EP0595657A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ink jet recording method and ink jet recording apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1993-10-29
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2013-10-29
Abstract
Abstract When the color printing is performed using a recording head arranged such that the number of nozzles for discharging the black ink is greater than the nozzles for discharging the inks of other colors, the use frequency of some nozzles among all the nozzles for discharging the black ink is higher, so that image unevenness may arise when transferred to the black printing. The present invention provides an ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording apparatus in which the image unevenness often seen in the black printing involving the use of more nozzles than other colors, and the blur of recorded image seen in the image having black image and color image located adjacent are reduced.
Inventors
- 👤 Toshiharu C/O Canon K. K. Inui
- 👤 Jiro C/O Canon K. K. Moriyama
- 👤 Hiroaki C/O Canon K. K. Kitazawa
- 👤 Yasuhiro C/O Canon K. K. Numata
- 👤 Takayoshi C/O Canon K. K. Ishino
- 👤 Isao C/O Canon K. K. Ebisawa
- 👤 Hisao C/O Canon K. K. Yaegashi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:56
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/21; B41J2/2132
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 77
Claim 1
Independent Claim
134 words
An ink jet recording method for recording a multi-color image by relatively scanning a recording head across the recording sheet, said recording head having a group of m discharge portions for discharging the black ink and a plurality of groups of n discharge portions (n<m) for discharging the color inks, corresponding to a plurality of colors, in which said groups of discharge portions for discharging the black and color inks are not overlapped in a scan direction, characterized in that when a black image printed with black ink and a color image printed with color ink are adjacent, predetermined discharge portions among said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink are used so that the scan for forming said black image and the scan for forming said color image are not continuous.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that said color ink is yellow, magenta, and cyan.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink is disposed at the end portion of said recording head.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that a space is provided between said groups of discharge portions for each color.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that the number m of discharge portions for said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink and the number n of discharge portions for said discharge group for discharging the color ink satisfies an inequality m ≦ 2n.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that the number 1 of said predetermined discharge portions among said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink satisfies an inequality 1≦n.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 6, characterized in that the feed pitch of recording sheet where the black image and the color image are contiguous corresponds to the number 1 of discharge portions.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, characterized in that said inks are discharged by the heat energy.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
227 words
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a group of m discharge portions for discharging the black ink; a plurality of groups of n (n≦m) discharge portions for discharging the color inks, corresponding to a plurality of colors; a recording head configured so that the recording regions with said groups of discharge portions for discharging the black and color inks are not overlapped in a scan direction; relative scanning means for scanning said recording head relative to the recording medium; conveying means for relatively conveying said recording head and said recording medium in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of scan by said relative scanning means; and selecting means for selecting predetermined discharge portions in performing the recording among said group of m discharge portions for discharging the black ink in the recording during the scanning by said relative scanning means; characterized in that said selecting means selects said predetermined discharge portions for discharging the black ink so that, when recording the area where the black image to be recorded with the black ink and the color image to be recorded with the color ink are contiguous, the scan for forming the black image with said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink and the scan for forming the color image with said groups of discharge portions for discharging the color inks are not continuous.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said color ink is yellow, magenta, and cyan.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
44 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink is arranged on the end portion of said recording head in a direction orthogonal to the direction of scan by said relative scanning means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a space is provided between said group of discharge portions for discharging the black ink and each of said groups of discharge portions for discharging the color inks.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
27 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said discharge unit numbers m, n for said discharge unit groups satisfies an inequality m≧2n.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the number 1 of predetermined discharge portions selected by said selecting means satisfies an inequality 1≦n.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that the relative conveyance amount by said conveying means corresponds to the length of the discharge unit number 1.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
63 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said discharge unit group has heat energy generating means for applying heat energy to the ink to cause a state change in the ink due to the heat, and cause the ink to be discharged through said discharge portions, based on said state change, so as to form fine ink droplets.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
114 words
An ink jet recording method of using the multi-color inks, a recording head having a plurality of color inks and a column of nozzles for discharging the ink corresponding to each color, characterized in that: the number of nozzles for a specific color is at least N times or greater the number of nozzles for other colors among the numbers of nozzles corresponding to said colors, where M, N are integers equal to or greater than 2; and the recording of the specific color is performed by discharging the ink by the number of times equal to at least M times that of other colors, with a different nozzle for the same recording pixel.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
