Abstract: High image quality is maintained even on front and rear ends of a printing medium where deterioration in the image quality is more likely to occur due to reduction in conveyance accuracy of the printing medium. In printing on the front and rear ends, the printing medium being not supported by both conveying means respectively placed upstream and downstream of a printing point in a printing medium conveying direction, a print swath of a printing head and the amount of conveying a printing medium are reduced. Moreover, the reducing print swath and the reducing conveyance amount are designed to be decreased in the cases of selecting a printing medium for high-quality printing as well as a monochrome print mode where image distortion caused by deviation of ink-landing positions is more noticeable due to a small number of colors of ink to be used and low coverage thereof.

Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus and a method for calculating an ink consumption that can reduce a difference between an ink consumption recognized by the printing apparatus and a consumption of ink actually consumed are provided. For this, at the time of calculation of an ink consumption by the printing apparatus, a suction amount rank indicating the quantity of a suction amount due to an individual difference in the apparatus is used to correct the suction amount, whereby the difference between an ink consumption recognized by the printing apparatus and a consumption of ink actually consumed is reduce.

Abstract: The present invention allows for creating high quality images by coping with a variety of kinds of print mediums without having to prepare large-sized, large-capacity power supply and ink supply source. For this purpose, this invention detects the number of printing elements to be driven in a predetermined check area set in one scan area of the print head. If the detected value is greater than a predetermined threshold, either the number of printing elements to be driven in one scan period of the print head or one scan period from when the print head starts the printing scan until the next printing scan is started is selected and changed according to the set printing condition and the printing operation is performed accordingly.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet printing apparatus and a method for controlling an ink jet printing apparatus which can shorten the stirring duration without losing any stirring effect by stirring ink at a required time to only a required level and still perform a printing operation with no image impairments. By a reciprocal movement of the carriage according to a mode during a non-printing operation excluding a print operation that is accompanied by a reciprocal movement of the carriage, ink in an ink tank is stirred. The stir mode is set according to the color of the ink in the ink tank mounted on the carriage.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet printing apparatus and a method for controlling an ink jet printing apparatus which, during a non-print operation excluding a print operation, can stir ink at a required time and to a required level according to the state of the ink in the ink tank. During a non-print operation excluding a print operation accompanied by a reciprocal movement of the carriage, a stir operation is executed to stir the ink in the ink tank by reciprocating the carriage according to a stir mode. As the stir mode, one of different modes is set according to an elapsed time from the previous stir operation.

Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus is provided which can stir ink efficiently and reduce user stresses by specifying the time for stirring ink in an ink tank. A stir operation that reciprocally moves a carriage for stirring ink in the ink tank is executed in parallel with a suction-based operation of sucking out ink from a cap after a print operation.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to appropriately dispense treatment fluid to wipers, and to always wipe ejection-orifice formation surfaces in a favorable state regardless of an environmental change and the like. To this end, in the present invention, a treatment-fluid holding portion holds treatment fluid used in a wiping operation of wipers. When the wipers contact the treatment-fluid holding portion, the treatment fluid is transferred to the wipers. In an environment where the treatment fluid is thickened, the wipers with ink dispensed thereto are brought into contact with the treatment-fluid holding portion to supply ink to the treatment-fluid holding portion. Thus, the viscosity of the treatment fluid near a contact portion between the treatment-fluid holding portion and the wipers decreases, and the treatment fluid is sufficiently transferred to the wipers.

Abstract: The present invention provides a print apparatus and a printing method which enable high-grade images to be output at high speed without the need to drastically reduce the number of printing elements used to print leading and trailing end portions of a print medium. A first mask pattern used to print a middle portion of the print medium is different from a second mask pattern used to print the leading or trailing end portion of the print medium. The present invention thus eliminates the need to drastically reduce the number of printing elements used to print the leading or trailing end portion as with the prior art.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet printing apparatus that can inexpensively print desired colors without causing ink color mixture. In a print head, a plurality of nozzle rows for respective ink colors are arranged in parallel with one another. Arrangements and driving control are provided so that few mists resulting from an ink ejecting operation move so as not to reach the print head or fall.

Abstract: A print position adjusting method capable of executing dot adjust value calculation processing in ways that can meet diversified user needs of recent years, and a printing system that can realize the print position adjusting method are provided. Multiple kinds of dot adjust value calculation processing capable of acquiring an adjust value for aligning print positions are prepared, so that the user can select a desired one. With this arrangement, the user can execute the desired dot adjust value calculation processing as necessary.

Abstract: A recording apparatus is configured to record an image on a recording medium by repeating a recording operation and a conveying operation. The recording operation is operative to apply a recording agent to the recording medium using a recording head while moving the recording head for scanning in a direction different from a predetermined direction. The recording head includes a plurality of recording elements arranged in the predetermined direction and adapted to apply the recording agent. The conveying operation is operative to convey the recording medium in a direction transverse to the scanning direction.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus applicable for two-side recording, which permits reliable reduction of smears caused by contact of the recording medium or secondary smears staining the following recording media by the ink adhering in the conveyance path, and obtaining high-quality images. After performing recording on the surface of the recording medium by the recording head for discharging ink, the recording medium is reversed for recording on the back thereof. For each of unit regions obtained by dividing the region corresponding to the surface of the recording medium, information about the quantity of ink to be applied to these unit regions is acquired, and the length of the operation downtime corresponding to the period of time from the end of the operation relating to recording on the surface of the recording medium up to the operation start relating to recording on the back of the recording medium is determined based on the acquired information.

