JP3460421B2 - Method of manufacturing 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 which prints by ejecting ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an output printing device for various office equipment, high printing quality, high resolution, low noise, and low cost have been achieved.
In addition, an ink jet printer using an ink jet head has become the mainstream in printers because it does not require a step of fixing the ink to a print medium and can be easily formed into a line and can output a color.

A conventional method of manufacturing an ink jet head will be described below. FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional inkjet head, FIG. 9 is a plan view of a nozzle plate of the conventional inkjet head, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a nozzle plate of the conventional inkjet head. In FIGS. 8 to 10, reference numeral 1 is a nozzle plate made of a material such as resin that can be laser-processed. 2 is ink 3 is ink 2
The orifices 4 for discharging the are formed by half-drilling which allows excimer laser light to pass through the mask in the shape of the channel 4 in the channel. Further, the excimer laser is adjusted by aligning the mask of the shape of the orifice 3 with the processing surface of the flow path 4 using a measuring device so that the orifice 3 is accurately positioned with respect to the flow path 4 after the processing of the flow path 4. Through-hole processing is performed by transmitting light through a mask and irradiating it. A space through which the ink 2 passes is formed by combining the processed nozzle plate 1 with the substrate 5. The substrate 5 is provided with an ink supply hole 6 for supplying the ink 2 to the orifice 3 and the flow path 4. The substrate 5 is joined to an ink tank 7 that is a storage portion for the ink 2, and the ink 2 is supplied from the ink tank 7 to the orifice 3 through the ink supply hole 6.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method for manufacturing an ink jet head, the orifice 3 and the flow path 4 of the ink jet head are required to have high positioning accuracy, and therefore even if a slight deviation occurs. There was a problem that the printing performance was significantly reduced. Further, when the laser beam is applied to the non-processed portion of the flow path 4 when the orifice 3 is processed, the shape of the orifice 3 is deformed, the ejection direction of the ink 2 is displaced, the ejection amount is changed, and the printing performance is increased. It had a problem of being damaged. Further, even when the orifice 3 can be processed within the processing surface of the flow path 4, a step 8 is generated between the orifice 3 and the flow path 4, so that the flow of the ink 2 is disturbed at the step 8 and dust or bubbles are accumulated. There is a problem that it becomes a cause and causes a hindrance to ejection.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet head capable of stably ejecting ink from an orifice.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention forms a groove in a nozzle plate, fills the groove formed in the nozzle plate with a laser processable material, and then forms the groove in the nozzle plate. A hole is formed by laser processing at a position that partially overlaps with the formed groove, the material that fills the groove formed in the nozzle plate is removed, and it is combined with the substrate, and a hole is formed in the nozzle plate, After filling the holes formed in this nozzle plate with a material that can be laser-processed, a groove is formed by laser processing in a position that partially overlaps the holes formed in the nozzle plate, and the holes formed in the nozzle plate are filled. By removing this material and combining it with the substrate, an inkjet head capable of stable ejection of ink from the holes can be obtained by this manufacturing method.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention has a nozzle plate having a groove and a hole connected to each other, and a substrate in contact with the surface of the nozzle plate on which the groove is formed.
A method for manufacturing an inkjet head, in which ink passes through a groove in a nozzle plate and is discharged from a hole in the nozzle plate, the groove is formed in the nozzle plate, and the groove formed in the nozzle plate is filled with a laser-processable material. After that, a hole is formed by laser processing at a position where a part of the groove formed in the nozzle plate overlaps, the material filling the groove formed in the nozzle plate is removed, and it is aligned with the substrate. Since the holes are laser-processed after being filled with a laser-processable material, the laser light is not affected by the groove shape when forming the holes, the holes are not deformed, ink ejection is stable, and The step of the hole can be eliminated, and dust and bubbles can be prevented from collecting on the step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nozzle plate having a groove and a hole connected to each other, and a substrate in contact with the surface of the nozzle plate on which the groove is formed. By the method of manufacturing an inkjet head ejected from the holes of the nozzle plate, the holes are formed in the nozzle plate,
After filling the holes formed in this nozzle plate with a material that can be laser-processed, a groove is formed by laser processing in a position that partially overlaps the holes formed in the nozzle plate, and the holes formed in the nozzle plate are filled. The material is removed to match the substrate, and the groove is laser-processed after the hole is filled with the laser-processable material.Therefore, laser light does not affect the hole shape when forming the groove. This has the effect of preventing the deformation of the holes, stabilizing the ejection of ink, eliminating the step between the groove and the hole, and preventing dust and bubbles from accumulating in the step.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the laser used for laser processing is an excimer laser, and the first and second aspects are provided.
It has the same effect as.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head manufactured using a method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 33 is a print head for ejecting the ink 11. A nozzle plate 34 is made of resin (for example, polyimide, polyester, epoxy, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polysulfone, acrylic, etc.) or a material such as ceramics or glass capable of excimer laser processing. Reference numeral 35 is an orifice for ejecting the ink 11, 36 is a flow path, and 25 is ejection energy generating means for ejecting the ink 11 from the orifice 35.

