JP2006264159A - Liquid jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jet head enhancing accuracy in inspection of dislocation between a channel forming substrate and a sealing plate. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid jet head has the channel forming substrate 24 in which pressure chambers 29 leading to nozzle openings are formed and the sealing plate 23 which partitions some of the pressure chambers by being joined to the channel forming substrate. Diaphragm portions 37 which cause a pressure variation in an ink in the pressure chamber by elastically deforming in accordance with the operation of a piezoelectric vibrator are formed in an area corresponding to the pressure chamber in the sealing plate. The diaphragm portion has an island portion 38 to which the piezoelectric vibrator is joined. Reference patterns 46 which become a reference of the relative position of the channel forming substrate with respect to the sealing plate are provided in the positions corresponding to longitudinal both ends of the island portion on the end faces 45 of partitioning walls 44 partitioning the pressure chamber in the channel forming substrate 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid jet head such as an ink jet recording head, and in particular, a pressure chamber is defined by joining a sealing plate to a pressure chamber forming substrate, and a pressure source is operated to change the pressure in the liquid in the pressure chamber. The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head that discharges liquid in the pressure chamber as droplets from a nozzle opening by generating the above.

  Examples of the liquid ejecting head that discharges the liquid in the pressure chamber as droplets from the nozzle openings by causing pressure fluctuation in the liquid in the pressure chamber include, for example, an ink jet recording head (hereinafter simply referred to as an ink jet recording head used in an image recording apparatus such as a printer). Recording head), color material ejecting head used for manufacturing color filters such as liquid crystal displays, electrode material ejecting heads used for forming electrodes such as organic EL (Electro Luminescence) displays, FED (surface emitting displays), biochips ( There are bioorganic ejecting heads and the like used in the manufacture of biochemical elements.

  As an example of the recording head, a nozzle forming substrate on which a nozzle array formed by arranging a plurality of nozzle openings is formed, and a flow that forms a series of flow paths from a common liquid chamber (reservoir) to a nozzle opening through a pressure chamber. Pressure that can cause pressure fluctuations in the passage forming substrate (pressure chamber forming substrate), the flow path unit (cavity unit) having the sealing plate for sealing the opening of the pressure chamber and the common liquid chamber, and the ink in the pressure chamber. Some have a source.

  As a material of the flow path forming substrate, for example, a silicon single crystal substrate (silicon wafer) is preferably used, and an ink flow path (liquid such as a pressure chamber) is applied by performing anisotropic etching treatment from the surface of the silicon wafer. An empty portion or a groove portion to be a flow path) is formed. The nozzle forming substrate is bonded to one surface of the pressure chamber forming substrate, and the other surface is sealed with an opening such as an empty portion serving as a pressure chamber to partition a part of the ink flow path. A stop plate is joined.

  The sealing plate is composed of a composite plate material in which a PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) resin film is laminated as an elastic thin film portion on the surface of a metal support plate such as stainless steel. In a region corresponding to the pressure chamber of the sealing plate, a diaphragm portion is formed that can be deformed in accordance with the operation of the piezoelectric vibrator as a pressure generation source and cause pressure fluctuation in the ink in the pressure chamber. This diaphragm portion is configured by removing only the elastic thin film portion by removing the surrounding support plate by etching or the like while leaving the portion to which the tip face of the piezoelectric vibrator is connected as an island portion.

  When the piezoelectric vibrator is driven to expand and contract in the longitudinal direction of the element, the island portion of the sealing plate is displaced in a direction close to or away from the pressure chamber. As a result, the volume of the pressure chamber changes and pressure fluctuation occurs in the ink in the pressure chamber. In the recording head, ink in the pressure chamber is ejected as ink droplets from the nozzle openings using this pressure fluctuation.

  By the way, in the recording head having the above-described configuration, positioning holes (reference holes) are opened in the respective members constituting the flow path unit, and the reference pins are inserted into the reference holes, so that the members at the time of joining are connected to each other. Some are configured to perform relative positioning (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-030490 A (FIG. 1)

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, when there is a dimensional error between the reference hole and the reference pin, the relative positions of the flow path forming substrate and the sealing plate are shifted, and as a result, the position of the island portion with respect to the pressure chamber May deviate from the normal position. In particular, the island portion located farther from the reference hole is more likely to be displaced. If the island part deviates from the normal position, there is a possibility that the ejection of ink droplets may be hindered, such as when a specified amount of ink droplets are not ejected when the piezoelectric vibrator bonded to the island part is driven. .

  Therefore, in order to prevent such a problem, after joining each member constituting the flow path unit, inspection of the bonding state of the flow path forming substrate and the sealing plate, more specifically, the island portion with respect to the pressure chamber Misalignment inspection may be performed. In this displacement test, the displacement in the pressure chamber arrangement direction of the islands is measured with reference to the partition walls separating the pressure chambers, while the longitudinal direction of the islands (perpendicular to the pressure chamber arrangement direction). For example, the displacement in the direction is measured with reference to an escape hole for introducing an extra adhesive when the members are joined to each other. In other words, it is inspected whether or not the distance from these standards falls within a prescribed range (tolerance range) of the positional deviation amount. In addition, the above escape hole positively introduces an extra adhesive at the time of joining into the inside thereof, thereby preventing the adhesive from entering the portion that becomes the flow path and the anchor after adhesion. It is provided to become.

  However, the escape hole is not originally provided as a reference for positional deviation, and there is a problem that measurement accuracy is lowered when the distance between the escape hole and the island portion is long.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a liquid jet head capable of further improving the inspection accuracy of the positional deviation between the flow path forming substrate and the sealing plate. is there.

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above object, and a pressure chamber forming substrate for forming a pressure chamber leading to the nozzle opening, and a part of the pressure chamber bonded to the pressure chamber forming substrate. A sealing plate for partitioning;
In the sealing plate, a reference pattern serving as a reference for a relative position between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate is provided on an end surface of a partition wall that partitions the pressure chamber. To do.
Further, in this configuration, in the region corresponding to the pressure chamber in the sealing plate, a diaphragm portion that is elastically deformed according to the operation of the pressure generation source and causes pressure fluctuation in the liquid in the pressure chamber is formed.
The diaphragm part has an island part to which the pressure generation source is joined,
It is desirable that the reference pattern is provided at a position corresponding to an end portion of the island portion in the longitudinal direction on the partition wall.

  According to the above configuration, the reference pattern is provided on the end face of the partition wall that divides the pressure chamber in the sealing plate, and the displacement of the island portion is inspected based on this reference pattern, so the measurement distance between the reference pattern and the island portion Can be made as short as possible, and as a result, it is possible to inspect the displacement with higher accuracy. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the possibility of ejection failure or the like due to the displacement of the island portion with respect to the pressure chamber.

  Further, in the above configuration, a plurality of the reference patterns are arranged on the partition wall, and the arrangement pitch of each reference pattern is configured to match a tolerance of relative displacement between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate. It is desirable to take.

  According to this configuration, since the arrangement pitch of each reference pattern matches the tolerance of the relative displacement amount between the flow path forming substrate and the sealing plate, the displacement inspection can be performed quickly and with high accuracy. It becomes.

  In the above configuration, it is preferable that the reference pattern is formed as a polygonal hole, and one vertex thereof is used as a reference point of a relative position between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the reference pattern is provided on an end surface of a partition wall that partitions a dummy pressure chamber that does not directly participate in droplet discharge.

  According to this configuration, the reference pattern is provided on the end face of the partition wall of the dummy pressure chamber that is not directly involved in the ejection of the ink droplets, while the reference pattern is not provided on the partition wall of the pressure chamber that is associated with the ejection of the ink droplets. The rigidity of the partition walls in the pressure chambers other than the dummy pressure chambers can be made uniform. As a result, the ink droplet ejection characteristics of all the pressure chambers related to the ejection of ink droplets can be made uniform.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments described below, various limitations are made as preferred specific examples of the present invention. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description unless otherwise specified. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In the following description, an ink jet recording head (hereinafter simply referred to as a recording head) mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus (a type of liquid ejecting apparatus; hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) is taken as an example of the liquid ejecting head of the present invention. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a recording head 1 in the present embodiment, and FIG. The illustrated recording head 1 includes a cartridge base 2 (hereinafter referred to as “base”), a drive substrate 5, a case 10, a flow path unit 11, and an actuator unit 13 as main components. In the following, for convenience, the stacking direction of the members constituting the recording head 1 will be described as the vertical direction.

  The base 2 is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin such as an epoxy resin, and a plurality of ink introduction needles 4 are attached to the upper surface of the base 2 with a filter 3 interposed therebetween. These ink introduction needles 4 are mounted with ink cartridges (not shown) that store ink (a kind of liquid). The drive substrate 5 is provided with a wiring pattern for supplying a drive signal from the printer main body (not shown) to the piezoelectric vibrator 19 and a connector 6 for connecting to the printer main body side, an electronic component 8 and the like. Has been implemented. A wiring member such as an FFC (flexible flat cable) is connected to the connector 6, and the driving substrate 5 receives a driving signal from the printer main body side via the FFC. The driving substrate 5 is disposed on the bottom side of the base 2 opposite to the ink introduction needle 4 with an elastic sheet 7 such as an elastomer functioning as a packing interposed.

  The case 10 is a hollow box-shaped member made of synthetic resin, the flow path unit 11 is joined to the front end surface (lower surface), the actuator unit 13 is accommodated in the accommodation space 12 formed inside, The drive substrate 5 is attached to the substrate attachment surface 14 on the side opposite to the flow path unit 11 side. A head cover 16 made of a metal thin plate member is attached to the front end surface side of the case 10 so as to surround the peripheral edge portion from the outside of the flow path unit 11. The head cover 16 has a function of protecting the flow path unit 11 and the case 10 and adjusting the nozzle forming substrate 25 of the flow path unit 11 to the ground potential to prevent troubles such as noise caused by static electricity generated from recording paper or the like. Fulfill.

  The actuator unit 13 includes a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 19 (a kind of pressure generation source in the present invention) arranged in a comb shape, a fixing plate 20 to which the piezoelectric vibrators 19 are joined, and a driving substrate 5. For example, a wiring member 21 such as a TCP (tape carrier package) for transmitting a drive signal from the piezoelectric vibrator 19 to the piezoelectric vibrator 19. Each piezoelectric vibrator 19 has a fixed end portion bonded to the fixed plate 20, and a free end portion protruding outward from the front end surface of the fixed plate 20. That is, each piezoelectric vibrator 19 is mounted on the fixed plate 20 in a so-called cantilever state. The fixing plate 20 that supports each piezoelectric vibrator 19 is made of, for example, stainless steel having a thickness of about 1 mm. The actuator unit 13 is housed and fixed in the housing space 12 by bonding the back surface of the fixed plate 20 to the inner wall surface of the case that defines the housing space 12. The piezoelectric vibrators 19 positioned at both ends of the piezoelectric vibrator array are dummy piezoelectric vibrators that are not actually driven without being supplied with a drive signal.

  FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the configuration of the flow path unit 11 in the present embodiment. The flow path unit 11 includes an elastic plate 23 (corresponding to a sealing plate in the present invention), a flow path forming substrate 24 (corresponding to a pressure chamber forming substrate in the present invention), and a nozzle forming substrate 25 (nozzle forming member in the present invention). Are formed by joining and integrating the respective flow path unit constituting members in a stacked state, through the ink supply port 28 and the pressure chamber 29 from the common ink chamber 27 (common liquid chamber). A series of ink flow paths (liquid flow paths) up to the opening 30 is formed.

