JP7604172B2 - Recording device and recording method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording device and a recording method.

Inkjet recording devices are primarily used for printing photographs and postcards, and are characterized by high speed recording, high quality, low noise, and the ability to record on a variety of media. Inkjet technology is expanding into a variety of applications, and the recording heads used in inkjet recording devices are becoming more and more sophisticated and undergoing technological innovation.

There are two main types of inkjet methods known: thermal inkjet and piezoelectric. The thermal inkjet method applies thermal energy to ink, causing a state change in the ink that is accompanied by a sudden change in volume (the generation of air bubbles), and the ink is ejected from the nozzle by the force based on this state change. The piezoelectric method applies a voltage to the electrodes on both sides of the piezoelectric element to deform the element, and the ink is ejected from the nozzle by the resulting volume change.

Inkjet recording devices form images by ejecting ink from ejection ports onto a recording medium using the above method. In recent years, in order to meet market needs for higher resolution images and faster recording, as well as expectations for industrial applications, technological development has been underway to enable inkjet recording devices to stably eject smaller droplets than before. In addition, technological development is being undertaken to solve the problem of suppressing satellite droplets, which are even smaller droplets than the main droplet that occur behind the main droplet.

Satellites cause a variety of problems. For example, smaller ink droplets are more susceptible to air resistance, so they are affected by the air currents that occur when the main droplet passes through the air, causing the satellites that follow to land in unexpected locations, reducing image quality.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology that reduces satellites by ejecting ink in a state where the ink meniscus is convex relative to the nozzle face due to ejection from adjacent nozzles. To achieve this state, patent document 1 presents a method in which the ejection time interval between adjacent nozzles is set to a predetermined value, and as a means of achieving this, it drives adjacent nozzles in sequence.

JP 2009-23259 A

However, in order to reduce the occurrence of satellites by ejecting ink with a convex ink meniscus, it is desirable to eject ink at a specified time interval relative to the ejection of adjacent nozzles, but this alone is not expected to be sufficient. Because the ejection interval between adjacent nozzles varies depending on the drive cycle, it may not be possible to sufficiently suppress the occurrence of satellites by simply ejecting adjacent nozzles in sequence. This embodiment has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to perform printing while suppressing satellites more than ever before.

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus comprising a printhead having a plurality of ejection ports arranged in a predetermined direction for ejecting ink, a plurality of printing elements used for ejecting ink from the plurality of ejection ports provided so as to correspond to the plurality of ejection ports, respectively, and a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the plurality of ejection ports, and a drive means for dividing a plurality of printing elements arranged consecutively in the predetermined direction among the plurality of printing elements into a plurality of blocks and driving the printing elements for each block so that adjacent printing elements are driven consecutively, and for performing printing by moving the printhead and a printing medium relatively in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction, The recording device can execute a first recording mode and a second recording mode in which the driving cycle of the recording elements is longer than that of the first recording mode, as modes in which the multiple recording elements divided into blocks are driven continuously to record on a recording medium, and is characterized in that the second recording mode has a higher ratio, relative to the driving cycle, of a non-driving period in which a driving signal is not set for the multiple recording elements, which is provided between a driving period that is a period from the first drive to the last drive of the multiple recording elements in the block and a driving period that is a period from the first drive to the last drive of the next multiple recording elements in the block, as compared to the first recording mode.

The above configuration makes it possible to perform recording while suppressing the occurrence of satellites.

A perspective view of a recording device A block diagram showing the configuration of a control circuit of a printing apparatus. A perspective view of a recording head FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a nozzle driving sequence. A diagram showing the relationship between scanning speed, recording resolution, and drive signal FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a nozzle driving sequence. A diagram showing the drive interval between adjacent nozzles and the number of satellites A diagram showing the width of the drive signal relative to the scanning speed and recording resolution. A diagram showing the relationship between scanning speed, recording resolution, and drive signal 1 is a table showing block margins and their block lengths according to the first embodiment. Flowchart for explaining the first embodiment Flowchart for explaining the second embodiment Flowchart for explaining the third embodiment

Below, an embodiment of the invention is described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
In this specification, "recording" (hereinafter also referred to as "printing") refers not only to the formation of meaningful information such as characters and figures, but also to the formation of images, patterns, designs, etc., on a recording medium, regardless of whether they are meaningful or not, or to the processing of the medium. In addition, it does not matter whether they are manifested in a way that can be perceived by humans visually.

