Continuous stream ink jet printhead of the gas stream drop deflection type having ambient pressure compensation mechanism and method of operation thereof

摘要

A continuous stream ink jet printhead (2) includes an ink droplet forming mechanism (4) operable to selectively create a stream of ink droplets having a plurality of volumes and a droplet deflector (40) having a gas source (42). The gas source is operable to interact with the stream of ink droplets thereby separating ink droplets having one of the plurality of volumes from ink droplets having another of the plurality of volumes. A sensor (12) senses ambient pressure transients and is coupled to a controller which adjusts the gas flow, through a pressure compensation mechanism, to compensate for pressure transients.