JP2001212967A - Ink-jet printer head and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink-jet printer head and a manufacturing method wherein a top plate can be surely and easily set in parallel to a substrate face. SOLUTION: A silicon wafer assembly 30 is placed on a workbench 32 of a vacuum press chamber 31 via a stainless steel plate 33 and a gas permeable buffering material 34. The top plate 35 with adhesives applied to both faces is placed on a diaphragm 41 of the silicon wafer assembly, and an anti-adhesion member 36 and the stainless steel plate 33 are set on the top plate. The chamber 31 is evacuated through an exhaust valve 38. The silicon wafer assembly 30 is heated to a predetermined temperature. When a press plate 37 descends, the top plate 35 is pressed against the silicon wafer assembly 30 via the stainless steel plate 33 and the anti-adhesion member 36 and bonded to the silicon wafer assembly 30. When an introduction valve 39 is opened to return the interior of the chamber 32 to an atmospheric pressure, the atmosphere flows into an ink channel 44 through the buffering material 34, an ink feed hole 42 and an ink feed path 43. In consequence, air pressures inside and outside the top plate 35 are balanced thereby preventing the top plate 35 from sinking inside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer head having a structure in which a top plate can be securely and easily installed parallel to a substrate surface, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet printers have been widely used. Ink jet printers include a thermal method in which ink is heated to generate air bubbles to eject ink droplets under the pressure, and a piezo method in which ink droplets are ejected by deformation of a piezoresistive element (piezoelectric element). In these methods, ink is used as a color material as ink droplets, and printing is performed by directly discharging the ink toward recording paper.Compared with the electrophotographic method using toner, which is a powdery printing material, the printing energy is low, and the This is a printing method widely used especially as a personal printer because it is easy to colorize by mixing and can make print dots small, so that it has high image quality and is relatively excellent in cost performance.

The above-mentioned thermal system has two configurations depending on the ejection direction of ink droplets. One is called an edge shooter type in which ink droplets are ejected in a direction parallel to the heating surface of the heating element, and the other is one that ejects ink droplets in a direction perpendicular to the heating surface of the heating element. This is called a roof shooter type.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head (hereinafter simply referred to as a print head) provided in such a roof shooter type ink jet printer in the order of steps. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view and a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which a chip is formed on a chip substrate in a series of steps.

Although these figures show a monochrome print head for convenience of explanation, a plurality of (typically four) such print heads are actually arranged in a monolithic manner, as will be described later. The provided shape is formed on one chip substrate. FIG. 3 (c) shows 36 discharge nozzles. Actually, a large number of discharge nozzles such as 64, 128 and 256 are formed depending on the design policy. It is.

FIGS. 7 (a), (b) and (c) show FIGS. 6 (a), (b) and
7 (a), 7 (b) and 7 (c) show the upper section taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 7 (a), 7 (b) and 7 (c). (See Fig. (A)).
It is shown in a sectional view taken along the line B '(see FIG. 1A). The sectional views shown in the middle part of FIGS.
They are the same as the cross-sectional views shown below (a), (b), and (c).
7 (a), 7 (b) and 7 (c), for convenience of illustration, FIG.
Four, 128 or 256 ink ejection nozzles
This is represented by the number of ink ejection nozzles.

The method of manufacturing this print head will be described.
First, as a step 1, a drive circuit and its terminals are formed by LSI formation processing on a plurality of subdivided chip substrate sections on a silicon wafer of 4 × 25.4 mm or more, and an oxide film having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm. (SiO ₂ ) is formed, and then, in step 2, tantalum (Ta) -silicon (Si) -oxygen (O) or Ta
A heating resistor layer made of Si—ON—N (nitrogen);
An electrode film made of Au or the like is sequentially laminated with an adhesive layer such as -W interposed therebetween. Then, the electrode film and the heating resistor layer are patterned by photolithography technology, respectively, exposing a region to be a heating portion of the stripe-shaped heating resistor layer and exposing a heating resistor layer and a wiring electrode on both sides thereof. An element is formed. In this step, the position of the resistance heating portion is determined.

FIGS. 6A and 7A show a state immediately after the above steps 1 and 2 are completed. That is, the drive circuit 2 is formed near one side end of the chip substrate 1, and the resistance heating section 3 is formed on an insulating layer made of an oxide film formed thereon. A common electrode 4 is connected to one end of the resistance heating section 3, and an individual wiring electrode 5 is connected between the other end and the drive circuit 2.

