JP7163429B2 - PRINTING ELEMENT SUBSTRATE, LIQUID EJECTION HEAD AND LIQUID EJECTION APPARATUS - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording element substrate, a liquid ejection head, and a liquid ejection apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of liquid ejection apparatuses represented by inkjet apparatuses, it is required to reduce the thickness of ejection port forming members in which ejection ports are formed in order to efficiently utilize generated energy as ejection energy. However, when the ejection port forming member is thinned, the strength of the ejection port forming member decreases. When the liquid ejection apparatus is driven for a long time, the members constituting the liquid ejection head, such as the ejection port forming member, swell due to the absorption of the liquid and are deformed by the influence of heat. be done. Even when an external force is applied to the ejection port forming member by a wiping operation for wiping off the liquid, if the strength is low, the ejection port forming member may crack and the ejection performance may deteriorate.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-101000 discloses a liquid liquid liquid transfer device including a support member provided between an ejection port forming member and a substrate for supporting the ejection port forming member, in order to improve the strength of the ejection port forming member and suppress deformation due to swelling. An ejection head is disclosed. In this liquid ejection head, supply ports, which are openings of supply paths penetrating the substrate in the thickness direction, are provided on both sides so as to sandwich the energy generating element. With this configuration, since the liquid is supplied from both sides of the energy generating element, high-speed driving is possible. Furthermore, the symmetry around the ejection port is improved, and the straightness of the ejected droplets is improved, thereby improving the recording quality. can be realized. One support member is provided between adjacent supply ports, and the width of the support member is provided to match the interval between the adjacent supply ports.

JP 2013-233795 A

However, in the liquid ejection head described in Patent Document 1, if the thickness of the ejection port forming member is reduced, the ejection port forming member is deformed, and the stress generated at the interface between the substrate and the support member tends to concentrate. There is a problem that the peeling of the coating may easily occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording element capable of realizing stable liquid ejection performance by suppressing stress concentration on a support member caused by swelling of the ejection port forming member while suppressing a decrease in the strength of the ejection port forming member against an external force. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate, a liquid ejection head, and a liquid ejection apparatus.

