Memjet Technology Limited

James Lawrence

Rodney Hardy

Glenn Horrocks

Mark Profaca

Sergey Kuzmin

An inkjet printing system includes: a printhead positioned over a media feed path; and an aerosol extractor positioned downstream of the printhead relative to a media feed direction. The aerosol extractor includes: an air knife having a knife slot for directing a flow of air towards print media; and a suction nozzle positioned upstream of the knife slot for directing aerosol into a suction channel.

Aerosol extractor for inkjet printing system

An aerosol extraction unit includes: a frame having first and second opposite side bars extending parallel with a media feed direction; and aerosol extractors extending perpendicular to the media feed direction between the first and second side bars. Each aerosol extractor includes: an air knife having a knife slot for directing a flow of air towards print media; and a suction nozzle positioned upstream of the knife slot for directing aerosol into a suction channel. The first side bar includes an air manifold in fluid communication with each knife slot; and the second side bar includes a suction manifold in fluid communication with each suction nozzle.

Aerosol extraction unit with opposite air and suction manifolds

A printing unit includes: a fixed maintenance chassis having a bottom plate defining a plurality of first slots; print modules having a respective inkjet printheads extending across a media feed path; a lift mechanism for lifting and lowering the print modules relative to the media feed path; and an aerosol extraction unit mounted to an underside of the bottom plate. The aerosol extraction unit includes a plurality of aerosol extractors, which extend across the media feed path between a pair of side bars, the aerosol extractors being spaced apart along the media feed direction to define a corresponding plurality of second slots aligned with the first slots. Each print module is slidably movable through its respective first and second slots towards the media feed path into a printing position.

Compact printing unit with integrated aerosol extraction unit

A method of printing an image using a printing system having first and second printheads supplied with a same ink. The method includes the steps of: allocating first lines of the image to the first printhead; allocating second lines of the image to the second printhead; dithering the first lines of the image using a selected first dither mask; dithering the second lines of the image using a selected second dither mask; printing the dithered first lines of the image using the first printhead; and printing the dithered second lines of the image using the second printhead. The first and second dither masks are selected based on a relative alignment of the first and second printheads.

Dither mask selection for printing using aligned printheads

A method of single-pass printing uses a printing system having first and second aligned printheads supplied with a same ink. The method includes the steps of: receiving first and second halftone images at the first and second printheads, respectively; printing the first halftone image from the first printhead; and printing the second halftone image from the second printhead. The first halftone image is based on a first dither pattern and the second halftone image is based on a second dither pattern, the first dither pattern being different than the second dither pattern.

Method of dithering for high-speed single-pass printing

A method of processing a contone image for single-pass printing uses a printing system having first and second aligned printheads supplied with a same ink. The method includes the steps of: providing the contone image at a first resolution in a printing direction; dithering the contone image using a combined dither pattern to provide a full halftone image at the first resolution; dividing the full halftone image into first and second halftone images at a second resolution in the printing direction, the second resolution being less than the first resolution; and sending the first and second halftone images to respective first and second printheads for printing. The combined dither pattern is a combination of a first dither pattern for the first printhead and a second dither pattern for the second printhead, the first dither pattern being different than the second dither pattern.

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North Ryde, Australia

James Lawrence