JP3296115B2 - Method of manufacturing inkjet head and inkjet head - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet head and a structure of the ink jet head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method for manufacturing an ink jet head, various methods have been proposed. Among them, as a method useful for mass production, cost reduction, and quality stabilization, there is a method of forming a large number of inkjet heads on a large-area substrate, and cutting and separating to obtain individual inkjet heads. In particular, a large number of uniform ink-jets can be formed by laminating a substrate on which a groove such as an ink channel is formed by anisotropic etching of Si and a substrate on which a heater and electrodes are formed, and then cutting and separating the substrate. The manufacturing method for obtaining a head is a very useful method in mass production, cost reduction, and quality stabilization. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 61-230954 and 1-1
No. 48560 has already proposed.

FIG. 11 is a process chart showing an example of a conventional method for manufacturing an ink jet head, and FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view showing an example of a wafer in a head grinding and cutting / separating step. In the figure, 1 is a heater wafer, 2 is a channel wafer, 3a and 3b are alignment marks, 4, 4a,
4b is a head chip, 5 is a photosensitive resin layer, 6 is an adhesive,
7a, 7b and 7c are grinding positions, 8 is a cleaning liquid, 11 is a heater, 12 is a pit, 13 is a common liquid chamber, 14 is an ink flow path, 15 is a bonding pad, and 16 is a bypass part.

In the step of FIG. 11A, a heater wafer 1 is manufactured. The heater wafer 1 is made of a Si wafer, and as shown in FIG. 12, the heaters 11, the number of which are equal to the number of the head chips 4a on the heater wafer side, are placed on the Si wafer.
Individual electrode and common electrode not shown, bonding pad 1
5. A protective layer (not shown) is formed. Further, FIG.
In the step (B), the photosensitive resin layer 5 is formed, and the heater wafer 1 is completed. As shown in FIG. 12, the photosensitive resin layer 5 is not formed on the heater 11, the bypass portion 16, and the bonding pad 15. The concave portion on the heater 11 becomes a pit 12 for regulating the shape of a bubble generated by the heater 11. The alignment mark 3a is also formed on the heater wafer 1 during the above-described process.

In the step of FIG. 11C, a channel wafer 2 is manufactured. The channel wafer 2 is also formed of a Si wafer, and as shown in FIG. 12, an ink flow path 14 corresponding to a heater on the heater wafer 1, a common liquid chamber 13, and the like are formed by anisotropic etching. The common liquid chamber 13 is formed so as to penetrate the channel wafer 2. Also, a concave portion is formed in a portion corresponding to the bonding pad 15. Further, an alignment mark 3b is also formed. Thereby, the channel wafer 2 is completed.

Thereafter, in a step of FIG. 11D, an adhesive 6 such as an epoxy is applied to the bonding surface side of the channel wafer 2, and in a step of FIG. Align and join. Alignment is performed using alignment marks 3a and 3b that have been patterned in advance. On the surface of the bonded wafer, there are formed ink supply through-holes communicating with the common liquid chamber 13 corresponding to the respective head chips.

[0007] The process of FIG.
This is the step of grinding and cutting off. In this step, a grinding step of grinding the channel wafer 2 at the grinding position 7a to expose the bonding pad 15 provided on the heater wafer 1 and a discharge port surface of the two wafers joined in FIG. And a dicing step of grinding at a grinding position 7b to define a flow path length, and a grinding position 7c
And a cutting step of cutting and separating each head chip. In FIG. 12, a portion to be ground is indicated by a chain line. In this step, the head chips 4 are cut and separated.

The step of FIG. 11G is a step of cleaning the head chips 4 cut and separated in the step of FIG. If chips, dust, and the like generated by the grinding in FIG. 11F remain in the head chip 4, ink ejection failure or the like is caused, and the image quality deteriorates. Therefore, in this step, the chips, dust and the like are washed away, and the head chip 4 is kept in a clean state.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of an example of a conventional ink jet head. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIGS. 11 and 12 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. 17 is a bonding pad, 18 is a discharge port, 19 is a fixing substrate, 20 is a bonding wire, 21 is a sealing material, 22
Is an ink auxiliary tank, 23 is a dead water area, and 24 is an etching seam. The head chip 4 manufactured by the process shown in FIG. 11 is die-bonded on the fixing substrate 19 via a conductive adhesive (not shown) or the like. Then, the bonding pads 17 on the printed wiring board (not shown) on the fixing substrate 19 and the bonding pads 15 on the heater wafer 1 are electrically connected by the bonding wires 20. Then, an ink auxiliary tank 22 containing a filter or the like as necessary is joined to the surface on which the ink supply port is formed via a sealing material 21 to form an ink jet head.

Problems of the conventional ink jet head formed as described above will be described. In the conventional inkjet head manufactured in the above-described steps, FIG.
, The ink flows as shown by the alternate long and short dash line. For this ink flow, there is a dead water area 23 where there is almost no ink flow.

In order to form the groove of the ink flow path 14 with high accuracy, the anisotropic etching for the groove of the ink flow path 14 and the common liquid chamber 13 is a two-step process (two-step etching).
Will be implemented. In this two-step etching, an unetched film (SiOx, SiNx) patterned into a desired shape is used as a mask for defining an etching region.
) Is formed into two layers on the channel wafer. In the first step, the common liquid chamber 13 having a through-hole that requires a long time for etching is etched by using the upper unetched patterning film. Thereafter, the upper unetched film is peeled off, and the groove of the ink flow path 14 is etched using the lower unetched patterning film. At this time, the common liquid chamber 13 is simultaneously etched. By the two-step etching, a step-shaped etching seam 24 is formed on the side surface of the common liquid chamber 13.

In such a step portion of the dead water area 23 and the etching seam 24 in the common liquid chamber 13, air bubbles are apt to collect at the time of ink filling, and a place where minute air bubbles and the like existing in the ink adhere and grow. ing. The large air bubbles that have grown here or the large air bubbles that have accumulated in the initial stage may be affected by the influence of the bypass unit 1, which is the entrance of the ink flow path 14, for some reason.
When it moves to the vicinity of 6, the supply of ink to the ink flow path 14 is hindered, and image quality defects such as faint printing and missing printing occur.

As an improved ink jet head configuration for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-179
No. 263, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-338177, and the like have been proposed. JP-A-6-1792
In No. 63, a concave portion for the common ink chamber and a concave portion for the ink flow path which do not penetrate the back surface are formed by anisotropic etching, and a grinding groove for connecting the two concave portions is formed. The through holes are used for ink supply and maintenance. However, in such a configuration, since the side surface of the inkjet head serves as the ink supply port, a member for supplying ink is added to the side surface portion of the inkjet head. For this reason, there is a problem that the head width becomes larger than the printing width (the length of the area where the ejection openings are arranged), which hinders downsizing of the entire printing apparatus.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-338177, in a substrate on which an ink flow path is formed, a common ink chamber is formed by performing anisotropic etching from one surface and an ink flow path is formed by performing anisotropic etching from the other surface. Thus, the common ink chamber is created to have an ideal shape. However, it is necessary to perform anisotropic etching from both sides of the substrate, which requires expensive equipment such as a double-sided aligner.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-15689 discloses that
A technique of manufacturing a substrate and a manifold member by integral two-color injection molding is disclosed. However, this technique is inferior to the anisotropic etching of Si in terms of nozzle accuracy, and the positioning of the manifold member (including the flow path portion) causes a reduction in workability.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not require a new capital investment, and is inexpensive, small, high-quality, high-precision ink jet head and such an ink jet head. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an ink-jet head capable of manufacturing an ink-jet head.

[0017]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets; a plurality of ink flow paths corresponding to the ejection openings; In a method for manufacturing an ink jet head including an energy generation unit for ejecting ink droplets respectively provided in an ink flow path and a common ink chamber to which the plurality of ink flow paths are connected, at least the plurality of ink flow paths Forming a first substrate provided with the energy generating portion and the electrode corresponding to the above, and forming a groove for the plurality of ink flow paths and a second common groove formed in the plurality of ink flow paths. Manufacturing a substrate, aligning and bonding the first substrate and the second substrate, cutting the bonded substrate into head chips,
Cutting the substrate at a portion of the common groove close to the ink flow path to remove a part of the common groove of the second substrate, and having one or more ink supply ports and having a common ink chamber. The common ink chamber member in which the groove of
The inkjet head is manufactured by a process of assembling the substrate with a portion where the common groove is partially removed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the first aspect,
The first substrate and the second substrate are both made of a Si wafer, and in the step of manufacturing the first substrate, the electrodes and the energy generating section are formed by an LSI process to manufacture the second substrate. In the process, the groove for the plurality of ink flow paths and the common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths are formed by anisotropic etching.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an ink jet head according to the first aspect,
The second substrate and the common ink chamber member are both made of resin, and the grooves for the plurality of ink flow paths are formed at the time of molding the second substrate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets, a plurality of ink flow passages corresponding to the ejection openings, and an ink provided in each of the plurality of ink passages. In an ink jet head including an energy generation unit for ejecting droplets and a common ink chamber to which the plurality of ink flow paths are connected, at least an energy generation unit and an electrode corresponding to the plurality of ink flow paths are provided. One substrate and a second substrate in which a groove for the plurality of ink flow paths and a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths are formed, and wherein the second substrate is The groove is cut at a portion close to the ink flow path, a part of the common groove of the second substrate is removed, and a groove for a common ink chamber having one or more ink supply ports is provided. Formed common b Is characterized in that the compartments member is assembled to a part to remove a portion of said common groove in the second substrate.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet head according to the fourth aspect, the common ink chamber member generates a flow direction component which is opposite to the ink flow direction of the plurality of ink flow paths. It is characterized in that it is formed in a structure having no place to perform.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a first substrate having at least an energy generating portion and an electrode corresponding to a plurality of ink flow paths is manufactured, and a groove for a plurality of ink flow paths is formed. And a second substrate in which a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths is formed. Then, the first substrate and the second substrate are aligned and joined, cut, and separated into head chips. In the head chip thus obtained, the second substrate is cut at a portion of the common groove near the ink flow path, and a part of the common groove is removed. This allows
The dead water area in the common liquid chamber shown in FIG. 13 is removed.
Instead, a common ink chamber member having one or more ink supply ports and formed with a groove for the common ink chamber is assembled to a portion from which the common groove has been removed to manufacture an ink jet head.

The ink jet head manufactured as described above may include a first substrate having at least the energy generating portions and electrodes corresponding to the plurality of ink flow paths, A groove for the plurality of ink flow paths and a second substrate having a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths are joined, and the second substrate is provided with the ink flow path of the common groove. A common ink cut at a portion close to a path to remove a part of the common groove of the second substrate, and having at least one ink supply port and a groove for a common ink chamber formed therein; The chamber member is the second
And a part of the substrate where a part of the common groove is removed.

By manufacturing the ink-jet head in this way, or in the ink-jet head thus manufactured, an ideal ink flow path without dead water or the like is formed, and the image quality due to bubbles or the like is increased. A high-quality inkjet head with little reduction can be manufactured. In particular, as in the invention described in claim 5, the common ink chamber member is formed in a structure in which there is no place where a flow direction component that is opposite to the ink flow direction of the plurality of ink flow paths is generated. Thereby, an ideal ink flow path is obtained.

The common ink chamber groove provided in the common ink chamber member functions as a conventional common liquid chamber and an auxiliary tank, and has conventionally been provided near a joint between the common liquid chamber and the auxiliary tank. Since the dead water area and the unnecessary flow path resistance cannot be generated, the ink supply property is improved, and the generated bubbles are quickly discharged from the nozzles by a maintenance operation or the like, and the reliability of the image quality can be improved. In addition, since the supply of ink is performed from the rear of the nozzle, the width of the ink jet head does not increase, and a small recording apparatus can be configured.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first substrate and the second substrate are composed of Si wafers, and the grooves for the plurality of ink flow paths and A common groove common to a plurality of ink channels is formed by anisotropic etching. The common groove corresponds to a common ink chamber in a conventional ink jet head, but it is not necessary to provide an ink supply port, so that it is not necessary to penetrate to the opposite surface of the second substrate. Therefore, it can be formed by one-time etching without performing two-step etching as in the related art. For this reason, the step of the etching seam, which has conventionally occurred, does not occur, the image quality can be prevented from deteriorating due to bubbles, and the manufacturing process can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. Of course, by adopting the anisotropic etching, the ink flow path can be obtained with high accuracy / high density, and the upper and lower substrates are made of the same material. There is no need to worry, and the advantages of the conventional inkjet head, such as a highly reliable head, can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the second substrate and the common ink chamber member can be made of resin.
Thereby, a low-cost inkjet head can be obtained. At this time, by separately manufacturing the second substrate and the common ink chamber member, the common liquid chamber portion and the ink flow channel portion having different required accuracy and the like can be made of a material and injection molding that meet the respective requirements. It can be manufactured under the conditions, and since it is a separate part, it can easily absorb stress, and a highly reliable head can be obtained.

[0028]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a first embodiment of a method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing an example of a wafer in a head grinding and cutting / separating process. 3 is a plan view of the same. In the figure, FIG.
1 to 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals. 31 is an escape groove, and 32 is a grinding position.

In the step shown in FIG. 1A, a heater wafer 1 is manufactured. The heater wafer 1 is made of a Si wafer, and as shown in FIG. 2, the heaters 11, the individual electrodes and the common electrodes (not shown), the bonding pads 15,
A not-shown protective layer and the like are formed by an LSI process. Further, in the step of FIG. 1B, after a photosensitive polyimide resin is spin-coated, a desired pattern is exposed and developed to form a photosensitive resin layer 5 and baking (Cure) is performed, whereby the heater wafer 1 is completed. . As the photosensitive polyimide resin, for example, Probim manufactured by Ciba-Geigy
ide (registered trademark), Pyral manufactured by Du-Pont
In PI2722 or the like can be used. The photosensitive resin layer 5 is not formed on the heater 11 and the bonding pad 15 as shown in FIG. The concave portion on the heater 11 becomes a pit 12 for regulating the shape of a bubble generated by the heater 11. The alignment mark 3a is also formed on the heater wafer 1 during the above-described process.

In the step of FIG. 1C, the channel wafer 2
Is prepared. The channel wafer 2 is also formed of a Si wafer, and as shown in FIG. 2, an ink flow path 14 corresponding to the heater on the heater wafer 1, a relief groove 31 provided in common for each ink flow path 14, and a bonding pad. Fifteen
Are formed by anisotropic etching. Further, an alignment mark 3b is also formed. Thereby, the channel wafer 2 is completed. Escape groove 31
Unlike the conventional common liquid chamber, it is not necessary to penetrate to the opposite side of the channel wafer 2. Therefore, since these can be formed by one-time anisotropic etching, the number of manufacturing steps and the time required for manufacturing in this step can be reduced.

Thereafter, in the step of FIG. 1D, an adhesive 6 such as an epoxy adhesive spin-coated on a PET film, for example, is thinly and uniformly applied to the adhesive surface side of the channel wafer 2 by transfer.

Next, in the step of FIG.
A heater wafer 1 manufactured in the steps (A) and (B);
The channel wafer 2 manufactured in the steps shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D is aligned and joined. Alignment is performed using alignment marks 3a and 3b that have been patterned in advance on the bonding surface side of each wafer, and is achieved with high accuracy by an alignment device while observing using, for example, an infrared microscope. The two wafers are baked (Cure) after alignment and bonding.

The step of FIG. 1F is a step of grinding, cutting and separating each head chip 4. This step includes a grinding step of grinding the channel wafer 2 at the grinding position 32 in order to determine the rear end of the ink flow path 14 and to remove an unnecessary portion of the channel wafer 2 from the flow path side to the bonding pad 15. In order to form the discharge port surfaces of the two wafers joined in FIG. 1E and to define the flow path length, a dicing step of grinding at a grinding position 7b and a grinding at a grinding position 7c are performed. And a cutting step of cutting and separating into chips. In FIG. 2, the portion to be ground is indicated by a dashed line. Here, in the dicing step, grinding for forming a groove is performed, but grinding may be performed so as to also serve as a cutting step. In this step, the head chips 4 are cut and separated.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink flow path 14 and the relief groove 31 formed in one step in the step of FIG. 1C are connected to each other. Become. However, this FIG.
In the step (F), there is no problem because that portion is cut off by grinding at the grinding position 32.

