JPH0839814A - Production of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce an ink jet head capable of well performing the ejection of ink. CONSTITUTION:After an actuator plate, a cover plate and a nozzle plate 3 are bonded, the surface on the side of an ink chamber 12 of the nozzle plate 3 is subjected to hydrophilic treatment. In this hydrophilic treatment, an ink jet head is set to a vacuum state of lX10<-6>Torr and argon is subsequently introduced into a vacuum chamber. Plasma discharge is generated in the vacuum chamber and this state is kept. Then, an argon atom is positively ionized to be attracted to a cathode and impinges against the surface on the side of the ink chamber 12 of the nozzle plate to form fine unevenness.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has an actuator member having an ink chamber formed therein and a nozzle for ejecting ink, and is adhered to the actuator member so that the nozzle communicates with the ink chamber. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inkjet head having a nozzle plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an on-demand type ink jet head used in an ink jet printer or the like, a so-called thermal ink jet type one using a heating element which is an electric-heat converting element or an electric-mechanical converting element is used. A piezo type using a certain piezoelectric element has been put into practical use. A schematic configuration of such an inkjet head will be described with reference to FIG.

The ink jet head is an actuator body 50 that generates energy for ejecting ink.
And a nozzle plate 53 having nozzles 52 for ejecting ink. An ink chamber 62 filled with ink is formed in the actuator body 50, and the ink chamber 62 is separated by a partition wall 51. The nozzle plate 53 is adhered to the actuator body 50 with an adhesive 54 so that the nozzle 52 communicates with the ink chamber 62. In this bonding method, an appropriate amount of adhesive 54 is formed on the actuator body 50 side, and the nozzle plate 53
Is uniformly applied to the actuator body 50 and held, and the adhesive agent 54 is hardened by baking to adhere them.

The nozzles 52 of the nozzle plate 53 are formed by an excimer laser beam or the like before bonding, and the surface of the nozzle plate 53 on which the ink is ejected is subjected to a water repellent treatment so that the ink chamber 12 of the nozzle plate 53 is treated. It is customary to subject the side surface to a hydrophilic treatment. This is because, in an inkjet head that ejects ink, if the peripheral surface of the nozzle 52 gets wet with the ink, a deviation occurs in the flight direction of the ink droplet, and if the wetness becomes severe, the ink droplet does not fly. In addition, the surface of the nozzle plate 53 on the ink chamber 12 side is subjected to the hydrophilic treatment because the inner surface of the nozzle 52 and the nozzle plate 53
If the surface of the ink chamber 12 on the side of the ink chamber 12 has poor wettability with the ink, bubbles may enter or be entrained during ink filling or jetting,
This is because there was a problem that ink droplets did not fly.

[0005]

As described above, the nozzle plate 53 is uniformly pressed and held against the actuator body 50, and the adhesive 54 is hardened by baking, so that the nozzle plate 53 and the actuator body 50 are separated from each other. Since the adhesive is adhered to the nozzle plate 53
To the surface of the ink chamber 12 side and partially or wholly covers the surface of the nozzle plate 53 which has already been made hydrophilic, and an adhesive film is formed. And adhesive 4
In general, since the ink has very poor hydrophilicity and the ink is hard to wet, there is a problem that bubbles enter or are entrained during ink filling or jetting, and ink droplets do not fly.

In order to solve such a problem, a technique has been proposed in which, after the nozzle plate 53 and the actuator body 50 are adhered to each other, a dye is filled in the ink chamber 62 to make the inside of the ink chamber 62 hydrophilic. There is. However, in the hydrophilic treatment with the dye, since a hydrophilic film is formed on the inner wall of the ink chamber 62, the hydrophilic film may deteriorate and peel off. When the hydrophilic film peels off, the hydrophilicity in the nozzle deteriorates, and Ink drops are not ejected because bubbles enter or are entrained at the time of filling or jetting, or the hydrophilic film is clogged at the nozzle.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet head capable of excellent ink ejection.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, an actuator member having an ink chamber formed therein and a nozzle for ejecting ink are formed, and the nozzle is provided in the ink chamber. In a method of manufacturing an inkjet head having a nozzle plate adhered to the actuator member so as to communicate with each other, after adhering the nozzle plate to the actuator member, with respect to a surface of the nozzle plate on the ink chamber side, It is characterized in that it is hydrophilized by ion bombardment.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the hydrophilic treatment by the ion bombardment is performed in a plasma state in a high vacuum.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the hydrophilic treatment by ion bombardment is performed by introducing an inert gas into a high vacuum and applying a high voltage to generate a plasma discharge, and the inert gas is ionized. It is characterized by being called.

