Integrated Patents (Class 347/59)
  • Patent number: 10632748
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes: a substrate for the liquid ejection head that includes a heating resistance element, a covering portion that covers the heating resistance element, and a fuse part that electrically connects the covering portion and a common wiring to each other; and a flow path forming member. The flow path forming member is provided with a through-opening or a concave portion that is concave from a surface of the flow path forming member on a side of the substrate for the liquid ejection head, at a position that overlaps at least a part of the fuse part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Maki Kato, Yoshinori Misumi, Takahiro Matsui, Yuzuru Ishida
  • Patent number: 10500851
    Abstract: A print element substrate, comprises: a heater layer; a wiring layer that is connected to the heater layer and is for causing the heater layer to generate heat; an insulating layer arranged on the wiring layer; an anti-cavitation layer arranged on the insulating layer that is for protecting the insulating layer; and a switch that has a control terminal that is pulled-down to a ground, and causes the anti-cavitation layer and the ground to have an electrical connection when the control terminal is in a high-level state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yohei Osuki, Koichi Omata, Hideo Tamura, Takaaki Yamaguchi, Kousuke Kubo, Ryoji Oohashi, Yuji Tamaru, Toshio Negishi, Suguru Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 10319678
    Abstract: A three dimensional or stacked circuit device includes a conductive channel cap on a conductor channel. The channel cap can be created via selective deposition or other process to prevent polishing down the conductive material to isolate the contacts. The conductor channel extends through a deck of multiple tiers of circuit elements that are activated via a gate. The gate is activated by electrical potential in the conductor channel. The conductive cap on the conductor channel can electrically connect the conductor channel to a bitline or other signal line, and/or to another deck of multiple circuit elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Hongqi Li, Gowrisankar Damarla, Roger Lindsay, Zailong Bian, Jin Lu, Shyam Ramalingam, Prasanna Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 10207501
    Abstract: An ink let recording method using an apparatus including plural aqueous inks, a recording head having a heat-generating portion to eject the inks, and ink storage portions therefor which are housings bonded to the recording head, the method including ejecting the inks from the recording head to record an image on a recording medium. The recording head has plural ejection orifice arrays corresponding to the inks and including a first and a second ejection orifice array at both sides and a third ejection orifice array at the other positions. A protective layer containing tantalum or tantalum oxide is formed on the heat-generating portion to contact with the inks. Dynamic surface tension and lightness of the ink corresponding to the third ejection orifice array are respectively smaller than maximum dynamic surface tension and larger than minimum lightness of the inks corresponding to the first and second ejection orifice arrays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Junichi Sakai, Takashi Saito
  • Patent number: 10052877
    Abstract: An ink ejection device includes a head section having a plurality of nozzles and ejecting a plurality of types of inks through the nozzles, and an ink supply section supplying the plurality of types of inks to the head section. The head section has a plurality of supply ports which are arranged in a scanning direction and to which the plurality of types of inks are supplied. The ink supply section includes a plurality of ink chambers which respectively contain the plurality of types of inks and are disposed to overlap one another in the up-down direction, a plurality of connection passages connecting the plurality of supply ports to the plurality of ink chambers containing the inks to be supplied to the supply ports, and a plurality of air discharge passages respectively connected to the plurality of ink chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masahiko Kamo
  • Patent number: 9796181
    Abstract: An example provides a fluid ejection apparatus including a fluid feed slot along a length of a print head die of the fluid ejection apparatus to supply a fluid to a plurality of drop ejectors, control circuitry adjacent to at least one side of the fluid feed slot to control ejection of drops of fluid from the plurality of drop ejectors, and a single power supply connector at an end of the print head die to supply power to the control circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Adam L. Ghozeil, David Maxfield, Peter James Fricke
  • Patent number: 9725609
    Abstract: An inkjet ink includes: (i) a disazo dye of formula (I): (ii) a glycol compound selected from the group consisting of: triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol and pentaethylene glycol; and (iv) water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Memjet Technology Limited
    Inventors: Jognandan Prashar, Michele Shepard, Doreen Bali
  • Patent number: 9707586
