has been proposed.

Further, when such a multi-pass printing method is applied to color printing, if the method of thinning out the image is the same for each of the colors yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, variations in the paper feeding and ejection performance may occur. A texture may be generated on an image due to a shift in the landing positions of the recording dots. In order to avoid this, a method has been adopted in which the method of thinning out each color is made different.

[0014]

However, in order to obtain a high-quality image, a technique relating to a multi-pass printing method using a processing liquid has been proposed, but there is no such technique.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and provides an ink jet recording method capable of outputting a high-quality image by multi-pass printing using a processing liquid. .

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention uses a plurality of color inks and a treatment liquid which acts on the ink by contacting the ink. An ink jet recording method for forming a color image on a recording medium, comprising: a first step of thinning out image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks and decomposing the image data into n pieces; A second step of creating processing liquid data based on the image data;
A third step of completing the image by scanning the recording head n times, wherein the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is the same for each of the plurality of colors of ink.

In such a configuration, the time between the ink and the processing liquid is constant in any pixel by synchronizing the thinning patterns, so that the color developing properties of the ink can be maintained constant.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a color image on a recording medium by using a plurality of color inks and a treatment liquid which acts on the ink by contacting the ink. A first mode in which a color image is formed on a recording medium using a plurality of color inks, and the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks is thinned out and decomposed into n pieces of image data. And a second step of creating processing liquid data based on the image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks, and a third step of scanning the recording head n times to complete the image. In the first mode, the first, second, and third steps are performed, and the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is the same for each of the plurality of colors of ink. Then And executes the serial first and third steps, characterized in that varying the first respective color thinning how the image data in the ink of the plurality of colors in step.

In this configuration, according to the second mode, by synchronizing the thinning patterns, the time between the ink and the processing liquid in any pixel is constant for the same color. Can be kept constant.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention provides:
An ink jet recording method for forming a color image on a recording medium using a plurality of colors of ink and a treatment liquid that acts on the ink by contacting the ink, wherein image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of colors of ink are formed. A first mode for thinning and decomposing into n pieces, creating processing liquid data based on the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks, and scanning the recording head n times to complete an image; The image data corresponding to each of the plurality of colors of ink is thinned out and decomposed into m pieces (m> n), and the processing head data is created based on the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of colors of ink. Second to scan m times to complete the image
In the first mode, the method of thinning out the image data is the same for each of the plurality of colors of ink, and in the second mode, the method of thinning out the image data is the same for each of the colors of ink. It is characterized by being different.

According to the first mode, the time between the ink and the processing liquid is constant for the same color in any pixel by synchronizing the thinning pattern. Can be kept constant.

According to the second mode, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a texture due to a shift in the landing position of the recording dot caused by a variation in the paper feeding or ejection performance by not synchronizing the thinning pattern.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a color image on a recording medium by using a plurality of color inks and a processing liquid which acts on the ink by contacting the ink. A second mode in which a color image is formed on a recording medium by using a plurality of color inks by prohibiting the use of the processing liquid, wherein image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks is provided. A first step of thinning out the image into n pieces, a second step of creating processing liquid data based on the image data corresponding to the plurality of color inks, and scanning the print head n times to form an image. Of the third steps to be completed, in the first mode, the first,
In addition to executing the second and third steps, the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is the same for each of the plurality of ink colors, and in the second mode,
The method is characterized in that the first and third steps are performed, and the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is different for each of the plurality of colors of ink.

According to the second mode of the above configuration,
When prohibiting the use of processing liquid and using multiple colors of ink,
By synchronizing the thinning patterns, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a texture due to a shift in the landing position of the recording dots caused by a variation in the paper feeding or ejection performance.

Here, the type of the recording medium may be determined to prohibit the use of the processing liquid. In this case, the recording medium for which the use of the processing liquid is prohibited is other than plain paper. You may.

Here, the processing liquid data may be prepared by taking OR data of image data corresponding to the plurality of color inks, respectively.

Further, the data may be thinned out using a random mask or a fixed mask.

