Apparatus and method for adjusting a head gap of an inkjet printer

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting apparatus, comprising:

• a main frame;
• a head assembly including a print head;
• an eccentric shaft movably supporting the head assembly, the eccentric shaft including a bushing member at each end of the eccentric shaft, each bushing member being rotatably supported on the main frame;
• and
• an eccentric shaft turner that adjusts the head gap between the print head and a printing medium by selectively turning the eccentric shaft forward in a first direction and backward in a second direction opposite to the first direction by a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, the eccentric shaft turner comprising:
• a pivot member disposed on at least one bushing member that pivots and rotates the bushing member;
• a movable member movably disposed with respect to the main frame reciprocating the movable member, thereby providing the pivotal movement of the pivot member;
• a driver providing the reciprocating movement of the movable member;
• and
• a controller selectively driving the driver to selectively drive the reciprocating movement of the movable member to selectively adjust the head gap between the print head and the printing medium to provide the predetermined head gap, when the head gap is other than the predetermined head gap, said apparatus further comprised of the movable member and the pivot member each including a slant surface of a predetermined sloping degree, the slant surface of the movable member being disposed in opposing relation to the slant surface of the pivot member, and with the slant surface of the movable member and the slant surface of the pivot member each respectively moving in an opposite directions during pivotal movement of the pivot member.

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting apparatus, comprising:

• a main frame;
• a head assembly including a print head;
• an eccentric shaft movably supporting the head assembly, the eccentric shaft including a bushing member at each end of the eccentric shaft, each bushing member being rotatably supported on the main frame;
• and
• an eccentric shaft turner that adjusts the head gap between the print head and a printing medium by selectively turning the eccentric shaft forward in a first direction and backward in a second direction opposite to the first direction by a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, the eccentric shaft turner comprising:
• a pivot member disposed on at least one bushing member that pivots and rotates the bushing member;
• a movable member movably disposed with respect to the main frame reciprocating the movable member, thereby providing the pivotal movement of the pivot member;
• a driver providing the reciprocating movement of the movable member;
• and
• a controller selectively driving the driver to selectively drive the reciprocating movement of the movable member to selectively adjust the head gap between the print head and the printing medium to provide the predetermined head gap, when the head gap is other than the predetermined head gap, the apparatus further comprised of the driver comprising:
• a rack gear formed on a side of the movable member;
• a pinion gear rotatably formed with respect to the main frame meshed with the rack gear;
• and
• a motor driving the pinion gear to provide the reciprocating movement of the movable member.

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting apparatus, comprising:

• a main frame;
• a head assembly including a print head;
• an eccentric shaft movably supporting the head assembly, the eccentric shaft including a bushing member at each end of the eccentric shaft, each bushing member being rotatably supported on the main frame;
• and
• an eccentric shaft turner that adjusts the head gap between the print head and a printing medium by selectively turning the eccentric shaft forward in a first direction and backward in a second direction opposite to the first direction by a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, the eccentric shaft turner comprising:
• a pivot member disposed on at least one bushing member that pivots and rotates the bushing member;
• a movable member movably disposed with respect to the main frame reciprocating the movable member, thereby providing the pivotal movement of the pivot member;
• a driver providing the reciprocating movement of the movable member;
• and
• a controller selectively driving the driver to selectively drive the reciprocating movement of the movable member to selectively adjust the head gap between the print head and the printing medium to provide the predetermined head gap, when the head gap is other than the predetermined head gap, the apparatus further comprising a head gap detecting sensor disposed on the head assembly detecting data corresponding to the head gap between the print head and the printing medium, and providing the detected data to the controller so that the controller can selectively control the driving of the driver based on the detected data to provide the predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, when the head gap detected by the head gap detecting sensor is other than the predetermined head gap.

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting apparatus, comprising:

• an eccentric shaft;
• a head assembly movably disposed on the eccentric shaft, the head assembly including a print head that prints ink onto a printing medium;
• a head gap detecting sensor that detects a size of a head gap between the printing medium and the print head, the sensor being attached to said head assembly, said sensor emitting light towards said printing medium, said emitted light being reflected off said printing medium, said sensor detecting said reflected light and determining the size of said gap based on said reflected light;
• and
• an eccentric shaft turner that adjusts the size of the head gap by selectively turning the eccentric shaft to move the eccentric shaft through a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the printing medium and the print head.

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting apparatus, comprising:

• a head assembly including a print head;
• an eccentric shaft movably supporting the head assembly, the eccentric shaft including a bushing member at each end of the eccentric shaft;
• and
• a turner adjusting a head gap between the print head and a printing medium by selectively turning the eccentric shaft forward in a first direction and backward in a second direction opposite to the first direction by a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, the turner comprising:
• a pivot member disposed on at least one bushing member that pivots and rotates the bushing member;
• and
• a movable member movably disposed with respect to the main frame reciprocating the movable member, thereby providing the pivotal movement of the pivot member;
• further comprised of the movable member and the pivot member each including a slant surface of a predetermined sloping degree, the slant surface of the movable member being disposed in opposing relation to the slant surface of the pivot member, and with the slant surface of the movable member and the slant surface of the pivot member each respectively moving in an opposite direction during pivotal movement of the pivot member.

An inkjet printer head gap adjusting method, comprising the steps of:

• movably supporting a head assembly including a print head on an eccentric shaft;
• and
• adjusting a head gap between the print head and a printing medium by selectively turning the eccentric shaft in a predetermined direction by a predetermined angle to move the head assembly to provide a predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium by pivotally moving a pivot member disposed on the eccentric shaft by a reciprocating movement of a movable member by selectively driving the movable member to selectively adjust the head gap between the print head and the printing medium to provide the predetermined head gap, when the head gap is other than the predetermined head gap, further comprising the steps of:
• detecting the size of the head gap between the print head and the printing medium to provide data corresponding to the size of the head gap between the print head and the printing medium said size of said head gap being determined by emitting light from a sensor disposed on the head assembly towards said printing medium and sensing light reflected off said printing medium by said sensor and determining the size of the gap based on said emitted light and on said detected reflected light;
• and
• controlling the selective turning of the eccentric shaft by selectively driving the movable member to selectively adjust the size of the head gap between the print head and the printing medium based on the detected data so as to provide the predetermined head gap between the print head and the printing medium, when the size of the head gap detected is other than the predetermined head gap.