EP0832746A1 - Inkjet printer having print head and maintenance system alignment - Google Patents
Inkjet printer having print head and maintenance system alignment Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0832746A1 EP0832746A1 EP97116568A EP97116568A EP0832746A1 EP 0832746 A1 EP0832746 A1 EP 0832746A1 EP 97116568 A EP97116568 A EP 97116568A EP 97116568 A EP97116568 A EP 97116568A EP 0832746 A1 EP0832746 A1 EP 0832746A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- print head
- head
- maintenance
- inkjet
- station
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
- G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
- G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
- G07B17/00508—Printing or attaching on mailpieces
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/165—Preventing or detecting of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
- B41J2/16517—Cleaning of print head nozzles
- B41J2/16535—Cleaning of print head nozzles using wiping constructions
- B41J2/16544—Constructions for the positioning of wipers
- B41J2/16547—Constructions for the positioning of wipers the wipers and caps or spittoons being on the same movable support
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
- G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
- G07B17/00459—Details relating to mailpieces in a franking system
- G07B17/00508—Printing or attaching on mailpieces
- G07B2017/00516—Details of printing apparatus
- G07B2017/00556—Ensuring quality of print
Definitions
- the present invention generally relates to inkjet printer apparatus having an inkjet print head and a maintenance head, and to methods of cleaning and maintaining an inkjet head
- the invention is applicable to postage meters.
- Print heads are used in many applications today, and inkjet print heads are often preferred. Such print heads spray small drops of ink on paper and typically travel along an axis of transport. When inkjet print heads are not in use they are moved to a maintenance station where a cleaning and maintenance procedure is effected which includes wiping, priming, spitting and capping. Typically, the maintenance system is spaced in axial alignment with the path of travel of the print head. In this manner, the axis of transport of the print head must necessarily extend beyond the range where printing is to occur.
- inkjet printers such as in a postage meter or mailing machine
- moving the print head along more than one axis to accommodate the maintenance system would be excessively complex.
- use of an inkjet printer having the print head and maintenance system in axial alignment is difficult to effect in some applications.
- An object of the invention is to provide a maintenance system which does not require additional space for the maintenance station and thus permits use of the inkjet printer in applications such as postage meters where it might otherwise not be feasible.
- inkjet printer apparatus comprising an inkjet print head translatable in a first direction: means for translating said print head to a cleaning station; an inkjet maintenance head translatable in at least second and third directions defining a plane, wherein said plane is perpendicular to said first direction; and means for translating said maintenance head in said at least two directions in said plane to engage said print head at said cleaning station.
- a method of cleaning and maintaining an inkjet print head with a maintenance head comprising translating an inkjet print head in a first direction to a cleaning station; and translating an inkjet maintenance head in at least second and third directions defining a plane to mating engagement with said print head at said cleaning station, wherein said first direction is perpendicular to said plane.
- the reliable positioning of the print and maintenance heads in proper mating relationship is achieved by:
- the method further includes:
- a method comprising the stops of positioning a print head and a maintenance head of an inkjet printer into proper mating relationship; driving the print head to a hard stop; measuring an indicator of the distance from the proper mating relationship position to the print head hard stop; and storing the print head distance indicator in a memory.
- a postage meter 8 having an inkjet printing system generally designated 10 which includes an inkjet print head 12, an inkjet maintenance head 14 for servicing and cleaning the print head 12 and suitable framework (not shown) for supporting the various components of the inkjet printing system 10.
- the print head 12 is used for printing a postage indicia on an envelope 16, which travels in the direction indicated by the arrow, and also on tape 18 passing therebelow in a path parallel to the path of the envelope 16 as explained in further detail hereinbelow.
- the print head 12 includes a pair of rollers 20 and 22 which ride on a pair of rails 24 and 26 respectively.
- a lead screw 28 is driven by a drive motor 30 and threadingly engages the top of the print head 12 in order to translate the print head 12 back and forth along the rails 24 and 26.
