JP2000103059A - Ink jet recording head, its manufacture and ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recording head in which air bubbles are prevented from accumulating in the corner part of a pressure generation chamber, and improvement in discharge of accumulated babbles and the durability of a vibration plate are contrived, and provide further a method for manufacturing the ink jet recording head as well as an ink jet recording device. SOLUTION: This ink jet recording head comprises a piezoelectric element 300 formed in a region corresponding to a pressure generation chamber 12 through an elastic membrane constituting a part of the pressure generation chamber 12 communicating with a nozzle port by a membrane formation and lithographic process. In this ink jet recording head, an adhesive layer 14 is formed in a corner part formed of the elastic membrane 50 and faces 15, 16 constituting the peripheral wall of the pressure generation chamber 12. Thus it is possible to prevent air bubbles from accumulating in the corner part and enhance the performance of discharge of accumulated bubbles. Further, the durability of the vibration plate is enhanced as the stress concentrating part of the vibration plate is reinforced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure generating chamber which communicates with a nozzle opening for discharging ink droplets. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets by using the method, a method for manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A part of a pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening for discharging ink droplets is constituted by a vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate is deformed by a piezoelectric element to pressurize the ink in the pressure generating chamber to pass the nozzle opening. Two types of ink jet recording heads for ejecting ink droplets have been put into practical use, one using a longitudinal vibration mode piezoelectric element that expands and contracts in the axial direction of a piezoelectric element, and the other using a flexural vibration mode piezoelectric element. ing.

In the former method, the volume of the pressure generating chamber can be changed by bringing the end face of the piezoelectric element into contact with the diaphragm, so that a head suitable for high-density printing can be manufactured. There is a problem in that a difficult process of cutting into a comb shape in accordance with the arrangement pitch of the openings and an operation of positioning and fixing the cut piezoelectric element in the pressure generating chamber are required, and the manufacturing process is complicated.

On the other hand, in the latter, a piezoelectric element can be formed on a diaphragm by a relatively simple process of sticking a green sheet of a piezoelectric material according to the shape of a pressure generating chamber and firing the green sheet. In addition, there is a problem that a certain area is required due to the use of bending vibration, and it is difficult to perform high-density arrangement.

On the other hand, in order to solve the latter disadvantage of the recording head, a uniform piezoelectric material layer is formed by a film forming technique over the entire surface of the diaphragm as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-286131. A proposal has been made in which the piezoelectric material layer is cut into a shape corresponding to the pressure generating chambers by a lithography method, and a piezoelectric element is formed so as to be independent for each pressure generating chamber.

This eliminates the need for attaching the piezoelectric element to the vibration plate, which not only allows the piezoelectric element to be manufactured by a precise and simple method such as lithography, but also reduces the thickness of the piezoelectric element. There is an advantage that it can be made thin and can be driven at high speed. In this case, the piezoelectric element corresponding to each pressure generating chamber can be driven by providing at least only the upper electrode for each pressure generating chamber while the piezoelectric material layer is provided on the entire surface of the vibration plate.

[0007]

However, in the above-described manufacturing method using the thin film technology and the lithography method,
The pressure generating chamber is formed after patterning of the thin film. However, since the corners of the pressure generating chamber are formed at an acute angle, bubbles are easily collected, and the discharged bubbles are poorly discharged, which adversely affects ink ejection. There's a problem.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording head, a method of manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording apparatus which are capable of preventing accumulation of bubbles and improving the discharging property of bubbles.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, which solves the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a pressure-generating chamber formed in a flow path forming substrate communicating with a nozzle opening. In an ink jet recording head in which a piezoelectric element is formed in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber by film formation and lithography, an adhesive layer is present at least at a corner formed by the vibration plate and a peripheral wall of the pressure generating chamber. An ink jet recording head is characterized in that:

[0010] In the first aspect, the accumulation of air bubbles at the corners of the pressure generating chamber is prevented, and the stress concentration portion of the diaphragm is reinforced by the adhesive layer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the flow path forming substrate is a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110), and the peripheral wall is formed of four surfaces having a plane orientation (111). The inkjet recording head is characterized by being formed by:

In the second aspect, the corners of the pressure generating chamber are formed sharply, but no bubbles are accumulated by the adhesive layer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording head according to the second aspect, the pressure generation chamber is formed on the flow path forming substrate by anisotropic etching. is there.

