Lenticular Printer

Abstract

An image forming apparatus for lenticular image printing, the apparatus comprising: a housing enclosing a plurality of rollers and a dye sublimation print head comprising a heating element; wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to load a dye sublimation ribbon into the dye sublimation print head and move an image substrate from a store of image substrate, or a lenticular lens substrate from a store of lenticular lens substrate, to the dye sublimation print head, wherein the dye sublimation print head is configured to use the ribbon to form an image on the image substrate or on a surface of the lenticular lens substrate, the image comprising a plurality of interlaced images; wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to move the lenticular lens substrate or the image substrate into contact with the other of the lenticular lens substrate or the image substrate, and wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to secure the lenticular lens substrate to the image substrate to form a lenticular image.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus for lenticular image printing, the apparatus comprising: a housing enclosing a plurality of rollers and a dye sublimation print head comprising a heating element; wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to load a dye sublimation ribbon into the dye sublimation print head and move an image substrate from a store of image substrate, or a lenticular lens substrate from a store of lenticular lens substrate, to the dye sublimation print head, wherein the dye sublimation print head is configured to use the ribbon to form an image on the image substrate or on a surface of the lenticular lens substrate, the image comprising a plurality of interlaced images; wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to move the lenticular lens substrate or the image substrate into contact with the other of the lenticular lens substrate or the image substrate, and wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to secure the lenticular lens substrate to the image substrate to form a lenticular image.

2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein a surface of the lenticular lens substrate is provided with an adhesive having a backing layer, and wherein one or more of the plurality of rollers is configured to peel the backing layer from the lenticular lens substrate when moving the lenticular lens substrate into contact with the image substrate.

3. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating element of the dye sublimation print head is configured to heat the lenticular lens substrate and/or image substrate to bond the lenticular lens substrate to the image substrate to form the lenticular image.

4. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of rollers is configured to apply a pressure to the lenticular lens substrate and/or image substrate to bond the lenticular lens substrate to the image substrate to form the lenticular image.

5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, comprising a source of ultraviolet light configured to illuminate the lenticular lens substrate and/or image substrate to bond the lenticular lens substrate to the image substrate to form the lenticular image.

6. The image forming apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of rollers comprises: a first roller and a press configured to align the image substrate and lenticular lens substrate during said heating.

7. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, comprising one or more removable cartridges coupled to the housing for holding one or more of the dye sublimation ribbon, the store of image substrate, and the store of lenticular lens substrate.

8. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of rollers comprises: a second roller positioned at the removable cartridge for moving the image substrate from the store when the removable cartridge is coupled to the housing; a third roller positioned at the removable cartridge for moving the lenticular lens substrate from the store when the removable cartridge is coupled to the housing; and a fourth roller positioned at the dye sublimation print head for moving the image substrate passed the dye sublimation print head during said forming of said image, and wherein the first roller and press are positioned at an opening in the housing and configured to eject the lenticular image from the apparatus upon completion.

9. (canceled)

10. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, comprising a controller unit and a motor, the motor being coupled to the plurality of rollers with one or more gear assemblies, wherein the controller unit is configured to control said motor to drive said plurality of rollers, and to control said dye sublimation print head during said forming of the lenticular image, wherein the controller unit is configured to prevent the apparatus from forming said lenticular image when the sensor unit is unable to identify the cartridge type.

11. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, comprising a sensor unit coupled to the controller unit and configured to detect insertion of the removable cartridge into the housing and identify a cartridge type of the removable cartridge.

12. (canceled)

13. The image forming apparatus of claim 1012, comprising a communications interface for coupling the controller unit to an external device using a wired or wireless connection.

14. The image forming apparatus of claim 13, wherein the housing defines a shaped receiving surface and a clamp for holding the external device thereon and further comprising a printed circuit board enclosed in the housing, wherein the controller unit, sensor unit and communications interface are coupled to the printed circuit board and a power source.

15. (canceled)

16. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is further configured to print a static image, the plurality of rollers being configured to move the image substrate from the store to the dye sublimation print head, the dye sublimation print head being configured to use the ribbon to form an image on the image substrate, and the plurality of rollers being further configured to eject the static image from the apparatus upon completion.

17. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image substrate comprises a photo paper substrate or a layer of white vinyl.

18. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein store of lenticular lens substrate comprises a continuous strip having a plurality of lenticular lens substrates provided thereon.

19. The image forming apparatus of claim 18, wherein the lenticular lens substrates are provided on the continuous strip spaced apart by predetermined intervals, each interval substantially the length of the lenticular lens substrates, and wherein the continuous strip is folded a plurality of times, each fold being at a beginning and at an end of the respective intervals, and wherein the folded continuous strip is provided in a stacked configuration inside the store of lenticular lens substrate.

20. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

22. A method for printing a lenticular image, the method comprising: inserting a dye sublimation ribbon, an image substrate; and a lenticular lens substrate into a housing of an image forming apparatus; with a plurality of rollers, loading the ribbon into a dye sublimation print head and moving the photo paper substrate from the store to the dye sublimation print head; with the dye sublimation print head, forming an image on the photo paper substrate, the image comprising a plurality of interlaced images; with the plurality of rollers, moving the lenticular lens substrate into contact with the photo paper substrate; and with a heating element of the dye sublimation print head, heating the lenticular lens substrate and/or photo paper substrate to bond the lenticular lens substrate to the photo paper substrate to form a lenticular image.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said inserting comprises inserting a removable cartridge comprising said dye sublimation ribbon, a store of said image substrate; and a store of said lenticular lens substrate into a housing of an image forming apparatus.

24. (canceled)

25. (canceled)

26. A cartridge for use with the image forming apparatus of claim 1, the cartridge comprising: a dye sublimation ribbon for loading into a dye sublimation print head of the image forming apparatus; a store of image substrate; and a store of lenticular lens substrate.

27. The cartridge of claim 26 further comprising a physical or electronic mechanism to indicate to the image forming apparatus whether the lenticular lens substrate is for producing an animated lenticular image or a stereoscopic lenticular image.

28. (canceled)

29. (canceled)

30. (canceled)

31. (canceled)

32. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0074] These and other aspects of the invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures and reference numerals.

[0075] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the front cover according to the present disclosure.

[0076] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the back cover according to the present disclosure.

[0077] FIG. 3 shows an isometric view of the exterior casing showcasing the consumables port according to the present disclosure.

[0078] FIG. 4 shows an exploded interior view of the casing according to the present disclosure. This figure includes the PCB, battery, gears and rollers, dye-sublimation consumables cartridge containing the dye-sublimation ribbon, photo paper, and lenticular lens.

[0079] FIG. 5 shows a cross-cut side view of the consumables cartridge, dye-sublimation printhead, rollers associated with the consumables cartridge and peeling method for stripping the lenticular lens of its plastic backing and storing the plastic backing inside of the consumables cartridge according to the present disclosure.

[0080] FIG. 6 shows a cross-cut isometric view of the consumables cartridge, dye-sublimation printhead, and rollers associated with the consumables cartridge according to the present disclosure.

[0081] FIG. 7 shows a series of lenticular lens affixed to one strip of plastic underlayer according to the present disclosure.

[0082] FIG. 8 shows a single lenticular lens according to the present disclosure.

[0083] FIG. 9 shows the process of interlacing two images to create a two-image lenticular flip image according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0084] The front cover 1 seen in FIG. 1 is designed to fit with the back cover 2 seen in FIG. 2. These covers form a hollow shell 3 containing the internal mechanisms of the invention. This shell could be configured to encompass a small tablet or mobile device 4. The front 1 or back 2 cover can contain a clamp system 5 which can be used to hold a small tablet or mobile device 4 in place.

[0085] The image forming apparatus illustrated in the Figures is envisaged to include a communication module for near field, allowing the invention to connect to other wireless devices through means of Bluetooth, NFC, or WiFi for example. The image forming apparatus may include a wired port 6 such as USB-C or Lightning port which allows for direct wired communication to electronic devices.

[0086] The image forming apparatus may be configured to include a slot 7 for consumables cartridges to be inserted, as seen in FIG. 3, or a series of slots for specific consumables components to be inserted, such as dye-sublimation ribbon 8, photo paper 9, and lenticular lens 10.

[0087] Based on the exemplary configuration of the system shown in the figures, the image forming apparatus uses gears and rollers 11 attached to a printed circuit board 12 containing the controller unit, sensor unit and communications interface coupled to a power source 13. The exemplary power source 13 is rechargeable via a charging connection to another power source. Another configuration of the power source 13 may include replaceable insertable batteries. The gears and rollers 11, as seen on FIG. 4, grip the substrate and drive the substrate to the dye-sublimation printhead 14 which prints the image directly onto the substrate.

[0088] In the configuration seen in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus first grips the photo paper 9 using a roller 15 and drives the photo paper 9 forward to the dye-sublimation printhead 14. The photo paper 9 is driven using mechanical constraints but can be configured to include photosensor constraints to maintain the position of the photo. As the photo is printed the photo is ejected from the invention via final rollers 16. If another layer of colour is need to be printed, the image forming apparatus will re-ingest the photo and use mechanical constraints to maintain the position of the photo. The image forming apparatus can use photosensors to ensure the position of the photo is at the desired position. Depending on the configuration, after the image forming apparatus has finished printing the colours of the photo, the image forming apparatus can either print a clear protective layer or can draw the photo into a specific position within the invention in preparation for the bonding of the lenticular lens 10 to the photo paper 9. The position of the photo paper 9 and lenticular lens 10 can be controlled by mechanical and photosensor constraints to ensure the desired alignment. In one configuration of the photo paper 9 can be adhered with the lenticular lens 10 through a heating element which bonds the lenticular lens 10 to the photo paper 9. In another configuration, not shown, the image forming apparatus prints the photo onto the lenticular lens directly and then applies heat to bond a backing material such as white vinyl backing to the lenticular lens 10.

[0089] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a consumables cartridge 17 containing a dye-sublimation ribbon container 18, photo paper container 19, and lenticular lens container 20. These figures additionally illustrate steps to bond a lenticular lens 10 with photo paper 9. In this configuration the image forming apparatus draws forward the lenticular lens 10 using a roller 21. As the roller 21 draws the lenticular lens 10 forward a plastic layer 22 which protects a layer of glue applied to the lenticular lens is peeled off. As the layer 22 is peeled off it is drawn into a cavity inside of the consumables cartridge 17, allowing for the easy storage of waste product. The plastic layer 22 attached to the lenticular lens 10 can either be individually attached to each lenticular lens 10, which would necessitate a hollow cavity in the consumables cartridge 17 to store the plastic layers 22; or the plastic layer 22 can be one continuous layer with lenticular lens 10 affixed at distinct points. The latter method allows for one roller 21 to wrap the plastic layer 22 around itself and eliminate the need for a distinct hollow cavity to store the plastic layers 22.

[0090] FIG. 7 depicts a configuration of a series of lenticular lens 10 affixed on one continuous strip of plastic underlayer 22 as described above.

[0091] In FIG. 8 an example of a lenticular lens 10 and plastic underlayer 22 is depicted. The lens refracts light based on the orientation of the viewer to display underlying images. A lenticular lens 10 can be configured to allow for each eye to see the same image, different images, or a series of different images as will be appreciated by the skilled person.

[0092] FIG. 9 illustrates steps of how the image forming apparatus 23 creates a lenticular photo. The image forming apparatus uses a sensor 24 to identify the type of cartridge 17 that is inserted in the invention. The sensor 24 in the image forming apparatus 23 registers the consumable 17 that has been inserted into the system. The sensor 24 sends information on the consumable 17 to the connected electronic device 25 connected to the image forming apparatus 23 through means of Bluetooth, Wifi, NFC, or wired connection. The connected electronic device 25 may be a mobile telecommunications device, tablet, laptop or other electronic device capable of receiving and transmitting information. The software 26 in the connected electronic device 25 communicates to the image forming apparatus 23 information including but not limited to what type of consumable 17 is inserted, how many times has the consumable 17 been used, how many prints remain in the consumable 17. The software 26 in the connected electronic device 25 populates this information as well for the user in an associated application 27. Using the application 27 the user may select and or capture one or more photos. Based on the setting the user selects, the application 27 can interlace multiple photos to create different effects in the final print such as 3D, motion, flip, zoom, pixelation, or more. After the user has selected and/or captured their photos the application 27 sends to the image forming apparatus 23 the information of what is to be printed.

[0093] The image forming apparatus 23 is provided with a computer-readable storage medium, for example a memory on a printed circuit board (PCB) of the image forming apparatus. Suitable processing resources provided on the PCB, for example one or more processors, ASICs or other computing resources read the printing instructions and causing the components of the image forming apparatus to initiate the photo printing process.

[0094] If the photo is a lenticular photo, the image forming apparatus first grips the photo paper 9 using rollers and brings 11 the photo paper 9 to the dye-sublimation printhead 14. Based on the information sent to the image forming apparatus 23 it will print the photo in one or more layers of colours. The photo is printed while it is being ejected from the image forming apparatus until it reaches the end of the printing layer. If the photo requires multiple layers of print, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and clear then the image forming apparatus re-ingests the photo to print the next layer using the same method.

[0095] As described above, the image forming apparatus may use both physical constraints as well as photosensors to maintain the alignment of the print during the printing and lenticular adhesion process.

[0096] If the invention is printing a lenticular photo it may align the photo paper 9 and lenticular lens 10 using physical constraints and photosensors. Once the invention has aligned the photo paper 9 it can then draw forward the lenticular lens 10 using rollers 11. As the lenticular lens 10 moves forward in the invention an underlayer of plastic coating 22 under the lenticular lens is gripped by another roller 21 and drawn into a hollow space within the cartridge. The purpose of this plastic underlayer 22 is to protect an adhesive coating on the underside of the lenticular lens 10 from bonding until desired. As the lenticular lens 10 is drawn forward it is pressed onto the photo paper 9. This bonded lenticular lens 10 and photo paper 9 are drawn through another set of rollers 16 which presses the two substrates tightly, pushing out air bubbles that may result.

[0097] No doubt many other effective alternatives will occur to the skilled person. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments and encompasses modifications apparent to those skilled in the art lying within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

[0098] For example, the disclosure illustrated in the Figures may use one or more of the other bonding methods described above, including bonding through heat, UV, or pressure-activated adhesives.

[0099] For example, multiple feeders for consumables rather than just one port 7 (one for dye-sublimation ribbon 8, one for lenticular lens 10, one for photo paper 9) may be provided in the housing and used in the place of a replaceable cartridge 17.

[0100] For example, as described above, the image forming apparatus may print directly onto the lenticular lens 10 substrate and whereby the image substrate is a layer of white vinyl or other material bonded thereover to protect the printed image.