JP2010042625A - Liquid jet head module and method for manufacturing liquid jet head module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jet head module improved in assembling accuracy in assembling a plurality of liquid jet heads into a module, and to provide a method for manufacturing the liquid jet head module. <P>SOLUTION: A unit head 11 is provided with positioning pieces 38a and 38b in which a positioning hole 41 and a plurality of reference marks 44a and 44b are formed and the positioning pieces are fixed to the unit head in such a state that alignment is performed so that relative positions of the respective reference marks with respect to the reference nozzle openings 30a and 30b of the unit head are prescribed positions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head module manufacturing method in which a plurality of liquid ejecting heads such as, for example, an ink jet recording head are assembled into a module, and a liquid ejecting head module manufacturing method. The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head module capable of improving accuracy and a method for manufacturing the liquid ejecting head module.

  For example, a liquid ejecting apparatus is an apparatus that includes a liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting liquid and ejects various liquids from the liquid ejecting head. As a typical example of this liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, an ink jet recording head (hereinafter simply referred to as a recording head) as a liquid ejecting head is provided, and liquid ink is recorded on recording paper or the like from a nozzle opening of the recording head. An image recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer that records an image or the like by ejecting and landing on a medium (a target to be ejected) to form dots can be given. In recent years, liquid ejecting apparatuses have been applied not only to this image recording apparatus but also to various manufacturing apparatuses such as a manufacturing apparatus for color filters such as liquid crystal displays.

  In recent years, in an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a printer) which is a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus, a recording head (unit head) having a nozzle group in which a plurality of nozzle openings are arranged and a recording medium move relatively. A head module having a head group in which a plurality of recording heads are arranged in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the total length of the nozzle group formed by the head group corresponding to the maximum recording width of the recording medium is recorded. A configuration in which ink is ejected without being moved relative to a medium has been proposed. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to move the recording head in the main scanning direction. For example, an image or the like is recorded only by relatively moving the recording head and the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction. Therefore, the recording time can be shortened as compared with a configuration using a serial head.

  As described above, in a configuration in which a plurality of recording heads are arranged on a holding member such as a head holder to form a head module, it is important to arrange these recording heads on the holding member in a state of being positioned with high accuracy. In particular, it was necessary to mount each recording head in a state where the positions of the nozzle openings of the recording heads on the plane were aligned with high precision, that is, in a state where the nozzle openings were arranged at specified positions (designally desirable positions). . For this reason, conventionally, various alignment methods have been proposed for the holding member (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  In the alignment method proposed in Patent Document 1, a portion (reference surface) serving as a positioning reference is formed on a carriage as a head holding member, and a cover member common to a plurality of inkjet heads is brought into contact with the reference surface. By doing so, each inkjet head is positioned.

  Further, the alignment method proposed in Patent Document 2 described above performs alignment with respect to the reference position of each ink jet head in the head unit only in the nozzle row direction of the ink jet head, and accuracy is obtained by machining in the other directions. Is what you do. That is, the arrangement position with respect to the mounting member as the head holding member is adjusted by processing (grinding) the reference surface so that the nozzle position becomes a predetermined position.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-16339 JP 2003-57430 A

  However, since the liquid ejecting head is usually configured by assembling a large number of parts, the overall part tolerance tends to increase due to the accumulation of the tolerances of the parts. For this reason, as in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if each inkjet head is attached without taking any measures on the cover member and positioned with respect to the carriage, the nozzles are not connected between the inkjet heads. The relative position may be shifted.

  Further, in order to obtain positional accuracy by machining as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, after processing, it is measured whether or not it is arranged at a specified position, and if it is not positioned, the procedure is performed again. There was a problem that it was necessary to step on, and it took time and effort.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is a liquid ejecting head module capable of improving assembly accuracy when a plurality of liquid ejecting heads are assembled into a module, and An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid jet head module.

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-described object. A liquid ejecting head having a nozzle opening for ejecting a liquid is arranged on a plane between the positioning portion on the liquid ejecting head side and the positioning portion on the head holder side. By aligning the positions of the liquid ejecting head module, a plurality of liquid ejecting head modules mounted in a state of being positioned with respect to the head holder,
A positioning portion forming member on which the head side positioning portion and a plurality of reference marks are formed;
The positioning portion forming member is fixed to the liquid ejecting head in a state where a relative position of each reference mark with respect to a reference nozzle opening of the liquid ejecting head is a specified position.
The “reference nozzle opening” means a nozzle opening selected as a positioning reference.
Further, “on a plane” means on a plane parallel to the nozzle formation surface.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid with respect to the head holder by aligning the positions of the positioning portion on the liquid ejecting head side and the positioning portion on the head holder side on the plane. A method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head module that is positioned and attached in a plurality of positions in the positioning state,
A positioning part forming member in which the head side positioning part and a plurality of reference marks are formed;
The positioning portion forming member is fixed to the liquid ejecting head in an aligned state so that the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening of the liquid ejecting head is a specified position.

