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 system and method for applying patterns to surfaces. A pattern may be applied to a surface of an object using a three-dimensional (3D) printer system. The 3D printer system may include a printer head including an applicator holding material used to form the pattern on the surface, a structure configured to hold a substrate to which the material will be applied, and a controller for adjusting a location of the printer head relative to a surface and initiating applying material from the applicator onto the surface. The applicator may be a syringe with a needle. 3D coordinates at which material is to be applied to a surface to form the pattern may be determined and identified based on a relative location of the substrate and the pattern. The pattern may be a speckle dot pattern used in Digital Image Correlation (DIC) material testing and characterization techniques.

A liquid discharging apparatus, having a head, a reservoir section, a valve, a switching assembly, and a controller, is provided. The reservoir section has a liquid reservoir chamber, an air chamber, an injection port, and an atmosphere communication path. The switching assembly switches states of the valve between an opening state, in which the valve opens the atmosphere communication path, and a closing state, in which the valve closes the atmosphere communication path. The controller is configured to control the valve through the switching assembly to close the atmosphere communication path, control the head to discharge the liquid after closing the atmosphere communication path, and control the valve through the switching assembly to close the atmosphere communication path before the liquid is injected through the injection port.

A device includes a nozzle including a discharge end for discharging a fluid, a shutter plate including an aperture, the shutter plate positioned at the discharge end of the nozzle, a plurality of tethers coupled to the shutter plate, and a plurality of electrostatic actuators. Each of the plurality of electrostatic actuators are coupled to one or more of the plurality of tethers. The plurality of electrostatic actuators are configured to move the shutter plate between an open position and a closed position relative the discharge end of the nozzle. In the open position, the aperture is in fluid communication with the discharge end of the nozzle to permit fluid from the discharge end of the nozzle to flow through the aperture. In the closed position, at least a portion of the shutter plate inhibits fluid from the discharge end of the nozzle from flowing through the aperture.

An image forming method is provided. The method includes the steps of (a) applying an ink to a recording medium to form an image and (b) applying a pressure to the recording medium to which the ink has been applied. The ink comprises water, an organic solvent, and a colorant. When the ink is formed into an ink film, a maximum value of logarithmic damping ratio of the ink film is 1.50 or less and a time elapsed until the logarithmic damping ratio reaches the maximum value is 3,800 seconds or less, when measured by a rigid-body pendulum test at 60° C.

A control board connectable to a liquid ejection head includes a power supply circuit outputting a first voltage, a connector connectable to a cable through which the first voltage is input and a second voltage is output, and a processor detecting a connection error of the cable using a difference between the first and second voltages, and control the circuit to turn off upon detection of the error. The connector includes first, second, and third terminals adjacent to each other and arranged along a direction in this order and fourth, fifth, and sixth terminals adjacent to each other and arranged along the first direction in this order. The first voltage is input to the second terminal, the second voltage is output from the fifth terminal, and the first, third, fourth, and sixth terminals are ground terminals. The second and fifth terminals are short-circuited in the liquid ejection head.

Provided is an inkjet printing apparatus including: a print head configured to eject a metallic ink containing silver particles; a carriage configured to scan the print head; and a control unit configured to control the print operation so as to print an image on a print medium by causing the print head to eject the metallic ink onto the print medium and thereby form dots on the print medium while causing the carriage to scan the print head a plurality of times over a predetermined region on the print medium, wherein the control unit controls the print operation so as to print the image by causing the print head to eject the metallic ink at the same pixel position on the print medium in two or more printing scans and thereby generate a superimposed dot.

A liquid discharging apparatus includes: a head having a plurality of nozzles; and a controller. The controller executes: a discharging processing of discharging liquid, from each of the nozzles toward a recording medium, in a liquid droplet amount which is selected for each of pixels from at least three kinds of liquid droplet amounts; and a total discharge amount calculating processing of calculating a total discharge amount of the liquid to be discharged from the nozzles in the discharging processing, based on the liquid droplet amount selected for each of the pixels and a discharge duty which is density of the liquid droplet per a unit area of the recording medium.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a conveyance path, a conveyor, and a liquid discharger. The conveyor conveys a medium in a conveyance direction along the conveyance path. The liquid discharger is disposed above the conveyance path to discharge a liquid toward the medium conveyed by the conveyor. The liquid discharger includes a discharge head, a housing, an airflow generator, and slit. The discharge head has a nozzle from which the liquid is discharged. The housing accommodates the discharge head. The housing has a lower face from which the nozzle of the discharge head is exposed and a slit adjacent to the discharge head in the lower face of the housing. The airflow generator generates an airflow flowing through the housing and discharged from the slit toward the conveyance path.

Described herein are bioprinters comprising: one or more printer heads, wherein a printer head comprises a means for receiving and holding at least one cartridge, and wherein said cartridge comprises contents selected from one or more of: bio-ink and support material; a means for calibrating the position of at least one cartridge; and a means for dispensing the contents of at least one cartridge. Further described herein are methods for fabricating a tissue construct, comprising: a computer module receiving input of a visual representation of a desired tissue construct; a computer module generating a series of commands, wherein the commands are based on the visual representation and are readable by a bioprinter; a computer module providing the series of commands to a bioprinter; and the bioprinter depositing bio-ink and support material according to the commands to form a construct with a defined geometry.