JP4735740B2 - Liquid ejecting head and liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting apparatus, and in particular, a part of a pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening for ejecting ink droplets is configured by a diaphragm, and a piezoelectric element is formed on the surface of the diaphragm. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus that eject ink droplets by displacement of a piezoelectric element.

  A part of the pressure generation chamber communicating with the nozzle opening for discharging ink droplets is constituted by a vibration plate, and the vibration plate is deformed by a piezoelectric element to pressurize the ink in the pressure generation chamber to discharge ink droplets from the nozzle opening. Two types of ink jet recording heads have been put into practical use: those using a longitudinal vibration mode piezoelectric actuator that extends and contracts in the axial direction of the piezoelectric element, and those using a flexural vibration mode piezoelectric actuator.

  The former can change the volume of the pressure generation chamber by bringing the end face of the piezoelectric element into contact with the vibration plate, and it is possible to manufacture a head suitable for high-density printing, while the piezoelectric element is arranged in an array of nozzle openings. There is a problem that the manufacturing process is complicated because a difficult process of matching the pitch into a comb-like shape and an operation of positioning and fixing the cut piezoelectric element in the pressure generating chamber are necessary.

  On the other hand, the latter can flexibly vibrate, although a piezoelectric element can be built on the diaphragm by a relatively simple process of sticking a green sheet of piezoelectric material according to the shape of the pressure generation chamber and firing it. There is a problem that a certain amount of area is required for the use of, and high-density arrangement is difficult.

  On the other hand, in order to eliminate the disadvantages of the latter recording head, a uniform piezoelectric material layer is formed over the entire surface of the diaphragm by a film forming technique, and this piezoelectric material layer is shaped to correspond to the pressure generating chamber by lithography. There is proposed a structure in which a piezoelectric element is formed so as to be separated for each pressure generating chamber (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Also, in such an ink jet recording head, a flow path forming substrate having at least two rows of pressure generation chambers communicating with the nozzle openings, and a piezoelectric element bonded to the piezoelectric element side of the flow path forming substrate There is a structure having a bonding substrate on which a driving IC to be driven is mounted. In this structure, the driving IC is mounted in a substantially central portion of the bonding substrate, that is, in a region corresponding to the row of the pressure generation chambers, and the driving IC and the lead-out wiring drawn from each piezoelectric element are connected to the driving IC of the bonding substrate. They are electrically connected by wire bonding through through holes provided on both sides (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In such a conventional ink jet recording head, two rows of piezoelectric elements are driven by one drive IC, so that the manufacturing cost can be kept relatively low. However, through holes are formed on both sides of the drive IC. Therefore, it is necessary to relatively increase the areas of the flow path forming substrate and the bonding substrate, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the head. In particular, when the pressure generating chambers are arranged at a high density, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure a region for forming a plurality of through holes, and the head becomes large. Such a problem exists not only in an ink jet recording head that ejects ink, but also in other liquid ejecting heads that eject droplets other than ink.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-286131 (FIGS. 1 to 4) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-136734 (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting apparatus in which pressure generating chambers are arranged at high density and the size can be reduced.

