	US 12,233,643 B2
	Printing assemblies and methods for using the same
Vadim Bromberg, Niskayuna, NY (US); John Sterle, Clifton Park, NY (US); Carlos H. Bonilla, Lebanon, OH (US); Kwok Pong Chan, Niskayuna, NY (US); Mary Kathryn Thompson, Fairfield Township, OH (US); Ruben E. Fairman, Forest Park, OH (US); and Jacob Mayer, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US)
Appl. No. 17/612,868
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
PCT Filed May 22, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/034189 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 19, 2021, PCT Pub. No. WO2020/237138, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 26, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/851,957, filed on May 23, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0227127 A1, Jul. 21, 2022
Int. Cl. B41J 2/045 (2006.01)

CPC B41J 2/04505 (2013.01) [B41J 2/04586 (2013.01)]

20 Claims

1. A manufacturing apparatus, comprising:

a printing head comprising a plurality of print heads comprising a plurality of jet nozzles spaced apart from one another in a direction transverse to a longitudinal axis, which is a working axis of the manufacturing apparatus, wherein a distance from a first jet nozzle to a second jet nozzle positioned adjacent the first jet nozzle of the plurality of jet nozzles defines a jet-spacing;

a printing head position control assembly comprising a first actuator assembly configured to move the printing head along the longitudinal axis and a second actuator assembly configured to move the printing head along a latitudinal axis; and

an electronic control unit communicatively coupled to the printing head position control assembly, the electronic control unit is configured to:

cause select ones of the plurality of jet nozzles to dispense one or more drops of binder while the printing head traverses a first pass trajectory along the longitudinal axis in a first direction,

index the printing head to a second pass trajectory along the latitudinal axis by an index distance greater than zero and less than the jet-spacing, and

cause select ones of the plurality of jet nozzles to dispense one or more drops of binder while the printing head traverses the second pass trajectory along the longitudinal axis in a second direction opposite the first direction;

wherein:

the printing head includes a plurality of print head rows comprising a set of the plurality of print heads of the plurality of print heads, and each print head of the plurality of print head rows includes the plurality of jet nozzles;

the printing head is sized and shaped to slidably receive the plurality of print heads therein;

the plurality of print heads are configured to slidably translate within the plurality of print head rows, respectively, in a transverse direction relative to the working axis;

each print head of the plurality of print heads includes a coupling feature attached thereto, wherein the coupling feature of each print head of the plurality of print heads in the plurality of print head rows is further attached to an actuator; and

the actuator attached to the coupling feature is configured to move a respective one of the plurality of print heads of a first print head row and/or a second print head row upon an actuation of the actuator caused by execution, with the electronic control unit, of computer readable and executable instructions stored in a non-transitory memory of the electronic control unit.