The above-described resistance heating section 3, common electrode 4, and individual wiring electrode 5 are formed into a set and patterned into a stripe shape.
Each strip forms a heating element and is arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval. The common electrode 4 has a common electrode power supply terminal 4-1.
Is formed at the upper end portion (see FIG. 6A), and a drive circuit terminal 2-1 is formed side by side with this (see FIG. 6A).

Subsequently, as a step 3, an organic material such as photosensitive polyimide is used to form ink pressurizing chambers corresponding to the individual resistance heating sections 3 and ink flow paths for supplying ink to these ink pressurizing chambers. After forming a partition member having a height of about 20 μm by coating and patterning this by photolithography, curing (dry curing, firing) by applying heat at 300 ° C. to 400 ° C. for 30 minutes to 60 minutes is performed. A partition of about 10 μm of the photosensitive polyimide is formed and fixed on the head chip. Step 4
A groove-shaped ink supply path is formed on the surface of the head chip by wet etching or sandblasting, and an ink supply hole communicating with the ink supply path and opening on the lower surface of the substrate is formed.

FIGS. 6 (b) and 7 (b) show a state immediately after the above steps 3 and 4 are completed. That is, a groove-shaped ink supply path 6 and an ink supply hole 7 are formed, and a part where the common electrode 4 is located on the left side of the ink supply path 6 and a part where the right individual wiring electrode 5 is provided; Partition walls 8 (seal partition walls 8-1, 8-2, and partition walls 8-3) are formed between the respective resistance heating sections 3. The partition 8 is a seal partition 8 on the individual wiring electrode 5.
-2 is a comb body, each resistance heating section 3 and each resistance heating section 3
The partition 8-3 extending between the two has a shape corresponding to the teeth of a comb. With this arrangement, the fine ink pressurizing chamber section in which the resistance heating section 3 is located at the base between the teeth with the tooth-shaped partition wall 8-3 of the comb serving as a partition wall becomes the resistance heating section 3 Are formed as many as.

FIG. 8A shows a plan view of the print head 14 immediately after the above-described step 4 is completed (the plan view of FIG. 6B is rotated by 90 degrees in the counterclockwise direction). FIG. 8 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ of FIG. 8 (a), and FIG. 8 (c) shows many chip substrates 1 as semi-finished products that have been completed up to step 4. It is a figure which shows typically the silicon wafer assembly 18 formed respectively.

After the above step 4 is completed, as step 5,
The silicon wafer assembly 18 shown in FIG.
~ 30μm film top plate, thermoplastic polyimide as an adhesive on one or both sides very thin, e.g.
The one coated in 5 μm is the uppermost layer of the above-mentioned laminated structure, that is, the partition walls 8 (8, 8-1, 8-1) shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b).
8-2) and pressurized at a pressure several times higher than 9.8 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa while heating at 200 to 40 ° C. in vacuum,
This state is continued for several tens of minutes, and the top plate is fixed on the partition 8. Subsequently, T is applied to another vacuum device or sputtering device.
A metal film having a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm, such as i, Ni, Cu, or Al, is deposited on the top plate surface.

Further, in a step 6, the metal film on the top plate surface is patterned to form a mask for selectively etching polyimide, and then the discharge nozzle is formed by dry etching using a helicon wave in accordance with the metal film mask. A large number of holes of 20 μmφ to 40 μmφ are collectively formed on the top plate.

FIGS. 6 (c) and 7 (c) show steps 5 and 6 described above.
And the state immediately after the end of step 6. That is, the top plate 9 covers the entire area except for the common electrode power supply terminal 4-1 and the drive circuit terminal 2-1.
-2 and a partition formed by the partition 8-3 are also covered to form a fine ink pressurizing chamber 11 having a height corresponding to the thickness of the partition 8 of 10 μm, and the opening thereof is supplied with ink. It faces the road 6 direction. A height 10 that allows the opening of the ink pressurizing chamber 11 to communicate with the ink supply path 6.
A μm ink channel 12 is formed.

A discharge nozzle 13 is formed on the top plate 9 at a portion of the ink pressurizing chamber 11 facing the resistance heating section 3 by dry etching. As a result, 64
A large number of single print heads 14 for monochrome printing having one, 17 or 46 discharge nozzles 13 in one row are completed on a silicon wafer. The processing up to this point is performed in the state of one silicon wafer.

Finally, as a step 7, the silicon wafer is cut along a scribe line using a dicing saw or the like, divided into individual chip substrates, die-bonded to a mounting substrate, and connected to terminals by wire bonding or the like. By connecting, the single print head 14 for monochrome of the practical unit is completed.

