Heat Roller Light Absorption for Printing Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat rollers in printing apparatuses face inefficiencies in ink drying due to low thermal conversion efficiency, leading to high power consumption and potential damage from internal air heating, especially when using halogen lamps for heating.
Innovation Solution
A heat roller with a hollow cylindrical body made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, featuring thermal conversion efficiencies of at least 70%, achieved through needle-like structures, anodic oxide films, or composite coatings of fluororesin and ceramic, which enhance light absorption and conversion to heat without increasing complexity or weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a halogen lamp is used for heating in the heat roller, then the ink can be dried effectively, but the light is not efficiently converted to heat causing high power consumption and internal air heating
Solution Approach 1:
The inner peripheral surface of the roller body is modified with needle-like structures, anodic oxide films, or composite coatings that change the optical properties of the surface. These modifications enable the surface to absorb light across a broader spectrum and convert it more efficiently to heat, with thermal conversion efficiency reaching 70% or more, thereby reducing power consumption and minimizing energy loss.
2Productivity
If the heating efficiency is increased to dry ink rapidly, then the drying speed improves, but the thermal conversion efficiency remains low causing excessive power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
By modifying the inner peripheral surface with light-absorbing structures and coatings, the heat roller achieves high thermal conversion efficiency (70% or more). This enables rapid ink drying through efficient heat generation from the halogen lamp, improving productivity while maintaining reasonable power consumption levels.
3Loss of energy
If the light absorption efficiency is increased to convert more light to heat, then the thermal conversion efficiency improves, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The modification is applied only to the inner peripheral surface of the roller body where light absorption is most critical. The needle-like structures, anodic oxide films, or composite coatings are localized to this specific area, achieving high light absorption efficiency without making the entire roller body structure complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner peripheral surface is treated with light-absorbing modifications (needle-like structures, anodic oxide films, or composite coatings) that change its optical properties. This localized color/structure change enables high thermal conversion efficiency (70% or more) without requiring complex overall roller body design.
4Use of energy by moving object
If the thermal conversion efficiency is increased to reduce power consumption, then the energy efficiency improves, but the manufacturing process becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The inner peripheral surface is treated with light-absorbing modifications including needle-like structures formed by electrochemical etching, anodic oxide films formed by anodization, or composite coatings applied by conventional coating methods. These established manufacturing processes enable high thermal conversion efficiency (70% or more) while maintaining reasonable ease of manufacture.
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
The solution enables rapid ink drying with low power consumption and reduced risk of halogen lamp and roller body damage by efficiently converting light to heat, maintaining the heat roller at a predetermined temperature while minimizing internal air temperature rise.
Implementation Method 1
as the heater, for example, a halogen lamp is used
Implementation Method 2
a thermal conversion efficiency of light from the halogen lamp is not less than 70%... it is important to be able to convert the light from the halogen lamp to heat by making it be absorbed by the roller body as efficiently as possible
Implementation Method 3
the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller in direct contact with the printing medium enables the ink to be dried smoothly... The printing medium is thereby heated and the ink printed on the printing medium is dried
Implementation Method 4
uniformly roughen an inner peripheral surface of the roller body, constituted of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, by sandblast processing and thereafter perform anodization to form an anodic oxide film on the inner peripheral surface
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A heat roller 18 includes a roller body 25 and a halogen lamp 26, the roller body 25 is a hollow cylinder constituted of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and a thermal conversion efficiency of light from the halogen lamp 26 is not less than 70% . A printing apparatus includes the heat roller 18 disposed at a downstream side in a conveyance direction of a conveyance path for a printing medium than a printing unit.