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method of forming a printhead includes forming on a front-side surface of a substrate, a thin film layer and a plurality of fluidic channels and ejection chambers. The method also includes forming a slot through the substrate from the back-side surface to the front-side surface, where the back-side and front-side surfaces generally oppose one another. The slot has a length extending along a long axis of the substrate and a width extending along a short axis of the substrate. The method includes forming recessed regions into the back-side surface of the substrate at both ends of the slot that extend beyond the length of the slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Rio Rivas, Ed Friesen, Terry McMahon, Donald W. Schulte, David Douglas Hall
  • Patent number: 9616663
    Abstract: Adhesion of particles to a liquid ejecting head due to an electric field generated at an electric power supply wire disposed in the liquid ejecting head can be suppressed. The liquid ejecting head is provided with a conductive member covering at least a part of the electric power supply wire for supplying electric power to an ejection energy generating unit configured to generate ejection energy for ejecting liquid, with an insulator therebetween. The conductive member covers the electric power supply wire in a coverage determined based on a relative movement speed between an ejection port and a print medium, a size of particles floating between an ejection port forming surface and the print medium, an electric charge amount of the particles, and a voltage applied to the electric power supply wire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Itoh, Nobuhito Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Arimizu, Yusuke Imahashi, Arihito Miyakoshi, Masahiko Kubota, Koichi Ishida
  • Patent number: 9555630
    Abstract: A printhead assembly for an inkjet-printing device includes a printhead die and a flexible circuit connected to the printhead die. The printhead die includes a substrate, a first ground network electrically connected to the substrate, a device layer, and a second ground network electrically connected to the device layer. The first ground network and the second ground network are electrically isolated from one another within the printhead die. The first ground network and the second ground network are electrically connected to one another at the flexible circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Kevin Bruce, Gregory N. Burton, Joseph M. Torgerson
  • Patent number: 9421700
    Abstract: A three-dimensional (3D) apparatus including a processing unit, a base and a printing head is provided. The processing unit is configured to read and process digital 3D model information. The base is coupled to and controlled by the processing unit. The base includes a plurality of heating regions. The processing unit is configured to selectively heat at least one of the heating regions according to the digital 3D model information. The printing head is disposed above the base. The printing head is coupled to and controlled by the processing unit to dispense a thermal melting material layer-by-layer on the heated heating region to form a 3D object related to the digital 3D model information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignees: XYZprinting, Inc., Kinpo Electronics, Inc., Cal-Comp Electronics & Communications Company Limited
    Inventors: Shih-Jer Din, Shih-Nan Lu, Wei-Hsin Liao
  • Patent number: 9425183
    Abstract: An active guard ring structure is provided, which is applicable to improving latch-up immunity during the latch-up current test (I-test). The proposed active guard ring structure comprises an I/O circuit and an active protection circuit, wherein the I/O circuit receives a trigger current via an input pad and generates a corresponding bulk current since being triggered. The active protection circuit, connected between the I/O circuit and a core circuit, detects whether the trigger current is a positive or negative current pulse. When an intensity of the trigger current is larger than a threshold value, the active protection circuit controls the I/O circuit to provide a sink or compensation current so as to neutralize the bulk current and to reduce the net current flowing into or sourced from the core circuit, thereby increasing the latch-up resistance and immunity of the core circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: National Chiao Tung University
    Inventors: Ming-Dou Ker, Hui-Wen Tsai
  • Patent number: 9388317
    Abstract: An inkjet ink includes: (i) a disazo dye of formula (I): (ii) sulfolane; (iii) a glycol compound selected from the group consisting of: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol and pentaethylene glycol; and (iv) water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Memjet Technology Limited
    Inventors: Jognandan Prashar, Michele Shepard, Doreen Bali
  • Patent number: 9248648
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a microfluidic die that includes a first larger heater and a second smaller heater is a single chamber. The first heater is configured to form a primary bubble that ejects fluid from a nozzle associated with the chamber. The second heater is configured to form a secondary bubble to prevent blow back caused when the primary bubble bursts and ejects fluid from the nozzle. The first and second heater may be coupled to a single input trace and a single ground trace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Domenico Giusti, Daniele Prati
  • Patent number: 9233544