In the present invention, the inert gas is argon.

[0012]

In the nozzle plate manufacturing method of the present invention having the above structure, after the nozzle plate is adhered to the actuator member, ions collide with the ink chamber side surface of the nozzle plate, The portion of the nozzle plate facing the ink chamber and the adhesive on the surface of the nozzle plate on the ink chamber side are hydrophilized.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet head 10 comprises an actuator plate 1, a cover plate 2 and a nozzle plate 3.

The actuator plate 1 is formed of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) -based ceramic material having ferroelectricity. The actuator plate 1 is polarized in the direction of arrow 5. Further, the ink chamber 12 is attached to the actuator plate 1 by the rotation of the diamond cutter blade.
The groove 8 (see FIG. 1) is cut. The groove 8 has a width of about 85 μm, a depth of about 485 μm, and a length of about 10 mm. Each groove 8 is separated by a partition wall 11. An electrode 13 is formed on the upper half of the side surface of the groove 8 by vapor deposition or the like. Has been done.

The cover plate 2 is made of a ceramic material, a resin material or the like. Then, the cover plate 2 and the surface of the actuator plate 1 on the side where the groove 8 is processed are bonded to each other with an adhesive (not shown) such as an epoxy-based adhesive. By this adhesion, the opening of the groove 8 is closed and the ink chamber 12 (FIG. 1) is formed.

A nozzle plate 3 having nozzles 32 provided at positions corresponding to the positions of the ink chambers 12 is adhered to the end faces 41 of the actuator plate 1 and the cover plate 2 by an epoxy adhesive 4 (FIG. 1). . In this bonding method, an appropriate amount of the adhesive 4 is formed on the end surfaces 41 of the actuator plate 1 and the cover plate 2, and the nozzle plate 3 is evenly pressed and held against the actuator plate 1 and the cover plate 2 and bonded by baking. This is a method in which the agent 4 is cured and adhered. The nozzle plate 3 is made of a plastic such as polyalkylene (for example, ethylene) terephthalate, polyimide, polyetherimide, polyetherketone, polyethersulfone, polycarbonate, or cellulose acetate. The nozzles 32 of the nozzle plate 3 are formed by an excimer laser beam or the like before bonding, and the surface on the side where the ink is ejected is subjected to a water repellent treatment.

An end surface 4 of the actuator plate 1 and the cover plate 2 to which the nozzle plate 3 is adhered
On the end surface 42 on the side opposite to 1, the opening of the ink chamber 12 having a width of about 85 μm and a depth of 485 μm is formed. The length from the opening to the nozzle plate 3, that is, the length of the ink chamber 12 is about 10 mm.

After the actuator plate 1, the cover plate 2 and the nozzle plate 3 are bonded together, the surface of the nozzle plate 3 on the ink chamber 12 side is hydrophilized. This hydrophilization treatment is performed using a sputtering device as shown in FIG.

In the chamber 100, the target 10
2 and the sample holder 103 are arranged to face each other at an interval of 5 cm to 6 cm. And chamber 100
Is a vacuum pump 101 and a DC or high frequency power supply 10
4 and a matching box 106 composed of a variable condenser.

Then, on the sample holder 103,
The inkjet head 10 is set with the end surface 42 side up, that is, the opening is set toward the target 102 side, and the vacuum pump 101 is operated to operate the chamber 1
The inside of 00 is evacuated to 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ Torr.

Then, an inert gas such as argon (A
r) is introduced into the chamber 100 through the gas pipe 105, and the degree of vacuum is adjusted to maintain the degree of vacuum at 1 × 10 ⁻³ Torr. Then, using the power supply 104, a high voltage is applied with the target 102 side as the anode and the sample holder 103 side as the cathode. For example, by applying 1 kW and adjusting the capacity of the capacitor by the matching box 106, plasma discharge is caused and the state is maintained. Then, the argon atoms are positively ionized and attracted to the cathode, and collide with energy on the inkjet head 10 on the cathode. At this time, the degree of vacuum is 1 × 10 ⁻³ Tor, which makes the mean free path several cm.
If the r level is maintained, the Ar ions 107 efficiently go straight about 10 mm (in the ink chamber 12) from the opening to the nozzle plate 3 and collide with the nozzle plate 6 to form fine irregularities on the surface.

As a result of such ion bombardment, as shown in FIG. 1, including the surplus adhesive surface formed on the surface of the nozzle plate 3 on the ink chamber 12 side, the ink chamber 12 side of the polyimide nozzle plate 3 is covered. The surface is finely etched to make it hydrophilic. Further, the surface of the nozzle plate 3 on the ink ejection side, which is in contact with the sample holder 103, is not exposed to the plasma, so that the water repellent treatment is not impaired.

In this way, the ink jet head 10 in which the surface of the nozzle plate 3 on the ink chamber 12 side is made hydrophilic.
A manifold member (not shown) is attached to the end surface 42 of each of the above and is connected to an ink supply source (not shown). As a result, the ink chamber 1 is supplied from the ink supply source through the manifold.
Ink is supplied to 2. Further, the electrode 13 of the inkjet head 10 is connected to a drive circuit (not shown). By applying a voltage to the electrode 13, the partition wall 11 is deformed, a pressure wave is generated in the ink in the ink chamber 12, and the ink is ejected from the nozzle 32.

When printing was carried out using this ink jet head, bubbles did not enter or were entrained during ink filling or jetting, the direction of the jetted droplets was stable, and the print quality was good. It was

As described above, in the method of manufacturing the ink jet head 10 of this embodiment, after the actuator plate 1, the cover plate 2 and the nozzle plate 3 are adhered to each other, the ink chamber 12 of the nozzle plate 3 is ion-impacted. Therefore, the portion of the nozzle plate 3 that faces the ink chamber 12 and the adhesive film that partially or entirely covers the surface of the ink chamber 12 of the nozzle plate 3 are etched and made hydrophilic. In the ink jet head hydrophilically treated in this way, the direction of the ejected droplets is stable and the print quality is good, without the entry or entrainment of bubbles during ink filling or ejection. In addition, since it does not have a film for hydrophilization as in the conventional case, the hydrophilic film is not deteriorated and peeled off as in the conventional case, the nozzle is not clogged by a part of the hydrophilic film, and ink ejection is not performed. There is no fear of stabilizing it.

In this embodiment, argon is used as the inert gas, but xenon may be used instead.

Further, in the present embodiment, the hydrophilic treatment is performed by the sputtering apparatus, but any apparatus having a vacuum system and high voltage electrodes such as CVD and ion plating may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, the shear mode type ink jet head as shown in FIG. 3 was made hydrophilic, but the Kaiser type and Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-59914 disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-12138. As a result of printing by making the thermal jet type inkjet head disclosed in the publication hydrophilic by the above method, the same effect was obtained.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method of manufacturing a nozzle plate of the present invention, after the nozzle plate is bonded to the actuator member,
Since the ion bombardment is performed on the ink chamber side surface of the nozzle plate, the adhesive on the ink chamber side surface of the nozzle plate and the ink chamber side surface of the nozzle plate is etched and made hydrophilic. It In the ink jet head hydrophilically treated in this way, the direction of the ejected droplets is stable and the print quality is good, without the entry or entrainment of bubbles during ink filling or ejection.
In addition, since it does not have a film for hydrophilization as in the conventional case, the hydrophilic film is not deteriorated and peeled off as in the conventional case, the nozzle is not clogged by a part of the hydrophilic film, and ink ejection is not performed. There is no fear of stabilizing it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a nozzle plate after a hydrophilic treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an apparatus for performing a hydrophilic treatment of the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the inkjet head.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conventional actuator body and a nozzle plate are bonded together.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Actuator plate 2 Cover plate 3 Nozzle plate 4 Adhesive 32 Nozzle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet having an actuator member in which an ink chamber is formed, a nozzle for ejecting ink, and a nozzle plate adhered to the actuator member so that the nozzle communicates with the ink chamber. In the method of manufacturing a head, after the nozzle plate is bonded to the actuator member, the surface of the nozzle plate on the ink chamber side is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment by ion bombardment. 2. The method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic treatment by ion bombardment is performed in a plasma state in a high vacuum. 3. The hydrophilic treatment by ion bombardment is performed by introducing an inert gas into a high vacuum and applying a high voltage to generate plasma discharge, and ionizing the inert gas. The method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to claim 2, wherein 4. The method of manufacturing an inkjet head according to claim 3, wherein the inert gas is argon.