Seiko Epson Corporation

Seiko Epson Corporated

Masanori Saito

Jyunichi Takenuki

Hiraku Kanayama

Satoru Nishio

A printing apparatus includes a print head, a processor, and a drying mechanism. The print head ejects ink onto a printing medium located in a printing region to form an image. The processor is configured to control a duty that is an amount of ink ejected by the print head onto the printing medium per unit area. The drying mechanism includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium in a first direction and a heater that heats the printing medium. The drying mechanism is configured to dry the printing medium having the image formed thereon by the print head, by transporting, using the transport unit, the printing medium to a drying region in which the printing medium is dried by the heater. The processor controls drying of the printing medium performed by the drying mechanism in accordance with the duty.

Printing apparatus, printing method, and printing management apparatus

There has been expected to improve the management of version compatibility among multiple program modules that cooperatively implement a specified function. There is provided a method for a program module to perform a process instructed from an application program. To do this, the method acquires an execution instruction for a specified process from the application program. The method selects a program module for performing the process instructed for execution from a plurality of versions of program modules for performing the specified process. The method allows the selected program module to perform the specified process.

Initiation of a program module corresponding to multiple versions

When setting by means of a UI working conditions for a multiplicity of peripherals connected to a computer to control working of said peripherals, working environment data that identifies the working environment of the peripherals and dependency relationship data that indicates dependency relationships among said working conditions are stored in advance in a predetermined storage medium, the settable range data is referred to in order to acquire settable ranges for working conditions of the multiplicity of peripherals, settable ranges within which said multiplicity of peripherals are settable in the current working environment are all made decision branches without duplication, and peripherals are driven with settings made on the basis of this display.

Control of multiple peripherals

When controlling display of a UI for setting working conditions of a peripheral, a plurality of sets of stylized working data specifying working conditions for carrying out stylized operations in the peripheral are stored in a predetermined storage medium; this stylized working data is referred to when displaying a plurality of stylized operation candidates on a predetermined output device, and instruction thereof is handled; setting data indicating settings for working conditions of the handled stylized operation is stored in a predetermined storage medium; a working condition setting instruction is handled, and decision branches for setting working conditions are displayed on a predetermined output device, while handling input of working condition settings; and settings data is updated with settings of working conditions input in the working condition input/output step.

Modifying of stylized operation of peripherals

A CPUin a personal computer PC acquires printing conditions stored in a RAMset by a printer driver for controlling a printing operation in a color printer. The CPUsearches for set printing conditions, determines whether automatic image quality adjustment has been turned ON by the printer driver, and if it is determined that it has, the CPUdetermines whether automatic image quality adjustment by an image processing application being executed is required. If it is determined that automatic image quality adjustment by the application is required, the CPUsends an instruction to the printer driver to turn OFF the automatic image quality adjustment which is ON.

Growing community of inventors

Nagano-ken, Japan

Masanori Saito