Patent ID: 6550896
Filing Date: 2003-04-22
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A nozzle arrangement for an ink jet printhead, the nozzle arrangement comprisinga wafer substrate; nozzle chamber walls arranged on the wafer substrate to define a nozzle chamber of the nozzle arrangement and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber, the nozzle chamber walls being the product of at least an etching process carried out on the substrate; and an actuator for ejecting ink from the nozzle chamber, the actuator comprising: at least one actuating member that is displaceable between pre-operative and post-operative positions with respect to the nozzle chamber walls to eject ink from the ink ejection port, at least a portion of the, or each, actuating member being in the form of a shape memory material which is capable of generating said displacement of the, or each, actuating member between pre-operative and post-operative positions when the shape memory material undergoes a structural change to or from a trained shape under predetermined conditions; and a transformation mechanism that is operatively arranged with respect to the shape memory material to generate said predetermined conditions.