JP2004284273A - Liquid droplet discharging head and liquid droplet discharging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid droplet discharging head which can surely hold a nozzle plate to a body member and can be made compact, and a liquid droplet discharging device equipped with the liquid droplet discharging head. <P>SOLUTION: A holding piece part 164 of a nozzle cover 160 has its shape determined so as to touch the nozzle plate 114 from near an outer edge part of the nozzle plate 114 without covering nozzles 140 in a state while the nozzle cover 160 is fitted onto a head case 154, and so as to be touched by an upper edge part 110E of a cap member 110 at the time of capping by the cap member 110. Since a part of the cap member 110 and a part of the nozzle cover 160 overlap, the liquid droplet discharging head 112 can be made compact. Airtigtness is kept high between the holding piece part 164 and the nozzle plate 114 by a packing 166. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a droplet discharge head and a droplet discharge device, and more particularly, to record a character or an image on a recording medium by discharging a droplet, or to form a fine pattern or a thin film on a substrate. Droplet discharge head and a droplet discharge device for the same.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In many cases, an ink jet recording head or the like that discharges ink droplets to a recording medium according to image information is configured to cap a nozzle with a cap member. By capping with the cap member, it is possible to prevent inadvertent evaporation of the ink from the nozzles and to prevent foreign matter from entering the nozzles. In addition, it is possible to remove foreign matter and bubbles by sucking the inside of the nozzle in the capped state.
[0003]
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration in which a suction cap is brought into contact with a nozzle opening to cover the nozzle with the suction cap.
[0004]
By the way, the nozzle plate is often guided and held by a holding member such as a nozzle cover from a peripheral edge of the nozzle plate to a main body member (for example, a head case) for attaching the ink jet recording head to the ink jet recording apparatus. On the other hand, the cap member is generally configured to be directly in close contact with the nozzle plate (nozzle surface) for capping. Therefore, it is necessary to hold the outside of the portion where the cap member is in close contact with the holding member. For example, in Patent Literature 2, as shown in FIG. 7, the holding member 14 is in contact with the nozzle plate 12 further outside (in FIG. 7, upper and lower sides) of the portion where the cap 16 is in close contact.
[0005]
As described above, in the conventional ink jet recording head, both a region where the cap member contacts the nozzle plate and a region where the cap member is held by the holding member are necessary, so that the size of the nozzle plate and the size of the ink jet recording head are further increased. Was invited. Note that such a problem is not limited to the ink jet recording head, but is widely common to a droplet discharge head that discharges a droplet.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-234151 A [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-7-314694
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the invention is to provide a droplet discharge head that can securely hold a nozzle plate with respect to a main body member and that can be downsized. An object of the present invention is to provide a droplet discharge device including a droplet discharge head.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention according to claim 1, a main body member attachable to a droplet discharge device, and a nozzle fixed to the main body member and formed with a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets A droplet discharge head comprising: a plate; and a holding member that holds the nozzle plate with respect to the main body member, wherein a cap member that caps the nozzle is opposite to the nozzle plate on the holding member around the nozzle. And a capping member is provided so as to contact the capping member for capping.
[0009]
In this droplet discharge head, the nozzle plate is reliably held on the main body member by the holding member.
[0010]
When the nozzle of the nozzle plate is capped by the cap member, the cap member contacts and caps the holding member from the other side of the nozzle plate around the nozzle, and the cap member partially overlaps the holding member. . Since there is no need to provide a region where the cap member comes into contact with the nozzle plate, the size of the nozzle plate can be reduced, and the size of the droplet discharge head can also be reduced.
[0011]
As the holding member, for example, it is possible to adopt a configuration including a holding piece portion that holds the nozzle plate between the main body member and the nozzle plate and holds the nozzle plate. Since the nozzle plate is sandwiched between the main body member and the holding piece, the nozzle plate can be reliably held. In addition, when the holding member has such a configuration, the cap member may be configured to contact the holding piece portion to perform capping at the time of capping.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pressing member for pressing the holding member and the main body member in a direction of relatively approaching. And
[0013]
This makes it possible to strongly press the holding member against the main body member and to firmly fix the nozzle plate to the main body member. The pressing member may be provided on one or both of the holding member and the main body member, or may be provided separately therefrom.
[0014]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, a sealing member is provided for sealing between the nozzle plate and the holding member or the main body member. And
[0015]
Since the sealing member seals the space between the nozzle plate and the holding member or the main body member, the sealing performance during capping can be further improved. It is preferable that the sealing member is made of an elastic material as described in claim 5, because the sealing member is tightly adhered to the nozzle plate, the holding member or the main body member by elastic deformation to obtain a high sealing property.
[0016]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, capping is performed by contacting the droplet discharge head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects with a holding member at least at a part of a periphery of a nozzle of the droplet discharge head. And a cap member.
[0017]
In this droplet discharge device, the nozzle can be capped by the cap member. Since the droplet discharge head constituting the droplet discharge device is the droplet discharge head according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the nozzle plate is securely held by the main body member by the holding member. . In addition, the droplet discharge head can be downsized, and the droplet discharge device can be downsized.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0019]
FIG. 1 shows a droplet discharge unit 112A of a droplet discharge head 112 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a droplet discharge device provided with the droplet discharge head 112. 102 is shown. The droplet discharge head 112 of this embodiment is a so-called inkjet recording head, and the droplet discharge device 102 including the droplet discharge head 112 is an inkjet recording device. The droplet discharge device 102 discharges colored ink droplets (ink droplets) from the nozzles 140 of the droplet discharge head 112 onto a recording sheet P as a recording medium, and records an image with dots formed by the droplets. Used for In FIG. 1, for convenience of illustration, the droplet discharge unit 122A is illustrated so that the nozzle 140 faces in the horizontal direction. However, in the droplet discharge device 102 illustrated in FIG. 2, the nozzle 140 is mounted such that the nozzle 140 faces downward. You. Of course, this direction is determined in relation to the recording paper P, and is not limited to the direction shown in FIG.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 2, the droplet discharge device 102 moves the carriage 104 on which the droplet discharge head 112 is mounted and the carriage 104 in a predetermined main scanning direction along the recording surface of the recording paper P (main scanning). ), And a sub-scanning mechanism 108 for transporting (sub-scanning) the recording paper P in a predetermined sub-scanning direction that intersects (preferably orthogonally) the main scanning direction. In the drawings, the main scanning direction is indicated by an arrow M, and the sub-scanning direction is indicated by an arrow S.
[0021]
The droplet discharge head 112 is mounted on the carriage 104 such that a nozzle surface 114S on which a nozzle 140 to be described later is formed faces the recording sheet P. The recording sheet is moved by the main scanning mechanism 106 in the main scanning direction. By discharging droplets to P, an image is recorded in a certain band area BE. When one movement in the main scanning direction is completed, the recording paper P is conveyed in the sub scanning direction by the sub scanning mechanism 108, and the next band area is recorded while the carriage 104 is moved in the main scanning direction again. By repeating such an operation a plurality of times, image recording can be performed over the entire surface of the recording paper P.
[0022]
One end of the droplet discharge head 112 in the main scanning direction is a home position of the droplet discharge head 112, and a cap member 110 is disposed at the home position. The cap member 110 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a concave portion on the upper surface side, and is moved up and down by a lifting mechanism (not shown). With the droplet discharge head 112 at the home position, the cap member 110 rises and caps.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 3, the droplet discharge section 112A of the droplet discharge head 112 includes a head case 154 formed in a rectangular frame shape. A mounting screw (not shown) is inserted through a mounting hole 158 of a mounting flange 156 provided on the head case 154, and the head case 154 is mounted on the carriage 104.
[0024]
In the frame of the head case 154, an ink tank (or ink cartridge) not shown, a control circuit for receiving a drive signal according to image information from the main body of the droplet discharge head 112, and the like (all not shown) are arranged. .
[0025]
The nozzle plate 114 is disposed on the side of the head case 154 opposite to the mounting flange 156. As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle plate 114 has a total of five plates including a nozzle hole plate 116, a common flow path plate 118, a supply path plate 120, a pressure generation chamber plate 122, and a vibration plate 124 which are aligned and stacked. And it is formed by joining by joining means such as an adhesive. In the nozzle plate 114, these plates constitute a common flow path 136, an ink supply path 146, a pressure generation chamber 142, an ink discharge path 148, a communication path 150, and an ink discharge port 152. Further, a piezoelectric actuator 144 is provided for each of the pressure generating chambers 142. In a state where ink supplied from an ink supply hole (not shown) is stored in the pressure generation chamber 142 via the common flow path 136 and the ink supply path 146, a drive voltage waveform corresponding to image information is applied to the piezoelectric actuator 144. Then, the diaphragm 114P of the piezoelectric actuator 144 bends and deforms, and the pressure generating chamber 142 expands or compresses. As a result, when a volume change occurs in the pressure generation chamber 142, a pressure wave is generated in the pressure generation chamber 142. The ink of the nozzle 140 (the ink discharge path 148, the communication path 150, and the ink discharge port 152) moves by the action of the pressure wave, and is discharged from the ink discharge port 152 to the outside to form a droplet (ink droplet). You.
[0026]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a nozzle cover 160 is mounted on the head case 154. The nozzle cover 160 includes a frame 162 disposed around the head case 154, and a holding piece 164 extending inward from the frame 162 and facing the nozzle surface 114 </ b> S of the nozzle plate 114. A sheet-like packing 166 made of an elastic material such as rubber or an elastomer is arranged between the holding piece 164 and the nozzle plate 114. Therefore, the holding piece portion 164 holds the nozzle plate 114 from the nozzle surface 114S side via the packing 166, and prevents inadvertent peeling from the head case 154.
[0027]
From the inner surface of the frame portion 162, a cantilevered pressing piece 168 extends obliquely toward the nozzle plate 114. The tip of the pressing piece 168 is engaged with the engaging portion 154F of the head case 154, and the elasticity of the pressing piece 168 in the direction of arrow R causes a force in the direction of arrow P1 to act on the nozzle cover 160. Thus, the holding piece 164 is pressed toward the nozzle plate 114, and the airtightness between the holding piece 164 and the nozzle plate 114 is increased.
[0028]
When the nozzle cover 160 is attached to the head case 154, the holding piece 164 contacts the nozzle plate 114 from the vicinity of the outer edge of the nozzle plate 114 (around the nozzle 140) without covering the nozzle 140, and At the time of capping by the member 110, the shape is determined so that the upper edge 110E of the cap member 110 comes into contact. The shape of the packing 166 is also determined so that the packing 166 contacts the nozzle plate 114 from around the nozzle 140 without covering the nozzle 140 and does not contact the frame 162 of the nozzle cover 160.
[0029]
In the present embodiment having such a configuration, the nozzle plate 114 is securely held by the nozzle cover 160 with respect to the head case 154, and the nozzle plate 114 is prevented from being inadvertently peeled off.
[0030]
For example, when the droplet is not ejected (when the droplet ejection device 102 is not used) or when the so-called maintenance of the droplet ejection head 112 is performed, the droplet ejection head is moved by the cap member 110 at the home position as necessary. 112 nozzles 140 are capped (see FIG. 3). At this time, the upper edge 110E of the cap member 110 is in contact with the holding piece 164 of the nozzle cover 160 and capping is performed, and a part of the cap member 110 (near the upper edge 110E) and a part of the nozzle cover 160 ( The holding piece part 164) overlaps. Therefore, the droplet discharge head 112 can be miniaturized (in contrast, for example, the upper edge 110E of the cap member 110 directly contacts the nozzle plate 114 for capping, and the holding piece portion 164 further moves the cap member 110 If it is configured to be located outside of the cap member 110, the holding piece portion 164 (nozzle cover 160) will be arranged to protrude outside the cap member 110, so that the droplet discharge head will be larger than in the present embodiment.) . Further, since the size of the droplet discharge device 102 can be reduced, it is possible to configure the device at low cost.
[0031]
In the present embodiment, the packing 166 is disposed between the holding piece 164 and the nozzle plate 114, and the airtightness between them is maintained high. In addition, the holding piece 164 is pressed against the nozzle plate 114 by the elastic force of the pressing piece 168 provided on the nozzle cover 160, so that the airtightness is further improved. Therefore, careless evaporation of the ink during capping can be more reliably prevented.
[0032]
At the time of image recording, the ink droplets (droplets) are ejected from the ink ejection ports 152 (nozzles 140) onto the recording paper P while the cap member 110 is lowered and the droplet ejection head 112 is main-scanned by the main scanning mechanism 106. Further, each time one main scanning is completed, the recording paper P is sub-scanned by the sub-scanning mechanism 108. At this time, since the holding piece 164 and the packing 166 are arranged around the ink discharge port 152 without covering the ink discharge port 152, there is no influence on image recording.
[0033]
The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but these embodiments show preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, various modifications, improvements, modifications, simplifications, and the like may be added to the above embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0034]
In the above description, as the sealing member of the present invention, the packing 166 made of an elastic material has been described, but the material and the portion of the sealing member are not limited thereto. In short, any material that can seal the space between the nozzle cover 160 and the nozzle plate 114 or the space between the nozzle cover 160 and the head case 154 by exerting a predetermined elasticity may be used. For example, a so-called elastic adhesive (an adhesive having an elasticity even in a cured state) may be provided between the nozzle cover 160 and the nozzle plate 114 instead of the packing 166 as a sealing member. In this configuration, the nozzle cover 160 and the nozzle plate 114 may be bonded to each other with an elastic adhesive. However, it is not always necessary to bond the nozzle cover 160 and the nozzle plate 114, and it is sufficient that the space between them can be sealed by the elasticity of the elastic adhesive.
[0035]
Further, as the position of the sealing member, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a configuration in which a ring-shaped packing 170 formed of an elastic body such as rubber is arranged on the outer periphery (side surface) of the head case 154 is possible. . In the droplet discharge section 174A of the droplet discharge head employing this configuration, the packing 170 is in close contact with the head case 154 and the nozzle cover 160, and seals between them. In this manner, in the configuration in which the contact member is in close contact with the nozzle cover 160 around the head case 154, the frame 162 may be pressed inward (arrow P2) by the elastic force of the pressing piece 168. It is preferable from the viewpoint of enhancing the adhesion. Further, it is preferable to provide a groove 154D for accommodating the packing 170 in the head case 154 to prevent the packing 170 from being inadvertently displaced or dropped. Instead of the packing 170, the above-mentioned elastic adhesive may be provided in a cured state.
[0036]
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the inner surface of the nozzle cover 160 may be coated with an elastic material 172. In the droplet discharge section 176A of the droplet discharge head, the elastic material 172 seals the space between the nozzle cover 160 and the nozzle plate 114 and the space between the nozzle cover 160 and the head case 154. Examples of the elastic material 172 include rubber, felt, and sponge.
[0037]
Further, a configuration may be employed in which the space between the outer periphery of the head case 154 and the nozzle cover 160 is sealed with an adhesive. In this configuration, the head case 154 and the nozzle cover 160 may be bonded using a general adhesive. Of course, the above-mentioned elastic adhesive may be used as the adhesive.
[0038]
In the above description, the pressing piece 168 is given as the pressing member of the present invention, but the pressing member is not limited to this. For example, a structure using a tightening force, such as a tightening member such as a screw or a tightening structure such as a caulking, or a structure using the elastic force of a clip may be used.
[0039]
In the above embodiment, the configuration of the droplet discharge head and the droplet discharge device according to the present invention employs a piezoelectric actuator as the pressure generating means. In addition, electromechanical conversion using electrostatic force or magnetic force is used. Other pressure generating means, such as an element or an electrothermal conversion element for generating pressure using a boiling phenomenon, may be used. Further, as the piezoelectric actuator, in addition to the single-plate type piezoelectric actuator used in the present embodiment, another type of actuator such as a vertical vibration type laminated piezoelectric actuator may be used.
[0040]
Also, in the above description, the flow path is formed by laminating a plurality of plates as the nozzle plate 114, but the configuration, material, and the like of the plate are not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the flow path may be integrally formed using a material such as ceramics, glass, resin, or silicon.
[0041]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording head and the ink jet recording apparatus for recording characters, images, and the like by discharging droplets (ink droplets) of the colored ink on the recording paper P have been described as examples. The droplet discharge head and the droplet discharge device are not limited to those used for ink jet recording, that is, for recording characters and images on recording paper. Further, the recording medium is not limited to paper, and the liquid to be ejected is not limited to colored ink. The “recording medium” may be any object from which droplets are ejected by a droplet ejection head. Similarly, as an “image” or a “recorded image”, droplets are deposited on a recording medium. All the dot patterns on the obtained recording medium are included. Therefore, the “recording medium” includes not only recording paper and OHP sheets, but also includes, for example, a substrate and a glass plate. The “image” or “recorded image” includes not only general images (characters, pictures, photographs, etc.) but also wiring patterns, three-dimensional objects, and organic thin films on a substrate. For example, production of a color filter for display by discharging colored ink on a polymer film or glass, formation of bumps for component mounting by discharging molten solder onto a substrate, and application of an organic EL solution on a substrate In contrast to the general use of droplet ejection devices for various industrial applications, such as the formation of EL display panels by discharging liquid onto the substrate and the formation of bumps for electrical mounting by discharging molten solder onto the substrate, The droplet discharge head and the droplet discharge device of the invention can be applied.
[0042]
In the above description, the droplet discharge device is configured to perform the droplet discharge while moving the droplet discharge head by the carriage, but a line type droplet discharge head in which the ink discharge ports 152 are arranged over the entire width of the recording medium is used. It is also possible to apply the present invention to another apparatus form, such as using the line type head and performing recording while conveying only the recording medium (in this case, only main scanning).
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, the nozzle plate can be securely held on the main body member and can be reduced in size.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially showing a droplet discharge head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a droplet discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view partially showing a droplet discharge head and a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a nozzle plate used in the droplet discharge head according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view partially showing another example of the droplet discharge head according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view partially showing still another example of the droplet discharge head according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a conventional ink jet recording head and a cap.
[Explanation of symbols]
102 Droplet discharge device 110 Cap member 112 Droplet discharge head 114 Nozzle plate 140 Nozzle 154 Head case (body member)
160 Nozzle cover (holding member)
164 Holding piece 166 Packing (sealing member)
168 Pressing piece (pressing member)
170 Packing (sealing member)
172 elastic material (sealing member)
P Recording paper

Claims (6)

A main body member capable of being attached to the droplet discharge device,
A nozzle plate fixed to the main body member and formed with a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets,
A holding member for holding the nozzle plate with respect to the main body member,
A droplet discharge head having
A droplet discharge head, wherein a holding member is provided so that a cap member for capping the nozzle contacts the holding member around the nozzle from the opposite side of the nozzle plate to cap the nozzle. A holding piece portion for holding the nozzle plate between the holding member and the main body member and holding the nozzle plate;
The droplet discharge head according to claim 1, further comprising: A pressing member that presses the holding member and the main body member in a direction of relatively approaching each other;
The droplet discharge head according to claim 1, further comprising: A sealing member for sealing between the nozzle plate and the holding member or the main body member,
The droplet discharge head according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: The droplet discharge head according to claim 4, wherein the sealing member is made of an elastic material. A droplet discharge head according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and a cap member that contacts and holds a holding member in at least a part of a periphery of a nozzle of the droplet discharge head,
A droplet discharge device comprising:

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