Oce-Technologies B.v.

Canon Production Printing Holding B.v.

Oce Holding B.v.

Koen Joan Klein Koerkamp

Jacques C E Pervillé

Catharinus Van Acquoij

Amol A Khalate

Eduard T H De Grijs

Paul Kuiper

Albert G M Van Welie

Reinier J Dankers

Robert W M Severt

Eduard Th De Grijs

Fredericus P H Theunissen

Franciscus J M Van Galen

Johannes AT Gollatz

Marcellus T Van Mil

Roel MP Heijnen

Louis JAM Somers

In a method of controlling a digital inkjet printer, the digital printer is arranged to operate in a selected first print mode which includes a first speed in a main scanning direction. A digital image and a print setting that the digital image is planned to be printed in an enhanced adhesion print mode are received. A time period needed for a pass in the main scanning direction is extended by lowering a speed from the first speed to a second speed, and by enlarging the pass width up to a maximum medium width and/or by temporarily stopping the printer at an end of the pass. Marking material is ejected during the pass on the image receiving medium by a print head at the second speed within the extended time period, and is cured by a UV curing device at the second speed within the extended time period.

Method for enhancing adhesion of a UV curable ink

In a method for printing a digital image in swaths with a swath time corresponding to the width of the digital image on the image receiving medium in the main scanning direction, the print controller issues a trigger that a spitting action for at least part of the printing elements of the print head needs to be performed. A swath time of subsequent swaths is gradually increased until the print head reaches a maintenance tray at a side of the print surface. The print head stays at the maintenance tray until air between the print head and the maintenance tray has approximately reached a standstill. Then, at least part of the printing elements of the print head are spitting marking material in the maintenance tray. After the spitting, the swath time of subsequent swaths is gradually decreased until the swath time is corresponding again with the width of the digital image on the image receiving medium in the main scanning direction. A digital inkjet printer is configured to perform the method.

Method for controlling a digital inkjet printer

In a method of nozzle failure detection in an ink jet printer having a plurality of ejection units including a nozzle and an associated liquid chamber with an electromechanical transducer, nozzle failure detection is performed, for each ejection unit, with a given minimum detection frequency. Each nozzle failure detection includes energizing the transducer with a waveform that does not lead to the ejection of a droplet but creates a pressure fluctuation that is sensitive to whether or not the ejection unit is in a malfunction state; measuring the pressure fluctuation in order to detect the malfunction state; defining a mask pattern that is independent of image contents to be printed; and when an image is being printed, performing the nozzle failure detection steps for each ejection unit at timings at which the respective nozzles are in pixel positions that belong to the mask pattern.

Method of fast nozzle failure detection

A color printer includes a media transport system arranged to feed print media along a media transport path; a print engine disposed at the media transport path; a controller arranged to calculate an amount of coverage for each pixel and for each process color of an image to be printed on the media, and to control the print engine on the basis of the calculated amount of coverage; a temperature sensor; and a color correction module arranged to determine a correction of the amount of coverage on the basis of a temperature detected by the temperature sensor. The temperature sensor is arranged at the media transport path upstream of the print engine for detecting the temperature of the media as they reach the print engine.

Color printer

A method for generating a relief print on a substantially flat substrate, wherein palpable differences exist between a height of various parts of the relief print, by a printer configured to print a relief print in a number of passes includes defining a rasterized relief image, comprising customary color channels for indicating a color of each pixel and a height channel for indicating a height of each pixel of the rasterized relief image, determining a low spatial frequency height component in the height value of a pixel of the rasterized relief image, subtracting the determined low spatial frequency height component from the relative height value of a pixel of the rasterized relief image, resulting in a relative reduced height value, and printing the rasterized relief image by using the relative reduced height value. A printing system is configured to execute the method.

Method for generating relief prints

A method is provided for processing a relief raster image, comprising customary color channels for indicating a color of each pixel and a height channel for indicating a height of each pixel into several pass images that are printed using a printer with several colorants including a white colorant. For each pixel a relief part, a white part and a skin part are discriminated in order to combine the demands for height and color variation across the surface of the image. The skin part comprises pixels for which a colorant composition based on the color channels of the relief raster image is established. In order to print a color in the skin part that is independent of a height of the pixel, the relief part comprises an arbitrary colorant composition and the white part comprises mainly white colorant.

The invention relates to a method for generating a print of a digital image comprising image pixels by a printer comprising a print head and radiation means for curing recording material by irradiation, the recording material to be ejected by the print head on a substrate, wherein the print may have palpable differences between a height of various pixels of the print, the method comprising the steps of providing the digital image comprising an elevation channel for indicating an elevation of each image pixel of the digital image, deriving from the elevation channel of the digital image pixels in the digital image which may be expected to receive such a low amount of radiation that recording material is insufficiently cured, for each derived image pixel adapting at least one elevation channel value of the derived image pixel or image pixels adjacent to the derived image pixel by such an amount that the recording material is expected to be sufficiently cured, and printing the digital image with the adapted elevation channel values. The invention also relates to a computer product and a printer system for applying the method.

A method is provided for controlling the ejection of ink drops from an inkjet printhead. The printhead comprises an array of ink chambers with nozzles arranged for applying a row of ink dots on a receiving medium using a control signal. The method comprises the steps of labeling a nozzle as a functioning nozzle if the nozzle, upon activation by a control signal, ejects an ink drop within predefined specifications, otherwise labeling the nozzle as a failing nozzle, and distributing a control signal associated with a failing nozzle to a neighboring nozzle to maintain a local optical density, wherein said control signal associated with a failing nozzle is not distributed to a neighboring nozzle, if a neighboring nozzle of said failing nozzle is also labeled as a failing nozzle.

Method for compensating failing nozzles

A method for printing an image on an image receiving member is provided, in which a print head having an array of print elements moves in a scanning direction to print image lines and the image receiving member is advanced in a transport direction after printing a swath. In order to obtain various contiguous swaths of print lines without a light or dark line between the swaths, the position of a prior swath printed preceding to a current swath is determined during the printing of the current swath. A digital mask is applied to the print data that is associated with the print elements at the to the prior swath adjoining edge of the current swath in dependence on the determination of the position of the prior swath.

Method for printing contiguous swaths

A method is provided for processing a rasterized relief image, comprising customary color channels for indicating a color of each pixel and a height channel for indicating a height of each pixel into several pass images that are printed using a printer with several colorants including a white colorant. For each pixel a relief part, a white part and a skin part are discriminated in order to combine the demands for height and color variation across the surface of the image. The skin part comprises pixels for which a colorant composition based on the color channels of the rasterized relief image is established. In order to print a color in the skin part that is independent of a height of the pixel and independent of the colorant composition of a neighboring pixels, pass images are composed that include only neighboring pass pixels that do not disturb the color forming of a pass pixel contributing to a skin part.

A method obtains color consistency over at least one printing system in order to print a digital image containing pixels and color information of the primary colors per pixel. Each printing system includes at least one engine including a plurality of containers, each of the containers containing a marking material having a primary color. The method includes the steps of, for each primary color, determining a target color which is printable by each engine on the receiving medium, determining for each container how much marking material must be ejected to establish the target color, and for each pixel of the digital image to be printed by an engine, replacing each primary color of the pixel by a corresponding target color, and printing the pixel by ejecting marking material from the containers of the engine according to the determined marking material per target color per container of the engine.

Growing community of inventors

Venlo, Netherlands

Koen Joan Klein Koerkamp