# Patent

## Title
Compact media and ink cartridge for inkjet printhead

## Abstract

A cartridge is provided for supplying print media and ink to an inkjet printhead with which the cartridge is engaged. The cartridge comprises a casing, a core rotatably mounted inside the casing, an ink supply inside the core, a roll of print media supported by the core, and a transport mechanism mounted inside the casing for transporting the print media from the roll of print media to the printhead by rotating the core. The casing is substantially congruent to the arrangement of the transport mechanism and the roll of print media, when full, so as to provide a compact cartridge.

## Background
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/831,236 filed Apr. 26, 2004, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/112,743 filed on Jul. 10, 1998, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,951.


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to digital cameras and in particular, the onboard processing of image data captured by the camera.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, digital cameras have become increasingly popular. These cameras normally operate by means of imaging a desired image utilising a charge coupled device (CCD) array and storing the imaged scene on an electronic storage medium for later down loading onto a computer system for subsequent manipulation and printing out. Normally, when utilising a computer system to print out an image, sophisticated software may available to manipulate the image in accordance with requirements.
Unfortunately such systems require significant post processing of a captured image and normally present the image in an orientation to which it was taken, relying on the post processing process to perform any necessary or required modifications of the captured image. Also, much of the environmental information available when the picture was taken is lost. Furthermore, the type or size of the media substrate and the types of ink used to print the image can also affect the image quality. Accounting for these factors during post processing of the captured image data can be complex and time consuming.
The present Applicant addresses these issues with a digital camera having an image processor takes account of the lighting conditions at the time of image capture, and confirms the type of ink and media, in order to enhance the quality of the printed image. This camera is described below and in many of the cross referenced documents incorporated herein by reference.
One particular feature of this camera is the instant production of personalised postcards using an inbuilt printhead. This requires a media cartridge that holds a reasonable amount of print media while remaining compact enough to keep the overall dimensions of the camera and cartridge acceptable to users.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides a media cartridge for supplying print media to a printhead, the cartridge comprising:
a roll of print media;
a casing with a rotatable core for supporting the media roll;
an ink supply within the core;
at least one ink outlet at one end of the core for establishing fluid communication between the ink supply and the printhead;
a drive roller assembly for engaging an external drive to feed the print media to the printhead; wherein,
the longitudinal axes of the core, and rollers of the drive roller assembly are parallel.
A media cartridge adopting this design is particularly compact, has a high media and ink capacity and relatively cost effective to manufacture. The majority of the components can be made from injection molded plastics and snap fitted together.
In some embodiments, the core is segmented with different coloured inks stored in each of the segments, wherein each of the segments has a respective ink outlet in the end of the core.
Preferably, the drive roller assembly comprises at least one media de-curling roller; such that,
as the media is fed to the printhead, it wraps around a portion of the at least one de-curling roller to remove residual curl caused by storage as a roll.
Providing the media in a roll allows the cartridge to be small and compact. However, the curl imparted to the media from being stored as a roll can interfere with printing when the media substrate passes the printhead. Using a de-curling roller within the drive rollers can straighten the media enough for flat engagement with the platen opposite the printhead.
The invention will be described with respect to its use with a digital camera with an inbuilt printhead. However, it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative and the invention has clear application in many other fields.
Preferably, the cartridge has one de-curling roller and two pinch rollers, wherein the pinch rollers maintain the media substrate wrapped around the required portion of the de-curling roller. In a further preferred form, one of the pinch rollers is driven. In some forms, the driven pinch roller has a geared axle that extends beyond the casing for engagement with an external drive source via a corresponding gear.
Preferably, and an outer cover enclosing the roll and the drive roller assembly, the outer cover comprising two interengaging side moldings that snap lock together to form a media outlet slot adjacent the drive roller assembly. Preferably, one side of the slot has a resilient guide extending away from the slot for resilient engagement with a paper path leading to the printhead upon installation of the cartridge. In particular embodiments, the printhead is controlled by an image processor and the cartridge further comprises an authentication chip for confirming the suitability of the ink and the media to the image processor.
In a particularly preferred form, the cartridge is configured for engagement with a cartridge interface such that the ink outlets establish fluid communication with the printhead, the image processor accesses the authentication chip, the geared axle of the drive roller engages the external drive and the resilient guide extending from the outlet slot engages the paper feed path, in a single installation action.
According to a related aspect, there is provided a digital camera for use with a media cartridge comprising a supply of media substrate on which images can be printed, and an information store with information relating to the media substrate, the camera comprising:
an image sensor for capturing an image;
an image processor for processing image data from the image sensor and transmitting processed data to a printhead; and,
a cartridge interface for accessing the information such that the image processor can utilise the information relating to the media substrate.
The camera accesses information about the media substrate so that the image processor can utilise the information to enhance the quality of the printed image.
Preferably, the media substrate has postcard formatting printed on its reverse surface so that the camera can produce personalised postcards, and the information store has the dimensions of the postcard formatting to allow the image processor to align printed images with the postcard formatting.
In a further preferred form the cartridge further comprises an ink supply for the printhead and the information store is an authentication chip that allows the image processor to confirm that the media substrate and the ink supply is suitable for use with the camera.
According to a related aspect, there is provided a digital camera for sensing and storing an image, the camera comprising:
an image sensor with a charge coupled device (CCD) for capturing image data relating to a sensed image, and an auto exposure setting for adjusting the image data captured by the CCD in response to the lighting conditions at image capture; and,
an image processor for processing image data from the CCD and storing the processed data; wherein,
the image processor is adapted to use information from the auto exposure setting relating to the lighting conditions at image capture when processing the image data from the CCD.
Utilising the auto exposure setting to determine an advantageous re-mapping of colours within the image allows the processor to produce an amended image having colours within an image transformed to account of the auto exposure setting. The processing can comprise re-mapping image colours so they appear deeper and richer when the exposure setting indicates low light conditions and re-mapping image colours to be brighter and more saturated when the auto exposure setting indicates bright light conditions.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred forms of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings which:
FIG. 1 illustrates the method of operation of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 2 illustrates a form of print roll ready for purchase by a consumer;
FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view, partly in section, of an alternative form of a print roll;
FIG. 4 is a left side exploded perspective view of the print roll of FIG. 3; and,
FIG. 5 is a right side exploded perspective view of a single print roll.



DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment is preferable implemented through suitable programming of a hand held camera device such as that described in the present applicant's application entitled “A Digital Image Printing Camera with Image Processing Capability”, the content of which is hereby specifically incorporated by cross reference and the details of which, and other related applications are set out in the tables below.
The aforementioned patent specification discloses a camera system, hereinafter known as an “Artcam” type camera, wherein sensed images can be directly printed out by an Artcam portable camera unit. Further, the aforementioned specification discloses means and methods for performing various manipulations on images captured by the camera sensing device leading to the production of various effects in any output image. The manipulations are disclosed to be highly flexible in nature and can be implemented through the insertion into the Artcam of cards having encoded thereon various instructions for the manipulation of images, the cards hereinafter being known as Artcards. The Artcam further has significant onboard processing power by an Artcam Central Processor unit (ACP) which is interconnected to a memory device for the storage of important data and images.
In the preferred embodiment, the Artcam has an auto exposure sensor for determining the light level associated with the captured image. This auto exposure sensor is utilised to process the image in accordance with the set light value so as to enhance portions of the image.
Preferably, the area image sensor includes a means for determining the light conditions when capturing an image. The area image sensor adjusts the dynamic range of values captured by the CCD in accordance with the detected level sensor. The captured image is transferred to the Artcam central processor and stored in the memory store. Intensity information, as determined by the area image sensor, is also forwarded to the ACP. This information is utilised by the Artcam central processor to manipulate the stored image to enhance certain effects.
Turning now to FIG. 1, the auto exposure setting information 1 is utilised in conjunction with the stored image 2 to process the image by utilising the ACP. The processed image is returned to the memory store for later printing out 4 on the output printer.
A number of processing steps can be undertaken in accordance with the determined light conditions. Where the auto exposure setting 1 indicates that the image was taken in a low light condition, the image pixel colours are selectively re-mapped so as to make the image colours stronger, deeper and richer.
Where the auto exposure information indicates that highlight conditions were present when the image was taken, the image colours can be processed to make them brighter and more saturated. The re-colouring of the image can be undertaken by conversion of the image to a hue-saturation-value (HSV) format and an alteration of pixel values in accordance with requirements. The pixel values can then be output converted to the required output colour format of printing.
Of course, many different re-colouring techniques may be utilised. Preferably, the techniques are clearly illustrated on the pre-requisite Artcard inserted into the reader. Alternatively, the image processing algorithms can be automatically applied and hard-wired into the camera for utilization in certain conditions.
Alternatively, the Artcard inserted could have a number of manipulations applied to the image which are specific to the auto-exposure setting. For example, clip arts containing candles etc could be inserted in a dark image and large suns inserted in bright images.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 5, the Artcam prints the images onto media stored in a replaceable print roll 5. In some preferred embodiments, the operation of the camera device is such that when a series of images is printed on a first surface of the print roll, the corresponding backing surface has a ready made postcard which can be immediately dispatched at the nearest post office box within the jurisdiction. In this way, personalized postcards can be created.
It would be evident that when utilising the postcard system as illustrated FIG. 2 only predetermined image sizes are possible as the synchronization between the backing postcard portion and the front image must be maintained. This can be achieved by utilising the memory portions of the authentication chip stored within the print roll 5 to store details of the length of each postcard backing format sheet. This can be achieved by either having each postcard the same size or by storing each size within the print rolls on-board print chip memory.
In an alternative embodiment, there is provided a modified form of print roll which can be constructed mostly from injection moulded plastic pieces suitably snapped fitted together. The modified form of print roll has a high ink storage capacity in addition to a somewhat simplified construction. The print media onto which the image is to be printed is wrapped around a plastic sleeve former for simplified construction. The ink media reservoir has a series of air vents which are constructed so as to minimise the opportunities for the ink flow out of the air vents. Further, a rubber seal is provided for the ink outlet holes with the rubber seal being pierced on insertion of the print roll into a camera system. Further, the print roll includes a print media ejection slot and the ejection slot includes a surrounding moulded surface which provides and assists in the accurate positioning of the print media ejection slot relative to the printhead within the printing or camera system.
Turning to FIG. 3 there is illustrated a single point roll unit 5 in an assembled form with a partial cutaway showing internal portions of the print roll. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate left and right side exploded perspective views respectively. The print roll 5 is constructed around the internal core portion 6 which contains an internal ink supply. Outside of the core portion 6 is provided a former 7 around which is wrapped a paper or film supply 8. Around the paper supply it is constructed two cover pieces 9, 10 which snap together around the print roll so as to form a covering unit as illustrated in FIG. 3. The bottom cover piece 10 includes a slot 11 through which the output of the print media 12 for interconnection with the camera system.
Two pinch rollers 13, 14 are provided to pinch the paper against a drive pinch roller 15 so they together provide for a decurling of the paper around the roller 15. The decurling acts to negate the strong curl that may be imparted to the paper from being stored in the form of print roll for an extended period of time. The rollers 13, 14 are provided to form a snap fit with end portions of the cover base portion 10 and the roller 15 which includes a cogged end 16 for driving, snap fits into the upper cover piece 9 so as to pinch the paper 12 firmly between.
The cover pieces 9, 10 includes an end protuberance or lip 17. The end lip 17 is provided for accurate alignment of the exit hole of the paper with a corresponding printing heat platen structure within the camera system. In this way, accurate alignment or positioning of the exiting paper relative to an adjacent printhead is provided for full guidance of the paper to the printhead.
It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific embodiment without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.
The present invention is best utilized in the Artcam device, the details of which are set out in the following paragraphs.
Ink Jet Technologies
The embodiments of the invention use an ink jet printer type device. Of course many different devices could be used. However presently popular ink jet printing technologies are unlikely to be suitable.
The most significant problem with thermal inkjet is power consumption. This is approximately 100 times that required for high speed, and stems from the energy-inefficient means of drop ejection. This involves the rapid boiling of water to produce a vapor bubble which expels the ink. Water has a very high heat capacity, and must be superheated in thermal inkjet applications. This leads to an efficiency of around 0.02%, from electricity input to drop momentum (and increased surface area) out.
The most significant problem with piezoelectric inkjet is size and cost. Piezoelectric crystals have a very small deflection at reasonable drive voltages, and therefore require a large area for each nozzle. Also, each piezoelectric actuator must be connected to its drive circuit on a separate substrate. This is not a significant problem at the current limit of around 300 nozzles per print head, but is a major impediment to the fabrication of pagewide print heads with 19,200 nozzles.
Ideally, the inkjet technologies used meet the stringent requirements of in-camera digital color printing and other high quality, high speed, low cost printing applications. To meet the requirements of digital photography, new inkjet technologies have been created. The target features include:
low power (less than 10 Watts)
high resolution capability (1,600 dpi or more)
photographic quality output
low manufacturing cost
small size (pagewidth times minimum cross section)
high speed (<2 seconds per page).
All of these features can be met or exceeded by the inkjet systems described below with differing levels of difficulty. 45 different inkjet technologies have been developed by the Assignee to give a wide range of choices for high volume manufacture. These technologies form part of separate applications assigned to the present Assignee as set out in the table below.
The inkjet designs shown here are suitable for a wide range of digital printing systems, from battery powered one-time use digital cameras, through to desktop and network printers, and through to commercial printing systems
For ease of manufacture using standard process equipment, the print head is designed to be a monolithic 0.5 micron CMOS chip with MEMS post processing. For color photographic applications, the print head is 100 mm long, with a width which depends upon the inkjet type. The smallest print head designed is IJ38, which is 0.35 mm wide, giving a chip area of 35 square mm. The print heads each contain 19,200 nozzles plus data and control circuitry.
Ink is supplied to the back of the print head by injection molded plastic ink channels. The molding requires 50 micron features, which can be created using a lithographically micromachined insert in a standard injection molding tool. Ink flows through holes etched through the wafer to the nozzle chambers fabricated on the front surface of the wafer. The print head is connected to the camera circuitry by tape automated bonding.
Cross-Referenced Applications
The following table is a guide to cross-referenced patent applications filed concurrently herewith and discussed hereinafter with the reference being utilized in subsequent tables when referring to a particular case:












Docket




No.
Reference
Title







IJ01US
IJ01
Radiant Plunger Ink Jet Printer


IJ02US
IJ02
Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer


IJ03US
IJ03
Planar Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet


IJ04US
IJ04
Stacked Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer


IJ05US
IJ05
Reverse Spring Lever Ink Jet Printer


IJ06US
IJ06
Paddle Type Ink Jet Printer


IJ07US
IJ07
Permanent Magnet Electromagnetic Ink




Jet Printer


IJ08US
IJ08
Planar Swing Grill Electromagnetic Ink




Jet Printer


IJ09US
IJ09
Pump Action Refill Ink Jet Printer


IJ10US
IJ10
Pulsed Magnetic Field Ink Jet Printer


IJ11US
IJ11
Two Plate Reverse Firing Electromagnetic




Ink Jet Printer


IJ12US
IJ12
Linear Stepper Actuator Ink Jet Printer


IJ13US
IJ13
Gear Driven Shutter Ink Jet Printer


IJ14US
IJ14
Tapered Magnetic Pole Electromagnetic Ink




Jet Printer


IJ15US
IJ15
Linear Spring Electromagnetic Grill Ink




Jet Printer


IJ16US
IJ16
Lorenz Diaphragm Electromagnetic Ink




Jet Printer


IJ17US
IJ17
PTFE Surface Shooting Shuttered Oscillating




Pressure Ink Jet Printer


IJ18US
IJ18
Buckle Grip Oscillating Pressure Ink




Jet Printer


IJ19US
IJ19
Shutter Based Ink Jet Printer


IJ20US
IJ20
Curling Calyx Thermoelastic Ink Jet Printer


IJ21US
IJ21
Thermal Actuated Ink Jet Printer


IJ22US
IJ22
Iris Motion Ink Jet Printer


IJ23US
IJ23
Direct Firing Thermal Bend Actuator Ink




Jet Printer


IJ24US
IJ24
Conductive PTFE Ben Activator Vented Ink




Jet Printer


IJ25US
IJ25
Magnetostrictive Ink Jet Printer


IJ26US
IJ26
Shape Memory Alloy Ink Jet Printer


IJ27US
IJ27
Buckle Plate Ink Jet Printer


IJ28US
IJ28
Thermal Elastic Rotary Impeller Ink Jet Printer


IJ29US
IJ29
Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet Printer


IJ30US
IJ30
Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Using PTFE




and Corrugated Copper Ink Jet Printer


IJ31US
IJ31
Bend Actuator Direct Ink Supply Ink




Jet Printer


IJ32US
IJ32
A High Young's Modulus Thermoelastic Ink




Jet Printer


IJ33US
IJ33
Thermally actuated slotted chamber wall ink




jet printer


IJ34US
IJ34
Ink Jet Printer having a thermal actuator




comprising an external coiled spring


IJ35US
IJ35
Trough Container Ink Jet Printer


IJ36US
IJ36
Dual Chamber Single Vertical Actuator Ink Jet


IJ37US
IJ37
Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Fulcrum




Actuator Ink Jet


IJ38US
IJ38
Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Actuator Ink Jet


IJ39US
IJ39
A single bend actuator cupped paddle ink




jet printing device


IJ40US
IJ40
A thermally actuated ink jet printer having




a series of thermal actuator units


IJ41US
IJ41
A thermally actuated ink jet printer




including a tapered heater element


IJ42US
IJ42
Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic Ink Jet


IJ43US
IJ43
Inverted Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic




Ink Jet


IJ44US
IJ44
Surface bend actuator vented ink supply ink




jet printer


IJ45US
IJ45
Coil Acutuated Magnetic Plate Ink Jet Printer









Tables of Drop-on-Demand Inkjets

Eleven important characteristics of the fundamental operation of individual inkjet nozzles have been identified. These characteristics are largely orthogonal, and so can be elucidated as an eleven dimensional matrix. Most of the eleven axes of this matrix include entries developed by the present assignee.
The following tables form the axes of an eleven dimensional table of inkjet types.
Actuator mechanism (18 types)
Basic operation mode (7 types)
Auxiliary mechanism (8 types)
Actuator amplification or modification method (17 types)
Actuator motion (19 types)
Nozzle refill method (4 types)
Method of restricting back-flow through inlet (10 types)
Nozzle clearing method (9 types)
Nozzle plate construction (9 types)
Drop ejection direction (5 types)
Ink type (7 types)
The complete eleven dimensional table represented by these axes contains 36.9 billion possible configurations of inkjet nozzle. While not all of the possible combinations result in a viable inkjet technology, many million configurations are viable. It is clearly impractical to elucidate all of the possible configurations. Instead, certain inkjet types have been investigated in detail. These are designated IJ01 to IJ45 above.
Other inkjet configurations can readily be derived from these 45 examples by substituting alternative configurations along one or more of the 11 axes. Most of the IJ01 to IJ45 examples can be made into inkjet print heads with characteristics superior to any currently available inkjet technology.
Where there are prior art examples known to the inventor, one or more of these examples are listed in the examples column of the tables below. The IJ01 to IJ45 series are also listed in the examples column. In some cases, a printer may be listed more than once in a table, where it shares characteristics with more than one entry.
Suitable applications include: Home printers, Office network printers, Short run digital printers, Commercial print systems, Fabric printers, Pocket printers, Internet WWW printers, Video printers, Medical imaging, Wide format printers, Notebook PC printers, Fax machines, Industrial printing systems, Photocopiers, Photographic minilabs etc.
The information associated with the aforementioned 11 dimensional matrix are set out in the following tables.










ACTUATOR MECHANISM (APPLIED ONLY TO SELECTED INK DROPS)











Actuator






Mechanism
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples














Thermal
An electrothermal
Large force
High power
Canon Bubblejet


bubble
heater heats the ink to
generated
Ink carrier
1979 Endo et al GB



above boiling point,
Simple
limited to water
patent 2,007,162



transferring significant
construction
Low efficiency
Xerox heater-in-



heat to the aqueous
No moving parts
High
pit 1990 Hawkins et



ink. A bubble
Fast operation
temperatures
al U.S. Pat. No.



nucleates and quickly
Small chip area
required
4,899,181



forms, expelling the
required for actuator
High mechanical
Hewlett-Packard



ink.

stress
TIJ 1982 Vaught et



The efficiency of the

Unusual
al U.S. Pat. No.



process is low, with

materials required
4,490,728



typically less than

Large drive



0.05% of the electrical

transistors



energy being

Cavitation causes



transformed into

actuator failure



kinetic energy of the

Kogation reduces



drop.

bubble formation





Large print heads





are difficult to





fabricate


Piezo-
A piezoelectric crystal
Low power
Very large area
Kyser et al


electric
such as lead
consumption
required for actuator
U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398



lanthanum zirconate
Many ink types
Difficult to
Zoltan U.S. Pat.



(PZT) is electrically
can be used
integrate with
No. 3,683,212



activated, and either
Fast operation
electronics
1973 Stemme



expands, shears, or
High efficiency
High voltage
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120



bends to apply

drive transistors
Epson Stylus



pressure to the ink,

required
Tektronix



ejecting drops.

