JP2001010069A - Production of ink-jet printing head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production method of an ink-jet printer head, capable of producing an appropriate product at a good yield by preventing a problem of cracking of a substrate. SOLUTION: In head chips 35 with the same configuration on a silicon wafer 52, in the exposure of a driving circuit, first, head chips 35 in odd-numbered rows 56 in the arrangement direction orthogonal to an orientation flat 55 are exposed. Next, with the reticle of the silicon wafer 52 rotated by 180 degrees, head chips 35 in even-numbered rows 57 are exposed so as to form driving circuits zigzag in the head chip longitudinal direction for each head chip 35. Thereafter, a heat generation part, a common electrode, an individual wiring electrode, a partition wall, a common ink supply groove 43, an ink receipt and supply hole 44, an ink ejection nozzle, or the like are formed by a processing step same as the conventional method, using a proximity type exposing device and a photomask with patterns arranged zigzag. Accordingly, the common ink supply grooves 43 as a narrow groove are not aligned straightly, thus the silicon wafer 52 hardly cracks in the later step.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head capable of preventing a substrate from cracking and increasing the yield.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink jet printers, which are relatively easy to handle, have become mainstream and have been widely used. Ink jet printers include a thermal jet method in which ink is heated to generate bubbles and eject ink droplets at the pressure, and a piezo jet method in which ink droplets are ejected by deformation of a piezoresistive element (piezoelectric element). In these, ink (recording material) is formed into ink droplets, ejected from nozzles of a print head, and the ink droplets are absorbed by a recording material such as paper or cloth to record (print, print) characters and images. This is a printing method that generates less noise, does not require special fixing processing, and has no waste of ink.

Conventionally, only printers for monochrome printing have been used, but now, printers for full-color printing have become mainstream. Full color printing is usually
Using three inks of three subtractive primary colors, yellow (yellow), magenta (red dye name) and cyan (greenish blue), depending on the type, black ( This is performed by using four color inks to which (black) is added.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an ink jet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) for performing such printing. The printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a small printer used personally at home, and has a carriage 2 on which a print head 3 for executing printing and an ink cartridge 4 containing ink are attached. The carriage 2 is slidably supported on one side by a guide rail 5 and is fixed to a toothed drive belt 6 on the other hand. As a result, the print head 3 and the ink cartridge 4 are reciprocated in the main scanning direction indicated by the double-headed arrow A in the drawing. The print head 3 and the apparatus main body (printer 1)
A flexible communication cable 7 is connected to the control device (not shown), and print data and a control signal are sent from the control device to the print head 3 via the flexible communication cable 7.

The print head 3 is opposed to the print head 3.
A platen 9 is provided at the lower end of the frame 8 of the apparatus main body so as to extend in the above-mentioned main printing direction. The sheet 10 comes in contact with the platen 9 and the sheet feed roller 11 and the sheet discharge roller 1
2, the sheet is intermittently conveyed in the printing sub-scanning direction (the lower left direction in the figure) indicated by the arrow B in the figure. While the intermittent conveyance of the paper 10 is stopped, the print head 3 ejects ink droplets in the state of being close to the paper 10 while being driven by the motor 13 via the toothed drive belt 6 and the carriage 2, and prints on the paper surface. Print. The repetition of the intermittent conveyance of the paper 10 and the printing during reciprocation by the print head 3 causes the paper 1
0 is printed on the entire surface. The ink consumed in printing is supplied to the print head 3 from the ink cartridge 4 through an ink receiving hole formed in the back surface joint of the print head 3. In the past, such printers were mainly monochrome printers, but recently, full-color printers have been the mainstream as described above.

FIG. 8A schematically shows a print head for a monochrome printer, and FIG. 8B schematically shows a print head for full color. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a silicon wafer on which the print head shown in FIG. The print head 3-1 shown in FIG. 3A and the print head 3-2 shown in FIG. 3B both show the ink ejection surface of the print head 3 viewed from the recording material side.

[0007] As shown in FIG.
In the figure, an orifice plate 14 is laminated on the surface (ink ejection surface), and a large number of ink ejection nozzles 15 are formed on the orifice plate 14 by drilling to form a nozzle row 16. A common power supply terminal 17 and a drive circuit terminal 18 are formed at one end (upper end in the figure) of the print head 3-1. Print head 3-1 in FIG.
Is a print head for a monochrome printer, and a print head 3-2 in FIG. 4B is a monolithic print head having a configuration in which the print head 3-1 in FIG. They are formed side by side. The above print head 3
Both -1 and 3-2 are as shown in FIG.
A parent substrate having a size of 4 inches or 6 inches or the like, that is, a silicon wafer 19, is partitioned into a large number (for example, 90 or more) of head chips 20 and manufactured on these head chips 20.

FIGS. 9 (a) to 9 (f) show print heads 3 (3- (3) on the head chips 20 of the silicon wafer 19 described above.
It is a figure which shows the state of a manufacturing process order of 1 or 3-2).
8 (a) to 8 (f) show the order of the manufacturing steps of the section taken along the line DD 'in FIG. 8 (a) or the section taken along the line EE' in FIG. 8 (b). The state is shown.

First, a predetermined number of head chips 20 are set on a silicon wafer 19 having a thickness of, for example, about 600 μm.
As shown in FIG. 2A, a driving circuit 21 composed of a MOS transistor or the like is provided at a predetermined position on the head chip 20.
To form In the manufacturing process of the drive circuit 21, a photoresist formed in advance on the entire surface of the silicon wafer 19 is
One mask (reticle) corresponding to one head chip 20 is reduced and projected for patterning. At this time, exposure is performed by a step-and-repeat method while moving the silicon wafer 19 for each region of one head chip 20. Therefore, the number of exposures is equal to the number of head chips 20 taken from one silicon wafer 19. Thereafter, an ordinary photolithography process is performed to form LSl.

In the next step of forming the heating resistor 22, the common electrode 23, the individual wiring electrode 24, and the partition wall 25, one mask corresponding to one wafer is used, and collective exposure is carried out by a proximity exposure machine to carry out photolithography. Pattern the resist.
The number of times of exposure is one for one wafer.

Subsequently, in the step of forming the common ink supply groove and the ink receiving hole, as shown in FIG. 1B, a dry film 26 made of a photoresist material is attached to the front and back of the silicon wafer 19, and The surface is collectively exposed by a proximity exposure machine using one mask corresponding to one silicon wafer to form a pattern 27 corresponding to the common ink supply groove. Next, the back surface is collectively exposed by a proximity exposure machine using another one mask corresponding to one silicon wafer to form a pattern 28 corresponding to the ink receiving hole. As a result, a dry film mask on which a common ink supply groove pattern 27 corresponding to each head chip 20 is arranged is formed on the front surface of the silicon wafer 19, and an ink receiving hole corresponding to each head chip 20 is formed on the back surface. A dry film mask on which the pattern 28 is arranged is formed.

Thereafter, a common ink supply groove and an ink receiving hole are formed in accordance with the pattern of the dry film mask. For this perforation, a sand blast method is preferable. That is, first, as shown in FIG. 3C, the common ink supply groove 31 is formed to a predetermined depth by sandblasting 29 in accordance with the pattern 27 of the common ink supply groove on the surface of the silicon wafer 19, and Using the axis FF 'as a rotation axis, as shown in FIG.
Is rotated 180 degrees. Thereafter, sand blast processing 29 is performed again according to the pattern 28 of the ink receiving holes on the back surface of the silicon wafer 19 to form the ink receiving holes 32, and the ink receiving holes 32 are made to pass through the common ink supply grooves 31.

Thereafter, the silicon wafer 19 is again used as shown in FIG. 5E with the support shaft FF ′ of FIG.
Is rotated 180 degrees so that the surface is turned up as a processing surface in a subsequent process, and the dry film masks on the front and back are removed.
8 (a), the orifice plate 14 shown in FIG. 8 (a) is laminated on the partition wall 25, and although not particularly shown, after coating a metal thin film, this is patterned to form a metal film mask. Then, the orifice plate 14 is dry-etched according to the metal film mask to form the ink discharge nozzles 15 shown in FIG. Thereafter, the silicon wafer 19 is cut using a dicing saw or the like, and the head chips 20 are individually divided and taken out.
Die bonding to the head substrate and terminal connection
The print head 3-1 shown in (a) or the print head 3-2 shown in FIG.

[0014]

By the way, in the manufacturing process of the print head described above, the respective head chips 20 are of course of the same shape, but the arrangement of the respective parts is also formed in the same manner.

FIG. 10A is a view for clearly showing that the arrangement of the respective parts is formed in the same manner.
The silicon wafer 19 in the middle of the process shown in FIG.
10 (b) is a diagram showing the back surface of the silicon wafer 19, and FIG. 10 (c) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 10 (a). As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, a common ink supply groove 31 is formed in the head chip 20 on the silicon wafer 19 so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the head chip 20. In addition, three ink receiving holes 32 communicating with the common ink supply groove 31 and penetrating the back surface of the head chip 20 are provided for each common ink supply groove 31.

As described above, the common ink supply groove 27 extends almost completely in the longitudinal direction of the head chip 20 so that the common ink supply groove 27 extends from the surface of the head chip 20 to a depth slightly exceeding, for example, １ ／ of the chip thickness (FIG. 9 ( e) See).

Each of the common ink supply grooves 31 of the head chips arranged in the longitudinal direction is aligned in a straight line on the silicon wafer 19 and connected to each other. The space between the ink supply grooves 31 is brittle. For this reason, in the steps shown in FIGS. 9D to 9F after the formation of the common ink supply groove 31, cracks are formed in the silicon wafer 19 along the extending direction at the portion between the common ink supply grooves 31. A defect that often occurs or breaks often occurs. For this reason, there has been a problem that the production yield of the inkjet print head is significantly reduced.

Further, in the step shown in FIG. 9D, an ink receiving hole 32 penetrating from the common ink supply groove 31 to the back surface of the head chip 20 forms an ink supply groove from outside as uniformly as possible. 3 to feed 31
Since the plurality of common ink supply grooves 31 are provided as described above, the strength of the portion where the common ink supply groove 31 continues in a straight line as described above is further reduced, and the silicon wafer 19 is more easily broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head which can prevent a substrate from cracking during a manufacturing process and can manufacture a large number of products collectively in a short time with high yield.

[0020]

According to the method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head of the present invention, a plurality of head chips for an ink jet printer each having an elongated groove formed in a substrate material are formed on a single parent substrate. A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head divided into individual head chips, wherein at least one of the plurality of head chips aligned in a first direction in which the elongated grooves extend is elongated. The position of the groove and the position of the elongated groove of any of the other head chips are set to a second direction different from the first direction.
To form each of the above-mentioned head chips.

The parent substrate is, for example, a silicon wafer as described in claim 2, and in this case, the first direction is, for example, an orientation flat of the silicon wafer as described in claim 3. Preferably, the direction is different.

Further, the elongated groove is, for example, a common ink supply groove for supplying ink received from outside by the practical unit of the head chip to each discharge portion, as described in claim 4. As described in 5, the position is
It is preferable that each of the n (n is a natural number) head chips is shifted in the second direction.

The plurality of head chips are the same head chip, for example, as set forth in claim 6;
It is preferable that the at least one head chip is arranged to be rotated by 180 degrees with respect to any of the other head chips.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to an embodiment in the order of steps, each being formed on a head chip of a silicon wafer in a series of steps. FIG. 1 schematically shows a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view of the state. still,
In these drawings, for convenience of explanation, only one print head of the full-color inkjet printer head (the same as the configuration of the monochrome inkjet printer head) is shown. However, in actuality, as described later, A print head having a shape in which a plurality of (typically four) print heads are connected is formed on a single head chip. FIG. 3 (c) shows the ink ejection nozzles 49 as 36 orifices.
A large number are formed according to the design policy, such as 256 pieces.

