Ink jet recording system

Abstract: A recording head having an ejection portion group (10d) for ejecting a black ink, and ejection portion groups (10a,b,c) for ejecting color inks is used. When a black image to be printed by the black ink is present adjacent to a color image to be printed by the color ink, a black image portion adjacent to the color image and a black image portion which is not adjacent to the color image are formed in different scans, thereby obtaining a high-quality image from which ink blurring at a boundary portion between the black and color images is eliminated.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for recording a multi-color image using a plurality of color inks and a recording head having a plurality of nozzles corresponding to the colors, and an ink jet recording head used in the ink jet recording method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording head suitable for recording a boundary portion between a black image and a color image. The present invention can be applied to all apparatuses using recording media such as paper, a cloth, a non-woven fabric, an OHP sheet, and the like, and the apparatuses to which the present invention is applied include a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, and the like. Related Background Art Conventionally, a method of obtaining a color image using four color inks, i.e., yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) is widely known, and is applied to a printer, a copying machine, and the like. In a conventional ink jet recording method, in order to obtain a highly color-developed color image free from ink blurring, a special-purpose paper sheet having an ink absorbing layer must be used. However, in recent years, a method with printing adaptability to "normal paper sheets", which are used in large amounts in a printer, a copying machine, and the like, due to improvement of inks has been put into practical applications. However, printing quality on "normal paper sheets" does not have a satisfactory level yet. The most serious cause of such low printing quality is a conflict between 1 ○ blurring of different color inks and 2 ○ black recording quality (in particular, black character recording quality). Normally, when a color image is obtained on a normal paper sheet by the ink jet recording method, quick-drying inks which have a high penetration speed to normal paper sheets are used. For this reason, a high-quality image, which is free from blurring of different color inks, can be obtained. However, the entire image has a low density, and so-called feathering in which the inks slightly blur along fibers of paper tends to occur around recorded image areas of the respective colors. Feathering is not relatively conspicuous in a color image area, but is conspicuous in a black image area, thus deteriorating recording quality. In particular, when a black image is a character, an unclear character having no sharpness is formed, and its quality is poor. In order to achieve high-quality black color recording which is free from feathering and has a high density, a black ink having a relatively low penetration speed to a normal paper sheet must be used. However, in this case, different color inks blur at a boundary portion between adjacent recorded image areas of black and another color, thus considerably deteriorating image quality. In this manner, improvement of color recording quality by achieving both prevention of blurring of different color inks, e.g., a black ink and another color ink, and elimination of feathering of, especially, black poses conflicting problems. These problems are associated with the volume of an ink droplet to be ejected, the ink absorption amount of a recording medium, which absorbs the ink, and a process from when the ink becomes attached to the recording medium until it penetrates into the medium, and depend on the ink and the recording medium. When the recording medium has a layer which easily absorbs an ink, serious problems are not posed. However, the above-mentioned problems are posed when paper sheets used in a large quantity in a normal copying apparatus, or OHP sheets or cloth are used as the recording medium. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-146355 proposes a method in which no image is recorded on an area along the boundary between black and another color. However, with this method, data to be recorded may change. Also, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 4-158049 proposes a method in which a plurality of color heads for color recording, and a character recording head are arranged, and the plurality of color heads and the character recording heads are selectively used in correspondence with an image to be recorded. However, with this method, an apparatus must have the character recording head in addition to the plurality of color heads for conventional color recording, resulting in increases in cost and in apparatus scale. Furthermore, although a system using four parallel recording heads is suitable for high-speed processing, ink blurring among colors easily occurs when a print operation is performed on a recording sheet such as a normal sheet having a low fixing speed of the inks, thus considerably deteriorating image quality. Thus, a recording head, in which nozzle (ejection orifice) groups, corresponding to colors, for ejecting yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks are arranged not to overlap each other in the scan direction, as shown in Fig. 1, has been proposed. When this recording head is used, the number of recording heads for obtaining a multi-color image can be one. Therefore, this recording head is suitable for a low-cost, compact apparatus. Although a time required for printing is longer than that of the system using the four recording heads, ink blurring does not easily occur, and high image quality can be expected. However, even when the recording head, in which the nozzle groups corresponding to the colors are arranged not to overlap each other, as shown in Fig. 1, is used, ink blurring among the colors cannot always be completely prevented. Also, a color printer, a color copying machine, and the like are