Large thermal ink jet nozzle array printhead
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsWinthrop D. Childers, Douglas A. Sexton
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Abstract
This present invention is embodied in a large array printhead having a large array of thin-film ink drop generators formed on a single monolithic substrate. The large array printhead includes a multiplexing device to reduce parasitic resistance and the number of incoming leads. In a preferred embodiment, the substrate is initially patterned and etched and the multiplexing device is attached to the substrate at a later time. The present invention also includes methods of fabricating a plurality of large array printhead embodiments using a single monolithic substrate made of a suitable material, preferably having a low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Claims31
A large array inkjet printing apparatus, comprising:
- not more than a single monolithic substrate defining at least a portion of a printhead;
- a large array of ink ejection elements formed on the single substrate made of a first material;
- and
- driver device circuits integrated with a panel substrate that is attached and electrically coupled to the single monolithic substrate, the panel substrate being made from a second material that is different from the first material.
A large array inkjet printing apparatus, comprising:
- not more than a single monolithic substrate defining at least a portion of a printhead, the single monolithic substrate made from a non-crystalline material;
- a large array of ink ejection elements formed on the single monolithic substrate;
- a panel substrate having driver device circuits electrically coupled to input pads and output leads formed on the single monolithic substrate, wherein the panel substrate is made from a material that is different from the material used to make the single monolithic substrate.
A large array inkjet printing apparatus, comprising:
- not more than a single monolithic substrate defining at least a portion of a printhead;
- a large array of ink ejection elements formed on the single monolithic substrate having an extent greater than one-inch and being made from a noncrystalline material;
- and
- a flip chip flat panel substrate having driver device circuits electrically coupled to the single monolithic substrate, wherein the flip chip flat panel substrate is made from a crystalline material.
A large array printhead, comprising:
- not more than a single monolithic substrate having a length greater than one-inch and comprising a non-monocrystalline material;
- a flat flip chip panel substrate having driver device circuits electrically coupled to the single monolithic substrate, wherein the flat flip chip panel substrate is made from a material that is different from the material used to make the single monolithic substrate;
- a resistor layer adjacent the single monolithic substrate;
- a barrier layer adjacent the resistor layer and having a ink feed hole;
- an ink feed channel disposed on the single monolithic substrate that provides ink to the resistor layer through the ink feed hole;
- and
- a nozzle disposed on the orifice layer that is capable of ejecting ink.
A method a fabricating a large array printhead, comprising:
- defining not more than a single monolithic substrate as at least a portion of the printhead;
- patterning thin films on the single monolithic substrate;
- forming thermal inkjet drop generators and ink feed geometries on the single monolithic substrate to form a layered thin-film structure;
- separately fabricating a multiplexing device;
- and
- attaching the multiplexing device after the thin-film structure is formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.