Abstract: Mask patterns to be used for multi-pass printing make it possible to make a print with a higher quality at a higher speed. Specifically, by performing a swapping process with adjacency forbiddance, two points in the horizontal direction, or the scanning direction of a printing head, are selected in a buffer in which codes for each scan pass are set depending on printing ratios of a gradation mask. Subsequently, codes are swapped between the two points. By this swap, adjacencies between print permitting areas are eliminated in the mask pattern. As a result, when driving frequencies set for the printing head is kept constant, the scanning speed can be doubled at minimum.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus applicable for two-side recording, which permits reliable reduction of smears caused by contact of the recording medium or secondary smears staining the following recording media by the ink adhering in the conveyance path, and obtaining high-quality images. After performing recording on the surface of the recording medium by the recording head for discharging ink, the recording medium is reversed for recording on the back thereof. For each of unit regions obtained by dividing the region corresponding to the surface of the recording medium, information about the quantity of ink to be applied to these unit regions is acquired, and the length of the operation downtime corresponding to the period of time from the end of the operation relating to recording on the surface of the recording medium up to the operation start relating to recording on the back of the recording medium is determined based on the acquired information.

Abstract: High image quality is maintained even on front and rear ends of a printing medium where deterioration in the image quality is more likely to occur due to reduction in conveyance accuracy of the printing medium. In printing on the front and rear ends, the printing medium being not supported by both conveying means respectively placed upstream and downstream of a printing point in a printing medium conveying direction, a print swath of a printing head and the amount of conveying a printing medium are reduced. Moreover, the reducing print swath and the reducing conveyance amount are designed to be decreased in the cases of selecting a printing medium for high-quality printing as well as a monochrome print mode where image distortion caused by deviation of ink-landing positions is more noticeable due to a small number of colors of ink to be used and low coverage thereof.

Abstract: An ink jet print apparatus having a plurality of double-sided printing modes (e.g., automatic double-sided printing mode and manual double-sided printing mode) produces a sufficient image quality whichever mode is executed. For this purpose, image data to be printed is converted into print image data usable by the printing apparatus in a way that matches a selected one of multiple print medium transport paths. This minimizes a curling problem due to variations in transport processes, image quality variations caused by an ink fixing problem and adverse effects on the printing apparatus and ensures a stable printing whichever transport path is used for printing.

Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus suppresses defective ejection while reducing a consumed ink amount. In the apparatus, a cap-open period, during which a cap member does not cap ejection ports of a recording head of the apparatus, is measured, and a recovery operation executed by a recovery unit is controlled based on a cumulated cap-open period. With the above arrangement, there can be solved a problem that the ink ejecting state of the recording head is deteriorated depending on a recording operation because a cap-open state, in which the cap member does not cap the ejection ports of the recording head, continues while the inkjet recording apparatus executes the recording operation, thereby the reliability of the inkjet recording apparatus can be improved.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and a print position aligning method are provided which can execute a dot position adjust value calculation mode normally and smoothly without requiring the user to make decisions or adjustments. A test pattern to check the width of a print medium is printed and is detected by an optical sensor to decide whether or not a dot position adjustment pattern can be printed. Before the dot position adjustment pattern is printed, a decision is made as to whether the print medium supplied is appropriate or not. If the print medium supplied is smaller than a size specified for the dot position adjust value calculation processing, the print medium is discharged without being printed with the dot position adjustment pattern. This eliminates a possibility of a wasteful consumption of print mediums and of contaminating the interior of the printing apparatus.

Abstract: For a serial color ink jet printing apparatus that forms an image using a symmetric printing head that ejects large dots and small dots, the configuration of a printing head is provided for suppressing, to the extent possible, a cyclic fluctuation in the main scanning direction. According to the present invention, individual nozzle arrays are arranged so that two nozzle arrays, i.e., a cyan nozzle array c1 and a magenta nozzle array m1, that are located nearer each other, form dots on adjacent scan lines. With this arrangement, a high quality image, having neither an uneven density nor an uneven color, can be formed when a printing head is inclined, or when a cyclic shift in printing positions occurs, depending on the position of the main scanning direction.

Abstract: The present invention provides a liquid application device and an inkjet recording apparatus, which are capable of supplying liquid to a liquid room with the power consumption and/or the noise which are reduced. A pump is driven to fill a liquid retention space S with an application liquid. When the filling has been completed, the pump is stopped. Subsequently, the application liquid is applied to an application medium which has been transferred. At this time, a count in a RAM is increased. Thereafter, the determination as to whether or not the application can be carried out is made on the basis of the count and the prescribed application-performable number of sheets stored in a ROM. If it is determined that the application cannot be carried out, the filling of the application liquid is performed. If it is determined that the application can be carried out, next application is performed.