Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Shoji Arai

Sumio Maekawa

Keizaburo Kuramasu

Izumi Okamoto

Shige Kuninobu

Masayoshi Mihata

A thermal recording head and system including a plurality of heating elements ranged in one line, wherein N groups of heating elements are sequentially selected to be actuated by selecting a respective one of every N number of adjacent heating elements in order for N times of divisional recording for one line.

Thermal recording head having group-wise actuable heating elements

An improved thermal head for thermal recording includes an array of a plurality of heat generator elements arranged in a direction first, and a plurality of semiconductor chips each thereof including a plurality of transistors for selectively energizing the plural heat generator elements. An array of electrode terminals including the individual electrode terminals of the plurality of transistors each thereof being connected to one electrode of each of the plurality of heat generator elements are formed on one of the major surfaces of each of the semiconductor chips in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction of the heat generator element array. The thermal head further comprises a flexible film associated with each of the semiconductor chips and having a slot or recess surrounding the electrode terminal array. One of the major surfaces of the flexible film is placed on the major surface of the semiconductor chip on which the electrode terminal array is disposed, and a plurality of leads having one end thereof connected respectively to the electrode terminals are disposed on the other major surface of the flexible film substantially in parallel with the heat generator element array. By virtue of the above structure, the thermal head is suitable for thermal recording with a high recording density and can be manufactured at a low cost.

Thermal recording head

A very compact thermal printing head which may be manufactured at low cost is proposed. The thermal printing head integrally comprises a given multiple of heaters formed in an array, and a plurality of semiconductor devices each having at least a plurality of transistors which are respectively connected to heaters and a shift register which transfers an image signal for selectively switching the plurality of transistors. Straight lead wires are used to connect the semiconductor devices and the heaters, and L-shaped or inverted L-shaped lead wires are used to connect the semiconductor devices and a set of multi-layer wiring conductors having terminal mount portions of the head. These straight and L-shaped (or inverted L-shaped) lead wires are respectively supported on electrically insulating flexible films obtained by the TAB (tape automated bonding) method.

Thermal printing head

A thermal printing head having a substrate and a resistive element formed on the substrate wherein said resistive element is a thin layer which is composed of an electrically conducting material and an electrically insulating material. This thermal printing head has a high heat-resistivity, so that it may be used at a high temperature or for high speed printing.

A semiconducting silicon device includes a semiconductor silicon substrate having a diffused layer and a silicon oxide film, a multi-layered electrode provided on the silicon oxide film and in contact with the diffused layer. The multi-layered electrode comprises Ti or Mo as first layer of electrode material and Ni as a second layer.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Shoji Arai