JPH08118639A - Ink jet recording head and ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the leakage of ink between ink passages by providing pressure contact parts to the parts coming into contact with element substrates of a grooved member and forming the pressure contact part of the wall opposed to the boundary part of two mutually adjacent element substrates partitioning grooves among the pressure contact parts from two ribs brought into contact with the mutually different element substrates under pressure. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of emitting orifices 203 and a plurality of the grooves 202 communicating with the respective emitting orifices 203 are formed to the top plate 200 of an ink jet recording head and the top plate 200 is bonded to a base plate having a plurality of heater boards parallelly provided thereto and the grooves 202 thereof are allowed to act as ink passages. Ribs 210a-210c are formed to the pressure contact parts with the heater boards of the top plate 200 along the shapes of the pressure contact parts with the heater boards but, at this time, especially, two ribs 210b, 210c are formed to the wall 209 partitioning the adjacent grooves 202 and, in the wall 209 positioned at the boundary part of the heater boards, the ribs 210b, 210c are brought into contact with the respective different heater boards under pressure.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting a recording liquid (ink or the like) as a flying droplet from an ejection port and adhering it onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet recording head has an ejection port for ejecting ink, an ink channel for supplying ink from an ink tank to the ejection port, and an ink in the ink channel disposed in the ink channel. There is known a device including an energy generating element for generating ejection energy given to the. The structure thereof is generally a structure in which a grooved member having a groove forming an ejection port and an ink flow path is bonded to a substrate provided with an energy generating element.

In particular, in the case of a long type ink jet recording head such as a line type ink jet recording head, a large number of energy generating elements such as several thousand are required, and even one of them has a problem. The entire board becomes defective and the yield of the board deteriorates. Therefore, there is one in which the yield is improved by using an element substrate provided with a relatively small number of energy generating elements, such as 64 or 128, and arranging them accurately on a base. Then, an ink jet recording head is manufactured by joining a grooved member on the base so as to cover each element substrate.

[0004]

However, as described above, in an ink jet recording head in which a plurality of element substrates are arranged and fixed on a substrate, it is difficult to firmly adjoin adjacent element substrates and it is difficult to fix them. There will be a gap between them. Although this gap is very small, it cannot be ignored for an inkjet recording head having a fine structure, and at the boundary of the element substrate,
As the wall between the grooves of the grooved member straddles the two element substrates,
If the grooved member is not joined, the ink leaks from the gap between the element substrates, resulting in defective ink ejection.

In order to prevent this, it is conceivable to increase the width of the wall of the grooved member corresponding to the gap between the element substrates so that the wall easily extends over the gap between the element substrates. However, as shown in FIG. 13, the element substrate 1100,
When fixing 1100 ′, not only the gap s but also the step d may occur. When the step d is generated, even if the width of the grooved member wall 1209 is increased, the grooved member wall 1209 is formed.
Is pressed against only one element substrate 1100 and does not come into contact with the other element substrate 1100 ′, so that a gap is eventually created with respect to the other element substrate 1100 ′.

Therefore, the present invention provides an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reliably ejecting ink by reliably pressing the ink flow paths against the element substrate even if a gap or a step is formed between the element substrates. With the goal.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in an ink jet recording head of the present invention, a plurality of element substrates on which a plurality of energy generating elements for generating ejection energy to be applied to ink are arrayed are provided. A base fixed along the arrangement direction of the elements, a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink, and a groove communicating with each of the ejection openings are formed, and are pressed against the plurality of element substrates to be bonded to the base. In an ink jet recording head having a grooved member that forms a plurality of ink flow paths corresponding to each of the energy generating elements, a portion of the grooved member that is in contact with the element substrate is formed along the shape of the portion. A wall having a pressure contact portion that is in pressure contact with the element substrate, partitioning the groove of the pressure contact portion, and facing a boundary portion between two adjacent element substrates. Pressure contact portion, characterized in that it consists of two ribs which are pressed against the different element substrate, respectively.

In the pressure contact portion, the pressure contact portion of the wall that partitions the groove and faces only one element substrate is formed by one rib, or the shape of the rib is laser processed. The plurality of ejection openings may be formed along the width direction of the recording area of the recording medium on which recording is performed.