Here, a method of manufacturing the orifice 35 and the flow path 36 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the channel groove 37 is formed in the nozzle plate member 38 by injection molding, laser processing, or the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, resin (for example, polyimide, polyester, epoxy, polycarbonate,
Excimer laser processable materials such as polyurethane, polysulfone, acrylic, etc., ceramics, glass, etc. 39
Is melted with heat or a solvent and poured into the channel groove 37 by a method such as spin coating or dipping.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), an excimer laser oscillator 40 capable of pulse-oscillating laser light converts excimer laser light 41 into synthetic quartz, anhydrous synthetic quartz, borosilicate crown glass or the like having low light absorption. The mask 43 of the shape shown in FIG.

At this time, aluminum on the mask 43,
Excimer laser light 41 irradiated on a total reflection coating 44 formed by a method such as vapor deposition of gold or a dielectric multilayer film.
Does not pass through the mask 43.

On the other hand, the excimer laser light 41 applied to the uncoated portion 45 passes through the mask 43, becomes the excimer laser light 42, and is positioned and applied so as to partially overlap the flow path groove 37.

The shape of the processing at this time is the shape of the uncoated portion 45 on the mask 43. As the irradiation pulse number of the excimer laser beam 42 increases, the groove 46 is formed on the nozzle plate member 38 as shown in FIG. 4B. When the irradiation of the excimer laser beam 42 is further continued, the groove 46 is formed.
Becomes even deeper and penetrates the nozzle plate member 38 to become the orifice 35 as shown in FIG. After this material 3
9 is melted and removed with a solvent, heat, etc., and the nozzle plate 34 shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.

This processed nozzle plate 34 is shown in FIG.
A space through which the ink 11 passes is formed by combining with the substrate 5 shown in FIG. The substrate 5 has an orifice 35 and a flow path 36.
An ink supply hole 6 for supplying the ink 11 is opened. Further, the substrate 5 is joined to the ink tank 7 which is a storage portion for the ink 11. Further, a discharge energy generating means 25 is provided in a portion of the substrate 5 close to the orifice 35.

Although the orifice 35 is formed by the excimer laser beam 42 after the channel groove 37 is formed in the present embodiment, the channel groove 37 is formed by the excimer laser beam 42 after the orifice 35 is formed. May be.

Next, the construction of the ink jet printer 26 for printing using the print head 33 will be described with reference to FIG. Chassis 27, carriage shaft 28 held by chassis 27, and carriage feed belt 2
The print head 33 is held at 9. Also chassis 2
7 is provided with a paper feed shaft 30 and a paper feed roller 31. Further, the paper feeding roller 31 has a print medium 32
Are held so as to face the print head 9.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
The ejection energy generating means 25 shown in FIG. 1 applies the energy for ejecting the ink 11 to the ink 11 to eject the ink 11 from the orifice 35.

Here, the ejection energy generating means 25 generates boiling bubbles by Joule heat generated by energizing the conductive ink 11, for example, and ejects the ink 11 by the pressure of the boiling bubbles.
Ink 1 is generated by the pressure of the boiling bubble
1 is ejected, and the pressure of the deformation of the piezoelectric element causes the ink 11
It is possible to use an object that discharges

While the ink 11 is being ejected from the orifice 35, the print head 33 moves on the carriage shaft 28 while being guided by the carriage feed belt 29. Further, the print medium 32 is also moved in any direction by the paper feed roller 31. By the above-mentioned operation, the ink 11 is attached to the print medium 32, and it becomes possible to print a picture or a character.

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing the ink jet head in the embodiment of the present invention, the ink 11 passes by combining two or a plurality of plates each having a groove and a hole connected to each other. Channel 3
A method of manufacturing an ink jet head, wherein No. 6 is formed, which is (1) formation of grooves or holes. (2) The formed groove or hole is filled with a laser processable material. (3) Laser processing is performed in the case where the hole is formed in (1), and in the case where the hole is formed, the groove is formed in the groove of (1) or at a position partially overlapping the hole. (4) Remove the material filled in (2). When a laser processes a hole or groove, the laser that processes the hole or groove is used to process the plate together with the material that fills the previously formed hole or groove. It is possible to prevent deformation of the hole or groove without affecting the formed hole or groove. Further, since the holes or the grooves are laser-processed at positions where they partially overlap the grooves or the holes formed previously, it is possible to eliminate the step between the grooves.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is no deformation of the holes, the ejection of ink is stable, and by eliminating the step between the groove and the hole, dust and bubbles are prevented from accumulating in the step. It is possible to manufacture an inkjet head that can be prevented and can perform stable ink ejection for a long period of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an inkjet head manufactured using a method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a mask used for manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a nozzle plate of an inkjet head manufactured using a method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an inkjet printer using an inkjet head manufactured by using the method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional inkjet head.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a nozzle plate of a conventional inkjet head.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a nozzle plate of a conventional inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 substrates 6 Ink supply hole 7 ink tank 11 ink 25 Discharge energy generating means 26 inkjet printer 27 chassis 28 Carriage shaft 29 Carriage feed belt 30 Paper feed shaft 31 Paper feed roller 32 print media 33 print head 34 nozzle plate 35 Orifice 36 channels 37 Channel groove 38 Nozzle plate member 39 materials 40 Excimer laser oscillator 41,42 Excimer laser light 43 mask 44 total reflection coating 45 Uncoated part 46 groove

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A nozzle plate having a groove and a hole connected to each other, and a substrate in contact with a surface of the nozzle plate on which the groove is formed, and ink passes through the groove of the nozzle plate and a hole of the nozzle plate. A method of manufacturing an inkjet head ejected by forming a groove in the nozzle plate, filling the groove formed in the nozzle plate with a laser-processable material, and then forming the groove in the nozzle plate. A method for manufacturing an inkjet head, characterized in that holes are formed by laser processing at positions where a part thereof overlaps, the material filling the groove formed in the nozzle plate is removed, and the material is combined with the substrate. 2. A nozzle plate having a groove and a hole connected to each other, and a substrate in contact with the surface of the nozzle plate on which the groove is formed, and ink passes through the groove of the nozzle plate and the hole of the nozzle plate. A method of manufacturing an inkjet head ejected by forming a hole in the nozzle plate, filling the hole formed in the nozzle plate with a laser processable material, and then forming a hole in the nozzle plate. A method for manufacturing an inkjet head, characterized in that a groove is formed by laser processing at a position where a part of the nozzle plate overlaps, a material filling a hole formed in the nozzle plate is removed, and the material is combined with the substrate. 3. The method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to claim 1, wherein the laser used for the laser processing is an excimer laser.