Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

The United States of America As Represented by the United States

William R Knight

Kenneth E Trueba

Jules G Moritz

Winthrop D Childers

Brian J Keefe

Steven Warren Steinfield

Kenneth J Courian

Ellen R Tappon

May F Ho

Terri I Chapman

Paul J Benning

Alexander N Govyadinov

Paul H McClelland

John R Moffatt

Naoto A Kawamura

James A Feinn

David R Thomas

Richard W Seaver

Timothy E Beerling

Michael John Regan

Colin C Davis

David J Waller

Huei-Pei Kuo

Ulrich E Hess

Paul F Reboa

Niels J Nielsen

Douglas N Paulson

John C Wheatley

Robert J Miller

Eldurkar V Bhaskar

Peter M Burke

Paul C Allen

Zen Kurokawa

Paul A Warkentin

Dominic R Cremona

Ge Wang

Ronald M Velichka

An electronic device of the invention includes a tip emitter formed in a well that is defined in a substrate. An extractor disposed about the well extracts emissions from the tip emitter. A wide lens focuses the emissions through its opening. The opening is sufficiently large and spaced far enough away to encompass the majority of a divergence angle of the emissions. The emissions are focused into a spot.

Electronic device with wide lens for small emission spot size

An electronic device of a preferred embodiment includes a tip emitter formed in a well defined in a substrate. An extractor disposed about the well extracts emissions from the tip emitter. A wide lens is spaced apart from the extractor for focusing the emissions through an opening defined the wide lens. The opening has a diameter greater than a diameter of the well. An aperture is disposed between the extractor and the wide lens.

Electronic device with aperture and wide lens for small emission spot size

An electron lens is used for focusing electrons from a cathode to an anode. The lens includes a first conductive layer with a first opening at a first distance from the cathode. The first conductive layer is held at a first voltage. The lens also includes a second conductive layer with a second opening at a second distance from the first conductive layer and a third distance from the anode. The second conductive layer is held at a second voltage substantially equal to the voltage of the anode. The first and second openings are chosen based on the first voltage, the second voltage, the first distance, the second distance and the third distance. The opening focuses the electrons emitted from the cathode onto the anode to a spot size preferably less than 40 nanometers. The force created between the cathode and anode is minimized by the structure of the lens.

Focusing lens for electron emitter with shield layer

An inkjet ink for printing onto a print medium is provided. The inkjet ink evidences minimal tail breakup and improved drop trajectory, thereby evidencing improved print quality. The minimal tail breakup and improved drop trajectory are achieved by adding at least one surface active additive to the ink to provide the ink with a surface tension of at least 35 dyne/cm and a contact angle (with an orifice plate comprising KAPTON, an aromatic polyimide) of about 35 to 65 degrees.

Inkjet ink having improved directionality by controlling surface tension and wetting properties

A printhead used to eject fluid onto a recording medium has an integrated heat-sink which is used to cool the energy dissipation elements used to propel the fluid from the printhead. The printhead is comprised of a semiconductor substrate that has been processed with thin-film layers. On top of the thin-film layers is an orifice layer that has a pattern of orifices. Fluid feed channels, on the side of the printhead opposite the orifice, supply fluid to the pattern of orifices. Within the thin-film layers are energy dissipating elements which are used to transfer energy to the fluid thereby ejecting fluid from the orifice. The fluid is transferred to the orifice opening through fluid feed slots formed in the thin-film layer adjacent to the energy dissipation elements which is exposed in the fluid feed channel. An integrated heat-sink is attached to the energy dissipation elements to remove heat to the semiconductor substrate and the fluid supply in the fluid feed channel.

Fluid jet printhead with integrated heat-sink

An ink jet printhead structure having a silicon carbide layer, an ink barrier layer disposed on the silicon carbide layer and respective ink chambers formed in the ink barrier layer over respective thin film resistors and adjacent the silicon carbide passivation layer, each chamber formed by a chamber opening in the ink barrier layer and a portion of the silicon carbide layer such that a silicon carbide surface fully extends across an area enclosed by the chamber opening, whereby a silicon carbide surface fully extends across the ink chamber. The ink chambers are more particularly configured to emit ink drops in the range of about 2 to 4 picoliters.

Non-kogating, low turn on energy thin film structure for very low drop

An inkjet printhead structure comprises novel resistor circuitry that is fabricated on two different substrate layers. The dual layer circuitry reduces the required substrate surface area and printhead shelf length to increase the printer operating frequency and print density. In one embodiment of the invention, heating resistors are spread out over portions of the substrate surface area and conductors are attached to opposite ends of the heater resistors in a novel configuration. To simplify routing, the circuitry is configured so that multiple heater resistors are coupled to the same conductor return path located on a second conductive layer. In a second embodiment of the invention, the heater resistors are dimensioned in the shape of a trapezoid to provide uniform heating. Alternative resistor shapes are then introduced to provide consistent heat dissipation for variances in resistor/conductor sheet resistance.

