JPH03101956A - Ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform a recording with good printing quality without crosstalk by a method wherein a recessed engaging part at which a first member as a liquid path forming member is engaged with a tip end of a second member provided with a heating element is provided to an orifice plate part downward of a delivery port. CONSTITUTION:An ink flow path 411 connecting to an orifice 421 further communicates with a recessed part 430 for forming a common ink liquid chamber. A top plate 400 is simultaneously integrally molded with an orifice plate part 404 in a mold. The ink flew path groove 411 can be formed in the top plate 400 by molding a resin using a mold with fine grooves of a reverse pattern formed by cutting or the like. The orifice 421 can be formed by a method wherein an ultraviolet rays are applied inside the orifice plate part 404 by a laser device to remove and evaporate a resin of the appropriate part. In this case, where a thickness (a) of the orifice plate part 404 is 20mum, a dimension (c) with respect to the position of the orifice is 5mum, and a dimension (b) of a jaw 440 is 10-30mum, the problem in molding and orifice forming is eliminated, and a favorable printing can be obtained without the occurrence of crosstalk.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION FIELD 1 The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head, and more particularly to a liquid jet recording head used in a liquid jet recording apparatus that performs recording using droplets ejected from an ejection port. [Background Art] The present inventors have proposed a first substrate on which a discharge energy generating element is formed, and a second substrate to be bonded to the first substrate, the substrate having a first substrate formed with a discharge energy generating element, the second substrate being bonded to the first substrate, and the second substrate being bonded to the first substrate. A second substrate having a groove for forming a flow path for recording liquid and integrally having an ejection opening forming member in which an ejection opening for recording liquid is formed in front of the groove. This is a recording head with special features. [Problem to be solved by the invention J: Is it possible to actually perform printing with the recording head configured as described above? As a result of various studies, we found the following issues that need to be improved in order to achieve further improvements. This will be explained using a diagram. FIG. 9 shows the heater board 100 in the above-mentioned proposed example.
2 is a cross-sectional view in a direction perpendicular to the heater board and along the flow path grooves in the vicinity of the orifice and the ink flow grooves in a state where the top plate 400 and the top plate 400 are joined. FIG. In the figure, the heater board 100 and the top plate 400 are joined, and 411 is a channel groove formed in the top plate 400, 404 is an orifice plate portion, and 421 is an orifice. When we investigated the variation in the bonding dimensions between the top plate and the heater board in this configuration, we found the following. ■The joint surface between the surface of the heater board 100 where the discharge energy generating element is formed and the top plate 400 is forcibly pressurized from the top surface by a presser spring, so there is almost no gap between the two. It is Oμm. ■On the other hand, the bonding gap (X in the figure) between the end surface of the heater board and the foliage plate part 404 of the top plate is 2 to 10 μ
In some cases, gaps of approximately 300 ft (m) were observed during the manufacturing process. ■For this reason, when the ejection energy generating element is driven and ink is ejected from the orifice, the ejection power is transmitted to the adjacent channel groove through the gap X, and as a result, ink is also ejected from the adjacent orifice. The so-called "crosstalk phenomenon" occurs, and the power is transmitted to the adjacent flow path, so the droplets ejected from the orifice corresponding to the driven part do not have the normal droplet volume, and the ejection speed also decreases. In some cases, a decrease of about 20-30% was observed. ■The print quality of printed matter deteriorated significantly in the recording head in which the crosstalk phenomenon described above occurred. The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a recording head with good print quality without crosstalk. [Means for Solving the Problems (and Effects)] In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a first member that is a liquid path forming member and is integrated with an orifice plate having a discharge port. and a second member formed with a generating element that provides ejection energy to the liquid path forming member.
The first member is characterized in that the first member has a recessed engagement portion in the orifice plate portion below the discharge port, with which the tip of the second member engages. The second aspect of the invention is the first aspect in which the ejection energy generating element is formed.
