Abstract: An ink jet apparatus has installed therein a retractable recovery device. The ink jet apparatus has a housing with a space accommodating a carriage for scanning a recording area, an ink jet head removably mounted on the carriage for ejecting ink onto a recording medium as the carriage scans the recording area, and a removable cover member forming a part of the housing covering said space. The recovery device includes a pressing member mounted in the space at a location outside the scanning area for movement between an accommodating position and an operating position. The pressing member extends from the space when moved to the operating position after removal of the cover member, whereby a recovery operation using the pressing member can be performed on the ink jet head by removing the ink jet head from the carriage. The pressing member, when in the accommodating position, is disposed within the space for concealment by the cover member.

Abstract: An ink jet head has a first member having a plurality of energy generating elements for generating energy necessary for ejecting ink, a second member having a plurality of grooves separated by land portions, the grooves constituting an array of ink channels leading to an array of ink ejecting openings and the land portions constituting ink channel walls separating the ink channels, and a pressing member for pressing the first member and the second member to each other, thereby joining these members so that the ink channels are formed by cooperation between the first member and grooves in said second member. The height of ink channel walls is varied such that it is smaller at both end regions of the array of ink channels than at the central regions of the array of ink channels.

Abstract: An ink recording method is disclosed, which comprises printing a recording paper with an aqueous ink and immediately thereafter applying pressure onto the recording paper, whereby sharp images can be printed at high speed even on a plain paper.

Abstract: A printhead is provided comprising a plate having a plurality of orifices through which ink droplets are ejected and a heater chip coupled to the plate. The heater chip includes at least one heating element provided on a main body portion of the heater chip. The main body portion includes at least one first conductor and at least one second conductor for providing current to the heating element. The first conductor is positioned in a first plane and the second conductor is positioned in a second plane which is vertically spaced from the first plane. The heating element is positioned between the first and second conductors and has a substantially constant cross-sectional area along a first axis which is generally parallel to the direction of current flow.

Abstract: A recording method in which ink is ejected by thermal energy produced by a heat generating element of a recording head in response to application of a driving signal thereto including the steps of changing a waveform of the driving signal in accordance with a temperature of the recording head; and selecting a fixed waveform of the drive signal when the temperature of the recording head exceeds a predetermined level.

Abstract: The ink jet print head is formed with many parallel ducts, which are etched isotropically through openings in a first layer located above the ducts. After the etching operation, the openings of the first layer are closed by the deposition onto the first layer of a second layer, which covers the openings. The openings have a diameter of 1 .mu.m, for instance. The openings, formed in the first layer by photolithography and ensuing dry etching, are disposed such that in an etching operation, the desired ducts underneath the first layer are laid bare. It is thus not necessary to adjust the relative positioning of two or more etched plates, closed ducts are formed without bonding or adhesive techniques, and the trigger circuit and the print head can be integrated on a single substrate.

Abstract: The present invention is related to an ink jet head comprising a substrate having a support, an intermediate layer provided on said support and a lower layer provided on said intermediate layer, and a heat energy generating member which generates heat energy to be utilized for discharging ink provided on said substrate. The ink jet head is characterized in that ink channels communicated to discharge openings for discharging ink are formed corresponding to the heat generating portions of said heat energy generating member on said heat generating substrate, and the thermal conductivity of said intermediate layer is selected higher than that of said support and higher than that of said lower layer.

Abstract: In a liquid jet recording head having a plurality of discharge ports for discharging liquid therethrough, energy generating elements are provided correspondingly to the discharge ports and generate energy to discharge a liquid. A temperature detecting element for detecting temperature and the energy generating elements are provided on the same support member. The temperature detecting element extends in a direction intersecting a group of the energy generating elements and/or a group of wirings for the energy generating elements.

Abstract: A preferred nucleation site is established in an ink firing chamber for a thermal inkjet printhead. The cavitation barrier layer of the resistance heater substrate is created with particular surface discontinuities and a temperature profile which favor heterogeneous bubble nucleation in a predetermined area. The predetermined area is located essentially along the axis of the ink droplet expulsion orifice.

Abstract: In a printer head drive system for a printing apparatus, both a voltage drop caused by power supply conductors connecting a power supply unit and a driver IC in a head unit and a voltage waveform distortion caused by a nonlinear input-output characteristics of the driver IC are compensated by a negative feedback control. In one aspect, voltage dividing resistors detect a voltage applied to the power supply input terminals of the driver IC and a constant voltage circuit regulates the voltage detected by the resistors to a reference voltage. In another aspect, a voltage applied to a dummy printer head is detected for the feedback control without voltage detecting resistors. A power amplifier in the power supply unit has a push-pull transistor circuit, and a series circuit of a resistor and a capacitor is connected in parallel with each base resistor. This arrangement improves responsiveness of the printing operation of the printer head which has a large electrostatic capacity.

Abstract: An ink cartridge, removably mountable on a fixed mounting portion of an ink jet recording apparatus for supplying discharged ink to a recording head carried on a movable carriage of the apparatus, comprises a flag member mounted for protrusion and retraction, an arrangement for protruding the flag member toward a path along which the carriage is moved when the ink cartridge is mounted on the mounting portion, and a photosensor mounted on the carriage in a position where it will be shielded from light by the protruding flag member.

