JP2001251528A - Image forming apparatus and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To avoid the complexity of the device without using a ground color detecting means such as an optical scanner device, and to provide a high-definition color even for a paper with low whiteness or a paper other than white. Provided are an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of reproducibility. SOLUTION: The display device 1 is configured to be able to display an assumed color that is the same or almost the same as the color of a printing surface of a recording medium.
00, the display device is configured to freely change the color display of the assumed color, and visually sets the assumed color displayed by the display device, performs a corresponding printing process, and forms an image. Image forming apparatus and method.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of reproducing high-definition colors even when the ground color of a printing surface is other than white. It is.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an output device of a computer,
2. Description of the Related Art A color printer that discharges inks of a plurality of colors from a head has become widespread, and has been widely used for printing a high-definition image in multiple colors and multiple gradations on an image processed by a computer or the like. In particular, for printing a high-definition color image, a special recording paper for ink jet is used, and an extremely high-definition and high-saturation image has been obtained so as to be indistinguishable from a silver halide photograph.

However, as paper for forming a color image by ink-jet recording, plain paper other than the special recording paper for ink-jet recording or other paper is often used. There are many producers of this plain paper, and even for white paper, the quality and color of the paper differ slightly depending on the producer. Also, in recent years, the use of recycled paper has been widespread, and the problem of color reproducibility of a printed image has been greatly noticed, especially in consideration of the use of recycled paper.

Under such circumstances, a printing technique corresponding to the ground color of the paper has been proposed. As a printing technique corresponding to the ground color of the paper, for example, the paper to be printed is read by an optical scanner to read the ground color of the paper and the tendency of the ground color to be white (for example, pure white or yellowish white). Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-216385 discloses a technique for identifying a print color and setting a print color using a conversion table for controlling a reproduction color mode of a printer.

According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-216385, the ground color of the surface to be printed is optically determined, and based on the result, the input image is converted to a color matching the ground color. Can be automatically corrected, and even if the background color of the surface to be printed is not pure white, for example, even if it is yellowish, it can be printed with a color that matches the background color, and color printing as an image can be performed .

[0006]

However, in the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-216385, the printing paper used for image formation is based on the premise that white or whitish paper is used. Yes, it cannot handle paper other than white or whitish paper.
That is, at present, it is not possible to accurately cope with image formation on paper having low whiteness or paper other than white. Also,
In the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-216385, an optical scanner device is used to check the ground color of printing paper. With such a configuration, the printer tends to be complicated, and there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the size and simplify the printer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to avoid the complexity of the apparatus without using a ground color detecting means such as an optical scanner apparatus, and to achieve a white color. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of high-definition color reproducibility even on low-grade paper and paper other than white.

[0008]

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming a color image on a printing surface of a recording medium, wherein the color image is the same as or substantially the same as the color of the printing surface of the recording medium. A display device configured to display an assumed color of the same color, wherein the display device is configured to freely change the color display of the assumed color, and a printing process corresponding to the assumed color displayed by the display device. The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured to form an image (claim 1), thereby achieving the above object.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the operation unit for displaying the color of the display device is provided on a keyboard or a display screen (Claim 2). The white ink is included in the color ink for inkjet (Claim 3).

An image forming method according to the present invention uses an ink jet color ink for forming a color image,
When a color image is formed on a printing surface based on the obtained color image information, the ground color of the actual printing surface on which an image is to be formed and the assumed color of the printing surface displayed by the display device are visually checked. The image forming is performed by performing a printing process corresponding to the assumed color (claim 4), thereby achieving the above object.

In the above-described image forming method according to the present invention, in the image forming method, the printing process selects a color conversion table corresponding to an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by the display device, and uses the color conversion table. (Claim 5) The image forming is performed by performing an arithmetic process of subtracting a color data value of an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by the display device from a reference value of a color conversion table. (Claim 6). In the printing process, a color conversion table is rewritten by using color data values of assumed colors of a printing surface displayed by the display device, and the color conversion table is used by using the color conversion table. Performing image formation (claim 7); and using white ink at the time of image formation (claim 8).

