Patent Grant
9718291
The present invention generally pertains to a printing assembly, wherein a carriage supporting at least one print head is moved in a carriage plane over a medium support surface.
A commonly known printing assembly comprises a carriage supporting a print head.
The print head is configured to expel droplets of a recording substance, such as ink, on a recording medium. The expelled droplets form image dots on the recording medium.
Image-wise positioning of the dots results in an image. For image-wise positioning, the carriage is moveable in a carriage plane, which carriage plane is substantially parallel to a medium support surface, the recording medium being supported on such medium support surface. The print head is controlled to expel a droplet at each position where an image dot is needed to form the image.
In a known printing assembly, the carriage is moved along a gantry in a scanning direction and the gantry is configured to be moveable in a transport direction, the transport direction being substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction. Thus, the print head may be positioned in two direction, enabling to position the image dots in a two-dimensional array.
For a high image quality, it is required that image dots are positioned as accurate as possible. For high productivity, it is required that the carriage moves at a high speed and is able to quickly decelerate and accelerate. Other specific requirements can be imposed on the carriage and its support structure depending on the requirements and applications of the printing assembly. In any case, the functional requirements imposed on the carriage require a suitable design of the carriage and gantry.
In an aspect of the present invention, a printing assembly is provided, wherein the printing assembly comprises a medium support surface, a guide assembly and a carriage support structure for moveably supporting a print head carriage on the guide assembly. The guide assembly is arranged to move the print head carriage in a carriage plane, which carriage plane is parallel to the medium support surface. The guide assembly comprises a guide beam and a guide rail arranged on the guide beam. The guide rail and the guide beam each extend in a scanning direction. The printer carriage support structure comprises a guide frame arranged on the guide rail, wherein the guide frame is moveable in the scanning direction and extends in the scanning direction between a first support position and a second support position. The guide frame is supported on the guide rail at said first support position and at said second support position. The printer carriage support structure further comprises a carriage frame moveably supported on the guide rail through the guide frame. The carriage frame is coupled to the guide frame such that the carriage frame is moveable relative to the guide frame in the carriage plane and the carriage frame is positioned in the carriage plane relative to the guide beam by support means. The support means support the carriage frame against a flat surface provided by the guide beam.
In the above printing assembly, the movement of the print head carriage along the guide beam is supported by the guide rail. Still, the guide rail may be expected to not be infinitely straight. For control of positioning, such straightness of movement of the print head carriage may be desired. Hence, any deviation of the guide rail from straightness potentially negatively affects the positioning of image dots. In order to isolate the shape of the guide rail from the direction of movement of the print head carriage and in accordance with the present invention, the print head carriage is supported through a guide frame on the guide rail and the coupling between the guide frame and the print head carriage enables restricted free movement of the print head carriage relative to the guide frame in the carriage plane. This construction enables to determine the position in the carriage plane based on a reference to another object than the guide rail, thereby isolating any deviations in the guide rail from the print head carriage position.
In particular, the position in the carriage plane is determined relative to the guide beam.
Thereto, support means supporting the carriage frame against a flat surface provided by the guide beam are provided. The position of the carriage frame is thus determined by the position and shape of the flat surface of the guide beam. Such a flat surface (used as a reference surface) may be configured and arranged to provide for a highly accurate positioning, independent of any deviations of the guide rail in the scanning direction. A suitable support means may be an air bearing, a rolling means such as a wheel, a gliding means and any other moveably supporting means, which may be easily selected by any person skilled in the relevant art.
It is noted that generally, the carriage frame may be suitably positioned in the carriage plane relative to the guide beam irrespective of the particular support construction. For example, the guide rail may be mounted on a rail surface of the guide beam and a flat surface of the guide beam, supporting the print head carriage in the carriage plane, is perpendicular to the rail surface.
In an embodiment, the guide frame and the carriage frame are coupled by a coupling structure and the coupling structure is configured to constrain the carriage frame relative to the guide frame in at most four degrees of freedom. In other words, at least two degrees of freedom are not constrained by the coupling structure. Preferably, a translation in a transport direction, i.e. a direction substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction, and a rotation in the carriage plane are not constrained by the coupling structure.
The at most four degrees of freedom constrained by the coupling structure include: (1) a translation in the scanning direction, which corresponds to the desired print head carriage scanning movement for forming a swath of image dots and is governed by the movement along the guide rail; (2) a translation in the direction perpendicular to the carriage plane, which corresponds to supporting the print head carriage and keeping the print head carriage in the carriage plane; (3) a rotation around the scanning direction and (4) a rotation around the transport direction, which both also relate to the support of the print head carriage.
In a particular embodiment, the coupling structure comprises at least one pen-like coupling element, such as an antenna, for constraining a respective one degree of freedom, each pen-like coupling element constraining in a direction of its length and allowing movement in any other direction.
