Apparatus and method for control or monitoring a printing system
Embodiments of the present invention relate to control apparatus and methods of a printing system, for example, comprising an intermediate transfer member (ITM) and to user-related features of a printing system. Some embodiments relate to regulation of a velocity and/or tension and/or length of the ITM. Some embodiments relate to regulation of deposition of ink on the moving ITM. Some embodiments regulate to apparatus configured to alert a user of one or more events related to operation of the ITM. Some embodiments relate to a time-line GUI for visualizing and/or manipulating queued print jobs which may be employed. Some embodiments relate to a reversed augmented reality GUI for visualization and/or control of the printing system. In some embodiments, a display screen is mounted to a printer housing and/or able to control access to moving parts of a printing system.
1. A method of operating a printing system wherein ink images are formed by deposition of ink onto a moving flexible blanket and subsequently transferred from the blanket to a substrate, the method comprising:
a. monitoring temporal fluctuations of non-uniform stretching of the moving blanket; and
b. in response to the results of the monitoring, regulating the deposition of the ink onto the blanket so as to eliminate or reduce a severity of distortions, caused by the blanket non-uniform stretching, of the ink images formed on the moving blanket, wherein a timing of the deposition of the ink is regulated in response to the results of monitoring.
2. A printing system comprising:
a. a flexible blanket;
b. an image forming station configured to form ink images onto a surface of the blanket while the blanket moves by deposition of ink droplets onto the blanket surface;
c. a transfer station configured to transfer the ink images from the surface of the moving blanket to a substrate; and
d. electronic circuitry configured to monitor temporal fluctuations of non-uniform stretching of the blanket and to regulate the deposition of the ink droplets onto the blanket in accordance with the results of the monitoring of the temporal fluctuations so as to eliminate or reduce a severity of distortions of the ink images formed on the moving blanket, wherein a timing of the deposition of the ink droplets is regulated by the electronic circuitry in response to the results of the monitoring.
3. A printing system comprising: a. an intermediate transfer member of non-constant length; b. an image forming station configured to deposit ink on a surface of the intermediate transfer member while the intermediate transfer member moves so as to form ink images on the surface of the intermediate transfer member; c. a transfer station configured to transfer the ink images from the surface of the moving intermediate transfer member to a substrate passing in between the transfer member and an impression cylinder during a period of engagement; and d. electronic circuitry configured to regulate a length of the intermediate transfer member to a set-point length, wherein the set-point length equals an integral multiple of a circumference of the impression cylinder.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein a ratio between the set-point length of the intermediate transfer member and the circumference of the impression cylinder is at least 2.
5. The system of claim 3 wherein a ratio between the set-point length of the intermediate transfer member and the circumference of the impression cylinder is at least 3.
6. The system of claim 3 wherein a ratio between the set-point length of the intermediate transfer member and the circumference of the impression cylinder is at least 5.
7. The system of claim 3 wherein regulation of the intermediate transfer member length includes operation of a linear actuator to increase or decrease a length of the moving intermediate transfer member.
8. The system of claim 3 wherein: (i) the intermediate transfer member is guided over a plurality of rollers; and (ii) the regulation of the intermediate transfer member length includes modifying a inter-roller distance for one or more pairs of the rollers so as to stretch or contract the moving intermediate transfer member.
9. The system of claim 3 wherein: movement of one or more intermediate transfer member-applied markers or of one or more formations from the intermediate transfer member is tracked by one or more detectors and the length of the intermediate transfer member is regulated in accordance with the results of the tracking.