Patent Publication Number: US-2023144402-A1

Title: Apparatus providing capabilities for printing onto a plurality of spherically symmetrical objects for flatbed printing devices

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of Provisional U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 63/276,104, filed Nov. 5, 2021. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an apparatus that grips spherically symmetrical objects to facilitate printing images across the circumference of spherically symmetrical objects utilizing a flatbed printing device. Specifically, the invention provides an apparatus with a quick-release mechanism, which when placed within the confines of a flatbed printer, facilitates printing onto a plurality of spherically symmetrical objects in succession. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     With the development of fast-curing flatbed printers capable of printing color-rich textured or embossed features, there has been a significant increase of a sector of print shops dedicated to printing designs directly onto accessories, giftware, ceramics, and many more products. These objects are planar in geometry and easily compatible with a stock flatbed printer setup. 
     With a market saturated in planar objects, an increased market demand has arisen for developing various apparatuses and machines that provide the customization, via printing, of non-planar objects such as spheres, cylinders, and similar non-planar shapes. 
     Various efforts exist to develop devices and methods for printing on such spherically symmetrical objects. One such effort involves placing a fixture inside a flatbed printer with several rows and columns of spherically symmetrical objects. Devices designed this way focus on a fixture that orients the spherically symmetrical object such that a single plane tangent to the surface of the printhead is available to be imprinted upon, like a pad printing process. See JP 2010-162265 A of Matsui et al. 
     Other efforts involve the development of a computer-controlled apparatus for printing specifically on spherically symmetrical objects. See Pub. No. US 2005/0178279 A1 of Valls, Pat. No. US 6,418,843 B1 of Givler, Pat. No. US 6,538,767 B1 of Over et al., and Pub. No. US 2009/0255423 A1 of Valls. Similarly, additional efforts focus on computer-controlled machinery with a high throughput of printed objects for mass production. See Pub. No. 2011/0292146 A1 of Sigismondo and KR 20-0492888 Y1 of Jaehoon. 
     It is evident that there has been development of accessories for flatbed printers that allows for printing onto a single tangent plane of a spherically symmetrical object, and there have been additional efforts into the development of novel machines for printing fully around a spherically symmetrical object. From these current efforts, it becomes apparent that there is a need for an apparatus to convert commonly used flatbed printers to be capable of printing fully around spherically symmetrical objects. This invention seeks to meet the needs of modern print shops to adapt their current equipment to implement various marketable products. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention addresses the problems described above by providing an apparatus for use with currently marketed flatbed printers, acting as an accessory, allowing for printing onto spherically symmetrical objects having curved, non-planar, or non-linear surfaces. These objects include, but are not limited to, spherically symmetrical objects such as golf balls, ping pong balls, and ornaments. 
     A system, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, includes a spherically symmetrical object holder assembly composed of multiple detents throughout which spherically symmetrical objects are held together via spring compression. Two end mounts enclose the holding assembly, a driving end mount and a reload end mount, and are attached to a baseplate. Between the end mounts, ball-cup assemblies hold the spherically symmetrical objects. In the invention’s preferred embodiment, a driving end mount houses a bearing by which a cup attaches and can rotate. The cup’s design consists of a hollowed cylindrical volume with a chamfered edge conforming to the spherically symmetrical object’s radius, such that a spherically symmetrical object is partially contained inside the volume of the cup while a volume remains open for printing. Following the placement of an object into the initial cup, a ball-cup assembly is seated upon two rails that run transverse to the holding assembly; the rails attach to the two end mounts and allow for longitudinal adjustment of the ball-cup assembly. The ball-cup assembly contains a bearing housing that affixes to the rails, and upon the front and back face of the assembly, an aforementioned cup for gripping the spherically symmetrical object is attached. The assembly holds the back end of one spherically symmetrical object on the front-facing side and the front end of one spherically symmetrical object on the back-facing side. This process of cupping an object via ball-cup assemblies repeats until, in the preferred embodiment, three spherically symmetrical objects are held between the two ends of the holding assembly. The final ball-cup assembly, closest to the reload end mount, features a gripping handle on the back face instead of a cup. This specific ball-cup assembly is known as the ball-release assembly, and between the casing of the ball-release assembly and the reload end mount sits a spring on each rail. The spring is contained between the ball-release assembly and reload end mount, compressing along the length of the rails. When the spring is partially disengaged, the spherically symmetrical objects align to the center of the cups and the cups, attached to the ball-cup housing with a bearing inside, create a rigid rod with which the object and cups can rotate. When the spring is engaged by pulling the gripping handle and securing it to the reload end mount, the spherically symmetrical objects are released from the cups at a prescribed distance and sit on a chamfered edge atop the baseplate, allowing for replacement of the objects. 
