JP2009056646A - Channel-member structure, liquid droplet discharge head, manufacturing method of liquid droplet discharge head, and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a channel-member structure, a liquid droplet discharge head and a manufacturing method of the liquid droplet discharge head which enable it to obtain a highly-precise joining between channel members and a stable discharge characteristic in the liquid droplet discharge head for which the channel member of at least two-layers structure consisting of a resin layer and a metal layer as the channel member composing a channel unit, and an image formation device. <P>SOLUTION: In the liquid droplet discharge head A equipped with the channel unit B wherein two or more channel members were laminated, at least one channel member is composed of at least two layers of the resin layer and metal layer and provided with holes penetrating the channel member. The diameter of the hole formed in the resin layer is bigger than the diameter of the hole formed in the metal layer by stamping. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing technique for forming a fine shape on a metal or resin material, and more particularly to a processing technique and a processing shape of a metal or resin material constituting a liquid chamber used in a droplet discharge type recording head.

Examples of the droplet discharge head include a droplet discharge head that discharges liquid resist as droplets, a droplet discharge head that discharges DNA samples as droplets, and a droplet discharge head that discharges ink as droplets.
As various image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimiles, copying machines, plotters, and composite machines, a carriage is equipped with a recording head (printing head) composed of a liquid discharge head that discharges droplets of recording liquid (for example, ink). The carriage is serially scanned in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, the recording medium is intermittently conveyed according to the recording width, and the conveyance and the recording are alternately repeated on the recording medium. There is a serial type image forming apparatus for forming (recording, printing, printing, printing) an image or a line type image forming apparatus equipped with a line type recording head.
High image quality and high speed are major technical problems in such an image forming apparatus. As measures to improve image quality, there are methods to reduce droplets and increase the density of nozzles as image resolution increases, and to increase the drive frequency of droplet discharge as measures to increase the speed. Alternatively, there is a method of lengthening a recording head typified by a line type recording head in which the number of nozzles per head is increased.

In recent years, an increase in the number of nozzles has been demanded along with the increase in the length of a droplet discharge head due to an increase in speed in a droplet discharge printer. In order to cope with the lengthening of the droplet discharge head and the manufacture of the flow path plate that forms a complicated liquid flow path shape while reducing the cost, it is used for the manufacture of the droplet discharge head. A metal plate or a resin plate is selected as the plate material. The silicon material is difficult to cope with lengthening and the cost is high, whereas the stainless material is relatively advantageous and has an advantage that it is easy to select.
In general, a droplet discharge head is composed of a nozzle hole having a diameter of about several tens of microns and a liquid chamber, and a flow path unit formed of a plurality of stainless steel plates is considered to be a hardly adhesive material. Therefore, a multilayer structure tends to be avoided as much as possible. As a countermeasure for avoiding joining of stainless steel materials, a method using a composite plate in which a metal plate and a resin plate are laminated is known. Further, when processing a composite plate of a metal plate and a resin plate, wet etching processing or press processing by punching is often used.

The composite plate of the metal plate and the resin plate is subjected to at least one joining process before being completed as a flow path unit. The flow path unit is joined to the housing that supports the flow path unit.
Conventionally, a high-precision joining technique is required in the above-described joining process, and a high accuracy is also required for a shape dimension used for alignment in units of parts.
As a flow path unit using a conventional composite plate (laminate plate) of a metal plate and a resin plate, an example in which a material in which a stretched film is bonded to a stainless material is used for a vibration plate is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-78006. Although there is a description that the alignment hole shape used for joining is formed by pressing without showing a special construction method, it is necessary to ensure a highly accurate shape in this disclosure. Have difficulty. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-342610 discloses a method of forming a diaphragm with a laminated material of a photosensitive resin material and stainless steel, forming an alignment hole by press working, and joining it to a liquid chamber to form a flow path unit. However, there is no special method for the alignment hole shape used for joining. Similarly, an example in which a material in which a resin film is bonded to a stainless material is used for a diaphragm is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-334946. This also applies to a special method for the alignment hole shape used for bonding. Is not shown.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-78006 JP-A-11-342610 JP 2000-334946 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a droplet discharge head using a flow path member having at least a two-layer structure including a resin layer and a metal layer as a flow path member constituting the flow path unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a flow path member, a liquid droplet discharge head, a method for manufacturing a liquid droplet discharge head, and an image forming apparatus that enable high-precision bonding between flow path members and obtain stable discharge characteristics. .

