Vertical Hanging Substrate Dryer for Aqueous Ink Printers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aqueous ink printing systems face challenges in efficiently drying ink images on coated substrates without increasing the complexity, energy consumption, or substrate temperatures, which can lead to inadequate drying and potential substrate degradation.
Innovation Solution
A new drying system that vertically hangs substrates within a dryer using grippers and a track system, allowing for increased exposure to heat without touching, thereby enhancing the drying efficiency and uniformity without significant temperature increases or system complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the dryer heats the substrate to high temperatures (100°C) for brief periods to remove water and solvents, then drying efficiency is improved, but coated substrates cannot be adequately dried and substrate degradation risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from horizontal substrate transport to vertical hanging orientation within the dryer. This dimensional change allows heat to penetrate the substrate more effectively from multiple directions while the substrate remains suspended, enabling adequate drying of coated substrates without excessive temperature exposure that could cause degradation
2Productivity
If additional uniform drying stages are added to improve drying of coated substrates, then drying effectiveness is improved, but printer footprint and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding more horizontal drying stages, the patent introduces a vertical hanging drying mechanism within the existing dryer footprint. This reconfigures the drying space utilization from a planar arrangement to a three-dimensional vertical arrangement, improving drying effectiveness without expanding the printer's horizontal footprint or adding complex multi-stage systems
3Productivity
If additional uniform drying stages are added to improve drying of coated substrates, then drying effectiveness is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical hanging configuration allows more efficient heat distribution and penetration through the substrate material. Heat can reach the coated surface from multiple angles and the suspended position maximizes heat exposure without requiring additional heating stages, thereby maintaining energy consumption at acceptable levels while achieving effective drying of coated substrates
4Productivity
If the temperature of the uniform drying stage is increased to improve drying of coated substrates, then drying effectiveness is improved, but substrate degradation occurs and output stack retains excessive heat
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical hanging orientation enhances heat penetration and drying effectiveness at the existing temperature level (100°C). The suspended configuration allows heat to reach the coated substrate surface more effectively from multiple directions, eliminating the need to increase temperature to problematic levels while still achieving adequate drying of coated substrates
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 enables efficient drying of aqueous ink images on coated substrates by increasing the exposure time to heat while maintaining a compact printer footprint and preventing substrate degradation, ensuring the ink images are touch-tolerant without excessive heat.
Implementation Method 1
a heater configured to generate heat within the housing to dry the hanging substrates held by the grippers as the grippers move along the track
Implementation Method 2
the dryer heats the substrate and ink to temperatures that typically reach 100° C
Data Source
AI summary
An aqueous ink printer includes a dryer that enables coated substrates printed with aqueous ink images to be adequately dried before discharge of the substrates. The dryer is configured to hang the substrates vertically without the substrates touching one another as heat is applied to the substrates within the dryer to reduce the footprint of the dryer and increase the exposure time of the substrates to heat produced by the dryer.