According to the third aspect, an ink jet recording head having high-density nozzle openings can be manufactured relatively easily in large quantities.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the surface of the adhesive layer that fills a corner between the diaphragm and the peripheral wall of the pressure generating chamber has a concave shape. The ink jet recording head is characterized in that:

In the fourth aspect, the accumulation of bubbles in the corners of the pressure generating chamber is reliably prevented.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the width of the adhesive layer along the diaphragm is 1/3 or less of the width of the pressure generating chamber. An ink jet recording head is characterized in that:

In the fifth aspect, the adhesive layer does not adversely affect the vibration of the diaphragm.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the ink jet recording head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein an adhesive layer is present at a corner formed between the peripheral walls. .

In the sixth aspect, the accumulation of bubbles in the pressure generating chamber is more reliably prevented.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, a sealing plate adhered to the opening side of the pressure generating chamber of the flow path forming substrate and the peripheral wall are formed. The ink jet recording head is characterized in that an adhesive layer is present at the corner to be formed.

In the seventh aspect, the accumulation of bubbles in the pressure generating chamber is more reliably prevented.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, there is provided a common ink chamber for supplying ink to the pressure generating chamber, and a flow path communicating the pressure generating chamber with the common ink chamber. And a flow path forming substrate, wherein an adhesive layer is present on at least a surface of the flow path facing the sealing plate.

In the eighth aspect, the flow of ink from the common ink chamber to the pressure generating chamber is improved.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to any one of the first to eighth aspects.

According to the ninth aspect, it is possible to realize an ink jet recording apparatus in which the accumulation of bubbles at the corners of the pressure generating chamber is prevented.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a lower electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode layer are sequentially laminated on an elastic film provided on one surface of a silicon single crystal substrate forming a pressure generating chamber. Forming a piezoelectric element composed of the lower electrode layer, the piezoelectric layer and the upper electrode layer in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber by patterning the silicon single crystal substrate. A step of bonding a sealing plate to the side surface of the opening and flowing the adhesive into a corner formed by an elastic film and a peripheral wall constituting a part of the pressure generating chamber to form an adhesive layer. A feature of the invention is a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head.

In the tenth aspect, the adhesive layer can be formed at the corner of the pressure generating chamber.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, when bonding the sealing plate, an excess adhesive is supplied between the silicon single crystal substrate and the sealing plate, and And forming the adhesive layer by flowing the adhesive layer into an ink jet recording head.

In the eleventh aspect, the adhesive layer can be easily formed at the corner of the pressure generating chamber.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, an adhesive is supplied to a corner formed by the peripheral walls forming the pressure generating chamber to form the elastic film and the peripheral wall. The method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head, wherein the adhesive layer is formed by flowing into the corner portion.

In the twelfth aspect, the adhesive supplied to the corner between the peripheral walls flows into the corner between the elastic film and the peripheral wall to form an adhesive layer.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, after supplying the adhesive into the pressure generating chamber, the silicon single crystal substrate is rotated in a plane to flow the adhesive into at least the corners. Forming the adhesive layer in the above manner.

In the thirteenth aspect, the adhesive supplied into the pressure generating chamber gathers at the corner between the elastic film and the peripheral wall by centrifugal force to form an adhesive layer.

[0035]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet recording head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross section of one of the pressure generating chambers in the longitudinal direction. It is a figure showing a structure.