Further, the energy generating element may be an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for ejecting ink, in which case the ink is the electrothermal converter. The liquid may be discharged from the discharge port by utilizing the film boiling generated by the thermal energy applied by the body.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises the ink jet recording head of the present invention described above, and carries out recording by ejecting ink from the ejection port of the ink jet recording head based on a recording signal.

[0011]

In the ink jet recording head of the present invention constructed as described above, a plurality of element substrates provided with energy generating elements are fixed on a substrate, and each element substrate is covered so that ejection ports and grooves are formed. By joining the formed grooved members, a plurality of ink flow paths corresponding to the energy generating elements are formed. At this time, a portion of the grooved member that is in contact with the element substrate has a pressure contact portion that is pressed against the element substrate, and the pressure contact portion is pressed against the element substrate. Here, of the above pressure contact portions, the pressure contact portion of the wall that partitions the groove and faces the boundary between two element substrates adjacent to each other is composed of two ribs that are pressed against different element substrates. Therefore, even if a gap or a step is formed between the adjacent element substrates, the two ribs are separately pressed against the element substrates. Therefore, the wall partitioning the groove and the element substrate are pressed against each other without a gap, and as a result, the grooved member and the element substrate are reliably pressed against each other, so that ink does not leak from the ink flow path.

Further, among the pressure contact portions provided on the grooved member, by partitioning the groove and forming the pressure contact portion of the wall facing only one element substrate with one rib, the rib and the element substrate are formed. The contact area with As a result, when the grooved member is joined to the base body, the pressure applied to the ribs increases, and the grooved member and the element substrate are more reliably pressed against each other.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the construction of main components of a first embodiment of an ink jet recording head of the present invention. In this embodiment, the density of the discharge ports is 360 dpi (70.5 μm pitch) and the number of the discharge ports is 3.
008 (printing width 212 mm) inkjet recording heads will be described.

In FIG. 1, a base plate 3 as a base made of glass, silicon, ceramics, metal or the like.
00, a plurality of heater boards 10 which are element substrates.
0s are arranged side by side and fixed by an adhesive or the like. Each heater board 100 has an energy generating element 1
01 heaters are provided at a predetermined position with a density of 360 dpi, and 128 heaters are provided in each heater board 100 with high precision so that the pitches of the energy generating elements 101 are equal along the arrangement direction of the energy generating elements 101. It is lined up.

Further, each heater board 100 is provided with a pad 102 for supplying an electric signal or driving power for driving each energy generating element 101. These pads 102 are electrically connected to the pads 401 of the wiring board 400 fixed to the base plate 300 by wire bonding or the like. Wiring board 4
00 has a connector 402 that is electrically connected to a control board (not shown) of the printing apparatus main body by being attached to the printing apparatus main body (not shown). A recording signal and driving power from the control board are It is supplied to each energy generating element 101 via this wiring board 400, and thereby each energy generating element 101 is driven at an arbitrary timing.

On the other hand, in the base plate 300, an ejection port 203 for ejecting ink and a groove 202 described later (see FIG. 2) corresponding to each energy generating element 101.
A top plate 200 as a grooved member in which is formed is joined so as to cover each heater board 100.

Now, the top plate 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view, a front view and a bottom view of the top plate shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the top plate 200 has a plurality of grooves 202 provided corresponding to each ejection energy generating element 101 (see FIG. 1) and each groove 2 corresponding to each groove 202.
02 and the grooves 202 that are provided in communication with each other.
And a liquid chamber 201 that communicates with each other and temporarily holds the ink that flows into each groove 202. The top plate 200 covers each heater board 100 so as to cover the base plate 30.
By being bonded to 0, the top plate 200 is pressed against each heater board 100 and each groove 202 and the heater board 100.
The space surrounded by and becomes the ink flow path. Also,
In the state where the ink flow path is configured, in each ink flow path,
The energy generating element 101 is located.

The top plate 200 may be made of any resin as long as it can accurately form the grooves 202, but it is desirable that the top plate 200 is further excellent in mechanical strength, dimensional stability and ink resistance. Such materials include epoxy resin, acrylic resin, diglycol, dialkyl carbonate resin, unsaturated polyester resin, polyurethane resin, polyimide resin, melamine resin, phenol resin,
A urea resin or the like is desirable, and a resin such as polysulfone or polyether sulfone is particularly desirable from the viewpoint of its moldability, liquid resistance and the like.

