Strain-relieved printhead casing

• US 10,350,891 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2018
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• 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): Vo, Anh T
• Application Number:
  US15/888,888
• Publication Number:
  US 20180222192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 526 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

A printhead cartridge includes: an elongate manifold; a plurality of printhead chips mounted to a lower part of the manifold; and a casing mounted to an upper part of the manifold. The casing includes a first casing part and a second casing part, the first and second parts being longitudinally biased towards each such that the casing is expandable along a longitudinal axis of the manifold.

Claims

1. A printhead cartridge comprising:

an elongate manifold;

a plurality of printhead chips mounted to a lower part of the manifold; and

a casing mounted to an upper part of the manifold,

wherein the casing comprises a first casing part and a second casing part arranged lengthwise along a line parallel with a longitudinal axis of the manifold, the first and second casing parts being longitudinally resiliently biased towards each other such that the casing is expandable along the longitudinal axis.

2. The printhead cartridge of claim 1, wherein the casing is configured for user handling of the printhead cartridge.

3. The printhead cartridge of claim 1 further comprising a central locator positioned between the first and second casing parts.

4. The printhead cartridge of claim 1, wherein the first and second casing parts are biased towards the central locator.

5. The printhead cartridge of claim 4, wherein the first and second casing parts are interconnected via a spring clip bridging across the central locator.

6. The printhead cartridge of claim 4, wherein the central locator has an alignment feature for aligning the printhead cartridge during user insertion in a printer.

7. The printhead cartridge of claim 1, wherein the manifold is comprised of a metal or metal alloy.

8. The printhead cartridge of claim 7, wherein the manifold is comprised of a metal alloy having a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 5 ppm/°

C. or less.

9. The printhead cartridge of claim 1, wherein the manifold is a one-piece structure.

10. The printhead cartridge of claim 1, wherein the casing has openings at one or more ends thereof for receiving ink connectors.