JPH0538812A - Ink jet unit, ink jet cartridge and ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrict entering of air into the head part to perform a suitable discharge of liquid drops by a method wherein for a sealing material which covers a connecting means and seals a space which is located between the recording head part and the peripheral members, and engaging areas, a material of which the air permeability is at a specified value or lower is adopted. CONSTITUTION:For an ink jet head, a heater board 1 is bonded to a supporting base 3, and a grooved top plate 2 is temporarily bonded on the heater board 1 in such a manner that a mutual heater part would meet an ink passage 8. At the same time, an orifice plate 4 of the grooved top plate 2 is arranged on the front end surface of the supporting base 3. An ink is fed from an ink feeding member 5 to an ink storage chamber 7 through an ink introducing port 2a. In the meantime, at respective gaps between above mentioned members 1, 2 and 5, a sealer 12 is respectively filled. In this case, for the sealer 12, a material of which the air permeability is at 40X10<-10>(cm<3>) (cm)/(sec) (cm<2>) (cmHg) or lower is adopted. By doing this, entering of air into the head is restricted, and an appropriate operation is ensured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet unit for recording by means of liquid droplets discharged from a discharge port, an ink jet cartridge equipped with the unit, and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet unit as described above, an ink jet head (hereinafter abbreviated as IJH) having a liquid discharge portion and a peripheral portion of the IJH must be sealed with a sealing material with good airtightness. is there. This is because the ink in the IJH needs to be sucked by the cap member described later when the liquid is not ejected normally after the ink jet unit is left for a long time.

In particular, a first device provided with an energy generating element
In the ink jet unit of the type in which the substrate and the second substrate having the groove for forming the liquid path for the recording liquid are in close contact with each other by the mechanical biasing force to form the IJH,
It is required that the first substrate and the second substrate are completely adhered to each other and kept secret from the outside. This is because if not completely sealed, the ink inside the IJH leaks to the outside, or the pressure at the time of droplet discharge leaks, causing problems such as impeding normal liquid discharge. Is. Even if the two substrates are to be brought into close contact with each other only by the mechanical urging force, it is necessary to remarkably increase the precision of each component and the mechanical urging force, which is extremely difficult due to cost and various restrictions.

Further, the sealing material is a wire bonding portion for electrically connecting the wiring board, which serves as a wiring portion for supplying electric energy to the IJH for discharging the liquid, and the wire bonding portion for electrically connecting the IJH to the sealing material due to impact or drop. It is also necessary to protect it from mechanical force and humidity.

As described above, as a sealing material for protecting the wire bonding portion and sealing the nozzle and the area around the IJH with good airtightness, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-24102 has been used up to now.
No. 5 (filed on September 18, 1991) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1
As proposed in Japanese Patent No. 21841, a silicone resin was generally used.

[0006]

However, the silicone resin according to the above conventional example has a gas permeability to air of about 400 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ [cm ³ ] [cm] / [se].
Since it is as high as c] [cm ² ] [cmHg], for example, 35
In a low-humidity environment at ℃, air intrudes into the IJH in a relatively short period of time, hinders normal ink ejection, and in extreme cases, bubbles from the intruding air block the ink flow path, making ejection impossible. Was causing. Therefore, manual or automatic ink suction is required. In the case of manual operation, the user has to perform recovery operation quite frequently, and in the case of automatic operation, there arises a problem that a printer or the like needs a timer or the like for executing an automatic ink suction sequence. ..

This problem is extremely difficult to completely eliminate the gap, especially in an IJH of a type in which two substrates are joined by a mechanical biasing force to form an ink flow path and a common liquid chamber. It had occurred remarkably.

The conventional silicone resin has a water vapor permeability of about 4 × 10 ^-6 [cm ³ ] [c].
m] / [sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg], which is high, the ink containing water as a main component at the nozzle tip evaporates in a relatively short time when left in a capped state, There is a case where the ink density is increased, normal ink ejection is hindered, or ejection failure occurs in an extreme case.

This phenomenon tends to appear more markedly as the temperature becomes higher or the humidity becomes lower. As a countermeasure, if the adhesion between the capping and the head is improved, or if the capping material is changed to a material having low water vapor permeability, the effect is recognized to some extent, but it is not sufficient. Therefore, a manual or automatic suction recovery operation and a preliminary discharge for purging are required. In the case of manual operation, the user has to perform recovery operation quite frequently, and in the case of automatic operation, the printer is required to perform recovery operation. There is also a problem that a timer or the like is required for the main body to execute the automatic ink suction sequence.

The deterioration of the ink due to the invasion of air or the evaporation of the ink solvent as described above is particularly important in an ink jet unit using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating element. This is because when the bubbles are generated by heat and the ink is ejected, the deterioration of the ink greatly affects the bubble bubble generation state.

In any case, when the above-mentioned recovery operation is frequent, the ink due to the recovery operation is discarded as waste ink and is not used for printing, so the number of printable sheets that can be printed as one cartridge is limited. And ultimately increase running costs. Further, since it is necessary to secure a space for accommodating the waste ink, it is necessary to increase the size of the printer main body by the space. These problems become more remarkable in an ink jet cartridge integrally provided with an ink jet unit and an ink tank, because there is a strong demand for the ink tank capacity and the size of the printer body to be as small as possible.

On the other hand, even if a material having low gas permeability or water vapor permeability is used as the sealant, these materials will corrode the aluminum electrode or the aluminum wire bonding portion,
It cannot be used in cases such as breaking the wire. That is, since aluminum is an amphoteric metal, it reacts with acid and alkali to cause corrosion. For example, amines in epoxy adhesives, peroxides in acrylic adhesives, and chlorine ions (Cl ⁻ ), sodium ions (Na ⁺ ) and potassium ions (K ⁺ ) contained as impurities in these adhesives. And the like may react with aluminum.

