Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Corporation

Kit C Baughman

Paul H McClelland

Neal W Meyer

Kenneth E Trueba

Ellen R Tappon

Jeffrey A Kahn

Douglas A Sexton

Donald L Michael

Arun K Agarwal

Jennifer M Korngiebel

Harold Lee Van Nice

Gerald E Heppell

Salim Khasawinah

Lee Van Nice

Marvin Glenn Wong

Moses Mekala David

Ronald Albert Askeland

Qin Liu

Rui Yang

Matthew David Giere

Noah C Lassar

Satya Prakash

Marzio A Leban

Eldurkar V Bhaskar

Donald J Coulman

James R White

Thach G Troung

A novel polymeric orifice plate for a printhead. The plate includes a recess in the top surface thereof which terminates at a position between the top and bottom plate surfaces. The recess communicates with a bore which passes through the remainder of the plate and terminates at the bottom surface. The recess has an upper end with a first opening therein, a lower end with a second opening therein, a side wall, and a bottom wall at the lower end The first opening is larger than the second opening. Application of physical force to the plate does not disturb the second opening in the recess which is &ldquo;inset&rdquo;. The recessed bottom wall (and possibly the top surface) of the plate may include at least one layer of coating material thereon for protective, wettability-control, and other purposes. These designs insure proper ink drop trajectory and high-quality image generation.

High efficiency orifice plate structure and printhead using the same

A high-durability printhead for an ink cartridge printing system. The printhead includes a substrate having ink ejectors (e.g. resistors) thereon and an orifice plate positioned above the substrate. The orifice plate has a top surface, bottom surface, and a plurality of openings therethrough. The orifice plate is optimally produced from a non-metallic organic polymeric composition. To improve the durability, heat-stability, and ink resistance of the printhead, an intermediate layer manufactured from a thermoplastic polyimide is employed between the orifice plate and the ink ejector-containing substrate. This particular system generally improves the structural integrity of the printhead and provides longer cartridge life.

High durability polymide-containing printhead system and method for making the same

A high-durability printhead for an ink cartridge printing system. The printhead includes a substrate having ink ejectors (e.g. resistors) thereon and an orifice plate positioned above the substrate. The orifice plate (which preferably involves a non-metallic polymer film) has a top surface, bottom surface and a plurality of openings therethrough. To improve the durability of the orifice plate, a protective coating is applied to the top surface and/or the bottom surface of the plate. Representative coatings involve dielectric compositions (including diamond-like carbon) or at least one layer of metal. This approach improves the abrasion and deformation resistance of the plate and avoids 'ruffling' and 'dimpling' problems.

Printhead structure and method for producing the same

A pagewide printhead for an inkjet printer employs a stretch-to-fit flex circuit with orifices indexed to reference indentations on the flex circuit. Heater resistors disposed on a block of thermally stable insulating material are indexed to reference features accurately located on the block. The reference indentations are fitted to the reference indentations to provide accurate registration of the orifices to the heater resistors.

Large area inkjet printhead

Components of the printing device are attached by a process employing thermo-compressive welding. The process results in a unitary, graded interface between the attached components and eliminates the need for applying thermal-cure adhesives to secure the components.

Assembly of printing devices using thermo-compressive welding

A novel polymeric orifice plate for a printhead. The plate includes a recess in the top surface thereof which terminates at a position between the top and bottom plate surfaces. The recess communicates with a bore which passes through the remainder of the plate and terminates at the bottom surface thereof. The recess has an upper end with a first opening therein, a lower end with a second opening therein, and a side wall which is preferably oriented at a right angle relative to the top surface of the plate. The recess may also have a bottom wall at the lower end. The first opening is larger than the second opening. The application of physical force to the plate does not disturb the second opening in the recess which is 'inset' and protected. This design insures proper ink drop trajectory and the generation of high-quality printed images.

A high-durability printhead for an ink cartridge printing system includes a substrate having ink ejectors (e.g. resistors) thereon and an orifice plate positioned above the substrate. The orifice plate (which preferably involves a non-metallic polymer film) has a top surface, bottom surface and a plurality of openings therethrough. To improve the durability of the orifice plate, a protective coating is applied to the top surface and/or the bottom surface of the plate. Representative coatings involve dielectric compositions (including diamond-like carbon) or at least one layer of metal. This approach improves the abrasion and deformation resistance of the plate and avoids 'dimpling' problems. Likewise, an intermediate barrier layer of diamond-like carbon is used between the orifice plate and the substrate. As result, an additional level of structural integrity is imparted to the orifice plate and printhead.

Printhead for an inkjet cartridge and method for producing the same

A printhead for an inkjet printer employs an ink fill slot having an extended portion disposed as a depression on the primary surface of the printhead substrate. The barrier layer of the printhead forms the walls of the ink ejection chambers, the walls of and constrictions in the ink fill channels, and the contoured barrier lobes between the ink fill channels. The extended portion of the ink fill slot follows the contour of the barrier lobes such that the length of the substrate shelf between the ink fill channel constriction and the extended portion of the ink fill slot is equalized between ink ejection chambers.

Inkjet printer printhead having equalized shelf length

An ink fill slot can be precisely manufactured in a substrate utilizing photolithographic techniques with chemical etching, plasma etching, or a combination thereof. These methods may be used in conjunction with laser ablation, mechanical abrasion, or electromechanical machining to remove additional substrate material in desired areas. The ink fill slots are appropriately configured to provide the requisite volume of ink at increasingly higher frequency of operation of the printhead by means of an extended portion that results in a reduced shelf length and thus reduced fluid impedance imparted to the ink. The extended portion is precisely etched to controllably align it with other elements of the printhead.

Fabrication of ink fill slots in thermal ink-jet printheads utilizing

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Corvallis, OR, United States of America

Kit C Baughman