WO2018139272A1

WO2018139272A1 - Image formation device, control device, control method, and control program

Info

Publication number: WO2018139272A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/001044
Authority: WO
Inventors: 水野　知章
Original assignee: 富士フイルム株式会社
Priority date: 2017-01-30
Filing date: 2018-01-16
Publication date: 2018-08-02
Also published as: JP6745364B2; JPWO2018139272A1

Abstract

Provided are an image formation device, a control device, a control method, and a control program which are capable of improving colour development properties of an image formed using fluorescent ink. The image formation device 10 is provided with: a recording head 24 in which nozzles 62, i.e. discharge ports for discharging ink towards a recording medium 12, are arranged in a main scanning direction for each of a plurality of types of ink including fluorescent ink; a main scanning drive unit which moves the recording head 24 and/or the recording medium 12 relatively in the main scanning direction; a conveyance drive unit which moves the recording head 24 and/or the recording medium 12 relatively in a secondary scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction; and a discharge control unit 112 which controls, on the basis of information related to the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink, the amount of ink dripped through each path for each of the plurality of types of ink.

Description

Image forming apparatus, control apparatus, control method, and control program

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control apparatus, a control method, and a control program.

Conventionally, as an ink for forming an image on a recording medium, an image forming apparatus that forms an image using a fluorescent ink and a non-fluorescent ink is known. As such an image forming apparatus, Patent Document 1 discloses that the color of the fluorescent ink can be appropriately expressed by discharging the non-fluorescent ink after discharging the fluorescent ink first. An image forming apparatus is described.

JP 2004-291511 A

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is described that the non-fluorescent ink is discharged after the fluorescent ink is discharged first, and how the ink droplet ejection order is controlled. There has not been enough consideration on what to do. For this reason, there is a concern that the color developability of an image formed using fluorescent ink cannot be sufficiently improved.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an image forming apparatus, a control apparatus, a control method, and a control program capable of improving the color developability of an image formed using fluorescent ink. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward a recording medium are arranged in a first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink including fluorescent ink; A first moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a first direction; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. A moving unit; and a control unit that controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.

Further, the control unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure may further control the order of droplet ejection of a plurality of types of ink based on the information.

Further, the control unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure causes the fluorescent ink to be deposited on the recording medium based on the information when the fluorescent ink and the non-fluorescent ink are deposited on the recording medium. Thus, the control may be performed so that the order is higher than the other inks.

In addition, the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure ejects ink onto a recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region having a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes. In this case, the control unit may perform control to increase the amount of fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes more than the amount of non-fluorescent ink.

In addition, the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure ejects ink onto a recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region having a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes. , The control unit may perform control so that the amount of the fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes is larger than the amount of the fluorescent ink in the second half.

In addition, the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure ejects ink onto a recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region having a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes. In this case, the control unit may perform control to increase the amount of non-fluorescent ink more than the amount of fluorescent ink in the latter half of the plurality of passes.

In addition, the control unit of the image forming apparatus of the present disclosure may control the ink droplet ejection order by changing the position of the nozzle that ejects ink for each type of ink.

In addition, the control unit of the image forming apparatus of the present disclosure ejects the non-fluorescent ink, deposits the pretreatment liquid, deposits the pretreatment liquid, and then ejects the fluorescent ink. You may control to drop.

In addition, the control device of the present disclosure includes a recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in the first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in the first direction. Controlling an image forming apparatus comprising: a first moving unit that relatively moves; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The control device includes a control unit that controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink, based on information regarding the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.

In addition, the control method of the present disclosure includes a recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in the first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in the first direction. A control method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a first moving unit that relatively moves; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. Then, based on the information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of inks, a process for controlling the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink is included.

Further, the control program of the present disclosure includes a recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in the first direction for each of the plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in the first direction. A control method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a first moving unit that relatively moves; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. Then, based on the information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of inks, a process for controlling the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink is included.

According to the present disclosure, the color developability of an image formed using fluorescent ink can be improved.

1 is an external perspective view illustrating an example of a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a recording medium conveyance path of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective plan view illustrating an example of an arrangement form of recording heads arranged on a carriage according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the recording head in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a multi-pass image forming method in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the relationship between the number of each scan (pass) by the drawing operation with 8 passes as one unit in the first embodiment and the position of the droplet ejection formed by the scan (pass). is there. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a relationship between an ink droplet ejection order and an ink arrangement on a recording medium. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of an ink amount control process executed by an ejection control unit according to the first embodiment. It is the graph which showed an example of the ink amount for every pass of fluorescent ink and non-fluorescent ink in a 1st embodiment. It is the graph which showed the other example of the ink amount for every pass of fluorescent ink and non-fluorescent ink in a 1st embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of an ink amount control process executed by an ejection control unit according to the second embodiment. It is the graph which showed an example of the ink amount for every pass of fluorescent ink and non-fluorescent ink in a 2nd embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a relationship between an ink droplet ejection order and an ink arrangement on a recording medium. FIG. 10 is a plan perspective view illustrating an example of an arrangement form of recording heads arranged on a carriage according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of an ink amount control process executed by an ejection control unit according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a recording head in a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the relationship between the number of each scan (pass) by the drawing operation with 8 passes as one unit in the fourth embodiment and the position of the droplet ejection formed by the scan (pass). is there.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of an example of the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the recording medium 12 using a plurality of types of ink including fluorescent ink (hereinafter referred to as “fluorescent ink”). As shown in FIG. 1, it is a so-called wide format printer.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes an apparatus main body 20 and support legs 22 that support the apparatus main body 20. The apparatus main body 20 includes a recording head 24, a platen 26, a guide mechanism 28, and a carriage 30.

The recording head 24 of the present embodiment is a drop-on-demand ink jet head that discharges ink toward the recording medium 12.

The medium used as the recording medium 12 in the present embodiment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include paper, fabric, nonwoven fabric, and synthetic chemical fiber. In the present embodiment, a permeable medium is used as the recording medium 12. Yes.

