A printing system can be used to print images and/or text onto a print medium or print target. A printing system can include a moveable carriage to which a printhead assembly is attached. During operation of the printing system, the printhead assembly is able to deliver printing fluid to the print medium or print target.
Some implementations of the present disclosure are described with respect to the following figures.
A printing system for printing text and/or images onto print media can include either an on-axis or an off-axis printing fluid supply system. Although reference is made to a “print medium,” it is noted that techniques or mechanisms according to the present disclosure can also be used with a three-dimensional (3D) print target (which can include a bed of print material, for example). Note also that the “printing system” can be a two-dimensional (2D) printing system or a 3D printing system. An on-axis printing fluid supply system includes one or multiple printing fluid supplies that are installed on a printhead assembly. A printing fluid supply includes a container that holds printing fluid that is to be delivered to the printhead assembly. A printhead assembly can include one or multiple printing fluid ejectors to eject printing fluid (received from the one or multiple printing fluid supplies) onto a print medium during operation of the printing system. A printing fluid can include ink (black ink and/or color ink), or other types of printing fluid. A print medium can include paper, a transparency foil, or any other medium onto which printing fluid can be deposited to form image(s) and/or text. More generally, a print target can refer to either a 2D print medium or a 3D structure on which 3D printing can be performed.
The printhead assembly can be attached to a moveable carriage of the printing system. During operation of the printing system, the moveable carriage of the printing system can move back and forth with respect to the print medium as printing fluid is deposited onto the print medium. With an on-axis fluid printing supply system, the printing fluid supply or supplies installed in the printhead assembly moves with the carriage.
An off-axis printing supply system includes one or multiple printing fluid supplies that are separated from the printhead assembly, and can be attached to another part of the printing system (or even outside of and away from the printing system) such that the printing fluid supply or supplies is (are) stationary with respect to the printhead assembly and carriage during operation of the printing system when the printhead assembly and carriage are moved back and forth to print onto a print medium. A print conduit (which can include one or multiple flexible tubes or other types of fluid communication structures) is used to communicate printing fluid between each respective printing fluid supply and the printhead assembly.
In some example printing systems, different carriage designs are provided for respective on-axis and off-axis printing fluid supply systems. For example, a carriage designed for an off-axis printing fluid supply system may be different from a carriage designed for an on-axis printing fluid supply system, since the carriage for the off-axis printing fluid supply system has to accommodate fluid conduits (e.g. tubes) from the off-axis printing fluid supplies. Having to reconfigure a carriage design to operate with an off-axis printing fluid supply system can add cost and time delay to the development of printing systems. In addition, the reconfiguring of the carriage design can increase the size of a printing system, such as due to adding anchor points for fluid conduits and providing make-break connection mechanisms.
In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, an off-axis printhead assembly is provided that can be used with a carriage of a printing system that also is arranged to accommodate an on-axis printhead assembly. An off-axis printhead assembly can refer to a printhead assembly that is connected over a fluid conduit (e.g. including one or multiple tubes) to a respective at least one printing fluid supply that is arranged in an off-axis manner (in other words, the printing fluid supply is provided away from the printhead assembly such that the printing fluid supply is stationary while the printhead assembly moves with the carriage during operation of the printing system). An on-axis printhead assembly can refer to a printhead assembly in which at least one printing fluid supply is installed on the printhead assembly, such that the printing fluid supply moves with the printhead assembly during printing operation of the printing system.
By using a common carriage design to accommodate either an off-axis printhead assembly or an on-axis printhead assembly, cost savings and development time reduction can be achieved for the development of printing systems. In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, a carriage designed for an on-axis printhead assembly can also be used with an off-axis printhead assembly, such that complexities associated with having to re-design a carriage for the off-axis printhead assembly can be avoided.
In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, the carriage 102 is a carriage that is designed to receive an on-axis PHA. Without changing the design of the carriage 102, the carriage 102 is also able to receive the off-axis PHA 104.
During operation of the printing system 100, the carriage 102 with the off-axis PHA 104 mounted can be moved back and forth along axis 103 to print onto a print medium 110.
Note that in other implementations, the carriage 102 can be a stationary carriage that extends across a width of a print medium. In other examples, the print medium may be moveable relative to the stationary carriage. More generally, the printing system 100 can perform printing (2D printing or 3D printing) onto a print target.
The following discussion is made in connection with
The off-axis PHA 104 includes the printhead body 202 and the fluid conduit interconnect 204 that is removably attachable to the printhead body 202. The fluid conduit interconnect 204 includes a receptacle 206 that can be connected to the fluid conduit 106 (shown in
The carriage 102 has a printing system shaft receptacle 222 that can be mounted onto a shaft of the printing system 100 to allow the carriage 102 to be moveable along the shaft (not shown) during operation of the printing system 100.
