SCANNING INKJET PRINTER

Abstract

An air knife assembly is provided to jet an air current to control the landing of sheet of print media during transfer between two adjacent conveyors in a printer. The air knife forming unit is configured for jetting an air curtain formed such that said air curtain and air currents resulting from it flow substantially perpendicular to a transport direction of the conveyors. Thereby, lifting and consequently wrinkling of the leading edge during transfer and landing may be avoided.

Claims

1. A sheet printer comprising: an upstream and a downstream sheet conveyor adjacent to one another in a transport direction of a sheet on said conveyors to define a transfer region wherein a sheet is transferred between said conveyors, an air knife assembly positioned at the transfer region for emitting an air current to control the landing of an edge of said sheet on the downstream conveyor, wherein the air knife assembly is configured for emitting an air curtain formed such that said air curtain and air currents resulting from it flow substantially perpendicular to said transport direction.

2. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein the air knife assembly is configured for emitting an air curtain substantially longitudinal in said transport direction.

3. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein said air knife assembly is configured for emitting at least two laterally spaced apart air curtains which are longitudinal in said transport direction.

4. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein said air knife assembly comprises an elongated air knife forming unit which extends longitudinally in said transport direction.

5. The sheet printer according to claim 4, wherein a length of the elongated air knife forming unit in the transport direction exceeds and/or is a plurality of its width in the lateral direction.

6. The sheet printer according to claim 4, wherein said air knife forming unit is formed of a row of nozzles extending substantially in said transport direction.

7. The sheet printer according to claim 6, wherein said air knife assembly comprises two air knife forming units formed of a row of nozzles extending substantially in said transport direction.

8. The sheet printer according to claim 7, wherein said nozzles of each row are aimed at an angle with respect to an out-of-plane direction of a sheet support surface of said conveyors, and wherein each row of nozzles is angled towards its respective adjacent lateral side of said conveyors.

9. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein the air knife assembly extends from and over an upstream end of said downstream conveyor to and over an downstream end of said upstream conveyor.

10. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein a sheet drying station is positioned over the downstream conveyor, said drying station comprising an air blower for supplying pressurized air, wherein the air knife assembly is supplied by said air blower.

11. The sheet printer according to claim 10, wherein the drying station comprises an impingement dryer which comprises a plurality of nozzles of emitting high velocity air jets, wherein the impingement dryer extends towards the transfer region where it transitions into the air knife assembly.

12. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein said upstream conveyor and/or said downstream conveyor comprises an air-permeable endless belt positioned over a suction chamber through which an underpressure is applicable for holding sheets against said endless belt.

13. The sheet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a controller for controlling the air knife assembly to emit the air current timed to an arrival of a sheet in the transfer region.

14. The sheet printer according to claim 1, wherein the air knife assembly is positioned over and facing a sheet support surface of said conveyors.

15. A method for transferring a sheet between a downstream conveyor positioned to receive a sheet from an upstream conveyor and said upstream conveyor, comprising the step of applying an air current to the sheet as it is transferred between said conveyors, the air current being substantially longitudinal in a transport direction of said conveyors.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the air current is an air curtain, a length of which in a transport direction of one and/or both conveyors greatly exceeds its width in a lateral direction of said one and/or both conveyors.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein a majority and/or all of the air current flows in the lateral direction before and after contacting the sheet and/or one or both conveyors.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the air current is emitted in a lateral and downward directions, such that air flow in the longitudinal direction before and after contacting the sheet and/or one or both conveyors is substantially prevented.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying schematical drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

[0038] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a sheet printer according to the present invention;

[0039] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the transfer region of the printer in FIG. 1;

[0040] FIG. 3A is a schematic side view of an air knife assembly according to the prior art;

[0041] FIG. 3B is a schematic front view of the air knife assembly of FIG. 3A;

[0042] FIG. 4A is a schematic side view of an air knife assembly according to the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 4B is a schematic front view of the air knife assembly of FIG. 4A; and

[0044] FIG. 5 the enlarged side view of FIG. 2 further indicating the air flows during operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals have been used to identify the same or similar elements throughout the several views.

