JP2006315307A - Method of manufacturing liquid discharge head, liquid discharge head and liquid discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an adhesive agent relating to the pasting of a plate material from blocking nozzles when a liquid supply route is sealed by pasting the plate material after a head chip is arranged on a member forming the liquid supply route by applying a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, a liquid discharge head and a liquid discharge device of an inkjet type line printer for example. <P>SOLUTION: A head chip 42 has a concave portion 47 formed to prevent an adhesive agent 55 from flowing out to nozzles 46 when the nozzles 46 are made. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, a liquid discharge head, and a liquid discharge apparatus, and can be applied to, for example, an inkjet line printer. In the present invention, a concave portion that prevents the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle is formed, and after the head chip is arranged on a member constituting the liquid supply path, the liquid supply path is sealed by attaching a plate material. In addition, the nozzle is prevented from being clogged by the adhesive relating to the attachment of the plate material.

  In recent years, with the development of personal computers and the widespread use of electronic still cameras, printers using an ink jet method have been widely used for hard copying electronic data. This ink-jet printer prints images and the like by ejecting ink droplets held in a liquid chamber from minute nozzles by driving energy generating elements such as heating elements, and attaching these ink droplets to paper. To do. In addition, a head chip is created by integrating a plurality of energy generating elements, and a liquid chamber, nozzles, etc. are created on the head chip to create a printer head, thereby ensuring high resolution by arranging nozzles at high density. Configured as follows.

  Conventionally, in such a printer, after a plurality of head chips are formed on a semiconductor wafer, a liquid chamber and a nozzle are formed in each head chip, and then each head chip is separated, thereby collecting the plurality of head chips. To improve productivity.

  Regarding such a head chip creation method, Japanese Patent No. 3143307 discloses that a liquid chamber or the like is easily created by patterning the shape of the ink flow path on the head chip and then forming and removing the coating layer. A method has been proposed.

  By the way, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, after the head chip 1 produced by such a method is arranged on the frame 2 which is a member constituting the ink supply path, the ink supply path is sealed and the printer head is sealed. It is considered that the printer head 3 can be easily created by creating 3.

  That is, in the head chip 1, a heating element 4 that is an energy generating element, a drive circuit that drives the heating element 4, and the like are formed on a semiconductor substrate. The head chip 1 is patterned according to the shape of the ink liquid chamber and the ink flow path to form a sacrificial layer, and the covering layer 5 is formed so as to cover the sacrificial layer. Further, after the nozzle 6 is formed on the covering layer 5, the sacrificial layer is removed. Thus, the head chip 1 is formed with an ink liquid chamber and an ink flow path, a nozzle 6 is formed on the surface side, and an opening of the ink flow path is created on the end face. Hereinafter, a component in which the liquid chamber, the flow path, and the nozzle are formed in the head chip in this manner is referred to as a head chip component.

  In the manufacturing process of the printer head 3, the head chip component formed by the head chip 1 thus prepared is arranged on the frame 2. Here, the frame 2 is formed of, for example, aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic, resin, or the like, and is formed so that the ink supply path 8 opens on the side surface of the paper, and the head chip component is in contact with the side of the paper and the ink supply path 8. A recess for arranging the is formed. In addition, the frame 2 has an ink introduction port 9 formed on the back side for guiding the ink held in the ink tank to the ink supply path 8.

  In the manufacturing process of the printer head 3, after the head chip components are arranged in the recesses (FIG. 12), the ink supply path 8 is closed by the top plate 10 (FIG. 13), and thereby the flow of ink is indicated by arrows. Ink from the ink tank is guided from the ink introduction port 9 to the ink supply path 8 to be guided to the head chip 1. Here, the top plate 10 is a sheet-like plate material formed of a resin film such as polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate, or a metal foil such as nickel, aluminum, or stainless steel. For example, an adhesive previously applied to these films and foils is used. Affixed by the used thermocompression bonding or the like.

