JP2006192691A - Inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize image formation of a high reliability by suppressing a recording scanning interval weight within a predetermined time at all times in an inkjet recorder equipped with a plurality of computer interfaces of different transfer capabilities. <P>SOLUTION: A multi-pass number used for image formation is determined according to an effective rate of the computer interface used in data transfer. An amount of data required to be transferred for every recording scanning is adjusted according to the transfer capability of the connected interface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method, and more particularly to a recording apparatus and a recording method using a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink according to an ink jet method.

  In recent years, OA equipment such as personal computers, copying machines, word processors, and the like has become widespread, and a recording apparatus that performs digital image recording by an ink jet method as a kind of image forming (recording) apparatus of these equipment has rapidly developed and spread. ing. In particular, along with the enhancement of the functions of OA devices, the colorization of these devices is progressing, and various color ink jet recording apparatuses have been developed accordingly.

  In general, an ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage on which a recording head and an ink tank are mounted, a transport mechanism that transports recording paper, and a control circuit that controls these. In such a recording apparatus, ink is ejected while serially scanning a recording head having a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets in the direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the recording paper conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction). On the other hand, the recording operation is executed by intermittently conveying the recording paper by an amount equal to the recording width of the recording head while ink is not ejected from the recording head. Further, in the case of a recording apparatus capable of color recording, a color image is formed by superimposing ink droplets ejected from a plurality of recording heads.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus, as a method of ejecting ink, a heating element (electrothermal energy converter) is provided in the vicinity of the ejection port, and an electric signal is applied to the heating element to locally heat the ink to change the pressure. Conventionally, a method for causing ink to discharge from an ejection port and a method for ejecting ink by applying a mechanical pressure to the ink using a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric element are known.

  This ink jet recording method records characters and figures by ejecting ink as fine droplets from a discharge port onto a recording medium according to a recording signal, and has low noise because it is non-impact. Because it has advantages such as low running costs, easy downsizing, and relatively easy colorization, it can be used in combination with computers and word processors, etc. Are widely used as image forming (recording) means in recording apparatuses such as copying machines, printers, and facsimiles.

  1 and 2 are block diagrams showing schematic configurations of a controller unit and an engine unit of the ink jet recording apparatus, respectively.

  First, the function and schematic operation of the controller unit will be described. The CPU 101 is connected to the host computer 120 via the USB interface 108 or the IEEE 1394 interface 109. The CPU 105 stores a control program, an updatable control program, a processing program, various constant data, and the like, and a command received from the host computer 120. The RAM 104 for storing signals and image information is accessed, and the recording operation is controlled based on the information stored in these memories. The instruction information input from the keys of the operation panel 107 is transmitted to the CPU 101 via the operation panel interface 106, and the LED lighting and LCD display of the operation panel 107 are similarly controlled via the operation panel interface 106 according to commands from the CPU 101. Is done. The expansion interface 110 is an interface for performing function expansion by connecting an expansion card such as a LAN controller or HDD. The image information is converted into dot data of each ink color by the image data processing block 111 and output to the engine (FIG. 2). Similarly, various commands and status information are transmitted and received between the controller and the engine via the image data processing block 111.

  Next, the function and operation outline of the engine unit will be described. The engine unit is connected to a controller (FIG. 1) via a band memory control block 209. The CPU 201 accesses a ROM 203 storing a control program, an updatable control program, a processing program, various constant data, and the like, and a controller (FIG. 1) RAM 202 for storing received command signals and image information. The recording operation is controlled based on the stored information. The carriage 220 is moved by operating the carriage motor 208 via the carriage motor control circuit 207. Further, by operating the paper feed motor 205 via the paper feed motor control circuit 204, the paper transport mechanism 206 such as a transport roller is operated. Further, the CPU 201 can record a desired image on a recording medium by controlling the band memory control block 209 and the recording head control block 211 based on various information stored in the RAM 202 and driving the recording head 212. .

  A power supply circuit (not shown) is supplied with a logic drive voltage Vcc (for example, 3.3 V) for operating the CPU and various control circuits, various motor drive voltages Vm (for example, 24 V), and a heat voltage for driving the recording head. Vh (for example, 12V) is output.

  As a method of binarizing multi-value data to obtain binary data and reproducing a gradation image in a pseudo manner using the binary data, for example, (1) density pattern method, (2) systematic dither method (3) Error diffusion method and the like.

  In the density pattern method, one pixel is developed into M * N recording dots (M and N are integers of 1 or more), and gradation expression by binary is performed by area modulation, and dots are recorded per unit area. The area modulation is realized by changing the number (number of ink particles). The systematic dither method is a method in which halftones are obtained by performing threshold processing with pixels and dots corresponding one-to-one, and representatively, there is a Bayer systematic dither method. The error diffusion method corresponds to a dither method with a conditional determination method, and determines a halftone in consideration of peripheral influences and conversion results. In these pseudo halftone processing methods, in a predetermined area, the difference in the area occupied by dots is used to approximate the actual density in a pseudo manner.

  In the conventional ink jet recording method, it was necessary to use a special coated paper having an ink absorbing layer in order to obtain a color image with high color development without ink bleeding. A method of giving printability to plain paper that is used in large quantities on a machine has been put into practical use. Furthermore, it is desired to support various recording media such as OHP sheets, cloths, and plastic sheets. In order to meet these requirements, recording media (recording media) having different ink absorption characteristics were selected as necessary. At the same time, development and commercialization of a recording apparatus capable of performing the best recording irrespective of the type of the recording medium are being promoted. In addition, regarding the size of the recording medium, large-sized posters and woven fabrics such as clothes for advertisements have been required. Such an ink jet recording apparatus is in high demand in a wide range of fields as an excellent recording means, and it can be said that there is a demand for providing higher quality images, and the demand for higher speed is further increased.

  Generally, the color ink jet recording method uses three color inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), and further uses four color inks added with black (Bk). Realizes color recording. In such a color ink jet recording apparatus, unlike a monochrome dedicated ink jet recording apparatus that records only characters, various factors such as color development, gradation expression, and uniformity of an image are recorded in recording a color image. It is necessary to consider.

  However, the quality of the recorded image largely depends on the performance of the recording head unit. The slight differences in the characteristics of each nozzle that occur during the printhead manufacturing process, such as the shape of the printhead discharge ports and the variations in the quality of the electrothermal transducer (discharge heater), are due to the amount and direction of ink discharged. The direction of the image is influenced, and these effects appear as density unevenness in the finally formed recorded image, which causes deterioration in image quality. As a result, there are “white” portions that do not meet the area factor of 100% periodically in the main scanning direction of the recording head, or conversely, the dots overlap abnormally or white streaks occur. Will be. These phenomena are usually perceived as uneven density by the human eye.

  Therefore, a method called a multi-pass recording method has been proposed as a countermeasure against such density unevenness. Here, for the sake of simplicity, a case where a recording head that performs recording using a single color ink consisting of 8 nozzles is used will be described as an example.

  In the first scan of multi-pass printing, even-numbered row patterns are used, and in the second scan, odd-numbered row patterns are used. In the first scan, print data is thinned using a staggered pattern and a second scan is an inverted staggered pattern. A case where two-pass printing is realized by adopting a fixed mask method for generating pass data according to FIG. The staggered pattern is recorded in the first scan, the paper is fed by half the recording width (4 dot width), and then the inverted staggered pattern is recorded in the second scan to complete the recording. That is, the recording area in units of 4 dots is completed for each scan by alternately performing paper feeding in units of 4 dots and recording in a zigzag / reverse zigzag pattern.

