JP4259470B2 - Inkjet printer head manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printer head manufacturing method.

  In the prior art on-demand type impact type ink jet printer head, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-111758, a plurality of operation plates are integrally held via an adhesive in a stacked state. An ink jet in which a diaphragm plate is bonded to the back surface of a cavity plate comprising an adhesive, and an injection pressure generating member such as a driving piezoelectric element is fixed to one side of the diaphragm plate in correspondence with the pressure chamber location Printer heads are known.

  Each operation plate in the cavity plate includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles, a base plate having a pressure chamber for each nozzle, an ink supply source, and ink connected to the pressure chamber. It consists of a manifold plate having a flow path and an ink chamber (manifold), and each plate is a thin metal plate having a thickness of about 200 μm or less.

JP-A-62-111758

  The present invention provides a method for simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of cavity plates in which thin plate-like components are laminated.

To achieve this technical problem, the invention according to claim 1, comprising a cavity plate having a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with a plurality of nozzle holes for discharging ink, a plurality of types of have a thin plate-nozzle In a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head comprising a laminate of a plate, a manifold plate, a spacer plate, and a base plate, a lead frame in which a plurality of the base plates having the plurality of pressure chambers are arranged continuously on a frame frame, and the pressures A lead frame in which a plurality of the spacer plates having a through hole communicating with one end of the chamber and another through hole communicating with the other end of each of the pressure chambers are arranged in a frame frame; and a plurality of the pressure chambers An ink passage communicating with one end through one through hole of the spacer plate and the plurality of pressure chambers; A lead frame having a plurality of said manifold plate consecutively provided disposed framework having a through hole communicating with said spacer plate other through hole of communicating with the end of said nozzle holes, manufactured respectively, the plurality of types The lead frames are stacked, the base plate, the spacer plate and the manifold plate of each lead frame are stacked and integrated, and the plurality of integrated base plates, spacer plates and manifold plate are removed from the lead frame.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 1, wherein the base plate, the spacer plate, and the manifold plate are connected to the frame frames surrounding the base plate, the connecting plate , respectively . When the integrated base plate, spacer plate, and manifold plate are removed from the lead frame, the connecting piece is cut.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the first or second aspect , each of the frame frames of the lead frame has a positioning hole.

Invention of Claim 4 is the manufacturing method of the inkjet printer head in any one of Claims 1-3 . After apply | coating the said adhesive agent to the single side | surface of the said base plate, a spacer plate, and a manifold plate , the said base plate, The spacer plate and the manifold plate are stacked and integrated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the frame frame has a frame shape surrounding each of the base plate, the spacer plate, and the manifold plate. There is no.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the second aspect, a plurality of the base plate, the spacer plate, and the manifold plate are arranged at intervals, and the connecting pieces are Sides of the base plate, spacer plate, and manifold plate along the arrangement direction and the frame frame are continuously provided with a minute width.

The present invention is a base plate, spacer plate and the lead frame a plurality and continuously arranged disposed framework of manifold plate manufactured respectively, by stacking the plurality of types of lead frames, each lead frame base plate, spacer plate and A plurality of cavity plates can be simultaneously manufactured by stacking and integrating the manifold plates and removing the integrated thin plate-like parts from the lead frame.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 9 show a piezoelectric ink jet printer head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a flexible flat cable 40 is overlapped and bonded to an upper surface of a plate-type piezoelectric actuator 20 bonded to a metal plate cavity plate 9 with an adhesive for connection to an external device. It is assumed that ink is ejected downward from a nozzle 15 opened on the lower surface side of the lowermost cavity plate 9.

  The cavity plate 9 is configured as shown in FIGS. That is, the nozzle plate 10, the two manifold plates 11, 12, the spacer plate 13, and the base plate 14 are stacked and bonded together with an adhesive, and in the embodiment, made of synthetic resin. Except for the nozzle plate 10, each of the plates 12, 13, and 14 is made of 42% nickel alloy steel plate and has a thickness of about 50 μm to 150 μm. In the nozzle plate 10, ink ejection nozzles 15 having a minute diameter (in the embodiment, about 25 μm) are provided in a staggered arrangement in two rows along the first direction (long side direction) of the nozzle plate 10. It has been. That is, a large number of nozzles 15 are formed in a staggered pattern at intervals of a minute pitch P along two parallel reference lines 10a and 10b extending in the first direction of the nozzle plate 10. Ink passages 12 a and 12 b are formed in the two manifold plates 11 and 12 so as to extend along both sides of the row of the nozzles 15. However, the ink passage 12b in the lower manifold plate 11 facing the nozzle plate 10 is formed as a recess so as to open only to the upper side of the manifold plate 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The ink passages 12 a and 12 b are sealed by stacking the spacer plate 13 on the upper manifold plate 12. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the nozzle plate 10, the manifold plates 11 and 12, the spacer plate 13, and the base plate 14 in a state in which the back surface (lower surface) of the portion corresponding to the right end in FIG. FIG.

  The base plate 14 is provided with a plurality of narrow pressure chambers 16 extending in a second direction (short side direction) perpendicular to the center line along the long side (first direction). Has been. When parallel longitudinal reference lines 14a and 14b are set on both the left and right sides of the center line, the distal end flow path 16a of the pressure chamber 16 on the left side of the center line is positioned on the left reference line 14a. On the other hand, the tip channel 16a of the pressure chamber 16 on the right side of the longitudinal center line is positioned on the right longitudinal reference line 14b, and the tip channels 16a of the left and right pressure chambers 16 are alternately arranged. Therefore, every other pressure chamber 16 on the left and right sides is alternately arranged so as to extend in opposite directions.

  The front end flow passages 16a of the pressure chambers 16 are formed in the staggered nozzles 15 of the nozzle plate 10 in the same manner in the staggered arrangement of the spacer plate 13 and the manifold plates 11 and 12. It communicates through small diameter communication holes 17, 17, 17 as a flow path. On the other hand, the other end of each pressure chamber 16 is connected to the other end passage 16b having a large diameter via an elongated narrowed portion 16d as an ink passage having a small cross-sectional area. The spacer plate 13 communicates with the ink passages 12a and 12b in the manifold plates 11 and 12 through through holes 18 formed in both the left and right side portions. The other end flow passage 16b and the elongated throttle portion 16d are formed to be recessed so as to open only on the lower surface side of the base plate 14, as shown in FIGS. 3, 7, and 8. The diameter of the other end channel 16b is formed to be approximately equal to the diameter of the through hole 18. The throttle portion 16d has a smaller cross section than the pressure chamber 16 in order to prevent excessive supply of ink to the pressure chamber 16 when the piezoelectric actuator 20 is continuously driven.

  Furthermore, by providing a continuous portion 16c that is about half the thickness of the base plate 14 in the middle in the longitudinal direction of each pressure chamber 16, it is possible to prevent a decrease in rigidity of the side walls of the pressure chambers 16 arranged in parallel. .

  A supply hole 19b drilled at one end of the spacer plate 13 communicates with the ink passage 12a and also communicates with a supply hole 19a drilled at one end of the uppermost base plate 14. A filter 29 for removing dust in the ink supplied from the upper ink tank is stretched on the upper surface of the supply hole 19a.

  Next, a method for assembling the cavity plate 9 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, four lead frames 100a to 100d are stacked and bonded and fixed, and each lead frame 100a to 100d has a manifold plate as a thin plate part on which a predetermined pattern is formed. 11, 12, the spacer plate 13, and the base plate 14 are arranged in a row at regular intervals. That is, the base plate 14 in the above-described embodiment is formed on the lead frame 100d as the lowermost layer so as to be arranged at regular intervals. The left and right elongated frame frames 102 are connected to the tie bar 104 at an appropriate interval. Similarly, spacer plates 13 are formed at the same interval as described above on the second-layer lead frame 100c from the bottom. Manifold plates 12 are formed in the third layer lead frame 100b from the bottom at the same intervals as described above. Further, the other manifold plate 11 is formed at the same interval as the above in the uppermost lead frame 100a. Further, positioning holes 105 having a structure according to the present invention are formed in the frame frame 102 of each of the lead frames 100a to 100d at appropriate intervals. Each plate 11, 12, 13, 14 is connected to the frame 102 by a continuous piece 106 having a very small width.

  When these lead frames are laminated, as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, the lead frame is set upside down with respect to the use state of the cavity plate 9 (the state where the ink nozzles are opened on the lower surface side). Are stacked. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, an adhesive relief groove 33 a formed on one side of each of the lowermost base plate 14, the second-layer spacer plate 13 and the manifold plate 12 from below. , 33b, 34, and 35 are arranged so as to face upward.

