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US 2003/0164866 A1Published application
Ink jet printing
AssigneeSpectra, Inc.
InventorsPaul A. Hoisington, Marc A. Torrey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
During a print cycle, fire pulses of different profiles are delivered to ink-jets of a print head. Selected ones of the ink-jets are enabled in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control a characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.
Claims27
A method comprising
- determining a drop characteristic for a plurality of jets as a function of fire pulse profile,
- during a print cycle, delivering fire pulses of different profiles to ink-jets of a print head, and
- enhancing drop uniformity among the plurality of jets by enabling selected ones of the ink-jets in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control at least one characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.
Apparatus comprising
- a print head having ink-jets, and
- a controller coupled to the print head and configured to (a) deliver fire pulses of different profiles to ink-jets of a print head in a print cycle, and (b) based on the variation in a drop characteristic as a function of pulse profile for a plurality ink-jets, enhancing drop uniformity by enabling selected ones of the ink-jets in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control at least one characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.
A method comprising
- positioning a substrate at successive locations relative to a print head having ink-jets for printing in a corresponding succession of print cycles,
- during each print cycle, delivering fire pulses of different profiles to ink-jets of a print head, and
- enhancing drop uniformity by enabling selected ones of the ink-jets in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control at least one characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.
A method comprising
- associating values of a characteristic of drops jetted by an ink-jet in a print head with different profiles of fire pulses that yielded the drops for a plurality of ink-jets, and
- enhancing drop uniformity among said jets by controlling respective ink-jets to jet drops having desired values by selecting different profiles of a fire pulse within a print cycle.
A method of controlling grayscale, comprising
- during a print cycle, delivering fire pulses of different profiles to inkjets of a printhead, said different profiles being associated with different ink volumes jetted by said ink-jets,
- selecting said fire pulses according to desired grayscale level by determining the cumulative ink volume resulting from multiple fire pulses, and
- enabling selected ones of the ink-jets in coordination with the occurrence of the fire pulses to control the ink volume that is jetted by the respective ink-jets during the print cycle.
Apparatus comprising
- a printhead having ink-jets, and
- a controller coupled to the printhead and configured to (a) deliver fire pulses of different profiles to multiple ink-jets of a printhead in a print cycle, said different profiles being associated with different ink volumes jetted by said inkjets, (b) selecting a set of said fire pulses corresponding to said desired grayscale levels by determining the cumulative ink volume resulting from multiple fire pulses, and (c) enabling selected ones of the ink-jets in coordination with the occurrence of one or more of the fire pulses in the set to control the ink volume jetted by the respective ink-jets during the print cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.