초록 ▼

A digital decorating system for transferring a selected image to a surface of an article includes a thermal printhead, an advancing mechanism for producing relative movement between the printhead and the surface of the article, and a force member for exerting a selected amount of pressure between th

A digital decorating system for transferring a selected image to a surface of an article includes a thermal printhead, an advancing mechanism for producing relative movement between the printhead and the surface of the article, and a force member for exerting a selected amount of pressure between the thermal line of pixels and the surface of the article. The thermal printhead includes a plurality of energizable heater elements constructed to deliver heat to a thermal line of pixels on a surface of the printhead. The digital decorating system also includes a microcontroller operatively connected to the printhead, the force member and the advancing mechanism to provide control signals selectively delivering heat to pixels of the thermal line and selectively causing the movement thereby thermally transferring, over a two dimensional array of pixels, a two dimensional image to the article surface. The microcontroller can classify the pixels corresponding to the image into perimeter pixels and interior pixels and control energy levels delivered to produce heat at the perimeter pixels and interior pixels. The energy levels delivered to each pixel cooperatively depend on a level of energy previously delivered to the pixel, on levels of energy delivered to neighboring pixels and on a level of energy required at the pixel to thermally transfer the image to the surface.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A digital decorating system for transferring an image to a surface of an article, comprising:a thermal printhead including a plurality of energizable heater elements to deliver heat to a thermal line of pixels on a surface of said printhead;an advancing mechanism to produ

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A digital decorating system for transferring an image to a surface of an article, comprising:a thermal printhead including a plurality of energizable heater elements to deliver heat to a thermal line of pixels on a surface of said printhead;an advancing mechanism to produce relative movement between said printhead and the surface of the article;a force member to exert a pressure between said thermal line of pixels and the surface of the article; anda microcontroller operatively connected via control lines to said printhead, said force member and said advancing mechanism, to provide, via control signals carried by said control lines, energy to said thermal line, to cause said relative movement and to thermally transfer the image to the surface of the article;said microcontroller operable to classify said pixels corresponding to said image into perimeter pixels that form an edge of the image disposed along a diagonal with respect to the thermal line of pixels of the printhead, whereina first one of said perimeter pixels of said image and a second of said perimeter pixels, form a portion of the edge of said image along the diagonal relative to said thermal line, and said microcontroller is operable to provide to said first and second perimeter pixels an energy level above a threshold level of energy required for thermal transfer of material from said thermal foil and to provide to a neighboring pixel outside of the image and in a corner neighboring said first and second perimeter pixels a non-zero energy level that is below said threshold level.