Apparatus for and method of printing on three-dimensional object
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing ink to a surface of a three-dimensional object, comprising:
- a shape recognition section for obtaining data about a surface shape of a three-dimensional object;
an ejection section for ejecting ink toward said three-dimensional object;
a scanning section for causing said ejection section to scan relative to said three-dimensional object; and
a control section for controlling an operation of said ejection section and/or said scanning section in accordance with information about inclination of the surface of said three-dimensional object, said information being indicated in said data obtained by said shape recognition section.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A three-dimensional object printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a shape recognition section for obtaining three-dimensional shape data about a surface shape of a three-dimensional object by measurement or the like; an ejection section for ejecting ink toward the three-dimensional object; a scanning section for causing the ejection section to scan relative to the three-dimensional object; and a control section for controlling an operation of the ejection section and/or the scanning section in accordance with information about inclination of the surface of the three-dimensional object, the information being indicated in the data obtained by the shape recognition section. The printing apparatus performs printing in accordance with the information obtained by measurement on the surface inclination of the object to achieve a high-quality printing process. More specifically, a mode of operation is determined for each of a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction in accordance with an inclination angle of an inclined surface with respect to each of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. The printing operation is performed based on the mode of operation.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing ink to a surface of a three-dimensional object, comprising:
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a shape recognition section for obtaining data about a surface shape of a three-dimensional object;
an ejection section for ejecting ink toward said three-dimensional object;
a scanning section for causing said ejection section to scan relative to said three-dimensional object; and
a control section for controlling an operation of said ejection section and/or said scanning section in accordance with information about inclination of the surface of said three-dimensional object, said information being indicated in said data obtained by said shape recognition section. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of providing ink to a surface of a three-dimensional object, comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining data about a surface shape of a three-dimensional object; and
(b) causing an ejection section to eject ink toward said three-dimensional object while causing said ejection section to scan relative to said three-dimensional object in accordance with information about inclination of the surface of said three-dimensional object, said information being indicated in said data obtained in said step (a). - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification