JP2002067343A - Long recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a long recording head which can be easily manufactured and can suppress printing shift of image to an extent not giving effect on the printing quality even when a printing sheet runs inclined. SOLUTION: Two rows of a nozzle row 46-1 and a nozzle row 46-2 are formed along a main scanning direction of a head chip 40, one row is arranged by moving parallel in a sub scanning direction to the other row by a distance m and a set pitch P in the main scanning direction between discharge nozzles 43n in each inside end, is the same as a set pitch of a discharge nozzle 43 in each nozzle row 46. A multicolor long recording head 49 is formed by arranging the head chip 40 (40-1, 40-2,...) continuously and in a straight line in the direction of nozzles arrangement indicated by an arrow K so as to put a convex part 48 of the head chip into a concave part 47 of the other head chip to each other. The pitches P set laterally between the discharge nozzle 43g on the outer end of one of the adjacent nozzle row 46-2 and the discharge nozzle 43g on the outer end of the other of the nozzle row 46-1 is the same as the set pitch P of the nozzles 43, 43n and 43g arranged laterally in one head chip.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a long recording head which is easy to manufacture and can suppress a printing deviation of an image even when the paper is skewed so as not to affect the image quality.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet printers have been widely used. Ink jet printers include a thermal jet method in which ink is heated to generate air bubbles and the ink drops are ejected by the pressure, and a piezo jet method in which the ink drops are ejected by deformation of a piezoresistive element (piezoelectric element).

In these methods, ink as a recording material is formed into ink droplets and ejected from a discharge nozzle of a recording head, and the ink droplets are absorbed by a recording material such as paper or cloth to record characters (images, images, etc.). This is a printing method that does not require special fixing processing unlike an electrophotographic printer, generates less noise, is easy to handle, and is relatively simple.

Conventionally, only printers for monochrome printing have been used, but now, printers for full-color printing have become mainstream. Full color printing is usually
The three primary inks of subtractive color mixing, yellow (yellow), magenta (red dye name), and cyan (greenish blue), are used. In some cases, black ( This is performed by using four color inks to which black) is added.

FIG. 5A is a diagram schematically showing an ink ejection surface of a monochrome recording head mounted on a thermal jet printer for performing such printing and performing printing. (b) is a diagram showing a silicon wafer on which such a recording head is manufactured.

FIGS. 6 (a), 6 (b) and 6 (c) are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing the recording head shown in FIG. 5 (a) in the order of steps. A 'sectional view, B-
It shows a B 'cross-sectional view. In the plan views shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C, five heat generating portions or discharge nozzles are shown for convenience of illustration. The heating section and the discharge nozzle may be 64 depending on the design policy.
, 128, 256, etc. are continuously formed in the vertical direction in each figure. In FIG. 5 (a),
A conventional method of manufacturing a recording head will be briefly described below with reference to FIG. 6 (b) and FIGS. 6 (a), 6 (b) and 6 (c).

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a thin film formed of, for example, Ta-Si-ON is formed on a suitable insulating substrate 1 such as a silicon substrate or a glass substrate by using a thin film forming technique. A heating section 2 of 5000 to 18000 mm and Au or N connected to both ends of the heating section 2 respectively.
The common wiring electrode 3 having a thickness of 3000 to 10000 mm and the individual wiring electrode 4 are patterned. The above-mentioned common wiring electrode 3 has an opening 3-1 that is largely elongated vertically (in the example of FIG. 6 (a), it looks short because only the length corresponding to the five heating parts 2 is shown) near the left end of the substrate. The surface 1-1 of the substrate 1 is exposed inside the opening 3-1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, a partition member made of an organic material such as photosensitive polyimide is formed to a height of about 20 μm by coating, and after this is patterned by the photolithography technique, cured ( By performing firing, the partition walls 5 (5-1, 5-2) having a height of about 10 μm are formed. The partition 5-1 is provided around the substrate 1 to form a sealing portion from the outside, and the partition 5-2 extends from the partition 5-1 at the left end to between the heat generating portions 2 to form fine partitions. A section (a pressure chamber for applying pressure to ink) 6 is formed.

Subsequently, an elongated slit-shaped ink supply groove 7 is formed on the surface 1-1 of the substrate 1 by, for example, a sandblasting method, and one opening is opened in the ink supply groove 7 and the other opening is formed therein. An ink supply hole 8 that penetrates through the substrate 1 and opens on the back side of the substrate 1 is formed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, an orifice plate 9 made of, for example, polyimide or the like and having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm
And a metal film 11 such as Ti, Ni, Cu, or Al having a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm is formed on the entire upper surface of the orifice plate 9 by a vacuum apparatus or a sputtering apparatus.