Full pagewidth
IJ04





print heads





impractical due to





actuator size





Requires





electrical poling in





high field strengths





during manufacture


Electro-
An electric field is
Low power
Low maximum
Seiko Epson,


strictive
used to activate
consumption
strain (approx.
Usui et all JP



electrostriction in
Many ink types
0.01%)
253401/96



relaxor materials such
can be used
Large area
IJ04



as lead lanthanum
Low thermal
required for actuator



zirconate titanate
expansion
due to low strain



(PLZT) or lead
Electric field
Response speed



magnesium niobate
strength required
is marginal (~10



(PMN).
(approx. 3.5
μs)




V/μm)
High voltage




can be generated
drive transistors




without difficulty
required




Does not require
Full pagewidth




electrical poling
print heads





impractical due to





actuator size


Ferro-
An electric field is
Low power
Difficult to
IJ04


electric
used to induce a phase
consumption
integrate with



transition between the
Many ink types
electronics



antiferroelectric (AFE)
can be used
Unusual



and ferroelectric (FE)
Fast operation
materials such as



phase. Perovskite
(<1 μs)
PLZSnT are



materials such as tin
Relatively high
required



modified lead
longitudinal strain
Actuators require



lanthanum zirconate
High efficiency
a large area



titanate (PLZSnT)
Electric field



exhibit large strains of
strength of around 3



up to 1% associated
V/μm can be



with the AFE to FE
readily provided



phase transition.


Electro-
Conductive plates are
Low power
Difficult to
IJ02, IJ04


static plates
separated by a
consumption
operate electrostatic



compressible or fluid
Many ink types
devices in an



dielectric (usually air).
can be used
aqueous



Upon application of a
Fast operation
environment



voltage, the plates

The electrostatic



attract each other and

actuator will



displace ink, causing

normally need to be



drop ejection. The

separated from the



conductive plates may

ink



be in a comb or

Very large area



honeycomb structure,

required to achieve



or stacked to increase

high forces



the surface area and

High voltage



therefore the force.

drive transistors





may be required





Full pagewidth





print heads are not





competitive due to





actuator size


Electro-
A strong electric field
Low current
High voltage
1989 Saito et al,


static pull
is applied to the ink,
consumption
required
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,068


on ink
whereupon
Low temperature
May be damaged
1989 Miura et al,



electrostatic attraction

by sparks due to air
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,954



accelerates the ink

breakdown
Tone-jet



towards the print

Required field



medium.

strength increases as





the drop size





decreases





High voltage





drive transistors





required





Electrostatic field





attracts dust


Permanent
An electromagnet
Low power
Complex
IJ07, IJ10


magnet
directly attracts a
consumption
fabrication


electro-
permanent magnet,
Many ink types
Permanent


magnetic
displacing ink and
can be used
magnetic material



causing drop ejection.
Fast operation
such as Neodymium



Rare earth magnets
High efficiency
Iron Boron (NdFeB)



with a field strength
Easy extension
required.



around 1 Tesla can be
from single nozzles
High local



used. Examples are:
to pagewidth print
currents required



Samarium Cobalt
heads
Copper



(SaCo) and magnetic

metalization should



materials in the

be used for long



neodymium iron boron

electromigration



family (NdFeB,

lifetime and low



NdDyFeBNb,

resistivity



NdDyFeB, etc)

Pigmented inks





are usually





infeasible





Operating





temperature limited





to the Curie





temperature (around





540K)


Soft
A solenoid induced a
Low power
Complex
IJ01, IJ05, IJ08, IJ10


magnetic
magnetic field in a soft
consumption
fabrication
IJ12, IJ14, IJ15, IJ17


core electro-
magnetic core or yoke
Many ink types
Materials not


magnetic
fabricated from a
can be used
usually present in a



ferrous material such
Fast operation
CMOS fab such as



as electroplated iron
High efficiency
NiFe, CoNiFe, or



alloys such as CoNiFe
Easy extension
CoFe are required



[1], CoFe, or NiFe
from single nozzles
High local



alloys. Typically, the
to pagewidth print
currents required



soft magnetic material
heads
Copper



is in two parts, which

metalization should



are normally held

be used for long



apart by a spring.

electromigration



When the solenoid is

lifetime and low



actuated, the two parts

resistivity



attract, displacing the

Electroplating is



ink.

required





High saturation





flux density is





required (2.0–2.1 T





is achievable with





CoNiFe [1])


Magnetic
The Lorenz force
Low power
Force acts as a
IJ06, IJ11, IJ13, IJ16


Lorenz
acting on a current
consumption
twisting motion


force
carrying wire in a
Many ink types
Typically, only a



magnetic field is
can be used
quarter of the



utilized.
Fast operation
solenoid length



This allows the
High efficiency
provides force in a



magnetic field to be
Easy extension
useful direction



supplied externally to
from single nozzles
High local



the print head, for
to pagewidth print
currents required



example with rare
heads
Copper



earth permanent

metalization should



magnets.

be used for long



Only the current

electromigration



carrying wire need be

lifetime and low



fabricated on the print-

resistivity



head, simplifying

Pigmented inks



materials

are usually



requirements.

infeasible


Magneto-
The actuator uses the
Many ink types
Force acts as a
Fischenbeck,


striction
giant magnetostrictive
can be used
twisting motion
U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,929



effect of materials
Fast operation
Unusual
IJ25



such as Terfenol-D (an
Easy extension
materials such as



alloy of terbium,
from single nozzles
Terfenol-D are



dysprosium and iron
to pagewidth print
required



developed at the Naval
heads
High local



Ordnance Laboratory,
High force is
currents required



hence Ter-Fe-NOL).
available
Copper



For best efficiency, the

metalization should



actuator should be pre-

be used for long



stressed to approx. 8

electromigration



MPa.

lifetime and low





resistivity





Pre-stressing





may be required


Surface
Ink under positive
Low power
Requires
Silverbrook, EP


tension
pressure is held in a
consumption
supplementary force
0771 658 A2 and


reduction
nozzle by surface
Simple
to effect drop
related patent



tension. The surface
construction
separation
applications



tension of the ink is
No unusual
Requires special



reduced below the
materials required in
ink surfactants



bubble threshold,
fabrication
Speed may be



causing the ink to
High efficiency
limited by surfactant



egress from the
Easy extension
properties



nozzle.
from single nozzles




to pagewidth print




heads


Viscosity
The ink viscosity is
Simple
Requires
Silverbrook, EP


reduction
locally reduced to
construction
supplementary force
0771 658 A2 and



select which drops are
No unusual
to effect drop
related patent



to be ejected. A
materials required in
separation
applications



viscosity reduction can
fabrication
Requires special



be achieved
Easy extension
ink viscosity



electrothermally with
from single nozzles
properties



most inks, but special
to pagewidth print
High speed is



inks can be engineered
heads
difficult to achieve



for a 100:1 viscosity

Requires



reduction.

oscillating ink





pressure





A high





temperature





difference (typically





80 degrees) is





required


Acoustic
An acoustic wave is
Can operate
Complex drive
1993 Hadimioglu



generated and
without a nozzle
circuitry
et al, EUP 550,192



focussed upon the
plate
Complex
1993 Elrod et al,



drop ejection region.

fabrication
EUP 572,220





Low efficiency





Poor control of





drop position





Poor control of





drop volume


Thermo-
An actuator which
Low power
Efficient aqueous
IJ03, IJ09, IJ17, IJ18


elastic bend
relies upon differential
consumption
operation requires a
IJ19, IJ20, IJ21, IJ22


actuator
thermal expansion
Many ink types
thermal insulator on
IJ23, IJ24, IJ27, IJ28



upon Joule heating is
can be used
the hot side
IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32



used.
Simple planar
Corrosion
IJ33, IJ34, IJ35, IJ36




fabrication
prevention can be
IJ37, IJ38 ,IJ39, IJ40




Small chip area
difficult
IJ41




required for each
Pigmented inks




actuator
may be infeasible,




Fast operation
as pigment particles




High efficiency
may jam the bend




CMOS
actuator




compatible voltages




and currents




Standard MEMS




processes can be




used




Easy extension




from single nozzles




to pagewidth print




heads


High CTE
A material with a very
High force can
Requires special
IJ09, IJ17, IJ18, IJ20


thermo-
high coefficient of
be generated
material (e.g. PTFE)
IJ21, IJ22, IJ23, IJ24


elastic
thermal expansion
Three methods of
Requires a PTFE
IJ27, IJ28, IJ29, IJ30


actuator
(CTE) such as
candidate for low
deposition process,
IJ31, IJ42, IJ43, IJ44



polytetrafluoroethylene
dielectric constant
which is not yet



(PTFE) is used. As
insulation in ULSI
standard in ULSI



high CTE materials
Very low power
fabs



are usually non-
consumption
PTFE deposition



conductive, a heater
Many ink types
cannot be followed



fabricated from a
can be used
with high



conductive material is
Simple planar
temperature (above



incorporated. A 50 μm
fabrication
350° C.) processing



long PTFE bend
Small chip area
Pigmented inks



actuator with
required for each
may be infeasible,



polysilicon heater and
actuator
as pigment particles



15 mW power input
Fast operation
may jam the bend



can provide 180
High efficiency
actuator



μN force
CMOS



and 10 μm
compatible voltages



deflection. Actuator
and currents



motions include:
Easy extension













1)
Bend
from single nozzles





2)
Push
to pagewidth print



3)
Buckle
heads



4)
Rotate











Conductive
A polymer with a high
High force can
Requires special
IJ24


polymer
coefficient of thermal
be generated
materials


thermo-
expansion (such as
Very low power
development (High


elastic
PTFE) is doped with
consumption
CTE conductive


actuator
conducting substances
Many ink types
polymer)



to increase its
can be used
Requires a PTFE



conductivity to about 3
Simple planar
deposition process,



orders of magnitude
fabrication
which is not yet



below that of copper.
Small chip area
standard in ULSI



The conducting
required for each
fabs



polymer expands
actuator
PTFE deposition



when resistively
Fast operation
cannot be followed



heated.
High efficiency
with high



Examples of
CMOS
temperature (above



conducting dopants
compatible voltages
350° C.) processing



include:
and currents
Evaporation and













1)
Carbon nanotubes
Easy extension
CVD deposition




2)
Metal fibers
from single nozzles
techniques cannot



3)
Conductive polymers
to pagewidth print
be used




such as doped
heads
Pigmented inks




polythiophene

may be infeasible,



4)
Carbon granules

as pigment particles






may jam the bend






actuator











Shape
A shape memory alloy
High force is
Fatigue limits
IJ26


memory
such as TiNi (also
available (stresses
maximum number


alloy
known as Nitinol -
of hundreds of MPa)
of cycles



Nickel Titanium alloy
Large strain is
Low strain (1%)



developed at the Naval
available (more than
is required to extend



Ordnance Laboratory)
3%)
fatigue resistance



is thermally switched
High corrosion
Cycle rate



between its weak
resistance
limited by heat



martensitic state and
Simple
removal



its high stiffness
construction
Requires unusual



austenic state. The
Easy extension
materials (TiNi)



shape of the actuator
from single nozzles
The latent heat of



in its martensitic state
to pagewidth print
transformation must



is deformed relative to
heads
be provided



the austenic shape.
Low voltage
High current



The shape change
operation
operation



causes ejection of a

Requires pre-



drop.

