Some printers include a cutting device which can cut a print medium before, during or after a printing operation. The cutting device may include a cutting blade supported on a carriage to move across a print zone. By movement of the carriage across the print zone and/or movement of the print medium along a media advance path through the print zone, the cutting blade may cut in one or two linear directions, such as the X and Y directions.
The following description references the drawings, wherein
In the example of
A medium 50 can be located in the media plane 30 and can advance below the upper support 10 and the carriage 40 in a media advance direction, also designated as Y direction.
A contact-free coupling device can be provided at the upper and lower supports 10, 20 to engage and disengage the upper support and the lower support. As explained in further detail below, the upper support 10 can be considered a master support and the lower support 20 can be considered a slave support wherein, when the upper and lower supports are engaged, the lower/slave support 20 follows movement of the upper/master support 10. In a variant, the upper support could be a slave support and the lower support could be a master support so that, when the upper and lower supports are engaged, the upper/slave support follows the lower/master support. As explained with reference to the following drawings, the cutting device further comprises a master cutting blade arranged in the master support. In this example, the master cutting blade is an upper cutting blade arranged in the upper support 10. In a variant, the master cutting blade could be a lower cutting blade arranged in the lower support.
In an example, the cutting device can be provided in a printer and the carriage 40 can be a printer carriage carrying print heads (not shown) and the upper support 20. The printer may, for example, be a large format inkjet printer. In this example, the cutting zone can correspond to, overlap with or be adjacent to a print zone, and the scanning direction X can correspond to a printing direction X of print heads located in the carriage 40. The medium 50 located in the media plane 30 can be a print medium, such as a single sheet or a continuous web of print medium fed to the print zone from an input tray, a drawer or roll of paper, for example. The medium may be paper or a foil, for example.
In this example, the upper cutting blade and upper support are attached to and move with the printer carriage 40 so that the cutting blade can move in the X direction. Additionally, as explained below, the cutting blade can be pivoted to adjust a cutting direction relative to the medium.
The upper support 10 can be coupled with the lower support 20 via a contact-free coupling device, with the medium sandwiched there between. When the contact free coupling device is activated, the upper support 10 can engage with the lower support 20 or can “pick up” the lower support 20 and can “drag” the lower support 10 to a cutting position and along a cutting line, with the medium still sandwiched there between.
In one example of a cutting sequence, illustrated in
In an example, the contact free coupling device comprises at least one magnet. For example, an electromagnet can be provided on the upper support, with a corresponding magnet or ferromagnetic element at the lower support, forming a magnet pair, with media to be cut sandwiched between the magnet pair. When the magnet pair is activated the upper support can pick up the lower support and can guide the lower support to the cutting position. A further magnet pair may be provided to engage the upper and lower cutting blades or the upper cutting blade and the lower support surface by moving them towards each other through magnetic force. The further magnet also can make the lower cutting blade follow any rotational movement of the upper cutting blade. Accordingly, the magnet pairs can make the lower support follow any movement of the upper support and upper cutting blade to cut the medium. To release the lower support, the magnets are deactivated.
The rotary actuator 16 may comprise an electric motor, such as a BLDC (brushless direct-current) motor or a servomotor, which may be connected to the upper frame 11. An output shaft 16′ of the rotary actuator may be coupled with the cam mechanism 18, the cam mechanism 18 comprising a cam lobe which contacts an arm 14a of the pivoting bracket 14. Rotation of the output shaft 16a is transferred to the cam lobe which pivots the pivoting bracket 14 and hence the upper cutting blade 12 around the second axis P. The pivoting bracket 14, in this example, is U-shaped with upper and lower horizontal arms 14a, 14b connected by a vertical bridge portion 14c. The bridge portion 14c is linked to the upper frame 11 by a bearing shaft 14d collinear with the second axis P. Rotational movement of the cam lobe causes the upper horizontal arm 14a to be deflected and hence to pivot wherein the pivoting movement is transferred to a corresponding pivoting movement of the upper cutting blade 12 via the bridge portion 14c and the lower horizontal arm 14b.
A bearing shaft 14d may be connected to the upper frame 11 and may include a spring mechanism, such as an internal or external spring, to pull the pivoting bracket 14 and hence the upper cutting blade 12 upwards and away from the media plane 30. A spring force of the spring mechanism can be overcome by a downwards force applied to the pivoting bracket 14 to push the pivoting bracket 14 and hence the upper cutting blade 12 towards and into contact with a medium to be cut and located in the media plane 30.
