Multilayer white printing with white-balance
Granted: September 24, 2019
Patent Number:
10421289
White-balance is improved when printing on colored media, while minimizing the time and use of costly materials required by present approaches. In an embodiment, the typical solid white fill or background layer is altered by including in the white layer one or more of the other colors already available in the printer to shade this layer. Thus, a small amount of cyan, for example, helps balance a pink-ish (red) media; yellow is used for blue media; and magenta is used for green media; as…
Ceramic inkjet ink for red decoration
Granted: August 27, 2019
Patent Number:
10392524
Disclosed are compositions, such as inkjet inks, for jetting onto a ceramic substrate, and associated methods and systems. The compositions comprise a pigment compound that is configured to be jetted on a ceramic substrate during a ceramic inkjet process to impart a color effect to the ceramic substrate, and a reduction agent which, when exposed to a firing temperature, reacts with the pigment compound to cause a reduction reaction. In some embodiments, the pigment compound comprises…
Selective ink cure
Granted: July 16, 2019
Patent Number:
10350911
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.
Method and apparatus for color print management
Granted: June 18, 2019
Patent Number:
10326915
In a color printing environment, functions for printing color management are dissociated. An abstraction layer is also provided to facilitate setting and evaluation of all factors relating to color print and prediction.
Coloration of acetylated wood
Granted: June 11, 2019
Patent Number:
10315332
Techniques and products are described for coloring acetylated wood products. An acetylated wood product can be impregnated by a coloring medium within a chamber and the colorant or colorants contained within the coloring medium can be fixed to the acetylated wood product by the application of heat or by application of radio frequency radiation to color any external surface or interior region of the acetylated wood product which has been impregnated by the coloring medium.
Systems and methods for determining printing conditions based on samples of images printed by shuttle-based printers
Granted: May 28, 2019
Patent Number:
10300723
Embodiments include a method performed by a system operative to determine a condition related to a printed section printed by a shuttle-based printer. The method includes printing a portion of an image on a section of a medium, thereby providing a printed section. The section of the medium can have a size defined by at least a step size taken by the shuttle-based printer to advance the medium in a downstream direction. The method also includes scanning at least the printed section to…
Monomers and oligomers with application in energy curing chemistry
Granted: May 7, 2019
Patent Number:
10280318
Embodiments of the invention have application in the field of inkjet inks. Additionally, the novel energy cure monomers and oligomers disclosed herein also have application more broadly in the field of energy cure inks and coatings.
Printer band edge hold down systems
Granted: April 23, 2019
Patent Number:
10265978
Edge hold down (EHD) systems are described herein that enable high print quality to be achieved more consistently, particularly when using substrates that are rigid or include one or more defects. Each EHD system includes a tensioned band for holding down an edge of a substrate as it passes through a printer assembly without impacting the print area. The tensioned band can be affixed between an entry tension assembly and an exit tension assembly disposed downstream of the entry tension…
Inert UV inkjet printing having dual curing modes for ultraviolet-curable ink
Granted: February 5, 2019
Patent Number:
10195874
Enhanced printing solutions are enabled by providing ultraviolet curing conditions without requiring complete evacuation of atmospheric oxygen. Increased ink coverage and adjusted surface appearance are also provided.
Generation of spot colors with reduced ink subsets
Granted: January 15, 2019
Patent Number:
10179462
Optimization of ink recipes for spot colors in printers. Often, ICC Profiles are optimized for smooth rendering of images; thus, color recipes often contain more inks than are required for matching a color when generated from a Profile. When transitioning from one color to another, it is better to make smaller changes in inkings. This goal is not served when printing spot colors. Spot colors are often single, solid colors that do not vary in gradients from one to another. Herein is a…
Method and apparatus for variable gloss reduction
Granted: October 30, 2018
Patent Number:
10114307
Various variable gloss reduction techniques are disclosed. In one embodiment, a gloss reduction technique is disclosed using a textured roller and a wiper impregnated with fuser oil to create a differential gloss pattern that reduces the gloss of an image printed on a substrate. In one embodiment, a gloss reduction technique is disclosed using a combination of heat and pressure to create a differential gloss pattern that reduces the gloss in specific regions of an image printed on a…
Method and apparatus for automatic measurement of various qualities of printed sheets
Granted: August 21, 2018
Patent Number:
10054549
Embodiments of the invention relate to the automatic measuring of such qualities of a printed sheet as reflectance excluding specular reflectance, reflectance including specular reflectance, e.g. gloss, transmittance, half-tone coverage, and the like.
Elastic bending mechanism for bi-directional adjustment of print head position
Granted: July 10, 2018
Patent Number:
10016993
Mechanisms for adjusting the position of one or more print heads at an extremely fine resolution (e.g., less than 10 ?m) are described herein. The adjustment mechanisms include a differential screw and an indexing wheel through which the differential screw extends. One threaded segment of the differential screw is connected to a threaded feature of a flexible body that is coupled to the print head(s), while another threaded segment of the differential screw is connected to a threaded…
Multilayer imaging with a high-gloss clear ink layer
Granted: June 19, 2018
Patent Number:
10000075
Various embodiments concern inkjet printing systems designed for multilayer imaging with a high-gloss clear ink layer. More specifically, the inkjet printing systems are designed so that clear, curable inks are provided additional time to level out before being cured. The settling process enables the inkjet printing systems to produce multilayer images having high gloss values. For example, a bracket could be attached to a curing assembly that prevents radiation from striking a certain…
Achieving ink cost saving for printing devices by taking visual appearance and real ink costs into account
Granted: June 12, 2018
Patent Number:
9994053
A user defines the real costs for each of the individual inks used in printer and also defines a tolerance level for visual acceptance, defined in CIE units of DeltaE2000. Then, an algorithm performs a search through all nodes of the device link profile and for each node it tries to find an ink combination that creates less costs and is still within the given visual tolerance (<dE2000).
Previsualization for large format print jobs
Granted: May 15, 2018
Patent Number:
9971551
Large format print jobs are previsualized in context. A print job source image is received. At least one 3D environment is received, including one or more designated insertion sites to receive the print job source image. One or more images or videos are produced, visualizing the 3D environment with the print job source image integrated into one or more of the designated insertion sites.
Method and apparatus for variable gloss reduction
Granted: April 24, 2018
Patent Number:
9952539
The smoothness of a toner layer is reduced and thus the gloss of a resulting print is reduced. A single toner, the original high gloss version, is enabled to print all images. A finishing option is provided which, through application of a combination of heat and pressure with a textured roller, reduces the specular gloss of the toner surface by imprinting a high frequency texture onto the smooth toner layer. By adjusting the temperature/pressure of the textured roller, the effective…
Device discovery using broadcast technology
Granted: April 17, 2018
Patent Number:
9948823
Techniques described herein automatically discover the IP address of a first network device such as but not limited to a multifunction printer. Such techniques use a unique identifier of the first network device, such as for example a multifunction printer serial number. Such unique number is used in the configuration of a second network device, such as for example a Digital Front End/External Print Controller that may need the IP address of the first network device. The unique number…
Printing independent images by sharing printer heads
Granted: March 27, 2018
Patent Number:
9925804
The disclosed embodiments include a printer having a printing area configured to receive distinct mediums, and printer heads arranged relative to the printing area. The printer heads are collectively configured to print independent images onto the distinct mediums. The printer heads include at least one shared printer head configured to simultaneously print portions of the independent images onto each of two adjacent mediums.
Method and apparatus for single-pass failed nozzle compensation
Granted: March 13, 2018
Patent Number:
9914309
Compensation algorithms are applied to hide failed nozzles or, at least, reduce the objectionable effect of such nozzles in a printed image. Once a failed nozzle or under-performing nozzle is detected in a single-pass printing system, it is shut-off and the image data that was intended to be printed by this nozzle is redistributed to its neighboring nozzles. Embodiments of the invention use of a 1-D look-up table and stochastically distribute the duty cycle to each neighboring nozzle. In…
