Hewlett-packard Company

Antoni Murcia

Eric Joseph Johnson

Xavier Bruch

B Michael Eckard

Christopher Taylor

Xavier Girones

Emilio Angulo

Todd R Medin

Ramon Vega

Jos&euml; Lu&iacute;s Valero

A method for detecting clogged or otherwise anomalous nozzles in an ink jet printing device having a printer head containing at least one nozzle configured to eject droplets of ink, the method including sending an instruction to the printer head to eject droplets of ink, generating an output signal from a detecting means configured to detect a passage of droplets past the detecting means and applying an algorithm to the output signal which is configurable to check a correct functioning of the nozzles.

Method and apparatus for detecting anomalous nozzles in an ink jet printer device

There is provided a method for determining the end of life of a pen having a printhead with a plurality of nozzles. The method includes performing a drop detection on the printhead to check if any nozzle of the printhead is malfunctioning and storing the result of the drop detection together with the results of previous drop detections to keep a history of the health status of each nozzle. The method also includes evaluating the history of the health status of each nozzle of the printhead, and deciding whether or not to mark the pen as an end of life pen.

Method of detecting the end of life of a pen

Service station components for interacting with one type of printhead are located to be aligned in operative position only in a first servicing mode, and service station components for interacting with another type of printhead are differently located to be aligned in operative position only in a second servicing mode. This allows for different servicing schemes of two or more modes to be applied based on the individual characteristics of the ink and/or nozzle plates employed in inkjet printheads. In some instances, an individual printhead can be serviced in more than one servicing mode. In a preferred embodiment, replaceable service station units are provided for each different printhead.

Independent servicing of multiple inkjet printheads

A replaceable inkjet printhead cleaner service station system has separate replaceable cleaning units for each printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, which has a pallet that moves the cleaning units translationally to service the printheads. Each cleaning unit has a printhead wiper, a printhead snout wiper, a capping system, a spittoon, and optionally, an ink solvent application system. The snout wiper cleans ink residue from a non-ink-ejecting snout portion of an inkjet printhead cartridge installed in the printing mechanism. The snout wiper has a base which moves between a rest position and a wiping position. A wiper is supported by the base to wipe ink residue from the non-ink-ejecting snout portion of the cartridge through motion of the cartridge while the base remains stationary at the wiping position. A method is provided for cleaning an inkjet printhead, along with an inkjet printing mechanism employing such a snout wiping system.

Replaceable snout wiper for inkjet cartridges

A replaceable inkjet printhead cleaner service station system has separate replaceable cleaning units for each printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, which has a pallet that moves the cleaning units translationally to service the printheads. Each cleaning unit has a printhead wiper, a printhead snout wiper, a capping system, a spittoon, and optionally, an ink solvent application system. A service station pallet moves a replaceable base between rest and sealing positions, with the base defining a cam surface. A sled has a cam follower that rides along the cam surface, with the sled supporting a cap lip. An activation wall extends from the sled to engage the printhead and move the sled along the cam surface to the sealing position through linear motion of the pallet while the printhead remains stationary. A method is provided for sealing an inkjet printhead, along with a printing mechanism employing such a capping system.

Replaceable capping system for inkjet printheads

A method of correcting for malfunctioning ink ejection elements in a printing system comprising the step of (a) obtaining a standard printmask; (b) assigning to at least two ink ejection elements a probability that each of such at least two ink ejection element will work properly; (d) attempting to modify the standard printmask by replacing ink ejection elements having a certain probability to work properly with different ink ejection elements having a bigger probability to work properly, to create a modified printmask.

Method of printing to automatically compensate for malfunctioning inkjet nozzles

A replaceable inkjet printhead cleaner service station system has separate replaceable cleaning units for each printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, which has a pallet that moves the cleaning units translationally to service the printheads. Each cleaning unit has a printhead wiper, a printhead snout wiper, a capping system, a spittoon, and optionally, an ink solvent application system. The application system has a reservoir body impregnated with an ink solvent, and a solvent distribution member including a unitary applicator wick having a ramped portion located to apply the ink solvent to the printhead when an edge of the printhead is brought into contact with the wick. A wick support spring is preloaded to supply a substantially consistent amount of ink solvent to the printhead, regardless of vertical spacing or tolerance variations therebetween. A method is provided for cleaning an inkjet printhead, along with a printing mechanism employing such a system.

Replaceable inkjet ink solvent application system

A replaceable inkjet printhead cleaner service station system has separate replaceable cleaning units for each printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, which has a pallet that moves the cleaning units translationally to service the printheads. Each cleaning unit has a printhead wiper, a printhead snout wiper, a capping system, a spittoon, and an ink solvent application system, all supported by a base. The snout wiper cleans ink residue from a non-ink-ejecting snout portion of an inkjet printhead cartridge installed in the printing mechanism. The snout wiper is supported by the base for movement between a rest position and a wiping position to wipe ink residue from the cartridge snout portion through motion of the cartridge while the base remains stationary at the wiping position. A method is provided for cleaning an inkjet printhead, along with an inkjet printing mechanism employing such a snout wiping system.

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Barcelona, Spain

Antoni Murcia