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(11) | EP 1 676 711 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Printhead carriage |
| (57) A printhead carriage comprising a body (10) that is guided and driven for reciprocating
movement in a printer, a mounting plate (12) for a printhead assembly, and a suspension
structure (14) adjustably connecting the mounting plate (12) to the body (10), the
suspension structure (14) comprising a framework of hinge plates (32, 34) having elastic
hinges (50; 72) that are formed by portions of the hinge plates where the width thereof
is reduced, and at least one adjusting mechanism (36, 40; 38, 42; 44) adapted to adjust
the position of the mounting plate (12) by elastically deflecting at least one of
the hinges, characterized in that an adjusting unit (20; 24) for at least one degree
of freedom of the mounting plate (12) comprises two hinge plates (32, 34) that are
connected to a common support point (26; 28; 30) of the mounting plate (12) and are
oriented at right angles relative to one another, and an adjusting mechanism (36,
40; 38, 42; 44) adapted to push and/or pull one hinge plate (32) in longitudinal direction
thereof, with elastic deflection of at least one hinge of the other hinge plate (34).
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Printhead carriage
[0001] The invention relates to a printhead carriage comprising a body that is guided and driven for reciprocating movement in a printer, a mounting plate for a printhead assembly, and a suspension structure adjustably connecting the mounting plate to the body, the suspension structure comprising a framework of hinge plates having elastic hinges that are formed by portions of the hinge plates where the width thereof is reduced, and at least one adjusting mechanism adapted to adjust the position of the mounting plate by elastically deflecting at least one of the hinges.
[0003] In a scanning-type printer, e. g. an ink jet printer, a printhead carriage is moved back and forth in a main scanning direction Y, so as to scan a recording medium that is advanced step-wise in a sub-scanning direction X over a print surface. For obtaining a good print quality, it is crucial that the mounting plate which carries the printheads is exactly adjusted relative to the print surface. For example, in an ink jet printer, the printheads comprise one or more arrays of nozzles from which ink droplets are ejected onto the recording medium at appropriate timings during the scan movement of the carriage, so that an image is formed on the recording medium, and the mounting plate must be so adjusted that the flight distance of the ink droplets is identical for all nozzles. This means that the mounting plate should stably be held in a position in which it is exactly parallel to the print surface. Moreover, the angle of the nozzle array or arrays relative to the main scanning direction must be adjusted with high accuracy, e. g. to 90°.
[0004] If the carriage carries a plurality of printheads, as is the case for example in a multi-color printer, another problem may arise from the fact that the operation of the printheads is frequently accompanied by the generation of a considerable amount of heat, so that the mounting plate is subject to thermal expansion which may change the positions of the printheads relative to one another. This is particularly the case for a hot melt ink jet printer which operates with ink that is solid at room temperature, so that the printheads must be heated to a relatively high temperature of 100° C or more, for example, in order to melt the ink. If the temperature of the mounting plate is uniform, the thermal expansion may be compensated for by appropriately controlling the timings at which the individual nozzles are energized. However, if the temperature distribution of the mounting plate is non-uniform, it becomes difficult to compensate the thermal expansion.
[0005] In order achieve an high productivity of the printer, the carriage must be accelerated and decelerated at the beginning and at the end of each scan pass with a considerably high rate. As a result, considerable forces of the inertia are generated which may cause the mounting plate to shift or to vibrate. It is therefore required that the suspension structure has a sufficient stiffness for stably holding the mounting plate in the desired position.
[0006] It is an object of the invention to provide a printhead carriage in which the mounting structure has a simple construction and is nevertheless capable of stably holding the mounting plate in position with high adjustment accuracy.
[0007] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a printhead carriage of the type indicated above, wherein an adjusting unit for at least one degree of freedom of the mounting plate comprises two hinge plates that are connected to a common support point of the mounting plate and are oriented at right angles relative to one another, and an adjusting mechanism adapted to push and/or pull one hinge plate in longitudinal direction thereof, with elastic deflection of at least one hinge of the other hinge plate.
[0008] The use of a framework of such hinge plates has the advantage that the mounting plate can stably be supported in the desired position, and the elasticity of the hinges may be utilized for a precise fine-adjustment of the mounting plate. The hinge plates are rigid in one direction, i.e. their longitudinal direction, but behave like leaf springs with a relatively high spring constant in a direction normal to that longitudinal direction and in the plane of the hinge plate. Thus, a portion of the mounting plate that is connected to a hinge plate may rigidly be supported in the one direction and may be adjusted in the direction orthogonal to that one direction.
