Stimulation apparatus for a jet drop recorder

Claim 2

In a jet drop recording head comprising an orifice plate provided with a plurality of orifices arranged along a line, a common manifold connecting with said orifices, means marginally securing said orifice plate to said manifold for definition of an acoustical wave guide, means for supplying a recording liquid to said manifold at sufficient pressure for forcing the liquid through said orifices and creating a line of liquid jets, means for causing a series of bending waves to travel lengthwise along said orifice plate and stimulate said jets to break up into streams of regularly formed drops, and means for charging and deflecting said drops to create intelligible patterns therefrom; the improvement wherein the marginal attachment of said orifice plate to said manifold defines a wave guide of progressively decreasing width to counteract the naturally occurring attenuation of said waves.

Claim 3

The improvement of claim 1 wherein the interior of said manifold defines a progressively narrowing slot lengthwise of said head and said orifice plate is rigidly secured flush with the lower surface of said manifold.

Claim 4

The improvement of claim 1 wherein the wave guide so defined has a width at least wide enough at all orifice locations for supporting a first order widthwise resonance mode.

Claim 5

The improvement of claim 3 wherein said wave guide has a taper in the order of about 0.025 cm per cm of wave guide length.

Claim 6

The improvement of claim 3 wherein the wide end of said wave guide is wide enough for naturally supporting a second order widthwise resonance mode and is provided with means for preventing transmission thereto of said second order mode.

Claim 7

The improvement of claim 5 wherein the wide end of said wave guide is too narrow for naturally supporting a third order widthwise resonance mode.

Claim 8

The improvement of claim 6 wherein said wave guide has a taper in the order of at least about 0.016 cm per cm of wave guide length.

Claim 9

The improvement of claim 3 wherein said wave guide is widest at its central point and is tapered inwardly toward each of its ends.

Claim 10

The improvement of claim 3 whereIn said wave guide is progressively tapered in an amount for causing all of said liquid filaments to have substantially the same mean length.

Claim 11

The improvement of claim 1 wherein the maximum width of said wave guide at any orifice location is great enough for naturally supporting a second order widthwise resonance mode but too narrow for supporting a third order resonance mode, and further wherein the minimum width of said wave guide at any orifice location is great enough for supporting a first order resonance mode.

Claim 12

The improvement of claim 10 further comprising means for preventing generation of bending waves of the second order widthwise resonance mode.

Claim 13

In a jet drop recording head comprising a manifold having an exit opening for escape of a recording liquid therefrom, an orifice plate provided with a plurality of orifices arranged along a line and sealed against said manifold with said orifices communicating with said exit opening, means for delivering a supply of recording liquid to said manifold under sufficient pressure to force said liquid to flow continuously through said orifices and form a plurality of free standing jets, means for generating a series of drop generating disturbances and causing said disturbances to travel along said orifice plate in the form of bending waves, and means for selective charging and deflection of drops generated by said jets under the stimulation of said bending waves, the improvement wherein said exit has a narrowing taper for reinforcing said waves and compensating against the naturally occurring attenuation thereof.

Claim 14

In a jet drop recording head comprising a manifold having an exit opening for escape of a recording liquid therefrom, an orifice plate provided with a plurality of orifices arranged along a line and sealed against said manifold with said orifices communicating with said exit opening, means for delivering a supply of recording liquid to said manifold under sufficient pressure to force said liquid to flow continuously through said orifices and form a plurality of free standing jets, means for generating a series of drop generating disturbances and causing said disturbances to travel along said orifice plate in the form of bending waves, and means for selective charging and deflection of drops generated by said jets under the stimulation of said bending waves, the improvement wherein said exit has a narrowing taper for reinforcing said waves and compensating against the naturally occurring attenuation thereof.

Claim 15

The improvement of claim 12 wherein said exit opening is wider than one-half the wave length of said bending waves but narrower than one and one-half times said wave length at all positions of communication with any of said orifices.

Claim 16

The improvement of claim 13 wherein said exit opening has a taper in the order of about 0.025 cm per cm of exit opening length.

Claim 17

The improvement of claim 14 wherein said exit opening has a width in the order of about 3.97 mm at its narrowest position of communication with any of said orifices.

Claim 18

The improvement of claim 15 wherein said exit opening has a width in the order of about 7.15 mm at its widest position of communication with any of said orifices.

Claim 19

The improvement of claim 13 wherein said exit opening has a width in the order of about 3.97 mm at its narrowest position of communication with any of said orifices and a width in the order of about 7.15 mm at its widest position of communication with any of said orifices.

Claim 20

The improvement of claim 13 wherein said exit opening is wider than a full wave length of said bending waves at its widest position of communication with any of said orifices and wherein said recording head comprises means to prevent generation of any mode II bending waves on the active area of the orifice plate.