Abstract: A method for servicing an inkjet printhead effects recovery against a particular printhead failure mode via implementation of a printhead servicing routine including, but not limited to, a bubble recovery routine, a contaminant purging routine, and/or a (standard) printhead servicing routine. In a preferred embodiment, the method for servicing an inkjet printhead takes into consideration nozzle health data, diagnostics, or the like. In a preferred embodiment, a bitmap or mask is employed to control firing of the nozzles during the servicing of the printhead. In a preferred embodiment, the servicing method includes the step of: firing the printing nozzles in a manner tending to force contaminants at the printing nozzles toward one end of the printhead.

Abstract: A docking station for a portable computer contains a platform and a movable guide bar connected to the docking station and extending over the platform. The guide bar is capable of guiding the portable computer into proper alignment with the docking station when the portable computer is placed on the guide bar and pressed downwardly into the platform. The guide bar may contain a thermally conductive guide protrusion capable of mating with a heat sink on the portable computer. Heat is transferred from the heat sink on the portable computer to the guide protrusion on the guide bar. The guide bar itself may also be thermally conductive, providing a further avenue for heat to be transferred from the portable computer to the docking station.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for indicating a low toner condition in a printer having a plurality of toner cartridges are provided. A method is provided which includes presenting a cartridge having low toner at a cartridge access way where the cartridge can be removed and replaced. The method can also include providing a carriage which can movably support the plurality of toner cartridges and can automatically move the cartridge having low toner to the cartridge access way when a low toner condition is detected. An apparatus is provided which includes a movable carriage which can move in a substantially linear manner. Other apparatus are provided which include a movable carriage which can move in a substantially rotational manner.

Abstract: When a monitor display is to be printed by a color printer, the present invention transforms the monitor colors to compensate for chromatic adaption while mapping the monitor's neutral axis with the printer's neutral axis so neutral colors remain neutral. In the preferred embodiment, it is assumed that there is only partial chromatic adaption by the viewer. The result is that printing the transformed monitor colors using a color printer causes printed colors to appear to the human eye to be similar to the displayed monitor colors, while preserving neutral colors, once the human eye has adapted to the displayed monitor colors and the printed colors.

Abstract: The present invention, in various embodiments, provides techniques for reducing effects of electrical impedance. In one embodiment, the impedance is in the form of inductance and arises from vias in a termination PCB and from resistors used on the PCB. In one embodiment, a power plane is placed near the resistors. Additional power and ground planes are created in parallel among themselves and perpendicular to the vias, which cause capacitance to be formed between each pair of the ground and power planes, the ground planes and the vias, and the power planes and the vias. In one aspect, the power plane near the resistors and the formed capacitance allow the high-frequency returned currents to flow through a smaller loop and thus be affected by a smaller inductance. Additionally, the created capacitance reduces both the total impedance of the vias and the resistors and any impedance that result from power-ground discontinuity.

Abstract: A printhead for an inkjet printer employs non-circular orifices, such as oval or parallelogram, at the surface of the orifice plate to increase the restoring force of the ink meniscus. The reduced tail and diminished spray of an ink droplet expelled from the non-circular orifice results in improved edge roughness and improved quality of print.

Abstract: A system of classifying incoming media entering an inkjet printing mechanism identifies the media without requiring any special manufacturer markings. The media is first optically scanned using a blue-violet light at an initial intensity to obtain both diffuse and specular reflectance data. Certain information from the printer driver housed in a host computer or other information may be used to infer time-saving shortcuts about the type of media being supplied to the printing unit. A printing mechanism constructed to implement this method is also provided.

Abstract: A method for establishing two-way communications between a host system and a device when the address of the device is initially unknown. The host system submits a job to a device with the job including address and other information required for the device to respond with the device's address. Once the host system has the device address, the host system and the device can establish bi-directional communications. In a print job, a print job language (PJL) command known as SOCKETPING is used to transmit the information between a print client and a printer. The SOCKETPING command includes fields for host system address family, protocol, address, and port as well as extensions to define job status reporting parameters. The printer responds to the SOCKETPING command with the necessary address information for the printer and job status reports as specified in the SOCKETPING extensions.

Abstract: The present invention deals with a replaceable printing component for an ink-jet printing system. The ink-jet printing system is of the type having at least one replaceable component. The replaceable component includes an electrical storage device that is responsive to printing system control signals for transferring information between the printing component and the ink-jet printing system. The replaceable printing component includes a non-protected and a protected electrical storage portion. The non-protected electrical storage portion is responsive to write control signals for storing information provided to the non-protected electrical storage portion. The protected electrical storage portion has a protected state in response to an occurrence of a write protect active signal. In the protected state the protected electrical storage device prevents storage of information in the protected electrical storage portion.

