JP6707819B2 - Wiring member holding structure, liquid ejection head, and device for ejecting liquid - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wiring member holding structure, a liquid ejection head, and a device for ejecting a liquid.

As a holding structure for a flexible wiring member, for example, in a liquid ejection head (droplet ejection head), an FPC (flexible printed wiring board) is joined and held to an electric wiring board by an adhesive, and wiring electrodes of the FPC and the electric wiring board are held. There is known one that is connected to the electric wiring of (1) by wire bonding (Patent Document 1).

Also known is a liquid ejection head in which an FPC is adhesively bonded and held to a reinforcing plate bonded to a nozzle substrate, and a wiring electrode of the FPC and a piezoelectric element are connected by wire bonding (Patent Document 2). ..

JP, 2007-335471, A JP, 2009-255444, A

By the way, a base material of a flexible wiring member such as an FPC is generally formed of a polyimide resin having poor adhesion. Therefore, when the wiring member is bonded and fixed to another member (which is referred to as a "holding member") with an adhesive, it is difficult to obtain sufficient bonding strength with a small bonding area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a sufficient bonding strength with a small bonding area.

In order to solve the above problems, the wiring member holding structure according to the present invention,
A holding structure for a wiring member, in which a flexible wiring member is bonded and fixed to a holding member,
The flexible wiring member, the wiring electrode is formed on the surface side of the substrate, also the electrodes are formed on the back side opposite to the surface side of the substrate,
Wherein said electrode and before Symbol holding member on the back side of the substrate of the flexible wiring member is configured to be adhesively bonded.

According to the present invention, sufficient bonding strength can be obtained with a small bonding area.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a portion related to the wiring member holding structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional explanatory drawing of the part which concerns on the holding structure of the wiring member in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a plane explanatory view similarly. Similarly, it is a plane explanatory view of the surface side of the wiring member. Similarly, it is a plane explanatory view of the back side of the wiring member. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a liquid ejection head according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional explanatory view of the individual liquid chamber portion taken along a direction orthogonal to the nozzle arrangement direction. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the individual liquid chamber portion along the nozzle arrangement direction. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a portion related to a wiring member holding structure in the liquid ejection head. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a principal part of an example of a device for ejecting a liquid according to the present invention. It is a principal part side explanatory view of the same apparatus. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a principal part of another example of the liquid ejection unit according to the present invention. It is a front explanatory view of the further another example of the liquid discharge unit concerning the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a portion related to a wiring member holding structure in the same embodiment.

The FPC 110, which is a flexible wiring member, is held by being bonded to the substrate 120, which is a holding member, by an adhesive agent 130.

The FPC 110 includes a base material 111, a wiring electrode 112 that is a wiring electrode, a covering material 113, and an electrode 115 provided on the opposite side of the wiring electrode 112.

Here, the base material 111 is formed of an insulating resin film such as polyimide. The wiring electrode 112 is formed of a good conductive metal such as copper (Cu) or a copper alloy. The covering material 113 is made of an insulating resin such as polyimide, and is formed by adhering a film-shaped resin or by applying and curing a liquid resin.

A terminal electrode 114 is provided on the tip end side of the wiring electrode 112. A wire 140 connected to the substrate 120 side is connected to the terminal electrode 114, for example. The terminal electrode 114 is formed by forming nickel (Ni) and gold (Au) by plating or the like, and forming gold on the surface layer.

Then, in the FPC 110, an electrode (this is referred to as a “rear surface electrode”) 115 is also formed on the rear surface side opposite to the surface side on which the wiring electrode 112 including the terminal electrode 114 that is a wiring electrode is formed. .. Here, the back surface electrode 115 is formed in a region including a region corresponding to the back surface side of the terminal electrode 114. The back surface electrode 115 is a dummy electrode not used for signal transmission or the like.

Similar to the wiring electrode 112, the back surface electrode 115 is formed of a metal film having excellent adhesiveness such as copper or copper alloy. If copper corrosion is a problem, nickel may be formed on the surface layer.

In this case, unlike the surface of the terminal electrode 114, the hard-to-adhere gold is not formed on the surface of the back surface electrode 115. That is, the surface electrode of the terminal electrode 114 and the surface metal of the back electrode 115, which form the wiring electrode, are different from each other. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in bonding strength.

On the other hand, the substrate 120 serving as a holding member has a base material 121, a wiring electrode 122, and a covering material 123.

Here, the base material 121 is formed of an insulating substrate made of glass epoxy resin, ceramic, silicon (Si), or the like.

The wiring electrode 122 is formed of a good conductive metal such as gold, aluminum (Al), copper, or an alloy thereof.

When the base material 121 is a glass epoxy resin or a ceramic, the covering material 123 is made of an insulating resin such as epoxy or polyimide, and is formed by adhering a film-like resin or applying and curing a liquid resin. ing. When the base material 121 is silicon, it is formed of SiN or the like, which is an insulating film generally used in a semiconductor process.

The tip of the wiring electrode 122 is used as a terminal electrode 124. The terminal electrode 124 is connected to the terminal electrode 114 of the FPC 110 via the wire 140. When the wiring electrode 122 is made of a metal that is difficult to bond to the wire 140, it is preferable that the terminal electrode 124 is formed by plating nickel and gold and then forming gold on the surface layer.

The adhesive 130 is an adhesive that can bond the back surface electrode 115 of the FPC 110 and the base material 121 of the substrate 120 and does not soften at the wire bonding temperature. Further, the adhesive 130 is preferably an adhesive that can be cured at a low temperature in a short time. Further, considering the adhesive strength, heat resistance, moisture resistance, workability, durability, etc., a thermosetting adhesive is preferable. For example, an epoxy adhesive having a bisphenol A type epoxy resin, a bisphenol F type epoxy resin, a polyfunctional epoxy resin or the like as a main component is preferable. Note that an instant adhesive such as cyanoacrylate can also be used.

Gold is used as the wire 140. Alternatively, a material such as silver (Ag) or copper can be used, but gold is preferable as the wire bonding material for the FPC 110, because polyimide absorbs ultrasonic vibrations.

Then, the FPC 110 is arranged so that the terminal electrode 114 is on the upper side, and is bonded and fixed onto the substrate 120 with the adhesive agent 130 via the back surface electrode 115.

For example, the adhesive 130 is supplied to the bonding area of the base material 121 with the FPC 110 by dispensing, printing, a sheet, or the like. After that, the FPC 110 is stacked, and the terminal electrode 114 portion of the FPC 110 is heated or left at room temperature in a state of being pressed by a pressing member (not shown), and the adhesive 130 is cured to bond the FPC 110 to the substrate 120. You can

Then, the wire 140 is connected to the terminal electrode 114 of the FPC 110 and the terminal electrode 124 of the substrate 120 by wire bonding using ultrasonic waves.

In this way, the back electrode 115 made of a metal that does not soften at the wire bonding temperature and the holding member (here, the substrate 120) are adhesively joined.

As a result, as compared with the case where the base material 111 of the FPC 110 having poor adhesiveness such as a polyimide resin is bonded to the substrate 120, the bonding becomes easier, and sufficient bonding strength and bonding quality can be obtained even with a small bonding area. Further, the cost of the adhesive can be reduced.

Furthermore, the bonding quality of wire bonding is not deteriorated. That is, at the time of wire bonding using ultrasonic waves, vibration due to ultrasonic waves is not absorbed by the adhesive layer, and thus wire bonding can be performed with high bonding quality.

Note that as the adhesive agent 130, an adhesive agent that can be adhered at a low temperature in a short time is used, so that it is possible to cope with the case where the substrate 120 is a substrate weak against heat.

Further, by using copper or nickel for the surface of the back electrode 115 of the FPC 110, bonding becomes easier than with a polyimide resin, the bonding strength and bonding quality can be improved, and the cost of the adhesive can be reduced. Further, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost due to the provision of the back surface electrode 115.

Further, since the bonding area between the FPC 110 and the substrate 120 can be reduced, the FPC 110 and the substrate 120 can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the surface of the terminal electrode 114 electrically connected by wire bonding of the FPC 110 is gold. When the FPC 110 is adhesively bonded to the substrate 120, the terminal electrode 114 is pressed, but at this time, the adhesive 130 may flow and creep up on the surface of the FPC 110. Even if the creeping up adhesive agent 130 adheres to the terminal electrode 114 and the pressing member, the adhesive agent 130 which is difficult to adhere to the gold on the surface of the terminal electrode 114 causes the adhesive agent 130 to remain on the terminal electrode 114. There is no. This does not hinder the bonding between the wire 140 and the terminal electrode 114.

Since the above-mentioned thermosetting adhesive and instant adhesive used as the adhesive 130 are generally difficult to adhere to gold, it is possible to avoid wire bonding failure due to most of the adhesive creeping up.

Further, by forming the back surface electrode 115 without interposing an adhesive layer on the FPC 110, the backing plate can be bonded to the FPC 110 in comparison with a case where a backing plate (reinforcing plate) is bonded to the opposite surface of the terminal electrode 114 of the FPC 110 with an adhesive. Since there is no adhesive, vibration of ultrasonic waves due to ultrasonic waves is not absorbed by the adhesive for bonding the backing plate when wire bonding is performed, and the bonding quality of wire bonding can be improved.

In order to form the back surface electrode 115 on the FPC 110 without interposing an adhesive layer, for example, a metal film of copper, nickel or the like is formed on the base material 111 by a plating method.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a portion related to a wiring member holding structure in the same embodiment, FIG. 3 is a plan explanatory view of the same, FIG. 4 is a plan explanatory view of a front surface side of the wiring member, and FIG. It is a plane explanatory view.

In this embodiment, the FPC 110 is fixedly held by being adhesively bonded to the end of the substrate 120 with the adhesive 130.

At this time, the adhesive agent 130 wets and spreads from the back surface electrode 115 of the FPC 110 to the end surface 120a of the substrate 120, and the fillet-shaped portion 130a is formed by the adhesive agent 130.

By thus forming the fillet-shaped portion 130a of the adhesive 130 between the FPC 110 and the end surface 120a, the adhesive strength between the FPC 110 and the substrate 120 can be increased. In particular, it becomes strong against an external force that tries to peel off the FPC 110, and the joining reliability of the FPC 110 can be improved.

Although not shown, an opening (hole) is formed in the substrate 120, the FPC 110 is on the opening, the adhesive 130 wets and spreads on the back electrode 115 and the side surface of the opening of the substrate 120, and the adhesive is fillet-shaped. It may be formed in.

Next, the planar shape of the back surface electrode 115 of the FPC 110 will be described.

The back surface electrode 115 of the FPC 110 includes a back surface electrode 115A patterned similarly to the terminal electrode 114 of the wiring electrode 112, and a back surface electrode 115B formed along the outer edge of the front end portion of the FPC 110. Between the back surface electrode 115A and the back surface electrode 115B is a removal region 115C where the back surface electrode is not provided. Further, since the back surface electrode 115A is patterned, the area between the back surface electrodes 115A also becomes the removal region 115D.

Here, the removal area 115C between the back surface electrode 115A and the back surface electrode 115B is provided in an area (position) other than the back surface of the area (position) where the wire 140 is connected to the terminal electrode 114 by wire bonding. In other words, a part of the back surface electrode 115 corresponding to a region other than the connection region of the terminal electrode 114 forming the wiring electrode of the FPC 110 with another connection portion is removed.

Thus, by removing a part of the back surface electrode 115 and providing the removal regions 115C and 115D, even if the adhesive agent 130 is applied thickly, a large amount of the adhesive agent 130 remains on the removed portion and the substrate end surface 120a. The adhesive strength can be increased as compared with the case where the entire adhesive is formed thin.

Further, since the adhesive 130 can be thinly formed in the portion immediately below where the wire 140 is connected by wire bonding, the bonding quality of wire bonding is not deteriorated. That is, since the layer of the adhesive agent 130 is thin, vibration due to ultrasonic waves is not absorbed by the adhesive agent layer, and the bonding quality of wire bonding is not deteriorated.

Moreover, since it is not necessary to provide a convex portion on the substrate 120 to which the FPC 110 is bonded, the substrate size can be reduced. Further, as the adhesive 130, an adhesive that can be applied only thickly, that is, an adhesive having high viscosity can be used.

Further, since the back surface electrode 115B is formed on the outer edge portion of the FPC 110, by applying the adhesive agent 130 to the inside of the peripheral edge portion of the FPC 110, the adhesive agent 130 creeps up the end surface of the FPC 110 and adheres to the terminal electrode 114. Can be suppressed. That is, it is possible to prevent the bonding quality of wire bonding from being deteriorated due to the adhesion of the adhesive 130 to the terminal electrode 114.

If the adhesive 130 can be applied thinly to the extent that the adhesive 130 does not adhere to the terminal electrodes 114, the electrode-free space (removed region 115D) between the patterned back electrodes 115A is eliminated, and the back electrodes 115A are They may be integrated with each other, or the back surface electrode 115B at the peripheral portion may be omitted.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the liquid ejection head according to the embodiment, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along a direction orthogonal to the nozzle array direction of the individual liquid chamber portion, and FIG. 8 is similarly a nozzle array of the individual liquid chamber portion. It is sectional explanatory drawing which follows a direction.

The liquid discharge head includes a nozzle plate 1, a flow path plate 2, a vibration plate 3, a piezoelectric element 11 that is a pressure generating unit, a holding substrate 50, and a frame member 70 that also serves as a common liquid chamber member. There is.

In the present embodiment, the portion composed of the flow path plate 2, the vibration plate 3 and the piezoelectric element 11 is referred to as an “actuator substrate 20” as an actuator member. However, it does not mean that the nozzle plate 1, the holding substrate 50, and the frame member 70 are joined after the independent member is formed as the actuator substrate 20.

A plurality of nozzles 4 that eject droplets are formed on the nozzle plate 1. Here, two nozzle rows in which the nozzles 4 are arranged are arranged.

The flow path plate 2 forms, together with the nozzle plate 1 and the vibrating plate 3, an individual liquid chamber 6 communicating with the nozzle 4, a fluid resistance portion 7 communicating with the individual liquid chamber 6, and a liquid introducing portion (passage) 8 communicating with the fluid resistance portion 7. is doing. The individual liquid chamber 6, the fluid resistance portion 7, and the liquid introduction portion 8 that communicate with the nozzle 4 that ejects droplets are collectively referred to as an individual flow path 5.

The liquid introduction part 8 of the individual flow path 5 communicates with the common liquid chamber formed by the frame member 70 from the opening 10A of the holding substrate 50 through the filter part 9 formed on the vibration plate 3. Further, the filter portion 9 is composed of a filter hole 91 which is one or a plurality of openings. Note that in FIG. 1, the filter portion 9 is shown as an opening.

The vibrating plate 3 forms a deformable vibrating region 30 that forms a part of the wall surface of the individual liquid chamber 6. A piezoelectric element 11 as pressure generating means is provided integrally with the vibrating region 30 on the surface of the vibrating plate 3 on the opposite side of the vibrating region 30 from the vibrating region 30. It is composed of a piezoelectric actuator.

The piezoelectric element 11 is configured by sequentially stacking a lower electrode 13, a piezoelectric layer (piezoelectric body) 12, and an upper electrode 14 from the vibrating region 30 side. An interlayer insulating film 21 is formed on the piezoelectric element 11.

The lower electrode 13 of the piezoelectric element 11 is drawn out via the common wiring 15 and connected to the connection pad 17. The upper electrode 14 is drawn out via the individual wiring 16 and connected to the connection pad 18, and is connected to the drive IC (driver IC) 500.

The driver IC is mounted on the actuator substrate 20 by a method such as flip chip bonding or wire bonding so as to cover the inter-row region of the piezoelectric element row.

Then, on the actuator substrate 20, a holding substrate 50 that forms a recess (vibration chamber) 51 that accommodates the piezoelectric element 11 and a wiring space 52 is provided via the passivation layer 22.

The holding substrate 50 also forms an opening 55 that is a part of the common liquid chamber. This holding substrate 50 is bonded to the vibration plate 3 side of the actuator substrate 20 with an adhesive.

As will be described later, the holding substrate 50 serves as a holding member for adhesively bonding and fixing and holding the FPC 110, which is a wiring member.

In this liquid discharge head configured as described above, by applying a voltage from the driver IC 500 between the upper electrode 14 and the lower electrode 13 of the piezoelectric element 11, the piezoelectric layer 12 expands in the electrode stacking direction, that is, the electric field direction, It contracts in a direction parallel to the vibration region 30.

At this time, since the lower electrode 13 side is constrained by the vibrating region 30, tensile stress is generated on the lower electrode 13 side of the vibrating region 30, the vibrating region 30 bends toward the individual liquid chamber 6 side, and the internal liquid is added. By applying pressure, droplets are ejected from the nozzle 4.

Next, the structure for holding the wiring member in this liquid ejection head will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a portion related to the wiring member holding structure used in the same description.

Input/output terminals, power supply terminals, drive power supply input terminals, and the like of the drive IC (driver IC) 500 mounted on the actuator substrate 20 are connected to the wiring 25 on the actuator substrate 20 via bumps (projection electrodes) 501. .. An insulating protective film 26 is formed on the surface of the wiring 25. The terminal portion of the wiring 25 is used as the terminal electrode 24 without forming the protective film 26.

The wiring 25 is made of aluminum and is formed by a semiconductor process such as sputtering or etching. The protective film 26 is formed of SiN or the like, which is a general insulating film in a semiconductor process.

On the other hand, the FPC 110, which is a wiring member, has the same configuration as that of the second embodiment and the like, has a base material 111, a wiring electrode 112, and a covering material 113, and uses a part of the wiring electrode 112 as a terminal electrode 114. Further, a back surface electrode 115 is formed on the back surface side of the base material 111.

The back surface electrode 115 here is divided into a patterned dummy back surface electrode 115A and a peripheral edge back surface electrode 115B similarly to the second embodiment.

Then, the FPC 110 is fixedly held by being adhesively bonded to the holding substrate 50 of the actuator substrate 20 with an adhesive 130 so that the terminal electrode 114 is on the front surface side.

Therefore, the FPC 110 is fixed on the holding substrate 50 arranged at a position higher in the gravity direction than the surface of the actuator substrate 20, and the terminal electrode 114 of the FPC 110 is located at a position higher than the terminal electrode 24 of the actuator substrate 20. Will be placed.

This allows the holding substrate 50 to hold and reinforce the end portion of the actuator substrate 20. Further, it is possible to prevent the adhesive agent 130 for adhesively bonding the FPC 110 from spreading to the terminal electrodes 24 of the actuator substrate 20. Further, as a tool (not shown) used when the FPC 110 is adhesively joined, a tool protruding from the end of the actuator substrate 20 can be used, which facilitates the assembling work.

Similar to the second embodiment, the adhesive 130 wets and spreads from the back surface electrode 115 of the FPC 110 to the end surface 20a of the holding substrate 20, and the fillet-shaped portion 130a of the adhesive 130 is formed.

As a result, the adhesive strength between the FPC 110 and the holding substrate 20 can be increased, and in particular, the strength against the external force that attempts to peel off the FPC 110 becomes stronger, and the joint reliability of the FPC 110 can be improved.

Further, the adhesive 130 is formed so that the portion directly below the wire 140 that is connected to the wire 140 is thin in the direction along the wiring electrode 112, and that the adhesive 130 is thick between the tip of the back electrode 115A and the back electrode 115B and in the fillet-shaped portion.

Thereby, the bonding strength can be increased as compared with the case where the entire thickness of the adhesive 130 is formed. Then, since the adhesive 130 can be thinned in the portion directly below connected by wire bonding, the bonding quality of wire bonding can be improved.

Here, the adhesive agent 130 is an adhesive agent capable of adhesively bonding the back electrode 115 of the FPC 110 and the holding substrate 50.

As the adhesive 130, it is preferable to use an adhesive that can be cured at a low temperature of 100° C. or less for a short time. As a result, the back electrode of the FPC 110 does not soften at the wire bonding temperature, does not depolarize the piezoelectric element 11, and does not deteriorate the liquid repellent film even when the liquid repellent film is provided on the lower surface of the nozzle plate 1. 115 and the holding substrate 50 can be adhesively joined.

In addition, in consideration of adhesive strength, heat resistance, moisture resistance, workability, durability, etc., a thermosetting adhesive is preferable as the adhesive 130, and for example, bisphenol A type epoxy resin, bisphenol F type epoxy resin, Epoxy adhesives containing a polyfunctional epoxy resin as a main component are preferred. Note that an instant adhesive such as cyanoacrylate can also be used.

The wiring 25 of the actuator substrate 20 and the wiring electrode 112 of the FPC 110 are electrically connected via a wire 140.

Gold is used as the wire 140. The wire 140 connects the terminal electrode 24 and the terminal electrode 114 by using a wire bonding method using ultrasonic waves.

After that, the wire 140 and the terminal electrodes 24 and 114 are filled with the sealant 80 in the opening 56 of the holding substrate 50 to seal it. As the sealant 80, for example, an epoxy resin or a UV curable resin that can be cured at 100° C. or lower can be used.

Here, the wire 140 and the terminal electrode 24 are connected by a ball bond 141, and the wire 140 and the terminal electrode 114 are connected by a stitch bond 142. Therefore, the height of the wire 140 can be made lower than in the case where the terminal electrode 114 is connected by ball bonding and the terminal electrode 24 is connected by stitch bonding.

Since the height of the wire 140 can be reduced, the height of the sealant 80 and the wetting and spreading width can be reduced, and the distance L from the right end of the holding substrate 50, which is the recess of the frame member 70, to the right end of the frame member 70 can be reduced. Can be made smaller.

