Patent Grant
8690311
This application is related to the applications entitled “METHODS OF FORMING IMAGES ON SUBSTRATES WITH INK PARTIAL-CURING AND CONTACT LEVELING AND APPARATUSES USEFUL IN FORMING IMAGES ON SUBSTRATES” Ser. No. 12/881,715; “METHODS OF ADJUSTING GLOSS OF IMAGES LOCALLY ON SUBSTRATES USING INK PARTIAL-CURING AND CONTACT LEVELING AND APPARATUSES USEFUL IN FORMING IMAGES ON SUBSTRATES” Ser. No. 12/881,753 and “METHODS OF ADJUSTING GLOSS OF IMAGES ON SUBSTRATES USING INK PARTIAL-CURING AND CONTACT LEVELING AND APPARATUSES USEFUL IN FORMING IMAGES ON SUBSTRATES” Ser. No. 12/881,802, which are each filed on the same date as the present application, commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In printing processes, marking material is applied onto substrates to form images. In some processes, the printed images can show through porous substrates due to ink penetration in the substrates. Ink show-through can make the substrates unsuitable for duplex printing.
It would be desirable to provide methods of treating ink on porous substrates and apparatuses useful in printing that can reduce ink penetration in porous substrates and provide desirable images.
Methods of treating ink on substrates and apparatuses useful in treating ink on porous substrates are provided. An exemplary embodiment of the methods of treating ink on a substrate comprises applying a layer of ink onto a first surface of a porous substrate; irradiating the layer of ink with first radiation having a first spectrum effective to partially cure the ink layer and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate; leveling the partially-cured ink layer; and irradiating the as-leveled ink layer with second radiation to further cure the ink layer, the second radiation having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum of the first radiation.
The disclosed embodiments include methods of treating ink on substrates. An exemplary embodiment of the methods comprises applying a layer of ink onto a first surface of a porous substrate; irradiating the layer of ink with first radiation having a first spectrum effective to partially cure the ink layer and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate; leveling the partially-cured ink layer; and irradiating the as-leveled ink layer with second radiation to further cure the ink layer, the second radiation having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum of the first radiation.
The disclosed embodiments further include methods of printing onto porous substrates. An exemplary embodiment of the methods comprises applying at least one photoinitiator compound over a first surface of a porous substrate; applying a layer of ink over the first surface; irradiating the layer of ink with first radiation having a first spectrum effective to partially cure the ink layer and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate, wherein the at least one photoinitiator compound is tuned to the first spectrum; leveling the partially-cured ink layer; and irradiating the as-leveled ink layer with second radiation to further cure the ink layer, the second radiation having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum of the first radiation.
The disclosed embodiments further include apparatuses useful in treating ink on a porous substrate. An exemplary embodiment of the apparatuses comprises a marking device for applying a layer of ink onto a first surface of a porous substrate; a first curing device for irradiating the layer of ink with first radiation having a first spectrum effective to partially cure the ink layer and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate; a leveling device for leveling the partially-cured ink layer; and a second curing device for irradiating the as-leveled ink layer with second radiation to further cure the ink layer, the second radiation having a second spectrum different from the first spectrum of the first radiation.
In some printing processes, hot ink, such as UV-curable ink, is deposited on a porous substrate, such as plain paper. The as-deposited ink can penetrate into the printed surface of the substrate during cooling of the ink while it is still sufficiently hot and has a low viscosity. Consequently, the prints can display excessive “print-through,” which is a measure of ink permeation in the thickness direction of the substrates, when applied on porous substrates. “Show-through” (ST) is defined as the back surface optical density of a printed porous substrate, such as plain paper. If OD(CP) is defined as the optical density (OD) of the front surface of the substrate covered by a blank sheet of the same substrate, then print-through (PT) is defined as: PT=ST−OD(CP). As the degree of print-through in a porous substrate increases, the printed image on the front surface can become increasingly visible from the back surface. This ink visibility can interfere with satisfactory duplex printing on porous substrates.
For a porous substrate, such as plain paper, when ink is applied to a surface of the substrate lateral ink spreading and ink penetration of the substrate occur together. To reduce the rate of penetration of a hot ink into a porous substrate, such as plain paper, the substrate can be cooled to quickly increase the ink viscosity on the printed surface. The substrate can be cooled by contacting it with a cooled surface. It has been noted, however, that when the amount of time between printing onto the substrate and curing of the applied ink is too long, additional ink penetration into the substrate can occur even after the ink viscosity has been lowered by cooling. It has further been noted that even when ink penetration into a substrate is more effectively controlled by cooling, and is only slight, the ink line width on the printed surface may not be increased sufficiently by lateral ink spreading, and nominally-solid image areas can appear streaky on the surface. Such prints are also unsatisfactory.
In light of these observations, as well as other considerations, methods of treating ink on porous substrates and corresponding apparatuses that can provide reduced ink penetration of the substrates are provided. The methods and apparatuses also can produce imaged areas with suitable line widths. Embodiments of the methods comprise exposing a layer of ink applied to a surface of a substrate with radiant energy to only partially cure the ink. The partial curing reduces penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate, i.e., print-through, but also allows the partially-cured ink layer to be leveled sufficiently on the substrate. The as-leveled ink layer can be subjected to further curing using radiant energy to increase the ink viscosity and surface hardness and adhesion of the ink layer onto the substrate, to provide a robust image.
In embodiments, the first curing device 120, leveling device 130 and second curing device 140 are stationary and the substrate 150 is moved past these devices by the transport device 160 while being irradiated. The transport speed of the substrate 150 past these devices can be varied to control the exposure time of the ink layer 156. Increasing the print speed decreases the amount of time between printing and partial curing and decreases the amount of ink penetration into a porous substrate that occurs before the partial curing. In embodiments, the radiant energy sources of the first curing device 120, second curing device 140 and an optional radiant energy source of the leveling device 130 can be turned ON throughout the partial curing, leveling and further curing, respectively, to allow up to the entire front surface 152 to be irradiated as the substrate 150 is moved continuously past these devices.
The illustrated substrate 150 is a sheet of a porous material. For example, the substrate 150 can be a sheet of plain paper. The paper can be coated or uncoated. The paper can have smooth front and back surfaces, and can be glossy. In general, coated papers with glossy surfaces are less porous than uncoated or “plain” paper. Embodiments of the apparatus 100 are most useful for printing on more porous, uncoated, plain papers. The In other embodiments, the substrate can comprise a continuous web of porous material, such as plain paper, or the like, and the transport device 160 can be replaced by fixed plates that can be heated or cooled to control the web temperature at various positions. The substrate 150 includes open pores extending partially or completely through the thickness dimension of the substrate 150 between the front surface 152 and the opposite back surface 154. Ink may also be deposited on the back surface 154 to produce duplex prints.
The transport device 160 transports the substrate 150 in the process direction A past the marking device 110, first curing device 120, leveling device 130 and the second curing device 140 to produce images on the substrate 150. The substrate 150 is typically oriented relative to the leveling device with the length dimension of the substrate extending along the process direction A. The transport device 160 can comprise a belt, rollers, or other suitable components, to transport the substrate 150 in the apparatus 100. When the substrate 150 is a continuous web, the transport device 160 may be a stationary support device (not shown) and the web may be pulled over the support device configured to support the web at a fixed distance from the marking device 110, first curing device 120, leveling device 130 and the second curing device 140.
In embodiments, the marking device 110 can include multiple print heads (not shown) arranged to deposit ink in the form of droplets on the front surface 152 of the substrate 150. For example, the print heads can be heated piezo print heads. The print heads can typically be arranged in multiple, staggered rows in the marking device 110. The print heads can be used with cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, to allow inks of different colors to be printed atop each other on the substrate 150. The print heads may also contain clear inks, metallic inks, fluorescent inks, or inks with customer-selected colors, such as those exemplified by the Pantone® Color Matching System from Pantone® Inc. of Carlstadt, New Jersey.
