Crafting apparatus including a workpiece feed path bypass assembly and workpiece feed path analyzer

• US 9,114,647 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2014
• Issued: 08/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cricut, Inc. (Petrus Capital Management LLC)
• Original Assignee: Provo Craft and Novelty
• Inventors: Crystal, Jeremy B., Gubler, Jeffery V., Davis, James T. II, Dodge, Christopher K., Burton, David J., Strong, Matthew B., Colby, Jim A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, ANTHONY H
• Application Number:
  US14/188,151
• Publication Number:
  US 20140169855A1
• Time in Patent Office: 547 Days
• Field of Search: 400/621
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/00 Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form script supports connected to the typewriter or printer B41J29/15
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/663 Controlling cutting, cutting resulting in special shapes of the cutting line, e.g. controlling cutting positions, e.g. for cutting in the immediate vicinity of a printed image
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/706 using a cutting tool mounted on a reciprocating carrier
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/4073 Printing on three-dimensional objects not being in sheet or web form, e.g. spherical or cubic objects B41J3/283, B41J3/286 take precedence; building up a 3D object using individual droplets from jetting heads B29C64/112
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/01 indicating an entity as a function of which control, adjustment or change is performed, i.e. input
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/02 indicating an entity which is controlled, adjusted or changed by a control process, i.e. output
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/11 indicating that the input or output entities exclusively relate to machine elements
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/51532 Blade cutter, e.g. single blade cutter
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/20 Location in space
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/413 of image
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2513/40 Movement
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2801/12 Single-function printing machines, typically table-top machines
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 35/0086 using movable cutting elements
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 5/26 Duplicate, alternate, selective, or coacting feeds

Abstract

A method of operating a crafting apparatus. The method includes moving a workpiece along a first feed path for printing on the workpiece with a printer and moving the workpiece along a second feed path for cutting the workpiece with a cutter. The first feed path bypasses a workpiece mover of the cutter.

Claims

1. A method of aligning a cutter with a printer of a crafting apparatus, the method comprising:

determining a number of steps to move the cutter a first distance in a first direction;

determining a number of steps to move the cutter a second distance in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction;

printing calibration images with the printer;

cutting the calibration images with the cutter, each calibration image cut with a cutter offset different from the other calibration images;

selecting at least one cut calibration image; and

using the cutter offset of the selected calibration image for cutting operations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

locating first and second marks spaced from each other along the first direction on a mat received by the crafting apparatus and then determining a number of steps to move the cutter along the first direction between the first and second marks; and

locating third and fourth marks spaced from each other along the second direction on the mat and then determining a number of steps to move the cutter along the second direction between the third and fourth marks.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein printing calibration images comprises printing at least one of horizontal lines and vertical lines.