In normal full-color printing, black (Bk) dedicated to black portions of characters and images is added to three subtractive primary colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). To use a total of four colors of ink. In this case, four nozzle rows are required. According to the above-described manufacturing method, the single print head 14 can be monolithically formed into four rows, and the positional relationship between the nozzle rows of each single print head can be accurately arranged by today's semiconductor manufacturing technology. It is possible.

FIG. 9A shows the chip substrate 1, the drive circuit 2, the drive circuit terminal 2-1, the resistance heating section 3, the common electrode 4, and the common electrode power supply terminal 4 shown in FIGS. 1, a single head element, that is, a single unit including each unit of an individual wiring electrode 5, an ink supply path 6, an ink supply hole 7, a partition 8, a top plate 9, an ink pressurizing chamber 11, an ink flow path 12, and a discharge nozzle 13. The chip substrate 1 in which the print head 14 is slightly divided
5 to form a full-color print head 16,
Thereby, four nozzle rows 17 are provided on one chip substrate 15.
It is a figure showing the state where (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) was formed. FIG. 9 (b) shows a state in which steps 3 to 4 shown in FIG. 6 (b) are completed in order to clearly show the configuration in which the single print heads 14 of FIG. Showing things.

As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the full-color print head 16 has four single print heads 14 as head elements, and the four head elements 14a, 14b,
14c and 14d are arranged side by side. Then, for example, yellow ink is supplied from the ink supply path 6a to the individual ink pressurizing chambers 11 of the head element 14a, and is discharged from the nozzle row 17a. Further, magenta ink is supplied from the ink supply path 6b to the individual ink pressurizing chambers 11 of the head element 14b, and is discharged from the nozzle row 17b. Further, cyan ink is supplied from the ink supply path 6c to the head element 1.
4c are supplied to the individual ink pressurizing chambers 11 and the nozzle row 1
7c. The black ink is supplied from the ink supply path 6d to the individual nozzle rows 1 of the head element 14d.
7d and discharged from the nozzle row 17d.

In step 5 of the above-described manufacturing method, a top plate 9 made of an ultra-thin film member having a thickness of about 15 to 40 μm is laminated on the uppermost layer of the chip substrate 1 (or 15). In this case, by heating and melting the thermoplastic adhesive on the back surface above the glass transition point to obtain adhesiveness, and by solidifying this after joining,
The top plate 9 is adhered on the partition 8.

[0022]

However, when the above-mentioned thermoplastic adhesive is heated and melted at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition point, if this treatment is carried out in a normal atmospheric environment, bubbles are formed in the molten adhesive layer. Mixed. As described above, the coating layer of the thermoplastic adhesive applied to both sides of the top plate 9 is coated in an extremely thin layer having a thickness of about 2 to 5 μm, so that some air bubbles are formed in this thin adhesive layer. When mixed,
The adhesive is removed from the adhesive surface by the amount of air bubbles,
Adhesion decreases sharply. That is, there occurs a problem that the top plate 9 is peeled off from the partition wall 8 to cause a product defect.

In order to solve this problem, in the above step 5, even if the thermoplastic adhesive is heated and melted, there is no possibility that the surrounding gas is entrained in the melting and bubbles are mixed into the adhesive layer. It must be done in the work environment. For this purpose, the semi-finished silicon wafer assembly 18 completed up to the step 4 is carried into the chamber of the vacuum press apparatus, the chamber is evacuated to a vacuum state, and the process of the step 5 is performed. Is suitable.

However, according to the above-mentioned method, although the problem of air bubble mixing was certainly solved, the following problems occurred. 10 (a) to 10 (d) are views showing a processing step by the above-mentioned vacuum pressing method in a conventional print head manufacturing step 5, and FIG. 10 (e) is a circle F in FIG. 10 (d). It is an enlarged view of the part shown, and is a figure explaining the malfunction which arises in the manufacturing process 5. FIG. In FIGS. 5A to 5E, the members are shown with a gap between them in order to clearly show the respective members, but in actuality, in FIG. In the state shown in FIG.
7 (c) and (d) show the state in which the members are in close contact with each other except for the press plate, in a separated state (with a gap).

In the vacuum pressing method in the manufacturing step 5, first, as shown in FIG. 1A, the silicon wafer assembly 18 is carried into a chamber 20 of a vacuum pressing device.
It is placed on a worktable 21 in the chamber 20. Approximately 0.5 mm between the silicon wafer assembly 18 and the worktable 21
And a cushioning member 23 made of a polytetrafluoroethylene sheet having a thickness of about 200 μm.

A top plate 9 is placed on the partition 8 on the silicon wafer assembly 18. The top plate 9 is formed by coating a thermoplastic polyimide layer 25 having a thickness of 2 to 5 μm on both sides of a polyimide film 24 having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm as described above. The thermoplastic polyimide layer 25 on the lower surface is used as an adhesive, but the thermoplastic polyimide layer 25 on the upper surface is coated to make the physical properties uniform on the front and back so that deformation such as curling does not occur on the top plate 9. It is not intended for bonding.

The thermoplastic polyimide layer 2 on the top plate 9
In order to prevent unnecessary adhesiveness of the adhesive 5, an adhesive control member 2 made of a release sheet such as polyimide is provided on the upper surface of the top plate 9.
6 are placed on top of each other, and a stainless steel plate 22
Are placed one on top of the other. In FIG. 1A, a press plate 27 is arranged above them in a standby state.

The stainless steel plates 22 above and below the silicon wafer assembly 18 have a primary purpose of improving the workability of taking the silicon wafer assembly 18 into and out of the vacuum press device. The material is adopted as a material having good heat conductivity so as not to hinder heat conduction to the wafer assembly 18.

In this state, the inside of the chamber 20 is as shown in FIG.
Is exhausted from the exhaust valve 28 and the silicon wafer assembly 18 is heated as shown by an arrow D in FIG. In this heating, the worktable 21 is first heated, and this heat is transferred to the stainless steel plate 22.
And transmitted to the silicon wafer assembly 18 via the buffer material 23.

When a predetermined degree of vacuum and a predetermined temperature are reached, the press plate 27 descends and the top plate 9 is moved through the stainless steel plate 22 and the adhesion preventing member 26 as shown in FIG. Is pressed toward the silicon wafer assembly 18 for a period of time.

As a result, the top plate 9 is attached to the silicon wafer assembly 18 by the adhesion of the molten thermoplastic polyimide 25.
It is adhered on the top, that is, on the partition wall 8. Thereafter, the heating is stopped and, as shown in FIG.
Rises to release the pressurization. Subsequently, as shown by an arrow E in FIG. 3D, a gas such as nitrogen is introduced through the introduction valve 29 to release the vacuum state, and the chamber is released. 20
Inside is returned to atmospheric pressure.

At this time, the problem shown in FIG. That is, by the pressing by the press plate 27, the lower surface of the silicon wafer and the cushioning material 23 contacting the lower surface of the silicon wafer come into close contact with each other, and the lower surface of the silicon wafer, that is, the opening to the outside of the ink supply hole 7 on the lower surface of the chip substrate 15 is opened. Is sealed by the buffer material 23, so that when the inside of the chamber 20 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, the space of the ink supply hole 7, the ink supply path 6, and the ink flow path 12 in the chip substrate 15 is reduced. Since it is not possible to return to the atmospheric pressure from the vacuum state, a pressure difference is generated between the outside (the space inside the chamber 9) and the inside (the ink flow path 12 and the like) of the top plate 9, and the top plate 9 is caused by this pressure difference. As shown in FIG. 3E, the phenomenon of being pushed (falling or sagging) into the ink flow path 12 often occurs.

As described above, when the top plate 9 falls into the ink flow path 12, the flow of the ink supplied to the ink pressurizing chamber 11, that is, the refilling property of the ink is impeded, and an image having uneven printing is formed. Is caused.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional situation,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer head having a structure in which a top plate can be reliably and easily installed in parallel with a substrate surface without being dropped into an ink flow path, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0035]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head, comprising a plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for discharging ink on a substrate surface, A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head comprising a plurality of discharge nozzles provided corresponding to a generating element and discharging ink in a predetermined direction by a pressure generated by the energy generating element, wherein an ink flow is provided on a surface side of the substrate. Forming a partition that divides the passage, penetrating an ink supply passage that communicates with the ink flow passage from the back surface to the front surface of the substrate, and mounting the head substrate on which the ink supply passage is formed to a worktable in a chamber. A step of mounting the head substrate through a buffer sheet having air permeability, and exhausting a gas in a chamber in which the head substrate is mounted. And pressing the top plate covering the ink flow path through the adhesive layer on the partition wall of the head substrate in the evacuated chamber by applying a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time, and pressing the top plate. After the end, a step of introducing a gas into the chamber.

And, for example, as described in claim 2, the adhesive layer is a thermoplastic adhesive layer, and the top plate is
It is preferable that the adhesive layer is pressed onto the partition wall while heating. The cushioning sheet may be, for example,
As described above, the filter material may be formed of a thin steel wire, or may be formed of, for example, a filter material formed of resin fibers.

