Abstract: A method for preserving a liquid-ejection head is disclosed. The method uses the liquid-ejection head having a first liquid-flowing passage that receives a supply of a first liquid and communicates with an ejection port; a second liquid-flowing passage that receives a supply of a second liquid that differs from the first liquid; a bubble generation area formed on the second liquid-flowing passage for heating the second liquid to generate a bubble in said second liquid; and a movable member positioned between the bubble generation area, having a free end on an ejection port's side of the first liquid-flowing passage and a supporting end on other side of the first liquid-flowing passage, where the free end of the movable member is displaced toward the first liquid-flowing passage by a pressure caused by a generation of the bubble when said second liquid is heated.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises a recording head having discharge ports to discharge ink; an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the recording head; and means for performing predischarges to stabilize ink discharges from the recording head. In this apparatus, the recording head is provided with a discharge unit to discharge plural kinds of ink, and the means for performing predischarges operates predischarges from all the discharge ports, only from the discharges ports in the vicinity of each end of the discharging units, and from all the discharge ports in that order at least for predischarges from discharging unit having relatively thin ink. With such head and means for performing predischarges, it is possible to remove mixed ink after suction recovery with a lesser amount of ink consumption, and execute a high quality recording stably at all times.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for ink jet printing use a print head including a first nozzle group for discharging a first ink, a second nozzle group for discharging a second ink and a third nozzle group for discharging a printability improving solution. The third nozzle group is displaced between the first nozzle group and the second nozzle group. The first nozzle group discharges the first ink on the printing medium based on image data to form an image, the third nozzle group discharges the printability improving solution on the image formed on the printing medium by means of another step, and the second nozzle group discharges the second ink on the image formed on the printing medium. The printability improving solution has higher penetrability into the printing medium compared to the ink.The method and apparatus can attain a clear colored, high density image without color mixing, which has high water resistance on plain paper, with a low running cost.

Abstract: An apparatus uses a liquid ejection head including a first liquid passage communicating with an ejection port, a second liquid passage separated from the first liquid passage by a separation wall, and a movable member formed as a part of the separation wall. In the second liquid passage, a thermal energy generation device is arranged at a position opposing to the movable member. The movable member has a free end portion and a fulcrum. Recovery of the first and second liquid passages is performed by suction and/or pressurization. Upon recovery by discharging the liquid in respective liquid passage having higher flow resistance, the pressurizing force and/or the suction force for the liquid passage having higher resistance is set to be greater that the pressurizing force and/or the suction force for the other liquid passage having lower flow resistance.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing apparatus, and an object thereof is to improve resolution and also suppress indention of contour, thereby improving image quality. In order to achieve the object in a case where multi-gradation image data is quantized to be converted into quantized pixel patterns, a smoothing portion of a quantized image is detected and a contour of the quantized image is corrected by interpolating pixels of the detected smoothing portion the quantized pixel pattern of the smoothing portion in the detected quantized image is replaced by a pixel pattern for smoothing stored in a memory.

Abstract: In forming an image with plural recording heads corresponding to plural inks of different densities, the image data are so distributed that the image is formed with the ink of low density until the image density reaches a predetermined density level, but is formed with the inks of low and high densities when the image density exceeds the predetermined density level, and the distributed data are corrected according to the detection of temperature relating to the recording heads, whereby a desired recorded image can be obtained even in the presence of a variation in the head temperature. Also the image data are distributed in such a manner that, when the remaining amount of one of the plural inks becomes low, the recording is conducted with the remaining ink, whereby a desired image can be obtained even when the remaining amount of one of the plural inks with different densities becomes low.

Abstract: This invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and a recording method for recording images of high dignity with the amount of ink placed per unit area of a recording medium being always kept constant even if the resolvability when recording is effected changes. When the amount of ink of an ink droplet discharged from a recording head is constant (25 pl), the average number of recorded dots conformity to the resolvability is found on the basis thereof, and the number of recordable dots is found from this average number of dots. The difference between this number of actually recorded dots and the average number of recorded dots is adjusted by reducing the value of recording data in advance.

Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus capable of exchangeably mounting a plurality of kinds of recording devices provided with discharging devices for discharging ink.

Abstract: In the case of printing in three-value level utilizing two kinds of inks mutually different densities for one color (higher and lower density inks), it is assumed that a reflection density of a region having a predetermined area when solid print is performed only by the lower density ink, and that when solid print is performed only by the higher density ink are expressed ODt and ODn, respectively. Since the granular appearance of the ink dots is expressed in terms of reflection density of one dot, the granular appearance of a lower density ink dot at a portion of image formed only by the lower density ink dots and the granular appearance of a higher density ink dot at a portion of image formed by the higher and lower density ink dots are expressed in terms of values of ODt and (ODn-ODt) divided by the number of pixels included the above region, respectively.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording method record using different kinds of ink each having the same series color and a different density. The jet recording apparatus includes a converting unit for converting an input image density signal into an output image density signal, a binary unit for converting the output image density signal into binary data, an inverting unit for inverting the binary data, and a distributing unit for distributing the binary data inverted and binary data to be inverted to drive data for an ink discharge unit and drive data for another ink discharge unit. Density unevenness and texture which arise from an image process, particularly a binary process, can be prevented. Different kinds of ink, each of which has the same series color and a different density, are respectively scanned so as not to overlap on the same pixel.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a recording head having discharge ports for discharging the ink, an ink tank for storing said ink to be supplied to the recording head, and suction recovery means for stabilizing the ink discharge from the recording head, characterized in that the suction recovery means has a plurality of suction operations, which can be selected in accordance with the content of the discharge stabilization.

Abstract: When an image to be recorded has a density to be recorded by using thin ink of thick and thin inks, areas of dots recording from ink discharge ports arranged normally to a main scan direction of a recording head are irregularly varied so that a variation of density in a low density area is reduced.