Patent ID: 8662616

Claim:
A method of operating inkjets in a printhead comprising: operating a first plurality of inkjets in a printhead with a first plurality of electrical signals generated with reference to a first signal parameter, each electrical signal in the first plurality of electrical signals operating only one inkjet in the first plurality of inkjets to eject a first plurality of ink drops onto an image receiving member; generating image data corresponding to the first plurality of ink drops on the image receiving member with an optical sensor; identifying a first number of inoperable inkjets in the first plurality of inkjets with reference to the image data; adjusting the first signal parameter value with reference to the first number of inoperable inkjets by increasing the first peak-to-peak voltage value for the first plurality of inkjets in response to the first number of inoperable inkjets for the first plurality of inkjets being less than a predetermined threshold; storing the adjusted first signal parameter in a memory for operation of the first plurality of inkjets in the printhead; generating a second plurality of electrical signals having a second peak-to-peak voltage value that corresponds to the increased first peak-to-peak voltage value, each electrical signal in the second plurality of electrical signals operating only one inkjet in the first plurality of inkjets to eject a second plurality of ink drops onto the image receiving member; generating image data corresponding to the second plurality of ink drops on the image receiving member with the optical sensor; identifying a second number of inoperable inkjets in the first plurality of inkjets with reference to the image data corresponding to the second plurality of ink drops on the image receiving member; and decreasing the second peak-to-peak voltage value to a value between the increased first peak-to-peak voltage value and the initial peak-to-peak voltage value in response to the second number of inoperable inkjets identified with reference to the image data corresponding to the second plurality of ink drops on the image receiving member exceeding the predetermined threshold.