UV Curing Segmentation for Ink Bleed and Surface Smoothness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printers face challenges in achieving both image quality and glossiness, as immediate UV curing reduces ink bleed but results in a rough surface, while delayed curing smoothes the image but may degrade quality due to ink bleed.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus that alternates between immediately curing color ink dots and allowing clear or special ink dots to smoothen over time by controlling the irradiation timing and region, using a feeder, head with multiple nozzle rows, and an irradiator that can be divided into overlapping and non-overlapping sections for precise light application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the irradiator is lit immediately after dot formation to cure dots, then ink bleed is reduced, but the surface becomes rough and glossiness is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle row is divided into upstream-side and downstream-side nozzle rows, and the irradiator is divided into upstream-side, intermediate, and downstream-side irradiators. This segmentation allows different regions to be treated differently: upstream dots are cured immediately to prevent bleed, while downstream dots are allowed to smoothen before curing, achieving both ink bleed control and surface smoothness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by allowing downstream-side dots to smoothen on the medium surface before irradiation. The irradiator is positioned downstream and controlled to irradiate only after the dots have had time to spread and merge, ensuring surface smoothness while the upstream-side irradiators prevent ink bleed at critical regions.
2Shape
If the irradiator is extinguished and downstream irradiator is lit to smoothen dots, then glossiness is enhanced, but image quality degrades due to ink bleed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the irradiator into multiple independent irradiators (upstream-side, intermediate, downstream-side) that can be controlled separately. This allows the upstream-side irradiators to remain lit for preventing ink bleed, while the downstream-side irradiator is controlled to provide smoothening, thereby maintaining both image quality and surface smoothness simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the printing system are given different functions: upstream regions focus on preventing ink bleed through immediate irradiation, while downstream regions focus on enhancing surface smoothness through delayed irradiation. This local differentiation of quality requirements resolves the contradiction between preventing bleed and achieving smoothness.
3Device complexity
If a single irradiator is used for both color ink and clear/special ink, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to optimize curing timing for different ink types is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The irradiator is segmented into multiple independently controllable units (upstream-side, intermediate, downstream-side irradiators) that can be selectively activated. This segmentation enables the system to optimize curing timing for different ink types: color inks can be cured immediately using upstream irradiators, while clear and special inks can be allowed to smoothen using downstream irradiators, all within a single integrated device.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces dynamic control by allowing selective activation of different irradiator segments based on the ink type being printed. The controller dynamically adjusts which irradiators are lit and when, providing adaptability for different ink types while maintaining a relatively simple physical device structure.
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 enhances image quality by limiting ink bleed and achieving a smooth, glossy finish by optimizing the curing time for different ink types, ensuring both color accuracy and surface smoothness.
Implementation Method 1
irradiate dots formed on the medium with UV to cure the dots
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a feeder that feeds a medium in a feeding direction, a head including a row of nozzles arranged side by side in the feeding direction and movable in a scanning direction, an irradiator that radiates light onto a region longer in the feeding direction than the nozzle row and that is movable in the scanning direction together with the head, and a controller that alternatingly causes the head to move in the scanning direction and concurrently the nozzles to discharge ink while causing the irradiator to radiate the light, and the feeder to feed the medium in the feeding direction. The controller is capable of dividing the nozzle row into an upstream-side nozzle row and a downstream-side nozzle row located on a downstream side in the feeding direction from the upstream-side nozzle row, and individually controlling discharge of ink from the nozzles of each of the upstream-side nozzle row and the downstream-side nozzle row. The controller is capable of dividing the irradiator into an upstream-side irradiator, an intermediate irradiator adjacent to the upstream-side irradiator on a downstream side in the feeding direction, and a printless region irradiator adjacent to the intermediate irradiator on a downstream side in the feeding direction, and individually controlling lighting and extinguishing of each of the irradiators defined by the division.