According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems, a flow path forming substrate having at least two rows of pressure generation chambers respectively communicating with nozzle openings, and a diaphragm on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate. A liquid ejecting head provided with a piezoelectric element that causes a pressure change in the pressure generating chamber, and is bonded to the piezoelectric element side of the flow path forming substrate; A drive IC that is disposed in a region facing each column of the pressure generating chambers and drives the piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric substrate is disposed in a region corresponding to the space between the columns of the pressure generating chambers. At least one through-hole through which the extraction electrode drawn out from the element is exposed is provided corresponding to each row of the pressure generating chambers, and a beam portion is formed between adjacent through-holes. In the liquid jet head
In the first aspect, the head can be reduced in size even if the pressure generating chambers are arranged at high density by forming the through hole using the existing space without providing the space for forming the through hole. Can do. Further, since the beam portion is provided between the through holes, the strength of the bonded substrate is increased, and the rigidity of the flow path forming substrate to which the bonded substrate is bonded can be ensured. As a result, crosstalk caused by the structure can be prevented, and stable ejection characteristics can always be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a wiring pattern on which the driving IC is mounted is formed on the bonding substrate, and a part of the wiring pattern is formed on the beam portion. And a common electrode wiring connected to a common electrode common to the plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged in parallel is formed along the row of the pressure generating chambers. .
In the second aspect, since the resistance value of the common electrode when the voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element is substantially reduced by increasing the area of the common electrode wiring, even if a plurality of piezoelectric elements are driven simultaneously. A voltage drop can be prevented from occurring. Therefore, the droplet ejection characteristics are stable and variations in the droplet ejection characteristics are suppressed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the sealing substrate includes a piezoelectric element holding portion that seals the space in a state where the bonding substrate secures a space in a region facing the piezoelectric element. The liquid ejecting head is characterized in that.
In the third aspect, the head can be further miniaturized by mounting the driving IC on the sealing substrate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, a plurality of the drive ICs are arranged at predetermined intervals in the direction in which the pressure generation chambers are arranged on the bonding substrate, and In the liquid ejecting head, the through hole is provided corresponding to each driving IC, and the beam portion is formed on the bonding substrate corresponding to the predetermined interval.
In the fourth aspect, the beam portion extending in the direction in which the pressure generating chambers are arranged and the beam portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the pressure generating chamber are formed, and the rigidity of the sealing substrate and the flow path forming substrate is further increased.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
In the fifth aspect, it is possible to realize a small liquid ejecting apparatus with improved printing quality.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 5 is a plan view of a recording head according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet recording head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of FIG. As shown in the figure, the flow path forming substrate 10 is made of a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110) in the present embodiment, and one surface thereof is made of silicon dioxide previously formed by thermal oxidation. A 2 μm elastic film 50 is formed. The flow path forming substrate 10 is formed with two rows 13 in which a plurality of pressure generating chambers 12 are arranged in the width direction. Further, a communication portion 14 is formed in a region outside the longitudinal direction of the pressure generation chamber 12 of the flow path forming substrate 10, and the communication portion 14 and each pressure generation chamber 12 are provided for each pressure generation chamber 12. Communication is made via a supply path 15. The communication part 14 constitutes a part of a reservoir that communicates with a reservoir part of a sealing substrate, which will be described later, and serves as a common ink chamber for the pressure generating chambers 12. The ink supply path 15 is formed with a narrower width than the pressure generation chamber 12, and maintains a constant flow path resistance of ink flowing into the pressure generation chamber 12 from the communication portion 14.

  Further, on the opening surface side of the flow path forming substrate 10, an insulating film 51 used as a mask when forming the pressure generating chambers 12 is interposed on the side opposite to the ink supply path 15 of each pressure generating chamber 12. A nozzle plate 20 having a nozzle opening 21 communicating in the vicinity of the end is fixed through an adhesive, a heat-welded film, or the like. The nozzle plate 20 has a thickness of, for example, 0.01 to 1 mm, a linear expansion coefficient of 300 ° C. or less, for example, 2.5 to 4.5 [× 10 −6 / ° C.], glass ceramics, silicon It consists of a single crystal substrate or non-rust steel.

  On the other hand, as described above, the elastic film 50 having a thickness of, for example, about 1.0 μm is formed on the side opposite to the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10. For example, an insulator film 55 having a thickness of about 0.4 μm is formed. Further, on the insulator film 55, a lower electrode film 60 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.2 μm, a piezoelectric layer 70 having a thickness of, for example, about 1.0 μm, and a thickness of, for example, about 0 The upper electrode film 80 having a thickness of 0.05 μm is laminated by a process described later to constitute the piezoelectric element 300. Here, the piezoelectric element 300 refers to a portion including the lower electrode film 60, the piezoelectric layer 70, and the upper electrode film 80. In general, one electrode of the piezoelectric element 300 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric layer 70 are patterned for each pressure generating chamber 12. In addition, here, a portion that is configured by any one of the patterned electrodes and the piezoelectric layer 70 and in which piezoelectric distortion is generated by applying a voltage to both electrodes is referred to as a piezoelectric active portion. In this embodiment, the lower electrode film 60 is a common electrode of the piezoelectric element 300, and the upper electrode film 80 is an individual electrode of the piezoelectric element 300. However, there is no problem even if this is reversed for the convenience of the drive circuit and wiring. In either case, a piezoelectric active part is formed for each pressure generating chamber. Further, here, the piezoelectric element 300 and the vibration plate that is displaced by driving the piezoelectric element 300 are collectively referred to as a piezoelectric actuator.

  Further, a lead electrode 90 made of, for example, gold (Au) or the like is connected to the upper electrode film 80 constituting each piezoelectric element 300, and the lead electrode 90 is connected to the row 13 of the pressure generating chambers 12. The tip portion is exposed in a through-hole of the sealing substrate described later.

  Then, on the flow path forming substrate 10 on which such a piezoelectric element 300 is formed, a bonding substrate on which the driving IC 110 for driving the piezoelectric element 300 is mounted, in this embodiment, the sealing substrate 30 is bonded. ing. The sealing substrate 30 includes a piezoelectric element holding portion 31 that can seal a space in a region facing the piezoelectric element 300 in a state where a space that does not hinder the movement of the piezoelectric element 300 is secured. The piezoelectric element holding portions 31 are respectively provided corresponding to the rows 13 of the pressure generation chambers 12. In the present embodiment, each piezoelectric element holding portion 31 is integrally provided in a region corresponding to the row 13 of each pressure generating chamber 12, but of course, it is provided independently for each piezoelectric element 300. May be. Examples of such a material of the sealing substrate 30 include glass, ceramic material, metal, resin, and the like. However, it is more preferable that the sealing substrate 30 is formed of a material substantially the same as the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flow path forming substrate 10. Preferably, in the present embodiment, the silicon single crystal substrate made of the same material as the flow path forming substrate 10 is used.

  Further, the sealing substrate 30 is provided with a reservoir portion 32 in a region corresponding to the communication portion 14 of the flow path forming substrate 10. In this embodiment, the reservoir portion 32 is provided along the row 13 of the pressure generating chambers 12 through the sealing substrate 30 in the thickness direction, and as described above, the communication portion of the flow path forming substrate 10. 14, a reservoir 100 is formed which serves as a common ink chamber for each pressure generating chamber 12.

  Furthermore, in a substantially central portion of the sealing substrate 30, that is, in a region facing between the rows 13 of the pressure generation chambers 12, a through hole 33 that penetrates the sealing substrate 30 in the thickness direction is provided in each row of the pressure generation chambers 12. A beam portion 34 is formed between the through holes 33. The beam portion 34 is preferably formed integrally with the sealing substrate 30, but may of course be a separate body from the sealing substrate 30.

  Further, on the sealing substrate 30, a wiring pattern 35 to which an external wiring (not shown) is connected and a drive signal is supplied is provided via an insulating film 36. A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) for driving each piezoelectric element 300 on both sides of the through-hole 33 of the sealing substrate 30, that is, on the wiring pattern 35 in a region corresponding to each row 13 of the pressure generation chamber 12. A certain driving IC 110 is mounted.

