EP1022140B1 - Tintenstrahldruckkopf - Google Patents

Tintenstrahldruckkopf Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1022140B1
EP1022140B1 EP20000200125 EP00200125A EP1022140B1 EP 1022140 B1 EP1022140 B1 EP 1022140B1 EP 20000200125 EP20000200125 EP 20000200125 EP 00200125 A EP00200125 A EP 00200125A EP 1022140 B1 EP1022140 B1 EP 1022140B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
channel plate
jet printhead
channels
channel
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP20000200125
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1022140A1 (de
Inventor
Peter Joseph Hollands
Hendrik Willem Ellenkamp
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Canon Production Printing Netherlands BV
Original Assignee
Oce Technologies BV
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Oce Technologies BV filed Critical Oce Technologies BV
Priority to EP20000200125 priority Critical patent/EP1022140B1/de
Publication of EP1022140A1 publication Critical patent/EP1022140A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1022140B1 publication Critical patent/EP1022140B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • B41J2/14274—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements of stacked structure type, deformed by compression/extension and disposed on a diaphragm
    • 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
    • B41J2/14233—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements of film type, deformed by bending and disposed on a diaphragm

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an ink jet printhead comprising a channel plate having a plurality of ink channels etched into at least one surface thereof, actuators respectively associated with each of the ink channels for pressurizing ink contained in the ink channels, and means defining an ink reservoir communicating with the ink channels.
  • the invention further relates to a process for manufacturing such a printhead.
  • the ink channels are arranged side-by-side in one surface of the channel plate and extend in parallel to one another with narrow spacings formed therebetween.
  • Each ink channel converges into a nozzle at one end thereof, so that an array of nozzles is formed, by which a plurality of ink droplets can be expelled simultaneously by energizing the actuators respectively associated with the ink channels.
  • the spacings between the adjacent nozzles are made as small as possible, and, accordingly, the ink channels and the wall portions separating them must have very small dimensions in the width direction.
  • the ink reservoir defining means and the channel plate are formed by a one-piece substrate made of a material such as silicon, in which the ink channels can be formed by photo-lithographic etching. This has the advantage that the minute structures of the ink channels and the nozzles can be formed with high accuracy. Cavities defining the ink reservoir and supply passages connecting the ink reservoir to each of the ink channels are formed directly in the silicon substrate by etching away appropriate portions of the substrate.
  • the channel plate and the ink reservoir defining means by a one-piece block of graphite.
  • the ink channels must be cut into the surface of the channel plate, and the process of forming the minute structures of the ink channels and nozzles becomes more cumbersome or a graphite with a very small grain size must be used which makes the inkjet printhead expensive.
  • the ink reservoir defining means are formed by a base member made of a material different from that of the channel plate.
  • the rather bulky member of the printhead in which the ink reservoir is formed can be manufactured at low costs by molding, sintering or machining a rather inexpensive material such as graphite or ceramic in a relatively grainy form.
  • a rather inexpensive material such as graphite or ceramic in a relatively grainy form.
  • Only the comparatively small volume of the channel plate is made from a more expensive material such as silicon, fine grain graphite ceramics in which the fine structures of the ink channels, and, as the case may be, the nozzles, can be formed with high accuracy in an etching or mechanical process in which only a little amount of material has to be removed.
  • the costs for the material but also the costs for the manufacturing process can be reduced significantly.
  • the channel plate and the member defining the ink reservoir are manufactured as separate members and are then buttingly assembled together and fixed to one another, e.g. by bonding, so that fluid connections between the ink reservoir and each of the ink channels are established.
  • the ink channels can be etched or machined before the channel plate and the ink reservoir defining member are assembled, so that the apparatus needs to have only small dimensions and/or a large number of channel plates can be etched simultaneously.
  • One suitable manufacturing process is claimed in claim 7.
  • the etchable material e.g. silicon
  • the etchable material is directly deposited on a portion of the member defining the ink reservoir, and then the ink channels are formed by etching.
  • the nozzles are arranged in two parallel rows.
  • the ink channels associated with the respective rows of nozzles can either be formed in opposite surfaces of a single channel plate or can be formed in the surfaces of separate channel plates sandwiched with a portion of the ink reservoir defining member. In the latter case, a large area of contact between the channel plates and the ink reservoir defining member is achieved, and, accordingly, there is a good thermal contact between the ink reservoir defining member and the channel plates, which is particularly advantageous in case of a hot-melt printhead in which the ink contained in the ink reservoir and the ink channels needs to be liquified by heating.
  • an ink jet printhead has a symmetric structure and comprises as main components a base plate 10 made of graphite or ceramic and a channel plate 12 made of an etchable material, preferably a semiconductor material such as silicon.
  • the channel plate 12 has opposite lateral surfaces in which a plurality of parallel, vertically extending ink channels 14 are formed by etching.
  • Each ink channel 14 is converged to form a nozzle 16 (figure 2) at the lower end thereof and is open at its top end.
  • the open lateral sides of the ink channels 14 and the nozzles 16 are covered by a flexible sheet 18 made of the same material as the channel plate 12 and firmly bonded thereto.
  • An actuator block 20 is bonded to the outer surface of each sheet 18.
  • the actuator block 20 is made of a piezoelectric ceramic material and has a comb-like structure forming a plurality of parallel, vertically extending piezoelectric fingers 22 and is provided with electrodes (not shown) associated with each of the fingers 22.
  • a flexible lead foil 24 is attached to the outer surface of each of the actuator blocks 20 and is formed with electric leads for individually energizing the piezoelectric fingers 22.
  • the actuator blocks 20 are protected by a cap 26 fitted over the lower end of the channel plate 12 and bonded to the lower edges of the sheets 18 and to the end faces 28 of the channel plate 12.
  • the base member 10 is a plate-like member having a comparatively thick top portion 30 in which an ink reservoir 32 and a receptacle 34 for a filter element (not shown) are formed.
  • a lower portion 36 of the base plate 10 has a reduced thickness and width and is formed with a recess 38 extending along its lower edge.
  • Ink supply passages 40 are symmetrically formed in the cross section of the lower portion 36 of the base plate. The ink supply passages 40 are in fluid communication with the ink reservoir 32 and are open to the bottom of the recess 38.
  • the channel plate 12, the flexible sheets 18 and the actuator blocks 20 form a unit which is fitted to the lower edge of the base plate 10, so that the top portions of the channel plate 12 and the sheets 18 project into the recess 38.
  • the thickness of the channel plate 12 is larger than the thickness of a web portion 42 of the base plate 10 separating the ink supply passages 40.
  • the open ends of the ink channels 14 are in fluid communication with the ink reservoir 32 via the ink supply passages 40.
  • the outer surfaces of the sheets 18 projecting upwardly beyond the actuator blocks 20 are bonded to the lateral walls of the recess 38 by means of an adhesive 44, so that the ink supply passages 40 are sealed and the channel plate 12 is held in firm engagement with the web portion 42 of the base plate.
  • the flexible lead foils 24 are led-out on either side of the base plate 10 and are protected against tensile forces by clamping bars 46 which, together with mounting blocks 48 (figure 1) form a frame surrounding the lower portion 36 of the base plate.
  • the printhead is a hot-melt ink jet printhead, and, as is known per-se, heating means (not shown) are provided for heating the base plate 10 so that the hot-melt ink contained in the ink reservoir 32, the ink supply passages 40 and the ink channels 14 is kept in the liquid state.
  • heating means can be formed in the channel plate 12, for example by appropriately doping the silicon material so that resistance heating layers are formed.
  • the amount of bulk material needed for the base plate 10 is considerably larger than the amount of material needed for the channel plate 12. It is accordingly an important advantage of the invention that only the comparatively small channel plate 12 needs to be made of an expensive material such as silicon.
  • the pattern of ink channels 14 and nozzles 16 can be formed with high precision in both lateral surfaces of the channel plate 12 by using photo-lithographic etching techniques. Then, the ink channels are covered with the flexible sheets 18 and the actuator blocks 20 are secured thereto by bonding. The fact that, at this stage, the channel plate 12 is not yet fitted to the base plate 10, facilitates the fine adjustment of the piezoelectric fingers 22 of the actuator blocks relative to the ink channels 14.
  • Figure 3 shows a modified embodiment in which the web portion 42 of the base plate 10, instead of forming the recess 38 shown in figure 2, is extended to form a support plate 48 sandwiched between two separate channel plates 12.
  • the amount of silicon material required for forming the two channel plates is even smaller than in the case of figure 2, and each channel plate forms only one row of ink channels 14.
  • the thickness of the support plate 48 is preferably smaller than that of the web portion 42, so that the channel plates can be abutted against a shoulder formed between the support plate 48 and the web portion 42.
  • the flexible sheets 18 are in this case made from slightly thicker plates which are in abutting engagement with the lower edge of the base plate 10 on either side of the projecting support plate 48 and from which a central portion has been etched away in order to accommodate the actuator blocks 20 and to provide the required flexibility.
  • the channel plates 12 are secured to the surfaces of the support plate 48 by means of an adhesive which provides for a good thermal contact between the base plate 10 and the channel plates.

Claims (7)

  1. Tintenstrahldruckkopf mit einer Kanalplatte (12), die mehrere in wenigstens eine Oberfläche derselben eingeätzte Tintenkanäle (14) aufweist, jedem der Tintenkanäle zugeordneten Aktoren (22) zur Druckbeaufschlagung der in den Tintenkanälen enthaltenen Tinte und Mitteln (10), die ein mit den Tintenkanälen in Verbindung stehendes Tintenreservoir (32) bilden, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die das Tintenreservoir bildenden Mittel durch ein Basiselement (10) gebildet werden, das aus einem von dem Material der Kanalplatten (12) verschiedenen Material besteht.
  2. Tintenstrahldruckkopf nach Anspruch 1, bei dem die Kanalplatte (12) auf Stoß an einer Oberfläche des Basiselements (10) anliegt, in der ein Tintenzuführkanal (40) ausgebildet ist, der eine Fluidverbindung zwischen dem Tintenreservoir (32) und den Tintenkanälen (14) herstellt.
  3. Tintenstrahldruckkopf nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, bei dem die Kanalplatte (12) mit Hilfe eines Klebers an dem Basiselement (10) befestigt ist.
  4. Tintenstrahldruckkopf nach einem der vorstehenden Ansprüche, bei dem das Basiselement (10) aus Graphit hergestellt ist.
  5. Tintenstrahldruckkopf nach einem der vorstehenden Ansprüche, bei dem die Kanalplatte (12) aus Silizium hergestellt ist.
  6. Tintenstrahldruckkopf nach einem der vorstehenden Ansprüche, bei dem ein Teil des Basiselement (10) eine Stützplatte (48) bildet, die sandwichartig zwischen zwei getrennten Kanalplatten (12) liegt.
  7. Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Tintenstrahldruckkopfes nach einem der vorstehenden Ansprüche, bei dem die Kanalplatte (12), ein die offenen Seiten der Tintenkanäle (14) bedeckendes flexibles Blatt (18) und ein die Aktoren (22) bildender Aktorblock (20) zusammengefügt und aneinander befestigt werden, um eine Einheit zu bilden, die dann an das Basiselement (10) angesetzt wird.
EP20000200125 1999-01-22 2000-01-14 Tintenstrahldruckkopf Expired - Lifetime EP1022140B1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP20000200125 EP1022140B1 (de) 1999-01-22 2000-01-14 Tintenstrahldruckkopf

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP99200195 1999-01-22
EP99200195 1999-01-22
EP20000200125 EP1022140B1 (de) 1999-01-22 2000-01-14 Tintenstrahldruckkopf

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1022140A1 EP1022140A1 (de) 2000-07-26
EP1022140B1 true EP1022140B1 (de) 2003-04-16

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP20000200125 Expired - Lifetime EP1022140B1 (de) 1999-01-22 2000-01-14 Tintenstrahldruckkopf

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP1022140B1 (de)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL1021010C2 (nl) 2002-07-05 2004-01-06 Oce Tech Bv Werkwijze voor het bedrukken van een ontvangstmateriaal met hot melt inkt en een inkjet printer geschikt om deze werkwijze toe te passen.
JP4342995B2 (ja) 2003-04-08 2009-10-14 オセ−テクノロジーズ ビーブイ インクジェットプリントヘッド
EP1466735B1 (de) 2003-04-08 2006-08-23 Océ-Technologies B.V. Tintenstrahldruckkopf

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4924241A (en) * 1989-08-01 1990-05-08 Diagraph Corporation Printhead for ink jet printing apparatus
EP0671372A3 (de) 1994-03-09 1996-07-10 Seiko Epson Corp Anodisches Bindeverfahren und Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Tintenstrahlkopfes unter Verwendung des Bindeverfahrens.
US6070965A (en) * 1994-10-28 2000-06-06 Rohm Co., Ltd. Ink jet printhead with folded flexible cord, and nozzle plate used for the same
EP0819527B1 (de) * 1996-07-18 2000-05-10 Océ-Technologies B.V. Tintenstrahldüsenkopf mit mehrfacher Blockstruktur

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1022140A1 (de) 2000-07-26

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