DIGITAL CAMERA HAVING PRINTHEAD AND REMOVABLE CARTRIDGE

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/112,743 filed on Jul. 10, 1998, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,951.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to digital cameras and in particular, the onboard processing of image data captured by the camera.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, digital cameras have become increasingly popular. These cameras normally operate by means of imaging a desired image utilising a charge coupled device (CCD) array and storing the imaged scene on an electronic storage medium for later down loading onto a computer system for subsequent manipulation and printing out. Normally, when utilising a computer system to print out an image, sophisticated software may available to manipulate the image in accordance with requirements.

Unfortunately such systems require significant post processing of a captured image and normally present the image in an orientation to which it was taken, relying on the post processing process to perform any necessary or required modifications of the captured image. Also, much of the environmental information available when the picture was taken is lost. Furthermore, the type or size of the media substrate and the types of ink used to print the image can also affect the image quality. Accounting for these factors during post processing of the captured image data can be complex and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides a digital camera for use with a media cartridge comprising a supply of media substrate on which images can be printed, and an information store with information relating to the media substrate, the camera comprising:

an image sensor for capturing an image;

an image processor for processing image data from the image sensor and transmitting processed data to a printhead; and,

a cartridge interface for accessing the information such that the image processor can utilise the information relating to the media substrate.

The camera accesses information about the media substrate so that the image processor can utilise the information to enhance the quality of the printed image.

Preferably, the media substrate has postcard formatting printed on its reverse surface so that the camera can produce personalised postcards, and the information store has the dimensions of the postcard formatting to allow the image processor to align printed images with the postcard formatting.

In a further preferred form the cartridge further comprises an ink supply for the printhead and the information store is an authentication chip that allows the image processor to confirm that the media substrate and the ink supply is suitable for use with the camera.

According to a related aspect, there is provided a digital camera for sensing and storing an image, the camera comprising:

an image sensor with a charge coupled device (CCD) for capturing image data relating to a sensed image, and an auto exposure setting for adjusting the image data captured by the CCD in response to the lighting conditions at image capture; and,

an image processor for processing image data from the CCD and storing the processed data; wherein,

the image processor is adapted to use information from the auto exposure setting relating to the lighting conditions at image capture when processing the image data from the CCD.

Utilising the auto exposure setting to determine an advantageous re-mapping of colours within the image allows the processor to produce an amended image having colours within an image transformed to account of the auto exposure setting. The processing can comprise re-mapping image colours so they appear deeper and richer when the exposure setting indicates low light conditions and re-mapping image colours to be brighter and more saturated when the auto exposure setting indicates bright light conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF 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 which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an Artcam device constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the main Artcam electronic components.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the Artcam Central Processor.

FIG. 4 illustrates the method of operation of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a form of print roll ready for purchase by a consumer;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view, partly in section, of an alternative form of a print roll;

FIG. 7 is a left side exploded perspective view of the print roll of FIG. 6; and,

FIG. 8 is a right side exploded perspective view of a single print roll.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS

The digital image processing camera system constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment is as illustrated in FIG. 1. The camera unit 1 includes means for the insertion of an integral print roll (not shown). The camera unit 1 can include an area image sensor 2 which sensors an image 3 for captured by the camera. Optionally, the second area image sensor can be provided to also image the scene 3 and to optionally provide for the production of stereographic output effects.

The camera 1 can include an optional color display 5 for the display of the image being sensed by the sensor 2. When a simple image is being displayed on the display 5, the button 6 can be depressed resulting in the printed image 8 being output by the camera unit 1. A series of cards, herein after known as “Artcards” 9 contain, on one surface encoded information and on the other surface, contain an image distorted by the particular effect produced by the Artcard 9. The Artcard 9 is inserted in an Artcard reader 10 in the side of camera 1 and, upon insertion, results in output image 8 being distorted in the same manner as the distortion appearing on the surface of Artcard 9. Hence, by means of this simple user interface a user wishing to produce a particular effect can insert one of many Artcards 9 into the Artcard reader 10 and utilize button 19 to take a picture of the image 3 resulting in a corresponding distorted output image 8.

The camera unit 1 can also include a number of other control button 13, 14 in addition to a simple LCD output display 15 for the display of informative information including the number of printouts left on the internal print roll on the camera unit. Additionally, different output formats can be controlled by CHP switch 17.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a schematic view of the internal hardware of the camera unit 1. The internal hardware is based around an Artcam central processor unit (ACP) 31.

Artcam Central Processor 31

The Artcam central processor 31 provides many functions which form the ‘heart’ of the system. The ACP 31 is preferably implemented as a complex, high speed, CMOS system on-a-chip. Utilising standard cell design with some full custom regions is recommended. Fabrication on a 0.25μ CMOS process will provide the density and speed required, along with a reasonably small die area.

The functions provided by the ACP 31 include:

1. Control and digitization of the area image sensor 2. A 3D stereoscopic version of the ACP requires two area image sensor interfaces with a second optional image sensor 4 being provided for stereoscopic effects.

2. Area image sensor compensation, reformatting, and image enhancement.

3. Memory interface and management to a memory store 33.

4. Interface, control, and analog to digital conversion of an Artcard reader linear image sensor 34 which is provided for the reading of data from the Artcards 9.

5. Extraction of the raw Artcard data from the digitized and encoded Artcard image.

6. Reed-Solomon error detection and correction of the Artcard encoded data. The encoded surface of the Artcard 9 includes information on how to process an image to produce the effects displayed on the image distorted surface of the Artcard 9. This information is in the form of a script, hereinafter known as a “Vark script”. The Vark script is utilised by an interpreter running within the ACP 31 to produce the desired effect.

7. Interpretation of the Vark script on the Artcard 9.

8. Performing image processing operations as specified by the Vark script.

9. Controlling various motors for the paper transport 36, zoom lens 38, autofocus 39 and Artcard driver 37.

10. Controlling a guillotine actuator 40 for the operation of a guillotine 41 for the cutting of photographs 8 from print roll 42.

11. Half-toning of the image data for printing.

12. Providing the print data to a print-head 44 at the appropriate times.

13. Controlling the print head 44.

14. Controlling the ink pressure feed to print-head 44.

15. Controlling optional flash unit 56.

16. Reading and acting on various sensors in the camera, including camera orientation sensor 46, autofocus 47 and Artcard insertion sensor 49.

17. Reading and acting on the user interface buttons 6, 13, 14.

18. Controlling the status display 15.

19. Providing viewfinder and preview images to the color display 5.

20. Control of the system power consumption, including the ACP power consumption via power management circuit 51.

21. Providing external communications 52 to general purpose computers (using part USB).

22. Reading and storing information in a printing roll authentication chip 53.

23. Reading and storing information in a camera authentication chip 54.

24. Communicating with an optional mini-keyboard 57 for text modification.

Quartz Crystal 58

A quartz crystal 58 is used as a frequency reference for the system clock. As the system clock is very high, the ACP 31 includes a phase locked loop clock circuit to increase the frequency derived from the crystal 58.

Image Sensing

Area Image Sensor 2

The area image sensor 2 converts an image through its lens into an electrical signal. It can either be a charge coupled device (CCD) or an active pixel sensor (APS) CMOS image sector. At present, available CCD's normally have a higher image quality, however, there is currently much development occurring in CMOS imagers. CMOS imagers are eventually expected to be substantially cheaper than CCD's have smaller pixel areas, and be able to incorporate drive circuitry and signal processing. They can also be made in CMOS fabs, which are transitioning to 12″ wafers. CCD's are usually built in 6″ wafer fabs, and economics may not allow a conversion to 12″ fabs. Therefore, the difference in fabrication cost between CCD's and CMOS imagers is likely to increase, progressively favoring CMOS imagers. However, at present, a CCD is probably the best option.

The Artcam unit will produce suitable results with a 1,500×1,000 area image sensor. However, smaller sensors, such as 750×500, will be adequate for many markets. The Artcam is less sensitive to image sensor resolution than are conventional digital cameras. This is because many of the styles contained on Artcards 9 process the image in such a way as to obscure the lack of resolution. For example, if the image is distorted to simulate the effect of being converted to an impressionistic painting, low source image resolution can be used with minimal effect. Further examples for which low resolution input images will typically not be noticed include image warps which produce high distorted images, multiple miniature copies of the of the image (eg. passport photos), textural processing such as bump mapping for a base relief metal look, and photo-compositing into structured scenes.

This tolerance of low resolution image sensors may be a significant factor in reducing the manufacturing cost of an Artcam unit 1 camera. An Artcam with a low cost 750×500 image sensor will often produce superior results to a conventional digital camera with a much more expensive 1,500×1,000 image sensor.

Optional Stereoscopic 3D Image Sensor 4

The 3D versions of the Artcam unit 1 have an additional image sensor 4, for stereoscopic operation. This image sensor is identical to the main image sensor. The circuitry to drive the optional image sensor may be included as a standard part of the ACP chip 31 to reduce incremental design cost. Alternatively, a separate 3D Artcam ACP can be designed. This option will reduce the manufacturing cost of a mainstream single sensor Artcam.

Print Roll Authentication Chip 53

A small chip 53 is included in each print roll 42. This chip replaced the functions of the bar code, optical sensor and wheel, and ISO/ASA sensor on other forms of camera film units such as Advanced Photo Systems film cartridges.

The authentication chip also provides other features:

1. The storage of data rather than that which is mechanically and optically sensed from APS rolls

2. A remaining media length indication, accurate to high resolution.

3. Authentication Information to prevent inferior clone print roll copies.

The authentication chip 53 contains 1024 bits of Flash memory, of which 128 bits is an authentication key, and 512 bits is the authentication information. Also included is an encryption circuit to ensure that the authentication key cannot be accessed directly.

Print-Head 44

The Artcam unit 1 can utilize any color print technology which is small enough, low enough power, fast enough, high enough quality, and low enough cost, and is compatible with the print roll. Relevant printheads will be specifically discussed hereinafter.

The specifications of the ink jet head are:

	Image type	Bi-level, dithered
	Color	CMY Process Color
	Resolution	1600 dpi
	Print head length	‘Page-width’ (100 mm)
	Print speed	2 seconds per photo

Optional Ink Pressure Controller (not Shown)

The function of the ink pressure controller depends upon the type of ink jet print head 44 incorporated in the Artcam. For some types of ink jet, the use of an ink pressure controller can be eliminated, as the ink pressure is simply atmospheric pressure. Other types of print head require a regulated positive ink pressure. In this case, the in pressure controller consists of a pump and pressure transducer.

Other print heads may require an ultrasonic transducer to cause regular oscillations in the ink pressure, typically at frequencies around 100 KHz. In the case, the ACP 31 controls the frequency phase and amplitude of these oscillations.

Paper Transport Motor 36

The paper transport motor 36 moves the paper from within the print roll 42 past the print head at a relatively constant rate. The motor 36 is a miniature motor geared down to an appropriate speed to drive rollers which move the paper. A high quality motor and mechanical gears are required to achieve high image quality, as mechanical rumble or other vibrations will affect the printed dot row spacing.

Paper Transport Motor Driver 60

The motor driver 60 is a small circuit which amplifies the digital motor control signals from the APC 31 to levels suitable for driving the motor 36.

Paper Pull Sensor

A paper pull sensor 50 detects a user's attempt to pull a photo from the camera unit during the printing process. The APC 31 reads this sensor 50, and activates the guillotine 41 if the condition occurs. The paper pull sensor 50 is incorporated to make the camera more ‘foolproof’ in operation. Were the user to pull the paper out forcefully during printing, the print mechanism 44 or print roll 42 may (in extreme cases) be damaged. Since it is acceptable to pull out the ‘pod’ from a Polaroid type camera before it is fully ejected, the public has been ‘trained’ to do this. Therefore, they are unlikely to heed printed instructions not to pull the paper.

The Artcam preferably restarts the photo print process after the guillotine 41 has cut the paper after pull sensing.

The pull sensor can be implemented as a strain gauge sensor, or as an optical sensor detecting a small plastic flag which is deflected by the torque that occurs on the paper drive rollers when the paper is pulled. The latter implementation is recommendation for low cost.

Paper Guillotine Actuator 40

The paper guillotine actuator 40 is a small actuator which causes the guillotine 41 to cut the paper either at the end of a photograph, or when the paper pull sensor 50 is activated.

The guillotine actuator 40 is a small circuit which amplifies a guillotine control signal from the APC tot the level required by the actuator 41.

Artcard 9

The Artcard 9 is a program storage medium for the Artcam unit. As noted previously, the programs are in the form of Vark scripts. Vark is a powerful image processing language especially developed for the Artcam unit. Each Artcard 9 contains one Vark script, and thereby defines one image processing style.

Preferably, the VARK language is highly image processing specific. By being highly image processing specific, the amount of storage required to store the details on the card are substantially reduced. Further, the ease with which new programs can be created, including enhanced effects, is also substantially increased. Preferably, the language includes facilities for handling many image processing functions including image warping via a warp map, convolution, color lookup tables, posterizing an image, adding noise to an image, image enhancement filters, painting algorithms, brush jittering and manipulation edge detection filters, tiling, illumination via light sources, bump maps, text, face detection and object detection attributes, fonts, including three dimensional fonts, and arbitrary complexity pre-rendered icons. Further details of the operation of the Vark language interpreter are contained hereinafter.

Hence, by utilizing the language constructs as defined by the created language, new affects on arbitrary images can be created and constructed for inexpensive storage on Artcard and subsequent distribution to camera owners. Further, on one surface of the card can be provided an example illustrating the effect that a particular VARK script, stored on the other surface of the card, will have on an arbitrary captured image.

By utilizing such a system, camera technology can be distributed without a great fear of obsolescence in that, provided a VARK interpreter is incorporated in the camera device, a device independent scenario is provided whereby the underlying technology can be completely varied over time. Further, the VARK scripts can be updated as new filters are created and distributed in an inexpensive manner, such as via simple cards for card reading.

The Artcard 9 is a piece of thin white plastic with the same format as a credit card (86 mm long by 54 mm wide). The Artcard is printed on both sides using a high resolution ink jet printer. The inkjet printer technology is assumed to be the same as that used in the Artcam, with 1600 dpi (63 dpmm) resolution. A major feature of the Artcard 9 is low manufacturing cost. Artcards can be manufactured at high speeds as a wide web of plastic film. The plastic web is coated on both sides with a hydrophilic dye fixing layer. The web is printed simultaneously on both sides using a ‘pagewidth’ color ink jet printer. The web is then cut and punched into individual cards. On one face of the card is printed a human readable representation of the effect the Artcard 9 will have on the sensed image. This can be simply a standard image which has been processed using the Vark script stored on the back face of the card.

On the back face of the card is printed an array of dots which can be decoded into the Vark script that defines the image processing sequence. The print area is 80 mm×50 mm, giving a total of 15,876,000 dots. This array of dots could represent at least 1.89 Mbytes of data. To achieve high reliability, extensive error detection and correction is incorporated in the array of dots. This allows a substantial portion of the card to be defaced, worn, creased, or dirty with no effect on data integrity. The data coding used is Reed-Solomon coding, with half of the data devoted to error correction. This allows the storage of 967 Kbytes of error corrected data on each Artcard 9.

Linear Image Sensor 34

The Artcard linear sensor 34 converts the aforementioned Artcard data image to electrical signals. As with the area image sensor 2, 4, the linear image sensor can be fabricated using either CCD or APS CMOS technology. The active length of the image sensor 34 is 50 mm, equal to the width of the data array on the Artcard 9. To satisfy Nyquist's sampling theorem, the resolution of the linear image sensor 34 must be at least twice the highest spatial frequency of the Artcard optical image reaching the image sensor. In practice, data detection is easier if the image sensor resolution is substantially above this. A resolution of 4800 dpi (189 dpmm) is chosen, giving a total of 9,450 pixels. This resolution requires a pixel sensor pitch of 5.3 μm. This can readily be achieved by using four staggered rows of 20 μm pixel sensors.

The linear image sensor is mounted in a special package which includes a LED 65 to illuminate the Artcard 9 via a light-pipe (not shown).

The Artcard reader light-pipe can be a molded light-pipe which has several function:

1. It diffuses the light from the LED over the width of the card using total internal reflection facets.

2. It focuses the light onto a 16 μm wide strip of the Artcard 9 using an integrated cylindrical lens.

3. It focuses light reflected from the Artcard onto the linear image sensor pixels using a molded array of microlenses.

The operation of the Artcard reader is explained further hereinafter.

Artcard Reader Motor 37

The Artcard reader motor propels the Artcard past the linear image sensor 34 at a relatively constant rate. As it may not be cost effective to include extreme precision mechanical components in the Artcard reader, the motor 37 is a standard miniature motor geared down to an appropriate speed to drive a pair of rollers which move the Artcard 9. The speed variations, rumble, and other vibrations will affect the raw image data as circuitry within the APC 31 includes extensive compensation for these effects to reliably read the Artcard data.

The motor 37 is driven in reverse when the Artcard is to be ejected.

Artcard Motor Driver 61

The Artcard motor driver 61 is a small circuit which amplifies the digital motor control signals from the APC 31 to levels suitable for driving the motor 37.

Card Insertion Sensor 49

The card insertion sensor 49 is an optical sensor which detects the presence of a card as it is being inserted in the card reader 34. Upon a signal from this sensor 49, the APC 31 initiates the card reading process, including the activation of the Artcard reader motor 37.

Card Eject Button 16

A card eject button 16 (FIG. 1) is used by the user to eject the current Artcard, so that another Artcard can be inserted. The APC 31 detects the pressing of the button, and reverses the Artcard reader motor 37 to eject the card.

card status indicator 66

A card status indicator 66 is provided to signal the user as to the status of the Artcard reading process. This can be a standard bi-color (red/green) LED. When the card is successfully read, and data integrity has been verified, the LED lights up green continually. If the card is faulty, then the LED lights up red.

If the camera is powered from a 1.5 V instead of 3V battery, then the power supply voltage is less than the forward voltage drop of the greed LED, and the LED will not light. In this case, red LEDs can be used, or the LED can be powered from a voltage pump which also powers other circuits in the Artcam which require higher voltage.

64 Mbit DRAM 33

To perform the wide variety of image processing effects, the camera utilizes 8 Mbytes of memory 33. This can be provided by a single 64 Mbit memory chip. Of course, with changing memory technology increased Dram storage sizes may be substituted.

High speed access to the memory chip is required. This can be achieved by using a Rambus DRAM (burst access rate of 500 Mbytes per second) or chips using the new open standards such as double data rate (DDR) SDRAM or Synclink DRAM.

Camera Authentication Chip

The camera authentication chip 54 is identical to the print roll authentication chip 53, except that it has different information stored in it. The camera authentication chip 54 has three main purposes:

1. To provide a secure means of comparing authentication codes with the print roll authentication chip;

2. To provide storage for manufacturing information, such as the serial number of the camera;

3. To provide a small amount of non-volatile memory for storage of user information.

Displays

The Artcam includes an optional color display 5 and small status display 15. Lowest cost consumer cameras may include a color image display, such as a small TFT LCD 5 similar to those found on some digital cameras and camcorders. The color display 5 is a major cost element of these versions of Artcam, and the display 5 plus back light are a major power consumption drain.

Status Display 15

The status display 15 is a small passive segment based LCD, similar to those currently provided on silver halide and digital cameras. Its main function is to show the number of prints remaining in the print roll 42 and icons for various standard camera features, such as flash and battery status.

Color Display 5

The color display 5 is a full motion image display which operates as a viewfinder, as a verification of the image to be printed, and as a user interface display. The cost of the display 5 is approximately proportional to its area, so large displays (say 4″ diagonal) unit will be restricted to expensive versions of the Artcam unit. Smaller displays, such as color camcorder viewfinder TFT's at around 1″, may be effective for mid-range Artcams.

Zoom Lens (not Shown)

The Artcam can include a zoom lens. This can be a standard electronically controlled zoom lens, identical to one which would be used on a standard electronic camera, and similar to pocket camera zoom lenses. A referred version of the Artcam unit may include standard interchangeable 35 mm SLR lenses.

Autofocus Motor 39

The autofocus motor 39 changes the focus of the zoom lens. The motor is a miniature motor geared down to an appropriate speed to drive the autofocus mechanism.

Autofocus Motor Driver 63

The autofocus motor driver 63 is a small circuit which amplifies the digital motor control signals from the APC 31 to levels suitable for driving the motor 39.

Zoom Motor 38

The zoom motor 38 moves the zoom front lenses in and out. The motor is a miniature motor geared down to an appropriate speed to drive the zoom mechanism.

Zoom Motor Driver 62

The zoom motor driver 62 is a small circuit which amplifies the digital motor control signals from the APC 31 to levels suitable for driving the motor.

Communications

The ACP 31 contains a universal serial bus (USB) interface 52 for communication with personal computers. Not all Artcam models are intended to include the USB connector. However, the silicon area required for a USB circuit 52 is small, so the interface can be included in the standard ACP.

Optional Keyboard 57

The Artcam unit may include an optional miniature keyboard 57 for customizing text specified by the Artcard. Any text appearing in an Artcard image may be editable, even if it is in a complex metallic 3D font. The miniature keyboard includes a single line alphanumeric LCD to display the original text and edited text. The keyboard may be a standard accessory.

The ACP 31 contains a serial communications circuit for transferring data to and from the miniature keyboard.

Power Supply

The Artcam unit uses a battery 48. Depending upon the Artcam options, this is either a 3V Lithium cell, 1.5 V AA alkaline cells, or other battery arrangement.

Power Management Unit 51

Power consumption is an important design constraint in the Artcam. It is desirable that either standard camera batteries (such as 3V lithium batters) or standard AA or AAA alkaline cells can be used. While the electronic complexity of the Artcam unit is dramatically higher than 35 mm photographic cameras, the power consumption need not be commensurately higher. Power in the Artcam can be carefully managed with all unit being turned off when not in use.

The most significant current drains are the ACP 31, the area image sensors 2,4, the printer 44 various motors, the flash unit 56, and the optional color display 5 dealing with each part separately:

1. ACP: If fabricated using 0.25 μm CMOS, and running on 1.5V, the ACP power consumption can be quite low. Clocks to various parts of the ACP chip can be quite low. Clocks to various parts of the ACP chip can be turned off when not in use, virtually eliminating standby current consumption. The ACP will only fully used for approximately 4 seconds for each photograph printed.

2. Area image sensor: power is only supplied to the area image sensor when the user has their finger on the button.

3. The printer power is only supplied to the printer when actually printing. This is for around 2 seconds for each photograph. Even so, suitably lower power consumption printing should be used.

4. The motors required in the Artcam are all low power miniature motors, and are typically only activated for a few seconds per photo.

5. The flash unit 45 is only used for some photographs. Its power consumption can readily be provided by a 3V lithium battery for a reasonably battery life.

6. The optional color display 5 is a major current drain for two reasons: it must be on for the whole time that the camera is in use, and a backlight will be required if a liquid crystal display is used. Cameras which incorporate a color display will require a larger battery to achieve acceptable batter life.

Flash Unit 56

The flash unit 56 can be a standard miniature electronic flash for consumer cameras.

Overview of the ACP 31

FIG. 3 illustrates the Artcam Central Processor (ACP) 31 in more detail. The Artcam Central Processor provides all of the processing power for Artcam. It is designed for a 0.25 micron CMOS process, with approximately 1.5 million transistors and an area of around 50 mm². The ACP 31 is a complex design, but design effort can be reduced by the use of datapath compilation techniques, macrocells, and IP cores. The ACP 31 contains:

A RISC CPU core 72

A 4 way parallel VLIW Vector Processor 74

A Direct RAMbus interface 81

A CMOS image sensor interface 83

A CMOS linear image sensor interface 88

A USB serial interface 52

An infrared keyboard interface 55

A numeric LCD interface 84, and

A color TFT LCD interface 88

A 4 Mbyte Flash memory 70 for program storage 70

The RISC CPU, Direct RAMbus interface 81, CMOS sensor interface 83 and USB serial interface 52 can be vendor supplied cores. The ACP 31 is intended to run at a clock speed of 200 MHz on 3V externally and 1.5V internally to minimize power consumption. The CPU core needs only to run at 100 MHz. The following two block diagrams give two views of the ACP 31:

A view of the ACP 31 in isolation

An example Artcam showing a high-level view of the ACP 31 connected to the rest of the Artcam hardware.

Image Access

As stated previously, the DRAM Interface 81 is responsible for interfacing between other client portions of the ACP chip and the RAMBUS DRAM. In effect, each module within the DRAM Interface is an address generator.

There are three logical types of images manipulated by the ACP. They are:

• • CCD Image, which is the Input Image captured from the CCD.
  • Internal Image format—the Image format utilised internally by the Artcam device.
  • Print Image—the Output Image format printed by the Artcam

These images are typically different in color space, resolution, and the output & input color spaces which can vary from camera to camera. For example, a CCD image on a low-end camera may be a different resolution, or have different color characteristics from that used in a high-end camera. However all internal image formats are the same format in terms of color space across all cameras.

In addition, the three image types can vary with respect to which direction is ‘up’. The physical orientation of the camera causes the notion of a portrait or landscape image, and this must be maintained throughout processing. For this reason, the internal image is always oriented correctly, and rotation is performed on images obtained from the CCD and during the print operation.

CPU Core (CPU) 72

The ACP 31 incorporates a 32 bit RISC CPU 72 to run the Vark image processing language interpreter and to perform Artcam's general operating system duties. A wide variety of CPU cores are suitable: it can be any processor core with sufficient processing power to perform the required core calculations and control functions fast enough to met consumer expectations. Examples of suitable cores are: MIPS R4000 core from LSI Logic, StrongARM core. There is no need to maintain instruction set continuity between different Artcam models. Artcard compatibility is maintained irrespective of future processor advances and changes, because the Vark interpreter is simply re-compiled for each new instruction set. The ACP 31 architecture is therefore also free to evolve. Different ACP 31 chip designs may be fabricated by different manufacturers, without requiring to license or port the CPU core. This device independence avoids the chip vendor lock-in such as has occurred in the PC market with Intel. The CPU operates at 100 MHz, with a single cycle time of 10 ns. It must be fast enough to run the Vark interpreter, although the VLIW Vector Processor 74 is responsible for most of the time-critical operations.

Program Cache 72

Although the program code is stored in on-chip Flash memory 70, it is unlikely that well packed Flash memory 70 will be able to operate at the 10 ns cycle time required by the CPU. Consequently a small cache is required for good performance. 16 cache lines of 32 bytes each are sufficient, for a total of 512 bytes. The program cache 72 is defined in the chapter entitled Program cache 72.

Data Cache 76

A small data cache 76 is required for good performance. This requirement is mostly due to the use of a RAMbus DRAM, which can provide high-speed data in bursts, but is inefficient for single byte accesses. The CPU has access to a memory caching system that allows flexible manipulation of CPU data cache 76 sizes. A minimum of 16 cache lines (512 bytes) is recommended for good performance.

CPU Memory Model

An Artcam's CPU memory model consists of a 32 MB area. It consists of 8 MB of physical RDRAM off-chip in the base model of Artcam, with provision for up to 16 MB of off-chip memory. There is a 4 MB Flash memory 70 on the ACP 31 for program storage, and finally a 4 MB address space mapped to the various registers and controls of the ACP 31. The memory map then, for an Artcam is as follows:

	Contents	Size
	Base Artcam DRAM	8 MB
	Extended DRAM	8 MB
	Program memory (on ACP 31 in Flash memory	4 MB
	70)
	Reserved for extension of program memory	4 MB
	ACP 31 registers and memory-mapped I/O	4 MB
	Reserved	4 MB
	TOTAL	32 MB

A straightforward way of decoding addresses is to use address bits 23-24:

• • If bit 24 is clear, the address is in the lower 16-MB range, and hence can be satisfied from DRAM and the Data cache 76. In most cases the DRAM will only be 8 MB, but 16 MB is allocated to cater for a higher memory model Artcams.
  • If bit 24 is set, and bit 23 is clear, then the address represents the Flash memory 70 4 Mbyte range and is satisfied by the Program cache 72.
  • If bit 24=1 and bit 23=1, the address is translated into an access over the low speed bus to the requested component in the AC by the CPU Memory Decoder 68.

