JPH02267293A - Production of ink jet nozzle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce an ink jet nozzle having a nozzle hole whose diameter has uniform accuracy by successively forming a negative type resist for regulating the nozzle hole and a positive type resist for regulating the shape of the ink passage and carrying out electrodeposition. CONSTITUTION:A dry film of about 50mum thickness as a negative type resist 2 is laminated on the cleaned surface of a substrate 1 and patterned to the size of the nozzle hole of an ink jet nozzle by exposure and development. A positive type resist 3 is then applied and patterned to the size of the ink passage around the resist 2 by exposure and development. An electrodeposited film 4 of Ni, Cu, etc., is formed, the resist 3 is removed and the surface of the film 4 is chromated to form an inert coating film 5. Ni is electrodeposited to produce an ink jet nozzle 6 and this nozzle 6 is released from the film 5. The shape of the nozzle 6 has high accuracy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an inkjet for use in external output devices such as copying machines and computer facsimile machines.

[Prior Art] As a conventional technology, as shown in FIG.
An ink flow path shape is formed on the top using a photoresist 12, and an electrodeposited film is formed on the nozzle hole 13 by electroforming.
The inkjet nozzle 14 is formed until the diameter reaches a desired size.

Next, a method has been known in which the inkjet nozzle 14 is peeled off from the substrate 11 and the photoresist 12 to obtain the inkjet nozzle 14 as shown in FIG. 2(b).

[Problems and Objects to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such conventional inkjet nozzles, the electrodeposited film of the inkjet nozzle 14 is grown and formed in a manner that it spreads over the surface of the photoresist 12, so the diameter of the nozzle hole 13 cannot be accurately set. It was difficult to regulate the diameter, which caused variations in diameter dimensions. The variation in the diameter of the nozzle hole 13 is due to the ink 1 to be ejected.
The particle size of 5 is made to vary, which is one of the causes of deterioration in printing quality.

In addition, since the shape of the side surface 16 of the nozzle hole 13 utilizes the growth surface of the electrodeposited film, it has a rounded shape that opens outward, and the nozzle hole 13 has a straight part, or no straight part at all. Therefore, the ejection direction 17 of the ink 15 cannot be regulated, and there is a problem that the ink 15 is ejected not completely straight but also in an oblique direction.

Therefore, in order to solve these conventional problems, the present invention forms the diameter of the nozzle hole with high precision, and also forms the side surface of the nozzle hole in a linear shape so that the ink is ejected only in the straight direction. The aim is to provide an inkjet nozzle that is

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the inkjet manufacturing method of the present invention provides an inkjet manufacturing method that is a part of an inkjet that ejects ink, which is formed by electroforming and is used in an inkjet blister or the like. In the nozzle, when forming the nozzle hole, two different types of resists are sequentially patterned at the same location, and the nozzle hole is formed by electroforming using the resist.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the manufacturing process of the inkjet nozzle of the present invention. In FIG. 1(a), a dry film with a thickness of 50 microns is placed on a substrate 1 made of Bs material whose surface has been thoroughly cleaned. Next, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the negative resist 2 is patterned to the size of the nozzle hole by exposure and development, and then as shown in FIG. 1(c). Then, a positive resist 3 is applied using a spin coater or a roller coater, etc. Next, as shown in FIG.
), a positive resist 3 is formed around the negative resist 2 by patterning the size of the ink flow path by exposure and development.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1(e), nickel or copper electroforming is performed to form the electrodeposition liquid II! to the height of the desired thickness of the ink channel shape. After that, the positive resist 3 is removed with a positive resist stripping solution or an alkaline solution to form the shape shown in FIG. 1(f). First, the metal surface is subjected to chromate treatment to form an inert film 5. As shown in FIG. 1(h), an inkjet nozzle 6 is formed by nickel electroforming. When the mold is released from the part 15, an inkjet nozzle 6 having the shape shown in FIG. 1(1) is obtained.

Inkjet nozzle 6 obtained in the above examples
Since the diameter of the nozzle hole 7 is regulated by the negative resist 2, the nozzle hole 7 can be formed with high precision. Furthermore, since the side surface 8 of the nozzle hole 7 can have a straight shape instead of being rounded, the straightness of the ink 9 when it is ejected is improved.

Note that the negative resist 2 that regulates the diameter of the nozzle hole 7 may be other than a negative type dry film, for example, a polyimide-based photosensitive resist, and the positive resist 3 may also be a material that can be removed without damaging the negative resist 2. For example, a similar inkjet nozzle can be manufactured using a printing method using a solder resist or the like.

[Effect of light] As explained above, the inkjet nozzle manufacturing method of the present invention uses a negative type resist for regulating the nozzle hole and a positive type resist for regulating the ink flow path shape at the same location. By sequentially forming the inkjet nozzle by electroforming, the diameter accuracy of the nozzle hole becomes uniform, and a stable ink particle size is obtained, thereby greatly improving print quality.

Furthermore, since a straight portion is formed on the side surface of the nozzle hole, there is an effect that the straightness of the ejected ink droplets is extremely stable.

In this way, since the formation is performed by chemical processing such as photolithography, electroforming, etching, etc. without relying on mechanical processing such as pressing, drilling, and electrical discharge machining, it is easy to perform multi-processing using a large number of multi-heads at the same time.

A vertical cross-sectional view showing the method.

1... Board ・Negative Regis to ・Posiregis to Electrodeposition film inert coating stomach jet nozzle nozzle Cheating Side of nozzle hole ink that's all Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation Representative Patent Attorney Kizobe Suzuki (1 other person) Figure 1 (d) Nira 1 figure (e) Surprise figure 1 (f) Figure 1(a) Figure 1(b) Figure 1(c) Figure 1 (g) Closed figure 1 (h) Father-in-law 1 (i)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet nozzle that is formed by electroforming and used in inkjet printers, etc., and is the part that ejects inkjet ink, when forming a nozzle hole, two different types of resist are sequentially patterned at the same location, and the resist is A method of manufacturing an inkjet, characterized in that it is formed by electroforming using.