Next, a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the invention of claim 5 includes a plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for discharging ink on the substrate surface, and corresponds to the energy generating elements. And a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink in a predetermined direction by a pressure generated by the energy generating element, wherein the partition partitions an ink flow path on the front surface side of the substrate. Forming, a step of penetrating an ink supply path communicating with the ink flow path from the back surface of the substrate to the front surface, and a step of forming a groove communicating with the ink supply path on the back surface of the substrate,
Placing the head substrate having the groove formed thereon on a worktable in the chamber, exhausting the gas in the chamber in which the head substrate is placed, and placing the head substrate in the exhausted chamber A step of applying a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time to press a top plate covering the ink flow path on the partition wall through an adhesive layer, and a step of introducing a gas into the chamber after the completion of the compression of the top plate. And is configured.

Preferably, the substrate is a silicon substrate, and the groove is provided in a direction intersecting a remote surface of the silicon substrate. Further, the groove may be formed as a mesh-like groove having a width narrower than the opening of the ink supply path.

Further, the ink jet printer head according to the present invention has a plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for discharging ink on the substrate surface, and is provided corresponding to the energy generating elements. An ink jet printer head having a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink in a predetermined direction by a pressure generated by an energy generating element, wherein the ink is provided upright on a surface side of the substrate and communicates with the plurality of ejection nozzles. A partition wall for partitioning the flow path, an ink supply path penetrating from the back surface of the substrate to the front surface and communicating with the ink flow path, and a groove provided on the back surface of the substrate and communicating with the ink supply path. It is composed.

Thus, the pressure difference immediately after the top plate bonding step is completed can be eliminated, and the top plate on the ink flow path can be reliably and easily installed parallel to the substrate surface.

[0041]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A to 1D are diagrams showing a vacuum press working process in a manufacturing process 5 of an ink jet printer head (hereinafter, referred to as a print head) according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 3D is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by a circle G in FIG. 4D and shows a state in which a conventional problem has been solved in the present embodiment. still,
1 (a) to 1 (e), in order to clearly show the respective members, a gap is actually provided between the members that are in contact with or in close contact with each other.

In the vacuum press working method in the manufacturing process 5 of the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 3A, the members of the roof shooter type thermal ink jet printer head are formed of a large number of chip substrates of a single silicon wafer. The silicon wafer assembly 30 in a semi-finished product state (before a top plate as an orifice plate is installed) is loaded into the chamber 31 of the vacuum press device, and is formed in the compartment.
Is placed on a worktable 32 via a stainless steel plate 33 having a thickness of about 0.5 mm and a cushioning material 34 having a thickness of about 200 μm. In this example, the structure of the cushioning material 34 is different from the conventional one. .

That is, the cushioning member 34 is made of a filter material made of a fine steel wire having good air permeability and strength. The filter material of the thin steel wire has a good thermal conductivity and a heat resistance of 400 ° C. or more, and is suitable for use as an auxiliary member in the bonding process at a high temperature as described above. Of course, if an adhesive that can be bonded at a low temperature is used without being limited to the fine steel wire, the buffer material 34 may be formed of a filter material made of resin fibers.

In any case, it has a thin fibrous structure, is sparse enough to maintain air permeability, and is uniform enough to prevent unevenness as a base that receives a pressing force for bonding the top plate. Any configuration having a high density is acceptable. If the silicon wafer itself has sufficient strength against the expected cracking stress, it is possible to use a cushioning material having no cushioning property.

The silicon wafer assembly 30 is mounted on the buffer member 34 having such a configuration. Then, on the silicon wafer assembly 30, ie, the partition wall 41 shown in FIG.
The top plate 35 is placed on the partition walls 8 (see FIGS. 8A and 8B). Also in this case, the top plate 35 is formed by coating a thermoplastic polyimide having a thickness of 2 to 5 μm on both surfaces of a film-like polyimide having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm. Further, an adhesion preventing member 36 and a stainless steel plate 33 are arranged on the top plate 35 in a stacked manner, and a press plate 37 is on standby above them.

Subsequently, the inside of the chamber 31 is evacuated through an exhaust valve 38 as shown by an arrow H in FIG. 1A, and the worktable 32 is heated to a predetermined temperature and placed thereon. The silicon wafer assembly 30 is heated. And the same figure
As shown in (b), the press plate 37 descends, whereby the top plate 35 is pressed against the silicon wafer assembly 30 via the stainless steel plate 33 and the adhesion preventing member 36, and the lower surface of the top plate 35 is melted. Top plate 3 made of thermoplastic polyimide
5 is adhered on the silicon wafer assembly 30, that is, on the partition wall. Thereafter, the heating is stopped, and the press plate 37 is lifted to release the pressurization as shown in FIG.
As shown by the arrow I in (d), outside air is introduced through the introduction valve 39, and the inside of the chamber 31 is returned from the vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure.

