Patent ID: 7008047
Filing Date: 2006-03-07
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An inkjet printhead comprising a substrate, the substrate comprising: at least three actuating banks and at least three slots of elongated shape corresponding to said three actuating banks, said at least three slots being oriented lengthwise parallel to a given vertical direction, each of said at least three slots being made through the thickness of said substrate for conveying a flow of ink to the corresponding actuating bank, each of said three actuating banks consisting in turn of a plurality of ejection actuators arranged substantially in a line along the long opposite sides of the corresponding slot, a plurality of terminals arranged on the surface of said substrate for receiving a plurality of external signals suitable for selectively addressing and driving said actuators, and a plurality of drive circuits arranged between said terminals and said actuating banks for selectively controlling, in response to the external signals received by said terminals, the ejection actuators of said three actuating banks, said drive circuits extending, around said actuating banks, along portions of the surface of said substrate, of elongated shape and substantially parallel to said at least three slots and therefore to said given vertical direction, said drive circuits being interconnected according to a grid configuration defining said terminals and such as to allow said ejection actuators to be addressed with a lesser number of terminals than that of said ejection actuators, wherein at least two of said at least three slots are arranged on the surface of said substrate one beside the other along the respective long sides, and therefore parallel to said given vertical direction, wherein said terminals associated with the drive circuits for selectively addressing and driving the ejection actuators are arranged in a zone external to said at least three slots and to said drive circuits, substantially in a line with one another parallel to said given vertical direction, and wherein a first and a second of said at least three slots are of substantially equal length and are arranged on an upper portion of said substrate, one beside the other according to a given step substantially over the entire extent of the respective long sides, parallel to said given vertical direction, so that the two actuating banks corresponding respectively to said first and to said second slot are arranged side by side on said upper portion, and wherein a third of said at least three slots is arranged, on a lower portion of said substrate, completely displaced with respect to the other two slots along said given vertical direction, according to a given distance, so that the actuating bank corresponding to said third slot is arranged on said lower portion and is displaced with respect to the other two along said vertical direction.