Abstract: A printing system for printing to a recording medium can include a guide, a printer, and a cleaner. The guide can guide the recording medium and be arranged in a first vertically traveling region. The printer having a print bar with a print head can print to the recording medium. The printer can be arranged in a printing position located in the first vertically traveling region, and be displaced, to facilitate the cleaning of the print head, into a service position located in a second vertically traveling region. The cleaner can be adapted to clean the print head. The cleaner can be arranged in a printing position located in the first vertically traveling region, and be displaced into the service position located in the second vertically traveling region to clean the print head. The cleaning can be automatically or manually performed.

Abstract: A device for automatic adjustment of print heads in a printing machine is presented. The device can include at least one motor and a controller. The motor can drive at least one drive element for at least one retaining element, and drive at least one drive element for at least one adjustment element. The controller can control the at least one motor to: drive the at least one drive element to loosen the at least one retaining element, drive the at least one drive element to position the at least one adjustment element at a predetermined nominal value to position the adjustment element, and drive the at least one drive element to tighten the at least retaining element.

Abstract: A device for arranging a print head in a certain position includes a main unit including a main frame providing a primary abutting part and a support part; a sub-unit including a sub-frame providing a secondary abutting part, a connecting member movable relative to the sub-frame between a first position and a second position, and an urging member for urging the connecting member from the second position towards the first position, and a print head connectable to the connecting member to form a sub-assembly with the sub-unit. The main unit is configured to accommodate a sub-assembly formed by the sub-unit and the print head in a preliminary position in which, with the connecting member in the first position, the print head contacts the support part, and the secondary abutting part is spaced apart from the primary abutting part.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for printing a Quality Assurance print chart, QA chart, comprising the steps of: determining the maximum print width for at least one media sheet to be printed subsequently to the printing of the QA chart, selecting from a plurality of media types designated as being suitable for QA charts, a media type that has substantially the same or a greater media width as the determined print width for the at least one media sheet to be printed subsequently, setting a print width for the QA chart substantially to the determined print width, and printing the QA chart with the set print width on the selected media type.

Abstract: In a method of nozzle failure detection in an ink jet printer having a plurality of ejection units including a nozzle and an associated liquid chamber with an electromechanical transducer, nozzle failure detection is performed, for each ejection unit, with a given minimum detection frequency. Each nozzle failure detection includes energizing the transducer with a waveform that does not lead to the ejection of a droplet but creates a pressure fluctuation that is sensitive to whether or not the ejection unit is in a malfunction state; measuring the pressure fluctuation in order to detect the malfunction state; defining a mask pattern that is independent of image contents to be printed; and when an image is being printed, performing the nozzle failure detection steps for each ejection unit at timings at which the respective nozzles are in pixel positions that belong to the mask pattern.

Abstract: A duplex printing method includes, determining an amount of shrinkage of a media sheet onto which a front side image has been printed; scaling an image to be printed on a back side of the sheet with a scaling function that depends upon the determined shrinkage; and printing the scaled image on the back side of the sheet. The step of determining includes predicting a shrinkage of a media sheet on the basis of process parameters, and on the basis of a model that is defined by a set of model parameters and that describes a dependence of the shrinkage on the process parameters, the process parameters including at least an amount of marking material to be applied to the front side of the sheet; measuring an actual shrinkage of the sheet; and adjusting the model parameters based on a comparison between the predicted shrinkage and the measured shrinkage to improve a prediction of a shrinkage for a subsequent sheet.

Abstract: An inkjet printer having at least one print head in which at least one edge region nozzle at the edge of the print head is not activated for the printing of a print image, but nevertheless is activated at least temporarily with non-ejection pulses without ink ejection. Intensity fluctuations of the dots of a print image that are printed by the remaining nozzles of the print head may be reduced via the activation of an edge region nozzle with non-ejection pulses.

Abstract: A printing method wherein a scanning-type printer, or a printer comprising a page-wide array of multiple printheads, is used for printing an image on a substrate in a plurality of adjacent swaths, the method comprising a step of determining positions of boundaries between the adjacent swaths on the basis of image contents to be printed, preferentially in such a way that artefacts are least likely to be visible.

Abstract: In a device for regenerating a print head of an inkjet printing device, a fluid is applied onto the nozzle plate of the print head. The one or more nozzles of the print head can be subsequently operated with one or more no-ejection pulses to produce the effect that fluid is drawn from the nozzle plate into the one or more nozzles and mixes with the ink in the one or more nozzles that the viscosity of the ink in the one or more nozzles is reduced.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for applying an image onto a recording medium, using an aqueous ink jet coating, wherein the aqueous ink jet coating comprises a cationic polymer and an anionic surfactant. The present invention further relates to a method for preparing such aqueous ink jet coating composition.

Abstract: A drying device includes a storage unit in which energy (e.g. thermal energy) may be stored during a charging phase. The stored energy may be used at the beginning of a subsequent printing phase to warm a drying medium (e.g. air) to dry a recording medium that has been printed to. The maximum required connected electrical load of the drying device is advantageously and efficiently reduced.

