Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-03
2001-10-16
Nguyen, Thinh (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S054000, C347S067000, C347S055000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302526
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode type print head for the printing apparatus and the method for manufacturing the same and, in particular, to an electrode type print head manufactured by tape automated bonding for the application in the inkjet cartridge of an inkjet-printing apparatus. The print head jets the ink out onto a printing media to achieve the goal of inkjet printing.
2. Related Art
In an inkjet printer, the print head is placed at the ink outlet of the inkjet cartridge for jetting out ink for printing. In a typical heat bubble inkjet cartridge, the print head contains a thin film resistor. When the thin film resistor is heated, a small volume of ink droplet is rapidly vaporized and expanded to pass the ejection nozzle of the print head and to print a pattern of dots on a sheet of paper.
Please refer to
FIGS. 1A
to
1
D, the print head comprises a heat bubble generator
1
, an ink supply port
2
, an ink passage
3
, a movable plate
4
, and a nozzle
5
. The heat bubble generator generates bubbles
7
. The ink supply port
2
connects to a larger ink reservoir (not shown) to obtain more ink
6
. The nozzle
5
jets out the ink
6
to achieve the goal of inkjet printing. The ink passage provides a channel for the ink
6
to get to the nozzle
5
via the ink supply port
2
. The movable plate
4
can be pushed by the bubble
7
generated by the heat bubble generator
1
, and pushes the ink
6
so as to jet the ink
6
out of the nozzle
5
.
FIG. 1
A shows a static structure of the print head. In
FIG. 1B
the heat bubble generator
1
creates a bubble
7
to push the movable plate
4
. The movable plate
4
then pushes the ink
6
in the ink passage
3
so that some part of the ink
6
goes to the nozzle
5
due to the surface tension while the other part of the ink
6
generates circulation within the ink passage
3
.
FIG. 1C
shows the expansion of the bubble
7
. The ink
6
at the nozzle
5
conquers the surface tension due to the increasing pushing force from the bubble
7
and forms an ink droplet that is to depart from the nozzle
5
. In
FIG. 1D
, the bubble
7
generated by the heat bubble generator
1
disappears and the movable plate
4
also returns to its original position. Therefore, the ink
6
at the nozzle
5
and near the ink supply port
2
returns to the movable plate
4
, and the ink droplet leaves the print head. This thus completes the process of jetting the ink
6
out of the print head.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode type print head for the printing apparatus. the print head being placed in the inkjet cartridge of an inkjet printing apparatus for jetting ink onto a printing media to achieve the goal of inkjet printing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing the electrode type print head.
Therefore. the electrode type print head for the printing apparatus disclosed in the present invention comprises a substrate and a flexible nozzle plate. The substrate is provided with a plurality of first electrode sets. The flexible nozzle plate is attached to the substrate and adjacent to a nozzle aperture formed at the position of each first electrode set on the substrate. A second electrode set is formed around each nozzle aperture. With currents of different polarities on the first electrode sets and the adjacent second electrode sets, the flexible nozzle plate generates deformation and jets out the ink flowing into the print head from the ink cartridge.
When the first electrode set has a positive current and the second electrode set have a negative current (i.e., when they have different polarities), then the absorptive force generated between them makes the flexible nozzle plate close to the substrate, which then pushes the ink out of the nozzle aperture to form an ink droplet and leave the nozzle aperture.
In addition, the method for manufacturing the electrode type print head including a substrate and a flexible nozzle plate with a plurality of nozzle apertures for the printing apparatus disclosed herein. It comprises the steps of forming a plurality of first electrode sets and corresponding second electrode sets on the substrate and the flexible nozzle plates, with each second electrode set being on the rim of the nozzle aperture of each flexible nozzle plate. The flexible nozzle plates then are attached onto the substrate so that each first electrode set keeps a proper distance from the corresponding second electrode set.
By following the above manufacturing method, one can obtain the electrode type print head structure. By controlling the first electrode sets and the second electrode sets with different polarities, one can further achieve the goal of inkjet printing.
The electrode type print head for the printing apparatus and the method for manufacturing the same disclosed in this specification achieve the following effect: A novel electrode type print head is provided. When first electrode sets and second electrode sets are provided with electrical signals, the flexible nozzle plate can be attracted to the substrate by the absorptive force generated from currents of different polarities. A pushing force can be generated to jet the ink out of the print head. Therefore, it is very suitable for the print head structure of an inkjet printing apparatus. Since the manufacturing method is easy, this print head possesses competitive superiority.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4333086 (1982-06-01), Ebi
patent: 5278583 (1994-01-01), Oda et al.
patent: 6079813 (2000-06-01), Tuli
Chou Ching-yu
Hsu Fung-Ing
Lin Chen-Hua
Wu Ji-chen
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Nguyen Thinh
Stephens Juanita
WiserTek International Corp.
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