A printhead for a thermal transfer printer comprising a plurality of printing elements, each of the printing elements being configured to transfer ink from an ink carrying ribbon to a substrate, and at least one sensor arranged to sense ink carrying ribbon. The at least one sensor comprises at least one emitter arranged to emit radiation towards the ribbon and a plurality of receivers. Each of the plurality of receivers is arranged to receive a respective reflected signal reflected by the ribbon, each reflected signal is based upon radiation emitted by the at least one emitter.

A waste ink conveying device includes a waste ink tank installed in a tank installed part, and a tank cover opening/closing the tank installed part. The tank cover includes a nozzle, a nozzle operation part and a cover locking part. The nozzle flowing a waste ink is inserted in an inflow port in the waste ink tank. The nozzle operation part switches projecting and retracting of the nozzle to insert and retract the nozzle to the inflow port. The cover locking part switches locking and unlocking of closing of the tank cover. If the cover locking part is in a locking state and the nozzle is in a retracting state, the cover locking part can be switched to an unlocking state. If the cover locking part is in the locking state and the nozzle is in a projecting state, the cover locking part cannot be switched to the unlocking state.

According to one embodiment, a liquid medicine discharge device includes a nozzle plate including a nozzle from which a liquid medicine can be discharged, a pressure chamber structure having an outlet on a first surface side and an inlet on a second surface side and a pressure chamber in fluid communication with the nozzle via the outlet on the first side, a liquid holding container on the second surface and in fluid communication with the pressure chamber via the inlet on the second surface, and an actuator configured to cause the liquid medicine to be ejected from the nozzle by changing a pressure in the pressure chamber and including a piezoelectric element formed of a lead-free material.

A droplet forming device is provided. The droplet forming device includes a liquid holder configured to hold a liquid, a film having a discharge hole, two or more vibration generators configured to vibrate the film, and a driver configured to apply a driving signal to the vibration generators. One or more of the vibration generators are disposed in each region on the film where a polarity of bending moment differs.

An ink ejecting device includes: a head that ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged along a Y-axis direction parallel to a direction in which a recording medium is conveyed; an X-axis moving mechanism that moves the head in an X-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis direction on the horizontal plane; a control unit that performs scanning in which the head is moved in the X-axis direction and that causes the head to eject ink during the scanning; and a Z-axis moving mechanism that moves the head in a Z-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis and X-axis directions.

Liquid discharge head comprising: liquid discharge unit, which includes discharge port, liquid retaining section configured to retain liquid to be discharged from the discharge port, and displacement section configured to discharge the liquid retained within the liquid retaining section from the discharge port; a pair of liquid storage sections, which are configured to store the liquid and are each connected to the liquid retaining section in the liquid discharge unit so that the liquid can flow; a pair of liquid feeding sections that are connected to the pair of liquid storage sections and are configured to feed the liquid between the liquid storage section and the liquid retaining section; and a pair of open and close sections that are each disposed at flow path between the liquid feeding section and the liquid storage section and are configured to open and close the flow path.

The ink jet device is provided with a plurality of ink jet heads including a plurality of nozzles disposed linearly with each other at intervals in a predetermined longitudinal direction and ejecting ink in different regions each other in the printing width direction; and a position adjusting mechanism performing rotating operation of changing the intervals in the printing width direction of the nozzles by rotating the plurality of ink jet heads around an axis perpendicular to the print surface of the print object, and performing a shifting operation of shifting at least one of the plurality of ink jet heads in the printing width direction.

A MEMS chip assembly includes: a support structure having a chip mounting surface; a MEMS chip mounted on the chip mounting surface, the MEMS chip having an active surface including one or more rows of MEMS devices and a row of bond pads disposed alongside a connection edge of the MEMS chip and parallel with the rows of MEMS devices; electrical connectors connected to the bond pads; and an encapsulant material covering the electrical connectors. The MEMS chip has a plurality of trenches defined in the active surface, the trenches extending parallel with the rows of MEMS devices and disposed between the bond pads and the MEMS devices. The encapsulant material does not encroach past the trenches towards the MEMS devices.

According to one embodiment, a liquid discharge apparatus includes a nozzle plate configured such that a plurality of nozzles are arranged, a liquid supply unit, an actuator, a driving circuit, and a low impedance circuit. The nozzles arranged in the nozzle plate discharge a liquid. The liquid supply unit communicates with the nozzles. The actuator is provided for each nozzle in the nozzle plate. The actuator includes a piezoelectric element. The driving circuit supplies a driving signal to the piezoelectric element of the actuator and drives the actuator to discharge a liquid from the nozzles. The low impedance circuit is connected to the piezoelectric element of the actuator while stress is applied to the nozzle plate due to external factors.

An example printing device include a frame, a printbar, a lift mechanism, and a lock. The lift mechanism is operably coupled to move the printbar from a printing position to a capping position along a printbar path of travel with respect to the frame. The lock is operably coupled to the frame to releasably engage the printbar in the capping position and disengage the printbar and permit movement to the printing position.