As shown in the figure, the flow path forming substrate 10 is formed of a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110) in this embodiment. As the flow path forming substrate 10, usually 150 to 3
A thickness of about 00 μm is used.
Those having a thickness of about 0 to 280 μm, more preferably about 220 μm are suitable. This is because the arrangement density can be increased while maintaining the rigidity of the partition wall between the adjacent pressure generating chambers.

One surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 is an opening surface, and the other surface is formed with a 0.1 to 2 μm thick elastic film 50 made of silicon dioxide previously formed by thermal oxidation.

On the other hand, a silicon single crystal substrate is anisotropically etched on the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate
A nozzle opening 11 and a pressure generating chamber 12 are formed.

Here, in the anisotropic etching, when a silicon single crystal substrate is immersed in an alkaline solution such as potassium hydroxide, the substrate is gradually eroded and becomes the first (1) plane perpendicular to the (110) plane.
An (11) plane and a second (111) plane which forms an angle of about 70 degrees with the first (111) plane and forms an angle of about 35 degrees with the (110) plane appear, and (110) This is performed by utilizing the property that the etching rate of the (111) plane is about 1/180 compared to the etching rate of the plane. By such anisotropic etching, precision processing can be performed based on the depth processing of a parallelogram formed by two first (111) planes and two oblique second (111) planes. , The pressure generating chambers 12 can be arranged at a high density.

In this embodiment, the long side of each pressure generating chamber 12 is formed by the first (111) plane, and the short side is formed by the second (111) plane. The pressure generating chamber 12 is provided on the flow path forming substrate 1.
It is formed by etching until it reaches the elastic film 50 almost through 0. The amount of the elastic film 50 that is attacked by the alkaline solution for etching the silicon single crystal substrate is extremely small.

On the other hand, each nozzle opening 11 communicating with one end of each pressure generating chamber 12 is formed narrower and shallower than the pressure generating chamber 12. That is, the nozzle opening 11 is formed by partially etching (half-etching) the silicon single crystal substrate in the thickness direction. In addition,
Half etching is performed by adjusting the etching time.

Here, the size of the pressure generating chamber 12 for applying the ink droplet ejection pressure to the ink and the size of the nozzle opening 11 for ejecting the ink droplet depend on the amount of the ejected ink droplet, the ejection speed, and the ejection frequency. Optimized. For example,
When recording 360 ink droplets per inch, the nozzle openings 11 need to be formed with a groove width of several tens of μm with high accuracy.

Further, each pressure generating chamber 12 and a common ink chamber 31 described later are connected to each pressure generating chamber 1 of the sealing plate 20 described later.
The ink is supplied from a common ink chamber 31 through the ink supply communication port 21 formed at a position corresponding to one end of the pressure generation chamber 12. Distributed to

The sealing plate 20 is provided with an ink supply communication port 21 corresponding to each of the pressure generating chambers 12 and has a thickness of, for example, 0.1 to 1 mm and a linear expansion coefficient of 300 ° C. or less. , For example, 2.5-4.5 [× 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C.]. In addition, the ink supply communication port 21
Each of the pressure generating chambers 1 is, as shown in FIGS.
It may be one slit hole 21A crossing the vicinity of the second ink supply side end or a plurality of slit holes 21B. The sealing plate 20 is provided on one side with the flow path forming substrate 10.
, And also serves as a reinforcing plate for protecting the silicon single crystal substrate from impacts and external forces. Also, sealing plate 2
0 forms one wall surface of the common ink chamber 31 on the other surface.

The common ink chamber forming substrate 30 forms the peripheral wall of the common ink chamber 31, and is formed by punching a stainless steel plate having an appropriate thickness according to the number of nozzles and the ink droplet ejection frequency. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the common ink chamber forming substrate 30 is 0.2 mm.

The ink chamber side plate 40 is made of a stainless steel substrate, and one surface of the ink chamber side plate 40 constitutes one wall surface of the common ink chamber 31. In the ink chamber side plate 40, a thin wall 41 is formed by forming a concave portion 40a by half etching on a part of the other surface, and an ink introduction port 42 for receiving ink supply from the outside is punched and formed. ing. The thin wall 41 is for absorbing pressure generated at the time of ink droplet ejection toward the side opposite to the nozzle opening 11, and is unnecessary for the other pressure generating chambers 12 via the common ink chamber 31. Prevents positive or negative pressure from being applied.
In the present embodiment, the ink chamber side plate 40 is made 0.2 mm in consideration of rigidity required at the time of connection between the ink introduction port 42 and an external ink supply means, and a part of the thickness is 0.02 mm.
The thickness of the ink chamber side plate 40 may be 0.02 mm from the beginning in order to omit the formation of the thin wall 41 by half etching.

On the other hand, the thickness of the elastic film 50 on the opposite side of the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 is, for example, about 0.5 μm.
A lower electrode film 60, a piezoelectric film 70 having a thickness of, for example, about 1 μm, and an upper electrode film 80 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.1 μm are formed by lamination in a process to be described later.
0. Here, the piezoelectric element 300 refers to a portion including the lower electrode film 60, the piezoelectric film 70, and the upper electrode film 80. Generally, one of the electrodes of the piezoelectric element 300 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric film 70 are patterned for each pressure generating chamber 12. Further, here, the piezoelectric element 300 and the vibration plate whose displacement is generated by driving the piezoelectric element 300 are referred to as a piezoelectric actuator. In this embodiment, the elastic film 50 and the lower electrode film 60 function as a diaphragm, but the lower electrode film 60 may also serve as the elastic film 50.

Here, a process for forming the piezoelectric film 70 and the like on the flow path forming substrate 10 made of a silicon single crystal substrate will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4A, first, a silicon single crystal substrate wafer serving as the flow path forming substrate 10 is
Thermal oxidation is performed in a diffusion furnace at 0 ° C. to form an elastic film 50 made of silicon dioxide.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, a lower electrode film 60 is formed by sputtering. As a material of the lower electrode film 60, platinum or the like is preferable. This is because a piezoelectric film 70 described later formed by sputtering or a sol-gel method is used.
Is from 600 to 600 ° C. in an air atmosphere or an oxygen atmosphere after film formation.
This is because it is necessary to perform crystallization by firing at a temperature of about 1000 ° C. That is, the material of the lower electrode film 60 must be able to maintain conductivity under such an oxidizing atmosphere at a high temperature. In particular, when lead zirconate titanate is used for the piezoelectric film 70, the material of the It is desirable that the change in conductivity due to the diffusion of lead be small, and for these reasons, platinum is preferred.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, a piezoelectric film 70 is formed. In this embodiment, a so-called sol in which a metal organic substance is dissolved and dispersed in a solvent is applied, dried, and gelled,
Further, a so-called sol-gel method of obtaining a piezoelectric film 70 made of a metal oxide by firing at a high temperature is used. As a material of the piezoelectric film 70, lead zirconate titanate (P
It is suitable when a ZT) -based material is used for an ink jet recording head. The method for forming the piezoelectric film 70 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a sputtering method.

Further, after forming a precursor film of lead zirconate titanate by a sol-gel method or a sputtering method,
A method of growing crystals at a low temperature by a high-pressure treatment method in an alkaline aqueous solution may be used.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4D, an upper electrode film 80 is formed. The upper electrode film 80 only needs to be a material having high conductivity, and can use many metals such as aluminum, gold, nickel, and platinum, and a conductive oxide. In the present embodiment, platinum is formed by sputtering.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, the piezoelectric elements are arranged in each of the pressure generating chambers 12 so that
The piezoelectric film 70 and the upper electrode film 80 are patterned.
FIG. 5A shows a case where the piezoelectric film 70 is patterned with the same pattern as the upper electrode 80. However, as described above, the piezoelectric film 70 does not necessarily need to be patterned. This is because, when a voltage is applied using the pattern of the upper electrode film 80 as an individual electrode, an electric field is applied only between each upper electrode 80 and the lower electrode film 60 which is a common electrode. This is because it has no effect. However, in this case, it is necessary to apply a large voltage to obtain the same excluded volume. Therefore, it is preferable to pattern the piezoelectric film 70 as well. Also, after this,
The lower electrode film 60 is patterned to remove unnecessary portions.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, after the piezoelectric film 70 and the upper electrode film 80 are patterned, the upper surface of each upper electrode film 80 and the side surfaces of the piezoelectric film 70 are electrically insulated. An insulator layer 90 having properties is formed.