The ink has a composition that can be cured using radiant energy. For example, the ink can comprise ultraviolet light (UV)-curable ink. UV-curable inks are applied to a surface of a substrate and then exposed to UV radiation to cure the ink and fix images onto the surface. Curing produces polymerization and cross-linking in the inks, which increases ink viscosity, ink surface hardness and ink adhesion. UV-curable inks can be applied to substrates using print heads. These inks can typically be heated to a temperature of about 80° C. to about 100° C. and jetted while at a low viscosity of about 10 cP. When these inks impinge on a cooler substrate, such as plain paper at ambient temperature, they cool to the substrate temperature. During cooling, the inks become increasingly viscous. The viscosity of UV-curable inks can typically increase to about 1000 CP to about 10,000 cP during this cooling period.
The UV-curable inks can include wax and/or gel components. UV-curable gel inks (“UV gel inks”), which contain gel components, are heated to abruptly reduce their viscosity and then applied to substrates. These inks freeze upon contact with the cooler substrates.
Exemplary inks having viscosity versus temperature characteristics as depicted in
In the curve shown in
Positive pressure pumps with controlled needle valves, such as a Smart Pump™ 20, available from nScrypt, Inc. of Orlando, Fla., can eject very small volumes down to picoliters, at very high viscosities, such as viscosities above 106 cP. Such pumps can be used in the marking device 110 to deposit gel inks at ambient temperature onto a substrate.
In the apparatus 100, the ink layer 156 applied to the front surface 152 of the substrate 150 by the marking device 110 is irradiated with radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 120 from above the front surface 152 to partially cure the ink. As used herein, the term “partial cure” means that some parts of the ink layer are cured sufficiently to reduce ink penetration into the substrate, but that the ink layer remains able to flow or spread without elastically recovering its original dimensions after the spreading force has been removed. In some embodiments, the part of the ink layer nearest to the substrate is more cured than the part of the ink layer farthest from the substrate. In other embodiments, the entire ink layer is cured to an intermediate level of viscosity. The spectrum of the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 120 is effective to partially cure the ink layer 156 and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate 150. The “spectrum” of the radiant energy is generally provided by a graph giving the intensity of the radiant energy at a range of wavelengths extending from the far UV (about 100 nm wavelength) to the near UV (about 400 nm wavelength).
The partially-cured ink layer 156 has viscosity and hardness characteristics that allow the ink layer 156 to be leveled using the leveling device 130 to spread the ink laterally on the front surface 152 to increase the line width of the ink layer 156. The width of the line written by a single jet will depend on drop mass, jetting frequency, substrate speed, and ink spreading on the substrate. Similarly, the desired spreading of a line will depend on the as-jetted line width and the distance between lines written by the nozzles in a particular print head. In some embodiments, the as-jetted line width is about 50 μm to about 60 μm and it is desirable to produce a line width of at least about 75 μm on the front surface 152.
As shown in
In embodiments, the first curing device 120 includes at least one radiant energy source. For example, the radiant energy source can be a light-emitting diode (LED) array, or the like. The radiant energy source can be selected to emit radiant energy having a spectrum that is optimized for the ink composition used in printing in order to produce optimized partial curing of the ink layer 156.
In embodiments, the ink layer 156 is irradiated with radiant energy by the first curing device 120 within a sufficiently-short amount of time after the ink has been applied to the front surface 152 of the substrate 150 by the marking device 110, to preferentially cure the ink adjacent to the front surface 152 before any significant ink permeation into the substrate 150 can occur. In embodiments, it is desirable for the print-through, PT, of the ink into the substrate to have a value of less than about 0.04, such as less than about 0.03, or less than about 0.02 when determined as described using the equation: PT=ST−OD(CP). The ink at the interface 158 between the ink layer and the front surface 152 of the substrate 150 is substantially cured and unable to penetrate into pores of the substrate. The cured ink at the interface 158 provides a barrier against additional ink penetration into the substrate 150.