The step of FIG. 1G is a step of cleaning the head chips 4 cut and separated in the step of FIG. If chips, dust, and the like generated by the grinding in FIG. 1F remain in the head chip 4, ink ejection failure or the like is caused, and image quality is deteriorated. Therefore, in this step, the chips, dust and the like are washed away, and the head chip 4 is kept in a clean state.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an example of a completed ink jet head in the first embodiment of the ink jet head of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same. In the figure, FIG.
3 and FIGS. 11 to 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. 41 is a common liquid chamber part,
Reference numeral 42 denotes an ink supply port. The head chip 4 manufactured by the process shown in FIG. 1 is die-bonded on the fixing substrate 19 via, for example, a conductive adhesive.
The bonding pads 17 on the printed wiring board (not shown) on the fixing substrate 19 and the bonding pads 15 on the heater wafer 1 are electrically connected by bonding wires 20.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, a common liquid chamber component 41 having an ink supply port 42 manufactured by injection molding is used.
The ink jet head is completed by being combined with the removed portion of the channel wafer 2 and sealed so as not to leak ink. Here, a filter (not shown) is joined to the ink supply port 42 of the common liquid chamber component 41,
Connection with an ink tank not shown is made.

The common liquid chamber component 41 has ink resistance,
It is made of a material that can be easily injection molded. For example, polycarbonate (PC), modified polyphenylene oxide (PPO), or the like can be used.

In the common liquid chamber component 41, an ink passage from the ink supply port 42 to the ink flow path 14 is formed.
This ink passage is configured to be wider than the ink flow path 14, and has a function of a common liquid chamber and a function of a sub ink tank in a conventional inkjet head. Also,
The size of the ink jet head to which the common liquid chamber component 41 is assembled can be suppressed to the same size as the ink jet head after the conventional sub ink tank is assembled, and a small ink jet head can be configured. .

The passage in the common liquid chamber component 41 is formed so that there is no place where a flow direction component that is opposite to the ink flow direction in the ink flow path 14 occurs. Therefore, the dead water area in the common liquid chamber and the dead water area in the connection portion between the sub ink tank and the common liquid chamber, which exist in the related art, are not formed in the configuration of this embodiment, and there is no place where bubbles remain and grow. This makes it possible to manufacture an ink jet head capable of recording a high-quality image without causing a large bubble to clog the ink flow path 14 and cause a discharge failure.

In the above-described manufacturing process, since the common liquid chamber component 41 is simply assembled instead of assembling the sub ink tank, the number of steps and the cost are not increased so much, and the ink jet head can be manufactured at low cost.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing an example of a wafer at the time of grinding and cutting and separating the ink jet head according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the same. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 16 denotes a bypass unit. In this embodiment, the ink flow path 14 and the relief groove 31 formed in the channel wafer 2 are formed in an independent pattern, and the photosensitive resin layer 5 on the heater wafer 1 side is formed with a bypass portion 16 by patterning. The bypass section 16 forms a connection flow path between the ink flow path 14 and the relief groove 31.

Also in the second embodiment, the first
In the same manner as in the example, the device is manufactured by the steps shown in FIG. When forming the photosensitive resin layer 5 in the step of FIG. 1B, in addition to the heater 11 and the bonding pad 15,
The portion of the bypass section 16 is also removed. FIG. 1 (C)
In the anisotropic etching step, the ink flow path 14 and the relief groove 31 are formed as independent patterns as described above. As a result, the end of the ink flow path 14 is
4 and the clearance groove 31 will be defined by the wall formed by the unetched portion. Therefore, the first
As in the embodiment of the present invention, an undesired etching shape in which the communication between the ink flow path 14 and the escape groove 31 is difficult to control is not formed, and the ink flow path 14 is accurately manufactured so that the flow path length becomes a predetermined length. be able to. Furthermore, since the unetched portion between the ink flow path 14 and the escape groove 31 does not allow the pressure for ink ejection to escape to the rear, an ink jet head with good ejection energy efficiency can be obtained.