[0009] This is particularly useful when an adjustment of the mounting plate is necessary in two or more degrees of freedom, because, then, the adjustment operations for the individual degrees of freedom will be uncoupled from one another.
[0010] The relatively high spring constant of the elastic hinges has the effect that the resonance frequency of the mounting plate will be high and will thus be sufficiently offset from the spectrum of exciting frequencies that are to be expected when the printer is operating. Thus, vibrations of the mounting plate can successfully be suppressed.
[0011] The elasticity of the hinges permits also to absorb thermal expansions and contractions of the mounting plate. Another remarkable advantage results from the fact that the narrow hinge portions have a very low heat conductivity, even when the hinge plates are made of spring steel, for example, so that a good thermal insulation of the mounting plate is achieved and dissipation of heat through the suspension structure is largely suppressed. As a result, a uniform temperature profile of the mounting plate can be achieved, so that the compensation of thermal expansions is facilitated, and, in case of a hot melt ink jet printer, losses of heat energy are reduced to minimum.
[0013] An adjusting unit for two degrees of freedom may comprise two hinge plates connected to a common support point on the mounting plate and oriented at right angles relative to one another, and two independent adjusting mechanisms respectively associated with one of the two hinge plates and adapted to push and/or pull the same in its longitudinal direction.
The adjusting mechanism preferably comprises a lever which is rigidly connected to end of the hinge plate and is connected to a fixed point of the carriage body through an elastic hinge in the vicinity of said end of the hinge plate.
[0014] The ends of the two hinge plates remote from the common support point are preferably connected through a link so as to form a triangular framework. Preferably, each hinge plate has two hinges located near opposite ends thereof. Similarly, the link forming the third side of the triangular frame may also have two hinges in the vicinity of its opposite ends.
[0015] Preferably, the mounting plate is a rectangular plate having two support points projecting from the shorter sides of the rectangle, and a third support point projecting from one of the longer sides of the rectangle. An adjusting unit may be associated with each of the three support points. Then, the adjustable degrees of freedom of the mounting plate may comprise the positions of the three support points in a direction Z normal to the plane of the mounting plate. These degrees of freedom permit to control the distance between the mounting plate and the print surface of the printer as well as the parallelism between the mounting plate and the print surface. One of the three adjusting units may be one with two degrees of freedom, so that it is additionally possible to adjust the position of the associated support point in a direction X that is parallel to the side of the mounting plate from which this support point projects. An adjustment in this X-direction will cause the mounting plate to rotate about an axis normal to the plane of the mounting plate and thus permits to control the skew angle of the mounting plate relative to the main scanning direction Y.
[0016] The carriage body may preferably have two cantilever arms which embrace the mounting plate and each of which carries one adjusting unit. The third adjusting unit may be attached to a side surface of the carriage body. Since the mounting plate and the printheads should be arranged in a short distance above the print surface of the printer, it is preferable that the two cantilever arms project downwardly from the body and hold the mounting plate at a level below the carriage body. The adjusting unit which is directly attached to a side face of the body may then the arranged such that one of its hinge plates projects downwardly from the body, whereas the second hinge plate extends along a side of the mounting plate. This second hinge plate may rigidly be supported at the body by connecting the free end thereof to the Vertex of a V-shaped configuration of two hinge plates the upper ends of which are fixed at the body.
[0017] A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be explained in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:
- Fig. 1
- is a simplified perspective view of a printhead carriage according to the invention;
- Fig. 2
- is a plan view of the carriage;
- Fig. 3
- is a front view of the carriage; and
- Figs. 4 and 5
- are views of adjusting units as seen in the direction of arrows IV-IV and V-V, respectively, in Fig. 3.
[0018] The printhead carriage shown in Fig. 1 comprises a body 10, a printhead mounting plate 12 made of metal, and a suspension structure 14 which adjustably connects the mounting plate 12 to the body 10.
[0019] As is commonly known in the art, the body 10 is guided on a guide rail (not shown) which extends in Y-direction of a Cartesian coordinate system X, Y, Z shown in Fig. 1. The mounting plate 12 has eight sockets 16 adapted to accommodate a corresponding number of ink jet printheads (not shown). The printheads, e.g. hot-melt ink jet printheads, will thus be held in a position in which downwardly directed nozzles of the printheads, which lie all in a common plane, will face a print surface (not shown) of the printer, with only a small gap being formed between the plane of the nozzles and the surface of a recording medium that is supported on the print surface.
