Abstract: The apparatus for manufacturing ink jet glass tubes includes a vertical mandrel which receives the tubes one at a time from a feeder and rotates them relative to a pair of gas nozzles for their heating. The tube is heated in an axially limited intermediary zone so as to form an hour-glass shaped profile.The profile of the tube is scanned by a television camera which generates two signals indicative of the internal diameter. These are compared electronically with a stored indication of the desired diameter and the two nozzles are rotated into an inactive position when this diameter is reached. The tube is cut along a plane so as to make the profile of the nozzle coincident with a reference profile by a device including an optical device connected to a cutting wheel to permit comparison of the hour-glass profile of the element with the reference profile. The severed end of the tube is then lapped and covered with a non-wettable material.

Abstract: The charge coupled device (23) provides serialized signals from a line of a document (11) to an A/D converter (28). In order to compensate for factors such as non-uniformity of lighting, non-uniformity of CCD cell response and variations with time, a reference strip (29) is read before each reading of a document and the corresponding digital values are stored in a RAM (31). Thereafter the stored values and the values read from each line of the document are compared to provide compensated values to a half tone generator (42) which codes the output. In particular, the comparison is effected by means of an EPROM (32) addressed in part by the digital value derived from a pixel in the line of the document and in part by the digital value stored in the RAM (31) from the corresponding pixel in the reference strip. The values held in the EPROM (32) correspond to the ratios between the addressing values.

Abstract: The flexible bag comprises a container of flexible plastics material having an internal sheet and an external sheet which define a sealed chamber which can be filled with air at low pressure. The sealed chamber is composed of a series of tubes separated by welded seams but in communication with each other. The air causes the container to assume a substantially parallelepipedic external shape and produces an internal housing which is defined by the internal flexible sheet and which is capable of housing an office machine, for example a portable typewriter. The container comprises two handles projecting from the parallelepipedic shape, for facilitating transportation of the container itself, and a valve to permit the container to be inflated only when it is to be used for the protection or transportation of the machine. The container may be easily deflated and in that case can be re-folded on to itself in order substantially to reduce its bulk.

Abstract: The ribbon (17) has an external run between the type element (25) and platen of a daisy-wheel typewriter. This run stretches between terminal members (59) which protrude from side arms (33 and 34) of the cartridge casing (18) and are fixed to the distal ends of arms (39, 41) pivotally mounted in the casing (18) at pivot (52). Ribbon lift levers of the typewriter raise the arms simultaneously to position a selected one of three tracks on the ribbon at the level of the typing. The ribbon is transferred from a feed spool having a flange to a take-up spool having a core tube and which are rotatably supported by the casing. The casing comprises a bottom portion having a resilient tongue with a pawl member positioned adjacent to the take-up spool and a resilient blade adjacent to the feed spool.

Abstract: The correction device is applied to an electronic typewriter with a daisywheel and comprising an electric selector motor which selectively rotates the character-carrying daisywheel in the clockwise and the anti-clockwise directions for selecting the characters to be typed and/or corrected, a carrier for a correcting ribbon and a control member for lifting the carrier and permitting correction of the typed characters. A small correcting solenoid can be activated to couple the control member of the correcting ribbon to the selector motor. The control unit controls the motor and the solenoid in such a way that the selector motor can also actuate the control member in each correction cycle for positioning the correcting ribbon in front of the typing point. In the illustrated form, the solenoid unlatches a lever which drops to bring the control member into mesh with a gear on the motor shaft. The control gear is eccentrically mounted on the lever and a first 180.degree. revolution, corresponding to 360.degree.

Abstract: Apparatus for recording and reproducing data on a magnetic recording medium (27) having a plurality of recording tracks (29) comprises a magnetic head (32) and a mechanism which selectively positions the head (32) with respect to the tracks (29) of the magnetic medium (27). The head has at least two gaps which are of different widths and which can be selected one at a time for reading and/or recording data on the magnetic recording medium (27). A control circuit controls the positioning mechanism to move the head with respect to the magnetic recording medium by a distance which depends on the gap selected. The packing density of tracks on the recording medium determines which gap is selected for use.

Abstract: The electronic circuit connects a processor to a high-capacity memory of 1 Megabyte. The processor may be of the 8 bit type, with a 16 bit address bus (A0-A15). The memory is subdivided into 256 segments each having a capacity of 4 Kbytes which can be directly addressed by the processor by means of 12 (A0-A11) of the 16 lines of the address bus. An auxiliary RAM is interposed between the processor and has 1 Mbyte memory and comprises sixteen 8 bit registers (R0-R15), which can be addressed by means of the other four lines (A12-A15), of the address bus. By means of the 8 bit data bus (D0-D7), the 16 registers of the RAM store the numbers of those 16 segments out of the 256 segments of the 1 Mbyte memory, which from time to time are connected to the processor. In this way the processor, while being able to address only 64 Kbytes of memory at a time, has the whole of the 1 Mbyte memory available. The circuit can be applied to data processing and word processing units and electronic typewriters.

Abstract: The circuit is particularly suitable for controlling a unit for reading and writing data on a magnetic disk. The oscillator (26) is supplied to an input with a bias voltage (R27, R28) and a phase displacement voltage which is defined by a voltage adder (R25, R26, or R23, R24 connected to a resistive divider R21, R22 or R19, R20), comprising at least one resistor (R21, R22 or R19, R20) which is calibratable so as to define a preset voltage component. The adder adds to this component a control component derived by a phase comparator, current pump (19), integrator (21) and operational amplifier (22). The circuit is in the form of a hybrid integrated circuit in which the resistors are produced by means of the deposit of a thick-film resistive layer while the resistance can be calibrated by means of the removal of part of the appropriate deposited resistive layer.

Abstract: The apparatus makes it possible to restore operation of the nozzles of a print head by removing blockages and eliminating any bubbles of air or gases which may have formed in the ink jet printing elements of a dot printer. In the ink jet printing elements of the self-cancelling type in which the parasitic oscillations in the pressure of the ink are damped by the control circuit itself, blockages and air bubbles are eliminated by means of the control circuit which is caused to operate at a higher frequency than that used for the printing operation, under control of a microprocessor electronic selector switch and frequency generator. This is effected simultaneously with the application of a suction effect on the ink in the nozzles. The suction effect is produced by means of a suction pump connected to a resilient cup fitted in front of the nozzles in a parking position of the head beyond the platen.

Abstract: The device comprises an external inertia element which is fixed to a damping member which is coaxially fixed with respect to a shaft of a stepping motor, in such a way that it can rotate together therewith. The external inertia element comprises a metal mass in the form of an annulus of limited thickness. The damping member comprises a first circular flange to which the annulus is fixed, a second circular flange by means of which the device is fixed to the shaft and an annulus of elastomeric material connecting the two flanges. The materials and the dimensions of the device can be calculated, proportioned and pre-arranged in such a way that the device is compact but can stop oscillations of the stepping motor in a very short time. The device is particularly suited to damping the oscillations of a stepping motor which is used for example for positioning a printing member with respect to a print point or for positioning a recording head with respect to a magnetic disc.

Abstract: Each print element is connected to the head by means of a resilient blade pivoted on the head and is movable in two directions, respectively parallel and perpendicular to the direction of movement of the head, to vary the relative position of the nozzles. The nozzles of the print elements are disposed along a straight line which is inclined with respect to the direction of movement of the head. The head can be rotated to vary the inclination of the nozzles, thereby to provide different print definitions. A parking station is further provided for the head to clean and keep the nozzles in contact with an atmosphere saturated with a solvent for the ink, to prevent the ink from drying out in the nozzles.

Abstract: A magnetic head is mounted on a carriage which is movable radially with respect to a disc. The carriage is slidable on two balls rolling in a groove in a guide pivoted to the base and pressed against the carriage by a spring. The carriage is moved by a drive roller which rolls against a track on the carriage opposite to the guide.The roller is connected to the carriage by means of a flexible metal strip which is fixed to the roller at the center and to the carriage at its ends. The guide which is pivoted on the base makes it impossible automatically to take up clearances between the carriage and the guide. The carriage may be of very small dimensions and weight so that the reduced inertia of the carriage enhances the degree of precision of the movements of the head from one track on the magnetic disc to another.

Abstract: The ribbon (17) has an external run between the type element (25) and platen of a daisy-wheel typewriter. This run stretches between terminal members (59) which protrude from side arms (33 and 34) of the cartridge casing (18) and are fixed to the distal ends of arms (39, 41) pivotally mounted in the casing (18) at pivot (52). The arms (39, 41) are biased downwardly by wire springs (67) to expose the typing line. Ribbon lift levers of the typewriter raise the arms simultaneously to position a selected one of three tracks on the ribbon at the level of the typing point and a single drive shaft provides for the advancement of the ribbon. The cartridge comprises a feed spool and a take-up spool for the ribbon, a drive roller and a pressure roller which nip the ribbon internally to the casing, a transmission mechanism having a series of pinions and gears for transmitting the drive motion from the drive shaft of the typewriter to the pressure roller and to the take-up spool of the cartridge.

