Thermoplastic polymer film sealing of nozzles on fluid ejection devices and method
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsIsaac Farr, Steven N. Miller, Steve H. Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fluid ejection cartridge includes an ejector head having at least one nozzle and a fluid reservoir containing an ejectable fluid, fluidically coupled with the at least one nozzle. The fluid ejection cartridge has a tape that includes a thermoplastic polymer film in contact with and releasably bonded to the nozzles.
Claims42
A fluid ejection cartridge, comprising:
- a fluid ejector head having at least one nozzle;
- a fluid reservoir containing an ejectable fluid fluidically coupled with at least one nozzle;
- and
- a tape comprising a thermoplastic polymer film having a thickness from about 5 to about 500 microns, and a melting temperature greater than 35° C. and a melt index in the range of from about 0.5 to about 50 grams per minute, said thermoplastic polymer film in contact with and releasably bonded to said at least one nozzle.
A tape for sealing nozzles on a fluid ejection cartridge comprising a thermoplastic polymer film having a thickness from about 5 to about 500 microns, and a melting temperature greater than 35° C. and a melt index from about 0.5 to about 50 grams per minute.
A method of releasably sealing the nozzles of a nozzle layer in a fluid ejection cartridge having a reservoir, the method comprising the steps of:
- releasably capturing a tape comprising a thermoplastic polymer film having a thickness in the range of from about 5 to about 500 microns;
- cutting said tape to a length sufficient to cover the nozzles;
- positioning said tape over the nozzle layer;
- heating said tape;
- and
- attaching said tape to the fluid ejection cartridge wherein a first portion of said tape is releasably bonded to the nozzle layer covering the nozzles and a second portion of said tape is releasably bonded to the reservoir.
A fluid ejection cartridge comprising:
- an ejector head having at least one nozzle;
- a fluid reservoir containing an ejectable fluid fluidically coupled with at least one nozzle;
- a tape having a thermoplastic polymer film in contact with and releasably bonded to said at least one nozzle and a base film adhesively bonded to said thermoplastic polymer film, wherein said thermoplastic polymer film has a thickness from about 25 to about 75 microns, and a melting temperature from about 70° C. to about 120° C. and a melt index from about 0.5 to about 1.0 grams per minute;
- at least one electrical contact disposed on said fluid reservoir, wherein said thermoplastic polymer film is in contact with an releasably bonded to said at least one electrical contact.
A tape that seals nozzles on a fluid ejection cartridge comprising:
- a crosslinked semi-crystalline ternary copolymer thermoplastic polymer film comprises:
- from about 60 to about 95 weight percent polyethylene,
- from about 0 to about 40 weight percent polyvinyl acetate,
- from about 0 to about 30 weight percent polymethacrylic acid,
- wherein said crosslinked semi-crystalline ternary copolymer thermoplastic film has a thickness from about 25 to about 75 microns, a melting temperature from about 70° C. to about 120° C. and a melt index from about 0.5 to about 1.0 grams per minute;
- and
- a base film adhesively bonded to said crosslinked semi-crystalline ternary copolymer thermoplastic film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.