required to have high quality of a black image as in a conventional monochrome apparatus. In order to satisfy this requirement, it is attempted to set the ejection amount of a black ink to be larger than the ejection amount of other color inks. However, in this case, ink blurring at a boundary portion between a black image and a color image becomes conspicuous, and print quality becomes very low. JP-A-3-146355 describes an ink jet recording device wherein a blank area is provided between different color image portions so as to prevent the different inks affecting one another and to prevent bleeding of inks between the different color image portions. The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an ink jet recording method capable of obtaining a high-quality image from which ink blurring at a boundary portion between a black image and a color image is eliminated. In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of recording a multi-color image on a recording medium utilising a recording head which is scanned relative to the recording medium and which has a black ejection portion group including m ejection portions for ejecting black ink and color ejection portion groups each including n, where 2n ≤ m, ejection portions for ejecting respective color inks other than black ink arranged so that in a single scan each of the ejection portion groups for ejecting black and color inks eject ink onto a respective different portion of the recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a black image is to be printed using the black ink adjacent to a color image to be printed using at least one of the color inks in a region of the recording medium upon which the black ejection portion group is capable of printing in a single scan; and when it is determined in the determining step that a black image and a color image are to be printed adjacent to each other, printing the black image by forming a first portion of the black image which is adjacent to the color image in a separate scan to a scan for forming a second portion of the black image which is not adjacent to the color image. In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for recording a multi-color image on a recording medium utilising a recording head which is scanned relative to the recording medium and which has a black ejection portion group including m ejection portions for ejecting black ink and color ejection portion groups each including n, where 2n ≤ m, ejection portions for ejecting respective different color inks other than black ink arranged so that in a single scan each of the ejection portion groups for ejecting black and color inks eject ink onto respective different portions of the recording medium, said apparatus comprising: means for determining whether or not a black image is to be printed using the black ink adjacent to a colour image to be printed using at least one of the color inks in a region of the recording medium upon which the black ejection portion group is capable of printing in a single scan; and means for printing the black image, when it is determined by said determining means that a black image and a color image are to be printed adjacent to each other, by forming a first portion of the black image adjacent to the color image in a separate scan to the scan for forming a second portion of the black image which is not adjacent to the color image. By printing a black image portion adjacent to a color image portion and a non-adjacent black image portion in different scans, the time required from when the color image portion is printed until the black image portion adjacent to the color image portion is printed can be prolonged, ink blurring does not occur even when the black image portion and the colour image portion are formed adjacent to each other. By applying different amounts of heat energy for the black image portion adjacent to the color image portion and the non-adjacent black image portion, an image in which ink blurring is further suppressed can be obtained. A color ink jet recording method embodying the present invention can obtain a black image having a high density and free from feathering even in an image including both black and color image portions, and can obtain a high-quality image free from ink blurring between different color images or between a black image and a color image. An ink jet recording apparatus and an ink jet recording method embodying the present invention can prevent a recording error due to interference of neighboring different color inks, and a decrease in resolution generated at boundaries between different color ink dots without losing data of characters or images to be recorded. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a recording head used in the first embodiment; Fig. 2 is a view for explaining a process for printing only a black image; Figs. 3A to 3F are views for explaining a process for printing an image including both black and color image portions; Fig. 4 is a view for explaining an image in which a black image portion is formed adjacent to a color image portion; Figs. 5A to 5G are views for explaining a process for printing an adjacent portion between a black image portion and a color image portion; Fig. 6 is a chart for explaining heat energy to be applied to a recording head in the third embodiment; Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram for explaining a recording head used in the second embodiment; Fig. 8 is a chart for explaining heat energy to be applied to the recording head used in the second embodiment; Figs. 9A to 9H are views for explaining a process for printing an image shown in Fig. 4 in the second embodiment; Fig. 10 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the recording head used in the second embodiment; Fig. 11 is a view for explaining a process for printing only a black image; Figs. 12A and 12B are views for explaining the types of images and a feed operation of a recording paper sheet; Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied; Figs. 14A and 14B are perspective views of a head mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied; and Fig. 15 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter. (First