Manufacture of tubular elements for ink jet printers

Claim 1

Apparatus for the assembly of ink jet printers having an ejector with a tubular body, said tubular body having a nozzle at one end for projecting the ink and an annular transducer fitted onto and around the tubular body, to define an annular cavity between the transducer and said tubular body, and a layer of hardenable resinous material filling said annular cavity, wherein the apparatus includes a vacuum source, a casing defining at least one fluid-tight chamber connected to the vacuum source; the casing having an aperture for sealingly receiving said annular transducer with the tubular body mounted within the transducer in an arrangement in which a first end of said annular cavity communicates with said chamber in the casing and the other end communicates with the external environment, an annular transducer received in said aperture, and means located adjacent said other end outside said casing for introducing the resinous material into the cavity through the other end so that said material is drawn into the cavity as a result of the low pressure generated in said chamber so as to form a layer of said material intimately connecting said transducer with said tubular body; wherein the casing has a stop surface defining a fixed end position for movement of the tubular body into the casing itself and wherein the transducer and the casing have counter-stop elements which can be aligned with each other in order to allow the coupling of the tubular body and the transducer in a predetermined relative axial terminal position and wherein said stop surface is yieldable as a result of a thrust exerted thereon by the tubular body in said terminal position to seal an orifice provided at the end of the tubular body moved into the casing in the terminal position.