Printer With Swinging Printhead and Side Guide for Glass Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional thermal transfer printers experience unstable plate conveyance due to contact with the thermal head, affecting print quality when printing on glass plates.
Innovation Solution
A printer design featuring a conveying unit with paired rollers that sandwich and rotate the glass plate, combined with a swinging printhead for stable printing and a suppressing guide unit to prevent plate floating, ensuring contact only on the side faces and not the observation region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a thermal head is moved downward to contact the plate for printing, then printing can be performed on the glass plate, but the conveyance of the plate becomes unstable due to contact with the thermal head
Solution Approach 1:
The contact area is segmented into two distinct zones: a side face contact region for stable plate positioning and an observation region free from contact. The suppressing guide unit contacts only the side face neighborhood region, separating the printing function from the conveyance stability function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the plate are assigned different functional qualities: the side face neighborhood region serves as a contact zone for conveyance control, while the observation region at the center maintains a non-contact quality to ensure print quality and stability.
2Ease of manufacture
If the printhead contacts the plate surface for printing, then printing is achieved, but plate floating-up occurs affecting print quality
Solution Approach 1:
The suppressing guide unit applies a preliminary counteracting force against plate floating-up by contacting the side face region. This preventive action occurs before the printhead contacts the plate surface, ensuring the plate remains stable during the printing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The suppressing guide unit acts as an intermediary element between the plate and the printing system. It provides the necessary contact for stability without interfering with the printhead's printing function, mediating between the need for plate control and print quality.
3Speed
If paired rollers are used to convey the plate, then conveyance is achieved, but plate floating-up occurs during printing
Solution Approach 1:
The suppressing guide unit creates a localized contact zone on the side face neighborhood region to provide positional stability, while leaving the observation region and print area free from contact to maintain print quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The suppressing guide unit contacts the plate in a different dimensional location (side face neighborhood region) rather than the top surface, providing stability through side contact without interfering with the top-surface printing process.
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
This configuration stabilizes plate conveyance and printing, maintaining high print quality by preventing plate inclination and ensuring precise alignment during printing and discharge.
Implementation Method 1
brings the paired rollers respectively in contact with the both side faces of the sandwiched plate by urging each of the paired rollers with an urging force of an elastic member
Implementation Method 2
by actuating selectively heating elements of a thermal head while bringing a thermal head in pressure contact with the surface of a glass plate via an ink ribbon existing between the thermal head and the glass plate, ink coated on the ink ribbon is transferred onto the surface of the glass plate
Data Source
AI summary
A printer that performs printing for a print region of a glass plate includes a conveying unit that includes a plurality of paired rollers adapted to sandwich both side faces of the plate, brings the paired rollers respectively in contact with the both side faces with an urging force, and conveys the plate only by the plurality of the paired rollers; a printing unit that includes a printhead and a swinging unit adapted to swing the printhead between a printing position and a retracting position and shifts the printhead to the printing position so as to come in contact with the print region by the swinging unit when printing, and performs printing for the print region by the printhead; and a suppressing guide unit that regulates floating-up of the plate when printing by coming in contact with the plate only on a neighborhood region of the side face.