Print Head Mounting Structure with Flexure Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printer mounting structures for multiple print head units are difficult to demount and remount, especially in dense configurations, requiring significant effort and time, and do not allow for independent adjustment of print head units relative to each other, leading to challenges in replacing or servicing individual units.
Innovation Solution
A mounting structure that includes mating positioning and mounting elements with spherical and V-shaped components, along with flexure-based adjustment mechanisms, allowing for independent adjustment of print head units relative to each other and the rigid support, enabling easier demounting and mounting, and accommodating thermal expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If print head units are rigidly held in a common support structure, then the structural stability and rigidity are improved, but the ease of demounting and mounting individual print heads deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into modular mounting sites, each capable of independently holding a print head unit. This segmentation allows individual print heads to be accessed, removed, and replaced without affecting the entire array, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and ease of maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting structure incorporates adjustable mechanisms that allow the support structure to adapt dynamically during maintenance operations. The ability to adjust and reconfigure mounting sites enables easy access to individual print heads while maintaining overall structural integrity during normal operation.
2Productivity
If print head units are arranged in a dense configuration, then the printing coverage and productivity are improved, but the ease of servicing and replacing individual print heads deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The dense array of print heads is organized into discrete, independently accessible mounting sites. Each mounting site is designed as a separate module that can be accessed individually, allowing maintenance personnel to service specific print heads without disrupting the entire dense configuration, thus maintaining both high productivity and ease of repair.
Solution Approach 2:
Each mounting site in the dense configuration is designed with localized access features and adjustment mechanisms tailored to its specific position. This local optimization ensures that even in a tightly packed arrangement, each print head can be independently serviced without interfering with neighboring units.
3Ease of manufacture
If the position of print head units is fixed relative to the support, then the manufacturing precision requirements are reduced, but the ability to correct manufacturing tolerances deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting structure incorporates adjustable mechanisms at each mounting site that enable post-assembly positioning adjustments. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the system to compensate for manufacturing tolerances in both the support structure and individual print head units, achieving high alignment accuracy without requiring extremely tight manufacturing specifications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates the replacement and servicing of print head units by allowing accurate repositioning of individual units relative to others, reducing manufacturing costs by allowing larger tolerances and improving print quality through precise alignment.
Implementation Method 1
The positioning and mounting elements comprise at least one spherical positioning bulge and respective recess for receiving said bulge
Implementation Method 2
the adjustment mechanisms in the individual mounting sites comprise flexure plates each of which is adapted to hold a mounting portion of the associated print head rigidly in a first direction but is flexible in at least one of the two other directions that are orthogonal to said first direction
Implementation Method 3
Using such a support patch and V-shaped groove, thermal expansion is enabled
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A mounting structure for a plurality of print head units (10), comprising: - a frame (12); - a rigid support (14) mounted on the frame (12), said support (14) having a plurality of mounting sites (28) each of which is adapted to hold an individual print head unit (10); and - an adjusting system for positional adjustment of the print head units relative to the frame, characterized in that each mounting site (28) has at least one adjusting mechanism (30, 32) for individually adjusting, in at least one degree of freedom, a position of the print head unit (10) that is held in that mounting site.