WO1994014616A1 - Procede et appareil d'impression par jet d'encre - Google Patents

Procede et appareil d'impression par jet d'encre Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1994014616A1
WO1994014616A1 PCT/GB1993/002604 GB9302604W WO9414616A1 WO 1994014616 A1 WO1994014616 A1 WO 1994014616A1 GB 9302604 W GB9302604 W GB 9302604W WO 9414616 A1 WO9414616 A1 WO 9414616A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ink
capillary
capillaries
array
laser
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.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/GB1993/002604
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Richard Martin Hiett
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.)
Postprint Retail Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
Postprint Retail Systems Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Postprint Retail Systems Ltd filed Critical Postprint Retail Systems Ltd
Priority to AU57078/94A priority Critical patent/AU5707894A/en
Publication of WO1994014616A1 publication Critical patent/WO1994014616A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

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
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14016—Structure of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/14088—Structure of heating means
    • B41J2/14104—Laser or electron beam heating the ink

Definitions

  • This invention concerns printing apparatus, particularly ink jet printers.
  • a method of expelling ink from an open ended capillary thereof, so as to deposit ink therefrom onto a selected region of a surface comprises the step of positioning the open end of the capillary in registry with the selected region of the surface and projecting energy from a laser source onto a region of the capillary spaced from the open end thereof, the duration and intensity of the energy being such as to cause ink in the said region of the capillary to expand sufficiently to expel ink from the open end of the capillary towards the selected region of the said surface.
  • the intensity and/or duration of the pulse may be adjustable so as to increase or decrease the volume of ink expelled, thereby to create a larger or smaller spot on the said surface.
  • the distance over which the ink has to travel may determine the extent to which the ink spreads out before it intercepts the said surface, the distance between the open end of the capillary and the said surface may be made adjustable but will normally be maintained constant for any given printing operation.
  • a beam of energy from the laser may be scanned across the array so as to cause ink in some or all of the capillaries to be expanded and expelled as aforesaid during the scanning, so that one or more dots of ink will be deposited on the surface.
  • the laser may be modulated in synchronism with the scanning so as to be ON when the scanning registers with a capillary which is to print and be OFF when the scanning registers with a capillary which is not required to print. In this way a series of dots of ink at selected positions along a line can be deposited from the line of capillaries during a single pass of the laser beam.
  • a laser beam is caused to scan the array of capillaries and is modulated ON and OFF as required so as to cause dots of ink to be expelled from selected capillaries in the array onto the said surface as it moves relative to the array
  • the direction of movement is selected so as to subtend an angle relative to the capillary array which is greater than zero.
  • the size of the dot can also be made very small.
  • the angle between the array of capillaries and the direction of movement need not be 90° but can be much less if desired, so the spacing between two lines of dots deposited from adjacent capillaries can be made as small as required.
  • the dots per unit length parallel and perpendicular to the direction of movement can be controlled to any desired number limited only by the minimum dot size.
  • the important feature of the movement is that there is relative movement between the capillaries and the surface, and depending on the application so the surface may be stationary and the movement may be obtained by movement of the capillary or capillary assembly relative to the surface, or both may be moved so as to enable compound relative movement to be obtained.
  • the array of capillaries may be rotated and the surface moved linearly relative to either the centre of rotation of the array or some other point which may itself move relative to the surface so that the array either rotates about a point along a line parallel or inclined to the direction of movement or about points along a curve such as a sinusoid or more complex curve.
  • the dot spacing and size may be such that ink from adjacent capillaries forms dots which at least touch or partially overlap so as to produce a continuous line of ink on the surface (either parallel or inclined to the direction of movement).
  • Apparatus for performing the methods as aforesaid comprises:
  • laser source means adapted to project a beam of energy to intercept a region of the capillary spaced from the open end thereof so as to cause local expansion of the ink therein and expulsion of a droplet of ink from the open end thereof towards the said surface, to form a dot thereon.
  • Means may be provided for synchronously operating the laser in relation to relative movement of the surface and the capillary, so that droplets of ink are deposited at a constant spacing on the surface.
  • a plurality of capillaries may be arranged in a side by side array, with constant spacing between the open ends thereof, the latter all lying in a plane which is parallel to the path of movement of the surface to be printed, and the laser source is adapted selectively to activate the capillaries so as to cause ink droplets to be expelled from selected ones thereof onto the said surface.
  • the scanning may be achieved by means of a moving mirror or prism or other reflecting or refracting device.
  • the device rotates so as to effect the scanning.
