EP0829368A2 - Systéme d'impression oblique en série par jet d'encre pour textiles - Google Patents

Systéme d'impression oblique en série par jet d'encre pour textiles Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0829368A2
EP0829368A2 EP97306940A EP97306940A EP0829368A2 EP 0829368 A2 EP0829368 A2 EP 0829368A2 EP 97306940 A EP97306940 A EP 97306940A EP 97306940 A EP97306940 A EP 97306940A EP 0829368 A2 EP0829368 A2 EP 0829368A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
textile
printing
scan
printheads
printhead
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
EP97306940A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0829368A3 (fr
EP0829368B1 (fr
Inventor
Wilson P. Rayfield
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.)
Kodak Versamark Inc
Original Assignee
Kodak Versamark 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 Kodak Versamark Inc filed Critical Kodak Versamark Inc
Publication of EP0829368A2 publication Critical patent/EP0829368A2/fr
Publication of EP0829368A3 publication Critical patent/EP0829368A3/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0829368B1 publication Critical patent/EP0829368B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41JTYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J3/00Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/407Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
    • B41J3/4078Printing on textile
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41JTYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/16Special spacing mechanisms for circular, spiral, or diagonal-printing apparatus
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41JTYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01Ink jet
    • B41J2/21Ink jet for multi-colour printing
    • B41J2/2103Features not dealing with the colouring process per se, e.g. construction of printers or heads, driving circuit adaptations
    • DTEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06PDYEING OR PRINTING TEXTILES; DYEING LEATHER, FURS OR SOLID MACROMOLECULAR SUBSTANCES IN ANY FORM
    • D06P5/00Other features in dyeing or printing textiles, or dyeing leather, furs, or solid macromolecular substances in any form
    • D06P5/30Ink jet printing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to continuous ink jet printing technology and, more particularly, to applying ink jet printing technology to textile printing.
  • a print head defines one or more rows of orifices which receive an electrically conductive recording fluid, such as for instance a water base ink, from a pressurized fluid supply manifold and ejects the fluid in rows of parallel streams.
  • Printers using such print heads accomplish graphic reproduction by selectively charging and deflecting the drops in each of the streams and depositing at least some of the drops on a print receiving medium, while others of the drops strike a drop catcher device.
  • Textiles are traditionally printed by gravure, rotary screens, or flat screen technologies and are printed in continuous web form to enable in-line steaming, washing or other processes.
  • Color patterns are generally limited to multicolor applications using custom mixed ink colors at each of a number of print stations along the web. Changing colors requires changing the inks and cleaning the screens or cylinders of each print station. Changing designs requires changing of the screens or gravure cylinders. Setup time is extensive and costly. This in turn drives the industry to long print runs and costly inventorying of large quantities of printed fabric.
  • Ink jet can generally print with dye or pigment based inks similar to those currently used by textile printers.
  • DOD ink jet printing heads form drops only when needed to print. This intermittent drop formation is generally limited to maximum drop frequencies of 10,000 to 20,000 hertz.
  • DOD printheads have been developed primarily for use in serial printers where the printhead scans along the length of a roller supporting the paper. Thus the array size of many DOD printheads is relatively small (less than 2 cm.). These two factors (low frequency of drop formation and small array size) limit the area of substrate (paper or textile) that can be printed within a set time.
  • DOD technology Since fabric printing involves a much wider width than paper, often two meters or more, DOD technology has been limited to low speed proofing and sample printing rather than applied to production printing of textiles. The achievement of production speeds (greater than 1,000 square meters per hour) would require an impractically large number of DOD printheads.
