Printing by selective ink ejection from capillaries

Claim 3

A method as in claim 1 wherein an electrostatic field is provided between said printing surface and the capillary assembly to transfer in to induce separation of the droplets from the capillary assembly and urge the droplets in travel to the printing surface.

Claim 4

A method as in claim 1 wherein said capillary assembly is accelerated in a direction away from said printing surface to provide an inertial force, sufficient to induce separation of ink droplets from the capillary assembly.

Claim 5

A method As in claim 3 and further including the step of providing an electrostatic field between said printing surface and said capillary assembly surface to facilitate transfer of ink droplets from the capillary assembly to the printing surface.

Claim 6

A method as in claim 3, and further including the step of impressing a negative hydrostatic pressure on said body of ink to lower the ink levels within the loaded capillary tubes to a substantially uniform level relative to the balance of the capillary tubes in the capillary assembly.

Claim 7

A method as in claim 3 in which are included steps of positioning a common body of ink for all the tubes in the assembly, supporting said body of ink by means which are penetrable by an electronic beam, loading selected capillary tubes by a loading electronic beam penetrating said supporting means and urging ink towards the surface of said capillary assembly and the selected tubes, affixing the capillary assembly to a transducer and impressing a snap-back action to said transducer by an electric signal to break the surface action of the ink in the selected capillary tubes, and inducing relative movement between the capillary assembly and the printing surface so that a graphic illustration may be sequentially established by succeeding rows of the deposited droplets.

Claim 8

A method as in claim 6 and the further step of imparting positive potentials to the surface of the capillary assembly and the printing surface, said printing surface potential being greater to thereby create an electrostatic charge to facilitate transfer of the droplets from the capillary assembly to the printing surface.

Claim 11

An apparatus as in claim 8 wherein means form an electrostatic field between said receiving surface and said capillary assembly to induce separation of the droplets from the capillary assembly and urge the droplets in travel to the printing surface.

Claim 12

An apparatus as in claim 8 wherein means accelerate said capillary assembly in a direction away from the receiving surface at a rate sufficient to break the surface tension of ink in the selectively loaded capillary tubes.

Claim 13

An apparatus as in claim 10 including means to effect a negative hydrostatic pressure in the tubes of the assembly to thereby reduce the ink within such tubes to substantially uniform levels prior to a succeeding cycle of preselectively loading the tubes in the assembly in accordance with the succeeding electric signals from the information system.

Claim 14

An apparatus as in claim 10 and further including means to induce relative movement between the printing surface and the capillary assembly surface so that sequential rows of droplets may be graphically deposited on the receiving surface in accordance with sequential electric signals to the information system in succeeding cycles of ink droplet ejection.

Claim 15

An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein the plurality of capillary tubes in the assembly are in communication with a common body of ink, a thin foil supporting said common body of ink, said foil being penetrable by a loading electron beam, said selected capillary tubes being loaded by an electron beam penetrating the foil and inducIng movement of the ink into selected capillary tubes towards the surface of the capillary assembly, a potential induced on the capillary assembly surface to create an electric field with said electron beam, a transducer affixed to said capillary assembly, electrical means to actuate said transducer to snap-back and eject droplets from the selectively loaded capillary tubes, an ink reservoir joined to said common body of ink, and said ink reservoir including a pump assembly to effect a negative hydrostatic pressure to reduce the ink in the capillaries to substantially uniform levels following an ejection snap.

Claim 16

An apparatus as in claim 13 wherein said receiving surface is paper movable relative to said capillary assembly, whereby sequential rows of droplets are graphically formed on said moving paper by succeeding cycles of selective loading and ejection, means to reestablish substantially uniform levels of ink in the tubes, and means to impress a positive potential to the surface of the paper higher than the positive potential of the capillary assembly surface to thereby create an electrostatic charge on the paper to facilitate transmittal of the droplets from the selectively loaded capillary tubes to the surface of the paper.

Claim 17

An apparatus as in claim 8 which includes a column of mercury in a capillary well and said ink riding said mercury column, a magnetic field, and means to form a current flow in response to selective activation of said electron beam, said current flow in said magnetic field resulting in predetermined pumping of the mercury column to urge ink out of the capillary well.

Claim 18

An apparatus as in claim 8 which includes plates of a piezoelectric material associated with each capillary, electrodes mounted on said piezoelectric plates, and means providing an electron beam to charge said electrodes, and to deform said plates and thereby urge ink to protrude from the capillary prior to droplet formation.