JP3253269B2 - Printing head manufacturing method and printing head - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a recording head and a recording head.

2. Description of the Related Art In a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head of a type in which ink is ejected from an ejection port, an ejection port forming surface of an ejection port forming member (orifice plate) is used in order to improve the ejection characteristics of the ejected ink. A material having water repellency is formed on the surface, and the discharge port forming surface, at least in the vicinity of the discharge port, is provided with water repellency. That is, a water-repellent resin is applied to the orifice plate, and the resin is cured by applying light or heat treatment to form a water-repellent layer on the discharge port forming surface. Also, depending on the material, by evaporating the solvent or the dispersion medium in which the material is dissolved by heat treatment,
A layer of material is formed, and a water-repellent layer is formed on the face surface. In the case of these heat treatments, the material is generally heated above the glass transition point Tg or melting point Tmp of the material having water repellency. further,. The discharge port forming member itself may be made of a material having water repellency.

[0003] The applicant of the present invention has adopted a technique of forming a discharge port for such a discharge port forming member using a laser beam.

[0004] That is, in the processing of the discharge port by the pulse laser, the discharge port is formed by irradiating a laser beam to an orifice plate whose surface is made water-repellent by performing the above processing. It is done by doing. When the ejection port was formed on the face surface using the pulse laser as described above, it was found during examination of a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head that there was a phenomenon in which a by-product due to orifice processing was attached near the ejection port.

[0005]

When the by-products of the laser processing adhere and accumulate in the vicinity of the discharge port, the state of ink discharge does not sufficiently satisfy the required characteristics. In other words, the by-products are deposited on the water-repellent surface near the ejection port, so that the corresponding portion becomes hydrophilic, and when the ink is ejected, a phenomenon in which the ink is attracted to the hydrophilic region is observed. In some cases, the direction became unstable, resulting in a decrease in print quality.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has a water-repellent layer on the discharge port surface, or the orifice plate itself is made of a water-repellent agent. Against the orifice plate
After performing orifice processing by irradiating a pulsed laser, the orifice is recovered by removing or depositing a highly hydrophilic by-product adhering and accumulating near the orifice or performing a predetermined treatment to restore the water repellency near the orifice. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording head and a method of manufacturing the recording head, which can prevent ink from adhering to the vicinity and prevent deterioration of print quality.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a recording head used in an ink jet printer,
A top plate that forms an ink path corresponding to the location of the discharge energy generating element by joining to a substrate provided with an energy generating element used to discharge ink, and a discharge port forming member Integrally, after the surface of the discharge port forming member on which the discharge port is formed is treated with a water-repellent material, the discharge port is formed by irradiating a pulse laser beam composed of an excimer laser, and thereafter, laser processing is performed. Attach the adhesive tape to the water-repellent treatment surface of the orifice peripheral portion to which the hydrophilic by-product generated at the time has adhered, remove the by-product by performing the operation of peeling at least once, and remove the by-product near the orifice. It is characterized by restoring water repellency.

According to the above arrangement, the hydrophilic substance generated by laser processing can be removed in the vicinity of the discharge port, so that the deterioration of print quality due to the wetting of the ink in the vicinity of the discharge port can be prevented. Thus, a recording head capable of performing stable printing even with time-dependent conversion is obtained.

[0009]

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a view best showing the features of a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a KrF excimer laser, and 2 is an oscillator oscillated from an excimer laser. Wavelength of 248nm
3 is an optical system, 4 is a projection mask having all or a part of the orifices of the ink jet recording head, and 5 is an orifice plate having a water-repellent layer 6. A laser beam 2 oscillated from an excimer laser 1 is processed by an optical system 3 and irradiates a projection mask 4 having a pattern of all or a part of an orifice of an ink jet recording head. The optical system 3 projects the pattern of the projection mask 4 to 1/3 times, and orifices the orifice plate 5 having the water-repellent layer 6. As the orifice plate 5, a film of polyethersulfone (PES) was used. Also,
Cytop (trade name: Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Tg =
(108 ° C.), a CYTOP was applied to the PES orifice plate, and then heat-treated at 120 ° C. for 1 hour to form a water-repellent layer 6. The orifice plate 5 was subjected to orifice processing by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the orifice plate 5 in FIG. In the figure, 2 is an excimer laser beam, 5 is an orifice plate, 6 is a water-repellent layer,
Reference numeral 7 denotes a discharge opening formed by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and reference numeral 8 denotes a by-product generated by the orifice processing and attached near the orifice. In this embodiment, the laser beam 2 is applied from the surface of the orifice plate on which the water-repellent layer is not formed to form the discharge opening 7.