To achieve partial curing of the ink layer 156 with minimal ink penetration into the substrate 150, it is desirable to position the first curing device 120 close to the marking device 110 to allow the ink layer 156 to be irradiated shortly after being applied to the substrate 150. For example, the first curing device 120 can be spaced from the marking device 110 by a distance of about 1 cm to about 5 cm along the process direction A. As ink penetration is a function of both contact time and ink viscosity, it may be desirable to increase the distance between jetting and partial curing as substrate speed increases and/or reduce the distance between jetting and partial cure as the viscosity of the jetted ink decreases.
During printing, the substrate 150 can be cooled, such as using a temperature-controlled platen disposed under the substrate 150, to increase the cooling rate of the ink as the ink strikes the front surface 152 of the substrate 150. By cooling the ink, the ink layer 156 can be irradiated by the first curing device 120 for less time to achieve the desired partial cooling and minimum penetration of the ink into the substrate 150.
In the embodiment, the ink of the ink layer 156 can contain a photoinitiator material including one or more photoinitiator compounds that only weakly absorb the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 120. A sufficiently-high percentage of the radiant energy incident on the ink layer 156 can reach the bottom portion of the ink layer to result in preferential curing of the ink at the interface 158 between the front surface 152 and the ink, due to the radiant energy having a sufficiently-long wavelength.
It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, the photoinitiator material including one or more photoinitiator compounds may be applied directly to the front surface 152 of the substrate 150 before the ink is applied to the front surface 152 at the marking device 110. For example, the photoinitiator material can be applied by jetting, aerosol spraying, during a paper making process of the substrate 150, or using an applicator, such as a coating roll, that contacts the front surface 152. The ink applied over the photoinitiator material may contain a different photoinitiator compound tuned to the radiation emitted by the second curing device 140. Then, the ink is partially cured using the first curing device 120. The composition of the photoinitiator material can be tuned to the spectrum of the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 120.
In another embodiment, the ink chemistry may cause curing of ink at the top portion of the ink layer to be inhibited by the presence of an effective level of oxygen that has diffused into the ink, promoting preferential curing of the ink at the interface 158.
During partial curing, the substrate 150 can be cooled using a temperature-controlled platen, or the like. For example, the platen can be at a temperature of about 10° C. to about 30° C., such as about 15° C. to about 20° C.
In general, the more the substrate temperature is reduced by chilling on a platen, the more the ink penetration will be reduced. However, chilling requires energy and chilling below the dew point may require more energy to dehumidify the print region to keep water from condensing on the substrate or the platen. Advantageously, embodiments of the apparatus reduce the need for chilling. The optimum combination of chilling and partial curing will depend on various factors, such as ink properties, substrate properties, print head characteristics, and print speed.
During printing, during the partial curing, and for a short distance after the partial curing, the back surface of the printed web was contacted with a temperature-controlled platen. In
In the apparatus 100, the leveling device 130 may include at least one radiant energy source that emits radiant energy onto the partially-cured ink layer 156. The radiation exposure supplies sufficient thermal energy to the ink layer 156 to heat the ink to a point to reduce its viscosity sufficiently to enable the ink to level by surface-tension driven lateral reflow on the front surface 152 of the substrate 150, i.e., non-contact leveling. The radiant energy can have an emission spectrum falling within the visible-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In embodiments, the radiant energy source can be, e.g., a broad-band, IR-VIS (infrared-visible radiation) radiant energy source with an emission spectrum that covers the visible range (˜400 nm to 700 nm) and extends into the infrared range (>700 nm).
For example, the radiant energy source of the leveling device 130 can be a tungsten halogen lamp, or the like. In such lamps, the wavelength of the emission spectrum peak can be tuned to increase the amount of overlap between the lamp emission spectrum and the absorption spectrum of the ink. The leveling device 130 can include a filter to transmit only a selected portion of the IR-VIS spectrum emitted by the radiant energy source. In other embodiments, the leveling device 130 can include at least one radiant energy source that emits radiation with emission peaks at several different wavelengths, such as a mercury discharge lamp, or the like.
