Abstract
A method of wiping a plurality of printheads positioned in a staggered overlapping arrangement across a width of a media feed path, each printhead having a respective wiper associated therewith. The wipers for neighboring printheads are moved in opposite directions with respect to each other.
Claims
1. A method of wiping a plurality of printheads positioned in a staggered overlapping arrangement across a width of a media feed path, each printhead having a respective wiper associated therewith, wherein the wipers for neighboring printheads are moved in opposite directions with respect to each other.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein each wiper is mounted on a respective maintenance module, each maintenance module further comprising a capper for wiping a respective printhead.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of: lifting the printheads from a printing position to a maintenance position prior to moving the wipers.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein a print zone of the printer has a width in the range of 10 to 100 mm, the width of the print zone being defined in a direction parallel to the media feed direction.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the print zone has a length greater than 216 mm, the length of the print zone being defined in a direction transverse to the media feed direction.
6. A modular printer comprising: a media feed path defining a media feed direction; a plurality of printheads positioned in a staggered overlapping arrangement so as to extend across a width of the media feed path; a plurality of wipers for wiping the plurality of printheads, each printhead having a respective wiper associated therewith wherein: the wipers for neighboring printheads are configured to move in opposite directions relative to each other during wiping.
7. The modular printer of claim 6, wherein each printhead comprises a replaceable printhead cartridge.
8. The modular printer of claim 7, wherein the printhead cartridges are all identical.
9. The modular printer of claim 8, wherein the printhead cartridges are asymmetric and oriented identically with respect to the media feed direction.
10. The modular printer of claim 6, wherein a print zone of the printer has a width in the range of 10 to 100 mm, the width of the print zone being defined in a direction parallel to the media feed direction.
11. The modular printer of claim 6, wherein the print zone has a length greater than 216 mm, the length of the print zone being defined in a direction transverse to the media feed direction.
12. The modular printer of claim 6, wherein each wiper is mounted on a respective maintenance module, each maintenance module further comprising a capper for capping a respective printhead.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0101] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0102] FIG. 1 is a perspective of a printer module according to the present invention;
[0103] FIG. 2 is a perspective of the printer module with mounting beams removed;
[0104] FIG. 3 is a perspective of the printer module configured in a printing position with mounting beams removed;
[0105] FIG. 4 is a perspective of the printer module configured in a maintenance position with mounting beams removed;
[0106] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective of the printer module;
[0107] FIG. 6 is a perspective of a print bar carriage;
[0108] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective of the print bar carriage;
[0109] FIG. 8 is schematic system control block diagram;
[0110] FIG. 9 is a perspective of the printer module in a printing position with mounting beams, a housing sidewall and print bar chassis side panels removed;
[0111] FIG. 10 is a side view showing engagement of a guide slot with first bearings in a raised position;
[0112] FIG. 11 is a side view showing engagement of a guide slot with first bearings in a printing position;
[0113] FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the printer module with mounting beams removed;
[0114] FIG. 13 is a perspective of the printer module in a maintenance position with mounting beams, a housing sidewall and print bar chassis side panels removed;
[0115] FIG. 14 is a rear view of a printhead cartridge and maintenance sled;
[0116] FIG. 15 is a perspective of the maintenance sled;
[0117] FIG. 16 is a perspective of the maintenance sled and transport mechanism;
[0118] FIG. 17 is a perspective of the maintenance sled and transport mechanism with drive belt removed; and
[0119] FIG. 18 is a top plan view of a modular printer according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Printer Module Overview
[0120] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a printer assembly in the form of a printer module 1 comprising a housing 10 having a first sidewall 12 and an opposite second sidewall 14. The first and second sidewalls 12 and 14 are connected via upper mounting beams 15 and 17, and lower connecting beams 19 and 21 to provide a rigid framework for housing a print engine comprised of a print bar carriage 100 and maintenance sled 200 (see FIG. 5). Each of the mounting beams 15 and 17 has mounting fixtures 18 for mounting the printer module 1 to a gantry or cantilever beam (not shown). Thus, the printer module 1 is configured for suspending over a print media path. Print media, such as a media web, may be fed past the printer module 1 using, for example, suitable feed rollers as is known in the art. The housing 10 has no base to facilitate feeding of the media web past a lower portion of the printer module 1.