The orifice processing is performed as described above, and the orifice plate on which the by-product adheres and deposits in the vicinity of the discharge opening is heated at 120 ° C. for 1 hour, and the ink jet recording head as shown in FIG. 3 is manufactured using the orifice plate. .

The ink jet unit IJU is a unit of a bubble jet system for performing recording using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for causing film boiling to occur in ink according to an electric signal.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 100 denotes a plurality of electrothermal transducers (discharge heaters) arranged in a plurality of rows on an Si substrate, and electrical wires such as Al for supplying electric power to the heaters formed by a film forming technique. It is a heater board composed of: Reference numeral 200 denotes a wiring board for the heater board 100,
It has a wiring corresponding to the wiring of No. 0 (for example, connected by wire bonding) and a pad 201 located at an end of the wiring and receiving an electric signal from the main unit.

Reference numeral 1300 denotes a grooved top plate provided with a partition for dividing a plurality of ink flow paths, a common liquid chamber for storing ink for supplying ink to each ink flow path, and the like.
An ink receiving port 1500 for receiving the ink supplied from the ink tank IT and introducing the ink into the above-described common liquid chamber, and an orifice plate 400 having a plurality of discharge ports corresponding to each ink flow path are integrally formed. Polysulfone is preferred as these integral molding materials, but other molding resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a support made of, for example, metal which supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 in a plane, and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a presser spring, which is M-shaped and presses the common liquid chamber at the center of the M-shape with light pressure, and concentrates a part of the liquid path, preferably an area near the discharge port, with linear pressure at the front drooping portion 501. Press. The foot of the spring pressing the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 is inserted into the hole 3121 of the support 300.
By engaging with the back side of the support 300 through the support board 300 and holding them together, the concentrated spring force of the presser spring 500 and the front drooping portion 501 causes the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 to be engaged. And crimped.
The support 300 is provided with two positioning protrusions 1012 of the ink tank IT and positioning and heat fusion holding protrusions 1812.
00, 1801 for positioning holes 312, 190
In addition to 0 and 2000, projections 2500 and 2600 for positioning the apparatus main body IJRA with respect to the carriage HC are provided on the back side. In addition, the support 300 is provided with an ink supply pipe 2200 that enables ink supply from the ink tank.
Also has a hole 320 that allows the through hole to pass therethrough. Support 30
The attachment of the wiring board 200 to 0 is performed by sticking with an adhesive or the like. The concave portions 2400, 24 of the support 300
00 are provided in the vicinity of the positioning projections 2500 and 2600, respectively. In the assembled ink jet cartridge IJC, three sides around the projections are located at the extension points of the head tip region formed by the plurality of parallel grooves 3000 and 3001. Unnecessary objects such as dust and ink are projected 250.
0, 2600. This parallel groove 3000 is formed. The lid member 800 is
The outer wall of the ink jet cartridge IJC is formed, and the ink jet unit IJU is formed with the ink tank.
To form a space for accommodating therein. In addition, this parallel groove 3
The ink supply member 600 on which the ink supply pipe 001 is formed is connected to the ink conduit 160 connected to the ink supply pipe 2200 described above.
0 is formed as a fixed cantilever beam on the supply pipe 2200 side, and a sealing pin 602 for securing a capillary phenomenon between the fixed side of the ink conduit and the ink supply pipe 2200 is inserted. Reference numeral 601 denotes a packing for sealing the ink tank IT and the supply pipe 2200, and reference numeral 700 denotes a filter provided at the tank side end of the supply pipe.

Since the ink supply member 600 is molded, the ink supply member 600 is inexpensive, has high positional accuracy, eliminates a decrease in precision in forming and manufacturing, and also has a cantilevered conduit 1600 for mass production. The pressure contact state of 1600 with ink receiving port 1500 can be stabilized. In this example, a more complete communication state can be reliably obtained only by pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under the pressure contact state. The ink supply member 6
00 is fixed to the support 300 by using a pin (not shown) on the back side of the ink supply member 600 with respect to the holes 1901 and 1902 of the support 300.
This is easily performed by making the projections project through the surface of the support member 300 and then heat-fusing the portion projecting to the rear surface side of the support 300.
Note that the slightly protruding region of the heat-fused back surface portion is accommodated in a recess (not shown) on the side wall surface of the ink jet unit IJU mounting surface of the ink tank IT, so that the positioning surface of the unit IJU can be accurately obtained. .

