JP2023184431A - Droplet discharge head, droplet discharge unit, and droplet discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a droplet discharge head which can inhibit occurrence of local stress concentration of a filler in an adhesive on a damper to prevent damage of the damper.SOLUTION: A droplet discharge head 1 includes: a damper 77 configured to reduce vibration energy and having a penetration part 77a; a damper holding substrate 73 to which the damper 77 is joined and which has one side spaces 67, 68 in which the damper 77 may vibrate; and a piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 joined to a side, which is opposite to the damper holding substrate 73, of the damper 77 and having a recessed part for housing a piezoelectric element 40 and the other side spaces 71, 72 in which the damper 77 may vibrate. The piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 and the damper holding substrate 73 respectively include a first partition wall 59 forming the other side spaces 71, 72 and a second partition wall 69 which forms the one side spaces 67, 68 and has a width formed larger than a width of the first partition wall 59. The damper 77 is joined to the damper holding substrate 73 at the second partition wall 69 and the penetration part 77a is formed corresponding to the width of the first partition wall 59.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a droplet discharge head, a droplet discharge unit, and a droplet discharge device.

2. Description of the Related Art Droplet ejection heads employed in inkjet image forming apparatuses are conventionally known. This droplet ejection head has a liquid chamber substrate that constitutes an individual liquid chamber that communicates with the nozzle, and a recess that is bonded to the liquid chamber substrate on the opposite side of the nozzle plate where the nozzle is installed to accommodate the piezoelectric element. The damper includes a piezoelectric element holding substrate that has a fixed structure, a damper that reduces the amplitude of shock or vibration by dissipating vibration energy, and a damper holding substrate that has a space in which the damper can vibrate. When bonding the piezoelectric element holding substrate and the damper, it is preferable to use an adhesive containing filler to improve bonding strength. In addition, as a bonding method for the damper and the damper holding substrate, the film-formed surface of the substrate on which the damper material has been formed is bonded to the damper holding substrate using an adhesive, and then the substrate is polished and etched to expose the damper material. There are several methods.

The droplet ejection head described above includes a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of individual liquid chambers communicating with each nozzle, an actuator that generates energy to increase the pressure in each individual liquid chamber, and a common liquid chamber communicating with each individual liquid chamber. A configuration with the following is known. In this droplet ejection head, ink is supplied from a common liquid chamber to each individual liquid chamber that communicates with each nozzle, and by driving the actuator corresponding to each individual liquid chamber, the pressure inside each individual liquid chamber is increased and the ink is discharged from the nozzle. is ejected. At this time, the pressure fluctuations that occur in the individual liquid chambers propagate as vibrations to the common liquid chamber that communicates with each individual liquid chamber, and the propagated vibrations cause mutual interference that affects ink in adjacent individual liquid chambers. This may cause unintended leakage or ejection of droplets from the nozzle, or unstable ejection conditions, making it difficult to obtain high-quality images.

Therefore, as a technique to obtain a good damper effect that reduces vibration propagated to the common liquid chamber and to suppress volatilization of moisture from the common liquid chamber, a flexible member forming at least a part of the common liquid chamber is used. A droplet ejection head has been proposed that includes an air storage chamber disposed opposite to a common liquid chamber, and a valve that can communicate the air storage chamber with the outside (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In addition, in order to solve the problem that the configuration of the droplet ejection head becomes complicated, we have developed a technology that forms a common liquid chamber and a damper chamber with a simple configuration and arranges a damper between the common liquid chamber and the damper chamber. is proposed. An example of this technology includes a frame member that forms a common liquid chamber and a damper chamber, and this frame member accommodates a damper member having a damper and has a recess that serves as the damper chamber, and the recess has a common liquid chamber side. A droplet ejection head has been proposed in which a bottom portion is provided with an opening through which a damper faces and a support portion that supports a damper member (for example, see Patent Document 2).

However, in the conventional droplet ejection head, in order to ensure the compliance of the damper, that is, the volume change rate per reference pressure, the partition wall width of the damper holding substrate is formed narrower than the partition wall width of the piezoelectric element holding substrate. For this reason, when the damper holding substrate and the piezoelectric element holding substrate are bonded together, there is a problem in that local stress is applied to the damper by the filler contained in the adhesive, resulting in damage to the damper.
An object of the present invention is to provide a droplet ejection head that can solve the above-mentioned problems, suppress the occurrence of local stress concentration on the damper due to the filler in the adhesive, and suppress damage to the damper.

The invention according to claim 1 provides a damper having a penetration part that reduces vibration energy, a damper holding board having a space on one side to which the damper is bonded and in which the damper can vibrate, and the damper holding board of the damper. has a piezoelectric element holding substrate that is joined to the opposite side and has a recess for accommodating a piezoelectric element and a space on the other side in which the damper can vibrate, and the piezoelectric element holding substrate has a first space on the other side forming the space on the other side. The damper holding substrate includes a second partition wall forming the one side space and having a width larger than the first partition wall, and the damper holds the damper in the second partition wall. The semiconductor device is bonded to a substrate, and the through portion is formed to correspond to the width of the first partition wall.

According to the present invention, the filler contained in the adhesive is located in the through-hole and is prevented from interfering with the damper, and the filler can prevent local stress from acting on the damper. As a result, local stress concentration on the damper can be prevented and damage to the damper can be prevented, and a droplet ejection head that can suppress damage to the damper can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a droplet ejection unit equipped with a conventional droplet ejection head to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied, as seen from the nozzle surface side. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional droplet discharge unit to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied, taken along the width direction of a droplet discharge head. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view between a flow path substrate and a common flow path member of a conventional droplet ejection head to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a joint between a piezoelectric element holding substrate, a damper, and a damper frame substrate in the center of a conventional droplet ejection head. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a characteristic part in the center of the droplet ejection head according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing a characteristic part in the center of a droplet ejection head according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic front view of a droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a droplet ejection unit of a droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of another droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of another droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view illustrating a droplet ejection unit of another droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic front view illustrating another droplet ejection unit of another droplet ejection device including a droplet ejection head according to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a joint between a piezoelectric element holding substrate, a damper, and a damper frame substrate at an end of a conventional droplet ejection head. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a characteristic part at an end of the droplet ejection head according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing a characteristic portion at an end of a droplet ejection head according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a bonding surface between a damper and a damper holding substrate of the droplet ejection head according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a bonding surface between a damper and a damper holding substrate of a droplet ejection head according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a bonding surface between a damper and a damper holding substrate of a droplet ejection head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a conventionally well-known droplet discharge unit 100 to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge unit 100 along the short direction of the droplet recording head. Figures are shown respectively. In the figure, a droplet discharge unit 100 includes a plurality of droplet discharge heads 101 that discharge droplets, a base member 102 that holds the plurality of droplet discharge heads 101, and a cover member 103 that serves as a nozzle cover for the droplet discharge heads 101. It is equipped with Furthermore, the droplet ejection unit 100 includes a heat dissipation member 104 , a manifold 105 that forms a flow path for supplying liquid to the plurality of droplet ejection heads 101 , and a flexible wiring member 90 that includes a driver IC (drive circuit) 91 . A printed circuit board (PCB) 106 and a module case 107 are provided.

The plurality of droplet ejection heads 101 include a nozzle plate 10 on which nozzles 11 are formed, a channel substrate 20 on which individual liquid chambers 21, which are pressure chambers communicating with the nozzles 11, etc., are formed, a diaphragm 30 including a piezoelectric element 40, It includes a piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 laminated on the diaphragm 30, a common flow path member (frame member) 70 laminated on the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, and the like.
The flow path substrate 20 forms, together with the individual liquid chambers 21, a supply side individual flow path 22 communicating with the individual liquid chamber 21 and a recovery side individual flow path 24 communicating with the individual liquid chamber 21.
The piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 includes a supply side intermediate individual flow path 51 that communicates with the supply side individual flow path 22 through an opening 31 of the diaphragm 30 , and a recovery side individual flow path 51 that communicates with the recovery side individual flow path 24 through an opening 32 of the diaphragm 30 . A side intermediate individual flow path 52 is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 is formed with a recess 50a for accommodating the piezoelectric element 40.

The piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 and the common flow path member 70 form a supply side common flow path 71 communicating with the supply side intermediate individual flow path 51 and a recovery side common flow path 72 communicating with the recovery side intermediate individual flow path 52. The supply side common flow path 71 communicates with the supply port 81 via the flow path 151 of the manifold 105, and the recovery side common flow path 72 communicates with the recovery port 82 via the flow path 152 of the manifold 105.
The printed circuit board 106 and the piezoelectric element 40 are connected via a flexible wiring member 90, and a driver IC 91 is mounted on the flexible wiring member 90.

In this embodiment, the plurality of droplet ejection heads 101 are respectively attached to the base member 102 with predetermined intervals. The droplet discharge head 101 is attached to the base member 102 by inserting the droplet discharge head 101 into the opening 121 provided in the base member 102, and attaching the droplet discharge head to the cover member 103 that is joined and fixed to the base member 102. The peripheral edges of the nozzle plate 10 constituting the nozzle plate 101 are joined and fixed.
Further, a flange portion (not shown) provided on the outside of the common channel member 70 of the droplet ejection head 101 is joined and fixed to the base member 102. Note that the structure for fixing the droplet ejection head 101 and the base member 102 is not limited to the above-described structure, and any structure such as adhesion, caulking, screw fixation, etc. may be adopted.

In this embodiment, the base member 102 is preferably formed of a material with a low coefficient of linear expansion. Examples of materials with a low coefficient of linear expansion include 42 alloy, which is made by adding nickel to iron, and Invar material. In this embodiment, Invar material is used.
With this configuration, even if the droplet ejection head 101 generates heat and the temperature of the base member 102 rises, the amount of expansion of the base member 102 is small, making it difficult for the nozzle to shift from a predetermined nozzle position. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of deviation in the landing position of the bullet.
Similarly, the nozzle plate 10, the channel substrate 20, and the diaphragm 30 are each made of a silicon single crystal substrate, and have substantially the same coefficient of linear expansion as the base member 102. This makes it possible to reduce the occurrence of nozzle positional deviation due to thermal expansion.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view between the flow path substrate 20 and the common flow path member 70 in the conventional droplet ejection head 101.
In FIG. 3, the common flow path member 70 has a damper holding substrate 73 below it, to which one surface of a damper 74 that damps liquid shock and vibration is bonded. The other surface of the damper 74 is bonded to the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 via an adhesive 75.
The piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 has a partition wall 59 as a first partition wall that separates the supply side common flow path 71 and the recovery side common flow path 72 as the other side space in which the damper 74 can vibrate. Further, the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50 has side walls 55 as first side walls formed with the same width as the partition wall 59 at both end portions in FIG. 3 .
The damper holding board 73 has a space 67 on one side formed to face the common flow path 71 on the supply side and in which the damper 74 can vibrate, and a space 67 on one side formed to face the common flow path 72 on the recovery side and in which the damper 74 can vibrate. It has a partition wall 69 as a second partition wall that separates the space 68 from the space 68 . Further, the damper holding board 73 has side walls 65 as second side walls formed with the same width as the partition wall 69 at both end portions in FIG. 3 .
One surface of the damper 74 is joined to each of the side walls 65 and the partition wall 69, and the other surface of the damper 74 is joined to each of the side walls 55 and the partition wall 59 by an adhesive 75.

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of portion A in FIG. 3, that is, the joint portion between the partition wall 59 of the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, the damper 74, and the partition wall 69 of the damper holding substrate 73. As shown in FIG. 4, the partition wall 59 and the damper 74 are bonded to each other with an adhesive 75. The adhesive 75 used here preferably contains filler 60, which is a filler, for the purpose of improving adhesiveness or adhesive strength. The adhesive 75 shown in this embodiment includes a plurality of fillers 60 each having a spherical shape, and the maximum particle size thereof is 10 μm.
The damper holding substrate 73 and the damper 74 are manufactured using a semiconductor process. In this embodiment, a film of a material that will become the damper 74 is formed on a wafer that is a base material, and the film-formed surface and a damper holding substrate 73 that is patterned with a space in which the damper 74 can vibrate are bonded.

In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 4, the width of the partition wall 69 is narrower than the width of the partition wall 59. Therefore, in places where the diameter of the filler 60 is large and the filler 60 is directly sandwiched between the partition wall 59 and the damper 74 and the damper 74 is not backed up by the partition wall 69, the filler 60 causes local damage to the damper 74. There was a problem in that the damper 74 was damaged due to the stress acting on it, causing cracks 76 to occur as shown in FIG. Since the crack 76 occurs in the droplet flow path, the droplet discharge head 101 has a droplet discharge failure. The configuration of the present invention that prevents this problem from occurring will be explained below.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the joint between the partition wall 56 of the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, the damper 77, and the partition wall 66 of the damper holding substrate 73 at the center of the droplet ejection head 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is. When compared with the droplet ejection head 101 described above, the droplet ejection head 1 has a partition 56 as a first partition instead of the partition 59, and a partition 66 as a second partition instead of the partition 69. The only difference is that a damper 77 is used instead of the damper 74, and the other configurations are the same.
Like the partition wall 59, the partition wall 56 separates the other side spaces 71 and 72, and its width is smaller than that of the partition wall 59. The partition wall 66 separates the one side spaces 67 and 68 like the partition wall 69, and has a width larger than that of the partition wall 56. The damper 77 has a through hole 77a. The penetrating portion 77a is formed to correspond to the width of the partition wall 56, and in this embodiment, it is formed to be larger than the width of the partition wall 56 and smaller than the width of the partition wall 66. The partition wall 56 is directly fixed to the partition wall 66 with an adhesive 75 containing a filler 60.

According to the droplet discharge head 1 of the present invention described above, the width of the partition wall 66 is formed to be larger than the width of the partition wall 56, and the damper 77 having the through portion 77a is used. This configuration prevents the filler 60 contained in the adhesive 75 from interfering with the damper 77 due to being located within the penetration portion 77a, and prevents local stress from being applied to the damper 77 by the filler 60. can. Thereby, local stress concentration on the damper 77 can be prevented, and damage to the damper 77 can be prevented. Further, since the damper 77 is held by the damper holding substrate 73, the function of dissipating vibration energy and reducing the amplitude of shock or vibration is well maintained.

FIG. 13 shows an enlarged view of portion B in FIG. 3, that is, the joint portion between the side wall 55 of the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, the damper 74, and the side wall 65 of the damper holding substrate 73. As shown in FIG. 13, the side wall 55 and the damper 74 are bonded to each other with the adhesive 75 described above.
In the conventional structure shown in FIG. 13 as well, the width of the side wall 65 is smaller than the width of the side wall 55, similar to the structure shown in FIG. Therefore, as in FIG. 4, local stress is applied to the damper 74 by the filler 60, causing cracks 76 and damaging the damper 74.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of the joint between the side wall 54 of the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, the damper 77, and the side wall 64 of the damper holding substrate 73 at the end of the droplet ejection head 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is. When compared with the droplet ejection head 101 described above, the droplet ejection head 1 has a side wall 54 as a first side wall instead of the side wall 55, and a side wall 64 as a second side wall instead of the side wall 65. The only difference is that a damper 77 is used instead of the damper 74, and the other configurations are the same.
Like the side walls 55, the side walls 54 are provided at both ends of the piezoelectric element holding substrate 50, and have a width smaller than that of the side walls 55. The side walls 64 are provided at both ends of the damper holding board 73 like the side walls 65, and have a width larger than that of the side walls 54. The damper 77 has notches 77b at both ends. The notches 77b are each formed so that the width thereof corresponds to the width of the side wall 54, and in this embodiment, each is formed to be larger than the width of the side wall 54, and is located outside the inner end of the side wall 64. is formed. Sidewall 54 is fixed directly to sidewall 64 by adhesive 75 including filler 60 .
With this configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effect as described above that local stress concentration on the damper 77 can be prevented and damage to the damper 77 can be prevented.

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view showing the bonding surface between the damper 77 and the damper holding substrate 73 in the first embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the partition walls 56, 66 are formed in a cylindrical shape, and the side walls 54, 64 are formed in a prismatic shape, respectively. There are 6 partition walls 56, 66 each, and 12 side walls 54, 64 each. It is being One set of partition walls 56, 66 and two sets of side walls 54, 64 correspond to one side space 67, 68 and the other side space 71, 72, and in this embodiment, six sets of partition walls 56, 66 and 12 pairs of side walls 54, 64 are arranged at equal intervals, respectively. In this embodiment, since the partition walls 56 and 66 have a cylindrical shape, their respective widths correspond to their respective diameters.
FIG. 17 is a schematic plan view showing a bonding surface between the damper 77 and the damper holding substrate 73 in a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. In this modification, the partition walls 56, 66 and the side walls 54, 64 are each formed into a prismatic shape, and one set of partition walls 56, 66 and two sets of side walls 54, 64 correspond to one side space 67, 68 and other side spaces 71 and 72 are formed.

In the above-described configuration, the damper 77 is formed to have a compliance, that is, a rate of change in volume per reference pressure of 7E-17 or more, and a Young's modulus of 3 to 200 GPa. With this configuration, the damper 77 can reliably fulfill the function required as a damper, that is, the function of dissipating vibration energy and reducing the amplitude of shock or vibration.
Further, since the damper 77 is configured to have a laminated structure consisting of a plurality of layers, the physical properties of the damper 77 formed by film formation can be arbitrarily changed.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the joint between the partition wall 56, the damper 78, and the partition wall 66 at the center of the droplet ejection head 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The droplet discharge head 2 differs from the droplet discharge head 1 described above only in that a damper 78 is used instead of the damper 77, and the other configurations are the same.
The damper 78 has a through hole 78a. The penetrating portions 78a are formed to correspond to the width of the partition wall 56; in this embodiment, they are formed only at positions corresponding to the ends of the partition wall 56, and are not formed at the center of the partition wall 56, and are formed in the width of the partition wall 66. They are each formed to be located on the inner side of the width of the partition wall 66 than the end portions. The partition wall 56 is fixed to the damper 78 on the inner side of the penetrating portion 78a with an adhesive 75 containing a filler 60. The damper 78 is formed so that its thickness is larger than the maximum diameter of the filler 60, and the size of each through-hole 78a in the width direction is formed larger than the maximum diameter of the filler 60.

According to this configuration, even if the filler 60 in the adhesive 75 interferes with the damper 78, since the damper 78 is backed up by the partition wall 66, local stress will not be applied to the damper 78 by the filler 60. can be prevented. Thereby, local stress concentration on the damper 78 can be prevented, and damage to the damper 78 can be prevented. Further, the thickness of the damper 78 is formed to be larger than the maximum diameter of the filler 60, and the size of the through portion 78a in the width direction is formed to be larger than the maximum diameter of the filler 60, so that the filler 60 protrudes. Even in such a case, the filler 60 can be completely accommodated in the penetrating portion 78a, and the filler 60 can be reliably prevented from interfering with the damper 78.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the joint between the side wall 54, the damper 78, and the side wall 64 at the end of the droplet ejection head 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The droplet discharge head 2 differs from the droplet discharge head 1 described above only in that a damper 78 is used instead of the damper 77, and the other configurations are the same.
The damper 78 has notches 78b at both ends. The notches 78b are formed so that their width corresponds to the width of the side wall 54. In this embodiment, the notches 78b are formed only at positions corresponding to the inner ends of the side walls 54, and are formed outside the inner ends of the side walls 64. They are formed in such a way that they are located respectively. Sidewall 54 is secured to damper 78 by adhesive 75 including filler 60.
With this configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effect as described above that local stress concentration on the damper 78 can be prevented and damage to the damper 78 can be prevented.

FIG. 18 is a schematic plan view showing a bonding surface between the damper 78 and the damper holding substrate 73 in a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention. In this modification, the partition walls 56, 66 and the side walls 54, 64 are each formed into a prismatic shape, and one set of partition walls 56, 66 and two sets of side walls 54, 64 correspond to one side space 67, 68 and other side spaces 71 and 72 are formed.
As shown in FIG. 18, the through holes 78a are formed to correspond to the width of the partition wall 56, and each through hole 78a is formed in the damper 78 so that each side edge of the partition wall 56 is exposed to each through hole 78a. , 78a are arranged, respectively.

In the above-described configuration, the damper 78 is formed to have a compliance of 7E-17 or more and a Young's modulus of 3 to 200 GPa. With this configuration, the damper 78 can reliably fulfill the function required as a damper, that is, the function of dissipating vibration energy and reducing the amplitude of shock or vibration.
In addition, since the damper 78 is configured to have a laminated structure consisting of a plurality of layers, the physical properties of the damper 78 formed by film formation can be arbitrarily changed.

Next, a droplet ejection device including the above-mentioned droplet ejection heads 1 and 2 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the printing device 500, which is a droplet ejecting device, includes a carrying means 501 for carrying in a continuous body 510, which is a recording medium, and a printing means 505, in which the continuous body 510, which is carried in by the carrying means 501, is carried in. It is provided with a guide conveyance means 503 for guiding and conveying the object toward. The printing device 500 also includes a printing unit 505 that performs a printing operation of ejecting droplets onto a continuous body 510 to form an image, a drying unit 507 that dries the continuous body 510 to which the droplets have adhered, and a drying unit 507 that carries out the continuous body 510. It is equipped with an unloading means 509 and the like.
The continuous body 510 is sent out from the original winding roller 511 of the carry-in means 501, guided and conveyed by the rollers of the carry-in means 501, the guide conveyance means 503, the drying means 507, and the carry-out means 509, and then passed through the winding roller of the carry-out means 509. 591. The continuous body 510 is conveyed in the printing means 505 on a conveyance guide member 559 facing a head unit 550 which is a droplet discharge unit, and an image is printed by droplets discharged from the head unit 550.

The printing apparatus 500 includes droplet ejection units 100A and 100B similar to the above-described droplet ejection unit 100 in a head unit 550, and each droplet ejection unit 100A and 100B is provided on a common base member 552. There is.
Each droplet ejection unit 100A, 100B is the same in the set of head rows 1A1, 1A2 of the droplet ejection unit 100A, when the direction in which the droplet ejection heads 1 are lined up in the direction perpendicular to the continuum transport direction is the head arrangement direction. Ejects colored droplets. Similarly, the desired color is set in the set of head rows 1B1 and 1B2 of the droplet ejection unit 100A, the set of head rows 1C1 and 1C2 of the droplet ejection unit 100B, and the set of head rows 1D1 and 1D2 of the droplet ejection unit 100B. ejects droplets.

Next, another example of a printing device which is a droplet discharge device according to the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 9 and 10.
The printing device 400 as a droplet discharge device is a serial printing device, and a carriage 403 is moved back and forth in the main scanning direction by a main scanning movement mechanism 493. The main scanning movement mechanism 493 includes a guide member 401, a main scanning motor 405, a timing belt 408, and the like. The guide member 401 spans between left and right side plates 491A and 491B, and movably holds the carriage 403. The carriage 403 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction by receiving the driving force of the main scanning motor 405 via a timing belt 408 stretched between a driving pulley 406 and a driven pulley 407 .

