Inkjet printhead heater elements with thin or non-existent coatings
AssigneeSilverbrook Research Pty Ltd
InventorsKia Silverbrook, Gregory McAvoy, Angus North, Samuel Mallinson, Mehdi Azimi
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Abstract
A thermal inkjet printhead with a heater element disposed in each of the bubble forming chambers wherein, the heater element has a protective surface coating that is less than 0.1 μm thick while still being capable of ejecting more than 1 billion drops without failure. Removing most or all of the protective coatings from the heater reduces or eliminates the thermal insulation between the heater and the ink. Nucleating a bubble in the ink chamber requires a much shorter pulse of less energy thereby improving printhead efficiency.
Claims17
An inkjet printhead comprising:
- a plurality of nozzles;
- a bubble forming chamber corresponding to each of the nozzles respectively, the bubble forming chambers adapted to contain ejectable liquid;
- and,
- a heater element disposed in each of the bubble forming chambers respectively, the heater element configured for thermal contact with the ejectable liquid;
- such that,
- heating the heater element to a temperature above the boiling point of the ejectable liquid forms a gas bubble that causes the ejection of a drop of the ejectable liquid from the nozzle;
- wherein,
- the heater element has a protective surface coating that is less than 0.1 μm thick;
- and,
- is able to eject more than one billion drops.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.