  • Continuous ink jet printing is geared more toward production speeds in industrial applications. This technology continually produces drops enabling drop rates of 100,000 hertz or more. Drops not needed for printing are charged, deflected, captured and recirculated.
  • CIJ as practiced, for example, by Scitex Digital Printing, Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, utilizes array lengths of 10-25 cm. However, the current state of CIJ technology does not enable a single fixed printhead to cover the entire width of a textile web. While multiple fixed printheads could do so, this number would need to be repeated for each of the three or more process colors. Although this would result in a very high speed system (100-200 meters per minute), it would, like DOD, require an impractically large number of printheads.
  • Ink jet is particularly well suited to textile printing in that it is a non-contact technology.
  • the ink is projected across a small air gap to the fabric which accommodates a wide variety of fabric textures.
  • Ink jet can generally print with dye or pigment based inks similar to those currently used by textile printers.
  • electrostatic printing technologies such as electrophotography (laser), ion deposition, or magnatography, there is generally no downstream fusing or fixing step required.
  • a method for using an ink jet printer to print on a textile substrate.
  • the one or more printheads are oriented to scan the width of the textile web at a bias angle.
  • a different printhead can be used for each color ink, whereby the ink is projected across an air gap to the textile web during the scan.
  • Arranging the multiple printheads for parallel scanning allows each printhead to scan a separate swath simultaneously. Additional scan widths can be left between printheads to allow for sufficient drying time.
  • the present invention relates to the development of a configuration that combines movement of both the printheads and the textile to achieve full array coverage with a reasonable number of printheads.
  • the present invention maximizes printing efficiency by providing for a longer sweep and, therefore, a greater percentage of maximum velocity print time.
  • Efficiency of a configuration can be defined as the throughput actually achieved versus the throughput calculated assuming all printing is continuous at maximum speed.
  • printhead(s) 12 print on both the forward scan and return directions, with the scan direction and distance indicated by arrows 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d.
  • the web advances, in the direction indicated by arrows 16, the width of one printing swath 18, as the printhead 12 pauses at the end of each scan 14.
  • the printhead 12 will need to have completed printing on a given pass prior to advancing the substrate, or fabric 20, and the fabric will need to stop its movement prior to the start of the next pass of the printhead 12.
  • One method for improving efficiency of this approach is to accelerate and decelerate the printhead during printing by utilizing a true position encoder to control timing of the print drops. Due to the high drop frequency of continuous ink jet printing, it is necessary to move the printhead with relatively high speed to take full advantage of the printing capability.
  • Figs. 2a and 2b illustrate how a longer scan distance results in a higher percent of scan period at maximum velocity. With the scan direction perpendicular to the web edge, as shown in Fig. 2a, the only way to improve efficiency due to the acceleration and deceleration ramps needed is to widen the web, as shown in Fig. 2b.
  • the present invention proposes that the printhead scan the width of the textile web at a bias angle to the standard cross web perpendicular, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
  • the angled configuration illustrated in Fig. 3 enables a longer scan at full velocity with the same width web.
  • a longer scan distance 14 is achieved, as compared to the scan of Fig. 1, without increasing the web width 10.
  • the ramp-up acceleration and the ramp-down deceleration of printhead 12 has less negative impact on overall printing efficiency.
  • Fig. 4 illustrates a vacuum bed 22 configured to hold the web and belt flat under biased scanning printheads. In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to utilize the vacuum array on the flat bed to hold the belt and, thus, the fabric 20, flat during the printing scan.