[0020] The suspension structure 14 is formed by two cantilever arms 18 of the body 10 and three adjusting units 20, 22, 24 which connect the body 10 and the cantilever arms 18, respectively, to three support points 26, 28, 30 which project laterally from the mounting plate 12. The adjusting unit 20 serves to finely adjust the Z-position of the support point 26 but holds this support point rigidly in Y-direction. Similarly, the adjusting unit 22 serves to adjust the Z-position of the support point 28 but holds this support point rigidly in X-direction. The adjusting unit 24 is adapted for independent adjustment of the support point 30 in both, X- and Z-direction. Since the support point 28 is essentially fixed in X-direction, adjustment of the support point 30 in X-direction will cause the mounting plate 12 to rotate in the X-Y-plane.
[0021] The adjusting units 20 and 22 each comprise a vertically oriented hinge plate 32 and a horizontally oriented hinge plate 34 that are connected to the common support point 26 and 28, respectively. Further, each of these two adjusting units comprises a lever 36 and 38, respectively, that is connected to the top end of the vertical hinge plate 32 and the free end of which is adjustable relative to the body 10 by means of a set-screw assembly 40, 42.
[0022] The third adjusting unit 24 has the two hinge plates 32, 34 but comprises two set-screw assemblies 44, 46.
[0023] As can be seen more clearly in Fig. 2, the mounting plate 12 has the shape of an elongated rectangle that is embraced by the two cantilever arms 18 to which the adjusting units 22 and 24 are attached. The corresponding support points 28 and 30 are arranged exactly opposite to one another. The third support point 26 projects from the center of one of the longer sides of the mounting plate 12, and the associated adjusting unit 20 is attached to a side face 48 of the body 10.
[0024] The detailed construction of the adjusting unit 20 will now described in conjunction with Fig. 3.
[0025] The hinge plate 32 is an elongated plate of spring steel the width of which is locally reduced by a pair of opposed semi-circular cutouts, so that the portion of the plate remaining between the cutouts may serve as an elastic hinge 50. The plate 32 has two such hinges, one near the bottom end which is fixed at the support point 27 and another one near the top end which is connected to the lever 36. This lever 36 is itself configured as a hinge plate and has a hinge 52 in an end portion which slightly projects beyond the hinge plate 32. The hinge 52 connects the lever 36 to a base plate 54 that is rigidly attached to the front face 48 of the body 10 at two fixation points 56.
[0026] The horizontal hinge plate 34 has a configuration which corresponds to that of the vertical hinge plate 32. The end of the hinge plate 34 remote from the support point 26 is connected through one of its hinges to the vertex of a V-shaped structure formed by two hinge plates 58 and 60. The hinge plate 58 is connected to the base plate 54, and the hinge plate 60 is fixedly attached to the front face of the body 10. Thus, the hinge plates 32, 34, 58 and 60 and the base plate 54 together with the end portion of the lever 36 form a relatively rigid framework made up of two triangles. In particular, the triangle formed by the front face of the body 10 and the two hinge plates 58 and 60 stably supports the hinge plate 34 in Y-direction. Optionally, the whole framework of the hinge plates and the lever may be manufactured in one piece and may be cut out of a sheet of spring steel.
[0027] The lever 36 and the set-screw assembly 40 form an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the Z-position of the vertical hinge plate 32 and hence of the support point 26 of the mounting plate. When, for example, the left end of the lever 36 is moved downward by means of the set-screw assembly 40 (double arrow Z1), the lever will pivot about a fulcrum that is formed by the hinge 52, and the hinge plate 32 will be pushed downward. The downward movement of the support point 26 is permitted by a slight elastic flexing of the hinges of the horizontal hinge plate 34. In this way, the Z-position, and only the Z-position, of the support point 26 can be adjusted with very high accuracy.
[0028] The hinge portions of the various hinge plates 32, 34, 58 and 60 have also the function to limit the heat flow from the mounting plate 12 to the body 10 and thereby to thermally insulate the mounting plate 12.
[0029] The adjusting unit 22, shown in Fig. 4, for the support point 28 of the mounting plate is based on the same function principle. Here, the top of the hinge plate 32 is connected, through a laterally offset hinge 62, to a fixation point 64 on the cantilever arm 18. Similarly, one end of the horizontal hinge plate 34 is connected to a fixation point 66 through another hinge. The fixation points 64 and 66 are rigidly connected by a metal link 68, so that a stable triangular frame is formed together with the hinge plates 32 and 34, even when the body 10 and its cantilever arms 18 are made of plastic and have a relatively low rigidity. The lever 38 is connected to the top end of the vertical hinge plate 32. When the set-screw assembly 42 is used to move the top end of the lever 38 in the direction indicated by a double-arrow Z2, the lever will pivot about a fulcrum formed by the hinge 62, and the hinge plate 32 will be pushed up and down, so that the Z-position, and only the Z-position, of the support point 28 can be adjusted with high accuracy.
