Beam delivery system for curing of photo initiated inks

摘要

A light source such as a laser generates light of a specific wavelength which is transmitted through a bundle of fiber optic cables to project light onto a moving web having ink, dye or another coating including a photo initiator therein. The cables are arranged in a pattern to project a light onto the moving web and thereby expose the ink to the light to initiate photo polymerization of the ink on the moving web. Advantageously, the beam delivery system avoids the need for scanning of the laser light across the width of the web which in many applications minimizes the speed at which the web can be operated.