Selective ink cure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9878561-B2
Application number	US-201615138149-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2016
Priority date	Mar 27, 2009
Publication date	Jan 30, 2018
Grant date	Jan 30, 2018

Abstract

Individually controllable ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used to cure ink and generate different effects. The UV LEDs only expose specified areas to generate the different effect and can create multiple effects on the same substrate by exposing different areas to varying amounts of time or by performing a curing stage and post-dosage curing stages. The different effects include generating a glossy surface, a matte surface, and sharper images.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method implemented with a printing system for selectively generating one or more print effects on one or more portions of an image on a substrate, the method comprising:
receiving instructions, wherein the instructions identify
one or more portions of the image less than the entire image that are selected by a user, and
a degree of glossiness for the selected one or more portions that are specified by the user, wherein the degree of glossiness specified by the user corresponds to any level of gloss between no gloss and full gloss;

dispensing inkjet ink onto the substrate to print the image on the substrate, based on the received instructions, using a print head carriage including a plurality of print heads, each print head including at least one nozzle for the dispensing of the inkjet ink; and
with a lamp module associated with the print head carriage, wherein the lamp module includes a plurality of individually controllable ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs),
curing the printed image on the substrate, and
selectively exposing the selected one or more portions of the image to different light intensities to achieve the degree of glossiness specified by the user for the selected one or more portions, based on the received instructions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are received from an application.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are received through a user interface.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the user interface includes a slider with a first endpoint representing a glossy effect, and a second endpoint representing a matte effect.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a selected portion of the one or more portions of the image less than the entire image comprises any of a pattern or a logo, and wherein the curing cures one or more selected parts of the pattern or logo to create bits of gloss.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the bits of gloss within the pattern or logo have a sparkling appearance.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the user interface includes any of a pencil feature or a paintbrush icon for user selection of the selected portion.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a post-dosage effect with a second lamp module associated with the print head carriage.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the print heads generate at least 25 dots per inch.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the print head resolution is 540 ×600 dots per inch.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UV LEDs are spaced to provide coverage of twenty-five UV LEDs per inch.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the individually controllable UV LEDs emit UV light using a greyscale.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the print head includes an ink reservoir associated therewith.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inkjet ink comprises a photoinitiator that is between zero and twenty percent of ink composition by weight.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inkjet ink comprises a photoinitiator that is between 5 and 15 percent of ink composition by weight.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising
positioning the substrate below the print head carriage with a conveyor belt.

Assignees

• Electronics For Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Heath Peter

Classifications

• C09D11/101 Primary

  Inks specially adapted for printing processes involving curing by wave energy or particle radiation, e.g. with UV-curing following the printing · CPC title

• B41J11/002 Primary

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

• B41J11/00212

  Controlling the irradiation means, e.g. image-based controlling of the irradiation zone or control of the duration or intensity of the irradiation · CPC title

• B41J11/00214

  using UV radiation · CPC title

• B41M7/0081

  using electromagnetic radiation or waves, e.g. ultraviolet radiation, electron beams · CPC title