JP2006281735A - Inkjet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a constitution simultaneously realizing both a cooling structure for temperature equalization of a recording head by suppressing a temperature rise and a temperature unevenness of the head and a head structure for suppressing thermal deformation and warpage deformation. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet recording head is provided with a recording element substrate wherein a plurality of nozzles for discharging a liquid and a plurality of recording elements for generating discharge energy are arrayed, is arranged on a recording element substrate supporting board, and an ink supply route is formed by joining of the recording element supporting board with an ink supply tank member. A part of the recording element substrate supporting board is provided with a part exposed in the ink path in the ink supply tank member, and the exposed part has a shape of heat radiation for dissipating the heat of the recording element substrate supporting board by ink in the ink supply tank member. By forming the exposed part shape as a head structure body, such mechanical strength improvement as suppression of a deformation by head heat, and suppression of warpage, is made at the same time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that performs a recording operation by discharging a liquid such as ink, and an ink jet recording head used in the recording apparatus. The present invention can be applied to a general printing apparatus, a copying machine, a facsimile having a communication system, an apparatus such as a word processor having a printing unit, or a multifunction recording apparatus combining these apparatuses. In particular, the present invention is suitably applied to a recording apparatus that performs high-speed and high-quality printing.

  Conventionally, an inkjet recording apparatus is low in running cost, can be downsized, and can easily support color image recording using a plurality of colors of ink. Widely used and commercialized.

  On the other hand, as an energy generating element that generates energy for ejecting ink from the ejection port of the recording head, an element that uses an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, or an electromagnetic wave such as a laser emits heat to generate heat. There are those that discharge ink droplets by the action of, and those that heat a liquid by an electrothermal conversion element having a heating resistor.

  Among them, an inkjet recording system head that uses thermal energy to eject ink droplets can arrange discharge ports at high density, and therefore can perform high-resolution recording. Recording heads that use electrothermal transducers as energy generating elements are also available in smaller sizes, and are sufficient for the advantages of IC technology and micromachining technology that have made significant progress in technology and improved reliability in the recent semiconductor field. This is advantageous because it can be used in high density, easy to mount with high density, and inexpensive to manufacture.

  Recently, in order to perform higher-detail printing, a method of creating a nozzle for ejecting ink with high accuracy using a photolithographic technique has been used.

  In recent years, in order to realize high-definition image recording at higher speed, it is also desired to realize a recording head having a longer print width. Specifically, a head having a length of 4 inches to 13 inches or the like has been required.

  As the head becomes longer and faster in this way, the energy input to the head increases and the head temperature rises during printing. As a result, it is necessary to deal with printing reliability such as fluctuations in the discharge amount for each page, unstable discharge at high temperatures, and deterioration in continuous printability.

Conventionally, the recording head has been cooled by air cooling from the outside of the head or mounting a cooling pipe on the head.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-146979

  In the conventional system, since the distance from the cooling unit to the recording element substrate is long and the cooling efficiency is lowered, it is difficult to sufficiently cool the head and soak the heat. Therefore, there is a problem with increasing the speed and continuous printing performance, and it is a problem to suppress the head temperature.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a head having high printing reliability in view of the above-described problems of the prior art.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording head according to the present invention includes a recording element substrate (chip) in which a recording element substrate (chip) in which a plurality of nozzles for discharging liquid and a plurality of recording elements for generating discharge energy are arranged is arranged. The recording element substrate is provided with a supply port for supplying ink from the surface opposite to the recording element surface, and the recording element substrate support plate has a flow path for supplying ink to the recording element substrate. In the ink jet recording head in which the ink supply path is formed by joining with the ink supply tank member (CT), the recording element substrate support plate is provided with a part of the ink supply tank member. An exposed portion exposed in the ink flow path is provided, and the exposed portion is formed on the recording element substrate support plate by the ink in the ink supply tank member. By adopting a heat radiation shape for exhausting heat, the heat of the recording element substrate is efficiently radiated, thereby suppressing the temperature rise of the head and at the same time achieving a uniform temperature characteristic. Inkjet recording head.

  In the present invention, in the ink jet recording head, a part of the recording element support plate is configured to provide an exposed portion exposed in the ink flow path in the ink supply tank member, and the exposed portion is the ink supply By adopting a heat radiation shape for discharging the heat of the recording element substrate support plate by the ink in the tank member, the heat of the recording element substrate is efficiently radiated, thereby suppressing the temperature rise of the head and at the same time. Heating can be achieved. In addition, by forming this exposed portion shape as a head structure, it is possible to increase mechanical strength such as suppressing deformation and warpage of the head at the same time.

  With these configurations, it is possible to suppress and control an increase in head temperature due to high-speed and high-density printing, and it is possible to greatly improve the reliability in continuous printing.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 to FIG. 10 are explanatory diagrams for explaining each of the preferred recording head, driving circuit, and ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied or applied, and their respective relationships. Hereinafter, the entire configuration will be described with reference to these drawings while describing the configuration of each part.

(1) Description of Recording Head As shown in FIG. 1, the recording head H1000 is an electrothermal transducer that generates thermal energy for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling to the ink in accordance with an electrical signal. The recording head is a bubble shooter (registered trademark) side shooter type that performs recording using the.
The recording head H1000 includes an ink supply tank member H1500 of a recording element unit H1001 and an ink supply unit H1002, as shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. Further, as shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 3A, the recording element unit H1001 includes a recording element substrate H1100, a recording element substrate support plate H1200, an electric wiring substrate H1300, a plate H1400, and a filter member H1600. .

(1-1) Recording Element Unit FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the recording element substrate H1100, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. The recording element substrate H1100 has a thin film formed of, for example, a Si substrate H1108 having a thickness of 0.5 to 1 mm. Further, an ink supply port H1101 consisting of a long groove-like through-hole is formed as an ink flow path, and electrothermal conversion elements H1102 are arranged in a staggered pattern on each side of the ink supply port H1101, respectively. The element H1102 and electric wiring such as Al are formed by a film forming technique. An electrode H1103 is provided to supply power to the electrical wiring. The ink supply port H1101 performs anisotropic etching using the crystal orientation of the Si substrate H1108. When the wafer surface has a crystal orientation of <100> and a thickness direction of <111>, the etching proceeds at an angle of about 54.7 degrees by anisotropic etching (KOH, TMAH, humanradine, etc.) . Using this method, etching is performed to a desired depth. A nozzle plate H1110 is provided on the Si substrate H1108, and an ink flow path H1104, a nozzle H1105, and a foaming chamber H1107 corresponding to the electrothermal conversion element H1102 are formed by a photolithography technique. The nozzle H1105 is provided so as to face the electrothermal conversion element H1102, and causes the ink supplied from the ink supply port H1101 to generate bubbles by the electrothermal conversion element H1102 to discharge the ink. .

As shown in FIG. 3A, the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is made of, for example, an alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ) material having a thickness of 0.5 to 10 mm. The material of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is not limited to alumina, and has a linear expansion coefficient equivalent to the linear expansion coefficient of the material of the recording element substrate H1100, and the thermal conductivity of the recording element substrate H1100 material. It may be made of a material having a thermal conductivity equal to or greater than. The material of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is, for example, silicon (Si), aluminum nitride (AlN), zirconia, silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ), silicon carbide (SiC), molybdenum (Mo), or tungsten (W). Any of them may be used. An ink supply port H1201 for supplying ink to the recording element substrate H1100 is formed in the recording element substrate support plate H1200, and the ink supply port H1101 of the recording element substrate H1100 is the ink supply port of the recording element substrate support plate H1200. Corresponding to H1201, the recording element substrate H1100 is bonded and fixed to the recording element substrate support plate H1200 with high positional accuracy. The adhesive is preferably, for example, a material having a low viscosity, a thin adhesive layer formed on the contact surface, a relatively high hardness after curing, and ink resistance. For example, it is a thermosetting adhesive mainly composed of an epoxy resin, or an ultraviolet curing combined thermosetting adhesive, and the thickness of the adhesive layer is desirably 50 μm or less. The recording element substrate support plate H1200 has an X-direction reference H1204, a Y-direction reference H1205, and a Z-direction reference H1206, which are positioning references.