Further, the plurality of color inks may be at least four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and black, and the treatment liquid contains a component having an action of insolubilizing or aggregating a colorant in the ink. Is also good.

In the present invention, as a result of the above-described mixing of the processing liquid and the ink on the recording medium or at a position where the ink has penetrated the recording medium, the first step of the reaction is to remove the cationic substances contained in the processing liquid. The low molecular weight component or cationic oligomer is associated with the water-soluble dye having an anionic group used in the ink by ionic interaction, and instantaneously separates from the solution phase.

Next, in the second stage of the reaction, the above-mentioned aggregate of the dye and the low molecular weight cationic substance or cationic oligomer is adsorbed by the polymer component contained in the processing solution, and thus the association is formed. The size of the aggregates of the dyes becomes even larger, making it difficult to enter the gaps between the fibers of the recording medium, and as a result, only the liquid portion that has been separated into solid and liquid penetrates into the recording paper. Is achieved. At the same time, the aggregate formed by the low molecular weight component of the cationic substance or the cationic oligomer and the anionic dye formed by the mechanism described above increases in viscosity and does not move with the movement of the liquid medium, so that a full-color image is obtained. Even when adjacent ink dots are formed of different color inks as in the case of formation, they do not mix with each other, and bleeding does not occur. Also, the agglomerates are essentially water-insoluble and the formed images have perfect water resistance. Further, it also has an effect of improving the light fastness of an image formed by the shielding effect of the polymer.

As used herein, the term “insolubilized” or “aggregation” refers to a phenomenon that occurs only in the first stage or a phenomenon that includes both the first stage and the second stage.

Further, in practicing the present invention, it is not necessary to use a cationic polymer substance having a large molecular weight or a polyvalent metal salt as in the prior art, or even if it is necessary to use it, the present invention can be applied. Since it is only necessary to use it supplementarily to further improve the effect, the amount of use can be minimized. As a result, another problem of the present invention is that the decrease in the coloring property of the dye, which has been a problem in the case of using a conventional cationic polymer substance or a polyvalent metal salt to obtain a water resistance effect, is eliminated. This can be mentioned as an effect.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, data for applying a processing liquid is usually obtained by ORing image data of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black as described in the related art. be able to. Also,
A method is also possible in which data is created by thinning out at least one of the image data of each color and then OR is performed.

In order to perform high-quality color printing with a serial printer using a color ink and a processing liquid, multi-pass printing is effective. In multi-pass printing, image data of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is thinned out and printed according to the number of multi-passes. At this time, several methods can be considered as a method of applying the processing liquid.

For example, a description will be given of four multi-pass printings as an example.

The first method is a method in which OR data of an original image of each color (an image before thinning) is used as processing liquid data, and printing is performed in one pass (scan) without thinning the data. FIG. 1A shows that the ink is printed from the first scan to the fourth scan corresponding to the numbers 1 to 4, whereas FIG. The liquid is as shown in FIG.
This indicates that all pixels corresponding to the same position are printed by the first scan. Therefore, the time from when the processing liquid is applied to when the ink is applied differs in each scan, and accordingly, there is a possibility that the color developing properties of the dots may become non-uniform. In addition, when the landing positions of the processing liquid have variations, the processing liquid is almost colorless but may cause streaks or unevenness in the image.

The second method is a method in which the image data of each color and the processing liquid data obtained by taking the OR data of the image data of each color are divided into four and printed using a mask for thinning, and the thinning patterns are not synchronized. This is the case.
In order not to synchronize each thinning pattern, five of yellow, magenta, cyan, black and the processing liquid are used.
Different types of masks are required. 2A shows an example of a processing liquid thinning pattern, FIG. 2B shows an example of a cyan ink thinning pattern, and FIG. 2C shows an example of a magenta ink thinning pattern. In this method, like the pixel a11,
Pixels to which ink is applied in a scan after the scan to which the processing liquid is applied and pixels to which the processing liquid is applied in a scan after the scan to which the ink is applied, such as pixel a44, are mixed, so that dot coloring is performed. The properties may be non-uniform. Furthermore, the case where the processing liquid is applied in the order of the cyan ink and the magenta ink as in the pixel a11,
As described above, there are cases where the processing liquid is applied in the order of magenta ink → cyan ink, so that the coloring properties of the dots may be non-uniform. Further, the time from the application of the treatment liquid to the application of the ink is also a11 or a12.
As described above, there is a possibility that the coloring properties of dots may become non-uniform.

