PRINTING POSITION ADJUSTING METHOD AND PRINTING SYSTEM

• US 20100207985A1
• Filed: 04/29/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: TESHIGAWARA, MINORU, EDAMURA, TETSUYA, MARU, AKIKO, TAKAHASHI, KIICHIRO, NAKANO, TAKATOSHI, MURAYAMA, YOSHIAKI
• Granted Patent: US 8,172,354 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/14
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 19/145 Dot misalignment correction
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/2135 Alignment of dots

Abstract

The present invention relates to a printing position adjusting method capable of performing dot adjustment value acquisition processing that can accommodate diversified user needs of recent years, and a printing system capable of achieving the adjusting method. The printing position adjusting method according to the present invention provides a plurality of types of dot adjustment value acquisition processing capable of acquiring an adjustment value for matching printing positions, and enables selection of a single appropriate dot adjustment value acquisition processing type among the plurality of types of dot adjustment value acquisition processing according to the type of the print medium to be used. Consequently, a user will be able to suitably execute dot adjustment value acquisition processing with high accuracy in correspondence with the desired high level of quality.

Claims

1. A method of adjusting the relative position of a first dot and a second dot being printed on a printing medium, comprising:

selecting either a first adjustment mode for use with a first print medium, or a second adjustment mode for use with a second print medium, wherein positions of the dots can be adjusted with higher accuracy in said second adjustment mode than said first adjustment mode;

determining whether a print medium to be printed is the first print medium or the second print medium;

selecting the first adjustment mode if the first print medium is determined and in a case where the second adjustment mode is selected;

acquiring an adjustment value using the selected adjustment mode; and

adjusting the relative position of the second dot relative to the first dot using the acquired adjustment value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first print medium is plain paper, and the second print medium is coated paper.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dots are printed using a print head which performs printing during reciprocal scans, the first dot being a dot that is printed during a forward scan of the print head, and the second dot being a dot that is printed during a backward scan of the print head.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dots are printed using a print head including a first orifice array and a second orifice array, the first dot being a dot that is printed by said first orifice array, and the second dot being a dot that is printed by said second orifice array.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein

a setting step for setting whether the second adjustment mode will be executed in the event that the first adjustment mode is selected in said selecting step, and

a re-execution step for re-executing the second adjustment mode in the event that the execution of the second adjustment mode is set in said setting step.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein if a first adjustment value using the first adjustment mode has been acquired, a second adjustment value is acquired using the first adjustment value in the second adjustment mode.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first and the second adjustment value are adjustment values for adjusting the printing position of the second dot using the first dot as a reference.

8. A printing system capable adjusting relative position of a first dot and a second dot being printed on a print medium, comprising:

a first selecting unit configured to select, or to allow a user to select, either a first adjustment mode for use with a first print medium, or a second adjustment mode for use with a second print medium, said second adjustment mode in which a position of the dots is able to be adjusted higher accuracy than said first adjustment mode;

a determining unit configured to determine whether a print medium to be printed is the first print medium or the second print medium;

a second selecting unit configured to select the first adjustment mode if the first print medium is determined and in a case where the second adjustment mode is selected;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire an adjustment value using the selected adjustment mode;

an adjustment unit configured to adjust the relative position of a second dot relative to a first dot using the acquired adjustment value.