[0046] FIG. 1 shows schematically an embodiment of a printer 1 according to the present invention. The printer 1, for purposes of explanation, is divided into an output section 5, a print engine and control section 3, a local user interface 7 and an input section 4. While a specific printer is shown and described, the disclosed embodiments may be used with other types of printer such as an ink jet print system, an electrographic print system, etc.

[0047] The output section 5 comprises a first output holder 52 for holding printed image receiving material, for example a plurality of sheets. The output section 5 may comprise a second output holder 55. While 2 output holders are illustrated in FIG. 1, the number of output holders may include one, two, three or more output holders. The printed image receiving material is transported from the print engine and control section 3 via an inlet 53 to the output section 5. When a stack ejection command is invoked by the controller 37 for the first output holder 52, first guiding means 54 are activated in order to eject the plurality of sheets in the first output holder 52 outwards to a first external output holder 51. When a stack ejection command is invoked by the controller 37 for the second output holder 55, second guiding means 56 are activated in order to eject the plurality of sheets in the second output holder 55 outwards to a second external output holder 57.

[0048] The output section 5 is digitally connected by means of a cable 60 to the print engine and control section 3 for bi-directional data signal transfer.

[0049] The print engine and control section 3 comprises a print engine and a controller 37 for controlling the printing process and scheduling the plurality of sheets in a printing order before they are separated from input holder 44, 45, 46.

[0050] The controller 37 is a computer, a server or a workstation, connected to the print engine and connected to the digital environment of the printer, for example a network N for transmitting a submitted print job to the printer 1. In FIG. 1 the controller 37 is positioned inside the print engine and control section 3, but the controller 37 may also be at least partially positioned outside the print engine and control section 3 in connection with the network N in a workstation N1.

[0051] The controller 37 comprises a print job receiving section 371 permitting a user to submit a print job to the printer 1, the print job comprising image data to be printed and a plurality of print job settings. The controller 37 comprises a print job queue section 372 comprising a print job queue for print jobs submitted to the printer 1 and scheduled to be printed. The controller 37 comprises a sheet scheduling section 373 for determining for each of the plurality of sheets of the print jobs in the print job queue an entrance time in the paper path of the print engine and control section 3, especially an entrance time for the first pass and an entrance time for the second pass in the loop in the paper path according to the present invention. The sheet scheduling section 373 will also be called scheduler 373 hereinafter.

[0052] The sheet scheduling section 373 takes the length of the loop into account. The length of the loop corresponds to a loop time duration of a sheet going through the loop dependent on the velocity of the sheets in the loop. The loop time duration may vary per kind of sheet, i.e. a sheet with different media properties.

[0053] Resources may be recording material located in the input section 4, marking material located in a reservoir near or in the print station 39 of the print engine, or finishing material located near the print station 39 of the print engine or located in the output section 5 (not shown).

[0054] The paper path comprises a plurality of paper path sections 32, 33, 34, 35 for transporting the image receiving material from an entry point 36 of the print engine and control section 3 along the print station 39 to the inlet 53 of the output section 5. The paper path sections 32, 33, 34, 35 form a loop according to the present invention. The loop enables the printing of a duplex print job and/or a mix-plex job, i.e. a print job comprising a mix of sheets intended to be printed partially in a simplex mode and partially in a duplex mode.

