Printer with print mode masking periodic carriage vibration

摘要

A shuttle-type printer has a movable carriage to carry and position at least one pen over a printing surface. The printer also has a carriage positioning system coupled to move the carriage at a slew rate in swaths over the printing surface. The carriage positioning system starts the carriage at a starting position for individual swaths. The carriage positioning system implements techniques for masking the effects of periodic vibrations in the printer. According to one technique, the carriage positioning system varies the starting position for the individual swaths. According to a second technique, the carriage positioning system makes multiple passes before advancing the recording media and varies the slew rate for individual passes. The techniques do not eliminate or reduce the vibrations themselves, but mask their effects in the print results that are caused by period vibrations in the printer.