EP0764534A2 - Verfahren zum Herstellen eines Flüssigkeitshohlraumes in einem Tintenstrahldruckkopf - Google Patents

Verfahren zum Herstellen eines Flüssigkeitshohlraumes in einem Tintenstrahldruckkopf Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0764534A2
EP0764534A2 EP96306775A EP96306775A EP0764534A2 EP 0764534 A2 EP0764534 A2 EP 0764534A2 EP 96306775 A EP96306775 A EP 96306775A EP 96306775 A EP96306775 A EP 96306775A EP 0764534 A2 EP0764534 A2 EP 0764534A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cavity
resonator
wire
fluid cavity
manufacturing
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Withdrawn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
EP96306775A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0764534A3 (de
Inventor
Randy D. Vandagriff
Henry D. Glueckert
Ronald J. Hill
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.)
Kodak Versamark Inc
Original Assignee
Kodak Versamark Inc
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 Kodak Versamark Inc filed Critical Kodak Versamark Inc
Publication of EP0764534A2 publication Critical patent/EP0764534A2/de
Publication of EP0764534A3 publication Critical patent/EP0764534A3/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Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current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 continuous ink jet printers and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a fluid cavity in an ink jet print head to provide a straight and uniform bore for ink drops exiting the fluid cavity.
  • Continuous ink jet printers comprise a series of electric and fluidic components, including an orifice plate and a charge plate, for generating one or more rows of jets of ink and selectively charging the ink droplets as they form from the jets.
  • each jet may be stimulated to produce drops of ink at a given rate. All such drops fall through an electrical deflection field, and those which are charged are deflected into a catcher. Uncharged drops are deposited on a print media positioned below the print head.
  • continuous ink jet printing apparatus have a print head manifold to which ink is supplied under pressure so as to issue in streams from a print head orifice plate that is in liquid communication with the fluid cavity.
  • Periodic perturbations are imposed on the liquid streams, such as vibrations by an electromechanical transducer, to cause the streams to break-up into uniformly sized and shaped droplets.
  • a charge plate comprising an array of addressable electrodes, is located proximate the streams break-off points to induce an electrical charge, selectively, on adjacent droplets, in accord with print information signals.
  • Charged droplets are deflected from their nominal trajectory. For example, in a common, binary, printing mode, charged or non-print droplets are deflected into a catcher device and non-charged droplets proceed to the print medium.
  • the components described above should be precisely sized and positioned to achieve accurate placement of droplets on the print medium or on the catcher face.
  • the orifice plate is associated with a resonator body which defines a fluid cavity and includes an opening for ejecting fluid from the cavity.
  • a continuous ink jet printing system includes a resonator having an internal fluid cavity. Initially, a small first pilot hole or aperture is drilled through the resonator to facilitate feeding a wire through the resonator. Using this wire, an electrical discharge machining (EDM) process is applied to the surface of the internal fluid cavity. The path for the wire defines the desired final aperture dimension, creating a uniform and straight cavity. A finishing or honing step can be applied to improve the texture of the final cavity, as needed.
  • EDM electrical discharge machining
  • the present invention provides an improved surface finish for the resonator cavity of an ink jet printing system.
  • the improved surface finish has the advantage of improving drop formation and print quality.
  • the present invention has the further advantage of providing more uniform amplitude along the resonator.
  • the technique of the present invention allows for various dimensioned holes, rather than being restricted to round holes, thereby offering potential fluid flow advantages.
  • a portion of a print head 10 of an ink jet printer system is illustrated.
  • the print head 10 is comprised of a resonator 12 having associated mounting pins 28.
  • the resonator 12 is typically constructed of a stainless steel material in the form of a predeterminedly dimensioned rectangular solid.
  • the print head 10 further comprises a drop selection means 14.
  • the print head 10 defines one or more rows of orifices on an orifice plate 16 of the resonator 12 which receive an electrically conductive recording fluid, such as a water base ink, from a pressurized fluid supply contained in a fluid cavity 18.
  • the fluid is ejected from the resonator through aperture 19 in rows of parallel streams 20 as ink droplets 22.
  • a drop catcher device 24 and a charge plate 26 define the drop selection means 14 for selectively charging and deflecting the drops 22 in each of the streams and depositing at least some of the drops 22 on a print receiving medium.
  • the print head 10 and resonator 12 cooperate with other known components used in ink jet printers.
  • the print head 10 and resonator 12 function to produce the desired streams of uniformly sized and spaced drops in a highly synchronous condition.
  • Other continuous ink jet printer components such as charge and deflection electrodes, drop catcher, media feed system and data input and machine control electronics (not shown) cooperate with the drop streams, produced by the print head 10 to effect continuous ink jet printing.
  • the resonator 12 is machined and ground to predetermined outer dimensions. As illustrated in Fig. 2B, a pilot hole or aperture 30 is drilled through the resonator 12. The pilot hole 30 is smaller than the final desired cavity size. To hold location and concentricity, the resonator 12 is counterbored at both ends, using any suitable process, such as a CNC mill.
  • Figs. 3A and 3B illustrate the wire EDM process according to the present invention, which is applied to the resonator 12 following the drilling step illustrated in Fig. 2B.
  • a wire 32 is inserted through pilot hole 30, and held taut as it moves continuously through pilot hole 30, along an axial burn rate path in the direction of arrow 34.
  • the wire 32 burns along its axial path, it also rotates around the perimeter of the pilot hole 30 in the direction of arrow 36, gradually and uniformly widening the pilot hole or aperture, as illustrated in Fig. 3B, to form the desired cavity 30'.
  • the uniformity and straightness of the cavity 30', as the cavity 30' size approaches the desired cavity size, is maintained using the wire EDM process.
  • the shape of cavity 30' remains true, even if the shape is not circular.
  • the resonator is not restricted to circular cavities, allowing for various dimensioned cavities to be achieved.
  • a honing step can be applied. This step requires the use of a honing machine that will remove a small amount of material from the cavity. This is done by circulating a very high precision and hardened stone in and out of the cavity from both ends. A layer of recast material left over after the EDM process is removed, and a smooth mirror-like finish remains on the cavity wall. The honing step does not introduce a new dimension to the final aperture, compromise the integrity of the final aperture, or adversely affect the trueness or accuracy of the aperture.
  • the present invention is useful in the field of ink jet printing, and has the advantage of eliminating the undesirable print problems caused by existing fluid cavity machining processes.
  • the present invention also provides more uniform amplitude along the resonator, since the location and size of the fluid cavity are now uniform.

