JPH05147218A - Liquid jet recording head and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use glass as the junction surface of either one of a member having a groove or a member having a flat surface, and an electroconductive material as the junction surface of the other member, and thereby, increase the junction strength between liquid flow path constituent members to form a liquid flow path and a discharge aperture which are uniformly shaped. CONSTITUTION:A thermal element 2 and an Al electrode material 3 are formed on a silicone substrate 1, and an anti-oxidation protecting film 4 is formed on the thermal element 2 and the Al electrode material 3, and further, a Ta anti-cavitation film 5 is formed on the protecting film 4. In addition, both films 4, 5 are patterned as specified. Then a dry film photoregist 17 is laminated on the patterned films 4, 5 and patterned. After that, nickel is plated 7 in addition to the patterning. Next, the dry film photoregist 17 is removed to form an ink passage wall 6 consisting of plated nickel. Further, a glass top plate 8 is prepared and laminated on the ink passage wall 6, and a direct current power supply 10 is applied to the glass top plate 8 and the anti-cavitation film 5. Thus the surface of the glass top plate 8 is junctioned to the nickel-plated surface 7 by anodic treatment. Finally, a liquid jet recording head is obtained through a head fabrication process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head having a liquid flow path constructed by joining a member having a groove portion and a member having a flat surface, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of forming a liquid flow path of a liquid jet recording head, a method of joining a member having a groove for the liquid flow path and a flat member is known.

FIG. 14 is a schematic partial sectional view showing an example of a liquid flow path obtained by a conventional method. This liquid flow path is formed as follows, for example. First, a desired number of heating elements 2 and electrode materials 3 are arranged on a flat base body 1. On top of this,
The protective film 4 and the anti-cavitation film 5 are sequentially covered, and the surface thereof is treated with the silane coupling agent 11. After this,
The ink passage wall 6 is formed using patterning using a dry film photoresist. Separately from this, a glass top plate 8 having one surface coated with a liquid resist 12 as an adhesive is prepared. Liquid resist 1 on this glass top plate 8
By bonding the second side and the ink passage wall 6 to each other, as shown in FIG.
A liquid flow path 9 as shown in is obtained. However, in this conventional method, the liquid resist 12 tends to drip into the liquid flow passage 9, and it is difficult to form the liquid flow passage 9 having a uniform shape. This is also related to the nonuniformity of the shape of the ink discharge port at the end position of the liquid flow path 9 and causes a variation in the ink discharge amount of the liquid jet recording head, which causes a problem that the print quality is deteriorated.

As another conventional method, the liquid resist 12 is used.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-79350 discloses a method of joining the top plate by anodic bonding without using such an adhesive material as described above. FIG. 15 is a schematic partial sectional view showing an example of a liquid flow path obtained by such anodic bonding. This liquid flow path is formed as follows, for example. First, a groove for a liquid flow path is formed on the silicon substrate 1 by anisotropic etching. The surface on the groove side is covered with the SiO ₂ layer 13.
The SiO ₂ layer 13 and the glass top plate 8 are laminated, a power source 10 is connected to the silicon base 1 and the glass top plate 8 and a voltage is applied to perform anodic bonding, so that a channel 9 is obtained. However, in this conventional method, the materials to be joined are glass and SiO ₂ , and since the _two are insulators, high joining strength cannot be obtained, and the joining process is also difficult. Further, in this conventional method, since the groove for the liquid flow path is formed by anisotropic etching, a silicon single crystal which is an insulator is used as the base.

As another conventional method, there is also a method in which both joint surfaces are made of glass and heated to near the melting point and melt-pressed. However, in this conventional method, since a heating / cooling step up to about 600 ° C. is required, there are drawbacks such as a long process time, a narrow material selection range, and easy deformation of the liquid flow path and the discharge port during heating.