As shown in FIG. 5C, a part of the insulating layer 90 covering the upper surface of the part corresponding to one end of each piezoelectric element 300 is connected to a lead electrode 100 described later. A contact hole 90a for exposing a part of the upper electrode film 80 is formed in the contact hole 90a.
One end is connected to each of the upper electrode films 80 through the other, and a lead electrode 100 whose other end extends to the connection terminal portion is formed. The lead electrode 100 is formed so as to be as narrow as possible so as to reliably supply a drive signal to the upper electrode film 80.

After forming the film in this manner, FIG.
As shown in (d), the silicon single crystal substrate is anisotropically etched with the above-described alkali solution to form the pressure generating chamber 12 and the like.

In the series of film formation and anisotropic etching described above, a number of chips are simultaneously formed on one wafer, and after the process is completed, a flow path forming substrate having one chip size as shown in FIG. Divide every ten. Further, the divided flow path forming substrate 10 is sequentially adhered and integrated with the sealing plate 20, the common ink chamber forming substrate 30, and the ink chamber side plate 40 to form an ink jet recording head.

FIG. 6A is a front view of an essential part of the pressure generating chamber thus formed, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view of the essential part. When bonding the sealing plate 20 to the flow path forming substrate 10,
An appropriate amount of the thermosetting adhesive 13 is applied to the opening side surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 and the sealing plate 20 is pressed.

The pressure generating chamber 12 is defined by four surfaces having a plane orientation (111) formed on the flow path forming substrate 10, that is, a longitudinal side wall 15 and a width side wall 16. Of the elastic film 50 and the longitudinal side wall 1
5 and the corner between the elastic film 50 and the width direction side wall 16, and then is cured by heating to form the adhesive layer 14.

Further, utilizing the fact that the longitudinal side wall 15 is formed at an angle of about 35 degrees with respect to the elastic film 50, an adhesive is applied to the corner between the longitudinal side wall 15 and the width side wall 16. The adhesive may be supplied to flow into the corner between the elastic film 50 and the longitudinal side wall 15 and the corner between the elastic film 50 and the width side wall 16.

Further, an adhesive is supplied into the pressure generating chamber 12, and the flow path forming substrate 10 is rotated horizontally in a plane, and the adhesive is applied between the elastic film 50 and the longitudinal side wall 15 by centrifugal force. It may be allowed to flow into the corner and the corner between the elastic film 50 and the width direction side wall 16.

The adhesive layer 14 thus formed
Has the effect of preventing the accumulation of air bubbles at the corners of the pressure generating chamber 12, and also improves the air bubble discharge performance.

The adhesive layer 14 has a corner portion between the longitudinal side wall 15 and the width side wall 16, a corner portion between the sealing plate 20 and the longitudinal side wall 15, and It may be formed at the corner between the width direction side wall 16 and the same effect as described above.

Conventionally, the elastic film 50 near the corner has
Although the stress concentration is caused by the large displacement of the elastic film 50 due to the driving of the piezoelectric element, by forming the adhesive layer 14 at the corners, the elastic film 50 is reinforced and the effect of improving the durability is also obtained.

The adhesive layer 14 preferably has a concave surface, and the width W of the adhesive layer along the elastic film 50 is smaller than the width Wc of the pressure generating chamber 12. When it is 1/3 or less, the vibration of the diaphragm is not adversely affected.

