Claims
- 1. A microfluidic printing apparatus for transferring ink to a receiver comprising:
- a) at least one ink reservoir;
- b) a plurality of delivery chambers each for forming an ink pixel, and a plurality of microchannels each connecting the reservoir to each said chamber;
- c) a plurality of electrokinetic pumps each being associated with each said microchannel for supplying ink to a particular delivery chamber;
- d) a plurality of microvalves each associated with each microchannel and moveable between two positions for blocking and permitting the flow of ink from the associated microchannel into its associated delivery chamber to regulate the ink flow into the delivery chambers; and
- e) control means for controlling the electrokinetic pumps and microvalves for causing a correct amount of ink to be conveyed into each delivery chamber.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each microvalve includes a micro-shutter which is moveable between ink blocking and unlocking positions and a microbeam which is operatively associated with the micro-shutter and effective in a first position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its blocking position and in a second position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its unlocked position and means for controlling the position of the microbeam to move the micro-shutter to a selected open position to regulate the amount of flow from the microchannel into the mixing chamber.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the microbeam controlling means includes a piezoelectric plate which, in response to an electrical signal, is effective to move the microshutter between its blocking and unblocking position.
- 4. A microfluidic printing apparatus for transferring ink to a receiver comprising:
- a) a plurality of ink reservoirs containing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, respectively;
- b) a plurality of ink mixing chambers each for applying a dot of mixed ink to the receiver and a plurality of microchannels each connecting each of the reservoirs to each said mixing chamber;
- c) a plurality of electrokinetic pumps each being associated with each single microchannel for supplying a particular ink into a particular mixing chamber;
- d) microvalves each associated with each microchannel and moveable between two positions for blocking and permitting the flow of ink from the associated microchannel into its associated mixing chamber to regulate the ink flow into the ink mixing chamber; and
- e) control means for controlling the electrokinetic pumps and microvalves for causing a correct amount of colored ink to be conveyed into each mixing chamber.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein each microvalve includes a micro-shutter which is moveable between ink blocking and unlocking positions and a microbeam which is operatively associated with the micro-shutter and effective in a first position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its blocking position and in a second position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its unlocked position and means for controlling the position of the microbeam to move the micro-shutter to a selected open position to regulate the amount of flow from the microchannel into the mixing chamber.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the microbeam controlling means includes a piezoelectric plate which, in response to an electrical signal, is effective to move the microshutter between its blocking and unblocking position.
- 7. A microfluidic printing apparatus for transferring ink to a receiver:
- a) a plurality of ink reservoirs containing cyan, magenta, yellow, and colorless inks, respectively;
- b) a plurality of ink mixing chambers each for applying a dot of mixed ink to the receiver and a plurality of microchannels each connecting each of the reservoirs to each said mixing chamber;
- c) a plurality of electrokinetic pumps each being associated with each single microchannel for supplying a particular ink into a particular mixing chamber;
- d) microvalves each associated with each microchannel and moveable between a blocking position and a plurality of unblocked positions permitting the flow of a selected amount of ink from an associated microchannel into its associated mixing chamber to regulate the ink flow into the ink mixing chamber; and
- e) control means including a microcomputer for controlling the electrokinetic pumps and microvalves for causing a correct amount of colored ink to be conveyed into each mixing chamber to thereby provide a continuous tone image.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein each microvalve includes a micro-shutter which is moveable between ink blocking and unblocking positions and a microbeam which is operatively associated with the micro-shutter and effective in a first position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its blocking position and in a second position for causing the micro-shutter to be in its unblocked position and means for controlling the position of the microbeam to move the micro-shutter to a selected open position to regulate the amount of flow from the microchannel into the mixing chamber.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the microbeam controlling means includes a piezoelectric plate which, in response to an electrical signal, is effective to move the microshutter between its blocking and unblocking position.
- 10. A method for microfluidic ink printing for transferring ink to a receiver comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a plurality of ink reservoirs containing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, respectively;
- b) providing a plurality of ink mixing chambers each for applying a dot of mixed ink to the receiver and a plurality of microchannels each connecting each of the reservoirs to each said mixing chamber;
- c) supplying ink by a plurality of electrokinetic pumps each being associated with each single microchannel into a particular ink into a particular mixing chamber;
- d) regulating the flow of ink from each microchannel into each mixing chamber from each microchannel; and
- e) controlling the electrokinetic pumps and regulation of ink flow for causing a correct amount of colored ink to be conveyed into each mixing chamber.
- 11. A method for microfluidic ink printing for transferring ink to a receiver comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a plurality of ink reservoirs containing cyan, magenta, yellow, and colorless inks, respectively;
- b) providing a plurality of ink mixing chambers each for applying a dot of mixed ink to the receiver and a plurality of microchannels each connecting each of the reservoirs to each said mixing chamber;
- c) supplying ink by a plurality of electrokinetic pumps each being associated with each single microchannel into a particular ink into a particular mixing chamber;
- d) regulating the flow of ink from each microchannel into each mixing chamber from each microchannel; and
- e) controlling the electrokinetic pumps and regulation of ink flow for causing a correct amount of colored ink to be applied into each mixing chamber to thereby produce a continuous tone image.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Reference is made to commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 08/868,426, filed concurrently herewith entitled "Continuous Tone Microfluidic Printing", by DeBoer, Fassler, and Wen. The disclosure of this related application is incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Dasgupta et al., "Electroosmosis: A Reliable Fluid Propulsion System for Flow Injection Analyses", Anal. Chem. 66, pp. 1792-1798 (1994). |