The nozzle forming substrate 25 arranged at the lowermost portion of the flow path unit 11 has a plurality of nozzle openings 30 arranged in a row in the paper feed direction (sub-scanning direction) at a pitch (for example, 180 dpi) corresponding to the dot formation density. It is a thin plate made of metal, and is made of stainless steel in this embodiment. In the nozzle forming substrate 25, one nozzle row is formed by 180 nozzle openings 30.
The flow path forming substrate 24 disposed between the nozzle forming substrate 25 and the elastic plate 23 serves as an ink flow path, specifically, an opening 33 serving as a common ink chamber 27 and an ink supply port 28. It is a plate-like member in which a groove portion 34 and an empty portion 35 to be a pressure chamber 29 are partitioned. In this embodiment, a silicon wafer that is a substrate having crystallinity is subjected to anisotropic etching treatment. Have been made.
In addition, a plurality of escape holes 36 that function as escape holes for introducing excess adhesive or bubbles when joining the flow path unit constituent members are similarly formed in the flow path forming substrate 24 by etching. ing. By providing the escape hole 36, it is possible to prevent the adhesive protruding from the joining boundary portion between the members from flowing into the ink flow path side or causing poor adhesion due to bubbles entering between the members. it can. Further, when the adhesive introduced into the escape hole 36 is solidified, it functions as an anchor, so that the bonding strength can be increased.

  The elastic plate 23 disposed on the upper surface of the flow path forming substrate 24 on the side opposite to the nozzle forming substrate 25 is formed by applying a PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) resin film to an elastic thin film portion on the surface of a metal support plate 23a such as stainless steel. It is comprised by the composite board material laminated as 23b. In a region corresponding to the pressure chamber 29 of the elastic plate 23, a diaphragm portion 37 is formed that can be deformed in accordance with the operation of the piezoelectric vibrator 19 and cause pressure fluctuation in the ink in the pressure chamber 29. The diaphragm portion 37 is configured by removing the supporting plate 23a around the portion where the tip end face of the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is connected as an island portion 38 by etching and leaving only the elastic thin film portion 23b. Has been.

  Further, the elastic plate 23 is formed with a compliance portion 39 that seals one opening surface of the opening portion 33 of the flow path forming substrate 24 and partitions a part of the common ink chamber 27. The compliance portion 39 is made only of the elastic thin film portion 23b by removing the support plate 23a in the region corresponding to the common ink chamber 27 (opening portion 33) by etching. The compliance unit 39 functions as a damper that reduces the pressure fluctuation of the ink in the ink flow path when the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is driven.

  Reference holes 42 (42a, 42b, 42c) that can be inserted into the reference pins 41 are formed in the flow path unit constituent members, that is, the elastic plate 23, the flow path forming substrate 24, and the nozzle forming substrate 25. Each is opened through the direction. And each flow path unit structural member is joined by adhesive etc. after the relative position was matched by inserting the reference pin 41 in each reference hole 42, and the attitude | position which made the nozzle formation board | substrate 25 downward To be fixed to the case 10.

  In the recording head 1 configured as described above, when a driving signal is supplied from the driving substrate 5 to the piezoelectric vibrator 19 through the wiring member 21, the piezoelectric vibrator 19 expands and contracts in the longitudinal direction of the element. The 37 island portions 38 move in a direction close to or away from the pressure chamber 29. As a result, the volume of the pressure chamber 29 changes, and the pressure in the ink in the pressure chamber 29 changes. Due to this pressure fluctuation, the ink in the pressure chamber 29 is ejected from the nozzle opening 30 as an ink droplet (a kind of droplet).

  By the way, each part such as the ink flow path such as the pressure chamber 29 and the island part 38 of the diaphragm portion 37 is formed in a very fine shape, and therefore the positioning of the flow path unit constituent member is on the order of several μm. High accuracy is required. In particular, the positioning accuracy of the island portion 38 to which the piezoelectric vibrator 19 is connected is required to be higher as the number of piezoelectric vibrators is increased by increasing the density of the head. As described above, the recording head 1 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the relative position of each flow path unit constituting member is defined by inserting the reference pin 41 into the reference hole 42 of each member. However, when there is a dimensional error between the reference hole 42 and the reference pin 41, the positioning accuracy is lowered. In particular, if the relative position between the island portion 38 and the pressure chamber 29 is shifted from the normal position due to the positional shift between the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23, the ink droplet ejection characteristics are adversely affected. There is a risk of affecting.

  Therefore, in the recording head 1, after joining the flow path unit constituent members, inspection of the joined state between the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23, more specifically, the displacement of the island portion 38 with respect to the pressure chamber 29 is performed. Inspection is performed. In the recording head 1, the reference pattern 46 serving as a reference for the relative position of the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23 is provided on the end surface 45 of the partition wall 44 that partitions the pressure chamber 29 in the sealing plate 23. By measuring the position of the island portion 38 with respect to the reference pattern 46, it is possible to inspect the displacement with high accuracy. Hereinafter, this point will be described.

  4 is a plan view for explaining a joined state of the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23, FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG. It is a BB sectional view. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a region X in FIG. Since the elastic thin film portion 23b is a very thin translucent sheet, in FIG. 4, in the bonded state of the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23, the elastic thin film portion 23b is transmitted through the elastic thin film portion 23b. 24 can be visually recognized.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the pressure chambers positioned at both ends in the row of pressure chambers 29 are dummy pressure chambers 29 ′ that are not directly involved in ink droplet ejection. The island portion corresponding to the dummy pressure chamber 29 'is a dummy island portion 38' to which the dummy piezoelectric vibrator is connected. In this embodiment, the longitudinal direction (pressure chamber) of the island portion 38 is respectively formed on the end surface 45 of the partition wall 44 that partitions each dummy pressure chamber 29 ′, that is, on the upper end surface on the side where the sealing plate 23 is disposed. A plurality of reference patterns 46 are provided along a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction. More specifically, of the partition walls partitioning each dummy pressure chamber 29 ', partition walls 44 in the pressure chamber arrangement direction (hereinafter referred to as partition walls 44 in order to be distinguished from partition walls 44 on both sides in the pressure chamber longitudinal direction). The reference pattern 46 (46a, 46b, 46c) is formed on each end face 45 of the island part 38 in the longitudinal direction of the island part 38. That is, a total of six reference patterns 46 are formed corresponding to both ends of the island portion for one dummy pressure chamber 29 '. These reference patterns 46 are used as a reference when inspecting the longitudinal position of the island portion 38 (dummy island portion 38 ′) with respect to the pressure chamber 29.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the reference pattern 46 is a fine hole having a polygonal shape in a plan view and a substantially hexagonal shape in this embodiment, and the thickness of the flow path forming substrate 24 is etched by the same etching process as the pressure chamber 29 and the like. It is drilled halfway in the direction. Of the polygonal reference patterns 46, the apex P of the reference pattern 46b disposed at the center is the reference point of the relative position between the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23, that is, in this embodiment. In the form, it is a reference point for measuring the position of the end of the island portion 38 in the longitudinal direction. That is, the state where the imaginary line L extending in the pressure chamber arrangement direction from the apex P of the central reference pattern 46b and the end of the island portion 38 are the most desirable state.

  In the present embodiment, the arrangement pitch of the set of reference patterns 46 (46a, 46b, 46c) is set to match the tolerance of the relative displacement amount between the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23. Has been. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the distance d from the vertex P of the central reference pattern 46b among the three reference patterns 46 to the vertex P of the reference patterns 46a and 46c located on both sides of the central reference pattern 46b is as follows. , Respectively, are set so as to coincide with the tolerance (for example, 10 μm).

