Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-27
2004-11-16
Eickholt, Eugene H. (Department: 2854)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
C347S104000, C347S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06817692
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device and an inkjet recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As printing methods that form printed images on printing media on the basis of image data signals, there are electrophotographic techniques, sublimation-type and fusion-type thermal transfer techniques, inkjet techniques and the like. An electrophotographic technique requires a process for forming a static electricity latent image, by static charging and exposure of a photosensitive drum. A system therefor is complex, and an apparatus is expensive. With a thermal transfer technique, an apparatus is inexpensive but, because ink ribbons are used, running costs are high and waste is produced. In contrast, with an inkjet technique, direct printing is carried out on a recording medium at an inexpensive apparatus by discharging ink only at required imaging sections. Consequently, colorants can be utilized with high efficiency and running costs are inexpensive.
As printing technologies which employ inkjet techniques, there are, for example, a method which retains and transports a recording medium on a drum (see Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 48-8005), a method which nips and transports a recording medium at a capstan roller (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-171103), a method which retains and transports a recording medium on an endless belt (see JP-A Nos. 2-238948, 2001-199071 and 2002-103598) and the like. Of these, the method with transport of a recording medium using an endless belt is effective when printing is to be carried out at high speed. In particular, high-speed printing is made possible by matching up a recording medium with a fixed-type full-line head having a printing length the same as the width of the recording medium. However, when an endless belt is employed, width direction meandering of the belt causes deterioration in image quality. Accordingly, an improvement in which relative positions of a plurality of rollers around which the belt is stretched are altered to vary tension at two ends of the endless belt, forms of the rollers are optimized, and restoring force is applied to return the endless belt to its original position when the endless belt meanders is well known. However, in this case, high precision control is necessary when carrying out high-speed printing with high definition, which is technically difficult. Furthermore, when a full-line head is employed, the number of nozzles is large, head problems due to blockages of the nozzles, breakdowns and the like occur, and images deteriorate. In a case in which non-discharging nozzles occur, which is particularly difficult to rectify, replacement of the head itself is necessary, and productivity of the printing system is reduced to zero until replacement is complete.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been devised in order to solve the problems described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording device and inkjet recording method capable of forming high quality images using a simple structure.
An inkjet recording device of a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the object described above is a structure which includes: an image-forming component which discharges ink for forming an image on a recording medium; a transport belt which has the form of an endless belt and which retains the recording medium at a predetermined position and transports the recording medium in a longitudinal direction; a position detection component which detects at least one of a relative position of the endless belt with respect to the image-forming component in a width direction and a relative position of the recording medium with respect to the image-forming component; and an alteration component which changes a position of image formation by the image-forming component in accordance with the at least one detected relative position.
The image-forming component of the present invention discharges ink and forms an image on a recording medium. The image recording is carried out while the recording medium is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the transport belt by this endless-type transport belt. Here, there is a possibility that discharge of the ink will not be carried out at proper positions when the transport belt is displaced from a predetermined position of the belt in the width direction. Accordingly, at least one of the relative position of the endless belt in the width direction relative to the image-forming component and the relative position of the recording medium relative to the image-forming component is detected by the position detection component. Hence, the position of image formation by the image-forming component is altered by the alteration component in accordance with the detected relative position.
A high quality image can be formed more simply by varying the position of image formation by the image-forming component as described above than in a case of carrying out positional control of the transport belt by altering tension of the transport belt itself so that a restoring force acts on the transport belt.
An inkjet recording device of a second aspect is a structure which includes: an image-forming component which includes a plurality of nozzles and which utilizes electrostatic fields based on image data signals to discharge oil-based ink from the plurality of nozzles for forming an image on a recording medium; and an interpolation processing component which, in a case in which defects in discharge of the ink occur at a portion of the plurality of nozzles, carries out interpolation processing such that image formation is carried out by other nozzles instead of the nozzles affected by the defects, the other nozzles being properly working nozzles.
The image-forming component of the present invention discharges ink from the plurality of nozzles and forms an image on a recording medium. Here, in the case in which defects in discharge of the ink occur at some of the plurality of nozzles, a portion of image formation corresponding to those nozzles is not properly formed, and a deterioration of the image is caused. Accordingly, in the case in which the defects in discharge of the ink at some of the plurality of nozzles occur, interpolation processing is implemented by the interpolation processing component such that image formation is carried out by other, properly working nozzles instead of those nozzles. Here, defects in discharge of the ink can mean failures to discharge ink, abnormalities in discharge amounts, and/or abnormalities in discharge directions.
According to the structure described above, because the interpolation processing component interpolates the image formation portion corresponding to the nozzles affected by the ink discharge defects, deterioration of formed images can be prevented without the nozzles themselves being replaced.
An inkjet recording device of a third aspect is a structure including: an image-forming component which forms an image on a recording medium by utilizing electrostatic fields to discharge oil-based ink on the basis of image data signals; a recording medium transport component which includes a belt form and an endless form and which retains and transports the recording medium; a position detection component which detects a position, in a width direction of the recording medium transport component, of at least one of the recording medium transport component and the recording medium which is retained at the recording medium transport component; and a position control component which controls a position of the image-forming component in the width direction of the recording medium transport component on the basis of the position detected by the position detection component.
According to the structure described above, the position of the image-forming component is controlled by the position control component on the basis of the position of the at least one of the recording medium transpo
Furukawa Koji
Nakazawa Yusuke
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