Abstract: The carriage is displaced by a tooth belt which is moved continuously by an electric motor and is connected to the carriage be means of an element engaged between two teeth of the belt and slidable on the carriage in a direction perpendicular to the direction of displacement of the carriage. The pulleys are provided with a recess capable of engaging the element in such a way as to move it positively in said perpendicular direction. The carriage is also connected by means of a tension spring to a strip provided with areas of an optical encoder in respect of the print positions. The upper paper pressure arrangement is formed by two rollers carried by two sliders fitted into corresponding longitudinal slots in the fixed support. The paper is carried by a feed reel which is carried by two arms which can be fitted by catch engagement on corresponding shoulders on the fixed support. The printer is particularly suitable for being connected to the output of a personal or home computer.

Abstract: The head comprises a hollow body (21) carrying a series of capillary tubes (12) of rigid material, on to each of which is fixed a sleeve-type piezoelectric transducer (16). A resin (26) is injected into the hollow body so as to encase first portions of the transducers. A flexible printed circuit (28) is connected to another portion (26) of the transducers, the circuit having a series of pairs of conducting areas hot-soldered to two conducting terminals disposed on the outside surfaces of the transducers.The printed circuit (28) is fixed between the hollow body (21) and an intermediate block (35) which is closed by means of a sealing diaphragm (38), having a series of sleeves (40) which are a close fit on the ends of the capillary tubes remote from the nozzles.

Abstract: The cartridge comprises a shutter for closing the openings (18) for access to the disk on the two faces thereof. The shutter is formed by a hollow bar (24) carrying two closure plates (21) and slidable in both directions along a guide (26) adjacent to an edge 19 of the cartridge. A tension spring (28) which passes through the hollow bar 24 is connected to two blocks 30 which are slidable in the guide (26) and which are arranged to be entrained by the bar (24). The trailing block cannot follow the bar because a tongue (31) on the block abuts the end of an elongated lug (32) extending along the central part of the guide (26).The reading device comprises a case for receiving the cartridge and a lever which is rotated when the cartridge is inserted and carries an element for pushing the shutter aside. The lever 53 is controlled by a cam slot carried by a slide member which is manually actuable to provide for expulsion of the cartridge.

Abstract: A print unit for an electronic typewriter comprising a removable character-carrying disc with flexible spokes which is operated by a selector motor which in turn is controlled by a control circuit. The character-carrying disc is provided with a plurality of reflective identification plates and a recognition circuit detects the pattern of the reflective plates present in selected ones of a series of predetermined angular sectors of the disc to identify some characteristics of the disc, e.g. typing pitch and character set. The angular position of the disc is detected by a position transducer which generates a position signal for the control circuit having a period which is double the angular distance between two contiguous character-carrying spokes discriminating the spokes at even positions from those at odd positions.

Abstract: The apparatus records and reads binary information on a magnetic disk having magnetizable surfaces subdivided into a plurality of concentric tracks in which the information is recorded in block form (sectors). A first electric motor rotates the magnetic disk at a substantially constant angular velocity, and a second motor (22) of stepping type is operable to position the magnetic recording and reading heads (16, 17) with respect to the recording tracks of the disk. On each track, each block of binary information contains prerecorded burst information which, when read by the corresponding magnetic head, is capable of causing micrometric rotary adjusting movements of the stepping motor to bring the magnetic head into precise alignment with the selected recording track and to hold it in that position. Thus amplitude information from two bursts either side of the center line of the track is compared (52, 55, 59, 58) to provide a signal (.mu.STEP) when the amplitude discrepancy exceeds a threshold, and a signal (.

Abstract: In an electronic typewriter having a printing device of the daisywheel type, the direct current electric motors which control the rotation of the character-carrying element, the movement of the carriage along the various printing positions and the rotation of the platen roller for line spacing are associated with corresponding transducers which detect the angular position thereof, and are actuated by a single integrated circuit connected to a microprocessor by an address and data bus (43). The microprocessor determines, for each of the motors, the angular amplitude of the rotary movement and the time required to cover each of the elementary angular distances, in accordance with a given speed law and addresses with data, including the said time, a plurality of circuit modules (B1, B2, B3) individual to the motors. The modules issue motor command signals (e.g. M11, M21, M31).

Abstract: Two consecutive voltage pulses of equal duration (T.sub.1, T.sub.2) and opposite polarities are applied to the control circuit. The two pulses which are combined together and amplified give rise to a signal of a particular wave form, which is applied to the piezoelectric transducer (104) for the expulsion of a drop of ink, free from disturbances caused by vibration of the meniscus at the time of separation of the drop, and to provide for cancellation of the reflected waves in the conduit.The transducer (104) forms in the ink conduit (102) a pressure wave of complex form, a first portion thereof contributing to the expulsion of a drop of ink and a second portion which is suitably out-of-phase with respect to the first portion neutralizing the reflection phenomena caused by the first portion.