    Abstract: A head unit, in which unit head rows are formed by respectively arraying unit heads in parallel on both sides of a transmission substrate. The head unit includes a first liquid fluid channel that is disposed on a first side of the transmission substrate and a second liquid fluid channel that is disposed on a second side of the transmission substrate. The unit heads are provided with a flexible cable. A first head fluid channel sandwiches the flexible cable and is provided on a side that is opposite a transmission substrate side. A second head fluid channel is provided on the transmission substrate side. The first head fluid channel is in communication with a first liquid fluid channel on a surface side on which the unit heads are disposed. The second head fluid channel straddles the transmission substrate and is in communication with a second liquid fluid channel on a surface side that is opposite the unit heads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Fujio Akahane, Hiroaki Okui, Keiji Hara, Yasuyuki Kudo
  • Patent number: 9193154
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes a recording element substrate having an ejection port, a support member having a recessed portion and supporting the recording element substrate by a bottom portion of the recessed portion, wiring electrically connected to the recording element substrate and extending between the recording element substrate and a side surface of the recessed portion, a sealant with which the wiring is covered, and a passage formed in the support member and allowing a first region where the sealant is placed and a second region different from the sealed region to communicate with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kyosuke Toda, Hirotaka Miyazaki, Hiromasa Amma
  • Patent number: 9114612
    Abstract: A print head includes upper protective members located at positions corresponding to heat generating resistor elements to protect the heat generating resistor elements, and further, a part of the protective member can be eluted into ink when a current flows inside in a state in which the ink is stored in the pressure chambers. The print head includes a drive element and a logic circuit capable of allowing a current to independently flow in each of the upper protective layers so as to elute a part of the upper protective layer, in which the current flows, into the ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Maki Kato, Takahiro Matsui, Nobuyuki Hirayama, Ichiro Saito, Yuzuru Ishida, Kenji Takahashi, Sadayoshi Sakuma, Norihiro Yoshinari
  • Patent number: 8991981
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes a head chip in which two or more nozzle groups are disposed, a first inlet that communicates with one of the nozzle groups and a second inlet that communicates with the other nozzle group a wiring member that is disposed between the first second inlets, a first connection flow path that is connected to the first inlet, a second connection flow path that is connected to the second inlet, and a wiring substrate to which the wiring member is connected between the first connection flow path and the second connection flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Katsumi Enomoto, Shunsuke Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8960865
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting head includes: a base substrate that is formed as a plate-like body and that has a concave portion, which is formed to be open toward an upper surface of the plate-like body, and a wiring pattern which is provided inside the concave portion and formed of a conductive material; and an IC package that is fixed to airtightly seal the inside of the concave portion on the upper surface side and is electrically connected to the wiring pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Ikuya Miyazawa
  • Patent number: 8882217
    Abstract: A printhead assembly for a printing device is provided that includes a printhead comprising non-volatile memory elements. The memory elements include memristive elements. Each memristive element includes an active region disposed between two electrodes. The active region includes a switching layer formed of a switching material capable of carrying a species of dopants and a conductive layer in electrical contact with the switching layer, the conductive layer being formed of a dopant source material that includes the species of dopants that are capable of drifting into the switching layer under an applied potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Perry V. Lea, Gilberto M. Ribeiro, Matthew D. Pickett, Jianhua Yang
  • Patent number: 8840226
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head includes an element substrate including an energy generating element; a supporting member adhesively supporting the element substrate; a sheet member adhesively bonded to the supporting member to adjoin the inner surface of an opening accommodating the element substrate in the sheet member and an end section of the element substrate; a wiring substrate bonded to the sheet member to adjoin the inner surface of an opening accommodating the element substrate in the wiring substrate and the end section of the element substrate and including a wire electrically connected to the energy generating element; and a sealant sealing a part electrical connecting the wiring substrate and element substrate, wherein the height of a wiring substrate surface opposite to that contacting the sheet member from supporting member is smaller than the element substrate surface opposite to that contacting the supporting member from the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shogo Kawamura, Toshiaki Hirosawa, Akira Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8820893