  Further, the escape grooves 33a, 33b, 34, 35 and the same upper and lower positions on the flat surfaces of the respective plates facing the escape grooves 33a, 33b, 34, 35 communicate with the escape grooves and penetrate the plate thicknesses of the plates 13, 12, 11. Air relief holes 36a, 36b, 36c are formed so as to communicate with each other in the vertical direction, and at least one of the air relief grooves 36a, 36b formed in the uppermost manifold plate 11 or the lowermost base plate 14 Is open. Preferably, the air escape hole 36d formed in the lowermost base plate 14 is a recess that is about half the plate thickness and does not communicate with the lower surface side (FIGS. 7, 8A, and 8B). reference).

  Then, an adhesive 39 is applied in advance to the laminated surface of the plates of the lead frames 100a to 100d. As one application method of the adhesive 39, the adhesive 39 is thinly applied in advance to the flat surface of the jig, and the laminated surfaces of the plates of the lead frames 100a to 100d are aligned with the applied surface, For example, the adhesive 39 can be transferred to a flat convex surface other than the recesses such as the escape grooves 33a and 33b, the pressure chamber 16, the other end flow passage 16b, the throttle portion 16d, and the air escape hole 36d in the base plate 14. The laminated surface of the plate may be pressed against the roller surface to which the adhesive 39 is applied to transfer it.

  Next, a pin is inserted into the positioning hole 105, and a clamping force or a pressing force is applied to the lowermost lead frame 100d and the uppermost lead frame 100a to be bonded and fixed.

  Thus, when the plurality of lead frames to which the adhesive 39 is transferred are pressed and the wide surfaces of the plates 11, 12, 13, 14 are adhered and fixed, the excess adhesive 39 is removed from the release grooves 33 a, 33 b. , 34 and 35, and then, the extra adhesive 39 fills the air escape holes 36d, 33a, 33b and 33c as shown in FIG. 8B. At this time, air mixed in the mating surfaces (wide surfaces) of the adjacent plates 11, 12, 13, 14 and the adhesive 39 becomes bubbles, and the lateral relief grooves 33 a, 33 b, 34, 35, and It moves together with the adhesive 39 in the vertical air escape holes 36d, 33a, 33b, 33c and is discharged out of the plate. As a result, a stable adhesion / seal layer can be formed by the adhesive 39 formed in a layer shape that does not include bubbles on the mating surfaces (wide surfaces) of the adjacent plates 11, 12, 13, 14.

  Thereafter, when the air escape hole 3633c is sealed with a sealing agent 38 such as an adhesive on the upper surface of the uppermost manifold plate 11, the upper surface of the manifold plate 11 is a smooth wide surface. As a result, the sealing agent 38 can be reliably closed. As a result, the ink passages 12a, 12b, the communication holes 17, the through holes 18, the pressure chambers 16, the front end flow passages 16a, the other end flow passages 16b, etc., as the ink flow paths in the plates 11, 12, 13, 14 and so on. Thus, leakage of ink from the outside to the outside of the cavity plate 9 can be reliably prevented.

  In a capillary phenomenon in which the liquid adhesive 39 passes through a narrow gap such as a mating surface of a plate (including the base plate 14 and the like), a location where the capillary force is larger than a location where the cross-sectional area is large and the location where the cross-sectional area is small On the other hand, since the adhesive 39 is first drawn, it escapes from the cross-sectional areas of the throttle portion 16d, the communication hole 17, and the through hole 18 communicating with the pressure chamber 16 from the other end flow path 16b as an ink flow path. By setting the cross-sectional areas of the grooves 33a, 33b, 34, and 35 to be small, the adhesive 39 on the mating surfaces of the plates escapes before the ink channels and passes through the grooves 33a, 33b, 34, and 35. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink flow path from being blocked by the adhesive 39.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, air escape holes 52, 53, 54, and 55 are provided in the escape grooves 42, 43, and 44 at locations away from the ink flow path, such as the throttle portion 16d, the communication hole 17, and the through hole 18. You may make it pierce.

  Note that the open ends of the escape grooves 36c, 36d, and 55 can be preferably sealed as shown in FIG. That is, as will be described later, when the completed inkjet printer head 6 is fixed to the head holder 1 or the carriage of the apparatus main body, a seal is provided between the cover plate 44 having the window hole 44a through which the nozzle plate 10 is exposed and the manifold 11. The ink jet printer head 6 is covered with the cover plate 44 with the agent 38 interposed therebetween. Thereby, sealing between the periphery of the window hole 44a of the cover plate 44 and the inkjet printer head 6 and sealing of the open ends of the air escape holes 36c, 36d, and 55 are simultaneously performed. The groove 45 of the manifold plate 11 in FIG. 4 is a relief groove for the sealant 38.

