JPH0671894A - Manufacture of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the strength of a head by making the whole body of the head thicker even if a vibration plate is made to be thinner. CONSTITUTION:For one of the substrates, an ink passage is formed by etching on one surface (a), and for the other substrate, a nozzle on one surface and reinforcing part on the other surface are formed by double surface etching (b), then, the first and second substrates are bonded (c), and then, the other surface of the first substrate is polished (d) as the constitution of the manufacturing method.

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 for a printer. The non-impact recording method has an advantage that noise generation during recording is small and has been actively researched recently. Among them, the inkjet recording method, which is easy to colorize, enables high-speed recording, and can easily perform recording on so-called plain paper without requiring a special fixing process, is an extremely powerful recording method. Various methods have been devised so far, some have been improved, and some have been commercialized, while others are still trying to be put into practical use.

Such an ink jet recording method is a so-called ink droplet of a recording liquid.
The recording medium is made to fly and adheres to the recording material to perform recording. In this inkjet recording method, an inkjet head is used as a means for ejecting a recording liquid.

Therefore, it is necessary to manufacture a strong ink jet head in order to obtain a record with excellent print quality.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional method for manufacturing an ink jet head, there is, for example, one shown in FIGS. First, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a pressure chamber 2 and a channel are formed on one surface of a silicon (100) wafer 1 by anisotropic etching.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13,
A nozzle 4 is formed on one surface of another silicon (100) wafer 3 by anisotropic etching. Here, anisotropic etching will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. 14
In FIG. 15 and FIG. 15, when a silicon (100) wafer 5 is exposed to a rectangular mask pattern 6 having <110> on one side and is etched with an anisotropic etching solution such as an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution, )
A V-shaped groove 7 having an inclined surface of 55 degrees with respect to the surface of the wafer 5 is formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the pressure chamber 2 and the nozzle 4 of the two silicon (100) wafers 1 and 3 are aligned with each other and bonded. Next, as shown in FIG. 17, the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer 1 is polished to form a vibration plate. Further, the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer 3 is polished and the nozzle 4 is penetrated.

FIG. 18 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the inkjet head. In FIG. 19, a nozzle 4 is formed in the silicon (100) wafer 3, a pressure chamber 2 and a flow path 8 are formed in the silicon (100) wafer 1, and the nozzle 4 communicates with the pressure chamber 2. The flow path 8 communicating with the pressure chamber 2 communicates with an ink tank (not shown) via a tube (not shown).
A piezoelectric element 9 is bonded to the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer 1 which is a vibrating plate.

In order for such an ink jet head to obtain high resolution printing quality, it is necessary to narrow the intervals between the nozzles 4. In order to miniaturize the inkjet head, the area of the diaphragm is limited, and in this condition,
In order to generate the pressure required for printing in the pressure chamber 2 with a low voltage, it is necessary to make the diaphragm thin. Further, it is desirable that the depth of the pressure chamber 2 is thin in order to increase the printing speed.

[0009]

However, in such a conventional method for manufacturing an ink jet head, it is necessary to polish and thin the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer to be the vibrating plate, but the nozzle is formed. Since the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer to be polished is also polished, the entire head becomes thin and the strength of the head cannot be secured.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object thereof is to secure the strength of the head by thickening the entire head even if the diaphragm is thin.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, (a) is a step of forming an ink channel on one surface by etching on one substrate, (b) is a step of forming a nozzle on one surface and a reinforcing portion on the other surface by double-sided etching on the other substrate, c) is a step of joining one substrate and the other substrate, and (d) is a step of polishing the other surface of the one substrate.

[0012]

According to the present invention, an ink flow path is formed on one surface of one substrate by etching, and a nozzle is formed on one surface and a reinforcing portion is formed on the other surface of the other substrate by double-sided etching. Since the other surface of one of the substrates is polished after bonding, one of the substrates, which is the vibration plate in which the ink flow path is formed, can be thinned, and the other substrate can be formed as in the conventional case. Since it is not necessary to polish, the entire head can be thickened.