In addition, "recording medium" refers not only to the paper used in typical recording devices, but also broadly to anything that can accept ink, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, and leather.

The term "ink" should be interpreted broadly in the same way as the definition of "recording" above, and refers to a liquid that can be applied to a recording medium to form an image, design, pattern, etc., or to process the recording medium, or to treat the ink. Examples of ink treatment include solidifying or insolubilizing the coloring matter in the ink that is applied to the recording medium.

Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, "nozzle" refers collectively to the discharge port and the liquid path that communicates with it.

Figure 1 is an external perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of an inkjet recording device that is a representative embodiment of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet recording device (hereinafter, referred to as a recording device) is equipped with a recording head 3 that performs recording by ejecting ink according to an inkjet method. A driving force generated by a carriage motor M1 is transmitted to a carriage 2 carrying the recording head 3 via a transmission mechanism 4, and the carriage 2 is moved back and forth (reciprocating scanning) in the main scanning direction, that is, the direction of the arrow A. For example, a recording medium P such as a recording paper is fed via a paper feed mechanism 5, transported to a recording position, and at the recording position, ink is ejected from the recording head 3 onto the recording medium P along with reciprocating scanning to perform recording. The scanning of the recording head 3 and the transport of the recording medium in the transport direction (here, the direction intersecting the direction of the arrow A) are alternately performed, and this is repeated to perform recording. The recording head 3 may be scanned multiple times on the same area of the recording medium to perform recording. The relative movement between the recording head 3 and the recording medium is performed in a direction intersecting the nozzle arrangement direction, but this is not limited to the form in which the recording head 3 scans. The recording head 3 may be moved under the stationary recording head 3 in a direction intersecting the nozzle arrangement direction to perform printing by applying ink to the recording medium that passes through.

The carriage 2 of the recording device not only carries the recording head 3, but also has an ink tank 6 that contains the ink to be supplied to the recording head 3. The recording head 3 and ink tank 6 are detachable from the carriage 2.

The recording device shown in FIG. 1 is capable of color recording, and therefore the carriage 2 is equipped with four ink tanks containing magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K) inks, respectively. The carriage 2 and the recording head 3 are designed so that the joint surfaces of both members are in proper contact with each other to achieve and maintain the required electrical connection. The recording head 3 selectively ejects ink from a plurality of ejection ports arranged in a predetermined direction (here, a direction intersecting with the direction of the arrow A) by applying energy in response to a recording signal. The recording head 3 is provided with liquid chambers for ink supplied within the head corresponding to each color of ink, and ink is supplied to the plurality of ejection ports through channels branching from a common liquid chamber. In particular, the recording head 3 of this embodiment employs an inkjet method that ejects ink using thermal energy, and is equipped with an electrothermal converter, which is a recording element for generating thermal energy. Electrical energy applied to the electrothermal converter is converted into thermal energy, and ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing pressure changes caused by the growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling caused by applying the thermal energy to the ink. This electrothermal converter is provided in correspondence with each ejection port, and ink is ejected from the corresponding ejection port by applying a pulse voltage to the corresponding electrothermal converter in response to a recording signal.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 2 is connected to a part of the drive belt 7 of the transmission mechanism 4 that transmits the driving force of the carriage motor M1, and is guided and supported so as to be freely slidable in the direction of arrow A along the guide shaft 13. Therefore, the carriage 2 scans back and forth along the guide shaft 13 by the forward and reverse rotation of the carriage motor M1. In addition, a scale 8 is provided to indicate the position of the carriage 2 along the main scanning direction of the carriage 2 (the direction of arrow A).

