Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a UV ink jet recording head fitted with a nozzle to eject UV ink; a capping member to cap an ejection plane of the nozzle; a cleaning member which comes into contact with the ejection plane of the nozzle to clean the ejection plane of the nozzle; a piping member to supply a UV ink to the UV ink jet recording or to discharge the UV ink; and an ink tank member to supply the UV ink to the UV ink jet recording head or store discharge ink, in which apparatus, a weight variation ratio of at least one of the capping member, the cleaning member, the piping member and the tank member, which is determined by an immersion test in the UV ink, is less than 50 percent.

Abstract: Wipers of a wiper assembly in an inkjet printer are coated with an anti-wetting coating on at least one side so that, due to the anti-wetting properties, less ink adheres to the side of the wiper, the wiper needs less cleaning, and the wiper is less worn by scraping. Preferably the anti-wetting coating contains a fluoropolymer or the coating is silicone based. In order to provide wiping efficiency, the tip of the wiper can be left uncoated.

Abstract: This invention concerns a printhead capping mechanism for preventing evaporation of ink from a printhead when it is not in use. The invention has utility, for instance, in a color printer which uses a drop-on-demand inkjet printhead. The mechanism includes a cap fitted with an elastomeric seal to seal against the face of the printhead, and a sponge to catch drops ejected from the printhead during the nozzle cleaning cycle. The mechanism also includes an actuating structure operable to selectively move the cap between an engaged position to press against the printhead and a disengaged position spaced away from the printhead. The actuating structure frictionally engages a drive member so that it can slip against the drive member when the cap reaches the engaged or disengaged positions.

Abstract: The present invention provides a dielectric film structure having a substrate and a dielectric film provided on the substrate and in which the dielectric film has (001) face orientation with respect to the substrate, and in which a value u in the following equation (1) regarding the dielectric film is a real number greater than 2: u=(Cc/Ca)×(Wa/Wc)??(1) where, Cc is a count number of a peak of a (00l?) face of the dielectric film in an Out-of-plane X ray diffraction measurement (here, l? is a natural number selected so that Cc becomes maximum); Ca is a count number of a peak of a (h?00) face of the dielectric film in an In-plane X ray diffraction measurement (here, h? is a natural number selected so that Cc becomes maximum); Wc is a half-value width of a peak of the (00l?) face of the dielectric film in an Out-of-plane rocking curve X ray diffraction measurement; and Wa is a half-value width of a peak of the (h?00) face of the dielectric film in an In-plane rocking curve X ray diffraction measurement.

Abstract: A pagewidth inkjet printer is described which includes printhead (11) with a plurality nozzles (30) for ejecting ink drops towards a print medium. A space is defined between the nozzles and a nozzle guard (43) with a series of apertures (44) aligned with the nozzles. During printing operation, positive air pressure is supplied to this space, the air exiting the space through the apertures, preventing blockage by paper dust. When not printing, the air supply is closed off by air valve member (66) and a capping member (80) on a rotary platen (14) contacts the printhead to maintain a closed atmosphere at the surface of the nozzles, reducing drying of ink on the nozzles.

Abstract: An automatic start-up for a continuous ink jet printer provides a dyeless flush fluid to the printhead to remove any particles or ink residue from the printhead and to wet the orifice plate before jets form. The pressure of the flush fluid is then raised to cause the flush fluid to begin jetting from the drop generator. Once jets are established, ink is supplied to the drop generator at the pressure of the jetting flush fluid. The flow of flush fluid is stopped. Since the printhead is being supplied with ink, ink replaces the flush fluid as the fluid being jetted from the drop generator. An ink heater is then turned on, increasing evaporation of solvent from the ink jetted from the drop generator. The solvent vapors condense on the relatively cool charge plate and catcher face. The condensate forming on these surfaces provides one final rinse of these surfaces to remove conductive ink from the charge leads and catcher face.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for driving a liquid-jet head comprising a passage-forming substrate in which pressure generating chambers communicating with nozzle orifices are formed; and a piezoelectric element provided on one surface of the passage-forming substrate via a vibration plate, and consisting of a lower electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode. The piezoelectric layer consists of a relaxor ferroelectric. A voltage between a potential V1, at which the capacitance of the piezoelectric element is maximal in a capacitance-potential curve of the piezoelectric element, and a potential V2, which has a larger absolute value than the absolute value of the potential V1 and at which an inflection point in the capacitance-potential curve is reached, is set as a drive start potential V0.

Abstract: A shutdown procedure is provided for removing all solvent ink from the printhead of an ink jet printer system that uses volatile ink for printing a shutdown method is provided for an inkjet printer that uses volatile inks for printing. Initially, a colorless flush fluid is provided which readily dissolves the ink. The flush fluid is crossflushed through the drop generator and caused to weep out of the orifices in the drop generator to dissolve and rinse away ink residues from the charge plate and the exterior of the orifice plate. The flush fluid is used to rinse off charging electrodes of the charge plate, the catcher face, and the catcher return line. Fluid crossflushed through the drop generator cleans the interior of the drop generator and cleans the crossflush valve.

