JP2009051104A - Liquid jetting head and liquid jetting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jetting head which has a compliance part capable of easily adjusting flexibility with a small number of parts, and a liquid jetting device. <P>SOLUTION: This liquid jetting head includes: a flow passage formed board 10 having a plurality of pressure generating chambers 12 communicating with nozzle openings 21 and a reservoir 13 as a common liquid chamber; piezoelectric elements 300 provided in regions opposite to the pressure generating chambers 12 on a diaphragm provided on one side of the flow passage formed board 10; and lead electrodes 90 drawn out of the piezoelectric elements 300 onto the diaphragm, wherein the side, on which the piezoelectric elements 300 of the flow passage formed board 10 are provided, of the reservoir 13 is sealed by the diaphragm and, at the same time, the compliance part 40 as a flexible part deformable through the change of the pressure in the reservoir 13 is formed by the lead electrodes 90 and the diaphragm sealing the reservoir 13 by extending the lead electrodes 90 to the regions opposite to the reservoir 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting apparatus that eject liquid, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus that eject ink as liquid.

  As a typical example of an ink jet recording head that is a liquid ejecting head used in a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, etc., a plurality of pressure generating chambers communicating with nozzle openings for ejecting ink droplets, and communicating with the plurality of pressure generating chambers And an ink jet recording head that pressurizes ink supplied from a reservoir to a pressure generating chamber by pressure generating means such as a piezoelectric element and ejects the ink from a nozzle opening. Specifically, for example, a flow in which a plurality of pressure generation chambers, an ink supply path communicating with each of the plurality of pressure generation chambers, and a communication portion communicating with each pressure generation chamber via the ink supply path are formed. A path forming substrate, a piezoelectric element formed on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate, and a reservoir forming substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion that is bonded to the flow path forming substrate and protects the piezoelectric element, In some cases, a reservoir portion that constitutes a reservoir together with the communication portion is provided so as to penetrate the reservoir forming substrate.

  In such an ink jet recording head, ink is supplied to each pressure generating chamber from a flow path forming substrate serving as a common ink chamber for each pressure generating chamber and a reservoir provided on the reservoir forming substrate. In order to keep the internal pressure of the reservoir constant, the reservoir is a flexible portion that is formed of, for example, a sheet member (film) or a thin film made of a resin material and absorbs a pressure change when the piezoelectric element is driven. Some have a compliance section (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-296616 (Claims, FIG. 2, FIG. 7, etc.) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-190497 (Claims, FIG. 2 etc.)

However, when the compliance portion is formed of a sheet member, there are problems that the number of parts increases and the cost becomes high and the manufacturing method becomes complicated.
In addition, there is a passage forming substrate provided with a penetrating portion that does not communicate with the pressure generating chamber, and a flexible portion is formed between the penetrating portion and the reservoir by a film constituting a diaphragm and a piezoelectric element (for example, (See Patent Documents 1 and 2).
However, in such an ink jet recording head, it takes time and effort to provide a penetrating portion, and since the constituent element of the piezoelectric element is used for the flexible portion, the piezoelectric portion is adjusted when the flexibility of the flexible portion is adjusted. There is a problem that it is necessary to adjust in consideration of the displacement of the element. Such a problem exists not only in an ink jet recording head that ejects ink, but also in other liquid ejecting heads that eject droplets other than ink.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting apparatus having a compliance portion that has a small number of components, can be easily manufactured, and can easily adjust flexibility. For the purpose.

The liquid ejecting head of the present invention that solves the above problems includes a flow path forming substrate having a plurality of pressure generating chambers communicating with nozzle openings for ejecting liquid and a reservoir that is a common liquid chamber of the pressure generating chambers, and the flow forming substrate. A piezoelectric element provided in a region opposite to the pressure generating chamber on a vibration plate provided on one side of a path forming substrate, and a lead electrode drawn from the piezoelectric element to the vibration plate, The reservoir is sealed with the diaphragm on the side where the piezoelectric element is provided on the flow path forming substrate, and the lead electrode extends to a region facing the reservoir so that the lead electrode and the reservoir are connected to each other. A compliance portion, which is a flexible portion that can be deformed by a pressure change in the reservoir, is formed by the diaphragm to be sealed.
In this aspect, since the compliance portion of the reservoir is formed by the lead electrode and the diaphragm extending to the region facing the reservoir, there is no need to newly provide a compliance member, so the number of parts is small, The liquid ejecting head can be easily manufactured. In addition, the flexibility of the compliance portion can be easily adjusted by adjusting the dimensions of the lead electrodes and the distance between the lead electrodes.

  Further, it is preferable that one end of the piezoelectric element on the compliance part side is not extended to a region facing the reservoir, and the compliance part is composed of the lead electrode and the diaphragm. According to this, since the compliance portion includes the lead electrode and the diaphragm, the flexibility of the compliance portion can be easily adjusted without considering the piezoelectric element.

  Furthermore, the lead electrode is preferably made of at least one selected from nickel, aluminum, chromium, copper, gold, platinum and iridium. According to this, since the metal which has elasticity and is easy to process is used as a constituent material of a lead electrode, the flexibility of a compliance part can be adjusted more easily.

  The diaphragm preferably includes an elastic film having an amorphous structure in contact with the reservoir and an insulator film formed on the elastic film and made of a metal oxide. According to this, it is possible to form a compliance portion that has good characteristics as a diaphragm and can reliably absorb the pressure change in the reservoir. Further, since the elastic film in contact with the reservoir is formed of an amorphous layer, cracks at the crystal grain boundaries that occur in the crystal layer do not occur, so that the liquid in the reservoir does not leak from the compliance portion.

  The compliance section may be formed with a liquid introduction hole communicating with the reservoir. According to this, since the liquid ejecting head does not include the reservoir forming substrate, the liquid ejecting head has a compliance portion that can be easily manufactured with a small number of components and can be easily adjusted in flexibility, and can be made compact. The liquid jet head can be realized.

  According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head. According to this, a liquid ejecting apparatus with improved characteristics of the liquid ejecting head can be realized.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ink jet recording head I which is an example of a liquid jet head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. .

  As shown in the figure, the flow path forming substrate 10 is a silicon single crystal substrate having a crystal plane orientation of (110) in the plate thickness direction in this embodiment, and is anisotropically etched from the bonding surface side of the nozzle plate 20. A plurality of pressure generating chambers 12 partitioned by the plurality of partition walls 11 are arranged in parallel in the width direction (short direction). In addition, an ink supply path 14 and a communication path 15 are partitioned by a partition wall 11 on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the pressure generating chamber 12 of the flow path forming substrate 10. A reservoir 13 serving as an ink chamber (liquid chamber) common to the pressure generation chambers 12 is formed at one end of the communication path 15. That is, the flow path forming substrate 10 is provided with a liquid flow path including a pressure generation chamber 12, a reservoir 13, an ink supply path 14, and a communication path 15, and the reservoir 13 extends in the width direction of the pressure generation chambers 12 arranged in parallel. It is provided over.

  The ink supply path 14 communicates with one end side in the longitudinal direction of the pressure generation chamber 12 and has a smaller cross-sectional area than the pressure generation chamber 12. Each communication path 15 communicates with the side of the ink supply path 14 opposite to the pressure generation chamber 12 and has a larger cross-sectional area than the width direction (short direction) of the ink supply path 14. In the present embodiment, the communication passage 15 is formed with the same cross-sectional area as the pressure generation chamber 12. In other words, the flow path forming substrate 10 is connected to the pressure generation chamber 12, the ink supply path 14 having a smaller cross-sectional area in the short direction of the pressure generation chamber 12, the ink supply path 14, and the ink supply. A communication passage 15 having a cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area in the short direction of the passage 14 and having the same cross-sectional area as the pressure generation chamber 12 is provided by being partitioned by a plurality of partition walls 11.

  Further, on the opening surface side of the flow path forming substrate 10, a nozzle plate 20 having a nozzle opening 21 communicating with the vicinity of the end portion of each pressure generating chamber 12 on the side opposite to the ink supply path 14 is provided with an adhesive or It is fixed by a heat welding film or the like. The nozzle plate 20 is made of glass ceramics, a silicon single crystal substrate, stainless steel (SUS), or the like.

On the other hand, a film having an amorphous structure, for example, an elastic film 50 made of silicon dioxide and having a thickness of about 0.5 to 2 μm is formed on the side opposite to the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10. An insulator film 55 made of a metal oxide, for example, zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ) and having a thickness of about 0.3 to 0.4 μm is stacked thereon. That is, the pressure generation chamber 12, the reservoir 13, the ink supply path 14, and the communication path 15 provided in the flow path forming substrate 10 are on the side opposite to the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 on the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55. It is sealed by. As will be described later, the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 constitute a diaphragm.

  An ink introduction hole (liquid introduction hole) 400 for introducing ink into the reservoir 13 from an external ink supply unit (not shown) is formed in a region of the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 facing the reservoir 13. . A reinforcing member made of a silicon substrate (not shown) or the like is provided at the periphery of the ink introduction hole 400 to give rigidity to the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 around the ink introduction hole 400. The ink introduction hole 400 is formed in a region where a lead electrode 90 described later is not provided.

  On the insulator film 55, a lower electrode film 60 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.1 to 0.5 μm, a piezoelectric layer 70 having a thickness of, for example, about 1 to 5 μm, and a thickness of, for example, about 0 A piezoelectric element 300 is formed by stacking a 0.05 μm upper electrode film 80 by a film forming process such as sputtering. Here, the piezoelectric element 300 refers to a portion including the lower electrode film 60, the piezoelectric layer 70, and the upper electrode film 80. In general, one electrode of the piezoelectric element 300 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric layer 70 are patterned for each pressure generating chamber 12. In this case, a portion that is configured by any one of the patterned electrodes and the piezoelectric layer 70 and in which piezoelectric distortion is generated by applying a voltage to both electrodes is referred to as a piezoelectric active portion 320. In the present embodiment, the lower electrode film 60 is used as a common electrode of the piezoelectric element 300 and the upper electrode film 80 is used as an individual electrode of the piezoelectric element 300. However, there is no problem even if this is reversed for convenience of a drive circuit and wiring. In any case, the piezoelectric active part 320 is formed for each pressure generating chamber 12. Further, here, the piezoelectric element 300 and a vibration plate that is displaced by driving the piezoelectric element 300, that is, the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 in this embodiment are collectively referred to as an actuator device. In the above-described example, the lower electrode film 60 also vibrates when the piezoelectric element 300 is driven. However, in this specification, members constituting the piezoelectric element 300 are not included in the “vibration plate”.

  The lower electrode film 60 is made of a metal material such as iridium (Ir) or platinum (Pt), for example. The lower electrode film 60 may be a laminate of a plurality of layers made of these metal materials. In addition, when it laminates | stacks, it may become a mixed layer as a result by a later process.

  The piezoelectric layer 70 includes crystals such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), other ferroelectric materials, and relaxor ferroelectrics in which a metal such as niobium, nickel, magnesium, bismuth, or yttrium is added. It is a waste.

  Similar to the lower electrode film 60, the upper electrode film 80 is made of platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), or a metal material such as a laminate or alloy thereof.

  The upper electrode film 80 of each piezoelectric element 300 has a lead electrode 90 made of gold (Au) extending to the insulator film 55 (vibrating plate) in a region facing the reservoir 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10. Are connected to each other. A voltage is selectively applied to each piezoelectric element 300 via the lead electrode 90. In the present embodiment, the lead electrode 90 extends to the region facing the reservoir 13, but the piezoelectric element 300 does not extend to the region facing the reservoir 13.

  Each lead electrode 90 extended to a region facing the reservoir 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10 is a region facing the reservoir 13 together with the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 that seal the reservoir 13. A compliance portion 40 that is a flexible portion that can be deformed by a change in pressure inside is formed. That is, a diaphragm made up of the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 is provided so as to cover the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 of the reservoir 13 on which the piezoelectric element 300 is provided, and a lead electrode 90 is provided on the diaphragm. The elastic film 50, the insulator film 55, and the lead electrode 90 form the compliance portion 40 of the reservoir 13.