Embodiment) Fig. I is a schematic perspective view showing a recording head used in an ink jet recording method of the present invention. A recording head 1 has nozzle groups 10, i.e., a nozzle group 10a for ejecting a yellow ink, a nozzle group 10b for ejecting a magenta ink, a nozzle group 10c for ejecting a cyan ink, and a nozzle group 10d for ejecting a black ink. The nozzle groups corresponding to the colors are arranged not to overlap each other in the scan direction. In each of the nozzle groups 10a, 10b, and 10c, 24 nozzles are arranged at a density of 360 nozzles per inch (360 dpi), and in the nozzle group 10d, 48 nozzles are arranged at 360 dpi. The ejection amount of the nozzle group 10d is about 80 ng, and the ejection amount of each of the nozzle groups 10a, 10b, and 10c is about 40 ng. Print methods executed when various images are printed using the recording head shown in Fig. 1 will be described below. Fig. 2 is a view for explaining a case wherein only a black image is printed using the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d. In this case, all the 48 nozzles of the nozzle group 10d are used, and upon completion of the scan of the recording head, a recording paper sheet is fed by a 48-nozzle pitch to print the next line. This method is particularly effective for a case wherein all characters are black, and images in one page are also black, as shown in Fig. 12A, or for printing black image portions (sections a and c in Fig. 12B) when a black image and a color image are separated in the feed direction of the recording sheet, even when both a black image and a color image are present in one page (all characters are black), as shown in Fig. 12B. This method has an advantage of a high recording speed. When a recording head of this type is used, the feed pitch of the recording paper sheet for a portion where a color image is present (a section b in Fig. 12B) basically corresponds to 24 nozzles. Figs. 3A to 3F show a case wherein a color image is printed using the color ink ejection nozzle groups 10a, 10b, and 10c, and the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d. In this case, 24 nozzles are used for each color (Fig. 3F). In Figs. 3A to 3F, as nozzles for ejecting the black ink, nozzles near the cyan ink ejection nozzle group 10c are used. In Figs. 3A to 3F, Y represents an image printed using the yellow ink, M represents an image printed using the magenta ink, C represents an image printed using the cyan ink, and Bk represents an image printed using the black ink. A process for forming a color image will be described below with reference to Figs. 3A to 3F. Fig. 3A shows a state wherein the recording head 1 is scanned at the illustrated position to print the upper half portion, corresponding to 24 nozzles, of a black character "B". Subsequently, a recording paper sheet is fed by a 24-nozzle pitch, and the remaining lower half portion of the black character "B" and the upper half portion, corresponding to 24 nozzles, of a cyan character "C" are printed from the state shown in Fig. 3B. Furthermore, the recording paper sheet is fed by another 24-nozzle pitch. As shown in Fig. 3C, the lower half portion, corresponding to 24 nozzles, of the cyan character "C" is printed, and the upper half portion, corresponding to 24 nozzles, of a magenta character "M" is printed. The above-mentioned operations are performed, as shown in Figs. 3D and 3E, thus completing the print operations for four colors. Since the images shown in Fig. 3F are not adjacent to each other, a decrease in print quality caused by color blurring does not particularly occur. However, in the case of images shown in Fig. 4, since black characters "B" are respectively present in yellow, magenta, and cyan backgrounds, color blurring easily occurs at a boundary portion between the black character and the color background. In particular, it is preferable in terms of print quality of a black image to design the ejection amount per dot of the black ink to be larger than that of each color ink. In this case, color blurring more easily occurs at the boundary between a black image and a color image. The first embodiment of the present invention for solving this problem will be described below with reference to Figs. 5A to 5G. Fig. 5A shows an image in which a color image is present as a background portion of a black image. Fig. 5B is a partially enlarged view of Fig. 5A. In Fig. 5B, an image (dot) 400 is present adjacent to a color image, and an image (dot) 401 is not adjacent to the color image. According to the present invention, the dots 400 adjacent to the color image, and the non-adjacent dots 401 are printed in different scans, and different amounts of heat energy are applied to the dots 400 and 401. This control will be described below with reference to Figs. 5C to 5G. Note that the recording head shown in Fig. 1 is used, and the color image as the background portion is a cyan image. Referring to Fig. 5C, the upper half ones of adjacent dots between the black image portion and the color image portion are printed using the 25th to 48th nozzles (24 nozzles) of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d. After a recording paper sheet is fed by a 24-nozzle pitch, the lower half ones of the adjacent (boundary) dots between the black image portion and the cyan image portion are printed using the 25th to 48th nozzles of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, and at the same time, the upper half ones of dots which are not adjacent to the cyan image portion are printed using the 1st to 24th nozzles of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, as shown in Fig. 5D. At this time, a portion of the cyan background portion is printed using the cyan ink ejection nozzle group 10c. After the recording paper sheet is fed by another 24-nozzle pitch, as shown in Fig. 5E, the lower half ones of the dots which are not adjacent to the cyan image portion are printed using the 1st to 24th nozzles of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, and another portion of the cyan image portion is printed using the cyan ink ejection nozzle group 10c. Thereafter, the remaining cyan image