47 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 17, characterized in that the ink discharge amount for the specific color per dot is greater when recording the code information such as a character or a symbol than when recording the bit map data such as an image.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 17, wherein the color of said specific color ink is black and/or yellow.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
54 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 17, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generating means to cause a state change in the ink due to the heat, and cause the ink to be discharged through said nozzles, based on said state change, so as to form fine ink droplets.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
113 words
An ink jet recording method with an ink jet recording head having two or more color inks and two or more nozzle groups, each of which discharges the ink corresponding to each color, the number of nozzles in nozzle group corresponding to at least one color is different from that for other colors, among nozzle groups corresponding to said colors, characterized in that: in the recording for a certain area, among nozzle groups corresponding to said colors, the recording pixel charging frequency per nozzle for a nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles on the certain area is smaller than that for the nozzle groups of other colors on the certain area.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein the color of the ink corresponding to a nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles among the nozzle groups corresponding to said colors is black.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein the color of the ink corresponding to a nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles among the nozzle groups corresponding to said colors is yellow.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
38 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein the color of the ink corresponding to a nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles among the nozzle groups corresponding to said colors is black and yellow.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
56 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein supposing that, among said nozzle groups, the number of nozzles for a nozzle group A of a color having the greatest number of nozzles is NA and the number of nozzles for a nozzle group B having the smallest number of nozzles is NB, NA≧2·NB holds.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
22 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein said ink is of four colors of black, cyan, magenta and yellow.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
67 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 26, wherein supposing that the number of nozzles for a nozzle group of black ink is Nk, the number of nozzles for a nozzle group of cyan ink is Nc, the number of nozzles for a nozzle group of magenta ink is Nm, and the number of nozzles for a nozzle group of yellow ink is Ny, Nk≧2·Nc=2·Nm=2·Ny holds.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
81 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein supposing that among said nozzle groups, the number of nozzles for a nozzle group A of a color having the greatest number of nozzles is NA, and the number of nozzles for a nozzle group B having the smallest number of nozzles is NB, the recording pixel charging frequency PA for the nozzle group A and the recording pixel charging frequency PB for the nozzle group B has a relation PB·NB/NA≦PA<PB
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
96 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein supposing that among said nozzle groups, the number of nozzles for a nozzle group A having the greatest number of nozzles is NA, and the number of nozzles for a nozzle group B having the smallest number of nozzles is NB, the relative scan of said ink jet recording head to the recording medium in the recording of a specific area is performed in such a manner that the number of scans by the nozzle group A is greater than that by the nozzle group B.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
58 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 29, wherein in recording the specific area, the relative scan of the recording head to the recording medium is performed in such a manner that for the substantial average scan number SA for the nozzle group A and the substantial average scan number SB for the nozzle group B, SB<SA≦SB·NA/NB
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
45 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein among the nozzle groups corresponding to said colors, the recording of specific area by the nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles is performed in patterns complementary in at least two or more scans.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
63 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein among the nozzle groups corresponding to said colors, the number of nozzles for the nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles is twice that of other nozzle groups, and the recording of specific area by said nozzle group having the greatest number of nozzles is performed in patterns complementary in two scans.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 32, wherein said specific area is a recording area corresponding to nozzles of said other nozzle groups.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
21 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 32, wherein said complementary patterns are a cross pattern and a counter-cross pattern.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
40 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 21, wherein said ink jet recording head causes a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharges the ink based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
118 words
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a plurality of recording heads each having a different number of nozzles, said recording apparatus performing the recording by discharging the ink through said nozzles, characterized by comprising: means for creating image data corresponding to each of said plurality of recording heads; means for storing said image data; means for detecting the use number of nozzle for all the nozzles of said plurality of recording heads; means for producing a discharge pattern to equalize the use frequencies for all the nozzles of a recording head having more nozzles than other heads among said plurality of recording heads; and means for masking the image data of said storage means with said discharge pattern.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
25 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 36, characterized by comprising means for altering said discharge pattern for every predetermined pages of recording medium.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
