Patent ID: 8540344
Filing Date: 2013-09-24
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A stationary pagewidth inkjet printhead comprised of a plurality of printhead integrated circuits butted end-on-end across said pagewidth, said printhead comprising one or more nozzle rows extending along a longitudinal axis of the printhead, each nozzle row comprising a plurality of nozzles, wherein one or more of said nozzles are each configured to fire a droplet of ink at a plurality of predetermined different dot positions along said longitudinal axis, wherein each of said nozzles comprises: a nozzle chamber for containing ink, said nozzle chamber comprising a floor and a roof having a nozzle opening defined therein; and a plurality of moveable paddles defining at least part of the roof, said plurality of paddles being actuable to cause ejection of an ink droplet from said nozzle opening, each paddle including a thermal bend actuator comprising: an upper thermoelastic beam connected to drive circuitry; and a lower passive beam fused to said thermoelastic beam, such that when a current is passed through the thermoelastic beam, the thermoelastic beam expands relative to the passive beam, resulting in bending of a respective paddle towards the floor of the nozzle chamber, and wherein each actuator is independently controllable via respective drive circuitry such that a direction of droplet ejection from said nozzle opening is controllable by independent movement of each paddle.