EP0648606B1 - Tête à jet d'encre à la demande et méthode - Google Patents

Tête à jet d'encre à la demande et méthode Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0648606B1
EP0648606B1 EP94307663A EP94307663A EP0648606B1 EP 0648606 B1 EP0648606 B1 EP 0648606B1 EP 94307663 A EP94307663 A EP 94307663A EP 94307663 A EP94307663 A EP 94307663A EP 0648606 B1 EP0648606 B1 EP 0648606B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
orifice
channel
pressure chamber
jet
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP94307663A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0648606A3 (fr
EP0648606A2 (fr
Inventor
Laurent A. Regimbal
Ronald F. Burr
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Tektronix Inc
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Tektronix Inc
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Publication of EP0648606A3 publication Critical patent/EP0648606A3/fr
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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
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04581—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads based on piezoelectric elements
    • 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
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04588—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits using a specific waveform
    • 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
    • B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
    • B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
    • B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
    • B41J2/04593—Dot-size modulation by changing the size of the drop
    • 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
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14201—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements
    • B41J2002/14306—Flow passage between manifold and chamber
    • 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
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2002/14387—Front shooter

Definitions

  • This invention relates to ink-jet printing and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for ejecting ink drops from an ink-jet head at substantially constant ejection velocities over a wide range of ejection repetition rates.
  • PZT piezoelectric transducer
  • the adaptive PZT drive waveform circuitry and complex ink-jet head structures achieve drop ejection rates "up to and including seven KHz.”
  • An object of this invention is, therefore, to provide an ink-jet apparatus and printing method for ejecting ink drops from an ink-jet head at substantially constant ejection velocities over a wide range of ejection repetition rates.
  • Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method of driving a conventional ink-jet head to enhance its jetting performance without requiring an electric field.
  • an apparatus for ejecting a fluid from an orifice comprising a pressure chamber fluidically coupled to a fluid manifold by an inlet channel and to the orifice by an outlet channel, a transducer driver generating an energy input; a transducer coupled to the pressure chamber to excite in the orifice a modal meniscus shape in response to the energy input, the energy input having a spectral energy distribution which is concentrated around a dominant resonant frequency of the affected fluid mass in the apparatus, excluding the fluid in the fluid manifold, and which is substantially reduced around resonant frequencies of the inlet channel and the outlet channel; whereby a drop of the fluid is ejected at an ejection velocity from the orifice in response to the energy input.
  • a method of ejecting an ink drop from an orifice of an individual ink-jet apparatus having a pressure chamber that is fluidically coupled to an ink manifold by an inlet channel and to an orifice by an outlet channel comprising providing a source of energy input; adjusting the source of energy to concentrate a spectral energy contents of the energy input around a dominant resonant frequency of an affected fluid mass in the ink-jet apparatus, excluding the ink in the ink-jet manifold; adjusting the source of energy to suppress the spectral energy content of the energy input near resonant frequencies of the inlet channel and the outlet channel; and connecting the energy input to a transducer coupled to the pressure chamber to eject from the orifice an ink drop having an ejection velocity.
  • the invention provides for ejection of ink drops that have substantially the same ejection velocity over a wide range of ejection repetition rates, thereby providing high-resolution, high-speed printing.
  • the invention provides drive waveform shaping principles usable to enhance the jetting performance of conventional ink-jet heads.
  • Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view of a PZT-driven ink-jet representative of one found in a typical ink-jet array print head of a type used with this invention.
  • Figs. 2A, 2B, and 2C are enlarged pictorial cross-sectional views of an orifice portion of the print head of Fig. 1 showing illustrative orifice fluid flow operational modes zero, one, and two to which this invention could be applied.
  • Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the electrical interconnections of a prior art apparatus used to generate a PZT drive waveform according to this invention.
  • Fig. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a preferred electrical voltage versus timing relationship of a PZT drive waveform used to produce ink drops at a high repetition rate in a manner according to this invention.
