JP4397129B2 - Electrostatic actuator and ink jet head and ink jet printer using the electrostatic actuator - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrostatic actuator, an ink jet head using the electrostatic actuator, and an ink jet printer. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects ink droplets only when recording is required and adheres to a recording paper surface. In an electrostatic actuator, even if the use environment changes, the ink ejection characteristics and the diaphragm driving characteristics do not change with time. An electrostatic actuator and an ink jet head using the electrostatic actuator The present invention relates to an ink jet printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Hereinafter, conventional techniques related to the present invention will be described.
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-71882 (ink jet head and manufacturing method thereof) relates to an electrostatic ink jet and defines a gap length between a diaphragm and an electrode. In the embodiment, sealing between the diaphragm and the electrode is performed with a thermosetting adhesive or a photocurable adhesive.
[0003]
In the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-179919 (electrostatic actuator and manufacturing method thereof), the vibration chamber including the surface of the bottom wall of the ink chamber of the inkjet head using the electrostatic actuator and the surface of the segment electrode is external. This pipe is further connected to the outside through a bypass pipe. After the open end of the tube is sealed with a sealant, a compound for forming a hydrophobic film is injected into the vibration chamber through a bypass tube in the treatment tank. After the injection, the vibration chamber is hermetically sealed by sealing the bypass pipe with a sealant outside the treatment tank.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-304685 (Electrostatic Actuator and Inkjet Head Using the Electrostatic Actuator) discloses an electrostatic actuator having a vibration chamber that is relatively displaced by electrostatic force and a passage that is hermetically sealed to the vibration chamber. The air passage is stably hermetically sealed so that the sealing agent does not enter the vibration chamber. A sealing pool portion in which the sealing adhesive is accumulated is formed in the passage communicating with the vibration chamber, and the penetration of the sealing adhesive into the vibration chamber is stopped.
[0005]
The invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-264381 (inkjet head and manufacturing method thereof) is a method for manufacturing an inkjet head using a silicon substrate, which stabilizes the discharge output by preventing the generation of gas from the sealant. Allows hermetic sealing. The electrode and the diaphragm are bonded together, and the electrode extraction portion of the bonded substrate is sealed with low melting glass.
[0006]
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-263012 (electrostatic actuator and manufacturing method thereof) is a vibration including the surface of the bottom wall (common electrode) of the ink chamber of the ink jet head using the electrostatic actuator and the surface of the segment electrode. The chamber is connected to a pipe connecting the outside, and this pipe further communicates with the outside through a bypass pipe. Moreover, the 1st through hole for taking out a pipe | tube and the 2nd through hole for taking out a bypass pipe are formed in the cavity plate. After the open end of the pipe is sealed with a sealing material from the first through hole, a compound for forming a hydrophobic film is injected into the vibration chamber through the bypass pipe in the treatment tank. After the injection, the vibration chamber is hermetically sealed by sealing the open end of the bypass pipe with a sealing material from the second through hole outside the treatment tank.
[0007]
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-34319 (recording head) is an electrostatic ink jet head in which a support member is provided on a lower substrate in order to keep a constant distance between the diaphragm substrate and the electrode, and an opening is formed in the support member. A part is provided. As a result, air pressure fluctuations in the gap that occur when the diaphragm is deformed or restored are immediately released to the atmosphere from the opening, so that the operation of the diaphragm is not hindered and generated from the diaphragm. The driving characteristics are improved because the force to be lost is not lost.
[0008]
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-186541 (inkjet head and method for manufacturing the same) is an electrostatic inkjet head in which a communication hole communicating with a vibration chamber and the outside is sealed with an oxide film. As a result, there is no generation of gas during curing, which is a concern during sealing with adhesive, there is no deformation of the diaphragm due to curing shrinkage, and there is no variation in the amount of adhesive entering the vibration chamber. Improves.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The ink jet recording apparatus has many advantages such as extremely low noise during recording, high speed printing, and the ability to use inexpensive plain paper with a high degree of ink freedom. Among them, a so-called ink-on-demand system that ejects ink droplets only when recording is necessary does not require the collection of ink droplets that are not necessary for recording, and is currently mainstream.
[0010]
Ink-on-demand ink jet heads have a driving means that is a piezoelectric element (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-51734), or those that heat ink to generate bubbles and eject ink with that pressure (specialty). No. 61-59911). However, the above-described ink jet head has the following problems.
[0011]
High-speed and high-quality printing has been required for printing with recent inkjet recording devices. In order to achieve this, multi-nozzles and high-density nozzles are used to finely process the piezoelectric elements and generate vibrations. Adhering to the board is quite difficult. In addition, there is a problem that variation in print quality becomes large with dimensional accuracy in conventional machining.
In the method of heating ink, since the driving means is formed by a thin resistance heating element, the above-mentioned problem does not exist, but due to repeated rapid heating / cooling during driving and impact when bubbles disappear. Since the resistance heater is damaged, there is a problem that the life of the inkjet head is short.
[0012]
In order to solve the above problem, there is an ink jet head recording apparatus using electrostatic force as a driving means as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-50601. This method has the advantages of small size, high density, high print quality and long life.
In the electrostatic system, the bottom surface of the ink discharge chamber communicating with the ink nozzle is formed as a vibration plate that can be elastically deformed. A substrate is disposed opposite to the diaphragm at a constant interval. A counter electrode is disposed on each of the diaphragm and the substrate, and a space between these counter electrodes must be sealed. Otherwise, while the inkjet head is driven, moisture may adhere to the surface of the counter electrode, that is, the bottom surface of the opposing diaphragm and the surface of the substrate, which may reduce electrostatic attraction characteristics and electrostatic repulsion characteristics. There is. In addition, the moisture adhering to the surface of the substrate may cause the diaphragm and the electrode substrate to remain attached and become inoperable.
[0013]
Conventionally, the sealing is performed using a thermosetting or photocurable resin as disclosed in JP-A-6-71882.
However, in this method, gas is generated from the adhesive when the adhesive is hardened, the diaphragm is deformed by the curing and shrinkage of the adhesive, and the discharge is not stable, the adhesive flows into the vibration chamber region and the diaphragm is There is a problem of adsorption. In addition, there is a problem that variations in the amount of deformation of the diaphragm are caused by the difference in the amount of gas generated from the adhesive between the bits and the amount of the adhesive entering the pipe.
There is also a method of avoiding the above-mentioned curing shrinkage or deformation of the diaphragm due to gas from the sealing agent by using an elastic adhesive, but it is possible to avoid the sealing film with only the elastic adhesive. In this case, when the usage environment and storage environment (pressure, temperature) change, ink ejection characteristics, diaphragm drive characteristics, etc. will change over time (air passes inside and outside the vibration chamber via the sealant) Problem).
[0014]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and there is no occurrence of deformation of the diaphragm due to gas generated from the sealant or curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the use environment and storage environment (pressure, temperature). ), The electrostatic actuator that does not change its characteristics over time, and the inkjet head using the actuator. Do It is to provide.
[0015]
More specifically, a solid diaphragm, an electrode portion disposed to face the diaphragm, a vibration chamber that causes deformation of the diaphragm between the diaphragm and an electrode disposed to face the diaphragm, and the vibration chamber An electrostatic actuator comprising a first tube for communicating the outside with the vibration chamber, wherein the first tube communicates with the outside at a plurality of organic materials. To charge An electrostatic actuator characterized by being more sealed and Ink jet head using the actuator Is to provide. In addition, by having a second tube communicating with a plurality of the first tubes, an electrostatic actuator that does not vary between bits even when the diaphragm deforms during sealing, and Ink jet head using the actuator Is to provide.
[0016]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the first technical means thereof is a diaphragm, a counter electrode disposed to face the diaphragm, and a vibration chamber that causes deformation of the diaphragm. And an electrostatic actuator that includes the vibration chamber and includes a first tube that communicates with the outside of the vibration chamber. A flexible substrate electrically connected to the counter electrode; The portion where the first pipe communicates with the outside is an organic material. After the sealing, the upper part of the organic material is covered with a second organic material having a lower gas permeability than the organic material, and the connection point between the counter electrode and the flexible substrate is It is sealed.
[0022]
First 2 The technical means of 1's The electrostatic actuator of the technical means is characterized in that a second pipe communicating with a plurality of the first pipes is provided.
[0023]
First 3 The technical means of 2 It is an ink jet head using the electrostatic actuator of the technical means, or an ink jet printer using the ink jet head.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an electrostatic actuator which is a premise of the present invention.
