Delay elements for activation signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10875298-B2
Application number	US-201716484720-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2017
Priority date	Apr 14, 2017
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

In some examples, a fluidic die includes a plurality of fluid actuators, and a controller to determine, based on input control information relating to controlling actuation of the plurality of fluid actuators, whether a first fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators is to be actuated, and in response to determining that the first fluid actuator is to be actuated, activate a delay element associated with the first fluid actuator, the delay element to delay an activation signal propagated to selected fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators in response to an actuation event.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fluidic die comprising:
a plurality of fluid actuators; and
a controller to:
determine, based on input control information relating to controlling actuation of the plurality of fluid actuators, whether a first fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators is to be actuated,
in response to determining that the first fluid actuator is to be actuated, activate a delay element associated with the first fluid actuator, the delay element to delay an activation signal propagated to selected fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators in response to an actuation event, and
in response to determining that the first fluid actuator is not to be actuated, deactivate the delay element associated with the first fluid actuator such that the activation signal is not delayed by the delay element.

2. The fluidic die of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of delay elements individually associated with respective fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators,
wherein the controller is to:
determine, based on the input control information, a first subset of the plurality of fluid actuators that are to be actuated, and a second subset of the plurality of fluid actuators that are not to be actuated, and
activate delay elements associated with the first subset of the plurality of fluid actuators to delay the activation signal, and deactivate delay elements associated with the second subset of the plurality of fluid actuators.

3. The fluidic die of claim 1 , further comprising:
an actuation data register to store actuation data that indicates fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators to actuate,
wherein the input control information comprises the actuation data.

4. The fluidic die of claim 3 , further comprising:
a mask register to store a mask data pattern indicating a respective set of fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators enabled for actuation for the actuation event,
wherein the input control information further comprises the mask data pattern.

5. The fluidic die of claim 4 , wherein the controller is to combine a value in the actuation data register with a corresponding value in the mask register to determine whether a respective fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators is to be actuated.

6. The fluidic die of claim 1 , wherein the activation signal is to cause actuation of the first fluid actuator, and a delayed instance of the activation signal is to cause actuation of a second fluid actuator of the selected fluid actuators.

7. The fluidic die of claim 1 , further comprising:
a mask register to store a mask data pattern indicating a respective set of fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators enabled for actuation for the actuation event, wherein the input control information comprises the mask data pattern that defines a primitive size of a primitive that includes a number of fluid actuators,
wherein the controller is to shift the mask data pattern in the mask register in response to each actuation event of a set of actuation events, the shifting to cause enabling of another set of fluid actuators.

8. A fluidic die comprising:
a plurality of fluid actuators;
an actuation data register to store actuation data that indicates fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators to actuate;
a mask register to store a mask data pattern indicating a respective set of fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators enabled for actuation for an actuation event, wherein the mask data pattern defines a primitive size corresponding to a number of fluid actuators in a primitive, the plurality of fluid actuators partitioned across multiple primitives each of the primitive size; and
a controller to:
determine, based on the actuation data and the mask data pattern, whether a first fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators is to be actuated, and
in response to determining that the first fluid actuator is to be actuated, activate a delay element associated with the first fluid actuator, the delay element to delay an activation signal propagated to selected fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators in response to the actuation event.

9. The fluidic die of claim 8 , wherein the mask register is to be loaded with a different mask data pattern to provide a primitive of a different primitive size.

10. The fluidic die of claim 8 , wherein the controller is to shift the mask data pattern in the mask register in response to each actuation event of a set of actuation events, the shifting to cause enabling of another set of fluid actuators.

11. A fluid control system comprising:
a system controller; and
a fluidic die comprising:
a plurality of fluid actuators;
a plurality of delay elements associated with the fluid actuators, the delay elements if activated to delay an activation signal;
a register to store input control information relating to controlling actuation of the plurality of fluid actuators; and
an actuation controller to:
determine, based on the input control information, which fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators are to be actuated,
activate delay elements associated with the fluid actuators that are to be actuated, and
deactivate delay elements associated with the fluid actuators that are not to be actuated.

12. The fluid control system of claim 11 , wherein each of the delay elements is individually associated with a fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators.

13. The fluid control system of claim 11 , wherein the register comprises an actuation data register to store actuation data that indicates each fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators to actuate, the fluidic die further comprising:
a mask register to store a mask data pattern indicating a respective set of fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators enabled for actuation for an actuation event,
wherein the actuation controller is to determine which fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators are to be actuated further based on the mask data pattern.

14. A fluid control device comprising:
a plurality of fluid actuators;
an actuation data register to store actuation data that indicates each fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators to actuate;
a mask register to store a mask data pattern indicating a respective set of fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators enabled for actuation for a respective actuation event; and
a controller to:
determine, based on combining a value in the actuation data register and a corresponding value in the mask register, whether a first fluid actuator of the plurality of fluid actuators is to be actuated, and
in response to determining that the first fluid actuator is to be actuated, activate a delay element associated with the first fluid actuator, the delay element to delay an activation signal propagated to selected fluid actuators of the plurality of fluid actuators in response to an actuation event.

15. The fluid control system of claim 13 , wherein the mask data pattern defines a primitive size corresponding to a number of fluid actuators in a primitive, the plurality of fluid actuators partitioned across multiple primitives each of the primitive size.

16. The fluid control system of claim 15 , wherein the mask register is to be loaded with a different mask data pattern to provide a primitive of a different primitive size.

17. The fluid control system of claim 13 , wherein the actuation controller is to combine a value in the actuation data register with a corresponding value i

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Martin Eric
• Anderson Daryl E

Classifications

• B41J2/04581

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