WO2018020203A1 - Ground printers - Google Patents

Ground printers Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2018020203A1
WO2018020203A1 PCT/GB2017/051307 GB2017051307W WO2018020203A1 WO 2018020203 A1 WO2018020203 A1 WO 2018020203A1 GB 2017051307 W GB2017051307 W GB 2017051307W WO 2018020203 A1 WO2018020203 A1 WO 2018020203A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ground
wheel arrangement
ground wheel
print
traverse guide
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2017/051307
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Anthony David George Rhoades
Original Assignee
Micropply Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Micropply Limited filed Critical Micropply Limited
Publication of WO2018020203A1 publication Critical patent/WO2018020203A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/14—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction
    • B41J19/142—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction with a reciprocating print head printing in both directions across the paper width
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B13/00—Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00
    • B05B13/005—Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00 mounted on vehicles or designed to apply a liquid on a very large surface, e.g. on the road, on the surface of large containers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B13/00—Machines or plants for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces of objects or other work by spraying, not covered by groups B05B1/00 - B05B11/00
    • B05B13/02—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work
    • B05B13/04—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation
    • B05B13/0405—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation with reciprocating or oscillating spray heads
    • B05B13/041—Means for supporting work; Arrangement or mounting of spray heads; Adaptation or arrangement of means for feeding work the spray heads being moved during spraying operation with reciprocating or oscillating spray heads with spray heads reciprocating along a straight line
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/28—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
    • E01C—CONSTRUCTION OF, OR SURFACES FOR, ROADS, SPORTS GROUNDS, OR THE LIKE; MACHINES OR AUXILIARY TOOLS FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REPAIR
    • E01C23/00—Auxiliary devices or arrangements for constructing, repairing, reconditioning, or taking-up road or like surfaces
    • E01C23/16—Devices for marking-out, applying, or forming traffic or like markings on finished paving; Protecting fresh markings
    • E01C23/20—Devices for marking-out, applying, or forming traffic or like markings on finished paving; Protecting fresh markings for forming markings in situ
    • E01C23/22—Devices for marking-out, applying, or forming traffic or like markings on finished paving; Protecting fresh markings for forming markings in situ by spraying
    • E01C23/222—Devices for marking-out, applying, or forming traffic or like markings on finished paving; Protecting fresh markings for forming markings in situ by spraying specially adapted for automatic spraying of interrupted, individual or variable markings

Definitions

  • This invention relates to ground printers.
  • Ground marking is done in a number of ways. Playgrounds are marked with hopscotch and other designs by applying pre-cut pieces of plastic sheet and bonding them to a concrete or tarmacadam substrate using gas torches. Advertising and promotional logos and like ground markings for sporting arenas are made by directional brushing or painting through stencils.
  • WO2004/100044 discloses creating a visual representation on a plane surface using a free roaming marking device with exchangeable tools that can deposit paint, or bend or cut grass.
  • WO02/18148 discloses ink jet printing on to contoured rigid panels such as office partitions and automobile interior panels, with a multi-jet print head carriage where the print heads are maintained at a fixed distance above the contoured surface. The print head carriage traverses over the print surface on a frame that moves over the surface to print different areas of it.
  • US2013/0122186 discloses a surface coating arrangement in which a spray head is traversed over successive strips of a surface to coat it.
  • US8696089 describes a large surface are printer comprising a frame on which a print head traverses that is attached to the surface using suction cups.
  • the present invention provides a compact printer that can print large areas.
  • the invention comprises a ground printer comprising a chassis on a ground wheel arrangement with a print head on a traverse guide, the traverse guide permitting movement of the print head beyond the width of the ground wheel arrangement.
  • the traverse guide may be fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement, so that it prints one line of an image and then the ground wheel arrangement notches forward for it to print another line.
  • the traverse guide may be movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement in the direction of travel, so that an area may be printed while the ground wheel arrangement is stationary, and then the ground wheel arrangement moves forward by the length of the area printed so as to print an adjacent area of image.
  • the chassis may therefore print a strip of image wider than the width of the ground wheel arrangement and when an entire strip of image has been printed turn around to print an adjacent strip.
  • Figure 1 is a plan view
  • Figure 3 is a plan view of a ground printing operation in progress.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a ground printer 11 comprising a chassis 12 on a ground wheel arrangement 13 with a print head 14 on a traverse guide 15, the traverse guide 15 permitting movement of the print head 14 beyond the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 13.
  • the ground wheel arrangement comprises two drive wheels 13a and a steerabie nose wheel 13b that is connected to a control arrangement, not shown, to steer the printer along a path to effect the printing, and this may be under the control of a print file that can be loaded into an on-board control system.
  • the traverse guide 15 is fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement 13, so that it prints one line of an image and then the ground wheel arrangement 13 notches forward for it to print another line.
  • the traverse guide 15 can be movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement in the direction of travel, so that an area may be printed while the ground wheel arrangement 13 is stationary, and then the ground wheel arrangement 13 moves forward by the length of the area printed so as to print an adjacent area of image.
  • the print head 14 can, for example, print a line of 10mm width, then the arrangement 13 notch forward by 10mm. Or an area, say of A4 or A3 paper size can be printed and only then does the printer move forward.
  • the printer 11 can therefore print a strip 16, Figure 3, of image wider than the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 13 and when an entire strip 16 of image has been printed turn around to print an adjacent strip.
  • the ground wheel arrangement 13 does not run over any part of the freshly painted ground, the outer tracks 17 of the ground wheel arrangement being seen in Figure 3 to be well within the width of the strips 16.
  • the control system can align the printer 11 with a previously printed strip either by dead reckoning or by imaging the edge of the previously printed strip and using an image stitching algorithm ro correctly position the printing with the printing already carried out.
  • the print head 14 can be height adjustable, whereby to print finer or coarser images or to adapt to ground irregularities.
  • the print head 14 can use any of a variety of printing techniques, including standard ink jet, spray, and 3D printing techniques involving melting plastic and dropping or shooting it at the ground surface.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)