In each electrostatic actuator forming the electrostatic ink jet head, the discharge chamber substrate 1 and the electrode substrate 2 are anodic bonded or directly Si bonded with a predetermined gap length formed by the vibration chamber 6. Since the temperature at the time of bonding is high, the air in the gap portion expands, and when the temperature drops to room temperature after bonding, the pressure in the gap portion becomes less than atmospheric pressure, so the diaphragm 3 at the bottom of the discharge chamber 5 is formed on the surface of the electrode substrate 2. Distortion occurs on the counter electrode 4 side, which causes a short circuit due to contact with the counter electrode 4 or an unnecessary stress applied to the diaphragm 3.
For this reason, it is necessary to once release the inside of the gap between the diaphragm 3 and the counter electrode 4 to the atmosphere. However, if the gap is left open to the atmosphere, dust is attracted by the action of static electricity and the dust adheres to the electrodes, and the vibration characteristics of the diaphragm 3 change. Therefore, in the conventional example, the vibration chamber 6 is released to the atmosphere through the passage, and after the discharge chamber substrate 1 and the electrode substrate 2 are cooled to room temperature after the passage outlet 7 is anodic bonded or directly Si bonded, the viscosity is reduced. Sealing is performed using an adhesive 8 such as high epoxy.
[0025]
In this case, there is a concern about generation of gas during curing of the adhesive during sealing and deformation of the diaphragm 3 due to curing shrinkage. In addition, there is a concern that the amount of the adhesive 8 entering the vibration chamber 6 may vary, and the vibration characteristics of the diaphragm 3 may vary.
The present invention provides a highly reliable electrostatic actuator and ink jet head in view of the problems that are concerned about the sealing described above.
[0026]
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a series of steps for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a similar plan view showing steps subsequent to FIG.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a P-type (100) Si substrate 11 is prepared, and a counter electrode 12 and a gap 13 are formed thereon. Note that the P-type (100) Si substrate 11 serves as an electrode substrate for an electrostatic actuator.
Moreover, the communication hole 14 is formed so that each gap 13 of each actuator may communicate. A damper portion is provided in the middle of the communication hole 14.
[0027]
Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a (110) Si substrate 15 in which boron is implanted is prepared, and a P-type (100) Si substrate 11 in which the counter electrode 12 and the gap 13 are formed and boron is implanted. The (110) Si substrate 15 is bonded by direct bonding, and then the polishing is performed until the thickness of the (110) Si substrate 15 into which boron has been implanted reaches 100 μm. The (110) Si substrate 15 into which boron is implanted serves as a discharge chamber substrate of the electrostatic actuator.
[0028]
Next, a nitride film serving as an etching mask is deposited on a substrate obtained by directly bonding (100) Si substrate 11 and boron-implanted (110) Si substrate 15, and as shown in FIG. 16, the discharge chamber 18 and the temporary bonding region 17 are formed by wet etching. A vibration chamber is formed by direct bonding of the (100) Si substrate 11 and the (110) Si substrate 15 implanted with boron.
[0029]
After that, as shown in FIG. 2D, the electrode extraction portion 19 of the (110) Si substrate (discharge chamber substrate) 15 into which boron has been implanted is opened by dry etching.
[0030]
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3E, the vibration chamber (gap portion) between the discharge chamber substrate 15 and the electrode substrate 11 is sealed with an elastic adhesive 20 having low outgas, low curing shrinkage, and high viscosity. However, sealing with only the elastic adhesive 20 lacks air resistance and is insufficient as sealing.
Thereafter, the wafer (Wafer) is cut into individual chips by dicing.
[0031]
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3F, the exposed counter electrode 12 of the individual electrode and the FPC cable 21 are electrically connected by an anisotropic conductive film. A driver IC is mounted on the FPC cable 21 by wire bonding.
Next, the low air-permeable organic sealing agent 22 is applied so as to cover the upper part of the elastic adhesive 20 having low outgas, low curing shrinkage, and high viscosity and in contact with the FPC cable 21. By this sealing, the gap portion is completely sealed. Further, since the coating is performed so as to come into contact with the FPC cable 21, the FPC cable 21 does not peel from the electrode substrate 11.
[0032]
Thereafter, an adhesive is applied to the upper surface of the discharge chamber substrate 15 in order to join the nozzle plate 24 and the actuator manufactured in the steps of FIGS. Thereafter, the photocurable adhesive 23 is applied as a temporary adhesive to the temporary adhesive application region 17 by a dispenser.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3G, the nozzle plate 24 formed by Ni electroforming and the electrostatic actuator to which the adhesive is applied are aligned and pre-pressurized. Here, the temporary adhesive is cured by irradiating the photo-curing adhesive with ultraviolet rays UV, and the pressure is applied and heat-cured.