Flash Memory 70

The ACP 31 contains a 4 Mbyte Flash memory 70 for storing the Artcam program. It is envisaged that Flash memory 70 will have denser packing coefficients than masked ROM, and allows for greater flexibility for testing camera program code. The downside of the Flash memory 70 is the access time, which is unlikely to be fast enough for the 100 MHz operating speed (10 ns cycle time) of the CPU. A fast Program Instruction cache 77 therefore acts as the interface between the CPU and the slower Flash memory 70.

Program Cache 72

A small cache is required for good CPU performance. This requirement is due to the slow speed Flash memory 70 which stores the Program code. 16 cache lines of 32 bytes each are sufficient, for a total of 512 bytes. The Program cache 72 is a read only cache. The data used by CPU programs comes through the CPU Memory Decoder 68 and if the address is in DRAM, through the general Data cache 76. The separation allows the CPU to operate independently of the VLIW Vector Processor 74. If the data requirements are low for a given process, it can consequently operate completely out of cache.

Finally, the Program cache 72 can be read as data by the CPU rather than purely as program instructions. This allows tables, microcode for the VLIW etc to be loaded from the Flash memory 70. Addresses with bit 24 set and bit 23 clear are satisfied from the Program cache 72.

CPU Memory Decoder 68

The CPU Memory Decoder 68 is a simple decoder for satisfying CPU data accesses. The Decoder translates data addresses into internal ACP register accesses over the internal low speed bus, and therefore allows for memory mapped I/O of ACP registers. The CPU Memory Decoder 68 only interprets addresses that have bit 24 set and bit 23 clear. There is no caching in the CPU Memory Decoder 68.

DRAM Interface 81

The DRAM used by the Artcam is a single channel 64 Mbit (8 MB) RAMbus RDRAM operating at 1.6 GB/sec. RDRAM accesses are by a single channel (16-bit data path) controller. The RDRAM also has several useful operating modes for low power operation. Although the Rambus specification describes a system with random 32 byte transfers as capable of achieving a greater than 95% efficiency, this is not true if only part of the 32 bytes are used. Two reads followed by two writes to the same device yields over 86% efficiency. The primary latency is required for bus turn-around going from a Write to a Read, and since there is a Delayed Write mechanism, efficiency can be further improved. With regards to writes, Write Masks allow specific subsets of bytes to be written to. These write masks would be set via internal cache “dirty bits”. The upshot of the Rambus Direct RDRAM is a throughput of >1 GB/sec is easily achievable, and with multiple reads for every write (most processes) combined with intelligent algorithms making good use of 32 byte transfer knowledge, transfer rates of >1.3 GB/sec are expected. Every 10 ns, 16 bytes can be transferred to or from the core.

DRAM Organization

• • The DRAM organization for a base model (8 MB RDRAM) Artcam is as follows:

	Contents	Size

	Program scratch RAM	0.50	MB
	Artcard data	1.00	MB
	Photo Image, captured from CMOS Sensor	0.50	MB
	Print Image (compressed)	2.25	MB
	1 Channel of expanded Photo Image	1.50	MB
	1 Image Pyramid of single channel	1.00	MB
	Intermediate Image Processing	1.25	MB
	TOTAL	8	MB

Notes:

• Uncompressed, the Print Image requires 4.5 MB (1.5 MB per channel). To accommodate other objects in the 8 MB model, the Print Image needs to be compressed. If the chrominance channels are compressed by 4:1 they require only 0.375 MB each).
• The memory model described here assumes a single 8 MB RDRAM. Other models of the Artcam may have more memory, and thus not require compression of the Print Image. In addition, with more memory a larger part of the final image can be worked on at once, potentially giving a speed improvement.
• Note that ejecting or inserting an Artcard invalidates the 5.5 MB area holding the Print Image, 1 channel of expanded photo image, and the image pyramid. This space may be safely used by the Artcard Interface for decoding the Artcard data.

Data Cache 76

The ACP 31 contains a dedicated CPU instruction cache 77 and a general data cache 76. The Data cache 76 handles all DRAM requests (reads and writes of data) from the CPU, the VLIW Vector Processor 74, and the Display Controller 88. These requests may have very different profiles in terms of memory usage and algorithmic timing requirements. For example, a VLIW process may be processing an image in linear memory, and lookup a value in a table for each value in the image. There is little need to cache much of the image, but it may be desirable to cache the entire lookup table so that no real memory access is required. Because of these differing requirements, the Data cache 76 allows for an intelligent definition of caching.

Although the Rambus DRAM interface 81 is capable of very high-speed memory access (an average throughput of 32 bytes in 25 ns), it is not efficient dealing with single byte requests. In order to reduce effective memory latency, the ACP 31 contains 128 cache lines. Each cache line is 32 bytes wide. Thus the total amount of data cache 76 is 4096 bytes (4 KB). The 128 cache lines are configured into 16 programmable-sized groups. Each of the 16 groups must be a contiguous set of cache lines. The CPU is responsible for determining how many cache lines to allocate to each group. Within each group cache lines are filled according to a simple Least Recently Used algorithm. In terms of CPU data requests, the Data cache 76 handles memory access requests that have address bit 24 clear. If bit 24 is clear, the address is in the lower 16 MB range, and hence can be satisfied from DRAM and the Data cache 76. In most cases the DRAM will only be 8 MB, but 16 MB is allocated to cater for a higher memory model Artcam. If bit 24 is set, the address is ignored by the Data cache 76.

All CPU data requests are satisfied from Cache Group 0. A minimum of 16 cache lines is recommended for good CPU performance, although the CPU can assign any number of cache lines (except none) to Cache Group 0. The remaining Cache Groups (1 to 15) are allocated according to the current requirements. This could mean allocation to a VLIW Vector Processor 74 program or the Display Controller 88. For example, a 256 byte lookup table required to be permanently available would require 8 cache lines. Writing out a sequential image would only require 2-4 cache lines (depending on the size of record being generated and whether write requests are being Write Delayed for a significant number of cycles). Associated with each cache line byte is a dirty bit, used for creating a Write Mask when writing memory to DRAM. Associated with each cache line is another dirty bit, which indicates whether any of the cache line bytes has been written to (and therefore the cache line must be written back to DRAM before it can be reused). Note that it is possible for two different Cache Groups to be accessing the same address in memory and to get out of sync. The VLIW program writer is responsible to ensure that this is not an issue. It could be perfectly reasonable, for example, to have a Cache Group responsible for reading an image, and another Cache Group responsible for writing the changed image back to memory again. If the images are read or written sequentially there may be advantages in allocating cache lines in this manner. A total of 8 buses 182 connect the VLIW Vector Processor 74 to the Data cache 76. Each bus is connected to an I/O Address Generator. (There are 2 I/O Address Generators 189, 190 per Processing Unit 178, and there are 4 Processing Units in the VLIW Vector Processor 74. The total number of buses is therefore 8). In any given cycle, in addition to a single 32 bit (4 byte) access to the CPU's cache group (Group 0), 4 simultaneous accesses of 16 bits (2 bytes) to remaining cache groups are permitted on the 8 VLIW Vector Processor 74 buses. The Data cache 76 is responsible for fairly processing the requests. On a given cycle, no more than 1 request to a specific Cache Group will be processed. Given that there are 8 Address Generators 189, 190 in the VLIW Vector Processor 74, each one of these has the potential to refer to an individual Cache Group. However it is possible and occasionally reasonable for 2 or more Address Generators 189, 190 to access the same Cache Group. The CPU is responsible for ensuring that the Cache Groups have been allocated the correct number of cache lines, and that the various Address Generators 189, 190 in the VLIW Vector Processor 74 reference the specific Cache Groups correctly.

The Data cache 76 as described allows for the Display Controller 88 and VLIW Vector Processor 74 to be active simultaneously. If the operation of these two components were deemed to never occur simultaneously, a total 9 Cache Groups would suffice. The CPU would use Cache Group 0, and the VLIW Vector Processor 74 and the Display Controller 88 would share the remaining 8 Cache Groups, requiring only 3 bits (rather than 4) to define which Cache Group would satisfy a particular request.

JTAG Interface 85

A standard JTAG (Joint Test Action Group) Interface is included in the ACP 31 for testing purposes. 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 overall chip testing circuitry. The test circuitry is beyond the scope of this document.

Serial Interfaces

USB Serial Port Interface 52

This is a standard USB serial port, which is connected to the internal chip low speed bus, thereby allowing the CPU to control it.

Keyboard Interface 65

This is a standard low-speed serial port, which is connected to the internal chip low speed bus, thereby allowing the CPU to control it. It is designed to be optionally connected to a keyboard to allow simple data input to customize prints.

Authentication Chip Serial Interfaces 64

These are 2 standard low-speed serial ports, which are connected to the internal chip low speed bus, thereby allowing the CPU to control them. The reason for having 2 ports is to connect to both the on-camera Authentication chip, and to the print-roll Authentication chip using separate lines. Only using 1 line may make it possible for a clone print-roll manufacturer to design a chip which, instead of generating an authentication code, tricks the camera into using the code generated by the authentication chip in the camera.

Parallel Interface 67

The parallel interface connects the ACP 31 to individual static electrical signals. The CPU is able to control each of these connections as memory-mapped I/O via the low speed bus The following table is a list of connections to the parallel interface:

	Connection	Direction	Pins

	Paper transport stepper motor	Out	4
	Artcard stepper motor	Out	4
	Zoom stepper motor	Out	4
	Guillotine motor	Out	1
	Flash trigger	Out	1
	Status LCD segment drivers	Out	7
	Status LCD common drivers	Out	4
	Artcard illumination LED	Out	1
	Artcard status LED (red/green)	In	2
	Artcard sensor	In	1
	Paper pull sensor	In	1
	Orientation sensor	In	2
	Buttons	In	4
		TOTAL	36

VLIW Input and Output FIFOs 78, 79

The VLIW Input and Output FIFOs are 8 bit wide FIFOs used for communicating between processes and the VLIW Vector Processor 74. Both FIFOs are under the control of the VLIW Vector Processor 74, but can be cleared and queried (e.g. for status) etc by the CPU.

VLIW Input FIFO 78

A client writes 8-bit data to the VLIW Input FIFO 78 in order to have the data processed by the VLIW Vector Processor 74. Clients include the Image Sensor Interface, Artcard Interface, and CPU. Each of these processes is able to offload processing by simply writing the data to the FIFO, and letting the VLIW Vector Processor 74 do all the hard work. An example of the use of a client's use of the VLIW Input FIFO 78 is the Image Sensor Interface (ISI 83). The ISI 83 takes data from the Image Sensor and writes it to the FIFO. A VLIW process takes it from the FIFO, transforming it into the correct image data format, and writing it out to DRAM. The ISI 83 becomes much simpler as a result.

VLIW Output FIFO 79

The VLIW Vector Processor 74 writes 8-bit data to the VLIW Output FIFO 79 where clients can read it. Clients include the Print Head Interface and the CPU. Both of these clients is able to offload processing by simply reading the already processed data from the FIFO, and letting the VLIW Vector Processor 74 do all the hard work. The CPU can also be interrupted whenever data is placed into the VLIW Output FIFO 79, allowing it to only process the data as it becomes available rather than polling the FIFO continuously. An example of the use of a client's use of the VLIW Output FIFO 79 is the Print Head Interface (PHI 62). A VLIW process takes an image, rotates it to the correct orientation, color converts it, and dithers the resulting image according to the print head requirements. The PHI 62 reads the dithered formatted 8-bit data from the VLIW Output FIFO 79 and simply passes it on to the Print Head external to the ACP 31. The PHI 62 becomes much simpler as a result.

VLIW Vector Processor 74

To achieve the high processing requirements of Artcam, the ACP 31 contains a VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) Vector Processor. The VLIW processor is a set of 4 identical Processing Units (PU e.g 178) working in parallel, connected by a crossbar switch 183. Each PU e.g 178 can perform four 8-bit multiplications, eight 8-bit additions, three 32-bit additions, I/O processing, and various logical operations in each cycle. The PUs e.g 178 are microcoded, and each has two Address Generators 189, 190 to allow full use of available cycles for data processing. The four PUs e.g 178 are normally synchronized to provide a tightly interacting VLIW processor. Clocking at 200 MHz, the VLIW Vector Processor 74 runs at 12 Gops (12 billion operations per second). Instructions are tuned for image processing functions such as warping, artistic brushing, complex synthetic illumination, color transforms, image filtering, and compositing. These are accelerated by two orders of magnitude over desktop computers.

Turning now to FIG. 4, the auto exposure setting information 101 is utilised in conjunction with the stored image 102 to process the image by utilising the ACP. The processed image is returned to the memory store for later printing out 104 on the output printer.

A number of processing steps can be undertaken in accordance with the determined light conditions. Where the auto exposure setting 1 indicates that the image was taken in a low light condition, the image pixel colours are selectively re-mapped so as to make the image colours stronger, deeper and richer.

Where the auto exposure information indicates that highlight conditions were present when the image was taken, the image colours can be processed to make them brighter and more saturated. The re-colouring of the image can be undertaken by conversion of the image to a hue-saturation-value (HSV) format and an alteration of pixel values in accordance with requirements. The pixel values can then be output converted to the required output colour format of printing.

Of course, many different re-colouring techniques may be utilised. Preferably, the techniques are clearly illustrated on the pre-requisite Artcard inserted into the reader. Alternatively, the image processing algorithms can be automatically applied and hard-wired into the camera for utilization in certain conditions.

Alternatively, the Artcard inserted could have a number of manipulations applied to the image which are specific to the auto-exposure setting. For example, clip arts containing candles etc could be inserted in a dark image and large suns inserted in bright images.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 to 8, the Artcam prints the images onto media stored in a replaceable print roll 105. In some preferred embodiments, the operation of the camera device is such that when a series of images is printed on a first surface of the print roll, the corresponding backing surface has a ready made postcard which can be immediately dispatched at the nearest post office box within the jurisdiction. In this way, personalized postcards can be created.

