JPH0796606A - Ink jet printer head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the reliability and durability of an ink jet printer head, which has a structure arranging the driving parts of the pressure generating means opposite to pressure chambers formed by bonding a pair of main body plates with each other and is formed by inserting pressure generating means having the structure prepared by connecting driving parts on the surface of a board in a resin member. CONSTITUTION:Projected members 24-26 are protrusively provided on the surface, which is bonded to a resin member 31, of a board 21 at the position, at which no driving part 23 is present, so as to improve the bonding force between the resin member 31 and the board 21 in order to prevent the separation of the board 21 from the member 31 from developing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-demand type ink jet printer head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, an ink jet printer head disclosed in JP-A-3-73348 will be described below as a conventional example with reference to FIG. This inkjet printer head 1
Has a structure in which the flow path plate 2 and the drive plate 3, which are a pair of main body plates, are integrally joined. Further, on the joint surface between the flow path plate 2 and the drive plate 3, a concave portion 4 and a convex portion 5 which is a driving portion, which face each other, are continuously provided. Here, the drive plate 3, which is also a pressure generating means, has a flat joint surface by filling the elastic material 7 in the concave portions 6 located between the convex portions 5. Therefore, the drive plate 3 is integrally joined to form the pressure chamber 8 in the recess 4 of the flow path plate 2.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 1, the convex surface of the convex portion 5 of the drive plate 3 located in the pressure chamber 8 serves as the pressing surface 9. A driving power supply 11 is connected to the pressing surface 9 and the base 10 of the driving plate 3. The inkjet printer head 1 actually has a structure in which an orifice plate (not shown) is integrally joined to the front surfaces of the plates 2 and 3.

In the ink jet printer head 1 having such a structure, the convex portion 5 of the drive plate 3 expands and contracts in accordance with the driving voltage of the driving power source 11. Therefore, the displacement of the pressing surface 9 of the convex portion 5 causes the flow path plate 2 to move. The ink (not shown) in the pressure chamber 8 is pressurized and ejected as an ink droplet from the orifice. In this ink jet printer head 1, in order to pressurize the ink in the pressure chambers 8 with high efficiency, the width of the expanding and contracting convex portions 5 is made narrower than that of the pressure chambers 8 and the space between the convex portions 5 is filled with the elastic material 7. is doing.

[0005]

The above-mentioned ink jet printer head 1 is designed so that the convex portion 5 of the drive plate 3 pressurizes the ink in the pressure chamber 8 of the flow path plate 2 to eject ink droplets. By forming the width of the expanding and contracting convex portion 5 narrower than that of the pressure chamber 8 and filling the gap with the elastic material 7, the ink in the pressure chamber 8 is pressurized with high efficiency.

However, in the ink jet printer head 1, if the density of the orifices and the pressure chambers 8 is required to be improved in order to improve the printing quality and the recesses 4 of the drive plate 3 are also miniaturized, the elastic material 7 is placed here. It becomes extremely difficult to fill, and the productivity is extremely reduced.
Further, in this inkjet printer head 1, when the drive plate 3 and the flow path plate 2 are integrally joined, it is necessary to precisely position the fine convex portion 5 and the fine concave portion 4, which further lowers the productivity. ing.

In the ink jet printer head proposed by the applicant of the present invention to solve such a problem, the pressure generating means in which the driving portion is connected is formed by injection molding which is one of the molding of piezoelectric ceramics. However, such a pressure generating means is inserted into the resin member. Since this piezoelectric ceramic has good corrosion resistance and strength, it can be used as a structural material for forming a pressure chamber or the like, and it is desired to improve its productivity and increase its density. The applicant has also proposed that the pressure generating means of the inkjet printer head having the above-described structure is formed by cutting a piezoelectric ceramic.

More specifically, in this ink jet printer head, the flow path plate, which is one of the pair of main body plates, is formed in a flat plate shape as a whole, and has a large number of orifices, a large number of pressure chambers, and a single ink on the joint surface. It has a structure in which a recess for integrally forming a tank or the like is formed. The drive plate, which is the other of the pair of main body plates, forms a pressure generating means by connecting a drive portion of a rectangular parallelepiped piezoelectric member made of piezoelectric ceramic to the surface of a flat insulating substrate. It has a structure in which the generating means is inserted into a resin member so that the upper surface of the drive portion is exposed. Therefore, in this ink jet printer head, the upper surface of the drive unit is disposed so as to face the pressure chamber by integrally joining the flow path plate and the drive plate, and the upper surface of these drive units serves as the pressing surface of the pressure generating means.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head, the gap of the drive portion of the piezoelectric member of the drive plate is filled with the flexible resin member and the joint surface is formed flat, whereby the flow path plate The pressure chamber is well closed to pressurize the ink with high efficiency. Further, in this inkjet printer head, even if the orifice of the flow path plate, the pressure chamber and the like of the piezoelectric member drive portion of the pressure generation means of the drive plate are made high in density in order to improve the printing quality, this pressure generation means is used. Since the resin member to be inserted can be reliably filled in the gap of the driving portion of the piezoelectric member, the productivity is extremely good.

However, when the present applicant actually prototyped the ink jet printer head having the above-mentioned structure,
It has been found that even if the pressure generating means is inserted into the resin member to form the drive plate, peeling easily occurs between the insulating substrate of the drive plate and the resin member.

That is, in the above-mentioned ink jet printer head, since the driving portion of the pressure generating means is inserted into the resin member as fine irregularities, this portion has a sufficient joining force in terms of shape and peeling occurs. There is no
Since the insulating substrate of the pressure generating means is bonded to the resin member only on the surface formed of a simple flat surface, the bonding force is insufficient at this portion and peeling easily occurs.

Further, in this ink jet printer head, since the insulating substrate of the pressure generating means and the driving part have different coefficients of thermal expansion from the resin member, even if the pressure generating means is inserted into the resin member to manufacture the driving plate, When this is cooled, the amount of shrinkage differs, so that the pressure generating means and the resin member are likely to peel.

Moreover, in this ink jet printer head, the driving portion is structurally concentrated in front of the central region of the insulating substrate, so that the side portions and the rear portion of the insulating substrate are shaped relative to the resin member. In addition to the lack of sufficient bonding force, the difference in the amount of contraction with the resin member due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion is too large, and peeling is particularly likely to occur.

As means for solving such a problem,
Although it is possible to assume that the insulating substrate is formed of a material whose bonding force with the resin member is physically strong, considering various conditions as the material of such an insulating substrate, it is actually practical that the material such as glass or ceramic is used. Only the insulating inorganic material is used, and such an insulating inorganic material has a physical property that the bonding force to the resin member is insufficient.

For this reason, it is difficult to improve the reliability and durability of an ink jet printer head in which at least one of the main body plates is formed by inserting a pressure generating means in which a driving portion and the like are connected to the surface of an insulating substrate. Has become.

The present invention provides an ink jet printer head having good reliability and durability.

The present invention also provides an ink jet printer head having good productivity, reliability and durability.

[0018]

The invention according to claim 1 is
At least one of the pair of main body plates is made of a resin member into which a plurality of driving portions made of piezoelectric members are continuously provided on the surface of a substrate made of an insulating inorganic material to form pressure generating means, and the pressure generating means is inserted. And a plurality of pressure chambers each having an orifice and an ink supply path communicating with each other are formed in at least one joint surface of the pair of main body plates by a recess, and a displaceable pressurizing surface facing the pressure chambers is formed. In the ink jet printer head formed by the driving unit of the pressure generating means, the convex member is provided so as to project at a position where the driving unit does not exist on the surface of the substrate joined to the resin member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the convex member is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the joining force between the resin member and the substrate can be improved to prevent the occurrence of peeling, it is possible to obtain an ink jet printer head having good reliability and durability. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the driving portion and the convex member can be simultaneously formed by dicing a single member, and the flow of the raw material of the resin member in the gap between the driving portion and the convex member is good. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an inkjet printer head having good productivity, reliability, and durability.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the inkjet printer head 12 has a structure in which a pair of main body plates, a cover plate 13 and a main plate 14, are integrally joined, as illustrated in FIGS. The cover plate 13 has a structure in which the ink supply passage 15 is penetrated through the upper and lower surfaces of a simple flat plate. Further, the main plate 14 has a recessed portion 20 integrally forming a plurality of orifices 16, a plurality of pressure chambers 17, a plurality of ink inflow passages 18 and a single ink tank 19 on the upper surface of a simple flat plate. It has a structure.

