ENERGIZATION SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an ink on demand type ink jet head assembly energization system. More particularly, this invention relates to an energization system that is carried on a head assembly of an ink on demand type ink jet head.

Ink jet printing involves placing a number of tiny ink droplets formed by one or more ink jets onto particular locations on a printing medium (usually paper). The ink droplets solidify (or dry, or freeze) on the printing medium, forming small dots. A substantial number of these small dots, when viewed from some distance away, are perceived as a continuous visual image. Both text and graphic images may be printed with ink jet printing. The printed image from an ink jet printer is made up of a grid¬ like pattern of potential dot locations, called picture elements or "pixels". For many documents commonly viewed from 1-20 feet away, the ink jet printing industry today often uses a print resolution of 300 pixels per inch (90,000 pixels per square inch). The print resolution for other applications may vary as needed, so for the example of printing a billboard that is commonly viewed from hundreds of feet away, the pixel sizes used may result in a density on the order of 6 pixels per inch.

Presently there are two primary types of initiators used to form ink jets for ink jet printers. Resistance heating based jets use a small resistor to heat a portion of ink and create a minute bubble within the ink. The bubble immediately bursts to propel a small droplet of ink through a nozzle. Piezoelectric displacement force based jets use a substrate which is electrically vibrated to create a pressure wave which in turn forces a droplet of ink through a jet nozzle. A method of making a piezoelectric initiator for

an mk jet is taught m U.S. Patent 5,265,315 to Hoisington et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. There are also ultrasonic ink jet heads and electrostatic ink jet heads available.

Ink jet printers may further be classified as "on demand", for which ink droplets are formed only at the particular pixel locations at which ink is desired to be placed, or as "continuous", for which ink droplets are formed for each pixel location, but droplets in flight for locations at which ink is not desired are deflected away before they contact the medium. Additionally, the inks used in different kinds of ink jet printers vary. Some ink jet printers utilize aqueous ink. which are liquid at room temperature and are generally absorbed into the print medium. Others use "hot melt" mk, which is a solid at room temperature but is applied in a heated liquid condition to then effectively freeze onto the medium The head assembly energization system of the present invention applies equally to all these various types of ink jet printers, but is particularly contemplated for on demand, piezoelectric, hot melt ink jet printing.

Color in jet printers usually use the three subtractive primary colored inks, (magenta, cyan and yellow) in addition to black ink. Color blending of these four ink colors is achieved through two mechanisms. First, the ink jet printer may provide ink dots of multiple colors on the same pixel location, thus combining the subtractive effects of these colored inks on light reflected from that pixel. The particular color combination caused by having multiple ink colors ai a particular pixel location may be affected by the order of printing the various colored inks Second, when viewed at a distance, the eye will perceive blended colors from pure primary colored ink dots provided at adjacent pixel locations Thus, for instance, a number of exclusively magenta and yellow dots may be provided immediately adjacent to one another in an area of the image, with no pixel location receiving two overlapping inks. Rather than

perceiving individual magenta and yellow dots, the eye will instead perceive a blend of the adjacent dot colors to result in the perception of a larger orange dot. In practice, ink jet color printers use both ink blending at particular pixel locations and perception blending across pixel locations to create various colors and shades. In addition, a substantial number of the pixels of the image will go without having a dot of ink placed on them. This allows the perceived visual image to have a proper lightness/darkness or value. Through both forms of color blending, ink jet printers using only four colors of ink can visually reproduce full color images over some gamut of colors.

Ink jet printers generally move a print head, containing nozzles through which the ink jets are formed, back and forth across the printed image while advancing the paper lengthwise in between such passes, or scans, of the print head. To increase the rate of printing, numerous jets per color have been used to create a wider print head "swath", or wider inked surface strip per pass. One prior ink jet color printer utilized a single head having 64 linearly aligned nozzles for forming jets. Each jet nozzle is vertically offset one pixel lower than the preceding nozzle. This line of 64 nozzles is divided into four sets of 16 adjacent nozzles, each such set being supplied with one of the colored inks. With this previous 64-jet printer, the paper being printed upon can be advanced a length equal to 16 pixels after each scan (one quarter of the width of the 64 pixel print stroke), such that each scan of the printer head places another set of 16 nozzles over the same path across a 16 pixel strip taken by the preceding set. This providing of four scans across a 16 pixel strip is done for each such strip printed on the medium.

