JP2008000953A - Liquid jetting recording head and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recording head with a delivering opening shape which is manufactured without using lamination, has less deviation in the delivering direction, enlarges the difference of the amount of liquid droplets delivered from the same head, and also has the effect of decreasing the amount of mist, and also to provide its manufacturing method. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet recording head is constituted so that when the diameter on the delivering side is A, and the diameter on the flow path side is B, the head has at least the delivering opening of A>B. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head for generating recording liquid (ink) droplets used in a liquid jet (hereinafter also referred to as “inkjet”) recording method and a method for manufacturing the same.

  An ink jet recording head applied to an ink jet recording method generally includes a plurality of droplet discharge units each having a fine ink discharge port (orifice), a liquid flow path, and a liquid discharge energy generating portion provided in a part of the liquid flow path. I have. The liquid discharge energy generation unit can be formed by disposing a discharge energy generation element. As such an element, a piezoelectric element, a heat energy generation element (electrothermal converter), or the like is used.

  As an ink jet recording head using a thermal energy generating element, a type (side shooter type) is known in which ink is ejected in a direction crossing the ink supply direction to the liquid ejection energy generating unit. A manufacturing method of this side shooter type head is disclosed in Patent Document 1 by the same applicant as the present invention. In the method described in this publication, an ink jet recording head is obtained by the following procedure. First, an ink flow path pattern is formed of a soluble resin on a substrate provided with an ink discharge pressure generating element. Next, a coating resin containing an epoxy resin that is solid at room temperature is dissolved in a solvent, and this is subjected to solvent coating on a soluble resin layer to form a coating resin layer that becomes an ink flow path wall. Next, a portion of the covering resin layer above the ink discharge pressure generating element is opened to form an ink discharge port, and a soluble resin layer is removed from the substrate by elution to form an ink flow path. According to the ink jet recording head having a structure obtained by this method, the distance (OH distance) between the ink discharge pressure generating element and the discharge port can be set with a very high accuracy, in a short and reproducible manner, and a structure suitable for high quality recording can be obtained. be able to.

In addition, for the purpose of suppressing fluctuations in the flying direction of ink droplets due to notches around the opening of the head end surface, the nozzle tip is provided at a position recessed from the head end surface, and the head end surface is a recess having a larger diameter than the nozzle. There is known a recording head provided with (Patent Document 2).
JP-A-6-286149 JP-A-6-286129

  Patent Document 2 described above discloses that a substrate having an ink discharge unit and a flow path substrate are bonded to each other when a head is manufactured. However, there is a limit to the positional accuracy between the ejection port and the ink ejection means when ejecting a small amount of liquid in pasting, and this precision can be achieved without using pasting as described in Patent Document 1. It has been desired to form such a shape.

  On the other hand, when all the droplets applied to the recording medium are made smaller in order to improve the image quality, it is necessary to increase the number of ejections in order to apply the required amount of ink to the recording medium. There is a problem that the speed decreases. As a method for solving the problem of the decrease in printing speed and achieving both improvement in image quality and the printing speed by reducing the size of the discharged droplets, there is a method of discharging with different discharge amounts from a plurality of discharge ports. That is, printing is performed by distinguishing the portion printed with small droplets from the portion printed with large droplets without uniformly forming all bullets of ink droplets applied to the recording medium into small droplets. For this purpose, the inkjet recording head is provided with a small droplet ejection port for improving the image quality and a large droplet ejection port for increasing the printing speed. In this case, it is possible to discharge with different discharge amounts by appropriately changing the discharge port diameter (orifice diameter) at each discharge port, the size of the discharge energy generating element corresponding thereto, the OH distance, and the like. The OH distance is the distance from the ink acting surface of the ejection energy generating element to the opening surface of the ejection port.

  However, with the method described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to change the OH distance and the orifice plate thickness for each different discharge amount for nozzles of the same chip. For this reason, in the head using different droplet amounts as described above, when the droplets are further reduced at the discharge port for small droplets, the difference in the droplet volume increases, and the OH at each discharge port increases. In the conventional head structure in which the distance is constant, there is a case where it is not easy to control the amount of droplets from each discharge port. That is, there is a case where an effective volume difference of discharged droplets cannot be obtained.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head that can easily manufacture a head with little deflection in the ejection direction without using bonding. Another object of the present invention is that even when the OH distance at each discharge port is fixed, a large discharge amount difference can be imparted to droplets from a plurality of discharge ports, and the occurrence of mist from each discharge can be suppressed. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head having a structure that can be used and a method for manufacturing the same.