  According to the above configuration, the positioning part forming member on which the head side positioning part and the plurality of reference marks are formed is provided, and the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening of the liquid ejecting head is the specified position. In this state, the head-side positioning portion can be disposed with high accuracy with respect to the liquid ejecting head. Then, by aligning the planar positions of the head-side positioning portion and the holder-side positioning portion, the liquid ejecting head can be attached with high accuracy to the head holder while being positioned with respect to the head holder. As a result, the nozzle openings of the respective liquid ejecting heads are arranged at the originally desired positions in the head holder. As a result, it is possible to suppress the deviation of the landing position of the liquid with respect to the injection target.

  In addition, when a problem occurs in some of the liquid ejecting heads in the head module, when only the liquid ejecting head is replaced, the planes of the head side positioning unit and the holder side positioning unit can be replaced without performing a separate alignment step. Just aligning the position and attaching a new liquid jet head to the head holder enables positioning with high accuracy. That is, in a head module composed of a plurality of liquid ejecting heads, it is possible to deal with replacement of a single liquid ejecting head, and it is possible to reduce replacement costs.

Further, in the above configuration, it is desirable to adopt a configuration in which the size of the reference mark is smaller than the diameter of the head side positioning portion and is equal to or larger than the diameter of the nozzle opening.
The “diameter” here refers to the internal dimension of the portion where the imaginary straight line crossing the opening is maximum when at least one of the head side positioning portion and the nozzle opening is not a perfect circle.

  According to the above configuration, since the diameter of the head-side positioning portion is larger than the diameter of the nozzle opening, the nozzle opening can be used when a desired accuracy cannot be ensured by directly aligning the head-side positioning portion with the liquid ejecting head. By performing alignment using a reference mark having a size close to, the head-side positioning portion can be arranged with higher accuracy with respect to the liquid ejecting head. Thereby, it is possible to further improve the arrangement position accuracy of the liquid jet head with respect to the head holder.

Further, in the above configuration, an alignment substrate on which a nozzle reference portion that defines the position of the reference nozzle opening and a reference mark reference portion that defines the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening are formed. Provided,
In the alignment, in a state where the nozzle formation surface of the liquid jet head and the alignment substrate are arranged to face each other, the step of aligning the positions of the nozzle reference portion and the reference nozzle opening on the plane, and the reference mark reference portion It is desirable to adopt a configuration that regulates the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening by performing the step of aligning the position on the plane with the corresponding reference mark.

In addition, the amount of positional deviation with respect to the design value of the relative position of the head side positioning portion with respect to each reference mark is measured,
In the alignment, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference mark reference portion is corrected according to the amount of positional deviation.

  According to the above configuration, when the relative position accuracy between the positioning portion formed on the positioning member forming member and the reference mark cannot be ensured, for example, when the positioning portion forming member is made of synthetic resin or the like, By correcting the position of each reference mark with respect to the reference portion for the reference mark according to the amount of positional deviation with respect to the design value of the relative position of the head-side positioning portion, the head-side positioning portion can be positioned with high positional accuracy with respect to the liquid ejecting head. Can be arranged.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments described below, various limitations are made as preferred specific examples of the present invention. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description unless otherwise specified. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In the present embodiment, an image recording apparatus that is one form of the liquid ejecting apparatus, and more specifically, a length corresponding to the maximum recording width of a recording sheet that becomes an ejection target (or recording medium) at equal intervals between nozzle openings. An ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) equipped with a long liquid ejecting head (hereinafter simply referred to as a recording head) arranged in FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a printer 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view around a head module 3 in the printer 1. The printer 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of unit heads 11 (the main head 11) in a direction (hereinafter referred to as the first direction X) orthogonal to the transport direction (relative feed direction; hereinafter referred to as the second direction Y) of the recording paper 4 by the transport unit 7. A paper feed tray for storing a head module 3 (a kind of a liquid jet head module of the present invention) and a recording paper 4 (a kind of a jetting object) in a stacked state. 5a and a lower sheet feeding cassette 5b provided at the lower part of the apparatus, and a recording sheet 4 fed from these sheet feeding units 5a and 5b is passed under the head module 3 to be ejected from a sheet discharge tray. A transport unit 7 transported to the 10 side, and a paper discharge tray 10 for holding the recording paper 4 on which recording is performed by the head module 3 and discharged from the transport unit 7 side. It is configured to be able to record text or images, etc. to the full width of the recording area of the recording paper 4 without scanning.

  Although not shown, an ink cartridge (a type of liquid supply source) that stores ink is disposed inside the housing 2. The ink stored in the cartridge is supplied (pressure-fed) to each unit head 11 of the head module 3 through the ink supply tube by pressurization in the ink cartridge by an air pump or the like. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which recording is performed while scanning the head module 3 in the first direction X with respect to the recording paper 4.

