JP2008066743A - Image recording device, piezoelectric actuator, and liquid injection head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the reliability of a multilayer structure with an increase in the production efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A piezoelectric element 17 formed on the plane of a diaphragm opposite to a pressure chamber 12 includes a piezoelectric member 31, consisting of an upper piezoelectric member 34 and a lower piezoelectric member 35 stacked each other, and an electrode layer 33, 36, 37 for generating an electric field applied to the piezoelectric member 31. The piezoelectric element 17 is formed by stacking a lower common electrode 37, a lower piezoelectric member 35, a driving electrode 33, and an upper common electrode 36 in this order from the diaphragm 14 side. The width of the upper piezoelectric member 34 is formed not less than that of the lower piezoelectric member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid droplets from a nozzle opening by causing a pressure fluctuation in a liquid in a pressure chamber by deformation of a piezoelectric element as a driving source, and a piezoelectric element on a vibration plate surface. The present invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator formed, and a liquid ejecting head in which a piezoelectric element is provided on a vibration plate surface opposite to a pressure chamber, and the pressure chamber volume is changed by the piezoelectric element.

  Piezoelectric elements are piezoelectric materials that exhibit a piezoelectric effect, such as piezoelectric ceramics obtained by compressing and firing metal oxide powders such as BaTiO3, PbZrO3, and PbTiO3, or piezoelectric polymer films using polymer compounds. For example, it is widely used as a drive element for a liquid ejecting head, a micro pump, and a sounding body (speaker, etc.). Here, the liquid ejecting head ejects liquid droplets from the nozzle openings by causing pressure fluctuations in the liquid in the pressure chamber. For example, the liquid ejecting head is used to manufacture a recording head or a liquid crystal display used in an image recording apparatus such as a printer. There are a liquid crystal ejecting head used for the color filter, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter, and the like. The micropump is an ultra-compact pump that can handle a very small amount of liquid, and is used, for example, when a very small amount of chemical solution is delivered.

  One of the important parts used in such a liquid jet head and a micro pump is a piezoelectric actuator in which a piezoelectric element is provided on the surface of a diaphragm. This piezoelectric actuator is attached to a pressure chamber forming substrate having an empty portion serving as a pressure chamber, and a part of the pressure chamber is partitioned by a diaphragm. When discharging a droplet or delivering a liquid, a driving pulse is supplied to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element and the diaphragm (that is, the deformed portion of the pressure chamber). Change the volume.

  In these liquid jet heads and micropumps, there is a strong demand for high-frequency driving of piezoelectric elements. This is for realizing high-frequency ejection of droplets or increasing the liquid feeding capability. In order to realize high-frequency driving of the piezoelectric element, it is necessary to make the compliance of the deformed portion smaller than before and to increase the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element. This is because the response is improved when the compliance of the deformed portion is reduced, so that it is possible to drive at a higher frequency than before, and when the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element is increased, the volume change amount of the pressure chamber is increased. Therefore, it is possible to increase the amount of ejected droplets and the amount of liquid delivered.

  A multilayered piezoelectric element has been proposed as satisfying the contradictory properties of the compliance of the deformed portion and the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element. For example, the piezoelectric layer has a two-layer structure of an upper layer piezoelectric material and a lower layer piezoelectric material, and a drive electrode (individual electrode) is formed at the boundary between the upper layer piezoelectric material and the lower layer piezoelectric material, and the outer surface of the upper layer piezoelectric material and the lower layer piezoelectric material There has been proposed a piezoelectric element having a structure in which a common electrode is formed on each outer surface (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In the multi-layered piezoelectric element, since the driving electrode is provided at the boundary between the upper layer piezoelectric material and the lower layer piezoelectric material, the piezoelectric material of each layer has an interval from the driving electrode to each common electrode (that is, the piezoelectric material of each layer). Thickness) and an electric field having a strength determined by the potential difference between the drive electrode and each common electrode. For this reason, when compared with a piezoelectric element having a single-layer structure in which a single-layer piezoelectric body is sandwiched between a common electrode and a drive electrode, even if the thickness of the entire piezoelectric element is slightly increased to reduce the compliance of the deformed portion, It can be greatly deformed with the same driving voltage as in the prior art.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-289352 (page 6, FIG. 5) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-34924 (page 5, FIG. 9)

  However, merely using the multilayered piezoelectric element described above did not provide characteristics sufficient to meet recent high demands. For this reason, as an actual product, a piezoelectric element having a single layer structure in which a single layer piezoelectric body is sandwiched between a common electrode and a drive electrode is inevitably used. There are various causes for this, but it is also considered that the deformation stability and deformation amount of the piezoelectric element were insufficient. In addition, the manufacturing efficiency and product reliability were insufficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the reliability while increasing the manufacturing efficiency of a piezoelectric element having a multilayer structure.

