Claims
- 1. A thermal ink jet printhead formed from a bonded heater plate and a channel plate, the bonded heater plate and channel plate being formed with a high quality front nozzle face that is free of sharp or ragged edges, chips, large cracks and contamination and includes nozzles located thereon for ejecting droplets, the bonded heater plate and channel plate also having a recessed back cut feature formed on the heater plate prior to formation of the front nozzle face, the front nozzle face extending outward beyond the back cut, formed by a method of fabricating the thermal ink jet printhead comprising the sequential steps of:
- (a) forming a heater plate comprising a plurality of sets of spaced linear arrays of heating elements and addressing electrodes on the surface of an electrically insulative planar substrate and forming a channel plate by etching a plurality of sets of channel plates comprising parallel channel grooves having closed ends and an associated through recess for each set of channel grooves in the surface of a silicon wafer;
- (b) aligning and bonding the channel plate to the heater plate to form a composite printhead wafer;
- (c) performing a first dicing cut that forms a recessed back cut directly below the channel grooves of the channel plate, the first dicing cut being performed from a bottom side of the heater plate and extending only partially through the heater plate; and
- (d) performing a second dicing cut that forms a front nozzle face that defines an end of the channel grooves, the second dicing cut being performed from a top side of the etched wafer and cutting completely through the channel plate and cutting through the heater plate a predetermined distance that overlaps the first dicing cut to effectively sever the front side of the wafer and form a back cut in the heater plate of the printhead, the front nozzle face extending outward beyond the back cut.
- 2. A printhead according to claim 1, wherein the back cut feature defines a front face portion angled at 30.degree. to 60.degree. relative to the front nozzle face.
- 3. A printhead according to claim 1, wherein a recessed back cut is performed on the channel side adjacent where the front nozzle face is subsequently formed so as to provide a printhead having a back cut feature on top and bottom edges of the front nozzle face.
- 4. A thermal ink jet printhead formed from a bonded heater plate and a channel plate, the bonded heater plate and channel plate being formed with a high quality front nozzle face that is free of sharp or ragged edges, chips, large cracks and contamination and includes nozzles located thereon for ejecting droplets, the bonded heater plate and channel plate also having a recessed back cut feature on the heater plate, the front nozzle face extending outward beyond the back cut and the back cut being angled between 30.degree. and 60.degree. relative to the front nozzle face, the printhead being formed by a method of fabricating comprising the sequential steps of:
- (a) forming a heater plate comprising a plurality of sets of spaced linear arrays of heating elements and addressing electrodes on the surface of an electrically insulative planar substrate and forming a channel plate by etching a plurality of sets of channel plates comprising parallel channel grooves having closed ends and an associated through recess for each set of channel grooves in the surface of a silicon wafer;
- (b) aligning and bonding the channel plate to the heater plate to form a composite printhead wafer;
- (c) performing a first dicing cut that forms a recessed back cut directly below the channel grooves of the channel plate, the first dicing cut being performed from a bottom side of the heater plate using a blade having chamfered edges with an angle of between 30.degree. and 60.degree. relative to the horizon and extending only partially through the heater plate; and
- (d) performing a second dicing cut that forms a front nozzle face that defines an end of the channel grooves, the second dicing cut being performed from a top side of the etched wafer and cutting completely through the channel plate and cutting through the heater plate a predetermined distance that overlaps the first dicing cut to effectively sever the front side of the wafer and form a back cut in the heater plate of the printhead, the front nozzle face extending outward beyond the back cut.
Parent Case Info
This is a Division of application Ser. No. 08/055,896 filed May 4, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,729.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
63-28655 |
Feb 1988 |
JPX |
2-141242 |
May 1990 |
JPX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
55896 |
May 1993 |
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