  In this way, by using the lead electrode 90 for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element 300 together with the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55, the compliance section 40 is provided in the reservoir 13 without newly providing a compliance member. Can be formed. Therefore, the liquid ejecting head I can be easily manufactured with a small number of parts. Further, the flexibility of the compliance portion 40 can be easily adjusted by adjusting the width, thickness, length, and shape of the lead electrode 90 and the distance between the lead electrodes 90. Further, the flexibility can be adjusted by the material of the lead electrode 90. Further, since not only the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 but also the lead electrode 90 made of metal is used as a member constituting the compliance part 40, the rigidity of the compliance part 40 is also improved. In addition, as a member constituting the lead electrode 90, it is preferable to use a metal that has elasticity such as gold and is easily processed as in the present embodiment.

  On the flow path forming substrate 10 on which the piezoelectric element 300 is formed, the protective substrate 30 provided with a piezoelectric element holding portion 32 having a space that does not hinder the movement of the piezoelectric element 300 in a region facing the piezoelectric element 300. Are bonded via an adhesive 35. Here, the piezoelectric element holding part 32 should just have the space of the grade which does not inhibit the motion of the piezoelectric element 300, and the said space may be sealed or may not be sealed. The protective substrate 30 is not provided in a region facing the reservoir 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10.

  A drive circuit 120 for driving the piezoelectric element 300 is mounted on the protective substrate 30. For example, a circuit board or a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) can be used as the drive circuit 120. The drive circuit 120 and the lead electrode 90 are electrically connected via a connection wiring 121 made of a conductive wire such as a bonding wire. Here, if the drive circuit 120 is directly placed on the piezoelectric element 300, the displacement of the piezoelectric element 300 is affected. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a lead electrode 90 drawn from the piezoelectric element 300. The circuit 120 is connected. The lead electrode 90 and the connection wiring 121 are preferably connected in a region that is not the compliance portion 40, for example, a region that faces the partition wall 11. This is because the compliance portion 40 is bent by the driving of the piezoelectric element 300, so that the connection wiring 121 is easily peeled off from the lead electrode 90.

  As the protective substrate 30, it is preferable to use a material substantially the same as the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flow path forming substrate 10, for example, glass, a ceramic material, etc. In this embodiment, the surface orientation of the same material as the flow path forming substrate 10 is used. It was formed using a (110) silicon single crystal substrate.

  In such an ink jet recording head of this embodiment, ink is taken in from an external ink supply unit (not shown) through the ink introduction hole 400 and filled from the reservoir 13 to the nozzle opening 21, and then the drive circuit 120. In accordance with the recording signal from, a voltage is applied between each of the lower electrode film 60 and the upper electrode film 80 corresponding to the pressure generating chamber 12, and the elastic film 50, the insulator film 55, the lower electrode film 60, and the piezoelectric layer. By bending and deforming 70, the pressure in each pressure generating chamber 12 is increased, and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle openings 21. In this way, when the vibration plate made of the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55 is bent and deformed by driving the piezoelectric element 300, ink droplets are ejected, ink is supplied to the reservoir 13, and pressure changes in the reservoir 13. Arise. The compliance unit 40 absorbs this pressure change and maintains the pressure in the reservoir 13. However, in this embodiment, the number of parts is small, it can be easily manufactured, and it can be easily used. Since the compliance portion 40 can adjust the flexibility, the ink ejection characteristics are good.

Here, an example of a manufacturing method of the ink jet recording head I will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pressure generating chamber. First, a silicon dioxide film 51 constituting the elastic film 50 is formed by thermal oxidation on the surface of a flow path forming substrate wafer 110 made of a silicon wafer and serving as the flow path forming substrate 10. Next, an insulator film 55 made of zirconium oxide is formed on the elastic film 50 (silicon dioxide film 51). Specifically, an insulator film 55 made of zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ) such as a sputtering method is formed on the elastic film 50. As a result, the entire surface of the one surface side of the flow path forming substrate 10 is covered with the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55.

