EP0498293A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Bubblejet image reproducing apparatus
Assignee: Canon Information Systems Research Australia Pty Ltd
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Filing: 1992-01-29
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-01-29
Abstract
Abstract A bubblejet print device (100) is disclosed which is integrally formed having arrays (102,103,104,105) of nozzles (110) which form part of a passageway communicating between opposite surfaces of a semiconductor substrate (130). Each nozzle (110) has an integrally formed heater (120) which permits heating of ink (106) within the respective nozzle (110) for the ejection of an ink drop (108) therefrom. The heater (120) can provide a fault tolerant structure through the provision of a main heater (121,441) and a redundant heater (122,443) each of which can be separately energised from a corresponding electronic drive circuit (160,165). Several methods of manufacturing the device (100) using semiconductor fabrication techniques are also disclosed. A bubblejet print head (200) incorporating the device (100) can form part of an image reproducing apparatus (531,533,535,537) and is capable of printing full colour images at 400 dpi and monochrome images up to 1600 dpi. An ink drop size of about 3 picolitres is used for these image intensities. A thermal shunt (140) or diffuser (491) are used to transport heat away from the heater (120) to prevent formation of hot spots thereabout after the ejection of an ink drop (103). Electronic circuitry (310,302-305) is disclosed which is used to couple data to the device (100) to provide full width page printing using a stationary head (200) and a moving paper medium (220).
Inventors
- 👤 Kia Silverbrook
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 03:34
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/135; B41J2/16; B41J2/1621; B41J2/1623; B41J2/14; B41J2/14016; B41J2/14032; B41J2/1404; B41J2/14056; B41J2/14088; B41J2/14112; B41J2/14137; B41J2/14145; B41J2/145; B41J2/155; B41J2/1601; B41J2/1603; B41J2/1626; B41J2/1628; B41J2/1629; B41J2/1631; B41J2/1632; B41J2/1635; B41J2/164; B41J2/1642; B41J2/1643; B41J2/1645; B41J2/17; B41J2/175; B41J2/17563; B41J2/21; B41J2/2103; B41J2002/1437; B41J2202/00; B41J2202/01; B41J2202/11; B41J2202/13
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
62 words
A bubblejet image reproducing apparatus for printing images on paper or a like carrier, by the ejection of ink drops from a print device, said print device comprising a plurality of nozzles and being characterised in that the length of the print device is substantially equal to the dimension of the paper transverse to its direction of relative motion past the apparatus.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the print device is formed as a single unit.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said print device comprises a plurality of nozzles each having a corresponding passageway for the supply of ink to the nozzles and heater means associated with each said nozzle or passageway.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that said device further comprises an electronic drive circuit for each said heater means operable by means of data input to said apparatus.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further characterised by comprising data timing circuits adapted to receive data input to said apparatus and to output data to said nozzles, said output data being indicative of the desired pixel colour to be printed and the relative spacing of nozzles of different colours (CMYK).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that individual ones of said nozzles of said device print a colour selected from the group consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
65 words
A bubblejet print head characterised by comprising a bubblejet print device having a plurality of nozzles each having a corresponding passageway for the supply of ink to the nozzle, an ink supply member configurable with said device for the supply of ink to said passageways, and a filter means located between said device and said supply member for filtering ink being supplied to said device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
A head as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that said supply member is thermally conductive and acts as a heat sink for said device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
A head as claimed in claim 7 or 8, characterised in that said supply member is electrically insulative and said head further comprises electrical power supply connectors, connected to said device and mounted about said supply member, said connectors acting as heat sinks for said device.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
A head as claimed in claim 7 or 8, characterised in that said filter means is sandwiched between said device and said supply member.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
A head as claimed in claim 10 characterised in that said filter means comprises a membrane.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
70 words
A bubblejet print head for printing images on paper or a like carrier by the ejection of ink drops from a print device, said print device having a length substantially equal to the dimension of the paper to be printed transverse to its direction of relative motion past the print device, characterised in that electrical power connections to said device are made substantially along the entire length of said device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
A bubblejet print device characterised by comprising a plurality of heater means each associated with a nozzle for the ejection of ink therefrom and an electronic drive circuit for each said heater means, characterised in that said heater means and said electronic drive circuit are integrally formed.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
A device as claimed in claim 13, characterised in that said drive circuit comprises an input shift register connected to a driver transistor means which is connected to said heater means to switch same.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
A device as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that said heater means comprises a main heater and a redundant heater each having a corresponding said drive circuit.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
A device as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that said drive circuit of said redundant heater is connected to the drive circuit of said main heater to sense if said main heater fails to operate and subsequently energize said redundant heater.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
53 words
A colour image reproducing apparatus characterised by comprising a bubblejet print device having a plurality of nozzles each of which receives ink from a supply channel, characterised in that said plurality of nozzles is arranged in a plurality of sets, the nozzles of each set being supplied with ink of a different colour.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, characterised in that said sets are arranged as a regularly spaced ordered array.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that said coloured ink is selected from the group consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
89 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 19, characterised in that image pixel data supplied to said apparatus is divided into a plurality of blocks, each corresponding to one of said colours and comprising a data input of the corresponding said set on said bubblejet print device, said apparatus further comprising a first delay means arranged at each said data input excepting one, being the set which ejects ink first, each said first delay means delaying its respective blocks according to the spacing between the respective set and said one set.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
82 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, characterised in that nozzles within each said set are arranged equally spaced-apart in equally spaced rows, and in which nozzles in adjacent rows are offset relative to each other, said apparatus further comprising data phaser means immediately preceding each said data input, said data phaser means comprising a second delay means for each said row and delaying data for that row within the respective block to compensate for the offset of the nozzles of said set.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
54 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 21, characterised in that each said data phaser means further comprises a third delay means for receiving data from said first delay means and outputting data to each said second delay means, said third delay means providing a delay period selectable according to the particular set being supplied thereby.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
69 words
A data phaser for buffering pixel data to a bubblejet print device having a plurality of nozzles provided as an array of regularly spaced rows of regularly spaced nozzles with the nozzles of adjacent rows being offset, characterised in that for each said row, a first delay means having a predetermined delay is provided to delay said pixel data to compensate for the degree of offsetting of said rows.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
A data phaser as claimed in claim 23, characterised in that the predetermined delay of each said first delay means provides an interleaved firing order of said rows.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
37 words
A data phaser as claimed in claim 24, further characterised by comprising second delay means preceding, and outputting to each of, said first delay means, said second delay means providing a selectable delay to the pixel data.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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