Separated Printhead Array for Wide Swath Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional three-dimensional and two-dimensional printers with multiple printheads arranged in a column face productivity limitations due to the width of the printhead array, as increasing the swath width complicates alignment and increases travel time, especially when printheads cannot be butted end-to-end due to housing constraints.
Innovation Solution
A printer configuration with at least two printheads mounted in tandem and separated by an integral number of printhead widths in the cross-process direction, allowing for faster printing without increasing the length of the printhead array, utilizing an actuator and controller to move the printheads in both process and cross-process directions to form swaths with optimized alignment and resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the width of the printhead array is increased to print wider swaths, then productivity is improved, but alignment difficulty increases and device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The printhead array is divided into multiple independent printheads (first printhead and second printhead) that can be separately positioned and controlled. Each printhead maintains a compact width while the system achieves wider effective coverage through coordinated operation and selective activation, eliminating the need for a single wide array that would be difficult to align.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing width in the cross-process direction (which complicates alignment), the system uses the process direction (longitudinal axis) to arrange printheads in tandem. The selective activation and positioning along the process direction achieves wide swath coverage without the alignment problems of wide cross-process arrays.
2Productivity
If printheads are arranged end-to-end to increase swath width, then productivity is improved, but the length of the printhead array increases causing longer travel time
Solution Approach 1:
The printing system uses multiple compact printheads positioned in tandem rather than a single long array. By selectively activating only the necessary printheads for each swath and using overlapping print regions, the system achieves wide coverage without requiring all printheads to be physically present in the array at once, reducing the effective travel distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The printheads are pre-positioned in tandem arrangement with predetermined spacing (integral number of printhead widths). This preliminary positioning allows the controller to select and activate specific printheads in advance based on the required swath width, eliminating the need to physically extend or reconfigure a long array during operation.
3Productivity
If the printhead array length is increased to accommodate more printheads, then swath width capability is improved, but printing speed decreases due to longer travel time
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from using cross-process array width to determine swath width capability, to using process-direction arrangement of multiple compact printheads. This dimensional shift allows wide swath capability without increasing the cross-process footprint, and the selective activation mechanism ensures that only the necessary portion of the tandem array is active at any time, maintaining high printing speed.
4Ease of manufacture
If printheads are staggered to accommodate housing width, then alignment is simplified, but the printhead array length increases reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the housing from the alignment consideration by positioning printheads in tandem with separations based on integral numbers of printhead widths. This extraction allows each printhead to be independently positioned without being constrained by housing width, and the selective activation compensates for any spacing, achieving both ease of manufacture and high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A printer is configured with at least two printheads that are separated from one another in a cross-process direction by an integral multiple of printhead widths. This configuration enables parallel swaths of material to be ejected and then movement of the printheads in the cross-process direction by a distance corresponding to one or more integral numbers of the printhead width enables the area between the swaths to be completed and the area outside of the original swaths printed.