CA1071290A - Method and apparatus for printing indicia on a continuous, elongate, flexible three-dimensional member - Google Patents

Abstract

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING INDICIA
ON A CONTINUOUS, ELONGATE, FLEXIBLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEMBER
Abstract of the Disclosure Electrical wires and other continuous, elongate, flexible members having a three-dimensional exterior printing surface are marked with alpha-numeric characters by longitudinally feeding the wire past an electronically controlled ink jet printing head assembly that forms the characters by directing a positionable jet of ink onto the exterior surface of the wire. A wire feed transport receives the electrical wire from a storage reel and longitudinally feeds it through aligned guides establishing a wire guide path. The guide path carries the wire past a printing station at which the printing head assembly ejects a jet of electrostatically charged ink drops which are selectively deflected in a dimension transverse to the wire and in synchronism with the rate of longitudinal travel of the wire as established by the transport so that the ink drops impinge on the exterior three-dimensional wire surface in patterns which form the desired characters. The printing head assembly and wire guide are adjustably mounted for achieving precise registration between the ink jet and wire surface. Control means including a drive for the transport, a wire travel encoder, a printing head control unit, a data input terminal and an interface circuit cooperate to receive predetermined alpha-numeric indicia and to automatically operate the transport and ink jet printing head assembly to repetitively mark the wire with an identifying, multi-character code, wherein the code is repeated at selected, longitudinally spaced intervals along the wire. After being marked, the wire is automatically coiled in a coiling pan disposed at the discharge end of the wire guide path. The wire is severed at a predetermined length by an automatic cut-off device operated by the control means in response to wire length data received by the control system through the data input terminal along with the alpha-numeric identification code.

Description

Background of the Invention 6 The present invention relates to method and apparatus~~
7 for printing indicia, such as alpha-numeric characters, on an 8 exterior three-dimensional surface of a continuous, elongate, 9 flexible member, such as an electrically insulated wire that is 10 to be marked for identification.
11 In the manufacture and servicing of multi-wire electrical 12 systems, it is useful and many times necessary to mark the wire~s 13 with identifying alpha-numeric codes or other indicia~ For 14 example, the electrical control systems for a commercial aircraft 15 utilize thousands of control wires which are strung throughout 16 the aircraft frame. Usually, the wires are grouped to form a 17 wire harness wherein the wires are measured and cut to predetermine 18 length, and routed to fit between the plugs, connectors and other 19 terminals pre-established for each harness. The harness is 20 thereafter installed in the aircraft.
21 In the manufacture and installation of these wire ~-22 harnesses and subsequently during servicing the aircraft's electric l 23 system, it is necessary to be able to identify and distinguish 24 each wire from the numerous adjacent wires in the same or similar 25 harness. Because of the large number of wires, mere color coding 26 of the insulating sheaths is not satisfactory, and it has become 27 necessary to resort to lengthy, multiple character alpha-numeric 28 codes to uniquely identify each wire and group of wires.
29 Heretofore, these alpha-numeric identification codes 30 have been either stamped directly onto the insulating sheaths of . ,.

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1 the wires or applied indirectly by pIacing printed tape or sleeve

2 tags on the wires at spaced intervals therealong. Of these

3 processes, hot-stamp marking and cold ink type wheel marking

4 techniques have been preferred. In hot-stamp marking, each of the wires to be marked are transported into a printing position, 6 stopped and momentarily held stationary while a heated alpha-7 numeric type face is pressed into engagement with the exterior 8 insulating sheath of the wire. The type is either pre-inked or 9 an ink ribbon is interposed between the type and the wire sheath, lQ causing the ink on the ribbon to be transferred to the sheath in 11 a process which has sometimes been called "branding" of the wire.
12 After each "branding" or printing operation, the wire is advanced 13 by a predetermined longitudinal interval, whereupon the operation 14 is repeated. This technique involves a number of disadvantages.
The start-stop, intermittent advancement of the wire, signifi-16 cantly limits the overall operating speed of the process.
17 Furthermore, substantial labor cost is required in operating the 18 machines and in changing the alpha-numeric code type, each time a 19 new batch of wire is processed.
Moreover, it has been found that the heated, printing 21 type, when pressed into contact with the wire insulation pursuant 22 to the "branding" operation, causes significant deformation of 23 the insulation, sometimes damaging it beyond acceptable specifi-24 cations. In other cases, the "branding" results in an intolerable change in the effective dielectric of the insulation. This 26 degradation of the insulation and the change in the dielectric 27 thereof, is particularly troublesome in the case of wires having 2~ thin wall insulation. The thinness of such wire sheaths is 29 incapable of accommodating any significant penetration of the heated type, thus limiting the application of this type of marking 31 process.

1 In cold ink, type wheel printing, the type is disposed 2 about an outer circumferential rim of the wheel and is rotated 3 with such rim in engagement with the wire to transfer the printing ink thereto. Thermal curing of the transferred ink is thereafter required. Practical limits on the wheel rotation speed, inflexi-6 bility of the wheel code fixed by the type, and labor costs 7 in changing type wheels and other limitations have been encountered 8 in utilizing this technique.
9 Because hot-stamp, type wheel and other automatic contact printing processes require a relatively uniform printing 11 surface, they are incapable of satisfactorily printing code 12 numbers on wire surfaces that are irregular, such as exhibited by 13 twisted or straight stranded, braided, and coax wires. With 14 wires of this type, the exterior surface is too irregular to be printed by type and it is necessary to resort to slower, more 16 costly techniques, such as manual application of preprinted tags.
17 Since contact printing systems, such as the hot-stamp 18 technique, typically involve the use of alpha-numeric type, there 19 is usually a certain maximum number of characters, e. g. 18 to 25, available for forming a particular identification code.
21 This, of course, limits flexibility in the amount and kind of the 22 wire identification data that can be printed onto the wire.
23 These foregoing disadvantages, present restrictions on the 24 ¦efficiency and reliability of existing marking systems.
25 ¦ Summar~ of the Preferred Embodiment of the 26 ¦ Invention and its Objectives 27 ¦ Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention 28 ¦to provide an improved method and apparatus for printing indicia, 29 ¦such as alpha-numeric characters, on a continuous, elongate, 30 ¦flexible three-dimensional member in which the foregoing disadvan-1 tages encountered in existing printing systems are overcome or 2 ameliorated. For example, such a member may be an electrical 3 wire, either uninsulated or having an exterior dielectric sheath, or the member may be sleeving adapted to be slipped over one or more such wires.
6 Another object of the present invention is to provide 7 an improved method and apparatus for printing alpha-numeric 8 characters on the outer surface of continuous elongate electrical 9 wire, especially but not necessarily insulated wire, for identi-fication purposes, which are capable of relatively high speed and 11 reliable printing; do not damage or significantly change the 12 dielectric of the wire insulation; are capable of effectively 13 printing on irregular three-dimensional surfaces such as presented 14 by the composite convolutions of twisted wires; are versatile in the make-up of the code and number of characters which may be 16 printed; and wherein the apparatus is relatively simple to 17 operate.
18 These objects are achieved by a method and apparatus 19 which briefly, includes a transport means operated by a control means to longitudinally feed the wire or other member in a guide 21 path which extends past an ink jet printing station. The printing 22 station includes an ink jet printing head assembly disposed 23 laterally adjacent the guide path for directing a jet of printing 24 ink toward the three-dimensional exterior surface of the wire.
The control means for the system, in addition to operatin 26 the transport means, is also coupled to the printing head assembly 27 for controlling the deflection of the ink jet in accordance with 28 predetermined electronic data and in synchronization with the rate 29 of continuous advancement of the wire past the printing station.
The indicia, which may take the form of alpha-numeric characters, . .