Landscapes

  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
EP96306775A 1995-09-19 1996-09-18 Verfahren zum Herstellen eines Flüssigkeitshohlraumes in einem Tintenstrahldruckkopf Withdrawn EP0764534A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US53086795A 1995-09-19 1995-09-19
US530867 1995-09-19

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0764534A2 true EP0764534A2 (de) 1997-03-26
EP0764534A3 EP0764534A3 (de) 1997-09-17

Family

ID=24115301

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP96306775A Withdrawn EP0764534A3 (de) 1995-09-19 1996-09-18 Verfahren zum Herstellen eines Flüssigkeitshohlraumes in einem Tintenstrahldruckkopf

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0764534A3 (de)
JP (1) JPH09169116A (de)
CA (1) CA2185838A1 (de)

Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS608077A (ja) * 1983-06-27 1985-01-16 Fujitsu Ltd インクジエツトヘツドの製造方法
US4685185A (en) * 1986-08-29 1987-08-11 Tektronix, Inc. Method of manufacturing an ink jet head
US4711981A (en) * 1984-04-07 1987-12-08 Fanuc Ltd. Combined wire electrode electrical discharge machine and initial hole forming device
JPS639551A (ja) * 1986-07-01 1988-01-16 Ricoh Co Ltd インクジエツト記録ヘツドの製作方法
US4746929A (en) * 1987-01-16 1988-05-24 Xerox Corporation Traveling wave droplet generator for an ink jet printer
EP0299143A1 (de) * 1987-06-12 1989-01-18 Raycon Textron Inc. Produktionsvorrichtung zum Bohren mit Laserstrahl und Anwendung von Funkenerosion
JPH01125242A (ja) * 1987-11-10 1989-05-17 Nec Corp インクジェットヘッドにおけるノズル端面形成方法
JPH03295659A (ja) * 1990-04-13 1991-12-26 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェット記録用ヘッド
US5235746A (en) * 1992-03-19 1993-08-17 Atlas Fluid Controls Inc. Method of manufacturing a high-capacity servo valve body
JPH06122204A (ja) * 1992-10-12 1994-05-06 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェット記録ヘッドおよびその撥水処理方法

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS608077A (ja) * 1983-06-27 1985-01-16 Fujitsu Ltd インクジエツトヘツドの製造方法
US4711981A (en) * 1984-04-07 1987-12-08 Fanuc Ltd. Combined wire electrode electrical discharge machine and initial hole forming device
JPS639551A (ja) * 1986-07-01 1988-01-16 Ricoh Co Ltd インクジエツト記録ヘツドの製作方法
US4685185A (en) * 1986-08-29 1987-08-11 Tektronix, Inc. Method of manufacturing an ink jet head
US4746929A (en) * 1987-01-16 1988-05-24 Xerox Corporation Traveling wave droplet generator for an ink jet printer
EP0299143A1 (de) * 1987-06-12 1989-01-18 Raycon Textron Inc. Produktionsvorrichtung zum Bohren mit Laserstrahl und Anwendung von Funkenerosion
JPH01125242A (ja) * 1987-11-10 1989-05-17 Nec Corp インクジェットヘッドにおけるノズル端面形成方法
JPH03295659A (ja) * 1990-04-13 1991-12-26 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェット記録用ヘッド
US5235746A (en) * 1992-03-19 1993-08-17 Atlas Fluid Controls Inc. Method of manufacturing a high-capacity servo valve body
JPH06122204A (ja) * 1992-10-12 1994-05-06 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェット記録ヘッドおよびその撥水処理方法

Non-Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 009, no. 121 (M-382), 25 May 1985 & JP 60 008077 A (FUJITSU KK), 16 January 1985, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 012, no. 206 (M-708), 14 June 1988 & JP 63 009551 A (RICOH CO LTD), 16 January 1988, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 013, no. 369 (M-860), 16 August 1989 & JP 01 125242 A (NEC CORP), 17 May 1989, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 016, no. 135 (M-1230), 6 April 1992 & JP 03 295659 A (SEIKO EPSON CORP), 26 December 1991, *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 018, no. 411 (M-1648), 2 August 1994 & JP 06 122204 A (SEIKO EPSON CORP), 6 May 1994, *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH09169116A (ja) 1997-06-30
CA2185838A1 (en) 1997-03-20
EP0764534A3 (de) 1997-09-17

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