GB2525680A

GB2525680A - Surface marking

Info

Publication number: GB2525680A
Application number: GB1407834.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony David George Rhoades
Original assignee: Micropply Ltd
Current assignee: Micropply Ltd
Priority date: 2014-05-02
Filing date: 2014-05-02
Publication date: 2015-11-04
Also published as: GB201407834D0

Abstract

A printing arrangement suitable for printing in an extended surface comprises: A printhead 12 mounted on a traversable carriage 11 and means to traverse the carriage 11 over an extended surface 14 such as a playground, football pitch or baseball ground. The printing apparatus preferably includes a frame 15 which may be a virtual frame comprising a laser guide means (17, fig 5); the apparatus may use machine vision to align printed areas and may include means to adjust the distance of the printhead from the extended surface.

Description

Surface marking This invention relates to surface marking.

Surface marking, particularly ground surface marking, is done in vanoLls ways.

For school playground markings, cut-out sections of plastic sheet material are heat fused to a tarmac or concrete surface by means of gas torches. For road markings, molten plastics material is applied through stencils. Some markings are painted. Markings delineating sporting pitches are applied by a roller coated with marking material from a reservoir on a trolley anangement.

IS These methods for ground marking are all more or less labour intensive and rely to various extents on skill and experience In addition, the use of gas torches is precluded in many places -subway stations, for example, where there is a need for step edge markings, and areas where the ground cannot take heat, such as wooden floors and steps, and grass.

The present invention provides a surface marking method that can he applied on many different surfaces and in many different situations, that can if necessary be done without heat, and that does not depend on the skill and judgement of operatives.

The invention comprises an extended surface printing arrangement comprising a printer carriage with a printer head traversable on a carriage traverse arrangement, and carriage traverse means adapted to traverse the caniage over the extended surface.

By extended surface' is meant a surface that is larger than the normal scope of a printer.

A printer, such as an ink jet printer, has a paper feed arrangement that holds various paper sizes, most commonly up to A4, though there are larger printers, of course, all, however, having a maximum printing medium size, except, naturally, for web printing presses in which paper web or fabric is fed through continuously.

The printer carriage may compnse an otherwise conventional ink jet printer, hut without the paper feed arrangement, and adapted to be supported with the head proximate to the extended surface, and such other adaptation as may be appropriate to the increased scale of operations. The printer may, of course, he a colour printer. The print head may he larger than for conventional paper printers, and ink cartridges replaced by more copious reservoirs. The nozzles may also be larger, as the print resolution will usually be coarser.

The carriage traverse means may comprise a frame defining the extended surface and means to traverse the printer within the frame. The frame may comprise a physical frame, which may be adjusted for size, as by being telescopic, and may be anchorable to a substrate to avoid displacement during a printing operation, as by reaction to print head reversing forces. The frame may, however, he a virtual frame defined perhaps by an

I

electronic or laser guidance system. Such a virtual frame can, of course, he very large, the size of a football or baseball ground, or even larger.

The printer will print only a part of the extended surface at any one time. Register means may be provided to position the carriage so as to print in register with an adjacent printed area. Such register means may comprise a machine vision arrangement that images a pan of a printed area and uses a stitching algorithm of the kind used to stitch photographs together to make a panorama The carriage traverse means may comprise a steerable motor drive and control means therefor, which may comprise a programmable controller communicating wirelessly with a receiver in the carriage.

in addition to x, y traversing, the print head may also be adjustable for height, to adapt it IS to different substrates, e.g. tarmac, concrete, grass, and, in particular, for uneven substrates. There may be provision for controlling the head in the z direction to maintain it at a fixed height above an uneven substrate.

Extended surface marking arrangements according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of an extended surface printing arrangement; Figure 2 is a view on Arrow II of Figure I: Figure 3 is a plan view of an extended surface being marked by the arrangement of Figures I and 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of an adiustable version of the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment.

The drawings illustrate extended surface printing arrangements comprising a printer carriage 11 with a printer head 12 traversable on a carriage traverse arrangement 13, and carriage traverse means 14 adapted to traverse the carriage 11 over the extended surface 14.

The printer carriage I I compnses an otherwise conventional ink jet printer, bLit without the paper feed arrangement, and adapted to be supported with the head 12 proximate to the extended surface 14, and such other adaptation as may be appropriate to the increased scale of operations. The printer may, of course, he a colour printer, with the usual CYMK provision. The print head will usually be larger than for conventional paper printers, and ink cartridges replaced by more copious reservoirs to hold the volumes required to cover the extended surface 14. The jet nozzles may also he larger, as the print resolution will usually be coarser The caniage traverse means comprise a frame 15 defining the extended surface and means to traverse the printer within the frame. The frame I 5 of the first embodiment comprises a physical frame, which may be adjusted, as seen in Figure 4, for size, by being telescopic, and which is anchorable to a substrate to avoid displacement during a printing operation, as by reaction to print head reversing forces. The frame 15 has IS aperture corner lugs lb by which it maybe pinned down to the surface.

The frame 15 depicted in Figure 5 is, however, a virtual frame defined by an electronic or laser guidance system, here depicted as a pair of emitters i 7 which lay down a net 18 sensed by equipment on the carriage 11, which is motor driven and steerable. The print head 12 is likewise controlled to print the right colour in the right place. Such a virtual frame iS can, of course, he very large, the size of a football or baseball ground, or even larger.

The printer will print only a part of the extended surface 14 at any one time. V/hen the surface 24 within the frame IS is printed, the frame IS of the arrangement of Figures I and 2 can be moved to an adjacent area. Register means, which may comprise the lugs 16, can be provided to position the caniage 11 so as to print in register with an adjacent printed area. FigLire 3 shows several already printed areas i 4a, shaded, which have been done by repositioning the frame 15. Such register means can comprise a machine vision arrangement that images a part of a printed area and uses a stitching algorithm of the kind used to stitch photographs together to make a panorama.

In addition to x, y traversing, the print head 13 is also be adjustable for height, to adapt it to different substrates, e.g. tarmac, concrete, grass, and, in particular, for uneven substrates. There can he provision, which may comprise a contact roller, for controlling the head 13 in the z direction to maintain it at a fixed height above an uneven substrate.

An anangement similar to the provision on some vacuum cleaners that senses whether the cleaner is on carpet or hard flooring will he appropriate where the arrangement will he used for printing on grass, say, as well as concrete or asphalt.