Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-29
2003-12-30
Gordon, Raquel Yvette (Department: 2833)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
C347S019000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06669320
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a serial recording apparatus that detects the amount of sheet feed each time the sheet is fed, determines a print area in accordance with each of the amount of sheet feed thus detected, and carries out the printing with respect to the print area thus determined so as to dissolve the inadequate printing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For example, Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 5-147278 (publication date: Jun. 15, 1993) discloses the relation between the amount of sheet feed and a print area in a conventional serial printer. Such a serial printer is provided with (a) means for setting the amount of sheet feed provided that the amount of sheet feed is fixed, and (b) means for controlling the amount of sheet feed. In this case, the print area is fixed so as to correspond to a single amount of sheet feed.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,578 (issue date: Feb. 18, 1997), proposed is a method in which the amount of sheet feed is fixed, zero is written in an area sticking out the sheet so as not to jet the ink.
According to Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 8-132679 (publication date: May 28, 1996), proposed is a method in which, prior to the printing, images are overlapped so that a white line does not appear in a main scanning direction.
However, according to each of the conventional arts advance steps are prepared and made so that the amount of sheet feed is kept to be uniform. Accordingly, no posterior steps are made with respect to the inevitable fact that the amount of sheet feed is not uniform.
Even in the advance above-mentioned steps, the following problems arise. More specifically, in the case where the amount of sheet feed changes due to the change in the feed load in the feeding system in accordance with the kinds of the sheet such as size, thickness, and smoothness, it is most likely that a white line appears in the joint portion of the images when the amount of sheet feed is too much. In contrast, the slipping off of the printing due to such as the occurrence of a double printing in the joint portion of the images when the amount of sheet feed is too little.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in view of the foregoing problems, and its object is to dissolve the inadequate printing by detecting the amount of sheet feed each time the sheet is fed, determining a print area in accordance with each of the amount of sheet feed thus detected, and carrying out the printing with respect to the print area thus determined.
In order to achieve the foregoing object, a serial recording apparatus in accordance with the present invention is provided with at least one recording means for jetting visualizing agent such as ink toward a recording medium such as a sheet via a plurality of jet sections such as nozzles, in which information corresponding to 1 line is recorded (printed) to the recording medium while the recording medium is fed and scanned in a first direction, and feed means such as a sheet feed roller and an idler roller feeds the recording medium in a second direction, is characterized by further comprising the following means.
More specifically, the serial recording apparatus further comprises (a) feed amount detection means such as encoder for detecting feed amount of the recording medium by the feed means in the second direction after each scanning finishes, and (b) jet section selecting means such as a computer for selecting jet sections to be used for recording among the plurality of jet sections in accordance with the feed amount that has been detected by the feed amount detection means.
According to the invention, the visualizing agent is jetted toward the recording medium via the jet sections, while at least one recording means are fed and scanned in the first direction, thereby resulting in that the information corresponding to 1 line is recorded. When the information corresponding to 1 line is recorded, the recording medium is fed by the feed means in the second direction. Then, the information corresponding to the next line is recorded in a similar manner to the above-mentioned procedure. By repeating the procedure, the information is continuously recorded on a single recording medium.
It may happen that the feed amount of the recording medium is not coincident with the target amount due to some reasons, during the feeding of the recording medium in the second direction so as to record in the next line the information corresponding to the next line. Namely, the feed amount of the recording medium may become more or less than the ordinary (usual) amount. In this case, according to the conventional art, since all the jet sections are used so as to jet the visualizing agent, although the recording should have been carried out continuously, a vacant area occurs in the recording result when the feed amount is more than the ordinary amount while an overlapping area is occurs in the recording result when the feed amount is less than the ordinary amount. This causes the problem that the quality of the recording remarkably deteriorates.
In order to solve the problem, according to the present invention, the feed amount of the recording medium in the second direction is detected, and based on the feed amount that has been thus detected, the jet sections to be used for recording the information corresponding to the next line are selected among the plurality of jet sections. Accordingly, only the jet sections that has been thus selected jet the visualizing agent toward the recording medium.
More specifically, after the scanning of 1 line is carried out, the recording medium is fed in the second direction by the feed means. Thereafter, the scanning of the next line is carried out. The feed amount is detected by the feed amount detection means. Based on the feed amount that has been thus detected, the jet sections to be used for the recording of the next line are selected among the plurality of jet sections by the jet section selecting means. This allows to continuously record the information on the recording medium, even when the feed amount becomes more or less than the ordinary amount, without the vacant area and/or the overlapping area in the recording result, by changing the selection of the jet sections in the recording means that contributes to the recording. Therefore, it is possible to avoid that the inadequate recording occurs.
For example, when the recording medium is fed by the ordinary feed amount in the second direction, it is assumed that the visualizing agent is jetted toward the recording medium via a predetermined number of jet sections so as to carry out the recording of the information. When the recording medium is fed more than the ordinary amount in the second direction, jet sections on the upstream side in the second direction are selected more than usual in accordance with the feed amount that has been detected. Such jet sections contribute to the recording, so that it is possible to continuously record the information with respect to the area that will be the vacant area according to the conventional art.
In contrast, when the recording medium is fed less than the ordinary amount in the second direction, (a) jet sections on the downstream side in the second direction are selected more than usual in accordance with the feed amount that has been detected and (b) jet sections on the upstream side in the second direction are selected less than usual in accordance with the feed amount that has been detected. Such jet sections contribute to the recording, so that it is possible to record the information with respect to the area that will be the overlapping area according to the conventional art.
The following arrangement is preferable. More specifically, the recording means is provided with (a) a first area (Y
1
) in which a plurality of jet sections are provided in the vicinity of an end part of the recording means on the upstream side in the second direction, (b) a second area (Y
2
) in which a plurality of jet sections are provided in the vicinity of an end part of
Hayashi Yoshinori
Kondoh Yoshikazu
Nakahira Yoshinori
Okada Mikiya
Ueda Ken-ichi
Gordon Raquel Yvette
Renner Otto Boisselle & Sklar
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
Stewart, Jr. Chales W.
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