CN-121989561-A - Sample jet printing equipment and operation method thereof

CN121989561ACN 121989561 ACN121989561 ACN 121989561ACN-121989561-A

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to sample jet printing apparatus and methods of operating the same. The sample inkjet printing apparatus includes a base (110), an inkjet printing unit (120), a carrier (112) adapted to carry a sample carrier (200) on which a sheet-like sample to be inkjet printed is disposed, a plurality of ink cartridges (140) configured to respectively hold inkjet printing liquids of different inkjet printing liquid formulations for inkjet printing the sample, and an inkjet printing liquid supply system (150) including a pump (152), a first conduit (154), and a second conduit (156), the pump (152) being configured to pump inkjet printing liquid from one of the plurality of ink cartridges (140) via the first conduit (154) and to supply inkjet printing liquid to an inkjet printing liquid chamber (124) of the inkjet printing assembly (122) via the second conduit (156) during an inkjet printing operation performed by the inkjet printing assembly (122).

Inventors

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Assignees

杭州宏华数码科技股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20260325

Claims (14)

1. A sample jet printing apparatus comprising: a base (110); a jet printing unit (120) mounted to the base (110) and comprising a jet printing assembly (122), the jet printing assembly (122) comprising a jet printing liquid chamber (124) adapted to contain jet printing liquid and a plurality of jets (126) in communication with the jet printing liquid chamber (124); -a carrying stage (112) mounted to the base stage (110) and adapted to carry a sample carrier (200), the sample carrier (200) having a sheet sample to be jet printed thereon; A plurality of ink cartridges (140) configured to respectively hold inkjet printing liquids of different inkjet printing liquid formulations for inkjet printing the sample, and A jet printing liquid supply system (150) comprising a pump (152), a first conduit (154) adapted to fluidly connect the pump (152) with the plurality of ink cartridges (140), and a second conduit (156) adapted to fluidly connect the pump (152) with the jet printing liquid chamber (124) of the jet printing assembly (122), the pump (152) being configured to aspirate the jet printing liquid from one ink cartridge (140) of the plurality of ink cartridges (140) via the first conduit (154) and to supply the jet printing liquid to the jet printing liquid chamber (124) of the jet printing assembly (122) via the second conduit (156) during a jet printing operation performed by the jet printing assembly (122).
2. The sample inkjet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pump (152) includes a single pump (152), the plurality of cartridges (140) sharing the single pump (152), the first conduit (154) being selectively switched between the plurality of cartridges (140) to selectively fluidly connect the single pump (152) with one cartridge (140) of the plurality of cartridges (140).
3. The sample inkjet printing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the single pump (152) includes an injection pump (152), the single pump (152) includes a pump cavity and a single opening in communication with the pump cavity, the inkjet printing liquid from one cartridge (140) of the plurality of cartridges (140) enters the pump cavity via the single opening, and the inkjet printing liquid contained in the pump cavity exits the pump cavity via the single opening to be supplied to the inkjet printing liquid cavity (124) of the inkjet printing assembly (122).
4. A sample jet printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the single pump (152) further comprises a first motor for driving a piston of the syringe pump (152); For each sample cycle, the single pump (152) includes a liquid-suction mode in which the first motor rotates in a first direction to draw the inkjet fluid of one cartridge (140) of the plurality of cartridges (140) into the pump cavity, and a liquid-supply mode in which the first motor rotates in a second direction opposite the first direction to cause the inkjet fluid drawn into the pump cavity to flow out of the pump cavity to be supplied to the inkjet fluid cavity (124) of the inkjet assembly (122).
5. The sample jet printing apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein the first conduit (154) and the second conduit (156) are connected in series with each other, the jet printing liquid supply system (150) comprising a third conduit (158) at the intersection of the first conduit (154) and the second conduit (156), the third conduit (158) being fluidly connected to the single opening of the single pump (152); Wherein the first conduit (154) further comprises a first one-way valve (151) disposed upstream of the third conduit (158) and permitting the jet printing liquid of one cartridge (140) of the plurality of cartridges (140) to flow to the single pump (152), and the second conduit (156) further comprises a second one-way valve (153) disposed downstream of the third conduit (158) and permitting the jet printing liquid within the single pump (152) to flow to the jet printing assembly (122).
6. The sample jet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base (110) comprises a front side and a rear side, the base (110) comprising a base (116) adapted to be placed on the ground and a mounting portion (118) protruding upwardly from the base (116) retractably from the front side to the rear side at the rear side, the jet printing unit (120) being mounted to the mounting portion (118) at the front side, the carrying stage (112) being mounted to the base (110) at the front side.
7. The sample jet printing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the carriage (112) is movably mounted to the base (110), the sample jet printing apparatus further comprising a second motor adapted to drive the carriage (112) linearly in a horizontal direction; Wherein the second motor is configured to bring the carriage (112) at least at a first carriage station corresponding to a loading and/or unloading station of the sample, at which the carriage (112) is spaced apart from the jet printing unit (120) in the horizontal direction, and at a second carriage station corresponding to a jet printing operation on the sample, at which the carriage (112) is located at least partially below the jet printing unit (120) and passes from below the jet printing unit (120) in the horizontal direction through the jet printing unit (120) to perform the jet printing operation.
