Patent Grant
10525705
Modern inkjet printers can print directly on uneven surfaces such as wood, metal, plastic and tile. However, most are not designed to also print on vertical surfaces such as walls, dividers, windows, and doors.
Traditional inkjet printers are primarily designed to print on flat surfaces such as paper and fabric. The limitations of conventional inkjet printers have limited their market for vertical surface printing. Because many inkjet printers use liquid inks, it is difficult to apply the ink on vertical surfaces due to distortions caused by gravity and limited print head configurability.
Recent inkjet printing technologies such as ultraviolet printing make it possible to directly print on rigid surfaces. The application of ultraviolet light can cure the ink quickly and firmly on the surface of these materials. However there is still a dearth of inkjet printers that can flexibly print on both horizontal and vertical surfaces that are uneven.
To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced.
Disclosed herein is a print frame and print head for a universal inkjet printer, which is readily adaptable between horizontal or vertical printing. The universal inkjet printer has a rotatable print frame for the print head. The print head includes a distance sensor that detects nozzle displacement from an irregular print surface at runtime and adjusts the nozzle displacement such that the ink droplet ejected from the nozzle hits the correct location on the print surface.
Referring to
An inkjet printer may thus include a swivel 110, one or more side rails 104 mounted to the swivel 110, and a transverse rail 102 mounted to slide along a length of the side rails 104. A print head 108 is mounted to slide along a length of the transverse rail, and to rotate around the transverse rail 102. Further details of one embodiment of the print head 108 are illustrated in
Referring to
Ink ejected from the nozzle 302 passes through a first electrode 312 and a second electrode 314, following an ink droplet path 318 before impacting an irregular vertical print surface 316. The controller 308 further influences the first electrode 312 and the second electrode 314 to precisely control the ink droplet path 318, as further described in conjunction with
The controller 308 is configured with logic to operate the first electrode 312 to both ionize the ink droplet and set a flight speed of the ink droplet, and to selectively activate the second electrode 314 to deflect the ink droplet in response to the print head 108 changing from a horizontal printing configuration 100 (‘horizontal orientation’) to a vertical printing configuration 200 (‘vertical orientation’).
The controller 308 is further configured with logic to operate the second electrode 314 to fine-tune the flight speed of the ink droplet received from the first electrode 312 utilizing electrode control paths 324, in response to distance signals from the distance sensor 306.
The distance sensor 306 outputs a signal representing a measure of a distance between the print head 108 (and more particularly, the nozzle 302) and a print surface, for example a regular or irregular horizontal print surface 106 or a regular or irregular vertical print surface 316.
The controller 308 may operate the linear actuator 310 to set an initial nozzle displacement from the print surface based on the distance, and may dynamically alter the nozzle displacement from the print surface during printing, based on the distance. The linear actuator 310 may for example be a telescoping push/pull actuator. The linear actuator 310 is used to follow (maintain the print head at an approximately constant distance) as printing progresses along gross contours of a curved or otherwise irregular surface.
A coupling 320 provides both rotational and translational positioning of the print head 108 on a transverse rail 102. The first electrode 312 may set a flight speed of the ink droplet (e.g., using electrical charge gradients or by other means known in the art), and the second electrode 314 may in some cases fine tune the ink droplet speed based on fine irregularities in the print surface. Fine irregularities are those having a high slope derivative relative to the gross contour of the surface.
Referring to
Upon receiving print commands from the interface 410, the gate array 402 (which may be any type of programmable device known in the art) and the MPU 404 interact to translate the print commands into control functions to the various drivers. The ROM 406 and DRAM 408 comprise logic to carry out this translation, in manners known in the art. In accordance with the print commands, the motor drivers operate the motors to position the print head 108 and to drive the linear actuator 310 and electrodes as described herein.
Referring to
The second electrode may be operated to fine-tune the flight speed of the ink droplet received from the first electrode. This may occur only in the vertical printing configuration 200, or in both the horizontal printing configuration 100 and the vertical printing configuration 200. The fine tuning may be based on a distance between the nozzle and a print surface, and provided by the distance sensor.
The controller may be operated to set an initial displacement of the nozzle from the print surface based on the distance, and to dynamically alter a nozzle displacement from the print surface using the linear actuator during printing, based on the distance (e.g., gross contours of the print surface).
Referring now to
Referring now to
The substrate 602 may be formed of, for example, plastic, glass, ceramics, resin, metal, silicon, or the like. The ink channels 604 form paths through the substrate 602 through which ink flows, from the ink tank 304 through ejection ports on the surface of the substrate 602. In this example, the inkjet print head face 322 is provided with a first row of the ejection ports which are arranged such that the longitudinal axes of the respective ejection ports are parallel to each other, and a second ejection-port row of the ejection ports which are arranged such that the longitudinal axes of the respective ejection ports are parallel to each other. The adjacent ejection ports are arranged at intervals corresponding to the highest available resolution of the inkjet printer such as 600-dpi pitches or 1200-dpi pitches. The ejection ports in the second ejection-port row and the corresponding ejection ports in the first ejection-port row are staggered apart by a pitch between adjacent ejection ports as called for in the implementation.
