Ink jet image drier
AssigneeA.B. Dick Company
InventorsChandrakant R. Bhatia, Steven S. Kuhlin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The drier consists of a plurality of nozzles that direct a small volume of air onto the printed image at as high a velocity as possible without disturbing the wet image. The air so delivered while it must be dry, does not have to be heated to effectively dry the image, however, the drying time can be reduced by increasing the air temperature if desired. The use of high velocity air creates what is known is "skin effect" to dry the ink where the outer surface of the ink is quickly dried.
Claims17
An ink printing system for applying an inked image to moving articles advancing in a downstream direction along a path, said system comprising:
- a) a print head disposed adjacent said path for applying an inked image to said articles;
- b) a de-watering device for removing water from said articles disposed adjacent said path and upstream from said print head;
- c) a drier for drying said inked image disposed downstream of said print head and adjacent said path and including:
- i) an air chamber to provide a supply of heated and pressurized air;
- and
- ii) a plurality of nozzles, communicating with said chamber, for directing said heated and pressurized air towards said inked image, each of said nozzles having an axis that forms an acute angle with said downstream direction and being configured to deliver said air at high velocity and low volume.
A device for drying ink jet images on a substrate moving in a travel direction comprising:
- a) an air chamber;
- b) a plurality of nozzles formed in said chamber for delivering air at high velocity and low volume, each of said nozzles having an axis that forms an acute angle with the direction of travel of the substrate;
- c) the air chamber being mounted such that said delivered air has a velocity component at an angle with respect to horizontal;
- d) means for delivering air under pressure to said chamber;
- and
- e) heating means for heating the air delivered from said nozzles.
An ink printing system for applying an inked image to moving articles advancing in a downstream direction along a path, said system comprising:
- a) a print head disposed adjacent said path for applying an inked image to said articles;
- b) a de-watering device for removing water from said articles disposed adjacent said path and upstream from said print head;
- c) a drier for drying said inked image disposed downstream of said print head and adjacent said path and including:
- i) an air chamber to provide a supply of heated and pressurized air;
- and
- ii) a plurality of nozzles, communicating with said chamber, for directing said heated and pressurized air towards said inked image, said nozzles being configured to deliver said air at high velocity and low volume, wherein said nozzles are angled between 0 and 25 degrees to a line perpendicular to said downstream direction such that said air has a velocity component in said downstream direction whereby said air contacts the inked image for a longer period of time.
An ink printing system for applying an inked image to moving articles advancing in a downstream direction along a path, said system comprising:
- a) a print head disposed adjacent said path for applying an inked image to said articles;
- b) a de-watering device for removing water from said articles disposed adjacent said path and upstream from said print head;
- c) a drier for drying said inked image disposed downstream of said print head and adjacent said path and including:
- i) an air chamber to provide a supply of heated and pressurized air;
- and
- ii) a plurality of nozzles, communicating with said chamber, for directing said heated and pressurized air towards said inked image, each of said nozzles having an axis that forms an acute angle with said downstream direction and being configured to deliver said air at high velocity and low volume, wherein the nozzles are angled relative to the horizontal to control the direction the air moves after contacting the articles and to thereby control a width of a heated area on said articles;
- and
- iii) means for delivering air under pressure to said chamber.
An ink printing system for applying an inked image to moving articles advancing in a downstream direction along a path, said system comprising:
- a) a print head disposed adjacent said path for applying an inked image to said articles;
- b) a de-watering device for removing water from said articles disposed adjacent said path and upstream from said print head;
- c) a drier for drying said inked image disposed downstream of said print head and adjacent said path and including:
- i) an air chamber to provide a supply of heated and pressurized air;
- and
- ii) a plurality of nozzles, communicating with said chamber, for directing said heated and pressurized air towards said inked image, each of said nozzles having an axis that forms an acute angle with said downstream direction and being configured to deliver said air at high velocity, low volume, and temperature wherein the air creates a skin effect on the ink such that the outer surface of the ink dries first;
- and
- iii) means for delivering heated air under pressure to said chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.