Therefore, the structure of the main plate 14 of the ink jet printer head 12 will be described in detail below. First, in the main plate 14, a large number of drive units 23 having a narrow left-right width and a long front-back length are continuously formed by a piezoelectric member 22 made of a piezoelectric ceramic in the central region of the front half of the surface of a flat insulating substrate 21. Protruding from the insulating substrate 21.
On both sides of the front half of the surface of the insulating substrate 21, the immovable portions 24, which are convex members having the same width as the piezoelectric member 22 and the front-rear length of the piezoelectric member 22, are the same as those of the driving portion 23, are individually projected. A large number of immovable portions 25, which are convex members having the same lateral width as the driving portion 23 and a short front-rear length, of the piezoelectric member 22 are continuously projected in the central region of the rear portion of the insulating substrate 21. On both sides of the rear portion, immovable portions 26, which are convex members having the same lateral width as the immovable portion 24 and the same longitudinal length as the immovable portion 25 of the piezoelectric member 22, are provided in a protruding manner.

That is, in the main plate 14, a large number of the immovable portions 24 to 26 are continuously projected on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 at the positions on both sides where the driving portion 23 does not exist and the rear portion. There is. Further, the immovable parts 24, 25
Is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion 23, and the stationary portion 26 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped whose outer surface communicates with the stationary portions 24 and 25. The outer side surface referred to here means a right side surface, a left side surface, a front surface and a rear surface which are orthogonal to the surface of the insulating substrate 21.

Therefore, in the main plate 14, the piezoelectric member 2 is formed on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 as described above.
2, the pressure generating means 27 is formed by connecting the drive / immovable portions 23 to 26 in series. The pressure generating means 27 has a step portion 29 having a shape similar to the gap 28 of the drive portion 23 when the drive / immovable portions 23 to 26 are continuously provided on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 as described above. The immovable parts 24, 2
It is formed on both sides of 6.

Therefore, in the main plate 14, the pressure generating means 27 having the above-mentioned structure is provided in the driving portion 23.
The upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23 is used as a pressing surface of the pressure generating means 27 by inserting the resin member 31 so that the upper surface 30 of each of them is located on the bottom surface of each of the pressure chambers 17. In the main plate 14, a common electrode 32 is formed on the upper surface 30 of the driving unit 23, and the common electrode 32 is formed.
The individual electrode 33 is formed on the boundary surface between the insulating substrate 21 and the insulating substrate 21.

In the main plate 14, the pressure generating means 27 to be inserted into the resin member 31.
Is a surface of the insulating substrate 21, and a large number of the immovable parts 24 to 2 are provided at positions on both sides and the rear part where the driving part 23 does not exist.
6 are continuously projected, and step portions 29 having the same shape as the gap 28 of the driving portion 23 are formed on both sides of the immovable portions 24 and 26. Therefore, the raw material of the resin member 31 (not shown) is provided. )
The cross-sectional area of the flowing part is even.

In the ink jet printer head 12 having such a structure, the common / individual electrodes 32, 3 are formed.
The piezoelectric member 22 of the main plate 14 vertically vibrates according to the drive voltage selectively applied to the drive unit 23.
Expands and contracts in the protruding direction, the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23
The ink (not shown) inside the pressure chamber 17 can be pressurized and discharged from the orifice 16 by the displacement. At this time, the resin member 31 of the main plate 14 is deformed together with the expanding and contracting drive unit 23, but the PZT (Lead Zirc
o Drive unit 23 made of piezoelectric ceramic such as Titanate)
Since the expansion and contraction is as small as about 0.05 to 5.0 (μm) and is rapid, the flexible resin member 31 is easily deformed.

As a means for pressurizing the ink inside the pressure chamber 17 in the ink jet printer head 12 as described above, the driving portion 23 of the pressure generating means 27 by the applied voltage is used.
In addition to rapidly projecting, the drive unit 23 previously retracted by the applied voltage can be rapidly restored to the initial state by stopping the applied voltage.

The main plate 14 of the ink jet printer head 12 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 27 is inserted into the resin member 31 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 27 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since a large number of immovable portions 24 to 26 are projectingly provided at the positions of both side portions and the rear portion where the portion 23 does not exist, the joining force between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 31 which is apt to be insufficient in the joining force due to physical properties, can be achieved. The shape can be improved over the entire surface, and the difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 31 after molding can be reduced.

By doing so, in the ink jet printer head 12, the bonding force between the resin member 31 of the main plate 14 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 27 is good, so that the pressure generating means 27 and the resin member 31. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 12, the immovable portion 24 that forms the joining force between the resin member 31 and the pressure generating means 27 together with the driving portion 23 as described above.
26 to 26, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material whose bonding strength with the resin member 31 is physically strong, and the bonding strength with the resin member 31 is physical. Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material such as glass or ceramic, which tends to be insufficient, its productivity and practicability can be maintained well.

In such an ink jet printer head 12, by forming a coating layer (not shown) on the surface of the pressure generating means 27 with a silane coupling agent which is a surface-active agent, the pressure generating means 27 and the resin are formed. It is also possible to improve the bonding force with the member 31 in terms of physical properties.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 12, the pressure generating means 27 is provided with the immovable portions 24 to 26 continuously protruding over the entire surface of the insulating substrate 21 so that the raw material of the resin member 31 flows. The cross-sectional area is made uniform throughout. By doing so, in the inkjet printer head 12, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 31 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 27 is arranged is made uniform and the contraction after molding is suppressed. As a whole, it prevents partial contraction due to lack of pressure.

Here, a specific example of the method of manufacturing the ink jet printer head 12 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. First, an aluminum layer (not shown) is formed on the front and back surfaces of a small piezoelectric member 22 made of PZT, and the piezoelectric member 22 is polarized in the plate thickness direction using these aluminum layers as electrodes. Various piezoelectric ceramics can be used for the piezoelectric member 22, and various materials such as metal can be used for the electrodes.

Further, the conductive layer 34 is formed on the entire surface of the large glass plate-like insulating substrate 21 whose front edge is chamfered in advance.
Is formed by sputtering, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the central region of the front half of the conductive layer 34 is etched to form a rectangular void 35 in which the insulating substrate 21 is exposed. In addition,
Ceramic can be used for the insulating substrate 21, various materials such as metal can be used for the conductive layer 34, and various methods such as vapor deposition can be used for the film forming method.

Next, a conductive layer 36 is formed on the lower surface of the piezoelectric member 22 at a position other than the front edge portion, and as shown in FIG. Is bonded to the insulating substrate 21 with an insulating adhesive (not shown), and only the trailing edge is bonded to the conductive layer 34 with the conductive adhesive 37.
It should be noted that such an adhesive 37 or the like can be applied by screen printing or the like, and it is possible to apply the same adhesive to both members to be joined or to apply different adhesives to each of them. It is possible. Further, although the conductive adhesive 37 and the insulating adhesive are separately used here as an example, it is also possible to realize this using only the anisotropic conductive adhesive.

Further, as illustrated in the figure, a ceramic substrate 38 made of piezoelectric ceramic is bonded to the insulating substrate 21 at a position rearward of the piezoelectric member 22 with a general adhesive (not shown). It is desirable that the ceramic substrate 38 that becomes the immovable portions 25 and 26 can be cut under the same conditions as the piezoelectric member 22 that becomes the drive / immovable portions 23 and 24. Therefore, as the material of such a ceramic substrate 38, free-cutting ceramics and the like are suitable in addition to piezoelectric ceramics, but alumina or zirconia can also be used,
The same applies to the insulating substrate 21.

Then, with the lower surface of the insulating substrate 21 as a reference, the upper surfaces of the piezoelectric member 22 and the ceramic substrate 38 are polished to be flush with each other, and the whole is molded to a predetermined plate thickness. In addition,
The thickness of the piezoelectric member 22 is about 0.05 to 1.0 (mm), preferably 0.1 to 0.5 (mm), and the thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is 0.5 to 1.0 (mm).
It is about 5.0 (mm).

