A method of operating a printing system includes identifying groups of nozzles of a plurality of nozzles of a printhead device. The method also includes ejecting fluid drops by the printhead device from nozzles thereof and along corresponding firing paths. The method also includes controlling movement of a detector carriage including a plurality of drop detectors of a drop detector array with respect to the printhead device by a control module to align each one of the drop detectors with the respective firing paths corresponding to the respective nozzles at a predetermined time. The method also includes sensing the firing paths corresponding to the nozzles to detect a presence of the fluid drops by the drop detectors such that each one of the drop detectors senses at a same time a respective firing path corresponding to a respective nozzle for a plurality of groups of nozzles.

Systems and methods for precision inkjet printing are disclosed. A method determining an actuation parameter associated with a pressure waveform. Based on the pressure waveform, the method also includes actuating a print head to eject a droplet from a nozzle and acquiring an image of the droplet. The method further includes processing the acquired image to estimate a volume of the droplet and based on the estimated volume of the droplet and a target volume, adjusting the acquisition parameter.

A printing apparatus includes a printing head including a nozzle configured to discharge a dot of a first size and a dot of a second size smaller than the first size, the dots being ink dots, and a control unit configured to control the printing head to print, on a printing medium, a test pattern for inspecting a state of ink discharge by the nozzle. The test pattern includes a first pattern element formed by a plurality of the dots of the first size and a second pattern element formed by a plurality of the dots of the second size. The control unit causes the printing head to print the test pattern where a number of the dots of the second size forming the second pattern element is greater than a number of the dots of the first size forming the first pattern element.

A droplet ejecting device includes: a first nozzle group consisting of N pieces of first nozzles aligned in a first direction; a second nozzle group consisting of N pieces of second nozzles aligned in the first direction and at the same positions in the first direction as the first nozzles; and a controller. The controller is configured to determine whether an ejection quantity per unit time is not smaller than a first threshold. When the ejection quantity is equal to or greater than the first threshold, a first combination of N pieces of nozzles from among the N pieces of first nozzles and the N pieces of second nozzles is selected. When the ejection quantity is smaller than the first threshold, a second combination of N pieces of nozzles from among the N pieces of first nozzles and the N pieces of second nozzles is selected.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes: a head which discharges a plurality of kinds of liquids; and a controller. The controller is configured to: calculate a total discharge amount of the liquids for a unit area of a recording medium based on discharge data for the unit area; determine whether the total discharge amount exceeds a predefined amount; in a case that the controller has determined that the total discharge amount exceeds the predefined amount, divide the discharge data into a plurality of pieces of divided discharge data, each of the pieces of divided discharge data indicating the total discharge amount of not more than the predefined amount; and perform a plurality of divided discharges for the unit area based on the pieces of divided discharge data.

The invention relates to a method for detecting a failing ejection unit in an array of ejection units during printing of a digital image with liquid ink in a printer wherein a medium is transported relative to the array. The printed image is captured to density values on print positions of the printed image. The invented method comprises a step of adapting a halftone mask that is used in preparation of the digital image, such that from a variation in the image density around the line shaped defect the exact nozzle number associated with the failing ejection unit can be determined.

A method for operating a liquid droplet dispensation system is provided. The method includes dispensing a first droplet of a first fluid sample from a reservoir at a first pressure, measuring a first velocity of the first droplet, and measuring a first mass of the first droplet. The method further includes dispensing a second droplet of the first fluid sample from the reservoir at a second pressure, measuring a second velocity of the second droplet, and measuring a second mass of the second droplet. The method further includes dispensing a droplet of a second fluid sample from the reservoir at a third pressure, measuring a third velocity of the droplet of the second fluid sample, and determining a mass of the droplet of the second fluid sample based upon the first, second and third velocities, the first, second and third pressures, and the first and second masses.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a head, a driver, and circuitry. The head has multiple nozzles and discharges a liquid from each of multiple nozzles to an object in a flight direction to form a film on a surface of the object. The driver moves at least one of the head or the object relative to other of the head or the object. The circuitry determines an amount of the liquid discharged from each of the multiple nozzles based on a flight angle between the flight direction and a normal direction of the surface of the object for each of the multiple nozzles and causes the head to discharge the liquid from each of the multiple nozzles for the amount of the liquid determined for each of the multiple nozzles.

A printing apparatus includes a printing head including a nozzle configured to discharge a dot of a first size and a dot of a second size smaller than the first size, the dots being ink dots, and a control unit configured to control the printing head to print, on a printing medium, a test pattern for inspecting a state of ink discharge by the nozzle. The test pattern includes a first pattern element formed by a plurality of the dots of the first size and a second pattern element formed by a plurality of the dots of the second size. The control unit causes the printing head to print the test pattern where a number of the dots of the second size forming the second pattern element is greater than a number of the dots of the first size forming the first pattern element.

The drive waveform determination method includes a first step of setting a condition of the first discharge characteristic, a second step of acquiring the first discharge characteristic and the second discharge characteristic that are measured when a candidate waveform is used as a waveform of the drive pulse, a third step of determining whether the first discharge characteristic meets the condition, and a fourth step of, when it is determined in the third step that the condition is met, evaluating a candidate waveform by performing a superior comparison using the second discharge characteristic. The waveform of the drive pulse is determined by an optimization process in which at least the second step, the third step, and the fourth step are repeated.