The recording device is also provided with a platen (not shown) facing the ejection port surface on which the ejection ports (not shown) of the recording head 3 are formed, and the carriage 2 carrying the recording head 3 is scanned back and forth by the driving force of the carriage motor M1. At the same time, a recording signal is given to the recording head 3 to eject ink, thereby recording across the entire width of the recording medium P transported onto the platen.

2 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 600 of the printing apparatus has an MPU 601, a ROM 602 that stores necessary tables and other fixed data. It also has an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 603 that generates control signals for controlling the carriage motor M1, the conveying motor M2, and the print head 3. It also has a RAM 604 that provides an image data development area and a work area for program execution, and a system bus 605 that connects the MPU 601, the ASIC 603, and the RAM 604 to each other and transmits and receives data. It also has an A/D converter 606 that converts analog signals input from a group of sensors 630 of the printing apparatus, such as a position sensor 631 and a temperature sensor 632, into digital signals and supplies the digital signals to the MPU 601. The controller 600 also drives a plurality of printing elements of the print head 3 at predetermined time intervals during preliminary ejection and printing. Furthermore, 610 is a computer or the like that serves as a supply source of image data, and is generally referred to as a host. Image data, commands, status signals, and the like are sent and received between the host 610 and the printing device via an interface (I/F) 611. Furthermore, 640 is a carriage motor driver that drives the carriage motor M1, and 642 is a transport motor driver that drives the transport motor M2. The printing device also has a group of switches 620, including a power switch 621, a print switch 622, and a recovery switch 623.

Figure 3(a) is an external perspective view showing the print head unit of this embodiment. An ink tank 6 is detachably attached to the print head 3, and ink is supplied to the print head 3 via an ink supply path (not shown). As shown in Figure 3(b), when mounted on the carriage 2, electrodes 301 are provided for receiving an electrical signal supplied from the carriage 2 side, and this electrical signal drives the print head 3 to selectively eject ink from each ejection port of the ejection port array 302.

The method of driving the recording head 3 in the inkjet recording device is a block division driving method in which multiple ejection ports are divided into multiple blocks and the ejection ports of each block are driven simultaneously. The time width for which the signal driving each block can be set is set to be equal, and this time width is called the block length, which is tb in this case.

In this embodiment, a print head is used in which nozzles arranged in a row are divided into 16 blocks and driven in a time-division manner. Figure 4 shows a drive diagram of 16 adjacent nozzles of this print head during printing. 401 indicates 16 adjacent nozzles (black circles in the figure), and drive signals corresponding to each nozzle are input in a predetermined order from left to right in the figure. Then, ejection operation from each ejection port begins in response to the ON state of the drive signal, which has a drive waveform as shown in 402.

The possible range of block lengths for setting the drive signals corresponding to each nozzle is limited by the relationship between the scanning speed of the print head and the print resolution.

Figure 5(a) illustrates these relationships in this embodiment. The correspondence between adjacent nozzles 401 (black circles in the figure) and the waveform of the drive signal is the same as that described in Figure 4. As shown in 501, if the scanning speed of the print head is V [inch/sec] and the print resolution is R [dot/inch], the drive period for each nozzle is 1/(V·R) [sec/dot]. In order to fit the drive signal of the nozzles divided into 16 blocks in each print scan into this drive period, the block length for each nozzle is determined to satisfy 16tb ≦ 1/(V·R). This is because when 1/(V·R) time has passed since the drive of the first print element of the block, it becomes the time (1/(V·R)) for printing the next column. The amount of ink ejected from a nozzle varies depending on the ejection characteristics of each ink and the real-time temperature change of the print head, but in order to absorb these variations, it is necessary to modulate the drive signal according to each condition, and in order to maintain a high degree of freedom in this regard, it is preferable to set the block length tb assigned to each nozzle to as large a value as possible. However, if the maximum value tb = 1/(16 V R) is used, it will not be possible to fit all the drive signals within the drive cycle when the scan speed of the print head varies, so as shown in 502 of FIG. 5(b), a certain margin tm (hereinafter referred to as the block margin) is set as tb = {1/(V R) - tm}/16, and the above-mentioned request is achieved by setting tm to a small value within the range that does not cause problems in the device configuration. This block margin is the non-drive period between the drive period of the block of arranged print elements and the next drive period.

