Patent ID: 8454126

Claim:
A print head comprising: an ink cavity; a plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with the ink cavity; and a plurality of valve assemblies, each valve assembly individually adapted to control flow of ink between the ink cavity and the one of the plurality of nozzles, wherein each valve assembly comprises: a stopper positioned adjacent the nozzle and adapted to control flow of ink through the nozzle, wherein a stopper gap is defined by the distance between the stopper and the nozzle when the stopper is in a maximum open position; an arm supporting the stopper, the arm configured to pivotally move the stopper with respect to the nozzle to control the flow of ink through the nozzle; and a center pole positioned adjacent the arm and configured to move the arm toward the pole to open the nozzle, wherein a pole gap is defined by the distance between the center pole and the arm when the stopper is in a closed position; wherein the stopper gap is greater than the pole gap wherein the nozzles are positioned linearly to provide a line of nozzles with the capability to eject ink onto a substrate to print characters on the substrate and the center poles are arranged in a staggered fashion such that the center poles of adjacent nozzles are disposed on opposite sides of the line of nozzles.