Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-16
2003-03-18
Nghiem, Michael (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06533396
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printhead cartridge for a printer. In particular, the present invention discloses a printhead cartridge with asymmetrical contacts that enables a size reduction in a corresponding flexible circuit board (FCB) within the printer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a prior art printhead cartridge
10
. The prior art printhead cartridge
10
comprises an inkwell
12
and a tape automated bonding (TAB) structure
14
. The TAB
14
is mounted on the inkwell
12
, wrapping around from a front surface
15
to a bottom surface
19
. The TAB
14
comprises a plurality of contacts
16
, each with a corresponding trace
17
that electrically connects to a printhead
18
. The printhead
18
is mounted on the TAB
14
, and is disposed on the bottom surface
19
of the inkwell
12
. The printhead cartridge
10
exhibits great symmetry along a cross-section A—A. If the printhead cartridge
10
were to be split down the middle along the line A—A, each half of the printhead cartridge
10
would have approximately the same number of contacts
16
(depending upon the parity of the number of contacts
16
), and half of the printhead
18
. The inkwell
12
is used to hold ink (not shown), and to provide this ink to the printhead
18
. The printhead
18
performs a printing operation by jetting ink according to signals received from the contacts
16
.
Please refer to
FIG. 2
with reference to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of a prior art printer
20
. The printhead cartridge
10
is adapted for use in the printer
20
. The printer
20
has a carriage
22
that holds two of the printhead cartridges
10
, carrying the printhead cartridges
10
back and forth along a print track
24
. The two printhead cartridges
10
are held as closely together as possible within the carriage
22
. With each pass along the track
24
, the printhead cartridges
10
form a print swath on a sheet of paper
21
. Generally speaking, one of the printhead cartridges
10
performs a black-and-white printing operation, whereas the other printhead cartridge
10
performs a color printing operation using cyan, magenta and yellow inks. Together, the two printhead cartridges
10
are able to perform a full-color printing process upon the sheet of paper
21
.
Please refer to
FIG. 3
with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
.
FIG. 3
is a schematic diagram of a flexible circuit board (FCB)
30
within the printer
20
. The FCB
30
is disposed within the carriage
22
and is used to establish electrical communications with the printhead cartridges
10
. The FCB
30
has a plurality of dimples
36
, each of which establishes an electrical connection with one of the corresponding contacts
16
of the printhead cartridges
10
. In this manner, the printer
20
is able to control the printhead
18
of each printhead cartridge
10
.
The cost associated with the FCB
30
is related to the overall surface area of the FCB
30
. By reducing the size of the FCB
30
, it should be possible to reduce the total cost of the printer
10
.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide a printhead cartridge with an asymmetric distribution of contacts to reduce a size of a corresponding contact surface within a printer.
Briefly summarized, the preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses a printhead cartridge that mounts within a carriage of a printer. The carriage moves along a first direction within the printer. The printhead cartridge includes an inkwell for storing ink, which has a front surface and a bottom surface, a printhead mounted on the bottom surface, and a plurality of contacts for receiving signals from the printer and to provide the signals to the printhead. A centerline of the front surface, running perpendicular to the first direction, evenly defines first and second sides of the front surface. The contacts are disposed on the front surface, and a distribution of the contacts on the first side exceeds a corresponding distribution of the contacts on the second side.
It is an advantage of the present invention that by providing an asymmetric distribution of the contacts of the front surface of a printhead cartridge, two such mirrored cartridges will form a combined density of contacts that is higher towards their combined center position. The traces on a contact surface within the carriage of the printer can be made to run between two columns of dimples. The size of the corresponding contact surface can be reduced as a result of this, which leads to a total lower cost of the printer.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4872026 (1989-10-01), Rasmussen et al.
patent: 4907018 (1990-03-01), Pinkerpell et al.
patent: 5422667 (1995-06-01), Daggs et al.
patent: 5793396 (1998-08-01), Sasaki
patent: 5984464 (1999-11-01), Steinfield et al.
patent: 6027709 (2000-02-01), Menendez et al.
patent: 6161915 (2000-12-01), Bolash et al.
patent: 6168262 (2001-01-01), Clark et al.
patent: 0610965 (1999-01-01), None
patent: WO 96/05061 (1996-02-01), None
Chen Chih-Ching
Huang Tsung-Wei
Benq Corporation
Hsu Winston
Nghiem Michael
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