A drop-on-demand plastic card printer includes a tray disposed underneath the plastic card during drop-on-demand printing to catch any overspray that may occur during printing on the plastic card. The tray may be disposable so that the tray is intended to be removed and disposed of. An ink absorbent pad can be disposed in the tray to absorb the oversprayed ink. The ink absorbent pad can be disposed of along with the tray or disposed of separately from the tray.

A printer includes: a conveyor conveying a sheet in a conveying direction; a first supporting part positioned on an upstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the conveyor, and having a first supporting surface; a side guide making contact with at least one of both ends, in a width direction of the sheet, in the first supporting surface, the width direction being orthogonal to the conveying direction and parallel to the first supporting surface; a suction-attraction force generator generating a suction-attraction force in an area, in the first supporting surface, which is adjacent to the side guide and in which the sheet passes; a second supporting part positioned on a downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the conveyor, and having a second supporting surface; and a recording part recording an image on the sheet supported by the second supporting surface.

A printer includes: a conveyor conveying a sheet in a conveying direction; a first supporting part positioned on an upstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the conveyor, and having a first supporting surface; a side guide making contact with at least one of both ends, in a width direction of the sheet, in the first supporting surface, the width direction being orthogonal to the conveying direction and parallel to the first supporting surface; a suction-attraction force generator generating a suction-attraction force in an area, in the first supporting surface, which is adjacent to the side guide and in which the sheet passes; a second supporting part positioned on a downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the conveyor, and having a second supporting surface; and a recording part recording an image on the sheet supported by the second supporting surface.

Various embodiments of a universal hold down pallet system for garment printing are described. In one example, a system includes a gasket plate comprising a plate having an opening and a gasket disposed at a perimeter of the opening, the opening sized and configured to mate with a pallet to hold a garment in place, and a head frame comprising at least one gasket plate guide channel positioned on a bottom surface of the head frame and a gasket plate latch assembly positioned at a first end section of the head frame, the at least one gasket plate guide configured to slidably receive the gasket plate. Where the gasket plate and the pallet are a set sized for a specified printing area, the set being one of a plurality of sets that are interchangeable in the universal hold down pallet system.

Various embodiments of a universal hold down pallet system for garment printing are described. In one example, a system includes a gasket plate comprising a plate having an opening and a gasket disposed at a perimeter of the opening, the opening sized and configured to mate with a pallet to hold a garment in place, and a head frame comprising at least one gasket plate guide channel positioned on a bottom surface of the head frame and a gasket plate latch assembly positioned at a first end section of the head frame, the at least one gasket plate guide configured to slidably receive the gasket plate. Where the gasket plate and the pallet are a set sized for a specified printing area, the set being one of a plurality of sets that are interchangeable in the universal hold down pallet system.

A low cost and low air resistance belt support structure for an endless belt conveyor of an inkjet printer can be achieved with the belt support structure being provided over a suction chamber. The belt support structure includes a plurality of longitudinal, narrow support beams positioned spaced apart from one another and parallel to one another in a transport direction of the belt to define a flat support plane for the belt. The support beams provides a relatively small contact area with the belt, which results in low friction The support beams further allow for a relatively large open area between them to achieve a low air resistance.

An inkjet printing machine for printing individual sheets comprises at least one printing station and a transport system defining a transport track for transporting the individual sheets through the printing station, along a transport direction. The transport system comprises a plurality of gripper conveyors (150) running along the transport track for holding the individual sheets during a printing process in the printing station. Each of the gripper conveyors (150) comprises an energy storage (161) for providing energy for operating a gripper mechanism (171) of the gripper conveyor (150). The printing machine allows for efficient and flexible handling of individual sheets, in particular large format sheets of materials such as corrugated cardboard or other materials that have a certain degree of inherent stability.

A method is provided that includes acquiring positional information regarding a pallet being translated on a conveyance system with an encoding sensor disposed proximate to the conveyance system. The method also includes receiving, with at least one processor, the positional information from the encoding sensor. Further, the method includes determining timing information using the positional information. The timing information corresponds to when a substrate disposed on the pallet will be in a print zone of a print head. The method further includes controlling the print head to print on the substrate when the substrate is in the print zone and passing beneath the print head.

A method is provided that includes acquiring positional information regarding a pallet being translated on a conveyance system with an encoding sensor disposed proximate to the conveyance system. The method also includes receiving, with at least one processor, the positional information from the encoding sensor. Further, the method includes determining timing information using the positional information. The timing information corresponds to when a substrate disposed on the pallet will be in a print zone of a print head. The method further includes controlling the print head to print on the substrate when the substrate is in the print zone and passing beneath the print head.

A printing apparatus provides a conveyance operation in which a conveyance unit conveys a print medium in a conveyance direction, and includes a control unit to control a printing unit such that, in a case where an image is to be printed onto a print medium of a first type in a first state in which the print medium of the first type is supported by a first conveyance member and not supported by a second conveyance member, the printing unit uses a printing element included in a first region from which a distance to the print medium of the first type in a height direction perpendicular to a surface where the printing elements are arrayed is a first distance, and does not use a printing element included in a second region from which a distance to the print medium of the first type in the height direction is a second distance greater than the first distance.