JP3116690B2 - Method for manufacturing nozzle plate of ink ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nozzle plate which is provided with a head for applying energy to the ink for ejecting the ink and a nozzle for ejecting the ink, and which is joined to an end face of the head by an adhesive. And a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink ejecting apparatus having:

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as a method of manufacturing a nozzle plate of this type of ink ejecting apparatus, there is the following method.

[0003] The nozzle plate constituting the ink ejecting apparatus is formed of a polymer material such as polyimide or polyether sulfone, and has a transparent portion corresponding to a portion of the nozzle plate where the nozzle is processed. A nozzle is formed by irradiating an excimer laser through an ablation mask. To explain the formation process,
At the excimer laser-irradiated part of the nozzle plate, the polymer material forming the nozzle plate absorbs the excimer laser, thereby breaking the molecular bonds of the polymer material and decomposing them into molecules or atomic states. . The decomposed molecules or atoms are scattered by evaporation to form a nozzle (Chemical Review, published by American Chemical Society, 1989, vo
l. 89, no. 6). When a nozzle is formed using this excimer laser, a high degree of integration can be obtained.

In this nozzle, the inner diameter of the excimer laser incident side is larger than the inner diameter of the excimer laser exit side. Here, the shape of the nozzle is preferably tapered so that the inner diameter on the ink ejection side is smaller than the inner diameter on the ink flow path side when ejecting ink. An excimer laser is irradiated from the surface on the side of the flow path. And
The nozzle plate having the nozzles formed by the above method is bonded with an epoxy resin or the like so that the nozzle and the ink flow path communicate with the end face of the head portion that generates energy for ejecting the ink in the ink flow path. The ink jetting device is manufactured by bonding with an agent.

In the above-described ink ejecting apparatus, when the nozzle plate on which the nozzles are formed is adhered to the head portion, an excess of the adhesive flows into the inner surface of the nozzles, that is, the portion that passes when the ink is ejected, and is smooth. Protrusions may be formed on the inner surface of the nozzle that is tapered, which may obstruct the flow of ink or block the nozzle. As a result, the nozzle that reduces the amount of ink ejected or becomes unable to eject ink Sometimes occurred.

To solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-189637 discloses a technique for forming a relief groove for an adhesive in a nozzle plate by photoetching.

[0007]

However, if the nozzle is formed by using an excimer laser and the escape groove of the adhesive is formed by photoetching in order to increase the degree of integration of the nozzle, the process becomes complicated. There were problems such as taking time and increasing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent an adhesive from flowing into an inner surface of a nozzle and to easily form a nozzle plate having a highly integrated nozzle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink ejecting apparatus that can perform the above.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head unit for applying energy to ink for ejecting ink, and a nozzle for ejecting ink. In a nozzle plate manufacturing method of an ink ejecting apparatus having a nozzle plate joined to an end surface of a head portion by an adhesive, a laser is applied to a nozzle plate sheet serving as the nozzle plate to form the nozzle holes, A groove for capturing an excess of the adhesive is formed in the vicinity of the nozzle hole at a portion where the laser is irradiated and bonded to the end face of the head.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the laser irradiated to the nozzle plate sheet is a laser oscillated from an oscillator having a desired size by a mask.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the laser is an excimer laser.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the diameter of the excimer laser applied to the nozzle plate sheet for forming the groove is equal to the diameter of the excimer laser applied to the nozzle plate sheet for forming the nozzle hole. It is characterized by being smaller.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the energy density of the laser beam applied to the nozzle plate sheet for forming the groove is controlled by a lens provided on the mask. The energy density of the laser beam applied to the sheet is lower than that of the laser beam.

[0014]

In the method of manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink jetting apparatus according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, a laser is applied to a nozzle plate sheet serving as the nozzle plate to form the nozzle holes, and the laser is applied. A groove is formed in the vicinity of the nozzle hole at a portion to be bonded to the end face of the head, and the groove captures an excess of the adhesive.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a laser beam machine.

In the laser beam machine of the present embodiment, the excimer laser beam 2 emitted from the laser oscillator 1 is applied to the mirror 3a,
An optical path leading to the processing table 8 is formed by 3b and 3c. In the optical path between the mirror 3a and the mirror 3b,
A beam expander 4 for expanding the excimer laser beam 2 to a desired size is provided. In the optical path between the mirror 3b and the mirror 3c, an ablation mask 5 for providing a shape corresponding to a hole for opening the excimer laser beam 2 is provided. A field lens 6 for guiding a mask image that has passed through the mask 5 to an imaging optical system 7 is provided. The imaging optical system 7 includes a mirror 3
c and the processing table 8, the processing table 8
This is for narrowing the excimer laser beam 2 transmitted through the ablation mask 5 to a sheet 9 placed at a predetermined size.

Next, the ablation mask 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The ablation mask 5 has a nozzle 1
A nozzle forming laser transmission hole 10 for forming the nozzle 2 is provided. In the vicinity of the nozzle forming laser transmitting hole 10, a groove forming laser transmitting hole 11 is provided. The groove forming laser transmission hole 11 is provided with a groove 16 (see FIG. 3) in the bonding portion of the nozzle plate 14 which is bonded to the end face of the head portion 17 which generates energy in the ink flow path 13 (FIG. 3) for ejecting ink. ). The groove 16 is for capturing an excess of the adhesive when the nozzle plate 14 and the head portion 17 are bonded.

Here, the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14
Is polyimide and has a thickness of 100 μm.
The energy density of the excimer laser beam 2 is 750 mj
/ Cm ² . At this time, the diameter of the excimer laser beam 2 irradiated on the sheet 9 to form the nozzle hole is 60
μm, and the diameter of the excimer laser beam 2 irradiated on the sheet 9 to form the groove 16 is 20 μm. The diameter 10 and the diameter of the groove forming laser transmission hole 11 are set.

If the narrowing ratio of the diameter of the excimer laser beam 2 is 5: 1 before and after the imaging optical system 7, the diameter of the nozzle forming laser transmission hole 10 is 300 μm.
The diameter of the groove forming laser transmission hole 11 is 100 μm.
As described above, when the irradiation diameter of the excimer laser beam 2 is reduced, a through hole cannot be formed in the sheet 9.
This is because the excimer laser beam 2 is not absorbed by the taper formed at the time of processing, and processing is not performed. In addition, the material of the sheet 9,
If the thickness of the sheet 9 or the energy density of the excimer laser beam 2 changes, the irradiation diameter where no through hole is formed changes.

When laser ablation is performed by the laser processing machine shown in FIG. 1 using the ablation mask 5 having the above-described structure, the highly integrated nozzle 12 and the groove 16 for capturing the surplus adhesive are formed. It can be simultaneously formed on the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14. For this reason, the number of steps for forming the nozzle 12 and the groove 16 is small, so that the time for the formation can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Next, the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14 on which the nozzles 12 and the grooves 16 are formed is processed into a desired shape by laser processing, cutting with a cutter or the like, thereby forming the nozzle plate 14 as shown in FIG. Then, the ink jetting device 21 is manufactured by adhering to an end surface of the head portion 17 with an epoxy-based adhesive or the like. When the end surfaces of the nozzle plate 14 and the head 17 come into contact with each other, the excess adhesive that has flowed out is caught by the groove 16 and does not flow into the nozzle 12.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the diameter of the laser transmission hole 11 for forming a groove for capturing the surplus adhesive in the ablation mask 5 is determined by changing the diameter of the excimer laser beam 2 with respect to the thickness of the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14. Is set so that the diameter of the portion to be irradiated is 1/5 or less. However, in the second embodiment, the multi-layer that reflects the excimer laser beam 2 by 10% to 90% to the groove forming laser transmission hole is used. The ablation mask 25 in which a transparent substrate (not shown) made of glass or the like coated with a reflective film is inclined at an angle θ, and a laser absorber 19 that absorbs the excimer laser 18 reflected by the multilayer reflective film is used as shown in FIG. To be provided.

