EP0101279A2 - Düse für Tintenstrahldrucker und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung - Google Patents

Düse für Tintenstrahldrucker und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0101279A2
EP0101279A2 EP83304566A EP83304566A EP0101279A2 EP 0101279 A2 EP0101279 A2 EP 0101279A2 EP 83304566 A EP83304566 A EP 83304566A EP 83304566 A EP83304566 A EP 83304566A EP 0101279 A2 EP0101279 A2 EP 0101279A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
nozzle
housing
liquid
outlet
stream
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP83304566A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0101279A3 (de
Inventor
Hillar Weinberg
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Willett International Ltd
Original Assignee
Willett International Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Willett International Ltd filed Critical Willett International Ltd
Publication of EP0101279A2 publication Critical patent/EP0101279A2/de
Publication of EP0101279A3 publication Critical patent/EP0101279A3/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
    • B41J2/02—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating a continuous ink jet
    • B41J2/025—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating a continuous ink jet by vibration

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to nozzles for jet printers and to a method of producing same.
  • Jet printing apparatus of the continuous drop kind generally comprises at least one nozzle for producing a continuous stream of liquid and means for pulsing said stream at a strength and frequency such that the stream breaks-up into drops of repeatable size and spacing.
  • the pulsing of the stream of liquid is effected by suitable vibrating means comprising at least one piezo electric crystal which imparts acoustic energy to the nozzle and hence to the stream of liquid issuing therefrom.
  • the vibrating means is such as to operate at resonance but in this case the liquid path through the nozzle needs to be of a resonant length such that the acoustic energy reaching the outlet of the nozzle is a maximum for a given driving signal.
  • This resonant length of the liquid path will vary depending upon the frequency used to break-up the liquid stream issuing from the nozzle outlet and for this reason it has been usual to design nozzles to operate only at a particular frequency. Moreover, even though the nozzles are designed to operate at a particular frequency, slight variations occur between one nozzle and another due to normal manufacturing tolerances and the like with the result that if the nozzles are to operate at optimum efficiency then each individual nozzle has to be manually "tuned” so that the acoustic energy at the nozzle outlet is a maximum for a given driving signal. This tuning of the nozzles has generally hitherto been carried out by individual manual adjustment of the vibrating means on a trial-and-error basis and this is both onerous and time consuming.
  • the present invention has as its object to provide a nozzle for-a jet printer, and a method of producing same, which can be quickly and easily tuned to a particular design frequency.
  • the invention also has as its object to provide a nozzle for a jet printer, and a method of producing same, which enables a nozzle to be provided which is capable of operating at different frequencies.
  • the present invention provides a nozzle for a jet printer, the nozzle comprising a housing having an inlet connectable to a source of liquid under pressure and an outlet, the housing defining a path for liquid between said inlet and said outlet, means for applying regular pulses to a stream of liquid issuing from said outlet whereby to cause said stream to break-up into drops of repeatable size and spacing, and means whereby the length of said liquid path can be adjusted to the strength and frequency of said pulses to obtain a required break-up of said stream.
  • the present invention also provides a method of producing a nozzle for a jet printer, the method comprising providing a nozzle housing having an inlet connectable to a source of fluid under pressure and an outlet, said housing defining a path for liquid between said inlet and said outlet, providing means for applying regular pulses to a stream of liquid issuing from said outlet whereby to cause said stream to break-up into drops of repeatable size and spacing, and adjusting the length of said liquid path according to the strength and frequency of said pulses to obtain a required break-up of said stream.
  • the said housing is formed in two parts which can be adjusted relative to one another to vary the length of said liquid path.
  • said housing may comprise an inlet part and an outlet part which make screw - threaded, sliding or other suitable engagement with one another so that said parts can be adjusted relative to one another to enable the length of said liquid path to be varied.
  • Locking means e.g., a lock nut, may be provided for locking the two parts of the housing in adjusted position relative to one another once the nozzle has been tuned.
  • Said pulse applying means may be vibrating means and may comprise at least one piezo electric crystal.
  • the pulse applying means is adapted to operate at resonance and said adjustment of the length of the liquid path serves to adjust the resonant length of the liquid path to the resonant frequency.
  • the nozzle will comprise a single outlet orifice adapted to produce a single continuous stream of liquid which is broken up by the applied pulses to form a single continuous stream of liquid drops of substantially regular size and spacing.
  • the nozzle could, however, be adapted to produce two or more streams of liquid which are broken up by the applied pulses to form a plurality of streams of liquid drops.
  • the nozzle of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in ink jet printing apparatus, in which case the liquid supplied to the inlet of the nozzle will be a suitable printing ink. It will be understood, however, that the nozzle of the present invention is also suitable for applying other liquids to surfaces, e.g., for applying an adhesive to a surface of a label or other substrate.
  • the nozzle illustrated therein comprises a housing 1 having an inlet 2 connectable to a source of liquid under pressure and an outlet orifice 3.
  • the housing 1 is formed in two parts and comprises an inlet portion 4 and an outlet portion 5 which makes screw threaded engagement with the inlet portion 4 as shown at 6 so that the inlet portion 4 and the outlet portion 5 can be adjusted relative to one another.
  • a lock nut 7 which makes threaded engagement with the outlet portion 5 is provided for locking the housing portions 4 and 5 in adjusted position.
  • Vibrating means 8 comprising at least one piezo electric crystal is mounted on the inlet portion 2 and forms an end wall thereof.
  • the vibrating means 8 preferably comprises either a unimorph, i.e., a piezo electric crystal mounted on a metal, e.g., stainless steel, plate or a bimorph, i.e., two piezo electric crystals mounted back to back.
  • the vibrating means 8 is connectable into a suitable electrical excitation circuit (not shown).
  • the vibrating means is designed to operate at resonance and in order that the nozzle should operate at maximum efficiency it is necessary that the liquid path through the housing 1 be of a resonant length matched to the strength and frequency of the vibrations applied by the vibrating means 8.
  • the nozzle illustrated is intended to be factory tuned to operate at maximum efficiency and to this end the nozzle may be set up on a test bench, the inlet 2 connected to a suitable source of liquid under pressure, the vibrating means 8 connected into a suitable electrical excitation circuit and the housing portions 4 and 5 adjusted relative to one another whilst observing the break-up of the liquid stream issuing from the outlet orifice 3 until the required or optimum break-up of the liquid stream is obtained. At this point the resonant length of the liquid path through the housing 1 will be matched to the resonant strength and frequency of the vibrating means 8. Thereafter the housing portions 4 and 5 are locked in adjusted position by means of the lock nut 7 and also, if desired, by the application of a suitable locking compound to the cooperating screw threads of the housing portion 5 and the lock nut 7.
  • the present invention provides a nozzle for a jet printer which is simple in its construction and which can be quickly and easily tuned to operate at maximum efficiency simply by adjusting the housing portions 4 and 5 to provide a liquid path through the nozzle of a resonant length matched to the resonant strength and frequency of the vibrating means 8. Moreover, by adjustment of the housing portions 4 and 5 the nozzle can be tuned to operate at any one of a number of different frequencies within a designed range.
EP83304566A 1982-08-09 1983-08-08 Düse für Tintenstrahldrucker und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung Withdrawn EP0101279A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8222863 1982-08-09
GB8222863 1982-08-09

