JP2002103631A - Method of manufacturing ink jet printer head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture ink jet heads by a simple process with a good mass productivity. SOLUTION: In a method of manufacturing ink jet printer heads each having a nozzle plate with nozzle holes, a pressure liquid chamber communicating with the nozzle holes, a liquid chamber diaphragm constituting at least one wall of the pressure liquid chamber, an electrode substrate disposed opposite to a diaphragm constituting the liquid chamber diaphragm, and a driving means for bringing about deformation to the diaphragm, the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 obtained by appropriate machining to a substrate and the electrode diaphragm 1 obtained by appropriate machining to a substrate are jointed, thereby forming a multilayer substrate 100. Ink supply holes 6 are formed simultaneously to both the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 and the electrode substrate 1 by cutting the multilayer substrate by dicing. Then, the nozzle plate 3 having many nozzle holes 31 formed is jointed to the multilayer substrate 100, and the jointed body (multilayer substrate 200) is divided to chip-shaped ink jet heads by a desired size through dicing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of ejecting ink droplets only when recording is necessary and attaching the ink droplets to a recording paper.
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an inkjet printer head of an on-demand inkjet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers are required to produce extremely low noise during recording, to be capable of high-speed printing, and to be able to use inexpensive plain paper with a high degree of freedom of ink.
It has many advantages. Among them, the so-called ink-on-demand method, which discharges ink droplets only when recording is necessary, is currently the mainstream because it does not require collection of ink droplets unnecessary for recording.

[0003] Ink-on-demand type ink jet printer heads use a piezoelectric element as a driving means (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-51734), or generate ink bubbles by heating ink and discharge ink at the pressure. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-59911 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H5-50601 discloses a method using electrostatic force as a driving means.

In an ink-jet printer head used in an ink-jet printer, a required number of energy generators (piezoelectric elements, heating resistors, electrodes, etc.) for generating energy for ink ejection are generally arranged on a fine silicon or other base. At the same time, ink channels, pressurized liquid chambers, vibration chambers, etc. are formed using semiconductor technology such as lithography and micromachine technology, and nozzle plates formed using these technologies are joined together. .

[0005] Conventional methods for manufacturing an ink jet printer head include, for example, the following (1) to (1).
(7). (1) A method of manufacturing an ink jet head by bonding a substrate made of silicon or the like in which an ink flow path, a pressurized liquid chamber, and the like are formed with a glass substrate therebetween. In this case, the ink flow path,
The pressurized liquid chamber and the like are formed by etching a silicon substrate (JP-A-5-50601). (2) a diaphragm having an ink flow path and a pressurized liquid chamber;
An inkjet head is manufactured by bonding a nozzle plate to a substrate on which electrodes have been formed by direct bonding. (3) As a method of providing a supply hole for supplying ink from the outside to the ink jet head, a method for forming a hole for connecting an ink supply pipe in a concave shape in a chip of the ink jet head (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-152882) No.).

(4) Forming ink supply holes by screen printing on glass (JP-A-56-8995)
No. 6). (5) Before dividing into chips of the inkjet head,
Forming an ink supply hole by drilling
-123824). (6) A method in which an ink supply hole is formed by performing etching from the back surface before joining a vibration plate in which an ink flow path and a pressurized liquid chamber are formed to a substrate in which electrodes are formed. (7) A nozzle hole and a portion corresponding to a part of the pressure generating chamber communicating with the nozzle hole are ground and cut by dicing.

However, when these manufacturing methods are applied to the ink jet heads disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-50601, it is necessary to form an ink supply hole in each ink jet head, which leads to mass production. There was a problem that was not suitable.

The method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-123824 is not suitable for brittle materials such as silicon, because holes can be formed only in a certain size or more. Also,
New equipment dedicated to drilling is required.

In a method of forming an ink supply hole by etching from the back surface before joining a vibration plate having an ink flow path and a pressurized liquid chamber to a substrate having an electrode formed thereon, the strength of the ink supply hole due to the opening is increased. Due to the shortage, the yield is likely to decrease in the post-process.

On the other hand, when a plurality of ink jet heads are manufactured using a substrate having ink supply holes formed in advance,
It becomes impossible to apply the spin coating method of a photosensitive resist necessary for etching used for performing various fine processings on a substrate.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the production of an ink jet head. Drilling process for forming supply holes and splitting process for dividing the laminated substrate into many chips are possible, making it possible to easily and efficiently manufacture many inkjet head chips with the same equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a head, and thereby to provide an ink jet head having a structure in which supply and introduction of ink to an ink flow path of the ink jet head are reliable.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head, comprising: a nozzle plate having one or a plurality of nozzle holes for discharging ink droplets; Pressurized liquid chamber, a substrate subjected to appropriate processing, and a liquid chamber diaphragm constituting at least one wall of the pressurized liquid chamber, an electrode portion processed on the substrate, and the liquid chamber An electrode substrate disposed opposite to the diaphragm constituting the diaphragm, and a driving means for forming a thin plate laminated structure by electrostatic force, a piezoelectric element, a heating resistor, and the like, and causing the diaphragm to deform; A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head in which the pressurized liquid chamber is formed by a nozzle plate and a liquid chamber vibration plate, comprising: a bonding step of bonding the liquid chamber vibration plate and an electrode substrate; and a liquid after the bonding. Room diaphragm and electricity Both the substrate (multilayer substrate by bonding)
And a dividing step of dividing the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate (laminated substrate) after drilling into head chips of a predetermined size. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the first aspect, wherein the perforating step is a cutting step by dicing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the first aspect, wherein the perforating step and the dividing step are cutting steps by dicing, which are simultaneously performed using a single blade dicer. I do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the first aspect, wherein the perforating step and the dividing step are cutting steps by dicing, which are simultaneously performed using a dual blade dicer. I do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of the third or fourth aspect, the width of the ink supply hole is arbitrarily changed by exchanging a dicer blade in the hole making step. .

A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 6 is the method according to claim 3, 4 or 5.
In the hole making step, the depth of the ink supply hole (the dimension in the thickness direction of the vibration plate and the electrode substrate) is arbitrarily changed by replacing the blade of the dicer.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the first aspect, wherein an ink supply hole is formed in the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate joined in the joining step. A nozzle plate is joined to a joint between the substrate and the electrode substrate to form a joined body, and the joined body is divided into head chips of a predetermined size in a dividing step.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a manufacturing process thereof. The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present embodiment is directed to the nozzle plate 3 having the nozzle holes 31 formed therein.
And a pressurized liquid chamber 4 communicating with the nozzle hole 31, a liquid chamber diaphragm 2 formed by appropriately processing the substrate and forming at least one wall of the pressurized liquid chamber 4, and an electrode An electrode substrate (electrostatic actuator) 1 which is formed by processing
1 is a method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head including a driving means (not shown) for causing deformation, and a pressurized liquid chamber 4 formed by a nozzle plate 3 and a liquid chamber vibration plate 2.

In other words, the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 2 (see also FIG. 1) uses the electrode substrate 1, the liquid chamber diaphragm 2, the nozzle plate 3, the pressurized liquid chamber 4, the diaphragm 21, and the diaphragm 21. A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head including a driving means for causing deformation, comprising: a liquid chamber vibration plate 2 obtained by appropriately processing a substrate; and an electrode substrate 1 obtained by appropriately processing a substrate. To form a laminated substrate 100, and by cutting the laminated substrate by dicing, ink supply holes 6 are formed in both the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 and the electrode substrate 1.
Is formed, a nozzle plate 3 having a large number of nozzle holes 31 formed thereon is joined to the laminated substrate 200, and the joined body is subjected to dicing to divide it into a large number of chip-shaped inkjet printer heads of a predetermined size. Things.

