JP2001287362A - Ink jet recording head and ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recorder in which nozzles can be arranged at a high density while reducing the manufacturing cost. SOLUTION: The ink jet recording head comprises a channel forming substrate 10 defining pressure generating chambers 12 communicating with nozzle openings, and a piezoelectric element 300 provided in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber 12 through a diaphragm constituting a part thereof and causing a pressure variation in the pressure generating chamber 12 wherein an integrated circuit 15 is formed integrally on a barrier wall 11 sectioning each pressure generating chamber 12 of the channel forming substrate 10 in order to reduce the size of a head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure generating chamber which communicates with a nozzle opening for discharging ink droplets, which is constituted by a vibrating plate. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink droplets by means of a printer.

[0002]

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

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

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

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

This eliminates the need for attaching the piezoelectric element to the vibration plate, which not only allows the piezoelectric element to be manufactured by a precise and simple method such as lithography, but also reduces the thickness of the piezoelectric element. There is an advantage that it can be made thin and can be driven at high speed.

Further, in such an ink jet recording head, various integrated circuits, for example, a driving circuit for driving a piezoelectric element are mounted on a mounting substrate different from a flow path forming substrate in which a pressure generating chamber is formed. Provided and connected by wiring such as FPC.

[0008]

However, this F
In connection with a PC or the like, there is a problem that the head becomes large, the number of parts increases, and the manufacturing cost increases. Furthermore, since the number of wirings in the FPC is limited, there is a problem that there is a limit in increasing the number of nozzles.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus in which nozzles can be arranged at a high density and manufacturing cost is reduced.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow path forming substrate defining a pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening, and a part of the pressure generating chamber. A piezoelectric element provided in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber via a vibrating plate and configured to generate a pressure change in the pressure generating chamber. An ink jet recording head is characterized in that an integrated circuit is integrally formed on a partition that partitions a chamber.

According to the first aspect, the integrated circuit can be integrally formed without increasing the size of the flow path forming substrate, the head can be reduced in size, the number of components can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

A second aspect of the present invention is the ink jet recording head according to the first aspect, wherein the integrated circuit is a drive circuit for driving the piezoelectric element.

[0013] In the second aspect, a drive circuit for driving the piezoelectric element can be formed relatively easily.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the integrated circuit is a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the head or a temperature control circuit for controlling the temperature. In the recording head.

In the third aspect, the temperature detecting means or the temperature control circuit can be formed relatively easily.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the integrated circuit is ejection number detecting means for detecting the number of ejections of ink droplets ejected from the nozzle openings. In the recording head.

In the fourth aspect, the number-of-discharges detecting means can be formed relatively easily.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording head according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the integrated circuit comprises a MOS transistor.

In the fifth aspect, the integrated circuit is a MOS
It can be formed relatively easily by a type transistor.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, a terminal portion for connecting the integrated circuit and an external wiring for sending a drive signal to the integrated circuit is provided in the flow path. An ink jet recording head is provided at an outer end in a juxtaposition direction of a row of the pressure generating chambers juxtaposed on a formation substrate.

In the sixth aspect, it is easy to take out the wiring from the integrated circuit.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the pressure generation chamber is formed on a silicon single crystal substrate by anisotropic etching, and each layer of the piezoelectric element is formed of a thin film and a lithography. An ink jet recording head characterized by being formed by a method.

In the seventh aspect, an ink jet recording head having high-density nozzle openings can be formed in a large amount and relatively easily.

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

In the eighth aspect, the size of the ink jet recording apparatus can be reduced.

[0026]

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing an ink jet recording head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view and a sectional view of FIG.

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

In the flow path forming substrate 10, pressure generating chambers 12 divided by a plurality of partition walls 11 are provided in parallel in the width direction by anisotropically etching a silicon single crystal substrate. Is a communication part 13 which constitutes a part of a reservoir 100 which communicates with a reservoir part of a reservoir forming substrate which will be described later and serves as a common ink chamber of each pressure generating chamber 12.
Are formed, and are communicated with one end in the longitudinal direction of each pressure generating chamber 12 via the ink supply path 14.

