Leather printing

Abstract

An apparatus for printing leather including an ink acceptor applicator that applies ink directly onto a surface of the leather; an ink applicator that applies ink to the ink acceptor and / or the leather surface; an additive applicator that applies additive onto the ink acceptor, the ink and / or the leather surface; a barrier having a surface configured to contact the acceptor, ink and additive on the leather surface; and a heater that heats the surface of the barrier to a predetermined temperature or a temperature within a selected temperature range such that the barrier, which is substantially impervious to the ink and has a melting point higher than the select temperature range, contacts at least the acceptor ink and additive on the surface directly to liquify the acceptor ink and additive into the leather and the acceptor, ink and additive fuses and penetrates into the leather.

Description

[0001] related application [0002] This is US Nonprovisional Application No. 61 / 610,531 filed March 14, 2012, the subject matter of which is incorporated by reference. technical field [0003] The present disclosure generally relates to an apparatus for leather printing, a method for leather printing, a computer program and a computer system for performing such a method. Background technique [0004] Leather is manufactured and finished on an industrial scale in tanneries. There are a few different ways to tan leather. The two main variants are vegetable tanning and chrome tanning. Leather is usually colored by dyeing. Various finishes can be applied, such as embossing or polishing. Those methods attempt to give some pattern, texture and depth to the surface, but have limited effectiveness. [0005] Leather printing is difficult because inks generally do not bind well to uneven, organic, intricate substrates such as leather. In addition, printing on leather is difficu...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0006] Using printing techniques known in other technical fields involving printing on non-leather substrates, printing on leather may encounter additional difficulties if the ink molecules do not bond well to the leather

For example, printing on leather using printing techniques more commonly applied to paper may result in only some ink molecules being bound to the leather, making the printed color / pattern uneven and / or blurry

Such colors / patterns that are only printed on the surface of the leather may wear easily, quickly and / or irregularly, and / or have low lightfastness and therefore may not be durable

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