Method of controlling a fluid firing unit of a printhead
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsAna Cristina Garcia Alvarez, Antonio Gracia Verdugo, Mauricio Seras Franzoso
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Abstract
The present disclosure discloses a method implemented by a printer to control a fluid firing unit of a printhead, when said printhead is coupled to the printer, to operate according to any one of a normal printing mode and a recovery mode. According to the method, if the fluid firing unit is operated according to the normal printing mode, a first voltage is applied to the fluid firing unit to fire the fluid firing unit during a printing operation; and if the fluid firing unit is operated according to the recovery mode, a second voltage higher than the first voltage is applied to the fluid firing unit to clean the fluid firing unit.
Claims20
A method implemented by a printer to control a fluid firing unit of a printhead, the method comprising:
- in response to the fluid firing unit being operated according to a normal printing mode, applying a first voltage to a resistor in the fluid firing unit to fire the fluid firing unit during a printing operation;
- and
- in response to the fluid firing unit being operated according to a recovery mode, applying a second voltage higher than the first voltage to the resistor in the fluid firing unit to clean the fluid firing unit, wherein applying the second voltage to the resistor causes heating by the resistor of a printing fluid in the fluid firing unit that is higher than heating by the resistor of a printing fluid in the fluid firing unit when the first voltage is applied to the resistor.
A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause at least one processor to:
- selectively operate a printing system in a printing mode and a recovery mode;
- responsive to the printing system being operated in the printing mode, cause application of a first voltage to a resistor in a printhead to heat a printing fluid in a fluid chamber to expel a fluid drop from the fluid chamber;
- and
- responsive to the printing system being operated in the recovery mode, cause application of a second voltage higher than the first voltage to the resistor in the printhead to heat the fluid chamber to cause melting of a solid in the fluid chamber to expel the melted solid.
A printing system comprising:
- a controller to:
- cause application of a first voltage to a fluid firing unit in a printhead to fire the fluid firing unit during a printing operation, in response to operating the fluid firing unit according to a printing mode;
- and
- cause application of a second voltage higher than the first voltage to the fluid firing unit to clean the fluid firing unit, in response to operating the fluid firing unit according to a recovery mode, wherein the controller is to operate the fluid firing unit in the recovery mode in response to detecting that the fluid firing unit has been idle for greater than a predetermined time threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.