Ink jet printer

Claim 2

An ink jet printing system for writing on a record member by expelling droplets of liquid ink which comprises: an ink jet head comprising a body member having a cavity with a nozzle portion at one end and a piezoelectric - metallic diaphragm sealed at the opposite end; means for supplying liquid ink to said cavity; means for reciprocating said jet head back and forth across the front of the writing surface of said record member; storage and character generating circuit means responsive to input data to be printed for pulsing said piezoelectric diaphragm whereby droplets of ink are expelled from said nozzle to produce rows of dots on the record member as the head reciprocates back and forth; counter circuit means for controlling the drive of said storage and character generating circuit means; transducer means controlled by the mechanical motion of the jet head for producing synchronization pulses for controlling the drive of said counter circuit means; drive means for spacing said record member; first means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the completion of each row of dots whereby characters are formed in a dot matrix; and second means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the comPletion of each row of characters.

Claim 3

An ink jet printing system as in claim 1 wherein said liquid ink is supplied to the jet head by gravity flow.

Claim 4

An ink jet printing system as in claim 1 wherein said record member may take the form of a roll strip or individual cut sheets.

Claim 5

An ink jet printing system for writing on a record member by expelling droplets of liquid ink which comprises: a rotatable helically grooved level winding screw having turn around channels at each end, said winding screw extending across the writing surface of the record member and in close proximity thereto; a carriage nut mounted on said winding screw and having a follower riding in the helical grooves; an ink jet head mounted on said carriage nut, said head comprising a body member having a cavity with a nozzle portion at one end and a piezoelectric - metallic diaphragm sealed at the opposite end; means for supplying liquid ink to said cavity; means for rotating said winding screw whereby said jet head traverses back and forth across the front of the writing surface of said record member; storage and character generating circuit means responsive to input data to be printed for pulsing said piezolectric diaphragm whereby droplets of ink are expelled from said nozzle to produce rows of data on the record member as the head traverses back and forth; counter circuit means for controlling the drive of said storage and character generating circuit means; transducer means controlled by the mechanical motion of the jet head for producing synchronization pulses for controlling the drive of said counter circuit means; drive means for spacing said record member; first means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the completion of each row of dots whereby characters are formed in a dot matrix; and second means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the completion of each row of characters.

Claim 6

An ink jet printing system for writing on a record member by expelling droplets of liquid ink which comprises: a rotatable helically grooved level winding screw having turn around channels at each end, said winding screw extending across the writing surface of the record member and in close proximity thereto; a carriage nut mounted on said winding screw and having a follower riding in the helical grooves; an ink jet head mounted on said carriage nut, said head comprising a body member having a cavity with a nozzle portion at one end and a piezoelectric - metallic diaphragm sealed at the opposite end; means for supplying liquid ink to said cavity; means for rotating said winding screw whereby said jet head traverses back and forth across the front of the writing surface of said record member; storage and character generating circuit means responsive to input data to be printed for pulsing said piezolectric diaphragm whereby droplets of ink are expelled from said nozzle to produce rows of data on the record member as the head traverses back and forth; counter circuit means for controlling the drive of said storage and character generating circuit means; transducer means controlled by the mechanical motion of the jet head for producing synchronization pulses for controlling the drive of said counter circuit means; drive means for spacing said record member; first means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the completion of each row of dots whereby characters are formed in a dot matrix; and second means responsive to said counter circuit means for actuating said drive means to space the record member at the completion of each row of characters.

Claim 7

An ink jet printing system as in claim 4 wherein said transducer means comprises a toothed wheel rotatable with said winding screw and a magnetic head for sensing the teeth on said wheel.

Claim 8

An ink jet printing system as in claim 4 wherein said drive means comprises a one-way clutch and feed roll means adapted to space either a roll strip or individual cut sheets.

Claim 9

An ink jet printing system as in claim 4 wherein said liquid ink supply means comprises a vertically adjustable ink container and supply lines for feeding the liquid ink to the jet head by gravity flow.