Printhead alignment
AssigneeKateeva, Inc.
InventorsRobert D. Taff, Christopher Buchner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printhead assembly for an inkjet printer is described herein. The printhead assembly includes a printhead having a plurality of nozzles, a nozzle plate attached to the printhead, and a base plate attached to the nozzle plate by at least three fasteners that provide independent positioning of the nozzle plate with respect to the base plate in three independent dimensions. The printhead assembly has fluid connections between the printheads and a fluid manifold that has alignment features. The printhead assembly also has a tile structure that couples to the base plate, the tile structure having a first section flexibly coupled to a second section.
Claims20
A printhead assembly for an inkjet printer, the printhead assembly comprising:
- a printhead comprising a plurality of nozzles;
- a nozzle plate attached to the printhead;
- a base plate attached to the nozzle plate by at least three fasteners that provide independent positioning of the nozzle plate with respect to the base plate in three independent dimensions;
- and
- a tile structure attached to the base plate at a first end of the tile structure and a fluid manifold attached to a second end of the tile structure opposite from the first end, the fluid manifold comprising at least two fluid connections and at least two manifold alignment features, and further comprising an electrical component attached to the tile structure, the electrical component having a connection member positioned in a notch of the fluid manifold.
A printhead assembly for an inkjet printer, the printhead assembly comprising:
- a printhead comprising a plurality of nozzles;
- a nozzle plate attached to the printhead;
- a base plate attached to the nozzle plate by at least three fasteners that provide independent positioning of the nozzle plate with respect to the base plate in three independent dimensions;
- and
- a tile structure attached to the base plate at a first end of the tile structure and a fluid manifold attached to a second end of the tile structure opposite from the first end, the fluid manifold comprising at least two fluid connections and at least two manifold alignment features, wherein the fluid manifold has a recess to receive a manifold fastener, and wherein the fluid manifold further comprises a sensor to sense presence of the manifold fastener.
A printhead assembly for an inkjet printer, the printhead assembly comprising:
- a support plate;
- a supply plate comprising a plurality of alignment features;
- a plurality of print tiles disposed between the support plate and the supply plate, each print tile comprising:
- a plurality of printheads, each printhead comprising a plurality of nozzles;
- a nozzle plate attached to each printhead;
- a base plate attached to the nozzle plate by at least three fasteners that provide independent positioning of the nozzle plate with respect to the base plate in three independent dimensions;
- and
- a fluid manifold comprising at least one alignment feature that matches one of the alignment features of the supply plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.