US5600351A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Inkjet printer with increased print resolution in the carriage scan axis
Assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
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Filing: 1994-06-23
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Granted: 1997-02-04
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Expires: 2014-06-23
Abstract
Abstract An inkjet printer system fires smaller ink droplets in a single-pass print mode to achieve addressible print resolution of 600 dpi in the carriage scan axis along with 300 dpi resolution in the media advance axis, without having to employ any dot-depletion algorithms. In one embodiment, the system provides a fast print mode which prints the smaller drops of ink on a 300 dpi grid in the carriage scan axis. In another embodiment, the system provides a single-pass color print mode wherein primary colors are printed with two color droplets of the same primary color in two adjacent sub-pixels on the 300×600 grid, and secondary colors are printed with two color droplets of different primary colors in two adjacent sub-pixels on the 300×600 grid.
Inventors
- 👤 Clayton L. Holstun
- 👤 Ronald A. Askeland
- 👤 Frank Drogo
- 👤 Brian P. Canfield
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 15:46
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/21; B41J2/2132
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
168 words
A printer having ink cartridges mounted on a carriage for applying ink to media driven in a media advance direction comprising: a carriage movable along a carriage scan axis; ink means for firing ink droplets from the cartridges at a predetermined firing frequency from ink nozzles having a certain spacing in the media advance direction; wherein said carriage scans across the media to apply the droplets on an addressable grid which has a first resolution in the carriage scan axis and a second resolution in the media advance direction, said first resolution being higher than said second resolution, and said first resolution and said second resolution define standard pixels each having: a width along the carriage scan axis equal to twice the reciprocal of the first resolution, and a height along the media advance direction equal to the reciprocal of the second resolution; and wherein said ink means fire droplets sized so that in each pass of the carriage two droplets are addressed to substantially each standard pixel.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
168 words
A printer having ink cartridges mounted on a carriage for applying ink to media driven in a media advance direction comprising: a carriage movable along a carriage scan axis; ink means for firing ink droplets from the cartridges at a predetermined firing frequency from ink nozzles having a certain spacing in the media advance direction; wherein said carriage scans across the media to apply the droplets on an addressable grid which has a first resolution in the carriage scan axis and a second resolution in the media advance direction, said first resolution being higher than said second resolution, and said first resolution and said second resolution define standard pixels each having: a width along the carriage scan axis equal to twice the reciprocal of the first resolution, and a height along the media advance direction equal to the reciprocal of the second resolution; and wherein said ink means fire droplets sized so that in each pass of the carriage two droplets are addressed to substantially each standard pixel.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The printer of claim 1 wherein said ink means applies droplets on an addressable grid wherein said first resolution X dpi in the carriage scan axis is double said second resolution Y dpi in the media advance direction.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
The printer of claim 1, wherein: said ink means apply droplets on sub-pixels on an addressable grid; and each sub-pixel has dimensions 1/X inch by 1/Y inch, where X is the second resolution first in the carriage scan axis and Y is the resolution in media advance direction.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The printer of claim 1 wherein said ink means fires two different primary color ink droplets onto immediately adjacent sub-pixels to form a secondary color.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The printer of claim 1 wherein said ink means apply droplets on an addressable grid without using any dot depletion.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
91 words
An inkjet printer for applying ink droplets to a printing medium, said printer comprising: an inkjet cartridge having a firing resistor of a predetermined size; energy means for providing a signal to said firing resistor; and nozzle means in close proximity to said firing resistor for addressing two ink droplets onto each standard pixel measuring 1/Y inch by 1/Y inch of an addressable grid having a first printing resolution X dpi in a carriage scan direction which is higher than a second printing resolution Y dpi in a printing-medium advance axis.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
91 words
An inkjet printer for applying ink droplets to a printing medium, said printer comprising: an inkjet cartridge having a firing resistor of a predetermined size; energy means for providing a signal to said firing resistor; and nozzle means in close proximity to said firing resistor for addressing two ink droplets onto each standard pixel measuring 1/Y inch by 1/Y inch of an addressable grid having a first printing resolution X dpi in a carriage scan direction which is higher than a second printing resolution Y dpi in a printing-medium advance axis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
