JP2003039650A - Print system, print method, information processor and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print method and a print system in which a high quality image can be printed even when the image is printed with a plurality of different print resolutions. SOLUTION: A high quality image can be obtained even if the print resolution is switched by generating print information suitable for the resolution being used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method, and more particularly to a printing system and a printing method capable of satisfactorily obtaining print results according to a print resolution when printing. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a printing apparatus using a print head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink,
Even if density signals of the same value are input due to variations in the shape of the ink flow path that forms the nozzles, changes in the amount of ink ejected, etc., unevenness occurs depending on the nozzle used, and uniform output density is achieved. I can't print. This adverse effect is called density unevenness or print unevenness.

FIG. 4 is a model view of such density unevenness viewed microscopically. (A) is an ideal print result. On the other hand, (B) shows a case where dots of a certain nozzle are formed smaller than those of another nozzle. In this case, the density is sensed to be low only in that portion. On the contrary, (C) shows a case where the density is large, and in this case, the density is sensed high only in that part. Further, (D) shows a state in which the landing positions of the dots are displaced, and in this case, the density in the direction in which the dots have moved becomes high and the density in the opposite direction becomes low. In this way, even if data with a constant density is printed, the print result is not uniform, and it is perceived macroscopically as density unevenness. Head shading processing (hereinafter referred to as HS processing) or the like is already known as a known technique as a means for correcting the variation between the nozzles and obtaining a uniform print result.

In this HS processing, a correction table or the like corresponding to each nozzle stored in advance in a memory is used, and a larger number of inks are ejected from the nozzles of the low density portion.
The signal value conversion is performed so that a smaller amount of ink is ejected from the nozzle of the high density portion. By converting the density signal value, a preferable output result can be obtained for the input signal value.

In particular, by fixing a long print head in which the discharge nozzles are arranged above or below the width of the paper to the printing apparatus, and the paper is conveyed under the print head in a direction different from the nozzle alignment direction, For a full-multi type printing apparatus having a mechanism for forming an image, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-000767, 10-0033.
68, 10-003369, 10-000.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 835 discloses the configuration and an example in which the HS process is applied.

The print resolution of such a full multi-type printing apparatus depends on the nozzle arrangement pitch of the print head in the nozzle arrangement direction, and in the paper conveyance direction, the paper conveyance speed and the ejection of each nozzle. Frequency (hereinafter also referred to as drive frequency). Therefore,
Regarding the transport direction, for example, while keeping the discharge frequency fixed at a constant value, the transport speed of the paper is changed to half the normal speed, etc.
The print resolution can be changed by adjusting the transport speed and the ejection frequency. Then, it has become possible to change the print resolution according to the required image quality and use and obtain a desired image.

[0007]

As described above, when the printing resolution is changed, the conditions under which the ink lands on the printing paper also differ, and the appearance of the density unevenness described above also differs. However, in the conventional HS processing, the correction data (hereinafter, referred to as HS data) for correcting the print unevenness is constant regardless of the change of the print resolution, and an appropriate HS according to the print resolution is obtained.
The treatment could not be carried out. Therefore, when a plurality of print results with different print resolutions are compared, there is a problem that a sufficient HS processing effect cannot be obtained for each.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide printing at a plurality of different print resolutions.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing method and a printing system capable of printing a high-quality image.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the present invention,
In a print system that uses a print head in which a plurality of print elements are arranged and that relatively moves the print head and the print medium, and forms an image on the print medium based on print information, according to the print resolution of the image. Setting means for setting drive conditions of the printing system, first information processing means for setting data necessary for generating print information corresponding to the set drive conditions, and based on the set data And second information processing means for generating the print information.

Further, the present invention uses a print head in which a plurality of print elements are arranged, and a printing method for forming an image on the print medium based on print information while relatively moving the print head and the print medium. In the step of setting the driving conditions of the printing system according to the print resolution of the image, and setting the data necessary for generating the print information corresponding to the set driving conditions, and in the set data. And a step of generating the print information based on the print information.

The present invention also relates to a printing apparatus which uses a print head in which a plurality of print elements are arranged and which forms an image on the print medium based on print information while relatively moving the print head and the print medium. In a connected information processing device, a setting unit that sets the drive condition for the print according to the print resolution of the image and a data that is necessary for generating print information corresponding to the set drive condition. And the second information processing means for generating the print information based on the set data.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus connected to the above information processing apparatus, further comprising means for transmitting the data in response to a request from the first information processing means. To do.

