JPH08281952A - Manufacture of liquid jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the manufacturing cost of a liquid jet recording head having an orifice surface which has liquid repellency. CONSTITUTION: A nozzle pattern 2 is provided on a board having a discharge energy generating element, a resin layer 3 is laminated thereon, a metal film 4 is further formed, and patterned to form an orifice 4a. Then, the layer 3 exposed from the orifice 4a is etched, and the pattern 2 is eventually dissolved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head used in a liquid jet recording apparatus for recording (printing) on a recording paper or the like by ejecting recording liquid (ink) as small droplets from fine discharge holes (orifices). The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recording liquid (ink) is discharged as a small droplet from a minute discharge hole (orifice) and is recorded (printed) on a recording paper or the like.
In a liquid jet recording head of a liquid jet recording apparatus for performing the above, generally, on a substrate provided with an ejection energy generating element, a liquid flow path (nozzle) for flowing a recording liquid and a nozzle layer forming a common liquid chamber are laminated. It has a laminated structure.

In manufacturing the nozzle layer, first, a liquid flow path or the like is grooved by cutting or etching on the surface of a plate material such as glass or metal, and the plate material thus grooved is used as an ejection energy generating element. After aligning with a substrate provided with, or by bonding, or forming a nozzle pattern having a shape of a liquid flow path or the like on the substrate by known lithography or the like, a resin layer is deposited to cover the nozzle pattern, Next, the nozzle pattern is eluted (JP-A-62-154947).
(See Japanese Patent Publication), etc. are adopted.

FIG. 3 shows a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional example, which has a substrate 101 having a discharge energy generating element (not shown), and a resin nozzle layer 103 laminated thereon. The substrate 101 has an ink supply hole (not shown) communicating with the ink supply pipe 102, and the nozzle layer 103 has an orifice 104 opening to the orifice surface 103a.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, the method of grooving a plate material such as glass or metal is apt to roughen the wall surface when the liquid flow path is machined by cutting, and the surface is highly smooth. Is difficult to obtain, and in the case of groove processing by etching, there is a tendency for cost to increase due to the large number of steps, and in addition, the cross-sectional dimension of the liquid flow path becomes non-uniform due to variation in etching rate, Therefore, the flow resistance becomes non-uniform. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain uniform recording characteristics.

Further, when the grooved plate material is attached to the substrate, it is required to accurately align the liquid flow path and the like with the discharge energy generating element of the substrate,
There is also an unsolved problem that this process is complicated and lacks in mass productivity.

Further, the method of providing a nozzle pattern on the substrate, covering the same with a resin layer and then eluting the nozzle pattern does not require a complicated alignment process, etc., and can realize a high-definition liquid flow path. Since it can be easily applied, it is expected to contribute greatly to cost reduction and high performance of liquid jet recording heads, but the nozzle layer material is a highly hydrophilic (lyophilic) synthetic resin, Therefore, the surface around the discharge hole formed at the opening end of the liquid flow path, the so-called orifice surface, has high hydrophilicity, and the discharge performance tends to be unstable. Therefore, it has been devised to apply a liquid repellent surface material such as a fluororesin film to the orifice surface to stabilize the ejection performance, but the work of applying the liquid repellent surface material is complicated. Since a step of removing the liquid repellent surface material that has entered the inside of the liquid flow path from the ejection hole is also required, the number of manufacturing steps is significantly increased, which is a major obstacle to cost reduction of the liquid jet recording head.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned prior art, has a recording liquid ejection surface (orifice surface) having high liquid repellency and smoothness, and has a simple manufacturing process. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and high-performance liquid jet recording head manufacturing method that requires a small number of steps.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention comprises a step of forming a nozzle pattern having a liquid flow path shape on a substrate having ejection energy generating means, A step of laminating a resin layer on a substrate provided with a nozzle pattern to obtain a substrate resin layer laminated body; a step of depositing a metal film on the obtained substrate resin layer laminated body and patterning an ejection hole thereon; And a step of etching the resin layer of the substrate resin layer laminate through the patterned metal film and removing the nozzle pattern.