The order in which the recording elements are driven can be set appropriately, and by setting it discretely as shown in FIG. 4, the interval between driving adjacent recording elements can be increased to eject the ink. Conversely, by setting the order in which adjacent nozzles are driven continuously as shown in FIG. 6(a), the interval between driving adjacent recording elements can be narrowed. In this case, for any nozzle, the interval between the drive times when adjacent nozzles are driven is the same as the block length, tb. The drive order shown in FIG. 6(b) drives the recording element corresponding to a nozzle that is one different from the recording element corresponding to the adjacent nozzle, but as a result, the adjacent recording elements are printed continuously. Compared to the discrete drive order shown in FIG. 4, the drive interval between the recording elements corresponding to adjacent nozzles can be narrowed. In this case, the drive interval between the recording elements corresponding to adjacent nozzles is 2tb. However, the drive interval between the nozzle 601 and the recording element corresponding to the nozzle one position above in the figure is greater than 2tb.

Here, it is known that satellites can be reduced by driving the recording elements corresponding to adjacent nozzles in a continuous order. Normally, when an ink droplet is ejected, it is separated into a main droplet and a trailing droplet that follows it, and the trailing droplet splits and merges to become a small droplet called a satellite. If the ink is ejected with the ink meniscus convex in the ejection direction, the ink tip tends to break off quickly, and the trailing droplet becomes relatively short. By driving the ink in a continuous order and vibrating the meniscus, the above state can be achieved, which results in the suppression of satellites.

The print head 3 of this embodiment is a print head with an ejection volume of 5 pl. Figure 7 shows the relationship between the number of satellites 50 microseconds after the start of ejection and the time interval for driving adjacent print elements. The horizontal axis represents the time interval for driving adjacent print elements, and the vertical axis represents the number of satellites. In Figure 7, it can be seen that the number of satellites changes by changing the time interval for driving adjacent print elements. The dotted line in the figure indicates the number of satellites by the drive method shown in Figure 4. It can be seen that the number of satellites is significantly reduced when the time interval for driving adjacent print elements is 5.0 microseconds or less. In this way, by setting the drive order to a continuous order and shortening the drive time interval between adjacent nozzles, the number of satellites can be reduced and image quality can be improved.

However, even if the block length and block interval are adjusted by making the order continuous, satellites may not be sufficiently reduced depending on the scanning speed and recording resolution of the recording head 3. Figure 8 shows the block length values for each scanning speed and recording resolution of the recording head 3 used in this embodiment. Here, the block margin is set to 10% of 1/(V·R), and the value after the first decimal place is rounded down. As is clear from this table, as mentioned above, it is desirable to set the block interval tb to 5.0 microseconds to reduce the number of satellites, but this value is exceeded under the conditions of the shaded area in Figure 8.

In consideration of this point, in this embodiment, among the executable printing modes, a printing mode in which the driving period between printing elements corresponding to nozzles determined from the scanning speed and printing resolution of the print head is long is configured to set the block margin value larger than a printing mode in which the driving period is short. FIG. 9 shows driving diagrams of two modes with different scanning speeds and printing resolutions. The correspondence between the nozzles and the driving waveforms in each of (a) to (c) is the same as that described in FIG. 4. FIG. 9(a) is a driving diagram for the first printing mode according to this embodiment in which the scanning speed of the print head is 30 [inch/sec] and the printing resolution is 600 [dot/inch], and the driving period is 55.56 microseconds. In this case, the driving interval (block interval) between elements corresponding to adjacent nozzles is 3.1 microseconds, which is sufficient to reduce satellites, whereas in a printing mode in which the printing resolution is 300 [dot/inch] (see FIG. 9(b)), the driving interval between adjacent nozzles is 6.2 microseconds. Therefore, in order to obtain the effect of reducing satellites, as in the second recording mode according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 9C, the block margin is increased from 11.11 microseconds, which is 10% of the drive cycle, to 33.33 microseconds, which is 30%. This results in a drive interval (block interval) of 4.8 microseconds, which provides the effect of reducing satellites. In this way, if the block interval at which satellites can be reduced is td, the block margin can be set to satisfy tm > 1/(V·R)-16td. As mentioned above, it is desirable to shorten the block margin so that the drive interval can be set as long as possible to ensure the freedom of the ejection signal, but it is possible to optimize image quality by setting the drive interval and block margin in consideration of the characteristics of the recording mode, the purpose, or the freedom of the ejection signal.