In an embodiment, the print head carriage is hanging on the guide frame. In a particular embodiment, the guide frame and the carriage frame are coupled by a coupling structure, wherein the coupling structure constrains a downward movement of the carriage frame, while allowing an upward movement. In such embodiment, the carriage frame is positioned relative to the medium support surface (keeping the print head carriage in the carriage plane), while allowing the carriage frame to be lifted away from the medium support surface. Such lifting of the print head carriage prevents damage to the print heads, if an obstacle is present on the medium support surface.
In an embodiment, the carriage frame is hanging and cantilevered, while the carriage frame is rotationally held in position by the support means supporting against the flat surface of the guide beam.
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 embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying schematical drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
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.
Images are printed on an image receiving member, for example paper, supplied by a roll 28, 30. The roll 28 is supported on the roll support R1, while the roll 30 is supported on the roll support R2. Alternatively, cut sheet image receiving members may be used instead of rolls 28, 30 of image receiving member. Printed sheets of the image receiving member, cut off from the roll 28, 30, are deposited in the delivery tray 32.
Each one of the marking materials for use in the printing assembly are stored in four containers 20 arranged in fluid connection with the respective print heads for supplying marking material to said print heads.
The local user interface unit 24 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 24 is connected to a control unit 34 placed inside the printing apparatus 36. The control unit 34, for example a computer, comprises a processor adapted to issue commands to the print engine, for example for controlling the print process. The inkjet printing assembly 36 may optionally be connected to a network N. The connection to the network N is diagrammatically shown in the form of a cable 22, but nevertheless, the connection could be wireless. The inkjet printing assembly 36 may receive printing jobs via the network. Further, optionally, the controller of the printer may be provided with a USB port, so printing jobs may be sent to the printer via this USB port.
The image receiving member 2 may be a medium in web or in sheet form and may be composed of e.g. paper, cardboard, label stock, coated paper, plastic or textile.
Alternatively, the image receiving member 2 may also be an intermediate member, endless or not. Examples of endless members, which may be moved cyclically, are a belt or a drum. The image receiving member 2 is moved in the sub-scanning direction A by the medium support surface 1 along four print heads 4a-4d provided with a fluid marking material.
The scanning print head carriage 5 carries the four print heads 4a-4d and may be moved in reciprocation in the main scanning direction B parallel to the medium support surface 1, such as to enable scanning of the image receiving member 2 in the main scanning direction B. Only four print heads 4a-4d are depicted for demonstrating the invention. In practice an arbitrary number of print heads may be employed. In any case, at least one print head 4a-4d per color of marking material is placed on the scanning print head carriage 5. For example, for a black-and-white printer, at least one print head 4a-4d, usually containing black marking material is present. Alternatively, a black-and-white printer may comprise a white marking material, which is to be applied on a black image-receiving member 2. For a full-color printer, containing multiple colors, at least one print head 4a-4d for each of the colors, usually black, cyan, magenta and yellow is present. Often, in a full-color printer, black marking material is used more frequently in comparison to differently colored marking material. Therefore, more print heads 4a-4d containing black marking material may be provided on the scanning print head carriage 5 compared to print heads 4a-4d containing marking material in any of the other colors.
Alternatively, the print head 4a-4d containing black marking material may be larger than any of the print heads 4a-4d, containing a differently colored marking material.
The print head carriage 5 is guided by guiding means 6, 7. These guiding means 6, 7 may be rods as depicted in
Each print head 4a-4d comprises an orifice surface 9 having at least one orifice 8, in fluid communication with a pressure chamber containing fluid marking material provided in the print head 4a-4d. On the orifice surface 9, a number of orifices 8 is arranged in a single linear array parallel to the sub-scanning direction A. Eight orifices 8 per print head 4a-4d are depicted in
Upon ejection of the marking material, some marking material may be spilled and stay on the orifice surface 9 of the print head 4a-4d. The ink present on the orifice surface 9 may negatively influence the ejection of droplets and the placement of these droplets on the image receiving member 2. Therefore, it may be advantageous to remove excess of ink from the orifice surface 9. The excess of ink 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.
As apparent to those skilled in the art, the print head carriage 16 is cantilevered and a moment exerts a force on the print head carriage 5 towards the guide beam 16. Suitable means (not shown) such as air bearings, gliders, sliders, wheels, or the like, are used to position the print head carriage 5 relative to the guide beam 16, in particular relative to the side wall 16a of the guide beam 16. In an embodiment, a specific guide surface element 46 may be mounted on the side wall 16a to provide for a straight trajectory in the scanning direction X. Such a specific guide surface element 46 may be made of glass, since glass is manufactured to be intrinsically straight, smooth and flat and is relatively cheap, which makes glass a cost-effective means for providing a suitable surface for use with air bearings, for example.
