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US5134493A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Ink language for a two color printer

Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1991-09-06
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Granted: 1992-07-28
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Expires: 2011-09-06
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Abstract

Abstract A programming language optimized for the specification of inks for a printing system using two colorants, black plus a highlight color. The first group of statements name the primary colors such as black and red or magenta. Next specified are the catalog name and the palettes which make up the catalog. A palette is a collection of inks, each ink being defined as a tile composed of two bit maps which together are referred to as a screen, each bit map identifying the pixels in the tile to be printed in the associated primary color. Each bit pattern line is specified in the language by an equivalent binary number.

Inventors

  • 👤 Robert R. Laman
  • 👤 Joanne M. Tagami

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 11:30
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K2215/00; G06K2215/0002; G06K2215/004; G06K2215/0054; G06K2215/0057; G06K2215/0082; G06K2215/0094; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S347/00; Y10S347/90

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 133 words
A printing system for printing in any combination of two colorants on an output medium, comprising: means for specifying two original bit maps of pixels by a plurality of numbers, each of said original bit maps having a bit pattern, each number specifying the bit pattern of a line of one of said bit maps, the two bit maps having different pixel patterns, means for replicating the original bit maps to form larger bit maps, means for generating a number of characters, each character comprising two bit maps of equal size and unequal pattern, means for grouping a number of characters of various sizes into a font, and a printer for printing a document using said font, one bit map of each character being used to print in each colorant of the printer.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 133 words
A printing system for printing in any combination of two colorants on an output medium, comprising: means for specifying two original bit maps of pixels by a plurality of numbers, each of said original bit maps having a bit pattern, each number specifying the bit pattern of a line of one of said bit maps, the two bit maps having different pixel patterns, means for replicating the original bit maps to form larger bit maps, means for generating a number of characters, each character comprising two bit maps of equal size and unequal pattern, means for grouping a number of characters of various sizes into a font, and a printer for printing a document using said font, one bit map of each character being used to print in each colorant of the printer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 19 words
The printing system of claim 1 wherein said fonts are grouped into palettes and palettes are grouped into catalogs.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein one of said two colorants is black.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 2 wherein a bit map or character can be transferred between catalogs and between palettes.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 39 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the pixels in each bit map may either be spread relatively evenly over the bit map to result in an even distribution of pixels, or may be grouped to create a visible texture.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4777510A Cited
US4901114A Cited
US5028991A Cited
US4953104A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-07-28 1996-01-27 1996-07-28 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-07-28 2000-01-27 2000-07-28 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-07-28 2004-01-27 2004-07-28 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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