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US 9,174,438 B2Granted
Liquid film moving over porous catcher surface
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsYonglin Xie, Qing Yang, Roger S. Kerr, Chang-Fang Hsu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A printhead includes a jetting module that forms liquid drops travelling along a first path. A deflection mechanism causes selected liquid drops formed by the jetting module to deviate from the first path and begin travelling along a second path. A catcher includes a stationary porous surface. A liquid film flows over the stationary porous surface of the catcher. The catcher is positioned relative to the first path such that the liquid drops travelling along one of the first path and the second path contact the liquid film.
Claims19
A printhead comprising:
- a jetting module operable to form liquid drops travelling along a first path;
- a deflection mechanism operable to cause selected liquid drops formed by the jetting module to deviate from the first path and begin travelling along a second path;
- a catcher including a stationary surface, the stationary surface being porous;
- and
- a liquid source that causes a liquid film to flow over the stationary surface of the catcher, the catcher being positioned relative to the first path such that the liquid drops travelling along one of the first path and the second path contact the liquid film, the liquid film including a width dimension, wherein the catcher further comprises a structure positioned to maintain the width of the liquid film as the liquid film flows over the surface of the catcher.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.