That is, the wire connecting portion for connecting the wire 140 can be downsized, and the head can be downsized. On the other hand, when the wire 140 is high, the height and the spread width of the sealant 80 become large, and it is necessary to widen the wire connection portion in order to prevent interference with the frame member 70.

In addition, by forming gold on the surface layer of the terminal electrode 114 and using gold as the wire 140, a ball bond 141 having good bonding reliability can be formed by dissimilar metal bonding of aluminum-gold, and a stitch bond 142 having poor bonding reliability can be formed by gold. -It can be a gold bond. As a result, the bonding reliability is improved as compared with the case where the bonding that requires the removal of the oxide film is bonded by the bonding of dissimilar metals such as aluminum-gold, and polyimide resin that is not rigid is used as the base material 111 of the FPC 110. Bonding is possible by heating below 100°C.

Further, as compared with the case where an FPC having a backing plate adhered to the back surface of an electrode electrically connected by wire bonding is adhesively joined to a substrate, there is no adhesive for adhering the backing plate. There is no absorption of ultrasonic vibrations in the agent. As a result, the bonding quality of wire bonding can be improved, and the gold wire length can be shortened by the thickness of the backing plate, so that the wire cost can be reduced.

As described above, also in this embodiment, the bonding quality of wire bonding and the bonding strength of FPC can be improved. This makes it possible to reduce the size and cost of the head without deteriorating the functions of the piezoelectric element and the liquid repellent film, which are functional parts of the head.

In the present embodiment, the holding structure in which the holding substrate 50 joined to the actuator substrate 20 and the FPC 110 are adhesively joined has been described, but the structure of the first embodiment in which the FPC 110 is directly attached to the actuator substrate 20 may be adopted. ..

Next, an example of an apparatus for ejecting a liquid according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part of the apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a side view of a main part of the apparatus.

This apparatus is a serial type apparatus, and the carriage 403 reciprocates in the main scanning direction by the main scanning moving mechanism 493. The main scanning movement mechanism 493 includes a guide member 401, a main scanning motor 405, a timing belt 408, and the like. The guide member 401 is bridged between the left and right side plates 491A and 491B and movably holds the carriage 403. Then, the carriage 403 is reciprocally moved in the main scanning direction by the main scanning motor 405 via the timing belt 408 that spans between the driving pulley 406 and the driven pulley 407.

The carriage 403 is equipped with a liquid ejection unit 440 in which the liquid ejection head 404 and the head tank 441 according to the present invention are integrated. The liquid ejection head 404 of the liquid ejection unit 440 ejects liquids of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K), for example. Further, the liquid ejection head 404 is arranged such that a nozzle row including a plurality of nozzles 11 is arranged in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction and the ejection direction is directed downward.

The liquid stored in the liquid cartridge 450 is supplied to the head tank 441 by the supply mechanism 494 for supplying the liquid stored outside the liquid discharge head 404 to the liquid discharge head 404.

The supply mechanism 494 includes a cartridge holder 451, which is a filling unit for mounting the liquid cartridge 450, a tube 456, a liquid sending unit 452 including a liquid sending pump, and the like. The liquid cartridge 450 is detachably attached to the cartridge holder 451. The liquid is sent from the liquid cartridge 450 to the head tank 441 by the liquid sending unit 452 via the tube 456.

This apparatus includes a transport mechanism 495 for transporting the sheet 410. The transport mechanism 495 includes a transport belt 412, which is a transport unit, and a sub-scanning motor 416 for driving the transport belt 412.

The conveyance belt 412 adsorbs the sheet 410 and conveys it at a position facing the liquid ejection head 404. The conveyor belt 412 is an endless belt, and is stretched between a conveyor roller 413 and a tension roller 414. The adsorption can be performed by electrostatic adsorption or air suction.

Then, the transport belt 412 is rotated in the sub-scanning direction by the sub-scanning motor 416 rotatably driving the transport roller 413 via the timing belt 417 and the timing pulley 418.

Further, on one side of the carriage 403 in the main scanning direction, a maintenance/recovery mechanism 420 for maintaining/recovering the liquid ejection head 404 is arranged beside the transport belt 412.

The maintenance/recovery mechanism 420 is composed of, for example, a cap member 421 that caps the nozzle surface (surface on which the nozzles are formed) of the liquid ejection head 404, a wiper member 422 that wipes the nozzle surface, and the like.