  • Fig. 5 graphically shows spectral energy as a function of frequency for the PZT drive waveform shown in Fig. 4.
  • Fig. 6 graphically compares ink drop time-to-paper as a function of drop ejection rate for ink drops ejected with a prior art PZT drive waveform that does not suppress energy at the frequency of an inlet channel and with the preferred drive waveform (160) shown in Fig. 4.
  • Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an ink-jet 10 that is part of a multiple-orifice ink-jet print head suitable for use with the invention.
  • Ink-jet 10 has a body that defines an ink manifold 12 through which ink is delivered to the ink-jet print head.
  • the body also defines an ink drop forming orifice 14 together with an ink flow path from ink manifold 12 to orifice 14.
  • the ink-jet print head preferably includes an array of orifices 14 that are closely spaced from one another for use in printing drops of ink onto a print medium (not shown).
  • a typical color ink-jet print head has at least four manifolds for receiving black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink for use in black and color printing.
  • the number of such manifolds may be varied depending upon whether a printer is designed to print solely in black ink or with less than a full range of color.
  • Ink flows from manifold 12, through an inlet port 16, an inlet channel 18, a pressure chamber port 20, and into an ink pressure chamber 22.
  • Ink leaves pressure chamber 22 by way of an offset channel port 24, flows through an optional offset channel 26 and an outlet channel 28 to nozzle 14, from which ink drops are ejected.
  • Ink pressure chamber 22 is bounded on one side by a flexible diaphragm 34.
  • An electromechanical transducer 32 such as a PZT, is secured to diaphragm 30 by an appropriate adhesive and overlays ink pressure chamber 22.
  • transducer 32 has metal film layers 34 to which an electronic transducer driver is electrically connected. Although other forms of transducers may be used, transducer 32 is operated in its bending mode such that when a voltage is applied across metal film layers 34, transducer 32 attempts to change its dimensions.
  • transducer 32 bends, deforming diaphragm 30, thereby displacing ink in ink pressure chamber 22, causing the outward flow of ink through passage 26 to nozzle 14.
  • Refill of ink pressure chamber 22 following the ejection of an ink drop is augmented by reverse bending of transducer 34 and the concomitant movement of diaphragm 30.
  • ink-jet 10 is preferably formed of multiple laminated plates or sheets, such as of stainless steel. These sheets are stacked in a superimposed relationship.
  • these sheets or plates include a diaphragm plate 40 that forms diaphragm 30; an ink pressure chamber plate 42 that defines ink pressure chamber 22; a separator plate 44 that defines pressure chamber port 20, bounds one side of ink pressure chamber 22, and defines a portion of outlet channel port 24; an inlet channel plate 46 that defines inlet channel 18 and a portion of outlet channel port 24; another separator plate 48 that defines inlet port 16 and portions of outlet channel port 24 and manifold 12; an offset channel plate 50 that defines offset channel 26 and a portion of manifold 12; a separator plate 52 that defines portions of outlet channel 28 and manifold 12; an outlet plate 54 that defines a portion of outlet channel 28; and an orifice plate 56 that defines orifice 14 of the ink-jet
  • More or fewer plates than those illustrated may be used to define the various ink flow passageways, manifolds, and pressure chambers of the ink-jet print head.
  • multiple plates may be used to define an ink pressure chamber instead of the single plate illustrated in Fig. 1.
  • not all of the various features need be in separate sheets or layers of metal.
  • patterns in the photoresist that are used as templates for chemically etching the metal could be different on each side of a metal sheet.
  • the pattern for the ink inlet passage could be placed on one side of the metal sheet while the pattern for the pressure chamber could be placed on the other side and in registration front to back.
  • separate ink inlet passage and pressure chamber containing layers could be combined into one common layer.
  • all of the metal layers of the ink-jet print head, except orifice plate 56, are designed so that they may be fabricated using relatively inexpensive conventional photo-patterning and etching processes in metal sheet stock. Machining or other metal working processes are not required.
  • Orifice plate 56 has been made successfully using any number of processes, including electroforming with a sulfumate nickel bath, micro-electric discharge machining in 300 series stainless steel, and punching 300 series stainless steel, the last two approaches being used in concert with photo-patterning and etching all of the features of orifice plate 56 except the orifices themselves. Another suitable approach is to punch the orifices and use a standard blanking process to form any remaining features in the plate.
  • Table 1 shows acceptable dimensions for the ink-jet of Fig. 1.
  • the actual dimensions employed are a function of the ink-jet array and its packaging for a specific application.
  • the orifice diameter of the orifices 14 in orifice plate 56 may vary from about 25 microns to about 150 microns.
