Digital garment printing machine augmented to apply additional materials
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital garment printing systems face challenges in accurately aligning and integrating material deposition systems with inkjet printing due to speed differences, leading to low throughput, high costs, and contamination risks, especially when applying materials unsuitable for inkjet technology.
Innovation Solution
A digital printing machine is modified to incorporate a material deposition head on a separate axis, allowing synchronized operation with the digital print head, ensuring alignment and minimizing contamination, while maintaining throughput by allowing simultaneous operation on different pallets or rolls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If material deposition systems are integrated with inkjet printing systems, then alignment accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the material deposition system and inkjet printing system into a single integrated platform, sharing common mechanical structures, control systems, and garment handling mechanisms. This merging approach maintains precise alignment between the two deposition methods while avoiding the complexity of two completely separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated system uses a universal garment support structure and motion control system that serves both the material deposition head and the inkjet print head. This multi-functional design allows a single system to perform multiple functions (material deposition and inkjet printing) with high alignment accuracy without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Reliability
If material deposition is performed on a separate standalone system, then contamination risk to the print head is reduced, but throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the material deposition and inkjet printing operations into separate controllable modules that operate independently but are integrated on the same platform. This allows the material deposition head to operate away from the print head when possible, reducing contamination risk, while maintaining the ability to perform both operations in sequence or parallel on the same garment without manual intervention, thus preserving throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the positioning and operation timing of the material deposition head relative to the inkjet print head based on real-time conditions. When contamination risk is detected or predicted, the system can dynamically separate the operations in space or time while maintaining integration benefits, thus balancing contamination prevention with throughput maintenance.
3Reliability
If digital printing and material deposition are performed in separate stages, then each system can operate at its optimal speed, but overall processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated system enables continuous operation by allowing the material deposition head and inkjet print head to work in coordinated sequence or parallel on the same garment without stopping or manual intervention. The system maintains continuous garment feed and processing, eliminating idle time between operations while ensuring each head operates at its optimal speed through coordinated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary positioning and preparation of the garment and heads before each operation sequence, allowing both material deposition and inkjet printing to be executed in an optimized sequence without interruption. This preliminary coordination ensures that each operation can proceed at its optimal speed while minimizing total processing time through advance planning of the operation sequence.
4Productivity
If material deposition uses wide points or lines, then deposition speed is improved, but alignment precision with printed pixels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality control by using wide points or lines for material deposition where speed is prioritized, while simultaneously employing precise positioning control and registration systems to maintain alignment precision with the underlying printed pixels. Different regions of the deposition process can use different approaches (wide vs. precise) based on local requirements, achieving both speed and accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A textile printer with decoration support comprises a track for a printing pallet extending along a first axis, the printing pallet being controllably mobile along the track, a rail for a print head, the rail along a second axis at right angles to the first axis, a digital print head mounted on the rail and controllably mobile along the second axis to scan across the printing pallet and print an image onto a garment on the printing pallet using textile printing inks, and a material deposition head also mounted to scan across the printing pallet to deposit material onto the garment in alignment with the image.