  The above-described misalignment inspection is performed using, for example, a non-contact level difference measuring machine. In the following description, the pressure chamber arrangement direction is referred to as the vertical direction, and the longitudinal direction of the island portion 38 orthogonal to the vertical direction is expressed as the horizontal direction. First, for one of the upper and lower dummy island portions 38 ′, a position shift with respect to the positioning patterns 46 at both left and right ends is inspected one by one. That is, for example, with respect to the position of the left end of the lower dummy island portion 38 ′ in FIG. 4, the vertex P of the center reference pattern 46b provided on the left side of the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 ′ of the dummy pressure chamber 29 ′ is the center. Then, it is checked whether or not the right and left reference patterns 46a and 46c are positioned within the range of the left and right distance d to each vertex P, that is, whether they are within the tolerance range.

  In the case of performing inspection using the non-contact level difference measuring machine, the partition 44 'separating the pressure chambers 29 is parallelized by the measuring machine and the target mark of the measuring machine is set to the dummy island 38'. This position is set as the measurement start point and the target mark is moved from this point to the apex P of the central reference pattern 46b, so that the distance in the left-right direction from the measurement start point is positive or negative. It is displayed on the measuring machine as a numerical value. As a result, it is possible to measure the positional deviation in the left-right direction (island longitudinal direction) of the dummy island 38 'with respect to the apex P of the central reference pattern 46b. Then, it is inspected whether this positional deviation is within a tolerance range. Similarly, the right end of the island portion 38 ′ is inspected as to whether or not the positional deviation amount falls within the tolerance range based on the reference pattern 46 provided on the right side of the end face 45.

  If the displacement of the one dummy island portion 38 ′ in the left-right direction (island portion longitudinal direction) with respect to the positioning pattern 46 is inspected, then the other (upper) dummy island portion 38 ′ is also left and right in the same manner. The positional deviation with respect to the positioning pattern 46 at both ends is inspected. Then, if the positional deviations at both ends of both dummy islands 38 'are both within the tolerance range, it is determined that they are suitable, and if any one of them is out of the tolerance range, it is deemed non-compliant. . Note that the displacement of the island 38 in the vertical direction (pressure chamber arrangement direction) with respect to the pressure chamber 29 is measured by the distance from the partition wall 44 ′ of the pressure chamber 29.

  As described above, in the recording head 1, the reference pattern 46 is provided on the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 (partition wall 44 ′) that partitions the pressure chamber 29 (dummy pressure chamber 29 ′) in the sealing plate 23. Since the displacement of the island portion 38 (dummy island portion 38 ') is inspected based on this, the measurement distance between the reference pattern 46 and the island portion 38 can be shortened as much as possible, and as a result, with higher accuracy Inspection of misalignment can be performed. As a result, it is possible to eliminate a recording head that may cause a discharge failure or the like due to the displacement of the island portion with respect to the pressure chamber.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of reference patterns 46 (46a, 46b, 46c) are provided at both ends of the island portion 38, and the arrangement pitch of each reference pattern 46 is set to the flow path forming substrate 24 and the sealing plate 23. Since it is set so as to match the tolerance of the relative positional deviation amount, the positional deviation inspection can be performed quickly and with high accuracy. That is, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the positional deviation is within the tolerance range without using a high-precision microscope such as the above-described non-contact level difference measuring machine.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the reference pattern 46 is provided on the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 ′ (partition wall 44) of each dummy pressure chamber 29 ′ that is not directly involved in the ink droplet ejection, while the pressure chamber is associated with the ink droplet ejection. A configuration in which the reference pattern 46 is not provided is adopted for the 29 partition walls 44 ′. Thereby, the rigidity of partition 44 'in pressure chambers 29 other than dummy pressure chamber 29' can be equalized uniformly. As a result, the ink droplet ejection characteristics of all the pressure chambers 29 related to the ejection of ink droplets can be made uniform.