It would be evident that when utilising the postcard system as illustrated FIG. 5 only predetermined image sizes are possible as the synchronization between the backing postcard portion and the front image must be maintained. This can be achieved by utilising the memory portions of the authentication chip stored within the print roll 105 to store details of the length of each postcard backing format sheet. This can be achieved by either having each postcard the same size or by storing each size within the print rolls on-board print chip memory.

In an alternative embodiment, there is provided a modified form of print roll which can be constructed mostly from injection moulded plastic pieces suitably snapped fitted together. The modified form of print roll has a high ink storage capacity in addition to a somewhat simplified construction. The print media onto which the image is to be printed is wrapped around a plastic sleeve former for simplified construction. The ink media reservoir has a series of air vents which are constructed so as to minimise the opportunities for the ink flow out of the air vents. Further, a rubber seal is provided for the ink outlet holes with the rubber seal being pierced on insertion of the print roll into a camera system. Further, the print roll includes a print media ejection slot and the ejection slot includes a surrounding moulded surface which provides and assists in the accurate positioning of the print media ejection slot relative to the printhead within the printing or camera system.

Turning to FIG. 6 there is illustrated a single point roll unit 105 in an assembled form with a partial cutaway showing internal portions of the print roll. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 illustrate left and right side exploded perspective views respectively. The print roll 105 is constructed around the internal core portion 106 which contains an internal ink supply. Outside of the core portion 106 is provided a former 107 around which is wrapped a paper or film supply 108. Around the paper supply it is constructed two cover pieces 109, 110 which snap together around the print roll so as to form a covering unit as illustrated in FIG. 6. The bottom cover piece 110 includes a slot 111 through which the output of the print media 112 for interconnection with the camera system.

Two pinch rollers 113, 114 are provided to pinch the paper against a drive pinch roller 115 so they together provide for a decurling of the paper around the roller 115. The decurling acts to negate the strong curl that may be imparted to the paper from being stored in the form of print roll for an extended period of time. The rollers 113, 114 are provided to form a snap fit with end portions of the cover base portion 110 and the roller 115 which includes a cogged end 116 for driving, snap fits into the upper cover piece 109 so as to pinch the paper 112 firmly between.

The cover pieces 109, 110 includes an end protuberance or lip 117. The end lip 117 is provided for accurately alignment of the exit hole of the paper with a corresponding printing heat platen structure within the camera system. In this way, accurate alignment or positioning of the exiting paper relative to an adjacent printhead is provided for full guidance of the paper to the printhead.

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.

The present invention is best utilized in the Artcam device, the details of which are set out in the following paragraphs.

Ink Jet Technologies

The embodiments of the invention use an ink jet 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 to produce a vapor bubble which expels the ink. Water has a very high heat capacity, and must be superheated in thermal inkjet 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.

Ideally, the inkjet technologies used meet the stringent requirements of in-camera digital color printing and other high quality, high speed, low cost printing applications. To meet the requirements of digital photography, new inkjet technologies have been created. The target features include:

low power (less than 10 Watts)

high resolution capability (1,600 dpi or more)

photographic quality output

low manufacturing cost

small size (pagewidth times minimum cross section)

high speed (<2 seconds per page).

All of these features can be met or exceeded by the inkjet systems described below with differing levels of difficulty. 45 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 one-time 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 IJ38, which is 0.35 mm wide, giving a chip area of 35 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
IJ01US	6,227,652	Radiant Plunger Ink Jet Printer
IJ02US	6,213,588	Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer
IJ03US	6,213,589	Planar Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet
IJ04US	6,231,163	Stacked Electrostatic Ink Jet Printer
IJ05US	6,247,795	Reverse Spring Lever Ink Jet Printer
IJ06US	6,394,581	Paddle Type Ink Jet Printer
IJ07US	6,244,691	Permanent Magnet Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer
IJ08US	6,257,704	Planar Swing Grill Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer
IJ09US	6,416,168	Pump Action Refill Ink Jet Printer
IJ10US	6,220,694	Pulsed Magnetic Field Ink Jet Printer
IJ11US	6,257,705	Two Plate Reverse Firing Electromagnetic Ink Jet
		Printer
IJ12US	6,247,794	Linear Stepper Actuator Ink Jet Printer
IJ13US	6,234,610	Gear Driven Shutter Ink Jet Printer
IJ14US	6,247,793	Tapered Magnetic Pole Electromagnetic Ink Jet
		Printer
IJ15US	6,264,306	Linear Spring Electromagnetic Grill Ink Jet Printer
IJ16US	6,241,342	Lorenz Diaphragm Electromagnetic Ink Jet Printer
IJ17US	6,247,792	PTFE Surface Shooting Shuttered Oscillating
		Pressure Ink Jet Printer
IJ18US	6,264,307	Buckle Grip Oscillating Pressure Ink Jet Printer
IJ19US	6,254,220	Shutter Based Ink Jet Printer
IJ20US	6,234,611	Curling Calyx Thermoelastic Ink Jet Printer
IJ21US	6,302,528	Thermal Actuated Ink Jet Printer
IJ22US	6,283,582	Iris Motion Ink Jet Printer
IJ23US	6,239,821	Direct Firing Thermal Bend Actuator Ink Jet Printer
IJ24US	6,338,547	Conductive PTFE Ben Activator Vented Ink Jet
		Printer
IJ25US	6,247,796	Magnetostrictive Ink Jet Printer
IJ26US	6,557,977	Shape Memory Alloy Ink Jet Printer
IJ27US	6,390,603	Buckle Plate Ink Jet Printer
IJ28US	6,362,843	Thermal Elastic Rotary Impeller Ink Jet Printer
IJ29US	6,293,653	Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Ink Jet Printer
IJ30US	6,312,107	Thermoelastic Bend Actuator Using PTFE and
		Corrugated Copper Ink Jet Printer
IJ31US	6,227,653	Bend Actuator Direct Ink Supply Ink Jet Printer
IJ32US	6,234,609	A High Young's Modulus Thermoelastic Ink Jet
		Printer
IJ33US	6,238,040	Thermally actuated slotted chamber wall ink jet
		printer
IJ34US	6,188,415	Ink Jet Printer having a thermal actuator comprising
		an external coiled spring
IJ35US	6,227,654	Trough Container Ink Jet Printer
IJ36US	6,209,989	Dual Chamber Single Vertical Actuator Ink Jet
IJ37US	6,247,791	Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Fulcrum Actuator
		Ink Jet
IJ38US	6,336,710	Dual Nozzle Single Horizontal Actuator Ink Jet
IJ39US	6,217,153	A single bend actuator cupped paddle ink jet
		printing device
IJ40US	6,416,167	A thermally actuated ink jet printer having a series
		of thermal actuator units
IJ41US	6,243,113	A thermally actuated ink jet printer including a
		tapered heater element
IJ42US	6,283,581	Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic Ink Jet
IJ43US	6,247,790	Inverted Radial Back-Curling Thermoelastic Ink Jet
IJ44US	6,260,953	Surface bend actuator vented ink supply ink jet
		printer
IJ45US	6,267,469	Coil Acutuated Magnetic Plate Ink Jet Printer

Tables of Drop-on-Demand Inkjets

Eleven important characteristics of the fundamental operation of individual inkjet nozzles have been identified. These characteristics 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.

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

Actuator mechanism (18 types)

Basic operation mode (7 types)

Auxiliary mechanism (8 types)

Actuator amplification or modification method (17 types)

Actuator motion (19 types)

Nozzle refill method (4 types)

Method of restricting back-flow through inlet (10 types)

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 IJ01 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 IJ01 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, Internet 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.

ACTUATOR MECHANISM (APPLIED ONLY TO SELECTED INK DROPS)