In order to achieve the above object, the structure of the flow path member according to the invention of claim 1 is a droplet discharge head provided with a flow path unit in which a plurality of flow path members are laminated, wherein at least one of the flow path members is a resin. A hole formed in at least two layers of a layer and a metal layer and penetrating through the flow path member, and a hole diameter at a bonding interface between the resin layer and the metal layer is used for punching the metal layer. The hole diameter formed in the said resin layer is larger than the hole diameter formed in this.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the droplet discharge head including a flow path unit in which a plurality of flow path members are stacked, at least one of the flow path members is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer, and A hole penetrating the flow path member, and a hole diameter at a bonding interface between the resin layer and the metal layer is formed in the resin layer more than a hole diameter formed in the metal layer by etching. The hole diameter is large.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the flow path unit includes a flow path plate, a vibration plate, and a nozzle plate, and the vibration plate is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer.
The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the diaphragm is a laminated material of a metal layer made of stainless steel and a resin layer made of polyimide.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the hole formed in the metal layer is an alignment portion.
The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the hole formed in the metal layer is a droplet supply port for supplying a droplet.
The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the hole formed in the resin layer is processed by a photolithography technique.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a liquid droplet ejection head includes the flow path member according to any one of the first to seventh aspects.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a liquid droplet ejection head, wherein the flow path member has a configuration in which a stainless steel plate and a polyimide sheet are bonded together, and a nozzle plate is attached to the diaphragm using a pin alignment technique. A flow path unit is formed by bonding, and is formed by bonding the flow path unit, a frame that supports the flow path unit, and a piezoelectric element unit that has a function of generating pressure for droplet discharge. It is characterized by that.
The invention of claim 10 is characterized in that the flow path member has a configuration in which polyimide is applied to the stainless steel plate.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the droplet discharge head.

  As described above, the present invention provides a droplet discharge head including a flow path unit in which a plurality of flow path members are stacked, wherein at least one flow path member is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer, And a hole penetrating the flow path member, and the hole diameter formed in the resin layer is larger than the hole diameter formed by punching in the metal layer. In a droplet discharge head using a flow path member having at least a two-layer structure composed of a resin layer and a metal layer as a path member, high-precision bonding between the flow path members is possible, and stable discharge characteristics are obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a droplet discharge head according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are longitudinal sectional views of main parts.
The droplet discharge head A includes a flow path plate (flow path member) 1 formed by a press working method and a wet etching process, and a nozzle plate formed by a press working method joined to the surface side of the flow path plate 1 ( A flow path member 3, a vibration plate (flow path member) 2 bonded to the back side of the flow path plate 1 and formed by a press working method and a wet etching method using a laminated material, and the back side of the vibration plate 2 And an annular frame member 15 that supports the frame. The flow path plate 1, the vibration plate 2, and the nozzle plate 3 constitute a flow path unit B.
A pressurizing liquid chamber 6 and a damper chamber 50 are formed in the flow path plate 1. The nozzle plate 3 is formed with a number of holes to be the nozzles 4 with a predetermined pitch and arrangement. An ink supply port 9 is formed in the diaphragm 2, and a piezoelectric element 12 is disposed on the back surface thereof.
The droplet discharge head A formed by joining the frame member 15 to the flow path unit B composed of these plate members 1, 2, and 3 includes a nozzle 4 for discharging ink droplets and an ink flow path. A pressurized liquid chamber 6, an ink supply port 9 for supplying ink to the pressurized liquid chamber 6, and a common liquid chamber 8 communicating therewith are provided.
A laminated piezoelectric element as an electromechanical conversion element that is a pressure generating means (actuator means) for pressurizing ink in the pressurizing liquid chamber 6 corresponding to each pressurizing liquid chamber 6 is provided inside the diaphragm 2. 12 is joined, and this piezoelectric element 12 is joined to a base substrate 13 formed of a highly rigid material such as metal or ceramics.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, between the piezoelectric elements 12, support columns 14 are provided corresponding to the partition walls 1 a between the pressurized liquid chambers 6. Here, slit processing by half-cut dicing is performed on a piezoelectric member to be a piezoelectric element at a predetermined pitch so as to be divided into comb teeth, and each is formed as a piezoelectric element 12 and a column portion 14. The support portion 14 is made of the same material as that of the piezoelectric element.
Furthermore, the outer peripheral part of the diaphragm 2 is joined to the frame member 15 with an adhesive. The frame member 15 is formed with a concave portion that becomes the common liquid chamber 8 and an ink supply hole 16 for supplying ink to the common liquid chamber 8 from the outside. The frame member 15 is formed by injection molding using, for example, epoxy resin or polyphenylene sulfite.
The flow path plate 1 is made of, for example, a stainless steel material formed into a plate shape. For example, the pressurizing liquid chamber 6, the ink supply path 7, and the damper chamber 50 are formed by a press working method, and the ink is supplied by a wet etching working method. The part is formed.
The diaphragm 2 is processed from a laminated material formed by coating a resin on a metal plate having a two-layer structure. For example, the metal plate is made of stainless steel and the resin is made of polyimide. The processing method is a press processing method and a wet etching processing method.
The nozzle plate 3 is formed with nozzles 4 having a diameter of 10 to 35 μm at positions corresponding to the pressurized liquid chambers 6. The nozzle plate 3 may be made of a metal such as stainless steel or a combination of a metal and a resin such as a polyimide resin film. Here, the nozzle 4 is formed on stainless steel by a press working method.

The nozzle 4 has a hole diameter of about 20 to 35 μm on the ink droplet outlet side. Furthermore, the nozzle pitch of each row was 150 dpi.
On the nozzle surface (surface in the ejection direction: ejection surface) of the nozzle plate 3, a water-repellent treatment layer subjected to a water-repellent surface treatment (not shown) is provided. Examples of the water-repellent treatment layer include PTFE-Ni eutectoid plating, fluororesin electrodeposition coating, vapor-deposited fluororesin (e.g., fluorinated pitch), silicon resin / fluorine resin A water-repellent treatment film selected according to the ink physical properties such as baking after solvent application is provided to stabilize the ink droplet shape and flying characteristics so that high-quality image quality can be obtained.
The piezoelectric element 12 is composed of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric layer having a thickness of 10 to 50 μm / layer and an internal electrode layer made of silver / palladium (AgPd) having a thickness of several μm / layer alternately. The internal electrodes are alternately connected to the individual electrodes and the common electrodes, which are end electrodes (external electrodes) on the end faces, and a drive signal is supplied to these electrodes via the FPC cable 17. ing. The pressurized liquid chamber 6 is contracted and expanded by the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element 12 whose piezoelectric constant is d23. When the drive signal is applied to the piezoelectric element 12 and charging is performed, the piezoelectric element 12 expands. When the charge charged in the piezoelectric element 12 is discharged, the piezoelectric element 12 contracts in the opposite direction.

Next, FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view of a main part of the vibration plate of the droplet discharge head made of the laminated material according to the present invention, and a cross-sectional view taken along line XX.
The diaphragm 2 is composed of a two-layer film of a thin film layer 2A as a first layer film (resin layer) and a thick film layer 2B as a second layer film (metal layer), and the first layer film 2A. Is about 1 to 5 μm (preferably about 3 μm), the second layer film 2B is about 10 to 30 μm, and the diaphragm 2 as a whole is formed to have a thickness of about 10 to 40 μm.
The vibration plate 2 includes a convex portion 202 to which the piezoelectric element 12 is bonded on the back surface, a diaphragm portion 201 for propagating the pressure from the piezoelectric element 12 to the pressurized liquid chamber, and the piezoelectric element 12 does not interfere with the vibration plate 2. The concave portion 203 formed in this way and the diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 are configured. The diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 has a relatively large hole shape because the fluid resistance of the head needs to be as small as possible, and has a shape penetrating the first layer film 2A and the second layer film 2B. It is.