Further, the above-mentioned wire bonding portion and I
The encapsulant used around the JH is also required to have good adhesiveness with, for example, polysulfone, polyphenylene oxide (PPO), aluminum, a silicon substrate, etc. as a member surrounding the IJH. Furthermore, this encapsulating material must protect the wire bonding portion from shock, vibration, environmental changes such as temperature and humidity, and is also required to be a moisture-proof elastomer.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet unit and an ink jet which can perform normal ink ejection without bubbles intruding into the recording head section or evaporation of ink from the recording head section even if left for a long time. An object is to provide a cartridge and an inkjet recording device.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet unit according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a recording head section having a liquid ejection section for ejecting ink droplets to form flying droplets. A support member that supports the recording head unit, an ink supply member that covers the periphery of the recording head unit and supplies ink to the recording head unit, and an electric energy that causes the recording head unit to eject ink. A wiring portion, a connecting means for electrically connecting the recording head portion and the wiring portion, and a space between the recording head portion and a member surrounding the recording head portion and the surrounding portion and an engaging portion are sealed. And a sealing material for stopping the sealing material, which has an air permeability of 40 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ [cm ³ ] [cm] / [sec].
It is characterized in that a material of [cm ² ] [cmHg] or less is used.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet unit including a recording head portion having a liquid ejection portion for ejecting ink droplets to form flying droplets, a supporting member for supporting the recording head portion, and the recording head. An ink supply member that covers the periphery of the recording head portion and supplies ink to the recording head portion; a wiring portion that supplies electric energy for causing the recording head portion to eject ink; and the recording head portion and the wiring portion. And a sealing member that covers the connecting unit and seals a space between the recording head unit and a member surrounding the recording unit and an engaging unit. Has a water vapor permeability of 5 × 10 ^-7 [cm ³ ] [cm]
The material is characterized by using a material of / [sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg] or less.

Further, an ink jet unit according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention includes a recording head portion having a liquid ejection portion for ejecting ink droplets to form flying droplets, a supporting member for supporting the recording head portion, and the recording head. An ink supply member that covers the periphery of the recording head portion and supplies ink to the recording head portion; a wiring portion that supplies electric energy for causing the recording head portion to eject ink; and the recording head portion and the wiring portion. And a sealing member that covers the connecting unit and seals a space between the recording head unit and a member surrounding the recording unit and an engaging unit. It is characterized by using a material having a urethane bond in the molecule.

Here, the sealing material is JIS standard A100.
It preferably has the following hardness. In addition, the above-mentioned inkjet unit is bonded to the first substrate provided with an energy generating element that generates energy used for ejecting the recording liquid, and the first substrate is bonded to the first substrate.
A second substrate having a groove for forming a flow path of a recording liquid corresponding to a portion of the substrate on which the energy generating element is provided, and a mechanical biasing force is applied to the first and second substrates to connect both substrates. It is also possible to provide an urging member to be in close contact with each other. Here, the energy generating element of the first substrate may have means for generating thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the recording liquid.

Further, the above-mentioned ink jet unit has a first substrate having an ink ejection pressure generating element used for ejecting ink from an ink ejection port, an orifice plate in which the ink ejection port is formed, and the orifice plate. A front plate member integrally provided on the outer periphery and partially protruding to the outside, and a concavo-convex portion that is joined to the first substrate and forms an ink path communicating with the ink ejection port are integrally provided. A second substrate, the first substrate and the second substrate
A support member, to which a joined body that joins a substrate is attached, and a portion of the front surface region is covered by a portion of the front plate member, and a mechanical biasing force are applied to the first and second substrates so that the two substrates are separated from each other. It is also possible to provide a biasing member to be brought into close contact.

Further, the ink jet cartridge of the present invention is characterized by integrally including an ink jet unit and an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is provided with an ink jet unit, an ink jet cartridge integrally provided with an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit, and a scannably mounted such cartridge. And a carriage.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as a sealing material for the space between the IJH and the member surrounding the IJH and the surrounding member and the engaging portion, the connection means for connecting the IJH and the wiring portion is used. Since a material having an air permeability that is about 1/10 or less of that of the silicone resin is used, bubbles are less likely to enter the IJH even when the inkjet unit is left for a long time, and thus normal ejection can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 8, IJ
Covering the connection means for connecting H and the wiring board, and
Since a material having a water vapor permeability that is about 1/10 or less of that of a conventional silicone resin is used as a sealing material for the space between the JH and the member surrounding the JH and the engaging portion, the inkjet unit is left for a long time. However, since the ink in the IJH is less likely to evaporate, normal ejection can be performed.

Further, according to the invention of claim 15,
Since a material having a urethane bond in its molecule is used as a sealing material for covering the connection means for connecting the IJH and the wiring portion and for sealing the space between the IJH and the member surrounding the IJH and the surrounding portion and the engaging portion, Even if the unit is left for a long time I
Bubbles do not enter the JH and ink in the IJH does not evaporate, and therefore normal ejection can be performed.

[0025]

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

FIGS. 4 to 8 show preferred ink jet units IJU, ink jet heads IJH, ink tanks IT, ink jet cartridges IJC, ink jet recording apparatus main bodies IJRA, carriage HC, and respective ink jet units IJU, which are suitable for implementing or applying the present invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a relationship. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part will be described with reference to these drawings.

Inkjet cartridge IJ in this example
As can be seen from the perspective view of FIG. 5, C has a large ink storage ratio, and has a shape in which the tip of the ink jet unit IJU slightly projects from the front surface of the ink tank IT. The inkjet cartridge IJC is fixedly supported by a positioning means and electrical contacts of a carriage HC (FIG. 7) mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus main body IJRA, and is detachably attached to the carriage HC. It is a portable type. 4 to 8 of the present example have configurations to which various new technologies made in the stage of establishment of the present invention are applied. Therefore, these configurations will be briefly described and the entire description will be given. To

(I) Description of Constitution of Inkjet Unit IJU The inkjet unit IJU is a unit for recording by using an electrothermal converter which generates thermal energy for causing film boiling to the ink in response to an electric signal. ..

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 denotes an electrothermal converter (ejection heater) arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate, and electric wiring such as Al for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converter, which is formed by a film forming technique. It is a heater board consisting of. Reference numeral 200 is a wiring board for the heater board 100.
It has a wiring corresponding to the wiring of 0 (for example, it is connected by wire bonding), and a pad 201 located at the end of this wiring and receiving an electric signal from the main body device.

