Inkjet printer with contractable chamber

• US 6,913,346 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2004
• Issued: 07/05/2005
• 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): GORDON, RAQUEL YVETTE
• Application Number:
  US10/810,588
• Publication Number:
  US 20040179068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: 347/54, 347/68, 347/69, 347/70, 347/71, 347/72, 347/50, 347/40, 347/20, 347/44, 347/47, 347/27, 347/63, 399/261, 361/700, 310328-330, 298/901
• US Class Current: 347/54
• 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 2002/14443 : Nozzle guard
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/21 : Line printing
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 : Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• 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 19/06037 : multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 : using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• 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 1/2112 : using still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2154 : the still video camera incorporating a hardcopy reproducing device, e.g. a printer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 : Still video cameras
• 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 nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, having a nozzle and an actuator for ejecting ink through said nozzle; wherein, the actuator has a resiliently contractable chamber. The chamber is a series of arcuate vanes arranged in an annular form around the nozzle opening. Actuation of a thermally expandable member forces the vanes to slide against each other to contract the chamber in the same manner of as an iris.

Claims

1. An inkjet nozzle assembly comprising:

a nozzle chamber for ink to be ejected, the chamber comprising an ink inlet for fluid communication with an ink reservoir and a nozzle through which ink from the chamber can be ejected; and

,

at least one thermal actuator for contracting the chamber such that ink is ejected through the nozzle.

2. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 1 wherein the chamber has an inlet wall defining the ink inlet, a nozzle wall spaced from the inlet wall, the nozzle wall defining the nozzle, and side walls between the inlet wall and the nozzle wall;

and,

the at least one thermal actuator moves at least one of the side walls to contract the chamber.

3. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 2 wherein the chamber has four side walls, each of the side walls connected to a respective thermal actuator.

4. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 3 wherein the four side walls are arcuate vane arranged around a central axis, and the thermal actuators are expanding, flexible arms such that simultaneous actuation of the arms pushes the arcuate vanes to slidingly engage each other to contract the chamber.

5. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 4 wherein said flexible expanding arms comprise a conductive heater material encased within an expansion material having a high coefficient of thermal expansion.

6. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said conductive heater material is constructed so as to form a concertina upon expansion of said expansion material.

7. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said heater material is of a serpentine form and forms a concertina upon heating so as to allow substantially unhindered expansion of said expansion material during heating.

8. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said vanes are arranged annularly around said nozzle.

9. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said vanes operate as an iris around said nozzle.

10. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said expansion material comprises substantially polytetrafluoroethylene.

11. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said conductive heater material comprises substantially copper.

12. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said at least one wall is a side wall and is slidable by thermal actuation.

13. An ink nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, the nozzle assembly comprising:

a nozzle and an actuator for ejecting ink through said nozzle;

wherein,

the actuator comprises a resiliently contractable chamber.

14. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 13 wherein said contractable chamber comprises at least one slidable wall.

15. An ink nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, the nozzle assembly comprising:

a nozzle;

a nozzle chamber for ink to be ejected through the nozzle, the chamber comprising walls configured to define a first volume within the chamber; and

,

at least one actuator for reconfiguring the walls to define a second volume less than the first volume.

16. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 15 wherein the walls comprise slidable side walls that reconfigure to define the second volume in response to the actuator.

17. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 15 wherein the actuator is a thermal actuator.