Method of compensation for the effects of thermally-induced droplet size variations in ink drop printers

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An image processing apparatus for use in a binary printer, comprising:

a temperature estimation unit configured to estimate a temperature of a print head; and

an image adjustment unit configured to receive the estimated print head temperature from the temperature estimation unit and to receive image data, wherein the image adjustment unit is also configured to determine the number of dots to be printed by the print head based upon the estimated print head temperature and the image data;

wherein the image data comprises probabilities of printing dots at various pixel locations, and wherein the adjustment unit is configured to adjust the probabilities based upon the estimated temperature and to use the adjusted probabilities to determine the number of dots to be printed.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit further comprises:

a thresholding unit configured to compare the adjusted probabilities to an array of values and to determine the number of dots to be printed based upon the comparison.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit further comprises:

a plurality of lookup tables, each lookup table corresponding to a print head temperature and having adjusted probabilities stored therein, wherein the lookup tables are accessed by the adjustment unit for selecting adjusted probabilities based upon the estimated temperature and the image data.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the temperature estimation unit comprises:

a counter configured to provide a count of the number of dots to be printed by the print head over some predetermined portion of an image; and

a temperature predictor in communication with the counter, wherein the temperature predictor is configured to predict the temperature of the print head based upon the count.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the temperature estimation unit comprises:

a temperature sensor connected to the print head.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an image data storage unit adapted to store at least a portion of the image data and provide the data to the adjustment unit; and

an ink-jet print head controlled by the adjustment unit to print the number of dots determined by the adjustment unit.

7. A method of compensating for the effects of thermally induced droplet size variations in a binary printer having a print head for producing a printed image from a source image by selectively producing dots on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:

estimating a temperature of a print head;

receiving image data; and

deciding whether to print a dot at each of a plurality of pixel locations based upon the estimated temperature and the image data received;

wherein the image data comprises a plurality of nominal halftone levels, each halftone level corresponding to a pixel, and wherein the deciding step comprises the steps of:

selecting a predetermined set of data from a plurality of sets of data based upon the estimated temperature, wherein each of the plurality of sets of data corresponds to a print head temperature;

selecting an adjusted halftone level for each pixel from the selected set of data based upon the nominal halftone level for the pixel;

comparing each of the adjusted halftone levels to a threshold value obtained from an array; and

providing a binary halftone value for each pixel based upon the comparison, wherein the binary halftone value has a first state if a dot is to be printed at the pixel location and a second state if a dot is not to be printed.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the image data represents a slice of a source image, wherein the array is a Bayer matrix, and wherein the method is repeated for each slice of the source image.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein each set of data is constructed by the steps of:

printing a first plurality of small patches corresponding to each possible halftone level, wherein the print head temperature is maintained at a substantially constant nominal temperature during the printing;

printing a second plurality of small patches corresponding to each possible halftone level, wherein the print head temperature is maintained at a second temperature during the printing;

comparing each patch from the first plurality of printed patches to a patch from the second plurality of printed patches; and

determining the adjusted halftone levels for the set of data based upon the comparison.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the temperature estimating step comprises the steps of:

counting a number of dots to be printed by the print head; and

selecting the temperature from a set of data based upon the count.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the method is encoded on a computer readable medium.

12. An image processing apparatus for use in a binary halftone printer, comprising:

a temperature estimation unit configured to estimate a temperature of a print head; and

a halftone adjustment unit configured to receive the estimated print head temperature from the temperature estimation unit and to receive image data comprising nominal halftone values, each nominal halftone value corresponding to a pixel, wherein the adjustment unit is configured to determine binary halftone values based on the estimated print head temperature and the nominal halftone values.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the adjustment unit is configured to convert the nominal halftone values into adjusted halftone values based upon the estimated temperature, and wherein the adjustment unit further comprises:

a thresholding unit configured to compare the adjusted halftone values to an array of values and for determining the binary halftone values based upon the comparison.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the adjustment unit further comprises:

a plurality of lookup tables, each lookup table corresponding to a print head temperature and having adjusted halftone values stored therein, wherein the adjustment unit is configured to select a lookup table based upon the estimated temperature and to select an adjusted halftone value for each pixel from the selected table based upon the nominal halftone value for the pixel.

15. The apparatus as recited in 12, further comprising:

a temperature controller configured to control the print head temperature to within a range which is less than or equal to about 40C.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the temperature estimation unit comprises:

a counter configured to provide a count of the number of dots to be printed by the print head; and

a temperature predictor in communication with the counter configured to predict the temperature of the print head based upon the count.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the temperature estimation unit comprises:

a temperature sensor connected to the print head.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

an ink-jet print head for printing dots by binary ink-jet printing;

a print head driver unit for receiving the binary halftone values and for controlling the ink-jet print head to print dots according to the binary halftone values; and

an image data storage unit for storing at least a portion of the image data and for providing the image data to the adjustment unit.

19. An apparatus for estimating the temperature of a print head, comprising:

an energy estimation unit configured to estimate the energy supplied to a print head; and

a temperature estimation unit configured to receive the estimated energy from the energy estimation unit and to determine an estimated print head temperature based upon the estimated energy;

wherein the energy estimation unit comprises a counter for counting binary halftone values, wherein the count represents the estimated energy.

20. A method of predicting the temperature of a print head in a printer based upon energy supplied to the print head, the method comprising:

estimating the energy to be supplied to the print head; and

predicting a print head temperature from the energy based upon a predetermined relationship between the energy to be supplied and print head temperature.

21. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein the estimating step comprises the step of:

counting the number of dots be printed by the print head.

22. The method as recited claim 21, wherein the predicting step comprises the steps of:

providing a lookup table, wherein the table comprises a plur