  However, when the printer head 3 is formed by sealing the ink supply path 8 with the top plate 10 in this way, as shown in FIGS. 14 (A) and 14 (B), an adhesive for attaching the top plate 10 is used. There is a problem that 12 flows out and the nozzle 6 is clogged. Here, FIG. 12, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 (B) are in a relationship of a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 14 (A) with respect to the plan view shown in FIG. 14 (A).

One way to solve this problem is to increase the distance between the nozzle 6 and the top plate 10, but in this case, the head chip 1 is enlarged. In addition, a method of strictly controlling conditions such as the amount of the adhesive 12, the temperature, pressure, and the like related to pasting so that the adhesive 12 does not block the nozzle 6 is conceivable. It becomes complicated.
Japanese Patent No. 3143307

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points. When a head chip is arranged on a member constituting a liquid supply path and the liquid supply path is sealed by pasting the plate material, the plate material is attached. An object of the present invention is to propose a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, a liquid discharge head, and a liquid discharge device that can prevent clogging of a nozzle due to an adhesive.

  In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1 is applied to a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head in which the liquid held in the liquid chamber is discharged from the nozzle by driving the energy generation element to form a plurality of the energy generation elements. The head chamber is formed with the liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, a substrate processing step for creating the head chip component by creating the nozzle, and a supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path. A head chip mounting process for mounting the head chip component on the formed member, and a plate material is attached to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component held by the member with an adhesive, and the supply path is sealed. A plate material pasting step, and the substrate processing step forms a recess for preventing the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle in the plate material pasting step.

  The invention of claim 3 is applied to a liquid discharge head that discharges the liquid held in the liquid chamber from the nozzle by driving the energy generation element, and the liquid chamber is applied to the head chip in which the plurality of energy generation elements are formed. The head chip component was created by creating the flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber and the nozzle, and the head chip component was mounted on the member in which the supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path was formed. Thereafter, a plate material is attached to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component held by the member by an adhesive and the supply path is hermetically sealed to prevent the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle side. A recess to be formed is formed on the nozzle side surface of the head chip component.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the liquid discharge head is applied to a liquid discharge apparatus that discharges liquid held in a liquid chamber of the liquid discharge head from a nozzle by driving an energy generating element provided in the liquid discharge head. The head chip in which a plurality of the energy generating elements are formed, the liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, and the nozzle are created to produce a head chip component, and the liquid is supplied to the flow path. After the head chip component is mounted on the member in which the supply path to be guided is formed, a plate material is adhered to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component held by the member by an adhesive, and the supply path is sealed. Thus, a recess that prevents the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle side is formed on the nozzle side surface of the head chip component.

  According to the configuration of claim 1, the head chip in which a plurality of the energy generation elements are formed is applied to a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head in which the liquid held in the liquid chamber is discharged from the nozzle by driving the energy generation element. In a member formed with a liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, a substrate processing step for creating a head chip component by creating the nozzle, and a supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path, A head chip mounting step for mounting the head chip component, and a plate material bonding step for sealing the supply path by bonding a plate material to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component held by the member with an adhesive. If a head chip is disposed on a member constituting the liquid supply path, the liquid supply path is sealed by attaching a plate material to create a liquid discharge head. Door can be. At this time, the substrate processing step forms a concave portion that prevents the adhesive in the plate material attaching step from flowing out to the nozzle, thereby providing an adhesive for attaching the plate material for sealing the supply path. In this case, outflow to the nozzle side is prevented by the concave portion, thereby preventing the nozzle from being clogged so as not to block the nozzle.

  Thus, according to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, when the head chip is disposed on the member constituting the liquid supply path and then the liquid supply path is sealed by attaching the plate material, It is possible to provide a liquid discharge head and a liquid discharge apparatus that can prevent clogging of the nozzle due to the adhesive to be attached.

