Wide array fluid ejection device
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsJohn Wade, George C. Lysy, Tom Dragnes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fluid ejection device includes a first set of N memory elements each storing a fire enable value, each of the N memory elements configured to be updated. The fluid ejection device further includes N fluid ejecting elements, each fluid ejecting element corresponding to a different one of the N memory elements and configured to receive the fire enable value from the corresponding memory element, wherein the fluid ejecting element is enabled to eject a fluid when the fire enable value is an enabling value.
Claims16
A method of operating a fluid ejection device having a plurality of fluid ejecting elements, wherein N of the plurality of fluid ejecting elements are arranged into a plurality of zones with each zone having at least one fluid ejecting element, the method comprising:
- storing a value being one of an enabling value or a disabling value in each of N memory elements of a shift register, each memory element corresponding to a different one of the N fluid ejecting elements;
- enabling each fluid ejecting element to eject fluid when the value stored in the corresponding memory element of the shift register is an enabling value;
- and
- controlling individually for each zone a duration that an enabling value is stored in each corresponding memory element of the zones,
- wherein the N memory elements comprise:
- a first set of N memory elements each having a different element position and storing a first enable value;
- a second set of N memory elements each having a different element position and storing a second enable value;
- and
- N combiners each having a first input coupled to one of the first set of N memory elements and a second input coupled to one of the second set of N memory elements having a same element position as the memory element of the first set of N memory elements coupled to the first input,
- each of the N combiners providing, at an output, an enable value having an enable state when the first and second enable values of corresponding memory elements of the first and second set of N memory elements both have an enable state, wherein each of the N combiners and the corresponding memory elements form a different one of the N memory elements.
A fluid ejection device comprising:
- a fire enable shift register including N fire enable memory elements arranged into a plurality of memory element zones, each memory element storing a fire enable value being one of an enabling value or a disabling value;
- means for individually controlling a duration of at least one enable state for each memory element zone;
- and
- means for providing a fire enable value from each of the N fire enable memory elements of the fire enable shift register to a corresponding different one of N fluid ejecting elements, wherein each fluid ejecting element is enabled to eject a fluid when the fire enable value is the enabling values,
- each of the N fire enable memory elements comprising one of a first set of N memory elements each having a different element position, one of a second set of N memory elements each having a different element position, and one of N combiners each having a first input coupled to one of the first set of N memory elements and a second input coupled to one of the second set of N memory elements having a same element position as the memory element of the first set of N memory elements coupled to the first input, an output of each of the N combiners providing a fire enable value having an enable state when first and second enable values of corresponding memory elements of the first and second set of N memory elements both have an enable state.
A fluid ejection device comprising:
- a fire enable shift register including N fire enable memory elements arranged into a plurality of zones, each memory element of the fire enable shift register storing a fire enable value being one of an enabling value or a disabling value;
- a fire enable controller configured to individually control for each memory element zone a duration of how long each memory element stores the enabling value;
- and
- N fluid ejecting elements, each fluid ejecting element corresponding to a different one of the N fire enable memory elements of the fire enable shift register and configured to receive the fire enable value from the corresponding memory element, wherein the fluid ejecting element is enabled to eject fluid when the fire enable value is the enabling value,
- wherein the N fire enable memory elements of the fire enable shift register comprise:
- a first set of N memory elements each at a different one of N element positions and storing a first enable value having an enable state;
- a second set of N memory elements each at a different one of N element positions and storing a second enable value having an enable state;
- and
- N combiners each having a first input coupled to a corresponding different one of the memory elements of the first set of N memory elements and a second input coupled to a corresponding different one of the memory elements of the second set of N memory elements having a same element position as the memory element of the first set of N memory elements coupled to the first input,
- each of the N combiners providing, at an output, a fire enable value having at least one enable state when the corresponding memory elements of the first and second set of N memory elements both have the enable state, wherein each of the N combiners and the corresponding memory elements form a different one of the N fire enable memory elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.