The first aspect of the method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention is as follows.
On a substrate on which a discharge energy generating element is provided, there is a discharge port that discharges ink corresponding to the discharge energy generation element and a flow path that communicates with the discharge port, and the discharge port is formed on the substrate. It is provided at a position facing the element arrangement surface on which the discharge energy generating element is provided via the flow path, and the diameter A on the ink discharge side of the discharge port and the diameter B on the flow path side are A> A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head in the relationship B,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on the element installation surface on which the discharge energy generating element of the substrate is installed;
Coating the mold with a first flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing the element installation surface of the first flow path forming member;
Laminating a second flow path forming member on the opening surface of the discharge port having the diameter B of the first flow path forming member;
A portion having a diameter B and a portion having a diameter A (A) are formed in the second flow path forming member by connecting a discharge port having the diameter B to a discharge port having a diameter A larger than the diameter B. > B) obtaining an outlet having
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising:

A second aspect of the method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention is as follows.
On a substrate on which a discharge energy generating element is provided, there is a discharge port that discharges ink corresponding to the discharge energy generation element and a flow path that communicates with the discharge port, and the discharge port is formed on the substrate. It is provided at a position facing the element arrangement surface on which the discharge energy generating element is provided via the flow path, and the diameter A on the ink discharge side of the discharge port and the diameter B on the flow path side are A> A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head in the relationship B,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on the element installation surface on which the discharge energy generating element of the substrate is installed;
Coating the mold with a flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing the element installation surface of the flow path forming member;
By etching through a mask having an opening with a diameter A, the diameter on the ink ejection side of the ejection port is widened to A, thereby having a part having a diameter B and a part having a diameter A (A> B). Obtaining a discharge port;
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising:

An ink jet recording head according to the present invention has, on a substrate provided with a plurality of ejection energy generating elements, an ejection port for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element and a flow path communicating with the ejection port. In the inkjet recording head, the ejection port is provided at a position facing the element arrangement surface on which the ejection energy generating element of the substrate is provided via the flow path.
An ink jet recording head comprising: an ejection port having an A> B relationship between a diameter A on an ink ejection side and a diameter B on the flow path side, and an ejection port having a constant diameter as the ejection ports. is there.

A third aspect of the method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention includes:
On a substrate on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements are provided, there are ejection ports for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element, and flow paths communicating with the ejection ports, and the ejection ports are formed on the substrate. The discharge energy generating element is provided at a position opposed to the element arrangement surface through the flow path, and the discharge port has a diameter A on the ink discharge side and a diameter B on the flow path side. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head having an ejection port having a relationship of A> B and an ejection port having a constant diameter,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on an element installation surface on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements of the substrate are installed;
Coating the mold with a first flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing each discharge energy element on the element installation surface of the first flow path forming member;
Laminating a second flow path forming member on a surface where a plurality of discharge ports having the diameter B of the first flow path forming member are opened;
The second flow path forming member is connected to the discharge port having the diameter B, and formed with a discharge port having a diameter A larger than the diameter B. The portion having the diameter B and the portion having the diameter A (A> B) obtaining a discharge port having
Obtaining a discharge port having a constant diameter penetrating the first and second flow path forming members based on a discharge port having the diameter B in the second flow path forming member;
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising:

A fourth aspect of the method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention includes:
On a substrate on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements are provided, there are ejection ports for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element, and flow paths communicating with the ejection ports, and the ejection ports are formed on the substrate. The discharge energy generating element is provided at a position opposed to the element arrangement surface through the flow path, and the discharge port has a diameter A on the ink discharge side and a diameter B on the flow path side. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head having an ejection port having a relationship of A> B and an ejection port having a constant diameter,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on an element installation surface on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements of the substrate are installed;
Coating the mold with a flow path forming member;
Forming a plurality of discharge ports having a diameter B at positions facing each of the plurality of discharge energy generating elements on the element installation surface of the flow path forming member;
For a part of the plurality of ejection openings, the diameter on the ink ejection side is widened to A by an etching process through a mask having an opening having a diameter A, so that a portion having a diameter B and a portion having a diameter A (A > B) obtaining an outlet having
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising:

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording head manufacturing method capable of easily manufacturing a head with little deviation in the ejection direction without using bonding. Further, by using a discharge port having a relationship of A> B between the discharge side diameter A and the flow channel side diameter B together with a discharge port having a uniform diameter, an effective droplet amount between discharge ports having the same OH distance can be obtained. It is possible to provide an ink jet recording head having a structure capable of causing a difference and a method for manufacturing the same.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the ink jet recording head of the present invention will be described.
(1) Inkjet recording head having A> B ejection openings FIG. 1 is a line passing through two ejection openings arranged in parallel in an inkjet recording head having a plurality of ejection openings with A> B (AA ′ line in FIG. 2). ), And FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink jet recording head having such a structure. This ink jet recording head has a silicon substrate 1 on which ejection energy generating elements (liquid ejection pressure generating elements) 2 are formed in two rows at a predetermined pitch. In the silicon substrate 1, a common ink supply port (liquid supply port) 3 formed by etching of silicon is opened between two rows of ink ejection energy generating elements 2. A flow path forming member 15 is provided on the silicon substrate 1, and a discharge port is provided at an upper position corresponding to the discharge energy generating element 2 of the flow path forming member 15. Each discharge port has a straight tubular shape with a circular cross section, and includes a portion 9 having a diameter A (hereinafter referred to as A portion) and a portion 8 having a diameter B (hereinafter referred to as B portion). . These parts have the same central axis. The relationship between the diameters of the A portion and the B portion is A> B, and the surface where the opening of the A portion opens toward the outside of the ink jet recording head is the discharge surface. Recording is performed by disposing a recording medium such as paper on the ejection port surface and applying ink droplets from the ejection port.

  The substrate is not limited to a silicon substrate, and substrates made of various materials depending on the intended use can be used. Further, as the ejection energy generating element 2, a heating element such as an electrothermal converter, a piezoelectric element, or the like can be used.

  The common ink supply port 3 is connected to an ink tank (not shown) that stores ink.

  An embodiment of a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head having the following structure will be described with reference to FIG. 3 as a cross-sectional view similar to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, a mold material 4 is formed in a portion that finally becomes an ink flow path on a silicon substrate 1 on which ejection energy generating elements 2 are formed in two rows at a predetermined pitch. Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a first flow path forming member (nozzle forming material) 5 is provided at a position covering at least the mold material 4. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, exposure is performed using a mask 7 for forming discharge ports, and development is performed to form a B portion 8 as shown in FIG. To do. The mold material 4 is removed from the substrate after the flow path is formed on the substrate. The pattern formability when forming a predetermined pattern, its mechanical strength, and workability at the time of removal from the substrate. It is selected in consideration of As the mold material 4, it is preferable to use a positive resist. The flow path forming member 5 is appropriately selected in consideration of the formability of the pattern as the flow path forming member, the mechanical strength, and the like, and it is preferable to use a negative resist. When a positive resist is used as the mold material and a negative resist is used as the flow path forming member, a negative mask is used as a mask in the above exposure. That is, a mask that exposes the portions other than the portion serving as the discharge port is used.

  Here, conventionally, the mold 4 is dissolved and removed from the substrate 1 to form a flow path, thereby completing a structure for discharging ink (see FIG. 9A). In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet recording head is composed of an A portion having a diameter A on the surface side of the discharge port and a B portion having a diameter B on the liquid path side, and the relationship satisfies A> B. 3 are added to the steps shown in FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3E, the second flow path forming member 6 is laminated on the first flow path forming member 5 provided with the B portion 8. Next, as shown in FIG. 3F, exposure is performed using a mask 10 and development is performed to form an A portion 9 as shown in FIG. A negative resist can also be suitably used as the second flow path forming member 6. In the case where a negative resist is used as the second flow path forming member, a negative mask is used as the mask 10 and exposure is performed on a region that becomes the A portion that is coaxial with the central axis of the B portion. In terms of work efficiency, it is preferable to use the same material for the first flow path forming member and the second flow path forming member.

  Through the above steps, a discharge port composed of the A portion 9 and the B portion 8 can be obtained. The flow path is formed by dissolving and removing the mold material 4 from the substrate 1, and the structure shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained. The flow path forming members 5 and 6 may be subjected to exposure or heat treatment for further increasing the strength of the layer. In the above embodiment, the substrate 1 provided with the common ink supply port 3 in advance is used. However, the process of providing the common ink supply port at an appropriate stage after the forming process of the mold 4 can be performed. When considering the processing efficiency of dissolution removal of the mold material 4, it is preferable that the formation of the common ink supply port is completed before the dissolution removal of the mold material 4.

  Next, another embodiment of the ink jet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a first flow path forming member 5 is provided on a mold member 4 provided on a substrate 1. Next, after providing the portion B on the flow path forming member 5 using the steps described in FIGS. 3C and 3D, the mask material layer 11 is coated thereon and shown in FIG. Get the structure. The mask material layer 11 is used as a mask in an etching process described later. As the mask material, the same material as the mold material 4 is preferably used from the viewpoint of manufacturing efficiency. Further, as the first flow path forming member 5, in addition to the characteristics as the flow path forming member, a material that can be processed by an etching process described later is selected.

  Here, exposure for providing a hole for forming an A portion in the mask material layer 11 is performed. When a positive resist is used as the mask material, exposure with the positive mask 12 is performed as shown in FIG. After the exposure, development is performed to provide holes 17 in the mask material layer 11 as shown in FIG. When a mask material made of a material different from the mold material 4 is used, a structure as shown in FIG. 4D can be obtained. For example, when a positive resist is used for both the mold material 4 and the mask material layer 11, by changing the exposure sensitivity, it is possible to select which surface of the layer made of these materials is exposed. If the sensitivity of the mold material 4 is sufficiently higher than the sensitivity of the mask layer 11, the result is as shown in FIG. On the contrary, if the sensitivity of the mold material 4 is sufficiently lower than the sensitivity of the mask material layer 11, the development can be stopped on the surface of the mold material 4 as shown in FIG.

Next, etching is performed to a predetermined depth using the mask material layer 11 having the holes 17 as a mask, the diameter of the discharge side portion of the B portion 8 is expanded to A, the A portion is formed, and from the A portion and the B portion, To obtain a discharge port. FIG. 4E shows a state in which the portion A is formed in the case of the structure of FIG. Any etching method may be used as long as a desired structure of the portion A can be obtained, and the etching method is selected according to the characteristics of the material forming the mold material 4, the flow path forming member 5, and the mask material layer 11. In consideration of manufacturing efficiency, a parallel plate type dry etching method of single wafer processing is preferable. For example, using an etching process in which plasma is excited under vacuum using CF ₄ as a main gas and O ₂ as a diluent gas, the substrate 1, the mold material 4, and the flow path are formed so as to enable processing in such an etching process. It is preferable to select the material of each part such as the member 5 and the mask material layer 11. Also, it can be processed into the desired shape by down-flow type batch type chemical dry etching.

  Finally, the mold material 4 and the mask material layer 11 are removed from the substrate 1 to form a flow path, thereby completing the structure for discharging ink (FIG. 1). As in the above-described embodiment, at least one of exposure to the flow path forming member 5 and heat treatment may be further performed.

  Through the above steps, a structure can be obtained in which a plurality of discharge ports having the A portion and the B portion are arranged on the substrate, and electrical bonding (not shown) for driving the discharge pressure generating element 2 is performed. An ink jet recording head is formed.

  As described above, an ink jet recording head with less mist can be manufactured by forming the discharge port into a structure including the A portion and the B portion. The ink jet recording head and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention can be applied to a full line type recording head capable of recording simultaneously over the entire width of the recording paper, and also to a color recording head in which a plurality of recording heads are integrated or combined. It is valid.

(2) Inkjet recording head having straight discharge port and A> B discharge port Hereinafter, further embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment has a structure in which a discharge port having a structure with no change in diameter is combined with a discharge port of A> B. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line (line AA ′ in FIG. 6) passing through two discharge ports arranged in parallel in such a structure, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view thereof. This ink jet recording head has a silicon substrate 1 on which ejection energy generating elements 2 are formed in two rows at a predetermined pitch. In the silicon substrate 1, a common ink supply port (liquid supply port) 3 formed by etching of silicon is opened between two rows of ink ejection energy generating elements 2. On the silicon substrate 1, a flow path forming member 15 is provided, and two types of discharge ports are respectively provided at upper positions corresponding to the discharge energy generating elements 2 of the flow path forming member 15. One of the two types of discharge ports is a discharge port including a portion 9 having a diameter A (hereinafter referred to as A portion) and a portion 8 having a diameter B (hereinafter referred to as B portion). The other is a straight outlet 18 having a diameter C. Each of the A portion 9 and the B portion 8 is a straight tube and has the same central axis. The relationship between the diameters of the A portion and the B portion is A> B, and the surface where the opening of the A portion opens toward the outside of the ink jet recording head is the discharge surface. Further, in the configuration of FIG. 5, the size of the ejection energy generating element 2 is changed according to the ejection amount to be ejected.

  Recording is performed by disposing a recording medium such as paper on an ejection surface having two types of ejection openings opened to the outside, and applying ink droplets from the ejection openings.

  The substrate is not limited to a silicon substrate, and substrates made of various materials depending on the intended use can be used. Further, as the ejection energy generating element 2, a heating element such as an electrothermal converter, a piezoelectric element, or the like can be used.

  The common ink supply port 3 is connected to an ink tank (not shown) that stores ink.

  An embodiment of a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head having the structure described below will be described with reference to FIG. 7 as a cross-sectional view similar to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, a mold material 4 is formed in a portion that finally becomes an ink flow path on a silicon substrate 1 on which ejection energy generating elements 2 are formed in two rows at a predetermined pitch. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, a first flow path forming member (nozzle forming material) 5 is provided at a position covering at least the mold material 4. Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, exposure is performed using a mask 7 for forming discharge ports, and development is performed to form a B portion 8 as shown in FIG. 7D. To do. The mold material 4 is removed from the substrate after the flow path is formed on the substrate. The pattern formability when forming a predetermined pattern, its mechanical strength, and workability at the time of removal from the substrate. It is selected in consideration of As the mold material 4, it is preferable to use a positive resist. The flow path forming member 5 is appropriately selected in consideration of the formability of the pattern as the flow path forming member, the mechanical strength, and the like, and it is preferable to use a negative resist. When a positive resist is used for the mold material and a negative resist is used for the flow path forming member, a negative mask is used as a mask in the above exposure. That is, a mask that exposes the portions other than the portion serving as the discharge port is used. Here, conventionally, the mold material 4 is dissolved and removed from the substrate 1 to form a flow path, thereby completing a structure for discharging ink (see FIG. 9B). In the present invention, the steps shown in FIGS. 7E to 7G are added in order to produce an ink jet recording head having two types of ejection openings as shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 7E, the second flow path forming member 6 is laminated on the first flow path forming member 5 provided with the B portion 8. Next, as shown in FIG. 7F, exposure is performed using a mask 10, development is performed, and two types of ejection openings are provided as shown in FIG. 7G. The discharge port on the discharge energy generating element 5 side is a straight tube having a circular cross section (a straight shape whose diameter does not change with C). The discharge port on the discharge energy generating element 2-2 side is composed of an A portion and a B portion (A> B). Note that a negative resist can also be suitably used as the second flow path forming member 6. In the case where a negative resist is used as the second flow path forming member, a negative mask is used as the mask 10, and a region serving as a discharge port having a diameter C and a region serving as an A portion coaxial with the central axis of the B portion are used. Each is exposed simultaneously. In terms of work efficiency, it is preferable to use the same material for the first flow path forming member and the second flow path forming member.