In the example, two magnets 32, 34 are arranged at a bottom side of the upper frame 11, facing towards the media plane 30. The magnets 32, 34 may be arranged at two neighboring corners or at two diagonally opposite corners or at any other suitably spaced positions at the bottom side of the upper frame 11. Instead of two magnets 32, 34, one magnet or more than two magnets may be provided at the upper support 10. The magnets 32, 34 may be electromagnets to be activated by a control device. In a variant, the magnets may be permanent magnets that can be shifted in the vertical direction to move the magnets towards the media plane 30 and away from the media plane 30.
Further, in the example, an additional magnet 36 is arranged at a bottom side of the pivoting bracket 14, at a position collinear with the second axis P. The additional magnet 36 may be an electromagnet to be activated by the control device. In a variant, the magnet may be a permanent magnet that can be shifted in the vertical direction to move the magnet towards the media plane 30 and away from the media plane 30.
Two ferromagnetic bodies 32l, 34l are arranged at a top side of the lower support 20, more specifically the lower frame 24 thereof, facing towards the media plane 30. The ferromagnetic bodies 32l, 34l may be arranged at two neighboring corners or at two diagonally opposite corners of the lower frame 24 or at any other positions corresponding to the position of the magnets 32u and 34u provided at the upper frame 11. Instead of two ferromagnetic bodies 32l, 34l, one ferromagnetic body or more than two ferromagnetic bodies may be provided also at the lower support 20. The ferromagnetic bodies 32l, 34l may be permanent magnets or may comprise non-magnetized ferromagnetic material which interacts with the magnets 32u, 34u provided at the upper support 10. When the magnets 32u, 34u at the upper support 10 are activated or are shifted in the vertical direction to move towards the media plane 30, they will engage with the ferromagnetic bodies 32l, 34l at the lower support 20 and pull the lower support 20 towards the upper support 10, with the medium 50 there between.
The cutting blade 22 is coupled with the lower frame 24 by pivoting shaft 25 which in turn is coupled with a pivoting arm 26. The pivoting shaft 25 allows aligning the lower cutting blade 22 to a cutting direction relative to the medium in the media plane 30. The pivoting arm assists in transferring the pivoting movement of the upper cutting blade 12 to the lower cutting blade 22.
To this end, in the example, an additional ferromagnetic body 36l is arranged at a top side of the pivoting arm 26, at a position collinear with the second axis P when the upper and lower supports 10, 10 are engaged. The ferromagnetic body 36l may be a permanent magnet or may comprise non-magnetized ferromagnetic material which interacts with the magnets 36u provided at the upper support 10. When the magnet 36u at the upper support 10 is activated or is shifted in the vertical direction to move towards the media plane 30, it will engage with the magnet 36l, at the lower support 20 and pull the upper cutting blade 12 and the lower cutting blade 22 towards each other, with the medium 50 there between.
The magnet pairs transmit the translational movement of the upper support 10 to the lower support 20 and the pivoting movement of the upper cutting blade 12 to the lower cutting blade 20. Further details of the upper and lower frames 11, 24 and associated mechanics are described below.
The magnet pairs 32u, 32l, 34u, 34l, and 36u, 36l can be part of a contact-free coupling device and can interact to pull the upper frame 11 and the lower frame 24 towards each other and to pull the upper cutting blade 12 and the lower cutting blade 22 towards each other. With the cutting blades 12, 22 are engaged, the magnet pairs can make the lower frame 24 follow the movement of the upper frame 11 and make the lower cutting blade 20 to follow the movement of the upper cutting blade 12.
In order to allow the respective facing surfaces of the magnet pairs to smoothly slide over the surface of the medium 50 with a minimum of resistance, the facing surfaces of the magnet pairs may be coated with a low resistance materials, such as Polytetrafluorethylen (PTFE, also known as Teflon).
In a variant, the rotary actuator could be omitted and the upper cutting blade and the lower cutting blade, if any, could respectively be connected to the upper and lower frames 11, 24 via pivoting shafts, similar to pivoting shaft 25, which allow a self adjusting pivoting movement of the cutting blades to follow a cutting direction relative to the medium located in the media plane 30.