The apparatus was mounted on a printer to observe the discharged liquid droplets and to record them on recording paper. As a result, the ejection direction of the flying ink droplets was stabilized with respect to the ink jet recording head manufactured using the orifice plate which was not subjected to the heat treatment after the orifice processing, and the result was obtained as to whether the printing was good.

(Reference Example 2) Another reference example will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows an orifice plate which has been processed by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and then ultrasonic cleaning has been performed on the orifice plate on which by-products have adhered and deposited around the discharge port. . The orifice plate 5
A polyethersulfone film was used. Also, KP801 (trade name: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was used as a water repellent, and was applied to the orifice plate 5;
A heat treatment was performed for a time to form a water-repellent layer 6. The orifice plate 5 having the water-repellent layer 6 formed as described above was irradiated with a KrF excimer laser beam from the opposite surface on which the water-repellent layer 6 was formed to form the discharge port 7. By subjecting the orifice plate 5 having the discharge port 7 formed therein to ultrasonic cleaning in water, by-products 8 during orifice processing were almost completely removed.

An ink jet recording head was manufactured by using the orifice plate from which orifices were processed and by-products were removed, and mounted on a printer to observe the ejected droplets and record on recording paper. As a result, the ejection direction of flying ink droplets is stable and good results are obtained for printing, compared to an inkjet recording head manufactured using an orifice plate that is not subjected to ultrasonic cleaning after orifice processing. Was.

(Reference Example 3) Another reference example will be described below.

FIG. 5 shows an orifice plate which has been processed by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and then cleaned by an ultrasonic water flow on an orifice plate on which by-products are deposited and deposited around a discharge port. It is. For the orifice plate 5, a polyimide film was used. Further, KP801 (trade name: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was used as a water-repellent agent, applied to the orifice plate 5, and then heat-treated at 150 ° C. for 1 hour to form a water-repellent layer 6. The orifice plate 5 having the water-repellent layer 6 formed as described above was irradiated with a XeCl excimer laser beam from the surface opposite to the surface on which the water-repellent layer 6 was formed to form the orifice 7. The orifice plate 5 having the discharge ports 7 formed as described above was washed by an ultrasonic water flow using pure water. Thereby, the by-product 8 during the processing of the discharge port was almost removed.

An ink jet recording head was manufactured using the orifice plate from which orifices were processed and from which by-products had been removed. The ink jet recording head was mounted on a printer to observe the ejected droplets and record on recording paper. As a result, the ejection direction of flying ink droplets is more stable and good results are obtained for printing, compared to an ink jet recording head manufactured using an orifice plate that is not cleaned by ultrasonic water flow after orifice processing. Was.

Reference Example 4 Another reference example will be described below.

FIG. 6 shows an orifice plate on which by-products are deposited and deposited around the discharge port after processing by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As the orifice plate 5, a film of polyether sulfone was used. Moreover, after applying to the orifice plate 5 using CYTOP (trade name, Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) as a water repellent, heat treatment was performed at 120 ° C. for 1 hour to form a water repellent layer 6. The orifice plate 5 having the water-repellent layer 6 formed as described above was irradiated with a KrF excimer laser beam from a surface opposite to the surface on which the water-repellent layer 6 was formed to form an orifice 7. The orifice 7 thus formed on the orifice plate 5
A high-pressure water stream formed by continuously discharging pure water pressurized to 200 kgf / cm ² from a 50-micron nozzle made of sapphire was applied from the orifice direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the by-products 8 during the laser processing of the portion where the high-pressure water flow did not hit could not be sufficiently removed, but the by-products adhered to the vicinity of the discharge port of the orifice plate by the laser processing. The product could be removed.

In this way, an orifice is processed, and an ink jet recording head is manufactured using an orifice plate from which by-products have been removed from the vicinity of the orifice. The ink jet recording head is mounted on a printer to observe discharged droplets and to record on a recording paper. I did it. As a result, after the orifice processing, the ejection direction of the flying ink droplet was more stable than that of the ink jet recording head manufactured using the orifice plate which was not washed by the high-pressure water flow, and good results were obtained for printing. .

