Patent Grant
12023920
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2021-150882, filed Sep. 16, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method.
In the case where a recording head including a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged is tilted in a direction intersecting the recording surface of a medium such as a sheet, i.e., it has a tilt called “bow”, a positional displacement corresponding to the tilt is caused between the dot line ejected to the medium from the nozzle row in the forward movement of the recording head and the dot line ejected to the medium from the nozzle row in the backward movement of the recording head (see JP-A-2018-199280).
According to JP-A-2018-199280, the impinging position of the dot ejected from each nozzle is adjusted by generating an approximate straight line by reading the pattern image recorded by using all nozzles of the nozzle row through the forward movement of the recording head and the pattern image recorded by using all nozzles of the nozzle row through the backward movement of the recording head, and by deriving the above-described tilt from the approximate straight line.
There is a room for improvement in the pattern that is recorded for correcting the displacement of the impinging position of the dot due to the tilt of the recording head. In addition, there are factors of the displacement of the impinging position of the dot other than the tilt, and therefore it is required to record patterns that will help to correct the positional displacement due to each factor.
A recording apparatus includes a recording head including a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink to a medium are disposed side by side in a nozzle row direction, and a control unit configured to control ink ejection of the recording head. Recording on the medium is performed by a conveyance operation of relatively moving the recording head and the medium in a first direction, forward scanning that is ink ejection along with a forward movement of the recording head along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and backward scanning that is ink ejection along with a backward movement of the recording head along the second direction, the nozzle row includes, along the nozzle row direction, a first nozzle group, a second nozzle group, and a third nozzle group between the first nozzle group and the second nozzle group, the control unit is configured to control, in the forward scanning, formation of a first pattern on the medium through ink ejection from the first nozzle group, and formation of a second pattern on the medium through ink ejection from the second nozzle group, the control unit is configured to control, in the backward scanning, formation of a third pattern on the medium through ink ejection from the first nozzle group, and formation of a fourth pattern on the medium through ink ejection from the second nozzle group, the control unit is configured to execute a first control of forming a first patch on the medium without performing a conveyance operation, the first patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, a second control of forming a second patch and a third patch on the medium, the second patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the second pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the third patch being a patch in which the third pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and a third control of forming a fourth patch and a fifth patch on the medium, the fourth patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the fifth patch being a patch in which the second pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and the first control and the second control, or the first control and the third control are executed by a single adjusting operation.
A recording method is a method of performing recording on a medium by a conveyance operation of relatively moving a recording head and the medium in a first direction, forward scanning that is ink ejection along with a forward movement of the recording head along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and backward scanning that is ink ejection along with a backward movement of the recording head along the second direction, the recording head including a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink to the medium are disposed side by side in a nozzle row direction. The nozzle row includes, along the nozzle row direction, a first nozzle group, a second nozzle group, and a third nozzle group between the first nozzle group and the second nozzle group, and a first control and a second control, or the first control and a third control are executed by a single adjusting operation, provided that a pattern that is formed on the medium through ink ejection from the first nozzle group in the forward scanning is a first pattern, a pattern that is formed on the medium through ink ejection from the second nozzle group in the forward scanning is a second pattern, a pattern that is formed on the medium through the ink ejection from the first nozzle group in the backward scanning is a third pattern, and a pattern that is formed on the medium through the ink ejection from the second nozzle group in the backward scanning is a fourth pattern, and a control of forming a first patch on the medium without performing the conveyance operation is the first control, the first patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, a control of forming a second patch and a third patch on the medium is the second control, the second patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the second pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the third patch being a patch in which the third pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and a control of forming a fourth patch and a fifth patch on the medium is the third control, the fourth patch being a patch in which the first pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the fifth patch being a patch in which the second pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that each of the drawings is merely an example for describing the embodiments. Since the drawings are examples, they may be provided with incorrect proportions and shapes, may mismatch each other, and may be partially omitted.
The control unit 11 includes one or a plurality of ICs including a CPU 11a serving as a processor, a ROM 11b, a RAM 11c and the like, other nonvolatile memories and the like. At the control unit 11, the processor, i.e., the CPU 11a, executes arithmetic processing in accordance with a program 12 stored in the ROM 11b, other memories and the like, with the RAM 11c and the like used as a working area. In accordance with the program 12, the control unit 11 implements a plurality of functions such as an inspection pattern recording unit 12a and a positional displacement correction unit 12b. Note that the processor is not limited to one CPU, and may have a configuration of performing processing with a plurality of CPUs or a hardware circuit such as an ASIC, or a configuration of performing processing with a CPU and a hardware circuit in conjunction with each other.
The display unit 13 is a means for displaying visual information, and is composed of a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display or the like, for example. The display unit 13 may have a configuration including a display and a driving circuit for driving the display. The operation reception unit 14 is a means for receiving the user operation, and is implemented with physical buttons, touch panel, mouse, keyboard and the like, for example. Naturally, the touch panel may be implemented as one function of the display unit 13. A configuration including the display unit 13 and the operation reception unit 14 may be referred to as the operation panel of the recording apparatus 10.
The display unit 13 and/or the operation reception unit 14 may be a part of the configuration of the recording apparatus 10, or may be a peripheral device externally attached to the recording apparatus 10.
The communication IF 15 is a collective term of one or a plurality of IFs for the recording apparatus 10 to communicate with the outside in a wired or wireless manner in compliance with a predetermined communication protocol including publicly known communication standards. The control unit 11 can communicate with a personal computer, a server, a smartphone, a tablet terminal and the like not illustrated in the drawing through the communication IF 15, for example.
The storage unit 16 is a storage means composed of a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive, and/or other memories, for example. A part of the memory provided in the control unit 11 may be regarded as the storage unit 16. The storage unit 16 may be regarded as a part of the control unit 11.
The conveyance unit 17 is a means for conveying a medium such as a sheet along a predetermined “conveyance direction” under the control of the control unit 11, and includes a roller that conveys the medium through its rotation, a motor for driving the roller and the like, for example. The conveyance direction corresponds to “first direction”. The medium is typically a sheet, but may be materials other than a sheet as long as recording can be performed on the medium through liquid ejection.
The recording head 19 includes a plurality of nozzles 21 as exemplified in
The carriage 18 is a mechanism in which the recording head 19 is mounted as illustrated in
Here, an ideal arrangement in which the nozzle row direction D3 and the conveyance direction D1 are parallel to each other is described for the sake of ease of description, although a configuration in which the nozzle row direction D3 obliquely intersects the conveyance direction D1 is also known as a configuration of the recording head 19. The nozzle row 23 composed of the nozzles 21 that eject C ink is also referred to as nozzle row 23C. Likewise, the nozzle row 23 composed of the nozzles 21 that eject M ink is also referred to as nozzle row 23M, the nozzle row 23 composed of the nozzles 21 that eject Y ink as the nozzle row 23Y, and the nozzle row 23 composed of the nozzles 21 that eject K ink as nozzle row 23K. The positions of the nozzle rows 23C, 23M, 23Y and 23K are the same in the nozzle row direction D3, and they are disposed side by side in the direction orthogonal to the nozzle row direction D3.
The control unit 11 performs recording on the medium 30 through a combination of conveyance of the medium 30 from the upstream side to the downstream side by the conveyance unit 17, i.e., a “conveyance operation” of relatively moving the recording head 19 and the medium 30 in the first direction, “forward scanning”, which is ink ejection along with the forward movement of the recording head 19, and “backward scanning”, which is ink ejection along with the backward movement of the recording head 19. When the forward scanning and/or the backward scanning is being executed, the medium 30 is stopped. The recording through the forward scanning and the backward scanning is also referred to as bidirectional recording. In addition, the forward scanning and the backward scanning are also referred to as forward path and backward path, respectively, or simply as path.
In the embodiment, the range inside the nozzle row 23 is recognized by sectioning it into a first nozzle group 24a, a second nozzle group 24b and a third nozzle group 24c along the nozzle row direction D3. In the example illustrated in
The sections of the first nozzle group 24a, the second nozzle group 24b, and the third nozzle group 24c are common in the nozzle rows 23C, 23M, 23Y and 23K. Each of the first nozzle group 24a, the second nozzle group 24b, and the third nozzle group 24c may be interpreted as being composed of the nozzles 21 that are successive in the nozzle row direction D3. Note that for example, one or more nozzles 21 on the downstream side including the nozzle 21 located most downstream in the nozzle row 23 may be interpreted as not belonging to the first nozzle group 24a, and one or more nozzles 21 on the upstream side including the nozzle 21 located most upstream in the nozzle row 23 may be interpreted as not belonging to the second nozzle group 24b. In addition, for example, some nozzles 21 located between the first nozzle group 24a and the second nozzle group 24b may be interpreted as not belonging to the third nozzle group 24c.
A first roller pair composed of a roller 17a and a roller 17b is disposed upstream of the recording head 19a. In addition, a second roller pair composed of a roller 17c and a roller 17d is disposed downstream of the recording head 19. The roller pairs are a part of the conveyance unit 17. The roller pair conveys the medium 30 downstream by rotating with the medium 30 sandwiched between the rollers making up the pair. Naturally, the rollers provided in the conveyance unit 17 is not limited to the rollers illustrated in the drawing. In addition, the means for the conveyance unit 17 to convey the medium 30 may be a belt, a table or and the like that is movable with the medium 30 placed on it.
The recording head 19 is supported at an upper position facing the platen 25. In
The PG adjusting unit 20 includes a motor, a support mechanism and the like for moving up and down the recording head 19, for example. The PG adjusting unit 20 moves the carriage 18 including the recording head 19 in the direction away from the platen 25 and the direction toward the platen 25, and consequently adjusts the PG. Note that a distance measurement sensor that can measure the PG may be mounted in the recording head 19, and the control unit 11 may cause the PG adjusting unit 20 to correctly adjust the PG while monitoring the measurement result of the distance measurement sensor. In addition, the distance measurement sensor may measure the distance from a predetermined position of the recording head 19 to the platen 25, and the control unit 11 may determine the PG by subtracting the numerical value acquired as the thickness of the medium 30 from that measurement result.
The example of
Although not shown in the drawing, in some cases, the nozzle row direction D3 of the recording head 19 is tilted with respect to the conveyance direction D1, that is, the recording head 19 is attached in the state where it is rotated with respect to the conveyance direction D1 in a plane parallel to the surface of the medium 30. When such a rotation is caused, the impinging positions of the two dots are also displaced along the main scanning direction D2 when dots are simultaneously ejected from the nozzle 21 in the vicinity of the downstream end portion and the nozzle 21 in the vicinity of the upstream end portion in the nozzle row 23 in the path.
In the following description, the tilt of the recording head 19 such as the above-described bow and rotation may be collectively and simply referred to as “tilt”.
Further, when bidirectional recording is executed, inherent displacement of each machine body of the apparatus may be caused also between the dot ejected in the forward scanning and the dot ejected in the backward scanning.
In the embodiment, an inspection pattern suitable for the detection of the positional displacement of the recording result due to the tilt and the bidirectional recording is recorded on the medium 30.
The recording apparatus 10 may be implemented not only with one independent printer, but also with a plurality of apparatuses communicatively connected to each other. For example, the recording apparatus 10 may be implemented as a system including an information processing device including the control unit 11 and the like, and a printer including the conveyance unit 17, the carriage 18, the recording head 19 and the like.
At step S100, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a of the control unit 11 forms a “first pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a.
At step S110, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “third pattern” through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the first pattern recorded on the medium 30 at step S100.
As a result of steps S100 and S110, the recording of a “first patch” composed of the first pattern and the third pattern is completed. The conveyance unit 17 does not convey the medium 30 between step S100 and step S110. Thus, steps S100 and S110 correspond to “first control” of forming the first patch on the medium 30 with no conveyance operation.
In the example illustrated in
The patch represented by the patch image data 40 is an image for detecting the positional displacement of the first pattern data 41 and the second pattern data 42 in the recording result. Therefore, preferably, the first rectangle image 41a and the second rectangle image 42a are images with different colors for the sake of easy detection of the displacement. The color of the first rectangle image 41a and the color of the second rectangle image 42a may be referred to as first color and second color, respectively. In the embodiment, the colors of the first color and the second color are not specifically limited.
Alternatively, the first rectangle image 41a and the second rectangle image 42a may be images with the same hue and different densities such as light grey and dark grey.
Alternatively, the first rectangle image 41a and the second rectangle image 42a may be images with the same color. Even in the case where the first pattern data 41 and the second pattern data 42 are the images with the same color, a positional displacement therebetween generated in the recording result is visually recognized as the color of the medium 30 itself in the form of a gap in the patch, and thus the presence/absence and the degree of the positional displacement can be detected.
At step S100, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a first pattern 411 on the medium 30 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the first pattern data 41 of the patch image data 40 in the forward scanning. In the example of
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S100, at step S110, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a third pattern 423 on the medium 30 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the second pattern data 42 of the patch image data 40 in the backward scanning without interposing the conveyance operation. In the example of
As with the relationship between the first pattern data 41 and the second pattern data 42 in the patch image data 40, the first pattern 411 and the third pattern 423 in the first patch 401 are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the main scanning direction D2. The configuration in which the two patterns making up the patch are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the main scanning direction D2 is the same for the second, third, fourth, fifth patches described later.
Here, regarding the recording of patches, “forming the other pattern in accordance with one pattern” means forming a plurality of patches such that the relative positions of a plurality of patterns making up the patches are different from each other in the main scanning direction D2. More specifically, at step S110, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records a plurality of the first patches 401 such that each third pattern 423 has a different shift amount with respect to the first pattern 411 in the main scanning direction D2. The numerical values “−2”, “−1”, “0”, “+1” and “+2” indicated for respective first patches 401 in the medium 30 of
The shift amount “0” means recording without performing the shifting process, i.e., recording of the first pattern data 41 and the second pattern data 42 represented by the patch image data 40 as they are. The minus shift amount means recording with a shift to the direction of the backward movement. The plus shift amount means recording with a shift to the direction of the forward movement.
Here, as an example, the unit of the shift amount is one pixel while various units such as 1 mm unit are conceivable for the unit of the shift amount. Here, the pixel is a pixel that makes up the recording data or the patch image data 40 that is two-dimensional bit map image data. For example, in the case where the shift amount is set to “−2”, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms the third pattern 423 on the medium 30 by using the second pattern data 42 shifted by two pixels to the direction of the backward movement relative to the second pattern data 42 in the patch image data 40. Likewise, in the case where the shift amount is set to “+1”, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms the third pattern 423 on the medium 30 by using the second pattern data 42 shifted by one pixel to the direction of the forward movement relative to the second pattern data 42 in the patch image data 40. As a result of such a process, as illustrated in
At step S120, the positional displacement correction unit 12b of the control unit 11 corrects the displacement of the bidirectional recording on the basis of the recording result of the first patch. The displacement of the bidirectional recording is a positional displacement between the dot formed through the forward scanning and the dot formed through the backward scanning in the main scanning direction D2. The first patch is composed of the first pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the forward scanning and the third pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the backward scanning, and is therefore suitable for the detection of the displacement of the bidirectional recording.
The positional displacement correction unit 12b acquires the correction amount for the displacement of the bidirectional recording. For example, in the case where the plurality of the first patches 401 as illustrated in
Alternatively, the medium 30 on which the plurality of the first patches 401 are recorded may be read by a scanner not illustrated in the drawing, and the read image data as the read result may be input to the recording apparatus 10. The positional displacement correction unit 12b receiving the input of the read image data may identify the first patch 401 with the most ideal positional relationship between the first pattern 411 and the third pattern 423 by analyzing the read image data, and may acquire the shift amount corresponding to the identified first patch 401 as the correction amount for the displacement of the bidirectional recording.
The positional displacement correction unit 12b corrects the displacement of the bidirectional recording in accordance with the acquired correction amount. In the case where the correction amount is “−1” as in the above-described example, the positional relationship between the recording through the forward scanning and the recording through the backward scanning in the main scanning direction D2 becomes ideal by shifting the entirety of the dot ejection timing of the backward scanning by one pixel in the movement direction, i.e., by delaying it by one pixel. In view of this, the positional displacement correction unit 12b sets a setting of shifting the entirety of the dot ejection timing in the backward scanning by the recording head 19 by one pixel in the movement direction relative to the timing according to the recording data, and applies this setting to the backward scanning to be subsequently executed. Alternatively, the positional displacement correction unit 12b may set a setting of shifting the entirety of the dot ejection timing in the forward scanning by the recording head 19 by one pixel in the movement direction relative to the timing according to the recording data, and applies this setting to the forward scanning to be subsequently executed. Alternatively, the positional displacement correction unit 12b may correct both the dot ejection timing in the forward scanning and the dot ejection timing in the backward scanning in accordance with the acquired correction amount such that consequently, the positional relationship between the recording through the forward scanning and the recording through the backward scanning in the main scanning direction D2 becomes ideal.
After step S120, at step S130, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a divides the process in accordance with the recording mode set in advance regarding the recording on the “overlapping region” that is a target of both the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. In a recording method for performing the recording by combining the path and the conveyance of the medium 30, so-called overlapping recording of recording one raster line by multiple paths is known. The raster line is one line composed of pixels disposed side by side along the main scanning direction D2 in recording data representing a given image, which can be referred to as pixel row. Note that one line composed of pixels disposed side by side along the conveyance direction D1 is referred to as pixel column.
Various combinations of the nozzles 21 are used for the overlapping recording of each raster line making up the recording data. For example, a certain raster line is recorded by using the nozzle 21 belonging to the first nozzle group 24a and the nozzle 21 belonging to the third nozzle group 24c. In addition, for example, another raster line is recorded by using the nozzle 21 belonging to the third nozzle group 24c and the nozzle 21 belonging to the second nozzle group 24b. In addition, a certain raster line may be recorded by using the plurality of nozzles 21 belonging to the third nozzle group 24c. In addition, a certain raster line may be recorded by one nozzle 21 without being subjected to the overlapping recording.
In any case, in the embodiment, it is assumed that when performing the recording based on recording data, the recording apparatus 10 performs the recording on at least a part of the raster line by using the plurality of nozzles 21 including the nozzle 21 belonging to the first nozzle group 24a and the nozzle 21 belonging to the second nozzle group 24b. The raster line recorded by the plurality of nozzles 21 including the nozzle 21 belonging to the first nozzle group 24a and the nozzle 21 belonging to the second nozzle group 24b is collectively referred to as overlapping region.
In the embodiment, “raster alternate recording mode” and “column alternate recording mode” are assumed as the above-described recording mode. The inspection pattern recording unit 12a proceeds from “Yes” of step S130 to step S140 when the set recording mode is a raster alternate recording mode, whereas the inspection pattern recording unit 12a proceeds from “No” of step S130 to step S200 when the set recording mode is a column alternate recording mode. The raster alternate recording mode and the column alternate recording mode may be simply referred to as first recording mode and second recording mode.
Naturally, the recording after step S120 is recording to which the correction of step S120 is applied. In addition, in the recording at steps S140 to S180 and the recording at steps S200 to S240, the medium 30 on which the first patch is recorded may be used as it is, or the medium 30 other than the medium 30 on which the first patch is recorded may be used.
Each pixel of the recording data 50 is illustrated with a circle, a rhombus, or a white arrow for convenience of description. The circle means that the corresponding pixel is recorded by the nozzle 21 belonging to the first nozzle group 24a, and the rhombus means that the corresponding pixel is recorded by the nozzle 21 belonging to the second nozzle group 24b. In addition, the white arrow in the pixel represents the direction of the path for the recording of the corresponding pixel, i.e., either the forward scanning or the backward scanning for the recording. Naturally, recording of a pixel means ejection of a dot from the nozzle 21 when a dot is set to the pixel in the recording data.
In
In the examples of
At step S140, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “second pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning, and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b.
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S140, at step S150, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “fourth pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning, and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b.
At step S160, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a controls the conveyance unit 17 and executes sheet advancing. Here, the sheet advancing is a process of conveying the position of the medium 30 on which the second pattern and the fourth pattern are formed by the second nozzle group 24b at steps S140 and S150 to a position where recording can be performed by the first nozzle group 24a. The conveyance distance required for the sheet advancing is determined in advance based on the distance between the second nozzle group 24b and the first nozzle group 24a in the conveyance direction D1.
At step S170, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “first pattern” through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the second pattern recorded on the medium 30 at step S140.
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S170, at step S180, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “third pattern” through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the fourth pattern recorded on the medium 30 at step S150.
As a result of steps S140, S160 and S170, the recording of the “second patch” composed of the first pattern and the second pattern is completed. In addition, as a result of steps S150, S160 and S180, the recording of the “third patch” composed of the third pattern and the fourth pattern is completed. The above-described steps S140 to S180 correspond to the “second control” of forming the second patch and the third patch on the medium 30.
In this manner, in the flowchart of
At step S140, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records a plurality of the second patterns 422 on the medium 30 at an interval in the main scanning direction D2 by causing the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b to eject ink on the basis of the second pattern data 42 of the patch image data 40 in the forward scanning.