Reference numeral 1300 is a grooved top plate provided with partition walls for partitioning a plurality of ink channels and a common liquid chamber for accommodating ink to each ink channel, and the ink tank IT. The ink receiving port 1500 that receives the ink supplied from the common liquid chamber and is introduced into the common liquid chamber, and the orifice plate 400 having a plurality of ejection ports corresponding to the respective ink flow paths are integrally molded. Polysulfone is preferable as the integral molding material, but other molding resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a support made of, for example, a metal that supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 on a flat surface and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a presser spring, which is M-shaped and presses the common liquid chamber with a light pressure at the center of the M-shape, and a front salient portion 501 concentrates a part of the liquid passage, preferably a region in the vicinity of the discharge port, by linear pressure. Press. Holding the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300, the legs of the spring are provided in the holes 3121 of the support body 300.
By engaging with the back surface side of the support body 300 by sandwiching them through the two, they are engaged with each other, whereby the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 are concentrated by the concentrated biasing force of the presser spring 500 and its front slant portion 501. Clamp and fix and.
In addition, the support 300 includes two positioning protrusions 1012 of the ink tank IT and one protrusion for positioning and fusing and holding 1.
Positioning holes 312, 19 engaging with 800, 1801
00, 2000, and projections 2500, 2600 for positioning the apparatus main body IJRA with respect to the carriage HC.
On the back side. In addition, the support 300 is provided with an ink supply pipe 220 that enables ink supply from the ink tank.
It also has a hole 320 that allows 0 (described later) to pass through.
The wiring board 200 is attached to the support 300 by adhering it with an adhesive or the like. The recess 24 of the support 300
00 and 2400 are positioning protrusions 2500 and 2400, respectively.
In the assembled ink jet cartridge IJC (FIG. 5), which is provided in the vicinity of 2600, there are three edges around the extension point of the head tip region formed by a plurality of parallel grooves 3000 and 3001, and dust or It is positioned so that unnecessary substances such as ink do not reach the protrusions 2500 and 2600. This parallel groove 3000 is formed.
As can be seen in FIG. 7, the lid member 800 forms the outer wall of the inkjet cartridge IJC, and also forms a space for accommodating the inkjet unit IJU together with the ink tank. In addition, the ink supply member 600 in which the parallel groove 3001 is formed includes the ink conduit 1600 that is continuous with the above-described ink supply pipe 2200.
00 side is formed as a fixed cantilever, and a sealing pin 602 for securing a capillary phenomenon between the fixed side of the ink conduit and the ink supply tube 2200 is inserted. Note that 601
Is a packing for connecting and sealing the ink tank IT and the supply pipe 2200, and 700 is a filter provided at the end of the supply pipe on the tank side.

Since the ink supply member 600 is molded, the ink supply member 600 is inexpensive, has high positional accuracy, and eliminates a decrease in accuracy in forming and manufacturing. In addition, the cantilevered conduit 1600 can be used for mass production. The pressure contact state of 1600 to the ink receiving port 1500 can be stabilized. In this example, a more complete communication state can be reliably obtained by only pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under this pressure contact state. To fix the ink supply member 600 to the support 300, the back side pins (not shown) of the ink supply member 600 with respect to the holes 1901 and 1902 of the support 300 are attached to the holes 1901 and 1 of the support 300.
This can be easily performed by projecting through through 902 and heat-sealing the portion projecting to the back surface side of the support 300. Since the slightly projected area of the heat-sealed back surface is accommodated in the recess (not shown) in the side wall surface of the ink jet unit IJU mounting surface of the ink tank IT, the positioning surface of the unit IJU can be accurately obtained.

(Ii) Description of Ink Tank IT Structure The ink tank comprises a cartridge main body 1000, an ink absorber group 900 described later in detail, and an ink absorber group 900 on the side opposite to the unit IJU mounting surface of the cartridge main body 1000. After being inserted from the side surface, it is configured with a lid member 1100 that seals it.

Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber group for impregnating the ink, which is arranged in the cartridge body 1000.
Reference numeral 1200 is a unit I including the above-mentioned respective units 100 to 600.
A supply port for supplying ink to the JU.

In this embodiment, the ink supply portion is the atmosphere communication port and this supply port, but the rib 2300 in the main body 1000 and the lid member for favorably supplying the ink from the ink absorber. 1100 partial ribs 2500, 2
The air existing area in the tank formed by 400 and
The ink supply port 12 is continuously formed from the atmosphere communication port 1401 side.
Since it is formed over the farthest corner area from 00, it is important that the ink supply to the absorber is relatively good and uniform from the supply port 1200 side. This method is extremely effective in practice. The rib 2300 has four ribs parallel to the carriage movement direction on the rear surface of the main body 1000 of the ink tank, and prevents the absorber from adhering to the rear surface. In addition, the partial ribs 2400 and 2500 are similar to the rib 230.
It is provided on the inner surface of the lid member 1100 which is an extension corresponding to 0, but unlike the rib 2300, it is in a divided state and the air existing space is increased more than the former. The partial ribs 2500 and 2400 are the lid members 1.
It has a form dispersed on less than half of the total area of 100. By these ribs, the ink in the corner portion farthest from the tank supply port 1200 of the ink absorber can be made more stable and reliably guided to the supply port 1200 side by the capillary force. Reference numeral 1401 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. Reference numeral 1400 denotes a liquid repellent material arranged inside the air communication port 1401.
This prevents ink from leaking from the air communication port 1401.

The above-described arrangement of ribs is particularly effective because the ink storage space of the ink tank IT has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has long sides on its side surfaces, but it is long in the moving direction of the carriage. In the case of having a side or a cube, it is possible to stabilize the ink supply from the ink absorber group 900 by providing ribs on the entire lid member 1100. A rectangular parallelepiped shape is suitable for storing ink in a limited space as much as possible, but in order to use this stored ink for recording without waste, as described above, the corner area is It is important to provide ribs that can perform the above-mentioned action in the two adjacent surface areas. Further, the inner surface ribs of the ink tank IT in the present embodiment are arranged with a substantially uniform distribution in the thickness direction of the rectangular parallelepiped ink absorber. This configuration is an important configuration because the ink remaining amount can be made almost zero while the atmospheric pressure distribution is made uniform with respect to the ink consumption of the entire absorber. Further, if the technical idea of the arrangement of the ribs is described in detail, the ink supply port 12 of the ink tank is formed on the rectangular upper surface of the rectangular parallelepiped.
When a circular arc with the long side as the radius is drawn centering on the position where 00 is projected, the absorber positioned outside the circular arc will have an atmospheric pressure state earlier than that circular arc so that the atmospheric pressure can be given earlier. It is important to dispose the ribs on the outer surface. In this case, the atmosphere communication port of the tank is not limited to this example as long as the atmosphere can be introduced into the rib disposition region.

In addition, in this embodiment, the rear surface of the ink jet cartridge IJC with respect to the head is flattened to minimize the required space when incorporated in the apparatus and maximize the amount of ink stored. Therefore, not only can the size of the device be reduced, but also the cartridge replacement frequency can be reduced. And the inkjet unit I
Utilizing the rear part of the space for integrating the JU, a projecting part for the atmosphere communication port 1401 is formed there, and the inside of this projecting part is hollowed out, and the absorber 90 described above here is formed.
An atmospheric pressure supply space 1402 for the entire thickness 0 is formed. With such a configuration, it was possible to provide an excellent cartridge that has never been seen before. The atmospheric pressure supply space 1402 is a space much larger than the conventional one, and since the atmosphere communication port 1401 is located above, even if the ink is separated from the absorber due to some abnormality,
In the atmospheric pressure supply space 1402, the ink can be temporarily held and can be reliably collected by the absorber, so that an excellent cartridge without waste can be provided.