Figure 10 is a table in which the block margin and block length are set to obtain the effect of satellite reduction. In Figure 10(a), the scanning speed and recording resolution of a 300 dpi recording mode, which has a relatively low recording cycle, i.e., a recording mode with a relatively long driving cycle, are set so that the ratio of block margin to driving cycle is higher than that of a recording mode with a recording resolution of 600 dpi. This allows the block spacing to be set to a value less than td at which the effect of satellite suppression is obtained, as shown in Figure 10(b).

Figure 11 is a flowchart showing the control process of the inkjet recording device in this embodiment. This control process is mainly performed by the controller 600.

First, when image data is received from the host computer, in step S1110 the recording mode of the received image data is obtained. Since the received image data also contains parameters for the recording mode, mode information is obtained. If the received image data does not contain parameters for the recording mode, the recording mode set on the operation unit of the recording device is obtained, or a display is displayed on the operation unit of the host computer or recording device to prompt the user to set the recording mode. Next, in S1120, the scanning speed and recording resolution of the recording head associated with the recording mode obtained in S1110 are obtained, and in the following S1130, a block margin that matches the conditions of the scanning speed and recording resolution is set. Next, in S1140, the image is recorded according to the parameters set in S1120 and S1130.

As described above, the longer the drive cycle for each nozzle, which is determined by the print head scanning speed and print resolution, the larger the block margin ratio can be set to suppress the occurrence of satellites, making it possible to obtain high-quality printed images.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, the ratio of the block margin is set to a larger value in a print mode in which the drive cycle for each nozzle, which is determined from the scan speed and print resolution of the print head, is longer than in the second embodiment, in which the ratio of the block margin is set to a larger value in accordance with the distance between the print head and the print medium.

When ink is ejected from a nozzle, satellites that occur behind the main droplets degrade image quality, so we have described a configuration that suppresses the generation of satellites and improves image quality. The degree to which the generated satellites degrade image quality strongly depends on the distance between the recording head and the recording medium. Since satellites have a smaller volume than the main droplets, they are more susceptible to the influence of air resistance and degrade image quality by landing at a position different from the main droplets. However, if the distance between the recording head and the recording medium is small, the flight time is shortened and the deviation from the landing position of the main droplet is reduced. Therefore, if the distance between the recording head 3 and the recording medium P at the recording position is sufficiently small, the impact of satellites on image quality is small. As described in the first embodiment, satellites can be suppressed by setting the block margin ratio large, while setting the block length long makes it easier to deal with density fluctuations. When the distance between the recording head and the recording medium is relatively small, it is desirable to select the latter. In this embodiment, the distance between the recording head and the platen and the thickness of the recording medium that the device supports are stored in advance in ROM 602 as distance information between the recording head and the recording medium. The distance between the print head and the print medium is calculated from the type of print medium set along with the print mode, and a table that increases the block margin ratio is selected by comparing the distance between the print medium and a preset value.

Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the control process of the inkjet recording device in this embodiment. This control process is mainly performed by the controller 600.

Steps S1210 and S1220 are the same as steps S1110 and S1120 in the first embodiment. In the following step S1230, the type of recording medium to be printed and its thickness are obtained, and the distance between the recording head and the recording medium is calculated. Next, in S1240, the calculated distance is compared with a predetermined value set in advance. If it is greater than the predetermined value, in S1250, a table is used in which a block margin is set such that the block interval tb is smaller than td, and a block margin that matches the conditions of the scanning speed and recording resolution is set. If it is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value, in S1260, the block margin is set to a predetermined margin required for the configuration. In the case of the same resolution and the same scanning speed, the block margin set in step S1260 is longer than the block margin set in step S1250. Next, in S1270, the image is recorded according to the set parameters.