Next, a mask (not shown) is formed on the rear half of the upper surface of the insulating substrate 21 in which the piezoelectric member 22 and the ceramic substrate 38 are integrated, and the exposed front half is exemplified as shown in FIG. Then, the conductive layer 39 is formed by sputtering, and then the mask is removed. The conductive layer 39 is formed on the front surface of the piezoelectric member 22 by the conductive layer 3 at the front edge of the insulating substrate 21.
4 needs to be electrically connected to the piezoelectric member 22.
A front surface of the piezoelectric member 22 and a surface of the insulating substrate 21 with a padding (not shown) of a conductive paste formed on the front edge of the piezoelectric member 22. It is desirable to keep it. Further, various materials such as metal can be used for the conductive layer 39, and various film forming methods such as vapor deposition can be used.

The conductive layer 39 to be the common electrode 32 is formed.
Since it structurally comes into contact with the ink inside the pressure chamber 17 or the like, a corrosion-resistant protective layer (not shown) is formed on the portions other than the trailing edge portions to be the connection terminals 40 and 41 after the film formation. It is desirable to form a film. As will be described later, a structure in which the common electrode 32 does not come into contact with ink inside the pressure chamber 17 or the like can be realized, and in this case, it is not necessary to form a corrosion-resistant protective layer on the common electrode 32.

Next, the piezoelectric member 22 and the ceramic substrate 38, which are integrated on the insulating substrate 21 as described above, are divided by a dicing process, so that a plurality of driving members are driven as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6.・ The immovable parts 23 to 26 are connected to the insulating substrate 21.
The pressure generating means 27 is formed continuously on the surface of the. In addition, here, the immovable portions 24 and 25 are formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion 23, and the immovable portion 26 includes
Since it is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the outer surface communicates with 25,
The division of the drive part 23 and the immovable part 25 can be realized by a single dicing process, and the immovable parts 24, 26 can also be realized by a single dicing process, and the productivity thereof is extremely good. Is.

The dicing process is performed slightly deeper than the plate thickness of the piezoelectric member 22 in order to surely divide the drive / immovable portions 23 to 26. The conductive layers 34, 36, 39 are also divided by this dicing process, but the conductive layer 34 is not divided at the position of the chamfered front edge of the insulating substrate 21, so that the upper and lower surfaces of the drive unit 23 are common. Individual electrodes 32, 33 can be formed.

The lateral width between the driving portion 23 and the gap 28 formed by the dicing process as described above is about 0.05 to 1.0 (mm), and the total length of the driving portion 23 varies depending on the specifications such as the diameter of the ejected ink droplet. However, it should be about 1.0 to 30 (mm).
Further, in the pressure generating means 27 manufactured as described above, since the common / individual electrodes 32 and 33 are continuous to the position of the rear edge of the insulating substrate 21, the connection terminal 4 is located at this position.
It will function as 0,41.

Although the dicing process is performed over the entire length of the insulating substrate 21 here, such dicing process is performed in advance on the common / individual electrode 3 of the insulating substrate 21.
If the layers 2 and 33 are patterned by etching or the like, it is only the piezoelectric member 22 that needs to be divided.
1 is unnecessary. Further, it is also possible to integrally form a pressure generating means (not shown) having the same shape as the pressure generating means 27 composed of the insulating substrate 21 and the driving portion 23 by, for example, injection molding of piezoelectric ceramic. .

A coating layer (not shown) of a silane coupling agent for improving the bonding force with the resin member 31 is formed on the surface of the pressure generating means 27 formed as described above.
When forming a film, the pressure generating means 27 is dipped in a solution (not shown) of "silane coupling agent / water / alcohol" for several minutes and then sufficiently dried.

Next, the pressure generating means 27 manufactured as described above is inserted into the resin member 31 and injection-molded, so that as shown in FIG. The main plate 14 in which the upper surface 30 of the driving unit 23 is exposed is formed on the bottom surface of the pressure chamber 17. In addition,
In the main plate 14, the recess 20 of the resin member 31
Although the upper surfaces of the immovable portions 25 and 26 are also exposed on the bottom surface of the ink tank 19 or the like, it is not necessary to have such a structure. Therefore, if the depth of the ink tank 19 and the total height of the immovable portions 25 and 26 are reduced, the immovable portions 25 and 26 are not exposed on the bottom surface of the ink tank 19, and in this case, polishing of the upper surface is not necessary for the ceramic substrate 38. And the piezoelectric member 22
Just good.

In the main plate 14, when the pressure generating means 27 is inserted into the resin member 31 as described above, the raw material of the resin member 31 is placed in the orifice 16 while the pressure generating means 27 is arranged inside the molding die. Is injected from the front where the ink tank 19 is located to the rear where the ink tank 19 is located, so that the raw material of the resin member 31 extends on the insulating substrate 21 to the left, right and above the drive / moving parts 23 to 26 in the longitudinal direction. It will flow to. At this time, the immovable portions 24 and 25 are formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the outer surface communicates with the driving portion 23, and the immovable portion 26 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the outer surface communicates with the immovable portions 24 and 25. The raw material 31 flows smoothly and is easy to fill.

In the main plate 14, as described above, the pressure generating means 27 has the immovable portions 24 to 26 projecting from the position where the driving portion 23 does not exist, so that the raw material of the resin member 31 flows. The cross-sectional areas of are generally the same. Therefore, the pressure applied from the raw material of the resin member 31 to the drive / immovable portions 23 to 26 is uniform, the piezoelectric member 22 is not broken, and the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 31 to be filled is also uniform. Becomes Therefore, the resin member 31 filled in the molding die with such a uniform pressure has the same contraction after molding as a whole, and partial excessive contraction due to insufficient pressure does not occur.
Adhesion with 7 is good and peeling can be prevented.

When the pressure generating means 27 is inserted into the resin member 31 as described above, the rear edge portion of the insulating substrate 21 is made to project from the rear surface of the resin member 31, so that the rear edge portion of the insulating substrate 21 is protruded. Common / individual electrodes 32 located at
A driving circuit (not shown) is connected to the connection terminals 40 and 41 of the F.
Wiring materials (not shown) such as a PC (Flexible Printed Circuit) are used for connection.

Here, it is exemplified that the drive / immovable portions 23, 25 of the pressure generating means 27 are exposed on the bottom surface of the recessed portion 20 which is continuously provided on the surface of the resin member 31 of the main plate 14. Positioning the drive / immovable portions 23, 25, etc. under a thin film (not shown) of the resin member 31, forming a dedicated protective layer (not shown) on the exposed upper surface 30 of the drive portion 23, etc. It is also possible to prevent the common electrode 32 from being corroded by the ink.

The resin member 31 of the main plate 14 is selected in consideration of moldability, ink corrosion resistance, elastic modulus, hardness, bondability with the cover plate 13, and the like. For example, PMP (Polymethylpentene), LC
P (Liquid Cristalline Polymer), PPS (Polyphenyle
nesulfide), PES (Polyethersulfone), PSF (Polys
sulfone), PP (Polyphenylene) and the like can be used.
If the molding temperature of the resin member 31 is lower than the Curie point of the driving unit 23 of the pressure generating means 27, the driving unit 2
Although it is desirable that the polarization of No. 3 can be maintained, the drive unit 23 of the pressure generating means 27 inserted into the main plate 14 even after the injection molding of the resin member 31 is used as the common / individual electrodes 32, 3.
It is easy to polarize by energizing 3.

Then, the main plate 14 as described above
Separately from the above, a simple flat cover plate 13 is formed of resin or ceramic, and as shown in FIGS.
By integrally joining the cover plate 13 and the main plate 14, it is possible to obtain the inkjet printer head 12 in which the orifice 16 is continuously provided on the front surface.

By doing so, in the ink jet printer head 12, the flexible resin member 31 fills the space between the drive portions 23 of the main plate 14, so that the pressure formed on the drive portion 23 by the resin member 31 is filled. The chamber 17 is well sealed by the cover plate 13 to pressurize the ink with high efficiency. In the inkjet printer head 12, the main plate 1 is provided together with the orifice 16 and the pressure chamber 17 in order to improve print quality.
Even if the drive unit 23 of the pressure generating means 27 of No. 4 is densified,
Since the resin member 31 into which the pressure generating means 27 is inserted can be surely filled in the gap 28 of the drive portion 23, the productivity is extremely good. Moreover, in this inkjet printer head 12, the cover plate 13 that is integrally joined to the main plate 14 in which the pressure generating means 27 is inserted to form the recess 20 may be a simple flat plate shape, and this joining requires a high degree of positional accuracy. Since it does not exist, it can contribute to the improvement of productivity.

In the ink jet printer head 12, for example, the horizontal width and depth of the orifice 16 formed as the recess 20 in the main plate 14 is 0.02 to 0.
It is about 08 (mm) and the width of the pressure chamber 17 is 0.05 to 1.
When the depth is about 0 (mm), the depth is about 0.02 to 0.2 (mm), and the recess 20 having such dimensions can be easily formed by resin injection molding. In addition, the lateral width and the longitudinal length of the pressure chamber 17 of the main plate 14 are formed to be the same as or slightly larger than the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23, and the ink droplets are formed in the longitudinal length of the drive unit 23 and the pressure chamber 17. The discharge performance of can be adjusted.

The material of the cover plate 13 is selected in consideration of the moldability, the corrosion resistance to ink, the bondability with the main plate 14, the elastic modulus, the hardness, etc. as in the case of the main plate 14. But the main plate 1
While the resin member 31 of No. 4 needs to be flexible so as to be deformed well together with the driving unit 23 of the pressure generating means 27,
The material of the cover plate 13 needs hardness to prevent pressure loss. However, considering the mutual bondability and elongation due to temperature change, productivity, etc., the cover plate 13
Since it is desirable to form the main plate 14 and the main plate 14 with the same material, for example, the resin member 3 of the main plate 14 is used.
It is possible to form the cover plate 13 from a hard composite material in which the same flexible resin as that of 1 is mixed with a glass filler. If the cover plate 13 is formed to have a plate thickness of about 0.5 to 5.0 (mm), and the recess 20 can be joined to the main plate 14 by welding or the like without shielding, it is not necessary to individualize the material.

Further, in such an ink jet printer head 12, since the air bubbles (not shown) in the ink are satisfactorily discharged, the cover main body is made of a material having good lyophilicity of the orifice 16 and the pressure chamber 17 with respect to the ink. It is desirable to form the plates 13,14. At this time, the resin is less lyophilic than glass, metal and ceramics, but this can be easily improved by the existing techniques such as plasma treatment and graft polymerization.

On the other hand, the cover on which the orifice 16 is located
The front surfaces of the main plates 13 and 14 need to have low lyophilicity so that ink droplets can be ejected well.
When performing the treatment for improving the lyophilicity as described above, the front surfaces of the cover main plates 13 and 14 are masked, or after the treatment, the cover main plate 13 and
It is desirable to polish the front surface of 14. Furthermore, it is possible to further reduce the lyophilicity to the ink by performing plasma treatment in the atmosphere of fluorine, which is an existing technique, on the front surface of the ink jet printer head 12.

In the ink jet printer head 12, the pressure generating means 27 is inserted into the main plate 14 and the recess 20 is formed to form the cover plate 13 in a simple flat plate shape. The present invention is not limited to the above structure, and an inkjet printer head (not shown) in which a recess is formed in both a pair of body plates, or an ink jet printer in which orifices and pressure chambers of the recess are partially dispersed in the pair of body plates A head (not shown) or an ink jet printer head (not shown) in which pressure generating means is inserted into both of the pair of main body plates can also be implemented.

Here, the ink jet printer head 1
A modification of the manufacturing method of No. 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. In the following description, the same names and reference numerals will be used for the same parts as the previous description, and detailed description will be omitted. First, a conductive layer 42 is formed by sputtering on the entire surface of a large glass flat insulating substrate 21 having a front edge chamfered in advance, and the conductive layer 42 is etched as illustrated in FIG. Common / individual electrode 3
2, 33 are formed.

In the following, similar to the manufacturing method described above, the piezoelectric member 22 and the ceramic substrate 38 are mounted on the insulating substrate 21 to form the conductive layer 39. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the piezoelectric member 22 is processed by dicing. Is completely divided, but the dicing process is interrupted in an incomplete state of the ceramic substrate 38. Then, the upper portion of the ceramic substrate 38 is divided as the immovable portions 43 and 44, but the second half portion of the bottom portion is integrally connected.

By doing so, it is possible to form a plurality of drive / immovable portions 23, 24, 43, 44 on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 in a continuous manner to form the pressure generating means 45, and to pattern the individual electrodes in advance. It is not necessary to form 32 by dividing the dicing process. The pressure generating means 45 is
Since the latter half of the non-moving parts 43 and 44 communicate with each other,
The mechanical strength is good and the bonding force with the insulating substrate 21 is also good.

In the method of manufacturing the ink jet printer head 12 or the like described above, the driving / immovable portion is formed by dividing the flat plate-shaped piezoelectric member 22 integrally joined to the flat plate-shaped insulating substrate 21 by dicing. Although the formation of the pressure generating means 27 and the like in which 23 to 26 and the like are continuously provided on the surface has been exemplified, it is also possible to manufacture such pressure generating means 27 without dicing.

Therefore, another modified example of such a manufacturing method will be described below with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. First, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the narrow and wide projections 46 and 47 are formed.
Is formed by injection molding or the like of a piezoelectric ceramic, and the individual electrodes 33 are formed only on the upper surfaces of the convex portions 46 and 47. .

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the common / individual electrodes 32 and 33 are patterned on the upper surface of the insulating substrate 21, and as illustrated in FIG.
And the individual electrodes 33 of the piezoelectric member 49 are bonded with an anisotropic conductive adhesive (not shown). Next, the drive / immovable portion 2 is also removed by cutting off the base portion 48 of the piezoelectric member 49 bonded to the insulating substrate 21 in this manner by polishing or the like.
It is possible to form the pressure generating means 27 in which 3, 24 are continuously provided on the surface, and this is similarly applicable to the immovable portions 25 and 26.

The pressure generating means 27 is used as described above.
In the case of manufacturing the above, the individual electrodes 33 are formed only on the upper surfaces of the convex portions 46 and 47 of the piezoelectric member 49, and the piezoelectric member 4 is formed.
It is necessary to form the common electrode 32 only on the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 24 formed by cutting off the base portion 48 of FIG. Therefore, as a method of forming the electrodes 32 and 33, a mask or a filler is shielded except for a necessary portion, and in this state, a conductive layer is formed by an existing thin film technique such as vapor deposition or sputtering, and then the mask is formed. And removing the filler, the recess 2
8. The dry film is used to mask only the upper surface of the convex portion 46 of the piezoelectric member 29 having the conductive layer formed on the entire surface including the inner surface of 8 by plating or the like, and only the conductive layer on the inner surface of the concave portion 28 is removed by etching in this state. Etc. are possible.

Therefore, one specific example of the manufacturing method for forming the above-mentioned piezoelectric member 49 by injection molding will be described in detail below without showing the drawings. First, raw materials are weighed, mixed, dried and calcined in order, kneaded with an organic binder and then pulverized to form a molding material. Next, the molding material is formed by melting the molding material in an injection molding machine and filling the molding die, and the organic component is volatilized in a degreasing furnace and then calcined in a calcining furnace. To form.

Then, the upper and lower surfaces of the fired piezoelectric member 49 are polished and exposed, and a silver paste is applied to the polished surface by screen printing, and this is fired to form a conductive layer on the upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric member 49. To form. Next, the piezoelectric member 49
Is immersed in silicone oil of 80 to 160 (° C) and a voltage of 2 to 5 (kV / mm) is applied to the upper and lower conductive layers.
The piezoelectric member 49 is polarized by continuing for up to 20 minutes.

The piezoelectric member 4 thus polarized is
After removing the conductive layers on the upper and lower surfaces of 9 by chemicals or machining, a conductive layer is formed on the upper surface by plating.
The individual electrodes 33 are formed by masking only the upper surface of 47 by transfer of the register and then patterning by etching. In addition, the protrusions 46 and 47 of the piezoelectric member 49 as described above.
The upper surface of can be masked with a dry film.