The carriage 102 has a receptacle 208 for receiving the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104. The receptacle 208 has an opening to allow the printhead body 202 to be mounted from the front (210) of the carriage 102. In some implementations, allowing the printhead body 202 to be mounted into the receptacle 208 from the front 210 of the carriage 102 allows for a more convenient mounting arrangement of the printhead body 202 in the carriage 102, as compared to an arrangement in which the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104 is mounted through the top portion of the carriage 102. Note, however that in other implementations, the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104 can be mounted through the top portion of the carriage 102.
In some implementations, the carriage 102 has a latch mechanism 212 that includes a moveable lever 214 (or other type of moveable member) that can be actuated by a user between an unlocked position (the position shown in
In other examples, protrusions can be provided on the rotatable latch spindle 216, and openings can be provided on the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104. More generally, the latch mechanism 212 has at least one engagement member that is able to engage with a respective at least one engagement member of the printhead body 202 to engage the off-axis PHA 104 in the carriage 102.
Once the printhead body 202 is received in the receptacle 208 of the carriage 102, rotation of the latch spindle 216 due to user actuation of the lever 214 causes the latch openings 218 to engage the engagement members 220 of the printhead body 202, such that once the lever 214 is moved to its locked position (
Although a specific latching mechanism 212 for engaging the engagement members 220 of the printhead body 202 is shown in
Also, although the latching mechanism 212 is shown as being part of the carriage 102, it is noted that in other examples, the latching mechanism 212 can be provided on the printhead body 202, for latching engagement members on the carriage 102.
More generally, the carriage 102 has an attachment mechanism that is removably attachable to an engagement element of the off-axis PHA 104. The attachment mechanism can be the latch mechanism 216, or alternatively, can be any type of attachment element, such an attachment element engageable with a latch mechanism provided on the off-axis PHA 104.
The fluid connecting elements 230 of the fluid conduit interconnect 204 are depicted in greater detail in
In some examples, as shown in
Once the alignment ribs 226 on the fluid conduit interconnect 204 are brought into alignment with the alignment grooves 224 of the printhead body 202, the fluid conduit interconnect 204 can be slid along the alignment grooves 224 until the fluid connecting elements 230 of the fluid conduit interconnect 204 are engaged with the fluid connecting elements 228 of the printhead body 202. A portion of the fluid conduit interconnect 204 is received in a receiving region 225 of the printhead body 202.
While the alignment grooves 224 and alignment ribs 226 provide coarse alignment, fine alignment elements can also be provided on the fluid conduit interconnect 204 and the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104. For example, the fluid conduit interconnect 204 includes fine alignment elements 240 that can engage with fine alignment elements 242 of the printhead body 202 as the fluid connecting elements 228/230 are brought into engagement with each other.
In some implementations, the fluid conduit interconnect 204 includes a latching mechanism 232 that has a moveable lever 234 (or other type of moveable member) that can be actuated by a user between an unlocked position (shown in
In other implementations, the latching mechanism 232 can instead be provided on the printhead body 202.
Although an example fluid conduit interconnect 204 is depicted, it is noted that in other examples, the fluid conduit interconnect 204 can have a different arrangement for coupling the fluid conduit 106 to the printhead body 202.
As further shown in
In
In
Initially, in the engaged position of
As the lever 234 is further rotated along direction 710, the second lobe 708 of the actuator 700 pushes against a second side 708 of the rib 704, as shown in
As a result, the septums 231 of the fluid connecting elements 230 of the fluid conduit interconnect 204 are released from the needles 229 of the fluid connecting elements 228 of the printhead body 202, so that the fluid conduit interconnect 102 can be removed from the printhead body 202, as shown in
The ink supply station 802 is connected to the fluid conduit 106, which extends from the ink supply station 802 to a turn-around assembly 808. The fluid conduit 106 is received in a fluid conduit guide 810 of the turn-around assembly 808, which turns the fluid conduit 806 around to cause the fluid conduit 106 to extend through back to a retainer 810 of the ink supply station 802 and towards the fluid conduit interconnect 204 of the off-axis PHA 104. The fluid conduit 106 is connected to the fluid conduit interconnect 204 of the off-axis PHA 104, which is shown in
With the arrangement of
In the arrangement of
The process provides (902) the printhead body 202 of the off-axis PHA 104, the printhead body 202 attachable by a first latching mechanism to the carriage 102, where the carriage 102 is removably attachable to an on-axis PHA.
The process provides (at 904) the fluid conduit interconnect 204 of the off-axis PHA 104, the fluid conduit interconnect 204 removably attachable, using a second latching mechanism, to the printhead body 202, and the fluid conduit interconnect 204 connectable to the fluid conduit 106 to communicate printing fluid from at least one off-axis printing fluid supply through the fluid conduit interconnect 204 to the printhead body 202.
In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However, implementations may be practiced without some of these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2015/035302 | 6/11/2015 | WO | 00 |