8. The sample jet printing apparatus of claim 6 or 7, further comprising: A water tank (160) with an open top side, mounted to the base (110), the water tank (160) being located on the front side of the mounting portion (118) and positioned below the jet printing unit (120), and A cleaning device comprising a roller brush (162) mounted within the water tank (160), a third motor adapted to drive the roller brush (162) in rotation, and a water line for providing water to the roller brush (162), wherein the third motor is configured to rotate the roller brush (162) to enable cleaning of the spray printing assembly (122).
9. The sample jet printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the jet printing unit (120) comprises a housing and the jet printing assembly (122) being accommodated within the housing, the jet printing unit (120) further comprising lifting means for lifting the jet printing assembly (122) in a vertical direction, in particular comprising a scissor lift.
10. The sample jet printing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the lifting device is configured to bring the jet printing assembly (122) at least at a first jet printing assembly station corresponding to a jet printing operation position of the jet printing assembly (122) and at a second jet printing assembly station corresponding to a cleaning operation position of the jet printing assembly (122), the jet printing assembly (122) being located above the carrying table (112) and being spaced apart from the carrying table (112) in the vertical direction by a distance suitable for performing a jet printing operation, at the second jet printing assembly station the jet printing assembly (122) being located below the carrying table (112) in the vertical direction and abutting the roller brush (162) of the cleaning device in the vertical direction.
11. The sample jet printing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, wherein At least one ink cartridge (140) of the plurality of ink cartridges (140) is in the form of an open cup, and/or The sample jet printing apparatus further comprises a tray (142) adapted to carry the plurality of ink cartridges (140) and/or attachment means for detachably securing the tray (142) to the base (110) and/or to a component fixedly mounted with the base (110), and/or The sample jet printing apparatus further includes a moisturizing unit (111) configured to selectively engage the jet printing assembly (122) to moisturize the jet printing assembly (122), and/or The sample jet printing apparatus further comprises a video unit (113) and a remote communication unit, the video unit (113) being arranged on the base station (110) and configured to face at least partially the jet printing assembly (122) to collect video data, the remote communication unit being configured to remotely communicate the video data to a remote data center.
12. A method for operating a sample jet printing apparatus, comprising: Placing a first sample carrier (200) carrying a first sample on a carrier table (112) of the sample jet printing apparatus; -moving the carriage (112) in a horizontal direction to a first predetermined position, and-in response to the carriage (112) moving to the first predetermined position, -causing a jet printing assembly (122) of a jet printing unit (120) of the sample jet printing apparatus to perform a first jet printing operation on the first sample carrier (200), wherein the first jet printing operation comprises sucking a first jet printing liquid from a first cartridge (140) of a plurality of cartridges (140) via a first conduit (154) by a pump (152) and supplying the first jet printing liquid to a jet printing liquid chamber (124) of the jet printing assembly (122) via a second conduit (156); After performing the first jet printing operation, moving the carrying table (112) to a second predetermined position along the horizontal direction, and at the second predetermined position, taking away the first sample carrier (200) carrying the jet printed first sample; placing a second sample carrier (200) carrying a second sample on the carrier table (112) of the sample jet printing apparatus; Moving the carriage (112) to the first predetermined position along the horizontal direction and causing a jet printing assembly (122) of a jet printing unit (120) of the sample jet printing apparatus to perform a second jet printing operation on the second sample carrier (200) in response to the carriage (112) moving to the first predetermined position, wherein the second jet printing operation includes sucking a second jet printing liquid from a second ink cartridge (140) of the plurality of ink cartridges (140) via the first conduit (154) by a pump (152) and supplying the second jet printing liquid to the jet printing liquid chamber (124) of the jet printing assembly (122) via the second conduit (156), and After the second jet printing operation is performed, the stage (112) is moved to the second predetermined position along the horizontal direction.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising moving an inlet of the first conduit (154) from the first ink cartridge (140) to the second ink cartridge (140) after performing a first inkjet printing job and before performing the second inkjet printing job, and/or moving an inlet of the first conduit (154) from the second ink cartridge (140) to a third ink cartridge (140) of the plurality of ink cartridges (140) after performing a second inkjet printing job.
14. The method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising: Lifting the jet printing assembly (122) of the jet printing unit (120) in a vertical direction after performing a first jet printing job and before performing the second jet printing job to move the jet printing assembly (122) from a jet printing station to a cleaning station, wherein the jet printing assembly (122) is subjected to a cleaning job at the cleaning station.

