Patent ID: 7810538

Claim:
Apparatus for forming a dye sublimation image in a substrate with a dye carrier having an image formed thereon of a sublimatic dyestuff, the apparatus comprising: a platen, for disposing thereon the substrate, the substrate having further disposed thereon the dye carrier such that the sublimatic dyestuff is in contact with the substrate; a membrane for covering the substrate, the dye carrier, and at least a portion of the platen; a clamping system for applying, with the membrane, a uniform clamping pressure to the substrate and the dye carrier, which clamps the substrate and dye carrier to the platen; a heating device for heating the substrate and the dye carrier from their ambient temperature to a first temperature and for a period of time requisite to form the image in the substrate; and a cooling device for cooling the substrate and the dye carrier to a second temperature following the heating thereof, wherein the clamping system is able to provide the uniform clamping pressure to the substrate and dye carrier as the substrate and dye carrier is in the heating device and the cooling device and therebetween, wherein the platen comprises a vacuum orifice, and wherein the membrane covers the vacuum orifice, and wherein the clamping system comprises a vacuum system for applying a vacuum to the vacuum orifice to create a vacuum between the platen and the membrane.