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is printed upon the wire surface by a combination of the selective, electrostatic deflection of a series of ink drops forming the ink jet and the simultaneous longitudinal advancement of the wire past the printing head assembly. Because the ink jet printing operation is a non-contact process, in which the ink drops are projected, in flight toward the wire, the charac-ters are effectively and reliably printed notwithstanding irregularities in the exterior surface thereof, such as exhibited by the convolutions of twist-ed pairs and twisted multiple conductors, and the circumferential non-uniformity of straight stranded conductors.
Further in accordance with one embodiment of the method and appara-tus of the present invention, electrical wires, intended for use in a multi-wire harness or cable, are automatically marked with a multi-character alpha-numeric code at repetitive, longitudinally spaced intervals along the exterior thereof. me unmarked wire, which may include one or more insulated or uninsulated conductors, is dereeled from a supply spool and fed into a caterpillar-like flexible belt wire transport. The system control means issues a drive command signal for operating the transport to advance the unmarked wire longitudinally through wire guide means which transversely guide the wire past the ink jet printing station. A workpiece travel encoder is coupled to the transport for developing an electrical signal representing the rate of travel of the wire, wherein this rate of travel signal is fed to the control means for synchronizing the operation of the ink jet printing head. me predetermined alpha-numeric code, which may be introduced into the system via a data input means, is thereupon printed onto the exterior three-dimensional surface of the wire as it passes the printing station.

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~07~Z90 To provide an effective identification of the wire, the unique alpha-numeric code is automatically, repetitively printed onto the wire at predetermined longitudinally spaced intervals. Once the alpha-numeric code has been selected and entered into the data terminal, this same code data is effective to operate the printing head assembly to reproduce the same sequence of code characters at the appropriate longitudinally spaced positions on the wire. To adjust for different size wires, quickly interchangeable wire guides are provided, and the guides and the ink jet head assembly are mounted on separate, adjustable carriage means, to position the head assembly at a proper distance from the wire to produce alpha-numeric characters having a size commensurate with that of the wire width, and to adjustably position the wire guide path in registration with the scan of the ink jet. An elec-trically triggered cut-off device located between the transport and the ink jet printing station, is operated by the control system in response to wire length data introduced into the system through the same input data terminal that accepts the alpha-numeric code characters. Thus a predetermined wire length, associated with the predetermined alpha-numeric code, may be select-ed, with the system automatically marking and thereafter cutting the wire to the desired length, measured by totalizing the longitudinal rate signals received from the travel encoder coupled to the wire transport.
According to a broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided in an apparatus for marking multi-character, alpha-numeric, identi-fication codes on an elongate, flexible member having a three-dimensional exterior surface, and including means for advancing said member lengthwise past a printing station, the improvement comprising: ink jet printing means disposed at said printing station for directing a selectively and electro-statically deflectable ink jet formed of droplets of printing ink to impinge and be deposited on the exterior surface of the advancing member, said print-ing means being so arranged relative to the member and responsive to the rate of longitudinal advancment of the member as to cause said droplets of said printing ink to be deposited on the exterior surface of said member in the form of alpha-numeric characters.

~1 : 1~)71Z910 According to another broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a method of marking multi-character, alpha-numeric, identifi-cation codes on an elongate, flexible member having a three-di~ensional ex-terior surface and including the step of moving such member lengthwise relative to a printing station, the improvement comprising: guiding said member in a predetermined guide path relative to said printing station;
directing a jet formed of droplets of electrostatically chargeable printing ink toward said guide path a~ said printing station; and selectively and electrostatically deflecting said droplets of ink so that said droplets im-pinge on said surface of said member in the form of alpha-numeric characters.
According to yet another broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wire marking system, comprising: wire supply means for longitudinally dispensing a substantially continuous, elongate wire having a three-dimensional exterior surface; wire transport means mounted adjacent said supply means for longitudinally receiving and advancing said wire at a controlled rate; guide means for longitudinally receiving and longitudinally guiding said wire past a printing station; ink jet printing means disposed adjacent said printing station for directing an electrostatically deflect-able jet of printing ink onto said wire to form alpha-numeric characters thereon; and control means connected between said transport means and said printing means for controlling the deflection of said jet of ink in accord-ance with said controlled rate of longitudinal advancement of said wire.
These and further features, objects and advantages of the method and apparatus in accordance with the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description and appended drawings of a particular exemplary embodiment there-of.

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-~ l ~07~Z90 1 ¦ ~rief Description of the Drawings 2 ¦ FIGURE l is a diagrammatic showing of the apparatus for 3 printing indicia on a continuous elongate flexible three-dimensiona L
member, such as an electrical wire, constructed in accordance

5 with the present invention.

6 FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a wire formed by a twisted

7 pair of insulated electrical conductors printed as a unit with an

8 identifying alpha-numeric code by the method and apparatus of the

9 present invention as shown in FIGURE l.
FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the ink jet 11 printing head assembly, wire guides, wire cut-off device, and 12 wire transport components of the apparatus shown in FIGURE l. ~-1 13 FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the components of FIGURE 3 14 as viewed from the direction indicating arrows 4--4 of the 15 FIGURE 3.
16 FIGURE 5 is a detailed block diagram of the control 17 system generally depicted in FIGURE l for operating the ink jet 18 printing head assembly, wire cut-off device and wire transport 19 components.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment of the Invention 21 With reference to FIGURE l, a system is provided for ~-22 marking identification codes on a continuous, elongate, flexible, 23 three-dimensional member, such as an electrical wire, or a 24 sleeving adapted to be slipped over one or more electrical wires.
Illustrated here, a wire ll, is provided in which the wire is 26 received by a wire transport 12 and is longitudinally advanced 27 thereby through a series of aligned wire guides 13 which establish 2~ a wire guide path coincident with the elongated dimension of the 29 wire and which extends past an electrostatic ink jet printing station 14 equipped with an ink jet printing head assembly 16. A

~ ` lOqlZ90 `-' 1 control means 17, including a data input terminal 51, an ink jet 2 printer control unit 57, a wire transport control unit 55 and 3 interface circuitry 53, serves to control transport 12 and 4 printing head assembly 16 in accordance with a predetermined wire marking sequence.
6 Wire ll may be any of a wide variety of single or 7 multiple electrical conductors including insulated or uninsulated, 8 single, multiple, twisted, straight stranded, jacketed, shielded, 9 braided, coax or cable conductors. As indicated hereinabove, the

