JP2000062165A - Ink jet recording head and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multinozzle ink jet recording head of high density nozzle arrangement and an inexpensive mass production method thereof. SOLUTION: The ink jet recording head comprises a plurality of ink liquid chambers (pressure chambers) 13 arranged in specified directions while communicating with an ink supply, and a plurality of nozzles 11a arranged in specified directions while communicating with respective ink liquid chambers 13 wherein planar members 14, 15, 17, 18 having a piezoelectric plate member for ejecting ink from the ink liquid chamber are arranged, while being laminated, in the arranging direction of the nozzles 11a between the ink liquid chambers 13. This structure realizes a multinozzle ink jet recording head of high density nozzle arrangement.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head and a method of manufacturing the same, and for example, an ink jet recording head that can be suitably used in a printer that records and shapes characters, figures, images, etc. on a recording medium and the manufacturing thereof. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers have spread in a multimedia information society, and the demand for printers has increased accordingly.

In particular, the ink jet printer is capable of high-quality color printing at a low price, and therefore the market is rapidly increasing.

There are various methods for this ink jet printer. A method of converting a mechanical vibration force into a pressure wave of ink to eject ink droplets by using a piezo element, and a method of rapidly heating the ink to generate bubbles. Then, there are a method of ejecting ink droplets by the pressure wave of bubbles, a method of attracting ink by electrostatic force and flying it. Among them, the method using a piezo element is one in which the manufacturing method of the piezo element advances. This is a method that has received particular attention.

An ink jet recording head using a conventional piezo element will be described below.

FIG. 12 shows the structure of an ink jet recording head using a conventional piezo element.
-40030.

FIG. 12 (a) is a sectional view and FIG. 12 (b) is a top view. In these, 101 is a nozzle plate, 102 is a flow path plate, 103 is an orifice plate, and these are joined by an adhesive. Ink nozzle section 11
Configures 0.

Further, 104 is a connecting plate, 105 is a spacer plate, and 106 is a closing plate, and these ink plates 111 are formed by integrally firing three layers processed in the state of green sheets.

The piezoelectric / electrostrictive material 1 having the electrodes 107 and 109 on the upper surface of the ink pump portion 111 is provided.
No. 08 is formed by printing and firing.

In the ink jet recording head constructed as described above, the ink is introduced from the ink supply passage 113, the ink supply passage 114 and the pressure chamber 115 are filled with the ink, and the piezoelectric / electrostrictive element 108 is predetermined. By vibrating by the electric signal, the ink droplets are ejected by the nozzle 116.
Is discharged more.

[0011]

However, in such a conventional configuration, in order to arrange the nozzles 116 holes at a high density, the fine processing of the spacer plate 105, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive element 108 and the electrodes 107 and 109 are performed. There is a technical limit in fine formation by printing or the like, and there is a problem that it is extremely difficult to manufacture a multi-nozzle head having a high-resolution nozzle array such as 8 lines / mm or 16 lines / mm. Was.

Further, a large number of flat plate members having different patterns, that is, members having 9 layers of different patterns including the electrodes,
Since it has to be processed, formed and laminated, there is a drawback that it is complicated in manufacturing.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art and to provide a multi-nozzle ink jet recording head having a high density nozzle array and a manufacturing method which can be mass-produced and can be manufactured at a low cost.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, a plurality of ink liquid chambers, which are connected to an ink supply source and arranged in respective predetermined directions, are respectively connected to the respective ink liquid chambers, and are arranged in the predetermined direction. In the ink jet recording head including a plurality of nozzles, a flat plate member that exists between the ink liquid chambers and has a driving function capable of ejecting ink in all or some of the ink liquid chambers is provided. The inkjet recording head is characterized in that the nozzles are arranged in a stack in the nozzle arrangement direction.

With such a structure, a multi-nozzle ink jet recording head having a high density nozzle arrangement can be realized.

Further, according to the present invention, the flat plate-shaped member is a flat plate-shaped piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, and a first electrode member and a second electrode member are provided adjacent to both surface sides of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member. Electrode member and a flat plate-shaped regulating plate member disposed adjacent to the second electrode member on the side of the second electrode member, and the ink liquid chamber includes the first electrode member. Is formed by a hole of a flat plate-shaped pressure chamber member arranged adjacent to the first electrode member on the side of, and by applying a voltage to the first electrode member and the second electrode member. The piezoelectric / electrostrictive member is caused to undergo expansion or contraction deformation, and the restriction plate member restricts expansion or contraction deformation of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, thereby pressurizing the ink in the ink liquid chamber, Inkjet recording to eject ink droplets from nozzles corresponding to the ink liquid chamber It is dead.

With such a structure, the electrode pattern to be formed on the flat plate-like member may be a relatively simple pattern having a size larger than the array density of the nozzles, which is easy to process and easy to manufacture. Become.

Further, by making the first electrode a common electrode, chemical change or the like does not occur in the ink.

Further, according to the present invention, the base material of the pressure chamber member having a plurality of holes corresponding to the ink liquid chambers communicating with the ink supply source and all or some of the ink liquid chambers can be deformed. A stacking step of alternately stacking a base material of a driving flat plate-like member and a base material of the pressure chamber member and a flat plate-like base material stacked in the stacking step while maintaining the stacked state. And a cutting step of cutting along the stacking direction corresponding to the plurality of holes, the method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head.

In this way, a large number of ink jet recording heads can be manufactured at a time by cutting and dividing after stacking them, so that an ink jet recording head with extremely high mass productivity is provided.

The present invention also provides the above manufacturing method,
Further, after the laminating step and before the cutting step, a joining step of joining a base material of a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles capable of communicating with the ink liquid chamber so that the ink liquid chamber and the nozzle correspond to each other. And a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head including:

With this structure, the nozzle can be accurately and easily positioned.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 10 is an ink liquid chamber structure, 11 is a nozzle plate in which a plurality of nozzles 11a are arranged in a certain direction, 12 is an ink inlet, and 13 is a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped ink liquid chamber that is connected to the ink inlet 12. An ink pressure chamber in which pressure is applied to the ink (corresponding to the ink liquid chamber of the present invention), 14 is a regulating plate member, 15 is a piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, 16 is a pressure chamber member, 17 is an individual electrode,
And 18 are common electrodes. The assembly of the piezoelectric member 15, the electrodes 17 and 18, and the regulating plate member 14 constitutes the driving flat plate member of the present invention.

Here, the regulation plate member 14, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 and the pressure chamber member 16 are sequentially laminated,
The ink chamber structure 10 is constructed, and the nozzle plate 1
1 is joined to the ink liquid chamber structure 10 so that the ejection nozzles are arranged corresponding to the openings of the ink pressure chambers 13 to form an inkjet recording head.

The individual electrode 17 and the common electrode 18 are provided so that the common electrode 18 is located on the ink pressure chamber 13 side and the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 is sandwiched therebetween. Although it is set to be equal to the vertical width of the pressure chamber 13 in the drawing, as shown in FIG. 7, the width of the facing portion of the individual electrode 17 and the common electrode 18 is larger than the vertical width of the ink pressure chamber 13 in the drawing. The smaller the setting, the better (described later).

The operation of the ink jet recording head configured as described above will be described with reference to the schematic diagrams shown in FIGS. These figures are sectional views taken in a direction parallel to the nozzle plate 11 of FIG.

First, referring to FIG. 2, each of the regulating plate members 1 is
4, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 and the pressure chamber member 16 are sequentially laminated. In the figure, the n-th laminated plate is the regulation plate member 14-n, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n and the pressure chamber member 16. It is indicated by -n.

The individual electrodes 17-n and the common electrode 18-n are provided on both sides of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n. When voltage is applied between these electrodes, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n is provided. -N expands and contracts. Specifically, the common electrode 18 is set to 0
The potential is set and a signal voltage is applied to the individual electrode 17 to control the ejection of ink droplets.

Now, as shown in FIG. 2, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n
If a voltage is applied in the extending direction, the regulation plate member 14-n does not move.
The electrostrictive member 15-n is bent to the right side as shown in the figure, and is changed so as to reduce the volume of the ink pressure chamber 13-n, and vibration is generated to compress the ink inside the ink pressure chamber 13-n, causing ink droplets to be ejected to the nozzles. Will be discharged from.

When the ink in the ink pressure chamber 13-n is compressed, the ink pressure chamber 13-on the left side of the ink pressure chamber 13-n is compressed.
Since (n-1) expands to a negative pressure, the ejection control of the ink droplets from all the nozzles is not performed at the same time, but at least every other ejection is ejected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15- (n + 1) on the right side of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n is also contracted and deformed at the same time, so that the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15-n is formed. The volume in the ink pressure chamber 13-n can be further reduced by curving in the opposite direction.

In this case, since the ink in the ink pressure chamber 13-n can be further compressed, the ink droplets are ejected by the larger compression.

In the above structure, the common electrode 18 is provided on the ink pressure chamber 13 side. This means that when a voltage is applied to the ink and a current flows when the electrode is in contact with the ink, This is because it is considered that the electrolysis occurs and the electrodes are consumed and dyes are deposited. That is, in the present embodiment, since the electrode on the side in contact with the ink is the common electrode 18 and is always set to 0 potential, such electrolysis does not occur.

Since the ink jet recording head of this embodiment uses the piezoelectric / electrostrictive element 15, at least the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 itself needs to be a piezoelectric / electrostrictive material. The regulation plate member 14 and the ink pressure chamber member 16 do not necessarily have to be piezoelectric / electrostrictive materials,
Metals, plastics, ceramics, etc. can be used after designing in consideration of mechanical vibration characteristics and breaking strength.

However, as a simpler and more convenient structure, a piezoelectric / electrostrictive material may be used for these.

That is, a piezoelectric / electrostrictive member in which an electrode having a predetermined pattern corresponding to the first electrode is formed on a green sheet of piezoelectric / electrostrictive material, and a green sheet of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive material is used as a second electrode. After laminating the regulation plate member on which the electrode of the corresponding predetermined pattern is formed and the pressure chamber member in which the holes corresponding to the ink pressure chambers are formed on the green sheet of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive material in the state of each green sheet The ink liquid chamber structure 10 can be completed by pressure bonding and firing as it is.

According to such a manufacturing method, since the laminated materials are fired using the same material, it is possible to manufacture a structure having a small influence of thermal expansion and high accuracy.

In this case, since the partition wall portion between the ink pressure chambers is made of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive material, the second
Electrodes are provided on the ink liquid chamber side adjacent to each other, and a voltage is applied between the first and second electrodes to orient the piezoelectric / electrostrictive material in the portion where the electrodes face each other, thereby forming a partition wall between the ink pressure chambers. The part itself may be a vibrating body.

(Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, a method for manufacturing the ink jet recording apparatus described in Embodiment 1 will be specifically described.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of ink jet recording heads shown in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 4, first, the base material 14 'of the regulating plate member 14, the base material 15' of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 and the base material 16 'of the pressure chamber member 16 are sequentially laminated. Is Y
Arranged with the ABC plane parallel to the X plane, the base materials are laminated in the X direction.

By increasing the number of base materials laminated in the X direction, an ink jet recording head having as many nozzles as that can be manufactured, and by reducing the thickness of each base material, a higher density arrangement can be achieved. An inkjet recording head having nozzles can be manufactured.

Here, predetermined electrode patterns and holes corresponding to each ink jet recording head are formed in the Z direction. Of course, these patterns and the like may be the same or different patterns and the like if desired. This also applies to the Y direction.

After stacking in this way, as an example, 3
Each substrate is cut along the A ₀ B ₀ C ₀ surface and the A ₁ B ₁ C ₁ surface parallel to the ABC surface so as to form one inkjet recording head.

Next, an example of the constitution of each base material before lamination is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5 (a), the base material 14 'of the regulating plate member.
, Five electrode patterns 19 are formed in the Z direction and two electrode patterns 19 are formed in the Y direction.

In FIG. 5B, the base material 1 of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 1
5 ', and five electrode patterns 20 are formed in the Z direction and two in the Y direction.

In FIG. 5C, the base material 16 'of the pressure chamber member.
Showing the ink pressure chamber and the hole 21 serving as the ink inlet.
, 5 holes in the Z direction and 2 holes in the Y direction.

Then, a stack of 10 ink jet recording heads in total can be manufactured by successively stacking these three base materials and then cutting and separating them as described above.

Further, generally, the width of the nozzle plate 11 (the length in the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the nozzles 11a) is very small, for example, about 0.3 to 3 mm. In this state, the ink liquid chamber structure Joining the nozzle plate 11 to the 10 is extremely difficult to handle.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the ink liquid chamber structures 30 for a plurality of ink jet recording heads and the substrate 31 of the nozzle plate are joined before cutting and separating the ink liquid chamber structures 30. Then, if they are separated after the joining, such difficulty can be avoided.

With such a structure, the ink liquid chamber structure 30 and the nozzle 31a of the base material 31 of the nozzle plate.
If the precision of the arrangement of (1) is properly adjusted, the handling becomes extremely easy, and a plurality of inkjet recording heads can be manufactured with high precision at one time.

Of course, in some cases, instead of joining the base material of the nozzle plate, each small nozzle plate may be joined after cutting and dividing the ink liquid chamber structure 30.

In the case of producing a color ink jet recording head, the head of the layer indicated by ABCC ₀ B ₀ A ₀ is used as it is for color C without dividing into three layers as shown in FIG. , A ₀ B ₀ C ₀ C ₁ B ₁ A ₁ for the head of the color M, A ₁ B ₁ C ₁ C ₂ B ₂
It is also possible to manufacture a color recording head by using the layer head shown by A ₂ as the color Y. Further, a black layer may be added to the periphery thereof.

(Third Embodiment) Hereinafter, an ink jet recording head according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 7A is a sectional view taken in a direction parallel to the nozzle plate of the ink jet recording head according to this embodiment.

In this embodiment, a spacer member 35 and a partition member 36 are provided in addition to the structure of the first embodiment.

That is, the regulating plate member 14 and the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 1
5, pressure chamber member 16, partition member 36, spacer member 35
An ink jet recording head is configured by sequentially laminating the five flat plate-shaped members.

Then, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15, the spacer member 35, and the partition member 36 can form the void 37.

Even if the void 37 is curved and deformed in the direction of the ink pressure chamber 13 on the right side of the drawing due to the extension of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15, the void 37 only swells and the ink pressure on the left side is increased. This is to prevent interference with the chamber 13. Therefore, the partition member 36 is made of a rigid material. In this way, adjacent ink pressure chambers 13 do not interfere with each other in their volume changes.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 7 (a), the vibration of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 14 is concerned only with the volume change of the ink pressure chamber 13 existing on the right side thereof.
The piezoelectric / electrostrictive members 15 are independently installed in the plurality of ink pressure chambers 13.

On the other hand, the one shown in FIG.
The positions of the partition member 36 and the spacer member 35 are (a).
Is different from the case.

That is, an ink jet recording head is constructed by sequentially stacking five flat plate members, that is, the regulating plate member 14, the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15, the spacer member 35, the partition member 36, and the pressure chamber member 16. . The void portion 37 does not interfere with the partition member 36 even when the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 is curvedly deformed in the direction of the partition member 36. The partition member 36 is a member that is always fixed and does not vibrate. Therefore, the volume changes of adjacent ink pressure chambers 13 do not interfere with each other.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the first embodiment is used.
It is possible to control the discharge from all the nozzles at the same time, instead of every other discharge control from the nozzles described in the above.

Of course, another structure can be adopted to prevent the vibration from propagating to one ink pressure chamber. For example, a vibration damping material that replaces the void may be similarly arranged to absorb the vibration and prevent it from propagating. In addition, it is preferable that the facing portion of each electrode has a length shorter than that of the gap or the vibration isolator as shown in the drawing.