[0121] The print bar carriage 100 is slidably received within the housing 10 enabling lifting and lowering of the print bar carriage relative to the housing 10 using a lift mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the print bar carriage 100 is raised in a transition position; as shown in FIG. 3, the print bar carriage 100 is lowered in a printing position; and as shown in FIG. 4, the print bar carriage 100 is raised in a maintenance position.
[0122] Referring briefly to FIGS. 6 and 7, the print bar carriage 100 comprises an ink manifold 101 and printhead cartridge 102, such as a replaceable Memjet® printhead cartridge, mounted on a chassis 104 for printing onto print media in a single pass. (For a detailed description of the printhead cartridge 102, reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,540,353; 8,025,383 and 7,845,778, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference). The ink manifold 101 is configured for supplying ink to and receiving ink from the printhead cartridge 102 via a pair of couplings, such as the couplings described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,540,353, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. The ink manifold 101 forms part of an ink delivery system (not shown) in fluid communication with the printhead 105. The printhead cartridge 102 comprises a printhead 105 mounted to a lower surface thereof (FIG. 14), which requires periodic maintenance. Maintenance may be required to wipe nozzles free of ink and debris, to unblock nozzles which have become blocked with ink or to minimize evaporation of ink by capping the printhead 105.
[0123] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the maintenance sled 200 is slidable along a nominal x-axis of the printer module 1 using a transport mechanism (described below), the x-axis being defined as an axis parallel to a media feed direction. Maintenance modules in the form of a capper module 202 and a wiper module 204 are mounted on the maintenance sled 200 for performing respective capping and wiping operations on the printhead.
[0124] In order to perform a capping or wiping operation, the print bar carriage 100 is raised to its transition position (FIGS. 1 and 2), the maintenance sled is moved along the x-axis so as to be positioned below the printhead 105, and the print bar carriage lowered onto either the capper module 202 or the wiper module 204 (FIG. 4). Of course, the precise positioning of the maintenance sled 200 relative to the printhead 105 will depend on whether a capping or wiping operation is being performed. Generally, the printhead 105 is maintained in a capped state during idle periods.
[0125] In order to perform printing, the print bar carriage 100 is raised to its transition position and the maintenance sled 200 is laterally displaced to one side of the printhead 105 by slidably moving the maintenance sled along the x-axis (FIGS. 1 and 2). Once the maintenance sled 200 has been laterally displaced from the printhead 105, the print bar carriage 100 is lowered to a printing position (FIG. 3), which is the lowest position of the print bar carriage.
[0126] Referring to FIG. 8, a controller 500 is employed to coordinate various operations of a media feed mechanism 501; an ink delivery system 502 which delivers ink to the printhead; a print bar system 503 comprising the print bar carriage 100, printhead 105 and lift mechanism; and a maintenance system 504 comprising the maintenance sled 200, transport mechanism and maintenance modules. The ink delivery system 502 may be of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,619, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, the ink delivery system 502 may be a circulatory system having an ink container, which delivers ink to inlet ports 105 of the printhead cartridge 102 and receives ink from outlet ports 107 of the printhead cartridge. Various printing, purging, pressure priming and depriming operations may be coordinated via a pump and valve arrangement of the ink delivery system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,619. However, it will of course be appreciated that other ink delivery systems may be used, as known in the art. The controller 500 coordinates all maintenance and printing operations via suitable signal communication with the ink delivery system 502 and maintenance system 504, as well as the print bar system 503 and media feed mechanism 501.
Lift Mechanism
[0127] The print bar carriage 100 is slidably liftable relative to the housing 10 (along a nominal z-axis) using a rack-and-pinion lift mechanism. Referring initially to FIG. 7, the rack-and-pinion lift mechanism comprises first and second toothed racks 110 and 112 fixedly mounted to respective first and second side panels 114 and 116 of the chassis 104. The chassis 104 further comprises an end panel 118 and a base panel 120 interconnecting the side panels 114 and 116 to provide a rigid framework which ensures parallelism of the side panels and, therefore, parallelism of the racks 110 and 112 mounted to the side panels. As best shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 9, a shaft 25 is rotatably mounted between the sidewalls 12 and 14 of the housing 10. First and second toothed pinions 26 and 28 are fixedly mounted about the shaft 25 at opposite ends thereof for rotation with the shaft. The first and second pinions 26 and 28 are intermeshed with respective first and second racks 110 and 112 to provide the rack-and-pinion lift mechanism.