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and the piezoelectric element includes a piezoelectric layer that deforms in response to an electric field and an electrode layer that generates an electric field applied to the piezoelectric layer.
The piezoelectric layer includes an upper layer piezoelectric material and a lower layer piezoelectric material that are stacked on each other, and the electrode layer includes a common upper electrode and a common lower electrode that are electrically connected to each other, and a drive electrode that is electrically connected to a drive signal supply source. And consists of
From the diaphragm side, a common lower electrode, a lower layer piezoelectric body, a drive electrode, an upper layer piezoelectric body, and a common upper electrode are laminated in order,
The upper layer piezoelectric body is provided wider than the lower layer piezoelectric body.
Here, “upper and lower” indicates a positional relationship with respect to the diaphragm. That is, the side closer to the diaphragm is indicated as “lower”, and the side farther from the diaphragm is indicated as “upper”.

  According to this configuration, the piezoelectric layer includes the upper layer piezoelectric material and the lower layer piezoelectric material stacked on each other, and the electrode layer serves as a drive signal supply source and the common upper electrode and the common lower electrode that are electrically connected to each other. It is composed of a drive electrode that is conducted, and is formed by laminating a common lower electrode, a lower layer piezoelectric body, a drive electrode, an upper layer piezoelectric body, and a common upper electrode in this order from the diaphragm side. Since it is provided wide, the production efficiency can be increased, and problems such as short circuit and air discharge can be prevented.

  In the above configuration, it is desirable to employ a configuration in which the common upper electrode is wider than the common lower electrode.

  According to this configuration, by providing the common upper electrode wider than the common lower electrode, the deformation range of the upper layer piezoelectric body can be made wider than the deformation range of the lower layer piezoelectric body. It can be deformed larger than the piezoelectric body. Then, the deformation of the upper piezoelectric body can be amplified and applied to the diaphragm, and as a result, the center in the width direction of the pressure chamber can be greatly deformed.

  In the above configuration, it is desirable that the common upper electrode is provided wider than the drive electrode.

  According to this configuration, the drive electrode can be reliably covered with the upper piezoelectric body. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent a short circuit between the drive electrode and the common electrode, and it is possible to prevent a problem due to air discharge.

Furthermore, in the above configuration, it is desirable to employ a configuration in which the common upper electrode is thinner than the common lower electrode and the drive electrode.
In this configuration, it is desirable that the common upper electrode is made of gold while the common lower electrode and the drive electrode are made of platinum.

  According to the above configuration, the common upper electrode can be deformed by following the piezoelectric element, and a problem that the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element is impaired can be prevented. In addition, even if the piezoelectric element is repeatedly deformed, a failure such as disconnection hardly occurs. Furthermore, current can be efficiently passed through the common upper electrode.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a recording head (a type of liquid ejecting head) mounted on an image recording apparatus such as a printer or a plotter will be described as an example. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the recording head includes a plurality of head main bodies 1 and these head main bodies 1 are attached to a mounting base 61.

  First, the basic structure of the head body 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the head main body 1 is schematically composed of a flow path unit 2 and an actuator unit 3.

  The flow path unit 2 includes a supply port forming substrate 6 having a through hole that becomes an ink supply port (orifice) 4 and a through hole that becomes a part of the nozzle communication port 5, and a through hole and nozzle communication that become a common ink chamber 7. A plurality of ink chamber forming substrates 8 provided with through-holes serving as part of the openings 5 and a plurality of nozzle openings 9 are provided along the sub-scanning direction (that is, the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, which is the moving direction of the recording head). It consists of a nozzle plate 10. The supply port forming substrate 6, the ink chamber forming substrate 8, and the nozzle plate 10 are produced by, for example, pressing a thin plate made of stainless steel. The flow path unit 2 includes a nozzle plate 10 on one surface (lower side in the figure) of the ink chamber forming substrate 8 and a supply port forming substrate 6 on the other surface (upper side). It is manufactured by bonding the supply port forming substrate 6, the ink chamber forming substrate 8, and the nozzle plate 10. For example, it is produced by bonding the members 6, 8, and 10 with a sheet-like adhesive.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle openings 9 are formed in a plurality of rows at a predetermined pitch. A plurality of nozzle openings 9 arranged in a row constitute a nozzle row 11. For example, one nozzle row 11 is constituted by 92 nozzle openings 9. The nozzle rows 11 are formed side by side and in two rows.