As described above, the method of manufacturing the ink jet head shown in FIG. 2 includes the first joining step of joining the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 and the electrode substrate 1 and the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 and the electrode substrate 1 after the joining.
And a second bonding step of bonding the nozzle plate 3 to the bonded body after drilling, and a dividing step of dividing the bonded body into a desired size. Consists of

The above-mentioned ink jet head uses a static electricity to suck and vibrate the vibrating plate 21, thereby changing the volume of the pressurized liquid chamber 4 communicating with the nozzle hole 31 to discharge ink droplets. belongs to. Needless to say, a type using a piezoelectric element or a type using a heating element as a driving unit other than the electrostatic force can also be adopted. This example is of a side shooter type in which ink droplets are ejected from nozzle holes 31 formed in the upper surface of the substrate, but an edge shooter type in which ink droplets are ejected from nozzle holes provided at the end of the substrate. May be.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure and manufacturing process of the ink jet head will be described in more detail. This ink jet head has a laminated structure in which three substrates, that is, an electrode substrate 1 (electrostatic actuator), a liquid chamber diaphragm 2 and a nozzle plate 3 are stacked. The electrode substrate 1 is made of, for example, single crystal silicon. Further, the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 is made of, for example, single-crystal silicon, and the bottom is the diaphragm 2.
A pressurized liquid chamber 4 functioning as 1 and a fluid resistance 5 for communicating the ink supply hole 6 with the pressurized liquid chamber 4 are provided.

The nozzle plate 3 joined to the upper surface of the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 is made of, for example, silicon, glass, plastic,
A single-layer thin plate made of metal (such as stainless steel) or resin, or a laminated thin plate of these, and nozzle holes 31 corresponding to the number thereof are formed at positions corresponding to the pressurized liquid chamber 4. The fluid resistance 5 may be formed on the nozzle plate 3. By joining the nozzle plate 3 and the liquid chamber diaphragm 2, the pressurized liquid chamber 4 and the fluid resistance 5 communicating with the nozzle hole 31 are defined.

On the upper surface of the electrode substrate 1 joined to the lower surface of the liquid chamber diaphragm 2, a vibration chamber 22 and individual electrodes 11 are formed. The vibration chamber 22 is formed by joining the electrode substrates 1, and the individual electrodes 11 are arranged at respective positions corresponding to the respective vibration plates 21. An ink supply hole 6 is provided in the electrode substrate 1 and the liquid chamber diaphragm 2. The size of the ink supply hole 6 can be arbitrarily changed according to the size of the fluid resistance 5 and the number of the nozzle holes 31.

After joining the electrode substrate 1 and the liquid chamber diaphragm 2,
The vibration chamber 22 is hermetically sealed from outside air with a sealing material 7 such as an epoxy resin. At this time, the distance between the individual electrodes 11 of the vibration chamber 22 and the vibration plate 21 is maintained at about 0.2 μm. Further, an inorganic film formed in a vacuum or in the air may be used in addition to the sealing materials mentioned here.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2, an ink supply hole 6 is formed in the laminated substrate 100 in which the electrode substrate 1 and the liquid chamber diaphragm 2 are joined, and the nozzle plate 3 is further joined to the laminated substrate 200. After that, chip division is performed by, for example, dicing.

Although FIG. 1 shows a cross section of one ink jet head, actually, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of ink jet head flow path patterns are formed on a wafer-like liquid chamber vibration plate 2. After bonding the electrode substrate 1 on which the individual electrodes 11 of the plurality of inkjet heads are formed, the ink supply holes 6 are punched, and the nozzles having the nozzle holes 31 of the plurality of inkjet heads are formed. The plate 3 is joined, a predetermined portion is cut by dicing or the like, and divided into individual inkjet head chips. As described above, according to the method of the present invention, a plurality of ink jet heads can be manufactured at the same time, which is excellent in mass productivity.

[0029]

As apparent from the above description, the following effects can be obtained according to the present invention. (1) Advantageous Effects of the Invention According to the first aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head includes joining a liquid chamber diaphragm and an electrode substrate, and supplying ink to both the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate after the joining. A hole forming process is performed to form a hole, and the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate after the hole formation are divided into desired sizes. As described above, since the ink supply holes are formed not in the divided chip state but in the bonded substrate state before the division,
A low-cost inkjet printer head and an inkjet printer equipped with this head can be stably mass-produced.

(2) Effect of the invention of claim 2 Since the drilling is performed by cutting using dicing, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, it is possible to easily and efficiently perform drilling. There is an effect that can be.

(3) Advantages of the Invention of Claim 3 Since the drilling step and the dividing step are cutting steps by dicing, which are simultaneously performed using a single blade dicer, the effects of the invention of claim 1 are added. In addition, there is an effect that drilling can be performed extremely simply and efficiently.

(4) Effect of the invention of claim 4 Since the drilling step and the division step are cutting steps by dicing, which are simultaneously performed using a dual blade dicer, the effect of the invention of claim 1 is extremely high. There is an effect that drilling can be performed simply and efficiently.

(5) Effect of the Invention of Claim 5 In the hole making process, the width of the ink supply hole is arbitrarily changed by replacing the blade of the dicer, so that the effect of the invention of claim 1 is added. In addition, there is an effect that the boring of the ink supply holes having different sizes can be simply and efficiently performed.

(6) Effect of the invention of claim 6 In the hole making step, the depth of the ink supply hole is arbitrarily changed by replacing the blade of the dicer, so that the effect of the invention of claim 1 is added. Accordingly, there is an effect that the boring of the ink supply holes having different sizes can be performed easily and efficiently.

(7) Advantageous Effects of the Invention After forming the ink supply holes in the vibration plate and the electrode substrate joined in the joining step, the nozzle plate is joined to the joined product of the vibration plate and the electrode substrate. The joined body is divided into a predetermined size in the dividing step to form a chip-shaped inkjet printer head. Therefore, the inkjet printer head which is lower in cost than the invention of claim 1 and this head are used. The installed inkjet printer can be stably mass-produced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing process of the ink jet head of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 electrode substrate (electrostatic actuator) 2 liquid chamber diaphragm 3 nozzle plate 4 pressurized liquid chamber 5 fluid resistance 6 ink supply hole 7 sealing material 11 individual electrode 21 diaphragm 22 vibration chamber 31 nozzle hole

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle plate having a nozzle hole formed therein, a pressurized liquid chamber communicating with the nozzle hole, and an appropriate processing performed on a substrate, and at least one wall of the pressurized liquid chamber is formed. A liquid chamber diaphragm to be processed, an electrode substrate formed by processing an electrode portion on the substrate, and an electrode substrate disposed to face the diaphragm constituting the liquid chamber diaphragm, and a driving unit for causing the diaphragm to deform. A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head in which the pressurized liquid chamber is formed by a nozzle plate and a liquid chamber vibration plate, comprising: a bonding step of bonding the liquid chamber vibration plate to an electrode substrate; A hole forming process for forming ink supply holes in both the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate, and a dividing step for dividing the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate into head chips of a predetermined size. Ink jets characterized by Manufacturing method of printer head. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the perforating step is a cutting step by dicing. 3. The method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 1, wherein the perforating step and the dividing step are cutting steps by dicing, which are performed simultaneously using a single blade dicer. 4. The method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 1, wherein the perforating step and the dividing step are cutting steps by dicing, which are performed simultaneously using a dual blade dicer. 5. The method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 3, wherein in the hole making step, the width of the ink supply hole is arbitrarily changed by replacing a blade of a dicer. 6. The method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 3, wherein in the hole making step, the depth of the ink supply hole is arbitrarily changed by replacing a blade of a dicer. . 7. An ink supply hole is formed in the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate joined in the joining step, and then the nozzle plate is joined and joined to a joint between the liquid chamber diaphragm and the electrode substrate. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the joined body is divided into head chips of a predetermined size in the dividing step.