FIGS. 2 (a), (b) and (c) are shown in FIG. 1 (a), (b),
The plan view of (c) is shown in an enlarged manner in detail. The middle section is an FF 'cross-sectional view of the upper section (see FIG. (a)), and the lower section is an upper GG' cross-sectional view of the upper section. (See FIG. 3A). In addition, the cross-sectional views shown in the middle part of the figures (a), (b), (c) are:
These are the same as the cross-sectional views shown below FIGS. 1 (a), (b) and (c), respectively. 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c), for convenience of illustration, 64, 128 or 256 ink discharge nozzles are represented by five ink discharge nozzles 49. Is shown.

First, a basic manufacturing method will be described. First, as a step 1, a drive circuit and its terminals are formed on a silicon substrate of 4 inches or more by an LSI forming process, and an oxide film (SiO ₂ ) having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm is formed. Using a thin film forming technique, a heating resistor film layer made of tantalum (Ta) -silicon (Si) -oxygen (O) and an electrode film made of Au or the like are sequentially interposed with an adhesion layer made of Ti-W or the like interposed therebetween. Lamination is formed. Then, the electrode film and the heating resistor film are respectively patterned by photolithography technology, and wiring electrodes are formed on both sides of a region serving as a heating portion on the stripe-shaped heating resistor film. In this step, the position of the heat generating portion is determined.

FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (a) show a state immediately after the above steps 1 and 2 have been completed. That is, a drive circuit 36 and a drive circuit terminal 37 (see FIG. 1A) are formed below an insulating layer made of an oxide film on the head chip 35, and a plurality of heating resistor layers are formed on the insulating layer. The common electrode 3 is provided at both ends of the
9 and the individual wiring electrodes 41 are formed, and a plurality of heating elements composed of the heating part 38, the common electrode 39, and the individual wiring electrode 41 are formed in parallel at a predetermined interval in parallel, and the heating part row 3
8 'and an individual wiring electrode array 41' are formed. Also,
The common electrode 39 is provided with a common power supply terminal 42 (see FIG. 1A).

Subsequently, in step 3, the individual heat generating parts 38
After forming a partition member made of an organic material such as photosensitive polyimide to a height of about 20 μm by coating to form an ink pressurizing chamber corresponding to the above and an ink flow path to these, after patterning this by photolithography technology, 300
Curing (dry curing, baking) is performed by applying heat at a temperature of 400C to 400C for 30 minutes to 60 minutes, and a partition made of the photosensitive polyimide having a height of about 10 m is formed and fixed on the head chip 35.

Further, as a step 4, a common ink supply groove is formed in the surface of the head chip 35 by a sand blast method (wet etching may be performed) or the like according to an arrangement described later in detail. An ink receiving hole is formed on the lower surface of the communicating head chip 35.

FIGS. 1 (b) and 2 (b) show a state immediately after the above-mentioned steps 3 and 4 are completed. That is, the common ink supply groove 43 is formed so as to be surrounded by the common electrode 39, and communicates with the common ink supply groove 43.
4 are formed. An ink seal partition 45-1 is formed in the portion of the common electrode 39 located on the left side of the common ink supply groove 43, and the ink seal partition 45-2 is also formed in the portion where the individual wiring electrode 41 on the right side is provided. Are formed, and a partition wall 45-3 extending from the ink seal partition 45-2 to between the heat generating portions 38 is formed.

If the ink seal partition 45-2 on the individual wiring electrode 41 is a comb body, the partition partition 45-3 extending between the heat generating portions 38 corresponds to the teeth of the comb. Shape. Thus, the fine ink pressurizing chamber 4 in which the heat generating portion 38 is located at the base between the teeth of the comb-shaped partition wall 45-3 as a partition wall.
6 are formed by the number of the heat generating portions 38.

Thereafter, in step 5, an orifice plate of a polyimide film having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm is placed on the uppermost layer of the laminated structure, that is, the partition 45 (45-1, 45-45).
2, 45-3), and pressurize while heating at 290 to 300 ° C. to fix the orifice plate. Subsequently, a metal film such as Ni, Cu, or Al having a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm is formed.

Further, as a step 6, the metal film on the orifice plate is patterned to form a mask for selectively etching the polyimide. Subsequently, the orifice plate is subjected to the above-mentioned metal film mask by a helicon wave etching apparatus, for example. And a plurality of ink discharge nozzles are collectively formed by forming holes of 31 μmφ to 29 μmφ according to the above.

