Media transport belt that attenuates thermal artifacts in images on substrates printed by aqueous ink printers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11318760-B2
Application number	US-201916724437-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2019
Priority date	Dec 23, 2019
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

An inkjet printer includes a dryer configured to attenuate the effects of temperature differentials arising in substrates that are caused by holes in a media transport belt and a platen covering a vacuum plenum. The dryer includes a heater, a media transport belt cooler, and a media transport belt. The media transport belt is configured to move substrates past the heater after ink images have been formed on the substrates and the media transport belt cooler is positioned to remove heat energy from the media transport belt after the media transport belt has passed the heater and the substrates have separated from the media transport belt. The substrate cooler is configured to reduce a temperature of the media transport belt to a temperature that attenuates image defects arising from temperature differentials in the media transport belt when the media transport belt is opposite the heater.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An inkjet printer comprising:
at least one printhead configured to eject drops of an ink onto substrates moving past the at least one printhead to form ink images on the substrates;
a dryer having a heater, a media transport belt cooler, and a media transport belt, the media transport belt being configured to move the substrates past the heater after the ink images have been formed on the substrates and the media transport belt cooler being positioned to remove heat energy from the media transport belt after the media transport belt has passed the heater and the substrates have separated from the media transport belt; and
the media transport belt cooler further comprising: a fluid applicator, the fluid applicator being configured to apply fluid from a fluid source to the media transport belt after the media transport belt has passed the heater and the substrates have separated from the media transport belt.

2. The inkjet printer of claim 1 wherein the media transport belt is comprised of a material that is reflective or transparent of heat energy generated by the heater.

3. The inkjet printer of claim 2 wherein the media transport belt is comprised of one of a polyimide, a polyethylene, and a polypropylene.

4. The inkjet printer of claim 3 wherein the media transport belt has holes, each hole in the media transport belt has a diameter that is less than 300 μm.

5. The inkjet printer of claim 4 wherein the media transport belt has a thickness less than 200 μm so the thermal mass of the media transport belt is less than a silicone belt of a same length and a same width as the media transport belt.

6. The inkjet printer of claim 5 further comprising:
a plenum having sides and a bottom that form a structure having a U-shaped cross-section that encloses a volume of air that is adjacent the media transport belt without intervening structure; and
a vacuum source that is operatively coupled to the volume of air in the plenum to pull a vacuum through the holes in the media transport belt.

7. The inkjet printer of claim 6 wherein a width of the media transport belt is at least a distance between the sides of the plenum in a cross-process direction.

8. The inkjet printer of claim 7 , the plenum further comprising:
at least one support member extending between the sides of the plenum in the cross-process direction, the at least one support member having a length in the cross-process direction that is greater than a width of the support member in the process direction and the at least one support member having a continuous surface that contacts the media transport belt.

9. The inkjet printer of claim 8 wherein the holes in the media transport belt are arranged in a two-dimensional array having a hole to hole pitch that ranges from 2 mm to 5 mm.

10. A dryer for an inkjet printer comprising:
a heater;
a media transport belt cooler;
a media transport belt, the media transport belt being configured to move substrates past the heater after ink images have been formed on the substrates and the media transport belt cooler being positioned to remove heat energy from the media transport belt after the media transport belt has passed the heater and the substrates have separated from the media transport belt; and
the media transport belt cooler further comprising: a fluid applicator, the fluid applicator being configured to apply fluid from a fluid source to the media transport belt after the media transport belt has passed the heater and the substrates have separated from the media transport belt.

11. The dryer of claim 10 wherein the media transport belt is comprised of a material that is reflective or transparent of heat energy generated by the heater.

12. The dryer of claim 11 wherein the media transport belt is comprised of one of a polyimide, a polyethylene, and a polypropylene.

13. The dryer of claim 12 wherein the media transport belt has holes, each hole in the media transport belt has a diameter that is less than 300 μm.

14. The dryer of claim 13 wherein the media transport belt has a thickness less than 200 μm so the thermal mass of the media transport belt is less than a silicone belt of a same length and a same width as the media transport belt.

15. The dryer of claim 14 further comprising:
a plenum having sides and a bottom that form a structure having a U-shaped cross-section that encloses a volume of air that is adjacent the media transport belt without intervening structure; and
a vacuum source that is operatively coupled to the volume of air in the plenum to pull a vacuum through the holes in the media transport belt.

16. The dryer of claim 15 wherein a width of the media transport belt is at least a distance between the sides of the plenum in the cross-process direction.

17. The dryer of claim 16 , the plenum further comprising:
at least one support member extending between the sides of the plenum in the cross-process direction, the at least one support member having a length in the cross-process direction that is greater than a width of the support member in the process direction and the at least one support member having a continuous surface that contacts the media transport belt.

18. The inkjet printer of claim 17 wherein the holes in the media transport belt are arranged in a two-dimensional array having a hole to hole pitch that ranges from 2 mm to 5 mm.

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Hoover Linn C
• Herrmann Douglas K
• Mcconville Paul J
• Lefevre Jason M
• Praharaj Seemit
• Vankouwenberg David A
• Levy Michael J
• Liu Chu-Heng
• Badesha Santokh S
• Mieney Christopher
• Derleth David S

Classifications

• B41J11/0085

  Using suction for maintaining printing material flat (on rotatable drums B41J13/226) · CPC title

• B41J11/002 Primary

  Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating · CPC title

• B41J29/377

  Cooling or ventilating arrangements · CPC title

• B41J11/0022

  using convection means, e.g. by using a fan for blowing or sucking air · CPC title

• B41J11/007 Primary

  Conveyor belts or like feeding devices · CPC title