Description

Sample jet printing equipment and operation method thereof Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to digital inkjet printing, and in particular, to sample inkjet printing apparatus and methods of operating the same. Background In the digital jet printing industry, such as in the fields of fabric development, garment design, home textile production and personalized customization, color proofing of samples is a vital link. Prior to conventional mass dyeing or printing, color accuracy, pattern effect, fabric-to-dye matching and final hand feel look must be confirmed by hand sample test printing. The digital jet printing technology has become a core technology for modern textile proofing and small-batch production because of the advantages of no plate making, rich colors, natural gradual change, capability of rapidly outputting personalized patterns and the like. The jet printing device for large-format media is available in the market, but the jet printing device is complex in structure, huge in size and high in cost, and is not suitable for small-size, multi-variety and quick-replacement proofing scenes. There is a need for improvements over conventional digital inkjet printing devices to meet the needs of being dedicated to sample inkjet printing. Disclosure of Invention The present disclosure provides a sample jet printing apparatus for a sample jet printing apparatus and a method of operating the same, which aim to solve or mitigate one or more of the above problems. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sample jet printing apparatus. The sample inkjet printing apparatus includes a base station, an inkjet printing unit mounted to the base station and including an inkjet printing assembly including an inkjet printing liquid chamber adapted to contain inkjet printing liquid and a plurality of inkjet needles in communication with the inkjet printing liquid chamber, a carrier station mounted to the base station and adapted to carry a sample carrier on which a sheet sample to be inkjet printed is disposed, a plurality of ink cartridges configured to respectively contain inkjet printing liquid of different inkjet printing liquid formulations for inkjet printing the sample, and an inkjet printing liquid supply system including a pump, a first conduit adapted to fluidly connect the pump with the plurality of ink cartridges, and a second conduit adapted to fluidly connect the pump with the inkjet printing liquid chamber of the inkjet printing assembly, the pump being configured to pump the inkjet printing liquid from one of the plurality of ink cartridges via the first conduit and to supply the inkjet printing liquid to the inkjet printing liquid chamber of the inkjet printing assembly via the second conduit during an inkjet printing operation performed by the inkjet printing assembly. According to the sample jet printing device, the sample carrier is arranged on the device, so that loading and/or unloading of samples can be conveniently achieved, the sample jet printing device has the characteristic of miniaturization through compact structural arrangement, and jet printing of different samples by different jet printing liquid formulas can be achieved through arrangement of a plurality of ink cartridges and related jet printing liquid supply systems. In some embodiments, the pump comprises a single pump, the single pump is shared by the plurality of cartridges, and the first conduit is selectively switched between the plurality of cartridges to selectively fluidly connect the single pump with one of the plurality of cartridges. Therefore, a plurality of ink cartridges share a single pump, complex and cumbersome pipeline lines are avoided, the structural complexity of the jet printing liquid supply system can be greatly simplified, and the cost of equipment can be reduced. In some embodiments, the single pump includes a syringe pump, the single pump includes a pump cavity and a single opening in communication with the pump cavity, the inkjet printing liquid from one of the plurality of cartridges enters the pump cavity via the single opening, and the inkjet printing liquid contained in the pump cavity exits the pump cavity via the single opening to be supplied to the inkjet printing liquid cavity of the inkjet printing assembly. Thus, pressure fluctuation in jet printing operation can be effectively reduced, and the cost advantage is achieved. In some embodiments, the single pump further includes a first motor for driving a piston of the syringe pump, the single pump including, for each sample cycle, a pipetting mode in which the first motor rotates in a first direction to aspirate the inkjet fluid of one of the plurality of cartridges into the pump cavity and a feed mode in which the first motor rotates in a second direction opposite the first direction to cause the inkjet fluid aspirated into the pump cavity to flow out of the pump cavity to be