JPH06134996A - Manufacture of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet head that ejects ink droplets to record, whereby the diameters of nozzle holes are uniform and accurate. CONSTITUTION:Specifically shaped and sized recess sections 2 are formed on one face of a monocrystalline silicon water 1 by means of a anisotropic etching process to form nozzle plate 3. A pressure chamber 5 for pressurizing an ink is connected with an ink supply passage 6, is formed in recessed shape and is covered with an ink passage plate 4. The nozzle plate 3 and ink passage plate 4 are bonded with each other in such a manner that the face having the recess sections 2 and the face having the pressure chamber 5 are opposed each other. After that, the nozzle plate 3 is ground on the face opposite to the bonded face to become a specific thickness whereby nozzle holes 7 are opened in the plate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an ink jet head for recording by ejecting ink droplets.

In the ink jet head, since the ink in the pressure chamber is ejected from the nozzle, it is necessary to form the nozzle diameter uniformly so that the size of the ink droplet does not vary.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for forming a nozzle, as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, a wet anisotropic etching process was performed from both sides, and the hole formed through was used as the nozzle 52.

[0004]

The speed of the etching process is greatly affected by the temperature of the etching solution. Therefore, it is desirable that the temperature of the etching liquid is always a predetermined constant temperature during the etching process. However, since the processing of the nozzle holes as described above requires a processing time of several hours, it is inevitable that the etching solution temperature changes during the processing.

As a result, the ratio of the etching depths on both surfaces of the single crystal silicon wafer 51 varies, the nozzle diameter varies, and the size of the ink droplet varies depending on the nozzle, which deteriorates the recording quality. It was the cause.

Even when the thickness of the single crystal silicon wafer 51 varies, the nozzle diameter varies due to the same phenomenon, the size of the ink droplets varies, and the recording quality deteriorates.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet head which can form the diameter of the nozzle hole uniformly and accurately.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to the present invention is applied to a single crystal silicon wafer 1 on one side as shown in FIG. 1 for explaining an embodiment. From the surface, a concave portion 2 having a predetermined shape and size is formed by anisotropic etching to form a nozzle plate 3, and a pressure chamber 5 for applying a discharge pressure to ink is formed in a concave shape by communicating with an ink supply path 6. To form the flow path plate 4, and join the nozzle plate 3 and the flow path plate 4 with the surface on which the recess 2 is formed and the surface on which the pressure chamber 5 is formed facing each other. After that, the nozzle plate 3 is ground from the surface side opposite to the joint surface to a thickness such that the recess 2 has a predetermined diameter and opens as a nozzle hole 7.

Further, in the method for manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention, after the single crystal silicon wafer 1 is ground to a predetermined thickness, one surface of the single crystal silicon wafer 1 is anisotropically etched to a predetermined shape. A nozzle plate 3 is formed by forming a nozzle hole 7 having a size, and a pressure chamber 5 for applying an ejection pressure to ink is communicated with an ink supply path 6 to form a concave shape to form a flow path plate 4. The nozzle plate 3 is joined to the surface of the flow path plate 4 on the side where the pressure chamber 5 is formed.

[0010]

By grinding the single crystal silicon wafer 1 to reduce its thickness, the etching process can be performed from the one side where the processing time is short, and variations in the etching process can be suppressed. At the same time, the variation in the thickness of the single crystal silicon wafer 1 is eliminated by the grinding, and the thickness can be made uniform.

[0011]

Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 show a method of manufacturing an inkjet head and a manufacturing process thereof according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Here, first, the thickness is, for example, 525 μm ±
On one surface side of the 25 μm single crystal silicon wafer 1,
A nozzle hole pattern having a predetermined shape and dimension is formed by coating a portion other than the portion where the nozzle hole is formed with a resist, and anisotropic etching is performed from the surface side.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, on one surface side of the single crystal silicon wafer 1, there is formed a concave portion 2 whose surface opening shape matches the nozzle hole pattern, for example, an etching angle of 55 °, and the single crystal silicon wafer. It is formed so as to be recessed to an intermediate portion of the thickness of 1.

In this way, the single crystal silicon wafer 1
The nozzle plate 3 made of the above material is formed, and then the flow path plate 4 is joined to the nozzle plate 3 as shown in FIG. Flow path plate 4
Here, the material is a single crystal silicon wafer, and the pressure chamber 5 for applying the discharge pressure to the ink is communicated with the ink supply path 6 and is previously formed in a concave shape by anisotropic etching processing from one surface side. I'll do it.