  Next, two-pass printing is realized by adopting a table reference method that generates pass data by thinning out print data using a random mask pattern in which print dots and non-print dots are randomly arranged. The case will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a mask table for each scan. Table areas A and B are complementary mask tables used in the first pass and the second pass, respectively. The table is 1 bit / dot, 0 indicates a mask target, and 1 indicates a non-mask target. Mask tables A and B are tables each having a size corresponding to 12 pixels in the main scanning direction and 4 pixels in the sub-scanning direction, and are repeatedly developed in each direction and used as mask data. The number of nozzles provided in the recording head is 8, and the number of pixels corresponding to the paper conveyance amount in 2-pass recording is 8/2 = 4, which matches the sub-scanning direction sizes of Tables A and B.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the state of recording scanning using the mask table shown in FIG. For 8 lines of data corresponding to 8 nozzles, A and B are applied as mask patterns every 4 lines. In each recording scan, image data masking (replaces recording dots with non-recording dots) is executed using the stored mask table to generate and output pass data. Specifically, by taking the logical product of the image data and the mask data, if the mask data is 1, the image data is output as it is, and if the mask data is 0, the image data is This is realized by replacing with 0. All image areas are always masked in the order of A and B by two scans to generate print data. Here, the mask OFF (1) ratios of A and B are equally about 50%.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of 4-pass printing using the table reference method, similarly to the 2-pass printing using the table reference method. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a mask table for each scan. Table areas A, B, C, and D are complementary masks used in the first pass, the second pass, the third pass, and the fourth pass, respectively.・ It is a table. The table is 1 bit / dot, 0 indicates a mask target, and 1 indicates a non-mask target. The mask tables A, B, C, and D are tables each having a size corresponding to 12 pixels in the main scanning direction * 2 pixels in the sub scanning direction, and are repeatedly developed in each direction and used as mask data. The number of nozzles provided in the recording head is 8, and the number of pixels corresponding to the paper conveyance amount in 4-pass recording is 8/4 = 2, which matches the sub-scanning direction sizes of the tables A, B, C, and D. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the state of recording scanning using the mask table shown in FIG. For 8 lines of data corresponding to 8 nozzles, A, B, C and D are applied as mask patterns every 2 lines. In each recording scan, image data masking (replaces recording dots with non-recording dots) is executed using the stored mask table to generate and output pass data. Specifically, by taking the logical product of the image data and the mask data, if the mask data is 1, the image data is output as it is, and if the mask data is 0, the image data is This is realized by replacing with 0. All image areas are always masked in the order of A, B, C, and D by four scans to generate print data. Here, the mask OFF (1) ratios of A, B, C, and D are equally about 25% each.

  Thus, by recording one line using two or four different nozzles, it is possible to form a high-quality image with reduced density unevenness. In addition, the multi-pass printing method has the effect of suppressing bleeding (bleeding) by printing while drying the ink, and the print head temperature rise, which causes ejection failure, by reducing the printing dots for each scan. The suppression effect can be achieved at the same time. Although the main scanning direction has been described here, it is possible to further improve the image quality by thinning out and recording continuous dots in the sub-scanning direction. Further, when it is desired to realize image formation in the sub-scanning direction at a resolution higher than the nozzle resolution, the thinning recording in the sub-scanning direction is an essential process.

  As described above, the pass data for each scan is generated by thinning out the print data using a random mask pattern in which print dots and non-print dots are randomly arranged as described above. In addition to the method of generating the data (referred to as the table reference method), the method of generating the pass data by thinning out the recording data using the even / odd column pattern or the zigzag / reverse zigzag pattern (referred to as the fixed mask method) In addition, a method of generating pass data by performing a thinning process while paying attention to recording dots (referred to as a data mask method) or a method using these in combination is known.

As another conventional example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 can be cited.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-169681 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-180997

  Recently, the connection interface with the host computer has been speeded up and diversified, and inkjet recording apparatuses having various computer interfaces such as IEEE1284, USB, and IEEE1394 have been commercialized. These computer interfaces have a large difference in image data transfer rate, and the throughput that can be realized by the high-speed interface connection is not necessarily realized by the low-speed interface connection state. In addition, the data transfer capability may be limited depending on the connection status of the interface.

  Here, generally, the time required to transfer image data differs depending on the interface. In the multi-pass printing described above, the recording time increases as the number of passes increases. Therefore, the high-speed printing mode for printing at high speed needs to set a small number of passes. However, as described above, the time required to transfer the image data varies depending on the type of interface and the connection status of the interface, and therefore the image data transfer may be slower than the recording time. There is a problem in that the weight between recording scans increases, resulting in a slow recording time despite printing with a small number of passes.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its object is to reduce the wait between recording scans caused by the difference in data transfer capability with respect to the selective connection of a plurality of computer interfaces having different transfer capabilities, and transfer speed. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can increase or decrease the number of passes according to the above.

  In order to solve the above problems, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

A plurality of interfaces for transferring image information and control information with a host computer are provided, a recording head having a plurality of ejection units is scanned on a recording medium, and recording is performed based on the input image information. In an inkjet recording apparatus that prints an image by ejecting ink onto a medium and forming dots on each pixel, printing is controlled so that the number of multi-pass passes is changed in accordance with the transfer capability of a selected and connected interface Control means is provided.

  Further, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second invention of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, the print control unit performs control so as to adaptively change the number of passes of the multipass according to the type of interface connected.

  Furthermore, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first invention, the print control means performs control so as to adaptively change the number of passes of the multi-pass according to an effective rate of a connected interface.

  Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first invention, the print control means performs control so as to adaptively change the number of passes of the multi-pass according to the device connection status of the connected interface.

  Furthermore, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first invention, the print control means performs control so as to adaptively change the number of passes of the multipath when the transfer capability of the connected interface is low.

  Furthermore, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, the recording head ejects ink droplets by causing a state change in the ink using thermal energy.

  Furthermore, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention has the following configuration.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, the recording head ejects ink droplets by operating a pressure generating element.

  A plurality of interfaces for transferring image information and control information to and from a host computer are provided, a recording head having a plurality of ejection units is scanned on the recording medium, and the recording medium is recorded on the basis of the input image information. In an ink jet recording apparatus that prints an image by ejecting ink to form dots at each pixel, the image forming apparatus includes a print control unit that controls to change the number of multi-pass passes according to the transfer capability of an interface that is selectively connected. By adjusting the number of multipaths based on information such as the transfer capability, type, transfer mode, and device connection status of the connection interface, the wait time between recording scans can be effectively used to form a uniform image. And provides excellent effects such as providing a highly reliable inkjet recording device That.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 7 shows the structure of the recording unit of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

  Reference numeral 701 denotes a recording head, which is an ink tank in which four color inks of black (Bk), cyan (Cy), magenta (Mg), and yellow (Ye) are enclosed, and four independent ink tanks corresponding to the ink tanks. It is composed of a multi-head consisting of two heads. The number of nozzles for each color is 16 nozzles. A carriage 702 supports the recording head 701 and moves them together with recording. The carriage can move in the X direction using the stay 706. The carriage 702 is at the home position HP shown in the drawing during standby such as a non-recording state. Reference numeral 703 denotes a paper feed roller that rotates while suppressing the recording paper 704 and feeds the recording paper 704 in the Y direction as needed. Reference numeral 705 denotes a paper feed roller that feeds the recording paper 704 and plays the role of suppressing the recording paper 704 in the same manner as the paper feed roller 703 and the auxiliary roller. Here, the recording head 701 has 1024 nozzles respectively arranged in the paper feed direction for the four colors Bk, Cy, Mg, and Ye.

  A basic recording operation in the above configuration will be described.

  The carriage 702 at the home position HP at the time of standby performs recording by ejecting ink onto the recording paper 704 according to the recording data by a plurality of nozzles of the recording head 701 while moving in the X direction by a recording start command. When the recording of the recording data to the end of the recording paper 704 is completed, the carriage returns to the original home position. As the paper feed roller 703 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the paper is fed by a predetermined width in the Y direction, and the carriage 702 again ejects ink while moving in the X direction and starts recording. Data recording is realized by repeating such scanning operation and paper feeding operation.

  The ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment converts an interface for exchanging image information and various control information with a host computer or the like, and converts input image information into dot ON / OFF data for each ink color. And a controller (FIG. 1) configured with an image data processing block, and an engine (FIG. 2) that transports recording paper and drives a carriage and controls the recording head to form an image. ing.

  In this embodiment, a USB interface and an IEEE1394 interface are provided. The user can select and use one of the two interfaces, and can send and receive image information and control information to and from the host computer using the actually connected interface. Here, it is assumed that the effective rate of the USB interface is 0.5 MByte / S, and the effective rate of the IEEE 1394 interface is 4 MByte / S.

  Further, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment employs a multi-pass recording method in which the same recording area is scanned a plurality of times to form an image. As described above, multi-pass printing forms an image using a plurality of nozzles for one line, thereby suppressing density unevenness due to slight differences in the ink discharge amount and discharge direction for each nozzle, and simultaneously passing This is a recording method in which the recording duty is reduced to prevent image quality deterioration due to ink bleeding or the like.

  Here, first, description will be given by taking two-pass printing as an example. The carriage is driven at a speed equal to or less than the maximum ejection frequency, and each scan completes an image by two print scans while referring to a mask table. The amount of paper transport performed between scans corresponds to the width of nozzles obtained by dividing the number of used nozzles by two.

  As described above, the recording head has 1024 nozzles for each color, and the nozzle numbers are assigned as # 0, 1, 2, 3,. In the present embodiment, a fixed mask method is employed in which even columns and odd columns are alternately formed. In the first pass, only even-numbered rows of X coordinates = 2n are formed. Then, after carrying the paper having a width corresponding to half of the number of used nozzles, in the second pass, only odd-numbered dots with X coordinates = 2n + 1 are formed. Then, paper is transported with a width corresponding to half of the number of used nozzles. Thereafter, even-numbered dot formation, paper conveyance, odd-numbered dot formation, and paper conveyance are sequentially repeated.