As another conventional method, a method in which one bonding surface of silicon substrates is made of low melting glass and low temperature and low voltage bonding is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-49956. However, in this conventional method, since the top plate material is opaque, the nozzle length becomes non-uniform, and it becomes difficult to grasp the dust in the ejection port and the ink ejection state. This is because the nozzle length influences the ejection characteristics, and it is common to provide a cutting mark in the ejection port and perform the cutting through the transparent top plate. Also, the substrates are limited to silicon.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. That is, the object of the present invention is that the bonding strength between the members forming the liquid flow path is sufficiently strong, the liquid flow path and the discharge port have a uniform shape, the transparent top plate can be used, and the dispersion of the ink discharge amount is An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid jet recording head capable of printing with excellent quality without any further deterioration.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of widening the selection range of the base material and facilitating simple manufacturing.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a liquid jet recording head having a liquid flow path formed by joining a member having a groove portion and a member having a flat surface, the member having the groove portion and the member having the flat surface. The liquid jet recording head is characterized in that the joint surface of one of the members is made of glass and the joint surface of the other member is made of a conductive material.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head having a liquid flow path formed by joining a member having a groove portion and a member having a flat surface, and a member having the groove portion and a member having the flat surface. A bonding surface of one of the members is made of glass, a bonding surface of the other member is made of a conductive material, and the method has a step of bonding the glass and the conductive material by anodic bonding. And a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1> FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing an example of manufacturing a liquid flow path of a liquid jet recording head of the present invention. This liquid channel was formed as follows.

First, 10 HfB ₂ was deposited on the silicon substrate 1.
Sputtered to a thickness of 00 angstroms and Al was deposited on top of it.
Sputtering was performed at a thickness of 000 Å. Thereafter, the layer photolithography, the heating element 2 made of HfB ₂ in the pattern as shown in FIG. 1 (a) using an etching technique, to form the electrode material 3 made of Al. SiO ₂ was sputtered thereon to a thickness of 2 μm to form an oxidation resistant protective film 4, and Ta was sputtered thereon to a thickness of 0.5 μm to form a cavitation resistant film 5. Although not shown, both films 4 and 5 were also subjected to predetermined patterning. A dry film photoresist 17 was laminated on this and patterned as shown in FIG. 1 (b). After this,
As shown in FIG. 1 (c), nickel plating 7 was applied. Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (d), the dry film photoresist 17 was removed to form an ink passage wall 6 made of 25 μm square Ni plating. The member in which the groove portion for the liquid flow path is formed on the substrate 1 by the ink passage wall (Ni plating) 6 corresponds to the member having the groove portion in the present invention.

Separately from this, the top plate 8 is made of Pyrex glass having a thickness of 1 mm (manufactured by Corning, trade name: 774).
0) was prepared. This glass top plate 8 was laminated on the ink passage wall 6, and a DC power supply 10 was connected to the glass top plate 8 and the cavitation resistant film 5 as shown in FIG. 1 (e). in the air,
A voltage of 800 V was applied at 380 ° C. with the glass top plate 8 on the negative electrode side and the cavitation resistant film 5 on the positive electrode side. By applying this voltage, an electrostatic attractive force was generated between the space charge layer generated by the movable ions in the glass top plate 8 and the metal surface, and the surface of the glass top plate 8 and the nickel-plated surface 7 were anodically bonded.

After the liquid flow path was formed as described above, a liquid jet recording head was obtained through a conventionally known head manufacturing process. In this recording head, the bonding strength between the glass top plate 8 and the ink passage wall (Ni plating) 6 is sufficiently strong, the shapes of the liquid flow path and the ejection port are uniform, and recording with good print quality is possible. Met.

In the first embodiment, nickel plating 7 is used for the ink passage wall 6 and Ta is used for the cavitation resistant film 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when another metal is used. Is also effective.

<Embodiment 2> FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the configuration of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. The P-CVD method is used to form the ink passage wall 6 in the second embodiment, and polycrystalline Si is formed on the cavitation resistant film 5 and patterned to form the ink passage wall 6 made of a semiconductor (polycrystalline Si). Formed. Except for this, when a liquid jet recording head was obtained by the same steps as in Example 1 (the same conditions for anodic bonding), similarly good results were obtained.

