Abstract: An improved catcher device for a continuous ink jet printer of the kind having a linear orifice array for producing a linear curtain of parallel drop streams. The catcher device includes: (i) an elongated impact surface constructed and located to be adjacent a region of the droplet curtain; (ii) a drop discharge channel located downstream from the drop impact surface; and (iii) a screen element across the mouth of the drop discharge channel.

Abstract: An ink jet pen is disclosed having a drop generator, a catchbasin and a plurality of interconnected ink chambers comprising an ink reservoir coupled therebetween. The ink is distributed among the chambers so that, at any given time, only one contains both air and ink. The others contain either all ink or all air. Consequently, environmental excursions that cause expansion of air in the reservoir act to drive ink from only one of the chambers to the catchbasin. (The other chambers either have no air that can expand or no ink that can be driven therefrom.) The pen can thus be constructed with a smaller catchbasin than prior art pens, thereby increasing its volumetric efficiency. The catchbasin size can be reduced to an arbitrarily small volume by segregating the ink reservoir into an correspondingly large number of commensurately small chambers.

Abstract: A recording head operable to apply an electric current to an electrically resistive layer provided on a recording medium or a planar intermediate member interposed between the medium and the recording head. The head includes an electrically insulating substrate, and at least one recording electrode formed on one of opposite major surfaces of the substrate. The substrate is formed of an electrically insulating material whose wear resistance is lower than that of the recording electrode or electrodes. The substrate has a distal end portion extending from a proximal portion by a predetermined distance from the proximal portion for contact with the electrically resistive layer. The distal end portion has a thickness smaller than that of the proximal portion, as measured in a direction perpendicular to a direction of extension of the distal end portion.

Abstract: A pair of ink jet print heads are arranged on opposite sides of a conveyor to apply ink markings to the opposed surfaces of material conveyed on the conveyor. The print heads support ink jet nozzle blocks having at least one ink jet nozzle and are pivotally biased out over the conveyor in the path of the conveyed material. A pair of cams positioned on opposite sides of the ink jet nozzle blocks maintain a critical spacing between the nozzle block and the surface of the material. Ramp surfaces and an exit cam control the rate at which the ink jet print heads are pivoted away from and toward the path of the conveyed material as the material is conveyed before the ink jet print heads.

Abstract: A halftone image printing device for printing an image consisting of picture elements arrayed in a zig-zag fashioning. Each picture element is composed of dots forming a quasi-diamond-shaped matrix. The dot matrix is a 2 (row) x 3 (column) matrix with two additional dots located at the top and bottom, respectively. The range of optical density, within which the densities represented by the picture elements fall, is segmented into sub-ranges. Different heating-resistors are assigned to each sub-range of density. The dots printed by the heating-resistors assigned to any sub-range of density forms a "dot pattern" of a specific shape. The first dot pattern has one dot printed on the upper-central part of the rectangular matrix. The second dot pattern has three dots forming an L-shaped pattern, the first dot printed on the upper-central part of the matrix, the second dot printed above the first dot, and the third dot printed to the right of the first dot.

Abstract: A hand-held recording apparatus for image recording on a recording medium by manual movement comprises a main body, a thermal head provided in the main body and having plural heat-generating elements for image recording on the recording medium, an ink sheet positioned feedable to a recording position by the thermal head and bearing ink which is transferred onto the recording medium in response to the heat generation of the thermal head, a first elastic member for biasing the thermal head to the recording medium, and a second elastic member for biasing the main body having the thermal head therein to the recording medium.The elastic force of the second elastic member is selected larger than that of the first elastic member.

Abstract: This device relates to graphics apparatus of the pen-plotter type comprising a plotter head which is moveable in a horizontal direction Y and supports a writing instrument which is vertically moveable (Z direction) on the head. Each writing instrument bears an identification surface the location of which along the Z direction depends on the instrument type. The apparatus further includes a fixed abutment. The instrument type is identified by detecting the vertical position of the instrument when the identification surface is brought into contact with the abutment. For greater accuracy, a differential measurement can be obtained between this vertical position and a reference position obtained by bringing a reference surface of the instrument into contact with a reference abutment.

Abstract: A recording device comprises a plural number of ink jet device units, each unit comprising an ink jet head portion, its drive controlling portion and a wiring portion, juxtaposed on a common base plate.

Abstract: A thermal print head including a glass layer disposed at the edge of a heat resistant substrate, a heat generating element on the glass layer and an electrode for driving the heat generating element disposed both under the glass layer and on the heat generating element is provided. The glass layer is formed of a lower layer of crystallized glass on the electrode and an upper non-crystallized glass portion under the heat generating element. The electrode under the glass layer is formed by print burning a thick conductive film on the substrate from a metal paste having a higher burning temperature than the burning temperature of the glass layers.

Abstract: A printhead for a continuous ink jet printer has a body with a circular recess in an end face thereof. A circular piezoelectric transducer is disposed in the recess so as to provide a short ink chamber adjacent the face of the body and the piezoelectric transducer is arranged to expand and contract in the direction of its axis when an excitation voltage is applied to it. An ink feed channel connects with the recess for feeding ink to the ink chamber and a nozzle plate is detachably mounted on the end face of the body to eject ink under pressure when the piezoelectric transducer is actuated.

