US5418558A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Determining the operating energy of a thermal ink jet printhead using an onboard thermal sense resistor
Assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
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Filing: 1993-05-03
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Granted: 1995-05-23
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Expires: 2013-05-03
Abstract
Abstract A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing heater resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead. A sequence of pulse bursts of respective increasing or decreasing pulse energies that span a predetermined pulse energy range is applied to the printhead, each pulse burst comprised of a plurality of pulses having a pulse energy that is associated with such pulse burst and is constant for all pulses in such burst, and each burst having a sufficient number of pulses to allow the printhead to achieve a steady state operating temperature at the pulse energy of the pulse burst. A steady state operating temperature sample is determined for each of the sequence of pulses bursts of different pulse energies to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the increasing pulse energies, and a turn on pulse energy is determined from the temperature samples. The thermal ink jet printhead is then operated with a pulse energy that is greater than the turn on pulse energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.
Inventors
- 👤 Scott W. Hock
- 👤 David A. Johnson
- 👤 Niels J. Nielsen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 15:22
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/015; B41J2/04; B41J2/045; B41J2/04501; B41J2/04513; B41J2/04536; B41J2/0454; B41J2/04563; B41J2/0458; B41J2/04588
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
219 words
A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead, the pulses having a voltage, a pulse width, and a pulse energy defined by the voltage and pulse width of a pulse, comprising the steps of: (A) applying to the printhead a sequence of pulse bursts of respective increasing pulse energies that span a predetermined pulse energy range, each pulse burst comprised of a plurality of pulses having a pulse energy that is associated with such pulse burst and is constant for all pulses in such burst, and each burst having a sufficient number of pulses to allow the printhead to achieve a steady state operating temperature at the pulse energy of the pulse burst; (B) sampling a steady state operating temperature of the printhead for each of the sequence of pulses bursts of different pulse energies to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the increasing pulse energies; (C) analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy from the temperature samples; and (D) operating the thermal ink jet printhead with a pulse energy that is greater than the turn on pulse energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
219 words
A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead, the pulses having a voltage, a pulse width, and a pulse energy defined by the voltage and pulse width of a pulse, comprising the steps of: (A) applying to the printhead a sequence of pulse bursts of respective increasing pulse energies that span a predetermined pulse energy range, each pulse burst comprised of a plurality of pulses having a pulse energy that is associated with such pulse burst and is constant for all pulses in such burst, and each burst having a sufficient number of pulses to allow the printhead to achieve a steady state operating temperature at the pulse energy of the pulse burst; (B) sampling a steady state operating temperature of the printhead for each of the sequence of pulses bursts of different pulse energies to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the increasing pulse energies; (C) analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy from the temperature samples; and (D) operating the thermal ink jet printhead with a pulse energy that is greater than the turn on pulse energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy comprises the step of determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a maximum curvature of a temperature curve fitted to the temperature samples in a region of the temperature samples that changes from decreasing to increasing pursuant to increasing pulse energy.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
119 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of: (1) fitting a first linear regression line to temperature samples that are between a maximum temperature sample having a pulse energy associated therewith and a subsequent minimum temperature sample having an associated pulse energy that is greater than the pulse energy associated with the maximum temperature sample; (2) fitting a second linear regression line to temperature samples that have respective associated pulse energies greater than the pulse energy associated with the minimum temperature sample; and (3) determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to an intersection of the first and second linear regression line.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of: (1) fitting a temperature curve to the temperature samples; and (2) determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a maximum curvature of the temperature curve in a region of the temperature curve that changes from decreasing to increasing pursuant to increasing pulse energy.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a temperature sample having a minimum value and which has a corresponding pulse energy that is greater than a pulse energy that corresponds to a temperature sample having a maximum value.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
219 words
A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead, the pulses having a voltage, a pulse width, and a pulse energy defined by the voltage and pulse width of a pulse, comprising the steps of: (A) applying to the printhead a sequence of pulse bursts of respective decreasing pulse energies that span a predetermined pulse energy range, each pulse burst comprised of a plurality of pulses having a pulse energy that is associated with such pulse burst and is constant for all pulses in such burst, and each burst having a sufficient number of pulses to allow the printhead to achieve a steady state operating temperature at the pulse energy of the pulse burst; (B) sampling a steady state operating temperature of the printhead for each of the sequence of pulses bursts of different pulse energies to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the decreasing pulse energies; (C) analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy from the temperature samples; and (D) operating the thermal ink jet printhead with a pulse energy that is greater than the turn on pulse energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
219 words
A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead, the pulses having a voltage, a pulse width, and a pulse energy defined by the voltage and pulse width of a pulse, comprising the steps of: (A) applying to the printhead a sequence of pulse bursts of respective decreasing pulse energies that span a predetermined pulse energy range, each pulse burst comprised of a plurality of pulses having a pulse energy that is associated with such pulse burst and is constant for all pulses in such burst, and each burst having a sufficient number of pulses to allow the printhead to achieve a steady state operating temperature at the pulse energy of the pulse burst; (B) sampling a steady state operating temperature of the printhead for each of the sequence of pulses bursts of different pulse energies to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the decreasing pulse energies; (C) analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy from the temperature samples; and (D) operating the thermal ink jet printhead with a pulse energy that is greater than the turn on pulse energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy comprises the step of determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a maximum curvature of a temperature curve fitted to the temperature samples in a region of the temperature samples that changes from decreasing to increasing pursuant to increasing pulse energy.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
119 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of: (1) fitting a first linear regression line to temperature samples that are between a maximum temperature sample having a pulse energy associated therewith and a subsequent minimum temperature sample having an associated pulse energy that is greater than the pulse energy associated with the maximum temperature sample; (2) fitting a second linear regression line to temperature samples that have respective associated pulse energies greater than the pulse energy associated with the minimum temperature sample; and (3) determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to an intersection of the first and second linear regression line.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of: (1) fitting a temperature curve to the temperature samples; and (2) determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a maximum curvature of the temperature curve in a region of the temperature curve that changes from decreasing to increasing pursuant to increasing pulse energy.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the step of analyzing the temperature samples to determine a turn on pulse energy includes the steps of determining a turn on pulse energy that corresponds to a temperature sample having a minimum value and which has a corresponding pulse energy that is greater than a pulse energy that corresponds to a temperature sample having a maximum value.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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