The metal film 11 is patterned to form a mask pattern 11-1 for selectively etching the orifice plate 9. Subsequently, the mask of the metal film mask 11 is formed by, for example, dry etching using a helicon wave. A large number of discharge nozzles 12 having a diameter of 20 to 40 μm are collectively formed on the orifice plate 9 according to the pattern. with this,
In the interior covered by the orifice plate 9, the thickness of the
An ink flow path 13 having a height corresponding to μm is formed between the ink supply groove 7 and the pressure chamber 6. As a result, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5A, a mono-color recording head 15 having a large number of ejection nozzles 12 in one line is placed on a substrate 1 divided into silicon wafers 14 as shown in FIG. To be completed.

Thereafter, the silicon wafer 14 is cut for each substrate 1 using a dicing saw or the like, which is die-bonded to an appropriate parent substrate, and assembled with another silicon substrate on which a drive circuit section is formed by LSI forming technology. ,
The drive circuit section and the above-mentioned recording head are connected to each other by wire bonding or the like, and this connection portion is covered with a resin protective layer or the like to complete a recording head of a practical unit.

Incidentally, a recording head comprising a heating portion, a wiring electrode, an ink flow path, a discharge nozzle and the like is formed in the same manner as described above by utilizing a thin film forming technique on a glass substrate without using a silicon wafer. There is also a method of connecting a drive circuit portion formed by an LSI forming technology to a substrate.

The general size of the above-mentioned recording head is about 15 × 20 mm, and is generally used as a recording head of a serial printer mainly used for home use. The printer is mounted together with the cartridge, and performs printing by reciprocating in the width direction of the paper, that is, in the main scanning direction of printing (in the horizontal direction of the recording head 15 shown in FIG. 5A).

At present, A4 size paper is generally used for business use. To print at high speed on such paper, however, the speed of the reciprocating movement of the carriage in the serial printer as described above is required. Is difficult to raise than the current one, which makes the processing speed slow and not practical for business use. In order to cope with high-speed printing, a long recording head for a line printer is required.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing such a long recording head. The long recording head 1 shown in FIG.
6 is a long head formed by rotating the recording head 15 of FIG. 5 (a) by 90 degrees and extending the longitudinal direction so that the length of the nozzle row is the same as the length of the printing area in the paper width direction. A chip 17 is prepared, attached to a parent substrate 18, and connected to a drive circuit (not shown). The long recording head 16 is fixedly attached to the line type printer main body, and only the paper is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow C in the drawing to execute printing.

However, if the long head chip 17 as described above is formed from the above-described silicon wafer,
Since the silicon wafer is round, 6 x 25.4m
Even if a large silicon wafer of mφ or more is used, about two or three long head chips as described above cannot be removed from one silicon wafer along the diameter direction. Therefore, there is a problem that the yield is extremely low and the cost is high.

If a glass substrate is used in place of a silicon wafer, the problem of the number of substrates to be solved can be solved. However, this is very difficult. Since a long head chip is discarded as a defect, there is a problem that the damage of disposal by one defective discharge nozzle is too large, that is, the yield is extremely poor.

Therefore, a number of small recording heads having the constructions shown in FIGS. 5A and 6C were prepared (in this case, 1).
It is conceivable to connect a plurality of the defective ejection nozzles in the longitudinal direction as head chip elements. However, implementation of this method is difficult.

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a problem in the case where a plurality of such small recording heads are connected as head chip elements in the longitudinal direction to form a long recording head. In FIG. 5B, the discharge nozzles 12 shown in FIGS. 5A and 6C are shown by solid lines, and the orifice plate 9 is shown in a transparent manner. 5 (5-1, 5
2) and only the ink supply groove 7 are indicated by broken lines.

As shown in FIG. 2B, a sealing partition 5-1 is formed around the recording head 15 to seal the ink having a width d including the end in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, if the recording heads 15 are simply arranged in the longitudinal direction and connected,
The pitch Pd between the discharge nozzles 12 at the end of the adjacent recording head 15 is smaller than the pitch P between the discharge nozzles 12 in the same nozzle row because of the ink seal portion having the width d. Become wider.

Therefore, in order to produce a long recording head using a plurality of small recording heads as head chip elements, the head chip elements are arranged in a staggered footprint shape in the longitudinal direction of the long recording head (hereinafter referred to as a staggered footprint). A method has been proposed in which ejection nozzles of adjacent head chip elements are continuously arranged at the same pitch in the main scanning direction.

FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a long recording head formed by staggering such a recording head 15 as a small head chip element, and FIG. It is an enlarged view. As shown in FIG. 1A, the long recording head 20 is formed by a plurality of small recording heads (hereinafter, referred to as head chip elements) 21 arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal direction of a parent substrate 22. Also in this case, the long recording head 20 is fixed to the line type printer main body, and only the paper is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction indicated by the arrow E in the drawing, and printing is performed by the long recording head 20.

In the long recording head 20, as shown in FIG. 2B, the ends of the adjacent head chip elements 21 overlap in a staggered arrangement, and the overlapped portion has the longitudinal end. The width d of the sealing partition wall 5-1 is absorbed, and the pitch in the main scanning direction between the discharge nozzles 12 at the ends of the adjacent head chip elements 21 is equal to the pitch P equal to the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles 12 in the nozzle row. It has become. Thus, it has been considered that an image can be formed without any trouble.

[0025]

However, it has been found that unexpected problems occur in the long recording head in a staggered arrangement. For example, the staggered long recording head 20 shown in FIG. 8A has both ends between the discharge nozzles 12 of the adjacent head chip elements 21 as shown in FIG. 8B. A shift of the distance D corresponding to the width of the sealing partition 5-1 at the end in the short direction occurs in the sub-scanning direction. The deviation itself in the sub-scanning direction can be easily absorbed by controlling the print timing.

However, if the paper on the side to be printed is slightly skewed, the above-described shift in the distance D in the sub-scanning direction causes a shift in the position of the print dot, resulting in a white stripe or black stripe running in the sub-scanning direction on the print image. Streaks occur. Especially 4 nozzle rows
The above-mentioned disadvantages become conspicuous when a color long print head is configured by staggering the color head chips composed of rows.

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of a color long recording head in which color head chips having four nozzle rows are arranged in a staggered manner. As shown in the figure, the color long recording head 23 has a large number of color head chips 25 (25) in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow F in the drawing of the parent substrate 24.
-1, 25-2, 25-3,...).

Each color head chip 25 includes yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K).
Nozzle rows 26 (26-) corresponding to the four color inks
1, 26-2, 26-3, 26-4). Adjacent color head chips 25 (for example, 25-1 and 2
The pitch in the main scanning direction between the ejection nozzles 27 at the end between the nozzle rows of the same color between 5-2) (for example, the yellow (Y) nozzle row 26-1) is equal to the arrangement pitch of the ejection nozzles in the nozzle row. Although they are arranged so as to have the same pitch P, the pitch L in the sub-scanning direction is the same as the width of the partition wall 28 at the end and the amount of three nozzle rows of other colors. It is getting wider.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an image defect occurring on a sheet skewed with respect to the color long recording head 23. It should be noted that the figure shows the positional relationship of the inclination between the sheet 27 and the color head chip 25 in an easily understandable manner.
The color long recording head 23 is shown relatively larger than the paper 27 relative to the actual recording head.

The sheet 27 shown in FIG.
Are set so as to be conveyed in the correct sub-scanning direction. If the sheet 27 is conveyed in the correct sub-scanning direction G, the adjacent color head chip 25-1
And the print dots of the discharge nozzles 27 at the end of the line 25-2 are printed on the paper 27 at an interval of a correct pitch P.

However, when the paper 27 skews in a direction indicated by an arrow H having an inclination of an angle θ with respect to the correct sub-scanning direction G, the adjacent color head chips 25-1 and 25-2
As described above, there is a large distance of the pitch L in the sub-scanning direction between the ejection nozzles 27 at the end of 5-2, as described above. P ′ = P + L sin θ ”. That is, L
An extra distance corresponding to sin θ, that is, a blank portion is generated. If this is large, it causes white stripes (print shift) appearing in the sub-scanning direction of the printed image.

Although not particularly shown, if the paper 27 is inclined in the opposite direction to the drawing and inclined, the discharge nozzles 27 and 27 at the ends of the adjacent color head chips 25-1 and 25-2 will be Lsinθ is inserted into the inside of the nozzle row of the other party and double print dots are formed by that amount, and black stripes (print shift) running in the sub-scanning direction appear in the print image.

Also, it is not possible to arrange the head chips in a staggered manner so that the pitch in the main scanning direction between the discharge nozzles at the ends of the adjacent head chips is the same pitch P as the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle row. Although it has been performed conventionally, there is also a problem that a high precision is required for the alignment, which requires an extremely advanced technique, and that the production of a long recording head is troublesome.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a long recording head which is easy to manufacture and can suppress a print shift of an image even if the sheet is skewed so as not to affect the image quality.