  The paper feed tray 5a is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. The upper surface of the recording paper bundle (the upper surface of the uppermost recording paper 4) is always in contact with the pickup roller 6 with a constant pressure. The vertical position is controlled. Then, according to the execution timing of the recording operation by the head module 3, the recording paper 4 is pulled out from the uppermost part of the recording paper bundle by the pickup roller 6, separated one by one by the separation roller 12 and the separation pad 13, and downstream. It is to be fed to the side. After passing between paper sensors (not shown), the recording paper 4 abuts against the nip portion of the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 14a and 14b. The recording paper 4 from the lower paper feed cassette 5b reaches the nip portion of the registration rollers 14a and 14b after passing through a plurality of intermediate rollers 15. Thereby, the leading edge posture of the recording paper 4 is aligned, and the skew of the recording paper 4 is corrected. Thereafter, the registration rollers 14a and 14b feed the recording paper 4 one by one to the conveying unit 7 side by side with a predetermined timing, and the recording paper 4 reaches the conveying belt 17 of the conveying unit 7. The nip state is released at a predetermined timing.

  The transport unit 7 is stretched between a driving roller 18 rotated by a driving force of a driving motor (not shown), a driven roller 19 disposed upstream of the driving roller 18, and the driving roller 18 and the driven roller 19. The endless conveyor belt 17 is configured by a tension roller 20 that applies tension to the conveyor belt 17 and a presser roller 21. The tension roller 20 is disposed between the driving roller 18 and the driven roller 19, abuts against the conveyor belt 17 from the inside, and applies tension to the conveyor belt 17 by an urging force of an urging member such as a spring. . The pressing roller 21 is disposed directly above the driven roller 19 with the conveyance belt 17 interposed therebetween, and presses the recording paper 4 on the conveyance belt toward the conveyance belt 17 so that the adhesion of the recording paper 4 to the conveyance belt 17 is achieved. Increase.

  The driving roller 18 is configured to rotate the conveying belt 17 by being driven in synchronization with the recording operation of the head module 3 and to convey the recording paper 4 to the downstream side through the lower side of the head module 3. ing. Further, the rotation amount of the conveyor belt 17 is detected by an encoder. The encoder detection signal is output to the printer controller as an encoder pulse.

  When recording is performed on only one side of the recording paper 4, the recording is performed from the transport unit 7 to the paper discharge tray 10 after the recording on one side is completed. On the other hand, when recording is performed on both sides of the recording paper 4, after recording on one side is completed, the recording paper 4 is transported to the paper reversing path R <b> 2 by the flapper 22 disposed downstream of the transport unit 7. After the recording paper 4 reaches the U-turn portion T of the paper reversing path, the conveyance direction is changed, and the recording paper 4 is sequentially sent again to the registration rollers 14a and 14b and the conveyance belt 17 to complete the recording on the other side. After that, the paper is discharged from the transport unit 7 to the paper discharge tray 10.

  2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the head module 3. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the head module 3 viewed from the nozzle forming surface 26 side of the unit head 11, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the head module 3. is there. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of region A in FIG. The head module 3 is configured by disposing a plurality of unit heads 11 on a rectangular head holder 24 (head holding member) that is long in the first direction X. Each head placement area of the head holder 24 is provided with a head receiving portion 28 corresponding to a positioning piece 38 of the unit head 11 described later (FIG. 3). The head receiving portion 28 is provided with a pin receiving hole 29 through which a positioning pin 40 for connecting to the positioning piece 38 of the unit head 11 is inserted. That is, the positioning position of the unit head 11 is defined with respect to the head holder 24 by connecting the head receiving portion 28 and the positioning piece 38 by inserting the positioning pin 40 into the positioning hole 41 and the pin receiving hole 29. It has become so.

  4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the unit head 11. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the unit head 11 viewed from the nozzle forming surface 26 side (case tip surface side), and FIG. 4B is a side view of the unit head 11. FIG. 4C is a plan view of the unit head 11 viewed from the base end surface side. The unit head 11 includes a flow path unit 39 that forms an ink flow path including a pressure generation chamber that communicates with the nozzle opening 30, and pressure generation means such as a piezoelectric vibrator or a heating element that causes pressure fluctuations in the ink in the pressure generation chamber. (Not shown) is provided in the head case 31, and by applying a drive signal from the printer controller side to the pressure generating means to drive the pressure generating means, ink (a kind of liquid in the present invention) is supplied from the nozzle opening 30. ) Is ejected and landed on the recording paper 4.

  The head case 31 is a hollow box-like member, and a flow path unit 39 is fixed to the tip surface of the head case 31 with the nozzle forming surface 26 exposed. Further, pressure generating means and the like are accommodated in an accommodation space formed inside the head case 31, and a drive signal from the printer controller side is sent to the pressure generating means side on the base end surface side opposite to the front end surface. A cover member 33 for accommodating the wiring member 35 for supply is disposed. Further, on the base end side of the head case 31, flange portions 32 (32a, 32b) extending in the lateral direction are formed on the nozzle row direction, that is, on both sides in the first direction X, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, each flange portion 32 has an insertion hole 37 (see FIG. 3) through which a fastening member 36 such as a screw for fixing to the head holder 24 is inserted.