- a conventional encoder system 130 is operatively connected to the drive motor 30 for providing signals indicative of the position of the print head 12 along the lead screw 28, such as a light source (not shown), a light detector (not shown) and a vane (not shown) fixably mounted to the shaft of the motor 30 and operatively located between the light source and the light detector to alternatively block and unblock the light source.
- the print head 12 can be stopped in one of three positions.
- Fig. 1 shows the print head 12 stopped at station 1, indicated by arrow 32, at which the print head 12 can print on the tape 18 in conventional manner.
- the print head 12 can also be stopped at station 2, indicated by the arrow 34, at which the print head 12 can print on the envelope 16 in conventional manner.
- the home or resting position of the print head 12 is at station 3 indicated by the arrow 36.
- the print head 12 further includes an alignment tab 110 having an alignment hole 112 located therethrough.
- the alignment tab 110 is located on a vertical wall of the print head 12 near the bottom of the print head 12.
- the maintenance head 14 has a camming surface 19 which sits on a track 38 and is translatable along the track 38 by means of a pin 40 which engages an aperture (not shown) in the maintenance head 14
- the track 38 is vertically aligned with the print head station 3.
- the pin 40 is seated in a block 42 which threadingly engages a lead screw 44 which in turn is driven by a drive motor 46.
- the track 38 includes a slot 48 in which the pin 40 is translated.
- the track 38 includes a horizontal path or section 50, an angled, cam section 52, and a second, horizontal section 54 at the end thereof.
- the cam section 52 is shown angled at a diagonal, but other angles or shapes could be employed.
- the maintenance head 14 is shown at its home or resting position which is station 4 indicated by the arrow 56.
- the maintenance head 14 is situated at station 4 whenever the print head 12 is being used to print the envelopes 16 or the tape 18.
- the maintenance head 14 further includes an alignment tab 120 having an alignment hole 122 located therethrough.
- the alignment tab 120 is located on a vertical wall of the maintenance head 14 near the top of the maintenance head 14.
- a conventional encoder system 146 is operatively connected to the drive motor 46 for providing signals indicative of the position of the maintenance head 12 along the lead screw 44.
- the print head 12 Whenever the print head 12 is not being used to print envelopes 16 or tape 18, the print head 12 is translated by the lead screw 28 to the position of station 3 and remains stationary at station 3. Whenever the print head 12 is stationary at station 3, the inkjet printing system 10 is programmed to move the maintenance head 14 to station 5 indicated by the arrow 57 into a docked position which is in mating relationship with the print head 12, as shown in Fig. 3, i.e. the maintenance head 14 is moved below the print head 12.
- the movement of the maintenance head 14 along the track 38 to the station 5 will now be described.
- the maintenance head 14 moves in a single, vertical plane which is aligned with the print head home station 3.
- the initial movement of the maintenance head 14 along the track 38 is from left to right on the first horizontal path 50.
- the drive motor 46 causes the maintenance head 14 to approach the cam section 52, at which point the camming surface 19 of the maintenance head 14 engages the cam section 52 to thereby lift the maintenance head 14 as it is being translated from left to right.
- the camming surface 19 has finished traversing the cam section 52, the maintenance head 14 is elevated and continues to move from left to right along the second horizontal track section 54 to the cleaning position seen in Fig. 3.
- the maintenance head 14 experiences lateral and vertical movement in being moved from its home position at station 4 to its cleaning position at station 5 where the top surface of the maintenance head 14 engages the bottom surface of the print head 12.
- the lateral movement takes place along the horizontal track sections 50 and 54, and both lateral and vertical movement takes place along the cam section 52.
- the movement along the horizontal track sections 50 and 54 comprises movement in one direction and the movement along the cam section 52 comprises movement in a second direction.
- the two directions of movement will comprise elements of both lateral and vertical movement. Since both lateral and vertical movement of the maintenance head 14 are required to move it into its cleaning position at station 5, movements other than what is shown in Figs. 1-3 could be employed, e.g. one direction of movement could be purely horizontal and another direction of movement could be purely vertical.
- the wiper (not shown) of the maintenance head 14 wipes the nozzles (not shown) on the bottom of the print head 12 in conventional manner.
