Inkjet nozzle assembly with drop directionality control via independently actuable roof paddles
AssigneeZamtec Ltd
InventorsGregory John McAvoy, Emma Rose Kerr, Rónán Pádraig Seán O'Reilly, Vincent Patrick Lawlor, Misty Bagnat
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Abstract
An inkjet nozzle assembly having: a nozzle chamber for containing ink, the nozzle chamber including a floor and a roof having a nozzle opening defined therein; and a plurality of moveable paddles defining part of the roof. The plurality of paddles are actuable to cause ejection of an ink droplet from the nozzle opening. Each paddle includes a thermal bend actuator, and each actuator is independently controllable via respective drive circuitry such that a direction of droplet ejection from the nozzle opening is controllable by independent movement of each paddle.
Claims17
An inkjet nozzle assembly comprising:
- a nozzle chamber for containing ink, said nozzle chamber comprising a floor and a roof having a nozzle opening defined therein;
- and
- a plurality of moveable paddles defining at least part of the roof, said plurality of paddles being actuable to cause ejection of an ink droplet from said nozzle opening, each paddle including a thermal bend actuator comprising:
- an upper thermoelastic beam connected to drive circuitry;
- and
- a lower passive beam fused to said thermoelastic beam, such that when a current is passed through the thermoelastic beam, the thermoelastic beam expands relative to the passive beam, resulting in bending of a respective paddle towards the floor of the nozzle chamber,
- wherein each actuator is independently controllable via respective drive circuitry such that a direction of droplet ejection from said nozzle opening is controllable by independent movement of each paddle.
An inkjet printhead integrated circuit comprising:
- a substrate comprising drive circuitry;
- and
- a plurality of inkjet nozzle assemblies disposed on said substrate, each inkjet nozzle assembly comprising:
- a nozzle chamber for containing ink, said nozzle chamber comprising a floor defined by an upper surface of said substrate and a roof having a nozzle opening defined therein;
- and
- a plurality of moveable paddles defining at least part of the roof, said plurality of paddles being actuable to cause ejection of an ink droplet from said nozzle opening, each paddle including a thermal bend actuator comprising:
- an upper thermoelastic beam connected to said drive circuitry;
- and
- a lower passive beam fused to said thermoelastic beam, such that when a current is passed through the thermoelastic beam, the thermoelastic beam expands relative to the passive beam, resulting in bending of a respective paddle towards the floor of the nozzle chamber,
- wherein each actuator is independently controllable via respective drive circuitry such that a direction of droplet ejection from said nozzle opening is controllable by independent movement of each paddle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.