US5075689A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Bidirectional hot melt ink jet printing
Assignee: Fujifilm Dimatix Inc
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Filing: 1989-12-15
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Granted: 1991-12-24
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Expires: 2009-12-15
Abstract
Abstract In the representative embodiments of the invention described in the specification, an ink jet head has a series of aligned arrays of ink jet orifices arranged to project drops of different colored inks in sequence to the same location on a substrate during each scan of the ink jet head adjacent to the substrate. The spacing of the orifices in each aligned array and the speed of the ink jet head during the scanning are arranged so that all the ink drops applied at the same location on the substrate are applied in a time period of no more than about 100 milliseconds and preferably no more than 50 milliseconds. Moreover, to avoid banding the lines produced by successive scans of the head are interlaced so as to produce a periodic frequency of no more than about four lines per millimeter.
Inventors
- 👤 Paul A. Hoisington
- 👤 Edward R. Moynihan
- 👤 Charles W. Spehrley, Jr.
- 👤 Robert R. Schaffer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 17:53
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/21; B41J2/2132; B41J2/135; B41J2/145; B41J2/15; B41J19/00; B41J19/14; B41J19/142; B41J2/2103; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/10; G06K15/102; G06K15/105; H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/04; H04N1/19; H04N1/191; H04N1/1911; H04N1/1912
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
262 words
A bidirectional hot melt ink jet printing system comprising substrate support means for supporting a substrate on which a hot melt ink image is to be printed, reciprocating ink jet head means mounted for reciprocating scanning motion with respect to the surface of a substrate supported on the substrate support means for projecting drops of hot melt ink selectively onto the substrate to form a desired image, substrate advance means for advancing the substrate in a direction transverse to the direction of motion of the ink jet head means, and orifice means in the ink jet head means from which hot melt ink is ejected toward the surface of the substrate including a plurality of orifices aligned in the direction of motion of the ink jet head for projecting drops of different color hot melt ink in succession onto the same region of the surface of the substrate, wherein the spacing of the aligned orifices and the rate of motion of the ink jet head means with respect to the substrate are arranged so that the last drop of ink projected by one of the aligned orifices is received on the surface of the substrate within about 100 milliseconds after the first drop of ink projected by one of the aligned orifices at the same region of the substrate surface is received to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state so as to reduce variations resulting from application of different inks from the orifices in reverse order during oppositely directed scanning motions of the ink jet head.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
262 words
A bidirectional hot melt ink jet printing system comprising substrate support means for supporting a substrate on which a hot melt ink image is to be printed, reciprocating ink jet head means mounted for reciprocating scanning motion with respect to the surface of a substrate supported on the substrate support means for projecting drops of hot melt ink selectively onto the substrate to form a desired image, substrate advance means for advancing the substrate in a direction transverse to the direction of motion of the ink jet head means, and orifice means in the ink jet head means from which hot melt ink is ejected toward the surface of the substrate including a plurality of orifices aligned in the direction of motion of the ink jet head for projecting drops of different color hot melt ink in succession onto the same region of the surface of the substrate, wherein the spacing of the aligned orifices and the rate of motion of the ink jet head means with respect to the substrate are arranged so that the last drop of ink projected by one of the aligned orifices is received on the surface of the substrate within about 100 milliseconds after the first drop of ink projected by one of the aligned orifices at the same region of the substrate surface is received to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state so as to reduce variations resulting from application of different inks from the orifices in reverse order during oppositely directed scanning motions of the ink jet head.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
61 words
An ink jet system according to claim 2 wherein the spacing of the aligned orifices and the rate of motion of the ink jet head means are arranged so that the time between the application of the first and last ink drops from the aligned orifices to the same region on the substrate surface is no more than about 50 milliseconds.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the maximum distance between the aligned orifices is no more than about 10 cm.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the maximum distance between the aligned orifices is no more than about 5 cm.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the maximum distance between the aligned orifices is no more than about 2.5 cm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the rate of motion of the ink jet head means with respect to the substrate is at least about 10 cm per sec.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the rate of motion of the ink jet head means with respect to the substrate is at least about 20 cm per sec.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the rate of motion of the ink jet head means with respect to the substrate is at least about 100 cm per sec.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the aligned plurality of orifices includes four orifices for projecting ink of three primary colors and black, respectively.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
85 words
An ink jet system according to claim 1 wherein the orifice means includes at least two pluralities of orifices aligned in the direction of motion of the ink jet head means and spaced in the direction perpendicular thereto by at least twice the spacing of the lines in an image to be produced on a substrate by the ink jet system so as to produce a plurality of spaced lines on the surface of a substrate during each scan of the ink jet head means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
52 words
An ink jet system according to claim 10 wherein the substrate advance means is arranged to advance the substrate by a distance less than the spacing between adjacent aligned pluralities of orifices in the ink jet head means between successive scans of the ink jet head means with respect to a substrate.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
An ink jet system according to claim 10 wherein the spacing of adjacent pluralities of aligned orifices in the orifice means corresponds to six image lines in an image to be produced on a substrate by the ink jet system.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
81 words
An ink jet system according to claim 12 wherein the substrate advance means is arranged to advance the substrate in a sequence of five steps corresponding to image line increments of 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, or those numbers with one or more multiples of six added to one or more of them, respectively, followed by a further increment which depends upon the number of lines printed during each scan of the ink jet head means, to form a complete image.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
98 words
