Markem Corporation

Mark S Noyes

Edward Russell Moynihan

Charles W Spehrley, Jr

Steven H Barss

Nathan P Hine

David W Gailus

Jeffrey B Brooks

Andrew G Perra, Jr

Frank W Martines

In the ink jet printing system described in the specification, a hot melt ink jet printhead having two ink reservoirs is coupled through an ink supply line to a remote hot melt ink supply and a temperature controller is arranged to control the temperatures of the ink in the remote ink supply, the supply line, the ink reservoirs in the printhead and passages leading from the reservoirs to the ink jet orifices at selected temperature levels to inhibit high-temperature degradation of the ink while permitting the ink to be jetted at the desired jetting temperature. In addition, a pressure control system controls the pressure of the ink in the printhead at one or more selected levels to permit the printhead to be used at different orientations and to permit purging of air bubbles and contaminants from the orifice passageways and to supply a relatively high vacuum to a deaerator in the printhead to extract dissolved air from the ink. A check valve in the ink supply line permits the printhead to be positioned at different elevations with respect to the remote ink supply without causing any undesired flow of ink between the reservoir and the printhead.

Ink jet printing system

A printing system is disclosed which permits the printing of indicia on a continuously moving web at a fixed position offset from previously printed, evenly spaced web marks. The fixed position of the printed indicia relative to the web marks is independent of the velocity of the web. A web mark sensor, which may be part of the system to which the present invention is retrofitted, detects the passage of each previously printed web mark past a detection position. A registration circuit controls the timing of the printing of the indicia on the moving web and provides START signals for a servomotor-driven rotary print head which includes one or more peripherally mounted printing elements. A tachometer is mechanically coupled to a web transport mechanism to produce an output voltage which provides the velocity command for the servomotor drive of the rotary print head to match the rotational velocity of the print head to the linear velocity of the web during the printing interval. A STOP signal is produced by the registration circuit in response to the rotation of a vane, which rotates in conjunction with the print head, past a vane sensor to signal the rotation of a printing element to a rest position. A registration adjustment circuit permits the position at which the indicia are printed on the web to be varied.

Reference printing on moving surface

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Keene, NH, United States of America

Mark S Noyes