Here, the piezoelectric member 49 is illustrated as being removed before the conductive layer for polarization is bonded to the insulating substrate 21, but a silver paste which is easy to peel off the conductive layer on the upper surfaces of the convex portions 46 and 47. Instead of using the thin film technique or the thick film technique such as sputtering or screen printing from the beginning, it is also possible to finally use it for the individual electrode 33. Further, as a method of forming the individual electrode 33 only on the convex portions 46 and 47 of the piezoelectric member 49, for example, the concave portions are filled with resist and the resist on the upper surfaces of the convex portions 46 and 47 is removed by a squeegee, and the upper surface is It is also possible to form a conductive layer over the entire area and then remove the resist in the recesses.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. Incidentally, in various embodiments illustrated below, the same parts as those in the embodiments described before will be referred to by the same names and reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

First, the ink jet printer head 50 has a structure in which a flow path plate 51, which is a pair of main body plates, and a drive plate 52 are integrally joined. Further, the flow path plate 51 has a recess 57 that integrally forms the orifice 53, the pressure chamber 54, the ink inflow path 55, and the ink tank 56 on the lower surface of a simple flat plate, and penetrates the ink supply path 58. It has a structure. Also,
The drive plate 52 has a simple flat plate shape and has a structure in which the upper surfaces 30 of the drive / immovable portions 23 to 26 of the pressure generating means 27 are exposed on the upper surface of the resin member 59. Therefore, in the ink jet printer head 50, the upper surfaces 30 of the driving portions 23 are individually opposed to the pressure chambers 54 by joining the flow paths / driving plates 51 and 52.

With this arrangement, in the ink jet printer head 50, the common / individual electrodes 32, 3
The piezoelectric member 22 of the drive plate 52 longitudinally vibrates according to the drive voltage selectively applied between the three, so that the drive unit 23 expands and contracts in the protruding direction. Therefore, the displacement of the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23 causes the pressure chamber 54 to move. Ink (not shown) inside can be pressurized and ejected from the orifice 53.

The driving plate 52 of the ink jet printer head 50 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 27 is inserted into the resin member 59 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 27 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since a large number of immovable parts 24 to 26 are projectingly provided at positions on both sides and the rear part where the part 23 does not exist, the bonding force between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 59, which is apt to be insufficient in physical properties, can be achieved. The shape can be improved over the entire surface, and the difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 59 after molding can be reduced.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 50, the bonding force between the resin member 59 of the drive plate 52 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 27 is good, so the pressure generating means 27 and the resin member 59. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 50, the immovable portion 24 that forms the joining force between the resin member 59 and the pressure generating means 27 together with the driving portion 23 as described above.
26 to 26, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material having a physically strong joint force with the resin member 59, and the joint force with the resin member 59 is physically required. Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material that tends to be insufficient, the productivity and practicability thereof can also be favorably maintained.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 50, the pressure generating means 27 continuously projects the immovable portions 24 to 26 over the entire surface of the insulating substrate 21 so that the raw material of the resin member 59 flows. The cross-sectional area is made uniform throughout. By doing so, in the inkjet printer head 50, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 59 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 27 is arranged is made uniform and the contraction after molding is suppressed. As a whole, it prevents partial contraction due to lack of pressure.

In the ink jet printer head 50 of this embodiment, the pressure chambers 54 of the flow path / driving plates 51 and 52, which are integrally joined, and the upper surface 30 of the driving portion 23 must be aligned with each other. As compared with the inkjet printer head 12 described above as the first embodiment, the productivity is lowered. However, in the ink jet printer head 50 of the second embodiment, the pressure chamber 5
The flow path plate 51 in which the concave portions 57 that form the nozzles 4, the orifices 53, and the like are connected to each other does not need to have the drive portion 23 inserted therein, and thus does not need flexibility, and pressure loss can be effectively prevented by improving its hardness. You can

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the inkjet printer head 60 has a structure in which a pair of main body plates, the cover plate 13 and the main plate 61, are integrally joined, as illustrated in FIGS. The in-plate 61 has a structure in which a recess 20 for integrally forming the orifice 16 and the pressure chamber 17 is formed on the upper surface of a simple flat plate.

Therefore, the structure of the main plate 61 of the ink jet printer head 60 will be described in detail below. First, in the main plate 61, a large number of driving portions 23 having a narrow left and right width are continuously projected by a piezoelectric member 22 made of piezoelectric ceramic in the central region of the front half of the surface of the flat insulating substrate 21. Two non-moving portions 62, which are slightly wider than the driving portion 23 by the piezoelectric member 22, are provided on both sides of the front half of the surface of the insulating substrate 21.

Further, in the main plate 61, the immovable portion 62 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the front and rear outer surfaces communicate with the drive portion 23. Therefore, this main plate 6
In No. 1, the pressure generating means 64 is formed by connecting the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 to the surface of the insulating substrate 21 by the piezoelectric member 22 as described above.

The pressure generating means 64 has a gap 63 similar to the gap 28 of the driving portion 23 when the driving / moving portions 23 and 62 are continuously arranged on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 as described above. And the step portions 29 having the same shape as the gaps 28 and 63 are formed on both sides of the immovable portion 62.

In the main plate 61, the pressure generating means 64 having the above-mentioned structure is used in the driving section 23.
The upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23 is used as the pressing surface of the pressure generating means 64 by being inserted into the resin member 65 so that the upper surface 30 of each of them is located on the bottom surface of each pressure chamber 17.

Therefore, in the main plate 61, the pressure generating means 64 inserted into the resin member 65 is
The immovable portions 62 are continuously projected at positions on both sides of the surface of the insulating substrate 21 where the drive portion 23 does not exist, and a step portion 29 having a shape similar to the gaps 28 and 63 of the drive portion 23 is formed in the immovable portion 62. Since it is formed on both sides, the cross-sectional area of the portion of the resin member 65 where the raw material (not shown) flows is equal in the first half portion.

In the ink jet printer head 60 having such a structure, the common / individual electrodes 32, 3 are formed.
The piezoelectric member 22 of the main plate 61 vertically vibrates according to the drive voltage selectively applied to the drive unit 23.
Expands and contracts in the protruding direction, the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23
The ink (not shown) inside the pressure chamber 17 can be pressurized and discharged from the orifice 16 by the displacement.

The main plate 61 of the ink jet printer head 60 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 64 is inserted into the resin member 65 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 64 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since the immovable portions 62 are provided at both side positions where the portion 23 does not exist, the joining force between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 65, which tend to be insufficient in physical properties, can be improved, and The difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 65 after molding can also be reduced.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 60, the bonding force between the resin member 65 of the main plate 61 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 64 is good, so that the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

In the ink jet printer head 60, the immovable portion 62 that forms the joining force between the resin member 65 and the pressure generating means 64 together with the driving portion 23 as described above.
Since it is improved in shape, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material whose bonding force with the resin member 65 is physically strong, and the bonding force with the resin member 65 is physically unsatisfactory. Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material that tends to be sufficient, the productivity and practicability thereof can also be favorably maintained.

In the ink jet printer head 60, the immovable portions 62 for improving the joining force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65 are provided only on both side portions of the drive portion 23 and not in the latter half portion thereof. Compared with the inkjet printer head 12 of the first embodiment in which the immovable portions 25 and 26 are provided also in the latter half portion, the joining force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65 in the latter half portion is insufficient and peeling occurs. I have a concern. However, in reality, the occurrence of peeling is an important problem at the position of the pressure chamber 17, so it is practical to improve the bonding force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65 on both sides.

In this ink jet printer head 60, the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65 are formed by forming a coating layer (not shown) on the surface of the pressure generating means 64 with a silane coupling agent which is a surface active agent. It is preferable to improve the bonding force with respect to the physical properties as well.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 60, the pressure generating means 64 connects the immovable portions 62 of substantially the same shape on both sides of the driving portion 23 on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 through the same gaps 28 and 63. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the portion of the resin member 65 where the raw material flows is finely made uniform in the first half. By doing so, in the inkjet printer head 60, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 65 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 64 is arranged is made uniform in the first half portion, and the contraction after molding is prevented. The first half is equivalent to prevent partial contraction due to insufficient pressure.

Here, a specific example of a method of manufacturing the ink jet printer head 60 will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, an aluminum layer (not shown) in which the piezoelectric member 22 made of PZT is formed on the front and back surfaces.
Is used as an electrode to polarize in the plate thickness direction.

Further, the conductive layer 34 is formed on the entire surface of the large-sized flat plate-shaped insulating substrate 21 made of glass whose front edge is chamfered in advance.
Is formed by sputtering, and as illustrated in FIG.
The central region of the front half of the conductive layer 34 is etched to form a rectangular void 35 exposing the insulating substrate 21.

Next, a conductive layer 36 is formed on the lower surface of the piezoelectric member 22 at a position other than the front edge portion, and as shown in FIG. 18, the conductive layer 36 of the piezoelectric member 22 is removed except for the rear edge portion. Is bonded to the insulating substrate 21 with an insulating adhesive (not shown), and only the trailing edge is bonded to the conductive layer 34 with the conductive adhesive 37.

Then, with the lower surface of the insulating substrate 21 as a reference, the upper surface of the piezoelectric member 22 is polished to have the same plane, and the whole is molded into a predetermined plate thickness. The plate thickness of the piezoelectric member 22 is
The thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is about 0.05 to 1.0 (mm), preferably 0.1 to 0.5 (mm), and the thickness of the insulating substrate 21 is about 0.5 to 5.0 (mm).

Next, a mask (not shown) is formed on the rear half of the upper surface of the insulating substrate 21 in which the piezoelectric member 22 is integrated, and the conductive layer 39 is formed on the exposed front half as illustrated in FIG. After forming the film by sputtering, the mask is removed.

Next, by dividing the piezoelectric member 22 integrated on the insulating substrate 21 by dicing as described above, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 20, a plurality of driving members having substantially the same shape are formed. The pressure generating means 64 is formed by connecting the immovable portions 23 and 62 to the front half of the surface of the insulating substrate 21 via the same gaps 28 and 63. Since the immovable portion 62 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped in which the front and rear outer surfaces communicate with the drive portion 23, the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 should be formed by dicing the single piezoelectric member 22. And the productivity is good.

The conductive layer 3 is formed by this dicing process.
4, 36, 39 will also be divided, but insulating substrate 21
Since the conductive layer 34 is not divided at the position of the chamfered front edge portion, the common / individual electrodes 32, 33 are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the drive unit 23.
Can be formed.

The lateral width between the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 and the gaps 28 and 63 formed by the dicing process as described above is set to about 0.05 to 1.0 (mm), and the entire length of the drive portion 23 is equivalent to that of ink droplets to be ejected. Depending on the specifications such as the diameter, 1.0-
It is about 30 (mm). Further, in the pressure generating means 64 manufactured as described above, since the common / individual electrodes 32 and 33 are continuous to the position of the rear edge of the insulating substrate 21, they function as the connection terminals 40 and 41 at this position. It will be.

A coating layer (not shown) of a silane coupling agent for improving the bonding force with the resin member 65 is formed on the surface of the pressure generating means 64 formed as described above.
In the case of forming a film, the pressure generating means 64 is dipped in a solution (not shown) of "silane coupling agent / water / alcohol" for several minutes and then sufficiently dried. Before forming such a coating layer, the surface of the pressure generating means 64 may be subjected to plasma treatment, ultraviolet irradiation, or the like to further improve the bonding force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 65. It is feasible.

Next, the pressure-generating means 64 manufactured as described above is inserted into the resin member 65 and injection-molded, so that as shown in FIG. A main plate 61 is formed on the bottom surface of the pressure chamber 17 with the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23 exposed.

Further, in the main plate 61, when the pressure generating means 64 is inserted into the resin member 65 as described above, the raw material of the resin member 65 is placed in the orifice 16 while the pressure generating means 64 is arranged inside the molding die. Is injected from the front side where the ink tank 19 is located to the rear side where the ink tank 19 is located, the raw material of the resin member 65 extends in the longitudinal direction on the insulating substrate 21 to the left, right and above the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62. It will flow to.

In the main plate 61, as described above, the pressure generating means 64 has the immovable portions 62 projecting at the positions on both sides where the driving portion 23 does not exist, so that the raw material of the resin member 31 flows. The cross-sectional areas of the parts are precisely the same in the first half. Therefore, the pressure acting on the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 from the raw material of the resin member 31 is uniform, the piezoelectric member 22 is not broken, and the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 31 to be filled is also precise in the first half. Becomes even. Therefore, the resin member 31 filled in the mold with such a uniform pressure has the same shrinkage after molding in the first half, and partial excessive shrinkage due to insufficient pressure does not occur in the first half. Adhesion with 64 is good in the first half and peeling can be prevented.

The resin member 31 of the main plate 61 is selected in consideration of moldability, ink corrosion resistance, elastic modulus, hardness, bondability with the cover plate 13, and the like. For example, PMP, LCP, PPS, PES,
PSF, PP, etc. can be used.

Then, the main plate 61 as described above is used.
Separately from this, a simple flat cover plate 13 is formed of resin or ceramic, and the cover plate 13 and the main plate 61 are integrally joined as shown in FIGS. It is possible to obtain the inkjet printer head 60 in which the orifices 16 are provided in series.

By doing so, in the ink jet printer head 60, by filling the space between the drive portions 23 of the main plate 61 with the flexible resin member 31, the pressure formed on the drive portion 23 by the resin member 31 is filled. The chamber 17 is well sealed by the cover plate 13 to pressurize the ink with high efficiency. In the inkjet printer head 60, the main plate 6 is provided together with the orifice 16 and the pressure chamber 17 in order to improve print quality.
Even if the drive unit 23 of the pressure generating means 64 of No. 1 is densified,
Since the resin member 31 into which the pressure generating means 64 is inserted can be reliably filled in the gap 28 of the drive unit 23, the productivity is extremely good. Moreover, in this inkjet printer head 60, the cover plate 13 that is integrally joined to the main plate 61 in which the pressure generating means 64 is inserted to form the recess 20 may be a simple flat plate shape, and this joining requires a high degree of positional accuracy. Since it does not exist, it can contribute to the improvement of productivity.

Further, in the method of manufacturing the ink jet printer head 60 and the like described above, the driving / immoving portion is divided by dividing the flat plate-shaped piezoelectric member 22 integrally joined to the flat plate-shaped insulating substrate 21 by dicing. Although the pressure generating means 64 in which the surfaces 23 and 62 are connected to each other is formed has been exemplified, it is also possible to manufacture the pressure generating means 64 without dicing.

Therefore, another modified example of such a manufacturing method will be described below with reference to FIGS. 23 and 24. First, as illustrated in FIG. 23, a piezoelectric member 69 in which convex portions 66 and 67 having substantially the same shape are continuously provided in the central region and both side portions of the base portion 68 with constant gaps 28 and 63 is formed by injection molding of a piezoelectric ceramic. And the individual electrodes 33 are formed only on the upper surfaces of the protrusions 66 and 67.
To form a film.

Then, common / individual electrodes 32 and 33 are patterned on the upper surface of the insulating substrate 21, and as shown in FIG. 24, the individual electrode 33 of this insulating substrate 21 and the individual electrode 33 of the piezoelectric member 69 are formed. Are bonded with an anisotropic conductive adhesive (not shown). Next, in this way, the insulating substrate 21
By removing the base portion 68 of the piezoelectric member 69 joined to the substrate by polishing or the like, it is possible to form the pressure generating means 64 in which the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 are continuously provided on the surface.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26. First, the inkjet printer head 70 has a structure in which a flow path plate 51, which is a pair of main body plates, and a drive plate 71 are integrally joined. And the drive plate 7
1 has a simple flat plate shape, and has a structure in which the upper surfaces 30 and the like of the drive / immovable portions 23 and 62 of the pressure generating means 64 are exposed on the upper surface of the resin member 72. Therefore, in the inkjet printer head 70, the upper surfaces 30 of the drive units 23 are individually opposed to the pressure chambers 54 by joining the flow paths / drive plates 51 and 71.

With this arrangement, the ink jet printer head 70 has the common / individual electrodes 32, 3
The piezoelectric member 22 of the drive plate 71 is vertically vibrated in accordance with the drive voltage selectively applied between the three parts, so that the drive part 23 expands and contracts in the protruding direction. Therefore, the displacement of the upper surface 30 of the drive part 23 causes the pressure chamber 54 to move. Ink (not shown) inside can be pressurized and ejected from the orifice 53.

The driving plate 71 of the ink jet printer head 70 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 64 is inserted into the resin member 72 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 64 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since the immovable portions 62 are provided at positions on both sides where the portion 23 does not exist with the constant gaps 28 and 63, the joining force between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 72, which is apt to be insufficient in terms of physical properties, can be achieved. The shape can be improved over the entire surface, and the difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 72 after molding can be reduced.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 70, since the bonding force between the resin member 72 of the drive plate 71 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 64 is good, the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 72 are formed. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 70, the immovable portion 62 that forms the joining force between the resin member 72 and the pressure generating means 64 together with the driving portion 23 as described above.
Since it is improved in shape, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material whose bonding force with the resin member 72 is physically strong, and the bonding force with the resin member 72 is physically unsatisfactory. Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material that tends to be sufficient, the productivity and practicability thereof can also be favorably maintained.

