A faulty nozzle compensation printing method and device for a printing device

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and device for compensating a faulty nozzle of a printing device, the method comprising: the printing device comprising at least one group of printing channels, each group of printing channels comprising a plurality of nozzles, the plurality of nozzles comprising a first type of nozzle for feathering sampling and a second type of nozzle for feathering filling; the method comprising: obtaining a faulty nozzle and its type among the plurality of nozzles; determining feathering sampling information according to the faulty nozzle and its type, the feathering sampling information comprising a sampling rate of printing data for the faulty nozzle; sampling and filling the printing data of the plurality of nozzles according to the feathering sampling information. The present invention realizes compensation for a faulty nozzle without adding additional print head redundancy, the solution does not affect the printing speed, and can save economic losses caused by the failure of individual nozzles of the print head.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of inkjet printing control, and in particular to a method and device for compensating a faulty nozzle of a printing device. Background Art

[0002] Inkjet printing is a common printing technology that creates text, images or other content by using the nozzles on an inkjet printer to spray ink in the form of tiny jet particles onto the printing material.

[0003] Due to the limited physical resolution of the printing nozzle, multi-pass printing is generally used for high-resolution printing output. In the printing results of this type of printing, there will be gaps and overlaps between different passes that can be seen by the naked eye. In order to weaken the visual defects caused by the gaps and overlaps between different printing passes, print feathering is used to extract points or change the edge arrangement of each pass printing nozzle, and compensate in subsequent passes. However, since the nozzles of inkjet printers may be blocked or damaged due to various reasons, the feathered nozzles or supplementary feathered nozzles cannot effectively fill the printed object, resulting in blank lines in the print results or missing ink droplets in part of the image, affecting the image quality. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a faulty nozzle compensation printing method for a printing device, wherein the printing device comprises at least one group of printing channels, each group of printing channels comprises a plurality of nozzles, and the plurality of nozzles comprises a first type of nozzle for feathering point extraction and a second type of nozzle for feathering point supplementation;

[0005] The method comprises:

[0006] Obtaining a faulty nozzle and its type among the plurality of nozzles;

[0007] Determine feathering sampling information according to the faulty nozzle and its type, wherein the feathering sampling information includes a sampling rate of print data for the faulty nozzle;

[0008] The printing data of the plurality of nozzles are sampled and supplemented according to the feathering sampling information.

[0009] Optionally, if the faulty nozzle is a first type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than a sampling rate threshold.

[0010] Optionally, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

[0011] Optionally, if the faulty nozzle is a second-category nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first-category nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than a sampling rate threshold.

[0012] Optionally, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

[0013] Optionally, if the faulty nozzle includes a first type of nozzle and a second type of nozzle,

[0014] For a faulty nozzle belonging to the first type of nozzle, controlling the sampling rate of print data of a second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than a sampling rate threshold;

[0015] For a faulty nozzle belonging to the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than a sampling rate threshold.

[0016] Optionally, for a faulty nozzle belonging to the first type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0;

[0017] For a faulty nozzle belonging to the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

[0018] Optionally, obtaining the faulty nozzle and its type includes:

[0019] The plurality of nozzles perform pre-printing with preset printing parameters;

[0020] Identify trouble spots in pre-printed results;

[0021] Determine the corresponding fault nozzle number according to the position of the fault point;

[0022] The type of the faulty nozzle is determined according to the faulty nozzle number.

[0023] Optionally, the number of nozzles of the first type of nozzles used for feathering extraction points and the number of nozzles of the second type of nozzles used for feathering supplementary points are the same and correspond one to one.

[0024] On the one hand, the present invention also provides a faulty nozzle compensation printing device for a printing device, comprising: a processor and a memory connected to the processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the processor, and the instructions are executed by the processor so that the processor executes the method described above.

