JPH08295019A - Head for ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ink jet printer head which can be manufactured at an improved yield by detecting an energizing abnormality in an electrode accurately in a midprocess. CONSTITUTION: When manufacturing a Ti electrode 10, electrodes are connected to each other at their tips, and the connected part is cut when a through hole 11 for ink supply is opened to complete a head for an ink jet printer. Thus it is possible to detect an abnormality in the energized state of the Ti electrode 10 accurately and efficiently in a midprocess.

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 apparatus in which an ink droplet is discharged from a nozzle by utilizing air bubbles generated by energizing a conductive ink and adhered onto a recording medium to record an image. The present invention relates to a printer head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet printer heads have been used in printers connected to computers, fax machines, word processors and the like.

Printers can be classified into ink jet type, wire dot type, thermal type, laser beam type, pen plot type, etc. according to the type. Among them, the ink jet type ink jet printer is
It is of particular interest because it has a simple structure, is inexpensive, and can record high-density color images at high speed regardless of the recording material.

Ink jet printers include a method of ejecting ink by changing the volume of an ink chamber using a piezo element, a method of ejecting ink by utilizing the generation and contraction of bubbles. Further, in the method utilizing the generation and contraction of bubbles, a method called bubble jet in which a heater is used to heat and vaporize ink to generate bubbles by means of bubble generation, or conductive ink is energized There is an energization method in which bubbles are generated by the heat generation phenomenon of the ink itself generated in.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a head 14 used in an energization type ink jet printer for generating bubbles and ejecting ink from nozzles is normally movable perpendicular to the insertion direction of the recording medium 1. It is used by being attached to the carriage 2 together with the tank 3 for supplying ink. In addition, this attachment may be performed by attaching an object in which the head 14 and the tank 3 are adhered, or by attaching a component called a cartridge for attaching the head 14 to the carriage 2 and an object in which the head 14 is adhered. still,
In the latter case, the tank 3 will be attached separately.

As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, the basic structure of the head 14 is such that the ink composed of a Ti thin film on the substrate 6 is filled with the Ti electrode 4 for energizing the ink. It is composed of a nozzle 9 made of polyimide to be ejected and a through hole 5 for supplying ink to the nozzle 9. The Ti electrode 4 is manufactured by a sputtering method, and the nozzle 9 is manufactured by a laser method. Moreover, the assembly is performed by adhesion.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, the individual Ti electrodes 4 are very small (thickness of several μm).
m × width several tens of μm), and the gap between the Ti electrodes 4 is very narrow, such as μm, and therefore, due to an abnormality such as a breakage of the Ti electrode 4 caused by damage of the Ti electrode 4 or an abnormality during the production of the Ti electrode 4. An abnormal phenomenon occurs in which the resistance is too small, and the detection is performed by checking whether or not ink is filled in the completed state with the nozzle 9 and ink droplets are normally ejected. Therefore, Ti
The abnormality of the electrode 4 can be detected only in the final state,
This is an obstacle to improving the yield of the head 14.

The present invention solves the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer head having a good head yield.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is to prepare an electrode in which ink is energized in a state of being connected to each other, and to cut the connecting part to form an electrode.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the quality of the electrodes is judged in the above-mentioned structure while the electrodes are connected to each other, the judgment can be efficiently carried out.

[0011]

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below. First,
The Ti electrode 10 shown in FIG. 1 is formed on the substrate 6 by using the sputtering method.
A device in which the electrodes are connected at the electrode tip 7 is produced. Then, the resistance value between the coupled electrode tip portion 7 and the terminal 8 of each Ti electrode 10 coupled to the power supply circuit is measured. From the measurement result, it is possible to detect a disconnection between the electrode tip portion 7 and the terminal 8 of each Ti electrode 10 or an energization failure with too small resistance due to an abnormality during the production of the Ti electrode 10. Finally, the ultrasonic wave machining method using the abrasive grains made of electrode carbon is applied only to the normal substrate 6 having no Ti electrode 10 that is not electrically conductive and the electrode tip portion 7 is removed by cutting and the ink shown in FIG. Through holes 11 for supply are simultaneously produced to produce a head 12 having no nozzle 9 having a Ti electrode 10 having the structure shown in FIG. Then, the nozzle 9 and the head 12 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 manufactured by using the laser method are bonded. Then, after the nozzle 9 and the head 12 are bonded together and the tank 3 shown in FIG. 3 is bonded and ink is filled in the tank 3, it is mounted on a printer and the ejection of the ink is confirmed. The ink has a specific resistance of 20 Ωcm and a viscosity of 2
A black ink having a cp and a surface tension of 30 dyne / cm was used. As a result, the yield of the head having the conventional structure was 30%, but was improved to 60%.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently detect the energization abnormality of the electrode after the electrode is produced by separating it from the nozzle and the assembly abnormality, and it is easy to improve the head yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part of a head for an inkjet printer in the process of being manufactured according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of an inkjet printer head according to an embodiment of the present invention after a through hole is formed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer equipped with a conventional inkjet printer head.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carriage on which a conventional inkjet printer head is mounted.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of a conventional inkjet printer head.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a conventional inkjet printer head.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a plate on which nozzles of a conventional inkjet printer head are formed.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a plate on which nozzles of a conventional inkjet printer head are formed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Substrate 7 Electrode Tip 8 Terminal 9 Nozzle 10 Ti Electrode 11 Through Hole 12 Head

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A head for an ink jet printer that discharges ink droplets from a nozzle by energizing ink to generate bubbles, which is produced by connecting electrodes for energizing ink and cutting the joint part. A head for an ink jet printer, which is characterized in that it is used as an electrode.