JP2016036978A - Actuator substrate, liquid discharge member, liquid cartridge and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a recess which can efficiently suppress the outflow of an adhesive agent on an adhesive surface without increasing the manufacturing process.SOLUTION: In an actuator substrate which applies a drive voltage signal to an electromechanical conversion element 101 via a wiring pattern 108 formed by removing a non-wiring part after forming a wiring material layer on one surface side of a displacement plate on which the electromechanical conversion element 101 is provided and displaces the displacement plate by deforming the electromechanical conversion element, an adhesion object member is adhered onto a wiring material layer 108', and a recess 109a capable of storing an adhesive agent is formed on the adhesive surface or in the vicinity of the adhesive surface of the wiring material layer to which the adhesion object member is adhered.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to an actuator substrate that displaces a displacement plate by deforming an electromechanical conversion element such as a piezoelectric element in accordance with an applied drive voltage signal, and a liquid ejection member, a liquid cartridge, and an image forming apparatus using the same. Is.

  In this type of actuator substrate, for example, one that pressurizes the pressurized liquid chamber in order to eject the liquid in the pressurized liquid chamber from the nozzle hole of the liquid ejection member of the ink jet recording apparatus is known.

  In the liquid ejecting head (liquid ejecting member) described in Patent Document 1, a nozzle plate is bonded with an adhesive to a flow path forming substrate in which a pressure generating chamber (pressurized liquid chamber) and the like are formed. Further, an elastic film (displacement plate) is formed on the side opposite to the nozzle plate side of the flow path forming substrate, and a piezoelectric element is formed on the elastic film. A wiring pattern for applying a drive voltage signal to the piezoelectric element is formed on the elastic film on which the piezoelectric element is formed in this manner. Then, a silicon single crystal substrate (adhesive) in which a piezoelectric element holding portion that secures a space that does not hinder the movement of the piezoelectric element is formed on the piezoelectric element side of the flow path forming substrate, that is, the piezoelectric element side of the elastic film. The target member is bonded with an adhesive. In this liquid ejecting head, a concave portion for accommodating excess adhesive is formed on the bonding surface on the silicon single crystal substrate that is bonded to the piezoelectric element side (the piezoelectric element side of the elastic film) of the flow path forming substrate. ing. This prevents excess adhesive from flowing out of the adhesive surface.

  However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, the silicon single crystal substrate is etched halfway in the thickness direction to form a concave portion at a location to be an adhesion surface. In this case, it is necessary to add an etching process for forming a recess in the bonding surface of the silicon single crystal substrate during the manufacturing process. In addition, in the etching process for the silicon single crystal substrate, since the degree of freedom of the size and shape of the recess is generally low, it is difficult to form an efficient recess pattern that can suppress the flow of the adhesive.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides an electromechanical conversion element provided on one surface of a displacement plate, and wiring on the one surface side of the displacement plate after the electromechanical conversion element is provided. A wiring pattern formed by removing a non-wiring portion after forming a material layer, and an object to be bonded to the one surface side of the displacement plate directly or indirectly via an intermediate member A member to be bonded, wherein the displacement plate is displaced by deforming the electromechanical conversion element according to a drive voltage signal applied to the electromechanical conversion element via the wiring pattern. Is formed on the wiring material layer, and in the bonding surface of the wiring material layer to which the member to be bonded is bonded, or in the vicinity of the bonding surface of the wiring material layer, a recess capable of accommodating an adhesive is formed. It is characterized in.

