Patent US6142604A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6142604A
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US
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Ink-jet printing apparatus and ink-jet printing method
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1998-11-12
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Granted: 2000-11-07
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Expires: 2018-11-12
Abstract
Abstract In divided printing method performing printing for the same printing region for a plurality of times of scanning, in order to avoid formation of banding due to density variations at a boundary in each scanning region, a predetermined nozzle width (e.g. four nozzle width) of boundary portion is set for each scanning region corresponding to a nozzle array established by dividing a plurality of nozzles (e.g. 248 nozzles) of a printing head by N (e.g. N=4). The number of times of scanning in the boundary portion is set, e.g. three times, smaller than that in region other than the boundary portion. Also, for mutually adjacent boundary portions, three times of scans of each of the adjacent boundary portions are performed simultaneously. By this, in each of the boundaries of respective scanning regions, no time difference will be caused in scan for printing respective regions.
Inventors
- 👤 Hidehiko Kanda
- 👤 Daigoro Kanematsu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 14:12
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/485; B41J2/505; B41J2/5056; B41J2/5058; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/135; B41J2/145; B41J2/21; B41J2/2132; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/10; G06K15/102; G06K15/105; G06K15/107
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
130 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink, comprising: means for scanning said printing head for a plurality of times with respect to the same scanning region of a printing medium; means for relatively transporting said printing medium between said scans in a direction different from a scanning direction of said printing head; means for driving said printing head during said scan for performing printing of respective scanning region sequentially; and control means for setting the number of times of scanning in a boundary portion in each scanning region adjacent to the other scanning region to be substantially smaller than that in regions other than said boundary portion, and effecting scan for said boundary portion simultaneously with scan of adjacent to the other scanning region.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
130 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink, comprising: means for scanning said printing head for a plurality of times with respect to the same scanning region of a printing medium; means for relatively transporting said printing medium between said scans in a direction different from a scanning direction of said printing head; means for driving said printing head during said scan for performing printing of respective scanning region sequentially; and control means for setting the number of times of scanning in a boundary portion in each scanning region adjacent to the other scanning region to be substantially smaller than that in regions other than said boundary portion, and effecting scan for said boundary portion simultaneously with scan of adjacent to the other scanning region.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
76 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means controls generation of printing data to be supplied said printing head, thereby, setting the number of times of scanning along with driving operation of said printing head in the boundary portion to be smaller than that in the region other than said boundary region in said scanning region, and effecting scanning in said boundary portion simultaneously with scanning in the other scanning region.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said printing head has a plurality of ink ejection openings arrayed in a direction different from said scanning direction, and said control means has means for controlling relative transporting of said printing head to make said ink ejection openings differently used for a respective one of a plurality of scans for the same scanning region.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
An ink jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the same ink ejecting opening is used for a plurality of scans for the same scanning region.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
52 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control means performs complementary printing in a plurality of times of scan by thinning with a predetermined thinning ratio, and the thinning ratio in said boundary portion is smaller than the thinning ratio in the region other than said boundary portion.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said printing head has an electrothermal transducer generating a thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink as an energy to be used for ejection of said ink.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
162 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink through a plurality of ink ejection openings associating with a printing scan, comprising: means for making said printing head to scan for N times with dividing a region to be printed by said printing head having plurality of said ejection openings by N which N is an integer greater than or equal to two; means for sequentially and relatively transporting a printing medium in a direction different from the direction of said scan, between said scans; a first control means for performing image formation for each of said divided scanning regions by driving said printing head using N kinds of thinning patterns in mutually complementary relationship; and a second control means for making the number of timings of scanning for completing image formation of a boundary portion adjacent other scanning region to be substantially smaller than N times, and performing scanning simultaneously with scanning for said adjacent scanning region.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
162 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink through a plurality of ink ejection openings associating with a printing scan, comprising: means for making said printing head to scan for N times with dividing a region to be printed by said printing head having plurality of said ejection openings by N which N is an integer greater than or equal to two; means for sequentially and relatively transporting a printing medium in a direction different from the direction of said scan, between said scans; a first control means for performing image formation for each of said divided scanning regions by driving said printing head using N kinds of thinning patterns in mutually complementary relationship; and a second control means for making the number of timings of scanning for completing image formation of a boundary portion adjacent other scanning region to be substantially smaller than N times, and performing scanning simultaneously with scanning for said adjacent scanning region.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second control means employs thinning patterns substantially smaller kinds than N kinds, as the thinning patterns in mutually complementary relationship.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said second control means employs at least one kind of 100% thinning pattern as N kinds of thinning patterns in mutually complementary relationship.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein each scanning region divided into N has a width of (L/N)+K wherein K is greater than or equal to 0, and said transporting amount is (L/N)+K.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
29 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said width K is the width T/N derived by dividing a width T of said boundary portion by N.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said boundary portion is a region set on a front side and/or a rear side in said transporting direction of each scanning region divided into N.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
70 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second control means employs thinning patterns of (N-M) kinds as thinning patterns in complementary relationship for completing image formation of said boundary portion upon performing image formation at a resolution of M times of a resolution of said plurality of ink ejection openings arrayed in the transporting direction, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to one.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said thinning patterns are random thinning patterns in mutually complementary relationship in a region located at position per M pixels in said transporting direction.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said transporting is sequentially repeated in a width of (L/N)+P and a width of (L/N)-P assuming the width of said printing region being L in the printing region of M=double of resolution.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
39 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said printing head has an electrothermal transducer generating a thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink as an energy to be used for ejection of said ink.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
137 words
An ink-jet printing method employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink, comprising the steps of: a step for scanning said printing head for a plurality of times with respect to the same scanning region of a printing medium; a step for relatively transporting said printing medium between said scans in a direction different from a scanning direction of said printing head; a step for driving said printing head during said scan for performing printing of respective scanning region sequentially; and a control step for setting the number of times of scanning in a boundary portion in each scanning region adjacent to the other scanning region to be substantially smaller than that in regions other than said boundary portion, and effecting scan for said boundary portion simultaneously with scan of adjacent to the other scanning region.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
137 words
An ink-jet printing method employing a printing head capable of ejecting an ink, comprising the steps of: a step for scanning said printing head for a plurality of times with respect to the same scanning region of a printing medium; a step for relatively transporting said printing medium between said scans in a direction different from a scanning direction of said printing head; a step for driving said printing head during said scan for performing printing of respective scanning region sequentially; and a control step for setting the number of times of scanning in a boundary portion in each scanning region adjacent to the other scanning region to be substantially smaller than that in regions other than said boundary portion, and effecting scan for said boundary portion simultaneously with scan of adjacent to the other scanning region.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
66 words
An ink jet printing method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said printing head has a plurality of ink ejection openings arrayed in a direction different from said scanning direction, and at said control step, said relatively transporting of said printing head is controlled to make said ink ejection openings differently used for the respective one of a plurality of scans for the same scaning region.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
An ink jet printing method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the same ink ejecting opening is used for a plurality of scans for the same scanning region.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
54 words
An ink-jet printing method as claimed in claim 17, wherein at said control step, complementary printing in a plurality of times of scan by thinning with a predetermined thinning ratio is performed, and the thinning ratio in said boundary portion is smaller than the thinning ratio in the region other than said boundary portion.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-11-07 | 2004-05-08 | 2004-11-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-11-07 | 2008-05-08 | 2008-11-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-11-07 | 2012-05-08 | 2012-11-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |