PRINT CONTROL METHOD
A print control method performed by a print controller of an inkjet printer includes steps of heating the ink in a nozzle of the printer by applying a firing pulse of a duration less than a duration required to discharge an ink dot; sensing the temperature of the heated ink in the nozzle; sensing a voltage at an actuator heater of the nozzle; loading and updating a table listing (i) sensed values of ink temperature in the nozzle, (ii) resistivity of an actuator heater of the nozzle, and (iii) a width of the actuator heater; and changing the duration of a firing pulse used to discharge an ink dot in reference to the sensed voltage and the updated table of sensed temperature, resistivity and width values so as to produce a uniform ink dot size.
1 . A print control method performed by a print controller of an inkjet printer, the method comprising:
heating the ink in a nozzle of the printer by applying a firing pulse of a duration less than a duration required to discharge an ink dot;
sensing the temperature of the heated ink in the nozzle;
sensing a voltage at an actuator heater of the nozzle;
loading and updating a table listing (i) sensed values of ink temperature in the nozzle, (ii) resistivity of an actuator heater of the nozzle, and (iii) a width of the actuator heater; and
changing the duration of a firing pulse used to discharge an ink dot in reference to the sensed voltage and the updated table of sensed temperature, resistivity and width values so as to produce a uniform ink dot size.
2 . The printer controller of claim 1 , wherein the steps of sensing the temperature and changing the firing pulse duration are carried out while data is being transferred to the printer.
3 . The printer controller of claim 2 , wherein the transfer of data on the sensed temperature, resistivity and width share a tri-state bus line of a data bus.