EP1661723B1 - Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé - Google Patents

Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1661723B1
EP1661723B1 EP05111213.4A EP05111213A EP1661723B1 EP 1661723 B1 EP1661723 B1 EP 1661723B1 EP 05111213 A EP05111213 A EP 05111213A EP 1661723 B1 EP1661723 B1 EP 1661723B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
paper
print surface
temperature
humidity
heater
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status 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 status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP05111213.4A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1661723A3 (fr
EP1661723A2 (fr
Inventor
Lodewijk T. Holtman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Canon Production Printing Netherlands BV
Original Assignee
Oce Technologies BV
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 Oce Technologies BV filed Critical Oce Technologies BV
Priority to EP05111213.4A priority Critical patent/EP1661723B1/fr
Publication of EP1661723A2 publication Critical patent/EP1661723A2/fr
Publication of EP1661723A3 publication Critical patent/EP1661723A3/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1661723B1 publication Critical patent/EP1661723B1/fr
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
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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
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17593—Supplying ink in a solid state
    • 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
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0005—Curl smoothing, i.e. smoothing down corrugated printing material, e.g. by pressing means acting on wrinkled printing material
    • 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
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0015—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing
    • B41J11/002—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating
    • B41J11/0021—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating using irradiation
    • 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
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0015—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing
    • B41J11/002—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating
    • B41J11/0022—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating using convection means, e.g. by using a fan for blowing or sucking air
    • 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
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0015—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing
    • B41J11/002—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating
    • B41J11/0024—Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating using conduction means, e.g. by using a heated platen

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method of treating image receiving sheets in a hot melt ink jet printer, in which the sheets are advanced to a print surface where hot, molten ink is applied onto the sheets, and to a printer employing this method.
  • US 6 196 672 B1 discloses a hot melt ink jet printer wherein, in order to accelerate the process of heating the sheets to a temperature that assures a suitable solidification of the ink, a preheater is provided which preferably has a higher surface temperature than th print surface.
  • cockling phenomenon is related to the fact that paper and similar materials tend to absorb humidity from ambient air and to expand and contract in accordance with their humidity content. Typically, the expansion and contraction is unisotropic and is particularly pronounced in a direction in which the fibers of the paper are predominantly oriented. When there exists a gradient in humidity within the paper, then the more humid portion of the paper will expand more than the drier portion, which inevitably leads to the production of cockles or wrinkles.
  • the paper is intermittently advanced over a flat sheet support plate, while a carriage moves back and forth across the paper, and ink jet printheads mounted on the carriage are energized to eject droplets of ink onto the paper so as to form a printed image. Since the carriage moves with relatively high velocity, the ink droplets ejected onto the paper undergo a certain aberration and are deposited on the paper in a somewhat dislocated position. The amount of dislocation is proportional to the flight distance of the ink droplets. Thus, when cockles are present in the paper, the flight distance is non-uniform and, accordingly, the dislocation of the spots of ink on the paper also becomes non-uniform, so that the quality of the printed image is deteriorated.
  • the ink In a hot melt ink jet printer, the ink is solid at room temperature and must be heated above its melting point, typically in the order of magnitude of 100° C, before droplets of liquid ink can be jetted onto the paper.
  • the paper will be heated by the high temperature of the ink, and part of the water that has been absorbed in the paper will evaporate. This creates a humidity gradient in the paper in the area of the print station, and the production of cockles is likely to occur.
  • the sheets, immediately before they reach the print surface are heated to a first temperature that is higher than a second temperature which they will assume on the print surface.
  • the invention is based on the following consideration.
  • the humidity that has been absorbed in the paper will gradually be driven out, and the paper will shrink.
  • the humidity content of the paper does not decrease linearly but will rather decay with a certain time constant, pursuant to a curve that resembles an exponential curve.
  • the humidity gradient is steep, and it flattens more and more as time passes.
  • the time constant will be smaller and the humidity content will decay more rabidly.
  • the sheet is heated to a relatively high temperature, the humidity content moves down the steep initial portion of the decay curve within a relatively short time, and when the paper reaches the print surface, the humidity content is already on the flat "tail" of the curve, which will be even flatter because the temperature on the print surface is lower.
  • the time gradient of the humidity content will be small when the paper is advanced over the print surface, and, consequently, the spatial humidity gradient will also be small, so that the cockling tendency of the sheet is reduced significantly.
  • the first temperature to which the sheet is pre-heated should be 10 to 25 % higher than the second temperature on the print surface, if temperatures are measured in centigrade. For example, if the average temperature of the paper on the print surface is 32° C, then the paper should be pre-heated to a temperature of about 38° C.
  • the paper is exposed to the higher first temperature for a relatively long time, which means that the pre-heating zone along the paper transport path should be relatively long, of course without causing to much delay in the paper feed process and without making the overall dimensions of the printer excessively large.
  • the paper is stored, e. g. in the form of an endless web on a reel, in a paper magazine that is located below the print surface, and the pre-heating zone is provided in an inclined portion of the paper feed path immediately upstream of a feed roller which deflects the paper into a horizontal direction and feeds it onto the print surface.
  • the fibers of the paper are predominantly oriented in transverse direction of the web, and consequently shrinkage will occur mainly in width direction of the web.
  • the cockles produced by a humidity gradient will extend in longitudinal direction of the web. Then, the fact that the web is bent when it passes over the feed roller helps to smoothen-out any cockles that may have been produced in the pre-heating process.
  • the printer comprises a humidity sensor arranged to detect the degree of humidity of ambient air, and a control system adapted to control the pre-heating process in response to the detected degree of humidity.
  • a humidity sensor arranged to detect the degree of humidity of ambient air
  • a control system adapted to control the pre-heating process in response to the detected degree of humidity.
  • the pre-heating temperature may also be adapted to the type of paper that is being processed. For example, when the paper magazine has a plurality of reels storing webs with different widths or different paper qualities, the pre-heating temperature may automatically be switched to the value that is most appropriate for the type of paper that is being processed. Likewise, the active zone of the heater may automatically be adapted in width to the width of the web, so that a waste of energy is avoided.
  • the pre-heating treatment may also be applied when processing a non-paper recording medium, e. g. plastic film.
  • the sheets will be less sensitive to humidity but may have a larger thermal expansion coefficient, so that cockling may be caused by a gradient in temperature.
