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:
Apr. 30, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 08, 1999
Atsushi Kubota, Shizuoka-ken, JP;
Hidehiro Watanabe, Tokyo, JP;
Takahisa Ikeda, Mishima, JP;
Megumi Shimizu, Mishima, JP;
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An ink jet head is provided having ink chambers, energy-generating elements provided in the ink chambers, respectively, and ink outlet ports communicating with the ink chambers, respectively. The ink jet head may be left unused for a time longer than a predetermined time, with a meniscus formed in each ink outlet port. In this case, a drive pulse is applied to each energy-generating element several times, thereby forcing the ink outwards from the ink outlet ports and increasing a surface area of the ink from a surface area of the meniscus. Then, a negative pressure is applied in each ink chamber, thereby drawing the ink back toward the ink chambers, thus forming a meniscus again in the ink outlet ports. In this condition, a drive pulse is applied to the energy-generating elements, thus ejecting an ink droplet from the ink outlet ports to record data.