AU2006203385B2 - Hand-Held Camera With Ink Cartridge Carrying Image Capture Integrated Circuitry - Google Patents

Description

-1- O HAND-HELD CAMERA WITH INK CARTRIDGE CARRYING IMAGE CAPTURE INTEGRATED

CIRCUITRY

Field of the Invention The present relates substantially to the concept of a disposable camera having instant printing capabilities and in particular, discloses A Low Cost Disposable Camera System.

iBackground of the Invention 0 Recently, the concept of a "single use" disposable camera has become and increasingly popular consumer item.

M 10 Disposable camera systems presently on the market normally include an internal film roll and a simplified gearing mechanism for traversing the film roll across an imaging system including a shutter and lensing system. The user, after utilising a single film roll returns the camera system to a film development centre for processing. The film roll is taken out of the camera system and processed and the prints returned to the user. The camera system is then able to be remanufactured through the insertion of a new film roll into the camera system, the replacement of any worn or wearable parts and the re-packaging of the camera system in accordance with requirements. In this way, the concept of a single use "disposable" camera is provided to the consumer.

Recently, a camera system has been proposed by the present applicant which provides for a handheld camera device having an internal print head, image sensor and processing means such that images sense by the image sensing means, are processed by the processing means and adapted to be instantly printed out by the printing means on demand.

The proposed camera system further discloses a system of internal "print rolls" carrying print media such as film on to which images are to be printed in addition to ink to supplying the printing means for the printing process. The print roll is further disclosed to be detachable and replaceable within the camera system.

Unfortunately, such a system is likely to only be constructed at a substantial cost and it would be desirable to provide for a more inexpensive form of instant camera system which maintains a substantial number of the quality aspects of the aforementioned arrangement.

In particular, in any "disposable camera" it would be desirable to provide for a simple and rapid form of replenishment of the consumable portions in any disposable camera so that the disposable camera can be readily and rapidly serviced by replenishment and return to the market place.

It would be further desirable to provide for a simple means of storage of replenishable portions of a disposable camera system to allow for their rapid replenishment.

It would be further desirable to provide, in such a camera system, an ink cartridge for the storage of inks to be utilized in the printing out of images.

It would be desirable to provide for an extremely low cost camera system having as great quality as possible. In this respect, the camera system, as previously proposed should include mechanisms for sensing and processing sensed images in addition to mechanisms for printing out the images on the print media via a printhead system. It would be further desirable to provide for a system having a convenient and compact arrangement of components such that they can be inexpensively manufactured in an inexpensive manner so as to allow for the readily disposable form of printing.

In any form of disposable camera arrangement, there will be the attraction for clone manufacturers to attempt to copy the process of refurbishing a used camera so as to derive profit from the refurbishment process. Unfortunately, such refurbishment may cause untold damage to the camera in particular in use of inappropriate inks and print media within the camera. The inappropriate use of such material may result in an inferior quality product, especially where the refurbishment is done by a counterfeiter wishing to pass off their product as being one of the "originals". In this respect, the damage to the camera may be permanent, resulting in an inferior product where the consumer will readily blame the manufacturer for the production of such an inferior product even though it may not be the manufacturer's fault.

SIt would therefore be desirable to provide for a camera and refilling processing system which alleviates these rproblems thereby providing the consumers with a better quality product and a higher level of quality assurance.

SIn the field of photography, three important effects are of great relevance. The first is the distinction between colour and black an white. A significant portion of photography now utilises colour, however a non-insignificant portion 5 of photography still is steeped in the field of black and white photography. Additionally, sepia tones have been generally utilised in traditional camera photography and are still highly popular for the production of traditional looking camera photographs especially with wedding photos or the like. It would therefore be desirable to be able to readily provide for Sthe selection between these multiple different types of outputs such that a user can readily utilise any of the different 00 0output formats.

C~M 10 Further, it is desirable to provide as versatile a one time use camera system as possible so that it can produce a substantially number of different specialised effects instantly on demand.

\O Unfortunately, on a disposable camera, it is desirable to provide as low a degree of functional complexity as Spossible in addition to minimising power requirements. In this respect, it is necessary to dispense with as much of the user interface complexity as possible in addition to providing for efficient operation.

Unfortunately, such a system is likely to only be constructed at a substantial cost and it would be desirable to provide for a more inexpensive form of instant camera system which maintains a substantial number of the quality aspects of the aforementioned arrangement.

It would be further advantageous to provide for the effective interconnection of the sub components of a camera system.

It would be advantageous to provide for a camera system having an effective color correction or gamut remapping capabilities.

Unfortunately, such a system is likely to only be constructed at a substantial cost and it would be desirable to provide for a more inexpensive form of instant camera system which maintains a substantial number of the quality aspects of the aforementioned arrangement.

It would be further advantageous to provide for the effective interconnection of the sub components of a camera system and for the effective driving of moveable parts within the camera system.

It would be further advantageous to provide for the effective interconnection of the sub components of a camera system.

Further, as it is proposed utilising such a re-capping mechanism in a disposable handheld camera system, it will be desirable to provide for an extremely inexpensive form of recapping mechanism that can be utilised in an inexpensive disposable camera.

It would be further desirable to provide for a simplified form of automated picture counting in a disposable camera system.

Unfortunately, such a system is likely to only be constructed at a substantial cost and it would be desirable to provide for a more inexpensive form of instant camera system which maintains a substantial number of the quality aspects of the aforementioned arrangement.

Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide for the efficient and effective one time use disposable camera system.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pagewidth ink jet printhead assembly comprising a pagewidth inkjet printhead and a recapping mechanism for recapping the print head, the recapping mechanism comprising: a first stationary ferrous arm; a solenoid coil wrapped around a portion of said ferrous arm; a second moveable anrm located substantially adjacent said first arm and biased towards said print head; and b a series of membranes attached to said second moveable arm, said membranes sealing said print head when in a non printing position; wherein said solenoid, when activated, causes said moveable arm to move away from the surface of said print head structure sufficiently to allow paper or film to be inserted between said membranes and said print head structure for the printing of ink thereon.

tIn accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a handheld camera system comprising: a core 0 chassis; an ink cartridge unit including an ink supply and print head unit, the ink cartridge unit being mounted on the M 10 chassis; a roll of print media rotatably mounted between end portions of the chassis, the print head unit being adapted to print on the print media; a platten unit including mounted below the print head unit; image sensor and control circuitry N interconnected to the print head unit and adapted to sense an image for printing by the print head unit; an outer casing for enclosing the chassis, ink cartridge unit, the print media, the platten unit and the circuitry.

'1 Preferably, the camera system further comprises a cutting unit adapted to traverse the print media so as to separate the print media into separate images. The cutting unit can be mounted on the platten unit and the platten unit can further include a print head recapping unit for capping the print head when not in use.

The camera system can further comprise a series of pinch rollers for decurling the print media.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a camera system comprising an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply means provided for the storage of print media; a print head for printing the sensed image on the print media stored internally to the camera system; a portable power supply interconnected to the print head, the sensor and the processing means, a method of providing for the effective storage of the print media and the power supply comprising storing the power supply in a centrally located cavity inside a roll of the print media.

Preferably, the print media and the power supply are stored in a detachable module which is detachable from the camera system. The print media can be adapted to rotate around the power supply when the camera system is printing the sensed image on the print media. The portable power supply can comprise at least on e battery and preferably comprises two standard batteries placed end to end. The batteries can be AA type batteries.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head ink supply unit for supplying a pagewidth print head for the ejection of ink by the print head having a first surface having a plurality of holes for the supply of ink to a series of ejection nozzles, the print head supply unit comprising a plurality of long columnar chambers for storing an ink supply, one for each output color, the chambers running substantially the length of the printhead adjacent the first surface thereof; and a series of tapered separators separating the chambers from on another, the tapered separators being tapered into an end strip running along the first surface along substantially the length of the printhead.

The unit can further include a series of regularly spaced structural support members for supporting the tapered separators in a predetermined relationship to one another. The tapered separators can be formed in a single ejection molded unit with a wall of the unit abutting the printhead. The tapered separators taper to substantially abut a slot in the wall of the unit, the slot being adapted for the insertion of the print head. The unit can be constructed from two plastic injection moulded portions welded together.

The long columnar chambers can be filled with a sponge like material to aid usage. Preferably, the print head outputs at least three separate colors for the provision of full color output images.

The unit can include a series of air channels communication of each of the chambers with an external ambient atmosphere, the air channels having an erratic wandering path from an end communicating with the chamber to an end connecting the ambient atmosphere. The channel also preferably contains hydrophobic surfaces to prevent ink flow therein. The channel can be manufactured in the form of a channel having an exposed surface which is subsequently sealed by means of an adhesive surface being attached to the unit.

Each chamber can further include an aperture defined in a wall therein for the insertion of a refill needle for 4refilling the chamber with ink.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head ink supply unit wherein one a portion of the unit includes a series of air channels defined therein for communication of each of the chambers with an external ambient atmosphere, the air channels having an erratic wandering path from an end communicating with the chamber to an end connecting the ambient atmosphere.

0In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera system comprising an M 10 image sensor and processing device for sensing and processing an image; a print media supply means provided for the storage of print media; a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally to the camera system; IN the image sensor and processing device comprising a single integrated circuit chip including the following interconnected components: a processing unit for controlling the operation of the camera system; a program ROM utilised by the processing unit, a CMOS active pixel image sensor for sensing the image; a memory store for storing images and associated program data; a series of motor drive units each including motor drive transistors for the driving of external mechanical system of the camera system; and print head interface unit for driving the print head for printing of the sensed image.

Preferably, the motor drive transistors are located along one peripheral edge of the integrated circuit and the CMOS pixel image sensor is located along an opposite edge of the integrated circuit.

Preferably, the image sensor and processing device further include a halftoning unit for halftoning the sensed image into corresponding bi-level pixel elements for printing out by the print head. The halftoning unit can implement a dither operation and includes a halftone matrix ROM utilised by the halftoning unit in performing the halftoning operation.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for authentication of the refill of a camera system having an internal ink supply and print media for the printing out of images sensed by the camera system, the system comprising: refill means for providing a supply of the ink and print media to the camera system; communication connection means within the camera system adapted to interconnect with a corresponding communication connection means within the refill station; a camera system interrogation means stored internally to the camera system and adapted to utilise the communication connection means to interrogate the refill station so as to determine the authenticity there of.

The camera system interrogation means can be created on a silicon chip integrated circuit stored within the camera system, with the camera system interrogation means being created on the same silicon chip as an image sensor for sensing images by the camera system. The communication connection means can be a JTAG interface of the chip.

Preferably, the camera system interrogation means includes a sensitive memory value store such as a flash memory store fabricated with a conductive metal plane covering the sensitive memory value store.

Upon a determination of the authenticity of the refill station, the camera system interrogation means can reset the value of a print counter indicating the number of prints left for output by the camera system.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a handheld camera system comprising an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a storage means for storing images and programs for utilisation by the processor means; a print media stored internally to the camera system; a print head for printing the sensed image on the print media; an alterable switch for storing a current state of output types of the camera system; a switch interconnected to the processing means and having a number of predetermined states and the processing means adapted to monitor the switch state and process the sensed image in accordance with the switch state to cause the print head to output a corresponding modified image in accordance with the switch state.

Preferably, the processing means is adapted to output at least two images from the group of: digitally enhanced standard color images, sepia color images, black and white images, black and white images with minor color additions, multi-passport photograph images, sketch simulated images, bordered images, panoramic images, images with additional clip arts, kaleidoscope effect images, or color modified images.

The processing means and the switch can be created on a single integrated circuit device, the device being programmable by an external device with the switch being externally programmable. The camera system can also 0comprise a detachable jacket having printed information on the surface thereof indicative of the type of effect.

r 10 In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a camera system comprising an image sensor device for sensing and storing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media IN supply means provided for the storage of print media; a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally to the camera system; a first button and second button each interconnected to the processing means; a method of Coperation of the camera system comprising utilising the first button to activate the image sensor device to sense an image; and utilising the second button to activate the print head to print out a copy of the image on the print head.

Preferably, the utilisation of the first button also results in the results in the printing out of the sensed image on the print media using the print head. The camera system can further include an activation indicator such as a light emitting diode and the method can further comprise the steps of activating the activation indicator for a predetenrmined time interval when the image sensor is initially activated; storing the sensed image for at least the predetermined time interval; deactivating the activation indicator after the predetermined time interval; and deactivating the sensor device after the predetermined time interval. Further, the predetermined interval can be extended if the second button is activated.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a camera system comprising: an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply means provided for the storage of print media for printing of images; a page width print head moulding including a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally in the print media supply means in addition to a series of ink supply chambers for the storage of ink; a portable power supply interconnected to the print head, the sensor and the processing means; a method of positioning the image sensor device within the camera comprising affixing the image sensor device to a surface of the print head moulding.

Preferably, the print head is of a long strip form having a tape automated bonded interconnect along at least one strip edge thereof and the image sensor device comprises a planar integrated circuit of substantially rectangular dimensions having a further tape automated bonded interconnect along at least one edge thereof and the planar integrated circuit and the print head being interconnected to one another.

Further, preferably, the processing means is incorporated onto the planar integrated circuit and includes a print head controller means for controlling the operation of the print head.

The interconnect can comprise a series of wires in embedded in a non-conductive flexible sheet, the sheet being generally of a rectangular form with the print head being interconnected along one surface thereof and the planar integrated circuit being mounted within an aperture in the sheet.

Further, the camera system further includes a series of control buttons, the control buttons further being mounted on the flexible sheet.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a camera system including: an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; and a printing system for printing out the sensed image; a method of color correcting a sensed image to be printed out by the print head, comprising: utilising the image sensor device to sense a first image; processing the first image to determine color characteristics of a first sensed image; utilising the image sensor device to sense a second image, in rapid succession to the first image; ,l applying color correction methods to the second image based on the determined color characteristics of the first sensed image; and printing out the second image.

Preferable, the second sensed image is sensed within 1 second of the first sensed image and the processing step includes examining the intensity characteristics of the first image. The processing step can include determining a maximum and minimum intensity of the first image and utilising the intensities to rescale the intensities of the second image.

i In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera system comprising: an 0 image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply M 10 means provided for the storage of a roll of print media for printing of images; a page width print head moulding including a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally in the print media supply means in addition to a IN series of ink supply chambers for the storage of ink; a portable power supply interconnected to the print head, the sensor and the processing means; a cutting mechanism for cutting portions of print media containing images; a first drive motor adapted to drive the paper media supply means for moving the paper media past the print head; and a second drive motor adapted to drive the cutting mechanism for cutting the portions.

Preferably, each of the drive motors includes a gear chain mechanism for driving corresponding mechanisms in a geared manner. The first drive motor can comprise a stepper motor which is preferably operated in a mutually exclusive manner with the print head.

Further, each of the drive motors can be driven in a forward and reverse manner during normal operation of the camera system.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera system comprising: an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply means provided for the storage of a roll of print media for the printing of images; a page width print head molding including a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally in the print media supply means in addition to a series of ink supply chambers for the storage of ink for utilisation by the print head; a series of print rollers interconnected in the path between the print media supply means and the page width print head molding for pinching the paper and driving the paper past the print head.

Preferably, the number of print rollers is at least 3 and the print rollers apply a decurling twist to the print media.

The print rollers are snap fitted to the camera system. Two of the print roller can be mounted on a first chassis which to which the print head molding is also mounted and a third one of the print rollers is mounted on a detachable platten device. The third print roller can be inserted between the other two of the print rollers and the platten snap fitted to the chassis In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in a camera system comprising: an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply means for the supply of print media to a print head; a print head for printing the sensed image on the print media stored internally to the camera system; a portable power supply interconnected to the print head, the sensor and the processing means; and a guillotine mechanism located between the print media supply means and the print head and adapted to cut the print media into sheets of a predetermined size.

Further, preferably, the guillotine mechanism is detachable from the camera system. The guillotine mechanism can be attached to the print media supply means and is detachable from the camera system with the print media supply means. The guillotine mechanism can be mounted on a platten unit below the print head.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head recapping mechanism for recapping a pagewidth ink jetting print head structure, comprising a first stationary ferrous arm; a solenoid coil wrapped around a portion of the ferrous arm; a second moveable arm located substantially adjacent the first arm and -7biased towards the printhead structure; a series of membranes attached to the second moveable arm the membranes sealing the print head structure when in a rest portion; the solenoid being activated to cause the moveable arm to move away from the surface of the print head structure sufficient to allow a "paper or film" to be inserted between the membranes and the print head structure for the printing of ink thereon.

Preferably, the membranes are resiliently collapsible against the surface of the print head structure. The membranes can comprise two mutually opposed elastomer strips running substantially the length of the ink jetting portions of the print head structure so as to surround the ink jetting portions.

i The solenoid can include an elongated winding of a current carrying wire which is wrapped around a protruding 0 portion of the first armnn, the elongation being substantially the length of the print head structure. Further, the second M€3 10 movable arm is biased against the surface of the print head structure. The solenoid can be activated to move the second arm closely adjacent the first arm with a first level of current and the solenoid is retained whilst printing closely adjacent IN the first arm with a second substantially lower level of current.

The present invention has particular application in a hand held camera device.

r, In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable camera system comprising an image sensor device for sensing an image; a processing means for processing the sensed image; a print media supply means provided for the storage of print media in a roll form; a print head for printing the sensed image on print media stored internally to the camera system; and a cutter mechanism for cutting the printed sensed images comprising a worm screw extending the length of the printed sensed image; and a worm gear attached to the worm screw and adapted to be driven the length of the printed sensed image, the worm gear including a cutting blade for cutting the print media into separated sheets; The cutting blade can comprise a rotatable wheel having a sharpened outer edge and the cogged wheel can have a series of usage indicators printed on one surface thereof and the worm gear can include a lever arm wherein the traversal of the worm gear along the length of the printed sensed image results in the engagement of the lever arm with the cogged wheel print indicator so as to rotate the cogged wheel print indicator so that it maintains a current indication of the number of images printed out on the print media.

The camera can further comprise a pawl mechanism which interacts with the coggs of the cogged wheel print indicator in the form of a rachet and pawl mechanism and the lever arm can include a flexible portion for engagement with the cogged wheel print indicator.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided in an integrated circuit type device comprising timing means able to produce a variable period clock signal, the variation being proportional to an input signal; storage means for storing a value for the input signal for input to the timing means; a method comprising the steps of: testing the timing means after the fabrication of the integrated circuit type device to determine a current timing parameter value for rescaling the timing means so as to produce a clock output pulse having a period within a predetermined range.

The clocking signal can be utilised to determine a pulse length with which to drive an actuator of an inkjet printing type device. Ideally, the device is utilised in a print on demand camera system and the timing means provides the clocking signal for the device and the storage means comprises a flash memory circuit on the device.

Brief Description of the Drawings Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred forms of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 illustrated a side front perspective view of the assemble camera of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 2 illustrates a back side perspective view, partly exploded, of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 3 is a side perspective view of the chassis of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 4 is a side perspective view of the chassis illustrating the insertion of the electric motors; SFig. 5 is an exploded perspective of the ink supply mechanism of the preferred embodiment; rlFig. 6 is a side perspective of the assembled form of the ink supply mechanism of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 7 is a front perspective view of the assembled form of the ink supply mechanism of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective of the platten unit of the preferred embodiment; SFig. 9 is a side perspective view of the assembled form of the platten unit; Fig. 10 is also a perspective view of the assembled form of the platten unit; tfl Fig. 11 is an exploded perspective unit of the printhead recapping mechanism of the preferred embodiment; 00 Fig. 12 is a close up exploded perspective of the recapping mechanism of the preferred embodiment; e¢3 Cr 10 Fig. 13 is an exploded perspective of the ink supply cartridge of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 14 is a close up perspective partly in section of the internal portions of the ink supply cartridge in an INO assembled form; Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of one form of chip layer of the image capture and processing chip of the Cpreferred embodiment; Fig. 16 is an exploded perspective illustrating the assembly process of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 17 illustrates a front exploded perspective view of the assembly process of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 18 illustrates a side perspective view of the assembly process of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 19 illustrates a side perspective view of the assembly process of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the insertion of the platten unit in the preferred embodiment; Fig. 21 illustrates the interconnection of the electrical components of the preferred embodiment; Fig. 22 illustrates the process of assembling the preferred embodiment; and Fig. 23 is a perspective view further illustrating the assembly process of the preferred embodiment.

Description of Preferred and Other Embodiments Turning initially simultaneously to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 there is illustrated perspective views of an assembled camera constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment with Fig. I showing a front side perspective view and Fig. 2 showing a back side perspective view. The camera 1 includes a paper or plastic film jacket 2 which can include simplified instructions 3 for the operation of the camera system 1. The camera system 1 includes a first "take" button 4 which is depressed to capture an image. The captured image is output via output slot 6. A further copy of the image can be obtained through depressing a second "printer copy" button 7 whilst an LED light 5 is illuminated. The camera system also provides the usual view finder 8 in addition to a CCD image capture/lensing system 9.

The camera system I provides for a standard number of output prints after which the camera system 1 ceases to function. A prints left indicator slot 10 is provided to indicate the number of remaining prints. A refund scheme at the point of purchase is assumed to be operational for the return of used camera systems for recycling.

Turning now to Fig. 3, the assembly of the camera system is based around an internal chassis 12 which can be aplastic injection molded part. A pair of paper pinch rollers 28, 29 utilised for decurling are snap fitted into corresponding frame holes eg. 26, 27.

As shown in Fig. 4 the chassis 12 includes a series of mutually opposed prongs eg.13, 14 into which is snapped fitted a series of electric motors 16, 17. The electric motors 16, 17 can be entirely standard with the motor 16 being of a stepper motor type and include a cogged end portion 19, 20 for driving a series of gear wells. A first set of gear wells is provided for controlling a paper cutter mechanism and a second set is provided for controlling print roll movement.

Turning next to Figs. 5 to 7, there is illustrated an ink supply mechanism 40 utilised in the camera system. Fig.

illustrates a back exploded perspective view, Fig. 6 illustrates a back assembled view and Fig. 7 illustrates a front assembled view. The ink supply mechanism 40 is based around an ink supply cartridge 42 which contains printer ink and a print head mechanism for printing out pictures on demand. The ink supply cartridge 42 includes a side aluminium strip 43 which is provided as a shear strip to assist in cutting images from a pater roll.

1 A dial mechanism 44 is provided for indicating the number of"prints left". The dial mechanism 44 is snap fitted through a corresponding mating portion 46 so as to be freely rotatable.

As shown in Fig. 6, the print head includes a flexible PCB strip 47 which interconnects with the print head and Sprovides for control of the print head. The interconnection between the Flex PCB strip and an image sensor and print head chip can be via Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) Strips 51, 58. A moulded aspherical lens and aperture shim (Fig. 5) is also provided for imaging an image onto the surface of the image sensor chip normally located within cavity 53 00 and a light box module or hood 52 is provided for snap fitting over the cavity 53 so as to provide for proper light control.

CM€ 10 A series of decoupling capacitors eg. 34 can also be provided. Further a plug 45 (Fig. 7) is provided for re-plugging ink Sholes after refilling. A series of guide prongs eg. 55-57 are further provided for guiding the flexible PCB strip 47.

O The ink supply mechanism 40 interacts with a platten unit which guides print media under a printhead located in the ink supply mechanism. Fig. 8 shows an exploded view of the platten unit 60, while Figs. 9 and 10 show assembled Cviews of the platten unit. The platten unit 60 includes a first pinch roller 61 which is snap fitted to one side of a platten base 62. Attached to a second side of the platten base 62 is a cutting mechanism 63 which traverses the platten by means of a rod 64 having a screwed thread which is rotated by means of cogged wheel 65 which is also fitted to the platten 62.

The screwed thread engages a block 67 which includes a cutting wheel 68 fastened via a fastener 69. Also mounted to the block 67 is a counter actuator which includes a prong 71. The prong 71 acts to rotate the dial mechanism 44 of Fig. 6 upon the return traversal of the cutting wheel. As shown previously in Fig. 6, the dial mechanism 44 includes a cogged surface which interacts with pawl lever 73, thereby maintaining a count of the number of photographs taken on the surface of dial mechanism 44. The cutting mechanism 63 is inserted into the platten base 62 by means of a snap fit via receptacle eg. 74.

The platten 62 includes an internal recapping mechanism 80 for recapping the print head when not in use. The recapping mechanism 80 includes a sponge portion 81 and is operated via a solenoid coil so as to provide for recapping of the print head. In the preferred embodiment, there is provided an inexpensive form ofprinthead recapping mechanism provided for incorporation into a handheld camera system so as to provide for printhead recapping of an inkjet printhead.

Fig. 11 illustrates an exploded view of the recapping mechanism whilst Fig. 12 illustrates a close up of the end portion thereof. The re-capping mechanism 90 is structured around a solenoid including a 16 turn coil 75 which can comprise insulated wire. The coil 75 is turned around a first stationery solenoid arm 76 which is mounted on a bottom surface of the pattern 62 (Fig. 8) and includes a post portion 77 to magnify effectiveness of operation. The arm 76 can comprise a ferrous material.

A second moveable arm of the solenoid actuator is also provided 78. The arm 78 being moveable and also made of ferrous material. Mounted on the arm is a sponge portion surrounded by an elastomer strip 79. The elastomer strip 79 is of a generally arcuate cross-section and act as a leaf springs against the surface of the printhead ink supply cartridge 42 (Fig. 5) so as to provide for a seal against the surface of the printhead ink supply cartridge 42. In the quiescent position a elastomer spring units 87, 88 act to resiliently deform the elastomer seal 79 against the surface of the ink supply unit 42.

When it is desired to operate the printhead unit, upon the insertion of paper, the solenoid coil 75 is activated so as to cause the arm 78 to move down to be adjacent to the end plate 76. The arm 78 is held against end plate 76 while the printhead is printing by means of a small "keeper current" in coil 77. Simulation results indicate that the keeper current can be significantly less than the actuation current. Subsequently, after photo printing, the paper is guillotined by the cutting mechanism 63 of Fig. 8 acting against Aluminium Strip 43 of Fig. 5, and rewound so as to clear the area of the recapping mechanism 88. Subsequently, the current is turned off and springs 87, 88 return the arm 78 so that the elastomer seal is again resting against the printhead ink supply cartridge.

V It can be seen that the preferred embodiment provides for a simple and inexpensive means of re-capping a r-K printhead through the utilisation of a solenoid type device having a long rectangular form. Further, the preferred Sembodiment utilises minimal power in that currents are only required whilst the device is operational and additionally, only a low keeper current is required whilst the printhead is printing.

Turning next to Fig. 13 and Fig. 14, Fig. 13 illustrates an exploded perspective of the ink supply cartridge 42 Swhilst Fig. 14 illustrates a close up sectional view of a bottom of the ink supply cartridge with the printhead unit in place.

The ink supply cartridge 42 is based around a pagewidth printhead 102 which comprises a long slither of silicon having a series of holes etched on the back surface for the supply of ink to a front surface of the silicon wafer for subsequent 00 ejection via a micro electro mechanical system. The form of ejection can be many different forms such as those set out in C 10 the relevant provisional patent specifications of the attached appendix. In particular, the ink jet printing system set out in the provisional patent specification entitled "An Image Creation Method and Apparatus (1J38)" filed concurrently herewith is highly suitable. Of Course, many other inkjet technologies, as referred to the attached appendix, can also be utilised when constructing a printhead unit 102. The fundamental requirement of the ink supply cartridge 42 being the supply of ink to a series of colour channels etched through the back surface of the printhead 102. In the description of the preferred embodiment, it is assumed that a three colour printing process is to be utilised so as to provide full colour picture output. Hence, the print supply unit 42 includes three ink supply reservoirs being a cyan reservoir 104, a magenta reservoir 105 and a yellow reservoir 106. Each of these reservoirs is required to store ink and includes a corresponding sponge type material 107 109 which assists in stabilising ink within the corresponding ink channel and therefore preventing the ink from sloshing back and forth when the printhead is utilised in a handheld camera system. The reservoirs 104, 105, 106 are formed through the mating of first exterior plastic piece 110 mating with the second base piece 111.

At first end of the base piece 11 includes a series of air inlet 113 115. The air inlet leads to a corresponding winding channel which is hydrophobically treated so as to act as an ink repellent and therefore repel any ink that may flow along the air inlet channel. The air inlet channel further takes a convoluted path further assisting in resisting any ink flow out of the chambers 104 -106. An adhesive tape portion 117 is provided for sealing the channels within end portion 118.

At the top end, there is included a series of refill holes for refilling corresponding ink supply chambers 104, 105, 106. A plug 121 is provided for sealing the refill holes.

Turning now to Fig. 14, there is illustrated a close up perspective view, partly in section through the ink supply cartridge 42 of Fig. 13 when formed as a unit. The ink supply cartridge includes the three colour ink reservoirs 104, 105, 106 which supply ink to different portions of the back surface of printhead 102 which includes a series of apertures 128 defined therein for carriage of the ink to the front surface.