FIGS. 1 (c) and 2 (c) show the process 5 described above.
And the state immediately after the end of step 6. That is, the orifice plate 47 covers the entire area except for the common power supply terminal 42 and the drive circuit terminal 37, and
The ink pressurizing chamber 46 having a height of 10 μm formed by 5-3 has an opening facing the common ink supply groove 43. Further, an ink flow path 48 having a height of 10 μm is formed to allow the openings of the ink pressurizing chambers 46 and the common ink supply groove 43 to communicate with each other.

The orifice plate 47 has a heat generating portion 3
An orifice, that is, an ink discharge nozzle 49 is formed in a portion facing 8. Thereby, 64, 128
A mono-color ink jet printer head 50 having one or 256 ink ejection nozzles 49 in one row is completed.

As described above, one row of ink ejection nozzles 49
Color ink jet printer head 50 provided with
Is a configuration of an inkjet printer head for monochrome printing. Normally, in full-color printing, as described above, the three primary colors of subtractive color mixing, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), And black (Bk) dedicated to the black part of the image, and a total of four colors of ink are required. Therefore, at least four nozzle rows are required.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example in which the above-described mono-color ink-jet printer head 50 is arranged in four rows to constitute a full-color ink-jet printer head 51, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a large number are formed on a silicon wafer 52. According to the manufacturing method described above, FIG.
A large number of head chips 53 larger than the head chips 35 shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are set on the silicon wafer 52 as shown in FIG.
The mono-color ink jet printer head 50 shown in FIG. 3C is monolithically constructed in four rows, and a full-color ink jet printer head 51 is formed as shown in FIG.
Can be manufactured, and the positional relationship between the nozzle rows 54 can be accurately arranged by using a mask by today's semiconductor manufacturing technology.

In the present invention, in the above-described manufacturing method, a special method is applied to the method of forming the common ink supply groove 43 and the ink receiving hole 44, and a special manufacturing method is employed. Hereinafter, this will be described.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are views showing a special manufacturing method for forming the common ink supply groove 43 and the ink receiving hole 44 in the above-mentioned step 4. Is a diagram showing the front surface of the silicon wafer 52 after the step 4 is completed, FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the back surface of the silicon wafer 52, and FIG. 4C is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. still,
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C illustrate, for convenience of explanation, a case of a mono-color inkjet printer head 50 having a single nozzle row as an example for easy understanding.
Only the common ink supply groove 31 and the ink receiving hole 32 are shown. However, the mutual arrangement between the head chips shown here is based on the full-color inkjet printer head 5.
Needless to say, the same can be applied to the case of 1.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the silicon wafer 5
2 are aligned in the longitudinal direction (first direction) in which the common ink supply groove 31, which is an elongated groove, extends, and the longitudinal direction is aligned with the orientation flat 55 of the silicon wafer 52. Are arranged in parallel.

All of these head chips 35 are head chips having the same configuration. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. They are arranged 180 degrees rotated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1B, the common ink supply groove 43 is formed at a position shifted from the center in the width direction of the head chip 35 to the side end by a predetermined distance, so that one of the ones aligned in the longitudinal direction is formed. Common ink supply groove 43 of head chip 35
Is shifted from the position of the common ink supply groove 43 of the adjacent head chip 35 by an interval H in a direction (second direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. In other words, the common ink supply grooves 43 are arranged in a staggered pattern when viewed in the longitudinal direction (staggered arrangement).

As described above, when the drive circuit 36 (see FIGS. 1A and 1B and FIGS. 2A and 2B) is formed on each head chip 35 on the silicon wafer 52, A pattern of a photomask called a reticle is reduced and projected by an optical lens by a step-and-repeat method while moving the silicon wafer 52 for each head chip and exposed.

In the case of this embodiment, for example, after exposing the head chips 35 in an odd-numbered row 56 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the orientation flat 55 of the silicon wafer 52 shown in FIG. By rotating the reticle by 180 degrees, the head chips 3 in the even rows 57
5 may be exposed.

