Abstract: The device (18) for detecting end of paper comprises a support (43) mounted on a wall (26) of a printer (10) of receipts, obtained from a tape (12) of paper wound on a roll (14), contained in a housing (15) of the printer (10). The printer (10) is preferentially employed at a Point Of Sale (POS) and may be arranged on a horizontal work plane (21) set on its base (22), or inclined by about 90°, on a front wall (24). As a result, the roll (14) is set into the housing (15) alternatively in two positions, corresponding to the inclination assumed by the printer. A detecting lever (54) in hinge-mounted on the support (43) and is provided with two arms (55, 56) spread apart, forming an angle of approximately 120°.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead (40) for the emission of droplets of ink on a print medium (46) comprises a reservoir (103) containing ink (142), a die (61), a slot (102) engraved in said die (61) and a plurality of ejectors (73), each of which in turn comprises a chamber (74), a resistor (27) and a nozzle (56), each of said chambers (74) being put in fluid communication with said slot (102) through a plurality of elementary ducts (72) lying on a different plane from the bottom (67) of said chamber (74).

Abstract: An actuating assembly (50) for ink jet printheads consists of a silicon die (61), which comprises a groove (45) and a lamina (64), and of a structure (75) produced monolithically in the same production process. The actuating assembly (50) comprises a microhydraulics (63), the latter in turn comprising a plurality of channels (67) and chambers (57), made inside the structure (75) by means of a sacrificial metallic layer (54). A conducting layer (26) forms a single interconnected equipotential network used as the electrode during the processes of electrochemical etch stopping on the groove (45), of electrodeposition of the sacrificial layer (54) and of the latter's subsequent removal.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead (40) for the emission of droplets of ink on a print medium (46) comprises a reservoir (103) containing ink (142), a die (61), a slot (102) engraved in said die (61) and a plurality of ejectors (73), each of which in turn comprises a chamber (74), a resistor (27) and a nozzle (56), each of said chambers (74) being put in fluid communication with said slot (102) through a plurality of elementary ducts (72) lying on a different plane from the bottom (67) of said chamber (74).

Abstract: A method for manufacturing an ejection head (10) or ejector suitable for ejecting in the form of droplets (16) a liquid (14) conveyed inside the ejection head (10), comprising a step of producing, from a silicon wafer, a nozzle plate (12) having at least one ejection nozzle (13); a step of producing, from another silicon wafer, a substrate (11) having at least one actuator (15) for activating the ejection of the droplets of liquid through the nozzle (13); and a step of joining the nozzle plate (12) and the substrate (11) together to form the ejection head, wherein this joining step comprises the production of a junction (25), made by means of the anodic bonding technology, between the substrate (11) and the nozzle plate (12), in such a way that, in the area of this junction (25), the ejection head (10) does not present structural discontinuities, and also possesses a resistance to chemical corrosion by the liquid (14) contained in the ejection head (10) at least equal to that of the silicon constituting both

Abstract: A process for manufacturing a monolithic thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising a plurality of chambers (74) and of nozzles (56), comprises steps of (206) depositing a plurality of sacrificial layers (31), of obtaining, by means of exposure and development operations, a plurality of casts (156), of (215) applying a structural layer (107), and subsequently steps of (225) removing the casts (156) and of (226) removing the sacrificial layers (31), in order to produce a plurality of chambers (74) and nozzles (56).

Abstract: This invention relates to a water-based ink for ink-jet thermal printing containing a surface-active agent having, at a certain concentration, a slow dynamic rearrangement. This surfactant system gives the ink a high surface tension under dynamic conditions which grants greater droplet ejection frequencies with respect to the inks usually employed. At the same time, the ink's low static surface tension value means that it has correct paper wettability properties.

Abstract: A process for manufacturing a monolithic thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising a plurality of chambers (74) and of nozzles (56), comprises steps of (206) depositing a plurality of sacrificial layers (31), of obtaining, by means of exposure and development operations, a plurality of casts (156), of (215) applying a structural layer (107), and subsequently steps of (225) removing the casts (156) and of (226) removing the sacrificial layers (31), in order to produce a plurality of chambers (74) and nozzles (56).

Abstract: This invention relates to an ink jet system (10) and to a corresponding method of use suitable for rendering the printing characteristics homogeneous upon changes in working conditions, such as the type of printing medium, inks and ambient conditions. The object is attained through optical means (24) suitable for detecting the quantity of light reflected by appropriate patterns and a control unit (21) suitable for processing the data corresponding to the quantity of light reflected in order to identify the real dimensions of the ink droplets (dot size) on the printing medium and for transmitting them to the print management programs or print drivers (67b). The system (10) and method guarantee total independence from the working conditions, with the result that the images printed will be uniform no matter what the conditions.

Abstract: A monolithic thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising a groove (45), a plurality of chambers (74) and nozzles (56) is manufactured by means of steps of: (203, 205) partially etching the groove (45) by means of a “dry” process and a “wet” process; (210) depositing a plurality of sacrificial layers (54); (212) obtaining a plurality of casts (156); (216) completing the etching of the groove (45) by means of an electrochemical process; and (220) removing the casts (156) and the sacrificial layers (54) in such a way as to obtain a plurality of nozzles (56) and chambers (74).

Abstract: This invention relates to a printhead in which a plurality of resistors are selectively activated by an external control circuit to produce the ejection of droplets of ink through nozzles located in correspondence with the resistors. Selection and activation are performed according to a matrix having a plurality of vertical lines corresponding to the number of resistors per group of nozzles and a plurality of horizontal lines corresponding to the number of groups of nozzles in the head. The groups of nozzles in the polychromatic head comprise real nozzles and fictitious nozzles, as a result of which the groups of nozzles have a regular layout, and are uniformly distributed and equivalent to the corresponding layout of a monochromatic head. With this solution, polychromatic heads having the same number and the same disposition of contacts with the external circuit and the same height as a monochromatic head can be manufactured simply.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead (40) for the emission of drops of ink on a print medium (46) comprises a tank (103) containing ink (142), a lamina (67), a groove (45) and a plurality of ejectors (73), each of which comprises in turn a chamber (74) placed laterally with respect to the groove (45), and fluidly connected thereto by means of a plurality of elementary ducts (75) produced on said lamina (67).

Abstract: A method for manufacturing an ejection head (10) or ejector suitable for ejecting in the form of droplets (16) a liquid (14) conveyed inside the ejection head (10), comprising a step of producing, from a silicon wafer, a nozzle plate (12) having at least one ejection nozzle (13); a step of producing, from another silicon wafer, a substrate (11) having at least one actuator (15) for activating the ejection of the droplets of liquid through the nozzle (13); and a step of joining the nozzle plate (12) and the substrate (11) together to form the ejection head, wherein this joining step comprises the production of a junction (25), made by means of the anodic bonding technology, between the substrate (11) and the nozzle plate (12), in such a way that, in the area of this junction (25), the ejection head (10) does not present structural discontinuities, and also possesses a resistance to chemical corrosion by the liquid (14) contained in the ejection head (10) at least equal to that of the silicon constituting both

Abstract: An actuating assembly (50) for ink jet printheads consists of a silicon die (61), which comprises a groove (45) and a lamina (64), and of a structure (75) produced monolithically in the same production process. The actuating assembly (50) comprises a microhydraulics (63), the latter in turn comprising a plurality of channels (67) and chambers (57), made inside the structure (75) by means of a sacrificial metallic layer (54). A conducting layer (26) forms a single interconnected equipotential network used as the electrode during the processes of electrochemical etch stopping on the groove (45), of electrodeposition of the sacrificial layer (54) and of the latter's subsequent removal.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing an ejection head (10) or ejector suitable for ejecting in the form of droplets (16) a liquid (14) conveyed inside the ejection head (10), comprising a step of producing, from a silicon wafer, a nozzle plate (12) having at least one ejection nozzle (13); a step of producing, from another silicon wafer, a substrate (11) having at least one actuator (15) for activating the ejection of the droplets of liquid through the nozzle (13); and a step of joining the nozzle plate (12) and the substrate (11) together to form the ejection head, wherein this joining step comprises the production of a junction (25), made by means of the anodic bonding technology, between the substrate (11) and the nozzle plate (12), in such a way that, in the area of this junction (25), the ejection head (10) does not present structural discontinuities, and also possesses a resistance to chemical corrosion by the liquid (14) contained in the ejection head (10) at least equal to that of the silicon constituting both

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead (40) for the emission of droplets of ink on a print medium (46) comprises a reservoir (103) containing ink (142), a die (61), a slot (102) engraved in said die (61) and a plurality of ejectors (73), each of which in turn comprises a chamber (74), a resistor (27) and a nozzle (56), each of said chambers (74) being put in fluid communication with said slot (102) through a plurality of elementary ducts (72) lying on a different plane from the bottom (67) of said chamber (74).

Abstract: A multifunction terminal is suitable for performing the functions of printing, scanning, copying, fax transmission and reception and/or sorting of documents. It comprises feeding stations (12, 14) for the sheets and the originals, a feeding path (18) with a printer (51) and a data reader (55), and a reception assembly (20) mounted pivotingly on a frame (10) and comprising reception holders (64, 65) and intermediate storing trays (62, 63). The sheets and the originals are fed by feeding members (77) into the storing trays, are retained there and displaced before being fed back into the feeding path where they are turned over for processing, printing, reading of their second face. Accordingly a multifunction terminal is obtained, which is simple to build, compact and reliable, providing a large number of duplex processing functions, all at a very moderate cost price.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead (40) for the emission of droplets of ink on a print medium (46) comprises a reservoir (103) containing ink (142), a die (61), a slot (102) engraved in said die (61) and a plurality of ejectors (73), each of which in turn comprises a chamber (74), a resistor (27) and a nozzle (56), each of said chambers (74) being put in fluid communication with said slot (102) through a plurality of elementary ducts (72) lying on a different plane from the bottom (67) of said chamber (74).

Abstract: This invention relates to a device for converting bit strings from a first resolution to a second resolution suitable for application, in particular, on peripherals such as printers, scanners or facsimile machines. The device comprises a source register 31 in which a string of bits to be converted is stored by a CPU 11, a destination register 32 from which the CPU 11 extracts the converted string, and a pair of control registers 21 and 22 which cooperate for converting bit by bit the bit strings from the source register 31 to the destination register 32. The control registers 21 and 22, the source register 31 and the destination register 32 operate independently from the CPU 11 used and at a clock rate (clk2) greater than that (clk1) of the CPU 11, thereby permitting extremely fast conversion times.

Abstract: This invention relates to an integrated printhead (20) for ink jet printers, wherein the addressing of the various nozzles is effected in at least 3-D mode. The head (20) comprises a plurality of groups (24) of ink jet elements (21, 22) arranged in M rows and L columns wherein, in particular, the selection and activation of the different columns L are performed, under the control of an external drive circuit, by means of logic circuits (25) inside the head itself (20). The head (20) is advantageous with respect to the known art in that it does not require control of the L columns under critical conditions such as highly variable electric currents with very high peak values.