The second layer film (metal layer) 2B has a convex portion 202 for joining the piezoelectric element 12, a concave portion 203 formed so that the piezoelectric element 12 does not interfere with the diaphragm 2, and the rigidity of the diaphragm 2 is ensured. A pillar 205 or the like is formed.
The first layer film (resin layer) 2A is formed of a polyimide resin, and the second layer film 2B is formed of stainless steel.
The first layer film 2A is formed by penetrating the diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 by a wet etching method using a lithography technique, and the projection 202 and the piezoelectric element 12 to which the piezoelectric element 12 of the second layer film 2B is joined are formed. The recess 203 formed so as not to interfere with the diaphragm 2 is also processed by a wet etching method using a lithography technique. The diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 of the second layer film 2B performs a penetration process by a press process.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the diaphragm 2 of the droplet discharge head made of the laminated material according to the present invention.
An alignment reference hole 207 and an alignment slot 208 are formed in the diaphragm 2 for joining with a flow path forming component (flow path member) that forms a flow path, and these are processed by a stamping press working method. It has become a hole. The diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 is similarly formed by a stamping press method.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a process flow in which various holes such as an alignment reference hole 207, an alignment long hole 208, and a diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 are processed in the diaphragm 2 as a laminated material by a press working method. Using a laminated material in which a resin layer, for example, a polyimide film 611 is applied to one surface of a metal plate, for example, a stainless steel plate 610 as a metal layer, a resist film 612 is applied on the polyimide film 611 by using a photolithography technique (( 1) (2)) and patterning a hole diameter 613 larger than the required hole diameter 615, and opening the polyimide film 611 like the hole diameter 613 by wet etching (3). Next, the resist film 612 is peeled off, and an opening is formed by pressing with a punch 614 that opens the required hole diameter 615 ((4) (5)).
In addition, the comparison of the hole diameter here is a comparison of the hole diameter in the joining interface of the metal layer 610 and the resin layer 611.
According to the present embodiment, in the flow path member of the droplet discharge head formed of at least two layers of the resin layer and the metal layer, the hole diameter at the bonding interface between the metal layer 610 and the resin layer 611 is punched into the metal layer. Since the diameter of the hole formed in the resin layer is made larger than the diameter of the hole formed in step 1, high accuracy and prevention of mold wear can be achieved, and punching can be performed at low cost.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a processed hole formed in the diaphragm 2. (1) is a cross-sectional view showing a state in the initial stage of punching by the press working method, and (2) is a view showing a state in which the burrs are removed after the punching is completed.
The punching that occurs after shearing is completed by the phenomenon that the back side of the flow path plate 1 is broken. In the press working that shifts from shearing to fracture, as shown in the drawing, the pressurized liquid chamber flange 62 on the side to be joined to the diaphragm 2 is driven into an R shape. Processing of the side wall of the pressurized liquid chamber 6 is completed in a state where the shearing portion 63, the fracture portion 64, and the burr portion 65 formed by punching remain. If there is a problem in the joining process, it is desirable that the burr 65 is removed by mechanical processing to be a flat portion 66. However, if the presence of the burr is not a problem by the joining method, mechanical processing is necessarily required. do not do.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a process flow in which holes such as the alignment reference hole 207, the alignment slot 208, and the diaphragm side liquid supply unit 204 in FIG. FIG. A metal plate as a metal layer, for example, a laminated material in which a resin layer, for example, a polyimide film 611 is applied on the upper surface of a stainless steel plate 610 ((1)), and a resist film is formed on the polyimide film 611 by using a photolithography technique. 612 is applied ((2)), a hole diameter 613 larger than the required hole diameter 615 is patterned, and the polyimide film 611 is opened like the hole diameter 613 by wet etching ((3)). The resist film 612 is peeled off, and a double-sided resist film 617 is applied onto the polyimide film 611 and the stainless steel plate 610 again using photolithography, and a hole diameter 616 larger than the required hole diameter 615 is patterned on both sides (( 4)) A hole diameter 615 is formed in the stainless steel plate 610 by wet etching by wet etching ((5)).
In addition, the comparison of the hole diameter here is a comparison of the hole diameter in the joining interface of a metal layer and a resin layer.
Thus, since the hole diameter to be formed in the resin layer is larger than the hole diameter of the hole to be formed in the metal layer by etching, double-sided etching is possible and a laminated material capable of forming a highly accurate processed hole Can provide.

