Printhead and ink supply arrangement
First Claim
1. A printhead and ink supply arrangement including:
- a microelectromechanical page width printhead;
an ink supply molding including a slot into which said printhead is received, said molding defining a plurality of ink supply passageways in communication with ink inlets formed on the printhead; and
a baffle molding located about the ink supply molding and including ink conduits in communication with the ink supply passageways.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Microelectromechanical printheads are formed on a silicon wafer using etching technology similar that used in standard integrated circuit fabrication processes. The printheads include a very large number of micron-order ink inlet channels. A difficulty arises in accurately providing such a printhead with a reliable ink supply. The present invention addresses the above problem by providing an ink supply molding that includes a slot to receive the printhead. A plurality of ink supply passageways are formed in the ink supply molding of approximately 100 micron width. The ink supply molding is received into a baffle molding that includes ink conduits which in turn communicate with the ink supply passageway. In one embodiment a web of ink filtering material is disposed between the ink supply molding and the baffle molding.
-
Citations
11 Claims
-
1. A printhead and ink supply arrangement including:
-
a microelectromechanical page width printhead; an ink supply molding including a slot into which said printhead is received, said molding defining a plurality of ink supply passageways in communication with ink inlets formed on the printhead; and a baffle molding located about the ink supply molding and including ink conduits in communication with the ink supply passageways. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A printhead and ink supply arrangement including:
-
a microelectromechanical pagewidth printhead; an ink supply molding including a slot into which said printhead is received, the molding defining a plurality of ink supply passageways in communication with ink inlets formed on the printhead; a baffle molding located about the ink supply molding and including ink conduits in communication with the ink supply passageways, and a series of baffles arranged to slow the flow of ink along the ink conduits in response to movement of the arrangement; a film bearing conduction paths to supply electrical signals to the printhead; and a housing located about the baffle molding including protuberances engaging corresponding apertures formed in the film in order to accurately locate the conduction paths relative to the printhead.
-
Specification