In some embodiments of the apparatus 100, the leveling device 130 can include a device for applying sufficient force to spread the ink on the substrate 150. For example, the leveling device 130 can include an air knife that directs a gas flow onto the ink, where the gas flow applies sufficient force to the ink to spread the ink without contact. In other embodiments, the leveling device 130 can include one or more rolls, e.g., two opposed rolls, which apply sufficient pressure to spread the ink by contacting the image. Depending on the type of device that is used to apply a force to the ink, some partial curing of the top surface of the image may be advantageous, e.g., by preventing a gas flow ejected by an air knife from smearing the image and/or preventing offset to one or more rolls that contact the ink.
The ink applied to a substrate can be leveled by applying pressure to the inks as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0103235 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Fixing a Radiation-Curable Gel-Ink Image on a Substrate”; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0101717 entitled “Dual-Web Apparatus for Fixing a Radiation-Curable Gel-Ink Image on a Substrate” and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0101716 entitled “Apparatus for Fixing a Radiation-Curable Gel-Ink Image on a Substrate,” each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In these embodiments of the methods, it is desirable to produce leveling of the ink on the substrate surface substantially without any simultaneous curing of the ink. Curing will impede leveling of the corrugated structure formed by ink droplet freezing on substrate impingement. If leveling is impeded, then micro-banding will not be effectively mitigated and completely missing lines will not be effectively covered. In these embodiments, the radiation source used for leveling the ink can be selected to emit radiant energy onto the ink that produces substantially no curing during leveling.
In the apparatus 100, the second curing device 140 emits radiant energy having a spectrum effective to produce further curing of the ink layer subsequent to the leveling. In embodiments, the spectrum of the second curing device 140 is different from the spectrum of the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 120. For example, the second curing device 140 can comprise a UV-LED array, such as a bar, that emits at a different peak wavelength and intensity than the radiant energy source included in the first curing device 120. Alternatively, the second curing device 140 can include a lamp that emits at a wider range of wavelengths than the first curing device 120.
In embodiments, the first curing device 220, leveling device 230 and second curing device 240 are stationary and the substrate 250 is moved past these devices while being irradiated. The transport speed of the substrate 250 past these devices can be varied to control the exposure time of the ink layer 256.
The illustrated substrate 250 is a continuous web of a porous material, such as plain paper. The substrate 250 includes open pores extending partially or completely through the thickness dimension of the substrate 250 between the front surface 252 and the opposite back surface 254.
The apparatus 200 can include a stationary support device (not shown) and the substrate 250 (web) may be pulled over the support device configured to support the web at a fixed distance from the marking device 210, first curing device 220, leveling device 230 and the second curing device 240.
In the apparatus 200, the marking device 210, leveling device 230 and second curing device 240 can have a same construction and function as the marking device 110, leveling device 130 and second curing device 140, respectively, of the apparatus 100.
As shown, first curing device 220 irradiates the back surface 254 of the substrate 250, and the radiant energy passes through the substrate 250 and irradiates the ink layer 256 on the front surface 252. In the embodiment, the ink can contain photoinitiator material effective to strongly absorb the radiant energy. The spectrum of the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 220 is effective to partially cure the ink layer 256 and reduce penetration of the ink into pores of the substrate 250. The partially-cured ink layer 256 has viscosity and hardness characteristics that allow it to be leveled using the leveling device 230 to spread the ink laterally on the front surface 252 to increase the line width of the ink layer 256. In embodiments, it is desirable to produce a line width of at least about 75 μm on the front surface 252 and control print-through PT to less than about 0.04, such as less than about 0.03, or less than about 0.02.
In the embodiment, photoinitiator material can be applied directly to the front surface 252 of the substrate 250 before the ink is applied to the front surface 252 at the marking device 210. The ink is applied over the photoinitiator material. The ink also contains photoinitiator material. Then, the ink is partially cured using the first curing device 220. The composition of the photoinitiator material can be tuned to the spectrum of the radiant energy emitted by the first curing device 220.
Embodiments of the disclosed methods and apparatuses, which provide partial curing of ink prior to leveling, advantageously can be used to produce good-quality prints using lower quality paper, e.g., paper with non-uniform porosity (e.g., 60 gsm paper, or the like) with less need to cool the paper to control print-through.
It will be appreciated that various ones of the above-disclosed, as well as other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art, which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
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