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S140, at step S150, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records a plurality of fourth patterns 424 on the medium 30 at an interval in the main scanning direction D2 by causing the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b to eject ink on the basis of the second pattern data 42 of the patch image data 40 in the backward scanning without interposing the conveyance operation. As a result, as illustrated in
Next, after the sheet advancing at step S160, at step S170, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records a plurality of the first patterns 411 in accordance with each of the plurality of the second patterns 422 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the first pattern data 41 of the patch image data 40 in the forward scanning.
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S170, at step S180, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records a plurality of the third patterns 413 in accordance with each of the plurality of the fourth patterns 424 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the first pattern data 41 of the patch image data 40 in the backward scanning without interposing the conveyance operation. As a result, as illustrated in
As seen in
More specifically, at step S140, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a plurality of the second pattern 422 such that the shift amount with respect to the first pattern 411 in the main scanning direction D2 differs for each second pattern 422, and that consequently, the plurality of the second patches 402 has been recorded at the time of completion of step S170. Likewise, at step S150, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms the plurality of the fourth patterns 424 such that the shift amount with respect to the third pattern 413 in the main scanning direction D2 differs for each fourth pattern 424, and that consequently, the plurality of the third patches 403 have been recorded at the time of completion of step S180.
At step S190, the positional displacement correction unit 12b corrects the displacement corresponding to the tilt for the overlapping region recorded by the raster alternate recording mode on the basis of the recording result of the second patch and the third patch. The displacement corresponding to the tilt is the positional displacement of the dot corresponding to the tilt such as bow and rotation of the recording head 19 as described above. Such a positional displacement tends to be significant between dots ejected from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a and the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b with a large distance therebetween in the conveyance direction D1. The second patch is composed of the first pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the forward scanning and the second pattern formed by the second nozzle group 24b through the forward scanning. In addition, the third patch is composed of the third pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the backward scanning and the fourth pattern formed by the second nozzle group 24b through the backward scanning. Therefore, the second patch and the third patch are suitable for the detection of the displacement corresponding to the tilt that is caused in the overlapping region under the raster alternate recording mode.
The positional displacement correction unit 12b acquires the correction amount for the displacement corresponding to the tilt. For example, when the plurality of the second patches 402 as illustrated in
Likewise, when the plurality of the third patches 403 as illustrated in
Naturally, as with the acquisition of the correction amount for the displacement of the bidirectional recording, the positional displacement correction unit 12b may acquire the correction amount for the displacement corresponding to the tilt on the basis of a scanning result of the medium 30 after the patch recording using a scanner instead of the input from the user.
The positional displacement correction unit 12b corrects the displacement corresponding to the tilt in accordance with the acquired correction amount. As in the above-described example, when the correction amount for the overlapping region that is recorded by the raster alternate recording mode through the forward scanning is “−2”, the positional relationship between the recording by the first nozzle group 24a and the recording by the second nozzle group 24b in the overlapping region becomes ideal by shifting the entirety of the dot ejection timing of the second nozzle group 24b through the forward scanning in the direction opposite to the movement by two pixels, i.e., by advancing it by two pixels. In view of this, regarding each raster line that is recorded by the raster alternate recording mode through the forward scanning, the positional displacement correction unit 12b sets a setting of shifting by two pixels in the direction of the backward movement for the pixel that should be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b, and applies this setting to the raster alternate recording mode to be subsequently executed. In addition, as in the above-described example, when the correction amount for the overlapping region that is recorded by the raster alternate recording mode through the backward scanning is “+1”, the positional displacement correction unit 12b sets a setting of shifting by one pixel in the direction of the forward movement for the pixel that should be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b regarding each raster line that is recorded by the raster alternate recording mode through the backward scanning, and applies this setting to the raster alternate recording mode to be subsequently executed.
Naturally, as long as similar correction effects are obtained, the positional displacement correction unit 12b may correct one or both of the recording timing of the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a for recording the overlapping region and the recording timing of the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b for recording the overlapping region in accordance with the acquired correction amount. The same applies to step S250 described later. After step S190, the flowchart of
At step S200, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “second pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning, and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S200, at step S210, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “fourth pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning, and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. That is, steps S200 and S210 are the same processes as steps S140 and S150. The sheet advancing at step S220 is also the same process as step S160.
At step S230, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “first pattern” through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the fourth pattern recorded on the medium 30 at step S210. Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S230, at step S240, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “third pattern” through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning, and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the second pattern recorded on the medium 30 at step S200.
As a result of steps S210, S220 and S230, the recording of the “fourth patch” composed of the first pattern and the fourth pattern is completed. In addition, as a result of steps S200, S220 and S240, the recording of the “fifth patch” composed of the second pattern and the third pattern is completed. The above-described steps S200 to S240 correspond to the “third control” of forming the fourth patch and the fifth patch on the medium 30.
In this manner, in the flowchart of
After the sheet advancing at step S220, at step S230, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records the plurality of the first patterns 411 in accordance with each of the plurality of the fourth patterns 424 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the first pattern data 41 of the patch image data 40 in the forward scanning.
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S230, at step S240, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a records the plurality of the third patterns 413 in accordance with each of the plurality of the second patterns 422 by ejecting ink from the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a on the basis of the first pattern data 41 of the patch image data 40 in the backward scanning without interposing the conveyance operation. As a result, as illustrated in
As seen in
At step S250, the positional displacement correction unit 12b corrects the displacement corresponding to the tilt for the overlapping region recorded by the column alternate recording mode on the basis of the recording result of the fourth patch and the fifth patch. The fourth patch is composed of the first pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the forward scanning and the fourth pattern formed by the second nozzle group 24b through the backward scanning. In addition, the fifth patch is composed of the second pattern formed by the second nozzle group 24b through the forward scanning and the third pattern formed by the first nozzle group 24a through the backward scanning. Therefore, the fourth patch and the fifth patch are suitable for the detection of the displacement corresponding to the tilt that is caused in the overlapping region under the column alternate recording mode.