The platen 26 supports the recording medium 12. The guide mechanism 28 and the carriage 30 support the recording head 24 so as to be movable. The guide mechanism 28 is disposed above the platen 26 along a direction that intersects the conveyance direction of the recording medium 12 (hereinafter simply referred to as “conveyance direction”) and is parallel to the medium support surface of the platen 26. Has been. The upper direction of the platen 26 means a position higher than the platen 26 with the direction of gravity as “downward”. In the present embodiment, the direction that intersects the transport direction and is parallel to the recording surface of the recording medium 12 corresponds to the “main scanning direction”, and the transport direction corresponds to the “sub-scanning direction”. In FIG. 1, an arrow X indicates the sub-scanning direction, and an arrow Y direction indicates the main scanning direction.

Note that the main scanning direction of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of the “first direction” of the present disclosure, and the sub-scanning direction of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of the “second direction” of the present disclosure.

The carriage 30 is supported so as to be able to reciprocate in the main scanning direction along the guide mechanism 28.

The recording head 24 is mounted on the carriage 30 (see also FIG. 3). The recording head 24 moves integrally with the carriage 30 along the guide mechanism 28. In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the recording head 24 is moved relative to the recording medium 12 in the main scanning direction by reciprocating the carriage 30 along the guide mechanism 28 in the main scanning direction.

The apparatus main body 20 is provided with an attachment portion 38 for attaching the ink cartridge 36. The ink cartridge 36 is a replaceable ink tank that stores ink. The ink cartridge 36 is provided corresponding to each color ink used in the image forming apparatus 10. As an example, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment forms an image using four colors of ink of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). Any one (one) of the four colors of ink has fluorescence. Hereinafter, as a specific example, a case where the magenta (M) ink has fluorescence will be described.

Each ink cartridge 36 for each color is connected to the recording head 24 by an ink supply path (not shown) formed independently. When the remaining amount of ink for each color is low, the ink cartridge 36 is replaced.

Next, the conveyance path of the recording medium 12 in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating an example of a conveyance path of the recording medium 12 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of the platen 26 becomes a support surface that supports the recording medium 12. A roller 40 is provided upstream of the position of the platen 26 in the transport direction.

The recording medium 12 of the present embodiment is supplied as a sheet-like medium wound in a roll shape. The recording medium 12 sent out from the supply-side roll 42 is conveyed by the roller 40. An image is formed by ejecting ink from the recording head 24 onto the recording medium 12 that has reached a position facing the recording head 24. A take-up roll 44 that winds up the recording medium 12 on which an image has been formed is provided downstream of the position of the recording head 24 in the transport direction. A guide 46 is provided in the conveyance path of the recording medium 12 between the platen 26 and the take-up roll 44.

The conveyance method in the image forming apparatus 10 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, as an example, the recording medium 12 sent out from the supply-side roll 42 is taken up by the take-up roll 44 via the platen 26. A roll-to-roll method is adopted. As another method, for example, a method in which the winding roll 44 is omitted may be used. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 may include a cutting device such as a cutter that cuts the recording medium 12 into a desired size. Further, the supply of the recording medium 12 is not limited to the case where the recording medium 12 is supplied in a roll state, and for example, a separated medium such as a cut sheet (so-called sheet) may be supplied.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the temperature adjustment unit 50, the pre-temperature adjustment unit 52, and the platen 26 on the back side, that is, the side opposite to the medium support surface of the platen 26 that supports the recording medium 12, An after-temperature control unit 54 is provided. The temperature adjustment unit 50 adjusts the temperature of the recording medium 12 during image formation. In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, by adjusting the temperature by the temperature control unit 50, the physical properties such as the viscosity of the ink landed on the recording medium 12 and the surface tension become desired values, and a desired dot diameter is obtained. Is possible. The pre-temperature control unit 52 is provided on the upstream side of the temperature control unit 50 in the transport direction. The after-temperature control unit 54 is provided on the downstream side of the temperature control unit 50 in the transport direction. Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10, and at least one of the pre-temperature adjusting unit 52 and the after-temperature adjusting unit 54 may be omitted.

Next, the carriage 30 in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a perspective plan view showing an example of the arrangement of the recording heads 24 arranged on the carriage 30 of the present embodiment. 4 is an enlarged view of the recording head 24 in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the recording head 24 includes nozzles for ejecting ink for each color ink of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K).

Nozzle rows

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K in which 62 (see FIG. 4) are arranged in the sub-scanning direction are provided. In the following description, when the

nozzle rows

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K are collectively referred to without distinction, the description of the codes (C, M, Y, and K) representing the distinction colors is omitted. This is simply referred to as “nozzle row 61”.

In FIG. 3, the nozzle row 61 is indicated by a dotted line, and the individual illustration of the nozzle 62 is omitted. As an example, in the recording head 24 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each nozzle row is arranged in the order of the yellow nozzle row 61Y, the magenta nozzle row 61M, the cyan nozzle row 61C, and the black nozzle row 61K from the left in the drawing. However, the type of ink, the combination of colors, and the number of inks are not limited to this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the “ink type” is not limited to a color type, but includes a type corresponding to the nature of the ink.

For example, in addition to the four colors of CMYK, a light ink such as light cyan or light magenta may be used, or another color such as a white color may be used instead of or in combination with the light ink. Special color inks may also be used. The recording head 24 is provided with a nozzle row 61 that ejects the corresponding ink according to the type of ink color used. Further, the arrangement order of the nozzle rows 61 for each color is not particularly limited.

As an example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the recording head 24 of the present embodiment includes head modules (24C, 24M, 24Y, and 24K) configured for the

nozzle arrays

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K. Are arranged side by side in the main scanning direction. Specifically, the recording head 24 of the present embodiment includes a head module 24Y having a nozzle row 61Y that discharges yellow ink, a head module 24M having a nozzle row 61M that discharges magenta ink, and cyan ink. The head module 24C having the nozzle row 61C for discharging the ink and the head module 24K having the nozzle row 61K for discharging the black ink are arranged at equal intervals along the main scanning direction. Hereinafter, the

head modules

24C, 24M, 24Y, and 24K may be referred to as recording heads 24C, 24M, 24Y, and 24K.

As shown in FIG. 4, in each of the

nozzle rows

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K, a plurality of nozzles 62 are arranged at regular intervals in the sub-scanning direction. FIG. 4 shows a mode in which 30 nozzles 62 are arranged in each of the

nozzle rows

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K as an example. For each color, nozzle numbers 0 to 29 are assigned to the respective nozzles 62.