[0025] According to the faulty nozzle compensation printing method and device provided by the present invention, by distinguishing the types of faulty nozzles, the corresponding sampling rate is configured in a targeted manner, and sampling and corresponding filling are performed based on the specific sampling rate. Compensation for faulty nozzles is achieved without adding additional print head redundancy. This solution does not affect the printing speed and can save economic losses caused by the failure of individual nozzles of the print head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0027] Figure 1 is a structural diagram of a printing device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a faulty nozzle compensation printing method of a printing device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is a print data diagram in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 4 A sampling state diagram of the first type of printing data of the faulty nozzle in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 This is a snapshot state diagram of the second type of printing data of the faulty nozzle in the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The technical solution of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] In addition, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0034] An embodiment of the present invention provides a printing device, comprising at least one group of printing channels, each group of printing channels comprising a plurality of nozzles, the plurality of nozzles comprising a first type of nozzles for feathering point extraction and a second type of nozzles for feathering point filling. Figure 1As shown, the printing device is equipped with four groups of printing channels, namely Row A, Row C, Row B, and Row D. Each group of printing channels is equipped with 90 nozzles, and the nozzle numbers of each group of channels are A01, A02...A90, C01, C02...C90, B01, B02...B90, D01, D02...D90. For any group of printing channels, the 90 nozzles on the channels will be divided into first-class nozzles and second-class nozzles. The first-class nozzles are used for feathering point extraction, and the second-class nozzles are used for feathering point filling.

[0035] Specifically, the number of the first type of nozzles and the second type of nozzles can be set according to the situation. For example, for the printing nozzles of Row A, the nozzles numbered A01, A02...A60 are set as the first type of nozzles, and the nozzles A61, A62...A90 are set as the second type of nozzles. The nozzles A61, A62...A90 need to correspond one-to-one with the nozzles A01, A02...A30 and the nozzles A31, A32...A60 at the same time. According to this setting, all 60 nozzles of the first type of nozzles are used for random feathering and point sampling, and the second type of nozzles perform feathering and point compensation according to the feathering and point sampling of the first 30 nozzles (A01, A02...A30) of the first type of nozzles. After the first feathering and point compensation is completed, feathering and point compensation is performed according to the last 30 nozzles (A31, A32...A60) of the first type of nozzles. This setting can improve the printing quality and solve the visual defect problem that occurs in traditional multi-pass printing.

[0036] In one embodiment, the number of nozzles of the first type of nozzles used for feathering sampling and the second type of nozzles used for feathering filling are the same and correspond one to one. For example, the above 90 nozzles are equally divided into the first type of nozzles and the second type of nozzles, that is, nozzles A01, A02...A45 belong to the first type of nozzles, nozzles A46, A47...A90 belong to the second type of nozzles, and nozzles A01, A02...A45 and A46, A47...A90 should correspond one to one. According to this setting, all 45 nozzles (A01, A02...A45) of the first type of nozzles are randomly feathered, and the 45 nozzles (A46, A47...A90) of the second type of nozzles are feathered according to the feathering sampling of the first type of nozzles. The present setting can solve the problem of low efficiency caused by the second type of nozzles needing to perform feathering filling twice in the above setting, and can also improve the printing quality.

[0037] like Figure 2 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a faulty nozzle compensation printing method for a printing device, which can be executed by a computer, a server or a printing device, and includes the following operations:

[0038] S1, obtaining faulty nozzles and their types from among a plurality of nozzles, obtaining pre-printed faulty nozzle data stored in a host computer, including the faulty nozzle number, the printing channel where it is located, and the faulty nozzle type.

[0039] S2, determining the feathering sampling information according to the faulty nozzle and its type, the feathering sampling information including the sampling rate of the print data for the faulty nozzle. The sampling of the print data means that when the nozzle samples a certain position, the position will be skipped and ink will not be sprayed during actual printing, and other positions where no sampling is set will spray ink normally.

