JP2764418B2 - Method of manufacturing ink jet recording head and ink jet recording head manufactured by the method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head and a recording head manufactured by the method, and more particularly, to an ink jet having a discharge port forming member having discharge ports formed therein. The present invention relates to a recording head manufacturing method and a recording head.

[Conventional technology]

The above-described ink jet recording head discharges minute droplets by generating a pressure change in a liquid flow path by deformation of a piezoelectric element, or further includes a pair of electrodes to deflect and discharge droplets. What causes them to be known. In addition, various proposals have been made to generate air bubbles by causing a heating element disposed in a liquid passage to rapidly generate heat, and to discharge droplets from a discharge port by the generation of the air bubbles.

Among them, an ink jet recording head that discharges a recording liquid by using thermal energy has a high density of liquid discharge ports (orifices) for discharging recording liquid droplets and forming flying liquid droplets. That enables high-resolution recording, easy overall compactness of the recording head, and recent advances in the semiconductor field of technology and IC technology and microelectronics. The advantages of processing technology can be fully utilized, and it is easy to increase the length and area (two-dimensionally), so that multi-noise and high-density mounting are easy, and production during mass production is also possible. It has attracted special attention because of its good performance and low manufacturing cost.

As shown in FIG. 10, the above-described ink jet recording head has a discharge port forming member (orifice plate) 40 having ink discharge ports (orifices) 41 and an ink path groove 401 communicating with each discharge port (orifice). Of the ink path, and a heater board 100 having an energy generating element 101 for ejection.

Generally, the orifice plate 40 is
It is provided for the purpose of being constituted by the same member of the ejection port surface, in order to prevent the displacement of the ejection direction of the ejection ink due to the difference in wettability between the top plate 400 and the orifice. The shape and the like are important factors that affect the ejection performance of the ink jet recording head. In particular, the orifice from which ink is ejected is the most important part,
As described above, the size (orifice diameter) of the discharge port (orifice) has been miniaturized and the plurality of orifice groups have been provided at a high density with the recent advancement of the image recording technology and the recording head manufacturing technology. Was.

On the other hand, conventionally, various devices have been devised for processing of the discharge port (orifice). Some examples are: 1) Machining with a drill.

2) Fine machining by electric discharge machining.

3) Fine processing by anisotropic etching of Si.

4) A method of patterning by photolithography and obtaining by plating.

5) Fine processing with carbon dioxide gas and YAG laser. and so on.

[Technical problem to be solved by the invention]

However, as described above, the current recording technology naturally requires high definition and high speed, and in accordance with this requirement, the size of the discharge port (orifice) of the ink jet recording head becomes minute, and the orifice density is high. Moreover, it has a plurality of orifice groups.

In particular, there is a demand to increase the pitch between recording dots in order to increase the density, and to increase the pitch between orifices in order to reduce the fluid resistance of the nozzle in order to increase the speed.

For this reason, the pitch between the orifices is widened, and each discharge port is processed obliquely and formed so that the discharge direction of the recording liquid is converged, so that high-definition recording can be performed. However, in the conventional processing method, it is very difficult to perform processing by slightly changing the discharge angle for each orifice.

In a print head having a plurality of orifice rows for high-speed printing or color printing, if the distance between the orifices is large, a large memory is used to adjust the printing dot signal between the orifice rows. The size is required, which increases the cost of the printer body.

From such a viewpoint, the conventional examples 1) and 2) described above.
In some methods, it is difficult to reduce the size of the orifice, and it is not efficient to process a plurality of orifices having different high-density discharge port angles.

Further, the method 3) has a problem that the cost of the Si material used as the discharge port forming member (orifice plate) is high, the processing time is long, and it is difficult to bend the discharge port angle.

Further, in the method 4), the manufacturing process from photolithography to plating is long, and an auxiliary material such as a substrate or a resist must be used. Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to bend the discharge port angle.

In addition, the method 5) cannot produce a sufficient orifice meeting the above requirements for the reasons described below.

The processing by the carbon dioxide gas laser and the YAG laser did not have sufficient laser output, and the shape and precision of the formed orifice were not sufficient either. For example, the orifice formed by the YAG laser is not circular in shape, and foreign matter that cannot be sufficiently removed by the laser adheres around the orifice. Also, depending on the material and thickness of the orifice plate, the orifice, that is, the opening may not be formed.

