Patent ID: 7458657

Claim:
In a single-pass ink-jet printer, a method of printing on a substrate that is in motion relative to a print head along print-line direction, the method comprising: defining a delay interval on the basis of a spread rate of ink on a substrate; causing the print head to eject a first ink drop through a first orifice onto a first location on the substrate; causing the print head to eject a second ink drop through a second orifice onto a second location on the substrate, the second location being separated from the first location by a gap extending along a direction perpendicular to the print-line direction, the gap having an extent that decreases from an initial extent to a remaining extent as the first and second drops spread outward from the first and second locations; following lapse of the delay interval, causing the print head to eject a third drop of ink through a third orifice onto a third location, the third location being within the remaining extent of the gap.