  • This flat bed 22 is preferably shaped in the plan view to match the biased orientation of the print scan.
  • the flat bed 22 is shaped as a parallelogram in Fig. 4, to match the biased orientation of the print scan of Fig. 3.
  • a second encoder (not shown) can be used to control the precise movement of the fabric and belt between scans to assure registration of swath edges, as well as registration of the various color ink scans.
  • the printhead swath 18 would equal the array length along the web direction, as illustrated in Fig. 5. This increases the printed resolution perpendicularly across the swath by a factor of 1/COS ⁇ , where ⁇ is the bias angle of the swath to the cross web perpendicular. If the jet resolution of the array were sufficient, the printhead 12 could be angled such that the array is perpendicular to the biased scan direction, indicated by arrow 26, and an even wider swath 18 would be created during the scan, as is illustrated in Fig. 6. Thus, in the preferred orientation of Fig.
  • printheads with process color inks which are cyan (c), magenta (m) and yellow (y).
  • a fourth printhead with black ink (k) can also be included to improve image contrast. Additional printheads with other colors may be added to broaden the color space achievable.
  • Multiple printheads can be aligned on a single carriage to scan across the web serially. Serially mounting of the printheads would minimize the width of the flat bed controlling the belt and fabric, as illustrated in Fig. 7. However, the total scan length 28 would increase by "a", as shown in Fig. 7, to enable each of the three or more printheads 12 to cover the full width of the textile.
  • this configuration would provide insufficient time for each ink to absorb into the textile or dry prior to the next color ink striking the surface. This could cause spatter of inks and reduce image quality. This arrangement would also introduce color shift by laying down the process colors in a different sequence on alternate direction scans.
  • Parallel scanning allows each printhead 12 to scan a separate swath simultaneously, as illustrated in Fig. 8. The next color would be added at the subsequent printhead after the fabric and belt are advanced, providing time for the ink to penetrate or dry.
  • Parallel scanning also enables printing the process colors in the same sequence with each scan.
  • the angling of the printheads 12 accommodates the parallel configuration by allowing the printheads to overlap, thereby minimizing the size of the flat bed 22. If necessary, the printheads could be spaced to require one or more unprinted scan widths between adjacent printheads, to allow drying time before the next color overlaps. Of course, this approach requires a wider flat bed.
  • the biased scan approach creates a rectilinear matrix at the angle ⁇ to the fabric. Although this might pose problems for printing text on paper, it is not a significant factor for printing patterns and designs on fabric.
  • the angled matrix minimizes interference patterns caused by slight misalignment of the printing matrix with the weave of the fabric, which could occur more easily if the printhead scanned perpendicular to the web along the weave pattern.
  • the biased serial ink jet printing system is useful for printing colors and patterns on textiles, because ink jet technology offers a way to print digitally on textiles.
  • Multiple printheads printing a range of process colors can produce a color gamut enabling thousands of colors and shades within a single image.
  • This digital printing technology can instantly change colors and patterns with no change of ink or screens.
  • the textile printer can print only the yardage needed to fill current orders without concern for carrying large backup inventories. Repeat orders can be printed "on demand" with little concern for the size of the order.
  • This capability can provide textile consumers with a larger variety of colors and patterns in a timely and cost effective manner. This in turn can provide a larger number of "design collections" per year. Sending digital images directly to the printing system without making screens or mixing ink, digital printing of textiles can provide quicker responses to customers' demands.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
  • Coloring (AREA)
EP19970306940 1996-09-11 1997-09-08 Systéme d'impression oblique en série par jet d'encre pour textiles Expired - Lifetime EP0829368B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US71010396A 1996-09-11 1996-09-11
US710103 1996-09-11