[0035]

The construction of a long recording head according to the present invention will be described below. A long recording head according to the present invention is formed by joining a plurality of chip substrates in which a plurality of recording portions corresponding to a plurality of recording dots are arranged at a predetermined pitch along a first direction in the first direction. A long recording head, wherein at least a part of each of the chip substrates has at least a part of an adjacent chip substrate and the first chip substrate.
And the recording regions of both chip substrates are arranged side by side along the first direction at the predetermined pitch.

It is preferable that the chip substrate has two rows of recording sections along the first direction, each row including a plurality of the recording sections.
Further, for example, the recording action section row of the chip substrate may be a nozzle row composed of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink of an ink jet print head. In this case, the chip substrate may be, for example,
As described in the description, the recording action section row may be provided for each color of the ink to be ejected. Further, for example, as described in claim 5, the recording action section row has a trapezoidal shape and includes a plurality of the recording action sections. It may be configured to include one recording action section row along one direction.

[0037]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a plan view showing the configuration of a single-color head chip as a chip substrate in the first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the head chip in a longitudinal direction as a first direction. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a connected single color long recording head. FIG. 2A shows the uppermost orifice plate 3 formed on the chip substrate 31.
2, the discharge nozzles 33 (33, 33n, 33g) formed on the orifice plate 32 are indicated by solid lines, and the sealing partition 34-1, the partition 34-2, and the ink supply groove 35 are indicated by broken lines. Indicated by. The other components are not shown (see FIG. 6 (c)).

The head chip 30 shown in FIG.
i, glass, ceramics, a metal substrate coated with insulation, and the like, a plurality of chip substrates obtained by dividing a substrate (not shown) into a plurality of chip substrates 31. In one chip substrate 31, the discharge nozzle 33 and the sealing partition are provided. 34-1, partition partition 34-2,
2 that accompanies the ink supply groove 35 and other internal structures
A nozzle row 36 (36-1, 36-2) is provided.

The two nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2 are formed along the longitudinal direction of the head chip (printing main scanning direction), and one of them moves in parallel with the other by a distance m in the transverse direction of the head chip. Is arranged. The discharge nozzles 33 at the inner ends of the two nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2.
The arrangement pitch P in the longitudinal direction of the head chip between n and 33n is the same as the arrangement pitch P of the discharge nozzles 33 in each nozzle row 36.

The two nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-
2 and the pressurizing chambers 3 of the discharge nozzles 33g and 33g at the outer ends.
The substrate region behind 7 is notched in a hook shape up to a portion corresponding to approximately の of the width of the pressure chamber 37. Then, the sealing partition wall 34-in the cutout portion behind the pressurizing chamber 37.
1 'only needs to seal the rear half of only one pressurizing chamber 37 of the discharge nozzle 33g at the outer end, and therefore,
Since there is no problem even if the strength is lower than that of a normal sealing partition, the width is smaller than that of the sealing partition 5-1 shown in FIG. 8B.

Accordingly, the distance m (the amount of parallel movement in the short direction of the head chip, ie, the amount of displacement) is smaller than the pressure chamber 37 of the discharge nozzle 33g at the outer end of the nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2. Since the width of the partition wall 34-1 'for sealing the gap can be formed to be thin, the shift amount D shown in FIG. The head chip 30 thus formed on the substrate (not shown) is once cut into a rectangular shape by a dicing saw or the like having a high working efficiency, and then the cutout portion is cut using a water jet or a laser. .

The head chip 3 thus produced
1 are referred to as head chips 30-1, 30-2, 30-3,... Linearly in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow J on a parent substrate (not shown) as shown in FIG. In this manner, the recording heads are continuously arranged and connected to form a long recording head 37 for a single color.

At this time, the projections formed by the notches of the adjacent head chips 30 (for example, 30-1 and 30-2) are inserted into and closely adhered to the recesses on the other side, and thereby, The head chip 30 has a predetermined pitch (the length obtained by subtracting the length in the longitudinal direction of one notch portion from the length in the longitudinal direction of the head chip 30) along the longitudinal direction of the parent substrate, which is the first direction. ), And at least a part (projection) of the joining part is at least a part (projection) of the joining part of the adjacent head chip 30.
And the arrangement area is divided in the direction orthogonal to the first direction.

In this state, the leading head chip 3
0-1 nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2, the next head chip 30-2 nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2, and further the next head chip 30-3 nozzle rows 36-1 and 36-2. ,
As described above, the nozzle rows arranged on the parent board are staggered. The longitudinal direction of the discharge nozzle 33g at the outer end of the nozzle row 36-2 of the head chip 30-1 and the discharge nozzle 33g at the outer end of the nozzle row 36-1 of the adjacent head chip 30-2 Arrangement pitch P
Are the longitudinal discharge nozzles 33, 3 in one head chip.
The pitch is the same as the arrangement pitch of 3n and 33g. The same applies to the relationship with the next adjacent head chip.