  According to the present invention, after the head chip is arranged on the member constituting the liquid supply path, when the liquid supply path is sealed by pasting the plate material, the nozzle eyes by the adhesive relating to the paste of the plate material are provided. Clogging can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

(1) Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a line printer according to the present invention. The line printer 21 is a full line type line printer, and a printer main body 22 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape. The line printer 21 is created so that the paper 23 can be fed by mounting a paper tray 24 containing the paper 23 to be printed from a tray entrance formed in front of the printer main body 22.

  In the line printer 21, when the paper tray 24 is attached to the printer main body 22 and printing is instructed by the user, the line printer 21 moves to the back side of the printer main body 22 by the rotation of the paper feed roller provided in the printer main body 22. The paper 23 is sent out from the paper tray 24 toward the front, and the feeding direction of the paper 23 is switched to the front direction by a reverse roller provided on the back side of the printer main body 22. In the line printer 21, the paper 23 whose paper feeding direction has been switched to the front direction is conveyed so as to cross the paper tray 24, and is discharged to the tray 25 from the discharge port disposed on the front side of the line printer 21. The

  The line printer 21 is provided with an upper lid 26 on the upper end surface, and the head cartridge 28 is disposed so as to be replaceable as indicated by an arrow A in the middle of the upper lid 26 and in the middle of conveying the paper in the front direction.

  Here, the head cartridge 28 is a full-line type printer head with four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and ink tanks 29Y, 29M, 29C, and 29K for each color are provided on the upper side. The head cartridge 28 is provided on the side of the paper 23 of the head assembly 30 which is an assembly of printer heads related to the ink tanks 29Y, 29M, 29C and 29K, and the side surface of the head assembly 30 when not in use. And a head cap 31 that prevents the ink from drying. As a result, the line printer 21 prints a desired image or the like in color by causing the ink droplets of each color to adhere to the paper 23 by driving the head assembly 30 provided in the head cartridge 28.

  In the head assembly 30, head chips are sequentially arranged on the surface on the head assembly 30 side for each color of yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black K. Here, the head chip is a semiconductor substrate in which a plurality of heat generating elements and a drive circuit for driving each heat generating element are integrated, and each heat generating element has an ink liquid chamber and an ink flow path for guiding ink to each ink liquid chamber. Created.

  With these arrangements, the head assembly 30 forms a nozzle row according to the sheet width for each color by such an arrangement of the head chips, and ink flow paths formed in the head chips from the corresponding ink tanks 29Y, 29M, 29C, and 29K. Ink is supplied. Accordingly, the head assembly 30 prints an image or the like by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles formed on each head chip toward the paper.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion related to the head chip of the head assembly 30. The printer head according to the head assembly 30 is formed by disposing a head chip 42 on a frame 41 that is a member constituting a liquid supply path, and then sealing the liquid flow path by attaching a top plate 40.

  3, the head chip 42 is formed by a heating element 43 and a drive circuit for driving the heating element 43, and a plurality of head chips are collectively formed on the substrate P made of the semiconductor wafer. Is done. In addition to the case where the head chip 42 is formed on a semiconductor wafer as described above, the head chip 42 is formed on a substrate made of glass, ceramics or the like by using a fine processing technique for various electronic device manufacturing techniques. May be.

  That is, the head chips 42 are formed by being arranged on the semiconductor wafer P in a matrix so as to be continuous in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and at this time, the even number columns are arranged so that the ink flow paths face each other with the adjacent head chips. The odd-numbered head chips are formed so as to be rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the head chips 42 of FIG. Further, in this way, between the adjacent head chips 42, a space is provided for the scribing line.

