The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 29, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 11, 1996
Michael Seikel, Berlin, DE;
Francotyp-Postalia AG & Co., Birkenwerder, DE;
Abstract
In a method and arrangement for monitoring the functioning of an ink print head with individual droplet ejection supplied with ink from an ink tank, an enhancement of the function dependability with little outlay is achieved while still permitting a constant monitoring of the functioning of the ink print head with constant precision, regardless of the brightness of the recording medium. Actual ink flow from the ink tank to the ink print head is constantly quantitatively measured and compared to an intended ink flow value that corresponds to the printing commands. The printing mode is interrupted and a cleaning procedure initiated given deviation from a permitted value. The ink flow is also measured during the cleaning procedure and compared to anticipated, stored, empirically determined values. The cleaning procedure is interrupted and an error search initiated given deviations above predetermined thresholds. Otherwise, the printing mode is reassumed after the cleaning procedure. The ink flow measurement is made by a flow-amount meter with an analog-to-digital converter. The measured results are forwarded to an evaluation unit that contains a comparison circuit, a threshold circuit as an well as an a memory for comparison values and thresholds.