At this time, the top plate 3 bonded on the partition 41
Even if atmospheric pressure is applied from outside as shown by arrow J in 5,
The outside air introduced through the introduction valve 39 flows into the ink supply hole 42 through the cushioning material 34 having good air permeability as shown by arrows K1, K2, and K3 in FIG. Since the air immediately flows into the ink passage 43 and the ink flow path 44, there is no pressure difference between the inside and outside (up and down) of the top plate 35. Therefore, the top plate 9 as shown in FIG. The top plate 35 can be reliably and easily installed in parallel with the silicon wafer, that is, the chip substrate surface, without the problem of dropping.

FIG. 2A is a plan view of an ink jet printer head according to the second embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line MM ′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 1C is a view schematically showing a silicon wafer assembly in which a large number of chip substrates are formed.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the structure of the upper surface of the chip substrate 45 before the top plate is bonded is the same as the structure shown in FIG. 8A. That is, the chip substrate 4 shown in FIG.
5, a resistance heating section 46, an ink supply path 47, an ink supply hole 48, and a partition 49 (the seal partition 4).
9-1 and 49-2 and the partition wall 49-3) are shown in FIG.
(a) The resistance heating portion 3, the ink supply path 6, the ink supply hole 7, and the partition 8 formed on the surface of the chip substrate 1 shown in FIG.
(Seal partitions 8-1, 8-2, partition 8-3). The ink flow path 51 surrounded by the partition 49 shown in FIG. 2A is the same as the ink flow path 44 shown in FIG.
This is the same configuration as.

However, in this example, the configuration of the lower surface of the chip substrate 45 is different from the configuration of FIG. That is, FIG.
As shown in (4), a groove 50 communicating with the ink supply hole 48 is formed in the chip substrate 45 in step 4 which is a previous step. The end of the groove 50 is open to the outside at the outer peripheral end surface of the silicon wafer 52 shown in FIG.

FIGS. 3A and 3B respectively show a silicon wafer 52.
FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the shape and arrangement of the grooves 50 formed on the back surface of the present invention. In any of the embodiments, the groove 50
Are arranged so as not to be parallel to the orientation flat 53 of the silicon wafer 52 in order to prevent the silicon wafer 52 or the chip substrate 45 from cracking.

That is, in the example shown in FIG.
Are formed at right angles to the orientation flat 53, and in the example shown in FIG. 3B, the groove 50 is formed in a direction obliquely intersecting the orientation flat 53. Each of the grooves 50 has an ink supply hole 48 substantially on the center line thereof.

As described above, each of these grooves 50 is open to the outside at the outer peripheral end face of the silicon wafer 52, but it is not always necessary to open the outer peripheral end face. It is sufficient that the portion extends to a region protruding outside from the cushioning material on which the silicon wafer 52 is mounted. Further, the groove 50 is not limited to a shape in which linear grooves are juxtaposed as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). Curved grooves may be provided side by side.

FIG. 4 is a view showing grooves 50 formed in a mesh shape with a finer width than the opening of the ink supply hole 48. Even when the groove 50 is formed in this manner, outside air can flow smoothly into the ink supply hole 48 via the mesh-shaped groove 50.

In any case, it is preferable that these grooves 50 are formed before the ink supply holes 48 are formed.
The boring method can be performed by sandblasting, and wet etching can also be used. Further, the depth of the groove 50 is preferably 0.2 to 30% of the thickness of the chip substrate 45 which is usually about 600 μm, and more preferably 1 to 10%.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a silicon wafer assembly 52 ′ in which various members such as a resistance heating portion and a partition are formed on the front side of the silicon wafer 52 and a groove 50 is formed on the back side.
It is a figure which shows the processing state of the latter half of the vacuum press process in the process 5 which adheres a top plate with respect to FIG. Also, FIG.
FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by a circle N in FIG. 4B and is a view showing a state in which a conventional problem of the chip substrate after the vacuum press processing is completed is solved. The processing in the first half of the vacuum press working step in step 5 of the present example is the same as in the case of FIGS. 1 (a) and (b). However, in this example, it is not necessary that the cushioning material has air permeability. That is, vacuum press working can be performed using a conventional cushioning material.

