Dual and single drop weight printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10160227-B2
Application number	US-201515543546-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2015
Priority date	Apr 30, 2015
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

In an example implementation, a method of dual and single drop weight printing includes operating a printing system in a hybrid drop weight print mode to enable ejecting black ink from high drop weight nozzles and low drop weight nozzles, and ejecting color ink from high drop weight nozzles but not from low drop weight nozzles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of dual and single drop weight printing comprising:
ejecting black ink from available high drop weight nozzles and available low drop weight nozzles arranged in an alternating manner along a single column of print nozzles, and ejecting color ink only from available high drop weight nozzles arranged in an alternating manner with low drop weight nozzles along a single column of print nozzles.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein ejecting black ink and ejecting color ink comprises ejecting ink in a printing system having twice as many black print nozzles as color print nozzles for each of a plurality of colors.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein dual and single drop weight printing comprises:
receiving a hybrid drop weight print mode input selection; and,
in response to the hybrid drop weight print mode, ejecting black ink from available high drop weight nozzles and available low drop weight nozzles, and ejecting color ink from available high drop weight nozzles but not from available low drop weight nozzles.

4. A method as in claim 1 , wherein:
ejecting ink from high drop weight nozzles comprises ejecting ink from noncircular bore nozzles; and
ejecting ink from low drop weight nozzles comprises ejecting ink from circular bore nozzles.

5. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the nozzles are associated with ink drop generators comprising two sizes of heater resistors, and wherein:
ejecting ink from high drop weight nozzles comprises ejecting ink from drop generators comprising a larger size of heater resistor; and
ejecting ink from low drop weight nozzles comprises ejecting ink from drop generators comprising a smaller size of heater resistor.

6. A system for dual and single drop weight printing comprising:
a number of color printheads for each of a plurality of colors;
a number of black printheads, wherein the number of black printheads is twice the number of color printheads for each of the plurality of colors;
drop generators disposed in a first array and a second array on each printhead, the drop generators alternating between high drop weight (HDW) drop generators and low drop weight (LDW) drop generators; and
a controller to cause dual drop weight printing in the black printheads to eject black ink from both HDW and LDW drop generators, and single drop weight printing in the color printheads to eject color ink from HDW drop generators but not from LDW drop generators.

7. A system as in claim 6 , further comprising:
a user interface; and
a hybrid print mode option selectable from the user interface to enable the dual and single drop weight printing.

8. A system as in claim 6 , comprising a nozzle with a circular bore on each LDW drop generator and a nozzle with a non-circular bore on each HDW drop generator.

9. A system as in claim 6 , wherein colors from the plurality of colors are selected from the group consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow, white, orange, violet, silver, UV red, transparent, and combinations thereof.

10. A system as in claim 6 , wherein:
the drop generators in the first and second array are spaced one dot pitch apart, perpendicular to a motion of a print medium; and
each drop generator in the first array is in a line of the motion of the print medium with a corresponding drop generator in the second array, wherein each HDW drop generator in the first array is in line with an LDW drop generator in the second array, and each LDW drop generator in the first array is in a line of the motion of the print medium with an HDW drop generator in the second array.

11. A system as in claim 10 , comprising a memory to store instructions executable on a processor to cause the system to adjust a speed of the print medium through the system based, at least in part, on a ratio of HDW drops to LDW drops.

12. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor of a printing device, cause the printing device to:
eject black ink from both high drop weight (HDW) and low drop weight (LDW) drop generators arranged in an alternating manner along a single column of print nozzles; and,
eject color ink only from HDW drop generators arranged in an alternating manner with LDW drop generators along a single column of print nozzles.

13. A medium as in claim 12 , the instructions further causing the printing device to:
eject black ink and color ink from HDW drop generators but not from available LDW drop generators.

14. A medium as in claim 12 , the instructions further causing the printing device to:
eject black ink and color ink from both HDW and LDW drop generators.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Ross George C
• Burns Ron

Classifications

• B41J2/2146 Primary

  for line print heads · CPC title

• B41J2002/14475

  characterised by nozzle shapes or number of orifices per chamber · CPC title

• B41J2/04551

  using several operating modes · CPC title

• B41J2/2128 Primary

  by means of energy modulation (control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits or control circuits B41J2/04501) · CPC title

• B41J29/38

  Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism · CPC title