JPH0976503A - Electrostatic attraction type ink jet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrostatic attraction type ink jet apparatus of a separation type matrix driving system capable of dissolving the complicated problem of a drive means in a case employing a multi-nozzle head at a stroke. SOLUTION: A multi-nozzle head 1 bringing nozzle electrodes 2a to a continuity state at every lateral nozzle rows and a rear electrode substrate 3 bringing the rear electrodes 4 provided corresponding to the nozzle positions of the multi-nozzle head to a continuity state at every electrode row crossing the nozzle row are opposedly arranged at an approach position and a drive means consisting of electric circuit patterns 6a, 6b for applying voltages V1, V2 across the nozzles 2 and the rear electrodes 4 is provided so as to be separated into the nozzle row of the nozzle head 1 and the electrode row of the rear electrode substrate 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic suction type ink jet apparatus used in a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine or a facsimile apparatus which adopts an ink jet recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows an outline of a recording apparatus using an electrostatic suction type ink jet device. In this device, a multi-nozzle head 21 having a large number of nozzles 22 is provided.
And a back electrode substrate 23 provided with a back electrode corresponding to the nozzle position of the multi-nozzle head 21 are arranged to face each other at a close position across the conduction path of the recording medium 25. A high voltage is selectively applied according to the image signal to electrostatically attract the ink K from the nozzles 22 and
To be printed on the recording medium 25.

Here, a head substrate (not shown) supporting the multi-nozzle head 21 is selectively applied with a high printing voltage V between itself and a back electrode so that the ink K is individually supplied from each nozzle 22. As a driving means for flying,
An electric circuit pattern 26 such as an electrode pattern line 27 connected to the nozzle electrode and a driver IC 28 for controlling the switching thereof is provided. Further, the ink head 29 having the multi-nozzle 22 is configured such that the ink head pressure and the viscosity are controlled from an ink tank 29 provided separately, and the ink K is sequentially supplied.

However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, it is necessary to incorporate the electric circuit patterns 26 in a number corresponding to the number of nozzles in the head substrate on which the multi-nozzle head 21 is mounted. There is no choice but to become something like that. Also, the multi-nozzle 2
2 and the circuit pattern 26 are integrated, it is difficult to manufacture the nozzle head 21, and the nozzle head 21 and the ink tank 29 have to be separated from each other as shown in the illustrated example. It is also a factor that hinders reduction and size reduction.

[0005]

Therefore, for the purpose of simplifying the structure of the entire apparatus, particularly the nozzle head side and downsizing, an electric circuit pattern for applying a printing voltage to the nozzle and the back electrode is provided on the back surface. It is proposed to provide it on the side of the back electrode substrate which supports the electrodes. That is,
Since the multi-nozzle and the electric circuit pattern can be separated,
The structure of the nozzle head can be simplified and downsized, and at the same time, it is possible to easily adopt an ink tank integrated multi-nozzle head in which a nozzle substrate and an ink tank are integrated.

However, when the electric circuit pattern is installed on either side of the nozzle head or the back electrode substrate, when the conventional method in which the driving means is separately provided for the nozzle and the back electrode facing each other is independently controlled. Inevitably, the structure of the circuit pattern forming the driving means is complicated and space-consuming, and in particular, in a multi-nozzle head having a large number of nozzles, it becomes a major obstacle to be overcome in terms of manufacturing and cost.

More specifically, for example, 200d
When manufacturing a multi-nozzle head corresponding to the pi / A4 width, the nozzle head has 168 nozzles, as shown in the following examples.
If 0 nozzles are provided and the independent control method is used, it is necessary to connect 1680 electrode pattern lines corresponding to each nozzle and to provide the same number of driver chips (switching elements) to each. Even if a 64-channel driver is used, this means that there are 26 drivers I on the board.
This means that C must be installed, and it is inevitable that the board area on the side where the drive means is incorporated is enlarged, along with the complexity of its electrical connection.

The present invention newly proposes an electrostatic attraction type ink jet device of a separation type matrix drive type which can solve the problem of complication of driving means when a multi-nozzle head is adopted.

[0009]

In the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, instead of the conventional individual drive system,
A separate matrix drive system is used. That is,
The multi-nozzle head in which the nozzle electrode is electrically connected for each nozzle row and the back electrode substrate in which the back electrode provided corresponding to the nozzle position of the multi-nozzle head intersects the nozzle row and is electrically connected for each electrode row face each other at a close position. With placement
Driving means for applying a printing voltage to the nozzles and the back electrode is provided separately for the nozzle row of the nozzle head and the electrode row of the back electrode substrate.

In this method, the nozzles distributed in the multi-nozzle head and the corresponding back electrode on the back electrode substrate side are connected to any nozzle row on the nozzle head side and any electrode row on the back electrode substrate side. Positioned as an intersection,
The ink jet from the nozzle can be drive-controlled by the cooperation operation of the driving means provided in the corresponding nozzle row and the driving means provided in the electrode row. Therefore, the number of switching elements of the driving means required for the multi-nozzle is sufficient to add the number of nozzle rows on the nozzle head side and the number of electrode rows on the back electrode substrate side.

The nozzles provided in the multi-nozzle head and the back electrodes provided on the back electrode substrate are arranged obliquely to avoid a fine pitch. Further, in principle, the conduction direction between the nozzle row on the multi-nozzle head side and the electrode row on the back electrode substrate side need only be set to intersect with each other, but the purpose is to simplify the structure on the nozzle head side. Then, the nozzle electrodes on the multi-nozzle head side are made conductive by the horizontal nozzle row that hits the width direction of the nozzle head, and the back electrode on the back electrode substrate side is made conductive by the vertical electrode row that hits the feed direction of the nozzle head. Is desirable.

[0012]

1 to 3, there is shown an embodiment of an electrostatic attraction type ink jet device adopting a separation type matrix driving method according to the present invention.

First, FIG. 1 shows an outline of a recording apparatus having an electrostatic attraction type ink jet apparatus of a separation type matrix drive system. In the figure, 1 is a large number of nozzles 2.
An ink tank integrated multi-nozzle head in which the openings are opened in a predetermined arrangement on the substrate 1A, 3 is a multi-nozzle head 1
The back electrode substrate is provided with the back electrode 4 corresponding to the nozzle position of, and both are opposed to each other at a close position across the conduction path of the recording medium 5.

Here, each nozzle 2 provided on the side of the multi-nozzle head 1 has its inner peripheral surface plated with a conductive metal forming the nozzle electrode 2a, as shown in FIG. Each back electrode 4 provided on the electrode substrate 3 side is formed of a through hole having an inner peripheral surface plated with a conductive metal. As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle electrode 2a on the nozzle head side is electrically connected by connecting a common line electrode pattern line 7a for each nozzle row in the lateral direction corresponding to the width direction of the nozzle head 1. The back electrode 4 on the back electrode substrate side is electrically connected by connecting a common line electrode pattern line 7b for each electrode array intersecting with the nozzle array, that is, for each vertical electrode array corresponding to the feed direction of the nozzle head 1. There is. It should be noted that the multi-nozzles 2 and the corresponding back electrodes 4 are distributed on each substrate in a diagonal arrangement in which the vertical rows are slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal rows from the orthogonal arrangement.

A high voltage is selectively applied to the nozzles 2 and the back electrodes 4 of the multi-nozzle head 1 and the back electrode substrate 3 in which the nozzle rows and the electrode rows crossing each other are connected and connected. A drive unit for electrostatically sucking the ink K from the nozzle 2 and causing the ink K to fly onto the recording medium 5 for printing is separately provided for both. That is, the nozzle head side is provided with an electric circuit pattern 6a including the pattern line 7a for applying the voltage V2 for each horizontal nozzle row and the driver IC 8a, while the vertical electrode substrate side is provided with the electric circuit pattern 6a. An electric circuit pattern 6b including the pattern line 7b for applying the printing voltage V1 and the driver IC 8b is provided for each electrode row in the direction.

Here, the voltage V2 applied to the nozzle electrode side has a constant bias voltage V0 (usually about -1 KV) and a shadow pulse Vs as shown in FIG.
(Normally about -200 to -400V) is selected, and the printing voltage V1 applied to the back electrode side is
It is set to a potential (usually about +200 to +300 V) obtained by subtracting the voltage V2 from the potential difference required for printing.

In the above separation matrix drive type ink jet device, the nozzles 2 distributed in the multi-nozzle head 1 and the corresponding back electrode 4 on the back electrode substrate side are either nozzle rows on the nozzle head side or back electrodes. Since it is positioned as an intersection with any one of the electrode rows on the substrate side, the driving means provided in the nozzle row and the driving means provided in the electrode row cooperate with each other. By performing scanning so as to sequentially change the combination with the electrode array, it is possible to perform selective inkjet based on the image signal for all the nozzles 2 provided in the multi-nozzle head 1.

In this method, it is undeniable that the printing speed will be slightly slower than the method of independently controlling the dots by providing driving means for each nozzle, but on the other hand,
The electric circuit patterns 6a and 6b forming the driving means, particularly the driver ICs 8a and 8b forming the switching elements, need only be the total number of the nozzle rows and the electrode rows, which is a great advantage to contribute to the simplification of the structure of the apparatus and the downsizing. Can be said to be a thing.

This is A at 200 dpi shown in FIGS.
Taking the multi-nozzle head 1 for page printers compatible with 4 widths and the corresponding back electrode substrate 3 as an example, in this case,
Under the dimensional conditions shown, the nozzle 2 and the back electrode 4 are
2 in the horizontal direction under the oblique arrangement of 1 mm intervals on each board.
10 pieces, 8 pieces will be arranged in the vertical direction.
At this time, if the conventional independent control method is used, 1
680 driver chips are required, and 26 driver ICs are required to be mounted even when a 64-channel driver is used. This means occupying a considerably large installation area on the substrate, and it becomes difficult to secure the electrical connection.

On the other hand, when the separation matrix drive method of the present invention is adopted, the number of electric circuit patterns is 218, which is the sum of the number of nozzle rows and the number of electrode rows, which is 218, which is 64 channels. When using a driver,
As shown in (4), it means that four driver ICs 8 are sufficient. As a result, the structure of the electric circuit pattern provided on the substrate can be simplified and downsized, and the number of electrical connections required on the nozzle head side can be reduced to eight.

[0021] Furthermore, a higher resolution of 400 dpi /
When making a multi-nozzle head for A4 width,
The number of electric circuit patterns required for 3360 multi-nozzles is 16 nozzle rows + 210 electrode rows = 22
Six is sufficient, and if the driver is a 64-channel driver, four may be left as it is. In addition, the electrical connection required on the nozzle head side is sufficient at 16 points, which further contributes to simplification of the structure of the device and reduction in size and size.

Further, in the ink jet apparatus shown in the above embodiment, the electric circuit pattern 6a required on the nozzle head side can have a simple structure with a small number of circuits and a small contact portion as described above. In the conventional multi-nozzle head side, the nozzle head 1 does not suffer from the structural complication when integrating each nozzle and the electric circuit pattern.
The simplification of the structure can be achieved. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the nozzle head 1 (nozzle substrate 1A) and the ink tank 1a can be easily integrated, and the nozzle head side structure can be made smaller and more compact.

[0023]

As described above, in the electrostatic suction type ink jet device according to the present invention, the nozzle electrode is electrically connected to each nozzle row on the multi-nozzle head side, and each electrode row intersecting the nozzle row on the back electrode substrate side. By adopting a separation matrix drive method, a drive means for electrically connecting the back electrode and applying a printing voltage to the nozzle and the back electrode is provided separately for the nozzle row of the nozzle head and the electrode row of the back electrode substrate. Therefore, the number of electric circuit patterns forming the driving means can be significantly reduced as compared with the method of individually controlling the driving means by connecting the driving means to each nozzle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of an electrostatic attraction type inkjet apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a nozzle substrate and a back electrode substrate shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing details of a nozzle substrate and a back electrode substrate of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a multi-nozzle head (head substrate) shown in FIG.
3 is a plan view of a nozzle substrate showing a specific example of FIG.

5 is a plan view showing a specific example of the back electrode substrate shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a recording apparatus showing a conventional example of an electrostatic attraction type inkjet apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Multi-Nozzle Head 1A Nozzle Substrate 1a Ink Tank 2 Nozzle 2a Nozzle Electrode 3 Back Electrode Substrate 4 Back Electrode 5 Recording Medium 6a, 6b Electrical Circuit Pattern 7a, 7b Electrode Pattern Line 8, 8a, 8b Driver IC K Ink

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A multi-nozzle head in which nozzle electrodes are electrically connected for each nozzle row, and a back electrode substrate in which a back electrode provided corresponding to a nozzle position of the multi-nozzle head is electrically connected for each electrode row intersecting the nozzle rows. And the driving means for applying a printing voltage to the nozzle and the back electrode are provided separately for the nozzle row of the nozzle head and the electrode row of the back electrode substrate. . 2. The electrostatic attraction type inkjet device according to claim 1, wherein the nozzles provided on the multi-nozzle head and the back electrodes provided on the back electrode substrate are arranged obliquely to each other. 3. The nozzle electrode on the multi-nozzle head side comprises:
The electrostatic according to claim 1 or 2, wherein conduction is performed by a horizontal nozzle row that abuts the width direction of the nozzle head, and a back electrode on the back electrode substrate side is conducted by a vertical electrode row that abuts the feed direction of the nozzle head. Suction type inkjet device.