[0033]
As described above, in this manufacturing method, first, the first tube, that is, the portion where the gap portion communicates with the outside is sealed with the low-outgas, low-curing-shrinkage, and high-viscosity elastic adhesive 20, and then the low-air permeability The organic sealing material 22 is sealed together with the FPC cable 21.
By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to suppress the deformation of the diaphragm that occurs when the adhesive is cured, and it is possible to suppress the change with time of the deformation amount of the diaphragm accompanying the change in temperature and pressure. Moreover, since the 2nd pipe | tube which connects a some 1st pipe | tube, ie, the communicating hole 14, is comprised, the variation in the diaphragm deformation amount by the difference in the penetration | invasion amount to the pipe | tube of an adhesive agent can be suppressed.
[0034]
In another embodiment of the present invention, sealing is performed with an inorganic material or a laminated film having the inorganic material as the lowest layer. By adopting such a configuration, it is superior in air resistance compared to the case of only resin sealing, and it is possible to suppress the change over time in the amount of deformation of the diaphragm accompanying the change in temperature and pressure as in the configuration of the above embodiment. It becomes.
It is not necessary to completely seal with an inorganic material, and if the structure where the first tube communicates with the outside is complicated and cannot be sealed, then sealing may be performed with a low-permeability adhesive. By performing the inorganic sealing, the cross-sectional area of the portion where the first tube communicates with the outside is reduced, and the low-air-permeable adhesive hardly penetrates into the vibration chamber.
Moreover, the outgas which penetrate | invades into the vibration chamber from an adhesive agent is also few, and the deformation | transformation of a diaphragm by it is small.
[0035]
In addition, when a surface reaction type film is used as the inorganic material, complete sealing is possible even when the structure of the portion where the first tube communicates with the outside is complicated. In this case, the vibration chamber may be under atmospheric pressure depending on the device used. At this time, there is also a method in which the deformation of the diaphragm is eliminated once by connecting the second tube to the outside.
Moreover, you may absorb with the damper part formed in the middle of the 2nd pipe | tube.
[0036]
Next, different manufacturing processes for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a discharge chamber portion showing a series of manufacturing steps for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a column portion between the discharge chamber portion and the discharge chamber portion.
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 5A, a P-type (100) Si substrate 31 (thickness: 625 μm) was prepared, and an oxide film 32 was formed to a thickness of 2 μm by wet oxidation. The oxidation conditions are 1050 ° C. and 18.5 h.
[0037]
Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the resist was patterned using a gradation mask, and the oxide film 32 was patterned by dry etching and wet etching. A non-parallel gap can be formed by forming an electrode shape using a gradation mask, and an electrode shape advantageous for lowering the voltage can be formed. As shown in FIG. 5B, a communication hole 41, that is, a second tube was formed in a column portion between each electrode pattern so as to communicate a plurality of vibration chambers, that is, the first tube.
[0038]
Next, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 5C, TiN33 to be a counter electrode was formed to a thickness of 200 nm by sputtering.
Thereafter, TiN 33 was separated by etching for individual electrodes, and then a silicon oxide film 34 was formed to a thickness of 200 nm as an electrode protective film.
Next, the silicon oxide film 32 and TiN 33 other than the electrode part were removed by dry etching and wet etching, respectively.
In addition, what is shown in FIG.4 (C) and FIG.5 (C) becomes an electrode substrate of an electrostatic actuator.
[0039]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4D and 5D, a (110) Si substrate 35 having a thickness of 400 μm into which boron has been implanted is bonded by direct bonding at 900 to 1000 ° C., and then the thickness is increased to 100 μm. Polishing was performed until
[0040]
Next, a nitride film is laminated on the electrode substrate 31 and the Si substrate 35 and patterned to form an electrode substrate (FIGS. 4C and 5C) as shown in FIGS. The back channel 36 was formed by wet etching.
[0041]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4F and 5F, the discharge chamber 37 was formed by wet etching. At this time, the temporary adhesive region 17 and the pad opening region for discharging chamber joining described in FIGS. 2 and 3 were formed at the same time. Since the etching rate is lower in the region where boron is implanted than in the Si region where boron is not implanted, it is possible to selectively leave only the boron implanted region. Since the electrode substrate and the Si substrate 35 shown in FIG. 4C and FIG. 5C are joined under reduced pressure, the region that has been etched to become a thin film is bent downward.
