EP2599633B1 - Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes et dispositif d'impression - Google Patents

Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes et dispositif d'impression Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2599633B1
EP2599633B1 EP12194830.1A EP12194830A EP2599633B1 EP 2599633 B1 EP2599633 B1 EP 2599633B1 EP 12194830 A EP12194830 A EP 12194830A EP 2599633 B1 EP2599633 B1 EP 2599633B1
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Prior art keywords
ink
ink flow
flow channel
partition wall
ejecting head
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EP12194830.1A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP2599633A1 (fr
Inventor
Hideyuki Kobayashi
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Konica Minolta IJ Technologies Inc
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Konica Minolta IJ Technologies Inc
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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
    • B41J2/14—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
    • B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
    • B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
    • B41J2202/11—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads characterised by specific geometrical characteristics

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a droplet ejecting head, and a printing apparatus, more particularly, a droplet ejecting head that, even if an ink with low viscosity is used, does not cause ink overflow due to crosstalk in the neighboring ink flow channels and makes stable ejecting possible, and a printing apparatus mounting the droplet ejecting head.
  • a shear-mode droplet ejecting head As a droplet ejecting head which eject ink from nozzles, a shear-mode droplet ejecting head is known.
  • the droplet ejecting head multiple ink flow channels and multiple partition walls are alternatively arranged, and by the deformation motion of the partition wall, ink in the ink flow channel is ejected from the nozzle.
  • the partition wall is composed of an actuator which responds to applied voltage to the electrode formed on the surface of the partition wall and actuates.
  • FIG. 1 an example of a shear-mode droplet ejecting head is shown: (a) is a schematic perspective view, and (b) is a sectional view.
  • 11 is an ink tube
  • 12 is a nozzle forming member
  • 13 is a nozzle
  • 14 is an upper substrate
  • 15 is an ink feed opening
  • 16 is a lower substrate
  • 17 is a partition wall.
  • an ink flow channel 18 is formed by the partition wall 17, the upper substrate 14, and the lower substrate 16.
  • Each partition wall 17 is formed by its upper part 17a and its lower part 17b both of which composed of piezoelectric materials such as piezoelectric zirconate titanate (PZT) having an opposite direction of polarization to each other.
  • the piezoelectric material may be, for example, a part of 17a, and may be at least a part of the partition wall 17. Since the partition wall 17 and the ink flow channel 18 are alternatively arranged, the partition wall 17 is shared by both sides ink flow channels 18 and 18.
  • each ink flow channel 18 is connected to nozzle 13 provided in an open manner to the position responding to each ink flow channel at the nozzle forming member 12, and the other end of each ink flow channel 18 is connected to the ink tank (not shown) via the ink feed opening 15 and the ink tube 11.
  • an electrode (not shown) is formed on the surface of the partition wall 17 facing the ink flow channel 18, an electrode (not shown) is formed.
  • the partition wall 17 is L-shapely deformed, and gives pressure to be ejected to the ink fed through the ink tube 11 into the ink flow channel 18, and ink in the ink flow channel 18 is ejected as droplets.
  • Figure 2 shows motion of the droplet ejecting head 1 during ejecting ink.
  • three ink flow channels 18A, 18B, and 18C separated by partition walls 17A, 17B, 17C, and 17D are shown.
  • electrodes 19A, 19B, and 19C are formed on the surface of the partition wall 17 facing each ink flow channel.
  • Each of electrodes 19A, 19B, and 19C is connected to the driving signal generation section 100 to provide the driving signal for driving the partition wall 17 and ejecting ink in the ink flow channel 18.
  • partition walls 17B and 17C return from the expanded positions to the neutral positions shown in Figure 2 (a) , and high pressure is applied to ink in the ink flow channel 18.
  • the meniscus in the nozzle constituted by a part of the ink filling the ink flow channel 18B moves in the direction to be ejected from the nozzle, projects from the nozzle and forms an ink column. Then, during the predetermined period in which this state ( Figure 2 (c) ) is maintained, the positive pressure in the ink flow channel 18B is soon reversed to the negative pressure. In the step the pressure changes from positive to negative, a power to pull back the meniscus into the ink flow channel 18B is applied, the ink column is torn off at near the nozzle, the ink pushed out becomes into droplets and is ejected and soars.
  • a droplet ejecting head 1 having a plurality of ink flow channels 18 separated by the partition walls 17 at least partially constituted by a piezoelectric material is driven, when a partition wall of an ink flow channel starts ejecting motion, neighbouring ink flow channels are affected by the motion. Therefore, in general, among a plurality of ink flow channels 18, making two or more groups of ink flow channels 18 separated from each other across one or more ink flow channels 18, and in each group, driving control to operate the droplet ejecting motion sequentially by time sharing is made. For example, in a case a solid image is output by driving all ink flow channels 18, so-called three cycle driving in which ink flow channels 18 are selected alternatively by two ink flow channels and droplet is ejected in three-phase is conducted.
  • each electrode of each ink flow channel of group A (A1, A2, and A3), and electrodes of both side ink flow channels are grounded.
  • a driving signal constituted of a square wave of a positive voltage with 1AL width + V on is applied to ink flow channels of group A, partition walls of ink flow channels of group A deform outwardly, and a negative pressure is occurred in the ink flow channel 18. Due to this negative pressure, ink is drawn from the ink tank into the ink flow channel 18 (Draw).
  • the pressure is reversed and becomes negative in the ink flow channel 18, furthermore after the duration of 1AL, the pressure is reversed and becomes positive in the ink flow channel 18, if the electrodes are grounded at this timing (after the duration of 2AL), deformation of partition walls returns to the original state, and remaining pressure waves are canceled out.
  • each ink flow channel of group B (B1, B2, and B3), then each ink flow channel of group C (C1, C2, and C3) are actuated in the same way described above.
  • AL Acoustic Length
  • This AL is obtained as the pulse width which makes the soar velocity of droplet maximum when a square wave with a voltage pulse is applied to the partition wall, a means to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy, the velocities of ejected droplets are measured, with the voltage of the square wave kept constant and pulse width of the square wave is changed.
  • a pulse is defined as a square wave with a constant voltage crest value, and when 0 V is called as 0% and the crest value voltage is called as 100%, the pulse width is defined as the time between the timing of rising 10% from 0% and the timing of falling 0% from 100%.
  • the square wave means a wave in which both of its rise time and fall time between 10% and 90% are within 1/2 of AL, preferably within 1/4 of AL.
  • the pressure applied for ejecting ink is remained in the ink flow channel after ink is dispersed and vibrates, and the pressure applied to ink in the nozzle fluctuates and the meniscus vibrates.
  • the pressure applied to ink in the nozzle fluctuates and the meniscus vibrates.
  • meniscus moves in the direction to project from the nozzle.
  • the meniscus projected from the nozzle is pulled back into the nozzle by the negative pressure reversed from the positive pressure. This vibration is repeated a few times, the movement of the meniscus is gradually attenuated and settles in, next ejecting becomes possible.
  • meniscus may be projected excessively.
  • Such excessively projected meniscus causes no problem when the ink has high viscosity, but when an ink with low viscosity, especially less than 6 cp, is used, due to vibration of the meniscus, the ink is largely projected from the nozzle and overflows, as the result, in some cases, ejecting became unstable.
  • the present inventor eagerly investigated the causes of overflow of ink and unstable ejecting due to projection of meniscus in shear mode droplet ejecting heads, and found out two causes.
  • viscosity resistance is proportional to the viscosity of the ink and squared cross-section of the ink flow channel inverse number, when the viscosity falls to one-half, also the viscosity resistance falls to one-half. Therefore, vibration of meniscus during ejecting becomes larger, and the meniscus is largely projected from the nozzle, and the ink overflows.
  • a shear mode droplet ejecting head cannot drive two ink flow channels neighboring across a partition wall simultaneously.
  • three-cycle driving is conducted, neighboring ink flow channels are driven continuously.
  • ink flow channel 18B is driven for ejecting, movements of partition walls 17B and 17C respond to the movements of neighboring ink flow channels 18A and 18C, and crosstalk occurs, half of the vibration of the ink flow channel 18B is transmitted to neighboring ink flow channels 18A and 18C, and also in nozzles of ink flow channels 18A and 18C, vibration of meniscus occurs.
  • the present inventor focused on the shape factor of viscosity resistance in above formula and eagerly investigated, and found that as for an ink flow channel with rectangular cross section, when the depth direction parallel to the surface of the partition wall is defined as the vertical direction, the arranged direction of the partition wall perpendicular to the depth direction is defined as the horizontal direction, and when the aspect ratio calculated from the vertical length/ the horizontal length is large, even if the absolute cross section is not so large, viscosity resistance becomes large. That is, the present inventor found a droplet ejecting head having large viscosity resistance without sacrificing its droplet ejecting amount, which inhibits overflow of ink with low viscosity and makes stable ejecting possible.
  • the present inventor eagerly investigated the aspect ratio in cross sectional shape of the ink flow channel and found that the aspect ratio also has a harmful effect.
  • the aspect ratio is large, without sacrificing the droplet ejecting amount, viscosity resistance becomes large, but at the same time, crosstalk between neighboring ink flow channels becomes enormously large, and such a droplet ejecting head cannot be utilized in practical use.
  • the present inventor eagerly investigated and found that when the partition wall has certain level of hardness, specifically, the partition wall has certain level of hardness which makes resonance frequency of the partition wall a certain value or more, the problem is reduced, and established this invention.
  • Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-500209 discloses a droplet ejecting head shown in Figure 9 .
  • the ink flow channels are composed of firing ink flow channels 501 having nozzles 505 and not- firing ink flow channels 502 without nozzles 505.
  • the firing ink flow channels and the not- firing ink flow channels are arranged alternatively with a shift in the direction orthogonal to the longitude direction and row direction of the ink flow channels.
  • the firing ink flow channels 501 are T-shaped in cross section composed of broad ink flow channel parts 501a with not-moving side walls 503 and narrow ink flow channel parts 501b with moving side walls 504, and reduce the effect of crosstalk between neighboring ink flow channels.
  • narrow ink flow channel parts 501b with firing side walls 504 have the aspect ratio of about 5 or more.
  • nothing about hardness of moving side walls 504 being partition walls is described, and there is no disclosure about inhibiting ink overflow due to projection of meniscus when a low-viscosity ink is used.
  • the cross sectional width of the ink flow channel parts 501 across not-moving side wall 503 was too large and its viscosity resistance was too small, if an ink with low viscosity of less than 6 cp was used, overflow of the ink occurred, and the head cannot be utilized in practical use. Furthermore, since its structure is complex and its cost is high, the head was never possible to be utilized in practical use.
  • EP-A-1608031 describes an inkjet head with an actuator in the form of a piezoelectric/electrostrictive structure for a plurality of cells with ink contained therein. Partitions for the cells have aspect ratios of depth to thickness of about 15 and an aspect ratio of about 5 for the depth to width of the cells.
  • EP-A-2061099 describes a shear-mode actuator for an inkjet delivery head. Selection of an appropriate ceramic composition for the actuator can enable the drive voltage applied to the actuator to be increases thereby enabling an increase in displacement.
  • a problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide, in a shear-mode droplet ejecting head in which multiple ink flow channels and multiple partition walls are alternatively arranged, and by the deformation motion of the partition wall, ink in the ink flow channel is ejected from the nozzle, a droplet ejecting head which, by specifying the structure of the ink flow channel and resonance frequency of the partition wall, even if an ink with low viscosity is used, can inhibit variation of ejecting speed due to crosstalk, and can reduce overflow of ink from the nozzle, and can conduct stable ejecting, and a printing apparatus using thereof.
  • a droplet ejecting head comprised of an actuator in which multiple ink flow channels to which ink is provided and multiple partition walls are alternatively arranged, the partition wall between the neighboring ink flow channels responds to an applied voltage given to an electrode formed on surface of the partition wall and does deformation motion, and by the deformation motion of the partition wall, the ink in the ink flow channel is ejected from a nozzle communicated with the ink flow channel: wherein the ink flow channel is rectangularly formed in cross section in the arranged direction ,and when the depth direction parallel to the surface of the partition wall is defined as the vertical direction, the arranged direction of the partition wall perpendicular to the depth direction is defined as the horizontal direction, an aspect ratio (vertical length/ horizontal length) in the cross sectional shape of the ink flow channel rectangularly formed is 5.00 or more and less than 7.75, a resonance frequency of the partition wall is 1.5 MHz or more.
  • the aspect ratio of the ink flow channel may be 6.00 or more and 7.00 or less.
  • the width between both sides partition walls of the ink flow channel may be 40 ⁇ m or more and 60 ⁇ m or less.
  • An insulating and protective coating composed of an organic material may be formed on the surface of the electrode on the partition wall of the ink flow channel.
  • the viscosity of the ink may be less than 6 cp.
  • a droplet ejecting head in which multiple ink flow channels and multiple partition walls are alternatively arranged, and by the deformation motion of the partition wall, ink in the ink flow channel is ejected from the nozzle, a droplet ejecting head and a printing apparatus which can ,even if an ink with low viscosity (for example, an ink with viscosity of less than 6 cp) is used, inhibit speed variation due to crosstalk, and can reduce overflow of the ink from the nozzle, and can conduct stable ejecting, be provided.
  • an ink with low viscosity for example, an ink with viscosity of less than 6 cp
  • a droplet ejecting head is composed of an actuator in which multiple ink flow channels to which ink is provided and multiple partition walls are alternatively arranged, the partition wall between the neighboring ink flow channels responds to an applied voltage given to an electrode formed on surface of the partition wall and does deformation motion.
  • an actuator is composed of a polarized piezoelectric material such as PZT, and the actuator responds to the applied voltage and does deformation motion L-shapely, that is, the droplet ejecting head is a so-called shear mode droplet ejecting head, and by the deformation motion of the partition wall, a pressure is applied to the ink in the ink flow channel, and eject as droplet from the nozzle communicated with the ink flow channel.
  • inks with low viscosity of less than 6 cp viscosity at the temperature of the ink to be ejected
  • the ink with such low viscosity is provided into the ink flow channel and fills it.
  • viscosity of ink is in general the viscosity at ordinary temperature (25°C).
  • a heating apparatus is furnished to the ink providing means or the ejecting head, and by heating the ink and reducing the viscosity, and the ink is used.
  • the viscosity of the ink is the viscosity at the heated temperature of the ink to be used.
  • Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (v)-(v) in Figure 1 (b) .
  • This figure shows the vertical cross-sectional shape taken along the depth direction to the surface of the partition wall 17 and the arranged direction of the partition wall 17.
  • the ink flow channel 18 in the present invention is, when the depth direction to the surface of the partition wall 17 is defined as the vertical direction h, the arranged direction of the partition wall 17 perpendicular to the depth direction is defined as the horizontal direction w, the partition wall 17 is rectangularly formed in vertical cross section in the arranged direction and the aspect ratio (vertical length h/ horizontal length w) in the vertical cross sectional shape is 5.00 or more and less than 7.75.
  • the width (w) of the ink flow channel is the width of the area where ink is filled. That is, it means the width of the final ink flow channel which was formed and the electrode was formed on the surface of the partition wall and it became to be used.
  • This width can be determined by examining the vertical cross sectional shape obtained with cutting the ink flow channel along the depth direction to the surface of the partition wall and the arranged direction of the partition wall by observation apparatus such as a microscope.
  • an ink flow channel if there is variability at least in either of vertical length (h) or horizontal length (w), it is preferable to measure at plural points in the longitudinal direction in the ink flow channel, and use the means.
  • the aspect ratio of the ink flow channel is within the range described above, without reducing the cross section of ink flow channel and sacrificing the droplet ejecting amount, it is possible to make viscosity resistance large. And thus overflow of ink may be inhibited.
  • the aspect When the aspect is smaller than 5.00, the ratio of partition wall vibrating at high speed becomes smaller, even at the same cross section, viscosity resistance becomes smaller, and inhibition of ink overflow becomes difficult.
  • the aspect when the aspect is 7.75 or larger, the ink flow channel is too long in vertical direction and becomes soft in structure, even if the resonance frequency described later is satisfied, preventing the primary resonance becomes difficult, and crosstalk becomes larger. More preferable aspect ratio is from 6.00 to 7.00.
  • ink flow channels are formed, with a grinding blade such as a grindstone, by grinding vadums with predetermined depth to be ink flow channels in parallel on a substrate. Therefore, ink flow channels with aspect ration within the range described above may be formed by appropriately selecting or adjusting the thickness of the grinding blade and grinding depth.
  • the droplet ejecting head in the present invention is not limited to have the structure, as shown in Figure 1 , in which the flow channel 18 has a vadum part 18a becoming shallower in opposite side to the nozzle end where a nozzle 13 is displaced, and ink is provided from the direction (upper side in Figure 1 ) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ink flow channel 18, but as shown in Figure 7 , may be formed straightly from the nozzle end to the opposite end, and ink may be provided from the opposite end along the longitudinal direction of the ink flow channel 18.
  • FIG 7 sections shown by the same signs as Figure 1 have the same composition.
  • the aspect ratio of the ink flow channel 18 is the aspect ratio of the part of effective actuating length (L length) with constant depth shown in Figure 1 (b) .
  • the width (w) of the flow channel between both sides partition walls is preferably from 40 ⁇ m to 60 ⁇ m.
  • the width is in the range, even if an ink with its viscosity of 6 cp or less is used, sufficient viscosity resistance can be obtained and ejecting becomes stable. If the width is smaller than 40 ⁇ m, viscosity resistance may become too large, and fluid volume may be insufficient, while if the width is larger than 60 ⁇ m, viscosity resistance may be insufficient and an ink with 6 cp may not be ejected stably.
  • the partition wall in the present invention has its resonance frequency of 1.5 MHz or more.
  • the resonance frequency is 1.5 MHz or more, the partition wall has so-called hardness. Therefore, primary resonance is effectively prevented, crosstalk is reduced.
  • the resonance frequency is smaller than 1.5 MHz, inhibiting primary resonance of the partition wall becomes difficult, and reducing crosstalk is difficult.
  • resonance frequency of the partition wall is the primary resonance frequency of the partition wall (primary resonance) ( Figure 6 ) obtained by applying a variable frequency voltage to the electrode on the surface of the partition wall and giving deformation motion to the partition wall, during which measured by measuring instruments such as impedance analyzer, network analyzer, or impedance/LCR meter.
  • the resonance frequency was obtained from the mean.
  • Resonance frequency of the partition wall is adjustable depending on shape of the partition wall and characteristics of the piezoelectric material. For example, if aspect ratio of the piezoelectric material in the partition wall part is made larger (for example, height of the partition wall is made higher), stiffness of the partition wall is reduced, and the Resonance frequency becomes smaller. On the contrary, if aspect ratio of the piezoelectric material in the partition wall part is made smaller (for example, thickness of the partition wall is made larger), stiffness of the partition wall is enlarged, and the resonance frequency becomes larger. Accordingly, in order to make resonance frequency of the partition wall the value described above or larger, by making aspect ratio of the piezoelectric material in the partition wall part smaller (for example, thickness of the partition wall is made larger), adjusting is possible. In addition, by using a piezoelectric element with large Young's modulus or with small mechanical compliance, making stiffness higher and making resonance frequency larger are possible.
  • the resonance frequency of the partition wall may be adjusted into the range of the present invention through appropriately combining these methods.
  • an insulating and protective coating composed of an organic material may be further formed on the surface of electrode facing into the ink flow channel.
  • a coating formed by vapor deposition such as chemical vapor deposition method is preferable, and especially, a coating constituted by poly(para-xylylene) or its derivatives is appropriate.
  • the width (w) of the ink flow channel in the present invention is the final width of the ink flow channel after formation of the protective layer.
  • the droplet ejecting head in the present invention is not limited to aspects shown in Figure 1 and Figure 7 in which nozzle 13 is allocated to the longitude direction end of the ink flow channel 18, but may be the aspect (not shown) in which the nozzle opens at the part of the upper substrate 14 responding to the midway part of the ink flow channel 18.
  • an ink with viscosity of less than 6 cp shows generally liquids which may be ejected from a nozzle of a shear mode droplet ejecting head.
  • image formation inks, and functional liquids used for various industrial applications such as manufacturing apparatus of color filters for liquid-crystal panels and semiconductor devices.
  • Figure 8 is a figure showing the schematic formation of printing apparatus which forms images on the recording medium.
  • the recording medium P is sandwiched by a pair of conveyance rollers 201, furthermore conveyed in the Y direction (shown) by the conveyance roller 203 rotation driven by the conveyance motor 202.
  • the droplet ejecting head 1 is furnished to oppose the recording surface PS of the recording medium P among the conveyance roller 203 and the pair of conveyance rollers 201.
  • the droplet ejecting head 1 is mounted on the carriage 205 with its nozzle side opposed to the recording surface PS of the recording medium P, and is electrically connected to the driving signal generation section 100 (cf. Figure 2 ) through a flexible cable 206.
  • the carriage 205 is reciprocating movable in the shown X-X' direction (main scanning direction) almost perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium P (vertical scanning direction) by the driving means not shown along the guide rail 204 built over in the width direction of the recording medium P.
  • the droplet ejecting head 1 associated with movement of the carriage 205 in the main scanning direction, moves on the recording surface PS of the recording medium P in the shown X-X' direction, during the movement, ejects droplets from the nozzle, and forms the desired inkjet images.
  • a set of a piezoelectric material substrate composed of PZT (H8H, made by Sumitomo Metal Electronics Devices Inc.,) and polarized and a lower substrate were bonded with an adhesive agent with each direction of polarization of the piezoelectric material substrate different. Then, from the surface of the piezoelectric material substrate, multiple groove-like ink flow channels with the depths perpendicular to the bonded plane and constant from an end of the piezoelectric material substrate to another end were formed with a grind stone and made ink flow channels and partition walls alternative and parallel, and on side of each partition wall, an electrode and parylene protective layer were formed. Then, upper face of each ink flow channel was covered by an upper substrate, and produced multiple droplet ejecting heads in which each ink flow channel is straight as shown in Figure 5 .
  • Each droplet ejecting head had the same resolution of 180 dpi and length of ink flow channel of 5 mm.
  • each droplet ejecting head had different aspect ratio as shown in Table 1 by changing the thickness of the grindstone and the grinding depth, and by changing the thickness of the partition wall as shown in Table 1, had different resonance frequency as shown in Table 1.
  • Measurement of resonance frequencies was performed by applying variable frequency voltage to each electrode and driving each partition wall, and measuring the resonance frequency of primary resonance with an impedance analyzer (FRA1260, made by Toyo Corporation), and calculating the mean of all resonance frequencies of all partition walls.
  • FFA1260 impedance analyzer
  • the piezoelectric material had the density of 8.02 g/cm 3 and Young's modulus of 109.9 GPa.
  • Dispensing was performed from an ink flow channel at the ejecting speed of 6 m/s, and simultaneously did driving of both side or neighboring ink flow channels total of 60 ink flow channels in sequence, difference values of ejecting speed were measured, and evaluated based on the criterion described below. The results are shown in Table 1.
  • each droplet ejecting head had the same resolution of 300 dpi and length of ink flow channel of 2 mm, each droplet ejecting head had different aspect ratio and different resonance frequency as shown in Table 2. In the same way described above, ejecting stability, with or without overflow of ink, and crosstalk ratio of each droplet ejecting head were measured. These results are shown in Table 2.
  • Example 2 showed good results, while Comparative Example 1 showed bad results in both items of ejecting stability and with or without overflow of ink. This result indicated the shape effect in viscosity resistance.
  • Comparative Examples 10 and 11 indicated that resonance frequency of 1.5 MHz or more is required, and Comparative Examples 7 and 12 indicated that aspect ratio of 5.00 or more is required.

Landscapes

  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)

Claims (6)

  1. Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) comprenant un actionneur, dans laquelle plusieurs canaux d'écoulement d'encre (18) auxquels l'encre est fournie et plusieurs parois de séparation (17) sont disposés de manière alternée, la paroi de séparation entre les canaux d'écoulement d'encre voisins réagit à une tension appliquée à une électrode formée sur une surface de la paroi de séparation et provoque un mouvement de déformation, et, grâce au mouvement de déformation de la paroi de séparation, l'encre contenue dans le canal d'écoulement d'encre est éjectée d'une buse qui communique avec le canal d'écoulement d'encre ; dans laquelle le canal d'écoulement d'encre présente une section transversale de forme rectangulaire dans le sens de disposition, et, lorsque le sens de profondeur parallèle à la surface de la paroi de séparation est défini comme le sens vertical, le sens de disposition de la paroi de séparation perpendiculaire au sens de la profondeur est défini comme le sens horizontal, un rapport entre les dimensions (longueur verticale/longueur horizontale) au sein de la section transversale du canal d'écoulement d'encre en forme de rectangle est égal à 5 ou plus et inférieur à 7,75 ; et caractérisée en ce qu'une fréquence de résonance de la paroi de séparation est égale à 1,5 MHz ou plus.
  2. Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle le rapport entre les dimensions du canal d'écoulement d'encre est égal ou supérieur à 6, et inférieur à 7.
  3. Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans laquelle la largeur (w) entre les deux parois de séparation latérales du canal d'écoulement d'encre est égale ou supérieur à 40 µm, et égale ou inférieur à 60 µm.
  4. Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3, dans laquelle un revêtement isolant et protecteur composé d'un matériau organique est formé sur la surface de l'électrode sur la paroi de séparation du canal d'écoulement d'encre.
  5. Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 4, dans laquelle la viscosité de l'encre est inférieure à 6 cp.
  6. Appareil d'impression (200) muni de la tête d'éjection de gouttelettes (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 5, qui achemine l'encre en faisant atterrir l'encre éjectée par la buse sur un support d'impression.
EP12194830.1A 2011-12-01 2012-11-29 Tête d'éjection de gouttelettes et dispositif d'impression Active EP2599633B1 (fr)

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JP2011264097A JP5919775B2 (ja) 2011-12-01 2011-12-01 液滴吐出ヘッド及び記録装置

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EP3246165B1 (fr) * 2015-01-16 2019-12-11 Konica Minolta, Inc. Tête à jet d'encre et dispositif d'enregistrement à jet d'encre
JP6536393B2 (ja) * 2015-12-18 2019-07-03 コニカミノルタ株式会社 画像形成方法
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CN103129142A (zh) 2013-06-05
EP2599633A1 (fr) 2013-06-05

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