Print hammer assembly method
AssigneeDataproducts Corporation
InventorsPeter H. Wolf, Thomas A. Dobson, Rafael Rozo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The impact pins of a matrix printhead are brazed by a laser to a print hammer of the flat spring type. The print hammers are then attached to a printhead mounting block adjacent to each other with the impact pins in substantially a straight line. The attached print hammers are then shaped by an electric discharge machining (EDM) process by a single electrode to simultaneously machine the impact pins to the desired shape and to position the tips of the impact pins at a precise distance with respect to one another.
Claims18
A method of manufacturing a matrix printhead comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of spaced apart elongated flat spring hammer elements;
- securing an impact pin to each hammer element, wherein each impact pin has a tip which defines a dot to be printed and a tip configuration which is different from that desired for the printhead;
- attaching the hammer elements to a printhead assembly;
- and
- subsequently shaping the impact pins so that they have the desired tip configuration and so that they are accurately spaced with respect to each other.
A method of manufacturing a print hammer assembly comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of hammer body portions, each body portion having a hole formed therein;
- inserting an elongated impact pin into each hole, wherein the impact pins have an impact tip having a cross-sectional configuration different from that desired for the print hammers of the assembly;
- bonding each impact pin to its respective body portion;
- securing the body portions to a hammer mounting assembly;
- and
- subsequently shaping the impact pins to provide the desired impact tip configuration and to provide the desired spacing between the impact tips.
A method of manufacturing a printhead assembly comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of hammer body portions, each body portion having a hole formed therein near a free end thereof;
- inserting an elongated impact pin having an impact face into the hole in each body portion;
- bonding each impact pin to its respective body portion;
- attaching the body portions to a hammer mounting assembly adjacent to one another so that the impact pins lie substantially along a single line;
- and
- subsequently subjecting the impact pins to an electric discharge machining process to shape the pins into a predetermined configuration to thereby provide a hammer assembly in which the impact faces of the pins have the desired configuration and are precisely positioned with respect to each other.
A method of manufacturing a matrix printhead comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of flat springs which are connected to a common member to form a comb-like structure;
- securing an impact pin to each spring, wherein the tips of the pins define dots to be printed and have a configuration different from the desired impacting surface for the hammers;
- subsequently shaping the impact pins to form impact tips having the desired configuration and spacing with respect to each other;
- and
- securing the comb-like structure to a printhead assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.