US 6,190,527 B1Granted

Electrocoagulation printing apparatus

AssigneeToyo Ink Mfg. Co., Ltd.

InventorsShigeto Hashimoto, Toshio Oshida

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Abstract

An electrocoagulation printing apparatus includes a cylindrical positive electrode, an ink supplying device, a printing head having negative electrodes forming dots of coagulated ink, a removing device for removing non-coagulated ink, a transfer device for bringing the dots of the coagulated ink into contact with an substrate and transferring the dots on the substrate, a gap measurement sensor, and gap control device. The gap measurement sensor measures the size of the gap between the positive electrode and the negative electrodes, and outputs the measured value to the gap control device. The gap control device changes the size of the gap by moving the negative electrodes with respect to a surface of the positive electrode such that the input measured value of the gap falls within a desired established range.

Claims14

Dependent claims

An electrocoagulation printing apparatus comprising:

a positive electrode having a positive electrode active surface;
a printing head having a negative electrode spaced from the positive electrode active surface by a gap;
feed means for supplying ink into the gap, dots of coagulated ink for representing it desired image produced from the ink on the positive electrode active surface as the negative electrode is electrically energized;
removing means for removing any non-coagulated ink from the positive electrode active surface;
transfer means for bringing a substrate into contact with the dots of coagulated ink to cause transfer of the coagulated ink from the positive electrode active surface onto the substrate and thereby imprint the substrate with the image;
gap measurement means utilizing eddy-current for measuring the gap defining an inter-electrode distance between the positive electrode active surface and the negative electrode;
and
gap control means for controlling the gap according to output from the gap measurement means.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.