JPH0939255A - Ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the manufacture of a nozzle plate and to stability the ink repellency for a long period. SOLUTION: An ink repellent member sheet 10 and an ink affinity member sheet 11 are integrated to be formed, and an ink nozzle 14 is opened. An ink nozzle surface 12 is formed at the ink repellent member 10 side. Since the surface 12 necessary for the ink repellency is formed of a sheet member having a thickness, it is not released even by wiping, and the change of properties scarcely occurs. Since the meniscus 21 of ink is formed in the nozzle, the stable meniscus can be always formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet head, and more particularly to improving the liquid repellency of ink nozzles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink jet recording apparatuses have been widely used as terminal equipment for color printers and computers. In the inkjet head, if the ink left unejected adheres to the periphery of the ink nozzle, ejected ink droplets may not fly in a normal direction, or a normal meniscus may not be formed.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a nozzle plate 1 in which a surface treatment layer 2 having liquid repellency is formed by coating the surface of a nozzle plate 1 with a fluorine-containing solution or the like. In addition, there is also one that attempts to obtain stable ejection by wiping the ink adhering to the surface of the nozzle plate 1 from time to time, so-called wiping.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional surface-treated layer has a problem that it may be deteriorated by the adhesion of the ink or may be peeled off by wiping, and the liquid repellency may not be maintained. There is also a problem that the process of forming these surface treatment layers is complicated and the yield is low.

Therefore, in the present invention, the effect of liquid repellency is sustained,
An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet head that can be manufactured more easily.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, an ink jet head of the present invention has an ink repellent resin member having a nozzle plate forming an ink nozzle on the ink ejection side and an ink repellent resin member on the ink chamber side. The ink-affinitive resin member is provided, and the ink meniscus is formed at the boundary between the ink-repellent resin member and the ink-philic resin member.

[0007]

In the above structure, it is not necessary to form the surface treatment layer in a complicated process, and by simply attaching the resin member, the ink repellency is stable for a long time without peeling due to wiping or deterioration due to ink. An inkjet head can be obtained.

Further, particularly in the above structure, since the ink meniscus is formed at the boundary between the ink repellent resin member and the ink repellent resin member, it is difficult for the ink to adhere to the surface of the ink repellent resin member and the ink is repelled. It has the feature of being difficult.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of a nozzle plate of an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the nozzle plate is composed of an ink repellent member 10 and an ink repellent member 11. The ink repellent member 10 has a sheet thickness of 10 to 100 μm, and is made of tetrafluoroethylene resin or tetrafluoroethylene-6. A molded sheet of fluorine-containing polymer resin such as propylene fluoride copolymer resin is used. As the ink-philic member 11, a sheet having a sheet thickness of 10 to 100 μm and a molded sheet of a polymer resin such as polyimide, polyetherimide, polysulfone, or polyethersulfone is used.

In the manufacturing process, both surfaces of the ink-philic member 11 are surface-treated by immersing them in a sodium hydroxide solution or the like in order to make the ink-philicity more stable. Similarly, the surface of the ink repellent member 10 in contact with the ink repellent member 11 is surface-treated using a fluororesin surface treatment agent, Tetra Etch (trade name, manufactured by Junkosha Co., Ltd.). These surface treatments may be plasma treatment as another method.
Next, the surface of the ink repellent member 10 that has been subjected to the surface treatment and one surface of the ink repellent member 11 are joined by heat welding or an adhesive. After that, the ink nozzle 14 is opened by laser processing, plasma etching processing, or mechanical processing with a drill. The ink nozzle 14 may be opened from either the ink repellent member 10 side or the ink repellent member 11 side, but the ink ejecting side is the ink repellent member 10 and the ink repellent member 11 is on the ink chamber side. To place.

In the nozzle plate having such a structure, since the ink nozzle surface 12 is made of a fluororesin sheet, deterioration or peeling of the ink nozzle surface 12 due to friction by the rubber member 30 for the purpose of cleaning as shown in FIG. No deterioration occurs. Further, even when the ink nozzle surface is scratched by the recording paper, the ink repellency is not impaired because the ink repellency member 10 has a thickness.

For example, using a cleaning blade based on butyl rubber having high ink resistance, 20 g / cm ²
The ink nozzle surface sliding test is performed with a contact pressure of 1000
The flying state of the ink and the state of the sliding surface were observed every time. In the conventional inkjet head, peeling occurred after 1000 times of cleaning, whereas in the head of this example, there was no change in the ink repellency state on the ink nozzle surface even after 10,000 sliding operations. The meniscus formation was unchanged from the beginning and the flight was good.

Further, in the above structure, as shown in FIG. 1, a boundary 1 between the ink-philic member 11 and the ink-repellent member 10 is formed.
3, the meniscus 21 of the ink 20 is formed inside the nozzle plate. Therefore, less ink adheres to the periphery of the ink nozzle surface 12, and the cleaning blade does not contact the meniscus forming portion.
A stable meniscus is always formed.

[0014]

As described above, in the ink jet head of the present invention, the nozzle plate is composed of the ink repellent resin member and the ink repellent resin member, and peeling and deterioration are eliminated, and stable ejection is achieved over a long period of time. Is possible. Further, it can be manufactured without requiring a special ink repellent treatment process, and the process can be simplified and the manufacturing yield can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a cleaning operation of the inkjet head.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a conventional inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Nozzle Plate 2 Surface Treatment Layer 10 Ink Repellent Member 11 Inkophile Member 12 Ink Nozzle Surface 14 Ink Nozzle 20 Ink 3,21 Meniscus

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle plate for forming a nozzle is composed of an ink repellent resin member provided on an ink ejection side and an ink repellent resin member provided on an ink chamber side, and the ink repellent resin member, An ink jet head characterized in that a meniscus of ink is formed at a boundary of an ink-philic resin member.