Printhead with enhanced ink supply to elongate printhead IC ends

US7364265B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd · AU

Inventors

• Brian Robert Brown · Chatswood, AU
• Norman Michael Berry · Sydney, AU
• Garry Raymond Jackson · Sydney, AU
• Paul Timothy Sharp · Sydney, AU
• John Douglas Peter Morgan · Sydney, AU
• Kia Silverbrook · Sydney, AU
• Akira Nakazawa · Yokohama, JP
• Michael John Hudson · Sydney, AU
• Christopher Hibbard · Sydney, AU
• Samuel George Mallinson · Sydney, AU
• Paul Justin Reichl · Sydney, AU

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 21, 2007
• Grant date: Apr 29, 2008
• Expiry date: Mar 21, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B41J2002/14491
• WIPO field: Textile and paper machines
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A printhead that has a printhead integrated circuit (IC) (68) which is elongate and has an array of nozzles for ejecting ink. The printhead also has a support structure 176 for supporting the printhead IC and having ink outlets 186 for supplying the array of nozzles with ink. The ink outlets are spaced along the printhead IC such that the ink outlet spacing (210, 212) decreases at the ends of the printhead IC. By increasing the number of ink outlets near the end regions, the ink supply is enhanced to compensate for the slower priming of the end nozzles. This, in turn, makes the whole nozzle array prime more consistently to avoid flooding and ink wastage from early priming nozzles (or alternatively, unprimed end nozzles).