Further, the grinding for removing the unnecessary portion of the channel wafer 2 performed in the step of FIG. 1F is performed at a portion of the clearance groove 31 close to the ink flow path 14 as shown in FIG. It is. As in the first embodiment described above,
When grinding the connection between the ink flow path 14 and the relief groove 31,
Since the length of the ink flow path 14 is determined by grinding,
Grinding must be performed accurately. However, in this embodiment, since the grinding is performed at the clearance groove 31, precision and quality are not so much required, and the load of the grinding process can be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an example of a completed ink jet head according to a second embodiment of the ink jet head of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a front view thereof. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIGS. 4 and 5 and FIGS. 6 and 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. 43 and 44 are sealing materials. A sealing material 43 is provided between the front channel wafer 2 and the common liquid chamber component 41. Sealing material 4
As 3, an elastic sheet or the like can be used, and sealing can be performed by sandwiching and pressing the sealing material 43. Due to the sealing material 43 made of the elastic sheet, the accuracy of the common liquid chamber component 41 in the height direction with respect to the channel wafer 1 and the heater wafer 2 becomes gentle, and the production of the common liquid chamber component 41 becomes easy.

When the photosensitive resin layer 5 is formed, the position where the common liquid chamber component 41 is assembled is also removed by patterning. Then, the common liquid chamber component 41 can be positioned and assembled on the heater wafer 1 by utilizing the concave portion from which the photosensitive resin layer 5 has been removed. Heater wafer 1
The sealing of the common liquid chamber component 41 can be performed using the concave portion of the photosensitive resin layer 5.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a sealing material 44 capable of absorbing a certain difference in height is also used on the side surface of the common liquid chamber component 41. Thereby, the manufacturing accuracy of the common liquid chamber component 41 can be reduced, and an assembly failure due to various factors such as thermal expansion can be avoided.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an example of a completed ink jet head according to a third embodiment of the ink jet head of the present invention. 45 and 46 are holes, 51 is a channel member, 52 is a fluid resistance part, and 53 is a front hat. This embodiment shows an example in which a portion corresponding to the channel wafer 2 in which the ink flow path 14 is formed in the above-described embodiment is also formed by injection molding.

As the material of the channel member 51 corresponding to the channel wafer 2, a material having ink resistance and easy to be injection-molded is used similarly to the common liquid chamber component 41. From the viewpoint of heat resistance and thermal expansion, for example, polyetherimide (PEI), polyethersulfone (PES), polysulfone (PSF), or the like can be used.

The flow of the manufacturing process is almost the same as the process shown in FIG. However, in the step of FIG. 1C, the channel member 51 is manufactured by injection molding.
The ink flow path 14, the fluid resistance part 52, and the like
It is made at the time of molding of 1. At this time, the common liquid chamber member 41
It is also possible to configure so that the portion where is assembled is not formed. The channel member 51 is formed by molding a number of ink jet heads at the same time, bonding them after positioning, and cutting and separating the ink jet heads later.

When the channel member 51 is formed by injection molding as described above, the flow path structure of the ink flow path 14 can be formed freely. For example, as shown in FIG.
Various designs are possible, for example, the shape of the flow path in which the second flow path 2 is formed, and the shape of the ink flow path 14 and the discharge port 18 are trapezoidal.

After cutting and separating into inkjet head units,
The common liquid chamber component 41 is assembled and sealed to complete the ink jet head. In FIG. 10, holes 45 and 46 provided in the common liquid chamber component 41 are for pouring a sealing material after the common liquid chamber component 41 is assembled. In the example shown in FIG. 10, all the common liquid chamber components 41 are structured to be sealed with a sealing material.

In FIG. 10, the front hat 53
Is provided. The front hat 53 is a member for improving the hermeticity with the capping member at the time of the capping operation for preventing the evaporation of the ink when the ink jet head is mounted on the recording apparatus. For more information,
See, for example, JP-A-3-138156. The front hat 53 also has a function of controlling the sealing material to a desired position when assembling the inkjet head. In FIG. 10, the sealing material poured from the hole 45 is guided so as to be filled well between the channel member 51 and the common liquid chamber component 41.

As in the third embodiment, the ink flow path 1
By forming the channel member 51 in which 4 is formed from resin, a low-cost inkjet head can be obtained.
The channel member 51 and the common liquid chamber component 41 can of course be integrally formed. However, by separately producing them, the required accuracy of the common liquid chamber portion and the ink flow path portion and the environment to be used can be improved. Can be made with materials and injection molding conditions that meet each requirement. Further, since it is a separate part, it is easy to absorb stress, and a highly reliable head can be obtained.