Actuator Mechanism	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Thermal bubble	An electrothermal heater heats the ink to	Large force generated	High power	Canon Bubblejet 1979
	above boiling point, transferring	Simple construction	Ink carrier limited to water	Endo et al GB patent
	significant heat to the aqueous ink. A	No moving parts	Low efficiency	2,007,162
	bubble nucleates and quickly forms,	Fast operation	High temperatures required	Xerox heater-in-pit 1990
	expelling the ink.	Small chip area required for	High mechanical stress	Hawkins et al U.S. Pat. No.
	The efficiency of the process is low, with	actuator	Unusual materials required	4,899,181
	typically less than 0.05% of the electrical		Large drive transistors	Hewlett-Packard TIJ 1982
	energy being transformed into kinetic		Cavitation causes actuator failure	Vaught et al U.S. Pat. No.
	energy of the drop.		Kogation reduces bubble formation	4,490,728
			Large print heads are difficult to fabricate
Piezoelectric	A piezoelectric crystal such as lead	Low power consumption	Very large area required for actuator	Kyser et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398
	lanthanum zirconate (PZT) is electrically	Many ink types can be used	Difficult to integrate with electronics	Zoltan U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,212
	activated, and either expands, shears, or	Fast operation	High voltage drive transistors required	1973 Stemme U.S. Pat. No.
	bends to apply pressure to the ink,	High efficiency	Full pagewidth print heads impractical due to	3,747,120
	ejecting drops.		actuator size	Epson Stylus
			Requires electrical poling in high field	Tektronix
			strengths during manufacture	IJ04
Electro-strictive	An electric field is used to activate	Low power consumption	Low maximum strain (approx. 0.01%)	Seiko Epson, Usui et all JP
	electrostriction in relaxor materials such	Many ink types can be used	Large area required for actuator due to low	253401/96
	as lead lanthanum zirconate titanate	Low thermal expansion	strain	IJ04
	(PLZT) or lead magnesium niobate	Electric field strength required	Response speed is marginal (~10 μs)
	(PMN).	(approx. 3.5 V/μm) can be	High voltage drive transistors required
		generated without difficulty	Full pagewidth print heads impractical due to actuator size
		Does not require electrical poling
Ferroelectric	An electric field is used to induce a	Low power consumption	Difficult to integrate with electronics	IJ04
	phase transition between the	Many ink types can be used	Unusual materials such as PLZSnT are
	antiferroelectric (AFE) and ferroelectric	Fast operation (<1 μs)	required
	(FE) phase. Perovskite materials such as	Relatively high longitudinal strain	Actuators require a large area
	tin modified lead lanthanum zirconate	High efficiency
	titanate (PLZSnT) exhibit large strains of	Electric field strength of around 3 V/μm
	up to 1% associated with the AFE to FE	can be readily provided
	phase transition.
Electrostatic	Conductive plates are separated by a	Low power consumption	Difficult to operate electrostatic devices in an	IJ02, IJ04
plates	compressible or fluid dielectric (usually	Many ink types can be used	aqueous environment
	air). Upon application of a voltage, the	Fast operation	The electrostatic actuator will normally need
	plates attract each other and displace ink,		to be separated from the ink
	causing drop ejection. The conductive		Very large area required to achieve high
	plates may be in a comb or honeycomb		forces
	structure, or stacked to increase the		High voltage drive transistors may be required
	surface area and therefore the force.		Full pagewidth print heads are not competitive
			due to actuator size
Electrostatic	A strong electric field is applied to the	Low current consumption	High voltage required	1989 Saito et al, U.S. Pat. No.
pull on ink	ink, whereupon electrostatic attraction	Low temperature	May be damaged by sparks due to air	4,799,068
	accelerates the ink towards the print		breakdown	1989 Miura et al, U.S. Pat. No.
	medium.		Required field strength increases as the drop	4,810,954
			size decreases	Tone-jet
			High voltage drive transistors required
			Electrostatic field attracts dust
Permanent	An electromagnet directly attracts a	Low power consumption	Complex fabrication	IJ07, IJ10
magnet electro-	permanent magnet, displacing ink and	Many ink types can be used	Permanent magnetic material such as
magnetic	causing drop ejection. Rare earth	Fast operation	Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) required.
	magnets with a field strength around 1	High efficiency	High local currents required
	Tesla can be used. Examples are:	Easy extension from single	Copper metalization should be used for long
	Samarium Cobalt (SaCo) and magnetic	nozzles to pagewidth print	electromigration lifetime and low
	materials in the neodymium iron boron	heads	resistivity
	family (NdFeB, NdDyFeBNb,		Pigmented inks are usually infeasible
	NdDyFeB, etc)		Operating temperature limited to the Curie
			temperature (around 540 K)
Soft magnetic	A solenoid induced a magnetic field in a	Low power consumption	Complex fabrication	IJ01, IJ05, IJ08, IJ10
core electro-	soft magnetic core or yoke fabricated	Many ink types can be used	Materials not usually present in a CMOS fab	IJ12, IJ14, IJ15, IJ17
magnetic	from a ferrous material such as	Fast operation	such as NiFe, CoNiFe, or CoFe are
	electroplated iron alloys such as CoNiFe	High efficiency	required
	[1], CoFe, or NiFe alloys. Typically, the	Easy extension from single	High local currents required
	soft magnetic material is in two parts,	nozzles to pagewidth print	Copper metalization should be used for long
	which are normally held apart by a	heads	electromigration lifetime and low
	spring. When the solenoid is actuated,		resistivity
	the two parts attract, displacing the ink.		Electroplating is required
			High saturation flux density is required (2.0-2.1
			T is achievable with CoNiFe [1])
Magnetic	The Lorenz force acting on a current	Low power consumption	Force acts as a twisting motion	IJ06, IJ11, IJ13, IJ16
Lorenz force	carrying wire in a magnetic field is	Many ink types can be used	Typically, only a quarter of the solenoid
	utilized.	Fast operation	length provides force in a useful direction
	This allows the magnetic field to be	High efficiency	High local currents required
	supplied externally to the print head, for	Easy extension from single	Copper metalization should be used for long
	example with rare earth permanent	nozzles to pagewidth print	electromigration lifetime and low
	magnets.	heads	resistivity
	Only the current carrying wire need be		Pigmented inks are usually infeasible
	fabricated on the print-head, simplifying
	materials requirements.
Magneto-	The actuator uses the giant	Many ink types can be used	Force acts as a twisting motion	Fischenbeck, U.S. Pat. No.
striction	magnetostrictive effect of materials such	Fast operation	Unusual materials such as Terfenol-D are	4,032,929
	as Terfenol-D (an alloy of terbium,	Easy extension from single	required	IJ25
	dysprosium and iron developed at the	nozzles to pagewidth print	High local currents required
	Naval Ordnance Laboratory, hence Ter-	heads	Copper metalization should be used for long
	Fe-NOL). For best efficiency, the	High force is available	electromigration lifetime and low
	actuator should be pre-stressed to		resistivity
	approx. 8 MPa.		Pre-stressing may be required
Surface tension	Ink under positive pressure is held in a	Low power consumption	Requires supplementary force to effect drop	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
reduction	nozzle by surface tension. The surface	Simple construction	separation	A2 and related patent
	tension of the ink is reduced below the	No unusual materials required in	Requires special ink surfactants	applications
	bubble threshold, causing the ink to	fabrication	Speed may be limited by surfactant properties
	egress from the nozzle.	High efficiency
		Easy extension from single
		nozzles to pagewidth print
		heads
Viscosity	The ink viscosity is locally reduced to	Simple construction	Requires supplementary force to effect drop	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
reduction	select which drops are to be ejected. A	No unusual materials required in	separation	A2 and related patent
	viscosity reduction can be achieved	fabrication	Requires special ink viscosity properties	applications
	electrothermally with most inks, but	Easy extension from single	High speed is difficult to achieve
	special inks can be engineered for a	nozzles to pagewidth print	Requires oscillating ink pressure
	100:1 viscosity reduction.	heads	A high temperature difference (typically 80
			degrees) is required
Acoustic	An acoustic wave is generated and	Can operate without a nozzle	Complex drive circuitry	1993 Hadimioglu et al,
	focussed upon the drop ejection region.	plate	Complex fabrication	EUP 550,192
			Low efficiency	1993 Elrod et al, EUP
			Poor control of drop position	572,220
			Poor control of drop volume
Thermoelastic	An actuator which relies upon	Low power consumption	Efficient aqueous operation requires a thermal	IJ03, IJ09, IJ17, IJ18
bend actuator	differential thermal expansion upon	Many ink types can be used	insulator on the hot side	IJ19, IJ20, IJ21, IJ22
	Joule heating is used.	Simple planar fabrication	Corrosion prevention can be difficult	IJ23, IJ24, IJ27, IJ28
		Small chip area required for each	Pigmented inks may be infeasible, as pigment	IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32
		actuator	particles may jam the bend actuator	IJ33, IJ34, IJ35, IJ36
		Fast operation		IJ37, IJ38, IJ39, IJ40
		High efficiency		IJ41
		CMOS compatible voltages and
		currents
		Standard MEMS processes can be
		used
		Easy extension from single
		nozzles to pagewidth print
		heads
High CTE	A material with a very high coefficient of	High force can be generated	Requires special material (e.g. PTFE)	IJ09, IJ17, IJ18, IJ20
thermoelastic	thermal expansion (CTE) such as	PTFE is a candidate for low	Requires a PTFE deposition process, which is	IJ21, IJ22, IJ23, IJ24
actuator	polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used.	dielectric constant insulation in	not yet standard in ULSI fabs	IJ27, IJ28, IJ29, IJ30
	As high CTE materials are usually non-	ULSI	PTFE deposition cannot be followed with high	IJ31, IJ42, IJ43, IJ44
	conductive, a heater fabricated from a	Very low power consumption	temperature (above 350° C.) processing
	conductive material is incorporated. A 50 μm	Many ink types can be used	Pigmented inks may be infeasible, as pigment
	long PTFE bend actuator with	Simple planar fabrication	particles may jam the bend actuator
	polysilicon heater and 15 mW power	Small chip area required for each
	input can provide 180 μN force and 10 μm	actuator
	deflection. Actuator motions include:	Fast operation
	1) Bend	High efficiency
	2) Push	CMOS compatible voltages and
	3) Buckle	currents
	4) Rotate	Easy extension from single
		nozzles to pagewidth print
		heads
Conductive	A polymer with a high coefficient of	High force can be generated	Requires special materials development (High	IJ24
polymer	thermal expansion (such as PTFE) is	Very low power consumption	CTE conductive polymer)
thermoelastic	doped with conducting substances to	Many ink types can be used	Requires a PTFE deposition process, which is
actuator	increase its conductivity to about 3	Simple planar fabrication	not yet standard in ULSI fabs
	orders of magnitude below that of	Small chip area required for each	PTFE deposition cannot be followed with high
	copper. The conducting polymer expands	actuator	temperature (above 350° C.) processing
	when resistively heated.	Fast operation	Evaporation and CVD deposition techniques
	Examples of conducting dopants include:	High efficiency	cannot be used
	1) Carbon nanotubes	CMOS compatible voltages and	Pigmented inks may be infeasible, as pigment
	2) Metal fibers	currents	particles may jam the bend actuator
	3) Conductive polymers such as doped	Easy extension from single
	polythiophene	nozzles to pagewidth print
	4) Carbon granules	heads
Shape memory	A shape memory alloy such as TiNi (also	High force is available (stresses of	Fatigue limits maximum number of cycles	IJ26
alloy	known as Nitinol —Nickel Titanium alloy	hundreds of MPa)	Low strain (1%) is required to extend fatigue
	developed at the Naval Ordnance	Large strain is available (more	resistance
	Laboratory) is thermally switched	than 3%)	Cycle rate limited by heat removal
	between its weak martensitic state and its	High corrosion resistance	Requires unusual materials (TiNi)
	high stiffness austenic state. The shape of	Simple construction	The latent heat of transformation must be
	the actuator in its martensitic state is	Easy extension from single	provided
	deformed relative to the austenic shape.	nozzles to pagewidth print	High current operation
	The shape change causes ejection of a	heads	Requires pre-stressing to distort the
	drop.	Low voltage operation	martensitic state
Linear Magnetic	Linear magnetic actuators include the	Linear Magnetic actuators can be	Requires unusual semiconductor materials	IJ12
Actuator	Linear Induction Actuator (LIA), Linear	constructed with high thrust,	such as soft magnetic alloys (e.g. CoNiFe
	Permanent Magnet Synchronous	long travel, and high efficiency	[1])
	Actuator (LPMSA), Linear Reluctance	using planar semiconductor	Some varieties also require permanent
	Synchronous Actuator (LRSA), Linear	fabrication techniques	magnetic materials such as Neodymium
	Switched Reluctance Actuator (LSRA),	Long actuator travel is available	iron boron (NdFeB)
	and the Linear Stepper Actuator (LSA).	Medium force is available	Requires complex multi-phase drive circuitry
		Low voltage operation	High current operation

BASIC OPERATION MODE

Operational
mode	Description	Advantages
Actuator directly	This is the simplest mode of operation:	Simple operation
pushes ink	the actuator directly supplies sufficient	No external fields required
	kinetic energy to expel the drop. The	Satellite drops can be avoided if
	drop must have a sufficient velocity to	drop velocity is less than 4 m/s
	overcome the surface tension.	Can be efficient, depending upon
		the actuator used
Proximity	The drops to be printed are selected by	Very simple print head fabrication
	some manner (e.g. thermally induced	can be used
	surface tension reduction of pressurized	The drop selection means does
	ink). Selected drops are separated from	not need to provide the energy
	the ink in the nozzle by contact with the	required to separate the drop
	print medium or a transfer roller.	from the nozzle
Electrostatic	The drops to be printed are selected by	Very simple print head fabrication
pull on ink	some manner (e.g. thermally induced	can be used
	surface tension reduction of pressurized	The drop selection means does
	ink). Selected drops are separated from	not need to provide the energy
	the ink in the nozzle by a strong electric	required to separate the drop
	field.	from the nozzle
Magnetic pull on	The drops to be printed are selected by	Very simple print head fabrication
ink	some manner (e.g. thermally induced	can be used
	surface tension reduction of pressurized	The drop selection means does
	ink). Selected drops are separated from	not need to provide the energy
	the ink in the nozzle by a strong	required to separate the drop
	magnetic field acting on the magnetic	from the nozzle
	ink.
Shutter	The actuator moves a shutter to block ink	High speed (>50 KHz) operation
	flow to the nozzle. The ink pressure is	can be achieved due to reduced
	pulsed at a multiple of the drop ejection	refill time
	frequency.	Drop timing can be very accurate
		The actuator energy can be very
		low
Shuttered grill	The actuator moves a shutter to block ink	Actuators with small travel can be
	flow through a grill to the nozzle. The	used
	shutter movement need only be equal to	Actuators with small force can be
	the width of the grill holes.	used
		High speed (>50 KHz) operation
		can be achieved
Pulsed magnetic	A pulsed magnetic field attracts an ‘ink	Extremely low energy operation
pull on ink	pusher’ at the drop ejection frequency.	is possible
pusher	An actuator controls a catch, which	No heat dissipation problems
	prevents the ink pusher from moving
	when a drop is not to be ejected.

Operational
mode	Disadvantages	Examples
Actuator directly	Drop repetition rate is usually limited to less	Thermal inkjet
pushes ink	than 10 KHz. However, this is not	Piezoelectric inkjet
	fundamental to the method, but is related to	IJ01, IJ02, IJ03, IJ04
	the refill method normally used	IJ05, IJ06, IJ07, IJ09
	All of the drop kinetic energy must be	IJ11, IJ12, IJ14, IJ16
	provided by the actuator	IJ20, IJ22, IJ23, IJ24
	Satellite drops usually form if drop velocity is	IJ25, IJ26, IJ27, IJ28
	greater than 4.5 m/s	IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32
		IJ33, IJ34, IJ35, IJ36
		IJ37, IJ38, IJ39, IJ40
		IJ41, IJ42, IJ43, IJ44
Proximity	Requires close proximity between the print	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	head and the print media or transfer roller	A2 and related patent
	May require two print heads printing alternate	applications
	rows of the image
	Monolithic color print heads are difficult
Electrostatic	Requires very high electrostatic field	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
pull on ink	Electrostatic field for small nozzle sizes is	A2 and related patent
	above air breakdown	applications
	Electrostatic field may attract dust	Tone-Jet
Magnetic pull on	Requires magnetic ink	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
ink	Ink colors other than black are difficult	A2 and related patent
	Requires very high magnetic fields	applications
Shutter	Moving parts are required	IJ13, IJ17, IJ21
	Requires ink pressure modulator
	Friction and wear must be considered
	Stiction is possible
Shuttered grill	Moving parts are required	IJ08, IJ15, IJ18, IJ19
	Requires ink pressure modulator
	Friction and wear must be considered
	Stiction is possible
Pulsed magnetic	Requires an external pulsed magnetic field	IJ10
pull on ink	Requires special materials for both the
pusher	actuator and the ink pusher
	Complex construction

AUXILIARY MECHANISM (APPLIED TO ALL NOZZLES)

Auxiliary
Mechanism	Description	Advantages
None	The actuator directly fires the ink drop,	Simplicity of construction
	and there is no external field or other	Simplicity of operation
	mechanism required.	Small physical size
Oscillating ink	The ink pressure oscillates, providing	Oscillating ink pressure can
pressure	much of the drop ejection energy. The	provide a refill pulse, allowing
(including	actuator selects which drops are to be	higher operating speed
acoustic	fired by selectively blocking or enabling	The actuators may operate with
stimulation)	nozzles. The ink pressure oscillation may	much lower energy
	be achieved by vibrating the print head,	Acoustic lenses can be used to
	or preferably by an actuator in the ink	focus the sound on the nozzles
	supply.
Media proximity	The print head is placed in close	Low power
	proximity to the print medium. Selected	High accuracy
	drops protrude from the print head	Simple print head construction
	further than unselected drops, and
	contact the print medium. The drop soaks
	into the medium fast enough to cause
	drop separation.
Transfer roller	Drops are printed to a transfer roller	High accuracy
	instead of straight to the print medium. A	Wide range of print substrates can
	transfer roller can also be used for	be used
	proximity drop separation.	Ink can be dried on the transfer
		roller
Electrostatic	An electric field is used to accelerate	Low power
	selected drops towards the print medium.	Simple print head construction
Direct magnetic	A magnetic field is used to accelerate	Low power
field	selected drops of magnetic ink towards	Simple print head construction
	the print medium.
Cross magnetic	The print head is placed in a constant	Does not require magnetic
field	magnetic field. The Lorenz force in a	materials to be integrated in
	current carrying wire is used to move the	the print head manufacturing
	actuator.	process
Pulsed magnetic	A pulsed magnetic field is used to	Very low power operation is
field	cyclically attract a paddle, which pushes	possible
	on the ink. A small actuator moves a	Small print head size
	catch, which selectively prevents the
	paddle from moving.

