Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing Ltd.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.p.

Hp Scitex Ltd.

Ran Vilk

Semion Gengrinovich

Alex Veis

Gilhad Ben-Bassat

Lev Superfin

Yochai Edlitz

Tamir Daya

Roni Mor

Ronald Albert Askeland

Clayton L Holstun

Eyal Peleg

Gil Fisher

Eytan Cohen

Or Brandstein

Thomas Michael Sabo

David S Vejtasa

Benji Ruhm

Moti Balaish

Vladimir Naivelt

Yair Shemesh

Dennis Indorsky

Eyal Gargir

Liad Weissman

Yokai Edlitz

Gilad Ben-Bassat

Eldad Manheim

Golan Moyal

Anton Andrusier

Nir Karin

Omer Markovsky

A method of printing a print media comprises printing an image onto a surface of a print media, and applying a protective coating over the surface of the print media using an analog printing process, wherein the protective coating comprises a plurality of micro openings.

Printing protective coatings

In some examples, a system includes a printhead including a printer fluid nozzle, an air valve in fluid communication with a channel of the nozzle to: (1) create back pressure in the channel when the air valve is closed and printer fluid is ejected through the nozzle and (2) release back pressure in the channel when the air valve is open, an ejector to eject printer fluid through the nozzle to form a meniscus of printer fluid in the channel when the air valve is closed, a pressure sensor to measure pressure within the channel, and an indicator in electrical communication with the pressure sensor. The indicator can, for example, indicate whether there is an air leak in the channel by determining whether the pressure in the channel is within a predetermined pressure range after a predetermined idle time following the formation of the meniscus in the nozzle.

Printhead leak determination

An apparatus includes a tank for holding a fluid for delivery to a printhead, the tank being open to the atmosphere. A manifold enables the fluid to flow from the tank to the printhead, a height of the manifold being lower than a level of the fluid in the tank when the fluid is flowing from the tank to the printhead. A siphon has a lower end of the siphon that is connectable to the manifold. An upper end of the siphon extends above the level of the fluid and is openable to the atmosphere. A height of a segment of the siphon between the upper end and the lower end is lower than the height of the manifold.

Ink delivery system

An ink-jet printing system () includes a generator () for in situ generation of a component of an inert atmosphere (an atmosphere that is depleted of oxygen). The system also includes a curing zone () in which the generated component (for example nitrogen or carbon dioxide) is distributable over ink that had been deposited on a substrate (), and in which the ink is exposable to a curing agent (for example UV radiation).

Printed ink curing

According to one example there is provided apparatus for curing ink on a substrate. The apparatus comprises a substrate support, a curing sheet positionable above the substrate support to create a gap between a substrate on the substrate support and the curing sheet. The apparatus further comprises an oxygen-depletion mechanism for reducing the oxygen level in the gap and an ultra-violet, UV, radiation source to apply UV radiation through the curing sheet to a substrate on the substrate support.

Method and apparatus for curing ink

In one embodiment, an actuator connected to a printhead structure is activated with a waveform to cause vibration of the structure sufficient to move fluid within a printhead channel adjacent to the structure and not cause the fluid to eject from the channel during a nonprinting period. In another embodiment, a first pulse module applies a pulse at a printhead structure at a combination of voltage, duration, and frequency to cause shaking of printhead structure to move fluid within a printhead channel adjacent to the structure without ejecting the fluid from the channel during a nonprinting period. In another embodiment, an actuator connected to a printhead structure is activated during a nonprinting period to pulse the structure to move fluid within a printhead channel adjacent to the structure without causing the fluid to be expelled from the channel.

Movement of fluid within printhead channels

A fluid applicator mounting device includes a main body to removeably receive a fluid applicator module. The main body includes a common fluid channel having a main input port, a main output port, a supplemental input port to provide fluid to the fluid applicator module, and a supplemental output port to output fluid from the fluid applicator module. The fluid applicator mounting device also includes an input fm member disposed inside the common fluid channel and arranged proximate to the supplemental input port to guide fluid to the fluid applicator module. The fluid applicator mounting device also includes an output fin member disposed inside the common fluid channel and arranged proximate to the supplemental output port to guide fluid from the fluid applicator module away from the supplemental output port.

Fin members to guide fluid

An aqueous ink composition includes at least 60% water by weight, an acrylic latex polymer suspension, a polyurethane suspension, a polyethylene wax suspension, and an organic solvent that comprises about 10% to about 30% of the ink composition. In methods for preparing an aqueous ink composition, a combination of the aforementioned components is provided. The combination is subjected to conditions under which the ink composition becomes substantially uniform and then the combination is subjected to filtration.

Aqueous ink compositions and method of preparing same

Method and apparatus for ink curing

According to one example of the present invention, there is provided an image processor for generating data to control an inkjet printing system. The image processor comprises an image analyzer to identify within an image to be printed an area of substantially solid color and to define within the identified area a frame portion and an intra-frame portion, and a printer control data generator to generate printing system control data to cause a printing system to print a frame portion and an intra-frame portion of the identified area.

Generating control data to print a frame portion and an intra-frame portion

According to one example there is provided a method of printing an image on a substrate using a printing system having a printhead. The method comprises forming, using ink from the printing system, a spittoon on the substrate, printing the image on the substrate, and whilst printing the image, ejecting ink from a printhead into the formed spittoon during a printhead maintenance operation.

Printing system and method

An ink delivery device, method and non-transitory computer readable medium, the device may include a first closed pathway for a first ink flow through a multi-nozzle printhead in a first direction, and a second closed pathway for a second ink flow through the multi-nozzle printhead, the second pathway configured to move the second ink flow in a second direction. The device may further include a first shunt between the first closed pathway and the second closed pathway at a first end of the multi-nozzle printhead, the first shunt allowing some of the first ink flow to merge with the second ink flow, and a second shunt between the first closed pathway and the second closed pathway at a second end of the multi-nozzle printhead, the second shunt allowing some of the second ink flow to merge with the first ink flow.

A vacuum source is coupled to an ink reservoir to establish a backpressure to prevent ink from dripping from a printhead. The vacuum source is also coupled to a backpressure capacitor so that a first liquid-gas interface rises to a first level. When the vacuum source is decoupled, the liquid-gas interface falls to a second level so as to maintain sufficient backpressure on said ink to prevent it from dripping from the inkjet printhead.

Inkjet system with backpressure capacitor

A method for printing with curable ink is presented. The method comprises the steps of: generating an image wise pattern of spaced apart ink droplet locations for representing the image; and separating the pattern into at least first and second different interleaved portions, each portion comprising a plurality of droplet locations and the droplet locations of each interleaved portion being spaced apart from each other and spaced apart from the droplet locations of the remaining interleaved portions. In a first printing pass, ink droplets are deposited on the substrate at the drop locations of the first interleaved portion. Then, in a final printing pass, ink droplets are deposited on the substrate at the droplet locations of the second interleaved portion. The deposited ink droplets are then cured by exposing the deposited ink droplets to curing radiation in a first partial curing step between first and final printing passes and in a final curing step.

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Qiryat Ono, Israel

Ran Vilk