Abstract: A preliminary ejection operation, which ejects ink not contributing to an image forming from ejection openings of the print head, is performed following the wiping of a face of the print head to remove residual ink from the print head face while minimizing the amount of ink ejected by the preliminary ejection. This avoids a degradation of an ink ejection performance of the print head and thereby ensures a high quality of printed image. For this purpose, in performing the preliminary ejection operation following the print head wiping operation, one preferred example changes the number of ink droplets to be ejected by the preliminary ejection operation according to a cumulative count of wiping operations.

Abstract: A recording head cartridge is mounted on a carriage scanning in a forward direction and in a backward direction along the width direction of a recording medium. The fan of an ink mist collecting section produces an airflow and collects ink mist generated when ink is discharged. When the carriage scans in the forward direction, an image is formed and the fan is not operated and when the carriage scans in the backward direction, the image is not formed and the fan is operated to collect the ink mist.

Abstract: In a piezoelectric element comprising a first electrode 2 provided on a substrate 1, a piezoelectric material 3 provided on the first electrode 2 and a second electrode 4 provided on the piezoelectric material 3, the piezoelectric material 3 is configured so as to have a perovskite type crystal structure which is represented by a formula ABO3 and in which the main component for the A site is Pb and the main components for the B site are Zr, Ti and Pb, and configured so that a ratio of Pb atoms to all atoms in the B site is more than 3% and not more than 30%. Namely, the piezoelectric material 3 is formed so as to contain Pb excessively and the excess Pb atoms are activated to be Pb4+ during formation of the piezoelectric material 3 and then introduced into the B site.

Abstract: A system for receiving and recycling ink comprises a print cartridge having a printhead, and an ink supply reservoir fluidly connected to the print cartridge and a seal member coupled to the ink supply reservoir. The seal member defines a fluid path into the reservoir and the print cartridge engages the seal member so that ink spit from the printhead flows through the fluid path into the reservoir.

Abstract: In an implementation of power supply adjustment, a power supply generates an output to a powered device that generates a control signal which is input to an adjustment circuit that generates a difference signal to adjust the output of the power supply.

Abstract: An ink jet recording head maintenance apparatus of this invention is provided with a plurality of wiping members having different wiping forces to remove residual ink or foreign substances from the nozzle face of the nozzle plate of the recording head. When performing wiping operation, the optimum wiping member is selected from among the plurality of wiping members in accordance with a change in the kind of adhering substances and adhering condition. It is therefore possible to select the optimum wiping member and achieve a good wiping effect without increasing the number of counts of wiping operation.

Abstract: A flexible printed circuit board connected to a printer head having at least one heater discharging ink, the flexible printed circuit board including: at least one voltage supplying terminal selectively supplying an operating voltage to the at least one heater in response to receiving a printing command signal from a printer; at least one first cable connected at each end to the at least one voltage supplying terminal and at least one first bonding pad, respectively, transferring the operating voltage to the at least one heater; at least one grounded terminal; and at least one second cable connected at each end to the at least one grounded terminal and at least one second bonding pad, respectively, in which the at least one second cable is divided into at least two portions at a predetermined position and a first portion of the at least two divided portions is provided along one side of the at least one first cable, and a second portion of the at least two divided portions is provided along the other side of

Abstract: A printing device and a method to transfer ink onto a recording medium are disclosed. A plurality of print elements are each provided with a first high-voltage electrode and a second high-voltage electrode. Given supply of a high voltage to these electrodes, a spark discharge ensues whose shock impulse transfers ink onto the recording medium.

Abstract: A liquid droplet ejection apparatus in which a function liquid droplet is selectively ejected toward a workpiece while carrying out a relative movement between a function liquid droplet ejection head and the workpiece is made up of: a plurality of function liquid droplet ejection heads; a carriage for mounting thereon the plurality of function liquid droplet ejection heads; a head stocker for stocking the plurality of function liquid droplet ejection heads; and a head transfer mechanism for transferring each of the plurality of function liquid droplet ejection heads between the carriage and the head stocker. The function liquid droplet ejection heads are automatically replaced, so that the liquid droplet ejection apparatus can perform the workpiece processing efficiently.

Abstract: An incremental printer comprising a plurality of printing elements arranged to print different portions of an image, the printer being arranged, prior to printing an image, to identify elements that are not required for printing the image and to implement an element servicing routine, the printer being arranged to exclude one or more of the identified elements from the servicing routine.

Abstract: There is provided an inkjet recording apparatus having a cleaning device, which can securely remove ink on a conveying belt having no negative effects on conveyance accuracy. The inkjet recording apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium includes a conveying belt for supporting and conveying a recording medium, a recording head for forming an image by jetting ink onto the recording medium conveyed by the conveying belts, and a cleaning device having a cleaning roller provided in pressure-contact with the conveying belt and driven to rotate in the same direction as the conveying direction of the conveying belt, wherein, the cleaning roller is set to rotate at a surface linear speed thereof lower than a conveying speed of the conveying belt.

Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes a card edge contact having a plurality of electrical contacts for transmission of a driving signal; a recording element substrate having a recording element for generating energy contributable to eject liquid onto a recording material in response to the driving signal; and an electrical flexible cable for electrical connection between the card edge contact and the recording element substrate.