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October 6, 2014 2:20 pm
by Chris D'Orso
Originally aired: Monday, October 6th at 1:00pm ET
Admissions Live host Chris D'Orso and guest Corey Patterson discussed how colleges and universities could — and should — do more for transfer students, at every point along the admissions cycle from inquiry to graduation.
[buzzsprout episode='210183′ player='true']
This show was sponsored by
Did you know that the Chegg Cloud, which includes sites like College Prowler, US News, Princeton Review, YouniversityTV and Zinch.com receives over 1.3 million visitors researching college information a month? Learn how you can reach these students who are actively researching college information at the height of their interest. E-mail email@example.com or tweet @socialadmission for details.
Face it, from the very beginning of your career, you've never had that professional stamp that says you are an expert in enrollment management. Well, now you have that opportunity. Abilene Christian University's new graduate certificate in enrollment management provides four highly interactive online courses that can be completed in as little as ten months. Combined with a unique residency component, the program is designed to help enrollment management professionals expand their knowledge and give them a credential to set themselves apart in the field. Visit acu.edu/graduate to learn more.
Looking for a new way to re-energize your tour guides? Welcome to College has created the MARV Fitology Workshop for campus tour guides, weaving the science of happiness with the power of the campus tour. Contact Justin Bayer via twitter @welcome2college or email justin -at- welcometocollege.com for more information.
Higher Ed Live is produced by mStoner, a marketing and communications firm that works with education institutions on branding, strategy, web design, and more.


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The UPD78948x Group is supported only for the customers who have already adopted any of the products. For new adoption, please consider other products such as RL78/L13 Group.
Key Features:
- Operating voltage: VDD = 1.8 to 5.5 V
- Max. frequency: 5 MHz
- ROM capacities: 32 KB to 48 KB mask ROM
- RAM capacities: 1 KB to 1.5 KB
- 80-pin plastic TQFP, QFP package
- Minimum instruction execution time can be selected from high speed (0.4 µs: @5.0 MHz operation with main system clock), low speed (1.6 µs: @5.0 MHz operation with main system clock), and ultra low speed (122 µs: @32.768 kHz
- operation with subsystem clock)
- A circuit to multiply the subsystem clock by 4 is selectable (15.26 µs: @131 kHz operation: 32.768 kHz subsystem clock x 4)
- I/O ports: 45 (N-ch open-drain: 4)
- Timer: 6 channels
- Serial interface: 2 channels
- 8-bit resolution A/D converter: 8 channels
- LCD controller/driver (external resistance division method) Segment signals: 28, common signals: 4
- On-chip multiplier: 8 bits x 8 bits = 16 bits
- On-chip infrared remote control reception function
- On-chip key return signal detector
Pin Count / Memory Size Lineup:
Below you will find information to support the development of your application.
You can find an explanation of orderable part numbers here.
Resources for Software and Hardware
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|Frequently asked questions and useful hints for development.
|A forum and community site to share technical information, questions and opinions with others who use Renesas products.
|Watch videos related to this product.
Hardware Design Support
|Characteristics data
|Information on observed values. Please use this as reference data when developing your set.
The information contained herein has been provided by a member of Renesas Partners. This information is provided on the Renesas website provided for convenience and informational purposes only. Renesas is not responsible for the contents of this page or any changes or updates to the information posted on this page. Certain links provided herein permit you to leave this site and enter non-Renesas sites. These linked sites are not under control of Renesas. Renesas is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any changes or updates to such sites. These links are provided for convenience and informational purposes only. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Renesas of any linked site.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Kellie Pickler Wins Picture of the Year Honors at 2012 Taste of Country Awards
The image of a newly-shaved Kellie Pickler sitting alongside good friend Summer Miller as Miller prepared to begin her fight against breast cancer proved to be the most memorable of 2012. Pickler's photo was voted the Picture of the Year by fans in the 2012 Taste of Country Awards, which concluded on January 15.
Pickler's picture took nearly 39 percent of the vote -- four percentage points more than the image of Carrie Underwood planting a smooch on a lucky boy from Kentucky. Tim McGraw's buff bod finished third with almost eight percent. Miranda Lambert dressed as Honey Boo Boo was fourth of a field of seven.
The show of solidarity is no doubt what earned Pickler her first-ever Taste of Country Award. "It's just hair," she told Ellen DeGeneres on the comedian's talk show. "We made a pact that we'd shave our heads together … I think it's important to have a cancer buddy."
Congratulations to Pickler and her fans for winning this prestigious honor, and continued well-wishes to Miller as she battles breast cancer.


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The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.
Nothing like a cheery campfire in a heat wave: Val Verde County Game Wardens Mike Durand and Dustin Barrett and Val Verde County sheriff's deputies responded on Aug. 19 to a report of trespassers on the Nature Conservancy property on the Devils River. They found five kayakers enjoying a campfire despite a drought-related county burn ban and cited them. Trespass cases also were filed.
Not just backpackers out for a hike: Game Wardens assisted Border Patrol agents in apprehending a group of drug smugglers south of Marfa on Aug. 24. Seven men were arrested and each had a backpack of drugs, which were seized. Charges pending.
Suspected road hunter just a lady needing help: Near dark on Aug. 22, Grayson County Game Warden Dale Moses was returning home from working on a background investigation when he saw a vehicle's brake lights come on. The vehicle then pulled over to the shoulder about 150 yards down from his gate. Thinking the driver might be looking at deer, Moses went to investigate. As he approached the vehicle, a woman emerged with a stunned look on her face. At this point Moses noticed that the entire window of the vehicle had been shattered. The woman said she had hit something but didn't know what. Moses solved the mystery when he located a dead doe about 50 yards behind the vehicle. Luckily, the woman suffered only minor cuts. Moses waited with the woman until family members and a tow truck arrived.
Man and dog drown: Dallas County Game Warden Tom Carbone was notified on Aug. 22 of a drowning on Lake Ray Hubbard. Two men and a dog had been on a boat near Wind Surfer Beach when all three reportedly went swimming, but only one man made it back to the boat. The next day, Carbone, Dallas County Game Warden Sergio Bazaldua and Lt. Jennifer Kemp searched the area with the aid of Dennis Watters, a pro tournament angler who specializes in underwater recoveries. Watters was conducting a search on Lake Ray Hubbard for the Dallas Police Department on another case and contacted Lt. Kemp to assist with the victim recovery on Tuesday. When the search began that morning, the dog was found near the shoreline in some cattails. Watters located the victim within three hours, and the recovery was made by a Dallas Fire Department diver.
"Telephoners" reach wrong number: While attending a district meeting on Aug. 19, Jasper County Game Warden Morgan Inman received a call from a local fisherman who said he had witnessed two boats "telephoning" on the Neches River. Inman responded along with Shelby County Game Warden Randy Button and Newton County Game Warden Brian Srba. After two hours of waiting, the wardens finally saw the boats coming in and made contact. After a few questions, the fishermen produced an electric shocker they had been using to stun and illegally take fish. They also told the wardens where it had come from. The next day, wardens Inman and Eddins interviewed the seller and were able obtain two more devices.
Very expensive sea food: Brazoria County Game Wardens Joe Goff, Jason Richers, Scott Jennings and Jim Bob Van Dyke, along with Fort Bend County warden Mike Weiss were doing boat training in the Intracoastal Canal near Freeport on Aug. 20 when Goff received a call that had came through the Operation Game Thief hotline, in which the complainant reported seeing three males on an offshore fishing vessel catching and retaining over their limit and undersize red snapper. The wardens patrolled the Freeport jetties the remainder of the day, and at approximately 6:30 p.m. a vessel towing what turned out to be the reported violator vessel came through the jetties. The wardens made contact with the vessel and discovered that the three occupants possessed 49 red snapper, all of which were undersize, and a pair of undersize cobia. In addition, the vessel was unregistered. A total of 17 cases were filed, as well as civil restitution.
More very expensive sea food: On Aug. 20, Matagorda County Game Warden Aaron Koenig and Wharton County Game Warden Chris Bird encountered a Louisiana crew boat coming into the Port O'Conner jetties. Because of the large number of people on the back deck, the wardens decided to see if anyone had been fishing while offshore. After boarding the vessel, the wardens noticed five ice chests packed on the back deck with all of the crew's other belongings. Upon inspection the coolers were found to contain numerous bags of filleted fish. Five individuals were cited for head and tailed finfish.
Once a Game Warden, always a Game Warden: Uvalde County Game Wardens Rachel Kellner and Javier Fuentes got word from retired Game Warden Capt. Bill Hellums that he had heard suspicious shotgun blasts west of Uvalde. After a lot of stopping and listening, the wardens finally found two individuals shooting skeet. The wardens let them know that they had heard the shots and wanted to make sure no one was hunting doves. After a searching the bed of the pickup, the wardens discovered mourning doves and four other nongame birds. Hunting in closed season and minor in possession citations were issued. Warden Kellner let Captain Hellums know the good news and he was grinning from ear to ear.
Wardens assist in search for missing boater: Medina County Game Warden Jeff Benson responded on Aug. 25 to a call from the sheriff's office regarding an overdue boater on Medina Lake. The subject's vehicle and personal water craft were located at a local marina that evening by family members, but an aerial search that night failed to turn up the missing boater. The following morning, Benson and Game Warden Jorge Tamayo searched the area by boat. A day later, the body of the missing man was discovered near a private boat dock by the property owner. The body was recovered by the sheriff's office.
