Spectra, Inc.

Diane Mackay

Paul A Hoisington

Edward Russell Moynihan

Steven H Barss

Nathan P Hine

David W Gailus

Melvin L Biggs

Robert G Palifka

Bruce A Paulson

David Adams-Brady

Marlene M McDonald

Stephen C Mackay

In the embodiments of the simplified ink jet head described in the specification, a carbon body is formed with ink passages, such as internal passages extending through a carbon plate, pressure chambers on one side of a carbon plate, flow-through passages on the other side of the same plate and ink supply passages, and a piezoelectric plate is affixed to the pressure chamber side of the carbon plate by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive. The piezoelectric plate may have a conductive coating on one side which is photo-etched to produce an electrode pattern corresponding to the pattern of the pressure chambers in the carbon plate. An orifice plate may have specially profiled orifice openings to assure axial projection of drops and may be affixed by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive to a carbon plate having orifice passages supplying ink from the pressure chambers to the orifices. Since the carbon plate is conductive, it can be used, if desired, as an electrode on the opposite side of the piezoelectric plate and, to assure grounding of the piezoelectric plate, a conductive epoxy adhesive may be used to bond the piezoelectric plate to the carbon plate. Moreover, since the carbon plate is porous, it can provide a communication path between a vacuum source and an air-permeable, ink-impermeable layer on the ink passages to remove dissolved air from the ink in the passages. In one alternative embodiment, an ink jet head assembly contains two separate carbon pressure chamber plates, a carbon manifold plate and a carbon collar to retain the carbon plates in an assembly.

Ink jet head containing a carbon member

In the embodiments of the simplified ink jet head described in the specification, a carbon body is formed with ink passages, such as internal passages extending through a carbon plate, pressure chambers on one side of a carbon plate, flowthrough passages on the other side of the same plate and ink supply passages, and a piezoelectric plate is affixed to the pressure chamber side of the carbon plate by a thin layer of epoxy adhesive. In one alternative embodiment, an ink jet head assembly contains two separate carbon pressure chamber plates, a carbon manifold plate and a carbon collar to retain the carbon plates in an assembly.

Simplified ink jet head

In the simplified ink jet head described in the specification, a tubular member made of air-permeable, ink-permeable material which is closed at one end and connected at the other end to a source of subatmospheric pressure is inserted into an ink passage in the ink jet head to extract dissolved air through the material of the tubular member from a surrounding body of ink in the ink passage.

Deaerator for simplified ink jet head

In the embodiments of the simplified ink jet head described in the specification an orifice plate has specially profiled orifice openings to assure axial projection of drops when ink is supplied from an asymmetric ink path leading to the orifice. For this purpose the orifice includes cylindrical ink inlet and outlet portions with the ink outlet portion having a smaller diameter and a shorter length than the inlet portion and a tapered conical portion joining the ink inlet portion and the ink outlet portion. Preferably, the diameter of the inlet portion is no more than about twice the diameter of the outlet portion.

Orifice plate for simplified ink jet head

In the embodiments described in the specification, a ceramic piezoelectric plate is polarized by compressing the plate between electrode plates with intervening slightly conductive rubber sheets or by applying electric charge from a corona discharge device to one surface of the plate while the opposite surface is grounded until the applied charge is sufficient to create a breakdown.

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Corinth, VT, United States of America

Diane Mackay