39 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 36, characterized in that said plurality of recording heads produce bubbles in the ink by the use of heat energy and discharge the ink based on the production of said bubbles.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
152 words
An ink jet recording apparatus which performs the recording by scanning a recording head having a nozzle group of m nozzles for discharging the black ink, and a plurality of nozzle groups of n (n<m) nozzles for discharging the color inks, relative to the recording medium, characterized by comprising: sub-scanning means for moving said recording head and said recording medium in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction of said relative scan; moving amount determination means for determining the moving amount by said sub-scanning means within a width of n nozzles; creation means for creating image data corresponding to each of the nozzle groups of said recording head; storage means for storing said image data; pattern producing means for producing a discharge pattern to equalize the use frequencies for m nozzles for discharging the black ink; and masking means for masking the image data of said storage means with said discharge pattern.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized by comprising alteration means for altering said discharge pattern for every predetermined pages of recording medium on which the recording is made.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized in that said discharge pattern is created so that said recorded image by the nozzle group for discharging the black ink is formed by multiple scans.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
43 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized in that when said image data is only a black image, said moving amount determination means determines the moving amount by said sub-scanning means to be equal to the amount of m nozzles.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized in that said color ink is yellow, magenta and cyan.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized in that said nozzle group for discharging the black ink and said nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are provided in separate recording heads.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
59 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 39, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generation means for generating the heat energy to be applied to the ink, causing a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharging the ink through said nozzles based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
164 words
An ink jet recording method of performing the recording by scanning a recording head relative to the recording medium, the recording head having a nozzle group of m nozzles for discharging the black ink and a plurality of nozzle groups of n (n<m) nozzles for discharging the color inks, corresponding to a plurality of colors, in which after one main scan, said recording medium is scanned relative to said recording head in a sub-scan direction substantially orthogonal to said main scan direction, to form a desired image by repeating said main scan and said sub-scan, including the steps of: storing image data for an image to be recorded; determining the amount of scanning the recording medium relative to said recording head in said sub-scan; selecting specific nozzles to be used among said nozzle group for discharging the black ink; performing the recording using specific nozzles for discharging the black ink selected at said selecting step and the nozzle groups for discharging the color inks.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
51 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that when said image data consists of only a black image, the amount of said sub-scan is made equal to the length of m nozzles, and all the nozzles for discharging the black ink are selected to perform the recording.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
42 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that when said image data is an image composed of a plurality of colors, the amout of said sub-scan is made equal to or less than the length of n nozzles.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
43 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that when said image data is an image composed of a plurality of colors, said specific nozzles selected at said selecting step are altered for every predetermined pages of said recording medium.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that said color ink is yellow, magenta and cyan.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that said nozzle group for discharging the black ink and said nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are provided in one recording head.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 46, characterized in that said nozzle group for discharging the black ink and said nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are provided in separated recording heads.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
106 words
An ink jet recording method of performing the recording by scanning a recording head relative to the recording medium, the recording head having a nozzle group of m nozzles for discharging the black ink and a plurality of nozzle groups of n (n<m) nozzles for discharging the color inks, corresponding to a plurality of colors, including the steps of: storing image data for an image to be recorded; producing a discharge pattern to equalize the use frequencies of nozzles for said nozzle group for discharging the black ink; masking said image data with said discharge pattern; and performing the recording in accordance with said image data.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 53, characterized in that said color ink is yellow, magenta and cyan.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 53, characterized in that said nozzle group for discharging the black ink and said nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are provided in one recording head.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
35 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 53, characterized in that said nozzle group for discharging the black ink and said nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are provided in separated recording heads.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
78 words
An ink jet recording apparatus which performs the recording by discharging the ink onto the recording medium, characterized by comprising: a plurality of recording heads, each having a plurality of nozzles arranged; and recording means for performing the recording in such a manner that when said plurality of recording heads have different nozzle numbers, predetermined nozzles of other recording head are used corresponding to the number of nozzles for a recording head having the smallest number of nozzles.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
25 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 57, characterized in that said recording means uses substantially evenly the nozzles of said other recording head.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