Abstract: A liquid ejecting head having at least two liquid ejecting head portions, the liquid ejecting head portions each includes a plurality of ejection outlets for ejecting liquid; a plurality of bubble generating regions for generating bubbles in the liquid; and a plurality of movable members each of which is displaceable between a first position and a second position farther from the bubble generating region than the first position; wherein the movable member is displaced from the first position to the second position by pressure produced by the generation of the bubble in the bubble generating portion to permit expansion of the bubble more in a downstream side closer to the ejection outlet than in an upstream side; an amount of ejection is controlled beforehand by changing at least one of a dimension and a position of the movable member.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording head comprises a plurality of liquid flow paths having discharge openings for discharging an ink, and a plurality of thermoelectric transducers provided for each liquid flow path in order to discharge the ink, wherein, a frontward thermoelectric transducer located on the discharge opening side is so provided that, when the ink is discharged by the frontward thermoelectric transducer alone, a value of (discharge velocity v/discharge quantity Vd) with respect to a distance OH extending from an end of its discharge opening side to the discharge opening is at a distance OH of the first region in a regional classification into a first region in which the value of v/Vd increases with a decrease in the distance OH and a second region in which it comes to be substantially constant with an increase in the distance OH.

Abstract: A driving method for an ink jet recording head having an electrical converting element provided to vary the volume of an ink path through which ink flows to perform gradient recording in accordance with recording information, the electrical converting element being driven by applying electrical signals including a first driving pulse for enlarging the volume of the ink path, the first driving pulse having a duration t1, and a second driving pulse having a duration t2.

Abstract: A printing head designed to have a long life, particularly to be able to maintain a long duration life of a heater portion and improved qualities of printed images with improved stability and to achieve high-speed printing, a printing apparatus using the printing head and a method for driving the printing head are provided. On a substrate of the printing head are formed a printing liquid supply chamber, liquid channels communicating with the supply chamber, liquid channel wall members forming the channels, nozzles for ejecting a liquid, heaters provided as thermal energy transducing elements in the channels, and an electric wiring for energizing the heaters. Each channel has a wing-like sectional configuration in the vicinity of the corresponding heater.

Abstract: In an ink recording head having at least four nozzle opening rows, each row having nozzle openings so as to extend straightly in a sheet forward direction, the nozzle opening rows are staggered by a single dot in the sheet forward direction in an order different from the physically arranged order. The maximum distance between nozzle opening rows to print vertically adjacent dots becomes smaller by L1 or L2 than at least the physical maximum distance L1+L3+L2, L1 or L2 being a distance between the outermost nozzle opening row and the inner nozzle opening row. As a result, the relative displacement in the vertical direction can be reduced by such distance L1 or L2 compared with a recording head in which nozzle opening rows are sequentially staggered in the auxiliary scanning direction in the physically arranged order.

Abstract: An inkjet printhead includes multiple printing elements grouped in sets about an ink refill channel. Each printing element includes a nozzle chamber and firing resistor. Respective nozzle chambers are located at a staggered distance away from the ink refill channel. A printing element's feed channel couples its nozzle chamber to the ink refill channel. A pinch point defined by barrier walls occurs along the feed channel. Converging and diverging half angles for each barrier wall of a given printing element are the same. Such angles differ among a plurality of printing elements. The specific angle for a given printing element defines where along the feed channel the pinch point occurs. The specific angle is prescribed according to the distance from a given printing element's firing resistor to the ink refill channel. A certain angle is used for a certain resistor stagger position to provide ink refill balancing among printing elements.

Abstract: A heater chip module is provided comprising a carrier adapted to be secured to an ink-filled container, at least one heater chip having a base coupled to the carrier, and at least one nozzle plate coupled to the heater chip. The carrier includes a support substrate having at least one passage which defines a path for ink to travel from the container to the heater chip. The heater chip is secured at its base to a portion of the support substrate. At least the portion of the support substrate is formed from a material having substantially the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the heater chip base. A flexible circuit is coupled to the heater chip module such as by TAB bonding or wire bonding.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus applied to an image forming system, which can repetitively record a basic image, includes a device for obtaining a number of dots forming the basic image on the basis of the image data representing the basic image, and a device for estimating a consumption amount of an expendable consumed by recording an image of a predetermined unit on the basis of the obtained number of dots.

Abstract: An apparatus for performing the printing by scanning a carriage having a plurality of print heads mounted in a predetermined direction relative to the printing medium, so that an image is formed to have a desired color tone and density without decreased throughput. Conversion data for reproducing the color tone and the scan range of the carriage are changed in accordance with the used heads among the mounted heads. Also, the replaceability can be enhanced and the longer life for each group is attained by grouping the heads mounted. Further, the scan range of recording and the scan range for the recovery can be changed by selecting the group for use in accordance with the recording mode. Also, in an ink jet printing apparatus having a longer print length, a printing method for effecting the stable recording is provided.