Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Canon Aptex

Canon Finetech Inc.

Canon Aptex Kabushiki Kaisha

Hideaki Kishida

Akira Katayama

Kimiyuki Hayasaki

Yutaka Koizumi

Mitsuhiro Mukasa

Masaya Kikuta

Yoichi Sonobe

Kouhei Ishikawa

Shigeru Inose

Kenichi Tsuburaya

Fumio Miyahara

Yasuhiro Hamada

Hirotaka Okuwaki

Ryuchi Kojima

Masami Ikeda

Toshio Kashino

Yoshiyuki Imanaka

Jiro Moriyama

Seiichiro Karita

Shuji Koyama

Toshiaki Hirosawa

Akira Goto

Nobuyuki Watanabe

Takayuki Ono

Mineo Kaneko

Tatsuo Furukawa

Tsuyoshi Orikasa

Torachika Osada

Hidemi Kubota

Masaaki Izumida

Yuji Kamiyama

Haruhiko Terai

Hiroyuki Maru

Kouichi Omata

Masaki Inaba

Ryoichi Koizumi

Shuichi Katao

Masataka Naito

Masatoshi Ikkatai

Hitoshi Fujimoto

Yoshihiko Kitahara

Takefumi Tamura

Yuichi Watanabe

Seiji Niida

Kimio Ebata

Katsuo Nakayama

An ink jet recording apparatus, which records a image on a recording medium using a recording head provided with a plurality of ink discharge ports, comprises a rotative platen having a plurality of supporting pieces arranged at predetermined intervals; rotation means for rotating the platen; conveyance means for conveying the recording medium; control means for controlling the rotation means to rotate the platen in the conveying direction of the recording medium in synchronism with the conveyance of the recording medium when recording is performed near the edge of the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance means. With the structure thus arrange, this ink jet recording apparatus is capable of performing the entire area recording (no margin recording) on a recording medium without staining the platen that supports the recording medium at the time of recording.

Ink jet recording apparatus and recording method therefor

An ink jet recording apparatus, which records a image on a recording medium using a recording head provided with a plurality of ink discharge ports, includes a rotative platen having a plurality of supporting pieces arranged at predetermined intervals; a rotation unit for rotating the platen; a conveyance units for conveying the recording medium; a control unit for controlling the rotation unit to rotate the platen in the conveying direction of the recording medium in synchronism with the conveyance of the recording medium when recording is performed near the edge of the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance unit. With the structure thus arranged, this ink jet recording apparatus is capable of performing the entire area recording (no margin recording) on a recording medium without staining the platen that supports the recording medium at the time of recording.

A printing head has a plurality of heater boards, each of which includes a shift register to which printing data and selection data for selecting preheating pulse signals are applied as inputs, a latch circuit for latching the printing data, a selection-data latch circuit for latching the selection data, a selection circuit for selecting any one of a plurality of preheating pulse signals inputted in accordance with the latched selection data, and a plurality of heating resistors driven by the printing data or preheating pulse signals. Correction data, obtained by a head correcting apparatus, for performing printing at an average density by correcting the characteristics of each heater board is stored in a memory of the printing head. A printing apparatus decides the selection data in accordance with the correction data and sets the selection data in the selection-data latch circuit.

Printing head, printing method and apparatus using same, and apparatus and method for correcting said printing head

An ink jet printer having an ink jet head is disclosed. The ink jet head includes a plurality of electrothermal transducers for producing thermal energy used to eject ink from the ink jet head. The ink jet printer has a storing device which stores image data used to drive the electrothermal transducers and a switching device which switches energization periods for the electrothermal transducers in accordance with the image data stored in the storing device. The printer operates so that during a recording operation, when an image datum stored in the storing device instructs recording, the switching device supplies a first drive signal for preliminary ink heating and a second drive signal for ejecting the ink. When the image datum stored in the storing device is datum not instructing recording, the switching device supplies the first drive signal and does not supply the second drive signal.

Ink jet head and ink jet recording apparatus in which both preliminary

Printing head, printing method and apparatus using same, and apparatus

A recording head system for an ink jet recording apparatus having a full-line recording head. The recording head is divided into a variable number of blocks. The recording ratio of each block (that is, the ratio of the number of ink ejecting elements to be driven in a block in accordance with recording data to the total number of the ink ejecting elements in the block) is compared with a reference recording ratio. When the recording ratio is greater than the reference recording ratio, the interval between the drive timing of a block and that of the next block is lengthened, or vise versa. This is performed by controlling the enable timing of each block by D-flip-flops, AND gates and delay circuits. Unevenness of recorded images resulting from the fluctuation in periodic ink pressure can be ameliorated.

Recording head system for ink jet recording apparatus and method for

A printer requires no print buffer in a printer engine, and can efficiently use an image memory for bit-mapping print data into a print image. An enable signal for designating transfer of data for one page from a formatter to the engine is output in response to a request signal from the engine for requesting transmission of print data for one line. When a clock signal for requesting transfer of print data is output from the engine to the formatter in response to this enable signal, print image data is transferred from the formatter to the engine in synchronism with the clock signal and further transferred to a printhead to print an image. As to the nozzles, on the right and left ends of the printhead, which are not used for a print operation, a right margin area and a nozzle area used for a print operation are set in a data transfer circuit. With this operation, '0' is first set to a print data signal in the data transfer circuit, and reference clocks used for transferring data to the printhead are counted for the number corresponding to right margin area of the printhead. When the count operation is completed, a signal becomes active, and subsequently, print image data is transferred. When the number of reference clocks coincides with the number of nozzles corresponding to the print area, this is set to print data again. This operation is repeatedly performed for each line.