  On both sides of the nozzle forming surface 26 in the first direction X on the front end surface of the head case 31, positioning pieces 38 used for defining the arrangement position of the unit head 11 with respect to the head holder 24 (the positioning portion forming member in the present invention). 1 type) is disposed. Therefore, the unit head 11 in the present embodiment is provided with the one-side positioning piece 38a disposed on one side of the case front end surface in the nozzle row direction (first direction X) and the other side of the case front end surface. A total of two positioning pieces 38 of the other side positioning piece 38b are provided. That is, in the present embodiment, positioning pieces 38a and 38b are provided on both sides of the nozzle forming surface 26 in the long side direction, respectively. In other words, the positioning pieces 38a and 38b are provided at both ends of the nozzle row, respectively.

  5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the positioning piece 38, where FIG. 5A is a plan view of the one-side positioning piece 38a, and FIG. 5B is a plan view of the other-side positioning piece 38b. The positioning piece 38 is a rectangular plate material made of synthetic resin, metal, silicon, or the like, and is separate from the head case 31. These positioning pieces 38a and 38b are respectively provided with positioning holes 41a and 41b (a kind of head side positioning portion in the present invention). These positioning holes 41a and 41b are holes through which the positioning pins 40 (see FIG. 3) are inserted. The inner diameter of one positioning hole 41a is set to be the same as or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the positioning pin 40 so that the positioning pin 40 can be inserted without rattling. The other positioning hole 41b is a long hole that is elongated in the direction of alignment with the positioning hole 41a (first direction X in the present embodiment) in a state where the positioning pieces 38a and 38b are disposed in the unit head 11. ing.

  That is, the inner dimension of the positioning hole 41b in the short direction is set to be the same as or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the positioning pin 40, while the inner dimension of the positioning hole 41b in the long direction is the outer diameter of the positioning pin 40. It is set sufficiently larger than. Therefore, when the positioning pin 40 is inserted into the positioning hole 41b, a gap corresponding to the inner dimension of the positioning hole 41b in the longitudinal direction is formed between the positioning pin 40 and the inner peripheral surface of the positioning hole 41b. The For this reason, the freedom degree of the arrangement position of the positioning pin 40 in the positioning hole 41b is ensured within the range of this gap. Thereby, it is possible to cope with a dimensional error between the interval between the positioning holes 41a and 41b of the unit head 11 and the interval between the pin receiving holes 29 of the head holder 24.

  On the other hand, a pin insertion hole 42 through which the positioning pin 40 is inserted is formed in a portion corresponding to the positioning pieces 38a and 38b in the head case 31 in a state of passing through the height direction of the case (FIG. 3). . The inner diameter of the pin insertion hole 42 is set sufficiently larger than the diameter of the positioning pin 40 and the inner diameter of the positioning hole 41.

  Then, one end portion of the positioning pin 40 inserted into the pin insertion hole 42 is fitted into the positioning hole 41 of the positioning piece 38, and the other end portion of the positioning pin 40 is connected to the pin receiving hole of the head receiving portion 28 of the head holder 24. 29, the positioning holes 41 and the pin receiving holes 29 are aligned on the plane. Thereby, the arrangement position of the unit head 11 with respect to the head holder 24 is defined. Therefore, the positioning piece 38 is an important component related to the positional accuracy of the unit heads 11 in the head holder 24 and, consequently, the positional accuracy of the nozzle openings 30 of the unit heads 11. For this reason, it is important to dispose the positioning piece 38 in the unit head 11 in a state where the positioning hole 41 is aligned with high accuracy with the nozzle opening 30 of the unit head 11 as a reference.

  In order to increase the accuracy of the alignment, a plurality of reference marks 44 are formed on the positioning pieces 38a and 38b, and the positioning pieces 38 are positioned with respect to the unit head 11 using the reference marks 44. ing. The reference mark 44 is formed of a circular hole that is smaller than the diameter of the positioning holes 41a and 41b (the inner dimension in the short direction of the positioning hole 41b) and set to a diameter that is equal to or larger than the diameter of the nozzle opening 30. The “diameter” here refers to the inner dimension of the portion where the imaginary straight line crossing the opening is maximum when at least one of the positioning hole 41 and the nozzle opening 30 is not a perfect circle. In the present embodiment, two reference marks, that is, one reference mark 44a and another reference mark 44b in a direction crossing the nozzle row on both sides of the positioning hole 41 with the positioning hole 41 interposed therebetween. 44 is formed in each positioning piece 38a, 38b. Of course, the number of fiducial marks 44 formed is not limited to two, and may be three or more. The alignment of the positioning piece 38 using the reference mark 44 will be described later.

