US 9,067,436 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for determining a degree of cure in an ultraviolet printing system

AssigneeXerox Corporation

InventorsPalghat Srinivas Ramesh, Michael D. Thompson, David A. Vankouwenberg

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Abstract

An approach is provided for determining a degree of curing of one or more ultraviolet sensitive inks. The approach involves causing, causing, at least in part, one or more ultraviolet inks to be applied to a substrate to form an image. The approach also involves causing, at least in part, the image to be exposed to ultraviolet light produced by one or more ultraviolet light sources to cause, at least in part, the one or more ultraviolet inks to be cured to form a cured image. The approach additionally involves determining a reflectance value of the cured image. The approach further involves determining a degree of cure of the cured image based, at least in part, on the reflectance value. The approach may be used to alter the degree of curing of another image applied to a substrate.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

determining an absorptivity spectra value for one or more ultraviolet inks at a time before curing;
causing, at least in part, the one or more ultraviolet inks to be applied to a substrate to form an image;
causing, at least in part, the image to be exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light produced by one or more ultraviolet light sources to cause, at least in part, the one or more ultraviolet inks to be cured to form a cured image;
determining an absorptivity spectra value of the cured image;
causing, at least in part, the absorptivity value of the one or more ultraviolet inks before curing to be compared to the absorptivity spectra value of the cured image to determine an absorptivity spectral shift;
determining a reflectance value of the cured image, wherein the reflectance value is based, at least in part, on the absorptivity spectral shift;
determining a degree of cure of the cured image based, at least in part, on the reflectance value;
and
controlling the degree of cure of any subsequent image formed on the substrate by a printing system by causing the one or more ultraviolet light sources to vary one or more wavelength of the UV light, intensity of the UV light, or causing the printing system to vary the exposure time to which the uncured image is exposed to the UV light produced by the one or more ultraviolet light sources to form the cured image.

6 more elements

An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;
and
at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:
cause to determine an absorptivity spectra value for one or more ultraviolet (UV) inks at a time before curing;
cause, at least in part, the one or more ultraviolet (UV) inks to be applied to a substrate to form an image;
cause, at least in part, the image be exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light produced by one or more ultraviolet light sources to cause, at least in part, the one or more ultraviolet inks to be cured to form a cured image;
cause to determine an absorptivity spectra value of the cured image;
cause, at least in part, the absorptivity value of the one or more ultraviolet inks before curing to be compared to the absorptivity spectra value of the cured image to determine an absorptivity spectral shift;
determine a reflectance value of the cured image, wherein the reflectance value is based, at least in part, on the absorptivity spectral shift;
determine a degree of cure of the cured image based, at least in part, on the reflectance value;
and
cause to control the degree of cure of any subsequent image formed on the substrate by a printing system by causing the one or more ultraviolet light sources to vary one or more wavelength of the UV light, intensity of the UV light, or causing the printing system to vary the exposure time to which the uncured image is exposed to the UV light produced by the one or more ultraviolet light sources to form the cured image.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.