By applying to the diaphragm 2 a flow path member having a structure in which a metal layer and a resin layer are laminated, dust mixing into the liquid flow path portion can be prevented, and the joining process with the liquid flow path member can be reduced. Manufacturing cost can be reduced. That is, in the flow path member, when the hole diameter of the through hole on the resin layer side is equal to or smaller than the hole diameter of the through hole on the metal layer side, the resin is inserted when a pin or the like is inserted into the hole. However, since the resin is torn and the phenomenon that dust is generated occurs, since the hole diameter on the resin layer side is increased as in the present invention, dust consisting of resin fragments is not generated. Also, in the case of punching, similar dust is generated during the processing, but according to the present invention, generation of dust can be avoided. In the case where the flow path plate is a vibration plate, the ink supply port is included in the through hole in the present embodiment. In this case, if the resin debris generated by the above process is larger than the nozzle diameter, it will cause clogging.
Vibration with stable discharge characteristics that is durable against high-frequency vibrations by applying a flow path member with a structure in which a metal layer and a resin layer are laminated to the diaphragm and using a laminate of stainless steel and polyimide. The board can be processed.
By forming a droplet supply port for supplying droplets to the metal layer, it is possible to reduce the mixing of foreign matters (such as the above-mentioned resin pieces) into the liquid flow path, and stable ejection can be achieved.
By processing holes in the resin layer by photolithography technology, it becomes easy to process the resin, and it is possible to provide a laminated material with less generation of dust compared to mechanical processing.

The flow path plate 1, the vibration plate 2, the nozzle plate 3, the piezoelectric element 12, and the frame 15 shown in each of the first and second embodiments are joined together and assembled as a droplet discharge head A. Then, in the laminated material of the metal layer and the resin layer, alignment holes are formed so that the hole diameter formed in the resin layer is larger than the hole diameter formed in the metal layer by punching, and each member is By assembling and joining, highly accurate assembly can be performed. As a result, a droplet discharge head having stable discharge characteristics can be manufactured.
In addition, the polyimide film 611 used for the laminated material may be laminated by bonding in addition to the lamination method by coating.

Next, FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the frame 15.
In the present embodiment, the common liquid chamber 8 has a shape in which the width in the short side direction becomes narrow and the depth becomes shallow at the end in the longitudinal direction. By adopting such a shape, the flowability of the ink and the bubble discharge performance can be improved.
Next, the ink cartridge shown in FIG. 10 will be described.
This ink cartridge is obtained by integrating the droplet discharge head 71 according to any of the above embodiments having the nozzle 70 and the like, and the ink tank 72 that supplies ink to the droplet discharge head 71.
In this way, in the case of an ink tank integrated head, a defective head yield immediately leads to a defect of the entire ink cartridge. Therefore, as described above, the improvement in droplet ejection characteristics improves the reliability of the head integrated ink cartridge. I can plan.

