Seiko Epson Corporation

Koichi Otsuki

Noboru Asauchi

Kazushige Tayuki

Toyohiko Mitsuzawa

Shuji Yonekubo

Akito Sato

Munehide Kanaya

Hirokazu Nunokawa

Hisashi Koike

Kazumichi Shimada

Yukimitsu Fujimori

Yukiharu Suda

Takashi Akase

Toshihiro Hayashi

Hidenori Usuda

Hiroaki Sakai

Hideki Kato

Keigo Yamasaki

Minoru Koyama

Kiyoshi Mukaiyama

Hiroaki Momose

Shinya Momose

Shixin Zhou

To provide a printing apparatus where printing is possible by easily and rapidly acquiring a desired image, a multi-functional tablet device is provided with an imaging section which acquires an image, a display section which displays the image, an designating section for designating using a fingertip with regard to the displayed image, a printing section which prints an imaging image on a medium, and a control section which creates the imaging image, which is based on the image, based on designation from the designating section and which prints the created imaging image in the printing section, where the control section determines the printing range with regard to the image which is captured by the imaging section based on the designation from the designating section, creates the imaging image by editing the image in the printing range, and determines a printing position where the imaging image is printed on the medium.

Printing apparatus and printing system

Images are printed up to the edges of a print medium while preventing ink droplets from depositing on the platen. Ink droplets are ejected without blank space up to the edges of the medium according to print data. The print medium is supported opposite a dot-recording head. Ink droplets are ejected to a first area lying outside of an upper edge of the print medium and to a second area lying outside of a lower edge of the print medium. A length of the second area in a sub-scanning direction is greater than a length of the first area in the sub-scanning direction. In device embodiments, control of such operations is provided by a controller.

Printing up to edges of printing paper without platen soiling

Images are printed up to the edges of printing paper while preventing ink droplets from depositing on the platen. According to the present invention, an area R for ejecting image-forming ink droplets is specified for a region lying beyond the edges of a printing paper P. The pixels of an external upper edge portion Rfp, extending beyond the upper edge Pf, and the pixels of an internal upper edge portion Rfq, disposed downstream of the external upper edge portion Rfp, are recorded solely by the nozzles disposed opposite the downstream slot of the platen. When dots are recorded, blank spaces are prevented from forming in the edge portions of the printing paper, and ink droplets are prevented from depositing on the platen when the printing paper P deviates from its intended position.

A recording apparatus can be prevented from becoming dirty, for example, due to incorrectly loading a recording medium. If a width of the recording medium that has been detected by the detection means is shorter than a width, in the direction that intersects the carrying direction of the recording medium, over which the recording information is to be recorded, then a portion of the recording information, of the entire recording information, corresponding to the width, or to less than the width, of the recording medium that has been detected by the detection means is recorded onto the recording medium by the recording head. A notice is made when the width of the recording medium that has been detected by the detection means is different from a width of the size of the recording medium that has been set with the setting means. The ON/OFF of an operation through which the detection means detects the width of the recording medium is settable.

Recording apparatus, recording method, program, and computer system

Misalignments of dot forming positions are adjusted by selectively using a position adjustment value for a used bi-directional print mode out of a plurality of position adjustment values that are respectively suitable for a plurality of bi-directional print modes including a first bi-directional print mode and a second bi-directional print mode that are made available by changing ink types.

Adjustment of misalignments of recording positions during bidirectional printing

This invention allows images to be printed up to the edges of printing paper while preventing ink droplets from depositing on the platen. Ink droplets Ip are ejected from a print headand printing is started when printing paper P is fed in the sub-scanning direction by upstream paper feed rollersand, and the front edge Pf reaches a position above a downstream slot. Since printing is started when the front edge Pf of printing paper P has reached a position behind nozzle No., images can be printed without forming blank spaces up to the front edge Pf of the printing paper P by causing the nozzles to eject ink droplets Ip irrespective of whether the nozzles are above the printing paper. When images are formed in the vicinity of the front edge Pf of printing paper P, the paper is repeatedly fed in small increments in the sub-scanning direction, and printing is carried out. Adopting this arrangement makes it possible to print images on the front-edge portion of the printing paper when the paper is above the downstream slot

A print start position is set to an appropriate position, and the time required for printing is shortened. A printing apparatus, which forms a row of dots from a print start position in a scanning direction to print on a medium to be printed, is provided with a sensor that is capable of detecting an edge, in the scanning direction, of the medium to be printed. The printing apparatus stores the result of detecting the edge of another medium to be printed, and, when printing on the medium to be printed, it reads out the stored detection result and determines the print start position based on that detection result.

Printing apparatus, program, and printing method

A printing method of the present invention includes the steps of: carrying a medium and ejecting ink from a print head to print, on the medium, a mark that can be filled in by a user; detecting, with a sensor, whether or not the mark has been filled in; and performing a process in accordance with a result of the detection by the sensor. With this printing method, operations with respect to a printing apparatus can be performed with ease.

Printing method and printing apparatus

Recording apparatus, recording method, program, computer system

Using a printer having a recessed portion, printing up to the edge of printing paper is performed without depositing ink drops on the platen. Printing paper P is advanced by upstream paper feed rollers, and when its leading edge Pf reaches the opening of a downstream recessed portion, printing is initiated using nozzles #-#. Since printing commences with leading edge Pf situated upstream from nozzle #, even if there is some degree of error in paper feed, the image can be printed up to the edge of leading edge portion Pf. Subsequently, printing of the midsectional portion of the printing medium is performed with nozzles #-#. During both printing of the leading edge portion of the printing paper using nozzles #-#and printing of the midsectional portion of the printing paper using nozzles #-#, printing is carried out in units of a band of predetermined width in the printing paper feed direction. Thus, when transitioning from printing of the leading edge portion to printing of the midsectional portion, printing can be switched efficiently in band units.

Printing up to edge of printing paper without platen soiling

Images are printed up to the edges of printing paper while preventing ink droplets from depositing on the platen. According to the present invention, an area R for ejecting image-forming ink droplets is specified for a region lying beyond the edges of a printing paper P. The pixels of an external upper edge portion Rfp extending beyond the upper edge Pf are recorded solely by the nozzles disposed opposite the downstream slot of the platen. An internal upper edge portion Rfq, which is disposed downstream of the external upper edge portion Rfp, is recorded solely by the nozzles disposed opposite the downstream slot. When dots are recorded, blank spaces are prevented from forming in the edge portions of the printing paper, and ink droplets are prevented from depositing on the platen when the printing paper P deviates from its intended position, provided the upper edge of the printing paper P remains on the inside of the external upper edge portion Rfp or internal upper edge portion Rfq. The external upper edge portion Rfp and internal upper edge portion Rfq are selected such that their dimensions in the sub-scanning direction remains substantially the same when different recording systems or recording densities are used for the pixels, provided the printing paper used for recording the images has the same dimensions and is composed of the same material.

A printing medium with which various kinds of information relating to the printing medium can be held on the printing medium itself, an element provided in or on that printing medium, a printing apparatus for printing on that printing medium, and a computer system having such a printing apparatus and a computer main unit connected to that printing apparatus are realized. The printing medium has an element on which information can be written by the printing apparatus.

Printed body, element provided on printed body, printer, and computer system

Adjustment of misalignments of recording positions during bi-directional printing

A technique for improving image quality by correcting a paper feed error in a printer is provided. First, a test pattern is printed using one representative feed amount that is to be used in printing. A correction value for paper feed is determined by the printing result of this test pattern. Correction values for the other feed amounts are predicted from the correction value for the representative feed amount.

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Nagano-ken, Japan

Koichi Otsuki