Other

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Stratasys, Inc.

Macdermid Acumen, Inc.

Aaron Gerald Barclay

Kevin Ready Campion

Chad E Beery

Kevin R Crystal

Larry William Gonier

Randy Johnston

John Knaack

Peter David Schuller

Shawn Michael Koop

Dennis B Shell

Jordan Paul Nadeau

Steven Lee Lidke

Mark Ervin Olsen

Peter N Ladas

Daniel L Jankovich

Kerry Ray Anderson

Robert Alan Schmidt

Richard J Bigaoutte

Peter E Malecha

Christian Vasbo

Ivor F Matz

Dale G Nordenstrom

Corrine Ruether

Wade A Kragtorp

Joe Kubes

Rick Bigaouette

Pete Ladas

Adam Watterson

Pete Schmidt

A hold and release platen system for use in extrusion-based additive manufacturing system includes a platen, a vacuum source and a pressurized air source. The platen has a surface including a plurality of holes therethrough. The vacuum source is configured to provide a vacuum through the plurality of holes, and the pressurized air source is configured to eject pressurized fluid through the plurality of holes. A method includes positioning a sheet substrate on the platen surface; pulling a vacuum through one or more holes in the platen surface to secure the sheet substrate; printing a part on the sheet substrate by moving a print head along a tool path and extruding material in the path; and ejecting pressurized air through the one or more holes to create an air bearing beneath the substrate thereby facilitating removal of the sheet substrate and the printed part from the platen.

Additive manufacturing system with platen having vacuum and air bearing

An 3D printer has a gantry configured to move in a plane substantially parallel to a build plane. The system includes a platen configured to support a part being built in a layer by layer process, wherein the platen is configured to move in a direction substantially normal to the build plane. The system includes a head carriage carried by the gantry wherein the head carriage includes a first support member supporting a retaining mechanism. The retaining mechanism includes at least one member extending from the support member and a camming member rotatably attached to the support member and movable about an axis of rotation. The camming member has arcuate camming surface with an increasing radial distance from the axis of rotation. The system includes at least one print head having a housing with a first side surface configured to engage the at least one member and a second side surface configured to engage the arcuate camming surface. The camming member is positionable between a first, non-engaging position where the at least one print head is removable from the support member and a second, engaging position wherein the camming member engages the second side of the print head and the first side of the print head engages the at least one member and causes a frictional engagement therebetween.

3D printer with coupling for attaching print head to head carriage

A reservoir of an ink supply system is described.

Ink supply reservoir

An improved large-format inkjet printer that is capable of providing more efficient and higher quality printing on a variety of print media, including for example, paper, fabric, corrugated media, and plywood. The improved printer provides improvements to the platen assembly, rail assembly, service station assembly, printhead assembly and vacuum assembly to provide improved printing capability. In addition the printer provides a table assembly that can be integrated into the platen assembly to provide a secure and flush surface for supporting various types of print media.

Ink jet printer

A fluid delivery system of the invention comprises one or more intercoupled cartridge assembles. Each cartridge assembly comprises a plurality of interconnected cartridges, each comprising a reservoir for holding jetting fluid and an ink jet print head operatively connected to the reservoir. Each cartridge assembly is interconnected by a first interconnection assembly and a second interconnection assembly. The first interconnection assembly maintains the plurality of interconnected cartridges at a negative pressure. The second interconnection assembly maintains at least an essentially equal level of jetting fluid within each of the reservoirs of the plurality of cartridges. Jetting fluid is replenished in the plurality of interconnected cartridges by replenishing jetting fluid in a selected cartridge and using the second interconnection assembly to distribute the jetting fluid among the reservoirs of the interconnected cartridges. A sensor is coupled to the selected reservoir to monitor the level of jetting fluid in the cartridge assembly.

Fluid delivery system for an ink jet print head

An improved, large-format digital inkjet print engine that includes a group of co-operating print engine subassemblies that embody various novel elements that both discreetly and cumulatively advance the current art. The group of subassemblies and sensors cooperate to produce high quality graphic images using a plurality of different colors of ink and different types of print media at speeds several times faster than similar conventional inkjet printers. In addition, the use of cooperating elements permit the manufacture of complex, large-format digital color inkjet print engines that are less expensive to fabricated, operated, and serviced. The present invention finds use in large-format digital color printing and imaging, where successful repeatable printing requires precise placement of droplets of ink, toner or other marking material on a print medium such as paper, vinyl, film, or similar substrate.

Co-operating mechanical subassemblies for a scanning carriage, digital wide-format color inkjet print engine

The method and apparatus of the present invention increases the precision for controlling diverse printing substrates during printing operation while ink is emitted from an ink jet print head to form patterns upon the printing media substrate. The present invention addresses several long-standing obstacles to high quality printed output upon many nontraditional print media, including media handling for nonbacked, unsupported, fibrous print media. The print media traverses the engine in a complex pathway in the preferred embodiment; including, continually advancing from a powered media supply roll through a cross-web tensioning area, an idler pulley, then over a full-web media advance grit roller, through a unique &ldquo;open web&rdquo; printing zone&mdash;where the media is briefly suspended during application of ink, over an idler pulley, through a forced heating zone (preferably dual-sided), and then over another idler pulley, and finally onto a take-up spool which is biased against the force created by the powered media supply spool. The engine of the present invention utilizes this open-web printing zone, dual forced air heating of both sides of freshly printed media, and a continuously biased tension in the axial web directions and cross-web directions for maximum effect on fibrous media in particular, although the system lends itself to use in ink jet graphics arts applications. The media is preferably loaded in a center-justified orientation and the engine is tolerant of traditionally produced textile media rolls, cores, and fabric varieties. A removeable pad may optionally be disposed on top of a platen frame member and under the print media pathway so that any ink that penetrates a porous media in the open web print zone impinges upon the pad where it can be collected and disposed of properly. If placed proximate to the printing media pathway, the removeable pad furthermore reduces the amplitude of any media wrinkles and thereby reduces drop placement errors which might cause visual artifacts.

Printing zone specially adapted for textile printing media

The disclosure concerns an apparatus that increases the utility of the ink jet printing engines by allowing the engine operator the freedom to select the spacing between the ink emitting nozzles of each inkjet print head and a printing substrate. The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a reciprocating carriage assembly having twelve individual ink jet pen receptacles and a manual vertical adjustment feature for precise control of the spacing between the printing substrate and the print head(s). In one embodiment, the inventive carriage assembly height adjustment features dual, manually-actuated axial screws that cooperate to evenly raise and lower the carriage assembly. Preferably a third mounting point ensures parallelism when the carriage assembly is raised and lowered. In use, the entire carriage assembly, including circuit boards, ink jet print heads, and electronics all move in unison when the axial shafts are rotated. A simple spacer tool, ground to a preselected thickness is used to confirm that an optimum head height has been reached, although other, more elaborate mechanisms could also be used. The inventive carriage assembly preferably includes a plurality of receptacles for receiving disposable ink jet print heads. Preferred features include a solderless assembly process, a tongue-in-groove coupling, and a first leaf spring to bias the print heads to precision mounting locations. Several elements cooperate to promote electrical contact between a flex circuit having mass terminations of electrical traces on the flex circuit and corresponding electrical features of each print head.

Carriage assembly for a large format ink jet print engine

Growing community of inventors

Shokopee, MN, United States of America

Aaron Gerald Barclay