Patent Application
20240176563
The present invention relates to a method for a printer comprising a transport device comprising an endless transport belt supported on a pair of support rollers, which between them define a medium support plane, over which medium support plane a print station is provided, wherein the method comprises the steps of transporting in parallel a plurality of individual print media perpendicular to a scanning direction of the print station on the medium support plane, the print media having different dimensions; determining positions of the individual print media; based on the determined positions, jetting marking material for forming a designated image specific for each print medium on each respective print medium, wherein the above steps are repeated such that print media are printed in a plurality of parallel lanes on the medium support plane perpendicular to the scanning direction, and wherein the printer is provided with a plurality of guiding bars extending in the transport direction and positioned at a side of at least one lane of the plurality of parallel lanes in order to guide the individual print media into one of the plurality of parallel lanes.
The invention also relates to a printer—specifically a large format hybrid printer—, which comprises a print controller which is configured to execute the steps of the method according to the present invention.
The media support plane may also be called “table” hereinafter.
A rigid print medium may also be called “rigid”, “board” or “rigid board”.
The print medium may also be called “print media” or “print media piece”.
A guiding bar may also be called an alignment bar.
Large format hybrid printers are configured to print both rigid substrates as well as flexible print media. Such a printer may comprise a transport device comprising an endless transport belt supported on at least one pair of support rollers, which between them define a medium support plane. Over the medium support plane a print station is provided. The print station generally comprises a printhead carriage translatable over the belt to print an image on a print medium on the belt in consecutive swaths. The print medium is moved in steps in between passes of the printhead carriage.
A large format hybrid printer is intended to be a productive engine capable of printing both on roll-2-roll media and on rigids. To be productive on rigids the printer is equipped with a multilane concept. With this, multiple rigids can be printed in parallel next to each other. The multilane concept increases productivity since there will be less “turn time” for the print station compared to “jetting time”.
In order to enhance an overall productivity and to reduce operator hassle the printer supports the feature of independent board feeding, i.e. the print medium does not need to be aligned in the transport direction. The print medium has to be placed against one of the guiding bars to achieve a fluent transport in an appropriate lane.
However, when there is one print queue it is difficult to decide in which lane to place the print medium for which print job. On the other hand, if there are multiple lanes and there is one print queue for each lane, the operator has to monitor many queues and easily loses the overview and control over the input of print media. Moreover, showing an overview of for example 6 queues on a user interface of the printer is cumbersome or even impossible. Another disadvantage is that the operator has to submit print jobs to many queues which will result in a need of load balancing. However, load balancing will result in a loss of the flexibility that the operator can load a rigid in each free lane. Having multiple queues with print jobs that can have different print modes will become very complex to understand. Having queues with different print jobs and different rigid sizes makes it also very complex for the operator to keep track of which media to feed at what time.
It is an object of the invention to provide a printer with an improved ease of use of the lanes.
In accordance with the present invention, a method for printing according to claim 1 is provided.
To support an operator in making optimal use of the multi-lane concept, two queues are created. The operator uses two queues, one queue for images on print media that are intended to be left aligned along a guiding bar, and one queue for images on print media that are intended to be right aligned along a guiding bar. When an image has reached the top of the first print queue or the second print queue, i.e. the image is the first one in the first print queue or the second print queue, the image is ready to be printed on left aligned print media respectively right aligned print media.
Depending on the customer application the alignment of the rigid board is important for printing on rigids. For example, double sided printing on boards may oblige to ensure to use a same edge of the board to align on when printing a front side and a back side of the board, i.e. all front sides of the boards may be left aligned, while all back sides of the boards may be right aligned.
Another example of the importance of aligning relates to a post-processing step also known as a finishing step after printing on the boards. To support optimal finishing, it is ensured that all boards are printed on with a same alignment edge.
According to an embodiment the method comprises the steps of, in case of a presence of the digital image in the first queue, receiving print media which is left aligned along a guiding bar and printing the digital image on left aligned print media, and, in case of a presence of the digital image in the second queue, receiving print media which is right aligned along a guiding bar and printing the digital image on right aligned print media.