Here, in the anisotropic etching, when the silicon single crystal substrate is immersed in an alkaline solution such as KOH, the substrate is gradually eroded, and the first (111) plane perpendicular to the (110) plane and the first (111) plane A second (1) which forms an angle of about 70 degrees with the (111) plane and forms an angle of about 35 degrees with the (110) plane.
11) plane, and the etching rate of the (111) plane is about 1/1 compared to the etching rate of the (110) plane.
This is performed using the property of being 80.
By such anisotropic etching, two first (11
Precision processing can be performed based on depth processing of a parallelogram formed by the 1) plane and two oblique second (111) planes, and the pressure generating chambers 12 can be arranged at high density. it can.

In this embodiment, the long side of each pressure generating chamber 12 is formed by the first (111) plane, and the short side is formed by the second (111) plane. The pressure generating chamber 12 is provided on the flow path forming substrate 1.
It is formed by etching until it reaches the elastic film 50 almost through 0. Here, the elastic film 50 is
The amount attacked by the alkaline solution for etching the silicon single crystal substrate is extremely small. Each of the ink supply passages 14 communicating with one end of each of the pressure generating chambers 12 is formed shallower than the pressure generating chambers 12 and maintains a constant flow resistance of the ink flowing into the pressure generating chambers 12. That is, the ink supply path 14 is formed by partially etching (half-etching) the silicon single crystal substrate in the thickness direction. Note that the half etching is performed by adjusting the etching time.

Each pressure generating chamber 1 of the flow path forming substrate 10
A drive circuit 1 for driving a predetermined integrated circuit, in this embodiment, each piezoelectric element 300,
5 are integrally formed. In addition, the flow path forming substrate 1
Outside the row of the pressure generating chambers 12 arranged side by side in the direction in which the pressure generating chambers 12 are arranged side by side, a terminal portion 17 connected to an external wiring 110 such as an FPC for sending a drive signal to the drive circuit 15 is provided. The circuit 15 and the terminal portion 17 are electrically connected via a drive wiring 16 formed on a peripheral wall on the longitudinal end side of the pressure generating chamber 12. The driving circuit 15
Is a semiconductor integrated circuit integrally formed on a flow path forming substrate 10 made of a silicon single crystal substrate by a semiconductor process.

An elastic film 50 having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm and made of an insulating layer such as zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ) is provided on one surface of the flow path forming substrate 10. The elastic film 50 has a pressure generating chamber 12 on one side thereof.
One wall.

On the other side of the flow path forming substrate 10,
A nozzle plate 20 provided with a nozzle opening 21 communicating with the pressure supply chamber 12 on the side opposite to the ink supply path 14 is fixed via an adhesive or a heat welding film. The nozzle plate 20 has a thickness of, for example, 0.1 to 1
mm, the coefficient of linear expansion is 300 ° C. or less, for example, 2.5 to
It is made of 4.5 [× 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C.] glass-ceramic or non-rusting steel. The nozzle plate 20 entirely covers one surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 on one surface, and also serves as a reinforcing plate for protecting the silicon single crystal substrate from impact and external force. Further, the nozzle plate 20 is connected to the flow path forming substrate 10.
May be formed of a material having substantially the same thermal expansion coefficient as that of the material. In this case, since the deformation of the flow path forming substrate 10 and the nozzle plate 20 due to heat become substantially the same, it is possible to easily join them using a thermosetting adhesive or the like.

Here, the size of the pressure generating chamber 12 for applying the ink droplet ejection pressure to the ink and the size of the nozzle opening 21 for ejecting the ink droplet depend on the amount of the ejected ink droplet, the ejection speed, and the ejection frequency. Optimized. For example,
When recording 360 ink droplets per inch, the nozzle openings 21 need to be formed with a diameter of several tens of μm with high accuracy.

On the other hand, the lower electrode film 60 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.2 μm and the piezoelectric layer 70 having a thickness of, for example, about 1 μm are formed on the elastic film 50 provided on the flow path forming substrate 10. When,
The upper electrode film 80 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.1 μm is laminated and formed by a process described later, and forms the piezoelectric element 300. Here, the piezoelectric element 300 includes the lower electrode film 60,
A portion including the piezoelectric layer 70 and the upper electrode film 80. Generally, one of the electrodes of the piezoelectric element 300 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric layer 70 are connected to each of the pressure generating chambers 1.
It is structured by patterning every two. Here, a portion which is constituted by one of the patterned electrodes and the piezoelectric layer 70 and in which a piezoelectric strain is generated by applying a voltage to both electrodes is referred to as a piezoelectric active portion 320. In the present embodiment, the lower electrode film 60 is a common electrode of the piezoelectric element 300, and the upper electrode film 80 is an individual electrode of the piezoelectric element 300.
Even if this is reversed for convenience of the drive circuit and wiring, there is no problem.
In any case, the piezoelectric active portion is formed for each pressure generating chamber. Further, here, the piezoelectric element 300 and a diaphragm whose displacement is generated by driving the piezoelectric element 300 are collectively referred to as a piezoelectric actuator.

