Image forming apparatus and image forming method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9718278-B2
Application number	US-201615244815-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 27, 2015
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

An image forming apparatus comprising: a color ink applying unit configured to apply color ink to a print medium; a clear ink applying unit configured to apply a plurality of clear inks to the print medium to cover the applied color ink, each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks having a degree of glossiness that is different from each other; and a determining unit configured to determine an amount ratio of each clear ink to each other clear ink of the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data and to determine an amount of each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks such that the determined ratio is satisfied and such that the clear inks cover the applied color ink and print medium at approximately 100 % area coverage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a color ink applying unit configured to apply color ink to a print medium;
a clear ink applying unit configured to apply a plurality of clear inks to the print medium to cover the applied color ink, each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks having a degree of glossiness that is different from each other;
a glossiness data storage unit configured to store glossiness data of degree of glossiness of an image to be formed on the print medium; and
a determining unit configured to:
determine an amount ratio of each clear ink to each other clear ink of the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data stored in the glossiness data storage unit, and
determine an amount of each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks such that the determined ratio is satisfied and such that the plurality of clear inks cover the applied color ink and print medium at approximately 100% area coverage.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the glossiness data storage unit stores respective glossiness data for each pixel to be formed on the print medium.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit determines the use ratio in accordance with a) the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data and b) an amount of the color ink to be applied to the print medium, type of the print medium, or both the amount of the color ink to be applied to the print medium and the type of the print medium.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the clear ink applying unit applies the plurality of clear inks to the print medium by ejecting the plurality of clear inks.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the clear ink applying unit applies each of the clear inks of the plurality of clear inks to the print medium separately.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the plurality of clear inks comprises a first clear ink and a second clear ink having a lower degree of glossiness than the first clear ink, and
wherein the clear ink applying unit applies the first clear ink prior to the second clear ink.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the clear ink applying unit mixes the plurality of clear inks and applies the mixed plurality of clear inks to the print medium.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the clear ink applying unit mixes the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the determined ratio.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the color ink applying unit applies a plurality of color inks to the print medium, each color ink of the plurality of color inks having a different color from each other, and the image forming apparatus further comprises a color separation unit configured to determine application amounts for each of the plurality of color inks such that the approximately 100% area coverage is satisfied based on an input image data including color information of an image to be formed on the print medium.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the color separation unit uses a plurality of color separation tables each color separation table corresponding to a respective clear ink of the plurality of clear inks, which defines a relationship between the input image data and the amount of the respective clear inks.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the determining unit generates the color separation tables in accordance with the determined ratio.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks comprises a resin,
wherein each resin has a glass transition point that is different from each other,
wherein the image forming apparatus further comprises a fixing unit configured to fix the plurality of clear inks on the print medium by heating the plurality of clear inks,
wherein a heating temperature by the fixing unit is greater than the highest glass transition point of the resins, and
wherein the heating is maintained until all of the resins of the plurality of clear inks reaches the temperature of the highest glass transition point.

13. An image forming method comprising:
applying color ink to a print medium;
applying a plurality of clear inks to the print medium to cover the applied color ink, each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks having a degree of glossiness that is different from each other;
storing glossiness data on degree of glossiness of an image to be formed on the print medium;
determining an amount ratio of each clear ink to each other clear ink of the plurality of clear inks in accordance with the degree of glossiness indicated by the glossiness data; and
determining an amount of each clear ink of the plurality of clear inks such that the determined ratio is satisfied and such that the clear inks cover the applied color ink and print medium at approximately 100% area coverage.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Morita Akira
• Takeuchi Keiichirou
• Nishitani Eisuke
• Otani Takumi
• Goto Fumihiro
• Nakazawa Koichiro

Classifications

• B41J2/2114 Primary

  Ejecting specialized liquids, e.g. transparent or processing liquids (B41J2/211 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B41J2/211

  Mixing of inks, solvent or air prior to paper contact · CPC title