Inkjet printhead heater chip with asymmetric ink vias

• US 20060055738A1
• Filed: 11/08/2005
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Slingshot Printing LLC
• Original Assignee: Lexmark International Incorporated (Ninestar Corporation)
• Inventors: Rowe, Kristi Maggard, Parish, George Keith
• Granted Patent: US 7,244,015 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/65
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1404 Geometrical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14145 Structure of the manifold
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/145 Arrangement thereof

Abstract

An inkjet printhead heater chip has an ink via asymmetrically arranged in a reciprocating direction of inkjet printhead movement. The ink via has two sides and a longitudinal extent substantially parallel to a print medium advance direction. A column of fluid firing elements exists exclusively along a single side of the two sides. The heater chip and ink via each have a centroid and neither resides coincidentally with one another. Preferably, the heater chip centroid resides externally to a boundary of the ink via. In other aspects, the column of fluid firing elements can be a sole column or plural and may be centered in the reciprocating direction. The ink via can be a sole via or plural. The heater chip can be rectangular and the ink vias can be closer to either the long or short ends thereof. Inkjet printers for housing the printheads are also disclosed.

Claims

1. An inkjet printhead, comprising:

a substantially rectangular heater chip having two long and short ends and at least three substantially parallel ink vias, said at least three substantially parallel ink vias being disposed closer to one of said two short ends.

2. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein said substantially rectangular heater chip has a chip centroid existing beyond a boundary of any of said at least three substantially parallel ink vias.

3. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein said at least three substantially parallel ink vias are disposed substantially parallel to a lengthwise widthwise direction of said chip.

4. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein said substantially rectangular heater chip has a chip centroid and said at least three substantially parallel ink vias each has a via centroid, none of said via centroid and said chip centroid existing coextensively.

5. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, further including a plurality of columns of fluid firing elements wherein one of said plurality of columns exists exclusively along one side of one via of said at least three substantially parallel ink vias.

6. The inkjet printhead of claim 1, wherein all of said at least three substantially parallel ink vias reside substantially equidistant to said two long ends.

7. A heater chip for an inkjet printhead, comprising:

a length and width dimension defining a substantially rectangular periphery;

at least five ink vias having a longitudinal extent substantially parallel to the width dimension; and

a spacing between adjacent ink vias of the at least five ink vias, at least one spacing being substantially unequal to another spacing.

8. The heater chip of claim 7, wherein one terminal end of each of the at least five ink vias is closer to a long end of the periphery.

9. The heater chip of claim 7, wherein an ink via centroid for each of the at least five ink vias does not coexist with a heater chip centroid.

10. The heater chip of claim 9, wherein the heater chip centroid resides within a periphery of a middle ink via of the at least five ink vias.

11. An inkjet printhead, comprising:

a substantially rectangular heater chip having two long and short ends and a sole ink via arranged closer to one of the two short ends.

12. The inkjet printhead of claim 11, further including at least one bond pad in a space between a terminal end of the sole ink via and the other of the two short ends.

13. The inkjet printhead of claim 11, wherein a longitudinal extent of the sole ink via is substantially parallel to the two long ends.

14. The inkjet printhead of claim 11, wherein a heater chip centroid and ink via centroid do not coexist.

15. An asymmetrically arranged heater chip, comprising:

two long and two short ends defining a substantially rectangular periphery, a planar middle existing substantially half way between each of the long and short ends; and

an ink via having a planar center substantially offset from the planar middle in both a length and width dimension such that a longitudinal extent of the ink via is closer to one of the long ends and a terminal end of the ink via is closer to one of short ends.

16. The heater chip of claim 15, further including a column of fluid firing elements along a single side of the ink via.

17. The heater chip of claim 16, wherein the column of fluid firing elements is between the planar middle and the planar center.

18. The heater chip of claim 15, further including a bond pad between another terminal end and the other of the short ends.

19. The heater chip of claim 15, wherein the longitudinal extent substantially parallels the two long ends.