[0040] There may be three types of faulty nozzles: some faulty nozzles exist only in the first type of nozzles (used for feathering sampling), some faulty nozzles exist only in the second type of nozzles (used for feathering filling), and some faulty nozzles exist in both the first and second types of nozzles. Different feathering sampling information can be configured for these three situations. The feathering sampling information also includes the sampling rate for the normal nozzle print data, which can be a random value.

[0041] S3, performing point sampling and point filling on the printing data of multiple nozzles according to the feathering point sampling information.

[0042] In this embodiment, when the printing device is equipped with multiple groups of printing channels at the same time, faulty nozzle compensation can be performed for each channel separately. According to the faulty nozzle compensation printing method and device provided by the present invention, by distinguishing the types of faulty nozzles, the corresponding sampling rate is configured in a targeted manner, and sampling and corresponding filling are performed based on the specific sampling rate. Compensation for faulty nozzles is achieved without adding additional print head redundancy. This solution does not affect the printing speed and can save economic losses caused by the failure of individual nozzles of the print head.

[0043] In one embodiment, step S1 specifically includes:

[0044] S11, multiple nozzles perform pre-printing with preset printing parameters. The host computer generates the printing parameters of the printing nozzles of any printing channel. The printing parameters can be specifically: each nozzle continuously prints 850 dots at an interval of 720dpi in the horizontal direction to form a line with a length of approximately 30cm. For multiple groups of printing channels, the nozzles are filled with multi-color data channels in a dot matrix data manner according to the nozzle numbers to prevent the numbering position from being blocked due to the lack of ink droplets when the single-color continuous large-area nozzles are blocked, which affects the recognition. Then the host computer software sends the filled data to the print head and controls the printing device to perform pre-printing, and prints one or more groups of channel nozzles #1, #2, #3, #4, #5...#90 numbers and nozzle inspection lines.

[0045] S12, identifying a fault point in the pre-printing result: identifying a blank check line according to the printed nozzle check line, and taking the blank check line as the fault point.

[0046] S13, determining the corresponding faulty nozzle number according to the position of the fault point. Determine the printed nozzle number corresponding to the blank check line as the faulty nozzle number, for example, if the nozzle number corresponding to the blank check line is #5, then the faulty nozzle number is #5.

[0047] S14, determine the type of the faulty nozzle according to the faulty nozzle number. The type of the faulty nozzle is determined by judging whether the faulty nozzle number belongs to the first type of nozzle or the second type of nozzle. For example, if the faulty nozzle number #5 is within the nozzle range of the first type of nozzle, then the type of the faulty nozzle is the first type of nozzle, and the final pre-printing result is Row A (#5). Then, according to the faulty nozzle number and printing channel of the pre-printing result, they are input into the corresponding text box of the host computer software, and the faulty nozzle data is recorded into the storage system of the host computer through the save button.

[0048] In one embodiment, if the faulty nozzle in step S2 is a first-class nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second-class nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold. Taking the equal number of nozzles of the first-class nozzle and the second-class nozzle as an example, if the faulty nozzles are #3 and #5, the faulty nozzles #3 and #5 will not be able to perform inkjet printing. At this time, it is necessary to control the nozzles #48 and #50 in the second-class nozzles corresponding to the nozzles #3 and #5 to compensate for the faulty nozzles. Then, the sampling rate set for the print data of the nozzles #48 and #50 can be controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold, that is, the print data of the nozzles #48 and #50 are sampled as little as possible, so that the inkjet positions are as many as possible, thereby compensating for the lack of ink marks at the corresponding positions caused by the faulty nozzles. In addition, the sampling of the print data of the normal nozzles in the first category of nozzles (#1, # / 2, #4, #6-#45) is random, and the sampling of the print data of the corresponding remaining nozzles in the second category of nozzles (#46, #47, #49, #51-#90) is complementary to the sampling of the print data of the remaining nozzles in the first category of nozzles, thereby preventing visual defects and improving printing quality.

