Xerox Corporation

Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

3d Systems, Inc.

Trevor James Snyder

Santokh Singh Badesha

Paul J McConville

David H Pan

Anthony Yeznach

Bo Wu

Jule W Thomas, Jr

David Lyell Knierim

Donald S Stanton

Walter Sean Harris

Brent Rodney Jones

Donald R Titterington

Jeffrey Russell Kohne

Brent Edward Fleming

Nicholas C Hill

Bruce Earl Thayer

Palghat Srinivas Ramesh

Barry Daniel Reeves

Isaac S Frazier

James Bruce Campbell

James Matthew Cunnington

Steven Van Cleve Korol

Jennifer Misae Miyamoto

David Paul Platt

Randall Ray Bridgeman

Patricia A Wang

Susan June Zoltner

Xiaoying (Elizabeth) Yuan

Jignesh P Sheth

Amy R Bartlett

Paul Woodward

Mark Harris Tennant

Stephan V Drappel

C Geoffrey Allen

Ernest I Esplin

Edward Francis Burress

David A VanKouwenberg

Meng Yao

Michael E Jones

Robert N Finsterwalder

Jasper Kent Wong

Bin Zhang

Xiaoying Elizabeth Yuan

Rodney Bryant Hill

Joel Chan

Steven V Korol

Debra Ranee Koehler

Devin Kyle Byerley

Reiner Eschbach

David Allen Mantell

Pinyen Lin

Jeffrey J Folkins

Barry Paul Mandel

Anthony Salvatore Condello

Summer L Schneider

Jeffrey H Banning

Ramesh Nagarajan

Andrew V Hill

Ashish V Pattekar

James Edward Williams

Joseph Benjamin Gault

Todd D Smith

Terrance Lee Stephens

Timothy L Crawford

Wolfgang G Wedler

Michael Cameron Gordon

Stephen Michael Kroon

Rachael L McGrath

Brian David Bitz

Gregory Joseph Kovacs

Larry Eugene Hindman

David Alan Vankouwenberg

Carl Thomas Urban

James Dudley Padgett

Jason O'Neil

Steven Ross Slotto

David Douglas Martenson

Conor D Kelly

Brian Edward Williams

James B Jensen

Russell J Watt

Christine M Greiser

Cynthia J Ryan

James Charles Zesch

Michael P O'Dierno

Mark Steven Taft

David Russel Sponable

Marcia Dawn Haney

Karen Vicki Zocchi

Aaron L Boyce

Audrey Ann Lester

Heidi Noce

Timothy Rob Golik

Harold R Frame

Patrick B Justice

Martin Scott Walsh

Don Titterington

Paul Gregory Van Gasse

David Ruff

Kathleen M Faraci

In one aspect, methods of printing a 3D article are described herein. In some embodiments, a method of printing a 3D article comprises selectively depositing a first portion of build material in a fluid state onto a substrate to form a first region of build material; selectively depositing a first portion of support material in a fluid state to form a first region of support material; and selectively depositing a second portion of build material in a fluid state to form a second region of build material, wherein the first region of support material is disposed between the first region of build material and the second region of build material in a z-direction of the article. In some cases, the first region of support material forms a grayscale pattern and/or a CMY color pattern in combination with the first region of build material and/or the second region of build material.

Method of printing grayscale and full-color 3D articles

A method of performing maintenance on a printhead of an imaging device includes the detection of at least one contaminated ink jet in a printhead. A first pressure is applied to ink in the printhead in response to the detection of the at least one contaminated ink jet. The first pressure is configured to prevent ink from entering a plurality of apertures in an aperture plate of the printhead and to prevent ink from drooling from the plurality of apertures unless the apertures are wiped by a wiper blade. A first portion of apertures in the plurality of apertures in the aperture plate is wiped with a wiper blade while leaving a second portion of the apertures untouched by the wiper blade while the first pressure is applied to the ink in the printhead. The wiping of the first portion of apertures enables ink to drool from the first portion of apertures. The first portion of apertures includes the at least one detected contaminated ink jet.

Selective purging of ink jets to limit purge mass

A method for recycling ink in an inkjet printer includes combining purged inks having two or more colors with black ink to form a mixed ink. The printer identifies an optical characteristic of the mixed ink and compares it to the optical characteristic for black ink. A controller for the printer adjusts the operation of the printer to form ink images having an optical characteristic that is closer to black ink than ink images formed with the mixed ink alone.

Method for operating a printer to print recycled ink with process black neutralization

A printer architecture that enables a printer (or other media processing device) with an elongate foot print to be configured with media input and operator controls oriented at either a narrow end or a wide side thereof, that surface becoming the 'front' of the unit. Controls and/or display(s) are mounted such that either the end or side orientation can be accommodated. The media input tray includes a separate assembly so that selection of the tray with access to end or side complements the user control panel in establishing the front of the machine. The combination of control/display mounting and oriented media tray structure integration with the print engine to establish which of the printer surfaces is considered the front allows for multiple orientations of the printer and greater flexibility to the customer.

