Xerox Corporation

Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

Jack Thomas Lestrange

Anthony Salvatore Condello

Joseph C Sheflin

Peter John Knausdorf

Palghat Srinivas Ramesh

Mandakini Kanungo

Chu-Heng Liu

Paul J McConville

Santokh Singh Badesha

Jason Mathew LeFevre

Peter Paul

David Joseph Gervasi

Howard A Mizes

Matthew Michael Kelly

Patrick Jun Howe

Brian M Balthasar

Maryna Ornatska

Robert P Loce

Douglas K Herrmann

Beilei Xu

Aaron Michael Burry

Seemit Praharaj

Eric Michael Gross

Robert Paul Herloski

Martin Edward Hoover

Gregory B Anderson

Jess Robert Gentner

Lawrence Floyd, Jr

Xin Yang

Timothy James Clark

David Kalman Biegelsen

Wencheng Wu

Linn C Hoover

Steven Robert Moore

Erwin Ruiz

Dan A Hays

Timothy D Stowe

Eric Scott Hamby

William J Nowak

Carlos Manuel Terrero

Michael D Thompson

Timothy Patrick Foley

Jorge Antonio Alvarez

Ali Rafic Dergham

Francisco Zirilli

Roger Lee Triplett

Tuan Anh Vo

Moritz Patrick Wagner

Yongsoon Eun

James Michael Chappell

Elliott A Eklund

Robert J Kleckner

Kaiser H Wong

Charles Anthony Radulski

Rachel Lynn Tanchak

Glenn David Batchelor

Nancy Beth Goodman

Joanne L Lee

Edward W Smith, Jr

Richard A Kalb

John Patrick Baker

Kareem N Tawil

Yelena Shapiro

Robert Jian Zhang

Megan Zielenski

Thomas R Race

Emmett James Spence

A printing system comprises a print fluid deposition assembly, a media transport device, and an air flow control system. The print fluid deposition assembly comprises a carrier plate and a printhead arranged to eject a print fluid through an opening of the carrier plate to a deposition region. The media transport device comprises a movable support surface to transport a print medium along a process direction through the deposition region, the media transport device holding the print medium against the movable support surface by vacuum suction. The air flow control system is arranged to selectively flow air through the opening of the carrier plate between the carrier plate and the printhead based on a location of a print medium transported by the media transport device relative to the printhead.

Devices, systems, and methods for supplying makeup air through openings in carrier plates of printing system

A printing system comprises a print fluid deposition assembly, a media transport device, and an air flow control system. The print fluid deposition assembly comprises a carrier plate and a printhead to eject a print fluid through an opening of the carrier plate to a deposition region. The media transport device holds a print medium against the movable support surface by vacuum suction and transports the print medium through the deposition region. The air flow control system comprises an air supply unit comprising an airflow guide structure extending into the opening of the carrier plate, the airflow guide structure configured to flow air at a direction aimed under the printhead and at an oblique angle relative to the movable support surface. The air flow control system controls the air supply unit to selectively flow the air based on a location of a print medium relative to the printhead.

Devices, systems, and methods for supplying makeup air through openings in carrier plates of printing system and directing the air under the carrier plate

A drag force sensor on a fountain solution carrier roller surface measures drag force of a fountain solution layer on the fountain solution carrier roller surface in real-time during a printing operation. The measured drag force is used in a feedback loop to actively control the fountain solution layer thickness by adjusting the volumetric feed rate of fountain solution added onto the imaging member surface during a printing operation to reach a desired uniform thickness for the printing. This fountain solution monitoring system may be fully automated.

Fountain solution thickness control system in a digital printing device using a drag force sensor

Examples of the preferred embodiments use printed content (e.g., halftones, difference in grayscale or darkness) to determine thickness of fountain solution applied by a fountain solution applicator on an imaging member surface and/or determine image forming device real-time image forming modifications for subsequent printings. For example, in real-time during the printing of a print job, a sensor may measure halftones or grayscale differences between printed content and non-printed content of a current printing on print substrate. Based on this measurement of printed content output from the image forming device, the image forming device may adjust image forming (e.g., fountain solution deposition flow rate, imaging member rotation speed) to reach or maintain a preferred fountain solution thickness on the imaging member surface for subsequent (e.g., next) printings of the print job.

Fountain solution thickness measurement using print engine response

An image based correction system compensates for the image quality artifacts induced by thermal ghosting. With thermal ghosting directly tied to previous image content, a feed forward control system predicts the thermal ghosting artifact based on the images previous printed and generates an open loop, 2-D correction to the gray-level image that mitigates the undesirable ghosting artifacts. For example, the correction system compensates for the thermal ghosting by making the current digital image 'lighter' in areas that will be imaged onto warmer blanket regions, thereby cancelling out TRC differences between different temperature regions.