The nozzle numbers in this embodiment are assigned to the respective nozzles 62 by serial numbers in order from one end side in the sub-scanning direction to the other end side in the nozzle row 61. In this embodiment, the nozzle number starts from 0. However, the first nozzle number may be 1, or an arbitrary integer. The nozzle number can be used as an identification number indicating the position of each nozzle 62.

In the present embodiment, as an example, the nozzle row 61 in which 30 nozzles 62 are arranged in a row along the sub-scanning direction is shown. However, the number of nozzles 62 included in the nozzle row 61 and the arrangement of the nozzles 62 are shown. The form is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the nozzle row 61 may be a nozzle row 61 in which the nozzles 62 are arranged at equal intervals in the sub-scanning direction by a two-dimensional nozzle arrangement in which a plurality of nozzle rows 61 are combined.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as an example, as an ink ejection method of the recording head 24, a piezo jet method in which ink is ejected by deformation of a piezoelectric element is adopted. An electrostatic actuator may be used as the ejection energy generating element instead of the piezoelectric element. Alternatively, a thermal jet method in which ink is heated using a heating element (heating element) such as a heater to generate bubbles and ink droplets are ejected by the pressure may be used.

The recording head 24 discharges ink to the recording medium 12 while moving in the main scanning direction, and forms an image on an area having a certain length in the sub-scanning direction of the recording medium 12. When the recording medium 12 is moved by a certain amount in the sub-scanning direction after the image is formed, the recording head 24 forms an image in the next area. In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, image formation is repeatedly performed every time the recording medium 12 is moved by a certain amount in the sub-scanning direction, and image formation is performed over the entire recording area of the recording medium 12.

Thus, the recording head 24 of the present embodiment is a serial recording head. The image forming apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1) of the present embodiment employs a multi-pass method that realizes a predetermined recording resolution by performing main scanning of the recording head 24 in a plurality of main scanning directions.

Next, a multi-pass image forming method in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a multi-pass image forming method. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, a case where the configuration of the recording head 24 is simplified, the nozzle row 61 of the recording head 24 is made one row, and an image is formed by the one nozzle row 61 will be described as an example. It can be understood that the nozzle row 61 represents one of the

nozzle rows

61C, 61M, 61Y, and 61K described in FIG.

In this embodiment, the recording medium 12 is intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. For convenience of illustration, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the recording head 24 is moved intermittently in the sub-scanning direction instead of the recording medium 12. Show. In FIG. 5, the recording medium 12 is not shown, and only the movement of the recording head 24 is shown.

As shown in FIG. 5, ink is ejected from the nozzles 62 while the recording head 24 is moving in the main scanning direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5). A two-dimensional image is formed on the recording medium 12 by a combination of the reciprocating movement of the recording head 24 along the main scanning direction and the intermittent conveyance of the recording medium 12 in the sub-scanning direction (vertical direction in FIG. 5). .

In the present embodiment, “recording” or “scanning” means that the recording head 24 forms dots by ejecting ink from the nozzles 62 while moving from end to end in the main scanning direction of the recording medium 12. Say. In the present embodiment, when scanning is performed, the movement of the recording head 24 from end to end in the main scanning direction of the recording medium 12 is referred to as “pass”, and the number of times of movement is represented as “pass”. In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the recording head 24 performs scanning in both the forward path and the backward path in the main scanning direction. That is, in the present embodiment, when the recording head 24 reciprocates in the main scanning direction, it is counted as “two passes”.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as an example, an image with a desired resolution is formed by N (N is a natural number) scans (passes). In this case, the relative positional relationship (here, the positional relationship in the sub-scanning direction) between the recording medium 12 and the recording head 24 in the (N + 1) th scan is as shown in FIG. That is, in order to form an image with a desired resolution in N scans, the recording medium 12 is intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction such as the first time, the second time, the third time,. The positional relationship is such that it leads to a position corresponding to the length of the nozzle row 61 (hereinafter referred to as “nozzle row length”). In order to seamlessly connect the N-time writing operation, the (N + 1) th scanning is performed by moving in the sub-scanning direction by “nozzle row length + 1 nozzle pitch” from the first scanning sub-scanning direction position. The “nozzle row length” is the length in the sub-scanning direction of the nozzle row 61 in which the nozzles 62 are arranged side by side in the sub-scanning direction, and corresponds to the inter-nozzle distance of the nozzles 62 positioned at both ends of the nozzle row 61. . “Nozzle pitch” is the nozzle interval in the sub-scanning direction in the nozzle row 61.

As an example, using the recording head 24 having the nozzle array 61 in which the nozzles 62 are arranged at a nozzle arrangement density of 100 npi, 8 passes (8 in the main scanning direction and 4 passes in the sub scanning direction (main 2 × sub 4) (8 A case in which the resolution of main scanning 600 dpi × sub-scanning 400 dpi is realized in (rewriting) will be described. In this case, the number of nozzles to be used is a multiple of 8 and 24 nozzles that are values closest to the number of nozzles equal to or less than the number of nozzles (30). npi (nozzle per inch) is a unit representing the number of nozzles 62 per inch. dpi (dot per inch) is a unit representing the number of dots per inch. One inch is about 25.4 mm.

Hereinafter, the interval between the droplet ejection points determined from the resolution is referred to as “droplet ejection point interval”, and the lattice representing the position of the droplet ejection points that can be formed is referred to as “droplet ejection point lattice”. Note that “droplet point” is synonymous with “pixel”. The “droplet point interval” is synonymous with the “pixel interval” and corresponds to the minimum dot interval in the resolution. The “droplet dot grid” is synonymous with the “pixel grid”. “Lattice” is synonymous with a cell of a matrix represented by rows and columns.

In the case of resolution of main scanning 600 dpi × sub-scanning 400 dpi, the droplet ejection point interval in the main scanning direction is 25.4 mm / 600≈42.3 μm, and the droplet ejection point interval in the sub-scanning direction is 25.4 mm / 400 = 63. 5 μm. This represents the size “42.3 μm × 63.5 μm” of one cell (corresponding to one pixel) of the droplet ejection dot lattice. Regarding the control of the conveyance of the recording medium 12 and the control of the droplet ejection position (that is, the droplet ejection timing) from the recording head 24, the conveyance amount and position are controlled in units of droplet ejection point intervals determined from this resolution. The droplet ejection point interval determined from the resolution may be referred to as “pixel pitch”. Further, the nozzle pitch can be expressed in units of length, but instead, it can be expressed in terms of the droplet ejection point interval (pixel pitch) in the sub-scanning direction. For example, when the nozzle arrangement density is 100 npi with respect to the resolution of 400 dpi, the nozzle pitch is four times the pixel pitch in the sub-scanning direction. Can be expressed as “4”.

