JPH06143587A - Manufacture of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a water repellant film which has a uniform thickness on a nozzle surface and is not invaded into a nozzle opening in an ink jet head having a channel and the nozzle surface arranged in the channel to discharge ink. CONSTITUTION:A nozzle surface 21 of an ink jet head is brought into contact with a porous member 22 impregnated with water repellant material 23 to form the surface 21 on the surface. Since the material 23 impregnated in the member 22 has larger capillarity of the member 22 than that of a nozzle opening 24, it is not invaded into the opening 24.

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 ink jet head. More specifically, it relates to a method for forming a water repellent film on the nozzle surface of an inkjet head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink jet printers have been rapidly developed due to advantages such as high speed printing, low noise and high printing quality. Several methods have been proposed for an inkjet head used in an inkjet printer, but generally they can be classified into two methods. The first method uses a piezoelectric material and deforms the piezoelectric material by an electric pulse to deform a part of the flow path. Then, a pressure pulse is generated in the flow path, and an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle by this pressure pulse. Next, the second method uses a heating resistor to heat the heating resistor by electric pulses. Then, the ink in the flow path is boiled to generate a vapor bubble. The vapor bubble causes an ink droplet to be ejected from the nozzle.

In either method, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle surface, so the wettability of the nozzle surface greatly affects the ink droplet ejection performance. That is, when the nozzle surface shows good wettability with respect to the ink, the ink spreads on the nozzle surface and ink droplets are not ejected. Alternatively, even if the ink is ejected, the size, speed, and ejection direction of the ink droplet are greatly changed, and stable ejection cannot be obtained.

Therefore, attempts have been made to obtain stable ejection by reducing the wettability of the nozzle surface with ink. As a method for deteriorating the wettability, a method of forming a water repellent film on the nozzle surface is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-239063.

In this case, a liquid water-repellent material is applied to the support and the nozzle surface of the ink jet head is pressed against the support. Then, the inkjet head is separated from the support, and the water repellent material is transferred to the nozzle surface. After that, the water-repellent material is dried, cured with heat, actinic rays or the like. The water repellent film is formed by the above steps.

[0006]

However, in the prior art, when the nozzle surface of the ink jet head is pressed against the support, the water repellent material on the support penetrates into the nozzle openings, and even up to a place where a water repellent film is not desired to be formed. There is a problem of being formed.

Further, when the water repellent material is transferred from the support to the nozzle surface of the ink jet head, the transfer amount of the water repellent material becomes non-uniform, and the thickness of the water repellent film becomes non-uniform.

Further, the water-repellent material on the support is wiped after being transferred to the nozzle surface of the ink jet head, and the next ink jet head treatment is carried out. Therefore, the water repellent material is wasted, resulting in an increase in cost. .

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to form a water-repellent film having a uniform thickness on a nozzle surface without forming a water-repellent film in a nozzle opening. An object of the present invention is to propose a manufacturing method capable of manufacturing a water-repellent film at low cost.

[0010]

According to the method of manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention, a water repellent film is formed on the nozzle surface by the following steps.

(1) Step of impregnating a porous member with a water repellent material (2) Step of bringing the nozzle surface of an ink jet head into contact with the porous member to transfer the water repellent material to the nozzle surface of the ink jet head 3) Step of separating the nozzle surface of the inkjet head from the porous member

[0012]

According to the present invention, the liquid repellent material is impregnated into the porous member, the nozzle surface of the inkjet head is brought into contact with the porous member, and the water repellent material is transferred to the nozzle surface of the inkjet head. A water film can be formed.

[0013]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The water-repellent material used in the present invention may be any material that can impregnate a liquid porous member. For example, a polymer resin solution containing fluorine is used. The present inventor used CTX-P manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. CTX-P is a solution of amorphous fluororesin dissolved in an organic solvent. CT
XP becomes a film having excellent water repellency when the organic solvent is evaporated. Further, the porous member may be one that is resistant to the water repellent material. For example, the inventor used urethane foam.

A state in which the water repellent film is formed on the nozzle surface of the ink jet head will be described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a sectional view of the nozzle portion of the ink jet head. The water-repellent film 1 is formed on the nozzle surface 2 of the nozzle member 4. Ink 3
Has a convex shape inside the nozzle.

The ink jet head to which the method for manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention can be applied is not particularly limited, and may be an ink jet head which uses a piezoelectric material or a heating element to eject ink droplets from nozzles by electric pulses. Good. As an example, the structure of the inkjet head used by the present inventor will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of this. In the inkjet head, a nozzle member 12 having a plurality of nozzle openings 11 is arranged in a flow path 13 that fills ink. Nozzle member 12
The diaphragm 14 is disposed so as to face the. A pressure member 15 is connected to the diaphragm 14. Pressure member 15
Is connected to the piezoelectric element 16. The piezoelectric element 16 is PZ
T is used. Electrodes (not shown) are formed on the piezoelectric element 16, and the electrodes are connected to a drive circuit (not shown). When an electric pulse is sent from the drive circuit to the piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric element 16 contracts. The vibrating plate 14 is deformed to the piezoelectric element 16 side, the volume of the flow path is increased, and the ink flows in from the supply port 17. When the electric pulse is cut off, the piezoelectric element 16 extends and the diaphragm 14 returns to its original position. The ink filled in the flow path receives pressure and is ejected from the nozzle opening 11.

Detailed examples and comparative examples will be described below.

(Example) Urethane foam is impregnated with CTX-P. When the impregnation is performed under a reduced pressure of 60 mmHg or less, the urethane foam can be uniformly impregnated. The surface of the urethane foam that contacts the nozzle surface of the inkjet head is a flat surface.

The nozzle surface of the inkjet head is brought into contact with urethane foam. The contact pressure is preferably about 20 g / cm ² .

FIG. 3 shows the nozzle surface 2 of the ink jet head.
1 shows a state where 1 and the urethane foam 22 are in contact with each other.
CTX-P23 impregnated in urethane foam 22
Since the capillary force of the urethane foam 22 is larger than the capillary force of the nozzle opening 24, the urethane foam 22 does not enter the nozzle opening 24.

The nozzle surface of the inkjet head is separated from the urethane foam.

A part of CTX-P in the urethane foam comes into close contact with the nozzle surface of the inkjet jet head, and a CTX-P film is formed on the nozzle surface.

The CTX-P film is heated at 100 ° C. for 1 hour to remove the organic solvent and form a water repellent film.

The thickness of the water-repellent film was 0.098 μm to 0.102 μm, which was a uniform film thickness with respect to the target value of 0.1 μm. In addition, no pinhole was generated. Furthermore, the water-repellent film does not penetrate into the nozzle openings.

When the next head is processed, the work is repeated.

Comparative Example CTX-P was spin-coated on a glass substrate with a spin coater at 0.4.
Apply to a thickness of μm.

The nozzle surface of the inkjet head is brought into contact with the glass substrate.

FIG. 4 shows the nozzle surface 3 of the ink jet head.
1 shows a state where 1 and the glass substrate 32 are in contact with each other. The CTX-P 33 on the glass substrate enters the nozzle opening 34 by the capillary force of the nozzle opening 34.

The nozzle surface of the inkjet head is separated from the glass substrate.

A part of CTX-P on the glass substrate comes into close contact with the nozzle surface of the inkjet jet head, and a CTX-P film is formed on the nozzle surface.

The CTX-P film is heated at 100 ° C. for 1 hour to remove the organic solvent and form a water repellent film.

The thickness of the water-repellent film is nonuniform from 0.085 μm to 0.215 μm with respect to the target value of 0.1 μm. The water-repellent film penetrates into the nozzle opening.

When performing the next head treatment, CTX-P remaining on the glass substrate must be removed cleanly. I will repeat it again.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the water-repellent film can be formed to have a uniform thickness, whereas in the comparative example, not only the water-repellent film cannot be made uniform in thickness, but also the nozzle opening is formed. The water-repellent film penetrates inside, which causes a problem that greatly changes the characteristics of the inkjet head. Further, the manufacturing method of the present invention requires fewer steps than the comparative example.

[0035]

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing an ink jet head of the present invention, a water repellent film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the nozzle surface of the ink jet head, and the water repellent film penetrates into the nozzle. Moreover, there is an excellent effect that it can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle portion of an inkjet head illustrating a water repellent film formed by a method for manufacturing an inkjet head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an inkjet head illustrating a method of manufacturing an inkjet head method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of manufacturing an inkjet head method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of manufacturing an inkjet head method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water-repellent film 2 Nozzle surface 3 Ink 4 Nozzle member 11 Nozzle opening 12 Nozzle member 13 Flow path 14 Vibrating plate 15 Pressure member 16 Piezoelectric element 17 Supply port 21 Nozzle surface 22 Urethane foam 23 CTX-P 24 Nozzle opening 31 Nozzle surface 32 Glass substrate 33 CTX-P 34 Nozzle opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of impregnating a porous member with a liquid water-repellent material on a nozzle surface of an inkjet head having a water-repellent film for ejecting ink disposed in the flow path and the ink disposed in the flow path. ) A step of bringing the nozzle surface of the inkjet head into contact with the porous member and transferring the water repellent material to the nozzle surface of the inkjet head (3) Water repellency by a step of separating the nozzle surface of the inkjet head from the porous member A method for manufacturing an inkjet head, which comprises forming a film.