  According to the present invention, there is an excellent effect that a concave portion capable of efficiently suppressing the flow of the adhesive can be formed on the adhesive surface without increasing the number of manufacturing steps.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a side view of the mechanism part of the ink jet recording apparatus. It is a perspective view showing an example of a cartridge in which a droplet discharge head and an ink cartridge are integrated. FIG. 2 is a partially broken perspective view showing an internal configuration of a droplet discharge head in the ink jet recording apparatus. It is a top view of an actuator substrate constituting the droplet discharge head. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head taken along line A-A ′ in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head 50 taken along C-C ′ in FIG. 5. (A)-(d) is sectional drawing which shows the cross section orthogonal to the row direction of a nozzle hole, in order to demonstrate the front | former stage part of the manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head. (A)-(c) is sectional drawing which shows the cross section orthogonal to the arrangement direction of a nozzle hole, in order to demonstrate the middle step part of the manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head. (A)-(c) is sectional drawing which shows the cross section orthogonal to the arrangement direction of a nozzle hole, in order to demonstrate the back | latter stage part of the manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head. (A) is a top view showing a part of the actuator substrate immediately after the lead-out wiring is formed. (B) is a top view showing a part of the actuator substrate in a state where a passivation film formed after the formation of the lead-out wiring is formed. (A) is a top view which shows the shape pattern of the recessed part formed in the adhesion surface for holding | maintenance boards in the actuator board | substrate. (B) is a top view which shows the other shape pattern of a recessed part. It is sectional drawing of the actuator board | substrate in E-E 'in Fig.12 (a). It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the depth of a recessed part. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of the depth of a recessed part. It is sectional drawing which shows the further another example of the depth of a recessed part.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a droplet discharge head as a liquid discharge member having an actuator substrate according to the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus as an image forming apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a mechanism portion of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.
The ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a carriage 1 that can move in the main scanning direction inside the apparatus main body. The carriage 1 includes a droplet discharge head 50 and an ink cartridge 2 that supplies ink to the droplet discharge head 50.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the droplet discharge head 50 and the ink cartridge 2 may have a configuration in which these are integrated. Thus, with the configuration in which the droplet discharge head 50 and the ink cartridge 2 are integrated, it becomes easy to increase the accuracy, density, and reliability of the actuator substrate of the droplet discharge head 50. Thus, yield and reliability can be improved, and cost can be reduced.

  A paper feed cassette (or a paper feed tray) 4 on which a large number of recording materials 30 can be stacked from the front side (left side in FIG. 2) is detachably attached to the lower part of the apparatus main body. Further, it also has a manual feed tray 5 that is opened to manually feed the recording material 30. The recording material 30 fed from the paper feed cassette 4 or the manual feed tray 5 records a required image by the printing mechanism unit 3 and then is discharged to a paper discharge tray 6 mounted on the rear side. The recording material 30 includes a medium made of a material such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics.

  The printing mechanism unit 3 holds the carriage 1 slidably in the main scanning direction by a main guide rod 7 and a sub guide rod 8 which are guide members horizontally mounted on left and right side plates (not shown). In the carriage 1, a plurality of ink discharge ports (nozzle holes) are arranged in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and yellow (Y), cyan (C), A droplet discharge head 50 for discharging ink droplets (droplets) of each color of magenta (M) and black (Bk) is mounted. In addition, each ink cartridge 2 for supplying ink of each color to the droplet discharge head 50 is mounted on the carriage 1 in a replaceable manner.

  The ink cartridge 2 is provided with an air opening communicating with the atmosphere above, and a supply opening supplying ink to the droplet discharge head 50 below. A porous body filled with ink is contained inside, and the ink supplied to the droplet discharge head 50 is maintained at a slight negative pressure by the capillary force of the porous body. Further, as the droplet discharge head 50, a different droplet discharge head is used for each color, but a single droplet discharge head having nozzles for discharging ink droplets of each color may be used.

  The carriage 1 is slidably fitted to the main guide rod 7 on the rear side (downstream side in the paper conveyance direction), and is slidably mounted on the secondary guide rod 8 on the front side (upstream side in the paper conveyance direction). Yes. In order to move and scan the carriage 1 in the main scanning direction, a timing belt 12 is stretched between a driving pulley 10 and a driven pulley 11 that are rotationally driven by a main scanning motor 9a. The timing belt 12 is fixed to the carriage 1, and the carriage 1 is reciprocally scanned by forward and reverse rotation of the main scanning motor 9a.

  The ink jet recording apparatus also reverses the paper feed roller 13 and the friction pad 14 for separating and feeding the recording material 30 from the paper feed cassette 4, the guide member 15 for guiding the recording material 30, and the fed recording material 30. And a transporting roller 16 for transporting. Further, a conveyance roller 17 that is pressed against the peripheral surface of the conveyance roller 16 and a leading end roller 18 that defines the feeding angle of the recording material 30 from the conveyance roller 16 are also provided. The conveyance roller 16 is rotationally driven through a gear train by the sub-scanning motor 9b.

  Further, in order to guide the recording material 30 fed from the conveying roller 16 corresponding to the moving range of the carriage 1 in the main scanning direction on the lower side of the droplet discharge head 50, the printing receiving member 19 which is a paper guide member is also provided. Have. A conveyance roller 20 and a spur 21 which are rotationally driven to send the recording material 30 in the paper discharge direction are provided on the downstream side of the printing receiving member 19 in the paper conveyance direction, and the recording material 30 is further sent to the paper discharge tray 6. A paper discharge roller 23, a spur 24, and guide members 25 and 26 that form a paper discharge path are disposed.

  When an image is recorded by the ink jet recording apparatus, by moving the carriage 1 and driving the droplet discharge head 50 according to the image signal, the ink is discharged onto the recording material 30 that has stopped, and one line is left. After recording, the recording material 30 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, and then the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the recording material 30 reaches the recording area, the recording operation is terminated and the recording material 30 is discharged.

  Further, a recovery device 27 for recovering the ejection failure of the droplet ejection head 50 is disposed at a position outside the recording area on one end side in the moving direction of the carriage 1. The recovery device 27 has a cap unit, a suction unit, and a cleaning unit, which are not shown. The carriage 1 is moved to the recovery device 27 side during printing standby and capping the droplet discharge head 50 by the capping unit to keep the nozzle hole wet, thereby preventing discharge failure due to ink drying. Further, by ejecting ink not related to recording during recording or the like, the viscosity of ink in all nozzle holes is made constant, and stable ejection performance is maintained.

  Further, when a discharge failure occurs, the nozzle hole of the droplet discharge head 50 is sealed with a capping unit, and bubbles and the like are sucked out from the nozzle hole with the suction unit through the tube. As a result, ink or dust adhering to the nozzle surface is removed by the cleaning means, and the ejection failure is recovered. 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.

Next, the configuration of the droplet discharge head 50 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a partially broken perspective view showing the internal configuration of the droplet discharge head 50 of the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a top view of the actuator substrate constituting the droplet discharge head 50.
6 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head 50 taken along line AA ′ in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head 50 taken along the line CC ′ in FIG.

  The droplet discharge head 50 of this embodiment is mainly composed of an actuator substrate 100, a holding substrate 200, and a nozzle substrate 300. The actuator substrate 100 includes a piezoelectric element 101 as an electromechanical conversion element that generates liquid discharge energy on an element mounting surface (upper surface in the drawing) of a vibration plate 102 as a displacement plate. In the piezoelectric element 101 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a piezoelectric layer 101-3 is sandwiched between a common electrode layer 101-1 that is a lower electrode and an individual electrode layer 101-2 that is an upper electrode. It becomes the composition. In addition, the actuator substrate 100 includes a partition wall 103 on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) opposite to the element mounting surface of the diaphragm 102. A space surrounded by the diaphragm 102, the partition wall 103, and the nozzle substrate 300 is a pressurized liquid chamber 104. In addition, the fluid resistance portion 105 and the common liquid chamber 106 are also formed by the actuator substrate 100.

  The holding substrate 200 includes an ink supply port 201 that supplies ink from the ink cartridge 2. When the holding substrate 200 is joined to the actuator substrate 100, the common ink flow path 202 and the vibration plate 102 of the actuator substrate 100 are bent. A counterbore 203 that forms a space that can be displaced is formed. The holding substrate 200 can be formed by silicon etching, plastic molding, or the like. A region on the actuator substrate 100 indicated by a symbol D in FIG. 5 is a region covered with the holding substrate 200.

  In the nozzle substrate 300, nozzle holes 301 are formed at positions corresponding to the individual pressurized liquid chambers 104. As the nozzle substrate 300, for example, a plate formed of SUS by punching, etching, silicon etching, nickel electroforming, resin laser processing, or the like can be used.

  The droplet discharge head 50 of the present embodiment applies a drive voltage signal to the individual electrode layer 101-2 under the control of a control unit (not shown) in a state where each pressurized liquid chamber 104 is filled with ink. . As this drive voltage signal, a pulse voltage of 20 [V] generated by an oscillation circuit can be used. By applying such a voltage pulse, the piezoelectric layer 101-3 contracts in the direction parallel to the diaphragm 102 due to the piezoelectric effect. As a result, the vibration plate 102 is bent so as to protrude toward the pressurizing liquid chamber 104, and as a result, the pressure in the pressurizing liquid chamber 104 increases rapidly, and ink is ejected from the nozzle hole 301 communicating with the pressurizing liquid chamber 104. Is discharged.

  After the pulse voltage is applied, the contracted piezoelectric layer 101-3 returns to its original position, and the vibration plate 102 bent along with this returns to its original position. For this reason, the pressurized liquid chamber 104 has a negative pressure compared to the common liquid chamber 106, and the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 2 via the ink supply port 201 is supplied from the common ink flow path 202 and the common liquid chamber 106. The fluid is supplied to the pressurized liquid chamber 104 via the fluid resistance unit 105. By repeating this, ink droplets can be ejected continuously, and an image is formed on a recording material disposed facing the droplet ejection head 50.

Next, a method for manufacturing the droplet discharge head 50 in the present embodiment will be described.
8 to 10 are cross-sectional views showing a cross section orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the nozzle holes in order to explain the manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head 50 of the present embodiment.

First, as shown in FIG. 8A, as the actuator substrate 100, a film to be the vibration plate 102 is formed on a silicon single crystal substrate (for example, having a thickness of 400 μm) having a plane orientation (110). The diaphragm 102 may be a single-layer film or a laminated film as long as the function as the diaphragm and subsequent process consistency can be ensured. As a material of the diaphragm 102, for example, a silicon oxide film, a polysilicon film, an amorphous silicon film, or a silicon nitride film is laminated and formed to have a desired diaphragm rigidity by LP-CVD. In consideration of process consistency, diaphragm rigidity, and overall stress of the diaphragm, the number of stacked layers is preferably about 3 to 7 layers. However, in order to ensure adhesion with the common electrode layer 101-1 formed on the vibration plate 102, the uppermost layer of the vibration plate 102 is a silicon oxide film formed by LPCVD. As the common electrode layer 101-1 formed on the vibration plate 102, for example, TiO ₂ and Pt formed by sputtering at 50 nm and 100 nm, respectively, can be used.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the piezoelectric layer 101-2 is formed on the common electrode layer 101-1. As the piezoelectric layer 101-2, it is possible to use a film in which PZT is formed in a plurality of times, for example, by spin coating, and finally formed to a thickness of 2 μm. After the piezoelectric layer 101-2 is formed, the Pt individual electrode layer 101-2 is formed to a thickness of, for example, 100 nm by sputtering. Here, the film formation method of the piezoelectric layer 101-3 is not limited to the spin coating method, and may be formed by, for example, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, an air sol method, a sol gel method, an ink jet method, or the like. After the piezoelectric layer 101-3 is formed, the individual electrode layer 101-2 and the piezoelectric layer 101-3 are patterned by a patterning method using a photolithography technique and an etching technique (hereinafter referred to as “lithoetch method”). Then, the piezoelectric element 101 is formed at a position corresponding to the pressurized liquid chamber 104 to be formed later. At this time, the common electrode layer 101-1 at a location that will later become the common ink flow path 202 is also patterned and removed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, an interlayer insulating film 110 is formed to insulate the common electrode layer 101-1 and the piezoelectric element 101 from the lead wiring 108 to be formed later. As the interlayer insulating film 110, for example, a SiO ₂ film formed by a plasma CVD method can be used. The interlayer insulating film 110 may be an insulating film other than the SiO ₂ film formed by the plasma CVD method as long as it has an insulating property without affecting the piezoelectric element 101 and the electrode material. After the interlayer insulating film 110 is formed, a connection hole 111 for connecting the individual electrode layer 101-2 and the lead wiring 108 is formed by a lithoetch method. Although not shown here, when the common electrode layer 101-1 is connected to another lead wiring, a connection hole is similarly formed in the interlayer insulating film 110.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8D, as the lead-out wiring 108, for example, TiN and Al, which are wiring material layers, are formed by sputtering with a film thickness of 30 nm and 1 μm, respectively, and patterning processing (removal processing) is performed by lithoetching. )I do. The TiN film is alloyed by a thermal history in a later process when Al, which is the material of the lead-out wiring 108, is in direct contact with the individual electrode layer 101-2 at the bottom of the connection hole 111, and film peeling due to stress due to volume change occurs. It functions as a barrier layer provided for the purpose of preventing it. Further, at the time of forming the lead-out wiring 108, the adherend member 109 is formed by leaving a film (wiring material layer) at a portion to be the adherend member 109 to which the subsequent holding substrate 200 is adhered.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9A, a silicon nitride film having a thickness of 1000 nm is formed as the passivation film 112 by, eg, plasma CVD. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9B, passivation is performed at the positions of the end portion of the lead-out wiring 108 to be the individual electrode pad 107, a part of the upper surface of the piezoelectric element 101, and the common ink flow path 202 by lithoetching. The film 112 and the interlayer insulating film 110 are removed. Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the vibration plate 102 at a location where the common ink flow path 202 and the common liquid chamber 106 are communicated is removed by a lithoetch method.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10A, it is formed on the foot portion 200 a of the holding substrate 200 in which the counterbore 203 is formed at a position corresponding to a diaphragm displacement region 113 described later, and the diaphragm 102 of the actuator substrate 100. The bonded member 109 is bonded with an adhesive 114. At this time, the adhesive 114 is applied to the adherend member 109 of the vibration plate 102 with a thickness of about 1 to 4 μm using a general thin film transfer device, and then the lower surface of the foot portion 200a of the holding substrate 200 is applied. Bonding is performed by pressing onto the member to be bonded 109.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, the partition wall portion 103 other than the pressurized liquid chamber 104, the common liquid chamber 106, and the fluid resistance portion 105 is coated with a resist by a litho method, and then an alkaline solution (KOH solution or An anisotropic wet etching is performed with a TMHA solution) to form a pressurized liquid chamber 104, a common liquid chamber 106, and a fluid resistance portion 105. In addition to anisotropic etching with an alkaline solution, the pressurized liquid chamber 104, the common liquid chamber 106, and the fluid resistance portion 105 may be formed by dry etching using, for example, an ICP etcher. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10C, the nozzle substrate 300 having the nozzle holes 301 opened at positions corresponding to the pressurized liquid chambers 104 is bonded.

  The above description is an example of a method for manufacturing the droplet discharge head 50, and is not limited thereto. For example, one or more protective layers that cover the piezoelectric element 101 may be formed.

Next, the structure of the bonding portion when the holding substrate 200 is bonded to the actuator substrate 100, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described.
In this embodiment, as described above, the adhesive 114 is used at least for joining the actuator substrate 100 and the holding substrate 200. During this bonding, excess adhesive 114 may flow out from the bonding surface between the member to be bonded 109 of the holding substrate 200 and the foot portion 200 a of the holding substrate 200 and reach the diaphragm displacement region 113. The diaphragm displacement area 113 here is an area in which the diaphragm 102 bends (displaces) due to the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element 101. As shown in FIG. 10B or FIG. This corresponds to the portion of the diaphragm 102 constituting the wall surface 104. When the adhesive 114 flows out to the diaphragm displacement region 113, the rigidity of the diaphragm displacement region 113 changes, and the amount of deflection (displacement amount) of the diaphragm 102 changes due to the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element 101. As a result, the diaphragm 102 cannot be flexed (displaced) as desired, and there is a risk of causing a discharge operation failure.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are top views showing a part of the actuator substrate 100 constituting the droplet discharge head 50 in the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, in order to prevent the excess adhesive 114 from flowing to the diaphragm displacement region 113, an excess is provided in the vicinity of the bonding surface of the member to be bonded 109 of the holding substrate 200 to which the foot portion 200a of the holding substrate 200 is bonded. A recess 109a that can accommodate the adhesive 114 is formed. In this embodiment, the recess is not formed in the bonding surface, but the recess may be formed in the bonding surface.

  By forming such a recess 109 a, excess adhesive 114 flows out when the foot part 200 a of the holding substrate 200 is bonded to the bonding surface of the member to be bonded 109 of the holding substrate 200 by the adhesive 114. However, the excess adhesive 114 flows into the recess 109a. As a result, the adhesive 114 is prevented from flowing out to the diaphragm displacement region 113 that is displaced by the piezoelectric element 101.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 11A, the recess 109a of the present embodiment can be formed together during the patterning process (by lithoetching) of the lead-out wiring 108. Specifically, in this embodiment, after forming a wiring material layer to be the lead-out wiring 108, a patterning process (removal process) is performed by a litho-etch method in order to remove unnecessary portions. The patterning process is performed so that the peripheral shape of the member to be bonded 109 constituted by the wiring material layer 108 ′ becomes an uneven pattern as shown in FIG. Thus, not only the formation of the extraction wiring 108 but also the recess 109 a can be formed around the bonded member 109 by the patterning process of the extraction wiring 108.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12A, the bonding surface of the bonded member 109 of the holding substrate 200 to which the foot portion 200a of the holding substrate 200 is bonded is a continuous surface. Not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12B, the adhesive surface may be divided by a concave portion to form a discontinuous surface. That is, the adhesive surface may be configured by the top surfaces of a plurality of convex portions divided by the concave portion 109b. In this case, since the volume of the concave portion that accommodates the excess adhesive 114 is increased, the adhesive 114 is further suppressed from flowing out to the diaphragm displacement region 113.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the actuator substrate 100 taken along line EE ′ in FIG.
In the present embodiment, the depth of the recess 109a is set to a depth corresponding to the film thickness of the wiring material layer 108 ′ as shown in FIG. In this case, the recess 109a can be formed simply by removing the wiring material layer 108 ′. However, the depth of the recess 109a can be set as appropriate. For example, as shown in FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, the concave portion 109a is made deeper by forming a concave portion in the underlying layer of the wiring material layer 108 ′ at the location corresponding to the concave portion 109a, so that the entire volume of the concave portion 109a is increased. May be increased. In this case, as a result of an increase in the volume of the recess 109a, the adhesive 114 can be further prevented from flowing out to the diaphragm displacement region 113.

  Specifically, as a method of forming the recess 109a, in the example shown in FIG. 14, the corresponding portion of the recess 109a in the interlayer insulating film 110 is also removed at the time of the removal process by the lithoetch method for forming the connection hole 111 in the interlayer insulating film 110 To form a recess. In this case, the recess 109a can be made deeper by the thickness of the interlayer insulating film 110 than the recess 109a of the present embodiment. Moreover, the manufacturing process does not increase.

  Further, in the example shown in FIG. 15, in addition to the example of FIG. 14, when forming the common electrode layer 101-1, the corresponding part of the recess 109a in the common electrode layer 101-1 is removed to form a recess. In this case, the recess 109a can be deeper than the recess 109a of the present embodiment by at least the thickness of the interlayer insulating film 110 and the layer thickness of the common electrode layer 101-1. The example shown in FIG. 15 is an example in which not only the common electrode layer 101-1 but also the vibration plate 102 is removed, so that the thickness of the interlayer insulating film 110 is larger than the recess 109 a of this embodiment. The concave portion 109 a can be deepened by the thickness of the common electrode layer 101-1 and the thickness of the diaphragm 102.

  In addition to the example of FIG. 15, the example shown in FIG. 16 is an example in which a portion of the silicon single crystal substrate constituting the partition wall 103 is further removed in the thickness direction.

In this embodiment, ink is ejected. However, the liquid to be ejected is not limited to ink, and is not particularly limited as long as it becomes liquid when ejected. For example, Also included are DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, and the like.
In this embodiment, an example in which the actuator substrate is used for the droplet discharge head 50 in the ink jet recording apparatus has been described. However, the actuator substrate according to the present invention can be applied to other cases. For example, the present invention can be applied to a deflecting mirror driving unit that deflects the direction of the deflecting mirror for scanning light according to the displacement of the displacement plate of the actuator substrate.

What has been described above is merely an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following modes.
(Aspect A)
An electromechanical transducer element such as a piezoelectric element 101 provided on one surface such as an element mounting surface of a displacement plate such as a diaphragm 102, and the one surface of the displacement plate after the electromechanical transducer element is provided. A wiring pattern such as a lead-out wiring 108 formed by removing a non-wiring portion after forming a wiring material layer on the side, and an intermediate member such as a bonded member 109 directly or on the one surface side of the displacement plate A member to be bonded such as a holding substrate 200 bonded indirectly by the adhesive 114, and the electromechanical conversion according to a drive voltage signal applied to the electromechanical conversion element via the wiring pattern In the actuator substrate 100 that displaces the displacement plate by deforming an element, the member to be bonded is directly on the wiring material layer ′ or an intermediate layer such as a passivation film 112. A recess 109a capable of containing an adhesive is formed in or near the bonding surface of the wiring material layer to which the member to be bonded is bonded. To do.
In this aspect, the concave portion formed in the wiring material layer to which the bonding target member is bonded can be formed by a removal process when removing the non-wiring portion when forming the wiring pattern. Therefore, it is possible to form a recess in or near the bonding surface without increasing the number of manufacturing steps. In addition, the removal process performed at the time of forming the wiring pattern generally uses a photolithographic method using a photolithography technique or the like that enables detailed patterning. Therefore, the freedom degree of the formation pattern of a recessed part is high, and the efficient recessed part pattern which can suppress the flow of an adhesive agent can be formed easily.

(Aspect B)
In the aspect A, the adhesive surface is a top surface of a plurality of convex portions divided by the concave portion.
According to this, the volume of the recessed part which accommodates an excess adhesive agent can be increased compared with the case where the bonding surface is a continuous surface which is not divided by the recessed part. Therefore, a displacement operation failure of the displacement plate can be further suppressed.

(Aspect C)
In the aspect A or B, the electromechanical transducer includes a piezoelectric body such as the piezoelectric layer 101-3 sandwiched between an upper electrode such as the individual electrode layer 101-2 and a lower electrode such as the common electrode layer 101-1. The inner bottom surface of the recess 109a is formed to a position lower than the upper surface position of the lower electrode of the electromechanical transducer.
According to this, a recessed part can be deepened and the volume of a recessed part can be increased, and the displacement operation defect of a displacement plate can be suppressed more.

(Aspect D)
In any one of the aspects A to C, the inner bottom surface of the recess is formed to the same position as the one surface of the displacement plate or a position lower than the one surface position. .
According to this, a recessed part can be deepened and the volume of a recessed part can be increased, and the displacement operation defect of a displacement plate can be suppressed more.

(Aspect E)
Nozzle substrate 300 in which nozzle holes 301 for discharging liquid such as ink are formed, pressurized liquid chamber 104 communicating with the nozzle holes, diaphragm 102 constituting a part of the wall of the pressurized liquid chamber, and the like And an actuator substrate 100 including an electromechanical transducer such as a piezoelectric element 101 provided on the displacement plate, and the electromechanical transducer according to a drive voltage signal applied to the electromechanical transducer In the droplet discharge member such as the droplet discharge head 50 that discharges the liquid in the pressurized liquid chamber from the nozzle hole by displacing the displacement plate by deforming the above, the above-mentioned aspects A to D are used as the actuator substrate. An actuator substrate according to any one of the above aspects is used.
According to this, it is possible to realize a droplet discharge member in which defective discharge operation is suppressed.

