Appeal No. 97-0544 Page 2
Application No. 08/177,108
The invention at issue in this appeal relates to the
manufacture of nozzles for ink-jet printers. More
specifically, the invention generates an array of ink-jet
nozzles in a substrate. The invention includes a laser, which
is output through an alignment path; an expansion telescope;
and a scanner. Beam division optics are used with the scanner
to divide-out a plurality of beams and scan simultaneously a
respective plurality of computer-generated holograms (CGHs).
The CGHs are configured and scanned so that the generated
image produces ink-jet nozzles having precise dimensions and
alignment.
Claim 16, which is representative for our purposes,
follows:
16. In a method for ablating of [sic] a matrix
of nozzles on a substrate with controlled nozzle
shapes and controlled center to center spacing from
a beam of coherent light of a specific frequency for
producing at least one nozzle array on the
substrate, said method including the steps of:
providing a plurality of masks, each said mask
configured in a plane having a plurality of
subapertures with each subaperture containing at
least a portion of a computer generated hologram for
producing converging coherent light of the specific
frequency from the subaperture with image
information from the subaperture to form a real
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