Further, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, a pipe 205 for supplying the ink stored in an external ink tank (not shown) to the liquid chamber 201 is inserted into the top plate 200. . A supply port 206 communicating with the liquid chamber 206 is opened in the pipe 205, and the ink in the pipe 205 is supplied to the liquid chamber 201 through the supply port 206. The pipe 205 is made of the same stainless steel as the material of the base plate 300 (see FIG. 1) in order to regulate the coefficient of thermal expansion of the top plate 200. In addition, the outer surface of the support member 205 is subjected to surface processing such as blasting and knurling with the top plate 200 to improve the degree of adhesion with the top plate 200. As a result, the thermal expansion coefficient of the top plate 200 follows that of stainless steel due to its mechanical strength, and the top plate 200 and the base plate 300 have the same thermal expansion coefficient. As a result, the energy generating element 101 (see FIG. 1)
Heater board 1 due to heat generated when driving
No deviation from 00 (see FIG. 1) occurs.

Further, the heater board 1 is provided on the bottom surface of the top plate 200, that is, the portion in contact with the heater board 100.
Along the shape of the part that contacts 00, as shown in FIG.
Ribs 210a, 210b, and 210c, which are pressure contact portions, are formed. Among the portions of the top plate 200 that are in contact with the heater board 100, two ribs 210b and 210c are formed on the wall 209 that partitions the grooves 202 that are adjacent to each other, and these ribs 210b and 210c form the discharge ports 203. Is connected to the rib 210a formed on the surface having. FIG. 5 shows a wall 2 that partitions the grooves 202 adjacent to each other.
09 shows a cross-sectional view of 09. As shown in FIG. 5, the two ribs 210b and 210c formed on the wall 209 are located at both ends with respect to the width W of the wall 209 at the tip, and both the height h and the width w thereof are equal. The width W of the wall is determined by constraints such as the pitch of the ink flow path and the ejection characteristics, but in this embodiment, it is set to about 12 μm. Also, the ribs 210b, 210c
The height h depends on the material of the top plate 200 and the pressure contact force with the heater board 100, but is about 2 μm in this embodiment.
And

When the top plate 200 is joined to the base plate 300 based on the above structure, the ribs 210a, 210b, 210c formed on the top plate 200 are attached to the heater board 10.
The heater board 100 and the groove 202 of the top plate 200 form an ink flow path.

Here, ribs 210b, 2 on the wall 209 partitioning the groove 202, that is, the wall 209 partitioning the ink flow path.
Consider a pressure contact state of 10c. In Figure 6, heater board 1
00 and a wall 209 partitioning the ink flow path are in a pressure contact state. As shown in FIG. 6, a gap s of about 3 to 5 μm is formed between the heater boards 100 adjacent to each other depending on the cutting accuracy and arrangement accuracy of the heater boards 100. Further, when the heater boards 100 are arranged, a step difference d of about 3 μm at maximum is also generated. In this embodiment, as described above, the two ribs 210 are provided on the wall 209 partitioning the ink flow path.
Since the ribs 210b and 210c are formed, the ribs 210b and 210c on the wall 209 located at the boundary between the heater boards 100 adjacent to each other straddle the gap s between the heater boards 100 and the heater board 100.
Is pressed against. As for the step d, the rib 210c pressed against the heater board 100 located at a high position is compressed according to the amount of the step d and comes into close contact with the heater board 100,
The step d is absorbed. Therefore, the heater board 10
The gap s between 0s is surely sealed, and the ink does not leak from here, so that the ejection failure of the ink due to the leakage of the ink does not occur. Moreover, since the top plate 200 can be joined to the base plate 300 by the same process as the conventional process, a high quality inkjet recording head can be manufactured without changing the assembly process of the inkjet recording head.

The height h of the ribs 210b and 210c (see FIG. 5) may be greater than or equal to the step d of the heater board 100, but depending on the material of the top plate 200 and the pressure contact force with the heater board 100, the pressure contact force can be increased. The amount of compression of the ribs 210b and 210c is calculated from the relationship between (stress) and strain, and the height h and width w are obtained.
(See FIG. 5) is preferably set.

Next, in the ink jet recording head of this embodiment, the groove 202 and the rib 210 on the top plate 200 are formed.
A method of forming a, 210b, and 210c will be described.
In this embodiment, the ribs 210a, 210b and 210c are formed by laser processing.

FIG. 7 shows the groove 202 and ribs 210a, 2
It is a schematic structure figure of an example of a laser processing device used for formation of 10b and 210c. As shown in FIG. 7, this laser processing apparatus includes a laser oscillator 1 that emits a laser beam 2,
An apparatus frame 6 provided with a processing system for processing the work W by the laser light from the laser oscillator 1, and the work W.
Information processing and control for processing of
And a control system 7. Here, the work W is the top plate 200 described above.

Laser light 2 generated from laser oscillator 1
Is partially reflected by the beam splitter 3, and the reflected light is monitored by the power detector 4. On the other hand, the laser beam 2 transmitted through the beam splitter 3
Is reflected by the two 45 ° total reflection mirrors 5 and is incident on the device frame 6. As the beam splitter 3,
A part of the laser beam 2 is separated only by surface reflection using a parallel flat plate of synthetic quartz.

The device frame 6 includes an optical system 8 and a work W.
It has an observing / measuring system 9 for observing and measuring the position, a mask section 10, and a workstation 11 for moving the work W. The optical system 8 forms an image of the beam shaping optical system and the Keller illumination optical system 8a arranged on the optical axis a of the laser light 2 incident on the apparatus frame 6 and the mask portion 10 on the processed surface of the work W. The projection optical system 8b is provided, and the mask unit 10 is arranged between the beam shaping optical system and the Keller illumination optical system 8a and the projection optical system 8b. A reduction optical system may be used for the projection optical system 8b in consideration of the durability of the mask portion 10. In this embodiment,
The projection optical system 8b with a 1/4 reduction was used.

In order to adjust the inclination of the work W with respect to the optical axis a, the work station 11 may be provided with an appropriate adjusting means. For example, 3 axes orthogonal to each other and 2
The workstation 11 may be constituted by a combination of stages having degrees of freedom about five axes of rotation around one axis.
By configuring the center for rotation adjustment to match the machining center of the work W, the control of the adjusting unit can be simplified.

To position the work W on the work station 11, the work W is placed on the work station 11.
The jig 11a attached to the
It is preferable to provide a plurality of reference pins that abut the workpiece W arranged above. In addition to the above-described abutting mechanism, a clamping mechanism such as air suction may be provided on the jig 11a and integrated with an automatic hand to enable automatic supply of the work W to the workstation 11. Further, the storage time may be shortened by setting a plurality of works W on the work station 11 at the same time. However, in this case, since one axis in the rotation direction of the adjusting means cannot be positioned at the center of the work W, it is necessary to convert the reference value between the measurement and the movement of the work W.

The observation / measurement system 9 includes a lens barrel 9a having an objective lens and an epi-illumination light source 9b incorporated in the lens barrel 9a.
And a pair of observers consisting of a CCD camera sensor 9c connected to the lens barrel 9a, and two mirrors 9d arranged on the optical axis a. The measuring instruments and the mirror 9d are connected to the projection optical system 8b and the workstation 11
And the mirror 9d during laser irradiation.
Is deviated from the optical axis a and moves on the optical axis a only at the time of measurement. In this embodiment, the movement of the mirror 9d is controlled by the air cylinder mechanism.

The position data of the work W from the observation / measurement system 9 and the beam power data from the power detector 4 are fed back to the information processing / control system 7. First, the measurement result by the observation / measurement system 9 is brought to the image processing system 7a for each measuring instrument, and the result of signal processing is given to the control system 7b. The control system 7b calculates the moving distance of the work W based on the measurement result, and causes the moving means 7c to move the stage in the workstation 11. Then, when the value of the observation / control system 9 becomes a constant value, the position adjustment by the moving means 7c is completed, and the mirror 9d is moved to the optical axis a.
Then, the laser oscillator 1 is given a signal for emitting the laser beam 2 for a certain period of time or a certain number of pulses. The beam power information from the power detector 4 is fed back to the control system 7b and the output given to the laser oscillator 1 is adjusted via the interface 7d.

As the laser oscillator 1 used in this laser processing apparatus, a high output one such as a YAG laser oscillator, a CO ₂ laser oscillator, an excimer laser oscillator or an N ₂ laser oscillator can be applied. Uses a polysulfone resin, which is a kind of polymer resin, as the work W, and uses an excimer laser oscillator, and in particular, a Kr-F excimer laser oscillator, for the reasons described below.

