In a printing operation of a printing device, a carriage, which includes a print head, is moved relative to a print media item for ejection of print agent from the print head onto the print media item. The carriage may move along a carriage guide and may be propelled along the carriage guide by a drive mechanism. A carriage such as that described above can be employed in printing devices for printing inks and in 3D printing devices wherein layers of build material are selectively solidified by layers with the aid of printing fluids that are printed to the layers of build material.
Similarly, in a scanning operation of a scanning device, which may be included in multifunction printers (MFPs) and other devices, a document to be scanned is placed on a transparent window for scanning. The document may be placed, face down (i.e., where “face” refers to the side of the document to be scanned) on one side of the window. A carriage, which has coupled thereto a scan bar including optics for scanning the document, may then be moved along the length of the opposite side of the window, e.g., along a carriage rod. The carriage, and thus the scan bar, may be propelled along the carriage rod by a drive mechanism that includes a motor and a flexible belt.
Various example features will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the following description and figures, some example implementations of print apparatus, print systems, and/or printers are described. In examples described herein, a “printer” or a “printing system” may be a device comprising a carriage being the device to print content to a physical medium (e.g., paper, textiles, a layer of powder-based build material, etc.) with a print material (e.g., ink or toner). For example, the printer may be a wide-format print apparatus that prints latex-based print fluid on a print medium, such as a print medium that is size A2 or larger. In some examples, the physical medium printed on may be a web roll or a pre-cut sheet. In the case of printing on a layer of powder-based build material, the print apparatus may utilize the deposition of print materials in a layer-wise additive manufacturing process. A printer may utilize suitable print consumables, such as ink, toner, fluids or powders, or other raw materials for printing. In some examples, a print apparatus may be a three-dimensional (3D) print apparatus. An example of fluid print material is a water-based latex ink ejectable from a print head, such as a piezoelectric print head or a thermal inkjet print head. Other examples of print fluid may include dye-based color inks, pigment-based inks, solvents, gloss enhancers, fixer agents, and the like. Also, the printer may comprise a carriage associated to a scanning device wherein the scanner is to acquire content from a physical medium and store it in a digital format.
In one example, the present disclosure describes a carriage for use in a printer side of a printing system, i.e., the part of the printing system associated to printing content in a physical medium. However, in another example, the carriage of the present disclosure can be incorporated in a scanning device associated to the printing system.
The carriage disclosed herein comprises a drive mechanism that is used to propel the carriage along a drive direction, the carriage may comprise a coupled a print head, when printing a document. In the present disclosure, the carriage may comprise a motor fixedly attached to the carriage, i.e., that moves jointly with the carriage along the drive direction or a motor remote from the carriage but mechanically coupled as to move the carriage along the drive direction.
Similarly, in the case of a scanning device, a scan bar may be coupled to a carriage and the scanning device may comprise a drive mechanism that is used to propel the carriage. Such drive mechanism may be fixedly attached to the carriage or mechanically coupled as to move it.
It is therefore hereby disclosed a carriage comprising a housing being the carriage to move relative to a carriage beam along a scan direction, the carriage comprising:
In an example, the first flat surface is inclined with respect to the second flat surface, e.g., the first flat surface is orthogonal to the second flat surface.
The alignment guide of an example of carriage according to the present disclosure may be an L-shaped guide having sides wherein the sides of the L define the first flat surface and the second flat surface.
In a further example, the alignment guide is a U-shaped guide wherein two sides of the “U” define the first flat surface and the second flat surface. The third side of the “U” may provide for an attachment surface that is to be attached to the beam.
In other examples, the alignment guide has a rectangular cross-section.
With respect to the manufacturing of the alignment guide, it may be manufactured as a plate having a bend that defines the boundary between the first flat surface and the second flat surface.
In a further example, the carriage may comprise shock-absorbing elements, e.g., the rolling element comprises an elastomeric member.
Furthermore, it is described a printing system comprising:
In an example, the first flat surface and the second flat surface are orthogonal.
Furthermore, the first flat surface and the second flat surface may be part of an L-shaped or U-shaped guide. In a further example, the alignment guide has a rectangular cross-section.
Also, the system may comprise a third flat surface remote from the alignment guide and the carriage comprising a third rolling element in contact with the third flat surface.
In an example, the first and second rolling elements comprise an elastomeric member, e.g., a rubber or plastic capable to deform and return to its original state as to absorb possible rugosities on the flat surfaces.
A drive mechanism may be used to propel the carriage. Such drive mechanism may comprise a motor and a flexible belt. A tensioning system may be used to apply a constant force that maintains the proper amount of tension in the belt. In the present disclosure, the motor and the tensioning system may be placed at the same end of the carriage rod, with the tensioning system acting upon a driven pulley coupled to an output of the motor. The tension applied to the belt by the tensioning system may be increased or decreased dependent upon the direction of rotation of the output of the motor to ensure balance of forces on both sides of the belt.