  • the electromechanical transducer mechanism selected for the ink-jet print heads of the present invention can comprise hexagonally kerfed ceramic transducers bonded with epoxy to the diaphragm plate 40, with each of the transducers being centered over a respective ink pressure chamber 22.
  • the hexagonal shape is substantially circular, a shape which has the highest electromechanical efficiency with regard to volume displacement for a given area of the piezoceramic element.
  • Ejecting ink drops having controllable volumes from an ink-jet head such as that of Fig. 1 entails providing from transducer driver 36, multiple selectable drive waveforms to transducer 32.
  • Transducer 32 responds to the selected waveform by inducing pressure waves in the ink that cause ink fluid flow in orifice 14.
  • an ink column 60 having a meniscus 62 is shown positioned in orifice 14. Meniscus 62 is shown excited in three operational modes, referred to respectively as modes zero, one, and two in Figs. 2A, 2B, and 2C. Fig. 2C shows a center excursion Ce of the meniscus surface of a high order oscillation mode.
  • operational mode zero corresponds to a bulk forward displacement of ink column 60 within a wall 64 of orifice 14.
  • Prior workers have based ink-jet and drive waveform design on mode zero operation but have failed to fully exploit its possibilities.
  • Ink surface tension and viscous boundary layer effects associated with wall 64 cause meniscus 62 to have a characteristic rounded shape indicating the lack of higher order modes.
  • the natural resonant frequency of mode zero is primarily determined by the bulk motion of the ink mass interacting with the compression of the ink inside the ink-jet (i.e., like a Helmholtz oscillator in which a "capacitive" pressure chamber 22 forms a parallel resonant circuit with "inductive" inlet channel 18 and combined outlet channel structures 24, 26, 28, and orifice 14.
  • the geometric dimensions of the various fluidically coupled ink-jet components, such as the channels 18, 26, and 28; the manifold 12; the part 16, 20, and 22; and the pressure chamber 22, all of Fig. 1, are sized to avoid extraneous or parasitic resonant frequencies that would interact with the orifice resonance modes.
  • Designing drive waveforms suitable for constant drop ejection velocity over a wide range of ejection rates requires knowledge of the natural frequencies of the system elements so that a waveform can be designed that concentrates energy at frequencies near the natural frequency of the desired mode and suppresses energy at the natural frequencies of other mode(s) and extraneous or parasitic resonant frequencies that compete with the desired mode for energy.
  • extraneous or parasitic resonant frequencies adversely affect the ejection of ink droplets from the ink-jet orifice in several ways, including, but not limited to, ink drop size and the drop speed or the time it takes the drop to reach the print media once ejected from the orifice, thereby also affecting the drop placement accuracy on the media.
  • ink-jet 10 has an inlet channel length of about 6.35 millimeters and an a combined outlet channel length of about 3.50 millimeters.
  • the speed of sound in a fluid is about 1,000 meters per second. Therefore, the inlet resonant frequency is approximately 79 KHz and the outlet resonant frequency is approximately 73 KHz.
  • the foregoing theory has been applied in practice together with the fluid flow theory to design PZT drive waveforms for ink-jet 10.
  • the electrical waveforms generated by transducer driver 36 concentrate energy in the frequency range of the desired mode while suppressing energy in other competing modes and at the resonant frequencies of the inlet and outlet channel structures of ink jet 10.
  • Fig. 3 diagrammatically shows a conventional apparatus representative of transducer driver 36 that is suitable for generating PZT drive waveforms according to this invention.
  • transducer driver 36 that is suitable for generating PZT drive waveforms according to this invention.
  • other waveform generators may be employed.
  • a processor 100 provides a trigger pulse to negative pulse timer 102 that drives a field-effect transistor 104 such that a resistor network 106 is electrically connected to a negative voltage source -V o for a time period determined by processor 100.
  • a wait period timer 108 is triggered for a wait time period determined by processor 100.
  • a positive pulse timer 110 drives a field-effect transistor 112 such that resistor network 106 is electrically connected to a positive voltage source +V o for a time period determined by processor 100.
  • Resistor network 106 is electrically disconnected from voltage sources +V o and -V o during periods when timers 102 and 110 are inactive or when timer 108 is active. A bipolar electrical drive is thereby produced that is electrically connected through resistor network 106 to metal one of film layers 34 of transducer 32.
  • Resistor network 106 includes a series resistor 114 having a value ranging between 5,000 and 6,000 ohms and a shunt resistor 116 having a value of about 5,560 ohms.
  • Series resistor 114 is trimmed to a value that establishes a predetermined drop ejection velocity from ink jet 10 as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,497, issued May 18, 1993 for ARRAY JET VELOCITY NORMALIZATION, which is assigned to the assignee of this application. This application is not directly concerned with establishing the predetermined ejection velocity, but rather describes how to maintain a substantially constant ejection velocity over a wide range of drop ejection rates.
