EP1235690A2 - Transport de supports entraines par une courroie dans une imprimante - Google Patents

Transport de supports entraines par une courroie dans une imprimante

Info

Publication number
EP1235690A2
EP1235690A2 EP00992670A EP00992670A EP1235690A2 EP 1235690 A2 EP1235690 A2 EP 1235690A2 EP 00992670 A EP00992670 A EP 00992670A EP 00992670 A EP00992670 A EP 00992670A EP 1235690 A2 EP1235690 A2 EP 1235690A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
belt
printer
media
ink jet
substrate
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.)
Granted
Application number
EP00992670A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1235690B1 (fr
Inventor
Gerald T. Pitpit
Steven J. Wirth
Rudolf Scherban
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.)
Encad Inc
Original Assignee
Encad Inc
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 Encad Inc filed Critical Encad Inc
Publication of EP1235690A2 publication Critical patent/EP1235690A2/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1235690B1 publication Critical patent/EP1235690B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

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
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/007—Conveyor belts or like feeding devices
    • 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
    • B41J15/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs
    • B41J15/04—Supporting, feeding, or guiding devices; Mountings for web rolls or spindles
    • 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
    • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
    • B41J3/4078—Printing on textile

Definitions

  • the invention relates to the transport of media under the print head of a printer.
  • the invention has especially advantageous application to ink jet printing of textiles.
  • print media is passed beneath one or more print heads which comprise a set of ink ejection nozzles.
  • the ink ejection nozzles deposit droplets of ink onto selected pixel locations on the media under the control of data processing and control electronics in the printer.
  • the quality of ink jet printed images has approached photorealistic in many applications, and the use of ink jet printing technology has expanded to printing patterns on textiles for clothing, printing plastic signs, and other applications onto a diversity of substrates.
  • the quality of an ink jet printed product is critically dependent on the accurate placement of each individual droplet onto its intended pixel location. Because pixel sizes are often only two or three thousandths of an inch on a side, control over the relative positions of the print heads and the ink ejection nozzles must be maintained to a high tolerance.
  • a motor driven grit tube, one or more rubber drive rollers, or the like are positioned along a print platen, and pinch rollers are provided at several locations to pinch the media between the pinch rollers and the driven grit tube or drive rollers.
  • the grit tube is incremented by a selected amount, the media is advanced beneath the print head so that the next swath of ink droplets can be deposited by the print heads.
  • the platen surface is covered with a driven belt that pulls the media through the print zone. In these systems, the media is under tension as it passes through the print zone.
  • the media is preferably held under 15 pounds of tension when in the print region.
  • many driven belt systems include pinch rollers, star wheels, or nip rollers in contact with the media as well as the driven belt.
  • An example of a system of this type may be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,133,616 to Oyaide et al.
  • the invention includes ink jet printer embodiments which accurately and consistently feed a wide range of media types through the print region of the printer.
  • a belt drive system is provided which helps ensure accurate droplet deposition, which absorbs excess ink, and which is inexpensive to manufacture and replace.
  • an ink jet printing method comprises contacting a substrate to be printed with a movable belt; and transporting the substrate beneath a print head using only unassisted f ⁇ ctional force between the belt and the substrate.
  • Pinch rollers, star wheels, or other feed mechanisms which assist friction based advance tend to cause media distortion and reduce print quality.
  • Principles of the invention have been found to be especially useful for textile printing.
  • One such method of printing textiles comprises routing a substantially untensio ⁇ ed textile substrate onto an approximately horizontally extending portion of a moving belt and advancing the moving belt beneath an ink jet print head so as to also advance the textile substrate beneath the ink jet print head.
  • the belt may be made of paper.
  • the paper may be coated so as to have a higher coefficient of friction on the outside surface of the belt than on the inside surface.
  • FIG. 1 is a side plan view of an ink jet printer incorporating a media feed system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2A is a top view of a paper sheet which may be formed into a media drive belt.
  • FIG. 2B is a perspective view of a media drive belt suitable for use in the printer of Figurel .
  • FIG. 3 is a side view of a portion of the media drive belt of Figure 2.
  • FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of an ink jet printer frame incorporating rollers for media feed and
  • FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the ink jet printer frame of Figure 4.
  • an ink jet printer 10 includes a body section 12 which is generally elongated so as to handle relatively wide media.
  • the top of the body section 12 comprises a platen which forms a generally horizontally extending printing surface 14.
  • Above the printing surface 14 are one or more ink jet print heads 16.
  • a media feed reel 18 contains a segment of media 20 to be printed.
  • the media 20 is routed from the feed reel 18, over a roller 22, and onto a drive belt 24 which extends over the horizontal print surface 14. After crossing over the print surface 14, the media 20 leaves the drive belt 24 and is routed to a take up reel 26.
  • the drive belt 24 is suspended between a front drive roller 28 and a rear roller 30, which are mounted along respective front and rear sides of the printer body 12 so that the belt 24 extends substantially horizontally across the print surface 14.
  • a belt te ⁇ siomng roller 32 may also be provided beneath the printer body 12, which will be described in additional detail below.
  • one or more loading bars 33 may be provided adjacent to the rear roller 30
  • the loading bars 33 may comprise a ball bearing that is loosely captured by a retaining arm.
  • the retaining arm is preferably moveable such that when a new roll of media is installed, the end may be brought up over the rear roller 30, and held in place there by swinging the loading bar 33 down such that the rolling ball bearing contacts the media and holds it in place.
  • the operator can then move to the front of the printer 10 to feed the media the rest of the way across the print surface 14, over the front drive roller 28 , and down to wrap around the take up reel 26.
  • the loading bar 33 may be swung away from the rear roller 30 so that the rolling bearing is no longer in contact with the media 20.
  • the media is incremented through the print zone in the direction of arrows 34. Between these increments, the print heads 16 pass across the print surface in the orthogonal direction (into the plane of Figure 1 ) to print a swath of droplets onto the media.
  • the front drive roller is rotated a selected amount using a stepper motor, for example. This advances the drive belt 24, and the fnctional contact between the drive belt 24 and the media 20 pulls the media 20 along with the belt 24.
  • media 20 advance across the print zone is performed using only unassisted fnctional force between the drive belt 24 and the media 20, without the use of pinch rollers, star wheels, nip rollers, or other media transport mechanisms.
  • media 20 tension across the print surface 14 is less than about 1 pound.
  • the tension may be less than about 0.5 pounds, and most advantageously is less than about 0.2 pounds. It has been found that with purely belt-driven and substantially untensioned media 20, a wide variety of media types may be printed with a large reduction in media feed induced print errors. Especially advantageous results have been found with media 20 comprising knitted fabrics or fabrics constructed from raw material which has a substantial elasticity.
  • the drive roller 28 has a smaller diameter than the passive rear roller 30.
  • the diameter of the front drive roller 28 is about 1-3/4 to 2 inches
  • the diameter of the rear roller 30 is about 5 to 5-1/4 inches.
  • the drive roller it is also preferable to mount the drive roller such that its top surface 36 is at a lower level than the print surface 14. This helps ensure that the force from the tension roller 32 does not interfere with belt advance in the direction of arrows 34 as the drive roller 28 is incremented.
  • support shelves (not shown) are provided in the spaces 38, 39 between the rollers 28, 30 and the printer body 12. Even though the belt 24 is supported by the printer body 12 in the print region 14, including additional supports in these regions 38, 39 minimizes the vertical bouncing motion which can be induced when the belt is advanced between print swaths.
  • the belt 24 may be constructed from a paper material.
  • Paper provides several advantages over conventional plastic or rubber media drive belts. First, paper will absorb ink which passes through the media being printed on during the print process. This is a significant concern for thin and sheer fabrics, fabric with a coarse weave, or porous materials. With plastic or rubber belts, excess ink which contacts the belt often does not dry before the belt comes into contact with fresh media on the next revolution. This can discolor the media prior to printing and severely degrade print quality.
  • a variety of coatings may be applied to paper in order to increase the coefficient of friction between the belt 24 and the media 20.
  • adhesives are used to help ensure that the media sticks sufficiently to the belt to be properly metered through the print zone. In between uses, old adhesive and excess ink is washed off, and new adhesive applied before re-using the belt. With paper, the belt itself can be disposable with minimum cost to the user.
  • the sheet 40 may comprise a paper material having a thickness of about 6-8 mil. In one advantageous embodiment, a 6.7 mil natural Kraft cardboard sheet having a basis weight of about 130 g/m 2 is used.
  • the width and circumference of the belt may vary widely depending on the printer format the belt will be applied to. In one large format printer embodiment, the sheet 40 has a width 42 of approximately 60-1/4 inches and a length 43 of approximately 41 inches between mating edges 44, 45.
