JPH0839804A - Ink jet head and ink jet device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a seal resin from flowing in an ink emitting nozzle by making the wettability of the contact surface with a substrate of a wall constituting a separation groove or the surface of the substrate opposed to the contact surface higher than that of the inner wall of the separation groove. CONSTITUTION:The separation grooves 130 of a common liquid chamber and the liquid separation grooves 110 of a nozzle part are filled with a seal resin to separate the liquid chamber and nozzles. The contact surfaces 150 coming into contact with the inner wall substrate sides of the separation grooves 130 of the common liquid chamber are made different in wettability and the wettability of the inner walls of the separation grooves 130 of the common liquid chamber is made higher than that of the contact surfaces 150. In order to provide wettability difference between the inner walls of the separation grooves 130 of the common liquid chamber and the contact surfaces of the contact surfaces 150 of them, water repelling treatment applying a water repelling material to the contact surfaces 150 of the separation grooves 130 of the common liquid chamber and/or the parts opposed to the contact surfaces 150 on the substrate side may be performed or water repelling treatment may be applied to the inner wall part of the grooves.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is mounted on an ink jet apparatus for recording by ejecting a recording liquid (ink or the like) as droplets from a discharge port (orifice) and adhering it to a recording medium. The present invention relates to an inkjet head, and more particularly to a color inkjet head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet head, as described in JP-A-55-132253, an electricity / heat converter formed on a silicon substrate, a recording ink ejection port on the silicon substrate, It is configured by joining an ink flow path having a heat acting portion by the electrothermal converter and a top plate having a recess for forming a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the ink flow path.

Further, in the ink jet head,
A drive circuit for driving the electricity / heat converter arranged on the silicon substrate is built in the silicon substrate. A wiring board for drawing out wiring from the drive circuit of the silicon substrate is provided, and the silicon substrate in which the drive circuit is formed and the wiring board are arranged adjacent to each other on the heat dissipation member.

The electric connection between the drive circuit and the terminals arranged on the silicon substrate provided with the electrothermal converter is electric, and one aluminum wiring drawn out from the heat converter is inside the silicon substrate. Connected to the drive circuit
The other aluminum wiring is collectively led out to the end of the silicon substrate by the two-layer wiring and connected to the common terminal of the power source on the wiring board by wire bonding.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the color ink jet head uses an ink jet unit in which a plurality of ink jet heads are arranged to perform multicolor color printing. According to the above-mentioned conventional example, when a plurality of inkjet heads are arranged, it is difficult to make the apparatus compact and the speed is increased, but the cost is increased by the number of inkjet heads.

Therefore, by dividing the common liquid chamber of the top plate with the nozzles for ejecting ink into a plurality of parts and supplying a plurality of kinds of ink to each of the divided liquid chambers, one ink jet head can perform multicolor printing. It has been proposed that an inkjet head can be made compact and an inexpensive color inkjet head can be provided.

[0007]

However, in the case of the above construction, it is necessary to surely separate the plurality of common liquid chambers of the top plate. When separating multiple common liquid chambers, a groove for pouring a sealing resin for separation between each common liquid chamber of a silicon substrate with a drive circuit and a top plate with ink discharge nozzles equipped with multiple common liquid chambers. (Hereinafter referred to as a separation groove) is provided, and the separation groove continues between the ink ejection nozzles between the liquid chambers.

Furthermore, when the separation sealing resin is poured between the common liquid chambers, it is necessary to ensure that the sealing resin stops at the separation groove and does not flow into the ink ejection nozzle.

As a result of the study, it was found that if the injection amount of the sealing resin is not controlled to an extremely small amount, the sealing resin will flow into the ink ejection nozzle, resulting in poor yield. .

[0010]

According to the present invention, in the ink jet recording head in which the sealant injection groove for separation is provided between the common liquid chambers, the ink injection nozzle is lined with the ink ejection nozzle. A liquid chamber separation groove (hereinafter referred to as a dummy nozzle) is provided at the same interval and height as the nozzle, and the common liquid chamber and the side wall of the sealing resin injection groove of the nozzle are covered with a water repellent material for ink ejection. Prevent the sealing resin from flowing into the nozzle. Therefore, it is possible to reliably separate the liquid chambers with good yield.

Further, the number of dummy nozzles is increased because the certainty is increased as compared with the case where the constitution of the present invention (the constitution in which the side wall portion of the sealing resin injection groove of the common liquid chamber and the nozzle portion is covered with the water repellent material) is not provided. Can be reduced, and the ink jet recording head can be reduced in size.