  • Fig. 4 shows a preferred PZT drive waveform 160 that provides a substantially constant mode zero drop ejection velocity at drop ejection rates approaching 14 KHz.
  • Drive waveform 160 is shaped to concentrate energy around the dominant (Helmholtz) resonant frequency and to suppress energy near the resonant frequencies of input channel 18 and the combined outlet channel structures.
  • Many drive waveform shapes can achieve the same result, but drive waveform 160 achieves the desired result by having transducer driver 36 (Fig. 3) generate a bipolar drive waveform 162 that includes a 12.5-microsecond duration negative 50-volt pulse 164 separated by a 12.5-microsecond wait period 166 from a 12.5-microsecond duration positive 50-volt pulse 168.
  • Suitable drive waveforms may be generated in which each of the above-described pulse durations and wait periods may be in a range from about 4-microseconds to about 30-microseconds.
  • Pressure transducer 32 has a characteristic capacitance of about 500 picofarads which together with resistor network 106 forms a simple resistance-capacitance (“RC") filter that causes the characteristic rolled-off shape of drive waveform 160. Skilled workers will recognize that other RC value combinations are possible and that bipolar waveform 162 may be suitably adjusted to compensate.
  • RC resistance-capacitance
  • Fig. 5 shows a Fourier series approximation of an energy distribution 170 versus frequency resulting from driving pressure transducer 32 with drive waveform 160.
  • Energy distribution 170 is concentrated at a peak 172 surrounding the 19 KHz dominant resonant frequency of ink-jet 10 and is suppressed at a null 174 near the respective inlet and outlet channel resonant frequencies of 79 KHz and 73 KHz.
  • Fig. 6 graphically compares the jetting performance that results from driving ink-jet 10 with a prior art waveform and with preferred drive waveform 160 of Fig. 4.
  • the prior art drive waveform was shaped as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,177 to concentrate energy around a 19 KHz dominant frequency but to minimize energy only at the 73 KHz resonant frequency of the outlet channel.
  • the prior art waveform results when transducer driver 36 (Fig. 3) generates a bipolar drive waveform having a 12.0-microsecond duration negative 50-volt pulse separated by a 3.0-microsecond wait period from an 11.0-microsecond duration positive 50-volt pulse.
  • Ink-jet 10 was driven with the prior art waveform and the time required for ejected ink drops to travel from orifice 14 to a print medium spaced 0.81 millimeter away was recorded versus the drop ejection rate.
  • a curve 180 shows that 100-microsecond time-to-media variations result when ink-jet 10 is driven by the prior art waveform over a range of ejection rates from one to 10 KHz. The 50 percent time-to-media variation can cause drop placement errors that limit printing speed in high-resolution printing applications.
  • Ink-jet 10 was then driven with preferred drive waveform 160, and the time required for ejected ink drops to travel from orifice 14 to a print medium spaced 0.81 millimeter away was again recorded versus the drop ejection rate.
  • a curve 182 shows that 65-microsecond time-to-media variations result when ink-jet 10 is driven by preferred drive waveform 160 over a range of ejection rates from one to 13 KHz. Time-to-media variations of 40 microseconds result if ink-jet 10 is limited to an ejection rate of 12.5 KHz. The resulting 20 to 30 percent time-to-media variations represent a 50 percent variation improvement combined with a 25 percent to 30 percent drop ejection rate improvement.
  • High-speed, high-resolution printing applications may likewise be improved by using transducer drive waveforms designed and shaped according to the principles described in this application.
  • portions of this invention include, for example, its applicability to jetting various fluid types including, but not limited to, aqueous and phase-change inks of various colors.
  • waveforms other than waveform 160 can achieve the desired results and that a spectrum analyzer or fast-Fourier-transform displaying oscilloscope may be used to view a resulting energy spectrum while shaping a waveform to achieve a predetermined energy distribution. Moreover, filtering other than RC filtering, or no filtering at all may be employed to achieve the desired drive waveform energy distribution.
  • this invention is useful in combination with various prior art techniques including dithering and electric field drop acceleration to provide further enhanced image quality and drop placement accuracy.
  • the invention is amenable to any fluid jetting drive mechanism and architecture capable of providing the required drive waveform energy distribution to a suitable orifice.
  • electromechanical transducers other than the PZT bending-mode type described may be used.
  • Shear-mode, annular constrictive, electrostrictive, electromagnetic, and magnetostrictive transducers are suitable alternatives.
  • any other suitable energy form could be used to actuate the transducer, such as, but not limited to, acoustical or microwave energy.
  • electrical waveforms the desired energy distribution can be equally well established by unipolar or bipolar pairs or groups of pulses. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that this invention is, therefore, applicable to fluid ejection applications other than those found in ink-jet printers.

