Printers are used to deposit a printing compound, such as ink or toner, onto a substrate such as paper. The ink or toner is deposited in patterns to form text, images, or other marks on the substrate. To deposit the printing compound, printers include fluid ejection devices such as printheads. The printheads receive the printing compound from a reservoir or other storage element, and eject the compound on the surface in the desired pattern. In some examples, a printer receives rolls of media, referred to as webs. These media webs are unrolled and passed under a printbar. In some examples, a printbar includes an array of staggered printheads.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are part of the specification. The illustrated examples are given merely for illustration, and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.
Printers are used to deposit a printing compound, such as ink or toner, onto a substrate such as paper. The ink or toner is deposited in patterns to form text, images, or other marks on the substrate. To deposit the printing compound, printers include fluid ejection devices such as printheads. The printheads receive the printing compound from a reservoir or other storage element, and eject the compound on the surface in the desired pattern. In some examples, printers may be three-dimensional (3D) printers which via a variety of mechanisms print a three-dimensional object. The control device of the present specification can be used to control two-dimensional printers as well as these 3D printers.
In some examples, a printer receives rolls of media, referred to as webs. These media webs are unrolled and passed under a printbar. In some examples, a printbar includes an array of staggered printheads. The width of the printbar, and coverage by the printheads, may be the same as a width of the media. In other words, the printheads of the printbars do not move relative to the media in depositing the print compound.
While these printers have improved the ability to form text and images on media; some characteristics may negatively impact their operation. For example; upon power failure, an entire printer loses power; including the printbars of the printer. If power failure occurs during printing, then the printbars may be uncapped. Moreover, with power removed from the system, there may be no way to cap the printbars and preserve the printheads. If left uncapped; fluid in and around the nozzles of the printheads can harden and crust thereby blocking nozzles and negatively impacting print quality. In other words, printhead health could be adversely affected if power is lost when printbars are in an uncapped state.
Moreover, when performing maintenance it may be desirable to disconnect the printer from its operational power supply. Disconnecting the operational power supply in this fashion increases safety and allows for efficient repair/maintenance on electrical and other components of the printer. However, in removing power from the printer, the interface of the printer; through which maintenance operations are performed; is also unpowered as are motors and other electrical components which operate different printing components.
Accordingly, the present specification describes a remote printer control device that can control a printbar of a printer even when operational power to the printer is disconnected. For example, if upon power outage, a particular printbar is uncapped, the remote printer control device can be individually coupled to the different printbars of a printer and can place each printbar into a capped state; notwithstanding a lack of operational power to the printer. In another example, during maintenance, the printer as a whole can be disconnected from an operational power supply and individual printbars can be powered, and controlled, by the remote printer control device.
Specifically; the present specification describes a remote printer control device that includes a power supply. A power interface of the remote printer control device provides power from the power supply to the printer when an operational power supply for the printer is disengaged. A controller of the remote printer control device interfaces with, and controls, the printer when the operational power supply for the printer is disengaged.
In another example, the remote printer control device includes a remote power supply to provide operational power to the remote printer control device and a printbar of a printer. A power converter of the remote printer control device determines power specifications of the printbar to which the remote printer control device is coupled. A power interface provides power from the power supply to the printbar when an operational power supply for the printbar is disengaged. The power supplied is based on the determined power specifications of the printbar. A controller interfaces with, and controls, the printbar when the operational power supply for the printbar device is disengaged. A user interface of the remote printer control device facilitates control over the printbar.
The present specification also describes a computing system. The computing system includes a processor and a machine-readable storage medium coupled to the processor. An instruction set is stored in the machine-readable storage medium. The instruction set is to be executed by the processor and includes instructions to 1) determine power specifications and control operations available for a printbar of a printer coupled to the remote printer control device, 2) provide power to the remote printer control device and the printbar based on the determined power specifications for the printbar, 3) control the printbar based on the determined control operations available for the printbar and 4) in some cases, updating the instruction set.
In one example, using such a remote printer control device 1) allows for printbar control in the event of power outage, 2) allows printbar and other printer maintenance while the printer is disconnected from an operational power supply, and 3) provides increased control over the different components of the printer. However, it is contemplated that the devices disclosed herein may address other matters and deficiencies in a number of technical areas.
As used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term “operational power supply” refers to a principal power supply for a printer and a backup power supply for the printer. By comparison, a remote power supplied by the remote power control device refers to a different power supply than the operational power supply. In one example, the principal power supply and/or backup power supply provide power to the printer as a whole, whereas the remote power supplied by the remote power control device may provide power to an individual component, i.e., a printbar, of the printer.
Further, as used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term “a number of” or similar language is meant to be understood broadly as any positive number including 1 to infinity.
Turning now to the figures,
The operational power supply of the printer (102) may disengage for any number of reasons. For example, during a power outage, power to the printer (102) may inadvertently be disengaged. In another example, operational power could be disengaged intentionally, for example, during maintenance. That is, the operational power source may be disengaged for the safety of a user and/or to allow electrical work to be performed on the printer (102). In these cases, the remote printer control device (100) includes an independent power supply, a power interface, and a controller for providing power to, and controlling, at least a printbar (104) of the printer (102) even when operational power is not supplied to the printer (102).
