Inkjet printer with temperature controlled substrate support

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11660891-B2
Application number	US-202117457721-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2021
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

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 and comprising:
a support plate including a front side facing a first direction towards the metal support surface and a back side facing a second direction away from the metal support surface; and
a plurality of passages extending from the metal support surface to the back side of the support plate;

a print assembly with a dispenser operatively arranged with the support surface;
a gas conduit fluidly coupled to the gas cushion substrate support; and
a thermal control system coupled to the gas conduit.

2. The inkjet printer of claim 1 , wherein the gas conduit is a first gas conduit, and further comprising a second gas conduit and a third gas conduit, each gas conduit fluidly coupled to a separate gas flow control device, each gas flow control device configured to provide independent control of gas flow through the corresponding first, second, or third gas conduit.

3. The inkjet printer of claim 2 , wherein each gas flow control device is a blower.

4. The inkjet printer of claim 2 , wherein
the gas cushion substrate support comprises a first staging area, a second staging area, and a printing area, and
the first staging area is coupled to the first gas conduit, the second staging area is coupled to the second gas conduit, and the printing area is coupled to the third gas conduit.

5. The inkjet printer of claim 4 , wherein the thermal control system 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.

6. The inkjet printer of claim 1 , wherein
the gas cushion substrate support comprises a first plenum and a second plenum,
the gas cushion substrate support comprises a first plurality of holes extending through the metal support surface and a second plurality of holes extending through the metal support surface,
the first plurality of holes are fluidly coupled to the gas conduit through the first plenum, and
the second plurality of holes are fluidly coupled to the gas conduit through the second plenum.

7. The inkjet printer of claim 1 , wherein the metal support surface is a mesh material.

8. A method of depositing material on a substrate comprising:
using a gas cushion substrate support to support a substrate, the gas cushion substrate support comprising a metal support surface and a plurality of holes formed through the metal support surface;
flowing a gas through a gas conduit and through the plurality of holes to form a gas cushion between the substrate and the metal support surface to support the substrate; and
depositing a print material on the substrate while the substrate is supported by the gas cushion.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
measuring a temperature of the gas flowing through the gas conduit; and
adjusting a flowrate of the gas flowing through the gas conduit based on the measured gas temperature.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
measuring a temperature of the gas flowing through the gas conduit; and
adjusting a temperature of the gas flowing through the gas conduit based on the measured gas temperature.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
measuring a temperature of the substrate while the substrate is supported by the gas cushion; and
adjusting a flowrate of the gas flowing through the gas conduit based on the measured substrate temperature.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
measuring a temperature of the substrate while the substrate is supported by the gas cushion; and
adjusting a temperature of the gas flowing through the gas conduit based on the measured substrate temperature.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the print material is deposited as droplets sized from 5 μm to 50 μm.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein gas cushion has a thickness of 10 μm to 50 μm.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of holes is a first plurality of holes and the gas conduit is a first gas conduit, and wherein the gas cushion substrate support further comprises a second plurality of holes extending through the metal support surface, and the method further comprises flowing the gas through a second gas conduit and through the second plurality of holes, wherein:
flowing the gas through the first gas conduit supports an edge region of the substrate; and
flowing the gas through the second gas conduit supports a central region of the substrate.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting a flowrate of the gas through the first gas conduit independent of a flowrate of the gas through the second gas conduit.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising independently adjusting a temperature of the gas flowing through the first gas conduit and a temperature of the gas flowing through the second gas conduit.

Assignees

• Kateeva Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• B41J3/407

  for marking on special material · 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

• B41J11/001

  Handling wide copy materials · 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