JP3152037B2 - Ink jet device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an on-demand type ink ejecting apparatus used for an ink jet printer or the like, an electric-
A so-called bubble jet type ink ejecting apparatus using a heat generating element as a heat converting element and a piezo type ink ejecting apparatus using a piezoelectric element as an electro-mechanical converting element have been put to practical use. An ink ejecting device using a piezoelectric element does not involve generation of heat and therefore has less restrictions on the liquid as an object to be ejected, and has excellent durability as compared with an ink ejecting device using a heating element. And the like. On the other hand, there is a problem that it is inferior in the degree of integration and miniaturization as compared with an ink ejecting apparatus using a heating element to which semiconductor manufacturing technology can be applied. However, in recent years, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-150355, a shear mode (thickness slip mode) among the deformation modes of the piezoelectric material is used to generate pressure.
There has been proposed a configuration of an ink ejecting apparatus that achieves higher integration and miniaturization than an ink ejecting apparatus using a conventional piezoelectric element, and a schematic configuration thereof will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
It comprises a piezoelectric ceramic plate 2, a cover plate 3, a nozzle plate 31, and a substrate 41.

The piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 is made of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) -based ceramic material having ferroelectricity. The piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 is polarized in the direction of arrow 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the grooves 28 are cut in the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 by the rotation of the diamond blade 30. During this cutting, the cutting direction of the diamond blade 30 is set to 30A, 30B, 30B.
C, the channel groove 17, the R-shaped groove 19,
A groove 28 composed of the shallow groove 16 is formed.

The cutting direction 30 of the diamond blade 30
A forms a channel groove 17. Subsequently, the cutting direction is changed from 30A to 30B, and the depth of the cutting process is changed. At this time, an R-shaped groove portion 19 which is a curved surface having a radius of curvature of the diamond blade 30 is formed. Then, the cutting direction is changed from 30B to 30C to form the shallow groove 16.

As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of grooves 28 are formed in the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 thus cut. The grooves 28 are of the same depth and are parallel. The shallow groove 16 is formed near one end face 15 of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2. The dimensions of the channel groove 17 and the shallow groove 16 are determined by the thickness of the diamond cutter blade 30 to be used and the set depth of cut. And the curvature of the curved surface of the R-shaped groove portion 19 is determined by the diameter of the diamond blade 30. This method is used in a semiconductor manufacturing process and has a thickness of 0.02 mm.
Since a diamond blade 30 having a very small thickness is commercially available, it can be said that the technique can sufficiently cope with high integration required for an ink ejecting apparatus. In addition, the partition 11 which is the side surface of the groove 28 is polarized in the direction of arrow 5 by the above-described polarization processing.

The channel groove 17 and the R-shaped groove 1
9 and the inner surface of the shallow groove 16 are provided with metal electrodes 13 and 1.
8 and 9 are formed by a vapor deposition method. As shown in FIG. 7, when the metal electrodes 13, 18 (FIG. 5) and 9 are formed, the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 is inclined with respect to the direction of vapor release from a vapor deposition source (not shown). When the steam is released, the shallow groove 16 extends from the upper half of the side surface of the channel groove 17 and the side surface of the R-shaped groove 19 to half of the side surface of the channel groove 17 due to the shadow effect of the partition wall 11.
Metal electrodes 13, 18, 9, on the inner surface of
10 are formed. Next, the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2
Is rotated 180 degrees, and the metal electrodes 13 and 1 are similarly rotated.
8, 9, 10 are formed. Thereafter, the unnecessary metal electrode 10 formed on the upper surface of the partition 11 is removed by lapping or the like. Thus, the metal electrodes 13 formed on both side surfaces of the channel groove portion 17 are electrically connected to the metal electrodes 9 formed on the inner surface of the shallow groove portion 16 via the metal electrodes 18 formed on the side surfaces of the R-shaped groove portion 19. Is done.

Next, the cover plate 3 shown in FIG. 5 is formed of a ceramic material or a resin material.
The cover plate 3 has an ink inlet 21 and a manifold 22 formed by grinding or cutting. Then, the surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 on the processing side of the groove 28 and the manifold 2 of the cover plate 3
2 The surface on the processing side is bonded with an adhesive 4 such as an epoxy type (FIG. 9). Therefore, the ink ejecting apparatus 1 has the groove 2
8 are covered to form a plurality of ink chambers 12 (FIG. 9) having a space therebetween in the horizontal direction. Then, all the ink chambers 12 are filled with ink.

A nozzle plate 31 provided with nozzles 32 at positions corresponding to the positions of the respective ink chambers is bonded to the end surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 and the cover plate 3. The nozzle plate 31 is formed of a plastic such as polyalkylene (eg, ethylene) terephthalate, polyimide, polyetherimide, polyetherketone, polyethersulfone, polycarbonate, or cellulose acetate.

A substrate 41 is bonded to the surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 opposite to the processing side of the groove 28 by an epoxy-based adhesive or the like. The substrate 4
1, a conductive layer pattern 42 is formed at a position corresponding to the position of each ink chamber 12. The conductive layer pattern 42 and the metal electrode 9 on the bottom surface of the shallow groove 16 are connected by a conductive wire 43 by known wire bonding or the like.

Next, the configuration of the control unit will be described with reference to FIG. 8 showing a block diagram of the control unit. The conductive layer patterns 42 formed on the substrate 41 are individually connected to the LSI chip 51. Further, the clock line 52, the data line 53, the voltage line 54 and the ground line 55 are also LS.
It is connected to the I chip 51. The LSI chip 51
Based on the continuous clock pulse supplied from the clock line 52, it is determined which nozzle 32 should eject the ink droplet according to the data appearing on the data line 53. Then, the LSI chip 51 applies the voltage V of the voltage line 54 to the conductive layer pattern 42 electrically connected to the metal electrode 13 of the ink chamber 12 to be driven. The ground line 55 is connected to the pattern 42 of the conductive layer connected to.

Next, the operation of the ink ejecting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The LSI chip 51 determines that ink is to be ejected from the ink chamber 12b of the ink ejecting apparatus 1 according to required data. Then, a positive drive voltage V is applied to the metal electrodes 13e and 13f via the conductive layer pattern 42, the metal electrode 9, and the metal electrode 18 corresponding to the ink chamber 12b, and the metal electrodes 13d and 13g are grounded. . As shown in FIG. 10, a driving electric field in the direction of arrow 14b is generated in the partition 11b, and a driving electric field in the direction of arrow 14c is generated in the partition 11c. Then, the driving electric field direction 14
Since b and 14c are orthogonal to the polarization direction 5, the partition walls 11b and 11c are rapidly deformed in the ink chamber 12b in this case due to the piezoelectric thickness-shear effect. Due to this deformation, the volume of the ink chamber 12b decreases, the ink pressure increases rapidly, and a pressure wave is generated.
Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle 32 (FIG. 5) communicating with b.

When the application of the driving voltage V is stopped,
Since the partitions 11b and 11c return to the positions before the deformation (see FIG. 9), the ink pressure in the ink chamber 12b decreases. Then, the manifold 22 is moved from the ink inlet 21 (FIG. 5).
Ink is supplied into the ink flow path 12b through (FIG. 5).

[0015]

However, in the above-described ink ejecting apparatus 1, the substrate 41 is bonded to the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 as described above, and the substrate 41
A conductive layer pattern 42 is formed at a position corresponding to the position of each ink chamber 12, and the conductive layer pattern 42 and the metal electrode 9 on the bottom surface of the shallow groove 16 are connected to each other by a conductive wire 43 by known wire bonding or the like. It is connected.

In order to eject ink from inside the ink chamber 12b, the partition walls 11b and 11c on both sides are deformed. However, since the partition wall 11 on the side surface of the R-shaped groove 19 is hardly deformed, the partition wall 11b and 11c are not deformed. The deformation of the partition 11 which is the side surface of the channel groove 17 contributes to the generation of pressure on the ink. That is, the channel groove 1
The ink filled in 7 is subjected to pressure, and a predetermined volume of ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 32 at a predetermined ejection speed. That is, the pressure generation that contributes to the injection is caused by the channel groove 1
7, the shallow groove portion 16 and the R-shaped groove portion 19 do not contribute to pressure generation.

Accordingly, the material of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is the same as that of the portion of the shallow groove 16 for electrically connecting to the pattern 42 of the substrate 41 and the R-shaped groove 19 formed to process the shallow groove 16. There was a problem that the cost was high.

Here, electrically, the piezoelectric material constituting the partition 11 acts as a kind of capacitor. For this reason, the shallow groove portion 1 which does not substantially contribute to pressure generation
Since the 6 and the R-shaped groove portion 19 are also made of a piezoelectric material, there is a problem that the capacitance of the capacitor is increased and the efficiency of energy consumed for generating pressure with respect to electric input energy is low. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an ink ejecting apparatus which facilitates the connection between the electrodes of the partition walls and the control section, and which has a small amount of piezoelectric ceramic material and has high energy efficiency. The purpose is to provide.

[0020]

In order to achieve this object, in the ink jet apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of grooves separated by a partition wall at least partially formed of piezoelectric ceramics are provided. Plate and the piezoelectric ceramic
It is formed along the partition of the mix, and it is
Of the first electrode to deform the partition walls, the ink ejection device and a cover plate bonded to the top portion of the plurality of grooves overlying <br/> the partition, is formed on the cover plate, wherein one end Of the cover plate on the opposite side of the groove
Open on the outer surface, extend the other end to the groove side of the first electrode
A communication part connected to the vicinity, and the first electrode in the communication part
Cotton in the vicinity of the opening on said outer surface from a position connected to the
And a second electrode electrically connected to the first electrode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ink ejecting apparatus according to the first aspect, on the outer surface of the cover plate,
A conductive pattern is formed, and the pattern and the second electrode are electrically connected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet apparatus according to the first aspect, the groove is covered by the cover plate.
Then , the ink is filled and the ink is discharged by the deformation of the partition walls.
An ink chamber ejected from a nozzle communicating with an end of the groove ,
Or separated by the partition on both sides of the ink chamber
Or a non-injection area provided by using the same.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink ejecting apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication section includes
Position it perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the groove on the end of the cover plate.
It is a slit to be placed .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink ejecting apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the groove has a uniform depth.

[0025]

[Action] In the ink ejecting device of the present invention having the above configuration, the first electrode along the partition wall, the second electrode of the communicating portion formed in the cover plate, is derived on the outer surface of the cover plate, control It can be connected to the control unit.

[0026] More preferably, the second electrode is a cover plate.
Connected to the conductive pattern on the outer surface of the rate
Connected to .

In this configuration, the groove is covered with a cover plate.
In the groove, the ink chamber filled with ink or the ink
The non-injection area where no injection is performed, or both
It is realized by doing .

Further, the communication part is formed at the end of the cover plate.
Formed as a slit located at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the groove
can do.

Further, in the above configuration, by making the grooves have a uniform depth, it becomes possible to connect the electrodes in the grooves to the control unit without the conventional R-shape and shallow grooves.
Capacitance can be reduced.

[0030]

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

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ejection device 100
Are the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102, the cover plate 110, the nozzle plate 131, and the manifold member 10.
1 is comprised.

The piezoelectric ceramic plate 102
The piezoelectric ceramic plate 102 is formed of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic material, and is cut into a plurality of grooves 1 by a diamond blade or the like.
03 is formed. Further, the partition wall 106 serving as the side surface of the groove 103 is polarized in the direction of the arrow 105. The grooves 103 are of the same depth and are parallel and have opposite end faces 102 of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102.
a and 102b. This groove 103
Is substantially the same as the length of the conventional channel groove 17 (FIG. 6). On the inner surface of the groove 103, metal electrodes 8 are formed on the upper halves of both sides by sputtering or the like.

Next, the cover plate 110 is made of alumina, and slits 111a and 111b are formed on the opposite end faces 110a and 110b. The pitch of the slits 111a and 111b is twice the pitch of the groove 103, and the slits 111a and 111b
Are shifted from each other by a half pitch. The slits 111a are provided so as to correspond to the grooves 103 on both outer sides. Also, the surface 110 of the cover plate 110
Patterns 124 and 125 are formed in c.

The piezoelectric ceramic plate 102
The surface of the groove 103 on the processing side and the surface of the cover plate 110 on the side opposite to the surface 110c are bonded with an epoxy adhesive 120 (FIG. 3). Therefore, the ink ejection device 100
Has an ink chamber 104 as an ejection channel communicating with the slit 111b and an air chamber 1 as a non-ejection area communicating with the slit 111a.
27 are constituted. The ink chamber 104 and the air chamber 127 have an elongated shape with a rectangular cross section.
Is filled with ink, and the air chamber 127 is a region filled with air.

