Inkjet Printhead Arrays with No Separating Wall Between Bubbles

Present work proposes an innovative design of microbubble generator with no separating wall between bubbles, i.e. no manifold and no chamber, so that faster refilling rate and higher resolution can be achieved. This design concept is illustrated by operating three micro heaters in parallel with different delay times of the central heater. The bubble images and induced flowfield in growth/collapsed processes are recorded by CCD camera and measured by micro particle image velocimetry (PIV). In addition, the measured flowfields are compared with numerical simulations based on conservation equations of mass and momentum. This study proposes the use of delay time between adjacent bubbles to mimic the chamber barrier and build pressure of different strength correlating to delay time.