Importance

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Abstract

Disclosed is an integral ink jet print head having an improved design. An ink reservoir wall at the base of print head guides a flow of ink from a remote reservoir. Ink is drawn by capillary action past flow restrictors and an ink channel into an ink heating zone. The ink heating zone is a chamber residing below an integrated ink heating structure which has been fabricated, using processes including photolithography, directly on the underside of an orifice plate. An orifice is located to one side of the ink heating zone. The ink heating structure housing the ink heating zone is a combination of thin layers deposited directly on the orifice plate. The multilayered structure includes an insulating layer of silicon dioxide, a resistive layer of tantalum aluminum alloy, and a top conductive layer formed of gold. The invention provides a single integrated print head that combines the separate elements of the previous designs into one unit having many ink jets on one ink jet print head.

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First Claim