A recording element substrate according to the present invention includes a substrate on which a plurality of energy generating elements that generate energy used for ejecting liquid are arranged in parallel, and ejection ports at positions corresponding to the plurality of energy generating elements. A discharge port forming member formed, a flow path extending in the thickness direction of the substrate and formed between a plurality of supply paths for supplying liquid to the energy generating element, and the substrate and the discharge port forming member. and a support member for supporting the ejection port forming member, wherein the supply ports, which are openings of the plurality of supply paths on the side where the energy generating element is provided, are arranged in a straight line on the substrate, The energy generating element row is formed by arranging the plurality of energy generating elements in a straight line, and the supply port row is formed by arranging the plurality of supply ports in a straight line. The energy generating element row and the supply port row are formed so as to be offset from each other in a direction intersecting the direction in which the plurality of energy generating elements are arranged in parallel, and the support member A plurality of the recording element substrates are provided side by side in the side-by-side direction between the supply ports adjacent in the direction along the direction, and the recording element substrate includes at least one of the energy generating elements and at least two of the supply ports inside. a liquid chamber communicating with at least one ejection port; and a wall member formed between the substrate and the ejection port forming member and forming a wall surface of the liquid chamber extending in the side-by-side direction. and the support member is independent from the wall member .
A liquid ejection head according to the present invention has the recording element substrate described above.
A liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention has the liquid ejection head described above.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress concentration of stress on the support member due to swelling of the ejection port forming member while suppressing a decrease in the strength of the ejection port forming member against an external force, thereby achieving stable liquid ejection performance.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of a liquid ejection head; 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the configuration of a recording element substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the detailed configuration of the printing element substrate of FIG. 2; FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the number of support members, and a shear stress. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording element substrate according to a second embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording element substrate according to a third embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printing element substrate according to a fourth embodiment of the invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording element substrate according to a fifth embodiment of the invention; It is a figure which shows the comparative example of this invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawings, redundant description may be omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to components having the same function.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of a liquid ejection head to which the recording element substrate according to the first embodiment of the invention can be applied.
The liquid ejection head has a head body 20 , a connection member 21 and a recording element substrate 100 . The recording element substrate 100 has a substrate 1 and an ejection port forming member 8 provided on the substrate 1. The ejection port forming member 8 has a plurality of ejection ports 9 arranged side by side. The recording element substrate 100 is provided on the head main body 20 with the connection member 21 interposed therebetween. The liquid ejection head is mounted in a liquid ejection apparatus represented by an inkjet recording apparatus, and ejects liquid such as ink from ejection openings 9 .
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording element substrate 100 according to the first embodiment of the invention.
The recording element substrate 100 has a substrate 1 and an ejection port forming member 8, and the ejection port forming member 8 has a plurality of ejection ports 9 arranged side by side. The lower part of this figure shows the state where the ejection port forming member 8 is removed from the recording element substrate 100, and the configuration on the substrate 1 is shown.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a more detailed configuration of the recording element substrate 100 of FIG. FIG. 3(a) is an enlarged view of portion A of FIG. FIG. 3(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line dd of FIG. 3(a). Although FIG. 3A shows the structure on the substrate 1 with the discharge port forming member 8 omitted, FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional structure including the discharge port forming member 8.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a plurality of energy generating elements 2 are linearly arranged on a substrate 1 to form an energy generating element array. On both sides of the energy generating element 2, supply ports 4a, which are openings of the plurality of supply paths 4 on the side where the energy generating element 2 is provided, are arranged side by side. The supply path 4 is a flow path extending in the thickness direction of the substrate 1 and supplies liquid to the energy generating elements 2 . The plurality of supply paths 4 are provided such that the supply ports 4a are arranged in a straight line substantially parallel to the direction in which the energy generating elements 2 are arranged.
A flow path forming member 5 and a support member 10 are provided between the substrate 1 and the ejection port forming member 8 . A space between the substrate 1 and the ejection port forming member 8 is divided into a plurality of liquid chambers 3 by the flow path forming member 5 and the support member 10 . The flow path forming member 5 includes a wall member 5a that forms a continuous wall surface extending in the direction in which the energy generating elements 2 are arranged, and a partition member 5b that forms a partition separating adjacent energy generating elements 2 from each other. The liquid chamber 3 is a space that internally includes at least one energy generating element 2 and at least two supply ports 4 a and communicates with at least one ejection port 9 . In the example of FIG. 3, the liquid chamber 3 is a space that internally includes two energy generating elements 2 and two supply ports 4a and that communicates with two ejection ports 9 .
The support member 10 is a plate-like member and is provided in contact with the substrate 1 . The support members 10 are provided between the supply ports 4a adjacent to each other on the substrate 1, and the plurality of support members 10 are arranged in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. In this example, two support members 10 are provided on the surface of the substrate 1 between adjacent supply ports 4a. The support member 10 is arranged with its thickness direction facing the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. The support member 10 is arranged so that the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the supply ports 4 a are arranged on the surface of the substrate 1 is the in-plane direction of the support member 10 , and the support member 10 is perpendicular to the substrate 1 . In the example of FIG. 3, the support member 10 is provided independently of the wall member 5a and the partition member 5b, and a gap exists between each member.
Here, in the first direction in which the energy generating elements 2 are arranged, the plurality of supply ports 4a provided in the substrate 1 are arranged in order of the first supply port 4a, the second supply port 4a, and the third supply port. 4a. A plurality of support members 10 are arranged side by side along the first direction between the first and second supply ports 4a. Another support member different from the support member provided between the first and second supply ports 4a is arranged in parallel along the first direction between the second and third supply ports 4a. are provided. The support member 10 is a plate-shaped member extending in a second direction that intersects with the first direction.
The liquid chamber 3 is a space separated by a wall member 5a, a partition member 5b, and a support member 10, and is a common liquid chamber 3a including the supply port 4a of the supply path 4, and a space separated by the partition member 5b to generate energy. and a pressure chamber 7 with the element 2 therein. The liquid chamber 3 further includes a channel 6 connecting the common liquid chamber 3 a and the pressure chamber 7 . In FIG. 3, the connecting portions of the pressure chambers 7 and the flow paths 6 have a narrow width, but the shape is not limited to this. be.
Although not shown in FIG. 3 , a filter may be provided in the path through which the liquid flows from the supply port 4 a to the pressure chamber 7 , such as the flow path 6 , in order to prevent impurities from entering the pressure chamber 7 .
The arrangement interval of the ejection ports 9 is 600 dpi, and the arrangement interval of the supply ports 4a along the ejection ports 9 is 300 dpi. The supply port 4a is provided on both sides of the energy generating element 2 provided at a position corresponding to the ejection port 9, and the liquid is supplied to the energy generating element 2 from both sides. With this configuration, the symmetry of the liquid flow around the ejection port 9 is improved, so that the straightness of the ejected droplets is improved. Therefore, it becomes easy to land the liquid droplets at desired positions, which leads to an improvement in recording image quality.
In this embodiment, the supply port 4a has a square shape with a side of 40 μm, the support member 10 has a length of 7 μm in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, and the interval between adjacent support members 10 is 5 μm. A space is provided between the ejection port forming member 8 and the substrate 1 above the supply port 4a. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a support member 10 around the supply port 4a to support the ejection port forming member 8. FIG. When the liquid ejection head is driven for a long time, the ejection port forming member 8 may be deformed due to swelling. In this case, shear stress is generated at the interface between the support member 10 and the substrate 1 , and the support member 10 may easily peel off from the substrate 1 .

