Dynamically adjustable printhead assembly

An adjustable printhead-carrying yoke for a printer which permits dynamic adjusting of the printhead's fore and aft and skew positions comprising:

• a) a fixed yoke portion carried by the printer;
• b) a movable yoke portion carrying the printhead;
• c) fore and aft adjusting means for moving said movable yoke portion thereby adjusting the printhead's fore and aft position while the printhead is printing;
• and,
• d) skew adjusting means for moving said movable yoke portion thereby adjusting the printhead's skew while the printhead is printing.

In a printhead-carrying adjustable yoke for a printer having a fixed portion and a movable portion carrying the printhead wherein the movable portion is connected to the fixed portion by gripping members passing through clearance bores, a method of dynamically adjusting fore and aft and skew positions of the printhead comprising the steps of:

• a) loosening the gripping members sufficiently to allow the movable portion to be moved relative to the fixed portion without changing spacing of the printhead from a printing media disposed thereunder;
• b) printing on the media with the printhead and while printing,
• b1) applying equal fore and aft urging forces to the movable portion on opposite ends thereof to change the fore and aft position of the printhead,
• b2) visually inspecting print quality on the media and terminating step (b1) when an optimum print quality is achieved,
• b3) applying unequal fore and aft urging forces to the movable portion on opposite ends thereof to change the skew of the printhead,
• b4) visually inspecting print quality on the media and terminating step (b3) when an optimum print quality is achieved, and
• b5) repeating steps (b1) through (b4) as necessary until overall optimum print quality is achieved;
• and,
• c) tightening the gripping members to prevent further movement of the movable portion relative to the fixed portion once overall optimum print quality is achieved.