摘要:
A common electrohydrodynamic stimulation electrode, in response to an electrical signal, synchronously stimulates all members of a group of fluid jets emitted from corresponding nozzle channels to form a corresponding plurality of continuous streams of drops. The common electrohydrodynamic stimulation electrode includes an electrical contact operable to transmit the electrical signal to each member of the nozzle channels via a contiguous electrically conductive portion. The contiguous electrically conductive portion forms a permanently electrically conductive path between and forms a portion of each nozzle channel. Synchronous stimulation of each of the fluid jets facilitates accurate phase locking of print data dependent charging of the drop streams.
摘要:
The invention relates to an inkjet printer (10) comprising a print head (1) which is equipped with an internal stimulation system (31). According to the invention, the stimulation system can be used to create: (i) an upstream break in a break position (11) upstream of a jet (30), said break forming drops (33) which are used for printing and jet segments (38) in a zero potential area; and (ii) a break in the jet (30) or jet segment (38) in a downstream break position (12), said break forming drops (43) which are recovered in a non-zero potential area. A sorting system (35) which is common to all of the jets (30) of the head can be used to simplify the head and to reduce the size thereof.
摘要:
The optical drop detect circuit includes an optical sensor (17) for providing an electrical output indicative of a presence of an ink drop, a transconductance amplifier (21) responsive to the output of said optical sensor, first and second cascaded bandpass amplifiers (23,25) responsive to the transconductance amplifier, a first comparator circuit (31,41) responsive to the output of the cascaded bandpass amplifiers for providing an output pursuant to optical sensing of a first minimum ink drop size, and a second comparator circuit (32,42) responsive to the output of the cascaded bandpass amplifiers for providing an output pursuant to optical sensing of a second minimum ink drop size.
摘要:
A multiple nozzle continuous ink jet printer has a common nozzle block (10) with an array of nozzles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) having respective charge electrodes (12) operated by respective drop charging circuits (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51). A pilot nozzle (34) is provided in operative proximity to the nozzles (1 to 7) to monitor and detect changes in phase due to changes in ink parameters such as temperature, viscosity and pressure. A phase selection means (42) is arranged to alter the clock phase (33) applied to the pilot nozzle drop charging circuit (44) responsive to a sensor means (38, 40) thereby maintaining optimal charging by the pilot charge electrode (36). During system initialisation the correct break-off phase relationship is established for each charge electrode (12). During printing the phase selection logic (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31) for the printing array (1 to 7) is altered based on the alteration of the clock phase to the pilot nozzle (34).
摘要:
Flight time of a stream of ink drops is measured and compared against a set point to determine variations therefrom. Variations due to changes in the ink composition are compensated by adding or withholding solvent in proportion to the detected change. Changes due to variations in nozzle drive voltage result in the computation and use of a new flight time set point value to avoid erroneous corrective action.
摘要:
An ink jet printer automatically adjusts the amplitude of the modulation signal applied to a transducer (159) to break the ink jet into droplets. Correct modulation amplitude is determined from changes in jet break-up length, as determined by changes in jet break-up phase relative to the modulation signal. The printer has interchangeable print heads (3), which may have different nozzle sizes. A calibration code, specifying the particular values of ink pressure, jet velocity and charge correction required for optimum performance of a particular print head (3), may be entered into control logic (93), which operates the printer accordingly. Most print head components are mounted on a mounting substrate (111), with all connections being made to the underside of the mounting substrate (111) and sealed with a potting compound, to avoid damage. Ink viscosity is controlled in response to ink pressure, which is in term controlled in response to ink jet velocity. Thus all three parameters are maintained without the need for a viscosity meter. Ink jet velocity is sensed by means of signals induced by charged drops on spaced apart sensors (89, 91), the outputs from which are wired together and fed to a common comparator (105), which simplifies construction. Internal conditions of the printer are output in response to interrogation. This permits remote fault diagnosis, e.g. over the telephone. Ease of operation is improved because the printer automatically performs the tests and operations required when starting and stopping the jet, and it automatically performs a nozzle cleaning routine when sensor inputs indicate a nozzle blockage. The ink gun (75) has an ink cavity (145) which tapers away from a bimorph piezoelectric crystal (159) which is restrained from flexing at one radius only. The gun is highly efficient and versatile, may operate at a range of frequencies and a range of nozzle sizes, and is preferably operated off resonance. Dot patterns for printed characters are stored in a character store (175), and charging electrode levels are stored in a charge level store (177), with several alternative levels being stored for each dot position for use according to whether other nearby dots are being printed. This provides compensation for the electrostatic and aerodynamic effects of ink droplets on one another. Similar compensation for unprinted droplets is provided by a historic correction store (179). The provision of guard drops is controlled by a sequencer (185). The voltage applied to the charging electrode (127), is compensated for variations in charging circuit amplification and jet-to-electrode capacitive coupling.
摘要:
Randomly generated artificial perturbation signals are acoustically coupled to fluid jets to artificially stimulate droplet formation at a rate which varies. Such changes . minimize the discernible effects of anomalies in droplet- formation (e.g. along the cross-machine dimension of an extended orifice array) caused by standing acoustic waves or other phenomena. A relatively low frequency bandwidth- limited square wave with randomly occurring transitions has a controlled amplitude related to a desired magnitude of deviation in the rate of droplet stimulation. This first random signal is used, in the exemplary embodiment, to control the frequency of a frequency modulated oscillator having a relatively higher mean frequency related to the naturally expected rate of droplet formation. As a result, piezoelectric crystal drive furnished by the oscillator randomly varies between upper and lower frequency limits. Provision is also made to ensure that such transition between upper and lower frequency limits is accomplished in a controlled and relatively gradual manner.