US5739828A — Ink jet recording method and apparatus having res…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 126 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution onto a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: setting a print mode in accordance with resolution; setting a condition for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of said recording medium in accordance with recording conditions including the resolution and the recording medium and environmental conditions; creating binary data for recording from multi-value data in accordance with the resolution and the set print mode; and forming an ink droplet image of the size in accordance with the resolution on said recording medium under the set conditions using said binary data for recording.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 126 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution onto a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: setting a print mode in accordance with resolution; setting a condition for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of said recording medium in accordance with recording conditions including the resolution and the recording medium and environmental conditions; creating binary data for recording from multi-value data in accordance with the resolution and the set print mode; and forming an ink droplet image of the size in accordance with the resolution on said recording medium under the set conditions using said binary data for recording.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein said environmental conditions include at least one of conditions concerning temperature information of said ink jet recording head and environmental temperature and humidity.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 45 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 2, wherein said recording conditions include at least one of the ink absorbing property of the recording medium, the moisture absorbing state of the recording medium, the ink characteristic, or the presence or absence of fixing means.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 61 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein said set print mode includes a mode in which either of a multi color mode and a monochrome mode is set, wherein in the multi color mode, the conditions for determining the ink amount for each color are given in accordance with the maximum number of color inks to be used.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 43 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein said set print mode includes a mode of emphasizing an edge portion of an image with relatively higher density by determining said edge portion, wherein edge data is relatively increased over surrounding data.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1 or 5, wherein said set print mode includes a mode of processing characters and an image differently by determining the character or the image.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 39 words

An ink jet recording method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said recording head is a recording head for discharging the ink by the use of thermal energy, said conditions including giving the thermal energy.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 35 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein said step of creating binary data for recording includes changing the gradation characteristic of output data with respect to input data in accordance with resolution.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 47 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of performing a recording head stabilization process in accordance with the resolution transform prior to the recording of m resolution, upon the mode change from the n resolution recording to the m resolution recording.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 38 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of modifying automatically or manually said conditions of said recording head by performing a test print onto the recording medium in the m resolution recording.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 79 words

An ink jet recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, comprising: means for forming a test print image on a predetermined recording medium under set conditions for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of said predetermined recording medium in accordance with resolution; and means for modifying said set conditions in accordance with said test print image.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 79 words

An ink jet recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, comprising: means for forming a test print image on a predetermined recording medium under set conditions for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of said predetermined recording medium in accordance with resolution; and means for modifying said set conditions in accordance with said test print image.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 57 words

An ink jet recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, comprising: means for performing the recording in accordance with resolution by changing a recording medium or a recording head driving condition; and means for stabilizing said recording head in accordance with a change of said resolution.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 57 words

An ink jet recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, comprising: means for performing the recording in accordance with resolution by changing a recording medium or a recording head driving condition; and means for stabilizing said recording head in accordance with a change of said resolution.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 110 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, said method comprising the steps of: setting a condition for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of a recording medium in accordance with recording conditions including resolution and the recording medium; creating binary data for recording from multi-value data in accordance with the resolution and a set print mode; and forming an ink droplet image of a size in accordance with the resolution on said recording medium under the set conditions using the binary data for recording.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 110 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing recording at m (>n) resolution, said method comprising the steps of: setting a condition for discharging ink droplets (ink volume×number) in a range not exceeding the maximum ink shot amount per unit area of a recording medium in accordance with recording conditions including resolution and the recording medium; creating binary data for recording from multi-value data in accordance with the resolution and a set print mode; and forming an ink droplet image of a size in accordance with the resolution on said recording medium under the set conditions using the binary data for recording.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 18 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of inputting the multi-value data.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 28 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of inputting binary data, and a step of transforming input binary data into multi-value data.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of inputting binary data or multi-value data, and a step of transforming binary data amount input data into multi-value data.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 24 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 13, wherein said creation step further comprises lowering the level of multi-value data to be recorded.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 65 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 17, wherein said creation step further includes lowering the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, leaving the level near the maximum value unchanged, or lowering the level near the maximum value at a smaller rate than the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 78 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing the recording at m (>n) resolution on a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: setting either a low resolution recording mode for recording at n resolution or a high resolution recording mode for recording at m resolution; and transforming by lowering the level of multi-value data to be recorded, when said set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 78 words

