EP0334548B1 - Vorrichtung zum Sichern des Flachliegens eines Blattes und der Druckspalteinstellung - Google Patents

Vorrichtung zum Sichern des Flachliegens eines Blattes und der Druckspalteinstellung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0334548B1
EP0334548B1 EP19890302573 EP89302573A EP0334548B1 EP 0334548 B1 EP0334548 B1 EP 0334548B1 EP 19890302573 EP19890302573 EP 19890302573 EP 89302573 A EP89302573 A EP 89302573A EP 0334548 B1 EP0334548 B1 EP 0334548B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sheet
spacer
printer according
pen
paper
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19890302573
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English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0334548A2 (de
EP0334548A3 (en
Inventor
Kent D. Vincent
John P. Ertel
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
HP Inc
Original Assignee
Hewlett Packard Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hewlett Packard Co filed Critical Hewlett Packard Co
Publication of EP0334548A2 publication Critical patent/EP0334548A2/de
Publication of EP0334548A3 publication Critical patent/EP0334548A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0334548B1 publication Critical patent/EP0334548B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J25/00—Actions or mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J25/304—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface
    • B41J25/308—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface with print gap adjustment mechanisms
    • B41J25/3082—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface with print gap adjustment mechanisms with print gap adjustment means on the print head carriage, e.g. for rotation around a guide bar or using a rotatable eccentric bearing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J25/00—Actions or mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J25/304—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface
    • B41J25/308—Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface with print gap adjustment mechanisms

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to printers and, more particularly, to improved paper holddown devices for printers.
  • ink drops follow trajectories determined by the vector sum of the ink ejection velocity (Ve) and the velocity of the inking means (Vp).
  • Ve ink ejection velocity
  • Vp velocity of the inking means
  • distance Dp is defined as the distance measured laterally along the surface of a printed sheet between the inking means and the intended location of ink dot placement on a sheet at the time of inkdrop ejection
  • distance Ds is defined as the pen-to-sheet spacing as measured perpendicular to the sheet surface
  • the ratio of Dp to Ds is proportional to the ratio of the velocity Vp to the velocity Ve.
  • the lateral distance Dp can be calculated to equal the quantity ( Vp Ve )Ds.
  • distance Dp remains constant whenever a sheet is being printed to avoid misalignment of printed characters; however, because pen-to-sheet distance Dp is a function of distance Ds, the latter distance must also remain constant to maintain accurate ink drop placement during printing.
  • Ds pen-to-sheet spacing distance
  • an inkjet pen prints a swath of ink drops while moving both from right-to-left and from left-to-right across the surface of a sheet.
  • the printed sheet is indexed a swath width (e.g., about 3/8 inch). Because such printers provide ink dots in columns in each swath, print defects will appear unless dot columns on adjacent swaths are closely aligned.
  • conventional inkjet printers are often unable to provide consistently acceptable print quality.
  • the additive effect of manufacturing tolerances often cause pen-to-sheet spacing distance Ds to vary substantially more than desired.
  • the spacing distance Ds in conventional inkjet printers can be affected by lack of flatness in carriage guides and paper support plates.
  • ink dot placement during printing can vary because of variations in sheet thickness and because of curls and cockles in sheets.
  • sheet thicknesses commonly used in printers vary from 45 ⁇ m to 157 ⁇ m.
  • cockles can be present because of paper defects and because of moisture present during printing.
  • sheet holddown devices such as electrostatic or suction devices.
  • electrostatic holddown device paper flatness is maintained by establishing electrostatic attraction between a flat support plate on the printer and the back surface of a sheet to be printed.
  • vacuum holddown devices sheet flatness is maintained by providing suction between a support plate and the back surface of a sheet to be printed. It should be noted that, in either type of holddown device, direct contact of the holddown device with the printed surface is avoided to minimize ink smearing and other adverse affects on print appearance.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide improved paper holddown devices for use with printers.
  • an object of the present invention is to improve printers, especially inkjet printers of the bidirectional printing type, by providing a device to accurately maintain pen-to-sheet spacing and sheet flatness during printing and, thereby, to minimize spacing deviations that cause misalignment in printed characters.
  • IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 26, No.3B August 1983 discloses a printer comprising inking means, comprising an array of nozzles, for printing on the surface of a sheet that are movable in a first direction, sheet support means extending in said first direction, indexing means to move the sheet in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and a spacer that pushes the sheet onto the surface of the sheet support means.
  • the spacer comprises a roller that has its axis in the second direction, that is spaced from the inking means. This applies a flattening force to a part of the sheet that is relatively remote from the inking means.
  • the spacer acts as a device to maintain pen-to-sheet spacing, and not as an effective device to flatten the sheet prior to printing.
  • the invention provides a printer comprising inking means, comprising an array of nozzles, for printing on the surface of a sheet that are movable in a first direction, sheet support means extending in said first direction, indexing means to move the sheet in a second direction at right angles to the first direction, and a spacer that pushes the sheet onto the surface of the sheet support means, characterised in that the spacer is elongate and extends along one side of the inking means, in close proximity thereto, and in that the spacer pushes down along at least a line on the surface of the sheet.
  • the spacer extends along the whole width of the inking means and is positioned close to the inking means it provides effective sheet flattening means adjacent to the printed area, as well as ensuring constant pen-to-sheet spacing.
  • the present invention generally provides a printer comprising an inking device that ejects ink drops for printing the surface of a sheet, and a spacer interposed between the inking means and the sheet surface to ride upon the surface being printed so as to maintain preselected spacing.
  • the spacer is a generally L-shaped member whose leg is connected to the inking device and whose foot is positioned to extend parallel to the sheet surface to ride as a skid on the printed surface of the sheet.
  • the spacer can be a skid, a wheel, a roller, or any other bearing-like device suited for supporting an inking device directly on a sheet with a preselected pen-to-sheet spacing.
  • the device of the present invention provides substantial advantages over conventional holddown mechanisms in printers because it directly acts on the printed surface to assure paper flatness and spacing accuracy.
  • devices according to the present invention maintain constant pen-to-sheet spacing even when paper thickness varies or when there are printer mechanism problems such as lack of flatness or straightness in carriage guide rods and paper support plates.
  • the present invention simplifies printer design while increasing allowable manufacturing tolerances, thereby substantially reducing costs.
  • FIGURE 1 shows a bidirectional inkjet printer includes an inkjet pen 11 that is held rigidly in a movable carriage 13 so that the pen nozzle 14 is above the surface of a sheet 15 which lays substantially flat on a stationary support plate 16. Further, the illustrated inkjet printer includes a drive roller 18 and a pinch roller 19 which are controlled to periodically index the sheet across the surface of plate 16. It should be understood that various systems for controlling sheet indexing are well known.
