US3075193A - Electrolytic process for producing characters and marks - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 22, 1963 x w. SCHIEBELER 3,075,193

ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS FOR PRODUCING CHARACTERS AND MARKS Filed April 28, 1958 INVENI'OR ".SCHIEBEIER AGENT United States Patent 3,075,193 ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS FOR PRODUCING CHARACTERS AND MARKS Werner Schicheler, 4 Rennhachweg, Eutingcn, Baden, Germany Filed Apr. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 731,102 1 Claim. (Cl. 346-74) This invention relates to electrical printing systems of the type employing electrolytic process printing. Its principal object is to provide a new and improved system of the above character wherein the speed of printing of alpha and numeric symbols is increased and wherein the usable life of the printing styli is lengthened.

Normally, printing, recording, and marking-processes on paper are carried out mechanically. In the course of these processes the ink is directly brought into contact with the paper for effecting a more or less strong inking, depending on the intensity by which the ink is brought into contact with the paper. In cases where only a very short period of time is available for the inking process, or whenever the necessary apparatus is required to be of a very simple type, the necessity of employing mechanically operated components has a very impedimental effect. Attempts are therefore made for employing in such cases, if possible, elements of the type operating in an iner-tialess manner.

Electrolytic processes for producing characters and marks on paper have already become known which are e.g. used in facsimile transmission apparatus. According to these processes chemicals are embedded in the paper pulp, which change their color as a result of chemical reactions when exposed to a current passage. These processes, however, have the disadvantage that the recording medium must be treated in a definite way which has a substantial eifect upon the paper price. This fact is very decisive in the case of apparatus consuming a considerable amount of paper per second (such as highspeed printing devices in combination with electronic computers).

The present invention relates to an electrolytic process printing arrangement which is adapted to produce lines, character rasters, images, or the like without requiring a special kind of paper or any noteworthy chemical treatmerit of the paper. In order to make the paper capable of conducting electric current it has merely to be slightly wetted or moistened with tap water or a salt solution (e.g. common-salt solution).

In known printing systems using the electrolytic process on moistened paper, a single stylus having a direct current potential thereon, was employed. There, the stylus Was moved laterally on a longitudinally moving paper to graphically print the path followed by the stylus. This arrangement had the disadvantage that the printing of an alpha or numeric character was slow since the same stylus would be required to retrace its path several times. Also, difiiculty was encountered in obtaining small characters since the stylus, being made of tellurium, would dissolve and become short and blunt.

According to the present invention, these disadvantages are overcome by providing a printing system wherein the stylus is made of any suitable conductive material and the contacting surface cooperating with the stylus is made of a large block of tellurium. In such arrange ment, the amount of tellurium dissolved would be negligible as regards the overall decrease in size. Thus, the stylus would not change as a result of use. Also, a plurality of styli are provided in the present invention, all positioned in operative relationship with the large block of tellurium. These styli are selectively energized to print all portions of a complete character at one time.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the figures of drawing comprising FIG. 1 which shows a group of styli positioned over a large block of tellurium with a dampened paper recording medium located therebetween, and FIG. 2 which shows an arrangernent for printing additional copies of each printed message.

Referring now in particular to FIG. 1, the value of the applied direct voltage from battery B depends on the period of time which is available for the inking process. It may e.g. range between 1 and 300 volts. When contacts S are closed, electric current is fed vertically through the plane of the paper by means of two oppositely arranged electrodes, such as anode ASt and a cathode Te, which are adapted to establish a proper contact with the paper.

The actual inking process in the case of a current passage is efrected by the cathode Te which, according to the invention, has to consist of tellurium. The anode may consist of any suitable metal or also of graphite. It is one of the properties of tellurium that it may easily be changed into a hydrosol, i.e. that it in water may be changed in a particularly simple way into the colloidal state. When applying in the process according to the described invention a direct-current voltage to both electrodes then, at the cathode, the tellurium will dissolve in the form of ions in the water which is contained in the paper. On account of further, very rapidly performed reactions the ions will again be converted into elementary, but now colloidal tellurium. These colloidal tellurium particle-s remain in and on the paper and cause a dark brown-black colouring of the paper at those points at which the direct current has passed through in a noteworthy density. In order to prevent the points to be H colored from leaking, the paper may only be wetted very slightly.

in order to obtain the inking of a desired pattern or a coloring in a predetermined shape (e.g. characters), the electrodes are arranged in horizontal and vertical rows as shown in FIG. 1. As previously mentioned, in order to achieve the coloring or inking in the shape of a letter, either the tellurium cathode has to have the shape of the respective letter and the anode has to have a plane surface, or else the anode has to have the shape of the respective letter and the tellurium cathode has to he of the plane type. The difierence is merely to be seen in the fact that from the brittle element tellurium it is very ditficu-lt to make electrodes resembling the shape of letters or a raster composed of a plurality of points, but that tellurium is very suitable for producing plane or smooth surfaces. In both cases the kind or quality of the inking is the same. The ink is in all cases provided by the cathode; the inking itself, however, is only effected at those parts or points of the paper at which current passes through the anode and tellurium cathode.

Depending on the kind of practical application, the electrodes ASt may either be of stationary or moving type, which are selectively connected to the source of power supply, and may respectively consist of one stylus or be composed of several styli, capable of being energized on in any desired combination. During the inking rocess the current intensity may either be constant or, in order to achieve diiierent degrees of coloring, may be varied with respect to its value. The feeding of the paper may be effected continuously or spasmodically.

For recording e.g. a measuring curve a paper-tape may be continuously led over a tellurium cathode of a drumtype design. An anode designed as a pointed stylus which is mechanically connected with the measuring instrument travels over the paper on the side not facing the drum. When connecting the electrodes to the power source a line will be produced on the paper, the course of which being determined by the respective position of the anode.

Referring now to FIG. 2, if several copies of the same recording are required in the course of one printing operation it will only be necessary to insert two or more layers of paper such as P1 and P2, between the electrodes ASt and Te. In addition thereto a thin and slightly wetted sheet of paper P3 which has one side coated with telluriurn (similar to the carbon paper used for typewriting purposes) may be inserted between each of said layers. The coating of tellurium will again act as a cathode upon the next successive sheet of paper, and thus will effect the inking or colouring.

The herein described inking process is particularly suitable for the recording of measuring curves, for registering various kinds of features, for printing characters and for producing images, such as in facsimile recording systems.

While I have described above the principles of my invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claim.

What I claim is:

An arrangement for the recording of marks and char- 4 acters in several copies simultaneously comprising a cathode electrode of tellurium having an extended surface; an anode electrode comprising a two-dimensional array of individual conductive styli; a plurality of recording medium layers lying between said cathode and anode; a sheet provided on the anode side with a coating tellurium, disposed between individual layers of recording medium; each layer and sheet being slightly wetted with a conductive solution; means for applying a potential between selected ones of said styli and said cathode for forming the characters and marks; and means for producing relative movement between the recording media and said electrodes.

References (Iiterl in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 166,859 Edison Aug. 17, 1875 2,353,083 Roth 1.. July 4, 1941 2,334,534 Ballweg Nov. 16, 1943 2,710,786 Tyler June 14, 1955 2,715,360 Brown Aug. 16, 1955 2,728,627 Alden Dec. 27, 1955 2,869,965 Willard Jan. 20, 1959

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