Colorspan Corporation

Lasermaster Corporation

Jeff D Pagel

Danny James Vatland

Paul R Erickson

Steven Lee Lidke

A system for printing a document over a network including a network, a printer and a raster image processor. The network connects at least three computing resources. The printer is coupled to the network and included in the computing resources. The printer includes a printer network connection, a printer virtual connection mechanism and a mechanism for printing the document based on the raster image. The printer network connection transfers data packets to and from the computing resources. The printer virtual connection mechanism receives a raster image representative of a document from a member of the plurality of computer resources to which a unique virtual connection has been established. The raster image processor is coupled to the network and included in the computing resources. The raster image processor includes raster image processor network connection mechanism, a rendering, mechanism, and a raster image processor virtual connection mechanism. The raster image processor network connection mechanism transfers information to and from the computing resources. The mechanism rendering mechanism renders a series of page description language instructions representative of the document into the raster image. The raster image processor virtual connection mechanism transmits a raster image to a printer via the unique virtual connection. The virtual connection maintenance mechanism opens, maintains, and closes unique virtual connections between printer and raster image processor.

Apparatus for printing a document over a network

A network protocol, transmission format, and hardware interface facilitating high speed transmission of raster data from a host computer having a raster image processor to a printer. The protocol and hardware interface of the present invention minimize memory-to-memory transfers of raster data by defining data transfers directly from local memory of network hardware to memory associated with a raster connection management module. The transmission format of the present invention minimizes handshaking by sending a large number of data packets between acknowledgements. In addition, the present invention allows a host computer system to request printer profile information, and process raster data based on the profile information.

Method and apparatus for printing a document over a network

A scanning head ink jet printer utilizes variable paper advance interlacing. The printer includes a plurality of heads each having a plurality of rows of uniformly spaced ink jets which print different colors. A printing medium is advanced in a series of non-uniform distances (d.sub.1, d.sub.2, d.sub.3, d.sub.4) the sum of which is equal to the total number of uniformly-spaced ink jets (n) of one of the colors times the uniform spacing (s) of one pixel row from an adjacent pixel row. In a specific embodiment, a total advance of the printing medium is equal to the total number of uniformly-serial spaced ink jets of one color is 48, the spacing is four pixels, and the non-uniform distances include 49, 49, 45 and 49 pixels.

Ink jet printer with variable advance interlacing

A printer controller for an ink jet printer controls a print head to selectively print only a portion of the print dots at pixels locations in a print swath during each pass of a print carriage across a print medium. At least four passes are made before the print medium is advanced to a new print swath. The portion of the pixel locations for each pass are chosen such that no pixel location to be printed on that pass is orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to any other pixel location to be printed in the same pass. To improve linear print speed, the print carriage is moved across the print medium at a speed that is greater than a maximum firing rate for the print head divided by a print dot density for the ink jet printer.

Method for controlling an ink jet printer in a multipass printing mode

A network protocol facilitates high speed transmission of raster data from a server to a client. The protocol defines a first sub-protocol for negotiating a connection and preparing to transmit a print job, and a second sub-protocol for transmitting a large quantity of raster data. The second sub-protocol allows the recipient of the data to dictate the order in which various types of data are transmitted, while allowing for efficient error correction of lost and/or corrupted packets. In one embodiment, a server is configured to transmit data to a client using the protocol of the present invention. In another embodiment, a client is configured to receive data from the server according to the protocol of the present invention. The protocol minimizes handshaking by sending a large number of data packets between acknowledgements.

Growing community of inventors

Inver Grove Heights, MN, United States of America

Jeff D Pagel