Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus for effecting recording on a recording material by ejecting ink with relative scanning movement between a recording head and the recording material, the ink jet recording apparatus, including obtaining means for obtaining information indicative of an amount of ink to be ejected to each of unit areas provided by dividing an area in the neighborhood of a boundary between adjacent bands of scanning recording of the recording head on the recording material; and control means for controlling an amount of being to be ejected to the unit area on the basis of the output of the obtaining means, wherein the unit areas exist astride the boundary between adjacent one of the bands.

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus which can realize both a high speed printing and a high quality printing without color deviations when each of the print areas is printed in a plurality of scans by a plurality of print heads ejecting different kinds of ink. For this purse, this invention has a controller for controlling for each print head independently widths and positions of active nozzle groups in the print heads, the active nozzle groups representing those of the plurality of nozzles in the print heads which are used for printing, wherein the controller controls the widths and positions of the active nozzle groups according to a set printing condition.

Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus prints by scanning an inkjet printhead for discharging ink and a printing medium relative to each other. The printhead includes a first nozzle group used to print a dot having a first density, and a second nozzle group used to print a dot having a second density. The inkjet printing apparatus has a first printing mode in which only one of the first and second nozzle groups is used during one printing scan, and a second printing mode in which the first and second nozzle groups are driven at different timings during one printing scan. In this inkjet printing apparatus, a pattern for adjusting the relative printing positions of the nozzle rows in the first printing mode is printed. From this pattern, set values of relative printing positions in the first printing mode are specified. On the basis of the specified set values, set values of the relative printing positions of the nozzle rows in the second printing mode are determined.

Abstract: An ink-jet printing apparatus and an ink-jet printing method allow the printing of an image with high quality without causing a change in ink color formed on the printing medium while keeping the printing conditions constant regardless of changing of the number of nozzles to be printed and the amount of transferring of the printing medium. This printing is performed, for example, by restricting use of the number of nozzles, which belong to a nozzle row located on an upstream side in the sub-scan direction, before changing the amount of transferring of the printing medium; and restricting use of the number of nozzles, which belong to the nozzle rows located on a downstream side in the sub-scan direction, after changing the amount of transferring of the printing medium.

Abstract: In an ink jet print head used in a serial type ink jet printing apparatus according the present invention, a portion of the nozzle column is given a wider nozzle-to-nozzle interval than those of other portions of the nozzle column so that the width in the line feed direction of each image area printed in a single printing scan by the ink jet print head is longer than a distance that a print medium is moved by one line feed. In this serial print head, the width of each image area printed by a single printing scan can be made a predetermined amount longer than the line feed distance at all times. As a result, the adjoining image areas printed by separate printing scans overlap each other at their boundary portions by a predetermined amount.

Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus including: a print unit having a polarity of ejection outlet arrays, for ejecting ink,; a scan unit for scanningly moving the print unit relative to the print medium in a main scan direction; and a feed unit for feeding the print medium relative to the print unit in a direction which is different from the main scan direction, wherein an image is formed on the print medium while repeating a scanning operation of the scanning unit and a feeding operation by the feeding unit. The apparatus also includes an information obtaining unit for obtaining image information; and a selecting unit for selecting at least one of the ejection outlet arrays to effect printing for the image data in a predetermined area, on the basis of the information obtained by the information obtain unit about image formations.

Abstract: There is provided a printing apparatus capable of printing input data in proper adaptation to plural types of printing data input units and environments of use. For this purpose, the type of an input unit is first recognized. For example, when it is recognized that a personal computer capable of causing the printing apparatus to perform a setting process for registration is connected, it is judged that the process has already been performed, and a mode for printing at a high speed is adopted. When it is recognized that a digital camera is connected, since it is likely that the process has not been performed yet, a mode for printing at a low speed is adopted to prevent any reduction in image quality.

Abstract: When positional information expressed by a black dot pattern and an image other than the positional information recorded as color dots are recorded, black data and color (cyan, magenta, and yellow) data are compared. If the black dots and color dots are provided in the same positions, data conversion is performed so that color dots corresponding to those positions are not formed. Thus, bleeding resulting from overlaps of positional information image with the other image is reduced to prevent the degradation of recording quality, and waste of ink is prevented.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus for effecting recording on a recording material by ejecting ink through a plurality of ejection outlets in units of band with relative scanning movement between a recording head and the recording material, the ink jet recording apparatus, includes obtaining means for obtaining scanning interval information relating to time period required for recording a connecting portion between a band of a certain scan of the recording head and a band of the next scan of the recording head; and reducing means for reducing an amount of the ink shot to a neighborhood of the connecting portion on the basis of the scanning interval information obtained by the obtaining means.

Abstract: Images are printed with a reduced extent of a joint streak regardless of the type of a printing medium or the number of printing passes and a printing speed is increased without executing an unwanted thinning for correcting the joint streak. More specifically, printing method information added to print data is obtained, and it is determined on the basis of this information whether or not to execute a thinning process. Consequently, inter-band data correction process based on the thinning can be executed depending on the type of the print medium and the number of printing passes, thereby achieving an appropriate thinning depending on the type of the print medium or the like. When the thinning is not to be executed, all the processes related to the thinning can be omitted to prevent a decrease in printing speed.