portion is printed, as shown in Figs. 5F and 5G. When print operations are performed in the above-mentioned procedure, an adjacent portion and a non-adjacent portion present within a range of each 24-nozzle feed pitch of a recording paper sheet are not printed at the same time, and are printed in different scans using different nozzles in the black ink ejection nozzle group. Therefore, a high-quality image free from ink blurring can be obtained without prolonging a print time. When the image shown in Fig. 4 was printed at an ink ejection frequency of 5 kHz under the above-mentioned conditions, a high-quality image free from ink blurring at a boundary portion between the black image portion and the color image portion was obtained. (Second Embodiment) A recording head shown in Fig. 10 is constituted by a yellow ink ejection nozzle group 10a, a magenta ink ejection nozzle group 10b, a cyan ink ejection nozzle group 10c, and a black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, as in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the black ink ejection nozzle group has 64 nozzles, and each of the color ink ejection nozzle groups has 24 nozzles. Spaces 10e and 10f for eight nozzles are respectively assigned between the yellow and magenta ink ejection nozzle groups 10a and 10b, and between the magenta and cyan ink ejection nozzle groups 10b and 10c, and a space 10g for 16 nozzles is assigned between the cyan and black ink ejection nozzle groups 10c and 10d. The ejection amounts of these nozzles are the same as those in the first embodiment. Since this recording head has the above-mentioned spaces, ink chambers for supplying the inks to the nozzles of the corresponding colors can be easily formed. Furthermore, a temperature sensor for the recording head can be arranged in the space, and the effect of the present invention can be easily obtained by applying the present invention. Moreover, this recording head separately has a terminal for applying heat energy to the 1st to 32nd nozzles of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, and a terminal for applying heat energy to the 33rd to 64th nozzles thereof. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 7, the recording head has heaters r1 to r64 respectively provided to the 1st to 64th nozzles, a terminal C1 connected to be able to drive the heaters r1 to r32, and a terminal C2 connected to be able to drive the heaters r33 to r64. Therefore, heat energy E1 applied upon printing an adjacent portion in the first embodiment can be applied from the terminal C2, and heat energy E2 applied upon printing a non-adjacent portion can be applied from the terminal C1. Fig. 8 is a chart showing the image transfer timing to the recording head, and the timings of pulses to be applied to the terminals C1 and C2. Referring to Fig. 8, a waveform 1 ○ represents the heat energy (pulse width) E1 which is applied to print dots adjacent to a color image. With these pulses, the heaters are energized for 1 µsec, and are further energized for 3 µsec after an elapse of a 3-µsec rest time. A waveform 2 ○ represents the heat energy E2 for printing non-adjacent dots. With these pulses, the heaters are energized for 2 µsec, and are further energized for 3 µsec after an elapse of a 2-µsec rest time. The waveform 2 ○ defines a condition for obtaining a pulse width used upon printing a normal image, and can provide an ejection amount of about 80 ng. The waveform 1 ○ defines a condition for obtaining a pulse width used upon printing dots adjacent to a color image, and can provide an ejection amount of about 73 ng. Fig. 11 shows a recording method executed when only a black image for one page is printed using the recording head of this embodiment or when a black image portion is printed using the recording head of this embodiment in a case wherein even when an image for one page includes both black and color image portions, the black and color image portions are separated in the feed'direction of a recording paper sheet. More specifically, a black image is printed using all the 64 nozzles, and the feed pitch of a recording paper sheet corresponds to 64 nozzles. A recording method executed when the image shown in Fig. 4 is printed using the recording head of this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figs. 9A to 9H. In this embodiment, when a black image is printed, the 9th to 56th nozzles (48 nozzles) of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d are used. Of these nozzles, black dots in an adjacent portion between a color image and a black image are printed using the 33rd to 56th nozzles (24 nozzles), and black dots in a non-adjacent portion are printed using the 9th to 32nd nozzles (24 nozzles). First, as shown in Fig. 9A, black dots adjacent to the color image of the upper half portion of each black character "B" are printed using the 33rd to 56th nozzles under the condition 1 ○ . A recording paper sheet is fed by a 24-nozzle pitch, black dots adjacent to the color image of the lower half portion of each black character "B" are printed using the 33rd to 56th nozzles under the condition 1 ○ , and at the same time, non-adjacent dots of the upper half portion of the black character "B" are printed using the 9th to 32nd nozzles under the condition 2 ○ , as shown in Fig. 9B. At this time, no color dots are printed. After the recording paper sheet is fed, as shown in Fig. 9C, non-adjacent dots of the lower half portion of each black character "B" are printed using the 9th to 32nd nozzles of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d under the condition 2 ○ . At this time, no color dots are printed, either. After the recording paper sheet is fed, as shown in Fig. 9D, a portion of a cyan background portion is printed using the cyan ink ejection nozzle group 10c. After the recording paper sheet is fed, as shown in Fig. 9E, the remaining portion of the cyan background portion is printed, and a portion of a magenta background portion is printed using the magenta ink ejection nozzle group 10b. After the recording paper sheet is fed by another pitch, as shown in Fig. 9F, a portion of the remaining magenta background portion and a portion of a yellow background portion are printed using the magenta and yellow ink ejection nozzle groups 10b and 10a. After the recording paper sheet is fed by another pitch, as shown in Fig. 9G, the remaining portion of the magenta background portion and a portion of the remaining yellow background portion are printed. After the recording paper sheet is fed by another pitch, as shown in Fig. 9H, the remaining portion of the yellow background portion is printed. When the image shown in Fig. 4 was printed by the above-mentioned method at an ink ejection frequency of 6 kHz, a high-quality image which suffered from less ink blurring than the first embodiment could be obtained. (Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the heat energy E2 to be applied to the 1st to 24th nozzles (24 nozzles) of the black ink ejection nozzle group 10d, and the heat energy E1 to be applied to the 25th to 48th nozzles (24 nozzles) are set to be different from each other by the following method. As shown in Fig. 6, in this embodiment, the print frequency is set to be 5 kHz, and image data to be supplied to the recording head is transferred every 100 µsec. More specifically, image data of the adjacent portion to be printed by the 25th to 48th nozzles is transferred to the recording head, and is printed under the condition 1 ○ . Then, image data of the non-adjacent portion to be printed by the 1st to 24th nozzles is transferred to the recording head, and is printed under the condition 2 ○ . These operations are repeated every 200 µsec, so that different amounts of heat energy can be applied to the 1st to 24th nozzles, and to the 25th to 48th nozzles. When the image shown in Fig. 4 was printed under the above-mentioned condition, a high-quality image free from ink blurring at the adjacent portion between the black and color image portions could be obtained. (Comparative Example) In the first to third embodiments, when the image shown in Fig. 4 was printed while both black dots adjacent to the color image and non-adjacent black dots are printed in a single scan with an equal amount of heat energy, ink blurring occurred particularly at a boundary portion between cyan and black in an image in which the black character was present on the cyan background portion. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer which carries an ink cartridge and a carriage and to which the present invention can be applied. A carriage 101 carries a printing head 102 and a cartridge guide 103, and can be scanned along guide shafts 104 and 105. A recording paper sheet 106 is fed into the main body apparatus by a paper supply roller 107, is then fed to a position in front of a paper feed roller 108 while being clamped between the paper feed roller 108, a pinch roller (not shown), and a paper pressing plate 109, and is subjected to a printing operation. Two different ink cartridges, i.e., a color ink cartridge 110 which stores three color inks, i.e., yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, and a black ink cartridge 111 are prepared. These cartridges are independently inserted in the cartridge guide 103, and communicate with the printing head 102. The yellow, magenta, and cyan inks stored in the color ink cartridge 110 have a high penetration speed to a recording paper sheet so as to prevent ink blurring at the boundaries of different colors upon formation of a color image. On the other hand, the black (Bk) ink stored in the black ink cartridge 111 has a relatively lower penetration speed to a recording paper sheet than that of the three color inks, so that a black image has a high density and high quality with less blurring of the ink. The components of inks used in this embodiment are as follows. (Yellow) C.I. Direct Yellow 86 3 parts diethylene glycol 10 parts isopropyl alcohol 2 parts urea 5 parts acetylenol EH (Kawaken Chemical) 1 part water balance (Magenta) C.I. Acid Red 289 3 parts diethylene glycol 10 parts isopropyl alcohol 2 parts urea 5 parts acetylenol EH (Kawaken Chemical) 1 part water balance (Cyan) C.I. Direct Blue 199 3 parts diethylene glycol 10 parts isopropyl alcohol 2 parts urea 5 parts acetylenol EH (Kawaken Chemical) 1 part water balance (Black) C.I. Direct Black 154 3 parts diethylene glycol 10 parts isopropyl alcohol 2 parts urea 5 parts water balance In this manner, the penetration properties of C, M, and Y inks are improved as compared to Bk by adding 1% of acetylenol EH thereto. Additives also include another surface-active agent, alcohol, and the like. The printing head 102 will be described in detail below with reference to Figs. 14A and 14B. Yellow, magenta, cyan, and black ejection nozzle (orifice) groups are linearly arranged on the front surface portion of the printing head 102. Each of the yellow, magenta, and cyan ejection nozzle groups has 24 ejection nozzles, and the black ejection nozzle group has 64 ejection nozzles. The interval between the two adjacent color ejection nozzle groups corresponds to 8 nozzles, and the interval between the black and color ejection nozzle groups corresponds to 16 nozzles. These nozzles are arranged at a density of 360 nozzles per inch (360 dpi). Normally, when only a black image is printed, all the 64 ejection nozzles of the black ejection nozzle group are used, and when a color image including a black image is printed, 24 ejection nozzles of each of the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black ejection nozzle groups are used. These ejection nozzles respectively have ink channels communicating with the corresponding ejection nozzles, and a common ink chamber for supplying an ink to these ink channels is arranged behind a portion where the ink channels are formed. In the ink channels corresponding to the ejection nozzles, electro-thermal energy converting members for generating heat energy utilized to eject ink droplets from these ejection nozzles, and electrode wiring patterns for supplying electric power to these converting members are arranged. The electro-thermal energy converting members and the electrode wiring patterns are formed on a substrate 201 (consisting of, e.g., silicon) by a film formation technique. The ejection nozzles, the ink channels, and the common ink chamber are defined by stacking partition walls, a top plate, and the like, which consist of a resin or a glass material, on the substrate. A drive circuit for driving the electro-thermal energy converting members on the basis of a recording signal is arranged behind the common ink chamber in the form of a printed circuit board 202. The silicon substrate 201 and the printed circuit board 202 project in a direction parallel to a single aluminum plate 203, and pipes 204 to 207 project from a plastic member 208 called a distributor which extends in a direction perpendicular to the silicon substrate. These pipes communicate with ink flow paths in the distributor, and the flow paths communicate with the common ink chamber. The four ink flow paths for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are formed in the distributor, and couple the common ink chamber to the corresponding pipes. The yellow, magenta, and cyan ejection nozzles formed on the printing head 102 each eject about 40 ng of ink, and the black (Bk) ejection nozzles eject about 80 ng of ink. Fig. 15 is an electrical control block diagram of the above-mentioned color ink jet printer. A system controller 301 controls the entire printer, and includes a microprocessor, a memory element (ROM) storing a control program, another memory element (RAM) used by the microprocessor upon execution of processing, and the like. A driver 302 drives the printing head in the main scanning direction, and a driver 303 similarly drives the printing head in the sub-scanning direction. Motors 304 and 305 respectively correspond to the drivers 302 and 303, and operate upon reception of information such as speeds, moving distances, and the like from the drivers. A host computer 306 transfers information to be printed to the printer of the present invention. A reception buffer 307 temporarily stores data from the host computer 306 until the stored data are read out by the system controller 301. Frame memories 308Y, 308M, 308C, and 308Bk are used for developing data to be printed into image data, and each frame memory has a memory size required for printing. In this embodiment, each frame memory can store data for one print paper sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Data buffers 309Y, 309M, 309C, and 309Bk temporarily store data to be printed, and their storage capacities are determined in correspondence with the numbers of nozzles of corresponding printing head portions. A print controller 310 properly controls the printing head in accordance with commands from the system controller. For example, the controller 310 controls the ejection speed, the number of print data, and the like of the printing head. A driver 311 drives head portions 312Y, 312M, 312C, and 312Bk, and is controlled by signals from the print controller 310. As described above, according to the recording method of the present invention, since dots adjacent to a color image portion and non-adjacent dots in a black image portion adjacent to the color image portion are controlled to be printed in different scans, no blurring at the boundary between a black image and a color image occurs, thus obtaining a high-quality recorded image. Since no blurring at the boundary between a black image and a color image occurs, the ejection amount of the black ink can be set to be larger than that of the color inks. As a result, a high-quality image with a high density can be obtained. Furthermore, these effects can be attained without prolonging the print time for one page. In each of the above embodiments, as the ink jet recording head, an ink jet recording head which utilizes heat energy, and ejects ink droplets by utilizing bubbles generated when heat generating members are selectively caused to generate heat in accordance with character or image information to be recorded is used. On the other hand, as a method of ejecting an ink, a method using electro-mechanical energy converting elements is available. With this method, the same effect of the present invention can be obtained. According to the present invention, conventional problems about image quality at a color boundary can be solved, and in particular, a recording error and a decrease in resolution caused by interference of inks at a boundary portion can be prevented. In each of the above embodiments, image discrimination processing and image development processing are performed in the printer side on the basis of data received from the host computer. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the host computer may execute the image discrimination processing and image development processing on the basis of generated data, and may transmit these processed data to the printer. In this case, a processing load on the printer can be reduced. Also, the image discrimination processing and image development processing may be respectively executed by the host computer and the printer. The present invention is particularly suitably usable in an ink jet recording head and recording apparatus wherein thermal energy by an electrothermal transducer, laser beam or the like is used to cause a change of state of the ink to eject or discharge the ink. This is because the high density of the picture elements and the high resolution of the recording are possible. The typical structure and the operational principle are preferably the ones disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. The principle and structure are applicable to a so-called on-demand type recording system and a continuous type recording system. Particularly, however, it is suitable for the on-demand type because the principle is such that at least one driving signal is applied to an electrothermal transducer disposed on a liquid (ink) retaining sheet or liquid passage, the driving signal being enough to provide such a quick temperature rise beyond a departure from nucleation boiling point, by which the thermal energy is provided by the electrothermal transducer to produce film boiling on the heating portion of the recording head, whereby a bubble can be formed in the liquid (ink) corresponding to each of the driving signals. By the production, development and contraction of the bubble, the liquid (ink) is ejected through an ejection outlet to produce at least one droplet. The driving signal is preferably in the form of a pulse, because the development and construction of the bubble can be effected instantaneously, and therefore, the liquid (ink) is ejected with quick response. The driving signal in the form of the pulse is preferably such as disclosed in U.S. Patents Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262. In addition, the temperature increasing rate of the heating surface is preferably such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,313,124. The structure of the recording head may be as shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459,600 wherein the heating portion is disposed at a bent portion, as well as the structure of the combination of the ejection outlet, liquid passage and the electrothermal transducer as disclosed in the above-mentioned patents. In addition, the present invention is applicable to the structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 59-123670 wherein a common slit is used as the ejection outlet for plural electrothermal transducers, and to the structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 59-138461 wherein an opening for absorbing pressure wave of the thermal energy is formed corresponding to the ejection portion. This is because the present invention is effective to perform the recording operation with certainty and at high efficiency irrespective of the type of the recording head. In addition, the present invention is applicable to a serial type recording head wherein the recording head is fixed on the main assembly, to a replaceable chip type recording head which is connected electrically with the main apparatus and can be supplied with the ink when it is mounted in the main assembly, or to a cartridge type recording head having an integral ink container. The provisions of the recovery means and/or the auxiliary means for the preliminary operation are preferable, because they can further stabilize the effects of the present invention. As for such means, there are capping means for the recording head, cleaning means therefor, pressing or sucking means, preliminary heating means which may be the electrothermal transducer, an addition heating element or a combination thereof. Also, means for effecting preliminary ejection (not for the recording operation) can stabilize the recording operation. As regards the variation of the recording head mountable, it may be a single corresponding to a single color ink, or may be plural corresponding to the plurality of ink materials having different recording color or density. The present invention is effectively applicable to an apparatus having at least one of a monochromatic mode mainly with black, a multi-color mode with different color ink materials and/or a full-color mode using the mixture of the colors, which may be an integrally formed recording unit or a combination of plural recording heads. Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiment, the ink has been liquid. It may be, however, an ink material which is solidified below the room temperature but liquefied at the room temperature. Since the ink is controlled within the temperature not lower than 30°C and not higher than 70°C to stabilize the viscosity of the ink to provide the stabilized ejection in usual recording apparatus of this type, the ink may be such that it is liquid within the temperature range when the recording signal is supplied. The present invention is applicable to other types of ink. In one of them, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by consuming it for the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state. Another ink material which is solidified when it is left is used, to prevent the evaporation of the ink. In either of the cases, by the application of the recording signal producing thermal energy, the ink is liquefied and the liquefied ink may be ejected. Another ink material may start to be solidified at the time when it reaches the recording material. The present invention is also applicable to such an ink material as is liquefied by the application of the thermal energy. Such an ink material may be retained as a liquid or solid material in through holes or recesses formed in a porous sheet as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application.No. 54-56847 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 60-71260. The sheet is faced to the electrothermal transducers. The most effective one for the ink materials described above is the film boiling system. The ink jet recording apparatus may be used as an output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as computer or the like, as a copying apparatus combined with an image reader or the like, or as a facsimile machine having information sending and receiving functions. While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the following claims.

Claims: A method of recording a multi-color image on a recording medium utilising a recording head (1) which is scanned relative to the recording medium and which has a black ejection portion group (10d) including m ejection portions for ejecting black ink and color ejection portion groups (10a, 10b, 10c) each including n, where 2n ≤ m, ejection portions for ejecting respective color inks other than black ink arranged so that in a single scan each of the ejection portion groups for ejecting black and color inks eject ink onto a respective different portion of the recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a black image is to be printed using the black ink adjacent to a color image to be printed using at least one of the color inks in a region of the recording medium upon which the black ejection portion group (10d) is capable of printing in a single scan; and when it is determined in the determining step that a black image and a color image are to be printed adjacent to each other, printing the black image by forming a first portion of the black image which is adjacent to the color image in a separate scan to a scan for forming a second portion of the black image which is not adjacent to the color image. A