Abstract: An ink jet apparatus includes an ink jet recording head having a housing, an ink container in the housing for containing ink, ejection outlets for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink container, and energy generating elements for generating energy contributable to the ejection of the ink through the ejection outlets, the housing being provided with a cavity. The ink jet recording head further comprises electric contacts for supplying the energy, the contacts being provided on a wall defining the cavity and a carriage on which the ink jet recording head is mounted, the carriage being provided with a contact member having electric contacts for electric coupling with the aforementioned contacts. The ink jet recording head is mounted on the carriage with the contact member being in the cavity. The housing is provided with a window extending from a cavity to permit observation of the contact member.

Abstract: A process of producing an ink jet recording head of the type that has an electro-thermal converting element which forms a heating surface in the ink channel, comprises preparing a substrate having the heating surface formed thereon, forming a cover film on the heating surface so as to cover at least the heating surface, forming the ink channel on the substrate and removing the cover film through the ink channel. Disclosed also are an ink jet recording head produced by the process, and an ink jet recording apparatus incorporating the ink jet recording head.

Abstract: A thermal ink jet printing apparatus has a film having a number of small apertures formed in the front thereof and retaining liquid ink in the apertures. The film is located to face a thermal head having heating elements. As the heating elements are selectively energized in response to a signal representative of a particular image pattern, the ink in the apertures evaporates to exert a pressure on the ink. As a result, the ink is ejected toward a recording medium to form an image thereon. An ink retaining layer is provided on the rear of the film and communicated to the apertures. Alternatively, an ink well may be formed in a portion of the thermal head that faces the rear of the film and communicated to the apertures.

Abstract: In a recording apparatus with an ink jet print head which forms dots on a recording sheet by ink jets shot from an array of nozzles, a microcomputer determines whether a printing defect is a light printing defect caused by paper particles and dust adhering to the nozzles or a heavy printing defect caused by the entry of air bubbles into the ink flow paths. The determination is made on the basis of intervals of operating a print recovery button mounted on a chassis of the recording apparatus. For the light printing defect, the computer puts a cap member to the front face of the nozzles of the print head and applies a negative pressure to the nozzles, thereby to reduce the amount of ink emitted from the nozzles. For the heavy printing defect, the computer increases the amount of ink.

Abstract: A liquid jet recording head includes a heat generating element; a heat acting zone in which heat generated by the heat generating device acts on liquid; a liquid feeding passage adjacent to the heat acting zone having a liquid supply opening for supplying liquid to the heat acting zone; a liquid ejection passage adjacent the heat acting zone and having an orifice through which the liquid is ejected; wherein a center line passing through the center of the liquid supply opening along a direction of the liquid supply from the liquid supply passage to the heat acting zone is directly across a wall constituting the liquid ejection passage.

Abstract: A birdirectionally movable carriage in an ink-jet printer contains either a color or a black ink cartridge. When a color cartridge is mounted on the carriage, a rotatable service station having both color and black cartridge service stations mounted thereon rotates to position the color service station adjacent the travel path of the color cartridge. A cap on the color service station includes a lip for sealing against the color cartridge and a flexible diaphragm which flexes to minimize pressure differentials between the interior and exterior of the cap. Because ink vapor diffusion through the diaphragm is possible, a diffusion vent is provided to a chamber on the side of the diaphragm exposed to the exterior of the cap. The diffusion vent permits diaphragm flexing while inhibiting ink vapor diffusion from the cap.

Abstract: An apparatus and methods for using a Variable Orifice Capillary Wave Printer are disclosed. The invention as described herein provides a capability to transfer high resolution graphical images onto a projection medium (14) with pseudo-gray-scale (i.e. variable spot-size). A standing fluid ripple wave (38) or capillary wave is generated along a narrow channel (20) at the top of an ink reservoir (16), upon the free fluid surface (27). The capillary wave (38) is spatially stablized with an elongated slotted bar (30) of anisotropically etched signal crystal silicon. Piezoelectric pushers (34) are positioned at the anti-nodes (42) of the stabilized standing capillary wave (38) to selectively restrict the narrow slots (32) etched into the slotted silicon bar (30). Selective actuation of one or more piezoelectric pusher (34) for a predetermined length of time results in the ejection of a stream of fluid droplets (12).

Abstract: A processing function substrate for page layout and the like, and a display unit, an operation unit and the like are provided on an identical substrate or as an identical unit, and the unified substrate or unit is mounted on a main body by a sliding-in operation. Hence, it becomes possible to realize improvement in assembling capability, improvement in properties against radiation noises, electrostatic noises and the like due to the adoption of one unit, improvement in designing capability, reduction in cost, and the like.

Abstract: A method of operating a pulsed droplet deposition apparatus for ejecting a liquid droplet from a nozzle supplied by a liquid retaining chamber comprises applying a first energy pulse to the liquid in the chamber of sufficient energy to effect expulsion of a droplet from the nozzle and thereafter applying a further energy pulse to the liquid in the chamber to insure that the meniscus of the body of liquid to which the droplet is attached is convex in the direction of motion of the droplet at the time of detachment of the droplet, so as to propel the droplet along the axis of the nozzle. The second pulse has an energy content which is insufficient to alone effect droplet ejection.

Abstract: In an ink jet printer, an arrangement is provided for cleaning the face of the printhead in which the ink ejecting orifices are located. The arrangement includes a suction chamber directed towards, but spaced apart from, the printhead face to draw air over the printhead face and thereby remove any contamination such as ink residue and paper fibers. Advantageously, the suction chamber is formed in the cap member that is conventionally provided to engage the printhead and cap the ink ejecting orifices when the printhead is not in use. In that case, suction may also be applied to the cap member when it is in engagement with the printhead, to prime the printhead and/or to clear the ink ejecting orifices. Suction may then be maintained while the cap member is moved away from the printhead, so that air will be drawn over the printhead face.

