Circuit and method for driving a print head
AssigneeCanon Production Printing Holding B.V.
InventorAart Nijkamp
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic circuit for driving an individual print element in a print head is disclosed. The print head comprises an array of print elements, each print element having a piezo-electric actuator that is capable of generating an acoustic wave in an ink chamber of the print element, resulting in the ejection of an ink drop out of a nozzle that is in fluid connection with the ink chamber. The electronic circuit comprises a number of analog drivers for amplifying an output current at a voltage level in-between two source voltage levels, wherein the drivers can be switched into a tristate condition at a voltage level that does not equal one of the source voltage levels.
Claims6
An electronic circuit for driving an individual print element in a print head comprising an array of print elements, each print element having a piezo-electric actuator that is capable of generating an acoustic wave in an ink chamber of the print element, resulting in the ejection of an ink drop out of a nozzle that is in fluid connection with the ink chamber, the electronic circuit comprising at least two power sources with fixed source voltage levels and a number of analog drivers for amplifying an output current at a voltage level in-between two of the at least two source voltage levels, wherein the drivers can be switched into a tristate condition at a voltage level that does not equal one of the source voltage levels, thereby keeping the piezo-electric actuator at said voltage level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.