Abstract

A ground printer comprising a chassis on a ground wheel arrangement with a print head on a traverse guide, the traverse guide permitting movement of the print head beyond the width of the ground wheel arrangement.

Description

Ground Printers
This invention relates to ground printers.
Ground marking is done in a number of ways. Playgrounds are marked with hopscotch and other designs by applying pre-cut pieces of plastic sheet and bonding them to a concrete or tarmacadam substrate using gas torches. Advertising and promotional logos and like ground markings for sporting arenas are made by directional brushing or painting through stencils.
WO2004/100044 discloses creating a visual representation on a plane surface using a free roaming marking device with exchangeable tools that can deposit paint, or bend or cut grass. WO02/18148 discloses ink jet printing on to contoured rigid panels such as office partitions and automobile interior panels, with a multi-jet print head carriage where the print heads are maintained at a fixed distance above the contoured surface. The print head carriage traverses over the print surface on a frame that moves over the surface to print different areas of it.
US2013/0122186 discloses a surface coating arrangement in which a spray head is traversed over successive strips of a surface to coat it. US8696089 describes a large surface are printer comprising a frame on which a print head traverses that is attached to the surface using suction cups.
The present invention provides a compact printer that can print large areas.
The invention comprises a ground printer comprising a chassis on a ground wheel arrangement with a print head on a traverse guide, the traverse guide permitting movement of the print head beyond the width of the ground wheel arrangement.
The traverse guide may be fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement, so that it prints one line of an image and then the ground wheel arrangement notches forward for it to print another line. Or the traverse guide may be movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement in the direction of travel, so that an area may be printed while the ground wheel arrangement is stationary, and then the ground wheel arrangement moves forward by the length of the area printed so as to print an adjacent area of image.
The chassis may therefore print a strip of image wider than the width of the ground wheel arrangement and when an entire strip of image has been printed turn around to print an adjacent strip.
In this way, the ground wheel arrangement does not run over any part of the freshly painted ground.
A ground printer according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view;
Figure 2 side elevation; and
Figure 3 is a plan view of a ground printing operation in progress.
The drawings illustrate a ground printer 11 comprising a chassis 12 on a ground wheel arrangement 13 with a print head 14 on a traverse guide 15, the traverse guide 15 permitting movement of the print head 14 beyond the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 13.
The ground wheel arrangement comprises two drive wheels 13a and a steerabie nose wheel 13b that is connected to a control arrangement, not shown, to steer the printer along a path to effect the printing, and this may be under the control of a print file that can be loaded into an on-board control system.
The traverse guide 15 is fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement 13, so that it prints one line of an image and then the ground wheel arrangement 13 notches forward for it to print another line. In another arrangement not illustrated the traverse guide 15 can be movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement in the direction of travel, so that an area may be printed while the ground wheel arrangement 13 is stationary, and then the ground wheel arrangement 13 moves forward by the length of the area printed so as to print an adjacent area of image.
The print head 14 can, for example, print a line of 10mm width, then the arrangement 13 notch forward by 10mm. Or an area, say of A4 or A3 paper size can be printed and only then does the printer move forward.
The printer 11 can therefore print a strip 16, Figure 3, of image wider than the width W of the ground wheel arrangement 13 and when an entire strip 16 of image has been printed turn around to print an adjacent strip.
in this way, the ground wheel arrangement 13 does not run over any part of the freshly painted ground, the outer tracks 17 of the ground wheel arrangement being seen in Figure 3 to be well within the width of the strips 16.
The control system can align the printer 11 with a previously printed strip either by dead reckoning or by imaging the edge of the previously printed strip and using an image stitching algorithm ro correctly position the printing with the printing already carried out.
The print head 14 can be height adjustable, whereby to print finer or coarser images or to adapt to ground irregularities.
The print head 14 can use any of a variety of printing techniques, including standard ink jet, spray, and 3D printing techniques involving melting plastic and dropping or shooting it at the ground surface.