Here, the effects of this embodiment will be described with reference to the comparative example of FIG. FIG. 9A shows the configuration of a printing element substrate 900 according to a comparative example of the invention. FIG. 9(b) is a pp cross-sectional view of FIG. 9(a), emphasizing deformation due to swelling. FIG. 9(c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line pp of FIG. 9(a), and shows locations where shear stress is generated by an external force.
The recording element substrate 900 according to the comparative example is related to the first embodiment of the present invention in that only one support member 10 is provided between adjacent supply ports 4a in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. It is different from the recording element substrate 100 . In this case, when the discharge port forming member 8 is deformed, a shear stress is generated between the support member 10 and the substrate 1 as indicated by Q in FIG. 9(b). As shown in FIG. 9C, when an external force F is applied from the upper portion of the ejection port forming member 8 toward the substrate 1, a shear stress is generated between the ejection port forming member 8 and the support member 10 shown in the R portion. . As the thickness of the ejection port forming member 8 is reduced, the influence of deformation and external force F increases. In particular, if the ejection port forming member 8 has a thickness of about 11 μm or less, the effect becomes large.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the shear stress and the configuration of the support member 10. As shown in FIG. 4(a) shows the shear stress between the support member 10 and the substrate 1 shown in the portion Q of FIG. 9(b) for each thickness and number of the support members 10. FIG. FIG. 4(b) shows the shear stress between the support member 10 and the discharge port forming member 8 shown in portion R of FIG. Here, the thickness of the support member 10 indicates the length of the support member 10 in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. Here, the vertical axis represents the shear stress normalized so that the value is 1 when the number of support members is two and the thickness of the support member is 7 μm (hereinafter referred to as the shear stress ratio). there is
In FIG. 4A, in a configuration in which one support member 10 is arranged between adjacent supply ports 4a, when the thickness of the support member 10 is changed from 19 μm to 7 μm, the distance between the support member 10 and the substrate 1 is increased. It has been shown that the shear stress of Even when two supporting members 10 having a thickness of 7 μm are arranged between adjacent supply ports 4a as in the first embodiment of the present invention, one supporting member 10 having a thickness of 7 μm is arranged. Shear stress can be suppressed to the same extent as
FIG. 4(b) shows a configuration in which one support member 10 is arranged between adjacent supply ports 4a, and when the thickness of the support member 10 is changed from 19 μm to 7 μm, the support member 10 and the ejection port forming member 8 are separated from each other. It has been shown that the shear stress between When the thickness of the support member 10 is reduced, the distance between the support members 10 adjacent to each other across the supply port 4a is widened, so the shear stress between the support member 10 and the ejection port forming member 8 is increased. When two support members 10 each having a thickness of 7 μm are arranged between the adjacent supply ports 4a as in the first embodiment of the present invention, the shear stress between the support member 10 and the ejection port forming member 8 is , lower than when one support member 10 having a thickness of 19 μm is arranged. This is probably because increasing the number of support members 10 narrows the distance between adjacent support members 10, thereby reducing shear stress and further dispersing the stress applied to the support members 10. FIG. Therefore, even if the discharge port forming member 8 is deformed by swelling or an external force F is applied, the support members 10 and the support members 10 can be maintained by arranging the plurality of support members 10 on the substrate between the adjacent supply ports 4a. The stress between the substrate 1 and the ejection port forming member 8 can be reduced. Therefore, the deformation of the ejection port forming member 8 and the influence of the external force F can be suppressed, and the liquid ejection performance of the liquid ejection head using this recording element substrate 100 can be stabilized.

