Patent ID: 8556398

Claim:
A printer comprising: a plurality of printheads, at least one of the printheads in the plurality of printheads being configured to eject a color of ink different than a color of ink ejected by the other printheads in the plurality of printheads and each printhead in the plurality of printheads having a heater configured to heat solid ink in the printhead to a phase change temperature; a plurality of ink reservoirs, each reservoir having a heater and each reservoir being fluidly connected to only one printhead in the plurality of printheads to supply a single color of ink to the printhead and each ink reservoir being fluidly connected to the plurality of printheads in a one-to-one correspondence; and a controller operatively connected to each printhead in the plurality of printheads, the controller being configured to detect ink colors in a print job received by the printer and to activate only the heater in each printhead configured to eject a color of ink detected in the print job being received by the printer, and the controller being further configured to activate only the heater for at least one reservoir that supplies ink to at least one printhead that ejects an ink color detected in the print job after expiration of a predetermined time period following the activation of the heater for the at least one printhead that ejects an ink color detected in the print job.