Printing Cartridge Carrier Arrangement for Wide Image Stitching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink jet printing systems face limitations in print speed and width due to the use of traversing heads and fixed heads, with stitching errors occurring from misalignment and transport errors in multi-head systems, especially when printing wide images.
Innovation Solution
A configuration of printing cartridges mounted on a carrier with reduced inter-head distances between adjacent cartridges to minimize stitching errors, allowing for wider image printing and improved alignment, using a carrier with specific arrangements of printing cartridges to reduce the distance between pairs of cartridges that print abutting swaths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If multiple printing cartridges are mounted on a carrier to print wide images, then the print width is improved, but stitching errors occur due to misalignment and transport errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to the cartridge arrangement strategy. Instead of only spatial arrangement, it sequences cartridges into groups that are activated at different times during the printing process. This temporal grouping allows for reduced inter-head distances within each group while maintaining overall wide print capability, thereby reducing stitching errors between adjacent swaths printed by cartridges in the same group.
2Length of stationary object
If printing cartridges are arranged with larger inter-head distances, then the carrier length is reduced, but the distance between pairs of cartridges printing adjacent swaths increases causing more stitching errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the printing cartridges into multiple groups, where each group contains a subset of cartridges that print adjacent swaths. By segmenting the cartridges this way, the inter-head distance between cartridges within the same group can be minimized, reducing stitching errors. The overall carrier length is managed by coordinating the activation of different groups rather than requiring all cartridges to be simultaneously active across the entire carrier length.
3Device complexity
If a single fixed printing head is used, then the system is simpler and more reliable, but the print width is limited to narrow images
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the printing system into multiple cartridges mounted on a carrier, where each cartridge functions as an independent printing head. This segmentation allows the system to achieve wide print capability while maintaining relative simplicity through modular design. The cartridges can be independently controlled and replaced, preserving ease of maintenance while expanding print width beyond what a single fixed head could achieve.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus that comprises a plurality of printing cartridges to reproduce an image, wherein each printing cartridge prints a portion of the image onto a substrate. The apparatus further comprises a media transport for moving the substrate parallel to a first dimension. The printing cartridges are disposed on a carrier in a two dimensional pattern such that the plurality of printing cartridges are able to print on the substrate a line that is perpendicular to the first dimension. Fewer than half of the plurality printing cartridges that print segments of the line that abut each other are adjacent to each other along the first dimension.