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US 12,391,052 B2Granted
Passive mixer in jetting channels of a printhead
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorNasser Budraa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Printheads that jet print fluids. In an embodiment, a printhead comprises a plurality of jetting channels, where each jetting channel of the plurality includes a diaphragm, a pressure chamber, and a nozzle configured to jet a print fluid. The printhead further comprises one or more intra-channel passive mixers that project from one or more vertical side walls of the jetting channel into a longitudinal flow path of the print fluid along a length of the jetting channel.
Claims22
A printhead comprising:
- a plurality of jetting channels fluidly coupled to a common manifold, wherein each jetting channel of the plurality includes a diaphragm, a pressure chamber, a nozzle configured to jet a print fluid, and a channel fluid passage that fluidly couples the common manifold and the pressure chamber;
- and
- one or more intra-channel passive mixers that project from one or more vertical side walls of the jetting channel into a longitudinal flow path of the print fluid along a length of the jetting channel, and do not actively move.
A printhead comprising:
- a housing;
- and
- a plate stack attached to the housing that forms a plurality of jetting channels fluidly coupled to a common manifold, wherein each jetting channel of the plurality includes a diaphragm, a pressure chamber, a nozzle configured to jet a print fluid, and a channel fluid passage that fluidly couples the common manifold and the pressure chamber;
- wherein the plate stack forms one or more intra-channel passive mixers that project from one or more vertical side walls of the jetting channel into a longitudinal flow path of the print fluid along a length of the jetting channel, and do not actively move.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- operating a printhead comprising:
- a plurality of jetting channels fluidly coupled to a common manifold, wherein each jetting channel of the plurality includes a diaphragm, a pressure chamber, a nozzle configured to jet a print fluid, and a channel fluid passage that fluidly couples the common manifold and the pressure chamber;
- and
- one or more intra-channel passive mixers that project from one or more vertical side walls of the jetting channel into a longitudinal flow path of the print fluid along a length of the jetting channel, and do not actively move;
- wherein the operating comprises:
- conveying a flow of the print fluid along the longitudinal flow path;
- and
- disturbing the flow of the print fluid along the longitudinal flow path with the one or more intra-channel passive mixers.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.