US 5,710,582 AGranted

Hybrid ink jet printer

AssigneeXerox Corporation

InventorsWilliam G. Hawkins, Ivan Rezanka, Roger G. Markham, Dale R. Ims, Donald J. Drake

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Abstract

An ink jet printer is configured in a hybrid architecture wherein a full width printbar is combined with a partial width color scanning assembly to provide the capability of selectively printing in black only or, alternately, of producing color prints by operating the color scan assembly exclusively. The cost of the hybrid system, when compared to a full width color system using four full width printbars, is greatly reduced. Throughput time is reduced by providing the control circuitry for distinguishing between black only and color operation and selectively controlling the printer mode of operation. The hybrid architecture is particularly useful in a LAN system since it provides a mechanism for balancing the relative color versus black page decomposition speed limitations. Also, the hybrid architecture enables a relatively simple implementation of a checkerboarding technique to suppress banding in output prints.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A thermal ink jet printer forming part of a shared LAN wherein at least one full page width printbar is positioned adjacent a recording medium to record black images thereon, comprising, in combination,

a partial width color printhead assembly mounted in a scanning mode of operation across the width of the recording medium to record color images thereon and
control means for receiving image print signals written in a PDL from a remote source and for adapting these signals to create drive signals for selectively operating said full width printbar and said color printhead assembly in a recording mode of operation and wherein said control means further includes printer server means for decomposing said print signals and generating bitmap signals for operating drive circuitry associated with said full width printbar and said color assembly, said printer server means further examining color header information for said PDL image print signals and, upon identifying color information is present in said header information, decomposing the image and sending the decomposed output signals to the color assembly while, alternately, when noting the lack of color information in the header, decomposing the image print signals and routing the decomposed print signals image directly to the full width printbar.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.