4093results about "Power drive mechanisms" patented technology

A method of interconnecting a pagewidth printhead containing an array of ink ejection nozzles to an ink distribution manifold, includes attaching the printhead to the ink distribution manifold. This is done by using a resilient adhesive configured to be elastically deformed with any deflections of the ink distribution manifold. The resilient adhesive can include a silicone elastomer. The printhead is in the form of an elongate printhead chip for use in a pagewidth printer and can be attached to the ink supply unit along the sides and along a back surface thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention may include a method for printing three-dimensional objects, layer by layer utilizing an optimized scheme of predefined passes for each layer based on considerations related to both throughput and quality of printing. Embodiment of the invention may include generating a scanning plan for a layer such that the accumulated length for all the scanning passes in the layer is minimized. The optimization scheme may be performed based on image data parameters, such as sizes, locations, dimensions and shapes of the imaged areas of the layer.

An inkjet printing system includes a replaceable printhead having plural nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, a service station for capping and wiping the plural nozzles, and a replaceable ink cartridge housing a supply of ink and further including a cartridge memory for recording service station-control data. A processor is coupled to the ink cartridge memory and is responsive to service station-control data read from the cartridge memory to derive a service station control value. The printhead further includes a memory which records printhead-related parameters, and the processor is responsive thereto and service station-control data read from said cartridge memory to control the service station. The control data may be service station parameters, one or more subroutines to control the service station and combinations thereof.

A recording apparatus includes a housing body, an opening / closing member, attached to the housing body via a pivot shaft so as to be capable of rotating freely, that covers the surface of the housing body on one side thereof, and an ink tank having an injection port for filling an ink holding chamber with ink used in recording. Here, the ink tank is disposed so that one end thereof is positioned within the housing body on the opposite side of the housing body as the side in which the pivot shaft is provided, and has a stepped shape including a step portion, the step portion being provided on a side of the ink tank that is further from the pivot shaft. The injection port is provided in the step portion, and when the opening / closing member is opened and the ink is to be filled.

A method is provided for reducing image artifacts in printers that employ two or more printhead nozzle banks that must be aligned and registered with respect to each other either through adjustment of orientation and / or position of one nozzle bank relative to another or through selective control of actuation. In the method, discrete dots are printed by the nozzle banks upon a target receiver medium. Examination of the receiver medium or a reproduction thereof is made by a scanner and information regarding location of the dots is generated. From information regarding location of the dots a determination is made of error placement of the dots from ideal locations. Alignment of the nozzle banks are made in accordance with any errors determined in placement.

A liquid container capable of communicating to a liquid ejection head of a liquid ejecting apparatus via a liquid supply member is provided with an injection port for a liquid, a liquid containing portion capable of containing the liquid injected from the injection port, and a supply port capable of connecting to the liquid supply member. A first portion of the liquid container including the injection port is displaceable in a relative manner with respect to a second portion of the liquid container which is different than the first portion and includes the liquid containing portion.

The invention concerns a print robot for large format three-dimensional printing on a fixed surface ( 11 ) having five motorized axes, comprising an inkjet printing block ( 13 ), means for displacing and orientating this printing assembly along several axes, at least one control unit controlling these means and a drying device to dry the ink sprayed onto said surface ( 11 ), wherein these means comprise: a carrier ( 15 ) with three degrees of freedom in translation, ensuring the positioning of the printing assembly allowing its horizontal, vertical and depth translation, a wrist ( 16 ) with two degrees of freedom which supports and orientates the printing assembly ( 13 ) allowing its rotations along two perpendicular axes. The invention also concerns a process implementing this robot.

Methods for electrically refurbishing a depleted single-use printer ink container for a printing system allow the ink container to be refilled and re-used. The memory device provides a signal when coupled to the printing system that indicates the volume of ink left in the container. The original memory device is not resettable by the printer. Four ways are described to refurbish the first memory device: (1) erase the memory with an irradiation source and reprogram; (2) remove the memory along with its electrical contacts; (3) leave the memory device and contacts in place and mount a new source of signals and contacts on top of the first set of electrical elements; or (4) sever continuity between the first electrical contacts and the first memory device and connect a second source of signals to the contacts. The new source of signals could be an emulator or a substitute memory device. The emulator or new memory device may be mounted to the ink container, or located remotely.

It is intended to provide a tape printer which enables to forcibly separate a platen roller and a print head along with an opening movement of a cover element in case the platen roller and the print head have adhered to each other because of a long-period storage of the tape printer with the platen roller and the print head being in contact. Accordingly, a cam pressing member and a cam receiver move a roller holder to a withdrawing position in which the platen roller and a thermal head are separated from each other when the cover element is opened, so that the cam pressing member and the cam receiver can be forcibly returned to the withdrawing position from a position in which the platen roller is in contact with the thermal head.

