EP1216838B1 - Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement - Google Patents

Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1216838B1
EP1216838B1 EP20010000701 EP01000701A EP1216838B1 EP 1216838 B1 EP1216838 B1 EP 1216838B1 EP 20010000701 EP20010000701 EP 20010000701 EP 01000701 A EP01000701 A EP 01000701A EP 1216838 B1 EP1216838 B1 EP 1216838B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
nozzle
nozzles
ink jet
printer
array
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
EP20010000701
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1216838A1 (fr
Inventor
Bart Verhoest
Dirk De Ruyter
Hilbrand Van Den Wyngaert
Bart Verlinden
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.)
Agfa Gevaert NV
Agfa Gevaert AG
Original Assignee
Agfa Gevaert NV
Agfa Gevaert AG
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Agfa Gevaert NV, Agfa Gevaert AG filed Critical Agfa Gevaert NV
Priority to EP20010000701 priority Critical patent/EP1216838B1/fr
Publication of EP1216838A1 publication Critical patent/EP1216838A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1216838B1 publication Critical patent/EP1216838B1/fr
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
    • B41J25/001—Mechanisms for bodily moving print heads or carriages parallel to the paper surface
    • 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
    • B41J25/001—Mechanisms for bodily moving print heads or carriages parallel to the paper surface
    • B41J25/003—Mechanisms for bodily moving print heads or carriages parallel to the paper surface for changing the angle between a print element array axis and the printing line, e.g. for dot density changes

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an ink jet printer, especially to an ink jet printer useful in multimode printing.
  • an ink jet printer used for printing images such as pictures and photographs
  • an ink jet printer used for text reproduction are quite different.
  • the quality of the print is, provided that a minimum resolution is achieved, more determined by the absence of banding in even density parts and by the number of density levels printable per pixel than by the resolution.
  • the image quality is more determined by the resolution and less by the absence of banding in even density parts and the number of density levels printable per pixel. This means that it is quite difficult to design a single printer that can print pages containing both images - e.g. photographs - and text with high image quality.
  • the present invention is an ink jet printer as claimed in independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.
  • Fig. 1 schematically shows an ink jet printer in accordance with the invention.
  • the ink jet printer includes two nozzle arrays 101 and 101', that may be maintained in a frame (not shown).
  • the receiving substrate 103 upon which the image, the text or both are to be printed, is moved along a receiving substrate path in the direction of arrow A, the printing direction.
  • the shown portion of the receiving substrate path is rectilinear.
  • the receiving substrate path may have other forms; the receiving substrate may e.g. be guided by a drum, the receiving substrate path may comprise a number of rectilinear portions and a number of curved portions, etc.
  • the first and second nozzle arrays 101, 101' are arranged one after another in the printing direction (i.e.
  • the receiving substrate first passes nozzle array 101' and then nozzle array 101 - as shown in Fig. 1 - or it first passes nozzle array 101 and then nozzle array 101' - as shown in Fig. 2).
  • the first nozzle array 101 is positioned at a constant first ink-throwing distance from the receiving substrate path.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is positioned at a constant second ink-throwing distance from the receiving substrate path, that may be different from the first ink-throwing distance.
  • the first nozzle array 101 has a length L and a number N of nozzles 102 that are positioned in the array with a nozzle pitch NP; the second nozzle array 101' has a length L' and a number N' of nozzles 102' that are positioned in the array with a nozzle pitch NP'.
  • the first nozzle array 101 is positioned so that its length L makes an angle ⁇ with the printing direction A, chosen so that 20° ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ 160°
  • the second nozzle array 101' is positioned so that its length L' makes an angle ⁇ ' with the printing direction A, also chosen so that 20° ⁇ ⁇ ' ⁇ 160°.
  • the nozzle arrays 101, 101' each have only one row of nozzles.
  • a nozzle array may comprise several rows of nozzles.
  • a page wide printhead assembly is defined as follows.
  • the receiving substrate has a width W (not shown in Fig. 1) orthogonal to the printing direction A, and a printable width W P (not shown in Fig. 1) that may be smaller than W in case there is at least one unprinted border.
  • W width
  • W P printable width
  • the number of nozzles N and the length L are so large that the printable width W P is covered, eliminating the need to shuttle the printhead assembly as is the case in shuttle printers.
  • a printhead assembly has a length L that is substantially smaller than the printable width W P of the receiving substrate (or, in case the printhead assembly is at an angle ⁇ to the printing direction A that is different from 90°, L*sin ⁇ is substantially smaller than W P ), so that the printhead has to scan the receiving substrate, i.e. to reciprocate, in order to cover the printable width W P .
  • a page wide printhead assembly can be obtained in different ways, e.g. by means of a single, “monolithic” printhead, by means of a number of staggered printheads, etc.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is arranged so as to be movable back and forth as indicated by arrow M.
  • a first advantage of an ink jet printer in accordance with the invention is the availability of multimode printing: the user has the possibility to switch the printer in an easy way between two or, which is preferred, three of the following modes: pure image mode, pure text mode and mixed text/image mode.
  • Another advantage of the invention is that the amount of data that has to be sent to the printer may be minimized for each printing mode.
  • Yet another advantage is that the change-over from mode to mode can proceed during printing, i.e. without stopping the printer.
  • Figure 1 schematically shows a printer according to the invention, as discussed already above.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is movably arranged in the printer for being displaced in the direction M' over a distance that equals at least (sin ⁇ '.NP')/2, which corresponds to a distance of at least NP'/2 in the direction of arrow M.
  • the angle ⁇ equals the angle ⁇ '.
  • the nozzle arrays are stationary with respect to the printing direction A.
  • said first and second nozzle array are equipped to eject ink with substantially equal chromaticity.
  • Chromaticity describes objectively hue and saturation of a color, and may be measured in terms of CIE x,y or u',v' (cf. "The reproduction of colour in photography, printing & television" by R.W.G. Hunt, 4th edition 1987, ISBN 0 86343 088 0, pp. 71-72).
  • a printer according to this invention can be used in "image mode", with shingling in the printing direction.
  • This is schematically shown in figure 2.
  • the number N and N' of dots in each array is restricted to 4 for sake of clarity
  • the angles ⁇ and ⁇ ' are both equal to 90°.
  • the receiving substrate travels under the nozzle arrays at a speed so as to achieve a resolution, in the printing direction A, equal to the nozzle pitch of the arrays of apertures. Both nozzle arrays are equipped for ejecting ink with substantially equal chromaticity.
  • the first nozzle array 101 having a plurality of nozzles 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, is placed so that each of the nozzles is positioned to correspond to a desired, different, print location
  • the second nozzle array 101' having a plurality of nozzles 102'a, 102'b, 102'c, 102'd is movably arranged (in the direction of arrow M) and for "image mode" printing placed so that the print location of each of the nozzles of the second array corresponds to one of the print locations of the first array such that the first and second arrays each have one nozzle corresponding to each desired print location.
  • the dots printed by the nozzles of the first array are indicated by the number 1 and the dots printed by the second array by the number 2.
  • the arrays of nozzles are addressed so that the first row of dots is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d.
  • the second row is printed by nozzles 102'a, 102'b, 102'c and 102'd
  • the third row is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d, and so on.
  • the second of the nozzle arrays can be used as redundant array.
  • the second nozzle array is used to print only when the corresponding nozzle of the first nozzle array does not print (i.e. is defective).
  • nozzle 102'b is used to print.
  • FIG 3 a printer according to this invention used in "image mode" and addressed to achieve shingling both in the columns and the rows of the image is shown.
  • the printer schematically shown in figure 3 is basically the same as the one schematically shown in figure 2, only the way of addressing the various nozzles is changed.