stressing to distort





the martensitic state


Linear
Linear magnetic
Linear Magnetic
Requires unusual
IJ12


Magnetic
actuators include the
actuators can be
semiconductor


Actuator
Linear Induction
constructed with
materials such as



Actuator (LIA), Linear
high thrust, long
soft magnetic alloys



Permanent Magnet
travel, and high
(e.g. CoNiFe[1])



Synchronous Actuator
efficiency using
Some varieties



(LPMSA), Linear
planar
also require



Reluctance
semiconductor
permanent magnetic



Synchronous Actuator
fabrication
materials such as



(LRSA), Linear
techniques
Neodymium iron



Switched Reluctance
Long actuator
boron (NdFeB)



Actuator (LSRA), and
travel is available
Requires



the Linear Stepper
Medium force is
complex multi-



Actuator (LSA).
available
phase drive circuitry




Low voltage
High current




operation
operation



















BASIC OPERATION MODE











Operational






mode
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Actuator
This is the simplest
Simple operation
Drop repetition
Thermal ink jet


directly
mode of operation: the
No external
rate is usually
Piezoelectric inkjet


pushes ink
actuator directly
fields required
limited to around 10
IJ01, IJ02, IJ03, IJ04



supplies sufficient
Satellite drops
KHz. However, this
IJ05, IJ06, IJ07, IJ09



kinetic energy to expel
can be avoided if
is not fundamental
IJ11, IJ12, IJ14, IJ16



the drop. The drop
drop velocity is less
to the method, but is
IJ20, IJ22, IJ23, IJ24



must have a sufficient
than 4 m/s
related to the refill
IJ25, IJ26, IJ27, IJ28



velocity to overcome
Can be efficient,
method normally
IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32



the surface tension.
depending upon the
used
IJ33, IJ34, IJ35, IJ36




actuator used
All of the drop
IJ37, IJ38, IJ39, IJ40





kinetic energy must
IJ41, IJ42, IJ43, IJ44





be provided by the





actuator





Satellite drops





usually form if drop





velocity is greater





than 4.5 m/s


Proximity
The drops to be
Very simple print
Requires close
Silverbrook, EP



printed are selected by
head fabrication can
proximity between
0771 658 A2 and



some manner (e.g.
be used
the print head and
related patent



thermally induced
The drop
the print media or
applications



surface tension
selection means
transfer roller



reduction of
does not need to
May require two



pressurized ink).
provide the energy
print heads printing



Selected drops are
required to separate
alternate rows of the



separated from the ink
the drop from the
image



in the nozzle by
nozzle
Monolithic color



contact with the print

print heads are



medium or a transfer

difficult



roller.


Electro-
The drops to be
Very simple print
Requires very
Silverbrook, EP


static pull
printed are selected by
head fabrication can
high electrostatic
0771 658 A2 and


on ink
some manner (e.g.
be used
field
related patent



thermally induced
The drop
Electrostatic field
applications



surface tension
selection means
for small nozzle
Tone-Jet



reduction of
does not need to
sizes is above air



pressurized ink).
provide the energy
breakdown



Selected drops are
required to separate
Electrostatic field



separated from the ink
the drop from the
may attract dust



in the nozzle by a
nozzle



strong electric field.


Magnetic
The drops to be
Very simple print
Requires
Silverbrook, EP


pull on ink
printed are selected by
head fabrication can
magnetic ink
0771 658 A2 and



some manner (e.g.
be used
Ink colors other
related patent



thermally induced
The drop
than black are
applications



surface tension
selection means
difficult



reduction of
does not need to
Requires very



pressurized ink).
provide the energy
high magnetic fields



Selected drops are
required to separate



separated from the ink
the drop from the



in the nozzle by a
nozzle



strong magnetic field



acting on the magnetic



ink.


Shutter
The actuator moves a
High speed (>50
Moving parts are
IJ13, IJ17, IJ21



shutter to block ink
KHz) operation can
required



flow to the nozzle. The
be achieved due to
Requires ink



ink pressure is pulsed
reduced refill time
pressure modulator



at a multiple of the
Drop timing can
Friction and wear



drop ejection
be very accurate
must be considered



frequency.
The actuator
Stiction is




energy can be very
possible




low


Shuttered
The actuator moves a
Actuators with
Moving parts are
IJ08, IJ15, IJ18, IJ19


grill
shutter to block ink
small travel can be
required



flow through a grill to
used
Requires ink



the nozzle. The shutter
Actuators with
pressure modulator



movement need only
small force can be
Friction and wear



be equal to the width
used
must be considered



of the grill holes.
High speed (>50
Stiction is




KHz) operation can
possible




be achieved


Pulsed
A pulsed magnetic
Extremely low
Requires an
IJ10


magnetic
field attracts an ‘ink
energy operation is
external pulsed


pull on ink
pusher’ at the drop
possible
magnetic field


pusher
ejection frequency. An
No heat
Requires special



actuator controls a
dissipation
materials for both



catch, which prevents
problems
the actuator and the



the ink pusher from

ink pusher



moving when a drop is

Complex



not to be ejected.

construction



















AUXILIARY MECHANISM (APPLIED TO ALL NOZZLES)











Auxiliary






Mechanism
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





None
The actuator directly
Simplicity of
Drop ejection
Most inkjets,



fires the ink drop, and
construction
energy must be
including



there is no external
Simplicity of
supplied by
piezoelectric and



field or other
operation
individual nozzle
thermal bubble.



mechanism required.
Small physical
actuator
IJ01–IJ07, IJ09, IJ11




size

IJ12, IJ14, IJ20, IJ22






IJ23–IJ45


Oscillating
The ink pressure
Oscillating ink
Requires external
Silverbrook, EP


ink pressure
oscillates, providing
pressure can provide
ink pressure
0771 658 A2 and


(including
much of the drop
a refill pulse,
oscillator
related patent


acoustic
ejection energy. The
allowing higher
Ink pressure
applications


stimulation)
actuator selects which
operating speed
phase and amplitude
IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17



drops are to be fired
The actuators
must be carefully
IJ18, IJ19, IJ21



by selectively
may operate with
controlled



blocking or enabling
much lower energy
Acoustic



nozzles. The ink
Acoustic lenses
reflections in the ink



pressure oscillation
can be used to focus
chamber must be



may be achieved by
the sound on the
designed for



vibrating the print
nozzles



head, or preferably by



an actuator in the ink



supply.


Media
The print head is
Low power
Precision
Silverbrook, EP


proximity
placed in close
High accuracy
assembly required
0771 658 A2 and



proximity to the print
Simple print head
Paper fibers may
related patent



medium. Selected
construction
cause problems
applications



drops protrude from

Cannot print on



the print head further

rough substrates



than unselected drops,



and contact the print



medium. The drop



soaks into the medium



fast enough to cause



drop separation.


Transfer
Drops are printed to a
High accuracy
Bulky
Silverbrook, EP


roller
transfer roller instead
Wide range of
Expensive
0771 658 A2 and



of straight to the print
print substrates can
Complex
related patent



medium. A transfer
be used
construction
applications



roller can also be used
Ink can be dried

Tektronix hot



for proximity drop
on the transfer roller

melt piezoelectric



separation.


inkjet






Any of the IJ






series


Electro-
An electric field is
Low power
Field strength
Silverbrook, EP


static
used to accelerate
Simple print head
required for
0771 658 A2 and



selected drops towards
construction
separation of small
related patent



the print medium.

drops is near or
applications





above air breakdown
Tone-Jet


Direct
A magnetic field is
Low power
Requires
Silverbrook, EP


magnetic
used to accelerate
Simple print head
magnetic ink
0771 658 A2 and


field
selected drops of
construction
Requires strong
related patent



magnetic ink towards

magnetic field
applications



the print medium.


Cross
The print head is
Does not require
Requires external
IJ06, IJ16


magnetic
placed in a constant
magnetic materials
magnet


field
magnetic field. The
to be integrated in
Current densities



Lorenz force in a
the print head
may be high,



current carrying wire
manufacturing
resulting in



is used to move the
process
electromigration



actuator.

problems


Pulsed
A pulsed magnetic
Very low power
Complex print
IJ10


magnetic
field is used to
operation is possible
head construction


field
cyclically attract a
Small print head
Magnetic



paddle, which pushes
size
materials required in



on the ink. A small

print head



actuator moves a



catch, which



selectively prevents



the paddle from



moving.



















ACTUATOR AMPLIFICATION OR MODIFICATION METHOD











Actuator






amplification
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





None
No actuator
Operational
Many actuator
Thermal Bubble



mechanical
simplicity
mechanisms have
Inkjet



amplification is used.

insufficient travel,
IJ01, IJ02, IJ06, IJ07



The actuator directly

or insufficient force,
IJ16, IJ25, IJ26



drives the drop

to efficiently drive



ejection process.

the drop ejection





process


Differential
An actuator material
Provides greater
High stresses are
Piezoelectric


expansion
expands more on one
travel in a reduced
involved
IJ03, IJ09, IJ17–IJ24


bend
side than on the other.
print head area
Care must be
IJ27, IJ29–IJ39, IJ42,


actuator
The expansion may be

taken that the
IJ43, IJ44



thermal, piezoelectric,

materials do not



magnetostrictive, or

delaminate



other mechanism. The

Residual bend



bend actuator converts

resulting from high



a high force low travel

temperature or high



actuator mechanism to

stress during



high travel, lower

formation



force mechanism.


Transient bend
A trilayer bend
Very good
High stresses are
IJ40, IJ41


actuator
actuator where the two
temperature stability
involved



outside layers are
High speed, as a
Care must be



identical. This cancels
new drop can be
taken that the



bend due to ambient
fired before heat
materials do not



temperature and
dissipates
delaminate



residual stress. The
Cancels residual



actuator only responds
stress of formation



to transient heating of



one side or the other.


Actuator
A series of thin
Increased travel
Increased
Some


stack
actuators are stacked.
Reduced drive
fabrication
piezoelectric ink jets



This can be
voltage
complexity
IJ04



appropriate where

Increased



actuators require high

possibility of short



electric field strength,

circuits due to



such as electrostatic

pinholes



and piezoelectric



actuators.


Multiple
Multiple smaller
Increases the
Actuator forces
IJ12, IJ13, IJ18, IJ20


actuators
actuators are used
force available from
may not add
IJ22, IJ28, IJ42, IJ43



simultaneously to
an actuator
linearly, reducing



move the ink. Each
Multiple
efficiency



actuator need provide
actuators can be



only a portion of the
positioned to control



force required.
ink flow accurately


Linear
A linear spring is used
Matches low
Requires print
IJ15


Spring
to transform a motion
travel actuator with
head area for the



with small travel and
higher travel
spring



high force into a
requirements



longer travel, lower
Non-contact



force motion.
method of motion




transformation


Reverse
The actuator loads a
Better coupling
Fabrication
IJ05, IJ11


spring
spring. When the
to the ink
complexity



actuator is turned off,

High stress in the



the spring releases.

spring



This can reverse the



force/distance curve of



the actuator to make it



compatible with the



force/time



requirements of the



drop ejection.


