Abstract: Reproducing a predetermined pattern on a medium, by for example, an apparatus that includes in combination a source of colored ink, a primary source of compressed air, a spray head including a housing having an inner ink chamber in flow communication with the source of ink, an outer air chamber in flow communication with the source of air and surrounding the inner ink chamber, a spray nozzle having an outside diameter and an internal longitudinal bore connected to the inner ink chamber and extending forward of the housing. A spray shield has an outer surface adjacent the medium and an inner surface positioned adjacent to and spaced from the housing and has a transverse opening therethrough in alignment with the nozzle. An auxiliary air supply has a pressure significantly less than the pressure of the air from the primary source of compressed air.

Abstract: Greater throughput is possible by using wider print swaths in each traverse across printing media. Multiple print cartridges are mounted to be offset from each other in the media scan direction (X-axis). The amount of offset is adjustably varied by selective on/off control of individual printing elements as well as by relative mechanical movement of the print cartridges.

Abstract: In a raster output scanning apparatus including a laser diode adapted to output a writing beam, a reflex circuit controls the laser diode. A sensor diode is positioned to receive a portion of light flux from the laser diode while the laser diode emits the writing beam to expose one pixel area on a photosensitive surface. An accumulator associated with the sensor diode accumulates charge created by the sensor diode resulting from light flux from the laser diode. A comparator associated with the accumulator monitors charge accumulated on the accumulator and arrests the source of light flux when the charge accumulated on the accumulator reaches a predetermined threshold level.

Abstract: Reproducing a predetermined pattern on a medium, by for example, an apparatus that includes in combination a source of colored ink, a primary source of compressed air, a spray head including a housing having an inner ink chamber in flow communication with the source of ink, an outer air chamber in flow communication with the source of air and surrounding the inner ink chamber, a spray nozzle having an outside diameter and an internal longitudinal bore connected to the inner ink chamber and extending forward of the housing. A spray shield has an outer surface adjacent the medium and an inner surface positioned adjacent to and spaced from the housing and has a transverse opening therethrough in alignment with the nozzle. An auxiliary air supply has a pressure significantly less than the pressure of the air from the primary source of compressed air.

Abstract: In the ink jet printer head and the ink jet printer of this invention, accurate gradation printing can be performed at a high speed. The ink 34 is introduced to be supplied from the ink tank to a quantified liquid chamber 8 of the quantified part 2 via a liquid supply channel 15. When voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 11, it is distorted in the height direction. However, since the upper side is fixed to the piezo element support 5, the piezoelectric element 11 elongates in the downward direction. Therefore, the piston 12 is pressed down and the volume of the quantifying part liquid chamber 8 is reduced, so that the ink 34 is flowed out from the liquid flow channel 14 in the amount corresponding to the reduced volume, namely the quantified ink 34. This quantified ink 34 is mixed with the transparent solvent 35 discharged from the base 1.

Abstract: A method of ejecting a droplet of a fluid from a surface of the fluid includes the step of generating an acoustic wave to eject the droplet from the fluid surface. The acoustic wave is shaped into an optimal toneburst such that the droplet is ejected substantially in a direction of acoustic wave propagation substantially independent of an orientation of the fluid surface.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for applying an intermediate transfer surface, in the form of a liquid layer, on a support surface that may be used in a phase change ink printing system. The apparatus includes an applicator assembly with a leak-free valving system for distributing the liquid layer onto the support surface to produce the intermediate transfer surface and a means for metering the liquid layer uniformly on the support surface. The applicator assembly has a wick contact surface for removing foreign matter from and delivering the liquid onto the support surface. An improved liquid dispensing system is provided to provide the liquid to the wick which becomes saturated and, when brought into contact with the rotatable support surface of a transfer drum, applies the liquid in a layer to the support surface to form a liquid intermediate transfer surface.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a toner supporting roller, an aperture electrode assembly including one or more apertures and associated control electrodes, a controller and a back electrode roller. The toner supporting roller supplies charged toner particles to the underside of the apertures of the aperture electrode assembly. The controller selectively generates a potential difference between each of the control electrodes and the toner supporting roller. A coulomb force generated by the potential difference attracts the toner particles towards the apertures of the aperture electrode assembly. When no voltage is applied to the control electrodes in generating a blank line, no voltage or a reverse voltage is fed to the back electrode roller. Thus, undesired toner particles are not inadvertently transferred to a printing paper, such that blank image areas spattered with unintentionally transferred toner particles are minimized.

Abstract: An ink droplet ejecting device includes first and second grooves formed on a piezoelectric ceramic plate. The positions of the first and second grooves are offset by a half pitch and are formed by cutting. A cover plate closes openings of the grooves at one side of the piezoelectric ceramic plate. The first grooves become gradually shallower toward one end surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate to form flat surface portions so that the second grooves do not intercommunicate with a manifold of the cover plate. Further, first metal electrodes are formed on inner surfaces of the first grooves, and second and third metal electrodes are simultaneously formed on inner surfaces of the second grooves on the whole surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate where the second grooves are formed.

Abstract: An ink-supply connecting member for supplying ink from an ink cartridge formed with an ink-supply port to a print head formed with a plurality of jet nozzles, the ink-supply connecting member comprising: a connection manifold portion including: a small-diameter tubular portion connected to the print head and formed with an ink-supply channel for supplying ink to the jet nozzles of the print head and a large-diameter portion connected to the small-diameter portion and formed with an ink intake port in fluid communication with the ink-supply channel; and a seal member sealingly fitting into the small-diameter portion of the connection manifold portion and abutting the large-diameter portion.

Abstract: An aperture electrode member includes an insulating sheet having a plurality of apertures and a control electrode provided for each of the apertures. The control electrodes are switched independently of one another and cause toner powder transported thereto from a toner supply apparatus to selectively pass through the apertures so as to form an image on an image recording medium. A member for fixing the aperture electrode member to the toner supply apparatus is secured at locations of the insulating sheet other than the location of the wiring lines for the control electrodes.

Abstract: A ferroelectric relaxor ceramic actuator material, such as lead magnesium niobate ("PMN"), has high electromechanical conversion efficiency, exhibits wide operating and manufacturing temperature ranges, does not require permanent polarization, and provides useful mechanical activity with reduced electrical drive voltages. A PMN actuator (66) may be bonded to an actuator diaphragm (64) with a high temperature soldering or brazing process. PMN material also has a diffuse Curie point range in which the dielectric constant (40), "d" coefficient (32), and dielectric loss (42) characteristics all rise to a peak and then fall as the temperature increases. A phase-change ink-jet print head (50) employs a PMN actuator that is compounded with lead titanate ("PT") to increase the temperature (T.sub.M) at which the peak dielectric constant occurs.

Abstract: In a piezo-electric driver for an ink jet recording head, conductive layers are laminated as an active region in a piezo-electric plate except the front and rear end portions thereof to provide front and rear inactive portions, a pressure facilitating front end plate and a vibrator coupling rear end plate are fixedly mounted on the front and rear inactive portions, respectively, and the front end portion of the piezo-electric plate together with the front end plate are cut at predetermined intervals into pieces, namely, piezo-electric units, which depress the vibrating boards of the ink jet recording head wide to cause the parallel displacement of the vibrating boards thereby effectively pressing the ink in the pressure chamber.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus wherein an image is formed on a recording material by ejection of coloring agents having different colors from plural recording heads, the apparatus includes a discriminator for discriminating whether an image having a edge and an image having high image density are to be overlaid or not; and a controller, responsive to the discriminator, for reducing the quantity of the coloring agent for the high density image at a position corresponding to at least one of the edge image and a periphery of the edge image .

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises input keys for inputting information to be recorded, a protection device for protecting a recording head for discharging ink to record onto a recording medium in accordance with the input keys, and an execution controller for carrying out the protection of the recording head with the protection device by deciding whether a predetermined period has passed, after input by the input keys.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus that includes ink with including fine particles and the apparent viscosity being changeable apparently by receiving an electric field, and a voltage applying unit for forming the electric field to make the ink walls. The ink walls are formed by lining up the fine particles in the ink. The ink walls make ink flow channels to flow and discharge ink to form image on a recording medium based on the recording information.

Abstract: An apparatus for positioning a laser deflector in a laser writer, the apparatus comprises a rotatable spindle assembly for receiving the laser deflector. A frame encloses a portion of said spindle assembly, and two adjustable members are integrally attached to the frame, and the members include a tapered end which contacts the laser deflector for moving the laser deflector which, in turn, positions the laser deflector on said spindle assembly.

Abstract: A page wide piezoelectric ink jet print engine and a method of manufacturing the same. The page wide ink jet print engine includes lower and upper body parts, each formed from piezoelectric material and having a plurality of generally parallel, spaced projections. Lower side surfaces of the projections of the lower body part are conductively mounted to corresponding bottom side surfaces of the projections of the upper body part to define a plurality of generally parallel, axially extending ink-carrying channels from which ink may be ejected.

Abstract: An ink jet head includes an orifice plate having a plurality of orifices disposed transversely at prescribed intervals, a vibrating plate disposed parallel to orifice plate and deformed by applying a potential difference perpendicularly to the direction of polarization, and a plurality of partitions disposed between orifice plate and vibrating plate in the space between adjacent orifices, and the space surrounded by orifice, vibrating plate and partition defines a pressure chamber to be filled with ink. Vibrating plate is provided with a groove having a rectangular cross section in a region having relatively low field intensity when signal voltage is applied. In this structure, the electric capacitance of vibrating plate is reduced without adversely affecting the electric field intensity, and the efficiency of deformation of vibrating plate is increased.

Abstract: A drive method for an ink ejection device that cancels residual pressure fluctuations using a signal drive power source, wherein at time (b) a positive voltage V from a single power source is applied to an ink chamber 4b1 and other ink chambers 4 are connected to ground. Therefore, the volume of ink chamber 4b1 increases from a natural volume. At time (c), voltage V applied to the ink chamber 4b1 is stopped and a positive voltage V from the single power source is applied to the other ink chambers 4 so that the volume in the ink chamber 4b1 is reduced from the increased volume to an extent beyond the natural volume that causes an ink droplet to be ejected from the nozzle 12 of ink chamber 4b1. At timing (d), application of positive voltage V to the ink chambers 4c0, 4a1, 4c1, 4a2, 4b2, and 4c2 is stopped so that all the ink chambers revert to the natural volume.