Nozzleless liquid droplet ejectors
US4697195A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 5, 1987 |
| Grant date | Sep 29, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 5, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S310/80
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A nozzleless print head for ink jet printing and the like comprises one or more essentially planar surface acoustic wave transducers which are submerged at a predetermined depth in a liquid filled reservoir, so that each of the transducers launches a converging cone of coherent acoustic waves into the reservoir, thereby producing an acoustic beam which comes to a focus at or near the surface of the reservoir (i.e., the liquid/air interface). The acoustic beam may be intensity modulated to control the ejection timing, or an external source may be used to extract droplets from the acoustically excited liquid on the surface of the reservoir on demand. Regardless of the timing mechanism employed, the size of the ejected droplets is determined by the waist diameter of the focused acoustic beam. To control, the direction in which the droplets are ejected, provision may be made for producing a controllable acoustical asymmetry for steering the focused acoustic beam in a direction generally parallel to the surface of the reservoir.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.