[0012]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a grooved top plate showing an example of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a sealing resin injection groove portion of the grooved top plate of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording head showing an example, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a substrate.

In FIG. 1, 100 is an ink ejection nozzle, 110 is a plurality of liquid chamber separating grooves (dummy nozzles) in the nozzle portion, 115 is a dummy nozzle wall, 130 is a common liquid chamber separating groove, and 150 is a common liquid. A contact surface of the chamber separation groove with the substrate side, 16
Reference numeral 0 is an orifice plate, 170 is a sealant injection port for the common liquid chamber separation groove, and 180 is a common liquid chamber.

In FIG. 2, 120 is a liquid chamber separation groove 110.
(Dummy nozzle) is a recording ink ejection port formed of a hole formed in the orifice plate 160, and the dummy nozzles 110 are arranged at the same intervals as the ink ejection nozzles 100 and are wide by the width of two central nozzles. 110 are connected to the separation groove 130 of the common liquid chamber, and three dummy nozzles 110 are provided on each of the left and right sides of the common liquid chamber 130, for a total of seven.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a substrate 190 made of silicon on which a plurality of energy generators 300 for generating ejection energy are arranged, and a recording ink ejection port 120 and ink as shown in FIGS. A grooved top plate 200 having a nozzle 100 for ejecting ink, which is a flow path, and a plurality of common liquid chambers 180 for supplying ink to the nozzle 100, and the substrate 190 are joined together.

Further, 210 is an aluminum plate for radiating heat from the silicon substrate. In addition, the silicon substrate is made of an adhesive having good thermal conductivity,
It is glued to 0.

The common liquid chamber separating groove 130 and the liquid chamber separating groove 110 of the nozzle portion are filled with a sealing resin to separate the liquid chamber and the nozzle. A difference is provided so as to have different wettability from the contact surface 150 of the common liquid chamber separation groove 130 that abuts against the inner wall substrate side, and the inner wall of the liquid chamber separation groove portion 130 has the contact surface 150 of the liquid chamber separation groove and the contact surface 150. The wettability is better than that of the contact surface 150.

As means for providing a difference in wettability between the inner wall of the common liquid chamber separation groove 130 and the contact surface 150 of the common liquid chamber separation groove, the contact surface 150 and / or the contact surface of the liquid chamber separation groove 130 is used. Water-repellent treatment such as coating a water-repellent material on the portion of the substrate facing the surface 150 may be performed, or the inner wall portion of the groove may be subjected to hydrophilic treatment.

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

When the sealant is injected into the separation groove between the liquid chambers of the ink jet head shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the sealant is dispensed with a silicon substrate at the rear end of the sealant injection port of the grooved top plate. Apply on top. The applied sealant is injected into the separation groove between the liquid chambers by the capillary force and reaches the dummy groove. Since the separation groove between the liquid chambers and the dummy nozzle width are different, a wide dummy nozzle is connected to the separation groove of the common liquid chamber in the center. When the sealing resin is injected into the dummy nozzle from the separation groove between the liquid chambers, first, the sealing agent is injected only into the central dummy nozzle, and the central dummy nozzle is filled with the sealing agent. In this case, the dummy nozzle wall 115 and the substrate facing surface 150 of the common liquid chamber separation groove are covered with the water repellent material, so that a meniscus is formed between the substrate and those walls due to the surface tension of the sealing resin. The sealing resin flows from the dummy nozzle between the orifice plate and the substrate.
Therefore, the liquid chamber / nozzle can be separated with good yield and reliability. Second Embodiment FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment according to the present invention. Discharge energy generator (for example, electrothermal converter)
The water repellent material 310 is coated on the contact surface of the side wall of the grooved top plate liquid chamber separation groove of the substrate 190 on which the 300 is provided with the substrate.

The operation is the same as that of the first embodiment. When the sealing resin is injected into the dummy nozzle from the separation groove between the liquid chambers, the sealing agent is first injected only into the central dummy nozzle, and the central dummy is injected. When the nozzle is filled with the sealant, the water repellent material is coated on the opposing portions of the dummy nozzle wall 115 and the common liquid chamber separation groove wall 150 of the substrate 190, so that the space between the substrate and those walls is increased. Since the meniscus is formed by the surface tension of the sealing resin, the sealing resin flows between the orifice plate and the substrate from the dummy nozzle adjacent to the outside. Therefore, the liquid chamber / nozzle can be separated with good yield and reliability. Third Embodiment In the third embodiment according to the present invention, the contact surface 150 of the grooved top plate liquid chamber separation groove side wall portion of the substrate 190 with the substrate side, the dummy nozzle wall 115, and the common liquid chamber separation groove wall 150 are provided. To both
It is coated with a water repellent material.

