Patent ID: 7004567

Claim:
A micro-electromechanical nozzle arrangement which comprises a substrate; drive circuitry positioned on the substrate; an elongate actuator that is fixed at one end to the substrate to be electrically connected to the drive circuitry so that an opposite end is reciprocally displaceable with respect to the substrate on receipt of a current pulse from the drive circuitry; a nozzle chamber structure positioned on the substrate and defining a nozzle chamber and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber; a fluid ejection member positioned in the nozzle chamber and connected to the opposite end of the actuator so that ink is ejected from the nozzle chamber when the fluid ejection member is displaced by the actuator; a switch assembly that is arranged on the actuator and the substrate to be electrically connected to the drive circuitry so that the switch closes a circuit and the drive circuitry generates an electrical current when the elongate actuator is displaced a predetermined extent.