Further, in the processing by the carbon dioxide gas laser and the YAG laser, since the orifice is processed one by one, it takes time to process a plurality of orifices, which is not suitable for mass production.

Furthermore, multiple orifices must have accurate positioning accuracy.However, conventional CO2 laser and YAG laser processing requires a movable part that can perform precise alignment, making processing more difficult. Had become.

As described above, the conventional method has a problem in each of the above requirements, and has not been sufficiently satisfactory as a method for processing an orifice.

On the other hand, as described above, it is important for the recording by the ink jet recording head to correspond to high definition and high speed and to improve the reliability thereof. To that end, inks have also been improved. As a result, since the material in contact with the ink is required to have ink resistance, the material for the orifice plate must also satisfy the requirement. Therefore,
Orifice processing may be difficult depending on the material.

Further, as described above, the ink jet recording head includes an orifice plate, a top plate, and a substrate. In particular, if the orifice and the ink path communicating therewith are not properly aligned, the orifice adversely affects the ejection performance, and in the worst case, causes non-ejection.

However, both the orifice and the ink path are very small and have a high density, so it is difficult to assemble them with accurate alignment, which is a major problem in the manufacture of ink jet recording heads. I was

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in orifice processing and bonding of an orifice plate with a top plate and a heater board, and has as its object the purpose of having an orifice plate with high density and high precision. In addition, it is possible to form an orifice plate with an orifice plate in which the orifice angle is easily changed for each of the orifices and for each of the orifices, and furthermore, an ink jet recording head having a precise positional relationship between the orifice and the ink path, and a manufacturing method thereof. To provide.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention has a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink,
A discharge port forming member provided with the discharge ports, wherein the plurality of discharge ports are simultaneously formed by irradiating the discharge port forming member with an excimer laser through a mask. By irradiating the excimer laser in a state where an optical system in which laser light is radially spread between the mask and the discharge port forming member is provided, the discharge directions of ink discharged from the plurality of discharge ports converge. The above object is achieved by a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, characterized in that a plurality of discharge ports are formed with discharge ports having inclined discharge port angles.

The present invention further achieves the above object by an ink jet recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1.

The present invention further achieves the above object by an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1.

(Operation)

With the above configuration, it is possible to form an orifice in the orifice plate with high density and high definition, a discharge port angle unique to each discharge port, and a precise positional relationship with an ink path or the like.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is of a disposable type in which an ink container serving as an ink supply source is integrated.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 100 denotes a heater board formed by forming an electrothermal transducer (discharge heater) and a wiring of Al or the like for supplying electric power to the Si substrate by a film forming technique. Reference numeral 200 denotes a wiring board for the heater board 100, and the corresponding wiring is connected by, for example, wire bonding.

Reference numeral 400 denotes a top plate provided with a partition wall, a common liquid chamber, and the like for limiting the ink flow path, and is made of a resin material such as polyethersulfone.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a metal support, for example, and reference numeral 500 denotes a presser spring. The presser spring 500 is formed by engaging the heater board 100 and the top plate 400 with the both interposed therebetween.
The heater board 100 and the top plate 400 are pressed and fixed by the urging force. In addition, the support 300 is provided with the wiring substrate 200 by sticking or the like, and has a reference for attachment to a carriage for scanning the head. In addition, the support 300 also functions as a member that radiates and cools the heat of the heater board 100 generated by driving.

Reference numeral 600 denotes a supply tank which receives ink supply from an ink storage unit serving as an ink supply source, and supplies the heater board 100 and the top plate 1
It functions as a sub-tank that guides the ink to the common liquid chamber formed by joining with 00. Reference numeral 700 denotes a filter disposed at a position in the supply tank 600 near the ink supply port to the common liquid chamber, and reference numeral 800 denotes a cover member of the supply tank 600.

Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber for impregnating the ink, and is arranged in the cartridge main body 1000. 1200 is the above parts 100
800800 is a supply port for supplying ink to a unit consisting of
The ink of the absorber 900 can be impregnated by injecting the ink from the supply port 1200 in a process before disposing it in the portion 1010.

Reference numeral 1100 denotes a lid member of the cartridge main body, and 1400 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. Reference numeral 1300 denotes a liquid-repellent material disposed inside the atmosphere communication port 1400, thereby preventing ink from leaking from the atmosphere communication port 1400.

