Pressure tester for printhead integrated circuit carrier
View Patent ↗A pressure-based tester for testing an integrity of a printhead integrated circuit (IC) carrier includes a housing assembly; a cradle assembly coupled to the housing assembly and adapted to receive the printhead IC carrier, the cradle assembly further defining spouts adapted to engage with the printhead IC carrier; a regulated gas supply arranged in the housing assembly; a first gas supply line in fluid communication with the regulated gas supply; a pneumatic retaining mechanism in fluid communication with the gas supply via the first gas supply line, the pneumatic retaining mechanism for retaining the carrier in fluid communication with the spouts during testing of the platform assembly; a second gas supply line in fluid communication with the regulated gas supply, the second gas supply line being separated from the first gas supply line by a pressure regulator, the second gas supply line for supplying gas to the spouts; a pressure sensor for measuring a gas pressure at each spout and generating a signal indicative of the measured gas pressure; and a control system for controlling the regulated gas supply and the pneumatic retaining mechanism. The control system is further configured to receive the signal generated by the pressure sensor to determine the presence of any decay in the gas pressure at each spout.
1. A pressure-based tester for testing an integrity of a printhead integrated circuit (IC) carrier, the tester comprising
a housing assembly;
a cradle assembly coupled to the housing assembly and adapted to receive the printhead IC carrier, the cradle assembly further defining spouts adapted to engage with the printhead IC carrier;
a regulated gas supply arranged in the housing assembly;
a first gas supply line in fluid communication with the regulated gas supply;
a pneumatic retaining mechanism in fluid communication with the gas supply via the first gas supply line, the pneumatic retaining mechanism for retaining the carrier in fluid communication with the spouts during testing of the platform assembly;
a second gas supply line in fluid communication with the regulated gas supply, the second gas supply line being separated from the first gas supply line by a pressure regulator, the second gas supply line for supplying gas to the spouts;
a pressure sensor for measuring a gas pressure at each spout and generating a signal indicative of the measured gas pressure; and
a control system for controlling the regulated gas supply and the pneumatic retaining mechanism, the control system further configured to receive the signal generated by the pressure sensor to determine the presence of any decay in the gas pressure at each spout.
2. The pressure-based tester of claim 1 , wherein the control system includes a touch panel processing device connected to the regulated gas supply, the retaining mechanism and the pressure measuring apparatus.
3. The pressure-based tester of claim 2 , wherein the touch panel processing device is configured to generate a graphic user interface that displays pressure test results as a Cartesian plane graph with pressure and time on respective axes.
4. The pressure-based tester of claim 2 , wherein the cradle assembly comprises a manifold for receiving gas from the regulated gas supply, and the spouts are in fluid communication with the manifold.