JPH01288452A - Fabrication of ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the cost and the size through a relatively simple structure, by jointing a substrate and a top board through a flow path board in which a plurality of pressure chambers communicated with respective orifices, an ink flow path and a common liquid chamber are etched by means of high temperature compression, and bonding the top board to a plurality of electromechanical converters through adhesive. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 11 is jointed firmly with a top board 13, by means of high temperature compression, through a flow path board 12 in which a plurality of orifice sections 16 for forming small ink delivery holes, a plurality of pressure chambers 17 communicated with respective orifice sections and transmitting pressure wave thereto, a plurality of ink flow path sections 18 communicated with the pressure chamber sections 17, and a common liquid chamber section 21 are etched. Preferably, they are made of same material such as stainless steel. A plurality of electromechanical converters 14 are constructed with piezoelectric elements and the like and secured, in place, in respective grooves 22 in the top board 13 through such as epoxy adhesive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an inkjet recording head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of orifices according to image information.

[Conventional technology]

An inkjet recording device is one type of recording device such as a printer or a facsimile.

Inkjet recording devices perform recording by ejecting small droplets of recording liquid (ink) from an orifice using various energy application methods, and attaching the droplets to a recording medium (recording sheet) such as paper or a thin plastic plate. .

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a recording head used in such a recording apparatus.

The energy application method for forming ink droplets or making them fly in an inkjet recording head is as follows:
For example, an electric field control method generates an electric field with an electrode placed near an orifice (ink ejection opening), applies the electric field to the ink, and electrostatically ejects the ink, and an electromechanical conversion element is placed near the orifice. An on-demand piezo is used to eject and fly ink droplets by applying mechanical vibration of an electromechanical transducer to the ink in response to an external signal, or a heating element (electrothermal exchanger) is provided near the orifice.
There is a bubble shaft type ink jet (bubble shaft) system in which the heating element is energized in response to an external signal to vaporize the ink in the vicinity, and the pressure generated at that time causes ink droplets to be ejected into the air.

[Problems to be solved by invention]

However, in the conventional electric field control type recording head,
There is a problem in that the configuration of electrodes and the like near the orifice becomes complicated, the recording head becomes large, and the cost of recycling increases.

Further, in the conventional thermal inkjet method, since a heating element is used as an energy generator, there is a problem in that the ejection durability is inferior to other on-demand methods or electric field control methods.

Although the dot diameter control function is an important technology for achieving high image quality, the thermal inkjet method has a problem in that the dot diameter variable range during dot diameter control is narrower than other on-demand methods.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems of the two-legged prior art;
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head that has a relatively simple configuration and is capable of reducing cost and size.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to inkjet recording in which ink droplets are ejected from a plurality of orifices according to image information.In a manufacturing method of RAD, a substrate, a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with each orifice, and a plurality of ink droplets communicating with each pressure chamber are provided. A flow path plate having a structure in which a flow path and a common liquid chamber communicating with each ink flow path are formed by C etching in the same plate, and a plurality of electromechanical transducers that are energy generators for ejecting ink droplets. and a top plate having a structure in which grooves for positioning each electromechanical transducer are formed by half-etching on the same brake. Inkjet recording consists of the steps of sandwiching and bonding the top plate with multiple electromechanical transducers using adhesive, and bonding the top plate and multiple electromechanical transducers with adhesive.
The above object is achieved by the method for producing Rad.

C Example] The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an inkjet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention before assembly.

In FIG. 1, the inkjet recording head includes a substrate 1
1, a channel plate 12, a top plate 13, and a plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 are assembled.

A hole 15 is formed in the substrate 11 and serves as an ink supply port for introducing ink from the outside.

The flow path plate 12 includes a plurality of orifice sections 16 that form small holes for ejecting ink, and a plurality of pressure chamber sections 17 that communicate with each orifice section and propagate pressure waves thereto.
A plurality of ink passages 18 that reach each pressure chamber and supply ink thereto, and a common liquid chamber 21 that communicates with each ink passage are formed in the same plate by an etching method, that is, by pattern erosion. The structure is formed using a die cutting method.

The top plate 13 has a structure in which a plurality of four positioning parts or grooves 22 for positioning and fixing each electromechanical transducer 14 are formed on the top surface of the same plate by a half-etching method, that is, an engraving method using pattern corrosion. .

The substrate 11, channel plate 12, and top plate 13 described above are fixedly bonded to each other by high-temperature pressure bonding with the channel plate 12 in between, and are made of the same material such as nickel or stainless steel. It is preferable to use the material.

The plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 are energy generators for forming and ejecting ink droplets, and are composed of, for example, I type elements (which contract and expand in response to voltage pulses).

These electromechanical transducers 14 are positioned and fixed in each groove 22 on the top plate 13 with an adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive.

By assembling the following parts, an inkjet recording head having a plurality of orifices (ink ejection ports) is constructed.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the substrate 11, channel plate 12, and top plate 13 are bonded together by high-temperature pressure bonding, and a plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 are bonded to the top plate 13 with adhesive, and ink droplets are bonded to the top plate 13. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the discharge orifice portion 16 is still sealed.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which a plurality of orifices 24 are formed by polishing or cutting the front surface of the head, that is, a surface perpendicular to the ink droplet ejection direction near the orifice portion 16 to a predetermined thickness, from the state shown in FIG.
FIG.

By this polishing or cutting step, in addition to opening the orifice 24, it is also possible to remove the orifice surface 11 due to dimensional errors or assembly errors in the substrate 111, channel plate 12, and top plate 13.

The above structure and assembly are performed according to the steps of the method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to the present invention, that is, the method for manufacturing a recording head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of orifices 24 according to image information. A plurality of pressure chambers 17 communicating with each orifice 24, each pressure chamber 17
A plurality of ink channels 18 and each ink channel 1 communicate with each other.
8, a flow path plate 12 having a structure in which a common liquid chamber 21 is formed by etching in the same plate, a plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 which are energy generating bodies for ejecting ink droplets, and each electric Groove 2 for positioning the mechanical converter 14
2 on the same plate by half-etching.
An inkjet recording head having a plurality of orifices 24 consisting of the steps of bonding the top plate 13 and a plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 with an adhesive, and bonding the top plate 13 and a plurality of electromechanical transducers 14 with an adhesive. A manufacturing method is provided.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects were obtained.

(i) A low-cost inkjet recording head could be realized because it could be assembled through a simple process of joining plate-shaped parts by high-temperature pressure bonding and adhering an electromechanical transducer to the surface.

(ii) The number of orifices 24 can be easily increased with a simple configuration, and an inkjet recording head that can print high-quality images at high speed can now be easily manufactured.

(iii) Because of the structure in which plate-shaped parts are laminated, it is easy to reduce the size and thickness of the recording head and the recording apparatus using it, making it possible to reduce the size and weight.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the head periphery of an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an inkjet recording head manufactured according to the present invention.

In FIG. 4, a guide shaft 33 is installed in parallel in front of a platen roller 32 that conveys a recording sheet 31, and an inkjet recording head 35 is mounted on a carriage 34 that reciprocates along the guide shaft 33.

Ink (recording liquid) is supplied to the inkjet recording head 35 from an ink tank 36 through an ink supply tube 37 .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above invention, according to the method of manufacturing an inkjet recording head of the present invention, a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with a plurality of orifices, a plurality of ink channels communicating with each pressure chamber, and a plurality of ink channels communicating with each pressure chamber are provided. A top plate and a substrate are bonded at high temperature to both sides of a channel plate in which openings are formed to form a common liquid chamber that communicates with each other, and a plurality of electromechanical transducers are positioned and bonded to the top plate, resulting in a simple and compact structure. A method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head can be obtained, which can reduce the number of assembly steps and reduce costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the inkjet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention before it is assembled, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the recording head of FIG. 1 assembled and before the orifice is opened. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state after the orifice is opened from the state shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus suitable for using the recording head manufactured according to the present invention. It is a diagram. 11-・-・-・・−・1 board, ■2 ・−・・−m
-～---・Channel plate, 13---・Covering plate, 14 ・・・・・Electromechanical converter, 1
6 -111---orifice part, 17-----
...-Pressure chamber, 18---111--Ink channel, 2
1-...-m----・Common liquid chamber, 22 -111--
...-- Groove, 24 --------- Orifice (ink ejection opening). Agent Patent Attorney Yasushi OotoFigure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of orifices according to image information, which includes a substrate, a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with each orifice, a plurality of ink channels communicating with each pressure chamber, and a plurality of ink flow paths communicating with each pressure chamber. A channel plate has a structure in which a common liquid chamber that communicates with each ink channel is etched into the same plate, a plurality of electromechanical transducers that are energy generators for ejecting ink droplets, and each electrical Equipped with a top plate with a structure in which grooves for positioning the mechanical converter are formed by half-etching on the same plate, and the substrate, channel plate, and top plate are bonded by high-temperature pressure bonding with the channel plate in between. A method of manufacturing an inkjet recording head, comprising: bonding a top plate and a plurality of electromechanical transducers with an adhesive.