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US 10,207,452 B2Granted
Printer having separated printhead array and method for operating a printer having a separated printhead array
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsBarry P. Mandel, James L. Giacobbi, Paul J. McConville, David A. Mantell, James J. Spence, James P. Calamita
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printer is configured with at least two printheads that are separated from one another in a cross-process direction by an integral multiple of printhead widths. This configuration enables parallel swaths of material to be ejected and then movement of the printheads in the cross-process direction by a distance corresponding to one or more integral numbers of the printhead width enables the area between the swaths to be completed and the area outside of the original swaths printed.
Claims8
A printer comprising:
- a member having a surface;
- at least two printheads, each printhead having an array of ejectors configured to eject drops of material toward the surface of the member, the printheads in the at least two printheads being mounted in tandem with one another and each of the printheads in the at least two printheads being separated in a cross-process direction from a closest printhead in the at least two printheads by a distance corresponding to an integral number of widths of one of the printheads;
- at least one actuator operatively connected to the member or the at least two printheads;
- a roller having at least two portions with a diameter that is greater than one or more portions of the roller separating the portions having the greater diameter, the portions having the greater diameter being separated by the distance corresponding to the integral number of widths of one of the printheads;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the at least two printheads and the at least one actuator, the controller being configured to:
- operate the at least one actuator to move the member or the at least two printheads in a process direction while operating the at least two printheads to eject drops of material from the at least two printheads and form a swath with each of the printheads in the at least two printheads with the swaths being separated by the distance corresponding to the integral number of widths of one of the printheads;
- operate the at least one actuator to move the member or the at least two printheads in the cross-process direction by a distance corresponding to one or more integral number of widths of one of the printheads;
- and
- operate the at least one actuator to move the member or the roller in the process direction at a predetermined distance from the drops of material ejected from the at least two printheads while operating the at least one actuator to rotate the roller to remove a portion of the drops of material ejected from the at least two printheads.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.