  Next, description will be given by taking 8-pass printing as an example. The carriage is driven at a speed equal to or less than the maximum ejection frequency, and each scan completes an image with eight recording scans while referring to a mask table. The amount of paper transport performed between scans corresponds to the width of nozzles obtained by dividing the number of used nozzles by 8.

  As described above, the recording head has 1024 nozzles for each color, and the nozzle numbers are assigned as # 0, 1, 2, 3,. In the present embodiment, a fixed mask method is employed in which even columns and odd columns are alternately formed. In the first pass, only the dots in the row with the X coordinate = 8n are formed. Then, after carrying a paper having a width corresponding to 1/8 of the number of used nozzles, only dots in a row where the X coordinate is 8n + 1 are formed in the second pass. Similarly, paper having a width corresponding to 1/8 of the number of used nozzles is carried out, and only dots in a row where the X coordinate is 8n + 2 are formed in the third pass. By performing this operation eight times, the X coordinates 8N to 8N + 7, that is, printing for all dots is executed.

  Next, the recording control according to the computer interface to be connected, which is characteristic in the present invention, will be described in detail. Hereinafter, dot formation and paper conveyance control corresponding to the type of computer connection interface in the engine will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, the image information is received from the computer via the USB interface connection and image formation is performed, and the image information is received from the computer via the IEEE1394 interface connection and image formation is performed. The number of passes is selected and controlled.

  A specific example will be described. When image data is transferred using an IEEE 1394 interface having a high data transfer capability, printing is performed in two passes in order to increase the speed of image formation. On the other hand, when image data transfer is performed using a USB interface having a low data transfer capability, recording is performed with an image forming speed of 8 passes.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the recording control operation according to the connection interface in this embodiment. Prior to page image formation, information indicating the type of connection interface is acquired in step S801. When connected to IEEE 1394, which is a high-speed interface, S802, and two paths are set as the number of multipath paths S803. Then, the paper transport parameters for two passes are set S805, and the print data control parameters for two passes are set S807. On the other hand, if it is connected to the USB interface, which is a relatively low-speed interface, eight paths are set as the number of multipath paths S804. Then, the paper transport parameters for 8 passes are set S806, and the print data control parameters for 8 passes are set S808.

  As described above in detail, in an inkjet recording apparatus having a plurality of computer interfaces having different transfer capabilities, the number of multi-passes used for image formation is determined according to the type of computer interface used for data transfer, and recording scanning is performed. By adjusting the amount of data that needs to be transferred every time according to the transfer capability of the connection interface, it is possible to always suppress the wait between recording scans within a predetermined time, and to realize highly reliable image formation. This is particularly effective during draft printing.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, in an inkjet recording apparatus having two interfaces having different data transfer capabilities, a USB interface and an IEEE 1394 interface, a multi-pass path is selected depending on which interface is connected, that is, depending on the type of connection interface. What changed the number was explained in detail.

  In recent years, standard interfaces of computers such as USB and IEEE1394 are not one-to-one, that is, peer-to-peer connections, and there are many cases in which three or more devices can be connected on one bus. In such interface connection, the theoretical maximum data transfer speed of the bus is not always guaranteed. Depending on the data transfer status and transfer mode between other devices that make up the network, the effective data transfer rate of the bus is not guaranteed. The rate may change significantly. In the second embodiment, the computer interface for transferring data by connecting the host computer and the ink jet recording apparatus has an effective rate (or its estimated value) according to the connection status, connection mode, etc. of other devices. What changes the number of passes will be described.

  The configuration of the recording unit of the ink jet recording apparatus in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment (FIG. 7). As in the first embodiment, the print head is equipped with 1024 nozzles for each color, and the computer interface is also equipped with a USB interface and an IEEE 1394 interface as in the first embodiment.