[0128] Rotation of the shaft 25 is driven by a lift motor 30, which is engaged with the shaft via a worm gear arrangement. The worm gear arrangement comprises a worm 32 connected to the lift motor 30 and an intermeshing worm wheel 34 mounted about the shaft 25 adjacent the second pinion 28 (FIG. 9). Hence, the lift motor 30 is used to rotate the 25 shaft in either direction to perform either lifting or lowering of the print bar carriage 100 via the rack-and-pinion lift mechanism.
Constraint of Print Bar Carriage Movement
[0129] As described above, the print bar carriage 100 is lifted and lowered by actuation of the lift motor 30 operatively connected to the rack-and-pinion lift mechanism. In order to provide a smooth and reliable lift mechanism, it is preferable to constrain any rotational movement of the print bar carriage about the y-axis of the printer module 1. As viewed in FIG. 10, the print bar carriage 100 experiences a clockwise rotational biasing force about the pinion 26 due to the weight of the print bar carriage 100 indicated by arrow W.
[0130] In order to constrain any rotational movement, a pair of first bearings 150A and 150B are rotatably mounted to the first side panel 114 of the chassis 104 via a mounting bracket 152. The first bearings 150A and 150B are received in a guide slot 47 defined by the first sidewall 12 of the housing 10 and a guide bracket 49 fixed to an outer surface of the first sidewall 12. The guide slot 47 extends along the z-axis of the printer module 1 and is laterally displaced from a referencing slot 40 (described below) extending parallel therewith.
[0131] The guide bracket 49 defines a pair of opposite first bearing surfaces 50A and 50B extending along opposite longitudinal sides of the guide slot 47. The first bearing surfaces 50A and 50B provide a reaction force to the intrinsic rotational bias of the print bar carriage 100. The first bearings 150A and 150B, aligned parallel with the guide slot 47, travel within the guide slot along the z-axis and bear against respective bearing surfaces 50A and 50B during lifting and lowering of the print bar carriage 100. In practice, a marginal degree of clearance (e.g. 0.01 to 0.1 mm) between the first bearings and the first bearing surfaces allows the upper first bearing 150A to bear against the right-hand first bearing surface 50A and the lower first bearing 150B to bear against the left-hand first bearing surface 50B (as viewed in FIG. 10) with the rotational bias of the print bar carriage 100.
[0132] FIG. 11 is a side view of the first bearings 150 and guide slot 47 when the print bar carriage 100 is in its lowermost printing position. With the print bar carriage 100 supported by the first stops 36 in this lowermost position, the rotational bias of the print bar carriage is reversed.
[0133] Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, a second bearing 60 is rotatably mounted to an inner surface of the second sidewall 14 of the housing 10 via a mounting block 62. The second bearing 60 is positioned to bear against a non-toothed surface of the second rack 112. The non-toothed surface is opposite the toothed surface of the second rack 112 and defines a second bearing surface 155 for the second bearing 60 to bear against during lifting and lowering of the print bar carriage 100. FIG. 13 has the second sidewall 14 and second side panel 116 removed to show the engagement of the second bearing 60 with the second bearing surface 155 more clearly.
[0134] The first bearings 150 and the second bearing 60 cooperate with their respective first bearing surfaces 50 and second bearing surface 155 to constrain rotational movement of the print bar carriage 100 about the y- and z-axes (theta y and theta z) during lifting and lowering. This constraint of rotational movement minimizes any undue wearing of the rack-and-pinion mechanism upon repeated lifting and lowering of the print bar carriage 100.