Further, the above unit I of the ink tank IT
The structure of the mounting surface of the JU is shown by FIG. If a straight line that passes through the center of the projection of the orifice plate 400 and is parallel to the mounting reference plane of the bottom surface of the tank IT or the surface of the carriage is L ₁ , the hole 312 of the support 300 is formed.
The two locating ridges 1012 that engage with this straight line L ₁
It is above. The height of the protrusion 1012 is slightly lower than the thickness of the support 300, and the support 300 is positioned.
In this drawing, a claw 2100 with which the 90 ° angle engagement surface 4002 of the carriage positioning hook 4001 is engaged is located on the extension of the straight line L ₁ , and the positioning force for the carriage is the straight line L ₁ Is configured to operate in a plane area parallel to the reference plane. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 7, these relationships are effective because the positioning accuracy of only the ink tank is the same as the positioning accuracy of the ejection port of the head.

The protrusions 1800 and 1801 of the ink tank corresponding to the fixing holes 1900 and 2000 on the side surface of the ink tank of the support 300 are the protrusions 101 described above.
It is for fixing the support body 300 to the side surface by heat-sealing a portion which is longer than 2 and penetrates the support body 300 and protrudes. When the straight line passing through the protrusion 1800 and perpendicular to the line L ₁ is L ₃ and the straight line passing through the protrusion 1801 is L ₂ , the approximate center of the supply port 1200 is located on the straight line L ₃ , so that the supply unit This is a preferable configuration because it acts to stabilize the connection state between the inlet 1200 and the supply pipe 2200, and the load on these connection states can be reduced even when dropped or impacted. Further, the straight lines L ₂ and L ₃ do not coincide with each other, and the protrusion 180 is formed around the protrusion 1012 on the ejection port side of the head IJH.
Since 0,1801 exists, the head IJH is further
This produces a reinforcing effect of positioning for the tank. The curve indicated by L ₄ is the outer wall position when the ink supply member 600 is mounted. Since the protrusions 1800 and 1801 are along the curved line L ₄ , sufficient strength and positional accuracy are given to the weight of the configuration of the head IJH on the distal end side. Reference numeral 2700 denotes a head brim of the ink tank IT, which is inserted in a hole of a front plate 4000 of the carriage and is provided in case of an abnormal change in displacement of the ink tank. Reference numeral 2101 denotes a retainer for the carriage, which is provided for a bar (not shown) of the carriage HC, enters below the bar at a position where the cartridge IJC is pivotally mounted for later description, and unnecessarily disengages from the positioning position. It is a protection member for maintaining the mounted state even when a force is applied in the upward direction.

The ink tank IT has a shape that surrounds the unit IJU except for the lower opening by covering the unit IJU with the lid 800 after the unit IJU is mounted. However, since the ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Since the lower opening of is close to the carriage HC,
A substantial four-way surrounding space is formed. Therefore, although the heat generated from the head IJH in this enclosed space is effective as a heat retaining space in this space, the temperature rises slightly for long-term continuous use. Therefore, in this example, a slit 1700 having a width smaller than this space is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge IJC in order to help the support body to radiate heat naturally, so that the temperature distribution of the entire unit IJU is uniform while preventing the temperature rise. It was possible to make the conversion independent of the environment.

When assembled as an ink jet cartridge IJC, the ink is supplied into the supply tank 600 from the inside of the cartridge through the supply port 1200, the hole 320 provided in the support 300, and the introduction port provided on the back side of the supply tank 600. After passing through the inside thereof, an appropriate supply pipe is provided from the outlet and the ink inlet 150 of the top plate 400.
Flow into the common liquid chamber via 0. A packing made of, for example, silicon rubber or butyl rubber is provided in the connection portion for ink communication in the above, and sealing is performed by this to secure an ink supply path.

In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polypropylene, etc., which has excellent ink resistance, and is integrally molded together with the orifice plate 400 in the mold. I am doing it.

As described above, since the integrally molded parts are the ink supply member 600, the top plate / orifice plate integrated, and the ink tank main body 1000, not only the assembly precision becomes high, but also the mass production quality is extremely improved. Is. Further, since the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional one, excellent desired characteristics can be surely exhibited.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, in the shape after the assembly, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the ink supply member 600 has the upper surface portion 603 of the ink tank I.
A slit S is formed between the end portion 4008 of the roof portion having the slit 1700 of T as shown in FIG. 5, and the lower surface portion 604 is a head of a thin plate member to which the lid 800 below the ink tank IT is adhered. A slit (not shown) similar to the slit S is formed between the side end portion 4011 and the side end portion 4011. The slits between the ink tank IT and the ink supply member 600 substantially perform the function of further promoting the heat dissipation of the slit 1700, and even if there is unnecessary pressure applied to the tank IT, the slits are directly supplied to the member. It prevents the ink jet unit IJU from being adversely affected.

In any case, the above configuration of this embodiment is
It has a configuration that has not been available in the past, and each has an effective effect independently, and the compound effect also has an organic effect due to each constituent element.