  • Modulation may be effected by means of a shutter mechanically or electromechanically or by pulsing the laser so as to produce pulses of energy at desired points in time synchronised with the movement of the scanning device and relative movement of array and surface.
  • a multiple faceted device may be employed so that as one reflecting or refracting facet is moved out of registry with the laser beam, so the latter impinges on the next facet around the device, and by arranging that the path of each facet across the beam is similar to the preceding and following facet movements, so the beam can be made to describe a sweeping movement across the array of capillaries and then return quickly to the beginning of the sweep as one facet is replaced by the next.
  • the capillary defining walls transmit laser energy, significantly move readily than the ink
  • such an arrangement in combination with laser energy sensing means to the rear of the array may be used to generate a gating signal for controlling the pulsing of the laser source.
  • an energy detector eg an opto electrical detector
  • a first electrical signal will be generated by the detector when the beam registers with the capillary defining wall material (eg glass) and a second electrical signal will be generated by the detector when the beam registers with the more opaque ink.
  • circuit means responsive to the first and second signals to generate a laser pulsing signal in response to a transition from a first to a second electrical signal, so the laser can be caused to change from a quiescent lower level mode to a high level mode whenever the beam intercepts an ink capillary.
  • each capillary will be fired during each scan, and the printing of selected dots can be achieved by synchronously generating a gating signal which either permits or inhibits the passage of the laser pulsing signals so that different ones of the array of capillaries will be fired as required.
  • printing may be achieved by modulating the laser to operate at a higher power whenever a dot of ink is required on the surface.
  • the low power scan may be used to determine the timing- spacing if it is performed once (or infrequently on a regular basis) and the pattern of signals generated by the detector is stored in a suitable memory which is then addressed in synchronism with subsequent scanning of the array by the laser to provide synchronous signals for controlling when the laser beam register with a capillary, so that if a print controlling signal coincides with the scanning of that capillary so full power is momentarily applied to fire that capillary.
  • the volume of ink projected from a capillary and therefore the size of the dot of ink can be related to the energy in the laser beam and/or the energy pulse duration, so larger or smaller dots may be printed onto the surface by appropriately modulating the power and/or duration of the laser energy pulse.
  • the array includes differently coloured inks, eg alternately triads of additive colours, such that equal depositions of each triad produces black and different proportions of each of the three additive colours produces a different overall colour effect, so colour printing can be achieved by simply controlling the energy and/or duration of each pulse of laser energy to each of the three capillaries of each triad, so as to deposit the required quantity of each different colour ink to obtain the desired overall effect.
  • the invention is of particular application in the field of so called ink jet printers in which no actual contact is made between the printing head and the surface to be printed. Very high speeds and very high resolutions are possible using the techniques described above.
  • Each capillary may be fed with ink from a reservoir of ink and projection of the ink from the open end of the capillary due to local heating and expansion of ink along the length of the capillary may be ensured by arranging for significantly greater resistance to ink flow towards the reservoir as opposed to through the open end of the capillary from the position at which the ink is heated. This may be achieved using valves, capillary design (cross section or relative lengths of capillary), or a combination of both, or a pressure head or local restriction in the capillary on the reservoir side.
  • the capillary size is chosen so as to prevent the flow of ink therefrom due to surface tension even when the capillary is mounted so that the open end is at the bottom of a column of ink.
  • the laser source may operate at any convenient wavelength, the latter being selected so as to produce heating of the ink in question, thus visible spectrum light lasers or infra red lasers may be employed for example.
  • Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a single laser controlled ink jet printer embodying the invention
  • Figure 2 shows in side elevation how a laser beam can be more conveniently conveyed to the capillaries of ink in a printing head such as shown in Figure 1 ;
  • Figure 3 shows diagramatically how a signal can be obtained during scanning of the capillaries for controlling the operation of the laser and/or for storage for subsequent use therefor;
  • Figure 4 shows the positioning of the reflecting surface behind the array of capillaries of Figure 3
  • Figures 5A and 5B show how three capillaries arranged in line can be wrapped around one another to define a triad of printing points at the open ends thereof, for colour printing.
  • Figure 6 is an end view of a linear array of capillaries for a printing head such as is shown in Figure 1 ;
  • Figure 7 is a corresponding view to Figure 6, and shows an array of capillaries for a colour printing head
  • Figure 8 is a diagrammatic cut away side view of a printer which incorporates a printing head embodying the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 four glass tubes 10, 12, 14, 16 are arranged side by side in line below a reservoir 18 which keeps a capillary in each tube filled with ink.
  • the capillary of tube 10 is denoted by reference numeral 20.
  • the lower ends of the tubes 10-18 are open but surface tension prevents the ink from escaping.
