Seiko Epson Corporation

Tomonaga Hasegawa

Takuya Ishida

Nobuyuki Saito

Shinichi Nakamura

Shunya Fukuda

Nobuaki Ito

Yuki Ishii

Satoshi Yamazaki

Keigo Sugai

Yukinari Shibata

Masaru Kumagai

Kohei Utsunomiya

Yuichiro Matsuura

Kazuyoshi Tanase

Takuma Hayashi

Hiroyasu Honda

Tetsuya Matsumura

Yasutoshi Takeuchi

An ink jet system includes a head unit that includes a nozzle discharging ink, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a drive element applying pressure fluctuation to the ink in the pressure chamber by supplying a drive pulse, an acquisition portion that acquires output information including one or both of first output information regarding the head unit and second output information regarding the ink used for the head unit, a first coupling portion that is communicably network-coupled to a server, a first output portion that outputs the output information to the server via the first coupling portion, a first input portion to which input information is input from the server via the first coupling portion, and a determination portion that determines a content of image processing for image data based on the input information.

Ink jet system

An ink jet system includes a head unit that includes a nozzle discharging ink, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a drive element applying pressure fluctuation to the ink in the pressure chamber by supplying a drive pulse, an acquisition portion that acquires output information including first output information regarding the head unit and/or second output information regarding the ink used for the head unit, a first coupling portion that is communicably network-coupled to a server, a first output portion that outputs the output information to the server via the first coupling portion, a first input portion to which input information is input from the server via the first coupling portion, and a determination portion that determines the number of times of scanning or a scanning direction of the head unit with respect to a unit region on a medium based on the input information.

There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changing a position and a posture of the workpiece, a curing unit that emits energy to cure or solidify the liquid discharged from the head, and a maintenance unit that performs maintenance on the head. The first robot has a first base portion fixed to a base. The second robot has a second base portion fixed to the base. In a plan view of the base, a virtual line segment connecting the first base portion and the second base portion passes between the curing unit and the maintenance unit.

Three-dimensional object printing apparatus

There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including an imaging device fixed to a base and imaging an object located inside an imaging range, a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, and a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changes a position and a posture of the workpiece. The three-dimensional object printing apparatus performs a material feeding step of causing the second robot to move the workpiece from an outside to an inside of the imaging range, and a printing step of causing the head to discharge the liquid to the workpiece while at least one of the first robot and the second robot relatively moves the head and the workpiece inside the imaging range.

A three-dimensional object printing method includes first operation of concurrently performing ejection of liquid toward a workpiece by a head, emission of energy toward the workpiece by an energy emitter, and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by a moving mechanism, and second operation of concurrently performing emission of energy toward the workpiece by the energy emitter and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by the moving mechanism, without performing ejection of liquid by the head. A first irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and an emission face during execution of the first operation, and a second irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and the emission face during execution of the second operation, are different from each other.

Three-dimensional object printing method and apparatus

Provided is a three-dimensional object printing apparatus, in which a printing operation for a workpiece includes: a first pass in which liquid is ejected toward a first region of the workpiece; a second pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a second region that partially overlaps the first region of the workpiece; a third pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a third region of the workpiece; a fourth pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a fourth region that partially overlaps the third region of the workpiece, the curvature of a surface including the first region and the second region is larger than the curvature of a surface including the third region and the fourth region, and an overlapping width between the first region and the second region is smaller than an overlapping width between the third region and the fourth region.

Three-dimensional object printing apparatus and three-dimensional object printing method

When an overlap image is recorded that includes a first dot group in which first dots are successively formed by a first nozzle group at a predetermined interval in a first direction, a second dot group in which second dots are successively formed by a second nozzle group at the predetermined interval in the first direction, and a third dot group including the first dots and the second dots, which are arrayed at an interval longer than the predetermined interval, the first dot group and the second dot group are arranged at mutually exclusive positions, and the third dot group is arranged at at least one of positions adjacent, in a second direction that intersects with the first direction, to the first dot group and the second dot group.

Recording device and recording method

An image processing method for generating printing data includes correcting, in accordance with a degree of reduction in a dot coverage below a predetermined dot coverage in a region that undergoes printing in an overlapped manner by a first nozzle group and a second nozzle group, at least either of a first sharing ratio for the first nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed in an overlapping image region and a second sharing ratio for the second nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed to allow a total ratio of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio to exceed 100%, and correcting a color conversion table based on the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio, after the correcting of at least either of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio.

