Ink jet printer apparatus and method of printing
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorDonald F. Jensen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ink jet printer prints dot matrix characters by removing unwanted drops from a sequence of uniformly spaced drops in an ink jet stream and subjecting the remaining print drops to a vertical raster deflection in timed relation with relative horizontal motion of the jet stream and a record medium. Selected print drops are individually deflected fractional amounts in either the horizontal or vertical direction prior to the vertical raster deflection to cause the selected print drops to be deposited at positions intermediate the coordinate intercepts of a rectilinear matrix pattern to cause dot matrix characters to be printed with arcuate line segments and various angles corresponding with conventional character shapes.
Claims7
A method of printing characters on a record medium with individual drops of ink comprising
- projecting a sequence of uniformly-spaced ink drops in a first direction toward said record medium while effecting relative motion between the record medium and said stream in a second direction orthogonal to said first direction,
- said drops in said sequence being at least equal in number to the number of coordinate intercepts of a predetermined rectilinear matrix pattern, and
- forming data markings on said record medium with said drops in accordance with a predetermined data pattern including
- selectively removing unwanted drops from said sequence to cause blanks at predetermined coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern,
- deflecting the remaining drops from said sequence in a third direction orthogonally to said first and second directions so as to cause said remaining drops to be directed to impact predetermined intercept locations of said matrix pattern, and
- altering the deflection of certain of said remaining drops in either said second or third direction for causing said certain drops to be directed to locations intermediate coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern.
Apparatus for printing data on a record medium with individual ink drops comprising
- means for projecting a sequence of uniformly-spaced ink drops in a first direction toward said record medium,
- said drops in said sequence being at least equal in number to the number of coordinate intercepts of a predetermined rectilinear matrix pattern,
- means for effecting relative motion between said record medium and said sequence of drops in a second direction orthogonal to said first direction,
- means for selectively removing unwanted drops from said sequence to cause blanks at predetermined coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern,
- means for deflecting the remaining drops of said sequence in a third direction orthogonally to said first and second directions so as to cause said remaining drops to be directed to impact predetermined intercept locations of said matrix pattern, and
- means for altering the deflection of certain of said remaining drops in either said second or third directions for causing said certain drops to be directed to locations intermediate the coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern.
Apparatus for printing data on a record medium with individual ink drops comprising
- means for projecting a sequence of uniformly-spaced ink drops in a straight line trajectory perpendicular to said record medium,
- said drops in said sequence being at least equal in number to the number of coordinate intercepts of a predetermined rectilinear matrix pattern;
- means for effecting relative motion of said record medium and said projecting means in a horizontal direction;
- means for selectively removing unwanted drops from said sequence to cause blanks at predetermined coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern including
- drop catcher means proximate said record medium and offset from the trajectory of said ink drops, and
- means for deflecting unwanted drops in a second trajectory towards said drop catcher means;
- means for deflecting the remaining drops of said sequence vertically to cause said remaining drops to be directed to impact predetermined intercept locations of said matrix pattern, and
- means for further deflecting certain of said remaining drops either horizontally or vertically causing said certain drops to be redirected to locations intermediate the coordinate intercepts of said matrix pattern.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.