After the cover plate 110 is bonded,
By sputtering or the like, a metal electrode 109 is formed on the surface 110 c of the cover plate 110 by a slit 111.
area on the end face 110a side from the bottom face of the
a formed on a part of the side surface of the inner surface. At this time, the metal electrode 109 is also formed on the metal electrode 8 of the air chamber 127 communicating with the slit 111a, and is electrically connected to the metal electrode 109 formed on the side surface of the slit 111a. For this reason, the metal electrode 8 formed on the partition 106 on one side of the air chamber 127 is connected to the ink chamber 1 of the other air chamber 127 sandwiching the ink chamber 104 formed by the partition 106.
It is electrically connected to the metal electrode 8 formed on the other partition wall 106 constituting the element 04. Further, the metal electrode 109 is electrically connected to the pattern 124.

Then, the metal electrode 117 extends from the center of the cover plate 110 to the end face 110b from the bottom of the slit 111b on the surface 110c of the cover plate 110.
Side region and the inner side surface of the slit 111b. At this time, the metal electrode 117 is also formed on the metal electrode 8 of the ink chamber 104 communicating with the slit 111b, and the metal electrode 11 formed on the side surface of the slit 111b is formed.
7 is electrically connected. Therefore, all the ink chambers 1
04 metal electrode 8 is electrically connected by metal electrode 117. Further, the metal electrode 117 is electrically connected to the pattern 125. The piezoelectric ceramic plate 10
2 end faces 102a, 102b and cover plate 110
Are masked so that the metal electrodes 109 and 117 are not formed on the end surfaces 110a and 110b of the first electrode.

End face 1 of piezoelectric ceramic plate 102
Nozzle plate 131 provided with nozzles 132 at positions corresponding to the positions of the respective ink chambers 104 on the end surface 110a of the cover plate 110 on the side of the slit 111a.
Are adhered. The nozzle plate 131 is formed of a plastic such as polyalkylene (eg, ethylene) terephthalate, polyimide, polyether imide, polyether ketone, polyether sulfone, polycarbonate, or cellulose acetate.

Then, the manifold member 101 is bonded to the end face 102b of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102, the end face 110b of the cover plate 110 on the slit 111b side, and the slit 111b side of the surface 110c of the cover plate 110. A manifold 122 is formed on the manifold member 101, and the manifold 122 surrounds the slit 111b.

The patterns 124 and 125 formed on the cover plate 110 are connected to wiring patterns on a flexible printed board (not shown) not shown. The wiring pattern of the flexible printed board is connected to a rigid board (not shown) connected to a control unit described later.

Next, the configuration of the control unit will be described with reference to FIG. 2 showing a block diagram of the control unit. Cover plate 110
The patterns 124 and 125 formed on the LSI chip 151 are individually connected to the LSI chip 151 via the flexible printed board and the rigid board, respectively.
2. The data line 153, the voltage line 154, and the ground line 155 are also connected to the LSI chip 151.
The LSI chip 151 determines from the data appearing on the data line 153 which nozzle 132 should eject an ink droplet based on the continuous clock pulse supplied from the clock line 152, The voltage V of the voltage line 154 is applied to the pattern 124 that is electrically connected to the metal electrode 8 of the air chamber 127 on both sides. Further, another pattern 124 and a pattern 125 electrically connected to the metal electrode 8 of the ink chamber 104 are connected to the ground line 15.
Connect to 5.

Next, the operation of the ink ejecting apparatus 100 of this embodiment will be described. In order to eject ink droplets from the ink chamber 104b in FIG. 3B, voltage pulses are applied to the metal electrodes 8c and 8f on the ink chamber 104b side of the air chambers 127b and 127c on both sides of the ink chamber 104b via the pattern 124. The other metal electrode 8 has another pattern 12
4. Ground through the pattern 125. Then, the partition 1
06b generates an electric field in the direction of arrow 113b,
6c, an electric field in the direction of arrow 113c is generated,
6b and 106c move away from each other. The volume of the ink chamber 104b increases, and the pressure in the ink chamber 104b including the vicinity of the nozzle 132 decreases. This state is maintained for a time indicated by L / a. Then, during that time slit 1
Ink is supplied from the manifold 122 via the interface 11b. Note that L / a indicates that the pressure wave in the ink chamber 104 is such that the pressure wave in the longitudinal direction of the ink chamber 104 (from the slit 111b to the nozzle plate 131 or vice versa).
This is the time required for one-way propagation, and is determined by the length L of the ink chamber 104 and the sound speed a in the ink.

According to the pressure wave propagation theory, the pressure in the ink chamber 104b reverses and changes to a positive pressure when the time of L / a elapses from the start-up, but the electrodes 8c and 8f are synchronized with this timing. 0V
Return to Then, the partitions 106b and 106c return to the state before deformation (FIG. 3A), and pressure is applied to the ink.
At this time, the pressure turned positive and the partition walls 106b, 106
When the pressure c is returned to the state before the deformation, the pressure generated is added to the pressure, and a relatively high pressure is applied to the ink in the ink chamber 104b, and the ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 132.

In the above embodiment, the driving voltage is first applied in the direction in which the volume of the ink chamber 104b increases.
Next, the application of the drive voltage was stopped to reduce the volume of the ink chamber 104b to a natural state and eject ink droplets from the ink chamber 104b. To eject ink droplets from the ink chamber 104b, and then stop applying the drive voltage to the ink chamber 1b.
The ink may be supplied into the ink chamber 104b by increasing the volume of the ink chamber 04b from the reduced state to the natural state.

As described above, in the ink ejecting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the ink chambers 104 of the air chambers 127b and 127c on both sides of the ink chamber 104b for ejecting ink.
A voltage pulse is applied to the b-side metal electrodes 8c and 8f via the pattern 124, and the other metal electrode 8 is grounded via the other pattern 124 and the pattern 125, and is supplied from the nozzle 132 of the ink chamber 104 to the ground. Since the ink droplets are ejected, the metal electrode 8 of the ink chamber 104 filled with ink is formed.
Since no voltage is applied to the metal electrode 8, the metal electrode 8 hardly deteriorates. Therefore, there is no need for the insulating layer for insulating the ink and the metal electrode 8, and no equipment and processes are required for the insulating layer, so that the productivity can be improved and the cost can be reduced. Further, the ink chamber 10 filled with ink is provided.
Since no voltage is applied to the metal electrode 8 of No. 4, the metal electrode 8 has good corrosion resistance. Therefore, the durability of the metal electrode 8 is long, and the life of the ink ejecting apparatus 100 is long.

Further, since the air chamber 127 is filled with air, the partition 106 is easily deformed, and the voltage may be low.

In the present embodiment, the cover plate 11
Since the slit 111b is formed in the end surface 110b of the zero, only the ink chamber 104 communicates with the manifold 122 via the slit 111b, and the air chamber 127 does not communicate with the manifold 122. Therefore, ink is not supplied to the air chamber 127, and deformation of the partitions 106b, 106c for ejecting ink droplets from the ink chamber 104b does not affect the other ink chambers 104a, 104c. . Accordingly, ink droplets are ejected from each of the ink chambers 104 satisfactorily, and printing quality is good.

In the ink jetting apparatus 100 of this embodiment, after the cover plate 110 is bonded to the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102, the surface 11 of the cover plate 110
0c to the end face 110a from the bottom face of the slit 111a.
Since the metal electrode 109 is formed on the side region and a part of the side surface of the inner surface of the slit 111a, the metal electrode 8 on one side of the air chamber 127 is connected to the other air chamber 12 sandwiching the ink chamber 104.
7 is electrically connected to the metal electrode 8 on the ink chamber 104 side. Also, the cover plate 110 is positioned at a position closer to the bottom surface of the slit 111b on the surface 110c of the cover plate 110.
Area from the center side to the end face 110b side and the slit 111
Since the metal electrodes 117 are formed on all the side surfaces of the inner surface a, the metal electrodes 8 of all the ink chambers 104 are electrically connected.

For this reason, even if the R-shaped groove portion 19 and the shallow groove portion 16 are not provided unlike the related art, all the metal electrodes 8 of the ink chamber 104 are connected, and the partition wall 1 forming the ink chamber 104 is formed.
06, the metal electrodes 8 of the air chambers 127 on both sides can be electrically connected. Therefore, the material of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102 may be smaller than that of the conventional piezoelectric ceramic plate 2, and the cost is reduced. In addition, the metal electrodes 109 and 117 are formed by the patterns 124 and 125 formed on the surface 110 c which is the plane of the cover plate 110.
Are electrically connected to the patterns 124 and 125
And the wiring pattern of the flexible printed circuit board can be electrically connected favorably and easily. In addition, the shapes and sizes of the patterns 124 and 125 are appropriately set, so that the electrical connection can be reliably performed.

