| 摘要 |
<p>A method and apparatus are disclosed for treating ink droplets having a liquid carrier immediately after their deposition onto a liquid repelling surface of an image transfer member of an indirect printing system; the method comprises blowing a low velocity stream of gas onto the surface in a direction substantially normal to the surface to minimise disturbance of the ink droplets; the temperature and flow rate of the stream are sufficient to cause evaporation of the liquid carrier, and the duration of the exposure of the ink droplet to the stream of gas is sufficient to form a skin on the surface of the droplet while the centre of the droplets remains as a liquid; the skin acts to fix the ink droplets to the surface and prevent bleeding between successively deposited ink droplets. The gas stream is applied by way of a head unit that incorporates a blower (204, fig 2) and a plenum chamber 202 containing diffusers 302 and a heater 304.</p> |