  FIG. 3B is a detailed explanatory view of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 shown in FIG. A heat sink-shaped heat dissipation portion 1200h for heat dissipation is formed on a part of the recording element substrate support plate H1200. In this embodiment, the heat dissipating part 1200h has a structure having a plurality of concave and convex shapes. The basic purpose of the heat dissipating part is to make the surface area as large as possible. Of course, as long as the shape can satisfy this, it is not limited to the uneven shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the recording element substrate support plate H1200 has a U-shaped cross section. This cross-sectional shape, for example, significantly improves the mechanical strength in the frontward direction in the drawing (that is, the longitudinal direction of the recording head) compared to the case where the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is configured in a flat plate shape, and heat is simultaneously released. The shape also serves to suppress deformation. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the U-shaped cross-sectional shape as in the present embodiment, and may be any shape that can be configured, such as an L-shaped cross section or an H-shaped cross section.

  In this figure, the uneven | corrugated shape of the thermal radiation part of the recording element board | substrate support plate H1200 demonstrated above is shown.

  Next, the arrangement configuration of the recording element substrate H1100 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording element substrate H1100 is arranged on the recording element substrate support plate H1200 in a zigzag manner, for example, so that wide recording with the same color is possible. For example, four recording element substrates H1100a, H1100b, H1100c, and H1100d each having a nozzle group length of 1 inch + α are arranged in a staggered manner to enable recording of a width of 4 inches.

  In addition, the end of each ejection element group of each recording element substrate is provided with a region (L) overlapping with the end of the nozzle group of the recording element board adjacent to the staggered pattern in the recording direction. Prevents gaps from being generated by printing. For example, overlapping regions H1109a and H1109b are provided in the nozzle group H1106a and the nozzle group H1106b.

  In this embodiment, the recording element substrate H1100 is described in a staggered arrangement on the recording element substrate support plate H1200 as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this arrangement method. For example, the present invention can be applied to, for example, a configuration in which a plurality of recording element substrates H1100 are arranged on a straight line, a recording head in which an elongated recording element substrate H1100 is disposed, a recording head disposed in a plurality of rows, and the like. Yes.

  The electrical wiring substrate H1300 applies an electrical signal for ejecting ink to the recording element substrate H1100, has an opening for incorporating the recording element substrate H1100, and has a plate H1400 on the back surface. Bonded and fixed. The electric wiring board H1300 has an electrode terminal H1302 corresponding to the electrode H1103 of the recording element board H1100, and an external signal input terminal H1301 for receiving an electric signal from the recording apparatus main body located at the end of the wiring. Yes. The electrical wiring substrate H1300 and the recording element substrate H1100 are electrically connected. For example, the electrode H1103 of the recording element substrate H1100 and the electrode terminal H1302 of the electrical wiring substrate H1300 are connected to a gold wire H1303 (not shown). It is electrically connected by the wire bonding technique used. As a material of the electrical wiring board H1300, for example, a flexible wiring board having a two-layer structure is used, and a surface layer is covered with a polyimide film.

  The plate H1400 is formed of, for example, a SUS plate (stainless steel plate) having a thickness of 0.5 to 1 mm. Note that the material of the plate H1400 is not limited to SUS, and may be made of a material having ink resistance and good flatness. The plate H1400 has a recording element substrate H1100 bonded and fixed to the recording element substrate support plate H1200 and an opening for taking in the recording element substrate, and is bonded and fixed to the first plate.

  A groove formed by the opening H1402 of the plate and the side surface of the recording element substrate H1100 is filled with a first sealant H1304 to seal the electrical mounting portion of the electrical wiring substrate H1300. Further, the electrode H1103 of the recording element substrate is sealed with a second sealant H1305 to protect the electrical connection portion from corrosion by ink and external impact.

  A filter member H1600 for removing foreign matter mixed in the ink is bonded and fixed to the back surface side ink supply port H1201 of the recording element substrate support plate H1200.

(1-2) Ink Supply Tank Unit The ink supply tank member H1500 is formed by resin molding, for example, and has a common liquid chamber H1501 inside. The common liquid chamber 1501 forms an ink liquid chamber structure in a state where it is joined to the recording element substrate support plate H1200.