Auxiliary
Mechanism	Disadvantages	Examples
None	Drop ejection energy must be supplied by	Most inkjets, including
	individual nozzle actuator	piezoelectric and
		thermal bubble.
		IJ01-IJ07, IJ09, IJ11
		IJ12, IJ14, IJ20, IJ22
		IJ23-IJ45
Oscillating ink	Requires external ink pressure oscillator	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
pressure	Ink pressure phase and amplitude must be	A2 and related patent
(including	carefully controlled	applications
acoustic	Acoustic reflections in the ink chamber must	IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17
stimulation)	be designed for	IJ18, IJ19, IJ21
Media proximity	Precision assembly required	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	Paper fibers may cause problems	A2 and related patent
	Cannot print on rough substrates	applications
Transfer roller	Bulky	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	Expensive	A2 and related patent
	Complex construction	applications
		Tektronix hot melt
		piezoelectric inkjet
		Any of the IJ series
Electrostatic	Field strength required for separation of small	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	drops is near or above air breakdown	A2 and related patent
		applications
		Tone-Jet
Direct magnetic	Requires magnetic ink	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
field	Requires strong magnetic field	A2 and related patent
		applications
Cross magnetic	Requires external magnet	IJ06, IJ16
field	Current densities may be high, resulting in
	electromigration problems
Pulsed magnetic	Complex print head construction	IJ10
field	Magnetic materials required in print head

ACTUATOR AMPLIFICATION OR MODIFICATION METHOD

Actuator
amplification	Description	Advantages
None	No actuator mechanical amplification is	Operational simplicity
	used. The actuator directly drives the
	drop ejection process.
Differential	An actuator material expands more on	Provides greater travel in a
expansion bend	one side than on the other. The	reduced print head area
actuator	expansion may be thermal, piezoelectric,	The bend actuator converts a high
	magnetostrictive, or other mechanism.	force low travel actuator
		mechanism to high travel,
		lower force mechanism.
Transient bend	A trilayer bend actuator where the two	Very good temperature stability
actuator	outside layers are identical. This cancels	High speed, as a new drop can be
	bend due to ambient temperature and	fired before heat dissipates
	residual stress. The actuator only	Cancels residual stress of
	responds to transient heating of one side	formation
	or the other.
Actuator stack	A series of thin actuators are stacked.	Increased travel
	This can be appropriate where actuators	Reduced drive voltage
	require high electric field strength, such
	as electrostatic and piezoelectric
	actuators.
Multiple	Multiple smaller actuators are used	Increases the force available from
actuators	simultaneously to move the ink. Each	an actuator
	actuator need provide only a portion of	Multiple actuators can be
	the force required.	positioned to control ink flow
		accurately
Linear Spring	A linear spring is used to transform a	Matches low travel actuator with
	motion with small travel and high force	higher travel requirements
	into a longer travel, lower force motion.	Non-contact method of motion
		transformation
Reverse spring	The actuator loads a spring. When the	Better coupling to the ink
	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.
Coiled actuator	A bend actuator is coiled to provide	Increases travel
	greater travel in a reduced chip area.	Reduces chip area
		Planar implementations are
		relatively easy to fabricate.
Flexure bend	A bend actuator has a small region near	Simple means of increasing travel
actuator	the fixture point, which flexes much	of a bend actuator
	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	Gears can be used to increase travel at	Low force, low travel actuators
	the expense of duration. Circular gears,	can be used
	rack and pinion, ratchets, and other	Can be fabricated using standard
	gearing methods can be used.	surface MEMS processes
Catch	The actuator controls a small catch. The	Very low actuator energy
	catch either enables or disables	Very small actuator size
	movement of an ink pusher that is
	controlled in a bulk manner.
Buckle plate	A buckle plate can be used to change a	Very fast movement achievable
	slow actuator into a fast motion. It can
	also convert a high force, low travel
	actuator into a high travel, medium force
	motion.
Tapered	A tapered magnetic pole can increase	Linearizes the magnetic
magnetic pole	travel at the expense of force.	force/distance curve
Lever	A lever and fulcrum is used to transform	Matches low travel actuator with
	a motion with small travel and high force	higher travel requirements
	into a motion with longer travel and	Fulcrum area has no linear
	lower force. The lever can also reverse	movement, and can be used for
	the direction of travel.	a fluid seal
Rotary impeller	The actuator is connected to a rotary	High mechanical advantage
	impeller. A small angular deflection of	The ratio of force to travel of the
	the actuator results in a rotation of the	actuator can be matched to the
	impeller vanes, which push the ink	nozzle requirements by
	against stationary vanes and out of the	varying the number of impeller
	nozzle.	vanes
Acoustic lens	A refractive or diffractive (e.g. zone	No moving parts
	plate) acoustic lens is used to concentrate
	sound waves.
Sharp	A sharp point is used to concentrate an	Simple construction
conductive	electrostatic field.
point

Actuator
amplification	Disadvantages	Examples
None	Many actuator mechanisms have insufficient	Thermal Bubble Inkjet
	travel, or insufficient force, to efficiently	IJ01, IJ02, IJ06, IJ07
	drive the drop ejection process	IJ16, IJ25, IJ26
Differential	High stresses are involved	Piezoelectric
expansion bend	Care must be taken that the materials do not	IJ03, IJ09, IJ17-IJ24
actuator	delaminate	IJ27, IJ29-IJ39, IJ42,
	Residual bend resulting from high temperature	IJ43, IJ44
	or high stress during formation
Transient bend	High stresses are involved	IJ40, IJ41
actuator	Care must be taken that the materials do not
	delaminate
Actuator stack	Increased fabrication complexity	Some piezoelectric ink jets
	Increased possibility of short circuits due to	IJ04
	pinholes
Multiple	Actuator forces may not add linearly, reducing	IJ12, IJ13, IJ18, IJ20
actuators	efficiency	IJ22, IJ28, IJ42, IJ43
Linear Spring	Requires print head area for the spring	IJ15
Reverse spring	Fabrication complexity	IJ05, IJ11
	High stress in the spring
Coiled actuator	Generally restricted to planar implementations	IJ17, IJ21, IJ34, IJ35
	due to extreme fabrication difficulty in
	other orientations.
Flexure bend	Care must be taken not to exceed the elastic	IJ10, IJ19, IJ33
actuator	limit in the flexure area
	Stress distribution is very uneven
	Difficult to accurately model with finite
	element analysis
Gears	Moving parts are required	IJ13
	Several actuator cycles are required
	More complex drive electronics
	Complex construction
	Friction, friction, and wear are possible
Catch	Complex construction	IJ10
	Requires external force
	Unsuitable for pigmented inks
Buckle plate	Must stay within elastic limits of the materials	S. Hirata et al, “An Ink-jet
	for long device life	Head ...”, Proc. IEEE
	High stresses involved	MEMS, February 1996, pp
	Generally high power requirement	418-423.
		IJ18, IJ27
Tapered	Complex construction	IJ14
magnetic pole
Lever	High stress around the fulcrum	IJ32, IJ36, IJ37
Rotary impeller	Complex construction	IJ28
	Unsuitable for pigmented inks
Acoustic lens	Large area required	1993 Hadimioglu et al,
	Only relevant for acoustic ink jets	EUP 550,192
		1993 Elrod et al, EUP
		572,220
Sharp	Difficult to fabricate using standard VLSI	Tone-jet
conductive	processes for a surface ejecting ink-jet
point	Only relevant for electrostatic ink jets

ACTUATOR MOTION

Actuator motion	Description	Advantages
Volume	The volume of the actuator changes,	Simple construction in the case of
expansion	pushing the ink in all directions.	thermal ink jet
Linear, normal	The actuator moves in a direction normal	Efficient coupling to ink drops
to chip surface	to the print head surface. The nozzle is	ejected normal to the surface
	typically in the line of movement.
Linear, parallel	The actuator moves parallel to the print	Suitable for planar fabrication
to chip surface	head surface. Drop ejection may still be
	normal to the surface.
Membrane push	An actuator with a high force but small	The effective area of the actuator
	area is used to push a stiff membrane that	becomes the membrane area
	is in contact with the ink.
Rotary	The actuator causes the rotation of some	Rotary levers may be used to
	element, such a grill or impeller	increase travel
		Small chip area requirements
Bend	The actuator bends when energized. This	A very small change in
	may be due to differential thermal	dimensions can be converted to
	expansion, piezoelectric expansion,	a large motion.
	magnetostriction, or other form of
	relative dimensional change.
Swivel	The actuator swivels around a central	Allows operation where the net
	pivot. This motion is suitable where there	linear force on the paddle is
	are opposite forces applied to opposite	zero
	sides of the paddle, e.g. Lorenz force.	Small chip area requirements
Straighten	The actuator is normally bent, and	Can be used with shape memory
	straightens when energized.	alloys where the austenic phase
		is planar
Double bend	The actuator bends in one direction when	One actuator can be used to
	one element is energized, and bends the	power two nozzles.
	other way when another element is	Reduced chip size.
	energized.	Not sensitive to ambient
		temperature
Shear	Energizing the actuator causes a shear	Can increase the effective travel
	motion in the actuator material.	of piezoelectric actuators
Radial	The actuator squeezes an ink reservoir,	Relatively easy to fabricate single
constriction	forcing ink from a constricted nozzle.	nozzles from glass tubing as
		macroscopic structures
Coil/uncoil	A coiled actuator uncoils or coils more	Easy to fabricate as a planar VLSI
	tightly. The motion of the free end of the	process
	actuator ejects the ink.	Small area required, therefore low
		cost
Bow	The actuator bows (or buckles) in the	Can increase the speed of travel
	middle when energized.	Mechanically rigid
Push-Pull	Two actuators control a shutter. One	The structure is pinned at both
	actuator pulls the shutter, and the other	ends, so has a high out-of-
	pushes it.	plane rigidity
Curl inwards	A set of actuators curl inwards to reduce	Good fluid flow to the region
	the volume of ink that they enclose.	behind the actuator increases
		efficiency
Curl outwards	A set of actuators curl outwards,	Relatively simple construction
	pressurizing ink in a chamber
	surrounding the actuators, and expelling
	ink from a nozzle in the chamber.
Iris	Multiple vanes enclose a volume of ink.	High efficiency
	These simultaneously rotate, reducing	Small chip area
	the volume between the vanes.
Acoustic	The actuator vibrates at a high frequency.	The actuator can be physically
vibration		distant from the ink
None	In various ink jet designs the actuator	No moving parts
	does not move.

Actuator motion	Disadvantages	Examples
Volume	High energy is typically required to achieve	Hewlett-Packard Thermal
expansion	volume expansion. This leads to thermal	Inkjet
	stress, cavitation, and kogation in thermal	Canon Bubblejet
	ink jet implementations
Linear, normal	High fabrication complexity may be required	IJ01, IJ02, IJ04, IJ07
to chip surface	to achieve perpendicular motion	IJ11, IJ14
Linear, parallel	Fabrication complexity	IJ12, IJ13, IJ15, IJ33,
to chip surface	Friction	IJ34, IJ35, IJ36
	Stiction
Membrane push	Fabrication complexity	1982 Howkins U.S. Pat. No.
	Actuator size	4,459,601
	Difficulty of integration in a VLSI process
Rotary	Device complexity	IJ05, IJ08, IJ13, IJ28
	May have friction at a pivot point
Bend	Requires the actuator to be made from at least	1970 Kyser et al U.S. Pat. No.
	two distinct layers, or to have a thermal	3,946,398
	difference across the actuator	1973 Stemme U.S. Pat. No.
		3,747,120
		IJ03, IJ09, IJ10, IJ19
		IJ23, IJ24, IJ25, IJ29
		IJ30, IJ31, IJ33, IJ34
		IJ35
Swivel	Inefficient coupling to the ink motion	IJ06
Straighten	Requires careful balance of stresses to ensure	IJ26, IJ32
	that the quiescent bend is accurate
Double bend	Difficult to make the drops ejected by both	IJ36, IJ37, IJ38
	bend directions identical.
	A small efficiency loss compared to
	equivalent single bend actuators.
Shear	Not readily applicable to other actuator	1985 Fishbeck U.S. Pat. No.
	mechanisms	4,584,590
Radial	High force required	1970 Zoltan U.S. Pat. No.
constriction	Inefficient	3,683,212
	Difficult to integrate with VLSI processes
Coil/uncoil	Difficult to fabricate for non-planar devices	IJ17, IJ21, IJ34, IJ35
	Poor out-of-plane stiffness
Bow	Maximum travel is constrained	IJ16, IJ18, IJ27
	High force required
Push-Pull	Not readily suitable for inkjets which directly	IJ18
	push the ink
Curl inwards	Design complexity	IJ20, IJ42
Curl outwards	Relatively large chip area	IJ43
Iris	High fabrication complexity	IJ22
	Not suitable for pigmented inks
Acoustic	Large area required for efficient operation at	1993 Hadimioglu et al,
vibration	useful frequencies	EUP 550,192
	Acoustic coupling and crosstalk	1993 Elrod et al, EUP
	Complex drive circuitry	572,220
	Poor control of drop volume and position
None	Various other tradeoffs are required to	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	eliminate moving parts	A2 and related patent
		applications
		Tone-jet

NOZZLE REFILL METHOD

Nozzle refill
method	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Surface tension	After the actuator is energized, it	Fabrication simplicity	Low speed	Thermal inkjet
	typically returns rapidly to its normal	Operational simplicity	Surface tension force	Piezoelectric inkjet
	position. This rapid return sucks in air		relatively small compared to	IJ01-IJ07, IJ10-IJ14
	through the nozzle opening. The ink		actuator force	IJ16, IJ20, IJ22-IJ45
	surface tension at the nozzle then exerts a		Long refill time usually
	small force restoring the meniscus to a		dominates the total
	minimum area.		repetition rate
Shuttered	Ink to the nozzle chamber is provided at	High speed	Requires common ink	IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17
oscillating ink	a pressure that oscillates at twice the	Low actuator energy, as the	pressure oscillator	IJ18, IJ19, IJ21
pressure	drop ejection frequency. When a drop is	actuator need only open or	May not be suitable for
	to be ejected, the shutter is opened for 3	close the shutter, instead of	pigmented inks
	half cycles: drop ejection, actuator	ejecting the ink drop
	return, and refill.
Refill actuator	After the main actuator has ejected a	High speed, as the nozzle is	Requires two independent	IJ09
	drop a second (refill) actuator is	actively refilled	actuators per nozzle
	energized. The refill actuator pushes ink
	into the nozzle chamber. The refill
	actuator returns slowly, to prevent its
	return from emptying the chamber again.
Positive ink	The ink is held a slight positive pressure.	High refill rate, therefore a high	Surface spill must be	Silverbrook, EP
pressure	After the ink drop is ejected, the nozzle	drop repetition rate is possible	prevented	0771 658 A2 and related
	chamber fills quickly as surface tension		Highly hydrophobic print	patent applications
	and ink pressure both operate to refill the		head surfaces are required	Alternative for:
	nozzle.			IJ01-IJ07, IJ10-IJ14
				IJ16, IJ20, IJ22-IJ45

METHOD OF RESTRICTING BACK-FLOW THROUGH INLET

Inlet back-flow
restriction
method	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Long inlet	The ink inlet channel to the nozzle	Design simplicity	Restricts refill rate	Thermal inkjet
channel	chamber is made long and relatively	Operational simplicity	May result in a relatively	Piezoelectric inkjet
	narrow, relying on viscous drag to reduce	Reduces crosstalk	large chip area	IJ42, IJ43
	inlet back-flow.		Only partially effective
Positive ink	The ink is under a positive pressure, so	Drop selection and separation	Requires a method (such as a	Silverbrook, EP
pressure	that in the quiescent state some of the ink	forces can be reduced	nozzle rim or effective	0771 658 A2 and related
	drop already protrudes from the nozzle.	Fast refill time	hydrophobizing, or both)	patent applications
	This reduces the pressure in the nozzle		to prevent flooding of the	Possible operation
	chamber which is required to eject a		ejection surface of the	of the following:
	certain volume of ink. The reduction in		print head.	IJ01-IJ07, IJ09-IJ12
	chamber pressure results in a reduction			IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22,
	in ink pushed out through the inlet.			IJ23-IJ34, IJ36-IJ41
				IJ44
Baffle	One or more baffles are placed in the	The refill rate is not as restricted	Design complexity	HP Thermal Ink Jet
	inlet ink flow. When the actuator is	as the long inlet method.	May increase	Tektronix piezoelectric
	energized, the rapid ink movement	Reduces crosstalk	fabrication complexity (e.g.	ink jet
	creates eddies which restrict the flow		Tektronix hot melt
	through the inlet. The slower refill		Piezoelectric print heads).
	process is unrestricted, and does not
	result in eddies.
Flexible flap	In this method recently disclosed by	Significantly reduces back-flow	Not applicable to most	Canon
restricts inlet	Canon, the expanding actuator (bubble)	for edge-shooter thermal ink	inkjet configurations
	pushes on a flexible flap that restricts the	jet devices	Increased fabrication
	inlet.		complexity
			Inelastic deformation of
			polymer flap results in
			creep over extended use
Inlet filter	A filter is located between the ink inlet	Additional advantage of ink	Restricts refill rate	IJ04, IJ12, IJ24, IJ27
	and the nozzle chamber. The filter has a	filtration	May result in complex	IJ29, IJ30
	multitude of small holes or slots,	Ink filter may be fabricated with	construction
	restricting ink flow. The filter also	no additional process steps
	removes particles which may block the
	nozzle.
Small inlet	The ink inlet channel to the nozzle	Design simplicity	Restricts refill rate	IJ02, IJ37, IJ44
compared to	chamber has a substantially smaller cross		May result in a relatively
nozzle	section than that of the nozzle, resulting		large chip area
	in easier ink egress out of the nozzle than		Only partially effective
	out of the inlet.
Inlet shutter	A secondary actuator controls the	Increases speed of the ink-jet	Requires separate refill	IJ09
	position of a shutter, closing off the ink	print head operation	actuator and drive circuit
	inlet when the main actuator is
	energized.
The inlet is	The method avoids the problem of inlet	Back-flow problem is eliminated	Requires careful design	IJ01, IJ03, 1J05, IJ06
located behind	back-flow by arranging the ink-pushing		to minimize the negative	IJ07, IJ10, IJ11, IJ14
the ink-pushing	surface of the actuator between the inlet		pressure behind the paddle	IJ16, IJ22, IJ23, IJ25
surface	and the nozzle.			IJ28, IJ31, IJ32, IJ33
				IJ34, IJ35, IJ36, IJ39
				IJ40, IJ41
Part of the	The actuator and a wall of the ink	Significant reductions in back-	Small increase in	IJ07, IJ20, IJ26, IJ38
actuator moves	chamber are arranged so that the motion	flow can be achieved	fabrication complexity
to shut off the	of the actuator closes off the inlet.	Compact designs possible
inlet
Nozzle actuator	In some configurations of ink jet, there is	Ink back-flow problem is	None related to ink	Silverbrook, EP
does not result	no expansion or movement of an actuator	eliminated	back-flow on actuation	0771 658 A2 and related
in ink	which may cause ink back-flow through			patent applications
back-flow	the inlet.			Valve-jet
				Tone-jet
				IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17
				IJ18, IJ19, IJ21

NOZZLE CLEARING METHOD

Nozzle
Clearing
method	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Normal nozzle	All of the nozzles are fired periodically,	No added complexity on the print	May not be sufficient	Most ink jet systems
firing	before the ink has a chance to dry. When	head	to displace dried ink	IJ01-IJ07, IJ09-IJ12
	not in use the nozzles are sealed (capped)			IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22
	against air.			IJ23-IJ34, IJ36-IJ45
	The nozzle firing is usually performed
	during a special clearing cycle, after first
	moving the print head to a cleaning
	station.
Extra power to	In systems which heat the ink, but do not	Can be highly effective if the	Requires higher drive	Silverbrook, EP
ink heater	boil it under normal situations, nozzle	heater is adjacent to the nozzle	voltage for clearing	0771 658 A2 and related
	clearing can be achieved by over-		May require larger	patent applications
	powering the heater and boiling ink at		drive transistors
	the nozzle.
Rapid	The actuator is fired in rapid succession.	Does not require extra drive	Effectiveness depends	May be used with:
succession of	In some configurations, this may cause	circuits on the print head	substantially upon the	IJ01-IJ07, IJ09-IJ11
actuator pulses	heat build-up at the nozzle which boils	Can be readily controlled and	configuration of the	IJ14, IJ16, IJ20, IJ22
	the ink, clearing the nozzle. In other	initiated by digital logic	inkjet nozzle	IJ23-IJ25, IJ27-IJ34
	situations, it may cause sufficient			IJ36-IJ45
	vibrations to dislodge clogged nozzles.
Extra power to	Where an actuator is not normally driven	A simple solution where	Not suitable where	May be used with:
ink pushing	to the limit of its motion, nozzle clearing	applicable	there is a hard limit	IJ03, IJ09, IJ16, IJ20
actuator	may be assisted by providing an		to actuator movement	IJ23, IJ24, IJ25, IJ27
	enhanced drive signal to the actuator.			IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32
				IJ39, IJ40, IJ41, IJ42
				IJ43, IJ44, IJ45
Acoustic	An ultrasonic wave is applied to the ink	A high nozzle clearing capability	High implementation	IJ08, IJ13, IJ15, IJ17
resonance	chamber. This wave is of an appropriate	can be achieved	cost if system does not	IJ18, IJ19, IJ21
	amplitude and frequency to cause	May be implemented at very low	already include
	sufficient force at the nozzle to clear	cost in systems which already	an acoustic actuator
	blockages. This is easiest to achieve if	include acoustic actuators
	the ultrasonic wave is at a resonant
	frequency of the ink cavity.
Nozzle clearing	A microfabricated plate is pushed against	Can clear severely clogged	Accurate mechanical	Silverbrook, EP
plate	the nozzles. The plate has a post for	nozzles	alignment is required	0771 658 A2 and related
	every nozzle. The array of posts		Moving parts are required	patent applications
			There is risk of damage
			to the nozzles
			Accurate fabrication
			is required
Ink pressure	The pressure of the ink is temporarily	May be effective where other	Requires pressure pump or	May be used with
pulse	increased so that ink streams from all of	methods cannot be used	other pressure actuator	all IJ series ink jets
	the nozzles. This may be used in		Expensive
	conjunction with actuator energizing.		Wasteful of ink
Print head	A flexible ‘blade’ is wiped across the	Effective for planar print head	Difficult to use if print	Many ink jet systems
wiper	print head surface. The blade is usually	surfaces	head surface is non-planar
	fabricated from a flexible polymer, e.g.	Low cost	or very fragile
	rubber or synthetic elastomer.		Requires mechanical parts
			Blade can wear out in
			high volume print systems
Separate ink	A separate heater is provided at the	Can be effective where other	Fabrication complexity	Can be used with many
boiling heater	nozzle although the normal drop e-ection	nozzle clearing methods		IJ series ink jets
	mechanism does not require it. The	cannot be used
	heaters do not require individual drive	Can be implemented at no
	circuits, as many nozzles can be cleared	additional cost in some inkjet
	simultaneously, and no imaging is	configurations
	required.

NOZZLE PLATE CONSTRUCTION

Nozzle plate
construction	Description	Advantages
Electroformed	A nozzle plate is separately fabricated	Fabrication simplicity
nickel	from electroformed nickel, and bonded
	to the print head chip.
Laser ablated or	Individual nozzle holes are ablated by an	No masks required
drilled polymer	intense UV laser in a nozzle plate, which	Can be quite fast
	is typically a polymer such as polyimide	Some control over nozzle profile
	or polysulphone	is possible
		Equipment required is relatively
		low cost
Silicon micro-	A separate nozzle plate is	High accuracy is attainable
machined	micromachined from single crystal
	silicon, and bonded to the print head
	wafer.
Glass capillaries	Fine glass capillaries are drawn from	No expensive equipment required
	glass tubing. This method has been used	Simple to make single nozzles
	for making individual nozzles, but is
	difficult to use for bulk manufacturing of
	print heads with thousands of nozzles.
Monolithic,	The nozzle plate is deposited as a layer	High accuracy (<1 μm)
surface micro-	using standard VLSI deposition	Monolithic
machined using	techniques. Nozzles are etched in the	Low cost
VLSI	nozzle plate using VLSI lithography and	Existing processes can be used
lithographic	etching.
processes
Monolithic,	The nozzle plate is a buried etch stop in	High accuracy (<1 μm)
etched through	the wafer. Nozzle chambers are etched in	Monolithic
substrate	the front of the wafer, and the wafer is	Low cost
	thinned from the back side. Nozzles are	No differential expansion
	then etched in the etch stop layer.
No nozzle plate	Various methods have been tried to	No nozzles to become clogged
	eliminate the nozzles entirely, to prevent
	nozzle clogging. These include thermal
	bubble mechanisms and acoustic lens
	mechanisms
Trough	Each drop ejector has a trough through	Reduced manufacturing
	which a paddle moves. There is no	complexity
	nozzle plate.	Monolithic
Nozzle slit	The elimination of nozzle holes and	No nozzles to become clogged
instead of	replacement by a slit encompassing
individual	many actuator positions reduces nozzle
nozzles	clogging, but increases crosstalk due to
	ink surface waves

Nozzle plate
construction	Disadvantages	Examples
Electroformed	High temperatures and pressures are required	Hewlett Packard Thermal
nickel	to bond nozzle plate	Inkjet
	Minimum thickness constraints
	Differential thermal expansion
Laser ablated or	Each hole must be individually formed	Canon Bubblejet
drilled polymer	Special equipment required	1988 Sercel et al., SPIE,
	Slow where there are many thousands of	Vol. 998 Excimer Beam
	nozzles per print head	Applications, pp. 76-83
	May produce thin burrs at exit holes	1993 Watanabe et al.,
		U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,604
Silicon micro-	Two part construction	K. Bean, IEEE
machined	High cost	Transactions on
	Requires precision alignment	Electron Devices, Vol.
	Nozzles may be clogged by adhesive	ED-25, No. 10, 1978,
		pp 1185-1195
		Xerox 1990 Hawkins et
		al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,181
Glass capillaries	Very small nozzle sizes are difficult to form	1970 Zoltan U.S. Pat. No.
	Not suited for mass production	3,683,212
Monolithic,	Requires sacrificial layer under the nozzle	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
surface micro-	plate to form the nozzle chamber	A2 and related patent
machined using	Surface may be fragile to the touch	applications
VLSI		IJ01, IJ02, IJ04, IJ11
lithographic		IJ12, IJ17, IJ18, IJ20
processes		IJ22, IJ24, IJ27, IJ28
		IJ29, IJ30, IJ31, IJ32
		IJ33, IJ34, IJ36, IJ37
		IJ38, IJ39, IJ40, IJ41
		IJ42, IJ43, IJ44
Monolithic,	Requires long etch times	IJ03, IJ05, IJ06, IJ07
etched through	Requires a support wafer	IJ08, IJ09, IJ10, IJ13
substrate		IJ14, IJ15, IJ16, IJ19
		IJ21, IJ23, IJ25, IJ26
No nozzle plate	Difficult to control drop position accurately	Ricoh 1995 Sekiya et al
	Crosstalk problems	U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,413
		1993 Hadimioglu et al
		EUP 550,192
		1993 Elrod et al EUP
		572,220
Trough	Drop firing direction is sensitive to wicking.	IJ35
Nozzle slit	Difficult to control drop position accurately	1989 Saito et al U.S. Pat. No.
instead of	Crosstalk problems	4,799,068
individual
nozzles

DROP EJECTION DIRECTION

Ejection
direction	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Edge	Ink flow is along the surface of the chip,	Simple construction	Nozzles limited to edge	Canon Bubblejet 1979
(‘edge	and ink drops are ejected from the chip	No silicon etching required	High resolution is difficult	Endo et al GB patent
shooter’)	edge.	Good heat sinking via	Fast color printing requires	2,007,162
		substrate	one print head per color	Xerox heater-in-pit 1990
		Mechanically strong		Hawkins et al U.S. Pat. No.
		Ease of chip handing		4,899,181
				Tone-jet
Surface	Ink flow is along the surface of the chip,	No bulk silicon etching	Maximum ink flow is	Hewlett-Packard TIJ 1982
(‘roof shooter’)	and ink drops are ejected from the chip	required	severely restricted.	Vaught et al U.S. Pat. No.
	surface, normal to the plane of the chip.	Silicon can make an		4,490,728
		effective heat sink		IJ02, IJ11, IJ12, IJ20
		Mechanical strength		IJ22
Through chip,	Ink flow is through the chip, and ink	High ink flow	Requires bulk silicon etching	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
forward	drops are ejected from the front surface	Suitable for pagewidth print		A2 and related patent
(‘up shooter’)	of the chip.	High nozzle packing density		applications
		therefore low manufacturing		IJ04, IJ17, IJ18, IJ24
		cost		IJ27-IJ45
Through chip,	Ink flow is through the chip, and ink	High ink flow	Requires wafer thinning	IJ01, IJ03, IJ05, IJ06
reverse	drops are ejected from the rear surface of	Suitable for pagewidth print	Requires special handling	IJ07, IJ08, IJ09, IJ10
(‘down	the chip.	High nozzle packing density	during manufacture	IJ13, IJ14, IJ15, IJ16
shooter’)		therefore low manufacturing		IJ19, IJ21, IJ23, IJ25
		cost		IJ26
Through	Ink flow is through the actuator, which is	Suitable for piezoelectric print	Pagewidth print heads require	Epson Stylus
actuator	not fabricated as part of the same	heads	several thousand connections	Tektronix hot melt
	substrate as the drive transistors.		to drive circuits	piezoelectric ink jets
			Cannot be manufactured
			in standard CMOS fabs
			Complex assembly required

INK TYPE

Ink type	Description	Advantages
Aqueous, dye	Water based ink which typically	Environmentally friendly
	contains: water, dye, surfactant,	No odor
	humectant, and biocide.
	Modern ink dyes have high water-
	fastness, light fastness
Aqueous,	Water based ink which typically	Environmentally friendly
pigment	contains: water, pigment, surfactant,	No odor
	humectant, and biocide.	Reduced bleed
	Pigments have an advantage in reduced	Reduced wicking
	bleed, wicking and strikethrough.	Reduced strikethrough
Methyl Ethyl	MEK is a highly volatile solvent used for	Very fast drying
Ketone (MEK)	industrial printing on difficult surfaces	Prints on various substrates
	such as aluminum cans.	such as metals and plastics
Alcohol	Alcohol based inks can be used where	Fast drying
(ethanol, 2-	the printer must operate at temperatures	Operates at sub-freezing
butanol, and	below the freezing point of water. An	temperatures
others)	example of this is in-camera consumer	Reduced paper cockle
	photographic printing.	Low cost
Phase change	The ink is solid at room temperature, and	No drying time-ink instantly
(hot melt)	is melted in the print head before jetting.	freezes on the print medium
	Hot melt inks are usually wax based,	Almost any print medium
	with a melting point around 80° C. After	can be used
	jetting the ink freezes almost instantly	No paper cockle occurs
	upon contacting the print medium or a	No wicking occurs
	transfer roller.	No bleed occurs
		No strikethrough occurs
Oil	Oil based inks are extensively used in	High solubility medium for
	offset printing. They have advantages in	some dyes
	improved characteristics on paper	Does not cockle paper
	(especially no wicking or cockle). Oil	Does not wick through paper
	soluble dies and pigments are required.
Microemulsion	A microemulsion is a stable, self forming	Stops ink bleed
	emulsion of oil, water, and surfactant.	High dye solubility
	The characteristic drop size is less than	Water, oil, and amphiphilic
	100 nm, and is determined by the	soluble dies can be used
	preferred curvature of the surfactant.	Can stabilize pigment
		suspensions

Ink type	Disadvantages	Examples
Aqueous, dye	Slow drying	Most existing inkjets
	Corrosive	All IJ series ink jets
	Bleeds on paper	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	May strikethrough	A2 and related patent
	Cockles paper	applications
Aqueous,	Slow drying	IJ02, IJ04, IJ21, IJ26
pigment	Corrosive	IJ27, IJ30
	Pigment may clog nozzles	Silverbrook, EP 0771 658
	Pigment may clog actuator mechanisms	A2 and related patent
	Cockles paper	applications
		Piezoelectric ink-jets
		Thermal ink jets (with
		significant restrictions)
Methyl Ethyl	Odorous	All IJ series ink jets
Ketone (MEK)	Flammable
Alcohol	Slight odor	All IJ series ink jets
(ethanol, 2-	Flammable
butanol, and
others)
Phase change	High viscosity	Tektronix hot melt
(hot melt)	Printed ink typically has a ‘waxy’ feel	piezoelectric ink jets
	Printed pages may ‘block’	1989 Nowak U.S. Pat. No.
	Ink temperature may be above the curie point	4,820,346
	of permanent magnets	All IJ series ink jets
	Ink heaters consume power
	Long warm-up time
Oil	High viscosity: this is a significant limitation	All IJ series ink jets
	for use in inkjets, which usually require a
	low viscosity. Some short chain and multi-
	branched oils have a sufficiently low
	viscosity.
	Slow drying
Microemulsion	Viscosity higher than water	All IJ series ink jets
	Cost is slightly higher than water based ink
	High surfactant concentration required
	(around 5%)

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 ink jet devices can be included in printer devices incorporated as part of the present invention. Australian Provisional Patent Applications relating to these ink jets which are specifically incorporated by cross reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian
Provisional			US Patent/Patent Application
Number	Filing Date	Title	and Filing Date
PO8066	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ01)	6,227,652
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8072	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ02)	6,213,588
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8040	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ03)	6,213,589
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8071	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ04)	6,231,163
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8047	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ05)	6,247,795
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8035	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ06)	6,394,581
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8044	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ07)	6,244,691
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8063	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ08)	6,257,704
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8057	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ09)	6,416,168
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8056	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ10)	6,220,694
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8069	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ11)	6,257,705
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8049	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ12)	6,247,794
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8036	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ13)	6,234,610
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8048	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ14)	6,247,793
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8070	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ15)	6,264,306
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8067	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ16)	6,241,342
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8001	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ17)	6,247,792
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8038	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ18)	6,264,307
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8033	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ19)	6,254,220
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8002	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ20)	6,234,611
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8068	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ21)	6,302,528
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8062	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ22)	6,283,582
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8034	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ23)	6,239,821
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8039	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ24)	6,338,547
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8041	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ25)	6,247,796
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8004	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ26)	09/113,122
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8037	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ27)	6,390,603
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8043	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ28)	6,362,843
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8042	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ29)	6,293,653
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8064	15-Jul-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ30)	6,312,107
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9389	23-Sep-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ31)	6,227,653
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9391	23-Sep-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ32)	6,234,609
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0888	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ33)	6,238,040
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0891	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ34)	6,188,415
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0890	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ35)	6,227,654
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0873	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ36)	6,209,989
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0993	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ37)	6,247,791
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0890	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ38)	6,336,710
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP1398	19-Jan-98	An Image Creation Method and Apparatus	6,217,153
		(IJ39)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP2592	25-Mar-98	An Image Creation Method and Apparatus	6,416,167
		(IJ40)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP2593	25-Mar-98	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ41)	6,243,113
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3991	19-Jun-98	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ42)	6,283,581
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3987	9-Jun-98	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ43)	6,247,790
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3985	9-Jun-98	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ44)	6,260,953
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3983	9-Jun-98	Image Creation Method and Apparatus (IJ45)	6,267,469
			(Jul. 10, 1998)

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. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian
Provisional			US Patent/Patent Application
Number	Filing Date	Title	and Filing Date
PO7935	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,224,780
		Apparatus (IJM01)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7936	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,235,212
		Apparatus (IJM02)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7937	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,280,643
		Apparatus (IJM03)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8061	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,284,147
		Apparatus (IJM04)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8054	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,214,244
		Apparatus (IJM05)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8065	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,071,750
		Apparatus (IJM06)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8055	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,267,905
		Apparatus (IJM07)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8053	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,251,298
		Apparatus (IJM08)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8078	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,258,285
		Apparatus (IJM09)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7933	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,225,138
		Apparatus (IJM10)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7950	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,241,904
		Apparatus (IJM11)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7949	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,299,786
		Apparatus (IJM12)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8060	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	09/113,124
		Apparatus (IJM13)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8059	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,231,773
		Apparatus (IJM14)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8073	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,190,931
		Apparatus (IJM15)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8076	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,248,249
		Apparatus (IJM16)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8075	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,290,862
		Apparatus (IJM17)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8079	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,241,906
		Apparatus (IJM18)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8050	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	09/113,116
		Apparatus (IJM19)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8052	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,241,905
		Apparatus (IJM20)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7948	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,451,216
		Apparatus (IJM21)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7951	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,231,772
		Apparatus (IJM22)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8074	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,274,056
		Apparatus (IJM23)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7941	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,290,861
		Apparatus (IJM24)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8077	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,248,248
		Apparatus (IJM25)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8058	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,306,671
		Apparatus (IJM26)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8051	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,331,258
		Apparatus (IJM27)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8045	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,110,754
		Apparatus (IJM28)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7952	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,294,101
		Apparatus (IJM29)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8046	15-Jul-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,416,679
		Apparatus (IJM30)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8503	11-Aug-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,264,849
		Apparatus (IJM30a)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9390	23-Sep-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,254,793
		Apparatus (IJM31)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9392	23-Sep-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,235,211
		Apparatus (IJM32)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0889	12-Dec-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,235,211
		Apparatus (IJM35)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0887	12-Dec-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,264,850
		Apparatus (IJM36)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0882	12-Dec-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,258,284
		Apparatus (IJM37)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0874	12-Dec-97	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,258,284
		Apparatus (IJM38)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP1396	19-Jan-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,228,668
		Apparatus (IJM39)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP2591	25-Mar-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,180,427
		Apparatus (IJM41)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3989	9-Jun-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,171,875
		Apparatus (IJM40)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3990	9-Jun-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,267,904
		Apparatus (IJM42)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3986	9-Jun-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,245,247
		Apparatus (IJM43)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3984	9-Jun-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,245,247
		Apparatus (IJM44)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP3982	9-Jun-98	A Method of Manufacture of an Image Creation	6,231,148
		Apparatus (IJM45)	(Jul. 10, 1998)

Fluid Supply

Further, the present application may utilize an ink delivery system to the ink jet 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. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian			US Patent/
Provisional			Patent Application
Number	Filing Date	Title	and Filing Date
PO8003	15-Jul-97	Supply Method and	6,350,023
		Apparatus (F1)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8005	15-Jul-97	Supply Method and	6,318,849
		Apparatus (F2)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9404	23-Sep-97	A Device and	09/113,101
		Method (F3)	(Jul. 10, 1998)

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. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian			US Patent/
Provisional			Patent Application
Number	Filing Date	Title	and Filing Date
PO7943	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS01)
PO8006	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS02)	6,087,638
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8007	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS03)	09/113,093
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8008	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS04)	6,340,222
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8010	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS05)	6,041,600
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8011	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS06)	6,299,300
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7947	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS07)	6,067,797
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7945	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS08)	9/113,081
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7944	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS09)	6,286,935
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7946	15-Jul-97	A device (MEMS10)	6,044,646
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9393	23-Sep-97	A Device and	09/113,065
		Method (MEMS11)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0875	12-Dec-97	A Device (MEMS12)	09/113,078
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0894	12-Dec-97	A Device and	09/113,075
		Method (MEMS13)	(Jul. 10, 1998)

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. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian
Provisional			US Patent/Patent Application and
Number	Filing Date	Title	Filing Date
PP0895	12-Dec-97	An Image Creation Method and Apparatus	6,231,148
		(IR01)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0870	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR02)	09/113,106
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0869	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR04)	6,293,658
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0887	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus	09/113,104
		(IR05)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0885	12-Dec-97	An Image Production System (IR06)	6,238,033
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0884	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus	6,312,070
		(IR10)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0886	12-Dec-97	Image Creation Method and Apparatus	6,238,111
		(IR12)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0871	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR13)	09/113,086
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0876	12-Dec-97	An Image Processing Method and	09/113,094
		Apparatus (IR14)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0877	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR16)	6,378,970
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0878	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR17)	6,196,739
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0879	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR18)	09/112,774
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0883	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR19)	6,270,182
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0880	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR20)	6,152,619
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0881	12-Dec-97	A Device and Method (IR21)	09/113,092
			(Jul. 10, 1998)

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. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian			US Patent/
Provisional	Filing		Patent Application
Number	Date	Title	and Filing Date
PP2370	16-Mar-98	Data Processing Method	09/112,781
		and Apparatus (Dot01)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP2371	16-Mar-98	Data Processing Method	09/113,052
		and Apparatus (Dot02)	(Jul. 10, 1998)

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 cross-reference. The serial numbers of respective corresponding US patent applications are also provided for the sake of convenience.

Australian
Provisional			US Patent/Patent Application and
Number	Filing Date	Title	Filing Date
PO7991	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,750,901
		(ART01)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7988	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,476,863
		(ART02)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7993	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,073
		(ART03)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9395	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,322,181
		(ART04)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8017	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,747
		(ART06)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8014	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART07)	6,227,648
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8025	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,750
		(ART08)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8032	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,746
		(ART09)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7999	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,743
		(ART10)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7998	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,742
		(ART11)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8031	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,741
		(ART12)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8030	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART13)	6,196,541
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7997	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART15)	6,195,150
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7979	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART16)	6,362,868
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8015	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART17)	09/112,738
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7978	15-Jul-97	Media Device (ART18)	09/113,067
			(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7982	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,431,669
		(ART19)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7989	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,362,869
		(ART20)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8019	15-Jul-97	Media Processing Method and Apparatus	6,472,052
		(ART21)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7980	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,356,715
		(ART22)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8018	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,777
		(ART24)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7938	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,224
		(ART25)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8016	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,366,693
		(ART26)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8024	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,329,990
		(ART27)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7940	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,072
		(ART28)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7939	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,785
		(ART29)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8501	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,137,500
		(ART30)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8500	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,796
		(ART31)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7987	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,071
		(ART32)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8022	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,398,328
		(ART33)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8497	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,090
		(ART34)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8020	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,431,704
		(ART38)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8023	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,222
		(ART39)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8504	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,786
		(ART42)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8000	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,415,054
		(ART43)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7977	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,782
		(ART44)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7934	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,056
		(ART45)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7990	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,059
		(ART46)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8499	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,486,886
		(ART47)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8502	11-Aug-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,381,361
		(ART48)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7981	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,317,192
		(ART50)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7986	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,057
		(ART51)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO7983	15-Jul-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,054
		(ART52)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8026	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,752
		(ART53)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8027	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,759
		(ART54)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO8028	15-Jul-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,757
		(ART56)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9394	23-Sep-97	Image Processing Method and Apparatus	6,357,135
		(ART57)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9396	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/113,107
		(ART58)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9397	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,271,931
		(ART59)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9398	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,353,772
		(ART60)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9399	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,106,147
		(ART61)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9400	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,790
		(ART62)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9401	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,304,291
		(ART63)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9402	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	09/112,788
		(ART64)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9403	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,305,770
		(ART65)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PO9405	23-Sep-97	Data Processing Method and Apparatus	6,289,262
		(ART66)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP0959	16-Dec-97	A Data Processing Method and	6,315,200
		Apparatus (ART68)	(Jul. 10, 1998)
PP1397	19-Jan-98	A Media Device (ART69)	6,217,165
			(Jul. 10, 1998)