JPH0691885A - Manufacture of ink-jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a space between nozzle plates each of ink and air and in registration between both discharge ports of them for effecting assembleably in a favourable dimensional accuracy, by a method wherein a removal part where a through hole divided into two of the top and bottom is formed in a part of a block of a dielectric, one side and the other side of which are made into the discharge ports for the air and ink, and the removal part is made into an air introduction part to an air discharge port. CONSTITUTION:A through hole 102 which becomes an air discharge port 201 and ink discharge port 202 is formed in a nozzle block 101. Then an intermediate part of the block 101 is cut off vertically to the through hole 102 at a width identical with a space between an air nozzle plate 207 and ink nozzle plate 208. The air nozzle plate 207, the ink nozzle plate 208, the air discharge port 201, the ink discharge port 202 and a part of an air chamber 209 are formed at the same time. Hereupon, the air nozzle plate 207 is made identical with external dimensions of a body member 301 and the ink nozzle plate 208 is made identical with external dimensions of an ink chamber 204, through which assembly of an ink-jet head can be finished by only joining the body member 301 to the nozzle block 101.

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 recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus for recording characters, figures and the like on a recording medium by ejecting ink from minute openings.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus which uses an air flow and an electrostatic force for ejecting ink, there is one disclosed in, for example, JP-A-57-120452. The case of one nozzle will be briefly described with reference to FIG.
An air ejection port 201 is provided so as to face an ink ejection port 202 provided adjacent to an ink chamber 204 communicating with an ink tank (not shown). From this air ejection port 201, an air chamber 209 is provided. The air flow coming in is constantly flowing out.

A first electrode 205 is provided on the front surface of the air ejection port 201, and a second electrode 206 is provided on the back surface of the ink ejection port 202. A signal source 210 is provided between the two electrodes 205, 206. Connected and this first electrode 20
When a predetermined potential difference is generated between the second electrode 206 and the second electrode 206, the ink meniscus formed in the ink ejection port 202 is pulled out, and recording is performed from the air ejection port 201 while being accelerated by the air flow. Discharge toward the object.

FIG. 9 is a conventional example showing a method of manufacturing the ink jet recording head shown in FIG. Figure 9
(A) shows a body member 301, which includes a first adhesive surface 302 to which an ink nozzle plate 208 having an ink ejection port 202, which will be described later, is joined, and an air nozzle plate 207 having an air ejection port 201 formed therein. Second adhesive surface 30 to be joined
3 and 3 are processed with good parallelism and a predetermined step.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, a first adhesive 304 is applied to the first adhesive surface 302 to adhere the ink nozzle plate 208. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the second adhesive 305 is applied to the second adhesive surface 303, and the air ejection port 201 and the ink ejection port 202 are aligned while being aligned so that the air ejection port 201 and the ink ejection port 202 are concentric. The air nozzle plate 207 on which the ejection port 201 is formed is bonded.

[0006]

In the ink jet recording head as shown in FIG. 8, the ink ejection port 2
Ink nozzle plate 208 and air outlet 201
It is necessary to accurately regulate the dimension L of the air chamber 209 formed between the air nozzle plates 207 having the above.

When the dimension L of the air chamber 209 varies, the electrostatic force acting between the first electrode 205 and the ink meniscus formed in the ink ejection port 202 or the air flowing out from the air ejection port 201. The acceleration force will vary. Further, if the air discharge port 201 and the ink discharge port 202 are eccentric, the ink discharge may be bent.

In the manufacturing method as shown in FIG. 9,
In order to improve the accuracy of the gap between the air nozzle plate 207 and the ink nozzle plate 208, that is, the dimension L of the air chamber 209,
All of (1) the step between the first adhesive surface 302 and the second adhesive surface 303, (2) the thickness of the ink nozzle plate 208, and (3) the thickness of the first adhesive surface 304 and the second adhesive 305. Although it is necessary to assemble them with high precision, it is very difficult to improve the precision of all parts, and it was particularly difficult to manufacture the adhesive of item (3) without variations in thickness. Therefore, the dimension L of the air layer 209 varies. In addition, the air ejection port 201 and the ink ejection port 20
It is also very difficult to assemble the two without eccentricity. As a result, ink ejection characteristics have to be non-uniform between nozzles and between heads.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, the distance L between the ink nozzle plate 208 and the air nozzle plate 207 can be regulated with high precision, and the air ejection port 201 and the ink ejection port 202 are aligned with each other. The present invention provides a manufacturing method for assembling with high dimensional accuracy.

[0010]

According to the method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head of the present invention, a cut portion is formed in a part of a block made of a dielectric material having a through hole so that the through hole is divided into upper and lower parts. And one of the two divided through holes is used as an air discharge port and the other is used as an ink discharge port, and the cutout portion is a part of an air chamber that guides air to the air discharge port. To do.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the through hole formed in the block is divided into two parts by forming a cutout part in the middle of the block so that the air discharge port and the ink discharge port forming the ink meniscus are simultaneously formed integrally. In addition, the cutout portion is a part of an air chamber that supplies air to the air discharge port, and the air discharge port and the ink discharge port are aligned with each other, and the distance between the air discharge port and the ink discharge port is extremely large. Because it can be controlled accurately,
It is possible to stabilize the ink ejection performance, simplify the head assembly, and reduce the cost of manufacturing the head.

