Head Separate From Fluid Supply Patents (Class 347/66)
  • Patent number: 10363747
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes an ejection opening; a passage in which an energy generation element is disposed; an ejection opening portion that allows communication between the ejection opening and the passage; a supply passage for allowing the liquid to flow into the passage; and an outflow passage for allowing the liquid to flow out to the outside. An expression of H?0.34×P?0.66×W>1.7 is satisfied when a height of the passage is set to H, a length of the ejection opening portion is set to P, and a length of the ejection opening portion is set to W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shingo Okushima, Seiichiro Karita, Takatsuna Aoki, Noriyasu Nagai, Eisuke Nishitani, Yoshiyuki Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 10040290
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes an ejection opening; a passage in which an energy generation element is disposed; an ejection opening portion that allows communication between the ejection opening and the passage; a supply passage for allowing the liquid to flow into the passage; and an outflow passage for allowing the liquid to flow out to the outside. An expression of H?0.34×P?0.66×W>1.7 is satisfied when a height of the passage is set to H, a length of the ejection opening portion is set to P, and a length of the ejection opening portion is set to W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shingo Okushima, Seiichiro Karita, Takatsuna Aoki, Noriyasu Nagai, Eisuke Nishitani, Yoshiyuki Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 10022979
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head capable of suppressing a change in pressure of a pressure chamber, a liquid ejection apparatus, and a manufacturing method are provided. For that reason, a lid member is formed on a wafer-shaped element board and the element board is cut into chips to manufacture a print element board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shingo Okushima, Takatsuna Aoki, Seiichiro Karita, Noriyasu Nagai, Tamaki Sato, Tetsushi Ishikawa, Yasuaki Tominaga, Manabu Otsuka, Shuzo Iwanaga, Tatsurou Mori, Kazuhiro Yamada, Akira Yamamoto, Zentaro Tamenaga, Akio Saito
  • Patent number: 9688069
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus including a liquid discharge head having a substrate, plural pressure chambers two-dimensionally provided on one surface of the substrate, a discharge port, a pressure generating unit to discharge liquid through the discharge port and a flow path connected to the pressure chamber which are provided correspondingly to each pressure chamber, a common liquid chamber provided on the other surface of the substrate, and plural supply paths provided between adjacent pressure chambers and connected to the common liquid chamber; a moving unit to relatively move the liquid discharge head and a recording object; and a driving unit to drive the pressure generating unit. Flow paths respectively corresponding to the pressure chambers adjacent to the supply paths are connected to the supply paths. The driving unit outputs drive signals to the pressure generating units respectively corresponding to the pressure chambers connected to the supply paths at different timings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Tamura, Masato Yajima, Yasuto Kodera, Naoto Sasagawa
  • Publication number: 20150124012
    Abstract: Provided is a thermo-pneumatic actuator which can include a substrate, an insulating layer formed on the substrate, a working fluid disposed in a fluid chamber, an ink chamber separated from the fluid chamber by at least a portion of the device layer comprising an actuatable membrane, and a heating element formed between the insulating layer and the fluid chamber. A boiling point temperature of the working fluid in the fluid chamber is in the range of greater than about 100° C. to about 500° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2013
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Applicant: XEROX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew W. Hays, Jun Ma
  • Patent number: 8991051
    Abstract: This invention is a manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head that includes a substrate having a plurality of discharge energy generating elements that generate energy that is utilized for discharging a liquid, and a discharge port forming member that constitutes a discharge port group including a plurality of discharge ports that discharge the liquid and flow paths that communicate with the discharge port group. The manufacturing method includes (1) disposing a photosensitive resin as material of the discharge port forming member on or above the substrate, and (2) forming an exposure pattern of the discharge port group using ultraviolet light in the photosensitive resin. In the aforementioned (2), the discharge port group is divided in a longitudinal direction and exposed, and the exposures are respectively performed so that regions in which there is a high degree of telecentricity face each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shin Ishimatsu, Kenji Fujii, Toshiaki Kurosu, Takanobu Manabe, Chiaki Muraoka, Sayaka Takahashi, Yukuo Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 8851634
    Abstract: A liquid-jet head includes nozzles disposed in a predetermined direction and configured to discharge a recording liquid, individual liquid chambers connected to the respective nozzles and configured to supply the recording liquid to the respective nozzles, a common liquid chamber connected to the individual liquid chambers and configured to supply the recording liquid to the individual liquid chambers, an air reservoir space disposed adjacent to the common liquid chamber and configured to retain air, a flexible division wall separating the common liquid chamber from the air reservoir space, a tube unit connected outside the liquid-jet head, a recording liquid supply tube passing through the air reservoir space to divide the air reservoir space into a plurality of spaces and configured to supply the recording liquid to the common chamber, and a connecting unit configured to connect the divided spaces to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takafumi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 8840237
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for printing a substrate (7) in a printing machine, in which ink is transferred from a flexible carrier (3) to the substrate (7) in accordance with a predefined pattern by energy being introduced into the ink through the flexible carrier (3) by a device for the introduction of energy, some of the ink evaporating in the area of action of the energy and, as a result, a drop of ink (67) being thrown onto the substrate (7) to be printed, this step being repeated at least once, ink being transferred at least partly to the substrate (7) at the same positions in order to intensify the pattern produced. The substrate is transported through the printing machine (1) during the printing and, after the transfer of ink in step (a), the device for the introduction of energy is controlled in such a way that, during the repetition in step (b), the ink is transferred at the same position again as in step (a). The invention further relates to a printing machine for implementing the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Frank Kleine Jeager, Juergen Kaczun, Udo Lehmann
  • Patent number: 8830530
    Abstract: Provided is an image processor and image processing method that are capable of suppressing both density unevenness and graininess that occur due to deviation of the printing position of dots that are printed by a plurality of relative movements (or a plurality of printing element groups). In order to accomplish this, the dot overlap rate of an image characteristic in which density unevenness stands out is made higher than the dot overlap rate of an image characteristic in which other defects stand out more than the density unevenness. By doing so, it is possible to suitably adjust the dot overlap rate according to an image characteristic, and to output an image having no density unevenness or graininess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ayumi Sano, Fumihiro Goto, Akitoshi Yamada, Akihiko Nakatani, Mitsuhiro Ono, Fumitaka Goto, Okinori Tsuchiya, Takashi Fujita, Rie Kajihara, Tomokazu Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 8794746
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including an ink tank and a recording head having a flow path forming portion that has an ejection orifice plate having plural ink ejection orifices and a liquid chamber provided for each orifice to supply ink to the orifices, and an energy generating element for ejecting ink in the chamber. A surface layer of the flow path forming portion opposes to the outside of the plate. An opening is provided opposing to the orifices in the surface layer. An ink reservoir is provided between the plate and the opening. A circulation flow path communicating with the ink reservoir is provided. The area of the opening is larger than that of the orifice. Both ends of the circulation flow path are respectively connected to inlet and outlet portions connected to the circulation flow path. The inlet and outlet portions and liquid chamber are connected to the ink tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryota Kashu, Naoto Sasagawa, Seiichiro Karita, Takatsuna Aoki, Shingo Okushima, Eisuke Nishitani
  • Patent number: 8727503
    Abstract: A primary flow path forming member is provided with a groove which becomes a recording liquid supply path on a bottom surface thereof. A second flow path forming member is provided with an arm portion. The arm portion of the second flow path forming member is used as a cap for closing the opening of the groove which becomes the liquid supply path formed on the bottom surface of the prime flow path forming member. The primary flow path forming member and the second flow path forming member as described above are formed by injection-molding and bonded with each other by a bonding member. The bonding member is formed to cover a portion where the opening edge of the groove which becomes the recording liquid supply path, in the primary flow path forming member abuts on the arm portion of the second flow path forming member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yukuo Yamaguchi, Satoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 8708466
