Inkjet printhead with integral nozzle plate
AssigneeSilverbrook Research Pty Ltd
InventorKia Silverbrook
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inkjet drop ejection apparatus comprising: a chamber with a side wall and a nozzle wall, the nozzle wall defining an ink ejection nozzle; and, an actuator for ejecting drops of ink through the nozzle; the chamber and actuator being fabricated by lithographic etching and deposition techniques; wherein, the nozzle wall and at least part of the side wall integrally formed by a single deposition process. Simultaneously depositing the chamber walls and nozzle plate removes the need to align and adhere a separate nozzle guard to the printhead. Using VLSI fabrication techniques provides a compact monolithic nozzle array at relatively low cost and high yield.
Claims139
An inkjet drop ejection apparatus comprising:
- a chamber with a side wall and a nozzle wall, the nozzle wall defining an ink ejection nozzle;
- and,
- an actuator for ejecting drops of ink through the nozzle;
- a wafer substrate having a planar surface for supporting the chamber and the actuator, the chamber and actuator being fabricated on the wafer substrate by lithographic etching and deposition techniques;
- wherein,
- the nozzle wall and the side wall integrally formed by a single deposition process such that the nozzle wall has a planar section around the ink ejection nozzle, the planar section being parallel to and spaced from the planar surface of the wafer substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.