Mannesmann Aktiengesellschaft

Stefan Scherdel

Manfred Lehmann

Benno Petschik

A method for driving printing elements of a dot matrix printer provides that the matrix dots to be printed are to be thinned out without any thin lines, in particular steeply inclined thin lines, being lost. To this end, the columns of the matrix are considered to be arranged next to each other in pairs, and before the matrix dots in each line (Z) of the matrix are thinned out, a matrix dot is placed before or after a matrix dot used initially to create the character, so that both matrix dots belonging to a pair of columns (SP1, SP5) are covered by a line (Z). During the subsequent thinning out, the lines are printed sufficiently well and clearly. The process is intended for use in dot matrix printers.

Method for activating and for driving printing elements

The inventive method reduces the quantity of the actual number of pixels to be printed to attain a given resolution, on average, by half, with each two or pair of adjacent pixels of the original print information being sequentially processed to form a print pixel and a socalled white or unprinted pixel. The arrangement of print pixels and white pixels is effected so as to print a checkerboard pattern. The ink droplets accordingly have the smallest possible substrate or print media contact area so that adjacent ink droplets which are not yet dry are effectively prevented from running together and thereby degrading the resulting image.

Process for reducing the quantity of ink applied to recording substrates

The invention relates to a process for driving printing elements of a dot matrix printer in which the matrix dots to be printed are to be thinned out without any thin lines, in particular steeply inclined thin lines, being lost. To this end, before thinning out each matrix dot to be printed is associated with another matrix dot disposed on a nearest neighbor grid point in a certain direction of addition. After thinning out, the respective characters or images are printed sufficiently well and clearly. The process is intended for use in dot matrix printers.

Growing community of inventors

Munchen, Germany

Stefan Scherdel