Hewlett-Packard Company

Lee Van Nice

Donald L Michael

Neal W Meyer

Kit C Baughman

Gerald E Heppell

Moses Mekala David

Rui Yang

James R White

Thach G Troung

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 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

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Corvallis, OR, United States of America

Lee Van Nice