  In addition, an ink supply tank member H1500Z direction reference surface H1502 is provided. The Z reference plane H1502 positions and fixes the recording element unit and serves as the Z reference for the recording head H1000.

(1-3) Coupling of Recording Element Unit and Ink Supply Tank Unit As shown in FIG. 2 described above, the recording head H1000 is completed by connecting the recording element unit H1001 to the ink supply tank member H1500.

  The coupling is performed as follows.

  The opening of the ink supply tank member H1500 and the recording element unit H1001 are sealed with a third sealant H1503 to form a common liquid chamber H1501. Then, the Z reference H1502 of the recording element unit H1001 is positioned and fixed to the Z reference H1502 of the ink supply member with, for example, screws. The third sealant H1503 is desirably a sealant that has ink resistance, is cured at room temperature, and can withstand the linear expansion difference between different materials. By this sealing, an ink flow path is formed from the common liquid chamber H1501 in the ink supply tank member H1500 to the recording element substrate H1100 via the recording element substrate support plate H1200.

  By this joining, the heat radiating portion 1200h formed on a part of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 described above is configured and arranged so as to be exposed in the common liquid chamber H1501 in the ink supply tank member H1500. Yes.

(2) Description of Drive Circuit As shown in FIG. 1, in the recording head H1000 of the present application, four recording element substrates H1100 are arranged on the chip plate H1200 with high precision, and further four recording element substrates H1100 are arranged on the electric wiring substrate H1300. It is wired with. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing signal wiring between the four recording element substrates. In the figure, H1100a to H1100d each correspond to four recording element substrates, and each recording element substrate is composed of driving circuits for odd and even two nozzle rows shown in FIGS. HEATO, E and IDATAO, E are taken out separately for each element evenly and oddly, and are indicated by signal names HEAT1-8 and IDATA1-8 for each recording element substrate. Other signals are wired in common between the recording element substrates. LTCLK, DCLK, HEAT 1 to 8, and IDATA 1 to 8 are connected to an external signal input terminal H1301, and VH, GNDH, VDD, and GND that are power supply systems are connected to a power supply terminal H1302.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording element substrate H1100. On the both sides of the ink supply port H1101, odd-numbered and even-numbered nozzle rows are shifted by half the nozzle pitch. These two drive circuits are formed on the recording element substrate by a semiconductor process, and signals HEATO, E and IDATAO, E are wired independently in each drive circuit, but other signals (DCLK, LTCLK) and The power supplies (VDD, GND, VH, HGND) are common wirings in the recording element substrate. In both the odd and even nozzle rows, 640 nozzles are arranged at a pitch of 600 dpi and are shifted by half pitch as described above, so that a 1200 dpi, 1280 nozzle is configured as the recording element substrate. Since the drive circuit of each nozzle row is exactly the same, the outline of the drive circuit will be described with reference to FIG. Each of the nozzles 640 is provided with discharge heaters H1102-1 to 1279, and by driving each discharge heater, the ink in the nozzles is foamed and ink droplets are discharged. The 20 discharge heaters are divided into 32 drive blocks, each of which is driven in a time division manner. The drive block is selected by signals BE0-31, and the 20 discharge heaters belonging to the drive block determine whether or not to discharge by turning ON / OFF the transistors E1006-1 to E1006-1.

  The drive of the recording head H1000 will be described with reference to the drive timing chart of FIG. 9 and FIG. The PRINT signal is a pulse signal that gives the timing for starting ejection of one column, and the operation of the drive circuit starts at the rise timing of the pulse. When the drive circuit starts operation, LTCLK is generated first, and several hundreds ps after that, the transfer clock DCLK is output for the transfer data, that is, 25 clocks. Transfer data is output to each signal of IDATA1 to 8 in synchronization with DCLK and serially transferred to a 25-bit shift register E1001. The data stored in the shift register E1001 is stored in the 25-bit latch E1002 at the timing of LTCLK output at the beginning of the next drive block. Therefore, the actual driving is performed according to the first transfer data at the timing when the next block is transferred. The data content transferred here is a total of 25 bits, ie, the drive block number BENB0-4 is 5 bits and the drive data of the electrothermal transducer H1102 driven in that block is 20 bits. The drive blocks BENB0-4 are decoded into BE0-31 by the 5 → 3 decoder E1003 and connected to the base electrodes of the transistors E1005-1-312. Therefore, only one of the 32 transistors E1005-1 to 32 is always driven, and the drive power supply (VH) is supplied only to one end of the electrothermal conversion element belonging to the designated block. .

