Thermal ink jet printhead with suspended beam heater

摘要

There is disclosed an ink jet printhead which comprises a plurality of nozzles ( 3 ) and one or more heater elements ( 10 ) corresponding to each nozzle. Each heater element is configured to heat a bubble ( 12 ) forming liquid in the printhead to a temperature above its boiling point to form a gas bubble therein. The generation of the bubble causes the ejection of a drop ( 16 ) of an ejectable liquid (such as ink) through respective corresponding nozzle, to effect printing. Each heater element is in the form of a beam suspended over at least a portion of the bubble forming liquid so as to be in thermal contact therewith. This configuration of printhead provides for a relatively high efficiency of operation.