US3656174A - Fluid drop marking apparatus - Google Patents

Fluid drop marking apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US3656174A
US3656174A US119230A US3656174DA US3656174A US 3656174 A US3656174 A US 3656174A US 119230 A US119230 A US 119230A US 3656174D A US3656174D A US 3656174DA US 3656174 A US3656174 A US 3656174A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
drops
drop
streams
orifices
aperture
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
US119230A
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English (en)
Inventor
John A Robertson
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.)
Eastman Kodak Co
Original Assignee
Mead Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
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Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3656174A publication Critical patent/US3656174A/en
Assigned to EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY A NJ CORP. reassignment EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY A NJ CORP. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST. Assignors: MEAD CORPORATION THE A CORP. OF OH
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime 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
    • B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
    • B41J2/2121—Ink jet for multi-colour printing characterised by dot size, e.g. combinations of printed dots of different diameter
    • B41J2/2128—Ink jet for multi-colour printing characterised by dot size, e.g. combinations of printed dots of different diameter by means of energy modulation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/024—Details of scanning heads ; Means for illuminating the original
    • H04N1/032—Details of scanning heads ; Means for illuminating the original for picture information reproduction
    • H04N1/034—Details of scanning heads ; Means for illuminating the original for picture information reproduction using ink, e.g. ink-jet heads
    • 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
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/18—Ink recirculation systems
    • B41J2/185—Ink-collectors; Ink-catchers