2-D image based correction of thermal ghosting in a digital printer

A system for printing at least one stretchable ink on a thermoformable substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The system includes an unwinder, a printing module and a rewinder. The unwinder is arranged to feed the thermoformable substrate from a first roll into a printing module. The printing module includes a flood coater arranged to deposit a coating layer on the first surface of the thermoformable substrate. The rewinder is arranged to receive the thermoformable substrate and to form the thermoformable substrate into a second roll.

Thermoformable overcoat in roll-to-roll format printers for thermoforming applications

Backing material is passed by a first heater to pre-heat the backing material. The backing material is then passed by a printing engine to print marking material on the backing material, and passed by a first light source to apply ultra-violet (UV) light to the marking material printed on the backing material, to partially cure the marking material. Further, the backing material is passed by a container to expose the partially cured marking material to adhesive particles to cause the adhesive particles to adhere only to the marking material. The backing material is passed by a second light source to apply additional UV light to the marking material partially cured on the backing material to fully cure the marking material. Finally, the backing material is passed by a second heater to melt the adhesive particles that are adhered to the marking material on the backing material.

Decal print process

An intermediate roller positioned between a fountain solution vapor supply and an imaging member decouples fountain solution vapor deposition from the surface of the imaging member. The intermediate roller may be temperature controlled. A uniform layer of fountain solution condenses onto the surface of the temperature controlled intermediate roller regardless of the imaging blanket temperature. The fountain solution condensate layer deposited onto the intermediate roller splits and deposits a thin uniform layer of fountain solution liquid onto the imaging member surface. This liquid layer split may be independent of the temperature of the imaging member surface, resulting in a uniform layer of fountain solution on the imaging blanket for better imaging quality. Remotely locating the vaporizing chamber away from the imaging member prevents undesired heat transfer from a hot vaporizing chamber/baffle to the imaging member surface.

Fountain solution deposition apparatus and method for digital printing device

In a digital inking system having an anilox member that carries a patterned metered layer of ink to a digital imaging member, and a doctor blade that removes excess ink from the surface of the anilox member resulting in the patterned metered layer, an overfill form roller in rolling contact with the anilox member adds an overcoat layer of ink on the patterned metered layer for transfer of both layers of ink to the digital imaging member. The overcoat layer of ink uniformly covers all regions of the anilox member and the mattered metered layer of ink, including lands of the anilox cell walls to make the combined layers of ink pattern-free.

Pattern-free anilox inking system and method

A solid blanket receives a flood layer of very thin (e.g., about 10 &#x3bc;m or less) image receiving UV curable coating, which may be a clear, substantially clear, or tinted UV ink. A lower viscosity digital ink image may then be printed on top of the flood layer, for example by jetting UV ink on top of the flood layer. The lower viscosity UV digital ink sits on top of the thicker UV curable coating and maintains its location by surface tension interaction with the coating. The combination of ink and coating is then partially cured to a tacky state at which point it is transferred to print media via a conformable pressure nip. Since the lower viscosity jetted inks are not responsible for directly wetting the media, media latitude widens greatly. Further, no dampening fluid or fountain solution is needed to aid the transfer or the imaging.

Waterless UV inkjet transfer system and method

A cleaning apparatus includes an inker roller and an ink source holding ink for the inker roller. The inker roller contacts a reimageable surface of an imaging member downstream of an ink image transfer station that transfers an ink image from the surface to a print sheet, with the surface having residual ink remaining thereon after the transfer of the ink image. The inker roller applies ink from the ink source against the reimageable surface. However, instead of the ink transferring from the inker roller to the surface, the ink stays with the inker roller and removes the residual ink from the surface to clean the surface for a subsequent ink image. The inker roller is not contaminated from removing the residual ink as the inker roller is designed to be coated by ink that adds to its coating of ink via the removed residual ink.

Contamination-proof imaging member cleaning device and method

A method of forming a base for supporting a three-dimensionally printed object includes operating at least one ejector of a three-dimensional object printer to form the base. At least one ejector is operated to eject build material to form a planar layer of build material on a platen, and to form a first plurality of anchoring portions on the planar layer. At least one ejector is operated to eject support material to form a plurality of second anchoring portions interlocked with the first anchoring portions so that the first and second anchoring portions form a planar anchoring layer, and to form a planar layer of support material on the anchoring layer that defines a planar base for supporting a three-dimensional object.

System and method for forming a base layer with interfacial anchoring to stabilize a three-dimensional object during additive manufacturing

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Macedon, NY, United States of America

Jack Thomas Lestrange