Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Other

Tomoyuki Yamaguchi

Hiroshi Kobayashi

Kakuji Murakami

Haruhiko Machida

Tadashi Fujii

Jun Akedo

Hiroyoshi Funato

Yoshikazu Akiyama

Yasuo Miyoshi

Michio Umezawa

Minoru Ameyama

Sadao Kakeno

Tomiko Kawakami

Kenichi Ichikawa

Hiroko Uenozono

An ink jet printing head includes a nozzle plate including nozzles, a plurality of ink cavities each containing ink, a plurality of actuators each made of a phase transition material, an oscillating plate having a top surface with which the ink in each ink cavity is brought into contact, and having a bottom surface bonded to each actuator, the oscillating plate pressing the ink in each ink cavity in association with the actuators to discharge ink drops from the nozzles at a sheet of paper so that an image is printed on the paper. In this ink jet printing head, the ink in each ink cavity is pressed by the oscillating plate in accordance with volumetric changes of the actuators, the volumetric changes being developed by applying an electric field to each actuator at a given electric field intensity, the given electric field intensity causing a transition of the phase transition material from an antiferroelectric phase into a ferroelectric phase to take place or causing a transition of the phase transition material from the ferroelectric phase into the antiferroelectric phase to take place.

Ink jet head including phase transition material actuators

An optical movement measuring method and apparatus measures a movement of an object. A light from a light source is irradiated on a diffraction grating which is provided on the object so as to generate diffracted lights of different order of diffraction. The diffraction grating has light transmitting portions and light blocking portions which are alternately and periodically arranged. Interference fringes which comprises bright and dark stripes which occur alternately and are generated by overlapping spots of diffracted lights of different order of diffraction are detected, and a movement of the object is measured based on a counted number of stripes of the detected interference fringes.

Optical movement measuring method and apparatus using interference

In a method for detecting a moving amount of a detected body, light emitted from a light source is irradiated onto the detected body and light reflected from the detected body or light transmitted therethrough is detected by a photodetector. This method has the steps of emitting incoherent light from the light source through a small opening of a light-interrupting plate; irradiating the incoherent light onto the detected body having a monoperiodic structure to obtain a divergent transmitting or reflecting light beam; forming a shadow picture diffraction-interference pattern by the divergent transmitting or reflecting light beam; and detecting a moving amount of the shadow picure diffraction-interference pattern caused by a movement of the detected body in a direction crossing the irradiated light beam by the photodetector to detect the moving amount of the detected body. In case that the detected body is cylindrical, this method may have the steps of emitting incoherent light from the light source through a small opening of a light-interrupting plate; irradiating the incoherent light through a collimator lens onto the detected body having a monoperiodic structure to obtain a divergent reflecting light beam; forming a shadow picture diffraction-interference pattern by the divergent reflecting light beam; and detecting a moving amount of the shadow picture diffraction-interference pattern caused by a movement of the detected body in a direction crossing the irradiated light beam by the photodetector to detect the moving amount of the detected body.

Moving amount detecting method using a shadow picture diffraction

A disposable container for collecting waste liquid is disclosed. A casing has therein an absorption member for absorbing waste liquid toward the interior of the casing, and a liquid holding member held in contact with the absorption member to retain the waste liquid absorbed by the absorption member. The receptacle is applicable to an ink jet recording apparatus for collecting waste ink. A fresh ink container may be combined with the waste ink receptacle in an integral cartridge configuration to be mounted in an ink jet recorder.

Receptacle for waste ink collection in ink jet recording apparatus

An aqueous ink for ink-jet printing comprises as its main components (i) a water-soluble direct dye and/or acid dye, (ii) a polyhydric alcohol and/or an alkyl ether thereof, (iii) water, and (iv) at least one water-soluble non-ionic surface active agent selected from the group consisting of a polyoxyethylene alkyl amine of formula (I), a polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ether of formula (II) and a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether of formula (III): ##STR1## where R.sup.1 represents a group derived from a chain hydrocarbon with 16 to 19 carbon atoms; m, an integer of 0 through 18; and n, an integer of 0 through 18; where m+n equals 8 through 18; ##STR2## where R.sup.2 represents a group derived from a chain hydrocarbon with 7 to 12 carbon atoms; and x represents an integer of 12 through 20; ##STR3## where R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 each represent a group derived from a chain hydrocarbon with 6 to 8 carbon atoms; and y represents an integer of 10 through 15.

Aqueous ink for ink-jet printing

An ink jet recording process comprising jetting aqueous ink through a narrow nozzle, recovering the unused aqueous ink that has not reached the surface of an object to be recorded within an ink jet printer and then circulating it for re-use, characterized in that said aqueous ink is brought into contact with an ion-exchange resin in at least one location in the ink circulating system within said printer.

Growing community of inventors

Chiba, Japan

Tomoyuki Yamaguchi