Textile Fabric Printer Curl Straightening Using Spreader Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Textile fabric media with stretching properties, similar to knitted fabrics, often generate curls that are not sufficiently removed during printing, as the direction and degree of curl vary by medium and winding direction, making consistent printing challenging.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a first spreading step where the medium is stretched on a first spreader roller with helical protrusions to straighten the curl before printing, followed by a second spreading step using a second spreader roller to maintain the straightened shape, ensuring effective curl removal for successful printing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If printing is performed directly on textile fabric medium without spreading, then printing speed is maintained, but curl is not sufficiently removed and print quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the spreading operation before printing. The medium is spread on the spreader roller to remove curl and straighten the fabric surface prior to the printing process, ensuring print quality is not compromised by curls. This preliminary preparation step resolves the contradiction by addressing the curl issue before printing begins, allowing both good print quality and maintained productivity.
2Manufacturing precision
If spreading step is added to remove curl, then print quality is improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spreader roller is designed to perform multiple functions: it spreads the medium to remove curl, maintains the spread state during printing, and can be integrated into existing printing press machinery. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated spreading equipment, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving effective curl removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The medium itself is used to straighten the curl by wrapping around the spreader roller. The fabric's own flexibility and tension when wrapped on the roller provide the straightening action, reducing the need for additional mechanical spreading mechanisms and keeping the system relatively simple.
3Manufacturing precision
If medium is spread on roller with curled surface side facing out, then curl is effectively straightened, but tension distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by having the spreader roller rotate in a direction that creates different tension conditions on different sides of the medium. The medium is fed with the curled surface facing outward, and the rotation direction is specifically chosen to apply appropriate local tension to effectively straighten the curl while managing the non-uniform tension distribution through controlled rotation.
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 method effectively straightens curls in textile fabric media, allowing for consistent printing by uniformly spreading and tensioning the medium, regardless of the curl direction or winding orientation, thereby improving print quality.
Implementation Method 1
the medium is spread in a state where the medium fed out from the medium roll is stretched on an outer circumference of a first spread roller configured to rotate about a first pivotal axis parallel to a center axis of the medium roll
Data Source
AI summary
A curl straightening method applied upon printing on a spread medium in a printing step, the method being provided with a first spreading step of spreading the medium fed out from a medium roll between a feeding step of feeding the medium from the medium roll in which the medium made of a textile fabric and having a predetermined width is wound on a roll core, and the printing step of printing on the medium fed out from the medium roll, and in the first spreading step, spreading of the medium is performed in a state where the medium fed out from the medium roll is stretched on an outer circumference of a first spreader roller rotating about a pivotal axis parallel to a pivotal axis of the medium roll, and the medium has its surface side with a curl stretched on the outer circumference of the first spreader roller.