The third method is a method in which, similarly to the second method, the processing liquid data obtained by taking the image data of each color and the OR data of the image data of each color is divided into four using a thinning mask and printed. This is a case where the thinning patterns are synchronized. In this method, streaks and unevenness of an image are likely to occur due to variations in the landing positions of the ink and the processing liquid, but the time from when the processing liquid is applied to when the ink is applied is always constant for the same color, and therefore, stable. Color development can be obtained.

The fourth method is a case where the OR of the data obtained by thinning out the image data of each color is used as the data for applying the processing liquid, and the pattern of thinning out the image data of each color is not synchronized. FIG. 2 (d) is an OR of the cyan thinning pattern of FIG. 2 (c) and the magenta thinning pattern of FIG. 2 (c). In this method, for example, when cyan and magenta dots are superimposed to form a blue pixel, the pixel a
34, a blue pixel formed by applying the processing liquid, cyan, and magenta inks in the same scan, and another pixel after applying only the processing liquid and cyan ink, such as pixel a11. A blue pixel formed by overlapping the processing liquid and magenta ink by scanning,
Like the pixel a21, after only the processing liquid and the magenta ink are applied, the processing liquid and the cyan ink are applied in another scan, and the blue pixels formed by overlapping each other are mixed. As a result, there is a possibility that the coloring properties are different even for the same blue pixel. Further, since there is a pixel to which the processing liquid is applied twice to the same pixel, there is a problem that the fixing property is deteriorated.

In the fifth method, similarly to the fourth method, an OR of data obtained by thinning out image data of each color is taken as data for applying a processing liquid, and the thinning pattern of each color is synchronized. In this method, as in the third method, streaks and unevenness of an image are likely to occur due to variations in the landing positions of the ink and the processing liquid. However, the time from when the processing liquid is applied to when the ink is applied is the same for the same color. Since it is always constant, stable coloring can be obtained.

The method of applying the processing liquid has been described above, but the present invention is applied to the above-described third or fifth method.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the ink jet recording method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing one embodiment of the ink jet recording method of the present invention.

In this embodiment, first, as shown in FIG.
In step 1, the type of the recording medium is detected and determined. If the recording medium is plain paper, the first mode recording is executed in S2, and if the recording medium is coated paper or OHP paper other than plain paper, the second mode recording is executed in S3. Note that the second mode recording is also performed when the use of the processing liquid is prohibited.

In the first mode recording, as shown in FIG.
In step 1, the image data corresponding to the inks of a plurality of colors are thinned out and decomposed into n pieces. Here, the method of thinning out the image data in S11 is the same for each color using a plurality of colors of ink. Thereafter, in S13, the carriage on which the head is mounted is scanned n times in the main scanning direction, and (n-
1) The paper is fed one time to complete the recording for one line, and the recording is further continued to complete the recording for one sheet of plain paper (S1).
4).

In the second mode recording, as shown in FIG.
In S1, the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks is thinned out and decomposed into n pieces of data similarly to S11 of FIG. Here, S2
The method of thinning out the image data in 1 is made different for each color with a plurality of colors of ink. Next, in S22, S13 in FIG.
Scans the carriage n times in the main scanning direction as in
The paper is fed (n-1) times in the sub-scanning direction to complete the recording of one line, and the recording is further continued to terminate the recording of, for example, one coated paper (S23).

In the first mode printing, when the thinning of the image data is made different for each of the plural colors of ink, the number of passes may be m, which is larger than n.

