JPH03184860A - Long sized thermal ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain uniformity of the ink projecting direction by a method wherein on one channel plate with ink discharge grooves, a plurality of heater plates with heaters are arranged in such a manner that the heater plates confront with the ink discharge grooves. CONSTITUTION:Grooves by pattern are formed on a Si substrate 21 to obtain a long sized channel plate. Then, previously diced short sized heater plates 2 are aligned on the channel plate 2 using marks on the long sized channel plate as references, and they are laminated. After the lamination, nozzle surface sides of the heater plates and channel plate are diced once, and a nozzle surface is formed. Also, the other surface is cut and separated at the same time to complete a long sized head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a thermal inkjet head, particularly a long type thermal inkjet head.

(Prior Art) Long thermal inkjet heads are superior to short heads in terms of speeding up printer systems and the like. Conventional long heads have been produced by a method of arranging short heads in the longitudinal direction and pasting them together. FIG. 4 shows a method for manufacturing a long inkjet head using a conventional short inkjet head. In FIG. 4, (A) shows the channel plate,
(B) is a perspective view of the heater plate, and (C) is a perspective view of the heater plate.
The figure is a perspective view of a short type head as a part of a long type inkjet head in which both are bonded together. In the figure, 1 is the channel plate, 2 is the heater plate,
The channel plate 1 is configured by providing a substrate 3 with grooves 4 of a fixed size for defining the direction in which ink is projected, and the heater plate 2 has grooves 4 of a certain size on the substrate 5 in a region corresponding to the grooves 4 of the channel plate 1. A heater 6 is provided. Paste these two plates together (C)
A short head as shown in the figure is formed. The above-mentioned substrates 3 and 5 were each made of a Si wafer, and after bonding them together in wafer form, they were aligned and bonded on a support plate 7. Therefore, increasing the length requires larger channel plates and heater plates. Since the manufacturing process for channel plates is easy, the rate of non-defective products hardly decreases as the plate size increases. However, the fabrication process for heater plates requires a technical level and number of steps equal to or higher than that of LSI fabrication processes.
An increase in size significantly reduces the yield rate. Therefore, as shown in Figure (D), a method has been adopted in which a plurality of short heads are lined up and bonded together on a long support 7 in the longitudinal direction. However, with this method, there is a problem in that the ink ejecting direction varies from head to head due to misalignment and bonding of the channel plates that define the ink ejecting direction.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a long thermal inkjet head having a uniform ink projection direction. It is.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a thermal inkjet head in which a plurality of heater plates each having a heater are arranged on one channel plate having an ink discharge groove so that the ink discharge groove and the heater face each other. It is characterized by its placement.

The length of the channel plate can be made to correspond to the paper width of the paper to be printed.

The channel plate can be formed by stacking Si1 or another plate on top of the Si plate.

The channel plate uses glass or a ceramic substrate, and the ink ejection grooves (rows) or
It may also be formed in a laminated structure.

The substrate of the channel plate can be made of a plate sliced along a (100) plane including the Si crystal pulling axis of the CZ method or a plane parallel thereto.

In this case, the crystal pulling axis can be the <110> axis.

A roughly elongated thermal inkjet head may be constructed by using a plurality of elongated channel plates having ink protruding grooves facing a plurality of heater plates having heaters.

(Function) In the present invention, a long channel plate is used, and a short heater plate is bonded to the long channel plate.Since the direction in which ink is projected is determined by one channel plate, the direction in which ink is uniformly projected is maintained. That's what you get.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of the elongated thermal inkjet head of the present invention. (A) is a perspective view of a part of the channel plate, (B) is a perspective view of the heater plate, and (C) is a perspective view of part of the elongated head.

Components similar to those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The channel plate 1 is a long one, and a conventional short heater plate 2 is pasted thereon. Therefore, since the channel plate is long, the channel grooves can be formed uniformly over the entire length, and the heater plate positioning does not require great precision, making assembly easy.

If the length of the long thermal inkjet head is the width of the paper to be printed, there is no need to move the head during printing, making high-speed printing possible. Alternatively, XY recording can be performed by fixing the paper and moving the head.

In addition, when configuring a longer thermal inkjet head, a plurality of the above-mentioned elongated ones may be used and fixed to the substrate.

The method of manufacturing the channel plate will be explained with reference to FIG. (
A) As shown in the figure, a resist pattern 23 in which a thermal oxide film 22 is grown to a thickness of about 500 OA on a Si substrate 21, and alignment marks and channel grooves 4 for a short heater plate are opened by photolithography.
is formed, and the thermal oxide film 22 at the opening is etched (B
) As shown in the figure, remove the thermal oxide film in the area where the groove will be formed. Next, anisotropic etching is performed in a KOH solution, and as shown in (C) II, the grooves 24 of the above pattern are etched into the Si.
Formed on a substrate, the thermal oxide film 22 is removed to obtain the channel plate shown in FIG. Next, the short heater plate 2, which has been die-sinked in advance, is aligned with the mark on the long channel plate as a reference, and then bonded together. At this time, it is assumed that the nozzle surface (the surface from which ink protrudes) of the heater plate is temporarily diced with a cutting margin of at least several hundred μm to the actual position. After bonding, the nozzle surface sides of the heater plate and channel plate are once die-sinked to form a nozzle surface. Also, other sides are cut and separated at the same time to complete the long head.

Note that the channel plate can be formed by stacking Si1 or another plate on the Si plate.

The channel plate uses glass or a ceramic substrate, and the ink ejection grooves (rows) or
It may also be formed in a laminated structure. In that case, Si
Alternatively, a groove may be formed in the Si layer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the method for manufacturing a Si substrate. (A) As shown in the figure, <110> is the crystal pulling axis. A Si ingot 31 is used and cut in a plane perpendicular to the axis. Next, a (100) plane including the crystal axis is determined by, for example, an X-ray diffraction method and sliced to obtain a substrate 32 as shown in FIG. The Si substrate thus formed is a rectangular substrate having a (100) plane surrounded by <100>. Since the longitudinal direction of this rectangular substrate is parallel to the pulling axis, its length can be adjusted freely, and a long channel plate substrate for a long head can be manufactured. Moreover, if the above method is used, the conventional KO
There is an advantage that the channel formation method using H can be applied as is. In other words, since this rectangular wafer is surrounded by <110>, the KOH channels run vertically and horizontally.
Moreover, since the plane orientation is (100), the shape of this channel becomes a conventional V-shaped groove, as shown in FIG.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the heater plate, whose yield rate is significantly reduced due to increase in size, can be maintained at the high yield rate of the conventional heater plate, and at the same time, the channel that defines the ink projection direction can be used. Since the plate is integrally formed in the longitudinal direction, it is possible to achieve uniformity in the direction in which ink is projected.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a long thermal inkjet head according to the present invention, in which (A) shows a channel plate, (B) shows a heater plate, and (C) shows a long thermal inkjet head made by pasting the two together. Each perspective view of a part of a long thermal inkjet head, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of the channel plate, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of the channel plate substrate, and FIG. 4 is a diagram of the conventional long thermal ink jet head. This figure shows an example of a square-shaped thermal inkjet head. (A) shows a channel plate, (B) shows a heater plate, and (C) shows an example of a square-shaped thermal inkjet head.
) The figure shows a short thermal inkjet head in which both are pasted together, and the figure (D) shows a perspective view of a portion of the long thermal inkjet head.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermal inkjet head characterized in that a plurality of heater plates each having a heater are arranged on one channel plate having an ink discharge groove so that the ink discharge groove and the heater face each other.