    Abstract: The present invention related to an inkjet printhead, adaptive for an ink cartridge including one ink-supplying tank, the inkjet printhead includes: a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles; and an inkjet chip for controlling ink jetting and having a total area region having a length and a width, the total area region including: a non-wiring region for installing one single ink-supplying flow channels; and a wiring region for installing an internal circuit including a plurality inkjet unit assembly, each inkjet unit of the inkjet unit assembly including a heater installed correspondingly to the nozzle; wherein an area of the wiring region of the inkjet chip is or less than 82% of a total area of the inkjet chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Microjet Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hao Jan Mou, Ta Wei Hsueh, Ying Lun Chang, Rong Ho Yu, Hsien Chung Tai, Cheng Ming Chang, Wen Hsiung Liao, Yung Lung Han
  • Patent number: 8752937
    Abstract: An inkjet head includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzle holes to eject ink droplets, a plurality of ink chambers in which ink is filled, partitioned by sidewalls in communication with the nozzle holes, a plurality of electric conversion elements to generate energy to the ink in the ink chambers for ejecting the ink droplets from the nozzle holes, and an ink chamber plate on which a plurality of drive circuits are mounted to apply a drive voltage to each of the electric conversion elements. Each of the drive circuits includes, on a side face having a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides, drive voltage terminals arranged along one long side to apply the drive voltage to the electric conversion elements via a wiring, input terminals arranged near one short side to which control signals are input, and output terminals arranged near the other short side to output all the control signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hitoshi Kida
  • Publication number: 20140085384
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting head includes: a base substrate that is formed as a plate-like body and that has a concave portion, which is formed to be open toward an upper surface of the plate-like body, and a wiring pattern which is provided inside the concave portion and formed of a conductive material; and an IC package that is fixed to airtightly seal the inside of the concave portion on the upper surface side and is electrically connected to the wiring pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2013
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ikuya MIYAZAWA
  • Patent number: 8651623
    Abstract: An inkjet recording head includes: plural element substrates from which ink is ejected; and a flexible wiring substrate which includes a first wiring area, a second wiring area and a bending portion, the first wiring area including plural openings in which the element substrates are placed and which includes, in the periphery thereof, electrode terminals electrically connected to the element substrates, and the bending portion being bent between the first wiring area and the second wiring area. The flexible wiring substrate includes a slit which extends between the plural openings and reaches the bending portion or a position further than the bending portion from an end portion of the flexible wiring substrate on the side on which the first wiring area is provided, at a position opposite to the bending portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideo Saikawa
  • Patent number: 8651604
    Abstract: Embodiments of a printhead are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Gregory N. Burton
  • Patent number: 8625153
    Abstract: A multi-dimensional data registration integrated circuit is configured for driving array-arrangement devices. The array-arrangement devices comprise a plurality of first hierarchy sets, each which comprises a plurality of second hierarchy sets. The multi-dimensional data registration integrated circuit comprises a first hierarchy address selection circuit, a second hierarchy address selection circuit and a data supply circuit. The first hierarchy address selection circuit scans the first hierarchy sets, and selects a unit of the first hierarchy sets to activate it. The second hierarchy address selection circuit scans the second hierarchy sets. The data supply circuit writes a plurality of data into each designated unit of the second hierarchy sets according to the scanning sequence of the second hierarchy address selection circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: National Tsing Hua University
    Inventors: Fan Gang Tseng, Jian Chiun Liou
  • Patent number: 8556389
    Abstract: A thermal printhead die is formed from an SOI structure as a MEMS device. The die has a printing surface, a buried oxide layer, and a mounting surface opposite the printing surface. A plurality of ink delivery sites are formed on the printing surface, each site having an ink-receiving and ink-dispensing structure. An ohmic heater is formed adjacent to each structure, and an under-bump metallization (UBM) pad is formed on the mounting surface and is electrically connected to the ohmic heater, so that ink received by the ink-delivery site and electrically heated by the ohmic heater may be delivered to a substrate by sublimation. A through-silicon-via (TSV) plug may be formed through the thickness of the die and electrically coupled through the buried oxide layer from the ohmic heater to the UBM pad. Layers of interconnect metal may connect the ohmic heater to the UBM pad and to the TSV plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Kateeva, Inc.
    Inventors: Dariusz Golda, Hyeun-Su Kim, Valerie Gassend
  • Patent number: 8540348
    Abstract: A fluid ejection device comprising firing cells including a first group of firing cells and a second group of firing cells and control circuitry. The control circuitry is configured to respond to the control signal to selectively initiate a first sequence adapted to enable the first group of firing cells for activation and a second sequence adapted to enable the second group of firing cells for activation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Trudy L. Benjamin
  • Patent number: 8534801
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting system includes: a liquid ejecting head which ejects liquid; a container holder to which a liquid accommodating container main body is detachably attached; a circuit substrate which is movably provided in a side face along an attachment direction of the liquid accommodating container main body; a connector terminal which is attached to a side face of the container holder, which is in parallel with an attachment direction; and a movement member which is provided in the container holder and moves the circuit substrate from a position at which the circuit substrate is separated from the connector terminal to a position at which the circuit substrate makes contact with the connector terminal when the liquid accommodating container main body is attached to the container holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichiro Yoshino, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 8523330
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a liquid droplet discharging head and a tank. The liquid droplet discharging head discharges a liquid droplet. The tank supplies a liquid to the liquid droplet discharging head. The liquid droplet discharging head includes a liquid droplet discharging head circuit board including a board substrate and a writing pattern. The wiring pattern is located on the board substrate to supply power and includes a plurality of divided wiring patterns formed by dividing at least a part of the wiring pattern in a width direction of the wiring pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kaichi Ueno
  • Patent number: 8517491
    Abstract: In a highly integrated printing head forming an image with continuously ejected ink droplets, there are disadvantages of a high cost for a control circuit and wirings due to a large number of the wirings for charging electrodes, a difficulty for ensuring electrical insulation between the wirings having a narrow pitch and a high density, and an induced voltage in the wirings due to the mutual induction therebetween. Therefore, the present invention includes dividing a plurality of nozzles into a plurality of groups, shifting production timings between the groups, and applying a charging voltage via common wirings to which the charging electrodes of different groups corresponding to each other are commonly connected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroshi Netsu
  • Patent number: 8469493
    Abstract: A flexible wiring member which connects a device and an external signal source has a plurality of wire members in which a plurality of wires are formed on one surface of a substrate, and a plurality of wire members is stacked to face the device. A plurality of bumps for connecting with the device are provided to the wires on a surface, of the wirings, facing the device. Bumps of one of the wire members overlapping with the other of the wire members face the device via the through hole formed in the other of the wire members. Accordingly, it is possible to realize high densification of wires in the flexible wiring while suppressing a rise in a cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Kubo, Hirofumi Kondo
  • Patent number: 8371668
    Abstract: A recording element substrate which is provided with a first recording element group and a second recording element group, each group including a plurality of recording elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryo Kasai, Tatsuo Furukawa, Nobuyuki Hirayama, Tomoko Kudo
  • Patent number: 8366242
    Abstract: A liquid-ejection head unit includes a head, an electric-circuit board, electronic components, and a storage tank. The head includes a frame member and ejects droplets of liquid. The electronic components are mounted on the electric-circuit board and connected to the head. The storage tank stores liquid supplied to the head. The electric-circuit board is disposed between the frame member of the head and the storage tank to form a single multi-layered structure. The electronic components of the electric-circuit board are accommodated in at least one of a first internal space defined by the frame member of the head and the electric-circuit board and a second internal space defined by the electric-circuit board and the storage tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomohiko Koda, Kenichi Yoshimura, Tomiyoshi Takano, Mitsuru Kawakami, Masami Iwama
  • Patent number: 8360556
    Abstract: A wiring board to be connected to an object includes: contact points to be connected to the object; wires connected to the contact points; and a substrate on which the contact points and the wires are formed. The substrate has a first portion which has openings and overlaps with the object when the wiring board is connected to the object, and a second portion which is continuous to the first portion. The contact points include first contact points formed in the first portion on one surface of the substrate facing the object, and second contact points formed in the second portion, on the other surface of the substrate, at areas which do not overlap with the first contact points when the substrate is bent so that the first portion is overlapped with the second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yusuke Suzuki, Atsushi Ito
  • Patent number: 8356885