In this manner, the head chip 30 (30-1, 30-2, 30-3,
..) Can be aligned by linearly aligning the pitch between the discharge nozzles at the longitudinal ends between the head chips with the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles in the head chip. Alignment of the head chip when producing the long recording head 37 for use in the head becomes easy, and work efficiency is improved.

Further, since the shift amount m in the sub-scanning direction between the discharge nozzles at the connection end portions of the adjacent head chips is smaller than the conventional shift amount D, even if the sheet is skewed, the printed image is printed. Displacement hardly occurs. That is, even if printing misalignment occurs, it can be suppressed to a small value. For example, the deviation amount m
Is 600 μm, the print dot deviation amount when the skew angle θ of the paper is 1 ° is 600 μm × sin
(1 °) = 10.5 μm, which is within a very small deviation amount.

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the configuration of a multicolor head chip as a chip substrate in the second embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a plan view showing the head chip in a first direction. FIG. 3 is a view showing a multicolor long recording head connected in the longitudinal direction as a first embodiment. FIG. 3A also shows the uppermost orifice plate 42 formed on the chip substrate 41 in a transparent manner, and discharge nozzles 43 (43, 43n, 43g) formed on the orifice plate 42 are shown. The solid partition line 44-1, the partition partition wall 44-2, and the ink supply groove 45 are indicated by solid lines. Other components are not shown.

The head chip 40 shown in FIG.
i, glass, ceramics, a metal substrate coated with insulation, and the like, a single chip substrate 41 divided and formed on a substrate (not shown), a discharge nozzle 43, a sealing partition 44-1 and a partition partition. 44-2, ink supply groove 45,
And two other nozzle rows 46 with other internal structures
(46-1, 46-2) are provided for each of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K).

The two nozzle rows 46-1 and 4 for each color are
6-2 is the horizontal direction of the head chip 40 (printing main scanning direction)
Are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction (sub-scanning direction) of the head chip 40 by a distance m with respect to the other, and the inner ends of the two nozzle rows 46-1 and 46-2 are arranged. The arrangement pitch P in the horizontal direction of the head chip between the ejection nozzles 43n of each section is formed to be the same as the arrangement pitch of the ejection nozzles 43 in each nozzle row 46.

In other words, this multicolor head chip 4
0 indicates the head chip 30 for a single color shown in FIG.
It has a shape in which four pieces are continuously arranged in the short direction.
Thus, the head chip 40 has the four concave portions 47, which are the above-described cutout portions, and the four convex portions 48 formed thereby.

The head chip 40 is also formed by first cutting out with a dicing saw and then cutting out the cutout portion using a water jet or a laser. The head chip 40 produced in this way is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The head chips 40-1 and 40 are linearly extended in the longitudinal direction indicated by.
.., 40-3,... Are connected in a row to form a multicolor long recording head 49.

Also in this case, the projections 48 of the adjacent head chips 40 are inserted into and in close contact with the recesses 47 on the other side, and the individual head chips 40 are moved in the first direction (discharge nozzle arrangement direction). Along the longitudinal direction of a certain parent substrate, they are juxtaposed at a predetermined pitch (the length obtained by subtracting the lateral length of one recess 47 from the lateral length of the head chip 40) and at least a part of the joint portion. The (projection 48) is arranged so as to divide at least a part (projection 48) of the joining portion between the adjacent head chips in the direction orthogonal to the first direction.

In this case as well, the discharge nozzle 4 at the outer end of the nozzle row 46-2 of one of the head chips 40-1 of the adjacent head chips 40 (for example, 40-1 and 40-2).
3g and the nozzle row 46- of the other head chip 40-2.
The horizontal arrangement pitch between the outer nozzles 1 and the discharge nozzles 43g is the same as the horizontal discharge nozzles 43 in one head chip.
The pitch P is the same as the arrangement pitch of n and 43g.

As described above, the multi-color head chips 40 having a plurality of (in this example, four) nozzle rows for each color are arranged in a single head chip in a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the parent substrate. Alone, the pitch between the discharge nozzles 43g at the lateral ends between the head chips 40 and 40 can be adjusted to the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles 43 in the head chip 40. The alignment of the head chip 40 when forming the head 49 is facilitated, and the working efficiency is improved.

The positional deviation amount m in the sub-scanning direction of the nozzle rows 46-1 and 46-2 for each color between the adjacent head chips 40 is different from the positional deviation amount m in the case of the head chip 30 for single color. Even if the sheet is skewed compared to the case of a large displacement amount (see FIG. 10) when the conventional multi-color head chips (see FIG. 9) are staggered, the printing is performed. It is possible to suppress the printing displacement of the image to be extremely small as compared with the related art.

