Non-sequential ink jet printing
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorPaul Anthony Ruscitto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for reducing the effects of electrostatic charge repulsion and aerodynamic drag on a stream of ink drops in an ink jet printer. This reduction is accomplished by the non-sequential printing of the ink drops as they issue from the nozzle, i.e., drops issuing sequentially from the nozzle are never printed adjacent to one another. This maximizes the inflight distance between successive ink drops, reducing drop interaction. The slight misalignment in the printing which results from the non-sequential printing may be corrected by either displacing the deflection plates a sufficient angle with respect to the print line or by a corrective signal added to the signal input so that the desired slant results with the non-sequential printing.
Claims5
A method of fluid drop recording in which drop registration is improved comprising the steps of:
- vibrating the recording fluid prior to drop formation such that drops of uniform size and spacing are formed;
- generating a sequential stream of individual drops, all of said drops being available for recording;
- selecting ones of adjacent said drops of said sequential stream to be recorded at non-sequential recording locations on a record medium, each drop location being in a fixed matrical scan and separated in a first direction from the drop location of the immediately preceding drop of said sequential stream by at least one intervening drop location;
- selecting others of said drops to be recorded at ones of said intervening non-sequential recording locations separated in a second direction from the drop location of said ones drops;
- charging said adjacent drops of said sequential stream to be recorded for deflection by a static field to said non-sequential recording locations in separate colums on said recording medium;
- and
- electrostatically deflecting said charged drops with an electrostatic field.
A system for fluid drop recording having improved drop registration comprising:
- means for vibrating the recording fluid prior to drop formation such that drops of uniform size and spacing are formed;
- means for generating a sequential stream of individual drops, all of said drops being available for recording;
- charging means for applying charging signals to said drops;
- means for generating a fixed matrical sequence of charging signals for adjacent drops of said sequential stream, said charging signals having non-sequential charge level values, each charging signal being separated from the charging signals having the closest charge level values by at least one charging signal having a different charge level value;
- means for selectively supplying ones of said sequences of charging signals to said charging means for charging selected ones of said drops of said sequential stream;
- and
- deflection means for deflecting said selected drops to non-sequential recording locations displaced in a first direction on a recording medium in accordance with the charge thereon, said deflection means being additionally arranged to direct adjacent ones of said selected drops of said sequential stream to said non-sequential recording locations displaced in a second direction in separate columns on said recording medium.
A system for fluid drop recording having improved drop registration comprising:
- means for generating a sequential stream of individual drops, all of said drops being available for recording;
- means for deflecting adjacent drops of said sequential stream in a fixed matrical scan at non-sequential recording locations in adjacent columns displaced in a first direction on a recording medium, each drop location being separated in a second direction from the drop location of the immediately preceding drop of sad sequential stream by at least one intervening drop location for another non-adjacent drop of said sequential stream;
- and
- means for selecting ones of said drops of said sequential stream for recording.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.