  Two types of discharge ports can be obtained by the above process. The flow path is formed by dissolving and removing the mold material 4 from the substrate 1, and the structure shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained. The flow path forming members 5 and 6 may be subjected to exposure or heat treatment for further increasing the strength of the layer. In the above embodiment, the substrate 1 provided with the common ink supply port 3 in advance is used. However, the process of providing the common ink supply port at an appropriate stage after the forming process of the mold 4 can be performed. When considering the processing efficiency of dissolution removal of the mold material 4, it is preferable that the formation of the common ink supply port is completed before the dissolution removal of the mold material 4.

  Next, another embodiment of the ink jet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a first flow path forming member 5 is provided on a mold member 4 provided on a substrate 1. Next, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, two ejection openings 8 and 18 are formed by mask exposure and development. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, a mask material layer 11 used as a mask in an etching process described later is covered. As the mask material, the same material as the mold material 4 is preferably used from the viewpoint of manufacturing efficiency. Further, as the first flow path forming member 5, in addition to the characteristics as the flow path forming member, a material that can be processed by an etching process described later is selected.

  Here, exposure for providing a hole for forming an A portion in the mask material layer 11 is performed. When a positive resist is used as the mask material, exposure with the positive mask 12 is performed as shown in FIG. After exposure, development is performed to provide holes 17 in the mask material layer 11 as shown in FIG. When a mask material made of a material different from the mold material 4 is used, a structure as shown in FIG. 8F can be obtained. For example, when a positive resist is used for both the mold material 4 and the mask material layer 11, by changing the exposure sensitivity, it is possible to select which surface of the layer made of these materials is exposed. If the sensitivity of the mold material 4 is sufficiently higher than the sensitivity of the mask layer 11, the result is as shown in FIG. On the contrary, if the sensitivity of the mold material 4 is sufficiently lower than the sensitivity of the mask material layer 11, the development can be stopped on the surface of the mold material 4 as shown in FIG.

Next, etching is performed to a predetermined depth using the mask material layer 11 having the holes 17 as a mask, the diameter of the discharge side portion of the B portion 8 is expanded to A, the A portion is formed, and from the A portion and the B portion, To obtain a discharge port. FIG. 8G shows a state in which the portion A is formed in the case of the structure of FIG. Any etching method may be used as long as a desired structure of the portion A can be obtained, and the etching method is selected according to the characteristics of the material forming the mold material 4, the flow path forming member 5, and the mask material layer 11. In consideration of manufacturing efficiency, a parallel plate type dry etching method of single wafer processing is preferable. For example, using an etching process in which plasma is excited under vacuum using CF ₄ as a main gas and O ₂ as a diluent gas, the substrate 1, the mold material 4, and the flow path are formed so as to enable processing in such an etching process. It is preferable to select the material of each part such as the member 5 and the mask material layer 11. Also, it can be processed into the desired shape by down-flow type batch type chemical dry etching.

  Finally, the mold material 4 and the mask material layer 11 are removed from the substrate 1 to form a flow path, and the ink ejection structure shown in FIG. 5 is completed. As in the above-described embodiment, at least one of exposure to the flow path forming member 5 and heat treatment may be further performed.

  Through the above steps, it is possible to obtain a structure in which a discharge port having an A portion and a B portion and a straight discharge port having a diameter C are arranged on a substrate, and electrical connection for driving the discharge pressure generating element 2 (not shown). The ink jet recording head is formed.

  In the case of using the above-described two types of discharge ports, the relationship between the diameter A of the A portion, the diameter B of the B portion, and the diameter C of the straight discharge port is that the diameter A> diameter from the viewpoint that the discharge port amount difference can be increased. It is preferable that B> diameter C. Further, it is preferable that the discharge port having the A portion and the B portion is for a large discharge amount, and the straight discharge port having a diameter C is for a small discharge amount.

  As described above, by forming the combination of the discharge port composed of the A portion and the B portion and the straight discharge port on the same substrate, it is possible to cause a sufficient difference in the appropriate amount of liquid between the discharge ports of the same OH. it can. Therefore, the above-described structure can be particularly suitably applied to an ink jet recording head that performs recording with a difference in an appropriate amount of ejected liquid. Furthermore, mist generation can be effectively reduced at the discharge port having the A portion and the B portion.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail using examples and comparative examples.

(Example 1)
First, a blast mask was placed on a silicon substrate 1 on which an electrothermal conversion element 2 (heater made of material HfB ₂ ) as an ejection energy generating element was formed, and a through-hole 3 for supplying ink was formed by sandblasting. On the other hand, a polymethylisopropenyl ketone (ODUR-1010 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was used on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film and applied by spin coating to obtain a dry film having a thickness of 14.0 μm. ODUR-1010 was concentrated and used because it has a low viscosity and cannot form a thick film. This dry film was transferred onto the surface of the silicon substrate 1. Next, after the dry film on the substrate 1 was pre-baked at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes, exposure was performed with the pattern of the flow path 16 using a mask aligner PLA520 (trade name Cold Mirror CM290) manufactured by Canon Inc. Exposure was 1.8 minutes, development was methyl isobutyl ketone / xylene = 2/1 (volume ratio), and rinsing was IPA. In this way, the mold member 4 having the shape of the flow path 16 was formed of a soluble resin (FIG. 3A). The thickness of the mold material 4 after development was 14.0 μm.

  Next, the following resin composition A was dissolved in a methyl isobutyl ketone / xylene mixed solvent at a concentration of 50 wt%, coated on the mold material 4 by spin coating, and the mold material 4 was covered with the first flow path forming member 5. A structure was obtained (the thickness of the flow path forming member on the mold member 4 was 5 μm. FIG. 3B).

  Subsequently, pattern exposure for forming the discharge port 8 was performed with a mask aligner PLA520 (CM250) (FIG. 3C). The exposure was performed for 15 seconds, and the after baking was performed at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes. Next, development was performed with methyl isobutyl ketone to form a discharge port 8 (FIG. 3D). In this embodiment, a circular discharge port pattern having a cross section of φ8 μm was formed.

  Here, the flow path forming member 5 was cured by performing a heat treatment at 100 ° C. for 60 minutes. Thereafter, the resin composition A is applied by spin coating as the second flow path forming member 6 (FIG. 3E), and pattern exposure for forming the discharge port 9 is similarly performed by the mask aligner. The same procedure was performed (FIG. 3F). Thereafter, development was performed in the same manner to obtain a discharge port 9 (FIG. 3G). In the present embodiment, the diameter of the discharge port 9 (diameter: the same applies hereinafter) is φ12 μm. The thickness of the second flow path forming member 6 was 5 μm.

  Next, in order to improve the removability of the mold material 4 made of a soluble resin, it is exposed again with PLA 520 (CM290) for 2 minutes, and then immersed in methyl lactate while applying an ultrasonic wave. 4 was dissolved out to obtain an ink jet recording head having the structure shown in FIG. Next, the ink jet recording head was heated at 180 ° C. for 1 hour to completely cure the flow path forming members 5 and 6. Thus, an ink jet recording head satisfying A> B, where A is the diameter on the ejection port surface side and B is the ink liquid side diameter, is completed.

(Example 2)
In the same manner as in Example 1, the mold material 4 and the first flow path forming member 5 were formed on the substrate 1, and the discharge port 8 was further provided at a predetermined position of the flow path forming member 5. In the case of this example, the thickness of the first flow path forming member was 5 μm. Further, the diameter of the discharge port 8 was φ8 μm. Next, the dry film for forming the mold 4 was transferred and laminated on the flow path forming member 5 provided with the discharge ports 8 (FIG. 4A). Next, pattern exposure and development were performed in the same manner as in the case of the mold material 4 to obtain a mask material layer 11 having holes in the shape of the discharge ports 9 (FIGS. 4B to 4D). Further, dry etching was performed by exciting the plasma under vacuum using CF ₄ as the main gas and O ₂ as the diluent gas for 250 seconds, and the upper diameter of the discharge port 8 was widened to form the discharge port 9. The diameter of the discharge port 9 was φ12 μm and the length was 5 μm. Thereafter, the ink jet recording head was completed in the same process as in Example 1.

(Example 3)
First, a blast mask was placed on a silicon substrate 1 on which an electrothermal conversion element 2 (heater made of material HfB ₂ ) as an ejection energy generating element was formed, and a through-hole 3 for supplying ink was formed by sandblasting. In addition, the electrothermal conversion element for the straight discharge port and the electrothermal conversion element for the discharge port satisfying A> B were arranged with different areas according to the discharge amount described later.

  On the other hand, a polymethylisopropenyl ketone (ODUR-1010 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was used on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film and applied by spin coating to obtain a dry film having a thickness of 10.0 μm. ODUR-1010 was concentrated and used because it has a low viscosity and cannot form a thick film. This dry film was transferred onto the surface of the silicon substrate 1. Next, after the dry film on the substrate 1 was pre-baked at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes, exposure was performed with the pattern of the flow path 16 using a mask aligner PLA520 (trade name cold mirror CM290) manufactured by Canon Inc. Exposure was 1.8 minutes, development was methyl isobutyl ketone / xylene = 2/1 (volume ratio), and rinsing was IPA. In this way, the mold 4 having the shape of the flow path 16 was formed of a soluble resin (FIG. 7A). The thickness of the mold 4 after development was 10.0 μm.