The positional displacement correction unit 12b acquires the correction amount for the displacement corresponding to the tilt. For example, when the plurality of fourth patches 404 as illustrated in
Likewise, when the plurality of fifth patches 405 as illustrated in
The positional displacement correction unit 12b corrects the displacement corresponding to the tilt in accordance with the acquired correction amount. As in the above-described example, when the correction amount for the overlapping region that is recorded by the first column alternate recording mode is “+1”, the positional relationship between the recording by the first nozzle group 24a and the recording by the second nozzle group 24b in the overlapping region becomes ideal by shifting the entirety of the dot ejection timing of the second nozzle group 24b of the backward scanning in the direction opposite to the movement by one pixel, i.e., by advancing it by one pixel. In view of this, regarding each raster line recorded by the first column alternate recording mode, the positional displacement correction unit 12b sets a setting of shifting by one pixel in the direction of the forward movement for the pixel that should be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b of the backward scanning, and applies this setting to the first column alternate recording mode to be subsequently executed. In addition, as in the above-described example, when the correction amount for the overlapping region that is recorded by the second column alternate recording mode is “−2”, the positional displacement correction unit 12b sets a setting of shifting by two pixels in the direction of the backward movement for the pixel that should be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b of the forward scanning regarding each raster line that is recorded by the second column alternate recording mode, and applies this setting to the second column alternate recording mode to be subsequently executed. After such a step 250, the flowchart of
In this manner, “single adjusting operation” in the embodiment includes the recording process of a series of patterns and patches starting from step S100 and ending at step S180 or at step S240. Further, the single adjusting operation may include the correction of step S120, step S190 or step S250.
The positions of the raster lines RL1 and RL2 in the main scanning direction D2 coincide with each other in the phase of the recording data. As illustrated in the upper part in
Comparing the middle part with the upper part in
Note that while the illustration of the effects of the correction for the overlapping region of the case of the recording employing the column alternate recording mode is omitted, recording results in which the displacement of the bidirectional recording and the displacement corresponding to the tilt are corrected are naturally obtained with the effects of the corrections of step S120 and step S250.
According to the embodiment, the recording apparatus 10 includes the recording head 19 including the nozzle row 23 in which a plurality of nozzles 21 for ejecting ink to the medium 30 are disposed side by side in the nozzle row direction D3, and the control unit 11 configured to control ink ejection of the recording head 19, and recording on the medium 30 is performed by a conveyance operation of relatively moving the recording head 19 and the medium 30 in a first direction, forward scanning that is ink ejection along with a forward movement of the recording head 19 along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and backward scanning that is ink ejection along with a backward movement of the recording head 19 along the second direction. The nozzle row 23 includes, along the nozzle row direction D3, the first nozzle group 24a, the second nozzle group 24b, and the third nozzle group 24c between the first nozzle group 24a and the second nozzle group 24b. The control unit 11 is configured to control, in the forward scanning, formation of a first pattern on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a, and formation of a second pattern on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. The control unit 11 is configured to control, in the backward scanning, formation of a third pattern on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a, and formation of a fourth pattern on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. The control unit 11 is configured to execute the first control of forming the first patch 401 on the medium 30 without performing a conveyance operation, the first patch 401 being a patch in which the first pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the second control of forming the second patch 402 and the third patch 403 on the medium 30, the second patch 402 being a patch in which the first pattern and the second pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the third patch 403 being a patch in which the third pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and the third control of forming the fourth patch 404 and the fifth patch 405 on the medium 30, the fourth patch 404 being a patch in which the first pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the fifth patch 405 being a patch in which the second pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and the first control and the second control, or the first control and the third control are executed by a single adjusting operation.
With this configuration, the first patch 401, the second patch 402 and the third patch 403 are recorded on the medium 30 by the first control and the second control, and the first patch 401, the fourth patch 404 and the fifth patch 405 are recorded on the medium 30 by the first control and the third control. That is, a patch suitable for correction of the positional displacement of the dot due to the bidirectional recording, and a patch suitable for correction of the positional displacement of the dot due to the tilt such as bow of the recording head 19 are recorded. Thus, the recording quality can be improved by correcting the various displacements.
In addition, the positional displacement of the dot due to the tilt such as bow tends to be significant in the case of recording using the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a and the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b with a large distance therebetween in the nozzle row 23. In consideration of such a situation, in the embodiment, the second patch 402 and the third patch 403 are recorded and the fourth patch 404 and the fifth patch 405 are recorded by using the first nozzle group 24a and the second nozzle group 24b, while the third nozzle group 24c is not used for recording the patterns and patches. Thus, the second to fifth patches that can easily acquire the appropriate correction amount for correcting the displacement corresponding to the tilt can be recorded while generally suppressing the ink consumption required for the pattern recording.
In addition, the first patch 401 is recorded by using the first nozzle group 24a without performing the conveyance operation. In this manner, the first patch 401 in which the influence of errors due to the conveyance operation and the like is eliminated can be obtained while suppressing the ink consumption, and the displacement of the bidirectional recording can be corrected with high accuracy on the basis of the recording result of the first patch 401.
