Patent ID: 6302511
Filing Date: 2001-10-16
Classification: B41J,G06K,H04N

Abstract:
An ink jet printer which compensates for nonfunctional ink jets in a printhead, comprising:a processor, coupled to a host computer, which receives print data and commands from the host computer;a memory, coupled to the processor, which stores at least one print mask and at least one replacement print mask;a print logic circuit, coupled to the processor, which receives signals from the processor to control the operation of the printhead; andwherein the printhead includes a plurality of ink jets, each ink jet being assigned to print respective dots on a respective raster line of a recording medium in accordance with the at least one print mask stored within the memory, wherein when an ink jet is detected as being defective, at least a portion of said print mask is replaced with the replacement print mask also stored in the memory such that one or more of the remaining ink jets of the plurality of ink jets compensates for the defective ink jet.