Whereas not shown in the drawings, the carriage 40 may be a printer carriage additionally carrying at least one print head, e.g. four, MCYK, ink inkjet print heads. A printing fluid may be dispensed from the print heads which may be any fluid that can be dispensed by an inkjet-type printer or other inkjet-type dispenser and may include inks, varnishes, and/or post or pre-treatment agents, for example.
A print zone and/or cutting zone may be defined in the entire area or part of the area which can be traversed by the carriage 40. In the views of
When a cutting operation is to be initiated, the upper half of the cutting device, shown in
At this stage, any movement of the upper half of the cutting device, e.g. by movement of carriage 40, will be translated to a movement of the lower half of the lower cutting device, so that the lower frame 24 follows the movement of the upper frame 11. Accordingly, the upper frame 24 can pull the lower frame 24 to a desired cutting position.
When a desired cutting position has been reached, the magnet pair 36u, 36l can be activated. For example, if the upper part 36u comprises an electromagnet and the lower part 36l comprises a ferroelectric body or counter part, the magnet pair 36u, 36l can be activated by activating the electromagnet 36u. Accordingly, the upper and lower cutting blades 12, 22 are pulled towards each other and engage on opposite surfaces of medium 50. At this time, the upper and lower cutting blades 12, 22, can be used for cutting the medium when the cutting device, including the upper and lower frames 12, 24, is moved relative to the medium surface, by movement of the carriage 40 and by movement of the medium 50 in the X and Y directions. Additionally, for providing a clean cutting line, cutting blade 12 can be pivoted via rotary actuator 16 and pivoting bracket 14 to be aligned with the cutting direction, which may be at any angle relative to the X and Y directions. Pivoting movement of upper cutting blade 12 can be transferred to a corresponding pivoting movement of lower cutting blade 22 via the magnet pair 36u, 36l and pivoting arm 26.
The design of the cutting device described achieves a very high cutting quality and is able to cut all types of different media and materials, including relatively thick media. Because two cutting blades interact, it has a high life span and low wear. Yet it is easy to manufacture because it can operate without a separate drive and fixture for the lower half of the cutting device.
As indicated above, in a variant, the lower half of the cutting device, instead of a lower cutting blade, also may include a support surface or counter surface which can be engaged with the upper cutting blade. Lower magnets or ferromagnetic bodies can be attached to or integrated with the lower support frame. The lower magnets or ferromagnetic bodies can be paired with the upper magnets 32u, 34u in the upper support 10 to pull and hold the lower support frame with its support surface against the upper frame 11, for cutting the medium between the support surface and the upper cutting blade 12. The upper cutting blade 12 can be lowered onto the medium by a spring mechanism or by magnetic actuation, similar to the mechanism described above.
In a further variant, the rotary actuator could be omitted and the upper cutting blade and the lower cutting blade, if any, could respectively be connected to the upper and lower frames 11, 24 via pivoting shafts, similar to pivoting shaft 25, which allow a self adjusting pivoting movement of the cutting blades to follow a cutting direction relative to the medium located in the media plane 30, as explained above.
The variant can be manufactured using less parts and is less complex in manufacture and control of the cutting movements.
Drive of the carriage 40, medium 50 and rotary actuator 16 may be controlled by a controller (not shown). The controller can be a microcontroller, ASIC, or other control device, including control devices operating based on software, hardware, firmware or a combination thereof. It can include an integrated memory or communicate with an external memory or both. The same controller or separate controllers may be provided for controlling carriage movement, medium advance and the rotary actuator. Different parts of the controller may be located internally or externally to a printer or separate cutting device, in a concentrated or distributed environment.
In the example illustrated, the cutting device has been described to be part of a printer and the upper half of the cutting device has been described to be attached to a printer carriage 40. In a variant, the cutting device can be provided at its own dedicated carriage and/or it can be provided as a stand-alone device or in combination with other types of equipment.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2018/015867 | 1/30/2018 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2019/151977 | 8/8/2019 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5197198 | Onozato | Mar 1993 | A |
5937722 | Albright | Aug 1999 | A |
6308602 | Gerber | Oct 2001 | B1 |
9452624 | Ipponyari et al. | Sep 2016 | B2 |
20100193113 | Terao | Aug 2010 | A1 |
20120297945 | Cordero | Nov 2012 | A1 |
20140352514 | Broeker | Dec 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4644913 | Mar 2011 | JP |
862109 | Sep 1981 | SU |
WO2011146272 | Nov 2011 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20210107303 A1 | Apr 2021 | US |