Print Head Mounting Assembly for Digital Printers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large print head shuttles in digital printers face challenges with manufacturing tolerances, leading to difficulties in accurately positioning print heads and maintaining control over print width and throw-distance, due to increased weight and susceptibility to bending and torsion.
Innovation Solution
A print head mounting assembly that uses a framework of sheet metal parts with specific structural features and additional print head mounting tiles to reduce manufacturing tolerances and improve stiffness, combined with active cooling channels for thermal stability, allowing for precise positioning and reduced positional drift.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If larger print head shuttles are used to increase print width, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to increased susceptibility to bending and torsion
Solution Approach 1:
The print head shuttle is divided into multiple modular sections that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows each module to be produced with high precision using standard manufacturing processes, while the complete assembly achieves large print width. The modular design reduces the cumulative tolerance errors that would occur in a monolithic structure of the same size.
Solution Approach 2:
High-precision positioning mechanisms act as intermediaries between the relatively imprecise large-scale shuttle structure and the print heads requiring accurate positioning. These intermediary positioning systems compensate for structural deviations and ensure that print heads are correctly positioned relative to the printing medium, decoupling the precision requirements from the overall shuttle dimensions.
2Productivity
If larger print head shuttles are used to increase print width, then productivity is improved, but stability deteriorates due to increased weight and structural flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The print head shuttle employs composite material construction combining lightweight materials with high stiffness-to-weight ratios. This allows the structure to maintain dimensional stability and resist bending and torsion while keeping the overall weight manageable for large-format shuttles, thus preserving both productivity and structural stability.
3Manufacturing precision
If tighter manufacturing tolerances are applied to large print head shuttles, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the large shuttle into smaller modular units, each module can be manufactured with standard tolerances using conventional processes. The modular nature allows for simplified manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance, avoiding the need for complex high-precision manufacturing of a single large structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The design incorporates adjustable and compensable parameters in the positioning system that allow tolerance compensation without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances. This reduces manufacturing complexity while maintaining positioning accuracy through parameter adjustment rather than precision manufacturing alone.
Data Source
AI summary
A print head mounting assembly and a method of mounting and positioning a print head on a print head carriage framework suitable for mounting in a printing system includes a print head positioning device for receiving a print head, and a print head mounting tile having a mounting surface for mounting the print head positioning device. The print head mounting tile is adjustably mounted on the print head carriage framework such that it provides a mounting surface for the print head positioning device that is level with a reference printing surface, when the print head carriage framework is mounted in the printing system. The print head positioning device is adjustably mounted on the print head mounting tile such that the print head, being received in the print head positioning device, is accurately positioned on the mounting surface of the print head mounting tile.