Screen Holdings Co., Ltd.

Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Keiji Hatano

Satoru Kiyohara

Tomotaka Kato

Kuniharu Okuda

Yusaku Ikeda

Masahiro Hayakawa

A printing system including a printing unit and an imaging unit is provided with: a defect detection unit that detects a defect included in a captured image; a defective nozzle position candidate extraction unit that extracts N position candidates as candidates for a position of a defective nozzle based on the position of the defect; a first correction unit that performs a defect correction process; and a defective nozzle identification unit that identifies the defective nozzle. The first correction unit performs the defect correction process while sequentially setting only N nozzles corresponding to the N position candidates one by one as a correction target nozzle. The defective nozzle identification unit identifies the defective nozzle based on the position of the defect detected by the defect detection unit based on the corrected image.

Printing system and defective nozzle detection method

A printing apparatus for printing on a printing medium transported includes the following elements. A print head including a plurality of print head modules, a printing controller for controlling printing of a testing chart by selecting a reference print head module to provide a reference for recording positions, causing the reference print head module to print a reference chart, and causing one of the print head modules shifted relative to the reference print head module to print a comparison chart, a scanner for acquiring testing image data, an image processor for creating an extract reference chart, creating an extract comparison chart, and creating a composite testing chart by superimposing these charts, and a deviation amount calculator for calculating a deviation amount based on the composite testing chart.

Printing apparatus, and a deviation amount calculating method therefor

An image recording apparatus includes a head for ejecting ink, a moving mechanism for moving a recording medium, and a control part for controlling these constituent elements. The control part includes an information storage part, a conversion part, and a correction part. The conversion part converts input image data into converted image data which is suitable for image recording. The information storage part stores an LUT indicating a relation between the input image data and the converted image data for each head and each type of recording medium. The correction part updates the LUT on a representative recording medium on the basis of correction amounts determined in accordance with reference images which are recorded onto the representative recording medium and further updates the LUT on another type of recording medium. By virtue of providing this correction part, it is possible to simplify a correcting operation of recording densities.

Image recording apparatus with recording density and ejection timing correction

An image recording apparatus includes a plurality of recording heads arranged in a staggered configuration in a width direction. Adjacent ones of the recording heads have respective adjacent nozzles for ejecting ink droplets onto positions adjacent to each other in the width direction on a recording medium. For recording an image, a correction area rate less than a dot area rate of an input mage in a recording position of each of the adjacent nozzles is calculated from the dot area rate. Then, ink droplets are ejected from each of the adjacent nozzles in accordance with the correction area rate. As a result, the amounts of ink droplets ejected from the adjacent nozzles are limited. For a recording process using a head unit including the recording heads arranged in a staggered configuration, this suppresses the occurrence of unevenness in density due to an undesirable flow or bleeding of ink at the boundary between recording regions of the recording heads.

Apparatus for and method of recording image

In an inkjet printer, a pattern for density correction that indicates a constant density image is printed on printing paper with a head having a plurality of outlet rows, and pattern image data that indicates the pattern is acquired. A target outlet that ejects ink toward a linear region having a missing part in the pattern is detected, and a reference outlet that is included in the same outlet row as the target outlet and located close to the target outlet is specified. A density correction value of the target outlet among density correction values that are acquired based on a density profile of the pattern is replaced with a representative value of a density correction value of the reference outlet. Through this, even if an ink ejection failure occurs in any of the outlets, appropriate density correction values can be obtained for a plurality of outlets.

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Kyoto, Japan

Keiji Hatano