In the ink jet printer head 70, the immovable portions 62 for improving the joining force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 72 are provided only on both side portions of the drive portion 23 and not on the latter half portion thereof. As compared with the inkjet printer head 12 of the first embodiment in which the immovable portions 25 and 26 are provided also in the latter half, the joining force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 72 in the latter half is insufficient and peeling occurs. I have a concern. However, in reality, the occurrence of peeling is an important problem at the position of the pressure chamber 54, so it is practical to improve the bonding force between the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 72 on both sides.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 70, the drive plate 71 is provided in the rear half of the immovable portion 25,
Since 26 is not located, the occupancy rate of the resin member 72 on the joint surface with the flow path plate 51 is fixed in the second half as well.
This is a large amount as compared with the inkjet printer head 12 of the first embodiment in which 5, 26 are provided. For this reason, in the inkjet printer head 70, the area where the resins are welded to each other is increased on the joint surface particularly when the flow path / driving plates 51 and 71 are joined by welding. Therefore, the ink jet printer of the first embodiment. As compared with the head 12, the joint strength of the flow path / driving plates 51, 71 is improved.

In the ink jet printer head 70, the pressure generating means 64 and the resin member 72 are formed by forming a coating layer (not shown) on the surface of the pressure generating means 64 with a silane coupling agent which is a surface active agent. It is preferable to improve the bonding force with respect to the physical properties as well.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 70, the pressure generating means 64 continuously connects the immovable portions 62 of substantially the same shape on both sides of the driving portion 23 on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 through the same gaps 28 and 63. Thus, the cross-sectional area of the portion of the resin member 72 where the raw material flows is finely made uniform in the first half portion. By doing so, in the inkjet printer head 70, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 72 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 64 is arranged is made uniform in the first half part, and the contraction after molding is prevented. The first half is equivalent to prevent partial contraction due to insufficient pressure.

In the ink jet printer head 70 of the second embodiment, the pressure chamber 54 and the orifice 5
The flow path plate 51 in which the concave portions 57 that form 3 and the like are provided in series does not have the drive portion 23 inserted therein, and thus does not need flexibility, and the pressure loss can be favorably prevented by improving the hardness thereof.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the inkjet printer head 73 has a structure in which the cover plate 13 which is a pair of main body plates and the main plate 74 are integrally joined. And this main plate 74
Has a structure in which a plurality of orifices 16, a plurality of pressure chambers 17, a plurality of ink inflow passages 18 and a single ink tank 19 are integrally formed with a recess 20 on the upper surface of a simple flat plate.

Therefore, the structure of the main plate 74 of the ink jet printer head 73 will be described in detail below. First, in the main plate 74, a large number of drive units 23 having a narrow left-right width and a long front-back length are continuously formed by a piezoelectric member 22 made of a piezoelectric ceramic in the central region of the front half of the surface of the flat insulating substrate 21. And a fixed portion 62, which is a convex member having a lateral width that is slightly wider than the driving portion 23 and is the same as the driving portion 23 in the piezoelectric member 22, on both sides of the front half of the surface of the insulating substrate 21. A plurality of immovable portions 25, which are convex members having the same left-right width as the driving portion 23 and a short front-back length, are formed by the piezoelectric member 22 continuously in the central region of the rear portion of the surface of the insulating substrate 21 protruding two by two. Two immovable portions 75, which are projecting members and are formed on both sides of the rear portion of the surface of the insulating substrate 21, are convex members having the same horizontal width as the immovable portion 62 and the front-rear length being the same as the immovable portion 25 of the piezoelectric member 22. They are projecting one by one.

That is, in the main plate 74, a large number of the immovable portions 25, 62, 75 are continuously projected at the positions on the surface of the insulating substrate 21 where the drive portion 23 does not exist and the rear portion. There is. Further, the immovable portions 25 and 62 are formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion 23, and the immovable portion 75 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the immovable portions 25 and 62.

Therefore, in the main plate 74, the pressure generating means 76 is formed by connecting the drive / immovable portions 23, 25, 62 and 75 to the surface of the insulating substrate 21 by the piezoelectric member 22 as described above. ing. The pressure generating means 76 is similar to the gap 28 between the driving / immobilizing portions 23, 25 when the driving / immoving portions 23, 25, 62, 75 are connected to the surface of the insulating substrate 21 as described above. The fixed part 62 at 63,
75 are connected, and step portions 29 having the same shape as the gaps 28 and 63 are formed on both sides of the immovable portions 62 and 75.

Therefore, in the main plate 74, the pressure generating means 76 having the above-described structure is inserted into the resin member 77 so that the upper surface 30 of the drive portion 23 is located on the bottom surface of each of the pressure chambers 17. , The upper surface 3 of the drive unit 23
0 is the pressing surface of the pressure generating means 76.

In the main plate 74, the pressure generating means 76 to be inserted into the resin member 77.
Are a plurality of immovable parts 25, 62, 75 at positions on both sides of the surface of the insulating substrate 21 where the driving part 23 does not exist and the rear part.
Are continuously provided with a constant gap 28, 63, and the gap 2 of the drive unit 23 is
The step portion 29 having the same shape as that of
Since it is formed on both sides of 5, the cross-sectional area of the portion of the resin member 77 where the raw material (not shown) flows is finely and uniformly made overall.

With this arrangement, the ink jet printer head 73 has the common / individual electrodes 32, 3
The piezoelectric member 22 of the main plate 74 vertically vibrates according to the drive voltage selectively applied to the drive unit 23.
Expands and contracts in the protruding direction, the upper surface 30 of the drive unit 23
The ink (not shown) inside the pressure chamber 17 can be pressurized and discharged from the orifice 16 by the displacement.

The main plate 74 of the ink jet printer head 73 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 76 is inserted into the resin member 77 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 76 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since a large number of immovable portions 25, 62, 75 are provided at the positions of both sides and the rear portion where the portion 23 does not exist, the joining of the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 77, which is apt to have insufficient joining force due to physical properties. In addition to being able to improve the force in terms of shape over the entire surface,
The difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 77 after molding can be reduced.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 73, since the bonding force between the resin member 77 of the main plate 74 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 76 is good, the pressure generating means 76 and the resin member 77. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 73, the immovable portion 2 which forms the joining force between the resin member 77 and the pressure generating means 76 together with the driving portion 23 as described above.
Since the shape is improved by 5, 62, and 75, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material having a physically strong bonding force with the resin member 77.
Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material that tends to have insufficient bonding force with the insulating substrate 7, its productivity and practicability can also be favorably maintained.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 73, the pressure generating means 76 continuously projects the immovable portions 25, 62 and 75 over the entire surface of the insulating substrate 21, so that the raw material of the resin member 77 flows. The cross-sectional area of the part is made fine and uniform throughout. By doing this,
In this inkjet printer head 73, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 77 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 76 is arranged is made fine and uniform, and the shrinkage after molding is made uniform. Prevents partial contraction due to insufficient pressure.

Further, in the main plate 74, when the pressure generating means 76 is inserted into the resin member 77 as described above, the raw material of the resin member 77 is placed in the orifice 16 while the pressure generating means 76 is arranged inside the molding die. Is injected from the front side where the ink tank is located to the rear side where the ink tank 19 is located, so that the raw material of the resin member 77 is on the insulating substrate 21 to the left, right and above the drive / moving parts 23, 25, 62, 75. And flow in the longitudinal direction. At this time, the immovable portions 25 and 62 are formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion 23, and the immovable portion 75 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the immovable portions 25 and 62. The 77 raw materials flow smoothly and are easy to fill.

In the main plate 74, since the pressure generating means 76 has the immovable portions 25, 62, 75 protruding at the position where the drive portion 23 does not exist as described above, the raw material of the resin member 77 flows. The cross-sectional areas of the parts to be made are almost the same. Therefore, the pressure applied from the raw material of the resin member 77 to the drive / non-moving parts 23, 25, 62, 75 is even, the piezoelectric member 22 is not broken, and the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 77 to be filled is also equal. It will be uniform throughout. Therefore, the resin member 77 filled in the molding die with such a uniform pressure has the same contraction after molding as a whole, and partial excessive contraction due to insufficient pressure does not occur. Adhesion is good and peeling can be prevented.