    Abstract: A system for coupling a media width printhead to a fluid supply is provided having a printhead having a fluid inlet coupling at one longitudinal end of the media width and a fluid outlet coupling at the other longitudinal end of the media width, an inlet supply coupling having fluid ports defined in a port plate for engagement with fluid ports of the inlet coupling, an outlet supply coupling having fluid ports defined in a port plate for engagement with fluid ports of the outlet coupling, and a coupling drive mechanism connected to the port plates of the supply couplings via pre-compressed compression springs. The coupling drive mechanism is operational to move the port plates relative to the printhead so as to drive the ports of the supply couplings into engagement with the respective ports of the printhead couplings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Zamtec Ltd
    Inventors: Bob Mallory, Robert Rosati, Mike Eckard, Geoffrey Philip Dyer
  • Patent number: 8678571
    Abstract: A fluid ejection cartridge for a fluid ejection device includes a print head, having a plurality of fluid ejection nozzles, a fluid reservoir, configured to hold a fluid to be ejected from the print head, and a selectively breachable isolator mechanism, separating the fluid reservoir and the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: William R. Wagner, Donald B Ouchida, Daniel S Kuehler, John Liebeskind
  • Patent number: 8651625
    Abstract: A fluid ejection device includes a chamber, at least one fluid supply channel, and more than two fluid inlets disposed between the fluid channel and the chamber. An inkjet printing system includes a fluid ejection device having a chamber disposed along fluid supply channels within the fluid ejection device, where a first channel is disposed along a first side of the chamber and a second channel is disposed along a second side of the chamber. The chamber includes multiple fluid inlets, where a first plurality of fluid inlets is disposed between the chamber and the first channel and a second plurality of fluid inlets is disposed between the chamber and the second channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Haggai Karlinski
  • Patent number: 8567916
    Abstract: A liquid supplying mechanism includes a flow channel forming member that has a base having a plate-like shape on which an upstream portion of a plurality of liquid supplying flow channels are formed so as to supply ink to each of a plurality of liquid ejection heads that are assembled to a liquid ejection head unit, and a plurality of connection members in a tubular shape that extend from one side of the of the base so as to form a downstream portion of the flow channels that individually communicate with the upstream portion of the respective liquid supplying flow channels and are disposed such that the distal end of the connection members correspond to the positions of the connection holes that are formed on the respective liquid ejection heads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Tsuchiya, Hiroshige Owaki, Hirokazu Ono, Takeo Seino, Hiroyuki Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 8523327
    Abstract: A printhead includes a liquid source, a first substrate, a filter, and a liquid chamber. Portions of the first substrate define a nozzle adapted to emit liquid from the liquid source. The liquid chamber includes a port. The liquid chamber is in fluid communication with the nozzle and the filter and is positioned between the first substrate and the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Kathleen M. Vaeth, John C. Brazas, David L. Jeanmaire
  • Patent number: 8517518
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including an ink tank and a recording head having a flow path forming portion that has an ejection orifice plate having plural ink ejection orifices and a liquid chamber provided for each orifice to supply ink to the orifices, and an energy generating element for ejecting ink in the chamber. A surface layer of the flow path forming portion opposes to the outside of the plate. An opening is provided opposing to the orifices in the surface layer. An ink reservoir is provided between the plate and the opening. A circulation flow path communicating with the ink reservoir is provided. The area of the opening is larger than that of the orifice. Both ends of the circulation flow path are respectively connected to inlet and outlet portions connected to the circulation flow path. The inlet and outlet portions and liquid chamber are connected to the ink tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryota Kashu, Naoto Sasagawa, Seiichiro Karita, Takatsuna Aoki, Shingo Okushima, Eisuke Nishitani
  • Patent number: 8514454
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus is configured to process multivalued image data corresponding to a unit area of a recording medium so as to form an image on the unit area with a plurality of relative movements between a recording head and the recording medium. The apparatus has a selecting unit for selecting either a first processing mode to segment the multivalued image data into a plurality of multivalued image data corresponding to the plurality of relative movements, and then quantize each of the plurality of multivalued image data, or a second processing mode to quantize the multivalued image data into quantized image data, and then segment the quantized image data into a plurality of quantized image data corresponding to the plurality of relative movements. The selecting unit may select either the first processing mode or the second processing mode based on the number of relative movements to the unit area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasunori Fujimoto, Daigoro Kanematsu, Tomokazu Yanai
  • Patent number: 8408667
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes: an ejection port; a supply section and a discharge section; a main flow channel; a supply flow channel; a filter; and a sub flow channel, one end of which is connected to a first connection position near the supply section, and the other end of which is connected to a second connection position near the discharge section, wherein the main flow channel and the sub flow channel are formed such that, in supplying the liquid from the supply section to the main flow channel at a predetermined flow rate, the higher the predetermined flow rate is, the more the ratio of a flow rate in the main flow channel from the first connection position to the second connection position to a flow rate in the sub flow channel increases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoichiro Shimizu
  • Patent number: 8388114
    Abstract: A primary flow path forming member is provided with a groove which becomes a recording liquid supply path on a bottom surface thereof. A second flow path forming member is provided with an arm portion having a small width and a large length. The arm portion of the second flow path forming member is used as a cap for closing the opening of the groove which becomes the liquid supply path formed on the bottom surface of the prime flow path forming member. The primary flow path forming member and the second flow path forming member as described above are formed by injection-molding and bonded with each other by a bonding member. The bonding member is formed to cover the periphery of a portion where the opening edge of the groove which becomes the recording liquid supply path, in the primary flow path forming member abuts on the arm portion of the second flow path forming member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yukuo Yamaguchi, Satoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 8356889
    Abstract: A print engine for an inkjet printer which has a media path extending past a printhead assembly along a paper axis, has an elongate printhead carriage extending transverse to the paper axis, a series of interfaces for supplying ink to respective printhead modules spaced along the printhead carriage such that during use, the printhead modules span the media path and ink conduits connected to the interfaces for feeding ink to the printhead modules. The printhead carriage has a series formations to position the ink conduits such that they all extend away from the interfaces in a direction transverse to the long axis to a common side of the printhead carriage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Zamtec Ltd
    Inventors: Robert Rosati, David Petch, David Burney, Jim Sykora, Kenneth A Regas, Andy Bound, Neil Doherty, Scott Dennis, Ben Jones, Oksana Buyda, Locson Tonthat, Andrew Buyda, Patrick Kirk, Loren Hunt, Jason Dewey, Jim Trinchera, Bill Cressman, Ron Zech
  • Patent number: 8292408
    Abstract: An inkjet printhead comprising a substrate having an ink feed slot formed in the substrate and having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge opposite to the first longitudinal edge, the first longitudinal edge extending along a first longitudinal axis (X); a first row of vaporization chambers arranged along the first longitudinal edge and a second row of vaporization chambers arranged along the second longitudinal edge, in which each chamber comprises an ink droplet generating portion and a connection portion, the connection portion including at least one duct in fluid connection with the ink feed slot, wherein the connection portions of the chambers of the first row overlap along the first longitudinal axis (X) with the connection portions of the chambers of the second row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Telecom Italia S.p.A.
    Inventor: Alessandro Scardovi
  • Patent number: 8274704
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus processes, for each pixel, multivalued image data for a unit area of a recording medium, so as to form an image on the unit area with a plurality of relative movements between a recording head and the recording medium. The apparatus has a selector that selects a first processing mode for dividing the multivalued image data into a plurality of pieces of multivalued image data corresponding to the plurality of relative movements, and then quantizing each of the plurality of pieces of multivalued image data, or a second processing mode for quantizing the multivalued image data into quantized image data, and then dividing the quantized image data into a plurality of pieces of quantized image data corresponding to the plurality of relative movements. The selector selects the processing mode based on a content (attribute, grayscale, color, etc.) of the multivalued image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasunori Fujimoto, Shinichi Miyazaki, Hiroki Horikoshi, Akira Ichimura, Naoko Baba
  • Patent number: 8201929
    Abstract: A plurality of ink cartridges are installed to be arranged in a vertical direction. A carriage reciprocates in the vertical direction. An ink-jet head has nozzle rows arranged, in a row in the vertical direction, to be parallel mutually, and the ink cartridge is connected to the nozzle row via a tube. There is provided a vertically long and a stylish liquid jetting apparatus which can be installed vertically even in a narrow area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroto Sugahara, Narumi Kawai, Yoshitsugu Morita, Shingo Hattori
  • Patent number: 8182073
    Abstract: A liquid dispenser includes a liquid supply channel, a liquid dispensing channel including an outlet opening, a liquid return channel, and a liquid cooling channel positioned relative to the liquid dispensing channel. A liquid supply provides liquid under pressure from the liquid supply channel through the liquid dispensing channel to the liquid return channel. A diverter member is selectively actuatable using heat energy to divert a portion of the liquid toward outlet opening of the liquid dispensing channel, the diverter member including a first side that faces the liquid dispensing channel and a second side that faces the liquid cooling channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Yonglin Xie, Joseph Jech, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8162460
    Abstract: An inkjet printing cartridge capable of ejecting miniaturized ink droplets in a stable manner while avoiding the complexity of the structure and control as well as suppressing the cost rise. For this purpose, the inkjet printing cartridge is formed of a material having the permeability to liquid and gas, and the ink supply path for supplying ink to the ejection opening having a relatively small ejection amount is arranged adjacent to other ink supply paths via walls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiromasa Amma, Keiichiro Tsukuda
  • Patent number: 8141988
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes at least one liquid ejecting substrate for ejecting liquid, a supporting member for supporting the at least one liquid ejecting substrate, the at least one liquid ejecting substrate being fixed to a main surface of the supporting member, and a plurality of liquid supplying members for supplying liquid to the at least one liquid ejecting substrate through the supporting member. A linear expansivity of each of the liquid supplying members is different from a linear expansivity of the supporting member. The plurality of the liquid supplying members are arranged along a longitudinal direction of the supporting member, with each of the liquid supplying members being bonded to a surface that is opposite the main surface of the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Toshiaki Hirosawa
  • Patent number: 8109611
    Abstract: An inkjet printhead with a plurality of nozzle arrangements that each have a nozzle chamber and an ink ejection port that is in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber. The nozzle arrangements also have an actuator configured for rectilinear movement, and an ink-ejecting mechanism configured for angular displacement to eject ink from the ink ejection port. A translation to rotation conversion mechanism is interposed between the actuator and the ink-ejecting mechanism to convert rectilinear movement of the actuator into angular displacement of the ink-ejecting mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
    Inventor: Kia Silverbrook
  • Patent number: 8070248
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus performs an image forming operation by driving a ejecting element of a recording head with an ink ejecting drive voltage for ejecting ink, detects a temperature of ink to be flown into the recording head and a temperature of ink to be discharged respectively with a first temperature detection section and a second temperature detection section, and corrects the ink ejecting drive voltage on the basis of a temperature of ink being heat-transferred with the ejecting element, which is estimated with a predetermined conversion formula on the basis of the detected ink temperatures, for controlling an ink amount to be ejected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignees: Ortek Corporation, Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventor: Takeo Ogama
  • Patent number: 8047634