According to an embodiment the printer comprises above each lane a signaling object which is activated when the corresponding lane is enabled to receive print media, and the method comprises the steps of determining if the next image to be printed resides in the first queue or in the second queue, in case of a residence in the first queue, activating the signaling object of each lane for which the print media requires to be left aligned and deactivating the signaling object of each lane for which the print media requires to be right aligned, and in case of a residence in the second queue, activating the signaling object of each lane for which the print media requires to be right aligned and deactivating the signaling object of each lane for which the print media requires to be left aligned.
According to an embodiment the digital image to be printed is comprised in a print job having a plurality of print job attributes comprising a print job attribute for a required alignment, and the step of establishing if the digital image requires to be right aligned or left aligned along a guiding bar, comprises the sub-step of taking the print job attribute for the required alignment into account. The print job attribute may be a left alignment, a right alignment or a “don't care” alignment. The print controller may read out the print job attribute from the print job and automatically place the digital image of the print job in the first print queue in case of a required left alignment or in the second print queue in case of a required right alignment. In case of a “don't care” alignment, the digital image may arbitrarily be placed in one of the two print queues or for example in the print queue which is shortest in planned time for the images which are already placed in said print queue.
According to an embodiment the printer comprises a user interface and the method comprises the step of displaying the two queues on a screen of the user interface.
According to an embodiment the user interface comprises a waiting room comprising images to be selected for printing, and the method comprises the steps of selecting an image in the waiting room and moving or copying the selected image to one of the two queues on the screen of the user interface.
According to an embodiment the method comprises the step of blocking one of the print queues due to at least one print situation out of a group of print situations comprising a first situation that a rigid is broader than a lane width, a second situation having images to be printed with different print modes, a third situation of the introduction of new print media and a fourth situation of having print media of different thicknesses. When a print queue is blocked, no images and/or print jobs can be added to the print queue. A print mode may be defined by a number of passes the print station makes in order to create a complete swath of marking material on the print media. In case of new print medium, the properties of the new print medium have to be entered in a media management module of the printer. In case of different thicknesses of the print media, the print head height above the medium support plane has to be adjusted and images of different thicknesses cannot be printed simultaneously in different lanes.
The present invention also relates to a printer comprising a transport device comprising an endless transport belt supported on a pair of support rollers, which between them define a medium support plane, over which medium support plane a print station is provided, wherein the printer is provided with a plurality of guiding bars extending in the transport direction and positioned at a side of at least one lane of the plurality of parallel lanes in order to guide the individual print media into one of the plurality of parallel lanes, the printer comprises a print controller for controlling the print process for digital images to be printed by means of two print queues for receiving digital images to be printed by the printer, and the print controller is configured to execute the steps of a method according to the present invention.
According to an embodiment the printer comprises above each lane a signaling object which is activated when the corresponding lane is enabled to receive print media, and the print controller is configured to execute the steps of a method according to the present invention.
According to an embodiment the printer comprises a user interface for displaying the two print queues comprising digital images to be printed by the printer.
According to an embodiment the printer is a hybrid printer for printing on rigid print media as well as on flexible print media.
The present invention also relates to a software product comprising program code on a machine-readable medium, which program code, when loaded into a print controller of a digital printer according to the present invention, causes the print controller to execute the steps of the method according to the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals have been used to identify the same or similar elements throughout the several views.
The belt 4 is further provided with through-holes and a suction box 5 in connection with a suction source (not shown), such that a negative pressure may be applied to the print medium 15 via the through-holes in the belt 4. The negative pressure adheres the print medium 15 flatly to the belt 4 and prevents displacement of the print medium 15 with respect to the belt 4. Due to this holding the belt 4 is able to transport the print medium 15. It will be appreciated that other suitable transport means, such as rollers, steppers, etc., may alternatively be applied. The print medium 15 may be transported stepwise and/or in continuous movement.
The inkjet printing assembly 7 is configured to translate along a first guide beam 6 in a scanning direction. The scanning direction is perpendicular to the direction in which the print medium is transported by the belt 4. The inkjet printing assembly 7 holds a plurality of print heads (not shown), which are configured to jet a plurality of different marking materials (different colors of ink, primers, coatings, etc.) on the print medium 15. Each marking material for use in the printing assembly 7 is stored in one of a plurality of containers arranged in fluid connection with the respective print heads for supplying marking material to said print heads to print an image on the print medium 15.
The ejection of the marking material from the print heads is performed in accordance with data provided in the respective print job. The timing by which the droplets of marking material are released from the print heads determines their position on the print medium 15. The timing may be adjusted based on the position of the inkjet printing assembly 7 along the first guide beam 6. The above mentioned sensor 8 may therein be applied to determine the relative position and/or velocity of the inkjet printing assembly 7 with respect to the print medium 15. Based upon data from the sensor 8, the release timing of the marking material may be adjusted.
Upon ejection of the marking material, some marking material may be spilled and stay on a nozzle surface of the print heads. The marking material present on the nozzle surface, may negatively influence the ejection of droplets and the placement of these droplets on the print medium 15. Therefore, it may be advantageous to remove excess of marking material from the nozzle surface. The excess of marking material may be removed for example by wiping with a wiper and/or by application of a suitable anti-wetting property of the surface, e.g. provided by a coating.
The marking materials may require treatment to properly fixate them on the print medium. Thereto, a fixation unit 10 is provided downstream of the inkjet printing assembly 7. The fixation unit 10 may emit heat and/or radiation to facilitate the marking material fixation process. In the example of
After printing, and optionally fixation, the print medium 15 is transported to a receiving unit (not shown). The receiving unit may comprise a take-up roller for winding up the print medium 15, a receiving tray for supporting sheets of print medium 15, or a rigid media handler, similar to the media input unit 14. Optionally, the receiving unit may comprise processing means for processing the medium 15 after printing, e.g. a post-treatment device such as a coater, a folder, a cutter, or a puncher.
The wide-format printer 1 furthermore comprises a user interface 11 for receiving print jobs and optionally for manipulating print jobs. The local user interface unit 11 is integrated to the print engine and may comprise a display unit and a control panel. Alternatively, the control panel may be integrated in the display unit, for example in the form of a touch-screen control panel. The local user interface unit 11 is connected to a control unit 12 connected to the printer 1. The control unit 12, for example a computer, comprises a processor adapted to issue commands to the printer 1, for example for controlling the print process. The printer 1 may optionally be connected to a network. The connection to the network can be via cable or wireless. The printer 1 may receive printing jobs via the network. Further, optionally, the control unit 12 of the printer 1 may be provided with an input port, such as a USB port, so printing jobs may be sent to the printer 1 via this input port.
The printer 1 in
An embodiment of the control unit 12 is in more detail presented in
The CPU 31 controls the printing system 1 in accordance with control programs stored in the ROM 34 or on the HD 35 and the local user interface panel 11. The CPU 31 also controls the image processing unit 39 and the GPU 32. The ROM 34 stores programs and data such as boot program, set-up program, various set-up data or the like, which are to be read out and executed by the CPU 31. The hard disk 35 is an example of a non-volatile storage unit for storing and saving programs and data which make the CPU 31 execute a print process to be described later. The hard disk 35 also comprises an area for saving the data of externally submitted print jobs. The programs and data on the HD 35 are read out onto the RAM 33 by the CPU 31 as needed. The RAM 33 has an area for temporarily storing the programs and data read out from the ROM 34 and HD 35 by the CPU 31, and a work area which is used by the CPU 31 to execute various processes. The interface unit 37 connects the control unit 12 to the client device 21 and to the printing system 1. The network unit 36 connects the control unit 12 to the network N and is designed to provide communication with workstations and with other devices reachable via the network N. The image processing unit 39 may be implemented as a software component running on an operation system of the control unit 12 or as a firmware program, for example embodied in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The image processing unit 39 has functions for reading, interpreting and rasterizing the print job data. Said print job data contains image data to be printed (i.e. fonts and graphics that describe the content of the document to be printed, described in a Page Description Language or the like), image processing attributes and print settings.
