JP2006218712A - Liquid drop ejection head and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid drop ejection head obtaining stable ejection characteristics by maintaining water repellency for a long period and also to provide its manufacturing method, and an image forming device forming stable images having high image quality by being mounted with the liquid drop ejection head. <P>SOLUTION: In a nozzle plate 3, a resin member 32 such as a polyimide film or the like is bonded on a high rigid member 31 via an adhesive agent 33 to constitute a nozzle forming member 30 having nozzles 4, and a water repellent treated layer 40 of a multi-layered structure formed by alternately laminating a binding layer of an SiO<SB>2</SB>thin film layer 34 and a fluorine-based water repellent layer 35 is provided on the surface of the resin member 32 constituting the nozzle forming member 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head and an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, and a multifunction machine of these, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus is known. The ink jet recording apparatus uses a liquid discharge head as a recording head, and is a recording medium such as recording paper (hereinafter referred to as “paper”, but the material is not limited to paper, and the recording medium, transfer paper, transfer material, Recording is also performed by ejecting ink droplets as a recording liquid onto the recording material) (image formation, printing, printing, printing, etc. are also synonymous).

  By the way, since the liquid ejection head performs recording by ejecting droplets from the nozzles, the shape and accuracy of the nozzles greatly affect the ejection characteristics of the ink droplets. Further, it is known that the characteristics of the surface of the nozzle forming member forming the nozzle holes also affect the ink droplet ejection characteristics. For example, if ink adheres to the periphery of the nozzle hole on the surface of the nozzle forming member and a non-uniform ink pool occurs, the ink droplet ejection direction is bent, the ink droplet size varies, or the ink droplet It is known that inconveniences such as unstable flight speed occur.

  Therefore, in the liquid discharge head, an ink repellent film (also referred to as a water repellent layer or a water repellent film) is formed on the discharge side surface of the nozzle forming member to provide ink repellency, and the surface uniformity of the nozzle forming member. To stabilize the flight characteristics of the droplets.

  By the way, although a resinous film member is preferably used as the nozzle forming member, when the resin film is used as the nozzle forming member, an ink repellent film is formed on the surface of the resin material. Adhesiveness with a water-repellent agent (water repellent) is not so good. In particular, when a fluorine-based water repellent is used, it is very difficult to apply directly to a resin film.

  For this reason, the surface of the resin material is roughened to form fine irregularities, and a water repellent is applied on the surface to improve the adhesion, but sufficient adhesion can be secured. Not in. In other words, ink repellency is obtained in the initial stage after application, but the surface is rubbed by wiping performed to remove droplets and dust adhering to the surface of the nozzle forming member and the nozzle opening. The ink repellent layer is gradually peeled off due to the insufficient property, and the ink repellency is deteriorated.

Therefore, in order to enhance the adhesion between the nozzle forming member and the ink repellent film, as described in Patent Document 1, an organic resin containing a copolymer containing tetrafluoroethylene as a component on one surface of a support base. It is known to form the layer as a water repellent layer.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-305582

In addition, as described in Patent Document 2, a relatively thick coating layer made of a fluoropolymer is provided on the surface of the nozzle forming member, and excimer laser is irradiated from the back side to perform nozzle hole processing. Are known.
JP-A-6-87216

Furthermore, as described in Patent Document 3, an island-like thin layer of an inorganic oxide is formed between the nozzle forming member and the water repellent layer, and a thin layer material (for example, SiO ₂ , TiO _2, etc.), A head that achieves both water repellency and excimer laser processability by specifying the thickness of the thin layer is also known.
JP 2003-94665 A JP 2003-341070 A

Further, as described in Patent Document 5, a fine particle layer containing fine particles of an organic material and a water-repellent layer are sequentially laminated on the surface of the organic resin member to achieve both wiping improvement and processing accuracy by an excimer laser. The head is also known.
JP 2003-127386 A

  Furthermore, as described in Patent Document 5,

  By the way, the above-described excimer laser processing apparatus is suitable as a laser processing apparatus for irradiating the nozzle forming member with laser light to perform groove processing or hole processing. This laser processing apparatus generally projects an excimer laser oscillator as a laser light source that emits excimer laser light, a mask having an opening pattern of an ejection port, and an opening pattern of the mask onto a nozzle forming member by the excimer laser light. It has an optical system.

However, when the nozzle hole processing is performed by excimer laser processing or the like, if the nozzle forming member is formed of polyimide or the like, workability by excimer laser can be secured. However, since the SiO ₂ film has poor processability by excimer laser, clean nozzle holes It becomes impossible to process, and irregular shaped nozzle holes are generated.

Therefore, in addition to the head described in Patent Document 5 described above, as described in Patent Document 6, a very thin SiO ₂ film having a thickness of 1 to 300 mm and a fluorine-based water repellent as described in Patent Document 6 is used. There has been proposed a head that improves the durability against wiping and coats excimer laser to ensure workability.

  On the other hand, when the excimer laser is used to process and form holes serving as ejection openings, by-products generated during laser processing adhere to the processing surface of the nozzle forming member. Accordingly, it has been pointed out that the surface energy of the part to which the by-product is attached becomes high and the wettability with respect to the recording liquid becomes high, that is, the surface becomes hydrophilic.

Therefore, it is important to prevent an increase in the resin surface energy due to by-products generated during laser processing, that is, hydrophilicity. In order to avoid an increase in the resin surface energy due to byproducts, that is, hydrophilicity, it is described in Patent Document 7. As described above, after processing the nozzle holes in the nozzle forming member by irradiating excimer laser light, heat treatment, ultrasonic cleaning, cleaning with ultrasonic water flow, cleaning with high pressure water flow, etc., or adhesion There is known a method of removing by-products attached around the discharge port (orifice) by a method of repeatedly applying and removing the tape.
JP-A-4-279356

Further, as described in Patent Document 8, a resist or the like is coated on the resin surface in advance, and grooves or holes are formed in the resin blank by irradiation with an excimer laser beam, and then a by-product is developed with a developer. A method of removing by-products by washing and removing the resist is also known.
JP-A-4-279355

Further, as described in Patent Document 9, ablation is performed by irradiating a laser beam from the back surface side of the water repellent layer forming surface in a state where the water repellent layer forming surface side on the discharge port side is in an atmosphere containing fluorine atoms. It has also been proposed to maintain water repellency by forming a discharge port by processing and adhering a fluorine-containing substance excited by laser light to the surface of the water repellent layer.
JP 11-138822 A

  However, the fluorine-containing polymer such as the head described in Patent Document 2 has lower ink repellency compared to tetrafluoroethylene and the like, and is jetted particularly in highly penetrating inks that suppress printing on plain paper. There is a problem that bending is inevitable.

In addition, like the heads described in Patent Documents 3 and 4, the adhesion is improved by forming a SiO2 film on the surface of a resin material or the like that is a nozzle forming member and applying a fluorine-based water repellent thereon. In this case, if the SiO ₂ film thickness is not increased to a certain extent, a sufficient adhesion improvement effect cannot be obtained. However, if the nozzle hole processing is performed by excimer laser processing or the like, the SiO ₂ film has poor workability by the excimer laser. Therefore, there is a problem that clean nozzle hole processing cannot be performed, and irregular nozzle holes are generated.

  On the other hand, in order to remove the by-product by excimer laser processing, as described in Patent Document 7, the method of performing the heat treatment requires a high-temperature treatment of 120 ° C.-1 hour and a long time, In the case of performing cleaning with ultrasonic waves or ultrasonic water currents, a process of drying the resin blank is necessary after the treatment, and there is a problem that the process becomes complicated.

  Further, as described in Patent Document 8, when removing the by-product attached to the surface of the resin blank using a cleaning adhesive tape, it is not only necessary to provide a process dedicated to removing the by-product, but the adhesive tape Depending on the type, problems arise such that the adhesive material remains on the nozzle plate surface or a part of the water-repellent layer on the nozzle plate surface is peeled off. Furthermore, even in a method in which a resist is applied in advance and developed after laser processing and the by-products are removed together with the resist, there is a problem that the steps of developing and cleaning the resist are required and the process becomes complicated. .

  As described above, the conventional method for removing the by-product requires a special process to perform the treatment, which increases the manufacturing cost of the product and increases the work efficiency such as a long time for the treatment. Therefore, there is a problem that the throughput in manufacturing is significantly reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a liquid discharge head capable of obtaining stable discharge characteristics while maintaining water repellency over a long period of time, a manufacturing method thereof, and a high image by mounting the liquid discharge head An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of stably forming an image with high quality.

  In order to solve the above problems, a liquid discharge head according to the present invention has at least two or more water-repellent layers on a discharge side surface of a nozzle forming member having a nozzle for discharging a recording liquid droplet. Between the forming member and the water-repellent layer, and between the water-repellent layer and the water-repellent layer, a bonding layer that couples them is interposed.

Here, the nozzle forming member is preferably formed of a resin film. The resin film is preferably a polyimide film. Further, the water repellent layer is formed of a fluorine-based water repellent, and the film thickness of the water repellent layer is preferably 10 to 100 mm. Furthermore, the water repellent layer is preferably formed of perfluoropolyoxetane, modified perfluoropolyoxetane or a mixture of both. The bonding layer is preferably a SiO ₂ film, and the thickness of the SiO ₂ film is preferably 10 to 100 mm. Further, the total thickness of the water repellent layer and the bonding layer is preferably 0.5 μm or less.

A method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to the present invention, wherein a SiO ₂ film to be a bonding layer is formed by performing O ₂ ion treatment after sputtering of Si. It is a configuration.

Similarly, a fluorine-based water repellent agent for forming a water repellent layer is formed by coating a nozzle forming member on which a SiO ₂ film serving as a laser coupling layer is formed by a vacuum deposition method.

Further, two or more water-repellent layers are formed by repeating a process of forming a water-repellent layer by vacuum-depositing a fluorine-based water repellent after forming a SiO ₂ film as a bonding layer on the nozzle forming member. Then, the nozzle hole is processed with an ultraviolet laser.

  In this case, when the nozzle hole is processed with an ultraviolet laser, an adhesive film is attached to the side having the water-repellent layer, and the nozzle forming member is penetrated with the ultraviolet laser from the surface opposite to the adhesive film. After the nozzle is processed to a depth of 1 μm or more, the adhesive film is preferably peeled off, the adhesive material of the adhesive film is preferably a heat or ultraviolet curable adhesive material, and further, prior to the step of peeling the adhesive film, Alternatively, it is preferable to peel the adhesive film after curing the adhesive material of the adhesive film by ultraviolet irradiation.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid discharge head according to the present invention.

  The liquid discharge head according to the present invention has at least two or more water-repellent layers on the discharge-side surface of the nozzle forming member, between the nozzle forming member and the water-repellent layer, and between the water-repellent layer and the water-repellent layer. Since a bonding layer that bonds the two is interposed between the layers, the water repellent agent is firmly adhered to the nozzle forming member, and a multilayer structure in which these layers are overlapped with two or more layers is also possible. As a result, the liquid resistance and the wiping resistance can be remarkably improved, high water repellency can be maintained, and stable droplet ejection characteristics can be obtained without causing bending in the droplet ejection direction.

According to the method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to the present invention, the method of manufacturing the liquid discharge head according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to the present invention by subjecting a SiO ₂ film to be a bonding layer to O ₂ ion treatment after sputtering of Si. Since it is formed, a dense SiO ₂ film can be formed extremely thin, and laser workability is improved.

In addition, since the fluorine-based water repellent that forms the water-repellent layer is formed by coating the nozzle forming member on which the SiO ₂ film serving as the bonding layer is formed by vacuum deposition, the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water-repellent layer are formed. Adhesion with is improved.

Furthermore, a process of forming a SiO ₂ film as a bonding layer on the nozzle forming member and then forming a water repellent layer by vacuum deposition of a fluorine-based water repellent is repeated at least twice to form two or more water repellent layers. After that, since the nozzle holes are processed with an ultraviolet laser, a multilayered water-repellent layer can be easily formed in a short time, and dirt and dirt can be formed between the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water-repellent layer. There is no risk of contamination due to the above, and high adhesion can be obtained between the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water repellent film.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since the liquid discharge head according to the present invention is provided, water repellency is maintained and a high-quality image can be stably formed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A first embodiment of a liquid discharge head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the head, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the head along the longitudinal direction of the liquid chamber, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 2, and FIGS. It is a section explanatory view showing a different example along a room transverse direction.

  This liquid discharge head has, for example, a flow channel plate 1 formed of a single crystal silicon substrate, a vibration plate 2 bonded to the lower surface of the flow channel plate 1, and a nozzle plate 3 bonded to the upper surface of the flow channel plate 1. As a result, the nozzle 4 for ejecting ink droplets forms a pressurized liquid chamber 6 that communicates via the communication path 5, a fluid resistance portion 7, and a communication portion 9 that communicates with the liquid chamber 6 via the fluid resistance portion 7. The recording liquid (for example, ink) is supplied from the common liquid chamber 8 formed in the frame member 17 described later to the communication portion 9 through the supply port 10 formed in the diaphragm 2.

  Then, on the outer side of the diaphragm 2 that forms the wall surface of the liquid chamber 6 (on the side opposite to the liquid chamber 6), corresponding to each pressurized liquid chamber 6, via a connecting portion 11 formed on the diaphragm 2. The upper end portion of the multilayer piezoelectric element 12 as pressure generating means is joined, and the lower end portion of the multilayer piezoelectric element 12 is joined and fixed to the support substrate 13. Note that the support substrate 13 may be divided for each row of the piezoelectric elements 12.

  The piezoelectric element 12 is formed by alternately stacking piezoelectric material layers 14 and internal electrodes 15a and 15b. In this case, the ink in the liquid chamber 6 may be pressurized using the displacement in the d33 direction as the piezoelectric direction of the piezoelectric element 12, or the pressurized liquid chamber 6 using the displacement in the d31 direction as the piezoelectric direction of the piezoelectric element 12. It can also be configured to pressurize the inner ink.

  Further, the periphery of the flow path plate 1 and the vibration plate 2 is bonded and bonded to a frame member 17 formed by injection molding with, for example, epoxy resin or polyphenylene sulfite, and the frame member 17 and the support substrate 13 are bonded to a portion (not shown). They are fixed to each other with agents. The frame member 17 is formed with the above-described common liquid chamber 8 and a supply path (communication pipe) (not shown) for supplying recording liquid from the outside to the common liquid chamber 8. Further, it is connected to a recording liquid supply source such as a recording liquid cartridge (not shown).

  Further, an FPC cable 18 is connected to the piezoelectric element 12 by solder bonding, ACF (anisotropic conductive film) bonding or wire bonding in order to give a drive signal. The FPC cable 18 is selectively connected to each piezoelectric element 12. A drive circuit (driver IC) 19 for applying a drive waveform is mounted.

  Here, the flow path plate 1 is formed by anisotropically etching a single crystal silicon substrate having a crystal plane orientation (110), for example, with an alkaline etching solution such as an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (KOH), so Groove portions constituting the through hole, the fluid resistance portion 7, the communication portion 9 and the like serving as the pressurized fluid chamber 6 are formed.

  The diaphragm 2 is formed from a nickel metal plate and is manufactured by an electroforming method. The diaphragm 2 has a portion corresponding to the pressurized liquid chamber 6 as a thin-walled portion for facilitating deformation, and a first layer 11a on the diaphragm 2 side and the piezoelectric element for connecting the piezoelectric element 12 to the center. A connecting portion 11 having a two-layer structure including a second layer 11b on the 12 side is provided.

  In the lateral direction of the liquid chamber (the direction in which the nozzles 4 are arranged), as shown in FIG. 4, a bi-pitch structure in which the piezoelectric elements 12 and the column portions 22 are alternately arranged can be used, or as shown in FIG. Thus, it can also be set as the normal pitch structure which does not provide the support | pillar part 22. FIG.

  In the liquid ejection head configured as described above, for example, when driven by a punching method, a drive pulse voltage of 20 to 50 V is selectively applied to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 12 according to an image recorded from a control unit (not shown). By applying the voltage, the piezoelectric element 12 to which the pulse voltage is applied is displaced to deform the vibration plate 2 in the direction of the nozzle plate 3, and pressurize the liquid in the liquid chamber 6 by changing the volume (volume) of the liquid chamber 6. Thus, droplets are ejected from the nozzles 4 of the nozzle plate 3. As the liquid droplets are discharged, the pressure in the liquid chamber 6 decreases, and a slight negative pressure is generated in the liquid chamber 6 due to the inertia of the liquid flow at this time. Under this state, the application of voltage to the piezoelectric element 12 is turned off, so that the diaphragm 2 returns to the original position and the liquid chamber 6 has the original shape, so that further negative pressure is generated. At this time, the liquid that has entered from the liquid supply pipe that leads to a liquid tank (not shown) is filled in the liquid chamber 6, and droplets are ejected from the nozzle 4 in response to the next drive pulse application.

Next, details of the nozzle plate 3 of the liquid discharge head will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the figure is an expanded sectional explanatory drawing of the nozzle part of the nozzle plate.
This nozzle plate 3 comprises a nozzle forming member 30 by joining a resin member 32 made of a resin film such as a polyimide film on a high-rigidity member 31 via an adhesive 33, and a resin constituting this nozzle forming member 30. A SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 as a bonding layer and a fluorine-based water repellent layer 35 are alternately and sequentially stacked on the surface of the member 32 (surface on the droplet discharge surface side). At this time, the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 as a bonding layer bonds the resin member 32 and the first water repellent layer 35, and bonds the water repellent layer 35 and the next water repellent layer 35. The entire multilayer structure portion of the bonding layer (here, the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34) and the water repellent layer (here, the fluorine-based water repellent layer 35) is referred to as a “water repellent treatment layer 40”.

  A nozzle hole 4 having a required diameter is formed in the resin member 32 constituting the nozzle forming member 30 by excimer laser processing, and a nozzle communication port 44 communicating with the nozzle hole 4 is formed in the high-rigidity member 31. .

Here, it is preferable that the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is formed by a method that can be formed at a temperature that is relatively not heated, that is, in a range in which the resin member 32 does not cause a thermal influence. Specifically, it can be said that sputtering, ion beam vapor deposition, ion plating, CVD (chemical vapor deposition), P-CVD (plasma vapor deposition) and the like are suitable.

Further, by setting the film thickness of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 to the minimum necessary thickness within a range where the adhesion force can be secured, the process time can be shortened and the material cost can be reduced. This is because if the thickness of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is too large, it may hinder nozzle hole processing with an excimer laser. That is, even if the resin member 32 is cleanly processed into a nozzle hole shape, a part of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 32 may not be sufficiently processed and may remain as a processing residue.

Therefore, specifically, the adhesion can be secured, and the thickness of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is preferably in the range of 1 to 300 mm, more preferably as a range in which the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 does not remain during excimer laser processing. Is in the range of 10 to 100 cm. As a result of the experiment, even when the thickness of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 was 30 mm, the adhesion was sufficient, and there was no problem with the workability by the excimer laser. In addition, a slight machining residue was observed at 300 mm, but it was within the usable range, and when it exceeded 5000 mm, a considerably large machining residue was generated, and it was confirmed that an unusable nozzle profile was generated.

  Various materials are known for the water repellent material used for the fluorine-based water repellent layer 35. For example, an organic compound having a fluorine atom, particularly an organic material having a fluoroalkyl group, an organic material having a dimethylsiloxane skeleton. Silicon compounds and the like can be used.

  As the organic compound having a fluorine atom, fluoroalkylsilane, alkane having a fluoroalkyl group, cambonic acid, alcohol, amine and the like are desirable. Specifically, the fluoroalkylsilane includes heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyltrimethoxysilane, heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrotrichlorosilane; fluoroalkyl As the alkane having a group, octafluorocyclobutane, perfluoromethylcyclohexane, perfluoro-n-hexane, perfluoro-n-heptane, tetradecafluoro-2-methylpentane, perfluorododecane, perfluoroeucosan; carboxylic acid having a fluorooalkyl group Perfluorodecanoic acid, perfluorooctanoic acid; alcohols having a fluoroalkyl group include 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5-heptafluoro-2-pentanol; The emissions, heptadecafluoro over 1,1,2,2-tetrahydro-decyl amine. Examples of organosilicon compounds having a dimethylsiloxane skeleton include α, w-bis (3-aminopropyl) polydimethylsiloxane, α, w-bis (3-glycidoxypropyl) polydimethylsiloxane, α, w-bis (vinyl) poly. Examples thereof include dimethylsiloxane.

  As another water-repellent material, an organic compound having a silicon atom, particularly an organic compound having an alkylsiloxane group can be used.

  Examples of the organic compound having an alkylsiloxane group include alkylsiloxane groups having two or more alkylsiloxane groups and cycloaliphatic epoxy groups in the molecule constituting the alkylsiloxane epoxy resin composition. The polymer compound (A) containing the structural unit represented by general formula (a) and (b) is mentioned.

  The compound having the above structure also functions as a binder when used in combination with other water-repellent compounds. That is, it improves the workability of the ink-repellent composition and improves the workability as a dry coating film that improves the drying property after evaporation of the solvent.

  The most preferable water repellent in the present invention is a mixture of perfluoropolyoxetane and modified perfluoropolyoxetane (manufactured by Daikin Industries, trade name: OPTOOL DSX), and this is vapor deposited to a thickness of 10 to 300 mm. The necessary water repellency is obtained. As a result of the experiment, there was no difference in water repellency and wiping durability performance regardless of whether the thickness of the OPTOOL DSX was 10 mm, 100 mm, or 300 mm. Therefore, when considering the cost and the like, 10 to 100 inches is more preferable.

  As described above, in this nozzle plate, the bonding layer is interposed between the nozzle forming member and the water repellent layer, so that the water repellent layer and the nozzle forming member are firmly adhered to each other, and the water repellent layer is further bonded to the bonding layer. Since it has a multilayer structure of two or more layers while interposing a liquid, the liquid resistance and wiping resistance are remarkably improved, and high water repellency (ink repellency) can be maintained and maintained. Stable droplet ejection characteristics (ejection characteristics) can be obtained without causing any ejection direction bending.

  In this case, the nozzle forming member is formed of a resinous film, so that the selection range of the nozzle hole processing method is widened. As described later, highly accurate nozzle hole processing in the ultraviolet laser processing is efficiently performed. Moreover, it can be performed at low cost. By using a polyimide resin film as this resin film, the selection range of nozzle hole processing methods is widened, and the toughness, chemical resistance, and heat resistance are excellent, and thermal and mechanical stress during processing such as adhesive curing. Therefore, the deformation due to the nozzles can be reduced, and highly accurate nozzle hole processing can be performed.

  Further, when the water repellent layer is formed of a fluorine-based water repellent and the film thickness of the water-repellent layer is 10 to 100 mm, high water repellency is obtained and the fluorine-based water repellent film is very thin. This makes it possible to reduce the necessary materials and reduce costs. By using perfluoropolyoxetane or modified perfluoropolyoxetane or a mixture of both as this fluorine-based water repellent, it becomes possible to form a water repellent film by a vacuum deposition method, and a very thin film of 100 mm or less. Can be easily formed, and the water-repellent performance is extremely high, and it is possible to improve both the wiping durability of the water-repellent film and the workability by the ultraviolet laser.

Furthermore, the nozzle formation member and the water-repellent layer, using the SiO ₂ film as a bonding layer to bond the water-repellent layers to each other, the thickness of the SiO ₂ film, by a 10Å or 100Å or less, adhesion of the water repellent layer In particular, since the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water repellent are in close contact with each other by chemical bonding, it is possible to make the fluorine-based water repellent film very thin, reducing necessary materials, and processing time. The cost can be reduced.