[0055]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an inexpensive, compact, high-quality, high-precision ink jet head can be obtained, and such an ink jet head can be manufactured in large quantities. it can. In addition, in the inkjet head of the present invention and the inkjet head manufactured by the inkjet head manufacturing method of the present invention, large bubbles do not grow in the inkjet head and there is no deterioration in print quality due to the bubbles, so that high-quality printing can be performed. There is an effect that an image can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process chart showing a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an example of a wafer during a head grinding and cutting / separating step in the first embodiment of the method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present invention, and FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a wafer in a head grinding and cutting / separating step in the first embodiment of the method of manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an example of a completed inkjet head in the first embodiment of the inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an example of a completed inkjet head in the first embodiment of the inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a wafer in a step of grinding and cutting and separating an inkjet head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of a wafer in a step of grinding and cutting and separating an ink jet head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a completed inkjet head in a second embodiment of the inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of an example of a completed ink jet head in a second embodiment of the ink jet head of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an example of a completed ink jet head in a third embodiment of the ink jet head of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a process chart showing an example of a method for manufacturing a conventional inkjet head.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a wafer in a step of grinding and cutting and separating an inkjet head in an example of a conventional method of manufacturing an inkjet head.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a heater wafer, 2 is a channel wafer, 3a and 3b are alignment marks, 4, 4a and 4b are head chips,
5 is a photosensitive resin layer, 6 is an adhesive, 7a, 7b, 7c are grinding positions, 8 is a cleaning liquid, 11 is a heater, 12 is a pit, 1
3 is a common liquid chamber, 14 is an ink flow path, 15 is a bonding pad, 16 is a bypass portion, 17 is a bonding pad, 18 is a discharge port, 19 is a fixing substrate, 20 is a bonding wire, 31 is an escape groove, 32 Is a grinding position, 41 is a common liquid chamber component, 42 is an ink supply port, 43 and 44 are sealing materials, 45 and 46 are holes, 51 is a channel member, 52
Is a fluid resistance part, and 53 is a front hat.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Ikegami 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Jun Takagi 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-338177 (JP, A) JP-A-5-8396 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/16 B41J 2/045

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets, a plurality of ink flow passages corresponding to the ejection openings, and an energy generation unit for ejecting ink droplets provided in each of the plurality of ink passages. And a method of manufacturing an ink jet head including a common ink chamber to which the plurality of ink flow paths are connected, wherein a first substrate including the energy generating unit and an electrode corresponding to at least the plurality of ink flow paths is manufactured. Forming a second substrate having grooves for the plurality of ink flow paths and a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths; and forming the first substrate and the second substrate. Aligning and joining, and cutting the joined substrate to separate it into a head chip, and cutting the second substrate at a portion of the common groove near the ink flow path, thereby cutting the second substrate. Said Removing a part of the common groove;
An ink jet head is manufactured by assembling a common ink chamber member having one or more ink supply ports and formed with a groove for a common ink chamber to a portion of the second substrate from which a part of the common groove is removed. A method for manufacturing an ink jet head, comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are both formed of a Si wafer, and the electrode and the energy generation unit are formed of an LSI in a process of manufacturing the first substrate.
Forming a groove for the plurality of ink flow paths and a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths in the step of manufacturing the second substrate by anisotropic etching. A method for manufacturing the ink jet head according to claim 1. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the second substrate and the common ink chamber member are both made of resin, and the grooves for the plurality of ink flow paths are formed when the second substrate is molded. Item 2. The method for producing an ink jet head according to Item 1. 4. A plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets, a plurality of ink flow passages corresponding to the ejection openings, and an energy generation unit for ejecting ink droplets provided in each of the plurality of ink flow passages. And a first substrate including the energy generation unit and the electrode corresponding to at least the plurality of ink flow paths, in the inkjet head including a common ink chamber to which the plurality of ink flow paths are connected; A groove for an ink flow path and a second substrate having a common groove common to the plurality of ink flow paths are joined, and the second substrate is close to the ink flow path of the common groove. A common ink chamber member which has been cut at a portion to remove a part of the common groove of the second substrate, and has a groove for a common ink chamber having at least one ink supply port. The second substrate An ink jet head, wherein the ink jet head is mounted on a portion where a part of the common groove is removed. 5. The ink chamber according to claim 4, wherein the common ink chamber member has a structure in which there is no place where a flow direction component that is opposite to a flow direction of the ink in the plurality of ink flow paths is generated. 2. The inkjet head according to item 1.