Digital Printing Image Adaptation for Sheet Centring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital printing methods for glass and ceramic materials, particularly for motor vehicle applications, struggle with maintaining precise alignment and centring of prints due to irregular shapes and potential movement errors during the printing process.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using a main reference system to define the position of printing bars, sheets, and images, and then processing the image by consecutive zones to obtain modified portions that are printed in real-time, ensuring accurate alignment with the sheet's geometry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the position of the object is detected upstream at a certain distance from the printer, then the entire graphic can be adapted using a single algorithm, but positioning errors accumulate for elongated objects due to involuntary movements and angle errors during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the object into multiple zones along the transport direction and processes each zone independently. For each zone, a local adaptation algorithm is applied based on position detection data specific to that zone, rather than applying a single global adaptation to the entire object. This segmentation prevents error accumulation over long distances while maintaining computational feasibility through localized processing.
2Productivity
If the entire graphic is adapted using a single algorithm based on initial position detection, then the process is simple, but only the initial part of the print is correct while the end portion becomes increasingly misaligned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary position detection for each zone before printing that zone, and pre-calculates the adaptation parameters for each local segment. This preliminary action ensures that when printing occurs, each zone is already optimized for its specific position, maintaining both high speed and precision without requiring complex real-time adjustments during the printing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine and a method for digital printing on a sheet having an edge, including the following steps: providing a main reference system; providing an image having a contour, positioned in a pre-established manner relative to said main reference system; translating the sheet in advancement along an advancement direction on an advancement plane; during the advancement of the sheet; performing a succession of scans of consecutive zones of the sheet; in each zone, defining a plurality of nodal points relative to said main reference system; associating with each nodal point a corresponding image point of the image, by means of a pre-established calculation method; processing a modified portion of the image, moving each image point, and a portion of the contour adjacent to that image point, in a pre-established position respect to the relative nodal point; printing the modified portion on the sheet.