Dad joins kids on illegal hunt: Zapata County Game Wardens Stevan Ramos and Carson Wardlow were patrolling in San Ygnacio on Aug. 18 when they saw a pickup truck stop a couple of blocks in front of them. Warden Wardlow stopped his truck when he saw what appeared to be a gun barrel sticking out of the passenger-side window. As the wardens watched, the passenger shot twice, and the driver got out to retrieve a white-winged dove from the bushes just off the road. The wardens quickly made contact and found that the passenger and driver were both juveniles. Their father was also in the vehicle. One citation was issued for hunting in a closed season and a warning issued for using illegal means and methods. Civil restitution was filed for one white-winged dove.
Wardens recover boat crash victim's body: Game wardens were notified on Aug. 18 of a single boat accident in which the operator had been ejected and was missing on Lake LBJ. Burnet County warden Brent Whitus, Lampasas County warden Jim Lindeman, and Llano County warden Kevin Webb responded to the scene and initiated an investigation and recovery operations. The following morning, Burnet County warden Ronnie Langford and Llano County warden Rick Snitkin along with personnel form various local agencies recovered the body. Investigation ongoing.
Caught red-handed…literally: Williamson County Game Warden Joel Campos received an Operation Game Thief call regarding hunting dove in closed season. Warden Campos arrived at the reported location in Hutto and noticed two couples outside in the backyard. After making contact with them, he saw a 12-gauge and plenty of spent 12-gauge ammunition as well as a skeet machine. But next to the skeet machine lay the leftovers of several doves that had been cleaned. One male kept his hands behind his back while being interviewed. Campos asked him to put his hands by his side and noticed blood on his finger tips. Caught red-handed, he said he had killed nine mourning dove. The subject also said he was getting ready to put steaks and the dove on the grill before Campos arrived. The birds were confiscated, and the subject was issued citations for hunting dove in closed season, hunting with illegal means and methods. Civil restitution will be pursued.
See ya later, alligator: Game Warden Kevin Mitchell was called to the scene of a house fire in Sinton after firefighters discovered a two-foot alligator being kept in a plastic tote. Mitchell explained to the home/alligator owner that they could not keep a wild animal as a pet. After a lengthy discussion, a citation was issued and the 'gator returned to the wild.


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How do I fix this? I run the install program, restart my computer, go to the "Applications" folder and there is a folder named "LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT". I open the folder and there are three "options": a folder named "engine", a ".ini" file, and a "uninstall" file. I've browsed the "engine" folder and it's full of ".ini" files. The "uninstall" file is a text file.
I don't have any idea of what to do next. Please help!


text:
Patent application title: PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH SUPPORT PERMITTING FASTENING OF PCB EXTERNAL THERETO
Kia Silverbrook (Balmain, AU)
IPC8 Class: AB41J214FI
USPC Class:
347 40
Class name: Ink jet ejector mechanism (i.e., print head) array of ejectors
Publication date: 2009-03-05
Patent application number: 20090058929
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Patent application title: PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH SUPPORT PERMITTING FASTENING OF PCB EXTERNAL THERETO
Kia Silverbrook
Origin: BALMAIN, AU
IPC8 Class: AB41J214FI
USPC Class:
347 40
A printhead assembly comprises an elongate support structure; a series of
side wall sections extending a length of the support structure and
defining ink supply channels, edges of the walls delineating a gap; a
plurality of carriers positioned end-to-end in the gap and supported by
said edges of the walls, the carriers defining a recess and ink supply
passages in fluid communication with the recess and the ink supply
channels; and a printhead integrated circuit mounted in each recess to
receive ink from the ink supply channels. The elongate support structure
is configured to permit a printed circuit board (PCB) to be fastened to
an outside of the support structure so that the PCB can be connected to
the printhead integrated circuits.
1. A printhead assembly comprising:an elongate support structure;a series
of side wall sections extending a length of the support structure and
defining ink supply channels, edges of the walls delineating a gap;a
plurality of carriers positioned end-to-end in the gap and supported by
said edges of the walls, the carriers defining a recess and ink supply
passages in fluid communication with the recess and the ink supply
channels; anda printhead integrated circuit mounted in each recess to
receive ink from the ink supply channels, whereinthe elongate support
structure is configured to permit a printed circuit board (PCB) to be
fastened to an outside of the support structure so that the PCB can be
connected to the printhead integrated circuits.
2. The printhead assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sealing shim is interposed between each carrier and the side wall sections, the sealing shim defining openings to permit the passage of ink from the ink supply channels to the ink supply passages of the carriers.
3. A printhead assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carriers have respective complementary ends which allow mating of adjacent carriers.
4. A printhead assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a shield plate for covering the carriers, the shield plate having a plurality of slots in register with respective printhead integrated circuits.
[0001]This Application a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/643,844 filed on Dec. 22, 2006 which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/082,988 filed on Mar. 18, 2005, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,256, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/893,385, filed on Jul. 19, 2004. now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,905,194, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/291,706, filed on Nov. 12, 2002, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,106, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/609,140, filed on Jun. 30, 2000, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,513, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
[0002]This invention relates to the field of ink jet printing systems, and more specifically to a printhead support assembly and ink supply arrangement for a printhead assembly and such printhead assemblies for ink jet printing systems.
[0003]Micro-electromechanical systems ("MEMS"), fabricated using standard VLSI semi-conductor chip fabrication techniques, are becoming increasingly popular as new applications are developed. Such devices are becoming widely used for sensing (for example accelerometers for automotive airbags), inkjet printing, micro-fluidics, and other applications. The use of semi-conductor fabrication techniques allows MEMS to be interfaced very readily with microelectronics. A broad survey of the field and of prior art in relation thereto is provided in an article entitled "The Broad Sweep of Integrated Micro-Systems", by S. Tom Picraux and Paul McWhorter, in IEEE Spectrum, December 1998, pp 24-33.
[0004]In PCT Application No. PCT/AU98/00550, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, an inkjet printing device has been described which utilizes MEMS processing techniques in the construction of a thermal-bend-actuator-type device for the ejection of a fluid, such as an ink, from a nozzle chamber. Such ink ejector devices will be referred to hereinafter as MEMJETs. The technology described in the reference is intended as an alternative to existing technologies for inkjet printing, such as Thermal Ink Jet (TIJ) or "Bubble Jet" technology developed mainly by the manufacturers Canon and Hewlett Packard, and Piezoelectric Ink Jet (PIJ) devices, as used for example by the manufacturers Epson and Tektronix.
[0005]While TIJ and PIJ technologies have been developed to very high levels of performance since their introduction, MEMJET technology is able to offer significant advantages over these technologies. Potential advantages include higher speeds of operation and the ability to provide higher resolution than obtainable with other technologies. Similarly, MEMJET Technology provides the ability to manufacture monolithic printhead devices incorporating a large number of nozzles and of such size as to span all or a large part of a page (or other print surface), so that pagewidth printing can be achieved without any need to mechanically traverse a small printhead across the width of a page, as in typical existing inkjet printers.
[0006]It has been found difficult to manufacture a long TIJ printhead for full-pagewidth printing. This is mainly because of the high power consumption of TIJ devices and the problem associated therewith of providing an adequate power supply for the printhead. Similarly, waste heat removal from the printhead to prevent boiling of the ink provides a challenge to the layout of such printhead. Also, differential thermal expansion over the length of a long TIJ-printhead may lead to severe nozzle alignment difficulties.
[0007]Different problems have been found to attend the manufacture of long PIJ printheads for large- or full-page-width printing. These include acoustic crosstalk between nozzles due to similar time scales of drop ejection and reflection of acoustic pulses within the printhead. Further, silicon is not a piezoelectric material, and is very difficult to integrate with CMOS chips, so that separate external connections are required for every nozzle.
[0008]Accordingly, manufacturing costs are very high compared to technologies such as MEMJET in which a monolithic device may be fabricated using established techniques, yet incorporate very large numbers of individual nozzles. Reference should be made to the aforementioned PCT application for detailed information on the manufacture of MEMJET inkjet printhead chips; individual MEMJET printhead chips will here be referred to simply as printhead segments. A printhead assembly will usually incorporate a number of such printhead segments.
[0009]While MEMJET technology has the advantage of allowing the cost effective manufacture of long monolithic printheads, it has nevertheless been found desirable to use a number of individual printhead segments (CMOS chips) placed substantially end-to-end where large widths of printing are to be provided. This is because chip production yields decrease substantially as chip lengths increase, so that costs increase. Of course, some printing applications, such as plan printing and other commercial printing, require printing widths that are beyond the maximum length that is practical for successful printhead chip manufacture.
[0010]The present invention is broadly directed to the provision of a suitable printhead segment support structure and ink supply arrangement for an inkjet printhead assembly capable of single-pass, full-page-width printing as well as to such printhead assemblies. While the invention was conceived in the context of MEMJET printhead segments (chips), and thus the following summary and description of the invention is provided with particular reference to printhead assemblies incorporating MEMJET printhead segments, it is believed that the invention also has the potential to be employed with other ink jet printhead technologies.
[0011]Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a printhead segment support structure that is capable of accommodating a series of printhead segments as described in PCT/AU98/00550 in an array that permits single-pass pagewidth printing across the width of a surface passing under the printhead assembly.
[0012]The term "single-pass pagewidth printing" should here be understood as referring to a printing operation during which the printhead assembly is moved in only one direction along or across the entire width or length of any print surface, as compared to a superimposed, generally orthogonal printhead carriage movement as employed in conventional ink jet printers. (Of course, printhead assembly movement may be relative, with the surface moving past a stationary printhead assembly.) It will be also understood that there are many possible page widths and the inkjet printhead segment support structure of the invention would be suitable for adaptation to a range of widths. A printhead assembly in accordance with the invention should in particular be useful where a plurality of generally elongate, but relatively small printhead segments are to be used to print across substantially the entire width of a sizable surface without the need for mechanically moving the printhead assembly or any printhead segment across as well as along the print surface.