Printer including a formatter and a printing unit without a memory

This invention not only separates printing and barcode checking as independent processes but also simplifies printer processing to allow to print a large number of barcodes at high speed and to satisfactorily check barcodes. For this purpose, when a print control circuit unit (501) receives print information including a barcode, information associated with barcode checking is transmitted to a barcode checker unit (601) prior to printing. Upon actually printing an image including a barcode, when the printed barcode is conveyed to the position of a reader (603) in the barcode checker unit (601), an RD.sub.-- TRG signal is output to check the printed barcode. Upon reception of this signal, the barcode checker unit (601) reads the printed barcode a plurality of number of times at different positions, and when the normal reading ratio is low, it outputs an error signal to the print control circuit unit (501).

Barcode printing system and its control method

To record a multi-valued image by an ink-jet head, an ink droplet is jetted from a recording element (nozzle) for the number of times corresponding to the density of a pixel to be reproduced. Accordingly, the pixel data to determine the number of ink-jet operation is expressed by a plurality of bits and the data of each bit are transferred to a plurality of shift registers at a time. Each shift register has storage capacity based on bit data corresponding to the number of recording elements of a recording head. When data transfer is completed, a driving signal is supplied to the recording head. The driving signals are counted and each recording element is driven based on the count result and the data stored in each register.

Recording apparatus for gradation recording

A printer includes a full-line type printhead which can correct variations in the ink discharge amounts from the respective nozzles, and density unevenness of a printed image due to variations in the operations of many driving circuits in the printhead and changes in the internal temperature or a temperature gradient of the printhead, and can obtain a high-quality printed image without density unevenness in consideration of the print conditions and changes in operation environmental temperature. A pre-heating operation is performed by selecting an optimal pre-pulse signal for each nozzle of the printhead on the basis of information stored in an EEPROM of the printhead and pre-pulse selection data associated with each nozzle of the printhead. A heat signal is also generated to obtain a main pulse suitable for each IC of a printhead corresponding to an ink of each color. In addition, the internal temperature of the printhead or printing density information from the printhead is monitored. If the internal temperature or the printing density is high, control is performed to inhibit a pre-pulse selection signal from being output while applying pre-pulse and main pulse signals to each nozzle heater of the printhead, which is used for a print operation.

Printer

In a color printer, in order to perform a high-speed print operation and ensure a refresh operation and the like of an image memory, print images which correspond to a plurality of printheads, and are bitmapped and stored in a bitmap RAM in units of colors are consecutively read out and DMA-transferred by 16 bits at a time when a read operation is designated. After this DMA operation, the refresh operation of the bitmap RAM or access to the RAM is permitted. The printer includes the same number of latch circuits as that of printheads (e.g., four). Each latch circuit stores a data transfer start address (TOPA) and a data transfer end address (ENDA) in the bitmap RAM. With this arrangement, image data can be efficiently read out. If the capacity of the bitmap RAM is small, an upper address bit in the bitmap RAM is shifted to switch discontinuous addresses to continuous addresses on the bitmap memory side. If an optional memory is implemented, the normal addressing is restored to flexibly cope with a change in the capacity of the image memory.

Printer using direct memory access and refreshing

A printing apparatus is capable of freely selecting a plurality of sheet feeding units each having a different controlling method. It is discriminated as to which one among plural kinds of sheet feeding units is fitted, and printing and a motor for a sheet feeding-unit are controlled based on the result of the discrimination from an output from a sensor disposed on the sheet feeding unit. Especially, in the case that a roll shaped paper feeding unit is fitted, it is judged that a printing medium reaches the position where printing can be started when a TOF sensor detects black color, and in the case that a cut sheet feeding unit is fitted, it is judged that the recording medium reaches the position where printing can be started when the TOF sensor detects white color.

Printing apparatus and printing method for use with rolled sheet and cut

A liquid injection recording head includes an integrated drive circuit a recording current energization time for electrothermal conversion elements. The setting circuit has a counter. The recording current energization time data can be set in the counter in the setting circuit in synchronism with a signal obtained by frequency-dividing a recording data transfer clock or with this clock signal supplied to a circuit arranged in the integrated drive circuit to align recording data.

Liquid injection recording apparatus with a common clock for energizing

A recording head has a substrate on which a plurality of heat generating elements as recording elements are arranged and a plurality of driving integrated circuits (driving ICs) to drive the plurality of heat generating elements are supported. The recording head comprises wirings which are extended from the heat generating elements and pass through a region on the substrate on which the driving ICs are supported and are connected to the driving ICs; signal series wirings which are arranged on the heat generating element side of the substrate, are closer to the heat generating elements than terminals for the wiring connection, and serially connect the driving ICs; and conductors which are formed in a region on the substrate between the adjacent driving ICs and connect recording current to the ground.

Recording apparatus and recording head substrate for use in the same

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Hideaki Kishida