Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-23
2001-04-03
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
C347S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209999
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for providing high quality ink images on a receiver.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ink jet printing has become a prominent contender in the digital output arena because of its non-impact, low-noise characteristics, and its compatibility with plain paper. Ink jet printing avoids the complications of toner transfers and fixing as in electrophotography, and the pressure contact at the printing interface as in thermal resistive printing technologies. Ink jet printing mechanisms include continuous ink jet or drop-on-demand ink jet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398, which issued to Kyser et al. in 1970, discloses a drop-on-demand ink jet printer which applies a high voltage to a piezoelectric crystal, causing the crystal to bend, applying pressure on an ink reservoir and jetting drops on demand. Piezoelectric ink jet printers can also utilize piezoelectric crystals in push mode, shear mode, and squeeze mode. EP 827 833 A2 and WO 98/08687 disclose a piezoelectric ink jet print head apparatus with reduced crosstalk between channels, improved ink protection, and capability of ejecting variable ink drop size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129, issued to Endo et al, discloses an electrothermal drop-on-demand ink jet printer which applies a power pulse to an electrothermal heater which is in thermal contact with water based ink in a nozzle. The heat from the electrothermal heater produces vapor bubble in the ink, which causes an ink drop to be ejected from a small aperture along the edge of the heater substrate. This technology is known as Bubblejet™ (trademark of Canon K.K. of Japan).
One problem related to ink jet printing is related to insufficient drying of the ink of the ink droplets that are placed on the ink receiver during or after printing. In the field of ink jet printing, the term “drying” typically refers to drying through evaporation as well as drying by absorption of ink fluid into the receiver. For color and photographic printing, it is often desirable to coat an ink absorption layer on the receiver to assist the ink absorption. When ink drops are not dried fast enough, several image artifacts can occur. One type of image artifact is called coalescence, that is, wet ink drops on the receiver paddled together and causes a glossiness change in the area of the ink paddle. The insufficient drying can also cause wet ink of one color on the receiver to diffuse into the ink area of a different color, which produces a “color bleeding” image artifact.
Another problem related to the above is that the image quality and other ink jet printing performance are often sensitive to the environment variation. One cause for this problem is that the relative humidity in the environment affects the amount of the moisture stored in the receiver. With high moisture content, the ability of the ink absorption by the receiver is reduced. The drying rate of ink drops on receiver is decreased. A receiver with high moisture content can also affect how accurately the receiver can be transported. The receiver driving rollers can slip at the interface between the roller and the receiver surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a printing apparatus having improved image quality.
A further object of this invention is to provide a printing apparatus that provides robust performance in different ambient environment.
An additional object of the present invention is to improve the drying of ink on the receiver so that printing productivity is increased.
These objects are achieved by apparatus for forming an image on a receiver in response to a digital image, comprising:
a) print head means responsive to the digital image for transferring colorant to the receiver;
b) receiver supply device for storing the receiver(s) in a humidity controlled environment; and,
c) receiver transport mechanism for moving the receiver to a position where the print heads can transfer colorant to the receiver to form an image on the receiver.
ADVANTAGES
An advantage of this invention is that the variability of the printing performance is reduced relative to changes in the ambient environment.
Another advantage of this invention is that the drying of ink drops on receiver is increased so that printing productivity is increased.
A further advantage of this invention is that the probability for image artifacts is reduced.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3946398 (1976-03-01), Kyser et al.
patent: 4723129 (1988-02-01), Endo et al.
patent: 5013603 (1991-05-01), Ogawa et al.
patent: 5519428 (1996-05-01), Van Peteghem
patent: 5552818 (1996-09-01), Agano et al.
patent: 5651625 (1997-07-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5823695 (1998-10-01), Bock
patent: 5988787 (1999-11-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 6033050 (2000-03-01), Morita et al.
patent: 827 833 A2 (1997-07-01), None
patent: 98/08687 (1997-08-01), None
Romano, Jr. Charles E.
Wen Xin
Wirth Henry G.
Cone Darius N.
Eastman Kodak Company
Hilten John S.
Watkins Peyton C.
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