The operation is more effective than the first and second embodiments,
When the sealing resin is injected into the dummy nozzle from the separation groove between the liquid chambers, the sealing agent is first injected only into the central dummy nozzle, and the central dummy nozzle is filled with the sealing agent. Sometimes the substrate 190 and the dummy nozzle wall 115
Since the water repellent material is coated on both facing portions of the contact surface 150 of the common liquid chamber separation groove wall, a meniscus is formed between the substrate and these walls due to the surface tension of the sealing resin. The sealing resin flows from the nozzle between the orifice plate and the substrate. Therefore, the liquid chamber / nozzle can be separated with good yield and reliability. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an inkjet recording apparatus IJRA to which a color inkjet cartridge of four colors according to the present invention is applied. Carriage H here
C is a carriage HC having a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 5005 of the lead screw 5004 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in association with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013. It is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. The recording head unit 5 is provided on the carriage HC.
025, the ink tank portion 5026 is mounted. 500
A paper pressing plate 2 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. 5007,5
Reference numeral 008 is a photo coupler, which is a lever 5 of the carriage.
This is a home position detecting means for confirming the existence of 006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
Is a suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. In this case, one cap sucks simultaneously four color nozzles. Further, 5017 is a cleaning blade, 501
Reference numeral 9 denotes a member that makes this blade movable in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by the main body support plate 5018. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the drive motor moves by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Controlled.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage HC is positioned in the home position side area. As long as a desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of the above can be applied to this example. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention brings excellent effects particularly in an inkjet type recording head and a recording device that form flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the inkjet recording types.

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 this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

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 on 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, 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, as the recording mode of the recording apparatus, not only the mainstream color such as black but not only the recording mode, the recording head may be integrally formed or a plurality of them may be combined. 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 which solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens at room temperature, or a liquid, or the above-mentioned liquid. 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. It may be in a liquid form.

In addition, the temperature rise due to 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. 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.

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

[0034]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the central dummy nozzle is filled with the sealant, the substrate and / or the dummy nozzle wall / common liquid chamber separation groove wall faces the substrate. Since the surface is coated with the water repellent material, a meniscus is formed between the substrate and the walls due to the surface tension of the sealing resin, so that the sealing resin flows from the adjacent dummy nozzle on the outer side between the orifice plate and the substrate. Therefore, the liquid chamber / nozzle can be separated with good yield and reliability.

Further, the number of dummy nozzles can be reduced, the substrate can be downsized, and the number of wafers taken from one wafer can be increased. As a result, it is possible to reduce the cost of the substrate on which various wirings, which are the highest among the components of the inkjet recording head, are formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grooved top plate according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a plurality of liquid chamber separation grooves of a nozzle portion of the grooved top plate of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an inkjet recording head according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a substrate according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an inkjet unit in which a plurality of inkjet recording heads are arranged.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus to which a color inkjet cartridge is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Ink Discharging Nozzle 110 Plural Liquid Chamber Separation Grooves in Nozzle 115 Dummy Nozzle Wall 120 Orifice Plate Hole 125 Groove Connecting to Hole in Orifice Plate 130 Common Liquid Chamber Separation Groove 150 Substrate Side Contact Surface of Liquid Chamber Separation Groove 160 Orifice plate 170 Common liquid chamber separation groove sealant inlet 180 Common liquid chamber 190 Substrate 200 Groove top plate 210 Aluminum plate 300 Discharge energy generator 310 Water repellent material

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A substrate having a plurality of ejection energy generators for generating ejection energy for ejecting ink, and a plurality of grooves for constituting a plurality of liquid flow paths corresponding to the ejection energy generators. While joining a plurality of recesses forming a plurality of common liquid chambers for supplying ink to the liquid flow path, and a grooved member having a separation groove for separating the liquid chambers between the recesses, An inkjet head in which each of the plurality of liquid chambers is separated by filling the separation groove with a sealing material, and a contact surface of a wall forming the separation groove with a substrate and / or a corresponding contact surface. The ink jet head is characterized in that the wettability of the inner wall of the separation groove is higher than the wettability of the opposing substrate surface. 2. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the ejection energy generator is a heating resistor. 3. The inkjet head according to claim 1, wherein inks of different colors are supplied to the common liquid chambers. 4. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein a contact surface of the wall forming the separation groove with the substrate and / or a surface of the substrate facing the contact surface is subjected to a water repellent treatment. 5. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the inner wall of the separation groove is hydrophilically treated. 6. An ink jet device comprising the ink jet head according to claim 1 and a recording medium conveying means.