With the above arrangement, print information suitable for the printing resolution can be generated, so that a high-quality image can be obtained even if the printing resolution is switched.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a printing system capable of implementing this embodiment. Computer terminal device 101 for executing print data transfer and HS processing
Is executed by the processing unit CPU that reads the program from the memory and performs the central processing, the memory RAM that stores print data and data for processing, and the processing unit CPU,
A memory ROM that stores a control program corresponding to the control procedure shown in FIG. 5, a standard input / output unit 108 that controls keyboard input and display output, a storage area 103 such as a hard disk, and an interface used for communication with external devices. It is configured by the unit 102. Similarly, the printing device 107 also has a central processing unit CPU that performs control based on a program, with a focus on the computer terminal device 101.
Interface unit 104 capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from memory RA for storing print data and processing data
M, a memory ROM that stores a program corresponding to the control procedure shown in FIG. 5, and a print mechanism 1 for performing printing
06, the memory area 105. In this embodiment, the computer terminal device 101 and the printing device 104 are connected via the interface units 102 and 104, and the print data is transferred to the printing device 107.

In addition to the present embodiment, the computer terminal device 101 can be applied to the case where the computer terminal device 101 does not have a storage area represented by a mainframe terminal but has a storage area shared by a network.

Regarding the HS processing, a method of transferring the HS correction data for the HS processing held in the memory area 105 in the printing apparatus to the computer terminal apparatus 101 to perform the HS processing, and a storage area of the computer terminal apparatus 101. A method of managing HS correction data is used for 103.

Next, the printing mechanism 1 of the printing device 107
06 will be described. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the printing mechanism 106 of the printing apparatus 107 used in this embodiment. The printing apparatus 107 used in this embodiment has four print heads, and the black head 201, the cyan head 202, the magenta head 203, and the yellow head 204 are arranged in parallel from the starting position in the transport direction, and the print heads 201 to 204 are arranged in parallel. Print paper 20 just below
An image is formed by applying the respective color inks to the sheet 5 while conveying the sheet. At this time, the print head 201
The length direction of each of the papers 204 to 204 (the front and back directions of the paper surface in FIG. 2A) is defined as the horizontal direction, and the conveyance direction of the print paper 205 is defined as the vertical direction.

FIG. 2B shows the output result of the image printed by the printing device. Print head 201
˜204 is the print area 2 for the print sheet 205
Even when the print paper 205 is formed in the horizontal direction and the print paper 205 is shorter than the print head in the horizontal direction, the print area 206 is equal to or smaller than the horizontal direction of the print paper 205.

In the printing apparatus of the present embodiment, it is assumed that the print frequency can be conveyed at two stages while keeping the ejection frequency of the print head constant. FIG. 3 shows a model diagram (A) in the case of printing at a normal transport speed and a model diagram (B) in the case of transport at a normal speed of 1/2. Dots 301 formed by ink ejected from the print head
Are arranged adjacent to each other at equal intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions at the normal transport speed. On the other hand, at the 1/2 carrying speed, the dot interval in the horizontal direction is the same as that in FIG.
The dots in the vertical direction are recorded with double the density.

However, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, in reality, the shape of the nozzles for ejecting the ink forming the print head has a slight variation at the time of formation. Therefore, head shading processing (HS processing) is performed as means for obtaining a uniform print result.

At this time, the density unevenness characteristic changes when the transport speed is changed and the number of dots in the vertical direction increases or decreases. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the HS process is performed, the HS correction data for the HS process corresponding to the transport speed is switched and used. The two types of HS correction data corresponding to each of the embodiments are the memory area 1 in the printing apparatus described in FIG.
05, the HS correction data of the necessary one is transferred to the computer terminal device 101 at appropriate time, and the HS processing is performed. As another method, the computer terminal device 10
Two types of HS correction data may be managed in advance in one storage area 103.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the print system according to the present embodiment, and the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to this figure. First, the HS corresponding to the transport speed input from the standard input / output unit 108 and stored in the memory RAM.
The selection of print resolution is read to select the HS correction data for processing (S501). Next, it is determined whether or not the read data is normal print (S502). In normal print, the normal HS correction data is read from the memory in the printing apparatus or the computer terminal apparatus 101 as the normal transport speed (S50).
3). Further, when the print resolution is set to double the print speed instead of the normal print, the transport speed becomes 1/2, and at this time, the HS correction data at the transport speed of 1/2 is read (S504). Next, the computer terminal device 101 performs the HS process using the determined HS correction data, and stores the result in a predetermined area of the memory RAM (S5).
05).

Next, a transport speed control signal for notifying the selected transport speed to the printer 107 is sent from the computer terminal device 101 to the interfaces 102, 10.
4 via. At this time, in the case of normal printing, a normal transport command is transmitted to the printing apparatus 107 (S5
07), if the transport speed is 1/2, the transport speed 1/2 command is transmitted (S508).