10 marking of such wires with identifying alpha-numeric codes or

11 other indicia is desirable in fabricating, installing and servicing

12 electrical control systems. Typically, the wires must be measured~

13 marked with the proper code and cut to a predetermined length to

14 fit between pre-established locations for plugs and connectors at the terminal ends of a multi-wire harness. The method and 16 apparatus of the system shown in FIGURE l carries out these 17 marking, measuring and cutting operations at heretofore unobtainabl , 18 speed and reliability.
19 Moreover, the printing or marking of a multi-character alpha-numeric code is effectively applied to wires having an 21 irregular exterior printing surface. For example, in FIGURE 2, 22 an exemplary multi-character identification code is printed onto 23 the exterior, composite convolutions of a twisted pair of sheathed 24 conductors 23, a result which cannot be satisfactorily achieved using the heretofore preferred hot-stamping technique as discussed 26 above.
27 Although the continuous, elongate flexible member is 28 here shown as wire ll, a wire sleeving in the form of an elongate 29 tubular dielectric may be printed by the method and apparatus of the present invention. Such sleeving may be adapted for being ~ 071'~90 1 slipped over one or more wires for providing additional insulation 2 around one or more individually insulated wires, or for serving 3 as a protective jacket against abrasion of the wires, or as a printed sleeve for identifying the associated wire or wires.
The unmarked wire 11 may be dereeled from a bulk 6 storage spool 24 rotatably mounted in position adjacent an entry 7 end 26 of transport 12 so that a leading end of the wire may be 8 threaded into transport 12 and thereafter advanced under the g control of wire transport control unit 55 of the control means 17. Downstream of transport 12, wire 11 is forwarded by guides 11 13 in a guide path extending past cut-off device 27 which is 12 operated under the control of transport control unit 55 of control 13 means 17, and from there past the printing station 14 where the 14 exterior surface of the wire is printed by a selectively deflected jet 28 of ink drops.

16 Preferably and for the embodiment of the invention 17 disclosed herein, the control means 17 provides for repetitively 18 printing the same multi-character code on the wire at longitudinall Y
19 spaced intervals so that the wire is identifiable along its entire length.
21 After being printed, the wire is fed downstream of 22 station 14 and automatically coiled, in this instance by a 23 circular, relatively shallow horizontally disposed coiling pan 24 mounted for free rotation about its axis of symmetry. The marked wire may be measured and cut to a desired length by operating 26 cut-off device 27, positioned between transport 12 and printing 27 station 14 after a predetermined amount of travel of the wire has 28 been monitored by wire transport control unit 55. In the particulc r 29 embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, when a preset length of wire has been fed by transport 12 past printing station 11D712~0 14, wire transport control unit 55 and interface electronics 53, control means 17 of the system automatically terminate the operation of transport 12, substantially simultaneously terminate the operation of printing head assembly 16, and actuate cut-off device 27 to sever the wire and thus complete the processing thereof.
With reference to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4, the wire transport 12 may be of the type shown in which upper and lower flexible drive belts 31 and 32 respectively are each trained about drive and idler wheels 36, 37, 38 and 39. First and second sets of bogeys 33 and 34 are mounted on generally parallel axes between each of the opposed sets of belt wheels 36, 37, 38 and 39 engaging inner teethed surface portions of the belts 31 and 32 to locate outer surface portions of the belts in mutually opposing relationship for receiving and engaging wire ll therebetween. The first and second sets of bogeys 33 and 34 are both laterally and longitudinally offset from each other with respect to the guide path of wire 11 to cause an automatic lateral centering of the wire as it is frictionally engaged and driven longitudinally in the direction indicated by arrow 41 when a rotational drive is applied to one or more of wheels 36-39. In this instance, belt wheel 39 is rotatably driven by a transport driver 42 of wire transport control unit 55. Although other transport means may be employed for advancing the wire 11 past printing station 14, the particular transport 12 utilized here applies a positive longitudinal feed to the wire, even when feeding wires having irregular exterior profiles such as the twisted pair shown in FIGURE 2, and wires having low friction, smooth exterior sheathing.