Special geometry ink jet resistor for high dpi/high frequency structures

An improved ink flow path between an ink reservoir and ink ejection chambers in an inkjet printhead is disclosed along with a preferred printhead architecture. In the preferred embodiment, a barrier layer containing ink channels and firing chambers is located between a rectangular substrate and a nozzle member containing an array of orifices. The substrate contains two spaced apart arrays of ink ejection elements, and each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with a firing chamber and ink ejection element. The ink channels in the barrier layer have ink entrances generally running along two opposite edges of the substrate so that ink flowing around the edges of the substrate gain access to the ink channels and to the firing chambers. High speed printing capability with a firing frequency up to 12 KHz is accomplished by offsetting neighboring ink ejection elements from each other in each primitive grouping in the linear array, combining short shelf length with damped ink inlet channels, and then firing only one ink ejection element at a time in each primitive grouping thereby minimizing undesirable interference such as fluidic crosstalk between closely adjacent ink firing chambers. High resolution printing capability for at least 600 dots-per-inch by the printhead as a whole is accomplished by densely positioning the ink ejection elements in each linear array of ink ejection elements.

Inkjet printhead architecture for high speed and high resolution printing

Described is an inkjet print cartridge including an ink reservoir; a substrate having a plurality of individual ink firing chambers with an ink firing element in each chamber; said ink firing chambers arranged in a first chamber array and a second chamber array and said firing chambers spaced so as to provide 600 dots per inch printing; an ink channel connecting said reservoir with said ink firing chambers, said channel including a primary channel connected at a first end with said reservoir and at a second end to a secondary channel; a separate inlet passage for each firing chamber connecting said secondary channel with said firing chamber for allowing high frequency refill of the firing chamber; a group of said firing chambers in adjacent relationship forming a primitive in which only one firing chamber in said primitive is activated at a time; a first circuit on said substrate connected to said firing elements; and a second circuit on said cartridge connected to said first circuit, for transmitting firing signals to said ink firing elements at a predetermined frequency. The preferred configuration of the nozzle member, ink channels, and firing chambers allows a printing resolution of 600 dots per inch.

High density nozzle array for inkjet printhead

Disclosed is an inkjet print cartridge having an ink reservoir; a substrate having a plurality of individual ink firing chambers with an ink firing element in each chamber along a top surface of the substrate and having a first outer edge along a periphery of substrate; the first outer edge being in close proximity to the ink firing chambers. The ink firing chambers are arranged in a first chamber array and a second chamber array and with the firing chambers spaced so as to provide 600 dots per inch printing. An ink channel connects the reservoir with the ink firing chambers, the channel including a primary channel connected at a first end with the reservoir and at a second end to a secondary channel; the primary channel allowing ink to flow from the ink reservoir, around the first outer edge of the substrate to the secondary channel along the top surface of the substrate so as to be proximate to the ink firing chambers. A separate inlet passage for each firing chamber connecting the secondary channel with the firing chamber for allowing high frequency refill of the firing chamber. A group of the firing chambers in adjacent relationship forming a primitive in which only one firing chamber in the primitive is activated at a time. A first circuit on the substrate connects to the firing elements and a second circuit on the cartridge connects to the first circuit for transmitting firing signals to the ink firing elements at a frequency greater than 9 kHz. When operating the print cartridge, the substrate is able to dissipate more heat, since the ink flowing across the back of the substrate and around the edges of the substrate acts to draw heat away from the back of the substrate.

Self-cooling printhead structure for inkjet printer with high density

Described is an ink delivery system for an array of nozzle orifices in a print cartridge comprising an ink reservoir; a substrate having a plurality of individual ink firing chambers with an ink firing element in each chamber; an ink channel connecting said reservoir with said ink firing chambers, said channel including a primary channel connected at a first end with said reservoir and at a second end to a secondary channel; a separate inlet passage for each firing chamber connecting said secondary channel with said firing chamber for allowing high frequency refill of the firing chamber; a group of said firing chambers in adjacent relationship forming a primitive in which only one firing chamber in said primitive is activated at a time; first circuit means on said substrate connected to said firing elements; and second circuit means on said cartridge connected to said first circuit means, for transmitting firing signals to said ink firing elements at a frequency greater than 9 kHz.