By doing so, in the ink jet printer head 73, the space between the drive portions 23 of the main plate 74 is filled with the flexible resin member 77, so that the pressure formed on the drive portion 23 by the resin member 77 is filled. The chamber 17 is well sealed by the cover plate 13 to pressurize the ink with high efficiency. Further, in the inkjet printer head 73, in order to improve print quality, the main plate 7 together with the orifice 16 and the pressure chamber 17 are provided.
Even if the drive unit 23 of the pressure generating means 76 of No. 4 is densified,
Since the resin member 77 into which the pressure generating means 76 is inserted can be reliably filled in the gap 28 of the drive unit 23, the productivity is extremely good. Moreover, in this inkjet printer head 73, the cover plate 13 that is integrally joined to the main plate 74 in which the pressure generating means 76 is inserted to form the recess 20 may be a simple flat plate shape, and this joining requires a high degree of positional accuracy. Since it does not exist, it can contribute to the improvement of productivity.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the inkjet printer head 78 has a structure in which the flow path plate 51, which is a pair of main body plates, and the drive plate 79 are integrally joined. The driving plate 79 has a simple flat plate shape and has a structure in which the upper surfaces 30 of the drive / immovable portions 23, 25, 62, 75 of the pressure generating means 76 are exposed on the upper surface of the resin member 80. There is. Therefore, in the ink jet printer head 78, the upper surfaces 30 of the driving portions 23 are individually opposed to the pressure chambers 54 by joining the flow path / driving plates 51 and 79.

With this arrangement, the ink jet printer head 78 has the common / individual electrodes 32, 3
The piezoelectric member 22 of the drive plate 79 vertically vibrates in accordance with the drive voltage selectively applied to the drive unit 3 to expand and contract the drive unit 23 in the projecting direction. Ink (not shown) inside can be pressurized and ejected from the orifice 53.

The driving plate 79 of the ink jet printer head 78 has a structure in which the pressure generating means 76 is inserted into the resin member 80 by injection molding. The pressure generating means 76 is driven on the surface of the insulating substrate 21. Since a large number of immovable parts 25, 62, and 75 are provided at the positions of both sides and the rear part where the part 23 does not exist, the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 80, which are apt to have insufficient bonding force in terms of physical properties, are bonded together. The force can be improved in terms of shape over the entire surface, and the difference in shrinkage amount between the insulating substrate 21 and the resin member 80 after molding can be reduced.

By doing so, in this ink jet printer head 78, the bonding force between the resin member 80 of the drive plate 79 formed by injection molding and the pressure generating means 76 is good, so the pressure generating means 76 and the resin member 80. It is possible to prevent peeling from the surface, and its reliability and durability are good.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 78, the immovable portion 2 that forms the joint force between the resin member 80 and the pressure generating means 76 together with the drive portion 23 as described above.
Since the shape of the resin member 8 is improved by 5, 62, and 75, it is not necessary to form the insulating substrate 21 with a material having a physically strong bonding force with the resin member 80.
Since the insulating substrate 21 can be formed of an insulating inorganic material that tends to have insufficient bonding force with 0, its productivity and practicability can also be favorably maintained.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 78, the pressure generating means 76 continuously projects the immovable portions 25, 62 and 75 over the entire surface of the insulating substrate 21, so that the raw material of the resin member 80 flows. The cross-sectional area of the part is made fine and uniform throughout. By doing this,
In this inkjet printer head 78, the pressure of the raw material of the resin member 80 to be filled in the molding die (not shown) in which the pressure generating means 76 is arranged is made fine and uniform, and the shrinkage after molding is made the same. Prevents partial contraction due to insufficient pressure.

Further, in this ink jet printer head 78, the occupying ratio of the resin member 80 in the joint surface with the flow path plate 51 in the drive plate 79 is large compared to the ink jet printer head 12 of the first embodiment, In particular, when the flow path / driving plates 51, 71 are joined by welding, the welding area between the resins is increased and the joining strength is improved.

Moreover, in the ink jet printer head 78, since the flow path plate 51 having the recesses 57 forming the pressure chambers 54, the orifices 53, etc. is not inserted with the drive portion 23, flexibility is not required. By improving the hardness, pressure loss can be effectively prevented.

[0142]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the convex member is provided on the surface of the substrate to be joined to the resin member at a position where the driving portion does not exist, thereby improving the joining force between the resin member and the substrate. Since peeling can be prevented, it is possible to obtain an inkjet printer head having excellent reliability and durability.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the convex member is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the drive portion, the drive portion and the convex member can be formed at the same time by dicing a single member. At the same time, it is possible to improve the flow of the raw material of the resin member in the gap between the drive unit and the convex member, so that it is possible to obtain an inkjet printer head with good productivity, reliability, and durability. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing the internal structure of the inkjet printer head of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which a conductive layer is formed on a surface of an insulating substrate in a manufacturing process of an inkjet printer head,
(A) is a plan view and (b) is a vertical side view.

4A and 4B show a state in which a piezoelectric member or the like is mounted on the surface of an insulating substrate in a manufacturing process, FIG. 4A is a plan view, and FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which a conductive layer is formed on the surfaces of the insulating substrate and the piezoelectric member in the manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a vertical side view.

6A and 6B show a state in which a pressure generating means is completed in a manufacturing process, FIG. 6A is a plan view, and FIG. 6B is a vertical side view.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a main plate, which is a main body plate, is completed in a manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a plan view.
Is a vertical side view.

8A and 8B show a state in which an inkjet printer head is completed in a manufacturing process, FIG. 8A is a plan view, and FIG. 8B is a vertical side view.

9A and 9B show a state in which a conductive layer is formed on an insulating substrate in a manufacturing process of a modified example, FIG. 9A is a plan view, and FIG. 9B is a vertical side view.

10A and 10B show a state in which the pressure generating means is completed in a manufacturing process of a modified example, FIG. 10A is a plan view, and FIG. 10B is a vertical side view.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a piezoelectric member is formed in the manufacturing process of another modification.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which a piezoelectric member and the like are mounted on an insulating substrate in a manufacturing process of another modification.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional front view showing the internal structure of the ink jet printer head of the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a vertical sectional front view showing the internal structure of the inkjet printer head of the third embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows a state in which a conductive layer is formed on the surface of an insulating substrate in the manufacturing process of an inkjet printer head,
(A) is a plan view and (b) is a vertical side view.

FIG. 18 shows a state in which a piezoelectric member is mounted on the surface of an insulating substrate in the manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a vertical sectional side view.

FIG. 19 shows a state in which a conductive layer is formed on the surfaces of the insulating substrate and the piezoelectric member in the manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a vertical side view.

FIG. 20 shows a state in which the pressure generating means is completed in the manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a vertical side view.

FIG. 21 shows a state where a main plate, which is a main body plate, is completed in a manufacturing process, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a vertical side view.

22A and 22B show a state in which the inkjet printer head is completed in the manufacturing process, FIG. 22A is a plan view, and FIG. 22B is a vertical side view.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a state in which a piezoelectric member is formed in a manufacturing process of a modified example.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view showing a state in which a piezoelectric member is mounted on an insulating substrate in a manufacturing process of a modified example.

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing the internal structure of the inkjet printer head of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer head of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a vertical sectional front view showing the internal structure of a conventional inkjet printer head.

[Explanation of symbols]

12, 50, 60, 70, 73, 78 Inkjet printer head 13, 14, 51, 52, 61, 73, 74, 79
Body plate 15
Ink supply channel 16,53
Orifice 17,54
Pressure chamber 20,57
Recess 21
Substrate 22, 49, 69
Piezoelectric member 23
Drive unit 24-26, 43, 44, 62, 75
Convex member 27, 45, 64, 76
Pressure generating means 30
Pressure surface 31, 59, 65, 72, 77, 80
Resin material

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pressure generating means is formed by continuously connecting a plurality of driving parts made of a piezoelectric member on a surface of a substrate, and at least one of a pair of body plates is formed by a resin member into which the pressure generating means is inserted. A plurality of pressure chambers, each of which has an orifice and an ink supply path communicating with each other, are formed in at least one of the joint surfaces of the pair of main body plates as recesses, and the displaceable pressurizing surface facing the pressure chambers has the pressure generating means. In the inkjet printer head formed by the driving unit, a convex member is provided so as to project at a position where the driving unit does not exist on the surface of the substrate joined to the resin member. 2. The ink jet printer head according to claim 1, wherein a convex member is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose outer surface communicates with the driving portion.