  • the pre-heating temperature will be selected only slightly above the temperature on the print surface, so that the temperature of the sheet, when it reaches the print surface, will match the temperature of the print surface itself.
  • a hot melt ink jet printer comprises a frame 10 (which has only been shown in phantom lines) and which accommodates a paper magazine 12 and a paper feed system 14 adapted to feed a sheet 16 of paper to a print station 18 on the top side of the frame 10.
  • the sheet 16 is sucked against a flat top surface (print surface) of a perforated sheet support plate 20 by means of a vacuum system (not shown).
  • a carriage 22 is arranged to travel back and forth across the sheet 16 in the direction normal to the plane of the drawing in Fig. 1 and carries at its bottom side a number of hot melt ink jet printheads 24 facing the sheet 16.
  • a swath of an image is printed in each pass of the carriage 22.
  • the sheet 16 is advanced by a step of appropriate length in a direction indicated by an arrow A, so that the next swath can be printed.
  • a discharge mechanism 26 discharges the sheet onto a tray 28 which, in the example shown, accommodates already a printed sheet 30.
  • the sheet support plate 20 is temperature-controlled in order to control the cooling rate and the solidification of the hot melt ink that has been deposited on the paper. For example, the temperature of the print surface of the sheet support plate 20 is kept at 32° C.
  • the paper magazine 12 comprises a set of six reels 32 each providing a supply of printing paper in the form of an endless web 34.
  • the reels 32 are arranged in three levels, and the web 34 from each reel is drawn-off by means of a respectively associated pair of transport rollers 36.
  • An arrangement of guide plates 38 defines a branched system of narrow feed paths 40 which merge into a common feed path 42 on the top side of the paper magazine.
  • the pairs of transport rollers 36 are selectively driven to feed the web 34 from a selected one of the reels 32 to the common feed path 42.
  • the reels 32 may contain paper of different qualities and possibly also non-paper recording media such as plastic films or the like.
  • the webs on the reels 32 may differ in width, so that printed sheets may be produced in different formats, ranging for example from A4 portrait to A0 landscape.
  • the selected web is guided past a cutting mechanism 44 for cutting the web to the desired sheet length, and then the cut sheet 16 is guided over a system of deflection and tensioning rollers 46 and guide plates 48 to a feed roller 50 from which it is paid out onto the sheet support plate 20.
  • the web 34 and the sheet 16, respectively On its way from the reel 32 to the feed roller 50, the web 34 and the sheet 16, respectively, will inevitably be exposed to ambient air and, as a result, will absorb humidity, especially when the relative humidity RH of the ambient air is high.
  • the paper is particularly exposed to ambient air in the vicinity of the cutting mechanism 44.
  • a heater 60 is provided at an inclined portion of the paper feed path just upstream of the feed roller 50, so that the humidity content of the sheet 16 is reduced already before it enters the print station.
  • the heater 60 my for example be formed by a heated plate along which the sheet 16 is guided. Since the sheet may cockle when it passes along the heater, the heat transfer to the sheet is preferably achieved not only by direct contact but also by heat radiation. As an alternative, the heater may also be formed by a radiator of a hot air blower.
  • the top surface of the paper on the heater is preferably exposed to ambient air, so that the moisture evaporating from the paper will efficiently be removed by convection.
  • the heater 60 is controlled by an electronic control system 62 which is also connected to a humidity sensor 64.
  • the sensor 64 is arranged in a position where it can detect the humidity of air near a portion of the paper feed path where the paper is particularly exposed to ambient air.
  • the temperature of the heater 60 may be reduced, so that energy consumption is also reduced.
  • the heater 60 may be switched off completely, because, then, the amount of cockling is within tolerable limits, anyway.
  • the control system 62 may also be programmed to establish a different relation between the detected air humidity and the temperature of the heater 60, depending on the quality (e.g. paper weight) of the print medium on the selected reel 32. For example, the threshold for switching between an ON and an OFF state of the heater may be shifted.
  • the heater 60 may be segmented in width direction, an the width of the active part of the heater will automatically be adapted to the width of the paper web, so as to avoid a waste of heat energy.
  • the heater 60 When the humidity of ambient air is high, the heater 60 will heat the sheet 16 to a temperature of 38° C for example. This temperature is higher than the temperature of the print surface (32° C). The effect of this pre-heating strategy will now be explained in conjunction with figure 3 .
  • the pertinent area on the sheet passes over the feed roller 50 and reaches the print surface on the sheet support plate 20.
  • the temperature will drop while the sheet moves over the feed roller 50.
  • the feed roller 50 may be made of a material or may be coated with a material having a low heat conductivity.
  • the feed roller 50 may be made of a material or may be coated with a material having a low heat conductivity.
  • the feed roller 50 may be made of a material or may be coated with a material having a low heat conductivity.
  • the feed roller 50 may be made of a material or may be coated with a material having a low heat conductivity.
  • This temperature corresponds to a slower decay of the humidity content, as is indicated by the curve 68 in figure 3 . It can be seen, that this curve 68 is relatively flat, so that the gradient in the humidity content is very small, and, correspondingly, the sheet will hardly shrink further in width as it travels over the sheet support plate. As a result, the production of cockles, especially in the region of the print station 18, is successfully suppressed.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Toxicology (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Ink Jet Recording Methods And Recording Media Thereof (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)

Claims (8)

  1. Procédé de traitement de feuilles de réception d'images (16) dans une imprimante à jet d'encre thermofusible, dans lequel les feuilles sont avancées jusqu'à une surface d'impression (20) où une encre fondue et chaude est appliquée sur les feuilles, caractérisé en ce que les feuilles, immédiatement avant qu'elles atteignent la surface d'impression (20), sont chauffées à une première température qui est plus élevée qu'une seconde température qu'elles adopteront sur la surface d'impression.
  2. Procédé selon la revendication 1, dans lequel la première température, lorsqu'elle est mesurée en centigrades, est de 10 à 25 % plus élevée que la seconde température.
  3. Procédé selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans lequel la surface d'impression (20) est régulée en température pour maintenir la feuille (16) à ladite seconde température.
  4. Imprimante à jet d'encre thermofusible dotée d'une surface d'impression (20) et d'un système de transport de feuilles (14) permettant d'acheminer des feuilles de réception d'images (16) jusqu'à et sur la surface d'impression, caractérisée par un élément chauffant (60) agencé au niveau d'un chemin d'alimentation en papier en amont de la surface d'impression (20), et un système de commande (62) commandant l'élément chauffant (60) et adapté pour réaliser le procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3.
  5. Imprimante selon la revendication 4, dans laquelle un capteur d'humidité (64) est agencé pour détecter le degré d'humidité de l'air ambiant, et le système de commande (62) est adapté pour commander l'élément chauffant (60) en réponse au degré d'humidité détecté.
  6. Imprimante selon la revendication 5, dans laquelle le système de commande (62) est adapté pour éteindre l'élément chauffant (60) lorsque le degré d'humidité détecté est en dessous d'un certain niveau seuil.
  7. Imprimante selon la revendication 5 ou 6, dans laquelle le système de commande (62) est adapté pour établir différentes relations entre le degré d'humidité détecté et l'activité de l'élément chauffant (60), selon le type de papier d'impression fourni à la surface d'impression (20).
  8. Imprimante selon l'une quelconque des revendications 4 à 7, dans laquelle le système de transport de papier (14) est adapté pour fournir les feuilles (16) à partir d'un magasin (12), qui est disposé sous la surface d'impression (20), jusqu'à un rouleau d'alimentation (50) situé au niveau d'une extrémité amont de la surface d'impression (20), et l'élément chauffant (60) est agencé au niveau d'une partie inclinée du chemin d'alimentation en papier immédiatement en amont du rouleau d'impression (50).
EP05111213.4A 2004-11-25 2005-11-24 Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé Not-in-force EP1661723B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP05111213.4A EP1661723B1 (fr) 2004-11-25 2005-11-24 Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04106087 2004-11-25
EP05111213.4A EP1661723B1 (fr) 2004-11-25 2005-11-24 Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1661723A2 EP1661723A2 (fr) 2006-05-31
EP1661723A3 EP1661723A3 (fr) 2010-01-13
EP1661723B1 true EP1661723B1 (fr) 2015-01-14

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ID=36204704

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP05111213.4A Not-in-force EP1661723B1 (fr) 2004-11-25 2005-11-24 Procédé pour traiter des feuilles destinées à recevoir des images et imprimante à jet d'encre pour encre thermofusible utilisant ce procédé

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP1661723B1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2933112B1 (fr) * 2014-04-16 2016-11-02 OCE-Technologies B.V. Procédé de formation d'une image à jet d'encre
EP3023252A1 (fr) 2014-11-21 2016-05-25 OCE-Technologies B.V. Imprimante pour former une image à jet d'encre à changement de phase

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6196672B1 (en) * 1997-06-27 2001-03-06 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Hot-melt type ink jet printer having heating and cooling arrangement
US7210775B2 (en) * 2002-08-29 2007-05-01 Konica Corporation Ink jet recording apparatus
US6783226B2 (en) * 2002-09-26 2004-08-31 Xerox Corporation Curved infrared foil heater for drying images on a recording medium

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1661723A3 (fr) 2010-01-13
EP1661723A2 (fr) 2006-05-31

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