First, after finishing the first half of the vacuum press working process as in the case of FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the press plate 37 is raised as shown in FIG. 5 (a). FIG. 5 (a)
This is the same state as that of FIG. 1 (c), and a stainless steel plate 33 and a normal stainless steel plate 33 are placed on a work table 32 in a chamber 31 of a vacuum press device in the same manner as the configuration shown by numbering in FIG. The silicon wafer assembly 52 ′ placed via the cushioning material 54 of FIG.
The top plate 35 adhered on the 2 ′ is shown, and the adhesion control member 36 and the stainless steel plate 33 that are placed in contact with each other and overlapped are shown. A press plate 3 is placed above them.
7 is in a standby state until the next processing.

Subsequently, in order to return the inside of the chamber 31 to the atmospheric pressure, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Introduce into 1.

At this time, in the present embodiment, the atmospheric pressure is applied to the top plate 35 adhered on the partition 49 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the outside air passes through the ink supply hole 48 and the ink supply path 47 via the groove 50 and
Therefore, there is no pressure difference between the inside and outside (up and down) of the top plate 35, so that there is no problem that the top plate 9 falls into the inside as shown in FIG.

As a result, the top plate 35 is
2, that is, it can be reliably and easily installed in parallel with the chip substrate 45. As described above, according to the second embodiment, even if vacuum press working is performed using a conventional cushioning material in a conventional processing procedure, the inside of the chamber after the completion of the pressure processing is restored to the original atmospheric pressure. At the time of returning, the outside air also flows into the ink flow path inside the top plate 35 at the same time to return to the same atmospheric pressure as the outside, thereby preventing the top plate from dropping. Further, since the arrangement of the grooves 50 is extremely dense, the pressing force from the press plate can be uniformly received over the entire surface of the top plate 35.
It does not impair the good adhesion of the top plate.

In the above embodiment, the pressure in the chamber before and after the pressure bonding process of the top plate is set to the atmospheric pressure by communicating with the atmosphere, but the pressure in the chamber before and after the pressure bonding process is the atmospheric pressure. Not limited to this, a gas such as nitrogen other than air may be taken in and out and set to a predetermined pressure other than the atmospheric pressure.
The pressure in the chamber before and after the gas is discharged may be made different.

Further, the present invention is not limited to a roof shooter type thermal ink jet printer head in which a top plate is an orifice plate having a discharge nozzle formed therein, but a so-called edge shooter type thermal ink jet having an orifice plate provided separately from the top plate. Needless to say, the present invention can be suitably applied to a printer head or an ink jet printer head in which pressure is applied to ink by a piezoresistive element.

[0063]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in the step of bonding the top plate to the partition wall by the vacuum press method, the gas is introduced into the vacuum device chamber after the completion of the pressure bonding process under a vacuum state. When the gas is introduced, the gas simultaneously flows into the inside of the top plate from the opening of the ink supply hole on the back side of the chip substrate, so that the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the top plate at the time of gas introduction can be eliminated. Without changing the processing conditions of the top plate bonding process, the top plate is prevented from falling into the ink flow path, and the top plate can be securely and easily installed parallel to the chip substrate surface, Accordingly, it is possible to reliably and easily obtain an ink jet printer head that forms a high-quality image without unevenness in ink refillability, that is, without printing unevenness, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A to 1D are views showing a vacuum press working process of an ink jet printer head according to a first embodiment;
(e) is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by a circle G in (d) and is a diagram showing a state in which a conventional problem is solved in the present embodiment.

2A is a plan view of an ink jet printer head according to a second embodiment, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line MM ′ of FIG. 2, and FIG. It is a figure which shows a wafer typically.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the shape and arrangement of grooves formed on the back surface of a silicon wafer according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another example of the shape of the groove formed on the back surface of the silicon wafer according to the second embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing a processing state in the latter half of a vacuum press working step of bonding a top plate to a silicon wafer in a second embodiment, and FIG. 5C is a chip after the processing is completed; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which a conventional problem of the substrate has been resolved.

FIGS. 6 (a), (b), and (c) are a schematic plan view and a sectional view showing a method of manufacturing a conventional roof shooter type ink jet printer head (print head) in the order of steps.

7 (a), (b), and (c) are upper details of a part of the plan view of FIGS. 6 (a), (b), and (c), and the middle is a cross section taken along line AA 'of the upper. The lower view is a sectional view taken along the line BB 'of the upper view.

FIG. 8A is a plan view of the print head immediately after the end of the manufacturing process 4, which is rotated 90 degrees in a counterclockwise direction, and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along the line CC ′ of FIG. (c) is a diagram schematically showing a silicon wafer on which the print head is formed.