  Next, the piezoelectric element 300 is formed. Specifically, for example, after the lower electrode film 60 is formed by laminating platinum (Pt) and iridium (Ir) on the insulator film 55, the lower electrode film 60 is patterned into a predetermined shape. Thereafter, a piezoelectric layer 70 made of, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and an upper electrode film 80 made of, for example, platinum (Pt) or iridium (Ir) are formed on the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate 10. Thereafter, the piezoelectric element 300 is formed by patterning in a region facing each pressure generating chamber 12. In the present embodiment, a so-called sol-gel method is obtained in which a so-called sol obtained by dissolving and dispersing a metal organic substance in a solvent is applied, dried, gelled, and further fired at a high temperature to obtain a piezoelectric layer 70 made of a metal oxide. However, the method is not limited to the sol-gel method, and a MOD (Metal-Organic Decomposition) method, a sputtering method, or the like may be used.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3A, after the lead electrode 90 made of, for example, gold (Au) is formed over the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110, the lead electrode made of, for example, a resist is formed. Patterning is performed for each piezoelectric element 300 through a mask pattern in which 90 is provided up to the region facing the reservoir 13, and the region facing the region serving as the reservoir 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10 from the upper electrode film 80. A lead electrode 90 extending to the insulator film 55 (vibrating plate) is provided. By adjusting the dimensions and the like of the lead electrode 90, the flexibility of the compliance portion 40 can be easily adjusted.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a protective substrate wafer 130 to be the protective substrate 30 is bonded to the piezoelectric element 300 side of the flow path forming substrate wafer via an adhesive 35, and the thickness is increased as necessary. After polishing in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 3C, the pressure generating chamber 12, the reservoir 13, the ink supply path 14, and the like are formed in the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 by anisotropic etching or the like. As a result, the reservoir 13 is formed in which the surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 on the piezoelectric element 300 side is sealed with the diaphragm made of the elastic film 50 and the insulator film 55, and this diaphragm and the extended lead electrode are formed. 90, the compliance part 40 of the reservoir 13 is formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, the ink flow path is provided on the diaphragm on the reservoir provided on the flow path forming substrate 10, that is, in the present embodiment, the region to be the compliance section 40. When another member to be formed (for example, a reservoir forming substrate) is further provided, a step of removing the vibration plate (film breakage or the like) is required to connect the ink flow path and the reservoir of the flow path forming substrate. In the present embodiment, since the diaphragm is a member that forms the compliance portion 40, such a process is unnecessary and the manufacturing method is easy.

  Thereafter, unnecessary portions of the outer peripheral edge portions of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 and the protective substrate wafer 130 are removed by cutting, for example, by dicing, and the protective substrate wafer 130 of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is removed. The ink jet recording head I of this embodiment is obtained by joining a nozzle plate 20 having a nozzle opening 21 formed on the opposite surface.

  In the present embodiment described above, the lead electrode 90 is drawn from the upper electrode film 80. However, the lead electrode 90 is drawn from the lower electrode film 60, and the lead electrode 90 drawn from the lower electrode film 60 and the vibration plate are used as a compliance portion. 40 may be formed.

  In this embodiment, the lead electrodes 90 are provided in parallel. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the ink introduction hole 400 is larger than the distance between the lead electrodes 90 on the piezoelectric element 300. The lead electrode 90 in the vicinity of the ink introduction hole 400 may be provided along the shape of the ink introduction hole 400.

  In the present embodiment, the lead electrode 90 is gold, but nickel, aluminum, chromium, copper, platinum, or iridium may be used, and a plurality of types of metals may be used. In the present embodiment, the diaphragm is configured by the elastic film 50 having an amorphous structure and the insulator film 55 made of a metal oxide. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this mode. For example, any one of the films may be used, and the amorphous structure or the metal oxide may not be used as long as the material causes displacement by driving the piezoelectric element 300.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the drive circuit 120 is provided on the protective substrate 30, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the drive circuit 120 may be provided on the flow path forming substrate 10. In the case where the drive circuit 120 is not provided on the protective substrate 30, the protective substrate 30 may not be provided as a structure that covers the piezoelectric element 300 with a moisture-resistant protective film as necessary.

  Further, in this embodiment, the ink introduction hole 400 is provided in the compliance section 40 and the ink is supplied from the ink introduction hole 400 to the reservoir 13. However, the ink is introduced from the side opposite to the compliance section 40. May be. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 which is a cross-sectional view of the ink jet recording head, the flow path forming substrate is provided on the surface opposite to the compliance section 40 without providing the ink introduction hole 400 in the compliance section 40. The reservoir forming substrate 500 having the reservoir portion 510 communicating with the ten reservoirs 13 may be joined, and the ink introducing hole 400 may be provided in the reservoir portion 510. In FIG. 4, a reservoir portion 510 is formed by a reservoir forming substrate 500 made of a silicon substrate, a reservoir portion upper plate 511 on the flow path forming substrate side, and a reservoir portion bottom plate 512 on the opposite side of the reservoir portion upper plate 511. In this way, the ink introduction hole 400 was provided in the reservoir upper plate 511. Here, the same members as those in FIG. Moreover, the description which overlaps with FIG. 2 is omitted. With this configuration, the reservoir 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10 and the reservoir portion 510 of the reservoir forming substrate 500 form a common ink chamber for each pressure generating chamber 12. It is possible to have a larger common ink chamber than in the case where only the reservoir 13 provided in is used as a common ink chamber. Therefore, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording head having a compliance portion that can be easily manufactured with a small number of parts and that can be easily adjusted in flexibility, and that has a large common liquid chamber. When the common liquid chamber is large, it is easy to adjust ink ejection characteristics.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, of course, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the actuator device having the thin film type piezoelectric element 300 has been described. However, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. For example, the thick film type formed by a method such as attaching a green sheet is used. An actuator device can be used.

  Further, such an ink jet recording head constitutes a part of a recording head unit including an ink flow path communicating with an ink cartridge or the like, and is mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus II. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of the ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, in the recording head units 1A and 1B having the ink jet recording head, cartridges 2A and 2B constituting ink supply means are detachably provided, and a carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted. Is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The recording head units 1A and 1B, for example, are configured to eject a black ink composition and a color ink composition, respectively. The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5. The On the other hand, the apparatus body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording sheet S, which is a recording medium such as paper fed by a paper feed roller (not shown), is conveyed on the platen 8. It is like that.

  In the above-described embodiment, an ink jet recording head has been described as an example of a liquid ejecting head. However, the present invention is intended for a wide range of liquid ejecting heads, and is a liquid that ejects liquids other than ink. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to an ejection head. Other liquid ejecting heads include, for example, various recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, color material ejecting heads used in the manufacture of color filters such as liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, and FEDs (field emission displays). Examples thereof include an electrode material ejection head used for electrode formation, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and the like.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the recording head manufacturing method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flow path formation board | substrate, 12 Pressure generation chamber, 13 Reservoir, 14 Ink supply path, 15 Communication part, 20 Nozzle plate, 21 Nozzle opening, 30 Protection board, 32 Piezoelectric element holding | maintenance part, 40 Compliance part, 50 Elastic film, 55 Insulator film, 60 lower electrode film, 70 piezoelectric layer, 80 upper electrode film, 90 lead electrode, 300 piezoelectric element, 400 ink (liquid) introduction hole

Claims (6)

A flow path forming substrate having a plurality of pressure generating chambers communicating with nozzle openings for ejecting liquid and a reservoir that is a common liquid chamber of the pressure generating chamber, and a diaphragm provided on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate A piezoelectric element provided in a region opposite to the pressure generating chamber on the top, and a lead electrode drawn from the piezoelectric element to the diaphragm,
The reservoir is sealed with the diaphragm on the side where the piezoelectric element is provided, and the lead electrode extends to a region facing the reservoir. The lead electrode and the reservoir A liquid ejecting head, wherein a compliance portion, which is a flexible portion that can be deformed by a pressure change in the reservoir, is formed by the vibration plate that seals the liquid.   The one end of the piezoelectric element on the compliance part side is not extended to a region facing the reservoir, and the compliance part is composed of the lead electrode and the diaphragm. Liquid jet head.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1, wherein the lead electrode is made of at least one selected from nickel, aluminum, chromium, copper, gold, platinum, and iridium.   4. The diaphragm according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm includes an elastic film having an amorphous structure in contact with the reservoir and an insulator film formed on the elastic film and made of a metal oxide. The liquid jet head described in 1.   The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1, wherein a liquid introduction hole that communicates with the reservoir is formed in the compliance portion.   A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head according to claim 1.

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