Abstract: A facsimile apparatus employs an ink jet printer in which the ink discharge recovery operation by idle ink discharge from all the discharge openings of the recording head is conducted at a suitable timing instructed by a central processing unit. The timing of the idle ink discharge is determined not by a timer interruption procedure, which imposes an additional burden on the processing capacity of the central processing unit, but from the image data receiving rate and the amount of actually received data. In this manner the central processing unit can provide increased processing capacity, and the control program can be simplified and made less expensive.

Abstract: A system and method for directly feeding unstacked paper sheets into a printing device having a moving image conducting element with a plurality of images placed thereon for transfer to the paper and having a wait station for controlling the timing of paper transfer to the image conducting element. A continuous stream of paper sheets is directed to a printing device wait station. The rate of the movement of the paper sheets into the wait station is controlled to present each paper sheet at a predetermined rate relative to the operating speed of the image conducting element. The spacing of the leading edge of each paper sheet, as it is presented to the wait station, is made relative to the linear spacing between consecutive images on the image conducting element.

Abstract: An ink jet recording method utilizes an inking medium containing a liquid electrolyte. A chamber is provided for accommodating the liquid inking medium and having a pair of electrodes disposed therein. A signal generator is provided for applying to the pair of electrodes an electrolyzing signal for electrolyzing at least a portion of the electrolyte contained in the inking medium, and a subsequent discharge signal for effecting a discharge explosion of gases produced as a result of the electrolyzing signal. The inking medium is discharged from the chamber in response to the discharge explosion pressure resulting from the application of the electrolyzing and discharge signals.

Abstract: A printing assembly having a guiding and driving system for moving an article past ink emission nozzles. A detecting device detects the movement of the article through the assembly and based on that detection triggers emission of ink by the nozzles. Compressed air jets are forced toward the article, creating suction due to the Bernoulli effect which effectively maintains the article a set distance from the nozzles.

Abstract: In a sheet transport unit for recording systems which uses a pulse motor to feed a recording sheet quantitatively and intermittently, multiple different current apply intervals are specified within the stop period during intermittent sheet feed, so that a maximum amount of current will be applied to the first interval immediately after the drive stops. Thereby, the pulse motor is never be damaged due to its temperature rise despite a load variation and the load variation can be absorbed enough to ensure high positioning accuracy.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus has an ink jet head provided with a discharge port forming surface formed with discharge ports for discharging ink therethrough, a cleaning member for bearing against the discharge port forming surface of the ink jet head to clean the discharge port forming surface, a recording mode setter capable of setting a first recording mode in which the ink is discharged from the ink jet head to effect recording, and a second recording mode differing from the first recording mode, a cleaning mode setter means capable of setting a first cleaning mode corresponding to the first recording mode set by the recording mode setter, and a second cleaning mode corresponding to the second recording mode set by the recording mode setter, and a driver means for moving the ink jet head and the cleaning member relative to each other to effect the cleaning of the discharge port forming surface.

Abstract: A color printing system for color-printing images or characters on a surface of a writing sheet. The color printing system includes a plurality of printing heads which are successively arranged in parallel to each other and a feeding device for moving the writing sheet in a direction perpendicular to the head-reciprocating directions. Each of the printing heads linearly reciprocates so as to go and return in directions along the surface of the writing sheet for the color printing and has a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles. The plurality of ink-discharging nozzles are successively arranged with a pitch which is equal to or greater than twice the pitch of the finally printed lines so as to write the images or characters on the writing sheet. The feeding device moves the writing sheet in a direction perpendicular to the head-reciprocating directions by predetermined distances.

Abstract: An acoustic ink printhead with an integrated liquid level control layer is presented. A spacer layer is fixed to a substrate. Apertures are created in the spacer layer, which is then used as a mask, to define acoustic lenses and ink supply channels in the substrate. The apertures in the spacer layer used to define self-aligned acoustic lenses and to form the cavities to hold the ink reservoirs for each ejector. The thickness of the spacer layer is set so that acoustic waves from the acoustic lens below are focused at the free surface of the ink which maintains its level at the top of the spacer layer by capillary action.

Abstract: The method of winding paper onto a take-up roller of an automatic drafting machine, according to the present invention, involves the avoidance of winding the paper after each and every drafting operation. Rather, the method contemplates that, after each drafting operation, it will be determined whether the amount of paper, which has been driven forwardly after being utilized in a drafting operation and which has not yet been wound onto the take-up roller, is greater than a predetermined limiting value. If it is not, then no winding operation takes place. If, however, it is greater than the limiting value, a length of the paper equal to the length forwarded since the last winding operation is wound upon the take-up roller. After each such winding operation, the sequence of the method is repeated.

Abstract: A device to cap a thermal ink jet printhead, without the need of moving the printhead or the paper transport is described. The capping device has a resilient gasket which contains magnetic material and is attached to the printhead by a relatively thin flexible boot or sleeve. A steel bar is disposed in sliding contact beneath a paper transport belt. The belt is adjacently spaced parallel to the printhead. The paper transport belt is flat and smooth and has a hole-free surface. During operation of the printer, an electromagnet disposed on the printhead is energized and attracts the magnetic gasket, resulting in the attraction of the gasket above the printhead nozzles to enable printing. When the printhead is not in operation, the electromagnet is de-energized, allowing the steel bar to attract the magnetic gasket and seal the gasket to the belt, capping the printhead. The capping device eliminates the need for movement of the printhead or moving the paper transport.