Patent ID: 8016389

Claim:
An inkjet printer comprising: an array of nozzles arranged into a plurality of rows, each row of nozzles being divided into a plurality nozzle groups each comprising a plurality of consecutive nozzles from the row, the array of nozzles being further arranged into a plurality of nozzle regions each including two or more nozzle groups; and a drive circuitry for sending drive pulses to individual nozzles of each nozzle group, the drive circuitry being configured to simultaneously send no more than one drive pulse per nozzle group such that no two nozzles in one nozzle group are fired simultaneously, the drive circuitry being further configured to simultaneously send drive pulses to different nozzle groups in a same nozzle region, wherein the drive circuitry is further configured to delay the sending of drive pulses to nozzle groups of a second nozzle region with respect to nozzle groups of a first nozzle region, whereby nozzles in the second nozzle region commence firing later than nozzles in the first nozzle region, and each nozzle group is assigned a shift value greater than 1, and the drive circuitry is further configured to send consecutive drive pulses to nozzles in a group spaced apart from each other by the shift value, whereby non-adjacent nozzles in one nozzle group are fired consecutively.