Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes an image forming unit which forms an ink image by discharging and applying ink containing at least a resin and a liquid component as an ink droplet onto a transfer body, a liquid removing unit which removes the liquid component in the ink image, a transfer unit which transfers removes the image, from which the liquid component is removed, onto a recording medium, a fixing unit which performs heating and pressing fixing on the image formed on the recording medium by pressing a fixing substrate, a liquid adhesion determination unit which determines whether a liquid adheres to a surface of the fixing substrate, and a liquid removing condition changing unit which changes a liquid removing condition of the liquid removing unit based on the determination result of the liquid adhesion determination unit.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes an image forming unit which forms an ink image by discharging and applying ink containing at least a resin and a liquid component as an ink droplet onto a transfer body, a liquid removing unit which removes the liquid component in the ink image, a transfer unit which transfers removes the image, from which the liquid component is removed, onto a recording medium, a fixing unit which performs heating and pressing fixing on the image formed on the recording medium by pressing a fixing substrate, a liquid adhesion determination unit which determines whether a liquid adheres to a surface of the fixing substrate, and a liquid removing condition changing unit which changes a liquid removing condition of the liquid removing unit based on the determination result of the liquid adhesion determination unit.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method in which an image is formed by applying onto a recording medium a reaction liquid, an aqueous pigment ink containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid and a resin-containing aqueous liquid containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid to form an image, the method including the steps of applying the reaction liquid to the recording medium; applying the aqueous pigment ink to a surface of the recording medium to which the reaction liquid is applied by an ink jet method to form an image; and applying the resin-containing aqueous liquid to the image formed on the recording medium by the ink jet method. The surface tension of the resin-containing aqueous liquid is higher than the surface tension of the aqueous pigment ink.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprising: a color ink applying unit configured to apply color ink to a print medium; a clear ink applying unit configured to apply a plurality of clear inks to the print medium to cover the applied color ink, each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks having a degree of glossiness that is different from each other; and a determining unit configured to determine an amount ratio of each clear ink to each other clear ink of the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data and to determine an amount of each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks such that the determined ratio is satisfied and such that the clear inks cover the applied color ink and print medium at approximately 100% area coverage.

Abstract: A transfer-type ink jet recording apparatus including an intermediate image forming unit for applying an ink containing a resin to an intermediate transfer member to form an intermediate image and a transfer unit for transferring the intermediate image to a recording medium. The apparatus further includes a heating unit for heating the intermediate image to a temperature equal to or higher than the minimum film forming temperature of the resin and a cooling unit for cooling the intermediate image heated by the heating unit to a temperature lower than the glass transition temperature of the resin to supply the image to the transfer unit.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprising: a color ink applying unit configured to apply color ink to a print medium; a clear ink applying unit configured to apply a plurality of clear inks to the print medium to cover the applied color ink, each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks having a degree of glossiness that is different from each other; and a determining unit configured to determine an amount ratio of each clear ink to each other clear ink of the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data and to determine an amount of each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks such that the determined ratio is satisfied and such that the clear inks cover the applied color ink and print medium at approximately 100% area coverage.

Abstract: A transfer-type ink jet recording apparatus including an intermediate image forming unit for applying an ink containing a resin to an intermediate transfer member to form an intermediate image and a transfer unit for transferring the intermediate image to a recording medium. The apparatus further includes a heating unit for heating the intermediate image to a temperature equal to or higher than the minimum film forming temperature of the resin and a cooling unit for cooling the intermediate image heated by the heating unit to a temperature lower than the glass transition temperature of the resin to supply the image to the transfer unit.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method includes forming first and second liquid composition aggregated layers by respectively applying first and second liquid compositions containing resin to a recording medium using an ink jet recording head; performing heating and pressurization of the medium in a first fixation step using a first fixing unit; and performing heating and pressurization of the medium in a second fixation step using a second fixing unit followed by cooling to separate the medium from the second fixing unit. MFT1>MFT2 and T1>MFT1?T2>MFT2?T3 are satisfied, where MFT1, MFT2 are, respectively, minimum film forming temperatures of the first and second liquid composition aggregated layers, and T1, T2, and T3 are temperatures of the first and second liquid composition aggregated layers upon heating and pressurization in first and second fixation steps and upon separation in second fixation step, respectively.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method in which an image is formed by applying onto a recording medium a reaction liquid, an aqueous pigment ink containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid and a resin-containing aqueous liquid containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid to form an image, the method including the steps of applying the reaction liquid to the recording medium; applying the aqueous pigment ink to a surface of the recording medium to which the reaction liquid is applied by an ink jet method to form an image; and applying the resin-containing aqueous liquid to the image formed on the recording medium by the ink jet method. The surface tension of the resin-containing aqueous liquid is higher than the surface tension of the aqueous pigment ink.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method including forming a first and a second liquid composition aggregated layer respectively by applying a first and a second liquid composition containing resin to a recording medium using an ink jet recording head; a first fixation step of performing heating and pressurization of the medium using a first fixing unit; and a second fixation step including performing heating and pressurization of the medium using a second fixing unit followed by cooling to separate the medium from the second fixing unit. MFT1>MFT2 and T1>MFT1?T2>MFT2?T3 are satisfied, where MFT1, MFT2 are respectively minimum film forming temperatures of first and second liquid composition aggregated layers, and T1, T2, T3 are temperatures of first and second liquid composition aggregated layers upon heating and pressurization in first and second fixation steps and upon separation in second fixation step, respectively.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank for storing an ink, a flow path member communicating with the ink tank and a recording head for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink tank through the flow path member, wherein the apparatus further includes a light detection unit which applies light to at least one of the ink in the ink tank and the ink in the flow path member and detects the intensity of back-scattered light of the applied light, and an image density correction unit which corrects the density of an image to be recorded on the basis of the intensity of the back-scattered light which has been detected by the light detection unit.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording condition changing unit that changes a recording condition upon formation of an image; an evaluation image input unit that inputs evaluation image data representing an evaluation image including at least two successive adjacent dots to form the evaluation image on a recording medium; a reading unit that reads the evaluation image; an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value based on color information on the evaluation image; an acceptance/rejection determining unit that determines acceptance/rejection of the evaluation image by comparing the evaluation value with an acceptance/rejection determining threshold value; and a recording condition deciding unit that decides that a recording condition used during formation of an evaluation image of which acceptance has been determined is to be used as a recording condition upon formation of the image on the recording medium.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using a recording head includes executing relative movement between the recording medium and the recording head in a second direction intersecting a first direction in which a plurality of recording elements are arrayed. The recording head is controlled so that the plurality of recording elements in each group of respective driving blocks of recording elements are driven in order and at a predetermined time interval between respective driving blocks. A plurality of element arrays are driven so that pixels, based on recording data for one column extending in the first direction, are recorded by using the plurality of element arrays within an area of the recording medium corresponding to relative movement width of the relative movement in the second direction within the predetermined time interval.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including a recording condition changing unit that changes a recording condition upon formation of an image; an evaluation image input unit that inputs evaluation image data representing an evaluation image including at least two successive adjacent dots to form the evaluation image on a recording medium; a reading unit that reads the evaluation image; an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value based on color information on the evaluation image; an acceptance/rejection determining unit that determines acceptance/rejection of the evaluation image by comparing the evaluation value with an acceptance/rejection determining threshold value; and a recording condition deciding unit that decides that a recording condition used during formation of an evaluation image of which acceptance has been determined is to be used as a recording condition upon formation of the image on the recording medium.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using a recording head includes executing relative movement between the recording medium and the recording head in a second direction intersecting a first direction in which a plurality of recording elements are arrayed. The recording head is controlled so that the plurality of recording elements in each group of respective driving blocks of recording elements are driven in order and at a predetermined time interval between respective driving blocks. A plurality of element arrays are driven so that pixels, based on recording data for one column extending in the first direction, are recorded by using the plurality of element arrays within an area of the recording medium corresponding to relative movement width of the relative movement in the second direction within the predetermined time interval.

Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a processing unit configured to convert acquired image information into dot data, and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording medium based on the image information converted into dot data by the processing unit, wherein the processing unit enlarges an image of the acquired image information to a size protruding into margins formed at both side ends of the recording medium, then converts the image information into dot data, and then, based on side end position information of the recording medium detected by the detection unit, processes the image information converted into dot data so that image formation is not performed on portions of the enlarged image protruding into the margins.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head and a driving unit. The recording head includes a plurality of element columns. Each element column includes a plurality of recording elements arrayed in a first direction to discharge ink, and is divided into a plurality of groups including a plurality of continuous recording elements. The driving unit drives the recording head and execute control so that the plurality of recording elements in each group is driven in order at a specific time interval. A number of the element columns is equal to or larger than a number of recoding elements in a group. The driving unit controls driving of the plurality of element columns so that recorded data of one column is recorded within a conveyance width of a recording medium to be conveyed within the specific time interval.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank for storing an ink, a flow path member communicating with the ink tank and a recording head for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink tank through the flow path member, wherein the apparatus further includes a light detection unit which applies light to at least one of the ink in the ink tank and the ink in the flow path member and detects the intensity of back-scattered light of the applied light, and an image density correction unit which corrects the density of an image to be recorded on the basis of the intensity of the back-scattered light which has been detected by the light detection unit.

Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus efficiently recovers defective discharge while reducing the amount of waste ink, acquires position information of a defective discharge nozzle and, based on the position information, determines whether the defective discharge has been caused by a bubble or a dust particle, and selects an ink circulation mode or a wiping mode.

Abstract: Each of four areas of 2×2 in one pixel has four sub areas and the four sub areas correspond to four nozzle arrays A to D. In the sub area of each area, information showing what nozzle array is used for a print of the area is defined. The sub area filled in black shows performing therein a print of a dot using nozzles in the nozzle array corresponding to the sub area. In this way, the dot arrangement pattern has information showing the nozzle array to which nozzles used for printing an area belong, for each area. Therefore, without executing the particular data allocation processing such as mask processing, the allocation of the dot data to the plurality of nozzle arrays can be carried out with a simple arrangement.