[0055] The print station 39 is suitable for ejecting and/or fixing marking material to image receiving material. The print station 39 is positioned near the paper path sections 33, 34. The print station 39 comprises an inkjet print head assembly, preferably formed as a page wide array. Downstream of the print station 39 a print quality inspection device in the form of detector 31 is provided for determining a compliance between the printed image and the input print job. The detector 31 may comprise a camera, such as a CCD or line scanner with sufficient resolution to analyze the printed image for example for the occurrence of non-jetting or deviating jetting nozzles of the print station 39. A treatment station 60 is provided downstream of the print station 39, and preferably downstream of the detector 31. The treatment station 60 is arranged for fixing the jetted ink to the image receiving. The treatment station 60 thereto may comprise heaters and/or emitters for emitting (heated) air and/or radiation for drying and/or curing the ink on the image receiving member.

[0056] While an image receiving material is transported along the paper path section 34 in a first pass in the loop, the image receiving material receives the marking material through the print station 39. A next paper path section 32 is a flip unit 32 for selecting a different subsequent paper path for simplex or duplex printing of the image receiving material. The flip unit 32 may be also used to flip a sheet of image receiving material after printing in simplex mode before the sheet leaves the print engine and control section 3 via a curved section 38 of the flip unit 32 and via the inlet 53 to the output section 5. The curved section 38 of the flip unit 32 may not be present and the turning of a simplex page has to be done via another paper path section 35.

[0057] In case of duplex printing on a sheet or when the curved section 38 is not present, the sheet is transported along the loop via paper path section 35A in order to turn the sheet for enabling printing on the other side of the sheet. The sheet is transported along the paper path section 35 until it reaches a merging point 34A at which sheets entering the paper path section 34 from the entry point 36 interweave with the sheets coming from the paper path section 35. The sheets entering the paper path section 34 from the entry point 36 are starting their first pass along the print station 39 in the loop. The sheets coming from the paper path section 35 are starting their second pass along the print station 39 in the loop. When a sheet has passed the print station 39 for the second time in the second pass, the sheet is transported to the inlet 53 of the output section 5.

[0058] The input section 4 may comprise at least one input holder 44, 45, 46 for holding the image receiving material before transporting the sheets of image receiving material to the print engine and control section 3. Sheets of image receiving material are separated from the input holders 44, 45, 46 and guided from the input holders 44, 45, 46 by guiding means 42, 43, 47 to an outlet 36 for entrance in the print engine and control section 3. Each input holder 44, 45, 46 may be used for holding a different kind of image receiving material, i.e. sheets having different media properties. While 3 input holders are illustrated in FIG. 1, the number of input holders may include one, two, three or more input holders.

[0059] The local user interface 7 is suitable for displaying user interface windows for controlling the print job queue residing in the controller 37. In another embodiment a computer N1 in the network N has a user interface for displaying and controlling the print job queue of the printer 1.

[0060] FIG. 2 illustrates an enlarged view of the respective section of the printer 1 holding the print station 39 and the air blowing assembly 60, 70 comprising the sheet drying station 60 and the air knife assembly 70. The transport path section 33 comprises a conveyor assembly 60, 70 formed by an upstream 33A and a downstream conveyor 33B. Both conveyors 33A, 33B are formed by an endless belt 33C, 33F suspended on two or more of rollers 33D, 33G. At least one of the rollers 33D, 33G is a driving roller connected to a drive or motor for rotating the roller 33D, 33G and thereby moving the belt 33C, 33F. The sheet support surface of each belt 33C, 33F at least partially extends over a suction box or chamber 33E, 33H, which is connected to a suction source (not shown), such as a pump or fan, for creating an underpressure in the suction chamber 33E, 33H. Thereby sheets 41 are held flat against the support surface of the respective belt 33C, 33F. The downstream end of the upstream conveyor 33A, which in FIG. 2 is defined as the roller 33G, is positioned near or adjacent the upstream end of the downstream conveyor 33B, which is illustrated as the roller 33D. Sheets 41 passing in the transport direction X are transferred between the conveyors 33A, 33B in the transfer region T. The transfer of sheets 42 between conveyors 33A, 33B may be assisted by an intermediate support or bottom knife air knife forming unit to prevent the sheet 41 from deflecting downwards.