[0048]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 6 shows an example of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

This recording apparatus includes a recording head 1s for discharging the processing liquid, a recording head 1k for discharging the black ink, a recording head 1y for discharging the yellow ink, and a recording head for discharging the magenta ink. 1 m, a carriage 2 on which a recording head 1c for ejecting cyan ink is mounted, a flexible cable 3 for sending an electric signal from the recording apparatus main body to the recording head, a cap unit 4 having recovery means, and a recording medium 7 And a paper feed tray 8 for feeding paper. Further, the cap unit 4 includes the print heads 1s, 1
Cap members 5s, 5 corresponding to k, 1c, 1m, 1y
k, 5c, 5m, 5y, a wiper blade 6s corresponding to the recording head 1s made of a member such as rubber, and a wiper blade 6 corresponding to the recording heads 1k, 1c, 1m, 1y.
a. A recording device having such a configuration is
The recording heads 1s, 1k, 1c, 1m, and 1y are serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) B orthogonal to the conveying direction (sub-scanning direction) A of the recording medium to perform recording with a width corresponding to the number of nozzles. In non-recording, the recording medium is intermittently conveyed by a feed amount equal to the recording width.

The print heads 1s, 1k, 1c, 1m,
Each 1y has 64 nozzles, and about 20 ng of the processing liquid or ink is ejected from each nozzle.

FIG. 7 is an electric control block diagram of the above-described ink jet recording apparatus.

Reference numeral 301 denotes a system controller for controlling the entire apparatus, which is internally used by a microprocessor, a storage element (RAM) storing a control program, and a microprocessor. A storage element (RAM) and the like are arranged. Reference numeral 302 denotes a driver for driving the print head in the main scanning direction. Similarly, reference numeral 303 denotes a driver for moving the recording medium in the sub scanning direction. Reference numerals 304 and 305 are motors corresponding to the drivers 302 and 303, and operate by receiving information such as speed and moving distance from the drivers 302 and 303.

Reference numeral 306 denotes a host computer for transferring information to be printed to the recording apparatus of the present invention. Reference numeral 307 is a reception buffer for temporarily storing data from the host computer 306, and stores data until data is read from the system controller 301. Reference numeral 308 denotes a frame memory for expanding data to be printed into image data, and has a memory size necessary for printing. In this embodiment,
A frame memory capable of storing one print sheet will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the size of the frame memory. Reference numeral 309 denotes a storage element for temporarily storing data to be printed, and includes a processing liquid print buffer 309S, a black ink print buffer 309K, and a cyan ink print buffer 30.
9C and a print buffer 309M for magenta ink
And a print buffer 309Y for yellow ink, and the storage capacity varies depending on the number of nozzles of the print head. Reference numeral 310 is a print control unit for appropriately controlling the print head in accordance with a command from the system controller, and is a print control unit for controlling a print speed, the number of print data, and the like. Creation is also performed. Further, the print control unit 310 includes a thinning mask for generating data. Reference numeral 31
1 is a print head 1s for discharging the processing liquid,
Print head 1 for ejecting black ink
k, print head 1 for ejecting cyan ink
c, a driver for driving the print head 1m for ejecting magenta ink and the print head 1y for ejecting yellow ink, and is controlled by a signal from the print control unit 310.

First, image data is transferred from the host computer 306 to the reception buffer 307 and is temporarily stored. Next, the stored data is read out by the system controller 301 and stored in the frame memory 3.
08. The print control unit 310 creates data for discharging the processing liquid based on the data developed in the frame memory 308, and
Send to 9. Then, the operation of the print head is controlled based on the image data and the processing liquid data in each buffer.

In this embodiment, a random mask is used for thinning out the image of each color. As shown in FIG.
The mask for the pass has a size of 1024 BIT in the main scanning direction and 8 BIT in the sub-scanning direction, and is composed of A mask, B mask, C mask and D mask corresponding to 1 to 4 passes. If the random mask is used and the read start position of the mask is the same for each, the thinning method for each color becomes the same. Further, if the read start position of the mask is changed for each color, it is possible not to synchronize the thinning method for each color while using the same mask. The random mask is prepared in advance in the printing control unit 310 outside the printing apparatus.

In this embodiment, the following inks and processing liquids were used.

