US6543872B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ink-jet printing method and apparatus for printing with inks of different densities
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 2001-05-29
•
Granted: 2003-04-08
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Expires: 2021-05-29
Abstract
Abstract It is checked whether an ink used in a printhead has a high density. The type of a printing medium used for a print operation is also identified. An image is printed by scanning the printhead once or a plurality of times. When a print operation is to be performed by using a thick ink, an image is printed by using mask data and the driving frequency of the head which are set for the thick ink. When a print operation is to be performed by using a thin ink, an image is printed by using mask data and the driving frequency of the head which are set for the thin ink and the type of printing medium used for the print operation. Codes of the respective color data of print data are determined in accordance with the types of inks used for a print operation, and an image is printed by printing a plurality of dots or dots in an overlapping state by the multi-pass method.
Inventors
- 👤 Naoji Ohtsuka
- 👤 Kentaro Yano
- 👤 Kiichiro Takahashi
- 👤 Hitoshi Nishikori
- 👤 Osamu Iwasaki
- 👤 Daigoro Kanematsu
- 👤 Hidehiko Kanda
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 00:01
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/17; B41J2/175; B41J2/17503; B41J2/17553; B41J2/015; B41J2/04; B41J2/045; B41J2/04501; B41J2/04553; B41J2/04563; B41J2/0458; B41J2/1752; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/10; G06K15/102; G06K15/105; G06K15/107; H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/40; H04N1/40025
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using an ink, comprising: a mount portion on which replaceable first type and second type of ink-jet printheads can be mounted, the first type of ink-jet printhead discharging a first ink having relatively high density, and the second type of ink-jet printhead discharging a second ink having a color similar to the first ink and a relatively low density; and setting means for setting a driving condition including print data form information for the ink-jet printhead in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount portion, wherein said setting means sets a different print data form in accordance with whether the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
131 words
An ink-jet printing apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using an ink, comprising: a mount portion on which replaceable first type and second type of ink-jet printheads can be mounted, the first type of ink-jet printhead discharging a first ink having relatively high density, and the second type of ink-jet printhead discharging a second ink having a color similar to the first ink and a relatively low density; and setting means for setting a driving condition including print data form information for the ink-jet printhead in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount portion, wherein said setting means sets a different print data form in accordance with whether the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means comprises identification means for identifying the type of the ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means comprises designation means for designating the type of the ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means changes an amount of ink ejected per unit area of the printing medium in accordance with the type of the ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means provides the second type of ink-jet printhead for discharging the ink having the relatively low density with a driving condition corrected in accordance with a difference between the densities of the first and second inks.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The system according to claim 5 , wherein said setting means changes the number of times an ink having a color property inferior to a color property of an ink having substantially the same density is discharged in accordance with a difference in color properties between the first and second inks.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system according to claim 5 , wherein said setting means comprises regulation means for regulating an upper limit of an amount of ink ejected per unit area, and wherein the number of times the ink is discharged is regulated in accordance with said regulation means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
73 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said first and second types of ink-jet printheads comprise first and second multiple ink-jet printheads having a plurality of discharging portions for discharging inks having different hues, both said ink-jet printheads for discharging inks having substantially the same lightness, and said setting means sets substantially the same drivig conditions for inks having substantially the same lightness regardless of density of the first and second inks.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
78 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first type of ink-jet printead comprises a first multiple ink-jet printhead for discharging a plurality of inks having apparently different hues, and the second type of ink-jet printhead contains an ink having substantially the same lightness as that of an ink of the first type of ink-jet printhead, and an ink having a density lower than a density of an ink contained in the first type of ink-jet printhead.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means converts input color image data expressing each pixel as M-levels into color image data expressing each pixel as N-levels (N<M), in accordance with the type of the ink-jet printhead mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
54 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means sets one-bit print data in a case where the first type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion, and sets multi-valued print data in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
109 words
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said setting means sets one-bit print data with respect to each color data used in the first type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the first type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion, and sets one-bit print data with respect to predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead and sets multi-bit print data with respect to color data other than the predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted on said mount portion.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
140 words
An ink-jet printing method of printing an image on a printing medium by using an ink-jet printhead discharging either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a relatively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharging the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharging the second ink, comprising: a data setting step of setting a print data form in accordance with the type of the ink-jet printhead used; and a step of printing the image on the printing medium by driving the used ink-jet printhead in accordance with the print data form set in said data setting step, wherein in said setting step, a different print data form is set according to whether the first or second ink-jet printhead is used.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
140 words
