Apparatus and method for making graphic products by laser thermal transfer
First Claim
1. An apparatus for printing graphic products on any of a plurality of types of sheet materials with any of a plurality of types of ink webs bearing ink, comprising:
- a platen for supporting the sheet material with the ink web overlying and in turn supported by the sheet material;
a laser source for transmitting a beam of radiation at a predetermined wavelength into the ink web along a line of laser impingement on the ink web for heating and in turn transferring ink from the ink web to the sheet material in accordance with a printing program of image data for printing graphic images on the sheet material;
a laser window mounted over the platen for pressing the ink web against the sheet material and hence the sheet against the platen along the line of laser impingement to facilitate the transfer of ink from the web to the sheet material, the laser window being transmissive at the predetermined wavelength along the line of laser impingement to permit the beam of radiation to pass through the window and into the ink web and thereby print the graphic images on the sheet material; and
means for controlling the laser for printing the graphic products on the selected sheet material, said means including means for selecting the level of radiation energy transmitted into the ink web based on at least one of the type of the ink web and the type of the sheet material for effecting a transfer of ink from the ink web to the sheet material.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for printing graphic images by laser thermal transfer uses a laser source and a programmable pulse generator to transmit a pulsed infrared laser beam in accordance with a printing program of image data to print graphic images on sheet material. The pulsed laser beam is transmitted through a focusing lens, and the focused beam is in turn scanned by a scanning device through a laser window assembly into an ink web along a line of laser impingement. The ink web contains a layer of printing ink and overlies the sheet material supported on a roller platen. The laser window presses the ink web into the sheet material against the roller platen along the line of laser impingement to facilitate the transfer of ink from the web to the sheet in accordance with the printing program of image data. The focusing lens and laser window are highly transmissive at the selected wavelength of the laser beam to permit the passage of substantially all radiation into the layer of printing ink along the line of laser impingement.
33 Citations
31 Claims
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1. An apparatus for printing graphic products on any of a plurality of types of sheet materials with any of a plurality of types of ink webs bearing ink, comprising:
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a platen for supporting the sheet material with the ink web overlying and in turn supported by the sheet material; a laser source for transmitting a beam of radiation at a predetermined wavelength into the ink web along a line of laser impingement on the ink web for heating and in turn transferring ink from the ink web to the sheet material in accordance with a printing program of image data for printing graphic images on the sheet material; a laser window mounted over the platen for pressing the ink web against the sheet material and hence the sheet against the platen along the line of laser impingement to facilitate the transfer of ink from the web to the sheet material, the laser window being transmissive at the predetermined wavelength along the line of laser impingement to permit the beam of radiation to pass through the window and into the ink web and thereby print the graphic images on the sheet material; and means for controlling the laser for printing the graphic products on the selected sheet material, said means including means for selecting the level of radiation energy transmitted into the ink web based on at least one of the type of the ink web and the type of the sheet material for effecting a transfer of ink from the ink web to the sheet material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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17. A method for printing graphic products on any of a plurality of different types of sheet materials, with any of a plurality of different types of ink webs, wherein a sheet material to be printed upon is supported on a platen and an ink web for supplying ink overlies the sheet material on the platen for transferring ink onto the sheet material, comprising the following steps:
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selecting a sheet material of one of the plurality of different types of sheet materials to print graphic products on; selecting an ink web of one of the plurality of different types of ink webs; selecting the level of radiation energy to be transmitted into the selected ink web based on at least one of i) the type of the selected sheet material and ii) the type of the selected ink web to effect a transfer of ink from the selected ink web to the selected sheet material and thereby print the graphic products on the selected sheet material; transmitting a laser beam of radiation having a predetermined wavelength through a laser window and into the ink web to achieve the selected level of radiation energy in the ink web along a line of laser impingement on the ink web for heating and transferring ink from the selected ink web to the selected sheet material; and pressing the laser window into engagement with the selected ink web to press the ink web against the selected sheet material and the selected sheet material against the platen along the line of laser impingement to facilitate the transfer of ink from the selected ink web to the selected sheet material, wherein the laser window is transmissive at the predetermined wavelength of the beam of radiation along the line of laser impingement to permit the beam of radiation to pass through the window and into the selected ink web and thereby print graphic images on the selected sheet material. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification