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AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsJoseph M. Torgerson, Bruce Cowger, David M. Hurst, Mark H. Mackenzie
Estimating the term…
The present disclosure relates to an inkjet printing system that includes an inkjet printhead having a plurality of electrical contacts. The plurality of electrical contacts include address contacts and enable contacts for enabling drop generators and drive current contacts for providing drive current to enable drop generators for selectively ejecting ink therefrom. The printing system includes a printing device having a plurality of electrical contacts including address contacts, enable contacts and drive current contacts. The plurality of electrical contacts are configured to establish electrical contact with corresponding electrical contacts on the inkjet printhead upon insertion of the inkjet printhead into the printing device. The printing device provides periodic address signals and enable signals to the address and enable contacts one the printhead. In addition, the printing device selectively applies drive current to accomplish forming images on print media.
An inkjet printing system comprising:
An inkjet printing device for use with an inkjet printhead for forming images on media in response to image descriptions, the inkjet printing device comprising:
An inkjet printhead for use with an inkjet printing device for forming images on media, the inkjet printhead comprising:
A method for operating an inkjet printhead having plurality of drop generators for ejecting ink in response to activation, the plurality of drop generators organized in groups of drop generators with each group of drop generators connected to a common source of activation current, the method comprising:
An inkjet printhead responsive to enable and drive current signals for dispensing ink, the inkjet printhead comprising:
An inkjet printhead having a plurality of drop generators with each drop generator of the plurality of drop generators responsive to an activation signal and a drive current for selectively dispensing ink therefrom, the inkjet printhead comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits: reducing number of signal lines needed
Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits: specific driving circuit
Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits: block driving
Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits: controlling heads based on heating elements forming bubbles
Term end not estimated
This invention relates to inkjet printing devices, and more particularly to an inkjet printing device that includes a printhead portion that receives drop activation signals for selectively ejecting ink.
Inkjet printing systems frequently make use of an inkjet printhead mounted to a carriage which is moved back and forth across print media such as paper. As the printhead is moved across the print media, a control device selectively activates each of a plurality of drop generators within the printhead to eject or deposit ink droplets onto the print media to form images and text characters. An ink supply that is either carried with the printhead or remote from the printhead provides ink for replenishing the plurality of drop generators.
Individual drop generators are selectively activated by the use of an activation signal that is provided by the printing system to the printhead. In the case of thermal inkjet printing, each drop generator is activated by passing an electric current through a resistive element such as a resistor. In response to the electric current the resistor produces heat, that in turn, heats ink in a vaporization chamber adjacent the resistor. Once the ink reaches vaporization, a rapidly expanding vapor front forces ink within the vaporization chamber through an adjacent orifice or nozzle. Ink droplets ejected from the nozzles are deposited on print media to accomplish printing.
FIG. 1 depicts a printing system of the present invention that incorporates an inkjet print cartridge of the present invention for accomplishing printing on print media shown in a top perspective view.
FIG. 2 depicts the inkjet print cartridge shown in FIG. 1 in isolation and viewed from a bottom perspective view.
FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the printing system shown in FIG. 1 that includes a printer portion and a printhead portion.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an inkjet printing system 10 of the present invention shown with its cover open. The inkjet printing system 10 includes a printer portion 12 having at least one print cartridge 14 and 16 installed in a scanning carriage 18. The printing portion 12 includes a media tray 20 for receiving media 22. As the print media 22 is stepped through a print zone, the scanning carriage 18 moves the print cartridges 14 and 16 across the print media. The printer portion 12 selectively activates drop generators within a printhead portion (not shown) associated with each of the print cartridges 14 and 16 to deposit ink on the print media to thereby accomplish printing.
An important aspect of the present invention is a method for which the printer portion 12 transfers drop generator activation information to the print cartridges 14 and 16. This drop generator activation information is used by the printhead portion to activate drop generators as the print cartridges 14 and 16 are moved relative to the print media. Another aspect of the present invention is the printhead portion that makes use of the information provided by the printer portion 12. The method and apparatus of the present invention allows information to be passed between the printer portion 12 and the printhead with relatively few interconnects thereby tending to reduce the size of the printhead. In addition the method and apparatus of the present invention allows the printhead to be implemented without requiring clocked storage elements or complex logic functions thereby reducing the manufacturing costs of the printhead. The method and apparatus of the present invention will be discussed in more detail with respect to FIGS. 3-11.
FIG. 2 depicts a bottom perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the print cartridge 14 shown in FIG. 1. In the preferred embodiment, the cartridge 14 is a 3 color cartridge containing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. In this preferred embodiment, a separate print cartridge 16 is provided for black ink. The present invention will herein be described with respect to this preferred embodiment by way of example only. There are numerous other configurations in which the method and apparatus of the present invention is also suitable. For example, the present invention is also suited to configurations wherein the printing system contains separate print cartridges for each color of ink used in printing. Alternatively, the present invention is applicable to printing systems wherein more than 4 ink colors are used such as in high-fidelity printing wherein 6 or more ink colors are used. Finally, the present invention is applicable to various types of print cartridges such as print cartridges which include an ink reservoir as shown in FIG. 2, or for print cartridges which are replenished with ink from a remote source of ink, either continuously or intermittently.