  The actuator unit 3 is a member also called a head chip. The actuator unit 3 includes a pressure chamber forming substrate 13 having a through hole (or an empty portion) serving as a pressure chamber 12, a diaphragm 14 defining a part of the pressure chamber 12, and a communication port serving as a supply side communication port 15. It is comprised by the cover member 16 which opened the through-hole used as a part of hole and the nozzle communication port 5, and the piezoelectric element 17 as a drive source. Regarding the plate thickness of each of these members 13, 14, 16, the pressure chamber forming substrate 13 and the lid member 16 are preferably 50 μm or more, more preferably 100 μm or more. Moreover, the diaphragm 14 is preferably 50 μm or less, more preferably about 3 to 12 μm.

  In this actuator unit 3, the diaphragm 14 and the piezoelectric element 17 constitute the piezoelectric actuator of the present invention. The diaphragm 14 is a kind of support member on which the piezoelectric element 17 is provided.

  The actuator unit 3 includes a lid member 16 on one surface of the pressure chamber forming substrate 13 and a vibration plate 14 on the other surface to join the members, and then a piezoelectric element on the surface of the vibration plate 14. It is produced by forming 17. Among these, the pressure chamber forming substrate 13, the vibration plate 14, and the lid member 16 are made of ceramics such as alumina and zirconium oxide, and are joined by firing.

  The joining of the pressure chamber forming substrate 13, the diaphragm 14, and the lid member 16 is performed, for example, by the following procedure. First, a ceramic slurry is prepared using a ceramic raw material, a binder, a liquid medium, and the like. Next, the slurry is formed into a green sheet (unfired sheet material) using a general apparatus such as a doctor blade apparatus or a reverse roll coater apparatus. Thereafter, the green sheet is subjected to processing such as cutting and punching to form necessary through holes and the like, and the respective sheet-like precursors of the pressure chamber forming substrate 13, the vibration plate 14, and the lid member 16 are produced. . And by laminating and baking each sheet-like precursor, each sheet-like precursor is integrated and a sheet-like member is obtained. In this case, since each sheet-like precursor is integrally fired, no special bonding treatment is required. Moreover, high sealing performance can be obtained at the joint surface of each sheet-like precursor.

  Further, the pressure chambers 12 and the nozzle communication ports 5 for a plurality of units are formed in one sheet-like member. In other words, a plurality of actuator units (head chips) 3 are produced from one sheet-like member. For example, a plurality of chip regions to be one actuator unit 3 are set in a matrix in one sheet-like member, and necessary members such as the piezoelectric elements 17 are formed for each chip region. And the several actuator unit 3 is obtained by cut | disconnecting the sheet-like member (ceramics sheet) in which the required member was formed for every chip | tip area | region.

  The pressure chamber 12 is a hollow portion that is elongated in a direction perpendicular to the nozzle row 11, and a plurality of the pressure chambers 12 corresponding to the nozzle openings 9 are formed. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, they are arranged in the nozzle row direction. One end of each pressure chamber 12 communicates with the corresponding nozzle opening 9 through the nozzle communication port 5. Further, the other end of the pressure chamber 12 opposite to the nozzle communication port 5 communicates with the common ink chamber 7 through the supply side communication port 15 and the ink supply port 4. Further, a part of the pressure chamber 12 is partitioned by the diaphragm 14.

  The piezoelectric element 17 is a so-called flexural vibration mode piezoelectric element, and is formed for each pressure chamber 12 on the surface of the diaphragm opposite to the pressure chamber 12. The width of the piezoelectric element 17 is determined based on the width of the pressure chamber 12, and the length is slightly longer than the length of the pressure chamber 12. That is, the piezoelectric element 17 is formed so as to cover the longitudinal direction of the pressure chamber 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric element 17 has a multilayer structure including a piezoelectric layer 31, a common electrode 32, a drive electrode 33, and the like, and the piezoelectric layer 31 includes the drive electrode 33 and the common electrode 32. Is sandwiched. The detailed structure of the piezoelectric element 17 will be described later in detail.