Next, an example of a droplet discharge recording apparatus equipped with a droplet discharge head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 is a perspective explanatory view of the recording apparatus, and FIG. 12 is a side explanatory view of a mechanism portion of the recording apparatus.
The droplet discharge recording apparatus includes a carriage that can move in the main scanning direction inside the recording apparatus main body 81, a recording head that includes the droplet discharge head that implements the present invention mounted on the carriage, and ink that supplies ink to the recording head. A paper feed cassette (or a paper feed tray) 84 in which a large number of sheets 83 can be stacked from the front side is inserted into and removed from the lower portion of the apparatus main body 81. It can be freely mounted, and the manual feed tray 85 for manually feeding the paper 83 can be opened, and the paper 83 fed from the paper feed cassette 84 or the manual feed tray 85 is taken in and printed. After a required image is recorded by the mechanism unit 82, the image is discharged onto a discharge tray 86 mounted on the rear side.
The printing mechanism 82 holds the carriage 93 slidably in the main scanning direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 11) with a main guide rod 91 and a sub guide rod 92 which are guide members horizontally mounted on left and right side plates (not shown). The carriage 93 is provided with a head 94 comprising a droplet discharge head according to the present invention for discharging ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). The ejection ports (nozzles) are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction, and are mounted with the ink droplet ejection direction facing downward. In addition, each ink cartridge 95 for supplying ink of each color to the head 94 is replaceably mounted on the carriage 93.

The ink cartridge 95 has an air port that communicates with the atmosphere above, a supply port that supplies ink to the droplet discharge head below, and a porous body filled with ink inside. The ink supplied to the droplet discharge head is maintained at a slight negative pressure by capillary force. Further, although the heads 94 of the respective colors are used here as the recording heads, a single head having nozzles for ejecting ink droplets of the respective colors may be used.
Here, the carriage 93 is slidably fitted to the main guide rod 91 on the rear side (downstream side in the paper conveyance direction), and is slidably mounted on the sub guide rod 92 on the front side (upstream side in the paper conveyance direction). is doing. In order to move and scan the carriage 93 in the main scanning direction, a timing belt 100 is stretched between a driving pulley 98 and a driven pulley 99 that are rotationally driven by a main scanning motor 97, and the timing belt 100 is moved to the carriage 93. The carriage 93 is driven to reciprocate by forward and reverse rotation of the main scanning motor 97.

On the other hand, in order to convey the paper 83 set in the paper feed cassette 84 to the lower side of the head 94, the paper feed roller 101 and the friction pad 102 for separating and feeding the paper 83 from the paper feed cassette 84 and the paper 83 are guided. A guide member 103, a transport roller 104 that reverses and transports the fed paper 83, a transport roller 105 that is pressed against the peripheral surface of the transport roller 104, and a leading end that defines a feed angle of the paper 83 from the transport roller 104 A roller 106 is provided. The transport roller 104 is rotationally driven by a sub-scanning motor 107 through a gear train.
A printing receiving member 109 is provided as a paper guide member that guides the paper 83 sent from the transport roller 104 below the recording head 94 in accordance with the movement range of the carriage 93 in the main scanning direction. A conveyance roller 111 and a spur 112 that are rotationally driven to send the paper 83 in the paper discharge direction are provided on the downstream side of the printing receiving member 109 in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper 83 is further delivered to the paper discharge tray 86. A roller 113 and a spur 114, and guide members 115 and 116 that form a paper discharge path are disposed.

At the time of recording, the recording head 94 is driven according to the image signal while moving the carriage 93, thereby ejecting ink onto the stopped sheet 83 to record one line. Record the line. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 83 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is terminated and the paper 83 is discharged.
Further, a recovery device 117 for recovering defective ejection of the head 94 is disposed at a position outside the recording area on the right end side in the movement direction of the carriage 93. The recovery device 117 includes a cap unit, a suction unit, and a cleaning unit. The carriage 93 is moved to the recovery device 117 side during printing standby and the head 94 is capped by the capping means, and the ejection port portion is kept in a wet state to prevent ejection failure due to ink drying. Further, by ejecting ink that is not related to recording during recording or the like, the ink viscosity of all the ejection ports is made constant and stable ejection performance is maintained.
When a discharge failure occurs, the discharge port (nozzle) of the head 94 is sealed with a capping unit, and bubbles and the like are sucked out from the discharge port with the suction unit through the tube. Is removed by the cleaning means to recover the ejection failure. Further, the sucked ink is discharged to a waste ink reservoir (not shown) installed at the lower part of the main body and absorbed and held by an ink absorber inside the waste ink reservoir.

