Fluid drop ejector
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsCharles P. Coleman, Arthur M. Gooray, George J. Roller, Kathleen A. Feinberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The silicon fluid ejector of the present invention includes an electrostatically actuated micromachined positive displacement mechanism consisting of a piston, piston containment structure, piston retraction mechanism and an ejection orifice. These features provide for very low cost of production, high reliability and “on demand” drop size modulation. The fluid ejector mechanism can be easily produced via monolithic batch fabrication based on the common production technique of surface micromachining.
Claims57
A fluid drop ejector comprising:
- a containment wall,
- a nozzle plate layer disposed at one end of the containment wall, the nozzle plate layer including a nozzle opening,
- a piston layer disposed at the opposite end of the containment wall, the piston layer comprising a piston surface facing and substantially aligned with the nozzle opening,
- the containment wall, nozzle plate layer and piston surface defining a cavity that is arranged for containing fluid,
- the piston layer arranged for moving towards the nozzle opening when a fluid ejecting electric field is applied between the piston layer and the nozzle plate layer, thus causing fluid to be ejected through the nozzle opening.
A fluid drop ejector array comprising a plurality of fluid drop ejectors, each fluid drop ejector comprising:
- a containment wall,
- a nozzle plate layer disposed at one end of the containment wall, the nozzle plate layer including a nozzle opening,
- a piston layer disposed at the opposite end of the containment wall, the piston layer comprising a piston surface facing and substantially aligned with the nozzle opening,
- the containment wall, nozzle plate layer and piston surface defining a cavity that is arranged for containing fluid, the piston layer arranged for moving towards the nozzle opening when a fluid ejecting electric field is applied between the piston layer and the nozzle plate layer, thus causing fluid to be ejected through the nozzle opening.
A printing machine comprising an ink drop ejector array comprising a plurality of ink drop ejectors, each ink drop ejector comprising:
- a containment wall,
- a nozzle plate layer disposed at one end of the containment wall, the nozzle plate layer including a nozzle opening,
- a piston layer disposed at the opposite end of the containment wall, the piston layer comprising a piston surface facing and substantially aligned with the nozzle opening,
- the containment wall, nozzle plate layer and piston surface defining a cavity that is arranged for containing ink,
- the piston layer arranged for moving towards the nozzle opening when a ink ejecting electric field is applied between the piston layer and the nozzle plate layer, thus causing ink to be ejected through the nozzle opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.