A droplet ejection unit 440 that integrally includes a droplet ejection head 1 and a head tank 441 is mounted on the carriage 403 . Here, the droplet ejection head 1 ejects droplets of each color, for example, yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). The droplet ejection head 1 is mounted with a nozzle array consisting of a plurality of nozzles arranged in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, with the droplet ejection direction facing downward. The droplet discharge head 1 is connected to a liquid circulation device (not shown), and a liquid of a desired color is circulated and supplied to the droplet discharge head 1 .

The printing device 400 includes a transport mechanism 495 that transports paper 410, which is a recording medium. The conveyance mechanism 495 includes a conveyance belt 412 that is a conveyance means, and a sub-scanning motor 416 that drives the conveyance belt 412. A conveyance belt 412, which is an endless belt, is stretched between a conveyance roller 413 and a tension roller 414, and attracts the paper 410 and conveys it to a position facing the droplet discharge head 1. The adsorption is performed by electrostatic adsorption, air suction, or the like. The conveyor belt 412 is rotated in the sub-scanning direction by transmitting the driving force of the sub-scanning motor 416 via a timing belt 417 and a timing pulley 418 .

A maintenance and recovery mechanism 420 that maintains and recovers the droplet ejection head 1 is arranged on one side of the carriage 403 in the main scanning direction and on the side of the conveyor belt 412 . The maintenance and recovery mechanism 420 includes, for example, a cap member 421 that caps the nozzle surface of the droplet ejection head 1, a wiper member 422 that wipes the nozzle surface, and the like. Further, the main scanning movement mechanism 493, the maintenance and recovery mechanism 420, and the transport mechanism 495 are attached to a housing including side plates 491A, 491B and a back plate 491C.
In the printing apparatus 400 configured as described above, the paper 410 is attracted by the conveyor belt 412, and the paper 410 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the rotational movement of the conveyor belt 412. At this time, by driving the droplet ejection head 1 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 403 in the main scanning direction, droplets are ejected onto the stationary paper 410 to form an image.

Next, the above-mentioned droplet discharge unit 440 will be explained based on FIG. 11.
The droplet ejection unit 440 includes, among the members constituting the printing device 400, which is a droplet ejection device, a housing portion composed of side plates 491A, 491B and a back plate 491C, a main scanning movement mechanism 493, It is composed of a carriage 403, a droplet ejection head 1, and the like.
Note that it is also possible to configure a droplet discharge unit in which the above-described maintenance and recovery mechanism 420 is further attached to, for example, the side plate 491B of this droplet discharge unit 440.

Next, another example of the droplet discharge unit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 12.
A droplet discharge unit 450 shown in FIG. 12 includes a droplet discharge head 1 to which a channel component 444 is attached, and a tube 456 connected to the channel component 444. The channel component 444 is disposed inside the cover 442, and a connector 443 for electrical connection with the droplet ejection head 1 is provided on the top of the channel component 444. Note that a configuration including a head tank 441 instead of the flow path component 444 is also possible.

In the droplet discharge units 100, 100A, 100B, 440, 450, 550 including the droplet discharge head 1 described above, and the printing device 400, 500 which is a droplet discharge device, the effects of the droplet discharge head 1 described above are The same effects can be obtained. Further, in each of the above configurations, a configuration is shown in which the droplet discharge head 1 is used as the droplet discharge head, but it is also possible to use the droplet discharge head 2 instead of the droplet discharge head 1. In this case, the same effects as the droplet ejection head 2 can be obtained.

In the present invention, the liquid used is not particularly limited as long as it has a viscosity and surface tension that can be ejected from the head, but the liquid has a viscosity of 30 mPa・s or less at room temperature and normal pressure, or when heated or cooled. It is preferable that More specifically, solvents such as water and organic solvents, coloring agents such as dyes and pigments, functional materials such as polymerizable compounds, resins, and surfactants, and biocompatible materials such as DNA, amino acids, proteins, and calcium. , edible materials such as natural pigments, and solutions, suspensions, and emulsions containing these materials. These can be used, for example, as inkjet inks, surface treatment liquids, three-dimensional modeling material liquids, and the like.
As an energy generation source for ejecting droplets, piezoelectric actuators (laminated piezoelectric elements and thin film piezoelectric elements), thermal actuators using electrothermal conversion elements such as heating resistors, electrostatic actuators consisting of a diaphragm and a counter electrode, etc. Includes those that use