  On the other hand, the other ends of the electrothermal transducers H1102-1 to 1279 are connected in parallel by 32 for each segment, and are connected to the collector electrodes of 20 transistors E1006-1 to 20, respectively. The driving of these transistors is controlled by the outputs of AND gates E1004-1 to 20 connected to the base electrode. A 20-bit drive data signal is connected to one input of the AND gate, and pulse signals HEAT1 to 8 for giving timing for actually driving the electrothermal transducer are connected to the other input. Therefore, the transistors E1006-1 to 20 are controlled by AND of the two signals, and as a result, the segment specified by the 20-bit drive data is driven at the pulse timing of HEAT1 to 8. . As described above, when the PRINT signal is activated, the drive circuit starts to operate, the first block is driven first, sequentially becomes 1, 2,..., And finally the 31st block is completely driven. The ejection of all nozzles on the printing element substrate is controlled.

(3) Description of Inkjet Recording Device As shown in FIG. 5, the inkjet recording device M4000 of the present invention includes, for example, recording heads for six colors corresponding to photographic image quality recording. The recording head H1000Bk is a recording head for black ink, the recording head H1000C is for cyan ink, the recording head H1000M is for magenta ink, the recording head H1000Y is for yellow ink, the recording head H1000LC is for light cyan ink, and the recording head H1000LM is light. For magenta ink. These recording heads H1000 are fixedly supported by positioning means and electrical contacts M4002 of a carriage M4001 mounted on the recording apparatus main body M4000.

  These recording heads are controlled by the drive circuit described above to perform recording on a recording medium. 5 is a full-line type in which the recording head has nozzles corresponding to the width of the recording medium, the recording head is fixed, and recording is performed by scanning the recording medium in the direction of the arrow.

  On the other hand, the recording apparatus of FIG. 10 is a serial drive type recording apparatus in which the recording head performs recording while reciprocating in the main scanning direction (carriage movement direction).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a partial cross section of the recording head of the present invention.

  FIG. 14 is a partial sectional view showing a conventional head configuration.

  According to FIG. 11, a heat radiating portion H1200h is formed on the side opposite to the recording element substrate arrangement surface of the recording element substrate support plate H1200, and this heat radiating portion is exposed in the common liquid chamber H1501 in the ink supply tank member H1500. Has been. In other words, with this configuration, the heat radiating portion H1200h of the recording element substrate support plate is immersed in the ink. Thus, the recording ink is formed so as to also serve as a cooling liquid. In this embodiment, the heat sink of the heat dissipating part has a width of 5 mm, a height of 10 mm, and a thickness of about 2 mm. In addition, the flow rate of ink as a cooling liquid in the common liquid chamber was about 20 ml / min to 100 ml / min. Of course, any flow rate that meets the conditions according to the printing conditions and head specifications may be used.

  Further, the temperature of the head can be finely controlled by the flow direction of the ink as the cooling liquid and the number of inks used.

  The material of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is preferably a material having particularly good thermal conductivity, and alumina, carbon graphite, or the like is used. In addition, due to its properties, a material having ink resistance is suitable.

  The ink as the cooling liquid in the common liquid chamber is configured to be circulated in the liquid chamber by a pump (not shown). The flow rate of the cooling liquid is monitored by a flow meter, and the inlet temperature, the outlet temperature, and the head temperature are monitored, and the flow rate adjustment, the temperature adjustment of the thermostatic chamber, etc. can be controlled according to the printing conditions, the environmental temperature, and the like.

  FIG. 12 shows a comparison of temperature rise between the present invention and a head without a heat radiation part.

  Under the conditions of this example, when there was no heat radiating part, the temperature reached a high temperature after printing about 50 sheets, and the head temperature continued to rise and non-ejection occurred.

