Impulse ink jet print head and method of making same

An impulse ink jet print head comprising:

• a plurality of operating plates including at least:
• a first plate including a plurality of proximately disposed nozzles therein for ejecting droplets of ink therethrough;
• a second plate defining a plurality of pairs of generally coplanar elongated chambers having relatively long sidewalls and relatively short endwalls, said chambers being axially aligned along their major axes and proximately opposed to one another at their said endwalls, pairs of said chambers being in side by side relationship along their respective said sidewalls;
• each of said chambers connected to an ink supply and having an outlet for directing it toward an associated one of said nozzles in said first plate;
• each of said nozzles having a central axis extending transversely to the planes of said plates and intersecting said second plates at proximate extremities of each of said chambers;
• said plates having passage means connecting each of said nozzles with an associated one of said outlets, the passage means associated with each of said pair of chambers being proximately disposed;
• a third plate proximate to said second plate and including drive means for displacing ink in each of said chambers thereby causing the ejection of ink droplets from each of said nozzles.

A method of making an impulse ink jet print head comprising the steps of:

• (a) forming in a channel plate a pair of generally coplanar elongated chambers having relatively long sidewalls and relatively short endwalls and having outlets therefrom, the chambers being axially aligned along their major axes and proximately opposed to one another at their endwalls;
• (b) positioning a diaphragm plate proximate to one side of the channel plate;
• (c) securing a single sheet of transducer material to the diaphragm plate;
• (d) removing a sufficient amount of the transducer material to leave discrete portions of the transducer material extending from the diaphragm plate so as to overlie each of the chambers;
• (e) forming a pair of spaced apart nozzles in a nozzle plate, each nozzle being perpendicular to a plane of the nozzle plate;
• (f) positioning the nozzle plate proximate to a side of the channel plate opposite the diaphragm plate;
• and
• (g) assembling all of the plates so that they are held together in a superposed contiguous relationship with each of the nozzles being in communication with an associated one of the chambers.

A method of making an impulse ink jet print head comprising the steps of:

• (a) forming in a channel plate a pair of generally coplanar elongated chambers having relatively long sidewalls and relatively short endwalls and having outlets therefrom, the chambers being axially aligned along their major axes and proximately opposed to one another a their endwalls;
• (b) coating a layer of a diaphragm material onto a surface of a single sheet of a transducer material to thereby form a diaphragm plate;
• (c) positioning the diaphragm plate proximate to one side of the channel plate;
• (d) removing a sufficient amount of the transducer material to leave discrete portions of the transducer material extending from the diaphragm so as to overlie each of the chambers;
• (e) forming a pair of spaced apart nozzles in a nozzle plate, each nozzle being perpendicular to a plane of the nozzle plate;
• (f) positioning the nozzle plate proximate to a side of the channel plate opposite the diaphragm plate;
• and
• (g) assembling all of the plates so that they are held together in a superposed contiguous relationship with each of the nozzles being in communication with an associated one of the chambers.