The "droplet ejection head" is not limited to the pressure generating means used. For example, in addition to the piezoelectric actuator mentioned above (which may also use a laminated piezoelectric element), there are also thermal actuators that use electrothermal transducers such as heating resistors, electrostatic actuators that consist of a diaphragm and a counter electrode, etc. It can be whatever you use.
The "droplet ejection unit" is a droplet ejection head with functional parts and mechanisms integrated, and includes a collection of parts related to droplet ejection. For example, the "droplet ejection unit" includes a droplet ejection head combined with at least one of the following components: a head tank, a carriage, a supply mechanism, a maintenance and recovery mechanism, a main scanning movement mechanism, and a liquid circulation device.
Integration here includes, for example, cases in which the droplet ejection head and functional parts or mechanisms are fixed to each other by fastening, adhesion, engagement, etc., and cases in which one is held movably relative to the other. . Further, the droplet ejection head and the functional parts or mechanisms may be removably attached to each other.

Some droplet ejection units have a droplet ejection head and a head tank integrated into one, and some have an integrated droplet ejection head and a head tank connected to each other by a tube or the like. Here, it is also possible to add a unit including a filter between the droplet ejection head and the head tank of these droplet ejection units.
Further, some droplet ejection units include one in which a droplet ejection head and a carriage are integrated, and another in which a droplet ejection head, a carriage, and a main scanning movement mechanism are integrated. Further, some droplet ejection units have a droplet ejection head movably held by a guide member that constitutes a part of the scanning movement mechanism, and the droplet ejection head and the scanning movement mechanism are integrated.

As a droplet ejection unit, a cap member which is a part of the maintenance recovery mechanism is fixed to a carriage to which the droplet ejection head is attached, so that the droplet ejection head, the carriage, and the maintenance recovery mechanism are integrated. be. Further, some droplet discharge units have a tube connected to a droplet discharge head to which a head tank or a flow path component is attached, and the droplet discharge head and supply mechanism are integrated. Via this tube, liquid from the liquid storage source is supplied to the droplet ejection head.
The main scanning movement mechanism also includes a single guide member. The supply mechanism shall also include a single tube and a single loading section.

In the present invention, a droplet discharge unit is described in combination with a droplet discharge head, but the droplet discharge unit includes a head module or a head unit including the above-mentioned droplet discharge head, and the above-mentioned functional parts and components. This also includes those with integrated mechanisms.
The droplet discharge device includes a device that includes a droplet discharge head, a droplet discharge unit, a head module, a head unit, etc., and drives the droplet discharge head to discharge droplets. Droplet ejection devices include not only devices that can eject droplets onto objects to which droplets can be attached, but also devices that eject droplets into gas or liquid.

The droplet discharge device can also be included in means for feeding, transporting, and discharging objects to which droplets can be attached, as well as other pre-processing devices, post-processing devices, and the like.
For example, droplet ejecting devices include image forming devices that eject ink to form images on recording media, and droplet ejecting devices that eject ink to form images on recording media; An example is a three-dimensional modeling device (three-dimensional modeling device) that discharges a modeling liquid onto a body layer.
Further, the droplet ejection device is not limited to one in which significant images such as characters and figures can be visualized by ejected droplets. For example, it includes those that form patterns that have no meaning by themselves, and those that create three-dimensional images.

The above-mentioned object to which droplets can adhere refers to an object to which droplets can adhere at least temporarily, such as an object to which the droplet adheres and sticks, or an object to which the droplet adheres and permeates. Specific examples include recording media such as paper, film, cloth, electronic substrates, electronic components such as piezoelectric elements, powder layers, organ models, test cells, and other media, but are not particularly limited. This includes everything that droplets can adhere to.
The material to which droplets can adhere may be paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, etc., as long as droplets can adhere even temporarily. There may be.

The droplet ejection apparatus includes a configuration in which a droplet ejection head and an object to which droplets can be attached move relative to each other, but the object to be moved is not limited to either one. Specific examples include both a serial type device in which the droplet ejection head is moved and a line type device in which the droplet ejection head is not moved.
In addition, other types of droplet ejecting devices include processing liquid coating devices that eject processing liquid onto the paper surface in order to apply the processing liquid to the paper surface for purposes such as modifying the surface of the paper, and raw materials. Examples include an injection granulation device that granulates fine particles of the raw material by injecting a composition liquid in which the material is dispersed in a solution through a nozzle.

