Patent Grant
8091985
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application:
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference.
The present invention relates to printed media production and in particular ink jet printers.
Ink jet printers are a well known and widely used form of printed media production. Colorants, usually ink, are fed to an array of micro-processor controlled nozzles on a printhead. As the print head passes over the media, colorant is ejected from the array of nozzles to produce the printing on the media substrate.
Printer performance depends on factors such as operating cost, print quality, operating speed and ease of use. The mass, frequency and velocity of individual ink drops ejected from the nozzles will affect these performance parameters. In general terms, smaller, faster droplets ejected at higher frequency provide cost, speed and print quality advantages.
In light of this, it has been an overriding aim of printhead design to reduce the size of the ink nozzles and thereby the size of the droplets ejected. Recently, the array of nozzles has been formed using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, which have mechanical structures with sub-micron thicknesses. This allows the production of printheads that can rapidly eject ink droplets sized in the picoliter (×10−12 liter) range.
While the microscopic structures of these printheads can provide high speeds and good print quality at relatively low costs, their size makes the nozzles extremely fragile and vulnerable to damage from the slightest contact with finger, dust or the media substrate. This can make the printheads impractical for many applications where a certain level of robustness is necessary.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a nozzle guard for an ink jet printer printhead with an array of nozzles and respective colorant ejection means for ejecting colorant onto a substrate to be printed, wherein the nozzle guard is adapted to be positioned to inhibit damaging contact with the exterior of the array of nozzles.
In this specification the term “nozzle” is to be understood as an element defining an opening and not the opening itself.
Preferably, the nozzle guard has a shield covering the exterior of the nozzles wherein the shield has an array of passages in registration with the array of nozzles so as not to impede the normal trajectory of the colorant ejected from each nozzle. In a further preferred form, the shield is formed from silicon.
The nozzle guard may further include fluid inlet openings for directing fluid through the passages, to inhibit the build up of foreign particles on the nozzle array.
The nozzle guard may include a support means for supporting the nozzle shield on the printhead. The support means may be formed integrally with the shield, the support means comprising a pair of spaced support elements one being arranged at each end of the nozzle shield.
In this embodiment, the fluid inlet openings may be arranged in one of the support elements.
It will be appreciated that, when air is directed through the openings, over the nozzle array and out through the passages, the build up of foreign particles on the nozzle array is inhibited.
The fluid inlet openings may be arranged in the support element remote from a bond pad of the nozzle array.
The invention extends also to a printhead for an ink jet printer, the printhead including:
an array of nozzles and respective colorant ejection means for ejecting colorant onto a media substrate to be printed; and,
By providing a nozzle guard on the printhead, the nozzle structures can be protected from being touched or bumped against most other surfaces. To optimize the protection provided, the guard forms a flat shield covering the exterior side of the nozzles wherein the shield has an array of passages big enough to allow the ejection of colorant droplets but small enough to prevent inadvertant contact or the ingress of most dust particles. By forming the shield from silicon, its coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matches that of the nozzle array. This will help to prevent the array of passages in the shield from falling out of register with the nozzle array. Using silicon also allows the shield to be accurately micro-machined using MEMS techniques. Furthermore, silicon is very strong and substantially non deformable.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:—
Referring initially to
The assembly 10 includes a silicon substrate or wafer 16 on which a dielectric layer 18 is deposited. A CMOS passivation layer 20 is deposited on the dielectric layer 18.
Each nozzle assembly 10 includes a nozzle 22 defining a nozzle opening 24, a connecting member in the form of a lever arm 26 and an actuator 28. The lever arm 26 connects the actuator 28 to the nozzle 22.
As shown in greater detail in
An ink inlet aperture 42 (shown most clearly in
A wall portion 50 bounds the aperture 42 and extends upwardly from the floor portion 46. The skirt portion 32, as indicated above, of the nozzle 22 defines a first part of a peripheral wall of the nozzle chamber 34 and the wall portion 50 defines a second part of the peripheral wall of the nozzle chamber 34.
The wall 50 has an inwardly directed lip 52 at its free end which serves as a fluidic seal which inhibits the escape of ink when the nozzle 22 is displaced, as will be described in greater detail below. It will be appreciated that, due to the viscosity of the ink 40 and the small dimensions of the spacing between the lip 52 and the skirt portion 32, the inwardly directed lip 52 and surface tension function as an effective seal for inhibiting the escape of ink from the nozzle chamber 34.
