Inkjet printhead having row of nozzle actuators interleaved with nozzles of adjacent row
View Patent ↗A printhead for a drop on demand inkjet printer that has an array of nozzle assemblies 10 formed on a substrate 16 in a series of adjacent rows. Each nozzle has a nozzle opening 24 in communication with a nozzle chamber 34 . The nozzle 22 is displaceable toward the substrate 16 for effecting ink ejection from the nozzle chamber 34 through the nozzle opening 24 on demand. The actuators 28 associated with the nozzles of one row being interleaved with the nozzles of an adjacent row.
1. A printhead for a drop on demand inkjet printer, the printhead comprising:
a substrate;
a plurality of nozzles arranged on the substrate in a plurality of rows, each nozzle defining a nozzle opening in communication with a nozzle chamber, and being displaceable toward the substrate to eject ink from the nozzle chamber through the nozzle opening; and
an actuator arranged externally of each nozzle and connected to the respective nozzle for displacing the respective nozzle, the actuators associated with the nozzles in one row being interleaved with the nozzles of an adjacent row.
2. A printhead according to claim 1 wherein the nozzle comprises a crown portion, defining the opening, and a skirt portion depending from the crown portion, the skirt portion forming a first part of a peripheral wall of the nozzle chamber.
3. A printhead according to claim 2 wherein each of the nozzles have an ink inlet aperture defined in a floor of the nozzle chamber, a bounding wall surrounding the aperture and defining a second part of the peripheral wall of the nozzle chamber.
4. A printhead according to claim 3 wherein said skirt portion is displaceable relative to the substrate and said bounding wall serves as an inhibiting means for inhibiting leakage of ink from the chamber.
5. A printhead according to claim 1 wherein the actuator is a thermal bend actuator.
6. A printhead according to claim 5 wherein the thermal bend actuator is constituted by two beams, one being an active beam and the other being a passive beam.
7. A printhead according to claim 6 wherein the actuator is connected to the nozzle by a connecting member.
8. A printhead according to claim 7 wherein the beams are anchored at one end to an anchor mounted on the substrate and connected at their opposed ends to the connecting member.
9. A printhead according to claim 8 wherein the connecting member has an arm having a first end connected to the actuator with the nozzle connected to an opposed end of the arm in a cantilevered manner.
10. A printhead according to claim 1 wherein the substrate has an integrated drive circuit layer.
11. A printhead according to claim 10 wherein the integrated drive circuit layer is formed using a CMOS fabrication process.