US 6,606,110 B2Granted

Integral organic light emitting diode printhead

AssigneePolaroid Corporation

InventorsRussell A. Gaudiana, Richard G. Egan

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Abstract

A compact light weight printhead capable of direct quasi-contact printing includes an OLED structure deposited onto a substrate. The printhead is designed for contact or quasi-contact printing, without additional optical elements. The printhead design ensures that the desired pixel sharpness and reduced crosstalk is achieved. Two possible different arrangements for the printhead are disclosed. One arrangement includes at least one array of OLED elements. Each OLED array in this arrangement includes at least one triplet of OLED elements, and each element in each the triplet is capable of emitting radiation in a distinct wavelength range different from the distinct wavelength range of the other two color filters in the same triplet. In the second arrangement, the printhead includes at least one triplet of arrays of individually addressable Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), elements. In this second arrangement, each OLED array in each triplet has elements that are capable of emitting radiation in a distinct wavelength range different from the distinct wavelength range of the other two arrays in the triplet.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An apparatus for exposing a photosensitive material, said photosensitive material having a light receiving surface and being exposed by radiation impinging on said light receiving surface, said apparatus comprising:

a substrate having a substantially planar first surlace oppositely spaced apart from a substantially planar second surface, wherein said substrate has a given thickness as measured between said first and second planar surfaces;
and
an individually addressable Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) structure, said structure comprising at least one elongated array of individually addressable Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) elements including a transparent anode layer through which exposure light is adapted to be transmitted, said Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) structure being deposited in sequential layers onto the first surface of said substrate wherein said transparent anode layer is spaced furthest away from the first surface of said substrate;
and
a substantively transparent layer deposited onto the OLED structure, said transparent layer having a light receiving surface in effective light transmission relation to the transparent anode and a light emitting surface oppositely spaced apart from the transparent layer light receiving surface, wherein the thickness of said transparent layer, as measured between its said light receiving and emitting surfaces, is substantially less than the given thickness of said substrate so that when said light emitting surface of said transparent layer is brought into proximity to the light receiving surface of the photosensitive material, the distance between light emitting elements of the Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) structure and the photosensitive material is minimized to enhance pixel sharpness and reduce crosstalk.

2 more elements

A method of exposing a photosensitive material, said material having a light receiving surface, utilizing a printhead, said printhead comprising at least one of a plurality of triplets of elongated arrays of individually addressable Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) elements, each array in each triplet being capable of emitting radiation in a distinct wavelength range different from the distinct wavelength range of the other two arrays in the triplet, said arrays being equally spaced apart by a given array spacing distance, said method comprising the steps of:

placing the printhead over the photosensitive material such that the light emitting surface of the printhead is oppositely spaced apart at a given distance from and substantively parallel to the light receiving surface of the photosensitive material;
and
addressing and printing the elements of the array,, in all the triplets;
then,
displacing the printhead relative to the photosensitive material by said given array spacing distance in the direction perpendicular to both the distance between the printhead and the light receiving surface of the photosensitive material and the direction along the array so that the array in the triplet that emits in the second distinct wavelength range is located substantively at the position previously occupied by the array which emits in the first distinct wavelength range;
then,
addressing and printing the elements of the arrays in all the triplets;
then,
displacing the printhead relative to the photosensitive material by said given array spacing distance in the direction perpendicular to both the distance between the printhead and the light receiving surface of the photosensitive material and the direction along the array so that the array in the triplet that emits in the third distinct wavelength range is located substantively at the position previously occupied by the array which emits in the second distinct wavelength range and initially
occupied by the array which emits in the first distinct wavelength range;
then,
addressing and printing the elements of the arrays in all the triplets.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/749,346Filed 27 Dec 2000
Published: US 2002/0118270 A129 Aug 2002
Granted: 12 Aug 2003
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

B41J 2/45
Using arrays of radiation sources: using light-emitting diode [LED] or laser arrays
H10K 59/179
Passive-matrix OLED displays: interconnections, e.g. wiring lines or terminals
H10K 59/12
OLED displays: active-matrix OLED [AMOLED] displays
H10K 59/35
Devices specially adapted for multicolour light emission: comprising red-green-blue [RGB] subpixels