Inkjet printhead architecture for high speed and high resolution printing

Abstract

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.