High performance ink jet print head for use in a high speed printer

Abstract

While present-day ink jet print heads are operable technically, they are too inconsistent and unreliable, and none has remained operational for as long as one year. The disclosure describes three structural improvements to these present-day ink jet print heads, any one of which offers a dramatic improvement over present-day head structures. However, if all three improvements described in the disclosure are included in the same print head, as high performance as 100% is available from those produced. The first improvement described relates to the gasket between the ink reservoir, with its nozzle plate attached, and the drop generator body that encloses the dynamic pressure transducer. If this gasket is formed of very soft material, having a durometer value in the order of 60, then it is only necessary to clamp the plate to the drop generator body with sufficient torque to seat and seal the ink reservoir to prevent ink leakage. The second improvement described requires a small space between each crystal in a piezoelectric transducer and the washer of acoustic-absorbing material, and the third improvement involves the support rod for these crystals. The support rod should fit with sufficient frictional force to retain the crystals in a preset position, avoiding all unnecessary extra loading of the crystals.