  A plurality of nozzle openings 30 for ejecting ink are provided along the first direction X on the nozzle forming surface 26 of each unit head 11 to form a nozzle row 27 (a kind of nozzle group). A plurality of lines are arranged in the second direction Y. One nozzle row 27 is composed of, for example, 360 nozzle openings opened at a pitch of 360 dpi. Each unit head 11 is formed with a total of two nozzle rows 27 arranged in the second direction Y. As described above, the nozzle forming surface 26 of the unit head 11 in the present embodiment has an elongated shape in the first direction X in plan view. The long side (or nozzle row) of the nozzle forming surface 26 in a plan view is configured to be parallel to the first direction X in a state where the head holder 24 is attached.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, one head module 3 is configured by attaching a total of six unit heads 11 to one head holder 24 in a two-stage zigzag pattern. The head module 3 has an arrangement layout in which the unit heads 11 are alternately arranged in a staggered manner at an arrangement interval such that the nozzle openings are arranged at 360 dpi as a whole when viewed in the first direction X. Note that the number of unit heads 11 in one head module 3 is determined according to the maximum size of the recording paper 4 that the printer 1 can handle.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a device configuration for aligning the positioning hole 41 (positioning piece 38) in the unit head 11, and (a) is a plan view of the alignment device viewed from the alignment substrate 45 side. ) Is a side view of the alignment apparatus. In this alignment step, the unit head 11 is placed on a base 46 such as a surface plate with the nozzle formation surface 26 facing upward, and the alignment substrate 45 is placed on the nozzle formation surface 26 of the unit head 11 placed. The positioning piece 38 is configured to be aligned with the unit head 11 by using the mask openings formed in the alignment substrate 45 so as to face each other.

  The alignment substrate 45 is made of a plate material such as glass whose linear expansion coefficient is as small as possible, and the position of the alignment substrate 45 relative to the base 46 is fixed by a plurality of columns 47 rising from the head mounting surface of the base 46. Supported by the state. The alignment substrate 45 includes a nozzle mask opening 48 (a kind of nozzle reference portion) that defines the position of the nozzle opening 30 and a reference mark that defines the relative positions of the positioning pieces 38 a and 38 b with respect to the nozzle opening 30. A mask opening 49 (a kind of reference mark reference portion) is provided. These mask openings 48 and 49 are formed by exposing and developing a resist layer formed on the surface of the alignment substrate 45. This alignment substrate 45 may be used as it is without removing the resist layer after development, or may be used after the resist layer is removed after forming an opening shape in the alignment substrate 45 by sputtering or etching. good.

The nozzle mask opening 48 in this embodiment is a circular opening that is slightly larger than the diameter of the nozzle opening 30. A total of two nozzle mask openings 48 are provided on the alignment substrate 45 corresponding to the nozzle openings 30 a and 30 b located at both ends of any one of the plurality of nozzle arrays 27. That is, a nozzle mask opening 48 a corresponding to the nozzle opening 30 a located at one end of the nozzle row 27 and a nozzle mask opening 48 b corresponding to the nozzle opening 30 b located at the other end of the nozzle row 27 are formed. It is formed on the alignment substrate 45. Hereinafter, the nozzle openings 30a and 30b serving as a reference for alignment are referred to as reference nozzle openings. The reference nozzle openings are not limited to the nozzle openings 30 a and 30 b located at both ends of the nozzle row 27, and an arbitrary plurality of nozzle openings 30 can be selected.
A nozzle reference mark whose position relative to the nozzle opening 30 is defined with high accuracy is provided on the nozzle forming surface 26, and a nozzle mask opening 48 is formed on the alignment substrate 45 at a position corresponding to the nozzle reference mark. A configuration can also be adopted.

  Further, the reference mark mask openings 49 in the present embodiment are openings larger than the diameter of the reference mark 44 of the positioning piece 38, and a total of four openings are formed on the alignment substrate 45. That is, two sets of a reference mark mask opening 49a corresponding to the one-side reference mark 44a and a reference mark mask opening 49b corresponding to the other-side reference mark 44b are taken as one set and correspond to each positioning piece 38a, 38b. In total, two sets of reference mark mask openings 49 are provided on the alignment substrate 45. It should be noted that one of the reference mark mask openings 49a and 49b (in this embodiment, the reference mark mask opening 49b) is a long hole so as to be able to cope with a positional shift due to the tolerance of the arrangement interval of the reference marks 44a and 44b. (See FIG. 7).

The formation position of the reference mark mask opening 49 is determined with high accuracy so that the relative position with respect to the nozzle mask opening 48 becomes a design value (specified position). Then, after aligning the positions of the nozzle openings 30a and 30b of the unit head 11 with the nozzle mask openings 48a and 48b, the positions of the reference marks 44a and 44b are aligned with the reference mark mask openings 49a and 49b. By fixing the positioning pieces 38a and 38b to the unit head 11 in the combined state, the positioning holes 41a and 41b are arranged at the specified positions, and the relative positions of the positioning holes 41a and 41b with respect to the nozzle opening 30 are determined with high accuracy. It becomes possible.
Note that the dimensions and shapes of the mask openings 48 and 49 are not limited to those illustrated, and any size and shape (for example, a cross shape) can be adopted as long as there is no problem with alignment.