In this example, four lanes 41, 42, 43, 44 are depicted. However, according to the invention the number of lanes may be in principle two or more lanes. A number of preferred configurations will be described hereinafter.
The position and the widths of the lanes 41, 42, 43, 44 on the belt 4 and the media input unit 14 are configurable via the user interface 11. Such a configuration is determined by the positions of one or more guiding bars 45, 46, 50.
The lanes 41, 42, 43, 44 are completely or partially bound by guiding bars 45, 46, 50 extending on the media input unit 14 towards the belt 4 in the transport direction Y of the belt 4.
The print media may be aligned by means of the guiding bars 45, 46, 50. A print media piece may be left aligned or right aligned. For example print media piece 48 is left aligned along guiding bar 45 and print media piece 49 is right aligned along guiding bar 46. The print media may have different sizes, i.e. different lengths and/or widths. A housing 47 above the belt 4 comprises a guiding rail 6 via which the print station 7 is able to travel in the scanning direction X. The housing 47 also comprises one or more sensors (not shown) which are substantially downward directed to the belt 4 for detecting a presence and a position of print media in the lanes 41-44. The housing 47 also comprises signaling objects 40 at the front side directed to the media input unit 14 for signaling if a lane is disabled or enabled or if a lane is available to receive print media to print the images of the current print job. A signaling object 40 is positioned above each of the defined lanes 41-44.
The signaling object 40 preferably is a LED lamp. The signaling object 40 may be deactivated when the lane is disabled or when in use but no media has to be fed at the moment because there are no print jobs in the print queue corresponding to the kind of alignment of the lane. Two kind of alignments of a lane are envisioned: a left alignment of a lane in which all fed print media are left aligned and a right alignment of a lane in which all fed print media are right aligned. The signaling object 40 may be activated when the lane is enabled. However, other ways of signaling in order to indicate that a lane is disabled or enabled may be envisioned within the scope of the present invention. The signaling object may have a green light when a print medium can be fed. Other colors can be used, e.g. a red color for an error at printing, or a color green blinking when a print medium can soon be fed.
If a particular lane is disabled, no marking material will be jetted downwards from the print station 7 when the print station is travelling over the particular lane in the scanning direction X.
A first table layout 51 comprises 4 alignment bars, i.e. one alignment bar 511 at a left side of the table, one alignment bar 512 at one third of the table, one alignment bar 513 at two third of the table and one alignment bar 514 at a right side of the table. The first table layout 51 results in at most 6 lanes. Three lanes may be used to left align print media and the other three lanes may be used to right align print media.
A second table layout 52 comprises 3 alignment bars, i.e. one alignment bar 521 at a left side of the table, one alignment bar 522 halfway of the table and one alignment bar 523 at a right side of the table. The second table layout 52 results in at most 4 lanes. By adding the alignment bar 522 in the middle the operator can use for example two lanes or 4 lanes. However, the operator is free to use each of the available free lanes.
A third table layout 53 comprises 2 alignment bars, i.e. one alignment bar 531 at a left side of the table and one alignment bar 532 at a right side of the table. The third table layout results in at most 2 lanes. The operator can use one or two lanes depending on the size of the rigids.
A fourth table layout 54 also comprises 2 alignment bars, i.e. one alignment bar 541 at a left side of the table and one alignment bar 542 at two third of the table, wherein the remaining one third 543 of the table is not used. The fourth table layout 54 results in at most 2 lanes. By positioning the alignment bar at a position of ⅔rd of the medium support plane only a part of the medium support plane at the left side of the alignment bar is used. This will already result in a higher productivity which can even be increased by disabling the right aligned lane, for example if two rigid boards do not fit next to each other.
At the third table layout 53 or the fourth table layout 54 the operator is free to use each of the available lanes, but he may have his preferences. For example, if a pile of rigids to be loaded is positioned at the left side of the printer 1 he may have a preference to load more rigids in the lane at the left side of the printer, i.e. in the left lane.