     One aspect of the present invention is the ability to rotate a plurality of spherically symmetrical objects as previously described in the holding assembly. A rotary rack [a piece of equipment used with flatbed printers to allow for printing on cylindrical objects by converting the longitudinal motion of the flatbed into rotational motion in the rotary rack rollers] is used to accomplish this function. The present invention interfaces with the rotary rack via a quick-release front mount and a quick-release end mount. The quick-release front mount has a recessed shelf into which the holding assembly is inserted. The quick-release end mount consists of one piece with two small tabs on the ends that slot into the sides of the holding assembly. A driving assembly is attached to the quick-release front mount through a fastener. Both quick-release parts attach to the mounting holes available on a rotary rack device. These quick-release pieces fix the holding assembly in all directions except directly above, respectively, preventing assembly movement during rotation while allowing movement when replacing the objects in the holders. To interface between the rotary rack and the driving assembly, a belt is connected to the rotary rack rollers and situated onto a groove of a pulley connected to the driving assembly, allowing for the transmission of the rotational motion of the rotary rack rollers to the driving assembly pulley. The driving assembly comprises the aforementioned pulley, a bearing housing affixed to the quick-release front mount, a keyed shaft, and a gear. The pulley runs through the bearing housing, and a fastener connects the pulley to the keyed shaft where the gear is mounted. The same keyed shaft and gear are set on the opposite face to the cup of the previously mentioned driving end mount. These shafts offset one another the distance of the diametral pitch of the gear, such that the holding assembly gear meshes with the driving assembly gear allowing for the rotation of the spherically symmetrical objects for printing. 
     Accordingly, it is an objective of the presented invention to provide an accessory to a standard flatbed printer that interacts with a rotary rack to allow the printer’s conversion from working with planar objects to spherically symmetrical objects. 
     An additional objective is to hold a plurality of spherically symmetrical objects between detents by which the objects can be loaded and unloaded by compressing a spring via pulling a gripping handle and fastening it to the reload end mount therebetween the spring resides. 
     Another objective of this invention is to provide a system for quick-release where many baseplate assemblies can be prepared and quickly mounted and unmounted from the quick-release assembly without the need for fasteners. 
     These and other objects, aims, and advantages of the presented invention will become more readily apparent from the following disclosure, appended claims, and the attached drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which: 
         FIG.  1    shows an isometric view of an apparatus for printing on spherically symmetrical objects according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  2    depicts an exploded view of an apparatus for printing on spherically symmetrical objects according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a section view along I-I of an apparatus for printing on spherically symmetrical objects according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  4    shows a ball-cup assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  5    depicts an exploded view of the ball-cup assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  6    shows a ball-release assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  7    depicts an exploded view of the ball-release assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  8    shows a driving assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  9    depicts an exploded view of the driving assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  10    shows a baseplate assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  11    depicts an exploded view of the driving assembly according to various embodiments described herein. 
         FIG.  12    shows how the present invention attaches to a rotary rack according to various embodiments described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, non-limiting examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     In  FIG.  1   , an apparatus for flatbed printing a plurality of spherically symmetrical objects  100  is shown.  FIG.  2    depicts an exploded view of the apparatus  100 , composed of four sub-assemblies: the ball-cup assembly  200 , ball-release assembly  300 , driving assembly  400 , and baseplate assembly  500 . Each assembly exploded view is shown in  FIG.  5   ,  FIG.  7   ,  FIG.  9   , and  FIG.  11   , respectively, showing all described components. The driving assembly  400  is fastened to the baseplate assembly  500  utilizing a fastener  101 . Where the fastener  101  goes through a slotted hole in the pulley housing  403  and screws into a threaded hole in the quick-release driving mount  501 . A pair of springs  102  are held within the assembly  100  by a pair of reload rods  103 . These reload rods  103  insert into thru-holes on the reload end mount  505  and are secured into thru-holes on the driving end mount  503 . Set screws  504  are used to secure the reload rods  103  by tightening onto the flats of the rods, screwing into the driving end mount  503  and reload end mount  505  to secure the rods  103 . Finally, the spherically symmetrical objects  104   a - 104   c  are shown and are held in place by two varieties of cups: regular cups  202  and threaded cups  206 . 
       FIG.  3    shows section view I-I of the apparatus  100 . This section view demonstrates how the spherically symmetrical objects  104   a - 104   c  are gripped. From this view, the leftmost object  104   a  is cupped by two regular cups  202  on both ends, the next object  104   b  is cupped by a threaded cup  206  on the left end and a regular cup  202  on the right end, and the subsequent object  104   c  is cupped similarly to the aforementioned object  104   b . 
