Ink jet printing system
First Claim
1. An ink jet printing system for printing onto a plurality of substantially flat panels, said system comprising:
- panel moving means for moving a plurality of flat panels in succession along an endless path, means providing an ink jet printing station located at one point along said endless path, said ink jet printing station having at least one ink jet printing head arranged and operable to sequentially eject drops of ink onto said panels as they move past said printing station so that as each panel passes said printing station said ink jet head scans a scan line on said panel extending parallel to said path of panel movement along which ink drops will appear if said ink jet head is operated to eject ink drops onto said panel at that time, and means for moving said at least one ink jet printer head in the direction perpendicular to said path of panel movement and in coordination with the movement of said panel moving means so that each time a panel passes said printing station said at least one ink jet head scans a new scan line on said panel.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An ink jet printing system suited to the making of large scale graphics, such as outdoor billboards, includes an endless carrier for moving a plurality of rigid flat panels, onto which a graphic is to be printed in sections, repetitively past an ink jet printing station. At the printing station each panel moves in purely rectilinear fashion in a direction parallel to its ink drop receiving face so that such face remains essentially at a uniform spacing from the ink jet printing heads of the printing station as the printing occurs. A means for timing the operation of the ink jet heads takes into account irregularities or changes in the motion of the panels past the printing station so that the ink drops are correctly placed despite such irregularities or changes. The ink jet heads can eject relatively large drops of pigmented ink. In the case of polychromatic half-tone printing, for each pixel of a panel different colors are printed at substantially different times so that the printed ink drops of one color can dry before those of another color are printed, and a heating means may be used to enhance the drying.
33 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An ink jet printing system for printing onto a plurality of substantially flat panels, said system comprising:
- panel moving means for moving a plurality of flat panels in succession along an endless path, means providing an ink jet printing station located at one point along said endless path, said ink jet printing station having at least one ink jet printing head arranged and operable to sequentially eject drops of ink onto said panels as they move past said printing station so that as each panel passes said printing station said ink jet head scans a scan line on said panel extending parallel to said path of panel movement along which ink drops will appear if said ink jet head is operated to eject ink drops onto said panel at that time, and means for moving said at least one ink jet printer head in the direction perpendicular to said path of panel movement and in coordination with the movement of said panel moving means so that each time a panel passes said printing station said at least one ink jet head scans a new scan line on said panel.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Specification