Xerox Corporation

John C Ackerman

Nicholas J Salatino

A method for dicing small devices including MEMS, ink jet printheads, lasers etc. The method comprises making a first pass cut into a substrate with a blade of narrow kerf and having long wear characteristics. This first pass cut is then followed with a polishing blade of wider kerf having desirable smooth cutting qualities.

Method for dicing of micro devices

A self cleaning wiper blade cleaning system has at least one polyurethane wiping blade releasably mounted in a slot on a planar surface of a fixed structural member. A front end of the mounted blade wipes the nozzle face of the printhead as it enters and leaves a priming station to maintain the printhead nozzle face clear of ink and other debris. The ink which is removed from the printhead nozzle face by the edge of the wiper blade is drawn away therefrom by capillary action of small grooves cut in the wiper blade. The grooves have one end in contact with an absorbent pad provided at a bottom edge of the wiper blade and the other end of the slot is adjacent but spaced a predetermined distance from the front edge of the wiper blade. The capillary action of the grooves provide continuous removal of the ink from the vicinity of cleaning edge of the wiper blade, obviating the need of a separate system to clean the wiper blades. The grooves are so small that the beam strength and thus the cleaning force of the wiper blade is not significantly affected.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

John C Ackerman