Determining inkjet printer pen turn-on voltages
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsWen-Li Su, Christopher A Schantz, Jesse Fisher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Determining inkjet printer pen turn-on voltages is disclosed. An inkjet printer has a number of pens, and a number of sets of nozzles in each pen. Each set of nozzles of a pen is fired at each of a number of voltages, to obtain a voltage-value curve for each set of nozzles. A nozzle turn-on voltage for each set of nozzles is determined based on a maximum slope of its voltage-value curve. The turn-on voltage for each pen is determined based on the nozzle turn-on voltages of the voltage-value curves for its sets of nozzles.
Claims19
A method for determining a turn-on voltage for an inkjet printer pen comprising:
- for each set of nozzles of a plurality of sets of nozzles of the inkjet printer pen,
- firing the set of nozzles at each of a plurality of voltages to obtain a voltage-value curve for the set of nozzles;
- determining a nozzle turn-on voltage for the set of nozzles based on the voltage-value curve for the set of nozzles, the nozzle turn-on voltage being less than an upper plateau voltage of the voltage-value curve;
- and,
- determining the turn-on voltage for the inkjet printer pen based on the nozzle turn-on voltage of the voltage-value curve for each set of nozzles, by selecting a maximum nozzle turn-on voltage of the nozzle turn-on voltages of the voltage-value curves for the sets of nozzles as the turn-on voltage for the inkjet printer pen.
A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to determine a turn-on voltage for each inkjet printer pen of a plurality of inkjet printer pens comprising, for each inkjet printer pen of the plurality of inkjet printer pens, by performing a method comprising:
- for each set of nozzles of a plurality of sets of nozzles of the inkjet printer pen,
- firing the set of nozzles at each of a plurality of voltages to obtain a voltage-value curve for the set of nozzles;
- determining an n-point slope for each of the plurality of voltages of the voltage-value curve;
- determining a maximum n-point slope line of the n-point slopes for the plurality of voltages;
- intersecting the maximum n-point slope line with a horizontal line, such that a nozzle turn-on voltage for the set of nozzles corresponds to a voltage at which the maximum n-point slope intersects with the horizontal line and that is less than an upper plateau voltage of the voltage-value curve;
- and,
- determining the turn-on voltage for the inkjet printer pen based on the nozzle turn-on voltage of the voltage-value curve for each set of nozzles of the inkjet printer pen.
An inkjet printer comprising:
- a plurality of inkjet printer pens, each inkjet printer pen having a turn-on voltage and a plurality of nozzles divided into a plurality of sets of nozzles;
- a drop detect at which the plurality of nozzles of each inkjet printer pen can be aimed;
- and,
- firmware to determine the turn-on voltage of each inkjet printer pen by firing each set of nozzles of the inkjet printer pen at each of a plurality of voltages, aiming at the drop detect, to obtain a voltage-drop value curve for each set of nozzles, and determining a nozzle turn-on voltage for each set of nozzles based on the voltage-drop value curve for the set of nozzles, the nozzle turn-on voltage determined as less than an upper plateau voltage of the voltage-drop value curve for the set of nozzles,
- wherein the turn-on voltage for each inkjet printer pen is based on the nozzle turn-on voltage of the voltage-drop value curve for each set of nozzles of the inkjet printer pen, by selecting a maximum nozzle turn-on voltage of the nozzle turn-on voltages of the voltage-value curves for the sets of nozzles as the turn-on voltage for the inkjet printer pen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.