As a result, the strength of the head can be secured.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.
To do. 2 to 9 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention.
First, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, silicon (10
0) SiO on wafer 11 ₂ Thermal oxidation or sputtering method
And then the silicon (100) wafer
Apply resist to both sides of 11 by spin coating etc.
The pressure chamber is composed of a rectangle with one side of <110> direction.
12 and the pattern of the flow path are exposed and developed to expose
SiO₂ After removing the film with hydrofluoric acid, etc.,
Anisotropic etching with potassium hydroxide aqueous solution
Etching with a plating solution.

Thus, the silicon (100) wafer 11
An ink flow path including the pressure chamber 12 and the flow path is formed on each surface. Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a SiO ₂ film is formed on the silicon (100) wafer 13 by the same method, a resist is applied, and a nozzle having a rectangular shape with one side of <110> is formed. The pattern is exposed and developed on one side, and the reinforcing part pattern is exposed and developed on the other side. After removing the exposed SiO ₂ film with hydrofluoric acid or the like, the exposed silicon is etched with an anisotropic etching solution composed of an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution until the nozzle penetrates.

As shown in FIG. 4, nozzles 14 are formed on one surface (front surface) of the silicon (100) wafer 13, and as shown in FIG. 5, on the other surface (back surface) of the silicon (100) wafer 13. The groove 15 is formed. By such double-sided etching, as shown in FIG.
The nozzle 14 is provided on one surface of the wafer 13 and the reinforcing portion 16 is provided on the other surface.
Is formed, and the nozzle 14 penetrates the groove 15.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, two etched silicon (100) wafers 11 and 13 are bonded by a direct bonding method. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the other surface of the bonded silicon (100) wafers 11 and 13 is polished. The polished silicon (100) wafer 11 serves as a vibrating plate, and thus an inkjet head is manufactured.

FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. In order for the inkjet head to obtain high resolution printing quality, it is necessary to narrow the nozzle interval, and the size of the diaphragm is limited in order to downsize the inkjet head. Under these conditions, the diaphragm must be thin in order to generate the pressure required for printing in the pressure chamber at a low voltage, and the depth of the pressure chamber should be thin in order to increase the printing speed. desirable.

In this embodiment, since the other surface of the silicon (100) wafer 11 in which the pressure chamber 12 is formed is polished, the diaphragm can be made thin and the depth of the pressure chamber 12 can be reduced. Can be thin and can meet the above conditions. Further, since the nozzle 14 is formed on one surface and the reinforcing portion 16 is formed on the other surface of the other silicon (100) wafer 13 by double-sided etching, it is not necessary to polish the other surface as in the conventional case. Therefore, the entire head can be thickened. As a result, the strength of the head can be secured.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, an ink flow path is formed on one surface of one substrate, and a nozzle and a reinforcing portion are formed on both surfaces of the other substrate to bond both substrates. Since the other surface of one substrate is polished after that, the entire head can be thickened, and as a result, the strength of the head can be secured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a silicon wafer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a silicon wafer.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the surface of another silicon wafer.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the back surface of another silicon wafer.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another silicon wafer.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view after joining.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view after polishing.

9 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conventional silicon wafer.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a silicon wafer.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of another silicon wafer.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of another silicon wafer.

FIG. 14 is a plan view for explaining anisotropic etching.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view for explaining anisotropic etching.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view after joining.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view after polishing.

FIG. 18 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11: One silicon (100) wafer (substrate) 12: Pressure chamber 13: Other silicon (100) wafer (substrate) 14: Nozzle 15: Groove 16: Reinforcement part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink flow path is formed on one surface of one substrate by etching (a), and then a nozzle is formed on one surface and a reinforcing portion is formed on the other surface of the other substrate by double-sided etching (b).
Next, a method for manufacturing an inkjet head, wherein one substrate and the other substrate are bonded (c), and then the other surface of the one substrate is polished (d).