In the case of N = 8 by 2 passes in the main scanning direction and 4 passes in the sub-scanning direction, 2 × 4 droplet deposition dot lattices are scanned by 8 scans (8 passes), and scanning lines in the main scanning direction are scanned 2 times ( Pass) and scanning lines in the sub-scanning direction are formed by four scans (passes).

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the numbers (1 to 8) of the respective scans (passes) by the drawing operation with 8 scans (passes) as one unit, and the positions of droplets formed by the scans (passes). It is the schematic diagram which showed typically an example. In FIG. 6, each cell numbered 1 to 8 represents the position (pixel position) of the droplet formed by the nozzle 62, and the numbers 1 to 8 represent the number of times the pixel position is This indicates the number of the scan (pass) that is formed in the scan (pass). For example, a cell (pixel) to which the number “1” is attached represents the position of the droplet ejection formed in the first scan (pass).

As is clear from FIG. 6, in the arrangement distribution of the numbers 1 to 8, “2 × 4” grids in the main scanning direction 2 × sub-scanning direction 4 are the basic unit of repetition. In the present embodiment, this 2 × 4 lattice is referred to as a “basic unit lattice”. Needless to say, the filling method (droplet ejection order) of the basic unit cell is not limited to the example shown in FIG. Note that the basic unit cell of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of “a region of a predetermined size” of the present disclosure.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, for example, the resolution and the scanning pattern are determined according to the drawing mode based on the image quality, the image forming speed, etc., the number of cells of the basic unit cell, the cell arrangement form, and the scanning of each cell. Number (scanning order) is determined.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 10. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a control device 102. Examples of the control device 102 include a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. The control device 102 controls the entire image forming apparatus 10 by executing various programs read from the information storage unit 124.

The control device 102 includes a recording medium conveyance control unit 104, a carriage drive control unit 106, an image processing unit 110, and an ejection control unit 112. Each of these units is realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

The recording medium conveyance control unit 104 controls the conveyance driving unit 114 for conveying the recording medium 12 (see FIG. 1). The conveyance drive unit 114 includes a drive motor that drives the roller 40 (see FIG. 2) and a drive circuit thereof. The recording medium 12 conveyed on the platen 26 (see FIG. 1) is intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction in units of swath widths in accordance with the reciprocal scanning (movement of the printing path) in the main scanning direction by the recording head 24. . Note that the swath width is the length in the sub-scanning direction determined by the scan repetition cycle by the reciprocating movement of the carriage 30, and the nozzle row length, which is the length of the nozzle row 61 in the sub-scanning direction, is the number of scan repetitions. It is obtained by dividing by the number of passes. The number of passes, which is the number of scan repetitions, is the number of scans necessary to complete drawing with the set resolution.

The carriage drive control unit 106 controls the main scanning drive unit 116 that moves the carriage 30 in the main scanning direction. The main scanning drive unit 116 includes a drive motor connected to the moving mechanism of the carriage 30 and a control circuit thereof.

The transport driving unit 114 of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of the “second moving unit” of the present disclosure, and the main scanning driving unit 116 of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of the “first moving unit” of the present disclosure. .

The encoder 130 is attached to the drive motor of the main scanning drive unit 116 and the drive motor of the conveyance drive unit 114. A pulse signal corresponding to the rotation amount and rotation speed of each drive motor is input from the encoder 130 to the control device 102. The control device 102 grasps the position of the carriage 30 and the position of the recording medium 12 based on the pulse signal input from the encoder 130.

The image processing unit 110 performs image processing on image data input from an external device via an image input I / F (InterFace) 126 and converts the image data into dot data for image formation.

The image processing unit 110 performs halftone processing by a dither method. That is, the image processing unit 110 quantizes pixel values using a dither mask on a continuous tone image that is input image data, and generates a halftone image corresponding to dot data for image formation. To do.

The ejection control unit 112 controls the ejection of ink from each nozzle 62 of the recording head 24 by controlling the head driving circuit 128 that drives the recording head 24 based on the dot data generated by the image processing unit 110. To do. In addition, the ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information regarding the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink. The discharge control unit 112 of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of a “control unit” of the present disclosure.

The information storage unit 124 uses a non-volatile memory, for example, and stores various programs and various data necessary for the control of the control device 102. For example, the information storage unit 124 stores, as programs, a control program executed by each unit of the control device 102, a scanning pattern program, and the like. The scanning pattern program is a program for image formation of the above-described multi-pass method, and the reciprocating scanning (pass movement) and the number of passes (in the main scanning direction) of the recording head 24 with respect to the recording medium 12 intermittently conveyed in the sub-scanning direction. Specifies the number of scan repetitions). The movement of the pass accompanying the movement of the recording head 24 in the main scanning direction includes at least one of the moving direction of the recording head 24 in dot formation, the selection of the nozzles 62 that eject ink, and the ejection timing. A scanning pattern determined by the combination of the movement of the pass and the number of passes is called a “scanning pattern”.

An input device 122 and a display device 120 are connected to the control device 102. For the input device 122, various means such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or operation buttons can be employed, and an appropriate combination thereof may be used. A user (such as an operator) of the image forming apparatus 10 can input various information using the input device 122.

A liquid crystal display or the like is used for the display device 120. The user can confirm information input by the input device 122 and other various information, a system state, and the like through a display on the display device 120.

The sensor 132 is attached to the carriage 30. The control device 102 can grasp the width of the recording medium 12 based on the sensor signal input from the sensor 132.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, an image is formed on the recording medium 12 using fluorescent ink (specifically, magenta (M)). In forming an image, the ejection control unit 112 controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink, based on information regarding the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.

Since the ejection control unit 112 of the present embodiment performs control in the order in which the fluorescent ink is above the other ink on the recording medium 12 as the above control, this control will be described below.

First, the order of the ink on the recording medium 12 when a plurality of types of ink are deposited on the recording medium 12 that is a permeable medium is described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, as an example, magenta ink 90M (hereinafter referred to as “magenta ink 90M”) is ejected onto the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12, and then cyan ink 90C (hereinafter “cyan ink”). 90C ") is shown.

First, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the magenta ink 90M is ejected, as shown in FIG. 8B, the magenta ink 90M landed on the recording medium 12 is moved to the surface side of the recording surface 12A ( It is in a state of permeating into the upper side in FIG. In this state, cyan ink 90C is ejected onto the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12, as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the cyan ink 90C landed on the recording medium 12 permeates the lower layer side of the magenta ink 90M. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8B, the magenta ink 90M that has landed on the recording medium 12 earlier than the cyan ink 90C that subsequently landed on the recording medium 12 has a recording surface 12A. In the cyan ink 90C that has penetrated into the lower layer side of the magenta ink 90M, the light incident from the recording surface 12A side is blocked by the magenta ink 90M. On the other hand, the light incident from the recording surface 12A side reaches the magenta ink 90M without being blocked. Therefore, as described above, the fluorescent magenta ink 90M can sufficiently exhibit the fluorescence characteristics, and for example, the saturation is improved.

Thus, when a permeable medium is used as the recording medium 12, the ink that has landed first on the recording medium 12 tends to be on the upper side (the recording surface 12A side) on the recording medium 12 than the ink that has landed later. is there.

Therefore, the ejection control unit 112 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment performs control so that the fluorescent ink is placed above the other ink on the recording medium 12 (positioned on the recording surface 12 side). The amount of fluorescent ink (total amount of ink ejected, hereinafter referred to as “ink amount”) in the first half of a plurality of passes for generating a basic grid is referred to as non-fluorescent ink (hereinafter referred to as “non-fluorescent ink”). )) (The total amount of ink ejected)) (hereinafter referred to as “ink amount control”).

By performing the control in this way, the amount of the fluorescent ink and the non-fluorescent ink that are ejected (landed) on the recording medium 12 is increased. For this reason, the ratio of the fluorescent ink to the upper side (the recording surface 12A side) on the recording medium 12 is higher than that of the non-fluorescent ink.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of ink amount control processing executed by the ejection control unit 112 of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 10 forms an image instructed from the input device 122 or the like, the ejection control unit 112 executes the control program stored in the information storage unit 124, thereby The ink amount control process shown in FIG. 9 is executed.

In step S100, the ejection control unit 112 determines whether the image forming apparatus 10 includes fluorescent ink. Here, the method by which the ejection control unit 112 determines whether the image forming apparatus 10 includes fluorescent ink is not particularly limited. For example, when the ink cartridge 36 is attached to the image forming apparatus 10, information indicating the fluorescence of the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 36 is stored in the information storage unit 124 or the like, and the ejection control unit 112 is stored. It is good also as a method of performing determination based on information. Further, for example, when the user instructs the formation of an image from the discharge control unit 112 or the like, the presence or absence of fluorescent ink is also input as information indicating the fluorescence of the ink, and the discharge control unit 112 is based on the input information. Alternatively, the determination may be made.

When the image forming apparatus 10 does not include fluorescent ink, for example, it may include magenta ink that is non-fluorescent ink. As described above, when the image forming apparatus 10 does not include the fluorescent ink, the determination in step S100 is negative and the ink amount control process is terminated. In this case, the ejection control unit 112 does not control the ink amount for each pass by the ink amount control process, but performs control in normal image formation, that is, control to eject a predetermined ink amount corresponding to the image data. .

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, since the magenta ink 90M is the fluorescent ink among the four colors (four) of ink included in the image forming apparatus 10, the determination in step S100 is affirmative, and step S102 Migrate to

In step S102, the ejection control unit 112 determines whether to use fluorescent ink for image formation. For example, when forming a monochrome image, the magenta ink 90M may not be used for image formation. As described above, when the fluorescent ink is not used for image formation, the determination in step S102 is negative, and the ink amount control process is terminated. In this case, as in the case where a negative determination is made in step S100, the ejection control unit 112 performs control in normal image formation.

On the other hand, when fluorescent ink is used for image formation, the determination in step S102 is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S104, the ejection control unit 112 controls the ink amount for each pass according to the movement of the carriage 30 (recording head 24) by the main scanning driving unit 116.

The ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment increases the amount of fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes for generating the basic unit cell more than the amount of non-fluorescent ink, and in the second half. Control is performed so that the amount of fluorescent ink is less than the amount of non-fluorescent ink. In the present embodiment, the total amount of ink used to generate the basic unit cell is the same as the amount of ink in normal image formation for each ink.

FIG. 10 shows, as an example, the relationship between the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink, and the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, when a basic unit cell is generated by eight scans (8 passes). Indicates.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, the ink amount of the magenta ink 90M, which is a fluorescent ink, decreases as the number of scans (pass number) increases. On the other hand, the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, increases as the number of scans (pass number) increases. In the example shown in FIG. 10, in the first half pass (bus numbers 1 to 4), the amount of magenta ink 90M that is fluorescent ink is larger than the amount of cyan ink 90C that is non-fluorescent ink. In the second half pass (pass numbers 5 to 8), the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, is larger than the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink.

In accordance with the scanning of the carriage 30 by the main scanning drive unit 116, the ejection control unit 112 sets eight scans (8 passes) as one unit based on the basic unit grid, as shown in FIG. Control the amount of ink.

In the next step S106, the ejection control unit 112 determines whether or not to end the ink amount control process. For example, when the image formation is ended, the determination in step S106 is affirmative, and the ink amount control process is ended. On the other hand, when the image formation is in progress, the determination in step S106 is negative, and the process returns to step S104 to control the ink amount until the image formation is completed.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the ejection control unit 112 determines the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on the information regarding the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink. As the control, control is performed to increase the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink, in the first half of the plurality of passes, compared to the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink.

In other words, the ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment increases the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is the fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes, more than the amount of ink in the second half. Control is in progress. Furthermore, in other words, the ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment uses the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, in the latter half of the plurality of passes from the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink. The control is also increased.