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  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)

Claims (19)

  1. Appareil pour éjecter un fluide depuis un orifice (14), l'appareil comprenant une chambre de pression (22) couplée de manière fluidique à un collecteur de fluide (12) par un canal d'entrée (18) et à l'orifice (14) par un canal de sortie (24, 26, 28), un dispositif de commande à transducteur produisant une entrée d'énergie, un transducteur (32) coupé à la chambre de pression (22) pour exciter dans l'orifice (14) une forme en ménisque modal en réponse à l'entrée d'énergie, l'entrée d'énergie ayant une distribution d'énergie spectrale qui est concentrée autour d'une fréquence de résonance dominante de la masse de fluide affectée dans l'appareil, en excluant le fluide dans le collecteur de fluide (12), et qui est sensiblement réduite autour de fréquences de résonances du canal d'entrée (18) et du canal de sortie (24, 26, 28), de sorte qu'une goutte de fluide est éjectée à une vitesse d'éjection depuis l'orifice (14) en réponse à l'entrée d'énergie.
  2. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel la forme en ménisque modal est d'un type de mode 0, d'un type de mode 1 et d'un type de mode 2.
  3. Appareil selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans lequel la fréquence de résonance dominante est une résonance de Helmholtz résultant de la coaction entre la chambre de pression (22), le canal d'entrée (18), le canal de sortie (24, 26, 28) et l'orifice (14).
  4. Appareil selon la revendication 3, dans lequel le trajet de sortie depuis la chambre de pression (22) vers l'orifice (14) est formé à partir d'un canal de sortie (24) et d'un canal de sortie (28) et optionnellement d'un canal de décalage (26), lesdits canaux étant formés par une plaque de séparateur (48), une plaque de sortie (54) et optionnellement par une plaque de canal de décalage (50) lorsqu'un canal de décalage (26) est inclus.
  5. Appareil selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'entrée d'énergie est appliquée de manière répétitive pour actionner le transducteur (32) dans une plage de taux de répétition s'étendant de 1kHz jusqu'à au moins environ 15 kHz et dans lequel la vitesse d'éjection de gouttes reste sensiblement constante sur la plage.
  6. Appareil selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'entrée d'énergie est une forme d'onde électrique.
  7. Appareil selon la revendication 6, dans lequel le caractère de la forme d'onde électrique est établi par une paire bipolaire d'impulsions séparées par une période d'attente.
  8. Appareil selon la revendication 6 ou 7, dans lequel le dispositif de commande à transducteur (36) inclut un processeur qui provoque la production répétitive de la forme d'onde électrique de sorte que les gouttes de fluide sont éjectées à un taux d'éjection de gouttes variant depuis 1.000 jusqu'à environ 15.000 gouttes par seconde.
  9. Appareil selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le transducteur (22) est du type piézoélectrique.
  10. Appareil selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'orifice (14) est un orifice à jet d'encre et le fluide est de l'encre.
  11. Procédé pour éjecter une goutte d'encre depuis un orifice d'un appareil à jet d'encre individuel ayant une chambre de pression (22) qui est couplée de manière fluidique à un collecteur d'encre (12) par un canal d'entrée (18) et à un orifice (14) par un canal de sortie (24, 26, 28), le procédé comprenant la fourniture d'une source d'entrée d'énergie, le réglage de la source d'énergie pour concentrer un contenu d'énergie spectral de l'entrée d'énergie autour d'une fréquence de résonance dominante d'une masse de fluide affectée dans l'appareil à jet d'encre, en excluant l'encre dans le collecteur à jet d'encre (12), le réglage de la source d'énergie pour supprimer le contenu d'énergie spectral de l'entrée d'énergie à proximité de fréquences de résonance du canal d'entrée (18) et du canal de sortie (24, 26, 28) et la connexion de l'entrée d'énergie à un transducteur (32) couplé à la chambre de pression (22) pour éjecter depuis l'orifice (14) une goutte d'encre ayant une vitesse d'éjection.
  12. Procédé selon la revendication 11, dans lequel la fréquence de résonance dominante est une résonance de Helmholtz résultant de la coaction entre la chambre de pression (22), le canal d'entrée (18), le canal de sortie (24, 26, 28) et l'orifice (14).
  13. Procédé selon la revendication 12 et incluant l'étape de formation du trajet de sortie depuis la chambre de pression (22) jusqu'à l'orifice (14) formé à partir d'un canal de sortie (24) et d'un canal de sortie (28) et optionnellement d'un canal de décalage (26), lesdits canaux étant formés par une plaque de séparateur (48), une plaque de sortie (54) et optionnellement une plaque de canal de décalage (50) lorsqu'un canal de décalage (26) est inclus.
  14. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 11 à 13 et incluant l'étape d'application de l'énergie d'entrée de manière répétitive au transducteur (32) à un taux de répétition compris dans une plage s'étendant de 1kHz jusqu'à environ au moins 15 kHz, dans lequel la vitesse d'éjection des gouttes reste sensiblement constante sur la plage de taux de répétition.
  15. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 11 à 14 dans lequel l'étape de production comprend la production d'une forme d'onde électrique.
  16. Procédé selon la revendication 15 et incluant l'étape de mise en forme de la forme d'onde électrique avec un réseau RC.
  17. Procédé selon la revendication 15 ou 16, dans lequel l'étape de production comprend la formation d'une impulsion électrique ayant une première polarité de tension relative et une première durée, l'attente pendant une période de temps prédéterminée, et la formation d'une impulsion électrique ayant une seconde polarité de tension relative et une seconde durée.
  18. Procédé selon la revendication 17, dans lequel les première et deuxième durées de temps et la période de temps prédéterminée sont toutes sensiblement égales.
  19. Procédé selon la revendication 17 ou 18, dans lequel les première et seconde durées de temps et la période de temps prédéterminée s'étendent chacune entre environ 4 µs jusqu'à environ 30 µs.
EP94307663A 1993-10-19 1994-10-19 Tête à jet d'encre à la demande et méthode Expired - Lifetime EP0648606B1 (fr)

