JPH04299150A - Nozzle plate and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form orifices having uniform ink discharge characteristic to a nozzle plate, and to make said orifices free from being intruded by adhesive agent when bonding is applied thereto. CONSTITUTION:A nozzle plate (P) is pressed and held in plate by a die 17 having a pore 18 slightly larger a pore-making part 13 at the tip of a punch 10 and a stripper plate 6 equipped with a guide hole 7 for guiding the larger diameter part of the punch 10, and orifices (O) maintained in uniform length are formed on said nozzle plate by making it penetrated from above with the punch 10 at a specified stroke. During processing for forming funnel parts (F), annular projected stripes (R) are formed to the inside of the nozzle plate (P) for preventing adhesive agent from coming down on to the orifices.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nozzle plate for an inkjet printer and a method for manufacturing the same.

0002

[Prior Art] There are several types of heads for inkjet printers, each of which has an ink passage communicating with an ink pressurizing chamber covered by a nozzle plate, and ink is ejected from nozzles opened in the ink passage. In this configuration, a nozzle is usually formed with a funnel portion provided on the nozzle plate in order to accelerate the pressurized ink and discharge it correctly in the axial direction of the nozzle. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 113079, in order to form such a nozzle, a nozzle plate is placed on an elastic band provided with an aperture ring corresponding to the large diameter portion of the punch, and a base portion is inserted from above. A punch with a conical large diameter portion is inserted to form the required nozzle in the nozzle plate.

However, in this method, when the punch is press-fitted, the front side of the nozzle plate is forced to escape downward from the aperture ring to suppress the occurrence of hairlines, so the amount of escape varies depending on the pressing force and press-fitting speed. On top of that, there are disadvantages in that it is not possible to mold the orifice while accurately controlling the length and inner diameter of the orifice, which have a large effect on the ink ejection characteristics such as the ink ejection speed and direction, and the nozzle plate is bonded to the base. In doing so, there is an unsolvable problem in assembling this type of head, such as the adhesive flowing into the nozzle.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new nozzle plate in which adhesive does not flow into the nozzle when bonded to a base, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention provides a nozzle plate for achieving the above-mentioned problems, in which the nozzle plate is bonded to the front surface of the base body on the side to be bonded with adhesive, surrounding the periphery of the nozzle hole. An annular protuberance is integrally formed to suppress the inflow of the agent, and a method for manufacturing such a nozzle plate is to use a die with a hole slightly larger than the narrow diameter part at the tip of the punch. and a stripper plate having a guide hole that guides the large diameter shaft of the punch, and then the punch is inserted into the nozzle plate from the stripper plate side with a constant stroke. A nozzle hole is formed in the nozzle plate using a conical portion and a narrow diameter portion provided at the tip of the nozzle plate.

[0006]

[Embodiment] The embodiment shown in the drawings will be explained below. FIG. 1 shows a nozzle hole forming process according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows an example of an apparatus used in this method. First, an overview of the device will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. A punch plate 4 is fixed to a die set 2 that moves up and down guided by a guide post 1 via a backing plate 3, and a die set 4 is fixed to the die set 2, which moves up and down guided by a guide post 1. The post 5 has a nozzle plate P.
A stripper plate 6 is slidably attached to press and support the punch 10 and guide the punch 10.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the stripper plate 6, and the stripper plate 6 has a guide hole for guiding the punch 10 depending on whether the stripper plate 6 is a one-hole type or a multi-hole type.
One or more guide holes 7 are formed. This guide hole 7 has an inner diameter that can guide the large diameter shaft portion 11 of the punch 10, and also has an inner diameter that can guide the large diameter shaft portion 11 of the punch 10.
It is perforated so that a sharp edge portion 9 is formed between it and the lower surface 8 that presses against it.

On the other hand, the punch 1 slides inside the guide hole 7.
0 has a conical portion 12 that matches the shape of the nozzle hole H to be formed, and a narrow diameter portion 13 of about 40 μm forming an orifice portion O is formed at the tip thereof.

On the other hand, on the die plate 15 side, there are provided stoppers 16, 16 that come into contact with the stripper plate 6 and determine the lower limit of its downward movement.
6, 16, a die 17 is provided with a small hole 18 whose diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the narrow end portion 13 of the punch 10. It is fixed so as to provide a clearance δ sufficient to press it with pressure.

Next, the process of forming the nozzle hole H using the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. First, the stripper plate 6 is lowered until it contacts the stopper 16, and the nozzle plate P made of a material such as stainless steel is pressed and clamped between the lower surface 8 of the stripper plate 6 and the upper surface 19 of the die 17 (see FIG. 1(a)). ). Thereby, the nozzle plate P is pressed and held in a state where it can be plastically deformed only at the portion S where the upper surface thereof is exposed in the guide hole 7.

Next, under this condition, the punch 10 is lowered with a constant stroke L until the narrow diameter portion 13 penetrates into the pore 18 of the die 17 (FIG. 1(b)). As a result, the nozzle plate P receives the penetration of the punch 10 with its outer surface, that is, its lower surface supported by the upper surface 19 of the die 17, so that the outer surface side has the narrow diameter portion 13 of the punch 10.
An orifice portion O controlled to have a constant length l is formed by the orifice portion O, and a conical portion 12 of the punch 10 is formed on the inner surface side.
A funnel portion F is formed by this. Further, in the process of forming the funnel part F, the flesh part pressed in the surface direction of the nozzle plate P swells up to the part S exposed in the guide hole 7, and forms an annular shape that suppresses the inflow of adhesive there. A raised portion R is formed.

Therefore, if the nozzle plate P thus formed is bonded to the front surface of the base body B with adhesive C so as to close the ink passage b communicating with the ink pressurizing chamber a, the result shown in FIG. As shown, the annular raised portion R formed around the nozzle hole H suppresses the adhesive c that tries to flow into the nozzle hole H and the ink flow path b, and firmly fixes the nozzle plate P to the front surface of the base body B. Fixed to. In this figure, PZT represents a piezo element, and d represents an ink storage chamber.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is a gap between the die having a hole slightly larger than the narrow diameter portion at the tip of the punch and the stripper plate having a guide hole for guiding the shaft of the punch. , the nozzle plate is pressed and held, and then a punch is inserted from above with a certain stroke, and the nozzle hole is formed by the conical part and narrow diameter part provided at the tip, which affects the ink ejection characteristics. The orifice part can be molded to a constant length, and an annular ridge can be formed on the inner surface of the nozzle plate exposed in the guide hole during the molding process of the funnel part following the orifice part. , the adhesive can be configured to prevent the adhesive from flowing into the nozzle hole during bonding with the base.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a nozzle hole forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and (a) and (b) are diagrams of each process.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a nozzle plate molded by the above method is joined to a base body.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an apparatus used in the above method.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing main parts of the same device.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Punch plate 6 Stripper plate 7 Guide hole 10 Punch 12 Cone part 13 Narrow diameter part 15 Die plate 17 Die 18 Pore P Nozzle plate F Funnel part O Orifice part R Annular ridge B Base body

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An annular protuberance that surrounds the nozzle hole and suppresses the inflow of the adhesive is integrally formed on the side of the base that is bonded to the front surface of the base with an adhesive. nozzle plate. 2. Pressing and holding a nozzle plate between a die having a hole slightly larger than the narrow diameter portion at the tip of the punch and a stripper plate having a guide hole for guiding the large diameter shaft portion of the punch, Then, by inserting a punch into the nozzle plate from the stripper plate side with a constant stroke, a nozzle hole is formed in the nozzle plate using the conical part provided at the tip of the punch and the narrow diameter part. A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate characterized by: