Method of fabricating a printhead with nozzle protection
View Patent ↗A method of fabricating a printhead is provided. The printhead includes a substrate, a plurality of nozzles positioned on the substrate and a nozzle guard that is mounted on the substrate to cover the nozzle arrangements. The nozzle guard defines a plurality of apertures that are aligned with respective nozzles so that ink ejected from the nozzles can pass through the apertures and onto a print medium. The method includes the step of depositing a layer of a sacrificial material onto the substrate to cover the nozzles. The nozzle guard is positioned on the sacrificial material and the sacrificial material is removed.
1. A method of fabricating a printhead that includes a substrate, a plurality of nozzles positioned on the substrate and a nozzle guard that is mounted on the substrate to cover the nozzles, the nozzle guard defining a plurality of apertures that are aligned with respective nozzles so that ink ejected from the nozzles can pass through the apertures and onto a print medium, the method including the steps of:
depositing a layer of a sacrificial material onto the substrate to cover the nozzles;
positioning the nozzle guard on the sacrificial material; and
removing the sacrificial material.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the method includes the step of positioning support struts of the nozzle guard on alignment formations extending from the substrate, subsequent to depositing the layer of sacrificial material on the substrate.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 , which includes the step of interposing a seal between each strut and a respective alignment formation.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the step of removing the sacrificial material includes the step of carrying out a plasma etching process through at least one of the apertures of the nozzle guard.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which the sacrificial material is removed using an oxygen plasma etch.