    Abstract: An inkjet external ink manifold is provided that allows for use of a jet stack that does not internally contain ink manifolds. The external ink manifold has a manifold body that includes one or more ink manifold chambers and includes ports arranged to connect the chambers to one or more ink reservoirs. The external ink manifold further includes an adhesive layer overlying and sealing the ink manifold chambers. The adhesive layer includes a plurality of ports arranged to connect the external ink manifold chambers to the jet stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan Robert Brick, Jim Stevenson, John Richard Andrews, Richard Schmachtenberg, III, Dan Leo Massopust, Sharon S. Berger, Terrance L. Stephens, Chad Johan Slenes
  • Patent number: 8033651
    Abstract: A reliable print head with improved reliability is less likely to be damaged by possible cavitation in ink inside a bubbling chamber. A plurality of ink supply paths through which the ink is supplied to the bubbling chamber are connected to the bubbling chamber. Communication positions where the plurality of ink supply paths communicate with the energy acting chamber are formed such that distances from a heater formation surface of the communication positions are different from each other along a direction orthogonal to the heater formation surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Keiji Tomizawa, Ken Tsuchii, Shuichi Ide
  • Patent number: 7997697
    Abstract: A droplet discharge head including a nozzle substrate having nozzle openings, a cavity substrate having discharge chambers that communicate with the nozzle openings and discharge droplets from the nozzle openings, a reservoir substrate having a reservoir concave portion that serves as a reservoir which communicates commonly with the discharge chambers. The reservoir substrate is provided between the nozzle substrate and the cavity substrate and a resin thin film is formed on a whole inner face of the reservoir concave portion and on a bottom face of a second concave portion. The second concave portion is provided in a peripheral of the reservoir concave portion and has a depth which is smaller than the depth of the reservoir concave portion. The resin thin film is cut circularly so as to surround the reservoir concave portion, and a part of the resin thin film serves as a diaphragm buffering pressure variation. serves as a diaphragm buffering pressure variation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuji Arawaka, Kazufumi Oya
  • Patent number: 7992978
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a head group having a plurality of heads provided with supply ports for supplying liquid to the heads, the heads being arranged in a nozzle-array direction and ejecting the liquid therefrom to form an image; and a heating portion that heats the liquid to be supplied to the head group, the heating portion being disposed between the supply ports of the heads located at opposite ends in the nozzle-array direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuaki Azami, Hirokazu Nunokawa
  • Patent number: 7963642
    Abstract: An ink-jet printer, including: a recording head which ejects ink onto a recording medium; a main tank which stores the ink to be supplied to the recording head; a sub tank configured to be extended and contracted in a vertical direction and including first and second ink flow holes provided in a lower portion of the sub tank, such that the first ink flow hole communicates with the recording head while the second ink flow hole communicates with the main tank; and a communication tube which is connected, at one of opposite ends thereof, to the second ink flow hole and which has, at the other of opposite ends thereof, an opening positioned in an inside space of the sub tank, whereby the second ink flow hole and the inside space of the sub tank communicate with each other via the communication tube, wherein the communication tube is configured such that the opening of the communication tube is displaced downwardly in accordance with the contraction of the sub tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takaichiro Umeda
  • Patent number: 7947336
    Abstract: An epoxy resin composition, including: an epoxy resin (A) represented by Formula (1); an epoxy resin (B) having an epoxy equivalent of 220 or less and having twice or more epoxy groups in a molecule than epoxy groups of the epoxy resin (A); and a photocationic polymerization initiator (C), in which: the epoxy resins (A) and (B) constitute main components; and a weight of the epoxy resin (A) is 40% or more and a weight of the epoxy resin (B) is 30% or more with respect to a total weight of the epoxy resins (A) and (B): where: R represents a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group, or a t-butyl group; n represents an integer of 0 or more and 4 or less; and m represents an integer of 1 or more and 3 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shimpei Otaka, Kazunari Ishizuka, Isamu Horiuchi, Isao Imamura
  • Patent number: 7926915
    Abstract: An inkjet nozzle assembly includes a nozzle chamber comprising a floor and a roof. The roof has a nozzle opening defined therein, and a moving portion moveable towards the floor. The assembly further comprises a thermal bend actuator, defining at least part of the moving portion of the roof, for ejecting ink through the nozzle opening. The thermal bend actuator comprises an upper first beam for connection to drive circuitry and a lower second beam mechanically cooperating with the first beam, such that when a current is passed through the first beam, the first beam expands relative to the second beam resulting in bending of the moving portion towards the floor of the nozzle chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Gregory John McAvoy, Kia Silverbrook
  • Patent number: 7914124
    Abstract: A valve unit supplies ink supplied from a plurality of ink cartridges to a recording head. The recording head includes a plurality of nozzle rows respectively corresponding to the plurality of ink cartridges. The valve unit includes a plurality of liquid supply passages and at least one flow passage formation body. Each liquid supply passage supplies the ink supplied from the corresponding ink cartridge to the corresponding nozzle row. Each liquid supply passage includes a common portion functionally in common with another liquid supply passage. The common structure of the plurality of liquid supply passages is formed in the same flow passage formation body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tatsuya Seshimo, Takeshi Fujishiro
  • Patent number: 7909424
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for dispensing liquid are disclosed. The method includes the steps of storing one or more liquids in a thermal inkjet print head and providing a well plate having at least one well. At least one of the liquids is dispensed from the thermal inkjet print head into at least one well. The volume of the dispensed liquid is a fraction of the total required volume of the liquid in the at least one well, and the dispensing step is performed multiple times to dispense the required volume of the at least one liquid in at least one well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Manish Giri, Joshua M. Yu, Chris H. Bakker, Kevin F. Peters, Vincent Remcho
  • Patent number: 7887162
    Abstract: An epoxy resin composition, including: an epoxy resin (A) represented by Formula (1); an epoxy resin (B) having an epoxy equivalent of 220 or less and having twice or more epoxy groups in a molecule than epoxy groups of the epoxy resin (A); and a photocationic polymerization initiator (C), in which: the epoxy resins (A) and (B) constitute main components; and a weight of the epoxy resin (A) is 40% or more and a weight of the epoxy resin (B) is 30% or more with respect to a total weight of the epoxy resins (A) and (B): where: R represents a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group, or a t-butyl group; n represents an integer of 0 or more and 4 or less; and m represents an integer of 1 or more and 3 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shimpei Otaka, Kazunari Ishizuka, Isamu Horiuchi, Isao Imamura
  • Patent number: 7798619
    Abstract: In a printing device (10) of the piezoelectric DOD type for printing a substrate (12) with a printing medium, comprising a print head (16), which is arranged in such a manner that it can be moved to and fro substantially transversely with respect to the direction in which the substrate to be printed is conveyed, the working container (30) for degassed printing medium is coupled to a flexible reservoir (32). This results in increased productivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Stork Digital Imaging B.V.
    Inventor: Jacobus Henricus Diederen
  • Patent number: 7794060
    Abstract: Provided is a unit cell arrangement for an inkjet printhead. The unit cell arrangement includes a substrate that defines an ink inlet and sidewalls supporting a roof portion on the wafer substrate to form an ink chamber. The roof portion defines at least one nozzle rim. The unit cell also includes a heater element suspended in the chamber between the sidewalls for thermal cavitation of ink in the chamber to facilitate ink ejection via the nozzle rim. Further included is a rectifying valve arranged in the ink inlet to provide decreased hydraulic resistance to ink flowing into the chamber than ink flowing out of the chamber in order to reduce fluidic cross talk between chambers of similar unit cells on the substrate and to improve ink refill times of the chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Mehdi Azimi, Kia Silverbrook
  • Patent number: 7781343
    Abstract: By forming a protection layer on the back side of a substrate prior to any process sequences, which may deposit material or material residues on the back side, the respective back side uniformity may be significantly enhanced, thereby also increasing process efficiency of subsequent back side critical processes, such as lithography, back end of line processes and the like. In one illustrative embodiment, silicon carbide may be used as a material for forming a respective protection layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Globalfoundries Inc.
    Inventors: Tobias Letz, Holger Schuehrer, Markus Nopper
  • Patent number: 7631962
    Abstract: A printhead assembly including one or more nozzles is described that can include a droplet ejection module. In one embodiment, the droplet ejection module includes a liquid supply assembly, a housing and a droplet ejection body. The liquid supply assembly includes a self-contained liquid reservoir and a liquid outlet. The housing is configured to permanently connect to the liquid supply assembly and includes a liquid channel configured to receive a liquid from the liquid outlet of the liquid supply assembly and to deliver the liquid to a droplet ejection body. The droplet ejection body is permanently connected to the housing and includes one or more liquid inlets configured to receive liquid from the housing and one or more nozzles configured to selectively eject droplets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2009
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc.