Coiled
A bend actuator is
Increases travel
Generally
IJ17, IJ21, IJ34, IJ35


actuator
coiled to provide
Reduces chip
restricted to planar



greater travel in a
area
implementations



reduced chip area.
Planar
due to extreme




implementations are
fabrication difficulty




relatively easy to
in other orientations.




fabricate.


Flexure
A bend actuator has a
Simple means of
Care must be
IJ10, IJ19, IJ33


bend
small region near the
increasing travel of
taken not to exceed


actuator
fixture point, which
a bend actuator
the elastic limit in



flexes much more

the flexure area



readily than the

Stress



remainder of the

distribution is very



actuator. The actuator

uneven



flexing is effectively

Difficult to



converted from an

accurately model



even coiling to an

with finite element



angular bend, resulting

analysis



in greater travel of the



actuator tip.


Gears
Gears can be used to
Low force, low
Moving parts are
IJ13



increase travel at the
travel actuators can
required



expense of duration.
be used
Several actuator



Circular gears, rack
Can be fabricated
cycles are required



and pinion, ratchets,
using standard
More complex



and other gearing
surface MEMS
drive electronics



methods can be used.
processes
Complex





construction





Friction, friction,





and wear are





possible


Catch
The actuator controls a
Very low
Complex
IJ10



small catch. The catch
actuator energy
construction



either enables or
Very small
Requires external



disables movement of
actuator size
force



an ink pusher that is

Unsuitable for



controlled in a bulk

pigmented inks



manner.


Buckle
A buckle plate can be
Very fast
Must stay within
S. Hirata et al,


plate
used to change a slow
movement
elastic limits of the
“An Ink-jet Head . . . ”,



actuator into a fast
achievable
materials for long
Proc. IEEE MEMS,



motion. It can also

device life
February 1996,



convert a high force,

High stresses
pp 418–423.



low travel actuator

involved
IJ18, IJ27



into a high travel,

Generally high



medium force motion.

power requirement


Tapered
A tapered magnetic
Linearizes the
Complex
IJ14


magnetic
pole can increase
magnetic
construction


pole
travel at the expense
force/distance curve



of force.


Lever
A lever and fulcrum is
Matches low
High stress
IJ32, IJ36, IJ37



used to transform a
travel actuator with
around the fulcrum



motion with small
higher travel



travel and high force
requirements



into a motion with
Fulcrum area has



longer travel and
no linear movement,



lower force. The lever
and can be used for



can also reverse the
a fluid seal



direction of travel.


Rotary
The actuator is
High mechanical
Complex
IJ28


impeller
connected to a rotary
advantage
construction



impeller. A small
The ratio of force
Unsuitable for



angular deflection of
to travel of the
pigmented inks



the actuator results in
actuator can be



a rotation of the
matched to the



impeller vanes, which
nozzle requirements



push the ink against
by varying the



stationary vanes and
number of impeller



out of the nozzle.
vanes


Acoustic
A refractive or
No moving parts
Large area
1993 Hadimioglu


lens
diffractive (e.g. zone

required
et al, EUP 550,192



plate) acoustic lens is

Only relevant for
1993 Elrod et al,



used to concentrate

acoustic ink jets
EUP 572,220



sound waves.


Sharp
A sharp point is used
Simple
Difficult to
Tone-jet


conductive
to concentrate an
construction
fabricate using


point
electrostatic field.

standard VLSI





processes for a





surface ejecting





ink-jet





Only relevant for





electrostatic ink jets



















ACTUATOR MOTION











Actuator






motion
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Volume
The volume of the
Simple
High energy is
Hewlett-Packard


expansion
actuator changes,
construction in the
typically required to
Thermal Ink jet



pushing the ink in all
case of thermal ink
achieve volume
Canon Bubblejet



directions.
jet
expansion. This





leads to thermal





stress, cavitation,





and kogation in





thermal ink jet





implementations


Linear,
The actuator moves in
Efficient
High fabrication
IJ01, IJ02, IJ04, IJ07


normal to
a direction normal to
coupling to ink
complexity may be
IJ11, IJ14


chip surface
the print head surface.
drops ejected
required to achieve



The nozzle is typically
normal to the
perpendicular



in the line of
surface
motion



movement.


Linear,
The actuator moves
Suitable for
Fabrication
IJ12, IJ13, IJ15, IJ33


parallel to
parallel to the print
planar fabrication
complexity
IJ34, IJ35, IJ36


chip surface
head surface. Drop

Friction



ejection may still be

Stiction



normal to the surface.


Membrane
An actuator with a
The effective
Fabrication
1982 Howkins


push
high force but small
area of the actuator
complexity
U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,601



area is used to push a
becomes the
Actuator size



stiff membrane that is
membrane area
Difficulty of



in contact with the ink.

integration in a





VLSI process


Rotary
The actuator causes
Rotary levers
Device
IJ05, IJ08, IJ13, IJ28



the rotation of some
may be used to
complexity



element, such a grill or
increase travel
May have



impeller
Small chip area
friction at a pivot




requirements
point


Bend
The actuator bends
A very small
Requires the
1970 Kyser et al



when energized. This
change in
actuator to be made
U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398



may be due to
dimensions can be
from at least two
1973 Stemme



differential thermal
converted to a large
distinct layers, or to
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120



expansion,
motion.
have a thermal
IJ03, IJ09, IJ10, IJ19



piezoelectric

difference across the
IJ23, IJ24, IJ25, IJ29



expansion,

actuator
IJ30, IJ31, IJ33, IJ34



magnetostriction, or


IJ35



other form of relative



dimensional change.


Swivel
The actuator swivels
Allows operation
Inefficient
IJ06



around a central pivot.
where the net linear
coupling to the ink



This motion is suitable
force on the paddle
motion



where there are
is zero



opposite forces
Small chip area



applied to opposite
requirements



sides of the paddle,



e.g. Lorenz force.


Straighten
The actuator is
Can be used with
Requires careful
IJ26, IJ32



normally bent, and
shape memory
balance of stresses



straightens when
alloys where the
to ensure that the



energized.
austenic phase is
quiescent bend is




planar
accurate


Double
The actuator bends in
One actuator can
Difficult to make
IJ36, IJ37, IJ38


bend
one direction when
be used to power
the drops ejected by



one element is
two nozzles.
both bend directions



energized, and bends
Reduced chip
identical.



the other way when
size.
A small



another element is
Not sensitive to
efficiency loss



energized.
ambient temperature
compared to





equivalent single





bend actuators.


Shear
Energizing the
Can increase the
Not readily
1985 Fishbeck



actuator causes a shear
effective travel of
applicable to other
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,590



motion in the actuator
piezoelectric
actuator



material.
actuators
mechanisms


Radial con-
The actuator squeezes
Relatively easy
High force
1970 Zoltan


striction
an ink reservoir,
to fabricate single
required
U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,212



forcing ink from a
nozzles from glass
Inefficient



constricted nozzle.
tubing as
Difficult to




macroscopic
integrate with VLSI




structures
processes


Coil/uncoil
A coiled actuator
Easy to fabricate
Difficult to
IJ17, IJ21, IJ34, IJ35



uncoils or coils more
as a planar VLSI
fabricate for non-



tightly. The motion of
process
planar devices



the free end of the
Small area
Poor out-of-plane



actuator ejects the ink.
required, therefore
stiffness




low cost


Bow
The actuator bows (or
Can increase the
Maximum travel
IJ16, IJ18, IJ27



buckles) in the middle
speed of travel
is constrained



when energized.
Mechanically
High force




rigid
required


Push-Pull
Two actuators control
The structure is
Not readily
IJ18



a shutter. One actuator
pinned at both ends,
suitable for ink jets



pulls the shutter, and
so has a high out-of-
which directly push



the other pushes it.
plane rigidity
the ink


Curl
A set of actuators curl
Good fluid flow
Design
IJ20, IJ42


inwards
inwards to reduce the
to the region behind
complexity



volume of ink that
the actuator



they enclose.
increases efficiency


Curl
A set of actuators curl
Relatively simple
Relatively large
IJ43


outwards
outwards, pressurizing
construction
chip area



ink in a chamber



surrounding the



actuators, and



expelling ink from a



nozzle in the chamber.


Iris
Multiple vanes enclose
High efficiency
High fabrication
IJ22



a volume of ink. These
Small chip area
complexity



simultaneously rotate,

Not suitable for



reducing the volume

pigmented inks



between the vanes.


Acoustic
The actuator vibrates
The actuator can
Large area
1993 Hadimioglu


vibration
at a high frequency.
be physically distant
required for
et al, EUP 550,192




from the ink
efficient operation
1993 Elrod et al,





at useful frequencies
EUP 572,220





Acoustic





coupling and





crosstalk





Complex drive





circuitry





Poor control of





drop volume and





position


None
In various ink jet
No moving parts
Various other
Silverbrook, EP



designs the actuator

tradeoffs are
0771 658 A2 and



does not move.

required to
related patent





eliminate moving
applications





parts
Tone-jet



















NOZZLE REFILL METHOD











Nozzle refill






method
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Surface
After the
Fabrication
Low speed
Thermal ink jet


tension
actuator is energized,
simplicity
Surface tension
Piezoelectric inkjet



it typically returns
Operational
force relatively
IJ01–IJ07, IJ10–IJ14



rapidly to its normal
simplicity
small compared to
IJ16, IJ20, IJ22–IJ45



position. This rapid

actuator force



return sucks in air

Long refill time



through the nozzle

usually dominates



opening. The ink

the total repetition



surface tension at the

rate



nozzle then exerts a



small force restoring



the meniscus to a



minimum area. This



force refills the nozzle.


Shuttered
Ink to the nozzle
High speed
Requires
IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17


oscillating
chamber is provided at
Low actuator
common ink
IJ18, IJ19, IJ21


ink pressure
a pressure that
energy, as the
pressure oscillator



oscillates at twice the
actuator need only
May not be



drop ejection
open or close the
suitable for



frequency. When a
shutter, instead of
pigmented inks



drop is to be ejected,
ejecting the ink



the shutter is opened
drop



for 3 half cycles: drop



ejection, actuator



return, and refill.


Refill
After the main
High speed, as
Requires two
IJ09


actuator
actuator has ejected a
the nozzle is
independent



drop a second (refill)
actively refilled
actuators per nozzle



actuator is energized.



The refill actuator



pushes ink into the



nozzle chamber. The



refill actuator returns



slowly, to prevent its



return from emptying



the chamber again.