In order to distribute an ink in an on demand type ink jet head having piezoelectric transducers for forming the ink jets, a high voltage pulse is applied to each piezoelectric transducer when its associated ink is

demanded. Each such transducer is part of a mechanical ink forcing arrangement comprising, in general, a piezoelectric crystal plate and a metallic diaphragm. When subjected to a high voltage pulse, the piezoelectric transducer is caused to deform against the diaphragm to pressurize ink in an ink chamber in communication with an ink jet nozzle or orifice, whereby the ink jet is discharged through the nozzle. When the high voltage pulse is removed, the piezoelectric transducer returns to its initial shape so that a negative pressure is produced in the ink chamber and consequently further ink flows into the ink chamber from a supply source. High voltage energization circuits for ink on demand type ink jet heads are known. These known circuits have been located away from the head and are connected to the transducers in the head by routing wires. The routing wires must be of a substantial length to accommodate the head travel across the width of the printing medium for printing. The high voltage energization circuits commonly used in the prior art transfer high voltage signals from the energization circuit to the ink jet head. There are a number of drawbacks to such known high voltage conversion circuits for ink jet heads. Above 42.4 volts peak, or 60 volts DC, power supply circuits fall into the "high voltage" category according to Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standards. UL 1950 Information Technology Equipment. February 26, 1993, Section 1.2.8.4. If a signal is qualified as a high voltage signal, components such as covered connectors, wire shielding, access panel interlocks and the like are required to satisfy UL standards for safe design. These things all add unwanted restraining forces and inertia to the head and so to the mechanical drive requirements for the head assembly which must be capable of rapid movement to achieve high printing rates, and add substantial cost.

Radio frequency emissions are also a concern when routing high voltage signals from an energization circuit to an ink jet head. UL sets

requirements for maximum acceptable limits on radio frequency emissions in view of the requirements of the Federal Communications Commission. Emissions higher than the acceptable limits must be reduced by shielding at a substantial cost when routing high voltage signals from an energization circuit to an inkjet head. Shielding adds additional restraining force as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a head assembly energization system positioned on an ink on demand ink jet head assembly for converting relatively low voltage signals supplied to the ink jet head assembly into higher voltage signals for discharging ink from the head. By transferring only low voltage signals from a power supply to the head assembly, substantial structures otherwise required for insulation and radiation reduction are eliminated. The present invention includes an ink on demand type ink jet head. The head contains at least one nozzle for discharging an ink jet. A low voltage power supply is located away from the head to supply low voltage power to the head. Connector leads are provided to connect the head to the power supply. Carried on the head is a voltage conversion circuit for converting low voltage signals supplied to the head into high voltage signals to discharge on in jet through the at least one nozzle of the head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of an ink jet printer having a head assembly energization system carried on a print head assembly according to the present invention. Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of ink jet printing heads.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of an I/O circuit board, an off head supply circuit board, a head control circuit board, and a pair of ink jet printing heads.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of the head control board of Figure 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail with particular reference to ink on demand, piezoelectric hot melt ink jet printing, but the invention can be used with any printing head requiring high voltage signals. For example, the energization system of the present invention can also be used with ultrasonic ink jet heads or electrostatic ink jet heads. The present invention will also be described with particular reference to a head assembly carrying two printing heads on a mounting plate, but the invention can be used with a single head or with more than two heads carried on a mounting plate.

