Gas supply to a printhead chip
View Patent ↗A printhead assembly has one or more printhead chips mounted end or end in or on a housing. The housing has an elongate air duct that supplies air to the printhead chips. The duct is open at both ends so the assembly may be used in left and right hand configurations.
1. A pagewidth printhead assembly including:
an elongate housing defining a longitudinal media path;
at least one pagewidth printhead mounted in or on the housing and extending transversely across the housing said media path extending between the printhead and a printer exit; and
at least one elongate gas supply duct coextensive with the media path, said at least one gas supply duct being positioned to direct gas transversely across the media path such that the flow of the gas is substantially parallel to the plane of a medium traveling along the media path.
2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one pagewidth printhead includes a plurality of printhead chips extending end on end across the width of the housing.
3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing has first and second ends and the at least one gas supply duct is open at one of the first and second ends.
4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing has first and second ends and the at least one gas supply duct is open at both the first and second ends.
5. The assembly of claim 4 including at least one closure that engages the at least one gas supply duct at one of the first and second ends.
6. The assembly of claim 5 including a gas supply connector that connects to the at least one duct at the other of the first and second ends.
7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein there is a single gas supply duct.
8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one gas supply duct is located to one side of the at least one printhead.
9. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one gas supply duct comprises a plurality of gas outlets spaced apart along its length.