The surface of the metal film is preferably made of a metal material having a work function of 5.0 eV or more.

[0011]

A nozzle pattern is provided on a substrate, a resin layer is laminated on the substrate, and a vacuum deposition method, sputtering or CV is performed on the resin layer.
A metal film is deposited by D or the like, and a discharge hole is patterned on the metal film. The resin layer is etched by using the metal film having the ejection holes patterned as a mask, and the nozzle pattern is eluted to form a liquid flow path communicating with the ejection holes of the metal film.

In the liquid jet recording head thus manufactured, the recording liquid jetting surface having the jetting holes is covered with the metal film and therefore has sufficient liquid repellency and smoothness, so that stable jetting performance is obtained. Can be secured.

Further, since the metal film is patterned before forming the liquid flow path in the resin layer, there is no possibility that the metal material will enter the liquid flow path when the metal film is formed.
Therefore, there is no need for a step of removing the surface material that has entered the liquid flow path, which is very useful for simplifying the manufacturing process of the liquid jet recording head and reducing the number of processes.

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 illustrates a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to a first embodiment. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, an ejection energy generating element which is ejection energy generating means (not shown) is used. An ink supply hole 1a is opened in the formed substrate 1. As a method of opening, a processing method using a YAG laser, an ultrasonic drill or the like is known. Next, a soluble resin (resist) is applied to the surface of the substrate 1, and the nozzle pattern 2 having the shapes of an ink flow path and a common liquid chamber, which are liquid flow paths, is formed by known photolithography.
To form. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1B, the resin layer 3 is applied as the structural material of the nozzle layer on the substrate 1 on which the nozzle pattern 2 is formed, to obtain a substrate resin layer laminate.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the metal film 4 is formed on the surface of the resin layer 3. There are vacuum vapor deposition method, sputtering method, CVD method and the like as a method of forming the metal film 4, but it is desirable to form a film having a flat surface state and high crystallinity.
A film forming method such as the electroplating method in which the surface is not so flat is not preferable. As a material for the metal film, the work function of the metal material is 5. in order to have good liquid repellency.
It is preferably 0 eV or more.

As a concrete material, the work function is 5.0.
Above eV, there are Pt, Ir, Ni, Au, Pd and the like. In a substance of 5.0 eV or less, there is Cr (4.5 eV) and the like. These metals are known as materials that are chemically stable and do not form oxides or are very difficult to form.

On the metal film 4 thus formed, a photosensitive resist film 5 is applied and exposed to form an opening 5a as shown in FIG. 1 (d). Further, as shown in FIG. 1E, the metal film 4 is etched through the patterned photosensitive resist film 5 to form an orifice 4a which is a discharge hole. Although the etching method varies depending on the material of the metal film 4, the work function is 5.0.
Dry etching is difficult with materials of eV or higher. In the case of Cr, dry etching with CCl ₄ gas is possible. Wet etching is generally used for other materials. For example, in the case of Au, etching can be performed using a mixed solution of iodine and potassium iodide.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1F, dry etching is performed using oxygen gas with the metal film 4 as a mask, the photosensitive resist film 5 is removed, and the opening 3 is formed in the resin layer 3.
a is provided. Finally, as shown in FIG. 1G, the nozzle pattern 2 is removed to complete the nozzle layer having the ink flow path 3b and the common liquid chamber (not shown).

According to this embodiment, the so-called orifice surface, which is the recording liquid ejection surface in which the orifice of the liquid jet recording head is opened, is covered with the metal film deposited on the nozzle layer in the process of manufacturing the nozzle layer. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide a coating film of a liquid repellent surface material on the orifice surface. In this way, by greatly simplifying the manufacturing process of the liquid jet recording head, it is possible to greatly contribute to the cost reduction of the liquid jet recording head. Further, since the metal film has high smoothness and mechanical strength in addition to high liquid repellency, it is useful for further stabilizing the ejection performance of the liquid jet recording head and improving its strength.