  • a laser 22 is powered from a suitable supply 24 to produce a beam of light 26 (although IR or UV may be employed if preferred) which is deflected by a prism 28 rotated by motor 30 so as to cause the beam 26 to repetitively scan across the line of capillaries in the tubes 10, 12 etc.
  • a transducer 32 produces a feedback signal along line 34 to indicate to a control centre 36 (preferably microprocessor controlled) the precise position of the beam at any instant, and therefore which of the capillaries in the tubes 10, 12 etc is being intercepted by the beam.
  • a sheet of paper 38 below the open ends of the tubes 10, 12 etc is stretched a sheet of paper 38 (although any other material may be employed suitable for receiving ink) and although not shown means such as a platen is provided to move the sheet of paper 38 in the direction of the arrow 40.
  • the arrow 40 extends substantially perpendicularly to the line of the capillaries.
  • the control centre 36 may generate control signals for causing the laser output to vary (typically to be pulsed) so that the beam energy when intercepting selected ones of the capillaries is sufficient to cause the ink therein in the path of the beam to vapourise and thereby expel a small volume of ink from the open end of the tube in question onto the paper, due to the rise in pressure in the capillary.
  • Figure 2 shows how a practical printing head may be constructed, contained within the dotted line 42.
  • the laser 22 is mounted above the line of tubes, the end one 10 of which can be seen.
  • Light from the laser is deflected by the rotating prism 44, and is then reflected downwardly by mirror 46 to a mirror 48 located in registry with the tube.
  • mirror 46 located in registry with the tube.
  • a substrate 50 such as a sheet of paper or card is moved below the head 42 in the direction of the arrow 52 so as to present successive regions of its surface to the head, for printing thereon.
  • Figure 3 shows a similar arrangement to that of Figure 2 but with the addition of a reflecting surface such as a plane mirror 54 located beyond the tubes such as 10 and angled so as to reflect light impinging thereon back towards the mirror 48 but at a slightly different angle to that of the light reflected from the mirror.
  • a detector 56 By positioning a detector 56 so as to intercept the returning beam 58 and generate electrical signals in response to the intensity of the light received thereby, so an electrical signal can be generated for supply along line 60 to a control centre 62, whose waveform is similar to that shown at 64.
  • Each downward excursion of the waveform such as 66 corresponds to the crossing of a capillary of ink (which is relatively opaque) whilst the remainder of the signal corresponds to the light transmitted by the transparent walls of the tubes and reflected by the mirror 54.
  • the positions of the excursions 66 relative to the beginning and ending of each scan of the beam due to a rotation of the prism 44 is stored in a memory 68 for synchronous readout during subsequent scans so as to enable the positions of the capillaries to be tracked during subsequent scans.
  • the signals such as 66 may be stored during each scan so that the memory 68 is continuously updated.
  • the scanning to achieve registration signals for storing in the memory 68 may be performed only occasionally so as to monitor for example any change due for example to heating up of the tubes due to the laser beam interception or due to changes in ambient temperature.
  • Figure 4 shows how the mirror 54 can be mounted to the rear of an array of tubes such as 10, 12 14.
  • Figures 5A and 5B show how three tubes 70, 72, 74 may be twisted around one another so that at one end they are in line (as in Figure 4) and at the other end (their open ends as far as the capillaries are concerned) they occupy three parts of an equal sided triangle (Figure 5B).
  • the tubes and capillaries can thus be addressed by a scanning beam as shown in Figures 1-3 at their upper end (as shown in Figure 5A) but the dots of ink deposited by them are posioned at the three points of a triangle (best seen in Figure 5B).
  • By supplying the three tubes (70, 72, 74) with three differently coloured inks so colour printing can be performed by appropriately energising each of the three tubes 70, 72, 74 in turn.
  • Different quantities of each ink can be deposited by controlling the energy in the beam as it separately impinges on the three tubes in turn, as by suitable modulation of the laser output.
  • Figure 6 shows from beneath a linear array of eight capillary tubes 100a-100b for use in a monochrome printing head.
  • the lower ends of the tubes 100 are open to allow ink to be expelled therefrom, onto an underlying surface (not shown), in response to being fired by a scanning beam from a laser source controlled in a similar fashion to beam from the laser source 22
  • the tubes 100 can be used in place of the tubes 10, 12, 14 and 16, so as to give greater printing resolution than can be achieved with 4 capillaries.
  • a similar array of capillaries is shown (from beneath) in Figure 7 , but instead of linear array of single capillaries there is provided a linear array of eight triads of tubes 110a—110h, each triad is as shown in Figure 5, and the members of each triad 110 contains differently coloured i ⁇ S to unable colour printing to be performed.
  • the print head 112 is positioned downstream a first pair of pinch rollers 114 and 116, and upstream a second pair of rollers 118 and 120.
  • the rollers 114 and 16 are operable to grip a sheer of paper such as the sheet 122 ffed into an inlet 124 and to draw the sheet into the printer, over a platter 126 positioned beneath the head 112, and to the rollers 118 to 120.
  • the rollers 118 and 120 draw the sheet thro ⁇ gh the machine in the same direction through the machine as the rollers 114 and 116 and subsequently expell the sheet through an outlet 126, from which the sheet is deposited onto a tray 128.
  • the latter scans across the sheet by being reciprocally moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction of progress of the sheet to enable ink to be deposited at appropriate places on the sheet.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Electronic Switches (AREA)

Abstract

Appareil et procédé permettant d'expulser l'encre d'un tube capillaire (20) à extrémité ouverte afin de produire une impression à haute résolution. Selon ce procédé, un faisceau laser (26) vaporise l'encre sur la longueur du tube capillaire au niveau d'une région espacée de son extrémité ouverte. Un faible volume d'encre est ainsi expulsé de ladite extrémité sur le papier (38). Le faisceau (26) est réglé de façon à augmenter ou à réduire le volume d'encre expulsé. Une multiplicité de tubes capillaires peut être utilisée dans une tête d'impression, la modulation du laser étant utilisée pour balayer ces groupements. Le balauage est effectué par l'intermédiaire d'une facette (28) réfléchissante ou de réfraction mobile.
PCT/GB1993/002604 1992-12-23 1993-12-20 Procede et appareil d'impression par jet d'encre Ceased WO1994014616A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU57078/94A AU5707894A (en) 1992-12-23 1993-12-20 Method and apparatus for ink jet printing

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB929226846A GB9226846D0 (en) 1992-12-23 1992-12-23 Improvements in and relating to printing apparatus
GB9226846.5 1992-12-23

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1994014616A1 true WO1994014616A1 (fr) 1994-07-07

Family

ID=10727132

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1993/002604 Ceased WO1994014616A1 (fr) 1992-12-23 1993-12-20 Procede et appareil d'impression par jet d'encre

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU5707894A (fr)
GB (1) GB9226846D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO1994014616A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2019097380A1 (fr) * 2017-11-15 2019-05-23 Granat Research, Ltd. Système d'éjection de gouttelettes de métal

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3982251A (en) * 1974-08-23 1976-09-21 Ibm Corporation Method and apparatus for recording information on a recording medium
US4312009A (en) * 1979-02-16 1982-01-19 Smh-Adrex Device for projecting ink droplets onto a medium
EP0051468A2 (fr) * 1980-11-03 1982-05-12 Xerox Corporation Déclencheur de gouttelettes pour un appareil de marquage à gouttes d'encre et méthode correspondante
JPS58147376A (ja) * 1982-02-26 1983-09-02 Canon Inc 液滴形成装置
US4492966A (en) * 1979-04-02 1985-01-08 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Recording apparatus
JPH01237146A (ja) * 1988-03-18 1989-09-21 Canon Inc インクジェット記録ヘッド

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3982251A (en) * 1974-08-23 1976-09-21 Ibm Corporation Method and apparatus for recording information on a recording medium
US4312009A (en) * 1979-02-16 1982-01-19 Smh-Adrex Device for projecting ink droplets onto a medium
US4492966A (en) * 1979-04-02 1985-01-08 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Recording apparatus
EP0051468A2 (fr) * 1980-11-03 1982-05-12 Xerox Corporation Déclencheur de gouttelettes pour un appareil de marquage à gouttes d'encre et méthode correspondante
JPS58147376A (ja) * 1982-02-26 1983-09-02 Canon Inc 液滴形成装置
JPH01237146A (ja) * 1988-03-18 1989-09-21 Canon Inc インクジェット記録ヘッド

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 13, no. 567 (M - 908)<3915> 15 December 1989 (1989-12-15) *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 7, no. 269 (M - 259)<1414> 30 November 1983 (1983-11-30) *

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2019097380A1 (fr) * 2017-11-15 2019-05-23 Granat Research, Ltd. Système d'éjection de gouttelettes de métal
US10799984B2 (en) 2017-11-15 2020-10-13 Granat Research, Ltd. Metal droplet jetting system
CN111867842A (zh) * 2017-11-15 2020-10-30 格拉纳特研究有限公司 金属熔滴喷射系统
CN111867842B (zh) * 2017-11-15 2021-05-25 格拉纳特研究有限公司 金属熔滴喷射系统
US11752575B2 (en) 2017-11-15 2023-09-12 Granat Research, Ltd. Metal droplet jetting system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9226846D0 (en) 1993-02-17
AU5707894A (en) 1994-07-19

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3982251A (en) Method and apparatus for recording information on a recording medium
US3560641A (en) Image construction system using multiple arrays of drop generators
US5467121A (en) Method and apparatus for dot matrix writing using a continous wave laser
EP0767061B1 (fr) Imprimante à encre liquide pour produire des images à haute résolution
EP1008451A2 (fr) Procédé et dispositif d&#39;impression à jet d&#39;encre initiée par laser
JPH0664174A (ja) 印刷密度調整方法
US6478414B2 (en) Drop-masking continuous inkjet printing method and apparatus
US4809021A (en) Apparatus and method for generating images by producing light spots of different sizes
GB2060499A (en) Liquid jet recording process and apparatus therefor
GB1571698A (en) Ink jet printing
KR960029102A (ko) 타이밍 신호 조정 방법, 노즐 타이밍 신호 조정 장치 및 노즐 타이밍 신호 조정용 페이지 와이드 어레이 잉크제트 장치
KR960010246A (ko) 칼라 필터, 칼라 필터를 사용하는 디스플레이 디바이스, 디스플레이 디바이스 및 잉크 젯 헤드를 포함하는 장치, 및 칼라 필터 제조 방법 및 장치
JP2001138508A (ja) 光活性インク放出システムを利用する印字装置及び印字方法
JPH07144412A (ja) マルチカラーインクジェットプリントヘッド及びインクジェットプリンタ
JPH09503885A (ja) レーザマーカ装置
US10576756B2 (en) Method for forming an image on a recording medium in a printer
JP2003311971A (ja) 連続流インクジェット印刷機において一定の液滴体積を維持するための装置と方法
KR970062762A (ko) 칼라 필터 제조 방법 및 장치, 칼라 필터, 디스플레이 장치, 및 디스플레이 장치를 구비한 장치.
KR100364263B1 (ko) 잉크-젯 프린팅 방법과 이 방법을 실행하기위한 잉크-젯프린팅 헤드.
EP0169337B1 (fr) Appareil et méthode d&#39;entraînement pour imprimantes à jet d&#39;encre
US6174037B1 (en) Multiple pass ink jet printer with optimized power supply
JPH11342599A (ja) １スポット複数滴プリンティングシステム
WO1994014616A1 (fr) Procede et appareil d&#39;impression par jet d&#39;encre
EP0823328B1 (fr) Procede d&#39;impression par jet d&#39;encre et tete d&#39;impression a jet d&#39;encre pour la mise en oeuvre dudit procede
JPH08258268A (ja) インクジェット・プリンタによる印刷方法

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT AU BB BG BR BY CA CH CZ DE DK ES FI GB HU JP KP KR KZ LK LU MG MN MW NL NO NZ PL PT RO RU SD SE SK UA US VN

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA GN ML MR NE SN TD TG

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
EX32 Extension under rule 32 effected after completion of technical preparation for international publication

Free format text: GE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase
REG Reference to national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: 8642

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: CA