Abstract: A method for the fabrication of electrical contacts using metal forming, masking, etching, and soldering techniques is presented. The method produces a plurality of specialized electrical contacts, capable of use in an interposer, or other device, including non-permanent or permanent electrical connections providing contact wipe, soft spring rates, durability, and significant amounts of travel.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for optimizing allocation of computer resources between server and service models. A server model is established in response to user input data. The server model includes one or more server nodes, and each server node has an associated set of capacity attributes. In addition, a service model is established that includes one or more service nodes. Each service node has an associated set of demand attributes. In response to a user selection, one of a plurality of optimization methods and one of a plurality of optimization policies, as embodied in objective functions, are selected for mapping the server nodes and service nodes. An optimized mapping is then generated of the server nodes in the server model to the service nodes in the service model using the selected optimization method, along with the demand and capacity attributes.

Abstract: A method processing image data captured by an image sensor at a first, relatively high, resolution prior to display of a captured image on a display or viewfinder screen at a second, substantially lower, resolution. The method comprises the steps of selecting a number of sets (28) of pixels from an image matrix (26) of pixels of captured image data, each of the sets (28) comprising at least three adjacent pixels in the imaging matrix (26), and each of the three pixels being of a different constituent colour (i.e. red, green and blue, or cyan, magenta and yellow). The pixels of each set are combined to create a single display pixel and the display pixels are used to create a display data matrix (30) of data to be displayed, the display data matrix (30) being of substantially smaller dimensions to that of the imaging matrix.

Abstract: Method and framework for identifying optimal allocations of computing resources in a complex, distributed data processing environment. A plurality of server models are established, with each server model including one or more server nodes and each server node having an associated set of capacity attributes. Similarly, a plurality of service models are established, each service model including one or more service nodes and each service node having an associated set of demand attributes. The server models are defined with a layered relationship as are the service models. A node that is part of a model in one layer corresponds to a model in the next-lower layer. The invention generates optimized mappings of service nodes that are described in user-selected service models to server nodes that are described in user-selected server models, as a function of the associated sets of demand and capacity attributes.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for representing capacities and demands in a layered computing environment using normalized values for identifying optimal allocations of computing resources. A plurality of server models are established, with each server model including one or more server nodes and each server node having an associated set of capacity attributes. Similarly, a plurality of service models are established, each service model including one or more service nodes and each service node having an associated set of demand attributes. The server models are defined with a layered relationship as are the service models. A node that is part of a model in one layer corresponds to a model in the next-lower layer. The invention normalizes the demand and capacity attributes of the server nodes and service nodes in the different model layer in order to generate optimized mappings of service nodes to server nodes.

Abstract: A computer implemented printer control system includes memory configured to provide an operating system and operative to store files representing at least one document to be printed and a display configured to provide an image of a graphical user interface in a viewing window. The graphical user interface is configured to convey information describing a relationship between matter to be printed on a first side of a page and matter to be printed on a second side of the page. The control system also includes processing circuitry configured to display, in the graphical user interface, a print preview image of a page to be printed and to display, together with the print preview image, an icon providing an indication of which binding option has been selected for a document that includes the page.

Abstract: A method and means for automatic alignment of ink-jet printheads includes fitting measuring constructs to actual print data acquired form a print made using a given, predetermined, test pattern data set. Specific test patterns for use in automated alignment of ink-jet printheads are suited to providing a variety of printhead alignment information in a compact format. The test pattern data set incorporates techniques for avoiding carriage-induced dynamic errors during automated alignment of ink-jet printheads.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for positioning a fluid ejection device such as an inkjet pen, or a plurality of aligned fluid ejection devices, on a supporting frame known as a printbar for page wide array printing involves provision of datum surfaces on each ejection device in two orthogonally related planes. First datum surfaces on the bottom of the devices support the device in a Z direction and second datum surfaces on opposite generally vertically extending sides of the fluid ejection devices are provided near the remote ends of the devices outwardly of electrical interconnects on each side of the devices. The device interconnects resiliently electrical interconnects mounted on the frame causing rotation of the devices to position the second datum surfaces on the device against positioning surfaces of the printbar to hold each fluid ejection device in correct position.

Abstract: An electrochromic molecular colorant and a plurality of uses as an erasably writeable medium. Multitudinous types of substrates, such as paper, are adaptable for receiving a coating of the colorant. Electrical fringe field or through fields are used to transform targeted pixel molecules between a first, high color state and transparent state, providing information content having resolution and viewability at least equal to hard copy document print. The scope of the invention includes both the liquid coating and the combination of coating on substrate.