(Ink) Yellow triethylene glycol 7 parts by weight Hexanetriol 7 parts by weight Isopropyl alcohol 2.5 parts by weight Acetylenol EH 0.02 parts by weight C.I. I. 1. Direct Yellow 86 1.5 parts by weight Water balance Magenta triethylene glycol 7 parts by weight hexanetriol 7 parts by weight isopropyl alcohol 1.5 parts by weight acetylenol EH 0.02 parts by weight I. Acid Red 289 1.5 parts by weight Water balance 3. C. Cyan triethylene glycol 7 parts by weight Hexanetriol 7 parts by weight Isopropyl alcohol 1.5 parts by weight Acetylenol EH 0.01 parts by weight I. Direct Blue 199 2.5 parts by weight Water balance 4. C. Black triethylene glycol 6 parts by weight Hexanetriol 6 parts by weight butyl alcohol 2 parts by weight Lithium acetate 0.01 parts by weight I. Direct Black 154 2.5 parts by weight Water Remainder (Treatment solution) Polyallylamine hydrochloride tributylamine chloride thiodiglycol acetylenol EH water In this embodiment, when an image is formed using a treatment liquid, image data of each color is used. Were randomly thinned out with the same read start position of the random mask shown in FIG. 8, and OR data of the thinned image data of each color was used as processing liquid data. The mode for forming an image using the processing liquid is a case where printing is performed on plain paper, a postcard, an envelope, or the like.

On the other hand, when an image was formed without using a processing liquid, the image data of each color was randomly thinned out by changing the reading start position of the random mask shown in FIG. 8 for each color. This mode is for printing on a recording material coated with an ink receiving layer, such as coated paper, glossy paper, glossy film, and OHP film.

By setting as described above, it is possible to perform recording with high fixability on a recording medium such as plain paper with a minimum necessary processing liquid. In addition, on a special recording medium such as coated paper, a high-quality image free from streaks and unevenness can be obtained by using different thinning masks.

(Embodiment 2) A mode for forming an image in eight passes by applying a processing liquid to the embodiment 1 has been added. An 8-pass random mask was prepared. Although a processing liquid was used, the reading start position of the random mask of each color was set to be different for each color so as not to be synchronized. In this mode, the number of scans is large, and the printing time is slower than that in the 4-pass mode. Therefore, the fixability does not matter much, and high-quality printing is not affected by the application order and the application interval of the processing liquid and the ink. This is the mode in which an image can be formed.

(Other Embodiments) As a method of detecting the type of a recording medium, a method of designating with a switch provided in a recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, or a method of designating from a host computer connected to the recording apparatus. No. There is also a method of determining the type of the recording medium according to the amount of light reflected from the recording medium using an optical sensor provided in the recording apparatus.

In this embodiment, the type of the recording medium is determined, and when a medium other than plain paper is used, a mode in which the processing liquid is not used can be forcibly set. If the processing liquid is used with a medium other than plain paper, the fixing time may be unnecessarily long or an image may be defective.However, according to the present embodiment, in a mode using plain paper, a mode other than plain paper is used. The mismatch of using a medium can be prevented.

In each of the above embodiments, a random mask has been described for thinning out each color image and the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a fixed mask can also be used.

(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 discharging ink, 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.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. 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.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective 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.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

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.

Further, it is preferable to add ejection recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effect 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.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are, for example, different from those provided with only one ink corresponding to a single color ink and those corresponding to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or 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 limited to those used as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as computers, copying apparatuses combined with readers and the like, and facsimile apparatuses having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When performing multi-pass printing using a processing liquid, image formation can be performed while satisfying good fixability. Further, since the method of thinning out an image is made different between the mode using the processing liquid and the mode not using the processing liquid, it is possible to realize image formation suited to the characteristics of each mode.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view illustrating an example of a method of applying ink in a multi-pass, and FIG. 1B is a plan view illustrating an example of a method of applying a processing liquid in a single pass. .

