Ink jet printer head

Details Ink jet printer head Ink jet printer head

2001-05-31

2003-05-13

Hallacher, Craig (Department: 2853)

Incremental printing of symbolic information

Ink jet

Ejector mechanism

C347S044000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06561631

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2000-57690, filed Sep. 30, 2000, in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer head, and more particularly, to an ink jet printer head capable of increasing printing efficiency and quality by improving a structure of an ink passage, to decreas ink back flow backflow and improve an ink droplet shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ink jet printer head uses a thermal driving method or a piezoelectric driving method to discharge ink. According to the thermal driving method, ink is instantly heated by a heat resisting body, generating a bubble. As the bubble is inflated, ink is discharged to a nozzle hole by the pressure of the bubble. According to the piezoelectric driving method, ink is discharged to a nozzle hole by the force applied from the displacement of a piezoelectric body.
Conventional thermal driving ink jet printer heads are grouped into two types based upon a discharge direction with respect to a substrate and a nozzle plate: (1) a side shooting type (as shown in
FIG. 1A
) and (2) an upper surface shooting type (as shown in FIG.
1
B).
According to the side shooting type ink jet printer head
10
of
FIG. 1A
, a nozzle hole
16
is formed at one side end portion of an ink channel
13
, which is formed between a substrate
11
and a nozzle plate
12
. A bubble
2
is generated from ink
1
of the ink channel
13
, which is instantly heated by a thin film heat resisting body
14
. Due to the growing pressure exerted by the bubble
2
, the ink
1
is discharged from the nozzle hole
16
to the outside.
The upper surface shooting type ink jet printer head
20
of
FIG. 1B
comprises an ink chamber barrier
23
, which is formed on a substrate
11
(not shown) on which a thin film radiating resistance body (not shown) is disposed to form an ink chamber
24
communicating with an ink channel
22
, and a nozzle plate
25
, which is formed on the ink chamber barrier
23
and has a nozzle hole
26
communicating with the ink chamber
24
.
According to the ink jet printer head
20
, the ink (not shown) of the ink chamber
24
is instantly heated by heating a thin film heat resisting body (not shown). A bubble (not shown) is generated from the heated ink and expands, creating pressure against an interior of the ink chamber
24
, and discharging the ink to the outside through the nozzle hole
26
.
However, in the conventional ink jet printer heads
10
and
20
, an ink backflow phenomenon occurs due to an inflating pressure of the bubble
2
, in which the ink
1
reverses into the ink channels
13
and
22
. The ink backflow accompanies a cross-talk in the printing operation, and deteriorates the printing quality.
Furthermore, in the conventional ink jet printer heads
10
and
20
, a tail is generated in a discharging ink drop when the bubble
2
decreases in size. The ink drop tail is extended by the surface tension and the viscosity of the ink
1
. The ink drop tail generates several fragments, and accordingly decreases the resolution and print quality.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, in the conventional side shooting type ink jet printer head
10
, the length of the ink channel
13
is increased to restrain the generation of the backflow and the ink drop tail. However, such a structure increases the size of the ink jet printer head and decreases the ink discharging efficiency.
In the upper surface shooting type ink jet printer head
20
, a neck is formed by machining step portions
23
a
and
23
b
in the ink channel
22
of the ink chamber barrier
23
, formed on substrate
21
, to restrain the backflow of the ink. However, such a structure requires a complex manufacturing process. Also, because the height of the ink channel
22
formed between the ink chamber
24
and the nozzle plate
25
remains constant, printer efficiency is restricted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional printer heads. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer head with increased printing efficiency and printing quality.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer head with an improved ink passage, reduced backflow, and improved [the shape of the] ink droplet shape.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an ink jet printer head including a substrate having a heat resisting body, an ink chamber barrier installed on the substrate to form a side wall of an ink chamber filled with ink introduced through an ink channel, and a nozzle plate having a nozzle hole formed to communicate with the ink chamber and installed on the ink chamber barrier. An ink separating wall protrudes from the periphery of the nozzle hole towards the substrate so as to be located on the ink channel to interrupt the flow of the ink provided in the nozzle plate.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4897674 (1990-01-01), Hirasawa
patent: 5463413 (1995-10-01), Ho et al.
patent: 5883650 (1999-03-01), Figueredo et al.
patent: 5900894 (1999-05-01), Koizumi et al.
patent: 6283584 (2001-09-01), Powers et al.
patent: 0564069 (1993-10-01), None
patent: 04161340 (1992-06-01), None
English abstract of JP 04161340 published Jun. 4, 1992.

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