Rotatable drum inkjet printing apparatus for radiation curable ink
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsCaroline M. Ylitalo, Bruce A. Nerad, Richard L. Severance
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Inkjet printing apparatus includes a drum, a print head for directing radiation curable ink toward a substrate on the drum, and a curing device for directing radiation toward the ink that is received on the substrate. The curing device is selectively operable to direct radiation toward a certain portion of the ink received on the substrate only after that certain portion has moved with the substrate and the drum through an arc that is at least 360 degrees. In this manner, the ink on the substrate has sufficient time to spread and level and the resultant image is of high quality.
Claims29
Inkjet printing apparatus comprising:
- a drum for supporting a substrate, the drum having a central reference axis;
- a motor for moving the drum with the substrate in an arc about the central axis;
- a print head for directing radiation curable ink toward the substrate;
- a curing device for directing radiation toward the ink received on the substrate, wherein the curing device is selectively operable to direct the radiation toward a certain portion of the ink received on the substrate only after that certain portion has moved with the substrate along an arc about the central axis that is at least 360 degrees.
Inkjet printing apparatus according to clam 14 wherein the heater is connected to the drum.
A method of inkjet printing comprising:
- supporting a substrate on a drum;
- moving the drum in an arc about its central axis;
- directing radiation curable ink onto the substrate;
- determining a desired time interval between the time that the ink is received on the substrate and the time that the ink is cured;
- and
- directing radiation toward the ink on the substrate, wherein the act of directing the radiation toward the substrate includes the act of selectively adjusting the time interval between the time that the ink is received on the substrate and the time that the radiation is received by the ink on the substrate such that at least a portion of the ink does not receive radiation until the substrate with the ink portion has moved with the drum along an arc that is at least 360 degrees.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.