The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 31, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 17, 1995
Masao Mitani, Hitachinaka, JP;
Hitachi-Koki Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A thermal ink jet printer includes a plurality of ink channels filled with ink, and a plurality of nozzles corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of ink channels individually. Each nozzle brings the corresponding ink channel into fluid communication with an outside atmosphere. A plurality of protection-layerless heaters are provided on respective ones of the plurality of ink channels individually to face a corresponding nozzle. An LSI device with drive circuits is connected to each heater for applying a print signal to a selective one of the heaters. To drive the printer, every other heater is sequentially driven at a predetermined interval of less than 1 microsecond so that ink droplets are sequentially ejected, when the print signals are produced, from odd-numbered nozzles and thereafter from even-numbered nozzles. To this effect, each of the heaters is applied with a pulse of voltage having a duration of 3 microseconds or less so that a portion of the ink in a corresponding ink channel is rapidly vaporized to produce a bubble caused by fluctuation nucleation. Expansion of the bubble ejects the ink droplet from a corresponding nozzle. At least 20 microseconds is paused between the ejection of the ink droplets from the odd-numbered nozzles and the ejection of the ink droplets from the even-numbered nozzles.