| CPC B41J 3/4073 (2013.01) [B41J 2/04508 (2013.01); B41J 2/04526 (2013.01); B41J 2/04581 (2013.01); B41J 2/2054 (2013.01); B41M 5/0088 (2013.01)] | 17 Claims |
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1. A method of controlling a deposition system comprising a printhead array that includes an arrangement of at least two nozzles, wherein the arrangement and a surface of an object move relative to each other, each nozzle of the printhead array being configured to trace a respective curved print path on the surface of the object and to jet drops at actual jetting locations along the respective curved print path of the nozzle of the printhead array, the method comprising steps of:
defining, for each curved print path traced by a nozzle, a plurality of target jetting locations regularly spaced by a target pitch;
determining a maximum velocity that each of the at least two nozzles reaches when tracing along the respective curved print path during relative movement, wherein relative velocities are different for different nozzles of the at least two nozzles;
defining an error distance associated with each target jetting location to be a distance between the target jetting location and an actual jetting location which is closest to the target jetting location;
setting a maximum value for the error distance, wherein the maximum value is greater than zero;
providing a first control signal comprising a sequence of actuation events for the arrangement, wherein the first control signal is common to all nozzles in the arrangement, wherein the sequence of actuation events corresponds to a sequence of potential jetting locations for each nozzle along the curved print path traced by the nozzle, wherein the actuation events are provided at a regular interval, the interval being chosen so that the maximum distance between consecutive potential jetting locations for all nozzles is limited to twice the maximum value for the error distance in the actual jetting location, and wherein the maximum distance between consecutive potential jetting locations is the interval multiplied by the maximum velocity;
for each nozzle, choosing a subset of the potential jetting locations which is a set of actual jetting locations for the nozzle, wherein, for each target jetting location of that nozzle, there is an actual jetting location in the set that is closer to the target jetting location than the maximum value for the error distance; and
determining, for each actuation event in the sequence of actuation events, a subset of nozzles from the arrangement, wherein each nozzle is at an actual jetting location from the set of actual jetting locations for the nozzle for jetting drops at the actual jetting locations along the respective curved print path of the nozzle of the printhead array.
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