Supply mechanism for an inkjet printhead

• US 6,880,922 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2002
• Issued: 04/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Memjet Technology Ltd. (Memjet Limited)
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia
• Primary Examiner(s): Brooke, Michael S.
• Application Number:
  US10/273,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20030132995A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 347/94, 347/86, 347/42
• US Class Current: 347/86
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/0452 reducing demand in current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04528 aiming at warming up the head
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04541 Specific driving circuit
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04543 Block driving
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04553 detecting ambient temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04563 detecting head temperature; Ink temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/0457 Power supply level being detected or varied
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04585 controlling heads based on thermal bent actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04588 using a specific waveform
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04591 Width of the driving signal being adjusted
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04596 Non-ejecting pulses
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04598 Pre-pulse
• 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 2/16 Production of nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1623 bonding and adhesion
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1628 dry 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 2/1646 : thin film formation by sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1648 : Production of print heads with thermal bend detached actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14491 : Electrical connection

Abstract

An ink supply unit for supplying separate color inks to a portable ink jet print head, the ink supply unit including: a slot for insertion of the printhead; a series of elongated chambers for the storage of the separate color inks, the chambers being interconnected with the slot for the supply of ink to the printhead; a series of conductive rails along the outside of the ink supply unit, each conductive rail interconnected to a power supply at a series of points along the conductive rail; a tape automated bonding strip along the outside of the ink supply unit having a series of control lines along one surface thereof for mating with a corresponding external series of control lines, the tape automated bonding strip further having a repeating series of interconnects to the printhead, the interconnects interconnecting the control lines and the conductive rails to the printhead. The unit can be detachable from the power supply and the external series of control lines.

Claims

1. A portable ink jet printer comprising:

a printhead comprising a plurality of nozzle chambers, each nozzle chamber housing an ink ejection actuator for ejecting ink from said nozzle chamber,

an ink jet supply unit connected directly to said printhead and including at least one storage chamber for holding ink and for communicating ink to said nozzle chambers, said ink supply unit including a series of spaced apart baffles disposed between said at least one storage chamber and said nozzle chambers and configured so as to reduce acceleration of the ink within the unit as may be induced by movement of the portable printer, whilst allowing for flows of the ink to the printhead in response to active demand from said printhead.

2. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said ink supply unit has an ink distribution manifold that supplies the ink via a plurality of ink outlets to corresponding ink supply passages formed on the printhead.

3. A printer according to claim 2, wherein the printhead is an elongate pagewidth printhead and the baffles in the ink supply unit are configured along longitudinally extending channels provided in said ink supply unit.

4. A printer according to claim 3, wherein at least some of the baffles extend in directions transverse to the longitudinal extent of tho printhead.

5. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink supply unit has a series of storage chambers for holding separate color inks.

6. A printer according to claim 5, wherein the ink storage chambers are constructed from molded components.

7. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the printhead is a printhead chip.

8. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink storage chamber is constructed from molded components.

9. A printer according to claim 8, constructed from two or more interconnected components.

10. A printer according to claim 9, wherein the ink supply unit includes three or more said ink storage chambers, each having said baffles disposed therein.

11. A printer according to claim 10, including a piercable wall portion in each said ink storage chamber for connection thereto of an ink supply conduit connecting to a bulk ink supply source.

12. A printer according to claim 9, wherein said components are injection molded.

13. A printer according to claim 8, wherein said components are injection molded.

14. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said ink supply unit includes a housing having a series of hydrophobically sealed breather holes.

15. An ink supply unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein said housing comprises molded chambers that comprise two separate parts which are sealed together to form said ink supply unit.