摘要:
A coating for a front face of printhead in a thermal ink jet printer enables the directionality of an ink jet to be maintained for the printing lifetime of the printer. The coating controls the wetting characteristics of the front face to prevent ink accumulation on the front face. The coating comprises an epoxy adhesive resin such as EPON 1001F doped with a silicone rubber compound such as RTV 732. The coating can be provided in the form of a 24% solution of EPON 1001F in a 30:70 mixture of xylene and methyl iso-butyl ketone by weight doped with 1% by weight of RTV 732. An adhesion promoter such as an aminosilane can be included in the coating to increase bond strength between the coating and printhead front face.
摘要:
A method is described for uniformly coating portions of the surface of a substrate which is to be bonded to another substrate. In a described embodiment, the two substrates are channel plates and heater plates which, when bonded together, form a thermal ink jet printhead. The adhesive layer is electrophoretically deposited over a conductive pattern which has been formed on the binding substrate surface. The conductive pattern forms an electrode and is placed in an electrophoretic bath comprising a colloidal emulsion of a preselected polymer adhesive. The other electrode is a metal container in which the solution is placed or a conductive mesh placed within the container. The electrodes are connected across a voltage source and a field is applied. The substrate is placed in contact with the solution, and a small current flow is carefully controlled to create an extremely uniform thin deposition of charged adhesive micelles on the surface of the conductive pattern. The substrate is then removed and can be bonded to a second substrate and cured.
摘要:
An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer has an ink supply in a housing and a printhead assembly fixedly attached thereto. The ink is contained in an absorbent material in the housing which is partitioned from the printhead assembly by a housing floor having a vent and an ink outlet. The ink flow path from the housing outlet to the printhead inlet is produced by an elongated recess in the outer surface of the housing floor and a film member bonded thereover by an adhesive not attacked or eroded by the ink. The film member has a slot therethrough to provide communication with the inlet of the printhead. The surface of the film member opposite the surface bonded to the housing floor is coated with a thermosetting adhesive which bonds to the printhead assembly surface containing the ink inlet. The printhead assembly ink inlet is of similar size and aligned with the film member slot, so that the thermosetting adhesive assists in the attachment of the printhead assembly to the housing and concurrently provides the fluid seal between the housing and the printhead assembly. The adhesive bonding the film member to the housing floor is either a pressure sensitive adhesive or the same thermosetting as is sued on the other side of the film member.
摘要:
An apparatus for uniformly coating a planar substrate with an adhesive layer has a rotatably mounted sleeve with closed ends to form an internal cavity therein. The sleeve has a plurality of holes therein and its outer surface is covered by a porous layer such as a foam layer. A vacuum is applied to the sleeve cavity, while the sleeve is rotated. One surface of a polymeric film is positioned on the porous layer and held in place by the vacuum acting through the sleeve holes and porous layer. The other surface of the polymeric film contains a uniform adhesive coating. The surface of a planar substrate is tangentially transported past the polymeric film surface with the adhesive layer and in timed registration therewith, so that a nip is formed between the planar substrate and the polymeric film which transfers a uniformly thick portion of adhesive to the planar substrate surface.
摘要:
A method and apparatus for applying a coating to a front face of an ink jet print head die or print head die comprise positioning a die in a cut out in a top surface of a block such that the die extends from the top surface of the block. An applicator such as a roller or flat blade is used to apply the coating to at least an upper surface of the die as the applicator rides along the upper surface of the die. When a roller is used as the applicator, the roller has a recess corresponding to the extension of the die from the top surface of the block. The roller recess contains a piece of elastomeric material which extends to an outer portion of the roller adjacent to said roller recess. The method and apparatus facilitate transfer of a thin, uniform film of coating to an ink jet printer print head die or a completed ink jet printer print head.
摘要:
This invention pertains to a drop-on-demand ink jet printing method, more particularly to a method of printing wherein a purge image is logically combined with a selected image so as to insure a desired amount of drop firing from every jet of an ink jet printhead for every page printed. The inventive method avoids image defects that could otherwise occur as a result of faulty drop firing from infrequently used nozzles. Purge image data that specifies the deposition of at least one ink dot on at least one predetermined pixel location on each of the plurality of image scanlines is constructed and stored in a purge image memory accessible by the printing apparatus. Imperceptible purge image patterns are constructed having blue noise spatial frequency characteristics and optical density levels equal to or less than 0.01 OD above print medium base OD. A plurality of purge image data sets are constructed and stored for retrieval to adapt to a variety of conditions. Acceptable purge image data sets are determined using a purge performance image as a test pattern which is optically scanned or analyzed by user observation. The present invention further include numerous printing apparatus configured to implement the disclosed methods of maintaining ink jet printheads.
摘要:
A jet break-off length measurement apparatus for a continuous liquid drop emission system is provided. The jet break-off length measurement apparatus comprises a liquid drop emitter containing a positively pressurized liquid in flow communication with at least one nozzle for emitting a continuous stream of liquid. Heater resistor apparatus is adapted to transfer pulses of thermal energy to the liquid in flow communication with the at least one nozzle sufficient to cause the break-off of the at least one continuous stream of liquid into a stream of drops of predetermined volumes. A sensing apparatus adapted to detect the stream of drops of predetermined volumes is provided. A control apparatus is adapted to determine a characteristic of the stream of drops of predetermined volumes that is related to the break-off length. Further apparatus is adapted to inductively charge at least one drop and to cause electric field deflection of charged drops. Jet stimulation apparatus comprising a plurality of transducers corresponding to the plurality of nozzles and adapted to transfer pulses of energy to the liquid sufficient to cause the break-off of the plurality of continuous streams of liquid into a plurality of streams of drops of predetermined volumes is also disclosed. Methods of measuring the jet break-off length using phase sensitive amplification circuitry are disclosed.
摘要:
A method of operating a continuous liquid drop emission apparatus includes providing a liquid drop emitter that emits a plurality of continuous streams of liquid through a plurality of nozzles. A jet stimulation apparatus transfers energy to the liquid sufficient to cause the break-off of the plurality of continuous streams of liquid at a plurality of predetermined break-off times into a plurality of streams of drops of predetermined volumes. Sensing apparatus measures a characteristic value for each of the plurality of streams of drops of predetermined volumes. Control apparatus provides a plurality of break-off time setting signals to the jet stimulation apparatus to cause the plurality of predetermined break-off times to be determined by the characteristic value of each of the plurality of streams of drops of predetermined volumes.
摘要:
A differential pressure sensor includes a micro-electromechanical sensor die fabricated as a plurality of sensor die sites on a semiconductor wafer, and then singularized, the sensor die having a top face surface including die electrical output pads exposed to a first test fluid source and a bottom side surface exposed to a second test fluid source. The differential pressure further has a sensor die support member having a die support member fluid access port with a support member port perimeter; wherein one of the top face surface or the bottom side surface is sealed fully around the support member port perimeter by a wafer scale seal formed on the plurality of sensor die sites before die singulation. Wafer scale seals may be formed by a photofabrication process, screen printing, stamp printing, or pressure transfer printing. Some embodiments may include a photofabricated seal formed by a photosensitive polydimethylsiloxane material, by a filled photofabricated mold, and by photopatterned glass frit.
摘要:
A continuous drop emitter comprising a liquid supply chamber containing a liquid held at a positive pressure; first and second nozzles in fluid communication with the liquid supply chamber nozzles emitting first and second continuous streams of a liquid; first and second stream break-up transducers adapted to independently synchronize the break up of the first and second continuous streams of the liquid into first and second streams of drops of predetermined volumes, respectively; and an acoustic damping material located adjacent to or within the liquid supply chamber for damping sound waves generated within the liquid chamber by the first and second stream break-up transducer. The continuous drop emitter may also configured with a Helmholtz resonant chamber tuned to a critical stimulation frequency having an acoustic damping material therein for absorbing acoustic stimulation energy. The Helmholtz resonant chamber may serve as a portion of the common liquid supply for the first and second jets in which case the acoustic damping material may be porous to allow the liquid to pass through. The acoustic damping materials may acoustically lossy materials that transmute energy into heat via molecular motions. The acoustic damping materials may be porous materials that absorb acoustic energy by forcing the liquid through small passages causing viscous flow energy losses. In addition the acoustic damping materials may include components that cause the disruption of acoustic waves by reflection from materials that are impedance mismatched to the liquid, either very dense materials or gas filled voids.