Printer architecture enabling narrow or wide front facing orientation

A system for recycling waste phase change ink in a phase change ink imaging device includes a waste ink collector positioned within a phase change ink imaging device to collect waste phase change ink produced by a printhead in the phase change ink imaging device. The waste ink collector includes a heater for heating the waste phase change ink in the collector to at least a phase change ink melting temperature. A waste phase change ink conveyor is configured to convey melted waste phase change ink from the waste ink collector to an ink reservoir for the printhead.

Ink waste tray configured with one way filter

A printer has a print head arranged to jet molten ink onto a surface, a transfix surface arranged to provide the surface for the print head, the transfix surface having a core and an outer shell of a predetermined grade of aluminum arranged on the core, the outer shell forming the surface for the print head. The printer also has a transport subsystem to transport a print substrate past the transfix surface such that the molten ink transfers from the transfix surface to the print substrate.

Method of fabricating low-cost transfix drums for solid ink transfer

An inkjet printer is configured to process print media having an ink image differently to alter a gloss level of the ink image on the print media. In one mode of operation, the printer moves print media bearing an ink image on one side only through a transfix nip a second time to reduce a gloss level of the printed image.

Method and apparatus for control of gloss level in printed images

A method increases the ability of a controller in a printer to detect weak or missing inkjets in the printer. The method includes generating a test pattern having at least twice as much ink as a typical test pattern used to detect weak or missing inkjets. The increased ink appropriately stresses inkjets to facilitate detection of weak or missing inkjets and the test pattern is transferred to media and removed from the printer to preserve the capacity of a drum maintenance unit to store residual ink removed from an imaging drum or belt.

System and method for enhancing detection of weak and missing inkjets in an inkjet printer

A printing apparatus/method includes at least one processor, at least one printing engine, and at least one graphic user interface all operatively (directly or indirectly) connected to each other. The graphic user interface has at least one display and at least one user input device. The display provides at least one menu having at least one user selectable parameter of the printing engine. The display provides at least one linear scale bar representing a range of values to which the selectable parameter can be set. The display provides at least two different graphic icons along the linear scale. The graphic icons conceptually represent different performance characteristics that the printing apparatus will have when the selectable parameter is set to different values along the range of values represented on the linear scale. The display can also provide numerical performance values adjacent each of the different graphic icons.

Multiple setting user interface with visual icons for customized usability

A method and apparatus for analyzing images deposited on an image receiving member of a printer, and more particularly analyzing images deposited on a surface of an imaging drum in an inkjet printer. A photoelectric sensor supported by a sled in contact with the surface of the imaging drum can be used to detect missing jets in the printhead, to align the printhead, to reduce the amount of purged ink, and to determine run out of the imaging drum.

System and method for analyzing images deposited on an image receiving member of a printer

In an inkjet printer, an ink reclamation apparatus receives ink emitted from at least one printhead. The ink reclamation apparatus includes an ink receptacle and a liquid path member that extends from the ink receptacle to contact the face of at least one printhead proximate to a plurality of inkjets in the at least one printhead. The liquid path member draws liquid ink from the plurality of inkjets and the liquid ink enters the ink receptacle. The ink reclamation apparatus returns the ink to a reservoir in the printhead and reduces or eliminates wasted ink during operation of the at least one printhead.

Compliant liquid path member and receptacle for ink recirculation

A thin wall ink image receiving member enables the ink image receiving member to reach operational temperatures from a cold state more quickly than image receiving members used in previously known printers. The thin wall image receiving member includes at least one annular support member fixedly mounted against the inner surface of the cylindrical wall to enable the image receiving member to provide adequate pressure in a nip formed with a transfix roller to transfer an ink image from the image receiving member to media in the nip.

Image receiving member with internal support for inkjet printer

A method for recirculating ink in an inkjet printer includes applying air pressure to an ink supply to expel liquid ink through a plurality of inkjets in the printhead. An ink receptacle that is positioned at a predetermined distance from the inkjets collects the expelled ink. The ink receptacle moves into fluid communication with an ink supply, and the ink collected in the ink receptacle enters the ink supply.

Method and apparatus for ink recirculation

A printhead assembly includes a plurality of inkjet ejector arrays having corresponding ink receptacles. Each inkjet array is formed from a plurality of inkjet stack layers that are bonded to a single aperture layer that flexes to position the inkjet arrays at a predetermined distance from a curved image receiving surface.

Inkjet ejector arrays aligned to a curved image receiving surface with ink recirculation

Method and system for printing recycled ink with process black neutralization

Growing community of inventors

Newburg, OR, United States of America

Trevor James Snyder