International Business Machines Corporation

Armin Bohg

Kurt Hartmann

Marian Briska

Horst D Matthaei

Ingrid E Magdo

Volker W Zimmermann

Ludwig Fischer

Bernd Garben

Erich Mirbach

Gerhard A Wolfert

Bruno Gantz

Eckehard Ebert

Upon excitation of the electromagnet, a clapper armature is pulled into an operating gap, being increasingly additionally attracted by the pole of an electromagnet yoke leg. The motional plane of the clapper armature extends perpendicularly to the plane of the magnetic flux of the yoke structure of the electromagnet.

Electromagnetic actuator mechanism in particular for print hammer drives

A device for monitoring and compensating for changes in the flight time of the print hammers of impact printers is disclosed. The flight time of the respectively monitored hammer is calculated from the elapsed time between the moment of firing of a hammer and the moment of impact of the print type carrier against the impact platen. In order to ensure automatic self-adjustment of all print hammers in predetermined test cycles, without the actual printing process itself being affected, and without there being any test imprints on the record carrier, the print type carrier includes, in addition to the standard print types, an additional test type. The impact surface area of the test type is large enough such that no visible imprint is made upon its impact on the record carrier because of the low impact pressure.

Device for monitoring and compensating for changes in the flight time of

The invention relates to a print hammer bank of electromagnetic print hammer actuators in modular design of the type which includes a plurality of actuators each of which comprises a stator formed in two halves, each half including an electromagnet and a plurality of pole pieces, and means for positioning the stator halves relative to each other so that the ends of the pole pieces of the two halves are spaced apart in pairs so as to form a plurality of aligned operating gaps. The armature elements are designed so that the volume of each armature element is of the order of the volume of the associated operating gap. A print hammer bank in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the print hammer bank consists of two spaced apart rows of modules of the same geometrical shape and design forming the stator halves with the armature members located side by side in the space between the rows of modules, in that, for adjacent print hammers, the associated electromagnets are staggered relative to each other within the associated module, and in that each module, looking at the side facing the armature members, is shaped like a parallelogram.

Print hammer bank in modular design

A high-speed reciprocating actuator, of the type used as a print hammer in high-speed printers or for operating valves or the like, is made more compact and efficient by the arrangement of a stator yoke. The stator yoke provides a series of aligned magnetic gaps that cooperate with armature bars contained in a reciprocating ram member. These gaps are made part of a plurality of independent flux conducting loops. One or more activating coils pass through each of the loops to induce magnetic flux when ram actuation is desired.

Electromagnetic ram actuator

An electromagnetic actuator for performing an individual stepping, switch or impact movement consists of an electromagnetic actuator and a pivoted or rocking armature moving. The rotational design of the electromagnetic actuator enables only one excitation coil to serve a plurality of magnetic gaps.

Electromagnetic rotary actuator with rocking movement, in particular for

Bank for accommodating adjacent ram units. Each of these consists of a flat, narrow frame. A tongue-shaped ram, driven by an electromagnetic actuator, extends in a recess of the frame. For accommodating and guiding the individual print ram units, the bank is provided with a receiving bar and a comblike holding bar between which the frames are arranged. Extension pieces of the lower frame elements can be accommodated by slits in the receiving bar. The upper frame elements are held in recesses of the comblike holding bar. The tongue-shaped rams are laterally guided by the electromagnetic actuators which are arranged on both sides of the frame and are aligned to each other.

Bank for accommodating several print ram units

An electromagnet consists of two essentially symmetrically designed magnetizable E-shaped yoke halves each embraced by a coil. The facing pole ends of the yoke halves form three aligned operating gaps. Between the operating gaps a tongue-shaped ram is arranged which is shiftable in the direction of the line of alignment of the operating gaps. The cross-section of the ram is adapted to the area of the operating gaps. The ram comprises cuboid-shaped armature bars of magnetizable material. The armature bars are geometrically designed in such a manner that their volume is on the order of magnitude of the operating gap volume. In the original position of the ram the armature bars are essentially positioned in front of the operating gaps of the electromagnet. Upon excitation of the electromagnet, the armature bars are pulled into its operating gaps, being accelerated in the process. The windings of the coils exciting the yoke halves are essentially positioned between the E-legs of the yoke halves. By transverse connecting means made of the same material as themselves, the armature bars may be connected to form a continuous part. In view of the operation of the actuator, these transverse connecting means do not have the same material thickness as the armature bars, that is, they take the form of narrow connecting strips between the armature bars.

