Printers are devices that deposit a fluid, such as ink, on a print medium, such as paper. A printer may include a printhead that is connected to a printing material reservoir. The printing material may be expelled, dispensed, and/or ejected from the printhead onto a physical medium.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.
Examples of fluid ejection devices may comprise at least one fluid ejection die comprising a substrate. The substrate may include an array of nozzles formed therethrough. Accordingly, nozzle orifices of the nozzles may be formed on a first surface of the substrate. Nozzle inlet openings of the nozzles may be formed on a second surface of the substrate, where the second surface is opposite the first surface. Furthermore, example fluid ejection devices may comprise a molded panel in which the at least one fluid ejection die may be embedded therein. In such examples, the first surface of the substrate of the fluid ejection die may be exposed such that the first surface of the substrate of the fluid ejection die is approximately planar with a top surface of the molded panel. Approximately planar may refer to a plane of the first surface of the fluid ejection die and a plane of the top surface of the molded panel being generally parallel, where “approximately” and “generally” may refer to the surfaces having angles of orientation therebetween within a range of 0° to 10°.
Accordingly, as used herein, the fluid ejection die embedded in the molded panel may describe the arrangement of the fluid ejection die such that side surfaces of the fluid ejection die and the second surface of the fluid ejection die may be at least partially enclosed by the molded panel. In addition, the at least one fluid ejection die may be described as molded into the molded panel. Furthermore, the molded panel may include a fluid channel formed therethrough, where the fluid channel may be in fluid communication with the nozzle inlet openings of the array of nozzles of the fluid ejection die. In some examples, the fluid channel may be referred to as a fluid slot and/or a fluid communication channel.
Nozzles may facilitate ejection/dispensation of fluid. Fluid ejection devices may comprise fluid ejection actuators disposed proximate to the nozzles to cause fluid to be ejected/dispensed from a nozzle orifice. Some examples of types of fluid ejectors implemented in fluid ejection devices include thermal ejectors, piezoelectric ejectors, and/or other such ejectors that may cause fluid to eject/be dispensed from a nozzle orifice. In some examples the substrate of the fluid ejection die may be formed with silicon or a silicon-based material. Various features, such as nozzles, may be formed by etching and/or other such microfabrication processes. In examples described herein, fluid ejection actuators may be disposed on the second surface of the substrate, and at least one fluid ejection actuator may be positioned proximate each nozzle inlet opening.
In some examples, fluid ejection dies may be referred to as slivers. Generally, a sliver may correspond to an ejection die having: a thickness of approximately 650 μm or less; exterior dimensions of approximately 30 mm or less; and/or a length to width ratio of approximately 3 to 1 or larger. In some examples, a length to width ratio of a sliver may be approximately 10 to 1 or larger. In some examples, a length to width ratio of a sliver may be approximately 50 to 1 or larger. In some examples, fluid ejection dies may be a non-rectangular shape. In these examples a first portion of the ejection die may have dimensions/features approximating the examples described above, and a second portion of the fluid ejection die may be greater in width and less in length than the first portion. In some examples, a width of the second portion may be approximately 2 times the size of the width of the first portion. In these examples, a fluid ejection die may have an elongate first portion along which ejection nozzles may be arranged.
In some examples, the molded panel may comprise an epoxy mold compound, such as CEL400ZHF40WG from Hitachi Chemical, Inc., and/or other such materials. Accordingly, in some examples, the molded panel may be substantially uniform. In some examples, the molded panel may be formed of a single piece, such that the molded panel may comprise a mold material without joints or seams. In some examples, the molded panel may be monolithic.
Example fluid ejection devices, as described herein, may be implemented in printing devices, such as two-dimensional printers and/or three-dimensional printers (3D). As will be appreciated, some example fluid ejection devices may be printheads. In some examples, a fluid ejection device may be implemented into a printing device and may be utilized to print content onto a media, such as paper, a layer of powder-based build material, reactive devices (such as lab-on-a-chip devices), etc. Example fluid ejection devices include ink-based ejection devices, digital titration devices, 3D printing devices, pharmaceutical dispensation devices, lab-on-chip devices, fluidic diagnostic circuits, and/or other such devices in which amounts of fluids may be dispensed/ejected.
Turning now to the figures, and particularly to
In the example of
Turning now to
In the example of
The molded panel 123 may further comprise a fluid channel 133 to supply fluid to fluid channels and/or ejection chambers 109 of the thin film layers 105. Actuators 111 in the chambers 109 may eject the supplied fluid through nozzles 107 in the substrate 103. The thin film layers 105 extend between the molded panel 123 and the substrate 103, and/or between the fluid channel 133 and the substrate 103, so that in use fluid flows from the molded panel 123 to the thin film layers 105, engaging first packaging walls 123 and subsequently thin film layer walls such as chamber or channel walls. The fluid flows from the thin film layers 105, out of the ejection chambers 109, through the substrate 103, as indicated with fluid flow direction arrow 113. Nozzles 107 are provided through the substrate 103, fluidically connected to the chambers 109, to eject the fluid out through the nozzles 107 by actuation of the actuators 111. Actuation of the actuators 111 may be driven by drive circuitry of the circuit assembly 125, drive circuitry in the thin film layers 105, and/or an external controller connected via the circuit assembly 125.
In the example of
Turning to
Portions of the molded panel may be removed to thereby form fluid channels in the molded panel (block 306). In some examples, a fluid channel may be formed for each fluid ejection die. In other examples, a fluid channel may be formed for more than one fluid ejection die. In some examples, removing a portion of the molded panel may comprise slot-plunge cutting the portion of the molded panel. In other examples, removing a portion of the molded panel may comprise cutting the molded panel with a laser or other cutting device. Furthermore, removing a portion of the molded panel may comprise performing other micromachining processes.
The protective layer and at least one thin film layer of each fluid ejection die may be removed to thereby form an ejection chamber for each nozzle of each fluid ejection die (block 308). In some examples, removing the protective layer may comprise wet dipping in feature formation material remover. For example, if the feature formation material is HT10.10, the molded panel may be wet dipped in WaferBond remover from Brewer Science, Inc. In some examples, removing a portion of the at least one thin film layer may comprise etching the at least a portion of the at least one thin film. In some examples, removing a portion of the at least one thin film layer may comprise removing the at least a portion of the at least one thin film layer mechanically, such as by saw, laser ablation, powder blast, etc.
Turning now to
Referring to
Referring to
To form the example fluid ejection device in
Accordingly, examples provided herein may implement a fluid ejection device comprising at least one fluid ejection die embedded in a molded panel. As discussed, the fluid ejection die may comprise a substrate having nozzles formed therethrough, and the fluid ejection die may comprise at least one thin film layer adjacent to the substrate including fluid ejection actuators disposed proximate each nozzle and having ejection chambers for the nozzles formed therein. As will be appreciated, embedding of fluid ejection dies in a molded panel and forming of a fluid channel therein may facilitate reduced substrate area of the fluid ejection devices. Furthermore, formation of nozzles in the substrate, such as a silicon based substrate, may facilitate nozzle formation with microfabrication and micromachining processes.
In one example the thin film layers include (i) electrical circuitry, and (ii) electrical contacts connected to the electrical circuitry, for connection to drive circuitry external to the die. The electrical contacts can be disposed at the thin film layer side of the substrate, for example near at least one edge of the substrate to readily connect the electrical circuitry to said external drive circuitry. Furthermore, the molded panel may including at least one fluid channel to supply fluid to the ejection chambers and nozzles. For example fluid supply holes may fluidically connect the fluid channel to the ejection chambers. Thin film layers extend between at least one of (i) the molded panel and the substrate, and (ii) the fluid channel and the substrate. In a further example the external drive circuitry is provided in or on the packaging.
In some examples a depth of the nozzles is more than a thickness of the thin film layers, and the sum of that depth and thickness approximately equals the total thickness of the fluid ejection die. In some examples, the thickness of the die is less than approximately 300 micron.
While various examples are described herein, elements and/or combinations of elements may be combined and/or removed for various examples contemplated hereby. For example, the example operations provided herein in the flowcharts of
The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describe examples of the principles described. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the description. Therefore, the foregoing examples provided in the figures and described herein should not be construed as limiting of the scope of the disclosure, which is defined in the Claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2016/059869 | 11/1/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2018/084827 | 5/11/2018 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6505913 | Silverbrook | Jan 2003 | B2 |
6648437 | Kawamura | Nov 2003 | B2 |
8063318 | Williams et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
8438730 | Ciminelli | May 2013 | B2 |
8496317 | Ciminelli et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
20020001020 | Mrvos | Jan 2002 | A1 |
20030193545 | Boucher | Oct 2003 | A1 |
20040095419 | Silverbrook | May 2004 | A1 |
20070216234 | Brother | Sep 2007 | A1 |
20110267404 | Lebens | Nov 2011 | A1 |
20150004756 | Chi et al. | Jan 2015 | A1 |
20160001551 | Chen et al. | Jan 2016 | A1 |
20160009086 | Choy et al. | Jan 2016 | A1 |
20160236930 | North et al. | Aug 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
101209619 | Jul 2008 | CN |
10512771 | Dec 2015 | CN |
105121167 | Dec 2015 | CN |
1473161 | Nov 2004 | EP |
1635896 | Mar 1991 | RU |
WO-2014133517 | Sep 2014 | WO |
WO-2014133575 | Sep 2014 | WO |
WO-2014133600 | Sep 2014 | WO |
WO-2015041665 | Mar 2016 | WO |
WO-WO2016137490 | Sep 2016 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Steinert, C.P., et al. Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2005, < http://ieeexplore.IEEE.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1453989&tag=1 >. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20190248141 A1 | Aug 2019 | US |