JP2001113698A - Nozzle plate, its manufacturing method, and ink-jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nozzle plate and its manufacturing method and an ink-jet recording head wherein a size accuracy of nozzle holes is improved and a directivity deterioration when ink is discharged is prevented. SOLUTION: A nozzle hole 1 of the nozzle plate is formed to have its circumference protruded into a hollow cylindrical shape with a tilt angle concentric with the nozzle hole 1 in a discharge direction. A wiper blade can be surely brought in contact with an opening face of the nozzle hole 1 when the nozzle hole is to be wiped. Since the nozzle hole 1 formed by electroforming uses an insulating material, the nozzle hole is not affected by an accuracy of a patterning image by a resist and a mask life, whereby a size accuracy of the nozzle hole 1 is improved. A yield of the ink-jet recording head can accordingly be improved, costs can be reduced and high-quality images can be recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a nozzle plate, a method of manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording head.
In particular, the present invention relates to a nozzle plate for preventing deterioration in an output image, a method for manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printers have been diversified as recording apparatuses for recording various information. Among them, an ink jet printer which prints by spraying ink on recording paper from nozzles is particularly high in terms of high-speed printing and low noise. It is considered useful.

A general configuration example of a conventional ink jet printer includes an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink, a common flow path for supplying ink from an ink tank or the like, and ink filling through a common flow path. Ink reservoir, a pressure chamber for discharging the ink filled in the ink reservoir, and a nozzle hole formed in a nozzle plate serving as a discharge port of the ink discharged from the pressure chamber are configured as main members. I have.

A nozzle plate in a conventional ink jet recording head as described above is disclosed in, for example,
It is formed by an electrolytic plating casting method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-182134. In forming the nozzle plate, the substrate of the metal plate and the nozzle portion are patterned using a photoresist. Electrodeposition by nickel plating is performed on a metal substrate patterned with this photoresist, a nickel layer serving as a nozzle plate is formed, and the nozzle plate formed of the nickel layer is separated from the substrate.

[0005] Usually, a metal plate such as SUS (stainless steel) or Ni (nickel) or a plastic material such as polyimide or PES (polyether sulfone) is used for the nozzle plate. Holes are formed by etching, pressing and excimer laser processing.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in forming a nozzle hole by electroforming, a resist 10 is coated on a metal substrate 9 made of SUS or the like, and exposed and developed using a mask. To form a resist image. Thereafter, the exposed surface of the substrate 9 is electrodeposited, a metal is electrodeposited to a predetermined thickness, and then the metal electrodeposited from the substrate 9, that is, the nozzle plate 21 is peeled off.

[0007]

However, the shape of the nozzle hole formed by the conventional electroforming as described above greatly affects the resist coating state, the accuracy of the patterning image in exposure and development, and the mask life. However, there is a problem that the diameter and the roundness of the nozzle hole vary.

In addition, when the nozzle diameter and the perfect circle vary as described above, the ink discharge droplet diameter and the droplet speed vary.
There is a problem that this leads to deterioration of the recorded image.

Further, if the roundness of the nozzle holes is not sufficient, there is a problem that the ink ejection direction is deteriorated, which also leads to deterioration of a recorded image.

Further, the surface of the nozzle hole is concave by the thickness of the resist, and the wiping during the operation of protecting and recovering the head causes a problem that the ink around the nozzle hole becomes difficult to be cleaned by the wiper blade. is there.

For example, FIG. 9 shows an example of wiping of a nozzle hole portion in an ink jet recording head manufactured by a conventional manufacturing method. As indicated by the arrow, when the wiper blade 30 attempts to wipe from the left to the right, it is difficult for the wiper blade 30 to clean the ink around the nozzle hole with respect to the opening surface of the nozzle hole 1; As shown in the figure, since the blade does not hit the opening surface of the nozzle hole 1, there is a problem that the ink remaining around the nozzle hole 1 causes a discharge failure.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head which improves the dimensional accuracy of a nozzle hole formed by electroforming.

Further, the present invention makes it possible to reliably clean the ink adhering to the periphery of the nozzle hole by wiping, to suppress variations in the ink discharge droplet diameter and droplet speed, and to prevent deterioration in the ink discharge direction. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head capable of realizing a high quality recorded image at low cost.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an ink droplet is formed by a nozzle propagating in a pressure chamber through a vibration plate using an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element. A nozzle plate used for an ink jet recording head that discharges from a hole, wherein a peripheral surface of the nozzle hole protrudes in a discharging direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
In the described invention, the protrusion amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100.
μm.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle. Features.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the nozzle hole is formed by electroforming.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate used in an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzle holes by the propagation of pressure in a pressure chamber through a vibration plate utilizing the electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element. A method of forming a substrate in a region other than a region where a nozzle hole is to be formed on an upper surface of an insulating material as a base, and forming the substrate formed in the substrate forming process as a seed crystal to a predetermined thickness. The method is characterized by comprising an electrodeposition step of electrodepositing the metal layer, and a separation step of separating the insulating material when the metal layer is electrodeposited to a predetermined thickness by the electrodeposition step.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the invention, the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole projects in the ejection direction.

The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6 or 7.
In the described invention, the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the protrusion amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100 μm.

The invention according to claim 10 is the invention according to claims 6 to 9
In the invention described in any one of the above, the protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole is a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording head in which an ink droplet is ejected from a nozzle hole by the propagation of pressure in a pressure chamber through a vibrating plate utilizing an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element. On the upper surface of the substrate, a substrate is formed in a region other than a region where a nozzle hole is to be formed,
Electrodepositing a metal layer to a predetermined thickness using the substrate as a seed crystal,
When the metal layer is electrodeposited to a predetermined thickness, an insulating material is peeled off and a nozzle plate is provided.

A twelfth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole projects in the ejection direction.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh or twelfth aspect, the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the eleventh to thirteenth aspects, the protrusion amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100 μm.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the eleventh to fourteenth aspects, the protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle. Features.

<Operation> According to the present invention, an ink reservoir is filled with ink through a common flow channel, and the filled ink is supplied to a nozzle formed at a pressure chamber tip through a supply hole formed in the ink reservoir. A nozzle plate discharging from a hole, a method of manufacturing the nozzle plate, and an ink jet recording head provided with the nozzle plate, wherein a plurality of nozzle holes formed in the nozzle plate protrude in a discharge direction, and the protruding portion is a nozzle hole. And a hollow cylindrical nozzle hole having an inclination angle.

In the present invention, the nozzle hole is formed by electroforming using an insulating material as a substitute for the resist agent conventionally used, with the protrusion amount of the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole being 5 to 100 μm.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the periphery of the nozzle hole is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape having a slant angle concentric with the nozzle hole and protrudes in the discharge direction, the wiper blade can be reliably used in the wiping operation. Can contact the nozzle hole.

The nozzle hole is formed by electroforming, but does not use a resist agent. Therefore, the nozzle hole is not affected by the resist coating state, the accuracy of the patterning image, and the mask life. Thus, the yield of the inkjet recording head can be improved, the cost can be reduced, and a high-quality recorded image can be expected.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a nozzle plate, a method of manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording head according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of a nozzle plate, a method of manufacturing the same, and an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
In the ink-jet recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle hole 1, the damper chamber 2, the ink reservoir 3, the supply hole 4, the pressure chamber 5, the vibration plate 6, and the piezoelectric element 7 It is configured to have.

The nozzle hole 1 is an ejection port for ejecting the ink filled in the ink reservoir 3 by a not-shown ink tank (ink cartridge) onto recording paper.

The damper chamber 2 is a space that is not filled with ink having substantially the same shape as an ink reservoir 3 described later.

The ink reservoir 3 is an area for filling ink supplied from an ink tank (not shown) or the like.

A plurality of supply holes 4 are formed above the ink reservoir 3 in a row.

The pressure chamber 5 supplies a pressure for discharging the ink filled corresponding to the supply hole 4 to the outside.

The vibrating plate 6 is a vibrating plate deformed by the electrostrictive effect of the piezoelectric element 7. Due to this deformation, the volume in the pressure chamber 5 changes, and the pressure wave is propagated to the nozzle hole 1 to eject ink.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the diaphragm 6 in the ink jet recording head shown in FIG. 1 is deformed.