  When a heating element 43 and a driving circuit for driving the heating element 43 are formed on the semiconductor wafer P, the head chip 42 is coated with a photosensitive positive photoresist by spin coating, and then an exposure apparatus is used. By patterning the photoresist, the sacrificial layer 44 having the shape of the ink liquid chamber and the ink liquid chamber is formed. At this time, the sacrificial layer 44 is formed so that the head chips 42 are continuously continuous between the adjacent head chips 42 facing the ink flow paths. In this example, PMER-LA900 (manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was applied to this photoresist, and this photoresist was applied to a semiconductor wafer with a film thickness of 10 [μm]. Further, after exposure with a mask aligner, development was performed with a developer using a 3% aqueous solution of tetramethylammonium hydroxide, followed by rinsing with pure water. Further, the entire surface was exposed with a mask aligner and then allowed to stand naturally in a nitrogen atmosphere for 24 hours, thereby forming a sacrificial layer 44.

  Subsequently, a predetermined resin material is applied to the head chip 42 to create a coating layer 45, and a nozzle 46 is further created. Here, in this example, a photo-curable negative photoresist was applied to the resin material, and the resin material was applied by spin coating to a film thickness of 10 [μm]. Subsequently, after exposure with a mask aligner, development is performed with a developer (OK73 thinner: manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.), followed by rinsing with a rinsing liquid (isopropyl alcohol), thereby forming a coating layer 45 and a nozzle 46. did. The nozzle 46 was made with a diameter of 15 [μm].

  When the head chip 42 creates the nozzles 46 in this way, at the same time, the head chip 42 causes the adhesive agent used for bonding the top plate to flow out to the nozzles 46 along the rows of the nozzles 46 on the opening side of the ink flow path. A recess 47 to prevent is created. In this embodiment, the recess 47 is formed so as not to penetrate the coating layer 45 and to ensure that the coating layer 45 with a sufficient film thickness can be secured in the ink flow path formed by removing the sacrificial layer 44. The surface of the layer 45 is formed so as to be deepened by a predetermined depth. Further, the head chip 42 is formed between the nozzle row and the end face on the ink inlet side of the head chip 42 so as to be elongated along the nozzle array.

  Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the concave portion 47 is formed by controlling the amount of transmitted light in the photomask used for forming the nozzle 46. That is, in this embodiment, the coating layer 45 is made of a negative photosensitive resist so that the UV light used for exposure is completely blocked at the portion of the photomask corresponding to the nozzle 46 of the photomask. A chromium film (Cr film) is formed on the entire surface. On the other hand, in the portion of the photomask corresponding to the concave portion 47, a large number of minute dots made of a chromium film are arranged, thereby reducing the amount of transmitted light in this portion as compared with the portion of the nozzle 46. In such a dot, the concave portion 47 can be formed by creating a dot having a diameter of 0.5 to 2.0 [μm] and reducing the film thickness.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, the head chips 42 are individually cut along a cut line C by a dicer or the like. As a result, the sacrificial layer 44 is exposed at the end face and the nozzle 46 portion of the head chip 42 by cutting along the cut line C.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the head chip 42 is immersed in a predetermined solution, whereby the sacrificial layer 44 is removed, and the ink liquid chamber 49 and the ink flow path 50 are created. It is processed into a head chip component. As this solution, various solutions capable of removing the sacrificial layer 44 can be applied. For example, when the sacrificial layer 44 is made of a photosensitive resist, a developer of the photosensitive resist can be applied. . In this embodiment, propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA), which is one of organic solvents, is applied to this solution, and the sacrificial layer 44 is removed by applying ultrasonic vibration while immersed in this solution (FIG. 6). (A)). After that, it was replaced with isopropyl alcohol and dried (FIG. 6B).

  Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the head chip 42 is disposed by being bonded to the frame 41 with a silicone-based adhesive. Here, the frame 41 is a member in which an ink supply path 52 that guides ink to the ink flow path 50 of the held head chip 42 is formed while holding the head chip 42. In this embodiment, the frame 41 is made of stainless steel. Instead of stainless steel, aluminum, ceramics, resin, or the like may be used. Here, in the head assembly 30, for each color, head chips 42 are sequentially arranged in a so-called staggered arrangement to form a nozzle row, and the frame 41 is provided with a plurality of head chips 42 in a staggered arrangement so that each color ink is respectively common. An ink supply path 52 is formed for each color so as to be supplied. In addition, the frame 41 has recesses formed in the portions where the head chips 42 are arranged by this staggered arrangement, and ink introduction that guides the ink held in the ink tanks 29Y, 29M, 29C, and 29K to the corresponding ink supply paths 52, respectively. A mouth 53 is created on the back side.

  In the manufacturing process of the head assembly 30, the head chip 42 is disposed in the recess, and then the top plate 40 is adhered to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component with an adhesive to seal the ink supply path 52. Here, the top plate 40 is a sheet-like plate material. In this embodiment, a polyimide sheet having a thickness of 25 [μm] is applied. In place of the polyimide sheet, a resin film such as polyethylene terephthalate may be used, or a metal foil such as nickel, aluminum, or stainless steel may be applied. Further, the top plate 40 is disposed by being bonded by thermocompression bonding or the like with an adhesive 55 applied in advance. In this embodiment, the top plate 40 is attached to each head chip 42 to seal the ink supply path 52. However, the ink supply path 52 is sealed by a single top plate collectively in a plurality of chips arranged in a staggered manner. You may make it do.

  The top plate 40 is attached by the adhesive 55 in this way, and even when the adhesive 55 flows out, the recessed portion 47 can prevent the adhesive 55 that has flowed out from entering the nozzle 46 side. The size and arrangement position are set so that the nozzle 46 side end is on the front side of the recess 47 (on the opposite side to the nozzle 46) or on the recess 47. This adhesion was carried out by natural standing for 1 hour at room temperature using a silicone adhesive. Here, the adhesive is not limited to silicone, and liquid, film-like adhesives such as acrylic, epoxy, and urethane can be applied. Here, in the case of a liquid adhesive, it can be applied to the top plate 40 in advance using a syringe or the like. In the case of a film-like adhesive, it can be applied to the top plate 40 in advance by temporary attachment to the top plate 40 by a heating press.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1, after the head chip 42 is connected to the wiring board 56 for relay by wire bonding, the portion of the wire bonding is sealed with a sealing agent 57 with an epoxy adhesive, and the case or the like. And assembled to the head assembly 30.

(2) Operation of Embodiment In the above configuration, in this line printer 21 (FIG. 2), by driving the head cartridge 28 by image data, text data or the like used for printing, a sheet 23 to be recorded is fed to a predetermined sheet feeding mechanism. Ink droplets are ejected from the head assembly 30 provided in the head cartridge 28 while being conveyed, and the ink droplets adhere to the sheet 23 being conveyed to print an image, text, or the like.

  Correspondingly, in the head assembly 30 of the head cartridge 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the ink in the ink tanks 29Y, 29M, 29C, and 29K is guided to the head chip 42, and the heating element provided in the head chip 42 Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles 46 by increasing the pressure of the ink held in the liquid chamber by driving 43. Thus, the line printer 21 can print a desired image or the like.

  In this way, when a desired image or the like is printed by driving the heating element 43 that is an energy generating element provided in the head chip 42, the printer 21 applies a liquid to the head chip 42 on which the plurality of heating elements 43 are formed. After the head chip component (FIGS. 5 and 6) in which the ink flow path and the nozzle 46 for guiding ink to the chamber and the liquid chamber are formed is mounted on the frame 41 (FIGS. 1 and 7), the top plate as a plate material The ink supply path 52 is sealed by pasting 40, and the head assembly 30 is created. As a result, the printer 21 can create a printer head by a simple manufacturing process.

  However, when the printer head is formed in this way and the shape is reduced in size, the adhesive relating to the attachment of the top plate 40 may flow out and block the nozzle 46 (FIG. 14). reference). When the nozzle 46 is blocked as described above, ink droplets cannot be ejected from the nozzle 46, and the printing quality is significantly deteriorated.

  For this reason, in the printer 21, a recess 47 that prevents the adhesive 55 from flowing out to the nozzle 46 is formed on the nozzle side surface of the head chip component. As a result, in the printer 21, the adhesive 55 flowing out to the nozzle 46 side when the top plate 40 is attached can be dammed up by the concave portion 47, and the outflow of the adhesive 55 to the nozzle 46 can be prevented. The clogging of the nozzle 46 by the adhesive 55 can be prevented. Thereby, in this embodiment, a printer head can be produced with stable quality and high yield.

  More specifically, in this embodiment, after the heat generating elements 43 related to the head chip 42, the drive circuit for driving each heat generating element 43, and the like are collectively created on a semiconductor wafer by a semiconductor manufacturing technique ( 3), a sacrificial layer 44 is formed according to the shape of the liquid chamber and the ink flow path, and a covering layer 45 is formed so as to cover the sacrificial layer 44. After that, after the nozzle 46 is formed, the sacrificial layer 44 is separated by being separated into the respective head chips 42 (FIGS. 5 and 6), thereby forming a head chip component. Thus, in this embodiment, the head chip can be easily processed using the semiconductor manufacturing technique. Instead of separating the head layer and removing the sacrificial layer in this way, the sacrificial layer may be removed and then separated into the head chips.

  In this series of steps, the head chip 42 is also formed with a recess 47 when the nozzle 46 is created by setting a photomask used for creating the nozzle 46, thereby increasing the number of steps without increasing the number of steps. Thus, clogging of the nozzle 46 by the adhesive 55 can be easily prevented.

(3) Advantages of the embodiment According to the above configuration, the concave portion that prevents the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle is formed, so that the head chip is disposed on the member constituting the liquid supply path, and then the plate material is attached. In the case where the liquid supply path is hermetically sealed, clogging of the nozzle due to the adhesive relating to the attachment of the plate material can be prevented.

  Also, after creating a sacrificial layer in the shape of a liquid chamber or the like on the head chip, by forming a coating layer and removing the sacrificial layer, when creating a nozzle in the coating layer, a recess is also created The nozzle can be easily prevented from being clogged by the adhesive.

  8A and 8B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a part of the head assembly applied to the printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention in comparison with FIG. The printer according to the present embodiment is configured in the same manner as the printer 21 described above with respect to the first embodiment except that the configuration related to the concave portion 47 of the head assembly is different.

  Here, in this embodiment, a recess 47 is formed so as to penetrate the sacrificial layer 44. That is, as shown in FIG. 9 in comparison with FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the portion of the recess 47 is exposed under the same conditions as the case of exposing the portion of the nozzle 46, thereby penetrating the sacrificial layer 44. A recess 47 is formed. Further, the recess 47 is formed only in the central portion of the nozzle row, and the ink flow path is formed in the head chip 42 so as to avoid this central portion. Further, the top plate 40 is formed so that the nozzle 46 side gradually becomes narrower toward the central portion so that the adhesive 55 that has flowed out gathers in the central portion where the concave portion 47 is formed.

  Even if the concave portion is formed so as to penetrate the coating layer as in this embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  10A and 10B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a part of the head assembly applied to the printer according to the third embodiment of the present invention in comparison with FIG. The printer according to this embodiment is configured in the same manner as the printer 21 described above with respect to the first embodiment except that the arrangement of the head chip 42 in this head assembly is different.

  Here, in this embodiment, the head chip 42 is disposed so as to face one frame 41, the ink supply path 52 is formed in common by the facing head chip 42, and the top plate 40 is further disposed.

  Even when the head chips are arranged so as to face each other as in this embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiments, the case where the heat generating element is applied to the energy generating element has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be widely applied to the case where a piezoelectric element or the like is applied to the energy generating element. it can.

  In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the present invention is applied to a full-line type printer head for color printing to create four nozzle arrays. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, monochrome printing. For example, when the present invention is applied to a full-line type printer head for producing a single nozzle array, the present invention can be widely applied to the production of nozzle arrays with various numbers.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a full-line type printer head has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to a serial type printer head. .

