Patent ID: 6273543
Filing Date: 2001-08-14
Classification: B41J,G03F,Y10S

Abstract:
An ink jet printhead which comprises (i) an upper substrate with a set of parallel grooves for subsequent use as ink channels and a recess for subsequent use as a manifold, the grooves being open at one end for serving as droplet emitting nozzles, (ii) a lower substrate in which one surface thereof has an array of heating elements and addressing electrodes formed thereon, and (iii) a layer deposited on the surface of the lower substrate and over the heating elements and addressing electrodes and patterned to form recesses therethrough to expose the heating elements and terminal ends of the addressing electrodes, the upper and lower substrates being aligned, mated, and bonded together to form the printhead with the grooves in the upper substrate being aligned with the heating elements in the lower substrate to form droplet emitting nozzles, said layer comprising a crosslinked or chain extended polymer-containing composition formed by crosslinking or chain extending a precursor polymer having terminal end groups and monomer repeat units, at least some of said monomer repeat units having photosensitivity-imparting water solubility- or water dispersability-imparting substituents which enable crosslinking or chain extension of the precursor polymer upon exposure to actinic radiation, said precursor polymer having monomer repeat units of the formula ##STR137##wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1; PW is a functional group which imparts both photosensitivity and water solubility or dispersability to polymers of formula I and formula II; a, b, c, and d are each integers of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that at least one of a, b, c, and d is equal to or greater than 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula I and formula II; A is ##STR138##or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR139##wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR140##wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR141##wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR142##wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR143##or mixtures thereof; and n is an integer representing the number of repeating monomer units; said crosslinking or chain extension occurring through photosensitivity-imparting substituents contained on at least some of the monomer repeat units of the precursor polymer which form crosslinks or chain extensions in the precursor polymer upon exposure to actinic radiation, wherein the photosensitivity-imparting substituents ""PW"" are unsaturated ammonium groups, unsaturated phosphonium groups, or unsaturated ether groups.