A printhead, comprises: a printing element; a first power supply wiring configured to be electrically connected to one terminal of the printing element and supply power to the printing element; a transistor configured to electrically connected to another terminal of the printing element, and drive the printing element; a first ground wiring configured to be electrically connected to a source of the transistor; a second ground wiring configured to be electrically connected to a back gate of the transistor; and a first capacitive element configured to be electrically connected, at one terminal thereof, to the first ground wiring and electrically connected at another terminal thereof, to the second ground wiring.

A liquid discharging apparatus enhances a detection accuracy of a contact state when a recording medium and a liquid discharging unit come into contact, and suppresses contact between the recording medium and the liquid discharging unit, which may cause damage. The liquid discharging apparatus includes a transport unit, a liquid discharging unit, a skirt provided to the liquid discharging unit in a position that faces the recording medium transported to the recording region, a piezoelectric film sensor adhered to an adhering surface of the skirt and configured to generate an output in accordance with a degree of deformation of the adhering surface, and a control unit configured to control the liquid discharging unit and/or the transport unit on the basis of the output of the piezoelectric film sensor. The adhering surface of the skirt includes a slit formed around the periphery thereof.

A flat bed printer includes a flat bed, a print head assembly, a drive system arranged to move the print head assembly over the bed, a controller arranged to control operations of the print head assembly and the drive system, and an obstacle detection system arranged to detect obstacles in a region of movement of the print head assembly. The controller has a split-bed mode of operation in which the movements of the print head assembly are confined to only a part of the bed while another part of the bed is left idle, and the controller is arranged to calculate, when an obstacle is detected in the split-bed mode of operation, an expected time to collision after which the print head assembly will collide with the obstacle.

An inkjet print module includes: a printhead having first and second rows of print chips, the printhead having 180 degree rotational symmetry about a print axis parallel to a direction of droplet ejection; a fixed printhead keying feature which is rotationally asymmetric about the print axis notwithstanding the rotational symmetry of the printhead; a cradle for removably receiving the printhead, the cradle having a key assembly for complementary engagement with the fixed printhead keying feature. The key assembly is selectively configurable in either one of first and second cradle configurations so as to receive the printhead either in a first printhead orientation or a second printhead orientation, the second printhead orientation being rotated 180 degrees about the print axis relative to the first printhead orientation.

A mobile printer includes an ultrasound sensor to sense a set of ultrasonically-sensed positional data points of a print nozzle of the printer, at least one optical sensor to sense a set of optically-sensed positional data points of the print nozzle, and a processor. The processor is to apply a correction function on the set of ultrasonically-sensed positional data points and on the set of optically-sensed positional data points to provide a set of corrected positional data points of the print nozzle and is to cause the print nozzle to deposit according to a print request and according to the set of corrected positional data points.

In a method to create a print image with an inkjet printing system that has optional nozzles, for each image point, a distribution parameter can be determined. The distribution parameter can indicate how the ink quantity that is to be ejected for the image point is to be divided up among the optional nozzles. A controller can be configured to control a printing system to perform the method.

Methods for printing using printing systems comprising a flexible intermediate transfer member (ITM) disposed around a plurality of guide rollers at which encoders are installed, and an image-forming station at which ink images are formed by droplet deposition by print bars onto the ITM, can include measuring a local velocity of the ITM under one of the print bars, determining a stretch factor for a portion of the ITM based on a relationship between an estimated stretched length fixed physical distance between print bars, controlling an ink deposition parameter according to the stretch factor so as to compensate for stretching of the reference portion of the ITM.

This invention provides an image processing apparatus for generating image data for recording in a recording apparatus including a recording unit including a plurality of nozzles discharging ink, comprising a converting unit which converts, based on characteristic information according to a characteristic of each nozzle included in the recording unit, image data corresponding to an input print job into image data to be used for recording by the recording unit; and a control unit which executes one of a plurality of correction processes based on image data obtained by reading an image recorded by the recording unit, wherein the plurality of correction processes include first correction processing that is performed after the recording of the image according to the print job is stopped, and second correction processing that is performed without stopping the recording of the image according to the print job.

A method is disclosed. The method may involve obtaining information indicative of a number of printing passes of a print head to print a swath on a printable medium. The method may comprise determining that the print head is to perform a particular printing pass which is one of: a printing pass during which an amount of print agent to be deposited from nozzles of the print head differs, by an amount that exceeds a defined threshold, from an amount of print agent to be deposited from the nozzles during a printing pass immediately preceding said particular printing pass; and a printing pass to print a swath which is the first of a plurality of adjacent swaths in which each swath has an area coverage exceeding a defined threshold. The method may comprise preparing, based on said obtained information, a schedule for a nozzle spitting procedure to commence before the print head performs the particular printing pass.

A controller includes a plurality of control circuits configured to be connected to respective ones of a plurality of head units. Each head unit has a nozzle. The plurality of control circuits includes a first control circuit, a second control circuit connected to the first control circuit in series to perform communication, and a third control circuit connected to the second control circuit in series to perform communication. The first control circuit is configured to transmit first data to the second control circuit. The first data is data for controlling at least one of the plurality of head units. The second control circuit is configured to transmit second data to the third control circuit. The second data is data for controlling at least one of the plurality of head units. A data amount of the second data is smaller than a data amount of the first data.