The ink supply unit includes two guide walls 124, 125 which separate the various ink chambers and are tapered into an end portion abutting the surface of the printhead 102. The guide walls are further mechanically supported and regular spaces by a block portions eg. 126 which are placed at regular intervals along the length of the printhead supply unit. The block portions 126 leaving space at portions close to the back of printhead 102 for the flow of ink around the back surface thereof.

The printhead supply unit is preferably formed from a multi-part plastic injection mould and the mould pieces eg. 10, 11 (Fig. 1I) snap together around the sponge pieces 107, 109. Subsequently, a syringe type device can be inserted in the ink refill holes and the ink reservoirs filled with ink with the air flowing out of the air outlets 113 -115.

Subsequently, the adhesive tape portion 117 and plug 121 are attached and the printhead tested for operation capabilities.

Subsequently, the ink supply cartridge 42 can be readily removed for refilling by means of removing the ink supply cartridge, performing a washing cycle, and then utilising the holes for the insertion of a refill syringe filled with ink for refilling the ink chamber before returning the ink supply cartridge 42 to a camera.

-11u Turning now to Fig. 15, there is shown an example layout of the Image Capture and Processing Chip (ICP) 48.

SThe Image Capture and Processing Chip 48 provides most of the electronic functionality of the camera with the exception hi of the print head chip. The chip 48 is a highly integrated system. It combines CMOS image sensing, analog to digital conversion, digital image processing, DRAM storage, ROM, and miscellaneous control functions in a single chip.

The chip is estimated to be around 32 mm 2 using a leading edge 0.18 micron CMOS/DRAM/APS process. The chip size and cost can scale somewhat with Moore's law, but is dominated by a CMOS active pixel sensor array 201, so scaling is limited as the sensor pixels approach the diffraction limit.

SThe ICP 48 includes CMOS logic, a CMOS image sensor, DRAM, and analog circuitry. A very small amount 00 of flash memory or other non-volatile memory is also preferably included for protection against reverse engineering.

M 10 Alternatively, the ICP can readily be divided into two chips: one for the CMOS imaging array, and the other for the remaining circuitry. The cost of this two chip solution should not be significantly different than the single chip ICP, as O the extra cost of packaging and bond-pad area is somewhat cancelled by the reduced total wafer area requiring the colour filter fabrication steps.

(The ICP preferably contains the following functions: Function megapixel image sensor Analog Signal Processors Image sensor column decoders Image sensor row decoders Analogue to digital Conversion (ADC) Column ADC's Auto exposure Function 12Mbits of DRAM DRAM Address Generator Colour interpolator Convolver Colour ALU Halftone matrix ROM Digital halftoning Print head interface 8 bit CPU core Program ROM Flash memory Scratchpad SRAM Parallel interface (8 bit) Motor drive transistors Clock PLL JTAG test interface Test circuits Busses Bond pads -12- Q The CPU, DRAM, Image sensor, ROM, Flash memory, Parallel interface, JTAG interface and ADC can be N1 vendor supplied cores. The ICP is intended to run on 1.5V to minimise power consumption and allow convenient tb operation from two AA type battery cells.

Fig. 15 illustrates a layout of the ICP 48. The ICP 48 is dominated by the imaging array 201, which consumes around 80% of the chip area. The imaging array is a CMOS 4 transistor active pixel design with a resolution of 1,500 x 1,000. The array can be divided into the conventional configuration, with two green pixels, one red pixel, and one blue pixel in each pixel group. There are 750 x 500 pixel groups in the imaging array.

SThe latest advances in the field of image sensing and CMOS image sensing in particular can be found in the 00 October, 1997 issue of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices and, in particular, pages 1689 to 1968. Further, a specific

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10 implementation similar to that disclosed in the present application is disclosed in Wong et, al, "CMOS Active Pixel Image O Sensors Fabricated Using a 1.8V, 0.25gm CMOS Technology", IEDM 1996, page 915.

ks0 The imaging array uses a 4 transistor active pixel design of a standard configuration. To minimise chip area and Stherefore cost, the image sensor pixels should be as small as feasible with the technology available. With a four transistor CKl cell, the typical pixel size scales as 20 times the lithographic feature size. This allows a minimum pixel area of around 3.6gm x 3.6gm. However, the photosite must be substantially above the diffraction limit of the lens. It is also advantageous to have a square photosite, to maximise the margin over the diffraction limited in both horizontal and vertical directions. In this case, the photosite can be specified as 2.5gm x 2.5gm. The photosite can be a photogate, pinned photodiode, charge modulation device, or other sensor.

The four transistors are packed as an shape, rather than a rectangular region, to allow both the pixel and the photsite to be square. This reduces the transistor packing density slightly, increasing pixel size. However, the advantage in avoiding the diffraction limit is greater than the small decrease in packing density.

The transistors also have a gate length which is longer than the minimum for the process technology. These have been increased from a drawn length of 0.18 micron to a drawn length of 0.36 micron. This is to improve the transistor matching by making the variations in gate length represent a smaller proportion of the total gate length.

The extra gate length, and the shaped packing, mean that the transistors use more area than the minimum for the technology. Normally, around 8gm 2 would be required for rectangular packing. Preferably, 9.75gm 2 has been allowed for the transistors.

The total area for each pixel is 16gm 2 resulting from a pixel size of 4m x 4gm. With a reslotution of 1,500 x 1,000, the area of the imaging array 101 is 6,000gm x 4,000gm, or 24mm 2 The presence of a colour image sensor on the chip affects the process required in two major ways: the CMOS fabrication process should be optimised to minimise dark current Colour filters are required. These can be fabricated using dyed photosensitive polyimides, resulting in an added process complexity of three spin coatings, three photolithographic steps, three development steps, and three hardbakes.

There are 15,00 analog signal processors (ASPs) 205, one for each of the columns of the sensor. The ASPs amplify the signal, provide a dark current reference, sample and hold the signal, and suppress the fixed pattern noise

(FPN).

There are 375 analog to digital converters 206, one for each four columns of the sensor array. These may be delta-sigma or successive approximation type ADC's A row of low column ADC's are used to reduce the conversion speed required, and the amount of analogue signal degradation incurred before the signal is converted to digital. This also eliminated the hot spot (affecting local dark current) and the substrate coupled noise that would occur if a single high speed ADC was used. Each ADC also has two four bit DAC's which trim the offset and scale of the ADC to further reduce FPN variations between columns. These DAC's are controlled by data stored in flash memory during chip testing.

-13- The column select logic 204 is a 1:1500 decoder which enables the appropriate digital output of the ADC's onto the output bus. As each ADC is shared by four columns, the least significant two bits of the row select control 4 input analog multiplexers.

A row decoder 207 is a 1:1000 decoder which enables the appropriate row of the active pixel sensor array. This selects which of the 1000 rows of the imaging array is connected to analog signal processors. As the rows are always accessed in sequence, the row select logic can be implemented as a shift register.

An auto exposure system 208 adjusts the reference voltage of the ADC 205 in response to the maximum tf intensity sensed during the previous frame period. Data from the green pixels is passed through a digital peak detector.

The peak value of the image frame period before capture (the reference frame) is provided to a digital to analogue M 10 converter (DAC), which generates the global reference voltage for the column ADCs. The peak detector is reset at the beginning of the reference frame. The minimum and maximum values of the three RGB colour components are also collected for colour correction.

The second largest section of the chip is consumed by a DRAM 210 used to hold the image. To store the 1,500 rx 1,000 image from the sensor without compression, 1.5 Mbytes of DRAM 210 are required. This equals 12 Mbits, or slightly less than 5% of a 256 Mbit DRAM. The DRAM technology assumed is of the 256 Mbit generation implemented using 0.18gm CMOS.

Using a standard 8F cell, the area taken by the memory array is 3.11mm 2 When row decoders, column sensors, redundancy, and other factors are taken into account, the DRAM requires around 4mm 2 This DRAM 210 can be mostly eliminated if analog storage of the image signal can be accurately maintained in the CMOS imaging array for the two seconds required to print the photo. However, digital storage of the image is preferable as it is maintained without degradation, is insensitive to noise, and allows copies of the photo to be printed considerably later.

A DRAM address generator 211 provides the write and read addresses to the DRAM 210. Under normal operation, the write address is determined by the order of the data read from the CMOS image sensor 201. This will typically be a simple raster format. However, the data can be read from the sensor 201 in any order, if matching write addresses to the DRAM are generated. The read order from the DRAM 210 will normally simply match the requirements of a colour interpolator and the print head. As the cyan, magenta, and yellow rows of the print head are necessarily offset by a few pixels to allow space for nozzle actuators, the colours are not read from the DRAM simultaneously. However, there is plenty of time to read all of the data from the DRAM many times during the printing process. This capability is used to eliminate the need for FIFOs in the print head interface, thereby saving chip area. All three RGB image components can be read from the DRAM each time colour data is required. This allows a colour space converter to provide a more sophisticated conversion than a simple linear RGB to CMY conversion.

Also, to allow two dimensional filtering of the image data without requiring line buffers, data is re-read from the DRAM array.

The address generator may also implement image effects in certain models of camera. For example, passport photos are generated by a manipulation of the read addresses to the DRAM. Also, image framing effects (where the central image is reduced), image warps, and kaleidoscopic effects can all be generated by manipulating the read addresses of the DRAM.

While the address generator 211 may be implemented with substantial complexity if effects are built into the standard chip, the chip area required for the address generator is small, as it consists only of address counters and a moderate amount of random logic.

A colour interpolator 214 converts the interleaved pattern of red, 2 x green, and blue pixels into RGB pixels. It consists of three 8 bit adders and associated registers. The divisions are by either 2 (for green) or 4 (for red and blue) so they can be implemented as fixed shifts in the output connections of the adders.

-14- V A convolver 215 is provided as a sharpening filter which applies a small convolution kernel (5 x 5) to the red, Cgreen, and blue planes of the image. The convolution kernel for the green plane is different from that of the red and blue Splanes, as green has twice as many samples. The sharpening filter has five functions: To improve the colour interpolation from the linear interpolation provided by the colour interpolator, to a close approximation of a since interpolation.

To compensate for the image "softening" which occurs during digitisation.

To adjust the image sharpness to match average consumer preferences, which are typically for the image to be slightly sharper than reality. As the single use camera is intended as a consumer product, and not a 00 professional photographic products, the processing can match the most popular settings, rather than the e¢3 S 10 most accurate.

To suppress the sharpening of high frequency (individual pixel) noise. The function is similar to the IND "unsharp mask" process.

To antialias Image Warping.

CThese functions are all combined into a single convolution matrix. As the pixel rate is low (less than 1 Mpixel per second) the total number of multiplies required for the three colour channels is 56 million multiplies per second. This can be provided by a single multiplier. Fifty bytes of coefficient ROM are also required.

A colour ALU 113 combines the functions of colour compensation and colour space conversion into the one matrix multiplication, which is applied to every pixel of the frame. As with sharpening, the colour correction should match the most popular settings, rather then the most accurate.

A colour compensation circuit of the colour ALU provides compensation for the lighting of the photo. The vast majority of photographs are substantially improved by a simple colour compensation, which independently normalises the contrast and brightness of the three colour components.

A colour look-up table (CLUT) 212 is provided for each colour component. These are three separate 256 x 8 SRAMs, requiring a total of 6,144 bits. The CLUTs are used as part of the colour correction process. They are also used for colour special effects, such as stochastically selected "wild colour" effects.

A colour space conversion system of the colour ALU converts from the RGB colour space of the image sensor to the CMY colour space of the printer. The simplest conversion is a I's complement of the RGB data. However, this simple conversion assumes perfect linearity of both colour spaces, and perfect dye spectra for both the colour filters of the image sensor, and the ink dyes. At the other extreme is a tri-linear interpolation of a sampled three dimensional arbitrary transform table. This can effectively match any non-linearity or differences in either colour space. Such a system is usually necessary to obtain good colour space conversion when the print engine is a colour electrophotographic.

However, since the non-linearity of a halftoned ink jet output is very small, a simpler system can be used. A simple matrix multiply can provide excellent results. This requires nine multiplies and six additions per contone pixel.

However, since the contone pixel rate is low (less than 1 Mpixel/sec) these operations can share a single multiplier and adder. The multiplier and adder are used in a colour ALU which is shared with the colour compensation function.

Digital halftoning can be performed as a dispersed dot ordered dither using a stochastic optimised dither cell. A halftone matrix ROM 116 is provided for storing dither cell coefficients. A dither cell size of 32 x 32 is adequate to ensure that the cell repeat cycle is not visible. The three colours cyan, magenta, and yellow are all dithered using the same cell, to ensure maximum co-positioning of the ink dots. This minimises "muddying" of the mid-tones which results from bleed of dyes from one dot to adjacent dots while still wet. The total ROM size required is 1 KByte, as the one ROM shared by the halftoning units for each of the three colours.

The digital halftoning used is dispersed dot ordered dither with stochastic optimised dither matrix. While dithering does not produce an image quite as "sharp" as error diffusion, it does produce a more accurate image with fewer artefacts. The image sharpening produced by error diffusion is artificial, and less controllable and accurate than "unsharp mask" filtering performed in the contone domain. The high print resolution (1,600 dpi x 1,600 dpi) results in excellent quality when using a well formed stochastic dither matrix.

SDigital halftoning is performed by a digital halftoning unit 217 using a simple comparison between the contone information from the DRAM 210 and the contents of the dither matrix 216. During the halftone process, the resolution of the image is changed from the 250 dpi of the captured contone image to the 1,600 dpi of the printed image. Each contone pixel is converted to an average of 40.96 halftone dots.

The ICP incorporates a 16 bit microcontroller CPU core 219 to run the miscellaneous camera functions, such as reading the buttons, controlling the motor and solenoids, setting up the hardware, and authenticating the refill station. The 00 processing power required by the CPU is very modest, and a wide variety of processor cores can be used. As the entire ¢€3 rn 10 CPU program is run from a small ROM 220. Program compatibility between camera versions is not important, as no Sexternal programs are run. A 2 Mbit (256 Kbyte) program and data ROM 220 is included on chip. Most of this ROM IND space is allocated to data for outline graphics and fonts for specialty cameras. The program requirements are minor. The single most complex task is the encrypted authentication of the refill station. The ROM requires a single transistor per (bit.

A Flash memory 221 may be used to store a 128 bit authentication code. This provides higher security than storage of the authentication code in ROM, as reverse engineering can be made essentially impossible. The Flash memory is completely covered by third level metal, making the data impossible to extract using scanning probe microscopes or electron beams. The authentication code is stored in the chip when manufactured. At least two other Flash bits are required for the authentication process: a bit which locks out reprogramming of the authentication code, and a bit which indicates that the camera has been refilled by an authenticated refill station. The flash memory can also be used to store FPN correction data for the imaging array. Additionally, a phase locked loop rescaling parameter is stored provided for scaling the clocking cycle to an appropriated correct time. The clock frequency does not require crystal accuracy since no date functions are provided. To eliminate the cost of a crystal, an on-chip oscillator with a phase locked loop 124 is used.

As the frequency of an on-chip oscillator is highly variable from chip to chip, the frequency ratio of the oscillator to the PLL is digitally trimmed during initial testing. The value is stored in Flash memory 121. This allows the clock PLL to control the ink jet heater pulse width with sufficient accuracy.

A scratchpad SRAM is a small static RAM 222 with a 6T cell. The scratch pad provided temporary memory for the 16 bit CPU. 1024 bytes is adequate.

A print head interface 223 formats the data correctly for the print head. The print head interface also provides all of the timing signals required by the print head. These timing signals may vary depending upon temperature, the number of dots printed simultaneously, the print medium in the print roll, and the dye density of the ink in the print roll.

The following is a table of external connections to the print head surface: Connection Function Pins Databits[0-7] Independent serial data to the eight segments of the print head. 8 BitClock Main data clock for the print head. 1 ColourEnable[0-2] Independent enable signals for the CMY actuators, allowing 3 different pulse times for each colour.

-16- BankEnable[0-1] Allows either simutaneous or interleaved actuation of two banks of 2 nozzles. This allows two different print speed/power consumption tradeoffs.

NozzleSelect[0-4] Selects one of 32 banks of nozzles for simultaneous actuation. ParallelXferClock Loads the parallel transfer register with the data from the shift registers. 1 Total The print head utilised is composed of eight identical segments, each 1.25cm long. There is no connection between the segments on the print head chip. Any connections required are made in the external TAB bonding film, which is double sided. The division into eight identical segments is to simplify lithography using wafer steppers. The segment width of 1.25cm fits easily into a stepper field. As the print head chip is long and narrow (10cm x 0.3mm), the stepper field contains a single segment of 32 print head chips. The stepper field is therefore 1.25cm x 1.6cm. An average of four complete print heads are patterned in each wafer step.

A single BitClock output line connects to all 8 segments on the print head. The 8 DataBits lines lead one to each segment, and are clocked in to the 8 segments on the print head simultaneously (on a BitClock pulse). For example, dot 0 is transferred to segment 0 dot 750 is transferred to segment, dot 1500 to segment 2 etc simultaneously.

The ParallelXferClock is connected to each of the 8 segments on the print head, so that on a single pulse, all segments transfer their bits at the same time.

The NozzleSelect, BankEnable and ColorEnable lines are connected to each of the 8 segments, allowing the print head interface to independently control the duration of the cyan, magenta, and yellow nozzle energizing pulses. Registers in the Print Head Interface allow the accurate specification of the pulse duration between 0 and 6 mins, with a typical duration of 2 ms to 3 mins.

A parallel interface 125 connects the ICP to individual static electrical signals. The CPU is able to control each of these connections as memory mapped I/O via a low speed bus.

The following is a table of connections to the parallel interface: Connection Direction P ins Paper transport stepper motor Output 4 Capping solenoid Output 1 Copy LED Output 1 Photo button Input 1 Copy button Input 1 Total 8 A serial interface is also included to allow authentication of the refill station. This is included to ensure that the cameras are only refilled with paper and ink at authorized refill stations, thus preventing inferior quality refill industry from occurring. The camera must authenticate the refill station, rather than the other way around. The -17secure protocol is communicated to the refill station via a serial data connection. Contact can be made to four gold plated spots on the ICP/print head TAB by the refill station as the new ink is injected into the print head.

Seven high current drive transistors eg. 227 are required. Four are for the four phases of the main stepper motor two are for the guillotine motor, and the remaining transistor is to drive the capping solenoid. These transistors are allocated 20,000 square microns (600,000 F) each. As the transistors are driving highly inductive loads, they must either be turned off slowly, or be provided with a high level of back EMF protection. If adequate back EMF protection cannot be provided using the chip process chosen, then external discrete transistors should be used. The transistors are never driven at the same time as the image sensor is used. This is to avoid voltage fluctuations and hot 0 spots affecting the image quality. Further, the transistors are located as far away from the sensor as possible.

M 10 A standard JTAG (Joint Test Action Group) interface 228 is included in the ICP for testing purposes and for interrogation by the refill station. Due to the complexity of the chip, a variety of testing techniques are required, including BIST (Built In Self Test) and functional block isolation. An overhead of 10% in chip area is assumed for chip testing circuitry for the random logic portions. The overhead for the large arrays them image sensor and the DRAM is smaller.

The JTAG interface is also used for authentication of the refill station. This is included to ensure that the cameras are only refilled with quality paper and ink at a properly constructed refill station, thus preventing inferior quality refills from occurring. The camera must authenticate the refill station, rather than vice versa. The secure protocol is communicated to the refill station during the automated test procedure. Contact is made to four gold plated spots on the ICP/print head TAB by the refill station as the new ink is injected into the print head.

Fig. 16 illustrates rear view of the next step in the construction process whilst Fig. 17 illustrates a front camera view.

Turning now to Fig. 16, the assembly of the camera system proceeds via first assembling the ink supply mechanism 40. The flex PCB is interconnected with batteries only one 84 of which is shown, which are inserted in the middle portion of a print roll 85 which is wrapped around a plastic former 86. An end cap 89 is provided at the other end of the print roll 85 so as to fasten the print roll and batteries firmly to the ink supply mechanism.

The solenoid coil is interconnected (not shown) to interconnects 97, 98 (Fig. 8) which include leaf spring ends for interconnection with electrical contacts on the Flex PCB so as to provide for electrical control of the solenoid.

Turning now to Figs. 17 -19 the next step in the construction process is the insertion of the relevant gear chains into the side of the camera chassis. Fig. 17 illustrates a front camera view, Fig. 18 illustrates a back side view and Fig. 19 also illustrates a back side view. The first gear chain comprising gear wheels 22, 23 are utilised for driving the guillotine blade with the gear wheel 23 engaging the gear wheel 65 of Fig. 8. The second gear chain comprising gear wheels 24, and 26 engage one end of the print roller 61 of Fig. 8. As best indicated in Fig. 18, the gear wheels mate with corresponding buttons on the surface of the chassis with the gear wheel 26 being snap fitted into corresponding mating hole 27.

Next, as illustrated in Fig. 20, the assembled platten unit is then inserted between the print roll 85 and aluminium cutting blade 43.

Turning now to Fig. 21, by way of illumination, there is illustrated the electrically interactive components of the camera system. As noted previously, the components are based around a Flex PCB board and include a TAB film 58 which interconnects the printhead 102 with the image sensor and processing chip 51. Power is supplied by two AA type batteries 83, 84 and a paper drive stepper motor 16 is provided in addition to a rotary guillotine motor An optical element 31 is provided for snapping into a top portion of the chassis 12. The optical element 31 includes portions defining an optical view finder 32, 33 which are slotted into mating portions 35, 36 in view finder channel 37. Also provided in the optical element 31 is a lensing system 38 for magnification of the prints left number in addition to an optical pipe element 39 for piping light from the LED 5 for external display.

-18- Turning next to Fig. 22, the assembled unit 90 is then inserted into a front outer case 91 which includes button 4 N for activation of printouts.

b Turning now to Fig. 23, next, the unit 92 is provided with a snap-on back cover 93 which includes a slot 6 and copy print button 7. A wrapper label containing instructions and advertising (not shown) is then wrapped around the outer surface of the camera system and pinch clamped to the cover by means of clamp strip 96 which can comprise a flexible Oplastic or rubber strip.

Subsequently, the preferred embodiment is ready for use as a one time use camera system that provides for instant output images on demand. It will be evident that the preferred embodiment further provides for a refillable camera 0system. A used camera can be collected and its outer plastic cases removed and recycled. A new paper roll and batteries M 10 can be added and the ink cartridge refilled. A series of automatic test routines can then be carried out to ensure that the printer is properly operational. Further, in order to ensure only authorised refills are conducted so as to enhance quality, O1 routines in the on-chip program ROM can be executed such that the camera authenticates the refilling station using a secure protocol. Upon authentication, the camera can reset an internal paper count and an external case can be fitted on C the camera system with a new outer label. Subsequent packing and shipping can then take place.

It will be further readily evident to those skilled in the art that the program ROM can be modified so as to allow for a variety of digital processing routines. In addition to the digitally enhanced photographs optimised for mainstream consumer preferences, various other models can readily be provided through mere re-programming of the program ROM.

For example, a sepia classic old fashion style output can be provided through a remapping of the colour mapping function.

A further alternative is to provide for black and white outputs again through a suitable colour remapping algorithm.

Minimumless colour can also be provided to add a touch of colour to black and white prints to produce the effect that was traditionally used to colourize black and white photographs. Further, passport photo output can be provided through suitable address remappings within the address generators. Further, edge filters can be utilised as is known in the field of image processing to produce sketched art styles. Further, classic wedding borders and designs can be placed around an output image in addition to the provision of relevant clip arts. For example, a wedding style camera might be provided.

Further, a panoramic mode can be provided so as to output the well known panoramic format of images. Further, a postcard style output can be provided through the printing of postcards including postage on the back of a print roll surface. Further, clip arts can be provided for special events such as Holloween, Christmas etc. Further, kaleidoscopic effects can be provided through address remappings and wild colour effects can be provided through remapping of the colour look-up table. Many other forms of special event cameras can be provided for example, cameras dedicated to the Olympics, movie tie-ins, advertising and other special events.

The operational mode of the camera can be programmed so that upon the depressing of the take photo a first image is sampled by the sensor array to determine irrelevant parameters. Next a second image is again captured which is utilised for the output. The captured image is then manipulated in accordance with any special requirements before being initially output on the paper roll. The LED light is then activated for a predetermined time during which the DRAM is refreshed so as to retain the image. If the print copy button is depressed during this predetermined time interval, a further copy of the photo is output. After the predetermined time interval where no use of the camera has occurred, the onboard CPU shuts down all power to the camera system until such time as the take button is again activated. In this way, substantial power savings can be realised.

Jet Technologies The embodiments of the invention use an inkjet printer type device. Of course many different devices could be used.

However presently popular ink jet printing technologies are unlikely to be suitable.

The most significant problem with thermal inkjet is power consumption. This is approximately 100 times that required for high speed, and stems from the energy-inefficient means of drop ejection. This involves the rapid boiling of water -19to produce a vapor bubble which expels the ink. Water has a very high heat capacity, and must be superheated in thermal inkjet r-K1 applications. This leads to an efficiency of around 0.02%, from electricity input to drop momentum (and increased surface area) out.

The most significant problem with piezoelectric inkjet is size and cost. Piezoelectric crystals have a very small deflection at reasonable drive voltages, and therefore require a large area for each nozzle. Also, each piezoelectric actuator must be connected to its drive circuit on a separate substrate. This is not a significant problem at the current limit of around 300 nozzles per print head, but is a major impediment to the fabrication of pagewide print heads with 19,200 nozzles.

tl Ideally, the inkjet technologies used meet the stringent requirements of in-camera digital color printing and other high 00 quality, high speed, low cost printing applications. To meet the requirements of digital photography, new inkjet technologies M 10 have been created. The target features include: low power (less than 10 Watts) O high resolution capability (1,600 dpi or more) photographic quality output Clow manufacturing cost small size (pagewidth times minimum cross section) high speed 2 seconds per page).ART-END All of these features can be met or exceeded by the inkjet systems described below with differing levels of difficulty.

different inkjet technologies have been developed by the Assignee to give a wide range of choices for high volume manufacture. These technologies form part of separate applications assigned to the present Assignee as set out in the table below.

The inkjet designs shown here are suitable for a wide range of digital printing systems, from battery powered onetime use digital cameras, through to desktop and network printers, and through to commercial printing systems For ease of manufacture using standard process equipment, the print head is designed to be a monolithic 0.5 micron CMOS chip with MEMS post processing. For color photographic applications, the print head is 100 mm long, with a width which depends upon the inkjet type. The smallest print head designed is 1J38, which is 0.35 mm wide, giving a chip area of square mm. The print heads each contain 19,200 nozzles plus data and control circuitry.

Ink is supplied to the back of the print head by injection molded plastic ink channels. The molding requires 50 micron features, which can be created using a lithographically micromachined insert in a standard injection molding tool. Ink flows through holes etched through the wafer to the nozzle chambers fabricated on the front surface of the wafer. The print head is connected to the camera circuitry by tape automated bonding.

Cross-Referenced Applications The following table is a guide to cross-referenced patent applications filed concurrently herewith and discussed hereinafter with the reference being utilized in subsequent tables when referring to a particular case: Docket No. Reference Title IJO US IJO 1 Radiant Plunger Ink Jet Printer IJ02US 1J02 Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer IJ03US IJ03 Planar Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet IJ04US IJ04 Stacked Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer IJO5 Reverse Spring Lever Ink Jet Printer IJ06US IJ06 Paddle Type Ink Jet Printer IJ07US 1J07 Permanent Magnet Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer 20 IJ08US IJ08 Planar Swing Grill Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer IJ09US 1J09 Pump Action Refill Ink Jet Printer IJ10 Pulsed Magnetic Field Ink Jet Printer IJ11US I 11 Two Plate Reverse Firing Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer I 12US IJ12 Linear Stepper Actuator Ink Jet Printer IJ13US IJ13 Gear Driven Shutter Ink Jet Printer IJ14US IJ14 Tapered Magnetic Pole Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer IJ15 Linear Spring Electromagnetic Grill Ink Jet Printer IJ16US IJ16 Lorenz Diaphragm Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer IJ17US IJ17 PTFE Surface Shooting Shuttered Oscillating Pressure Ink Jet Printer IJ18US IJ18 Buckle Grip Oscillating Pressure Ink Jet Printer IJ19US IJ19 Shutter Based Ink Jet Printer IJ20 Curling Calyx Thermoelastic Ink Jet Printer IJ21US IJ21 Thermal Actuated Ink Jet Printer IJ22US IJ22 Iris Motion Ink Jet Printer IJ23US IJ23 Direct Firing Thermal Bend Actuator Ink Jet Printer IJ24US IJ24 Conductive PTFE Ben Activator Vented Ink Jet Printer IJ25 Magnetostrictive Ink Jet Printer IJ26US IJ26 Shape Memory Alloy Ink Jet Printer IJ27US IJ27 Buckle Plate Ink Jet Printer IJ28US IJ28 Thermal Elastic Rotary Impeller Ink Jet Printer IJ29US IJ29 Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet Printer IJ30 Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Using PTFE and Corrugated Copper Ink Jet Printer IJ31US IJ31 Bend Actuator Direct Ink Supply Ink Jet Printer IJ32US IJ32 A High Young's Modulus Thermoelastic Ink Jet Printer IJ33US IJ33 Thermally actuated slotted chamber wall ink jet printer IJ34US IJ34 Ink Jet Printer having a thermal actuator comprising an external coiled spring IJ35 Trough Container Ink Jet Printer IJ36US IJ36 Dual Chamber Single Vertical Actuator Ink Jet IJ37US IJ37 Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Fulcrum Actuator Ink Jet IJ38US IJ38 Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Actuator Ink Jet IJ39US IJ39 A single bend actuator cupped paddle inkjet printing device IJ40 A thermally actuated ink jet printer having a series of thermal actuator units IJ41US IJ41 A thermally actuated ink jet printer including a tapered heater element IJ42US IJ42 Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic Ink Jet IJ43US IJ43 Inverted Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic Ink Jet IJ44US IJ44 Surface bend actuator vented ink supply ink jet printer IJ45 Coil Actuated Magnetic Plate Ink Jet Printer Ink Jet Printing A large number of new forms of ink jet printers have been developed to facilitate alternative ink jet technologies for the image processing and data distribution system. Various combinations of inkjet devices can be included in printer devices -21 incorporated as part of the present invention. Australian Provisional Patent Applications relating to these ink jets which are specifically incorporated by cross reference include: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number P08066 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ01)-W099/03680 P08072 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ02) -W099/03680 P08040 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (1J03) -W099/03681 P08071 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ04) -W099/03680 P08047 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ05) -W099/03680 P08035 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ06) -W099/03680 P08044 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ07) -W099/03680 P08063 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ08) -W099/03680 P08057 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ09) -W099/03681 P08056 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ10) -W099/03681 P08069 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ 1) -W099/03680 P08049 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ12) -W099/03680 P08036 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ13) -W099/03680 P08048 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ14) -W099/03680 P08070 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ15) -W099/03680 P08067 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ16) -W099/03680 P08001 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ17) -W099/03681 P08038 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ18) -W099/03681 P08033 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ19)-US 6,254,220 P08002 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ20) -W099/03681 P08068 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ21) -W099/03681 P08062 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ22) -W099/03681 P08034 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ23) -W099/03681 P08039 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ24) -W099/03681 P08041 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ25) -W099/03680 P08004 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ26) -W099/03680 P08037 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ27) -W099/03681 P08043 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ28) -W099/03681 P08042 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ29) -W099/03681 P08064 15-Jul-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ30) -W099/03681 P09389 23-Sep-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ31) -W099/03681 P09391 23-Sep-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ32)-US6,234,609 PP0888 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ33) -W099/03681 PP0891 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ34) -W099/03681 PP0890 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ35) -W099/03681 PP0873 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ36) -W099/03681 PP0993 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ37)-US 6,247,791 22 PP0890 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ38) -US 6,336,710 PP1398 19-Jan-98 An Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ39) -W099/03681 PP2592 25-Mar-98 An Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ40) -W099/03681 PP2593 25-Mar-98 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ41) -W099/03681 PP3991 9-Jun-98 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ42)-US 6,283,581 PP3987 9-Jun-98 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ43) -W099/03681 PP3985 9-Jun-98 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ44) -W099/03681 PP3983 9-Jun-98 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ45) -W099/03681 Ink Jet Manufacturing Further, the present application may utilize advanced semiconductor fabrication techniques in the construction of large arrays of ink jet printers. Suitable manufacturing techniques are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number P07935 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM01) -W099/03680 P07936 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM02) -W099/03680 P07937 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM03) -W099/03681 P08061 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM04) -W099/03680 P08054 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM05) -W099/03680 P08065 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM06) -W099/03680 P08055 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM07) -W099/03680 P08053 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM08) -W099/03680 P08078 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM09) -W099/03681 P07933 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM10) -W099/03681 P07950 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM 11) -W099/03680 P07949 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM12) -W099/03680 P08060 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM13) -W099/03680 P08059 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM14) -W099/03680 P08073 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM15) -W099/03680 P08076 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM 16) -W099/03680 P08075 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM 17) -W099/03681 P08079 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM 18) -W099/03681 P08050 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM19) -W099/03681 P08052 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM20) -W099/03681 P07948 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM21) -W099/03681 P07951 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM22) -W099/03681 P08074 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM23) -W099/03681 P07941 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM24) -W099/03681 23- P08077 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM25) -W099/03680 P08058 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM26) -W099/03680 PO8051 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM27) -W099/03681 P08045 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM28) -W099/03681 P07952 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (1JM29) -W099/03681 P08046 15-Jul-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM30) -W099/03681 P08503 11-Aug-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM30a) -W099/03681 P09390 23-Sep-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM31) -W099/03681 P09392 23-Sep-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM32) -W099/03681 PP0889 12-Dec-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM35) -W099/03681 PP0887 12-Dec-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM36)-USSN 09/122,801 PP0882 12-Dec-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM37) -W099/03681 PP0874 12-Dec-97 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM38) -W099/03681 PP1396 19-Jan-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM39) -W099/03681 PP2591 25-Mar-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM41) -W099/03681 PP3989 9-Jun-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM40) -W099/03681 PP3990 9-Jun-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM42) -W099/03681 PP3986 9-Jun-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM43) -W099/03681 PP3984 9-Jun-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM44) -W099/03681 PP3982 9-Jun-98 A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation Apparatus (IJM45) -W099/03680 Fluid Supply Further, the present application may utilize an ink delivery system to the inkjet head. Delivery systems relating to the supply of ink to a series of ink jet nozzles are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications, the disclosure of which are hereby incorporated by cross-reference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number P08003 15-Jul-97 Supply Method and Apparatus (Fl) -W099/03681 P08005 15-Jul-97 Supply Method and Apparatus -W099/04368 P09404 23-Sep-97 A Device and Method (F3)-USSN 09/113,101 MEMS Technology Further, the present application may utilize advanced semiconductor microelectromechanical techniques in the construction of large arrays of ink jet printers. Suitable microelectromechanical techniques are described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number P07943 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS01) -W099/03681 P08006 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS02) -W099/03681 24 P08007 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS03) -W099/03681 P08008 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS04) -W099/03681 P08010 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS05) -W099/03681 P08011 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS06) -W099/03681 P07947 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS07) -W099/03681 P07945 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS08) -W099/03681 P07944 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS09) -W099/03681 P07946 15-Jul-97 A device (MEMS10) -W099/03681 P09393 23-Sep-97 A Device and Method (MEMS 11) -W099/03681 PP0875 12-Dec-97 A Device (MEMS 12) -W099/03681 PP0894 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (MEMS13) -W099/03681 IR Technologies Further, the present application may include the utilization of a disposable camera system such as those described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number PP0895 12-Dec-97 An Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IR01) -W099/04551 PP0870 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (1R02) W099/04551 PP0869 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR04) W099/04551 PP0887 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IR05) W099/04551 PP0885 12-Dec-97 An Image Production System (IR06) W099/04551 PP0884 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IR10) W099/04551 PP0886 12-Dec-97 Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IR12) W099/04551 PP0871 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR13) W099/04551 PP0876 12-Dec-97 An Image Processing Method and Apparatus (IR14) W099/04551 PP0877 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR16) W099/04551 PP0878 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR17) W099/04551 PP0879 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR18) W099/04551 PP0883 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR19) W099/04551 PP0880 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR20) W099/04551 PP0881 12-Dec-97 A Device and Method (IR21) W099/04551 DotCard Technologies Further, the present application may include the utilization of a data distribution system such as that described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by cross-reference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number 1PP2370 S16-Mar-98 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (Dot0l)-USSN 09/112,781 PP2371 16-Mar-98 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (Dot02)-USSN 09/113,052 Artcam Technologies Further, the present application may include the utilization of camera and data processing techniques such as an Artcam type device as described in the following Australian provisional patent specifications incorporated here by crossreference: Australian Filing Date Title Provisional Number P07991 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART01)-W099/04368 P07988 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART02) -W099/04368 P07993 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART03) -W099/04368 P08012 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART05) -W099/04368 P08017 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART06) -W099/04368 P08014 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ART07) -W099/04368 P08025 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART08) -W099/04368 P08032 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART09) -W099/04368 P07999 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART10) -W099/04368 P07998 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART11) -W099/04368 P08031 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART12) -W099/04368 P08030 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ARTI3) -W099/04368 P07997 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ART15) -W099/04368 P07979 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ARTI6) -W099/04368 P08015 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ART17) -W099/04368 P07978 15-Jul-97 Media Device (ART18) -USSN 09/113,067 P07982 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART19) -W099/04368 P07989 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART20) -W099/04368 P08019 15-Jul-97 Media Processing Method and Apparatus (ART21) -W099/04368 P07980 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART22) -W099/04368 P07942 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART23) -W099/04368 P08018 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART24) -W099/04368 P07938 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART25) -W099/04368 P08016 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART26) -W099/04368 P08024 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART27) -W099/04368 P07940 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART28) -W099/04368 P07939 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART29) -W099/04368 P08501 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART30)-US 6,137,500 P08500 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART31) USSN09/112,796 P07987 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART32) -W099/04368 P08022 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART33) -W099/04368 26 P08497 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART30) -US 6,137,500 P08029 15-Jul-97 Sensor Creation Method and Apparatus (ART36) -W099/04368 P07985 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART37) -W099/04368 P08020 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART38) -W099/04368 P08023 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART39) -W099/04368 P09395 23-Sep-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART4)-US 6,322,181 P08021 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART40) -W099/04368 P08504 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART42)-USSN 09/112,786 P08000 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART43) -W099/04368 P07977 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART44)-USSN 09/112,782 P07934 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART45)-USSN 09/113,056 P07990 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART46) -USSN 09/113,059 P08499 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART47) -USSN 09/113,091 P08502 11-Aug-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus(ART48)-US 6,381,361 P07981 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART50)-US 6,317,192 P07986 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART51 )-USSN 09/113,057 P07983 15-Jul-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART52) -USSN 09/113,054 P08026 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART53)-USSN 09/112,752 P08027 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART54)-USSN 09/112,759 P08028 15-Jul-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART56)-USSN 09/112,757 P09394 23-Sep-97 Image Processing Method and Apparatus (ART57) )-US 6,357,135 P09396 23 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART58)-USSN 09/113,107 P09397 23 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART59) -W099/03681 P09398 23 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART60)-US 6,353,772 P09399 2 3 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART61)-US 6,106,147 P09400 2 3 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART62)-USSN 09/112,790 P09401 2 3 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART63)-US 6,304,291 P09402 23-Sep-97 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART64) -USSN 09/112,788 P09403 2 3 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART65)-US 6,305,770 P09405 23 -Sep- 9 7 Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART66)-US 6,289,262 PP0959 16-Dec-97 A Data Processing Method and Apparatus (ART68) -US 6,315,200 PP1397 19-Jan-98 A Media Device (ART69)US 6,217,165 It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific embodiment without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

27- Tables of Drop-on-Demand Inkjets ~Eleven important characteristics of the fundamental operation of individual inkjet nozzles have been identified. These Scharacteristics are largely orthogonal, and so can be elucidated as an eleven dimensional matrix. Most of the eleven axes of this matrix include entries developed by the present assignee.

j The following tables form the axes of an eleven dimensional table of inkjet types.

Actuator mechanism (18 types) Basic operation mode (7 types) 00 00Auxiliary mechanism (8 types) M 10 Actuator amplification or modification method (17 types) Actuator motion (19 types) O Nozzle refill method (4 types) Method of restricting back-flow through inlet (10 types) 1 Nozzle clearing method (9 types) Nozzle plate construction (9 types) Drop ejection direction (5 types) Ink type (7 types) The complete eleven dimensional table represented by these axes contains 36.9 billion possible configurations of inkjet nozzle. While not all of the possible combinations result in a viable inkjet technology, many million configurations are viable. It is clearly impractical to elucidate all of the possible configurations. Instead, certain inkjet types have been investigated in detail. These are designated IJO0 to IJ45 above.

Other inkjet configurations can readily be derived from these 45 examples by substituting alternative configurations along one or more of the 11 axes. Most of the IJ01 to IJ45 examples can be made into inkjet print heads with characteristics superior to any currently available inkjet technology.

Where there are prior art examples known to the inventor, one or more of these examples are listed in the examples column of the tables below. The IJO1 to IJ45 series are also listed in the examples column. In some cases, a printer may be listed more than once in a table, where it shares characteristics with more than one entry.

Suitable applications include: Home printers, Office network printers, Short run digital printers, Commercial print systems, Fabric printers, Pocket printers, Intemet WWW printers, Video printers, Medical imaging, Wide format printers, Notebook PC printers, Fax machines, Industrial printing systems, Photocopiers, Photographic minilabs etc.

The information associated with the aforementioned 11 dimensional matrix are set out in the following tables.

2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Actuator mechanism (applied only to selected ink drops) Actuator Mechanism Thermal bubble Description An electrothennal heater heats the ink to above boiling point, transferring significant heat to the aqueous ink. A bubble nucleates and quickly fonrs, expelling the ink.

The efficiency of the process is low, with typically less than 0.05% of the electrical energy being transfonned into kinetic energy of the drop.

A piezoelectric crystal such as lead lanthanum zirconate (PZT) is electrically activated, and either expands, shears, or bends to apply pressure to the ink, ejecting drops.

An electric field is used to activate electrostriction in relaxor materials such as lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) or lead magnesium niobate (PMN).

Advantages Large force generated Simple construction No moving parts Fast operation Small chip area required for actuator Disadvantages Examples Piezoelectric Electro-strictive Low power consumption Many ink types can be used Fast operation High efficiency Low power consumption Many ink types can be used Low thermal expansion Electric field strength required (approx.

V/pim) can be generated without difficulty Does not require electrical poling High power Ink carrier limited to water Low efficiency High temperatures required High mechanical stress Unusual materials required Large drive transistors Cavitation causes actuator failure Kogation reduces bubble formation Large print heads are difficult to fabricate Very large area required for actuator Difficult to integrate with electronics High voltage drive transistors required Full pagewidth print heads impractical due to actuator size Requires electrical poling in high field strengths during manufacture Low maximum strain (approx. 0.01%) Large area required for actuator due to low strain Response speed is marginal 10 ps) High voltage drive transistors required Full pagewidth print heads impractical due to actuator size Canon Bubblejet 1979 Endo et al GB patent 2,007,162 Xerox heater-in-pit 1990 Hawkins et al USP 4,899,181 Hewlett-Packard TIJ 1982 Vaught et al USP 4,490,728 Kyser et al USP 3,946,398 Zoltan USP 3,683,212 1973 Stemme USP 3,747,120 Epson Stylus Tektronix IJ04 Seiko Epson, Usui et all JP 253401/96 IJ04 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Ferroelectric An electric field is used to induce a phase Low power consumption Difficult to integrate with electronics IJ04 transition between the antiferroelectric (AFE) Many ink types can be used Unusual materials such as PLZSnT are required and ferroelectric (FE) phase. Perovskite Fast operation 1 ps) Actuators require a large area materials such as tin modified lead lanthanum Relatively high longitudinal strain zirconate titanate (PLZSnT) exhibit large High efficiency strains of up to 1% associated with the AFE to Electric field strength of around 3 FE phase transition. V/pm can be readily provided Electrostatic plates Conductive plates are separated by a Low power consumption Difficult to operate electrostatic devices in an aqueous 1J02, IJ04 compressible or fluid dielectric (usually air). Many ink types can be used environment Upon application of a voltage, the plates attract Fast operation The electrostatic actuator will nonnally need to be each other and displace ink, causing drop separated from the ink ejection. The conductive plates may be in a Very large area required to achieve high forces comb or honeycomb structure, or stacked to High voltage drive transistors may be required increase the surface area and therefore the Full pagewidth print heads are not competitive due to force. actuator size Electrostatic pull on A strong electric field is applied to the ink, Low current consumption High voltage required 1989 Saito et al, USP ink whereupon electrostatic attraction accelerates Low temperature May be damaged by sparks due to air breakdown 4,799,068 the ink towards the print medium. Required field strength increases as the drop size 1989 Miura et al, USP decreases 4,810,954 High voltage drive transistors required Tone-jet Electrostatic field attracts dust 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Permanent magnet electro-magnetic An electromagnet directly attracts a permanent magnet, displacing ink and causing drop ejection. Rare earth magnets with a field strength around 1 Tesla can be used. Examples are: Samarium Cobalt (SaCo) and magnetic materials in the neodymium iron boron family (NdFeB, NdDyFeBNb, NdDyFeB, etc) Low power consumption Many ink types can be used Fast operation High efficiency Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads Complex fabrication Permanent magnetic material such as Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) required.

High local currents required Copper metalization should be used for long electromigration lifetime and low resistivity Pigmented inks are usually infeasible Operating temperature limited to the Curie temperature (around 540 K) Complex fabrication Materials not usually present in a CMOS fab such as NiFe, CoNiFe, or CoFe are required High local currents required Copper metalization should be used for long electromigration lifetime and low resistivity Electroplating is required High saturation flux density is required (2.0-2.1 T is achievable with CoNiFe 1J07, 1.101, 1J05, 108, 1J10 I112, IJ14, J15, IJ17 Soft magnetic core electro-magnetic A solenoid induced a magnetic field in a soft magnetic core or yoke fabricated from a ferrous material such as electroplated iron alloys such as CoNiFe CoFe, or NiFe alloys. Typically, the soft magnetic material is in two parts, which are normally held apart by a spring. When the solenoid is actuated, the two parts attract, displacing the ink.

Low power consumption Many ink types can be used Fast operation High efficiency Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads Magnetic The Lorenz force acting on a current carrying Low power consumption Force acts as a twisting motion 1J06, 1J11, 1J13, IJ16 Lorenz force wire in a magnetic field is utilized. Many ink types can be used Typically, only a quarter of the solenoid length This allows the magnetic field to be supplied Fast operation provides force in a useful direction externally to the print head, for example with High efficiency High local currents required rare earth permanent magnets. Easy extension from single nozzles to Copper metalization should be used for long Only the current carrying wire need be pagewidth print heads electromigration lifetime and low resistivity fabricated on the print-head, simplifying Pigmented inks are usually infeasible materials requirements.

2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Magneto-striction The actuator uses the giant magnetostrictive Many ink types can be used Force acts as a twisting motion Fischenbeck, USP 4,032,929 effect of materials such as Terfenol-D (an alloy Fast operation Unusual materials such as Terfenol-D are required 1J25 of terbium, dysprosium and iron developed at Easy extension from single nozzles to High local currents required the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, hence Ter-Fe- pagewidth print heads Copper metalization should be used for long NOL). For best efficiency, the actuator should High force is available electromigration lifetime and low resistivity be pre-stressed to approx. 8 MPa. Pre-stressing may be required Surface tension Ink under positive pressure is held in a nozzle Low power consumption Requires supplementary force to effect drop Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 reduction by surface tension. The surface tension of the Simple construction separation and related patent applications ink is reduced below the bubble threshold, No unusual materials required in Requires special ink surfactants causing the ink to egress from the nozzle, fabrication Speed may be limited by surfactant properties High efficiency Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads Viscosity reduction The ink viscosity is locally reduced to select Simple construction Requires supplementary force to effect drop Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 which drops are to be ejected. A viscosity No unusual materials required in separation and related patent applications reduction can be achieved electrothermally with fabrication Requires special ink viscosity properties most inks, but special inks can be engineered Easy extension from single nozzles to High speed is difficult to achieve for a 100:1 viscosity reduction. pagewidth print heads Requires oscillating ink pressure A high temperature difference (typically 80 degrees) is required Acoustic An acoustic wave is generated and focussed Can operate without a nozzle plate Complex drive circuitry 1993 Hadimioglu et al, EUP upon the drop ejection region. Complex fabrication 550,192 Low efficiency 1993 Elrod et al, EUP 572,220 Poor control of drop position Poor control of drop volume 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Thennoelastic bend actuator High CTE thennoelastic actuator An actuator which relies upon differential thermal expansion upon Joule heating is used.

A material with a very high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used. As high CTE materials are usually non-conductive, a heater fabricated from a conductive material is incorporated. A 50 pm long PTFE bend actuator with polysilicon heater and 15 mW power input can provide 180 pN force and 10 pm deflection. Actuator motions include: Bend Push Buckle Rotate Low power consumption Effic Many ink types can be used insul Simple planar fabrication Corr Small chip area required for each Pigm actuator parti Fast operation High efficiency CMOS compatible voltages and currents Standard MEMS processes can be used Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads High force can be generated Reqi PTFE is a candidate for low dielectric Requ constant insulation in ULSI stanc Very low power consumption PTFI Many ink types can be used temp Simple planar fabrication Pigir Small chip area required for each parti actuator Fast operation High efficiency CMOS compatible voltages and currents Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads ient aqueous operation requires a thennal ator on the hot side osion prevention can be difficult iented inks may be infeasible, as pigment cles may jam the bend actuator uires special material PTFE) lires a PTFE deposition process, which is not yet lard in ULSI fabs E deposition cannot be followed with high erature (above 350 processing iented inks may be infeasible, as pigment cles may jam the bend actuator 1J03,1J09, J17,1J18 IJ19, 1J20, 1J21, IJ22 IJ23, IJ24,1J27, IJ28 IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, 1J32 IJ33, IJ34,1J35, IJ36 IJ37, 1J38 ,1J39, IJ41 IJ09, 1J17, 118, 11J21,1122, 1123, IJ24 1127, IJ28, 1J29, 1130 1J31, 1I42, 1I43, IJ44 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Conductive polymer thermoelastic actuator Shape memory alloy Linear Magnetic Actuator A polymer with a high coefficient of thermal expansion (such as PTFE) is doped with conducting substances to increase its conductivity to about 3 orders of magnitude below that of copper. The conducting polymer expands when resistively heated.

Examples of conducting dopants include: Carbon nanotubes Metal fibers Conductive polymers such as doped polythiophene Carbon granules A shape memory alloy such as TiNi (also known as Nitinol Nickel Titanium alloy developed at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory) is thennally switched between its weak martensitic state and its high stiffness austenic state. The shape of the actuator in its martensitic state is deformed relative to the austenic shape. The shape change causes ejection of a drop.

High force can be generated Very low power consumption Many ink types can be used Simple planar fabrication Small chip area required for each actuator Fast operation High efficiency CMOS compatible voltages and currents Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads High force is available (stresses of hundreds of MPa) Large strain is available (more than 3%) High corrosion resistance Simple construction Easy extension from single nozzles to pagewidth print heads Low voltage operation Linear Magnetic actuators can be constructed with high thrust, long travel, and high efficiency using planar semiconductor fabrication techniques Long actuator travel is available Medium force is available Low voltage operation Requires special materials development (High CTE conductive polymer) Requires a PTFE deposition process, which is not yet standard in ULSI fabs PTFE deposition cannot be followed with high temperature (above 350 processing Evaporation and CVD deposition techniques cannot be used Pigmented inks may be infeasible, as pigment particles may jam the bend actuator Fatigue limits maximum number of cycles Low strain is required to extend fatigue resistance Cycle rate limited by heat removal Requires unusual materials (TiNi) The latent heat of transformation must be provided High current operation Requires pre-stressing to distort the martensitic state Requires unusual semiconductor materials such as soft magnetic alloys CoNiFe Some varieties also require permanent magnetic materials such as Neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) Requires complex multi-phase drive circuitry High current operation Linear magnetic actuators include the Linear Induction Actuator (LIA), Linear Permanent Magnet Synchronous Actuator (LPMSA), Linear Reluctance Synchronous Actuator (LRSA), Linear Switched Reluctance Actuator (LSRA), and the Linear Stepper Actuator

(LSA).

.1 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Basic operation mode Operational mode Actuator directly pushes ink Description This is the simplest mode of operation: the actuator directly supplies sufficient kinetic energy to expel the drop. The drop must have a sufficient velocity to overcome the surface tension.

The drops to be printed are selected by some manner thermally induced surface tension reduction of pressurized ink). Selected drops are separated from the ink in the nozzle by contact with the print medium or a transfer roller.

Advantages Simple operation No external fields required Satellite drops can be avoided if drop velocity is less than 4 m/s Can be efficient, depending upon the actuator used Disadvantages Drop repetition rate is usually limited to less than 10 KHz. However, this is not fundamental to the method, but is related to the refill method normally used All of the drop kinetic energy must be provided by the actuator Satellite drops usually form if drop velocity is greater than 4.5 m/s Requires close proximity between the print head and the print media or transfer roller May require two print heads printing alternate rows of the image Monolithic color print heads are difficult Examples Thermal inkjet Piezoelectric inkjet IJ01, IJ02, 1J03, 1J04 IJ05, 1J06, 1J07, 1J09 I 11, IJ12, IJ14, J16 1J20, IJ22, 1J23, IJ24 IJ25, IJ26, IJ27, IJ28 IJ29, 1J30, 1131, IJ32 1133, IJ34, 1J35, IJ36 IJ37, J138, 1J39, 1J40 1J41, IJ42,1143, IJ44 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Proximity Very simple print head fabrication can be used The drop selection means does not need to provide the energy required to separate the drop from the nozzle Electrostatic pull on The drops to be printed are selected by some Very simple print head fabrication can Requires very high electrostatic field Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 ink manner thennally induced surface tension be used Electrostatic field for small nozzle sizes is above air and related patent applications reduction of pressurized ink). Selected drops The drop selection means does not breakdown Tone-Jet are separated from the ink in the nozzle by a need to provide the energy required to Electrostatic field may attract dust strong electric field, separate the drop from the nozzle 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Magnetic pull on ink Shutter Shuttered grill Pulsed magnetic pull on ink pusher The drops to be printed are selected by some manner thermally induced surface tension reduction of pressurized ink). Selected drops are separated from the ink in the nozzle by a strong magnetic field acting on the magnetic ink.

The actuator moves a shutter to block ink flow to the nozzle. The ink pressure is pulsed at a multiple of the drop ejection frequency.

The actuator moves a shutter to block ink flow through a grill to the nozzle. The shutter movement need only be equal to the width of the grill holes.

A pulsed magnetic field attracts an 'ink pusher' at the drop ejection frequency. An actuator controls a catch, which prevents the ink pusher from moving when a drop is not to be ejected.

Very simple print head fabrication can be used The drop selection means does not need to provide the energy required to separate the drop from the nozzle High speed (>50 KHz) operation can be achieved due to reduced refill time Drop timing can be very accurate The actuator energy can be very low Actuators with small travel can be used Actuators with small force can be used High speed (>50 KHz) operation can be achieved Extremely low energy operation is possible No heat dissipation problems Requires magnetic ink Ink colors other than black are difficult Requires very high magnetic fields Silve andr rbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 elated patent applications IJ17, IJ21 1J15, 1 J18, IJ19 Moving parts are required I 13, Requires ink pressure modulator Friction and wear must be considered Stiction is possible Moving parts are required 1J08, Requires ink pressure modulator Friction and wear must be considered Stiction is possible Requires an external pulsed magnetic field i Requires special materials for both the actuator and the ink pusher Complex construction J .1 I 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Auxiliary mechanism (applied to all nozzles) Auxiir uxi iary Mechanism None LDsci ppLIon Oscillating ink pressure (including acoustic stimulation) Media proximity The actuator directly fires the ink drop, and there is no external field or other mechanism required.

The ink pressure oscillates, providing much of the drop ejection energy. The actuator selects which drops are to be fired by selectively blocking or enabling nozzles. The ink pressure oscillation may be achieved by vibrating the print head, or preferably by an actuator in the ink supply.

The print head is placed in close proximity to the print medium. Selected drops protrude from the print head further than unselected drops, and contact the print medium. The drop soaks into the medium fast enough to cause drop separation.

Drops are printed to a transfer roller instead of straight to the print medium. A transfer roller can also be used for proximity drop separation.

Advantages Simplicity of construction Simplicity of operation Small physical size Oscillating ink pressure can provide a refill pulse, allowing higher operating speed The actuators may operate with much lower energy Acoustic lenses can be used to focus the sound on the nozzles i Disadvantages Drop ejection energy must be supplied by individual nozzle actuator Requires external ink pressure oscillator Ink pressure phase and amplitude must be carefully controlled Acoustic reflections in the ink chamber must be designed for Examples Most inkjets, including piezoelectric and thermal bubble.

IJ01- 1J07, 1J09, 1J11 1J12, I 14, IJ20, IJ22 1J23-1J45 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, 1J17 IJ18, IJ19, 1J21 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications i ~I Low power High accuracy Simple print head construction Precision assembly required Paper fibers may cause problems Cannot print on rough substrates Bulky Expensive Complex construction Transfer roller High accuracy Wide range of print substrates can be used Ink can be dried on the transfer roller Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Tektronix hot melt piezoelectric inkjet Any of the IJ series .1 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Electrostatic An electric field is used to accelerate selected drops towards the print medium.

A magnetic field is used to accelerate selected drops of magnetic ink towards the print medium.

Low power Simple print head construction Low power Simple print head construction Field strength required for separation of small drops is near or above air breakdown Direct magnetic field Requires magnetic ink Requires strong magnetic field Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Tone-Jet Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications IJ06, IJ16

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Cross magnetic field Pulsed magnetic field The print head is placed in a constant magnetic field. The Lorenz force in a current carrying wire is used to move the actuator.

A pulsed magnetic field is used to cyclically attract a paddle, which pushes on the ink. A small actuator moves a catch, which selectively prevents the paddle from moving.

Does not require magnetic materials to be integrated in the print head manufacturing process Very low power operation is possible Small print head size Requires external magnet Current densities may be high, resulting in electromigration problems Complex print head construction Magnetic materials required in print head

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2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Actuator amplification or modification method Actuator amplification None Differential expansion bend actuator Transient bend actuator Description No actuator mechanical amplification is used.

The actuator directly drives the drop ejection process.

An actuator material expands more on one side than on the other. The expansion may be thermal, piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, or other mechanism.

A trilayer bend actuator where the two outside layers are identical. This cancels bend due to ambient temperature and residual stress. The actuator only responds to transient heating of one side or the other.

A series of thin actuators are stacked. This can be appropriate where actuators require high electric field strength, such as electrostatic and piezoelectric actuators.

Multiple smaller actuators are used simultaneously to move the ink. Each actuator need provide only a portion of the force required.

A linear spring is used to transfonn a motion with small travel and high force into a longer travel, lower force motion.

Advantages Operational simplicity Provides greater travel in a reduced print head area The bend actuator converts a high force low travel actuator mechanism to high travel, lower force mechanism.

Very good temperature stability High speed, as a new drop can be fired before heat dissipates Cancels residual stress of formation Increased travel Reduced drive voltage Disadvantages Many actuator mechanisms have insufficient travel, or insufficient force, to efficiently drive the drop ejection process High stresses are involved Care must be taken that the materials do not delaminate Residual bend resulting from high temperature or high stress during formation High stresses are involved Care must be taken that the materials do not delaminate Examples Thermal Bubble Inkjet 1JOI, 1J02, 1J06, 1107 1116, 1J25, IJ26 Piezoelectric 1J03, 1J09, 1 17-1J24 IJ27, IJ29-IJ39, 1J42, IJ43, 1J44 1J40, 1J41 Some piezoelectric ink jets 1J04 IJ12, 1113, 118, 1J20 1J22, 1128, IJ42, IJ43 1J15 Actuator stack Increased fabrication complexity Increased possibility of short circuits due to pinholes Actuator forces may not add linearly, reducing efficiency Multiple actuators Linear Spring Increases the force available from an actuator Multiple actuators can be positioned to control ink flow accurately Matches low travel actuator with higher travel requirements Non-contact method of motion transformation Requires print head area for the spring 2006203385 04 Aug 2006

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Reverse spring The actuator loads a spring. When the actuator is turned off, the spring releases. This can reverse the force/distance curve of the actuator to make it compatible with the force/time requirements of the drop ejection.

A bend actuator is coiled to provide greater travel in a reduced chip area.

Better coupling to the ink IFabrication complexity High stress in the spring I IJ05,1J11 Coiled actuator Flexure bend actuator Gears Catch Buckle plate Increases travel Reduces chip area Planar implementations are relatively easy to fabricate.

A bend actuator has a small region near the fixture point, which flexes much more readily than the remainder of the actuator. The actuator flexing is effectively converted from an even coiling to an angular bend, resulting in greater travel of the actuator tip.

Gears can be used to increase travel at the expense of duration. Circular gears, rack and pinion, ratchets, and other gearing methods can be used.

The actuator controls a small catch. The catch either enables or disables movement of an ink pusher that is controlled in a bulk manner.

A buckle plate can be used to change a slow actuator into a fast motion. It can also convert a high force, low travel actuator into a high travel, medium force motion.

Simple means of increasing travel of a bend actuator Low force, low travel actuators can be used Can be fabricated using standard surface MEMS processes Generally restricted to planar implementations due to extreme fabrication difficulty in other orientations.

Care must be taken not to exceed the elastic limit in the flexure area Stress distribution is very uneven Difficult to accurately model with finite element analysis Moving parts are required Several actuator cycles are required More complex drive electronics Complex construction Friction, friction, and wear are possible IJ 17, IJ21,1J34, IJ10,IJ19, 1J33 IJ13

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Very low actuator energy Very small actuator size Very fast movement achievable Complex construction Requires external force Unsuitable for pigmented inks Must stay within elastic limits of the materials for long device life High stresses involved Generally high power requirement S. Hirata et al, "An Ink-jet Head Proc. IEEE MEMS, Feb. 1996, pp 418-423.

1J18, J127 U .1 I.

2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Tapered magnetic pole Lever Rotary impeller A tapered magnetic pole can increase travel at the expense of force.

A lever and fulcrumn is used to transfonn a motion with small travel and high force into a motion with longer travel and lower force. The lever can also reverse the direction of travel.

The actuator is connected to a rotary impeller.

A small angular deflection of the actuator results in a rotation of the impeller vanes, which push the ink against stationary vanes and out of the nozzle.

A refractive or diffractive zone plate) acoustic lens is used to concentrate sound waves.

A sharp point is used to concentrate an electrostatic field.

Linearizes the magnetic force/distance curve Matches low travel actuator with higher travel requirements Fulcrum area has no linear movement, and can be used for a fluid seal High mechanical advantage The ratio of force to travel of the actuator can be matched to the nozzle requirements by varying the number of impeller vanes No moving parts Simple construction Complex construction High stress around the fulcrum IJ32, 1J36, IJ37 I Complex construction Unsuitable for pigmented inks Acoustic lens Sharp conductive point Large area required Only relevant for acoustic ink jets Difficult to fabricate using standard VLSI processes for a surface ejecting ink-jet Only relevant for electrostatic ink jets 1993 Hadimioglu et al, EUP 550,192 1993 Elrod et al, EUP 572,220 Tone-jet

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2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Actuator motion Actuator motion Volume expansion Linear, normal to chip surface Linear, parallel to chip surface Membrane push Rotary Bend Swivel

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Description The volume of the actuator changes, pushing the ink in all directions.

The actuator moves in a direction normal to the print head surface. The nozzle is typically in the line of movement.

Advantages Simple construction in the case of thennal inkjet Disadvantages High energy is typically required to achieve volume expansion. This leads to thermal stress, cavitation, and kogation in thermal ink jet implementations Examples Exmpe Hewlett-Packard Thermal Inkjet Canon Bubblejet i Efficient coupling to ink drops ejected normal to the surface

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High fabrication complexity may be required to achieve perpendicular motion IJ01, IJ02,1J04, 1J07 IJ11, IJ14

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The actuator moves parallel to the print head surface. Drop ejection may still be normal to the surface.

An actuator with a high force but small area is used to push a stiff membrane that is in contact with the ink.

The actuator causes the rotation of some element, such a grill or impeller The actuator bends when energized. This may be due to differential thennal expansion, piezoelectric expansion, magnetostriction, or other form of relative dimensional change.

The actuator swivels around a central pivot.

This motion is suitable where there are opposite forces applied to opposite sides of the paddle, e.g. Lorenz force.

Suitable for planar fabrication The effective area of the actuator becomes the membrane area Rotary levers may be used to increase travel Small chip area requirements A very small change in dimensions can be converted to a large motion.

Allows operation where the net linear force on the paddle is zero Small chip area requirements Fabrication complexity Friction Stiction Fabrication complexity Actuator size Difficulty of integration in a VLSI process Device complexity May have friction at a pivot point IJ 12, 1113, J15, 1133, 1134, 1I35, IJ36 1982 Howkins USP 4,459,601 Requires the actuator to be made from at least two distinct layers, or to have a thermal difference across the actuator Inefficient coupling to the ink motion 1105, 1108,1113,1128 1970 Kyser et al USP 3,946,398 1973 Stemme USP 3,747,120 IJ03,1J09, J10,IJ19 IJ23, IJ24, IJ25, 129 1J30,1131,IJ33,IJ34 1135 L J 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Straighten Double bend Shear Radial constriction Coil uncoil Bow Push-Pull Curl inwards Curl outwards Iris The actuator is normally bent, and straightens when energized.

The actuator bends in one direction when one element is energized, and bends the other way when another element is energized.

Energizing the actuator causes a shear motion in the actuator material.

The actuator squeezes an ink reservoir, forcing ink from a constricted nozzle.

A coiled actuator uncoils or coils more tightly.

The motion of the free end of the actuator ejects the ink.

The actuator bows (or buckles) in the middle when energized.

Two actuators control a shutter. One actuator pulls the shutter, and the other pushes it.

A set of actuators curl inwards to reduce the volume of ink that they enclose.

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Can be used with shape memory alloys Requ where the austenic phase is planar quies One actuator can be used to power two Diffic nozzles, direct Reduced chip size. A sin Not sensitive to ambient temperature bend Can increase the effective travel of Not r piezoelectric actuators Relatively easy to fabricate single High nozzles from glass tubing as Ineffi macroscopic structures Diffic Easy to fabricate as a planar VLSI Diffic process Poor ires careful balance of stresses to ensure that the cent bend is accurate ult to make the drops ejected by both bend ions identical.

all efficiency loss compared to equivalent single actuators.

eadily applicable to other actuator mechanisms force required cient ult to integrate with VLSI processes ult to fabricate for non-planar devices out-of-plane stiffness mum travel is constrained force required eadily suitable for inkjets which directly push k 1J26, IJ32 1136, IJ37, IJ38 1985 Fishbeck USP 4,584,590 1970 Zoltan USP 3,683,212 1J17,1J21, 134, 1J35 I 16, 1I18,IJ27 1J18 Small area required, therefore low cost Can increase the speed of travel Mechanically rigid The structure is pinned at both ends, so has a high out-of-plane rigidity Good fluid flow to the region behind the actuator increases efficiency Relatively simple construction Design complexity 1J20, IJ42 1J43 A set of actuators curl outwards, pressurizing ink in a chamber surrounding the actuators, and expelling ink from a nozzle in the chamber.

Multiple vanes enclose a volume of ink. These simultaneously rotate, reducing the volume between the vanes.

Relatively large chip area High fabrication complexity Not suitable for pigmented inks High efficiency Small chip area J .1 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 43 Acoustic vibration The actuator vibrates at a high frequency. The actuator can be physically distant Large area required for efficient operation at useful 1993 Hadimioglu et al, EUP from the ink frequencies 550,192 Acoustic coupling and crosstalk 1993 Elrod et al, EUP 572,220 Complex drive circuitry Poor control of drop volume and position None In various inkjet designs the actuator does not No moving parts Various other tradeoffs are required to eliminate Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 move. moving parts and related patent applications Tone-jet 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Nozzle refill method Nozzle refill method Surface tension Shuttered oscillating ink pressure Refill actuator Positive ink pressure Description Advantages Disadvantages After the actuator is energized, it typically returns rapidly to its normal position. This rapid return sucks in air through the nozzle opening.

The ink surface tension at the nozzle then exerts a small force restoring the meniscus to a minimum area.

Fabrication simplicity Operational simplicity Low speed Surface tension force relatively small compared to actuator force Long refill time usually dominates the total repetition rate Examples Thermal inkjet Piezoelectric inkjet IJ01-IJ07, IJ10-1U14 1J16, IJ20, IJ22-1J45 Ink to the nozzle chamber is provided at a pressure that oscillates at twice the drop ejection frequency. When a drop is to be ejected, the shutter is opened for 3 half cycles: drop ejection, actuator return, and refill.

After the main actuator has ejected a drop a second (refill) actuator is energized. The refill actuator pushes ink into the nozzle chamber.

The refill actuator returns slowly, to prevent its return from emptying the chamber again.

The ink is held a slight positive pressure. After the ink drop is ejected, the nozzle chamber fills quickly as surface tension and ink pressure both operate to refill the nozzle.

High speed Low actuator energy, as the actuator need only open or close the shutter, instead of ejecting the ink drop High speed, as the nozzle is actively refilled High refill rate, therefore a high drop repetition rate is possible

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Requires common ink pressure oscillator May not be suitable for pigmented inks Requires two independent actuators per nozzle Surface spill must be prevented Highly hydrophobic print head surfaces are required 1.18,1U13, 115, 117 IJ18, J19, IJ21 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Alternative for: IJ01-1J07, 1I10-1J14 1 16, 120, 122-1J45 I L .1 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Method of restricting back-flow through inlet Inlet back-flow restriction method Long inlet channel Positive ink pressure Baffle Flexible flap restricts inlet Description The ink inlet channel to the nozzle chamber is made long and relatively narrow, relying on viscous drag to reduce inlet back-flow.

The ink is under a positive pressure, so that in the quiescent state some of the ink drop already protrudes from the nozzle.

This reduces the pressure in the nozzle chamber which is required to eject a certain volume of ink. The reduction in chamber pressure results in a reduction in ink pushed out through the inlet.

One or more baffles are placed in the inlet ink flow. When the actuator is energized, the rapid ink movement creates eddies which restrict the flow through the inlet. The slower refill process is unrestricted, and does not result in eddies.

In this method recently disclosed by Canon, the expanding actuator (bubble) pushes on a flexible flap that restricts the inlet.

Advantages Design simplicity Operational simplicity Reduces crosstalk Drop selection and separation forces can be reduced Fast refill time Disadvantages Restricts refill rate May result in a relatively large chip area Only partially effective Requires a method (such as a nozzle rim or effective hydrophobizing, or both) to prevent flooding of the ejection surface of the print head.

Thermal inkjet Piezoelectric inkjet 1J42, IJ43 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Possible operation of the following: IJ01-1J07, 1109- J112 1I14, IJ16, IJ20, 1J22, 1J23-1J34, 1J36- 1J41 IJ44 HP Thermal Ink Jet Tektronix piezoelectric inkjet Canon Examples The refill rate is not as restricted as the long inlet method.

Reduces crosstalk Significantly reduces back-flow for edge-shooter thermal inkjet devices Design complexity May increase fabrication complexity Tektronix hot melt Piezoelectric print heads).

Not applicable to most inkjet configurations Increased fabrication complexity Inelastic deformation of polymer flap results in creep over extended use I L 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Inlet filter Small inlet compared to nozzle Inlet shutter The inlet is located behind the inkpushing surface

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A filter is located between the ink inlet and the nozzle chamber. The filter has a multitude of small holes or slots, restricting ink flow. The filter also removes particles which may block the nozzle.

The ink inlet channel to the nozzle chamber has a substantially smaller cross section than that of the nozzle, resulting in easier ink egress out of the nozzle than out of the inlet.

Additional advantage of ink filtration Ink filter may be fabricated with no additional process steps Design simplicity A secondary actuator controls the position of a shutter, closing off the ink inlet when the main actuator is energized.

Increases speed of the ink-jet print head operation Restricts refill rate May result in complex construction Restricts refill rate May result in a relatively large chip area Only partially effective Requires separate refill actuator and drive circuit Requires careful design to minimize the negative pressure behind the paddle Small increase in fabrication complexity None related to ink back-flow on actuation 1104, I 12, 1J24, 1J27 IJ29, 1102, 137, 144 i The method avoids the problem of inlet backflow by arranging the ink-pushing surface of the actuator between the inlet and the nozzle.

The actuator and a wall of the ink chamber are arranged so that the motion of the actuator closes off the inlet.

In some configurations of ink jet, there is no expansion or movement of an actuator which may cause ink back-flow through the inlet.

Back-flow problem is eliminated Significant reductions in back-flow can be achieved Compact designs possible Ink back-flow problem is eliminated Part of the actuator moves to shut off the inlet Nozzle actuator does not result in ink backflow 1101, 1103, 1J05, 1J06 IJ07, 1110, IJ11, IJ14 1J16, 1J22, IJ23, 1J28, 1J31, 1132, 1J33 IJ34, IJ35, 1136, IJ39 1J40, 1J41 1107, 1J20, 1J26, IJ38 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Valve-jet Tone-jet 1108, 1J13,1J15, 1J17 1118, 1119, IJ21 J. t. 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Nozzle Clearing Method Nozzle Cleanng method Description Advantages Disadvantages May not be sufficient to displace dried ink Normal nozzle firing Extra power to ink heater Rapid succession of actuator pulses Extra power to ink pushing actuator All of the nozzles are fired periodically, before the ink has a chance to dry. When not in use the nozzles are sealed (capped) against air.

The nozzle firing is usually perfonned during a special clearing cycle, after first moving the print head to a cleaning station.

In systems which heat the ink, but do not boil it under nonnal situations, nozzle clearing can be achieved by over-powering the heater and boiling ink at the nozzle.

The actuator is fired in rapid succession. In some configurations, this may cause heat buildup at the nozzle which boils the ink, clearing the nozzle. In other situations, it may cause sufficient vibrations to dislodge clogged nozzles.

Where an actuator is not normally driven to the limit of its motion, nozzle clearing may be assisted by providing an enhanced drive signal to the actuator.

No added complexity on the print head Examples Most inkjet systems 1J01- 1107, 1109-1J12 1J14, IJ16,1120, IJ22 IJ23- 1134, IJ36-1J45 Can be highly effective if the heater is adjacent to the nozzle Requires higher drive voltage for clearing May require larger drive transistors Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Does not require extra drive circuits on the print head Can be readily controlled and initiated by digital logic Effectiveness depends substantially upon the configuration of the inkjet nozzle May be used with: IJ01-1J07, 1J09- IJ11 1J14, IJ16,1120, IJ22 IJ23-1J25, IJ27-1J34 IJ36-1J45 A simple solution where applicable Not suitable where there is a hard limit to actuator movement May be used with: 1103, 1J09, 1116, 1J20 1123, IJ24, IJ25, IJ27 IJ29, 1I30, 1J31, 132 IJ39,1J40,1141,IJ42 1J43, 1J44, 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Acoustic resonance Nozzle clearing plate Ink pressure pulse Print head wiper Separate ink boiling heater

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An ultrasonic wave is applied to the ink chamber. This wave is of an appropriate amplitude and frequency to cause sufficient force at the nozzle to clear blockages. This is easiest to achieve if the ultrasonic wave is at a resonant frequency of the ink cavity.

A microfabricated plate is pushed against the nozzles. The plate has a post for every nozzle.

The array of posts The pressure of the ink is temporarily increased so that ink streams from all of the nozzles. This may be used in conjunction with actuator energizing.

A flexible 'blade' is wiped across the print head surface. The blade is usually fabricated from a flexible polymer, e.g. rubber or synthetic elastomer.

A high nozzle clearing capability can be achieved May be implemented at very low cost in systems which already include acoustic actuators Can clear severely clogged nozzles May be effective where other methods cannot be used High implementation cost if system does not already include an acoustic actuator Accurate mechanical alignment is required Moving parts are required There is risk of damage to the nozzles Accurate fabrication is required Requires pressure pump or other pressure actuator Expensive Wasteful of ink Difficult to use if print head surface is non-planar or very fragile Requires mechanical parts Blade can wear out in high volume print systems Fabrication complexity IJ08, I 13, IU15, 1U17 1118,1 J9, IJ21 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications May be used with all IJ series ink jets Many inkjet systems Can be used with many IJ series ink jets Effective for planar print head surfaces Low cost A separate heater is provided at the nozzle although the normal drop e-ection mechanism does not require it. The heaters do not require individual drive circuits, as many nozzles can be cleared simultaneously, and no imaging is required.

Can be effective where other nozzle clearing methods cannot be used Can be implemented at no additional cost in some inkjet configurations L .1 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Nozzle plate construction Nozzle plate Description Advantages Disadvantages Examples construction Electrofonned nickel A nozzle plate is separately fabricated from Fabrication simplicity High temperatures and pressures are required to bond Hewlett Packard Thermal electroformed nickel, and bonded to the print nozzle plate Inkjet head chip. Minimum thickness constraints Differential thermal expansion Laser ablated or Individual nozzle holes are ablated by an No masks required Each hole must be individually formed Canon Bubblejet drilled polymer intense UV laser in a nozzle plate, which is Can be quite fast Special equipment required 1988 Sercel et al., SPIE, Vol.

typically a polymer such as polyimide or Some control over nozzle profile is Slow where there are many thousands of nozzles per 998 Excimer Beam polysulphone possible print head Applications, pp. 76-83 Equipment required is relatively low May produce thin burrs at exit holes 1993 Watanabe et al., USP cost 5,208,604 Silicon micro- A separate nozzle plate is micromachined from High accuracy is attainable Two part construction K. Bean, IEEE Transactions on machined single crystal silicon, and bonded to the print High cost Electron Devices, Vol. head wafer. Requires precision alignment No. 10, 1978, pp 1185-1195 Nozzles may be clogged by adhesive Xerox 1990 Hawkins et al., USP 4,899,181 Glass capillaries Fine glass capillaries are drawn from glass No expensive equipment required Very small nozzle sizes are difficult to form 1970 Zoltan USP 3,683,212 tubing. This method has been used for making Simple to make single nozzles Not suited for mass production individual nozzles, but is difficult to use for bulk manufacturing of print heads with thousands of nozzles.

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2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Monolithic, surface micro-machined using VLSI lithographic processes Monolithic, etched through substrate No nozzle plate Trough Nozzle slit instead of individual nozzles The nozzle plate is deposited as a layer using standard VLSI deposition techniques. Nozzles are etched in the nozzle plate using VLSI lithography and etching.

The nozzle plate is a buried etch stop in the wafer. Nozzle chambers are etched in the front of the wafer, and the wafer is thinned from the back side. Nozzles are then etched in the etch stop layer.

Various methods have been tried to eliminate the nozzles entirely, to prevent nozzle clogging.

These include thermal bubble mechanisms and acoustic lens mechanisms Each drop ejector has a trough through which a paddle moves. There is no nozzle plate.

The elimination of nozzle holes and replacement by a slit encompassing many actuator positions reduces nozzle clogging, but increases crosstalk due to ink surface waves High accuracy pm) Monolithic Low cost Existing processes can be used High accuracy pm) Monolithic Low cost No differential expansion No nozzles to become clogged Reduced manufacturing complexity Monolithic No nozzles to become clogged Requires sacrificial layer under the nozzle plate to fornn the nozzle chamber Surface may be fragile to the touch Requires long etch times Requires a support wafer Difficult to control drop position accurately Crosstalk problems Drop firing direction is sensitive to wicking.

Difficult to control drop position accurately Crosstalk problems Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications IJ01, 1J02, 1J04, IJ 11 J12, 1J17, IJ18, 1J20 IJ22,1J24, 1J27, 128 IJ29, IJ30, 1J31, 1J32 1J33, 1J34, IJ36, 1J37 IJ38,IJ39,1J40, 1J41 IJ42, IJ43, IJ44 IJ03, 1J05, 1J06, 1J07 1J08, 1J09, 1J10, IJ13 1J14, 1J15, 1J16, J19 1J21, IJ23, 1J25, IJ26 Ricoh 1995 Sekiya et al USP 5,412,413 1993 Hadimioglu et al EUP 550,192 1993 Elrod et al EUP 572,220 1J35 1989 Saito et al USP 4,799,068 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Drop ejection direction Ejection Direction Edge ('edge shooter') Surface ('roof shooter') Through chip, forward ('up shooter') Through chip, reverse ('down shooter') Description Ink flow is along the surface of the chip, and ink drops are ejected from the chip edge.

Ink flow is along the surface of the chip, and ink drops are ejected from the chip surface, normal to the plane of the chip.

Ink flow is through the chip, and ink drops are ejected from the front surface of the chip.

Ink flow is through the chip, and ink drops are ejected from the rear surface of the chip.

Advantages Simple construction No silicon etching required Good heat sinking via substrate Mechanically strong Ease of chip handing No bulk silicon etching required Silicon can make an effective heat sink Mechanical strength High ink flow Suitable for pagewidth print High nozzle packing density therefore low manufacturing cost High ink flow Suitable for pagewidth print High nozzle packing density therefore low manufacturing cost Suitable for piezoelectric print heads Nozzles limited to edge High resolution is difficult Fast color printing requires one print head per color Maximum ink flow is severely restricted Disadvantages Requires bulk silicon etching Examples Canon Bubblejet 1979 Endo et al GB patent 2,007,162 Xerox heater-in-pit 1990 Hawkins et al USP 4,899,181 Tone-jet Hewlett-Packard TIJ 1982 Vaught et al USP 4,490,728 1J02, I 11,J1112, 1J20 IJ22 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications IJ04, 1117,IJ18, IJ24 IJ27-1J45 1101,1J03, 105, 1J06 1107, 1J08, 1109, 110 IJ13,IJ14,IJ15, 1J16 1119, 1J21, 123, 1J26 Epson Stylus Tektronix hot melt piezoelectric ink jets I Requires wafer thinning Requires special handling during manufacture Pagewidth print heads require several thousand connections to drive circuits Cannot be manufactured in standard CMOS fabs Complex assembly required Through actuator Ink flow is through the actuator, which is not fabricated as part of the same substrate as the drive transistors.

2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Ink type Ink type Aqueous, dye Aqueous, pigment Methyl Ethyl Ketone

(MEK)

Alcohol (ethanol, 2-butanol, and others) Description Water based ink which typically contains: water, dye, surfactant, humectant, and biocide.

Modem ink dyes have high water-fastness, light fastness Water based ink which typically contains: water, pigment, surfactant, humectant, and biocide.

Pigments have an advantage in reduced bleed, wicking and strikethrough.

MEK is a highly volatile solvent used for industrial printing on difficult surfaces such as aluminum cans.

Alcohol based inks can be used where the printer must operate at temperatures below the freezing point of water. An example of this is in-camera consumer photographic printing.

Advantages Environmentally friendly No odor Disadvantages Slow drying Corrosive Bleeds on paper May strikethrough Cockles paper Slow drying Corrosive Pigment may clog nozzles Pigment may clog actuator mechanisms Cockles paper Environmentally friendly No odor Reduced bleed Reduced wicking Reduced strikethrough Very fast drying Prints on various substrates such as metals and plastics Fast drying Operates at sub-freezing temperatures Reduced paper cockle Low cost Examples Most existing inkjets All 1J series inkjets Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications IJ02, 1J04, 1J21, 1J26 1J27, 1J30 Silverbrook, EP 0771 658 A2 and related patent applications Piezoelectric ink-jets Thermal inkjets (with significant restrictions) All IJ series ink jets Odorous Flammable Slight odor Flammable All IJ series ink jets 2006203385 04 Aug 2006 Phase change (hot melt) Oil Microemulsion

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The ink is solid at room temperature, and is melted in the print head before jetting. Hot melt inks are usually wax based, with a melting point around 80 After jetting the ink freezes almost instantly upon contacting the print medium or a transfer roller.

Oil based inks are extensively used in offset printing. They have advantages in improved characteristics on paper (especially no wicking or cockle). Oil soluble dies and pigments are required.

A microemulsion is a stable, self forming emulsion of oil, water, and surfactant. The characteristic drop size is less than 100 nm, and is determined by the preferred curvature of the surfactant.

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No drying time- ink instantly freezes on the print medium Almost any print medium can be used No paper cockle occurs No wicking occurs No bleed occurs No strikethrough occurs High viscosity Printed ink typically has a 'waxy' feel Printed pages may 'block' Ink temperature may be above the curie point of permanent magnets Ink heaters consume power Long warm-up time Tektronix hot melt piezoelectric ink jets 1989 Nowak USP 4,820,346 All IJ series ink jets High solubility medium for some dyes Does not cockle paper Does not wick through paper High viscosity: this is a significant limitation for use in inkjets, which usually require a low viscosity.

Some short chain and multi-branched oils have a sufficiently low viscosity.

Slow drying All IJ series inkjets c All IJ series ink jets Stops ink bleed High dye solubility Water, oil, and amphiphilic soluble dies can be used Can stabilize pigment suspensions

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Viscosity higher than water Cost is slightly higher than water based ink High surfactant concentration required (around All IJ series ink jets

Claims (8)

1. A hand-held camera including: (J a printer configured to print captured images on a roll of print media; S 5 an ink supply cartridge mounted on the printer and configured to supply ink to the printer and defining a cavity in which image capture integrated circuitry can be received; image capture integrated circuitry positioned in the cavity and configured to capture an image; and an actuator which, upon actuation, triggers the capture of the image with the image capture integrated circuitry. 00

2. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 1, further including a dial mechanism which is rotationally mounted to the ink supply cartridge so as to indicate the number of remaining images which can be printed by the O printer.

3. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printer includes a printhead for ejecting ink onto the print media, and a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) which is populated with components and is configured to control the operation of the printhead.

4. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 3, further including one or more tape automated bonding (TAB) strips which electrically couple the PCB with the image capture integrated circuitry.

A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ink supply cartridge includes a plurality of prongs for retaining the PCB.

6. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ink supply cartridge includes a support which supports a second actuator operatively connected to the printer so that, upon actuation, the second actuator triggers the printer to re-print the captured image on the print media.

7. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ink supply cartridge includes a shear member to separate the printed image from the roll of print media.

8. A hand-held camera as claimed in claim 1, further including a cover configured to be snap fitted to the ink supply cartridge to control light entering the cavity.