JPH02270983A - Production of ink jet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce the ink jet accurately formed with the diameter of a nozzle hole by overhanging the upper resist formed on a substrate from the lower resist and shielding and forming a conducting film, then executing an electrocasting. CONSTITUTION:The negative resist 2 is formed on the substrate 1 consisting of glass, etc., formed with a nickel film and is exposed and developed to pattern the film. A copper electrodeposited film 3 is then formed by an electroplating near to the film thickness of the resist. The negative resist 4 is thereafter applied over the entire surface. The resist 4 is subjected to the patterning of an umbrella shape slightly larger than the resist 2 in the part formed with the nozzle hole to overhang the above-mentioned resist on the resist 2. Only the copper electrodeposited film 3 mentioned above is dissolved away by a chemical etching and thereafter, the conducting film 5 and an inert film 6 are successively formed thereon. The umbrella part of the resist 4 serves as a shielding plate and the conducting film is not formed around and near the resist 2. The nickel or the like is then electrocast and the ink jet nozzle 7 having the nozzle hole of high accuracy is obtd.

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.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional technique, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a substrate 11 is
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 was known in which the inkjet nozzle 14 was peeled off from the substrate 11 and the photoresist 12 to obtain the inkjet nozzle 14 as shown in FIG. 2(b).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a conventional inkjet, the electrodeposited film of the inkjet nozzle 14 is grown and formed by spreading it on the surface of the photoresist 12, so it is difficult to accurately regulate the diameter of the nozzle hole 13, which causes variations in the diameter dimension. It became. The variation in the diameter of the nozzle hole 13 causes the particle size of the ink 15 to be ejected to vary, which is one cause of deterioration in print 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 shape with almost no or no straight line parts, so that the ink 15 is There was a problem in that the discharge direction 1-7 could not be regulated and the discharge did not go completely straight but was also discharged 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 to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inkjet manufacturing method of the present invention includes, when forming a nozzle hole in an inkjet nozzle, which is formed by electroforming and is a part of an inkjet used in an inkjet printer or the like that ejects ink, The resist is stacked in two layers, with the upper resist overhanging to serve as a shielding plate when forming a conductive film.

[Example] 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 this casting. In Fig. 1 (a), a nickel film is formed on the surface of glass, plastic or A negative resist 2 made of a dry film having a thickness of 50 microns is laminated on a substrate 1 made of a material such as a stainless steel plate or a nickel plate. Next, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the negative resist 2 is patterned by exposure and development so that the inner side has the size of the nozzle hole and the outer side has the size of the ink flow path. after that,
As shown in FIG. 1(c), a copper electrodeposition film 3 is formed by electrolytic plating to a thickness close to that of the negative resist. Then, the first
As shown in Figure (d), a negative resist is applied to the entire surface. After that, as shown in FIG. 1(e), patterning is performed on the negative resist 2 in the part where the nozzle hole is formed, so that the edge protrudes from the negative resist 2 in the part where the nozzle hole is formed, forming an umbrella shape. A negative resist 4 is formed to be slightly larger so as to have an overhang. Next, using an ammonium persulfate solution with a concentration of several percent, only the copper electrodeposited film 3 is etched and dissolved to form the shape shown in Fig. 1D). , remains uncorroded by ammonium persulfate solution. Then, as shown in FIG. 1(g), a nickel or copper film is formed by vapor deposition or sputtering to form a conductive film 5.

At this time, the umbrella portion of the negative resist 4 serves as a shielding plate, and prevents the conductive film 5 from being deposited around the negative resist 2 and on the substrate 1 in the vicinity of the negative resist 2. next,
As shown in FIG. 1(h), a chromate treatment is performed using a chromic acid solution to form an inert film 6 on the metal. Then, as shown in FIG. 1(i), a nickel or nickel alloy coating is electroformed to a desired thickness to form an inkjet nozzle 7. At this time, the electrically conductive film 5 on the negative resist 4 is not electrically connected to any part, so that no electrodeposited film grows. Thereafter, when the inkjet nozzle 7 is released from the inert coating 6, the inkjet nozzle 7 having the shape shown in FIG. 1(j) is obtained.

In FIG. 1(j), 7 is an inkjet nozzle;
8 is a nozzle hole, 9 indicates a side surface of the nozzle hole,
10 is ink ejected from the nozzle hole 8.

Inkjet nozzle 7 obtained in the above examples
Since the aperture of the nozzle hole 8 is regulated by the negative resist 2, the nozzle hole 7 can be formed with high precision. In addition, since the shape of the side surface 9 of the nozzle hole 8 can have a linear shape instead of being rounded, the straightness of the ink 10 when it is ejected is improved.

Note that the negative resist 2 that regulates the diameter of the nozzle hole 8 may be a photosensitive resin other than a negative type dry film, for example, having a polyimide diameter.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the method for manufacturing an inkjet nozzle of the present invention, the diameter accuracy of the nozzle hole becomes uniform and a stable ink particle size is obtained, thereby significantly improving print quality.

Furthermore, since the nozzle hole has a straight side surface, the straightness of the ejected ink droplets is very 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 clear-breath drilling or electrical discharge machining, it is easy to perform multi-processing using a large number of multi-heads at the same time.

1...Substrate 2, pot, negative resist 3...copper electrodeposition coating 4...negative resist 5...conductive coating 6...inert coating 7...inkjet nozzle 8 conflict ψ・Nozzle hole 9... Side face of nozzle hole 10... Ink and above Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Kizobe Suzuki (1 other person) Figure 1 (a)
) Figure 1 (b) Figure 1 (0) Figure 1 (d) Figure 1 <e> Figure 1 (f) Figure 1 (g) Figure 1 (h) Straw 1 Figure (i) 8 , Nozzle hole Fig. 1 (j)

Claims (1)

[Claims] When forming a nozzle hole in an inkjet nozzle, which is formed by electroforming and is the part that ejects inkjet ink used in inkjet printers, etc., resist is stacked in two layers, the upper resist is overhanged, and a conductive coating is formed. A method for manufacturing an inkjet, characterized in that the method serves as a shielding plate when forming an inkjet.