As described above, in the flow path member of the droplet discharge head formed of at least two layers of the resin layer and the metal layer, the present invention is formed in the resin layer rather than the hole diameter formed by punching in the metal layer. Since the hole diameter is increased, high accuracy and mold wear prevention can be achieved, and a laminated material that can be punched at low cost can be provided. In addition, the comparison of the hole diameter here is a comparison of the hole diameter in the joining interface of a metal layer and a resin layer.
Further, in the flow path member of the droplet discharge head formed of at least two layers of the resin layer and the metal layer, the hole diameter formed in the resin layer is larger than the hole diameter formed in the metal layer by etching. Therefore, it is possible to provide a laminated material that can be etched on both sides and can form a highly accurate processed hole.
In addition, by applying a flow path member having a laminated structure of a resin layer and a metal layer to the diaphragm, dust mixing into the liquid flow path portion can be prevented, and the joining process with the liquid flow path member can be reduced, A laminated material with low manufacturing cost can be provided.

In addition, by applying a flow path member with a laminated structure of resin layer and metal layer to the diaphragm and using a laminate of stainless steel and polyimide, vibration with stable discharge characteristics that is durable against high-frequency vibrations A laminated material capable of processing a plate can be provided.
In addition, since the hole serving as the alignment portion is formed in the metal layer, it is possible to provide a laminated material capable of forming a flow path component that enables high-precision component bonding and stable discharge characteristics.
Also, by forming a droplet supply port for supplying droplets to the metal layer, it is possible to provide a laminated material that can reduce the entry of foreign matter into the liquid channel and can form a channel component that can be stably discharged. .
Further, by processing holes in the resin layer by photolithography technology, it is possible to easily process the resin, and it is possible to provide a laminated material with less generation of dust compared to mechanical processing.
In addition, a droplet discharge head that can improve discharge characteristics at low cost can be provided by forming the droplet discharge head by laminating laminated materials.
The laminated material is laminated by bonding a stainless steel plate and a polyimide sheet, and the flow path unit is formed by joining the nozzle plate and the vibration plate using a pin alignment technique. Since the frame that supports the unit and the piezoelectric element unit that has the function of generating pressure for discharging droplets are joined together, it is possible to form a droplet head that generates less foreign matter while reducing manufacturing costs. It is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head that can perform the above-described process.