The ink jet head thus configured takes in ink from an ink inlet 42 connected to external ink supply means (not shown), fills the inside from the common ink chamber 31 to the nozzle opening 11 with ink, and
In accordance with a recording signal from an external drive circuit (not shown), a voltage is applied between the lower electrode 60 and the upper electrode 80 via the lead electrode 100, and the elastic film 50, the lower electrode 60 and the piezoelectric layer 7 are applied.
By flexing 0, the pressure in the pressure generating chamber 12 increases, and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle opening 11.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The present embodiment is an ink jet head in which a common ink chamber 17 for supplying ink to the pressure generating chamber 12 is provided in the flow path forming substrate 10. The adhesive layer 19 is formed by flowing the adhesive also into the surface of the flow path 18 that communicates the generation chamber 12 and the common ink chamber 17 with the sealing plate.

Since the flow path 18 is formed by half-etching the relevant portion of the flow path forming substrate 10 to a predetermined depth, the flow path surface facing the sealing plate has a relatively rough surface.
For this reason, in the present embodiment, the adhesive layer 19 is also provided on the surface of the flow path 18 that communicates the pressure generation chamber 12 and the common ink chamber 17 with the sealing plate. The surface opposite to the above is smoothed to improve the fluidity of the ink from the common ink chamber 17 to the pressure generating chamber 12.

Also in the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, there is an effect of preventing the accumulation of bubbles in the pressure generating chamber 12 and improving the discharging property of the bubbles, and the stress concentration portions of the elastic film 50 are reinforced. The durability is still improved.

(Other Embodiments) The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the basic configuration of the ink jet recording head is not limited to the above.

For example, in addition to the sealing plate 20 described above, the common ink chamber forming plate 30 may be made of glass ceramic, and the thin film 41 may be made of glass ceramic as a separate member. Changes are free.

In the above-described embodiment, the nozzle openings are formed on the end surface of the flow path forming substrate 10. However, the nozzle openings may be formed to project in a direction perpendicular to the surface.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment constructed as described above, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the flow path. In this embodiment, the nozzle opening 11 is formed in the nozzle substrate 120 opposite to the piezoelectric element, and the nozzle communication port 22 for communicating the nozzle opening 11 with the pressure generating chamber 12 is provided in the sealing plate 2.
0, the common ink chamber forming plate 30, the thin plate 41A, and the ink chamber side plate 40A are arranged so as to penetrate therethrough.

In this embodiment, the thin plate 41
A is basically the same as the above-described embodiment except that the ink chamber side plate 40A and the ink chamber side plate 40A are separate members, and the opening is formed in the ink chamber side plate 40. Is omitted.

In this embodiment, similarly to the above-described embodiment, by providing the adhesive layer 14 at the corner of the pressure generating chamber, the accumulation of bubbles at the corner is prevented, and the discharging property of the bubbles is improved. . Further, the stress concentration portions of the elastic film 50 are reinforced, and the durability of the elastic film 50 can be improved.

Further, needless to say, the present invention can be similarly applied to an ink jet recording head of a type in which a common ink chamber is formed in a flow path forming substrate.

In each of the embodiments described above, a thin-film type ink jet recording head which can be manufactured by applying a film forming and lithography process is described as an example.
Of course, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention is applied to ink jet recording heads of various structures, such as a piezoelectric film formed by screen printing or a piezoelectric film formed by crystal growth. can do.

Further, the example in which the insulator layer is provided between the piezoelectric element and the lead electrode has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, without providing the insulator layer, each of the upper electrodes may be anisotropically conductive. The film may be thermally welded, and the anisotropic conductive film may be connected to a lead electrode, or may be connected using various bonding techniques such as wire bonding.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to ink-jet recording heads having various structures, as long as the gist of the present invention is not contradicted.

The ink jet recording head of each of the embodiments constitutes a part of a recording head unit having an ink flow path communicating with an ink cartridge or the like, and is mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the ink jet recording apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 10, recording head units 1A and 1B having an ink jet recording head are
Cartridges 2A and 2B constituting ink supply means are detachably provided. A carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus main body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. I have. The recording head units 1A and 1B are, for example,
Each of them ejects a black ink composition and a color ink composition.

