International Business Machines Corporation

Gary A Drago

Francis C Lee

Ross N Mills

Robert T Ritchie

Horst G Mossbrugger

Arthur L Mix, Jr

Walter F Baier

An ink jet drop-on-demand print head comprises a plurality of tubular piezoelectric transducers each having two electrodes formed by an electrically conducting coating. A housing member holds the transducers in a position which includes at least one row of transducers. A substrate includes a plurality of electrical conductors, and the substrate is positioned so that each electrical conductor is adjacent one of the electrodes. A resilient connector means is provided which is not conductive along its length but is conductive across its width, and the connector means is positioned to make contact with a selected one of the electrical conductors and only one of the electrodes of one of the transducers. In a specific embodiment, the substrate comprises a flat conductor cable, and in a second embodiment the substrate comprises a printed circuit board.

Drop-on-demand ink jet print head

During the startup and/or shutdown cycle of an ink jet printer, a movable probe in the form of a thin hollow tube, is inserted into the flight path of the ink droplets. The tube is normally positioned relative to the droplets flight path. At the shutdown cycle, the charge electrode is removed from the vicinity of the jet streams. The undeflected droplets are caught by the hollow tube. The tube is then moved to a position next to the nozzle plate. The ink jet printer head may then be turned off and all ink is caught in the tube. At startup the sequence is reversed until the tube is back at its normal position.

Ink jet with retractable electrode and secondary ink catcher

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Longmont, CO, United States of America

Gary A Drago