Patent ID: 6254217
Filing Date: 2001-07-03
Classification: B41J,G06K

Abstract:
A swath printer, comprising:a frame;a carriage attached to the frame for relative motion in a forward direction and a rearward direction with respect to a print medium;at least two printheads each having a different color ink and mounted on the carriage in a given position such that at least some drops of both different color inks can be sequentially deposited in at least a partially overlapping swath on the print medium;a print controller operatively connected to the carriage and the at least two printheads in order to scan the printheads over the print medium in both the forward and rearward directions for depositing ink in a same subswath of the overlapping swath; andfor each printhead, a forward and a rearward print mask operatively coupled to the print controller for governing the deposition of the different color inks when the carriage is moved in the forward and the rearward directions respectively, the print masks having cooperative mask patterns which define the sequence in which drops are deposited in the subswath so as to minimize print quality defects caused by the sequence of color ink drop deposition.