US 12,011,935 B2
Printing apparatus, printer system and method for printing on an object
Matthias Mensing, Berlin (DE)
Assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich (DE)
Appl. No. 17/611,666
Filed by Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich (DE)
PCT Filed Apr. 21, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/061038
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/229098, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 19, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2019 207 158.6 (DE), filed on May 16, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0212487 A1, Jul. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. B41J 25/00 (2006.01)
CPC B41J 25/006 (2013.01) 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
a transport device configured for moving an object to be printed-on along a predefined transport direction through a printing region of the printing apparatus;
a first printing head for depositing a viscous printing material, said first printing head being displaceable along a first sliding shaft extending transversely with respect to the transport direction, and a first printing head shifting apparatus for displacing said first printing head along said first sliding shaft;
a second printing head for depositing the viscous printing material, said second printing head being displaceable along a second sliding shaft, said second sliding shaft extending parallel to said first sliding shaft and offset from said first sliding shaft along the transport direction, and a second printing head shifting apparatus for displacing said second printing head along said second sliding shaft; and
a shifting apparatus for shifting said first and second sliding shafts in the transport direction under activation by a control apparatus; and
wherein said control apparatus is configured:
to activate said shifting apparatus to shift said first and second sliding shafts between successive line printing phases in each case jointly relative to the object to be printed-on, while a constant distance is maintained between said sliding shafts; or
to activate said shifting apparatus to shift each of said first and second sliding shafts individually relative to the object to be printed-on, wherein each of said sliding shafts is respectively shifted to a next printing line as soon as printing of a previous printing line is finished; and
wherein said control apparatus is configured:
for printing each printing line, to activate said first and second printing head shifting apparatus and displace said first and second printing heads along the respective said sliding shaft and to activate said first and second printing heads in each case for dispensing viscous printing material at points of the respective printing line that are to be printed on; and
to activate said shifting apparatus to shift said first and second sliding shafts, during respective line printing thereof, in the transport direction at the same speed at which said transport device moves the object to be printed-on in the transport direction.