Patent ID: 9533491
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: B41J

Claim:
1. A method for maintaining operational inkjet nozzles during operation of an ink jet image forming device having ink jet print heads with nozzles for depositing marking material onto a print media, comprising: a) determining that the ink jet print heads are active; b) while the ink jet print heads are active, searching current and upcoming print jobs for forward image data; c) mapping underused print jets over a current predetermined time interval based on the forward image data; d) designing a target image different than the forward image data; and e) causing an immediate printing of the designed target image on a sacrificial print media at the end of the current predetermined time interval, the immediate printing of the designed target image including suspending a printing of a current print job, retrieving the sacrificial print media from an infeed sacrificial print media source of the ink jet image forming device, printing the designed target image on the retrieved sacrificial print media, and resuming the printing of a current print job.