An ink jet recording method using an ink jet recording head having n resolution for performing the recording at m (>n) resolution on a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: setting either a low resolution recording mode for recording at n resolution or a high resolution recording mode for recording at m resolution; and transforming by lowering the level of multi-value data to be recorded, when said set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 75 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 19, wherein said transformation step includes lowering the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, leaving the level near the maximum value unchanged, or lowering the level near the maximum value at a smaller rate than the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, when said set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 108 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of determining whether or not data to be recorded is an edge portion of an image, wherein said transformation step includes lowering the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, leaving the level near the maximum value unchanged, or lowering the level near the maximum value at a smaller rate than the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, when said set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode and the data to be recorded is the edge portion of said image.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 125 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of determining whether or not the multi-value level of the data to be recorded is at or near the maximum value, wherein said transformation step includes lowering the level of the multi-value data to be recorded, when the multi-value level of the data to be recorded is not at or near the maximum value, leaving the level of the multi-value data to be recorded unchanged, or lowering the level of the multi-value data to be recorded at a smaller rate than the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, when the multi-value level of the data to be recorded is at or near the maximum value.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 126 words

An ink jet recording method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of determining whether the data to be recorded is black or other colors, wherein said transformation step includes lowering the level other than near the maximum value of multi-value data to be recorded, leaving the level near the maximum value unchanged, or lowering the level near the maximum value at a smaller rate than the level other than near the maximum value, when the set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode and the data to be recorded is black, or lowering the level of the multi-value data to be recorded, when said set recording mode is the high resolution recording mode, and the data to be recorded is said other colors.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 103 words

An ink jet recording method for effecting recording using a recording head for discharging ink, comprising the steps of: setting either a first recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively large amount at low resolution, or a second recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively small amount at high resolution; transforming input data into recording data for driving said recording head in accordance with said first or second recording mode which has been set; and controlling the recording in accordance with the recording mode which has been set in said setting step, based on recording data transformed.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 103 words

An ink jet recording method for effecting recording using a recording head for discharging ink, comprising the steps of: setting either a first recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively large amount at low resolution, or a second recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively small amount at high resolution; transforming input data into recording data for driving said recording head in accordance with said first or second recording mode which has been set; and controlling the recording in accordance with the recording mode which has been set in said setting step, based on recording data transformed.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 46 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said transformation step includes transforming the input data into high resolution data, when input data is low resolution data, and thinning a continuous area of high resolution data transformed, wherein said second recording mode is set.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 120 words

An ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording using a recording head for discharging ink, comprising: setting means for setting either a first recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively large amount at a low resolution, or a second recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively small amount at a high resolution; transformation means for transforming input data into recording data for driving said recording head in accordance with said first or second recording mode which has been set by said setting means; and recording control means for controlling the recording in accordance with the recording mode which has been set by said setting means, based on recording data transformed by said transformation means.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 120 words

An ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording using a recording head for discharging ink, comprising: setting means for setting either a first recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively large amount at a low resolution, or a second recording mode for recording by discharging the ink of relatively small amount at a high resolution; transformation means for transforming input data into recording data for driving said recording head in accordance with said first or second recording mode which has been set by said setting means; and recording control means for controlling the recording in accordance with the recording mode which has been set by said setting means, based on recording data transformed by said transformation means.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 35 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said transformation means transforms the input data into high resolution data, when input data is low resolution data, wherein said second recording mode is set.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 52 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said transformation means adds data to an edge portion of input data of low resolution, and leaves the portion other than the edge portion unchanged, or transforms the input data into high resolution data by additionally recording the input data further twice.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 57 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said transformation means adds data to the edge portion of input data of low resolution in such a way as to add data to an intermediate position between adjacent data both crosswise and diagonally, or only diagonally, in the edge portion of input data of low resolution.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 21 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said transformation means transforms only non-edge portion data into thinned data.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 21 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said edge portion is a peripheral section of the recording area.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 31 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said edge portion is a peripheral section of the logical sum data of multi-color data when the multi-color data is used.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 33 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said transformation means transforms input data into thinned data, when the input data is high resolution data, wherein the first mode is set.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 23 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said transformation means transforms only data of a non-edge portion into thinned data.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 21 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 34, wherein an edge portion is a peripheral section of the recording area.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 31 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 35, wherein said edge portion is a peripheral section of the logical sum data of multi-color data when the multi-color data is used.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 22 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording head discharges the ink by the use of thermal energy.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 22 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording head discharges the ink by the use of mechanical energy.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 20 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording head is capable of recording in multiple colors.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 25 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising conveying means for conveying a recording medium which is recorded by said recording head.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 19 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording apparatus is applied to a copying machine.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 19 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording apparatus is applied to a facsimile machine.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 19 words

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said recording apparatus is applied to a computer terminal.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-04-13	2001-10-13	2002-04-14	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-04-13	2005-10-13	2006-04-14	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-04-13	2009-10-13	2010-04-14	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Ink jet recording method and apparatus having resolution transformation capability

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