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…
Inkjet ink for ceramic tile decoration
Granted: March 6, 2018
Patent Number:
9909023
Embodiments of the invention combine pigmented and soluble salt digital ink technologies by dispersing water-soluble metal salts as particles in a non-aqueous inkjet ink fluid. The metal salts are dispersed as pigment-like particles, and not as a dissolved solute.
Protocol for interaction between wireless devices and other devices
Granted: February 13, 2018
Patent Number:
9891867
A proxy software service determines all I/O devices independent of subnet location, on a network; provides a network interface on a wireless subnet that can receive and respond to requests; responds to such requests for each I/O device so identified so that the I/O device is available to the wireless device user for device selection; transfers and translates, if necessary, the IPP stream received from the wireless device to the network address of the I/O device so that the I/O device…
Selective ink cure
Granted: January 30, 2018
Patent Number:
9878561
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.
Energy curable foam inhibition ink
Granted: January 9, 2018
Patent Number:
9862849
An energy curable foam inhibition ink composition comprises an oligomer component consisting of 5-15% by weight of the ink composition, a photoinitiator component consisting of 5-15% by weight of ink composition, a monofunctional monomer component consisting of 20-40% by weight of ink composition, a difunctional monomer component consisting of 10-20% by weight of the ink composition, and an inhibitor additive consisting of 5-20% of the ink composition.
UV dye sublimation decoration of complex-shaped objects
Granted: December 19, 2017
Patent Number:
9844963
Various of the disclosed embodiments concern printing systems configured to deposit flexible dye sublimation inks onto flexible transfer materials. Together, the flexible ink and transfer material allow images to be transferred onto complex-shaped, i.e. non-planar, surfaces of a substrate. The flexible ink may be, for example, a thermoformable UV dye sublimation ink or a superflexible UV dye sublimation ink. In order to transfer an image onto the substrate, the transfer material is…
Ceramic inkjet ink for red decoration
Granted: November 21, 2017
Patent Number:
9822271
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…
Method and apparatus for automatic measurement of various qualities of printed sheets
Granted: October 17, 2017
Patent Number:
9791378
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.
Radiation-curable inkjet ink for application to glass, ceramic, or metal
Granted: October 17, 2017
Patent Number:
9790388
A radiation-curable ink composition for application to glass, ceramic, or metal by an inkjet printer. The ink composition can be applied to a glass, ceramic, or metal substrate to decorate, protect, etc. the substrate. In some embodiments, the ink composition includes a glass frits component, a chromophore component, and a UV-curable component. The glass frits component facilitates the fusing of the ink component with a glass, ceramic, or metal substrate to which the ink composition is…
Removable ultraviolet curable dye sublimation inks
Granted: October 17, 2017
Patent Number:
9789706
Various of the disclosed embodiments concern removable ultraviolet (UV) curable dye sublimation ink to be used in various printing systems and printing methods. In some embodiments, the ink includes a dye component, a UV curable component, and a soluble or solvent-sensitive component. In order to print an image on a substrate, the ink is heated to a temperature sufficient to cause sublimation of at least the dye component. During the sublimation process, the dye is able to permeate the…
Method and apparatus for creating a dimensional layer for an image file
Granted: October 10, 2017
Patent Number:
9786094
Limitations of conventional dimensional printing techniques are addressed to provide features and flexibility not presently available, including extracting images selectively from a Postscript® or PDF file and thus enable texturing of individual images within a page; constructing the texture automatically directly from the image using image processing techniques; visualizing the texture to be applied to an image via construction of a bump map or normal map in openGL and DirectX®;…
Parallel processing page description language data
Granted: October 3, 2017
Patent Number:
9779335
Methods and apparatus for processing a page description language (“PDL”) data stream are provided. The methods and apparatus divide the PDL data stream to provide a plurality of PDL segments, create associated first and second data files for each of the PDL segments, and assign the first data file or the second data file associated with each of the PDL segments to at least one of a plurality of PDL processors.
