The present invention generally relates to inkjet printheads. More particularly, the present invention relates to low-profile inkjet printheads having a contact circuit disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation, such as on a top face of the printhead.
Inkjet printing is a conventional technique by which printing is normally accomplished without contact between the printing apparatus and the substrate, or medium, on which the desired print characters are deposited. Conventional inkjet printing devices such as a fax, printer, photo-printer, all-in-one device, plotter, or any other device incorporating inkjet printing technology typically include one or more printheads in which ink is stored. Such printheads generally are placed within a movable print carriage of the inkjet device. An image is produced by emitting ink drops from an inkjet printhead at precise moments such that they impact a print medium at a desired location. A microprocessor or other controller causes the carriage to reciprocate relative to an advancing print medium and the printhead to emit ink drops at such times corresponding to a pattern of pixels of the image being printed. Such printing is accomplished by ejecting ink from the inkjet printhead of the printing device via numerous methods which employ, for example, pressurized nozzles, electrostatic fields, piezo-electric elements and/or heaters for vapor phase bubble formation.
By way of example, in a thermal inkjet printhead, the ink drops are ejected from individual nozzles by localized heating. The thermal inkjet printhead includes access to a local or remote supply of color or mono ink, a heater chip, a nozzle or orifice plate attached to the heater chip, and a contact circuit in electrical communication with the heater chip. This contact circuit is configured to electrically connect the heater chip to the external device (i.e. a printer) during use. It generally includes input/output connectors (i.e., contacts) that mate with corresponding input/output connectors located on the printer carriage to form an electrical connection between the heater chip and printer. In general, the contact circuit and heater chip comprise a tape automated bond (“TAB”) circuit that is attached to the printhead such that the contact circuit is bonded to a side wall of the printhead such that input/output connectors of the printhead are in a vertical orientation and the heater chip is bonded to a portion of a bottom face of the printhead.
To install these printheads, a user generally must push the printhead into the carriage and then either snap the printhead upward or downward into its locked position within the carriage. When the printhead is properly installed, its vertical input/output connectors mate and form an electrical connection with the vertical input/output connectors of the printer carriage. However, due to the multiple direction movement required to connect conventional printheads to a carriage, users are many times unable to completely and properly form the necessary vertical pressure contact connection, thus causing improper printing. It is desirable to have an improved pressure contact electrical connection.
Due to the area required for the contact circuit (in order to provide sufficient electrical contact) and the placement of the contact circuit on the printhead's vertical side face, conventional printheads have had relatively large height profiles. This height profile has limited manufacturers' ability to decrease the height of printers (i.e. minimum printer height was constrained by height of printhead). In addition, this additional height (i.e., additional materials) of the printhead and printer increases the costs to make the printheads and printers due to the additional materials. Also, the additional height increases the weight of the printhead and printer, thus increasing the packaging and shipping costs.
The printheads have a high center of gravity, which requires printer manufacturers to place limits on the speed of the printer carriage and the number of printheads that can be placed in the carriage in order to prevent printer instability at higher carriage speeds. Limiting the number of printheads has prevented manufacturers from providing more printhead and color combination options. Accordingly, there is a need for improved inkjet printheads.
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to address and obviate problems and shortcomings and otherwise improve previous inkjet printheads.
One exemplary embodiment of the present invention is an inkjet printhead. The inkjet printhead comprises a housing and an ink ejection device attached to the housing. A contact circuit is attached to the housing in a substantially horizontal orientation and is in communication with the ink ejection device. The contact circuit is configured to connect the ink ejection device to an external device.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a low-profile inkjet printhead. The low-profile inkjet printhead comprises a housing having a top face, at least one side face and a bottom face. A tape automated bond circuit is attached to the housing. The tape automated bond circuit comprises a substantially horizontal contact circuit, an ink ejection device and a plurality of traces connecting the contact circuit to the ink ejection device. An ink nozzle assembly is affixed to the ink ejection device and an ink reservoir is disposed within the housing. The ink reservoir is in fluid communication with the nozzle assembly.
Yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is an inkjet printhead. The inkjet printhead comprises a housing and a tape automated bond circuit. The tape automated bond circuit has a contact circuit and an ink ejection device in communication with the contact circuit. The inkjet printhead defines a vertical height of less than about 20 mm.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the invention, it is believed the same will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative in nature and not intended to be limiting of the invention defined by the claims. Moreover, individual features of the drawings and the invention will be more fully apparent and understood in view of the detailed description.
Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals indicate similar elements throughout the views.
An improved inkjet printhead, more particularly a low-profile inkjet printhead having a contact circuit disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation is disclosed. Referring to
In addition, housing 12 may contain an ink reservoir for holding an initial or refillable supply of ink for controlled dispense upon a printing medium. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term “ink” may refer to at least one of inks, dyes, stains, pigments, colorants, tints, a combination thereof, and any other material known to one of ordinary skill in the art that can be used by an inkjet printing apparatus to print matter upon a print medium. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term “print medium” may refer to at least one of paper (including without limitation stock paper, stationary, tissue paper, homemade paper, and the like), film, tape, photo paper, a combination thereof, and any other medium upon which material can be printed by an inkjet printing apparatus.
The reservoir may include a single chamber that holds a supply of ink or multiple chambers that hold either a single or multiple colors of ink (e.g., three separate supplies of cyan, magenta and yellow ink). In addition, printhead 10 may include a receptacle (not shown) configured to receive a replaceable ink cartridge that fluidly connects to the ink reservoir to supply ink to this reservoir.
As shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, the ink retaining medium 28 is located to be in fluid communication with one or more elements supplying ink to the ink retaining medium and/or one or more elements drawing ink from ink retaining medium 28. In addition, printhead 10 may include a wick 29 that controls the flow of ink from first chamber 20a to second chamber 20b through passage 24. Wick 29 may include any material or combinations of materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art capable of retaining fluid by capillary action, including without limitation artificial or natural sponge, foam, felt, and the like. Such a wick 29 is shown and described in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/018,025 titled “Bridging Wick and Method For An Inkjet Printhead and herein incorporated by reference.
Printhead 10 may also include a filter tower 25 fluidly connected to chamber 20b and positioned just below such chamber. Any conventional filter tower may be used in conjunction with the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Such filter tower may assist in the controlled dispense of the ink from the reservoir.
In addition, housing 12 may include a refill port 26 fluidly connected to the reservoir (e.g., first chamber 20a). Such refill port may be configured to fluidly connect the reservoir to a local or remote ink tank (not shown) to allow the reservoir to be refilled with ink. In one exemplary embodiment, refill port 26 may be fluidly connected to a feed tube that is connected to the remote tank to provide a constant supply of ink to printhead 10. In still another embodiment, printhead 10 is moved under a refill tank such that refill port 26 connects with a mating port (not shown) located on the refill tank (not shown) to provide refill supply of ink.
Still referring to
in another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, contact circuit 40 may include a plurality of substantially horizontal input/output connectors 42 for electrically connecting heater chip 50 to an external device (e.g., a printer, fax machine, etc.) during use. Contact circuit, as used herein, defines a circuit that includes one or more flat-surface connectors or contacts that form an electrical connection when pressed and held together (i.e., in pressure contact) with corresponding flat-surface connectors. In the exemplary embodiment shown in
When a user installs the printhead, due to the horizontal orientation of the contact circuit, the user only needs to perform a single-direction movement to lock the printhead in place on a carriage of the external device. Such a single-direction locking movement provides a simpler and more consistent electrical connection during installation. In addition, the horizontal pressure contact circuit (i.e., 40)-to-contact circuit (of external device 60) connection provides for an improved electrical connection during operation of the external device and thus improved printing. However, due to the single-direction movement, an user may have a tendency to exert to much force to lock the printhead into the carnage of the external device, thus causing damage to contact circuit 40. To protect the circuit from this excessive force, housing 12 may include a contact circuit guard 19 affixed to top face 14 of housing 12. Such a guard may comprise a resilient material with sufficient rigidity to prevent the user from pressing together contact circuit 40 and its mating circuit on the external device together to such an extent that either one or both are damaged.
Electrical traces 32 exist on TAB circuit 30 to electrically connect and short input/output connectors 42 to input terminals (i.e., bond pads 52, discussed later) of heater chip 50. For illustration purposes only, and not limitation, only eight input/output connectors 42, eight electrical traces 32, and eight bond pads 52 have been shown. However, it is understood that any number of connectors, traces, and bond pads, including unequal numbers, may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, connectors 42 and bond pads 52 may be configured in any number of arrangements known to one of ordinary skill in the art such as staggered array groups, linear arrangements, stair-step profiles, or other relative relationships.
Printhead 10 may include one or more heater chips affixed to any portion of housing 12. As shown in
As mentioned above, heater chip 50 may include any number of input terminals, (i.e., bond pads 52) that electrically connect input/output connectors 42 of contact circuit 40 to resistive heater elements or thin film resistors (hereinafter, “heaters”). Heater chip 50 may contain any number of rows of these heaters. As shown in
In still another exemplary embodiment, contact circuit 40 and heater chip 50 may be separate devices separately affixed to housing 12 but not part of a TAB circuit. However, both would still be in electrical communication with one another via some type of electrical connection (e.g., wires or traces). In this alternative exemplary embodiment, contact circuit 40 may be affixed to housing 12 in a substantially horizontal orientation (e.g., bonded to top face 14 of housing 12).
Referring to
A nozzle assembly (not shown) such as a nozzle or orifice plate may be affixed to heater chip 50. Such a nozzle assembly may include orifices thereof aligned with each of the heaters to project the ink during use. The nozzle plate may be attached with an adhesive or epoxy or may be fabricated as a thin-film layer. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, that any known or yet-to-be discovered heater chip and nozzle assembly may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. A few exemplary heater chips and nozzle assemblies that may be used with the present invention are shown and described in the following commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,871 to Edelen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,941 to Bell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,869 to Patil; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,805 to Patil, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
With reference to
While in the print zone, the carriage 62 reciprocates in the Reciprocating Direction generally perpendicular to the paper 72 being advanced in the Advance Direction as shown by the arrows. Ink drops from the reservoir (i.e., second chamber 20b,
To print or emit a single drop of ink, the heaters (i.e., the dots of rows A-D,
Another advantage of having the contact circuit mounted on a substantially horizontal top face of the printhead is that two printheads may be mounted to a carrier housing such that the print swath (i.e., the print width capable in one sweep of the carrier housing) is increased without interfering with the carrier guide rod of the printer or requiring a complex carrier housing and flex cable configuration. Conventionally, in order to increase the print swath, the carrier housing has been modified to offset both the printhead and the heater chip, creating an expensive and complex carrier housing and flex cable configuration. In addition, since the printheads are not aligned, the printhead volume that must be moved during the sweep of the carrier housing is increased. The exemplary embodiment shown in
The foregoing description of the various embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the an of the above teaching. For example, the printhead in accordance with the present invention may include a contact circuit 40 affixed to bottom face 16 of housing 12 in a substantially horizontal orientation. While the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein incorporate thermal inkjet printhead technology, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art the present invention may be employed in inkjet printheads which employ other technologies such as pressurized nozzles, electrostatic fields and/or piezo-electric elements. Accordingly, while some of the alternative embodiments of printheads have been discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent or relatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this invention is intended to embrace all alternatives, modifications and variations that have been discussed herein, and others that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the claims.
Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §1.78, this application is a divisional and claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of application Ser. No. 11/096,585 filed Apr. 1, 2005 now abandoned entitled “Low Profile Printhead.”
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5016023 | Chan et al. | May 1991 | A |
5600354 | Hackleman et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
5847734 | Pawlowski, Jr. | Dec 1998 | A |
5969729 | Erickson et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
6068367 | Fabbri | May 2000 | A |
6394580 | Scheffelin et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
6450617 | Kitani et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6471335 | Gelbart | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6543887 | Chang et al. | Apr 2003 | B2 |
6755513 | Silverbrook et al. | Jun 2004 | B1 |
6789871 | Edelen et al. | Sep 2004 | B2 |
20030128254 | Ison et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20030184618 | Childers et al. | Oct 2003 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
581297 | Feb 1994 | EP |
05004339 | Jan 1993 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20090153616 A1 | Jun 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11096585 | Apr 2005 | US |
Child | 12336117 | US |