Patent ID: 7210766

Claim:
A thermally-driven ink-jet printhead, comprising: a substrate having an ink chamber to be filled with ink to be ejected, a manifold for supplying ink to the ink chamber, and an ink channel for providing flow communication between the ink chamber and the manifold; first sidewalls and second sidewalls, which are formed to a predetermined depth from an upper surface of the substrate and define the ink chamber to have a substantially rectangular shape, the first sidewalls being disposed in a widthwise direction of the ink chamber and the second sidewalls being disposed in a lengthwise direction of the ink chamber; a nozzle plate formed on the substrate, the nozzle plate including a plurality of material layers, and a nozzle passing through the nozzle plate and in flow communication with the ink chamber; a heater, which is disposed between the nozzle and one of the first sidewalls, the heater being disposed within the nozzle plate and positioned above the ink chamber; a conductor, which is disposed within the nozzle plate, the conductor being electrically connected to the heater; and a shifting feature for moving cavitation points beyond an outer edge of the heater.