In this embodiment, the thickness of the recording medium is stored in advance in ROM, but a sensor that detects the distance between the recording head and the recording medium may be provided, and control may be determined based on that value. Also, while the calculated distance is compared with a predetermined value, it is desirable that the predetermined value be set appropriately for each ink, head, etc. configuration and recording mode.

As described above, by varying the ratio of the block margin depending on the distance between the recording head and the recording medium, it is possible to appropriately suppress the impact of satellites on image quality and obtain high-quality recorded images.

Third Embodiment
In the third embodiment, an example in which the ratio of the block margin is changed depending on the ink color will be described.

As mentioned above, the occurrence of satellites degrades image quality, but the amount of satellites that occur varies depending on the characteristics of the ink. For inks that generate a lot of satellites, suppressing satellites contributes to improving image quality, but for inks that do not generate satellites easily, controlling to suppress satellites does not contribute to improving image quality. Therefore, image quality can be optimized by varying the block margin ratio mentioned above depending on the ink.

Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the control process of the inkjet recording device in this embodiment. This control process is mainly performed by the controller 600.

Steps S1310 and S1320 are the same as steps S1110 and S1120 in the first embodiment. In the following step S1330, the settings for the blocks are determined for each ink. It is determined in advance whether or not to implement satellite reduction control for each ink, and in the case of an ink that is the target of satellite reduction, in S1340, a table is used in which a block margin is set so that the block interval tb is smaller than td, and a block margin that meets the conditions of the scanning speed and recording resolution is set. In the case of an ink that is not the target of satellite reduction, in S1350, the block margin is set so that the predetermined margin required for the configuration is obtained. In S1360, it is determined whether the settings for all inks have been completed, and if not, the process returns to S1330 and continues the settings. If the settings have been completed, in S1370, the image is recorded according to the parameters that have been set.

As described above, by varying the block margin ratio according to the ink characteristics, it is possible to appropriately suppress image quality degradation caused by the occurrence of satellites and obtain high-quality printed images.

Other Embodiments
In the second and third embodiments, the block margin is set according to the printing conditions and the ink used, and satellites are suppressed as necessary. The following conditions can be considered as conditions for whether or not to suppress satellites. In printing modes with different numbers of printing passes to complete an image, in a mode with a large number of printing passes, the number of nozzles that eject simultaneously is small, so the probability that adjacent nozzles are continuously driven is relatively low, and the satellite reduction effect due to ink meniscus vibration is small. Therefore, it is desirable to prioritize the effect of suppressing density fluctuations by setting the block length long. It is also possible to differ the control depending on attributes such as whether the image to be formed contains many natural images or many lines and characters. When many lines and characters are included, image quality degradation such as line distortion and character crushing is easily noticeable when many satellites occur, but while such degradation is relatively less noticeable in natural images, unevenness due to density fluctuations is easily noticeable in images with continuous gradations. Therefore, it is desirable to control the block margin according to the characteristics of the image. The printer may have a means for determining the characteristics of the image, or the user may set them in advance.

The above describes the embodiments, but the block margin may be set to be located at the rear of the drive cycle as described above, or may be arranged separately at the front and rear. In addition, sequential driving has been described in which the nozzles are driven in order from the recording element corresponding to the nozzle at one end to the opposite end among the nozzles arranged in series and divided into blocks. However, such a completely sequential drive order is not necessarily required. Even in a drive method in which the drive order is not continuous between some adjacent nozzles, satellites can be suppressed by adjusting the drive interval of some adjacent nozzles that are continuously driven by adjusting the block margin described above. Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, the drive time interval of adjacent nozzles is controlled, but it is also possible that the vibration of the ink meniscus affects not only adjacent nozzles but also adjacent nozzles next to them. Therefore, based on the above embodiment, it is also possible to control the drive time interval of nozzles at discrete positions that are considered to be affected, that is, adjacent nozzles, not limited to adjacent nozzles on both sides.

