Claims
- 1. In an ink drop forming system of the type having means for supplying magnetic ink under pressure to a nozzle or the like to cause a continuous jet stream of magnetic ink to flow from said nozzle and magnetic transducer means for applying periodic perturbations at plural spaced locations along said stream in advance of drop breakoff, a method of controlling the merging of satellites comprising
- making the spacing between said spaced location different from the wavelength of the peturbations.
- 2. A liquid jet apparatus comprising,
- means for projecting a liquid jet stream, and
- means for producing regularly spaced varicosities in said jet stream for producing drops of substantially uniform size and spacing,
- said means for producing said regularly spaced varicosities comprising
- first means for cyclically perturbing said stream with a first longitudinal force component in said jet stream, and
- second means for cyclically perturbing said stream with a second longitudinal force component in said jet stream out of phase with the wavelength of said varicosities produced by said first perturbing means.
- 3. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which
- said jet stream is formed of field controllable fluid,
- and said means for perturbing said stream with said second longitudinal force component includes a field transducer means located proximate said jet stream in an out-of-phase relationship with the wavelength of said varicosities produced in said stream by said first stream perturbing means.
- 4. A liuqid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which
- said jet stream is formed of magnetic liquid, and
- said means for perturbing said stream with said first and second longitudinal force components in said jet stream comprises
- magnetic transducer means located proximate said jet stream at at least two spaced locations,
- said spaced locations being differentially related to the spacing of varicosities in said jet stream.
- 5. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which
- said magnetic transducer comprises a magnetic core device
- said magnetic core device having two pole sections located at spaced locations along said jet stream,
- said spaced locations being differentially related to the spacing between varicosities in said jet stream,
- and means for cyclically energizing said magnetic core for producing differentially spaced magnetic fields causing said first and second longitudinal force components in said jet stream.
- 6. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which
- said jet stream is formed of field controllable liquid, and
- said means for perturbing said stream with said first and second longitudinal force components in said jet stream comprises field transducer means proximate said jet stream,
- said field transducer means being operable for generating said first and second longitudinal force components at plural spaced locations along said jet stream at a location in advance of said drop breakoff position,
- said spaced locations being differentially spaced relative to varicosities induced in said jet stream.
- 7. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which said plural spaced locations have a distance greater than the spacing of successive varicosities in said jet stream.
- 8. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which said plural spaced locations have a distance less than the spacing of successive varicosities in said jet stream.
- 9. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which the difference in said spacing of said locations and said varicosities is within the range of .+-. 1/3 the distance between the varicosites or multiples thereof.
- 10. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said jet stream is formed of field controllable fluid
- said first stream perturbing means is a cyclically operable vibratory device,
- and said second stream perturbing means is a field transducer proximate said jet stream at a location and operable out-of-phase relative to the wavelength of varicosities produced in said stream by said first stream perturbing means.
- 11. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 10 in which
- said ink jet stream is formed of a ferrofluid ink,
- said vibratory device is an electromechanical device,
- and said second stream perturbing means is a magnetic field transducer operable on said jet stream in advance of the drop break off region of said stream.
- 12. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which
- said second means for perturbing said stream with said second longitudinal force component includes a field transducer located proximate said jet stream beyond the drop breakoff position of said stream and in an out-of-phase relationship with the wavelength of said varicosities produced in said stream by said first stream perturbing means.
- 13. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which
- said first means is a first transducer for applying periodic perturbations to said jet stream whereby varicosities are produced along said stream to cause said stream to break up into drops, and
- said second means is a second transducer located along said stream for applying periodic perturbations to said stream out of phase with the spacing of said varicosities.
- 14. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which
- said liquid jet stream is a ferrofluid,
- said first transducer is an electromechanical transducer, and
- said second transducer is an electromagnetic transducer proximate said stream.
- 15. A liquid jet apparatus in accordance with claim 14 in which
- said first transducer is a piezoelectric device.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Application of Joseph P. Pawletko and Bruce A. Wolfe entitled "Ink Jet Transducer", Ser. No. 317,503, filed Dec. 21, 1972, now abandoned, and Application of George J. Fan and Richard A. Toupin entitled "Method and Apparatus for Forming Droplets from a Magnetic Liquid Stream", Ser. No. 429,414, filed Dec. 28, 1973.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3334351 |
Stauffer |
Aug 1967 |
|