When ink filling via the supply port 1200 is completed,
A unit consisting of 100 to 800 is positioned and arranged in the portion 1010. The positioning or fixing at this time can be performed, for example, by fitting a projection 1012 provided on the cartridge body 1000 with a hole 312 provided on the support 300 corresponding thereto, and thereby, the position shown in FIG. The cartridge (B) is completed.

And the ink is supplied from the inside of the cartridge by the supply port 1200,
The supply tank 600 is supplied through a hole 320 provided in the support body 300 and an introduction port provided on the back side of the supply tank 600 in FIG.
After passing through the inside, the liquid flows into the common liquid chamber from the outlet through an appropriate supply pipe and the ink inlet 420 of the top plate 400. A packing made of, for example, silicone rubber or butyl rubber is provided at the connection portion for ink communication as described above, whereby sealing is performed to secure an ink supply path.

In the recording head shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the ejection port forming member (orifice plate) desirably has a thickness of about 10 to 50 μm. Considering the properties, the material of the orifice plate is a film material such as thermoplastic resin,
For example, polyetheretherketone, polyimide, polyethersulfone and the like can be mentioned. In this embodiment, a 25 μm thick film of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) was used.

When forming an orifice plate, first, the film material is cut into a size required for an orifice plate. Next, an orifice is processed by an apparatus shown in FIG. 2 using a KrF excimer laser that emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 248 nm.

This excimer laser is a laser that can oscillate ultraviolet light, and has high intensity, good monochromaticity, directivity,
It has advantages such as short pulse oscillation, and extremely high energy density by focusing with a lens.

An excimer laser is a device that can oscillate short-pulse (15 to 35 ns) ultraviolet light by discharge-exciting a mixed gas of a rare gas and a haloken gas. KrF, Xecl, and ArF lasers are often used. These oscillation energies are several 100 mJ / pulse, and the pulse repetition frequency is 30 to 1000 Hz.

When high-brightness short-pulse ultraviolet light, such as this excimer laser light, is irradiated onto the polymer resin surface, the irradiated part is instantaneously decomposed and scattered with plasma emission and impact sound.
A live photodecomposition (APD) process occurs, which allows processing of the polymer resin.

When comparing the processing accuracy of excimer laser with that of other lasers, for example, when a polyimide (P1) film is irradiated with a KrF laser as an excimer laser and another YAG laser or CO2 laser, PI light is absorbed. Since the wavelength to be used is in the UV range, a beautiful hole is opened by the KrF laser, but YAG that is not in the UV range
The laser creates holes, but the edges are rough, and the infrared CO2 laser creates craters around the holes.

In addition, metals such as SUS, opaque ceramics, and Si are not affected by the irradiation of excimer laser light in the atmosphere of the atmosphere, and thus can be used as a mask material in processing by excimer laser.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an apparatus showing an orifice processing method in one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an excimer laser, and 11 denotes a lens for condensing a laser beam 12 emitted from the excimer laser 10. , 9 is a mask disposed between the excimer laser 10 and the orifice plate, 40 is an orifice plate on which the orifice is formed,
Reference numeral 13 denotes a lens for projecting a mask and bending and condensing a laser beam having an ejection port formed on an orifice plate.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing details of the mask 9 and the orifice plate 40. FIG. Orifice plate for mask 9
Transparent part corresponding to the part where 40 orifices are processed
91 is provided so that the laser beam 12 can pass therethrough. That is, if a pattern required as an orifice is provided on the mask 9, this pattern can be processed into a film of an orifice plate.

As shown in FIG. 3, the number of orifices is plural, but this is a schematic illustration.
A mask in which orifices of 0 DPI and φ33 μm were linearly arranged was used. In this configuration, the plate 40 was irradiated with the laser beam 12 through the mask 9 to form an orifice. Note that the mask material is preferably not affected by heat due to laser irradiation. For example, a material having a small coefficient of thermal expansion, for example, a metal material such as Be-Cu can be used.

The orifice of the orifice plate manufactured by the method described above does not have any abnormal deformation around the orifice and has a circular shape similar to that of a mask, cleanly processed to the front and back of the film, unlike the processing using a carbon dioxide gas laser and a YAG laser. Is done.