  In this way, the positioning hole 41 is not directly aligned with the unit head 11 but is indirectly aligned using the reference mark 44. The size of the positioning hole 41 increases the strength of the positioning pin 40. This is because the diameter is larger (for example, 1 mm to 2 mm) than the diameter (for example, 20 μm to 30 μm) of the nozzle opening 30 to ensure. In other words, since it is necessary to align the center of the alignment target and the center of the mask opening in the alignment, when the positioning hole 41 is a direct alignment target, the lens of the same magnification is positioned with respect to the positioning hole 41 and the nozzle opening 30. If used, the desired accuracy may not be ensured due to an error or the like when obtaining the center of the nozzle opening 30 having a relatively small shape. For this reason, by performing alignment of the positioning piece 38 with respect to the unit head 11 using the reference mark 44 having a size closer to the nozzle opening 30, it is possible to prevent a decrease in alignment accuracy.

  In the alignment step, the unit head 11 is held at four positions by the head clamp 51, and the head clamp 51 is moved in the X or Y direction in this holding state, or rotated in the plane direction (nozzle formation surface direction). By doing so, the relative position with respect to the alignment substrate 45 is adjusted on the mounting surface of the base 46. A configuration in which the alignment substrate 45 is moved relative to the nozzle forming surface 26 may be employed.

  Each positioning piece 38a, 38b is held by a positioning piece clamp 52. In this holding state, the positioning piece clamp 52 moves in the X or Y direction, so that the relative position with respect to the alignment substrate 45 becomes the position of the head case 31. Adjustment is made on the distal end surface (in FIG. 6, only the clamp 52 for the positioning piece 38b is shown). The positioning piece clamp 52 can define an angle in the rotational direction in the plane of the positioning piece 38, and the position of the positioning piece 38 can be adjusted in a state in which the posture in which the angle is defined is maintained. .

  Here, if the positioning hole 41 and each reference mark 44 are formed in the positioning piece 38 with high positional accuracy, basically, the center of the reference mark 44 is aligned with the center of the reference mark mask opening 49, and the reference mark 44 is aligned. By making the relative position of each reference mark 44 with respect to the nozzle openings 30a and 30b a specified position, the relative position of the positioning hole 41 is aligned with high accuracy with respect to the reference nozzle openings 30a and 30b of the unit head 11. (In other words, the positioning hole 41 is arranged at a specified position). However, in the present embodiment, the positioning piece 38 is made of synthetic resin in consideration of productivity, and the relative position accuracy between the reference mark 44 and the positioning hole 41 is higher than that of a configuration made of, for example, silicon. It is difficult to secure. For this reason, when the relative positional relationship between the reference mark 44 actually formed on the positioning piece 38 and the positioning hole 41 may be different from the design relative positional relationship (design value). As described below, the relative positional relationship between the reference mark 44 and the positioning hole 41 (positional deviation from the reference value) is measured in advance before alignment.

  In the one-side positioning piece 38a in which the round positioning hole 41a is formed, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the position of the center of the positioning hole 41a with respect to the center of each of the reference marks 44a and 44b, Specifically, the deviation amount of the center of the positioning hole 41a actually formed in the one-side positioning piece 38a is measured with respect to the virtual point P which is the center point of the line segment connecting the centers of the reference marks 44a and 44b. To do. In this example, when the Y axis is taken in the direction in which the reference marks 44a and 44b are arranged with the center of the one side reference mark 44a as the origin, and the X axis is taken in the direction perpendicular thereto, the center of the positioning hole 41a is in the Y axis direction. Is offset by (B−b) on one side (upper side in the figure; hereinafter referred to as “+” side) and offset by a on one side in the X-axis direction (left side in the figure. Hereinafter referred to as “+ side”). ing.

Next, in the other side positioning piece 38b in which the long positioning hole 41b is formed, the positioning head 41b is arranged in the unit head 11 so that the longitudinal direction of the positioning hole 41b is parallel to the alignment direction with the positioning hole 41a. This is a prerequisite. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5B, the center of the positioning hole 41b is the origin, the long direction (long side direction) of the positioning hole 41b is the X axis, and the direction orthogonal to this is the Y axis. . The center of each reference mark 44a, 44b that should be originally designed for the positioning hole 41b in this state is set as the virtual point Pa, Pb, respectively, and the amount of positional deviation between the virtual point and the actual reference mark 44a, 44b is measured. To do. In this example, the center of the one-side reference mark 44a is offset to the + side by (n−N) on the Y axis with respect to the virtual point Pa, and offset to the + side by m on the X axis. The center of the other side reference mark 44b is offset to the minus side by p on the X axis.
Note that the method for measuring the relative positional deviation between the reference mark 44 and the positioning hole 41 is not limited to the illustrated one. In short, the extent to which the reference mark 44 or the positioning hole 41 is relative to the designed position. You only need to know if it is off.

