Inkjet printer with contractable chamber
View Patent ↗An ink jet nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, having a nozzle and an actuator for ejecting ink through said nozzle; wherein, the actuator has a resiliently contractable chamber. The chamber is a series of arcuate vanes arranged in an annular form around the nozzle opening. Actuation of a thermally expandable member forces the vanes to slide against each other to contract the chamber in the same manner of as an iris.
1. An inkjet nozzle assembly comprising:
a nozzle chamber for ink to be ejected, the chamber comprising an ink inlet for fluid communication with an ink reservoir and a nozzle through which ink from the chamber can be ejected; and,
at least one thermal actuator for contracting the chamber such that ink is ejected through the nozzle.
2. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 1 wherein the chamber has an inlet wall defining the ink inlet, a nozzle wall spaced from the inlet wall, the nozzle wall defining the nozzle, and side walls between the inlet wall and the nozzle wall; and,
the at least one thermal actuator moves at least one of the side walls to contract the chamber.
3. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 2 wherein the chamber has four side walls, each of the side walls connected to a respective thermal actuator.
4. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 3 wherein the four side walls are arcuate vane arranged around a central axis, and the thermal actuators are expanding, flexible arms such that simultaneous actuation of the arms pushes the arcuate vanes to slidingly engage each other to contract the chamber.
5. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 4 wherein said flexible expanding arms comprise a conductive heater material encased within an expansion material having a high coefficient of thermal expansion.
6. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said conductive heater material is constructed so as to form a concertina upon expansion of said expansion material.
7. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said heater material is of a serpentine form and forms a concertina upon heating so as to allow substantially unhindered expansion of said expansion material during heating.
8. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said vanes are arranged annularly around said nozzle.
9. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said vanes operate as an iris around said nozzle.
10. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said expansion material comprises substantially polytetrafluoroethylene.
11. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said conductive heater material comprises substantially copper.
12. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 5 wherein said at least one wall is a side wall and is slidable by thermal actuation.
13. An ink nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, the nozzle assembly comprising:
a nozzle and an actuator for ejecting ink through said nozzle; wherein,
the actuator comprises a resiliently contractable chamber.
14. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 13 wherein said contractable chamber comprises at least one slidable wall.
15. An ink nozzle assembly for an inkjet printer, the nozzle assembly comprising:
a nozzle;
a nozzle chamber for ink to be ejected through the nozzle, the chamber comprising walls configured to define a first volume within the chamber; and,
at least one actuator for reconfiguring the walls to define a second volume less than the first volume.
16. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 15 wherein the walls comprise slidable side walls that reconfigure to define the second volume in response to the actuator.
17. An inkjet nozzle assembly according to claim 15 wherein the actuator is a thermal actuator.