Patent ID: 7207652

Claim:
Apparatus including a printhead for an inkjet printer, the printhead comprising: an ink reservoir; nozzles for ejecting ink from the ink reservoir onto print media, the nozzles being formed in the ink jet printer printhead in a predetermined fashion with bores purposefully shaped and/or directed to determine the formation and placement of satellite droplets when ink is ejected from the ink reservoir when the printhead is part of an inkjet printer; wherein: (a) each of the nozzles produces a main drop and a satellite droplet when ink is ejected through the nozzles, (b) each nozzle includes a bore, (c) each bore has an axis, (d) a first plurality of the nozzles have the axes of their bores aligned in a first direction, (e) a second plurality of the nozzles have the axes of their bores aligned in a second direction, (f) a plurality of heaters are used to eject ink through the nozzles, and each heater ejects ink through a first nozzle from the first plurality of nozzles and a second nozzle from the second plurality of nozzles, (g) the nozzles are aligned and directed such that when ink is ejected through the nozzles, satellite droplets ejected through the first plurality of the nozzles are offset from the main drops ejected through the first plurality of the nozzles in a different direction from which satellite droplets ejected through the second plurality of the nozzles are offset from the main drops ejected through the second plurality of the nozzles, such that: in a first direction of printing, the main drop from the first nozzle associated with a heater at least partially overlaps the satellite droplet from that nozzle and at least partially overlaps the satellite droplet from the second nozzle associated with that heater, and in a second direction of printing, the main drop from the second nozzle associated with a heater at least partially overlaps the satellite droplet from that nozzle and at least partially overlaps the satellite droplet from the first nozzle associated with that heater.