What is claimed is:
1. A method of publishing at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on a site on a global information network, comprising:
a. receiving said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure; and,
b. publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of receiving said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure electronically.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of receiving said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure in an electronic manner selected from the group consisting of a wide area network, direct telephone connection, satellite communication, cellular telephone communication, email, computer diskette, and facsimile with optical character recognition.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network in less than eighteen months from time of said receipt.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network in less than nine months from time of said receipt.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network in less than one month from time of said receipt.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network in less than one week from time of said receipt.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network in less than one day from time of said receipt.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network nearly contemporaneously with time of said receipt.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure on said site on said global information network contemporaneously with time of said receipt.
11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of time stamping said received at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure to indicate a time of receipt of said disclosure.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of date stamping said received at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure to indicate a date of receipt of said disclosure.
13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of cataloguing said received at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of entering said catalogued at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure into a publicly accessible searchable database.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of time stamping said catalogued at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure to document a time said catalogued at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure becomes a publicly accessible document.
16. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of date stamping said catalogued at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure to document a date said catalogued at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure becomes a publicly accessible document.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure electronically.
18. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of making said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure available for printing.
19. A method of publishing at least one third-party invention disclosure on a site on a global information network, comprising:
a. receiving said at least one third-party invention disclosure; and,
b. publishing said at least one third-party invention disclosure on said site on said site on said global information network nearly contemporaneously with said receipt of said at least one third-party invention disclosure.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein said at least one third-party invention disclosure is a non-patent-pending invention disclosure.
21. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party invention disclosure on said site on said global information network contemporaneously with said receipt.
22. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of receiving said at least one third-party invention disclosure electronically.
23. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of receiving said at least one third-party invention disclosure in an electronic manner selected from the group consisting of a wide area network, direct telephone connection, satellite communication, cellular telephone communication, email, computer diskette, facsimile with optical character recognition.
24. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of time stamping said received at least one third-party invention disclosure to indicate a time of receipt of said disclosure.
25. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of date stamping said received at least one third-party invention disclosure to indicate a date of receipt of said disclosure.
26. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of cataloguing said received at least one third-party invention disclosure.
27. The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of entering said catalogued at least one third-party invention disclosure into a publicly accessible searchable database.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of time stamping said catalogued at least one third-party invention disclosure to document a time said catalogued at least one third-party invention disclosure becomes a publicly accessible document.
29. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of date stamping said catalogued at least one third-party invention disclosure to document a date said catalogued at least one third-party invention disclosure becomes a publicly accessible document.
30. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of publishing said at least one third-party invention disclosure electronically.
31. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of making said at least one third-party invention disclosure available for printing.
32. An apparatus for publishing at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure over a global information network, comprising:
a) means for receiving said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure; and,
b) means for publishing said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure.
33. The apparatus recited in claim 32 wherein said means for receiving at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure over a global information network further comprises a computer connected to said global information network.
34. The apparatus recited in claim 32 wherein said means for publishing at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure over a global information network further comprises a computer connected to said global information network operatively arranged to publish said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure.
35. An apparatus for publishing at least one third-party invention disclosure on a global information network, comprising:
a. means for receiving said at least one third-party invention disclosure; and,
b. means for publishing said at least one third-party invention disclosure on said global information network nearly contemporaneously with said receipt of said at least one third-party invention disclosure.
36. The apparatus recited in claim 34 wherein said means for receiving at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure over a global information network further comprises a computer connected to said global information network.
37. The apparatus recited in claim 34 wherein said means for publishing at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure over a global information network further comprises a computer connected to said global information network operatively arranged to publish said at least one third-party non-patent-pending invention disclosure.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for processing image data for a color separation comprising:
processing image values of the color separation with a first rendering process that corresponds to one printhead in a plurality of serially arranged printheads for printing the color separation;
processing the image values of the color separation with a second rendering process that differs from the first rendering process for at least one other printhead in the plurality of serially arranged printheads for printing the color separation;
generating firing signals for the one printhead from the rendered image values generated by the first rendering process; and
generating firing signals for the at least one other printhead from the rendered image values generated by the second rendering process.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rendering process is a first error diffusion process, and the second rendering process is one of a second error diffusion process and a halftone screening process.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rendering process is a stochastic halftone screening process, and the second rendering process is a stochastic halftone screening process that is different than the first stochastic halftone screening process.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rendering process is a first mapping process, and the second rendering process is a second mapping process that is different than the first mapping process.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the first mapping process maps input image values of the color separation having a value below a predetermined image value to an output image value that is greater than an output image value to which the second mapping process maps input image values.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the predetermined image value is less than fifteen percent of a maximum input image value and the first mapping process maps input image values below the predetermined image value to output image values in a range from approximately 150% of a total output image value divided by a total number of printheads in the plurality of printheads to 100 percent of the total output image value.
7. The method of 4 further comprising:
detecting an edge in the input image values of the color separation; and
replacing at least one of the first and the second mapping processes with a mapping process that distributes the input image values in the detected edge approximately equally between the serially arranged printheads.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first rendering process and the second rendering process are performed in parallel.
9. A system for rendering image data for an image to be generated by a printer comprising:
an image receiver that receives a color separation from an image source;
at least two printheads that are serially arranged to print the color separation; and
a processor that is configured to render input image values of the color separation in accordance with a first rendering process and to render input image values of the color separation in accordance with a second rendering process.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein the first rendering process is a first error diffusion process and the second rendering process is one of a second error diffusion process and a halftone screening process.
11. The system of claim 9 wherein the first rendering process is a first stochastic halftone screening process and the second rendering process is a second stochastic halftone screening process that is different than the first stochastic halftone screening process.
12. The system of claim 9 wherein the first rendering process is a first mapping process and the second rendering process is a second mapping process that is different than the first mapping process.
13. A method for distributing output image values over a plurality of serially arranged printheads, which print a color separation, comprising:
processing input image values of a color separation to generate a first set of output image values for one printhead in a plurality of serially arranged printheads for printing the color separation, and to generate a second set of output image values for at least one other printhead in the plurality of serially arranged printheads for printing the color separation, the first set of output image values having a larger number of output image values that correspond to input image values below a threshold value than the second set of output image values;
generating firing signals from the first set of output image values for the one printhead in the plurality of serially arranged printheads; and
generating firing signals from the second set of output image values for the at least one other printhead in the plurality of serially arranged printheads.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the output image values in the first set of output image values that correspond to input image values below the threshold are larger values than the output image values in the second set of output image values that correspond to input image values below the threshold.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the output image values in the first set of output image values are statistically uniformly distributed.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the output image values in the second set of output image values are statistically uniformly distributed.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein the output image values in the first set of output image values are values within a first predetermined range of output image values.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the output image values in the second set of output image values are values within a second predetermined range of output image values, all of the values in the first predetermined range of values being greater than all of the values in the second predetermined range of values.
19. The method of claim 13 wherein the first set of output image values has a number of output image values corresponding to input image values equal to or greater than the threshold that is approximately equal to a number of output image values in the second set that correspond to input image values equal to or greater than the threshold.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein a sum of an output image value in the first set of output image values that was generated for an input image value and an output image value in the second set of output image values that was generated for the input image value is equal to the input image value.
21. The method of claim 18 wherein the plurality of printheads has a number N of serially arranged printheads, and the values in the first predetermined range are between 150 percent divided by N to 100 percent of a total output image value below the threshold value.