Datum Arrangements
[0135] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the printing position of the print bar carriage 100 is defined by a pair of first stops 36 mounted to the outer surfaces of the first and second sidewalls 12 and 14. Each of the first stops 36 is positioned towards a lower end of respective referencing slots 40 defined in respective sidewalls 12 and 14 of the housing 10. The chassis 104 has a pair of lugs 130 extending outwardly from respective side panels 114 and 116, and the lugs are received in respective referencing slots 40 of the housing 10. The lugs 130 are slidably movable along the z-axis within their respective referencing slots 40. The first stops 36 define respective first datum surfaces 37 for abutting engagement with respective lugs 130 in the printing position (FIG. 3). When each of the lugs 130 has been lowered into abutting engagement with its respective abutment surface 37, the print bar carriage 100 is in its printing position.
[0136] During lifting and lowering, the print bar carriage 100 may bow in the z-axis, causing one of the lugs to engage with its respective abutment surface before the other lug. In order to accommodate potential bowing of the print bar carriage 100, the controller 500 receives feedback from the lift motor 30—when the lift motor experiences a sharp increase in resistance, corresponding to one of the lugs engaging with its respective abutment surface, the controller instructs the motor to continue for a predetermined period to ensure that the other lugs also engages with its respective abutment surface. In this way, seating of the print bar carriage 100 in its printing position is ensured with each lowering operation.
[0137] The first stops 36 are each slidably mounted to respective sidewalls 12 and 14 to provide adjustable printing positions. Accordingly, after installation of the printer module 1, users are able to adjust the printing position of the printhead in order to optimize print quality, for example, when printing onto different media thicknesses. Each of the stops 36 is secured into position, after sliding adjustment of the stop, via a respective pair of locking screws 45.
[0138] The printing position of the print bar carriage 100 is critical for controlling the throw distance of ejected ink droplets (otherwise known in the art as the “pen-to-paper spacing” (PPS)) and, as described above, the first datum surfaces 37 provide accurate control of this distance in combination with the lugs 130 attached to the chassis 104.
[0139] Since the capper module 202 typically comprises an internal wick element (not shown), which should be positioned in close proximity to but not touching the printhead 105 during capping (see US2011/0279524, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference), it is important to control the printhead-capper distance when the print bar carriage 100 is positioned in the capping position.
[0140] Referring to FIG. 14, the capper module 202 comprises a perimeter capper 210, extending a length of the printhead 105, having resiliently deformable sidewalls defining an internal cavity. The capper module 202 further comprises a pair of seconds stops 212 positioned at either end of the perimeter capper 210. The second stops 212 define respective second datum surfaces 214 for abutting engagement with respective landing zones 215 defined by the printhead cartridge 102 at either end of the printhead 105. When the print bar carriage 100 is lowered into the capping position (FIG. 4), the landing zones 215 abut with the second datum surfaces 214 to define the capping position.
[0141] Hence, the printing position of the print bar carriage 100 is controlled by abutting engagement of the lugs 130 with the first datum surfaces 37; and the capping position of the print bar carriage 100 is controlled by abutting engagement of the landing zones 215 with the second datum surfaces 214.
Maintenance Sled and Transport Mechanism
[0142] As described above in connection with FIGS. 1 to 4, the maintenance sled 200 is slidable towards and away from the printhead 105 in a direction parallel with the media feed direction. Referring to FIG. 15, the maintenance sled comprise a sled frame 201 on which is mounted the capper module 202 and the wiper module 204 (collectively known herein as “maintenance modules”).
[0143] As described above the capper module 202 is fixedly mounted to the sled frame 201, while the wiper module 204 is resiliently mounted to the sled frame via coil springs 217, which bias the wiper module towards the printhead 105 during wiping operations. The wiper module 204 comprises a wiper roller 218 having a microfiber surface, which is configured to wipe ink and debris from the printhead 105 when rotated or translated in contact therewith. A metal transfer roller (not shown in FIG. 15) is in permanent contact with the microfiber wiper roller 218 to receive ink carrying entrained debris from the wiper roller. For a more detailed description of the wiper module, reference is made to US 2012/0092419, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0144] The distance between the wiper roller 218 and the printhead 105 during wiping is less critical than the capping distance. Accordingly, the biasing of the wiper module 204 via the springs 217 is sufficient to provide a suitable wiping force without accurate control of the printhead position during wiping operations.