[0061] Above the transfer region T an air knife assembly 70 is provided. The air knife assembly 70 extends over the adjacent ends of the conveyors 33A, 33B as well as over the intermediate area. The air knife assembly 70 in FIG. 2 comprises at least one longitudinal air knife forming unit 72, which extends along the transfer region. The length of the air knife forming unit 72 and/or its emitted air current or curtain is significantly greater in the transport direction X than in the lateral direction Y, preferably by at least a factor of 10, 25, 50, or 100. In FIG. 2, the longitudinal air knife forming unit 70 is formed by a row of nozzles 73 which extend substantially in the transport direction X. The row of nozzles 72 may be parallel to the transport direction X or at a non-right angle with said direction X. As an alternative to the nozzles 72 in FIG. 2, the longitudinal air knife forming unit may in other embodiments be formed as a large slit or plurality of slits. It is noted that FIG. 4B illustrates that the air knife assembly 70 may comprise a plurality of longitudinal air knife forming units. Specifically, in FIG. 4B, the second air knife forming unit 71 is configured substantially mirror symmetric to the first air knife forming unit 72 with respect to a central plane of the conveyors 33A, 33B or the sheets 41 thereon, said central plane extending in the transport direction X and height direction Z.

[0062] Pressurized air is supplied to the air knife forming unit 72 to generate the air current 74. The emitted air current 74 is shaped as an air curtain 74 which is longitudinal in the transport direction X, while being relatively narrow in the lateral direction Y, at least until the current 74 contacts a sheet 41 and/or conveyors 33A, 33B. The air curtain 74 need not be continuous, though it is preferred that the jets emitted by the individual nozzles 73 overlap and/or are in close proximity when forming the air curtain 74. Preferably, the jetting of the air current 74 is timed or pulsed in accordance with the arrival of a sheet 41 in the transfer region T. To ensure a controlled landing of the sheet 41 on the downstream conveyor 33B, the air current 74 may for example be jetted as the leading edge of the sheet 41 arrives at the downstream conveyor 33B or when said leading edge leaves the upstream conveyor 33A. The nozzles 73 may be controlled to jet simultaneously, but also subsequently with a timing that matches the speed of the sheet 41, such that a leading edge of the air curtain moves at a similar speed as the leading edge. The jetting of air may be stopped after a predetermined period from the landing of the leading edge on the downstream conveyor 33B. The timing, speeds, and volumetric rates of the air currents differ per print media type and may be selected from a predetermined lookup table stored on the controller's memory.

[0063] Downstream of the air knife assembly 70 a sheet treatment station 60 is positioned. In FIG. 2, the treatment station 60 is embodied as a drying station 60 which extends over the downstream conveyor 33B. After printing and transferring to the second conveyor 33B, the sheet 41 is dried by the drying station 70. If the sheet 41 is not correctly transferred to the downstream conveyor 33B, the sheet 41 may not be spread flatly onto the second conveyor 33B. This in turn may result in wrinkles in the just printed sheet 41, which wrinkles may become permanent deformations if the printed sheet 41 is dried while in said deformed state. Hence, it is known to assist in the landing of the leading edge of the sheet 41 on the downstream conveyor 33B by means of an air knife forming unit. FIG. 3A illustrates an exaggerated side view of a known air knife forming unit 70′. The known air knife forming unit 70′ extends laterally in the respective direction Y and is positioned near or at the upstream end of the downstream conveyor. As the sheet 41 arrives at the downstream conveyor an air curtain 75′ is jetted by the air knife forming unit 70′ onto the leading edge of the sheet 41. While this air curtain 75′ initially provides a downward force on the sheet 41, it further results in an air flow 75′ in the transport direction X. In FIG. 3A this resulting air flow 75′ is illustrated as a vortex, though it may also be more directional outflow of air in the transport direction X. This resulting air flow near the leading edge results in local reduction in static pressure in accordance with Bernoulli's principle. This local pressure reduction can result in an upward force which locally releases the leading edge of the sheet 41 from the downstream conveyor or prevents it from landing properly. This is illustrated in the front view in FIG. 3B. In consequence the sheet 41 may become positioned non-flatly on the downstream conveyor. As the sheet is transferred with continuous motion, the resulting wrinkles may extends over significant length of the sheet 41 in the transport direction X. If the sheet 41 is dried on the downstream conveyor 33B by a drying station 60, these wrinkles may be fixed permanently into the sheet, which could result in visible print artifact and/or paper jams due to the sheet becoming unsuited for further transport.

