Inkjet Recording Dot Pattern Control for Density Uniformity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recording devices face issues with density unevenness and quality degradation due to fluctuations in droplet discharge cycles, leading to excessive or insufficient ink application in overlapping regions caused by transport errors during sub-scanning.
Innovation Solution
A recording device with a control unit that arranges first and second dot groups at mutually exclusive positions and a third dot group with an interval longer than the predetermined interval, ensuring the third dot group is positioned adjacent to the first and second dot groups in a direction intersecting with the main scanning direction, thereby stabilizing the ink application and reducing the impact of discharge cycle variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If droplets are discharged intermittently in a long cycle in the overlap region, then the nozzle usage ratio is reduced, but the amount of discharged droplet is reduced causing density unevenness
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit determines in advance which nozzles will form dots in the overlap region and adjusts their discharge timing accordingly. By preliminarily planning the dot formation strategy, the system ensures that nozzles discharge droplets at appropriate intervals to maintain both productivity and density uniformity, preventing the density unevenness that would otherwise occur with simple intermittent discharge.
2Manufacturing precision
If dots are gathered as a group in the overlap region, then the discharge cycle is shortened, but regions of excessive and insufficient ink application become adjacent due to transport errors
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit applies different dot formation strategies to different regions within the overlap area. Specifically, it identifies boundary regions where transport errors could cause problems and applies a different discharge pattern in those regions compared to the center region. This local differentiation ensures that density uniformity is maintained while preventing the adjacency of excessive and insufficient ink application regions, thereby stabilizing recording quality.
3Productivity
If printing is performed at 100% rate in the boundary portion, then recording efficiency is high, but sudden degradation of image quality occurs when the boundary portion changes due to transport errors
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit dynamically adjusts the dot formation strategy based on the actual transport position. When the boundary portion shifts due to transport errors, the system automatically recalculates which nozzles should form dots in the overlap region and adjusts their discharge timing accordingly. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain both high printing rates and stable image quality, preventing sudden degradation that would occur with fixed 100% printing rates.
Data Source
AI summary
When an overlap image is recorded that includes a first dot group in which first dots are successively formed by a first nozzle group at a predetermined interval in a first direction, a second dot group in which second dots are successively formed by a second nozzle group at the predetermined interval in the first direction, and a third dot group including the first dots and the second dots, which are arrayed at an interval longer than the predetermined interval, the first dot group and the second dot group are arranged at mutually exclusive positions, and the third dot group is arranged at at least one of positions adjacent, in a second direction that intersects with the first direction, to the first dot group and the second dot group.