  When the effective rate of data transfer exceeds 2 Mbyte / S, the number of multi-pass passes is set to 2-pass recording. When the effective rate is 2 Mbyte / S or less but exceeds 1 Mbyte / S, the number of multipass passes is recorded in 4 passes. If the effective rate is 1 Mbyte / S or less, the number of multi-pass passes is recorded as 8 passes.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the recording control operation according to the connection interface in this embodiment. Prior to page image formation, information related to the effective rate of the connection interface is acquired S901. It is determined whether an effective rate exceeding 2 Mbyte / S can be secured. The number is set to 2 passes 903. Then, a multi-pass 2-pass paper conveyance parameter is set (S904), and a multi-pass 2-pass print data control parameter is set (S904). On the other hand, if the transfer rate is 2 Mbyte / S or less, it is subsequently determined whether or not it exceeds 1 Mbyte / S. If the transfer rate exceeds 1 Mbyte / S, the number of multipath paths is set to 4 (S907). Then, a multi-pass 4-pass paper transport parameter is set and S908, and further a multi-pass 4-pass print data control parameter is set in S909. If it is 1 Mbyte / S or less, the number of multi-pass passes is 8 A path is set S910. Then, a multi-pass 8-pass paper conveyance parameter is set (S911), and a multi-pass 8-pass print data control parameter is set (S912). In the above flowchart, the multi-pass number is determined prior to the printing operation in units of pages, but a change in the device connection status of the connection interface is detected and responded in real time to this, It is also possible to perform optimal control during page recording.

  As described above, in an inkjet recording apparatus having a plurality of computer interfaces having different transfer capabilities, the number of multi-passes used for image formation is determined according to the effective rate of the computer interface used for data transfer, and recording is performed. By adjusting the amount of data that needs to be transferred for each scan in accordance with the transfer capability of the connection interface, it is possible to always suppress the wait between recording scans within a predetermined time and realize highly reliable image formation.

(Other examples)
In the first and second embodiments described above, USB and IEEE1394 have been described as examples of the computer interface provided in the ink jet recording apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to other standard interfaces such as SCSI or a unique interface. . In the first and second embodiments, the ink jet recording apparatus using Bk, Cy, Mg, and Ye four-color inks has been described. However, the number of colors and color types are not limited thereto. It may be one using three color inks excluding Bk, one using light color inks of low density such as light Cy, light Mg and light Ye, or another special color added. . Also, the recording heads to be mounted are not limited to one set (one for each color), but can be applied to an ink jet recording apparatus that includes a plurality of recording heads (two or more for each color) to realize high-speed processing. In the first and second embodiments, the configuration in which the halftone process and the pass data process are performed inside the inkjet recording apparatus has been described. However, a part of them is realized by a driver on the connected host computer side. It may be a configuration.

  The present invention is not limited by the operation principle or configuration of the recording head. That is, the recording head is provided with a heating element (electrical / thermal energy conversion element) in the vicinity of the discharge port, and by applying an electric signal to the heating element, the ink is locally heated to cause a pressure change, and the ink is discharged. A thermal system that ejects ink from an ejection port may be used, or a piezoelectric system that ejects ink by applying mechanical pressure to the ink using an electrical / pressure converting means such as a piezoelectric element.

  The form of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to an image output apparatus of an information processing apparatus such as a computer or a word processor, but is provided integrally or separately, and a copying apparatus or a communication function combined with a reading apparatus. It may be a facsimile machine having

It is a schematic block diagram of the controller part in an inkjet recording device. It is a schematic block diagram of the engine part in an inkjet recording device. It is a figure which shows an example of the mask table for multipass 2 pass data production | generation. It is a figure explaining the mode of the multipass printing using the mask table of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the mask table for 4-pass data generation of multipass. It is a figure explaining the mode of multipass printing using the mask table of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the recording part in the 1st Example of this invention, and a 2nd Example. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a recording control operation in the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a recording control operation in the second embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (7)

A plurality of interfaces for transferring image data and control data to and from a host computer are provided, and a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection units is scanned on a recording medium, and the input image information is In an inkjet recording apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink from a recording head onto a recording medium,
Data generating means for generating multi-pass data in order to perform multi-pass recording by the recording head;
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a print control unit capable of controlling the number of multi-pass passes according to the information transfer capability of the interface. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein the print control means includes means capable of controlling to change the number of paths of the multi-pass according to the type of interface connected. apparatus. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control means includes means capable of controlling the number of multi-passes to be changed in accordance with an effective rate of a connected interface. Recording device. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control unit includes a unit capable of performing control so as to change the number of paths of the multipath according to a connection state of a connected interface. Recording device. The print control means includes means for enabling control to change the number of paths of the multipath when the transfer capability of the connected interface is low. Inkjet recording device. The recording head is a recording head that ejects ink using thermal energy, and includes thermal energy conversion means for generating thermal energy applied to the ink. [7] An inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of [1] to [3]. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the recording head ejects ink using a pressure generating element.

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