Granted Patent B2

US 12,729,318 · App. 18/438,561 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Jacob Mozel (Kfar-Saba, IL); Jacob Mann (Zoran, IL); Muhammad Iraqi (Tira, IL)

Assignee: Kornit Digital Ltd.

C09D11/54B41J2/2107B41J2/2117B41J3/4078B41J11/06C09D11/102C09D11/107C09D11/30C09D11/322D06P1/0032D06P1/0096D06P5/001D06P5/02D06P5/2011D06P5/2077D06P5/2083D06P5/30B41J2202/03Y10T428/24802

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . A digital printing machine for printing textiles, the textiles comprising fabric woven within a plane, the fabric comprising fibers extending outwardly from said plane, the machine comprising:

a. a wetting unit configured to wet fabric to be printed with a wetting fluid, thereby to provide said fabric already wet prior to printing;

b. a digital printing head configured for printing with printing ink on said already wet fabric, the printing ink comprising binder, a dispersed pigment, a property-sensitive agent and a carrier; and

c. a mechanical flattening unit, located between said wetting unit and said digital print head, said mechanical flattening unit configured to receive said wet fabric and mechanically exert flattening pressure over a flattening area of said fabric after wetting, to flatten said outwardly extending fibers to cause said wetting fluid present in said wet fabric to cause said fibers to stick to said wet fabric prior to addition of said printing ink, thereby smoothing said fabric before said printing with printing ink, the binder serving to help said fibers to continue to stick to said wet fabric.

2 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 ; wherein said flattening unit is configured with a face towards said fabric through which to transmit said pressure to said fabric, thereby to cause said outwardly extending fibers to stick to said fabric.

3 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a printing table assembly for bringing said fabric to be printed under said flattening unit while said fabric is wet from said wetting unit, thereby causing the fibers to stick to the fabric.

4 . The digital printing machine of claim 3 , further comprising a controller for coordinating relative motion between said printing table-assembly and said flattening unit.

5 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , wherein said flattening unit comprises one member of a group consisting of a polymeric or metal curtain, a metal or polymeric roller, an air knife, a polymeric squeegee made of PVC, silicone, viton, polyurethane, neoprene or natural rubber, a thin flexible metal squeegee or a brushing strip.

6 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , wherein said flattening unit is located on a side to be printed of said fabric.

7 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a pressure regulation mechanism for said flattening unit, said pressure regulation mechanism for said flattening unit being one member of a group consisting of a counter balance, adjustable mechanical spring and a pneumatic adjustable pressure unit.

8 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , wherein said fabric to be printed is a garment.

9 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , wherein said fabric is a one member of the group consisting of felt, leather, suede, fibrous materials, porous materials, materials having high surface tension with the ink liquid, weaves, weaves of natural fibers, weaves of synthetic fibers, weaves of natural and synthetic fibers, weaves comprising mixtures of natural and synthetic fibers, weaves comprising wool, cotton, linen or nylon.

10 . The digital printing machine of claim 1 , wherein said printing head comprises a plurality of inkjet nozzles for performing digital printing; wherein said inkjet nozzles further comprise a drop-on-demand piezoelectric inkjet nozzle or a continuous piezoelectric inkjet nozzle.

11 . The printing machine of claim 1 , further comprising additional printing heads and/or additional flatting units and/or additional wetting units.

12 . The printing machine of claim 3 , wherein said flattening unit is releasably tensioned to press on said table for said flattening.

13 . The printing machine of claim 1 , comprising a pressure regulation mechanism operatively connected to said flattening unit and configured to regulate said mechanically exerted flattening pressure applied via said flattening unit to said fabric, thereby to regulate an extent to which said outwardly extending fibers are flattened towards said fabric.

14 . A digital printing method for printing textiles, the textiles comprising fabric woven within a plane, the fabric comprising fibers extending outwardly from said plane, the machine comprising:

wetting fabric to be printed with a wetting fluid, thereby to provide said fabric already wet prior to printing;

printing with printing ink on said already wet fabric, the printing ink comprising a binder, a dispersed pigment, a property-sensitive agent and a carrier;

receiving said wet fabric and mechanically exerting flattening pressure over a flattening area of said fabric after wetting, to flatten said outwardly extending fibers to cause said wetting fluid present in said wet fabric to cause said fibers to stick to said wet fabric prior to addition of said printing ink, thereby smoothing said fabric before said printing with printing ink, the binder serving to help said fibers to continue to stick to said wet fabric; and

regulating said mechanically exerted flattening pressure applied to said fabric, thereby to regulate an extent to which said outwardly extending fibers are flattened towards said fabric.

15 . A digital printing machine for printing textiles, the textiles comprising fabric woven within a plane, the fabric comprising fibers extending outwardly from said plane, the machine comprising:

a. a wetting unit configured to wet fabric to be printed with a wetting fluid;

b. a digital printing head configured for printing with printing ink on said fabric; and

c. a mechanical heating unit, located between said wetting unit and said digital print head, said mechanical heating unit configured to receive said wet fabric and mechanically exert heat over said fabric after wetting, to flatten said outwardly extending fibers to cause said wetting fluid present in said wet fabric to cause said fibers to stick to said wet fabric prior to addition of said printing ink, thereby smoothing said fabric before said printing with printing ink.

16 . The digital printing machine of claim 15 , comprising a pressure regulation mechanism operatively connected to said flattening unit and configured to regulate said mechanically exerted flattening pressure applied via said flattening unit to said fabric, thereby to regulate an extent to which said outwardly extending fibers are flattened towards said fabric.

17 . The digital printing machine of claim 16 , wherein said mechanical flattening unit comprises a heat press.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (10)

References Cited (400)