International Business Machines Corporation

Charles R Pigos, Jr

William E Bernier

John Joseph Konrad

James M Larnerd

Joseph P Pawletko

Michael A Acciai

Charles G Speicher

Dominic A Casale

Donald R Olson

Richard A Bartlett

An automatic loading mechanism for use in the manufacture of thin, metallic circuit board panels. The invention includes a lower drum unit which accepts the metallic panels from a conveyor system. The lower drum unit is rotatably mounted within a frame assembly, and includes a plurality of clamps which can automatically receive several metallic panels of varying size. The lower unit includes automatic clamp control means, and has the capability of rotating the panels from a horizontal to a vertical position or vice-versa. The lower drum unit guidingly feeds the metallic panels, through a spline assembly, to an upper unit. The uppper unit includes a plurality of clamps, in diametrically placed pairs, which delicately handle only the peripheral edge of the metallic panels while feeding them automatically into a rack assembly.

Automatic loading mechanism

A print head for use in an electrolytic matrix printer is described. In this print head, predetermined ones of a plurality of electrodes are permanently grounded and are thereby forced to always function as cathodes. The remaining electrodes serve as print electrodes and, depending on the information needed during a given print cycle, either print or are not energized. These print electrodes, therefore, are constrained to always function as anodes. Fixing the function of the electrodes in the print cycle prevents reverse current flow in an electrode from print cycle to print cycle and placing the permanently grounded electrodes intersticially between and about the print electrodes to isolate them, in particular, further enhances this effect. This is particularly beneficial when using platinum print electrodes that form a protective passivation layer which is destroyed by the reverse current flow resulting from alternating electrode functions.

Electrode configuration for the print head of an electrolytic printer

A method of controlling the pH of a print reaction zone in an electrolytic matrix printer is described. Appropriate amounts of a buffering agent are included in the treated surface layer of the recording medium used in the printer to hold the pH of the print reaction zone in the range of 5.0 to 7.0 and, preferably, between 6.0 and 6.5. The pH of the electrolytic reaction zone can also be held in the desired range by adding appropriate amounts of a buffering agent to a supply of recording medium moistening fluid, either before and/or during actual printing, the latter step enabling dynamic buffering control if needed. The described method halts or reduces the degradation of print electrodes by effecting a balance between excess quantities of acid or base material generated in the print reaction zone during printing.

Reduced electrode wear in electrolytic printing by pH control of the

A method of and apparatus for controlling gray scale in the charge sensitive media of a matrix printer by using constant amplitude write pulses. Their use is intended to overcome registration problems caused by constant movement of the charge sensitive recording media during the actual print cycle. This control method and apparatus are implemented by varying, as a function of the desired intensity of one or more pixels to be printed, the effective write time and the number of constant amplitude pulses applied to any one or more of a plurality of print electrodes over a complete write cycle. The normal printer write cycle is divided into a number of subdivisions, that number being a function of the maximum permissible allowable error that can be perceived by a human eye. Further, the write pulse waveforms used are derived so that there is not more than one write cycle subdivision difference at either termination point of any intensity pixel printed therewith.

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Endicott, NY, United States of America

Charles R Pigos, Jr