Method and apparatus for achieving increased printer throughput
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsJohn C. Santon, Joseph Henry Bauman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printer control method and apparatus are provided whereby print media feed and printhead carriage acceleration are overlapped in order to optimize the time which a printer spends preparing to print. The printhead carriage is accelerated at a time which has been determined to provide for concurrent completion of printhead carriage acceleration and media feed. This typically is accomplished by periodically previewing print data stored in memory for use in identifying a duration of time required to accelerate the printhead carriage to printing velocity and a duration of time required to advance the print medium. The difference between these times determines when to begin printhead carriage acceleration.
Claims16
An improved printer control method which includes repeated steps of accelerating a printhead carriage to a printing velocity, printing a printable image on print media, decelerating the printhead carriage, and advancing the print media, the improvement comprising:
- selecting an optimal time to begin accelerating the printhead carriage, such selecting including determining a difference between a duration of time to accelerate the printhead carriage to printing velocity and a duration of time required to advance the print medium, such difference defining a time at which to begin an accelerating step in order to provide for concurrent completion of carriage acceleration and media advancement;
- and
- beginning the accelerating step during a corresponding advancing step at a time which provides for concurrent completion of carriage acceleration and media advancement.
A printer for use in printing on print media in successive print swaths, the printer comprising:
- a first motor;
- a feed mechanism which advances print media using said first motor;
- a second motor;
- a printhead carriage which is movable via said second motor;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said first and second motors to control operation of said motors, said controller identifying a duration of time which will be required to accelerate said printhead carriage to printing velocity to print a subsequent print swath, identifying a duration of time which will be required to advance the print medium prior to such subsequent print swath, and determining a time at which to begin accelerating said printhead carriage in order to provide for concurrent completion of carriage acceleration and media advancement;
- said controller causing the first motor to begin advancing print media at a first time, and causing the second motor to begin acceleration of the printhead carriage at a second time determined to provide for concurrent completion of carriage acceleration and media advancement.
A printer control method for use in a printer which includes a printhead mounted on a printhead carriage for movement across a print medium in successive carriage passes, the print medium being incrementally advanced between carriage passes via a feed mechanism, the method comprising the steps of:
- previewing the print data stored in memory to identify a number of feed increments required to accelerate the feed mechanism to a predetermined feed rate a number of feed increments to advance the print medium between carriage passes and a number of feed increments to accelerate the printhead carriage to printing velocity the optimal time to begin acceleration of the printhead carriage being a maximum of:
- a) the number of feed increments required to accelerate the feed mechanism to a predetermined feed rate;
- and b) the difference between the identified number of feed increments to advance the print medium and the identified number of feed increments to accelerate the printhead carriage to printing velocity;
- selecting an optimal time to begin acceleration of the printhead carriage by determining a difference between the identified number of feed increments to advance the print medium and the identified number of feed increments to accelerate the printhead carriage to printing velocity;
- advancing the print medium;
- accelerating the printhead carriage beginning at the selected optimal time to begin acceleration of the printhead carriage;
- printing on the print medium;
- and
- decelerating the printhead carriage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.