Abstract: The present invention entails an accurate, sensitive, and stable means of mounting a print head to a movable carriage assembly of the type used in computer output printers. The invention uses one pair of planar mounting surfaces and one pair of angled mounting surfaces between the print head and the carriage of a print head assembly. A pair of pivoting clamping plates apply a force that urges both pairs of mounting surfaces together while simultaneously providing adjustment of the translation of the print head relative to the carriage. The translation across the oppositely angled surfaces on two of the four mounting surfaces provides an accurate azimuthal angle adjustment for the print head. Because the other mounting surfaces are in the same plane, the translation affects only the azimuthal angle.

Abstract: Apparatus for processing with a laser printer a fresh strip of paper from a large supply roll of paper. The apparatus utilizes a tensioning unit to compensate for lateral travel of paper strip dispensed from the supply roll, to remove paper dust from the paper strip, and to maintain a moderate tension on the paper strip to facilitate processing of the strip.

Abstract: A thermal transfer printing apparatus includes a reading device for reading a code registered section provided on an ink sheet cassette, and a color discrimination device, a part of which is provided on a thermal head. The apparatus acts to heat an ink sheet superposed on a print paper by means of the thermal head to print an image on the print paper. The ink sheet cassette includes a pair of ink shafts on which both ends of a continuous ink sheet having a continuous film or paper with inks applied thereon are wound, and a cassette case in which the ink shafts are received, at least one of the ink shafts being adapted to be drivingly connected in the axial direction to a torque supply shaft inserted from the outside of the cassette case so that driving torque is supplied from the torque supply shaft to the ink shaft.

Abstract: A thermal print head is provided having a substrate with an arcuate edge ground to a selected radius upon which a layer of glaze is deposited and precision ground. Resistive film is patterned onto the glaze and conductive film is applied in electrical connection therewith.

Abstract: Electrostatic deflection of portions of a liquid stream is used to generate lengths of liquid (called "slugs" of liquid) for use in jet printing apparatus. The liquid stream is projected along a path alongside a linear or arcuate array of electrodes. When a voltage signal is applied sequentially to each electrode of the array at a rate which corresponds to the velocity of liquid of the stream past the electrodes, a portion of the liquid is deflected out of the path of the stream and towards the array. Either the deflected portion or the undeflected stream is intercepted before it reaches a surface which is to be printed. The slugs of liquid may break up naturally into droplets before the interception of the deflected portion or the undeflected stream, or after the interception has occurred. High resolution printing with high volumes of liquid is possible using this invention.

Abstract: This device relates to graphics apparatus of the pen-plotter type comprising a plotter head which is moveable in a horizontal direction Y and supports a writing instrument which is vertically moveable (Z direction) on the head. Each writing instrument bears an identification surface the location of which along the Z direction depends on the instrument type. The apparatus further includes a fixed abutment. The instrument type is identified by detecting the vertical position of the instrument when the identification surface is brought into contact with the abutment. For greater accuracy, a differential measurement can be obtained between this vertical position and a reference position obtained by bringing a reference surface of the instrument into contact with a reference abutment.

Abstract: A printing head which comprises an insulating substrate and a plurality of printing electrodes for a resistive ribbon type printing apparatus, in which a ribbon composed of a layer of thermal transferable ink and an electrical resistive layer is supplied with an electric current through selected printing electrodes so that the current passes through a portion of the resistive layer to generate Joule heat and melt a portion of the ink layer, and the molten ink is transferred to a paper. The ceramic substrate is provided with a plurality of U-shaped grooves, and each of the printing electrodes is formed in each of the grooves and has a thickness smaller than the depth of the grooves.

Abstract: An ink jet nozzle having more than one fluid resonance in the frequency range of interest is achieved through multi-chamber construction techniques. If the dual resonances are sufficiently close together in frequency, a robust printing region is obtained relatively immune to variations in temperature, drive voltage and ink composition.

Abstract: A microprocessor controller thermal printer particularly usable in a hand-held labeler for printing labels on a composite web detects indices on the web and automatically adjusts the distance that the web is advanced based on a measurement of the distance between indices made during a paper loading sequence. The printer includes automatic jam detection that measures the length of time that one of the indices is being detected and provides a jam indication if it is detected for more than a predetermined time period. A solenoid operated braking mechanism retains the web in position upon completion of a printing cycle to prevent the web from being moved relative to the print head while the label is being applied.

Abstract: A microprocessor controlled thermal printer particularly usable in a hand-held labeler for printing labels on a composite web detects indices on the web and utilizes the detected indices to position the labels relative to the print head. The printer utilizes an improved index detection system that compensates for variations in index size and density and for variations in sensor sensitivity by detecting both the leading and trailing edges of an index and utilizing the distance between the detected leading and trailing edges to determine the length of the index. By dividing the length thus determined by two, and by advancing the web by this amount after the detection of the leading edge of an index, the center of the index can be accurately located, and the web can be accurately registered at any desired position relative to the center of the index.