method according to claim 1, wherein said m ejection portions for ejecting black ink are divided into a first ejection portion group including the first to i-th to ejection portions, and a second ejection portion group including i+1-th to j-th ejection portions, where 1 < i < j ≤ m, and wherein the first black image portion adjacent to a color image is printed using one of said first and second ejection portion groups, and the second black image portion which is not adjacent to a color image is printed using the other of said first and second ejection portion groups. A method according to claim 2, whereinj = 2i. A method according to any preceding claim, which further comprises using a recording head with the ejection portion group for ejecting the black ink arranged at an end portion of said recording head (1). A method according to any preceding claim, which comprises using a recording head wherein a space is assigned between adjacent different color ejection portion groups (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d). A method according to any preceding claim, further comprising controlling the amount of ink ejected by using a different amount of heat energy to eject ink to print the first black image portion adjacent to a color image than to print the second black image portion which is not adjacent to a color image. A method according to any preceding claim, which comprises using yellow, magenta, cyan inks as the color inks. A method according to any preceding claim, which comprises using an ink jet recording head which causes ink to be ejected from the ejection portions as a result of change in state caused by heat energy generating means. An apparatus for recording a multi-color image on a recording medium utilising a recording head (1) which is scanned relative to the recording medium and which has a black ejection portion group (10d) including m ejection. portions for ejecting black ink and color ejection portion groups (10a, 10b, 10c) each including n, where 2n ≤ m, ejection portions for ejecting respective different color inks other than black ink arranged so that in a single scan each of the ejection portion groups for ejecting black and color inks eject ink onto respective different portions of the recording medium, said apparatus comprising: means for determining whether or not a black image is to be printed using the black ink adjacent to a colour image to be printed using at least one of the color inks in a region of the recording medium upon which the black ejection portion group (10d) is capable of printing in a single scan; and means for printing the black image, when it is determined by said determining means that a black image and a color image are to be printed adjacent to each other, by forming a first portion of the black image adjacent to the color image in a separate scan to the scan for forming a second portion of the black image which is not adjacent to the color image. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said m ejection portions for ejecting black ink are divided into a first ejection portion group including the first to i-th ejection portions, and a second ejection portion group including i+1-th to j-th ejection portions, where 1 < i < j ≤ m, and wherein said image forming means are arranged to print the first black image portion adjacent to a color image using one of said first and second ejection portion groups, and the second black image portion which is not adjacent to a color image using the other of said first and second ejection portion groups. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein j = 2i. An apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the ejection portion group (10d) for ejecting the black ink is arranged at an end portion of said recording head (1). An apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 12, wherein a space is assigned between adjacent different color ejection portion groups (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) of the recording head. An apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 13, further comprising means for controlling the amount of ink ejected by using a different amount of heat energy to eject ink to print the first black image portion adjacent to a color image than to print the second black image portion which is not adjacent to a color image. An apparatus according any of claim 9 to 14, which is arranged to use yellow, magenta, cyan inks as the color inks when it is determined by the determining means that the black and color images are to be printed adjacent to each other. An apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 15 further comprising an ink jet recording head which causes ink to be ejected from the ejection portions as a result of change in state caused by heat energy generating means.

Inventors: ARAI ATSUSHI, EBISAWA ISAO, INUI TOSHIHARU, IWASAKI OSAMU, KANEMATSU DAIGORO, KUWABARA NOBUYUKI, MORIYAMA JIRO, OTSUKA NAOJI, SAKAKI MAMORU, TAJIKA HIROSHI, TAKAHASHI KIICHIRO, YAEGASHI HISAO, YANO KENTARO, ARAI, ATSUSHI, EBISAWA, ISAO, INUI, TOSHIHARU, IWASAKI, OSAMU, KANEMATSU, DAIGORO, KUWABARA, NOBUYUKI, MORIYAMA, JIRO, OTSUKA, NAOJI, SAKAKI, MAMORU, TAJIKA, HIROSHI, TAKAHASHI, KIICHIRO, YAEGASHI, HISAO, YANO, KENTARO, ARAI, ATSUSHI, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, EBISAWA, ISAO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, INUI, TOSHIHARU, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, IWASAKI, OSAMU, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KANEMATSU, DAIGORO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KUWABARA, NOBUYUKI, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, MORIYAMA, JIRO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, OTSUKA, NAOJI, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, SAKAKI, MAMORU, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, TAJIKA, HIROSHI, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, TAKAHASHI, KIICHIRO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, YAEGASHI, HISAO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, YANO, KENTARO, C/O CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: B41J19, B41M5, B41J2