       FIG.  4    shows the ball-cup assembly  200  as previously mentioned.  FIG.  5    depicts an exploded view of the ball-cup assembly  200 . The primary component of the ball-cup assembly  200  is the bearing mount  204  which features a bearing housing to hold a ball-bearing  205 . Additionally, the bearing mount  204  includes two holes on the periphery of the part for press fitting oil-embedded sleeve bearings  203 . The sleeve bearings  203  are slid onto the reload rods  103  and allow for smooth movement of the ball-cup assembly  200  along the reload rods  103 . Finally, a regular cup  202  shaft is inserted into the bearing  205  on the front face and a threaded cup  206  shaft is inserted into the bearing on the opposite face. A fastener  201  is inserted into a thru-hole on the regular cup  202  and screwed into a threaded hole of the threaded cup  206  securing the two cups within the bearing mount  204  such that when the regular cup  202  rotates the threaded cup  206  also rotate. 
       FIG.  6    shows the ball-reload assembly  300  as previously mentioned.  FIG.  7    depicts an exploded view of the ball-reload assembly  300 . The primary component of the ball-reload assembly  300  is the reload mount  301  which features a bearing housing to hold a ball-bearing  205 . Additionally, the reload mount  301  includes two holes on the periphery of the part for the press fitting of oil-embedded sleeve bearings  203 . The sleeve bearings  203  are slid onto the reload rods  103  and allow for smooth movement of the ball-reload assembly  300  along the reload rods  103 . Continuing, a regular cup  202  shaft is inserted into the bearing  205  on the front face and an end cap  302  is inserted into the bearing on the opposite face. A fastener  201  is inserted into a thru-hole in the regular cup  202  and screwed into a threaded hole of the end cap  302 . The end cap  302  is used to fasten the regular cup  202  for the ball-reload assembly  300  as it has a smaller profile compared to a threaded cup  206 , allowing for the inclusion of the gripping handle  303 . Tabs on the back of the reload mount  301  are used to mount the gripping handle  303  by way of a pair of fasteners  201 . The fasteners  201  are loosely tightened into the threads of the gripping handle  303  so that the handle is free to rotate about the attachment point on the reload mount  301 . 
       FIG.  8    shows the driving assembly  400  as previously mentioned.  FIG.  9    depicts an exploded view of the driving assembly  400 . The primary component of the driving assembly  400  is the pulley mount  403  which features a bearing housing to hold a ball-bearing  205 . A pulley  402  is inserted into the front face of the bearing  205  and a keyed gear shaft  404  is inserted into the bearing on the opposite face. A fastener  101  is inserted into a thru-hole in the pulley  402  and screwed into a threaded hole of the keyed gear shaft  404 . Finally, a gear with a hub and set screw  405  is secured onto the flat of the keyed gear shaft  404 . 
       FIG.  10    shows the baseplate assembly  500  as previously mentioned.  FIG.  11    depicts an exploded view of the baseplate assembly  500 . The primary component of the baseplate assembly  500  is the baseplate  502 . The baseplate  502  is of rectangular geometry and is what the spherically symmetrical objects  104   a - c  rest on while not contained by the cups  202 / 206 . At the corners of the baseplate  502 , fasteners  101  are inserted into counterbore holes on the bottom of the baseplate  502  to mount the driving end mount  503  at the front end and the reload end mount  505  at the back end of the baseplate  502 . Additionally, the driving end mount  503  is configured with an assembly similar to the driving assembly  400  such that the driving end mount  503  contains a slot for a bearing  205  to be impressed where a regular cup  202  shaft is inserted into the back face of the bearing  205  and a keyed gear shaft  404  is inserted into the bearing on the front face, with a fastener  201  inserted through the regular cup  202  that is threaded into the keyed gear shaft  404 . The gear with a hub and set screw  405  is then secured on the flat of the keyed gear shaft  404 . Finally, a quick-release driving mount  501  press fits onto the front end of the baseplate  500  and a quick-release tab mount  506  inserts into tabs on the baseplate  500  securing the apparatus to the quick-release system. 
       FIG.  12    shows how the present invention interacts with a rotary rack  602  (prior art). An O-ring  601  is seated in the groove of the driving assembly  400  onto the pulley  402 . This O-ring  601  is then connected to the rollers of the rotary rack  602  (prior art). This connection allows for the rotational motion of the gripped spherically symmetrical objects  104   a - c , enabling the ability to print across the circumference of the objects  104   a - c .