1 While transport 12 here provides for advancing the 2 wire by feeding it past the printing station, alternatively a 3 transport means that is mounted downstream of station 14 and 4 pulls the wire therepast, may be employed.
Coacting with transport 12 and forming a part of wire 6 transport control unit 55 is a motion or travel encoder and 7 length counter 43 for developing electrical signals representing 8 the rate and travel distance of the wire as it is advanced by the 9 transport. Driver 42 and encoder and length counter 43 of unit 55 are connected to interface circuitry 53 to provide means for 11 starting and stopping the transport, synchronizing the operation 12 of ink jet control unit 57 to the rate of the wire as it is ~:
13 advanced past printing head assembly 16 and to totalize the 14 length of wire fed by transport 12, in order to operate the cut-off device 27 at the proper wlre length.
16 Transport 12 may be mounted on an upstanding support 17 panel 44, which may form the front panel of a housing ~not shown) 18 for containing the components of control means 17 as diagram-19 matically shown in FIGURE 1. With panel 44 supported by a lower horizontal base 46, the transport 12 may be mounted so as to 21 define the commencemlent of a substantially horizontal guide path 22 for wire 11 starting at entry end 26. Mounted in alignment with 23 the guide path initiated by transport 12 and adjacent an exit end 24 147 thereof, is the first of a series of wire guides 13. More 25 ¦particularly, a first guide 48, here being of elongate, tubular 26 ¦shape, is mounted by brac~et 61 between transport 12 and cut-off 27 ¦device 27, and includes a flared entry end 49, an elongate guide 2~ ¦opening 58 and a discharge end 59.
29 ¦ The wire is passed from guide 48 through cut-off 30 ¦device 27, which may be any of a wide variety of electrically ~ 1071290 1 tri~gered devices having a cut-off blade, such as indicated by 2 blade 62, mounted adjacent the guide path and being operable on 3 command to sever the wire in a cut-off plane substantially 4 transverse to length thereof. In this particular embodiment, a pneumatically powered, electrically triggered cut-off device is 6 utilized.
7 Downstream of cut-off device 27, the wire is fed into 8 and through a quick changeable, precision guide block 63 having 9 an enlarged conical inlet opening 64, converging in the direction of wire travel, and a precision discharge guide opening 66 11 concentrically aligned with opening 64 and serving as a means for 12 transversely guiding the wire adjacent printing station 14. The 13 enlarged conical inlet opening 64 serves to capture and self-14 guide a leading end of a wire that has been severed by cut-off device 27. The conical guide opening ~K~ guides the leading end 16 of the wire into the precision guide opening 66 which is dimensione d 17 for each wire size to precisely position the exterior three-18 dimensional printing surface thereof in registration with the jet 19 28 of ink drops ejected from printing head assembly 16.
Guide block 63 and more particularly opening 66 thereof 21 serve to position wire ll along a y axis that extends substantiall~
22 transversely to the wire guide path, which may be called the x 23 axis, and substantially transversely to the trajectory of the jet 24 28 of ink drops, which may be referred to as the z axis. It will be appreciated that the available printing section of the wire is 26 of limited extent. For example, insulated wires, of size 24 AWG
27 and larger may be effectively printed using the method and 2~ apparatus of thc prcscnt cmbodimcnt, cvcn though thc c~fcctivc 29 printing section or width may be as little as .04 to .05 inches.
This dimension represents the effective width or transverse 1 dimension of thc three-dimcnsional workpiece surface as viewed 2 from the printing head assembly 16 along the z axis. Within this 3 limited width, the jet 28 of ink drops is selectively deflected 4 to write out or form the alpha-numeric characters and thus, the effectiveness of guide block 63 in positioning the wire in the y 6 axis dimension is important.
For this reason, the method and apparatus of the ~3 present embodiment provides a multiplicity of variously sized or 9 gauged guide blocks 63, and quick change mounting means to facilitate the interchange of the guide blocks in order to 11 accommodate different sizes of wires. The gauged guide blocks, 12 one of which is shown as guide block 63 here, provide for a `
13 gradation of diameters of the discharge of exit guide opening, 1~ corresponding to guide opening 66 for guide block 63. The inter-changeability of the guide blocks is here provided by the following 16 means. A boss portion 71, having a rectangular cross section, 17 protrudes from a lower wall 72 of guide block 63, and is elongate 18 in the direction of the x axis. A complementary recess 73 is 19 provided in a movable carriage 74 for detachably receiving and locking guide block 63 in position by suitable fastener means, 21 such as here provided by screws 76. Accordingly, each of the 22 multiple guide blocks is interchangeable with guide block 63, by 23 loosening screws 76, removing the block and substituting a 24 different guide block having a selected wire guide opening, corresponding to opening 66. Before securing the block in place, 26 it is slidably positioned along the x axis, to locate exit end 67 27 of opening 66 just slightly upsteam from the interception of jet 28 28 with the wire.
29 Furthermore, means are provided for movably adjusting the guide block along the y axis to facilitate the proper position 1 ing the wire in registration with the ink jet. Here, the adjust-2 ment means is provided in the form of carriage 74 movable on ways 3 77 forming guide surfaces extending parallel to the y axis on a support 78 fixedly mounted to panel 44. A lead screw and follower assembly indicated at 79 coacts with carriage 74 and support 78 6 to provide a manually operable adjustment of the position of 7 carriage 74 and thus block 63 along the y axis. Once properly 8 positioned, carriage 74 may be locked in place by a manually 9 operable locking lever 81 carried by support 78. In this particul r embodiment, a precision jeweler's vise having the relatively 11 movable carriage 74 and support 78 is employed.
12 After exiting from opening 66 of guide block 63 and 13 advancing past printing station 14, the wire may be fed into a 14 further guide 82, here of a tubular configuration similar to guide 48 and being supported from panel 44 by a bracket 83. A
16 flared entry end 84 of guide 82 serves to capture and self-guide 17 the workpiece into an inner, here elongate, guide opening 86, 18 while a discharge or exit end 87 as diagrammatically shown in 19 FIGURE 1, discharges wire 11 into the automatic coiling pan 29 as shown in FIGURE 1. Flared end 84 and opening 86 are dimensioned 21 to provide substantial clearance from the exterior, newly printed~
22 wire surface to avoid smearing it just after it leaves the 23 printing station 14 and before the ink has had an opportunity to 24 dry.
As described more fully herein, printing head assembly 26 16 provides for selectively deflecting the jet 28 of ink drops so 27 that they may be individually, selectively deposited onto wire 11 2~ at diffcrent poin~s, transverse to the wirc length and thus along 29 the y axis. In other words, the selective deflection of the drops of ink scans across the width of the wire in the direction 1~71290 1 of the y axis to provide one of the writing axes for forming the 2 alpha-numeric characters. The other writing axis is formed along 3 the x axis by the continuous, longitudinal advancement of wire 11 4 by transport 12 in synchronism with the selective deflection of the ink jet. In this manner, the jet of ink drops may be deflected 6 to impinge upon the exterior, three-dimensional wire surface in 7 predetermined alpha-numeric or other indicia forming patterns.
8 Because each of the ink drops is individually guided in flight, 9 irregularities in the exterior surface of the wire do not signifi-cantly detract from the printing operation as evidenced by the 11 readability of the alpha-numeric characters on the convolutions 12 of the twisted pair 23.
13 Although ink jet printing head assembly 16 may be 14 constructed in accordance with any one of a number of devices known per se, the components of the presently disclosed assembly 16 are commercially available from a model 9000 ink jet printer sold 17 by the A. B. Dick Company of Elk Grove Village, IL. These 18 components briefly include an ink jet nozzle assembly 91, a 19 charging tunnel 92, oppositely poled deflection plates 93 and 94, ink supply line 96, ink pressure regulator 97 and ink supply 21 connecting line 98. The construction and operation of this type 22 of printer and other similar printers are disclosed in an article 23 by Fred J. Kamphoefner, entitled "INK JET PRINTING" appearing in 24 IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, April 1972.
In the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, an 26 ink jet printing apparatus is employed in which the ink jet is 27 formed of a series of selectively, electrostatically charged ink 2~ drops ejected with substantial velocity ~rom a printing head 29 nozzle. The charged drops are electrostatically deflected, by amounts that depend on the received charge, in response to a 11~)7~LZ90 1 constant deflection voltage applied across a pair of deflection 2 plates.
3 Preferably in accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention, these printer components, which are known per se, are remounted on a carriage means disposed for 6 adjustable movement parallel to the z axis. More particularly, 7 the carriage means is here provided by a substantially flat 8 rectangular support member 101 slidably mounted in vertically 9 extending guides 102 and 103 fastened to panel 44 adjacent printing station 14. An elongate adjustment screw 104 having an 11 upper, manually operable adjustment knob 106 and being threadedly 12 received in an internally threaded bore 107 of a bracket 108 13 fastened to panel 44 serves as the means for adjustably displacing 14 he member 101 along the z axis by a connection of a lower end 109 of screw 104 to a journal block 111 affixed at the upper end 16 of member 101.
17 This z axis adjustment for printing head assembly 16 18 provides for changing the width of the ink drop scan, i.e., the 19 maximum deflection of the ink drops along the y axis at the point of interception of the ink drops with the wire, to dimension the 21 size of the alpha-numeric characters along this axis to match the 22 particular transverse dimension or diameter of the processed 23 wire. That is, for relatively small diameter wires, the printing 24 ¦head assembly 16 is adjusted along the z axis to a position 25 ¦relatively proximate to the wire guide path, limiting the deflectic n 26 ¦of the ink drops, along the y axis, to slightly less than the 27 ¦effective printing width of the exterior wire surface.
2~ ¦ ~s more fully explained herein, certain of the drops of 29 ¦ink within the ink jet are not deflected onto the surface of the 30 ¦wire. These drops follow a trajectory which is intercepted by a . . . .