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0829368A2 true EP0829368A2 (fr) 1998-03-18
EP0829368A3 EP0829368A3 (fr) 1999-06-09
EP0829368B1 EP0829368B1 (fr) 2002-02-06

Family

ID=24852645

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19970306940 Expired - Lifetime EP0829368B1 (fr) 1996-09-11 1997-09-08 Systéme d'impression oblique en série par jet d'encre pour textiles

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0829368B1 (fr)
CA (1) CA2215184A1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69710277T2 (fr)

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0992353A1 (fr) * 1998-10-05 2000-04-12 Gerber Garment Technology, Inc. Procédure et appareil pour imprimer sur un matériau de bande défilant en continu
EP1033254A2 (fr) * 1999-03-04 2000-09-06 Lexmark International, Inc. Cartouche d'imprimante inclinée
EP1219980A2 (fr) * 2000-12-21 2002-07-03 Seiko Epson Corporation Procédé et appareil de manufacture d'un filtre coloré, d'un dispositif à cristaux liquides et d'un dispositif électroluminescent, procédé et appareil et de décharge d'un matériau
US6431773B1 (en) 1998-10-05 2002-08-13 Gerber Technology, Inc. Method and apparatus for printing on a continuously moving sheet of work material
GB2381501A (en) * 2001-10-31 2003-05-07 Hewlett Packard Co Sensing a printhead(s) location and dividing an entire print operation into partial operations for distribution to the printhead(s) based on the location
GB2384462A (en) * 2002-01-24 2003-07-30 Hewlett Packard Co Inkjet printing system employing multiple inkjet printheads that print on different portions of the media at the same time
WO2004072360A2 (fr) * 2003-02-11 2004-08-26 F.Lli Robustelli S.R.L. Appareil d'impression de tissus par jet d'encre en continu
WO2010125129A1 (fr) * 2009-04-29 2010-11-04 Xennia Holland B.V. Chariot d'impression
WO2012032127A1 (fr) 2010-09-08 2012-03-15 Ten Cate Advanced Textiles B.V. Module de tête d'impression
US8557340B2 (en) 2007-10-31 2013-10-15 Xennia Holland B.V. Print head arrangement and method of depositing a substance
US9073340B2 (en) 2010-10-15 2015-07-07 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method with varied relative bias of printing permission ratio between print modes
CN115837805A (zh) * 2023-02-22 2023-03-24 苏州优备精密智能装备股份有限公司 实现显示面板侧边油墨喷印的设备及其喷墨打印控制方法

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS58171703A (ja) * 1982-04-01 1983-10-08 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 磁気録画再生装置
JPS6132781A (ja) * 1984-07-25 1986-02-15 Nec Corp シリアルプリンタ
JPS63252757A (ja) * 1987-04-10 1988-10-19 Canon Inc 印字ヘツド
EP0646460A1 (fr) * 1993-09-30 1995-04-05 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Imprimante à jet d'encre et système d'impression capable d'imprimer sur tissus et sur papiers, encre utilisée dans ce système et méthode de fabrication d'articles employant ce système

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS58171703A (ja) * 1982-04-01 1983-10-08 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 磁気録画再生装置
JPS6132781A (ja) * 1984-07-25 1986-02-15 Nec Corp シリアルプリンタ
JPS63252757A (ja) * 1987-04-10 1988-10-19 Canon Inc 印字ヘツド
EP0646460A1 (fr) * 1993-09-30 1995-04-05 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Imprimante à jet d'encre et système d'impression capable d'imprimer sur tissus et sur papiers, encre utilisée dans ce système et méthode de fabrication d'articles employant ce système

Non-Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 10, no. 189 (M-494), 3 July 1986 & JP 61 032781 A (NEC CORP), 15 February 1986 *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 13, no. 45 (M-792), 2 February 1989 & JP 63 252757 A (CANON INC), 19 October 1988 *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 8, no. 10 (P-248), 18 January 1984 & JP 58 171703 A (MITSUBISHI DENKI KK), 8 October 1983 *