Thereafter, the HS processed print correction data is transferred from the computer terminal device 101 to the printing device 10.
7 (S509) and prints in the printing device (S510).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the printing apparatus capable of switching the paper carrying speed in two steps, the HS data is stored for each paper carrying speed, and the HS data is stored according to the printing mode. By switching the data of both, it becomes possible to always print an image with no density unevenness at two print resolutions.

In the present embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the conveyance speed of the print paper is controlled in two stages so that the print resolution can be printed in two stages in the conveyance direction. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this. Not a thing. The print resolution may be controlled by the ejection frequency of the head in addition to the paper transport speed, or may be adjusted by combining the two. Further, the number of steps of print resolution may be two or more. In this case, HS data is also required for the number of resolutions that can be output.

In the present embodiment, the method using the full-multi type printing apparatus in which the print head is fixed and the paper is conveyed to form an image has been described. It can also be applied to a serial type printer that generates an image by moving in a direction intersecting with. In the case of this serial printer, the print resolution of several steps is controlled by the ejection frequency of the head and the moving speed of the print head.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, by printing on the basis of print information suitable for the print resolution to be printed, it is possible to obtain a high-quality image even if the print resolution is switched. Became.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a printing system to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing method of the printing apparatus used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a difference in print results when the transport speed of the printing apparatus used in the embodiment of the present invention is changed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing result based on print head characteristics of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation from print resolution selection to printing in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 computer terminal device 102 Interface section 103 storage area 104 Interface part 105 memory area 106 printing mechanism 107 printing device 108 standard input / output 201 black head 202 cyan head 203 magenta head 204 yellow head 205 print paper 206 print area 301 dots

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A print system in which an image is formed on the print medium based on print information while using a printhead in which a plurality of print elements are arranged and the printhead and the print medium are relatively moved, Setting means for setting drive conditions of the printing system according to print resolution; first information processing means for setting data necessary for generating print information corresponding to the set drive conditions; And a second information processing unit that generates the print information based on the data. 2. The setting means sets the driving condition as
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a conveyance speed for moving the print medium with respect to the print head is set. 3. The setting means sets the driving condition as
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a drive frequency of the print head is set. 4. The setting means sets the drive condition as
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a scanning speed of the print head with respect to the print medium is set. 5. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the data is information about the print head. 6. The printing system according to claim 5, wherein the data is information regarding density characteristics of the plurality of print elements of the print head. 7. A printing device that forms an image on the print medium using the print head based on the print information, and an information processing device that generates the print information and sends the print information to the printing device. 2. The setting device is provided in the printing device.
The printing system described in. 8. A printing apparatus that forms an image on the print medium using the print head based on the print information, and an information processing apparatus that generates the print information and transmits the print information to the printing apparatus. The setting means is provided in the information processing device.
The printing system described in. 9. The printing apparatus comprises storage means for storing the data, and the first information processing means selects the data corresponding to the driving condition from the storage means. Or the printing system according to 8. 10. The printing apparatus includes a storage unit for storing the data, and the first information processing unit transmits the data corresponding to the driving condition from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus. 9. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein the printing system can be requested. 11. The printing apparatus comprises storage means for storing the data, and the first information processing means is capable of transmitting the data corresponding to the drive condition from the printing apparatus to the information processing apparatus. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein the printing system is provided. 12. A storage unit connected to the information processing device for storing the data, wherein the first information processing unit selects and uses the data corresponding to the driving condition from the storage unit. Item 9. The printing system according to Item 7 or 8. 13. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of print elements are of an ink jet system that ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles to print on the print medium. 14. The printing system according to claim 13, wherein the printing element generates bubbles in the ink by thermal energy and ejects the ink by the pressure of the bubbles. 15. A printing method for forming an image on a print medium based on print information while relatively moving the print head and a print medium, using a print head in which a plurality of print elements are arranged. Setting a driving condition of the printing system according to a print resolution and setting data necessary for generating print information corresponding to the set driving condition; and the printing based on the set data. And a step of generating information. 16. A print head, in which a plurality of print elements are arranged, is used, and the print head and the print medium are relatively moved, and the print head is connected to a printing apparatus that forms an image on the print medium based on print information. In an information processing apparatus, a setting unit that sets the drive condition for the print according to the print resolution of the image and a first information process that sets data necessary for generating print information corresponding to the set drive condition. An information processing apparatus comprising: a unit; and a second information processing unit that generates the print information based on the set data. 17. A printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising means for transmitting the data in response to a request from the first information processing means. And printing device.