Pagewidth printhead assembly with support member laminate structure
View Patent ↗A pagewidth printhead assembly comprising an elongate support member, the elongate support member includes a core element defining separate ink reservoirs and a laminate structure at least partially surrounding the core element. A plurality of printhead integrated circuits is mounted to the core element so as to be substantially aligned with one another along the elongate support member. The laminate structure includes at least a first layer of a first material adjacent the core element, a second layer of a second material adjacent the first layer, and a third layer of the first material adjacent the second layer, and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the first material is different to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the second material. The effective coefficient of thermal expansion of the support member is substantially equal to that of the plurality of printhead integrated circuits.
1. A pagewidth printhead assembly comprising:
an elongate support member, the elongate support member including a core element defining separate ink reservoirs, and a laminate structure at least partially surrounding the core element; and,
a plurality of printhead integrated circuits mounted to the core element, and in fluid communication with the separate ink reservoirs, so as to be substantially aligned with one another along the elongate support member;
wherein the laminate structure includes at least a first layer of a first material adjacent the core element, a second layer of a second material adjacent the first layer, and a third layer of the first material adjacent the second layer, and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the first material is different to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the second material.
2. The printhead assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the first material and the second material are different metals.
3. The printhead assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of printhead integrated circuits are MEMS modules which are positioned end to end along the core element.
4. The printhead assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the first material and the second material are different to the coefficient of thermal expansion of silicon.
5. The printhead assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the first layer and the third layer have a coefficient of thermal expansion less than 2.5×10 −6 m/° C.
6. The printhead assembly according to claim 1 , wherein second layer has a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than 2.5×10 −6 m/° C.
7. The printhead assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the laminate structure is formed by hot rolling the metal layers.