Considering that the guide rail 40 may not be ideally straight and hence its position may deviate in the transport direction Y from an ideal position, and considering that the print head carriage 5 preferably moves as little as possible in the transport direction Y during a scanning movement in the X-direction, it is preferred that the print head carriage 5 is enabled to move in a carriage plane relative to the guide rail 40. The carriage plane is substantially parallel to the medium support surface 1, extending in both X-direction and Y-direction. Moving the print head carriage 5 in the carriage plane enables the print heads supported by the carriage frame to provide image dots on every location of the medium support surface 1. As the print head carriage 5 is moved in the carriage plane in the scanning direction X along the side wall 16a, the position in the Y-direction is defined by the side wall 16a. Deviations in the Y-direction due to position deviations of the guide rail 40 are absorbed by a relative movement of the print head carriage 5. In other words, if the runner block 42 and the guide frame 44 move in the transport direction Y, the carriage frame is coupled such that the carriage frame does not move in the Y-direction; the carriage frame maintains its position relative to the side wall 16a or relative to the specific guide surface element 46 mounted on the side wall 16a.
Note that it is preferred that the above described support assembly is also designed such that a movement of the runner block 42 in the Y-direction does not result in a torsion of the carriage frame of the print head carriage 5. An over-constrained support assembly would inevitably result in bending of certain elements. Using preferred light-weight construction elements for the carriage frame, it may be presumed likely that the carriage frame may bend resulting in an undesirable and unpredictable change in position of the print head(s) supported by such carriage frame. Such unpredictable changes result in unpredictable image dot positioning and consequently in a deterioration of the resulting image quality. An exemplary, suitably constrained embodiment is illustrated in and described in relation to
A specific third embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown in
The guide frame 44 is provided with two runner blocks: a first runner block 421 and a second runner block 422. The first runner block 421 and the second runner block 422 provide a first support position and a second support position, respectively, between which support positions the guide frame 44 extends.
A carriage frame 51 has a lower part 52 and an upper part 53. The lower part 52 is configured to support a number of print heads and is arranged in the carriage plane close to the medium support surface 1. The upper part 53 may be configured to support driver electronic circuitry, a liquid handling assembly, and the like, which are not required to be close to the medium support surface 1. The weight of these elements is thus positioned directly above the guide rail 40 and the support positions provided by the runner blocks 421, 422 and their weight does not add to the moment acting on the carriage frame 51. It is noted that such a moment is still needed to pre-load the carriage frame 51 against the guide beam 16, as described below in more detail, but such moment is generated by the weight of the print heads provided in the lower part 52.
When assembled, the first and the second runner block 421, 422 are positioned on the guide rail 40, supporting the guide frame 44. The guide frame 44 is thus free to move along the guide rail 40. Hence, the guide frame 44 is moveable in the scanning direction X. Translations in the Y-direction and in the Z-direction are constrained. Rotations around the X, Y, Z-directions (X, Y, Z-axes) are constrained too. When arranged on the guide beam 16, supports arms 441 extends over the side wall 16a.
The carriage frame 51 is coupled to the guide frame 44 through a suitable coupling structure, which in this embodiment comprises a number of pen-like coupling elements.
Such pen-like coupling elements constrain only in the direction of their length. In other words, each coupling constrains only one degree of freedom, leaving five other degrees of freedom available. Suitable use of such pen-like coupling elements enables to design a support construction without over-constraining. Having a rigid carriage frame 51 without over-constrained support prevents torsion and other distortion of the frame construction, which would be undesirable as above described.
In the exploded view of
A first coupling element 442 (A-A) and a second coupling element 443 (B-B) couples a respective one of the support arms 441 of the guide frame 44 and the carriage frame 51. Each of the coupling elements 442, 443 constrains a translation of the carriage frame 51 in the Z-direction. Together, the coupling elements 442, 443 constrain the rotation around the X-axis (rotation around the x-axis may also be referred to as the roll).
A third coupling element 444 (C-C) couples the carriage frame 51 to the guide frame 44 and extends in the transport direction X. Hence, the third coupling element 444 constrains the carriage frame 51 in its rotation around the Y-axis (also referred to as pitch or tilt).
A fourth coupling 445 (D-D) and a fifth coupling 446 (E-E) are above described and are not formed by pen-like coupling elements, but may be air bearings, gliders, sliders, wheels, or other elements providing support against the side wall 16a in the transport direction Y, while allowing low-friction movement along the side wall 16a in the scanning direction X. So, each of the fourth coupling 445 and the fifth coupling 446 constrain the carriage frame 51 in the Y-direction and together constrain the carriage frame 51 in the rotation around the Z-axis (also referred to as yaw). Note that the third, fourth and fifth couplings 444, 445, 446 together affect the roll.
A sixth coupling element 447 is provided between the carriage frame 51 and the guide frame 44. The sixth coupling element 447 extends in the scanning direction Y. In the present embodiment and as shown in detail in
In an embodiment, the first coupling element 442 and the second coupling element 443 are configured to constrain a movement of the carriage frame 51 towards the medium support surface 1, while allowing a movement of the carriage frame 51 away from the medium support surface 1. In such embodiment, any obstacle on the medium support surface 1 may tilt the carriage frame 51 without permanently affecting (i.e. distorting or damaging) the carriage construction and/or the print heads.
Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. In particular, features presented and described in separate dependent claims may be applied in combination and any advantageous combination of such claims are herewith disclosed.
Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term plurality, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term another, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms including and/or having, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term coupled, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly.
The 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 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.
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| 15190158 | Oct 2015 | EP | regional |
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