Ink jet printer nozzle plates

摘要

The invention relates to improved nozzle plate designs for ink jet printers and to apparatus and methods for making the nozzle plates (10). The nozzle plates (10) of the invention are made from a polymeric material having a thickness sufficient to provide a plurality of flow features (12,14) and nozzle holes (16) aligned substantially along opposed edges of the nozzle plate (10) wherein the flow features (12,14) are ablated in the nozzle plates (10) with depths which provide decoupling of the flow features (12,14) from the nozzle holes (16) so that the flow features (12,14) and nozzle holes (16) can be independently designed in order to optimize the nozzle plate to provide improved performance. <IMAGE>