The printer of claim 6 wherein said first printing resolution X in the carriage scan direction is twice said second printing resolution Y in the printing-medium advance axis.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
21 words
The printer of claim 7 wherein said first printing resolution is 600 dpi and said second printing resolution is 300 dpi.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
71 words
The printer of claim 7 which further includes first print mode means for driving the carriage at a standard scan speed to selectively apply ink droplets to each pixel in the addressable grid; and second print mode means for driving the carriage at twice the standard scan speed without changing the firing frequency of said firing resistors to selectively apply ink droplets to standard pixels of 1/Y inches on each side.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
The printer of claim 6, wherein: said firing resistor is generally rectangular and has sides; and the size of the resistor is less than 60 microns on each side.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The printer of claim 6 wherein said energy means provides a signal of energy less than 12 microjoules.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
The printer of claim 6 wherein said nozzle means fires low-volume ink droplets capable of being fired at a firing frequency greater than 5 kHz.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
110 words
A swath printer for applying liquid ink to media, comprising: means for defining a pixel grid having a first standard resolution in a media advance axis and second high resolution in a carriage scan axis which is double the first standard resolution to create a hybrid pixel having a dimension X in the carriage scan axis and a dimension 2X in the media advance axis; and ink firing means for addressing ink droplets to every hybrid pixel in such a way that if two ink droplets are applied in two immediately adjacent hybrid pixels along the carriage scan axis, those two ink droplets fill most of said two hybrid pixels.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
110 words
A swath printer for applying liquid ink to media, comprising: means for defining a pixel grid having a first standard resolution in a media advance axis and second high resolution in a carriage scan axis which is double the first standard resolution to create a hybrid pixel having a dimension X in the carriage scan axis and a dimension 2X in the media advance axis; and ink firing means for addressing ink droplets to every hybrid pixel in such a way that if two ink droplets are applied in two immediately adjacent hybrid pixels along the carriage scan axis, those two ink droplets fill most of said two hybrid pixels.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
72 words
The printer of claim 13 which further includes ink firing means for printing primary colors by applying an ink droplet of a particular primary color to both of two adjacent hybrid pixels in the carriage scan axis and for printing secondary colors by applying an ink droplet of one specific primary color and an ink droplet of another specific primary color respectively to two adjacent hybrid pixels in the carriage scan axis.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
90 words
A swath-type ink printer which can function at two different printing resolutions without any need for dot depletion, comprising: means for defining a hybrid pixel grid with first pixel centerlines in a media advance axis which are spaced apart a predetermined distance A and with second pixel centerlines in a carriage scan axis which are spaced apart a distance A/2; and means for driving a carriage at a given scan speed S in a print mode to selectively address ink droplets to substantially all pixels in the hybrid pixel grid.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
90 words
A swath-type ink printer which can function at two different printing resolutions without any need for dot depletion, comprising: means for defining a hybrid pixel grid with first pixel centerlines in a media advance axis which are spaced apart a predetermined distance A and with second pixel centerlines in a carriage scan axis which are spaced apart a distance A/2; and means for driving a carriage at a given scan speed S in a print mode to selectively address ink droplets to substantially all pixels in the hybrid pixel grid.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
43 words
The printer of claim 15 which further includes means for driving the carriage at a scan speed of 2S in a second print mode, without changing a firing frequency of the ink droplets, to selectively apply ink droplets in the hybrid pixel grid.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The printer of claim 16 wherein ink droplets are applied only to every other hybrid pixel in a single scan of the carriage.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
21 words
The printer of claim 15 wherein ink droplets are applied to adjacent hybrid pixels in a single scan of the carriage.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
19 words
The printer of claim 15 Which further includes firing means for applying ink droplets of less than 130 picoliters.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
19 words
The printer of claim 15 which further includes firing means for applying ink droplets of less than 100 picoliters.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2000-02-04 | 2000-08-05 | 2001-02-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-02-04 | 2004-08-05 | 2005-02-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-02-04 | 2008-08-05 | 2009-02-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |