Wire marking system and a method of marking an insulated wire
AssigneeAT Information Products, Inc.
InventorsJoseph Traut, Alexander Redel, Edward L. Teller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The ink jet wire marking system is provided with a pretreatment station which employs ultraviolet light to clean and condition a travelling wire. Thereafter, the wire passes through an ink jet printing station for the printing of graphics thereon using UV curable inks. Thereafter, the wire passes through a curing station which employs ultraviolet light to cure the ink on the wire. The wire can then be cut into segments or wound up in a continuous mode.
Claims13
A wire marking system comprising
- a pretreatment station having means for exposing a travelling length of insulated wire to a source of ultraviolet light for cleaning and conditioning the wire insulation surface, said means including an ultraviolet light bulb having means for creating high energy ultraviolet light and at least one reflector defining a tunnel for passage of a travelling wire therethrough and for focusing said light from said bulb onto the travelling wire;
- a printing station adjacent said pretreatment station having an ink jet printing means for printing characters of ultraviolet curable ink onto a travelling length of wire received from said pretreatment station;
- and
- a curing station adjacent said printing station having means for exposing a travelling length of wire from said printing station to a source of ultraviolet light for curing the printing characters thereon.
A wire marking system comprising a pretreatment station having means for exposing a travelling length of insulated wire to a source of ultraviolet light for cleaning and conditioning the wire insulation surface to form molecular bonding sites thereon;
- a printing station adjacent said pretreatment station having an ink jet printing means for printing characters of ultraviolet curable ink onto the conditioned surface of a travelling length of wire received from said pretreatment station;
- and
- a curing station adjacent said printing station having means for exposing a travelling length of wire from said printing station to a quartz light bulb having means for creating high energy ultraviolet light for curing the characters printed thereon, and
- at least one reflector defining a tunnel for passage of a travelling wire therethrough and for focusing said light therefrom onto the travelling wire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.