<Second embodiment>
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a printing element substrate 200 according to the second embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 shows the configuration on the substrate 1 with the discharge port forming member 8 omitted, as in FIG. 3(a). The overall configuration of the recording element substrate 200 is similar to that of the recording element substrate 100 shown in FIG. Differences from the recording element substrate 100 according to the first embodiment are mainly described below.
In the recording element substrate 200, the support member 10 is integrally formed continuously with the wall member 5a forming a continuous wall surface extending in the direction in which the energy generating elements 2 are arranged. By integrating the support member 10 with the wall member 5a, the strength of the ejection port forming member 8 is further improved.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a printing element substrate 300 according to the third embodiment of the invention. As in FIG. 3A, FIG. 6 also shows the configuration on the substrate 1 with the discharge port forming member 8 omitted. The overall configuration of the recording element substrate 300 is similar to that of the recording element substrate 100 shown in FIG. Differences from the recording element substrate 100 are mainly described below.
In the recording element substrate 300 , the support member 10 is integrally formed continuously with the partition member 5 b forming partition walls separating the adjacent energy generating elements 2 . By integrating the support member 10 with the partition member 5b, the strength of the ejection port forming member 8 is improved.

<Fourth Embodiment>
FIG. 7 shows the configuration of a printing element substrate 400 according to the fourth embodiment of the invention. As in FIG. 3A, FIG. 7 also shows the configuration on the substrate 1 with the discharge port forming member 8 omitted. The overall configuration of the recording element substrate 400 is similar to that of the recording element substrate 100 shown in FIG. Differences from the recording element substrate 100 are mainly described below.
In the recording element substrate 400, the support member 10 is integrally formed continuously with both the wall member 5a and the partition member 5b. By integrating the support member 10 with both the wall member 5a and the partition member 5b, the strength of the ejection port forming member 8 is further improved.

