Elongate printhead having robust electrical assembly

• US 10,300,700 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2018
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Memjet Technology Ltd. (Memjet Limited)
• Original Assignee: Memjet Technology Ltd. (Memjet Limited)
• Inventors: Thelander, Jason, Burke, David, Thomas, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thinh H
• Application Number:
  US15/888,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20180222190A1
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14 Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14145 Structure of the manifold
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1433 Structure of nozzle plates
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/155 for line printing
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/175 Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1752 Mounting within the printer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17523 Ink connection
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/19 for removing air bubbles
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/21 for multi-colour printing
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/2103 Features not dealing with the colouring process per se, e.g. construction of printers or heads, driving circuit adaptations
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14362 Assembling elements of heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14419 Manifold
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14491 Electrical connection
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/19 Assembling head units
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/20 Modules
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/21 Line printing
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 25/34 Bodily-changeable print heads or carriages

Abstract

An inkjet printhead includes: a rigid elongate carrier having an ink supply channel and a lower surface having a plurality of printhead chips mounted thereon; a rigid PCB attached to the lower surface of the carrier, the PCB extending a length of the carrier and projecting laterally beyond a sidewall of the carrier; a lead retainer attached to the sidewall of the carrier; and a plurality of leads extending upwardly from contact pads positioned along a longitudinal edge portion of the PCB, each lead being secured to the sidewall of the carrier via the lead retainer. The PCB supplies power and data to the printhead chips via electrical connections between the PCB and the printhead chips.

Claims

1. An inkjet printhead comprising:

a rigid elongate carrier having at least one ink supply channel and a lower surface having a plurality of printhead chips mounted thereon;

a rigid PCB attached to the lower surface of the carrier, the PCB extending a length of the carrier and projecting laterally beyond a sidewall of the carrier;

a lead retainer attached to the sidewall of the carrier; and

a plurality of leads extending upwardly from contact pads positioned along a longitudinal edge portion of the PCB, each lead being secured to the sidewall of the carrier via the lead retainer,

wherein the PCB supplies power and data to the printhead chips via electrical connections between the PCB and the printhead chips.

2. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 comprising a pair of PCBs flanking a pair of rows of printhead chips, each PCB supplying power and data to a respective row of printhead chips.

3. The inkjet printhead of claim 2, wherein each PCB is covered by a shield plate surrounding the printhead chips, the shield plate defining a capping surface for the printhead.

4. The inkjet printhead of claim 2, which is symmetrical about a central longitudinal plane.

5. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the carrier has a step and an opposite second longitudinal edge portion of the PCB is butted against the step.

6. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein the leads are flared outwardly from the lead retainer towards the contact pads of the PCB.