Aspects of the present invention are, for example, as follows.
[1] A damper having a penetrating portion that reduces vibration energy, a damper holding substrate having a space on one side where the damper is bonded and in which the damper can vibrate, and a damper bonded to the side of the damper opposite to the damper holding substrate. a piezoelectric element holding substrate having a recess for accommodating a piezoelectric element and a space on the other side in which the damper can vibrate; The damper holding substrate each includes a second partition wall forming the one side space and having a width larger than the first partition wall, and the damper is joined to the damper holding substrate at the second partition wall, The penetrating portion is a droplet ejection head formed to correspond to the width of the first partition wall.
[2] The penetrating portion is formed only at a position corresponding to an end of the first partition wall, and the damper is bonded to the piezoelectric element holding substrate at the first partition wall [1] ] is the droplet ejection head described in [1].
[3] The damper and the damper holding substrate are bonded to each other with an adhesive containing a filler, and the size of the through portion is larger than the maximum diameter of the filler [1] or This is the droplet ejection head described in [2].
[4] The droplet ejection head according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the thickness of the damper is larger than the maximum diameter of the filler.
[5] The droplet ejection head according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the damper has a compliance of 7E-17 or more and a Young's modulus of 3 to 200 GPa.
[6] The droplet ejection head according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the damper has a laminated structure consisting of a plurality of layers.
[7] A droplet ejection unit comprising the droplet ejection head according to any one of [1] to [6].
[8] A droplet ejection device comprising the droplet ejection head according to any one of [1] to [6].
[9] A droplet discharge device characterized by having the droplet discharge unit described in [7].
[10] A damper that reduces vibration energy and has a notch, a damper holding board that has a space on one side to which the damper is bonded and in which the damper can vibrate, and a damper that is bonded to a side of the damper opposite to the damper holding board. and a piezoelectric element holding substrate having a recess for accommodating a piezoelectric element and a space on the other side in which the damper can vibrate, and the piezoelectric element holding substrate has a first side wall forming the other side space, The damper holding substrate each includes a second side wall forming the one side space and having a width larger than the first side wall, and the damper is joined to the damper holding substrate at the second side wall, The notch is a droplet ejection head formed to correspond to the width of the first side wall.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and unless specifically limited by the above description, the present invention as described in the claims Various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the spirit.
The effects described in the embodiments of the present invention are merely examples of the most preferred effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention. isn't it.

1, 2 droplet discharge head 40 piezoelectric element 50 piezoelectric element holding substrate 50a recess 54 first side wall (side wall)
56 First partition wall (partition wall)
60 Filler 64 Second side wall (side wall)
66 Second partition wall (partition wall)
67, 68 One side space 71 Other side space (supply side common flow path)
72 Other side space (collection side common flow path)
73 Damper holding substrate 75 Adhesive 77, 78 Damper 77a, 78a Penetration portion 77b, 78b Notch portion 100A, 100B, 440, 450, 550 Droplet discharge unit 400, 500 Droplet discharge device (printing device)

Patent No. 6260853 JP2016-26912A

Claims (9)

A damper having a penetration part that reduces vibration energy;
a damper holding substrate having a space on one side to which the damper is bonded and in which the damper can vibrate;
a piezoelectric element holding substrate bonded to the opposite side of the damper to the damper holding substrate and having a recess for accommodating a piezoelectric element and a space on the other side in which the damper can vibrate;
The piezoelectric element holding substrate has a first partition wall forming the other side space, and the damper holding substrate has a second partition wall forming the one side space and having a width larger than the first partition wall. Prepare each,
the damper is joined to the damper holding substrate at the second partition;
In the droplet ejection head, the penetrating portion is formed to correspond to the width of the first partition wall. The droplet ejection head according to claim 1,
The droplet ejection head is characterized in that the through portion is formed only at a position corresponding to an end of the first partition wall, and the damper is joined to the piezoelectric element holding substrate at the first partition wall. The droplet ejection head according to claim 2,
The damper and the damper holding substrate are bonded to each other with an adhesive containing filler,
A droplet ejection head characterized in that the size of the penetrating portion is larger than the maximum diameter of the filler. The droplet ejection head according to claim 3,
A droplet ejection head characterized in that the thickness of the damper is larger than the maximum diameter of the filler. The droplet ejection head according to claim 1,
The droplet ejection head is characterized in that the damper has a compliance of 7E-17 or more and a Young's modulus of 3 to 200 GPa. The droplet ejection head according to claim 1,
A droplet ejection head characterized in that the damper has a laminated structure consisting of a plurality of layers. A droplet ejection unit comprising the droplet ejection head according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A droplet discharge device comprising the droplet discharge unit according to claim 7. a damper having a notch that reduces vibration energy;
a damper holding substrate having a space on one side to which the damper is bonded and in which the damper can vibrate;
a piezoelectric element holding substrate bonded to the opposite side of the damper to the damper holding substrate and having a recess for accommodating a piezoelectric element and a space on the other side in which the damper can vibrate;
The piezoelectric element holding substrate has a first side wall forming the other side space, and the damper holding substrate has a second side wall forming the one side space and having a width larger than the first side wall. Prepare each,
the damper is joined to the damper holding substrate at the second side wall;
In the droplet ejection head, the cutout portion is formed to correspond to the width of the first side wall.

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