<Embodiment 3> FIG. 3 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In Example 3, first, the silicon substrate 1 which is a semiconductor was prepared, and the groove portion for the liquid flow path was formed by anisotropic etching. The glass top plate 8 similar to that in Example 1 is laminated on the groove side, and the glass top plate 8 is formed as shown in FIG.
A DC power supply 10 was connected to the silicon substrate 1. In the atmosphere, at 380 ° C., the glass top plate 8 was set to the negative electrode side, the silicon substrate 1 was set to the positive electrode side, and a voltage of 800 V was applied. By applying this voltage, the glass top plate 8 and the silicon substrate 1 were anodically bonded. In Example 3, since no insulating layer such as the SiO ₂ layer 13 as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 15 is interposed, the bonding strength of anodic bonding is the conventional example (FIG. 15).
Was better than the ones.

After forming the liquid flow path as described above, a conventionally well-known head manufacturing process was performed to obtain a liquid jet recording head, and similarly good results were obtained.

<Embodiment 4> FIG. 4 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In Example 4, first, a groove for a liquid flow path is formed on the silicon substrate 1 by anisotropic etching, and then. A Ta film 14 was sputtered on the surface on the groove side. A glass top plate 8 similar to that of Example 1 is laminated on this,
As shown in FIG. 4, a DC power source 10 is provided on the glass top plate 8 and the substrate 1.
Connected. In the atmosphere, at 380 ° C., the glass top plate 8 was set to the negative electrode side, the silicon substrate 1 was set to the positive electrode side, and a voltage of 800 V was applied. By applying this voltage, the glass top plate 8 and the silicon substrate 1 were anodically bonded.

After forming the liquid flow path as described above, the same good results were obtained when the liquid jet recording head was obtained through the conventionally known head manufacturing process.

Although the silicon substrate 1 is connected to the positive electrode side of the power source 10 in the fourth embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and is also effective when connected to the Ta film 14. When it is connected to the Ta film 14, any material may be used for the substrate 1, and an insulator such as glass may be used. Further, instead of the Ta film 14, another conductive material, for example, a metal other than Ta or a semiconductor such as polycrystalline silicon may be used.

<Embodiment 5> FIG. 5 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, first, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the heating element 2 made of HfB _{2 is formed} on the silicon substrate 1.
Electrode material 3 made of Al, protective film 4 made of SiO ₂ , T
The anti-cavitation film 5 made of a was sequentially formed. Next, the surface is treated with a silane coupling agent 11, and unlike in Example 1, a dry film photoresist having heat resistance is used (to prepare for a high temperature post process), and this is laminated and patterned. did. Further, a Ta film 14 as an inner wall metal layer was sputtered thereon to a thickness of 1000 Å to form an ink passage wall 6 made of a 25 μm square Ta-coated photoresist. After that, the glass top plate 8 was anodically bonded under the same conditions as in Example 1 to obtain a liquid jet recording head, and similarly good results were obtained.

<Embodiment 6> FIG. 6 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the configuration of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In the sixth embodiment, first, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the heating element 2 made of HfB _{2 is formed} on the silicon substrate 1,
Electrode material 3 made of Al, protective film 4 made of SiO ₂ , T
The anti-cavitation film 5 made of a was sequentially formed. Next, unlike in Example 1, 25 μm of Pyrex glass was formed on the cavitation resistant film 5 and patterned to form an ink passage wall 6 of 25 μm square Pyrex glass.

Separately from this, a glass top plate 8 similar to that in Example 1 was prepared, and a transparent conductive film (ITO film) 15 was formed on the glass top plate 8.
Sputtering was performed at a thickness of 000 Å. This was laminated on the ink passage wall 6, and a DC power supply 10 was connected to the ITO film 15 and the cavitation resistant film 5 as shown in FIG. In the air, at 380 ° C., the ITO film 15 was set to the positive electrode side, the cavitation resistant film 5 was set to the negative electrode side, and a voltage of 70 V was applied to perform anodic bonding. In this anodic bonding, since the ink passage wall 6 made of Pyrex glass is as thin as 25 μm, the applied voltage as low as 70 V is sufficient.