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A fluid drop marking apparatus which generates a plurality of fluid marking streams from a set of orifices spaced apart along a closed contour in an orifice plate.
  • the streams are stimulated to create a corresponding set of drop trains and the drops are selectively charged by application of an electrical signal to a conductive surface surrounding the streams at their breakup points.
  • the conductive surface extends downstream for production of outwardly attractive images of the drop charges; thereby causing the charged drops to be deflected outwardly for selective catching by an apertured catching plate.
  • Halftone representations are created by modulation of the applied electrical signal; the nature of the modulation depending upon the type of catching plate aperture employed.
  • the catcher for such a purpose may be a porous block as shown in the mentioned Sweet et al. patent, a simple funnel as shown in the mentioned Lewis et al. patent, or an apertured plate as shown for instance in Hertz et al. US. Pat. No. 3,416,153 or Nordin U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,436.
  • Another object of the invention is to provide a fluid drop marking apparatus having improved marking accuracy.
  • Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for digital jet drop recording at increased information rates and with relatively small sized drops.
  • This invention accomplishes the aforementioned objects by creating a plurality of trains of uniformly sized and regularly spaced drops, directing these drops through an aperture in a catching plate, and selectively deflecting drops outwardly beyond the aperture lip by employment of self induced deflection fields.
  • the drops trains are created by forcing a marking fluid through a plate and applying a constant frequency drop stimulating disturbance to the resulting set of issuing fluid streams.
  • the drops are generated they are selectively charged by controlled application of a capacitive charging voltage between the fluid streams and a surrounding conductive surface. Thereafter the drops are deflected outwardly by the attractive action of self-induced image charges in a downwardly extending portion of the conductive surface.
  • Halftone representations may be created by employing a non coincident catching plate aperture and modulating the amplitude of the drop charging voltage for catching of a predetermined percentage of the drops generated during any given stimulation cycle.
  • halftone representations may be created by employing a coincident catcher together with on/off modulation of the drop charging voltage in accordance with an appropriately timed schedule.
  • FIG. 1 is a partially cut away representation of a general apparatus arrangement constructed in accordance with this invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a cut away schematic representation of one species of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the distribution of actual and image charges induced in a conductive wall by the presence of a nearby charged drop.
  • FIG. 4 is an illustration of a catching plate aperture for use in generating halftone representations.
  • FIG. 4a illustrates a charging voltage sequence for use in connection with the catching plate aperture of FIG. 4 to produce 5 halftone densities ranging from black to white.
  • FIG. 1 The preferred arrangement for this invention is shown generally in FIG. 1 wherein are illustrated a set of circularly disposed fluid filaments 1 issuing from a set of orifices 2 in an orifice plate 3 and breaking up into drops 5.
  • Surrounding filaments 1 is a conductive cylindrical tube 4 which is adapted for capacitive charging and self induced outward deflection of drops 5. Drops 5 accordingly (but only if charged) fall beyond the upstanding lip 6 of apertured catching plate 7 and are caught. They are then drawn away by a vacuum (not illustrated).
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the above mentioned drop marking operation in somewhat more detail for only two streams.
  • a fluid supply chamber 8 having upper and lower sections 9 and 10 contains a supply of marking fluid 11.
  • Fluid 11 is supplied to chamber 8 by conduit 23 and is maintained under pressure by any convenient means such as a pump 22.
  • a filter screen 12 removes any large particulate matter from fluid 11 thereby preventing any plugging of orifices 2.
  • a stimulation transducer 13 transmits constant frequency vibrations through the structure of chamber 8 to filaments 1 thereby causing regularly timed formation of uniformly sized drops.
  • the drop stimulation process is well known in the prior art, and a variety of stimulation transducers are available.
  • transducer 13 may be magnetostrictively driven or may be replaced by a piezoelectric device which may be bonded directly to chamber 8 or to orifice plate 3.
  • the vibration frequency should be somewhere near the natural frequency of streams l which in one successfully operated embodiment is about kHz. Associated with this frequency area fluid pressure of,2.l kg. per sq. cm. and an orifice diameter of 1 1.4 microns.
  • the apparatus conveniently employs six orifices on a 204 micron diameter circle.
  • the stimulation frequency should be increased with increasing fluid pressure or with a decreased orifice diameter.
  • Drops 5 may be selectively charged by applying a charging signal 26 to the input terminals 24 of an amplifier 14.
  • the output terminals of amplifier 14 are connected to orifice plate 3 and to tube 4. This sets up an electrical field between the conductive inner surface of tube 4 and the outer surface of filaments 1. As a result, filaments 1 are capacitively charged and this charge is carried away by drops 5.
  • This technique for drop charging is generally the same as that employed in the prior art as shown for instance in Lewis et al. US. Pat. No. 3,298,030.
  • conductive tube 4 extends relatively far below the drop breakoff points thereby providing an imaging surface for self induced deflection of the charged drops.
  • tube 4 may be about 380 microns in dia. and extend about 1,800 microns below the drop formation point.
  • the charging potential may be about 200 volts.
  • the drop deflection phenomenon may be understood by referring to FIG. 3 wherein a charged drop 15 is shown falling past a conductive wall 16.
  • Drop 15 carries distributed negative charges 17 which induce charges 18 on the surface of wall 16.
  • Charges l8 attract drop 15 toward wall 16 with a cumulative effect equivalent to that of a hypothetical image drop 20 carrying image charges 21.
  • Lines 19 represent the total electrical field between drop 15 and wall 16.
  • the force acting on drop 15 is given approximately by the equation 3 where Q is the total charge on drop 15, s is the permittivity of air and d is the distance from drop to the surface of wall 16.
  • Drops 50 were all formed when signal 26 was at the zero level. These drops received no electrical charge and fell through tube 4 without deflection; the subsequent change in tube potential having no effect upon their trajectories. Drops 5 on the other hand were all formed after signal 26 jumped from a zero to a non zero magnitude and accordingly have been outwardly deflected for catching. Thus the apparatus produces a recorded line which corresponds to on/off states in the input control signal.
  • the above described apparatus will print 6 circularly arranged dots on recording medium during one stimulation period.
  • the individual dots typically will have a diameter of about 40 microns whereas the circle of dot centers will have a diameter of 204 microns.
  • a halftone gray scale may be created by merely charging and catching various ones of these overlapping dot sets.
  • the large 204 micron circle thus may be considered the basic system resolution cell corresponding to one square in a halftone screen. Techniques well known in communication theory may be applied to achieve modulation of the charging voltage signal appropriate for creation of the above described halftones.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates such an aperture which may be used in combination with a set of four drop trains.
  • a non coincident aperture may have a contour which is shaped differently from the contour passing through the centers of the orifice plate orifices, or else it may be similarly shaped and merely laterally offset whereby an equal outward deflection of all drop trains results in catching of the drops in one or more trains with passage through the aperture of the drops in the other trains.
  • the coincident circular catcher shown in FIG. 1 in combination with a circular array of orifices.
  • Catching plate 7 catches all drops in one six-drop cluster, (i.e., six circularly disposed drops generated from fluid filaments 1 during a single stimulation period) or else it catches none of them. It cannot selectively catch only certain drops within a single cluster.
  • aperture 27 when used non coincidently with 4 equally spaced drop trains as shown in FIG. 4 may print five different density levels ranging from black to white.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates five sequential catching plane positions which the four mentioned drop trains may reach when the four parent field filaments have been sequentially charged by five voltage levels as shown in FIG. 4a.
  • Drop positions A represent the lateral location at the catching plate plane for drops beingformed when the charging signal is at level a. If level a has a magnitude of zero volts, then the spacing between positions A is identical to the spacing of 4 corresponding orifices in the orifice plate.
  • the charging signal may be raised to levels d and e for drop deflection to positions DD and E,E'.
  • the drop catching positions are in all cases illustrated in a striped fashion while the passage or non catching positions are solid. It is therefore seen how a non coincident four sided catcher may be used in combination with four drop trains and five charging signal levels to produce five marking intensity levels ranging from black to white.
  • the invention may obviously be extended to produce additional halftone levels by adding additional streams, charging levels and aperture sides.
  • Fluid drop marking apparatus comprising:
  • an orifice plate provided with a plurality of orifices spaced apart along a closed contour
  • an apertured catching plate positioned for passage of said drop trains through the aperture thereof; said aperture being contoured for catching of drops deflected therebeyond by the attractive action of said images.
  • Fluid drop marking apparatus comprising:
  • an orifice plate provided with a plurality of orifices spaced apart along a closed contour
  • an apertured catching plate positioned for passage of said drop trains through the aperture thereof; said aperture being non coincident for production of halftone representations by selective catching of drops deflected therebeyond by the attractive action of said images.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Electrostatic Spraying Apparatus (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
US119230A 1970-12-08 1971-02-26 Fluid drop marking apparatus Expired - Lifetime US3656174A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US9608370A 1970-12-08 1970-12-08
US11923071A 1971-02-26 1971-02-26

