Additive color printing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional color printing techniques require a white substrate to achieve color accuracy on nonwhite substrates, leading to increased printing time, ink usage, and vulnerability to scratches and abrasions, as they need to simulate a white substrate by printing multiple layers of white ink.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the simultaneous printing of white and color inks with varying ratios in multiple layers, allowing intermixing on the substrate to build opacity and achieve color accuracy without the need for a white substrate, using a CMYK color model with printheads that eject both opaque white and translucent color inks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple layers of white ink are printed to simulate a white substrate on nonwhite substrates, then color accuracy is improved, but printing time and ink usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The method pre-calculates and pre-determines the optimal number of white ink layers and color ink layers needed to achieve the desired color accuracy before printing begins. This preliminary planning allows the system to print the exact required layers without unnecessary iterations, reducing printing time while maintaining color accuracy on nonwhite substrates
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts printing parameters including the number of white ink layers, color ink layers, and ink density based on the substrate's initial color properties. By changing these parameters optimally, the system achieves color accuracy with fewer layers compared to conventional methods that use fixed layer counts
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple layers of white ink are printed to simulate a white substrate on nonwhite substrates, then color accuracy is improved, but ink usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system optimizes ink usage by dynamically adjusting the number of white ink layers and color ink layers based on the substrate's color properties. This parameter optimization ensures that the minimum necessary ink is used to achieve the desired color accuracy, reducing waste compared to conventional methods
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of physically creating multiple thick layers of white ink to simulate a white substrate, the system uses a calculated combination of white and color ink layers that optically achieves the same effect. This virtual copying approach reduces material consumption while maintaining visual color accuracy
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple layers of white ink are printed to simulate a white substrate, then color accuracy on nonwhite substrates is improved, but vulnerability to scratches and abrasions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The method creates a composite ink structure by intermixing white ink and color ink across multiple layers. This composite approach distributes the color information throughout the ink structure rather than concentrating it in a single top layer, so that scratches and abrasions expose a mixture of inks that still maintains color accuracy rather than revealing a stark white underlying layer
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different ink compositions to different layers locally, with each layer containing a specific ratio of white and color inks tailored to its position in the stack. This local optimization ensures that even when layers are damaged, the remaining structure maintains color integrity through the distributed ink composition
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the number of printed layers and ink usage while enhancing color durability and resistance to scratches, maintaining color accuracy and reducing the visibility of damage on nonwhite substrates.
Implementation Method 1
allowing intermixing on the substrate to build opacity
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for color printing onto nonwhite substrates and articles. For example, a method of color printing is provided, including printing multiple layers of ink each including a combination of a white ink and at least one color ink, and each printed layer having a ratio of white ink to color ink, wherein the ratio may be the same or may vary as a function of the number of layers and the color printed.