Method to control vibration measures and refresh measures in printing operation of an ink printing system with at least one printing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9302474-B2
Application number	US-201514707072-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2015
Priority date	May 8, 2014
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

In a method to control vibration measures and refresh measures in a printing operation of an ink printing system with at least one printing apparatus, the printing apparatus having printing elements that fire ink droplets as print dots at a printing substrate depending on control data determined from print data associated with print images and firing pause information about firing pauses for the printing elements. Prefire data and refresh data derived from the firing pause information and from operating condition information of the printing apparatus are combined with the control data. The vibration measures and refresh measures are executed by the printing elements depending on the firing pause information, the prefire data, and the refresh data, no ink droplets being ejected during the vibration measures and ink droplets being ejected during the refresh measures.

First claim

We claim as our invention:

1. A method to control in printing elements vibration measures where the printing elements are vibrated but no ink droplets are ejected and refresh measures where ink droplets are ejected through the printing elements to refresh the printing elements in a printing operation of an ink printing system with at least one printing apparatus, the printing apparatus having said printing elements that fire ink droplets as print dots at a printing substrate depending on control data, comprising the steps of:
determining the control data for the printing elements in a preparation process from print data associated with print images, and determining firing pause information about firing pauses for the printing elements indicating that no ink droplets are to be ejected based on the print data;
combining the control data with both prefire data for the vibration measures and refresh data for the refresh measures derived from said firing pause information and from information depending on operating conditions of the printing apparatus; and
executing the vibration measures and the refresh measures by the printing elements depending on the firing pause information, the prefire data, and the refresh data.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein a print job having the print data is developed in a first process step of said process, the print job including information about environment conditions and said operating conditions of the printing apparatus from which the prefire data and the refresh data are derived and that are inserted into the control data.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein:
with triggering of a printing interruption of the printing operation a feed velocity of a printing substrate is accelerated from a velocity in printing operation to a predetermined velocity in a slow-down ramp, and is accelerated again to said printing velocity in an acceleration ramp after the printing interruption,
the prefire data are inserted into the control data depending on the feed velocity of the printing substrate,
print clock pulses dependent on feed of the printing substrate are generated with the aid of a sensor, said print clock pulses being supplied to a printer controller, and
given occurrence of a print clock pulse during the ramps, the printer controller inducing vibration cycles in the printing elements of the print head depending on the prefire data so that a cycle of vibration oscillations is implemented in said printing elements.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein a vibration cycle is only generated if a time interval of the print clock pulses relative to one another reaches a predetermined value.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein during the ramps, a number of vibration oscillations per vibration cycle is set depending on the feed velocity of the printing substrate.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein:
the process comprises at least first and second process steps, in the second process step a print image raster in which a location at which a print dot is to be applied is associated with a raster point, said location being developed from the print data, and
the prefire data or the refresh data inserted into the control data are derived from a series of said print dot locations of one or more successive print images.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein a number of vibration cycles per printing element for a vibration measure is set depending on a duration of a firing pause for said printing element.

8. A method to control vibration measures and refresh measures in a printing operation of an ink printing system with at least one printing apparatus, the printing apparatus having printing elements that fire ink droplets as print dots at a printing substrate depending on control data, comprising the steps of:
determining the control data for the printing elements in a preparation process from print data associated with print images, and determining firing pause information about firing pauses for the printing elements;
combining the control data with both prefire data for the vibration measures and refresh data for the refresh measures derived from said firing pause information and from information depending on operating conditions of the printing apparatus;
executing the vibration measures and the refresh measures by the printing elements depending on the firing pause information, the prefire data, and the refresh data, no ink droplet being ejected during the vibration measures and ink droplets being ejected during the refresh measures:
wherein at least first and second process steps are provided, in the first process step a print image raster in which a location at which a print dot is to be supplied being associated with a raster point, said location being developed from the print data, and in the second process step the prefire data or the refresh data combined with the control data are derived from a series of said print dot locations of one or more successive print images;
a prefire matrix of said prefire data being formed corresponding to the print image raster;
the print image raster and the prefire matrix being combined with one another, a print dot having priority given a conflict between a print dot location for a print dot and a prefire data; and
the control data being formed from a series of the print dot locations associated with the print dots and from the prefire data.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein:
a refresh matrix of the refresh data is provided in addition to the print image raster and the prefire matrix of the prefire data,
the print image raster, the prefire matrix and the refresh matrix being combined with one another, the print dot having priority given a conflict between a print dot location for a print dot and a prefire data, and
the control data being formed from a series of print dot locations associated with a print dot, the prefire data, and the refresh data.

10. A method to control vibration measures and refresh measures in a printing operation of an ink printing system with at least one printing apparatus, the printing apparatus having printing elements that fire ink droplets as print dots at a printing substrate depending on control data, comprising the steps of:
determining the control data for the printing elements in a preparation process from print data associated with print images, and determining firing pause information about firing pauses for the printing elements;
combining the control data with both prefire data for the vibration measures and refresh data for the refresh measures derived from said firing pause information and from information depending on operating conditions of the printing apparatus;
executing the vibration measures and the refresh measures by the printing elements depending on the firing pause information, the prefire data, and the refresh data, no ink droplet being ejected during the vibration measures and ink droplets being ejected during the refresh measures;
wherein at least first and second process steps are provided, in the first process step a print image raster in which a location at which a print dot is to be supplied being associated with a raster point, said location being developed from the print data, and in the second process step the prefire data or the refresh data combined with the control data are derived from a series of said print dot locations of one or more successive print images;
the process further comprises a third step; and
in the third process step, multiple raster points of the print image raster being merged into raster cells to set grey tones of a print image, said raster cells being filled with print dots depending on the grey tones.

Assignees

• Oce Printing Systems Gmbh & Co Kg
• Oce Printing Systems Gmbh & Co Kg

Inventors

• Koerner Philippe
• Myllek Harald

Classifications

• B41J2/165

  Prevention {or detection} of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles · CPC title

• B41J2/04581

  controlling heads based on piezoelectric elements · CPC title

• B41J2/04586

  controlling heads of a type not covered by groups B41J2/04575 - B41J2/04585, or of an undefined type · CPC title

• B41J2/04573 Primary

  Timing; Delays · CPC title

• B41J2002/16567

  using ultrasonic or vibrating means · CPC title