59 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 57, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generation means for generating the heat energy to be applied to the ink, causing a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharging the ink through said nozzles based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
97 words
An ink jet recording apparatus which performs the recording by discharging the ink onto the recording medium, characterized by comprising: a plurality of color recording heads, each recording a different color image; a black recording head for recording the black data, having more nozzles than each of said plurality of recording heads; and recording means for recording using predetermined nozzles in said black recording head corresponding to the number of nozzles for said color recording head at the recording of color image, and using all the nozzles for said black recording head at the monochrome image recording.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
34 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 60, characterized by further comprising predischarge means for performing a predischarge operation for the nozzles of unused recording heads, when said recording means performs the recording.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
59 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 60, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generation means for generating the heat energy to be applied to the ink, causing a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharging the ink through said nozzles based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
105 words
An ink jet recording method for recording the color image by discharging the inks through a plurality of recording heads onto the recording medium, including the steps of: recording the color image in such a manner that when said plurality of recording heads have different numbers of nozzles, predetermined nozzles of other recording head are used corresponding to the number of nozzles for a recording head having the smallest number of nozzles; recording the monochrome image using all the nozzles of a black recording head; performing a predischarge for the nozzles out of use at the color image recording or at the monochrome image recording.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 63, characterized in that said inks are discharged by the heat energy.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
73 words
An ink jet recording apparatus which performs the recording by discharging the ink onto the recording medium, characterized by comprising: a plurality of nozzle groups, each having a plurality of nozzles arranged; and recording means for recording in such a manner that when said plurality of nozzle groups have different numbers of nozzles, predetermined nozzles are used corresponding to the number of nozzles for a nozzle group having the smallest number of nozzles,
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
23 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 65, characterized in that said plurality of nozzle groups are arranged in one recording head.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
31 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 66, characterized in that said plurality of nozzle groups are arranged so that the recording areas by respective nozzle groups are not overlapped.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
39 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 66, characterized in that said plurality of nozzle groups consist of a black nozzle group for discharging the black ink, and a plurality of nozzle groups for discharging the color inks.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
40 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 68, characterized in that said plurality of nozzle groups for discharging the color inks are arranged in said recording head so that the recording areas by respective nozzle groups are not overlapped.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
27 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 65, characterized in that said recording means further records using substantially evenly the nozzles of said other nozzle group.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
59 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 66, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generation means for generating the heat energy to be applied to the ink, causing a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharging the ink through said nozzles based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
103 words
An ink jet recording apparatus which performs the recording by discharging the ink onto the recording medium, characterized by comprising: a plurality of color nozzle groups, each having a plurality of nozzles for recording a different color image; a black nozzle group for recording the black data, having more nozzles than each of said plurality of nozzle groups; and recording means for recording using predetermined nozzles in said black nozzle group corresponding to the number of nozzles for said color nozzle group at the recording of color image, and using all the nozzles for said black nozzle group at the monochrome image recording.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising predischarge means for performing a predischarge operation for the nozzles of unused nozzle groups, when said recording means records.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
59 words
An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 72, characterized in that said recording head has heat energy generation means for generating the heat energy to be applied to the ink, causing a state change in the ink due to the heat and discharging the ink through said nozzles based on said state change to form fine liquid droplets.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
105 words
An ink jet recording method for recording the color image by discharging the inks through a plurality of nozzle groups onto the recording medium, including the steps of: recording the color image in such a manner that when said plurality of nozzle groups have different numbers of nozzles, predetermined nozzles of other nozzle group are used corresponding to the number of nozzles for a nozzle group having the smallest number of nozzles; recording the monochrome image using all the nozzles of a black nozzle group; performing a predischarge for the nozzles out of use at the color image recording or at the monochrome image recording.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
21 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 75, wherein said plurality of nozzle groups are arranged in one recording head.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet recording method according to claim 75, characterized in that said inks are discharged by the heat energy.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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