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0101279A2 true EP0101279A2 (de) 1984-02-22
EP0101279A3 EP0101279A3 (de) 1985-05-02

Family

ID=10532193

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP83304566A Withdrawn EP0101279A3 (de) 1982-08-09 1983-08-08 Düse für Tintenstrahldrucker und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0101279A3 (de)
AU (1) AU1765983A (de)
DK (1) DK360583A (de)
FI (1) FI832838A (de)
ZA (1) ZA835806B (de)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2256413A1 (de) * 1972-11-17 1974-06-06 Olympia Werke Ag Spritzkopf zur tropfenbildung
US4005435A (en) * 1975-05-15 1977-01-25 Burroughs Corporation Liquid jet droplet generator
US4105050A (en) * 1976-10-20 1978-08-08 Donald W. Hendrickson Integral flanged elastomeric flow restrictor
US4154402A (en) * 1977-03-10 1979-05-15 Fletcher Samuel L Shower head
US4375066A (en) * 1981-03-10 1983-02-22 Recognition Equipment Incorporated IJP Drop modulator

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2256413A1 (de) * 1972-11-17 1974-06-06 Olympia Werke Ag Spritzkopf zur tropfenbildung
US4005435A (en) * 1975-05-15 1977-01-25 Burroughs Corporation Liquid jet droplet generator
US4105050A (en) * 1976-10-20 1978-08-08 Donald W. Hendrickson Integral flanged elastomeric flow restrictor
US4154402A (en) * 1977-03-10 1979-05-15 Fletcher Samuel L Shower head
US4375066A (en) * 1981-03-10 1983-02-22 Recognition Equipment Incorporated IJP Drop modulator

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN, vol. 15, no. 3, August 1972, page 910, New York, USA; T.J. KOTASEK: "Replaceable ink jet nozzle" *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FI832838A0 (fi) 1983-08-08
DK360583D0 (da) 1983-08-08
FI832838A (fi) 1984-02-10
AU1765983A (en) 1984-02-16
DK360583A (da) 1984-02-10
ZA835806B (en) 1984-03-28
EP0101279A3 (de) 1985-05-02

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Effective date: 19840821

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Inventor name: WEINBERG, HILLAR