EP1046505A1 - Tintenstrahldruckkopf - Google Patents
Tintenstrahldruckkopf Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1046505A1 EP1046505A1 EP20000201374 EP00201374A EP1046505A1 EP 1046505 A1 EP1046505 A1 EP 1046505A1 EP 20000201374 EP20000201374 EP 20000201374 EP 00201374 A EP00201374 A EP 00201374A EP 1046505 A1 EP1046505 A1 EP 1046505A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- ink
- jet printhead
- ink jet
- membrane
- printhead according
- 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.)
- Withdrawn
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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
Definitions
- the invention relates to an ink jet printhead comprising at least one ink channel connected to a nozzle and defined between two opposed side walls; a membrane interconnecting the side walls; and actuating means arranged adjacent to the membrane for deflecting the same.
- a conventional printhead of the type which is disclosed for example in EP-A-0 819 524, comprises a plurality of ink channels which are arranged side by side so that the associated nozzles form a linear nozzle array.
- the ink channels and the nozzles are formed by grooves cut into the surface of a substrate which may for example be made of silicon.
- the membranes for the various ink channels are formed by a continuous thin sheet which is overlaid on the substrate so that it covers the open top sides of the grooves. This sheet has to be firmly bonded to the regions of the substrate defining the side walls of the ink channels.
- the actuators are formed by piezo-electric fingers which are supported by a common backing plate and have their respective free ends bonded to the top surfaces of the membranes, so that, when a voltage is applied to an individual one of the piezo-electric fingers, the corresponding membrane is flexed into the volume of the associated ink channel which is filled liquid ink, so that an ink droplet is expelled from the nozzle.
- US-A-4 657 631 discloses another type of printhead in which the ink channels are formed by groove-like structures in a metal layer which is formed on the flat surface of the substrate.
- the bottom wall of each ink channel is formed by a portion of the substrate, and rigid side walls and a rigid top wall are formed by the metal layer.
- the actuators are disposed inside of each ink channel and are disposed on the surface of the substrate, so that they are directly exposed to the ink liquid without a membrane intervening between the actuator and the ink.
- This type of printhead can be manufactured by forming a photo-sensitive layer on the surface of the substrate and by exposing and developing this layer, thereby to form a pattern of ridges which have a shape complementary to that of the ink channels, then forming a metal layer on the surface of the substrate by sputtering and subsequent electronic plating, until the ridges are buried in the metal layer, and then removing the photo-sensitive material, so that the ink channels are formed in the metal layer.
- the side walls and the membrane are formed by a one-piece member.
- This construction has the advantage that, on the one hand, the membrane can be made very thin so that it has a higher flexibility, and, on the other hand, the member forming this membrane and the side walls of the ink channels can, as a whole, have a comparatively high structural strength. This greatly facilitates the manufacturing process and makes it possible to achieve a high production yield.
- the one-piece member forming the membranes and the side walls of a plurality of ink channels is a metal foil which is obtained in a growth process such as electroforming.
- a metal foil which is obtained in a growth process such as electroforming.
- the membrane can be made very thin and the thickness thereof can be controlled with high accuracy.
- the foil can be formed directly on the surface on the substrate, no assembly process nor a separate bonding step is required for forming a complete channel plate including the substrate and the metal foil which forms the membrane and the side walls of the ink channels.
- the metal foil By forming the metal foil on the surface of a photoresist which has appropriately been shaped by means photolithographic techniques, it is possible to obtain a three-dimensional structure of the foil which forms not only the membrane and the side walls of the ink channels but also the nozzles with appropriate sizes and shapes.
- the cross-section of the foil in a plane normal to the axis of the ink channels has a meander-like shape, with a space formed between the portions of the foil which define the side walls of two adjacent ink channels. This construction greatly reduces the amount of mechanical or acoustic coupling between the adjacent ink channels, so that cross-talk among the various channels of the printhead is reduced significantly.
- this cross-sectional shape of the foil has the effect that the thermal expansion of the channel plate is controlled only by the material of the substrate, e.g. silicon, which is particularly useful when the printhead is used for hot-melt ink and, accordingly, operates and high temperatures.
- the material of the substrate e.g. silicon
- an ink jet printhead comprises a channel plate 10 which has a substrate 12 made of silicon, and a three-dimensionally structured metal foil 14 formed on the flat top surface of the substrate 12.
- the foil 14 defines a plurality of parallel ink channels 16 which are arranged side-by-side and each converge to a nozzle 18, so that the nozzles form a linear array along the front side of the substrate 12.
- Each ink channel 16 has a pair of opposed side walls 20 which are interconnected by a membrane 22, so that the membrane 22 forms a top wall of the ink channel opposite to the substrate 12.
- the side walls 20 and membranes 22 of all the ink channels 16 are integrally formed by a one-piece member, i.e. by the metal foil 14.
- the printed further comprises a plurality of piezo-electric actuators 24 only one of which is shown in Fig. 1.
- the actuators 24 are disposed on each of the membranes 22, so that, when they are electrically energized, they perform expansion stroke, and the membrane 22 flexes into the interior of the ink channel. Thus, when the ink channel is filled with liquid ink, an ink droplet will be expelled from the nozzle 18.
- the foil 14 also forms a front wall 26 in which the nozzles 18 are defined. Each nozzle is connected to the associated ink channel 16 by a funnel portion 28 which is also an integrated part of the foil 14. Further, the foil 14 forms crater-like reinforcement members 30 which are partly cut by the front wall 26 and are provided between the nozzles 18 for improving the structural strength of the front wall 26.
- the foil 14 has a meander-like cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the longitudinal direction of the ink channels 16, with V-shaped concave spaces 32 formed between the side walls 20 of each pair of adjacent ink channels.
- the space 32 will prevent this pressure wave from being transmitted to the neighboring ink channels, so that cross-talk among the various channels is avoided.
- the foil 14 can behave like an expansion bellow and can adapt itself to thermal expansions of the substrate 12 without causing a distortion of the channel plate 10 as a whole.
- the foil 14 when exposed to vertical pressure, the foil 14 has a comparatively high strength and is surprisingly robust, even when the thickness of the foil is only in the order of several ⁇ m.
- the thickness of the foil in the portion forming the membranes 22 is between 3 and 30 ⁇ m, preferably 15 ⁇ m, with an accuracy of ⁇ 1 ⁇ m. This assures a high flexibility of the membranes 22 so that the mechanical energy of the actuators 24 is readily transmitted to the ink liquid. The high level of accuracy in the membrane thickness assures a uniform performance of all the ink channels.
- Fig. 3 illustrates a modified embodiment in which an outwardly projecting ridge or bump 34 is formed along the longitudinal center line of each membrane 22 which allows for a high amount of deflexion of the membrane with little strain on the foil material, even when the width of the actuator 24 is comparatively large.
- a thin layer 36 of metal e.g. of nickel or nickel alloy is formed on the flat top surface of the substrate 12.
- the layer 36 covers the whole surface of the substrate with the exception of a portion 38 directly adjacent to the nozzle side of substrate and with the exception of a hole 40 near the rear end of each ink channel.
- a three-dimensionally structured photoresist 42 is applied on the substrate and on the layer 36 by means of photolithographic techniques.
- the shape of the photoresist 42 is complementary to the relief of the bottom side of the foil 14 shown in Fig. 2.
- the foil 14 is formed on the surface of the layer 36 and on the surface of the photoresist 42 by means of a nickel-electroforming process.
- Fig. 6 The result is shown in Fig. 6.
- Fig. 7 an ink feed channel 44 is formed in the substrate 12 by etching, laser drilling, powder blasting or the like.
- a dicing cut is performed in the substrate 12, the photoresist 42, and the foil 14.
- the plane of this dicing cut is slightly offset from the front wall 26 of the foil 14, so that a small horizontal flange 48 is formed along the upper edge of the front wall 26.
- the photoresist 42 is removed, so that the ink channel 16 and the nozzle 18 are formed, as is shown in Fig. 9.
- the ink channel communicates with the ink feed channel 44 through the hole 40 formed in the layer 36.
- the front edge of the layer 36 is located in the same longitudinal position as the upper and outer edge of the wall of the nozzle 18, so that the mouth of the nozzle 18 lies in a plane normal to plane of the substrate 12 and is slightly recessed from the main part of the front wall 26.
- the droplets will be expelled in a direction strictly aligned with the longitudinal direction of the ink channel, and no finishing needs to be applied to the nozzle face.
Landscapes
- Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP20000201374 EP1046505A1 (de) | 1999-04-19 | 2000-04-18 | Tintenstrahldruckkopf |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP99201243 | 1999-04-19 | ||
EP19990201243 EP1046506A1 (de) | 1999-04-19 | 1999-04-19 | Tintenstrahldruckkopf |
EP20000201374 EP1046505A1 (de) | 1999-04-19 | 2000-04-18 | Tintenstrahldruckkopf |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1046505A1 true EP1046505A1 (de) | 2000-10-25 |
Family
ID=26072135
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP20000201374 Withdrawn EP1046505A1 (de) | 1999-04-19 | 2000-04-18 | Tintenstrahldruckkopf |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1046505A1 (de) |
Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4657631A (en) | 1984-12-28 | 1987-04-14 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Process for producing a liquid jet recording head |
JPS62135377A (ja) * | 1985-12-09 | 1987-06-18 | Nec Corp | インクジエツトヘツドおよびその製造方法 |
EP0819524A1 (de) | 1996-07-18 | 1998-01-21 | Océ-Technologies B.V. | Tintenstrahl-Düsenkopf mit einem Trägerkörper |
EP0827833A2 (de) * | 1996-08-27 | 1998-03-11 | Topaz Technologies, Inc. | Tintenstrahlkopfvorrichtung |
US5876582A (en) * | 1997-01-27 | 1999-03-02 | The University Of Utah Research Foundation | Methods for preparing devices having metallic hollow microchannels on planar substrate surfaces |
-
2000
- 2000-04-18 EP EP20000201374 patent/EP1046505A1/de not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4657631A (en) | 1984-12-28 | 1987-04-14 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Process for producing a liquid jet recording head |
JPS62135377A (ja) * | 1985-12-09 | 1987-06-18 | Nec Corp | インクジエツトヘツドおよびその製造方法 |
EP0819524A1 (de) | 1996-07-18 | 1998-01-21 | Océ-Technologies B.V. | Tintenstrahl-Düsenkopf mit einem Trägerkörper |
EP0827833A2 (de) * | 1996-08-27 | 1998-03-11 | Topaz Technologies, Inc. | Tintenstrahlkopfvorrichtung |
US5876582A (en) * | 1997-01-27 | 1999-03-02 | The University Of Utah Research Foundation | Methods for preparing devices having metallic hollow microchannels on planar substrate surfaces |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 011, no. 356 (M - 644) 20 November 1987 (1987-11-20) * |
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