Positive ink
The ink is held a slight
High refill rate,
Surface spill
Silverbrook, EP


pressure
positive pressure.
therefore a high
must be prevented
0771 658 A2 and



After the ink drop is
drop repetition rate
Highly
related patent



ejected, the nozzle
is possible
hydrophobic print
applications



chamber fills quickly

head surfaces are
Alternative for:



as surface tension and

required
IJ01–IJ07, IJ10–IJ14



ink pressure both


IJ16, IJ20, IJ22–IJ45



operate to refill the



nozzle.



















METHOD OF RESTRICTING BACK-FLOW THROUGH INLET











Inlet






back-flow


restriction


method
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Long inlet
The ink inlet channel
Design simplicity
Restricts refill
Thermal inkjet


channel
to the nozzle chamber
Operational
rate
Piezoelectric inkjet



is made long and
simplicity
May result in a
IJ42, IJ43



relatively narrow,
Reduces
relatively large chip



relying on viscous
crosstalk
area



drag to reduce inlet

Only partially



back-flow.

effective


Positive ink
The ink is under a
Drop selection
Requires a
Silverbrook, EP


pressure
positive pressure, so
and separation
method (such as a
0771 658 A2 and



that in the quiescent
forces can be
nozzle rim or
related patent



state some of the ink
reduced
effective
applications



drop already protrudes
Fast refill time
hydrophobizing, or
Possible



from the nozzle.

both) to prevent
operation of the



This reduces the

flooding of the
following:



pressure in the nozzle

ejection surface of
IJ01–IJ07, IJ09–IJ12



chamber which is

the print head.
IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22,



required to eject a


IJ23–IJ34, IJ36–IJ41



certain volume of ink.


IJ44



The reduction in



chamber pressure



results in a reduction



in ink pushed out



through the inlet.


Baffle
One or more baffles
The refill rate is
Design
HP Thermal Ink



are placed in the inlet
not as restricted as
complexity
Jet



ink flow. When the
the long inlet
May increase
Tektronix



actuator is energized,
method.
fabrication
piezoelectric ink



the rapid ink
Reduces
complexity (e.g.
jet



movement creates
crosstalk
Tektronix hot melt



eddies which restrict

Piezoelectric print



the flow through the

heads).



inlet. The slower refill



process is unrestricted,



and does not result in



eddies.


Flexible flap
In this method recently
Significantly
Not applicable to
Canon


restricts
disclosed by Canon,
reduces back-flow
most ink jet


inlet
the expanding actuator
for edge-shooter
configurations



(bubble) pushes on a
thermal ink jet
Increased



flexible flap that
devices
fabrication



restricts the inlet.

complexity





Inelastic





deformation of





polymer flap results





in creep over





extended use


Inlet filter
A filter is located
Additional
Restricts refill
IJ04, IJ12, IJ24, IJ27



between the ink inlet
advantage of ink
rate
IJ29, IJ30



and the nozzle
filtration
May result in



chamber. The filter
Ink filter may be
complex



has a multitude of
fabricated with no
construction



small holes or slots,
additional process



restricting ink flow.
steps



The filter also removes



particles which may



block the nozzle.


Small inlet
The ink inlet channel
Design simplicity
Restricts refill
IJ02, IJ37, IJ44


compared
to the nozzle chamber

rate


to nozzle
has a substantially

May result in a



smaller cross section

relatively large chip



than that of the nozzle,

area



resulting in easier ink

Only partially



egress out of the

effective



nozzle than out of the



inlet.


Inlet shutter
A secondary actuator
Increases speed
Requires separate
IJ09



controls the position of
of the ink-jet print
refill actuator and



a shutter, closing off
head operation
drive circuit



the ink inlet when the



main actuator is



energized.


The inlet is
The method avoids the
Back-flow
Requires careful
IJ01, IJ03, 1J05, IJ06


located
problem of inlet back-
problem is
design to minimize
IJ07, IJ10, IJ11, IJ14


behind the
flow by arranging the
eliminated
the negative
IJ16, IJ22, IJ23, IJ25


ink-pushing
ink-pushing surface of

pressure behind the
IJ28, IJ31, IJ32, IJ33


surface
the actuator between

paddle
IJ34, IJ35, IJ36, IJ39



the inlet and the


IJ40, IJ41



nozzle.


Part of the
The actuator and a
Significant
Small increase in
IJ07, IJ20, IJ26, IJ38


actuator
wall of the ink
reductions in
fabrication


moves to
chamber are arranged
back-flow can be
complexity


shut off the
so that the motion of
achieved


inlet
the actuator closes off
Compact designs



the inlet.
possible


Nozzle
In some configurations
Ink back-flow
None related to
Silverbrook, EP


actuator
of ink jet, there is no
problem is
ink back-flow on
0771 658 A2 and


does not
expansion or
eliminated
actuation
related patent


result in ink
movement of an


applications


back-flow
actuator which may


Valve-jet



cause ink back-flow


Tone-jet



through the inlet.


IJ08, IJ13, 1J15, IJ17






IJ18, IJ19, IJ21



















NOZZLE CLEARING METHOD











Nozzle






Clearing


method
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Normal
All of the nozzles are
No added
May not be
Most ink jet


nozzle firing
fired periodically,
complexity on the
sufficient to
systems



before the ink has a
print head
displace dried ink
IJ01–IJ07, IJ09–IJ12



chance to dry. When


IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22



not in use the nozzles


IJ23–IJ34, IJ36–IJ45



are sealed (capped)



against air.



The nozzle firing is



usually performed



during a special



clearing cycle, after



first moving the print



head to a cleaning



station.


Extra
In systems which heat
Can be highly
Requires higher
Silverbrook, EP


power to
the ink, but do not boil
effective if the
drive voltage for
0771 658 A2 and


ink heater
it under normal
heater is adjacent to
clearing
related patent



situations, nozzle
the nozzle
May require
applications



clearing can be

larger drive



achieved by over-

transistors



powering the heater



and boiling ink at the



nozzle.


Rapid
The actuator is fired in
Does not require
Effectiveness
May be used with:


succession
rapid succession. In
extra drive circuits
depends
IJ01–IJ07, IJ09–IJ11


of actuator
some configurations,
on the print head
substantially upon
IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22


pulses
this may cause heat
Can be readily
the configuration of
IJ23–IJ25, IJ27–IJ34



build-up at the nozzle
controlled and
the ink jet nozzle
IJ36–IJ45



which boils the ink,
initiated by digital



clearing the nozzle. In
logic



other situations, it may



cause sufficient



vibrations to dislodge



clogged nozzles.


Extra
Where an actuator is
A simple
Not suitable
May be used with:


power to
not normally driven to
solution where
where there is a
IJ03, IJ09, IJ16, IJ20


ink pushing
the limit of its motion,
applicable
hard limit to
IJ23, IJ24, IJ25, IJ27


actuator
nozzle clearing may be

actuator movement
IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32



assisted by providing


IJ39, IJ40, IJ41, IJ42



an enhanced drive


IJ43, IJ44, IJ45



signal to the actuator.


Acoustic
An ultrasonic wave is
A high nozzle
High
IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17


resonance
applied to the ink
clearing capability
implementation cost
IJ18, IJ19, IJ21



chamber. This wave is
can be achieved
if system does not



of an appropriate
May be
already include an



amplitude and
implemented at very
acoustic actuator



frequency to cause
low cost in systems



sufficient force at the
which already



nozzle to clear
include acoustic



blockages. This is
actuators



easiest to achieve if



the ultrasonic wave is



at a resonant



frequency of the ink



cavity.


Nozzle
A microfabricated
Can clear
Accurate
Silverbrook, EP


clearing
plate is pushed against
severely clogged
mechanical
0771 658 A2 and


plate
the nozzles. The plate
nozzles
alignment is
related patent



has a post for every

required
applications



nozzle. The array of

Moving parts are



posts.

required





There is risk of





damage to the





nozzles





Accurate





fabrication is





required


Ink
The pressure of the ink
May be effective
Requires
May be used


pressure
is temporarily
where other
pressure pump or
with all IJ series ink


pulse
increased so that ink
methods cannot be
other pressure
jets



streams from all of the
used
actuator



nozzles. This may be

Expensive



used in conjunction

Wasteful of ink



with actuator



energizing.


Print head
A flexible ‘blade’ is
Effective for
Difficult to use if
Many ink jet


wiper
wiped across the print
planar print head
print head surface is
systems



head surface. The
surfaces
non-planar or very



blade is usually
Low cost
fragile



fabricated from a

Requires



flexible polymer, e.g.

mechanical parts



rubber or synthetic

Blade can wear



elastomer.

out in high volume





print systems


Separate
A separate heater is
Can be effective
Fabrication
Can be used with


ink boiling
provided at the nozzle
where other nozzle
complexity
many IJ series ink


heater
although the normal
clearing methods

jets



drop ejection
cannot be used



mechanism does not
Can be



require it. The heaters
implemented at no



do not require
additional cost in



individual drive
some inkjet



circuits, as many
configurations



nozzles can be cleared



simultaneously, and no



imaging is required.



















NOZZLE PLATE CONSTRUCTION











Nozzle






plate


construction
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Electro-
A nozzle plate is
Fabrication
High
Hewlett Packard


formed
separately fabricated
simplicity
temperatures and
Thermal Inkjet


nickel
from electroformed

pressures are



nickel, and bonded to

required to bond



the print head chip.

nozzle plate





Minimum





thickness constraints





Differential





thermal expansion


Laser
Individual nozzle
No masks
Each hole must
Canon Bubblejet


ablated or
holes are ablated by an
required
be individually
1988 Sercel et


drilled
intense UV laser in a
Can be quite fast
formed
al., SPIE, Vol. 998


polymer
nozzle plate, which is
Some control
Special
Excimer Beam



typically a polymer
over nozzle profile
equipment required
Applications, pp.



such as polyimide or
is possible
Slow where there
76–83



polysulphone
Equipment
are many thousands
1993 Watanabe




required is relatively
of nozzles per print
et al., U.S. Pat. No.




low cost
head
5,208,604





May produce thin





burrs at exit holes


Silicon
A separate nozzle
High accuracy is
Two part
K. Bean, IEEE


micro-
plate is
attainable
construction
Transactions on


machined
micromachined from

High cost
Electron Devices,



single crystal silicon,

Requires
Vol. ED-25, No. 10,



and bonded to the

precision alignment
1978, pp 1185–1195



print head wafer.

Nozzles may be
Xerox 1990





clogged by adhesive
Hawkins et al.,






U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,181


Glass
Fine glass capillaries
No expensive
Very small
1970 Zoltan


capillaries
are drawn from glass
equipment required
nozzle sizes are
U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,212



tubing. This method
Simple to make
difficult to form



has been used for
single nozzles
Not suited for



making individual

mass production



nozzles, but is difficult



to use for bulk



manufacturing of print



heads with thousands



of nozzles.