[0013]The invention has also been conceived in light of potential problems related to the relatively small size of individual printhead segments, their fragility and the required highly accurate alignment or registration of individual printhead segments with each other on the support structure and with external components in order to provide a printhead assembly capable of single-pass, full pagewidth printing. Multiple ink supply channels are required to supply ink in reliable manner to all printhead segments. Because of the small size of the segments, this in general would require high quality micro-machined parts. An ink supply conduit, on the other hand, is most economically made if it can be formed at a much coarser scale.
[0014]Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a printhead segment support structure with a print fluid supply arrangement that ensures adequate print fluid (e.g. ink) supply to individual printhead segments mounted to the support structure, at an affordable manufacturing cost.
[0015]Typical MEMJET printhead segments have a dimension of 2 cm length by 0.5 mm width, and will include (in a layout for 4-color printing) four lengthwise-oriented rows of ink ejection nozzles, the segment being of monolithic fabrication. Longer segments could be made and used, but the size mentioned gives very satisfactory fabrication yields. Each printhead segment has ink inlet holes arrayed on one surface and corresponding nozzle outlets arrayed on an opposite surface. Each of the four rows will then require connection to an appropriate ink supply, such that an inkjet printhead assembly can be provided for operation with (for example) cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks for color printing.
[0016]Accordingly, yet a further object is to provide an ink supply arrangement thereby to enable supply of a number of differently colored inks (or other printing fluids) to selected ink inlets of individual printhead segments carried on a support structure for full pagewidth color printing.
[0017]Another related object of the invention is to provide a print fluid supply arrangement that is simple in layout and thus easy to incorporate in a printhead support structure. It should ensure even and reliable distribution of print fluids in a pagewidth inkjet printhead assembly.
[0018]In a first aspect, the invention provides a support for a plurality of inkjet printhead segments, said support including:
[0019]a hollow elongate member having at least one ink supply channel formed therein, the, or each, ink supply channel being in fluid communication with an elongate slot in and extending at least partly along the elongate member; and
[0020]a plurality of printhead segment carriers received and secured in neighbouring arrangement within the slot, each printhead segment carrier being adapted for mounting thereto of at least one printhead segment.
[0021]Each printhead segment carrier may include at least one ink gallery that is in fluid communication with said, or an associated one of said, ink supply channels when mounted to that printhead segment carrier.
[0022]The printhead segment carriers may be configured so that when the printhead segments are mounted in the printhead segment carriers they define a series of printing ranges in a direction lengthwise along the elongate member that overlap to define a combined printing range of greater lengthwise extent than any of the printing ranges of the respective printhead segments.
[0023]The printhead segment carriers may be substantially identical to one another and may have stepped terminal ends thereby to enable neighbouring pairs of printhead carriers to be mounted within the slot in a staggered manner.
[0024]Each printhead segment carrier may have an elongate recess in an external surface of the carrier within which at least one printhead segment is mountable and wherein recesses of neighbouring pairs of carriers overlap in a direction along the elongate member.
[0025]Each printhead segment carrier may define an elongate ink delivery slot that opens into said recess of each printhead segment carrier. Each ink delivery slot may be in fluid communication with a respective ink supply channel via said ink gallery that extends from said at least one ink slot to an opening in a rear face of the printhead segment carrier.
[0026]A plurality of said ink galleries and said openings may be in fluid communication with the, or each, ink delivery slot. Said openings associated with the, or each, said ink delivery slot may be arranged in a row extending in a direction along the elongate member.
[0027]Each printhead segment carrier may have a plurality of ink supply channels and a plurality of said rows of openings. Each row of openings may be aligned along its length with one said ink channel for passage of ink from said ink channel through said row of openings.
[0028]The ink galleries may be defined by a plurality of parallel walls extending transversely in each printhead segment carrier and intersecting with a plurality of converging walls extending from the rear face to shaped inner edges that at least partially define the ink delivery slots.
[0029]The assembly may include a shim that is shaped to be received in the slot in the elongate member and to lie between the elongate member and said printhead segment carriers, said shim having at least one aperture therein to permit flow of ink between the or an associated one of said ink supply channels and a corresponding one ink gallery of the respective printhead segment carrier.
[0030]The shim and the slot may be substantially semi-circular in cross-sectional shape.
[0031]The shim and/or the elongate member may comprise means for snap-fittingly mounting said shim at said slot. In another example, the shim may be adhesively bonded to mating surfaces of the elongate member. In yet another example, the printhead segment carriers may be adhesively bonded to the shim.
[0032]Webs, which abut external surfaces of the elongate member, may be attached to edges extending in a direction along the shim.
[0033]Each printhead segment carrier may have a recess formed in an external surface thereof within which at least one printhead segment is received when mounted to the printhead segment carrier. Said external surface may have a second recess formed therein and adapted to receive at least a part of a power or signal conductor terminating on the or one said printhead segment mounted to the printhead segment carrier.
[0034]Said conductor may comprise a tape automated bonded (TAB) film.
[0035]Said tape automated bonded film (TAB) may be wrapped around an external surface of the elongate member and terminated on a printed circuit board secured to a side of the elongate member opposite to the printhead segment to which it is connected.
[0036]The support assembly may include a first cap secured to a first terminal end of the elongate member and may have an ink inlet port in fluid communication with the or an associated one of said ink supply channels.
[0037]The support assembly may further include a second cap secured to a second terminal end of the elongate member and having an opening for bleeding of air from the or an associated one of said ink supply channels. Means for sealing off said opening after such bleeding may be provided.
[0038]Said second cap may include an outer face with a tortuous channel formed therein. Said tortuous channel may be in fluid communication with said opening and said sealing means may include a film removable at least in part from the outer face and adapted to adhere to the outer face thereby to cover the tortuous channel and seal off the opening. The support assembly may further include an external protective shield plate covering the printhead segment carriers and having openings arranged to permit unimpeded passage of ink ejected from nozzles of printhead segments mounted to the carriers towards a surface passing beneath the support assembly.
[0039]The elongate member may have three, four or six of said ink supply channels, one each for differently colored ink.
[0040]Each printhead segment carrier may be mounted within the slot at a longitudinal position within a predetermined distance of a designated longitudinal position of the carrier corresponding to a designated longitudinal position within the slot of a printhead segment when mounted to said printhead segment carrier.
[0041]The elongate member may be of substantially constant cross-sectional shape along its entire length.
[0042]In cross-section, the elongate member may include a peripheral structured wall including a base wall section, and side wall sections standing out from opposite edges of said base wall section, and wherein said slot lies between free edges of said side wall sections.
[0043]Said elongate member may further include at least one internal web extending from the base wall section and along said elongate member.
[0044]Said elongate member may have a plurality of said internal webs. In cross-section, said free edges of the side wall sections and free edges of said internal webs may lie on a semicircle and may define boundaries of said slot so that said slot is of semicircular cross-section.
[0045]In a second aspect, the invention provides an inkjet printhead assembly including:
[0046]a hollow elongate member having at least one ink supply channel formed therein, the or each ink supply channel being in fluid communication with an elongate slot in and extending at least partly along the elongate member; and
[0047]a plurality of printhead segment carriers received and secured in neighbouring arrangement within the slot; and
[0048]at least one printhead segment mounted to each printhead segment carrier.
[0049]Thus, the second aspect of the invention is directed to a printhead assembly that includes the support assembly of the first aspect of the invention.
[0050]It is preferred that the at least one printhead segment on each printhead segment carrier has a defined printing range in a direction lengthwise along the elongate member, and that the printing ranges of the printhead segments mounted to a plurality of adjoining printhead segment carriers overlap, so that the printhead segments mounted to said plurality of adjoining printhead segment carriers have a combined printing range of greater lengthwise extent than any of the printing ranges comprised therein. This is a suitable way in which printing may be accomplished on a surface without the presence of gaps corresponding to lengthwise gaps between individual printhead segments.
[0051]In a further aspect, the invention provides a method for assembling the inkjet printhead assembly wherein the step of mounting to each printhead segment carrier its respective at least one printhead segment precedes the step of securing that printhead segment carrier within the slot. It is then preferred that the printhead segment carriers are secured within the slot sequentially, and that the at least one printhead segment in each printhead segment carrier installed after the first is positioned longitudinally relative to the at least one printhead segment in the printhead segment carrier last installed before being finally secured and immobilized within the slot. Thus, accurate relative positioning of successive printhead segments lengthwise along the elongate member can be achieved.
[0052]Other aspects, objects and advantages of the invention, in its different embodiments, will also become apparent from the description given below of preferred embodiments and from the appended claims.
[0053]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an inkjet printhead assembly according to the invention;
[0054]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 1, with a cover component (shield plate) removed;
[0055]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a part only of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 1;
[0056]FIG. 4 is a perspective partial view of a support extrusion forming part of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 3;
[0057]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a sealing shim forming part of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 3;
[0058]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a printhead segment carrier shown in FIG. 3;
[0059]FIG. 7 is a further perspective view of the printhead segment carrier shown in FIG. 6;
[0060]FIG. 8 is a bottom elevation of the printhead carrier shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (as viewed in the direction of arrow "X" in FIG. 6);
[0061]FIG. 9 is a top elevation of the printhead carrier shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (as viewed in the direction of arrow "Y" in FIG. 6);
[0062]FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the printhead carrier of FIGS. 6 and 7 taken at station "B-B" in FIG. 8;
[0063]FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the printhead carrier of FIGS. 6 and 7 taken at station "A-A" in FIG. 8;
[0064]FIG. 11a is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the seating arrangement of a printhead segment at the print carrier as per detail "E" in FIG. 11;
[0065]FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the printhead carrier of FIGS. 6 and 7 taken at station "D-D" in FIG. 8;
[0066]FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of an end cap of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 1;
[0067]FIG. 14 is an internal perspective view of the end cap shown in FIG. 13
[0068]FIG. 15 is an external perspective view of a further end cap of the inkjet printhead assembly shown in FIG. 1;
[0069]FIG. 16 is an internal perspective view of the end cap shown in FIG. 15;
[0070]FIG. 17 is a perspective view (from the bottom) of the printhead assembly shown in FIG. 1;
[0071]FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a part assembly of a support profile and modified sealing shim which are alternatives to those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;
[0072]FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a molding tool and illustrating the basic arrangement of die components for injection molding of the printhead carrier shown in FIGS. 6 and 7;
[0073]FIG. 20 is a schematic cross-section of the injection molding tool shown in FIG. 19, in an open position; and
[0074]FIG. 21 is a schematic transverse cross-section of the injection-molding tool shown in FIG. 19, in a closed position, taken at a station corresponding to the station "A-A" in FIG. 8.
[0075]FIG. 1 shows in perspective view an inkjet printhead assembly 1 according to one aspect of the invention and, in phantom outline, a surface 2 on which printing is to be affected. In use, the surface 2 moves relative to the assembly 1 in a direction indicated by arrow 3 and transverse to the main extension of assembly 1 (this direction is hereinafter also referred to as the transverse direction of the assembly 1), so that elongate printhead segments 4, in particular MEMJET printhead segments such as described in the above-mentioned PCT/AU98/00550, placed in stepped overlapping sequence along the lengthwise extension of assembly 1 can print simultaneously across substantially the entire width of the surface. The assembly 1 includes a shield plate 5 with which the surface 2 may come into sliding contact during such printing. Shield plate 5 has slots 6, each corresponding to one of the printhead segments 4, and through which ink ejected by that printhead segment 4 can reach surface 2.
[0076]The particular assembly 1 shown in FIG. 1 has eleven printhead segments 4, each capable of printing along a 2 cm printing length (or, in other words, within a printing range extending 2 cm) in a direction parallel to arrow 7 (hereinafter also called the lengthwise direction of the assembly 1) and is suitable for single-pass printing of a portrait A4-letter size page. However, this number of printhead segments 4 and their length are in no way limiting, the invention being applicable to printhead assemblies of varying lengths and incorporating other required numbers of printhead segments 4.
[0077]The slots 6 and the printhead segments 4 are arranged along two parallel lines in the lengthwise direction, with the printing length of each segment 4 (other than the endmost segments 4) slightly overlapping that of its two neighboring segments 4 in the other line. The printing length of each of the two endmost segments 4 overlaps the printing length of its nearest neighbor in the other row at one end only. Thus printing across the surface 2 is possible without gaps in the lengthwise direction of the assembly. In the particular assembly shown, the overlap is approximately 1 mm at each end of the 2 cm printing length, but this figure is by no means limiting.
[0078]FIG. 2 shows assembly 1 with the shield plate 5 removed. Each printhead segment 4 is secured to an associated one printhead segment carrier 8 that will be described below in more detail. Also secured to each printhead segment 4 is a tape automated bonded (TAB) film 9, which carries signal and power connections (not individually shown) to the associated printhead segment 4. Each TAB film 9 is closely wrapped around an extruded support profile 10 (whose function will be explained below) that houses and supports carriers 8, and they each terminate onto a printed circuit board (PCB) 11 secured to the profile 10 on a side thereof opposite to that where the printhead segments 4 are mounted, see also FIG. 3.
[0079]FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of a part only of assembly 1. In this view, three only of the printhead segment carriers 8 are shown numbered 8a, 8b and 8c, and only the printhead segment 4 associated with printhead segment carrier 8a is shown and numbered 4a. The TAB film 9 associated therewith is terminated at one end on an outer face of the printhead segment 4 and is otherwise shown (for clarity purposes) in the unwound, flat state it has before being wound around profile 10 and connected to PCB 11. As can be seen in FIG. 3, printhead segment carriers 8 are received (and secured), together with an interposed sealing shim 25, in a slot 21 of half-circular cross-sectional shape in profile member 10 as will be explained in more detail below.
[0080]FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-section of the profile member 10 (which is preferably an aluminum alloy extrusion). This component serves as a frame and/or support structure for the printhead segment carriers 8 (with their associated printhead segments 4 and TAB films 9), the PCB 11 and shield plate 5. It also serves as an integral ink supply arrangement for the printhead segments 4, as will become clearer later.
[0081]Profile member 10 is of semi-open cross-section, with a peripheral, structured wall 12 of uniform thickness. Free, opposing, lengthwise running edges 16', 17' of side wall sections 16 and 17 respectively of wall 12 border or delineate a gap 13 in wall 12 extending along the entire length of profile member 10. Profile member 10 has three internal webs 14a, 14b, 14c that stand out from a base wall section 15 of peripheral wall 12 into the interior of member 10, so as to define together with side wall sections 16 and 17 a total of four (4) ink supply channels 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d which are open towards the gap 13. The shapes, proportions and relative arrangement of the webs and wall sections 14a-c, 16, 17 are such that their respective free edges 14a', 14b', 14c' and 16', 17', as viewed in the lengthwise direction and cross-section of profile member 10, define points on a semi-circle (indicated by a dotted line at "a" in FIG. 4). In other words, an open slot 21 of semicircular cross-sectional shape is defined along one side of profile member 10 that runs along its extension, with each of the ink supply channels 20a-d opening into common slot 21.
[0082]Base wall section 15 of profile member 10 also includes a serrated channel 22 opening towards the exterior of member 10, which, as best seen in FIG. 3, serves to receive fastening screws 23 to fixedly secure PCB 11 onto profile member 10 in a form-fitting manner between free edges 24 (see FIG. 4) of longitudinally extending curved webs 107 extending from the base wall section 15 of profile member 10.
[0083]Referring again to FIG. 3, sealing shim 25 is received (and secured) within the half-circular open slot 21. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, shim 25 includes four lengthwise extending rows of rectangular openings 26 that are equidistantly spaced in peripheral (widthwise) direction of shim 25, so that three lengthwise-extending web sections 27 between the aperture rows (of which two are visible in FIG. 5) are located so as to be brought into abutting engagement against the free edges 14a', 14b' and 14c' of webs 14a, 14b, 14c of profile member 10 when shim 25 is received in slot 21. As can be gleaned from FIG. 4, the free edges 16' and 17' of side wall sections 16, 17 of profile member 10 are shaped such as to provide a form-lock for retaining the lengthwise extending edges 28 of shim member 25 as a snap fit. In other words, once shim 25 is mounted in profile member 10, it provides a perforated bottom for slot 21, which allows passage of inks from the ink supply channels 20a-d through apertures 26 in shim 25 into slot 21. A glue or sealant is provided where shim webs 27 and edges 28 mate with the free edges 14a', 14b', 14c', 16' and 17' of profile member 10, thereby preventing cross-leakage between ink supply channels 20a-d along the abutting interfaces between shim 25 and profile member 10. It will be noted from FIG. 5 that not all apertures 26 have the same opening size. Reference numerals 26' indicate two such smaller apertures, the significance of which is described below, which are present in each aperture row at predetermined aperture intervals. A typical size for the full-sized apertures 26 is 2 mm×2 mm. The shim is preferably of stainless steel, but a plastics sheet material may also be used.
[0084]Turning next to FIGS. 6-12, these illustrate in different views and sections a typical printhead segment carrier 8. Carrier 8 is preferably a single microinjection molded part made of a suitable temperature and abrasion resistant and form-holding plastics material. (A further manufacturing operation is carried out subsequent to molding, as described below.) As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the overall external shape of carrier 8 can be described illustratively as a diametrically slit half cylinder, with a half-circular back face 91, a partly planar front face 82 and stepped end faces 83. FIG. 8 shows a plan view of back face 91 and FIG. 9 shows a plan view of front face 82.
[0085]Carrier 8 has a plane of symmetry halfway along, and perpendicular to, its length, that is, as indicated by lines marked "b" in FIGS. 8 and 10 which lie in the plane. Line "b" as shown in FIG. 8 extends in a direction that will hereinafter be described as transverse to the carrier 8. (When the carrier 8 is installed in the assembly 1, this direction is the same as the transverse direction of the assembly 1.) Lines marked "c" in FIGS. 8, 9, 11 and 12 together similarly indicate the position of an imaginary plane which lies between two sections of the carrier 8 of different length and whose overall cross-sectional shapes are quarter circles. Line "c" as shown in FIG. 9 extends in a direction that will hereinafter be described as lengthwise in the carrier 8. (When the carrier 8 is installed in the assembly 1 this direction is the same as the lengthwise direction of the assembly 1.) These sections will hereinafter be referred to as the shorter and longer "quarter cylinder" sections 8' and 8'', respectively, to allow referenced description of features of the carrier 8.