Bank for accommodating adjacent ram units, each of which consists of a flat, narrow frame. An electromagnetic actuator for a ram, which is guided in two bores of the frame, is positioned in a recess of the latter. For accommodating and guiding the individual ram units the bank has a substantially U-shaped cross-section. At least on one of its two ends, the frame of each ram unit is provided with a flexible pin arranged between two frame sections. The frames are detachably mounted between the U-sections of the bank. Both U-sections have recesses for positively and/or non-positively accommodating the front or rear frame part and the pin, respectively.

Bank for accommodating several print hammer units

An electromagnetic ram actuator, the electromagnet of which consists of two symmetrically designed magnetizable yoke halves. The facing pole ends of the yoke halves are in each case essentially semicircularly recessed, forming two aligned essentially circular operating gaps. Between the operating gaps a ram is arranged which is shiftable in the direction of their line of alignment and whose cross-section is adapted to the area of the operating gaps. The ram comprises two armature disks of magnetizable material and a spacer element arranged therebetween consisting of predominantly non-magnetizable material. One armature disk is associated with each operating gap. The armature disks are geometrically designed in such a manner that their volume is of the order of the operating gap volume. In the starting position of the ram the armature disks are positioned in front of the operating gaps of the electromagnet in its non-excited state. Upon excitation of the electromagnet, they are pulled into its operating gaps, being accelerated in the process. The ram actuator is particularly suitable for use in impact printers.

Electromagnetically operable ram actuator in particular for impact

A curve plotter or a display device for the recording of a curve section outside of a recording field is equipped with a logic circuit which shifts it into the recording field. Either the curve recording is continued after a margin of the recording field has been reached in the inverse recording direction, or the original recording direction is maintained but the curve recording is continued from the opposite margin of the recording field. Recording of the off-scale curve section can be performed by digital or analog steps and can be marked specifically.

Apparatus for controlling a recorder

A solar collector having a lens array serving as a light incidence surface that focuses the light energy onto radiation passages in a coating located in the focal plane of the lens array, the coating having a radiation reflecting surface on the side away from the incident light and the radiation passages being enabled through energy that is locally effective through focusing of impinging light.

Solar collector with lens array

Guide for electrodes in a metal paper printer in which V-shaped grooves are formed in monocrystalline silicon by crystallographic etching and the guide is thereafter coated with a glass passivation layer.

Electrode guide for metal paper printers

X-ray fluorescence produced by a primary X-ray beam incident at a very flat angle (below 1.degree.) onto the surface of a specimen contained in a vacuum chamber is used to analyze shallow layers and/or to determine depths of shallow surface layers, such as a very thin (typically between about 10A and 10.sup.3 A) silicon coating on Al or Cu layers which overlay a silicon substrate. Semiconductor profile determination may be another application of the invention.

X-ray analyzer for testing layered structures

A technique for providing interconnections between pairs of contact points associated with a conductive line pattern by the use of an interconnection defining tool which is selectively alignable with respect to the conductive line. The conductive line pattern comprises at least one conductive line which is either continuous or shows interruptions, and from which lines branch off to the contact points. The tool is adapted to the conductive line and consists of a row of elements, the distance between which is dimensionally related to the distance between the branch-offs. After the tool has been adjusted to the conductive line in accordance with the respective connections, the elements of the tool are used for interrupting or connecting the conductive line at predetermined positions. If a radiation mask is used as a tool, the elements of the tool consist of areas which differ from their surroundings in their radiation transparency, and the conductive line pattern may exist as a latent image on a substrate covered by a photoresist layer sensitive to radiation. The invention serves to provide, in a circuit arrangement with redundant elements, a single circuit, the final wiring of which excludes one or several defective redundant circuit elements.

Growing community of inventors

Neuweiler, Germany

Armin Bohg