Correcting sharing ratios of nozzle groups in overlapping image region and correcting color conversion table based thereon

Droplet ejection amounts are adjusted during a process of generating raster data, and this process is realized by a control circuit. The sum total of droplet ejection amounts exceeds 100% as for three nozzles while the sum total of droplet ejection amount is below 100% as for one nozzle, which is repeated at some nozzle numbers. The sum total of droplet ejection amounts is 100% in a normal portion. As such, in the case where this sum total is taken as a reference amount, the sum total of droplet ejection amounts for each raster in a region where overlap printing is performed is sequentially changed to be equal to or greater than the reference amount in the normal region where the overlap printing is not performed, and to be equal to or smaller than the above reference amount.

Droplet ejection control apparatus, droplet ejection control method, and droplet ejection control program

Provided is a print control apparatus that dispenses ink of a plurality of colors through corresponding nozzles according to print data, to print an image on a printing medium. The print control apparatus includes a print data generation unit that generates, according to the image, the print data defining on/off setting of dots in each of pixels with respect to the ink of each of the plurality of colors. The print data generation unit generates the print data for the ink of a specific color having highest brightness among the plurality of colors through first gray scale conversion using a dither mask, and generates the print data for the ink of the plurality of colors except for the color subjected to the first gray scale conversion, through second gray scale conversion using a line screen.

Print control apparatus and print control method for print data generation

A printing control apparatus configured to use a recording head where a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a row formation to discharge ink droplets from each of the nozzles by individually supplying predetermined driving power with regard to actuators, and configured to discharge the ink droplets with different discharge speeds so that subsequent ink droplets catch up with and combine together with prior ink droplets that are continuously discharged before the prior ink droplets land on a printing medium. The printing control apparatus includes a control section configured to drive the actuators in the recording head so that dots that are in a region where a nozzle usage rate is higher than a predetermined threshold are printed due to ink droplets, where ink droplets that are continuously discharged combine together in air, attaching to the printing medium.

Printing control apparatus and printing control method

A liquid discharging apparatus includes: a liquid discharge head including plural nozzle rows each arrayed with plural nozzles and discharging liquid droplets onto a workpiece by a multi-pass method using n recording passes (n is an integer of 3 or more); and a head drive section that controls driving of n nozzle groups corresponding to the n recording passes in each of the nozzle rows with a discharge duty upper limit specific to each nozzle group, and for a pair of nozzle groups adjacent across the nozzle rows, when controlling driving of one of the nozzle groups with a discharge duty upper limit being the maximum discharge duty upper limit of one nozzle row containing the one nozzle group, controls driving of the other nozzle group with a discharge duty upper limit that is not the maximum discharge duty upper limit of another nozzle row containing the other nozzle group.

Liquid discharging apparatus and liquid discharge method

A printing control apparatus includes a dither halftone component configured to convert printing data into a multi-value dot pattern. A reference pattern is a pattern that includes a first dot row in which two or more dots are arranged side by side in a main scanning direction and a second dot or second dot row that is arranged side by side in the main scanning direction, the second dot or second dot row having a number of dots not greater than a number of dots of the first dot row including a dot adjacent in an oblique direction with respect to the main scanning direction to a predetermined dot included in the first dot row. The dither halftone component carries out halftoning by using a mask pattern with which a probability that the reference pattern occurs in a dot pattern that is generated is substantially high.

A printing method where ink is discharged by a nozzle row, which has a plurality of nozzles, being relatively moved in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction with regard to a print medium, and printing of a print image is performed to be formed of an independent region where raster lines, which are dot rows lined up in the main scanning direction, are completed in one main scanning and an overlapping region where the raster lines are completed in a plurality of main scannings, the printing method comprising: allocating whether each of the dots of the overlapping region is formed in either a preceding main scanning or a following main scanning in the plurality of main scannings; and performing the preceding main scanning and the following main scanning in an order which corresponds to the result of the allocating.

Printing method and printing device

A data transfer control device includes an OUT-transfer transmitter circuit which transmits OUT data by driving a serial signal line, a clock-transfer transmitter circuit which transmits a clock signal CLK by driving a serial signal line, a PLL circuit which generates the clock signal CLK, and a power-down setting circuit which sets a power-down mode. In a first power-down mode, the OUT-transfer transmitter circuit is set to the power-down mode, and the clock-transfer transmitter circuit is set to the power-down mode to stop a system clock signal of a target-side data transfer control device. In a second power-down mode, the OUT-transfer transmitter circuit is set to the power-down mode without setting the clock-transfer transmitter circuit to the power-down mode.

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Sapporo, Japan

Tomonaga Hasegawa