Abstract: An ink jet printer has a sheet conveying and drying device having a plurality of flexible, resilient yet stiff fingers connected in a cantilevered manner to a drive chain which moves the fingers from a printed sheet receiving tray to a sheet stacking tray. After sheets are printed by a conventional ink jet printing head, the sheets are picked off of the printed sheet receiving tray and fed to a sheet stacking tray. The printed sheets are dried while being fed from the printed sheet receiving tray to the sheet stacking tray. After the printed sheets are picked off of the fingers at the sheet stacking tray, the chain drive continues to move the fingers in a counterclockwise direction along the chain path. The resilient, flexible fingers are deformed by upper and lower guide rollers, a stacking tray and a rear separating wall and are flicked back into a sheet receiving position at the printed sheet receiving tray.

Abstract: An actuator mechanism for a pencil carriage in which a motor is coupled to a lead holder to move the lead holder relative to a drawing media surface, a pusher mechanism moves a lead carried by an internal of the lead holder relative to the position of the lead holder and the drawing media surface independently of the movement of the lead holder and a plotter control and sensors coupled thereto are provided for synchronizing the operation of the motor and the pusher mechanism to control the position of the lead relative to the lead holder and the drawing media surface. In a particular embodiment, the pusher mechanism includes a pusher rod for engaging the lead, a movable rack and a pinion gear engaged therewith, the movable rack being coupled to the pusher rod to move the lead, and a motor for driving the pinion gear.

Abstract: A liquid level control structure is provided comprising a plate having substantially flat top and bottom surfaces and an hourglass-shaped aperture containing a marking fluid. Protruding a known amount and at a known angle from opposite sides of the aperture waist are knife-edged lips that interact with the fluid's surface tension to control the location of an unbounded surface of the fluid.

Abstract: Techniques for improving droplet uniformity in acoustic ink printing. Row to row variations in an average droplet characteristic are reduced by controlling the electric power applied to the droplet ejectors of the individual rows. By applying the proper power to each row, the average droplet characteristic from the individual rows are made substantially. Another technique varies the efficiency of the individual droplet ejectors by physically trimming (such as with a laser) one or more of its components. Trimming may be performed on a droplet ejector's transducer, varactor, one or more associated resistors, or one or more capacitors. Yet another technique controls droplet ejector efficiency by electrically controlling the capacitance of a varactor associated with each droplet ejector, and thus each droplet ejector's efficiency.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus has a carriage mounted with a recording head for conducting desired recording by discharging ink droplets onto a recording medium, a wiping member which comes in contact with the discharge-port surface of the recording head and makes a relative movement for wiping the discharge-port surface, and a cap member which comes in contact with the recording head for providing a capping state. The ink jet recording apparatus is characterized in that the carriage has a groove portion in a region adjacent to the recording head, the wiping surface side of the wiping member sliding on a part of the groove portion, and the cap member is provided, in a region adjacent thereto, with ink absorbing member which comes in contact with the groove portion.

Abstract: The ink-jet recording head including a piezoelectric vibrator 9 in which layers of a piezoelectric material and an electrode forming material are alternately stacked to form an active region 15 where segment electrodes 20 and common electrodes 21 overlap with each other in the center portion; a fixing substrate 8 to which the piezoelectric vibrator 9 is fixed; and a flow path component which contacts with the front end of the piezoelectric vibrator 9 and in which ink is compressed by the extension and contraction of the piezoelectric vibrator 9 to produce ink drops. In the ink-jet recording head, the piezoelectric vibrator 9 is contacted with the fixing substrate 8 only in the portion of the active region 15, and fixed thereto by an adhesive. When a drive signal is applied to the electrodes 20 and 21 of the piezoelectric vibrator 9, only the active region 15 where electrodes of the opposite polarities oppose to each other extends in the lamination direction.

Abstract: A suction purging unit for removing dusts solidified ink etc. from nozzles of a print head of an ink jet printer, the nozzles being arrayed in a moving direction of the print head. A contact portion is provided at one side of a body portion in which a fluid passage is formed. The contact portion is contactable with at least one of the nozzles for suction purging, and is separated from the nozzle between-suction purging mode. The body portion is pivotally movable toward and away from the print head, and is vertically movable. The body portion is movable along a top surface of the print head when the latter is moved in the moving direction.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording head device capable of ejecting ink from an orifice opened on a slit, the ink being fed from an ink feeding port provided at a lower location than the orifice by means of pressure generated in response to an electrical signal, includes an ink conducting path for communicating the ink feeding port with the slit. The ink conducting path includes a first conducting path formed to conduct the ink from the ink feeding port to an upper part of the slit and then to return toward the lower part of the slit to be led to the orifice.

Abstract: A printing system for the reproduction of large scale images by spray painting on a wide flexible medium such as vinyl or paper. A movable cradle is provided with a series of spaced endless belts that provide lateral support for the roll of medium to be painted or imprinted. The endless belts are in turn rotatably supported by a frame of sufficient strength to prevent significant bending of the structure. The belts are mounted on low-friction rollers that permit the medium roll to rotate as material is drawn from the roll into the painting system. The direction of material withdrawal is substantially vertical so that the roll remains in its controlled position as the size of the roll becomes smaller and to facilitate printing on either surface of the medium. The cradle is mounted on casters so that it can be readily moved into the frame of the painting system and locked in position.

Abstract: A length mode drop on demand type ink jet print head includes a lower body portion formed of an active piezoelectric material and an upper body formed from an inactive material. The lower body portion, which includes a plurality of longitudinally extending projections, is poled in a first direction generally orthogonal to both its longitudinal and vertical axes. The upper body portion also includes a plurality of longitudinally extending projections. The lower and upper body portions are mated such that the lower and upper body projections are spaced interdigitally with each other. By mating the lower and upper body portions in this manner, a plurality of ink-carrying channels are formed. The ink jet print head further includes a controller for selectively applying an electric field across each of the lower body projections in the poling direction.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of testing multi-channel array pulsed droplet deposition apparatus (10) comprising a multiplicity of parallel channels (12) each with pulse imparting means for expelling droplets therefrom. The apparatus is located opposite a test module (20) having detecting elements (21) with channels of the apparatus opposed and close to the respective elements. Coupling fluid (23) fills the channels (12) to be tested and the space between the apparatus and the test module. Test signals are applied to impart energy pulses to the fluid in the channels opposite the detecting elements so that signals are passed to those elements by way of the fluid which are evaluated to assess the channel performance. Various forms of the detector elements and the apparatus are disclosed.

Abstract: A recording apparatus having a recording head provided with plural ink discharging outlets for discharging ink includes a detector for detecting temperature distribution in the recording head relating to recording operation of the recording head; a calculator for processing temperature data; and a controller responsive to an output of the calculator. The controller provides a uniform temperature distribution in the recording head by controlling a recording speed of the recording head.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for forestalling counterfeiting is disclosed which allows a counterfeit document to be identified relatively easily by an average person. The present invention employs a fluid jet applicator to record a unique, random pattern on each of a set of documents (e.g., paper currency, corporate or government bonds or any other document or important paper). Thus, a fluid jet applicator is controlled to produce a truly unique pattern on a set of original documents. Any counterfeiter who merely copies one (or a number) of the genuine documents would be left with a plurality of identical (i.e., non-unique) documents which may then be readily identified by a recipient as not being genuine.

Abstract: A printing media feed and retaining apparatus particularly useful in a computer driven thermal ink jet printer/plotter which has a plurality of pinch rollers (20) mounted on a single pinch roller support member (25). One or more support members (25) are positioned adjacent a platen roller (10) in proximity to the print path. The pinch rollers (20) are retracted away from the platen roller for removing the print medium and are supported such that they are self centering and track without skewing or damaging the printing medium without the use of precision parts or mounting techniques.

Abstract: An ink jet recording head, in which a vibrating element includes electrodes disposed on both surfaces of at least one of its edge portions at a dot forming pitch. A gap forming member is disposed so as to form a gap suitable for producing ink mist on a surface confronting a vibrating surface of the vibrating element. Since the ink is retained in this gap by surface tension, upon application of an alternate voltage to the vibrating element to produce an edge-mode vibration, the vibration produced at a piezoelectric body substrate is transmitted to the ink, propagating through the ink. The vibration propagated up to an interface between the ink and the air is transformed into a surface wave, thereby misting the ink.The thus produced ink mist, having vibrational kinetic energy, splashes in the air and thus forms a dot on a recording sheet.

Abstract: In the ink droplet jet device of the present invention having a plurality of jet units for jetting an ink in an ink channel from jet nozzles formed on a nozzle plate by changing a volume in the ink channel by using a piezoelectric transducer, two plates are bonded for forming the ink channel. Two piezoelectric ceramic plates having grooves whose widths are larger than widths of the ink channel are provided. Alternatively, one piezoelectric ceramic plate and non-piezoelectric materials can be provided on which the same grooves are formed. When the interval between adjoining ink channels becomes very small to enable an increase in a number of jet nozzles communicating with the ink channels in order to make an image formed by the jetted ink droplet an image of high resolution, the groove processing of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is facilitated because the width of grooves to be ground is very wide in comparison with a conventional device, thereby reducing manufacturing cost.

Abstract: A method of multi-tone printing employs a drop-on-demand printing apparatus for depositing ink droplets on printing element areas of a substrate which is movable relatively to the apparatus. The droplets are deposited from an array of channels on the substrate which is movable relatively to the channels. The channels length and nozzle location and dimensions afford each channel with a high longitudinal resonant frequency and energy pulses are supplied to selected channels at or near the resonant frequency of the channels to deposit from each selected channel in the corresponding printing element area of the substrate a number of drops equal to the number of pulses applied thereto, the number of pulses applied being dependent on the tone of printing required. Single channel and color versions of the invention are also disclosed.

Abstract: An ink jet head is disclosed for use with a drop-on demand type printer, and includes an insulating base, a plurality of elongated barriers projecting upwardly from the base so as to form a plurality of slots between the barriers, a plurality of nozzle holes communicating with the slots, and electrodes formed on the side walls of the elongated barriers. Voltage can be applied to the various barriers through the electrodes in order to cause deflection of the barriers and a corresponding reduction in the cross-sectional area of selected slots, so as to force ink contained in the slots to be jetted through the nozzle holes. In order to provide a uniform ink jet intensity from the outermost slots relative to the inner slots, dummy slots can be formed outwardly of the outermost active slots by providing dummy barriers outwardly of the outermost active barriers. In addition, the nozzle holes are formed in a nozzle plate. The nozzle plate can either be mounted against the ends of the slots, or atop the base.

Abstract: A disposable postage meter assembly for printing charges and captions on envelopes and/or postage strips includes a base unit and a non-rechargeable disposable module. The base unit and the disposable module have devices for setting variable information.

Abstract: In an image recording apparatus for recording an image on an image recording medium, a particle controller having at least one aperture receives electrically charged particles and selectively allows the electrically charged particles to pass through the aperture. A back electrode is positioned to confront the particle controller, with a space being formed between the back electrode and the particle controller for enabling passage of an image recording medium. The back electrode electrostatically attracts the electrically charged particles having passed through the aperture of the particle controller in a direction toward the back electrode so that the electrically charged particles may be attached to the image recording medium positioned in the space. The particle controller is vibrated with a vibration acceleration having a value equal to or larger than 500 G.