An ink-jet printing method of printing an image on a printing medium by using an ink-jet printhead discharging either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a relatively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharging the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharging the second ink, comprising: a data setting step of setting a print data form in accordance with the type of the ink-jet printhead used; and a step of printing the image on the printing medium by driving the used ink-jet printhead in accordance with the print data form set in said data setting step, wherein in said setting step, a different print data form is set according to whether the first or second ink-jet printhead is used.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 13 , wherein said data setting step comprises determining whether the print data form for one pixel is one-bit print data or multi-bit print data in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead used.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method according to claim 13 , wherein in said data setting step, input color image data expressing each pixel as M-levels is converted into color image data expressing each pixel as N-levels (N<M), and wherein a different N-level is set in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead used.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 13 , wherein in said setting step, one-bit print data is set in a case where the first type of the inkjet printhead is used, and multi-valued print data is set in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is used.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
105 words
The method according to claim 13 , wherein in said setting step, one-bit print data is set with respect to each color data used in the first type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the first type of the ink-jet printhead is used, and one-bit print data is set with respect to predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead and multi-bit print data is set with respect to color data other than the predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is used.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
191 words
A printing system comprising an ink-jet printer apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a realtively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharging the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharging the second ink, and a host unit, said host unit comprising: identification means for identifying the type of the ink-jet printhead used in said ink-jet printer apparatus; data changing menas for changing a form of color data representing image data in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead identified by said identification means; and transmission means for transmitting the color data changed by said data changing means to said ink-jet printer apparatus, and said ink-jet printer apparatus comprising: notification means for notifying the type of used ink-jet printhead to said host unit; input means for inputting the color data transmitted by said transmission means; and print means for performing a print operation by using a coloring material in accordance with the color data input by said input means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
191 words
A printing system comprising an ink-jet printer apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a realtively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharging the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharging the second ink, and a host unit, said host unit comprising: identification means for identifying the type of the ink-jet printhead used in said ink-jet printer apparatus; data changing menas for changing a form of color data representing image data in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead identified by said identification means; and transmission means for transmitting the color data changed by said data changing means to said ink-jet printer apparatus, and said ink-jet printer apparatus comprising: notification means for notifying the type of used ink-jet printhead to said host unit; input means for inputting the color data transmitted by said transmission means; and print means for performing a print operation by using a coloring material in accordance with the color data input by said input means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
128 words
An information processing apparatus for transmitting data to a printer apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a relatively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharges the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharges the second ink, comprising: identification means for identifying the type of ink-jet printhead mounted in the printer apparatus; data changing means for changing a form of color data representing image data in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead identified by said identification means; and transmission means for transmitting the color data changed by said data changing means for the printer apparatus.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
128 words
An information processing apparatus for transmitting data to a printer apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium by using either a first ink of a relatively high density or a second ink of a similar color as the first ink and of a relatively low density, a first type of ink-jet printhead discharges the first ink and a second type of ink-jet printhead discharges the second ink, comprising: identification means for identifying the type of ink-jet printhead mounted in the printer apparatus; data changing means for changing a form of color data representing image data in accordance with the type of ink-jet printhead identified by said identification means; and transmission means for transmitting the color data changed by said data changing means for the printer apparatus.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
123 words
A programs for processing print data used in an ink-jet printer apparatus having a mount portion on which either a first type of ink-jet printhead or a second type of ink-jet printhead can be mounted, the first type of ink-jet printhead discharging a first ink having relatively high density and the second type of ink-jet printhead discharging a second ink having a color similar to the first ink and a relatively low density, the program comprising the steps of: obtaining information on whether the mount portion mounts the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead; and changing a form of the print data in accordance with whether the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead is mounted on the mount portion.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
123 words
A programs for processing print data used in an ink-jet printer apparatus having a mount portion on which either a first type of ink-jet printhead or a second type of ink-jet printhead can be mounted, the first type of ink-jet printhead discharging a first ink having relatively high density and the second type of ink-jet printhead discharging a second ink having a color similar to the first ink and a relatively low density, the program comprising the steps of: obtaining information on whether the mount portion mounts the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead; and changing a form of the print data in accordance with whether the first type or second type of ink-jet printhead is mounted on the mount portion.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
45 words
The program according to claim 20 , wherein one-bit print data is set in a case where the first type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted, and multi-valued print data is set in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
101 words
The program according to claim 20 , wherein one-bit print data is set with respect to each color data used in the first type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the first type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted, and one-bit print data is set with respect to predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead and multi-bit print data is set with respect to color data other than the predetermined color data used in the second type of the ink-jet printhead in a case where the second type of the ink-jet printhead is mounted.
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| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2006-04-07 | 2006-10-07 | 2007-04-08 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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