(Iii) Description of Installation of Inkjet Cartridge IJC to Carriage HC In FIG. 7, reference numeral 5000 is a platen roller that guides the recording medium P upward from below the paper surface. Carriage HC is
A front plate 4000 (thickness: 2 mm) that moves along the platen roller 3000 and is located on the front platen side of the carriage and on the front side of the inkjet cartridge IJC.
And the pad 20 of the wiring board 200 of the cartridge IJC
Flexible sheet 4005 having a pad 2011 corresponding to No. 1 and each pad 2011 from the back side
Support plate 4003 for electrical connection portion holding a rubber pad sheet 4007 for generating elastic force pressing against
And a positioning hook 4001 for fixing the inkjet cartridge IJC to the recording position. The front plate 4000 has the positioning protrusion surface 4010 on the above-mentioned positioning protrusion 250 of the support 300 of the cartridge.
There are two units corresponding to 0 and 2600, respectively, and after mounting the cartridge, a vertical force toward the protruding surface 4010 is received. For this reason, the reinforcing rib has a plurality of ribs (not shown) on the platen roller side of the front plate, which are directed in the direction of the vertical force. This rib is the cartridge IJ
Slightly from the front position L ₅ when C is installed (about 0.1 mm
A head protection protrusion protruding toward the platen roller is also formed. Support plate for electric connection part 4003
Has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 4004 in the vertical direction, not in the direction of the ribs, and the ratio of lateral projection from the platen side toward the hook 4001 side is reduced. This also serves to incline the position when the cartridge is mounted as shown in the figure. In addition, since the support plate 4003 stabilizes the electrical contact state, the two positioning protrusion surfaces 4 are provided.
Two positioning surfaces 4006 on the hook side for exerting an acting force on the cartridge are provided corresponding to the projecting surface 4010 in a direction opposite to the acting direction of the cartridge 010 acting on the cartridge, and a pad contact area is formed therebetween. At the same time, the deformation amount of the bottom of the rubber sheet 4007 with a bottom corresponding to the pad 2011 is uniquely defined. 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,
Further, the pad 201 of the wiring board 300 is connected to the line L ₁ described above.
Are distributed symmetrically with respect to each other, so that the deformation amount of each bocce of the rubber sheet 4007 is made uniform and the pad 2
The contact pressure of 011 and 201 is made more stable. The distribution of the pads 201 in this example is two rows above and two rows below.

The hook 4001 has an elongated hole that engages with the fixed shaft 4009, and the platen roller 500 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction from the position shown in the figure by utilizing the moving space of the elongated hole.
The inkjet cartridge IJC is positioned with respect to the carriage HC by moving to the left along 0. The hook 4001 may be moved by any means, but it is preferable that the hook 4001 can be moved by a lever or the like. In any case, when the hook 4001 rotates, the cartridge IJC moves to the platen roller side, and the positioning protrusion 2500,
2600 moves to a position where it can abut the positioning surface 4010 of the front plate, and the hook 4001 moves to the left by 90 °.
The hook surface 4002 of the cartridge is the nail 2100 of the cartridge IJC.
While closely contacting the 90 ° surface of the cartridge IJC, the cartridge IJC is swung in the horizontal plane around the contact area between the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010, and finally the pads 201 and 2011 come into contact with each other. When the hook 4001 is held at a predetermined position, that is, a fixed position, the pads 201 and 2011 are in full contact with each other, the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010 are in full contact with each other, and the 90-degree surface 4002 and the 90-degree surface of the claw are in contact with each other. The two-face contact and the face contact between the wiring board 300 and the positioning surface 4006 are simultaneously formed, and the holding of the cartridge IJC with respect to the carriage is completed.

(Iv) General Description of Apparatus Main Body FIG. 8 shows an inkjet recording apparatus IJ to which the present invention is applied.
In the external view of RA, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 is a pin (not shown). ), And is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate which holds the paper in the platen 500 in the carriage movement direction.
Press against 0. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area by a photo coupler and switching the rotation 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. Reference numeral 5015 is a suction unit that suctions the inside of the cap to perform suction recovery of the recording head through the cap opening 5023. 5017 is a cleaning blade, 501
Reference numeral 9 denotes a member that allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these members are supported by the main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Also, 50
Reference numeral 12 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is movement-controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. ..

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired processing can be performed at their 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 the present example as long as the desired operation is performed. Each of the above-described configurations is an excellent invention, both individually and in combination, and shows a preferred configuration example for the present invention.

The present invention, which is technically related to FIGS. 4 to 8 described above, will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and subsequent figures.

1 and 2 show a concrete embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet head includes a substrate 1 (hereinafter referred to as a heater board) provided with an ink ejection pressure generating element, and a liquid that is bonded to the substrate 1 and contains a recording liquid (hereinafter referred to as ink). It is composed of the chamber 7 and the substrate 2 having an uneven portion forming the ink passage 8. The substrate 2 also integrally has an orifice plate 4 (hereinafter referred to as a grooved top plate) having an ink ejection port 9 for ejecting ink communicating with the ink passage 8.

The heater board 1 is adhered and fixed to the support substrate 3 with an adhesive, and the grooved top plate 2 is provided on the heater board 1 and a heater portion arranged on the heater board 1 as an ink ejection pressure generating element. The orifice plate 4 which is temporarily adhered so that the ink paths 8 of the grooved top plate 2 are aligned with each other and which the grooved top plate has is arranged like a front sag on the front end surface of the support substrate 3.

Ink is supplied from the ink supply member 5 through the ink supply port 2a provided in the upper part of the grooved top plate, and the ink supply member 5 has a protrusion bar and is penetrated on the support substrate. It is fixed to the support substrate by inserting a protruding rod into the hole and caulking it with heat.

Ink supply member 5, heater board 1,
The gaps 10a and 10b with the grooved top plate 2 and the like, and the bonding area provided with a slight gap between the orifice plate and the front end surface of the supporting substrate are used as the adhesive space. Is poured.

Here, the thickness of the orifice plate 4 in the vicinity of the discharge port of the ink jet head is about 30.
Although it is about 40 μm, it is preferable that the thickness is thicker toward the lower part of the support substrate 3, and is 0.2 mm in this embodiment.

Considering the cost of the material and the ink resistance, examples of the material of the grooved top plate 2 having the orifice plate 4 include thermoplastic resins such as polyimide, polyether ether ketone, and polysulfone.

In this example, polysulfone having a small amount of thermal deformation even at high temperature was used. FIG. 2 shows a front view of the inkjet head. In FIG. 2, the shaded area indicates the area filled with the sealing material. Grooves 3A are formed on both sides of the support substrate 3.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the groove 3A
Has a width of 1 mm and a depth of 0.2 mm. The groove is not limited to this size, and may be any groove as long as it can sufficiently encapsulate the sealing material. The heater board is fixed on the supporting substrate 3 with an adhesive, and the grooved top plate 2 is arranged so that the heater portion arranged on the heater board 1 and the ink path 7 of the grooved top plate 2 are aligned with each other. It is fixed on the heater board 1 by a mechanical urging force of a rear pressing spring 6 which is temporarily fixed with an adhesive. The grooved top plate 2 has an orifice plate 4, and the orifice plate 4 is arranged on the front end surface of the support substrate 3 like a front sled. The ink supply member 5 is fixed to the support substrate 3 by aligning a protrusion bar (not shown) provided on the ink supply member with a through hole provided in the support substrate 3 and caulking the heat.
At this time, uniform gaps 10a and 10b are formed between the orifice plate 4 and the ink supply member 5. In this embodiment, the gaps 10a and 10b are both 0.1
It is about 0.2 mm.