(Operation) According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a display device configured to be able to display an assumed color that is the same as or substantially the same as the color of the printing surface of the recording medium. Since the color display of the assumed color is freely changeable, the color display of the display device can be changed to perform color matching on the actual printing surface, and the display color (based on the signal determined by the color matching operation) can be changed. Print processing corresponding to the assumed color). Therefore, the display color (assumed color)
Desired image formation corresponding to the above. (Claim 1)

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the operation unit for changing the display color of the display device is provided on the keyboard or the display screen. This makes it very easy to match the display color to the printing surface of the actual recording medium. (Claim 2)

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, since the image forming apparatus is of an ink jet type, a high-definition image can be easily and quickly formed.
Since the white ink is included in the color ink for inkjet, high-definition color reproduction is possible even when the surface to be printed is not white. (Claim 3) (Claim 3)

Further, according to the image forming method of the present invention, when a color image is to be formed on a printing surface of a recording medium based on the obtained color image information, the actual printing surface to be image-formed is to be formed. By visually performing color matching between the color and the assumed color of the printing surface displayed by the display means, a special detection device such as an optical scanner may be omitted, and further, a setting signal set by the color matching operation , The printing process corresponding to the assumed color can be performed to form an image. By this printing process, a high-definition color image matching the color of the printing surface can be formed. It is also easy to change the assumed color of the surface to be printed,
The color tone of the print color can be easily changed. (Claim 4) As the printing process, for example, selection of a color conversion table (Claim 5), arithmetic processing of subtracting data for an assumed color from a reference value of the color conversion table (Claim 6), Processing such as rewriting the color conversion table using the data for the assumed colors (claim 7) can be performed.

In the image forming method according to the present invention, when a color image is formed on a printing surface, the white ink is included in the color ink, so that even when the printing surface is not white, high definition is achieved. Color reproduction becomes possible. (Claim 8)

[0017]

Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the internal structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a carriage in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink cartridge applied to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the ink jet printer shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen in a control mode in the inkjet printer to which the present invention has been applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 (hereinafter also referred to as an “inkjet printer”) according to the present embodiment includes a sheet supply unit (not shown) for a sheet P as a recording medium to be printed. Inkjet print head 303 for printing on paper P fed from a paper supply unit
And ink cartridges 10 and 3 detachably mounted to supply ink to the print head 303.
07, and a carriage 20 for reciprocating the print head 303 in the width direction of the paper P, in this embodiment, in the printer width direction. Further, in the present embodiment, the display device 100 includes a display device 100 capable of displaying an assumed color that is the same or substantially the same as the color of the printing surface of the paper P.

The carriage 20 is provided with an ink cartridge mounting portion for removably mounting the ink cartridge 10 and the like. Further, a head cap mechanism 312 for closing the ink nozzles of the print head 303
It has.

Hereinafter, each part will be described in detail. The ink jet printer 1 includes a base 321 for mounting each of the above-described components, and a right side wall 322 and a left side wall 323 that rise vertically are formed on both sides of the base 321. A motor mounting plate (not shown) extends horizontally on the right side wall 322, and the carriage motor 305 is mounted thereon. This motor 30
The output shaft 5 extends in the horizontal direction, and a pulley 392 is fixed to the output shaft. On the other hand, this pulley 392
On the side of the left side wall 323 on the opposite side, the tension pulley 308 is rotatably supported. The timing belt 3 is located between the pulleys 308 and 392.
06 is stretched in a constant tension state.

The carriage 20 on which the print head 303 is mounted is appropriately connected to the timing belt 306. The carriage 20 is provided on the left and right side walls 3.
Carriage guide shaft 30 bridged between 22, 323
4 support the movable member in the axial direction.

The carriage 20 appropriately supported by the driving mechanism constructed as described above drives the motor 305 so that the carriage 20 connected to the timing belt 306 reciprocates linearly in the width direction of the sheet P. Moving. Therefore, the print head 30 mounted thereon is
3 reciprocates linearly in the width direction. Therefore, by driving the print head 303 in synchronization with this movement,
A desired color image can be formed on the surface of the paper P being conveyed.

