JP2000246905A - Manufacture of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a low cost and convenient manufacturing method by remov ing unnecessary part of an adhesive layer through laser machining when a chamber and a channel are formed by laminating and bonding a plurality of patterned plates. SOLUTION: At first, the adhesive applying faces of a chamber plate(CHP) 8 integrating an orifice and a diaphragm plate(DPH) 2 constituting a chamber 11, or the like, are finished with an appropriate roughness. Subsequently, the CHP 8 and DPH 2 are subjected to plasma asher in order to enhance the wettability and then the DPH 2 is spin coated with an adhesive. The DPH 2 is placed in an electric furnace and an adhesive layer 9 is formed thereon by preliminarily drying the adhesive. The DPH 2 applied with the adhesive layer 9 is then fixed to an excimer laser beam machine and unnecessary part of the adhesive layer 9 is removed. Finally, the DPH 2 applied with the adhesive layer 9 is aligned with the CPH 8 and bonded thus completing formation of channels of the chamber 11, a manifold 12, a restrictor 13 and the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an on-demand type ink jet head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The basic structure of an ink jet head will be described with reference to FIG.

A chamber 11 serving as an ink pressurizing chamber and a manifold 12 serving as an ink supply source are composed of a chamber plate 2.
The restrictor 13 is configured by a restrictor plate 23, which is configured by a zero and a chamber plate 21 and regulates the flow rate of the ink. In order to complete the ink flow path formed by these three plates, one surface is sealed with an orifice plate 22 having a plurality of nozzles 10, and the other surface is formed with a diaphragm plate 2 having a plurality of diaphragms. Sealed.

[0004] A plurality of piezoelectric elements 14 are provided at positions on the diaphragm plate 2 facing the chamber 1, that is, at a diaphragm 15 which is a thin portion of the diaphragm plate 2 so as to individually correspond to the chamber 11.

In the ink jet head having the above structure, pressure is applied to the chamber 11 by driving the piezoelectric element 14,
Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle 10.

That is, in the ink jet head having such a configuration, the ink flow path is formed by bonding a plurality of plates and bonding them.

[0007] The constituent materials of the plate are various such as nickel, stainless steel, dry film, polyimide film, ceramic plate, molding resin, and the bonding method is different depending on the material.

For example, for a dry film or a polyimide film, thermocompression bonding utilizing the adhesive force of the material itself is effective, and for a ceramic plate and a molding resin, an epoxy adhesive, a thermoplastic adhesive, and those adhesives are used. Adhesive sheets in sheet form have been used.

Recently, an orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 formed by molding a ceramic or a molding resin has attracted attention because the number of laminations can be reduced.

[0010]

When a ceramic plate or resin plate formed by molding is used as a constituent material, an adhesive sheet from which unnecessary portions have been removed by punching is inserted between the plates, the position is adjusted, and then pressure is applied. It is common to perform bonding by heating. However,
Because the flow path of the inkjet head is precise and complicated,
In the case of punching, advanced technology is required, and
Since it is necessary to perform the press working in several steps, there is a problem that the process is complicated and the cost is increased.

A method of applying an adhesive by screen printing is also conceivable, but alignment and control of the thickness of the adhesive layer are difficult.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a simple and low-cost method for manufacturing an ink jet head by improving a method of forming a flow path, that is, an adhesion step of an ink jet head constituent member.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a chamber connected to a flow path for introducing ink and partitioned by a partition has an orifice plate having a nozzle and a diaphragm. In a method of manufacturing an ink jet head that seals with a diaphragm plate and drives a piezoelectric element installed on the diaphragm plate to apply pressure to the chamber and discharge ink droplets from the nozzle, the method includes the steps of: When a path is formed by laminating and bonding a plurality of patterned plates, unnecessary portions of the adhesive layer are removed by laser processing.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a bonding step for forming a flow path, that is, a bonding step between the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 and the diaphragm plate 2 in the ink-jet manufacturing process according to the present invention using an adhesive. This series of steps is referred to as a bonding step A.

In the case of the bonding step A, first, as a first step, the adhesive-coated surfaces of the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 and the diaphragm plate 2 which are the constituent materials of the chamber 11 and the like are wrapped, and an appropriate surface roughness of about 1 μm is obtained. Finish with roughness. Next, as a second step, the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 and the diaphragm plate 2 are subjected to plasma asher to increase wettability.

After performing the above pretreatment, as a third step, the diaphragm plate 2 is mounted on the glass plate 3 as shown in FIG. 3 and further mounted on a coating machine, and the adhesive 1 is spin-coated. In this case, the adhesive 1 may be either a thermosetting adhesive or a thermoplastic adhesive, but it is necessary to select an adhesive having strong chemical resistance.

Next, as a fourth step, the diaphragm plate 2 on which the adhesive 1 is spin-coated is put into an electric furnace,
The adhesive 1 is pre-dried. The temperature and time at this time are, for example, 1 in the case of an epoxy adhesive having a curing temperature of 180 ° C.
00 ° C x 30 min., 150 in case of thermoplastic adhesive
C. × 10 min is preferable. The adhesive 1 after the pre-drying is gelled or solidified, and has reduced tackiness, and forms an adhesive layer 9 on the diaphragm plate 2.

The thickness of the adhesive layer 9 obtained in this example is 5
μm, but the thickness of the adhesive layer is determined by the viscosity of the adhesive at the time of applying the adhesive (determined by the mixing amount of the dedicated diluent), the number of rotations during spin coating, and the rotation time. However, the thickness of the layer is not limited to this. In addition, among these three parameters, the viscosity of the adhesive most affects the thickness of the adhesive layer after the preliminary drying.

Next, as a fifth step, the obtained adhesive layer 9
The attached diaphragm plate 2 is attached to an excimer laser beam machine as shown in FIG. 4, and unnecessary portions of the adhesive layer 9 are removed. Excimer laser light 7 is irradiated onto the diaphragm plate 2 via the mask 5 and the lens 6. In the excimer laser processing, by using the mask 5, a complicated adhesive layer pattern can be processed precisely and with good reproducibility. Further, by arranging a plurality of plates with a dedicated jig, it is possible to simultaneously process a plurality of plates.

Finally, as a sixth step, the obtained adhesive layer
The diaphragm plate 2 with the 9 and the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 are aligned to perform actual bonding, and the chamber 11, the manifold 12, and the restrictor 1 shown in FIG.
The formation of the channel such as 3 is completed.

FIG. 2 shows a bonding step for forming a flow path, that is, a bonding step between the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 and the diaphragm plate 2 in the ink-jet manufacturing process according to the present invention using an adhesive sheet.
This is referred to as a bonding step B.

In the case of the bonding step B, first, as a first step, the laminated surface of the bonded sheet of the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 and the diaphragm plate 2 which are the constituent materials of the chamber 11 and the like is wrapped to have a surface roughness of about 0.5 μm. Finish with moderate roughness.

After performing the above pretreatment, an adhesive sheet 16 is laminated on the diaphragm plate 2 as shown in FIG. 6 to form an adhesive layer 9 on the diaphragm plate 2 as a second step. In this laminating step, while maintaining an appropriate tension between the adhesive sheet 16 and the roller 17,
Further, lamination is performed while applying heat and pressure by the roller 17. At this time, it is necessary to pay close attention to the adhesion of dust to the sheet and the generation of wrinkles on the sheet. The adhesive sheet 16 may be made of a thermoplastic polyimide, an acrylic adhesive sheet, or the like.
It is necessary to choose one with strong chemical resistance. In this example, a polyimide sheet having a thermoplastic polyimide layer having a thickness of 1 μm on both surfaces was used. The sheet thickness is 17 μm.

Next, as a third step, the obtained adhesive layer 9
The attached diaphragm plate 2 is attached to an excimer laser beam machine as in the bonding step A, and unnecessary portions of the bonding layer 9 are removed. By arranging several plates with a special jig, it is possible to process several plates simultaneously.

Next, as a fourth step, the obtained adhesive layer 9
The attached diaphragm plate 2 is subjected to a plasma asher to improve the bonding effect.

Finally, as a fifth step, similar to the bonding step A, the diaphragm plate 2 with the bonding layer 9 and the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8 are aligned and the main bonding is performed, and the flow of the chamber 11, restrictor 13 and the like is performed. Road formation is completed. In the above bonding step B, laser processing is performed on the bonding sheet 16 itself in advance, and thereafter,
In the case where the head is laminated on the diaphragm plate 2 or made of a plurality of constituent materials as shown in FIG. They may be inserted between the diaphragm plates 2 respectively.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which an unnecessary portion of the adhesive layer 9 is removed and, at the same time, a flow preventing groove 19 for the adhesive 1 and the diaphragm 15 are formed. The flow preventing groove 19 is formed in the flow path forming step, that is, the orifice-integrated chamber plate 8.
This has the effect of preventing the adhesive from protruding into the chamber during the bonding step of the diaphragm plate 2 with the adhesive. Also,
According to this embodiment, simultaneously with the trimming of the adhesive layer 9,
The thickness of the diaphragm 15 can be freely adjusted by processing with an excimer laser, and the diaphragm 15 can be formed accurately and with good reproducibility.

[0029]

According to the present invention, a simple and low-cost method for manufacturing an ink jet head can be obtained by removing unnecessary portions of an adhesive applied to a constituent material of an ink jet head or a laminated adhesive sheet by excimer laser processing. I was able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process chart showing an example of a head manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing another example of the head manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a method of applying an adhesive.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an adhesive layer removing step using an excimer laser.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an inkjet head according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a step of laminating an adhesive sheet.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another example of the inkjet head.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is an adhesive, 2 is a diaphragm plate, 3 is a glass plate, 4 is a spin coat base, 5 is a chrome mask, 6
Is a lens, 7 is an excimer laser beam, 8 is an orifice integrated chamber plate, 9 is an adhesive layer, 10 is a nozzle, 1
1 is a chamber, 12 is a manifold, 13 is a restrictor, 14 is a piezoelectric element, 15 is a diaphragm, 16 is an adhesive sheet, 17 is a roller, 18 is a lamination base, 19
Is a flow prevention groove, 20 and 21 are chamber plates, 22 is an orifice plate, and 23 is a restrictor plate.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masanobu Exit 1060 Takeda, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki F-term in Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd. (reference) 2C057 AF23 AF93 AG44 AP02 AP14 AP23 AP25

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A chamber connected to a flow path for introducing ink and partitioned by a partition wall is sealed with an orifice plate having a nozzle and a diaphragm plate having a diaphragm, and a piezoelectric plate installed on the diaphragm plate. A method for manufacturing an ink jet head that applies pressure to the chamber by driving elements to discharge ink droplets from the nozzles, wherein the chamber and the flow path are formed by stacking and bonding a plurality of patterned plates. An unnecessary portion of the adhesive layer is removed by laser processing. 2. A method for manufacturing an ink-jet head according to claim 1, wherein said ink-jet head comprises a multi-nozzle having a plurality of nozzles, a diaphragm and a piezoelectric element.