In an example, the carriage 2 may comprise a drive mechanism or an impelling mechanism fixedly attached thereto, i.e., that, in operation, moves together with the carriage 2. The drive mechanism may comprise a motor and a wheel to traction against a respective traction surface coupled to or being part of the beam.
As shown in
The alignment guide 4 of
One of the features of the alignment guide 4 is to be able to maintain the alignment of the carriage in two directions, a scanning direction, i.e., the direction along the beam 4, and a media advance direction (M) perpendicular to the scanning direction. The alignment guide 4 achieves this feature by providing that the first flat surface 41 and the second flat surface 42 are provided adjacent and at an angle. In the example of
The slider 5, may also be a U-shaped or L-shaped profile attached to the beam 3 as to provide a stepped surface having an upper surface 51 separated from the beam by a distance defined by the length of the profile and an attachment surface that is to be attached to the beam 3. In an example, the carriage 2 comprises a third rolling element 23 that is to cooperate with the upper surface 51 so that the rolling element slides along such upper surface 51, therefore, such upper surface 51 may act as a third flat surface for sliding of the carriage 2.
Such slots may be used in a calibration of the pen-to-reference space, i.e., the distance and parallelism between a printhead that is to be housed by the carriage 2 and a reference, e.g., a platen on the printing system 1 or a media that is to be printed. In an example the alignment guide may move along a first calibration direction (A) and the slider 5 may move along a second calibration direction (B) and the slots provide for such movements. Such calibration will be explained in more detail with reference to
The carriage 2 is to move along the beam 3 in a scanning direction thereby defining the position of the printhead 7 along the width of a media to be printed. As mentioned above, in order to achieve an accurate position of the droplets along the width of the media a calibration proceeding may be performed wherein the alignment between the printhead 7 and a reference surface, e.g., a platen 6 and its parallelism may be calibrated by the movement of the alignment guide 4 and/or the slider 5.
Furthermore, as can be seen in the detail of the rightmost side of the figure, the alignment bar 4 comprises a first flat surface 41 along which a first rolling element 21 is provided and a second flat surface 42 along which a second rolling element 22 is provided. The first and second flat surfaces being angled between them and the rolling elements being to slide along the flat surfaces in a scanning direction. The rolling elements 21, 22 may each be provided with a housing 210, 220 and a set of wheels 211, 221. In the example of
In an example, the rolling elements 21, 22 may be provided with shock-absorption capabilities. To accomplish the shock absorption, the rolling elements 21, 22, may be provided with an elastomeric component that helps dampen noise due, e.g., to rugosities on the flat surfaces 41, 42. In an example, the housing 210, 220 may be made of an elastomeric material, e.g., a plastic or rubber. In a further example, the wheels, 211, 221 may be made of an elastomeric material, e.g., a plastic or rubber. Such elastomeric material within the rolling elements 21 provides for shock absorption in the sliding movement of the carriage along the guide and help absorb possible rugosities or imperfections of the alignment guide 4.
In another example, the rolling elements 21, 22, may be provided of an additional elastomeric member. Such members can include, amongst others, springs, gas canisters, or any element capable of recovering size and shape after a deformation, for example, a deformation caused by a compressing force.
Another manner of accomplishing low noise due to the sliding movement of the carriage may be to provide a coating on the flat surfaces 41, 42 as to remove their rugosities. Examples of such coatings may be a chromed coating.
In an example, the alignment guide 4 and the slider 5 may be provided with a movement capability so that they may be attached to the beam at different relative distances thereto. For example, the slider 5 may be provided with a range of possible attachment positions along a slot, thereby providing with a first calibration movement along a first calibration direction (A). Likewise, the alignment guide 4 may be provided with a slotted attachment to the beam 3 so that the alignment guide may move along a second calibration direction (B) and attached at several attachment points along such direction, i.e., at different positions within the slot.
Such different locations along the first calibration direction (A) and the second calibration direction (B) may help determine the pen-to-reference position, i.e., the position of the printhead 7 along the printhead calibration direction (C) including the inclination of the printhead with respect to a reference 6.
In an example calibration of the pen-to-reference space, i.e., the distance along the printhead calibration direction (C), a user defines the distance along the second calibration direction (B) at a determined attachment point between the beam 3 and the alignment guide 4, thereby defining a datum reference for the pen-to-reference spacing. Once the attachment between the alignment guide 4 and the beam 3 has been defined, the user may determine the distance along the first calibration direction (A), this distance may define the parallelism between the carriage 2 and the platen 6, i.e., adjust the heading of the printhead 7.
The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describe certain examples. Different sets of examples have been described; these may be applied individually or in combination, sometimes with a synergetic effect. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one example may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with any features of any other of the examples, or any combination of any other of the examples.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2018/057428 | 10/25/2018 | WO | 00 |