Ink-jet image recording apparatus for multi-pass recording

An ink-jet image recording apparatus employing a plurality of scannable ink-jet heads, each of which ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium to thereby record an image, comprising:

• scanning means for performing scans by said ink-jet heads with respect to the recording medium;
• first mode setting means for setting a first mode in which a mono-color image is recorded;
• second mode setting means for setting a second mode in which the image is recorded by performing a plurality of times of scans by said scanning means on a same area of the recording medium;
• and
• control means for control setting of said second mode by said second mode setting means in accordance with the color of mono-color image to be recorded, when the first mode is set by said first mode setting means.

An ink-jet image recording apparatus employing a plurality of ink-jet heads, each of which ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium to thereby record a color image in accordance with record data, said ink-jet image recording apparatus comprising:

• scanning means for performing scanning by said ink-jet heads with respect to the recording medium;
• mode setting means for setting a mode in which an image is recorded by performing scanning a plurality of times with respect to a same area of the recording medium by said scanning means;
• and
• recording control means for controlling a number of scannings performed on a same area of the recording medium in accordance with record data, when the mode is set by said mode setting means;
• wherein, when an image to be recorded is a mono-color image to be recorded by one of the ink-jet heads for an irk of a single color, said recording control means performs recording of the mono-color image using the one of the ink-jet heads one time, and does not perform a further recording scan, and when the image to be recorded is a mono-color image to be recorded by the plurality of ink-jet heads, said recording control means performs recording of the mono-color image using the plurality of ink-jet recording heads by the plurality of recording scannings, wherein at least one of the ink-jet heads performs recording in each of said plurality of times of recording scannings, and the ink-jet head used in each of the recording scannings differs from those used in other recording scannings.

An ink-jet image recording apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of ink-jet heads, each of which ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium;
• scanning means for performing scans by said ink-jet heads with respect to a recording medium;
• and
• control means for controlling said scanning means so that an image is recorded by performing a plurality of recording scans by said ink-jet heads on a same area of the recording medium, wherein at least one of the ink-jet heads performs recording in each of the recording scans, and the ink-jet head used in each of the recording scans differs from those used in other recording scans,
• wherein said control means varies the number of times of said recording scans and order in which the ink-jet heads are used in recording, in accordance with a kind of said recording medium and the image to be recorded.

A method for recording a color image, comprising the steps of:

• providing an ink-jet image recording apparatus employing a plurality of scannable ink-jet heads, and scanning means for performing scanning by said ink-jet heads with respect to a recording medium, each of the ink-jet heads ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium during scanning by said scanning means in accordance with record data, to thereby record the image,
• wherein said apparatus records the image in a mode in which the color image is recorded by performing scanning a plurality of times with respect to a same area of the recording medium, determining the ink-jet head to be used in each of the plurality of scannings so that at least one ink-jet head performs recording in each of the scannings;
• determining an amount of each color of ink to be ejected onto a same area of the recording medium in accordance with the record data;
• determining the ink-jet head to be used in each of the plurality of times of scanning in accordance with the amount of each color of ink determined in the previous step;
• and
• recording the color image by performing a plurality of times of scannings on a same area of the recording medium, wherein the ink-jet head determined in said determining step is used in each of the scannings.

A method for recording a mono-color image comprising the steps of:

• providing an ink-jet image recording apparatus which performs scanning employing a plurality of ink-jet heads, each of which ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium to thereby record the image;
• setting a mono-color mode in which the mono-color image is recorded;
• determining a number of times of recording scan for performing a mono-color recording in accordance with the color of the mono-color image to be recorded;
• and
• recording the mono-color image by performing recording scan of the number of times determined in said determining step on a same area of the recording medium;
• wherein, when said color of the mono-color image to be recorded is a color to be recorded by an ink-jet head for an ink of a single color, recording of the mono-color image is performed by one recording scan using the one of the ink-jet heads, and when the color of the mono-color image to be recorded is a color to be recorded by the plurality of ink-jet heads, recording of the mono-color image is performed by the plurality of recording scans,
• wherein at least one ink-jet head performs recording in each of the plurality of recording scans, and the ink-jet head used in each of the recording scans differs from those used in other recording scans.

A method for recording images, comprising the steps of:

• providing an ink-jet image recording apparatus employing a plurality of ink-jet heads, each of which ejects a different color of ink onto a recording medium while scanning said ink-jet heads with respect to the recording medium to thereby effect recording the image;
• determining a number of times of recording scans on the same area of the recording medium and order of using the ink-jet head to be used in recording, in accordance with a kind of the recording medium and the image to be recorded;
• and
• recording the image by performing the recording scans of the number of times determined in said determining step, using the ink-jet heads in the order determined in said determining step.