<Fifth Embodiment>
FIG. 8 shows the configuration of a printing element substrate 500 according to the fifth embodiment of the invention. Similarly to FIG. 3A, FIG. 8 also shows the configuration on the substrate 1 with the discharge port forming member 8 omitted. The overall configuration of the recording element substrate 500 is similar to that of the recording element substrate 100 shown in FIG. Differences from the recording element substrate 100 are mainly described below.
The support member 10 of the first to fourth embodiments is a plate-like member, and a plurality of support members 10 are arranged between the adjacent supply ports 4a in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. One supporting member 10 was arranged in a direction intersecting (perpendicular to in FIG. 8) the direction in which the openings 4a are arranged. In the fifth embodiment, a plurality of support members 10 are also arranged in a direction crossing the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. Specifically, the recording element substrate 500 has a total of eight columnar support members 10, two in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, and four in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged. have in between.
In the recording element substrate 500, the energy generating elements 2 are arranged at an interval of 600 dpi, and the ejection openings 9 are arranged at positions corresponding to the energy generating elements 2. Therefore, the arrangement interval of the ejection openings 9 is also 600 dpi. One supply port 4a is arranged for two energy generation elements 2 on both sides of the energy generation element 2, and the arrangement interval of the supply ports 4a is 300 dpi. In the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, the length of the supporting member 10 is 7 μm, and the interval between adjacent supporting members 10 is 5 μm. Also in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, the interval between adjacent supporting members 10 is 5 μm.
In this way, by arranging a plurality of columnar support members 10 between the adjacent supply ports 4a in both the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged and the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged and in the direction crossing the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, the adjacent supply ports 4a Liquid flows between 4a. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the retention of bubbles in the common liquid chamber 3a, so that the liquid ejection performance can be further stabilized. In addition, since the distance between the adjacent support members 10 is narrowed, the strength of the ejection port forming member 8 against external force can be improved. In this embodiment, eight supporting members 10 are arranged between the supply ports 4a, but the present invention is not limited to this. The number of supporting members 10 arranged between the supply ports 4a may be different. Further, the shape of each support member 10 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 8, and for example, a configuration in which thinner support members are arranged in parallel may be used.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the number of support members 10 provided between adjacent supply ports 4a is two in the direction in which the supply ports 4a are arranged, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, three or more support members 10 may be provided between adjacent supply ports 4a. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the support member 10 parallel to the surface of the substrate 1 is rectangular, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the support member 10 may be a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or a polygonal shape other than a rectangular shape.
In each of the above-described embodiments, the recording element substrate has one supply port 4a on each side of the array of energy generating elements 2 for the two energy generating elements 2, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. . Various modifications can be made to the arrangement of each component on the substrate 1 .
For example, in the above embodiment, the supply channels 4 provided on both sides of the energy generating element 2 are channels for supplying liquid to the pressure chambers 7, and the liquid flows from the supply channels 4 to the pressure chambers 7. However, the invention is not limited to such examples. For example, one of the supply channels 4 on both sides of the energy generating element 2 may function as a recovery channel for recovering liquid from the pressure chamber 7 . In this case, the liquid is collected from one of the supply channels 4 through the pressure chamber 7 to the other supply channel 4 . Such a configuration enables a configuration in which the liquid in the pressure chamber 7 is circulated to the outside of the pressure chamber 7 .

1 Substrate 2 Energy generating element 3 Liquid chamber 3a Common liquid chamber 4 Supply path 4a Supply port 5 Flow path forming member 5a Wall member 5b Partition member 7 Pressure chamber 8 Discharge port forming member 9 Discharge port 10 Support member

Claims (8)

In the recording element substrate,
a substrate on which a plurality of energy generating elements that generate energy used for ejecting liquid are arranged side by side;
an ejection port forming member having an ejection port formed at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of energy generating elements;
a plurality of supply paths extending in the thickness direction of the substrate, the supply paths supplying liquid to the energy generating element;
a support member formed between the substrate and the ejection port forming member for supporting the ejection port forming member;
with
supply ports, which are openings of the plurality of supply paths on the side where the energy generating element is provided, are arranged in a straight line on the substrate;
an energy generating element row is formed by arranging the plurality of energy generating elements in a straight line,
A supply port row is formed by arranging a plurality of the supply ports in a straight line,
The energy generating element row and the supply port row are formed to be offset from each other in a direction intersecting with the direction in which the plurality of energy generating elements are arranged in parallel,
A plurality of the support members are provided side by side in the side-by-side direction between the supply ports adjacent in the direction along the side-by-side direction ,
Further, the recording element substrate is
a liquid chamber internally provided with at least one energy generating element and at least two supply ports and communicating with at least one ejection port;
a wall member formed between the substrate and the ejection port forming member and forming a wall surface of the liquid chamber extending in the side-by-side direction;
has
The recording element substrate, wherein the support member is independent from the wall member . 2. The printing element substrate according to claim 1, wherein said support member is in contact with said substrate. further comprising a partition member provided between the adjacent energy generating elements,
3. The recording element substrate according to claim 1, wherein said support member is continuous with said partition member. 4. The recording element according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising a pressure chamber containing said energy generating element therein, wherein the liquid inside said pressure chamber is circulated between said pressure chamber and the outside of said pressure chamber. substrate. 5. The printing element substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the support member has a rectangular shape when the substrate is viewed from a position facing the substrate. 6. The recording element substrate according to claim 5 , wherein the length of said support member in a direction intersecting said arrangement direction is longer than the length of said supply port in said direction. A liquid ejection head comprising the recording element substrate according to claim 1 . A liquid ejection apparatus comprising the liquid ejection head according to claim 7 .

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