    Abstract: A fluid sensor for detecting fluid in a chamber, has a MEMS sensing element of conductive material with a resistance that is a function of temperature, and electrical contacts for connection to an electrical power source for heating the sensing element with an electrical signal, so that control circuitry can measure the current passing through the sensing element during heating of the sensing element; and determine the temperature of the sensing element from the known applied voltage, the measured current and the known relationship between the current, resistance and temperature. As the temperature of the element will be greater if it is in the presence of gas rather than liquid, the sensor determines if there is liquid or gas in the chamber. This is particularly useful to detect if the chambers of an inkjet printhead are primed with ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Zamtec Ltd
    Inventors: Kia Silverbrook, Gregory John McAvoy, Angus John North, Samuel George Mallinson, Mehdi Azimi
  • Patent number: 8353571
    Abstract: A printer apparatus includes a drive circuit and a flexible board on which the drive circuit is mounted. A first input line and a second input line for inputting a driving signal respectively to the drive circuit and an actuator are provided on the flexible board. A thermistor that has a high resistance value with terminals provided therein being in an electrically disconnected state at a temperature not less than a predetermined temperature and has a low resistance value with the terminals being in an electrically connected state at a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature is provided between the first input line and the second input line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hirofumi Kondo
  • Patent number: 8303092
    Abstract: A printhead is provided having corresponding nozzles, chambers and heaters. Each heater has a heater element and electrodes connecting current from a power source to the heater elements to heat, and form gas bubbles in, liquid within the chambers which causes ejection of the liquid from the nozzles. Each heater element has a cross section with a lateral dimension at least triple that of the thickness of that heater element and different than a lateral dimension of each other heater element of the corresponding chamber. The thickness of each heater element is less than 0.3 microns. The heater elements and associated electrodes are arranged so that the electrodes are non-coincident with the electrodes of the other heater elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Zamtec Limited
    Inventor: Kia Silverbrook
  • Patent number: 8287095
    Abstract: A printhead integrated circuit comprising a silicon substrate defining a frontside and a backside, inkjet nozzle assemblies positioned at the frontside, drive circuitry for supplying power to the inkjet nozzle assemblies and through-silicon connectors extending from the frontside towards the backside. The through-silicon connectors provides electrical connections between the drive circuitry and corresponding integrated circuit contacts. The integrated circuit contacts are positioned for connection to a backside-mounted connector film supplying power to the drive circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Zamtec Limited
    Inventors: Gregory John McAvoy, Rónán Pádraig Seán O'Reilly, David McLeod Johnstone, Kia Silverbrook
  • Publication number: 20120242726
    Abstract: The present invention related to an ink-jet head, adaptive for an ink cartridge including at least one ink tank, the ink jet head includes: a nozzle board, having a plurality of nozzles; and an ink-jet chip, being used for controlling the ink-jetting and having a total area region consisting of a length and a width, wherein the total area region includes: a non-wiring region, where at least one ink flow channel being installed therein; and a wiring region, where an internal circuit being installed therein; wherein the internal circuit includes a plurality of ink-jet unit sets, and every ink-jet units of the plurality of ink-jet unit sets include a heater installed correspondingly to the nozzle; wherein the area of the wiring region of the ink-jet chip is less than 77% of the area of the total area region of the ink-jet chip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Hao Jan Mou, Ta Wei Hsueh, Ying Lun Chang, Rong Ho Yu, Hsien Chung Tai, Cheng Ming Chang, Wen Hsiung Liao, Yung Lung Han
  • Publication number: 20120242752
    Abstract: The present invention related to an inkjet printhead, adaptive for an ink cartridge including one ink-supplying tank, the inkjet printhead includes: a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles; and an inkjet chip for controlling ink jetting and having a total area region having a length and a width, the total area region including: a non-wiring region for installing one single ink-supplying flow channels; and a wiring region for installing an internal circuit including a plurality inkjet unit assembly, each inkjet unit of the inkjet unit assembly including a heater installed correspondingly to the nozzle; wherein an area of the wiring region of the inkjet chip is or less than 82% of a total area of the inkjet chip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2011
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Hao Jan MOU, Ta Wei Hsueh, Ying Lun Chang, Rong Ho Yu, Hsien Chung Tai, Cheng Ming Chang, Wen Hsiung Liao, Yung Lung Han
  • Publication number: 20120206542
    Abstract: A liquid ejection apparatus including: a head having: nozzles arranged in a nozzle-row direction; and ejection-energy applying portions; a drive IC for driving the ejection-energy applying portions; a control circuit board for controlling the drive IC; a wiring member on which the drive IC is mounted; and a support member for supporting the wiring member. The wiring member extends toward the control circuit board from a connection portion thereof connected to the ejection-energy applying portions, the wiring member having a first wiring portion extending in a first direction intersecting the nozzle-row direction and a second wiring portion extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The support member supports at least one of the first wiring portion and the second wiring portion, the at least one being located between the ejection-energy applying portions and the control circuit board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2012
