Ink jet printer having multiple level grayscale printing
First Claim
1. A liquid ink printing system for multiple level grayscale printing, from print data, an image on a recording medium, the recording medium moving in a first direction along a path, and including pixel locations thereon for receipt of liquid ink drops, comprising:
- a printhead, located adjacent the path, including a plurality of drop ejectors, for selectively depositing one or more liquid ink drops per pixel location on the recording medium;
an electromover, for moving the recording medium along the path;
a user interface having a plurality of print quality modes and a plurality of types of recording medium presented for selection by a user prior to printing;
a print driver, operatively coupled to said electromover, user interface, and to said printhead, the print driver having means for selecting one of a plurality of relative velocities between the recording medium and said printhead in response to a selection of a print quality mode and a type of recording medium from the user interface by a user, said plurality of relative velocities being previously stored in the print driver with each of said plurality of relative velocities being associated with one of a plurality of grayscales, whereby the print driver controls the relative velocity between the printhead and recording medium at the relative velocity and associated grayscale selected by said selecting means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A liquid ink printing system for printing images having different grayscales through control of a printhead carriage velocity and the number of drops deposited per pixel location. The liquid ink printing system prints from print data an image on a recording medium including pixel locations being deposited with liquid ink drops. The printing system includes a printhead, including a plurality of drop ejectors, for depositing the liquid ink drops, a scanning carriage, coupled to the printhead, for moving the printhead across the recording medium, and a print driver, operatively coupled to the scanning carriage and to the printhead, for controlling the scanning carriage to move at a plurality of velocities, each of the plurality of velocities being associated with one of a plurality of grayscales. Each of the plurality of grayscales is characterized by a maximum number of ink drops deposited at one of the pixel locations. In a draft mode, for instance, one drops per pixel location is deposited and in a high quality mode, four drops per pixel location are deposited. For each of the grayscale modes, the scanning carriage moves at a different velocity.
112 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A liquid ink printing system for multiple level grayscale printing, from print data, an image on a recording medium, the recording medium moving in a first direction along a path, and including pixel locations thereon for receipt of liquid ink drops, comprising:
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a printhead, located adjacent the path, including a plurality of drop ejectors, for selectively depositing one or more liquid ink drops per pixel location on the recording medium;
an electromover, for moving the recording medium along the path;
a user interface having a plurality of print quality modes and a plurality of types of recording medium presented for selection by a user prior to printing;
a print driver, operatively coupled to said electromover, user interface, and to said printhead, the print driver having means for selecting one of a plurality of relative velocities between the recording medium and said printhead in response to a selection of a print quality mode and a type of recording medium from the user interface by a user, said plurality of relative velocities being previously stored in the print driver with each of said plurality of relative velocities being associated with one of a plurality of grayscales, whereby the print driver controls the relative velocity between the printhead and recording medium at the relative velocity and associated grayscale selected by said selecting means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A liquid ink printing system for multiple level grayscale printing of an image on a recording medium in response to print data received, the recording medium being movable along a path in a first direction and including pixel locations thereon, said printing system comprising:
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a user interface having a plurality of print quality modes, each of which represents a level of grayscale printing, and a plurality of types of recording medium, the user interface being used by a user to select one of the print quality modes and one of the types of recording medium prior to printing by the printing system;
a printhead having a plurality of drop ejectors for selectively depositing one or more liquid ink drops per pixel location on the recording medium, the printhead being located adjacent the path along which the recording medium is moved;
an electromover for moving the recording medium along the path; and
a print driver being operatively coupled to the printhead, user interface, and electromover, the print driver having a velocity selector with a first storage means containing a plurality of predetermined relative velocities between the printhead and recording medium stored therein and a grayscale selector with a second storage means containing a plurality of predetermined number of drops per pixel location stored therein, the velocity selector and grayscale selector each respectively analyzing a print quality mode and a type of recording medium selected by the user, the velocity selector selecting a one of the predetermined relative velocities in the storage means and generating a velocity signal indicative thereof, the grayscale selector selecting a one of the predetermined number of drops per pixel location stored in said second storage means and generating a grayscale signal representative thereof, the print driver controlling the relative velocity between the printhead and recording medium and the number of drops per pixel location during printing of the image on the recording medium by the printhead in accordance with both the velocity signal and the grayscale signal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for multiple level grayscale printing of an image on a recording medium by a liquid ink printing system in response to print data received by said printing system, the recording medium being movable along a path in a first direction and including pixel locations thereon, the method for printing comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a user interface having a plurality of print quality modes, each of which represents a level of grayscale printing, and a plurality of types of recording medium;
(b) providing a printhead having a plurality of drop ejectors adjacent the path along which the recording medium is moved, each ejector being adapted to deposit one or more liquid ink drops per pixel location on the recording medium;
(c) moving the recording medium along the path by an electromover;
(d) operatively coupling a print driver to the printhead, user interface, and electromover, said print driver having a velocity selector with a first storage means and a grayscale selector with a second storage means;
(e) entering a plurality of predetermined relative velocities between the printhead and recording medium in said first storage means and entering a plurality of predetermined number of drops per pixel location in said second storage means;
(f) selecting a one of the print quality modes and a one of the types of recording medium from the user interface prior to printing by the printing system;
(g) analyzing a print quality mode and a type of recording medium selected from the user interface by both the velocity selector and the grayscale selector in order to enable a selection from the respective first and second storage means by said velocity selector and grayscale selector;
(h) selecting a one of the plurality of predetermined relative velocities stored in the first storage means by the velocity selector and selecting a one of the plurality of predetermined number of drops per pixel location stored in the second storage means by the grayscale selector;
(i) generating a velocity signal indicative of said selected relative velocities by the velocity selector and generating a grayscale signal indicative of the selected number of drops per pixel location; and
(j) controlling the relative velocity between the printhead and recording medium and the number of drops per pixel location during printing of the image on the recording medium by the printhead in response to the velocity signal and the grayscale signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification