Microelectronic manufacturing techniques have led to the miniaturization of numerous devices. Mobile phones, personal digital assistant devices, and digital cameras are very common examples of the miniaturization trend.
One device that has not seen the advantage of microelectronic manufacturing techniques is the printer. Commercially available printers are large compared to many of the devices they could support. For instance, it is impractical to carry a color printer for the purpose of instantly printing photographs taken with known compact digital cameras.
A compact print head has been described in co-pending United States Patent Applications filed simultaneously to the present application and hereby incorporated by cross reference:
USSNTitle09/575,152, now U.S. Pat. No.Fluidic seal for an ink jet nozzle7,018,016assembly09/575,141, now U.S. Pat. No.Ink jet printhead having a moving6,428,133nozzle with an externally arrangedactuator09/575,125, now U.S. Pat. No.Method of manufacture of an ink jet6,526,658printhead having a moving nozzle withan externally arranged actuator09/575,176, now U.S. Pat. No.Ink jet printhead nozzle array6,328,41709/575,147, now U.S. Pat. No.Nozzle guard for an ink jet printhead6,390,591
Although digital cameras are known, they require connection to a personal computer before a hardcopy image can be obtained. Generally, it is necessary to upload images from the camera to the personal computer and then print the images on a desktop printer using a proprietary software package that makes the necessary translation between the image format taken by the camera and the format required by the printer. A camera that is able to link directly to a compact printer would be more desirable.