Patents by Inventor Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5830263
    Abstract: A method of printing a liquid ink which is produced from a heat activated dye which is selected from a limited group of dyes which are capable of transfer at low energy. A printer which uses liquid ink, such as an ink jet printer, prints an image onto an intermediate substrate medium. The dyes contained in the ink are not substantially activated during the process of printing on to the medium. The image formed by the printed ink is transferred from the medium to a final substrate by the application of heat and pressure for a short period of time to activate the ink. The dye and dispersing/emulsifying agent(s) are selected from a limited group to produce an ink which permits thermal transfer at low energy, with the resulting image, as deposited on the final substrate, having an optical density of 1.0 or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1998
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5642141
    Abstract: A method of printing a liquid ink which is produced from a heat activated dye which is selected from a limited group of dyes which are capable of transfer at low energy. A printer which uses liquid ink, such as an ink jet printer, prints an image onto an intermediate substrate medium. The dyes contained in the ink are not substantially activated during the process of printing on to the medium. The image formed by the printed ink is transferred from the medium to a final substrate by the application of heat and pressure for a short period of time to activate the ink. The dye and dispersing/emulsifying agent(s) are selected from a limited group to produce an ink which permits thermal transfer at low energy, with the resulting image, as deposited on the final substrate, having an optical density of 1.0 or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5640180
    Abstract: A method of printing a liquid ink which is produced from a heat activated dye which is selected from a limited group of dyes which are capable of transfer at low energy. A printer which uses liquid ink, such as an ink jet printer, prints an image onto an intermediate substrate medium. The dyes contained in the ink are not substantially activated during the process of printing on to the medium. The image formed by the printed ink is transferred from the medium to a final substrate by the application of heat and pressure for a short period of time to activate the ink. The dye and dispersing/emulsifying agent(s) are selected from a limited group to produce an ink which permits thermal transfer at low energy, with the resulting image, as deposited on the final substrate, having an optical density of 1.0 or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5590600
    Abstract: An image is printed on a medium by means of an electrographic device using an ink composition comprising heat activated inks, without substantial activation of the inks during the process of printing the image onto the medium. A molecular sieve added to the ink composition assists activation control. The image is transferred from the medium to the object on which the image is to permanently appear by applying sufficient heat and pressure to the medium to activate and permanently transfer the inks from the medium to an object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1997
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5575877
    Abstract: An image is permanently transferred to a substrate having a cotton component, or other component which is absorbent or porous, from a medium printed with the image by a computer driven printer. A polymer surface preparation material is printed by the computer driven printer onto the medium and over the image without printing the material substantially beyond the margins of the image and onto unprinted portions of the medium. The image is transferred from the medium to the substrate by applying sufficient heat and pressure to the medium to transfer the ink and the surface preparation material, with the surface preparation material bonding the ink to the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1996
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5555813
    Abstract: An image is printed on a medium by means of an electrographic device using an ink composition comprising heat activated inks, without substantial activation of the inks during the process of printing the image onto the medium. A molecular sieve added to the ink composition assists activation control. The image is transferred from the medium to the object on which the image is to permanently appear by applying sufficient heat and pressure to the medium to activate and permanently transfer the inks from the medium to an object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1996
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan Hale, Ming Xu
  • Patent number: 5488907
    Abstract: An image is printed on a medium by means of an ink jet printer using an ink composition comprising heat activated ink solids, without activating the ink solids during the process of printing onto the medium. The image is transferred from the medium to the object on which the image is to permanently appear by applying sufficient heat and pressure to the medium to activate and transfer the ink to the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 6, 1996
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Ming Xu, Nathan Hale
  • Patent number: 5302223
    Abstract: An image is permanently printed on an object by capturing the image, printing heat sensitive ink solids by thermal means onto a medium, and then transferring the ink solids from the medium to the object by applying sufficient heat to the ink solids to cause the heat sensitive ink to permanently bond to the object in the desired image. The heat sensitive transfer ink is printed onto the medium by thermal printing means at a temperature which will release and print the ink, but which is below the temperature which will cause the heat sensitive ink to bond permanently. The image is then transferred from the medium onto the object at a higher temperature which will cause the sensitive ink to permanently bond to the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1994
    Assignee: Sawgrass Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Nathan Hale
  • Patent number: 5248363
    Abstract: A transfer medium is produced by capturing an image and printing heat sensitive ink solids in the form of the image by thermal means onto a receptor. The image may then be transferred from the medium to the object by applying sufficient heat to the medium to cause the heat sensitive ink to permanently bond to the object in the desired image. The heat sensitive transfer ink is printed onto the receptor to prepare the medium by thermal printing means at a temperature which will release and print the ink, but which is below the temperature which will cause the heat sensitive ink to bond permanently. The image may then be transferred from the medium onto the object at a higher temperature which will cause the sensitive ink to permanently bond to the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1993
    Inventor: Nathan Hale
  • Patent number: 5246518
    Abstract: An image is permanently printed on an object having a synthetic component by capturing the image, printing the image by means of sublimation ink onto a medium, with the image then transferred from the medium to the object by applying sufficient heat to the medium to sublimate the ink, causing the ink to permanently bond to the object in the desired image. The sublimation ink is transferred to the medium by a printer from a ribbon, and/or by a means having a wax component which will bond the sublimation ink to the medium in precisely the desired design, yielding excellent resolution and bright, vivid colors in the final printing of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 21, 1993
    Inventor: Nathan Hale