Note that the conveyance operation of relatively moving the recording head 19 and the medium 30 in the first direction may include not only the operation of conveying the medium 30 downstream by the conveyance unit 17 as described above, but also an operation of moving the recording head 19 upstream at a timing other than the path execution.
In addition, according to the embodiment, in each of the first control and the second control, or in each of the first control and the third control, the control unit 11 forms a plurality of the patches in which relative positions of a plurality of the patterns making up the patch in the second direction are different from each other.
With this configuration, the plurality of the first to fifth patches are formed such that the relative positions of the plurality of patterns making up the patch in the main scanning direction D2 are different from each other. In this manner, the optimum correction amount for correcting the displacement can be acquired in accordance with the patch with the most ideal positional relationship between the patterns among the plurality of patches.
Note that in the embodiment, the recording of the plurality of patches for each of the first to fifth patches is not an essential condition. The control unit 11 may record only one patch for each of the first to fifth patches, e.g., only a patch with the shift amount “0” instead of recording a plurality patches for each of first to fifth patches as illustrated in
In addition, according to the embodiment, when performing recording in an overlapping region that is a target of the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b, the control unit 11 corrects timing of at least one of the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a and ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b in accordance with relative positions of the patterns making up the patch in the second direction.
That is, as can be understood from the description for step S190 and step S250, the control unit 11 corrects the timing of at least one of the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a and the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b by correcting the data for recording the overlapping region and the like on the basis of the correction amount for displacement correction acquired in accordance with the relative position between the patterns in the second and third patches and the fourth and fifth patches. In this manner, the recording quality can be improved for the overlapping region where the positional displacement of the dot due to the tilt such as bow tends to be significant.
The embodiment is not limited to apparatuses and systems, and encompasses disclosures of various categories such as a method executed by apparatuses and systems and the program 12 for causing a processor to execute the method.
That is, it is possible to understand a recording method of performing recording on the medium 30 by a conveyance operation of relatively moving the recording head 19 and the medium 30 in a first direction, forward scanning that is ink ejection along with a forward movement of the recording head 19 along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and backward scanning that is ink ejection along with a backward movement of the recording head 19 along the second direction, the recording head 19 including the nozzle row 23 in which a plurality of nozzles 21 for ejecting ink to the medium 30 are disposed side by side in the nozzle row direction D3. In this method, the nozzle row 23 includes, along the nozzle row direction D3, the first nozzle group 24a, the second nozzle group 24b, and the third nozzle group 24c between the first nozzle group 24a and the second nozzle group 24b. In this method, the first control and the second control, or the first control and the third control are executed by a single adjusting operation, provided that a pattern that is formed on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in the forward scanning is a first pattern, a pattern that is formed on the medium 30 through ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b in the forward scanning is a second pattern, a pattern that is formed on the medium 30 through the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in the backward scanning is a third pattern, and a pattern that is formed on the medium 30 through the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b in the backward scanning is a fourth pattern, and a control of forming the first patch 401 on the medium 30 without performing the conveyance operation is the first control, the first patch 401 being a patch in which the first pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, a control of forming the second patch 402 and the third patch 403 on the medium 30 is the second control, the second patch 402 being a patch in which the first pattern and the second pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the third patch 403 being a patch in which the third pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, and a control of forming the fourth patch 404 and the fifth patch 405 on the medium 30 is the third control, the fourth patch 404 being a patch in which the first pattern and the fourth pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction, the fifth patch 405 being a patch in which the second pattern and the third pattern are disposed at overlapping positions as viewed in the second direction.
Some modifications encompassed in the embodiment are described below.
In addition to the above-described raster alternate recording mode and column alternate recording mode, a “cross recording mode” can be assumed as a recording mode.
The difference between
Comparing
In this manner, in the cross recording mode, one raster line includes the pixel recorded through the forward scanning and the pixel recorded through the backward scanning, and the pixel to be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the first nozzle group 24a and the pixel to be recorded by the nozzle 21 of the second nozzle group 24b, which is the same characteristic as that of the column alternate recording mode. Therefore, in the flowchart of
When executing the first control and the second control, the control unit 11 may form the first pattern 411 for making up the first patch 401 and the second pattern 422 for making up the second patch 402, on the medium 30 by the same forward scanning.
At step S102, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “first pattern” on the medium 30 through a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the forward scanning and the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a, and the inspection pattern recording unit 12a forms a “second pattern” on the medium 30 through the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b. That is, step S102 is a process serving as both step S100 and step S140 of
Subsequently to the forward scanning at step S102, at step S112, the inspection pattern recording unit 12a performs a control of causing the carriage 18 and the recording head 19 to execute the backward scanning without interposing the conveyance operation. Then, a “fourth pattern” is formed on the medium 30 through the ink ejection from the second nozzle group 24b, and a “third pattern” is formed through the ink ejection from the first nozzle group 24a in accordance with the first pattern recorded at step S102. That is, step S112 is a process serving as both step S110 and step S150 of
Steps S120, S160, S170, S180 and S190 subsequent to step S112 are as described above with
Each raster line making up the overlapping region recorded by the raster alternate recording mode is recorded through only the forward scanning or only the backward scanning, and is not affected by the displacement of the bidirectional recording. The second patch 402 and the third patch 403 in accordance with the raster alternate recording mode are recorded through only the forward scanning or only the backward scanning, and are naturally not affected by the displacement of the bidirectional recording. Therefore, as illustrated in
Note that in the flowchart of
As described above, steps S140 and S150 are the same processes as steps S200 and S210 in
The control unit 11 can change the movement speed of the recording head 19 along the second direction, i.e., the main scanning direction D2. The movement speed of the recording head 19, i.e., the speed of the forward movement and the backward movement is the movement speed of the carriage 18 in practice. In the following description, the movement speed of the recording head 19 is simply referred to as movement speed. On this premise, the control unit 11 may execute, in the first control, a first speed control of forming the first patch 401 by setting the movement speed to the first speed, and the control unit 11 may further execute, in the first control, a second speed control of forming the first patch 401 by setting the movement speed to a second speed different from the first speed.