Cited By (28)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0992353A1 (fr) * 1998-10-05 2000-04-12 Gerber Garment Technology, Inc. Procédure et appareil pour imprimer sur un matériau de bande défilant en continu
US6431773B1 (en) 1998-10-05 2002-08-13 Gerber Technology, Inc. Method and apparatus for printing on a continuously moving sheet of work material
EP1033254A2 (fr) * 1999-03-04 2000-09-06 Lexmark International, Inc. Cartouche d'imprimante inclinée
EP1033254A3 (fr) * 1999-03-04 2001-04-11 Lexmark International, Inc. Cartouche d'imprimante inclinée
EP1219980A2 (fr) * 2000-12-21 2002-07-03 Seiko Epson Corporation Procédé et appareil de manufacture d'un filtre coloré, d'un dispositif à cristaux liquides et d'un dispositif électroluminescent, procédé et appareil et de décharge d'un matériau
US7481515B2 (en) 2000-12-21 2009-01-27 Seiko Epson Corporation Method and apparatus for producing color filter, method and apparatus for manufacturing liquid crystal device, method and apparatus for manufacturing EL device, method of discharging material, apparatus for controlling head and electronic apparatus
EP1219980A3 (fr) * 2000-12-21 2004-04-14 Seiko Epson Corporation Procédé et appareil de manufacture d'un filtre coloré, d'un dispositif à cristaux liquides et d'un dispositif électroluminescent, procédé et appareil et de décharge d'un matériau
US6619794B2 (en) 2001-10-31 2003-09-16 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. System and method for optimizing ink drying time through multiple spaced printheads
GB2381501B (en) * 2001-10-31 2005-06-15 Hewlett Packard Co A system and method for optimizing ink drying time through multiple spaced printheads
GB2381501A (en) * 2001-10-31 2003-05-07 Hewlett Packard Co Sensing a printhead(s) location and dividing an entire print operation into partial operations for distribution to the printhead(s) based on the location
GB2384462A (en) * 2002-01-24 2003-07-30 Hewlett Packard Co Inkjet printing system employing multiple inkjet printheads that print on different portions of the media at the same time
GB2384462B (en) * 2002-01-24 2005-08-03 Hewlett Packard Co Inkjet printing system employing multiple inket printheads and method of performing a printing operation
US6984014B2 (en) 2002-01-24 2006-01-10 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Inkjet printing system employing multiple inkjet printheads and method of performing a printing operation
WO2004072360A2 (fr) * 2003-02-11 2004-08-26 F.Lli Robustelli S.R.L. Appareil d'impression de tissus par jet d'encre en continu
WO2004072360A3 (fr) * 2003-02-11 2004-09-16 Robustelli S R L Flli Appareil d'impression de tissus par jet d'encre en continu
US8557340B2 (en) 2007-10-31 2013-10-15 Xennia Holland B.V. Print head arrangement and method of depositing a substance
US9217224B2 (en) 2007-10-31 2015-12-22 Xennia Holland B.V. Print head arrangement and method of depositing a substance
CN102458865A (zh) * 2009-04-29 2012-05-16 克赛尼亚荷兰私人有限公司 打印托架
WO2010125129A1 (fr) * 2009-04-29 2010-11-04 Xennia Holland B.V. Chariot d'impression
CN102458865B (zh) * 2009-04-29 2015-01-21 克赛尼亚荷兰私人有限公司 打印托架
AU2010243580B2 (en) * 2009-04-29 2015-03-05 Xennia Holland B.V. Print carriage
US9004647B2 (en) 2009-04-29 2015-04-14 Xennia Holland B.V. Print carriage
RU2553964C2 (ru) * 2009-04-29 2015-06-20 Ксенниа Холланд Б.В. Печатная каретка
WO2012032127A1 (fr) 2010-09-08 2012-03-15 Ten Cate Advanced Textiles B.V. Module de tête d'impression
US8960855B2 (en) 2010-09-08 2015-02-24 Ten Cate Advanced Textiles B.V. Print head module
US9073340B2 (en) 2010-10-15 2015-07-07 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method with varied relative bias of printing permission ratio between print modes
US9085185B2 (en) 2010-10-15 2015-07-21 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method
CN115837805A (zh) * 2023-02-22 2023-03-24 苏州优备精密智能装备股份有限公司 实现显示面板侧边油墨喷印的设备及其喷墨打印控制方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69710277T2 (de) 2002-10-17
EP0829368A3 (fr) 1999-06-09
EP0829368B1 (fr) 2002-02-06
DE69710277D1 (de) 2002-03-21
CA2215184A1 (fr) 1998-03-11

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