[0012]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of main steps in a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle block 1
At 01, the through-hole 102 which becomes the air ejection port 201 and the ink ejection port 202 is formed. The material of the nozzle block 101 is not particularly limited as long as it is a dielectric, and the method for forming the through holes 102 is not particularly limited, such as etching, punching, molding, excimer laser, and the like. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, it is a view in which the intermediate portion of the nozzle block 101 is cut perpendicularly to the through hole 102 with a width equal to the distance L from the completed air discharge port 207. A dicer or the like is used for cutting. The air nozzle plate 207 and the ink nozzle plate 20 are formed by cutting the nozzle block 101 and the through holes 102.
8, the air ejection port 201, the ink ejection port 202, and a part of the air chamber 209 are formed at the same time.

FIG. 3 shows a nozzle block 10 in which a body member 301 having the same structure as that shown in FIG. 9 is processed as described above.
This is an example of the case in which the apparatus provided with the first and second electrodes 205 and 206 is attached to the first example. In the case of FIG. 3, the air nozzle plate 207 has the same outer dimensions as the body member 301, and the ink nozzle plate 208 has the same outer dimension as the ink chamber 204. All that is required is to join the nozzle blocks 101.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 4 to 7 show another embodiment of the method for producing an ink jet recording head of the present invention.

In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 112 is an electrode plate, and the surface thereof has a first electrode 205 extending along the edge.
And a second electrode 206 that extends at a right angle to the first electrode 205 with its tip being close to the first electrode 205.

Reference numeral 111 denotes an ink chamber constituting plate which constitutes the ink chamber 204, and a concave portion 204a which is open on one surface,
A plurality of cut grooves 102a, which communicate with the recesses 204a and have the same pitch as the second electrodes 206, are formed.

The electrode plate 112 and the ink chamber forming plate 111
Means that the kerf 102a and the second electrode 206 respectively.
Are joined so that and match. By this joining,
As shown in FIG. 4, a first block body in which the ink chamber 204 and the through hole 102 are formed is formed.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b),
The air chamber 209 is created by joining the first air chamber component plate 113, which has the recess 209a opened on one surface to be the air chamber 209, with the first block body, and the second block body is formed. To create.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the second block body is located between the first electrode 205 and the second electrode 206 and divides the through hole 102 into two parts. Thus, the excision portion 210 reaching the air chamber 209 is formed. One of the through holes 102 divided by the cutout portion 210 becomes an air ejection port 201 and the other becomes an ink ejection port 202.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the second air chamber component plate 113 having a recess 209b opened on one surface to be the air chamber 209 and the above-mentioned first block body are connected to the recess 209b. The air chamber 20 is joined so as to communicate with
Create 3. That is, the recesses 209a and 20
The airflow introduced into the air chamber 209 formed by 9b is ejected from the air discharge port 102 through the air chamber constituted by the cutting section 210.

In this case, the first electrode 205 is formed on the side surface of the air discharge port 201, but it may be formed on the surface of the air nozzle plate 207 on the recording paper side in order to improve discharge stability.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cutout portion divides the through hole formed in the block into two parts, an air discharge port through which air flows out, an ink discharge port forming an ink meniscus, and the same. Since the air chamber between both ejection ports is created at the same time, the alignment of the air ejection port and the ink ejection port, and the distance between both ejection ports can be controlled with extremely high accuracy, thus stabilizing the ink ejection performance, It is possible to simplify the head assembly and reduce the cost of manufacturing the head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording head in a manufacturing process of an inkjet recording head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head in another manufacturing process of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an ink jet recording head in still another manufacturing process of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an inkjet recording head in a manufacturing process of an inkjet recording head manufacturing method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

5A is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head in another manufacturing process of the embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the same.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head in another manufacturing process of the embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a side view of the same.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head in still another manufacturing process of the embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a side view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional inkjet recording head to which the present invention is applied.

9A is a sectional view of an inkjet recording head in a manufacturing process of a conventional method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, FIG. 9B is a sectional view of an inkjet recording head in another manufacturing process of the conventional example, and FIG. 9C is the same. Sectional drawing of the inkjet recording head in the further manufacturing process of a prior art example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Block 102 Through Hole 201 Air Discharge Port 202 Ink Discharge Port 205 First Electrode 206 Second Electrode 207 Air Nozzle Plate 208 Ink Nozzle Plate 209 Air Chamber 301 Body Member

(72) Inventor Koichi Saito 3-10-1, Higashisanda, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd. No. 1 Matsushita Giken Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cutout is formed in a part of a block made of a dielectric material in which a through hole is formed so that the through hole is vertically divided into two parts, and one of the two divided through holes is air-exhausted. At the exit
A method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, characterized in that the other is used as an ink ejection port, and the excised portion is part of an air chamber for guiding air to the air ejection port.