[0086]Each stepped end face 83 includes respective outer faces 84' and 85' of quarter-circular-sector shaped end walls 84 and 85 and an outer face 86' of an intermediate step wall 86 between and perpendicular to end walls 84, 85. This configuration enables carriers 8 to be placed in the slot 21 of profile 10 in such a way that adjoining carriers 8 overlap in the lengthwise direction with the step walls 86 of pairs of neighbouring carriers 8 facing each and overlapping. Such an "interlocking" arrangement is shown in FIG. 2, wherein it is apparent that every one of the eleven (11) carriers 8 has an orientation, relative to its neighbouring carrier or carriers 8, such that faces 84' and 85' of each carrier lie adjacent to faces 85' and 84', respectively, of its neighbouring carrier(s) 8. In other words, each carrier 8 is so oriented in relation to its neighbouring carrier(s) as to be rotated relatively by 180° about an axis perpendicular to the face 82. In essence, neighbouring carriers 8 will align along a common lengthwise-oriented plane defined between the step walls 86 of adjoining carriers 8, shorter and longer quarter cylinder sections 8' and 8'' of adjoining carriers 8 alternating with one another along the extension of slot 21.
[0087]Turning now in particular to FIGS. 7, 9, 11 and 11a, front face 82 of carrier 8 includes on the shorter quarter cylinder section 8' a planar surface 81. Formed in surface 81 are two handling (i.e. pick-up) slots 87 whose purpose is described below. On the longer quarter cylinder section 8'', front face 82 incorporates a mounting or support surface 88 recessed with respect to edges 89 of sector-shaped end walls 84 that are co-planar with the surface 81. As best seen in FIG. 11, mounting surface 88 recedes in slanting fashion from a point on the back face 91 of the longer quarter cylinder section 8'' towards an elongate recess 90 extending lengthwise between walls 84. Recess 90 is of constant transverse cross-section along its length and is shaped to receive in form-fitting manner one printhead segment 4. FIG. 11a shows, schematically only, printhead segment 4 in position in recess 90. Mounting surface 88 is provided to accommodate in flush manner with respect to the surface 81 the terminal end of TAB film 9 connected to printhead segment 4, as is best seen in FIG. 3. Due to the opposing orientations of neighbouring carriers 8 along the extension of assembly 1, the TAB films 9 associated with any two neighbouring carriers 8 lead away from their respective segments 4 in opposite transverse directions, as can be seen in FIG. 2.
[0088]Referring now to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 in particular, four rows of ink galleries or ink supply passages 92a to 92d of generally quadrilateral cross-section are formed within the printhead segment carrier 8. The ink galleries 92a to 92d act as conduits for ink to pass from the ink supply passages 20a to 20d, respectively, via openings 26 in the shim 25, to the printhead segment 4 mounted in recess 90 of the printhead segment carrier 8. Galleries 92a-92d extend in quasi-radial arrangement between the half-cylindrical back face 91 of carrier 8 and recess 90 located in the longer quarter cylinder section 8'' at front face 82. The expression "quasi-radial" is used here because recess 90 is not located at a transversely central position across carrier 8, but is offset into the longer quarter cylinder section 8'', so that the inner ends of galleries 92a-92d are similarly off-set, as further described below. Each gallery 92 has a rectangular opening 93 at back face 91. All rectangular openings 93 have the same dimension in a peripheral direction of face 91 and are equidistantly spaced around the periphery of back face 91. Moreover, the openings 93 are symmetrically located on opposing sides of the boundary between shorter quarter cylinder section 8' and longer quarter cylinder section 8'', as represented in FIG. 11 by the line marked "c". All openings 93 in the shorter quarter cylinder section 8' are of the same dimension, and equispaced, in the lengthwise direction. This also applies to the openings 93 in the longer quarter cylinder section 8'', except that openings 93' in the longer quarter cylinder section 8'' which correspond to endmost galleries 92a' and 92b' are of smaller dimension in the lengthwise direction than the other galleries 92a and 92b, respectively.
[0089]By way of further description of how the galleries 92a to 92d are formed, printhead segment carrier 8 includes a set of five (5) quasi-radially converging walls 95 which converge from back face 91 towards recess 90 at front face 82 and two of which define the faces 81 and 88. The walls 95 perpendicularly intersect seven (7) generally semi-circular and mutually parallel walls 97 that are equidistantly spaced apart in lengthwise extension of carrier 8. Of walls 97, the two endmost ones extending into the shorter quarter cylinder section 8' provide the endwalls 85 of stepped end faces 83, thereby defining twenty-four (24) quasi-radially extending ink galleries 92a to 92d, of quadrilateral cross-section, in four lengthwise-extending rows each of six galleries. The walls 97 are parallel to and lie between endwalls 84.
[0090]FIG. 12 shows a cross-section through one of the lengthwise end portions of longer quarter cylinder section 8'' of carrier 8. By comparison with FIG. 11 (which shows a cross-section through the main body of carrier 8), it will be seen that the quasi-radially extending walls 95 bordering end gallery 92a' have the same shape as walls 95 which border galleries 92a, whereas gallery 92b' is bounded on one side by intermediate step wall 86 and by a wall 108. FIG. 12 also shows a wall 111 and a wall formation 112 on the wall 86, the purpose of which is explained below.
[0091]Converging walls 95 are so shaped at their radially inner ends as to define four ink delivery slots 96a to 96d which extend lengthwise in the carrier 8 and which open into the recess 90, as best seen in FIGS. 11 and 11a. The slots 96a to 96d extend between the opposite end walls 84 of longer quarter cylinder section 8'' and pierce through the inner parallel walls 97, including the endwise opposite walls 97 which form the end walls 85 of the shorter cylinder section 8'. FIG. 12 shows how slots 96a to 96d extend and are formed within the end portions of the longer quarter cylinder section 8'', where the slots 96a to 96d are defined by the terminal ends of two of walls 95, walls 108, 111 and wall formation 112, wall formation 112 in effect being a perpendicular lip of intermediate step wall 86.
[0092]The widths and transverse positioning of the ink delivery slots 96a to 96d are such that when a printhead segment 4 is received in recess 90, a respective one of the slots 96a-96d will be in fluid communication with one only of four lengthwise oriented rows of ink supply holes 41 on rear face 42 of printhead segment 4, compare FIG. 11a. Each row of ink supply holes 41 corresponds to a row of printhead nozzles 43 running lengthwise along the front face 44 of printhead segment 4. In the schematic representation of segment 4 in FIG. 11a, the positions of holes 41 and nozzles are indicated by dots, with no attempt made to show their actual construction. Reference to PCT Application No. PCT/AU98/00550 will provide further details of the make-up of segment 4. Accordingly, each of the ink galleries of a specific gallery row 92a to 92d is in fluid communication with one only of the rows of ink supply holes 41. Once a printhead segment 4 is form fittingly received in recess 90 and sealingly secured with its rear face 42 against the terminal inner ends of walls 95, and wall formations 108, 111 and 112 (using a suitable sealant or adhesive), cross-communication and ink bleeding between slots 96a-96d via recess 90 is not possible.
[0093]When a carrier 8 is installed in its correct position lengthwise in the slot 21 of profile 10, compare FIG. 3, each opening 93 in its back face 91 aligns with one of the openings 26 in the shim 25. Smaller openings 26' in the shim 25 correspond to openings 93' of the smaller galleries 92a' and 92b' of carrier 8. Therefore, each one of the ink supply channels 20a to 20d is in fluid communication with one only of the rows of ink galleries 92a to 92d, respectively, and so with one only of the slots 96a to 96d respectively and only one of the rows of ink supply holes 41. A suitable glue or sealant is provided at mating surfaces of the shim 25 and the carrier 8 to prevent leakage of ink from any of the channels 20a to 20d to an incorrect one of the galleries 92, as described further below. The symmetrical location (mentioned above) of openings 93 on back face 91 of carrier 8, which is matched by the openings 26 in shim 25, enables the carrier 8 to be received in the slot 21 in either of the two orientations shown in FIG. 3, with in both cases each row of ink galleries 92a to 92d aligning with one only of the ink supply channels 20a to 20d.
[0094]As mentioned above, the longer quarter cylinder section 8'' of carrier 8 has two galleries 92a' and 92b' at each lengthwise end that have no counterpart in the shorter section 8'. These galleries 92a' and 92b' provide direct ink supply paths to that part of their associated ink delivery slots 96a and 96b located in the longer quarter cylinder section 8'', and thus to the ink supply holes 41 of the printhead segment 4 that are located near the lengthwise terminal ends of segment 4 when secured within recess 90. There are no corresponding quasi-radial galleries to supply ink to the end regions of the slots 96c and 96d. However, it is desirable to provide direct ink supply to the end portions of the other two slots 96c and 96d as well, without reliance on lengthwise flow within the slots 96c and 96d of ink that has passed through galleries 92c and 92d respectively. This is ensured by provision of ink supply chambers 99c and 99d which are shown in FIG. 12 and which supply ink to the slots 96c and 96d, respectively. Chambers 99c and 99d are bounded by the walls 84, 86, and wall formations 108, 111 and 112, are open towards slots 96c and 96d, respectively, and are in fluid communication through holes 113 and 114 in an endmost wall 97 with endmost ones of ink galleries 92c and 92d, respectively. The holes 113 and 114 have outlines shaped to match the transverse cross-sectional shapes of the chambers 99c and 99d, respectively, as shown in FIG. 12, and the means whereby holes 113 and 114 are formed is described below.
[0095]FIGS. 13 and 14 show a first end cap 50, which is sealingly secured to an open terminal longitudinal end of profile member 10, as may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Cap 50 is molded from a plastics material and it incorporates a generally planar wall portion 51 that extends perpendicularly to a lengthwise axis of profile member 10. Four tubular stubs 55a-55d are integrally molded with planar wall portion 51 on side 52 of wall portion 51 which will face away from support profile 10 when end cap 50 is secured thereto. On the planar wall side 53 which will face the longitudinal terminal end of support profile 10 (see FIG. 14), four hollow-shaped stubs 57a-57d are integrally molded with planar wall portion 51. As best seen in FIG. 14, ink supply conduits 56a to 56d are defined within tubular stubs 55a to 55d respectively, extend through planar wall portion 51, and open within shaped stubs 57a to 57d, respectively, located on the other sides of cap 50.