[0049] Furthermore, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0. Since the compensation of the faulty nozzle in the second type of nozzles mentioned above is random, it can only make the defects caused by the faulty nozzle not particularly obvious, and cannot completely compensate the faulty nozzle. Therefore, the compensation nozzles (#48, #50) of the faulty nozzles in the corresponding second type of nozzles are not sampled, and the compensation nozzles need to perform inkjet printing at all the positions where the faulty nozzles need to print, such as Figure 3As shown, the image on the left is the printing data of the first type of nozzles, and the faulty nozzles #3 and #5 are in a state of no inkjet. The image on the right is the printing data of the second type of nozzles, and nozzles #48 and #50 are in a state of no dot sampling. This can achieve 100% compensation for the defects caused by the faulty nozzles and improve the printing quality.

[0050] In one embodiment, if the faulty nozzle in step S2 is a second-class nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first-class nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold. Taking the equal number of nozzles of the first-class nozzle and the second-class nozzle as an example, if the faulty nozzles are #70 and #87, the faulty nozzles #70 and #87 will not be able to perform inkjet printing. At this time, it is necessary to control the nozzles #25 and #42 in the first-class nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzles #70 and #87 to compensate for the faulty nozzles. Then, the sampling rate set for the print data of nozzles #25 and #42 can be controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold, that is, the print data of nozzles #25 and #42 are sampled as little as possible, so that the inkjet positions are as many as possible, thereby compensating for the lack of ink marks at the corresponding positions caused by the faulty nozzles in the second-class nozzles. In addition, the sampling of the print data of the normal nozzles in the first-class nozzles is random sampling, and the sampling of the print data of the remaining nozzles in the corresponding second-class nozzles is complementary to the sampling of the print data of the remaining nozzles in the first-class nozzles, so as to prevent visual defects and improve printing quality.

[0051] Furthermore, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0. Since the compensation of the faulty nozzle in the first type of nozzles mentioned above is random, it can only make the defects caused by the faulty nozzle not particularly obvious, and cannot completely compensate the faulty nozzle. Therefore, the nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzle in the corresponding first type of nozzles are not sampled, and the compensation nozzles need to perform inkjet printing at all the positions where the faulty nozzle needs to print, such as Figure 4 As shown, the image on the right is the printing data of the second type of nozzles, and the faulty nozzle #70 and the faulty nozzle #87 are in a state of no inkjet. The image on the left is the printing data of the first type of nozzles, and the nozzle #25 and the nozzle #42 are in a state of no dot sampling. This can achieve 100% compensation for the defects caused by the faulty nozzles and improve the printing quality.

[0052] In one embodiment, if the faulty nozzles in step S2 include the first type of nozzles and the second type of nozzles, then,

[0053] For a faulty nozzle belonging to the first type of nozzle, controlling the sampling rate of print data of a second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than a sampling rate threshold;

[0054] For the faulty nozzle belonging to the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold.

[0055] Specifically, taking the example that the number of nozzles of the first category nozzle and the second category nozzle is equal, if the faulty nozzles are #3, #5, #70, and #87, the faulty nozzle #3 and the faulty nozzle #5 will not be able to perform inkjet printing, and the corresponding compensating nozzles #48 and #50 need to be controlled to compensate for the faulty nozzles. The sampling rate of the print data setting of nozzles #48 and #50 can be controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold, that is, the print data of nozzles #48 and #50 are sampled as little as possible to make the inkjet positions as large as possible, thereby compensating for the lack of ink caused by the faulty nozzles in the first category nozzles. At the same time, the faulty nozzle #70 and the faulty nozzle #87 are also unable to perform inkjet printing. At this time, it is necessary to control the nozzles #25 and #42 in the first category of nozzles corresponding to the faulty nozzles #70 and #87 to compensate for the faulty nozzles. The sampling rate of the print data of nozzles #25 and #42 can be controlled to be less than the sampling rate threshold, that is, the print data of nozzles #25 and #42 are sampled as little as possible to make the inkjet positions as many as possible, so as to compensate for the lack of ink caused by the faulty nozzles in the second category of nozzles. In addition, the sampling of the print data of the normal nozzles in the first category of nozzles is random sampling, and the sampling of the print data of the remaining nozzles in the corresponding second category of nozzles is complementary to the sampling of the print data of the remaining nozzles in the first category of nozzles, so as to prevent visual defects and improve printing quality.

[0056] Further, for the faulty nozzle belonging to the first type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0;

[0057] For a faulty nozzle belonging to the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

[0058] Specifically, since the above-mentioned compensation for the faulty nozzle is random, it can only make the defect caused by the faulty nozzle less obvious, and cannot completely compensate for the faulty nozzle. Figure 5 As shown, the faulty nozzle #3 and the faulty nozzle #5 are all in a non-ink-spraying state, and the faulty nozzle #70 and the faulty nozzle #87 are also in a non-ink-spraying state. Therefore, the corresponding compensation nozzles (#48, #50) for the faulty nozzles in the second category of nozzles will not be sampled, and the corresponding nozzles (#25, #42) in the first category of nozzles will not be sampled. That is, nozzles #25, #42, #48, and #50 will all perform inkjet printing. In this way, the defects caused by the faulty nozzles can be 100% compensated and the printing quality can be improved.

[0059] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present invention may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0060] The present invention is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that each process and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of processes and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0061] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0062] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0063] Obviously, the above embodiments are merely examples for the purpose of clear explanation, and are not intended to limit the implementation methods. For those skilled in the art, other different forms of changes or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is not necessary and impossible to list all the implementation methods here. The obvious changes or modifications derived therefrom are still within the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims

1. A method for compensating a faulty nozzle of a printing device, characterized in that: The printing device comprises at least one group of printing channels, each group of printing channels comprises a plurality of nozzles, and the plurality of nozzles comprises a first type of nozzles for feathering point extraction and a second type of nozzles for feathering point filling; The method comprises: Obtaining a faulty nozzle and its type among the plurality of nozzles; Determine the feathering sampling information according to the faulty nozzle and its type, the feathering sampling information including the sampling rate of the print data for the faulty nozzle, if the faulty nozzle is a first type nozzle, control the sampling rate of the print data of the second type nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than the sampling rate threshold; if the faulty nozzle is a second type nozzle, control the sampling rate of the print data of the first type nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than the sampling rate threshold; if the faulty nozzle includes the first type nozzle and the second type nozzle, for the faulty nozzle belonging to the first type nozzle, control the sampling rate of the print data of the second type nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than the sampling rate threshold; for the faulty nozzle belonging to the second type nozzle, control the sampling rate of the print data of the first type nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle to be less than the sampling rate threshold; The printing data of the plurality of nozzles are sampled and supplemented according to the feathering sampling information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In the case that the faulty nozzle is only the first type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In the case that the faulty nozzle is only the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the case where the faulty nozzle is a first type of nozzle and a second type of nozzle, for the faulty nozzle belonging to the first type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the second type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0; For a faulty nozzle belonging to the second type of nozzle, the sampling rate of the print data of the first type of nozzle corresponding to the faulty nozzle is 0.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Get the faulty nozzle and its type including: The plurality of nozzles perform pre-printing with preset printing parameters; Identify trouble spots in pre-printed results; Determine the corresponding fault nozzle number according to the position of the fault point; The type of the faulty nozzle is determined according to the faulty nozzle number.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The number of nozzles of the first type of nozzles used for feathering point extraction and the number of nozzles of the second type of nozzles used for feathering point supplementation are the same and correspond one to one.

7. A faulty nozzle compensation printing device for a printing device, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory connected to the processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the processor, and the instructions are executed by the processor so that the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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