Thereafter, the boron-implanted Si substrate 35 and the silicon oxide film 32 were etched to open the back channel 36.
[0042]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4G and 5G, the Si substrate 35 in the electrode lead-out portion was opened by etching. At this time, since the gap portion (vibration chamber) is opened to the atmosphere, the diaphragm has a horizontal shape.
[0043]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4 (H) and 5 (H), the open ends communicating from the respective vibration chambers to the outside were sealed with an elastic adhesive 39. In this example, sealing was performed using Toho Kasei's Ultite 1540.
Thereafter, the wafer was separated into chips by dicing.
[0044]
Further, the sealing member that seals the open end that communicates with the outside from each vibration chamber may be a CVD oxide film using ozone TEOS or a laminated film having the CVD oxide film using ozone TEOS as the lowermost layer. it can. By adopting such a configuration, there is no air permeability as compared with the case of sealing with a resin material, and stable driving is possible without change over time in the amount of deformation of the diaphragm due to temperature and pressure changes. Further, by using a CVD oxide film using ozone TEOS, the first tube, that is, the tube connected to the vibration chamber can be sealed regardless of the shape of the portion communicating with the outside.
[0045]
Further, the sealing member for sealing the portion where the vibration chamber communicates with the outside can be a nitride film using LP-CVD, or a laminated film with the nitride film using LP-CVD as the lowermost layer. . By adopting such a configuration, there is no air permeability as compared with the case of sealing with a resin material, and stable driving is possible without change over time in the amount of deformation of the diaphragm due to temperature and pressure changes. Further, by using a nitride film using LP-CVD, sealing can be performed regardless of the shape of the portion where the first tube communicates with the outside.
[0046]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4I and 5I, the FPC cable 40 was electrically connected by an anisotropic conductive film. A driver IC is mounted on the FPC cable 40 by wire bonding.
Next, sealing was performed with a fluororubber-based adhesive 41 so as to cover the elastic adhesive 39 from above and further contact with the FPC cable 40. This fluororubber adhesive 41 is excellent in air permeability.
The actuator part of the electrostatic ink jet head was manufactured by the series of steps described above.
[0047]
Next, an ink jet head using an electrostatic actuator formed by the above manufacturing process will be described.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet head using an electrostatic actuator.
In order to join the electrostatic actuator 51 connected to the FPC cable 54 on which the driver IC 53 is mounted and the nozzle plate 55, an adhesive was applied to the upper surface of the discharge chamber substrate formed in the electrostatic actuator 51. When the discharge chamber substrate and the nozzle plate 55 are bonded with an adhesive, the protrusion of the adhesive affects the jetting characteristics, so that the coating film thickness needs to be about 1 μm. Therefore, the method of applying the adhesive on the upper surface of the discharge chamber was performed by the transfer method. In this embodiment, the adhesive was thinned on the roller with a doctor blade, the adhesive was transferred from the roller by the transfer pad, and the adhesive was transferred from the transfer pad to the upper surface of the silicon liquid chamber.
[0048]
Further, in order to position the nozzle plate 55 and the discharge chamber, an ultraviolet curable adhesive for temporary bonding was applied to the temporary adhesive application region 52 of the discharge chamber substrate by a dispenser.
Then, the nozzle plate 55 formed by Ni electroforming and the electrostatic actuator 51 coated with an adhesive were aligned and pre-pressurized.
Thereafter, the ultraviolet curable adhesive was irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the adhesive, and this pressure was applied to heat cure. At the time of heat bonding, warping occurs due to the difference in linear expansion coefficient between silicon and the nozzle plate (Ni or SUS). If warping occurs, the actuator may be destroyed by internal stress. Therefore, since it is better for the curing temperature of the adhesive to be low, a two-component mixed type (room temperature curing type) epoxy adhesive was used. The lower the curing temperature, the better, but in this example, curing was performed at 50 ° C.
Further, the joint portion 56 for supplying ink from the ink supply tank or the ink cartridge and the frame 58 on which the filter 57 is heat-welded are adhesively bonded.
An adhesive was applied to the frame 58 to bond the actuator 51 and the nozzle plate 55 together, and the actuator was aligned and bonded.