Next, a specific example of this embodiment will be described.

An Au film is formed as the metal film 4 by using the sputtering method, and the Au film is formed by known photolithography.
The u film is patterned.

First, an ink supply hole is formed at a predetermined position of a substrate on which an ink ejection energy generating element is arranged in advance.
Open with laser. The method of opening is not limited to the YAG laser, and an ultrasonic processing machine, a diamond drill or the like may be used. Next, Tokyo Ohka positive resist OD
UR-1010 is applied on a PET film and a dry film is laminated on the PET film to cover the entire surface of the substrate having the ink supply holes, and a nozzle pattern is formed by known photolithography. Next, an epoxy resin is applied as a resin layer on the entire surface of the substrate on which the nozzle pattern is formed by spin coating. This film thickness is an important factor that determines the distance between the ejection hole and the ejection energy generating element (heater). Epoxy resin is cured by light and heat, and Cr is deposited on it by sputtering.
A film having a thickness of 50 nm and an Au film having a thickness of 1 μm are formed. The equipment is sputtering equipment SPH-530H made by Nichiden Anelva.
It was used. A photosensitive resist film is formed in order to pattern the metal film thus obtained. OFPR-800 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd. was used as a resist by a spin coating method. After prebaking at 90 ° C. for 20 minutes, a punching pattern is formed in the portion that will be the discharge hole. Next, the metal film is etched through the cut pattern. Au
Iodine / potassium iodide = 4/1 for etching the film,
An etching solution of 40 ml of pure water was used. For etching the Cr film, an etching solution of 164.5 g of ceric ammonium nitrate and 43 ml of perchloric acid to which pure water was added to make 11 was used. Further, the resin layer is dry-etched using the metal film as a mask to form an opening. Oxygen gas was used as the etching gas, and the conditions were discharge power 150.
W, discharge gas pressure is approximately 7 Pa, and oxygen gas flow rate is 20 SCCM. The device used was DEM-451 manufactured by Nichiden Anelva Co., Ltd. The etching time varies depending on the material of the epoxy resin and the film thickness thereof, but is about 40 minutes when the film thickness is 10 μm, for example. The photosensitive resist film used for patterning the metal film is simultaneously removed during the dry etching with oxygen. ODU that formed the nozzle pattern at the end
A liquid jet recording head is completed by dissolving and removing R-1010 with methyl isobutyl ketone.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to a second embodiment. This method is the same as that of the first embodiment, and is formed on a substrate 11 as shown in FIG. The ink supply hole 11a is opened, and the nozzle pattern 1 is formed on the ink supply hole 11a.
2 is formed, a resin layer 13 is laminated as shown in FIG. 2B, and then a resist pattern of a positive resist is formed on the surface of the resin layer 13 as shown in FIG. 1
5 is formed, a metal film 14 is deposited thereon as shown in FIG. 2D, and a solvent that dissolves the positive resist is used to form a resist pattern as shown in FIG. 15
Are removed together with the metal film 14 formed thereon to form the orifice 14a. Subsequently, an opening is formed in the resin layer 13 by dry etching as shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG.
Is removed.

In this embodiment, instead of the step of patterning the metal film by etching in the first embodiment,
The lift-off method using resist is adopted. Since the other points are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a specific example of this embodiment will be described.

A hole serving as an ink supply hole is opened at a predetermined position on the substrate by a YAG laser. Next, a positive resist ODUR-1010 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd. is applied on a PET film and a dry film is laminated, thereby covering the entire surface of the substrate and forming a nozzle pattern by photolithography. Next, an epoxy resin is applied to the entire surface of the substrate on which the nozzle pattern is formed, and a resist pattern for carrying out the lift-off method is formed on a portion which will be an orifice, using a positive resist AZ-1450J (made by Hoechst). . A metal film is formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the resist pattern is removed, and the orifice is patterned in the metal film. At this time, chlorobenzene was used as the lift-off solvent. The liquid jet recording head is completed by forming openings in the resin layer by dry etching and removing the nozzle pattern.

