Method and systems for controlling printer temperature

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of managing temperature in a printer, said method comprising the steps of: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing each of said swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said plurality of cells; printing said swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing, each of said cells being below a predetermined maximum temperature; measuring the temperature of each printhead prior to printing said swath; employing said measured temperature as an initial temperature in calculating said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing a first cell of said swath; and employing said calculated estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing said first cell as a second initial temperature in calculating a second estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing a second cell.

2. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 1, said method further comprising the steps of: calculating an ink drop estimate for printing each cell; and employing said ink drop estimate for printing each cell to calculate said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each cell.

3. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 1, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said cells includes the steps of estimating a number of ink drops required to print each cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of each printhead.

4. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: dividing a pass of each printhead in printing said swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for any printhead in printing any of said cells being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature; and wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass.

5. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 4, comprising the step of: calculating the number of sub-passes by determining the number of sub-passes required to maintain a predicted temperature of each printhead below said predetermined maximum temperature.

6. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 4, wherein said pass dividing step comprises the further step of printing said sub-passes in a height that is substantially similar to the printing pass.

7. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 4, wherein said pass dividing step comprises the further step of reducing the number of ink drops printed during each sub-pass and performing a sufficient number of sub-passes to cause said ink drops to be printed during a total of each sub-pass to substantially equal a total number of ink drops to be printed during said printing pass.

8. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 4, wherein said step of dividing further comprises: printing said number of sub-passes, wherein a recording medium is not advanced between each sub-pass of said number of sub-passes.

9. A method of managing temperature in a printer, said method comprising the steps of: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing each of said swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said plurality of cells, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said cells includes the substeps of: estimating a number of ink drops required to print each cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of each printhead; printing said swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing, each of said cells being below a predetermined maximum temperature; measuring and logging an initial temperature of each printhead prior to printing each cell of said swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of each printhead after printing each cell of said swath; comparing the initial temperature of each printhead to the final temperature of each printhead for each cell, and determining a maximum temperature difference of each printhead in printing each of said cells; measuring and logging number of ink drops printed during the printing of each cell of said swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for the cell in which the printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

10. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 9, further comprising the step of: setting said new constant as said constant in response to said new constant being within a predetermined maximum constant value and a predetermined minimum constant value.

11. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of: setting said predetermined maximum constant value as said constant in response to said new constant equaling or exceeding said predetermined maximum constant value; and maintaining said constant as said constant in response to said new constant equaling or falling below said predetermined minimum constant value.

12. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 11, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said cells includes the steps of estimating a number of ink drops required to print each cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over said new constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of each printhead; and further comprising printing a second swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing, each of said cells being below a predetermined maximum temperature.

13. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 10, further comprising the step of: maintaining said constant as said constant in response to said new constant equaling or falling below said predetermined minimum constant value.

14. A method of managing temperature in a printer, said method comprising the steps of: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing each of said swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of said plurality of cells; printing said swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing, each of said cells being below a predetermined maximum temperature; dividing a pass of each printhead in printing said swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for any printhead in printing any of said cells being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature, wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass; calculating the number of sub-passes by determining the number of sub-passes required to maintain a predicted temperature of each printhead below said predetermined maximum temperature; setting a density divisor to an initial number; and recalculating said peak estimate temperature by calculating a quotient of a drop estimate over said density divisor, wherein said quotient is added to an initial temperature of said printhead at a beginning of said cell.

15. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 14, wherein said step of calculating the number of sub-passes further comprises: incrementing said density divisor by one in response to said peak estimate temperature being greater than said predetermined temperature; and recalculating said peak estimate temperature with said incremented density divisor.

16. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for managing temperature in a printer, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: preprocessing a printable file into a plurality of swaths, each swath being further preprocessed into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature of at least one printhead in printing each cell; printing said swath in response to said estimated peak temperature, each cell being below a predetermined maximum allowed temperature; estimating a number of ink drops required to print each cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of each printhead; measuring and logging an initial temperature of each printhead prior to printing each cell of said swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of each printhead after printing each cell of said swath; comparing the initial temperature of each printhead to the final temperature of each printhead in printing each cell, and determining a maximum temperature difference of each printhead in printing each of said cells; measuring and logging number of ink drops printed during the printing of each cell of said swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for the cell in which the printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

17. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 16, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: calculating an estimated density for said cell, wherein said estimated density is utilized to calculate said estimated peak temperature.

18. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 17, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: calculating said estimated peak temperature from a sum of a product of said estimated density and a constant and an initial temperature of each printhead prior to printing each said cell.

19. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 16, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: dividing a printing pass of each printhead in printing said swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for any printhead in printing any of said cells being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature; and wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass.

20. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 16, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: setting said new constant as said constant in response to said new constant being within a predetermined maximum constant value and a predetermined minimum constant value.

21. A method of managing temperature in a printer comprising: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing a selected swath of said plurality of swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for a printhead in printing at least one cell of said plurality of cells, said calculating step comprising the steps of: estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell of said selected swath; determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant; and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said printhead; and printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature; measuring and logging an initial temperature of said printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of said printhead after printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; comparing the initial temperature of said printhead to the final temperature of said printhead for said at least one cell, and determining a maximum temperature difference of said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a number of ink drops printed during the printing of said at least one cell of said selected swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for a selected cell in which the printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

22. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 21, further comprising the step of: setting said new constant as said constant in response to said new constant being within a predetermined maximum constant value and a predetermined minimum constant value.

23. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 22, further comprising the steps of: setting said predetermined maximum constant value as said constant in response to said new constant equaling or exceeding said predetermined maximum constant value; and maintaining said constant as said constant in response to said new constant value equaling or falling below said predetermined minimum constant value.

24. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 23, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath includes the steps of: estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell of said selected swath; determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over said new constant; adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said printhead; and printing a second swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell of said selected swath being below a predetermined maximum temperature.

25. A method of managing temperature in a printer, said method comprising the steps of: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing a selected swath of said plurality of swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for a printhead in printing at least one cell of said plurality of cells; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature; dividing a pass of said printhead in printing said selected swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass; and calculating the number of sub-passes by determining the number of sub-passes required to maintain a predicted temperature of said printhead below said predetermined maximum temperature, said calculating step comprising the steps of: setting a density divisor to an initial number, and recalculating said peak estimate temperature by calculating a quotient of a drop estimate over said density divisor, wherein said quotient is added to an initial temperature of said printhead at a beginning of said at least one cell.

26. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 25, wherein said step of calculating the number of sub-passes further comprises: incrementing said density divisor by one in response to said peak estimate temperature being greater than said predetermined temperature; and recalculating said peak estimate temperature with said incremented density divisor.

27. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for managing temperature in a printer, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: preprocessing a printable file into a plurality of swaths, each swath being further preprocessed into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature of at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell of a selected swath; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum allowed temperature; calculating an estimated density for said at least one cell, wherein said estimated density is utilized to calculate said estimated peak temperature; and calculating said estimated peak temperature from a sum of a product of said estimated density and a constant and an initial temperature of said at least one printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath.

28. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 27, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said at least one printhead; measuring and logging an initial temperature of said at least one printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of said at least one printhead after printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; comparing the initial temperature of said at least one printhead to the final temperature of said at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath, and determining a maximum temperature difference of said at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell; measuring and logging number of ink drops printed during the printing of said at least one cell of said selected swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for the cell in which said at least one printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

29. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 28, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: setting said new constant as said constant in response to said new constant being within a predetermined maximum constant value and a predetermined minimum constant value.

30. A method of managing temperature in a printer comprising: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing a selected swath of said plurality of swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for a printhead in printing at least one cell of said plurality of cells; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature; measuring a temperature of said printhead prior to printing said selected swath; employing said measured temperature as an initial temperature in calculating said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said swath; and employing said calculated estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell as a second initial temperature in calculating a second estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing a subsequent cell.

31. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 30, said method further comprising the steps of: calculating an ink drop estimate for printing at least one cell of said selected swath; and employing said ink drop estimate for printing said at least one cell of said selected swath to calculate said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell.

32. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 30, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath includes the steps of estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell of said selected swath, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said printhead.

33. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 30, further comprising the step of: dividing a pass of said printhead in printing said selected swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass.

34. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 33, further comprising the step of: calculating the number of sub-passes by determining the number of sub-passes required to maintain a predicted temperature of said printhead below said predetermined maximum temperature.

35. A method of managing temperature in a printer comprising: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing a selected swath of said plurality of swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for a printhead in printing at least one cell of said plurality of cells; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath includes the steps of estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell of said selected swath, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said printhead; measuring and logging an initial temperature of said printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of said printhead after printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; comparing the initial temperature of said printhead to the final temperature of said printhead for said at least one cell, and determining a maximum temperature difference of said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a number of ink drops printed during the printing of said at least one cell of said selected swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for a selected cell in which the printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

36. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 35, further comprising the steps of: setting said new constant as said constant in response to said new constant being within a predetermined maximum constant value and a predetermined minimum constant value; setting said predetermined maximum constant value as said constant in response to said new constant equaling or exceeding said predetermined maximum constant value; and maintaining said constant as said constant in response to said new constant value equaling or failing below said predetermined minimum constant value.

