Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

Lee Walter Jackson

Mark D Lund

Jefferson Patrick Ward

Matthew Allen Shepherd

Kevin R Hudson

Bruce A Axten

Volker Smektala

Mike Burton

A system and method for printing on media includes a printhead assembly, a memory, and a controller. The printhead assembly is configured to make physical print sweeps relative to print regions of the media and to print within the print regions during the physical print sweeps. The memory communicates with the printhead assembly and is configured to receive data associated with a logical print sweep. The data associated with the logical print sweep controls printing within a first print region of the media during a corresponding first physical print sweep. The controller communicates with the printhead assembly and memory. The controller initiates the first physical print sweep of the printhead assembly before all of the data associated with the logical print sweep is received by the memory.

Printing system and method

A method and structure are provided which allow a print pass to be initiated even if a swath buffer in a multi-pass printer has not stored enough print data to utilize the full printhead. In one embodiment, if the swath buffer is full, a print pass is initiated using the existing print data in the swath buffer, which may result in using less than the full printhead. By allowing a print pass to start when the swath buffer is full, problems such as inconsistent, delayed, or interrupted printing are minimized or eliminated. In another embodiment, if a certain period of time has passed since a previous print pass, a print pass is initiated using existing print data in the swath buffer to print new rows and to print over previously printed partial rows to minimize hue shifts.

Efficient use of a printhead and a compressed swath buffer in an inkjet printer

Printhead longevity is extended by more uniformly utilizing individual printhead printing elements. A preferred algorithm moves an active zone of printing elements uniformly down the printhead on successive print passes. If insufficient printing elements are available to print the next pass, the active zone is moved to a point near the top of the printhead determined by a modulo function.

Nozzle usage balancing for ink-jet printers

Growing community of inventors

Vancouver, WA, United States of America

Lee Walter Jackson