US 2026/0208504 A1Published application

Drying unit for drying a substrate

AssigneeBobst Italia S.P.A.

InventorsAndrea PATRUCCO, Davide PARODI

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Abstract

The invention is about a drying unit for a digital printing machine. The drying unit is made of an alternation of impingement nozzles and flotation nozzles connected to a common pressurized air source. The impingement nozzles have a counter roller that guides the substrate thanks to the drying air that pushes the substrate against the roller. The flotation nozzles are made of two nozzles facing each other and blowing with the same strength against the substrate that “floats” between them. The front nozzle air is used for drying, the back nozzle air is used for heating and for avoiding the substrate from getting unbalanced. The drying unit starts with an impingement nozzle that regulates the speed of the air to avoid the fresh ink from getting spread on the substrate. The flotation nozzles and the following impingement nozzles regulate the volume of blown air to set the drying capabilities of the drying unit.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A drying unit for drying a substrate which is moved along a handling path through the drying unit, the substrate having a front side at least partially covered with fresh ink and a back side not covered with fresh ink,

the drying unit comprising, along the handling path, two or more impingement nozzle units and one or more flotation nozzle units, the flotation nozzle units having a first flotation nozzle and an associated second flotation nozzle facing each other, and each of the impingement nozzle units having an impingement nozzle and an associated counter roller facing each other,
wherein the impingement nozzle of one or more of the impingement nozzle units is a speed-regulated impingement nozzle and the impingement nozzle of one or more of the impingement nozzle units is a volume-regulated impingement nozzle,
with the handling path being arranged between the impingement nozzle and the associated counter roller of the two or more impingement nozzle units and between the first flotation nozzle and the associated second flotation nozzle of the one or more flotation nozzle units, and
wherein the drying unit is adapted to move the substrate through the drying unit such that the back side of the substrate is in contact with the counter roller of the two or more impingement nozzle units.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 19/137,441Filed 12 Dec 2023
Priority: EP 22215012.020 Dec 2022
Published: 23 Jul 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

B41J 11/0022
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
B41J 11/00222
Using convection means, e.g. by using a fan for blowing or sucking air: controlling the convection means
F26B 3/04
By convection, i.e. heat being conveyed from a heat source to the materials or objects to be dried by a gas or vapour, e.g. air: the gas or vapour…
F26B 13/103
Supporting materials without tension, e.g. on or between foraminous belts: with mechanical supporting means, e.g. belts, rollers, and fluid…