Interleaving thermal printing with discontiguous dye-transfer tracks on an individual multiple-source printhead pass
US5808655A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 12, 1995 |
| Grant date | Sep 15, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 12, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K2215/111
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A multiple-source array for use in thermal printing uses source interleaving to avoid overlapping of the dye-transfer tracks upon the donor material in a single pass. This prevents the formation of artifacts in the image because of thermal interaction among either the sources or printing spots. This also permits the thermal array to be oriented predominantly perpendicular to the first-scan direction so that any arcuate shape of the array causes minimal spacing variations of the scan lines and minimizes spacing variations in focus for laser-thermal printing or document source separation for resistive-head thermal printing. Interleaving also allows multiple printheads to be used even when they have different printing characteristics. The array includes independently addressable printing element data channels and a data distributor allowing interleaving to be accomplished in the printhead. The printhead also includes pixel replication circuitry that allows pixel replication in both the fast and slow scan directions.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.