SUBTTRACTIVE COLOR HOT MELT INK REFLECTION IMAGES ON OPAQUE SUBSTRATES

摘要

In the particular embodiments of the invention described in the specification, an opaque subtractive color ink reflection print having improved color purity resulting from reduced frosting and crystallization of the ink layers is prepared by reheating the ink image to a temperature above the melting point of at least one of the inks and then quenching the image by cooling it at a rate of the least 50 DEG C per second. In one embodiment, the ink image is produced by an ink jet head (10) applied to a substrate (14) supported on a platen (15) maintained at least 20 DEG C below the melting point of the inks to inhibit spreading of the inks into the substrate, and the image is thereafter heated by a heater (28) to a temperature at least 20 DEG C above the melting point of at least one of the inks for a period of 3 to 5 seconds and then quenched by a quenching platen (32) at a rate of 500 DEG C per second to produce an image having less than 20 % light loss resulting from scattering of light by frosting and crystallization of the ink in the layers.