JP2003300325A - Process for making liquid ejection recording head and liquid ejection recording head made by the process - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process for making a liquid ejection recording head and a liquid ejection recording head made by that process in which a high reliability and a long lifetime can be attained while reducing the size. <P>SOLUTION: In the process for making the liquid ejection recording head comprising an orifice plate provided with a plurality of ejection openings, liquid channels communicating with the ejection openings, an energy generating means for ejecting liquid in the liquid channel part from the ejection opening, a common liquid chamber for storing liquid being fed to the liquid channel part, and an opening for supplying liquid to the common liquid chamber and being arranged to be bent along the end face of a receiving plane for supporting the orifice plate, the orifice plate is bonded to the receiving plane before being bent along the end face of the receiving plane. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head for recording on a recording paper by ejecting ink from a group of ejection openings provided on an orifice plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid jet recording apparatus supplies ink to a liquid jet recording head, for example, and drives ink droplet ejecting means such as a piezo element or an electrothermal converter provided in the liquid jet recording head based on image data. By doing so, an image is formed on a recording medium such as a sheet with an ink dot pattern. As described above, the inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from the ejection port of the liquid jet recording head is known as a recording apparatus excellent in low noise and high speed recording.

This type of liquid jet recording head is, for example, in the liquid jet recording head 15 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, 1 is an electrothermal converter (ejection heater 1a) which is an energy generator for ejecting ink. A wiring board for supplying electric power to the discharge heater 1a is a heater board formed on a silicon substrate by a silicon film forming process, and 4 is a support substrate formed of aluminum, ceramics or the like (hereinafter referred to as a base plate), The base plate 4 also functions as a heat sink that radiates and cools the heat of the heater board 1 generated by driving.

The heater board 1 includes a base plate 4
Die-bonded on top. Reference numeral 5 is a top plate forming an ink flow path, 6 is an orifice plate having a desired number of ejection openings 6a for ejecting ink to a recording medium, and the top plate 5 is formed in a concave shape on the bottom surface of the top plate 5. In addition, a nozzle 7 as an ink flow path communicating with the ejection port 6a of the orifice plate 6, a common liquid chamber 8 formed in a concave shape on the bottom surface of the top plate 5 and serving as a sub tank for supplying ink to the nozzle 7, a common It is composed of an ink supply port 9 for supplying ink to the liquid chamber 8. Also, 11
Is a chip tank in which an ink passage 11a for guiding ink to an ink supply port 9 from an ink storage tank or a sub-tank (not shown) disposed upstream of the liquid jet recording head 15 is formed.

The tip tank 11 includes a front plate portion 1
1b is provided, and the front plate portion 11b plays a role of joining and holding the region of the orifice plate 6 on the outer side of the discharge port 6a, and is attached and detached from a cap member (not shown) provided in the main body of the recording apparatus during the capping operation. It plays a role of supporting the orifice plate 6 so that the orifice plate 6 can sufficiently withstand the force and the pressure holding force. The orifice plate 6 may be supported directly by the front surface of the base plate (not shown).

The above-mentioned top plate 5 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polypropylene, modified polyphenylene oxide, polyphenylene sulfide, liquid crystal polymer, or a material such as ceramics, silicon, nickel or carbon. The orifice plate 6 is formed of a metal plate of SUS, Ni, Cr, Al or the like, a resin molded product such as polyimide, polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polyphenylene sulfide, polypropylene, or a resin film material. The area of the orifice plate 6 is larger than the area of the chip tank front plate 11b, and is bent along the end surface 11c. As shown in FIG. 5, the bent orifice plate 6A is fixed to the liquid jet recording head 15 at its end portion by the pressing plate 12 or by tacks (not shown), adhesion, welding, or the like. .

Next, an outline of the assembling process of the liquid jet recording head will be described. After the discharge heater 1a on the heater board 1 and the nozzle 7 on the top plate 5 which are opposed to each other are aligned so as to be matched with each other with high accuracy, by a joining means such as an adhesive agent or a pressure contact means such as a pressing spring (not shown). The heater board 1 and the top plate 5 are in close contact with each other to form an ink flow path.

Next, the chip tank 11 is assembled, and the ink supply port 9 of the top plate 5 and the ink passage 11a are connected.
On the other hand, the front plate portion 11b has the ink flow path end faces 1b, 5
b (heater board front end face 1b, top plate front end face 5b) is covered. At this time, the ink flow path end faces 1b, 5b
Is configured to project forward from the front surface of the front plate portion 11b by about several tens of μm to several hundreds of μm.

Next, the orifice plate 6 is joined to the ink flow path end faces 1b and 5b formed by the close contact between the heater board 1 and the top plate 5 by a joining means such as an adhesive. At this time, the front end surface of the front plate portion 11b is set back from the ink flow path end surfaces 1b and 5b as described above, so that the joining of the orifice plate 6 and the ink flow path end surfaces lb and 5b is not hindered. It has become.

In the next step, the orifice plate 6 is bent along the tip tank front plate portion 11c.
Further, the holding plate 12 is incorporated into the liquid jet recording head to fix the end portion of the orifice plate 6A. As an alternative to the fixing method using the pressing plate 12, tacks, welding, or adhesion may be used.

As a final step, the rear surface region of the orifice plate 6 outside the discharge port and the front plate portion 11b.
An adhesive, a sealant or the like is poured into a gap (a step of several tens μm to several hundreds μm between the front plate portion 11b and the ink flow path end faces 1b, 5b) formed between the orifice plate 6 and Joining is completed.

Generally, in the case of a liquid jet recording head, a recording liquid suction recovery operation by a cap 13 as shown in FIG. 6 and a wiping operation in a recovery device as shown in FIG. 7 are appropriately performed to clean the ink ejection surface. . Particularly, in a liquid jet recording head in which the orifice plate is joined to the liquid flow path (nozzle), the wiping blade end portion comes into contact with the orifice plate end portion 6c in the wiping operation b of FIG. It's easy to do. In order to avoid this, to prevent uneven wiping by the wiping blade and to secure the capping area 13a, it is necessary to have flatness of the face surface, and while satisfying these requirements, downsizing, cost reduction, high reliability Such a function is required. For this purpose, the orifice plate is bent along the end face 11c of the front face plate portion of the chip tank.

More specifically, in FIG. 7, the tip of the wiping blade slides on the face of the orifice plate, so that the wiping operation is repeated to produce 6c.
Separation may occur on the end faces of the orifice plates other than the above. If the edge portion of the orifice plate is peeled off even slightly, the peeling of the orifice plate progresses further due to repeated blade movements thereafter, resulting in irreversible damage to the head.

In order to avoid such a problem, there is a means such as an orifice cover (not shown) arranged around the orifice plate to protect the end of the orifice plate. However, the area required for capping becomes relatively small, and conversely, when trying to expand the area with this configuration, the parts become relatively large, which both increases the cost and increases the occupied area due to the enlargement of the entire printing apparatus. Becomes

Further, from the viewpoint of function, a step is formed between the orifice cover and the orifice plate, and when the residual liquid on the orifice plate is wiped off by the blade, the liquid remains at the corner of the step. Further, the contact may be insufficient due to vibration or jumping of the blade, which may cause uneven wiping. Further, since the step between the orifice cover and the orifice plate and the blade come into contact with each other in a one-sided contact state, and the blade is damaged, there is a problem in terms of reliability.

As a means for solving these problems, the orifice plate 6 is bent and fixed along the end portion 11c of the front face plate portion of the chip tank, so that a face surface composed only of the orifice plate is realized and flatness is secured. As a result, the size of the liquid jet recording head is made smaller by making the capping area and the face area the same, the reliability of the orifice plate peeling in the wiping operation is improved, and the durability of the wiping blade is improved because there is no step on the face surface. It has the effect of extending the service life.

[0017]

However, depending on the material of the orifice plate 6 and its thickness and size,
The bending characteristics are various, and depending on the characteristics, when bent, the bending will occur along the ridge line along the tip tank front plate end portion 11c, so that a desired shape cannot be obtained and a large shape as shown in FIG. The phenomenon that the shape has the curvature 14 frequently occurs. In these cases, the face side overhangs greatly, and it becomes difficult to secure the required flatness of the face surface. As a result, downsizing, improvement in reliability, and long life cannot be achieved.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, can reduce the size of the liquid jet recording head, is highly reliable, and is capable of achieving a long service life. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a liquid jet recording head according to the manufacturing method.

[0019]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head having the following (1) and (2), and a liquid jet by the manufacturing method. A recording head is provided. (1) An orifice plate provided with a plurality of discharge ports,
A liquid flow path communicating with the discharge port, an energy generating unit for ejecting the liquid in the liquid flow path unit from the discharge port, a common liquid chamber for storing the liquid for supplying the liquid to the liquid flow path unit, A liquid supply port or the like for supplying a liquid to the common liquid chamber is provided, and the orifice plate is bonded or engaged with the liquid flow path, and is bent along an end face of a receiving surface for supporting the orifice plate. In the method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head, the orifice plate has a step of adhesively bonding to the receiving surface before being bent along the end surface of the receiving surface. Production method. (2) An orifice plate provided with a plurality of discharge ports,
A liquid flow path communicating with the discharge port, an energy generating unit for ejecting the liquid in the liquid flow path unit from the discharge port, a common liquid chamber for storing the liquid for supplying the liquid to the liquid flow path unit, A liquid supply port or the like for supplying a liquid to the common liquid chamber is provided, and the orifice plate is bonded or engaged with the liquid flow path, and is bent along an end face of a receiving surface for supporting the orifice plate. In the liquid jet recording head described above, the orifice plate is configured to be adhesively bonded to the receiving surface by the method described in (1) above.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the embodiments of the present invention,
By applying the above configuration, an adhesive agent or a sealant having an adhesive force is applied to the gap formed between the tip tank front plate portion 11b and the orifice plate 6 rear area in the configuration according to the conventional technique before bending the orifice plate. Pour and join the front plate and the orifice plate. After that, by bending, it can be bent along a ridge line along the tip tank front plate end portion 11c to form a desired shape.

Specifically, an orifice plate provided with an ejection port group in which a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting a liquid are linearly arranged, a liquid flow path communicating with the upstream side of the ejection port, and the liquid. Energy generating means for generating energy used for ejecting the liquid in the flow path portion from the ejection port, a common liquid chamber for storing the liquid for supplying the liquid to the liquid flow path portion, and the common liquid chamber A liquid supply port for supplying a liquid to the liquid passage, the orifice plate being adhered or engaged with the liquid flow path, and the orifice plate having a large area in a direction perpendicular to the discharge port array. When manufacturing a liquid jet recording head having a structure in which the orifice plate is bent and bent, the orifice plate and the tip tank front plate portion 11b are adhesively joined before bending the orifice plate.

In this way, by bonding the orifice plate and the chip tank front plate portion 11b before the bending of the orifice plate, stress is generated by the bending rigidity of the orifice plate due to the bending, and a shape having a certain curvature R is formed. Even if this happens, at least the chip tank front face plate 11b side, that is, the face side, is adhesively joined, so that the flatness can be maintained.

By ensuring the flatness of the face surface,
By making the capping area and the face area the same, it is possible to downsize the liquid jet recording head, and it is possible to achieve space saving and cost reduction, such as high-density arrangement when mounting multiple heads and the resulting miniaturization of the recording device itself. it can. Further, it is possible to improve the reliability against the peeling of the orifice plate in the wiping operation. Further, since there is no step on the face surface, it is possible to prevent the orifice plate from floating when the wiping blade enters, and improve the durability of the head. In addition, since the capping area can be maximized by creating a smooth face surface without unevenness, the recovery suction operation can be reliably performed, and a complicated capping mechanism is not required. The cost can be kept low. Furthermore, the smooth face surface reduces damage to the wiping blade and enables the life of the recording apparatus to be extended. Further, since the recording liquid, which easily adheres to the uneven surface, is small due to the smooth surface and is reliably removed by wiping, good recording quality can be maintained for a long time.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1D are schematic views of the manufacturing process of the liquid jet recording head in this embodiment, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of the face portion of the liquid jet recording head. . FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the orifice plate 6 is aligned with the end surface of the ink flow path formed by the contact between the heater board 1 and the top plate 5 and joined by a joining means such as an adhesive. . FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in a state in which the chip tank front plate portion is bent along the ridge line 18.

Next, the characteristic structure of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The discharge path formed on the orifice plate surface with respect to the flow path formed by the close contact between the top plate 5 and the heater board 1. The outlet rows are aligned and fixed by a fixing means such as an adhesive (see FIG. 1A). Then, the back surface region of the orifice plate 6 and the front plate portion 1
An adhesive, a sealant having an adhesive force, or the like is poured into the gap 16 formed between 1b and 1b (see FIG. 1B).
Next, the orifice plate 6 is bent along the edge ridge of the front plate portion 11b of the chip tank 11 (see FIG. 1C). Furthermore, the orifice plate 6A
Is bent and fixed by the pressing plate 12 or the like (see FIG. 1D). By bending, the bending elasticity of the material of the orifice plate itself causes a stress to return to the original plane. However, the adhesive plate or the sealant having an adhesive force causes the orifice plate back region and the chip tank front plate portion 11b. Are joined together,
This stress is suppressed.

In the present embodiment, the bonding area 17 is defined by the orifice plate rear surface area and the chip tank front surface plate portion 11.
The structure is such that the entire surface b is joined.
The joint area 17 and joint strength should be selectively determined according to the bending rigidity determined from the material and thickness of the orifice plate. As a matter of course,
The joint strength must have sufficient margin with respect to bending stress.

Although this bonding strength also affects the performance of the adhesive or the sealant itself, it also affects factors such as the surface property of the orifice plate rear surface area and the chip tank front plate portion and the adhesion of dust and oil. When it is necessary to increase the bonding strength, it is more effective to perform pre-bonding treatment such as cleaning or surface treatment. Also, in order to cancel the stress against bending of this orifice plate,
It is also effective to apply a bending exceeding the elastic limit of the orifice plate. However, the effectiveness depends on the material of the orifice plate, so it is necessary to select it depending on the situation.

As a result, when the recovery operation is performed in the liquid jet recording operation, the recovery cap 13 enters the orifice plate 6 and seals including the contact and the nozzle row.
At this time, since the surface of the orifice plate is smooth and there is no step, the cap contact portion 13a can ensure the hermeticity even if the cap contact portion 13a comes into contact with the front surface portion of the orifice plate. Therefore, since it is not necessary to set the accuracy of the cap entry positioning portion to a high level, the recording device can be simplified.

Wiping operation performed after capping or after continuous ejection will be described. As described above, the wiping blade intrudes by the wiping operation to clean the surface of the face portion is a necessary operation for obtaining good recording. By bending the orifice plate, the bonding surface between the orifice plate and the chip tank or the bonding surface by fitting is a three-sided bonding. As a result, in addition to the reaction force with respect to the blade, the bending side surface can be added, and a larger reaction force can be obtained. Further, when an external force is applied to the contact surface to separate the contact surface, a force for shearing the orifice plate at a bent portion or the like is necessary because the orifice plate is bent. In general, the breaking force of the orifice plate in the shearing direction is much larger than the pressing force of the wiping blade against the surface of the orifice plate, so that the blade is not substantially peeled off.

Next, the production of the liquid jet recording head of this embodiment will be described more specifically along the steps of bending the orifice plate shown in FIGS. 1 (A) to 1 (D). In FIG. 1 (A), the orifice plate is provided with respect to the flow path formed by the top plate 5 and the heater board 1.
Position the discharge port opened in the orifice plate,
It is fixed with an adhesive or the like. At this time, the top plate 5 and the heater board 1 are bonded to the orifice plate 6, but there is a gap 16 of several tens to several hundreds of microns between the orifice plate 6 and the chip tank front plate portion. Has become.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, an adhesive or a sealant 19 having an adhesive force is poured into this gap.
As a result, in the bonding area 17, the orifice plate 6 and the front plate portion 11b are bonded and integrated. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (C), the orifice plate 6 is bent along the edge of the front plate portion. At this time, bending stress 20a of the orifice plate 6 is generated in the same direction as the bending direction 20. At the same time, a derivative force 20b is also generated. This derived force 20b is in the direction of expanding the gap 16 between the orifice plate 6 and the front plate portion 11b. However, since it is adhered and fixed in the previous step, the gap 16 does not change. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1D, the orifice plate does not float at the bent portion, and the flatness of the face surface can be maintained. As described above, in the bonding structure for ensuring the flatness of the orifice plate, the effect can be further enhanced by bonding before bending.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the liquid jet recording head can be downsized, the reliability is high, and the life can be extended. A head manufacturing method and a liquid jet recording head by the manufacturing method can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A to 1D are schematic views of a manufacturing process of a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the nozzle before bending the liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the nozzle after bending the liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view showing a configuration of a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram regarding capping of a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of wiping according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view around a nozzle of a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Heater board 4: Base plate 5: Top plate 6: Orifice plate 6a: discharge port 6b: Orifice plate face surface 6c: Orifice plate end 7: Nozzle row 8: Common liquid chamber 9: Ink supply port 11: Chip tank 12: Presser plate 13: Cap 13a: Capping area 14: Bend R 15: Recording head 16: Gap between orifice plate and front plate 17: Adhesion area 18: Edge ridge of front plate 19: Adhesive or sealant 20: Bending direction 20a: Bending stress 20b: Bending derivative force

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hirohisa Yamaguchi             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Yuuki Tajima             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Koizumi             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F-term (reference) 2C057 AF93 AP13 AP22 AP24

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An orifice plate provided with a plurality of discharge ports, a liquid flow path communicating with the discharge ports, energy generating means for ejecting the liquid in the liquid flow path unit from the discharge ports, and the liquid flow path unit. A common liquid chamber for storing liquid to supply the liquid to,
A liquid supply port for supplying a liquid to the common liquid chamber is provided, and the orifice plate is bonded or engaged with the liquid flow path, and is bent along the end face of the receiving surface for supporting the orifice plate. The method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the orifice plate has a step of adhesively bonding to the receiving surface before being bent along the end surface of the receiving surface. Manufacturing method. 2. An orifice plate provided with a plurality of discharge ports, a liquid flow path communicating with the discharge ports, energy generating means for ejecting the liquid in the liquid flow path unit from the discharge ports, and the liquid flow path unit. A common liquid chamber for storing liquid to supply the liquid to,
A liquid supply port for supplying a liquid to the common liquid chamber is provided, and the orifice plate is bonded or engaged with the liquid flow path, and is bent along the end face of the receiving surface for supporting the orifice plate. 2. The liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the orifice plate is configured to be adhesively bonded to the receiving surface by the method according to claim 1.