By performing such control, the ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment performs control so that the fluorescent ink is in the order above the other ink on the recording medium. Thereby, according to the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the color development of the image formed using the fluorescent ink can be improved.

In this embodiment, when performing eight scans (passes), which is a unit for generating a basic grid, the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink, is gradually reduced according to the pass, Although the mode of gradually increasing the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is fluorescent ink, has been described, the control method is not limited to this.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the discharge control unit 112 may perform control. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the ejection control unit 112 uses the same amount of ink in the first half of pass numbers 1 to 4 and the amount of ink in the second half of pass numbers 5 to 8 of the magenta ink 90M that is fluorescent ink. Control is performed so that the amount of ink in the same and one pass is larger in the first pass than in the second pass. Further, the cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, has the same amount of ink in the first half of pass numbers 1 to 4, the same amount of ink in the second half of pass numbers 5 to 8, and the amount of ink in one pass. The amount is controlled so that the latter half of the path is larger than the first half. Further, the ejection control unit 112 increases the amount of the magenta ink 90M, which is the fluorescent ink, in the first half pass than the amount of the cyan ink 90C, which is the non-fluorescent ink, and the non-fluorescent ink in the second pass. Control is performed so that the amount of cyan ink 90C is larger than the amount of magenta ink 90M that is fluorescent ink.

[Second Embodiment]
In the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the ejection control unit 112 controls the fluorescent ink so that the fluorescent ink is placed above the other ink (positioned on the recording surface 12 side) on the recording medium 12. The amount control process is different from the ink amount control process of the first embodiment (see FIG. 9).

As in the example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 described above, the recording heads 24 (nozzle rows 61) of the respective colors are arranged in the sub-scanning direction (Y direction). Therefore, in one round-trip pass (two passes), the order of ink landed on the recording medium 12 is reversed between the forward pass and the return pass.

Therefore, the ejection control unit 112 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment causes the fluorescent ink to be ejected (landed) after the non-fluorescent ink in a pass where the fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) before the non-fluorescent ink. ) To control the amount of ink to be larger than the pass. By performing the control in this way, the amount of the fluorescent ink that is ejected (landed) on the recording medium 12 is increased between the fluorescent ink and the non-fluorescent ink. For this reason, the ratio of the fluorescent ink to the upper side (the recording surface 12A side) on the recording medium 12 is higher than that of the non-fluorescent ink.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of ink amount control processing executed by the ejection control unit 112 of this embodiment. The ink amount control process of this embodiment shown in FIG. 12 is different in that step S105 is executed instead of step S104 of the ink amount control process (see FIG. 9) in the first embodiment, and therefore step S105 will be described. To do.

In step S 105, the ejection controller 112 deposits droplets (landes on the recording medium 12) before the non-fluorescent ink in response to the movement of the carriage 30 (recording head 24) by the main scanning drive unit 116. In the pass, control is performed so that the amount of ink is increased compared to the pass in which droplets are deposited (landing on the recording medium 12) after the non-fluorescent ink. In the present embodiment, for the non-fluorescent ink, the ejection control unit 112 performs control so that the amount of ink is a constant amount regardless of the pass order (number).

FIG. 13 shows, as an example, the relationship between the amount of magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink, and the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, when a basic unit cell is generated by eight scans (8 passes). Indicates.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, when the pass number is an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7), the fluorescent ink is ejected (landed on the recording medium 12) before the non-fluorescent ink, and the pass number is an even number. (2, 4, 6, 8) shows a case where the fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) after the non-fluorescent ink.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, with magenta ink 90M, which is a fluorescent ink, the case where droplets are deposited (landed) before the non-fluorescent ink than the case where droplets are deposited (landed) after the non-fluorescent ink. There is a lot of ink. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 13, in the pass (

bus numbers

1, 3, 5, and 7) in which the fluorescent ink is first ejected (landed), the ink amount of the magenta ink 90M that is the fluorescent ink is More than the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink.

In this embodiment as well, the total amount of ink used to generate the basic unit cell is the same as the amount of ink in normal image formation for each ink.

As described above, the ejection control unit 112 according to the present embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 13 with eight scans (8 passes) as one unit based on the basic unit grid in accordance with the scanning of the carriage 30 by the main scanning driving unit 116. As described above, the ink amount of each ink is controlled.

By controlling the ejection control unit 112 in this manner, the ratio of the fluorescent ink to the upper side (the recording surface 12A side) on the recording medium 12 becomes higher than the non-fluorescent ink.

Therefore, also in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the color developability of the image formed using the fluorescent ink can be improved as in the image forming apparatus 10 of the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, the case where the amount of cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, is controlled to be a constant amount regardless of the path has been described, but the amount of non-fluorescent ink is not limited to this. For example, the amount of ink may be different between when the non-fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) before the fluorescent ink and when the non-fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) later. In this case, for example, the control may be performed to increase the amount of ink when the non-fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) before the fluorescent ink than when the non-fluorescent ink is ejected (landed) later.

[Third Embodiment]
In the image forming apparatus 10 of the first and second embodiments, the ejection control unit 112 is based on the phenomenon that the ink that has landed on the recording medium 12 first rises on the recording medium 12 (recording surface 12A). The amount of ink was controlled for each pass based on information on the fluorescence of each of the plurality of inks. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the ejection control unit 112 performs control for setting the ink that has landed on the recording medium 12 first on the recording medium 12 (recording surface 12A). . In the present embodiment, the YMCK inks are collectively referred to as “color ink” regardless of whether they are fluorescent or non-fluorescent.

As described above, when the ink penetrates the recording medium 12, the ink that has landed on the recording medium 12 first is on the recording medium 12 (recording surface 12A). On the other hand, for example, when the ink does not penetrate into the recording medium 12, the ink that has landed later overlaps the ink that has landed first.

This phenomenon will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows, as an example, a case in which cyan ink 90C, which is non-fluorescent ink, is deposited on the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12, and then magenta ink 90M, which is fluorescent ink, is superimposed and ejected. .

First, as shown in FIG. 14A, when the pretreatment liquid 90B is deposited, as shown in FIG. 14B, the pretreatment liquid 90B that has landed on the recording medium 12 is moved to the surface side of the recording surface 12A. The recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12 is cured or semi-cured (see FIG. 8).