37. The method of managing temperature in a printer according to claim 36, wherein said step of calculating an estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath includes the steps of: estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell of said selected swath; determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over said new constant; adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said printhead; and printing a second swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell of said selected swath being below a predetermined maximum temperature.

38. A method of managing temperature in a printer comprising: preprocessing a file into a plurality of swaths; preprocessing a selected swath of said plurality of swaths into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature for a printhead in printing at least one cell of said plurality of cells; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature; dividing a pass of said printhead in printing said selected swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass; and dividing a pass of said printhead in printing said selected swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for said printhead in printing said at least one cell being greater than said predetermined maximum temperature wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass, wherein said step of calculating the number of sub-passes further comprises: setting a density divisor to an initial number and recalculating said peak estimate temperature by calculating a quotient of a drop estimate over said density divisor, wherein said quotient is added to an initial temperature of said printhead at a beginning of said at least one cell.

39. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for managing temperature in a printer, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: preprocessing a printable file into a plurality of swaths, each swath being further preprocessed into a plurality of cells; calculating an estimated peak temperature of at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell of a selected swath; printing said selected swath in response to said estimated peak temperature, said at least one cell being below a predetermined maximum allowed temperature; estimating a number of ink drops required to print said at least one cell, determining a quotient of said ink drop estimate over a constant, and adding the quotient to an initial temperature of said at least one printhead; measuring and logging an initial temperature of said at least one printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; measuring and logging a final temperature of said at least one printhead after printing said at least one cell of said selected swath; comparing the initial temperature of said at least one printhead to the final temperature of said at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell of said selected swath, and determining a maximum temperature difference of said at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell; measuring and logging number of ink drops printed during the printing of said at least one cell of said selected swath; and determining a new constant by calculating the quotient of the number of ink drops printed over the maximum temperature difference for the cell in which said at least one printhead had the maximum temperature difference.

40. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 39, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: calculating an estimated density for said at least one cell, wherein said estimated density is utilized to calculate said estimated peak temperature.

41. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 40, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: calculating said estimated peak temperature from a sum of a product of said estimated density and a constant and an initial temperature of said at least one printhead prior to printing said at least one cell of said selected swath.

42. The computer readable storage medium in accordance to claim 39, said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: dividing a printing pass of said at least one printhead in printing said selected swath into a number of sub-passes in response to said estimated peak temperature for said at least one printhead in printing said at least one cell being greater than said predetermined maximum allowed temperature; and wherein a number of ink drops printed during each said sub-pass is substantially less than a number of ink drops printed during a pass.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to ink jet printers. More particularly, the invention relates to the thermal management of printheads in large format ink jet printers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Many modern printing devices incorporate thermal ink jet technology. Typically, this technology utilizes a printhead (also known as a pen) having a silicon die supporting one or more vaporization chambers. During a printing operation, resistors or other ink ejection elements on the silicon die are heated to vaporize and eject ink through nozzles overlying the vaporization chambers, thereby causing dots of ink to be printed on a recording medium, e.g., paper.

The printhead typically sweeps across the width of the recording medium during a printing operation, and based upon the image to be printed, certain ink ejection elements are activated (i.e., heated) to eject ink through respective nozzles. By virtue of the heat applied to the ink ejection elements during the printing operation, the temperature of the silicon die, and thus the printhead, rises. Thus, generally speaking, the temperature of the printhead will change or fluctuate during the printing operation. More specifically, the temperature of the printhead will be lower when the printer is printing "light" areas or in a slow mode than when the printer is printing "dense" areas or in a fast mode. As the printhead temperature changes, it is typically preferable that the temperature of the silicon die remains below a peak temperature to avoid delamination in the printhead as a direct result of thermal stress.

In a large format ink jet printer, e.g., HEWLETT-PACKARD HP500, the printheads are typically configured to withstand a substantially large amount of heat, especially when printing heavy density images along a large swath. A swath is typically defined as the area on a print media to be printed upon during a single pass of the printhead, e.g., in a HP500 printer, a swath may be 40 inches in length. A swath may thus typically be defined as a number of dots (i.e., a height of the columns of dots) that a printhead may record during a pass along a print direction. Additionally, a swath may be printed during one or more passes across the same horizontal portion, depending upon the selected print mode. Large format ink jet printers typically control heat energy by balancing the heat energy applied to the printhead as a function of the temperature of a silicon die. However, in some print modes, e.g., a fast mode, a normal mode, and the like, the heat energy control may be insufficient to prevent the printhead from exceeding a peak temperature.

