Abstract: A printer for printing on a print medium includes a print module supporting at least one printhead having ink orifices formed in a front face thereof through which ink drops are ejected into a print zone between the printhead and the print medium during printing, and a member extending beyond the front face of the printhead toward the print medium from the print module adjacent the printhead, wherein the member disrupts a boundary layer of air in the print zone between the printhead and the print medium during printing.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for printing fluid on a substrate is provided. The method includes providing drops of the fluid on the substrate and spreading the drops of fluid to increase the surface area covered by those drops. The apparatus includes a printer having a print head for printing drops of fluid on the substrate and a spreader for spreading the fluid drops on the substrate.

Abstract: A method of printing with a printing system comprising an array of print heads, the array of print heads including a redundant print head, and a service station, includes, with the redundant print head located at the service station, printing using a remainder of the array of print heads; and positionally and functionally replacing a second print head in the array with the redundant print head while printing continues.

Abstract: A method of printing with a printing system comprising an array of print heads, the array of print heads including a redundant print head, and a service station, includes, with the redundant print head located at the service station, printing using a remainder of the array of print heads; and positionally and functionally replacing a second print head in the array with the redundant print head while printing continues.

Abstract: An ink jet printer system includes a partially redundant page-wide array of moveable ink jet print heads in a print zone, means outside of the print zone for servicing the print heads, and a transfer system, configured to selectively move a redundant portion of the array of print heads out of the print zone for servicing while printing with a remainder of the array.

Abstract: An ink jet printer system includes a partially redundant page-wide array of moveable ink jet print heads in a print zone, means outside of the print zone for servicing the print heads, and a transfer system, configured to selectively move a redundant portion of the array of print heads out of the print zone for servicing while printing with a remainder of the array.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the invention, an inkjet printer selectively energizes ink ejection elements in a scanning printhead such that the top nozzles of the printhead do not always print the first line of text in a scan. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by occasionally aligning the bottommost nozzle in the printhead with the bottom of the last full line of text to be printed during the scan. The alignment of the printhead with respect to the lines of text to be printed is varied from page to page or varied at other intervals so that the top nozzles and bottom nozzles are used about equally. This will also cause more uniform wear of the middle nozzles. The more uniform wearing of the nozzles and ink ejection elements extends the life of the printhead.

Abstract: An inkjet print cartridge uses at least one groove to supply ink from an ink reservoir to the fluid channel, which includes an ink ejection chamber, such that foreign particles within the ink supply are filtered out by the grooves so as not to block the fluid channel. In one embodiment, a barrier layer between a substrate and nozzle member contains the ink ejection chamber which is in communication with a plenum via a flow restrictor, such as pinch points. The nozzle member includes an array of orifices and grooves. The substrate includes two linear arrays of ink ejection elements, such as heater elements, and each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with an ink ejection chamber and ink ejection element. A plurality of grooves is likewise associated with each plenum. The plurality of grooves in the nozzle member supply ink into each plenum, which in turn supplies ink to the ink ejection chamber.

Abstract: It has been discovered that inkjet printhead lifetime is related to an amount of accumulated air within the inkjet printhead. The invention, therefore, comprises a method of: determining an amount of ink that is output by an inkjet printhead during a determined period; using the amount of ink so determined to derive an update air accumulation value that is indicative of an amount of air which has accumulated during the determined period within the inkjet printhead; and updating a stored air accumulation parameter in accord with the air accumulation update value. The stored air accumulation parameter is thus related to a projected remaining lifetime of the inkjet printhead. A preferred embodiment stores the air accumulation parameter directly on a memory that is integral with the inkjet printhead. The parameter can further be stored on a memory that is resident on an ink container employed in the inkjet printer.