[0145] The maintenance sled 200 is slidably mounted between the sidewalls 12 and 14 of the housing 10 to enable sliding movement along the x-axis of the printer module 1. Referring briefly to FIG. 5, a sled guide 65 is fixedly mounted to an inner surface of the second sidewall 14 and extends along the x-axis. The sled guide 65 receives a set of sled bearings 222 rotatably mounted to a second side of the sled frame 291.
[0146] Turning to FIGS. 16 and 17, a rail 67 is fixedly mounted to an inner surface of the first sidewall 12 and extends along the x-axis. A sled carriage 69 is slidably mounted on the rail 67 for movement therealong. The sled carriage 69 is connected to a sled mount 224 fixed to the sled frame 201. Hence, the maintenance sled 200 is slidable along a track defined by the sled guide 65 and the rail 67.
[0147] Movement of the sled carriage 69 along the rail 67 is driven by a transport mechanism comprised of a transport motor 70 operatively connected to a drive pulley 72, and an endless drive belt 73 tensioned between the drive pulley 72 and idler pulleys 74A, 74B and 74C. A first idler pulley 74A is mounted to the first sidewall 12 at one end of the rail 67, while second and third idler pulleys 74B and 74C are mounted to the first sidewall 12 at the other end of the rail 67. The idler pulleys 74A, 74B and 74C serve to steer the drive belt 73 between the two ends of the rail 67 and around the drive pulley 72.
[0148] As shown in FIG. 16, the drive belt 73 has a toothed inner surface engaged with the sled mount 224. Thus, movement of the drive belt 73, driven by the transport motor 70, causes the maintenance sled 200 to move along the x-axis of the printer module 1, either towards or away from the print bar carriage 100.
Modular Printer Comprising Array of Printer Modules
[0149] Referring to FIG. 18, and having described the printer module 1 in detail, there is shown in plan view a modular printer 600 comprising three printer modules A, B and C arranged in a staggered overlapping array. The printer modules A, B and C are mounted to a gantry (not shown) extending over a media web 602 so that each printer module is suspended over the web. The media feed direction is indicated by the arrow M. With this staggered overlapping arrangement, it is possible to print onto relatively wide media widths; in principle, the modular printer 600 may comprise any number of printer modules from, for example, 2 to 10 modules.
[0150] Each printer module overlaps with at least one neighboring printer module in the media feed direction M With suitable timing and control of nozzle firing in each printer module, an image may be printed seamlessly onto the web 602 using each of the overlapping modules. An analogous arrangement of staggered overlapping printheads, albeit with a different maintenance arrangement, was described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,656, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0151] In the modular arrangement shown in FIG. 18, the printer modules A, B and C are oriented such that the printhead cartridges 102 are relatively proximal to each other and the maintenance sleds 200 relatively distal from each other with respect to the media feed direction. In other words, the middle printer module B has it orientation reversed compared to the two outer printer modules A and C. This arrangement positions the printheads 105 in relatively close proximity and, therefore, minimizes the width of the print zone. (As used herein, the width of the print zone is defined parallel with the media feed direction, while the length of the print zone is defined perpendicular to the media feed direction). Thus, in order to perform maintenance on all printer modules simultaneously, the maintenance sled 200 of printer module B moves in an opposite direction to the maintenance sleds 200 of printer modules A and C. In other words, all maintenance sleds 200 move towards the print zone in order to perform maintenance operations on their respective printheads 105. This arrangement of printer modules enables high print quality by minimizing the width of the print zone and, furthermore, enables printhead maintenance without breaking the media web 602.
[0152] Still referring to FIG. 18, it should be noted that printer module B is similar, but not identical to printer modules A and C. Printer modules A and C are identical to the printer module 1 described above and has the ink manifold 101 relatively proximal to the maintenance sled 200 in the printing position, as shown. However, printer module B is subtly different than printer modules A and C inasmuch as the ink manifold 101 of printer module B is relatively distal from the maintenance sled 200 in the printing position, as shown. This subtle difference enables all printhead cartridges 102, and thereby all printheads 105, to be oriented identically with respect to the media feed direction M. Accordingly, all printheads 105, having a predetermined order of color channels, print in the same directional sense and the same firing order of color channels. Therefore, any print artifacts arising from overprinting or underprinting during multi-color printing are minimized.
[0153] It will, of course, be appreciated that the present invention has been described by way of example only and that modifications of detail may be made within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.