Figure 1 illustrates an ink jet printer 10. The printer 10 includes a housing 12, an ink jet head assembly 13, a head assembly slide rail 14. a print medium spool 20 and a control panel 22. The ink jet head assembly 13 includes a head mounting plate 16 and a head control circuit board 18 which is mounted onto the head mounting plate 16. The head mounting plate 16 is carried on the head assembly slide rail 14 in a commonly known manner, such as with wheels in a track, to allow the head mounting plate 16 to travel across the width of the slide rail 14. The print medium spool 20 may hold a number of different printing mediums. In the preferred embodiment, the printing medium is a spool of paper 24.

As illustrated in Figure 1. the control panel 22 is located away from the head assembly 13 and includes an input/output (I/O) board 26 and an off head supply (OHS) board 28. The I/O board 26 is connected to the OHS board 28 by a 60-pin head connector ribbon cable 30 and a 60-pin

OHS connector ribbon cable 32. The OHS board 28 is connected to the head control board 18 by a 20-pin high voltage DC flex cable 34 and two 30- pin control flex cables 36 and 38, respectively, that are of sufficient length to reach the head assembly 13 throughout the full range of motion thereof across the entirety of the slide rail 14.

Figure 2 is a view of the head assembly 13 from the paper spool 24 side of the assembly 13. As shown in Figure 2, first and second printing heads 40 and 42 (Headl and Head2), respectively, are mounted to the head mounting plate 16. Connectors 44 and 46 are mounted on the heads 40 and 42 for quick electrical connection and disconnection of the heads 40 and 42. A pair of 34-pin head connector ribbon cables 48 and 50, respectively, are provided to make electrical connection between the heads 40 and 42 and the head control circuit board 18 (Figure 1). The head connector ribbon cables 48 and 50 must be of a type able to safely pass high voltage pulses in the range of 100 volts DC to 200 volts DC. As previously stated, signals above 42.4 volts peak, or 60 volts DC, are classified as high voltage under UL standards. Because the ribbon cables 48 and 50 are passing such high voltage pulses, it is desirous to keep the cables 48 and 50 as short as possible to minimize electromagnetic radiation therefrom. First and second slots 52 and 54 are provided substantially beneath the heads 40 and 42, respectively, to allow the ribbon cables 48 and 50 to pass through the head mounting plate 16 to connect to the head control circuit board 18 to the connectors 44 and 46 in as direct a route as possible.

The heads 40 and 42 are removably mounted onto the mounting plate 16 in a known manner, such as with bolts, to allow for quick replacement of the heads 40 and 42. The printing heads used in the preferred embodiment have an estimated print life of 100 kilograms of ink, after which the heads may need to be replaced. As previously stated, the heads of the preferred embodiment are piezoelectric type ink on demand

heads. The heads 40 and 42 are formed of silicon and have 96 ink jet nozzles, or orifices 59, formed on each head using semiconductory lithographic and etching techniques, as illustrated in Figure 2, each of which has an associated piezoelectric transducer. Shift registers 53 and 55 are provided on heads 40 and 42, respectively to receive a transducer selection data word from the I/O board 26. In the preferred embodiment, the registers 53 and 55 contain a position corresponding to each of the 96 transducers per head. Depending on the value contained in a transducer's corresponding position of the register, the transducer will either be set to discharge or not set to discharge at an appropriate time. This will be described in greater detail below.

As described in the Hoismgton patent, previously incorporated by reference, each set of 96 piezoelectric transducers is formed on the same silicon wafer serving as a head from the same batch of PZT material. Each head may be formed out of a different batch of silicon, and as such, may have slightly different characteristics. Since each head may be slightly different, each head has its own unique optimum voltage level required to achieve an optimum ink drop size. For this reason the heads 40 and 42 each have a corresponding one of first and second EEPROMs 56 and 58, respectively, as shown schematically in Figure 2. The EEPROMs 56 and 58 contain head specific inlormation that is utilized for optimum printing in a manner to be described in gi eater detail below.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the head assembly 13 taken along line 3--3 in Figure 1. Stand offs 60 are provided to mount the head control board 18 a distance away from the head mounting plate 16. A heat diffusion cover plate 62 is mounted adjacent to the head control board 18 and is connected to the circuit board 18 through a plurality of transistors 64 on the head control circuit board 18. The transistors are packaged in a commonly used TO-220 package which provides an eyelet for mounting.