An ink jet system according to claim 12 wherein the spacing between adjacent aligned pluralities of orifices corresponds to eight image lines in an image to be printed on a substrate and the substrate advance means is arranged to advance the substrate in a sequence consisting of seven consecutive increments of three, or three with one or more multiples of eight added to one or more of them, image lines each, followed by a further increment which depends upon the number of lines printed during each scan of the ink jet head means, to form a complete image.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
An ink jet system according to claim 10 wherein each aligned plurality of orifices includes three primary color ink orifices and one black ink orifice and wherein the orifices in adjacent aligned pluralities which project the same color ink are disposed in adjacent pairs.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
32 words
An ink jet system according to claim 15 including a plurality of further orifices arranged to project drops of black ink and disposed at uniform intervals between the aligned pluralities of orifices.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
An ink jet system according to claim 16 wherein the orifices for projecting black ink are disposed in adjacent pairs.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
185 words
A hot melt ink jet system for producing a hot melt ink image on a substrate comprising substrate support means for supporting a substrate on which an image is to be produced, ink jet head means mounted for reciprocating motion with respect to the substrate support means to project different color ink drops onto a substrate supported thereon along a plurality of spaced image lines during scanning of the ink jet head means in either direction, the different color ink drops projected to the same location on the substrate being applied within about 100 milliseconds to cause mixing of the drops in the molten state, and substrate advance means for moving the substrate a distance equal to at least two image lines after each scanning motion of the ink jet head means in a predetermined sequence so that no image line is printed adjacent to another image line printed during the same scan of the ink jet head means or during the immediately preceding scan of the ink jet head means, thereby avoiding thermal interaction between ink drops projected onto the substrate during successive scans.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
185 words
A hot melt ink jet system for producing a hot melt ink image on a substrate comprising substrate support means for supporting a substrate on which an image is to be produced, ink jet head means mounted for reciprocating motion with respect to the substrate support means to project different color ink drops onto a substrate supported thereon along a plurality of spaced image lines during scanning of the ink jet head means in either direction, the different color ink drops projected to the same location on the substrate being applied within about 100 milliseconds to cause mixing of the drops in the molten state, and substrate advance means for moving the substrate a distance equal to at least two image lines after each scanning motion of the ink jet head means in a predetermined sequence so that no image line is printed adjacent to another image line printed during the same scan of the ink jet head means or during the immediately preceding scan of the ink jet head means, thereby avoiding thermal interaction between ink drops projected onto the substrate during successive scans.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
40 words
An ink jet system according to claim 18 wherein the average width of image segments produced by adjacent image lines printed in the same scanning direction of the ink jet head means is no more than about one half millimeter.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
40 words
An ink jet system according to claim 18 wherein the average width of image segments produced by adjacent image lines printed in the same scanning direction of the ink jet head means is no more than about one quarter millimeter.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
31 words
An ink jet system according to claim 18 wherein the adjacent image lines produced during each scan of the ink jet head means are spaced by at least six image lines.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
25 words
An ink jet system according to claim 18 wherein the adjacent image lines produced during each scan are spaced by at least eight image lines.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
152 words
A method for operating a bidirectional color hot melt ink jet system to produce a colored image on a substrate comprising applying drops of different color hot melt inks from an ink jet head in a selected sequence to the same location on the substrate within about 100 milliseconds to cause mixing in the molten state of the last drop applied at the same location with the first drop applied at that location during motion of the ink jet head in one direction, and applying drops of the different color hot melt inks in the reverse of the selected sequence to another location on the substrate so that the last drop applied at the other location is applied within about 100 milliseconds after the first drop is applied during motion of the ink jet head in the opposite direction to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
152 words
A method for operating a bidirectional color hot melt ink jet system to produce a colored image on a substrate comprising applying drops of different color hot melt inks from an ink jet head in a selected sequence to the same location on the substrate within about 100 milliseconds to cause mixing in the molten state of the last drop applied at the same location with the first drop applied at that location during motion of the ink jet head in one direction, and applying drops of the different color hot melt inks in the reverse of the selected sequence to another location on the substrate so that the last drop applied at the other location is applied within about 100 milliseconds after the first drop is applied during motion of the ink jet head in the opposite direction to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method according to claim 23 wherein ink drops are applied from a plurality of aligned arrays of orifices to produce image lines simultaneously and wherein the spacing between the image lines produced simultaneously corresponds to at least four image lines in the image produced by the system.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
96 words
A method for operating a hot melt system to produce an image on a substrate comprising applying drops of different color hot melt ink to the same location on a substrate within about 100 milliseconds from a reciprocating ink jet head during motion of the head in either of two opposite directions along lines spaced by at least four image lines to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state, and advancing the substrate between successive scans of the ink jet head by a distance corresponding to at least two image lines.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
96 words
A method for operating a hot melt system to produce an image on a substrate comprising applying drops of different color hot melt ink to the same location on a substrate within about 100 milliseconds from a reciprocating ink jet head during motion of the head in either of two opposite directions along lines spaced by at least four image lines to cause mixing of the different color ink drops in the molten state, and advancing the substrate between successive scans of the ink jet head by a distance corresponding to at least two image lines.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method according to claim 25 wherein the lines produced during each motion of the ink jet head are spaced by six image lines.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1994-12-23 | 1995-06-24 | 1995-12-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1998-12-23 | 1999-06-24 | 1999-12-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2002-12-23 | 2003-06-24 | 2003-12-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |