JP2015128739A - Filter, liquid ejection head and liquid ejection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filter being capable of suppressing an increase of pressure loss as much as possible while excellently maintaining a collection rate of foreign substances.SOLUTION: A filter 16 includes: a plurality of vertical lines 51A through 51F being formed of a material subjected to plastic deformation by application of a predetermined pressure while extending in a first direction Y and being horizontally disposed in a second direction X perpendicular to the first direction Y at predetermined intervals; and a plurality of horizontal lines 52A through 52F being formed of the material subjected to the plastic deformation by the application of the predetermined pressure while forming a mesh surface by being moved from one side to the other side and from the other side to one side in a serpentine manner in the second direction X so as to be brought into contact with one side and the other side opposite thereto of each of the plurality of vertical lines 51A through 51F. The whole mesh surface is extended by applying the predetermined pressure thereto while being formed by the plurality of horizontal lines 52A through 52F by omitting every three lines of the plurality of vertical lines 51A through 51F.

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter, a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus, and is particularly useful when applied to a filter in which a metal wire is woven.

  A liquid ejecting apparatus ejects various liquids. Among them, an ink jet recording apparatus is widely used. The ink jet recording apparatus includes an ink ejecting head that ejects ink droplets that are liquid from a plurality of nozzle openings. Images and characters are printed by causing ink droplets to land on the surface of a recording sheet or the like as a medium by the ink jet head.

  The ink supply flow path provided in the ink ejecting head is used to remove foreign matters mixed in the ink, that is, fine pieces or bubbles such as synthetic resin remaining in the supply flow path for some reason. The filter is arranged. As one type of filter, a twilled woven metal filter is known in which a thin metal wire is woven into a special shape so as to collect foreign matter in micron units.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of a twill woven filter according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 5A, the filter 01 is arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and is similar to a vertical line 02 formed of a metal wire such as SUS, for example. The horizontal lines 03 formed by lines are meandered alternately so as to contact one side (lower side) of each vertical line 02 and the other side (upper side) opposite to each other to form a fine mesh structure of micron order. Is. Here, in this type of filter according to the prior art, the horizontal line 03 is meandering by skipping two vertical lines 02 (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Furthermore, in the filter 01 disclosed in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7B, the surface of the mesh is melted by irradiating a horizontal line 03, which is a finely woven metal wire, with a laser beam. As a result, a trapezoidal overhanging portion 04 that protrudes from the periphery of the original opening is formed to form a new opening with the original opening narrowed, thereby improving the collection of foreign matter. I am trying.

JP 2012-139611 A

  As described above, in the twilled woven filter disclosed in Patent Document 1, a mesh structure is formed by skipping two horizontal lines 03, which are horizontal lines, so the mesh can be reduced to a micron order and collected. The rate can also be good, but generally the pressure loss is in a trade-off relationship with the collection rate.

In addition, in order to improve the collection rate, when the horizontal line 03 as a filter material is irradiated with laser light to melt the surface of the mesh structure, there is a new problem that the horizontal line 03 forming the mesh surface is easily cut. Occur.
Such a problem is not limited to a filter mounted on a liquid ejecting head such as an ink jet recording head, and similarly exists in a filter mounted on another apparatus.

  The present invention provides a filter, a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus that can suppress an increase in pressure loss as much as possible while maintaining a good collection rate of foreign matters in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. Objective.

The aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is arranged in parallel in a second direction extending in a first direction and at a predetermined interval in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and having a predetermined pressure. A plurality of vertical lines formed of a material that is plastically deformed by an action, and one side of each vertical line in the third direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, or the other side that is the opposite side thereof. A filter having a plurality of horizontal lines formed of a material that is in contact with the vertical lines and meanders from the one side to the other side to form a mesh surface and is plastically deformed by the action of a predetermined pressure. The horizontal line is meandering while skipping three or more vertical lines to form the mesh surface, and the mesh surface is rolled by applying a predetermined pressure to the mesh surface.
According to this aspect, since the horizontal line forms the mesh surface while skipping three or more vertical lines, the size of the opening along the first direction formed between the horizontal line and the vertical line is large. Is repeated so that the small one continues after two or more times, and the large one lasts two or more times and then the small one continues, so the series flow resistance seen in the first direction is It becomes larger than a case where a large size and a small size are alternately arranged. Accordingly, the pressure loss is reduced. By the way, in the conventional twill woven filter, the horizontal lines are formed by meshing two vertical lines to form a mesh surface, so that the size of the opening is a structure in which large and small ones are repeated alternately. ing.
Thus, as the number of vertical lines that the horizontal lines fly increases, pressure loss can be reduced, but the mesh on the mesh surface becomes rougher. In this embodiment, the roughened mesh surface is rolled to crush the opening between the vertical line and the horizontal line to improve the collection rate. In other words, by selecting the number of vertical lines that the horizontal lines fly, pressure loss is suppressed, and the opening between the vertical lines and the horizontal lines is crushed by rolling to improve the collection rate. An increase in pressure loss can be suppressed as much as possible while maintaining a good collection rate of foreign matters by appropriately adjusting the relationship between the pressure loss and the collection rate.

  Here, it is desirable that the horizontal lines meander alternately by skipping three vertical lines. In this case, the pressure loss can be suppressed, and at the same time, the mesh roughness of the mesh surface can be minimized.

  The horizontal line and the vertical line are preferably metal lines. This is because it not only has an appropriate strength but can be easily and appropriately plastically deformed. Further, the mesh surface is preferably formed of a twill woven. This is because a filter for collecting micron-order foreign matters can be easily formed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a liquid ejecting head including the filter as described above.
According to this aspect, since the foreign matter can be collected well and at the same time the pressure loss for collecting the foreign matter can be suppressed as much as possible, the nozzle due to the foreign matter is obtained without reducing the liquid ejection performance. Can be prevented well.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head.
According to this aspect, high-quality printing can be realized by the liquid ejecting head that can satisfactorily prevent clogging of the nozzles due to foreign matters without reducing the liquid ejecting performance.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to the embodiment of the invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the woven structure of the filter which concerns on embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the positional relationship of the warp and the weft which concerns on embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the positional relationship of the warp and the weft which concerns on a prior art. It is a perspective view which shows the filter which concerns on a prior art.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus which is an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ink jet recording head includes a filter manufactured by the filter manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet recording apparatus 1 that is a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present embodiment has a plurality of different colors such as black (B), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). An ink jet recording head 10 (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) equipped with an ink cartridge (liquid storing means) 2 having a storage chamber for storing ink is provided. The recording head 10 is mounted on the carriage 3, and the carriage 3 on which the recording head 10 is mounted is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus main body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and a timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the head unit 1 is mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5. On the other hand, the apparatus main body 4 is provided with a conveyance roller 8 as a conveyance means, and a recording sheet S which is a recording medium such as paper is conveyed by the conveyance roller 8. Note that the conveyance means for conveying the recording sheet S is not limited to the conveyance roller, and may be a belt, a drum, or the like.

Next, the recording head 10 according to this embodiment will be described. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cartridge case 11, which is an example of a head holder constituting the ink jet recording head 10, has a cartridge mounting portion 12 in which the above-described ink cartridge (not shown) is mounted. For example, in the present embodiment, each ink cartridge filled with black ink and a plurality of color inks is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 12. Further, a plurality of ink communication paths (first liquid flow paths) 13 having one end opened to each cartridge mounting portion 12 and the other end opened to the head case side described later are formed on the bottom surface of the cartridge case 11. A tubular channel forming portion 14 is projected (see FIG. 3).

  A plurality of ink supply needles 15 inserted into the ink cartridge are provided on the upper surface side of the cartridge case 11, that is, on the opening portion of the ink communication path 13 of the cartridge mounting portion 12, to remove bubbles and foreign matters in the ink. 16 is fixed.