  • a strip of adhesive tape 46 is placed along one mating edge 45 so that about one-half of the width 47 is affixed to the sheet 40, and one-half of the width 48 hangs over the edge 45.
  • any thin plastic tape is suitable for this purpose, although with an 6-8 mil thick belt 24, Kapton(T ) tape having a thickness of about 2 3 mil has been found suitable.
  • the sheet may be rectangular in shape, it has been found advantageous to cut the mating edges 44, 45 so that a shallow chevron shape is formed by the sheet 40. In one embodiment, the mating edges are cut such that about a one inch distance 49 is present between the central point of the chevron and the corners adjacent to that point.
  • the mating edges 44, 45 are brought together, and the overhanging portion 48 of the strip of adhesive tape 46 is placed in contact with the sheet near the other mating edge 44.
  • FIGS. 2B and 3 illustrate the sheet 40 after it is formed into a media drive belt 24. As described above, the mating edges 44, 45 are sealed together with the tape 46 in a butt joint configuration.
  • the outer surface of the belt 24 is advantageously coated with a material which produces a high coefficient of friction between the belt surface and the media being fed across the print surface of the printer.
  • Suitable coating materials include polymeric or elastome ⁇ c materials such as latex. It may also be advantageous to provide perforations in the belt 24. Because printers will often mount fans inside the printer body 12 to create a vacuum that holds the media down to the platen in the print region, such perforations allow the vacuum to continue to pull the media downward in this area.
  • Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a printer frame which supports the belt driven media advance system illustrated in
  • a floor standing printer embodiment which may be utilized to print 60 inch wide rolls of fabric or other media.
  • This printer embodiment thus includes legs 50, 52 which support the printer body 12
  • the media drive belt 24 (not shown) wraps around the rear roller 30 and the front roller 28, which are rotatably mounted on brackets attached to the printer body 12.
  • the front roller 28 is driven by a stepper motor 56 to controllably advance the media drive belt through the print region in the direction of arrows 34.
  • the media belt tensiomng roller 32 is attached to brackets 60, 62 on the inner surfaces of the printer legs 50, 52.
  • the brackets 60, 62 each include a vertical slot 64
  • the tensiomng roller 32 is slidably mounted within these vertical slots 64 such that it can freely slide downward under the influence of gravity When the belt 24 is installed, this downward sliding motion is stopped by contact with the inside surface of the belt 24, as is shown in Figure 1.
  • the weight of the roller 32 provides the force that tensions the belt 24. In one embodiment, approximately five pounds of tension in the belt 24 has been found to provide satisfactory performance. A higher belt tension has been found to improve line feed consistency over a range of media weights. To further improve media feed consistency, it is also possible to include media position sensing which directly tracks the amount of media feed during the process of incrementing the media between print swaths.
  • Such a system may comprise a wheel in contact with the top surface of the media coupled to an angular position encoder.
  • the output of the encoder could be used to control the amount of rotation of the belt drive roller 28 so as to feed the media a precise amount with each increment even in the presence of different coefficients of friction between the belt and the media, different media weights, or other factors which may produce different media feed amounts with the same feed motor 56 advance.
  • the media feed reel 18 rests between media feed r oilers 66, 68, one of which is driven by a motor to advance media from the feed reel 18 up toward the printer body 12.
  • the media from the feed reel is routed behind a roller 22, and up onto the media drive belt 24 (not shown), which is wrapped around the rear media drive belt roller 30.
  • the media is incremented during the printing process in the direction of arrows 34 so as to drape down off of the media drive belt 24 at the front drive belt roller 28.
  • the media is then routed to the take-up reel 26.
  • the roller 22 may be mounted in brackets 70, 72 such that its position is horizontally adjustable.
  • This horizontal adjustment will increase or decrease the wrap angle of the media as it is fed around the rear drive belt roller 30 and up onto the top surface of the drive belt 24.
  • An increasing wrap angle will increase the contact area between the belt 24 and the media as it wraps around the rear roller 30 which provides an increase in frictional force during media feeding.
  • An increase in wrap angle can also produce an increase in media tension through the print area.
  • variations in wrap angle may be made to find a proper balance between high friction and low tension. It will be appreciated that relatively smooth and inflexible fabrics may advantageously be fed through the printer using a larger wrap angle than highly textured and flexible materials.
  • a media transport system is provided which is user replaceable, which absorbs ink strike through, and which avoids media distortion is provided.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)

Abstract

Une courroie mobile transporte avec précision des supports très divers dans la zone d'impression d'une imprimante à jet d'encre sans distorsion provoquée par la tension des supports et sans galets presseurs, roues à ailettes, rouleaux pinceurs ou autres dispositifs facilitant le transport des supports. La courroie peut être installée horizontalement et peut comprendre une matière de papier couché destinée à absorber l'encre et à assurer des caractéristiques élevées de frottement de glissement.
EP00992670A 1999-12-09 2000-12-06 Transport de supports entraines par une courroie dans une imprimante Expired - Lifetime EP1235690B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US45850999A 1999-12-09 1999-12-09
US458509 1999-12-09
PCT/US2000/042650 WO2001042030A2 (fr) 1999-12-09 2000-12-06 Transport de supports entraines par une courroie dans une imprimante

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1235690A2 true EP1235690A2 (fr) 2002-09-04
EP1235690B1 EP1235690B1 (fr) 2004-03-03

Family

ID=23821072

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP00992670A Expired - Lifetime EP1235690B1 (fr) 1999-12-09 2000-12-06 Transport de supports entraines par une courroie dans une imprimante

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1235690B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2003516257A (fr)
AU (1) AU4520501A (fr)
DE (1) DE60008787T2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2001042030A2 (fr)

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2803493A1 (fr) 2013-05-15 2014-11-19 Agfa Graphics Nv Système de convoyeur à courroie
EP2868604A1 (fr) 2013-11-05 2015-05-06 Agfa Graphics Nv Diviseur à vide mobile
EP3138691A1 (fr) 2015-09-02 2017-03-08 Agfa Graphics Nv Dispositif d'impression à jet d'encre avec ceinture de vide alvéolée
EP3162577A1 (fr) 2015-10-27 2017-05-03 Agfa Graphics Nv Procédé d'impression à jet d'encre pour substrats thermosensibles
EP3266619A1 (fr) 2016-07-06 2018-01-10 Agfa Nv Courroie à vide pour un dispositif d'impression à jet d'encre
WO2018087119A1 (fr) 2016-11-14 2018-05-17 Agfa Nv Dispositif d'impression à bande transporteuse
WO2018114303A1 (fr) 2016-12-22 2018-06-28 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre à système à vide
WO2020225050A1 (fr) 2019-05-06 2020-11-12 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre pour la décoration du cuir naturel
EP3868563A1 (fr) 2020-02-18 2021-08-25 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre pour la décoration de tissu
WO2022073971A1 (fr) 2020-10-08 2022-04-14 Agfa Nv Procédé de décoration de cuir naturel

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ITMI20012701A1 (it) * 2001-12-19 2003-06-19 T M S S R L Macchina da stampa con stampante a getto di inchiostro o simile, particolarmente per la stampa decorativa di prodotti lastriformi facilmente
US10472190B2 (en) 2014-01-31 2019-11-12 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Media handling system
US9623678B1 (en) 2015-10-30 2017-04-18 Hewlett—Packard Development Company, L.P. Movement of a medium
US11858260B2 (en) 2018-04-26 2024-01-02 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Media management using a media management device

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JPS6085872A (ja) * 1983-10-17 1985-05-15 Ryozo Abo 裏張りを有する研摩布紙ベルト
KR930000181B1 (ko) 1989-02-02 1993-01-11 도쿄덴기 가부시기가이샤 인자기
JPH06220781A (ja) * 1993-01-28 1994-08-09 Kanebo Ltd 捺染方法および装置
JPH07116589A (ja) * 1993-10-22 1995-05-09 Three Bond Co Ltd 拭き取り方法
FR2755900B1 (fr) * 1996-11-15 1999-01-29 Toxot Sciences & Applic Presse multicouleur a la continue par jet d'encre, procede de synchronisation d'une telle presse, et produit imprime obtenu a l'aide d'une telle presse

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Title
See references of WO0142030A2 *

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2803493A1 (fr) 2013-05-15 2014-11-19 Agfa Graphics Nv Système de convoyeur à courroie
WO2014184226A1 (fr) 2013-05-15 2014-11-20 Agfa Graphics Nv Système de bande convoyeuse à gradin
EP2868604A1 (fr) 2013-11-05 2015-05-06 Agfa Graphics Nv Diviseur à vide mobile
WO2015067520A1 (fr) 2013-11-05 2015-05-14 Agfa Graphics Nv Élément mobile de séparation de vide
EP3138691A1 (fr) 2015-09-02 2017-03-08 Agfa Graphics Nv Dispositif d'impression à jet d'encre avec ceinture de vide alvéolée
EP3162577A1 (fr) 2015-10-27 2017-05-03 Agfa Graphics Nv Procédé d'impression à jet d'encre pour substrats thermosensibles
EP3266619A1 (fr) 2016-07-06 2018-01-10 Agfa Nv Courroie à vide pour un dispositif d'impression à jet d'encre
WO2018007121A1 (fr) 2016-07-06 2018-01-11 Agfa Nv Courroie à vide pour dispositif d'impression à jet d'encre
WO2018087119A1 (fr) 2016-11-14 2018-05-17 Agfa Nv Dispositif d'impression à bande transporteuse
WO2018114303A1 (fr) 2016-12-22 2018-06-28 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre à système à vide
WO2020225050A1 (fr) 2019-05-06 2020-11-12 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre pour la décoration du cuir naturel
CN113795385A (zh) * 2019-05-06 2021-12-14 爱克发有限公司 用于装饰天然皮革的喷墨印刷机
CN113795385B (zh) * 2019-05-06 2023-04-14 爱克发有限公司 用于装饰天然皮革的喷墨印刷机
EP3868563A1 (fr) 2020-02-18 2021-08-25 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre pour la décoration de tissu
WO2021165024A1 (fr) 2020-02-18 2021-08-26 Agfa Nv Imprimante à jet d'encre pour décorer du tissu
WO2022073971A1 (fr) 2020-10-08 2022-04-14 Agfa Nv Procédé de décoration de cuir naturel

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2001042030A2 (fr) 2001-06-14
DE60008787D1 (de) 2004-04-08
WO2001042030A3 (fr) 2002-01-31
AU4520501A (en) 2001-06-18
JP2003516257A (ja) 2003-05-13
DE60008787T2 (de) 2005-02-10
EP1235690B1 (fr) 2004-03-03

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