  Here, the drive signal includes, for example, a drive system signal for driving the drive IC such as a drive power supply signal, and various control system signals such as a serial signal (SI). Consists of a plurality of wires to be supplied. In the present embodiment, the common electrode wiring 37 connected to the lower electrode film 60 that is the common electrode of the piezoelectric element 300 among the wirings constituting the wiring pattern 35 and supplied with a driving signal (COM) includes: It extends along the row 13 of the pressure generating chambers 12 on the beam portion 34 together with the region where the driving IC 110 is mounted. The wiring provided on the beam portion 34 is not limited to the common electrode wiring 37, and wiring for supplying a signal such as serial may be arranged.

  Each drive IC 110 mounted on the wiring pattern 35 and the lead electrode 90 extended from each piezoelectric element 300 are extended in the through hole 33 of the sealing substrate 30, such as a bonding wire. Each is electrically connected by a connection wiring 120 made of a conductive wire. Similarly, the common electrode wiring 37 and the lower electrode film 60 of the wiring pattern 35 are electrically connected by the connection wiring 120 in the vicinity of both ends of the through hole 33.

  In such a configuration of the present embodiment, a through-hole 33 is provided for each row 13 of the pressure generation chambers 12 in a region facing between the rows 13 of the pressure generation chambers 12 of the sealing substrate 30, and these through-holes are provided. Since each lead wiring 90 and the driving IC 110 or the lower electrode film 60 and the common electrode wiring 37 are electrically connected by the connection wiring 120 extending in the area 33, the area of the sealing substrate 30 is relatively small. Can be suppressed. Further, by making the cross-sectional area of the beam portion 34 into a tapered shape, the rigidity of the sealing substrate 30 and the flow path forming substrate 10 can be further increased, and the capillary at the time of wire bonding is attached to the beam portion 34. Touching can be suppressed.

  Further, since the beam portion 34 is formed between the through holes 33, the rigidity (strength) of the sealing substrate 30 is improved, and accordingly, the rigidity of the flow path forming substrate 10 to which the sealing substrate 30 is bonded is also improved. To do. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of crosstalk due to the low rigidity of the flow path forming substrate 10 and to obtain good ink ejection characteristics. Further, by improving the rigidity of the sealing substrate 30 and the flow path forming substrate 10, for example, damage due to an external force applied at the time of capping or the like can be prevented, and durability and reliability can be improved.

  Furthermore, since the common electrode wiring 37 is provided on the beam portion 34 of the sealing substrate 30 to increase the area of the common electrode wiring 37, the resistance value of the lower electrode film connected to the common electrode wiring 37 is substantially equal. Decline. That is, since the current capacity of the lower electrode film 60 can be ensured, even when a plurality of piezoelectric elements 300 are driven simultaneously, the voltage drop does not occur, and the occurrence of crosstalk due to the voltage drop can be prevented. it can.

  Note that a compliance substrate 40 including a sealing film 41 and a fixing plate 42 is bonded onto the sealing substrate 30. Here, the sealing film 41 is made of a material having low rigidity and flexibility (for example, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) film having a thickness of 6 μm), and the sealing film 41 seals one surface of the reservoir portion 31. It has been stopped. The fixing plate 42 is made of a hard material such as metal (for example, stainless steel (SUS) having a thickness of 30 μm). Since the region of the fixing plate 42 facing the reservoir 100 is an opening 43 that is completely removed in the thickness direction, one surface of the reservoir 100 is sealed only with a flexible sealing film 41. Has been.

  In such an ink jet recording head of this embodiment, after taking ink from an external ink supply means (not shown) and filling the interior from the reservoir 100 to the nozzle opening 21, according to the recording signal from the drive circuit 110, Applying a voltage between each of the lower electrode film 60 and the upper electrode film 80 corresponding to the pressure generation chamber 12 to bend and deform the elastic film 50, the insulator film 55, the lower electrode film 60, and the piezoelectric layer 70. As a result, the pressure in each pressure generating chamber 12 increases and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle openings 21.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ink jet recording head according to the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, two through holes 33A and 33B are provided corresponding to the rows 13 of the pressure generating chambers 12, respectively, and the beam portion 34A is also provided between the two through holes 33A and 33B. Is formed. That is, in this embodiment, two drive ICs 110A and 110B are mounted on the sealing substrate 30 in regions facing the rows 13 of the pressure generation chambers 12, respectively, for a total of four drive ICs 110. . The through holes 33A and 33B are provided corresponding to the respective drive ICs 110, and the beam portion 34A is integrally formed by the same member as the sealing substrate 30 between the two through holes 33A and 33B. Is the same as in the first embodiment.
Even with such a configuration, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the rigidity of the sealing substrate 30 and the flow path forming substrate 10 can be further improved by forming the beam portion 34A. The occurrence of crosstalk can be prevented more reliably.