When the cyan ink 90C is ejected in this state as shown in FIG. 14B, the cyan ink 90C landed on the recording medium 12 does not penetrate the recording surface 12A as shown in FIG. It will be in the state located on the medium 12A. Further, when the magenta ink 90M is ejected in this state as shown in FIG. 14C, the magenta ink 90M is positioned on the cyan ink 90C as shown in FIG. 14D.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 14D, the magenta ink 90M landed on the recording medium 12 later on the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12 than the cyan ink 90C landed on the recording medium 12 earlier. The fluorescent magenta ink 90 M can sufficiently exhibit the fluorescence characteristics, and, for example, the saturation is improved.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, a pretreatment liquid for curing the surface of the recording medium 12 (including semi-curing) is discharged onto the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12, and the cured recording surface 12A is Control is performed to discharge color ink including fluorescent ink.

For example, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as in the example illustrated in FIG. 15, the carriage 30 ejects the recording head 24 B 1 including the nozzle row 61 B 1 for ejecting the pretreatment liquid and the pretreatment liquid. And a recording head 24B2 provided with a nozzle row 61B2. As shown in FIG. 14, the recording head 24B1 and the recording head 24B2 are respectively positioned at both ends in the sub-scanning direction in which the recording heads 24 (

head modules

24Y, 24M, 24C, and 24K) of other colors are arranged. is doing. As described above, by arranging the recording heads 24B1 and 24B2, the pretreatment liquid is first ejected (landed) on the recording medium 12 in both the forward pass and the return pass.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of ink amount control processing executed by the ejection control unit 112 of this embodiment. The ink amount control process of this embodiment shown in FIG. 16 is different in that step S200 is executed instead of step S104 of the ink amount control process (see FIG. 9) in the first embodiment, and therefore step S200 will be described. To do.

In step S200, the ejection control unit 112 controls the head driving circuit 128 to first eject the foresight processing liquid from the recording head 24B1 or the recording head 24B2, and then, according to the image data, other color inks ( Magenta ink 90M, yellow ink 90Y, cyan ink 90C, etc.) are ejected.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the pretreatment liquid is ejected before the color ink is ejected regardless of which color ink is the fluorescent ink or the non-fluorescent ink. This makes the surface of the recording medium 12 impermeable. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, when the fluorescent ink is ejected after the non-fluorescent ink, it is possible to improve the color developability of the image formed using the fluorescent ink.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the case where the pretreatment liquid is ejected before the color ink is ejected is described regardless of which color ink is the fluorescent ink or the non-fluorescent ink. However, the order in which the pretreatment liquid is ejected is not limited to this embodiment. For example, when the non-fluorescent ink is first ejected (landed), the ejection control unit 112 applies the pretreatment liquid after the non-fluorescent ink is landed before the fluorescent ink is ejected. Control may be performed so that droplets are ejected. Further, for example, when the fluorescent ink is ejected before the non-fluorescent ink, the pretreatment liquid may not be ejected. In this case, as in the first and second embodiments, the fluorescent ink that has been ejected earlier becomes higher than the non-fluorescent ink by penetrating into the recording medium 12.

[Fourth Embodiment]
In the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first and second embodiments, the ejection control unit 112 controls the ink amount for each pass based on the information about the fluorescence of each of the plurality of inks, thereby changing the fluorescent ink to the non-fluorescent ink. In contrast, control was performed on the recording medium 12 so as to be on the upper side (the recording surface 12A side). On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the ejection control unit 112 performs ink ejection according to the arrangement of the nozzles 62 that eject (eject) ink of each color determined by whether the ink is fluorescent or non-fluorescent. The case where the droplet ejection order is controlled will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the arrangement of the recording heads 24 for each color in the carriage 30 is different from that of the recording head 24 of the first embodiment (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

In this embodiment, as an example, magenta ink 90M that is fluorescent ink, and yellow ink 90Y and cyan ink C that are non-fluorescent ink will be described. FIG. 17 shows an example of an enlarged view of the recording heads 24M, 24Y, and 24C of this embodiment.

In the arrangement of the recording heads 24 in the present embodiment, the position of the nozzle 62 is shifted in the sub-scanning direction for each color by the resolution (in the present embodiment, 400 dpi as described above in the first embodiment).

Also in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the image forming method using the multi-pass method is the same as that of the image forming apparatus 10 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 5).

FIG. 18 shows the number of scans (passes) (1 to 8) and the scans (passes) formed by the drawing operation with 8 scans (passes) as one unit in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment. The schematic diagram which showed typically an example of the relationship of the position of the applied droplet is shown.

The basic unit cell 96M generated by the magenta ink 90M, the basic unit cell 96Y generated by the yellow ink 90Y, and the basic unit cell 96C generated by the cyan ink 96C shown in FIG. Formed at the same location. That is, the basic unit cell 96M, the basic unit cell 96Y, and the basic unit cell 96C overlap on the recording medium 12.

As shown in FIG. 18, the basic unit cell 96M with the magenta ink 90M is the same as the basic unit cell (see FIG. 6) described in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the basic unit cell 96Y made of the yellow ink 90Y and the basic unit cell 96C made of the cyan ink 90C are displaced in accordance with the arrangement of the recording head 24 as shown in FIG. The positions of the formed droplets (pixel positions) are different from the basic unit cell described in the first embodiment. Therefore, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 18, the pass number 1 for magenta ink 90M, the pass number 2 for cyan ink 90C, and the pass number 3 for cyan ink 90C correspond to the same position. This indicates that, at this position, the yellow ink 90Y is ejected (landed) on the magenta ink 90M, and the cyan ink 90C is ejected (landed) thereon. Accordingly, the magenta ink 90M is positioned at the uppermost position on the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12 at this position of the recording medium 12.

As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 18, the yellow ink 90Y is ejected after the magenta ink 90M in the pass numbers 2 to 8. The cyan ink 90C is ejected after the magenta ink 90M in pass numbers 3 to 8.

Accordingly, in the example shown in FIG. 18, the magenta ink 90M is positioned above the yellow ink 90Y and the cyan ink 90C on the recording surface 12A of the recording medium 12 in the pass numbers 3 to 8.