Then, the surface of the nozzle plate 3 on which the recess 2 is formed, the pressure chamber 5 of the flow path plate 4 and the ink supply path 6 are formed.
The surface on the side where is formed is aligned and directly joined without using an adhesive. Direct bonding is, for example, 110
It is carried out by heating at 0 ° C. for 30 minutes.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle plate 3
Is grinded from the surface side opposite to the bonding surface to a thickness such that the recess 2 opens as a nozzle hole 7 having a predetermined diameter. The grinding amount is
For example, when the surface opening of the recess 2 is a square having a side of 200 μm and the diameter (one side) of the nozzle hole 7 is 50 μm, it is preferable to grind so that a thickness of about 106 μm remains.

When the nozzle plate 3 has been ground in this way and the nozzle holes 7 having a predetermined diameter are opened in the nozzle plate 3,
As shown in FIG. 4, the piezoelectric element 8 is bonded to the surface of the flow path plate 4 located on the back side of the pressure chamber 5.

Although only the two nozzle holes 7 are enlarged and shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, one single crystal silicon wafer 1 is provided with a large number of ink jets as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, which is sized to collectively form the heads 10 and shows a part A of one of the inkjet heads 10, each inkjet head 1
No. 7 has a large number of nozzle holes 7.

Therefore, after the piezoelectric element 8 is bonded to the flow path plate 4, the whole is cut and divided into individual ink jet heads 10 as shown in FIG. In the inkjet head 10 formed in this manner, a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 8 to deform it, whereby pressure is applied to the ink in the pressure chamber 5, and the ink becomes an ink droplet from the nozzle hole 7. Is ejected.

FIGS. 7-10 show a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, prior to drilling holes in the single crystal silicon wafer 1 for forming the nozzle plate 3. The single crystal silicon wafer 1 has a predetermined thickness (for example, 10
6 μm).

Then, after grinding, the recess 2 is formed in the single crystal silicon wafer 1 by anisotropic etching as shown in FIG. 8 to obtain the nozzle hole 7 of a predetermined size. This is the nozzle plate 3.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the flow path plate 4 is directly joined to the nozzle plate 3, and the back surface side of the flow path plate 4 as shown in FIG. After the piezoelectric element 8 is bonded to, the ink jet head 10 shown in FIG. 5 is cut and divided into units.

Even when the ink jet head is manufactured as in the second embodiment, the same ink jet head as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0024]

According to the method of manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention, since the etching process on only one side is required to form the nozzle hole, the processing time is short and the variation in the etching process is suppressed. Since a nozzle plate is obtained by grinding a crystalline silicon wafer, variations in the thickness of the nozzle plate are eliminated and a uniform thickness is obtained, and as a result, the nozzle holes are formed by etching to a uniform and uniform size without variations in diameter. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front partial cross-sectional view of the inkjet head according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an overall plan view showing a manufacturing process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a manufacturing process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front partial cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a front partial cross-sectional view of a conventional nozzle plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Single crystal silicon wafer 2 Recessed part 3 Nozzle plate 4 Flow path plate 5 Pressure chamber 6 Ink supply path 7 Nozzle hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A single crystal silicon wafer (1) is formed with a concave plate (2) having a predetermined shape and dimension from one surface by anisotropic etching to form a nozzle plate (3), and a discharge pressure is applied to ink. The pressure chamber (5) for applying is formed in a concave shape by communicating with the ink supply path (6) to form the flow channel plate (4), and the nozzle plate (3) and the flow channel plate (4) are connected to each other. After the surface on the side where the recess (2) is formed and the surface on the side where the pressure chamber (5) is formed face each other and are joined, the nozzle plate (3) is attached to the recess (2). A method for manufacturing an ink jet head, which comprises grinding from a surface side opposite to the above-mentioned joining surface to a thickness that opens as a nozzle hole (7) with a predetermined diameter. 2. A single crystal silicon wafer (1) is ground to a predetermined thickness, and then a nozzle hole (7) having a predetermined shape and dimension is formed by anisotropic etching from one surface of the single crystal silicon wafer (1). ) Is formed to form a nozzle plate (3), and a pressure chamber (5) for applying an ejection pressure to ink is communicated with the ink supply path (6) to form a concave shape to form a flow path plate (4). A method for manufacturing an inkjet head, characterized in that the nozzle plate (3) is formed and bonded to the surface of the flow path plate (4) on the side where the pressure chamber (5) is formed.