The actuator 28 is a thermal bend actuator and is connected to an anchor 54 extending upwardly from the substrate 16 or, more particularly from the CMOS passivation layer 20. The anchor 54 is mounted on conductive pads 56 which form an electrical connection with the actuator 28.
The actuator 28 comprises a first, active beam 58 arranged above a second, passive beam 60. In a preferred embodiment, both beams 58 and 60 are of, or include, a conductive ceramic material such as titanium nitride (TiN).
Both beams 58 and 60 have their first ends anchored to the anchor 54 and their opposed ends connected to the arm 26. When a current is caused to flow through the active beam 58 thermal expansion of the beam 58 results. As the passive beam 60, through which there is no current flow, does not expand at the same rate, a bending moment is created causing the arm 26 and, hence, the nozzle 22 to be displaced downwardly towards the substrate 16 as shown in
Referring now to
To facilitate close packing of the nozzle assemblies 10 in the rows 72 and 74, the nozzle assemblies 10 in the row 74 are offset or staggered with respect to the nozzle assemblies 10 in the row 72. Also, the nozzle assemblies 10 in the row 72 are spaced apart sufficiently far from each other to enable the lever arms 26 of the nozzle assemblies 10 in the row 74 to pass between adjacent nozzles 22 of the assemblies 10 in the row 72. It is to be noted that each nozzle assembly 10 is substantially dumbbell shaped so that the nozzles 22 in the row 72 nest between the nozzles 22 and the actuators 28 of adjacent nozzle assemblies 10 in the row 74.
Further, to facilitate close packing of the nozzles 22 in the rows 72 and 74, each nozzle 22 is substantially hexagonally shaped.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, when the nozzles 22 are displaced towards the substrate 16, in use, due to the nozzle opening 24 being at a slight angle with respect to the nozzle chamber 34 ink is ejected slightly off the perpendicular. It is an advantage of the arrangement shown in
Also, as shown in
Referring to
A nozzle guard 80 is mounted on the silicon substrate 16 of the array 14. The nozzle guard 80 includes a shield 82 having a plurality of passages 84 defined therethrough. The passages 84 are in register with the nozzle openings 24 of the nozzle assemblies 10 of the array 14 such that, when ink is ejected from any one of the nozzle openings 24, the ink passes through the associated passage before striking the print media.
The guard 80 is silicon so that it has the necessary strength and rigidity to protect the nozzle array 14 from damaging contact with paper, dust or the users' fingers. By forming the guard from silicon, its coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matches that of the nozzle array. This aims to prevent the passages 84 in the shield 82 from falling out of register with the nozzle array 14 as the printhead heats up to its normal operating temperature. Silicon is also well suited to accurate micro-machining using MEMS techniques discussed in greater detail below in relation to the manufacture of the nozzle assemblies 10.
The shield 82 is mounted in spaced relationship relative to the nozzle assemblies 10 by limbs or struts 86. One of the struts 86 has air inlet openings 88 defined therein.
In use, when the array 14 is in operation, air is charged through the inlet openings 88 to be forced through the passages 84 together with ink travelling through the passages 84.
The ink is not entrained in the air as the air is charged through the passages 84 at a different velocity from that of the ink droplets 64. For example, the ink droplets 64 are ejected from the nozzles 22 at a velocity of approximately 3 m/s. The air is charged through the passages 84 at a velocity of approximately 1 m/s.
The purpose of the air is to maintain the passages 84 clear of foreign particles. A danger exists that these foreign particles, such as dust particles, could fall onto the nozzle assemblies 10 adversely affecting their operation. With the provision of the air inlet openings 88 in the nozzle guard 80 this problem is, to a large extent, obviated.
Referring now to
Starting with the silicon substrate or wafer 16, the dielectric layer 18 is deposited on a surface of the wafer 16. The dielectric layer 18 is in the form of approximately 1.5 microns of CVD oxide. Resist is spun on to the layer 18 and the layer 18 is exposed to mask 100 and is subsequently developed.
After being developed, the layer 18 is plasma etched down to the silicon layer 16. The resist is then stripped and the layer 18 is cleaned. This step defines the ink inlet aperture 42.
In
Approximately 0.5 microns of PECVD nitride is deposited as the CMOS passivation layer 20. Resist is spun on and the layer 20 is exposed to mask 106 whereafter it is developed. After development, the nitride is plasma etched down to the aluminum layer 102 and the silicon layer 16 in the region of the inlet aperture 42. The resist is stripped and the device cleaned.