It is important that the groove 3A provided in the support substrate 3 forms a space continuous with the gap between the orifice plate 4 and the ink supply member 5. The groove 3A is completely covered with the orifice plate 4, or the gap 10a
And being independent of 10b is not preferred. This is because the flow path of the injected sealing material is cut off and good sealing cannot be achieved.

The groove 3A formed on the front end surface of the support substrate 3 is formed by pressing in consideration of mass productivity.

The encapsulant is injected from an encapsulant injection port (not shown) in the upper part of the ink supply member 5 to seal the wire bonding portion 11 for transmitting an electric signal, and at the same time the orifice plate 4 and the ink supply member 5 are sealed. Grooves 10a and 10b that seal the gaps between
After passing through A, the gap area between the orifice plate 4 and the front end surface of the support substrate 3 is completely sealed. As described above, in order for the sealing material to seal the gap without blocking the orifice 9, a proper thixotropy and a proper viscosity are required. That is,
If the viscosity of the sealing material is too low, it will enter even the nozzles and orifices in the grooved top plate 2 and cause clogging. On the other hand, if the viscosity is too high, the sealing material will not completely wrap around the orifice plate 4.

Here, the viscosity is 800, 1,000, 4,
000, 10,000, 15,000 and 18,000
Using the sealing material at 0 cps, the state of wraparound or clogging of the orifice plate, the nozzle and the orifice was examined, and the results are shown in Table 1. In Table 1, ∘ mark indicates a good wraparound state for the orifice plate part, no clogging condition for the nozzle orifice part, x mark indicates the opposite, and Δ mark indicates a good condition and a bad condition. An intermediate state of the state is shown.

[0063]

[Table 1]

Based on the results shown in Table 1, the viscosity of the sealing material used in the present invention is 1,000 to 15,000 cps.
More preferably, it is 2,000 to 10,000 cps, most preferably 4,000 to 10,000 cps.

The sealing material has good adhesion to the heater board 1 made of a silicon wafer, the support substrate 3 made of a metal, the grooved top plate 2 made of a synthetic resin, the orifice plate 4, the ink supply member 5, and the like. Required. Further, in order to join a plurality of different materials having different thermal expansion coefficients, a soft material capable of absorbing the difference in thermal expansion due to the temperature environment, specifically, JIS standard A100.
It is necessary to use a sealing material having the following hardness.

On the other hand, since this sealing material also plays a role of covering and protecting the wire bonding portion 11, it must be a material that does not corrode the aluminum wire bonding portion and the aluminum electrode. In order to prevent corrosion of the electrodes and wire bonding, the concentration of impurity ions such as Cl ⁻ and Na ⁺ in the sealing material is preferably 30 ppm or less.

Such materials are required to have such properties that they are excellent in ink resistance, particularly solvent resistance and alkali resistance, because they locally come into contact with ink. Moreover,
It must also have low permeability to oxygen, nitrogen and water vapor.

In the present invention, for example, urethane resin, acrylic resin, flexible epoxy resin, rubber adhesive or the like can be used as the sealing material satisfying such required characteristics. It is more preferable if these materials exhibit rubber-like elasticity.

In this embodiment, for example, a two-component urethane adhesive having the following composition was used.

(Compounding example) (Main component) Polyether polyol 100 parts by weight Silane coupling agent 5 parts by weight Thixotropic agent 1 part by weight Colorant 1 part by weight (Curing agent) Polyisocyanate 40 parts by weight Such two-component urethane adhesive The agent has much lower water-air permeability than conventional silicone resin adhesives.
It is possible to prevent air from entering the JH.

Examples of the above-mentioned polyether polyols, that is, polyether type polyhydric alcohols include polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol, and polytetramethylene glycol. These may be used alone or in appropriate combination. Can be used.

Examples of the above-mentioned polyisocyanates include isocyanate trimers such as polymeric, tolylene diisocyanate, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, xylylene diisocyanate, naphthylene diisocyanate, paraphenylene diisocyanate, tetramethyl xylylene diisocyanate, dicyclohexyl. Examples thereof include isocyanate dimers such as methane diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate, lysine diisocyanate, lysine diisocyanate, hydrogenated xylylene diisocyanate, microhexyl diisocyanate and tolidine diisocyanate, and these can be used alone or in appropriate combination.

The blending ratio of the above-mentioned polyether polyol and polyisocyanate is 100 parts by weight: 40 parts by weight in the above-mentioned blending example, but it is not limited to this ratio. This compounding ratio is appropriately determined by the equivalent ratio of the hydroxyl group (OH group) of the polyol and the isocyanate group (-NCO- group) of the polyisocyanate.

As the above thixotropic agent, for example, Aerosil can be used. Aerosil is an amorphous silica that imparts good thixotropy to the urethane adhesive obtained by the above formulation.

Here, the viscosity of the two-component urethane adhesive as the encapsulant used in the present invention or as the encapsulant having a urethane bond in the molecule is determined by the urethanization reaction between the polyether polyol and the polyisocyanate. The molecular weight of the urethane adhesive, which can be changed according to the degree of polymerization, and the addition amount of the thixotropic agent are adjusted within the above range. Further, the polyether polyol and the polyisocyanate can be mixed and pre-polymerized, and the viscosity can be adjusted while sufficiently dispersing the thixotropic agent in the pre-polymerized product.

A silane coupling agent can be used to increase the binding force between the above-mentioned prepolymer and the thixotropic agent. Examples of the silane coupling agent include acrylic silanes such as vinyltrichlorosilane, vinyltris (βmethoxyethoxy) silane, vinyltriethoxysilane, and vinyltrimethoxylane, β- (3,
4-epoxycyclohexyl) ethyltrimethoxysilane, γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, γ
-Epoxysilanes such as glycidoxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, N-β (aminoethyl) γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N-β (aminoethyl)
Aminosilanes such as γ-aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and N-phenyl-γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, and other γ-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane, γ-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and the like. A silane compound can be mentioned.

The colorant may be added to the above-mentioned encapsulant. The blending amount is determined according to the color tone of the target adhesive. Examples of the colorant include carbon black, titanium oxide, iron oxide, chromium oxide, cadmium sulfate, aluminomagnesium, inorganic colorants such as lamp black, azo dyes, diazo dyes, phthalocyanines, organic colorants such as dioxazine and the like. be able to.

