Method and system for nozzle compensation in non-contact material deposition
First Claim
1. A system for producing printed electronics by depositing conductive ink, the system comprising:
- a housing configured to house at least one movable print unit and a motor configured to move the at least one movable print unit, wherein the at least one movable print unit includes a plurality of nozzles configured to deposit patterns of electrically conductive material on an object;
a conveyor configured to move the object relative to the housing;
a memory for storing a print file containing specifications of a printed electronics pattern; and
a controller configured to selectively move the conveyor in a manner enabling the electronics pattern to be printed on the object, wherein the controller is configured to cause printing of multilayered conductive lines forming a conductive path on the object in a single pass,wherein the housing is further configured to house a plurality of movable print units, and each of the movable print units being independently movable relative to the other movable print units during printing and including one or more fixed print heads, and wherein positions of the plurality of movable print units are determined by an optimization calculation; and
wherein the optimization calculation takes into account;
specific image data; and
nozzle status data, wherein nozzle status data includes nozzle jet direction.
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Abstract
A method of printing is provided where printing is using a first printing unit having redundant nozzles. Then, the method may include stopping the printing with the first printing unit while continuing the printing with active nozzles of a second printing unit. The method may include inspecting the first printing unit and identifying faulty nozzles, then designating the faulty nozzles as inactive and designating inactive nozzles of the first printing unit as a new active nozzle. According to some embodiments the method may include moving the first printing unit to an inspection zone prior to inspecting while continuing the printing with active nozzles of a second printing unit and moving the first printing unit back to the printing zone after inspection and continuing the printing with the first printing unit.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for producing printed electronics by depositing conductive ink, the system comprising:
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a housing configured to house at least one movable print unit and a motor configured to move the at least one movable print unit, wherein the at least one movable print unit includes a plurality of nozzles configured to deposit patterns of electrically conductive material on an object; a conveyor configured to move the object relative to the housing; a memory for storing a print file containing specifications of a printed electronics pattern; and a controller configured to selectively move the conveyor in a manner enabling the electronics pattern to be printed on the object, wherein the controller is configured to cause printing of multilayered conductive lines forming a conductive path on the object in a single pass, wherein the housing is further configured to house a plurality of movable print units, and each of the movable print units being independently movable relative to the other movable print units during printing and including one or more fixed print heads, and wherein positions of the plurality of movable print units are determined by an optimization calculation; and wherein the optimization calculation takes into account; specific image data; and nozzle status data, wherein nozzle status data includes nozzle jet direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification