Patent ID: 7137696

Claim:
A method for printing a substrate, product, article or other object at a printing station, comprising the steps of: printing ink dots comprising a UV-curable ink on a substrate, product, article or other object with a printer having a printer head at a printing station; setting and partially curing the ink dots by emitting substantially constant intensity UV light from a primary light source comprising stagggered arrays of UV-LED assemblies on ink dots printed on the substrate, product, article or other object thereby to partially polymerize, coalesce, coagulate or gel the ink dots to substantially inhibit, and prevent running, smudging, growing, or bleeding of the ink dots, said UV light intensity being maintained substantially constant by substantially continuously measuring the UV light intensity or heat output from the primary light source and then cooling the primary light source as a function of or in proportion to the measured UV light intensity or measured heat output to maintain substantially constant UV light intensity, and completing the curing of the partially cured ink dots by emitting UV light on the ink dots from a secondary UV light source located adjacent to or downstream of the printer head and above or below the ink dots to substantially completely polymerize, coalesce, gel, or coagulate the ink dots.