4 and 5 are a schematic view of an orifice processing apparatus suitable for carrying out the recording head manufacturing method of the present invention and a perspective view showing details of a mask and an orifice plate obtained by the manufacturing method. is there.

In the present embodiment, first, a top plate 400 that has been grooved in a glass material and a heater board 100 provided with an energy generating element and its wiring and the like are bonded to a Si wafer, and then the orifice plate 40 and the top plate The joining surface was ozone-washed to join the heater board 100 and the heater board 100, and a silane coupling agent was applied. The coating method is φ100,
The transfer was performed by transferring a silane coupling material A-187 (manufactured by Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd.) which had been piston-coated on Si rubber having t = 0.6.

Next, the dry film (Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd. SE-320) as a material of the orifice plate 40 was heated to about 40 to 80 ° C. after peeling off the protective film and polyether on one side. At this time, the integrated top plate 400 and heater board 100 are simultaneously heated. This heating was performed using a hot plate or a clean oven in this example.

After the dry film is heated for 1 minute, the dry film surface of the film and the top plate / heater board are held for 1 to 10 seconds.
Bonded by pressing under a pressure of to 10 kg / cm ^2. Next, the film is gradually cooled to room temperature (about 25 ° C.), and then the film and the top plate / heater board are separated. At this time, the dry film serving as the orifice plate is separated from the mylar film serving as the other protective film, and is joined to the top plate and the heater board, as shown in FIG. Next, the surface of the joined dry film is cured by irradiating it with ultraviolet light, and a recording head (top plate, heater board, orifice plate) is fixed at a predetermined position of the apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. The head is aligned with the excimer laser and the mask. In this embodiment, the positioning was responded with the table 7 for fixing the recording head being movable. After the completion of the alignment, the orifice plate 40 was irradiated with an excimer laser beam through the mask 9 to process the orifice 41. FIG. 7 shows the state of the recording head after this processing.

According to the method described above, it is not necessary to join the orifice plate having the minute orifice and the top plate / heater board with high precision alignment, and the manufacturing process of the ink jet recording head is simplified.

Next, an example in which the orifice shape is made more preferable by processing with an excimer laser will be described.

As shown in FIG. 8, it has been considered that the orifice shape of the ink jet recording head in this example is desirably tapered toward the orifice 41 from the ink path 402. However, since it was difficult to realize this by the conventional manufacturing method, the shape was often a columnar shape as shown in FIG.

However, in the processing of only the orifice plate using an excimer laser, the condensing lens is gradually moved during the irradiation, and the shape of the hole is changed by changing the position of the focal point. Can also be manufactured.

The main part of the print head manufactured as described above is
The configuration is as shown in FIG.

That is, the discharge port 1 formed in the orifice plate 102
The angle θ of 05 differs for each liquid path 104, so that the discharge direction 107 of each discharge port 105 bends almost the same as the discharge port angle and the droplet flies. Therefore, the recording surface 10
The recording dot pitch d formed in 6 can be smaller than the liquid path pitch d 'of the recording head.

For this reason, it is possible to increase the width of the ejection port and to increase the width of the ejection energy element as compared with a recording head in which the recording pitch and the ejection port pitch are the same in the related art. For this reason, the discharge speed for improving the energy efficiency can be increased. Further, since the cross-sectional area of the liquid path can be increased, the ink can be smoothly replenished to the liquid path, so that the response frequency can be improved, and further, the image quality can be improved overall. Became possible.

Further, in the ink jet recording head shown in FIG. 11, if the diameter of the ejection port in the outer part is smaller than the diameter of the ejection port in the central part, the ink droplet is ejected from the ejection port in the outer part having a long flight distance. Since the speed of the ink droplet ejected from the ejection port in the central portion where the flight distance of the ink droplet is shorter than the speed of the ink droplet can be increased, the timing of the ejection of the ink droplet from the ejection port and its driving force Is the same for each ejection port, the timing at which ink droplets finally land on the recording medium can be very easily made the same.

In the above-described embodiment, the discharge ports are formed in a direction in which the discharge port angles are concentrated. However, in the present invention, the discharge port angles can be set in various directions with respect to the angular discharge ports as needed.

For example, the incident surface is perpendicular to the discharge port surface, and the incident surface is formed such that a surface formed by a direction in which the discharge ports are arranged and a direction in which ink is discharged from the discharge port has an angle formed by the discharge port surface. It can be configured to vary the angle.

