Scan and pause method for determining ink drying time in an inkjet printer

In an inkjet printer including a gloss sensor and at least one printhead for depositing ink onto a surface of a sheet of media being processed therein with a controller being communicatively coupled to the at least one printhead and gloss sensor, a method for determining a drying time of a last print swath of the ink deposited on the surface of the sheet of media, the method comprising:

• forming the last print swath on a side of the sheet of media with the at least one printhead;
• scanning the last print swath with the gloss sensor to provide a gloss sensor output response;
• processing the gloss sensor output response to determine a gloss value Gp and then storing the gloss value Gp;
• waiting for a predetermined scan interval to elapse;
• performing a next scan of the last print swath with the gloss sensor;
• for the next scan, processing a next gloss sensor output response to determine a next gloss value Gn and then storing the next gloss value Gn;
• and
• determining if gloss values Gp and Gn are within a predetermined range where the rate of change between gloss values Gp and Gn of consecutive scans of the print swath approaches zero, and, if so, moving the sheet of media and, if not, replacing the value of Gp with Gn, waiting until the next predetermined scan interval has elapsed and then performing a new next scan of the print swath.

In an inkjet printer including a printhead carrier for moving at least one printhead across a sheet of media, the at least one printhead for depositing ink onto a surface of the sheet of media being processed therein, a scan bar extending across at least a portion of a width of the sheet of media with a controller being communicatively coupled to the at least one printhead and the scan bar, a method for determining the drying time of a print swath of ink deposited on the surface of the sheet of media before movement thereof in a media transport area, the method comprising:

• forming the print swath on the sheet of media with the at least one printhead;
• scanning the print swath with the scan bar providing an output response;
• processing the scan bar output response to determine a gloss value Gp and then storing the gloss value Gp;
• waiting for a predetermined scan interval to elapse;
• performing a next scan of the print swath with the scan bar;
• for the next scan, processing a next output response of the scan bar to determine a next gloss value Gn and then storing the next gloss value Gn;
• and
• determining if the gloss values Gp and Gn are within a predetermined range, if so, moving the sheet of media in the media transport area and, if not, replacing the value of Gp with Gn, waiting until the next predetermined scan interval has elapsed and then performing a new next scan of the print swath with the scan bar.