  • the arrays of nozzles are addressed so that the first row of dots is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102'b, 102c and 102'd.
  • the second row is printed by nozzles 102'a, 102b, 102'c and 102d
  • the third row is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102'b, 102c and 102'd, and so on.
  • the result is that in every row and column the dots are printed by the alternation between the two nozzle arrays so that shingling is achieved in the columns (parallel to the printing direction) : the adjacent dots are printed with different nozzles and banding is diminished. In the rows of dots (orthogonal to the printing direction) interlacing is achieved.
  • the printer as schematically shown in figure 2 is used in "text mode".
  • the movement of the second nozzle array can proceed by any means known in the art, e.g., a stepping motor.
  • a stepping motor When both the first and second nozzle array have a "native" resolution of 360 dpi, then the nozzle pitch is 70 ⁇ m, thus when the second array is displaced, it is displaced over 35 ⁇ m. This can proceed very accurately using stepping motors that have steps in the micrometer range (steps of 2 to 5 ⁇ m).
  • dampening springs can be used.
  • One of the advantages of a printer construction according to this invention is the simplicity and the possibility to easily change the physical resolution of the printer, e.g. by providing a button on the control panel of the printer for switching between "image mode", "text mode” or “mixed text/image mode", without need to have special image processing and thus the need to send an excessive amount of data to the printer.
  • Another advantage of this printer is the ease with which the printing speed and image quality can be exchanged : e.g. in the printing mode shown in figure 2 the printing speed is high but the image has only shingling, whereas in the printing mode shown in figure 3 the printing speed is lower (since it is limited by the maximum nozzle firing rate) but the image has shingling and interlacing. This means that the printer gives the user more freedom to adapt the performance of the printer to the requirements of the job at hand than in other printers.
  • Another advantage of the concept of constructing an ink jet printer with a physically movable nozzle array is the versatility of the concept.
  • one of the pairs of nozzle arrays is placed in "image mode” and the other one in "text mode” so that both text portions and image portions can be printed in a single pass with adapted quality, i.e. image portions wherein a minimum resolution is achieved and more emphasis is placed on the absence of banding in even density parts and the number of density levels printable per pixel and text portions with high resolution and less emphasis on by the absence of banding in even density parts and by the number of density levels printable per pixel.
  • the concept of constructing an ink jet printer with a physically movable nozzle array can be used to manufacture a single pass multicolor printer.
  • one movable array e.g. one pair designed for printing Y (yellow), one pair designed for printing M (magenta), one pair designed for printing C (cyan), and two pairs designed for printing K (black)
  • printers it is also possible with such a printer to switch one or more of the pairs of nozzle arrays - depending on the color of the text to be printed - in "text mode" in the way as schematically shown in figure 4 for 1 pair of nozzle arrays.
  • the printer can also be switched in "mixed text/image mode" when the YMC pairs of nozzle arrays and one of the pairs of nozzle arrays designed for printing K are switched to "image mode” and one of the nozzle arrays designed for printing K (black) to "text mode".
  • not only said second nozzle array 101' is movably arranged, but also said first nozzle array 101 is movably arranged in said printer for being displaced so that said number N of nozzles experience a displacement that has a non-zero component in the direction M' orthogonal to the printing direction A.
  • the displacement of the N nozzles 102 of the first nozzle array may be different from the displacement of the N' nozzles 102' of the second array, and the components in the direction M' may also be different from each other.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is movably arranged in said printer for being displaced in the direction M' over a distance that equals at least (sin ⁇ '.NP')/2
  • the first nozzle array 101 is movably arranged in the printer for being displaced in the direction M' over a distance that equals at least (sin ⁇ .NP)/2.
  • both arrays of nozzles are movably arranged for being displaced over a distance of at least half the nozzle pitch, and preferably over a distance equal to half the nozzle pitch.
  • the receiving substrate travels under the nozzle arrays at a speed so as to achieve a resolution, in the printing direction A, equal to half to the nozzle pitch of the arrays of apertures.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is moved - in the figure to the left - over half the nozzle pitch so that the nozzles of the second array are placed between nozzles of the first array.
  • the receiving substrate travels at a speed so as to have rows of dots printed at intervals equal to half the nozzle pitch.
  • a first row of dots is printed by the first nozzle array
  • a second row of dots is printed by the second nozzle array
  • the third row of dots is printed again by the first nozzle array
  • the fourth row of dots is printed by the second nozzle array and so on.
  • the second pass in the printer is shown.
  • the second nozzle array 101' is shifted half a nozzle pitch back to the right and the first nozzle array 101 is shifted half a nozzle pitch to the left.
  • the dots printed by the first nozzle array during the second pass are indicated by 21, and the dots printed by the second nozzle array during the second pass are indicated by 22.
  • a first row of dots is printed by the first nozzle array
  • a second row of dots is printed by the second nozzle array
  • the third row of dots is printed again by the first nozzle array
  • the fourth row of dots is printed by the second nozzle array and so on.
  • the first row of dots is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102a, 102b, 102b, 102c, 102c, 102d and 102d;
  • the second row is printed by nozzles 102'a, 102'a, 102'b, 102'b, 102'c, 102'c, 102'd and 102'd;
  • the third row is printed by the nozzles 102a, 102a, 102b, 102b, 102c, 102c, 102d and 102d; and so on.
  • the result is that in every column the dots are printed by the alternation between the two nozzle arrays so that shingling is achieved : the adjacent dots are printed with different nozzles and banding is diminished.
  • a ink jet printer in accordance with the invention can operate as a monochrome single pass printer, as a monochrome double pass printer, as a multicolor single pass printer, as a multicolor double pass printer.
  • both arrays are movably arranged in the printer, and if enough pairs of nozzle arrays and colors are provided, the printer can be switched between single pass monochrome "image mode", single pass monochrome “text mode”, single pass monochrome “mixed mode”, single pass multicolor "image mode”, single pass multicolor "text mode”, single pass multicolor "mixed mode”, double pass monochrome “image mode”, double pass monochrome “text mode”, double pass monochrome “mixed mode”, double pass multicolor "image mode”, double pass multicolor "text mode”, double pass multicolor "mixed mode”.
  • the first and second nozzle arrays of a pair of nozzle arrays are both incorporated in a single printhead assembly, preferably in a single page wide printhead assembly.
  • the first or the second or both nozzle arrays are movably arranged in the printer.