Abstract: In a method for operating the print server, a spooling priority print job is determined which, among the spooling print jobs, has the highest printing priority and has not yet been stored in the print data cache memory. A print job size of the spooling priority print job is determined. A free capacity of the print data cache memory is also determined. One or more print jobs that are not currently being printed from the print data cache memory are deleted until the free capacity of the print data cache memory is less than the size of the spooling priority print job, where the printing priority of the print job to be deleted is lower than the printing priority of the spooling priority print job. The spooling priority print job is then loaded into the print data cache memory.

Abstract: In a roll-fed printing apparatus and a method therefor, a controller receives a plurality of ripped images from a raster image processor in memory of the roll managing system irrespectively of the presence of the least one recording medium in the roll-fed printing apparatus. For each ripped image the roll managing system establishes an arbitrary position in the plane of the at least one recording medium at which arbitrary position the ripped image is intended to be printed. The controller creates subsequent image swathes for printing the ripped images according to the established arbitrary positions of the ripped images. While printing created subsequent image swathes, the roll managing system monitors a first actual status of printing of the created subsequent image swathes, a second actual status of a timing of the ripped images to be printed and a third actual status of the at least one receiving medium.

Abstract: Described is an assembly of a guiding structure and a print head carriage, the print head carriage comprising a base carriage controllably movable relative to the guiding structure along a first horizontal axis, the print head carriage comprising a sub-carriage controllably movable relative to the base carriage along a second horizontal axis. The print head carriage comprises an intermediate carriage controllably movable relative to the base carriage along a vertical axis, the sub-carriage mounted on the intermediate carriage for moving together with the intermediate carriage relative to the base carriage, the sub-carriage controllably movable relative to the intermediate carriage along the second horizontal axis.

Abstract: A deflecting device for deflecting a conveyed sheet includes a guiding assembly having an inlet for receiving a conveyed sheet front an upstream section of a main conveying path, a primary outlet for discharging a conveyed sheet onto a downstream section of a main conveying path, a secondary outlet for discharging a conveyed sheet onto an initial section of a side conveying path, and a passing area for passing a conveyed sheet from the inlet towards the primary outlet; and a deflector for deflecting a conveyed sheet towards the secondary outlet, movable into a receiving position for receiving a leading edge of a conveyed sheet inside the passing area and movable into a discharge position for discharging a leading edge of a conveyed sheet towards the secondary outlet, wherein the deflector defines a curved trajectory for a conveyed sheet deflected towards the secondary outlet in the discharge position, wherein one side of the curved trajectory faces the primary outlet.

Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes a liquid duct system having a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with the nozzles, and a liquid supply line communicating with the pressure chambers; a plurality of actuators arranged to pressurize the liquid in the pressure chambers for ejecting droplets of liquid through the nozzles; and a dampening device including a cavity that is in fluid communication with the duct system and is delimited by a resilient foil for dampening pressure waves in the liquid. The resilient foil is pre-formed in a corrugated shape.

Abstract: A method for calibrating and converting colors of a digital image into printer specific colorant control values is disclosed. This method comprises the steps of calibrating a specific printer of a printer type according to a printer type specific procedure, wherein for each colorant separately a one-dimensional relationship between a printer tone value and a colorant control value is established; profiling the printer type to establish an output profile that defines a relationship between color values in a profile connecting color space and the printer tone values; deriving from the input profile and the output profile a one-dimensional relationship between a black channel and the black printer tone value of the printer; determining if an image color value is to be converted either by using the profiles or by using the one-dimensional relation; converting the image color value and subsequently using the printer calibration relations to obtain the colorant control values.

Abstract: A method of controlling a user interface having a screen and being arranged to display a plurality of display items on the screen simultaneously in a configurable layout, the layout specifying at least one of: a selection of display items to be displayed simultaneously; a configuration of windows that are assigned to the display items to be displayed; and a level of detail for at least one of the display items to be displayed. The method further includes selecting a subset of said plurality of display items; entering a single command for concurrently changing, for each display item in the subset, at least one of the configuration of windows and the level of detail; and for each display item in the subset, translating the single command into an item-specific command adapted to the display item, and executing the item-specific command.

Abstract: A printing device includes an applicator with which a test fluid is applied onto a recording medium to be printed to, as well as an absorption measurement system with which absorption data are acquired with regard to the absorption rate of the test fluid. The printing device also includes a fuser to fix a print image printed by the printing device. The fuser is adjusted depending on the acquired absorption data so that an optimal and/or desired fixing of print images on the respectively used type of recording medium is produced.

Abstract: A transporter can transports a recording medium on a transport belt through a print group with at least one print head. The transport belt has a plurality of holes via which a negative pressure may be produced to draw/hold a recording medium onto the transport belt. To avoid an air flow below the print head, a decoupler can selectively cover, seal, and/or decouple a source of the negative pressure such that no negative pressure is produced through the holes that are located below the print head and that are not covered by a recording medium.