Abstract: A piezoelectric ink jet printing module has a semiconductive material on a surface of a piezoelectric element of the module.

Abstract: In an aspect, the invention features an apparatus and method for cleaning with a flow of gas. In embodiments, a gas cleaning assembly is provided that includes a nozzle outlet that directs cleaning gas, e.g., toward a work piece, and a sheath gas jacket surrounding at least a portion of the nozzle that directs a sheath gas into contact with the nozzle.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing an ink jet printing module can include forming a piezoelectric element having a stiffened surface.

Abstract: A piezoelectric ink jet head that includes a polymer film, for example a flex print, located between the piezoelectric element and the reservoirs in the jet body. The film provides an efficient seal for the reservoirs and also positions the electrodes on the side of the piezoelectric element in which motion is effected, which can reduce the magnitude of the drive voltage. This location of the compliant flex print material also can enhance electrical and mechanical isolation between reservoirs, which improves jetting accuracy. The compliance of the polymer also reduces strain on the ink jet head.

Abstract: During a print cycle, fire pulses of different profiles are delivered to ink-jets of a print head. Selected ones of the ink-jets are enabled in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control a characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.

Abstract: In the embodiments of the simplified ink jet head described in the specification, a carbon body is formed with ink passages, such as internal passages extending through a carbon plate, pressure chambers on one side of a carbon plate, flow-through passages on the other side of the same plate and ink supply passages, and a piezoelectric plate is affixed to the pressure chamber side of the carbon plate by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive. The piezoelectric plate may have a conductive coating on one side which is photo-etched to produce an electrode pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pressure chambers in the carbon plate. An orifice plate may have specially profiled orifice openings to assure axial projection of drops and may be affixed by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive to a carbon plate having orifice passages supplying ink from the pressure chambers to the orifices.

Abstract: A piezoelectric device can be prepared by placing an acicular seed crystal on a substrate, orienting the seed crystal on the substrate, and growing a piezoelectric film from the acicular seed crystal.

Abstract: During a print cycle, fire pulses of different profiles are delivered to ink-jets of a print head. Selected ones of the ink-jets are enabled in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control a characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.

Abstract: Conditioning an ink jet orifice by illuminating the orifice with radiation to remove contaminants, smooth rough surfaces, and/or round sharp edges.

Abstract: A print head has an array of ink orifices arranged to selectively deposit drops of ink along parallel print lines on the medium while the medium and the print head undergo relative motion in a printing direction parallel to the print lines, the printing being completed in a single pass of the print head relative the medium. The orifices in the array are arranged in a pattern such that adjacent parallel print lines on the medium are served by orifices that have different positions in the array along the direction of the print lines. The different positions of the orifices that serve any pair of adjacent parallel lines are separated by no less than a first predetermined distance along the direction of the print lines.

Abstract: A single-pass print head has multiple orifice plates each serving some but not all of the area to be printed. In embodiments, the printhead includes an array of ink jet outlets sufficient to cover a target of a print substrate at a predetermined resolution, and orifice plates, each of the orifice plates having orifices, each of the orifice plates serving some but not all of the area to be printed. The orifices are arranged in a pattern such that adjacent parallel lines on the print medium are served by orifices that have different positions in the array along the direction of the print lines, that are separated by a distance that is at least an order of magnitude greater than the distance between adjacent orifices in a direction perpendicular to the print line direction.

Abstract: During a print cycle, fire pulses of different profiles are delivered to ink-jets of a print head. Selected ones of the ink-jets are enabled in coordination with the occurrence of selected ones of the fire pulses to control a characteristic of drops that are jetted by the respective ink-jets.

Abstract: Conditioning an ink jet orifice by illuminating the orifice with radiation from a laser to remove contaminants and smooth rough surfaces.

Abstract: In the embodiments described in the specification, a piezoelectric transducer has electrodes to the piezoelectric layer with an adhesive bonding agent under pressure applied hydraulically so as to be distributed uniformly throughout the surface of the piezoelectric layer. In one embodiment the dielectric film also carries conductor arrays for connecting the electrodes to remote driver chips at locations spaced from the surface of the piezoelectric layer.

Abstract: In the embodiments of the simplified ink jet head described in the specification, a carbon body is formed with ink passages, such as internal passages extending through a carbon plate, pressure chambers on one side of a carbon plate, flowthrough passages on the other side of the same plate and ink supply passages, and a piezoelectric plate is affixed to the pressure chamber side of the carbon plate by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive. In one alternative embodiment, an ink jet head assembly contains two separate carbon pressure chamber plates, a carbon manifold plate and a carbon collar to retain the carbon plates in an assembly.

Abstract: A single-pass print head has multiple orifice plates each serving some but not all of the area to be printed.

Abstract: A method of single pass printing, a single pass ink jet print head has an array of ink jet orifices arranged transversely to a substrate which moves relative to the print head during printing. A pump supplies ink from an ink reservoir to the print head. UV curable ink is provided in the reservoir. The UV curable ink is jetted through the orifices to print on the substrate. The UV-curable ink is circulated through the print head when jetting and when not jetting.

Abstract: In the method and apparatus for printing bar codes on cartons disclosed in the specification, cartons on which bar codes are to be printed are conveyed in succession in either direction past a heater which heats a selected portion of the carton surface and a hot melt ink jet printer which prints a bar code on the heater portion of the bar code surface. The carton surface portion is heated to a temperature which is above ambient temperature by an amount which is equal to about 40% to 100% of the difference between ambient temperature and the solidification temperature of the hot melt ink.

Abstract: In a ground penetrating radar system, A-scan images of subsurface targets lying along the antenna boresight axis can be substantially improved and generated in real-time by employing a synthetic aperture, end-fire array, despite the inhomogeneous nature of the subsurface volume. The synthetic aperture, end-fire array is achieved by generating electro-magnetic (EM) ultra-wideband impulses at a number of precise locations along the antenna boresight access, shifting the returned EM signals in the time domain according to the corresponding antenna boresight location, and then integrating the shifted, returned EM signals.

Abstract: In the embodiments described in the specification, electrodes are bonded to the surface of a ceramic piezoelectric layer by supporting electrodes having a reduced dimension on a flexible dielectric film and placing the dielectric film under tension to expand the film and the electrodes sufficiently to conform the electrodes to the desired electrode pattern on the ceramic piezoelectric layer. The electrodes are then bonded to the piezoelectric layer with an adhesive bonding agent under pressure applied hydraulically so as to be distributed uniformly throughout the surface of the piezoelectric layer. In one embodiment the dielectric film also carries conductor arrays for connecting the electrodes to remote driver chips at locations spaced from the surface of the piezoelectric layer.