Claims (9)

a printhead having a plurality of ejection ports arranged in a predetermined direction for ejecting ink, a plurality of printing elements used for ejecting ink from the plurality of ejection ports provided corresponding to the plurality of ejection ports, respectively, and a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the plurality of ejection ports; and a drive means for dividing a plurality of printing elements among the plurality of printing elements that are arranged consecutively in the predetermined direction into a plurality of blocks, and driving the printing elements for each block so that adjacent printing elements are continuously driven, wherein the printing device performs printing by relatively moving the printhead and a printing medium in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction, the printhead is capable of executing a first printing mode and a second printing mode in which a driving cycle of the printing elements is longer than that of the first printing mode,
A printing apparatus characterized in that, compared to the first printing mode, the second printing mode has a higher ratio of non-driving periods, in which no driving signals are set for the multiple printing elements , that are provided between a driving period that is the period from the first driving to the last driving of the multiple printing elements in the block and a driving period that is the period from the first driving to the last driving of the multiple printing elements in the block, relative to the driving cycle. a printhead having a plurality of ejection ports arranged in a predetermined direction for ejecting ink, a plurality of printing elements used for ejecting ink from the plurality of ejection ports provided corresponding to each of the plurality of ejection ports, and a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the plurality of ejection ports; and a drive means for dividing a plurality of printing elements arranged consecutively in the predetermined direction among the plurality of printing elements into a plurality of blocks and driving the printing elements for each block so that adjacent printing elements are driven consecutively, the printhead and the print medium are moved relatively in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction to print, the printhead having a drive means for driving the printing elements in a state in which the meniscus of ink from the plurality of ejection ports is convex in the ejection direction, the printhead being capable of executing a first print mode and a second print mode in which the drive cycle of the printing elements is longer than that of the first print mode,
A printing apparatus characterized in that, compared to the first printing mode, the second printing mode has a higher ratio of non-driving periods, in which no driving signals are set for the multiple printing elements , that are provided between a driving period that is the period from the first driving to the last driving of the multiple printing elements in the block and a driving period that is the period from the first driving to the last driving of the multiple printing elements in the block, relative to the driving cycle. The recording device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an acquisition means for acquiring distance information relating to the distance between the ejection port and the recording medium, and the non-driving period is set based on the distance information acquired by the acquisition means. The recording device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the recording head performs recording using ink of multiple colors, and the non-driving period is set for multiple recording elements corresponding to each color of ink according to the type of ink. A recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the multiple recording elements are divided into multiple blocks, and the multiple nozzles arranged in series in the blocks are driven in the order in which the corresponding recording elements are arranged from the nozzles at one end to the nozzles at the opposite end. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speed of the relative movement is faster in the first recording mode than in the second recording mode. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first recording mode has a higher recording resolution than the second recording mode. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head ejects ink while moving in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of the recording medium to perform recording. a recording device including a recording head having a plurality of ejection ports arranged in a predetermined direction for ejecting ink, a plurality of recording elements used for ejecting ink from the plurality of ejection ports provided corresponding to each of the plurality of ejection ports, and a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the plurality of ejection ports; and a driving means for dividing a plurality of recording elements that are continuously arranged in the predetermined direction among the plurality of recording elements into a plurality of blocks, and driving the recording elements for each block so that adjacent recording elements are continuously driven, the recording device performing a recording method by relatively moving the recording head and a recording medium in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction, the recording method being characterized in that, when recording is performed by a first recording method, a non-drive period in which no drive signal is set for the plurality of recording elements provided between a drive period that is a period from the first drive to the last drive in the block of the plurality of recording elements and a drive period that is a period from the first drive to the last drive in the block of the next plurality of recording elements, is provided for a predetermined period, and when recording is performed by a second recording method in which the drive cycle of the recording elements is longer than that of the first recording method, the ratio of the non-drive period to the drive cycle of the recording elements is higher than that of the first recording method.

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