Inkjet printed door and door components, and methods therefor
AssigneeMasonite Corporation
InventorsDarshit Thakkar, Steven B. Swartzmiller, Steven Gutkowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to an article, especially a door and a door component, such as a door facing (or door skin), having a pattern, preferably a woodgrain pattern. This invention also is directed to a method of making the door and the door component such as the door facing (or door skin) by inkjet printing of a pattern on the door facing (or door skin). The printing direction and ink droplets are provided to deliver a high quality image.
Claims22
A method for making a printed door skin, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a door skin having an outer surface, said surface having a variable depth, wherein the door skin comprises a recessed panel portion and a surrounding flush portion, and a height difference between the recessed portion and the flush portion is greater than 11 millimeters;
- and
- b. printing a pattern onto the outer surface with an inkjet printer, wherein the inkjet printer deposits ink drops onto the outer surface and the ink jet pattern comprises ink drops having a volume in the range of 18 picoliters to 42 picoliters, wherein the inkjet printer maintains image fidelity across an entirety of a range of printhead-to-substrate distances having a lower limit of 2 millimeters and an upper limit of 14 millimeters.
A method for printing a woodgrain pattern on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a substrate having an outer surface, wherein the substrate comprises a recessed panel portion and a surrounding flush portion, and a height difference between the recessed portion and the flush portion is greater than 11 millimeters;
- and
- printing with an inkjet printer a woodgrain pattern on the outer surface, the inkjet pattern comprising ink drops having a volume of 18 to 42 picoliters, the inkjet pattern simulating wood grain and tick images, the inkjet pattern printed in a direction parallel to the woodgrain, wherein the inkjet printer maintains image fidelity across an entirety of a range of printhead-to-substrate distances having a lower limit of 2 millimeters and an upper limit of 14 millimeters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.