In FIG. 2, the diaphragm 6 is deformed inward as shown by the electrostriction effect of the piezoelectric element 7, and the volume of the pressure chamber 5 changes with this deformation. The pressure wave generated by this volume change is propagated to the nozzle hole 2 to eject ink.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of a head unit of an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, a head unit of an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a piezoelectric element 7.
And a laminated board ASS′Y11, a nozzle cover 12, a head drive circuit board 13, a cable 14, a head case 15, a joint 16, a relay board 17, and a head cover 18. .

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the laminate ASS'Y shown in FIG.
It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of No.11. In FIG. 4, a laminated plate ASS′Y11 includes a nozzle plate 21 having a nozzle hole 1 formed therein, a damper plate 22 having a damper chamber 2 formed therein, and a pool plate 2 having an ink reservoir 3 formed therein.
3, a supply plate 24 in which the supply holes 4 are formed, a chamber plate 25 in which the pressure chambers 5 are formed, the vibration plate 6, and the piezoelectric element 7.

In the ink jet recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention, ink is filled in the ink reservoir 3 through a joint 16 and a head case 15 having a common path to which ink is supplied from an ink tank or the like (not shown). In the upper part of the ink reservoir 3, a plurality of supply holes 4 are formed side by side. A pressure chamber 5 for discharging the ink filled corresponding to the supply hole 4 to the outside, and a nozzle hole 1 formed in a nozzle plate 21 formed in the discharge direction are provided. A damper chamber 2 is formed between the ink reservoir 3 and the nozzle plate 21 and has substantially the same shape as the ink reservoir 3 and is not filled with ink. Further, the pressure chamber 5 is covered with a vibration plate 6, and a piezoelectric element 7 is joined to the vibration plate 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle hole 1, the damper chamber 2, the ink reservoir 3, the supply hole 4, the pressure chamber 5, and the vibration plate 6 are a nozzle plate 21, a damper plate 22, and a pool plate, respectively. A plurality of discharge nozzles and a plurality of ink nozzles are formed on the plate, such as a supply plate 23, a supply plate 24, and a chamber plate 25.

As the above-mentioned plates, metal plates such as SUS (stainless steel) and Ni (nickel) are used, and the depressions such as the nozzle holes 1 on the plates are formed by etching or electroforming.

Further, these plates can be formed by photolithographic patterning of exposure and development using a dry film material.

The plates are joined together to form a laminated board ASS'Y11. As a method for joining these plates, adhesion using an epoxy-based adhesive or a dry film, or thermal diffusion bonding is possible.

Further, the pool plate 23, the supply plate 24, and the chamber plate 25 can be integrally formed by plastic molding such as PPE (polyphenylene ether) or PES (polyether sulfone).

When the ink jet recording head of the present invention is mounted on a recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the head driving circuit board 13 is placed on the piezoelectric element 7 bonded to the laminate ASS'Y11. And the cable 14 is mounted by solder reflow. The laminate ASS′Y11 is joined to the head case 15, and the joint 16 is also joined to the head case 15. A relay board 17 connected to the cable 14 is set on the head cover 18 and joined to the head case 15.

As described above, inside the head case 15 and the joint 16, a common flow channel for supplying ink from the ink tank is formed. Head case 15,
The constituent material of the joint 16 is formed of a plastic molded product such as PPE (polyphenylethylene) and PES (polyether sulfone).

Further, on the lower surface of the nozzle plate 21 joined to the laminated board ASS'Y11, a nozzle cover 12 which serves to protect the nozzle plate 21 when a paper jam occurs is joined. These are mounted on a recording apparatus as a head unit of an ink jet recording head.

The nozzle cover 12 is made of, for example, SUS
(Stainless steel) and formed by press working.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 5A, the insulating material 8 is used as a base, and a thin substrate 9 patterned on the upper surface of the insulating material 8 by etching or the like is provided. FIG.
5B, the upper surface of the substrate 9 is electrodeposited to a predetermined thickness, and as shown in FIG. 5C, the electrodeposited metal layer is peeled off. This metal layer is made of, for example, N
It is composed of i (nickel) or the like, but is not particularly limited.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the peripheral shape of the nozzle hole of the nozzle plate manufactured by the manufacturing method shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the periphery of the nozzle hole 1 after the hole is formed protrudes by an amount H close to the thickness of the substrate 9. The side surface has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle so that the protruding shape forms a concentric circle with the nozzle hole 1. This protrusion amount H
Can be adjusted from 5 to 100 μm.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the wiping operation of the nozzle plate manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, when the wiper blade 30 moves from the left side to the right side in the blade operating direction indicated by an arrow with respect to the opening surface of the nozzle hole 1 in the nozzle plate according to the embodiment of the present invention, The blade operates so that the tip of the blade comes into close contact with the opening surface of the nozzle hole 1. Therefore, ink droplets and the like adhering to the opening surface of the nozzle hole 1 can be removed.

