Linx Printing Technologies Ltd

Stephen Eric Baldwin

Bryn Jones

John Green

Thomas Michael Wake

Miguel Calvo

A system () monitors the break-up phase of an electrostatic deflection continuous ink jet printer to identify phase instability likely to be caused by a partial blockage of the jet-forming device (). It ignores alternations between adjacent phase positions and brief unrepeated periods of phase disruption. Preferably it ignores phase changes caused by changes in other operational parameters of the printer, such as variations in ink pressure. Monitoring may be done in the printer () or in an external system (), ().

Fault diagnosis in a continuous ink jet printer

The current at a deflection electrodeof an electrostatic deflection continuous inkjet printeris monitored. If the current reaches a level higher than normal for a clean print head but below the current required to trigger an automatic shutdown, a warning is generated. The warning indicates that an automatic shutdown is likely to follow unless the print head is cleaned. This allows the operator to shut the printer down in a planned manner for cleaning. The warning may be provided at the printeror it may be provided by an external systemwhich allows personnel who are not at the printer to be alerted. The monitoring may be done by the printer or information about the deflection electrode current may be provided to an external systemthat performs the monitoring.

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St Ives, United Kingdom

Stephen Eric Baldwin