Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
1992-12-17
2001-12-11
Fuller, Benjamin R. (Department: 2855)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328422
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART
The present invention relates to a small size ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording head cartridge which are detachably mountable to a recording apparatus, and to a recording apparatus using the same.
Recently, various recording systems have been developed. Among them, an ink jet recording system in which ink is ejected through an ejection outlet in accordance with record signal, is widely used because of the advantages of its small size and the low noise.
The recording head used in such an ink jet recording apparatus is in the form of a detachably mountable recording head cartridge from the standpoint of easy maintenance and service life or the like.
The recording head cartridge detachably mountable to the recording apparatus and the recording apparatus are electrically connected by electric connection contacts (connectors) for transmitting signals for driving the recording head from the recording apparatus. When the recording head is mounted on the recording apparatus, the contacts are electrically connected.
However, in the case of a detachably mountable recording head cartridge, there is a possibility that the ink leaking through the ejection outlet contaminates the contacts with the result that there is inadequate electric connection.
In order to solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,080 discloses that the contacts are disposed on a surface which is different from an ejection side surface having the ejection outlets of a recording head cartridge having an integral ink container.
The recent demand for the small size of the recording apparatus, requires reduction of the size of the recording head cartridge. In this case, the ink capacity of an ink container constituting the recording head cartridge also decreases. In addition, the difference of the service life from that of the recording head constituting the head cartridge. Therefore, from the standpoint of cost and from the standpoint of re-use of the recording head, a recording head cartridge in which the ink container and the recording head are separable, is considered.
The ink is supplied from the ink container to the recording head through an ink supply port. In addition, the driving signal is supplied by the electric connection between the electric contacts of the recording head and the recording apparatus.
FIGS. 14 and 15
shows an example of an ink jet recording head not using the present invention. The ink jet recording head is of a type in which electrothermal transducers are used as energy generating means, and the ink droplets are ejected by bubble creation in the ink by the thermal energy produced by the electrothermal transducers. These figures show a recording head which is connectable to and separable from an ink container. A supporting plate
1
has a top surface to which energy base plate and wiring base plate
9
are bonded. The energy base plate (heater board) is mainly made of Si or the like having on a surface thereof a heat generating portion (heaters) of electrothermal transducers effective to generate thermal energy. The base plate
9
(wiring board) is made mainly of glass or epoxy resin material and effective to transmit the electric signals from the main assembly of the recording apparatus to the heater board
2
. The heater board
2
and the wiring board
9
are electrically connected by wire bonding
7
.
The top surface of the wiring board
9
is provided with contact pads (electric contacts)
4
electrically connected with a flexible wiring board of the main assembly of the recording apparatus.
The ink is supplied from an ink container or recording apparatus side through an ink supply member
6
to a common liquid chamber and ejection nozzles constituted by the bonding between the heater board
2
and a top plate
5
, and the ink is ejected through the ejection outlets
8
.
However, in such a recording head, ink passes through a joint between an ink supply member
6
and an ink container or an ink supplying portion of the apparatus, and a portion having the contact pads
4
of the wiring board
9
, are disposed on the same side of the supporting plate
1
. Therefore, when the recording head is connected or disengaged, the ink leaking from the joint may contact the contact pads with the result that there is inadequate or improper electric connection.
Recently, the further reduction of the size is desired. Since the number of pads and the area of each of the pads are more or less limited, and therefore, it is difficult to further reduce the area occupied by the contact pads. In addition, the area of the recording head supporting plate is determined by the areas of the heater board portion, the wire bonding portion and the contact pad portion. For these reasons, the reduction of the size of the head is not easy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording head, an ink jet recording head cartridge and a recording apparatus using the same in which the reliable and stable ink ejection is possible in a small size apparatus.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink through an ejection outlet for effecting recording, comprising: a supporting member; a recording element having an energy generating means for applying energy to the ink to eject it in accordance with a record signal; a wiring member including electric connection part relative to the recording element and a second electric connection part relative to an outside of the recording head to transmit the record signal to the recording element; wherein the first electric connection part is disposed on one face of the supporting member, the second electric connection part is disposed on another surface of the supporting member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording head cartridge, comprising: an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink through an ejection outlet for effecting record, including: a supporting member; a recording element having an energy generating means for applying energy to the ink to eject it in accordance with a record signal; a wiring member including electric connection part relative to the recording element and a second electric connection part relative to an outside of the recording head to transmit the record signal to the recording element; wherein the first electric connection part is disposed on one face of the supporting member, the second electric connection part is disposed on another surface of the supporting member; said ink jet recording head cartridge further comprises an ink container connected with the ink jet recording head to supply the ink to the recording head.
According to a further aspect of the present: invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink through an ejection outlet for effecting record, including: a supporting member; a recording element having an energy generating means for applying energy to the ink to eject it in accordance with a record signal; a wiring member including electric connection part relative to the recording element and a second electric connection part relative to an outside of the recording head to transmit the record signal to the recording element; wherein the first electric connection part is disposed on one face of said supporting member, the second electric connection part is disposed on another surface of the supporting member; wherein the recording apparatus further comprises electric connection contactable with the second electric connection part.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4095237 (1978-06-01), Amberntsson et al.
patent: 4306245 (1981-12-01), Kasugayama et al.
patent: 4313124 (1982-01-01), Hara
patent: 434526
Watanabe Kenjiro
Yamakawa Kouji
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Dickens C.
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Fuller Benjamin R.
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