PRINTING DEVICE, PRINTING METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20110310150A1
• Filed: 05/18/2011
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: SUDO, Naoki, KUBOTA, Mai, SATO, Akito
• Granted Patent: US 8,672,438 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/12
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 19/147 Colour shift prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/2128 by means of energy modulation control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits or control circuits B41J2/04501

Abstract

A printing device performs band printing during two-way printing, wherein the band printing uses black pigment ink and dye ink. In this printing device, in an advancing printed area for which a print head moves in an advancing direction, pigment ink dots are formed first and dye ink dots are formed second. In a retreating printed area for which the print head moves in a retreating direction, dye ink dots are formed first and pigment ink dots are formed second.

Claims

1. A printing device comprising:

pigment ink nozzles arranged to discharge pigment ink to form pigment ink dots on a print medium;

dye ink nozzles arranged to discharge dye ink to form dye ink dots on a print medium; and

a nozzle control unit arranged to control sizes of the pigment ink dots and the dye ink dots by controlling ink quantities discharged from the pigment ink nozzles and the dye ink nozzles, the nozzle control unit being arranged to perform

a first printing process for forming pigment ink dot rows and dye ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the pigment ink nozzles to form the pigment ink dots and then causing the dye ink nozzles to form the dye ink dots adjacent to the pigment ink dots, and

a second printing process for forming the dye ink dot rows and the pigment ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the dye ink nozzles to form the dye ink dots and then causing the pigment ink nozzles to form the pigment ink dots adjacent to the dye ink dots,

the nozzle control unit being arranged to form a printed image including first and second printed image areas formed respectively by the first and second printing processes,

when the nozzle control unit forms a first type of ink dots selected in advance from between two types of ink dots including the pigment ink dots and the dye ink dots in the first or second printing process, the nozzle control unit being arranged to perform a dot size adjustment process in which

the size of the first type of ink dots is not varied when the size of a second type of ink dots adjacent to the first type of ink dots is smaller than a preset size, and

the size of the first type of ink dots is varied when the size of the second type of ink dots is equal to or greater than the preset size.

2. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein

the nozzle control unit is arranged to perform the dot size adjustment process in the first printing process,

the first type of ink dots are the pigment ink dots, and

the second type of ink dots are the dye ink dots.

3. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising

a print head which has pigment ink nozzle rows and dye ink nozzle rows parallel to each other in which the pigment ink nozzles and the dye ink nozzles are aligned in an alignment direction at a prescribed nozzle pitch, and the print head being arranged to move back and forth in first and second directions that intersect the alignment direction of the pigment ink nozzle rows and the dye ink nozzle rows,

the pigment ink nozzle rows and the dye ink nozzle rows being disposed in the print head such that the pigment ink nozzle rows are nearer the first direction and the dye ink nozzle rows are nearer the second direction, the pigment ink nozzles and the dye ink nozzles being offset from each other in the alignment direction,

the first printing process including a process for printing the first printed image area while moving the print head in the first direction,

the second printing process including a process for printing the second printed image area while moving the print head in the second direction, and

the nozzle control unit being arranged to form the printed image on the print medium by alternately performing the first and second printing processes.

4. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein

the nozzle control unit is arranged to vary at least one of either the preset size which is a threshold in the dot size adjustment process or a variation rate of the size of the first type of ink dots in the dot size adjustment process, the variation being according to the type of the print medium.

5. A printing method performed by a printing device having dye ink nozzles for discharging dye ink and pigment ink nozzles for discharging pigment ink, the printing method comprising:

forming a first printed image area including pigment ink dot rows and dye ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the pigment ink nozzles to form pigment ink dots and then causing the dye ink nozzles to form dye ink dots adjacent to the pigment ink dots;

forming a second printed image area including dye ink dot rows and pigment ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the dye ink nozzles to form the dye ink dots and then causing the pigment ink nozzles to form the pigment ink dots adjacent to the dye ink dots;

repeating the forming of the first printed image area and the forming of the second printed image area to form a printed image including the first printed image area and the second printed image area; and

when a first type of ink dots selected in advance from between two types of ink dots including the pigment ink dots and the dye ink dots are formed during the forming of the first printed image area or the forming of the second printed image area, performing a dot size adjustment process in which

the size of the first type of ink dots is not varied when the size of a second type of ink dots adjacent to the first type of ink dots is smaller than a preset size, and

the size of the first type of ink dots is varied when the size of the second type of ink dots is equal to or greater than the preset size.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a program which is executable by a computer to cause a printing device to perform printing, the printing device including pigment ink nozzles arranged to discharge pigment ink to form pigment ink dots on a print medium and dye ink nozzles arranged to discharge dye ink to form dye ink dots on a print medium, the program controls the computer to execute function of:

controlling sizes of the pigment ink dots and the dye ink dots by controlling ink quantities discharged from the pigment ink nozzles and the dye ink nozzles;

performing

a first printing process for forming pigment ink dot rows and dye ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the pigment ink nozzles to form the pigment ink dots and then causing the dye ink nozzles to form the dye ink dots adjacent to the pigment ink dots, and

a second printing process for forming the dye ink dot rows and the pigment ink dot rows adjacent to each other by causing the dye ink nozzles to form the dye ink dots and then causing the pigment ink nozzles to form the pigment ink dots adjacent to the dye ink dots;

forming a printed image including first and second printed image areas formed respectively by the first and second printing processes; and

when a first type of ink dots selected in advance from between two types of ink dots including the pigment ink dots and the dye ink dots are formed in the first or second printing process, performing a dot size adjustment process in which

the size of the first type of ink dots is not varied when the size of a second type of ink dots adjacent to the first type of ink dots is smaller than a preset size, and

the size of the first type of ink dots is varied when the size of the second type of ink dots is equal to or greater than the preset size.