Ejection control using imager
AssigneeKateeva, Inc.
InventorsChristopher R. Hauf, David Darrow, David Donovan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A printing system includes a substrate support, a printhead assembly positioned facing the substrate support, and an imager. The printhead assembly includes a plurality of dispensing nozzles extending in an ejection direction towards the substrate support and a plurality of marks. The imager is movable relative to the printhead assembly and oriented in a direction opposite to the ejection direction for capturing at least one image including the plurality of marks indicating positions of the plurality of dispensing nozzles in the printhead assembly.
Claims20
A printing system, comprising:
- a substrate support;
- a print support;
- a printhead assembly movably coupled to the print support, the printhead assembly comprising:
- a plurality of nozzles extending in a first direction towards the substrate support;
- and
- a plurality of marks;
- and
- an imager coupled to the print support, the printhead assembly and imager being relatively movable, and the imager oriented in a direction opposite to the first direction for capturing an image including the plurality of marks,
- wherein
- the printhead assembly is positionable in an imaging field of the imager to enable the imager to capture the image while the printhead assembly is passing by the imager, and
- the imager is a line scan imager.
A printing method, comprising:
- capturing, by an imager, an image of a plurality of housing marks of a printhead assembly housing a plurality of removable printheads and a printhead mark on each printhead, each printhead having a plurality of nozzles;
- detecting the plurality of housing marks and printhead marks in the image captured by the imager;
- determining positions of at least a portion of the nozzles based on the detected housing marks and printhead marks;
- based on the positions of the nozzles, ejecting print material from the nozzles onto a substrate while moving the substrate relative to the printhead assembly.
A printing system, comprising:
- a substrate support;
- a print support that extends across the substrate support;
- a printhead assembly coupled to the print support, the printhead assembly comprising:
- a printhead having a plurality of nozzles facing the substrate support;
- a housing;
- and
- a plurality of marks on the housing;
- a line scan imager the line scan imager and the printhead assembly relatively movable to position the nozzles and the plurality of marks within a field of view of the line scan imager for capturing an image, while the printhead assembly and the line scan imager are in relative movement, including the plurality of marks and the nozzles;
- and
- a controller to control ejection of print material from the nozzles based on the image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.