Patent ID: 7926900
Filing Date: 2011-04-19
Classification: B41J,H05K

Abstract:
1. A method of virtualizing a print head for use in printing spots on a substrate, the method comprising: setting up a plurality of components of a printing system having a process direction, where the plurality of components includes a camera and one or more print heads with one or more ejectors on each print head; ejecting at least one drop from all of the ejectors of at least one print head to produce spots on a media; using the camera to measure the positions of the printed spots from the print head relative to a set of known ejector positions which produced the printed spots; defining a first ejector of the print head as the origin of a print head coordinate system, wherein all other ejectors on the print head are located at a fixed X and Y position relative to the first ejector in the print head coordinate system; performing a linear fit to the printed spot positions, wherein the linear fit is used to obtain a slope of the printed spots relative to the printer process direction; defining the position of the first ejector as the origin in the print head coordinate system and the position of the spot produced by the first ejector as the origin in a printed media coordinate system, wherein the obtained slope is subtracted from the measured spot positions which translates the spot positions to the print head coordinate system; and storing the resulting spot positions in the print head coordinate system as initial virtual positions describing at least one virtual print head.