Inkjet printer with temperature controlled substrate support

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11225097-B2
Application number	US-201916713218-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2019
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

An inkjet printer is described. The inkjet printer has a gas cushion substrate support having a metal support surface; a print assembly with a dispenser having ejection nozzles facing the support surface; a gas source fluidly coupled to the gas cushion substrate support by a gas conduit; and a thermal control system coupled to the gas conduit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An inkjet printer, comprising:
a gas cushion substrate support having a metal support surface;
a print assembly with a dispenser having ejection nozzles facing the support surface;
a gas source fluidly coupled to the gas cushion substrate support by a gas conduit; and
a thermal control system coupled to the gas conduit.

2. The inkjet printer of claim 1 , wherein the thermal control system comprises a thermal medium conduit and a heat exchanger that thermally couples the gas in the gas conduit with the thermal medium in the thermal medium conduit.

3. The inkjet printer of claim 2 , wherein the heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger.

4. The inkjet printer of claim 2 , wherein the thermal control system further comprises a thermal unit coupled to the thermal medium conduit and a return conduit coupled from the heat exchanger to the thermal unit.

5. The inkjet printer of claim 4 , further comprising a gas effluent conduit coupled from the heat exchanger to the gas cushion substrate support, and a temperature sensor thermally coupled to the gas in the gas effluent conduit.

6. The inkjet printer of claim 5 , wherein the temperature sensor is a first temperature sensor, and further comprising a second temperature sensor thermally coupled to the thermal medium in the return conduit.

7. The inkjet printer of claim 5 , wherein the temperature sensor is a thermocouple disposed in an interior of the gas effluent conduit.

8. The inkjet printer of claim 7 , further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the thermal unit.

9. The inkjet printer of claim 1 , wherein the gas cushion substrate support comprises a first staging area, a second staging area, and a printing area, and the gas source is coupled to the first staging area by a first gas conduit, to the second staging area by a second gas conduit, and to the printing area by a third gas conduit.

10. The inkjet printer of claim 9 , wherein the thermal control unit comprises a first heat exchanger coupled to the first gas conduit, a second heat exchanger coupled to the second gas conduit, and a third heat exchanger coupled to the third gas conduit.

11. The inkjet printer of claim 10 , wherein the thermal control unit further comprises a thermal unit coupled to the first, second, and third heat exchangers by a thermal medium conduit.

12. The inkjet printer of claim 11 , wherein the thermal medium conduit includes a first valve fluidly coupled to the first heat exchanger, a second valve fluidly coupled to the second heat exchanger, and a third valve fluidly coupled to the third heat exchanger.

13. An inkjet printer, comprising:
a gas cushion substrate support comprising a first staging area, a second staging area, and a printing area, at least one of the first staging area, the second staging area, and the printing area having a metal support surface;
a print assembly with a dispenser having ejection nozzles facing a support surface of the printing area;
a gas source fluidly coupled to the first staging area by a first gas conduit, to the second staging area by a second gas conduit, and to the printing area by a third gas conduit; and
a thermal control unit comprising a heat exchanger thermally coupled to at least the first gas conduit.

14. The inkjet printer of claim 13 , wherein the heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger, and the thermal control unit comprises a thermal unit coupled to the plate heat exchanger by a thermal medium conduit.

15. The inkjet printer of claim 14 , wherein the thermal control unit further comprises a temperature sensor thermally coupled to an interior of at least the first gas conduit.

16. The inkjet printer of claim 15 , wherein the temperature sensor is a thermocouple and the thermal unit is a cooler.

17. The inkjet printer of claim 16 , further comprising a control valve coupled to the thermal medium conduit and a controller operatively coupled to the thermocouple and the control valve.

18. The inkjet printer of claim 15 , further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the thermocouple and the cooler.

19. An inkjet printer, comprising:
a gas cushion substrate support comprising a first staging area, a second staging area, and a printing area;
a print assembly with a dispenser having ejection nozzles facing a support surface of the printing area;
a gas source fluidly coupled to the first staging area by a first gas conduit, to the second staging area by a second gas conduit, and to the printing area by a third gas conduit;
a thermal control unit comprising a plate heat exchanger connected to at least the first gas conduit, a thermal unit, and a thermal medium conduit connecting the heat exchanger to the thermal unit;
a gas effluent conduit connecting the plate heat exchanger to the first staging area; and
a temperature sensor thermally coupled to an interior of the gas effluent conduit.

20. The inkjet printer of claim 19 , wherein the temperature sensor is a thermocouple.

Assignees

• Kateeva Inc

Inventors

• Pun Digby
• Wicklow Cormac Mckinley
• Buchner Christopher
• Ko Alexander Sou-Kang

Classifications

• B41J11/001

  Handling wide copy materials · CPC title

• B41J3/28 Primary

  for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes {, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers} · CPC title

• B41J29/377 Primary

  Cooling or ventilating arrangements · CPC title

• B41J3/407

  for marking on special material · CPC title

• B41J11/0015

  for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing (selective coating B41J2/2114) · CPC title