(Examples) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 7 shows that the cellophane tape is repeatedly adhered to and peeled off from the orifice plate on which the by-products adhere and accumulate around the discharge port five times after being processed by the orifice processing apparatus shown in FIGS. It is a thing. For the orifice plate 5, a polyimide film was used.
Also, KP801 (trade name of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was used as a water repellent and applied to the orifice plate 5,
Heat treatment was performed at 50 ° C. for 1 hour to form a water-repellent layer 6. The orifice plate 5 having the water-repellent layer 6 formed as described above was irradiated with a XeCl excimer laser beam from the surface opposite to the surface on which the water-repellent layer 6 was formed to form the orifice 7. Cellophane tape was peeled off from each side of the orifice plate 5 on which the orifices 7 were formed, five times each. Thereby, by-products during the orifice processing were removed.

An ink jet recording head was manufactured using the orifice plate from which orifices were processed and by-products were removed as described above. The ink jet recording head was mounted on a printer to observe discharged droplets and to record on recording paper. As a result, the ejection direction of the flying ink droplets is more stable than that of an ink jet recording head manufactured using an orifice plate that does not peel off from the cellophane tape after orifice processing, and good results are obtained for printing. Was.

It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink, particularly in an ink jet recording system. The present invention provides an excellent effect in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which a change in the state of ink is caused by energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a sharp temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding one-to-one to this drive signal can be formed. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal transducers,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge portion. The effect of the present invention is effective even in a configuration based on JP-A-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be performed reliably and efficiently regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. As such a recording head, a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, and a recording head that is integrally formed.
Any of the configurations as individual recording heads may be used.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, a recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or an electric connection with the apparatus main body or ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like, which are also provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus in the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. is there. To be more specific, capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording Performing a preliminary ejection mode for performing another ejection is also effective for performing stable printing.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are, for example, not only one provided for single color ink, but also a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to the printing mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming the printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink jet system In general, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within the range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range. Anything can be used. In addition, positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or use an ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink. In any case, thermal ink such as a liquid that is liquefied by application of heat energy according to a recording signal and a liquid ink is ejected, and a liquid that already starts to separate when it reaches a recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink that liquefies for the first time by energy is used. In such a case, an ink described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260 is used.
It may be configured such that it is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0040]

As described above, a discharge port (orifice) plate having a water-repellent layer on the face surface (discharge port surface) is irradiated with a pulse laser beam composed of an excimer laser to form a discharge port. After that, by performing at least one operation of adhering and peeling the adhesive tape to the orifice peripheral portion to which by-products generated during laser processing adhered, the adhesion of ink to the vicinity of the orifice is prevented, and the print quality is improved. It is possible to provide a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head capable of preventing deterioration and an ink jet recording head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing an orifice processing apparatus used in a reference example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a state of an orifice plate processed by a laser.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a recording head.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state of an orifice plate processed according to Reference Example 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an orifice plate processed according to Reference Example 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state of an orifice plate processed according to Reference Example 4.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state of an orifice plate processed according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 excimer laser device 2 laser beam oscillated from excimer laser device 3 optical lens system 4 projection mask having all or part of patterns of plural ejection openings of ink jet recording head 5 orifice plate 6 repellent formed on orifice plate Water layer 7 Discharge port 8 By-product of orifice processing

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-187356 (JP, A) JP-A-2-187346 (JP, A) JP-A-60-27850 (JP, U) JP-A-2-187356 76766 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/135 C08J 7/00 C08J 7/04

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a recording head used in an ink jet printer, comprising the steps of: bonding to a substrate provided with an energy generating element used for discharging ink; Correspondingly, the top plate forming the ink path and the ejection port forming member are integrated, and after the surface of the ejection port forming member where the ejection port is formed is treated with a material having water repellency, a pulse made of excimer laser An operation to form a discharge port by irradiating a laser beam, and then to adhere and peel off an adhesive tape to the water-repellent surface of the orifice periphery where hydrophilic by-products generated during laser processing adhere. Is performed once or more to remove the by-products,
A method for manufacturing a recording head, comprising recovering water repellency near an orifice. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation of the pulsed laser beam is performed from a surface contacting the ink path to form an ejection port. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the water repellent is a polymer. 4. An ink jet recording head produced by the method according to claim 1.