EP1005987B1 - Ink jet head and method of manufacturing ink jet head - Google Patents
Ink jet head and method of manufacturing ink jet head Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1005987B1 EP1005987B1 EP99123858A EP99123858A EP1005987B1 EP 1005987 B1 EP1005987 B1 EP 1005987B1 EP 99123858 A EP99123858 A EP 99123858A EP 99123858 A EP99123858 A EP 99123858A EP 1005987 B1 EP1005987 B1 EP 1005987B1
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- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- piezoelectric base
- piezoelectric
- base plate
- base plates
- ink
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Images
Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/1623—Manufacturing processes bonding and adhesion
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
- B41J2/14201—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements
- B41J2/14209—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements of finger type, chamber walls consisting integrally of piezoelectric material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1607—Production of print heads with piezoelectric elements
- B41J2/1609—Production of print heads with piezoelectric elements of finger type, chamber walls consisting integrally of piezoelectric material
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/1632—Manufacturing processes machining
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/1632—Manufacturing processes machining
- B41J2/1634—Manufacturing processes machining laser machining
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
- B41J2/1642—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by CVD [chemical vapor deposition]
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
- B41J2/1643—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by plating
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
- B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
- B41J2/1646—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by sputtering
Definitions
- This invention relates to an ink jet head which jets ink from a nozzle hole by applying an electric voltage to an electrode to deform the shape of the space making up an ink chamber, to a method of manufacturing the ink jet head, to an ink jet printer and to a method of manufacturing the ink jet printer.
- an ink jet head having a large number of nozzle holes arrayed in a line is required.
- an ink jet head having a large number of nozzles arrayed in a line from the view point of practical use, it is desired one that has a high driving efficiency, a light weight, a low price, a good workability, and a high strength.
- a polarized piezoelectric ceramic plate has a limit in length for reasons of manufacturing, it has been practiced that a plurality of ink chambers are formed by partition walls in a polarized piezoelectric ceramic plate, and a plurality of such polarized piezoelectric ceramic plates having a plurality of ink chambers are put side by side and bonded by an adhesive; however, in connecting a plurality of polarized piezoelectric plates, it is difficult to adjust the positions of them to keep the intervals between adjacent ink chambers at the connecting portions equal to one another, which makes it difficult to obtain a high-precision ink jet head.
- This invention has been done in view of the above-described points, and it is an object of it to provide an ink jet head and an ink jet printer which is capable of carrying out a high-speed and high-quality image recording and is of low cost and of high precision and a method of manufacturing them.
- this invention proposes the method of claim 1.
- the ink jet head in which the positional precision of the ink chamber can be improved further more, can be manufactured.
- a piezoelectric base plate comprising at least two layers of a piezoelectric material which have different polarizing directions opposite to each other is laminated on a non-piezoelectric base plate
- the piezoelectric base plate is machined so as to form grooves, and thereafter another non-piezoelectric base plate is provided on the piezoelectric base plates so that a plurality of ink chambers which are partitioned by partition walls are provided, ink chambers can be formed without deviation of grooves in the piezoelectric base plates, a high-precision long-sized line head can be obtained at a low cost.
- the piezoelectric base plates is made of a non-metallic material, the ink jet head in which the partition walls of the ink chamber can be deformed more reliably, can be manufactured.
- the ink jet head in which the piezoelectric base plates can be reliably supported even if the partition walls of an ink chamber are deformed, can be manufactured.
- the ink jet head since a surface roughness of the bonded surfaces between the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plates is not larger than 1.0 ⁇ m, the ink jet head in which it is possible to prevent a soft high molecular adhesive (for example, epoxy resin) from entering into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the film thickness of the adhesive is practically limited to a minimum, and it is possible to avoid the lowering of sensitivity and the rise of the electric voltage owing to the lowering of the driving force of the piezoelectric base plates, can be manufactured.
- a soft high molecular adhesive for example, epoxy resin
- a surface roughness of the bonded surfaces between piezoelectric materials of the piezoelectric base plates having at least two layers of the piezoelectric materials is not larger than 1.0 ⁇ m
- the ink jet head in which it is possible to prevent a soft high molecular adhesive (for example, epoxy resin) from entering into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the film thickness of the adhesive is practically limited to a minimum, and it is possible to avoid the lowering of sensitivity and the rise of the electric voltage owing to the lowering of the driving force of the piezoelectric base plates, can be manufactured.
- the ink jet head in which organic contaminants can be cleaned and removed and wetting ability of the surfaces for the adhesive is improved over the whole surface to eliminate poor bonding such as minute bubble remains, and owing to it, poor driving for the piezoelectric base plates can be eliminated, can be manufactured.
- the ink jet head in which organic contaminants can be cleaned and removed and wetting ability of the surfaces for the adhesive is improved over the whole surface to eliminate poor bonding such as minute bubble remains, and owing to it, poor driving for the piezoelectric base plates can be eliminated, can be manufactured.
- Fig. 1 to Fig. 11 show an ink jet head;
- Fig. 1 is a perspective view,
- Fig. 2 is the front view, and
- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view.
- An ink jet head 101 of this embodiment jets ink from nozzle hole 108 by applying an electric voltage to the electrode to deform the shape of the space making up the ink chamber 102.
- the ink chamber 102 is formed by being surrounded by the two piezoelectric base plates 103 which have been given polarization and face each other and the two non-piezoelectric base plates 104 facing each other otherwise.
- each of these piezoelectric base plates 103 On both inner and outer surfaces of each of these piezoelectric base plates 103, electrodes 105 and 106 are provided respectively; these piezoelectric base plates 103 have a structure such that each of them is composed of two layers of piezoelectric material 103a and 103b, the border surface between the layers is approximately parallel to the non-piezoelectric base plates 104, and the directions of polarization of these layers made of a piezoelectric material 103a and 103b are opposite to each other.
- the direction of polarization is, generally speaking, the direction in which a material polarizes when an electric field is applied to it, and the direction of polarization of a piezoelectric material is determined when it has been polarized by applying to it polarization processing beforehand.
- the piezoelectric base plates 103, 103 are formed by pasting two layers 103a, 103b.
- gluing thermally hardening, thermoplastic, thermally U.V. hardening
- melting layer forming
- Electrodes 105, 106 are provided on both obverse and reverse surfaces of the piezoelectric base plates 103, 103.
- electrode 105 is provided on an inner surface of a non-piezoelectric base plate.
- the electrodes 105 and 106 are provided on the piezoelectric base plates 103 by vacuum deposition, sputtering, plating, or others. By vacuum deposition and sputtering, they can be formed in high purity and to a high-function film; by plating, they can be formed at a low cost and on detailed minute portions.
- the electrodes gold, silver, aluminum, palladium, nickel, tantalum, and titanium can be used, and in particular, from the view points of electrical property and workability, gold and aluminum is desirable; the electrodes are formed by plating, vapor deposition, or sputtering.
- an electrode can be provided also on one of the non-piezoelectric base plates 104; owing to this, the electrical connection to the electrodes 105 and 106 on the piezoelectric base plates 103 can be made through the electrode(s) on the plate(s) of non-piezoelectric material, which makes the electrical connection to the external power source easy, and improves the efficiency of operation.