(Other embodiments)
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the basic configuration of the ink jet recording head is not limited to that described above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the sealing substrate 30 having the piezoelectric element holding unit 31 is exemplified as the bonding substrate, but the bonding substrate is not particularly limited as long as the driving IC is mounted thereon. Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, a thin film type ink jet recording head manufactured by applying a film forming and lithography process is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a green sheet is used. The present invention can also be applied to a thick film type ink jet recording head formed by a method such as sticking.

  In addition, the ink jet recording heads of these embodiments constitute a part of a recording head unit having an ink flow path communicating with an ink cartridge or the like, and are mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of the ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, in the recording head units 1A and 1B having the ink jet recording head, cartridges 2A and 2B constituting ink supply means are detachably provided, and a carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted. Is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The recording head units 1A and 1B, for example, are configured to eject a black ink composition and a color ink composition, respectively. The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5. The On the other hand, the apparatus body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording sheet S, which is a recording medium such as paper fed by a paper feed roller (not shown), is conveyed on the platen 8. It is like that.

  In the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording head has been described as an example of the liquid ejecting head of the present invention. However, the basic configuration of the liquid ejecting head is not limited to the above-described configuration. The present invention covers a wide range of liquid ejecting heads, and can naturally be applied to those ejecting liquids other than ink. Other liquid ejecting heads include, for example, various recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, color material ejecting heads used for manufacturing color filters such as liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, and FEDs (surface emitting displays). Examples thereof include an electrode material ejection head used for electrode formation, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Channel formation board | substrate, 12 ... Pressure generation chamber, 20 ... Nozzle plate, 21 ... Nozzle opening, 30 ... Sealing board | substrate, 31 ... Piezoelectric element holding part, 32 ... Reservoir part, 33 ... Through-hole, 34 ... Beam part 40 ... Compliance substrate, 50 ... Elastic film, 55 ... Insulator film, 60 ... Lower electrode film, 70 ... Piezoelectric film, 80 ... Upper electrode film, 100 ... Reservoir, 300 ... Piezoelectric element.

Claims (3)

A flow path forming substrate provided with at least two rows of pressure generating chambers communicating with the nozzle openings, respectively, and a pressure change is generated in the pressure generating chamber provided on one side of the flow path forming substrate via a diaphragm. A liquid ejecting head comprising a piezoelectric element to be
A bonding substrate bonded to the piezoelectric element side of the flow path forming substrate; and a driving IC disposed on a region of the bonding substrate facing each row of the pressure generating chambers to drive the piezoelectric elements. And
The bonding substrate is provided with at least one through-hole corresponding to each row of the pressure generating chambers in a region corresponding to a space between the rows of the pressure generating chambers. And a beam portion is formed between each adjacent through hole,
A plurality of drive ICs are arranged at predetermined intervals in the direction in which the pressure generating chambers are arranged on the bonding substrate, and the through holes are provided corresponding to the drive ICs to correspond to the predetermined intervals. The liquid jet head , wherein the beam portion is formed on the bonding substrate . The liquid ejecting head according to claim 1 , wherein the bonding substrate is a sealing substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion that seals the space in a state where the space is secured in a region facing the piezoelectric element. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head according to claim 1 .

Images