Printer and printing method for three dimensional objects

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9764544-B1
Application number	US-201615225982-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 2, 2016
Priority date	Aug 2, 2016
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A printer that includes a motor assembly for moving a print head relative to a medium, and a processor for receiving a data structure for a pixel to be printed on the medium. The data structure includes perception data and classification data for the pixel. The processor adjusts at least one printing parameter of the printer based upon the classification data.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A two-dimensional printer for printing an ink-based pixel on a substantially two-dimensional non-ink medium, the printer comprising a motor assembly for moving a print head relative to the medium and a processor for receiving a data structure for the pixel to be printed on the medium, where the data structure includes perception data and classification data for the pixel, wherein the classification data comprises a designation of an angle of the medium at which the printed pixel will be viewed after the medium is trimmed and assembled into a 3D object, and the processor decides at least one printing parameter of the printer based upon the classification data.

2. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the designation of an angle comprises one of top surface, top side, side, bottom side, and bottom surface of the medium.

3. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the printer is an ink jet printer.

4. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the at least one printing parameter includes at least one of surface of the medium on which to print the pixel, amount of ink to use when printing the pixel, number of times the pixel is printed, color table used by the printer to print the pixel, speed at which the printer prints the pixel, secondary liquid applied to the medium in a location of the pixel, temperature of an ejector used by the printer to print the pixel, and resolution at which the 3D printer prints the pixel.

5. A data structure for ink-based pixels to be printed on a substantially two-dimensional non-ink medium using a two-dimensional printer, the data structure comprising perception data and classification data, where the classification data describes a visible portion of the pixel in a 3D object formed from the medium after the medium is trimmed and assembled.

6. The data structure of claim 5 , wherein the data structure further comprises position data comprising a designation of a location for printing the pixel on the medium.

7. The data structure of claim 5 , wherein the classification data comprises a designation of an angle at which the printed pixel will be viewed after the medium is trimmed and assembled into a 3D object.

8. The data structure of claim 5 , wherein the classification data comprises an angle of a tangent to the printed pixel with respect to a Z axis of a plane of the medium.

9. The data structure of claim 5 , wherein the classification data comprises a designation of a viewing angle of the printed pixel, where the designation comprises one of top surface, top side, side, bottom side, and bottom surface.

10. A method of printing an ink-based pixel on a substantially two-dimensional non-ink medium, the method comprising the steps of:
encoding a data structure for the pixel with perception data and classification data, where the classification data describes a predominant viewing angle of the pixel in a 3D object formed from the medium after the medium is trimmed and assembled,
transmitting the data structure to a two-dimensional printer,
adjusting at least one printing parameter based upon the classification data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data structure further comprises position data comprising a designation of a location for printing the pixel on the medium.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the perception data comprises at least one of color blend data and opacity data.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the perception data comprises red, green, and blue value components.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the classification data comprises a designation of an angle at which the printed pixel will be viewed after the medium is trimmed and assembled into a 3D object.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the classification data comprises an angle of a tangent to the printed pixel with respect to a Z axis of a plane of the medium.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the classification data comprises a designation of a viewing angle of the printed pixel, where the designation comprises one of top surface, top side, side, bottom side, and bottom surface.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the printer is an ink jet printer.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one printing parameter includes at least one of surface of the medium on which to print the pixel, amount of ink to use when printing the pixel, number of times the pixel is printed, color table used by the printer to print the pixel, speed at which the printer prints the pixel, secondary liquid applied to the medium in a location of the pixel, temperature of an ejector used by the printer to print the pixel, and resolution at which the printer prints the pixel.

Assignees

• Funai Electric Co

Inventors

• Deboard Bruce A
• Barkley Lucas D
• Marra Iii Michael A

Classifications

• B41J2/015 Primary

  characterised by the jet generation process (B41J2/215 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C67/0074

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B29C64/147 Primary

  using sheet material, e.g. laminated object manufacturing [LOM] or laminating sheet material precut to local cross sections of the 3D object · CPC title

• B29C64/141

  using only solid materials · CPC title

• B33Y50/00 Primary

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title