Nozzle arrangement with an actuator having iris vanes

• US 8,083,326 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2011
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• 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): DO, AN H
• Application Number:
  US13/022,485
• Publication Number:
  US 20110134193A1
• Time in Patent Office: 323 Days
• Field of Search: 347/40, 347/43, 347/47, 347/54, 347/56, 347/65
• US Class Current: 347/65
• 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

A nozzle arrangement for an inkjet printhead includes a substrate defining an ink inlet; a plurality of posts extending from the substrate; a roof portion defining an ejection port, the roof portion supported by the plurality of posts; a plurality of vanes extending from the substrate and arranged to form a wall of a chamber around the ink inlet; and a plurality of thermal bend actuators respectively positioned at a base of each vane, each thermal bend actuator having a fixed end in the vicinity of one of the plurality of posts and a displaceable end opposite the fixed end. The plurality of thermal bend actuator are adapted to bend said vanes inwards with respect to the chamber in an iris-type manner to reduce a volume of the chamber, whereby ink is ejected from the chamber via the ejection port.

Claims

1. A nozzle arrangement for an inkjet printhead, said nozzle arrangement comprising:

a substrate defining an ink inlet;

a plurality of posts extending from the substrate;

a roof portion defining an ejection port, the roof portion supported by the plurality of posts;

a plurality of vanes extending from the substrate and arranged to form a wall of a chamber around the ink inlet; and

a plurality of thermal bend actuators respectively positioned at a base of each vane, each thermal bend actuator having a fixed end in the vicinity of one of the plurality of posts and a displaceable end opposite the fixed end, wherein

the plurality of thermal bend actuator are adapted to bend said vanes inwards with respect to the chamber in an iris-type manner to reduce a volume of the chamber, whereby ink is ejected from the chamber via the ejection port.

2. The nozzle arrangement of claim 1, wherein each thermal bend actuator includes an expanding arm fast with a rigid arm, and a serpentine heater fast with the expanding arm.

3. The nozzle arrangement of claim 2, wherein the substrate include a CMOS layer for supplying an electrical current to the serpentine heater.

4. The nozzle arrangement of claim 3, wherein the rigid arm of one thermal bend actuator is anchored to the substrate proximate a displaceable end of an adjacent thermal bend actuator.

5. The nozzle arrangement of claim 4, wherein the CMOS layer supplies electrical current to the serpentine heater to cause thermal expansion of the expanding arm.

6. The nozzle arrangement of claim 1, wherein the ink inlet in the substrate supplies the chamber with ink.

7. The nozzle arrangement of claim 2, wherein the expanding arm is made from PTFE.