EP0942585A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Image processing method and apparatus and recording apparatus
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 1999-03-11
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2019-03-11
Abstract
Abstract A plurality of ink-jet head units, each having ink with different density in a color, are prepared. Superimpose print information of a plurality of the types of ink, each having different density, is stored as an ink type distribution table in correspondence with the density of image data. An increase in ink density in each nozzle is predicted on the basis of a continuous ink non-discharging count (non-discharging time) stored in an ink density characteristics change table. Binary data for determining an optimal ink type distribution for recording the image data, i.e., ink-jet head units to be used for printing, are generated by referring to the predicted value and the ink type distribution table. Printing is then performed. In addition, the density value of the target pixel to be printed is predicted. The error between the predicted density value and the density value of the original pixel is distributed to the pixels around the target pixel to convert the image data, thereby printing an image on the basis of the resultant image data.
Inventors
- 👤 Kazumasa Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Matsumoto
- 👤 Hidehiko Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Saito
- 👤 Hidehito Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Takayama
- 👤 Hirokazu Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Sada
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 14:56
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/23; H04N1/2307; H04N1/2346; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/10; G06K15/102; H04N1/40; H04N1/40087; G06K2215/00; G06K2215/0082; G06K2215/0094
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 40
Claim 1
Independent Claim
111 words
An image processing apparatus characterized by
comprising: storage means for storing superimpose record
information concerning recording materials with different
densities and corresponding to a density; selection means for selecting superimpose record
information stored in said storage means, on the basis of
a density of each pixel of an input image signal; prediction means for predicting density changes of
the recording materials based on the superimpose record
information selected by said selection means; and determination means for correcting the superimpose
record information selected by said selection means, on the
basis of the density changes predicted by said prediction
means, and determining the corrected superimpose record
information as recording information for recording .
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in
that the recording material is an ink.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that said prediction means predicts a
density change of the recording material in accordance with
a continuous time during which the recording material is
not used for recording.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that said prediction means comprises count
means for counting consecutive recording operations in
which the recording material is not used, and predicts a
density change of the recording material in accordance with
a count value of said count means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
66 words
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that said prediction means obtains a
continuous time during which the recording material is not
used, in accordance with a distance from a traveling start
position of a recording head to a recording start position
and traveling characteristics of said recording head, and
predicts a density change of the recording material in
accordance with the time.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
87 words
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that said apparatus further comprises detection means for detecting environmental
information, and predicted information storage means for storing
density change prediction information of the recording
material which corresponds to the environmental
information and the continuous time during which the
recording material is not used for recording, and said prediction means predicts a density change of
the recording material on the basis of the density change
prediction information corresponding to the environmental
information detected by said detection means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in
that the environmental information includes at least one
of a humidity and a temperature.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized by
further comprising means for generating the density change
prediction information.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
52 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-8,
characterized by further comprising density interpolation
means for performing density interpolation, near a target
pixel, for an error between a density of the target pixel
and a density based on the superimpose record information
used for the recording by an area gradation method.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
55 words
The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in
that said density interpolation means distributes an error
between pixel data of a pixel of interest and a predicted
recording density value of the target pixel recorded on the
basis of the superimpose record information determined by
said determination means to pixels around the pixel of
interest.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-10,
characterized in that the superimpose record information
includes information indicating which recording material
is to be used, among the recording materials having
different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in
that said storage means stores information indicating which
ink is to be used, among the types of ink of a color which
have different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
135 words
An image processing method of obtaining image
information for recording an image by using recording
materials having different densities in accordance with a
density, characterized by comprising: the step of providing a memory for storing
superimpose record information concerning recording
materials with different densities and corresponding to the
density; the selection step of selecting superimpose record
information stored in said memory, on the basis of a density
of each pixel of an input image signal; the prediction step of predicting density changes of
recording materials based on the superimpose record
information selected in the selection step; and the determination step of correcting the superimpose
record information selected in the selection step, on the
basis of the density changes predicted in the prediction
step, and determining the corrected superimpose record
information as recording information for recording.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method according to claim 13, characterized in
that the recording material is an ink.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized
in that the prediction step comprises predicting a density
change of the recording material in accordance with a
continuous time during which the recording material is not
used for recording.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized
in that the prediction step comprises the count step of
counting consecutive recording operations in which the
recording material is not used, and predicting a density
change of the recording material in accordance with a count
value obtained in the count step.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized
in that the prediction step comprises obtaining a
continuous time during which the recording material is not
used, in accordance with a distance from a traveling start
position of a recording head to a print start position and
traveling characteristics of said recording head, and
predicting a density change of the recording material in
accordance with the time.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized
by further comprising: the detection step of detecting environmental
information; and the step of predicting a density change of the
recording material on the basis of the environmental
information detected in the detection step and the density
change prediction information of the recording material
which corresponds to the continuous time during which the
recording material is not used.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 18, characterized in
that the environmental information includes at least one
of a humidity and a temperature.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method according to claim 18, characterized by
further comprising the step of generating the density
change prediction information.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
53 words
The method according to any one of claims 13-20,
characterized by further comprising the density
interpolation step of performing density interpolation,
near a target pixel, for an error between a density of the
target pixel and a density based on the superimpose record
information used for the recording by an area gradation
method.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method according to claim 21, characterized in
that the density interpolation step comprises distributing
an error between pixel data of the target pixel and a
predicted recording density value of the target pixel
recorded on the basis of the superimpose record information
determined in the determination step to pixels around the
target pixel.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
38 words
The method according to any one of claims 13-22,
characterized in that the superimpose record information
includes information indicating which recording material
is to be used, among the recording materials having
different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in
that said memory stores information indicating which ink
is to be used, among the types of ink of a color which have
different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
153 words
A recording apparatus including a plurality of
recording heads for performing recording by using recording
materials having different densities, characterized by
comprising: storage means for storing superimpose record
information concerning recording materials with different
densities and corresponding to a density; selection means for selecting superimpose record
information stored in said storage means, on the basis of
a density of each pixel of an input image signal; prediction means for predicting density changes of
recording materials based on the superimpose record
information selected by said selection means; determination means for correcting the superimpose
record information selected by said selection means, on the
basis of the density changes predicted by said prediction
means, and determining the corrected superimpose record
information as recording information for recording; and recording control means for recording each pixel on
a recording medium by driving said plurality of recording
heads in accordance with the recording information
determined by said determination means.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus according to claim 25, characterized
in that the recording material is an ink.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
41 words
The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26,
characterized in that said recording control means records
and superimposes the recording materials having different
densities at the same pixel position by scanning said
plurality of recording heads in a main scanning direction.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26,
characterized in that said prediction means predicts a
density change of an ink in a nozzle of said recording head
in accordance with a continuous time during which said
nozzle is not used for recording.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26,
characterized in that said prediction means comprises count
means for counting consecutive recording operations in
which the recording material is not used, and predicts a
density change of the recording material in accordance with
a count value of said count means.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
66 words
The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26,
characterized in that said prediction means obtains a
continuous time during which the recording material is not
used, in accordance with a distance from a traveling start
position of a recording head to a recording start position
and traveling characteristics of said recording head, and
predicts a density change of the recording material in
accordance with the time.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, characterized
in that said storage means stores information indicating
which ink is to be used, among the types of ink having
different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus according to claim 26, characterized
in that said storage means stores information indicating
which ink is to be used, among types of ink of a color which
have different densities, in accordance with the density.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus according to claim 30, characterized
in that said plurality of recording heads are arranged in
a scanning direction, and traveling characteristics of said
recording head are determined on the basis of the time
required for said recording head to reach a recording
position from a preliminary discharge position.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
96 words
The apparatus according to claim 30, characterized
in that said apparatus further comprises position detection means for detecting a traveling
position of said recording head, and measurement means for measuring a lapse of time since
the start of traveling of said recording head, and the traveling characteristics of said recording head
are determined on the basis of a traveling position of said
recording head which is detected by said position detection
means and the time measured by said measurement means when
traveling of said recording head is controlled in the same
manner as while recording operation.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
52 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 25-34,
characterized by further comprising density interpolation
means for performing density interpolation, near a target
pixel, for an error between a density of the target pixel
and a density based on the superimpose record information
used for the recording by an area gradation method.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
54 words
An ink-jet recording apparatus for recording by
discharging ink, characterised by comprising: prediction means for predicting a change in the
density recorded by ink, in which the density of the ink
has been changed in a lapse of time; and correction means for correcting the change in the
density predicted by said prediction means.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus according to claim 36, characterised
in that said prediction means predicts the density based
on a time on which the ink is not continuously used for
recording.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
66 words
An image processing method such as an ink jet
recording method wherein first data relating to optical
densities obtained by the superposition of different inks
and second data relating to changes in ink densities
predicted from said first data is used to control the
generation from image data of recording data for causing
an image to be recorded using one or a combination of the
inks.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
26 words
A storage medium carrying processor implementable
instructions for controlling a processor to carry out a
method in accordance with any one of claims 13 to 24.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
25 words
A signal carrying processor implementable
instructions for controlling a processor to carry out a
method in accordance with any one of claims 13 to 24.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
EP0707966A2
Cited
EP0606022A1
Cited
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