Ink jet printhead chip with nozzle arrangements incorporating spaced actuating arms

• US 6,682,176 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2002
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Memjet Technology Ltd. (Memjet Limited)
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia
• Primary Examiner(s): Meier, Stephen D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Do, An H.
• Application Number:
  US10/309,080
• Publication Number:
  US 20030117460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 419 Days
• Field of Search: 347/20, 347/44, 347/47, 347/54, 347/48, 347/56, 347/63-65, 347/68
• US Class Current: 347/54
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04 generating single droplets or particles on demand
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14 Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14427 Structure of ink jet print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1623 bonding and adhesion
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1626 etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1628 dry etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1629 wet etching
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1631 photolithography
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1632 machining
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1635 dividing the wafer into individual chips
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1637 molding
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1639 sacrificial molding
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1642 thin film formation by CVD [chemical vapor deposition]
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1643 thin film formation by plating
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1645 thin film formation by spincoating
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1646 thin film formation by sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1648 Production of print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/16585 for paper-width or non-reciprocating print heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17503 Ink cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17513 Inner structure
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17596 : Ink pumps, ink valves
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/041 : Electromagnetic transducer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14346 : Ejection by pressure produced by thermal deformation of ink chamber, e.g. buckling
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14435 : Moving nozzle made of thermal bend detached actuator
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/21 : Line printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 1/121 : by printing code marks applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 : 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/56 : using storage elements with more than two stable states represented by steps, e.g. of voltage, current, phase, frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/00 : Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 : Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation

Abstract

An ink jet printhead chip includes a substrate. A plurality of nozzle arrangements is positioned on the substrate. Each nozzle arrangement includes a nozzle chamber and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber. An actuator is connected to the substrate and is displaceable with respect to the substrate. An ink ejection mechanism is connected to the actuator and is operatively arranged with respect to the nozzle chamber to eject ink from the ink ejection port on displacement of the actuator. The actuator has an actuating arm that has active beams that are configured to be displaced upon receipt of the control signal. The active beams are spaced from corresponding passive beams in a plane that spans the substrate. The spacing is greater than one percent of a length of the actuating arm and less than twenty percent of the length of the actuating arm.

Claims

1. An inkjet printhead chip that comprises

a substrate;

a plurality of nozzle arrangements positioned on the substrate, each nozzle arrangement comprising

nozzle chamber walls that define a nozzle chamber and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber;

an actuator that is connected to the substrate and is displaceable with respect to the substrate upon receipt of a control signal, the actuator being operatively positioned with respect to the nozzle chamber to eject ink from the ink ejection port on displacement of the actuator;

wherein

the actuator includes an actuating arm having at least one active portion that is configured to be displaced upon receipt of the control signal and at least one corresponding passive portion, the, or each, active portion being spaced from its corresponding passive portion in a plane that spans the substrate, so that spacing between the, or each, active portion and its corresponding passive portion is greater than one percent of a length of the actuating arm and less than twenty percent of the length of the actuating arm.

2. An ink jet printhead chip as claimed in claim 1, in which the actuator includes at least two pairs of corresponding active and passive portions.

3. An ink jet printhead chip as claimed in claim 2, in which each active portion is in the form of an elongate active beam and each passive portion is in the form of an elongate passive beam.

4. An ink jet printhead chip as claimed in claim 2, in which the spacing between each active beam and its associated passive beam is greater than five percent of the length of the actuating arm and less than ten percent of the length of the actuating arm.

5. An ink jet printhead chip as claimed in claim 1, in which the actuator includes an ink ejecting mechanism that is operatively positioned with respect to the nozzle chamber, with an end of the actuating arm anchored to the substrate and an opposed end of the actuating arm connected to the ink ejecting mechanism so that displacement of the actuating arm results in the ink ejecting mechanism ejecting ink from the ink ejection port.

6. An ink jet printhead which comprises at least one ink jet printhead chip as claimed in claim 1.