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate in the above-described liquid discharge head will be described with reference to FIG.
First, with reference to FIG. 7, the structure of the excimer laser processing machine used when processing a nozzle hole is demonstrated. In this laser processing machine, an excimer laser beam 202 emitted from a laser oscillator 201 is reflected by mirrors 203, 205, and 208 and guided to a processing table 210. The beam expander 204, the mask 206, the field lens 207, and the imaging optical system 209 are placed at predetermined positions so that the optimum beam reaches the workpiece W in the optical path from the laser beam 202 to the processing table 210. Is provided. The workpiece W is placed on the processing table 211 and receives the laser beam 202. The processing table 211 is composed of a well-known XYZ table or the like, and can move the workpiece W as necessary to irradiate a desired position with a laser beam. Here, an excimer laser is used as the laser, but various lasers can be used as long as they are ultraviolet lasers having a short wavelength that can be ablated.

Next, the manufacturing process of the nozzle plate will be described with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8A, a polyimide film 32A (for example, Dupont Kapton (product) No.) film without particles). In general polyimide films, particles such as SiO ₂ (silica) are added to the film material from the viewpoint of handling (sliding) in a roll film handling apparatus. However, when nozzle holes are machined with an excimer laser, SiO ₂ (silica) particles have poor processability with the excimer laser, and nozzle irregularities occur. Therefore, a film to which SiO ₂ (silica) particles are not added is used.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, a SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is formed on the surface of the polyimide film 32A. The SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is formed by a sputtering method performed in a vacuum chamber. The film thickness of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 is about several to 200 mm, and here it is formed to a thickness of 10 to 50 mm.

Here, as a sputtering method, after sputtering Si, a method of forming an SiO ₂ film by applying O ₂ ions to the Si surface is used for the resin film 32 (polyimide film 32A) of the SiO ₂ film. In addition to improving the adhesion strength, a uniform and dense film can be obtained, which is more effective for improving the wiping durability of the water-repellent film. Also, the SiO ₂ film obtained by this method has a much smaller particle diameter and is thinner in the thickness direction than the SiO ₂ (silica) particles added for the above-described handling (sliding) of the film. Therefore, the effect of reducing excimer laser processability is small.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, a fluorine-based water repellent is applied on the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 to form a water repellent layer 35A. As a method for applying the fluorine-based water repellent, a spin coater, roll coater, screen printing, spray coater, or the like can be used. However, the method of forming a film by vacuum deposition improves the adhesion of the water repellent film. Connect and be more effective. Further, the vacuum deposition can be performed more effectively by forming it in the vacuum chamber after forming the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 in FIG. 8B. That is, conventionally, after the SiO ₂ thin film layer is formed, the work is once taken out from the vacuum chamber, so that it is considered that the adhesion is impaired due to adhesion of impurities or the like to the surface.

As for the fluorine-based water repellent, here, by using perfluoropolyoxetane, modified perfluoropolyoxetane, or a mixture of both as the fluorine amorphous compound, particularly necessary water repellency can be obtained. did it. The above-mentioned “OPTOOL DSX” manufactured by Daikin Industries is sometimes referred to as “alkoxysilane-end-modified perfluoropolyether”. When coating by spin coater, roll coater, screen printing, spray coater, etc., other than vacuum deposition, the film thickness is 300 mm or more, but the hardness of the OPTOOL DSX itself is not high, and the OPTOOL DSX can be operated by operations such as wiping. The surface layer is easily removed, and only the monomolecular layer firmly bonded to SiO ₂ remains without being removed and retains ink repellency. That is, an unnecessary film thickness is unnecessary, and the vacuum vapor deposition method capable of forming a thin film is excellent from the economical aspect.

Subsequent to this step, as shown in FIG. 8D, the multilayer structure film is formed by alternately repeating the formation of the above-described SiO ₂ film and the water-repellent film using the fluorine-based water-repellent agent twice or more. Here, the SiO ₂ film 34, the water repellent film 35A, the SiO ₂ film 34, and the water repellent film 35A are sequentially stacked on the water repellent film 35A. By forming these films in the vacuum chamber as they are, a multilayer structure can be formed without complications. The combined layer and water repellent layer having a multilayer structure are formed to a total thickness of 0.5 μm or less, thereby forming a water repellent film having excellent durability. After forming the water-repellent film having a multilayer structure, it is left in the air by taking it out of the vacuum chamber, whereby the water-repellent film 35A of the fluorine-based water repellent and the SiO ₂ film 34C are chemically coupled with moisture in the air. To form a fluorine-based water repellent layer 35.

  Here, the high-rigidity member 31 used for increasing the rigidity of the nozzle plate 3 is not shown or described. However, if necessary, the high-rigidity member 31 formed with the nozzle communication path 44 may be replaced with a polyimide film. Adhere to 32A with adhesive 33.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8E, an adhesive tape 36 is attached to the surface of the outermost water-repellent layer 35. When the adhesive tape 36 is applied, it is necessary to apply it so that no bubbles are generated. This is because if there are bubbles, the nozzle holes opened at the positions where the bubbles are present may be of poor quality due to deposits during processing.

Then, as shown in FIG.8 (f), the excimer laser is irradiated from the polyimide film 32A side, and the nozzle hole 4 is formed. Here, it is important that the depth of the nozzle hole formed by irradiating the excimer laser is completely penetrated through the multilayer structure film of the SiO ₂ thin film layer 34 and the water repellent layer 35. It is preferable to process to a depth of 1 μm or more.

  And as shown in FIG.8 (g), UV is irradiated from the adhesive tape surface after excimer laser processing, and the adhesive of the adhesive tape 36 is hardened. As a result, the adhesiveness of the adhesive tape 36 is lowered, and unnecessary adhesive is not left on the surface after the adhesive tape 36 is peeled off. And after processing the nozzle hole 4, as shown in FIG.8 (h), the adhesive tape 36 is peeled off and used.

Next, the excimer laser processing depth in the nozzle hole forming step (FIG. 8F) will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 9A, when the adhesive tape 36 is peeled off with the excimer laser nozzle hole 4 remaining partially without penetrating the water repellent layer 35, the nozzle hole 4 is removed as shown in FIG. A defective portion 37 in which the water-repellent layer 35 in the vicinity is partially peeled off is generated. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10A, the nozzle hole 4 by the excimer laser is formed so as to completely penetrate the water-repellent layer 35 and reach the adhesive tape 36. As shown, the water repellent layer in the vicinity of the nozzle hole after the adhesive tape 36 is peeled is completely formed up to the nozzle hole edge.

  Nozzle drilling with an excimer laser often processes multiple nozzles in a certain area at the same time, and due to variations in laser intensity distribution, the nozzle hole depth is not necessarily uniform among the nozzles. There is. According to the experiment, it is important that all the nozzle holes 4 penetrate the water repellent layer 35 and reach the nozzle tape to a part of the adhesive tape 36. For that purpose, the adhesive tape 36 has a depth of 1 μm or more. It was confirmed that all the nozzle holes can surely penetrate the water-repellent layer if processed under conditions of excimer laser processing to the depth of processing.

  Prior to peeling off the adhesive tape 36, the adhesive tape 36 is first irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the adhesive. In this way, unnecessary adhesive can be prevented from remaining on the nozzle plate surface, and the adhesive tape can be peeled off by a simple method such as expanding the film.

As described above, the SiO ₂ film as the bonding layer can be formed to be extremely thin by forming the dense SiO ₂ film by sputtering the Si for the nozzle forming member and then performing the O ₂ ion treatment. Processing with an ultraviolet laser is improved. In addition, by forming a fluorine-based water repellent as a water repellent by vacuum deposition, a thin and uniform water repellent film having high adhesion to the SiO ₂ film as a bonding layer can be obtained.

Further, by forming a SiO ₂ film as a bonding layer on the nozzle forming member in a vacuum, and then repeating a step of vacuum-depositing a fluorine-based water repellent to form two or more water-repellent layers, a multi-layered water-repellent layer is formed. The treatment layer can be easily formed in a single time, and there is no risk of contamination between the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water-repellent film due to dust, dirt, etc., and between the SiO ₂ film and the fluorine-based water-repellent film. High adhesion can be obtained.

  Furthermore, when processing the nozzle holes with an ultraviolet laser, an adhesive film is attached to the side having the water-repellent layer, the nozzle forming member is penetrated with an ultraviolet laser from the surface opposite to the adhesive film, and the adhesive film has a thickness of 1 μm or more. When the pressure-sensitive adhesive film is peeled off, the water-repellent layer in the vicinity of the nozzle hole is not destroyed and hydrophilic deposits are not attached.

  In this case, because the adhesive material of the adhesive film is a heat or UV curable adhesive material, it adheres firmly to the water-repellent surface during laser processing, and when the adhesive film is peeled off after laser processing, the adhesiveness is reduced by UV irradiation. Can be made. Also, prior to the step of peeling the adhesive film, the adhesive material of the adhesive film is cured by heat or UV irradiation, and then the adhesive film is peeled off so that the adhesive remains on the water-repellent surface and has a normal water-repellent surface. A nozzle plate can be manufactured.

  Next, an outline of an apparatus used when manufacturing the liquid discharge head will be described with reference to FIG. This device 300 is an apparatus developed by USA's OCLI (OPTICAL COATING LABORATORY INC.) And called “Meta-mode process”. It is used for the production of anti-reflection and anti-fouling films for displays and the like. Yes.

The apparatus 300 is located in four chambers around a drum 301, and a Si sputter 302, an O ₂ ion gun 303, a Nb sputter 304, and an optool vapor deposition 305 are arranged in a chamber, and the whole apparatus is in a chamber that can be evacuated. First, by sputtering Si by Si sputtering 302, then the SiO ₂ by applying a _{O 2} ions in Si by _{O 2} ion gun 303. Thereafter, Nb and Optool DSX are appropriately deposited by Nb sputtering 304 and Optool deposition 305. In the case of an antireflection film, Nb and SiO ₂ are deposited after overlapping the required number of layers with a predetermined thickness, but the function of the antireflection film is not necessary in the manufacturing process of the liquid discharge head, so Nb is unnecessary. Do not use in.

One layer of SiO ₂ and Optool DSX are attached one by one, and the second layer is again stacked in the order of SiO ₂ and OpTool DSX, and this process is repeated to form a water repellent film having a multilayer structure.

By using this apparatus, as described above, the water repellent film having the multilayer structure can be repeatedly subjected to vacuum deposition of SiO ₂ and OPTOOL DSX in the vacuum chamber as it is.

Next, specific examples will be described.
[Examples and Comparative Examples 1 to 6]
A head for IPSiO G-707 (trade name: manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd.) was prepared using a nozzle plate which was subjected to water repellent treatment and nozzle processing under the following conditions shown in Table 1. In addition, the coating method used the vacuum evaporation method in the Example and Comparative Examples 1-5, controlled the film thickness by the coating conditions, and used the spin coating in the comparative example 6. And using the produced head, the ink for IPSiO G-707 was put, and the jetting direction was investigated.

  Next, the nozzle surface of the head was immersed in ink, left for 1 week at 50 ° C., and then the wiping operation was repeated 1000 times, and the ink ejection direction was similarly examined (first durability). Thereafter, this operation was repeated, and the ink ejection direction (endurance second time, third time,...) Was examined. The results are shown in Table 2.

  As can be seen from Table 2, in the example, it was confirmed that the injection bending did not occur even in the fifth durability.

  On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, the laser processing depth did not penetrate the water repellent layer, and when the adhesive tape was peeled off, a defect occurred in the water repellent layer in the vicinity of the nozzle holes, or a slight bend occurred from the initial stage. In the fifth endurance test, there was clearly a large bending in the injection direction.

In Comparative Example 2, the thickness of the entire water-repellent treatment layer became 1 μm due to the stack of 100 layers of SiO ₂ layers and water-repellent layers, and irregularly shaped nozzle holes were scattered. did.

In Comparative Example 3, since there were only one SiO ₂ layer and one water repellent layer, the injection direction was stable up to the second durability, but the injection bending occurred at the fifth.

  In Comparative Example 4, the thickness of the fluorine-based water repellent was increased, but the durability was exactly the same as that of Comparative Example 3.

In Comparative Example 5, when the thickness of SiO ₂ was increased, irregularly shaped nozzles were scattered after laser processing, and injection bending occurred from the beginning. Although the thicknesses of the examples and the total SiO ₂ are the same, the examples have a multi-layer structure with a water repellent that has good laser processability, and the laser processability is not adversely affected. Then, since the SiO ₂ layer was a single layer and was thick, the laser processability was lowered.

In Comparative Example 6, a water repellent was coated on a 5000 Å SiO ₂ film by a spin coating method, but irregularly shaped nozzles were scattered after laser processing, and injection bending occurred from the beginning.

  Next, an example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention provided with the liquid discharge head according to the present invention will be described with reference to 12 and FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory side view for explaining the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory plan view of a main part of the apparatus.

  In this image forming apparatus, a carriage 103 is slidably held in a main scanning direction by a guide rod 101 and a guide rail 102 that are horizontally mounted on left and right side plates (not shown), and a driving pulley 106A is driven by a main scanning motor 104. 13 and the driven pulley 106B, the moving scanning is performed in the direction indicated by the arrow (main scanning direction) in FIG.

  For example, four independent ink jet recording liquid droplets (ink droplets) of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are recorded on the carriage 103. The recording head 107 composed of the liquid ejection heads 107k, 107c, 107m, and 107y is arranged in a direction along the main scanning direction, and is mounted with the droplet ejection direction facing downward. In addition, although the independent liquid discharge head is used here, it is also possible to employ a configuration in which one or a plurality of heads having a plurality of nozzle rows for discharging recording liquid droplets of each color are used. Further, the number of colors and the arrangement order are not limited to this.

  The liquid discharge head according to the present invention constituting the recording head 107 includes a diaphragm that forms the wall surface of the ink flow path using an electromechanical conversion element such as a piezoelectric element as pressure generating means for pressurizing ink in the pressurized liquid chamber. A so-called piezo type that changes the volume of the ink flow path to eject ink droplets, a so-called thermal type that utilizes film boiling of the recording liquid using an electrothermal conversion element such as a heating resistor, The diaphragm and the electrode forming the wall surface of the ink flow path are arranged opposite to each other, and the diaphragm is deformed by an electrostatic force generated between the vibration plate and the electrode, thereby changing the volume of the ink flow path to change the ink droplet. An electrostatic type that discharges water, a shape memory alloy actuator that uses a metal phase change due to a temperature change, and the like can be used.

  The carriage 103 is equipped with a sub tank 108 for each color for supplying each color ink to the recording head 107. Ink is supplied to the sub tank 108 from a main tank (ink cartridge) (not shown) via an ink supply tube 109.

  On the other hand, as a sheet feeding unit for feeding a recording medium (sheet) 112 loaded on a sheet stacking unit (pressure plate) 111 such as a sheet feeding cassette 110, the sheets 112 are separated and fed from the sheet stacking unit 111 one by one. Opposite to the half-moon roller (feed roller) 113 and the feed roller 113 to be fed, a separation pad 114 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided, and this separation pad 114 is urged toward the feed roller 113 side.

  As a transport unit for transporting the paper 112 fed from the paper feed unit below the recording head 107, a transport belt 121 for electrostatically attracting and transporting the paper 112, and a paper feed unit A counter roller 122 for transporting the paper 112 fed through the guide 115 while sandwiching it between the transport belt 121 and the paper 112 fed substantially vertically upward is changed by about 90 ° and copied on the transport belt 121. A conveying guide 123 for adjusting the pressure and a tip pressure roller 125 urged toward the conveying belt 121 by a pressing member 124. In addition, a charging roller 126 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the conveyance belt 121 is provided.

  Here, the conveyance belt 121 is an endless belt, is stretched between the conveyance roller 127 and the tension roller 128, and the conveyance roller 127 is rotated from the sub-scanning motor 131 via the timing belt 132 and the timing roller 133. By doing so, it is configured to circulate in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) of FIG. A guide member 129 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 121 in correspondence with the image forming area formed by the recording head 107.

  As shown in FIG. 12, a slit disk 134 is attached to the shaft of the transport roller 127, and a sensor 135 for detecting the slit of the slit disk 134 is provided. An encoder 136 is configured.

  The charging roller 126 is arranged so as to contact the surface layer of the conveyor belt 121 and rotate following the rotation of the conveyor belt 121, and applies 2.5N to both ends of the shaft as a pressing force.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 12, an encoder scale 142 having slits is provided on the front side of the carriage 103, and an encoder sensor comprising a transmission type photosensor for detecting the slits of the encoder scale 142 on the front side of the carriage 103. The encoder 144 for detecting the position of the carriage 103 in the main scanning direction is configured by these.

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 112 recorded by the recording head 107, a separation unit for separating the paper 112 from the conveying belt 121, a paper discharge roller 152 and a paper discharge roller 153, and paper discharge A paper discharge tray 154 for stocking the paper 112 to be printed.

  A double-sided paper feeding unit 155 is detachably mounted on the back. The double-sided paper feeding unit 155 takes in the paper 112 returned by the reverse rotation of the transport belt 121, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 122 and the transport belt 121.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 156 for maintaining and recovering the nozzle state of the recording head 107 is disposed in the non-printing area on one side of the carriage 103 in the scanning direction.

  The maintenance / recovery machine 156 includes a cap 157 for capping each nozzle surface of the recording head 107, a wiper blade 158 which is a blade member for wiping the nozzle surface, and a discharge unit for discharging the thickened recording liquid. An empty discharge receiver 159 for receiving droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging droplets that do not contribute to recording is provided.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the sheets 112 are separated and fed one by one from the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet 112 fed substantially vertically upward is guided by the guide 115, and includes the conveyance belt 121 and the counter roller 122. The leading end is guided by the conveying guide 123 and pressed against the conveying belt 121 by the leading end pressure roller 125, and the conveying direction is changed by approximately 90 °.

  At this time, a positive voltage output and a negative output are alternately repeated from the high voltage power supply to the charging roller 126 by a control circuit (not shown), that is, an alternating voltage is applied, and a charging voltage pattern in which the conveying belt 121 alternates, that is, In the sub-scanning direction, which is the circumferential direction, plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the paper 112 is fed onto the conveyance belt 121 charged alternately with plus and minus, the paper 112 is attracted to the conveyance belt 121 by electrostatic force, and the paper 112 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveyance belt 121. Is done.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 107 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 103 in the forward and backward directions, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 112 to record one line, and the paper 112 is After transporting a predetermined amount, the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 112 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished, and the paper 112 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 154.

  In the case of double-sided printing, when recording on the front surface (surface to be printed first) is completed, the recording belt 112 is fed into the double-sided paper feeding unit 155 by rotating the conveyor belt 121 in the reverse direction. The paper 112 is reversed (with the back surface being the printing surface), and is fed again between the counter roller 122 and the conveyor belt 121. The timing is controlled, and the sheet is conveyed onto the conveyor bell 121 as described above. After recording on the back side, the sheet is discharged to the discharge tray 154.

  Further, during printing (recording) standby, the carriage 103 is moved to the maintenance / recovery mechanism 155 side, and the nozzle surface of the recording head 107 is capped by the cap 157 so that the nozzles are kept in a wet state. To prevent. In addition, the recording liquid is sucked from the nozzle in a state where the recording head 107 is capped by the cap 157 (referred to as “nozzle suction” or “head suction”), and a recovery operation is performed to discharge the thickened recording liquid or bubbles. Wiping is performed by the wiper blade 158 in order to clean and remove ink adhering to the nozzle surface of the recording head 107 by this recovery operation. In addition, an idle ejection operation for ejecting ink not related to recording is performed before the start of recording or during recording. Thereby, the stable ejection performance of the recording head 107 is maintained.

  As described above, since the image forming apparatus includes the liquid discharge head according to the present invention, stable discharge characteristics can be obtained while maintaining water repellency over a long period of time, and high-quality images can be stably formed. .

  In the above embodiments, the printer configuration has been described as the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer / fax / copier multifunction machine. Further, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus using a recording liquid or a fixing processing liquid that is a liquid other than ink.

It is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a liquid discharge head concerning the present invention. It is sectional explanatory drawing along the liquid chamber longitudinal direction of the head. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2. It is sectional explanatory drawing of the bipitch structure along the liquid chamber transversal direction of the head. It is sectional explanatory drawing of the normal pitch structure along the liquid chamber transversal direction of the head. It is an expanded sectional view of the nozzle plate of the same liquid discharge head. It is typical explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of an excimer laser processing machine. It is sectional explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the manufacturing process of the nozzle plate of the liquid discharge head. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description when the processing depth by excimer laser processing is insufficient. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the processing depth by excimer laser processing similarly. It is typical explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the manufacturing apparatus of the nozzle plate of the liquid discharge head. 1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Similarly it is principal part plane explanatory drawing.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... channel plate 2 ... diaphragm 3 ... nozzle plate 4 ... nozzle 6 ... liquid chambers 12 ... piezoelectric elements 31 ... rigid member 32 ... resin member 33 ... adhesive 34 ... bonding layer (SiO ₂ film)
35 ... Water-repellent layer 103 ... Carriage 107 ... Recording head

Claims (14)

  In a liquid discharge head including a nozzle forming member having a nozzle for discharging a recording liquid droplet, the discharge side surface of the nozzle forming member has at least two or more water-repellent layers. A liquid discharge head, characterized in that a bonding layer is provided between the layers and between the water-repellent layer and the water-repellent layer.   The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle forming member is formed of a resin film.   The liquid discharge head according to claim 2, wherein the resin film is a polyimide film.   4. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the water repellent layer is formed of a fluorine-based water repellent, and the water repellent layer has a thickness of 10 to 100 mm. Discharge head.   5. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the water-repellent layer is formed of perfluoropolyoxetane, modified perfluoropolyoxetane, or a mixture of both. 5. 6. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the bonding layer is a SiO ₂ film, and the thickness of the SiO ₂ film is 10 to 100 mm.   7. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the water repellent layer and the bonding layer is 0.5 [mu] m or less. 2. The method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the SiO ₂ film to be the bonding layer is formed by performing O ₂ ion treatment after sputtering of Si. Production method. The manufacturing method for manufacturing the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein a fluorine-based water repellent agent for forming the water repellent layer is vacuum-deposited on a nozzle forming member on which a SiO ₂ film serving as the bonding layer is formed. A method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, wherein the liquid discharge head is formed by coating with a method. The manufacturing method for manufacturing the liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein an SiO ₂ film serving as the bonding layer is formed on the nozzle forming member, and then a fluorine-based water repellent is vacuum-deposited to form the water repellent layer. A method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, wherein after forming the two or more water-repellent layers by repeating the step of forming at least twice, the nozzle holes are processed with an ultraviolet laser.   The method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to claim 10, wherein when the nozzle hole is processed by the ultraviolet laser, an adhesive film is attached to the side having the water repellent layer, and the surface opposite to the adhesive film is used. A method for producing a liquid discharge head, comprising: penetrating the nozzle forming member with the ultraviolet laser and nozzle-processing the adhesive film to a depth of 1 μm or more, and then peeling the adhesive film.   12. The method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to claim 11, wherein the adhesive material of the adhesive film is a heat or ultraviolet curable adhesive material.   13. The method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to claim 12, wherein the adhesive film is peeled off after the adhesive material of the adhesive film is cured by heat or ultraviolet irradiation prior to the step of peeling the adhesive film. Manufacturing method of a liquid discharge head. 8. An image forming apparatus comprising a liquid ejection head for ejecting recording liquid droplets, wherein the liquid ejection head according to claim 1 is provided.

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