2A is a plan view showing a thinning pattern for a processing liquid, FIG. 2B is a plan view showing a thinning pattern for a cyan ink, and FIG. 2C is a plan view showing a thinning pattern for a magenta ink; It is a top view, and (d) is a top view showing the thinning pattern which performed OR of each of the thinning patterns of (b) and (c).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the inkjet recording method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for executing a first mode recording shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for executing a second mode recording shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus used in the ink jet recording method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating electrical control of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining a random mask applied to the inkjet recording method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1s Recording head for processing liquid 1k Recording head for black ink 1y Recording head for yellow ink 1m Recording head for magenta ink 1c Recording head for cyan ink 2 Carriage 3 Flexible cable 4 Cap unit 5s, 5k, 5c, 5m, 5y Cap member 6a , 6s Wiper blade 7 Recording medium 8 Paper feed tray A Sub scanning direction B Main scanning direction 301 System controller 302, 303 Driver 304, 305 Motor 306 Host computer 307 Receive buffer 308 Frame memory 309 Storage element 309S Print buffer for processing liquid 309K Print buffer for black ink 309C Print buffer for cyan ink 309M Print buffer for magenta ink 309Y For yellow ink Print buffer 310 print controller 311 driver

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording method for forming a color image on a recording medium using a plurality of color inks and a treatment liquid that acts on the ink by contacting the ink, wherein each of the plurality of color inks A first step of thinning out corresponding image data to decompose it into n pieces, a second step of creating processing liquid data based on the image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks, A third step of scanning to complete an image, wherein the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is the same for each of the plurality of color inks. 2. A first mode for forming a color image on a recording medium using a plurality of colors of ink and a treatment liquid acting on the ink by contacting the ink, A second mode for forming a color image on a recording medium, a first step of thinning out image data corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks and decomposing the image data into n pieces, and corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks A second step of creating processing liquid data based on the obtained image data, and a third step of completing the image by scanning the recording head n times, wherein in the first mode, the first, Executing the second and third steps, and setting the method of thinning out the image data in the first step to be the same for each of the plurality of colors of ink, and in the second mode, performing the first and third steps Real As well as, the ink jet recording method characterized by thinning how the image data varied colors in plural colors of ink in the first step. 3. An ink jet recording method for forming a color image on a recording medium using a plurality of color inks and a treatment liquid acting on the ink by contacting the ink, wherein each of the plurality of color inks The first is to thin out the corresponding image data and decompose it into n pieces, create processing liquid data based on the image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks, and scan the print head n times to complete the image. And decomposing the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of colors of ink into m pieces (m> n) and creating processing liquid data based on the image data corresponding to each of the plurality of colors of ink. And a second mode in which the recording head is scanned m times to complete the image. In the first mode, the method of thinning out the image data is the same for each of the plurality of color inks. In second mode, ink jet recording method for causing a thinning way of the image data in the plurality of color inks different colors. 4. A first mode in which a color image is formed on a recording medium using a plurality of colors of ink and a processing liquid that acts on the ink by contacting the ink, and the use of the processing liquid is prohibited. A second mode for forming a color image on a recording medium using the plurality of color inks, wherein a first step of thinning out image data corresponding to each of the plurality of color inks and decomposing the image data into n pieces is provided. A second step of creating processing liquid data based on the image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks, and a third step of scanning the printhead n times to complete an image. In the first mode, the first, second, and third steps are performed, and the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is the same for each of the plurality of color inks. Then An ink jet recording method, wherein the first and third steps are executed, and the method of thinning out the image data in the first step is different for each of the plurality of colors of ink. 5. The ink jet recording method according to claim 4, wherein the type of the recording medium is determined and the use of the processing liquid is prohibited. 6. The recording medium for which use of the processing liquid is prohibited is other than plain paper.
The ink-jet recording method as described above. 7. The processing liquid according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid data is created by taking OR data of image data respectively corresponding to the plurality of color inks. The ink-jet recording method as described above. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thinning of the data is performed by using a random mask.
7. The ink jet recording method according to any one of items 7 to 7. 9. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the thinning of the data is performed using a fixed mask. 10. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of color inks are at least four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. 11. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the treatment liquid contains a component having an action of insolubilizing or aggregating a colorant in the ink.