Printing Apparatus Registration Adjustment via Two-Step Pattern Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional printing apparatuses face challenges in maintaining stable registration adjustment, especially when printing large-sized media, due to external disturbances such as variations in printhead distance and carriage attitude, which affect the accuracy of correction values.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus with a printhead having multiple nozzle arrays that prints adjustment patterns in both directions, allowing for the acquisition of registration adjustment values based on patch distances and densities, enabling two-step adjustment processes to mitigate external disturbances and achieve precise registration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single pattern is used for registration adjustment, then the adjustment process is simple, but external disturbances cause errors in the correction value
Solution Approach 1:
The registration adjustment process is divided into two distinct steps: a first registration adjustment using a first adjustment pattern, and a second registration adjustment using a second adjustment pattern. This segmentation allows each step to address specific aspects of registration accuracy, with the first step establishing baseline correction and the second step refining it to eliminate external disturbance errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The first registration adjustment is performed as a preliminary action before the second registration adjustment. By first applying correction values based on the first adjustment pattern, the system prepares the printing apparatus in a pre-corrected state, which then allows the second adjustment pattern to focus specifically on eliminating remaining errors caused by external disturbances.
2Loss of time
If registration adjustment is performed at a single position, then the adjustment is quick, but external disturbances vary by position causing incorrect correction values
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the registration adjustment from a single position to multiple positions along the carriage moving direction. By acquiring correction values at different positions (first and second adjustment positions) and combining them, the system captures the variation of external disturbances across the printing area, making the correction reliable throughout the entire scanning region.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of this invention solves a problem about a precision drop of registration adjustment of a range detection method due to variations of a registration state depending on a position associated with a carriage scanning direction. In that embodiment, reference and adjustment patterns are formed to be juxtaposed in a nozzle array direction to detect a position shift between patterns in the main scanning direction. In this case, coarse registration adjustment is executed by the range detection method, and its adjustment result is applied to a printing apparatus. After that, fine registration adjustment is executed by a density method, and results of the two adjustment methods are finally reflected.