Ink-jet recording system using electrostatic force to expel ink

• US 6,158,844 A
• Filed: 09/15/1997
• Issued: 12/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Hosaka, Yasuo, Nomura, Yuko, Nagato, Hitoshi, Hirahara, Shuzo, Nakao, Hideyuki, Ishii, Koichi, Murakami, Teruo
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow, Jr., John E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gordon, Raquel Yvette
• Application Number:
  US08/929,110
• Time in Patent Office: 1,184 Days
• Field of Search: 347/55, 347/154, 347/103, 347/123, 347/111, 347/159, 347/127, 347/128, 347/17, 347/120, 347/151, 399/273, 399/290, 399/293, 399/294, 399/295
• US Class Current: 347/55
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/06 by electric or magnetic field
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/061 Ejection by electric field of ink or of toner particles contained in ink

Abstract

An ink jet recording device for applying an electric force to an ink to cause an ink particle to fly onto a recording medium for recording, comprises: a control substrate arranged so as to face the recording medium, said control substrate comprising an insulating supporting substrate, and first and second control electrodes arranged on both sides of the insulating supporting substrate, said control substrate having at least one through hole which passes through said first and second control electrodes and said insulating supporting substrate; ink supply source for supplying an ink into said through hole of said control substrate; and signal voltage supply source for applying a signal voltage between said first and second control electrodes, in accordance with a picture signal for causing an ink particle to fly out of said through hole toward said recording medium.

Claims

1. An ink jet recording device for applying a static electric force in an ink to cause an ink particle to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording device comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate arranged to face the recording medium, a through hole which is passed through said insulating substrate for ejecting and flying said ink particle toward said recording medium, and a control electrode provided near said through hole to apply the static electric force to the ink;

ink supply means for supplying ink into said through hole of said control electrode substrate;

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said control electrode;

an ink guide, which is arranged substantially at a center of said through hole of said insulating substrate and said control electrode and which has a tip portion serving as an ink-droplet flying position, said tip portion projecting from an upper surface of said control electrode or said insulating substrate toward said recording medium;

wherein

said ink guide comprises a flat base portion facing said control electrode substrate and a plurality of projecting portions, each of which projects in an ink flying direction from said base portion at a position facing a corresponding through hole for allowing the ink to fly out of the tip of the projecting portion;

wherein

said projecting portion of said ink guide projects in an ink flying direction from the through hole of said insulating substrate and said control electrode, and said projecting portion has a tip portion having inclined planes toward both sides;

wherein

said projecting portion of said ink guide has a flat plane which is arranged to join said included planes to one another.

2. An ink jet recording device for applying a static electric force in an ink to cause an ink particle to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording device comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate arranged to face the recording medium, a through hole which is passed through said insulating substrate for ejecting and flying said ink article toward said recording medium, and a control electrode provided near said through hole to apply the static electric force to the ink;

ink supply means for supplying ink into said through hole of said control electrode substrate;

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said control electrode;

an ink guide, which is arranged substantially at a center of said through hole of said insulating substrate and said control electrode and which has a tip portion serving as an ink-droplet flying position, said tip portion projecting from an upper surface of said control electrode or said insulating substrate toward said recording medium, said ink guide includes a protecting member which projects closer toward said recording medium than a tip surface of said projecting portion of said ink guide.

3. An ink jet recording device for applying a static electric force in an ink to cause an ink particle to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording device comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate arranged to face the recording medium, a through hole which is passed through said insulating substrate for ejecting and flying said ink particle toward said recording medium, and a control electrode provided near said through hole to apply the static electric force to the ink;

ink supply means for supplying ink into said through hole of said control electrode substrate;

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said control electrode;

wherein said voltage applying means comprises signal voltage apply means for applying a signal voltage corresponding to an image signal for flying said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, and bias voltage applying means for applying a bias voltage between said first and second control electrodes for accelerating the flying ink particle, wherein when the surface potential of said recording medium is Vm, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing an ion particle to fly is V1on, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ion particle not to fly is V1off, and said bias voltage is V2, restrictions on V2 include

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Vm<

V2<

V1off and Vm<

V1on<

V2.

4.

4. An ink jet recording device for applying a static electric force in an ink to cause an ink particle to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording device comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate arranged to face the recording medium, a through hole which is passed through said insulating substrate for ejecting and flying said ink particle toward said recording medium, and a control electrode provided near said through hole to apply the static electric force to the ink;

ink supply means for supplying ink into said through hole of said control electrode substrate;

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said control electrode;

wherein said voltage applying means comprises signal voltage apply means for applying a signal voltage corresponding to an image signal for flying said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, and bias voltage applying means for applying a bias voltage between said first and second control electrodes for accelerating the flying ink particle, wherein when a surface potential of said recording medium is Vm, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing an ion particle to fly is V1on, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ion particle not to fly is V1off, and said bias voltage is V2, restrictions on V2 include

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Vm<

V1off<

V2 and Vm<

V2<

V1on.

5.

5. The ink jet recording system for applying a electrostatic force to an ink containing a coloring material dispersed in a solvent to cause an ink droplet to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording system comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate having a common surface arranged to face the recording medium, a plurality of through holes arranged in a row and passing at a right angle through said common surface of the insulating substrate for emitting said ink droplet toward said recording medium, and a first control electrode and a second control electrode which are provided on both surfaces around each of said plurality of through holes of said insulating substrate, respectively;

ink supply means for supplying an ink into each of said plurality through holes of said control electrode substrate; and

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said first and second control electrodes to have the electrostatic force, wherein said voltage applying means comprises signal voltage applying means for applying a signal voltage corresponding to a recording signal for emitting said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, and bias voltage applying means for applying a predetermined bias voltage for flying said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, wherein when a surface potential of said recording medium is Vm, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ink droplet to fly is V1on, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ink droplet not to fly is V1off, and said bias voltage is V2, restrictions on V2 include

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Vm<

V2<

V1off, and Vm<

V1on<

V2.

6.

6. The ink jet recording system for applying a electrostatic force to an ink containing a coloring material dispersed in a solvent to cause an ink droplet to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording system comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate having a common surface arranged to face the recording medium, a plurality of through holes arranged in a row and passing at a right angle through said common surface of the insulating substrate for emitting said ink droplet toward said recording medium, and a first control electrode and a second control electrode which are provided on both surfaces around each of said plurality of through holes of said insulating substrate, respectively;

ink supply means for supplying an ink into each of said plurality through holes of said control electrode substrate; and

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said first and second control electrodes to have the electrostatic force, wherein said voltage applying means comprises signal voltage applying means for applying a signal voltage corresponding to a recording signal for emitting said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, and bias voltage applying means for applying a predetermined bias voltage for flying said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, wherein when a surface potential of said recording medium is Vm, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ink droplet to fly is V1on, a voltage of said signal voltage for causing the ink droplet not to fly is V1off, and said bias voltage is V2, restrictions on V2 include

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Vm<

V1offs≦

V2, and Vm<

V2<

V1on.

7.

7. An ink jet recording system for applying an electrostatic force to an ink containing a coloring material dispersed in a solvent to cause an ink droplet to fly onto a recording medium for recording, the ink jet recording system comprising:

a control electrode substrate including an insulating substrate having a common surface arranged to face the recording medium, a plurality of through holes arranged in a row and passing at a right angle through said common surface of the insulating substrate for emitting said ink droplet toward said recording medium, and a control electrode provided near each of said through holes for causing said electrostatic force to act on said ink;

an ink guide arranged at said through hole of said control electrode substrate, and having a tip portion serving as an ink-droplet emitting position, said tip portion projecting from an upper surface of said control electrode substrate toward said recording medium at least when emitting the ink;

ink supply means for supplying an ink into said through holes of said control electrode substrate; and

voltage applying means for applying a voltage to said control electrode to generate the electrostatic force.

8. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7,

wherein guide is fixed in the manner that said tip portion is projecting from said upper surface of said control electrode substrate toward said recording medium.

9. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said control electrode is formed on one side of a surface of said insulating substrate.

10. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said control electrode comprises first and second control electrodes formed on said common surface and another surface of said insulating substrate, respectively.

11. The ink jet recording system according to claim 10, wherein said first control electrode is common with said plurality of through holes formed on said insulating substrate, and said second control electrode is separately formed so as to correspond to said plurality of through holes.

12. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, further comprising:

an ink guide moving mechanism for providing said ink guide so as to approach said recording medium and for retracting said ink guide so as to be apart from said recording medium.

13. The ink jet recording system according to claim 12, wherein said ink guide moving mechanism sets a moving distance of said ink guide in a manner that, a distance between the tip of the ink guide and the recording medium is less than a distance between a surface of the ink and the recording medium at least when a picture is recorded, and the distance between the tip of the ink guide and the recording medium is greater than the distance between the surface of the ink and the recording medium when a picture is not recorded.

14. The ink jet recording system according to claim 13, wherein said ink guide moving mechanism retracts said ink guide in such a way that said tip portion is dipped into ink when a picture is not recorded.

15. The ink jet recording system according to claim 14, wherein said ink is soaked in one of a fiber and porous body, and said ink guide moving mechanism retracts said ink guide in such a manner that said tip portion is immersed in ink soaked in one of fiber and porous body when a picture is recorded.

16. The ink jet recording system according to claim 12, wherein said ink guide comprises a plurality of tip portions corresponding to a plurality of rows of said through holes, and said ink guide moving mechanism causes all of said tip portions to move in synchronism with each other.

17. The ink jet recording system according to claim 12, wherein

said ink guide comprises a base portion formed from a plate member having an area corresponding to a region in which a plurality of rows and columns of said through holes are provided, and a plurality of projecting portions which project from a surface on one side of said base portion corresponding to said through holes;

and

said ink guide moving mechanism is provided on said base portion.

18. The ink jet recording system according to claim 12, wherein said ink guide moving mechanism comprises a piezoelectric element.

19. The inkjet recording system according to claim 12, wherein said ink guide moving mechanism comprises an electromagnetic coil.

20. The ink jet recording system according to claim 12, wherein said control electrode substrate comprises:

a first control electrode which is arranged around one of two adjacent through holes of the plurality of through holes formed on said insulating substrate for emitting an ink droplet, and which is provided on said insulating substrate on the common surface; and

a second control electrode which is arranged around the other of said two adjacent through holes, and which is provided on said insulating substrate on the opposite side of said common surface.

21. The ink jet recording system according to claim 20, wherein adjacent through holes of said plurality of through holes are mutually shifted from each other, and said first and second through holes are formed on a same row of through holes, respectively.

22. The ink jet recording system according to claim 20, wherein said through holes are arranged in a plurality of rows, one of two adjacent through holes in a same row being provided with said first control electrode, and the other of two adjacent through holes in the same row being provided with said second control electrode.

23. The ink jet recording system according to claim 20, wherein said voltage apply means applies voltage to said first and second control electrodes, and the voltage applied to said second control electrode is higher than the voltage applied to said first control electrode.

24. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, further comprising:

a protecting member which projects toward said recording medium more than said tip portion of said ink guide.

25. The ink jet recording system according to claim 24, wherein

said protecting member is arranged on said control electrode substrate toward said recording medium, and

said ink guide is arranged such that said tip portion serving as an ink-droplet emitting position projects from a level of a surface of said control electrode substrate, and said tip portion is positioned under a level of a top portion of said protecting member.

26. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink guide comprises a tip portion which is inclined toward a tip.

27. The ink jet recording system according to claim 26, wherein said ink guide comprises said tip portion shaped as a truncated pyramid having tapered surfaces.

28. The ink jet recording system according to claim 27, wherein said ink guide comprises at least one recessed groove formed on any of said tapered surfaces of said truncated pyramid.

29. The ink jet recording system according to claim 27, wherein said ink guide comprises a recessed groove formed on a top surface of said truncated pyramid.

30. The ink jet recording system according to claim 26, wherein said ink guide comprises said tip portion having a substantially constant thickness.

31. The ink jet recording system according to claim 30, wherein said ink guide comprises an ink guide groove which is formed at said tip portion.

32. The ink jet recording system according to claim 31, wherein said ink guide comprises a flat surface which is formed on said tip portion.

33. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink guide comprises said tip portion having a constant thickness, and at which a slit is formed along an ink-droplet emitting direction.

34. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink guide comprises an insulating member.

35. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink guide comprises a base portion having a plate-shape and facing said control electrode substrate, and a projecting portion which projects in an ink flying direction from said base portion at a position facing a corresponding through hole for allowing the ink to emit out of a tip of the projecting portion.

36. The ink jet recording system according to claim 35, wherein said ink guide comprises:

a base portion having a plate shape extending along one row of said through holes, and

a plurality of projecting portions which are formed so as to project from one side of said base portion at regular intervals corresponding to said through holes.

37. The ink jet recording system according to claim 35, wherein said ink guide comprises:

a base portion having a plate shape corresponding to an area of a plurality of rows and columns of said through holes, and

a plurality of projecting portions which are formed so as to project from said base portion at regular intervals corresponding to said rows and columns of said through holes.

38. The ink jet recording system according to claim 35, wherein at least a surface of said plurality of projecting portions of said ink guide has conductivity, and said projecting portions adjacent to each other are insulated.

39. The ink jet recording system according to claim 35, wherein said plurality of projecting portions of said ink guide are entirely formed from a conductive member, and said base portion is formed from an insulating member.

40. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said control electrode is equipped on said tip portion of said ink guide.

41. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink supply means comprises an ink chamber which is arranged on the opposite side of said recording medium of said control electrode substrate, and an ink circulating mechanism for supplying ink to said ink chamber and returning said ink from said ink chamber.

42. The ink jet recording system according to claim 41, wherein said ink supply means comprises a porous body arranged in said ink chamber for storing said ink.

43. The ink jet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said ink is a liquid ink containing a charging coloring material dispersed in an insulating solvent.

44. The inkjet recording system according to claim 7, wherein said voltage apply means comprises signal voltage apply means for applying a signal voltage corresponding to a recording signal for emitting said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium, and bias voltage applying means for applying a predetermined bias voltage for flying said ink droplet from said through holes toward said recording medium.

45. The ink jet recording system according to claim 44, wherein said bias voltage apply means is a charger for charging the surface of said recording medium to apply a predetermined potential thereto.