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:
Jun. 18, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 03, 2000
Shuya Abe, Hyogo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An electrostatic ink jet head includes nozzles, ink passages, a diaphragm that forms a part of the ink passages, individual electrodes that face the diaphragm. A driving voltage is applied between a common substrate formed on the diaphragm and the individual electrodes, thereby generating electrostatic force. The diaphragm is deformed by the electrostatic force. As a result, the ink in the ink passages are pressurized, so that ink droplets are discharged through the nozzles. Spacers are employed to form a gap between the diaphragm and each individual electrode. At least one of the spacers is made of the same material as the individual electrodes, so that the individual electrodes have high voltage resistance. Furthermore, voltage of both polarities can be used, and gap formation can be carried out with high precision through simpler production steps.