The excimer laser is a laser capable of oscillating ultraviolet light, can output high-intensity energy, is excellent in monochromaticity, has good directivity, and can perform short pulse oscillation. There is an advantage that the density can be increased. That is, the excimer laser oscillator discharge-excites a mixed gas of a rare gas and a halogen,
Can generate short-pulse (15-35ns) ultraviolet light,
A -F, Xe-Cl, Ar-F laser or the like is often used. These oscillation energy numbers are 100 mJ / pulse,
The pulse repetition frequency is 30 to 100 Hz. Thus, when the surface of the polymer resin is irradiated with high-intensity short-pulse ultraviolet light, the irradiated portion is instantaneously decomposed and scattered with plasma emission and collision sound. So-called "ABLATIVE PHO
TODECOMPOSITION (APD) "process, which allows the processing of polymer resins. This makes a clear difference from the case of drilling with other lasers, such as the CO ₂ laser, which is infrared. For example, polyimide ( PI)
When the film is irradiated with laser light using an excimer laser (Kr-F laser), the light absorption wavelength of the PI film is U.
Since it is in the V region, a clean hole can be formed, but in the YAG laser which is not in the UV region, the edge of the hole is rough, and in the CO ₂ laser, craters are formed around the hole.

As described above, the laser capable of oscillating ultraviolet light is excellent in processability of the polymer resin, but as the laser capable of oscillating ultraviolet light, besides the excimer laser, the fourth harmonic of the YAG laser, the YAG laser is used. The mixing light of the fundamental wave and the second harmonic wave, and the N ₂ laser are included.

Grooves 202 and ribs 210a, 210b are formed on the top plate 200 by using the laser processing apparatus as described above.
Although 210c is formed, the forming procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

First, a flat surface 200a for forming a groove is formed on a member serving as a top plate (FIG. 8A).
This surface 200a may be formed by molding, or may be formed by machining after molding. Next, the groove 202
A plurality of grooves 202 are formed by irradiating a predetermined portion of the surface 200a with laser light through a mask having the pattern (1) (FIG. 8B). After forming the groove 202, the mask is replaced,
Laser light is irradiated using the shaded area shown in FIG. 8C as a mask portion 220. As a result, the portion of the surface 200a excluding the mask portion 220 is removed, and the mask portion 220 is formed as the ribs 210a, 210b, 210c.

In this way, the groove 202 and the rib 210a,
The top plate 200 on which 210b and 210c are formed and the discharge port 203 is formed corresponding to the groove 202 is bonded onto a base plate 300 in which a plurality of element substrates provided with the energy generating elements 101 are accurately arranged. Thus, the inkjet recording head is manufactured.

Next, an ink jet recording apparatus using the line type ink jet recording head as shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a so-called full-line type inkjet recording device.

In FIG. 9, a recording medium 50 such as paper or cloth is used.
2 is two conveyance rollers 501 arranged in parallel to each other.
Thus, it is conveyed in the direction of the arrow shown. Recording medium 502
A full-line type inkjet recording head 503 is arranged facing the recording medium 502 at a predetermined interval. The inkjet recording head 503 has ejection ports (not shown) formed over the entire width of the recording width of the recording medium 502.
Recording is performed on the recording medium 502 by driving an energy generating element (not shown) based on a recording signal while ejecting 2 to eject ink from the ejection port. As described above, the inkjet recording head of the present invention is configured by arranging a plurality of heater boards provided with energy generating elements, and a long product can be easily manufactured. It is particularly suitable for the head 503.

The form of the ink jet recording head of the present invention can be applied not only to the line type ink jet recording head shown in FIG. 1 but also to an ink jet cartridge 600 shown in FIG. The inkjet cartridge 600 is a miniaturized one in which an inkjet recording head 601 and an ink tank 602 that stores ink to be supplied to the inkjet recording head 601 are integrated. In addition, such an ink jet cartridge 600 has an ink tank 602.
When the ink inside is exhausted, the inkjet recording head 6
The ink tank 6 can be replaced every 01.
02 is not required to be attached / detached between the ink jet recording head 601 and the ink tank 602 can be easily replaced.

