Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus which records by discharging ink onto a recording medium comprises recording head for recording on the recording medium by discharging ink through discharge ports; an ink tank for storing the ink; a first ink flow channel for passing the ink from the ink tank to the recording head; a second ink flow channel for passing the ink from the recording head into the ink tank; a third ink flow channel communicating the ink tank with the first ink channel; a filter provided in the first ink flow channel; and a back flow prevention valve provided in the first, the second and the third ink flow channels.

Abstract: A high density ink jet printhead having a body subassembly comprising a piezoelectric main block having metallic layers disposed on first and second sides thereof, and first and second piezoelectric sheets secured to front portions of the metallic layers. A first and second laterally spaced series of elongated parallel grooves extending between the front and rear ends of the subassembly and extending into the first and second sides through the first and second piezoelectric sheets, and the first and second metallic layers; the first series of grooves being in precise lateral alignment with the second series of grooves. First and second cover blocks are secured to the opposite piezoelectric sheets over the open grooves to form a first and a second series of interior ink channels.

Abstract: An ink jet printing head which prints image data with ink droplets without impairing print quality or causing the recording paper to be excessively wetted. The ink jet recording head includes pressure producing chambers communicating with nozzle openings, and piezoelectric vibrating elements for expanding and contracting the pressure producing chambers. Whether print data is graphics image data or text data is determined by a data judging unit, and as a result of the determination, a time constant of a variable time constant adjusting unit is set to a longer time in the case of printing image data than in the case of printing text data. Also the pressure producing chambers are caused to expand without undergoing damped oscillation for a time which is longer than the natural vibration cycle of the piezoelectric vibrating element.

Abstract: A nozzle arrangement structure in an ink jet print head. A plurality of pressure chambers are arranged in circular form, and a plurality of nozzles receive an ink supply from the corresponding pressure chambers and are arranged in an zig zag arrangement to obtain a small interval between the dots. Two straight lines concerning the zig zag arrangement are inclined against a printing direction and a direction perpendicular to the printing direction. When an ink discharge from the nozzles is controlled, preprocessing of serial data is carried out by hardware.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises a mounting portion on which an ink jet cartridge is detachably mounted, the cartridge having a connector and a recording head portion for discharging ink to perform image recording. The mounting portion has a body connector associated therewith for electrically connecting the connector of the cartridge to the apparatus. A recording head positioner positions the recording head portion of the cartridge on the mounting portion. An operation device displaces the cartridge and the body connector relative to each other to connect the body connector to the cartridge connector.

Abstract: Inkjet printing head utilizing a shear mode and, simultaneously, tension and compression modes for effectively preventing damage to the contact interface of the piezoelectric device, includes at least one piezoelectric device installed on a pressure channel, having shear, tension and compression modes and combined with the upper and lower plates of the channel, the piezoelectric device having electrodes supplying an electrical field thereof.

Abstract: An ink jet recording head for ejecting ink drops by expanding or shrinking a pressure generation chamber of an ink flow route forming member consisting of nozzle openings, the pressure generation chamber, an ink supply port, and a reservoir. Piezoelectric vibrators are disposed and fixed in a row with a predetermined pitch, to a piezoelectric vibrator support plate having excellent cutting properties and the piezoelectric vibrator support plate is fixed to a base made of material having a larger rigidity than the support plate. If the piezoelectric vibrator support plate receives reaction forces when ink is ejected, the base having a larger rigidity than the support plate resists the reaction force and suppresses undesired displacement of the contiguous piezoelectric vibrators.

Abstract: The interconnections for transmitting print commands from a printer to a printhead are reduced by the use of on-printhead circuitry. In a basic embodiment, the printhead driver circuitry includes a matrix of drivers controlled by gates, power and control interconnections. Interconnections are reduced by enabling rows and columns of drivers with the power and control interconnections. A multiplexer may also be added to further reduce control interconnections. In an advanced embodiment, the printhead driver circuitry includes a register for converting a serial stream of print enable signals from the printer into a format for applying such signals concurrently to switching devices for one or more heater resistors. An address generator on the printhead generates address signals in response to an address generating signal from the printer. The printer provides constant power to the printhead so that energizing of the heater resistors is a function of the address and print enable signals and not of the power.

Abstract: Disclosed is an ink-jet type recording device that includes drive signal generation circuit 84 for generating a trapezoidal drive signal in synchronization with a timing signal applied from an external device, switching transistors respectively for outputting a drive signal to piezoelectric vibrators in accordance with a printing signal applied from an external device, and control signal generation means for generating a pulse signal to turn on the switching transistors so that only a portion of the drive signal is output to any piezoelectric vibrators set in a non-printing condition in synchronization with a timing signal. This portion of the drive signal is applied to the piezoelectric vibrators belonging to those nozzle openings that should not jet out ink droplets in accordance with the pulse signal, so that menisci in the nozzle openings are merely vibrated slightly, respectively.

Abstract: An inkjet print head and inkjet printer can stabilize the characteristic of ink discharge and improve the quality of printing by providing a vibrating plate, a part of which is vibrated by deforming a piezoelectric element corresponding to a pressure chamber without transmission of the vibration to any other vibrating plate part corresponding to another pressure chamber. The inkjet print head and inkjet printer can prevent any floating in the grounding electrode. In the inkjet print head and inkjet printer, furthermore, the characteristic of ink droplet discharge can be stabilized by reducing and equalizing the distance between the grounding electrode and each of the piezoelectric element electrode. A head unit is mounted on a base which includes a support for supporting the parts of the vibrating plate corresponding to the respective nozzles.

Abstract: A recording apparatus for recording an image, by a recording device, on a recording medium having been conveyed to a position opposite to the recording device. The apparatus comprises a conveyor for conveying the recording medium to a recording region where a platen is disposed, a detector for detecting a floating amount and/or a floating angle of the recording medium with respect to the platen, and a selector for selecting either a first mode to continue the recording operation by varying the distance between the recording device and the recording medium in accordance with the detected result of the detector or a second mode to stop the recording operation. According to such a recording apparatus, it is possible to perform a high-quality recording operation since the distance between the recording head and the recording medium can be kept optimum.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus having a plurality of recording head units, a test printing operation is carried out to detect the amounts of shift in position of the resultant records, and the amounts of shift thus detected is utilized for determining the maximum number of nozzles to be used and the positions of them for each recording head unit. The number of nozzles to be used is compared with a minimum unit of sheet feed, and determined so that the number of nozzles and the minimum unit are most suitably compatible with each other. In a printing operation, the use of nozzles is controlled, and the amount of feed of the recording sheet is set to the print width which corresponds to the number of nozzles to be used.

Abstract: The ink-jet print cartridge, which has an internal accumulator for maintaining appropriate back pressure within the pen reservoir, and a bubble generator for providing additional regulation, is refilled by a process that provides for the reestablishment of the necessary back pressure upon refilling and that prevents leakage arising as a result of the refilling operation.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a metal restraining element is used to reduce thermal expansion/contraction stress between a nozzle member and a print cartridge body. In a preferred embodiment, a nozzle member containing an array of orifices has a substrate, having heater elements formed thereon, affixed to a back surface of the nozzle member. The back surface of the nozzle member extends beyond the outer edges of the substrate. Ink is supplied from an ink reservoir within a print cartridge body to the orifices by a fluid channel within a barrier layer between the nozzle member and the substrate. The nozzle member is adhesively sealed with respect to the print cartridge body by forming an ink seal circumscribing the substrate, between the back surface of the nozzle member and the body.

Abstract: An ink jet maintenance system having a translatable maintenance station carriage assembly including priming nozzles, wipers and drop detection hardware for translating across the width of the front nozzle face of one or more full-width array (FWA) printbars. The system includes an FWA printbar that is pivotally articulated between a print position and a maintenance position. An articulating cap assembly facilitates capping of ink jet printbar nozzles when the maintenance station carriage assembly moves to a home position outside the edge of the printbar and provides a free space area that allows translation of the maintenance station assembly when spaced away from the printbar.

Abstract: An ink jet recording head comprises:a discharge port plate forming a discharge port for discharging ink;an ink jet recording head body having a liquid path communicating with the discharge port; anda cover member for covering the entire surface of the discharge port plate except the peripheral area of the discharge port, and the end edges of the ink jet recording head body, the edges being opposed to each other.

Abstract: An ink jet head includes a nozzle plate having a nozzle through the nozzle plate in its thickness direction, a base plate laminated with the nozzle plate and having an ink supplying hole through the base plate in its thickness direction, a pressure chamber connected to the nozzle and the ink supplying hole in the substantially perpendicular manner and provided with a pressure means on the bonded surface of the nozzle plate and the base plate. The nozzle and the ink supplying hole are made narrower than the pressure chamber and the connecting channel. The plural nozzles, pressure chambers, connecting channels, and ink supplying holes are provided. A common ink chamber connecting to a plurality of the ink supplying holes are provided on the opposite surface to the nozzle plate laminated with the base plate in the perpendicular manner to the nozzle plate. A projection is formed in the nozzle plate and the nozzle is provided through the projection.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus has an ink-jet head with a plurality of nozzle openings, a plurality of independent ejection chambers respectively communicating with the nozzle openings, diaphragms respectively formed in the ejection chambers partly on at least one side wall of each of the ejection chambers, a plurality of driving electrodes for respectively driving the diaphragms, and a common ink cavity for supplying ink to the plurality of ejection chambers. Upon application of electric pulses to the plurality of driving electrodes, the driving electrodes respectively distort the diaphragms by electrostatic force in a direction to increase the pressures in the respective ejection chambers to eject ink drops from the nozzle openings onto recording paper.

Abstract: In an image forming apparatus for performing gradation representation and using a resolution-excellent aperture electrode member, a conductive drum is disposed at the upper side of the control electrodes of an aperture electrode member, and a toner stirring device is disposed at the lower side of a reference electrode of the aperture electrode member. A control unit 13 for generating timing signals g and h on the basis of a control signal f input from an image data generating device is connected to a pulse generating unit 11. The timing signal g serves as a shift clock for a shift register, and the timing signal h serves as a clear clock for the shift register and a setting clock for a rate multiplier.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a liquid spray head provided with a plurality of liquid spray elements arranged in an array on a substrate. Each element comprises a chamber arranged on the substrate for holding a liquid to be sprayed, a nozzle, a liquid path for communication with the nozzle and the chamber, a diaphragm arranged on the liquid chamber, a piezoelectric element comprising a lower electrode arranged on the diaphragm, a piezoelectric film comprising a lead zirconate titanate film arranged on the lower electrode and an upper electrode arranged on the piezoelectric film. Energy is applied to the piezoelectric element so as to bend the diaphragm for deforming a volume of the liquid chambers to spray the liquid. The liquid chambers have a pitch equal to the pitch of the nozzles, and the following relationships are satisfied:1) 10.ltoreq.W/L.ltoreq.1502) tp.gtoreq.tv3) 0.012.ltoreq.(tp+tv)/L<0.