JP2702404B2 - Orifice plate bonding apparatus for ink jet printer and bonding method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for bonding an orifice plate and an ink flow path material in a method of manufacturing a print head of an ink jet printer for forming an image by discharging ink droplets from a orifice onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2A is a view showing the structure of a print head 1 of a thermal ink jet printer. A thermal head substrate 11 and an ink flow path material 12 formed on the thermal head substrate 11 and exhibiting adhesiveness by heating. And an orifice plate 13 having an orifice 131.
When bonding the orifice plate 13 to the ink flow path material 12,
After aligning the heating element 111 of the thermal head substrate 11 with the orifice 131 and performing temporary bonding so as not to cause a displacement during bonding, bonding is performed by applying heat and pressure. However, since the adhesive surface of the ink flow path material 12 has minute undulations compared to the adhesive surface of the orifice plate 13, FIG.
As shown in the enlarged view of the bonding surface shown in (b), the thin plate is bonded to the minute waviness surface 121. When the adhesiveness of the orifice plate 13 to the ink flow path material 12 is poor, the waviness surface 121 of the ink flow path material 12 forms a minute gap between them. This small gap is formed by the orifice 131
, The pressure of the ink to be ejected is reduced, which causes a reduction in image quality. In the case where the minute gap extends over a wide area at a high density, the adhesive force between the ink flow path member 12 and the orifice plate 13 is reduced, so that the orifice plate 13 is likely to fall off not only during the manufacture of the print head but also at the user's location. Become a cause.

Conventionally, the ink flow path member 12 and the orifice plate 13 of this type of ink-jet printer have been bonded to each other in order to improve the adhesion between them and to prevent the formation of minute gaps, for example, US Pat. No. 4,953,287. As shown in the above, a method and an apparatus for uniformly pressing an orifice plate through a flexible sheet with a gas pressure have been used. This example will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a conventional bonding apparatus 20.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of bonding the same. The print head 1 on which the positioning and the temporary bonding have been performed is placed on the bonding table 211, and the bonding table 211 is set below the cylinder 22 (FIG. 3).
(A)). The pressurizer 231 at the bottom of the cylinder 22 descends,
By pressing the outer peripheral portion of the orifice plate at a predetermined pressure with the sealing member 24 and the flexible sheet 29 interposed therebetween,
The inside of 1 is sealed. Thereafter, the print head 1 is pressurized by the pressure of the gas fed from the gas pump 3 into the pressurizer 231 through the gas supply unit 25 (FIG. 3B). At this time, when the orifice plate 13 is pressurized with a thick plate, a minute gap is formed due to minute undulation of the ink flow path material 12, but in this conventional example, the gap is formed by a flexible gas and a flexible sheet 29. Due to the pressure, even if the orifice plate 13 is deformed, the pressure is always applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface, so that the orifice plate 13 is in close contact with the minute waviness surface of the ink flow path material 12 without forming a minute gap. In this state, the print head 1 is heated by a heating furnace (not shown), and the ink flow path material 12 is heated.
To the orifice plate 13.

[0004]

In the conventional orifice plate bonding apparatus and method for an ink jet printer described above, for example, an aluminum sheet is used as a flexible sheet. In the case of aluminum sheet, the thermal conductivity is large and the aluminum sheet is flexible, so it satisfies the function of this application.However, since it is deformed by heating and pressing, it needs to be replaced in a single cycle, and the print head needs In the case of manufacturing, there is a problem that the cost increases.

Further, a method and apparatus for heating and pressing without using a flexible sheet as in the conventional example can be easily conceived. However, in this case, when the print head is heated in the heating furnace, the pressure in the pressurizer increases due to the heating, and the gas is exhausted by floating the sealing material portion. There is a problem that the force in the plane direction acts and the alignment between the orifice and the heating element is shifted.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional disadvantages.
When bonding an orifice plate to an ink flow path material with a wavy surface, an orifice plate bonding device for an ink jet printer that does not use a flexible sheet and does not cause displacement between the orifice and the heating element even when heated or pressed. And a method for bonding the same.

[0007]

An orifice plate bonding apparatus for an ink jet printer according to the present invention is a print head for an ink jet printer which forms an image by discharging ink droplets from an orifice onto a recording medium. an ink flow path member for guiding, and a orifice plate formed with the orifice, at least a
A pressurizer that seals the ink discharge surface of the orifice plate when the ink flow path member having adhesiveness by heating and the orifice plate are bonded, and a gas that supplies a pressurized gas into the pressurizer. A pressure feeder, gas heating means for heating the pressurized gas in the pressurizer to a specified temperature, and a pressure valve for exhausting the closed pressurized gas in the pressurizer while controlling the gas to a specified pressure. ing.

According to the method of bonding an orifice plate of an ink jet printer of the present invention, in an ink jet printer print head for forming an image by discharging ink droplets from an orifice onto a recording medium, an ink flow path for guiding ink from an ink storage section to the orifice is provided. And an orifice plate having the orifice formed therein , at least one of which is heated.
Ink channel material and orifice plate having adhesive properties
The pressure of when performing the bonding, a step of sealing at the ink discharge surface pressurizer of the orifice plate, and supplying pressurized gas through a gas pumping device to the the pressurizer, in the pressurizer and The process is performed by heating a gas to a specified temperature by a gas heating means, and exhausting the pressurized gas in the pressurizer in a closed state while controlling the gas to a specified pressure by a pressure valve.

[0009]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
(A) shows a state before bonding, and (b) shows a state at the time of bonding. The orifice plate bonding apparatus 2 of this embodiment is similar to the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 3 and is similar to the print head 1 of the thermal ink jet printer shown in FIG. Used for a method and apparatus for bonding to a plate.

The bonding apparatus 2 of this embodiment includes a bonding table 21 on which the print head 1 is mounted, a pressurizer 23 for sealing the ink discharge surface of the orifice plate 13 (FIG. 2) with a cylinder 22,
A gas pump 3 for supplying a pressurized gas into the pressurizer 23 via a gas supply unit 25 and a sealing material 24 on the lower surface of the pressurizer 23.
A gas heating unit 26 provided in the gas supply unit 25 for heating the pressurized gas; and a pressure valve 2 provided on the bonding table 21.
7 and an exhaust port 28. That is, the difference from the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 is that a pressure valve 27 that exhausts the pressurized gas in the pressurizer 23 while controlling it to a specified pressure, an exhaust port 28,
It has a gas heating means 29 for controlling the gas in the pressurizer 23 to a specified temperature, and there is no flexible sheet as in the conventional example.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The print head 1 on which the positioning and the temporary bonding have been performed is placed on the bonding table 21, and the bonding table 21 is set below the cylinder 22 (FIG. 1A). The pressurizer 23 at the lower part of the cylinder 22 descends, and presses the outer peripheral portion of the orifice plate at a specified pressure with the sealant 24 interposed therebetween.
The inside of 3 is closed. Thereafter, the print head 1 is heated and pressurized by the heat and pressure of the gas fed from the gas pump 3 into the pressurizer 23 through the gas supply unit 25 and the gas heating means 26, and the orifice plate 13 is adhered by heating. Is adhered to the waviness surface 121 of the ink flow path member 12.
The temperature of the gas in the pressurizer 23 is controlled to a specified temperature by the gas heating means 26, and the pressure of the gas is controlled to the specified pressure by the pressure valve 27 through the print head 1 and the exhaust port 28 (FIG. 1B). ).

By the above-described operation, the gas in the pressurizer 23 is always controlled to the specified temperature and the specified pressure. Therefore, the pressure is not too high, and the gas is not exhausted by floating the sealing member 24. In addition, no force is exerted on the orifice plate 13 in the surface direction, and there is no problem that the alignment between the orifice 131 and the heating element 111 is displaced without using a flexible sheet. Of course, as in the conventional example, it is possible to perform adhesion with good adhesion to the undulating surface.

The pressure valve 27 controls the pressure of the gas in the pressurizer 23 to a constant pressure higher than the external air pressure by 3 × 10 ⁵ Pa (Pascal), so that the orifice plate 13 with good adhesion can be bonded. It becomes possible to do.

As an example of the material of the ink flow path member 12, there is Vacrel 8010 manufactured by DuPont or Parad New manufactured by DuPont, which is an acrylic resin-based dry film. In this case, the gas in the pressurizer 23 is controlled at a temperature of 180 ° C. and a pressure of 9 × 10 ⁵ Pa (Pascal), and the orifice plate having good adhesion can be bonded by heating and pressing for 120 minutes. It is possible.

In this embodiment, the gas supply unit 25 to the pressurizer 23 is provided with the gas heating means 26. However, even if the gas heating means 26 is not used, the entire apparatus can be heated by the heating path. The same effect can be obtained by heating.

In this embodiment, a thermal ink jet printer is used as an example of an application apparatus, and an ink flow path member 1 is used.
Although the combination of Vacrel 8010 manufactured by DuPont or Paradnew manufactured by the company was illustrated as an example of the second example, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these.

[0018]

As described above, the apparatus and method for bonding an orifice plate of an ink jet printer according to the present invention provide a pressurizer for sealing an ink discharge surface of an orifice plate and a pressurized gas supplied into the pressurizer. By providing a gas pressure feeder, gas heating means for heating the pressurized gas in the pressurizer to a specified temperature, and a pressure valve for controlling the pressurized gas in the pressurizer to a specified pressure, undulations on the mating member surface Even if there is, there is an effect that adhesion with good adhesion can be performed at low cost while maintaining the alignment accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are cross-sectional views showing a state before bonding and a state after bonding, respectively, in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing the structure of a print head of a thermal inkjet printer to which the present invention and a conventional example are applied, and FIG.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views showing a state before bonding and a state after bonding, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 print head 2, 20 bonding device 3 gas pressure feeder 11 thermal head substrate 12 ink flow path material 13 orifice plate 21, 211 bonding table 22 cylinder 23, 231 pressurizer 24 sealing material 25 gas supply unit 26 gas heating means 27 pressure valve 28 exhaust port 29 flexible sheet 111 heating element 121 undulating surface 131 orifice

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An ink jet printer printhead for forming an image by ejecting ink droplets from a orifice to a recording medium to form an image. An ink flow path member for guiding ink from an ink storage section to the orifice, and an orifice plate formed with the orifice. At least one of which has adhesiveness by heating.
A pressurizer that seals an ink discharge surface of the orifice plate when bonding the ink flow path member and the orifice plate, a gas pump that supplies pressurized gas into the pressurizer, and the pressurizer. An ink jet printer comprising: gas heating means for heating the pressurized gas inside the pressurized gas to a specified temperature; and a pressure valve for exhausting the pressurized gas in the pressurized unit in a closed state while controlling the pressure to a specified pressure. Orifice plate bonding equipment. 2. A print head of an ink jet printer for forming an image discharged from the orifice ink drops onto a recording medium, an ink flow path member for guiding ink to said orifice from the ink reservoir, an orifice plate formed with the orifice At least one of which has adhesiveness by heating.
Bonding between the ink flow path material and the orifice plate
In performing a step for sealing at the ink ejection surface pressurizer of the orifice plate, said a step of supplying a pressurized gas by the gas pumping machine the pressurizer, gas heating said pressurized gas said the pressurizer Orifice plate bonding method for an ink-jet printer, wherein the method comprises the steps of: heating to a specified temperature by a means; and evacuating the pressurized gas in the pressurizer in a closed state while controlling the gas to a specified pressure by a pressure valve. . 3. The orifice plate bonding apparatus for an ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein said gas heating means is provided in a gas supply section to said pressurizer. 4. The pressure valve increases the pressure of the gas in the pressurizer by at least 3 × 10 ⁵ Pa (Pascal) from the external pressure.
4. The apparatus for bonding an orifice plate of an ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the pressure is controlled to a high and constant pressure.