  A head member 19 is fixed to the lower surface side of the cartridge case 11 with the seal member 17 and the circuit board 18 interposed therebetween. The head member 19 according to this embodiment includes a head case 21 that is a hollow box-shaped member for housing a piezoelectric element unit 20 having a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and a cartridge case 11 on the opposite side of the head case 21 from the cartridge case 11. The head body 22 is fixed to the end face. The head main body 22 includes a nozzle plate 24 having a plurality of nozzles 23 formed therein, a flow path forming substrate 26 in which a flow path including a pressure generating chamber 25 communicating with the nozzles 23 is formed, and nozzles of the flow path forming substrate 26 It is comprised with the diaphragm 27 distribute | arranged to the surface opposite to the plate 24. FIG. The nozzle plate 24 and the vibration plate 27 and the flow path forming substrate 26 are bonded to each other by an adhesive. The head case 21 is provided with an ink supply path 28 having one end communicating with the pressure generating chamber 25 and the other end communicating with the ink communicating path 13 of the cartridge case 11. A connecting portion between the ink communication path 13 and the ink supply path 28 is sealed by a seal member 17.

  Thus, the seal member 17, the circuit board 18, the head case 21 constituting the head member 19 and the head main body 22 are arranged in this order on the lower surface side of the cartridge case 11, and the nozzles 23 of the head main body 22 are arranged outside these members. An ink jet recording head 10 is formed by fitting a frame 30 having a window portion 29 that exposes and fixing it to the cartridge case 11 with a screw 31.

  The filter 16 provided in the recording head 10 described above will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing the woven structure of the filter according to the present embodiment, where (a) is an explanatory view seen from the third direction Z, and (b) shows the filter 16 before rolling as shown in (a). Explanatory drawing seen in the XX 'line direction, (c) is explanatory drawing which looked at the filter 16 after rolling in the same direction (XX' line direction) as (b).

  As shown in these drawings, the filter 16 according to this embodiment has a twilled woven filter surface in which horizontal lines 52 that are similar metal fine wires are knitted to vertical lines 51 that are fine metal wires such as SUS, for example. It is. More specifically, the vertical lines 51 extend in the first direction Y and are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in a second direction X orthogonal to the first direction Y. The horizontal line 52 is the Z1 side (the lower side in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the same applies hereinafter) which is one side of the third direction Z orthogonal to the first direction Y and the second direction X, or the Twisted from the Z1 side to the Z2 side and from the Z2 side to the Z1 side so as to come into contact with the opposite other side Z2 side (the upper side in FIGS. 4B and 4C). Yes. As a result, a filter 16 having a micron order mesh is formed.

  Here, the diameter of the vertical line 51 is larger than the diameter of the horizontal line 52, and the pitch between the adjacent vertical lines 51 is formed larger than the pitch between the adjacent horizontal lines 52. Further, the horizontal line 52 is knitted with a slight inclination with respect to the vertical line 51. The direction in which the horizontal line 52 extends in this case is defined as a fourth direction Xa. Further, the horizontal line 52 in this embodiment forms a mesh surface while skipping three vertical lines 51. At this time, the horizontal line 52 adjacent in the first direction Y abuts the vertical line 51 and moves from the Z1 side to the Z2 side, and the horizontal line 52 adjacent to the adjacent vertical line 51 in the fourth direction Xa from the Xa1 side to the Xa2 side. They are moved sequentially. Therefore, the positional relationship of the horizontal line 52 with respect to the vertical line 51 is repeated for every six vertical lines 51 to form a mesh surface. That is, the mesh surface is formed by six types of groups formed by combinations of six vertical lines 51 and six horizontal lines 52. The specific structure of the weave including such a positional relationship will be described in detail later.

  In the filter 16 according to this embodiment, the mesh surface having the structure shown in FIG. 4B formed as a result of the knitting as described above is rolled by applying a predetermined pressure to the mesh surface shown in FIG. 4C. It is crushed like. As a result, the opening 53 formed between the vertical line 51 and the horizontal line 52 can be reduced. The collection rate of foreign matters when functioning as the filter 16 depends on the size of the opening 53, and the smaller the collection rate, the higher the collection rate.

