Ink jet head structure
AssigneeDataproducts Corporation
InventorsHoward H. Taub, Peter H. Wolf
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved ink jet print head structure. The print head includes a cylindrical glass rod having a bore extending along the axis of the rod. A surface is ground on the rod parallel to and near the bore. A metal organic paste is fired on the surface and a piezoelectric driver plate is soldered to the paste. A silicon nozzle plate is bonded to the front of the rod by means of an anodic bonding technique. The head structure may be attached to a charging electrode by means of an insulating support member, resulting in a prealigned and easily replaceable unit. Several alternative embodiments of the head structure and means for attaching the structure to an input line are disclosed.
Claims16
An ink jet head structure comprising:
- a cylindrical glass rod having a bore extending along the longitudinal axis of the rod;
- a groove formed transversely across said rod having a surface substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod and spaced a predetermined distance from said axis which is less than the radius of the rod and greater than the radius of the bore of the rod;
- and
- a piezoelectric crystal driver located on said groove surface for periodically constricting and expanding the bore of the rod in order to cause an ink stream to break up into droplets, wherein said driver surrounds less than approximately one half of the circumference of said bore.
An ink jet head structure comprising:
- a cylindrical glass rod having a coaxial bore, said rod having a flat front surface;
- a nozzle plate anodically bonded to the front surface of the rod, said plate including an orifice which is substantially concentric with said bore;
- a metal screen anodically bonded to an input end of said rod;
- and
- a feeder tube anodically bonded to the metal screen in fluid communication with the bore, wherein said metal screen filters fluid passing from the tube to the bore.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.