Patent ID: 7052125

Claim:
A method of helical ink-jet, drum printing, comprising: calculating a helical lead angle for an image to be printed; applying a shearing algorithm to the image to compensate for the calculated helical lead angle; selecting nozzles having a moveable print head, to compensate for the calculated helical lead angle, said nozzles arranged in a plurality of columns, with the arranging of said nozzles further including arranging a first column set having a first column of nozzles and a second column of nozzles and offsetting the second column of nozzles from the first column of nozzles by a distance calculated from a minimum lead angle and the circumference of the drum, and the separation of nozzles within a column; rotating the orientation of said image relative to the drum; depositing ink in a helical pattern onto a drum from the selected nozzles synchronized with rotation of said drum; rotating a medium capable of receiving ink from said drum relative to the rotation of said image prior to transferring the ink thereto; and transferring the ink from said drum to a separate medium after an entire image has been deposited onto said drum.