  In the method of the present invention, the head temperature is saturated after printing about 50 sheets, and the head temperature does not increase even if printing is continued thereafter.

  In addition, due to the difference in the type and density of the image to be printed, regarding the density difference of the image due to the temperature difference in the longitudinal direction of the normally long recording head, according to this configuration, the longitudinal direction of the recording head can be improved by the cooling effect of the heat radiating unit. An effect was also observed regarding the soaking of the direction.

  The temperature rise naturally changes depending on the shape of the heat radiating portion, the shape of the common liquid chamber, the flow rate of ink as cooling water, and the temperature, and it goes without saying that the optimum conditions are set according to the specifications of the head used.

(Second Embodiment)
FIGS. 13A to 13C are views schematically showing a partial cross section of a recording head according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG.13 (b) is AA sectional drawing in the top view shown to Fig.13 (a). A heat sink-shaped heat dissipation portion 1200h for heat dissipation is formed on a part of the recording element substrate support plate H1200. In this embodiment, the heat dissipating part 1200h has a structure having a plurality of concave and convex shapes. The basic purpose of the heat dissipating part is to make the surface area as large as possible. Of course, as long as the shape can satisfy this, it is not limited to the uneven shape.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13B, the recording element substrate supporting plate H1200 has a U-shaped cross section. This cross-sectional shape, for example, significantly improves the mechanical strength in the frontward direction in the drawing (that is, the longitudinal direction of the recording head) compared to the case where the recording element substrate support plate H1200 is configured in a flat plate shape, and heat is simultaneously released. The shape also serves to suppress deformation. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the U-shaped cross-sectional shape as in the present embodiment, and may be any shape that can be configured, such as an L-shaped cross section or an H-shaped cross section.

  FIG. 13C is a perspective view of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 shown in FIG. In the drawing, the concavo-convex shape of the heat radiating portion of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 described above is shown.

  The ink supply tank member H1500 is formed by resin molding, for example, and has a common liquid chamber H1501 inside. The common liquid chamber 1501 forms an ink liquid chamber structure in a state where it is joined to the recording element substrate support plate H1200. At this time, according to the configuration of this embodiment, the upper portion 1200 ht of the heat radiating portion 1200 h of the recording element substrate support plate H 1200 is coupled to the ink supply tank member H 1500, thereby simultaneously with the inner wall of the ink supply tank member H 1500 and the upper portion 1500 ht of the inner wall. Its height is determined to be joined. Moreover, a part of wall surface is left. With this configuration, a part of the common liquid chamber H1501 is formed as another liquid chamber space as cooling liquid chambers 1501a and 1501b on both sides in the drawing.

  As in the first embodiment, the opening of the ink supply tank member H1500 and the recording element unit H1001 are sealed with a sealant H1503 to form a common liquid chamber H1501 and cooling liquid chambers 1501a and 1501b. Then, the Z reference H1502 of the recording element unit H1001 is positioned and fixed to the Z reference H1502 of the ink supply member with, for example, screws. The sealant H1503 is desirably a sealant that has ink resistance, is hardened at room temperature, and is flexible enough to withstand the difference in linear expansion between different materials. By this sealing, an ink flow path is formed from the common liquid chamber H1501 in the ink supply tank member H1500 to the recording element substrate H1100 via the recording element substrate support plate H1200. At the same time, cooling liquid chambers 1501a and 1501b are formed on both side portions of the common liquid chamber.

  Due to this bonding, the heat radiating portion 1200h formed on a part of the recording element substrate support plate H1200 described above is exposed to both the common liquid chamber H1501 and the cooling liquid chambers H1501a and H1501b in the ink supply tank member H1500. Configured and arranged as described above.

  That is, with this configuration, the heat radiating portion of the recording element substrate support plate heat radiating portion H1200h is immersed in both liquid chambers.

  According to this configuration, in addition to the cooling effect by the ink in the common liquid chamber, the cooling liquid or the ink acting as the cooling liquid different from the ink in the common liquid chamber can flow in the cooling liquid chambers 1501a and 1501b. Become.

  The feature of this configuration is that, in the configuration described in the first embodiment in which ink for printing is used for head cooling, the ink flow rate is increased or changed in order to increase the head cooling efficiency. The flow direction, flow velocity, and flow rate of the ink may be restricted due to the influence, specifically, the density change or the ink supply amount shortage, which may be restricted by the cooling liquid chambers 1501a and 1501b which are separate liquid chambers. It is possible to relatively easily and finely control the flow velocity, flow rate, flow direction, etc., of the ink as the cooling liquid without affecting the printing operation. As a result, the temperature of the head is finely adjusted. This is because it can be configured to be controlled.

  The coolant in the coolant chambers 1501a and 1501b is configured to be circulated in the fluid chamber by a pump (not shown). The flow rate of the cooling water is monitored by a flow meter, and the inlet temperature, the outlet temperature, and the head temperature are monitored. The flow rate can be adjusted according to the printing conditions, the environmental temperature, and the temperature of the thermostatic chamber.

  FIGS. 15A and 15B are partial head sectional views showing other embodiments.

External perspective view of recording head of the present invention 1 is an exploded perspective view of a recording head of the present invention. Perspective view of recording element unit Perspective view of recording element substrate support plate (A) perspective view, (b) AA cross-sectional view illustrating a recording element substrate Diagram explaining inkjet recording device (full line system) The figure explaining the drive circuit of an odd nozzle row The figure explaining the drive circuit of an even-numbered nozzle row The figure explaining the signal wiring between four recording element substrates Drive timing chart A diagram for explaining an ink jet recording apparatus (serial drive system) Schematic diagram of a partial cross section of the present invention The figure explaining the temperature rise of this invention Plan view of the second embodiment of the present invention AA sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the recording element board | substrate support plate of 2nd Example of this invention. Partial cross-sectional view of a conventional recording head (A), (b) Head partial sectional view showing another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

H1000 Recording head H1001 Recording element unit H1002 Ink supply unit H1100 Recording element substrate H1101 Ink supply port H1102 Electrothermal conversion element H1103 Electrode H1104 Ink flow path H1105 Nozzle H1106 Nozzle group H1107 Foaming chamber H1108 Si substrate H1110 Nozzle plate H1200 Recording element substrate support plate H1200h Heat radiation part H1200ht Heat radiation part upper part H1201 Ink supply port H1204 X-direction reference H1205 Y-direction reference H1206 Z-direction reference H1300 Electric wiring board H1301 External signal input terminal H1302 Electrode terminal H1303 Gold wire (not shown)
H1304 First sealant H1305 Second sealant H1400 Second plate H1500 Ink supply tank member H1500ht Tank inner wall H1501 Common liquid chamber H1501a, b Coolant chamber H1502 Z reference surface H1503 Third sealant (Illustrated)
H1504 Ink supply port (not shown)
H1800 Ink tank H1802 Tube H1900 Screw M4000 Inkjet recording apparatus M4001 Carriage M4002 Electrical contact E1001 Shift register E1002 25-bit latch E1003 Decoder E1004 AND gate E1005 Transistor E1006 Transistor K1000 Recording medium

Claims (5)

  A recording element substrate on which a plurality of nozzles for discharging liquid and a plurality of recording elements for generating discharge energy are arranged is arranged on a support plate, and the recording element substrate is provided with a supply port for supplying ink, In the ink jet recording head, the support plate includes a flow path for supplying ink to the recording element substrate, and an ink supply tank member that forms an ink supply path by being joined to the support plate. An ink jet recording head characterized in that the portion is provided with an exposed portion exposed in the ink flow path in the ink supply tank member.   2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of recording element substrates on which a plurality of nozzles for discharging liquid and a plurality of recording elements for generating discharge energy are arranged are arranged on a support plate.   The inkjet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of exposed portions provided on the support plate are provided independently.   The recording element of the recording head generates energy for ejecting ink from the ejection port. The energy generating element generates ink droplets by using heat energy by heating the liquid with an electrothermal conversion element having a heating resistor. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording head is an ink jet recording type head which is ejected.   The recording element of the recording head is a full-line type ink jet recording head in which ink discharge ports are arranged over the entire width of the recording medium in a direction intersecting a conveyance direction of the recording medium arranged in the recording area. Item 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 4.