Further, considering the driving of the ink ejecting apparatus 100 as described above, in order to eject ink droplets, an input signal to a partition 106 formed of a piezoelectric material, which is a side surface of the groove 103, is applied. It is necessary to apply a predetermined voltage from a driver. The piezoelectric material constituting the partition 106 electrically functions as a kind of capacitor. Here, the capacitance (C) as a capacitor is the width dimension (t) of the partition 106 made of a piezoelectric material, the electrode area (s) of the metal electrode 8 formed on the side surface, and the relative dielectric constant (ε ₁₁ ) of the piezoelectric material.
^T ), and C = ε ₁₁ ^T · ε ₀ · s / t (here, ε ₀ : relative permittivity of vacuum). In the ink jetting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the partition 106 formed of a piezoelectric material is used.
Is approximately the length of the conventional channel groove 17 (FIG. 6), and the conventional R-shaped groove 19 and the shallow groove 6
Since (FIG. 6) is not formed, the electrode area s is smaller and the capacitance C is smaller than in the conventional ink ejecting apparatus 1. For this reason, the energy efficiency is higher than before.

Further, the patterns 124 and 125 of the cover plate 110 can be used without using a flexible printed circuit board.
Can be directly connected to the rigid board connected to the control unit.

The width of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102 can be reduced by making the width of the air chamber 127 smaller than the width of the ink chamber 104.

In this embodiment, the grooves 103 are formed on one surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102. However, the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is increased to form grooves on both surfaces.
An ink chamber and an air chamber may be provided.

In this embodiment, the piezoelectric ceramic plate 102 is formed of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic material, and the partition walls 106 are subjected to piezoelectric sliding deformation. The ink may be ejected by forming the partition wall by piezoelectric longitudinal deformation using a ceramic material of the system (PT).

Further, in this embodiment, the ink ejecting apparatus 100 includes the ink chamber 104 and the air chamber 127. However, as shown in FIG. 4, only the ink chamber 204 having no air chamber 127 is provided. The present invention can also be used in the ink ejecting apparatus 200 having the configuration. In this case, a slit 211 communicating with the ink chamber 204 is provided in the cover plate 210, and a metal electrode 209 is formed on a surface of the cover plate 210 and a part of an inner surface of the slit 211. The metal electrodes 209 are electrically connected to the metal electrodes 8 on both sides in the ink chamber 204. The metal electrode 2
09 is formed corresponding to each ink chamber 204.

[0055]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the first ink jetting device along the partition wall is used.
Electrode in the communication part formed on the cover plate
Is on the outer surface of the cover plate
Thus, it is possible to easily connect to the control unit.

Further , this makes it possible to make the grooves have a uniform depth, so that the conventional R-shaped portions and shallow grooves formed of piezoelectric ceramics are no longer necessary. And cost can be reduced. Further, the capacitance of the entire ink ejecting apparatus is lower than before, and the energy efficiency is higher than before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ink ejecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit of the ink ejecting apparatus according to the embodiment.

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

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another ink ejecting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional groove processing.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a step of forming an electrode of a conventional piezoelectric ceramic plate.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a control unit of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation state of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Ink ejecting device 102 Piezoelectric ceramic plate 103 Groove 104 Ink chamber 105 Polarization direction 106 Partition wall 110 Cover plate 111a Slit 111b Slit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/16 B41J 2/01 B41J 2/045 B41J 2/055

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plate provided with a plurality of grooves separated by a partition wall at least partially formed of piezoelectric ceramics, and formed along the partition walls of the piezoelectric ceramics and deforming the partition walls by applying a voltage. An ink ejecting apparatus comprising: a first electrode; and a cover plate that covers the plurality of grooves and is adhered to a zenith of the partition wall. The ink ejection device is formed on the cover plate, and has one end opposite to the grooves.
Side on the outer surface of the cover plate, and the other end is
A communication portion extending to the groove side and connected to the vicinity of the first electrode; and
Is formed over the opening vicinity on the surface, an ink-jet apparatus characterized by comprising a second electrode connected said first electrode and electrically. 2. On the outer surface of the cover plate,
The ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a conductive pattern connectable to the control unit is formed, and the pattern is electrically connected to the second electrode. 3. The groove is covered by the cover plate.
Then , the ink is filled and the ink is discharged by the deformation of the partition walls.
An ink chamber ejected from a nozzle communicating with an end of the groove ,
Or separated by the partition on both sides of the ink chamber
The ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink ejecting apparatus comprises a non-ejecting area provided for the ink jet head , or both of them . 4. The communication portion is provided at an end of the cover plate.
A slit which is located at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the groove.
The ink jet apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that that. Wherein said groove is an ink jet apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 4 to be the depth of the uniform.