[0096]The shape of each one of the insert stubs 57a to 57d, as seen in transverse cross-section, corresponds respectively to one of the ink supply channels 20a to 20d of support profile so that, when cap 50 is secured to the terminal axial end of support profile 10, the walls of stubs 57a-57d are received form-fittingly in ink supply channels 20a-20d to prevent cross-migration of ink therebetween. The face 53 abuts a terminal end face of the profile 10. Preferably, glue or a sealant can be applied to the mating surfaces of profile 10 and cap 50 to enhance the sealing function.
[0097]The tubular stubs 55a-55d serve as female connectors for pliable/flexible ink supply hoses (not illustrated) that can be connected thereto sealingly, thereby to supply ink to the integral ink supply channels 20a-20d of support profile 10.
[0098]A further stub 58, D-shaped in transverse cross-section, is integrally molded to planar wall portion 51 at side 53. In completed assembly 1, the curved wall 71, semi-circular in transverse cross-section, of retaining stub 58 seals against the inside surface of shim 25, with the terminal edge of shim 25 abutting a peripheral ridge 72 around the stub 58. Preferably, to avoid cross-migration of ink among channels 20a to 20d, an adhesive or sealant is provided between the shim 25 and wall 71. The stub 58 assists in retaining the shim 25 in slot 21.
[0099]A second end cap 60, which is shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, is mounted to the other end of the profile 10 opposite to cap 50. Cap 60 has insert stubs 67a to 67d and a retaining stub 68 identical in arrangement and shape to stubs 57a to 57d and stub 58, respectively, of end cap 50. Insert stubs 67a to 67d and retention stub 68 are integrally molded with a planar wall portion 61, and in the completed assembly 1 seal off the individual ink supply channels 20a-20d from one another, to prevent cross-migration of ink among them. Wall 77 of the retention stub 68 abuts the shim 25 in the same way as described above. A sealant or adhesive is preferably used with end cap 60 in the same way (and for the same purpose) as described above in respect of end cap 50.
[0100]Whereas end cap 50 enables connection of ink supply hoses to the printhead assembly 1, end cap 60 has no tubular stubs on exterior face 62 of planar wall portion 61. Instead, four tortuous grooves 65a to 65d are formed on exterior face 62, and terminate at holes 66a to 66d, respectively, extending through wall portion 61. Each one of holes 66a to 66d opens into a respective one of the channels 20a to 20d so that when the cap 60 is in place on the profile 10, each one of the grooves 65a to 65d is in fluid communication with a respective one of the channels 20a to 20d. The grooves 65a-65d permit bleeding-off of air during priming of the printhead assembly 1 with ink, as holes 66a-66d permit air expulsion from the ink supply channels 20a-20d of support profile 10 via grooves 65a-65d. Grooves 65a-65d are capped under a translucent plastic film 69 bonded to outer face 62. Translucent plastic film 69 thus also serves the purpose of allowing visual confirmation that the ink supply channels 20a-20d of profile 10 are properly primed. For charging the ink supply channels 20a-20d with ink, film 69 is folded back (as shown in FIG. 15) to partially uncover grooves 65a-65d, so that displaced air may bleed out as ink enters the grooves 65a-65d through holes 66a-66d. When ink is visible behind film 69 in each groove 65a-65d, film 69 is folded towards face 62 and bonded against face 62 to sealingly cover face 62 and so cap-off grooves 65a-65d and isolate them from one another.
[0101]Referring to FIG. 17 (and see also FIGS. 3 and 4), the printed circuit board (PCB) 11 locates between edges 24 formed on profile 10, and is secured by screw fasteners 23 which engage with the serrations in elongate channel 22 of support profile 10. The PCB 11 contains three surface mounted halftoning chips 73, a data connector 74, printhead power and ground busbars 75 and decoupling capacitors 76. Side walls 16, 17 of support profile 10 are rounded near the edges 24 to avoid damage to the TAB films 9 when these are wound about profile 10. The electronic components 73 and 76 are specific to the use of MEMJET chips as the printhead segments 4, and would of course, if other another printhead technology were to be used, be substituted with other components as necessitated by that technology.
[0102]The shield plate 5 illustrated in FIG. 1, which is a thin sheet of stainless steel, is bonded with sealant such as a silicon sealant onto the printhead segment carriers 8. The shield plate 5 shields the TAB films 9 and the printhead segments 4 from physical damage and also serves to provide an airtight seal around the printhead segments 4 when the assembly 1 is capped during idle periods.
[0103]The multi-part layout of the printhead assembly 1 that has been described in detail above has the advantage that the printhead segment carriers 8, which interface directly with the printhead segments 4 and which must therefore be manufactured with very small tolerances, are separate from other parts, including particularly the main support frame (profile 10) which may therefore be less tightly toleranced. As noted above, the printhead segment carriers 8 are precision injection micro-moldings. Moldings of the required size and complexity are obtainable using existing micromolding technology and plastics materials such as ABS, for example. Tolerances of +/-10 microns on specified dimensions are achievable including the ink supply grooves 96a-96d, and their relative location with respect to the recess 90 in which the printhead segments 4 are received. Such tolerances are suitable for this application. Other material selection criteria are thermal stability and compatibility with other materials to be used in the assembly 1, such as inks and sealants. The profile 10 is preferably an aluminum alloy extrusion. Tolerances specified at +/-100 microns have been found suitable for such extrusions, and are achievable as well.
[0104]FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 are schematic representations only, intended to provide an understanding of the construction of an injection-molding die used in the manufacture of a printhead segment carrier 8. A multi-part die 100 is used, having a fixed base die part 104, which in use defines the face 82, recess 90 and slots 96a to 96d of the carrier 8, and a multi-part upper die part 102. The upper die part 102 is closed against the base part 104 for molding, and includes a part 101 with multiple fingers 101a, which in use form the galleries 92b (including galleries 92b') and parts 106 which are fixed relative to part 101. Also included in the upper part 102 are die parts 103 which are movable relative to the part 101 and which have fingers 103a to form the remaining galleries 92a, 92c and 92d. Parts 103 seat against parts 106 when molding is underway. Spaces between the fingers 101a and 103a correspond to the walls 97. In use of the die 100, terminal tips of the fingers 101a and 103a close against blades 105 which in use form the ink supply slots 96a-96d of carrier 8 and which are mounted to male base 104 to be detachable and replaceable when necessary. Base die part 104 also has inserts 104a, which in use form the pickup slots 87. Because zero draft is preferred on the stepped end faces 83 in this application, the die 100 also has two movable end pieces (not shown, for clarity) which in use of the die 100 are movable generally axially to close against the upper die part 102 and which are shaped to define the end faces 84', 85' and 86' of carrier 8. FIG. 21 shows a schematic transverse cross-section of the mold 100 when closed, with areas in black corresponding to the carrier 8 being molded.
[0105]As was mentioned above, the two opposite end portions of the larger quarter cylinder section of carrier 8 incorporate two ink supply chambers 99c and 99d (see FIG. 12) to provide ink to the ink supply slots 96c and 96d in that region of the carrier 8. These chambers 99c and 99d and associated communication holes 113 and 114 in parallel walls 97 that lead into the neighbouring galleries 92c and 92d, are formed in an operation subsequent to molding, by laser cutting openings of the required shape in the end walls 84 and the neighbouring inner parallel walls 97 from each end. The openings cut in end walls 84 are only necessary so as to access the inner walls 97, and are therefore subsequently permanently plugged using appropriately shaped plugs 115 as shown in FIG. 6.
[0106]Extrusions usable for profile 10 can be produced in continuous lengths and precision cut to the length required. The particular support profile 10 illustrated is 15.4 mm×25.4 mm in section and about 240 mm in length. These dimensions, together with the layout and arrangement of the walls 16 and 17 and internal webs 14a to 14c, have been found suitable to ensure adequate ink supply to eleven (11) MEMJET printhead segments 4 carried in the support profile to achieve four-color printing at 120 pages per minute (ppm). Support profiles with larger cross-sectional dimensions can be employed for very long printhead assemblies and/or for extremely high-speed printing where greater volumes of ink are required. Longer support profiles may of course be used, but are likely to require cross-bracing and location into a more rigid chassis to avoid alignment problems of individual printhead segments, for example in the case of a wide format printer of 54'' (1372 mm) or more.
[0107]An important step in manufacturing (and assembling) the assembly 1 is achieving the necessary, very high level of precision in relative positioning of the printhead segments 4, and here too the construction of the assembly 1 as described above is advantageous. A suitable manufacturing sequence that ensures such high relative positioning of printheads on the support profile will now be described.
[0108]After manufacture and successful testing of an individual printhead segment 4, its associated TAB film 9 is bumped and then bonded to bond pads along an edge of the printhead segment 4. That is, the TAB film is physically secured to segment 4 and the necessary electrical connections are made. The terms "bumped" and "bonded" will be familiar to persons skilled in the arts where TAB films are used. The printhead carrier 8 is then primed with adhesive on all those surfaces facing into recess 90 that mate and must seal with the printhead segment 4, see FIG. 11a, i.e. along the length of the radially-inner edges of walls 95, 108 and 111, the face of formation 112 and on inner faces of walls 84. The printhead segment 4 is then secured in place in recess 90 with its TAB film 9 attached. Extremely accurate alignment of the printhead segment 4 within recess 90 of printhead segment carrier 8 is not necessarily required (but is preferred), because relative alignment of all segments 4 at the support profile 10 is carried out later, as is described below. The assembly of the printhead segment 4, printhead segment carrier 8 and TAB film 9 is preferably tested at this point for correct operation using ink or water, before being positioned for placement in the slot 21 of support profile 10.
