Patents by Inventor Susan Garrity

Susan Garrity has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Apparatus and methods for maintaining optimum print quality in an ink jet printer after periods of inactivity
    Patent number: 5847674
    Abstract: Substantially optimum print quality is maintained for an ink jet printer which includes a nozzle plate having a number of orifice openings from which ink droplets for printing are sprayed. It is electronically determined when a particular orifice opening has been inactive for a predetermined period of time, and then an exercise print command is supplied to the orifice causing an ink droplet to dribble out of the orifice, rather than being sprayed out of the orifice, to keep the orifice clear for printing when a print command is supplied to it. The dribbling drops have a smaller size than the sprayed drops, and may be formed by supplying heater elements associated with the openings with pulses of shorter duration than normal. Dribbling ink droplets are automatically removed from the printer cartridge by one or more strands (e.g. continuous filament rayon thread) moving past the nozzle at a speed of between about 1-3 feet per hour while being positively guided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1998
    Assignee: Moore Business Forms, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul J. Paroff, Susan Garrity, Roger J. Rowland, Michael A. Graziano, Anthony V. Moscato