Next, the configuration of the color ink cartridge 10 and the carriage 20 on which the color ink cartridge 10 is mounted will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 20 has a configuration in which a black ink cartridge 307 (see FIG. 1) and a color ink cartridge 10 (see FIG. 3) can be mounted. For example, a partition plate 201 that allows both cartridges to be mounted. It has. Carriage 20
A total of seven ink ejection heads are formed on the print head 303 below the
Introducing pipes 202 to 208 for leading ink from the ink tanks are provided upright for the respective color heads. Carriage 20
When the black ink cartridge 307 and the color ink cartridge 10 are mounted from above, the introduction tubes 202 to 208 are pushed into the connection holes provided in each cartridge.

In the color ink cartridge 10 of FIG. 3, for example, magenta and cyan inks
Six types of inks are accommodated as a whole for seed, yellow, and white. The color ink cartridge 10 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and has ink storage chambers 101 to 106 for storing two types of dark and light magenta, cyan, yellow, and white inks.

In the color ink cartridge 10, both ends of the frame 107 are formed inside the outer wall 110 and protrude from ink supply ports (not shown) at both ends. The end face of the frame 107 has a sufficient area, and for example, a sealing tape 108 for sealing the ink supply port during storage is attached. Further, a lid 111 that seals the opening of the color ink cartridge 10 is fitted to the upper part of the color ink cartridge 10.

The ink jet head 303 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and its main part has a head main body formed by a semiconductor manufacturing technique. A large number of ink nozzles (not shown) are provided on the surface of the head main body. Ink droplets are ejected from these nozzles.

The wiring flexible cable 32
5 is connected to the ink jet head main body, and the other end is connected to the drive control circuit 310 side of the print head 303. The print head 303 is electrically driven via the cable to perform an ink discharging operation.
The drive control circuit 310 controls the inkjet printer 1 based on signals input from the operation unit 311 or other signal input means.
Is controlled as described later.

As described above, the feature of the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment is that when a color image is formed on a sheet P based on appropriately obtained color image information, this display P The colors can be freely displayed so that a color display of an assumed color (a color that is displayed with the same color visually) that is the same color as the color on the actual printing surface can be performed. Thus, the color display of the display device 100 can be changed to perform color matching on the actual printing surface, and the color of the ink jet printer 1 corresponding to the display color (assumed color) based on the signal determined by the color matching operation. A conversion table can be determined. Therefore, a desired image can be formed using the color conversion table selected to correspond to the display color (assumed color) of the display device 100.

Further, as described above, since the white ink is contained in the color ink cartridge 10, the white ink is used to reproduce white even when the color of the paper P is other than white. be able to.

The following can be used as the white ink. As a colorant for the white ink, zinc,
Oxides such as lead, barium, titanium, and antimony, and white inorganic pigments such as sulfates and carbonates can be given. Titanium dioxide can be suitably used.

Hereinafter, a basic configuration of a control system in the ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU) 31 is used as a control system in the present embodiment.
Is a control unit 311 (a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, which is not particularly limited), a display device 100 having a CRT or a liquid crystal display, a head drive circuit 331A and a motor drive circuit 332A for driving the printer unit 33. And a liquid crystal drive circuit 17A for driving the liquid crystal display unit 17.

The above-mentioned control system has a ROM storing a program for controlling the operation performed by the CPU 31 and the like.
30C and a static RAM 30D for storing various data and the like as text.

The ROM 30C stores a plurality of color conversion tables (T1) selected by a signal from the operation unit 311.
..Tn-1.Tn), and a font table 303C for printing print data input from the operation unit 311 or other means.

In this embodiment, as described above, the ROM 3
A plurality of color conversion tables (T1,..., Tn-1,.
n), the operation unit 311 and the display device 1
When a color corresponding to the paper P to be printed from now on is input via 00, an appropriate color conversion table for image formation can be selected. The color conversion table (T1,..., Tn-1,... Tn) includes a color conversion table using white ink when it is determined that the use of white ink is necessary.