(Aspect F)
A liquid discharge member such as a droplet discharge head 50 that discharges liquid such as ink in the pressurized liquid chamber 104 from the nozzle hole 301 and a liquid storage section such as an ink cartridge 2 that stores liquid supplied to the pressurized liquid chamber. In a liquid cartridge supported by a common support member and detachable from the liquid ejection device, the liquid ejection member according to the aspect E is used as the liquid ejection member.
According to this, it is possible to realize a liquid cartridge having a droplet discharge member in which defective discharge operation is suppressed.

(Aspect G)
In an image forming apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image by discharging liquid from a liquid discharge member such as the droplet discharge head 50, the liquid discharge member according to the aspect E is used as the liquid discharge member. And
According to this, it is possible to realize an image forming apparatus having a droplet discharge member in which defective discharge operation is suppressed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 2 Ink cartridge 50 Droplet discharge head 100 Actuator board | substrate 101 Piezoelectric element 101-1 Common electrode layer 101-2 Individual electrode layer 101-3 Piezoelectric layer 102 Diaphragm 103 Partition part 104 Pressurized liquid chamber 105 Fluid resistance part 106 Common liquid chamber 108 'Wiring material layer 108 Draw-out wiring 109 Adhered members 109a, 109b Recess 110 Interlayer insulating film 111 Connection hole 112 Passivation film 113 Diaphragm displacement region 114 Adhesive 200 Holding substrate 200a Foot 300 Nozzle substrate 301 Nozzle hole

Japanese Patent No. 4572371

Claims (7)

An electromechanical transducer provided on one surface of the displacement plate;
A wiring pattern formed by removing a non-wiring portion after forming a wiring material layer on the one surface side of the displacement plate after the electromechanical conversion element is provided;
On the one surface side of the displacement plate, directly or indirectly through an intermediate member, and an adhesion target member that is adhered by an adhesive,
In the actuator substrate that displaces the displacement plate by deforming the electromechanical transducer according to a drive voltage signal applied to the electromechanical transducer via the wiring pattern,
The bonding target member is bonded directly or via an intermediate layer on the wiring material layer,
An actuator substrate, wherein a recess capable of accommodating an adhesive is formed in an adhesive surface of the wiring material layer to which the bonding target member is bonded or in the vicinity of the bonding surface of the wiring material layer. The actuator substrate according to claim 1,
The actuator substrate, wherein the adhesive surface is a top surface of a plurality of convex portions divided by the concave portion. The actuator substrate according to claim 1 or 2,
The electromechanical transducer is a piezoelectric body sandwiched between an upper electrode and a lower electrode,
The actuator substrate, wherein an inner bottom surface of the recess is formed to a position lower than a top surface position of a lower electrode of the electromechanical transducer. The actuator substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The actuator substrate, wherein an inner bottom surface of the recess is formed to the same position as the one surface of the displacement plate or a position lower than the one surface position. A nozzle substrate on which nozzle holes for discharging liquid are formed;
A pressurized liquid chamber communicating with the nozzle hole;
A displacement plate that constitutes a part of the wall of the pressurized liquid chamber, and an actuator substrate that includes an electromechanical transducer provided on the displacement plate,
Droplet discharge for discharging the liquid in the pressurized liquid chamber from the nozzle hole by displacing the displacement plate by deforming the electromechanical conversion element according to a drive voltage signal applied to the electromechanical conversion element In the member,
A droplet discharge member using the actuator substrate according to claim 1 as the actuator substrate. The liquid discharge member that discharges the liquid in the pressurized liquid chamber from the nozzle hole and the liquid storage portion that stores the liquid supplied to the pressurized liquid chamber are supported by a common support member, and are detachable from the liquid discharge device. Liquid cartridges,
A liquid cartridge using the liquid discharge member according to claim 5 as the liquid discharge member. In an image forming apparatus for forming an image by discharging liquid from a liquid discharge member,
An image forming apparatus using the liquid discharge member according to claim 5 as the liquid discharge member.

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