The first speed and the second speed are speeds that are set in advance. For example, the first speed<the second speed holds. In the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 through the first speed control, there is a displacement of the bidirectional recording that is caused when the forward scanning and the backward scanning are executed at the first speed. As such, the control unit 11 can obtain the correction amount (first correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed at the first speed on the basis of the first patch 401 that is recorded on the medium 30 through the first speed control. Likewise, in the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 through the second speed control, there is a displacement of the bidirectional recording that is caused when the forward scanning and the backward scanning are executed at the second speed. As such, the control unit 11 can obtain the correction amount (second correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed at the second speed on the basis of the first patch 401 that is recorded on the medium 30 through the second speed control.
Further, when performing the recording based on the recording data arbitrarily selected by the user by setting the movement speed to a third speed different from the first speed and the second speed, the control unit 11 controls the recording based on the first patch 401 formed by the first speed control and the first patch 401 formed by the second speed control. The control of the recording based on the first patch 401 formed through the first speed control and the first patch 401 formed through the second speed control means that the recording is controlled based on the first correction amount and the second correction amount. More specifically, the control unit 11 calculates the correction amount (third correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed at the third speed through a predetermined interpolation computation from the first correction amount and the second correction amount on the basis of the relationship of the size, ratio and the like between the first speed, the second speed and the third speed. Then, when performing the recording based on the recording data with the movement speed set at the third speed, the control unit 11 need only correct the timing of at least one of the ink ejection through the forward scanning and the ink ejection through the backward scanning in accordance with the third correction amount as described for step S120. With such a configuration, the control unit 11 can obtain high-quality recording results in which the displacement due to the bidirectional recording that is caused at the set movement speed is corrected, regardless of the set movement speed for executing the recording.
The control unit 11 can cause the PG adjusting unit 20 to adjust the PG. On this premise, the control unit 11 may execute, in the first control, the first distance control of forming the first patch 401 by setting the PG to the first distance, and the control unit 11 may further execute, in the first control, the second distance control of forming the first patch 401 by setting the PG to the second distance different from the first distance.
The first distance and the second distance are PGs set in advance. For example, the first distance<the second distance holds. In the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 by the first distance control, there is a displacement of the bidirectional recording that is caused when the forward scanning and the backward scanning are executed with the PG=the first distance. As such, on the basis of the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 by the first distance control, the control unit 11 can obtain the correction amount (fourth correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed with the PG=the first distance. Likewise, in the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 by the second distance control, there is a displacement of the bidirectional recording that is caused when the forward scanning and the backward scanning are executed with the PG=the second distance. As such, on the basis of the first patch 401 recorded on the medium 30 by the second distance control, the control unit 11 can obtain the correction amount (fifth correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed with the PG=the second distance.
Further, when performing the recording based on the recording data arbitrarily selected by the user by setting the PG to the third distance different from the first distance and the second distance, the control unit 11 controls the recording based on the first patch 401 formed by the first distance control and the first patch 401 formed by the second distance control. The control of the recording based on the first patch 401 formed by the first distance control and the first patch 401 formed by the second distance control means the control of the recording based on the fourth correction amount and the fifth correction amount. More specifically, on the basis of the relationship of the size, ratio and the like between the first distance, the second distance and the third distance, the control unit 11 calculates the correction amount (sixth correction amount) for correcting the displacement of the bidirectional recording of the case where the bidirectional recording is executed with the PG=the third distance through a predetermined interpolation computation from the fourth correction amount and the fifth correction amount. Then, when performing the recording based on the recording data by causing the PG adjusting unit 20 to set the PG to the third distance, the control unit 11 need only correct the timing of at least one of the ink ejection through the forward scanning and the ink ejection through the backward scanning in accordance with the sixth correction amount as described for step S120. With such a configuration, the control unit 11 can obtain high-quality recording results in which the displacement due to the bidirectional recording that is caused at the set PG is corrected, regardless of the set PG for executing the recording.
Further, as is common to the third modification and the fourth modification, the control unit 11 can perform the recording for the second patch 402, the third patch 403, the fourth patch 404 and the fifth patch 405 under conditions of different movement speeds and different PGs such as the first speed, the second speed, the first distance, and the second distance also in the second control and the third control. Then, it suffices to acquire the correction amount for correcting the displacement corresponding to the tilt such as bow corresponding to the third speed and the correction amount for correcting the displacement corresponding to the tilt such as bow corresponding to the third distance through the interpolation computation of the correction amount described above, so as to execute the displacement correction in accordance with the acquired correction amount when performing the recording under a condition of the third speed and/or the third distance.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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| 2021-150882 | Sep 2021 | JP | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20230082484 A1 | Mar 2023 | US |
