Printhead having gas flow ink droplet separation and method of diverging ink droplets

摘要

An apparatus for printing an image is provided. The apparatus includes an ink droplet forming mechanism operable to selectively create a stream of ink droplets having a plurality of volumes and a droplet deflector having a gas source. The gas source is positioned at an angle with respect to the stream of ink droplets and 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. The ink droplet producing mechanism has a nozzle and includes a heater positioned proximate to the nozzle. The heater may be selectively actuated at a plurality of frequencies to create the stream of ink droplets having the plurality of volumes. The heater may include an electrical resistance heating element. The gas source may be a positive pressure air source positioned substantially perpendicular to the stream of ink droplets.