Electrostatic ink-jet printer

• US 6,302,529 B1
• Filed: 04/15/1999
• Issued: 10/16/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Victor Company of Japan Limited (JVC Kenwood Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Victor Company of Japan Limited (JVC Kenwood Corporation)
• Inventors: Tajima, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): Gordon, Raquel Yvette
• Application Number:
  US09/292,235
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 347/55, 347/151, 347/120, 347/141, 347/154, 347/103, 347/123, 347/111, 347/159, 347/127, 347/128, 347/131, 347/158, 347/27, 347/10, 347/57, 399/271, 399/290, 399/292, 399/293, 399/294
• US Class Current: 347/55
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/06 by electric or magnetic field
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14008 Structure of acoustic ink jet print heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/061 Ejection by electric field of ink or of toner particles contained in ink

Abstract

An electrostatic type ink-jet printer capable of stably supplying a liquid toner and of printing characters and images without density unevenness by effectively ejecting agglomerated electrified colored particles. The electrostatic type ink-jet printer has plural jutting eject points 4, 104 made of a dielectric material orderly disposed in a plane, a liquid toner 8, 108 containing electrified colored particles P dispersed in an insulation liquid drenching surfaces of the jutting eject points, a bias electrode 13, 103 for agglomerating the electrified colored particles at the top of the jutting eject point by a Column force by a bias voltage having the same electric polarity as that of the electrified colored particles, and plural ultrasonic wave generating sections 16, 116, each provided at a base between the respective jutting eject points, for generating the ultrasonic waves travelling toward tops of the jutting eject points to separate liquid droplets containing the electrified colored particles agglomerated. Thereby, the electrified colored particles agglomerated by a bias electric field are separated by the ultrasonic wave, and characters and images are formed on the recording paper.

Claims

1. An electrostatic ink-jet printer comprising:

a plurality of jutting eject points made of dielectric material orderly disposed in a plane;

a liquid toner containing electrified colored particles for drenching surfaces of the plurality of jutting eject points;

a bias electrode for generating a coulomb force by being applied with a voltage having an identical electric polarity with that of the electrified colored particles so as to agglomerate the electrified colored particles to tops of the plurality of jutting eject points; and

a plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections provided at positions corresponding to bases of the plurality of jutting eject points, the plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections generating ultrasonic waves toward the tops of the plurality of jutting eject points so as to separate liquid droplets containing the agglomerated electrified colored particles from the tops thereof,

wherein a sectional shape of a top of each of the plurality of jutting eject points is made to be a right angle and a distance between a base of the jutting eject point and the respective plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections is made to be an integral multiple of a half wavelength of the ultrasonic wave.

2. An electrostatic ink-jet printer comprising:

a plurality of jutting eject points made of dielectric material orderly aligned on a plane;

a liquid toner containing electrified colored particles for drenching surfaces of the plurality of jutting eject points;

a bias electrode for generating a coulomb force by being applied with a voltage having an identical electric polarity with that of the electrified colored particles;

a plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections provided at positions corresponding to bases of the plurality of jutting eject points, for generating ultrasonic waves travelling toward tops of the plurality of jutting eject points; and

an ultrasonic convergent lens for converging the ultrasonic wave to the tops of the plurality of jetting eject points so as to separate liquid droplets containing the agglomerated electrified colored particles from the tops of the plurality of jutting eject points.

3. An electrostatic ink-jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic convergent lens comprises a lens liquid and curved bottoms of the plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections in such a manner that the lens liquid is provided between the curved bottoms of the plurality of ultrasonic wave generating sections and the plurality of jutting eject points.

4. An electrostatic ink-jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic convergent lens is made of a diffraction grating composed of a plurality of ring plates being coaxially aligned.

5. An electrostatic ink-jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic wave generating section is applied with a high frequency burst signal as an ultrasonic wave generating signal.

6. An electrostatic ink-jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic wave generating section is applied with an ultrasonic wave generating signal including a first high frequency burst signal having a small amplitude for separating the liquid droplets and a second high frequency burst signal having an amplitude larger than the small amplitude for promoting motions of the electrified colored particles.