Abstract: A liquid ejection head according to the present invention includes a single liquid supplying port to which a liquid is supplied, a plurality of liquid supplying passages having one end in communication with the liquid supplying port, a plurality of common liquid chambers that are in communication with the other ends of the liquid supplying passages, respectively, and a plurality of ejection port groups which are in communication with the common liquid chambers via liquid channels and from which liquid droplets are ejected. A cross sectional area or length of the liquid supplying passage in communication with the ejection port group having a larger sum of opening areas of the ejection ports is set smaller than that of the liquid supplying passage that is in communication with the ejection port group having a smaller sum of opening areas of the ejection ports.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus, for effecting recording on a recording material by ejecting a plurality of inks with relative scanning movement between a recording head and the recording material, includes an obtaining unit for obtaining relative information indicative of a relative relation between the amounts of inks to be ejected for each of unit areas provided by dividing an area in the neighborhood of a boundary between adjacent bands of scanning recording of the recording head across the recording material; a determining unit for determining, for each of the inks, a reduction rate at which the amount of the ink to be ejected to the neighborhood of the boundary in the unit area on the basis of the relative information for each of the unit areas obtained by the obtaining unit and on the basis of quantity information indicative of an amount of each into be ejected in the unit area; and a reducing unit for reducing the amount of each ink to be ejected to the neighborhood of the boundary on the basis of the

Abstract: In an ink jet print head used in a serial type ink jet printing apparatus according the present invention, a portion of the nozzle column is given a wider nozzle-to-nozzle interval than those of other portions of the nozzle column so that the width in the line feed direction of each image area printed in a single printing scan by the ink jet print head is longer than a distance that a print medium is moved by one line feed. In this serial print head, the width of each image area printed by a single printing scan can be made a predetermined amount longer than the line feed distance at all times. As a result, the adjoining image areas printed by separate printing scans overlap each other at their boundary portions by a predetermined amount.

Abstract: There is provided a printing registration method for stably performing printing registration in bi-directional scanning by a print head in a printing apparatus or printing registration between a plurality of print heads with high accuracy. In complementary printing by the bi-directional scanning by the head, a plurality of patterns are printed while printing starting timings are shifted by predetermined quantities with respect to reference dots (dots formed by forward scanning). In the pattern, an area factor defined by the dots formed by the printing is varied according to the shifting. The plurality of patterns are optically read as an average density. The timing corresponding to a point where the read average density is highest can be determined as a printing registration condition. Furthermore, an optical sensor used for the reading is located at a position where an S/N ratio is stable with respect to fluctuations in distance from the object to be read, thus achieving stable reading.

Abstract: In complementarily printing by bi-directional scannings of a head or by a plurality of print heads, first patterns and second patterns including reference dots for example, dots formed by a forward scan of the bi-directional scannings or by one of the plurality of print heads and dots each having the different direction of shifting of relative printing positions to the reference dots are printed in corresponding to the plurality of shifting amounts. These first and second patterns have the similar characteristics of a change in density. The difference is only that their characteristics in density change are inverted according to the direction of shifting. The intersection point of these two characteristics in density change is obtained as a position for adjustment where dot-formed positions match.

Abstract: There is provided a printing registration method for stably performing printing registration in bi-directional scanning by a print head in a printing apparatus or printing registration between a plurality of print heads with high accuracy. In complementary printing by the bi-directional scanning by the head, a plurality of patterns are printed while printing starting timings are shifted by predetermined quantities with respect to reference dots (dots formed by forward scanning). In the pattern, an area factor defined by the dots formed by the printing is varied according to the shifting. The plurality of patterns are optically read as an average density. The timing corresponding to a point where the read average density is highest can be determined as a printing registration condition. Furthermore, an optical sensor used for the reading is located at a position where an S/N ratio is stable with respect to fluctuations in distance from the object to be read, thus achieving stable reading.

Abstract: In a complimentary printing by bi-directional scanning of a head or by a plurality of heads, a plurality of patterns in which a print start timing is shifted by a predetermined amount are printed with respect to a reference dot formed by the forward scan of the bi-directional scanning or by one of the plurality heads. In these patterns, an area factor by the dots formed by printing of the patterns is designed to be varied depending upon shifting amount. An average density is read from each of the plurality of patterns, optically. The timing at which the maximum one among average densities read from the patterns is obtained, can be set as the printing registration condition. Further, before the above reading operation, an optical sensor used for this operation is calibrated, for improving accuracies of the reading and the registrating.

Abstract: A first printing pattern is formed for a patch by means of a paper feed upstream side part of a black head. Then, a second printing pattern is formed for the patch by means of a cyan head in the following scans, and density of the patch is read by a reflection optical sensor in a scan after the completion of both patterns.

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus which can realize both a high speed printing and a high quality printing without color deviations when each of the print areas is printed in a plurality of scans by a plurality of print heads ejecting different kinds of ink.

Abstract: In the case where an image is formed with a mixture of large and small droplets by bi-directional printing in an ink jet printing apparatus in which ink is ejected in the form of, e.g., a droplet for printing operation while scanning by a print head, misalignment caused by a difference in ejection speed between the large and small droplets is prevented.