Step compensating carriage printer
AssigneeElectronics for Imaging, Inc.
InventorsPeter HEATH, Paul DUNCANSON
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a technique that enables a carriage printer to reduce precision in a media conveyor by improving mobility of the carriage. The carriage includes a mobile jetplate that adjusts the position of the printheads within the carriage. The mobile jetplate includes multiple motors that enable shifts in an axis matching the axis of the media. Operating the motors of the jetplate at different locations or at different intensities causes the jetplate to skew and achieve mobility of multiple axes. A set of sensors monitor media skew and shifts of the mobile jetplate are able to compensate for that skew. An additional set of motors shift the carriage to compensate for deformation of the beam that the carriage shuttles along.
Claims20
A printer apparatus comprising:
- a media conveyor;
- a beam oriented perpendicularly to a direction of media movement of the media conveyor;
- a carriage mounted to the beam via a carriage frame, the carriage frame configured to shuttles along the beam, the carriage further including an inkjet mounted on a j etplate, wherein the jetplate is configured to reposition the inkjet relative to the carriage frame in a direction perpendicular to the beam.
A method of operating a printer apparatus comprising:
- shuttling an ink carriage back and forth along a beam oriented perpendicularly to a direction of media movement of a media conveyor;
- and
- repositioning an inkjet relative to an ink carriage frame of the ink carriage in a direction perpendicular to the beam via a jetplate adjustably mounted to the carriage frame, wherein the inkjet is mounted on the jetplate.
A system comprising:
- a media conveyor including a first sensor that monitors movement of a workpiece by the media conveyor;
- an inkjet carriage configured to move laterally with respect to a media conveyor path;
- an inkjet mounted within the inkjet carriage and configured to adjust position within the inkjet carriage in at least a direction consistent with the media conveyor path, wherein adjustment of the inkjet is monitored by a second sensor included in the inkjet carriage and the adjustment compensates for a workpiece drift as measured by the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.