Printing method and printer
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsYasuhiro Yamagata, Kunio Omura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printing method for printing a barcode forms a plurality of dots on a print medium from one end of the bars to the other end by discharging ink droplets from print nozzles assigned to print the bars from among a plurality of nozzles aligned in a direction intersecting the bars. The printing method divides the barcode in the direction of the length of the bars into a plurality of segments, changes which of the plural nozzles are assigned as print nozzles in each of the segments, and discharges ink from the print nozzles in each of the segments to print the barcode.
Claims10
A printing method for printing a barcode by discharging ink droplets from print nozzles that are used for printing bars in the barcode, the printing method comprising:
- dividing the length of the bars of the barcode into a plurality of segments;
- changing which of the plurality of nozzles are used as print nozzles in each segment;
- and
- printing the barcode by discharging the ink droplets from the print nozzles in each segment.
A printer for printing a barcode by discharging ink droplets from print nozzles that are used for printing bars in the barcode, the printer comprising:
- a CPU that divides the length of the bars of the barcode into a plurality of segments, changes which of the nozzles that are used as print nozzles in each segment such that the barcode is printed by discharging ink droplets from the print nozzles in each segment;
- and
- a head carriage mechanism for moving said print medium relative to said print nozzles.
A printer having a nozzle array comprised of a plurality of nozzles aligned in a row for discharging ink droplets to print barcodes composed of alternating bars and spaces by forming the bars by aligning a plurality of dots formed on a print medium by the ink droplets discharged from the nozzles, the printer comprising:
- a CPU that divides a bitmap data matrix into units of plural columns and converting the bitmap data to new bitmap data by shifting the data in each unit of plural columns in the row direction of the matrix,
- wherein the bitmap data matrix represents the bars and spaces of the barcode with the matrix rows corresponding to the bar length, and each matrix element is assigned to a particular nozzle and denotes whether the corresponding dot prints;
- a head carriage mechanism that moves the print medium and nozzle array relative to each other so that the print medium moves in a direction intersecting the nozzle array;
- and
- a head driver that discharges the ink droplets from the nozzles so that the bars extend along the direction of the relative movement of the nozzle array based on the new bitmap data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.