The heat diffusion cover plate acts as a heat sink to dissipate heat generated during the voltage conversion function, the amplification function and the switching function of the head control circuit board 18. The heat diffusion cover plate 62 also acts as a safety shield to prevent operators of the printer 10 from touching high voltage elements. In addition, the heat diffusion cover plate 62 also acts, to some extent, as an electromagnetic interference (EMI) suppression device.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the electrical interconnections between the I/O board 26, the OHS board 28, the head control board 18 and heads 40 and 42. As previously illustrated in Figure 1, the I/O board 26 and the OHS board 28 are located off of the head assembly 13 whiie the head control board 18 is directly mounted to the head mounting plate 16. It is important to note that while flex cables or ribbon cables are used for connectors 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 48, and 50, any type of multiconductor wiring could be used.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of the electronic system comprised of the components carried on the head mounting plate 16. A dashed-line box 66 illustrates the circuit stages contained on the head control circuit board 18. Inside the dashed box 66 is a high voltage DC to DC switching regulator 68 containing a DC to DC converter, a Headl (X20) amplifier and voltage translator 70, a Head2 (X20) amplifier and voltage translator 72, a Headl high voltage switch 74. and a Head2 high voltage switch 76. A connection junction 78 is provided to illustrate a connection between the first head 40 and the I/O board 26. This connection provides a control signal to the firsi EEPROM 56 from the I/O board and returns a signal concerning the optimal drive voltage to the I/O board as described above. A connection junction 80 is provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board and the Headl high voltage switch 74. This connection provides a switch initiation signal to the Head l high voltage switch 74 from the I/O

board indicating ink jets are to be formed. A connection junction 82 is provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board and the Headl amplifier 70. This connection provides a variable 0-10 volt signal to the Headl amplifier 70. The variable 0-10 volt signal has a value dependent upon the optimal driving voltage value read from the first EEPROM 56 in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

A connection junction 84 is provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board and the high voltage DC to DC switching converter 68. This connection provides a converter enable signal to the converter 68 from the I/O board 26. Connection junctions 86, 88 and 90 are provided to illustrate connections between the I/O board and the Head2 amplifier 72, the Head2 switch 76, and the second EEPROM 58, respectively. The connection junction 90 is provided to illustrate a connection between the second head 42 and the I/O board 26. This connection provides a control signal to the second EEPROM 58 from the I/O board and returns an optimal drive voltage signal to the I/O board.

The connection junction 88 is provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board and the Head2 high voltage switch 76. This connection provides a switch initiation signal to the Head2 high voltage switch 76 from the I/O board directing ink jet formation. The connection junction 86 is provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board and the Head2 amplifier 72. This connection provides a variable 0-10 volt signal to the Head2 amplifier 72. The variable 0-10 volt signal has a value dependent upon the optimal driving voltage value read from the second EEPROM 58 in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

Connection junctions 92 and 94 are provided to illustrate a connection between the I/O board 26 and the shift registers 53 and 55 of heads 40 and 42, respective!) . This connection provides a 96 bit transducer selection data word that selects w hich transducers are to form an ink jet when an

energization pulse, or a driving pulse, is sent to each head 40 and 42 in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

In operation, in order for the print heads 40 and 42 to eject a jet of ink, a high voltage driving pulse must be applied to each of the selected piezoelectric transducers associated with a nozzle from which ink is desired. If a high voltage pulse above a predetermined level is not applied to a transducer because it has not been selected, no ink will be discharged from the respective nozzle. As previously stated, each head contains an EEPROM which contains head specific information. The manufacturer's head specification sets forth criteria for specifying what actual driving voltage to use to obtain an optimal drop size for a particular head. This value is contained in the EEPROM. The nominal high voltage value is 160 volts DC but the actual high voltage needed to obtain an optimal drop size for a particular head may range between 100 volts to 200 volts DC. Thus, the optimal pulse voltage value for a head must be conditioned to match each specific head.

