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US 7,740,349 B2Granted
Printer and printing method
AssigneeMimaki Engineering Co., Ltd.
InventorsChikao Tezuka, Kazutomo Seki, Nobuyuki Ono
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printer includes a holding unit, a printer head, a movement controller and a printing controller. The holding unit is configured to hold a print substrate having a surface to be printed. The printer head is configured to eject ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles to the surface. The movement controller is configured to move the holding unit and the printer head relative to each other. The printing controller is configured to control ejection of the ink from the printer head according to a surface curvature of the surface and a relative position of the holding unit and the printer head.
Claims18
A printer comprising:
- a holding unit configured to hold a print substrate having a surface to be printed;
- a printer head configured to eject ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles to the surface;
- a primary supporting member having a front surface having a semicylindrical shape;
- a secondary supporting member having a rear surface formed to correspond to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said secondary supporting member being slidably mounted to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said holding unit being supported by said secondary supporting member;
- a movement controller configured to move said holding unit and said printer head relative to each other;
- and
- a printing controller configured to control ejection of the ink from the printer head according to a surface curvature of the surface and a relative position of said holding unit and said printer head.
4 more elements
A printer comprising:
- holding means for holding a print substrate having a surface to be printed;
- printer head means for ejecting ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles to the surface;
- means for supporting said holding means, said means for supporting including a primary supporting member having a front surface having a semicylindrical shape, said means for supporting further including a secondary supporting member having a rear surface formed to correspond to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said secondary supporting member being slidably mounted to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said holding means being mounted to said secondary supporting member;
- movement controller means for moving said holding means and said printer head means relative to each other;
- and
- printing controller means for controlling ejection of the ink from the printer head means according to a surface curvature of the surface and a relative position of said holding means and said printer head means.
3 more elements
A printing method comprising:
- holding a print substrate having a surface to be printed using a holding unit;
- ejecting ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles to the surface;
- providing a primary supporting member having a front surface having a semicylindrical shape;
- supporting the holding unit using a secondary supporting member, the secondary supporting member having a rear surface formed to correspond to the front surface of the primary supporting member, the secondary supporting member being slidably mounted to the front surface of the primary supporting member;
- moving said print substrate held and said plurality of ejection nozzles relative to each other;
- and
- controlling ejection of the ink from the plurality of ejection nozzles according to a surface curvature of the surface and a relative position of said print substrate held and said plurality of ejection nozzles.
4 more elements
A three-dimensional printer comprising:
- a holding unit configured to hold a print substrate having a three-dimensional surface to be printed;
- a printer head configured to eject ink from a plurality of ejection nozzles to the three-dimensional surface;
- a primary supporting member having a front surface having a semicylindrical shape;
- a secondary supporting member having a rear surface formed to correspond to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said secondary supporting member being slidably mounted to said front surface of said primary supporting member, said holding unit being supported by said secondary supporting member;
- a movement controller configured to move said holding unit and said printer head relative to each other;
- and
- a printing controller configured to control ejection of the ink from the printer head according to a surface curvature of the three-dimensional surface and a relative position of said holding unit and said printer head.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.