Therefore, also in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as in the image forming apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, it is possible to improve the color developability of an image formed using the magenta ink 90M that is a fluorescent ink. As described above, when the magenta ink 90M is a fluorescent ink and the yellow ink 90Y and the cyan ink 90C are non-fluorescent inks, among the colors of the image formed on the recording medium 12, R (red) and B ( Blue) Color saturation increases.

On the other hand, unlike the above, even when the yellow ink 90Y is a fluorescent ink and the magenta ink 90M and the cyan ink 90C are non-fluorescent ink, at least the yellow ink 90Y is ejected before the cyan ink 90C. Since it is on the medium 12, the color developability of the image formed using the yellow ink 90Y can be improved. In this case, the saturation of G (green) among the colors of the image formed on the recording medium 12 is increased.

In the present embodiment, as an example, the recording heads 24M, 24Y, and 24C of the magenta ink 90M that is the fluorescent ink and the yellow ink 90Y and the cyan ink C that are the non-fluorescent ink are illustrated in FIG. Although the case where the arrangement is shifted in the sub-scanning direction according to the resolution has been described, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, when each recording head 24 is movable in the sub-scanning direction, the ejection control unit 112 arranges the recording head 24 (nozzles 62) in accordance with the information on the fluorescence of each color ink and the resolution. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the sub-scanning direction may be shifted.

Furthermore, for example, when the position (order) at which each recording head 24 is arranged in the main scanning direction can be changed, the ejection control unit 112 is illustrated in FIG. 17 based on information on the fluorescence of each color ink. As described above, the arrangement (order) of the recording heads 24 of fluorescent ink may be controlled.

In any case, the ejection control unit 112 determines that the order (arrangement) of the pass numbers of the basic unit lattices generated by the fluorescent ink is the same as the pass number of the basic unit lattice 96M illustrated in FIG. Control may be performed so that

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 of each of the embodiments described above, the nozzles 62 that are ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium 12 are arranged in the main scanning direction for each of a plurality of types of ink including fluorescent ink. A recording head 24, a main scanning drive unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head 24 and the recording medium 12 in the main scanning direction, and a sub-scan that intersects at least one of the recording head 24 and the recording medium 12 with the main scanning direction. A discharge driving unit 112 that controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on the information related to the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink and the conveyance drive unit that moves relative to the scanning direction. And comprising.

Thereby, according to the image forming apparatus 10 of each of the above embodiments, the order in which the fluorescent ink is above the other ink on the recording medium is set.

Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus 10 of each of the embodiments described above, the color developability of an image formed using fluorescent ink can be improved.

It should be noted that the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 and the operation of the discharge control unit 112 described in the above embodiments are merely examples, and can be changed according to the situation without departing from the gist of the present invention. Nor. For example, it goes without saying that the above embodiments may be combined. Further, for example, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the carriage drive control unit 106 moves the carriage 30 (recording head 24) in the main scanning direction by the main scanning driving unit 116 has been described. 12 may be moved in the main scanning direction. Similarly, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the recording medium conveyance control unit 104 conveys the recording medium 12 in the sub-scanning direction by the conveyance driving unit has been described, but the recording medium 12 is fixed and the carriage 30 (the recording head 24). ) May be moved in the sub-scanning direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Recording medium 12A Recording surface 20 Apparatus main body 22 Support leg 24, 24B1,

24B2 Recording head

24Y, 24M, 24C, 24K Head module 26 Platen 28 Guide mechanism 30 Carriage 36 Ink cartridge 38 Mounting part 40 Roller 42 Roll 44 Winding roll 46 Guide 50 Temperature control unit 52 Pre-temperature control unit 54 After

temperature control unit

61, 61Y, 61M, 61C, 61K, 61B1, 61B2 Nozzle row 62 Nozzle 90C Cyan ink 90M Magenta ink 90Y Yellow ink

90B Pretreatment liquid

96C , 96M, 96Y Basic unit cell 102 Control device 104 Recording medium conveyance control unit 106 Carriage drive control unit 110 Image processing unit 112 Discharge control unit 114 Conveyance drive unit 116 Main scanning drive unit 120 Display device 122 Input device 12 Information storage unit 126 image input I / F
128 Head drive circuit 130 Encoder 132 Sensor X, Y Arrow

Claims

A recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in the first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink including fluorescent ink;
A first moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in the first direction;
A second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction;
A control unit that controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink;
An image forming apparatus.
The control unit further controls the order of droplet ejection of the plurality of types of ink based on the information.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
When the control unit causes the fluorescent ink and the non-fluorescent ink to be deposited on the recording medium, the control unit causes the fluorescent ink to be more than the other ink on the recording medium based on the information. Control in the order that also goes up,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
When forming an image on the recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region of a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes,
The control unit performs control to increase the amount of fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes more than the amount of non-fluorescent ink.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
When forming an image on the recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region of a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes,
The controller performs control to increase the amount of fluorescent ink in the first half of the plurality of passes to be greater than the amount of fluorescent ink in the second half;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
When forming an image on the recording medium by ejecting ink a plurality of times in the first direction and a plurality of times in the second direction for each region of a predetermined size by a plurality of predetermined passes,
The control unit performs control to increase the amount of non-fluorescent ink in the latter half of the plurality of passes more than the amount of fluorescent ink.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The control unit controls the ink droplet ejection order by changing the position of the nozzle that ejects the ink for each type of ink.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The control unit performs the control of ejecting the non-fluorescent ink, ejecting the pretreatment liquid, further ejecting the pretreatment liquid, and then ejecting the fluorescent ink.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
A recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in a first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium is relatively moved in the first direction. A control device that controls an image forming apparatus including: one moving unit; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. There,
A control unit that controls the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.
Control device.
A recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in a first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium is relatively moved in the first direction. A control method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a moving unit; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. ,
Controlling the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.
Control method including processing.
A recording head in which ejection openings for ejecting ink toward the recording medium are arranged in a first direction for each of a plurality of types of ink, and at least one of the recording head and the recording medium is relatively moved in the first direction. The computer executes control of an image forming apparatus comprising: a moving unit; and a second moving unit that relatively moves at least one of the recording head and the recording medium in a second direction intersecting the first direction. A control program for causing
Controlling the amount of ink ejected for each pass for each of the plurality of types of ink based on information on the fluorescence of the plurality of types of ink.
A control program that includes processing.