 Next, another embodiment will be described.

FIG. 12 shows an ink jet recording head according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is a disposable one in which an ink tank is integrated.

The ink jet recording head shown in FIG. 12 has a concave portion (hereinafter referred to as a groove) for forming an ink liquid path and a common liquid chamber, and a discharge port forming member (orifice plate).
A top plate integrally formed with 10, an electrothermal converter (hereinafter referred to as a discharge heater) for generating discharge energy, and an Al wiring for supplying an electric signal thereto are formed on a Si substrate by a film forming technique. Four print head main bodies are provided by joining formed substrates (hereinafter, referred to as heater boards).

In the figure, reference numeral 600 denotes a sub-ink tantalum disposed adjacent to the recording head main body.
And the body is supported by lids 300 and 800.
Further, reference numeral 1000 denotes a cartridge main body, and 1100 denotes a lid member of the cartridge main body. An ink tank is built in the cartridge body, and supplies ink to the sub ink tank 600 as appropriate.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show a state in which an orifice plate is formed integrally with a top plate by irradiating an excimer laser beam from an ink liquid path side to orifice processing. That is, (A) is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for injecting a laser beam so as to form a discharge port from the top plate concave side and (B) from a discharge port side. In the figure, 1 is a laser oscillation device for oscillating KrF excimer laser light, 2 is a wavelength 248 mm oscillated from the laser oscillation device 1 and a pulse width of about 1
5μsec pulse laser beam, 3 is laser beam 2
Is a projection mask on which aluminum capable of shielding the laser beam 2 is vapor-deposited, and a plurality of holes having a diameter of 133 μm are arranged at a pitch of 212 μm to form an orifice pattern. .

10 is an orifice plate for forming a discharge port,
It is fixed on a jig 13 that can freely rotate with respect to the laser beam 2.

14 (A) and (B) are a plan view and a partially enlarged view of a substrate (heater board) 8 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 101 denotes a heater board base according to the present example, and 103 denotes a discharge heater section. 104 is a terminal,
It is connected to the outside by wire bonding. Reference numeral 102 denotes a temperature sensor, which is formed on the same substrate by the same film forming process as the discharge heater unit 103 and the like. FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of a portion B including the sensor 102 in FIG. 7A, and 15 and 106 are a discharge heater and wiring, respectively. Reference numeral 108 denotes a heater for heating the head.

Since the sensor 102 is formed by a film forming process similar to that of a semiconductor similarly to other parts, the accuracy is extremely high, and aluminum, titanium,
It can be made of a material such as tantalum, tantalum pentoxide, niobium, etc., whose electric power varies according to the temperature. For example, among these, titanium is a material that can be disposed between the heating resistance layer and the electrode constituting the electrothermal conversion element in order to enhance the adhesiveness between the two,
Tantalum is a material that can be placed on the protective layer on the heating resistor layer in order to increase the cavitation resistance of the protective layer. In addition, in order to reduce process variations, the line width is increased, and in order to reduce the influence of wiring resistance and the like, a meandering shape is used to increase the resistance.

Similarly, the heat retaining heater 108 can be formed using the same material (for example, HfB2) as the heating resistance layer of the discharge heater 15, but formed using another material constituting the heater board, for example, aluminum, tantalum, titanium, or the like. You may.

 FIG. 15A shows a configuration example of the top plate 7 according to this example.

The top plate 7 according to the present example has a desired number of ink passage grooves 14 and the corresponding number of ink ejection ports (orifices) 11 formed in the orifice plate 10 (two in the figure for simplicity). And the orifice plate 10 is provided integrally.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 15A, the top plate 7 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyphenylene oxide, or polypropylene having excellent ink resistance. It is molded at the same time.

Next, a method of forming the orifice 11 for the ink liquid channel 14 will be described.

As for the ink liquid channel, the resin is molded using a mold in which fine grooves of the reverse pattern are formed by a method such as cutting.
Thereby, the liquid path groove 14 can be formed in the top plate 7.

The orifice is formed without the orifice 11 in the mold, and the orifice plate is formed at the position where the orifice is to be formed as described in FIG.
Excimer laser light is irradiated from the ink liquid path side of 10 with a laser device to remove and evaporate the resin, and the orifice
Form 11.