One known solution to prevent undue thermal stress in large format ink jet printers is to change the printmode behavior in response to a forecast of an incoming density per swath. In this respect, the incoming density per swath is compared to a past temperature/density to determine a new maximum print density for the incoming swath. If the predicted incoming density per swath is greater than the newly calculated maximum print density, the incoming swath height is reduced. That is, a number of nozzles located near the top and/or bottom ends of the printhead are not employed during the printing operation, thereby reducing the total number of nozzles employed and thus reducing the heat generated in the printhead.

Although the technique of reducing swath height has been found to be a substantially adequate solution, the technique suffers from several drawbacks and disadvantages. For instance, the technique may impact the print quality of the recorded image because the possibility of banding is increased. Banding is the phenomenon, which may result from an attempt to print one swath next to a second swath without providing an overlap of the swaths, such that a line or band is formed between the adjacent swaths. By virtue of the reduction of swath height, the possibility of non-overlap occurring increases, thereby increasing the potential for banding. Moreover, the above-mentioned technique may require an increased amount of time to record an image on a recording medium.

Additionally, the above-described technique implements a linear model prediction algorithm that predicts the density of a following swath. One drawback associated with most known linear models is that they may provide a prediction of an error condition of a predicted maximum density exceeding a set maximum density, but only within a few number of swaths prior to the error condition. As a result, the typical algorithm may incorrectly predict the error condition. Thus, the typical algorithm may not accurately predict when the error condition will occur. Furthermore, the above-described technique does not take into consideration sections of a swath that require a relatively large amount of ink. Thus, when evaluating the peak temperature of the printheads in printing a swath, although the actual number of ink drops may be evaluated, the above-described technique would be unable to determine whether concentrated areas of ink drops would cause the printheads to exceed a maximum temperature.

Moreover, the above-described technique may affect the throughput of the large format ink jet printer. As discussed hereinabove, because the typical algorithm may be unable to predict when the maximum density is exceeded in a sufficiently timely manner, a printer may cease or temporarily halt until the temperature of the printheads reduces to an acceptable level. As a result, a user may be required to wait a relatively unexpectedly long time for completion of the print operation.

Yet another drawback to the swath height reduction technique lies in the inaccuracy of a prediction that an error condition will be triggered. The linear models implemented by the typical prediction algorithms rely on an average of data across a total length of a swath, which in some cases may exceed forty inches. As a result, the linear model may not take into account local high-density zones in a swath. Accordingly, the swath height reduction technique may fail to accurately predict the triggering error condition.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect, the present invention pertains to a method of managing temperature in a printer. In the method, a file is preprocessed into a plurality of swaths, with each of the swaths being further preprocessed in to a plurality of cells. An estimated peak temperature is calculated for each printhead in printing each of the plurality of cells, and a swath is printed in response to the estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of the cells being below a predetermined maximum temperature. Additionally, a pass of each printhead in printing the swath is divided into a number of sub-passes in response to the estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each of the cells being greater than the predetermined maximum temperature.

According to another aspect, the present invention pertains to a system for managing temperature in a printer. The system includes a memory, at least one printhead, and an adaptive thermal print swath servo ("ATPSS") module to preprocess a file stored in the memory into a plurality of swaths. Each swath is further preprocessed into a plurality of cells, such that, the ATPSS module is further configured to calculate an estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each cell and to print said swath with said printhead in response to said estimated peak temperature for each printhead in printing each cell being below a predetermined maximum temperature.

According to yet another aspect, the present invention pertains to a computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, the one or more computer programs implementing a method for managing temperature in a printer. The one or more computer programs including set of instructions, including, preprocessing a printable file into a plurality of swaths, with each swath being further preprocessed into a plurality of cells. Calculating an estimated peak temperature of at least one printhead in printing each cell and printing the swath in response to the estimated peak temperature for each cell being below a predetermined maximum allowed temperature.

Additional advantages and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a printer in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is key to FIGS. 2A-2E; and

FIGS. 2A-E, together, illustrate exemplary flow diagrams of the ATPSS module shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the present invention are described by referring mainly to an exemplary embodiment thereof. Although the preferred embodiment of the invention may be practiced in large format ink jet printers, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the same principles are equally applicable to, and can be implemented in any printing device that utilizes thermal regulation, and that any such variation would be within such modifications that do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Moreover, in the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. Electrical, mechanical, logical and structural changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a system for providing thermal protection to printheads in a large format ink jet printer is disclosed. The system includes an adaptive thermal print swath servo ("ATPSS") module. The ATPSS module may be configured to divide a swath (as described hereinabove with respect to the related art) of a print operation into individual cells. That is, prior to performing a print operation of a swath, the ATPSS module may divide the swath into smaller sections called "cells". As will be discussed in greater detail hereinbelow, the ATPSS is configured to calculate the number of drops of ink required to print each of the cells, to thus determine the temperature impact on the printheads caused by dropping the calculated number of ink drops.