[0109]The support profile 10 is accurately cut to length (where it has been manufactured in a length longer than that required, for example by extrusion), faced and cleaned to enable good mating with the end caps 50 and 60.
[0110]A glue wheel is run the entire length of semi-circular slot 21, priming the terminal edges 14a', 14b', 14c' of webs 14a-14c and edges 16', 17' of profile side walls 16, 17 with adhesive that will bond the sealing shim 25 into place in slot 21 once sealing shim 25 is placed into it with preset distance from its terminal ends (+/-10 microns). The shim 25 is snap-fitted into place at edges 16', 17' and the glue is allowed to set. Next, end caps 50 and 60 are bonded into place whereby (ink channel sealing) insert stubs 57a-57d and 67a-67d are received in ink channels 20a-20d of profile 10, and faces 71 and 77 of retention stubs 58 and 68, respectively, lie on shim 25. This sub-assembly provides a chassis in which to successively place, align and secure further sub-assemblies (hereinafter called "carrier subassemblies") each consisting of a printhead segment carrier 8 with its respective printhead segment 4 and TAB film 9 already secured in place thereon.
[0111]A first carrier sub-assembly is primed with glue on the back face 91 of its printhead segment carrier 8. At least the edges of walls 95 and 86 are primed. A glue wheel, running lengthwise, is preferably used in this operation. After priming with glue, the carrier sub-assembly is picked up by a manipulator arm engaging into pick-up slots 87 on front face 82 of carrier 8 and placed next to the stub 58 of end cap 50 (or the stub 68 of cap 60) at one end of slot 21 in profile 10. The glue employed is of slow-setting or heat-activatable type, thereby to allow a small level of positional manipulation of each carrier subassembly, lengthwise in the slot 21, before final setting of the glue. With the first carrier subassembly finally secured to the shim 25 within the slot 21, a second carrier sub-assembly is then picked up, primed with glue as above, and placed in a 180-degree-rotated position (as described above, and as may be seen in FIG. 3) next to the first carrier sub-assembly onto shim 25 and within the slot 21. The second carrier sub-assembly is then positioned lengthwise so that there is correct lengthwise relative positioning of its printhead segment 4 and the segment 4 of the previously placed segment 4, as determined using suitable fiducial marks (not shown) on the exposed front surface 44 of each of the printhead segments 4. That is, lengthwise alignment is carried out between successive printhead segments 4, even though it is the printhead segment carrier 8 that is actually manipulated. This relative alignment is carried out to such (sub-micron) accuracy as is required to match the printing resolution capability of the printhead segments 4. Finally, the bonding of the second carrier sub-assembly to shim 25 is completed. The above process is then repeated with further carrier sub-assemblies being successively positioned, aligned, and bonded into place, until all carrier subassemblies are in position within the slot 21 and bonded in their correct positions.
[0112]The shield plate 5 has a thin film of silicon sealant applied to its underside and is mated to the printhead segment carriers 8 and TAB films 9 along the entire length of the printhead assembly 1. By suitable choice of adhesive properties of the silicon sealant, the shield plate 5 can be made removable to enable access to the printhead segment carriers 8, printhead segments 4 and TAB films 9 for servicing and/or exchange.
[0113]A sub-assembly of PCB 11 and printhead control and ancillary components 73 to 76 is secured to profile 10 using four screws 23. The TAB films 9 are wrapped around the exterior walls 16, 17 of profile 10 and are bumped and bonded (i.e. physically and electrically connected) to the PCB 11. See FIG. 17.
[0114]Finally, the completed assembly 1 is connected at the ink inlet stubs 55a-d of end cap 50 to suitable ink supplies, primed as described above and sealed using sealing film 69 of end cap 60. Power and signal connections are completed and the inkjet printhead assembly 1 is ready for final testing and subsequent use.
[0115]It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that many variations of the above-described assembly and components are possible. For example, FIG. 18 shows a shim 125 that is substantially the same as shim 25, including having openings 126 and 126' corresponding to the openings 26 and 26' in shim 25, save for longitudinally extending rim webs 128 which, when the shim 125 is mounted to a support profile 110, abut in surface-engaging manner against the outside of the terminal ends of side walls 116, 117 of profile 110 instead of being snap-fittingly received between them as is the case with shim 25. This arrangement permits wider tolerances to be used in the manufacture of the support profile 110 without compromising the mating capability of the shim 125 and the profile 110.
[0116]In yet another possible arrangement, the shim 25 could be eliminated entirely, with the printhead segment carriers 8 then bearing and sealing directly on the edges 14a'-14c' and 16', 17' of the webs 14a-14c and side walls 16, 17 at slot 21 of support profile 10.
[0117]It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that still further variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The embodiments of the present invention as described above are in no sense intended to be restrictive.
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Patent applications by Kia Silverbrook, Balmain AU
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In a shared-IP zone, applications in the zone, including the superuser, cannot send packets with source IP addresses other than the ones assigned to the zone through the zonecfg utility. This type of zone does not have access to send and receive arbitrary data-link (layer 2) packets.
For an exclusive-IP zone, zonecfg instead grants the entire specified data-link to the zone. As a result, the superuser in an exclusive-IP zone can send spoofed packets on those data-links, just as can be done in the global zone.


text:
When Tiger Woods' break from golf ends, he's unlikely to regain his crown as one of the world's most valuable pitchmen, even if he gets back to winning tournaments and convinces people he's changed.
America loves comeback stories, but his future ad opportunities are likely to be limited to sports product endorsements, significantly reducing his earnings power.
That was the takeaway from Gillette's announcement Saturday that it won't feature Woods in its ads for an unspecified period of time. It was the first major sponsor to distance itself from Woods since he announced late Friday he is taking an indefinite leave from golf to work on his marriage after allegations of infidelity surfaced in recent weeks.
Woods' time-out and request for privacy may give sponsors the cover they need to pull their ads indefinitely and distance themselves from allegations that Woods had trysts with multiple women.
AT&T said it is evaluating its relationship with the golfer. Representatives from Accenture won't say what its plans are regarding Woods, whom the consulting firm has used to personify its claimed attributes of integrity and high performance. But its Web site no longer displays on its home page an image of the golfer that had been there as recently as Thursday.
Companies often use athletes and celebrities in image ads not to sell products but to ride the coattails of their perceived qualities in the hope that it will rub off on them. Those kinds of ads are now likely gone forever for Woods as Tiger Inc. has self-destructed, costing him hundreds of millions in future endorsement fees.
Before the Nov. 27 car accident that exposed Woods' alleged serial infidelity, 91 percent of the opinions expressed about him on the Internet were positive, according to Zeta Interactive. As of Saturday, Woods' positive rating online had fallen to just 41 percent.
That's bad news for Accenture. The global consulting and outsourcing firm lauded its connections with Woods in a 2006 news release, saying its "Go on, be a Tiger" campaign had boosted its image significantly.
"The world associates Tiger with high performance. He embodies the relentless pursuit of perfection," James E. Murphy, Accenture's chief marketing and communications officer, was quoted as saying in that release. The company didn't return requests for comment Saturday.
Gillette, which uses the slogan "The best a man can get," said it won't air advertisements featuring Woods or include him in public appearances. Woods was hired by Gillette in 2007 and has been in ads for Gillette Fusion Power razors with titles like "Phenom" and "Champions" with other stars including tennis great Roger Federer and soccer player Thierry Henry.
"This is supporting his desire to step out of the public eye and we're going to support him by helping him to take a lower profile," said Damon Jones, a spokesman for Gillette, a unit of Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble.
He wouldn't say when — or if — the company would resume ads with Woods. Woods hasn't been seen in a prime-time television commercial since a Gillette spot on Nov. 29, according to research firm Nielsen Co.
No companies have cut ties altogether to Woods in the weeks since his marital troubles came to light, tarnishing the image of a man who spent 13 years in the public eye carefully cultivating a good guy image. But with the 33-year-old's decision to leave golf — at least temporarily — they're now forced to consider their future with him.
"They're going to hedge, they're going to buy some time to determine whether or not the situation will turn," said Rick Burton, former chief marketing officer of the United States Olympic Committee and now a sports marketing professor at Syracuse University.
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said Friday it would be "premature and inappropriate" to talk about Woods' specific business relationships. "Each sponsor has unique considerations and ultimately the decisions they make we would fully understand and accept."
Woods' array of endorsements helped him become the first sports star to earn $1 billion, according to Forbes. Michael Jordan, Woods' closest contemporary, is a distant second at $800 million, amassed during and after an NBA career that spanned nearly 20 years. Basketball star LeBron James has made public his desire to be the next athlete to earn $1 billion. Woods' time-out could mean more room for James and other athletes to snatch up more endorsements.
Nike Inc. said late Friday it supports his decision. Gatorade, a unit of PepsiCo Inc., said previously it supports Woods and said Saturday it has no updated comment. EA Sports has been selling Tiger Woods video golf games for a decade, and its next edition featuring him comes out in six months, giving it time to see what happens. Watch maker Tag Heuer did not return a call Saturday.
All of these companies are examining their relationships with him, said Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management. He expects they are commissioning research to see how much damage — if any — Woods' scandal is doing to their brands.
The answer to that may lie in the nature of the product being pitched.
"The ones that would stand to lose the least are sports," Bernstein said. "The connection with a watch company or a clothing company is much more tenuous and probably more subject to damage than connections to Nike."