- an electrode may be provided on the other non-piezoelectric base plate 104 opposite to the one of the non-piezoelectric base plates 104.
- ink is supplied to the ink chamber 102 through the ink supply opening 107, which is formed at the position opposite to the nozzle hole 108.
- the piezoelectric base plates 103, 103 have a structure such that each of them is made up of at least two lamination layers 103a, 103b of a piezoelectric material and the lamination layer surface is approximately parallel to the non-piezoelectric base plates 104, 104 and the polarizing directions of these two lamination layers 103a, 103b of the piezoelectric material are opposite to each other, and an electrode 105 is provided on the surface of each of the piezoelectric base plates 103, 103 and the one of the non-piezoelectric base plates 104 facing the ink chamber 102; in comparison with the case that an electrode is provided only to the piezoelectric base plates 103, 103 without being provided to the non-piezoelectric base plates 104, the work to provide the
- this ink chamber 102 is formed by sticking the plate 103 having at least two layers of piezoelectric material 103a and 103b on the non-piezoelectric base plate 104 (Fig. 4(a)), working the piezoelectric base plate 103 which has been stuck to provide a groove (Fig. 4(b)), and sticking the upper non-piezoelectric base plate 104 onto this piezoelectric base plate which has been worked to provide a groove (Fig. 4c).
- an electrode 105 On each surface of the piezoelectric base plate 103 and the non-piezoelectric base plate 104 which faces the ink chamber 120, there is provided an electrode 105 before another non-piezoelectric base plate 104 is pasted.
- the ink chamber 102 can be formed at a low cost and with a high precision owing to the ease of positional adjustment of the ink chamber.
- the ink chamber 102 is formed by providing a groove in the piezoelectric base plate 103 after it is put superposed on the non-piezoelectric base plate 104; however, in providing this groove, it is appropriate to make the groove in a manner such that the non-piezoelectric base plate 104 is exposed, or it is also appropriate to form the groove in a manner such that a part of the piezoelectric base plate 103 is left on the non-piezoelectric base plate 104.
- the ink chamber 102 can be formed by sticking the piezoelectric base plate 103 having at least two layers of piezoelectric material 103a and 103b on the non-piezoelectric base plate 104 (Fig. 5(a)), and sticking another non-piezoelectric base plate 104 after sticking the plate 103 (Fig. 5(b)).
- the ink chamber can be formed at a low cost and the efficiency of assembling is high.
- an electrode 105 on each surface of the piezoelectric base plate 103 and the non-piezoelectric base plate 104 which faces the ink chamber 102, there is provided an electrode 105 before another non-piezoelectric base plate 104 is pasted.
- the ink jet head 101 can have the ink chamber 102 formed in multiple stages, by which it is made to have multiple nozzles, and it can carry out a high-speed and high-quality image recording and improve the resolution of the image.
- the ink chambers 102 in the first stage, are formed at the both sides of the air chamber 120; in the second stage too, the ink chambers 102 are formed at the both sides of the air chamber 120 in the same way, that is, the ink chambers are formed at the corresponding positions.
- the ink chamber 102 in the first stage, is formed between the air chambers 120; in the second stage, the ink chambers are formed at the both sides of the air chamber 120, that is, the ink chambers are formed at the positions corresponding to those of the air chambers 120 in the first stage, which improves the resolution of image higher.
- the air chamber 120 is a chamber which is separated from the ink chamber and no ink enters in; in the case where the ink chambers are provided at the both sides of it, the partition walls of the both sides can be driven independently to make it possible for the ink chambers at the both sides to jet ink, which makes it possible to cope with high-speed driving.
- the ink jet head 101 has the piezoelectric base plates 103 formed in the shape of a plane; however, the plates 103 can also be formed in the shape of a curved surface as shown in Fig. 7.
- the piezoelectric base plates 103 are plane-shaped as shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 6, the head can be made at a low cost.
- the plates are curved-surface-shaped as shown in Fig. 7, they are deformed from the state shown in Fig. 7(a) to the state shown in Fig. 7(b), which means that the amount of deformation of the shape of the space making up the ink chamber 102 is made larger; thus, the ink jet head can carry out a high-speed and high-quality image recording.
- the ink jet head 101 has the piezoelectric base plates 103 formed in a manner such that the two layers 103a and 103b have different lengths L1 and L2 (layer thickness or height of wall) in the direction of layer stacking respectively. Owing to the different lengths L1 and L2 in the layer stacking direction of the two layers 103a and 103b, the shape of the space making up the ink chamber 102 can be deformed in accordance with the position of the nozzle hole 108, and it can jet ink more efficiently from the nozzle hole 108.
- L1 and L2 layer thickness or height of wall
- each of the two piezoelectric base plates 103 has three layers 103e, 103f, and 103g, among which the layers 103e and 103g are made of a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material and the layer 103f is made of a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, and as shown in Fig. 9(a), the layers 103e and 103g have the directions of polarization which are opposite to each other as shown by the arrow marks and the two plates are deformed in such a manner as shown in Fig. 9(b).
- the material of the layer 103f is not limited to a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, but a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material or an organic material may be used.
- each of the two piezoelectric base plates 103 has four layers 103h, 103i, 103j, and 103k, each of which is made of a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material and has the direction of polarization which is alternately opposite to its neighbors as shown by the arrow marks in Fig. 10(a), and the two plates are deformed in such a manner as shown in Fig. 10(b).
- the material of the layers 103i and 103j is not limited to a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material, but a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material or an organic material may be used.
- each of the two piezoelectric base plates 103 has four layers 1031, 103m, 103n, and 103o, each of which is made of a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material and has the direction of polarization which is opposite to or the same as the others in such a manner as shown by the arrow marks in Fig. 11(a), and the two plates are deformed in such a manner as shown in Fig. 11(b).
- the material of the layers 103m and 103n is not limited to a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material, but a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material or an organic material may be used.
- the two piezoelectric base plates 103 have three or more layers, and among these three or more layers, the inner layers are made of any one of a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material, a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, and an organic material, and by deforming the shape of the space making up the ink chamber 102 variously, ink can be jetted from the nozzle hole.
- Fig. 12 is a drawing showing an ink jet head of the chevron type; Fig. 12(a) shows the state in which a piezoelectric base plate is bonded to a non-piezoelectric base plate, Fig. 12(b) shows the state in which a piezoelectric base plate is worked to provide grooves, and Fig. 12(c) shows the state in which ink chambers and air chambers are formed.
- the ink jet head 1 of this embodiment has two piezoelectric base plates 3 which have the directions of polarization opposite to each other in a layered structure bonded to one another on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material (Fig. 12(a)), and after the bonding, a plurality of grooves 3a are formed through at least two layers with a predetermined interval to provide a plurality of ink chambers 4 and air chambers 5 which are partitioned by partition walls 3b made up of two layers and positioned alternately (Fig. 12(b)).
- the grooves 3a are formed at the connecting portions 20 at which each edge of these piezoelectric base plates 3 comes to face other edge, in other words, a connecting portion 20 is a joint section between two piezoelectric base plates 3 placed side by side.
