Patent ID: 7802858

Claim:
An element board for a printhead, the element board comprising: a plurality of printing elements; a shift register which serially receives printing data corresponding to the number of printing elements from a data input terminal and receives a clock signal from a clock input terminal; a data input unit which serially inputs the printing data to said shift register; an enable signal input unit which inputs an enable signal, the enable signal serving as a basis for both a latch signal and a heat enable signal, the heat enable signal representing a driving period of the printing elements; a latch circuit which latches the printing data input to said shift register in response to the latch signal; and a driving circuit which selectively drives the printing elements in accordance with the printing data latched by said latch circuit and the heat enable signal representing the driving period of the printing elements; wherein said driving circuit drives the printing elements upon a lapse of a certain time after said latch circuit latches the printing data.