Patent US4549318A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0051468A2
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Drop-on-demand ink drop marking apparatus and method
Assignee: Xerox Corp
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Filing: 1981-10-30
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2001-10-30
Abstract
Abstract Drop-on-demand ink drop marking apparatus and method of the type employing a plurality of capillaries (8). The capillaries are coupled to a pressurized liquid source (16) to cause the liquid ink (6) to weep from the orifice (7). A drop (11) is formed by stimulating the ink in the capillary (8). High drop generation rates are possible because the weeping ink flow enables the liquid consumed in the process of forming a drop to be more rapidly replaced in the capillary than if capillary action alone is relied upon for the replacement. A laser scanning beam (10) reflected from a rotating polygon mirror (43) is one embodiment for stimulating the ink to cause its expulsion from the capillary, and into flight towards a target (4). The beam heats the ink to expel it. Alternatively, a solid state laser adjacent each capillary is disclosed for stimulating the capillary to expel a drop into flight toward a target.
Inventors
- 👤 Frank C. Genovese
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 20:42
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/015; B41J2/04; B41J2202/00; B41J2202/01; B41J2202/12
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
102 words
Drop-on-demand ink drop marking apparatus comprising a drop generator (1) including at least one capillary channel (8) having an orifice (7) for expelling an ink drop (11) into flight towards a target (4), drop expulsion means (9) for stimulating ink (6) in the capillary channel (8) for expelling the drop of ink, and pressure means (15) coupled to the drop generator for supplying ink to the capillary channel, characterised in that the pressure means (15) supplies the ink (6) to the capillary channel (8) under sufficient pressure to cause ink to weep from the orifice (7) when drops are not being expelled.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
102 words
Drop-on-demand ink drop marking apparatus comprising a drop generator (1) including at least one capillary channel (8) having an orifice (7) for expelling an ink drop (11) into flight towards a target (4), drop expulsion means (9) for stimulating ink (6) in the capillary channel (8) for expelling the drop of ink, and pressure means (15) coupled to the drop generator for supplying ink to the capillary channel, characterised in that the pressure means (15) supplies the ink (6) to the capillary channel (8) under sufficient pressure to cause ink to weep from the orifice (7) when drops are not being expelled.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the expulsion means (9) includes means (40 or 60) for thermally stimulating liquid in the channel near the orifice to effect the expulsion of a drop.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
61 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the drop generator (1) includes a transparent section (30) adjacent the capillary channel at least in the region near the orifice and wherein the expulsion means (9) includes. means (40, 41, 43) for exposing liquid in the capillary to a laser beam (10) through the transparent section to heat the liquid to expel a drop.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the transparent section of the generator includes lens means (36) for focusing the incident laser beam onto the liquid in a capillary channel.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
65 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the drop generator (1) includes a transparent section (30) adjacent the capillary channel at least in the region near the orifice and wherein the expulsion means includes a solid state laser (60) adjacent the transparent region for exposing liquid in the capillary channel to radiation generated by the solid state laser to heat the liquid to expel a drop.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the drop generator includes a plurality of capillary channels arranged in a linear array.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
93 words
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the drop generator (1) includes a plurality of capillary channels (8) arranged in a linear array and a transparent cover plate (30) forming one wall of the channels at least in the region of the channels near the orifices and wherein said drop expulsion means includes a laser beam light source (40), a laser beam modulator (42), and a rotating polygon mirror (43) for scanning the laser beam (10) over the plurality of capillaries for selectively expelling drops in accordance with an input signal to the modulator.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7 including sump means (5) for collecting ink weeping from the capillary orifice.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 8 including means (23, 24) for returning ink collected in the sump to the drop generator.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
60 words
A drop-on-demand ink drop marking method comprising generating drops of ink by stimulating the ink in a capillary channel so as to expel drops from the orifice of the channel into flight towards a target, characterised by supplying ink to the capillary channel under sufficient pressure to cause ink to weep from the orifice when drops are not being expelled.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
60 words
A drop-on-demand ink drop marking method comprising generating drops of ink by stimulating the ink in a capillary channel so as to expel drops from the orifice of the channel into flight towards a target, characterised by supplying ink to the capillary channel under sufficient pressure to cause ink to weep from the orifice when drops are not being expelled.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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