An ink jet recording apparatus using the ink jet cartridge 600 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, the lead screw 756 having the spiral groove 755 engraved is interlocked with the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motor 764, and is rotationally driven via the drive force transmission gears 762 and 760. The carriage 710 is a lead screw 7
By engaging with the spiral groove 755 by a pin (not shown) provided in the fitting portion with 56, and being slidably guided by the guide rail 754, the arrows a and b in the drawing are shown.
It can move back and forth in any direction.

On the other hand, the recording medium 771 has a guide member 7
The sheet is guided by the platen roller 41 and is conveyed by the platen roller 751 which rotates using the conveyance motor 743 as a drive source. The paper feed motor 36 is used as a drive source. The conveyed recording medium 771 is pressed against the platen roller 751 by the paper pressing plate 753 at a position facing the inkjet cartridge 600, and the distance from the inkjet recording head 601 (see FIG. 10) is maintained at a predetermined distance. It Here, while repeating the pitch feed of the recording medium 771 at a predetermined pitch and the reciprocating movement of the carriage 710, the energy generating element (not shown) is driven based on the recording signal, and the ink is ejected from the ejection port (not shown). Recording is performed by discharging.

The photocouplers 758 and 759 constitute a home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 757 of the carriage 710 in this area and performing the reverse rotation of the rotation direction of the drive motor 764.

The cap member 770 that caps the front surface of the ink jet cartridge 600 is a support member 765.
Supported by the ink jet recording head 6 through the opening 771 in the cap.
Perform 02 suction recovery. A support plate 768 is attached to the main body support plate 767, and the cleaning blade 766 slidably supported by the support plate 768 is moved in the front-rear direction by a driving unit (not shown). The form of the cleaning blade 766 is not limited to the illustrated one,
It goes without saying that a known one can be applied to this example.
The lever 763 is for starting the suction recovery operation, and moves with the movement of the cam 769 that abuts the carriage 710, and the driving force from the driving motor 764 is transmitted by a known transmission means such as a gear 761 or clutch switching. Movement controlled.

Each of the capping, cleaning, and suction recovery processes is performed at the corresponding position by the action of the lead screw 756 when the carriage 710 reaches the home position side area. If the desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 12 shows a heater board 1 of a second embodiment of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.
It is in a pressure contact state between 50 and the wall 259 partitioning the ink flow path. As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, as for the wall 259 facing the boundary between the heater boards 150 adjacent to each other, the two ribs 260b and 26 are formed as in the first embodiment.
0c is formed, and one rib 260d is formed on the other wall 259 'at the center in the width direction.

According to this structure, the heater board 150
Since the contact area between the ribs 260b, 260c and 260d is smaller than that in the first embodiment, the pressure applied to the ribs 260b, 260c and 260d is increased for the same pressure contact force. Therefore, when the top plate is pressed against the heater board 150, the ribs 260b, 260c, 2
60d is easily compressed, and the effect of absorbing the step between the heater boards 150 is improved.

The present invention is particularly effective in an ink jet type recording head and recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which is stored, which corresponds to the recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling. , It is effective because it generates heat energy in the electrothermal converter and causes film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, resulting in the formation of bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis. Is. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make the driving signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be ejected.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus, a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification is used. Either the structure that satisfies the length or the structure as one recording head integrally formed may be used, but the present invention can more effectively exhibit the above-described effects.

In addition, by being mounted on the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or sucking means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection other than recording It is also effective to perform stable recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for a device provided with at least one of full colors by color mixing.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or below and softens at room temperature, or is a liquid, or the above-mentioned. In the inkjet method, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. Any material that is in liquid form may be used.

In addition, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. In some cases, such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to a recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or one that has already started to solidify when it reaches a recording medium. The use of an ink having a property of being liquefied only by heat energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or JP-A-60-71260, a mode in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in the state of being held as a liquid or solid in the recess or through hole of the porous sheet. Also good. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor and a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, and further It may take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0062]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

In the ink jet recording head of the present invention, a pressure contact portion is provided in a portion of the grooved member which is in contact with the element substrate, of which a groove is partitioned and a wall which is opposed to a boundary portion between two element substrates adjacent to each other is pressure-contacted. By forming the part with two ribs that are pressed against different element substrates, even if a gap or a step is formed between the adjacent element substrates, the groove and the element substrate can be pressed together without a gap. . As a result, it is possible to obtain a high quality inkjet recording head in which ink does not leak between the ink flow paths. Further, the assembly process may be the same as the conventional process, and a high quality ink jet recording head can be easily obtained. Further, the ribs can be formed easily by using laser processing.

