Printer Carriage Height Adjustment for Seam Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing apparatuses face productivity issues due to the need to stop printing operations to avoid contact between the print head and the print medium, leading to inefficiencies and waste, especially when printing on textiles with seams that require detection and avoidance.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus equipped with a sensor unit that detects non-printable areas, such as seams, and adjusts the carriage height to prevent contact, allowing continuous printing by changing the workpiece gap and using flushing operations to prevent nozzle clogging, while also displaying a print status screen to monitor and manage these areas effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the printing operation is stopped to avoid contact between the print head and the print medium, then contact is prevented, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the carriage height adjustable during operation. The control unit changes the carriage height dynamically based on detected non-printable areas, allowing the system to adapt between different states (printing mode and avoidance mode) without stopping the overall printing operation, thus resolving the contradiction between contact prevention and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuity of useful action by maintaining the printing operation throughout the process. Instead of stopping when non-printable areas are detected, the system continuously prints by adjusting carriage height temporarily and then resuming, ensuring the printing action never fully stops and productivity is maintained while still preventing contact
2Productivity
If the carriage height is adjusted to avoid non-printable areas, then continuous printing is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses feedback by implementing a sensor unit that detects non-printable areas and feeds this information back to the control unit. The control unit then adjusts the carriage height accordingly and returns to normal operation after passing the problematic area, creating a closed-loop system that manages complexity through intelligent control rather than mechanical complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between the sensor unit and the carriage drive mechanism. It processes sensor information and translates it into appropriate carriage height adjustments, mediating between detection and action to manage system complexity while enabling continuous printing functionality
Data Source
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AI summary
A printer (1) includes: a transport belt (4) that transports a print medium; a print head (81) that discharges ink to form an image on the print medium placed on the transport belt; a carriage (82) that mounts the print head thereon and scans in an intersecting direction that intersects a transport direction of the print medium; a sensor unit (7) that detects a non-printable area of the print medium capable of coming into contact with the print medium placed on the transport belt and the print head; and a control section (100) that retracts the carriage from a position where the image is formed by the print head when the sensor unit detected the non-printable area during the printing, causes the transport belt to transport the print medium until the non-printable area is positioned downstream of the print head in the transport direction, and continues printing from a printable area adjacent to the non-printable area.