After forming the liquid flow path as described above, a liquid jet recording head was obtained through a conventionally known head manufacturing process, and the same good result was obtained.

Although the ITO film 15 is formed on the top plate 8 in the sixth embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.
It is also effective to use a metal film instead of the film 15.

Next, Examples 7 to 1 using low melting point glass
2 will be described.

<Embodiment 7> FIG. 7 is a schematic partial sectional view showing an example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In the seventh embodiment, first, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the heating element 2, A made of HfB _{2 is formed} on the silicon substrate 1.
electrode material 3 made of l, protective film 4 made of SiO ₂ , Ta
The anti-cavitation film 5 and the ink passage wall 6 made of 25 μm square Ni plating were sequentially formed.

Separately from this, a glass having a thickness of 1 mm (manufactured by Corning, product name: 7059) was prepared as the top plate 8. First, an ITO film 15 having a thickness of 1000 angstrom was formed on the glass top plate 8 by RF sputtering.
Further, a low-melting point glass layer 16 is formed on top of this by R in an oxygen atmosphere.
A film having a thickness of 2 μm was formed by the F sputtering method using a low melting point glass (trade name: 7570) manufactured by Iwaki Glass Co., Ltd.

The glass top plate 8 having the low melting point glass layer 16 is laminated on the ink passage wall 6 and, as shown in FIG.
DC power supply 10 is provided on the TO film 15 and the anti-cavitation film 5.
Connected. A voltage of 70 V was applied in the air at 100 ° C. with the ITO film 15 on the negative electrode side and the cavitation resistant film 5 on the positive electrode side. By applying this voltage, the low melting point glass layer 1
An electrostatic attractive force is generated between the space charge layer on the 6 side and the metal surface, and the electrostatic contact force causes the interface to come into contact with each other, resulting in chemical bonding and anodic bonding. In addition, since the low melting point glass having a small viscosity is used in this Example 7, the atoms of the glass layer 16 are easily moved, and the bonding at a low temperature is possible. The reason why the applied voltage can be made lower than in Examples 1 to 5 is that since the glass layer is thin, a similar electric field strength can be obtained even if the glass layer is low.

After the liquid flow path was formed as described above, a liquid jet recording head was obtained through a conventionally known head manufacturing process, and similar good results were obtained.

In Example 7, nickel plating was used for joining on the ink passage wall 6 side and Ta was used for the cavitation resistant film 5, but the present invention is not limited to this and other metals are used. The case is also effective. Although the ITO film 15 is used as the conductive layer, the present invention is not limited to this.
The metal may be thin enough to allow light to pass through.

<Embodiment 8> FIG. 8 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the constitution of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In this Example 8, the ITO film 15 and the low melting point glass layer 1 were formed on the glass top plate 8 in the same manner as in Example 7.
6 is formed, and the ITO film 15 is provided on the negative electrode side of the power source for anodic bonding.
A liquid jet recording head was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the connection voltage was set to 70 V and the applied voltage was 70 V. Similarly good results were obtained with this recording head.

<Embodiment 9> FIG. 9 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In this Example 9, the ITO film 15 and the low melting point glass layer 1 were formed on the glass top plate 8 in the same manner as in Example 7.
6 is formed, and the ITO film 15 is provided on the negative electrode side of the power source for anodic bonding.
A liquid jet recording head was obtained in the same manner as in Example 3 except that the voltage was applied to 70 V and the applied voltage was 70 V. Similarly good results were obtained with this recording head.

<Embodiment 10> FIG. 10 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In Example 10, the ITO film 15 and the low melting point glass layer 16 were formed on the glass top plate 8 in the same manner as in Example 7, and the anode side of the power source was ITO on the anode junction.
A liquid jet recording head was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the liquid jet recording head was connected to the film 15 and the applied voltage was 70V. Similarly good results were obtained with this recording head.