The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and a timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted moves along the carriage shaft 5. Moved. On the other hand, the apparatus main body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage 3. The platen 8 can be rotated by a driving force of a paper feed motor (not shown), and a recording sheet S as a recording medium such as paper fed by a paper feed roller is wound around the platen 8 and conveyed. It has become so.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By providing the adhesive layer at the corners of the pressure generating chamber, the accumulation of bubbles at the corners of the pressure generating chamber is prevented, and the discharged property of the collected air bubbles is improved, thereby improving ink discharge. Further, the stress concentration portions of the diaphragm are reinforced, and the durability of the diaphragm is also improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modification of the sealing plate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a thin-film manufacturing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a thin-film manufacturing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

6A and 6B are a front view and a cross-sectional view of a main part of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an inkjet recording head according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an ink jet recording head according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an ink jet recording head according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flow path forming substrate 11 Nozzle opening 12 Pressure generating chamber 14 Adhesive layer 50 Elastic film 60 Lower electrode film 70 Piezoelectric film 80 Upper electrode film 90 Insulator layer 100 Lead electrode 300 Piezoelectric element

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A piezoelectric element is formed in a region corresponding to a pressure generating chamber by a lithography method through a diaphragm constituting a part of the pressure generating chamber formed in a flow path forming substrate communicating with a nozzle opening. In the formed ink jet recording head, an adhesive layer is present at least at a corner formed by the diaphragm and the peripheral wall of the pressure generating chamber. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flow path forming substrate is a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation of (110), and the peripheral wall is formed of four planes having a plane orientation of (111). Inkjet recording head. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein the pressure generating chamber is formed on the flow path forming substrate by anisotropic etching. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the adhesive layer that fills a corner between the vibration plate and a peripheral wall of the pressure generating chamber has a concave shape. Type recording head. 5. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein a width of the adhesive layer along the diaphragm is equal to or less than 1/3 of a width of the pressure generating chamber. head. 6. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive layer is present at a corner formed between said peripheral walls. 7. An adhesive according to claim 1, wherein a corner formed by a sealing plate adhered to the opening side of the pressure generating chamber of the flow path forming substrate and the peripheral wall is provided. An ink jet recording head comprising a layer. 8. The flow path forming substrate according to claim 1, wherein a common ink chamber that supplies ink to the pressure generation chamber, and a flow path that communicates the pressure generation chamber with the common ink chamber. Wherein an adhesive layer is present on at least a surface of the flow path facing the sealing plate. 9. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1. 10. The pressure is obtained by sequentially laminating a lower electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer and an upper electrode layer on an elastic film provided on one surface of a silicon single crystal substrate forming a pressure generating chamber and patterning each layer. In a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head in which a piezoelectric element including the lower electrode layer, the piezoelectric layer, and the upper electrode layer is formed in a region corresponding to a generation chamber, a sealing plate is provided on an opening side surface of the silicon single crystal substrate. An ink jet recording head comprising a step of adhering and flowing the adhesive into a corner formed by an elastic film and a peripheral wall constituting a part of the pressure generating chamber to form an adhesive layer. Manufacturing method. 11. The adhesive according to claim 10, wherein, when bonding the sealing plate, an excessive amount of adhesive is supplied between the silicon single crystal substrate and the sealing plate and is allowed to flow into at least the corners. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising forming a layer. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein an adhesive is supplied to a corner formed by the peripheral walls forming the pressure generating chamber and flows into the corner formed by the elastic film and the peripheral wall. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising forming an adhesive layer. 13. The adhesive layer according to claim 10, wherein after the adhesive is supplied into the pressure generating chamber, the silicon single crystal substrate is rotated in a plane so that the adhesive flows into at least the corners to form the adhesive layer. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head.