As clearly indicated in
As described above, during a power outage, an operational power supply may be disengaged from the printer (
Accordingly, the remote printer control device (100) includes a power supply (206) which provides power to both the remote printer control device (100) and the printbars (104) in the printer (
The power supply (206) is any device capable of providing power to both the remote printer control device (100) and the printbar (104) to which it is coupled. For example, the power supply (206) may be a pluggable power supply, i.e., an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In other examples, the power supply (206) may be a remote power supply such as a battery. Implementing a battery as the power supply (206) allows the remote printer control device (100) to operate when power may not be available in the vicinity of the printer (
The remote printer control device (100) also includes a power interface (208) to provide power from the power supply (206) to the printbar (104) when an operational power supply for the printer (
As described above, some printers (
The remote printer control device (100) also includes a controller (210) to interface with, and control, the printbar (104) when the operational power supply for the printer (
In one example, controlling the printbar (104) includes placing the printbar (104) in a desired state. For example, as described above, if a printbar (104) is uncapped when power is lost, then the printheads (212) may dry up, negatively impacting subsequent printing operations. Accordingly, the controller (210) can place the printbar (104) in a capped state. The controller (210) can place the printbar (104) in a number of other states as well. Other examples of states include a state where the printbar (104) is up and a cap plate, which is a physical cap for the printheads (212) on a printbar (104), is down. In this state, the printheads (212) can be accessed and replaced. Another example is a state where the printbar (104) is up and the cap plate is up. Yet another example is a state where a wiper that cleans the printbar (104) is set to zero height such that the surface of the printheads (212) are height-aligned to be able to be automatically cleaned by the printer service shuttle. In another state, a service shuttle that passes under the printbar (104) moves out from under printheads to perform servicing. In a print ready state, the printbar (104) is placed a few centimeters from the media surface to be able to quickly move to a printing position, but keeping sufficient distance from the media, for example to allow for passing damaged media. As yet another example the printbar (104) can be placed in a standby state.
The controller (210) can also control the printbar (104) by controlling motors or other components within the printbar (104). That is, a printbar (104) includes a number of motors and other components to manipulate the printbar (104). Examples of such components include elevator motors to raise up and lower the printbar (104), service shuttle motors to move a shuttle module relative to the printbar (104), and service wipe cassette motors that move a wiper that cleans the printbar (104), among others. The controller (210) can control these components of the printbar (104). That is, the controller (210) can issue commands for these different components to move by a certain degree. Accordingly, the controller (210) includes logic and operational data for the different components of the printbar (104).
Using the remote printer control device (100) in this fashion increases the efficiency of repairs. For example, a repair could be performed on a particular printbar (104), and just that particular printbar (104) could be activated via the remote printer control device (100) to test the repair and ensure it works before booting up the entire printer (
The remote printer control device (100) as described herein allows for power supplication other than the operational power of a printer (
As each printbar (
As described above, the remote printer control device (100) may include a database (318) that includes power specifications and control operations for multiple printers (
Power is then provided to a service board (322) of the printbar (
A user interface (320) of the remote printer control device (100) allows users to carry out the different operations over the printbar (
Although the following descriptions refer to a single processor (432) and a single machine-readable storage medium (434), the descriptions may also apply to a computing system (430) with multiple processors and multiple machine-readable storage mediums. In such examples, the instruction sets (436, 438, 440, 442) may be distributed (e.g., stored) across multiple machine-readable storage mediums and the instructions may be distributed (e.g., executed by) across multiple processors.
The processor (432) may include at least one processor and other resources used to process programmed instructions. For example, the processor (432) may be a number of central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, and/or other hardware devices suitable for retrieval and execution of instructions stored in machine-readable storage medium (434). In the computing system (430) depicted in
The machine-readable storage medium (434) represent generally any memory capable of storing data such as programmed instructions or data structures used by the computing system (430). The machine-readable storage medium (434) includes a machine-readable storage medium that contains machine-readable program code to cause tasks to be executed by the processor (432). The machine-readable storage medium (434) may be tangible and/or non-transitory storage medium. The machine-readable storage medium (434) may be any appropriate storage medium that is not a transmission storage medium. For example, the machine-readable storage medium (434) may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that stores executable instructions. Thus; machine-readable storage medium (434) may be, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), a storage drive, an optical disc, and the like. The machine-readable storage medium (434) may be disposed within the computing system (430), as shown in
Referring to
In some examples, the processor (432) and machine-readable storage medium (434) are located within the same physical component, such as a server, or a network component. The machine-readable storage medium (434) may be part of the physical component's main memory, caches, registers, non-volatile memory, or elsewhere in the physical component's memory hierarchy. In one example, the machine-readable storage medium (434) may be in communication with the processor (432) over a network. Thus, the computing system (430) may be implemented on a user device, on a server, on a collection of servers, or combinations thereof.
The computing system (430) of
In one example, using such a remote printer control device 1) allows for printbar control in the event of power outage, 2) allows printbar and other printer maintenance while the printer is disconnected from an operational power supply, and 3) provides increased control over the different components of the printer. However, it is contemplated that the devices disclosed herein may address other matters and deficiencies in a number of technical areas.
The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describe examples of the principles described. 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 teaching.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2017/041897 | 7/13/2017 | WO | 00 |