Patent ID: 8506052

Claim:
An inkjet nozzle assembly comprising: a nozzle chamber for containing ink, said nozzle chamber comprising a floor and a roof having a nozzle opening defined therein; and a plurality of moveable paddles defining at least part of the roof, said plurality of paddles being actuable to cause ejection of an ink droplet from said nozzle opening, each paddle including a thermal bend actuator comprising: an upper thermoelastic beam connected to drive circuitry; and a lower passive beam fused to said thermoelastic beam, such that when a current is passed through the thermoelastic beam, the thermoelastic beam expands relative to the passive beam, resulting in bending of a respective paddle towards the floor of the nozzle chamber, wherein each actuator is independently controllable via respective drive circuitry such that a direction of droplet ejection from said nozzle opening is controllable by independent movement of each paddle.