Method and apparatus for skipping white spaces in marking devices

Abstract

A method of skipping white spaces during the marking of an image onto a recording medium with a marking device includes the steps of detecting a white space in the image between a previous image block and a next image block, positioning a marking element of the marking device adjacent an output starting position on the recording medium, and marking the next image block on the recording medium. The marking device includes a marking element and a controller. Each white space is interposed between two image blocks, which include adjacent image data lines. The controller controls the marking element to mark the image in swaths. Each swath of the marking element is capable of marking more than one image data line. The output starting position is determined such that the marking device marks the next print block using a minimum number of swaths. As a result, the operating speed and throughput of the marking device are increased.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.