Patent Application
20110243636
This disclosure relates generally to moving web printing systems, and more particularly, to moving web printing systems that use a reflex system to register images printed by different printheads.
A known system for ejecting ink to form images on a moving web of media material is shown in
This system 10 also includes two load cells, one of which is mounted at a position near pre-heater roller 22 and the other is mounted at a position near the turn roller 30. These load cells generate signals corresponding to the tension on the web proximate the position of the load cell. Each of the rollers 22, 30, and 34 has an encoder mounted near the surface of the roller. These encoders may be mechanical or electronic devices that measure the angular velocity of a roller monitored by the encoder, which generates a signal corresponding to the angular velocity of the roller. In a known manner, the signal corresponding to the angular velocity measured by an encoder is provided to the controller 60, which converts the angular velocity to a linear web velocity. The linear web velocity may also be adjusted by the controller 60 with reference to the tension measurement signals generated by the load cells. The controller 60 may be configured with I/O circuitry, memory, programmed instructions, and other electronic components to implement a double reflex printing system that generates the firing signals for the printheads in the marking stations 26. The term “controller” or “processor” as used in this document refers to a combination of electronic circuitry and software that generate electrical signals to control a portion or all of a process or system.
The system 10 may also include an imaging device 68, such as an image-on-web array (IOWA) sensor, that generates image data corresponding to a portion of the web passing the imaging device. The imaging device 68 may be implemented with a plurality of imaging sensors that are arranged in a single or multiple row array that extends across at least a portion of the web to be printed. The imaging sensors direct light towards the moving web and generate electrical signals having an intensity corresponding to a light reflected off the web. The intensity of the reflected light is dependent upon the amount of light absorbed by the ink on the surface, the light scattered by the web structure, and the light reflected by the ink and web surface. The imaging device 68 is communicatively coupled to the machine controller 60 to enable the image data generated by the imaging device 68 to be received and processed by the controller 60. This image data processing enables the controller to detect the presence and position of ink drops ejected onto the surface of the web at the imaging device 68.
As noted above, the controller 60 uses the tension measurements from the two load cells along with the angular velocity measurements from encoders to compute linear web velocities at the rollers 22, 30, and 34. These linear velocities enable the processor to determine when a web portion printed by one marking station, station 26A, for example, is opposite another marking station, station 26B, for example, so the second marking station can be operated by the controller 60 with firing signals to eject ink of a different color onto the web in proper registration with the ink already placed on the web by a previous marking station. When the subsequent marking station is operated too soon or too late, the ejected ink lands on the web at positions that may produce visual noise in the image. This effect is known as misregistration. Accurate measurements, therefore, are important in registration of different colored images on the web to produce images with little or no visual noise.
One factor affecting the registration of images printed by different groups of printheads is web shrinkage. Web shrinkage is caused as the web is subjected to relatively high temperatures as the web moves along the relatively long path through the web printing system. The high temperatures drive moisture content from the web, which causes the web to shrink. If the physical dimensions of the web change after one group of printheads has formed an image in one color ink, but before another group of printheads has formed an image in another color of ink, then the registration of the two images is affected. The change may be sufficient to cause misregistration between ink patterns ejected by the different groups of printheads. The amount of shrinkage depends upon the heat to which the web is subjected, the speed of the web as it moves over heated components, the moisture content of the paper, and the type of paper. Reducing the effect of web dimensional changes on image registration is a goal in web printing systems.
A method enables changes in web dimensions to be measured to enable adjustment of the media conditioning and registration control. The method includes identifying a dimensional change in a web moving through a printing system, comparing the identified dimensional change to a predetermined threshold, and changing operation of a component in the web printing system in response to the dimensional change exceeding the predetermined threshold.
A web printing system compensates for dimensional changes in a moving web to avoid misregistration in the images printed onto the moving web. The system includes an imaging device to generate image data of a web passing by the imaging device, a controller associated with the web printing system, the controller being configured to measure a dimensional change in the web with reference to the image data received from the imaging device and to change operation of a component in the web printing system in response to the measured dimensional change exceeding the predetermined threshold.