- the capping device (not shown) of the maintenance head 14 hermetically seals the nozzles of the print head 12 when the maintenance head 14 is stopped from further translation along the track 38, and a vacuum can be applied to the maintenance head 14 to remove ink from the nozzles. Additionally, the nozzles of the print head 12 can be fired into a spittoon (not shown) or capping device of the maintenance head.
- the inkjet printing system 10 further includes a control system 200 having a memory 202.
- the control system 200 is in operative communication with the encoder systems 130 and 146 and the motors 30 and 46 for receiving input signals from the encoder systems 130 and 146, respectively, and outputting control signals to the motors 30 and 43, respectively, for positioning the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 along their respective lead screws 28 and 44.
- the control system 200 is further in communication with any suitable interface 300, such as a keyboard and LCD or CRT display, which allows the operator to receive information from and provide inputs to the postage meter 8.
- the control system 200 may include any suitable combination of hardware, software and processors.
- an alignment calibration routine is performed.
- the alignment calibration routine may take place during the manufacturing process or during installation at the user location and is used to establish station 3 for the print head 12 and station 5 for the maintenance head 14 so that during normal operation the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 are in proper mating relationship.
- the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 are brought into proper mating relationship. This is accomplished by repositioning the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 along their respective lead screws 28 and 44 until the capping device properly covers the nozzles of the print head 12.
- the alignment tabs 110 and 120 are provided. Since the alignment tabs 110 and 120 are manufactured with close tolerance to the remaining features of the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14, respectively, they can be used to assist in properly aligning the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 by inserting a pin (not shown) through the alignment holes 112 and 122.
- the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 are driven along their respective lead screws 28 and 44 until they each reach a fixed hard stop (not shown) on one end of each lead screw 28 and 44.
- the fixed hard stops provide a known reference location from which the distance to the station 3 and station 5 can be measured.
- the controller 200 counts the number of encoder pulses from the proper mating relationship position to each respective hard stop for both the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14. These respective values, print head encoder pulse count (station 3 count) and maintenance head encoder pulse count (station 5 count), are then stored in memory 202 for later use.
- this routine establishes a reference point for the print head 12 from its hard stop which can be used in repeating accurately the proper position of the print head 12 in station 3.
- this routine establishes a reference point for the maintenance head 14 from its hard stop which can be used in repeating accurately the proper position of the maintenance head 14 in station 5.
- a proper mating relationship can be repeatably achieved. Therefore, any tolerancing problems between different postage meters 8 will be accounted for since the encoder pulse counts are unique to each postage meter 8.
- the print head encoder pulse count and the maintenance head encoder pulse count are preferably stored in a non-volatile type memory 202. In this manner, these counts will not be lost due to power loss in the postage meter 8.
- the hard stops may merely be one the end of the lead screw 28 and 44, respectively. In which case the respective encoder pulses are counted until the motors 30 and 46, respectively, stall.
- a mechanical switch or optical sensor could be employed to signal the controller 200 to stop counting encoder pulses.
- the controller 200 instructs the inkjet printing system 10 to print on the envelope 16, then the print head is driven to station 2 while the maintenance head 14 is driven to station 4. After completing printing, the controller 200 returns the print head 12 to station 3 and the maintenance head 14 to station 5 using the print head encoder pulse count and the maintenance head encoder pulse count, respectively. At predetermined intervals and/or upon the occurrence of a particular event, the controller 200 drives the print head 12 and the maintenance head 14 to their respective hard stops so as to prevent "drift" or "wander" of the system.
- the print head encoder pulse count and the maintenance head encoder pulse count which are stored in memory 202 continue to serve as accurate indicators of reference points where a proper mating relationship occurs.
- stepper motors are utilized, then it is possible to count motor pulses instead of encoder pulses. Also, it is preferable that the print head encoder pulse count and the maintenance head encoder pulse count are stored in a non-volatile type memory 202. In this manner, these counts will not be lost due to power loss in the postage meter 8.
- the inkjet printing system 10 described hereinabove is arranged in such a way that it occupies a minimum of space and thus can be used in many applications which otherwise lack sufficient space for an inkjet printer.
