System And Method For Measuring Cross-Talk In Inkjet Printheads

摘要

An inkjet printer forms low and high area coverage test patterns using inkjets in a printhead. The printer identifies process direction offsets for the inkjets in both test patterns using scanned image data of the printed test patterns. The printer identifies a level of cross-talk in the printhead with reference to a standard deviation difference between the process direction offsets identified in the low area coverage and high area coverage test patterns. The printer generates a recommendation for an operational configuration of the printhead based on the identified level of cross-talk.

主权项

1. A printer comprising:
a printhead including a plurality of inkjets configured to eject ink drops onto an image receiving surface to form an ink image; an optical scanner configured to generate scanned image data of the ink image on the image receiving surface; and a controller operatively connected to the printhead and the optical scanner, the controller being configured to:
operate the printhead to eject a first plurality of ink drops from the plurality of inkjets to form a first test pattern on the image receiving surface, the first test pattern having a first area coverage;generate first scanned image data of the first test pattern with the optical scanner;identify a first plurality of process direction offsets for the plurality of inkjets with reference to the first scanned image data;operate the printhead to eject a second plurality of ink drops from the plurality of inkjets to form a second test pattern on the image receiving surface, the second test pattern having a second area coverage, the second area coverage being greater than the first area coverage;generate second scanned image data of the second test pattern with the optical scanner;identify a second plurality of process direction offsets for the plurality of inkjets with reference to the second scanned image data;identify a level of cross-talk in the printhead with reference to a difference between the first plurality of process direction offsets and the second plurality of process direction offsets; andstore the identified level of cross-talk in a memory in association with the printhead to generate a recommendation for an operational configuration of the printhead during operation of the printer.