1~712gO

mouth 112 of a contoured, tubular ink sump 113 to which a vacuum or sub-atmospheric suction is applied at an end 114 remote from mouth 112. The undeflected drops of ink are captured in mouth 112 of sump 113, sometimes referred to as a "cobra" and returned to an ink reservoir under the influence of the suction. Tubular sump 113 is positioned with mouth 112 lying between wire 11 and deflection plates 93 and 94 and is formed with a contoured L-shaped bend at 116 which extends downwardly and rearwardly from mouth 112, initially parallel to the z axis and bending so as to extend away from the wire guide path generally rearwardly in the direction of the y axis. Since the jet 28 of ink drops is positioned in close proximity to the exit end of guide opening 66 of block 63 and because sump 113 must be positioned to intercept the nondeflected ink drops in the y-z plane, it is desirable to cut away or contour the exterior wall portion 117 of guide block 63 adjacent the exit end 67 so as to accommodate the positioning of sump 113. The mouth 112 may be adjustably positioned and then locked in place by an adjustable mounting assembly 118 including an elongate mounting member 119 pivotally mounted adjacent an upper end 121 to a flange support 122 carried by panel 44 and having an arcuate adjustment slot 123 coacting with a locking screw 124 for pivotally moving a cylindrical mounting block 126 carrying the tubular sump 113 therewithin and being movable in an arc about the pivoted end 121 of member 118. This permits adjustment of the y axis position of sump mouth 112. Support block 126 carrying sump 113 is also adjustable by loosening an eccentric mounting screw 127 and rotating block 126 thereabout to pivot the mouth 112 of the sump in a limited arcuate path generally along the z axis.
Thus, the sump mouth 112 may be precisely adjusted within the y-z plane to intercept only those ink drops which ~)7~Z90 1 remain undeflected and are not intended to impinge upon the 2 exterior surface of the wire 11.
3 A relatively high voltage is applied across the deflectio n plates 93 and 94. To insure the proper functioning of the deflection system and to protect the voltage supply for the 6 plates, means have been provided in control unit 57 to shut down 7 the printing operation in the event plate 93 is shorted by a low 8 impedance, resistive or capacitor path to ground. In the operation 9 of assembly 16 in the present environment, it has been found that plate 93 may be occassionally shorted by a flailing severed end 11 of wire 11 as it is withdrawn from guide block 63, and accordingly, 12 plate 93 is preferrably coated with a layer 115 of electrically -~13 insulating material.
14 The operation of the ink jet printing head 16 in general is fully described in the aformentioned IEEE article by Fred J.
16 Kamphoefner. Briefly, ink under fluid pressure is introduced 17 through supply 96, regulator 97 and connecting line 98 into a 18 nozzle assembly 91. The nozzle assembly 91 includes an ink jet 19 nozzle (not shown) which directs an unstable stream or jet of ink along the z axis toward wire 11. This unstable stream or jet of 21 ink is intentionally and uniformly broken up into a series of 22 uniform drops of ink by an electro-mechanical transducer, such as 23 a piezoelectric crystal, operated by a relatively high a-c frequenc Y
24 ¦to produce a pulsating fluid pressure effect adjacent the dischargc 25 ¦nozzle. Thus, as the ink leaves the nozzle assembly 91, it is 26 ¦separated into a series of ink drops. Each of these drops are 27 ¦selectively charged by a controlled, variable voltage charging 2~ ¦signal applied between nozzle assembly 91 and a charging tunnel 29 192. The selectively charged ink drops pass on through charging 30 ¦tunnel 92 and follow a trajectory between a pair of spaced apart, 107~290 1 substantially parallcl dcflcction plates 93 and 94, across which 2 a predetermined, relatively large, cons-tant deflection voltage is 3 applied. The combination of the charged ink drops and the 4 electric field between the deflection plates 93 and 94 results in a selective deflection of the numerous ink drops in a direction 6 corresponding to the electric field. Here, plates 93 and 94 are 7 oriented to establish the deflection field parallel to the y axis 8 such that the ink drops, when they reach wire ll, are selectively 9 positioned along the y axis in accordance with the amount of charge applied at charging tunnel 92. By applying a variable 11 control signal to charging tunnel 92, it will be appreciated that 12 the drops of ink may be deflected to impinge upon any desired 13 point on the exterior surface of wire 11 along the y axis for a 14 given x axis position of the wire. In operation, the travel of the wire 11 along the x axis is substantially slower than the 16 deflection speed of the printing head so that a substantial~y 17 straight, transverse line of ink drops may be applied to the 18 exterior, three-dimensional surface of the wire, even though the 19 wire is continuously longitudinally advancing past printing station 14.
21 The manner in which ink jet printing head assembly 16 22 is controlled in synchronism with the travel of the wire 11 is 23 more fully explained herein, however briefly the presently 24 disclosed embodiment of the invention provides a 7 X 5 ink dot printing matrix for forming each alpha-numeric character or other 26 symbol. The y axis deflection of the ink drops provides one 27 dimension of the matrix, and here 7 discrete points (or dots) may 28 be marked across the width of the exterior three-dimensional 29 surface of the wire, while the x axis longitudinal advancement of the wire in synchronism with the printing head assembly 16 1 provides the other matrix dimension. In this case 5 longitudinal 2 ink dot locations are afforded for each y axis dot position. As 3 illustrated in FIGURE 2, the alpha-numeric characters are printed 4 onto the wire so that a multi-character code can be read from left to right along the wire length. In other words, the letters 6 and numbers are here oriented transversely to the wire length, 7 with the height of each character extending along the y axis, and 8 the width of each character extending longitudinally of the wire 9 along this x axis.
Although any suitable indicia may be printed onto the 11 processed wire, an example of a useful multi-character code is as 12 follows: W1041-243-22.
13 The first five characters preceded by the letter W
14 identify the bundle or harness within which the wire is found;
the next three characters identify the particular wire within 16 such harness or bundle; and the last two digits represent the 17 wire gauge or size, namely a size 22 AWG. Thus, in FI~URE 2, the 18 twisted pair of wires 23 are found in harness or bundle W1041, 19 and are identified as wires 243 and 244, both of which are a size or gauge AWG 22.
21 FIGURE 5 is a block diagram illustrating a control 22 system for controlling the ink jet printer of the invention and 23 includes a data input texminal 51; interface circuitry 53; a wire 2~ transport control unit 55 (illustrated as two blocks joined by a dashed line); and, an ink jet printer control unit 57. As noted 26 above, the ink jet printer 16 is a commercially available Model 27 9000 ink jet printer sold by A. B. ~ick Company, and includes a 28 control unit 57 capable of rccciving diqitally cnco(3cd a]l~ha-29 numeric character information and synchronizing signals to form predetermined character patterns.

1071Z'30 1 The data terminal 51 includes a cathode-ray tube (CRT) 2 161; and, a keyboard 163. In a conventional manner, the keyboard 3 is utilized to generate control information. More specifically, 4 as each key of the keyboard is depressed, a digital code identifyin the alpha-numeric nature of the depressed key, is generated. The 6 code is interpretated by the electronic system associated with 7 the CRT and creates the related alpha-numeric visual display on 1.
8 the face of the CRT 161. The same code is received by the interfac 9 circuitry 53 which decodes it and utilizes it in the herein described manner. Preferably, the code is an ASCII code.
11 Alternatively, the data may be introduced into interface 12 circuitry by any of several well known means, including manuall~
13 controlled switches, punch cards, tape, programmed computer, etc.
14 Similarly, the visual display may be provided by any suitable means such as LED's, liquid crystal displays, etc.
16 The interface circuitry 53 generally includes two 17 electronic.subsections: print electronics 165; and, wire leng.th 18 electronics 167.
19 The print electronics include: a control decoder 169;
a controller 171; print data latches 175; random access memories 21 (RAMs) 177; a keyboard strobe one-shot 179; a negative OR gate 22 180; an address counter 181; a select decoder 183; a comma 23 decoder 185; line buffers 187; a first gate 189; a divider 191; a 24 ¦ print enable flipflop 193; and a second gate ~t~.
25 I The digital coded data output of the keyboard 163 of 26 ¦the data terminal 51 is applied to: the input of print data 27 ¦latches 175; the input of the control decoder 169; and the input 2~ ¦ of thc kcyboard strobc onc-shot 179. l`hc data output of thc 29 ¦ print data latches 1.75 are connected to the data input of the 30 ¦ RAMs 177. While various numbers of RAMs can be included in an 31 ¦ actual embodiment of the invention~ six RAM pairs have been found .~ 1071Z90 - ~

1 adequate for most uses. The data outputs of the RAMs are connected 2 to the line buffers 187. The data outputs of the RAMs are also 3 connected to the lnput of the comma decoder 185.
A print enable output of the control decoder 169 is connected to an enable input of the controller 171. The output 6 of the keyboard strobe one-shot 179 is connected to a data input 7 of the controller 171. The controller generates a sequential 8 series of control outputs, designated LATCH, ENABLE and ADDRESS, 9 for use in the manner hereinafter described. The LATCH output is connected to the latch control input of the print data latches 11 175; the ENABLE output is connected to the enable input of the 12 RAMs 177; and, the ADDRESS output is connected through gate 180 13 to the count up input of the address counter 181. The address 14 counter 181 sequentially generates RAM address codes, which are applied to the RAMs 177 along the line designated RAM ADDRESS.
16 After the address counter has gone through an entire cycle of 17 operation, i.e., generated all of its addresses once, it generates 18 a pulse, which is applied to the select decoder 183. The select 19 decoder 183 in turn, generates RAM select codes, which are applied to the RAMs along the line designated RAM SELECT. The 21 RAM SELECT codes select which of the six RAM pairs is to receive 22 a particular RAM address code. The comma decoder 185 generates a 23 reset pulse, which is applied to the address counter and select 24 decoder along a line designated RESET. The occurrence of this 25 ¦pulse resets these devices to initial RAM address and select statec 2~ ¦ The wire transporter control unit 55 includes a shaft 27 ¦encoder 197, which generates output pulses as wire is moved 2~ ¦through the ~ranspor~er. By way o cxam~lc, SiX .i.nchcs o wirc 29 ¦may be transported for each revolution of the shaft encoder and 30 ¦ 500 pulses may be produced per revolution.

~ - ` 1~7'1 zgo The output of the shaft encoder 197 is applied to one 2 input of the first gate 189. This same output creates a STROKE
3 RATE pulse chain that is applied to the stroke rate input of the ink jet printer control unit 57.
The output of the first gate 189 is connected to the 6 count input of the divider 191. The di~ider 191 divides down the 7 output of the first gate'by any suitable number. For example, 8 the divider may be formed of a divide-by-ten divider followed by ~ a divide-by-eight divider whereby the output of the divider is 10 generally equivalent to one pulse for each inch of linear wire 11 movement. The output of the divider 191 is applied to the data 12 input of the print enable flipflop 193. The print enable output~
13 of the control decoder 169 is applied to the set input of the 14 print enable decoder 193'and the output of the comma decoder 1 is applied to the reset input of the print enable flipflop 193.
16 The Q output of the print enable flipflop is connected 17 to one input of the second gate 195. The Q output, defined as a 18 SPACING ENABLE signal, is applied to the second input of the 19 first gate 189. DATA REQUEST pulses generated by the ink jet 20 printer control unit are applied to the second input of the 21 second gate 195 and to the count up input of the address counter 22 181 through a negative OR gate 180'gated with the ADDRESS signal 23 from controller 171.~
24 ¦ As will be better understood from the following descripti/ ~n 25 ¦of the operation of the electronic control system illustrated in 26 ¦FIGURE 2, the print electronics 165 receives the output of the 27 ¦data terminal 51 and, in accordance therewith, control the nature 2~ ¦of the alpha-numeric characters to be printed. The print control 29 ¦data is stored in the RAMS 177 and outpulses via the line buffers 30 187 as PRINT DATA signals suitable for controlling the ink jet 1C)71Z9O
1 printer control unit 57. During printing, the STROK~ RATE pulses 2 control the rate of reading PRINT DATA and the rate of printing.
3 The DATA REQUEST pulses, which provide an indication of when the printer is ready to receive data, control the address and select counters; and, the DATA STROBE pulses control the application 6 (not rate) of PRINT DATA. The generation and application of the 7 stroke rate pulses in this manner serve as a means for synchro-nizing the printing rate with the speed or velocity of the wire.
9 Although in general, either the wire speed or the printing rate may be the independent variable and the other dependent thereon 11 in a synchronized manner, preferably and in the present 12 embodiment, the wire speed, determined by transport 12 is the 13 independent variable. Because of the inertia involved in 14 accelerating the wire up to a predeter~ined running speed, and thereafter decelerating such wire, it is not practical to change 16 the wire speed as rapidly as changing the deflection rate of the 17 ink jet printer, thus the latter is preferably synchronized 18 to and dependent on the speed of the wire as monitored by control 19 unit 55 so that the printing rate tracks the acceleration and deceleration of the wire velocity.
21 The wire length electronics 167 include: a start 22 decoder l99; wire length data latches 201; a third gate 203; line 23 drivers 205; counters 207; and, comparators 209. The digital 24 coded data output of the data terminal 51 is applied to the input of the start decoder l99 and to the input of the wire length data 26 latches 201. The wire length data latches 201 are enabled by a 27 ¦ wire length enable output of the controller 171.
2~ ¦ The output of the start decoder is applied -to one input 29 ¦ of the third gate 203. The Q output of the print enable flipflop 193 is pplie to the second nlut of the third gate The outpue I 111)7'1Z90 1 ¦ oE the third gatc 203 is a STAR'~' sigllal co~nanding contro] unit 2 ¦ 55 to start the wire transporter 12.
3 ¦ The outputs of the wire length latches 201 are connected ¦ to the inputs of the line drivers 205 and the outputs of the line 5 ¦ drivers 205 form WIRE LENGTH DATA signals which may be utilized 6 ¦ by control unit 55 to display the total length of wire that is 7 ¦ to ke processed.
8 ¦ The output of each of the wire length data latches 201 9 ¦ is also applied to one input of the comparators 209. The counters 10 ¦207 receive increment length count pulses from the wire transporter 11 ¦ control unit 55. Each counter output is applied to the remaining 12 ¦ input of a corresponding comparator. When coincidence between 13 ¦ the pulse count and the output of the wire data latches occurs, 14 ¦ the comparators 209 apply a STOP signal to the wire transporter

15 ¦ control unit, stopping the transport 12. Simultaneously the

16 ¦ transport 12 issues a signal over line 210 to cutoff device 27

17 ¦ causing the wire to be cut.
1~ ¦ Turning now to a description of the operation of the 19 ¦control system illustrated in FIGURE 5; assuming initially that 20 ¦the wire transporter is stopped and no data is contained in the 21 ¦RAMs (or previously entered data is stored therein, but its 22 ¦operational use has terminated), the operator first depresses a 23 ¦key indicating that wire code data is to be inserted. A # sign 24 ¦key may be used for this purpose, for example. The control -25 ¦decoder 169 decodes that this key has been depressed and applies 26 ¦an enable signal to the controller 171. The # sign is blocked by 27 ¦the controller 171 from advancing the address counter 181. The 2~ ¦next kcy code dcfincs -thc first alpha-numeric charactcr of thc 29 ¦wire code. The keyboard strobe one-shot, which is adapted to 30 ¦generate a pulse any time any key is depressed, generates a .
: . ~ ' ' ' ~ 1~71Z90 1 pulse. In accordance with the receipt of this pulse, the now 2 enabled controller 171 generates a LATCH signal to enable the 3 print latches 175 to "read" the code generated by the depressed 4 key.
The depression of the first character key also causes 6 the keyboard strobe one-shot to apply a second pulse to the 7 controller 171. The second pulse enables the input to the RAMs 8 177. This allows the RAM selected by the RAM SELECT signal to 9 read and store, at the address defined by the RAM ADDRESS signal, the data output of the print data latches. The depression of the 11 first character key also causes the keyboard strobe one-shot to 12 apply a third pulse to the controller. The third pulse generates 13 a RAM ADDRESS signal to change to a new memory address. Depressior 14 of the second alpha-numeric character code key causes a repeat sequence, plus the RAM ADDRESS signal to change to a new address.
16 This sequence continues until the entire alpha-numeric character 17 code is stored in the RAMs. When a particular RAM pair is full,

18 the address counter 181 applies a pulse to the select decoder 183 1~ causing a new RAM pair to be selected. After the wire code data (alpha-numeric character code) has been completed, a suitable 21 character key, such as a comma (,) for example, is depressed, and 22 its code is also stored.
23 Next, a key creating a control code designated to allow 24 ¦ keyboard entry of wire length information data is depressed; an 25 ¦ asterisk (*) key for example. This control code is recognized by 26 ¦ the control code decoder 169 and causes the controller 171 to 27 ¦ apply a WIRE LENGTH ENABLE signal to the wire length data latches 2~ ¦ 201. The wire length data latches are now enabled to receive and 29 ¦ store information relating to the length of the wire to be 30 ¦ printed. This information is created by the depression of -:~7-i~ ` 1071Z90 1 suitable keyboard keys. The wire length data latches apply their 2 stored information to the comparators 209 and, via the line 3 drivers, to the wire transporter control unit 55.
4 The occurrence of a subsequent code, such as a carriage return code disables the controller via the control decoder.

6 This same control code sets the print enable flipflop 193.
7 In the foregoing manner, both print and wire length 8 data are stored in the interface and made available to the ink 9 jet printer and the wire transporter.

To summarize, the keyboard strobe one-shot starts a 11 timing chain that opens the print data latches 175 via the 12 controller 171 to cause them to accept new data. The first one-13 shot pulse passes and the data latches remain locked onto the 14 data accepted. A second one-shot pulse clocks data from the data latches into the appropriately selected and addressed RAM. The 16 third one-shot advances the address counter 181 to a higher 17 memory address whereby the RAM is advanced to a higher memory 18 cell location. When the address counter has counted through a

19 suitable number of cells, such as 16 memory cells, it generates a -carry-over signal to the select decoder 183 which causes it to 21 advance to the next RAM pair in sequence from the first RAM pair 22 to the sixth RAM pair. In this manner, up to 95 characters can 23 be stored, one memory cell location being used to store the comma 24 code. At the end of the generation of wire code data, the return code is generated and recognized by the control code decoder 169.
26 The return code disables the controller 171 and enables the print 27 enable flipflop 193 in preparation for printing. Thereafter, any 2~ movcmcn~ of tllc wirc will start ~hc printing opcration.
29 Turning now to a description of the printing operation, printing is started by the start decoder 199 recognizing a ~ 1071290 1 suitable code. For example, a dollar sign ($) codc can be used 2 to start printing. (Or a manual swi-tch, not shown, could be used 3 to start printing.) When the start code is recognized, the start decoder generates an output that, in combination with the set state of the print enable flipflop, as sensed by the third gate 203, causes a start signal to be applied to the wire transporter 7 control unit 55. -8 As the transporter begins to move wire, the shaft 9 encoder generates stroke pulses causing the ink jet printer to read the first character and print it onto the wire. Upon 11 completion of first character printing, a data request pulse is 12 generated by the ink jet printer. The data request pulse causes 13 the address output of the address counter to change and a second 14 data strobe pulse to be generated. This sequence continues until the entire alpha-numeric character code is read. The ink jet 16 printer, in accordance with its normal mode of operation, uses 17 this alpha-numeric character code data to cause alpha-numeric 1~, characters to be printed onto the wire.
19 Preferably, each wire code alpha-numeric sequence is separated by a suitable space, such as one inch, for example.
21 This space is controlled by the comma decoder 185. More specifical _ 22 ly, the comma control code is stored at a RAM address along with 23 the wire code alpha-numeric sequence. At the end of each wire 24 code printing sequence, the comma code is detected by the comma decoder 185. When this event occurs, the comma decoder resets 26 the address and select counters and the print enable flipflop 27 193.

23 When the co~na decoder 185 resets the print cnablc 29 flipflop 193, Q is applied to the first gate 189, causing it to open and pass pulses from the shaft encoder to the divider 191.

~ 1290 1 The divider counts a suitable number of pulses, representative of 2 a data signal to the print enable flipflop 193 causing it to be 3 set. This process is repeated for the total length of wire.
4 During the period of time the print enable flipflop is reset, the second gate is inhibited and D~TA STROBE pulses prevented from 6 occurring. Thus, printing is prevented for one inch spacing 7 intervals. Since the DATA STROBE pulses cannot occur, DATA
8 REQUEST pulses cannot occur. Thus, no address changes occur 9 during this period of time.
While only a limited number of embodiments of the 11 present invention have been disclosed herein, it will be readily 12 apparent to persons skilled in the art that numerous changes and 13 modifications may be made thereto without departing from the 14 spirit of the invention.
For example, while the herein disclosed embodiment 16 provides for transporting the wire past a stationary printing 17 assembly 16, an alternative arrangement may provide for moving the 18 ink jet assembly along a stationary wire, inasmuch as it is the 19 relative movement therebetween that is necessary.
Also, the ink jet printing of wires in accordance with 21 the present invention may be employed in environments other than 22 for marking wire received from storage or supply reels. For 23 example, the means for advancing or forwarding the wire past the 24 ink jet printing station may be a component or components of a wire forming and/or insulating operation in which the printing 26 is applied by the ink jet printer as the wire emerges from the 27 forming and/or insulating mechanisms. Such mechanisms may for 28 examp:Lc takc ~hc form of cx~rudcrs ~or cxtruding thc wirc 29 conductor and/or extruding a dielectric sheath for insulating the conductor.

:. ,. : ., .. ,: - - ... .

-- ` 1071Z90 --1 Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure and description 2 thereof are for illustrative purposes only and do not in any way 3 limit the invention which is defined only by the following claims.

la ,, 223 .
24 ¦

26 1 .

.~ 27 1 ` 2~ I .

l -31-

Claims (20)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In an apparatus for marking multi-character, alpha-numeric, identi-fication codes on an elongate, flexible member having a three-dimensional exterior surface, and including means for advancing said member lengthwise past a printing station, the improvement comprising: ink jet printing means disposed at said printing station for directing a selectively and electro-statically deflectable ink jet formed of droplets of printing ink to impinge and be deposited on the exterior surface or the advancing member, said print-ing means being so arranged relative to the member and responsive to the rate of longitudinal advancement of the member as to cause said droplets of said printing ink to be deposited on the exterior surface of said member in the form of alpha-numeric characters.

2. The apparatus set forth in Claim 1, said printing means including deflection means for selectively deflecting said ink jet in a plane substan-tially transverse to the length of said member, said apparatus further com-prising control means operatively connected between said means for advancing said member and said printing means, said control means synchronizing the selective deflection of said ink jet with the advancement rate of said member past said printing station so that said alpha-numeric characters are formed by the combination of the selective deflection of said ink jet and the rate of advancement of said member.

3. The apparatus set forth in Claim 2, wherein said member is a wire made up of at least two insulated elongate electrical conductors and said exterior surface of said wire is defined by the aggregate of the exteriors of said insulated conductors, and wherein said deflecting means selectively de-flects said ink jet so that the droplets of ink are deposited in the form of said characters on the aggregate of the exteriors of said insulated conduc-tors.

4. The apparatus set forth in Claim 2, wherein said control means includes means for sensing the rate of said advancement of said member and means for operating said deflection means so as to cause said droplets of said printing ink to be deflected periodically at intervals dependent on said rate of said advancement.

5. The apparatus set forth in Claim 2, wherein said printing means has a printing head assembly that includes said deflection means and wherein the improvement further comprises: head assembly carriage means adjustably mounted for movement along a first axis transverse to the direction of said advancement of said member, said head assembly mounted on said head assembly carriage means for providing an adjustment of the distance along said first axis between said deflection means and said member so that the magnitude of deflection of said ink jet at its interception with said surface of said member is adjustable.

6. The apparatus set forth in Claim 5, wherein the improvement further comprises: a member guide means having a member guide opening therethrough that terminates at an exit at which said member emerges to expose said ex-terior surface to said ink jet, said guide opening at said exit being sized relative to said member to precisely guide said member in a stationary guide path past said printing station member guide carriage means adjustably mounted at said printing station for movement along a second axis transverse to said guide path and transverse to said first axis, said member guide means being disposed on said member guide carriage means so that said member guide opening that determines said guide path can be positioned along said second axis for locating the exterior surface of said member in registry with the deflected ink jet.

7. The apparatus set forth in Claim 6, wherein said member guide car-riage means includes a member guide support means, and said member guide means being detachably mounted on said guide support means, whereby a plural-ity of similar but differently sized member guide means can be selectively mounted on said member guide support means to accommodate different sized members.

8. In a method of marking multi-character, alpha-numeric, identifica-tion codes on an elongate, flexible member having a three-dimensional exterior surface and including the step of moving such member lengthwise relative to a printing station, the improvement comprising: guiding said member in a predetermined guide path relative to said printing station; directing a jet formed of droplets of electrostatically chargeable printing ink toward said guide path at said printing station; and selectively and electrostatically deflecting said droplets of ink so that said droplets impinge on said surface of said member in the form of alpha-numeric characters.

9. The method set forth in Claim 8, wherein said jet formed of drop-lets of ink is deflected in a plane that extends substantially transversely to said guide path, and wherein said method further comprises the step of timing the deflection of said droplets of ink with the velocity of lengthwise movement of said member relative to said printing station so that said alpha-numeric characters are formed by a combination of said steps of selectively deflecting said droplets of ink and movement of said wire.

10. The method of Claim 8, wherein said member has an irregular exterior surface.

11. The method of Claim 8, wherein said member is an electrical wire.

12. The method of Claim 10, wherein said member is a wire and comprises multiple conductors in which at least certain of said conductors are individ-ually insulated and wherein said irregular exterior surface is defined by an aggregate of the exteriors of said conductors, and said step of selectively deflecting said droplets of ink cause said alpha-numeric characters to be deposited on the aggregate of the exteriors of said conductors of said wire.

13. The method set forth in Claim 12, wherein said wire is twisted about its length such that said irregular exterior surface defined by the aggregate of the exteriors of said conductors is convoluted.

14. The method set forth in Claim 10, wherein said member is a wire that has an outer sleeve that is braided and defines said irregular exterior surface.

15. The method set forth in Claim 14, wherein said outer sleeve is an electrically conductive shield.

16. The method of Claim 8, wherein said step of selectively deflecting comprises the sub-steps of selectively deflecting said droplets of ink in a plane extending substantially transverse to said guide path and in accordance with a predetermined, timed sequence of selective amounts of deflection that in combination with the lengthwise movement of the member relative to said printing station causes the formation of a predetermined sequence of alpha-numeric characters that constitute a predetermined multi-character code.

17. The method set forth in Claim 16, further comprising the step of repeating said predetermined, timed sequence of deflections at successive longitudinally spaced intervals on said member so that said predetermined sequence of alpha-numeric characters is repeated along said member at said intervals.

18. A wire marking system, comprising: wire supply means for longitudi-nally dispensing a substantially continuous, elongate wire having a three-dimensional exterior surface; wire transport means mounted adjacent said supply means for longitudinally receiving and advancing said wire at a con-trolled rate; guide means for longitudinally receiving and longitudinally guiding said wire past a printing station; ink jet printing means disposed adjacent said printing station for directing an electrostatically deflect-able jet of printing ink onto said wire to form alpha-numeric characters thereon; and control means connected between said transport means and said printing means for controlling the deflection of said jet of ink in accord-ance with said controlled rate of longitudinal advancement of said wire.

19. The wire marking system of Claim 18, wherein said guide means com-prises a wire guide having a wire guide opening sized to the wire that is to be printed and through which said wire is passed and guided in a stationary guide path relative to said printing means, and a wire guide carriage means for supporting said wire guide and being movably mounted relative to said printing means for positioning said wire guide opening along an axis extend-ing transversely to said guide path and transversely to the jet of printing ink so that the exterior surface of said wire can be positioned in registry with the deflectable jet of ink.

20. The system set forth in Claim 18, wherein said control means in-cludes encoder means operatively associated with said transport means for producing an electrical signal representing predetermined longitudinal in-crements of travel imparted to said wire by said transport means, and said control means further including data input means for receiving electrical signal data representing a predetermined length of wire to be marked by said printing means, totalizer means connected to said encoder means and respon-sive to said electrical signal for totalizing the length of wire advanced by said transport means past said printing station, circuit means having in-puts connected to said data input means and to said totalizer means and hav-ing an output issuing a control signal in response to a comparison of signals at said inputs, and controllable wire cutoff means disposed between said transport means and said printing station and having a control input connected to said output of said circuit means and being operative in response thereto to sever said wire at said predetermined length.