(Embodiment 4) In this embodiment, an example in which a structure in which flat plate members are laminated is applied to an ink jet recording head having an operating principle other than that described above will be described.

FIG. 8 shows a structural example applied to an electrostatic suction type ink jet.

FIG. 8A shows a perspective view of an electrostatic suction type ink jet recording head, and FIG. 8B shows XY in the drawing.
A sectional view cut in a plane is shown.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 40 denotes an ink liquid chamber structure formed by stacking flat plate members, and 41 denotes a plurality of nozzles 41.
Nozzle plate having a, 42 is an ink inlet, 43 is an ink liquid chamber, 44 is a flat electrode member, 45 is a flat liquid chamber member, and holes corresponding to the ink inlet 42 and the ink liquid chamber 43 are formed. 46 is a control electrode, 47 is a signal voltage, 48 is a bias voltage generator, 49 is a back electrode, and 50 is a recording paper.

Here, the ink liquid chamber structure 40 is assembled by sequentially stacking the electrode member 44 and the liquid chamber member 45 in the nozzle array direction, that is, the X-axis direction in the drawing.

Then, the nozzle plate 41 is joined to the ink liquid chamber structure 40 having the above-described structure to manufacture an ink jet recording head.

In such a structure, the ink can flow from the ink inlet 42, fill the ink liquid chamber 43, and be ejected from the nozzle 41a as an ink droplet.

More specifically, when a sufficient electric field acts between the back electrode 49 and the control electrode 46 which is opposed to the back electrode 48 via the recording paper 49 and is installed in each ink liquid chamber 43. Then, an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 41a.

The bias voltage generator 48 serves to lower the signal voltage 47 by applying a predetermined bias electric field to the ejection electric field.

Further, in addition to such an electrostatic suction type structure, other methods, for example, a thermal ink jet recording head or the like in which ink is boiled by a heater and ejected by the pressure wave, a flat plate member is used. It is possible to apply a structure in which

For example, if a heating resistor (heating means) is provided in the vicinity of the nozzle of the control electrode 46 in FIG. 8 to apply a signal voltage, a thermal ink jet recording head can be constructed. . Of course, in this case, the back electrode 49 is unnecessary.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of an ink jet recording head showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 9, the regulation plate 202 to which the piezo element 201 is joined
And the liquid chamber plate 203 in which the pressure chamber 207 is formed, and the partition plate 204 provided with a recess so as not to disturb the movement of the piezo element 201 when stacked, are sequentially and repeatedly stacked to form an inkjet head structure. It is formed.

As shown in FIG. 102, the ink is filled in the pressure chamber 207 from the ink inlet 209, and the nozzle plate 20 is filled with the ink.
Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle bored at 8.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing how the structure of FIG. 9 is assembled. The regulation plate 202 to which the piezo element 201 is joined and the liquid chamber plate 2 in which the pressure chamber 207 is formed are shown.
03, the concave portion 2 so that the piezo element 201 does not come into direct contact.
The partition plates 204 provided with 05 are stacked as shown in FIG. 9 to form a structure. The liquid chamber plate 203 is integrated with the supporting portion 206 so that the members are not separated, and the supporting portion 206 is removed after the structure is manufactured.

In the ink jet head having the structure shown in FIG.
The nozzles are arranged in the stacking direction of the flat plate material to complete the multi-nozzle head. That is, the regulation plate 202 and the liquid chamber plate 2
03 and the partition plate 204 have a total thickness equal to the nozzle pitch. Therefore, in order to provide an inkjet head with a high-density nozzle array, it suffices to stack them using thin flat plate materials, and since it is not necessary to narrow the width of the pressure chamber, the nozzle height can be increased without deterioration in performance. Densification is possible.

The structure of FIG. 9 uses a metal such as stainless steel. The pressure chamber 207 of the liquid chamber plate 203 and the recess 205 of the partition plate 204 can be easily formed by etching metal. The plate members may be laminated with an adhesive agent, or a sheet-like adhesive agent may be sandwiched between the plate members and thermocompression bonded. There is also a method in which plate members are plated with gold and laminated, and metals are directly bonded by diffusion bonding of gold.

In the trial production, a stainless steel plate having a thickness of about 30 μm is used for the regulation plate 202, and an electrostrictive / piezoelectric element having a thickness of 40 μm is bonded to the regulation plate with an epoxy adhesive. As the liquid chamber plate 203, a liquid chamber having a width of 1 mm and a length of 4 mm was formed by etching on stainless steel having a thickness of 200 μm. The partition plate 204 is 150 μm
A recess of about 70 μm was formed by half etching on the stainless steel. When three sheet members including these electrostrictive / piezoelectric elements were sequentially laminated with an epoxy adhesive, the adhesive layer was about 20 μm, and a multi-nozzle head of about 2 / mm was completed. With this head, good droplet ejection was observed by pulse driving at a low voltage of about 5V. A head having a nozzle array having a higher density than this head also has the liquid chamber plate 203.
This can be achieved by making the partition plate 204 thinner.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, a multi-nozzle inkjet recording head having a plurality of nozzles is formed by laminating flat plate members in the nozzle arrangement direction to form an inkjet recording head structure. By using a thin flat plate-shaped member, it is possible to arrange the ink liquid chambers having a shallow depth with high density, and it is possible to easily realize the ink jet recording head corresponding to the high density nozzle arrangement.

Further, the pattern formed on the flat plate-like member need only be a relatively simple pattern having a size larger than the array density of nozzles, is easy to process and is easy to manufacture, and is laminated. After cutting, after cutting and separating, a plurality of inkjet recording heads can be manufactured at one time, and an inkjet recording head with extremely high mass productivity can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the inkjet recording head.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the inkjet recording head.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of each base material before lamination of the inkjet recording head.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of manufacturing the same inkjet recording head.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an ink jet recording head according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording head according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording head according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the ink jet recording head according to the fifth embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a method of manufacturing the inkjet recording head of FIG.

FIG. 12A is a sectional view showing a conventional inkjet recording head. FIG. 12B is a front view showing a conventional inkjet recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Ink liquid chamber structure 11 nozzle plate 12 Ink inlet 13 Ink pressure chamber 14 Regulator plate member 14 'Base material for regulating plate member 15 Piezoelectric / electrostrictive member 15 'Piezoelectric / electrostrictive member base material 16 Pressure chamber member 16 'Base material for pressure chamber member 17 individual electrodes 18 common electrode 19 electrode pattern 20 electrode pattern 21 hole 30 Ink liquid chamber structure 31 nozzle plate 35 Spacer member 36 Partition member 37 Void 40 Ink liquid chamber structure 41 nozzle plate 42 Ink inlet 43 Ink liquid chamber 44 Electrode member 45 Liquid chamber member 46 control electrode 47 Signal voltage 48 Bias voltage generator 49 Back electrode 50 recording paper 110 ink nozzle 111 Ink pump section 112 Drive 201 Piezo element 202 Control plate 203 Liquid chamber plate 204 partition plate 207 Pressure chamber 208 nozzle plate

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Sugiyama             3-10-1 Higashisanda, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             No. Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masahiko Hashimoto             3-10-1 Higashisanda, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             No. Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kiyohide Amamiya             3-10-1 Higashisanda, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             No. Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C057 AF37 AF93 AG12 AG44 AG49                       AG93 AP02 AP15 AP22 AP24                       BA05 BA14

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of ink liquid chambers connected to an ink supply source and arranged in a predetermined direction respectively, and a plurality of ink liquid chambers respectively connected to the ink liquid chambers, and arranged in the predetermined direction respectively. In an inkjet recording head having a plurality of nozzles, a flat plate-shaped member that exists between the ink liquid chambers and has a driving function capable of ejecting ink in all or some of the ink liquid chambers is An inkjet recording head, wherein the inkjet recording heads are arranged in a stack in the nozzle arrangement direction. 2. The flat plate-shaped member includes a flat plate-shaped piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, and a first electrode member and a second electrode member that are arranged adjacent to each other on both surface sides of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member. A flat plate-shaped regulating plate member disposed adjacent to the second electrode member on the side of the second electrode member, wherein the ink liquid chamber is on the side of the first electrode member. First
Of the plate-like pressure chamber member disposed adjacent to the electrode member of No. 3, and the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member is formed by applying a voltage to the first electrode member and the second electrode member. The expansion / contraction deformation of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member by restricting the expansion / contraction deformation of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member to pressurize the ink in the ink liquid chamber to correspond to the ink liquid chamber. The inkjet recording head according to claim 1, wherein ink droplets are ejected from nozzles. 3. One for each of the plurality of piezoelectric / electrostrictive members.
By causing extension deformation every other interval, ink droplets are ejected to the outside from the nozzle corresponding to the ink liquid chamber adjacent to the extension / deformation piezoelectric / electrostrictive member without interposing the regulation plate member, and the remaining nozzle The ink jet recording head according to claim 2, which is not ejected from the ink jet recording head. 4. One for each of the plurality of piezoelectric / electrostrictive members.
The ink droplets are subjected to extensional deformation by causing extensional deformation every other distance and generating contractional deformation with respect to the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member other than the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member that has caused the extensional deformation. The ink jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member is ejected to the outside from a nozzle corresponding to an ink liquid chamber adjacent to the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member without interposing the regulation plate member, and is not ejected from the remaining nozzles. 5. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode is a common electrode. 6. Further, between the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member and an ink liquid chamber adjacent to the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member without interposing the restriction plate member, or adjacent to the restriction plate member. Expansion / contraction movement preventing means for preventing the contraction deformation or extension deformation of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member from propagating to the non-driving ink liquid chamber is provided between the ink liquid chamber and the ink chamber. The inkjet recording head according to claim 2, which is capable of ejecting droplets. 7. The ink jet recording head according to claim 6, wherein the expansion / contraction motion propagation preventing means uses a void portion. 8. The ink jet recording head according to claim 6, wherein the expansion / contraction motion propagation preventing means is a vibration-proof member. 9. The ink jet recording head according to claim 7, wherein a width at which the first electrode member and the second electrode member face each other is smaller than a width of the void portion. 10. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, the regulation plate member and the pressure chamber member are formed of piezoelectric ceramic of the same material. 11. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the flat plate member has an electrode of an electrostatic ink jet and an electrode member arranged adjacent to the electrode. 12. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the flat plate-shaped member has heating means for heating ink jet. 13. A base material of a pressure chamber member having a plurality of holes corresponding to an ink liquid chamber communicated with an ink supply source, and a driving flat plate capable of deforming all or a part of the ink liquid chamber. A laminating step of alternately laminating the base material of the sheet-shaped member, and the base material of the pressure chamber member and the base material of the flat plate-shaped member laminated in the laminating step while maintaining the laminated state, And a cutting step of cutting along the plurality of holes corresponding to the plurality of holes. 14. A base material of the flat plate-shaped member and a first base material of the flat plate-shaped piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, which are arranged adjacent to both surface sides of the base material of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member, respectively. An electrode member and a pattern of the second electrode member; and a base material of a flat plate-shaped regulating plate member arranged adjacent to the pattern of the second electrode member on the side of the pattern of the second electrode member. Then, in the laminating step, the base material of the regulation plate member on which the pattern of the second electrode member is formed, the base material of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member on which the pattern of the first electrode member is formed, and the pressure chamber. 14. The step of sequentially laminating the base materials of the members.
A method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head as described above. 15. Further, after the stacking step and before the cutting step, a base material of a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles capable of communicating with the ink liquid chamber is made to correspond to the ink liquid chamber and the nozzle. 14. The method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to claim 13, further comprising: 16. A joining step of joining, after the cutting step, a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles capable of communicating with the ink liquid chamber so that the ink liquid chamber and the nozzle correspond to each other. 14. The method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to item 13. 17. The base material of the piezoelectric / electrostrictive member and the base material of the regulation plate member are formed by firing after forming an electrode pattern in a state of a green sheet, and the base material of the pressure chamber member. 17. The method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to claim 13, wherein the green sheet is fired after the holes are punched.