  If the relative displacement between the reference mark 44 and the positioning hole 41 is measured, the unit head 11 is set on the base 46, and both sides of the nozzle forming surface 26 on the front end surface of the head case of the set unit head 11 are set. The positioning pieces 38a and 38b are set respectively. Subsequently, in this state, the alignment substrate 45 is set so as to face the nozzle forming surface 26. When the setting is completed, first, the centers of the reference nozzle openings 30a and 30b of the unit head 11 are aligned with the centers of the nozzle mask openings 48a and 48b of the alignment substrate 45, respectively. In this step, the unit head 11 is moved on the mounting surface of the base 46 by the head clamp 51 while observing through an imaging means such as a camera arranged opposite to the nozzle forming surface 26 with the alignment substrate 45 interposed therebetween. The center of the nozzle mask openings 48a and 48b and the positions of the centers of the reference nozzle openings 30a and 30b corresponding to the centers are aligned.

  When the alignment of the reference nozzle openings 30a and 30b is completed, the positioning pieces 38a and 38b held by the positioning piece clamp 52 are then held in a state where the relative positions of the unit head 11 and the alignment substrate 45 are fixed. As shown in FIG. 7, the positions of the reference mark mask openings 49a and 49b and the corresponding reference marks 44a and 44b on the plane are adjusted while moving to the X axis or the Y axis.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, in the alignment of the one-side positioning piece 38a, first, the one-side positioning piece 38a is arranged such that the center of the one-side reference mark 44a overlaps the center of the reference mark mask opening 49a on the plane. The position is adjusted, and in this state, the angle on the plane of the one-side positioning piece 38a is adjusted so that the center of the other-side reference mark 44b is positioned on the line connecting the centers of the mask openings 49a and 49b. However, as described above, when the relative positional relationship between the reference mark 44 actually formed on the positioning piece 38 and the positioning hole 41 is different from the designed relative positional relationship, the one-side positioning is performed. With the angle on the plane of the piece 38a maintained, the arrangement positions of the reference marks 44a and 44b with respect to the mask openings 49a and 49b are corrected according to the amount of deviation. In this example, with respect to the center of the reference mark mask opening 49a, the center position of the one-side reference mark 44a is corrected to the-side by a in the X-axis direction and by (Bb) in the Y-axis direction. By correcting the one-side reference mark 44a, the center position of the other-side reference mark 44b with respect to the center of the reference mark mask opening 49b is also corrected.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, in the alignment of the other side positioning piece 38b, as in the case of the one side positioning piece 38a, first, the arrangement positions of the reference marks 44a and 44b with respect to the reference mark mask openings 49a and 49b are aligned. To do. Then, the arrangement positions of the reference marks 44a and 44b with respect to the mask openings 49a and 49b are corrected in accordance with the shift amount so that the center of the positioning hole 41b is arranged at the designed position. In this example, with respect to the center of the reference mark mask opening 49a, the center position of the one-side reference mark 44a is corrected to the + side by m in the X-axis direction and (n−N) in the Y-axis direction. In addition, while maintaining the positional relationship between the reference mark mask opening 49a and the one-side reference mark 44a, the center position of the other-side reference mark 44b is p in the X-axis direction with respect to the center of the reference mark mask opening 49b. Only correct to the minus side. Thereby, the positioning hole 41b is arranged at the designed position, and the angle on the plane of the other positioning piece 38b is adjusted so that the longitudinal direction (long side direction) is parallel to the X axis.

  By performing the alignment according to the above procedure, the arrangement positions of the positioning pieces 38a and 38b with respect to the unit head 11 can be determined with high accuracy. In this state, the positioning pieces 38 a and 38 b are fixed to the tip surface of the head case 31. As this fixing method, various fixing methods such as adhesion and screwing can be employed. In the present embodiment, it is temporarily fixed with an instantaneous adhesive or the like in advance, and finally fixed with an epoxy adhesive or the like after alignment.

  In this way, by positioning the positioning pieces 38a and 38b on the unit head 11 using the alignment substrate 45, the relative positions of the positioning holes 41a and 41b with respect to the nozzle opening 30 (reference nozzle opening) are set with high accuracy. It becomes possible to do.

  As described above, the positioning pieces 38 in which the relative positions of the positioning holes 41 a and 41 b with respect to the nozzle openings 30 are determined with high accuracy are disposed on the unit head 11, and one end of the positioning pin 40 is attached to each positioning piece 38. Each positioning hole 41 and its corresponding pin receiving hole 29 are fitted into the positioning hole 41 and the other end of the positioning pin 40 is fitted into the pin receiving hole 29 of the head receiving portion 28 of the head holder 24. And the position on the plane. Thereby, the arrangement position of the unit head 11 with respect to the head holder 24 is defined with high accuracy. As a result, the nozzle openings 30 of the unit heads 11 are arranged at the originally desired positions in the head holder 24. As a result, it is possible to suppress the landing position deviation of the ink with respect to the ejection target such as the recording paper 4 and to prevent the deterioration of the image quality of the recorded image.