  The continuous piece 106 is cut from the lead frames 100a to 100d bonded and fixed as described above, and the integrated cavity plate 9 is removed. In the cavity plate 9, the ink that has flowed into the ink passages 12 a and 12 b from the supply holes 19 a and 19 b drilled at one end of the base plate 14 and the spacer plate 13 passes through the ink passages 12 a and the through holes 18. After being distributed through the pressure chambers 16 through each of the pressure chambers 16, the nozzles 15 corresponding to the pressure chambers 16 are reached from the pressure chambers 16 through the communication holes 17, 17, 17. Yes.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the piezoelectric actuator 20 has a structure in which a plurality of piezoelectric sheets 21 are laminated, and the thickness of one sheet is the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-341833. Among the piezoelectric sheets 21 having a thickness of about 30 μm, on the upper surface (wide surface) of the lowest-order piezoelectric sheet and the odd-numbered piezoelectric sheet counting upward from the piezoelectric sheet 21, there are portions corresponding to the pressure chambers 16 in the cavity plate 9. Narrow individual electrodes (not shown) are formed in a row along a first direction (long-side direction), and each individual electrode extends along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. Each piezoelectric sheet extends to the vicinity of the edge of the long side. A common electrode (not shown) common to the plurality of pressure chambers 16 is formed on the upper surface (wide surface) of the even-numbered piezoelectric sheet from the bottom. The surface electrode 30 that is electrically connected to each of the individual electrodes and the surface electrode 31 that is electrically connected to each of the common electrodes are provided along the edge of the long side. (See FIG. 1).

  Then, an adhesive sheet 41 made of an ink non-permeable synthetic resin material as an adhesive layer is pasted in advance on the entire lower surface (the wide surface facing the pressure chamber 16) of the plate-type piezoelectric actuator 20 having such a configuration. Next, the piezoelectric actuator 20 is bonded and fixed to the cavity plate 9 with the individual electrodes corresponding to the pressure chambers 16 in the cavity plate 9 (FIGS. 5 and 6). reference). Further, when the flexible flat cable 40 is pressed against the upper surface of the piezoelectric actuator 20, various wiring patterns (not shown) in the flexible flat cable 40 become the surface electrodes 30, 31. Electrically joined to the

  In this configuration, by applying a voltage between an arbitrary individual electrode among the individual electrodes 24 in the piezoelectric actuator 20 and a common electrode, the piezoelectric sheet 21 is piezoelectrically applied to the portion of the individual electrode to which the voltage is applied. Due to the distortion in the stacking direction due to the ink, the internal volume of the pressure chamber 16 corresponding to each individual electrode is reduced due to this distortion, so that the ink in the pressure chamber 16 is ejected from the nozzle 15 in the form of droplets. Then, predetermined printing is performed (see FIG. 6).

  FIG. 12 shows a method for manufacturing a cavity plate, which the inventor considered before the above embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12 (a), in the base plate 101d, a number of pressure chambers (not shown) corresponding to the number of nozzles in the nozzle plate are formed at predetermined intervals, and the other end of each pressure chamber is formed. The throttle groove 103 that communicates with the large-diameter ink flow path 102 that communicates with the end of the diaphragm groove 103 is formed in a recess about half the plate thickness. In addition, the spacer plate 101c bonded and fixed to the base plate 101c communicates with the ink flow path 102 and is connected to a common ink chamber (not shown) in the manifold plate 101b (see FIG. 12B) of the adjacent layer. A through hole 104 serving as a communicating ink flow path is formed so as to penetrate the plate thickness. In addition, there are escape grooves 106 and 107 around the ink flow path 102, the throttle groove 103, and the through hole 104 in order to escape excess adhesive 105 (see FIG. 12B) and air when bonding. Further, the end portions 106a and 107a of the escape grooves 106 and 107 were extended to open to the outer peripheral surfaces of the plates 101c and 101d (see FIGS. 12A and 12B).

  Then, an adhesive is applied in advance to the wide surfaces to be stacked vertically in the plates 101b to 101d, and the plurality of plates 101b to 101d are placed in a predetermined vertical positional relationship by positioning the nozzles and the ink flow paths to communicate with each other. In this state, a clamping pressure is applied to the upper and lower plates 101b to 101d to fix them in layers.