Further, of the pressure-contacting portions provided on the grooved member, the groove is partitioned, and the pressure-contacting portion of the wall facing only one element substrate is constituted by one rib, so that the grooved member is formed as a base body. When joined to, the pressure applied to the ribs increases,
The grooved member and the element substrate can be pressed against each other more reliably.

Furthermore, since a long ink jet recording head can be easily manufactured by increasing the number of element substrates, the ink jet recording head of the present invention can be used as a line head such as a full line type ink jet recording head. Is suitable.

Since the ink jet apparatus of the present invention is equipped with the above-mentioned ink jet recording head of the present invention, the groove of the ink jet recording head and the element substrate are surely brought into close contact with each other, and good recording can be performed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of main components of a first embodiment of an inkjet recording head of the present invention.

2A and 2B are a plan view, a front view, and a bottom view of a top plate of the inkjet recording head shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the top plate shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the top plate shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the groove forming surface side.

5 is a cross-sectional view of walls of the top plate shown in FIG. 2 that partition adjacent grooves.

6 is a diagram showing a state where the ink jet recording head shown in FIG. 1 is in pressure contact with a heater board and a wall partitioning an ink flow path.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a laser processing apparatus used when forming a groove and a rib on a top plate.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the procedure of forming grooves and ribs on the top plate.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an example of a full-line type inkjet recording apparatus including the inkjet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an example of an ink jet cartridge including the ink jet recording head of the present invention.

11 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of an inkjet recording apparatus including the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a pressure contact state between a heater board and a wall partitioning an ink flow path in a second embodiment of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a conventional inkjet recording head.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a pressure contact state between an element substrate and a wall that partitions an ink flow path when a step is formed on the element substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

100, 150 Heater board 101 Energy generating element 102, 401 Pad 200 Top plate 200a Surface 201 Liquid chamber 202 Groove 203 Discharge port 205 Pipe 206 Supply port 209, 269, 259 'Wall 210a, 210b, 210c, 260b, 260c,
260d rib 220 mask part 300 base plate 400 wiring board 402 connector 501 conveying rollers 502, 771 recording medium 503, 601 inkjet recording head 600 inkjet cartridge 602 ink tank 710 carriage 741 guide member 743 conveying motor 751 platen roller 753 paper pressing plate 754 guide Rail 755 Wire groove 756 Lead screw 757, 763 Lever 758, 759 Photocoupler 760, 762 Drive force transmission gear 761 Gear 764 Drive motor 765 Support member 766 Cleaning blade 767 Main body support plate 768 Support plate 769 Cam 770 Cap member 771 Inside the cap Opening 773 suction means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Toshio Kashino 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Haruhiko Terai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Koichi Omata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yu Yu Iketani 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A substrate having a plurality of element substrates on which a plurality of energy generating elements for generating ejection energy applied to ink are arranged, and a plurality of elements for ejecting ink, the base being fixed along the arrangement direction of the energy generating elements. And a groove that forms a plurality of ink flow paths corresponding to each energy generating element by being pressed against the plurality of element substrates and bonded to the base body. In an ink jet recording head having an attaching member, a portion of the grooved member that is in contact with the element substrate has a pressure contact portion that is in pressure contact with the element substrate along the shape of the portion, and among the pressure contact portions, The pressure contact portion of the wall that partitions the groove and faces the boundary portion of two element substrates adjacent to each other is
An ink jet recording head comprising two ribs pressed against different element substrates. 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein among the pressure contact portions, the pressure contact portion of the wall that partitions the groove and faces only one element substrate is composed of one rib. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the rib is formed by laser processing. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the plurality of ejection openings are formed along a width direction of a recording area of a recording medium on which recording is performed. 5. The ink jet head according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the energy generating element is an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for ejecting ink. 6. The ink jet recording head according to claim 5, wherein the ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. 7. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein ink is ejected from ejection ports of the ink jet recording head based on a recording signal to perform recording.