Scanning inkjet printing system

{
  "publication_number": "US9592685B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Scanning inkjet printing system",
  "abstract": "An inkjet printing apparatus includes an inkjet print head arranged to be moveable in a direction of movement along a guiding assembly. The guiding assembly includes a support structure; a strip mounted on the support structure, the strip being substantially rigid and straight in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement and mounted in such way that a straightness in the direction of movement is provided; and an air bearing system operatively coupled to the strip. The strip extends in a vertical plane, the vertical plane being substantially parallel to the direction of movement and being substantially parallel to the first direction. The air bearing system is configured to control a position of the inkjet print head in a horizontal plane relative to the strip during movement of the print head in the direction of movement, the horizontal plane being substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane. Employing such a strip and a suitable mounting method for mounting the strip on the support structure, it is enabled to select a cost-effective and/or light-weight support structure.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An inkjet printing apparatus comprising: an inkjet print head arranged to be moveable in a direction of movement along a guiding assembly, the guiding assembly comprising: a support structure having a support surface extending in a horizontal plane and a mounting surface in a vertical plane, the vertical plane being substantially perpendicular to the horizontal plane; a strip mounted on the mounting surface of the support structure and providing a guiding surface, the strip being substantially rigid and straight in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement and mounted in such way that a straightness in the direction of movement is provided; and an air bearing system operatively coupled to the strip, wherein the strip extends in a vertical plane, the vertical plane being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement and being substantially parallel to the first direction, wherein the print head is supported on the support surface, and wherein the air bearing system is configured to control a position of the inkjet print head within a horizontal plane by guiding movement of the print head in the direction of movement along the guiding surface provided by the strip.",
    "2. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the strip is made of glass.",
    "3. Inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guiding assembly comprises a carriage, and wherein the print head is arranged on the carriage and the carriage is arranged to move along the guiding surface of the support structure in the direction of movement, the direction of movement being a scanning direction.",
    "4. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guiding assembly comprises a gantry, wherein the print head is arranged to move along the gantry in a scanning direction, and wherein the gantry is arranged to move along the guiding surface of the support structure in the direction of movement, the direction of movement being a transport direction, the transport direction being substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction.",
    "5. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the strip extends beyond an end of the mounting surface of the support structure such that a first surface of the strip and a second surface of the strip are uncovered, the second surface being opposite to the first surface and both extending in the vertical plane, and wherein the air bearing system comprises a first air bearing unit operatively coupled to the uncovered first surface and a second air bearing unit operatively coupled to the uncovered second surface.",
    "6. The inkjet printing system according to claim 1, wherein the strip is mounted to the support structure by an adhesive layer."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention generally pertains to an inkjet printing apparatus having an inkjet print head arranged on a carriage moveable in a scanning direction.\n\nAn inkjet printing apparatus having an inkjet print head arranged on a moveable carriage is well known in the art. The carriage is configured to reciprocate in a scanning direction. While the carriage moves, the inkjet print head ejects droplets of ink to form a swath of image dots on a recording medium. After one or multiple passes of the carriage, depending on a print strategy, the carriage and the recording medium are moved relative to each other, i.e. the recording medium may be moved or the carriage may be moved, in a transport direction, which is substantially perpendicular to the scanning direction. A next swath may then be printed. The next swath may be adjacent to the earlier swath or may be (partly) overlapping, depending on the print strategy, as is also well known in the art.\n\nThe image dots have commonly a diameter of about 40 micron or smaller, which corresponds to an image resolution of about 600 dots per inch (dpi), or higher. In order to obtain a high image quality, the positioning of the dots should be considerably better than their diameter. So, the position of each dot should be accurate and may only deviate about 10 micron or less, in particular relative to each other. To position the image dots of a second swath accurately compared to the image dots of a first swath, the movement of the carriage should be accurate and reproducible.",
  "cpc": [
    "B41J 25/001",
    "B41J 19/00",
    "B41J 19/142",
    "B41J 19/20",
    "B41J 2/01"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B41J 2/01",
    "B41J 25/00",
    "B41J 19/00",
    "B41J 19/14",
    "B41J 19/20"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Oce Technologies BV"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Brandon RIGIO",
    "Brian D. Otter",
    "Ryan C. BRYDE",
    "Michael P. HOY",
    "Chad A. Koehn"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2016-05-25",
  "publication_date": "2017-03-14",
  "grant_date": "2017-03-14",
  "priority_date": "2013-12-06",
  "application_number": "US-201615164553-A",
  "family_id": "50030081",
  "cited_by_count": 3,
  "citations": [
    "US5065169A",
    "DE19728232A1",
    "US5828501A",
    "WO2006116574A2",
    "US20070153071A1",
    "EP2000316A1",
    "US20090001243A1",
    "US20080309715A1",
    "US20120262527A1",
    "US20100309263A1",
    "US20110148985A1",
    "US20110181659A1"
  ]
}