With such a configuration, the energy density of the excimer laser beam 20 that has passed through the groove forming laser transmission hole is reduced to 90% to 10%, and the excimer laser beam that has passed through the nozzle forming laser transmission hole 10 has been reduced. When the nozzles 2 form the nozzles 12 in the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14, the excimer laser beam 2 that has passed through the groove forming laser transmission holes cannot penetrate the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14 and does not penetrate. A hole, that is, a groove 16 is formed. At this time, the excimer laser beam 18 reflected by the multilayer reflection film of the groove forming laser transmission hole 11 is absorbed by the laser absorber 19 and does not cause any harm. Further, the angle θ at which the ablation mask 25 is inclined is preferably about 1 to 5 °, and preferably about 1 to 3 °, and such an inclination does not affect the shape of the nozzle 12 to be formed.

The multilayer reflective film is composed of about 10 to 30 thin films of silicon dioxide, hafnium dioxide, scandium oxide, aluminum oxide, tantalum pentoxide, etc.
These layers are laminated with a thickness shorter than the wavelength of the excimer laser beam 2 to be used, and are generally well known. In this case, the reflectance can be increased by increasing the number of layers to be stacked, and a desired reflectance can be easily obtained. The value of the reflectivity is determined by the required groove depth, and may be appropriately selected depending on the amount of excess adhesive and the groove area. The laser absorber 19 may be a ceramic sintered body such as aluminum oxide or a coated metal, and may be water-cooled to prevent a rise in temperature due to laser absorption.

According to this structure, in addition to the effect of the first embodiment, the thickness of the sheet 9 for the nozzle plate 14 is not affected by the shape of the groove forming laser transmission hole, and the thin nozzle Also for the sheet 9 for the plate 14, it is possible to form the groove 16 for capturing the excess adhesive having a sufficient size and depth.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the ablation mask 5 is placed in the optical path between the mirror 3b and the mirror 3c. However, there is no problem after the imaging optical system 7, that is, downstream, and in this case, the desired groove 16 What is necessary is just to produce the laser transmission hole for groove formation of the same shape as an ablation mask.

The shape of the groove 16 is not limited to a circle, but may be an ellipse, a rectangle, a triangle, or the like.

Further, in the second embodiment, the energy density of the excimer laser beam is reduced by using a multilayer reflective film for the laser transmission hole for forming the groove. A lens for dispersing the excimer laser beam 2, for example, a concave lens The energy density may be reduced by providing the following.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the nozzle plate manufacturing method of the ink ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the nozzle plate sheet serving as the nozzle plate is irradiated with a laser beam, and the nozzle hole is formed. At the same time, a groove is formed in the vicinity of the nozzle hole where the laser is irradiated and adhered to the end face of the head to capture an excess of the adhesive, so that the adhesive flows into the inner surface of the nozzle. In addition, the process of forming a nozzle plate having nozzles with a high degree of integration can be simplified, so that the time required for the process can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a laser processing machine for forming a nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an ablation mask of the laser beam machine of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink ejecting apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a nozzle forming method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Excimer laser beam 5 Ablation mask 9 Sheet 10 Laser transmission hole for nozzle formation 11 Laser transmission hole for groove formation 12 Nozzle 13 Ink flow path 14 Nozzle plate 16 Groove

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink ejecting apparatus comprising: a head unit for applying energy to ink for ejecting ink; and a nozzle plate formed with nozzles for ejecting ink and joined to an end surface of the head unit by an adhesive. In the method for manufacturing a nozzle plate, the nozzle plate sheet serving as the nozzle plate is irradiated with a laser to form the nozzle hole, and the nozzle is irradiated with the laser and the vicinity of the nozzle hole in a portion adhered to an end surface of the head. Forming a groove for capturing an excess of the adhesive, the method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink ejecting apparatus. 2. The ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser irradiated to the nozzle plate sheet is a laser oscillated from an oscillator and has a desired size by a mask. Manufacturing method. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the laser is an excimer laser. 4. A diameter of an excimer laser applied to the nozzle plate sheet to form the groove is smaller than a diameter of an excimer laser applied to the nozzle plate sheet to form a nozzle hole. 4. The method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The energy density of the laser beam applied to the nozzle plate sheet to form the groove, the energy density of the laser beam applied to the nozzle plate sheet to form the nozzle by a lens provided in the mask. 3. The method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of an ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the energy density of the irradiated laser is set lower than the energy density.