[0030] Fig. 5 shows the adjusting unit 24 for the support point 30 of the mounting plate. This adjusting unit has basically the same construction as the adjusting unit 22, and those components which have been described already are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described again. Adjustment in Z-direction is here achieved by means of the set-screw assembly 44 and the lever 38.
[0031] The set-screw assembly 46 serves to pivot a lever 70 about a fulcrum that is formed by a hinge 72, so that the horizontal hinge plate 34, that is connected to one end of the lever 70, will be pushed in X-direction. It should be noted that, since the hinge plates 32 and 34 are oriented at right angles relative to one another, an adjustment of the support point 30 in X-direction has no influence on the Z-position and vice versa.
1. A printhead carriage comprising a body (10) that is guided and driven for reciprocating
movement in a printer, a mounting plate (12) for a printhead assembly, and a suspension
structure (14) adjustably connecting the mounting plate (12) to the body (10), the
suspension structure (14) comprising a framework of hinge plates (32, 34) having elastic
hinges (50; 72) that are formed by portions of the hinge plates where the width thereof
is reduced, and at least one adjusting mechanism (36, 40; 38, 42; 44; 70, 46) adapted
to adjust the position of the mounting plate (12) by elastically deflecting at least
one of the hinges, characterized in that an adjusting unit (20; 24) for at least one degree of freedom of the mounting plate
(12) comprises two hinge plates (32, 34) that are connected to a common support point
(26; 28; 30) of the mounting plate (12) and are oriented at right angles relative
to one another, and an adjusting mechanism (36, 40; 38, 42; 44) adapted to push and/or
pull one hinge plate (32) in longitudinal direction thereof, with elastic deflection
of at least one hinge of the other hinge plate (34).
2. The carriage according to claim 1, wherein the hinge plates (32, 34) are made of metal,
preferably of spring steel.
3. The printhead according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suspension structure (14) is
adapted to adjust the mounting plate (12) in at least two degrees of freedom.
4. The carriage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein an adjusting unit (24)
for two degrees of freedom of the hinge plate (12) comprises two hinge plates (32,
34) connected to a common support point (30) of the mounting plate and oriented at
right angles relative to one another, and two adjusting mechanisms (38, 44; 70, 46)
each of which is adapted to push and/or pull one of the two hinge plates in longitudinal
direction thereof, with elastic deflection of at least one hinge of the respective
other hinge plate.
5. The carriage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the adjusting mechanism
comprises a lever (36; 38; 70) that is connected to one end of the hinge plate (32;
34) and is connected to the body (10) by a hinge (52; 62; 72) that is located in the
vicinity of said hinge plate, but laterally offset therefrom, and a mechanism (40;
42; 44, 46) for pivoting the lever about the hinge (52; 62; 72) connected to the body
(10).
6. The carriage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the ends of the two
hinge plates (32, 34) remote from the common support point (26; 28, 30) are connected
by a link (58; 68) forming a triangular framework together with the hinge plates.
7. The carriage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each hinge plates (32,
34) has two hinges (50) located near opposite ends thereof.
8. The carriage according to claims 6 and 7, wherein said link (58; 64) has two elastic
hinges connecting both ends of the link to the hinge plates (32, 34).
9. The carriage according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the mounting plate
(12) is a rectangular plate having two support points (28, 30) projecting from opposite
ends thereof, and a third support point (26) laterally projecting from the mounting
plate, and an adjusting unit (20; 22; 24) is associated with each of said support
points.
10. The carriage according to claim 9, wherein the suspension structure (14) is adapted
to hold the mounting plate (12) in a position offset from the body (12) in a direction
normal to the plane of the mounting plate, and the suspension structure comprises
two cantilever arms (18) projecting from the body (10) and embracing the mounting
plate (12), two adjusting units (22, 24) are attached to respective ones of the cantilever
arms (18), and the third adjusting unit (20) is attached to a front face (48) of the
body (10) and comprises a V-shaped arrangement of hinge plates (58, 60) that are attached
to the body (10) and the vertex of which is level with the mounting plate (12) and
supports one of the hinge plates (34) that is connected to the support point (26)
of the mounting plate.