UV Pretreatment Agent Drying for Inkjet Print Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional printing technologies face issues with curl, cockling, and the coffee stain phenomenon due to increased liquid amounts and temperature-related viscosity changes in fast-drying inks, which affect print quality and medium stability.
Innovation Solution
A printing device configuration that uses a pretreatment agent containing a solvent that generates heat upon energy ray irradiation, applied before color ink, to efficiently dry the pretreatment agent and control ink viscosity, preventing curl, cockling, and coffee stain by emitting energy rays after the pretreatment agent is applied, and using fast-drying ink that absorbs energy rays to evaporate solvents quickly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the total amount of liquid (pretreatment agent and color ink) is increased to improve print quality, then printing quality is improved, but curl and cockling occur due to excessive liquid on the medium
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary drying action by irradiating the pretreatment agent with energy rays immediately after ejection, before the color ink is applied. This preliminary drying reduces the liquid amount on the medium surface, preventing curl and cockling while maintaining print quality. The pretreatment agent is dried to a degree sufficient to prevent medium deformation, as stated in the patent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the drying process from the traditional post-printing stage and separates it into a preliminary stage for the pretreatment agent. By extracting and applying drying energy rays immediately after pretreatment agent ejection, the system removes excess solvent before color ink application, preventing the harmful effects of excessive total liquid while maintaining necessary print quality.
2Loss of time
If fast-drying ink is used to reduce drying time, then drying speed is improved, but viscosity changes due to temperature increase cause coffee stain phenomenon
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary drying action by irradiating the pretreatment agent with energy rays immediately after ejection, before the color ink is applied. This preliminary drying reduces the liquid amount on the medium surface, preventing curl and cockling while maintaining print quality. The pretreatment agent is dried to a degree sufficient to prevent medium deformation, as stated in the patent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the drying process from the traditional post-printing stage and separates it into a preliminary stage for the pretreatment agent. By extracting and applying drying energy rays immediately after pretreatment agent ejection, the system removes excess solvent before color ink application, preventing the harmful effects of excessive total liquid while maintaining necessary print quality.
3Loss of time
If energy rays are emitted to dry the pretreatment agent before color ink ejection, then pretreatment agent drying is improved, but additional equipment complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the energy ray irradiation function with the existing inkjet head assembly. The irradiation unit is integrated into the printing device structure, combining the ejection and drying functions in a unified system. This merging approach enables rapid pretreatment agent drying without significantly increasing overall device complexity, as the energy ray source is incorporated into the existing printing mechanism.
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 configuration enables high-quality printing by preventing curl, cockling, and coffee stain, while efficiently drying inks to maintain viscosity and prevent bleeding, thereby enhancing print quality and medium stability.
Implementation Method 1
the pretreatment agent is a liquid that contains a solvent and generates heat in response to energy rays
Implementation Method 2
evaporates at least part of the solvent in the pretreatment agent
Implementation Method 3
fast-drying ink that generates heat when being irradiated with energy rays
Implementation Method 4
the ink can be efficiently dried in a short time
Data Source
AI summary
To perform high-quality printing more appropriately, a printing device that performs printing on a medium includes: an inkjet head as a head for pretreatment agent that ejects a pretreatment agent; inkjet heads as heads for color ink; and an ultraviolet ray irradiation unit as an energy ray irradiation unit. The pretreatment agent is a liquid that contains a solvent and generates heat in response to ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet ray irradiation unit emits ultraviolet rays to respective positions at which printing is performed on the medium after the inkjet head ejects the pretreatment agent, and evaporates at least part of the solvent in the pretreatment agent.