  Further, when a problem occurs in some of the unit heads 11 in the head module 3, when the unit heads 11 are replaced, they are positioned using the positioning holes 41 without performing an additional alignment step. By simply attaching a new unit head 11 to the head holder 24, the unit head 11 is positioned with high accuracy with respect to the head holder 24. That is, in the head module composed of a plurality of unit heads 11, it is possible to deal with replacement of a single unit head, and it is possible to reduce replacement cost.

In the above embodiment, the head-side positioning portion and the holder-side positioning portion according to the present invention are the positioning hole 41 and the pin receiving hole 29, respectively, and the configuration in which these are connected by the positioning pin 40 is exemplified. This is not a limitation. For example, one of the head side positioning part and the holder side positioning part is used as a positioning hole and the other is used as a positioning pin, and the unit head 11 is positioned with respect to the head holder 24 by fitting them. It is also possible.
The positioning piece 38 is not limited to being made of synthetic resin, and may be made of silicon or the like. In this case, if the relative positional relationship between the reference mark 44 actually formed on the positioning piece 38 and the positioning hole 41 is closer to the design relative positional relationship, the above correction in the alignment step is not necessary. Become.

  Moreover, if this invention is provided with the head module which consists of a some liquid ejecting head, the color material ejecting head used for manufacture of color filters, such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, FED (surface) Applied to other liquid ejecting heads such as an electrode material ejecting head used for forming electrodes such as a light emitting display), a bioorganic material ejecting head used for manufacturing a biochip (biochemical element), and a liquid ejecting apparatus including the same. can do.

It is sectional drawing explaining the structure of a printer. It is a figure which shows the structure of a head module. It is an expanded sectional view of the area | region A in FIG.2 (b). It is a figure explaining the structure of a unit head. It is a top view explaining the structure of a positioning piece. It is a figure explaining the apparatus structure in an alignment process. It is a figure explaining alignment of the reference mark with respect to the mask opening for reference marks.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 3 ... Head module, 4 ... Recording paper, 11 ... Unit head, 24 ... Head holder, 26 ... Nozzle formation surface, 30 ... Nozzle opening, 31 ... Head case, 38 ... Positioning piece, 40 ... Positioning pin, 41 ... Positioning hole, 44 ... Reference mark, 45 ... Alignment substrate, 46 ... Base, 48 ... Nozzle mask opening, 49 ... Reference mark mask opening

Claims (6)

A plurality of liquid ejecting heads having nozzle openings for ejecting liquid are attached in a state where they are positioned with respect to the head holder by aligning the positions of the positioning part on the liquid ejecting head side and the positioning part on the head holder side in a plane. A liquid jet head module comprising:
A positioning portion forming member on which the head side positioning portion and a plurality of reference marks are formed;
The liquid ejecting head module, wherein the positioning portion forming member is fixed to the liquid ejecting head in a state where a relative position of each reference mark with respect to a reference nozzle opening of the liquid ejecting head is a specified position.   The liquid ejecting head module according to claim 1, wherein a size of the reference mark is smaller than a diameter of the head side positioning portion and is equal to or larger than a diameter of the nozzle opening. The liquid ejecting head having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid is positioned with respect to the head holder by aligning the positions of the positioning unit on the liquid ejecting head side and the positioning unit on the head holder side, and this positioning state A method of manufacturing a plurality of liquid jet head modules to be attached at
A positioning part forming member in which the head side positioning part and a plurality of reference marks are formed;
A method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head module, comprising fixing a positioning portion forming member to a liquid ejecting head in an aligned state such that a relative position of each reference mark with respect to a reference nozzle opening of the liquid ejecting head is a specified position.   4. The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head module according to claim 3, wherein the size of the reference mark is smaller than the diameter of the head side positioning portion and equal to or larger than the diameter of the nozzle opening. An alignment substrate is provided on which a nozzle reference portion that defines the position of the reference nozzle opening and a reference mark reference portion that defines the relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening are formed.
In the alignment, in a state where the nozzle formation surface of the liquid jet head and the alignment substrate are arranged to face each other, the step of aligning the positions of the nozzle reference portion and the reference nozzle opening on the plane, and the reference mark reference portion The relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference nozzle opening is defined by performing a step of aligning the position of the reference mark with the corresponding reference mark on the plane. Production method. Measure the amount of positional deviation with respect to the design value of the relative position of the head side positioning portion with respect to each of the reference marks,
6. The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head module according to claim 5, wherein, in the alignment, a relative position of each reference mark with respect to the reference portion for the reference mark is corrected according to the displacement amount.

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