[0064] In the present invention, the air knife assembly 70 extends longitudinally in the transport direction X, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. This reduces or even eliminates the above described Bernoulli-related effects, as shown in FIG. 3A, 3B. FIG. 4B illustrates a pair of air knife forming units 71, 72 which are positioned mirror-symmetrically with respect to a central plane of the sheet 41 or conveyors 33A, 33B. Both air knife forming units 71, 72 are oriented at a small angle 78, which directs the jetted air curtains 74, 76 at least slightly towards the outer lateral edges of the sheet 41. The resulting air flows 75, 77 move substantially in the lateral direction Y. Again, the air flows 75, 77 are illustrated as vortices for illustrative purposes, but may be any of any form. Since the air knife forming units 71, 72 are positioned mirror-symmetrically, the effective air flow velocity of air on the sheet 41 in between the air knife forming units 71, 72 (when viewed from above in the height direction Z) is low or even zero. In this in-between area, the air flow of one air knife forming unit 71 opposes and/or cancels out the air flow of the other air knife forming unit 72 at least in the transport direction X. During transfer, a central region of an upward curling leading edge of a sheet 41 is thereby pressed down first against the downstream conveyor, as compared to the rest sheet 41. The outer edges of the sheet 41 follow the central region, which results in a creasing motion which may smoothen out wrinkles towards and beyond the lateral sides of the sheet 41. This provides an additional smoothening or flattening of the sheet 41. The air knife forming units 71, 72 are positioned over a central region of the sheet 41 (and/or the downstream conveyor), spaced apart from the lateral edges to achieve this creasing effect.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 2, the drying station 60 may comprise a plurality of high velocity nozzles 62 for so-called impingement drying. Therein, air is jetted from several nozzles 62 at sufficiently high velocities to contact the wet sheet 41 and afterwards circulated back to the drying station 60. Preferably, the air is hot and/or dry. Since the drying station 60 as well as the air knife assembly 70 comprises air nozzles 62, 73, the two may be combined in an advantageous and space-efficient embodiment. In FIG. 2, the drying station 60 is adjacent the air knife assembly 73. This allows the air knife assembly 70 to be formed as an extension of the drying station 60 in the upstream against the transport direction X. The air knife assembly 70 may be formed of similar components (e.g. nozzles 62, 73) as the drying station 60 and certain components, such as a pressure source, may be shared between the drying station 60 and the air knife assembly 70.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 2 a part or portion of the air supplied to the air knife assembly 70 is recycled from the print station 39. The print station 39 in FIG. 2 comprises a page-wide print head assembly 39. The print heads of the print station 39 during operation jet fine droplets of in onto the sheets on the upstream conveyor 33A to form an image thereon.

[0067] The page-wide print head array ensures high productivity as the sheets 41 may continue moving on the conveyor 33A during printing. Further, the conveyor 33A holds the sheet flat against the belt 33F during printing, reducing the risk of print artifacts from occurring. Additionally, a print quality detector 31 is positioned over the same conveyor 33A as over which the print station 39 is positioned. The printed image is thereby inspected after printing for the occurrence of print defects, for example due to the failing of print head nozzles. The detector 31 is positioned between the air knife assembly 70 and the print station 39. The detector 31 is preferably an optical detector 31, such as a camera or line scanner, which acquires an image from the printed sheet 41. The acquired image is converted to data which is compared to previously stored image date (which may be a test pattern or image data defining the printed image). As such any defects in the printed image may be de identified and appropriate actions may be scheduled, such as reprinting, print head cleaning, issuing operator notifications, etc.