A lead electrode 90 extends on the elastic film 50 between the upper electrode film 80 of each piezoelectric element 300 and the drive circuit 15 provided integrally with the flow path forming substrate 10. And each lead electrode 90 and the drive circuit 15
The elastic films 50 are electrically connected to each other through connection holes 51 provided in a region facing the drive circuit 15.

Here, a process of forming the pressure generating chamber 12 in the flow path forming substrate 10 made of a silicon single crystal plate and a process of forming the piezoelectric element 300 in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber are shown in FIGS. This will be described with reference to FIG. In addition,
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a region serving as a partition wall of the pressure generating chamber 12, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of a region serving as the pressure generating chamber 12.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a drive circuit 15 composed of a semiconductor integrated circuit is integrally formed in a region of the pressure generating chamber 12 formed in the flow path forming substrate 10 facing the partition 11 by a semiconductor process. The drive wiring 16 and the terminal portion 17 (not shown) are formed by forming and patterning a highly conductive material, for example, a metal such as aluminum or gold, or a conductive oxide.

In the present embodiment, the drive wiring 16 and the terminal portion 17 are formed simultaneously when the drive circuit 15 composed of a semiconductor integrated circuit is integrally formed on the flow path forming substrate 10. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be formed, for example, after patterning a piezoelectric layer 70 or an upper electrode film 80 described later.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, an elastic film 50 is formed on the flow path forming substrate 10. For example, in this embodiment, after forming a zirconium layer on the surface of the flow path forming substrate 10, the elastic film 50 made of zirconium oxide is thermally oxidized in a diffusion furnace at, for example, 500 to 1200 ° C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, a lower electrode film 60 is formed over the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 on the pressure generating chamber 12 side by sputtering, and is patterned into a predetermined shape. As a material of the lower electrode film 60, platinum,
Iridium and the like are preferred. This is because a piezoelectric layer 70 described later, which is formed by a sputtering method or a sol-gel method, has a thickness of 600 to 1000 in an air atmosphere or an oxygen atmosphere after the film formation.
This is because it is necessary to crystallize by firing at a temperature of about ° C. That is, the material of the lower electrode film 60 must be able to maintain conductivity under such high temperature and oxidizing atmosphere.
In particular, as the piezoelectric layer 70, lead zirconate titanate (PZ
When T) is used, it is desirable that the change in conductivity due to the diffusion of lead oxide is small, and for these reasons, platinum and iridium are preferred.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, a piezoelectric layer 70 is formed. For example, in the present embodiment, a so-called sol in which a metal organic material is dissolved and dispersed in a catalyst is applied and dried to form a gel, and then fired at a high temperature to obtain a piezoelectric layer 70 made of a metal oxide. Formed by using As a material for the piezoelectric layer 70, a PZT-based material is suitable when used in an ink jet recording head. The method for forming the piezoelectric layer 70 is not particularly limited. For example, the piezoelectric layer 70 may be formed by a spin coating method such as a sputtering method or a MOD method (organic metal thermal coating decomposition method).

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

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

Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, the piezoelectric element 300 is patterned by etching only the piezoelectric layer 70 and the upper electrode film 80. In the present embodiment,
At the same time, by removing the elastic film 50 in a region facing the drive wiring 16, a connection hole 51 serving as a connection portion with each piezoelectric element 300 is formed, and the connection hole 13 facing the longitudinal direction communication portion 13 of the pressure generation chamber 12 is formed. The through-hole 52 is formed by patterning the elastic film 50 and the lower electrode film 60 in the region to be formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, a lead electrode 90 is formed over the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 and is patterned for each piezoelectric element 300 to form a connection hole 51.
By connecting to the drive wiring 16 with each other, each piezoelectric element 30
0 and the drive circuit 15 are electrically connected to each other.

The above is the film forming process. After forming the film in this manner, the silicon single crystal substrate is anisotropically etched with the above-described alkali solution to form the pressure generating chamber 12 and the like. 3 to 5, the pressure generating chambers 12 are shown by dotted lines because they are not formed.

Further, on the piezoelectric element 300 side of the flow path forming substrate 10 in which the pressure generating chambers 12 and the like are formed as described above, a reservoir portion 31 constituting at least a part of the reservoir 100 is provided.
Are bonded to each other. In the present embodiment, the reservoir portion 31 is formed so as to penetrate the reservoir forming substrate 30 in the thickness direction and to extend in the width direction of the pressure generating chamber 12. As described above, the reservoir 100 communicates with the communication portion 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10 and serves as a common ink chamber for each pressure generating chamber 12.

For the reservoir forming substrate 30, it is preferable to use a material having substantially the same thermal expansion coefficient as that of the flow path forming substrate 10, such as glass or ceramic material. It was formed using a silicon single crystal substrate of the same material. As a result, as in the case of the nozzle plate 20 described above, both can be securely bonded to each other even at a high temperature using a thermosetting adhesive. Therefore, the manufacturing process can be simplified.

Further, the reservoir forming substrate 30 includes:
The compliance substrate 40 including the sealing film 41 and the fixing plate 42 is joined. Here, the sealing film 41 is made of a material having low rigidity and flexibility (for example, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) film having a thickness of 6 μm), and the sealing film 41 seals one surface of the reservoir 31. Has been stopped. The fixing plate 42 is made of a hard material such as metal (for example, stainless steel (SU) having a thickness of 30 μm.
S) etc.). The reservoir 10 of the fixing plate 42
Since the region opposing to 0 is the opening 43 completely removed in the thickness direction, one surface of the reservoir 100 is sealed only with the sealing film 41 having flexibility, and the internal pressure changes. Thus, the flexible portion 32 is deformable.

An ink inlet 35 for supplying ink to the reservoir 100 is formed on the compliance substrate 40 substantially outside the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the reservoir 100. Further, the reservoir forming substrate 30 is provided with an ink introduction path 36 that communicates the ink introduction port 35 with the side wall of the reservoir 100. In the present embodiment, the ink is supplied to the reservoir 100 by one ink introduction port 35 and the ink introduction path 36. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, according to a desired ink supply amount, A plurality of ink introduction ports and ink introduction paths may be provided, or the opening area of the ink introduction ports may be increased to enlarge the ink flow path.

On the other hand, the piezoelectric element 3 of the reservoir forming substrate 30
In a region opposed to the piezoelectric element 300, a piezoelectric element holding portion 33 capable of sealing the space is provided while securing a space that does not hinder the movement of the piezoelectric element 300. At least the piezoelectric active portion 320 of the piezoelectric element 300 is provided. Are sealed in the piezoelectric element holding portion 33. In the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element holding portion 33 includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements 3 arranged in parallel in the width direction.
It is formed in a size to cover 00.

As described above, the reservoir forming substrate 30 constitutes the reservoir 100 and also serves as a cap member for blocking the piezoelectric element 300 from the external environment. Can be prevented. In the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element holding unit 3
The inside of the piezoelectric element holding part 33 is kept in a low humidity state, for example, by evacuating the space inside the piezoelectric element holding part 33 or setting the inside of the piezoelectric element holding part 33 to a nitrogen or argon atmosphere. The piezoelectric element 30
0 can be more reliably prevented from being destroyed.

The ink jet recording head of this embodiment takes in ink from an ink inlet 35 connected to external ink supply means (not shown), and fills the interior from the reservoir 100 to the nozzle opening 21 with ink. After that, a voltage is applied between the lower electrode film 60 and the upper electrode film 80 corresponding to the pressure generating chamber 12 in accordance with a recording signal from an external drive circuit (not shown), and the elastic film 5
By deforming the lower electrode film 60 and the piezoelectric layer 70, the pressure in each pressure generating chamber 12 increases, and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle openings 15.

As described above, in the ink jet recording head of this embodiment, the driving circuit 15 for driving each piezoelectric element 300 is integrally formed on the partition 11 of the pressure generating chamber 12 of the flow path forming substrate 10. Because it was formed
The size of the head can be reduced. Further, the number of parts can be reduced, the manufacturing process can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, as a terminal for connecting to an external wiring, only a signal line of an integrated circuit and a power supply line for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element may be provided, and a head having a high density of piezoelectric elements is provided. However, mounting is easy.

In this embodiment, the example in which the pressure generating chambers are arranged in a line in the flow path forming substrate has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. A row of generation chambers 12 may be provided. This allows
Further, the wiring from the drive circuit 15 for driving the piezoelectric elements 300 arranged at high density can be easily taken out by the external wiring 110 such as an FPC.

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

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the drive circuit 15 for driving the piezoelectric element 300 is integrally provided on the partition wall 11 that partitions the pressure generating chamber 12 of the flow path forming substrate 10. Not limited to, for example, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the head, a temperature control circuit for controlling the temperature, or a discharge number detecting means for detecting the number of discharges of ink droplets discharged from the nozzle openings may be provided. You may. Further, when the piezoelectric element is sealed in the piezoelectric element holding section as in the above-described embodiment, a humidity control circuit or the like for controlling humidity detecting means for detecting humidity in the piezoelectric element holding section may be provided. Good. In any case, by providing these integrally on each partition wall that partitions the pressure generation chamber of the flow path forming substrate, the head can be reduced in size and the number of parts can be reduced as in the above-described embodiment. Costs can be reduced.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110) is used as the flow path forming substrate 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be used. Further, the reservoir forming substrate, the compliance substrate, and the like are not particularly limited as long as they have the same function, and may have other structures.

In the above-described embodiment, a thin-film type ink jet recording head manufactured by applying a film forming and lithography process is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a thick-film type ink jet recording head formed by a method such as sticking.

The ink jet recording head of each of these embodiments constitutes a part of a recording head unit having an ink flow path communicating with an ink cartridge and the like, and is mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the ink jet recording apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 7, the recording head units 1A and 1B having the ink jet recording heads are provided with detachable cartridges 2A and 2B constituting ink supply means.
The carriage 3 on which B is mounted is provided movably in the axial direction on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus main body 4. The recording head units 1A and 1B are, for example,
Each of them ejects a black ink composition and a color ink composition.

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

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, various integrated circuits such as a drive circuit for driving the piezoelectric element are integrally provided on the partition wall for partitioning the pressure generating chamber of the flow path forming substrate. Also, the integrated circuit can be provided integrally without increasing the size of the flow path forming substrate, and the head can be reduced in size. Further, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing process can be simplified, so that the cost can be reduced.

In particular, when the drive circuit is integrally provided, only the signal line of the integrated circuit and the power supply line for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element are provided as terminals for connection with external wiring. Also, there is an effect that mounting is easy even with a head in which piezoelectric elements are arranged at high density.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

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

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the ink jet recording head according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the ink jet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the ink jet recording head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flow path forming substrate 11 Partition wall 12 Pressure generation chamber 13 Communication part 14 Ink supply path 15 Drive circuit 16 Drive wiring 17 Terminal part 20 Nozzle plate 30 Reservoir forming substrate 40 Compliance substrate 50 Elastic film 60 Lower electrode film 70 Piezoelectric layer 80 Above Electrode film 300 Piezoelectric element

Claims (8)

[Claims] A pressure generating chamber that defines a pressure generating chamber that communicates with a nozzle opening; and a diaphragm that is provided in a region corresponding to the pressure generating chamber via a vibration plate that forms a part of the pressure generating chamber. And a piezoelectric element that causes a pressure change in the pressure generation chamber, wherein on a partition partitioning each pressure generation chamber of the flow path forming substrate,
An ink jet recording head, wherein an integrated circuit is integrally formed. 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit is a drive circuit for driving the piezoelectric element. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit is a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the head or a temperature control circuit for controlling the temperature. 4. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said integrated circuit is ejection number detecting means for detecting the number of ejections of ink droplets ejected from said nozzle openings. 5. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said integrated circuit comprises a MOS transistor. 6. The flow path forming substrate according to claim 1, wherein a terminal portion for connecting the integrated circuit and an external wiring for sending a drive signal to the integrated circuit is provided in parallel with the flow path forming substrate. An ink jet recording head provided outside a row of pressure generating chambers in a direction in which the pressure generating chambers are arranged. 7. The pressure generating chamber according to claim 1, wherein the pressure generating chamber is formed on a silicon single crystal substrate by anisotropic etching, and each layer of the piezoelectric element is formed by a thin film and a lithography method. An ink jet recording head, characterized in that: 8. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1.