After the drive circuits 36 are formed in a staggered arrangement in this manner, the proximity type exposure device is sufficient because the configuration of other parts is relatively coarser than the configuration of the drive circuit 36. That is, the heating section 38 and the common electrode 3
9, individual wiring electrode 41, partition wall 45, common ink supply groove 4
3. The ink receiving holes 44, the ink discharge nozzles 49, and the like can be manufactured by using a photomask arranged in a staggered manner, and by the same processing steps as those in the conventional process.

As described above, since the internal structure of the head chip 35 is staggered in the longitudinal direction, the common ink supply groove 43, which is an elongated groove, is not aligned in the longitudinal direction. The wafer 52 is
An advantage is obtained in that it is less likely to break in the processing steps after the formation of the common ink supply groove 43.

Since the head chips 35 themselves can be arranged in a scribe line as in the conventional case, when they are individually divided and collected from the silicon wafer 52, they can be cut (scribed) as in the conventional case. There is nothing special that can be done.

In the above embodiment, the head chips 35 are arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the head chips 35 is parallel to the orientation flat 55 of the silicon wafer 52.
Is not limited to this.

FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are diagrams showing an example of the arrangement of head chips on a silicon wafer at the time of manufacturing an ink jet print head according to another embodiment. orientation·
It is a figure which shows the example arrange | positioned so that it may differ from the direction of a flat. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the line K indicating the longitudinal direction of the head chip 35 is not parallel to the line J indicating the direction of the orientation flat 55 of the silicon wafer 52.
Crossed. After arranging the head chips 35 in this manner, the configuration inside the head chips 35 may be staggered in the longitudinal direction as described above. in this way,
When the longitudinal direction of the head chip 35, that is, the extending direction of the common ink supply groove is made different from the direction of the orientation flat, the silicon wafer becomes more difficult to be broken.

In each of the above embodiments, the head chips 35 are arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal direction of the head chips 35, but the staggered arrangement is not limited to this.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are diagrams showing other examples of the staggered arrangement. That is, FIG. 7A shows a staggered arrangement for every two head chips 35, and FIG. 8B shows a staggered arrangement for every three head chips 35. Also, FIG.
Shows an example of a random staggered arrangement that is not determined every number.

In the case where a plurality of types of head chips are manufactured instead of manufacturing one type of head chip from a single silicon wafer as described above, the common ink supply grooves should not be aligned. By arranging a plurality of types of head chips, similarly, cracking of the silicon wafer can be prevented.

Anyway, at least one of the head chips 35 of the head chips aligned in the longitudinal direction of the head chip is used.
The position of the common ink supply groove 43 of the head chip 35 and the position of the common ink supply groove 43 of any of the other head chips 35 are shifted from each other by, for example, an interval H in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, thereby forming each head chip 35. By doing so, the common ink supply groove 43, which is an elongated groove of each head chip 35, is not aligned in a straight line in the longitudinal direction, thereby obtaining an advantage that the silicon wafer 52 is less likely to be broken in a subsequent processing step. .

In the above-described embodiment, an example of the configuration of a monolithic ink jet print head integrated with a drive circuit has been described. However, the above-described manufacturing method employs a heating unit, electrodes, and partition walls excluding the drive circuit. The same applies to the case where only the print head portion including the common ink supply groove, the ink receiving hole, the orifice plate, and the ink discharge nozzle is formed on a parent substrate such as a silicon substrate or a glass substrate.

[0054]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the common ink supply grooves are arranged so as not to be aligned in the longitudinal direction, so that the substrate is less likely to be broken, and as a result, the ink jet print head can be used. The production yield is improved.

Further, since the head chips themselves are arranged in a square lattice arrangement only by different arrangement of the internal structure of each head chip, the head chips can be cut and divided individually as in the conventional case, without lowering the working efficiency. The manufacturing yield of the inkjet print head can be improved.

After the drive circuit is formed, the proximity type exposure machine uses a photomask of, for example, a staggered arrangement, and the heating section and the heating section are processed in the same process as the conventional process.
Since the wiring electrodes, the partition walls, the common ink supply grooves, the ink receiving holes, and the ink discharge nozzles can be formed, the production yield of the inkjet print head can be improved without lowering the work efficiency also in this regard.

