Patent Application
20200282746
Printers have long been used for a variety of applications, with the most typical printers being utilized for printing ink on sheets of two-dimensional paper. However, advancements in printing technology (and inkjet printing technology, in particular) have made printing on three-dimensional surfaces possible, including printing on cylindrical objects.
More recently, mechanisms have been developed for inkjet printing on individual strand elements such as, e.g., fabric threads. Unlike conventionally dyed threads, inkjet thread printing allows each thread to include multiple colors along its length. However, colorizing a thread by way of inkjet printing has several drawbacks. For example, as many threads consist of three-ply twisted fibers bundled together, the overall diameter of the thread can be quite large (e.g., 200 micrometers or more). However, the ink droplets emitted from an inkjet printer are typically low in volume (e.g., 10-15 picoliters), and thereby have droplet diameters much smaller than the diameter of the thread itself. Furthermore, the ink droplets are typically emitted from only one direction, meaning that volume of ink emitted during inkjet printing is often too low to fully coat and/or be fully absorbed into the thread.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system capable of printing on individual strand elements (e.g., threads) which addresses the issues described above.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for printing on a strand element is disclosed. The apparatus may include a printer head. The printer head may include a conduit, and a cavity formed within the conduit. The cavity may be configured to receive the strand element and pass the strand element from a first end of the cavity to a second end of the cavity. The printer head may further include a first set of fluid nozzles formed on the conduit and positioned on a perimeter of the cavity around a first target location within the cavity. Each of the fluid nozzles in the first set may be positioned to aim at the first target location. The first target location may correspond to a location of a first segment of the strand element when the strand element is positioned within the cavity.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for printing on a strand element is disclosed. The apparatus may include a printer head. The printer head may have a conduit and a cavity formed within the conduit. The cavity may be configured to receive the strand element and pass the strand element from a first end of the cavity to a second end of the cavity. The printer head may also include a plurality of nozzles formed on the conduit and positioned on a perimeter of the cavity. Each of the nozzles may be positioned to aim in the direction of a segment of the strand element passing through the cavity.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method for printing on a strand element is disclosed. The method may include providing a printer head, the printer head having a conduit, a cavity formed within the conduit, and a plurality of fluid nozzles formed on the conduit and positioned on a perimeter of the cavity around a target location within the cavity, wherein each of the fluid nozzles in is positioned to aim at the target location. The method may also include passing the strand element through the cavity of the printer head. Additionally, the method may include dispensing fluid from each of the fluid nozzles in the direction of the strand element within the cavity of the printer head.
As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. As used in this document, the term “comprising” (or “comprises”) means “including (or includes), but not limited to.” When used in this document, the term “exemplary” is intended to mean “by way of example” and is not intended to indicate that a particular exemplary item is preferred or required.
In this document, when terms such “first” and “second” are used to modify a noun, such use is simply intended to distinguish one item from another, and is not intended to require a sequential order unless specifically stated. The term “approximately,” when used in connection with a numeric value, is intended to include values that are close to, but not exactly, the number. For example, in some embodiments, the term “approximately” may include values that are within +/−10 percent of the value.
When used in this document, terms such as “top” and “bottom,” “upper” and “lower”, or “front” and “rear,” are not intended to have absolute orientations but are instead intended to describe relative positions of various components with respect to each other. For example, a first component may be an “upper” component and a second component may be a “lower” component when a device of which the components are a part is oriented in a first direction. The relative orientations of the components may be reversed, or the components may be on the same plane, if the orientation of the structure that contains the components is changed. The claims are intended to include all orientations of a device containing such components.
The terms “electronic device”, “computer”, and “computing device” refer to a device or system that includes a processor and memory. Each device may have its own processor and/or memory, or the processor and/or memory may be shared with other devices as in a virtual machine or container arrangement. The memory will contain or receive programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to perform one or more operations according to the programming instructions. Examples of electronic devices include personal computers, servers, mainframes, virtual machines, containers, mobile electronic devices such as smartphones, Internet-connected wearables, tablet computers, laptop computers, and appliances and other devices that can communicate in an Internet-of-things arrangement. In a client-server arrangement, the client device and the server are electronic devices, in which the server contains instructions and/or data that the client device accesses via one or more communications links in one or more communications networks. In a virtual machine arrangement, a server may be an electronic device, and each virtual machine or container also may be considered an electronic device. In the discussion below, a client device, server device, virtual machine or container may be referred to simply as a “device” for brevity. Additional elements that may be included in electronic devices will be discussed below in the context of
Referring to
In some embodiments, such as that shown in
As shown in
Each jet head 16a-16h is positioned over and in fluid communication with a respective nozzle 18a-18h formed through the conduit 12, thereby enabling fluid to be delivered from each jet head 16a-16h through a corresponding nozzle 18a-18h to the strand element 14 within cavity 15, as will be described in further detail below. While eight jet heads 16a-16h and eight nozzles 18a-18h are radially disposed about conduit 12, it is to be understood that more or fewer jet heads and/or nozzles may be utilized.