A printing device has a plurality of print stations including dot-forming elements arranged to produce an image on a moving recording medium and provided in a redundant manner, thereby enabling dot-forming-element activity to be distributed between redundant dot-forming elements and errors of dot-forming elements to be compensated. A lateral-position detector arrangement or predictor is arranged to indicate the recording medium's lateral position relative to the print stations during a print process. A controller is arranged to use at least one print mask for each print station to distribute the dot-forming-element activity between the print stations and to compensate the errors of dot-forming elements. The printing device is arranged so that, in response to a detected or predicted change of the relative lateral position, at least one of the currently used print masks is replaced by another one relating to the changed relative lateral position.

An ink jet printer for printing on an at least partially cylindrical objects comprises one or more printheads positioned above a line of travel and a carriage assembly configured to hold an at least partially cylindrical object axially aligned along the line of travel and to position said object relative to the printheads, and then rotate the object relative to said one or more printheads. The printer also includes a curing device located along the line of travel and configured to emit an energy suitable to cure the deposited fluid.

The image forming apparatus includes: a recording medium conveyance device which includes air flow channels and a recording medium holding region on which a recording medium is held, a surface of the recording medium holding region having openings in connection with the air flow channels, the recording medium conveyance device conveying the recording medium in a prescribed conveyance direction while holding the recording medium on the recording medium holding region by suction; a suction device which performs air suction through the openings to perform holding of the recording medium on the recording medium holding region by suction when the recording medium is disposed on the recording medium holding region; an image forming device which performs image formation onto the recording medium held on the recording medium holding region by the suction device; a discharging device which performs air discharge through the openings when no recording medium is disposed on the recording medium holding region; and an air switching device which performs switching between the air suction and the air discharge.

In monochrome printing mode, a first correction value is set for correcting printing positional deviation between ink droplets printed during forward and reverse main scanning passes. In color printing mode, a second correction value is set for correcting printing positional deviation between ink droplets printed during forward and reverse main scanning passes. An adjustment value is determined for reducing printing positional deviation during forward and reverse main scanning passes. For this, in monochrome printing mode the first correction value is used as an adjustment value, and in color printing mode at least a second correction value is used to determine an adjustment value. Following this, the adjustment value is used to adjust printing positions during forward and reverse main scanning passes.

In a first aspect, a system is provided. The system includes (1) a stage adapted to move a substrate relative to print heads during printing; (2) at least one print head suspended from a support above the stage and adapted to be moveable in a plane above the stage; (3) a controller operable to rotate the print head about a center of the print head; and (4) an imaging system adapted to capture an image of the print head and to determine a center point of the print head based upon images of the print head captured as the print head is rotated. Numerous other aspects are provided.

A multifunctional device including a lower frame, a main control board, and a cartridge holder. A conveying space is formed in the lower frame farther forward than a recording unit and includes a discharge space for receiving discharged recording sheet. The main control board is disposed horizontally above the conveying space when viewed from the front. The recording unit is disposed farther rearward than the conveying space, with its topmost part substantially equal in height to the main control board. The cartridge holder is disposed to the side of the conveying space and the main control board and fits vertically within the top part.

A device and method for the alignment, in upto six degrees of freedom, of printheads in a printer is disclosed. The device has a support, wherein the printhead is secured to a substantially center location of the support. The device further has a fixed plate biased against the support by a plurality of first screws extending substantially in a Z direction, a plurality of second screws extending substantially in a Y direction, and a third screw extending substantially in an X direction. The fixed plate, and thus the print head, may be translated in each of the X, Y and Z directions and may be rotated about each of the X, Y, and Z axes by manipulation of the screws to achieve possible alignment in all six degrees of freedom.

An inkjet recording apparatus includes: a liquid ejection head which ejects an aqueous ultraviolet-curable ink toward a recording surface of a recording medium; a holding and drying unit including: a suction holding drum which conveys the recording medium while holding a back surface side of the recording medium by suction through suction holes formed in an outer circumferential surface of the drum; and a hot air flow drying device disposed to face the outer circumferential surface of the drum; a transfer conveyance device which is arranged at a downstream side of the holding and drying unit and conveys the recording medium while holding a leading end of the recording medium and curving the back surface side in a convex shape; and a fixing unit including an ultraviolet light irradiation device which is arranged at a downstream side of the transfer conveyance device and irradiates ultraviolet light onto the image.