  Next, the resin composition A used in Example 1 is dissolved in a methyl isobutyl ketone / xylene mixed solvent at a concentration of 50 wt%, and coated on the mold material 4 by spin coating to form the mold material 4 as the first flow path. A structure covered with the member 5 was obtained (the thickness of the flow path forming member on the mold member 4 was 2 μm. FIG. 7B).

  Subsequently, pattern exposure for forming the discharge port 8 was performed with the mask aligner PLA520 (CM250) (FIG. 7C). The exposure was performed for 15 seconds, and the after baking was performed at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes. Next, development was performed with methyl isobutyl ketone to form ink discharge ports 8 (FIG. 7D). In this embodiment, a circular discharge port pattern having a cross section of φ8 μm was formed.

  Here, the first flow path forming member 5 was cured by heat treatment at 100 ° C. for 60 minutes. Thereafter, the resin composition A is applied by spin coating as the second flow path forming member 6 (FIG. 7E), and similarly, a pattern for forming the discharge ports 9 and 18 by the mask aligner. Exposure was performed in the same manner (FIG. 7F). Thereafter, development was performed in the same manner to obtain discharge ports 9 and 18 (FIG. 7G). In the present embodiment, the diameter of the discharge port 9 (for large droplet volume) is φ25 μm. Further, the diameter of the straight discharge port 18 (for small droplet amount) was set to φ6 μm. The thickness of the second flow path forming member 6 was 3 μm.

  Next, in order to improve the removability of the mold material 4 made of a soluble resin, it is exposed again with PLA 520 (CM290) for 2 minutes, and then immersed in methyl lactate while applying an ultrasonic wave. 4 was eluted and an ink jet recording head having the structure shown in FIG. 5 was obtained. Next, the ink jet recording head was heated at 180 ° C. for 1 hour to completely cure the flow path forming members 5 and 6. Thus, an ink jet recording head satisfying A> B, where A is the diameter on the ejection port surface side and B is the ink liquid side diameter, is completed.

Example 4
In the same manner as in Example 3, the mold material 4 and the first flow path forming member 5 were formed on the substrate 1, and the discharge ports 8 and 18 were further provided at predetermined positions of the flow path forming member 5. In the case of this example, the thickness of the first flow path forming member was 2 μm. The diameter of the discharge port 8 was φ8 μm, and the diameter of the discharge port 18 (for small droplet amount) was φ6 μm. Next, the dry film for forming the mold 4 was transferred and laminated on the flow path forming member 5 provided with the discharge ports 8 and 18 (FIG. 8C). Next, pattern exposure and development were performed in the same manner as in the case of the mold material 4 to obtain a mask material layer 11 having holes in the shape of the discharge ports 9 (FIGS. 8D and 8F). Further, a dry etching process is performed for 250 seconds by exciting the plasma under vacuum using CF ₄ as the main gas and O ₂ as the diluent gas, and the diameter of the upper part of the discharge port 8 is widened to increase the discharge port 9 (for large droplet volume). ). The discharge port 9 had a diameter of 25 μm and a length of 3 μm. Thereafter, the ink jet recording head was completed in the same process as in Example 1.

Comparative Example 1
Processes such as dissolution removal of the mold material 4 and complete curing of the flow path forming member were performed in the same manner as in Example 3 from the state of FIG. This ink jet recording head has two types of discharge ports, a straight discharge port of φ8 μm and a straight discharge port of φ6 μm.

Test Example Inkjet recording was performed by mounting the inkjet recording heads of Examples 3 and 4 and Comparative Example 1 thus prepared on a recording apparatus. As the ink, an ink composed of pure water / diethylene glycol / isopropyl alcohol / lithium acetate / black dye hood black 2 = 79.4 / 15/3 / 0.1 / 2.5 (parts by weight) was used. Using various driving conditions, the volume ratio of liquid droplets (small droplets) from the φ6 μm ejection port and droplets (large droplets) from the φ8 μm ejection port in the inkjet recording head of Comparative Example 1 was determined. Small droplets: large droplets = 1: 5 could be obtained. On the other hand, small droplets: large droplets = 1: 9 could be obtained as the volume ratio in the ink jet recording heads of Examples 3 and 4. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording head which can be driven with a large discharge amount difference.

It is a figure which shows an example of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. (A)-(G) are figures which show an example of the manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. (A)-(E) are figures which show an example of the manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. (A)-(G) are figures which show an example of the manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. (A)-(G) are figures which show an example of the manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head concerning this invention. (A) And (B) is a figure which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the conventional inkjet recording head.

Explanation of symbols

1 Substrate 2, 2-1, 2-2 Electrothermal conversion element (ink discharge pressure generating element)
3 Ink Supply Port 4 Mold Material 5 First Channel Forming Member 6 Second Channel Forming Member 7 Negative Mask 8 Ejection Port (Part A)
9 Discharge port (B part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Negative mask 11 Mask material layer 12 Positive type mask 14 Discharge port 15 Flow path formation member 16 Flow path 17 Hole 18 Discharge port

Claims (7)

On a substrate on which a discharge energy generating element is provided, there is a discharge port that discharges ink corresponding to the discharge energy generation element and a flow path that communicates with the discharge port, and the discharge port is formed on the substrate. It is provided at a position facing the element arrangement surface on which the discharge energy generating element is provided via the flow path, and the diameter A on the ink discharge side of the discharge port and the diameter B on the flow path side are A> A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head in the relationship B,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on the element installation surface on which the discharge energy generating element of the substrate is installed;
Coating the mold with a first flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing the element installation surface of the first flow path forming member;
Laminating a second flow path forming member on the opening surface of the discharge port having the diameter B of the first flow path forming member;
A portion having a diameter B and a portion having a diameter A (A) are formed in the second flow path forming member by connecting a discharge port having the diameter B to a discharge port having a diameter A larger than the diameter B. > B) obtaining an outlet having
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
An ink jet recording head manufacturing method comprising:   The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second flow path forming members are made of the same negative photosensitive resin composition. On a substrate on which a discharge energy generating element is provided, there is a discharge port that discharges ink corresponding to the discharge energy generation element and a flow path that communicates with the discharge port, and the discharge port is formed on the substrate. It is provided at a position facing the element arrangement surface on which the discharge energy generating element is provided via the flow path, and the diameter A on the ink discharge side of the discharge port and the diameter B on the flow path side are A> A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head in the relationship B,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on the element installation surface on which the discharge energy generating element of the substrate is installed;
Coating the mold with a flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing the element installation surface of the flow path forming member;
By etching through a mask having an opening with a diameter A, the diameter on the ink ejection side of the ejection port is widened to A, thereby having a part having a diameter B and a part having a diameter A (A> B). Obtaining a discharge port;
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
An ink jet recording head manufacturing method comprising: On a substrate on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements are provided, there are ejection ports for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element, and flow paths communicating with the ejection ports, and the ejection ports are formed on the substrate. In the ink jet recording head provided at a position opposed to the element arrangement surface provided with the discharge energy generating element via the flow path,
An ink jet recording head comprising: an ejection port having an A> B relationship between a diameter A on an ink ejection side and a diameter B on the flow path side, and an ejection port having a constant diameter as the ejection ports. On a substrate on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements are provided, there are ejection ports for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element, and flow paths communicating with the ejection ports, and the ejection ports are formed on the substrate. The discharge energy generating element is provided at a position opposed to the element arrangement surface through the flow path, and the discharge port has a diameter A on the ink discharge side and a diameter B on the flow path side. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head having an ejection port having a relationship of A> B and an ejection port having a constant diameter,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on an element installation surface on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements of the substrate are installed;
Coating the mold with a first flow path forming member;
Forming a discharge port having a diameter B at a position facing each discharge energy element on the element installation surface of the first flow path forming member;
Laminating a second flow path forming member on a surface where a plurality of discharge ports having the diameter B of the first flow path forming member are opened;
The second flow path forming member is connected to the discharge port having the diameter B, and formed with a discharge port having a diameter A larger than the diameter B. The portion having the diameter B and the portion having the diameter A (A> B) obtaining a discharge port having
Obtaining a discharge port having a constant diameter penetrating the first and second flow path forming members based on a discharge port having the diameter B in the second flow path forming member;
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
An ink jet recording head manufacturing method comprising:   The manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein the first and second flow path forming members are made of the same negative photosensitive resin composition. On a substrate on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements are provided, there are ejection ports for ejecting ink corresponding to each ejection energy generating element, and flow paths communicating with the ejection ports, and the ejection ports are formed on the substrate. The discharge energy generating element is provided at a position opposed to the element arrangement surface through the flow path, and the discharge port has a diameter A on the ink discharge side and a diameter B on the flow path side. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head having an ejection port having a relationship of A> B and an ejection port having a constant diameter,
Providing a mold material to be a flow path on an element installation surface on which a plurality of ejection energy generating elements of the substrate are installed;
Coating the mold with a flow path forming member;
Forming a plurality of discharge ports having a diameter B at positions facing each of the plurality of discharge energy generating elements on the element installation surface of the flow path forming member;
For a part of the plurality of ejection openings, the diameter on the ink ejection side is widened to A by an etching process through a mask having an opening having a diameter A, so that a portion having a diameter B and a portion having a diameter A (A > B) obtaining an outlet having
Dissolving and removing the mold material from the substrate;
An ink jet recording head manufacturing method comprising:

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