The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0060]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a configuration is adopted in which the periphery of a nozzle hole is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape having an inclination angle concentric with the nozzle hole and protrudes in the discharge direction. Accordingly, in the wiping operation, the wiper blade can reliably contact the opening surface of the nozzle hole. Therefore, the ink wiping performance on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole is improved, and the ink ejection performance can be stabilized.

According to the present invention, the nozzle holes are formed by electroforming, but are not affected by the accuracy of the patterning image and the mask life since no resist agent is used as in the prior art. The dimensional accuracy of the nozzle holes is improved, and the yield of the ink jet recording head can be improved, the cost can be reduced, and a high-quality recorded image can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation example of the inkjet recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a head unit of the inkjet recording head according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a laminate ASS′Y according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a nozzle hole manufactured by the manufacturing method of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wiping operation for the ink jet recording head according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a nozzle plate in a conventional inkjet recording head.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wiping operation for a conventional inkjet recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nozzle hole 2 Damper chamber 3 Ink pool 4 Supply hole 5 Pressure chamber 6 Vibrating plate 7 Piezoelectric element 8 Insulating material 9 Substrate 10 Resist 11 Laminate board ASSY 12 Nozzle cover 13 Head drive circuit board 14 Cable 15 Head case 16 Joint 17 Relay board (PKG) 18 Head cover 21 Nozzle plate 22 Damper plate 23 Pool plate 24 Supply plate 25 Chamber plate

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle plate for use in an ink jet recording head that discharges ink droplets from nozzle holes by the propagation of pressure in a pressure chamber through a vibration plate by utilizing an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element, the nozzle plate comprising: A nozzle plate having a peripheral surface protruding in a discharge direction. 2. The nozzle plate according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole. 3. The projection amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100 μm.
3. The nozzle plate according to claim 1, wherein m is m. 4. The protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole,
The nozzle plate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nozzle plate has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle. 5. The nozzle plate according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle holes are formed by electroforming. 6. A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate used in an ink jet recording head for discharging ink droplets from nozzle holes by pressure propagation in a pressure chamber through a vibration plate utilizing an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element, comprising: A substrate forming step of forming a substrate in a region other than a region where the nozzle hole is to be formed on the upper surface of the insulating material, and forming a metal layer to a predetermined thickness using the substrate formed in the substrate forming step as a seed crystal. A method of manufacturing a nozzle plate, comprising: an electrodeposition step of electrodepositing; and a stripping step of stripping the insulating material when the metal layer is electrodeposited to the predetermined thickness by the electrodeposition step. . 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a peripheral surface of the nozzle hole protrudes in a discharge direction. 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole. 9. The protrusion amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100 μm.
9. A method according to claim 6, wherein m is
Item 14. The method for producing a nozzle plate according to item 5. 10. The nozzle plate according to claim 6, wherein the protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle. 11. An ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzle holes by pressure propagation in a pressure chamber through a vibration plate utilizing an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element, wherein said nozzle is provided on an upper surface of an insulating material as a base. A substrate is formed in a region other than a region where a hole is to be formed, and a metal layer is electrodeposited to a predetermined thickness by using the substrate as a seed crystal. When the metal layer is electrodeposited to the predetermined thickness, the insulating material is formed. An ink jet recording head comprising a nozzle plate formed by peeling off a nozzle plate. 12. The ink jet recording head according to claim 11, wherein a peripheral surface of said nozzle hole protrudes in a discharge direction. 13. The ink jet recording head according to claim 11, wherein the shape of the protruding surface of the nozzle hole is concentric with the nozzle hole. 14. The protrusion amount of the nozzle hole is 5 to 100.
The inkjet recording head according to claim 11, wherein the thickness is μm. 15. The ink jet recording head according to claim 11, wherein the protrusion on the peripheral surface of the nozzle hole has a hollow cylindrical shape having a predetermined inclination angle.