  A drive signal supply source (not shown) is electrically connected to the drive electrode 33, that is, electrically connected thereto. The common electrode 32 is adjusted to, for example, the ground potential. When a drive signal is supplied to the drive electrode 33, an electric field having a strength corresponding to the potential difference is generated between the drive electrode 33 and the common electrode 32. Since this electric field is applied to the piezoelectric layer 31, the piezoelectric layer 31 is deformed according to the strength of the applied electric field. That is, as the potential of the drive electrode 33 is increased, the piezoelectric layer 31 contracts in a direction orthogonal to the electric field, and the diaphragm 14 is deformed so as to reduce the volume of the pressure chamber 12. On the other hand, as the potential of the drive electrode 33 is lowered, the piezoelectric layer 31 extends in a direction orthogonal to the electric field, and the diaphragm 14 is deformed so as to increase the volume of the pressure chamber 12.

  And this actuator unit 3 and said flow-path unit 2 are mutually joined. For example, a sheet-like adhesive is interposed between the supply port forming substrate 6 and the lid member 16, and in this state, the actuator unit 3 is pressed against the flow path unit 2 to be bonded.

  The head main body 1 configured in this manner has a series of ink flow paths from the common ink chamber 7 to the nozzle opening 9 through the ink supply port 4, the supply side communication port 15, the pressure chamber 12, and the nozzle communication port 5. Each nozzle opening 9 is formed. In use, the ink flow path is filled with ink (a kind of liquid), and the corresponding pressure chamber 12 contracts or expands by deforming the piezoelectric element 17, and the pressure in the ink in the pressure chamber 12 varies. Occurs. By controlling the ink pressure, ink droplets can be ejected from the nozzle openings 9. For example, when the pressure chamber 12 having a constant volume is once expanded and then rapidly contracted, the ink is filled with the expansion of the pressure chamber 12, and the ink in the pressure chamber 12 is pressurized by the subsequent rapid contraction. Ink droplets are ejected.

  Here, for high-speed recording, it is necessary to eject more ink droplets in a short time. In order to meet this requirement, it is necessary to consider the compliance of the diaphragm 14 and the piezoelectric element 17 (that is, the deformed portion in the pressure chamber 12) in the portion defining the pressure chamber 12, and the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element 17. There is. That is, the greater the compliance of the deformed portion, the worse the response to deformation and the higher the frequency drive becomes. Further, as the compliance becomes smaller, the deformed portion becomes harder to deform, and the amount of contraction of the pressure chamber 12 decreases, and the amount of ink for one drop decreases.

  From this point of view, in a recording head using a flexural vibration mode piezoelectric element that has already been put to practical use, a piezoelectric element having a single layer structure in which a single layer piezoelectric body is sandwiched between a common electrode and a drive electrode is used. The maximum response frequency was about 25 kHz, and the maximum ink droplet amount was about 13 pL (picoliter).

  In the present embodiment, the compliance of the deformed portion is reduced by using the multilayered piezoelectric element 17, and further, the structure of the piezoelectric element 17 is improved, thereby improving the deformation stability of the piezoelectric element 17. A required amount of ink droplets can be efficiently ejected. Hereinafter, this point will be described.

  First, the structure of the piezoelectric element 17 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric layer 31 includes an upper layer piezoelectric body (outer piezoelectric body) 34 and a lower layer piezoelectric body (inner piezoelectric body) 35 that are stacked on each other. The common electrode 32 includes a common upper electrode (common outer electrode) 36 and a common lower electrode (common inner electrode) 37. The common electrode 32 and the drive electrode (individual electrode) 33 constitute an electrode layer.

  Here, “upper (outer)” or “lower (inner)” indicates a positional relationship based on the diaphragm 14. In other words, the positional relationship with reference to the joint surface of the piezoelectric element 17 with the diaphragm 14 (which can also be expressed as an action surface for outputting deformation of the piezoelectric element 17) is shown. “Up (outside)” indicates the side far from the diaphragm 14, and “Low (inside)” indicates the side near the diaphragm 14.

The drive electrode 33 is formed at the boundary between the upper piezoelectric body 34 and the lower piezoelectric body 35, and the common lower electrode 37 is formed between the lower piezoelectric body 35 and the diaphragm 14. The common upper electrode 36 is formed on the surface of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 opposite to the lower layer piezoelectric body 35. That is, the piezoelectric element 17 has a multilayer structure in which the common lower electrode 37, the lower layer piezoelectric body 35, the drive electrode 33, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34, and the common upper electrode 36 are laminated in this order from the diaphragm 14 side. The total thickness of the piezoelectric layer 31 including the upper piezoelectric layer 34 and the lower piezoelectric layer 35 is about 20 μm, and the total thickness of the piezoelectric element 17 including the common electrode 32 is about 23 μm. .
Incidentally, in the conventional piezoelectric element 17 having a single layer structure, the thickness of the entire element is about 15 μm. Accordingly, since the thickness of the piezoelectric element 17 is increased, the compliance of the diaphragm 14 is reduced accordingly.

  The common upper electrode 36 and the common lower electrode 37 are adjusted to a constant potential regardless of the drive signal. In the present embodiment, the common upper electrode 36 and the common lower electrode 37 are electrically connected to each other and adjusted to the ground potential. Further, since the drive electrode 33 is electrically connected to the drive signal supply source as described above, the potential is changed in accordance with the supplied drive signal. Therefore, by supplying the drive signal, electric fields having opposite directions are generated between the drive electrode 33 and the common upper electrode 36 and between the drive electrode 33 and the common lower electrode 37, respectively.

  As materials constituting these electrodes 33, 36, and 37, for example, various conductors such as a simple metal, an alloy, and a mixture of electrically insulating ceramics and metal are selected. It is required that no defects occur. In the present embodiment, gold is used for the common upper electrode 36, and platinum is used for the common lower electrode 37 and the drive electrode 33.

  Both the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 and the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 are made of, for example, a piezoelectric material mainly composed of lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The upper layer piezoelectric body 34 and the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 have opposite polarization directions. For this reason, the expansion / contraction directions at the time of applying the drive signal are the same in the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 and the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 and can be deformed without hindrance. That is, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 and the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 deform the diaphragm 14 so that the volume of the pressure chamber 12 decreases as the potential of the drive electrode 33 increases, and the potential of the drive electrode 33 decreases. The diaphragm 14 is deformed so as to increase the volume of the pressure chamber 12.

  In order to stabilize the deformation of the piezoelectric element 17 having the multilayer structure, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the thickness tp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is made larger than the thickness tp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35. ing. For example, the thickness tp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is 12 μm, and the thickness tp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 is 8 μm. With such a configuration, the necessary drive voltage increases as the thickness of the piezoelectric layer 31 increases. However, the linearity of deformation in the upper layer piezoelectric body 34, that is, the followability to changes in the drive signal. Can be improved. Therefore, the deformation of the piezoelectric element 17 during driving can be stabilized. That is, it can be deformed to the shape as designed. As a result, the volume control of the pressure chamber 12 can be performed more precisely, which is suitable for applications in which the discharge characteristics are controlled more precisely, for example, high-quality printing.

  With respect to the drive electrode 33, in this embodiment, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is provided wider than the drive electrode 33 (that is, wider than the electrode width of the drive electrode 33). 33 is covered in series over its entire width. This is to prevent problems such as air discharge. That is, the distance from the drive electrode 33 to the common upper electrode 36 or the common lower electrode 37 is as narrow as about several microns to tens of microns as described above. Moreover, in order to drive each layer piezoelectric material 34 and 35, it is necessary to apply the voltage of about 30-40V. For this reason, if both end portions in the width direction of the drive electrode 33 are exposed from the piezoelectric layers 34 and 35, air discharge may occur in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, which may cause abnormal operation. It can also be a cause of a short circuit during manufacturing. If the drive electrode 33 is covered with the upper piezoelectric body 34 as in the present embodiment, the drive electrode 33 is embedded in the piezoelectric body layer 31, so that air discharge can be prevented and malfunctions can be prevented. Can be planned. Further, it is possible to prevent a problem that the drive electrode 33 is short-circuited to other electrodes (the common upper electrode 36 and the common lower electrode 37) at the time of manufacture and use.

  Further, as shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 4, the piezoelectric layer 31 (lower layer piezoelectric body 35) is provided in an overhanging state beyond the side edge of the common lower electrode 37. The common lower electrode 37 is narrower than the width wc of the pressure chamber 12 and is disposed within the pressure chamber width. Thereby, elastic regions Vc and Vc of only the diaphragm 14 are formed at both ends in the width direction of the diaphragm 14. By providing this elastic region Vc, the diaphragm 14 can be more easily bent, and the deformation efficiency can be increased.

  With respect to the common upper electrode 36, in this embodiment, an electrode material that is thinner and more flexible than the other electrodes (the drive electrode 33 and the common lower electrode 37) is used. This is because the common upper electrode 36 is deformed more greatly than the other electrodes. That is, since the common upper electrode 36 is formed on the surface of the upper piezoelectric body 34, the common upper electrode 36 is deformed more greatly than the other electrodes. For this reason, the common upper electrode 36 can be prevented from being damaged due to repeated deformation by using a softer material than the other electrodes and / or reducing the layer thickness. In addition, it is preferable to use an electrode material with good conductivity so that the electrical resistance does not become excessively high even when the layer thickness is reduced.

  More specifically, regarding the electrode material, as described above, the common upper electrode 36 is made of gold, and the drive electrode 33 and the common lower electrode 37 are made of platinum. Regarding the electrode thickness, the common lower electrode 37 and the drive electrode 33 are 2 to 3 μm, while the common upper electrode 36 is about 1/10 (for example, 0.3 μm). If comprised in this way, the common upper electrode 36 can be made to follow and deform | transform the piezoelectric element 17, and the malfunction which the deformation amount of the piezoelectric element 17 will be impaired can be prevented. Further, even if the piezoelectric element 17 is repeatedly deformed, a failure such as a disconnection hardly occurs. Further, the current can be efficiently passed through the common upper electrode 36.

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

  In the first modification shown in FIG. 6, the upper piezoelectric body 34 is configured wider than the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12, the common upper electrode 36 is configured wider than the common lower electrode 37, and the common upper electrode It is characterized in that 36 is formed in series in the entire width direction of the upper piezoelectric body 34.

  In this modification, the width wp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12 and the width wp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35, and the distance wc ″ (partition wall spacing) between the width centers of the pressure chamber partition walls 38. It is formed narrower than wc ″). Further, the center of the upper piezoelectric body 34 in the width direction is formed to match the center of the pressure chamber 12 in the width direction. In other words, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is formed on the inner side of the width range (the range indicated by the partition spacing wc ″) connecting the center in the thickness direction of the pressure chamber partition walls 38, 38. Thereby, the adjacent upper layers are formed. A gap is provided between the piezoelectric bodies 34 and 34 so that the piezoelectric elements 17 and 17 are not in contact with each other.

Further, with respect to the common upper electrode 36, the electrode width (formation width) we1 is made equal to the width wp1 of the upper piezoelectric body 34. In other words, the common upper electrode 36 is formed in series from one end to the other end in the width direction of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34. Note that the common upper electrode 36 of this modification also uses gold, which is a soft and conductive electrode material, and this gold is formed as a very thin layer of about 0.3 μm.
In addition, since it is the same as that of embodiment mentioned above about the structure of another part, it attaches | subjects and shows the same code | symbol and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In this modification, the width wp1 of the upper piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the inner dimension wc in the width direction of the pressure chamber 12, and the common upper electrode 36 is formed so as to cover the width direction of the upper piezoelectric body 34. The electric field generated between the electrode 33 and the common upper electrode 36 acts over the entire width direction of the upper piezoelectric body 34. Thereby, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 can be deformed over the entire width direction. Since the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is configured to be wider than the pressure chamber width (inner dimension wc), the amount of deformation of the central portion in the width direction of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 can be increased compared to the above embodiment. Therefore, with respect to the diaphragm 14, the center in the width direction of the pressure chamber 12 can be greatly deformed, and the deformation of the piezoelectric element 17 can be efficiently changed to a change in the volume of the pressure chamber 12.

  Further, since the electrode width we1 of the common upper electrode 36 is wider than the electrode width we3 of the upper common lower electrode 37, the deformation range of the upper piezoelectric body 34 can be made wider than the deformation range of the lower piezoelectric body 35. . In other words, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 can be deformed more greatly than the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 at the central portion in the width direction. Since the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is farther from the diaphragm 14 than the lower layer piezoelectric body 35, the deformation of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 can be amplified and act on the diaphragm 14. Therefore, also in this respect, the center in the width direction of the pressure chamber 12 can be greatly deformed.

Further, in this configuration, the width of the drive electrode 33 can be increased to the width of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35. Thus, when the width of the drive electrode 33 is increased, the electric field generated between the electrodes can be made stronger than in the above embodiment. Accordingly, the piezoelectric element 17 can be deformed as much as possible, and the volume change of the pressure chamber 12 can be increased as much as possible.
In the present embodiment, the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12 is 160 μm, and the formation pitch of the pressure chambers 12 (interval corresponding to the symbol wc ″ in FIG. 6) is 210 μm. It is possible to expand wp1 up to about 1.3 times the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12.

  Further, since the width wp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the width wp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35, there is an advantage that the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 can be easily formed. That is, to manufacture the piezoelectric element 17, first, a paste of an electrode material (for example, platinum) that becomes the common lower electrode 37 is applied to the diaphragm 14 through a mask in a predetermined pattern, and then fired. If the common lower electrode 37 is formed, a paste of a piezoelectric material (for example, lead zirconate titanate) to be the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 is applied on the common lower electrode 37 through a mask in a predetermined pattern. And then firing. Thereafter, the driving electrode 33, the upper layer piezoelectric body 34, and the common upper electrode 36 are sequentially formed by repeatedly performing coating and baking in the same manner.

  In this forming step, the mask for forming the upper piezoelectric body 34 can be formed so that the pattern corresponding to each upper piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the pattern of the lower piezoelectric body 35. For this reason, alignment of the mask becomes relatively easy. Thereby, the manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

  Furthermore, since the width wp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the width wp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35, the drive electrode 33 can be reliably covered by the upper layer piezoelectric body 34. Thereby, the malfunction that the drive electrode 33 and the common electrode 32 are short-circuited can be reliably prevented, and the malfunction due to the air discharge can also be prevented.

  The second modification shown in FIG. 7 is characterized in that the lower piezoelectric body 34 is also formed wider than the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12.

In this modification, the width wp <b> 2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35 is formed wider than the inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12. For this reason, it is as follows when the width of each part is listed in order of wideness. That is, the partition wall spacing wc ″ is the widest, the width wp1 of the upper piezoelectric body 34 and the width we1 of the common upper electrode 36 are the second widest, and the width wp2 of the lower piezoelectric body 35 and the width we2 of the drive electrode 33 are the third. The inner dimension wc of the pressure chamber 12 is the fourth largest, and the width we3 of the common lower electrode 37 is the narrowest.
In this modification as well, the center in the width direction of each part is aligned with the center in the width direction of the pressure chamber 12. The thickness tp1 of the upper layer piezoelectric body 34 is thicker than the thickness tp2 of the lower layer piezoelectric body 35. Further, since the other parts have the same configuration as that of the above-described modified example, the same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

  In this modification, the width we2 of the drive electrode 33 is aligned with the width of the lower-layer piezoelectric body 35 and is set to be as wide as possible. For this reason, the electric field which generate | occur | produces between each electrode can be strengthened, and the deformation | transformation of the piezoelectric element 17 can be enlarged as much as possible. Thereby, ink droplets can be efficiently discharged. In this modified example, since the common upper electrode 36 is formed so as to cover the width direction of the upper piezoelectric body 34, the deformation amount of the central portion in the width direction of the upper piezoelectric body 34 is increased as compared with the above embodiment. Can do. Therefore, also in this modification, the deformation of the piezoelectric element 17 can be efficiently changed to a change in the volume of the pressure chamber 12. In addition, since the width wp1 of the upper piezoelectric body 34 is wider than the width wp2 of the lower piezoelectric body 35, the drive electrode 33 can be reliably covered by the upper piezoelectric body 34. Thereby, the malfunction that the drive electrode 33 and the common electrode 32 are short-circuited can be reliably prevented, and the malfunction due to the air discharge can also be prevented.

  Furthermore, in this modified example, since the width wp2 of the lower piezoelectric body 35 is wider than the inner dimension wc in the width direction of the pressure chamber 12, the deformed portion of the elastic plate 17 is covered with the piezoelectric element 17. For this reason, the compliance of the said part becomes smaller than the said embodiment. And since the compliance became small, the responsiveness with respect to a deformation | transformation improved, and the piezoelectric element 17 can be driven at a higher frequency. As a result, high frequency ejection of ink droplets can be realized. In this modification, the width wp2 of the lower-layer piezoelectric body 35 is set to be narrower than the width wp1 of the upper-layer piezoelectric body 34. However, the width wp2 of the lower-layer piezoelectric body 34 can be increased to the same width as the width wp1 of the upper-layer piezoelectric body 34.

  Further, the description has been given by taking the recording head, which is a kind of liquid ejecting head, as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to other liquid ejecting heads such as a liquid crystal ejecting head and a color material ejecting head, and piezoelectric actuators thereof. it can. Furthermore, it can be applied to a piezoelectric actuator for a micropump.

It is sectional drawing explaining the basic structure of a head main body. It is the figure which looked at the head body from the nozzle plate side. It is a figure explaining the structure of an actuator unit, and is sectional drawing cut | disconnected by the pressure chamber longitudinal direction. It is a figure explaining the structure of an actuator unit, and is sectional drawing cut | disconnected in the pressure chamber width direction. It is a figure explaining the recording head provided with the several head main body. It is a figure explaining the modification of this invention. It is a figure explaining the other modification of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Head main body, 2 ... Flow path unit, 3 ... Actuator unit, 4 ... Ink supply port, 5 ... Nozzle communication port, 6 ... Supply port formation board, 7 ... Common ink chamber, 8 ... Ink chamber formation board, 9 ... Nozzle opening, 10 ... nozzle plate, 11 ... nozzle row, 12 ... pressure chamber, 13 ... pressure chamber forming substrate, 14 ... diaphragm, 15 ... supply side communication port, 16 ... lid member, 17 ... piezoelectric element, 31 ... piezoelectric Body layer 32 ... Common electrode 33 ... Drive electrode 34 ... Upper piezoelectric body 35 ... Lower layer piezoelectric body 36 ... Common upper electrode 37 ... Common lower electrode 38 ... Pressure chamber partition wall 61 ... Mounting base

Claims (15)

A pressure chamber communicated with the nozzle opening, a diaphragm partitioning a part of the pressure chamber, and a piezoelectric element provided on a surface of the diaphragm opposite to the pressure chamber, and pressure is applied by deformation of the piezoelectric element. In an image recording apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that discharges liquid droplets from a nozzle opening by causing pressure fluctuation in a liquid in a room,
The piezoelectric element includes a piezoelectric layer that deforms according to an electric field and an electrode layer that generates an electric field applied to the piezoelectric layer,
The piezoelectric layer includes an upper layer piezoelectric material and a lower layer piezoelectric material that are stacked on each other, and the electrode layer includes a common upper electrode and a common lower electrode that are electrically connected to each other, and a drive electrode that is electrically connected to a drive signal supply source. And consists of
From the diaphragm side, a common lower electrode, a lower layer piezoelectric body, a drive electrode, an upper layer piezoelectric body, and a common upper electrode are laminated in order,
An image recording apparatus, wherein the upper layer piezoelectric body is provided wider than the lower layer piezoelectric body.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the common lower electrode.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the drive electrode.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common upper electrode is thinner than the common lower electrode and the drive electrode.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the common upper electrode is made of gold, and the common lower electrode and the drive electrode are made of platinum. In a piezoelectric actuator formed by forming a piezoelectric element as a drive source on the surface of a diaphragm,
The piezoelectric element includes a piezoelectric layer that deforms according to an electric field and an electrode layer that generates an electric field applied to the piezoelectric layer,
The piezoelectric layer includes an upper layer piezoelectric material and a lower layer piezoelectric material that are stacked on each other, and the electrode layer includes a common upper electrode and a common lower electrode that are electrically connected to each other, and a drive electrode that is electrically connected to a drive signal supply source. And consists of
From the diaphragm side, a common lower electrode, a lower layer piezoelectric body, a drive electrode, an upper layer piezoelectric body, and a common upper electrode are laminated in order,
A piezoelectric actuator characterized in that the upper layer piezoelectric body is provided wider than the lower layer piezoelectric body.   The piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the common lower electrode.   The piezoelectric actuator according to claim 6, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the drive electrode.   The piezoelectric actuator according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the common upper electrode is thinner than the common lower electrode and the drive electrode.   The piezoelectric actuator according to claim 9, wherein the common upper electrode is made of gold, and the common lower electrode and the drive electrode are made of platinum. A pressure chamber communicated with the nozzle opening, a diaphragm partitioning a part of the pressure chamber, and a piezoelectric element provided on a surface of the diaphragm opposite to the pressure chamber, and pressure is applied by deformation of the piezoelectric element. In a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid droplets from a nozzle opening by causing pressure fluctuation in the liquid in the room,
The piezoelectric element includes a piezoelectric layer that deforms according to an electric field and an electrode layer that generates an electric field applied to the piezoelectric layer,
The piezoelectric layer includes an upper layer piezoelectric material and a lower layer piezoelectric material that are stacked on each other, and the electrode layer includes a common upper electrode and a common lower electrode that are electrically connected to each other, and a drive electrode that is electrically connected to a drive signal supply source. And consists of
From the diaphragm side, a common lower electrode, a lower layer piezoelectric body, a drive electrode, an upper layer piezoelectric body, and a common upper electrode are laminated in order,
A liquid ejecting head, wherein the upper piezoelectric body is provided wider than the lower piezoelectric body.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 11, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the common lower electrode.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 11, wherein the common upper electrode is provided wider than the driving electrode.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 11, wherein the common upper electrode is thinner than the common lower electrode and the driving electrode.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 14, wherein the common upper electrode is made of gold, and the common lower electrode and the driving electrode are made of platinum.

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