A recording unit and an ink jet type recording apparatus in which head position adjustment can be conducted easily and reliably with a relatively simple structure are disclosed, a recording unit 10 includes a plurality of ink jet heads 20 having a plurality of nozzle openings for ejecting ink, and a carriage 30 on which the plurality of ink jet heads 20 are mounted. One end portions of the ink jet heads 20 with respect to a sub scanning direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 30 are supported so as to be restricted in the movement of the scanning direction of the carriage 30 with respect to the carriage 30 and so as to be movable in the sub scanning direction and rotatable, and the other end portions of the ink jet heads 20 are positioned and fastened to a slide member 40 provided so as to allow positioning and movement in the sub scanning direction with respect to the carriage 30.

An image forming apparatus has a printer engine which forms an image on a medium; a unit which supplies the medium to the engine through a path; an element which emits light onto the medium at a position on the path; a receiving element which receives transmitted light of the light emitted which is transmitted through the medium; another receiving element which receives reflected light of the light emitted which is reflected by the medium; a unit which executes a detection through the emission and reception; a unit which determines a characteristic of the medium based on detection signals output by the receiving elements as a result of the detection; and a control unit which executes a control in the apparatus based on the characteristic.

A system and method for printing both record members having RFID transponders disposed thereon and record members not having RFID transponders disposed thereon. In one embodiment, a RFID printer receives data to be printed on a record member and determines if the data includes RFID data to be written to a RFID transponder embedded on a record member. If the received data includes RFID data, the RFID printer prints a RFID record member according to the received data. If the received data does not include RFID data, the RFID printer transmits the data to a non-RFID printer for printing. In another embodiment, a non-RFID printer receives data to be printed on a record member and determines if the data includes RFID data to be written to a RFID transponder embedded on a record member. If the received data does not include RFID data, the non-RFID printer prints a record member according to the received data. If the received data does include RFID data, the non-RFID printer transmits the data to a RFID printer for printing. At least one set of RFID record members in a RFID web is written to and printed with data. At least one set of non-RFID record members in a non-RFID web is printed with the same data. The set(s) of RFID record members are associated with the set(s) of non-RFID members by the same indicium which is printed on at least one RFID record member and in at least one non-RFID record member having related data. When there are plural sets of RFID record members, wherein the sets of RFID record members have different data, and there are plural sets of non-RFID record members, wherein the sets of non-RFID record members have different data, and the data of the sets of RFID record members and the sets of non-RFID record members have related data, differing indicia are printed on at least one record member of each set to associate the sets of RFID and non-RFID record members.

A system for inkjet printing, which includes an inkjet printing module support having one or more inkjet heads disposed thereon. The one or more inkjet heads are configured to move along a first axis. The system further includes a substrate stage configured to move along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis. The substrate stage is configured to support a substrate having one or more ink landing positions disposed thereon in a pattern that is not aligned with either the first axis or the second axis. The system further includes a system controller configured to simultaneously move the one or more inkjet heads along the first axis and move the substrate stage along the second axis during a printing operation such that the one or more inkjet heads dispense ink into the ink landing positions.

An ink-jet printer includes pagewidth printheads mounted in a frame, wherein the printheads are coupled to mechanical devices for aligning the printheads with respect to each other, with respect to an edge of the image receiving substrate, or with respect to both. The printer may include devices for sensing the possible misalignment, coupled to a computer for automatically aligning the printheads.

A medicine delivering device permits additional medicine cassettes to be provided at low cost without greatly enlarging the installation space. The medicine delivering device includes a medicine storage and removal unit in which many medicine cassettes each containing a medicine are detachably provided to the outer surface of a drum whose upper and lower ends are rotatable supported by the device body and a medicine packaging unit that packages medicine removed through a collecting hopper from the medicine cassette of the medicine storage and removal unit. There is provided on the side surface of the device body a sub medicine storage and removal unit including: a body; a drawer body provided to be capable of being pulled out from the body and that is detachably provided with a plurality of medicine cassettes each containing the medicine; and a guide that guides the medicine taken out from the medicine cassette to the collecting hopper.

A conventional thermal printer has had a structure in which a platen roller cannot be removed from a frame. Therefore, it has been necessary to insert a printing paper between a thermal head and the platen roller. Thus, it has been hard to load the printing paper. In order to solve the problem, there has been devised means for engaging the platen roller with the frame by the biasing force of the thermal head pressing the platen roller to forcibly lift up the platen roller, thereby removing the platen roller. However, there have been problems in that great operating force is required for the removal and the precision in a platen roller support position is low. A frame is provided with a slit (1c) having such a shape as to guide a bearing of a platen roller (2), and the bearing of a platen roller (2) is pushed against the slit by a lock arm using the biasing force of a pressure spring (8) for causing a thermal head (5) to come in press-contact with the platen roller (2). Consequently, the platen roller (2) is supported.