Adjustable pen-to-paper spacing in printers using black and color pens
US5510815A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 1993 |
| Grant date | Apr 23, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 29, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J25/308
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
In order to optimize print quality, it is desirable to minimize the distance between a inkjet printhead and the media that is being printed on. This reduces print quality degradation by stray drops of ink with different trajectories than the main drop and errors in the nominal trajectory of the main drop. Color inkjet printers commonly employ a plurality of print cartridges, usually either two or four, mounted in the printer carriage to produce a full spectrum of colors. In a multiple printhead printer, it is advantageous if the black print cartridge is closer to the print media when printing text than is the color cartridge when printing color graphics. The apparatus and method of this disclosure enables the black printhead in an inkjet printer with both black and color cartridges to be as close to the media as possible so that black text print quality will be optimized while also allowing the printing of color graphics. Since black text print quality is more sensitive to printhead-to-media distance than is color graphics quality, the overall print quality of both black text and color graphics is optimized.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.