Hewlett-packard Company

Pointsource Technologies, LLC

Other

Hanno Ix

Gregory M Quist

John M Wade

Brian P Canfield

Kurt K Andersen

Winthrop D Childers

Brian J Keefe

Steven L Webb

Michael P Caren

Donald C Mead

Frank Drogo

Kai Kong Iu

Shailendra Kumar

Jeffrey H Barr

Barbara Parcells

A method for the identification of unknown particles contained in a fluid. The method utilizes a source of radiation and at least one radiation detector to measure the radiation scattered by an unknown particle in the fluid. The measurement for the unknown particle is compared with a standard radiation scattering pattern capable of uniquely identifying a previously identified particle and the unknown particle is identified based upon the comparison.

Particle ID with narrow angle detectors

An improvement is described for use in a system that identifies particles in a fluid such as water by passing the fluid through a passage in a transparent carrier and detecting light from a laser beam that is scattered by particles, followed by comparing the scatter pattern to those of known particles, which increases the rate at which particles are detected. A plurality of transparent carriers with through passages are provided, and a narrow beam is directed through each carrier to scatter light from particles at a detect zone in each carrier passage. In one arrangement (), the carriers () are connected in series, so a limited amount of water passes through detect zones (A,B.C) to generate a high rate of particle detection. In another arrangement (), the carrier passages are connected in parallel, so when a larger sample of water is available different parts of the water sample pass through different carrier passages, to again increase the rate of particle detection.

High detection rate particle identifier

Identification of particles in fluid

A method for the identification of unknown microscopic particles in a fluid. A laser beam ( ) is directed through the fluid while particles move through the beam. Light scattered by each particle moving through a short detect zone ( ) along the beam (an &ldquo;event&rdquo;) is detected by some of sixteen detectors DA-DP to generate data for the event. First, a known specie of particles (e.g. a particular pathogen specie) is placed in pure fluid and a subpattern, or eventvector, of data is recorded for each of multiple events for that specie. Each eventvector represents the outputs of all detectors. The process is repeated for other known species (e.g. algae) likely to be encountered. The group of eventvectors for all selected species is analyzed by an algorithm that determines a projection direction that results in the closest grouping of eventvectors of the same specie and greatest of separation of groups of eventvectors of different species. When an unknown particle is detected and produces an unknown particle eventvector, the program views the eventvector from the previously determined projection direction, to determine whether or not the unknown particle eventvector falls into one of the groups of known eventvectors so the particle can be identified as one of the known species or not.

In a inkjet print cartridge ink flows from the reservoir around the edge of the silicon substrate before being ejected out of the nozzles. During operation, warm thermal boundary layers of ink form adjacent the substrate and dissolved gases in the thermal boundary layer of the ink form the bubbles. If the bubbles to grow larger than the diameter of subsequent ink passageways these bubbles choke the flow of ink to the vaporization chambers. This results in causing some of the nozzles of the printhead to become temporarily inoperable. The disclosure describes a method of avoiding such a malfunction in a liquid inkjet printing system by providing a method for reducing residual air bubbles in an inkjet print cartridge by flushing the empty cartridge by passing carbon dioxide through the fill port or the ink ejection nozzles prior to filling the print cartridge with ink and thereby eliminating residual air bubbles from the print cartridge when the print cartridge is filled with ink.

Gas flush to eliminate residual bubbles

A method for operating a thermal ink jet printer including a printhead having ink firing heater resistors responsive to pulses provided to the printhead. Warming voltage pulses are applied to the printhead to warm the printhead to a temperature that is at least as high as a temperature that would be produced pursuant to ink firing pulses of a predetermined voltage, a predetermined pulse width, and a predetermined pulse frequency. A continuous series of ink firing pulses are then applied to the printhead, starting with a pulse energy substantially equal to the predetermined reference pulse energy and a pulse frequency equal to the predetermined pulse frequency, and then incrementally decreasing the pulse energy of the ink firing pulses. The temperature of the printhead is repeatedly sampled while the ink firing pulses are applied to the ink firing resistors to produce a set of temperature samples respectively associated with the decreasing pulse energies. A thermal turn on energy is determined from the temperature samples, and the printhead is operated at a pulse energy that is greater than the thermal turn on energy and in a range that provides a desired print quality while avoiding premature failure of the heater resistors.

Thermal turn on energy test for an inkjet printer

In an inkjet print cartridge having a polymer nozzle member with windows formed therein for facilitating bonding of conductors to electrodes on a substrate, an adhesive is dispensed through the windows to encapsulate the exposed conductors bonded to the electrodes. The adhesive typically overflows outside the windows. To prevent the adhesive from flowing uncontrolled towards the nozzles formed in the nozzle member, a disruption or surface discontinuity is formed in the nozzle member surface between the windows and the nozzles. This disruption or surface discontinuity may be formed by either scratching, etching, cutting, pressing a blade into, or laser ablating the tape surface, or forming a raised wall on the tape surface, such that the flow of adhesive is inhibited because of mechanical and surface forces.

Disruption of polymer surface of a nozzle member to inhibit adhesive flow

The device ascertains existence of a small inkdrop to be ejected from a thermal-inkjet pen. It includes a light source (preferably a nonpoint source with extended threadlike form perpendicular to the light path), detector, and optical element--preferably a cylindrical lens--for passing light from source to detector through an inkdrop probe volume, and for causing that light to be concentrated near the detector. Along a segment of the light path near the detector, the light is concentrated into a cross-section which is much smaller than that of the probe volume and is, within that segment, approximately independent of position along the path. The detector intersects the light within that segment; both the light beam within that segment and the detector have elongated, narrow shapes transverse to the light path, with regions in which brightness and sensitivity are approximately independent of position along the elongated shapes, and which are mutually crossed within these regions--so that positioning of the detector need not be precise in any direction. The apparatus has provision for firing an inkdrop through the probe volume, from a thermal-inkjet pen. Preferably the device is made for use with two or several different thermal-inkjet pens, each having a respective array of nozzles for ejecting such inkdrops; the several pens include some that have different nozzle-array footprints; and the probe volume accommodates drops ejected through all the different footprints. Analysis of the system detection sensitivity reveals a controllable variation with respect to drop position within the probe volume--including at least one constant-sensitivity contour. Preferably the inkdrops pass along at least one of the constant-sensitivity contours.

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Escondido, CA, United States of America

Hanno Ix