| US 7,491,911 B2 | ||
| MEMS bubble generator for large stable vapor bubbles | ||
| Angus John North, Balmain (Australia); Samuel James Myers, Balmain (Australia); and Kia Silverbrook, Balmain (Australia) | ||
| Assigned to Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd, Balmain, New South Wales (Australia) | ||
| Filed on Oct. 10, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/544,778. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0099457 A1, May 01, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. H05B 3/00 (2006.01); B41J 2/05 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 219—216 [219/469; 219/243; 219/486; 219/501; 219/499; 219/497; 219/470; 219/471; 347/62; 347/20; 347/54; 347/56; 347/60; 347/12; 347/10; 347/11; 399/67; 399/69; 399/329; 399/333] | 10 Claims |
| 1. A MEMS vapour bubble generator comprising:
a chamber for holding liquid;
a heater positioned in the chamber for thermal contact with the liquid; and,
drive circuitry for providing the heater with an electrical pulse such that the heater generates a vapour bubble in the liquid,
the pulse having a pre-heat section for heating the liquid but not nucleating the vapour bubble and a trigger section subsequent
to the pre-heat section for superheating some of the liquid to nucleate the vapour bubble; wherein,
the pre-heat section has a longer duration that the trigger section.
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