Details of the orifice formation are shown in FIG. As is apparent from the figure, the excimer laser beam 2 is applied to the orifice plate 10 from the ink liquid path 14 side via the mask 4 described above. Excimer laser light 2
Is collected at one side θ1 = 2 degrees with respect to the optical axis 13 and is irradiated with the optical axis 13 inclined at θ2 = 10 degrees from the vertical direction of the orifice plate 10.

As described above, by irradiating the laser beam from the ink liquid path side, the cross-sectional area of the orifice having the tapered shape is reduced in the ejection direction.

Further, according to the forming method as shown in FIG. 13 (B), the cross section of the orifice becomes as shown in FIG.

Here, the excimer laser light used in this example will be described.

This excimer laser is a laser that can oscillate ultraviolet light, and has advantages such as high intensity, good monochromaticity, directivity, short pulse oscillation, and extremely high energy density by focusing with a lens. Having.

Excimer laser oscillators are devices that can emit short-pulse (15-35 ns) ultraviolet light by exciting a mixed gas of rare gas and halogen by discharge excitation. Kr-F, Xe-Cl, and Ar-F lasers are often used. Can be Their oscillation energy is 100m
J / pulse, pulse repetition frequency is 30-1000 Hz.

When high-brightness short-pulse ultraviolet light, such as this excimer laser light, is irradiated onto the polymer resin surface, the irradiated part is instantaneously decomposed and scattered with plasma emission and impact sound.
A tive Photodecomposition (APD) process occurs, which allows the processing of the polymer resin.

In this way, when comparing the processing accuracy of the excimer laser with that of other lasers, for example, irradiating a polyimide (PI) film with a laser as an excimer laser, another YAG laser and a C02 laser,
Since the wavelength that absorbs PI light is in the UV region, a beautiful hole is opened by the KrF laser, but a YAG laser that is not in the UV region opens the hole, but the edge surface is rough, and the C0 that is infrared
2Laser creates craters around holes.

In addition, metals such as SUS, opaque ceramics, and Si are not affected by the irradiation of excimer laser light in the atmosphere of the atmosphere, and thus can be used as a mask material in processing by excimer laser.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a recording head main body formed by joining the above-described heater board 8 and top plate 7.

As shown in the figure, a heater board 8 having a discharge heater 15 and the like is brought into contact with the orifice plate 10 and joined to obtain a recording head body.

In the above-described configuration, since alignment and bonding between the top plate and the orifice plate are not required as in the related art, there is no alignment error or misalignment at the time of bonding, thus reducing defective products and shortening the process. This contributes to mass production of the recording head and cost reduction. Further, since there is no step of bonding the top plate and the orifice plate as in the related art, there is no possibility that the orifice or the ink flow path is blocked due to the flow of the adhesive. Furthermore, when the heater board 8 and the orifice plate 10 are joined together with the top plate 7 in an integrated manner, the heater board 8 can be abutted against the end face of the orifice plate 10 opposite to the end face on the discharge side, so that positioning in the channel direction can be performed. In addition, the entire positioning process and the assembling process are facilitated. In addition, there is no possibility that the orifice plate is peeled off as in the related art.

The recording head body described above can be obtained in the form of a cartridge as shown in FIG. 12, and further using this, an ink jet printer as shown in FIG. 18, ie,
An ink jet printer using a disposable cartridge can be configured.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 80 denotes the cartridge shown in FIG. 1. The cartridge 80 is fixed on the carriage 15 by a pressing member 81.
Can be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction along. The positioning with respect to the carriage 15 can be performed by, for example, a hole provided in the lid 300, a dowel provided on the carriage 15 side, or the like. Further, for electrical connection, a connector on the carriage 15 may be connected to a connection pad provided on the wiring board.

The ink discharged by the recording head reaches the recording medium 18 whose recording surface is regulated by the platen 19 at a minute interval from the recording head, and forms an image on the recording medium 18.

An ejection signal corresponding to image data is supplied to the recording head from a suitable data supply source via a cable 16 and a terminal connected thereto. One or more (two in the figure) cartridges 80 can be provided depending on the ink color and the like to be used.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 17 denotes a carriage
A carriage motor for scanning along 21 and a wire 22 for transmitting the driving force of the motor 17 to the carriage 15. Reference numeral 20 denotes a recording medium connected to the plantain roller 19.
This is a feed mode for conveying 18.

The main part of the recording head prepared as described above has a configuration as shown in FIG.

That is, the discharge port 2 formed in the orifice plate 202
The ejection opening angle θ of 09 is different for each head 201, and the ejection direction 211 for each head is bent almost the same as the ejection angle, and the droplet flies. For this reason,
The recording dot pitch d ″ for each ejection port array formed on the recording surface 210 can be smaller than the distance d between the ejection port arrays of the recording head.

In the conventional print head having a plurality of ejection port arrays, the interval between each ejection port array is the same as the interval between the printing dot arrays, and therefore, a memory having a large memory size for taking timing for each printing dot array is required. According to the present invention, the cost of the printer body for reducing the distance between the recording dot rows can be reduced. In particular, such a configuration is very effective for color printing in which the ejection port array must be divided for each color.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention has a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink, and an ejection port forming member provided with the ejection ports, and a mask that uses an excimer laser for the ejection port forming member. A manufacturing method of an ink jet recording head for simultaneously forming the plurality of discharge ports by irradiating the laser beam through a mask, wherein an optical system in which a laser is radially spread by light is provided between the mask and the discharge port forming member. Forming an ejection port in which the ejection port angles of the plurality of ejection ports are inclined so that the ejection directions of the ink ejected from the plurality of ejection ports by irradiating the excimer laser are converged. Since the method for manufacturing a recording head is configured, ink with high-precision and high-definition discharge ports discharged from a plurality of discharge ports on a discharge port forming member (orifice plate) Discharge direction is formed easily obliquely so as to converge, further, it is possible to simultaneously form different discharge ports angles of a plurality of discharge ports (the orifice).

Further, it is also possible to form the discharge ports by changing the discharge port angle collectively for each discharge port row.

As a result, an ink jet recording head that can perform high-quality, high-definition, high-speed recording simply and inexpensively is provided.

According to the inventions of claims 2 to 6, substantially the same effects as described above can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (A) and 1 (B) are an exploded perspective view and an external perspective view of an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the mask and the discharge port forming member in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a processing apparatus for the discharge port forming member suitable for carrying out the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mask and a discharge port forming member in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording head in the middle of the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. Perspective view showing a state in which
8 is a partial longitudinal sectional view illustrating the shape of the liquid path of the ink jet recording head of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a partial longitudinal sectional view illustrating the liquid path of the conventional ink jet head, and FIG. Exploded perspective view illustrating a head,
FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating the essential configuration of an ink jet recording head obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 14A and 14B are schematic views illustrating an apparatus for irradiating a laser beam for forming a discharge port, respectively, and FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams of a heater board of an ink jet recording head according to the present invention. 15A and 15B are a partial perspective view illustrating a top plate of the inkjet recording head of the present invention and a schematic enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing details of the discharge port,
FIG. 16 is a schematic enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a discharge port formed by the method shown in FIG. 13 (B), FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a head body in which a heater board and a top plate are joined, and FIG. FIG. 19 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a recording head obtained by the method of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is a schematic explanatory view showing a main configuration of an ink jet recording head obtained by the present invention. 101, 201 ... inkjet recording head, 102, 202 ... ejection port forming member, 103, 203 ... ejection energy generating element, 1
04,204 …… liquid channel, 105,209 …… Discharge port (orifice), 2
07 ... Ejection energy generating substrate, 208 ... Top plate.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-32761 (JP, A) JP-A-62-142370 (JP, A) JP-A-63-73643 (JP, A) 31368 (JP, B2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/16

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink;
A discharge port forming member provided with the discharge ports, wherein the plurality of discharge ports are simultaneously formed by irradiating the discharge port forming member with an excimer laser through a mask. By irradiating the excimer laser in a state where an optical system in which a laser beam radially spreads is provided between the mask and the discharge port forming member, the discharge directions of the ink discharged from the plurality of discharge ports converge. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head, characterized in that the plurality of discharge ports are formed such that the discharge ports have inclined discharge ports. 2. An ink jet recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein the ejection energy generating element applies heat energy to the ink. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein the ejection energy generating element is an electrothermal transducer. 5. An ink jet recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of heads having different discharge directions of ink from the discharge ports are combined and integrated. Inkjet recording head. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising an ink jet recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1.