- a postage meter is just one example of the many applications for which the foregoing inkjet printing system 10 is suitable.
- the operator is allowed to independently manipulate the station 1 and station 2 counts so as to reposition the postage indicia on the envelope 16 or the tape 18.
- the postage indicia can be adjusted along the envelope 16 or tape 18 in a direction which is transverse to the path of travel.
- Prior art systems only allow adjustment of the postage indicia in a direction parallel to the path of travel.
- Any suitable combination of hardware and software could serve as the interface 300 and controller 200.
- the operator may be presented with a visual indication on the LCD of the position of the postage indicia on the envelope 16.
- the operator may reposition the postage indicia where each depression of a respective arrow key either subtracts or adds a predetermined incremental number of counts to the station 2 count.
- the same technique could be employed to adjust the station 1 coat.
- the interface 300 provides a menu system where the operator can select whether to adjust the position of the postage indicia on the envelope 16 or the tape 18.
Abstract
Description
Claims (13)
- Inkjet printer apparatus comprising:an inkjet print head (12) translatable in a first direction;means (28,30) for translating said print head (12) to a cleaning station (36);an inkjet maintenance head (14) translatable in at least second and third directions defining a plane, wherein said plane is perpendicular to said first direction; andmeans (40,44,46) for translating said maintenance head (14) in said at least two directions in said plane to engage said print head (12) at said cleaning station (36).
- The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein said first direction is horizontal.
- The apparatus of Claim 1 or 2, wherein said plane is vertical.
- The apparatus of any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said print head (12) includes a bottom surface and said maintenance head includes a top surface, and said maintenance head top surface is arranged for engagement with said print head bottom surface at the cleaning station (36).
- A postage meter having inkjet printer apparatus for cleaning and maintaining an inkjet print head (12) with a maintenance head (14) according to any one of the preceding claims.
- A method of cleaning and maintaining an inkjet print head with a maintenance head, comprising:translating an inkjet print head (12) in a first direction to a cleaning station (36); andtranslating an inkjet maintenance head (14) in at least second and third directions defining a plane to mating engagement with said print head (12) at said cleaning station (36), wherein said first direction is perpendicular to said plane.
- The method of Claim 6, wherein said first direction is horizontal.
- The method of Claim 6 or 7, wherein said plane is vertical.
- A method according to any one of Claims 6 to 8 further comprising:driving the print head (12) to a hard stop;measuring an indicator of the distance from the proper mating position to the print head hard stop; andstoring the print head distance indicator in a memory.
- The method of Claim 9 comprising the steps of:driving the maintenance head (14) to a hard stop;measuring an indicator of the distance from the proper mating position to the maintenance head hard stop; andstoring the maintenance head distance indicator in the memory.
- The method of claim 9 or 10 further comprising the step of:using the print head (12) distance indicator to repeatedly return the print head to the proper mating relationship position.
- The method of Claim 11, as dependent on Claim 10, further comprising the step of:using the maintenance head distance indicator to repeatedly return the maintenance head (14) to the proper mating position.
- A method comprising the steps of:positioning a print head (12) and a maintenance head (14) of an inkjet printer into proper mating relationship;driving the print head (12) to a hard stop;measuring an indicator of the distance from the proper mating position to the print head hard stop; andstoring the print head distance indicator in a memory.
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US786383 | 1985-10-10 | ||
US710795 | 1991-06-05 | ||
US08/710,795 US5889535A (en) | 1996-09-23 | 1996-09-23 | Postage meter including an inkjet printer which has an ink-jet maintenance head translating transverse to the movement of the inkjet print head |
US08/786,383 US5760801A (en) | 1997-01-16 | 1997-01-16 | Ink jet printer having print head and maintenance system alignment |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0832746A1 true EP0832746A1 (en) | 1998-04-01 |
EP0832746B1 EP0832746B1 (en) | 2001-11-28 |
Family
ID=27108529
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19970116568 Expired - Lifetime EP0832746B1 (en) | 1996-09-23 | 1997-09-23 | Inkjet printer having print head and maintenance system alignment |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0832746B1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69708570T2 (en) |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5901644A (en) * | 1997-05-28 | 1999-05-11 | Neopost Limited | Apparatus with removable print head |
FR2783338A1 (en) * | 1998-09-14 | 2000-03-17 | Secap | Compact ink-jet postal franking machine with manually insertion of items to be franked has detector that senses insertion of envelope to start clamping mechanism |
DE10114541A1 (en) * | 2001-03-21 | 2002-10-02 | Francotyp Postalia Ag | Device for printing |
EP2614959A1 (en) * | 2012-01-16 | 2013-07-17 | Tkt Brainpower S.L. | Device for cleaning and closing print cartridges and closing element for closing print cartridges |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102017103202A1 (en) | 2017-02-16 | 2018-08-16 | Océ Holding B.V. | Printing system for printing on a recording medium and method for cleaning printheads of a printing system |
Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5677159A (en) * | 1979-11-30 | 1981-06-25 | Fujitsu Ltd | Cleaner for ink jet nozzle |
JPS60240454A (en) * | 1984-05-16 | 1985-11-29 | Fuji Xerox Co Ltd | Ink jet recording apparatus |
US5040000A (en) * | 1988-05-12 | 1991-08-13 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus having a space saving ink recovery system |
EP0552030A1 (en) * | 1992-01-16 | 1993-07-21 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus having an improved capping mechanism |
US5467709A (en) * | 1994-12-22 | 1995-11-21 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | Mailing machine utilizing ink jet printer |
EP0720912A2 (en) * | 1995-01-04 | 1996-07-10 | Brother International Corporation | Maintenance device in an ink jet printing apparatus |
-
1997
- 1997-09-23 DE DE1997608570 patent/DE69708570T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1997-09-23 EP EP19970116568 patent/EP0832746B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5677159A (en) * | 1979-11-30 | 1981-06-25 | Fujitsu Ltd | Cleaner for ink jet nozzle |
JPS60240454A (en) * | 1984-05-16 | 1985-11-29 | Fuji Xerox Co Ltd | Ink jet recording apparatus |
US5040000A (en) * | 1988-05-12 | 1991-08-13 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus having a space saving ink recovery system |
EP0552030A1 (en) * | 1992-01-16 | 1993-07-21 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink jet recording apparatus having an improved capping mechanism |
US5467709A (en) * | 1994-12-22 | 1995-11-21 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | Mailing machine utilizing ink jet printer |
EP0720912A2 (en) * | 1995-01-04 | 1996-07-10 | Brother International Corporation | Maintenance device in an ink jet printing apparatus |
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
---|
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 005, no. 147 (M - 088) 17 September 1981 (1981-09-17) * |
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 010, no. 109 (M - 472) 23 April 1986 (1986-04-23) * |
Cited By (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5901644A (en) * | 1997-05-28 | 1999-05-11 | Neopost Limited | Apparatus with removable print head |
FR2783338A1 (en) * | 1998-09-14 | 2000-03-17 | Secap | Compact ink-jet postal franking machine with manually insertion of items to be franked has detector that senses insertion of envelope to start clamping mechanism |
WO2000016268A1 (en) * | 1998-09-14 | 2000-03-23 | Secap | Compact ink-jet franking machine with manual insertion |
DE10114541A1 (en) * | 2001-03-21 | 2002-10-02 | Francotyp Postalia Ag | Device for printing |
US6709087B2 (en) | 2001-03-21 | 2004-03-23 | Francotyp Postalia Ag & Co. | Printing device |
EP2614959A1 (en) * | 2012-01-16 | 2013-07-17 | Tkt Brainpower S.L. | Device for cleaning and closing print cartridges and closing element for closing print cartridges |
US8919919B2 (en) | 2012-01-16 | 2014-12-30 | Tkt Brainpower, S.L. | Device for cleaning and closing print cartridges and closing element for closing print cartridges |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DE69708570T2 (en) | 2002-07-25 |
DE69708570D1 (en) | 2002-01-10 |
EP0832746B1 (en) | 2001-11-28 |
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