Print head or ink jet printer with reduced solvent consumption
AssigneeDover Europe SàRl
InventorBruno Barbet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A print head of a binary continuous jet printer comprising: a plurality of nozzles for producing a plurality of ink jets in a cavity delimited by lateral walls, an upper wall and a lower wall, a sorting unit for separating drops or sections of one or more of the jets intended for printing from drops or sections that do not serve for printing, a slot, which passes through the lower wall, enabling the exit of ink drops intended for printing, a gutter for recovering drops or sections not intended for printing, a conduit for injecting gas into the cavity, and for making this gas circulate, in the cavity, to the plurality of nozzles for producing a plurality of ink jets in the cavity, then to the gutter.
Claims17
A print head of a binary continuous jet printer comprising:
- a cavity delimited by a first wall, a second wall facing the first wall, and side walls extending between the first wall and the second wall,
- a plurality of n nozzles for producing a plurality of ink jets in said cavity, said n nozzles extending along an axis X between a first nozzle and a last nozzle,
- at least one electrode for separating one or more of said plurality of ink jets into drops or sections intended for printing and drops or sections not intended for printing,
- an outlet slot, which passes through the second wall, open on the outside of the cavity and enabling the exit of the drops or sections intended for printing,
- a gutter for recovering the drops or sections not intended for printing, said gutter comprising:
- a first part, that comprises an inlet slot for the drops or sections not intended for printing, wherein a width of the first part diminishes in a direction of circulation of the drops or sections not intended for printing, and a surface of the first part forms an impact surface for the drops or sections not intended for printing;
- a restriction having a width between 50 μm and 400 μm, wherein the impact surface slopes, with respect to a first plane (P0) defined by a path of the drops or sections intended for printing, from the inlet slot to the restriction;
- a second part, for evacuating a gas, or a gas and liquid mixture, from the restriction,
- wherein the gutter has a shape in a second plane (YZ) perpendicular to axis X, and keeps the shape over a distance extending along the axis X from the first nozzle to the last nozzle,
- wherein the gutter has an upper surface and a lower surface that define the first part, second part, and restriction of the gutter,
- wherein the upper surface and lower surface both slope upward from a downstream end and an upstream end of the restriction, and
- wherein the second part has a width that increases from the restriction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.