  In general, as the number of vertical lines 51 that the horizontal lines 52 fly increases, the mesh mesh becomes coarse. However, as described above, if the openings between the vertical lines 51 and the horizontal lines 52 are crushed by rolling the roughened mesh surface. The collection rate can be improved.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing the positional relationship between the warp and the weft in relation to the woven structure of the filter according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the number 51 is combined with symbols A to F to change the horizontal line 52 from the Z1 side (the lower side in FIG. 5, the same applies hereinafter) to the Z2 side (the upper side in FIG. 5, the same applies hereinafter). The vertical lines 51A, 51B, 51C, 51D, 51E, and 51F that are grouped based on the position and the horizontal lines 52 corresponding to the respective groups are shown as horizontal lines 52A, 52B, 52C, 52D, 52E, and 52F. As shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal line 52A changes direction from the Z1 side to the Z2 side in the third direction Z on the right side of the vertical line 51A in the drawing, and on the Z2 side, along the fourth direction Xa, from the Xa1 side to the Xa2 side. After sequentially contacting the three vertical lines 51A, 51B, 51C toward the side, the direction is changed from the Z2 side to the Z1 side in the third direction Z on the left side of the vertical line 51C in the drawing, and the fourth side is changed to the fourth side on the Z1 side. The three vertical lines 51D, 51E, and 51F are sequentially contacted from the Xa1 side to the Xa2 side along the direction Xa of the vertical direction, and then the direction from the Z1 side to the Z2 side of the third direction Z on the left side of the vertical line 51F in the drawing. Repeat the same meandering. That is, the same state is repeated for every three vertical lines 51A to 51F.

  The horizontal line 52B repeats the same state by shifting the vertical line 51A by one line from the Xa1 side to the Xa2 side in the fourth direction Xa to the vertical line 51B. Hereinafter, the horizontal lines 52C to 52F repeat the same state by shifting the vertical lines 51C to 51F by one from the Xa1 side to the Xa2 side. Thus, the same pattern is repeated for each of the six vertical lines 51A to 51F to form a predetermined mesh.

  According to the filter of this embodiment having such a positional relationship, the horizontal lines are formed between the horizontal lines 52A to 52F and the vertical lines 51A to 51F because the mesh surface is formed while skipping three or more vertical lines. It repeats so that a thing with a large size of the opening along the 1st direction Y may continue for two or more times, followed by a small thing, and a thing with a large thing may continue for two or more times, followed by a small thing. More specifically, considering the openings formed by the horizontal lines 52A to 52F between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C, (large), (large), (small), (large), (large) in FIG. ), (Small), the opening formed by the horizontal line 52A between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C has a large opening because there is no horizontal line 52A from the Z1 side to the Z2 side. This relationship is the same for the horizontal line 52B, but the opening formed by the horizontal line 52C between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C has a horizontal line 52C from the Z1 side to the Z2 side, so the opening is (small). It becomes. Thereafter, this relationship is repeated with respect to the first direction Y.

  Therefore, in the filter 16 according to the present embodiment, the series flow path resistance viewed in the first direction Y is smaller than when the large opening and the small opening are alternately connected. That is, the pressure loss is reduced. By the way, in the conventional twill woven filter, the horizontal lines are formed by meshing two vertical lines to form a mesh surface, so that the size of the opening is a structure in which large and small ones are repeated alternately. ing.

  More specifically, the positional relationship between the vertical line and the horizontal line in the conventional double skip filter is as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, in this case, the positional relationship of the horizontal lines 52A, 52B, 52C, and 52D with respect to the vertical lines 51A, 51B, 51C, and 51D is repeated every four lines. Here, considering the openings formed by the horizontal lines 52A to 52D between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C, as shown by the letters (small), (large), (small), and (large) in FIG. In addition, the opening formed by the horizontal line 52A between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C is (small) because the horizontal line 52A from the Z1 side to the Z2 side exists, and the opening between the vertical line 51B and the vertical line 51C The opening formed by the horizontal line 52B between them is (large) because there is no horizontal line 52C from the Z1 side to the Z2 side. Thereafter, this relationship is repeated with respect to the first direction Y.

