Non-impact single and multi-ply printing method and apparatus

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a non-impact single and multi-ply printing method and apparatus which do not have the disadvantages of the prior art methods and apparatus described in the previous section.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which are suitable for imaging single and multi-ply business form assemblies.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which are efficient to operate and which minimize dependence on mechanical moving parts.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which are electronic based so that the speed of printing is substantially enhanced.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which produce multiple copies of approximately equal quality when printing commonly used multiple-ply business form assemblies.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which is only "live" during the imaging process, and, therefore, which cannot be smudged or bruised during subsequent forms handling equipment and processing by the postal service.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which provide characters of sufficient quality on multi-part forms to be readily read in OCR scanners and other automatic character recognition apparatus.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which are suitable for use in remote printing applications such as at or substantially proximate to the desired destination of a business form or mailer, and, accordingly, can be used for such applications as electronic mail.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide a non-impact printing method and apparatus which are suitable for use in connection with pre-inserted mailers, contest blanks, credit cards or other applications where one or more layers or sheets must be imaged in a selective fashion