Inkjet Printing Device Gloss Control via Heating Unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current inkjet printing technologies face challenges in achieving effective gloss control between matte and gloss finishes, particularly with UV clear inks that have environmental concerns and limitations in gloss difference, and existing solutions using color inks cannot adequately achieve both matte and gloss finishes.
Innovation Solution
An inkjet printing device and method utilizing an aqueous clear ink with a resin and water, which employs a heating unit to control gloss by maintaining different temperatures for matte and gloss printing modes, ensuring T matte > T gloss, allowing for high gloss and matte finishes by managing dot formation and spreading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If UV curable ink is used to achieve gloss control, then glossiness control is possible, but environmental concerns arise due to limited polymerizable monomer choices and safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of the ink composition from UV curable to aqueous-based, eliminating environmental concerns while maintaining gloss control capability through temperature management of the aqueous clear ink
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a new dimension of control by using temperature as the primary control parameter for glossiness, replacing the chemical composition control used in UV inks. This allows gloss control through thermal management rather than chemical formulation
2Ease of manufacture
If heating temperature is increased to achieve matte finish, then gloss control is improved, but printing rate decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention implements dynamic control by adjusting heating temperature according to the desired gloss level. The system can switch between high temperature for matte finish and lower temperature for gloss finish, optimizing both quality and productivity based on requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The heating unit is integrated into the printing system to pre-heat or post-treat the printed material immediately after ink deposition, allowing gloss control to occur as part of the printing process itself rather than as a separate subsequent step
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 precise control over gloss finishes, achieving significant gloss differences between matte and gloss modes, enhancing image quality and environmental sustainability by using aqueous inks instead of solvent-based or UV curable inks.
Implementation Method 1
a heating unit configured to heat a material to be printed
Implementation Method 2
The ink is an aqueous clear ink including a resin and water
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
Provided is an inkjet printing device including an ink storage unit configured to store an ink, an ejection head configured to eject the ink to form a print layer, and a heating unit configured to heat a material to be printed, wherein the ink is an aqueous clear ink including a resin and water, the inkjet printing device has a low gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for imparting low gloss, and a high gloss printing mode that is a printing mode for imparting high gloss, and the heating unit is configured to heat to satisfy the following formula Tmatte >Tgloss, where Tmatte (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of a low gloss printing region of the material to be printed where the low gloss printing region is printed with the low gloss printing mode when the aqueous clear ink is deposited on the material to be printed, and Tgloss (degrees Celsius) is a temperature of a high gloss printing region of the material to be printed where the high gloss printing region is printed with the high gloss printing mode when the aqueous clear ink is deposited on the material to be printed.