A Wisconsin middle school already has learned Tiger Inc. may not be worth as much as it was a month ago.
The band at the Clintonville middle school had expected to raise $1,600 from an autographed photo of Woods that was auctioned off Dec. 5. Instead, most of the people just shook their heads as they walked by the picture, which finally sold for $300.
"The faces they were making, saying 'Are you kidding? Why would you do this?"' said Adam Englebretson, athletic director for the Clintonville district's high school.
Woods' earnings prowess also has been cut short. "The sponsors who want to sign him up may be different," said Larry L. Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management. "It may be somebody who wants to market only to men or only to the avid golfer. There may be fewer cross-generational or cross-demographic sponsors."
Even for Nike, which built its golf business that generates $650 million a year in revenue around Woods, the timing of the scandal couldn't be worse. "Nike Golf is Tiger Woods," said Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR. "This is the time of year that they should be selling golf clubs for Christmas."
Mary Le Beau is among the golfers now reluctant to buy Nike equipment or apparel tied to Tiger. "There's so many choices that you don't have to give up any quality to go with your conscience," said the 52-year-old marketer from Green Bay, Wis.
Others at risk of becoming collateral damage include: the television networks that drove up the bidding to show golf tournaments and other professional golfers who have benefited from the quadrupling of prize money since Woods joined the PGA tour in 1996.
The PGA's contracts with TV broadcasters NBC and CBS expire in 2012, with negotiations on a new deal likely to begin during the second half of next year.
As a measure of Woods' importance to the PGA, the average television rating fell by nearly 50 percent for a host of 2008 tournaments that Woods missed while he was recovering from knee surgery, according to Nielsen Co.
Expect Americans to root for him when — and if — he does come back, now that he's positioned himself as less than the champion he's always been known for being.
"We always root for the underdog," Smith said. "We all think that everybody has a chance to be successful. It depends how hard somebody is willing to work and what sacrifices they're willing to make."
Woods is golf to so many people. But even without him, people won't lose their interest, said Gary Lynch, sales associate at New York Golf Center.
"Icons come and go," he said. "This is a big story because of the financial aspect involved and because he set himself up to be a saint."


text:
Impressions: Katawa Shoujo
A broken heart
Last year there were a couple of games that brought up the question of what actually counts as a game. One of them shouldn't have, because it is – Modern Warfare 3 (the nuance of "un-game" is lost on the world, sadly). The other was To The Moon, which occasionally teetered on the edge of that which people were willing to tolerate. The debate is mostly unhelpful – it generally comes down to a person's expectations of the game, and those not being met. I found MW3 to fall far short of what I would expect of an FPS, and not fill that absence with anything new, meaningful or worthwhile, thus my condemnation. To The Moon replaced a perception of choice with wonderfully vivid narrative, deep characters, and an exploration of subjects poorly explored by any medium, let alone gaming. So where does that leave Katawa Shoujo?
It's a visual novel, a format with which I'm not overly familiar. But heck, I like a novel, and I like pictures, so let's see where this takes me. This is not a review, it's an account of my experience of playing the game/reading the novel.
Animated by some lovely hand-drawn Manga characters, super-imposed over cursorily photopshopped photographs, Katawa Shoujo wants to tell you a story. And it mostly wants you to sit and read it. It's a story about topics gaming pretty fundamentally ignores: disability and social awkwardness. And it's for that reason, and that the writing is seemingly of a decent standard, that I had the patience to keep on clicking for the first half hour or so. Then things slowed down. Here are my experiences.
After a good twenty minutes with the game, I've interacted twice. Once to choose whether to say something or not, that I imagine may have happened anyway. The second time given a three-part choice of what to ask a person, the game then refusing my choice and making that meaningless. I have, instead, read a great deal.
Even so, even though all I've done so far is click repeatedly on the screen to make the next line of written dialogue (or indeed the next ellipsis) appear, this isn't comparable with reading text or viewing something. The closest would be reading a comic, where I in essence physically "interact" with the book by turning the pages, and emotionally interact with the experience of the story. Except, were this a comic, it would never get away with just having the same image repeated for panel after panel.
But then, I'm playing a guy with chronic arrhythmia and congenital heart muscle deficiency, who is forced to restart his life in a boarding school for the disabled, after a heart attack at a very young age. His friends at the new school have various conditions, one seemingly extremely hyperactive, another deaf. And with a constant internal monologue from Hisao about his circumstances, it's a very introspective, underplayed narrative.
Underplayed, sadly, proves painfully true. The more I play, the less there appears to be to do, with this half-a-story being told at me while I click after every pause and sentence. And worse, those sentences quickly become far less worth reading. The interplay between the excitable Misha and the mute Shizune are pointlessly confusing, one invisibly signing to the other, both voices coming from Misha, but with the game seeming to make no effort to clarify any of it. Why I should care whether Hisao joins the student council or not is entirely beyond me, let alone the agonising length of the conversation about it. It spends more time making me read an argument about joining the council than it did introducing the heart attack, or the subsequent life-changing consequences.
And because of the meagre interaction I have – the need to constantly click to move the conversation forward – I can't even sit back and watch it happening, the auto-mode being too slowly paced even at the fastest settings. Instead I'm beholden to my role of clickmaster general, as the inane banter stretches out endlessly before me.
Oh, I haven't mentioned, have I? This is a dating sim.
After well over an hour of clicking, clicking, clicking this hasn't been revealed. Other than that every girl I've encountered seems to be very beautiful and flirtatious. Not in a cheap way, I should stress. The game is at great pains to stress the independence and confidence of all the girls you meet. But clearly you're standing in front of a line-up of girls to choose between, however it may be presented. That and the way their school uniforms are occasionally shown with their pants visible beneath their skirts.
My patience for the game really begins to run out when I'm party to an excruciatingly long conversation with an armless girl called Rin, with whom I'm mixing paints. And I don't care at all about any of it, because there's no reason to. Next I'm talking to a girl who stands on prosthetic running feet about our shared dislike of warming up before exercise. Or at least, I'm clicking. A conversation in the showers with the naked figure of the schoolboy in the dorm next to me, his modesty concealed by a fig leaf, about borrowing money is where I start clicking straight through the chat.
I would definitely have stopped by now. I've been clicking through conversations, taking in as much as flashes before my eyes and still entirely keeping up with the paper-thin plot. Good grief, the meticulous detail that goes into every tedious detail is agonising. Why would I ever care about Hisao's morning running routine for more than a sentence, let alone literally half an hour of conversations, looping endlessly around the same topics, hurting my will to live? Clicking and clicking and clicking, nothing happening, nothing of any meaning occurring, and then I see the horrendous words, "ACT 2". What? How many acts? Even if there are only two, this means I'm only halfway through this! Oh please no.
It's a visual novel. That's the justification. But it's also half-pretending to almost be a game, and I can judge it for that. AND I can judge it as a visual novel – I cannot imagine the comic version of this. It would be 900,000 pages of the same six drawings over and over. No one would surely want to read it that way, would they? So why this way? And why is it so many people have recommended this to us, apologising that yes, it's a 4Chan meme, but really, it's so much more than that.
Created by 4Chan, after they became obsessed by a sketch, it's been developed by a collection of internet communities under the name of Four Left Studios. And whether it's disability porn or an affectionate teen romance is up for grabs.
It's certainly ticking boxes marked "inspirational". For someone with the patience to tolerate its agonising detail and pace, this is a story about young people achieving beyond their disabilities, and heck, featuring disabled characters at all is a woefully rare occurance in gaming. And you know what else? Imperceptibly, and I really don't have any idea what it was that caused it to happen, something I did at some point caused this story to head in a particular direction. Because the guy just kissed one of the girls – one of five it's apparently possible to get into a relationship with.
And after speed-clicking through approximately 870 more scenes they're on a date, which is pretty cute. What's not so cute, it occurs to me, is the option in the menu to switch off adult content. Emi, the girl I have unwittingly picked, looks about 14. (She is in fact 18 according to the story.) This isn't going anywhere healthy. Clicking on any more of this sophomoric teen romance is going to make me slit my throat with the sharp end of my keyboard. Lines like,
"She pulls me back, nips at my lower lip, and reinitiates the embrace. Her tongue darts inside my mouth, exploring. I can feel a warmth spreading through my body as my heart begins to beat faster."
aren't doing my temperament any favours. And then it becomes just the worst sort of soft porn nonsense, with accompanying pictures. Including, in my game, a scene of meticulously described anal that neither enjoys.
In fairness, it then deviates back to exploring the relationship, the underlying issues, Emi's past, and so on. But it's mostly just using the dangled carrots of not telling you information it tells you it's not telling you, and I can think of no other motivation to persist. In fact, no, I'm done.
I refuse to say "it's not a game", because it is. It's just one where you don't get to do anything meaningful, as you're told a massively long story about not very much. And one I haven't the energy to persist with to its ending, let alone explore the other four stories it has to offer. That scale is unquestionably impressive, and it's obviously been a great deal of work. But I'm not sure I've gained anything from playing.
If you're after the thrill of teenage boobies, skip this. They're there, and they feel wildly inappropriate to be viewing (unless you're a teenager, I guess), but the sex is a minuscule element of the game, which is far more interested in telling you about the organisation of every character's sock drawer. And since I wrote that sentence, I finished the game. Which is telling. I just wanted to know how it ended, as frustratingly obvious as all of Emi's so-called secrets were. I guess I'd committed so much time to it all that I may as well. Of course, that's only one fifth of the game, which is both terrifying and impressive.
The game is free, and can be downloaded from here.