Pitney Bowes Inc.

Bruce E Inpyn

Kjell A Heitmann

An improvement in an ink jet digital printing device is disclosed which permits the printing device to print an image on a moving image receiving medium which is laterally larger than the length of the ink jet nozzle array on the nozzle plate of a standard ink jet print head, and to do so during only one pass of the image receiving medium relative to the print head. This is accomplished by providing the improved print head with a plurality of nozzle plates disposed on a face of the print head, each nozzle plate having an identical array of apertures defining nozzles for ejecting ink on the ink receiving medium, and arranging the nozzle plates in such a manner that the arrays of apertures for each nozzle plate form a continuous printing line across the face of the print head in the direction of alignment of the arrays of apertures. By appropriately controlling the activation of ink ejection devices associated with all of the apertures, an image can be printed on the image receiving medium having a lateral dimension equal to the continuous printing length of all of the arrays of apertures on the plurality of nozzle plates.

Multiple print head packaging for ink jet printer

A circuit connecting device for use with a digital printing apparatus is disclosed, the digital printing apparatus having a jet module assembly, a plurality of ink ejecting devices mounted in the jet module assembly, a corresponding plurality of ink ejecting nozzles formed on a nozzle plate mounted on an exterior of the jet module assembly, conduit means within the jet module assembly communicating between the ink ejecting devices and the nozzles, and a control electronics component for controlling the sequence of activation of the ink ejecting devices to cause ink to be ejected from the nozzles onto an image receiving medium during relative movement between the print head and the image receiving medium. The circuit connecting device has a pair of plates on which there is an electric trace pattern on the exterior surface of each plate and an electronic driver chip mounted on the exterior surface of each plate, and means for connecting the trace patterns to the electronic driver chips and to the control electronics component on the input end of the electric traces and to the ink ejecting devices on the output end of the electric traces, thereby eliminating all hard wiring between the control electronics component and the ink ejecting devices of the jet module assembly.

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Hamden, CT, United States of America

Bruce E Inpyn