Inkjet printer with enhanced deinkability
In a system having an inkjet printer and a toner printer, the ink jet printer forms an ink jet image and the toner printer forms a toner image conforming to the inkjet image and transfers the toner image onto the inkjet image. Colorant in the ink is electrostatically attracted to the toner. The toner is fixed. After fixing the colorant attracted to the toner is bound to the toner so that removal of the toner from the receiver also removes any colorant attached to the toner from the receiver.
1. A printer comprising:
an inkjet printer having a printhead to print an inkjet image on a receiver using ink having a colorant dispersed in hydrophilic liquid carrier fluid with an electrical charge of a first polarity and a solvent with an electrical charge of a second polarity that is the opposite polarity of the first polarity;
a toner printer having a toner printing module to generate a colorant attracting toner image conforming to the inkjet image using toner particles of the second polarity and to transfer the colorant attracting toner image in registration with an unabsorbed volume of the inkjet image on the receiver so that the difference in polarity between the toner particles and the colorant attracts the colorant to the toner particles;
a fixing system that applies energy to the toner image to fix the toner image to the receiver;
a transport system to transport the receiver from the inkjet printer to the toner printer and to the fixing system; and
a control system that causes the inkjet printer to print the ink jet image on the receiver, and the transport system and toner printer to cooperate to cause the toner image conforming to the inkjet image to be transferred to the receiver so that the colorant attracting toner image is introduced into the unabsorbed volume of the inkjet image to attract colorant onto the toner particles, and causes the transport system and the fixing system to cooperate to fix the colorant attracting toner image to the receiver;
wherein after fixing the colorant attracted to the toner particles are bound to the toner particles so that removal of the toner particles from the receiver also removes any colorant attached to the toner particles from the receiver.
2. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the colorant is a pigment having a boundary that has a surface charge of the first polarity formed by a counter charge of the second polarity formed during dispersion.
3. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the electrical charge on the toner particles creates a difference of potential relative to the electrical charge on the colorant that attracts colorant to the toner particles.
4. The printer of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage source that controls a transfer electrostatic field and that is operated by the control system to provide an electrostatic field to the colorant attracting toner image to transfer the toner particles into the inkjet ink.
5. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the toner particles have an open cell structure to provide more surface area over that available on a solid toner particle of comparable diameter.
6. The printer according to claim 4 , wherein the toner particles have addenda inside the open cells, with the addenda being electrically charged to the second polarity to attract the colorant into the open cells.
7. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is absorbs ink at a rate that is less than 1/10 of a rate at which the toner particles absorb the ink.
8. The printer of claim 7 , wherein the receiver is at least one of a clay coated paper, a non-absorbent paper, a vinyl.
9. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the toner particles have a binder that is a thermoplastic that is soluble in a non-polar organic solvent.
10. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the toner particles include addenda that causes colorant particles to come out of solution or suspension in the carrier fluids so that colorant particles separate more rapidly or completely from the carrier fluid.
11. The printer of claim 10 wherein the addenda is a salt.
12. The printer according to claim 1 , further comprising moving a gas across or through the toner image after printing the ink image, so that at least some of the carrier fluid evaporates in the gas.
13. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the colorant is a pigment suspended in the carrier fluid, the method further comprising causing the pigment to come out of suspension in the carrier fluid after printing the ink image and before fusing the toner image to the receiver.
14. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is an uncoated paper.
15. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the liquid carrier is water or an alcohol.
16. The printer of claim 13 , wherein the colorant attracting toner particles are stained by the colorant.
17. The printer according to claim 13 wherein the colorant is a dye or a pigment.
18. The printer of claim 1 , wherein the toner printer is a modular attachment to the inkjet printer and wherein the inkjet printer controls operations of the toner printer.