Print carriage

Abstract

A system and method for depositing a substance onto a continuously moving substrate in first and second transverse swathes, is achieved by providing a print carriage having a first set of inkjet heads and a second set of inkjet heads. The carriage is traversed across the substrate in a forward pass, while depositing the first and second swathes from the respective first and second plurality of inkjet heads and subsequently traversed across the substrate in a reverse pass. The first and second sets of inkjet heads are arranged such that the first and second swathes complement one another on both forward and reverse passes to provide substantially complete coverage of the substrate. In this manner complementary swathes may be deposited from a single head.

Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to print carriages for depositing substances onto substrates using printing techniques and the like. The invention also relates to a printer provided with such a printing carriage and a procedure for depositing in a continuous process, in particular in the field of textile printing and finishing. Background technique

[0002] In general, systems for inkjet printing of images and text onto substrates are well known. Most such systems are suitable for desktop or office use and are well suited for printing on A3 or A4 size paper or the like. For wider substrates, more specialized machinery is required, especially when high speeds are important. For such applications, inkjet printing techniques can be used, but photolithography and conventional printing techniques are still generally preferred.

[0003] For fabrics, inkjet printing technology has also recently been developed as an alternative to traditional printi...

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