The foregoing aspects and other features of a system and method that identifies dimensional changes in a web passing through a web printing system and changes operation of a component in the web printing system in response to the identified dimensional change exceeding a predetermined threshold are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
For a general understanding of the environment for the system and method disclosed herein as well as the details for the system and method, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals have been used throughout to designate like elements. As used herein, the word “printer” encompasses any apparatus that performs a print outputting function for any purpose, such as a digital copier, bookmaking machine, facsimile machine, a multi-function machine, or the like. Also, the description presented below is directed to a system for operating a printer that forms images on a moving web driven by rollers. Also, the word “component” refers to a device or subsystem in the web printing system that is operated by a controller in the web printing system to condition the web, print the web, or move the web through the web printing system.
In one embodiment of a web printing system that uses a double reflex technique to control the firing of the printheads in the marking stations, the marking stations are solid ink marking stations. Solid ink marking stations use ink that is delivered in solid form to the printer, transported to a melting device where the ink is heated to a melting temperature and converted to liquid ink. The liquid ink is supplied to the printheads in the marking stations and ejected from the printheads onto the moving web in response to firing signals generated by the controller 60. In such a continuous feed direct marking system, the print zone is the portion of the web extending from the first marking station to the last marking station. In some systems, this print zone may be several meters long. If the angular velocity of each encoder mounted proximate to a roller is converted to a linear speed for the web, the variations between the linear web velocities at the different rollers over time can accumulate and lead to misregistration of the images.
At steady state for such a printing system, the average web velocity times the web material mass per length must be equal at all rollers or other non-slip web interface surfaces. Otherwise, the web would either break or go slack. To account for the differences in instantaneous velocities at rollers in or near a print zone, a double reflex processor interpolates between linear web velocities at a pair of rollers, one roller on each side of a marking station with reference to the direction of the moving web, to identify a linear velocity for the web at a position proximate the marking station. This interpolation uses the linear web velocity derived from the angular velocity of a roller placed at a position before the web reaches the marking station and the linear web velocity derived from the angular velocity of a roller placed at a position after the web passes by the marking station along with the relative distances between the marking station and the two rollers. The interpolated value correlates to a linear web velocity at the marking station. A linear web velocity is interpolated for each marking station. The interpolated web velocity at each marking station enables the processor to generate the firing signals for the printheads in each marking station to eject ink as the appropriate portion of the web travels past each marking station. A double reflex control system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,665,817, which is entitled “Double Reflex Printing” and which issued on Feb. 23, 2010 and is owned by the assignee of the present application. The disclosure of this patent is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
To address misregistration that may arise from dimensional changes in a web moving through a web printing system, a method and system have been developed that measure the cross-process dimensional change in the web caused by exposure of the web to heat along the web path and change the operation of one or more components in the web printing system to compensate for the measured web shrinkage. For example, detection of web shrinkage may result in one or more components in a web conditioning unit being operated at a higher temperature to drive water out of the web and shrink the web before the web reaches the print zone. In this manner, the web is pre-shrunk before printing and the web is unable to shrink sufficiently to be detectable visually. Once appropriate web conditioning parameters are identified and used, the web shrinkage is not likely to change and the method and system may be performed weekly or daily. The system and method may also or alternatively be performed at media roll changes, at the start of a job run, or during a job. The system 200 is shown in block diagram form in
In more detail, the system controller 202 receives control information for operating the web printing system from a digital front end (DFE) 204. During a job, image data to be printed are also provided by the DFE to the web printing system components that operate the printheads to eject ink onto the web and form ink images that correspond to the images provided by the DFE. These components include the binary image processor 208, and the printhead interface and waveform amplifier boards 216. The binary processor 208 performs binary imaging processes, such as process direction norming. Each printhead interface and waveform amplifier board 216 generates the firing signals that operate the inkjet ejectors in the printheads 220 that are electrically coupled to one of the boards 216. Registration and color control are provided by the registration controller 232 to adjust inkjet timing and printhead position. The imaging device 234 provides the registration controller 232 with image data of the web at a predetermined position along the web path through the web printing system. The registration controller performs signal processing on the image data received from the imaging device to determine the timing and printhead movement adjustments required for the printing process. In the embodiments that also adjust web conditioning, the temperature and/or other operational parameters of components driving the web through the system are also determined and provided to the web condition controller 228. The web condition controller generates the control signals to alter the operation of the actuators and heaters that condition the web for printing. As used in this document, “web conditioning unit” refers to any component that is positioned along the web path to affect some aspect of the web, such as the temperature, cleanliness, water content, or surface conditions of the web. Such units include heated rollers, blowers, and the like.
The controllers used in the system 200 include memory storage for data and programmed instructions. The controllers may be implemented with general or specialized programmable processors that execute programmed instructions. The instructions and data required to perform the programmed functions may be stored in memory associated with each controller. The programmed instructions, memories, and interface circuitry configure the controller to perform the functions described above. These controllers may be provided on a printed circuit card or provided as a circuit in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Each of the circuits may be implemented with a separate processor or multiple circuits may be implemented on the same processor. Alternatively, the circuits may be implemented with discrete components or circuits provided in VLSI circuits. Also, the circuits described herein may be implemented with a combination of processors, ASICs, discrete components, or VLSI circuits.
A method of identifying dimensional changes in a web as it travels through a web printing system and of changing operation of web printing system components in response to the identified dimensional changes exceeding a predetermined threshold is shown in
An example of a test pattern that may be printed to evaluate web shrinkage in a cross-process direction is shown in
The length of the dashes 402 corresponds to the number of drops used to form a dash. The number of drops is chosen to produce a dash that is sufficiently greater in length than the resolution of an optical detector in the process direction. The distance imaged by an optical detector is dependent upon the speed of the image member moving past the detector and the line rate of the optical detector. A single row of optical detectors extending across the width of the imaging area on the image receiving member is called a scanline in this document. The dashes are generated with a length that is greater than a single scanline in the process direction so the dash image can be resolved in the image processing. Thus, multiple scanlines are required to image the entire length of the dashes in the process direction.
The method to measure paper shrinkage affecting registration in the cross-process direction includes analyzing images of the dashes captured by the imaging device 234 to extract relative pixel positions for drops ejected by different printheads (e.g., magenta and black). Subsets of nozzles on different printheads are used to print dashes of different colors that are a single pixel wide. For example, the test pattern shown in
The predetermined thresholds are empirically determined to establish the amount of shrinkage that affects image quality. If a dimensional change in the cross-process direction exceeds the threshold, then the web has shrunk in the cross-process direction by an amount since the pattern was printed that is likely to affect image quality. The controller may change operation of a web printing component to drive more moisture out of the web before it is printed so it shrinks less thereafter. The changes in web printing components may include, for example, changes in the temperature at which one or more components, such as rollers, operate. For example, a temperature set point for a heated roller in the web conditioning unit may be increased to increase the heat in the roller and enable the heated roller to heat the web and evaporate more moisture from the web. If more moisture in the web was desirable, then the heat of the roller could be decreased to reduce the amount of heat to which the web is exposed by the roller.
An example of a printhead arrangement that may be used to detect web shrinkage as the web passes through the print zone defined by the printheads is shown in
In operation, the system determines if web shrinkage is acceptable by printing registration patterns and generating images of the printed web with the web imaging device. The image data for the patterns are processed to determine the magnitude of the web shrinkage and if the magnitude exceeds the empirically determined thresholds, the operation of one or more web printing system components is changed. The shrinkage may be continually monitored through a run by printing dashes in inter-document zones on the web. Inter-document zones are areas between document areas where the print job images are printed. The patterns printed in the inter-document zones may be cut out during finishing of the printed web.
It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features, and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art, which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