A layer 108 of a sacrificial material is spun on to the layer 20. The layer 108 is 6 microns of photo-sensitive polyimide or approximately 4 μm of high temperature resist. The layer 108 is softbaked and is then exposed to mask 110 whereafter it is developed. The layer 108 is then hardbaked at 400° C. for one hour where the layer 108 is comprised of polyimide or at greater than 300° C. where the layer 108 is high temperature resist. It is to be noted in the drawings that the pattern-dependent distortion of the polyimide layer 108 caused by shrinkage is taken into account in the design of the mask 110.
In the next step, shown in
A 0.2 micron multi-layer metal layer 116 is then deposited. Part of this layer 116 forms the passive beam 60 of the actuator 28.
The layer 116 is formed by sputtering 1,000 Å of titanium nitride (TiN) at around 300° C. followed by sputtering 50 Å of tantalum nitride (TaN). A further 1,000 Å of TiN is sputtered on followed by 50 Å of TaN and a further 1,000 Å of TiN.
Other materials which can be used instead of TiN are TiB2, MoSi2 or (Ti, Al)N.
The layer 116 is then exposed to mask 118, developed and plasma etched down to the layer 112 whereafter resist, applied for the layer 116, is wet stripped taking care not to remove the cured layers 108 or 112.
A third sacrificial layer 120 is applied by spinning on 4 μm of photo-sensitive polyimide or approximately 2.6 μm high temperature resist. The layer 120 is softbaked whereafter it is exposed to mask 122. The exposed layer is then developed followed by hard baking. In the case of polyimide, the layer 120 is hardbaked at 400° C. for approximately one hour or at greater than 300° C. where the layer 120 comprises resist.
A second multi-layer metal layer 124 is applied to the layer 120. The constituents of the layer 124 are the same as the layer 116 and are applied in the same manner. It will be appreciated that both layers 116 and 124 are electrically conductive layers.
The layer 124 is exposed to mask 126 and is then developed. The layer 124 is plasma etched down to the polyimide or resist layer 120 whereafter resist applied for the layer 124 is wet stripped taking care not to remove the cured layers 108, 112 or 120. It will be noted that the remaining part of the layer 124 defines the active beam 58 of the actuator 28.
A fourth sacrificial layer 128 is applied by spinning on 4 μm of photo-sensitive polyimide or approximately 2.6 μm of high temperature resist. The layer 128 is softbaked, exposed to the mask 130 and is then developed to leave the island portions as shown in
As shown in
A fifth sacrificial layer 134 is applied by spinning on 2 μm of photo-sensitive polyimide or approximately 1.3 μm of high temperature resist. The layer 134 is softbaked, exposed to mask 136 and developed. The remaining portion of the layer 134 is then hardbaked at 400° C. for one hour in the case of the polyimide or at greater than 300° C. for the resist.
The dielectric layer 132 is plasma etched down to the sacrificial layer 128 taking care not to remove any of the sacrificial layer 134.
This step defines the nozzle opening 24, the lever arm 26 and the anchor 54 of the nozzle assembly 10.
A high Young's modulus dielectric layer 138 is deposited. This layer 138 is formed by depositing 0.2 μm of silicon nitride or aluminum nitride at a temperature below the hardbaked temperature of the sacrificial layers 108, 112, 120 and 128.
Then, as shown in
An ultraviolet (UV) release tape 140 is applied. 4 μm of resist is spun on to a rear of the silicon wafer 16. The wafer 16 is exposed to mask 142 to back etch the wafer 16 to define the ink inlet channel 48. The resist is then stripped from the wafer 16.
A further UV release tape (not shown) is applied to a rear of the wafer 16 and the tape 140 is removed. The sacrificial layers 108, 112, 120, 128 and 134 are stripped in oxygen plasma to provide the final nozzle assembly 10 as shown in
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
This is a Continuation of Ser. No. 11/945,169 filed Nov. 26, 2007, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,891,769, which is a Continuation of Ser. No. 11/038,200 filed on Jan. 21, 2005, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,689, which is a Continuation of Ser. No. 09/693,135 filed on Oct. 20, 2000 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,825, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20110090287 A1 | Apr 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11945169 | Nov 2007 | US |
| Child | 12980189 | US | |
| Parent | 11038200 | Jan 2005 | US |
| Child | 11945169 | US | |
| Parent | 09693135 | Oct 2000 | US |
| Child | 11038200 | US |