Inkjet printhead architecture for high frequency operation

Disclosed is an inkjet print cartridge including an ink reservoir; a substrate having a plurality of individual ink firing chambers with an ink firing element in each chamber along a top surface of said substrate and having a first outer edge along a periphery of substrate; the first outer edge being in close proximity to the ink firing chambers. The ink firing chambers are arranged in a first chamber array and a second chamber array and with the firing chambers spaced so as to provide 600 dots per inch printing. An ink channel connects the reservoir with the ink firing chambers, the channel including a primary channel connected at a first end with the reservoir and at a second end to a secondary channel; the primary channel allowing ink to flow from the ink reservoir, around the first outer edge of the substrate to the secondary channel along the top surface of the substrate so as to be proximate to the ink firing chambers. A separate inlet passage defined by a barrier layer for each firing chamber connecting the secondary channel with the firing chamber for allowing high frequency refill of the firing chamber. The separate inlet passage for each firing chamber having peninsulas and pinch points formed in the barrier layer to prevent cross-talk and overshoot during high frequency operation. A group of the firing chambers in adjacent relationship forming a primitive in which only one firing chamber in said primitive is activated at a time. A first circuit on said substrate connect to the firing elements and a second circuit on the cartridge connect to the first circuit, for transmitting firing signals to the ink firing elements at a frequency greater than 9 kHz. The preferred configuration of the nozzle member, ink channels, and vaporization chambers allows a printing resolution of 600 dpi and a firing rate of greater than 9 kHz.

Ink channel structure for inkjet printhead

Disclosed is an inkjet print cartridge having an ink reservoir; a substrate having a plurality of individual ink firing chambers with an ink firing element in each chamber along a top surface of the substrate and having a first outer edge along a periphery of substrate; the first outer edge being in close proximity to the ink firing chambers. The ink firing chambers are arranged in a first chamber array and a second chamber array and with the firing chambers spaced so as to provide 600 dots per inch printing. An ink channel connects the reservoir with the ink firing chambers, the channel including a primary channel connected at a first end with the reservoir and at a second end to a secondary channel; the primary channel allowing ink to flow from the ink reservoir, around the first outer edge of the substrate to the secondary channel along the top surface of the substrate so as to be proximate to the ink firing chambers. A separate inlet passage for each firing chamber connecting the secondary channel with the firing chamber for allowing high frequency refill of the firing chamber. A group of the firing chambers in adjacent relationship forming a primitive in which only one firing chamber in the primitive is activated at a time. First circuit member on the substrate connects to the firing elements and a second circuit member on the cartridge connects to the first circuit member, for transmitting firing signals to the ink firing elements at a frequency greater than 9 kHz.

Inkjet printhead architecture for high speed ink firing chamber refill

A thermal ink-jet pen which includes a tuned printhead for ejecting droplets of ink onto a print medium is provided. The printhead comprises (a) a plurality of resistive elements, (b) a plurality of nozzles through which the droplets of ink are ejected, (c) a plurality of drop ejection chambers, (d) a plurality of ink feed channels, each provided with an entrance defined by a pair of projections on either side thereof, and (e) an ink refill slot operatively associated with the plurality of ink feed channels, the ink refill slot defined by an edge to provide a shelf from the edge to the ink feed channels. The plurality of resistive elements is divided into sets, with each resistive element staggered a different distance from the edge. Each ink feed channel within a set is provided with a different critical dimension value, the critical dimension comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of (1) width of entrance to channel, (2) width of the channel, (3) length of the channel, and (4) distance of the resistive element to the terminus of the channel. The critical dimension is related to distance of the resistive element from the edge. By providing each set of resistive elements with different widths, the damping of the pen is improved and all the nozzles have substantially the same refill speed.

Tuned entrance fang configuration for ink-jet printers

An orificeless thin film printhead for an ink jet pen which comprises a substrate having a plurality of vortex activators thereon, and ink dispensing means located adjacent to the substrate for providing a thin layer of ink of a controlled thickness over the surfaces of the vortex activators. A protective cover is disposed on the surface of the substrate and has one or more slots or other openings therein operative to expose the vortex activators during ink jet printhead operation. When each vortex activator is energized, the energy transferred from the surface of the activator into the liquid film creates a microjet and a shear force therein, followed by the formation of a vortex ring in the ink film. The vortex ring is in turn self-propelled at a relatively low velocity through the ink film to the free liquid surface thereby, producing stress at this surface to allow the high velocity ink at the core of the vortex ring to be efficiently transferred to an adjacent print medium with a high degree of directionality, thereby enhancing resolution and print quality on the printed media. In accordance with the present invention, vortex activators include, but without limitation, heater resistors, piston drivers, and piezoelectric cavities.

Growing community of inventors

Corvallis, OR, United States of America

William R Knight