The present invention brings excellent effects particularly in a so-called ink jet recording type recording head and recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy in the liquid jet recording method. Is.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
No. 796, the present invention is preferably carried out using these basic principles. This recording method is applicable to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type.

To briefly explain this recording method, a sheet holding a recording liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter, which is an ejection energy generating element arranged corresponding to a liquid flow path, is ejected from a drive circuit. A signal is supplied, that is, nucleate boiling phenomenon is exceeded in the recording liquid (ink) corresponding to the recording information,
By applying at least one drive signal to provide a rapid temperature rise that results in a film boiling phenomenon,
Heat energy is generated to cause film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording head. In this way, bubbles can be formed one-to-one corresponding to the drive signal applied from the recording liquid (ink) to the electrothermal converter, which is particularly effective for the on-demand recording method. The growth and contraction of the bubbles cause the recording liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection port to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the recording liquid (ink) with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As this pulse-shaped drive signal, US Pat.
Those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,633,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. It should be noted that US Pat. No. 4,313, which is an invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface
If the conditions described in the specification No. 124 are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

The structure of the recording head is a combination of a discharge port, a liquid flow path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path).
In addition to the above, the present invention is also effective for those having a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in the bending region as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600. .

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

Further, as a recording head to which the present invention is effectively used, there is a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. The full-line head may be a full-line recording head formed by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification, or a single full-line recording head integrally formed.

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 that is specially provided is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means or preliminary auxiliary means to the recording head because the recording apparatus can be made more stable. Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressure or suction means, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than the capping means, preheating means for the recording head, or a combination thereof. It is also effective to perform stable recording by adding a preliminary discharge mode means for performing discharge different from recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is recorded, and either the recording head may be integrally formed or a combination of plural recording heads may be used. However, the present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of a multicolor of different colors or a full color by color mixing.

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 ink jet recording apparatus, in addition to the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing device such as a computer, a form of a copying machine combined with a reader or the like, and a form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function. It may be taken.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Although the ink is described as a liquid, it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and becomes a liquid or a liquid at room temperature, or a temperature range for temperature adjustment that is generally performed in inkjet. ℃ or more 70 ℃
It may be softened or become liquid in the following temperature range. That is, the ink may be in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied. In addition, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink that solidifies when left standing for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink is used. In any case, the thermal energy such as the one that the ink is liquefied by applying the thermal energy according to the recording signal and ejected as an ink liquid, or the one that has already started to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The use of an ink having the property of liquefying for the first time is also applicable to the invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5.
6847 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-71260, a mode in which it is opposed to an electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in a recess or through hole of a porous sheet. May be In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

[0039]

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

A liquid jet recording head having a recording liquid ejection surface (orifice surface) having high liquid repellency and smoothness and thus stable recording liquid ejection performance can be easily manufactured in a small number of steps. As a result, the liquid jet recording head can contribute significantly to higher performance and lower cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a part of a liquid jet recording head according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 substrate 2, 12 nozzle pattern 3, 13 resin layer 4, 14 metal film 5 photosensitive resist film 15 resist pattern

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A step of providing a nozzle pattern having a shape of a liquid flow path on a substrate having ejection energy generating means,
A step of laminating a resin layer on a substrate provided with a nozzle pattern to obtain a substrate resin layer laminated body; a step of depositing a metal film on the obtained substrate resin layer laminated body and patterning an ejection hole thereon; A method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head, comprising the steps of etching a resin layer of a substrate resin layer laminate through a patterned metal film and removing the nozzle pattern. 2. The method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the metal film is made of a metal material having a work function of 5.0 eV or more.