The main-scanning moving mechanism 493, the supply mechanism 494, the maintenance/recovery mechanism 420, and the transport mechanism 495 are attached to a housing including side plates 491A and 491B and a back plate 491C.

In this apparatus configured as described above, the sheet 410 is fed onto the transport belt 412 and adsorbed, and the sheet 410 is transported in the sub-scanning direction by the orbital movement of the transport belt 412.

Therefore, by moving the carriage 403 in the main scanning direction and driving the liquid ejection head 404 in accordance with the image signal, the liquid is ejected onto the stopped paper 410 to form an image.

As described above, since this apparatus includes the liquid ejection head according to the present invention, it is possible to stably form a high quality image.

Next, another example of the liquid ejection unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory plan view of relevant parts of the unit.

The liquid ejection unit includes a housing portion including side plates 491A and 491B and a back plate 491C, a main scanning movement mechanism 493, a carriage 403, and a liquid among the members forming the device that ejects the liquid. It is composed of the ejection head 404.

It is also possible to configure a liquid discharge unit in which at least one of the maintenance/recovery mechanism 420 and the supply mechanism 494 described above is further attached to, for example, the side plate 491B of this liquid discharge unit.

Next, still another example of the liquid ejection unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a front explanatory view of the unit.

This liquid ejection unit is composed of a liquid ejection head 404 to which a flow path component 444 is attached and a tube 456 connected to the flow path component 444.

The flow path component 444 is arranged inside the cover 442. A head tank 441 may be included instead of the flow path component 444. Further, a connector 443 for electrically connecting to the liquid ejection head 404 is provided on the flow path component 444.

In the present application, the “device for ejecting liquid” is a device that includes a liquid ejection head or a liquid ejection unit, and drives the liquid ejection head to eject the liquid. The device for ejecting liquid includes not only a device capable of ejecting a liquid to which a liquid can be attached, but also a device ejecting the liquid toward the air or into the liquid.

This "device for ejecting liquid" can include a means for feeding, carrying, and discharging paper to which liquid can be attached, as well as a pretreatment device, a posttreatment device, and the like.

For example, as an “apparatus for ejecting a liquid”, an image forming apparatus that is an apparatus for ejecting a liquid to form an image on a medium, and for forming a three-dimensional object (three-dimensional object), powder is formed in layers. There is a three-dimensional modeling apparatus (three-dimensional modeling apparatus) that discharges the modeling liquid to the formed powder layer.

Further, the “device for ejecting liquid” is not limited to a device in which a significant image such as characters and figures is visualized by the ejected liquid. For example, it also includes ones that form a pattern or the like that has no meaning per se, and ones that form a three-dimensional image.

The above-mentioned "liquid can be adhered" means a liquid that can be temporarily adhered. The material to which "liquid adheres" may be paper, thread, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, etc., as long as the liquid can adhere to it even temporarily.

The “liquid” also includes ink, treatment liquid, DNA sample, resist, pattern material, binder, modeling liquid and the like.

Moreover, unless otherwise specified, the “apparatus for ejecting liquid” includes both a serial type apparatus that moves the liquid ejecting head and a line type apparatus that does not move the liquid ejecting head.

In addition, as the "apparatus for ejecting a liquid", a treatment liquid application device for ejecting a treatment liquid onto a paper in order to apply the treatment liquid onto the surface of the paper for the purpose of modifying the surface of the paper, raw materials, etc. There is an injection granulation device or the like that sprays a composition liquid in which is dispersed in a solution through a nozzle to granulate fine particles of a raw material.

The “liquid ejection unit” is a unit in which functional components and mechanisms are integrated with a liquid ejection head, and is a collection of components related to liquid ejection. For example, the “liquid ejection unit” includes a combination of a liquid ejection head with at least one of the configurations of a head tank, a carriage, a supply mechanism, a maintenance/recovery mechanism, and a main scanning movement mechanism.

Here, the term "integral" means, for example, a liquid discharge head, a functional component, and a mechanism that are fixed to each other by fastening, bonding, engaging, or the like, or one that is movably held with respect to the other. Including. Further, the liquid ejection head, the functional component, and the mechanism may be configured to be detachable from each other.

For example, as a liquid ejection unit, there is one in which a liquid ejection head and a head tank are integrated, like the liquid ejection unit 440 shown in FIG. In addition, there is one in which the liquid ejection head and the head tank are integrated by being connected to each other by a tube or the like. Here, a unit including a filter may be added between the head tank and the liquid ejection head of these liquid ejection units.