- the non-piezoelectric base plates 2, 8 show a single sheet, but a plurality of sheets may be used.
- the electrodes 6, and 7 are provided on the whole surface over upper and lower portions of both sides of each of the partition wall 3b.
- the non-piezoelectric base plate 8 is bonded to the upper surfaces of the partition walls 3b to cover the ink chambers 4 and the air chambers 5; then, on one side of the ink chambers 4, a nozzle plate in which nozzle holes are formed is stuck, and on the other side of the ink chambers 4, the ink supply openings 10 are formed (Fig. 12(c)).
- Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an ink jet head of the chevron type, and Fig. 14 shows an ink jet head of the chevron type in the driven state; Fig. 14(a) shows the state before being deformed, and Fig. 14(b) shows the ink chamber in the deformed state, and Fig. 12(c) shows the state after being released from deformation.
- ink is supplied from the ink supply openings 10 into the ink chambers 4, and the ink supply openings 10 are formed at the opposite positions of the nozzle holes 9.
- the partition walls 3b which partition the ink chambers 4 are deformed to jet ink in the ink chambers 4 out of the nozzle holes 9.
- the ink jet head 1 has two layers of piezoelectric material 3 which are formed of a plurality of block shaped pieces connected with one another and have the directions of polarization opposite to each other in a stacked layer structure bonded to one another on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material, and is provided with the plural ink chambers 4 which are partitioned by the partition walls 3b which are made of two stacked layers and formed by forming the plural grooves 3a with a predetermined interval; hence, even though the length of one piece of the piezoelectric base plate has a limit for reasons of manufacturing, the ink chambers can be formed without lowering positional precision at the connecting portions 20 of the plural polarized piezoelectric base plate 3, because the plural pieces of the polarized block-shaped piezoelectric base plates 3 are worked to provide the grooves after they are put side by side on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 to be bonded; thus, it is possible to obtain a high-precision long-sized line head
- the plural piezoelectric base plates 3 having two block-shaped polarized layers is put side by side on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 shown in Fig. 15(a), and even if a minute clearance 21 is present at any one of the connecting portions of these block shaped polarized piezoelectric base plates 3 as shown in the enlarged drawing of the connecting portion in Fig. 15(b), the ink chambers can be formed without lowering positional precision by forming the grooves 3a at these connecting portions 20 (Fig. 15(c)).
- Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 are drawings showing the modes in which the directions of polarization of the two layers made of a piezoelectric material of an ink jet head of the chevron type are opposite to each other.
- the polarization in the layers 203a and 203b are formed in the directions which are perpendicular to both of the non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 and facing each other, and in the other mode shown in Fig. 16(b), the polarization in the layers 203a and 203b are formed in the directions which are perpendicular to both of the non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 and going away from each other.
- the ink chamber 4 is formed being surrounded by the piezoelectric base plates 203 having two layers which are given polarization and facing each other and the two non-piezoelectric base plates 2 and 8 facing each other in another way, and the two electrodes 6 and 7 are provided on the both inner and outer sides of the piezoelectric base plate 203 respectively.
- the polarization in the layers 203a and 203b are formed in the directions which are parallel to both of the non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 and opposite to each other, and in the other mode shown in Fig. 17(b), the polarization in the layers 203a and 203b are formed in the directions which are parallel to both of the non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2 and reverse to the directions in Fig. 17(a).
- the electrode 7 is provided between the layers 203a and 203b; further, the electrode 6 is provided between the layer 203a and the substrate of non-piezoelectric material 2, and the electrode 6 is also provided between the layer 203b and the non-piezoelectric base plate 8.
- the material of the base plate is not limited, a base plate made of organic material may be used, however, a base plate made of a nonmetallic piezoelectric material is desirable; as for this plate made of a nonmetallic piezoelectric material, for example, a ceramic plate formed through the processes such as forming and burning, or a plate formed without the necessity of forming and burning may be cited.
- a base plate made of organic material for example, a ceramic plate formed through the processes such as forming and burning, or a plate formed without the necessity of forming and burning may be cited.
- organic material organic polymer or a hybrid material of organic polymer and inorganic material may be used.
- the ceramic material PZT (PbZrO 3 -PbTiO 3 ) and PZT with a third additive can be cited, and as for the third additive, Pb(Mg 1/2 Nb 2/3 )O 3 , Pb( Mn 1/2 S 2/3 )O 3 , and Pb(CO 1/2 Nb 2/3 )O 3 can be cited.
- the ceramic plate can also be formed using BaTiO 3 , ZnO, LiNbO 3 , LiTaO 3 , and so forth.
- the plate formed without the necessity of forming and burning for example, a plate formed by such as a sol-gel method, or a method of coating a substrate by layer stacking can be cited.
- the sol-gel method the sol is prepared by adding water, an acid, or an alkali into a uniform solution having a predetermined chemical composition to induce a chemical reaction such as a hydrolysis. Further, by applying the process such as vaporization of the solvent and cooling, it is prepared the sol which has micro-particles of the objective composition or the precursors of the non-metallic inorganic micro-particles dispersed in it, and the plate can be made.
- a compound having a uniform chemical composition can be obtained by this method; for the starting material, a water-soluble metallic salt such as a sodium silicate or a metallic alkoxide is used.
- a metallic alkoxide is a compound which is expressed by a general formula M(OR) n , is easily hydrolyzed because the OR radical has a strong basic property, and is varied into a metallic oxide or a hydrate of it through a condensation process as an organic high molecular compound.
- the methods preparing a ceramic plate from the vapor phase are classified into two kinds of methods which are vapor deposition methods by physical means and methods by a chemical reaction in the vapor phase or on the surface of the plate. Further, the physical vapor deposition methods are further classified into the vacuum deposition method, the sputter method, the ion plating method, etc., and as for the chemical methods, the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD), the plasma CVD method, etc. can be cited.
- CVD chemical vapor deposition method
- the vacuum deposition method as a physical deposition method is a method wherein the objective material is heated in vacuum to evaporate and the vapor is solidified to deposit on the surface of a substrate
- the sputtering method is a method utilizing the sputtering phenomenon in which high-energy particles are let to collide with the objective material (target) and the atoms or molecules on the target surface exchange momentum with the collided molecules to be sprung out from the surface.
- ion plating method is a method in which the vapor deposition is carried out in an ionized gas environment.
- the compound which includes the atoms, molecules, or ions to make up the objective film is vaporized and introduced into the reaction region by a suitable carrier gas, where they are made to react with or to deposit by reaction on a heated substrate to form a film; in the plasma CVD method, the vapor phase state is generated by the energy of a plasma, and a film is deposited by a vapor phase chemical reaction in a comparatively low temperature range of 400 to 500 °C.
- the material of the base plate is not limited, a base plate made of organic material may be used, however, a base plate made of a nonmetallic non-piezoelectric material is desirable; as for this plate made of a nonmetallic non-piezoelectric material, for example, a material selected from alumina, aluminum nitride, zirconia, silicon, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and quartz may used.
- this non-piezoelectric base plate there are a ceramic plate which is formed through the processes such as forming and burning, a plate which is formed without the necessity of forming and burning, and so forth.
- a ceramic plate formed through the processes such as burning for example, Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , mixture of these, and fused mixture of them, and further, ZrO 2 , BeO, AlN, SiC, etc. can be used.
- organic material organic polymer or a hybrid material of organic polymer and inorganic material may be used.
- the density [g/cm 2 ] of the piezoelectric base plate should desirably be 3 to 10, and the density [g/cm 2 ] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.8 to 10.
- the Young's modulus or the coefficient of elasticity [GPa] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 50 to 200, and the Young's modulus [GPa] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 100 to 400.
- the thermal expansion coefficient [ppm/deg] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 7 to 8, and the thermal expansion coefficient [ppm/deg] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.6 to 7.
- the thermal conductivity [W/cm•deg] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 0.005 to 0.1, and the thermal conductivity [W/cm•deg] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.03 to 0.3.
- the dielectric constant of the piezoelectric base plate should be 1000 to 4000, and the dielectric constant of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 4 to 100.
- the hardness [Hv1.0/GPa] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 2 to 10
- the hardness [Hv1.0/GPa] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 2 to 20.
- the strength [Kgf/cm 2 ] against bending of the piezoelectric base plate should be 5000 to 2000, and the strength [Kgf/cm 2 ] against bending of the non-piezoelectric base plate [Kgf/cm 2 ] should be 3000 to 9000.
- the volume resistivity of the piezoelectric base plate [ ⁇ •cm] should be 0.5 to 10, and the volume resistivity of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 7 to 10.
- the surface roughness Ra of the surfaces to be bonded at the portion between the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate should desirably be not larger than 1.0 ⁇ m, more desirably be not larger than 0.3 ⁇ m, still more desirably be not larger than 0.1 ⁇ m.
- the surface roughness Ra is obtained in such a manner that the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate are peeled off, a surface roughness is measured for each peeled surface of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate and the surface roughness Ra is obtained as an average value of the measured values.
- the soft high molecular adhesive for example, an epoxy resin
- the soft high molecular adhesive enters between the surfaces to be bonded, which makes the driving force of the plate of nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material decrease, and brings about the lowering of sensitivity and the rise in electric voltage; this is not desirable.
- Table 1 Ra of piezoelectric ceramic plate [ ⁇ m] Ra of non-piezoelectric ceramic plate [ ⁇ m].
- AA indicates the case where no soft high molecular adhesive (for example, an epoxy resin) enters into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the driving voltage is low, and electric power saving is accomplished
- A indicates the case where a small amount of the adhesive enters
- C indicates where a large amount of the adhesive enters.
- the surfaces to be bonded of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate are subjected to plasma processing or UV processing.
- the plasma processing is a processing in which a non-piezoelectric base plate or a piezoelectric base plate is placed in a vacuum chamber, and any one or a mixed gas of the two or more of Ar, N 2 , and O 2 is introduced, and brought into the state of plasma by an electromagnetic field applied by an outside power source, and a fluorinated hydrocarbon gas such as a CF 4 gas may be suitably used in order to enhance the etching performance of the surface.
- UV processing is doing a process in which the ultraviolet ray from a UV emitting lamp is applied directly onto the non-piezoelectric base plate or the piezoelectric base plate, and it may suitably be done in the atmosphere of O 2 in order to produce the cleaning effect by ozone.
- an ink chamber and an air chamber are formed alternatively on a polarized piezoelectric element by forming grooves, and electrodes are provided on the sides of both walls on each of the ink chamber and the air chamber, the electrode surface is insulated, and voltage is impressed on each electrode so that walls of the ink chamber are subjected to shear deformation to jet ink from an orifice.
- this pressurizing chamber and ink chamber are made solidly by piezoelectric ceramics, the structure of the head is extremely simple.
- the ink chamber is made of ceramics, it is not damaged by ink, the strength of the ink chamber is high, and the structure is simple and strong, resulting in an ink jet head suitable for high density.
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Description
- This invention relates to an ink jet head which jets ink from a nozzle hole by applying an electric voltage to an electrode to deform the shape of the space making up an ink chamber, to a method of manufacturing the ink jet head, to an ink jet printer and to a method of manufacturing the ink jet printer.
- There is a letter printing apparatus of the ink jet method which jets ink from a nozzle hole by applying an electric voltage to an electrode to deform the partition wall forming an ink chamber.
- If one wishes to carry out image recording of high quality at a high speed using an ink jet head of a conventional type, an ink jet head having a large number of nozzle holes arrayed in a line is required. For such kind of an ink jet head having a large number of nozzles arrayed in a line, from the view point of practical use, it is desired one that has a high driving efficiency, a light weight, a low price, a good workability, and a high strength.
- Further, because a polarized piezoelectric ceramic plate has a limit in length for reasons of manufacturing, it has been practiced that a plurality of ink chambers are formed by partition walls in a polarized piezoelectric ceramic plate, and a plurality of such polarized piezoelectric ceramic plates having a plurality of ink chambers are put side by side and bonded by an adhesive; however, in connecting a plurality of polarized piezoelectric plates, it is difficult to adjust the positions of them to keep the intervals between adjacent ink chambers at the connecting portions equal to one another, which makes it difficult to obtain a high-precision ink jet head.
- Such ink jet head and method of manufacturing are disclosed in
EP-A-0 565 280 andJP 10-230 600 - Furthermore, among ink jet heads of the share-mode type which jets ink by deforming the ink chamber, it has been known a chevron type ink jet head which is desirable for carrying out a high-speed and high-quality image recording; however, according to the conventional method of manufacturing the chevron type head, polarized piezoelectric ceramic plates having a plurality of grooves are disposed side by side, and other polarized piezoelectric ceramic plates having a plurality of grooves are superposed and arrayed on them to build an ink jet head having a plurality of ink chambers divided by partition walls; this requires a difficult work of making two piezoelectric plates having mutually coincident positions (of grooves), which makes it difficult to obtain a high-precision ink jet head.
- This invention has been done in view of the above-described points, and it is an object of it to provide an ink jet head and an ink jet printer which is capable of carrying out a high-speed and high-quality image recording and is of low cost and of high precision and a method of manufacturing them.
- In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to accomplish the object, this invention proposes the method of
claim 1. - According to this structure, since a plurality of piezoelectric base plates which are given polarization are disposed side by side on a non-piezoelectric base plate, a plurality of grooves are provided in each of the piezoelectric base plates, and another non-piezoelectric base plate is provided on these piezoelectric base plate so that a plurality of ink chambers partitioned by partition walls are provided, an ink chamber can be formed without lowering positional precision and it is possible to obtain a long-sized line head which is of low cost, has a high precision, and is long in its lengthwise direction; thus, a high-speed and high-quality image recording can be carried out.
- According to this structure, because grooves are formed at the connecting portions of the plurality of piezoelectric base plates, the positional precision of the ink chamber can be improved further more.
- According to this method, because the grooves are formed at the connecting portions of the plurality of piezoelectric base plates, the ink jet head in which the positional precision of the ink chamber can be improved further more, can be manufactured.
- According to a preferred embodiment of this method, since a piezoelectric base plate comprising at least two layers of a piezoelectric material which have different polarizing directions opposite to each other is laminated on a non-piezoelectric base plate, the piezoelectric base plate is machined so as to form grooves, and thereafter another non-piezoelectric base plate is provided on the piezoelectric base plates so that a plurality of ink chambers which are partitioned by partition walls are provided, ink chambers can be formed without deviation of grooves in the piezoelectric base plates, a high-precision long-sized line head can be obtained at a low cost.
- According to another embodiment, since the piezoelectric base plates is made of a non-metallic material, the ink jet head in which the partition walls of the ink chamber can be deformed more reliably, can be manufactured.
- According to another embodiment, since the material of the non-metallic material is at least one selected from alumina, aluminum nitride, zirconia, silicon, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and quartz, the ink jet head in which the piezoelectric base plates can be reliably supported even if the partition walls of an ink chamber are deformed, can be manufactured.
- According to another embodiment, since a surface roughness of the bonded surfaces between the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plates is not larger than 1.0 µm, the ink jet head in which it is possible to prevent a soft high molecular adhesive (for example, epoxy resin) from entering into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the film thickness of the adhesive is practically limited to a minimum, and it is possible to avoid the lowering of sensitivity and the rise of the electric voltage owing to the lowering of the driving force of the piezoelectric base plates, can be manufactured.
- According to another embodiment, a surface roughness of the bonded surfaces between piezoelectric materials of the piezoelectric base plates having at least two layers of the piezoelectric materials is not larger than 1.0 µm, the ink jet head in which it is possible to prevent a soft high molecular adhesive (for example, epoxy resin) from entering into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the film thickness of the adhesive is practically limited to a minimum, and it is possible to avoid the lowering of sensitivity and the rise of the electric voltage owing to the lowering of the driving force of the piezoelectric base plates, can be manufactured.
- According to another embodiment, since the bonded surfaces between the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plates are subjected to plasma treatment or UV treatment, the ink jet head in which organic contaminants can be cleaned and removed and wetting ability of the surfaces for the adhesive is improved over the whole surface to eliminate poor bonding such as minute bubble remains, and owing to it, poor driving for the piezoelectric base plates can be eliminated, can be manufactured.
- According to another embodiment, since the bonded surfaces between piezoelectric material layers of the piezoelectric base plates having at least two layers of the piezoelectric material are subjected to plasma treatment or UV treatment, the ink jet head in which organic contaminants can be cleaned and removed and wetting ability of the surfaces for the adhesive is improved over the whole surface to eliminate poor bonding such as minute bubble remains, and owing to it, poor driving for the piezoelectric base plates can be eliminated, can be manufactured.
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- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Fig. 2 is the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Figs. 4(a) to 4(c) are drawings showing the manufacture process of an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Figs. 5(a) and 5(b) are drawing showing the manufacture process of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 7(a) and 7(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in further another embodiment;
- Figs. 8(a) and 8(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 9(a) and 9(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 10(a) and 10(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 11(a) and 11(b) are the front view of an ink jet head of the chevron type in another embodiment;
- Figs. 12(a) to 12(c) are drawings showing an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Figs. 14(a) and 14(b) are drawings showing the driven state of an ink jet head of the chevron type;
- Figs. 15(a) to 15(c) are drawings showing the manufacturing process of an ink jet head.
- Figs. 16(a) and 16(b) are drawing showing the mode of polarization in opposite directions in a plate composed of two layers of piezoelectric material; and
- Figs. 17(a) and 17(b) are drawings showing the mode of polarization in opposite directions in a plate composed of two layers of piezoelectric material.
- In the following, the ink jet head, the ink jet printer and the method of manufacturing of the ink jet head and the ink jet printer of this invention will be explained with reference to the embodiments; however, the mode of this invention should not be limited to the embodiment.
- Fig. 1 to Fig. 11 show an ink jet head; Fig. 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 is the front view, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view.
- An
ink jet head 101 of this embodiment jets ink fromnozzle hole 108 by applying an electric voltage to the electrode to deform the shape of the space making up theink chamber 102. In thisink jet head 101, theink chamber 102 is formed by being surrounded by the twopiezoelectric base plates 103 which have been given polarization and face each other and the twonon-piezoelectric base plates 104 facing each other otherwise. On both inner and outer surfaces of each of thesepiezoelectric base plates 103,electrodes piezoelectric base plates 103 have a structure such that each of them is composed of two layers ofpiezoelectric material non-piezoelectric base plates 104, and the directions of polarization of these layers made of apiezoelectric material piezoelectric base plates layers -
Electrodes piezoelectric base plates electrode 105 is provided on an inner surface of a non-piezoelectric base plate. Theelectrodes piezoelectric base plates 103 by vacuum deposition, sputtering, plating, or others. By vacuum deposition and sputtering, they can be formed in high purity and to a high-function film; by plating, they can be formed at a low cost and on detailed minute portions. For the metal to be made the electrodes, gold, silver, aluminum, palladium, nickel, tantalum, and titanium can be used, and in particular, from the view points of electrical property and workability, gold and aluminum is desirable; the electrodes are formed by plating, vapor deposition, or sputtering. - Further, an electrode can be provided also on one of the
non-piezoelectric base plates 104; owing to this, the electrical connection to theelectrodes piezoelectric base plates 103 can be made through the electrode(s) on the plate(s) of non-piezoelectric material, which makes the electrical connection to the external power source easy, and improves the efficiency of operation. Incidentally, an electrode may be provided on the othernon-piezoelectric base plate 104 opposite to the one of thenon-piezoelectric base plates 104. - In this
ink jet head 101, as shown in Fig. 3, ink is supplied to theink chamber 102 through theink supply opening 107, which is formed at the position opposite to thenozzle hole 108. - In this manner, since the
ink chamber 102 is formed by being surrounded by twopiezoelectric base plates non-piezoelectric base plates piezoelectric base plates lamination layers non-piezoelectric base plates lamination layers electrode 105 is provided on the surface of each of thepiezoelectric base plates non-piezoelectric base plates 104 facing theink chamber 102; in comparison with the case that an electrode is provided only to thepiezoelectric base plates non-piezoelectric base plates 104, the work to provide theelectrode 105 is easy so that the ink jet head is of low cost and capable of driving thepiezoelectric base plates piezoelectric base plates - As shown in Fig. 4, this
ink chamber 102 is formed by sticking theplate 103 having at least two layers ofpiezoelectric material piezoelectric base plate 103 which has been stuck to provide a groove (Fig. 4(b)), and sticking the uppernon-piezoelectric base plate 104 onto this piezoelectric base plate which has been worked to provide a groove (Fig. 4c). On each surface of thepiezoelectric base plate 103 and thenon-piezoelectric base plate 104 which faces theink chamber 120, there is provided anelectrode 105 before anothernon-piezoelectric base plate 104 is pasted. - In this way, by sticking the
piezoelectric base plate 103 composed of at least twolayers non-piezoelectric base plate 104, and working it to provide a groove after sticking together, theink chamber 102 can be formed at a low cost and with a high precision owing to the ease of positional adjustment of the ink chamber. - In the manufacturing of the ink jet head of this invention, the
ink chamber 102 is formed by providing a groove in thepiezoelectric base plate 103 after it is put superposed on thenon-piezoelectric base plate 104; however, in providing this groove, it is appropriate to make the groove in a manner such that thenon-piezoelectric base plate 104 is exposed, or it is also appropriate to form the groove in a manner such that a part of thepiezoelectric base plate 103 is left on thenon-piezoelectric base plate 104. - Further, as shown in Fig. 5, the
ink chamber 102 can be formed by sticking thepiezoelectric base plate 103 having at least two layers ofpiezoelectric material non-piezoelectric base plate 104 after sticking the plate 103 (Fig. 5(b)). - In this way, by sticking together the lower
non-piezoelectric base plate 104, thepiezoelectric base plate 103 having at least two layers ofpiezoelectric material non-piezoelectric base plate 104 successively, the ink chamber can be formed at a low cost and the efficiency of assembling is high. In this embodiment, on each surface of thepiezoelectric base plate 103 and thenon-piezoelectric base plate 104 which faces theink chamber 102, there is provided anelectrode 105 before anothernon-piezoelectric base plate 104 is pasted. - Further, as shown in Fig. 6, the
ink jet head 101 can have theink chamber 102 formed in multiple stages, by which it is made to have multiple nozzles, and it can carry out a high-speed and high-quality image recording and improve the resolution of the image. In the embodiment in Fig. 6(a), in the first stage, theink chambers 102 are formed at the both sides of theair chamber 120; in the second stage too, theink chambers 102 are formed at the both sides of theair chamber 120 in the same way, that is, the ink chambers are formed at the corresponding positions. - In the embodiment in Fig. 6(b), in the first stage, the
ink chamber 102 is formed between theair chambers 120; in the second stage, the ink chambers are formed at the both sides of theair chamber 120, that is, the ink chambers are formed at the positions corresponding to those of theair chambers 120 in the first stage, which improves the resolution of image higher. - The
air chamber 120 is a chamber which is separated from the ink chamber and no ink enters in; in the case where the ink chambers are provided at the both sides of it, the partition walls of the both sides can be driven independently to make it possible for the ink chambers at the both sides to jet ink, which makes it possible to cope with high-speed driving. - Further, as shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 6, the
ink jet head 101 has thepiezoelectric base plates 103 formed in the shape of a plane; however, theplates 103 can also be formed in the shape of a curved surface as shown in Fig. 7. In the case where thepiezoelectric base plates 103 are plane-shaped as shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 6, the head can be made at a low cost. Further, in the case where the plates are curved-surface-shaped as shown in Fig. 7, they are deformed from the state shown in Fig. 7(a) to the state shown in Fig. 7(b), which means that the amount of deformation of the shape of the space making up theink chamber 102 is made larger; thus, the ink jet head can carry out a high-speed and high-quality image recording. - Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 8, the
ink jet head 101 has thepiezoelectric base plates 103 formed in a manner such that the twolayers layers ink chamber 102 can be deformed in accordance with the position of thenozzle hole 108, and it can jet ink more efficiently from thenozzle hole 108. - Further, the
ink jet head 101 can be made up in a manner shown in Fig. 9 to Fig. 11. In theink jet head 101 shown in Fig. 9, each of the twopiezoelectric base plates 103 has threelayers layers layer 103f is made of a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, and as shown in Fig. 9(a), thelayers layer 103f is not limited to a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, but a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material or an organic material may be used. - In the
ink jet head 101 shown in Fig. 10, each of the twopiezoelectric base plates 103 has fourlayers layers - In the
ink jet head 101 shown in Fig. 11, each of the twopiezoelectric base plates 103 has fourlayers layers - As described in the above, in the embodiments shown in Fig. 9 to Fig. 11, the two
piezoelectric base plates 103 have three or more layers, and among these three or more layers, the inner layers are made of any one of a nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material, a nonmetallic inorganic non-piezoelectric material, and an organic material, and by deforming the shape of the space making up theink chamber 102 variously, ink can be jetted from the nozzle hole. - Fig. 12 is a drawing showing an ink jet head of the chevron type; Fig. 12(a) shows the state in which a piezoelectric base plate is bonded to a non-piezoelectric base plate, Fig. 12(b) shows the state in which a piezoelectric base plate is worked to provide grooves, and Fig. 12(c) shows the state in which ink chambers and air chambers are formed.
- The
ink jet head 1 of this embodiment has twopiezoelectric base plates 3 which have the directions of polarization opposite to each other in a layered structure bonded to one another on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material (Fig. 12(a)), and after the bonding, a plurality ofgrooves 3a are formed through at least two layers with a predetermined interval to provide a plurality ofink chambers 4 andair chambers 5 which are partitioned bypartition walls 3b made up of two layers and positioned alternately (Fig. 12(b)). - In this way, when the polarized
piezoelectric base plates 3 are arranged side by side, it may be preferable that thegrooves 3a are formed at the connectingportions 20 at which each edge of thesepiezoelectric base plates 3 comes to face other edge, in other words, a connectingportion 20 is a joint section between twopiezoelectric base plates 3 placed side by side. With this construction, even though there is a minute clearance at the connectingportion 20, theink chambers 4 and theair chambers 5 can be formed without lowering the positional precision further. In this embodiment, thenon-piezoelectric base plates - After that, the
electrodes partition wall 3b. After theelectrodes partition walls 3b, thenon-piezoelectric base plate 8 is bonded to the upper surfaces of thepartition walls 3b to cover theink chambers 4 and theair chambers 5; then, on one side of theink chambers 4, a nozzle plate in which nozzle holes are formed is stuck, and on the other side of theink chambers 4, theink supply openings 10 are formed (Fig. 12(c)). - Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an ink jet head of the chevron type, and Fig. 14 shows an ink jet head of the chevron type in the driven state; Fig. 14(a) shows the state before being deformed, and Fig. 14(b) shows the ink chamber in the deformed state, and Fig. 12(c) shows the state after being released from deformation.
- For this
ink jet head 1, ink is supplied from theink supply openings 10 into theink chambers 4, and theink supply openings 10 are formed at the opposite positions of the nozzle holes 9. When an electric voltage is applied to theelectrodes ink jet head 1, thepartition walls 3b which partition theink chambers 4 are deformed to jet ink in theink chambers 4 out of the nozzle holes 9. - As described in the above, the
ink jet head 1 has two layers ofpiezoelectric material 3 which are formed of a plurality of block shaped pieces connected with one another and have the directions of polarization opposite to each other in a stacked layer structure bonded to one another on the long-sized substrate of non-piezoelectric material, and is provided with theplural ink chambers 4 which are partitioned by thepartition walls 3b which are made of two stacked layers and formed by forming theplural grooves 3a with a predetermined interval; hence, even though the length of one piece of the piezoelectric base plate has a limit for reasons of manufacturing, the ink chambers can be formed without lowering positional precision at the connectingportions 20 of the plural polarizedpiezoelectric base plate 3, because the plural pieces of the polarized block-shapedpiezoelectric base plates 3 are worked to provide the grooves after they are put side by side on the long-sized substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 to be bonded; thus, it is possible to obtain a high-precision long-sized line head at a low cost, and a high-speed and high-quality image recording can be carried out. - Further, as shown in the manufacturing process of the ink jet head in Fig. 15, the plural
piezoelectric base plates 3 having two block-shaped polarized layers is put side by side on the long-sized substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 shown in Fig. 15(a), and even if aminute clearance 21 is present at any one of the connecting portions of these block shaped polarizedpiezoelectric base plates 3 as shown in the enlarged drawing of the connecting portion in Fig. 15(b), the ink chambers can be formed without lowering positional precision by forming thegrooves 3a at these connecting portions 20 (Fig. 15(c)). - Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 are drawings showing the modes in which the directions of polarization of the two layers made of a piezoelectric material of an ink jet head of the chevron type are opposite to each other. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 16, in one mode shown in Fig. 16(a), in respect of the
piezoelectric base plates 203 each of which has twolayers layers non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 and facing each other, and in the other mode shown in Fig. 16(b), the polarization in thelayers non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 and going away from each other. - In this
ink jet head 1, theink chamber 4 is formed being surrounded by thepiezoelectric base plates 203 having two layers which are given polarization and facing each other and the twonon-piezoelectric base plates electrodes piezoelectric base plate 203 respectively. - In the embodiment shown in Fig. 17, in one mode shown in Fig. 17(a), in respect of the
piezoelectric base plates 203 each of which has twolayers layers non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 and opposite to each other, and in the other mode shown in Fig. 17(b), the polarization in thelayers non-piezoelectric base plate 8 and the substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2 and reverse to the directions in Fig. 17(a). In respect of each of thepiezoelectric base plates 203, theelectrode 7 is provided between thelayers electrode 6 is provided between thelayer 203a and the substrate ofnon-piezoelectric material 2, and theelectrode 6 is also provided between thelayer 203b and thenon-piezoelectric base plate 8. - In this invention, as the piezoelectric base plate, the material of the base plate is not limited, a base plate made of organic material may be used, however, a base plate made of a nonmetallic piezoelectric material is desirable; as for this plate made of a nonmetallic piezoelectric material, for example, a ceramic plate formed through the processes such as forming and burning, or a plate formed without the necessity of forming and burning may be cited. As the organic material, organic polymer or a hybrid material of organic polymer and inorganic material may be used.
- Further, as for the ceramic material, PZT (PbZrO3-PbTiO3) and PZT with a third additive can be cited, and as for the third additive, Pb(Mg1/2Nb2/3)O3, Pb( Mn1/2S2/3)O3, and Pb(CO1/2Nb2/3)O3 can be cited. Further, the ceramic plate can also be formed using BaTiO3, ZnO, LiNbO3, LiTaO3, and so forth.
- As for the plate formed without the necessity of forming and burning, for example, a plate formed by such as a sol-gel method, or a method of coating a substrate by layer stacking can be cited. According to the sol-gel method, the sol is prepared by adding water, an acid, or an alkali into a uniform solution having a predetermined chemical composition to induce a chemical reaction such as a hydrolysis. Further, by applying the process such as vaporization of the solvent and cooling, it is prepared the sol which has micro-particles of the objective composition or the precursors of the non-metallic inorganic micro-particles dispersed in it, and the plate can be made. In addition to the possibility of adding a minute amount of a different kind of element, a compound having a uniform chemical composition can be obtained by this method; for the starting material, a water-soluble metallic salt such as a sodium silicate or a metallic alkoxide is used. A metallic alkoxide is a compound which is expressed by a general formula M(OR)n, is easily hydrolyzed because the OR radical has a strong basic property, and is varied into a metallic oxide or a hydrate of it through a condensation process as an organic high molecular compound.
- Further, there is a method of depositing from the vapor phase as a method of coating a substrate by layer stacking; the methods preparing a ceramic plate from the vapor phase are classified into two kinds of methods which are vapor deposition methods by physical means and methods by a chemical reaction in the vapor phase or on the surface of the plate. Further, the physical vapor deposition methods are further classified into the vacuum deposition method, the sputter method, the ion plating method, etc., and as for the chemical methods, the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD), the plasma CVD method, etc. can be cited. The vacuum deposition method as a physical deposition method (PVD) is a method wherein the objective material is heated in vacuum to evaporate and the vapor is solidified to deposit on the surface of a substrate, and the sputtering method is a method utilizing the sputtering phenomenon in which high-energy particles are let to collide with the objective material (target) and the atoms or molecules on the target surface exchange momentum with the collided molecules to be sprung out from the surface. Further, ion plating method is a method in which the vapor deposition is carried out in an ionized gas environment. Further, in the CVD method, the compound which includes the atoms, molecules, or ions to make up the objective film is vaporized and introduced into the reaction region by a suitable carrier gas, where they are made to react with or to deposit by reaction on a heated substrate to form a film; in the plasma CVD method, the vapor phase state is generated by the energy of a plasma, and a film is deposited by a vapor phase chemical reaction in a comparatively low temperature range of 400 to 500 °C.
- In this invention, as the non-piezoelectric base plate, the material of the base plate is not limited, a base plate made of organic material may be used, however, a base plate made of a nonmetallic non-piezoelectric material is desirable; as for this plate made of a nonmetallic non-piezoelectric material, for example, a material selected from alumina, aluminum nitride, zirconia, silicon, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and quartz may used.
- As for this non-piezoelectric base plate, there are a ceramic plate which is formed through the processes such as forming and burning, a plate which is formed without the necessity of forming and burning, and so forth. For the ceramic plate formed through the processes such as burning, for example, Al2O3, SiO2, mixture of these, and fused mixture of them, and further, ZrO2, BeO, AlN, SiC, etc. can be used. As the organic material, organic polymer or a hybrid material of organic polymer and inorganic material may be used.
- In the following, the physical property values of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate will be described.
- The density [g/cm2] of the piezoelectric base plate should desirably be 3 to 10, and the density [g/cm2] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.8 to 10.
- The Young's modulus or the coefficient of elasticity [GPa] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 50 to 200, and the Young's modulus [GPa] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 100 to 400.
- The thermal expansion coefficient [ppm/deg] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 7 to 8, and the thermal expansion coefficient [ppm/deg] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.6 to 7.
- The thermal conductivity [W/cm•deg] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 0.005 to 0.1, and the thermal conductivity [W/cm•deg] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 0.03 to 0.3.
- The dielectric constant of the piezoelectric base plate should be 1000 to 4000, and the dielectric constant of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 4 to 100.
- The hardness [Hv1.0/GPa] of the piezoelectric base plate should be 2 to 10, and the hardness [Hv1.0/GPa] of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 2 to 20.
- The strength [Kgf/cm2] against bending of the piezoelectric base plate should be 5000 to 2000, and the strength [Kgf/cm2] against bending of the non-piezoelectric base plate [Kgf/cm2] should be 3000 to 9000.
- The volume resistivity of the piezoelectric base plate [Ω•cm] should be 0.5 to 10, and the volume resistivity of the non-piezoelectric base plate should be 7 to 10.
- Further, the surface roughness Ra of the surfaces to be bonded at the portion between the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate should desirably be not larger than 1.0 µm, more desirably be not larger than 0.3 µm, still more desirably be not larger than 0.1 µm. The surface roughness Ra is obtained in such a manner that the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate are peeled off, a surface roughness is measured for each peeled surface of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate and the surface roughness Ra is obtained as an average value of the measured values. If the surface roughness of the surfaces to be bonded exceeds 1.0 µm, a large amount of the soft high molecular adhesive (for example, an epoxy resin) enters between the surfaces to be bonded, which makes the driving force of the plate of nonmetallic inorganic piezoelectric material decrease, and brings about the lowering of sensitivity and the rise in electric voltage; this is not desirable.
- The relationship between the surface roughness Ra of the surfaces to be bonded of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate and the driving voltage value is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Ra of piezoelectric ceramic plate [µm] Ra of non-piezoelectric ceramic plate [µm]. 2.0 1.0 0.5 0.3 0.1 2.0 27V C 25V C 23V C C 1.0 25V C 20V A 0.5 19V A 0.3 23V C 18V AA 0.1 C 17V AA - In Table 1, AA indicates the case where no soft high molecular adhesive (for example, an epoxy resin) enters into the concave portions on the bonded surfaces, the driving voltage is low, and electric power saving is accomplished, A indicates the case where a small amount of the adhesive enters, and C indicates where a large amount of the adhesive enters.
- Further, the surfaces to be bonded of the non-piezoelectric base plate and the piezoelectric base plate are subjected to plasma processing or UV processing. The plasma processing is a processing in which a non-piezoelectric base plate or a piezoelectric base plate is placed in a vacuum chamber, and any one or a mixed gas of the two or more of Ar, N2, and O2 is introduced, and brought into the state of plasma by an electromagnetic field applied by an outside power source, and a fluorinated hydrocarbon gas such as a CF4 gas may be suitably used in order to enhance the etching performance of the surface. Further, UV processing is doing a process in which the ultraviolet ray from a UV emitting lamp is applied directly onto the non-piezoelectric base plate or the piezoelectric base plate, and it may suitably be done in the atmosphere of O2 in order to produce the cleaning effect by ozone.
- By applying plasma processing and UV processing to the surface to be bonded in this way, contamination by organic substances can be cleaned and removed, and poor bonding such as residual micro-bubbles can be eliminated owing to the improved wetting ability over the whole surface for the adhesive; therefore, poor driving of the piezoelectric base plate can be eliminated and stable ink jet heads can be manufactured.
- Incidentally, in the ink jet head of the shearing mode of this kind, an ink chamber and an air chamber are formed alternatively on a polarized piezoelectric element by forming grooves, and electrodes are provided on the sides of both walls on each of the ink chamber and the air chamber, the electrode surface is insulated, and voltage is impressed on each electrode so that walls of the ink chamber are subjected to shear deformation to jet ink from an orifice. Since this pressurizing chamber and ink chamber are made solidly by piezoelectric ceramics, the structure of the head is extremely simple. In addition, since the ink chamber is made of ceramics, it is not damaged by ink, the strength of the ink chamber is high, and the structure is simple and strong, resulting in an ink jet head suitable for high density.
Claims (7)
- A method of manufacturing an ink jet head in which an ink can be jetted from a nozzle hole by applying an electric voltage to an electrode so as to deform each of ink chambers (4) divided by a partition wall, comprising the steps in the following order :providing plural piezoelectric base plates (3) given polarization side by side on a first non-piezoelectric base plate (2);making plural grooves (3a) on the plural piezoelectric base plates (3); andmounting a second non-piezoelectric base plate (8) on the plural piezoelectric base plates (3) so as to cover the plural grooves (3a) so that the ink chambers (4) divided by a partition wall are provided;wherein the grooves (3a) are formed at least at joint sections (20) among the plural piezoelectric base plates (3) and such that the ink chambers (4) are surrounded by the first non-piezoelectric base plate (2), the piezoelectric base plates (3) and the second non-piezoelectric base plate (8).
- The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing plural piezoelectric base plates (3) comprises stacking the piezoelectric base plates (3) comprising at least two lamination layers made of piezoelectric materials whose polarizing directions are opposite to each other on the first non-piezoelectric base plate (2).
- The method of claim 2, wherein a surface roughness of surfaces by which the lamination layers of the piezoelectric material are pasted with each other is not larger than 1.0 µm.
- The method of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the piezoelectric base plates (3) are made of a non-metallic material.
- The method of claim 4, wherein the non-metallic material is made of at least one selected from alumina, aluminum nitride, zirconia, silicon, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and quartz.
- The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a surface roughness of surfaces by which the non-piezoelectric base plates (2,8) and the piezoelectric base plates (3) are pasted with each other is not larger than 1.0 µm.
- The method of claim 3 or 6, wherein the surfaces to be pasted are applied with a plasma treatment or a U.V. treatment.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
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JP34581698 | 1998-12-04 | ||
JP34581698 | 1998-12-04 |
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EP1005987A2 EP1005987A2 (en) | 2000-06-07 |
EP1005987A3 EP1005987A3 (en) | 2000-11-02 |
EP1005987B1 true EP1005987B1 (en) | 2007-09-05 |
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EP99123858A Expired - Lifetime EP1005987B1 (en) | 1998-12-04 | 1999-12-01 | Ink jet head and method of manufacturing ink jet head |
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DE (1) | DE69937032T2 (en) |
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CN100398322C (en) | 2001-12-11 | 2008-07-02 | 株式会社理光 | Drop discharge head and method of producing the same |
JP7292998B2 (en) * | 2019-06-24 | 2023-06-19 | 東芝テック株式会社 | Inkjet head and inkjet printer |
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GB9025706D0 (en) * | 1990-11-27 | 1991-01-09 | Xaar Ltd | Laminate for use in manufacture of ink drop printheads |
US5245244A (en) * | 1991-03-19 | 1993-09-14 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Piezoelectric ink droplet ejecting device |
US5543009A (en) * | 1991-08-16 | 1996-08-06 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Method of manufacturing a sidewall actuator array for an ink jet printhead |
JP2798845B2 (en) * | 1992-03-26 | 1998-09-17 | 株式会社テック | Method of manufacturing ink jet printer head |
JPH06226973A (en) * | 1993-02-01 | 1994-08-16 | Brother Ind Ltd | Ink jet apparatus |
US5435060A (en) * | 1993-05-20 | 1995-07-25 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Method of manufacturing a single side drive system interconnectable ink jet printhead |
KR970009117B1 (en) * | 1993-05-31 | 1997-06-05 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | Ink-jet print head |
JP3082540B2 (en) * | 1993-10-27 | 2000-08-28 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Driving device for inkjet head |
JPH10230600A (en) * | 1997-02-18 | 1998-09-02 | Brother Ind Ltd | Ink jet type full-line recording head of printer |
-
1999
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DE69937032D1 (en) | 2007-10-18 |
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