Method and apparatus for electro-coagulation printing and electrode control unit

An electro-coagulation printer comprising:

• an interface for receiving print data from an external device;
• a data processing section for creating gradation data corresponding to a collection of gradation values for pixels with reference to a table based on the print data;
• an output timing control section for controlling output timings with respect to one line of electrodes respectively;
• a pulse generation section for generating a plurality of pulse signals for driving the electrodes respectively with reference to a table based on the gradation values;
• an electrode drive section for driving the electrodes in parallel independently in response to the pulse signals;
• and
• an table update block for updating contents of the tables in response to correction information, which is received by the interface.

An electro-coagulation printer comprising:

• a rotation drum adapted to have a conductive ink film on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of electrodes configured to when electrifying partially coagulate the conductive ink film to form ink dots on the surface of the rotation drum;
• a transfer section for transferring the ink dots onto a paper;
• an interface for receiving print data from an external device;
• a data processing section for creating gradation data corresponding to a collection of gradation values for pixels on the basis of the print data;
• an output timing control section for controlling timings of outputting the gradation values to one line of the electrodes independently;
• and
• an electrode drive section for installing a plurality of D/A converters for converting the gradation values, which are output by the timings independently controlled by the output timing control section, to analog signals, which are output in parallel to drive the electrodes respectively.

An electro-coagulation printer comprising:

• a rotation drum adapted to have a conductive ink film on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of electrodes configured when electrifying partially coagulate the conductive ink film to form ink dots on the surface of the rotation drum;
• a transfer section for transferring the ink dots onto a paper;
• an interface for receiving print data from an external device;
• a data processing section for creating gradation data corresponding to a collection of gradation values for pixels on the basis of the print data;
• an output timing control section for controlling timings of outputting the gradation values to one line of the electrodes independently;
• a pulse generation section for generating pulse signals for driving the electrodes independently on the basis of the gradation values which are output by the timings independently controlled by the output timing control section;
• and
• an electrode drive section for driving the electrodes in parallel based on the pulse signals respectively,
• wherein the pulse generation section generates the pulse signals having multiple types of phases respectively.