Abstract: In an ink jet recording head in which pressure chambers are formed by fastening a vibration plate to a nozzle-opening contained member, and piezoelectric vibrators, which extend and contract in the axial direction, are fastened at the fore ends to the region of the vibration plate, islands are formed in the region of the vibration plate where is to be in contact with the piezoelectric vibrators, each of the islands being surrounded by a thinned part, the fore end of each piezoelectric vibrator is fastened to each island.

Abstract: A novel, wide inkjet printhead and method of forming said inkjet printhead is disclosed, wherein a pattern of orifices are formed, using a step-and-repeat process, in a flexible tape using laser ablation or other suitable etching devices. The location of the orifices corresponds to where ink will be ejected from the inkjet printhead. The pattern of orifices may extend to any length without difficulty in aligning the orifices, since the tape may be continuous along the entire length of the printhead.

Abstract: A method is provided to eliminate ink trajectory errors when an inkjet printhead is fabricated as described below. In a preferred embodiment, a nozzle member containing an array of orifices is affixed to a barrier layer formed on a substrate, the substrate having heater elements formed thereon. The nozzle member is affixed to the barrier layer using heat and pressure. Each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with a single heating element formed on the substrate. The back surface of the nozzle member extends beyond the outer edges of the substrate. During the heating and pressure step used to affix the nozzle member to the barrier layer, the nozzle member undesirable bends over the outer edges of the barrier layer, causing the nozzles to be tilted outward. In one embodiment to prevent this bending from skewing the nozzles, the nozzles are initially formed at a slight inward angle to compensate for the subsequent bending of the nozzle member.

Abstract: An improved pen for a hard copy printing device. Reservoirs within the central chamber of an ink cartridge housing are sealingly coupled to individual ink channels connecting each reservoir individually and directly to an exterior surface of the cartridge housing. An ink filter, downstream of any ink contaminating features of the construction, is also provided.

Abstract: The printhead of an ink jet printer is mounted on a printhead carrier for reciprocal movement on a carrier guide rod above a record feed path. A bi-directional motor drives a drive belt attached to the carrier to thereby pull the printhead back and forth. The belt is attached to the carrier at two points which are spaced from the axis of the carrier guide rod, one point being above the axis and the other point being below the axis. The arrangement is such that any tilt of the printhead carrier in a vertical plane, resulting from a pulling force of the drive belt, is always in the same direction regardless of the direction in which the printhead carrier is pulled. This improves the accuracy of ink dot placement thereby giving better print quality. The drive belt is mounted on pulleys which are positioned such that there is an upward incline from each attachment point to a pulley. The carrier is provided with feet which ride in a groove in a carrier guide.

Abstract: An ink jet print head comprising: a diaphragm array including a group of bending curved partitions defining a multiplicity of orderly arranged ink channels, an upper end wall bridging between upper ends of partitions and a lower end wall bridging between lower ends of the partitions; an orifice board fixed to one surface of each of the upper and lower end walls of the diaphragm array and closing one mouth of each ink channel with a slight gap with respect to the individual partitions so as to allow the individual partitions to bend, the orifice board having a multiplicity of ink jet orifices communicating with the respective ink channels; a back board fixed to the other surface of each of the upper and lower end walls of the diaphragm array and closing the other mouth of each ink channel with a slight gap with respect to the individual partitions so as to allow the individual partitions to bend, the back board having a multiplicity of ink supply inlets through which ink is to be supplied to the respective ink

Abstract: A multi-channel array droplet deposition apparatus has a base sheet comprising a layer of piezo-electric material poled normal thereto, an array of parallel, open-topped droplet liquid channels provided by upstanding channel separating walls formed in the layer, electrodes on channel facing surfaces of the walls, a channel closure sheet bonded to the walls, nozzles respectively communicating with the channels and a droplet liquid supply connecting with the channels, the closure sheet having an array of parallel conductive tracks thereon paced at intervals corresponding with the channel spacing and located parallel to and opposite the channels and bonds, which preferably are solder bonds, mechanically and electrically connect each track to the electrodes of the channel facing walls of the channels opposite thereto and seal the closure sheet to the channels.

Abstract: An ink jet printhead and an associated method for operatively driving the ink jet printhead to cause the ejection of a volume modulatable droplet from an ink-carrying channel thereof partially defined by a piezoelectric sidewall actuator. The voltage applied across the sidewall actuator is raised from a rest voltage to a first voltage to deflect the sidewall actuator from a rest position to a first position and maintained at the first voltage for a first period of time. The voltage applied across the sidewall actuator is then dropped to a second voltage, lower than the rest voltage, to deflect the sidewall actuator from the first position, past the rest position, to a second position and maintained at the second voltage for a second period of time. The voltage applied across the sidewall actuator is then returned to the rest voltage to deflect the sidewall actuator back to the rest position.

Abstract: An ink-jet print head comprises an ink drive unit formed on a first substrate and an ink reservoir unit formed on a second substrate. The ink drive unit includes a thin film piezoelectric transducer formed on one side of the substrate. The reservoir unit includes an etched cavity in the substrate for forming an ink reservoir, the cavity having an aperture in the base extending through the substrate to form an ink nozzle. The ink drive and ink reservoir units are bonded together with the piezoelectric transducer within the ink reservoir. Activating the transducer expels ink from the reservoir via the ink nozzle.

Abstract: An ink-cooled thermal ink jet printhead has an efficient heat exchanger located on the back side of the printhead that eliminates the need for heat sinks. All ink flowing to the firing chamber goes through the heat exchanger. The geometry of the heat exchanger is chosen so that almost all the residual heat absorbed by the printhead substrate is transferred to the ink as it flows to the firing chamber. Additionally, the pressure drop of the ink flowing through the heat exchanger is low enough so that it does not significantly reduce the refill rate of the firing chambers. The heat exchanger can have one or more active heat exchanger sides. The heat exchanger has little thermal mass itself and significantly reduces the thermal mass of printhead by eliminating the need for a heat sink. This reduces the warm-up time of the printhead to a fraction of a second.

Abstract: In an ink jet recording apparatus in which a filter is placed in an ink supply route, when an ink flow is formed in the ink supply route by ink ejection during recording operations and so on, a valve does not contact firmly to the filter, but when an ejection recovery operation is performed and an ink flow velocity increases, the valve contacts firmly to the filter and covers up a part of the filter. With this structure and operation, the effective cross-section area of the filter decreases and hence, a given quantity of pressure difference is produced between the upstream side and the downstream side of the filter. As a result, bubbles unable to pass through the filter at recording operations can pass through the filter when ejection recovery operations are performed.

Abstract: A printer accurately controls the passage of print media therethrough and maintains the print media taut as the print media passes through a printing zone while the media is printed by an ink jet printer. The print media sheet is preferably carried by a rotating drum in a first direction through the printing zone, with the drum being reversed to cause the exiting of the print media sheet from the printer. A pressure fixing or fusing apparatus may be positioned to flatten ink spots on the print media as the print media exits from the printer. The pressure fixing or fusing mechanism is preferably used in the case of a hot-melt or phase-change ink jet printer.

Abstract: An improved ink jet print head includes tapered manifolds (222), ports (234), and inlet channels (214) all leading elevationally upward to sweep bubbles from the head, aided by their buoyancy. The ports opening to the inlet channels are distributed at staggered locations throughout the manifolds with at least some of the ports located adjacent to the elevationally highest edge of each manifold. This aspect of the invention reduces bubble entrapment and improves jetting performance by reducing acoustic cross-talk among ink pressure chambers (204) of the head. Moreover, tapering the ink supply manifolds and other features causes more uniform ink flow rates and reduces flow rate stagnation regions within the head. Purging cycles therefore require smaller volumes of ink than with prior designs.

Abstract: An ink-jet type recording device and a method for generating ink droplets in such a recording device in which a time difference between the leading and trailing ends of an ink column jetted out from a nozzle opening is reduced without decreasing the average speed of the ink column so as to prevent generation of satellites droplets and the like. A capacitor maintaining a voltage for expansion of a pressure generation chamber is discharged by switching a plurality of resistances differing in the discharge resistance thereof by means of switching transistors. As a result, the terminal voltage of the capacitor is caused to vary at a speed which is determined by the values of the resistances.

Abstract: An ink cartridge for the ink jet printer has a cartridge housing having a storeroom and an adjustment room therein separated by a bulkhead. The bulkhead extends vertically at the center of the cartridge housing, and has a lower part thereof with a connection opening extending therethrough. The connection opening communicates the storeroom with the adjustment room. The storeroom is airtight except for the connection opening. The adjustment room has an upper part with an air hole communicating the adjustment room with the atmosphere and a lowest part with a feed pocket for feeding ink to a printing head. Fiber-like materials impregnated with ink are filled inside the adjustment room, these materials having a part thereof that extend to the bottom of the storeroom through the connection opening.

Abstract: An on-demand type ink jet print head, comprising: a plurality of ink tanks disposed at a lower position of a carriage to be independent of each other, pressure varying means provided on one of the tanks; an air release port communicating with the other one of the tanks; a head assembly provided on top of the tanks to communicate with the tanks through flow paths at both sides of the head assembly. The object of the invention is to achieve stable printing independent of the amount of ink in an ink tank and discharge bubbles in a nozzle head together with the ink.

Abstract: A rigid external case structure for a thermal ink-jet pen cartridge, which includes an ink reservoir within the case. The case includes an external frame structure made of an engineering plastic, and defining an open loop, with opposed open areas defined on each opposed side of the loop. Two opposed thin metal side cover plates are attached to the frame structure to cover the open areas, and provide rigidity to the case structure. As a result, the frame structure is substantially non-compressible in response to forces applied against the side members or against the frame, protecting the ink reservoir and preventing ink drool from the pen printhead.

Abstract: This invention provides an improved ink seal between a print cartridge body and an inkjet printhead. 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. Each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with a single heating element formed on the substrate. The back surface of the nozzle member extends beyond the outer edges of the substrate. Ink is supplied from an ink reservoir to the orifices by a fluid channel within a barrier layer between the nozzle member and the substrate. The fluid channel in the barrier layer may receive ink flowing around two or more outer edges of the substrate or, in another embodiment, may receive ink which flows through a hole in the center of the substrate.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printhead cartridge priming apparatus that includes a plurality of caps respectively associated with a plurality of printhead nozzle arrays for controllably sealing printhead nozzle arrays pursuant to engagement thereof against the printhead cartridge to surround the nozzle arrays, a plurality of vacuum conveying elements respectively associated with the caps for individually conveying priming vacuum to an associated cap, a manually actuated selector assembly for connecting a selected one of the vacuum conveying elements to a source of priming vacuum, and a source of priming vacuum spaced apart from the manually actuated selector assembly for selectively engaging the selector assembly for application of vacuum thereto. By separating the vacuum source from the selector, positive pressure is not applied to the nozzle arrays when the caps are brought into engagement with the printhead cartridges since venting is provided by the unobstructed vacuum conveying elements.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus that makes a recording of a measured input at a time occurring at a predetermined cycle and includes a control section for making the recording at the time by printing dots in the form of a segment in a recording sheet width direction. The segment corresponds to a variation of a measured input between a time and a time before such time. For example, the apparatus prints a segment connecting a position corresponding to a measured input value at a certain time to a position corresponding to a measured input at a time before such certain time, or the apparatus prints a segment connecting positions respectively corresponding to a minimum measured input value and a maximum measured input value between a certain time and a time before such certain time. Accordingly, the apparatus produces a printed line apparently close to a line obtained by a continuous recording system, although the recording is intermittent and thus takes place at a predetermined cycle.