The layouts 71-74 correspond to the table layouts 51-54 in
The signaling objects 41 which are colored white in
When a current job needs left aligned print media the signaling objects which are colored white will be activated. When a current job needs right aligned print media the signaling objects which are colored black will be activated.
The planning of feeding of a print medium in the printer may be directly derived from the print job order sequence in the two print queues of the printer 1, where each print job indicates sizes of the at least one image to be printed on the print media. The print controller 12 keeps track of the completed images, the currently being printed images and the images to be scheduled for printing. A next print job to be printed may have a deviating setting which influences the printing and also the feeding of print medium upon which the next print job is going to be printed. Due to the deviating setting beforehand the print controller can control the signaling objects 40 to indicate which lanes are free for feeding print media by the operator for the next print job, i.e. the lanes that are not blocked. Before feeding the print media into the medium support plane, the operator has to define and acknowledge by means of a system setting of the printer 1 the size of the print media to be fed at the start of a print job. Thus the printer 1 knows the size, e.g. the width and the length of the print medium used for printing the images of the print job.
In some situations the print controller 12 may even temporarily block one of the print queues as mentioned before.
The digital images submitted to the printer 1 may also be automatically placed in on of the printing queues in the second window 62 or the third window 63. Namely, the digital image to be printed may be comprised in a print job having a plurality of print job attributes comprising a print job attribute for a required alignment. The print job attribute may be a left alignment, a right alignment or a “don't care” alignment. The print controller 12 may read out the print job attribute from the print job and automatically place the digital image of the print job in the first print queue in the second window 62 in case of a required left alignment or in the second print queue in the third window 63 in case of a required right alignment. In case of a “don't care” alignment, the digital image may arbitrarily be placed in one of the two print queues or for example in the print queue which is shortest in planned time for the images which are already placed in said print queue. When an image is dragged, copied and/or moved into a print queue the print job attribute for alignment in the print job is automatically changed in accordance with the print queue, if necessary. For example, when the image is dragged in another queue than prescribed by the print job attribute for alignment, said attribute is changed.
The same concept as depicted in
For example
For example
The operator will be able to use the concepts as shown in
The first method starts in a starting point A which leads to a first step S1.
In the first step S1 the print controller receives a print job or an image to be printed. A print job may comprise multiple digital images.
In a second step S2 a kind of alignment is established. The establishment may be directly derived from reading a print job attribute of the print job comprising the digital image to be printed. The establishment may also be a mental act of the operator who has to distribute the images in the two queues. The kind of alignment may be a left alignment or a right alignment.
In a third step S3 it is checked of the established alignment is a left alignment. If so, the method proceeds to a fourth step S4. If the established alignment is a right alignment, the method proceeds to a fifth step S5.
In the fourth step S4 the image is added to the first queue for left aligned media.
In the fifth step S5 the image is added to the second queue for right aligned media.
The method may be simplified by bypassing the steps S2 and S3 and in the fourth step S4 and fifth step S5 step comprise the sub-step of moving or copying the image from the waiting room 61 shown in
In a sixth step S6 the image is printed on the left aligned media.
In a seventh step S7 the image is printed on the right aligned media.
The method ends in an end point B.
The non-transitory software medium 90 may, specifically, be formed as a CD or a CD-ROM, a DVD or a DVD-ROM, a BluRay disc or a BluRay-ROM disc, a magnetic hard drive, a solid state disk (SSD) hard drive, a USB memory device and so on.
Although specific embodiments of the invention are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations exist. It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are examples only and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.
It will also be appreciated that in this document the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”, “including”, “contain”, “containing”, “have”, “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to be understood in an inclusive (i.e. non-exclusive) sense, such that the process, method, device, apparatus or system described herein is not limited to those features or parts or elements or steps recited but may include other elements, features, parts or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the terms “a” and “an” used herein are intended to be understood as meaning one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on or to establish a certain ranking of importance of their objects.
The present invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22210443.2 | Nov 2022 | EP | regional |
