Method and inkjet printer for acquiring gap information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016361920-A1
Application number	US-201615243358-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 22, 2016
Priority date	Mar 30, 2012
Publication date	Dec 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An inkjet printer including an inkjet head, a head scanning unit, a wave shape generating mechanism to deform a recording medium into a predetermined wave shape, an obtaining device to obtain information concerning a type of the recording medium to be used in a printing operation, a gap information storing device to store gap information related to a gap between an ink discharging surface and the recording medium in association with a predetermined type of the recording medium, the gap information being acquired from a predetermined range in the recording medium, and a correcting device to correct the gap information according to the type of the recording medium obtained by the obtaining device when the type of the recording medium obtained by the obtaining device is different from the predetermined type of the recording medium stored in association with the gap information, is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An inkjet printer, comprising:
an inkjet head configured to discharge ink droplets from nozzles formed in an ink discharging surface thereof; a head scanning unit configured to move the inkjet head with respect to a recording medium to reciprocate along a head-moving direction, the head-moving direction being parallel with the ink discharging surface of the inkjet head; a wave shape generating mechanism configured to deform the recording medium into a predetermined wave shape that has tops of portions protruding toward the ink discharging surface and bottoms of portions recessed toward a side opposite from the ink discharging surface, the tops of portions protruding toward the ink discharging surface and the bottoms of portions recessed toward a side opposite from the ink discharging surface being alternately arranged along the head-moving direction; an obtaining device configured to obtain information concerning a type of the recording medium to be used in a printing operation; memory device configured to store rigidity information related to rigidity of the recording medium to be used in the printing operation and gap information related to each gap between the ink discharging surface and a predetermined type of the recording medium the gap information being acquired from an area ranging along the head-moving direction in the predetermined type of the recording medium, the gap information including amounts of positional deviation of ink droplets to land on the tops of portions protruding toward the ink discharging surface and ink droplets to land on the bottoms of portions recessed toward a side opposite from the ink discharging surface in the predetermined wave shape in the predetermined type of the recording medium; a judging device configured to judge whether the predetermined type of the recording medium and the type of recording medium to be used in the printing operation obtained by the obtaining device are identical; and a correcting device configured to correct the gap information stored in the memory device according to the type of the recording medium to be used in the printing operation obtained by the obtaining device when the judging device judges that the predetermined type of the recording medium and the type of recording medium to be used in the printing operation are different, the correcting device correcting the gap information based on the rigidity information related to rigidity of the recording medium to be used in the printing operation, the correcting device being configured not to correct the gap information when the judging device judges that the predetermined type of recording medium and the type of recording medium to be used in the printing operation are identical, the correcting the gap information includes correction of the amounts of the positional deviation of the ink droplets to land on the tops of portions protruding toward the ink discharging surface and the ink droplets to land on the bottoms of portions recessed toward a side opposite from the ink discharging surface in the predetermined wave shape in the predetermined type of the recording medium, wherein a volume of the rigidity information related to rigidity of the recording medium to be used in the printing operation is smaller than a volume of the gap information related to each gap between the ink discharging surface and the predetermined type of the recording medium, wherein, when the gap information related to a gap between the ink discharging surface and the recording medium is represented by Y, the gap information related to each gap between the ink discharging surface and the predetermined type of the recording medium is corrected according to a formula: Y′=a*Y+b, wherein the value a represents the rigidity information and is set depending on a ratio of amplitude in ripples in the wave shape formed in the recording medium to be used in the printing operation with respect to amplitude in ripples in the predetermined wave shape in the predetermined type of the recording medium, and wherein the value b is set depending on a ratio of an amount of a gap between the ink discharging surface and the recording medium to be used in the printing operation and an amount of the gap between the ink discharging surface and the predetermined type of the recording medium.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Arakane Satoru

Classifications

• B41J19/145

  Dot misalignment correction · CPC title

• B41J11/005

  Guides in the printing zone, e.g. guides for preventing contact of conveyed sheets with printhead · CPC title

• B41J2/145 Primary

  Arrangement thereof · CPC title

• B41J29/393

  Devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine {; Controlling or analysing mechanical parameters involving printing of test patterns} · CPC title

• B41J25/3082

  with print gap adjustment means on the print head carriage, e.g. for rotation around a guide bar or using a rotatable eccentric bearing · CPC title