Contoured orifice plate of thermal ink jet print head
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsWen-Li Su, Jefferson P. Ward
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An orifice plate for a thermal ink jet print head has a plurality of orifice apertures, with a major surface occupying a first plane. The plate has a surrounding region surrounding each of the orifices, and the surrounding region has an offset portion with an offset surface offset from the first plane. The offset portion may be above or below the first plane, and may include concentric inner and outer regions, with the outer region above the first plane, and the inner region recessed below the outer region.
Claims22
An orifice plate for a thermal ink jet print head comprising:
- a planar plate defining a plurality of orifice apertures;
- the plate having a major surface occupying a first plane;
- the plate having a surrounding region surrounding one of the orifices;
- the surrounding region having an offset portion with an offset surface offset from the first plane;
- and
- wherein the surrounding region includes a second portion offset from the offset portion.
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a substrate;
- a planar orifice plate connected to the substrate and defining a plurality of orifice apertures;
- the orifice plate having a major surface facing away from the substrate;
- and
- the orifice plate having an elevated region surrounding a plurality of the orifices.
A method of wiping an orifice plate of an ink jet print head having a orifice plate defining a plurality of orifices, the plate having a planar major surface, and at least some of the orifices being surrounded by a surrounding surface portion elevated above the major surface, the method comprising the steps:
- moving a flexible wiper over the orifice plate;
- while moving the wiper, maintaining the wiper spaced apart from at least a portion of the major surface;
- and
- while moving the wiper, wiping each of the elevated surrounding portions.
An orifice plate for a thermal ink jet print head comprising:
- a planar plate defining a plurality of orifice apertures;
- the plate having a major surface occupying a first plane;
- the plate having a surrounding region surrounding one of the orifices;
- the surrounding region having an offset portion with an offset surface offset from the first plane;
- and
- the plate defining a groove extending from the offset surface to the major surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.