JPH05338182A - Production of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a precise ink jet head having high reliability. CONSTITUTION:In a drawing (a), groove processing is applied to a laminated piezoelectric member 1 and a member composed of the material quality low in humidity permeability of a polymeric material is bonded as a membrane member 5. In a drawing (b), the groove part 2 of the piezoelectric member 1 is filled with a low viscosity resin as a damper 6. In a drawing (c), an adhesive 8 is applied to the forming surface of a passage plate 7 to which a groove part 9 is formed corresponding to the drive part of the piezoelectric member 1. In a drawing (d), the passage plate 7 coated with the adhesive of the drawing (c) is bonded to the piezoelectric member 1 and membrane member 5 of the drawing (a).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inkjet head, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a multi-nozzle inkjet head in which a large number of ink discharge channels are integrated at high density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional recording heads have various problems in structure, processing, high-speed recording, multi-orifice, etc. In addition, since the liquid flow paths and elements have an extremely fine structure, there are effects such as the viscosity and surface tension of the adhesive, so it is necessary to apply an appropriate amount of adhesive, There was a problem that it was difficult to bond and integrate them. In order to solve these problems, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-118875 proposes a "method for producing a multi-nozzle recording head". This publication discloses an ink jet head in which a flow channel plate having a plurality of concave groove portions and a cover plate member that covers the concave groove portions are bonded to each other to form an ink cavity. By providing a heat-fusible material and then heating the fusible material, the flow path plate and the cover plate member are integrated.

However, it is very difficult to apply the uniform material for heat fusion only to the convex portions of the flow path plate in which the plurality of concave grooves are formed. In addition, all of the ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymers, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymers, polyvinyl butyrate, polyethylene, polyamides, etc., which have been mentioned as materials for fusing, need to be fused at a temperature higher than 100 ° C., In highly integrated ultrafine processing, there are many disadvantages such as thermal deformation.

Further, in the "ink jet recording head" proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-220754, ink is formed by joining a flow path plate having a plurality of concave groove portions and a cover plate member covering the concave groove portions. In an inkjet head that forms a cavity, the cover plate member is provided with a cover in which a photosensitive resin film is laminated on both surfaces of a support made of a transparent ultraviolet light material,
It irradiates ultraviolet rays to join the flow path plates. Also,
In the "method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head" proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-183158, a flow path plate having a plurality of concave groove portions and a cover plate member that covers the concave groove portions are joined to form an ink cavity. In the inkjet head to be formed, the cover plate member is formed by laminating a photosensitive resin film on a flat plate-shaped member made of a material that transmits electromagnetic waves, and the photosensitive resin film is irradiated with electromagnetic waves other than heat rays in an oxygen atmosphere. Is a bonding method in which only the surface layer is cured while being kept uncured, and the photosensitive resin film is cured after temporary bonding to the flow path plate.

However, the above-mentioned requirement is that the cover plate member for covering the concave grooves of the flow path plate in which a plurality of concave grooves are formed is a member that allows passage of ultraviolet rays and electromagnetic waves. In order to improve the rigidity of the ink cavity and improve the ink ejection characteristics, it is desirable to eliminate the limitation of the constituent members around the ink cavity as much as possible.

[0006]

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an inkjet head which is precise and highly reliable.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink jet head in which an ink cavity is formed by a flow channel plate having a plurality of concave groove portions and a cover plate member which covers the concave groove portions. When joining the plate and the cover plate member, an adhesive is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the flow path plate on the side where the groove is processed, and the plate is joined. Hereinafter, description will be given based on examples of the present invention.

1 (a) to 1 (d) are configuration diagrams for explaining an embodiment of a method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present invention, in which 1 is a piezoelectric body, 2 is a groove portion, and 3 is an electrode. ,
Reference numeral 4 is a driving portion, 5 is a thin film member, 6 is a damper, 7 is a flow path plate, 8 is an adhesive, 9 is a concave groove portion, and 10 is an ink cavity. In the first step of FIG. 1A, a plurality of laminated piezoelectric bodies 1 are subjected to groove processing by cutting, and then a thin film member 5 is made of a polymer material having a thickness of 5 to 30 μm, such as polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). ), Aramid film, poly (trifluorochloroethylene), and other materials having relatively low moisture permeability are bonded by a dry bonding method. At this time, in order to improve the bonding strength, a coating such as a ceramic coat may be applied to the upper surface of the convex portion of the piezoelectric body 1.

In the second step of FIG. 2B, the groove 2 of the piezoelectric body 1 is filled with a low-viscosity epoxy resin, silicone resin, or the like as the damper 6, so that a problem arises when the head is highly integrated. The effect of reducing mutual interference between the flow paths can be provided. If the mutual interference between the flow paths is large, the head ejection characteristics such as ejection of unnecessary drops and non-ejection during driving are adversely affected.

In the third step of FIG. 1C, a polymer material (for example, PPS, polyether sulfone, liquid crystal polymer, etc.) in which a plurality of concave groove portions 9 are cut or molded so as to correspond to the driving portion of the piezoelectric body 1 is formed. The adhesive 8 is applied to the entire groove forming surface including the inside of the groove. At this time. For the purpose of improving the bonding strength on the surface of the flow path plate 7, it is possible to perform some modification (for example, UV irradiation or reverse sputtering). As a coating method, a spray method,
Although a spin coater method or the like is conceivable, any method is much easier than applying only the convex portions of the flow path plate.

Since the adhesive remains in the ink cavities formed after joining here, it is necessary to select an adhesive that has no liquid resistance to the ink and no elution into the ink. Further, in order to improve the rigidity of the ink cavity and improve the ink ejection characteristics, it is preferable that the adhesive has a high elastic modulus after curing. An epoxy resin adhesive that uses an aliphatic polyamine as a curing agent is an adhesive that also has the above-mentioned characteristics.

In FIG. 2D, the flow path plate 7 coated with the adhesive 8 shown in the third step is joined to the piezoelectric body 1 and the thin film member 5 shown in the first step. Here, if the adhesive 8 applied to the flow path plate 7 is a two-component room temperature curing type adhesive, it can be cured at room temperature. Also, due to the head configuration,
When heating at about 80 ° C. can be performed without any trouble, heat curing at 50 ° C. to 80 ° C. may be performed in order to further increase the bonding strength and shorten the curing time. If the piezoelectric body 1, the thin film member 5 and the flow path plate 7 are joined by the steps as described above, the flow path plate 7 does not need to pass electromagnetic waves, ultraviolet rays, etc., and thus can contain an inorganic additive or the like. In addition, the range of material selection is greatly expanded, and the ink cavity can be formed.

[0013]

[Effect] As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. In the method of joining the flow path plate and the cover plate member, it is possible to select the material from the aspects of head characteristics, bondability, etc., because neither peculiar properties of the material are required nor high temperature heating is required. Also, the number of joining steps can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of a method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Piezoelectric body, 2 ... Groove part, 3 ... Electrode, 4 ... Driving part, 5 ...
Thin film member, 6 ... Damper, 7 ... Flow path plate, 8 ... Adhesive, 9
... recessed groove part, 10 ... ink cavity.

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kenichi Ichikawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Toshikazu Hirakawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Yuichiro Ishii 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet head in which an ink cavity is formed by a flow channel plate having a plurality of recessed groove portions and a cover plate member that covers the recessed groove portions, when the flow channel plate and the cover plate member are joined together. A method for manufacturing an ink jet head, characterized in that an adhesive is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the flow path plate on the side where the groove is processed to bond the adhesive.