In the tenth embodiment, the silicon substrate 1
Was connected to the positive electrode side of the power source 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is also effective when connected to the Ta film 14. Ta
When connected to the film 14, any material can be used for the substrate 1, and an insulator such as glass may be used. Further, instead of the Ta film 14, another conductive material such as Ta is used.
Other metals, semiconductors such as polycrystalline silicon may be used. The top plate 8 may be made of an insulating material other than glass, such as resin.

<Embodiment 11> FIG. 11 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the structure of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In this eleventh embodiment, the ITO film 15 and the low melting point glass layer 16 are formed on the glass top plate 8 in the same manner as in the seventh embodiment.
A liquid jet recording head was obtained in the same manner as in Example 5 except that the liquid jet recording head was connected to the film 15 and the applied voltage was 70V. Similarly good results were obtained with this recording head.

<Embodiment 12> FIG. 12 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the constitution of the liquid flow path of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention. In Example 12, the ink passage wall 6 made of Ta-coated photoresist was formed in the same manner as in Example 5. Next, on the ink passage wall 6,
The low melting point glass layer 16 was formed by laminating the same low melting point glass as in Example 7 by RF sputtering in an oxygen atmosphere.

On the other hand, in the same manner as in Example 7, the glass top plate 8
An ITO film 15 was formed on top. The glass top plate 8 having the ITO film 15 is laminated on the ink passage wall 6,
As shown in, the DC power supply 10 was connected to the ITO film 15 and the cavitation resistant film 5. ITO in air at 100 ° C
A liquid jet recording head was obtained through a conventionally known head manufacturing process after applying a voltage of 70 V and performing anodic bonding with the film 15 on the positive electrode side and the cavitation resistant film 5 on the negative electrode side, and the same good results were obtained. Was given.

Although specific Examples 1 to 12 of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these and other examples will be described below.

In Examples 1 to 12, the substrate 1 having the groove portion by the ink passage wall 6 was used as the member having the groove portion,
Although the flat top plate 8 is used as the member having the flat surface, it is also effective to join the top plate having the groove portion to the flat base body.

Further, in Examples 1 to 12, metal (nickel, Ta), ITO film, polycrystalline silicon or the like was used as the conductive material of the bonding surface, but the invention is not limited to these, and anodic bonding is used. It may be another metal, a transparent conductive film or a semiconductor that can be well formed. Specifically, a material having an electric resistance of 100Ω / □ or less is suitable.

In Examples 1 to 12, ordinary commercially available glass (Examples 1 to 6) or low melting point glass (Examples 7 to 12) was used as the glass material for the bonding surface, but the glass material is not limited to these. However, various known glasses that can favorably perform anodic bonding can be used. However, when a low melting point glass is used, as shown in Examples 7 to 12, there is an advantage in that the viscosity of the glass is small and thus the atoms in the glass easily move and the temperature at the time of anodic bonding may be low. Further, since the low melting point glass layer 16 may be a thin layer having a thickness of about 1 to 5 μm, there is an advantage that bonding can be performed even at a low voltage.

The two members themselves for forming the flow path may be made of glass or a conductive material, or the surface of the members (at least the bonding surface) may be vacuum-deposited or coated with glass or a conductive material. You may form into a film by the method.

In Examples 1 to 12, the applied voltage at the time of anodic bonding was set to 800V (Examples 1 to 6) or 70V (Examples 7 to 12), but the voltage is not limited to this range and may be varied according to various conditions. It may be appropriately set within a range in which excellent bonding is performed. Also, other anodic bonding conditions, in accordance with the conditions relating to the anodic bonding method by application of a voltage from a known DC power supply conventionally 10 to glass conductive material and the positive ^{3-10 6}
An electric field of about V / cm may be applied.

Further, the filler may be filled in the groove of the member before the anodic bonding so that the post-process can be carried out favorably, or the liquid flow path may be filled with the filler after the anodic bonding.

Further, the length of the liquid flow path (or the nozzle length) of the liquid jet recording head must be uniform because it affects the ejection characteristics. Therefore, a step of forming a cutting mark on the ejection port and cutting with the mark as a mark is usually performed. In order to easily carry out this cutting step, it is desirable to use a transparent top plate 8. Further, if this is transparent, it is also advantageous because it is possible to grasp the dust inside the ejection port and the ink ejection state. From this point, it is desirable to use a material such as glass, the ITO film 15, or a metal thinned to allow light to pass through on the top plate 8 side.

Further, since the recording head of the present invention adopts the anodic bonding as described above, it does not have an adhesive layer at the bonding portion.

The present invention is particularly effective in an ink jet recording type recording head and recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems. Is.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, for example, the specifications of US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
No. 796, the present invention is preferably carried out using these basic principles. This recording method is applicable to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type.

To briefly explain this recording method, the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink) is changed to the liquid (ink) corresponding to the recording information. Thermal energy is generated by applying at least one drive signal for giving a rapid temperature rise that causes the film boiling phenomenon beyond the nucleate boiling phenomenon, and causes the film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording head. .. In this way, bubbles can be formed in one-to-one correspondence with the drive signal applied from the liquid (ink) to the electrothermal converter, which is particularly effective for the on-demand recording method. By the growth and contraction of the bubbles, liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection holes,
Form at least one drop. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345 are used.
Those as described in the '262 patent are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

The structure of the recording head is a combination of a discharge hole, a liquid flow path and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path).
Besides, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, the present invention also includes a structure in which the heat acting portion is arranged in the bending region.

In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 123670/1984 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge hole of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective in a configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 138461 of 1984, which discloses a configuration in which the corresponding opening corresponds to the ejection portion.

Further, as a recording head to which the present invention is effectively used, there is a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of the recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus.
The full line head may be a full line configuration formed by combining a plurality of print heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification, or may be a single full line print head integrally formed.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head that is specially provided is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. to the recording apparatus of the present invention because the recording apparatus of the present invention can be made more stable. Specifically, the recording head is preheated by a capping means, a cleaning means, a pressure or suction means, an electrothermal converter or another heating element, or a combination thereof. It is also effective to perform stable recording by adding means for performing a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection different from the means and recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is recorded, and either the recording head may be integrally formed or a combination of plural recording heads may be used. However, the present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of a multicolor of different colors or a full color by mixing colors.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the liquid ink is used for explanation. However, in the present invention, either an ink which is solid at room temperature or an ink which is in a softened state at room temperature is used. Can be used. In the above-mentioned inkjet device, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Any liquid may be used as long as the ink is liquid.

In addition, the excessive temperature rise of the head or ink due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the evaporation of the ink is prevented. It is also possible to use an ink that solidifies when left as it is. In any case, liquefaction occurs only when heat energy is applied, such as when the ink is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the recording signal and ejected as an ink liquid, or when it begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The use of an ink having the property of applying is also applicable to the present invention.

Such an ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-568.
No. 47 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-71260, so that it faces the electrothermal converter in the state of being held as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet. It may be in any form.

In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

FIG. 13 is an external perspective view showing an example of an ink jet recording apparatus (IJRA) in which the recording head obtained by the present invention is mounted as an ink jet head cartridge (IJC).

In the figure, reference numeral 120 denotes an ink jet head cartridge having a group of nozzles for ejecting ink, which opposes the recording surface of the recording paper fed onto the platen 124.
(IJC). 116 is a carriage H that holds the IJC120
C, which is connected to a part of the drive belt 118 that transmits the driving force of the drive motor 117 and is slidable with the two guide shafts 119A and 119B arranged in parallel with each other, so that the IJC 120 It is possible to move back and forth over the entire width of the recording paper.

Reference numeral 126 denotes a head recovery device, which is arranged at one end of the movement path of the IJC 120, for example, at a position facing the home position. The drive force of the motor 122 via the transmission mechanism 123 causes the head recovery device 126 to operate, and the IJC 12
Performs capping of 0. In association with the capping of the IJC 120 by the cap portion 126A of the head recovery device 126, ink suction by an appropriate suction means provided in the head recovery device 126 or appropriate pressure means provided in an ink supply path to the IJC 120 Ink discharge is performed by forcibly discharging the ink from the discharge port to perform the discharge recovery process such as removing the thickened ink in the nozzle. In addition, IJC can be added by capping at the end of recording.
Is protected.

Reference numeral 130 is a blade as a wiping member which is arranged on the side surface of the head recovery device 126 and is made of silicon rubber. The blade 131 is a blade holding member 13
Held in 1A in cantilever form, head recovery device 126
Similarly, the motor 122 and the transmission mechanism 123 operate to enable engagement with the ejection surface of the IJC 120. With this, at the appropriate timing in the recording operation of IJC 120,
Alternatively, after the ejection recovery process using the head recovery device 126, the blade 131 is projected into the movement path of the IJC 120,
It removes dew condensation, wetting, or dust on the ejection surface of the IJC 120 as it moves.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, since one of the joining surfaces of the flow path forming members to be joined is made of glass and the other is made of a conductive material, anodic joining can be performed well. The bonding strength between the members forming the liquid flow path is sufficiently strong, the liquid flow path and the discharge port having a uniform shape are provided, the transparent top plate can be used, and there is no variation in the ink discharge amount. A liquid jet recording head capable of printing quality.

The method of manufacturing the recording head of the present invention is
The recording head described above is capable of widening the selection range of the base material and easily manufactured.

Furthermore, if a thin film of low melting point glass is used as the glass material for the bonding surface, anodic bonding can be performed at a low temperature of about 100 ° C., and if a thin film is used for the glass layer, bonding at a low voltage of about 70 V is possible. Becomes

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing an example of manufacturing a liquid flow path in Example 1.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid flow path in Example 2.

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid channel in Example 3.

FIG. 4 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid channel in Example 4.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid flow path in Example 5.

FIG. 6 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid channel in Example 6.

FIG. 7 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid channel in Example 7.

FIG. 8 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the structure of a liquid channel in Example 8.

FIG. 9 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid channel in Example 9.

FIG. 10 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the structure of the liquid flow path in Example 10.

FIG. 11 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the liquid flow path in Example 11.

FIG. 12 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a liquid flow path in Example 12.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a liquid flow path of a conventional liquid jet recording head.

FIG. 15 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a liquid flow path of a conventional liquid jet recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Heat generating element 3 Electrode material 4 Protective film 5 Cavitation resistant film 6 Ink passage wall 7 Nickel plating 8 Top plate 9 Discharge port 10 DC power supply 11 Silane coupling agent 12 Liquid resist 13 SiO ₂ layer 14 Ta film 15 ITO film 16 Low melting point glass layer 17 Dry film photoresist 116 Carriage 117 Drive motor 118 Drive belt 119A, 119B Guide shaft 120 Ink jet head cartridge 122 Cleaning motor 123 Transmission mechanism 124 Platen 126 Cap member 130 Blade 130A Blade holding member

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hisashi Yamamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yukio Kawajiri 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Suzuki Kou 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Makoto Shibata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid jet recording head having a liquid flow path formed by joining a member having a groove portion and a member having a flat surface, and joining one of the member having the groove portion and the member having the flat surface. A liquid jet recording head having a surface made of glass and a bonding surface of the other member made of a conductive material. 2. The glass is a low melting point glass.
The liquid jet recording head according to 1. 3. The liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive layer is not provided at the joint between the member having the groove and the member having the flat surface. 4. A method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head having a liquid flow path formed by joining a member having a groove portion and a member having a flat surface, one of a member having the groove portion and a member having the flat surface. A liquid jet recording head comprising a step of forming a bonding surface of a member with glass and a bonding surface of the other member with a conductive material, and bonding the glass and the conductive material by anodic bonding. Manufacturing method. 5. The glass is a low melting point glass.
The liquid jet recording head according to 1. 6. A liquid jet recording apparatus comprising at least the recording head according to claim 1 and a member for mounting the head.