摘要 |
A thermal ink jet printer including a frame, a printhead mounted to the frame for printing ink images onto a heated and supported substrate, and an efficient substrate heating and supporting assembly mounted to the frame. The efficient substrate heating and supporting assembly includes a heating device, and a substrate supporting member having a front surface including a substrate supporting area for supporting substrates of various sizes one at a time and border areas having a polished finish. The efficient substrate heating and supporting assembly also includes a heat absorbing back surface facing the heating device. The heat absorbing back surface includes an increased heat absorbing area located opposite and centered relative to the substrate supporting area on the front surface. The increased heat absorbing area, relative to a rest of the back surface, has a coat of paint thereon for increasing heat absorption thereinto from the heating device, thereby resulting advantageously in relatively nonuniform heat absorption into the back surface, and relatively in more uniform, adequate and efficient substrate heating and drying temperatures on the front surface, when continuously running a most often run size of substrates.
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