    Publication date: August 16, 2012
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Kubo, Atsushi Ito, Yusuke Suzuki, Yasuo Katoh
  • Patent number: 8226190
    Abstract: A recording element substrate includes a recording element, a first voltage conversion circuit configured to receive a first control signal and to output the first control signal with an increased amplitude, a second voltage conversion circuit configured to receive a second control signal and to output the second control signal with an increased amplitude, a PMOS transistor connected to one end of the recording element, and an NMOS transistor connected to the other end of the recording element, wherein the PMOS transistor has a gate connected to an output of the first voltage conversion circuit, and the NMOS transistor has a gate connected to an output of the second voltage conversion circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Hirayama, Tatsuo Furukawa, Masataka Sakurai, Ryo Kasai, Tomoko Kudo
  • Patent number: 8191996
    Abstract: This invention relates to a printhead element substrate having a plurality of electrothermal transducers and a plurality of switching elements which drive the plurality of electrothermal transducers. The element substrate has a level converter which is shared by adjacent electrothermal transducers and steps up an input driving signal, and a switch circuit which supplies the driving signal output from the level converter to one of the adjacent electrothermal transducers. The switch circuit switches the supply destination of the driving signal in accordance with an external input selection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koichi Omata, Yoshiyuki Imanaka, Souta Takeuchi, Takaaki Yamaguchi, Kousuke Kubo
  • Patent number: 8177333
    Abstract: In a printhead element board including a plurality of printing elements which align in a predetermined direction, driving circuits which drive the printing elements, and an element selection circuit which selects printing elements within each group for each group having a predetermined number of adjacent printing elements, a plurality of element selection circuits are laid out adjacent to the driving circuits of the respective groups. With this layout, even if the number of printing elements increases, only the length in the printing element array direction increases without increasing the length in a direction perpendicular to the printing element array direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Hirayama, Ryo Kasai, Masataka Sakurai
  • Patent number: 8172368
    Abstract: A fluid ejection device includes a plurality of firing cells and a fire line adapted to conduct an energy signal including energy pulses. Each firing cell in the plurality of firing cells includes a firing resistor, a drive switch, a first data switch, and a second data switch. The drive switch is configured to enable the firing resistor to respond to the energy signal. The first data switch is configured to receive data signals that represent an image and to latch the data signals to provide latched data signals. The second data switch is configured to receive the latched data signals and control the drive switch to enable the firing resistor to respond to the energy signal and heat fluid to be ejected based on the latched data signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Trudy Benjamin, James P. Axtell
  • Patent number: 8174723
    Abstract: An apparatus (such as a printer) including a combination engine controller circuit board having a integrated circuit (IC) chip configured to process (format) incoming data as well as to control the operations of the apparatus is disclosed. The IC chip is adapted to receive and process data as well as to control the operations of the apparatus. For this reason, the IC chip is referred to as a combined controller IC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Marvell International Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Richard D. Taylor, Mark D. Montierth
  • Patent number: 8162445
    Abstract: An ink jet printing head is attachable to/detachable from an ink jet printing apparatus and includes an electric wiring member formed of a TAB tape to which terminals are provided, and has a wiring exposed through an end section of the electric wiring member, the terminals accepting signals by making contact with a connection portion on the part of the apparatus when the head is attached to the apparatus. An opening is provided in a supporting member which supports the electric wiring member, the opening extending in a direction traversing an area where the electric wiring member is supported. Thereby, movement of liquid, such as water and ink, to the end section is blocked, the liquid moving through a gap between a back surface of the electric wiring member and a surface of the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroki Tajima, Minoru Nozawa, Ryoichiro Kurobe
  • Patent number: 8152278
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes a substrate including, at a surface thereof, an ejection energy generating means for generating ejection energy for ejecting liquid, a flow path forming member provided with an ejection outlet, the substrate further including a liquid supply opening, penetrating therethrough, for supplying the liquid to be ejected by the ejection energy to a flow path of the flow path forming member; a reinforcing member connected to a back side of the substrate; a first penetrating electrode, penetrating the substrate from a front side to the back side thereof, for supplying electric power to the ejection energy generating means; and a second penetrating electrode penetrating the reinforcing member from a front side to a back side thereof, the second penetrating electrode being electrically connected to the first penetrating electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hirokazu Komuro