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US13934993A 1993-10-19 1993-10-19
US139349 1993-10-19

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EP0648606A2 EP0648606A2 (fr) 1995-04-19
EP0648606A3 EP0648606A3 (fr) 1995-08-30
EP0648606B1 true EP0648606B1 (fr) 1998-07-01

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US5689291A (en) * 1993-07-30 1997-11-18 Tektronix, Inc. Method and apparatus for producing dot size modulated ink jet printing
JPH0952360A (ja) * 1995-04-21 1997-02-25 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェット式記録装置
US6217159B1 (en) 1995-04-21 2001-04-17 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink jet printing device
JP3173561B2 (ja) * 1995-10-31 2001-06-04 セイコーエプソン株式会社 積層型インクジェット式記録ヘッド、及びこれの駆動方法
JP3491187B2 (ja) * 1996-02-05 2004-01-26 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェット式記録装置による記録方法
EP1285760B1 (fr) * 1996-04-10 2006-02-08 Seiko Epson Corporation Procédé de commande d'une tête d'enregistrement à jet d'encre
TW422787B (en) * 1997-08-29 2001-02-21 Topaz Tech Inc Non-resonant burst mode operation of drop on demand ink jet printer
JP3161404B2 (ja) * 1997-12-26 2001-04-25 日本電気株式会社 インク滴径制御方法およびインクジェット記録ヘッド
JP3275965B2 (ja) * 1998-04-03 2002-04-22 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェット式記録ヘッドの駆動方法
JP3389986B2 (ja) 1999-01-12 2003-03-24 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェット記録ヘッド
US6629741B1 (en) 1999-03-11 2003-10-07 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Ink jet recording head drive method and ink jet recording apparatus
KR100421026B1 (ko) * 2002-04-29 2004-03-04 삼성전자주식회사 잉크젯 프린트헤드 제조방법
JP2006205415A (ja) * 2005-01-26 2006-08-10 Brother Ind Ltd インクジェット記録装置
US7896456B2 (en) 2005-06-24 2011-03-01 Kyocera Corporation Method for driving liquid ejector
JP4680805B2 (ja) * 2006-03-10 2011-05-11 ブラザー工業株式会社 インクジェットヘッド
JP6800613B2 (ja) 2016-05-30 2020-12-16 キヤノン株式会社 液体吐出装置および液体吐出ヘッド

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0648606A3 (fr) 1995-08-30
JP3099653B2 (ja) 2000-10-16
DE69411347D1 (de) 1998-08-06
EP0648606A2 (fr) 1995-04-19
JPH07178926A (ja) 1995-07-18
DE69411347T2 (de) 1999-03-04

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