Printer Control System Hierarchical Area Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recording apparatuses face issues with uneven print darkness due to variations in nozzle sizes and driving signal voltages across recording elements, leading to unintended differences in dot features and image quality.
Innovation Solution
A recording apparatus with a control system that divides the facing surface into main and sub-areas, allowing for correction of driving signals to maintain consistent image density by adjusting settings within these areas, reducing the processing load and memory requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the plurality of recording elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and the driving conditions are corrected for each block, then the unintended uneven print darkness is eliminated, but the processing load and memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The facing surface is divided into a plurality of main areas, and each main area is further divided into a plurality of sub-areas. This hierarchical segmentation allows correction settings to be applied at multiple levels, reducing the overall processing complexity while maintaining print uniformity across the entire surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Different correction settings are applied to different main areas and sub-areas based on their specific characteristics. The re-setting part redesignates settings for sub-areas adjacent to boundaries between main areas with different correction amounts, creating locally optimized correction strategies that reduce processing load while maintaining overall uniformity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the plurality of recording elements are divided into a plurality of blocks and the driving conditions are corrected for each block, then the unintended uneven print darkness is eliminated, but the memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
By organizing correction settings into a hierarchical structure of main areas and sub-areas, the memory requirements are managed more efficiently. The initial setting part designates settings at the main area level, while the re-setting part only adjusts specific sub-areas near boundaries, reducing the total number of correction parameters that need to be stored.
Solution Approach 2:
The correction part uses a unified hierarchical structure (main areas and sub-areas) that can accommodate different correction scenarios. The same structure serves both for initial correction settings and for boundary adjustment settings, eliminating the need for separate memory structures for different correction modes.
3Manufacturing precision
If boundaries between blocks are formed in intertwined shapes to lower the visibility of differences in darkness, then the print quality is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex intertwined boundaries across the entire surface, the patent applies local quality adjustments only to sub-areas adjacent to boundaries between main areas with different correction amounts. This targeted approach improves print quality at critical locations without the complexity of global intertwined boundary configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than making the boundaries complex to hide differences, the patent inverts the approach by making the correction settings adaptive to the boundaries. The re-setting part adjusts correction amounts for sub-areas near boundaries, effectively compensating for boundary effects through setting modification rather than boundary shape modification.
Data Source
AI summary
In a control part of a printer, a main area information holding part holds information prescribing a plurality of main areas which are obtained by dividing at least a portion in a facing surface of a head into a plurality of areas in a predetermined direction. A sub-area information holding part holds information prescribing a plurality of sub-areas which are obtained by dividing the main area into a plurality of areas in the predetermined direction. The initial setting part designates the settings relating to corrections in units of the main areas. In a case where correction amounts of darkness based on the initial setting are different between a first main area and a second main area which adjoin each other among the plurality of main areas, the re-setting part maintains or redesignates the settings relating to corrections designated with respect to the first main area in units of the sub-areas.