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  • Ink Jet (AREA)

Claims (10)

  1. Imprimante à jet d'encre possédant une direction d'impression (A), l'imprimante comprenant :
    - un premier réseau de buses (101) possédant une longueur L et un nombre N de buses (102), disposé dans au moins un premier rang de buses de telle sorte que ledit premier rang de buses forme un angle α par rapport à ladite direction d'impression (A) et de telle sorte que 20° ≤ α ≤ 160° ;
    - un deuxième réseau de buses (101') possédant une longueur L' et un nombre N' de buses (102'), disposé dans au moins un deuxième rang de buses de telle sorte que ledit deuxième rang de buses forme un angle α' par rapport à ladite direction d'impression (A) et de telle sorte que 20° ≤ α' ≤ 160° ;
    ledit premier réseau de buses et ledit deuxième réseau de buses étant arrangés l'un derrière l'autre dans ladite direction d'impression (A) ; et
    caractérisée en ce que ledit deuxième réseau de buses (101') est disposé en mobilité par rapport à ledit premier réseau de buses (101) dans ladite imprimante pour pouvoir se déplacer de telle sorte que ledit nombre N' de buses (102') est soumis à un déplacement comportant une composante dans la direction M' perpendiculaire à ladite direction d'impression (A).
  2. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ledit premier réseau de buses (101) et ledit deuxième réseau de buses (101') sont des assemblages de têtes d'impression (101, 101') s'étendant sur la largeur de la page.
  3. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle ledit premier réseau de buses (101) et ledit deuxième réseau de buses (101') sont incorporés dans un assemblage unique de têtes d'impression.
  4. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle ledit deuxième réseau de buses (101') possède un pas de buse NP' et dans laquelle ladite composante dans ladite direction M' possède une valeur d'au moins (sin α'.NP')/2.
  5. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle ledit premier réseau de buses (101) est disposé en mobilité dans ladite imprimante pour pouvoir être déplacé de telle sorte que ledit nombre N de buses (102) est soumis à un autre déplacement comportant une autre composante dans ladite direction M'.
  6. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon la revendication 5, dans laquelle ledit premier réseau de buses (101) possède un pas de buse NP et dans laquelle ladite autre composante dans ladite direction M' possède une valeur d'au moins (sin α.NP)/2.
  7. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon la revendication 6, lorsqu'elle dépend de la revendication 4, dans laquelle NP = NP'.
  8. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle N = N', L = L' et α = α'.
  9. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon la revendication 8, dans laquelle α = α' = 90°.
  10. Imprimante à jet d'encre selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle ledit premier réseau de buses (101) et ledit deuxième réseau de buses (101') sont équipés pour éjecter de l'encre possédant une chromaticité essentiellement égale.
EP20010000701 2000-12-22 2001-12-04 Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement Expired - Lifetime EP1216838B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP20010000701 EP1216838B1 (fr) 2000-12-22 2001-12-04 Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP00204699 2000-12-22
EP00204699 2000-12-22
EP20010000701 EP1216838B1 (fr) 2000-12-22 2001-12-04 Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1216838A1 EP1216838A1 (fr) 2002-06-26
EP1216838B1 true EP1216838B1 (fr) 2006-12-27

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EP20010000701 Expired - Lifetime EP1216838B1 (fr) 2000-12-22 2001-12-04 Imprimante à jet d'encre avec des ensembles de buses qui peuvent se déplacer mutuellement

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Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3176272B2 (ja) * 1995-11-21 2001-06-11 シャープ株式会社 インクジェット記録ヘッド
DE19755874C1 (de) * 1997-12-04 1999-07-15 Francotyp Postalia Gmbh Verfahren zum Toleranzausgleich bei einem aus mehreren Modulen nach dem Non-Interlaced-Prinzip zusammengesetzten Tintendruckkopf
IL128521A (en) * 1999-02-14 2003-05-29 Aprion Digital Ltd Bi-axial staggered printing array

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EP1216838A1 (fr) 2002-06-26

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