Monolithic,
The nozzle plate is
High accuracy
Requires
Silverbrook, EP


surface
deposited as a layer
(<1 μm)
sacrificial layer
0771 658 A2 and


micro-
using standard VLSI
Monolithic
under the nozzle
related patent


machined
deposition techniques.
Low cost
plate to form the
applications


using VLSI
Nozzles are etched in
Existing
nozzle chamber
IJ01, IJ02, IJ04, IJ11


litho-
the nozzle plate using
processes can be
Surface may be
IJ12, IJ17, IJ18, IJ20


graphic
VLSI lithography and
used
fragile to the touch
IJ22, IJ24, IJ27, IJ28


processes
etching.


IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32






IJ33, IJ34, IJ36, IJ37






IJ38, IJ39, IJ40, IJ41






IJ42, IJ43, IJ44


Monolithic,
The nozzle plate is a
High accuracy
Requires long
IJ03, IJ05, IJ06, IJ07


etched
buried etch stop in the
(<1 μm)
etch times
IJ08, IJ09, IJ10, IJ13


through
wafer. Nozzle
Monolithic
Requires a
IJ14, IJ15, IJ16, IJ19


substrate
chambers are etched in
Low cost
support wafer
IJ21, IJ23, IJ25, IJ26



the front of the wafer,
No differential



and the wafer is
expansion



thinned from the back



side. Nozzles are then



etched in the etch stop



layer.


No nozzle
Various methods have
No nozzles to
Difficult to
Ricoh 1995


plate
been tried to eliminate
become clogged
control drop
Sekiya et al



the nozzles entirely, to

position accurately
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,413



prevent nozzle

Crosstalk
1993 Hadimioglu



clogging. These

problems
et al EUP 550,192



include thermal bubble


1993 Elrod et al



mechanisms and


EUP 572,220



acoustic lens



mechanisms


Trough
Each drop ejector has
Reduced
Drop firing
IJ35



a trough through
manufacturing
direction is sensitive



which a paddle moves.
complexity
to wicking.



There is no nozzle
Monolithic



plate.


Nozzle slit
The elimination of
No nozzles to
Difficult to
1989 Saito et al


instead of
nozzle holes and
become clogged
control drop
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,068


individual
replacement by a slit

position accurately


nozzles
encompassing many

Crosstalk



actuator positions

problems



reduces nozzle



clogging, but increases



crosstalk due to ink



surface waves



















DROP EJECTION DIRECTION











Ejection






direction
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Edge
Ink flow is along the
Simple
Nozzles limited
Canon Bubblejet


(‘edge
surface of the chip,
construction
to edge
1979 Endo et al GB


shooter’)
and ink drops are
No silicon
High resolution
patent 2,007,162



ejected from the chip
etching required
is difficult
Xerox heater-in-



edge.
Good heat
Fast color
pit 1990 Hawkins et al




sinking via substrate
printing requires
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,181




Mechanically
one print head per
Tone-jet




strong
color




Ease of chip




handing


Surface
Ink flow is along the
No bulk silicon
Maximum ink
Hewlett-Packard


(‘roof
surface of the chip,
etching required
flow is severely
TIJ 1982 Vaught et al


shooter’)
and ink drops are
Silicon can make
restricted
U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,728



ejected from the chip
an effective heat

IJ02, IJ11, IJ12, IJ20



surface, normal to the
sink

IJ22



plane of the chip.
Mechanical




strength


Through
Ink flow is through the
High ink flow
Requires bulk
Silverbrook, EP


chip,
chip, and ink drops are
Suitable for
silicon etching
0771 658 A2 and


forward
ejected from the front
pagewidth print

related patent


(‘up
surface of the chip.
High nozzle

applications


shooter’)

packing density

IJ04, IJ17, IJ18, IJ24




therefore low

IJ27–IJ45




manufacturing cost


Through
Ink flow is through the
High ink flow
Requires wafer
IJ01, IJ03, IJ05, IJ06


chip,
chip, and ink drops are
Suitable for
thinning
IJ07, IJ08, IJ09, IJ10


reverse
ejected from the rear
pagewidth print
Requires special
IJ13, IJ14, IJ15, IJ16


(‘down
surface of the chip.
High nozzle
handling during
IJ19, IJ21, IJ23, IJ25


shooter’)

packing density
manufacture
IJ26




therefore low




manufacturing cost


Through
Ink flow is through the
Suitable for
Pagewidth print
Epson Stylus


actuator
actuator, which is not
piezoelectric print
heads require
Tektronix hot



fabricated as part of
heads
several thousand
melt piezoelectric



the same substrate as

connections to drive
ink jets



the drive transistors.

circuits





Cannot be





manufactured in





standard CMOS





fabs





Complex





assembly required



















INK TYPE











Ink type
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples





Aqueous,
Water based ink which
Environmentally
Slow drying
Most existing inkjets


dye
typically contains:
friendly
Corrosive
All IJ series ink jets



water, dye, surfactant,
No odor
Bleeds on paper
Silverbrook, EP



humectant, and

May
0771 658 A2 and



biocide.

strikethrough
related patent



Modern ink dyes have

Cockles paper
applications



high water-fastness,



light fastness


Aqueous,
Water based ink which
Environmentally
Slow drying
IJ02, IJ04, IJ21, IJ26


pigment
typically contains:
friendly
Corrosive
IJ27, IJ30



water, pigment,
No odor
Pigment may
Silverbrook, EP



surfactant, humectant,
Reduced bleed
clog nozzles
0771 658 A2 and



and biocide.
Reduced wicking
Pigment may
related patent



Pigments have an
Reduced
clog actuator
applications



advantage in reduced
strikethrough
mechanisms
Piezoelectric ink-jets



bleed, wicking and

Cockles paper
Thermal ink jets



strikethrough.


(with significant






restrictions)


Methyl
MEK is a highly
Very fast drying
Odorous
All IJ series ink


Ethyl
volatile solvent used
Prints on various
Flammable
jets


Ketone
for industrial printing
substrates such as


(MEK)
on difficult surfaces
metals and plastics



such as aluminum



cans.


Alcohol
Alcohol based inks
Fast drying
Slight odor
All IJ series ink


(ethanol,
can be used where the
Operates at sub-
Flammable
jets


2-butanol,
printer must operate at
freezing


and others)
temperatures below
temperatures



the freezing point of
Reduced paper



water. An example of
cockle



this is in-camera
Low cost



consumer



photographic printing.


Phase
The ink is solid at
No drying time-
High viscosity
Tektronix hot


change
room temperature, and
ink instantly freezes
Printed ink
melt piezoelectric


(hot melt)
is melted in the print
on the print medium
typically has a
ink jets



head before jetting.
Almost any print
‘waxy’ feel
1989 Nowak



Hot melt inks are
medium can be used
Printed pages
U.S. Pat. No.



usually wax based,
No paper cockle
may ‘block’
4,820,346



with a melting point
occurs
Ink temperature
All IJ series ink



around 80° C. After
No wicking
may be above the
jets



jetting the ink freezes
occurs
curie point of



almost instantly upon
No bleed occurs
permanent magnets



contacting the print
No strikethrough
Ink heaters



medium or a transfer
occurs
consume power



roller.

Long warm-up





time


Oil
Oil based inks are
High solubility
High viscosity:
All IJ series ink



extensively used in
medium for some
this is a significant
jets



offset printing. They
dyes
limitation for use in



have advantages in
Does not cockle
ink jets, which



improved
paper
usually require a



characteristics on
Does not wick
low viscosity. Some



paper (especially no
through paper
short chain and



wicking or cockle).

multi-branched oils



Oil soluble dies and

have a sufficiently



pigments are required.

low viscosity.





Slow drying


Micro-
A microemulsion is a
Stops ink bleed
Viscosity higher
All IJ series ink


emulsion
stable, self forming
High dye
than water
jets



emulsion of oil, water,
solubility
Cost is slightly



and surfactant. The
Water, oil, and
higher than water



characteristic drop size
amphiphilic soluble
based ink



is less than 100 nm,
dies can be used
High surfactant



and is determined by
Can stabilize
concentration



the preferred curvature
pigment
required (around



of the surfactant.
suspensions
5%)









Ink Jet Printing

A large number of new forms of ink jet printers have been developed to facilitate alternative ink jet technologies for the image processing and data distribution system. Various combinations of ink jet devices can be included in printer devices incorporated as part of the present invention. Australian Provisional Patent Applications relating to these ink jets which are specifically incorporated by cross reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Austra-


US Patent/


lian


Patent


Provi-


Application


sional


and Filing


Number
Filing Date
Title
Date







PO8066
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,227,652




and Apparatus (IJ01)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8072
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,213,588




and Apparatus (IJ02)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8040
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,213,589




and Apparatus (IJ03)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8071
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,231,163




and Apparatus (IJ04)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8047
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,795




and Apparatus (IJ05)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8035
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,394,581




and Apparatus (IJ06)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8044
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,244,691




and Apparatus (IJ07)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8063
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,257,704




and Apparatus (IJ08)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8057
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,416,168




and Apparatus (IJ09)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8056
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,220,694




and Apparatus (IJ10)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8069
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,257,705




and Apparatus (IJ11)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8049
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,794




and Apparatus (IJ12)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8036
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,234,610




and Apparatus (IJ13)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8048
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,793




and Apparatus (IJ14)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8070
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,264,306




and Apparatus (IJ15)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8067
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,241,342




and Apparatus (IJ16)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8001
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,792




and Apparatus (IJ17)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8038
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,264,307




and Apparatus (IJ18)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8033
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,254,220




and Apparatus (IJ19)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8002
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,234,611




and Apparatus (IJ20)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8068
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,302,528




and Apparatus (IJ21)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8062
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,283,582




and Apparatus (IJ22)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8034
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,239,821




and Apparatus (IJ23)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8039
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,338,547




and Apparatus (IJ24)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8041
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,796




and Apparatus (IJ25)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8004
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
09/113,122




and Apparatus (IJ26)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8037
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,390,603




and Apparatus (IJ27)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8043
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,362,843




and Apparatus (IJ28)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8042
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,293,653




and Apparatus (IJ29)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8064
15 Jul. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,312,107




and Apparatus (IJ30)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9389
23 Sep. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,227,653




and Apparatus (IJ31)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9391
23 Sep. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,234,609




and Apparatus (IJ32)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0888
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,238,040




and Apparatus (IJ33)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0891
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,188,415




and Apparatus (IJ34)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0890
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,227,654




and Apparatus (IJ35)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0873
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,209,989




and Apparatus (IJ36)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0993
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,247,791




and Apparatus (IJ37)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0890
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,336,710




and Apparatus (IJ38)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP1398
19 Jan. 1998
An Image Creation Method
6,217,153




and Apparatus (IJ39)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP2592
25 Mar. 1998
An Image Creation Method
6,416,167




and Apparatus (IJ40)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP2593
25 Mar. 1998
Image Creation Method
6,243,113




and Apparatus (IJ41)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP3991
9 Jun. 1998
Image Creation Method
6,283,581




and Apparatus (IJ42)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP3987
9 Jun. 1998
Image Creation Method
6,247,790




and Apparatus (IJ43)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP3985
9 Jun. 1998
Image Creation Method
6,260,953




and Apparatus (IJ44)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP3983
9 Jun. 1998
Image Creation Method
6,267,469




and Apparatus (IJ45)
(Jul. 10, 1998)