a substrate, and a second substrate to be bonded to the first substrate, the substrate having a groove for forming a recording liquid flow path corresponding to a location where the ejection energy generating element is disposed during the bonding; the second substrate integrally having an ejection port forming member in which an ejection port for the recording liquid is formed in front of the groove;
A liquid jet recording head characterized by comprising:
In the recording head, the projection opening forming member has the form of a plate member for positioning by abutting the first substrate during the bonding, and the shape of the second substrate is similar to that of the plate member (orifice plate portion). a surface that abuts against the first substrate side;
A top plate (second substrate) with a certain distance between it and the front end surface of the channel groove (referred to as a jaw), and where this jaw is on the same plane as the bonding surface with the first substrate. ) structure. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when joining and fixing the first substrate (heater board) and the second substrate (top plate), the jaw portion described above is directly pressed onto the heater board. Even if a space (gap) is created between the inside of the plate-like member (orifice plate part) of the top plate and the end face of the heater board due to variations in joining, the pressure spring will ensure that the jaw part is in close contact with the heater board surface. Therefore, the ejection power does not leak into the adjacent flow path through the gap as described in the conventional example, and crosstalk does not occur. Therefore, it is possible to record with good print quality. [Embodiment] FIGS. 2 to 6 show a preferred inkjet unit IJU, inkjet head IJH, ink tank IT, inkjet cartridge IJC. Inkjet recording device body IJRA
, carriage HC and their relationships. The configuration of each part will be explained below using these drawings. As can be seen from the perspective view in Fig. 3, the inkjet cartridge IJC in this example has a large ink storage ratio, and the tip of the inkjet unit IJU protrudes slightly from the front surface of the ink tank IT. It has a shape. This inkjet cartridge IJC is fixedly supported by a positioning means and electrical contacts (described later) of a carriage HC (FIG. 5) placed on the inkjet recording apparatus main body IJRA, and is detachable from the carriage HC. It is a disposable type. The configurations shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 of this example are those to which a number of novel techniques developed at the stage of the establishment of the present invention are applied, so while briefly explaining these configurations,
I will explain the whole thing. (i) Inkjet unit IJU configuration description The inkjet unit IJU is a bubble jet type unit tearer that performs recording using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy to cause film boiling in ink in response to an electrical signal. Ru. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 indicates a structure in which electrothermal converters (discharge heaters) arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate and electrical wiring such as 8β for supplying electric power are formed by film-forming technology. This is a heater board. 200 is a wiring board for the heater board 100;
Wiring corresponding to the wiring of the heater board 100 (for example, connected by wire bonding) and a pad 201 located at the end of this wiring and receiving electrical signals from the main device.
It has 1 300 is a grooved top plate equipped with partition walls for dividing a plurality of ink channels and a common liquid chamber for storing ink to supply ink to each ink channel, and is supplied from an ink tank IT. an ink receptacle 1 500 that receives ink and introduces it into the common liquid chamber;
An orifice plate 400 having a plurality of ejection ports corresponding to each ink flow path is integrally molded. Polysulfone is preferred as the material for these integral moldings, but other resin materials for molding may also be used. Reference numeral 300 denotes a support made of metal, for example, which supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 on a flat surface, and serves as a bottom plate of the inkjet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a pressing spring, which has an M-shape and presses the common liquid chamber with light pressure at the center of the M-shape, and uses a front sag 501 to concentrate linear pressure on a part of the liquid path, preferably in the area near the discharge port. Press. The foot of the spring that presses the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 passes through the hole 3121 of the support body 300 and engages with the back side of the support body 300, thereby engaging the two in a state where they are sandwiched between them. The heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 are crimped and fixed by the concentrated biasing force of the spring 500 and its front sagging portion 501. The support body 300 also has positioning holes 312, 1900, 2000 that engage with the two positioning protrusions 1012 of the ink tank IT and the positioning and heat sealing holding protrusions 1800, 1801, as well as the positioning holes 312, 1900, 2000 of the apparatus main body IJRA. Protrusions 2500 and 2600 for positioning with respect to the carriage HC are provided on the back side. In addition, the support 300 also has a hole 320 that allows an ink supply pipe 2200 (described later) to pass therethrough, which allows ink to be supplied from an ink tank. The wiring board 200 is attached to the support body 300 by adhering it with an adhesive or the like. Note that the recesses 2400 and 2400 of the support body 300 are provided near the positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600, respectively, so that the assembled inkjet cartridge IJ
C (Fig. 3), the three sides around it are parallel grooves 300.
At the extension point of the head tip region formed by a plurality of projections 2500.2, dust and ink are
It is located so that it does not reach 600. This parallel groove 3000 is formed. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the lid member 800 forms the outer wall of the inkjet cartridge IJC, and together with the ink tank forms a space in which the inkjet unit IJU is housed.Also, this parallel groove 3001 is formed The ink supply member 600 has an ink conduit 1 600 that is continuous with the ink supply pipe 2200 described above and is formed as a cantilever with the supply pipe 2200 side fixed, so that capillary action between the fixed side of the ink conduit and the ink supply pipe 2200 occurs. Sealed bottle 602 to ensure
is inserted. Note that 601 is a packing that seals the connection between the ink tank IT and the supply pipe 2200. 700 is a filter installed at the tank side end of the supply pipe. Since this ink supply member 600 is molded, it is not only inexpensive and has high positional accuracy and eliminates deterioration in manufacturing precision, but also can be used for mass production due to the cantilevered conduit 1 600. The state of pressure contact with the above-mentioned ink socket 1 500 can be stabilized. In this example, a more complete communication state can be reliably obtained by simply pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under this pressure-contact state. Note that the ink supply member 6oo is fixed to the support body 300 through the hole 190 of the support body 300.
1.1902, the back side bottle (not shown) of the ink supply member 600 is made to protrude through the hole 1901, 1902 of the support body 300, and the part that protrudes to the back side of the support body 300 is easily heat-sealed. It will be held on. Incidentally, since the slight protruding area of this heat-sealed back surface part is accommodated in the recess (not shown) in the side wall surface of the inkjet unit IJU mounting surface of the ink tank T, the positioning surface of the unit IJU can be obtained accurately. . (ii) Ink tank IT configuration description The ink tank is constructed by inserting the cartridge body 1000, the ink absorber 900, and the ink absorber 900 from the side of the cartridge body 1000 opposite to the unit IJU mounting surface, and then sealing the ink tank. and a lid member 1100 that stops. Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber for impregnating ink, and is disposed within the cartridge body 1000. 1. 200 is a supply port for supplying ink to the unit IJU consisting of the above-mentioned parts lOO to 600, and also connects the unit to the cartridge main body 100.
The supply port 1200 is
It is also an injection port for impregnating the absorber 900 with ink by injecting ink. In this example, the parts that can supply ink are the atmospheric transport port and the supply port, but the rib 2300 inside the main body 1000 is used to ensure good ink supply from the ink absorber.
and lid member 1.100 (7) partial ribs 2500, 2400
The in-tank air presence area formed by
However, since the ink is formed over the farthest corner region, it is important that a relatively good and uniform supply of ink to the absorber is performed from the supply port 1200 side. This method is extremely effective in practice. This rib 1000 has four ribs parallel to the carriage movement direction on the rear surface of the main body i ooo of the ink tank, and prevents the absorber from coming into close contact with the rear surface. or,
The partial ribs 2400 and 2500 are similarly provided on the inner surface of the lid member 1100 on corresponding extensions to the rib 1000, but unlike the rib 1000, they are in a divided state and do not allow air to exist in the space. is increased compared to the former. Note that the partial ribs 2500 and 2400 are part of the lid member 100.
It has a shape that is distributed over less than half of the total area of 0. These ribs connect the tank supply port 1 of the ink absorber.
The ink in the corner region farthest from the supply port 1 200 could be guided more stably and reliably to the supply port 1 200 side by capillary force. Reference numeral 1401 denotes an atmosphere ventilation port provided in the lid member to communicate the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. l 400
is a liquid-repellent material disposed inside the air passage port 1401, which prevents ink from leaking from the air passage port 1400. The ink storage space of the ink tank IT mentioned above has a rectangular shape, and the long sides are on the sides, so the arrangement of the ribs described above is particularly effective. In the case of a case or a cube, cover member 1
By providing ribs throughout the ink absorber 900, the ink supply from the ink absorber 900 can be stabilized. A rectangular parallelepiped shape is suitable for storing as much ink as possible within a limited space, but in order to use the stored ink for recording without wasting it, as mentioned above, it is necessary to It is important to provide ribs that can perform the above-mentioned action on two adjacent surface areas. Furthermore, the inner surface ribs of the ink tank IT in this embodiment are arranged in a substantially uniform distribution in the thickness direction of the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped ink absorber. This configuration is important because it can equalize the atmospheric pressure distribution and almost eliminate the remaining amount of ink with respect to the ink consumption of the entire absorber. Furthermore, to explain the technical idea behind the arrangement of the ribs in detail, when an arc is drawn with the long side as the radius and centered on the projected position of the ink supply port 1200 of the ink tank on the quadrangular top surface of the rectangular parallelepiped. In addition, it is important to arrange the ribs on the surface outside the arc so that the absorbent body located outside the arc can be quickly exposed to atmospheric pressure. in this case,
The atmosphere communication port of the tank is not limited to this example, as long as it is located at a position where the atmosphere can be introduced into the region where the ribs are provided. In addition, in this embodiment, the inkjet cartridge I
The rear surface of the JC head is flattened to minimize the space required when incorporated into the device, and the structure maximizes the ink storage capacity, resulting in a more compact device. Not only that, but it also has an excellent structure that reduces the frequency of cartridge replacement. Then, by utilizing the rear part of the space for integrating the inkjet unit IJU, a protruding part for the air transport port 1401 is formed therein, and the interior of this protruding part is hollowed out, as described above. An atmospheric pressure supply space 1402 is formed over the entire thickness of the absorber 900. With this configuration, we were able to provide an excellent cartridge that has never been seen before. Note that this atmospheric pressure supply space 1402 is much larger than the conventional one, and the atmospheric communication port 1401 is located above, so even if the ink leaves the absorber due to some abnormality, this large The air pressure supply space 1402 can temporarily hold the ink and ensure that the ink is collected by the absorber, so that an excellent cartridge with no waste can be provided. Further, the structure of the mounting surface of the unit IJU of the ink tank IT is shown in FIG. Let Ll be a straight line that passes approximately through the center of the protrusion of the orifice plate 400 and is parallel to the mounting reference plane on the bottom of the tank IT or the surface of the carriage.
The two positioning protrusions 1012 are on this straight line L. The height of this protrusion 1012 is slightly lower than the thickness of the support 300, and positions the support 30,0. In this drawing, on the extension of the straight line L, there is a claw 2 that is engaged with the 90° engaging surface 4002 of the carriage positioning hook 400L.
100 is located, and the structure is such that the positioning force for the carriage acts on a plane area parallel to the reference plane that includes these straight lines 1, 1. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 5, these relationships are effective because the positioning accuracy of only the ink tank is equivalent to the positioning accuracy of the ejection ports of the head. Further, a hole 19 for fixing the support body 300 to the side surface of the ink tank is provided.
Ink tank protrusions 18 corresponding to 00.2000 respectively
00.1801 is longer than the above-mentioned protrusion 1012, and the part that protrudes through the support 300 is thermally fused to form the support 3.
This is for fixing 00 to its side. The above line L. Let Ls be a straight line passing through this protrusion 1800 perpendicular to L, and L2 be a straight line passing through the protrusion 1801. Since the approximate center of the supply port 1 200 is located above the straight line L, the supply port 1 200 and the supply This is a preferable configuration because it acts to stabilize the state of connection with the pipe 2200 and reduces the load on these connections even if dropped or impacted. or,
straight! 1L2 and Ls do not match, and there is a protrusion 1800.18 around the protrusion 101'2 on the ejection port side of the head IJH.
01 exists, it further produces a reinforcing effect on positioning with respect to the head IJHo tank. Note that the curve indicated by L4 is the outer wall position when the ink supply member 600 is attached. Since the protrusions 1800 and 1801 are along the curve L4, they provide sufficient strength and positional accuracy even for the weight of the distal end side configuration of the head IJH. In addition, 270
0 is the tip collar of the ink tank IT, which is inserted into a hole in the front plate 4000 of the carriage and is provided in case of an abnormal situation where the displacement of the ink tank becomes extremely poor. 210l is a retainer for the carriage, which is provided to a bar (not shown) of the carriage HC, and is attached to a bar (not shown) of the cartridge I.
This is a protective member for maintaining the mounted state even if a force is applied in the upward direction that causes the JC to enter the lower part of the bar at the pivoted mounted position and unnecessarily disengage from the positioned position as will be described later. The ink tank IT has a shape that surrounds the unit IJU except for the lower opening by covering it with the lid 800 after the unit IJU is installed, but the inkjet cartridge IJC has a lower opening for placing it on the carriage HC. Since it is close to the carriage HC, it forms a substantial four-sided surrounding space. Therefore, although the heat generated from the head IJH in this enclosed space is effective as a heat-retaining space, the temperature rises only slightly during long-term continuous use. Therefore, in this example, a slit l700 with a width smaller than this space is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge IJC to help the natural heat dissipation of the support, thereby preventing temperature rise and ensuring uniform temperature distribution throughout the unit IJU. We were able to make the process unaffected by the environment. When assembled as an inkjet cartridge IJC, ink is supplied from inside the cartridge into the supply tank 600 through the supply port 1200, the hole 320 provided in the support hole 300, and the introduction port provided on the inner back side of the supply tank 600. After passing through the interior, the ink flows into the common liquid chamber from the outlet through an appropriate supply pipe and the ink inlet 1500 of the top plate 400. A packing made of, for example, silicone rubber or butyl rubber is disposed at the above-mentioned connection portion for ink communication, and this seals the ink supply path to ensure an ink supply path. In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfon, polyphenylene oxide, or polypropylene, which has excellent ink resistance, and is molded together with the orifice plate part 400 in a mold. It has been done. As mentioned above, the integrally molded parts include the ink supply member 600,
Top plate and orifice plate integrated, ink tank body 10
00, it not only achieves a high level of assembly accuracy, but is also extremely effective in improving quality in mass production. Since the number of text parts can be reduced compared to the past, excellent desired characteristics can be reliably exhibited. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, in the above-mentioned shape after assembly,
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the ink supply member 6
00, the upper surface part 603 forms a slit S as shown in FIG.
A slit (not shown) similar to the slit S is formed between the lower lid 800 of the ink tank IT and the head side end 4011 of the thin plate member to which the lower lid 800 of the ink tank IT is bonded. These slits between the ink tank IT and the ink supply member 600 substantially act to further promote heat dissipation through the slit 1700, and even if there is unnecessary pressure applied to the tank IT, it is directly removed from the supply member. At best, this prevents the inkjet unit IJT from being affected. In any case, the above-mentioned configuration of this embodiment is a configuration that has not been seen in the past, and each of them individually provides an effective effect, and in combination, each component provides an organic configuration. ing. (fit) Explanation of how to attach the inkjet cartridge IJC to the carriage HC In FIG. 5, 5000 is a platen roller that guides the recording medium P from the bottom to the top of the page. The carriage HC moves along the platen roller 3000, and has a front plate 4000 (thickness 2
m m ), a flexible sheet 4005 equipped with a butt 2011 corresponding to the butt 201 of the wiring board 200 of the cartridge IJC, and a rubber pad sheet 4005 for generating elastic force to press this against each pad 2011 from the back side. Electrical connection support plate 4 that holds the support plate 4007
003 and a positioning hook 4001 for fixing the inkjet cartridge IJC to the recording position. The front plate 4000 has a protruding surface 401 for positioning.