Further, as a liquid ejection unit, there is one in which a liquid ejection head and a carriage are integrated.

Further, as a liquid ejection unit, there is a unit in which a liquid ejection head and a scanning movement mechanism are integrated so that a liquid ejection head is movably held by a guide member forming a part of the scanning movement mechanism. Further, as shown in FIG. 12, there is a liquid ejection unit in which a liquid ejection head, a carriage, and a main scanning movement mechanism are integrated.

Further, as a liquid ejection unit, there is a unit in which a cap member that is a part of a maintenance/recovery mechanism is fixed to a carriage to which a liquid ejection head is attached, and the liquid ejection head, the carriage, and the maintenance/recovery mechanism are integrated. ..

Further, as a liquid discharge unit, as shown in FIG. 13, there is one in which a tube is connected to a liquid discharge head to which a head tank or a flow path component is attached, and the liquid discharge head and a supply mechanism are integrated. .

The main scanning movement mechanism includes a single guide member. The supply mechanism also includes a tube unit and a loading unit unit.

Further, the “liquid ejection head” is not limited to the pressure generating means used. For example, in addition to the piezoelectric actuator (which may use a laminated piezoelectric element) as described in the above embodiment, a thermal actuator using an electrothermal conversion element such as a heating resistor, a vibration plate and a counter electrode. An electrostatic actuator or the like may be used.

Further, in the terms of the present application, image formation, recording, printing, printing, printing, modeling, etc. are synonymous.

1 Nozzle Plate 2 Flow Path Plate 3 Vibration Plate 4 Nozzle 6 Individual Liquid Chamber 10 Common Liquid Chamber 11 Piezoelectric Element 13 Lower Electrode 14 Upper Electrode 20 Actuator Substrate (Holding Member)
24 terminal electrode 50 holding substrate 70 frame member 110 FPC (flexible wiring member)
112 wiring electrode 114 terminal electrode 115 back surface electrode 120 substrate (holding member)
403 Carriage 404 Liquid ejection head 440 Liquid ejection unit 500 Driver IC

Claims (12)

A holding structure for a wiring member, in which a flexible wiring member is bonded and fixed to a holding member,
The flexible wiring member, a wiring electrode is formed on the front surface side of the base material, an electrode is also formed on the back surface side opposite to the front surface side of the base material,
A holding structure for a wiring member, wherein the electrode on the back surface side of the base material of the flexible wiring member and the holding member are joined by an adhesive. A rear surface of the electrode before Kimoto material, the holding structure of the wiring member according to claim 1, characterized in that it is patterned. A rear surface of the electrode before Kimoto material, the holding structure of the wiring member according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a dummy electrode. 4. A part of the electrode on the back surface side of the base material corresponding to a region other than a connection region of the flexible wiring member with the other connection portion of the wiring electrode is removed. The holding structure for a wiring member according to any one of 1. The wiring member holding structure according to claim 4, wherein an electrode on the back surface side of the base material is formed along the peripheral edge of the tip end portion of the flexible wiring member. The wiring member holding structure according to claim 1, wherein the wiring electrode is connected to another connecting portion by wire bonding. 7. The wiring member holding structure according to claim 1, wherein a surface metal of the wiring electrode and a surface metal of an electrode on the back surface side of the base material are different from each other. 8. A fillet-shaped portion of an adhesive is formed between an electrode on the back surface side of the base material of the flexible wiring member and an end surface of the holding member, according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Wiring member holding structure. It has a pressure generating means for pressurizing the liquid in the individual liquid chamber, which is communicated with a nozzle for ejecting liquid droplets,
The electrode of the actuator member in which the pressure generating means is arranged and the electrode of the flexible wiring member are connected,
9. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible wiring member is held by the actuator member or a member joined to the actuator member by the wiring member holding structure according to any one of claims 1 to 8. .. A liquid ejection unit comprising the liquid ejection head according to claim 9. A head tank that stores the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejection head, a carriage that mounts the liquid ejection head, a supply mechanism that supplies the liquid to the liquid ejection head, a maintenance and recovery mechanism that performs maintenance and recovery of the liquid ejection head, and the liquid 11. The liquid ejection unit according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the main scanning movement mechanisms that moves the ejection head in the main scanning direction is integrated with the liquid ejection head. An apparatus for ejecting a liquid, comprising the liquid ejection head according to claim 9 or the liquid ejection unit according to claim 10 or 11.

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