Ink Jet Manufacturing

Further, the present application may utilize advanced semiconductor fabrication techniques in the construction of large arrays of ink jet printers. Suitable manufacturing techniques are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Austra-


US Patent/


lian


Patent


Provi-


Application


sional


and Filing


Number
Filing Date
Title
Date







PO7935
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,224,780




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM01)


PO7936
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,235,212




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM02)


PO7937
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,280,643




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM03)


PO8061
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,284,147




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM04)


PO8054
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,214,244




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM05)


PO8065
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,071,750




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM06)


PO8055
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,267,905




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM07)


PO8053
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,251,298




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM08)


PO8078
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,258,285




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM09)


PO7933
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,225,138




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM10)


PO7950
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,241,904




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM11)


PO7949
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,299,786




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM12)


PO8060
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
09/113,124




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM13)


PO8059
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,231,773




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM14)


PO8073
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,190,931




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM15)


PO8076
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,248,249




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM16)


PO8075
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,290,862




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM17)


PO8079
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,241,906




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM18)


PO8050
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
09/113,116




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM19)


PO8052
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,241,905




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM20)


PO7948
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,451,216




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM21)


PO7951
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,231,772




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM22)


PO8074
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,274,056




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM23)


PO7941
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,290,861




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM24)


PO8077
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,248,248




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM25)


PO8058
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,306,671




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM26)


PO8051
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,331,258




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM27)


PO8045
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,110,754




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM28)


PO7952
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,294,101




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM29)


PO8046
15 Jul. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,416,679




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM30)


PO8503
11 Aug. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,264,849




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM30a)


PO9390
23 Sep. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,254,793




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM31)


PO9392
23 Sep. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,235,211




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM32)


PP0889
12 Dec. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,235,211




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM35)


PP0887
12 Dec. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,264,850




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM36)


PP0882
12 Dec. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,258,284




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM37)


PP0874
12 Dec. 1997
A Method of Manufacture
6,258,284




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM38)


PP1396
19 Jan. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,228,668




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM39)


PP2591
25 Mar. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,180,427




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM41)


PP3989
9 Jun. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,171,875




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM40)


PP3990
9 Jun. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,267,904




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM42)


PP3986
9 Jun. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,245,247




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM43)


PP3984
9 Jun. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,245,247




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM44)


PP3982
9 Jun. 1998
A Method of Manufacture
6,231,148




of an Image
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Creation Apparatus (IJM45)









Fluid Supply

Further, the present application may utilize an ink delivery system to the ink jet head. Delivery systems relating to the supply of ink to a series of ink jet nozzles are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications, the disclosure of which are hereby incorporated by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Australian


US Patent/Patent


Provisional


Application and


Number
Filing Date
Title
Filing Date







PO8003
15 Jul. 1997
Supply Method
6,350,023




and Apparatus (F1)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8005
15 Jul. 1997
Supply Method
6,318,849




and Apparatus (F2)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9404
23 Sep. 1997
A Device and
09/113,101




Method (F3)
(Jul. 10, 1998)









MEMS Technology

Further, the present application may utilize advanced semiconductor microelectromechanical techniques in the construction of large arrays of ink jet printers. Suitable microelectromechanical techniques are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Australian


US Patent/Patent


Provisional


Application and


Number
Filing Date
Title
Filing Date







PO7943
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS01)



PO8006
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS02)
6,087,638





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8007
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS03)
09/113,093





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8008
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS04)
6,340,222





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8010
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS05)
6,041,600





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8011
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS06)
6,299,300





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7947
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS07)
6,067,797





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7945
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS08)
09/113,081





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7944
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS09)
6,286,935





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7946
15 Jul. 1997
A device (MEMS10)
6,044,646





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9393
23 Sep. 1997
A Device and Method
09/113,065




(MEMS11)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0875
12 Dec. 1997
A Device (MEMS12)
09/113,078





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0894
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method
09/113,075




(MEMS13)
(Jul. 10, 1998)









IR Technologies

Further, the present application may include the utilization of a disposable camera system such as those described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Austra-


US Patent/


lian


Patent


Provi-


Application


sional


and Filing


Number
Filing Date
Title
Date







PP0895
12 Dec. 1997
An Image Creation Method
6,231,148




and Apparatus (IR01)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0870
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR02)
09/113,106





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0869
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR04)
6,293,658





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0887
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
09/113,104




and Apparatus (IR05)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0885
12 Dec. 1997
An Image Production
6,238,033




System (IR06)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0884
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,312,070




and Apparatus (IR10)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0886
12 Dec. 1997
Image Creation Method
6,238,111




and Apparatus (IR12)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0871
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR13)
09/113,086





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0876
12 Dec. 1997
An Image Processing Method
09/113,094




and Apparatus (IR14)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0877
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR16)
6,378,970





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0878
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR17)
6,196,739





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0879
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR18)
09/112,774





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0883
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR19)
6,270,182





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0880
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR20)
6,152,619





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0881
12 Dec. 1997
A Device and Method (IR21)
09/113,092





(Jul. 10, 1998)









DotCard Technologies

Further, the present application may include the utilization of a data distribution system such as that described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Australian


US Patent/Patent


Provisional


Application and


Number
Filing Date
Title
Filing Date







PP2370
16 Mar. 1998
Data Processing
09/112,781




Method and
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Apparatus (Dot01)


PP2371
16 Mar. 1998
Data Processing
09/113,052




Method and
(Jul. 10, 1998)




Apparatus (Dot02)









Artcam Technologies

Further, the present application may include the utilization of camera and data processing techniques such as an Artcam type device as described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding U.S. patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.













Austra-


US Patent/


lian


Patent


Provi-


Application


sional


and Filing


Number
Filing Date
Title
Date







PO7991
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/113,060




and Apparatus (ART01)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7988
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,476,863




and Apparatus (ART02)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7993
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/113,073




and Apparatus (ART03)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9395
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,322,181




and Apparatus (ART04)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8017
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,747




and Apparatus (ART06)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8014
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART07)
6,227,648





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8025
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,750




and Apparatus (ART08)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8032
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,746




and Apparatus (ART09)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7999
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,743




and Apparatus (ART10)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7998
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,742




and Apparatus (ART11)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8031
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,741




and Apparatus (ART12)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8030
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART13)
6,196,541





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7997
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART15)
6,195,150





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7979
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART16)
6,362,868





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8015
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART17)
09/112,738





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7978
15 Jul. 1997
Media Device (ART18)
09/113,067





(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7982
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,431,669




and Apparatus (ART19)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7989
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,362,869




and Apparatus (ART20)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8019
15 Jul. 1997
Media Processing Method
6,472,052




and Apparatus (ART21)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7980
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,356,715




and Apparatus (ART22)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8018
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,777




and Apparatus (ART24)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7938
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/113,224




and Apparatus (ART25)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8016
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,366,693




and Apparatus (ART26)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8024
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,329,990




and Apparatus (ART27)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7940
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,072




and Apparatus (ART28)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7939
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/112,785




and Apparatus (ART29)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8501
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,137,500




and Apparatus (ART30)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8500
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,796




and Apparatus (ART31)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7987
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,071




and Apparatus (ART32)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8022
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,398,328




and Apparatus (ART33)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8497
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/113,090




and Apparatus (ART34)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8020
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,431,704




and Apparatus (ART38)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8023
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,222




and Apparatus (ART39)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8504
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,786




and Apparatus (ART42)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8000
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,415,054




and Apparatus (ART43)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7977
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/112,782




and Apparatus (ART44)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7934
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,056




and Apparatus (ART45)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7990
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,059




and Apparatus (ART46)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8499
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,486,886




and Apparatus (ART47)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8502
11 Aug. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,381,361




and Apparatus (ART48)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7981
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,317,192




and Apparatus (ART50)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7986
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,057




and Apparatus (ART51)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO7983
15 Jul. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,054




and Apparatus (ART52)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8026
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,752




and Apparatus (ART53)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8027
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,759




and Apparatus (ART54)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO8028
15 Jul. 1997
Image Processing Method
09/112,757




and Apparatus (ART56)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9394
23 Sep. 1997
Image Processing Method
6,357,135




and Apparatus (ART57)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9396
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/113,107




and Apparatus (ART58)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9397
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,271,931




and Apparatus (ART59)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9398
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,353,772




and Apparatus (ART60)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9399
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,106,147




and Apparatus (ART61)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9400
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/112,790




and Apparatus (ART62)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9401
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,304,291




and Apparatus (ART63)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9402
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
09/112,788




and Apparatus (ART64)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9403
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,305,770




and Apparatus (ART65)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PO9405
23 Sep. 1997
Data Processing Method
6,289,262




and Apparatus (ART66)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP0959
16 Dec. 1997
A Data Processing Method
6,315,200




and Apparatus (ART68)
(Jul. 10, 1998)


PP1397
19 Jan. 1998
A Media Device (ART69)
6,217,165





(Jul. 10, 1998)

## Claims

1. A cartridge for supplying print media and ink to an inkjet printhead with which the cartridge is engaged, the cartridge comprising:
a casing;
a core rotatably mounted inside the casing;
an ink supply inside the core;
a roll of print media supported by the core; and
a transport mechanism mounted inside the casing for transporting the print media from the roll of print media to the printhead by rotating the core, wherein the casing is substantially congruent to the arrangement of the transport mechanism and the roll of print media, when full.

2. A cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the core incorporates an ink outlet at one end thereof arranged to establish fluid communication between the ink supply and the printhead.

3. A cartridge according to claim 2, wherein:
the ink supply has a plurality of segments for storing different coloured inks; and
the ink outlet of the core incorporates an outlet for each segment.

4. A cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism incorporates a drive roller arranged to engage an external drive so as to be rotated and thereby transport the print media from the roll of print media to the printhead.

5. A cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the transport mechanism further incorporates a plurality of pinch rollers arranged with respect to the drive roller so that a de-curling force is imparted to the print media during transportation.

6. A cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the drive roller has a geared axle that extends beyond the casing for engagement with the external drive via a corresponding gear.

7. A cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the casing is formed of moldings that snap lock together so as to encase the roll of print media, the core, the ink supply and the transport mechanism, the moldings being configured so that an outlet is formed through which the print media is transported by the transport mechanism, in use.