The ROM 30C also includes a color conversion table that is set as a standard when printing on white paper P. Furthermore, even when the paper P is white, when printing on paper P of a color that is not pure white (for example, yellowish white or bluish white), printing is performed in a color corresponding to the ground color. Can also be configured.

The control system is a dynamic RAM 30E.
The dynamic RAM 30E is a buffer for temporarily storing a result input from the operation unit 311 as print data or display data, and includes a display buffer, a color conversion buffer, a dot development buffer, It is composed of a conversion buffer and the like. The control system includes an operation unit 311, a display device 100, a printer unit 33,
An input interface and an output interface for exchanging data with the liquid crystal display unit 17 (having a display function different from that of the display device 100) are also included.

In the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the determination of the color when actually printing a color print image such as print data is performed based on a program stored in the ROM 30C. The display device 100 can be used to determine the ground color of the paper P when actually printing.

The operation for determining the ground color of the paper P when using the display device 100 shown in FIG. 5 will be described below. First, the paper P to be printed (image formed) is set on the ink jet printer 1. On the other hand, the screen 120 of the display device 100 of the inkjet printer 1 includes:
An operation is performed to display a dialog box 130 for determining a ground color (a state shown in FIG. 5). The display of the background color determination dialog box 130 can be made to appear by, for example, selecting an appropriate tag in the properties of the inkjet printer 1 set in the personal computer. FIG. 5 illustrates a case where the tag is displayed when the optional tag 135 is selected.

The background color determination dialog box 13
When "0" is displayed, an appropriate color is displayed on the color display section 140 for displaying the assumed color. However, the simulation operation lever 151 of the simulation operation section 150 arranged below the color display section 140 is displayed. , 152, 153 (for example, in FIG. 5,
In order from the top, the cyan lever 151, the magenta lever 152, and the yellow lever 153) are slid left and right (in the direction of arrow A or B in the drawing) on the screen to change the gradation of each color. The color of the color display section 140 is changed to visually match the color of the paper P set in the inkjet printer 1 (color matching operation). When the visual color matching is completed, the dialog box 130 is displayed.
By pressing the OK button arranged on the lower end side of the camera, the color matching is completed and a color matching signal is transmitted.

Then, based on the signal determined by the color matching operation, a color conversion table corresponding to the display color (assumed color) displayed on the color display section 140 can be determined. As a result, a desired color image can be formed using the color conversion table corresponding to the display color (assumed color) displayed on the color display unit 140. That is, the paper P is, for example, “red” (the display color (assumed color) displayed on the color display unit 140 is “red”), and the paper P
When there is "white" in the color image to be formed, image formation is performed using a white ink and a color conversion table suitable for red.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the background color of the paper P on which an image is formed can be determined in advance, and printing can be performed using a color conversion table that matches the background color. Further, even when the paper P on which printing is performed is not white, a color image can be reproduced using white ink.

In the ink jet printer 1 of the above embodiment, the printing process is a process of selecting and using from a number of color conversion tables which can correspond to the assumed colors of the printing surface displayed by the display device 100. However, the present invention is not limited to such a method, and may be an image forming method as described below. For example, as another printing process in the inkjet printer 1, based on a signal transmitted by pressing the value (OK button) of the color (actually, the color of the assumed color) of the printing surface displayed by the display device 100, Value) is subtracted from the reference value in the color conversion table to form an image. That is, for example, when the color of the print surface is yellow, a color printing suitable for the print surface can be performed by performing an arithmetic process for subtracting the color corresponding to the yellow color. Further, as another printing process in the ink jet printer 1, the value of the color data of the assumed color of the printing surface displayed by the display device 100 (the value based on the signal transmitted by pressing the OK button) is used. For example, by rewriting a specific color conversion table (one color conversion table set so as to match when printing on white paper) and using the rewritten color conversion table, the color of the printing surface is considered. Color printing is possible.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration described in each of the above embodiments, but can be variously modified. For example, the number of simulated operation levers and the types of simulated operation levers (for example, Various changes can be made in the display form and operation form such as adding a simulation operation lever for changing the brightness).