[0068] FIG. 5 indicates that during operation a fine ink mist 90 is produced by the jetting of the print heads. The ink mist 90 is most prominent between the print station 39 and the upstream conveyor 33A. The print station 39 and/or its surroundings may be provided with suction channels 39A for at least partially removing the ink mist 90. Air from below the print station 39 is drawn into the channel 39A by means of the suction system 81. The suction system further comprises a filter 84, which substantially removes ink particulates from the air passing through it. This allows the filtered air to be vented to the ambient or outside via the vent channel 87. A portion of the ink mist 90 however is transported in the transport direction X due to diffusion and/or convection. Should ink mist particulates reach the detector 31, then these particulates may partially cover the detector 31, which in turn may lead to incorrect operation of the detector 31.

[0069] The air knife assembly 70 is provided with filtered air from the filter 84 via channel 85, which is also used for cleaning the air drawn in from below the print station 39. Different sources of air may be applied, such as clean ambient air or a different gas supplied from a different source, such as a pressurized line or container. Connecting the filter 84 and suction source 81 to both the air knife assembly 70 and the print station 39 however results in a compact and low cost embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5. The air knife assembly 70 is positioned sufficiently close to the detector 31 and the channel 39A of the print station 39, such that at least a portion 74A of the air jetted from the air knife assembly 70 is directed towards the print station 39. This portion 74A flows upstream against the transport direction X over the upstream conveyor 33A and below the detector 31. The flow 74A is selected to be sufficiently large to prevent the ink mist from reaching the detector 31, thus keeping the detector 31 clean and fully operational.

[0070] A sufficiently large and/or strong flow 74A for pushing back the ink mist 90 from the detector 31 may be formed by an appropriate configuration of the respective components. The flow 74A may be increased by closely positioning the air knife assembly 70, detector 31, and print station 39 with respect to one another. The air knife assembly 70 may be configured to blow a portion of its jetted air towards and/or underneath the detector 31. The air flow 84A is further dependent on the power of the suction source 81 as well the dimensions of the channels 39A, 80, 83, 85. Shielding may be provided around the detector 31 and/or air knife assembly 70 to direct the air flow 74A. The skilled person will take into consideration that the air flow underneath the print station 39 should not excessively disturb the positioning of the jetted droplets and/or will compensate for this by other means, such as adjusting the timing of the jetting of the droplets.

[0071] It will be appreciated that the embodiment in the FIG. 5 illustrates a compact and low-costs variant of the present invention. It will be clear to the skilled person that the longitudinal air knife forming unit 71, 72 may be provided with pressurized air or any other type of gas from a different source than the suction source 81 with filter 84 of the print station 39. Likewise, the air flow 74 may be generated with a different blower than the air knife assembly 70, for example a dedicated laterally extending blower positioned at the upstream side of the detector 31. The ‘clean’ air for generating the air flow 74A need not be supplied by the suction source 81 with filter 84 of the print station, but from a different source, such as a dedicated pump or pressurized gas line or container. The term air knife forming unit and air blower are utilized as illustrative terms as commonly applied in the respective technical field and it will be obvious to the skilled person that the term air may include different gases, such as nitrogen.

[0072] Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. In particular, features presented and described in separate dependent claims may be applied in combination and any advantageous combination of such claims are herewith disclosed.

[0073] Further, it is contemplated that structural elements may be generated by application of three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques. Therefore, any reference to a structural element is intended to encompass any computer executable instructions that instruct a computer to generate such a structural element by three-dimensional printing techniques or similar computer controlled manufacturing techniques. Furthermore, such a reference to a structural element encompasses a computer readable medium carrying such computer executable instructions.

[0074] Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term plurality, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term another, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms including and/or having, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term coupled, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly.

[0075] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.