  In the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a printer head to eject ink droplets has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and instead of ink droplets, the droplets are liquids of various dyes. Droplets, liquid discharge heads that are droplets for forming a protective layer, etc., microdispensers where the droplets are reagents, various measuring devices, various test devices, and various types of droplets that are agents that protect members from etching The present invention can be widely applied to pattern drawing apparatuses and the like.

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, a liquid discharge head, and a liquid discharge apparatus, and can be applied to, for example, an inkjet line printer.

It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of mounting of the head chip which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a printer according to a first embodiment of the invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the printer head applied to the printer of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process subsequent to FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process subsequent to FIG. 4. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the removal process of a sacrificial layer. It is the top view and sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the mounting to a flame | frame. It is the top view and sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the mounting of the head chip which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the recessed part concerning the head chip of FIG. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of mounting of the head chip which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the process of the continuation of FIG. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the conventional head chip. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the process of the continuation of FIG. It is the top view and sectional drawing which show the state by which the nozzle was block | closed with the adhesive agent.

Explanation of symbols

1, 42 ... head chip, 2, 41 ... frame, 3 ... printer head, 4, 43 ... heating element, 5, 45 ... coating layer, 6, 46 ... nozzle, 8, 52 ... ink Supply path 10, 40 ... Top plate, 12, 55 ... Adhesive, 21 ... Printer, 30 ... Head assembly, 44 ... Sacrificial layer, 47 ... Recess, 49 ... Ink liquid chamber, 50 ... ... ink flow path,

Claims (4)

In the method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head for discharging the liquid held in the liquid chamber from the nozzle by driving the energy generating element,
A substrate processing step for creating a head chip component by creating the liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, and the nozzle in the head chip formed with a plurality of the energy generating elements,
A head chip mounting step for mounting the head chip component on a member in which a supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path is formed;
A plate material affixing step for adhering a plate material to the nozzle side surface of the head chip component held by the member with an adhesive and sealing the supply path;
The substrate processing step includes:
A method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, comprising: forming a recess for preventing the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle in the step of attaching the plate material. The substrate processing step includes:
A pattern creation step of forming a pattern according to the shape of the liquid chamber and a pattern according to the shape of the flow path on the head chip;
A step of creating a coating layer for forming a coating layer covering the pattern by the shape of the liquid chamber, the pattern by the shape of the flow path,
A coating layer processing step of creating the nozzle in the coating layer;
A pattern removal step of creating the head chip component by removing the pattern due to the shape of the liquid chamber and the shape of the flow path, and
The method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the recess is formed together when the nozzle is created in the processing step of the coating layer. In the liquid discharge head for discharging the liquid held in the liquid chamber from the nozzle by driving the energy generating element,
A head chip component is created by creating the liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, and the nozzle in a head chip in which a plurality of the energy generating elements are formed,
After the head chip component is mounted on the member in which the supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path is formed,
A plate material is attached to the side surface of the nozzle of the head chip component held by the member by an adhesive, and the supply path is sealed and created,
A liquid ejection head, wherein a recess for preventing the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle side is formed on a side surface of the nozzle of the head chip component. In a liquid ejection apparatus that ejects liquid held in a liquid chamber of the liquid ejection head from a nozzle by driving an energy generating element provided in the liquid ejection head.
The liquid discharge head is
A head chip component is created by creating the liquid chamber, a flow path for guiding the liquid to the liquid chamber, and the nozzle in a head chip in which a plurality of the energy generating elements are formed,
After the head chip component is mounted on the member in which the supply path for guiding the liquid to the flow path is formed,
A plate material is attached to the side surface of the nozzle of the head chip component held by the member by an adhesive, and the supply path is sealed and created,
A liquid ejection device, wherein a recess for preventing the adhesive from flowing out to the nozzle side is formed on a side surface of the nozzle of the head chip component.

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