[0049]
With the above configuration, by applying a pulse voltage to the counter electrode which is an individual electrode, the diaphragm is deformed to the counter electrode side by electrostatic force. Then, the ink passes from the common liquid chamber through the fluid resistance portion and flows into the discharge chamber, and the volume of the discharge chamber increases. Here, when the pulse voltage is released, the electrostatic force disappears and the diaphragm returns to the original state. The pressure in the discharge chamber rises due to the elastic force of the diaphragm, and ink is ejected from the nozzle holes provided in the nozzle plate.
[0050]
【The invention's effect】
According to the invention of claim 1, in the electrostatic actuator, the portion where the first tube communicates with the outside is sealed by a plurality of laminated films made of an organic material, so there is less outgassing and curing shrinkage, Sealed using a high-viscosity sealant, and then sealed with a low-permeability sealant to prevent deformation of the diaphragm due to outgassing and cure shrinkage when the sealant is cured In addition, since the air permeability is low, it is possible to prevent the vibration deformation amount with time when the temperature and pressure are changed.
[0051]
Also, A flexible substrate electrically connected to the counter electrode is provided, and the connection portion between the counter electrode and the flexible substrate is sealed with the second organic material, so that a low air-permeable material is used as the second organic material. By selecting, it is possible to prevent the vibration deformation amount with time when the temperature and pressure are changed. In addition, since the second organic material is in contact with the flexible substrate, the flexible substrate can be prevented from peeling from the electrode substrate, and a highly reliable electrostatic actuator can be provided.
[0056]
Claim 2 According to the invention, since the second pipe communicated with a plurality of the first pipes is used, an organic material is used as the sealing material, and even when the diaphragm deformation occurs due to outgassing, curing shrinkage, or the like. Since there is the second tube, it is possible to reduce the variation between the bits.
[0057]
Claim 3 According to the present invention, claims 1 to 2 Since this is an inkjet head or inkjet printer using an electrostatic actuator, it is possible to prevent changes in the amount of deformation of the diaphragm when the temperature and pressure change over time. An ink jet head or an ink jet printer with little variation can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an electrostatic actuator which is a premise of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a series of steps for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a step subsequent to FIG. 2 for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a discharge chamber showing a series of manufacturing steps for manufacturing the electrostatic actuator of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view of a column portion between a discharge chamber portion and a discharge chamber portion in FIG. 4. FIG.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet head using an electrostatic actuator.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Discharge chamber substrate, 2 ... Electrode substrate, 3 ... Vibration plate, 4 ... Counter electrode, 5 ... Discharge chamber, 6 ... Vibration chamber, 7 ... Open end of passage, 8 ... Adhesive, 11 ... P type (100) Si substrate 11 (electrode substrate), 12 ... counter electrode, 13 ... gap, 14 ... communication hole, 15 ... Si substrate into which boron has been injected (110) Si substrate (discharge chamber substrate), 16 ... back channel portion,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 ... Temporary adhesion area | region, 18 ... Discharge chamber, 19 ... Electrode extraction part, 20 ... Elastic adhesive, 21 ... FPC cable, 22 ... Organic sealing agent, 23 ... Photocurable adhesive, 24 ... Nozzle plate, 31 ... P-type (100) Si substrate 11 (electrode substrate), 32 ... oxide film, 33 ... TiN, 34 ... Si oxide film, 35 ... boron-injected (110) Si substrate (discharge chamber substrate), 36 ... back channel 37 ... Discharge chamber, 39 ... Elastic adhesive, 40 ... FPC cable, 41 ... Fluoro rubber adhesive, 51 ... Electrostatic actuator, 52 ... Temporary adhesive application area, 53 ... Driver IC, 54 ... FPC cable 55 ... Nozzle plate, 56 ... Joint part, 57 ... Filter, 58 ... Frame.

Claims (3)

A vibration plate; a counter electrode disposed opposite to the vibration plate; a vibration chamber that causes deformation of the vibration plate; and a first tube that includes the vibration chamber and communicates with the vibration chamber. In the electrostatic actuator
A flexible substrate electrically connected to the counter electrode;
After the portion where the first pipe communicates with the outside is sealed with an organic material ,
An electrostatic type characterized in that the upper part of the organic material is covered with a second organic material having a lower gas permeability than the organic material, and the connection portion between the counter electrode and the flexible substrate is sealed. Actuator. 2. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 1 , further comprising a second tube communicating with a plurality of the first tubes. An ink jet head using the electrostatic actuator according to claim 1 or an ink jet printer using the ink jet head.

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