The I/O board 26 signals each head 40 and 42 to read out its head specific optimal driving pulse voltage value contained in the EEPROM 56 and 58, respectively. The optimal value will be in the previously described range of 100 to 200 volts DC. These values are returned from the EEPROMs 56 and 58 to the I/O board 26 where they may be manipulated as needed to obtain related analog low voltage signals in the range of 0-10 volts DC. The related analog low voltage signals (0-10 volts DC) are then supplied to the amplifiers 70 and 72 respectively. For example, if the optimal driving pulse peak voltage value for a specific head is 190 volts, the I/O board 26 will supply the amplifier with a corresponding low voltage signal of 9.5 volts. A low voltage signal is provided from the I/O board 26 because of the advantages set out above for transferring a low voltage signal from the control panel 22 where the I/O board 26 is located as opposed to

transferring a high voltage signal from the control panel 22 to the head assembly 13. When the amplifiers 70 and 72 receive their respective low voltage signals from the I/O board 26, the amplifiers 70 and 72 multiply that signal supplied thereto by 20 while translating the signal from occurring between a low voltage supply and ground to occurring between the negative high magnitude voltage developed by the converter 68 and ground, to provide a corresponding regulated output voltage of the proper transducer energization peak value to the switching circuits 74 and 76, respectively.

Thus, before the amplifiers 70 and 72 can multiply the low voltage signals, a 39 volt supply voltage must be converted into approximately a negative 230 volt value in the high voltage DC to DC switching regulator 68. This conversion takes place when a converter enable signal has been received from the I/O board by the regulator 68. The negative 230 volt voltage supply is used in the amplifier circuits 70 and 72 and in the switching circuits 74 and 76.

The regulated voltage outputs of the amplifier circuits 70 and 72 are provided to the high voltage switches 74 and 76, respectively, as illustrated in Figure 5. The high voltage switches each have two inputs, the corresponding one of the regulated voltage outputs from the amplifiers 70 and 72, and a head switch initiation signal from the I/O board 26. The output of the switching circuits 74 and 76 to the corresponding one of the heads 40 and 42 is either the ground reference or the corresponding one of the negative high voltage pulses developed therefor by its corresponding amplifier, depending upon the state of the switch initiation signal from the I/O board 26. When the Head l switch 74 receives a switch initiation signal from the I/O board 26. the regulated voltage received from the Headl amplifier 70 is, in effect, provided to the first head 40 as the peak value of a Headl driving pulse. The duration of the driving pulse is controlled by the

length of time of the switch initiation signal, as received by the Headl switch 74.

Similarly, when the Head2 switch 76 receives a switch initiation pulse from the I/O board 26, the regulated voltage received by the switch from the Head2 amplifier 72 is, in effect, provided to the second head 42 as the peak value of a Head2 driving pulse. The duration of the driving pulse is controlled by the length of time of the switch initiation pulse, as received by the Head2 switch 76. As previously described, the peak magnitude of the voltage pulse signal sent to each head 40 and 42 is independently controlled by the value carried in EEPROMs 56 and 58. By sending the switch initiation pulse from the I/O board 26, the timing of the discharge for the selected transducers in each head and the duration of discharge for the selected transducers in each head are independently controlled by software.

As previously stated, there are 96 ink jet forming nozzles per head. Each set of nozzles in a head is operated by a mechanical ink forcing arrangement having therein a piezoelectric transducer that is controlled by a 96 bit data word of zeros and ones. Depending on the state of its corresponding bit in the data word, a transducer is either selected to discharge or not selected to discharge on issuance of the driving pulse. When the driving pulse is sent to the head, all the transducers associated with the nozzles of a head that are selected to discharge, will discharge at once.

By only transferring high voltage signals by the two 34-pin ribbon cables 48 and 50, the dragging force of moving heavily insulated and shielded cables and the resulting inertia is avoided. In the present invention, only the short ribbon cables 48 and 50 need be able to handle high voltage signals, while the rest of the cables may be of an ordinary signal handling type.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.