DocumentCode :
1948821
Title :
A high resolution, electrostatically-driven commercial inkjet head
Author :
Kamisuki, S. ; Fujii, M. ; Takekoshi, T. ; Tezuka, C. ; Atobe, M.
Author_Institution :
Production Eng. & Dev. Dept., Seiko Epson Corp., Nagano, Japan
fYear :
2000
fDate :
23-27 Jan 2000
Firstpage :
793
Lastpage :
798
Abstract :
A fully-micromachined, low power, large nozzle count and high resolution “electrostatically actuated inkjet (SEAJetTM)” head has been developed for a POS printer. As 3D multiple-step structured nozzles are required for straight and high frequency ink ejection, it was formed by ICP deep-RIE employing a “multiple-step mask method” which makes troublesome stereo-photolithography unnecessary and 128 nozzles/chip were fabricated simultaneously. The required thin, 2 μm-thick pressure plates were formed by B doped etch-stop technology combined with two-step alkaline etching which enables smooth-surfaced and uniform (2.15±0.35 (3 σ)μm) pressure plates. The typical driving voltage is 26.5 V and the SEAJet head has achieved the uniform ink ejection up to a driving frequency of 18 kHz. The life of the actuator has been confirmed to be more than 4 billion times actuation. The typical printing speed of the POS printer is 15 1/s (lines per second) for a rolled paper and 3 ppm (papers per min.) for A4 paper in 360 dpi (dots per inch) high resolution, a performance level that makes this the fastest inkjet POS printer in the world. The average power consumption was measured as only 0.525 mW/nozzle. It is only one-thousandth of that of a typical thermal inkjet
Keywords :
electrostatic actuators; ink jet printers; micromachining; nozzles; sputter etching; 18 kHz; 26.5 V; 3D nozzle; ICP deep RIE; MEMS device; POS printer; SEAJet; electrostatic actuator; fabrication; inkjet head; micromachining; multiple-step mask method; Energy consumption; Etching; Fabrication; Frequency; Ink; Micromachining; Micromechanical devices; Power engineering and energy; Printers; Voltage;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2000. MEMS 2000. The Thirteenth Annual International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Miyazaki
ISSN :
1084-6999
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5273-4
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.2000.838619
Filename :
838619
Link To Document :
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