Referring to
In some embodiments, all of the ink channels 604 in a row or column share a common first electrode 312 and second electrode 314; or, 2x2, 4x4, or any size grids of the ink channels 604 may share a common first electrode 312 and second electrode 314, etc. A distance sensor 306 may be associated proximate to each group of ink channels 604 (or to groups of channel groups), to provide local distance readings for fine-tuning the flight speed of ink droplets from each group of ink channels 604.
Referring to
Input devices 904 comprise transducers that convert physical phenomenon into machine internal signals, typically electrical, optical or magnetic signals. Signals may also be wireless in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency (RF) range but also potentially in the infrared or optical range. Examples of input devices 904 are distance sensors that detect proximity to a surface, and level switches or accelerometers that detect orientation relative to a gravitational field. The signals from the input devices 904 are provided via various machine signal conductors (e.g., busses or network interfaces) and circuits to volatile memory 906, or in some cases directly to the controller 902.
The volatile memory 906 is typically what is known as a first or second level memory device, providing for storage (via configuration of matter or states of matter) of signals received from the input devices 904, instructions and information for controlling operation of the controller 902, and signals from non-volatile memory 910.
The volatile memory 906 and/or the non-volatile memory 910 may store computer-executable instructions and thus forming logic 912 that when applied to and executed by the controller 902 implement embodiments of the processes disclosed herein, e.g., printing process 500.
Information stored in the volatile memory 906 is typically directly accessible to the controller 902 of the device. Signals input to the device cause the reconfiguration of the internal material/energy state of the volatile memory 906, creating in essence a new machine configuration, influencing the behavior of the print head control system 900 by affecting the behavior of the controller 902 with control signals (instructions) and data provided in conjunction with the control signals.
Second or third level non-volatile memory 910 may provide a slower but higher capacity machine memory capability. Examples of non-volatile memory 910 are flash memories or other non-volatile memory technologies well known in the art.
The controller 902 may cause the configuration of the volatile memory 906 to be altered by signals in non-volatile memory 910. In other words, the controller 902 may cause data and instructions to be read from non-volatile memory 910 in the volatile memory 906 from which may then influence the operations of controller 902 as instructions and data signals, and from which it may also be provided to the output devices 908. The controller 902 may alter the content of the volatile memory 906 by signaling to a machine interface of volatile memory 906 to alter the internal configuration, and then converted signals to the non-volatile memory 910 to alter its material internal configuration. In other words, data and instructions may be backed up from volatile memory 906, which is often volatile, to non-volatile memory 910, which are often non-volatile.
Output devices 908 are transducers which convert signals received from the volatile memory 906 into physical phenomenon such as electrical fields (e.g., on electrodes) and mechanical actuation.
Terms used herein should be accorded their ordinary meaning in the relevant arts, or the meaning indicated by their use in context, but if an express definition is provided, that meaning controls.
“Circuitry” in this context refers to electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes or devices described herein), circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), or circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment).
“Firmware” in this context refers to software logic embodied as processor-executable instructions stored in read-only memories or media.
“Hardware” in this context refers to logic embodied as analog or digital circuitry.
“Logic” in this context refers to machine memory circuits, non transitory machine readable media, and/or circuitry which by way of its material and/or material-energy configuration comprises control and/or procedural signals, and/or settings and values (such as resistance, impedance, capacitance, inductance, current/voltage ratings, etc.), that may be applied to influence the operation of a device. Magnetic media, electronic circuits, electrical and optical memory (both volatile and nonvolatile), and firmware are examples of logic. Logic specifically excludes pure signals or software per se (however does not exclude machine memories comprising software and thereby forming configurations of matter).
“Programmable device” in this context refers to an integrated circuit designed to be configured and/or reconfigured after manufacturing. The term “programmable processor” is another name for a programmable device herein. Programmable devices may include programmable processors, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), configurable hardware logic (CHL), and/or any other type programmable devices. Configuration of the programmable device is generally specified using a computer code or data such as a hardware description language (HDL), such as for example Verilog, VHDL, or the like. A programmable device may include an array of programmable logic blocks and a hierarchy of reconfigurable interconnects that allow the programmable logic blocks to be coupled to each other according to the descriptions in the HDL code. Each of the programmable logic blocks may be configured to perform complex combinational functions, or merely simple logic gates, such as AND, and XOR logic blocks. In most FPGAs, logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple latches, flip-flops, hereinafter also referred to as “flops,” or more complex blocks of memory. Depending on the length of the interconnections between different logic blocks, signals may arrive at input terminals of the logic blocks at different times.
“Software” in this context refers to logic implemented as processor-executable instructions in a machine memory (e.g. read/write volatile or nonvolatile memory or media).
Herein, references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although they may. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively, unless expressly limited to a single one or multiple ones. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similar import, when used in this application, refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list, unless expressly limited to one or the other. Any terms not expressly defined herein have their conventional meaning as commonly understood by those having skill in the relevant art(s).
Various logic functional operations described herein may be implemented in logic that is referred to using a noun or noun phrase reflecting said operation or function. For example, an association operation may be carried out by an “associator” or “correlator”. Likewise, switching may be carried out by a “switch”, selection by a “selector”, and so on.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6832684 | Patton | Dec 2004 | B2 |
| 6832864 | Patton | Dec 2004 | B2 |
| 20080074477 | Schmitt | Mar 2008 | A1 |
| 20100007689 | Hagiwara | Jan 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190375208 A1 | Dec 2019 | US |