  When crimped in this manner, the air mixed into the mating surfaces (wide surfaces) of the adjacent plates 101c, 101d, etc. and the adhesive 105 becomes bubbles and enters the adhesive 105 in the escape grooves 106, 107. It moves along, and is discharged | emitted out of a plate from edge part 106a, 107a. On the other hand, there is a problem that the ink in the ink flow path 102, the throttle groove 103, and the through hole 104 leaks outside through a continuous portion of bubbles in the adhesive 105 in the escape grooves 106, 107. Conventionally, the structure which sealed the outer peripheral end surface of each plate 101b, 101c, 101d with a sealing material separately was employ | adopted. However, the outer peripheral end surfaces of the plates 101b, 101c, and 101d are not always smooth due to the dimensional error of each plate, the processing error such as cutting, and the like, and a lateral shift that is uneven in the lateral direction occurs (FIG. 12B). And the sealing member is not reliable in sealing the outer peripheral end surface of the plate, and there is a problem that ink leakage is likely to occur.

  The present invention is a thin plate-like component such as a lead frame as in each embodiment, and a plurality of thin plate-like components when there is at least one thin plate-like component in which a liquid flow path is formed in at least one side in a predetermined pattern It is optimal for the manufacture of inkjet heads that stack and fix parts.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a piezoelectric inkjet printer head according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of a cavity plate. FIG. 4 is an exploded partial enlarged perspective view of a cavity plate. It is a disassembled perspective view of the cavity plate arrange | positioned with the nozzle side facing up. FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 1. It is an expanded sectional view of a state where a flexible flat cable, a cavity plate, and a piezoelectric actuator are bonded and fixed. It is a principal part expansion perspective view which shows an escape groove, an air escape hole, etc. (A) is sectional drawing, such as an escape groove | channel and an air escape hole which show the adhesive application state prior to lamination | stacking, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the lamination | stacking adhesion state of each plate. It is a principal part expansion perspective view which shows the other escape groove | channel, air escape hole, etc. of a baseplate. It is a perspective view which shows lamination | stacking of the lead frame of this plan. It is a perspective view of components shown in the state where an inkjet printer head, a head holder, etc. were turned upside down. Another example is shown, (a) is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing a state of an adhesive escape groove, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state of laminated adhesion.

Explanation of symbols

9 Cavity plate 10 Nozzle plate 11, 12 Manifold plate 13 Spacer plate 14 Base plate 15 Nozzle 16 Pressure chamber 16b Other end flow path 16d Restriction portion 17 Communication hole 18 Through hole 20 Piezoelectric actuators 100a to 100d Lead frame 102 Frame frame 106 Connection piece

Claims (6)

Inkjet printer comprising a cavity plate having a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with a plurality of nozzle holes for ejecting ink by laminating a plurality of types of thin plate-like nozzle plates, manifold plates, spacer plates and base plates In the head manufacturing method,
A lead frame in which a plurality of the base plates having the plurality of pressure chambers are continuously arranged on a frame , a through hole communicating with one end of each pressure chamber, and another through communicating with the other end of each pressure chamber. A lead frame in which a plurality of the spacer plates having holes are continuously arranged on a frame; an ink passage communicating with one end of the plurality of pressure chambers through one through hole of the spacer plate; and the plurality of pressure chambers. A lead frame in which a plurality of manifold plates having a through hole communicating with the other through hole of the spacer plate communicating with the other end of the spacer plate and the nozzle hole are arranged continuously on a frame frame, respectively .
Laminating the multiple types of lead frames, the base plate, spacer plate and manifold plate of each lead frame are stacked and integrated,
A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head, wherein the plurality of integrated base plates, spacer plates, and manifold plates are removed from the lead frame. The base plate, spacer plate and the manifold plate are connected with each communicating piece to the each frame frame surrounding it, integral base plate, when removing the spacer plate and the manifold plate from the lead frame, cutting the continuous piece The method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 1. Each of said framework of said lead frame manufacturing method of the ink jet printer head according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it has a positioning hole. The base plate, after applying the adhesive to one surface of the spacer plate and the manifold plate, the base plate, the ink-jet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that integrating overlapping the spacer plate and the manifold plate A method for manufacturing a printer head. The framework, the base plate, spacer plate and a manufacturing method of the ink jet printer head according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a frame shape surrounding a plurality of manifold plates, respectively. A plurality of the base plate, the spacer plate, and the manifold plate are arranged at intervals, and the connecting piece has a very small width between the side of the base plate, the spacer plate, and the manifold plate along the arrangement direction and the frame frame. The method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 2, wherein the ink jet printer head is provided continuously.

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