    Inventors: Andreas Bibl, John A. Higginson, Kevin Von Essen, Antai Xu
  • Patent number: 7597426
    Abstract: An ink-jet head includes: a cavity unit having a nozzle row in which nozzles are arranged in a row, a common ink chamber, and ink channels connecting the common ink chamber with the nozzles, respectively; at least two air discharge ports for air-bubble discharge provided substantially on an extension line of the nozzle row; and a single air discharge-channel connecting the at least two air discharge ports and a portion in the common ink chamber disposed at most downstream of a flow of the ink. The ink channels and the air discharge-channel have substantially the same shape, and an opening area of each of the discharge ports is substantially same as that of the nozzles, thereby making channel resistance in the air discharge-channel lower than that in the ink channels, thereby efficiently removing air bubble stagnated in the common ink chamber at the most downstream portion in the ink flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsushi Ito
  • Patent number: 7540594
    Abstract: A printhead body for mounting a micro-fluid ejection chip includes a floor having an interior side and an exterior side, the exterior side being configured for mounting at least one micro-fluid ejection chip. A plurality of body vias extends through the floor from the interior side to the exterior side. The plurality of body vias is positioned to supply ink to each micro-fluid ejection chip. A plurality of ink flow channels is formed over the interior side of the floor. The plurality of ink flow channels include at least a first ink flow channel vertically overlapping a separate and independent second ink flow channel. Each individual ink flow channel of the plurality of ink flow channels is in fluid communication with at least one body via of the plurality of body vias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Inventors: Johnnie Coffey, Steven Robert Komplin, Christopher Elliot Lingle
  • Patent number: 7537318
    Abstract: Ink is smoothly supplied so as to increase ink ejection speed to achieve high-speed printing. Thus, a filter is used to partition an ink storing chamber into a first and second storing chambers. Ink stored in the first storing chamber is supplied to a common liquid chamber in an ejection element. Ink introduced into the second ink storing chamber through a joint is supplied to the first storing chamber through the filter. An ink storing chamber member is joined to an ink storing chamber cover member to form the first and second ink storing chambers partitioned by the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Canon Finetech Inc.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Fujii, Hiroyuki Ishinaga, Kayo Mukai
  • Patent number: 7530681
    Abstract: An ink jet print head is provided which is highly reliable in recovering its performance by removing bubbles accumulated in the ink paths to reliably prevent print quality degradations in bi-directional printing. In the ink ejection member having an odd number of arrayed ink supply ports to supply ink to the ejection openings, the ink colors of the ink supply ports are arranged laterally symmetrically and a plurality of ink tanks are arranged side by side so that the direction of array of the ink supply ports is perpendicular to the direction of array of the ink tanks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2009
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroki Tajima
  • Patent number: 7517068
    Abstract: Disclosed is an ink cartridge for an ink-jet image forming apparatus. The ink cartridge comprises an ink cartridge body having a plurality of ink chambers. The ink chambers are formed by two or more partitioning walls orthogonally intersected with each other within the ink cartridge body. A nose is formed at a position adjacent to the bottom surfaces of the ink chambers. The nose includes openings formed in the opposite sides and a plurality of ink feeding channels forming the central area between the openings and connected to the ink feeding channels, respectively. Sealing members seal each corresponding one of the nose openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2009
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Myung-song Jung, Young-soo Lee
  • Patent number: 7465037
    Abstract: An inkjet printhead that has an array of ink chambers, each having an ink refill aperture, a nozzle and an actuator for ejecting ink through the nozzle, and, a fluid flow rectifying valve at the ink refill aperture for providing less hydraulic resistance to ink flowing into the chamber than ink flowing out of the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Inventors: Mehdi Azimi, Kia Silverbrook
  • Patent number: 7419251
    Abstract: A tube interconnect includes a tube and a header overmolded about the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Judson Leiser, Gary Douglas Powell, David N. Olsen