A catalyst may be added to the above-mentioned sealing material in order to accelerate the urethanization reaction in the manufacturing process. Examples of this catalyst include stanas octoate, dibutyltin diacetate, dibutyltin dilaurate, dibutyltin mercaptide, dibutyltin thiocarboxylate, dibutyltin dimaleate, dioctyltin mercaptide, dioctyltin thiocarboxylate, phenylmercuric propionate. Examples thereof include salts and organometallic catalysts such as lead octenoate.

The total concentration of impurity ions contained in the encapsulant is 10 ppm, 30 ppm and 50 ppm, respectively.
24V to IJC sealed with the urethane resin
Table 2 shows the results of conducting an electrical continuity check after applying a bias of (DC) and leaving it for 200 hours in an environment of high temperature and high humidity of 85 ° C. and 85% RH. In Table 2, the ∘ mark indicates that there is no conduction, and the X mark indicates that there is conduction.

[0080]

[Table 2]

Below, the conventional silicone resin sealing and the two-component urethane resin sealing according to the present invention were compared to examine the air permeability of both resins.

An ink jet cartridge having an ink tank integrally formed in an ink jet unit in which the periphery of the recording head portion was sealed using a one liquid RTV silicone resin and a two liquid urethane resin was mounted on the printer. This printer was left in a dry environment at a temperature of 35 ° C. and a humidity (20%) or less. Then, it was tested whether printing was possible without performing a recovery operation. The results are shown in Table 3. In Table 3, ◯ indicates a state in which the air in the inkjet unit does not enter and printing is possible without recovery operation, and x indicates a state in which printing is impossible due to air intrusion without recovery operation.
The unit of air permeability in Table 3 is [cm ³ ] [cm]
/ [Sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg], and the air permeability was measured by applying the gas permeability test method of JIS standard.

[0083]

[Table 3]

As described in the general literature, as compared with silicon resin having high air permeability of 10 ⁻⁸ order, urethane resin and butadiene rubber having low air permeability of 10 ⁻⁹ order or less are used. It was possible to perform good printing even when left for 30 days.

Next, under the same conditions as in the air permeability test, the conventional silicone resin sealing and the two-component urethane resin sealing according to the present invention were compared to examine the water vapor permeability of both resins. It was

That is, an ink jet cartridge having an ink tank integrated with an ink jet unit in which the periphery of the recording head portion is sealed by using a one liquid RTV silicone resin and a two liquid urethane resin is mounted on a printer. Use this printer at a temperature of 35 ° C and humidity (20
%) It was left in the following dry environment. Then, it was tested whether printing was possible without performing a recovery operation. The results are shown in Table 4. In Table 4, the mark ◯ indicates that the air in the inkjet unit did not enter, and printing was possible without recovery operation, and the mark x indicates that printing was not possible without recovery operation due to the entry of air. The unit of water vapor permeability in Table 3 is [c
m ³ ] [cm] / [sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg], and the air permeability was measured by applying the gas permeability test method of JIS standard.

[0087]

[Table 4]

As shown in Table 4, when a sealing material having a low water vapor permeability of 10 ^-9 order or less is used as compared with the silicone resin having a high water vapor permeability of 10 ^-6 order. I was able to obtain a good result.

(Others) Incidentally, the present invention is provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, particularly in the ink jet recording system. The present invention provides excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the thermal energy causes a change in ink state. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal as a result
This is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings to form at least one droplet. 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, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 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.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333, U.S. Pat. No. 44, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The configuration using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the recording head fixed to the main body of the apparatus or the ink jet from the main body of the apparatus is electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus by being attached to the main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided in the present invention as a configuration of the recording apparatus, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. .. Specific examples thereof include capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means, electrothermal converter or other heating element or preheating means by a combination thereof, It is also effective to perform stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which discharge different from recording is performed.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. A plurality of pieces may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be either integrally formed of the recording heads or a combination of a plurality of them. Alternatively, the present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink jet system. In general, the temperature of the ink itself is adjusted within a 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 a stable ejection range. Anything can be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink that solidifies in the standing state is used for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink. However, in any case, when heat ink is liquefied by application of heat energy according to a recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or when the ink reaches a recording medium, solidification is already started. The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink which has a property of being liquefied only by energy. The ink in such a case is disclosed in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60.
As described in JP-A-71260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function can be used. It may be in a form or the like.

[0098]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the material having low air permeability is used as the sealing material, it is possible to suppress the invasion of air into the head. Therefore,
Even if the inkjet unit is left for a relatively long period of time, air bubbles are less likely to enter the inside of the recording head, so that droplet ejection can be performed normally without a recovery operation such as ink suction. Further, according to the present invention, since the material having low water vapor permeability is used as the sealing material, the ink in the recording head does not evaporate even when the ink jet unit is left for a relatively long period of time, and therefore the ink suction or the like is not performed. The droplet discharge can be normally performed without the recovery operation.

Further, according to the present invention, since the material having the urethane bond in the molecule is used as the sealing material, the permeability of oxygen, nitrogen or water vapor can be lowered. Therefore, even if the ink jet unit is left for a relatively long period of time, air bubbles do not enter the inside of the recording head and the ink inside the head does not evaporate. Therefore, the droplet ejection can be performed normally without a recovery operation such as ink suction. Can be done.

Since the number of recovery operations can be reduced in this manner, the amount of waste ink can be minimized, and the amount of effective ink that can be used for recording can be increased.
That is, the running cost per print medium can be reduced.

Further, since the amount of waste ink can be reduced, the absorber for absorbing the waste ink and its volume can be greatly reduced, so that the cost of the waste ink absorber and the printer main body can be reduced. Compactness can be achieved at the same time.

Further, in the conventional IJH, if left for a certain period of time, bubbles are mixed in the IJH and normal discharge cannot be obtained. Therefore, a sequence for automatically sucking at a certain period of time is required by a timer or the like. .. But,
According to the present invention, such a complicated sequence becomes unnecessary, and the recovery sequence can be simplified, the timer battery can be omitted, and the printer body can be simplified or the cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the sealing material does not cause corrosion or the like on the electrodes or wire bonding, it is possible to provide a highly reliable head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of an inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the discharge port side shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a support substrate that constitutes the inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an example of the inkjet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the ink tank of the inkjet cartridge of the present invention as viewed from the side on which the inkjet recording head is mounted.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing how the ink jet cartridge device body of the present invention is mounted on the carriage.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Heater board 2 Groove top plate 2a Ink inlet 3 Support substrate 3A Groove 4 Orifice plate 5 Ink supply member 6 Holding spring 7 Common liquid chamber 8 Ink passage 9 Orifice 10 Wiring substrate 11 Wire bonding 12 Sealing Material

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location 9012-2C B41J 3/04 103 H (72) Inventor Haruo Uehara 3-30 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Canon Inc.

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A recording head portion having a liquid ejection portion for ejecting ink droplets to form flying droplets, a support member for supporting the recording head portion, and a periphery of the recording head portion and the recording. An ink supply member for supplying ink to the head section; a wiring section for supplying electric energy for causing the recording head section to eject ink; and a connecting means for electrically connecting the recording head section and the wiring section. A sealing material that covers the connecting means and seals a space between the recording head portion and a member surrounding the recording head portion and an engaging portion, and the sealing material has an air permeability of 40 × 10. ^-10 [cm ³ ]
An inkjet unit characterized by using a material of [cm] / [sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg] or less. 2. The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein the sealing material is JIS.
An ink jet unit having a hardness of standard A100 or less. 3. The first substrate according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate is provided with an energy generating element for generating energy used for ejecting the recording liquid, and the first substrate is bonded to the first substrate. A second substrate having a groove for forming a flow path of the recording liquid corresponding to the location where the energy generating element is provided, and a mechanical biasing force is applied to the first and second substrates to bring them into close contact with each other. An ink jet unit, comprising: 4. The energy generating element of claim 3, wherein the energy generating element of the first substrate has means for generating thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the recording liquid. Inkjet unit to be. 5. The first substrate having an ink ejection pressure generating element used for ejecting ink from the ink ejection port according to claim 1, and an orifice plate having the ink ejection port formed therein.
A front plate member that is integrally provided on the outer circumference of the orifice plate and that partially projects to the outside, and a concavo-convex portion that is joined to the first substrate and forms an ink path that communicates with the ink ejection port are integrally formed. A second substrate provided for the first substrate, a bonded member in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other, and a support member in which a part of the front plate member covers a front surface region; And an urging member that applies a mechanical urging force to the second substrate to bring the two substrates into close contact with each other. 6. The ink jet unit according to claim 1, an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit,
An ink jet cartridge characterized by being integrally provided with. 7. An ink jet cartridge according to claim 1, an ink jet cartridge integrally provided with an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit, and a carriage mounted with the cartridge and capable of scanning. And an inkjet recording apparatus including. 8. A recording head portion having a liquid ejection portion for ejecting ink droplets to form flying droplets, a support member for supporting the recording head portion, and a periphery of the recording head portion and the recording. An ink supply member for supplying ink to the head section; a wiring section for supplying electric energy for causing the recording head section to eject ink; and a connecting means for electrically connecting the recording head section and the wiring section. A sealing material that covers the connecting means and seals a space between the recording head portion and a member surrounding the recording head portion and an engaging portion, and the sealing material has a water vapor permeability of 5 × 10 5. ^-7 [cm ³ ] [c
An ink jet unit characterized by using a material of m / [sec] [cm ² ] [cmHg] or less. 9. The sealing material according to claim 8, wherein the sealing material is JIS.
An ink jet unit having a hardness of standard A100 or less. 10. The first substrate according to claim 8, wherein the first substrate is provided with an energy generating element that generates energy used to eject the recording liquid, and the first substrate is bonded to the first substrate. A second substrate having a groove for forming a flow path of the recording liquid corresponding to the location where the energy generating element is provided, and a mechanical biasing force is applied to the first and second substrates to bring them into close contact with each other. An ink jet unit, comprising: 11. The energy generating element of claim 10, wherein the energy generating element of the first substrate has means for generating thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the recording liquid. Inkjet unit to be. 12. The first substrate having an ink ejection pressure generating element used to eject ink from the ink ejection port according to claim 8, and an orifice plate having the ink ejection port formed therein.
A front plate member that is integrally provided on the outer circumference of the orifice plate and that partially projects to the outside, and a concavo-convex portion that is joined to the first substrate and forms an ink path that communicates with the ink ejection port are integrally formed. A second substrate provided for the first substrate, a bonded member in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other, and a support member in which a part of the front plate member covers a front surface region; And an urging member that applies a mechanical urging force to the second substrate to bring the two substrates into close contact with each other. 13. The ink jet unit according to claim 8, and an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit.
An ink jet cartridge characterized by being integrally provided with. 14. An inkjet cartridge integrally provided with the inkjet unit according to claim 8, an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit, and a carriage mounted with the cartridge so as to be scannable. And an inkjet recording apparatus including. 15. A recording head portion including a liquid ejection portion that ejects ink droplets to form flying droplets, a support member that supports the recording head portion, and a recording member that covers the periphery of the recording head portion and the recording. An ink supply member for supplying ink to the head section; a wiring section for supplying electric energy for causing the recording head section to eject ink; and a connection means for electrically connecting the recording head section and the wiring section. A sealing material which covers the connecting means and seals a space between the recording head portion and a member surrounding the recording head portion and an engaging portion, and the sealing material has a urethane bond in a molecule. An ink jet unit characterized by using a material. 16. The ink jet unit according to claim 15, wherein the sealing material has an elution concentration of impurities contained therein in the air and / or water of 30 ppm or less. 17. The first substrate according to claim 15, wherein the first substrate is provided with an energy generating element that generates energy used for ejecting the recording liquid, and the first substrate is bonded to the first substrate. A second substrate having a groove for forming a flow path of the recording liquid corresponding to the location where the energy generating element is provided, and a mechanical biasing force is applied to the first and second substrates to bring them into close contact with each other. An ink jet unit, comprising: a biasing member for causing the ink jet unit. 18. The energy generating element according to claim 17, wherein the energy generating element of the first substrate has means for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink as energy used for ejecting the recording liquid. Inkjet unit to be. 19. The first substrate having an ink ejection pressure generating element used for ejecting ink from the ink ejection port according to claim 15, and an orifice plate having the ink ejection port formed therein,
A front plate member that is integrally provided on the outer circumference of the orifice plate and that partially projects to the outside, and a concavo-convex portion that is joined to the first substrate and forms an ink path that communicates with the ink ejection port are integrally formed. A second substrate provided for the first substrate, a bonded member in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other, and a support member in which a part of the front plate member covers a front surface region; And an urging member that applies a mechanical urging force to the second substrate to bring the two substrates into close contact with each other. 20. An ink jet unit according to claim 15, and an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit.
An ink jet cartridge characterized by being integrally provided with. 21. An ink jet cartridge according to claim 15, an ink jet cartridge integrally provided with an ink tank for supplying ink to the unit, and a carriage mounted with the cartridge and capable of scanning. And an inkjet recording apparatus including.