Referring still to
A meniscus of a liquid is generally defined as a curve in the upper surface of the liquid close to the surface of another object and is typically caused by surface tension. However, a meniscus may also be extended by the application of external pressure, such as, e.g., fluidic pressure, magnetic fields (in the case of magnetic fluids), and/or ultrasonic acoustic pressure to the liquid. In the case of the embodiment shown in
As the column of fluid provided by each meniscus 20a-20h is far greater in volume than droplets of fluid provided during conventional inkjet printing, a greater amount of fluid may be supplied to the strand element 14 at one time, sufficiently allowing for the fluid to be soaked into (or coated onto) the strand element 14. For example, the combined fluid volume provided by the menisci 20a-20h may amount to about a nanoliter, whereas a comparable volume of fluid provided during an inkjet printing process may amount to tens of picoliters, which is generally not sufficient to soak into a typical 200 μm cotton thread, particularly if the thread is moving through or past a printer head at any notable rate of speed.
In order for the strand element 14 to come into contact with each meniscus 20a-20h as the strand element 14 passes through cavity 15 such that the fluid is transferred onto the strand element 14, the distance between the outer surface of strand element 14 and the nozzles 18a-18h must be sufficiently small. For example, in one embodiment, the distance between the outer surface of strand element 14 and the nozzles 18a-18h is 500 μm or less, and is preferably 200 μm or less. This minimal distance may also allow the capillary force of the strand element 14 moving within the cavity 15 to draw the fluid from each meniscus 20a-20h onto the strand element 14. However, it is to be understood that the distance between the strand element and nozzle(s) may be larger or smaller than that which is disclosed, and may depend upon the diameter of the strand element, the size of the nozzle(s), the pressure applied to form each meniscus, etc. Furthermore, the size of the nozzle(s) may be determined based on the resonant frequency needed to maintain the meniscus within the cavity of the printer head at a sufficient depth so as to allow for fluid transfer onto the strand element.
As noted above, one method of forming each meniscus 20a-20h may be the application of ultrasonic acoustic pressure to the fluid. In this method, also known as acoustic jetting, sound waves are generated and focused toward the surface of a fluid pool in order to emit a column of fluid in the form of a meniscus, with the size of the column of fluid produced being at least partially a function of different acoustic transducers with different center frequencies (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, etc.). For example, using continuous acoustic radiation fields of about 3.5 kW/cm2 focused on a 300 μm diameter portion of a fluid pool at 5 MHz, a continuous column of fluid (i.e., a meniscus) can be generated by the acoustic pressure. In the embodiment described above, this column of fluid can then be used (either alone or in combination with other columns of fluid) to saturate a strand element (e.g., a thread). Furthermore, to discontinue the delivery of fluid to the strand element, the acoustic pressure may simply be stopped, which terminates the formation of the column of fluid. The surface tension may then cause the meniscus to retract to the neutral position, thereby interrupting the fluid flow into and/or onto the strand element. However, it is to be understood that other methods of forming each meniscus 20a-20h may also be utilized in accordance with the disclosure, such as, e.g., applying surface acoustic waves, lasers focused on the liquid surface, magnetic inks, etc.
Next, referring to
For ease of illustration, only a single printing plate 30 is shown in
Next, referring to
The fluid supply body 44 includes a fluid inlet 48, which may be coupled to one or more external fluid reservoirs (not shown). Fluid delivered through fluid inlet 48 may travel through a channel 47 formed in fluid supply body 44 until it reaches a nozzle 46. Similar to the embodiments described above with respect to
However, in addition to fluid being passed to the strand element 42 by contact with the meniscus 50, in some embodiments, printer head 40 further includes the vacuum supply body 52, which includes a vacuum channel 53 to apply a vacuum force to the cavity 43 through nozzle 54. Thus, not only is fluid applied to the strand element 42 by contact with the meniscus 50, but fluid is drawn by vacuum source to the opposite side of the strand element 42, thereby resulting in uniform distribution of fluid around the strand element 42. In this way, printer head 40 need not necessarily include the jetting of fluid from a plurality of directions surrounding a strand element, but may instead rely at least partially on vacuum force to enable fluid to coat and/or absorb into a strand element.
While not shown in detail, it is to be understood that the printer head 10 of
As used in this document and in the claims, the terms “processor” and “processing device” may refer to a single processor or any number of processors in a set of processors that collectively perform a set of operations, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a remote server, or a combination of these.
The terms “memory,” “memory device,” “data store,” “data storage facility” and the like each refer to a non-transitory device on which computer-readable data, programming instructions or both are stored. Except where specifically stated otherwise, the terms “memory,” “memory device,” “data store,” “data storage facility” and the like are intended to include single device embodiments, embodiments in which multiple memory devices together or collectively store a set of data or instructions, as well as individual sectors within such devices. Read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, hard drives and other devices capable of storing electronic data constitute examples of memory devices 64. A memory device may include a single device or a collection of devices across which data and/or programming instructions are stored.
An optional display interface 68 may permit information from the bus 60 to be displayed on a display device 71 in visual, graphic or alphanumeric format. An audio interface and audio output (such as a speaker) also may be provided. Communication with external devices may occur using various communication devices 70 such as a wireless antenna, an RFID tag and/or short-range or near-field communication transceiver, each of which may optionally communicatively connect with other components of the device via one or more communication system. The communication device 70 may be configured to be communicatively connected to a communications network, such as the Internet, a local area network or a cellular telephone data network.
The hardware may also include a user interface sensor 73 that allows for receipt of data from input devices 72 such as a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a touchscreen, a touch pad, a remote control, a pointing device, a video input device and/or an audio input device. Data also may be received from an image capturing device 66, such of that a scanner or camera.
The features and functions described above, as well as alternatives, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements may be made by those skilled in the art, each of which is also intended to be encompassed by the disclosed embodiments.