  • carriage 13 is slidably journaled to a linear guide rod 20 by bearings 20A.
  • Guide rod 20 is fixed to the printer chassis, not shown, to extend in the cross-direction parallel to the surface of sheet 15. (As used herein, the term “cross direction” refers to a direction perpendicular to the paper indexing direction.)
  • Guide rod 20 and bearings 20A are designed to allow carriage 13 to move from side-to-side across the surface of a printed sheet but, in contrast to conventional inkjet printers, rotation of carriage 13 about rod 20 is not substantially restricted by the design of the rod or its bearings.
  • an L-shaped spacer member is attached to carriage 13 with its foot 22 interposed between carriage 13 and sheet 15.
  • the upper surface 23 of spacer 21 abuts the lower end of inkjet pen 11 adjacent nozzle 14 and, thus, provides a physical stop.
  • spacer 21 extends substantially across the width of inkjet pen 11 and its lower surface 24 is generally planar to provide a broad face to ride upon sheet 15.
  • stop surface 23 and riding surface 24 defines the desired spacing of inkjet nozzle 14 from the surface of sheet 15.
  • spacer 21 have low contact friction with the surface of sheet 15 in both the cross-direction and in the indexing direction.
  • Low contact friction in the cross-direction is required to facilitate back and forth travel of the inkjet pen, while low contact friction in the indexing direction is required to facilitate operation of the sheet transport device.
  • the peripheral edges of riding surface 24 are arcuate.
  • contact friction is reduced by the selection of the materials and the surface finish of riding surface 24.
  • riding surface 24 can be polished chromeplate to minimize friction as well as to increase wear life.
  • a device (not shown) can be provided to lift spacer 21 off the sheet during indexing; normally, such a lifting device is operative at the margins of the sheet.
  • Another measure which can be taken to reduce contact friction is to provide an air bearing at the riding 24 surface of spacer 21.
  • Such an air bearing is readily implemented by providing a source of pressurized gas and by forming appropriate holes or channels within riding surface 24 to allow the pressurized gas to escape between the riding surface and the face of sheet 15.
  • the spacer can still be said to ride on the sheet surface, albeit via a cushion of pressurized gas.
  • FIGURES 2 through 4 show an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which a spacer 31 is attached to the body of inkjet pen 11 rather than to carriage 13. More particularly, spacer 31 is an elongated rail-like member that is mounted to extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of guide shaft 20 across the body of inkjet pen 11. As shown in cross-section in FIGURE 3, spacer 31 has a generally planar riding surface 33 with arcuate peripheral edges to accommodate movement in the indexing direction. Also, as shown in perspective in FIGURE 4, the spacer ends 37a and 37b are arcuate to accommodate movement in the cross-direction.
  • FIGURES 5 and 6 show yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention.
  • a roller-like spacer 51 is connected to carriage 13 by flanges 55a and 55b.
  • the flanges accept an axle 57 which extends coaxially of the roller-like spacer to allow it to roll freely in the indexing direction.
  • the ends of roller-like spacer 51 are arcuately curved so that it easily skids back and forth over the surface sheet 15 in the cross-direction.
  • sheet 15 is held stationary by drive roller 18 while carriage 13 carries inkjet pen 11 back and forth across the sheet to print swaths of ink dots.
  • roller 18 is driven so that sheet 15 is advanced in the direction indicated by the arrow over a distance equal to the swath width, and then carriage 13 again carries inkjet pen 11 across the sheet to print a second swath. This back-and-forth movement of carriage 13 is continued until the sheet is printed as desired.
  • spacer 21 of FIGURE 1 slides across the printed surface of the sheet. Because of its proximity to the printed area, spacer 21 flattens the sheet at the localized area of printing.
  • the force exerted by spacer 21 to flatten sheet 15 can be referred to as the contact force.
  • the contact force is primarily determined by the weight distribution of inkjet pen 11 and carriage 13 relative to guide rod 20. That is, guide rod 20 acts as a fulcrum about which carriage 13 is pivoted.
  • the net force, or torque, acting about rod 20 in the counterclockwise direction in FIGURE 1 depends upon the counterbalancing weight of the carriage on the opposite side of the rod. In practice, carriage 13 is mounted and balanced such that the contact force in the counterclockwise direction is sufficient to maintain the riding surface of spacer 21 in contact with the surface of sheet 15 and to assure substantial paper flatness under inkjet nozzle 14 without causing undue frictional drag.
  • spacer 21 can exceed the localized force exerted by a conventional holddown device which operates upon the entire paper surface. Accordingly, spacer 21 can provide a flatter surface at the point of printing than conventional holddown devices. In practice, spacer 21 holds pen-to-sheet spacing constant within one to two thousands of an inch.
  • FIGURES 2 through 6 Operation of the spacers in FIGURES 2 through 6 is substantially the same as the operation of spacer 21 in FIGURE 1. That is, those spacers either slide or roll over the printed surface while concentrating the contact force over localized areas near the point of ink impact with sheet 15.
  • the spacers can take various forms.
  • spacers can be formed integral with carriage 13 or pen body 11.
  • a spacer is not physically attached to either carriage 13 or pen 11 but, instead, is mounted to float between the carriage and the surface of sheet 15.
  • the afore-described spacing devices could be used with printers having stationary inkjet pens or with so-called wire-matrix print heads as well as other inking means, such as so-called daisy wheel printers.
  • the spacing devices have been discussed in the context of operating upon a flat surface, they could operate upon a generatrix of a cylindrical surface.

Landscapes

  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Common Mechanisms (AREA)

Claims (10)

  1. Drucker mit einer Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13), welche eine Düsenanordnung aufweist, zum Drucken auf die Oberfläche eines Blattes (15), das in eine erste Richtung bewegbar ist, mit einer Blattauflagevorrichtung (16), die sich in diese erste Richtung erstreckt, einer Indexierungsvorrichtung (18, 19), um das Blatt in eine zweite Richtung zu bewegen, die mit der ersten Richtung einen rechten Winkel einschließt, und einem Abstandsstück (22, 31), das das Blatt auf die Oberfläche der Blattauflagevorrichtung drückt, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Abstandsstück länglich ist und sich längs einer Seite der Farbauftragsvorrichtung, in direkter Nähe zu dieser erstreckt, und daß das Abstandsstück längs mindestens einer Linie auf der Oberfläche des Blattes abwärts drückt.
  2. Drucker nach Anspruch 1, bei dem das Abstandsstück (22, 31) sich in die erste Richtung erstreckt.
  3. Drucker nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei dem das Abstandsstück (21) ein im wesentlichen L-förmiges Bauteil (21) ist, dessen Bein mit der Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13) verbunden ist und dessen Fuß (22) so positioniert ist, daß er sich parallel zu der Blatt (15)-Oberfläche erstreckt.
  4. Drucker nach Anspruch 3, bei dem der Fuß (22) so angeordnet ist, daß die Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13) gegen die Oberseite (23) des Fußes (22) anliegt und die Unterseite des Fußes (24) als eine Kufe auf der bedruckten Oberfläche des Blattes (15) entlangfährt.
  5. Drucker nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei dem das Abstandsstück (31) ein schienenartiges Bauteil ist, das im Querschnitt im wesentlichen U-förmig ist und das mit der Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13) so verbunden ist, daß es als eine Kufe auf der Oberfläche des zu bedruckenden Blattes (15) entlangfährt.
  6. Drucker nach einem der Ansprüche 3 bis 5, bei dem der Teil des Abstandsstückes (21, 31), der auf dem Blatt (15) entlangfährt, eine im wesentlichen ebene Oberfläche mit abgerundeten Kanten aufweist.
  7. Drucker nach einem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, bei dem ein Gaslager zwischen dem Abstandsstück (21, 31) und der Oberfläche des zu bedruckenden Blattes (15) ausgebildet ist.
  8. Drucker nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei dem das Abstandsstück ein rollenähnliches Bauteil (51) aufweist, das mit der Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13) drehbar verbunden ist.
  9. Drucker nach einem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, bei dem die Farbauftragsvorrichtung (11, 13) einen Tintenstrahlstift (11) aufweist, der auf einer Schlittenvorrichtung (13) montiert ist.
  10. Drucker nach einem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, bei dem das Abstandsstück (21, 31) an dem Tintenstrahlstift (11) befestigt ist.
EP19890302573 1988-03-21 1989-03-15 Vorrichtung zum Sichern des Flachliegens eines Blattes und der Druckspalteinstellung Expired - Lifetime EP0334548B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US17050788A 1988-03-21 1988-03-21
US170507 1998-10-13

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0334548A2 EP0334548A2 (de) 1989-09-27
EP0334548A3 EP0334548A3 (en) 1990-03-21
EP0334548B1 true EP0334548B1 (de) 1993-12-22

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ID=22620121

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19890302573 Expired - Lifetime EP0334548B1 (de) 1988-03-21 1989-03-15 Vorrichtung zum Sichern des Flachliegens eines Blattes und der Druckspalteinstellung

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Country Link
EP (1) EP0334548B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH026170A (de)
DE (1) DE68911564T2 (de)
HK (1) HK128194A (de)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3584044B2 (ja) * 1991-06-18 2004-11-04 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェットプリンタ
EP0650846B1 (de) * 1993-10-29 1998-12-09 Hewlett-Packard Company Selbstanpassende Steuerung des Abstandes zwischen Druckkopf und Aufzeichnungsträger in Tintenstrahldruckern
US5777635A (en) * 1996-01-31 1998-07-07 Lexmark International, Inc. Automatic printhead-to-paper gap adjustment
CH691961A5 (fr) * 1996-03-05 2001-12-14 Olivetti Lexikon Spa Imprimante.
JP4472760B2 (ja) * 2008-02-05 2010-06-02 セイコープレシジョン株式会社 プリンタ

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
SE356619B (de) * 1971-09-29 1973-05-28 Philips Svenska Ab
SE389061B (sv) * 1975-03-06 1976-10-25 Philips Svenska Ab Tryckhuvud med distansorgan for instellning av tryckavstand
US4390292A (en) * 1981-11-03 1983-06-28 Zenith Radio Corporation Means and method for compensating for print medium thickness in line printers
DE3473132D1 (en) * 1984-09-18 1988-09-08 Mannesmann Tally Gmbh Matrix printer, in particular a matrix line printer

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE68911564D1 (de) 1994-02-03
HK128194A (en) 1994-11-25
JPH026170A (ja) 1990-01-10
EP0334548A2 (de) 1989-09-27
EP0334548A3 (en) 1990-03-21
DE68911564T2 (de) 1994-06-09

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