  By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the description of the scope of claims.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been shown in which the displacement of both ends of the dummy island portion 38 ′ with respect to the reference pattern 46 formed on the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 ′ of each dummy pressure chamber 29 ′ is inspected. However, the displacement of the island portion 38 corresponding to the normal pressure chamber 29 may be inspected with respect to the reference pattern 46. That is, the displacement of the pressure chambers 29 at both ends of the pressure chamber row excluding the dummy pressure chamber 29 ′ can be inspected based on the reference pattern 46 formed on the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 ′ of the dummy pressure chamber 29 ′. . This configuration is more preferable because the positional deviation between the pressure chamber 29 and the island portion 38 actually related to the ejection of ink droplets is inspected.

  In the above embodiment, the reference pattern 46 is provided on the end face 45 of the partition wall 44 ′ of the dummy pressure chamber 29 ′, while the reference pattern 46 is not provided on the partition wall 44 ′ of the pressure chamber 29 related to ink droplet ejection. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when it is determined that the influence on the ink droplet ejection characteristics is small, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the reference pattern 46 is provided in the partition wall 44 ′ of the normal pressure chamber 29. is there.

  In the above description, the ink jet recording head 1 has been described as an example of the liquid ejecting head, but the present invention can also be applied to other liquid ejecting heads. For example, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an electrode material ejecting head used for forming an electrode such as an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, an FED (surface emitting display), a biochip (biochemical element) The present invention can also be applied to bioorganic matter ejecting heads and the like used in the production of

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a recording head. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part for explaining the configuration of a recording head. It is a disassembled perspective view explaining the structure of a flow path unit. It is a top view explaining the joining state of a channel formation substrate and a sealing board. (A) is the sectional view on the AA line in FIG. 4, (b) is the sectional view on the BB line in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the area | region X in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording head, 2 Cartridge base, 3 Filter, 4 Ink introduction needle, 5 Substrate for driving, 10 Case, 11 Flow path unit, 12 Housing empty part, 13 Actuator unit, 16 Head cover, 19 Piezoelectric vibrator, 20 Fixing plate , 21 Wiring member, 23 Elastic plate, 24 Flow path forming substrate, 25 Nozzle forming substrate, 27 Common ink chamber, 28 Ink supply port, 29 Pressure chamber, 29 'Dummy pressure chamber, 30 Nozzle opening, 37 Diaphragm portion, 38 Island Part, 38 'dummy island part, 39 compliance part, 41 reference pin, 42 reference hole, 44 partition wall, 45 end face of partition wall, 46 (46a, 46b, 46c) reference pattern

Claims (5)

A pressure chamber forming substrate that forms a pressure chamber that communicates with the nozzle opening, and a sealing plate that is bonded to the pressure chamber forming substrate and defines a part of the pressure chamber;
In the sealing plate, a reference pattern serving as a reference for a relative position between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate is provided on an end surface of a partition wall that partitions the pressure chamber. Liquid ejecting head. In the region corresponding to the pressure chamber in the sealing plate, a diaphragm portion is formed that elastically deforms according to the operation of the pressure generation source and causes pressure fluctuation in the liquid in the pressure chamber,
The diaphragm part has an island part to which the pressure generation source is joined,
The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1, wherein the reference pattern is provided at a position corresponding to an end of the island portion in a longitudinal direction on the partition wall.   The plurality of reference patterns are arranged on the partition wall, and an arrangement pitch of each reference pattern matches a tolerance of a relative displacement between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate. Alternatively, the liquid ejecting head according to claim 2.   4. The reference pattern according to claim 1, wherein the reference pattern is formed as a polygonal hole, and one vertex thereof is used as a reference point for a relative position between the pressure chamber forming substrate and the sealing plate. The liquid jet head according to any one of the above. 5. The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1, wherein the reference pattern is provided on an end surface of a partition wall that partitions a dummy pressure chamber not directly involved in droplet discharge.

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