Claims

Claims:
1 A ground printer comprising a chassis on a ground wheel arrangement with a print head on a traverse guide, the traverse guide permitting movement of the print head beyond the width of the ground wheel arrangement.
2 A ground printer according to claim 1, in which the traverse guide is fixed in relation to the ground wheel arrangement.
3 A ground printer according to claim 1, in which the traverse guide is movable relative to the ground wheel arrangement in the direction of travel, so that an area can be printed while the ground wheel arrangement is stationary.
PCT/GB2017/051307 2016-07-29 2017-05-11 Ground printers WO2018020203A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB1613168.2A GB201613168D0 (en) 2016-07-29 2016-07-29 Ground printers
GB1613168.2 2016-07-29

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2018020203A1 true WO2018020203A1 (en) 2018-02-01

Family

ID=56936729

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2017/051307 WO2018020203A1 (en) 2016-07-29 2017-05-11 Ground printers

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB201613168D0 (en)
WO (1) WO2018020203A1 (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110438878A (en) * 2019-07-22 2019-11-12 李娜 A kind of construction of the highway liner agency and line-marking vehicle
WO2023180768A1 (en) * 2022-03-25 2023-09-28 Micropply Limited A method and system for bidding for the activation of surfaces
WO2023194733A3 (en) * 2022-04-05 2023-11-23 Micropply Limited Ground marking robot, method of ground marking using a guide
WO2023180762A3 (en) * 2022-03-24 2023-11-30 Micropply Limited A method of alignment of multiple autonomous deposition machines
GB2623287A (en) * 2022-08-12 2024-04-17 Micropply Ltd A system for the thermoplastic marking of hard surfaces

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2386969A (en) * 2002-03-26 2003-10-01 Mcmurtry Ltd Autonomous vehicle for ground maintenance with a ground marking means
EP1467340A1 (en) * 2003-04-08 2004-10-13 Ideeundtechnik Method for generation of an image
WO2005014935A1 (en) * 2003-08-11 2005-02-17 Gianluigi Dal Lago Marking machine for the marking of lines, signs and/or pictograms, in particular for road markings
US20050081783A1 (en) * 2003-10-07 2005-04-21 Korea University Apparatus for painting traffic marks on road surface
WO2007018362A1 (en) * 2005-08-05 2007-02-15 Kyoung-Jin Kim Road line-marking vehicle

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2386969A (en) * 2002-03-26 2003-10-01 Mcmurtry Ltd Autonomous vehicle for ground maintenance with a ground marking means
EP1467340A1 (en) * 2003-04-08 2004-10-13 Ideeundtechnik Method for generation of an image
WO2005014935A1 (en) * 2003-08-11 2005-02-17 Gianluigi Dal Lago Marking machine for the marking of lines, signs and/or pictograms, in particular for road markings
US20050081783A1 (en) * 2003-10-07 2005-04-21 Korea University Apparatus for painting traffic marks on road surface
WO2007018362A1 (en) * 2005-08-05 2007-02-15 Kyoung-Jin Kim Road line-marking vehicle

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110438878A (en) * 2019-07-22 2019-11-12 李娜 A kind of construction of the highway liner agency and line-marking vehicle
WO2023180762A3 (en) * 2022-03-24 2023-11-30 Micropply Limited A method of alignment of multiple autonomous deposition machines
WO2023180768A1 (en) * 2022-03-25 2023-09-28 Micropply Limited A method and system for bidding for the activation of surfaces
WO2023194733A3 (en) * 2022-04-05 2023-11-23 Micropply Limited Ground marking robot, method of ground marking using a guide
GB2623287A (en) * 2022-08-12 2024-04-17 Micropply Ltd A system for the thermoplastic marking of hard surfaces

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB201613168D0 (en) 2016-09-14

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