Researchers submit US patent application for 'method to operate a digital printer to print a recording material and associated digital printer with mixing container' for approval

Kendall Sinclair

November 1, 2013 (Politics & Government Week ) – Researchers Submit Patent Application, "Method to Operate a Digital Printer to Print a Recording Material, and Associated Digital Printer with Mixing Container", for Approval

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Politics & Government Week -- From Washington, D.C., VerticalNews journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Zollner, Alfred (Eitting, DE); Kastner, Franz (Muenchen, DE), filed on April 15, 2013, was made available online on October 24, 2013.

No assignee for patent application serial number united state has been made.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "The disclosure concerns a method to operate a digital printer to print a recording material with toner particles that are applied with the aid of a liquid developer, in particular a high-speed printer to print web-shaped or sheet-shaped recording media. The disclosure also concerns a digital printer to execute the method.

"In such digital printers, a latent charge image of a charge image carrier is inked by means of electrophoresis with the aid of a liquid developer. The toner image that is created in such a manner is transferred indirectly (via a transfer element) or directly to the recording medium. The liquid developer has toner particles and cleaning fluid in a desired ratio. Mineral oil is advantageously used as a cleaning fluid. In order to provide the toner particles with an electrostatic charge, charge control substances are added to the liquid developer. Further additives are additionally added, for example, in order to achieve the desired viscosity or a desired drying behavior of the liquid developer.

"Such digital printers have been known for a long time, for example from DE 10 2010 015 985 A1, DE 10 2008 048 256 A1 or DE 10 2009 060 334 A1.

"From the document US 2011/0286757 A1 (corresponding to DE 10 2010 017 005 A1), a method is known in which the toner concentration and the fill level in a mixing container are regulated to corresponding desired values via a regulatory arrangement. The desired value for the fill level is the same for all operating modes of the printer and has a relatively high value with regard to the maximum fill level of the mixing container. For example, the mixing container must be able to accommodate the entirety of developer fluid of the developer station connected to it, even in the operating case without active developer station, for which it must be designed to be relatively large in volume. In different operating modes, large volumes of developer fluid must additionally be recirculated with the aid of the regulatory arrangement, which can be problematic for the complete regulatory process, the toner concentration regulation, and therefore the print quality."

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, VerticalNews correspondents also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent application: "It is an object to specify a method and a digital printer in which a uniform supply of the developer stations with developer fluid and a qualitatively high-grade print result are achieved for different operating modes.

"In a method to operate a digital printer having multiple developer stations operated with liquid developer, and wherein a number of the developer stations participating in printing is dependent on a respective print operating mode, liquid developer is supplied from a mixing container to at least one of the developer stations. With a regulatory device a fill level of liquid developer in the mixing container is kept substantially constant depending on the print operating mode. A desired different operating value is provided for the fill level for the regulatory device depending on the operating mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

"FIG. 1 is a view of a digital printer in an exemplary configuration of the digital printer;

"FIG. 2 is a schematic design of a print group of the digital printer according to FIG. 1;

"FIG. 3 is a block diagram for the fill level regulation with desired value switching;

"FIG. 4 illustrates schematically an operating mode with inactive developer stations;

"FIG. 5 illustrates an operating mode with only one activated developer station;

"FIG. 6 illustrates an operating mode with two activated developer stations;

"FIG. 7 illustrates the curve of reference values, desired values and real values in different operating modes;

"FIG. 8 illustrates the curve of reference value, desired value and real value given failure of a pump; and

"FIG. 9 is a table that shows desired values and parameters upon switching over to different operating modes."

For additional information on this patent application, see: Zollner, Alfred; Kastner, Franz. Method to Operate a Digital Printer to Print a Recording Material, and Associated Digital Printer with Mixing Container. U.S. Patent Application Serial Number united state, filed April 15, 2013, and posted October 24, 2013. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=3466&p=70&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20131017.PD.&OS=PD/20131017&RS=PD/20131017

Keywords for this news article include: Patents.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2013, NewsRx LLC

(c) 2013 Politics & Government Week via VerticalNews.com

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.