Multipass Inkjet Printing Control for Bleeding and Gloss Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing inkjet printing methods on low-permeability printing media face issues with ink bleeding and bead formation due to excessive application of reaction liquid, leading to a decrease in gloss and robustness.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus with separate ejection port arrays for color material and reaction liquid inks, employing a multipass printing method with controlled application ratios in successive scans to optimize ink contact and minimize bleeding while maintaining gloss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the reaction liquid ink is applied more than necessary to suppress bleeding, then bleeding between color material ink droplets is reduced, but excessive aggregation occurs with the color material resulting in a decrease in gloss of the resulting printed material
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamic control by adjusting the application amount of reaction liquid ink based on the application amount of color material ink. The control unit dynamically modifies the reaction liquid ink ejection parameters according to detected color material ink characteristics, enabling adaptive suppression of bleeding while preventing excessive aggregation that would harm gloss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of reaction liquid ink application amount based on the color material ink application amount. By modifying this parameter dynamically, the system achieves optimal balance between bleeding suppression and gloss maintenance, avoiding the fixed application amount that causes excessive aggregation.
2Reliability
If the application amount of reaction liquid ink is increased to ensure suppression of bleeding and beading, then contact between reaction liquid and color material ink is improved, but the minimum amount required exceeds the upper limit needed to ensure gloss and robustness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback control where the control unit detects the application amount of color material ink and adjusts the reaction liquid ink application accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that the reaction liquid ink amount remains within the optimal range that maintains both bleeding suppression and gloss/robustness quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static fixed application amounts to dynamic adaptive application amounts. The reaction liquid ink application is dynamically adjusted based on real-time detection of color material ink characteristics, enabling the system to maintain reliability while preserving strength properties.
3Manufacturing precision
If multipass printing is used to control the application order of color material ink and reaction liquid ink, then the probability of contact before bleeding occurs is increased, but the complexity of controlling application ratios across multiple scans increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit automatically determines and executes the optimal application ratio of reaction liquid ink to color material ink across multiple scans. The system self-manages the complex control logic, calculating and implementing the appropriate ratios without requiring external intervention, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while managing control complexity internally.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces ink bleeding and bead formation, preserving image gloss and robustness on low-permeability media by adjusting the application ratios of color material and reaction liquid inks during multipass printing.
Implementation Method 1
By making the color material ink and the reaction liquid ink contact each other on the printing medium, aggregation of the color material contained in the color material ink is caused to reduce the bleeding
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes: a printing unit having a first ejection port array and a second ejection port array; and a control unit configured to execute multipass printing to print an image in a predetermined region on a printing medium by scanning the printing unit N times (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2) in a main scanning direction intersecting a sub-scanning direction, and to perform control so that, in a case where an application amount of a color material ink per unit area corresponding to the predetermined region on the printing medium is a first amount, a first ratio of an application amount of the color material ink for printing in last N/2 scans to an application amount of the color material ink for printing in first N/2 scans among the N scans for printing an image is greater than 1.