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JP-2026074555-A - Printing apparatus and printing method

JP2026074555AJP 2026074555 AJP2026074555 AJP 2026074555AJP-2026074555-A

Abstract

[Problem] There is a need for technology that can easily adjust the impact point of liquids with low visibility. [Solution] The printing control unit 402 of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present disclosure controls the printing of at least one of the following: printing of a first test pattern for adjusting the impact position of the first ink on the medium, and printing of a second test pattern for adjusting the impact position of the second ink, which has lower visibility than the first ink, on the medium. The first test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the set value of the adjustment item for adjusting the impact position of the first ink by a first change amount, and the second test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the set value of the adjustment item for adjusting the impact position of the second ink by a second change amount. The second change amount is greater than the first change amount. [Selection Diagram] Figure 9

Inventors

  • 丸山 耕平

Assignees

  • セイコーエプソン株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20241021

Claims (7)

  1. A print head unit having a plurality of first nozzles capable of ejecting a first ink onto a medium, and a plurality of second nozzles capable of ejecting a second ink that is less visible than the first ink onto the medium, A print control unit that controls printing using the print head unit, It has, The print control unit controls the printing of at least one of the following: printing a first test pattern for adjusting the landing position of the first ink ejected from the first nozzle in the medium, and printing a second test pattern for adjusting the landing position of the second ink ejected from the second nozzle in the medium. The first test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the setting value of an adjustment item for adjusting the landing position of the first ink by a first change amount, The second test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the setting value of the adjustment item for adjusting the landing position of the second ink by a second change amount, The second change is greater than the first change. Printing device.
  2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second ink is a penetrant that promotes the penetration of the first ink into the medium.
  3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second ink is transparent.
  4. An information acquisition unit that acquires media information which is information that identifies the color of the aforementioned medium, The system includes a visibility determination unit that determines whether the target ink, which is the ink whose impact position is to be adjusted, corresponds to the first ink or the second ink by comparing the color of the target ink with the color of the medium identified from the medium information. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit determines that the target ink corresponds to the first ink, and prints the first test pattern onto the medium if it determines that the target ink corresponds to the second ink.
  5. The device has an input receiving unit that receives a first input for determining a setting value for the adjustment item for the first ink, and a second input for determining a setting value for the adjustment item for the second ink, with a predetermined distance as the unit for adjusting the impact positions of the first and second inks. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit controls printing with the first ink using a setting value determined according to the first input, and controls printing with the second ink using a setting value determined according to the second input.
  6. The device has an input receiving unit that receives a first input for determining a setting value for the adjustment item for the first ink, with a predetermined first distance as the unit for adjusting the impact position of the first ink, and a second input for determining a setting value for the adjustment item for the second ink, with a predetermined second distance as the unit for adjusting the impact position of the second ink. The print control unit controls printing with the first ink using a setting value determined according to the first input, and controls printing with the second ink using a setting value determined according to the second input. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.
  7. A printing apparatus having a print head unit comprising a plurality of first nozzles capable of ejecting a first ink onto a medium, and a plurality of second nozzles capable of ejecting a second ink less visible than the first ink onto the medium, Printing at least one of the following test patterns: a first test pattern for adjusting the impact position of the first ink ejected from the first nozzle in the medium, and a second test pattern for adjusting the impact position of the second ink ejected from the second nozzle in the medium. The first test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the setting value of an adjustment item for adjusting the landing position of the first ink by a first change amount, The second test pattern includes a plurality of patterns printed by changing the setting value of the adjustment item for adjusting the landing position of the second ink by a second change amount, The second change is greater than the first change. Printing method.

Description

This disclosure relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method. A technology is known for printing images onto a medium by not only ejecting color ink, but also by ejecting a functional liquid having a predetermined function to assist in the formation of images using the color ink. In this regard, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that suppresses ink bleeding and improves the water resistance of the recorded material by ejecting a processing liquid that insolubilizes the dye in the ink onto the medium. Furthermore, this document discloses that because such a processing liquid is transparent, it is difficult to visually confirm the density pattern, which is a test pattern used to determine ejection defects, etc. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-230627 This is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.This is a schematic diagram showing a head unit.This table shows the liquids dispensed from each liquid dispensing head.This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control unit according to Embodiment 1.This is a schematic diagram showing an example of the first test pattern.This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of subpatterns included in a test pattern.This is a schematic diagram showing an example of the second test pattern.This is a schematic diagram showing another example of the second test pattern.This flowchart shows an example of the operation flow of the printing apparatus according to Embodiment 1.This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the control unit according to Embodiment 2.This flowchart shows an example of the operation flow of the printing apparatus according to Embodiment 2.This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a test pattern for adjusting the ink landing position in the media transport direction. The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. For clarity, the following descriptions and drawings have been omitted and simplified as appropriate. Furthermore, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals in each drawing, and redundant explanations have been omitted where necessary. In each figure, X, Y, and Z represent three mutually orthogonal spatial axes. In this specification, the directions along these axes are referred to as the X direction, Y direction, and Z direction. The direction indicated by the arrows in each figure is described as the positive (+) direction, and the opposite direction is described as the negative (-) direction. Furthermore, the directions of the three spatial axes that are not limited to positive and negative directions will be described as the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction. (Embodiment 1) Figure 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of a printing apparatus 1 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 1, the printing apparatus 1 is a so-called serial printer equipped with a head unit U for discharging liquid, which transports the medium S in the X-axis direction and performs printing by discharging liquid from the head unit U toward the medium S in the +Z direction while reciprocating the head unit U in the Y-axis direction. The head unit U is a specific example of a printing head unit. In this embodiment, the medium S is, for example, cloth. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 is a textile printer that prints on cloth. However, in addition to cloth, any material such as recording paper or resin film can be used as the medium S. Furthermore, the liquid discharged by the printing apparatus 1 is broadly classified into color ink containing colorants and functional liquid. Color ink is a colored liquid having some kind of colorant such as dyes and pigments. Functional liquid is also called functional ink. Here, functional liquid refers to a colorless liquid (transparent liquid) that has a predetermined function to assist in the formation of an image by color ink. More specifically, a functional liquid is a liquid that interacts with color ink to improve the quality of the image formed on the medium compared to when a functional liquid is not used. In this embodiment, as an example, the head unit U dispenses a penetrating liquid, which is a functional liquid that has the function of promoting the penetration of color ink into the medium S. Such a printing apparatus 1 comprises a head unit U, a liquid reservoir 3, a control unit 4, a transport mechanism 5 for feeding the medium S, and a moving mechanism 6. As shown in Figure 2, the head unit U is equipped with a plurality of liquid discharge heads H1U to H9U and H1L to H9L . Hereafter, when referring to these liquid discharge heads without special distinction, they will simply be called liquid discharge heads H. Note that the number and arrangement of liquid discharge heads H in the head unit U is merely an example, and any configuration can be adopted for the head unit U. Th