Patent ID: 7273262

Claim:
A printing system comprising: a first printer configured to receive a subject printhead carrier of plural printhead carriers, each printhead carrier including an identifier and mounting a plurality of printheads in fixed relation to one another, the first printer being configured to print an alignment pattern indicative of the spatial relationship of printheads on the subject printhead carrier; a scanner configured to view the alignment pattern to determine the spatial relationship of printheads on the subject printhead carrier, and to record a determined spatial relationship in association with the identifier of the subject printhead carrier; a second printer configured to receive the subject printhead carrier, to access the determined spatial relationship associated with the identifier of the subject printhead carrier, and to print with the printheads on the subject printhead carrier based on the determined spatial relationship associated with the subject printhead carrier; and memory containing determined spatial relationships of printheads on each of plural printhead carriers, wherein the second printer is further configured to read the identifier of the subject printhead carrier, access a location in the memory that is associated with the identifier of the subject printhead carrier, and retrieve the determined spatial relationship in the accessed memory location, thereby accommodating printing with printheads of various printhead carriers based on the determined spatial relationship associated with such printhead carriers.