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3656174A true US3656174A (en) 1972-04-11

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US119230A Expired - Lifetime US3656174A (en) 1970-12-08 1971-02-26 Fluid drop marking apparatus

Country Status (7)

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US (1) US3656174A (xx)
BE (1) BE776468R (xx)
CA (1) CA946458A (xx)
DE (1) DE2202867A1 (xx)
FR (1) FR2126453B2 (xx)
GB (1) GB1373530A (xx)
SE (1) SE382511B (xx)

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3739393A (en) * 1971-10-14 1973-06-12 Mead Corp Apparatus and method for generation of drops using bending waves
FR2352671A1 (fr) * 1976-05-27 1977-12-23 Ibm Procede et dispositif de controle de la densite d'impression dans une imprimante a jet d'encre
US4097373A (en) * 1977-03-23 1978-06-27 John Caldwell Allred High speed particle sorter using a field emission electrode
US4123760A (en) * 1977-02-28 1978-10-31 The Mead Corporation Apparatus and method for jet deflection and recording
US4250510A (en) * 1979-09-04 1981-02-10 The Mead Corporation Fluid jet device
US4258370A (en) * 1979-05-04 1981-03-24 The Mead Corporation Jet drop printer
US4279345A (en) * 1979-08-03 1981-07-21 Allred John C High speed particle sorter using a field emission electrode
US4307407A (en) * 1980-06-30 1981-12-22 The Mead Corporation Ink jet printer with inclined rows of jet drop streams
US4514735A (en) * 1983-08-12 1985-04-30 The Mead Corporation Ink jet printer start-up and shutdown
US4547785A (en) * 1984-04-23 1985-10-15 The Mead Corporation Apparatus and method for drop deflection
US4621268A (en) * 1984-02-08 1986-11-04 Keeling Michael R Fluid application method and apparatus

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3373437A (en) * 1964-03-25 1968-03-12 Richard G. Sweet Fluid droplet recorder with a plurality of jets
US3416153A (en) * 1965-10-08 1968-12-10 Hertz Ink jet recorder
US3560641A (en) * 1968-10-18 1971-02-02 Mead Corp Image construction system using multiple arrays of drop generators

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3373437A (en) * 1964-03-25 1968-03-12 Richard G. Sweet Fluid droplet recorder with a plurality of jets
US3416153A (en) * 1965-10-08 1968-12-10 Hertz Ink jet recorder
US3560641A (en) * 1968-10-18 1971-02-02 Mead Corp Image construction system using multiple arrays of drop generators

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3739393A (en) * 1971-10-14 1973-06-12 Mead Corp Apparatus and method for generation of drops using bending waves
FR2352671A1 (fr) * 1976-05-27 1977-12-23 Ibm Procede et dispositif de controle de la densite d'impression dans une imprimante a jet d'encre
US4123760A (en) * 1977-02-28 1978-10-31 The Mead Corporation Apparatus and method for jet deflection and recording
US4097373A (en) * 1977-03-23 1978-06-27 John Caldwell Allred High speed particle sorter using a field emission electrode
US4258370A (en) * 1979-05-04 1981-03-24 The Mead Corporation Jet drop printer
US4279345A (en) * 1979-08-03 1981-07-21 Allred John C High speed particle sorter using a field emission electrode
US4250510A (en) * 1979-09-04 1981-02-10 The Mead Corporation Fluid jet device
US4307407A (en) * 1980-06-30 1981-12-22 The Mead Corporation Ink jet printer with inclined rows of jet drop streams
US4514735A (en) * 1983-08-12 1985-04-30 The Mead Corporation Ink jet printer start-up and shutdown
US4621268A (en) * 1984-02-08 1986-11-04 Keeling Michael R Fluid application method and apparatus
US4547785A (en) * 1984-04-23 1985-10-15 The Mead Corporation Apparatus and method for drop deflection

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
SE382511B (sv) 1976-02-02
FR2126453A2 (xx) 1972-10-06
FR2126453B2 (xx) 1977-01-21
BE776468R (fr) 1972-04-04
CA946458A (en) 1974-04-30
DE2202867A1 (de) 1972-09-07
GB1373530A (en) 1974-11-13

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY A NJ CORP.

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:MEAD CORPORATION THE A CORP. OF OH;REEL/FRAME:004237/0482

Effective date: 19831206