Further, by arranging the head chips in such a manner that the longitudinal direction of the common ink supply groove is different from the direction of the orientation flat of the parent substrate, the silicon wafer is more difficult to be broken.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing an inkjet printer head according to an embodiment in the order of steps.

2 (a), 2 (b), and 2 (c) are enlarged plan views of FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 1 (c). Is a sectional view taken along the line GG ′ of the upper stage.

3A is a diagram illustrating a full-color inkjet printer head, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a state in which a number of head chips are formed on a silicon wafer.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams illustrating an example of an arrangement of head chips on a silicon wafer at the time of manufacturing an inkjet print head according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an example of an arrangement of head chips on a silicon wafer when an inkjet print head is manufactured according to another embodiment.

FIGS. 6 (a), (b), and (c) are diagrams showing various examples of arrangement of head chips on a silicon wafer in the method of manufacturing an ink jet print head of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a conventional ink jet printer.

8A is a diagram schematically illustrating a print head for a monochrome printer, FIG. 8B is a diagram schematically illustrating a print head for a full color, and FIG. 8C is a diagram schematically illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a silicon wafer on which a print head is manufactured.

FIGS. 9A to 9F are views showing states of a print head on a silicon wafer head chip in a manufacturing process order.

10A is a diagram showing the front surface of a silicon wafer in a state in the middle of the process in order to clearly show that the arrangement of each part is the same, FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the back surface thereof, and FIG. )
2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink-jet printer 2 Carriage 3 (3-1, 3-2) Print head 4 Ink cartridge 5 Guide rail 6 Toothed drive belt 7 Flexible communication cable 8 Main frame 9 Platen 10 Paper 11 Paper feed roller 12 Paper discharge roller 13 Motor 14 Orifice plate 15 Ink discharge nozzle 16 Nozzle row 17 Common power supply terminal 18 Drive circuit terminal 19 Silicon wafer 19-1 Front surface 19-2 Back surface 20 Head chip 21 Drive circuit 22 Heating resistor 23 Common electrode 24 Individual wiring electrode 25 Partition 26 Dry film 27 Pattern corresponding to common ink supply groove 28 Pattern corresponding to ink receiving hole 29 Sandblasting 31 Common ink supply groove 32 Ink receiving hole 35 Head chip 36 Drive circuit 37 Drive circuit terminal 38 Heating section 8 'heating section row 39 common electrode 41 individual wiring electrode 41' individual wiring electrode row 42 common power supply terminal 43 common ink supply groove 44 ink receiving hole 45 partition 45-1 and 45-2 ink seal partition 45-3 partition partition 46 ink Pressurizing chamber 47 Orifice plate 48 Ink flow path 49 Ink ejection nozzle 50 Mono-color inkjet printer head 51 Full-color inkjet printer head 52 Silicon wafer 53 Head chip 54 Nozzle row 55 Orientation flat 56 Head chip odd row 57 Head chip even row

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head in which a plurality of ink jet printer head chips each having an elongated groove perforated in a substrate material are formed on one parent substrate, and then divided into individual head chips. Wherein the position of the elongated groove of at least one of the plurality of head chips aligned in the first direction in which the elongated groove extends and the elongated groove of any of the other head chips And forming the respective head chips by shifting the position of the head chip in a second direction different from the first direction. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the parent substrate is a silicon wafer. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first direction is different from an orientation flat direction of the silicon wafer. 4. The ink-jet printhead according to claim 1, wherein said elongated groove is a common ink supply groove for supplying ink received from outside by said head chip of a practical unit to each discharge unit. Method. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the elongated groove is shifted to the second direction for every n (n is a natural number) of the head chips. A method for manufacturing the inkjet print head according to the above. 6. The plurality of head chips are head chips having the same configuration, and the at least one head chip is arranged by being rotated by 180 degrees with respect to any of the other head chips. Item 7. A method for manufacturing an ink jet print head according to Item 1.