In addition, since the laminated material is formed by applying polyimide on a stainless steel plate, a laminated material that does not use an adhesive can be provided.
Further, by mounting the droplet discharge head of the present invention on an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus that is inexpensive and has stable discharge characteristics can be provided.
In the above embodiment, an ink jet printer has been described as an example of a droplet discharge recording apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to an ink jet copy, an ink jet fax, or a composite type recording apparatus thereof.
In addition to the ink jet recording apparatus, the present invention can be applied to industrial manufacturing apparatuses such as a color filter manufacturing apparatus, a metal wiring manufacturing apparatus, a textile printing apparatus, and a DNA chip manufacturing apparatus using an ink jet technique.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a droplet discharge head according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. It is a principal part plane part of the diaphragm of the droplet discharge head which consists of a laminated material which concerns on this invention, and XX sectional drawing. It is a top view of the diaphragm of the droplet discharge head which consists of a laminated material which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram of the process flow which processes an alignment reference hole, an alignment slot, and a diaphragm side liquid supply part on a diaphragm by a press working method. It is sectional drawing of the processing hole formed in the diaphragm. It is a schematic diagram of a process flow for processing an alignment reference hole, an alignment slot, and a diaphragm-side liquid supply unit on a diaphragm by a wet etching method. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a flame | frame. FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram of an ink cartridge to which the present invention is applied. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of a droplet discharge recording apparatus equipped with a droplet discharge head according to the present invention. It is a side view of a droplet discharge recording apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  A: Droplet protrusion head, B: Channel unit, 1 ... Channel plate, 1a ... Partition wall, 2 ... Vibration plate, 3 ... Nozzle plate, 4 ... Nozzle, 6 ... Pressurized liquid chamber, 7 ... Ink supply path , 8 ... Common liquid chamber, 9 ... Ink supply port, 10 ... Diameter, 12 ... Piezoelectric element, 12 ... Stacked piezoelectric element, 13 ... Base substrate, 14 ... Column, 15 ... Frame, 16 ... Ink supply hole, 17 ... FPC cable, 50 ... Damper chamber, 62 ... Pressure liquid chamber collar, 64 ... Rupture part, 65 ... Burr part, 66 ... Flat part, 70 ... Nozzle, 71 ... Droplet ejection head, 72 ... Ink tank, 81 ... Recording apparatus main body 82 ... Printing mechanism section 83 ... Paper 84 ... Paper feeding cassette 85 ... Tray 86 ... Discharge tray 91 ... Main guide rod 92 ... Sub guide rod 93 ... Carriage 94 ... Recording Head, 95 ... ink cartridge, 97 ... main scanning motor DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 98 ... Drive pulley, 99 ... Drive pulley, 100 ... Timing belt, 101 ... Feed roller, 102 ... Friction pad, 103 ... Guide member, 104 ... Conveyance roller, 105 ... Conveyance roller, 106 ... End roller, 107 ... Sub scanning Motor 109, member 111, conveying roller 112, spur 113, paper discharge roller 114, spur 115, 116 guide member 117, recovery device 201 diaphragm part 202, convex part 203, concave part , 204... Vibration plate side liquid supply unit, 205. Punch, 615 ... hole diameter, 616 ... hole diameter, 617 ... double-sided resist film

Claims (11)

In a droplet discharge head provided with a flow path unit in which a plurality of flow path members are laminated,
At least one of the flow path members is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer, and includes a hole penetrating the flow path member;
A flow path member characterized in that a hole diameter formed in the resin layer is larger than a hole diameter formed in a punching process in the metal layer at a bonding interface between the resin layer and the metal layer. Structure. In a droplet discharge head provided with a flow path unit in which a plurality of flow path members are laminated,
At least one of the flow path members is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer, and includes a hole penetrating the flow path member;
A flow path member characterized in that a hole diameter formed in the resin layer is larger than a hole diameter formed in the metal layer by an etching process at a bonding interface between the resin layer and the metal layer. Structure.   The flow path unit includes a flow path plate, a vibration plate, and a nozzle plate, and the vibration plate is formed of at least two layers of a resin layer and a metal layer. The structure of the flow path member.   The structure of the flow path member according to claim 3, wherein the diaphragm is a laminated material of a metal layer made of stainless steel and a resin layer made of polyimide.   The structure of the flow path member according to claim 1, wherein the hole formed in the metal layer is an alignment portion.   5. The flow path member structure according to claim 1, wherein the hole formed in the metal layer is a droplet supply port that supplies a droplet.   The structure of the flow path member according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the hole formed in the resin layer is processed by a photolithography technique.   A liquid droplet ejection head comprising the flow path member according to claim 1.   The flow path member has a configuration in which a stainless steel plate and a polyimide sheet are bonded together, and a flow path unit is formed by joining a nozzle plate to the diaphragm using a pin alignment technique. A method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head, wherein the droplet discharge head is formed by bonding a frame that supports the flow path unit and a piezoelectric element unit having a function of generating pressure for droplet discharge.   The method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head according to claim 9, wherein the flow path member has a configuration in which polyimide is coated on the stainless steel plate.   An image forming apparatus comprising the droplet discharge head according to claim 8.

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