That is, in this case, as in the case of the long recording head 37 for single color, if the shift amount m is 600 μm, the print dot shift amount when the skew angle θ of the sheet is 1 ° is obtained. Is 600 μm × sin (1 °) = 10.5 μ
m, which is within a very small deviation amount.

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing the structure of a single-color head chip 50 as a chip substrate according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a plan view showing this head chip in a first direction. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a long recording head for a single color connected in the longitudinal direction as a first example. 3A also shows the uppermost orifice plate 52 formed on the chip substrate 51 in a see-through manner, and discharge nozzles 53 (53, 53n, 53g) formed on the orifice plate 52. Is indicated by a solid line, and the sealing partition 54-1 and the partition 54-2 and the ink supply groove 55 are indicated by broken lines. Other components are not shown.

The head chip 50 shown in FIG.
Si, glass, ceramics, formed on a single chip substrate 51, which is partitioned and formed on a substrate (not shown) made of a metal substrate or the like coated with insulation, and has a parallelogram as a whole. Sealing partition 54-1,
Two nozzle rows 56 (56-1, 56) that accompany the partition walls 54-2, the ink supply grooves 55, and other internal structures.
-2).

This head chip 50 is different from the monochromatic head chip 30 shown in FIG. 1 in that, instead of forming a concave portion and a convex portion by a cutout portion, the concave portion and the convex portion are formed as a continuous inclined portion. The configuration of the two nozzle rows 56 (56-1, 56-2) formed on the chip substrate 51 is the same as that of the head chip 30.

That is, two nozzle rows 56-1 and 56
No. -2 is formed along the longitudinal direction of the head chip 50, and one is arranged so as to move parallel to the other in a direction perpendicular to the discharge nozzle arrangement direction by a distance m with respect to the other. The arrangement pitch P in the head chip longitudinal direction between the ejection nozzles 53n at the inner ends of the two nozzle arrays 56-1 and 56-2 is determined by the arrangement of the ejection nozzles 53 in each nozzle array 56. It is formed the same as the pitch.

Since the head chip 50 is a parallelogram surrounded by a straight line and has no cutout on the side, the scribe lines separating the silicon wafer for each head chip are not crossed with each other in an orthogonal grid but in a crossing manner. It is only necessary to divide one of the scribing lines to be inclined, and there is no waste in the number of scribe lines, and the yield is improved. Further, since the shape is a parallelogram surrounded by straight lines, the cutting from the substrate may be performed only with a dicing saw, and the cutting operation is simple.

The head chip 5 thus produced
0 are referred to as head chips 50-1, 50-2, 50-3,... Linearly in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow N on a parent substrate (not shown), as shown in FIG. In this way, the recording heads 57 are connected in a row to form a long recording head 57 for a single color.

At this time, the inclined portions on the sides of the adjacent head chips 50 (for example, 50-1 and 50-2) are brought into close contact with each other, whereby the individual head chips 50 are moved along the longitudinal direction of the parent substrate. At a predetermined pitch (the length of the long side of the parallelogram of the head chip 50), and at least a part (in this case, all) of the joints is at least one of the joints of the adjacent head chips 50. The arrangement region is arranged obliquely in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the parent substrate, which is the first direction.

In this state, the end of the nozzle row facing the adjacent head chip is arranged close to the end of the parallelogram having sharp angles. The discharge nozzle 53g at the outer end close to the end having the acute angle of the nozzle row 56-2 of the one head chip 50-1 of the adjacent head chip and the other head chip 50-1
The longitudinal arrangement pitch P with the discharge nozzle 53g at the outer end adjacent to the end having the same acute angle of the nozzle row 56-1 of -2 is the longitudinal discharge nozzle 53 in one head chip, The pitch is the same as the arrangement pitch of 53n and 53g.

In this manner, the head chips 50 (50-1, 50-2, 50-3,
..) Can be aligned by linearly aligning the pitch between the discharge nozzles at the longitudinal ends between the head chips with the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles in the head chip. Alignment of the head chip when producing the long recording head 57 for printing is facilitated, and work efficiency is improved.

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing the structure of a single-color head chip as a chip substrate in the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a plan view in which the head chip is used as a first direction. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a long recording head for a single color connected in the longitudinal direction of FIG. In the head chip 60 shown in FIG. 4A, the uppermost orifice plate 62 formed on the chip substrate 61 is shown in perspective, and the discharge nozzle 63 formed on the orifice plate 62 The solid partition lines 64-1 and the partition partition walls 64-2 and the ink supply grooves 65 are indicated by broken lines. Other components are not shown.

The head chip 60 shown in FIG.
The above-described discharge nozzle is formed in one chip substrate 61 among a plurality of chip substrates partitioned on a substrate (not shown) made of Si, glass, ceramics, an insulating-coated metal substrate, or the like, and has a trapezoid shape as a whole. 63, sealing partition 64
1, a partition wall 64-2, an ink supply groove 65, and a single nozzle row 66 having other internal structures. The nozzle row 66 having only one row includes the head chip 60.
Is formed in parallel with the long side of the trapezoid and close to the long side.

Incidentally, the cutting of the head chip 60 is performed as shown in FIG.
This is the same as the case of the head chip 30 in FIG. Further, since there is only one nozzle row 66 in the head chip, it is possible to form the arrangement of the heating section corresponding to the discharge nozzle 63 in the head chip, the arrangement of the wiring electrodes to the heating section, and the like in the same direction. In addition, the uniformity of the conditions for each ejection nozzle 66 in the head chip is obtained, and the reliability is improved.

The head chip 6 thus produced
4 is substantially linear in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow Q on the parent substrate (not shown) as shown in FIG. 4 (b), except that a later-described ejection nozzle arrangement pitch P between adjacent head chips is obtained. A little in the short direction so that the head chip 6
One of the adjacent head chips, such as 0-1, 60-2, 60-3,. 67 is formed.

As a result, the adjacent head chip 60
Are arranged in a staggered arrangement, and the discharge nozzles 63 and 63 at the ends of the nozzle rows 66 of the adjacent head chips 60 (for example, 60-1 and 60-2) are disposed in the longitudinal direction (main scanning direction). The pitch P is equal to the pitch of the ejection nozzles 63 in one head chip in the longitudinal direction.

In this case, the shift amount m 'in the sub-scanning direction between the nozzle arrays 66 of the adjacent head chips 60 is slightly larger than the shift amount m in the above-described first to third embodiments. However, even if m ′ = 1000 μm as an example, the deviation amount of the print dot is 1000 μm × sin (1 °) = 17.5 μm with respect to the skew angle θ of the paper = 1 °, which is a very slight deviation amount. Can be suppressed.

In order to reduce the amount of displacement m 'in the sub-scanning direction, the width of the sealing partition 24-1 on the oblique side is reduced as much as possible, and the width of the adjacent head chips 60 in the lateral direction is reduced. What is necessary is just to make deviation small. In the above embodiment,
The head chips having the same shape are joined, but the present invention is not limited to this. If the head chips can be joined in the direction in which the ejection nozzles are juxtaposed, the shapes of the individual head chips may be different from each other.

The present invention is not limited to an ink jet print head, and can be widely applied to various recording heads having a plurality of recording sections arranged in parallel, such as an optical writing head in an LED type electrophotographic recording apparatus. Of course.

[0074]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a plurality of chip substrates having a plurality of recording sections disposed along a first direction are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the first direction. Since the long recording head is formed by joining in the first direction so as to divide the arrangement regions from each other, the alignment of the chip substrates becomes easy and the production efficiency is improved.

Further, since the shift amount between the recording action unit rows is smaller than the shift amount in the case of the conventional staggered arrangement, the print shift of the printed image when the sheet is skewed can be further suppressed. In this case, as in the first embodiment, if the end surfaces for joining the chip substrates are formed in a hook shape, proper alignment of the chip substrates can be more easily performed.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, a multicolor head chip having a plurality of nozzle rows for each color is similarly linearly arranged in the nozzle disposing direction in one head chip. Since the pitch between the discharge nozzles at the longitudinal ends between the head chips can be aligned with the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles in the head chip, the multi-color long recording head can be formed. This facilitates the alignment of the head chip, thereby improving work efficiency.

Further, since the positional deviation amount in the sub-scanning direction of the nozzle row for each color between adjacent head chips is the same as the positional deviation amount in the case of a single-color head chip, the conventional multi-color head As compared with the case of a large positional deviation amount when the chips are arranged in a staggered manner, even if the sheet is skewed, the deviation of the printed image can be suppressed much smaller than before.

Further, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, since the shape of the chip substrate is a parallelogram surrounded by a straight line, the scribe lines dividing the silicon wafer for each chip substrate are formed by crossing scribe lines. It is only necessary to partition one of the lines diagonally, and there is no waste in the number of lines, and therefore, the yield is improved.

Also, by simply adhering the parallelogram side slopes to each other and arranging them in a straight line, the pitch between the discharge nozzles at the longitudinal ends of the head chips can be reduced. Can be aligned with the same arrangement pitch, the alignment of the head chips when producing a long recording head for a single color becomes easy, and the work efficiency is improved.

Further, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, since the nozzle row in each head chip for forming the long recording head is one row, the heating section corresponding to the discharge nozzle in the head chip is provided. Can be formed in the same direction, arrangement of wiring electrodes, etc., and uniformity of conditions for each ejection nozzle in the head chip can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a configuration of a monochromatic head chip according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a view showing a long recording head formed by connecting the head chips in a longitudinal direction. is there.

2A is a plan view showing a configuration of a multicolor head chip according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a view showing a long recording head formed by connecting the head chips in a longitudinal direction. It is.

FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view showing a configuration of a single-color head chip according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 3 (b) shows a single-color long recording head formed by connecting the head chips in a longitudinal direction. FIG.

FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view showing the configuration of a single-color head chip according to a fourth embodiment, and FIG. 4 (b) shows a single-color long recording head formed by connecting the head chips in the longitudinal direction. FIG.

5A is a diagram schematically showing an ink ejection surface of a monochrome recording head used in a conventional serial printer, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a silicon wafer on which the recording head is manufactured. .

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a method of manufacturing the recording head of FIG. 5A in the order of steps.

7A is a diagram illustrating a long recording head for a line type printer, and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a defect when a plurality of small recording heads are connected to create a long recording head. .

8A is a diagram showing a long recording head formed by staggering conventional small recording heads, and FIG. 8B is an enlarged view of an adjacent portion thereof.

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of a conventional color long recording head in which a conventional color head chip having four nozzle rows is arranged in a staggered manner.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an image defect occurring on a sheet skewed with respect to a conventional color long recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1-1 Surface 2 Heating part 3 Common wiring electrode 3-1 Opening 4 Individual wiring electrode 5 (5-1, 5-2) Partition wall 6 Partition part 7 Ink supply groove 8 Ink supply hole 9 Orifice plate 11 Metal film 11 -1 Mask pattern 12 Discharge nozzle 13 Ink flow path 14 Silicon wafer 15 Monocolor recording head 16 Long recording head 17 Long head chip 18 Parent substrate 20 Long recording head 21 Head chip element 22 Parent substrate 23 Color long Recording head 24 Parent substrate 25 (25-1, 25-2, 25-3, ...) Color head chip 26 (26-1, 26-2, 26-3, 26-4) Nozzle row 27 Discharge nozzle 28 Partition wall 30 (30-1, 30-2, 30-3,...) Single color head chip 31 Chip substrate 32 Orifice plate 33 (33, 33n, 33g) Discharge nozzles 34-1 and 34-1 'Sealing partition wall 34-2 Partition partition wall 35 Ink supply groove 36 (36-1, 36-2) Nozzle row 37 Monochromatic long recording head 40 Multicolor head chip 41 Chip substrate 42 Orifice plate 43 (43, 43n, 43g) Discharge nozzle 44-1 Sealing partition wall 44-2 Partition partition wall 45 Ink supply groove 46 (46-1, 46-2) Nozzle row 47 Concave part 48 Convex part 49 Multicolor Long recording head 50 (50-1, 50-2, 50-3,...) Monochromatic head chip 51 Chip substrate 52 Orifice plate 53 (53, 53n, 53g) Discharge nozzle 54-1 Sealing partition 54 -2 Partition partition 55 Ink supply groove 56 (56-1, 56-2) Nozzle row 57 Single color long recording head 60 (60-1, 60-2, 60-3, ...) Single color Head chip 61 chip substrate 62 orifice plate 63 discharge nozzle 64-1 sealing partition 64-2 partition partition 65 ink supply groove 66 nozzle row 67 single color long recording head

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A long-length recording device comprising a plurality of recording substrates corresponding to a plurality of recording dots, and a plurality of chip substrates arranged along a first direction at a predetermined pitch and joined in the first direction. A head, wherein at least a part of each of the chip substrates is arranged so as to divide an arrangement area in at least a part of an adjacent chip substrate in a direction orthogonal to the first direction, and both of the chip substrates A long recording head, wherein the recording portions of the substrate are arranged side by side at the predetermined pitch along the first direction. 2. The long recording according to claim 1, wherein the chip substrate includes two rows of recording sections along the first direction, each row including a plurality of the recording sections. head. 3. The recording section of the chip substrate,
3. The long recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is a nozzle row composed of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink of an ink jet print head. 4. The long recording head according to claim 3, wherein the chip substrate includes the recording section for each color of ink to be ejected. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chip substrate has a trapezoidal shape, and includes a single row of recording sections along the first direction, the row including a plurality of recording sections. Long recording head.