  As described above, according to this aspect, the horizontal lines 51A to 51F are formed between the horizontal lines 51A to 51F and the vertical lines 51A to 51F because the mesh surfaces are formed while skipping the three vertical lines 51A to 51F. Since the large one of the openings along the first direction Y is repeated twice, followed by the small one, and the large one is repeated twice and the small one does not continue, the first is repeated. The series channel resistance viewed in the direction Y is smaller than that in the case where a large opening and a small opening are alternately connected. Accordingly, the pressure loss is reduced. On the other hand, since a predetermined pressure is applied to the mesh surface and the whole is rolled, the openings between the vertical lines 51A to 51F and the horizontal lines 52A to 52F are crushed, and as a result, the collection rate is improved. Therefore, an increase in pressure loss can be suppressed as much as possible while maintaining a good collection rate of foreign matters.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the technical idea according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described one. For example, the filter 16 is knitted with a fine metal wire, but it is not necessary to be limited to this. No further limitation is required as long as it is plastically deformed by the pressing force during rolling. Further, it is not limited to skipping three wefts. As the number increases by 3 or more, the pressure loss can be reduced. However, since the filter becomes coarser, it may be appropriately determined in consideration of the balance between the two.

  In the above-described embodiment, the filter 16 provided between the cartridge case 11 and the ink supply needle 15 has been described. However, the filter of the present invention is used in a liquid ejecting head represented by the ink jet recording head 10. If it is a filter, the installation location etc. will not be specifically limited. Of course, the filter 16 may be mounted on a liquid ejecting apparatus represented by the ink jet recording apparatus 1 in addition to the ink jet recording head 10. As a filter mounted on the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a storage unit such as a storage tank for storing a liquid such as ink is not mounted on the carriage 3 but is fixed to the apparatus body 4. A filter or the like provided between the recording head 10 and the like may be used.

  In the embodiment described above, the twilled woven filter 16 has been described as the wire mesh filter, but is not limited to the twilled woven filter. As long as the mesh structure is formed by combining vertical lines and horizontal lines, there is no further limitation. For example, a flat woven filter may be used.

  As the ink jet recording apparatus 1 described above, the ink jet recording head 10 is mounted on the carriage 3 and moves in the main scanning direction. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a so-called line recording apparatus in which the ink jet recording head 10 is fixed and printing is performed simply by moving the recording medium S such as paper in the sub-scanning direction.

In addition, the present invention is intended for a wide range of liquid ejecting heads in general, for example, for manufacturing recording heads such as various ink jet recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, and color filters such as liquid crystal displays. The present invention can also be applied to a coloring material ejecting head, an organic EL display, an electrode material ejecting head used for forming electrodes such as an FED (field emission display), a bioorganic matter ejecting head used for biochip manufacturing, and the like.
Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to a method for manufacturing a filter mounted on a liquid jet head typified by an ink jet recording head, and can also be applied to a method for manufacturing a filter mounted on another apparatus.

  1 Inkjet recording device, 16 filters, 51, 51A to 51F vertical line, 52, 52A to 52F horizontal line

Claims (6)

A plurality of materials formed of a material that extends in the first direction and is arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and that is plastically deformed by the action of a predetermined pressure. A vertical line,
The vertical line contacts the vertical line on one side of the vertical line in the first direction and the third direction orthogonal to the second direction or the other side which is the opposite side, and from the one side to the other side. And a plurality of horizontal lines formed of a material that is plastically deformed by the action of a predetermined pressure, meandering to form a mesh surface,
The horizontal line forms the mesh surface while skipping three or more vertical lines,
A filter which is rolled as a whole by applying a predetermined pressure to the mesh surface. The filter according to claim 1, wherein
3. The filter according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal line is meandered alternately by skipping three vertical lines. The filter according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The filter characterized in that the horizontal and vertical lines are metal lines. In the filter according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The filter, wherein the mesh surface is formed of a twill woven.   A liquid ejecting head comprising the filter according to claim 1.   A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head according to claim 5.