9A is a view showing a state in which a head element including a single print head shown in FIGS. 6C and 7C is arranged in four rows to form a full-color print head, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which the manufacturing process 4 is completed.

FIGS. 10A to 10E show a conventional print head manufacturing process 5;
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a problem that occurs in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chip board 2 Drive circuit 2-1 Drive circuit terminal 3 Resistance heating part 4 Common electrode 4-1 Common electrode power supply terminal 5 Individual wiring electrode 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d) Ink supply path 7 Ink supply hole 8 Partition wall 8-1, 8-2 Seal partition 8-3 Partition partition 9 Top plate 11 Ink pressurizing chamber 12 Ink flow path 13 Discharge nozzle 14 Monochrome print head 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d Head element 15 Chip substrate 16 Full color print head 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) Nozzle row 18 Silicon wafer assembly 20 Vacuum apparatus chamber 21 Work table 22 Stainless steel plate 23 Buffer material 24 Polyimide 25 Thermoplastic polyimide 26 Adhesion control member 27 Press plate 28 Exhaust valve 29 Introducing valve 30 Silicon wafer assembly 31 Vacuum press chamber 32 Workbench 33 Stainless steel plate 34 Buffer material 35 Top plate 36 Adhesion prevention member 37 Press plate 38 Exhaust valve 39 Introducing valve 41 Partition wall 42 Ink supply hole 43 Ink supply path 44 Ink flow path 45 Chip substrate 46 Resistance heating section 47 Ink supply path 48 Ink supply Hole 49 Partition wall 49-1, 49-2 Seal partition wall 49-3 Partition partition wall 50 Groove 51 Ink flow path 52 Silicon wafer 52 'Silicon wafer assembly 53 Orientation flat 54 Buffer material

Claims (8)

[Claims] A plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for discharging ink on the surface of the substrate, wherein a plurality of energy generating elements are provided corresponding to the energy generating elements, and a predetermined amount of ink is generated by the pressure generated by the energy generating elements. A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head comprising a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink in a direction, comprising: forming a partition for partitioning an ink flow path on a front surface side of the substrate; A step of penetrating an ink supply path communicating with the path, a step of mounting the head substrate on which the ink supply path is formed on a worktable in a chamber via a buffer sheet having air permeability, Exhausting the gas in the chamber in which is mounted; and interposing an adhesive layer on the partition of the head substrate in the exhausted chamber. An ink jet method comprising: a step of applying a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time to a top plate covering an ink flow path and pressing the top plate, and a step of introducing a gas into the chamber after the completion of the pressing of the top plate. Manufacturing method of printer head. 2. The ink jet printer head according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive layer is a thermoplastic adhesive layer, and said top plate is pressed onto said partition wall while heating said adhesive layer. Manufacturing method. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the buffer sheet is a filter material made of a thin steel wire. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the buffer sheet is a filter material made of resin fibers. 5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for ejecting the ink on the surface of the substrate, wherein the plurality of energy generating elements are provided corresponding to the energy generating elements and a predetermined amount of ink is generated by the pressure generated by the energy generating elements. A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head comprising a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink in a direction, comprising: forming a partition for partitioning an ink flow path on a front surface side of the substrate; A step of penetrating an ink supply path communicating with the path, a step of forming a groove communicating with the ink supply path on the back surface of the substrate, and placing the head substrate having the groove formed thereon on a work table in a chamber Discharging the gas in the chamber in which the head substrate is placed; and partitioning the head substrate in the evacuated chamber. A step of applying a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time to a top plate that covers the ink flow path via an adhesive layer and pressing the top plate, and a step of introducing a gas into the chamber after the completion of the pressing of the top plate. A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head, comprising: 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate, and the groove is provided in a direction intersecting a remote surface of the silicon substrate. 7. The groove according to claim 5, wherein the groove is a mesh-like groove having a width smaller than an opening of the ink supply path.
The ink jet printer head as described in the above. 8. A plurality of energy generating elements for generating pressure energy for discharging ink on the surface of the substrate, wherein a plurality of energy generating elements are provided corresponding to the energy generating elements and a predetermined amount of ink is generated by the pressure generated by the energy generating elements. An ink jet printer head comprising a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting ink in a direction, wherein the partition wall is provided upright on the front surface side of the substrate and divides ink flow paths respectively communicating with the plurality of ejection nozzles, and a back surface of the substrate. An ink supply path penetrating from the top to the surface and communicating with the ink flow path; and a groove provided on the back surface of the substrate and communicating with the ink supply path.