Claims
- 1. An inkjet printhead comprising:
an address having M possible address values; and N primitives, each primitive including:
a group of at most M drop generators, wherein the address is cycled through all M address values to control a sequence of which one drop generator in the primitive is fired at a given time, wherein one drop generator in the primitive can be fired simultaneously with one drop generator in each of the other primitives, wherein a primitive to address ratio (N/M) of the printhead is at least 10 to 1.
- 2. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein each drop generator includes a firing resistor.
- 3. The inkjet printhead of claim 2 wherein each firing resistor has a resistance value of at least approximately 700 ohms.
- 4. The inkjet printhead of claim 2 wherein each firing resistor has a resistance value in a range from approximately 800 ohms to approximately 1000 ohms.
- 5. The inkjet printhead of claim 2 wherein each firing resistor comprises tungsten silicon nitride (WSiN).
- 6. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein an operating voltage of the printhead is at least approximately 30 volts.
- 7. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein an operating voltage of the printhead is in a range from approximately 32 volts to approximately approximately 35 volts.
- 8. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein the printhead comprises at least 1000 drop generators.
- 9. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein the printhead comprises at least 2000 drop generators.
- 10. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein M is at most 16.
- 11. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein N is at least 100.
- 12. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 wherein the drop generators operate at an ink drop rate above approximately 18 Khz.
- 13. The inkjet printhead of claim 1 further comprising:
a substrate having a first ink feed slot formed in the substrate, wherein the first ink feed slot has a first side and second side along a vertical length of the first ink feed slot; wherein a first column of drop generators is formed along the first side of the first ink feed slot; and wherein a second column of drop generators is formed along the second side of the first ink feed slot.
- 14. The inkjet printhead of claim 13 further comprising:
a second ink feed slot formed in the substrate, wherein the second ink feed slot has a first side and second side along a vertical length of the second ink feed slot; wherein a third column of drop generators is formed along the first side of the second ink feed slot; and wherein a fourth column of drop generators is formed along the second side of the second ink feed slot.
- 15. The inkjet printhead of claim 13 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within the first column of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the second column of drop generators.
- 16. The inkjet printhead of claim 14 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within the first and second columns of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the third and fourth columns of drop generators.
- 17. The inkjet printhead of claim 13 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within each column of drop generators have a vertical pitch of at least approximately 600 nozzles per inch.
- 18. The inkjet printhead of claim 17 wherein nozzles within the first column of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the second column of drop generators by approximately {fraction (1/1200)} inch.
- 19. The inkjet printhead of claim 14 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within each column of drop generators have a vertical pitch of at least approximately 600 nozzles per inch, and wherein nozzles within the first and second columns of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the third and fourth columns of drop generators by approximately {fraction (1/2400 )} inch.
- 20. The inkjet printhead of claim 13 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and wherein the nozzles within each column of drop generators are staggered horizontally along a scan axis.
- 21. The inkjet printhead of claim 20 wherein each drop generator includes a firing resistor, and wherein a total scan axis stagger from an innermost firing resistor in each column of drop generators to an outermost firing resistor in each column of drop generators is approximately 19.4 micrometers.
- 22. The inkjet printhead of claim 2 further comprising:
an internal power supply path; a power regulator providing an offset voltage from the internal power supply path voltage; and each primitive further including:
a corresponding group of switches controllable to couple a selected firing resister between the internal power supply path and the offset voltage to thereby permit electrical current to pass through the selected firing resister to cause a corresponding selected drop generator to fire.
- 23. An inkjet printhead assembly comprising:
at least one printhead, each printhead including:
an address having M possible address values; and N primitives, each primitive including:
a group of at most M drop generators, wherein the address is cycled through all M address values to control a sequence of which one drop generator in the primitive is fired at a given time, wherein one drop generator in the primitive can be fired simultaneously with one drop generator in each of the other primitives, wherein a primitive to address ratio (N/M) of the printhead is at least 10 to 1.
- 24. The inkjet printhead assembly of claim 23 wherein the at least one printhead includes multiple printheads.
- 25. An inkjet printing system comprising:
at least one printhead, each printhead including:
an address having M possible address values; and N primitives, each primitive including:
a group of at most M drop generators, wherein the address is cycled through all M address values to control a sequence of which one drop generator in the primitive is fired at a given time, wherein one drop generator in the primitive can be fired simultaneously with one drop generator in each of the other primitives, wherein a primitive to address ratio (N/M) of the printhead is at least 10 to 1.
- 26. The inkjet printhead of claim 25 further comprising:
a first power supply; wherein each printhead further comprises:
an internal power supply path coupled to the first power supply; a power regulator providing an offset voltage from the internal power supply path voltage; and each primitive further including:
a corresponding group of switches controllable to couple a selected firing resister between the internal power supply path and the offset voltage to thereby permit electrical current to pass through the selected firing resister to cause a corresponding selected drop generator to fire.
- 27. A method of inkjet printing in an inkjet printhead comprising:
providing an address having M possible address values; and printing ink drops from N primitives, wherein each primitive includes a group of at most M drop generators, wherein the printing of ink drops within each primitive includes cycling through all M address values of the address to control a sequence of which one drop generator in the primitive is fired at a given time, wherein one drop generator in the primitive can be fired simultaneously with one drop generator in each of the other primitives, wherein a primitive to address ratio (N/M) of the printhead is at least 10 to 1.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein each drop generator includes a firing resistor, and the printing of ink drops from each primitive includes heating a selected firing resistor to cause ink to be ejected from a corresponding selected drop generator.
- 29. The method of claim 28 wherein each firing resistor has a resistance value of at least approximately 700 ohms.
- 30. The method of claim 28 wherein each firing resistor has a resistance value in a range from approximately 800 ohms to approximately 1000 ohms.
- 31. The method of claim 28 wherein the heating of the selected firing resistor employs an operating voltage of at least approximately 30 volts.
- 32. The method of claim 28 wherein the heating of the selected firing resistor employs an operating voltage in a range from approximately 32 volts to approximately 35 volts.
- 33. The method of claim 27 wherein the printhead comprises at least 1000 drop generators.
- 34. The method of claim 27 wherein the printhead comprises at least 2000 drop generators.
- 35. The method of claim 27 wherein M is at most 16.
- 36. The method of claim 27 wherein N is at least 100.
- 37. The method of claim 27 the printing of ink drops from each primitive occurs at an ink drop rate above approximately 18 Khz.
- 38. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
feeding ink to each drop generator in a first column of drop generators and a second column of drop generators from a first ink feed slot formed in a substrate.
- 39. The method of claim 38 further comprising:
feeding ink to each drop generator in a third column of drop generators and a fourth column of drop generators from a second ink feed slot formed in the substrate.
- 40. The method of claim 38 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within the first column of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the second column of drop generators.
- 41. The method of claim 39 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within the first and second columns of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the third and fourth columns of drop generators.
- 42. The method of claim 38 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within each column of drop generators have a vertical pitch of at least approximately 600 nozzles per inch.
- 43. The method of claim 42 wherein nozzles within the first column of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the second column of drop generators by approximately {fraction (1/1200)} inch.
- 44. The method of claim 39 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and nozzles within each column of drop generators have a vertical pitch of at least approximately 600 nozzles per inch, and wherein nozzles within the first and second columns of drop generators are vertically offset from nozzles within the third and fourth columns of drop generators by approximately {fraction (1/2400)} inch.
- 45. The method of claim 38 wherein each drop generator includes a nozzle, and wherein the nozzles within each column of drop generators are staggered horizontally along a scan axis.
- 46. The method of claim 45 wherein each drop generator includes a firing resistor, and wherein a total scan axis stagger from an innermost firing resistor in each column of drop generators to an outermost firing resistor in each column of drop generators is approximately 19.4 micrometers.
- 47. The method of claim 27, wherein each drop generator includes a firing resistor and the method further comprises:
providing an internal power supply path; providing an offset voltage from the internal power supply path voltage; and coupling a selected firing resister between the internal power supply path and the offset voltage to thereby permit electrical current to pass through the selected firing resister to cause a corresponding selected drop generator to fire.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Non-Provisional Patent Application is related to the following commonly assigned U.S. patent applications: Ser. No. 09/253,411, filed on Feb. 19, 1999, entitled “A HIGH PERFORMANCE PRINTING SYSTEM AND PROTOCOL,” with Attorney Docket No. 10990391-1; Ser. No. 09/798,330, filed on Mar. 2, 2001, entitled “PROGRAMMABLE NOZZLE FIRING ORDER FOR INKJET PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY,” with Attorney Docket No. 10991450-1; Ser. No. 09/808,763, filed on Mar. 15, 2001, entitled “INTEGRATED CONTROL OF POWER DELIVERY TO FIRING RESISTORS FOR INKJET PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY,” with Attorney Docket No. 10992120-1; Ser. No. 09/876,470, filed on Jun. 6, 2001, entitled “PRINTHEAD WITH HIGH NOZZLE PACKING DENSITY,” with Attorney Docket No. 10006161-1; and Ser. No. XX/XXX,XXX filed on MM/DD/YY, entitled “INKJET PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY HAVING VERY HIGH NOZZLE PACKING DENSITY” with Attorney Docket No. 10018681-1, all of which are herein incorporated by reference. This Non-Provisional patent application is also related to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,345, which is herein incorporated by reference.