0 corresponds to the aforementioned positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600 of the cartridge support 300, respectively, and after the cartridge is mounted, a force perpendicular to these protruding surfaces 4010 is applied. For this reason, the reinforcing ribs have a plurality of ribs (not shown) on the platen roller side of the front plate facing in the direction of the perpendicular force. This rib is located at the front position Ls when the cartridge IJC is installed.
A head protection protrusion that protrudes slightly (approximately 0.1 mm) toward the platen roller is also formed. The electrical connection support plate 4003 has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 4004 not in the direction of the ribs but in the vertical direction, and the proportion of lateral protrusion decreases from the platen side toward the hook 4001 side. This also serves the function of tilting the position when the cartridge is installed as shown in the figure. In addition, in order to stabilize the electrical contact state, the support plate 4003 is used to position the hook side to apply force to the cartridge in the opposite direction to the direction in which the two positioning protruding surfaces 4010 act on the cartridge. It has two surfaces 4006 corresponding to the protruding surfaces 4010, forming a pad contact area between these surfaces and uniquely defining the amount of deformation of the bottom of the rubber seat 4007 with a bottom corresponding to the pad 201l. These positioning surfaces come into contact with the surface of the wiring board 300 when the cartridge IJC is fixed at a recordable position. In this example, the wiring board 300
Since the pads 201 are distributed symmetrically with respect to the aforementioned line L, the amount of deformation of each hole of the rubber seat 4007 is made uniform, and the contact pressure of the pads 2011 and 201 is made more stable. The distribution of the pads 201 in this example is two rows above, two rows below, and two columns vertically. The hook 400 1 has an elongated hole that engages with the fixed shaft 4009, and uses the movement space of the elongated hole to rotate counterclockwise from the position shown in the figure, and then rotates to the left side along the platen roller 5000. By moving to, the inkjet cartridge IJC is positioned with respect to the carriage HC. The hook 4001 may be moved in any way, but a configuration in which it can be moved using a lever or the like is preferable. In any case, when the hook 4001 is rotated, the cartridge IJC moves toward the platen roller and the positioning protrusion 2500.2600
moves to a position where it can come into contact with the positioning surface 4010 of the front plate, and as the hook 4001 moves to the left, the 90° hook surface 4002 touches the 90' of the claw 2100 of the cartridge IJC.
Position the cartridge IJC while keeping it in close contact with the surface 250.
The pads 201 and 2011 rotate in a horizontal plane around the contact area between the pads 201 and 2010, and finally contact between the pads 201 and 2011 begins. When the hook 4001 is held in a predetermined position, that is, a fixed position, the pads 201 and 2011 are in complete contact with each other, the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010 are in complete surface contact, and the 90-degree surface 4002 and the 90-degree surface of the claw are in complete contact with each other. The two-surface contact and the surface contact between the wiring board 300 and the positioning surface 4006 are simultaneously formed, and the holding of the cartridge IJC in the carriage is completed. (iv) General description of the main body of the apparatus FIG. 6 shows an inkjet recording apparatus I to which the present invention is applied.
In the general view of JRA, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005, which rotates via the drive force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013, is a pin (not shown). ) and is moved back and forth in the directions of arrows a and b. Reference numeral 5002 is a paper holding plate that holds the paper on the platen 5 in the carriage movement direction.
Press against 000. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 are home position detection means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area using a photocoupler and switching the rotational direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head, and 5015 is a suction means that sucks the inside of this cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. 5017 is a cleaning blade, 5
Reference numeral 019 denotes a member that allows this blade to move in the front and back direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, the blade is not of this type, but a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Also, 5
0l2 is a lever for starting suction for arch recovery,
It moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the movement of the driving force from the drive motor is controlled by known transmission means such as clutch switching. These catching, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the home position side area. Any of these can be applied to this example as long as they are activated. Each of the configurations described above is an excellent invention whether viewed singly or in combination, and represents a preferable configuration example for the present invention. In order to explain in detail the present invention technically related to the above-mentioned FIGS. 2 to 6, the following description will be made using FIGS. 1 and 7 and subsequent figures. The shape of the top plate changed in the present invention will be mainly explained. FIG. 8 shows a form in which the heater board 100 and the top plate 400 are joined and fixed. In the figure, for the sake of simplification, the orifice plate portion 404 of the top plate 400 is shown by a chain line, and the wiring pattern on the heater board 100 is not shown. As mentioned above, heater board 1
00 and the top plate 400 are positioned using the heater board 100.
The adhesive 405 was applied along three sides of the outer periphery of the top plate 400 to join them. Next, as shown above, the top plate 400 and the heater board lOO
The recording head body obtained by integrating the two is fixed onto a support 300 using an adhesive 306. In this state, both boards (heater board 10
0 and the top plate 400) are only adhered at the outer peripheral portions other than the flow path portion, and sufficient adhesion is not obtained. Therefore, the urging force of the pressing spring 500 is applied from the upper side of the top plate 400. Then, by fitting the claws 507 provided at the bottom of both ends into the holes 307 provided in the support body 300 and engaging them, mechanical pressure is applied from the top of the top plate 400. This will ensure sufficient adhesion between both substrates. In addition, in this pressing spring 500, 520
is a hole through which a supply pipe connecting the ink introduction port 420 of the top plate 400 and the ink supply port of the supply tank 600 is inserted. According to the recording head described so far, the process of assembling the recording head does not include the process of separately attaching the ejection port forming member, which is the orifice plate, so not only is positioning at the time of attachment completely unnecessary, but also this Since no adhesive is used in the part, inconveniences such as clogging of the flow path associated with its use can be eliminated. [Example l1 Figure 7 is a perspective view of the top plate in this example, and
The figure is a vertical sectional view of the heater board in the vicinity of the orifice and the flow path groove after the top plate and the heater board have been joined together, a presser spring has been attached, and the top plate has been crimped. In Fig. 1, 421, 422 are orifices, 411,
Reference numeral 412 denotes an ink flow path communicating with the orifice, which further communicates with a recess 430 for forming a common liquid chamber for ink. In this embodiment, the top plate 400 is made of a resin such as polysulfon, polyethersulfon, polyphenylenoxide, or polypropylene, which has excellent ink resistance, and is made of a resin such as polysulfon, polyether sulfon, polyphenylenoxide, polypropylene, etc. It's shaped. Next, the ink channel grooves 411, 412 and the orifice 421,
A method for forming 422 will be explained. For the ink channel grooves, resin is molded using a mold in which fine grooves with a reverse pattern are formed by cutting or other methods, thereby forming the channel grooves 411 and 412 on the top plate 400.Orifices 421, 422 is removed from the mold from the inside of the orifice plate portion 404, that is, from the ink channel groove side, at the position where the orifice is to be formed, and then irradiated with ultraviolet rays by a laser device to remove and evaporate the resin, forming orifice 421422. did. In this example, the full width of the ink flow path is 40 μm, the width of the non-groove portion is 23.5 μm, and the height (depth) of the ink flow path is 50 LLm.
The precept was held with the dimensions of . In addition, in the figure, for simplification,
Although the number of grooves is only two, in the example, the number of grooves is 90,
The number of orifices formed using the excimer laser was 74. At this time, the orifice plate portion 40 in the figure
The thickness a of 4 was varied in the range of 10 μm to 60 μm, and the ink channel groove end face 441 and orifice plate portion 40
The dimension b of the portion (hereinafter referred to as the jaw portion) between the inner surface (that is, the surface on the flow path side) of No. 4 was varied within the range of 3 to 50 μm. Furthermore, when machining orifices on these molded top plates using an excimer laser, the position of the orifice 421 (or 422) within the channel groove 411 or 412 is determined to be the same as the lower end of the round hole in the front end surface 441 of the ink channel groove. , the distance C between the joint surfaces with the heater board 100
was varied in the range of 2 to 10 μm. Table 1 shows a list of the top plates having the above-mentioned dimensional changes a, b, and c. Pole. For 1 to 8, the thickness a of the orifice plate 404 is 201Lm, and the C dimension regarding the orifice position is 5.
It was fixed at μm, and the jaw dimension b was varied from 3 to 50 ILm. The seed again. 9 to 15 have jaw part dimension b of 101. Lm
．． The C dimension was fixed at 5 μm, and the orifice plate 404
The thickness a was varied from 10 to 60 μm. Furthermore, Nn.
．． For 16 to 18, the thickness a of the recess plate is 20 μm,
The jaw dimension b was fixed at 10 μm, and the dimension C regarding the orifice position was varied from 2 μm to 10 LLm. Now, using the various top plates described above, the recording heads were assembled until they were completed, and the methods and procedures were exactly the same as those described in the previous examples. Therefore,
It is omitted here. However, NQ. ．． 1-18 and NG.
．． After assembling any of the heads 19 to 22, there is almost a gap between the heater board and the groove on the top plate due to the holding spring.
I confirmed that it was in close contact with Lm. Next, the evaluation results of each of the recording heads just mentioned will be described. As a comparative example, the evaluation results of the above-described jaw portion dimension b of 0 μm (same configuration as the conventional one) are also listed in Table 1. The evaluation items were: (1) moldability, (2) difficulty in forming the orifice, and (2) presence or absence of crosstalk as head characteristics and printing quality. Regarding the moldability (2), if the thickness a of the orifice plate portion 404 of the top plate is too thin, the flow of resin during molding may be insufficient and the intended shape may not be obtained. Regarding the orifice formation (2), in this example, the orifice was formed using an excimer laser, but the dimension until the laser is applied to penetrate the hole, that is, the dimension a + b, which is the sum of the orifice plate thickness dimension a and the jaw dimension b. If it is too thick, the desired orifice size cannot be obtained because of the laser power limit. Alternatively, there may be disadvantages such as the orifice shape becoming dirty. Regarding the crosstalk (2), we actually printed it on paper and looked at the printed matter to perform a sensory evaluation of its quality. First, the thickness a dimension of the orifice plate portion 404 is set to 20
μm, the dimension C related to the orifice position is 5 μm, and the dimension b of the jaw portion 440 is changed. The results of tests 1 to 8 are as follows: Hiro. No. 1 with a jaw size of 3 μm had no problems in moldability or orifice formation, but crosstalk occurred and printing was poor. Shame again. 2 jaw dimension 5
Although the occurrence of crosstalk is considerably suppressed in the case of μm compared to 1, there is still some occurrence of crosstalk.
Print quality cannot be said to be perfect. This is not because the jaws are not grounded on the heater board due to the small dimensions of the jaws, and due to variations in the joining accuracy between the heater board and the top plate, and therefore the discharge power leaks into the adjacent flow path. It is estimated that. Shame again. 3 ~ Seed. 6 jaw part size 10LLm ~ 30I. For Lm, there were no problems in moldability or orifice formation, no crosstalk occurred, and good printing was achieved. Aim again. No. 7 with a jaw part size of 40 μm had no problems in moldability, but there was no crosstalk and the printing was good, but it was difficult to form an orifice. This is because the thickness of the orifice plate 404 (20 μm) is added to the jaw dimension of 40 μm, resulting in a total laser processing thickness of 60 μm. The size is obtained. More seeds. 8 jaw dimension 50
In the case of μm, the desired orifice size could not be processed even if various laser conditions were devised, and printing evaluation could not be performed. Next, No. 1 was prepared in which the jaw dimension b was fixed at 10 gm, the C dimension regarding the orifice position was fixed at 5 μm, and the orifice plate thickness was varied from 10 ALm to 60 tLm.
．． Tests 9 to 16, but the orifice plate 404
In the case of molding with a mold having a thickness dimension a of 10 μm, the resin could not be molded to a thickness of 10 μm (the resin did not flow and did not form an orifice plate), and subsequent evaluation could not be performed. Hiro again. 10 to 15 with a dimension of 15 μm to 50 μm had no problems in moldability or orifice processing, no crosstalk was observed, and the printing was good. However, the seed.
No. 16 with a dimension of 60 μm has a seed. As in 8, the total thickness of the laser orifice processing was 70 μm, so the specified orifice processing could not be performed and no printing was performed. Next, the jaw part dimension b is fixed to 10 μm, the orifice plate thickness dimension a is fixed to 20 μm, and the dimension C related to the orifice position is set to 2 μm, 3 μm, 1 μm.
NIL changed to 0μm. 16 ~No. ．． 18
This is a blood test with a reduced C dimension. 17 2 μm head and FJll. Regarding the 3μm head of No. 18, crosstalk was observed, and the degree of crosstalk was 2μm.
The printing with m was worse, and the printing with 3 μm was mild and the printing itself was at the level of good quality. The reason for this is presumed to be that, although the heater board 100 and the top plate 400 are pressed together by a presser spring, the C dimension is too thin, resulting in a structural weakness, and the discharge power leaks into the adjacent flow path. Note that the one with a C dimension of 10 um had good printing without any problems. Next, Hiroshi. 19~? ! n. Four comparative examples were shown in No. 22 that did not have a jaw portion (b dimension: 0 μm), but in all of them, crosstalk occurred and the printing was poor. This result indicates that the crosstalk cannot be suppressed completely without the jaw part. To summarize the above, the dimensions of the jaw part b are b≧5
The thickness is preferably 5 μm, and it has been found that no crosstalk occurs if the thickness is 5 μm or more. In addition, from the viewpoint of formability, the orifice plate thickness a needs to be 15 μm or more, and from the viewpoint of orifice processing using an excimer laser, the dimension a+b must be 60 μm or less. Further, the C dimension regarding the processing position of the orifice must be 3 μm or more. In summary, ■20 μm≦a+b≦60 μm, ■b≧5 μm, and ■C≧3 μm.If these conditions were satisfied, a recording head that exhibited good printing without crosstalk was obtained. The present invention provides excellent effects particularly in bubble jet recording heads and recording apparatuses among ink jet recording systems. As for typical configurations and principles thereof, it is preferable to use the basic principles disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to arrange the liquid (ink) in accordance with the sheet and liquid path that hold it. As an electrothermal converter,
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise above nucleate boiling, the electrothermal transducer generates thermal energy to cause film boiling on the thermally active surface of the recording head. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed in one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal, which is effective. The growth and contraction of the bubble causes liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one drop. It is more preferable to use this drive signal in a pulse form, since the growth and contraction of bubbles can be carried out immediately and appropriately, so that ejection of liquid (ink) with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As this pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. No. 4,463,359 and US Pat. No. 4,345,262 are suitable. Incidentally, U.S. Patent No. 431 for the invention regarding the temperature increase rate of the heat acting surface
If the conditions described in specification No. 3124 are adopted,
Even better recording can be performed. The configuration of the recording head includes, in addition to the combined configuration of ejection ports, liquid paths, and electrothermal converters (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting section. US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600 disclose a configuration in which the
The present invention also includes a configuration using the specification of the above specification. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 123670 of 1982 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a hole that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy is disclosed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461 of 1981, which discloses a configuration in which a discharge portion corresponds to a discharge portion. Furthermore, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length can be increased by combining multiple recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either a configuration that satisfies this requirement or a configuration as a single recording head formed temporarily may be used, but the present invention can more effectively exhibit the above-mentioned effects. In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that is attached to the device body enables electrical connection to the device body and ink supply from the device body, or a chip-type recording head that is installed integrally with the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type recording head is used. Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. for the recording head, which are provided as part of the structure of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, these include preheating means for the recording head using a caving means, a cleaning means, a pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer or another heating element, or a combination thereof. It is also effective to perform a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing in order to perform stable printing. Furthermore, the recording mode of the recording device is not limited to a recording mode of only mainstream colors such as black, but may also include a recording head that is configured integrally or a combination of multiple heads, or a recording mode that uses multiple colors of different colors or a mixed color. The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color image.

【Effect of the invention】

As explained above, by using the top plate bridge structure in which the jaw portion is provided, it has become possible to provide a recording head with good print quality without crosstalk. Furthermore, since the print quality has been significantly improved compared to conventional products, the manufacturing cost has also been reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate and the vicinity of the orifice after the heater board is connected, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cartridge of the invention, Fig. 3 is an assembled perspective view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the attachment part of the inkjet unit IJU, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the attachment of the cartridge IJC to the device, FIG. 6 is an external view of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the top plate showing the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the joining of a heater board and a top plate according to the present invention and a conventional example, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the top plate and the vicinity of the orifice after the heater board has been joined in a previous invention by the present applicant. . 100... Heater board 200... Wiring board 300... Support body 320... Hole provided on the support body 400... Top plate 404... Orifice plate portion 405... Adhesive 411 , 412...For ink flow path formation 420...
Ink introduction ports 421, 422... Orifice 430... Common liquid chamber forming recess 440... Jaw portion 441... Ink channel groove front end surface 500... Presser spring 600... Supply tank z4θρ 3t )7

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A first member that is a liquid path forming member and is integrated with an orifice plate having a discharge port, and a second member that is formed with a generating element that provides discharge energy to the liquid path forming member are pressed together. In the inkjet recording head formed by this method, the first member has a recessed engagement portion in the orifice plate portion below the ejection port, with which the tip of the second member engages. Inkjet recording head. (2) A first substrate on which an ejection energy generating element is formed, and a second substrate to be bonded to the first substrate, wherein a recording liquid is applied to a position corresponding to a location where the ejection energy generating element is disposed at the time of bonding. The second substrate has a groove for forming a flow path, and integrally has an ejection port forming member in which an ejection port for the recording liquid is formed in front of the groove. A liquid jet recording head characterized in that the ejection opening forming member has the form of a plate member for positioning the first substrate by abutting it during the bonding, and the recording head is characterized in that: (a) The shape of the second substrate is such that there is a certain distance b between the abutting surface of the plate member (orifice plate portion) with the first substrate and the front end surface of the flow channel groove, and , are on the same plane as the bonding surface with the first substrate. (b) The second substrate method is as follows [1], [2], [3]
satisfy. [1] The distance between the front end surface of the channel groove and the inner surface of the orifice plate portion (dimension b) is b≧5 μm. [2] The position c dimension of the orifice with respect to the flow path groove is c≧3
It is μm. [3] The sum of the thickness dimension a of the plate-like member (orifice plate thickness) and the above-mentioned dimension b is 20 μm≦a+b≦60 μm. (c) The discharge port forming member is integrally molded with the second substrate from the same resin material.