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US 6,663,221 B2Granted
Page wide ink jet printing
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsConstantine N. Anagnostopoulos, Charles F. Faisst, John A. Lebens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods are disclosed for fabricating page wide Drop-on-Demand and continuous ink printheads in which the nozzle array, the heaters, their drivers and data carrying circuits are all integrated on the same non-silicon and non-semiconducting substrate.
Claims37
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a non-silicon substrate having a front surface and at least partially defining an ink delivery channel, the substrate being of page wide extent wherein said front surface of the substrate has a width of about four inches or greater;
- and
- a nozzle array structure disposed on the front surface of the substrate, the nozzle array structure defining at least one ink ejecting bore communicating with the ink delivery channel, the nozzle array structure including a corresponding actuating element for each ink ejecting bore controllably operable for either a DOD ink jet causing a quantity of ink held in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through the ink ejecting bore, or a CIJ serving to break up the jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of drops and to deflect the ink stream, and a drive circuitry selected from the group consisting of TFT devices and discrete integrated circuit chips.
An ink jet print head comprising;
- a substrate of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, glass, ceramic and plastic material;
- a nozzle array structure disposed on a front surface of said substrate, the nozzle array structure being composed of at least one layer of a semiconducting or non-conducting material;
- at least one ink holding chamber defined by the substrate and the nozzle array structure;
- a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles extending through the nozzle array structure to the at least one ink delivery channel;
- and
- the nozzle array structure including a plurality of actuating elements associated with the plurality of ink ejecting bores, respectively, each of the actuating elements being controllably operable for either DOD ink jet operation causing a quantity of ink in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through an associated ink ejecting bore or a CU operation serving to break up a jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of droplets and to deflect the stream, and a plurality of drive circuits including TFTs or discrete IC chips and conductive paths connecting the TFTs or IC chips to the actuating elements, respectively, wherein said front surface of the substrate has an extent of about four inches or greater.
3 more elements
The ink jet print head of 13, wherein the at least one layer is a non-conducting material that comprises a polyimide.
A method of making a page wide ink jet print head structure, the ink jet print head structure being usable in an ink jet printer apparatus of the type selected from the group consisting of continuous ink jet and Drop-on-Demand ink jet printer apparatus, the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of nozzles fabricated in a nozzle plate that includes a semiconductor material, the nozzle plate being overcoated over a non-semiconducting substrate having a plurality of ink delivery channels fabricated in and extending within the non-semiconducting substrate, and
- forming driver components integrated into the nozzle plate for controlling ink jet operation;
- the forming of the driver components including the steps of fabricating vias and control circuits connected to the vias, the control circuits being formed using thin film transistor technology, wherein the control circuits and vias are integrated into the nozzle plate.
An ink jet printhead comprising:
- a substrate formed of a non-semiconductor material, the substrate having a plurality of ink channels formed therein;
- a nozzle plate over a surface of the substrate, the nozzle plate being formed of a plurality of layers formed using thin film transistor technology to establish transistor current drivers and the nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzle bores formed therethrough and each bore communicating with a respective channel to define a nozzle opening adjacent a first end of the nozzle bore;
- a heater element formed proximate the nozzle bore and electrically connected to one of said transistor current drivers;
- a passivation layer over the heater element;
- and
- the nozzle plate having a plurality of openings therein representing nozzle openings with a nozzle opening being at one end of each nozzle bore, a respective heater element adjacent each nozzle bore and a respective ink channel adjacent an opposite end of each nozzle bore.
3 more elements
An ink jet printhead comprising:
- a substrate formed of a non-semiconductor material, the substrate having an ink channel formed therein;
- a discrete integrated circuit chip embedded in the surface beneath a first surface of the substrate, the chip including logic circuitry for controlling current for driving a heater element associated with a nozzle bore;
- a layer or layers having a nozzle bore formed therethrough, the layer or layers being formed upon the first surface of the substrate, the layer or layers including an electrically conducting buss and a heater element located proximate a nozzle bore formed in the layer or layers, the nozzle bore communicating with the ink channel for permitting flow of ink between the ink channel and the nozzle bore, and the heater element being electrically connected to the chip.
A method of forming an ink jet printhead comprising:
- providing a substrate formed of a non-semiconductor material;
- forming a channel in the substrate;
- forming an opening in the substrate and depositing a discrete integrated circuit chip into the opening in the substrate;
- sealing the chip within the substrate;
- establishing vias from the chip to conductive elements formed in one or more layers formed on one surface of the substrate, the one more layers having a nozzle bore formed therein;
- and
- establishing a heater element in the one more layers, the heater element being established so as to be proximate the nozzle bore and the heater element being electrically connected to the integrated circuit chip.
4 more elements
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a non-silicon substrate having a front surface and at least partially defining an ink delivery channel, the substrate being of page wide extent;
- and
- a nozzle array structure disposed on the front surface of the substrate, the nozzle array defining at least one ink ejecting bore communicating with the ink delivery channel, the nozzle array including a corresponding actuating element for each ink ejecting bore controllably operable for either a DOD ink jet causing a quantity of ink held in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through the ink ejecting bore, or a CIJ serving to break up the jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of drops and to deflect the ink stream;
- and wherein the nozzle array structure is formed of a plurality of layers formed using thin film transistor technology to establish transistor current drivers forming a drive circuitry and the nozzle array structure has a plurality of ink ejecting bores formed therethrough and each actuating element is a heater element located proximate each ink ejecting bore and is electrically connected to a respective transistor current driver.
1 more element
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a non-silicon substrate having a front surface and at least partially defining an ink delivery channel, the substrate being of page wide extent;
- a nozzle array structure disposed on the front surface of the substrate, the nozzle array defining at least one ink ejecting bore communicating with the ink delivery channel, the nozzle array including a corresponding actuating element for each ink ejecting bore controllably operable for either a DOD ink jet causing a quantity of ink held in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through the ink ejecting bore or a CIJ serving to break up the jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of drops and to deflect the ink stream, and a drive circuitry formed of a discrete integrated circuit chip;
- and
- wherein the nozzle array structure has a plurality of ink ejecting bores formed therethrough and the discrete integrated circuit chip is embedded in the surface beneath the first surface of the substrate, the chip including logic circuitry for controlling current for driving a corresponding actuating element for each ink ejecting bore.
1 more element
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a substrate of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, glass, ceramic and plastic material;
- a nozzle array structure disposed on a front surface of said substrate, the nozzle array structure being composed of at least one layer of a semiconducting or non-conducting material;
- at least one ink holding chamber defined by the substrate and the nozzle array structure;
- a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles extending through the nozzle array structure to the at least one ink delivery channel;
- and
- the nozzle array structure including a plurality of actuating elements associated with the plurality of ink ejecting bores, respectively, each of the actuating elements being controllably operable for either DOD ink jet operation causing a quantity of ink in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through an associated ink ejecting bore or a CIJ operation serving to break up a jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of droplets and to deflect the stream, and a plurality of drive circuits including TFTs and conductive paths connecting the TFTs or IC chips to the actuating elements, respectively;
- and
- wherein the nozzle array structure is formed of a plurality of layers formed using thin film transistor technology to establish transistor current drivers and each actuating element is a heater element located proximate a respective ink ejecting nozzle and is electrically connected to a respective transistor current driver.
5 more elements
An ink jet print head comprising:
- a substrate of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, glass, ceramic and plastic material;
- a nozzle array structure disposed on a front surface of said substrate, the nozzle array structure being composed of at least one layer of a semiconducting or non-conducting material;
- at least one ink holding chamber defined by the substrate and the nozzle array structure;
- a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles extending through the nozzle array structure to the at least one ink delivery channel;
- the nozzle array structure including a plurality of actuating elements associated with the plurality of ink ejecting bores, respectively, each of the actuating elements being controllably operable for either DOD ink jet operation causing a quantity of ink in the ink delivery channel to be ejected through an associated ink ejecting bore or a CIJ operation serving to break up a jet stream of ink into a synchronous array of droplets and to deflect the stream, and a plurality of drive circuits including a discrete IC chip and conductive paths connecting the IC chip to the actuating elements, respectively;
- and
- wherein the discrete integrated circuit chip is embedded in the surface beneath the first surface of the substrate, the chip including logic circuitry for controlling current for driving plural actuating elements each associated with a respective one of plural ink ejecting nozzles.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.