[0044]

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the display device configured to be capable of displaying the same or almost the same color as the color of the printing surface of the recording medium. Since the color display of the assumed color can be freely changed by the display device, the color display of the display device can be changed to perform color matching on the actual printing surface, and based on the signal determined by the color matching operation. Since the printing process corresponding to the display color (assumed color) can be performed, a color image suitable for any background color paper can be easily printed by the user's adjustment, and an optical scanner device is not required. An image forming apparatus can be provided. (Claim 1)

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the operation unit for changing the display color of the display device is provided on the keyboard or the display screen. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which it is possible to extremely easily adjust the display color to the printing surface of an actual recording medium. (Claim 2)

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, since the image forming apparatus is of the ink jet type, a high-definition image can be easily and quickly formed.
Since the white ink is included in the color ink for inkjet, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of high-definition color reproduction even when the surface to be printed is not white. (Claim 3)

Further, according to the image forming method of the present invention, when a color image is to be formed on a printing surface of a recording medium based on the obtained color image information, the actual printing surface to be image-formed is to be formed. By visually performing color matching between the color and the assumed color of the surface to be printed displayed by the display means, there is no need for a special detection device such as an optical scanner, and further, a setting signal set by operation by color matching Can be used to perform a printing process corresponding to the assumed color in the image forming means. With this color conversion table, a high-definition color image matching the color of the printing surface can be formed, It is easy to change the color,
Thus, it is possible to provide an image forming method capable of easily changing the color tone and the like of the printing color. (Claims 4, 5,
6,7) Further, when a color image is formed on the surface to be printed, since the white ink is included in the color ink, high-definition color reproduction can be performed even when the surface to be printed is not white. An image forming method can be provided. (Claim 8)

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a drive mechanism unit of an inkjet printer according to the present invention).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a carriage in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink cartridge applied to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the ink jet printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an operation screen in an ink jet printer to which the present invention has been applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 inkjet printer 10 color ink cartridge 20 carriage 301 platen 100 display device 140 color display unit 150 simulation operation unit 303 print head 305 carriage motor 306 drive belt 307 black ink cartridge 308, 392 pulley 309 position detection sensor 310 control circuit 311 operation unit 31 CPU 33 printer unit T1 to Tn color conversion table P paper

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 1/23 101 B41J 3/04 101Y 5C077 1/46 H04N 1/46 Z 5C079 F term (reference) 2C056 EA11 EE03 EE08 EE18 FA10 FC02 KC01 KC13 2C262 AA02 AA24 AA27 AB11 BA09 BA14 BC17 EA02 EA11 FA14 GA23 2H086 BA51 5B057 AA11 CA01 CB01 CC01 CE17 CH11 DB02 DB06 DC25 5C074 AA02 BB16 DD16 DD24 DD27 FF15 GG16 HH08PPC 05P07 GG16 HH08PPC KA12 KA15 LA02 LB01 MA04 MA11 MA17 MA20 NA03 NA09 NA29

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming a color image on a printing surface of a recording medium, the display being configured to display an assumed color that is the same or substantially the same as the color of the printing surface of the recording medium. Device, the display device is configured to be able to change the color display of the assumed color, and configured to form an image by a print process corresponding to the assumed color displayed by the display device. Characteristic image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit for changing the color display of the display device is provided on a keyboard or a display screen. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is of an ink jet type, and a white ink is included in color ink for ink jet. Image forming device. 4. When forming a color image on a printing surface based on obtained color image information using an ink-jet color ink provided for color image formation, an actual printing surface on which an image is to be formed is formed. An image forming method comprising: visually matching a ground color with an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by a display device, and performing a printing process corresponding to the assumed color to form an image. . 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing process selects a color conversion table corresponding to an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by the display device and uses the color conversion table. An image forming method. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in the printing process, a value of color data of an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by the display device is subtracted from a reference value of a color conversion table. An image forming method, wherein an image is formed by performing processing. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing process rewrites a color conversion table using color data values of an assumed color of a printing surface displayed by the display device. An image forming method, wherein an image is formed using a color conversion table. 8. The image forming method according to claim 4, wherein a white ink is used when forming the image.